Joe slept until just before dawn the next day. He might have slept even longer, but his body was pretty insistent he did something with the water he drank yesterday. Snooze buttons had gone the way of the dinosaurs along with available electricity, but even they couldn't do anything about this call to wake up. He rolled over and slowly got to his feet.

Cramps and soreness assaulted Joe on the short trek to the door. He paused and listened for a minute despite his body getting more urgent with its demands. He didn't hear or see anything, so he cracked the back door and snuck out before shutting it quietly. A quick jog to the fence gave him the relief he badly needed. What felt like an hour later, Joe was lighter and ready to go about his day. A flash of light near the rift caught his eye and made him freeze.

The barest hint of light on the horizon indicated dawn was approaching, but it was still quite dark. A light flashed again, and Joe crept closer through the backyards of the duplexes. An overgrown flowerbed of peonies gave him some cover about two-thirds of the way there, and Joe hunkered down to wait. He didn't have long as the light flashed in his direction again. Joe squinted and made out what seemed to be two shapes walking near the right, holding an old-fashioned candle-powered lantern.

That was interesting, but what caught Joe's eye in the predawn and lantern light was the rolled chain link fencing staked up around the rift. It seemed to be about a twenty-foot radius from the rift, and the only entrance was the side nearest the street, directly opposite where Joe usually entered. The fence was only eight feet high, and Joe could get over it pretty quickly, but not silently. If there was now security, his days of unlimited on-demand access were probably over. A pair of male voices, one sounded middle-aged and the other a bit younger, carried over the still twilight air.

"I don't know why we have to keep an eye on this thing?"

The first voice was the younger of the two, and the amount of whining made Jake cringe. Joe couldn't see well enough, but the guy looked about his size.

"Because. "The other one sounded in his forties and looked a bit chubby even in the poor predawn light. "Frank said that the rift needed to be fenced and guarded at all times. Dublin gave the orders. Heard Skyler say they came all the way down from Columbus. It's the same reason we're fencing the downtown."

"It's stupid. None of the good houses are downtown. I miss my bed." The younger voice lowered suddenly, and Joe only made it out as their loop had brought them to the point closest to him. "I heard that people are going to have to start going into this thing again."

"I sure as hell ain't unless Frank is here pushing me in."

They lapsed into a sullen silence and continued their slow walk around the rift. The light was steadily getting brighter, so Joe crept back to his apartment and quietly let himself in when they were on the other side of the loop. Once he was in his house, Joe grabbed the last of the now dried berries before sitting down in the living room. They weren't coffee, but the trace energy still left in them woke him up nicely and seemed to help banish the stiffness still in his muscles and joints.

These events complicated things. Joe had been aware of something going on downtown, but he thought he was far enough away to safely ignore it. He'd also assumed that people would be naturally averse to being near the rifts. "Hell, if I didn't have that purchased information, you'd never get me within fifty yards of those things," Joe mumbled to himself.

Joe felt his stomach grumble, and he realized how hungry he felt. The berries had a ton of zip, but now that he was awake, Joe felt like he hadn't eaten in days. He crept upstairs and reviewed his options. He had six meal replacement bars left but put them back along with the dried nuts and fruits. Joe took out a vitamin, the cans of tuna, his last can of beans, and one of his three cans of water before taking it all downstairs. Once there, he swore and smacked himself on the head before going back and bringing down his can opener.

Breakfast was a mixed and dull affair, but Joe felt a lot better. He rinsed the cans out with some of his non-potable water. Metal was no longer something to be thrown away casually. Even bean and tuna cans had uses in the new world. Joe looked around and thought about what he needed. His body felt lighter than before. He needed to test his new attributes and get used to how his body felt before he risked combat again. Joe also stank enough that even he could tell that he smelled ripe.

Joe emptied the rest of his water bladder into the back of the toilet. It may have been frivolous, but if he were going to the creek, it wouldn't make sense not to bring as much water back as possible.

With his gear in place, Joe headed out the front door and looked around before heading east. This time he went straight for the septic plant. Joe had been right when he'd guessed that people would avoid this area thanks to the lingering smell. Once he hit the creek, he walked upstream for a hundred yards before filling his jugs and canteen. It wasn't his imagination. The jugs felt lighter in his grip. It's not that they weren't heavy, water was always heavy, but he felt like he could carry them without as much strain.

Joe stripped down and took another quick muddy stream bath. He tried to clean out his clothes as well, though to limited success. Thanks to the soap, they didn't stink anymore, but they were ripped and stained. Joe sighed. That left him with one remaining set of T-shirt and jeans that didn't look like they'd been put through a meat grinder. Joe knew he'd need to find some more gear soon, but he hated the idea of looting people's houses.

An idea started to form. Joe rushed to put his clothes on despite them still being very wet. He was hoping that the increases in fortitude would help with chafing. If he left town and headed south, he could act like he was new here and maybe trade for some of the things he needed. It would also help give him some information on what the council was doing in this Plain City. Joe kept his head on a swivel as he jogged back with the water. He was tired and winded when he got back but still amazed. There was no way he could have made that run weighted down before the System.

He went inside and treated all the water he'd brought, even though it used up the last of his pills. He still had the life straw, though he didn't know how long that thing would remain helpful. Joe went up and stripped down before lying on the ground. He didn't want to get his bed wet, and he wasn't putting on clothes wet if he could help it. It wasn't like he was expecting company.

Now seemed as good a time as any to finish off the last of his information packet. The System menus were still odd, but he had quickly grown proficient in their use.

Hegemon

The galactic Hegemon formed with the implementation of the System. The System was created to equalize opportunity and fulfill a pact with powerful creatures. The galactic Hegemon is currently comprised of thirteen sentient races. A caste system is determined by a contest held once every century. The most recent caste order is:

Wyrms

Elven

Elementals

Fae

Johtun

Svartalfar

Daemons

Demons

Dwarven

Gnomish

Murkkin

Beastkin

Humans

The caste at the top is the ruling class of the Hegemon for the subsequent one hundred cycles. Rights and benefits are reduced as one goes down the list. The bottom caste has no property or personal rights if there is a conflict with higher caste individuals.

"Shit." Joe knew it was that way already, but seeing it in list form drove the point home. Humans were the new galactic whipping boy, and the next chance to fix that was in a century. A light existential panic tried to wrap itself around Joe's mind, but he shoved it into a little mental box. All of that was meaningless if he didn't survive the next year. It was future Joe's problem. Grimmly he selected the last category. Miscellaneous didn't sound promising, but any piece of information might help.

Miscellaneous

System Store

Mastering Skills

Tiers and Ranks

Joe selected the options, starting with the system store. This looked like information that would have been incredibly useful before that last rift run. He shook his head at himself before reading down the sparse information that comprised the last of his packet.

System Store

The system store lets users level up their class and skills. The cost is paid with accumulated essence. Essence naturally accumulates over time, but the primary means of gaining it continues to be the extermination of monsters and mana beasts. A user can store (2 x Level) essence levels before they cannot gain more. Skill and class levels cost the equivalent to their current level to upgrade.

New skills can be purchased once the users show potential or proficiency. The cost varies by tier.

Common - 1 level

Uncommon - 5 levels

Rare - 25 levels

Etherial - 125 levels

Legendary - 625 levels

That was why Joe couldn't level up his class again in the rift. He'd had two essence levels, which was his cap at level 1. Unfortunately, it costs two essence levels to move from level two to three. The reason he'd had a minimal number of skills to choose from was also pretty apparent. He'd only been able to afford common skills, and it would only show those that he'd 'unlocked.' Getting better skills would be impossible unless you were lucky or had information on their means of unlocking. Joe had been right. Information was now worth more than anything else in this world.

Mastering Skills

Skills are considered mastered when they reach the maximum level for their rarity. The maximum level for skills and classes is as follows:

Common - level 20

Uncommon - level 40

Rare - level 60

Etherial - level 80

Legendary - level 100

Once a skill or class is mastered, it becomes possible to evolve if all prerequisites are met. Synthing is available at higher tiers and has increasingly difficult conditions for fulfillment.

Joe already knew that there were limited skill slots for classes based on the rarity. It seemed that upgrading classes would provide more spots and attributes, and upgrading skills would probably make them more powerful. He still had no idea what Synthing was, but it had been mentioned more than once, so it was probably pretty important.

Tiers and Ranks

There are five tiers in the Mortal Rank

A tier is twenty levels, and the first is called the Childs Tier. Tiers are a rough estimate of a user's power level, though many exceptions exist. Ranks are a further designation of power, with the difference between ranks being far more significant than between tiers.

Joe's head felt full after that last chunk of information. It answered some questions but provided many more. If all humans were in the Childs Tier, that did not bode well for their power level in the overall scheme of the Hegemon. No wonder the one percent had lost so quickly. It was likely they never stood a chance. They were lambs to the slaughter. Joe froze in thought. With one stroke, humanity had gone to the bottom of the political pile and lost the individuals with the best chance to help them rise up.

"Oh fuck this shit with a rake!"

A wave of dark anger boiled in Joe's heart. He'd been frozen in time and just going through the motions since his family was taken from him. Their death and the System had gotten him moving again, but without a direction. Now he felt purpose crystalize in his mind. Humanity hadn't failed. They had been set up. Joe didn't know how, but he would move forward and drag his species with him if he had to do so.

Then the realization that he was lying naked and wet on the carpet with almost no gear or food broke the moment. Joe felt the echo in his heart, and he felt his resolve firm. He knew where he could find power if he survived. It was sitting down the street in a floating ring of colored fire, and others like it. Joe didn't care what the council was doing anymore. He needed to be in that rift.

Joe had a goal and started moving towards it. He left his shirt off and just wore the torn-up and bloody pants. Joe only had one complete outfit left, and he wasn't going to risk it in a rift until he got another. He made another berry pouch courtesy of torn jeans scraps and the last of his leather strips. He left the knuckles behind and instead took the knife and the bat. His canteen completed the impromptu outfit. Joe looked in the bathroom mirror and felt mixed emotions. On the one hand, he was more cut and muscular than when he'd played multiple high school sports. On the other hand, he looked like a crazed shirtless murder hobo.

It didn't change anything. Joe had a job to do, and he would give it his best. He left through the back door and walked out the back of the neighborhood to a street farther south. He then jogged to the main road and walked towards the rift. It only took a few minutes, and he still felt fresh and untired. Attributes were already showing a difference at level two. Joe shuddered a little at the thought. People would use these poorly. There was no way everyone who leveled up a tier would use their power with restraint.

Joe slowed to a walk when he came within eyesight of the rift. The fence was obvious in the daylight, though it looked to be hastily erected. The only gap sat right next to the road, and the two men standing guard looked bored. That ended when they spotted Joe walking their way. They stood straighter, and Joe got a better look once he was only twenty yards away. A middle-aged man with thinning brown hair and a modest beer belly stood next to a tall guy in his mid-twenties with a scattering of light acne. They just stared at Joe and tightened their grip on some police batons as he approached.

"Mornin' guys." Joe did his best friendly voice. He was out of practice, but it would be best if he could get inside using kindness. "What's up with the fence? I was hoping to get my morning cardio in."

"You can't go in there. Frank, I mean, the local council has declared it off-limits except for council members."

The younger man spoke up first, and his voice shook slightly at his error. Despite the calibration being a few days ago, most midwestern Americans were not used to confrontations daily. Joe figured they were out here because they were the low men on the depth chart, and that gave him something to work with if he played it right.

"Look, guys, I appreciate you've got a job to do, but I need to get in there. Any chance you can do me a solid on this one?"

"It ain't happening." The older guard finally found his voice with this statement.

Joe hadn't thought kindness would work, but he'd wanted to try. It wouldn't help anyone if he solved all his problems by beating people. If there were other ways forward, he would take it. If there weren't, he'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

"What are they paying you for doing this?"

"Food."

The younger guy spoke without thinking and was quickly elbowed in the ribs by the other guard. He stared at Joe for a second before answering.

"They pay with food and shelter like always. You might as well head back south. You can't come in here unless you're a council member."

Grimly he reached in his pocket and pulled out the four copper coins he'd stashed there before he left. He noticed the guard's arms tighten on their clubs again but ignored it. Joe made sure that the men could see the coins glinting on his palm as he held his hand open to them.

"Soon, they're gonna pay people with this. You guys remember seeing this stuff in the calibration before the council took it all, right?" Joe paused a moment to let his words take effect. He could see the wheels turning as he continued. "I don't need these as much as I need inside there. I'll give you guys the copper I have, and if you are here when I get out, I'll give the same amount again."

The young guy opened his mouth and shut it without saying a word. This happened again before the other man spoke.

"This never happened."

With that, he grabbed the young guard and pulled him to the side. Joe nodded solemnly and moved past them with a quick step, never showing his back or taking his eyes off of them. He sat the coins on the ground and gave them a nod.

"Pleasure doing business with you, gentlemen. If I'm not out before you go, how about you tell the other guards about our arrangement. I'll save an extra coin for next time if you do."

Joe had them, and he knew it. He wasn't confident in his ability to sneak in, even if it was pitch black out. The coins would eventually have some value, but right now, access to the rift and its essence was worth more than eight coppers a trip. Joe smiled grimly to himself as he stepped into the ring of fire. He had some frustrations to work out and a rift filled with deserving targets in front of him.