Why did you do it?

Clover clumsily rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. They came back wet.

“Why did you make a bird? There’s no way that thing can fly - it’s too heavy?” Claire asked.

Clover took a moment to orient himself. He was usually useless first thing in the morning, but this was a new level. It felt like he was in two places at once, and his spine screamed with red hot pain. As the sensations quieted to a more manageable level, the vestiges of a strange dream slipped from his memory like water through his fingers.

He only remembered one detail from his dream: there was a graveyard floating in space that stretched as far as the eye could see. That singular melancholy moment was all that stuck with him.

After a moment, Clover scratched his head and sat up - all previous distress gone. “You wake me up, and that’s the first thing you say?”

“Well, it was a good question.” She brushed her hair over her ears. “But on second thought, it could have waited a bit longer. Anyways you slept through some big announcements. We’re assembling the team - apparently, there’s a big job that we are supposed to help with."

Clover rolled out of bed and collected his golems. The smaller golems jumped on Bob the Elephant’s back, riding him like a boat - it was the most space-efficient setup. Otherwise, he’d block the whole walkway with his herd of golems.

Before leaving, Clover closed his eyes. He hadn’t remembered falling asleep, but meditating for hours could knock out even a Buddhist monk. As a whole, his memories of the later stages of last night were fuzzy.

The message that appeared after he completed his first Mana Bolt Path had warned him to not get washed away in the rivers of Mana. At first, he thought the System was just being dramatic. But now, he could see how that could happen.

The magical apparitions had gotten stronger and more horrifying the longer he looked at them. Last night, even when his wits were reaching their end, a part of him had not wanted to look away. Going insane in that sea of madness would be easy.

Luckily, he found a workaround. If he canceled [Meditation] the apparitions would reset to their starting whimsical state next time he used the Skill. After he completed his first tortuous continuous hour, he took advantage of that fact and took frequent short breaks. In those few moments of respite, he distributed the Skill Points he had accumulated, eventually completing four Paths relating to [Meditation].

First, he had completed Meditation 1 for 5 Skill Points, earning himself an increase in the Skill’s active Mana Regeneration capabilities and 5 Mana. Next, he completed the Meditation 2 Path, gaining an increase in multitasking ability while meditating and another increase in his Stats. Both Paths were unusual in that they did not offer a Sub-Skill, but that wasn’t a major concern.

However, as the apparitions grew more monstrous and the howling wind’s whisper grew sharper, he unlocked an unusual Path - tied for the most expensive he had ever seen. Enticed by the possibility of gaining an even more powerful Skill once he finished the Upgrade Quest, he funneled his next 15 Skill Points into the Monster Behind the Curtain Path. He gained 10 Perception, but that was all. The System had deferred the Path’s other rewards till he completed the Upgrade Quest.

Unfortunately, the next Path he completed followed a similar pattern. For completing the What Lies Beyond Path for a whopping 20 Skill Points, he was rewarded with 5 Intelligence, 5 Perception, and 3 Myth. Like with the last Path, its more abstract rewards were deferred.

Even without those additional benefits, he still had made substantial progress.

Nine and a half hours of almost continuous [Meditation] had brought the Skill up to Level 20. He was close to done with his Class Skill Quest as well. In the end, he had fallen asleep with only thirty minutes or so left on the clock.

“Hey! Don’t fall asleep on me. I’ll wake you up with more annoying questions.” Claire waved her hand in front of his face.

He opened his eyes. Luckily, not more than a couple seconds had passed. His increased Intelligence allowed thoughts to fly through his gray matter at a rapid pace. “Sorry, I’m not a morning person.”

“Me neither; I don’t know what I’m going to do when the world runs out of coffee,” she took a sip from a steaming hot foam cup. Terribly bad for the environment but convenient. “Follow me. I’ll fill you in as we move. Everyone else is waiting for us.”

He climbed into his wheelchair and then placed his bird-golem in his lap. “It was never meant to fly, but it can glide. It’s like a paper airplane, except it can explode.”

“So it's a grenade?” They passed the central posting of handmade signs. There were quite a few new additions to the rules responsible for keeping things in the factory orderly. Clover may have even been responsible for the creation of one. It wasn’t his fault that his magic sometimes came along with bright light shows.

“Basically.” Clover maneuvered his golems around an astonished child who sat dumbly in the walkway.

“That’s awesome. I want one.” She shook her head. “Stop distracting me; I was supposed to fill you in on what happened.

Clover shrugged his shoulders and made a face. “I wasn’t doing anything.”

Claire shushed him then gave a rambling recount of what happened this morning while he had been asleep. After spending a day unconscious, Dr. White recovered from his injuries and explained to the whole factory how he unlocked his Shard. Apparently, while fighting off a Bone Rat to save a cluster of patients, he unlocked the power to control blood. Which allowed him to push back the tides of monsters.

Clover nodded along with a smile. Dr. White had always been a hero. Even before the apocalypse, he had fought tooth and nail for his patients, giving them the best treatment possible even at the expense of his own personal life. In his case, Dr. White had spent hours calling around pulling favors to get Clover into a cutting-edge clinical trial to cure his cancer on his day off. Clover had known the man for years; if anyone deserved to be mysteriously gifted powers it was him.

Still, he wondered about the underlying principles of the power. Why had Dr. White unlocked a Shard when no one else had?

They reached an isolated corner of the factory and entered the meeting. Jeb, Paul, and Ron stood in a corner - slightly away from the rest of the group. Not many were there - less than 15. They all had high Levels, a few even surpassing Clover’s.

Jeb waved. Clover smiled and took his comfortable place beside his group. Fighting monsters together had brought them close in an unreasonably short time - most of the anxieties he felt had disappeared.

“Did you get the thing to work?” Clover asked.

Paul’s eyebrows scrunched up in concentration as he stuck his hand out. An octagonal clump of Mana popped into existence, occasionally shifting between different colors.

Dr. White coughed once, gaining everyone’s attention. Without Paul’s attention to sustain it, the heavily modified [Mana Bolt] shattered into small shards. “Operation Disco Ball still needs a bit of work,” Paul whispered.

Clover nodded sagely.

“Thank you for coming here on such short notice. As you may have noticed - you are among the strongest in the factory. And with that capability comes a request from me. But first, Miguel, can you share what you have observed?” Doctor White said. The dark bags under his eyes had lessened, but he sounded more tired than ever.

The Mexican man nodded and stepped forward. “More monsters are being created every day - their numbers are increasing. We have multiple reports confirming this matter. Even though we have slaughtered many of them, each individual monster population has experienced a 10 to 20 percent increase in these past few days.”

“On their own, these monsters are not a threat. To put things plainly, they are too stupid to threaten an organized defense. However, in the past days, we have discovered that some monsters possess an unusual intelligence. These so-called “Boss Monsters” can organize their brethren and ignore the System’s usual limitations. So far, we have discovered 6, and each poses a unique threat to our existence,” the doctor said.

Someone he didn’t recognize handed out papers. There weren’t enough for everyone to get one because of obvious apocalyptic reasons. Still, it was a miracle that they had found a working printer.

A dome of blue light faintly shimmered around the meeting’s occupants. Clover raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t worry, the barrier just stops people from listening in. Mass panic wouldn’t do anyone good,” a short woman said as she moved her hand through the barrier.

Clover nodded and then looked over the information on the page. It was detailed, but it was incomplete. The report showed the appearance and capabilities of the intelligent monsters they had spotted.

Clover swallowed, his saliva suddenly thick. He hated public speaking. With a racing heart, he raised a hand.

“Clover, you don’t have to raise your hand. This isn’t school; we’re all equals here,” the doctor said with a faint smile.

Clover quickly returned his hand to his lap. “Sorry.” He took a deep breath. “The list is incomplete. I was attacked by an intelligent Bone Rat in Walmart,” Clover said slowly, making sure to pronounce each word correctly.

"Damn, Walmart really is one of the most dangerous places in America," Paul added unhelpfully.

Dr. White nodded, ignoring what Paul had said. “Thank you for telling us. There are probably two or three Boss Monsters that we haven’t found yet. If anyone else has seen anything strange: don’t be afraid to speak up.”

After giving a short description of the masked Bone Rat, the meeting continued. “Now, I will bring up the main subject of this meeting. Yesterday, a group of Giant Grasshoppers led by an intelligent monster devoured two small scavenging groups - tearing them limb from limb and drinking their blood. With their increase in Levels, they have become a serious threat to the safety of the factory. We can not allow them to continue feasting on the innocent - they will quickly grow too powerful to contend with.”

The doctor shuffled a stack of papers in his hand and then continued. “Before it’s too late, we need to end this threat. That is why I have assembled this group: to hunt the most dangerous of the intelligent monsters. It is not enough to just survive. We need to fight back and cull their numbers before the restrictions protecting us fall at the end of the week.”

“If they are so dangerous, why don’t we bring more people? We have enough people to crush them with numbers,” Ron the ever-pessimistic worrier asked, bringing up a valid point in Clover’s opinion.

“That’s a good point. I wish we could - crush them with sheer numbers without any risk. Unfortunately, two factors are holding us back. Firstly, there is the problem of location. The giant grasshoppers have made their nest deep within monster-infested territory. We simply don’t have the power to march in there guns blazing. Even if we brought the whole factory, we would be outnumbered at least ten to one. All the intelligent monsters except for the Bone Rats and Deep Ants have made their home bases around the same area in the grass fields. We don’t know why, but something is drawing them to the location,” Doctor White’s voice carried well as he spoke in an even pattern.

The tired doctor placed his finger on a large map spread out on a plastic table, marking the location. Clover’s eyes widened - it was dangerously close to the grocery store they had gone to yesterday. Maybe the intelligent monsters were drawn to whatever had frozen those birds in the air? The thought intuitively felt wrong, but he couldn’t be sure. Anything was possible now.

“However much I may wish it otherwise, we can not reach them there. The second problem with the idea is in a similar vein, the boss monsters are intelligent enough to recognize a fight they can not win. They will not leave the safety of their territory to unnecessarily face a large army.”

“So what do we do? Why would a small group be better than a large one,” someone Clover did not recognize said.

“While these monsters may be intelligent, they are not wise - they can still fall to their animalistic desires. Once they set their sights on a target, they are reluctant to leave - even in the face of better judgment. That’s the basis of our plan. We need to lure the Giant Grasshoppers out of the safety of their territory with an easy target.”

“What exactly would the target be?” Ron said.

The doctor's face subtlety twisted in pain. If his Perception hadn’t breached the twenties, he doubted he would have caught the slight clenching of his jaw. “Humans - another scavenging group,” he forced the words out in a mechanical cadence, losing the veneer of confidence that usually covered his words.

No one said a word as what he just said sank in. Claire’s mouth twitched, searching for the courage to speak. She said nothing. No one else did for that matter. Those few seconds were completely left to silence.

Leaves gently scratched against the ground as they were blown by the wind. “Let me be clear: no one will die. We will be waiting in the wings, ready to swoop in once the intelligent Giant Grasshopper shows its face. But in order for them to make an appearance, we must present an easy and unaware target.”

Clover stopped himself from nodding along. There were no leaves. It was all in his head. Panicking, he marshaled his will and pushed the foreign influence out of his mind. Now that he knew it was there, it was easy, but the effect's true danger was its subtly. Compared to the overwhelming force the tree normally used, this attack was nearly undetectable.

Clover watched with a frown as the group nodded along. No one else was even aware of the threat they currently faced.

From his previous dealings with the plant, he thought it was limited to only a short range for its mind control attacks. But that was obviously incorrect; it was influencing the group from over a quarter mile away. The only question was why. What business did the tree have interfering with this meeting?

Still, the timing of its appearance was extremely strange. Unless… No, Clover didn’t want to believe it. It had to be a coincidence.

“These intelligent monsters are a threat to our very existence. If we do not annihilate them as quickly as possible, we will surely perish. Together we can make this work. If we act decisively, we can survive. Who’s with me?”

The sound of blowing leaves disappeared.

“What other choice do we have; I’m in,” the woman who had explained the sound barrier said.

“I’ll do it, but only if we bring another healer along in case something goes wrong,” Ron chimed in.

In the end, no one objected to the plan.

Clover’s frown deepened, its lines turning sharp. He didn’t know what to do.