I sipped my tea while I waited for Madison and Leo to return with their dinner. We decided to talk about our plans moving forward over food. Crow was already sitting down with his meal chowing down on a burger and some fries.

I had several folders I borrowed from Sergeant Thomas on some of the top candidates to recruit for this endeavor. I looked around the cafeteria at everyone here, all survivors just like me. A few people waved at me or smiled as they passed. It seemed to be more than just friendliness, but I had nothing to confirm it.

“Crow, I wanted to ask you something. You still have all those books in your room right? Do you have anything on infernal creatures?” I asked.

He finished chewing his food. “I don’t have any of those books with me, why do you ask? Are you still considering taking an Imp as a familiar or as a bound summon?

I nodded, “The latter, Iwant to test the limitations of the spell. Ten automatically worked under me as a bound summon. Just like Wispy or the Ice Elemental.” Whom at this point, deserve a name, but later on that. “I want to try and test if the Imps will do the same.”

“Use it as a way to get information out of them. I like it, when you want to test it out?”

“Sooner than later. Next time we go out. I’ll run the idea by Leo and Madison when they get over here. What’s taking them so long?” I looked around and still didn’t see them.

He chuckled. “Mathew you are terrible at picking up the subtle things. They are just talking things out probably. They enjoy each other's company.”

I put my tea cup down and looked at him appalled. “Madison is like sixteen Crow. Leo is my age. What the fuck are you implying?”

Crow had to stifle a laugh as he looked at me like I was the idiot. “Dude, not like that. Remember when we were out scouting? They just get along really well. More like Brother and Sister. I swear for a high Intelligence, you forget everything.”

“Oh I’m sorry Crow, I am more focused on not having the world taken over by literal devils. If my old History teacher from Highschool heard about this, she would literally kill herself out of sheer terror.”

“Sure. Don’t stress out. We already have a team of four. Just need to snag five more and we have the perfect Raid Team!” Crow said excitedly.

Crow shared his online experience with large parties doing something called ‘Raids’. It’s for the more difficult dungeons or boss fights. Normal parties go around doing quests and smaller dungeons together. However Raids require every person to pull equal weight. We needed a Main Tank, an off Tank, a Healer, a Support, a Mage, two or three DPS fighters and preferably someone with debuffs.

Crow was again surprising me with how serious he was taking this. “There they are, I see them”

Madison and Leo came over with their trays of food. “Sorry took us so long, they ran out of spinach for my salad.”

“It’s fine. Now I have several people in mind to join us. Airman Brown, and Damien are my first two candidates.”

Leo looked at me puzzled, “They were on your old team and left you for dead. Why are you wanting them back on your team?”

“Brown was really sorry for what happened. He constantly checked up on me while I was recovering and he also is the reason I survived. He did a throw away healing spell at me before I was knocked out.”

He nodded, “Why Damien?”

“Honestly? Because our pool is small enough that he is the only other good DPS roll. He fights like Madison, except with daggers and goes for weak spots. He can also team up with Madison when scouting ahead so she isn’t alone. If he pulls his weight here, I might forgive him a bit more for what happened.”

“Is it really that limited? You have a stack of over ten folders there.” Madison said pointing.

“Most people are not even Level 5 yet. Both Brown and Damien are. I want to give us the best chance to survive this encounter. No risks and we do all the planning. I have two others who show promise. One of which I met the other day. Hennessy.”

I opened his folder which showed a summarized detail of his stats.

Name: Hennessy

Level: 4

Strength: 15

Vitality: 12

Dexterity: 10

Endurance: 17

Intelligence: 13

Wisdom: 10

“His stats are very similar to Crow. He fights with a hammer he recently made and if we get him that Iron Ore he can help equip us with proper gear. He still aims for a smithing based class, but he is our only other option for an off tank.”

I put his folder away and pulled out a second one. “This person I never heard of before. Apparently just after The System finished the synchronization this person came to the base from the woods. He has gone from Level 1 to Level 4 almost as fast as I did. He claims to be an herbalist in the old world.” I opened the bare folder which only had his picture and a few notes on him.

“Mathew, he doesn't have his stats listed here or anything, just that he fights with a pair of daggers? We already have our DPS roles filled, you said.” Crow said.

“I talked to Sergeant Thomas. He claims the mysterious person fights with curses and finishes them with his daggers. A quiet kid, but scary. He is the only person who has any hint of a debuff ability or spell.”

“We don’t really need a debuffer Mathew, it was only a suggestion.” Crow said closing the folder. “What about another mage role? You rely on summons, so someone who is a bit more blasty would be nice.”

I grimmenced at that. “There are plenty of choices for that. Jerry would be top pick if not for his injury.” Which is a blessing in disguise, I do not want to work with that guy.

“So what are the options there?” Leo asked.

“If we want another mage role we have three choices. The first is a mage who used to be a physics teacher.” He looked familiar, but I know he was never one of my teachers since I didn’t go to school in this state. I opened his folder and when I saw his picture I was sure I had seen him before.

“He fights using Earth Magic primarily. Giant rocks and the like. He is only Level 2 however. So we will need to work on him the most.”

“Our second option is another fire magic user. A red headed woman who Sergeant Thomas swears is a demon in disguise. She uses large fiery explosions. Actually it’s her only spell: ‘Fireball’. It’s already a higher rank than any of my own spells or skills. It’s impressive but she is limited to that one spell.”

Madison shook her head. “Hard pass, that one time with Wispy was enough for me. No more explosion type magic please.”

“That leaves option three. Another Level 2 person. A large man who calls himself ‘The best wizard in the world’. Yes that is his name when you look at his name bar. He fights using a varius of purple colored spells under the ‘Arcane’ spell tree. Currently has two spells. One Crow calls a classic known as ‘Arcane Darts’. His other spell is utility based, he can make a purple platform that he moves mentally.”

I opened his folder to show the photo of an average looking man. He had the start of a beard and his posture reminded me of fake internet influencers. Always gaudy in everything they do.

“Those are our three mage options if we want a second one.” I said.

“We should at least talk to them right?” Leo asked.

“Right. We can talk to everyone tomorrow. We still need a support role, however that is harder to fill as they are all medics typically. Captain Franks is going to find someone for us on that end.”

We finished our meals, and I went to inform Captain Franks of our first choices. Once I had everything taken care of, I went back to my room and relaxed for the night.

Crow and I were going to be the ones asking questions with the interviews. Leo and Madison went to train or whatever they wanted to do. Not any of my concern.

Our first interview was Damien. He was sitting on the other side of the table of us, not meeting my eyes. “You really want me to go back out there against those fire freaks?”

“Yes Damien we do. Both you and Brown actually” I said.

“I thought you hated all of us?”

I didn’t say anything for a moment. “I still do, somewhat. However I am taking this seriously. Sophia and Steve-O both died so you could come back alive. We have to beat this dungeon fast. What will happen in a month? Two months? They can leave the Dungeons so we need to shut it down quickly. Unless you want to leave me to die again?”

My words were harsh, and I felt good saying them. A part of me really held tight to that grudge and I was letting it out on him. Crow put a hand on my shoulder to stop me.

Damien lowered his head in shame, “You know that isn’t what happened.”

“So I’ve been told.” I said harshly.

“Mathew, stop it man.” Crow said.

I looked at him and he had a stern face. I looked at him uncaringly but stopped my harassment.

“Damien, we can honestly use your class. A rogue is a good one for any Raid Party. At least join so Steve-O and Sophia didn’t die in vain.” Crow said.

Damien shook his head slowly. “I can’t do that, I gave up after seeing Sophia and Steve-O died. I almost did as well when I heard you died Mathew. I’m not fighting anymore, even if I get stuck at this level for the rest of my life.”

He got up and walked away, leaving Crow and I alone.

“Dude, that was uncool. Why did you twist the knife that was in his heart?” Crow said.

I rubbed at my face with my hands. “I don’t know Crow, seeing him in person brought out some seeded hatred for him. It just felt good to do it. Some form of justice.”

Crow shook his head. “Just don’t do the same to Brown when he gets here please?”

“Sure, Brown actually wanted to join the team when we first were formed. I also know we need a healer, badly.”

Crow dropped the conversation and we waited in silence till the next person came in. It was a tall and skinny man. He wore a simple t-shirt that said “This is my Maze” and a pair of jeans.

Oh no, not another one.

The Best Wizard in the World, Level 4, Unclassed

“Greetings my fellow adventures! I do hope that we can come to an appropriate agreement for my joining of this party.” He gave a slight bow and instantly I wanted to punch this guy just for his gaudiness.

Crow took the lead, “Welcome, uhhh, do you have a nickname or something we can call you?”

“Of course good sir! You may call me Q.” He sat down in the chair across from us.

“Right, Q. I was told you have the Arcane spell tree. Do you have anything else?” Crow asked.

“I have one other unlocked, but such spells are beneath a wizard of my aptitude.” Q said.

“Right, and what role would you fill in a party? I assume based off your M&M shirt you have some basis for how that works.” Crow said, already writing something on his paper.

“Right, the classic wizard role. A mix of utility and combat spells. I already have Arcane Darts, and Arcane Disk. The only other Tier 1 spell I can pick next is Arcane Light. My darts spell is at Novice 9 while the disk is at Novice 6.” He opened up his menu to read off of it.

“I have focused on Intelligence only, with a few other stats from my titles. One of which is the sole reason I am THE BEST WIZARD IN THE WORLD!” Q said the last part very loudly and proudly.

The title part peaked my interest. He has titles as well?

“And those titles are?” I asked

“Well a fantastic wizard such as myself must have some secrets, no? However I understand it might sway your decision so I will share the weaker of the three.” A blue box appeared in front of Crow and I at a wave of Q’s hand.

Title: Performer - From your actions of showing off and demanding of being the center of attention you have gained this title.

+2 Vitality

+2 Dexterity

Wait, he gets +2 in two stats! My first one only gave +1. However it gave me a unique profession, does his do the same?

“What about profession?” I ask.

“Sadly only a scholar one. I hope I can turn it into a proper profession at Level 15.” Q said.

“And the class you aim for?”

“Wizard at the least, if I can get a unique version tied to my greatness I would greatly enjoy that.”

“Alrighty, and what about skills. Anything worth mentioning?” I asked as Crow handed me a piece of paper.

Hard no.

“Well, I only have three skills. Acting, Reading, and Knives. Respectively they are Beginner 1, Beginner 0, and Novice 3.” He closed his menu and turned his main focus toward us.

“Acting and Reading? What do they do for you?” Crow asked.

“Acting just increases my acting ability, the upgrade improves my spell casting so long as I flaunt my charismatic self off. Reading again just improved my reading ability. Made me faster at reading. Upon upgrade, which was a hard choice, it allows me to analyze written documents better. I hope to study magical documents if such things ever exist. For ONLY THE BEST WIZARD EVER should have the best skills.” He ended with a toothy smile.

Mental note to try and acquire the Reading skill, I thought to myself.

Crow nodded, “Well if we decided to recruit you, we will let you know.”

Q stood up and bowed, “It was a pleasure. Especially to meet you, Mathew.” He started to walk out.

“Wait, what do you mean by that?” I asked

“You don’t know? You are the highest leveled person here.” He put a hand to his cheek. “At least, for now. Soon it will be me. Bye!” He walked out

“Crow, why does me being the highest level have to do with popularity?” I ask

“Probably because of two reasons. One is that you defeated the infernal wolf dude two weeks ago. The other is you are essentially our last hope. Well the team is anyways. Team 1 is assumed dead, and half of Team 2 are out of service.”

I nodded, “Makes sense. Who is next?”

We went through a handful of other interviews. We originally only wanted the main people we had in mind, however with Damien not wanting to join, we needed a replacement DPS role. One showed the best aptitude.

The leather worker I met a few days ago was planning on being a Ranger. She was only Level 2, but Crow mentioned having a ranged DPS person like her was perfect. That way the front lines didn’t stay crowded.

The last person was the physics teacher, he was an older man, probably in his upper 50’s. Once I saw him I recognized him. “Aren't you the guy whose case I closed right before The System came into our lives?”

When he saw me he was both furious and somewhat satisfied. “Correct, you helped my ex-wife take half of my possessions. However, if you would recall, you also convinced her to not keep the dogs. The brightest side is she died that first day, good riddance. So no bad blood between us anymore.”

Marcus, Level 3, Unclassed

I raised my eyebrow, “You gained a level recently?”

“Yes, I have been on the walls helping defend. I have a ranged spell and using proper physics, I can kill most Imps in two attacks.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “The mana cost is the harsh bit.”

“Care to elaborate?” I asked.

“Right, so one of my spell trees is Earth magic. The first spell I acquired at Level 2 let’s me conjure a rock and throw it around with my mind. However I realized I can generate more force by using gravity. So I simply send it high into the air, and let it fall and hit creatures.”

I was really impressed. He took a spell and made it work for him better than it was supposed to. “That’s amazing, what other spell trees and spells can you acquire?”

“Well, under Earth there is only one other spell, it surrounds my arms with rocks so I can attack in melee that way. I have two other spell trees: Transmutation and Arcane. Transmutation came from my profession which was upgraded from my title: Physicist.”

Crow took charge of the questions from there, “What are your stats currently?”

“I actually have very few. I never allocated them because I had no idea what I was doing. Once I heard of classes I decided to wait till I got one of those.” He opened his menu and looked over the stats.

“My title gives me +1 to Intelligence and Strength. I have the basic Achievements. I also started with less Dexterity than most people, however I started with higher intelligence. That Thomas fellow says it’s from my age more than likely.”

Crow started to get that energy about him. Wherever he helps people with their builds or gives advice he starts to get this way. “You should become a Geomancer!”

“A Geologist? No thank you, those guys are psychopaths. Only the insane can love rocks that much.” Marcus crossed his arms and leaned back into his chair.

“No, it’s a magic user who focuses on, well, Rocks. It’s one of four core elemental classes. You can manipulate rocks and it’s all based around physics, hence your Transmutation Spell Tree.”

He seemed very interested in what Crow was saying. “So it’s not about knowing the different rocks, but how to use them? I think I like that.”

Crow nodded, “I can help you with stat allocation later, and if you join our team, you will receive your class faster than you will get alone.”

“I think you made a good case. I hope I do get to join your team Mathew. Even if you almost made me lose half my life, perhaps you can help me make a new one.”

“Just maybe Mr. Marcus. I will say, your ex-wife made a really horrible client, I can see why you wanted to leave her.”

That got a hearty chuckle out of him and he left us to our own. “Mathew, I think that’s everyone. We should meet back up with Leo and Madison and let them know what all went down.”

“We should wait for Brown right?” I asked.

“Oh right, why hasn’t he come by yet?” Crow asked.

I shrugged, “No idea, he should have been here by now. I might go looking for him actually.”

Crow waved me off. “Go, I will catch Leo and Madison up on everyone we interviewed.”

“Thanks buddy.” I headed off toward the Medical Wing to hopefully find Brown.

After asking several nurses and other staff members, I bumped into Doctor Gloria. She was already Level 4 and looked surprised to see me.

“Mathew, it’s good to see you. How have you been feeling lately?”

“I’ve been great actually. Only the scars on my chest remain, your healing magic did wonders.” I instinctively reached to my chest and scratched at it.

“Oh you should see it now. The amazingness this system magic stuff is. We can cure normal injuries over night compared to weeks or months. Soon I might be out of the job.”

“Why is that?” I asked her.

“Oh because most of my spells aren't directly healing. If I recall, Sergeant Thomas called them buffs. Spells that help people out temporarily. One spell I can learn actually makes people take less damage, not very useful to people already hurt.”

“Huh, yea not very useful here. Surely your natural skills and magical skills help out though right?”

“Of course! I am still an amazing surgeon and I have been helping study the effects magic has on the body versus natural healing. I have been in touch with several other head doctors I am close friends with. The discoveries we are making are outstanding. Sadly it’s difficult gaining levels as a doctor, not enough time to go out and kill those horrible imp creatures terrorizing everyone.”

I was curious. “Well how did you get Level 4 so fast? Last time I saw you, you were Level 2.”

“Actually I got Level 3 right when you left the burn unit. My profession gives me experience for healing and helping others. However it’s smaller than actual experience gained from fighting.”

I was surprised to hear that, “That’s great! Does Sergeant Thomas know? Are there other professions that can do that?”

She nodded, “Yes, and I believe one of the crafters in the Warehouse has a profession that does a similar thing. British guy I think.”

Her pager started to ring and make alarm sounds and she read it and started to run off. “Sorry to cut this short Mathew, good to see you!”

I waved her off and continued my search for Brown. I had half forgotten our conversation by the time I found him. Brown was in the room with the girl we found the other day, Maya. She was staring at the green walls, not answering any of Brown's questions. He signed and then he looked up to see me.

He held up a finger to tell me to wait. So I found a place to sit and wait in the hallway. While I waited I looked through the store menu some more, to see if anything useful was there. One thing I lacked was mobility, and under the Armor tab a set of shoes was listed that peaked my interest.

Runners Shoes - Light Armor - 71 Credits

Increase speed by 5%

Why are all the prices such weird numbers? Nothing is ever a round even number like 75 or 100. I considered buying them, but I held off for a while longer. I had a plan involving the Imp I wanted to capture. Ten could understand me and answer my questions, if an Imp could do the same I wouldn’t need to buy the Infernal books.

Brown left Maya’s room. “Hey Mathew, sorry I couldn’t make it to any of the interviews, more survivors showed up today and we got swamped by injuries.”

I motioned for him to sit with me, “It’s all good. You have a moment to talk now?”

“Sure thing, I need a break anyways, been on my feet all day.” Brown sat down across from me. “So what’s this about making a raid party?”

“It’s Crow’s term. We need a healer and I have been set on having you join us. You are the only reason I lived that day, and I want you back again.”

Brown ran a hand through his hair, “Look Mathew, I don’t know if I want to do this anymore. I got Level 5 and my class finally, however I just don’t want to keep doing this. Watching people die or get horribly injured over and over again. It puts a strain on someone mentally. The fact you are up and doing this still surprises me every day.”

I frowned slightly, “I just keep moving forward Brown. My friends helped me get back on my feet, and still I have some doubts. I don’t know why but mentally I just keep pushing forward through everything. The betrayal, the near death, all of it turned into a motivation for me for the most part.”

I looked at Brown to see his new class.

Brown , Level 5 , Battle Medic

Huh, Battle Medic? That’s a new one. Wonder if Crow knows about it.

“I guess you have a point, but I still can’t leave these people behind. Surely you can take any of the other medics, the majority of the people here have a healing spell by now.” He gestured to the passing nurses and doctors.

“I want you Brown, because I trust you highly. At first I had hatred for everyone, but once I learned that you are the reason I am alive, and when you helped me out here, I can’t do that anymore. Captain Henderson and Damien maybe. Sophia and Steve-O are dead and that is a horrible thing. I don’t want anyone else to die either Brown.

If we don’t put an end to this, who will? The other two teams are dead or disassembled. Damien already gave up. Honestly I am kinda gladd, but I want you Brown. Join the team please?”

Brown looked at me for a moment before resting his head against the wall in thought. We sat there for a few moments. “I will think about it, when do you all start the grind?”

“Tomorrow, Crow has an idea for our first team exercise. He hasn’t told me what yet, but I hope to see you there.” I said.

“If I come, I come. I have work to get back to, see you around Mathew.” Brown stood up and headed to his next patient.

I sat there a bit more, my emotions roaring. Way to go Mathew, you probably just sold him on the idea to not come, desperate much?

I took a deep breath and sorted through my thoughts before I left to meet up with the others. A peaceful feeling washed over me, all my anxiety and stress left me for a few moments. However those few moments were soon gone and I continued on my way.