The sounds of beeping was all that greeted me as I slowly awoke in a room I never seen before. Flashes of what I last remembered jump started me awake in a panic, the beeping getting higher pitched and faster. I was in a small room, the walls painted an off lime green color. The sudden movement caused me to groan in pain and lie back down. Bandages covered most of my body, and what I could feel was stiff as if I was sunburned back as a child.

I could see a few tubes enter my arm as whatever medicine pumped into me. I was afraid to pull the sheets off and look at my lower body. However the feeling of moving my toes sated that curiosity for now. There was a whiteboard near the door that led into what I assumed was a hallway. At the top was my name, along was a list of what my conditions were.

Severe burns essentially everywhere, punctures from the wolf, and a few broken bones. I thought to myself. How am I alive? I closed my eyes thinking of everything and almost fell back asleep. The door opened and brought me back to full consciousness.

Walking in was none other than Brown. He was wearing scrubs and several other nurse-like objects. He didn’t realize I was awake at first, so I attempted to speak but all that came out was a weeze.

“Oh wow, Mathew you are awake!” He put everything down on a nearby table and rushed over to me. “Hey man, good to see you alive. I’ve been one of the nurses taking care of ya. I’m going to get the Doctor, try not to fall back asleep just yet okay?”

I simply nodded slightly and he left, leaving the door open. I could see out into the hallway a little bit, but nothing I saw was interesting enough to worry about. No Mathew eating wolves to be seen. A few moments later a familiar woman came walking in.

“Mathew it is so good to see you awake! I do hope you remember me, it’s Doctor Gloria! Here, let me help you sit up and take those bandages off your face.”

That’s why I couldn’t speak I guess. As she took off the bandages, I could see some sort of ointment on them, probably for the burns. It smelled familiar, like that stuff you put on after getting sunburnt. I stretched out my jaw a bit to remove any stiffness, however it didn’t help. My skin felt very stiff still, but I could speak now.

“Hey, yea I remember you Doctor. Thanks for that. How long has it been since I uhhh got here?” I mentally hoped it wasn’t very long.

“Only a couple of days, I will be honest, you got lucky Mathew. By the old world standards, you should be dead.” She sat down at the foot of my bed and showed empathy for me. “Our reports said you had no points in Endurance or Vitality, nor any healing skills or magic. Just how did you do what you did?”

I got quite fast the memories of those wolves, fighting them off alone. She was right, why am I not dead? I did have a point in each, but was that what really saved me? “I remembered Brown healing me before I was knocked out the first time. Could that have helped?”

She thought for a moment and shrugged, “Honestly no clue. We are learning so much about how The System works, and learn something new everyday. As soon as you were found outside the gates, every healer both in magic and skill was on top of you. I recall your friend Leo personally making death threats to me if you died.” She smiled at that.

“Yea I guess that makes sense.” Why were they at the gates? Did they think I was dead? Not care enough to come get me till I was at their doorstep?

Gloria could see I didn’t want to talk anymore at that point and patted my leg lightly, “You should be fully healed in a week. I suggest no Magic or System shenanigans for today at least, try to make it to tomorrow also please? Your friends will probably show up tonight when they get off shift. They constantly have been worried about you. For now Brown will check on you every hour till his shift ends as well.” She walked out and smiled at me one last time.

I laid back and closed my eyes thinking of what to do when I recovered. First things first, I would need to review everything from my levels and rewards, Crow would want to help me with all that more than likely. After that, what? Do I keep doing those escapades? They abandoned me, and I had to defeat that wolf alone. I gotta be strong enough to wonder alone now right?

Do I even want to be here anymore? The base offers safety and security. Plus information, I need to stay here. I don’t have to follow their orders though. What if I made a contract? My profession makes it to where those are bound by magic right? I pondered on the thought a bit before my stomach started to rumble.

I pressed a button to page a nurse for help, it was Brown again. “Hey Mathew, whats up?”

I faked a posh accent one of my older brothers would always use when we went anywhere fancy for meals, “What kind of food service does this place have? I expect a 5 star meal sir”

Brown rolled his eyes and smirked, “Sure you want the normal stuff, or the green jello?”

I winced at the mention of green jello, “Honestly I would enjoy some eggs and tea if that’s possible.” He nodded and started to walk out. “Wait! One more thing, can I get some paper and a pen please?”

It was a couple of hours later before my first guest came by. It was Captain Henderson, she was dressed in normal clothing which was a rare sight to see her in. She just stood in the doorway, not coming in all the way, nor meeting my eyes.

I didn’t know if I wanted her to. She left me alone to die. I had to fight to survive, alone! I guess my face revealed my emotions because Henderson held her head in shame. “Mathew...I” She didn’t say anything else for a moment. Then she sniffed back her emotions and looked at me in the eyes. “I’m sorry Mathew, I really am. I thought you were dead. If it was anyone else maybe, but you just had nothing to convince me otherwise. It wasn’t till we were out of the cave when Brown told me he healed you, even then I didn’t think…”

She moved all the way in and sat down, holding her head in her hands. I could tell she regretted her choice, but did that excuse it? I don’t know if I can forgive her, but I can at least understand her choice and reasoning.

“Henderson, I know you are a great and smart leader. If you thought it was best, then it was. I don’t know if I will ever forgive you, hell, I even hated you till just a little while ago. It was part of what fueled me to get out of there. To prove I wasn’t weak.” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes trying to keep any harsh words down.

The only sound in the room were the machines plugged into me. That was the only noise for at least 20 minutes. She finally stood up and pulled out a book from her pocket. “Mathew, have you ever heard of a Memory Book? It’s something soldiers keep, to remember their fallen brothers and sisters.” She opened it about a third of the way and showed me what was written. It was my name, with a line through it. It was the only one on that page with a line through it.

“You are the first I ever did that too. The first soldier who actually came home and could tell his own story. I wanted you to know, I won’t forget this. For better or for worse.” She put it away in her pocket and then left without another word. I didn’t know what to do at that point, too empty to even pull up my menu even. I laid there thinking of what she just said and what it meant.

I must have eventually fallen asleep, and I had no clue for how long. Eventually I woke up with a feeling I almost was too embarrassed to call in Brown for help with. I really had to use the bathroom.

The next day I felt much better. So much so most of my bandages were taken off revealing the new skin slowly growing back to full health. Even with a few third-degree burns, I didn’t need any skin grafting. Healing magic or The System prevented that luckily, however I would have scars from the claws and puncture wounds. Still, I was alive, all thanks to my magic.

I had to restrain myself from opening my menu and looking over everything right then and there. Instead I spent my time writing. I had no clue how contracts worked, but I had a funny feeling old world contracts were no longer a thing. I took inspiration from Leo’s oath and attempted to put something into words. I had no clue if anything like this would work, but it was busy work at the least. Not long after breakfast, three familiar faces popped in to say hello.

“Mathew you are alive!” Crow was the first over to me, grabbing me in a hug. I hissed in pain and he quickly let go of me, “Oops, sorry dude.”

Madison rolled her eyes, “Crow you can’t hug burn victims. Remember what Doctor Gloria said?” She huffed and started to smile again, “Glad to see you are alive Mathew. You owe us the story of how you did it.”

“Sure sure, I will probably tell the story a dozen times this week, and countless more in my life.” I slightly laughed, but pain flared up from Crow agitating my wounds. I looked over to Leo and could see pride in his eyes.

“I knew you were alive, my quest told me so.” No longer able to hold back he started to cry a bit and quickly recomposed himself. “If it means anything to you, I am pretty sure I am on everyones’ shit list for how I acted when everyone but you came back.”

“Well I am glad I was worth it. Sit down, let me tell you what happened.” During the story a Nurse came in to check in on me, and didn’t leave till I finished my story. Apparently there were some bets going around on how I survived, and she wanted to spread the news. I left out the part where I remembered my childhood, since that was a bit private, but everything leading to when I appeared at the base was shared with these three.

Crow held up both hands, “Wait, did you say you leveled up twice?” Leave it to Crow to worry about game mechanics and not my life.

“Yes, I have the ability to pick my class now as well, but I think I will hold off a day or two. I really want to look at my rewards and everything as well in the meantime. Where is my stuff?”

Leo shrugged, “They took everything and put it who knows where. If you had anything you wanted to keep hidden, it’s probably been looked at by everyone in this damn base who is high enough in rank.”

I frowned at that, I didn’t know what I had, but one of them was related to my profession. I just had to hope the rewards were vague or weird enough they couldn’t gleam too much information off of it. “That sucks, well when I get out of here, I will be sure to share what everything is with you all.” Crow was about to say something, but I beat him to it, “Yes, I will hold off on doing anything with my stats and class till we are all present.”

That satisfied him, and they took their leave, except Leo stayed behind in the doorway. “Mathew, I am glad you are back, for more than just my own personal oath. Just don’t do it again okay?”

“Sure Leo, I promise to never ever solo fight a giant wolf surrounded by lava inside a cave.”

Make a verbal Contract?

Yes / No

I took a second thinking why this box would appear, but just shrugged it off for now and selected no. Leo seemed a bit confused by the box, but didn’t say anything about it. Closing the door behind him, I was left alone with nothing but my thoughts. I decided to fall back asleep till either food or a nurse woke me up.

It was day three of being in this hospital, and if everything checks out, Doctor Gloria said I can return to my own room. However she demands I stay on bed rest till the end of the month. It was when she mentioned that, it reminded me how short of a time it’s been since this whole System stuff started.

A depressed thought entered my mind.Two more days till a month has gone by. A month since my parents died. My mind went to my past again, all those times when they forgot about me too. It’s not easy raising seven kids, especially when all of them are boys. It sucks being the youngest, I was often forgotten about once I was able to fend for myself. Just like the Pack Leader. Left to fight for myself. I smiled slightly, remembering I technically had my wisp.

“Hmm, I wonder if I should give it a name? Wispy? Willbur? William?” I got lost in thought, suddenly forgetting about being forgotten about often in my past. I got to ‘Blue Orb of Doom’ before a knock was heard at my door. “Come in” I just assumed it was Brown or another nurse checking in on me. However, I was wrong.

Standing in the doorway was an old grizzled man. He wore a military uniform that is common here, where his rank would be spotted two stars. Behind him was Sergeant Thomas, in his hands that damned folder with all my information in it. This is either really good, or really bad.

“Mathew! Good to see you are well, most of my Airmen and the other Civilians are constantly talking about you.” He closed the door and took a seat. Thomas sat next to him clicking a pen and pulling out a notepad to take notes.

“Yes Sir, I’ve had a few visitors to hear my story. I really doubt that is why you are here though.” I kept myself calm here, or at least tried to. Put on your war face Mat, it’s like talking to a Judge. Play nice.

“I took you as a smart one. You are correct, we mostly know of the story through the grapevine as it was, we are mostly here for a couple reasons. Primarily to take notes on what level’s 5 and 6 give. You are currently the highest level member on this base, and anything you can tell us would be tremendous!” He put on a smile and a winning face.

“Sure General….” I focused and read his name from my second favorite feature the System offers.

Major General Dritzka, Level 2, Unclassed

“Major General Dritzka. I would be more than happy to divulge that information, however I can’t tell you specifics of each level. I got both levels at once, including the rewards.” I already was going over what to share with him. I couldn’t give away any big secrets like titles or achievements. He probably already saw my loot.

“Of course that is fine, our researchers think Level 5 is a milestone of sorts. While level 6 is just another filler level like 3 and 4. Unallocated Stat points and increase the cap to the number of spells, skills, and/or abilities one can learn at one time.” He said so matter of factly. Sounds like the cut and dry version.

What piqued my interest was the mention of cap to learning skills and abilities. Was it for each? I knew 3 skills and 3 spells. But I acquired all of them at level 4? What was my cap in each? I didn’t respond quick enough apparently.

“Well Mathew? Was it so much you can’t remember?” He smiled in a friendly manner again. God he is almost as bad as Judge Jerry.

“Yes, sorry. It was a very traumatic experience I went through. If I recall in total I received 5 stat points to allocate. Plus I received a quest to acquire my class.” I didn’t say anymore. The class thing is probably across everyone at a certain level, just like Professions.

Thomas wrote that down and asked, “And have you allocated your stats yet, or started the Quest for your class?”

I shook my head, “No, I have been put on a strict, ‘No System Stuff’ from Doctor Gloria till the end of the month.”

General Dritzka seemed disappointed in that, “Shame, oh well we can start it once you are given the green light. I learned to never upset your medical caretakers. On your face day back, Thomas here will take record of everything.” He told me, never asked. As if he expects it from me. More and more he reminds me of people I don’t like. Which are the perfect people I like to take advantage of.

“Yes Sir, and may I ask, what happened to my stuff? Some of that is related to my profession and the quest reward for slaying the Pack Leader. It could shed more light onto my class and powers.”

“Ahh yes, that’s another thing. When you report in, to Sergeant Thomas here, you will record what they are called and do. Two of the items are in bags, we decided to not mess with them. Both for our safety and to not accidentally break anything.”

That means they couldn’t open them I bet. Typical. “Good deal. That’s a smart idea, I have no idea what they are. Is there anything else General?”

He seemed to relax in his chair at that, “Actually yes, that brings me to the next topic. I wanted to offer you the position of Team Leader for Team 3. You are the highest ranked person here, plus most people respect you more after your heroic deeds.”

I raised an eyebrow, No way. “I would be honored sir, but what's the catch?”

“No catch, nothing crazy that is, you will be put in charge of a team. You pick your people out of a list. Team 1 and 2 get first picks however. After that, you all will be tasked with various things much like when you were with Captain Henderson. Fairly simple stuff really.”

I thought it over for a moment and had an idea. “Can I get that in writing?”

He seemed a bit taken aback by that, “Uhhh sure, we can have it ready by the time you are fully recovered.”

I shook my head, “No actually, I will write it out, if that is okay with you?”

He looked over to Sergeant Thomas who shrugged. General Dritzka looked back to me, “I would have to vett it with my lawyers, but sure. I know you used to be a lawyer, but why do you want to type it out?”

I suppressed a smirk, “Well I have a writing skill I have been working on improving. If I write out an official document I bet it would improve it by at least 1 stage at least.”

He nodded at that, “Seems like a good idea, smart one you are Mathew. Have it sent to my office and if it seems acceptable, I will sign it.”

With that, he stood and left with Thomas following behind him like a lost puppy. I pulled out my papers and pen and started to get to work.