Alex and Levi made their way into a different part of the three-story building, commonly called central command, or just central for short, next to the training field. They went up to the second floor and into a large room that ran all the way across the width of the building. Although, to be fair, the building wasn’t that wide. Levi guessed that was because there was no easy access to artificial lighting, so having windows for sunlight was of paramount importance.

“Ah, Alex, Levi, there you are,” David said. “Did the tour go well?”

David was hunched over a table covered in what looked like animal skin maps with an older woman who looked a bit out of place against the backdrop of the rustic wooden wall. Despite her attire of leather clothing she looked like she was supposed to be in an office building somewhere, not in a recreation of a 1700’s frontier town.

“I showed Levi the general layout of the town,” Alex said. “Introduced him to some of the combatants and the farmer. The captain’s back.”

“That would be why you’re here then. Why don’t the both of you have a seat. I expect she’ll be along shortly. And Levi, this is Agatha. She has been instrumental to our success. She used to be a city planner back home.”

Levi shook Agatha’s hand. She reminded him of Susan a bit with her aura. She seemed very no nonsense.

Alex and Levi sat down while David and Agatha went back to their conversation. From what little Levi could grasp they were talking about sewer systems and how to deal with potential flooding. While being located near a river was good for some things, it wasn’t the best for others. He guessed they couldn’t just dump the waste into the river since the other settlement was downstream.

It wasn’t long until the door was thrown open and in walked a young woman with flaming red hair. She almost radiated fire, and Levi had the strangest impression that the temperature went up a few degrees from her very presence.

“Captain Kelly, excellent! Anything to report?” David asked.

“Same old same old,” Kelly said, shaking her head. “We could only find a smaller group of those dino dogs and nothing else. We might need to expand our search radius, maybe start taking trips over multiple days. How are the plans for the sewers coming along?”

David frowned. “Not good. The proximity to the river is worrisome. We might have erred there. We have no real way of knowing how likely it is to flood, so it’s best to be cautious. But I do have some other news. Captain Kelly, this is Levi. He didn’t appear with our original group.”

Levi wanted to squirm under the captain’s stare. It felt like he was being roasted alive. He unconsciously activated Aecylic Empowerment before standing up and extending his hand.

“Hello, I’m Levi. Nice to meet you.”

He was left standing there awkwardly as Kelly, instead of shaking his hand, walked around him, inspecting him as one would inspect a piece of meat.

“Hrmm, a bit scrawny. Could use a bit more muscle.” She reached out to pinch his bicep, seemingly not knowing what personal space was. “Could use a good haircut too. I suppose that doesn’t matter as much anymore though. Still, a trip to see Denise might be good.”

She then moved right in front of him, moving in much closer than Levi was comfortable with. He had to resist the urge to recoil as she stared into his eyes before she eventually backed off after a small cough from David.

“You’ll do I suppose,” she said, finally addressing him directly. “Decent mental fortitude at least.”

She then moved over towards the table.

“Well don’t just stand there gawping. Sit down.” She gestured towards one of the seats around the map covered table.

It took Levi a second to comply. People didn’t used to be this weird, right? Maybe he wasn’t the only one changed by the System.

Alex also moved over to the table, joining the other four. Once everyone was seated David began speaking.

“Levi has confirmed our suspicions that other people are likely in the general vicinity, but also that not everyone appeared in a group like we did. Right now we aren’t in a good position to act on this information, but it’s important for future plans.”

David then turned to address Levi directly.

“Levi, I would like to formally invite you to join our community, pending majority approval. Although I am nominally in charge, for decisions like this it’s best to consult with everyone, but I think they will agree that we can always use an extra hand.”

“Oh, go stuff it you old goat,” Kelly interjected. “You obviously know if you invite him to join no one else is going to say no. Doubly so if I say he’s in, although I haven’t decided on that yet.”

She then turned to Alex.

“Have you given him a combat test?”

“No, I haven’t, we only...”

“Well what are we waiting for!” Kelly said, getting up from her chair. “Let’s go out to the training field.”

“Kelly, a modicum of decorum please,” David said, frowning. “We still don’t know if Levi even wants to join us. We need to respect his wishes. And there is more too. Everything in due time.”

Kelly sat back down in a huff.

“Well?” She said, staring at Levi. “Do you want to join?”

This was the moment. The time where he had to make a choice yay or nay. Levi could feel the two warring factions within him, one warning him about fallible humanity and the other desperately reaching out for human contact. He could have let the two sides war on for eternity, neither able to come out on top. But he wasn’t going to run anymore. He had made his choice.

“I want to join, if you would have me.”

“Excellent!” Kelly said, rubbing her hands together. “Now, come, off to the training field!”

“Kelly!” David’s raised voice echoed in the room. “Please sit down.”

Levi could easily see why David was chosen to be the leader. If what he had seen so far was anything to go by David was a natural leader, able to juggle all kinds of people and pull them in line towards a common goal. It was inspiring.

“I mentioned there was more,” David continued. “Levi’s value isn’t just in his presence. He also has some valuable information to tell us. He already mentioned a little bit, but it sounds like that was only the tip of the iceberg, so I waited until you were back. I agree that he needs to be tested to find out where he fits in with everyone else, but that can come after. Levi, if you would please.”

It was a bit disconcerting to have four people’s eyes bearing down on him, but the comforting hum of Aecylic Energy helped Levi keep his focus. Concentrated Will also helped, allowing him to organize his thoughts. It was more important now that ever to choose his words carefully since he knew David likely had some sort of truth-telling skill. He sucked at lying, but maybe omission he could do. He had to at least try.

He finally opened his mouth and started to tell the other four people in the room about his experiences in the dungeon.

He talked for a while, despite leaving a lot out. He avoided all mention of Susan first and foremost. He didn’t want to think about it; it was still too painful. He also tried to play down his combat skills, stressing luck as a reason he was able to survive, even revealing he earned a luck stat with the advent of the System. That seemed more harmless than his access to Aecylic Energy, which he mentioned as a mere body enhancement skill.

Overall, he stressed the traps and undersold the combat portions while emphasizing the lethality. He also did his best to avoid mentioning his skills. Perhaps he would tell people eventually, but while he thought David and the other seemed trustworthy, he wasn’t dumb. Maybe he hadn’t exactly been known for his stellar planning when he was active in online raids, but who cared what a bunch of internet randos thought. He’d like to see them accomplish what he did, reaching the first raid team of the second largest raiding guild. And now he had survived and escaped the dungeon and found other people. Susan would be proud of him.

The final thing that Levi touched on was how strange it all was. How the System seemed to want him to destroy the dungeon, and how it had then rewarded him for doing so. He thought it best to actually tell them the details of what clearing the dungeon did to his Human achievement, as he figured they would find out as soon as they cleared a dungeon themselves. It also helped highlight how more was going on. Both the System and the dungeons were interconnected somehow.

By the time Levi finished talking it was growing dark out, the shadows growing on the walls. He was half expecting someone to whip out a light spell, but everyone was lost in thought, contemplating everything he had said. They had asked a few questions, but overall were content to let him speak. While David’s questions were rather pointed, he was more interested in the System’s influence, while Kelly kept asking him about the monsters he fought, forcing him into evasive answers. The whole thing was rather grueling, and he was sure he would have long ago melted under the pressure without his skills and stats to back him up. He wasn’t used to coming under fire like this.

But it was done now, and David and Agatha were debating possible scenarios, with Kelly interjecting a comment here or there. She had lost a lot of her previous energy; the severity of what Levi had said finally reaching her. Levi thought about joining in but ended up staying back to field any questions asked of him. He wasn’t sure he could think about the issues they were talking about critically, his emotions skill flaring up anytime he thought about his experience. But that was why he confided in other people. Something stank, and he wanted answers. And if he needed help to get those he wasn’t above asking for it.