It was a few days later when I was officially given the okay to return to the outside world and start my duties as a Team Leader. I already used the Knowledge Book. Leo suggested I use it actually, to help with my Profession’s ability. The information that flooded into my mind was almost too much, it took only a few moments, but it felt way longer.

To put it simply, contracts were bullshit. You didn’t need to reference any laws, or title codes. You didn’t even need to get it properly documented in any way! Any words on the paper and at least two signatures were all that it required to work. I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t test it out already with Leo.

The contract was simple, it just stated that I would give him a high five before the end of the day. That was it. We both signed it, and a blue box appeared confirming the contract was magically binding.

The True Court of The System has acknowledged the Contract between Mathew and Leo. All participants are magically bound to the contract. Failure to uphold your end will result in punishment.

I was actually afraid of what the punishment could mean and quickly gave Leo a high five. Nothing said the contract was completed, and by the next day nothing happened to me. So we assumed there was nothing to show the contract ended if it actually did.

“I can go with you if you want Mathew.” Leo said.

“No, I want to do this alone, my profession is about contracts, I need to improve my skills alone. I got Writing up to 9 because of your help, but I think a successful signing of the contract will rank it up.” Part of me was thankful he offered, but it was the truth. I can’t depend upon others all the time.

“Alrighty, we will be waiting in the Training Area. Remember, don’t spill the beans on everything you got either. Do well, and show them why you were in charge back in the office.”

I smiled on my way to his office. Crow actually helped a lot with the contract as well. He offered how deals typically worked within guilds. Service of players and guild leaders. Players get access to the guild hall and all its services, the players have to follow quests and give a portion of the loot as payment.

I arrived at his office and saw who I guessed was his receptionist. “Is the General in his office?”

The Airman nodded, “Yes, he has been expecting you Mathew. Door is unlocked.”

I headed into his office which was smaller than I expected. A dark wooden desk was in the middle and behind it was General Dritzka. However another person was in the room, Jerry.

General Dritzka, Level 2, Unclassed

Jerry, Level 4, Unclassed

“Ahh Mathew! I was hoping to see you sooner, but I assumed you needed the rest. How was your recovery?” Dritzka stood up and held out a hand to shake. I shook it back and took a seat.

“It went well sir, I came to talk about my new position as a Team Leader, I even have the contract written up. I do hope we can come to an agreement.” I pulled out the paperwork and a pen for him to sign.

“Excellent, I assumed as much hence why I have my legal advisor, Jerry.” He gestured to Jerry who in turn smiled at me.

“Mathew, if you don’t mind I will take a look at that.” Jerry said, taking the papers away from me.

He looked them over and I started to sweat a little. I only planned for General Drtizka to read them, I just hope things still go somewhat to plan. I had a plan for Dritzka to be the kind of person to glance over things and sign paperwork. With Jerry here, he will read every word and more than likely call out a few lines that seem insane. However, I knew that contract was 100% legal in the eyes of The System. That Knowledge Book works wonders.

“Mathew, either you are playing a prank, or your near-death experience did more harm to you than expected. What is this? There are lines here that make no legal sense. ‘The First Party shall not go back against his word’, that’s what a contract is for Mathew!” Jerry said.

I shrugged and tried to act dumb, “It’s what I came up with. If you don’t trust it, then sign it, and laugh at me in a courtroom. I kept it simple due to our current predicament. I kept it to what I wanted. Insurance on three of my team members, that General Dritzka or anyone under him won’t try to leave me for dead again, and other small things like ensuring his word is kept. On the other side, 10% of loot we acquire goes directly to General Dritzka or anyone he tells me to, plus my team will follow any orders that are lawful.” Except it’s under The System’s laws, which almost are aligned with the laws of America luckily for me.

Jerry scoffed finished reading it, “If we want to take this seriously, technically it’s legal. Any document signed by you two will be upheld in court. However the wording and the lack of reference to anything make it a weak contract, one we can easily get out of legally if needed.”

Dritzka looked at me then back to Jerry, “What’s the summarized version?” Fucking knew it.

“Well as he said. Crow, Madison, and Leo are all officially part of his team. He gets the same liberties and rights as any other Team Leader. He can say no to anyone you try to put on his team. At any time he can abandon the contract with no repermends. On the other side, you are locked in without a hefty fee of a return of all loot given. Team 3 will give 10% of all loot given, minus rewards from the System itself. If a unique item drops, an individual case would be made and vetted between you two, or representatives of your choosings. All in all not a bad deal, I suggest increasing loot from 10% to 40% however.”

I looked shocked, “40%! That’s theft! I take no more than 15%”

General Dritzka looked at me. “30% take it or leave it.”

I started to stand up, “Well if you won’t go to at most 20% then I am out of here. Also I won’t even share what level 5 and 6 gave me.” Plant the bait and…I started to walk out leaving the contract behind as if I didn’t care about it.

“Wait! Fine damn it. 20% and once we finished signing you go and report to Sergeant Thomas immediately.” Bingo

We both signed the document and the Blue Box appeared.

The True Court of The System has acknowledged the Contract between Mathew and General Dritzka. All participants are magically bound to the contract. Failure to uphold your end will result in punishment.

“What the fuck is this Mathew!” His face was starting to turn read as both anger and confusion came over. Jerry sat there watching silently having no clue what he was referring to.

I smirked, “Magically bound Contract. Next time you plan to leave me for dead, make sure I am actually dead.” Damn that felt good to one up not only him but Jerry too!

He turned full red and I could see a vein pulse in the corner of his head. Too much?

“Mathew, if you don’t leave my sight instantly I will ensure you never leave that hospital room.” His clenched fist was all I needed to take my leave.

I guess he didn’t see the part where he nor people under his command can’t really touch me. A fun addon from Madison.

Thinking back to when we were all working on the contract together, “If it magically prevents things from happening, why not throw in a line where he can’t hurt you? Like is the contract that literal?”

I honestly had no clue, but it didn’t hurt to add it in, Leo and I both knew this Contract was a botch work and made little sense in an actual courtroom, however I never had the inkling of I did anything wrong.

I walked past his receptionist desk and made my way back toward where Sergeant Thomas normally was by the training area. I did not want to enrage contract magic ever if I could help it.

Negotiation increased to Novice 4.

Writing has ranked up to Beginner 0. Please open the skill for upgrade.

As I walked I opened the skill up and looked at the two upgrades.

Skill Upgrade Available: Writing

Librarian’s Eyes: You start to notice subtle things in writings you read. Including languages you do not understand

Scribes Hands: You can write faster than before. Speed increases with Rank [Applies to Rituals]

I looked them both over for a moment before selecting Scribes Hands. Faster Rituals would be amazing, this was a great upgrade! Crow is going to get so upset, oh well.

I headed outside and found the shooting range where I found some mages lined up next to gun users. More and more people seem to adapt to our new way of life pretty seamlessly. What was that quote? “It’s not the strongest of the species that survives, it’s the most adaptable.” Something like that right? Pretty sure it was Darwin that said that.

Sergeant Thomas saw me walking up and beamed at me, “Well I never imagined you would return here. What caused this?”

“Made a deal with the General, I am to report what I acquired at level 5 and 6.” But not what I picked and upgraded. However I will play nice with Thomas, he was greedy for knowledge and a lackey for the General, but he hasn’t done anything wrong to me.

“Oh great! Do you have any new spells to show off? What about your wisp?” he asked.

I normally kept Wispy around, however today I kept him unsummoned till I finished all I had to. “Yea it’s a bit stronger now. However that isn’t from the level ups.” Directly anyways.

He pulled out my file and started to report what I told him. “Either level 5 or 6 gives a class. I acquired seven points to allocate to my stats. And either from my class or the levels, I acquired Tier 2 spells. My caps went up a bit as well.”

“Excellent! This is good to know people will soon all be acquiring their classes. Just yesterday our second Level 5 acquired their class. With your report, I am sure it is Level 5 that you get it.”

“Huh, good to know, anything else?” I asked.

“That’s it? What about your class? Summoner? What can you summon now!” He almost jumped in excitement.

Shit that's right, they can see my class can’t they? “Uhhh yea I can summon an elemental now. Small guy, but it takes too long otherwise I would show you now.” Please don’t ask anymore.

“What kind of elemental? How does it fight? What’s the mana cost!” I was the only summoner, of course he was extra excited at me.

“Ice, it stabs with it’s arms, and over 200. That’s all to it sir, I will be off, I have to find my team now” I walked off before Thomas could pester me with any more questions. Man at this rate, he will know everything about me before I know it.

I eventually found Leo and the others all who looked like they knew the results of what happened already. “Let me guess, you had to share what you got at level 5 and 6?” Leo asked.

I nodded, “Yup, luckily Thomas believed what I said was everything. Which is true it was, what my class gave me wasn’t a direct given from the levels.”

He fist pumped the air and the other two rolled their eyes. “Why is he so excited?” I asked.

“I just won a bet. We all secretly thought of what the results would be. Madison said he would go for it instantly. Crow thought The General would bring someone in to vett the contract and deny it for how weird it looked.” Leo said.

“Well then Crow also wins. Guess who the legal advisor was? Jerry.” I sat down with them and shared what went down.

“How is he in with a 2 star General?” Crow asked.

“Remember he was on the Convoy with us, which he invited us to and came here with a purpose. I imagine he has several friends here, a circle of the corrupt controlling the base and the people. Luckily all the important parts of the contract were accepted. He was not happy with the little blue box that showed up though, I think he thought he could easily break his word.” I smiled at that memory.

“Well now what oh great and powerful leader.” Madison teased.

“Well tomorrow we show up with the other teams, gear up, and go kill things. Time for you three to level up and get classes of your own. No more sparing and killing things that get too close to the base for you guys.” With that we left to prepare for tomorrow.

I was in my room packing supplies and went to grab the black walking stick. When I did a blue box showed up.

Staff of the Pack Leader [Rare]

What was once the horn of an Infernal Wolf Pack Leader, has been turned into a useful staff. It’s black material seems to never break and is cool to the touch.

+2 to any leadership skills

Grants Summon: Infernal Wolf

Deals 20 Necrotic damage to those hit with it.

“I forgot where I got you, I thought you were just a walking stick.” I was about to put it with my bags when a thought entered my mind. A constant reminder of when I almost died? I would have tried to break it if not for the text saying it wouldn’t. I tightened my grip on it reminding myself of my goal.

“No, I am alive, it’s a reminder to not trust people with my own life. I will get stronger and depend only upon my own magic. I need Crow, Leo and Crow now to help me progress forward. I can trust them enough to not betray me.”

I put the staff next to my bag and laid down in the bed. For now, I will use this place to get stronger, once we are all level 6, we will attempt the Infernal Dungeon. After that we will leave here and check the dungeon that made Isabelle a zombie.

I closed my eyes for the day and tried to fall asleep early, however sleep was the furthest thing I was able to accomplish that night.

We found ourselves in a large conference room. I was wearing my robes and my staff was leaning on the table next to me. Crow, Leo, and Madison were also wearing their combat gear. Crow was wearing leftover battle gear for soldiers who were in combat. Bulletproof everything, combat helmets, arm and leg guards, including heavy steel boots. He was taking his role as tank very seriously spotting a handmade shield made of some metal. It wasn’t a perfect one, but more durable than the riot shields people started off with using.

Leo was less armored, but still wore a similar match up. He had his shotgun on his back ready to pull out and use to shoot if needed. He fought primarily with a modified combat hatchet. It was heavy enough to use in a fight and he normally used either two hands, or one hand and used the other for his shotgun, Lucky. He plans to get his Gun skill up to Beginner today since he claims he is close.

Madison puts me to shame in wearing very little. Crow says she is going for a mix of rogue and monk, a hybrid class called Pugilist. Out of us all she has the most combat experience before The System. She already has her Unarmed skill up to Beginner 5. Surprisingly when I asked her she has 2 skills at beginner and 2 abilities at Beginner as well.

“Most of the people here who had real world experience in things got their skills up extremely fast. It’s probably why you got Writing up to Beginner in a month's time. Most people here are still at Novice 5 or 6 with their combat skills, even after a month of training.” Madison said.

Well I can’t say much, my Knives skill is till only Novice 3.

Captain Franks stood up in front of us all and turned on a projector. “Welcome Teams. I am Captain Franks, most of you probably remember me from that first day most of you came here. I am in charge of giving out your assignments for now on. Before we begin I want each group to introduce yourselves. Team 1 starts.” He sat back down leaving us all to talk.

Team 1 was led by someone I didn’t recognize, he was probably in his 30’s and wore gear similar to Leo. “Hello all, I am Staff Sergeant Falkwreath. You all can call me Drake however. My Team are a bunch of us Marines who happened to be near by when the shit hit the fan. We have been active since day one. I recently acquired Level 5 and my class: Ranger.” A bunch of oorahs went off. “My Team is preparing to delve into the Infernal Dungeon and greet those bastards with good old American lead. If any of you need anything done, call us up.”

He sat down and I saw his group was nine in total. All except Drake and another were Level 4. Damn, I guess everyone is catching up. Soon everyone will have a class. I need to stay ahead of the curve and learn my powers quicker.

Team 2 was smaller, number 6 in total. Most of them were people from my old team under Captain Henderson. I could see Sophia, Damien, and Steve-O. The only other person I recognized was their Team Leader.

“Hello everyone I am Jerry. I am Level 4 and soon will acquire level 5 and hopefully acquire a class that goes well with my fire based speciality. My team are well rounded individuals who have fought the newest type of Infernal creatures. I do hope to go into that Infernal Dungeon as well.” He smiled and I could see Sophia roll her eyes at him.

It was my turn next, I stood up and all eyes were on me. A pit of anger sat in my chest seeing those who betrayed me, being led by Jerry of all people. “I am Mathew, leader of Team 3. While we only number in 4, I am level 6 and the first to acquire a Class here. My team doesn't care about who gets the Infernal Dungeon first. We will take any missions related to patrols and any scouting missions. Our small team makes it easier to travel light and faster than any others.”

We all agreed to take the shitty missions, because it gives us the excuse to stay off base longer and find new things to fight hopefully. The Infernal Dungeon was a half a day’s travel away. Who knows what could be further away in any other direction.

Captain Franks nodded and opened a powerpoint that showed an aerial view of the base and surrounding area. “All good and well, each team will take up sections based on the map here. Team 1, you have been assigned the zones near the Infernal Dungeon. Team 2, you are on patrol duty around the perimeter teaming up with the guards. Reports of an increase in wolves roaming close have been flooding in the past two days.

Team 3, as you requested, you are on scouting. For now, head West along the main highway and report any unusual activity. We have plans to start moving troops back to the city to find people and start to establish some order again. This is something from the Pentagon, so don’t fuck it up. If nobody has any questions then gear up and move out.”

We walked for about 15 minutes until we were far enough from the base to where we felt nobody could see or hear us. “Alrighty Mathew, get to summoning. How many can you have out at one time?” Crow asked.

“Right now two creatures. I plan to bring out Wispy and the one I get from my Staff.” I said, starting to channel magic to summon Wispy. “Summon Wisp!”

A ball of blue light formed in the air and flew around my head a couple times before settling just behind my right shoulder. “Hey little guy, missed you too. I didn’t want to show you off too much yet, sorry.”

“Why do you talk to it like it’s alive? I thought the wisp wasn’t alive?” Leo asked.

“Because Wispy is a good ball of mana who is a good friend of mine! He was the reason I survived and I will honor his duties as such.” I started the summoning for the Infernal Wolf which worked like a Summoning Wispy, but took 30 minutes in total. “Summon Infernal Wolf!”

“Sheesh why do you have to say the spell name aloud Mathew?” Crow asked. “It’s as if you are the main character in an anime calling out all his moves.”

I shrugged, “It’s how the spells work, same with abilities if I recall. Blame The System.”

Madison just blinked at Crow, “You idiot, we have to do it for our abilities too! Don’t tell me you forgot already?”

“Hey, I just assumed Spells would be different okay?” Crow said.

Half an hour later, a wolf with red tinted fur appeared. It was larger than a normal wolf. Sizing around 6 feet if it stood on its hind legs. On its forehead was a black horn just under a foot long. It instantly got in a battle ready position and started to growl at me threateningly.

“Uhhh Mathew, is it supposed to do that?” Crow asked, pulling out his shield and club.

I put my hands up defensively and back away slowly, “Stop it! Sit! Down! Obey!” I shouted commands at it and even tried mentally like I did with Wispy.

The wolf lunged at me and I put my arms up defensively to try and block the attack somehow.

Infernal Wolf dealt 60 Piercing Damage to You

“Fucking Shit! Mathew!” Crow came barreling over and slammed the wolf with his club, sending it a foot away and off me. “Unsummon it! Quickly!”

“Unsummon Infernal Wolf!” I said shakily. My arm stinging from the bite.

The wolf faded away into magic and was gone after a moment. I was laying on the ground, breathing heavily panicking. I almost died. Again! Why the fuck did it try to attack me? Wispy never has done that!

Madison was next to me and I flinched away as she tried to put a hand on me. “Mathew, are you okay? What the crap was that?”

I shook my head, “No clue. It didn’t obey any of my commands, and seemed to not listen or hear me. Both verbally or mentally like I do with Wispy.”

Leo started to pull out bandages from his bag, “Here let me see that, I picked up the First Aid skill recently.” Leo patched me up while I sat there staring at nothing.

Do my summons not obey me? Wipsy acted normal, and when I summoned the Ice Elemental it seemed to not be aggressive. So why was the Wolf any different?

“Mathew, any ideas on your end buddy? Can any of your summons go rogue like that?” Leo asked.

“No, I have enough mana to summon the Ice Elemental though instead. If it attacks me, a swift kick to the face should kill it.” I closed my eyes and leaned back against a tree. Was it because it knew I killed their Pack Leader? Did it want revenge?

Wispy seemed to hover a bit closer to me almost protectively. It was comforting the little blue ball of magic. Instead of warmth it had a small area of cold ar

“When you are ready Mathew, but I suggest soonish. We have a long way to walk.” Leo said.

I nodded and sat there for a moment longer before I decided to get up and summon the Ice Elemental. “Summon Ice Elemental!”

Soon the small body of ice appeared and just stood there not moving an inch. “Okay, so not instantly trying to kill me. That’s a good sign.”

“Try to command it and give it a test run, I have my shotgun ready” Leo said.

I nodded and started to mentally command it like I can Wispy. At first I had it walk around and soon had it running. The little guy was fast, seeming to almost glide across the round. It wasn’t faster than Madi, but it was only Novice 1, eventually I imagine it would become even faster.

“So not a murderous ice cube. Is the wolf the only one?” Crow asked.

I shrugged, “I have no clue why. Maybe because I killed the Pack Leader?”

“Or because you aren't strong enough? What rank is the summon?” Madison asked.

“It doesn't say or show. It has a mana cost, time, everything my spells normally have. Except no rank.” I looked at the spell the staff gave.

Summon Infernal Wolf

These infernal creatures love to fight. A fully grown Infernal Wolf can use it’s horn to its full potential causing it’s enemies to be inflicted with curses.

Health: 50

Damage: 75

Range: Unlimited

Casting Time: 45 Minutes

Mana Cost: 300

“Well until we can figure it out, no more summoning the wolf okay?” Leo said offering a hand to help me up.

I stood up and brushed off the dirt and we all followed the road. We planned to travel until dark, then travel back the next day. Kill anything along the way and work on gaining experience and ranking up our skills. There were abandoned cars along the road occasionally but other than that it was pretty open. It did not take long till our first fight was found.

“Group of bears up a head. Three of them. All level 2. What’s the plan?” Madison reported. She had a skill that made her run faster similar to Damien, so she was our scout.

“We double their levels, so let's just do a forward attack. Crow and Leo keep them distracted, while Wispy and I attack from afar. I will try to get my Ice Elemental to attack every now and then without getting stepped on hopefully. Madi you move in and out and do what you can. Show off a bit, let’s see what we can really do out here.” I gave out the plan and we were soon walking up to them.

Crow had his helmet on and shield out in front with Leo just to his side with his Shotgun aiming at the closest of the bears. I sent the Elementall out and around to get behind the bears and commanded Wispy to start attacking.

The bears instantly charged at Leo and Crow trying to slash their claws or get in a bite on them. They did well staying safe and avoiding heavy amounts of damage.

Bear dealt 25 Slashing Damage to Leo

Bear dealt 20 Piercing Damage to Crow

Bear dealt 10 Slashing Damage to Crow

I saw Madison run up to the bear on the right side. Her fist caught fire as she slammed it into the bear's side. “Fiery Fist!”

Madison dealt 50 Fire Damage to Bear

I saw Madi jump back and dodge an attack from a bear. Leo saw this and aimed Lucky right at the bear and pulled the trigger.

Leo dealt 100 Fire Damage to Bear

However, Leo didn’t see the bear in the middle take a swing at him. He wouldn’t be able to dodge the attack if it weren't for Crow.

“No you don’t! Block!” His shield flashed in front of where Leo stood and blocked the attack, however that left Crow open to a few attacks against him.

Bear dealt 30 Slashing Damage

Bear dealt 28 Piercing Damage

I winced as he took two attacks and mentally commanded the Ice Elemental to attack from behind. I couldn't see what he did but the damage notification told me enough.

Ice Elemental dealt 59 Cold Damage to Bear.

Wispy dealt 109 Cold Damage to Bear.

The bear in the middle didn't look too good after those two attacks. I decided to finish it off before it could do anything else.

“Ice Bolt!” I lobbed the chunk of ice at the bear however it wasn’t enough to kill it just yet. That’s when Madison came from behind a car and jumped on the Bear punching it over and over again.

You dealt 41 Cold Damage to Bear.

Madison Dealt 10, 12, 11 and 9 Bludgeoning Damage to Bear.

The bear fell to the ground dead, leaving only two left. Madison quickly left the fight leaving Leo and Crow to each fight their own Bear alone. I commanded my Elemental to go in for another attack while I willed Wispy to attack the bear Crow was fighting.

Unfortunately the bear took a step back and stepped on my Elemental killing it instantly.

Wispy dealt 110 Cold Damage to Bear.

Bear dealt 25 Bludgeoning Damage to Ice Elemental. Weak Spot!

I groaned in annoyance but quickly got back into the fight. Time to see how this works, Wispy.

I channeled mana to Wispy and saw Wispy almost aggressively shake in place and grow brighter. After a moment Wispy launched a large beam of blue at the bear Leo was fighting.

Wispy dealt 250 Cold Damage to Bear

Wispy dealt 250 Cold Damage to Leo

Wispy dealt 250 Cold Damage to Madison

The Bear fell down dead, but both Leo and Maidson took a heavy hit from that and fell to the ground in pain.

“Fucking Shit! MATHEW! The fuck did you do!” Leo yelled out at me.

“Bloody Fucking Hell Mathew!” Madison also yelled out at me from behind a car. I didn’t know she was over there, nor that the attack would do such a devastating thing.

The moment caused Crow to look at his friends who were all heavily injured and the Bear took advantage of the moment.

Bear dealt 75 slashing damage to Crow. Critical!

I cursed at myself. “Sorry guys I didn’t know it would do that!”

“Mathew worry about them later, help me finish off the bear!” Crow yelled, getting his shield between himself and the bear.

I shot both an Ice Bolt and an attack from Wispy at the bear.

You dealt 42 Cold Damage to Bear

Wispy dealt 110 Cold Damage to Bear.

Those two attacks finished it off, killing the last bear. Blue Boxes appeared but I ignored them for now running over to Leo and Madison.

They were both shaking as if very cold even though it was warm outside. “Fucking, what was that Mathew? It feels like I have frostburn on half my body.

Madison just laid there shivering, her teeth clacking.

“I had no idea it worked like that. I thought it was like a normal attack from Wispy just stronger. Sorry!” I started to take out the First Aid kit and honestly had no idea where to start.

“Fucking, Crow take over, you know basic first aid right?” Leo shouted.

“Yea, but not the skill.” He got to work patching up Leo first, who then finished what Crow messed up then moved to Madison.

I felt pretty shitty about hurting them, but I honestly had no clue it would do that. I need to be careful using that one. I guess the catch for the increase in damage is that it is AOE.

Once they were patched up, we took a break and looked over our Blue Boxes.

Battle Summary

Bear x3: 250 Experience.

Summon Ice Elemental increased to Novice 2

Tactics increased to Novice 6

“Anyone level up?” They all shook their heads.

“I need at least another 100 and I am the closest to a Level Up.” Madison said.

I nodded, “Well we have plenty of light left, you guys ready to continue onward?”

“Only if you promise to not do that again Mathew, that shit hurts. I understand you didn’t know what it did, but try not to use it when one of us or anyone else is going to get hit please?” Leo said

I sheepishly nodded, “I am sorry, both of you. I won’t do it again.” With that we were heading off to find new things to kill and grind on.