In his hands, Frank held a foot-long piece of string, about a fifth of an inch thick. It looked much more refined than the previously twisted fibers. Frank tugged at the string, confirming that it was fairly tough and didn't stretch. A wide smile on his face, he looked at the notifications that have popped up.

You have learned a skill: Mana Channeling, level 1: The ability to channel your mana into items allows you to improve their basic performance, use the mana to activate runes, and over time can even cause Mana Saturation providing additional effects to an item. Too bad you learned this skill by chance, rather than as a result of realizing your lacking performance. This skill allows you to channel mana into items.

You have learned a skill: Magical Crafting, level 1: Why slave away at menial tasks when you have magic at your beck and call? Have you decided to become a crafter to avoid your inevitable demise on the battlefield? Nice try, but futile. You would simply put your fate into the hands of others, nothing more. This skill allows you to use the mana inside of an item to make certain changes to it. Most often used to speed up processing ingredients for various crafts.

Hmm, two new skills, no grids. Mana Channeling looks interesting, I should test it on my saber, Frank thought after reading through the two skills. However, that would have to wait. He got up and walked over to Steve, who was now working on skinning one of the tigers.

“Goods news,” Frank said when the man looked up at him,” check out this string I made with magic.”

He handed the item to Steve, who looked at it curiously, before examining it in greater detail, his interest clearly piqued.

“Heck of a job, gramps. How'd ya do it?” He asked a few seconds later.

Frank smiled and began to explain, where the man interrupted him and told him to hold on. Steve then hollered at the Marshall to come over. Visibly annoyed, the Marshall finished his conversation and came over.

“Sorry for jerking you like that, but the old-timer here got something you'd want to know,” Steve spoke with a toothy smile when the Marshall came over.

Frank didn't beat around the bush and explained how he made the string and the two skills he got, including their descriptions, omitting the usual insults the system sent his way.

“Hmm, Mana Channeling should improve our weapons, if only slightly,” the Marshall said after listening.

“If Magical Crafting can turn these rawhides into cured ones that'd be great,” Steve added, looking at the drying pelts.

“Might be even more useful than that, assuming it can refine badly-crafted items into something more palatable,” Frank supplied.

“Guess I know what I'll be working on,” Steve said scratching his head.

“It's almost noon. Up to you if you want to try working on one of the wolf pelts now or after lunch,” the Marshall said looking at Frank. “Gentlemen,” he nodded to them and walked away.

“Might as well give it a try. Should go faster now that I have the skills,” Frank mumbled.

“That's the spirit,” Steve cheered him on.

Frank chuckled and walked over to a stretched-out wolf pelt. He took some time to examine it, running his hand over the fur, feeling the skin on the underside. Then he thought about what he wanted to do. He was only vaguely familiar with the process of curing leather. Should've asked Steve for details, he thought, then again, by the time he would have explained it, it would be lunchtime anyway.

The basic idea was to make it so the leather would no longer decompose or rot. Frank knew that the process involved removing blood and fat from the skin, salting it, washing it, and tanning it. At some point the fur would be taken out as well, to get the actual leather rather than a fur pelt. For his first try, he decided to go for a cured pelt, rather than tanned leather, the simpler the process the more likely he was to succeed.

Placing his hands on top of the pelt, he used Mana Channeling and began to pump R mana into it. The flow speed was much faster compared to the sinew fibers, but still rather slow at about one mana every five seconds. Three minutes and thirty R mana later, he felt the pelt was filled to capacity, no longer able to absorb any more mana.

Now, the hard part, he thought. Rather than trying to imagine the whole process, step by step, Frank decided to focus on the end result. A soft pelt, that felt similar to a fur coat, rather than a freshly skinned hide. He held the image in his mind, trying to add as many details as possible. Time passed, and he felt a headache coming, his left eyelid started to twitch from the strain. Finally, the mana in the pelt surged, then congealed a few moments later. Frank massaged his temple, then opened his eyes and looked at the item.

Magically Semi-Processed Wolf Rawhide

A failure, I suppose, he chuckled. Scanning his surroundings, he realized that it was already lunchtime. A line of people snaked toward Carol, who stood behind half a dozen tree stumps acting as tables. Each stump had a certain fruit, and people would walk by, taking the ones they wanted, like a buffet. Frank got up to his feet and approached Carol.

“Do you need any of the food I have stored?” He asked the woman.

“Um, no. I will need it for dinner though,” she said after glancing at him and checking with the notes she made on a piece of bark. “Also, don't eat the stuff you have stored, it will screw up my notes. Eat these instead,” she added, pointing at the food on top of the tree stumps.

Mumbling something about a pain in the butt, Frank moved to the end of the line, some hundred people long. While waiting for his turn, he used active skills to burn through his resources, then stabbed his arm and began meditating. Something he had forgotten to do while working on the string and the pelt. His display of spells and attacks drew some attention, which culminated when he stuck a sword into his arm, leaving it there.

“Just training Pain Tolerance skill,” he told the few people who had expressed their concern over his action.

The nonchalant response had a bunch of people shake their heads while mutterings of “crazy old man” and similar sentiments reached his ears. While he didn't particularly want to have such a reputation, the line would take at least twenty minutes before it was his turn, and he was unwilling to waste that time. The tigers were already level twenty, and we were lucky to kill them. What would happen if we faced a monster with ranged attacks? Or worse, one capable of using magic? I gotta keep pushing, Frank thought, as he pushed concerns about his reputation aside.

His regeneration was enough to fill up his stamina twice before it was his turn to pick the food. He picked what he wanted, storing the fruits in his ring, then went to sit with his team. The others welcomed him and inquired about his work on the pelt. Frank responded and explained about the two skills he picked up.

“So, we might be able to make crafted items now? I wonder if I can get a shield made,” Hank said, biting a piece of the blue-banana fruit.

“A shield?” Frank asked, curious.

“Yes, I decided on what to specialize in. Going to go full tank – high HP, high defense, and powerful armor,” Hank replied with a broad grin.

“Still pursuing the idea of being tough to kill,” Bill chuckled.

“Hey, we only get one life... probably. Besides, you and Kevin are already handling melee damage, and Frank too. Being able to go toe to toe against monsters would add to our tactical options,” Hank explained.

“He's right, having someone to take the hits without dying would come very handy,” Frank agreed.

“What about you, Frank? What are you specializing in?” Kevin asked.

“A bit of everything for now,” Frank replied.

“Got to pick something or you'll fall behind,” Bill said, a mischievous glint in his eyes, “I bet I can beat you now.”

“Probably. You continued with the Skirmisher grids?”

“Yep. Skirmisher II gives Bleeding Wounds, a passive skill that causes increased bleeding from the wounds I inflict. Still working on Skirmisher III,” Bill said.

“I wonder if there is a resistance against bleeding,” Frank mumbled.

“Haha, just admit that you are a masochist,” Margaret laughed, doubling down when Frank glared at her.

“Back to you, what was the reward for Magic III?” Margaret asked Amy once she stopped laughing.

“Arcane Explosion, it sends out a damaging nova around me. The radius is rather small though, only three yards,” Amy explained.

“You'd have to be right up there to use it,” Margaret mused.

“Yeah, I am not sure how useful it will actually be,” Amy agreed.

Everyone fell into companionable silence, as they ate. Bill finished his first. Rubbing his hands on the grass to get rid of the fruit juice, he broke the silence.

“So, what are we going to do...” he fell silent.

Frank squinted at a panel that had appeared before his eyes. Unlike the skills notification, which had to be focused on before they'd spring up, blocking his vision, this panel did so on its own, reminiscent of the one that announced the System's arrival. Shaking his head to focus, he began to read through it.

Congratulations on surviving your first day with the System, despite being placed into the Frontier Zone. As a reward, the Survivor grid has become available, and a Map tab has been added to your Profile.

From now on, monsters will spawn naturally. Monster Grounds will begin to spawn in three days.

“So much happened, and it has only been a single day,” Bill sighed.

“Derek was supposed to join us for the weekend,” Margaret said her voice breaking.

“He's fine. He's got a good head on his shoulders, I am sure he can deal with some goblins,” Bill sought to reassure her.

“Your son?” Hank asked and got a nod from Bill.

“He recently finished college, got a nice job, was thinking of proposing to his girlfriend... and now this,” Margaret sobbed, unable to restrain her emotions.

“He's fine,” Bill said and rubbed her shoulder.

“I am worried about my kid sister too,” Hank added, a pained expression on his face.

The others chimed in as well, each talking about those close to them. Frank listened absentmindedly to their chatter. Not that he was some cold-blooded psychopath, but nephews, nieces, and their children made for a less powerful connection than one's own children. More importantly, at seventy-nine, death was much more real to him, compared to someone younger. People died, that was the reality of life. And while he sincerely hoped his relatives were doing well, there was nothing he could do about it, and his own circumstances were of higher importance than worrying about what may or may not be happening half a world away.

He nodded with a solemn expression as the others talked, while focusing on the text of the panel. Frontier Zone? Interesting. Now monsters will spawn normally? Does that mean no more waves? That would be nice. Hmm, Monster Grounds, Frank thought as he went through the interesting parts one by one. Focusing his mind on the last two words, a new display sprung up.

Monster Grounds are special areas with a greatly increased spawn rate. Once enough monsters have spawned, a group of them will be sent to attack the closest settlement. These monsters will become increasingly stronger until the Boss of the Monster Ground is killed.

Frank swore as he read the description. Great. So instead of monster waves randomly spawning nearby, we'll now have Monster Grounds randomly spawn nearby and send waves of monsters at us. Worse yet, we have to leave our defensive position and attack them to stop them from rising in power. Just fucking wonderful.

Survivor was a 50 GP grid. The Map didn't account for the grounds they've seen previously, only showing their base, surrounded by darkness. Closing his profile, he realized that the conversation had ended, and everyone sat in contemplative silence.

“Oh, cheer up. We've survived, I am sure your family members did too. Plus, it sounds like we've faced tougher monsters, this being a special zone. Once we figure out how to leave this place, you'll be able to check up on them,” Frank tried to cheer them up.

“You think there is a way to leave?” Margaret asked, sounding quite eager.

“Of course. I doubt the System would leave us stranded here. There has to be a way out,” Frank replied with certainty. Of course, it may not lead to the USA, he thought. “One step at a time though. First, we need to secure our own safety, and the only way to do that is to train and become stronger.”

“He's right. We should focus on what we can control,” Bill nodded, “we must become stronger and ensure our survival. That damn tiger almost got me,” he added, his arm wrapped around his wife, caressing her shoulder.

“It wasn't that close,” she retorted with a sniffle and got a smile from Bill.

“Is it just me, or does it sound like we won't get any more monster waves?” Hank asked, apparently going over the text of the panel.

“Yes, but did you look at the Monster Grounds? It's basically the same thing, but worse,” Frank said.

“Hmm, at least we get a break for three days,” Kevin offered.

“Not much of a break if you spend the whole day training,” Amy chuckled.

“Hey, as long as no monster is trying to kill me, that's a break in my book,” Kevin retorted.

“It's nice to see everyone in a good mood. Then, we should try to train as much... oh, looks like the Marshall is calling everyone,” Frank said, gesturing at the shouting man.

Carol, Steve, Jose, and the MMA guy stood beside the Marshall, talking to him in low voices, while everyone gathered around. The Marshall waited for everyone to settle down, then clapped his hands.

“We've all got the System message just now. Although it sounds like there won't be anymore waves of monsters, we should stay vigilant. More importantly, the description for the Monster Grounds sounds quite bad. But, we'll deal with that when the time comes. There are several matters I'd like to discuss with you now. First, I believe we should continue to build the fence and make this place our base. Is there anyone who thinks we should abandon this project?” He paused scanning the crowd, but there were only positive replies. “Good. As before, Jose is the one in charge of that,” he added, gesturing at the Hispanic man beside him.

“Second issue, one of the teams that had gone out into the forest hasn't returned. After discussing it, we've decided to send out three teams to track them down. Gabriel here is our best fighter and his team will be taking the lead. Speak to him if your team wants to join the rescue efforts,” he pointed at the MMA guy.”

After a brief commotion at the troubling news, the people settled down and the Marshall continued. “Couple more things. Two new skills have been discovered. Mana Channeling allows you to push your mana into an item, while Magical Crafting allows you to use the mana inside of an item to transform it into a similar item. Rawhide into cured leather, for example. With this discovery, we believe that crafting some primitive armor should be possible. Additionally, Mana Channeling can improve the durability or sharpness of your weapons. You can talk to Steve if this is an area of interest to you,” he said nodding to the red-haired man. “Carol here wants to try starting a garden, on the off chance that the fruits we've found in the forest grow much faster than normal fruits. Although, it will have to wait until after the fence is up, if you have farming or gardening experience, please talk to her.”

Another short pause, and after clearing his throat the Marshall moved on to the next point. “I am very interested to find out the reward for the Survivor grid. Is there anyone who has fifty grid points and can unlock it right now?”

Checking his profile, Frank saw that he had more than that. Sorry, Marshall, I can't get distracted, he thought and remained silent. For a while no one spoke, then a man's voice could be heard: “I am five points short, it would take an hour or so to get them.” A few others volunteered as well, though none of them had enough points to finish it right then and there.

“Good enough. Let me know the reward once you finish it,” he addressed the woman who was only three GP short of fifty. “I am almost done,” he said with a smile before continuing. “Please have your team's representative talk to us, and we'll assign a corresponding task to your team. And finally, it sounds like we'll get a break from monster attacks for the next three days. But, as the team missing in the forest reminds us, danger is everywhere. We must not grow complacent and should use this short lull to train and become stronger. Our survival depends on each and every one of us, so let's work hard and survive!” The Marshall's voice rose in volume and he was practically shouting towards the end.

The crowd cheered and roared in response, everyone feeling energized and pumped to get to work. Frank was rather impressed. The big worry he had was that without the presence of imminent danger, people would lose some of their drive, and when the monsters came they wouldn't be strong enough to deal with them. The Marshall managed to address this issue quite well.

“So, what do we want to do?” Frank asked, turning to face his teammates.

“Cut trees!” Bill said excitedly, tightening his hand into a fist, while Margaret rolled her eyes.

“I'd like to try Magical Crafting,” Amy said, while Kevin and Hank shrugged, implying they were fine either way.

“I want to try crafting too. What about you, Margaret?” Frank asked.

“I'll talk to Carol about gardening,” she replied with a chuckle.

“Looks like we are split. But it should be fine now that we don't expect a monster wave anymore. I'll go check,” Frank said and walked towards the Marshall.

A short conversation later, he returned and informed everyone that it was fine. The men moved toward the forest to cut trees, and Margaret went to talk to Carol. Steve was busy talking to several people, so Frank brought Amy to where the pelts and sinew were located. Explaining to her how to get the skills and suggesting that she starts with turning sinew into a string. The young woman nodded, grabbed a handful of sinew and moved a dozen yards away.

For his part, Frank wanted to talk to Steve and get a better grasp on the leather-curing process before giving it another try. Deciding to wait for the man, Frank looked through all of the skill notifications he had gotten since the fight against the trolls.

There were a lot of notifications. The following skills had leveled up: Fitness and Running went up by 3, Sprinting and Physical Labor by 1, Meditation and Phantom Strike by 9, Power Attack improved by 15, Saber Mastery, Lightning Bolt, and Mana Shield went up by 4, Healing Touch and Pain Tolerance by 8, Unshakable Focus was up by 4, while Mana Channeling and Magical Crafting reached level 2. Not only had his skills increased tremendously, Frank now had a whopping 78GP.

You have learned a skill: Running, level 1: Being able to move fast opens up all kinds of tactical possibilities. A boring but useful skill. It will let you get to places faster. This skill increases your speed while decreasing stamina consumption.

You have learned a skill: Sprinting, level 1: When you need to move faster. While Running gets you to places, Sprinting gets you out of them in one piece. This skill increases your speed while decreasing stamina consumption.

Frank chuckled at the silly description of the second skill, which he had obtained during the troll fight. Then he looked at his profile, before investing the available GP.

Strength: 3

Dexterity: 3 (+1)

Quickness: 6 (+3)

Perception: 2 (+1)

Constitution: 1

Vitality: 11

Endurance: 7

Destructive Magic Affinity: 2

Restorative Magic Affinity: 4

Focus: 7

Control: 2

Willpower: 8

HP: 48/48 (62/hour)

Stamina: 40/40 (125/hour)

D Mana: 20/20 (31/hour)

R Mana: 40/40 (61/hour)

Physical Skills: Phantom Strike 11, Power Attack 16.

Combat Passive: Punching 4, Sword Mastery 3, Spear Mastery 3, Saber Mastery 14, Parry 3.

Spells: Telekinesis 2, Mana Shield 10, Lightning Bolt 9, Arcane Missiles 3, Healing Touch 9, Mana Channeling 2, Magical Crafting 2.

Passive: Fitness 14, Pain Tolerance 13, Unshakable Focus 8, Meditation 14, Digging 9, Physical Labor 8, Running 3, Sprinting 1.