Only a few of the supplies fell from the scaffolding during the transition. Looks like the engineers knew what they were doing, so credit where credit is due. Also a positive note, we didn’t die from playing around with an alien artifact we only have basic theories on how it actually operates.

Woo.

We exited the cave and I spent the next five minutes cleansing everybody from the curses before they all died, all the while wondering why the hell I subjected myself to this instance again. Twice is a coincidence. Three times is a trend. Why?

Oh yeah, we are facing, what I believe to be, super powerful creatures in the other instances with potential levels in the hundreds if not thousands. Our guns were effective last time in this instance and I believe they will wipe the floor of any hostiles this time as well, barring more wraiths. But at some point the level difference might make them lose effectiveness.

Would a shotgun blast kill a level 100 armored skeleton? I don’t know and we need to act as if they won’t be able to, until proven otherwise.

Again and again, I am reminded that there is still so much we don’t know.

The instance looks the same though, the ugly green land, sick mossy trees and rotted vegetations strewn around. I didn’t miss this place. At least there isn’t a welcoming party.

Jeffrey organizes the group, keeping people close as we unpack the supplies. The core is stuck inside the cave, its new size preventing us from moving it until we clear the way.

Also, I got a rad new title in my status.

Inner Light: (level 17)

A unique light attribute class able to learn every light attribute skill and uses mana directly for every skill. Class locks all other potential attributes and skill types. Skill usage limited only to quantity of Mana available

Instance Manager: Mana is connected to an artificial instance construct

Mana:

45/462.2106472

Regen: 22.8516944 per minute

Skills:

Cleanse

Clear body of foreign influences

Heal

Enhances natural healing

Flare

Coat external surfaces with light energy to give a light attribute to object

Edge:Sub-Skill of Flare

Coat the edge of a blade with light energy to give a specialized offensive light attribute to object

Barrier:Sub-Skill of Flare

Project a corporeal light energy plane to create a specialized defensive light attribute barrier

Getting the title did not come as a big surprise, we had suspected there would be some sort of connection between the core and its activator. Not much information is given to me regarding my new status as the instance manager, but the artificial line in the description is interesting. I’ll let Keith and his team chew on it.

While my new abilities aren’t apparent, when I touch the core, instead of my hand sticking to it and being forced into a duel over my life, I am met with no resistance and the core moves easily at my touch. Once we cleared the opening of the cave a little I was able to steer it out. We kept the core clear of anybody else for now, we didn’t want any accidents.

Additionally and happily, touching the core brings up a bunch of other screens that I can interact with. The big bummer is that none of them are in english, but are in the unknown language of the Black Mage and Co. Afraid of screwing everything up, I leave it alone for now. I’m not looking forward to learning another language if it comes down to it. Spanish was hard enough. Another thing for Keith and o tackle.

…

I’m going to have to write down everything I am seeing, aren’t I?

“Artificial?” Keith asks, quizzically, taking in the instance like a fish to water. “That might explain why the language isn’t translating automatically for you like the rest of the system. Somebody, or something created this core. That also infers that natural instances are a thing.”

Keith scribbles down on his notepad, already a page filled with his maniac writing. He stopped and then scratched his chin with his pen, “Although, this brings into question, again, the origin of the system in the first place. Created or natural?”

The rest of us did not comment. I, for one, was not ready for that question yet.

Another issue of import is my personal vengeance spirit. I got the same notification when I came here that it respawned and was out for blood. My blood. I had hoped that with me being the manager I could remove the curse or whatever, but it's still stubbornly clinging to me.

I would be legitimately scared of Pesos now if her level hadn’t been reset. Current theory is that having another person “kill’ her was what caused the reset. An easy enough conclusion and a lucky break going forward.

Still, that vengeful greyhound is still out there, waiting, its levels reset, but, perhaps, its cleverness still retained. Perhaps still smart enough to hide and ambush. Perhaps spying on me right now. Even on earth I sometimes got the chill, the feeling that she was out there, waiting for me. A quick turn of the shoulder. A moving shadow at the edge of my sight. A flash of fangs in the corner of the room.

…

It’s not paranoia if they really are out to get you.

...

Just what I needed.

Jeffrey comes over to me after establishing a small perimeter.

“My system is back,” he says flatly, eyeing the sickly landscape with me.

Aye, it is. We had gone through dozens of possible scenarios and had developed contingency plans for each one, one such possibility that without a proper operator of the core the system itself wouldn’t operate. It's a love hate relationship I have with it.

“Yes, good news.” I say, not taking my eyes off the landscape.

“Pesos is out there?”

I nod back and we look out over the grim hills, reflecting on my personal poltergeist. The hills are still and unnatural.

The undead setting of the instance appears to be hardwired into the core, which is a bummer. A small part of me was hoping I’d get some options once I started the core, maybe get some meadows and prancing ponies. Changing the landscape to a more hospitable setting is still a hopeful possibility, but until we can translate the language, it's a moot point. So much of what we want depends on translating and understanding the core.

So far, little in the instance has changed due to me being the manager. The curse is still around, the infections are still around, and the dead land is still here. Are the spawned creatures, zombies, skeletons, and wynts, going to be here, or was that a setting that needed the manager to activate it? Is the instance going to grow all by itself, or is direct control needed for that? Time will tell.

“We need to find the temple.” I say, finally taking my eyes off the shadows and turning to Jeffrey. He nods back at me. In all my experiences, the temple was the one place where the infections didn’t come in. A safe zone, it might even block the curse. It makes sense if somebody was going to live there. It was also where the black mage lived. If we wanted to survive here long term, we would need to use that place as a base. Sleeping out here with the seven of us, even with our fancy tents, gives us too much risk. If we can’t find the temple within the first day, I’m going to try to deactivate the instance and return us home.

The problem is, was the temple part of the original setting, or is it something the manager would need to create?

Jeffrey organized the camp and Jones and Duncan were sent off to find the temple, under strict orders to avoid the creek and return under a half an hour. Communicate over the radio every five minutes. If anything unexpected happens, they were to return immediately. Mitigate risk as much as possible. I am not too worried about Pesos going after them. Besides her being back to level one, all her animosity is geared towards me. Last time she never gave the others the time of day.

With a salute, the two are off. Despite everything, I can’t keep the ominous feeling out of my gut.

Why am I back here again?

I stick close to our supplies, periodically cleaning them just in case. The three scientists work quietly, the oppressive atmosphere of the instance lending to quiet voices. Their words carry over in the green misty morning.

“You were stuck here for two weeks?” Clarissa asks me in a hushed voice as I help her take down a large canister from the top of the scaffolding. “I mean, I read the reports, but seeing it now…”

I nod my head, wondering how to respond.

“It's much nicer having people with you,” I reply back, setting down the canister. “Its obvious but true. I spent half the time wondering if any of it was even real, if I could escape by… you know, ending it.” I try to give her a grin, but probably just end up looking unbalanced. “Having people here helps you keep your sanity if nothing else. Also, It helped having somebody to focus my hate on. A goal, you know? A part of me just didn’t want that smug bastard to win. Not when I still had options.”

Clarissa merely nods her head with a troubled look and moves to the next object in the stack.

“Also,” I add, trying to paint a better picture, “It wasn’t always this quiet. Right now this is just erie, but, eventually, some creatures appeared and filled the silence.”

She gives me a face, “Didn’t they all try to kill you and eat you alive?”

…

Maybe

…

“Not the birds!” I say after a moment. “They just flew around and cleaned up after the battles. Their cawing really annoyed me at first, but eventually I appreciated their presence.”

She doesn’t say anything but reaches up for the next item. I doubt what I said was very encouraging and I’m probably not giving her the best picture. We had only met a few days ago anyway. Standard ethics say that hate is a self destructive trait, but for me, it was an emotion that drove me forward. I hated the mage. I truly did. And still do.

“Heads up.” Jeffrey calls out, shaking me out of my thoughts.

I look up at Jeffrey and see a shambling zombie crashing slowly through some brush a ways away. The green fungus covers the thing from head to toe, making the thing a crusty sick abomination. Its half rotten and ridged face points in our direction despite both its eyes missing, filled with hard crusted green growths

“Keep a look out behind us Greg, I’ve got eyes on this one.” Jeffrey orders me calmly. I nod and turn around, looking out over the rest of the landscape.

“Fascinating,” Keith exclaims, over on the other side of the supply pile. “I wonder if it is the fungus itself that drives the body, or something else. I don’t suppose we can detain and study?”

Uh, how about no.

“Not the zombies,” I hear Jeffrey say. “The risk of infection is too dangerous. We put these down and cleanse them, that's it.”

I can hear Keith cluck his tongue, but I agree with Jeffrey. The idea of the fungus controlling the zombies makes sense and frightens me. Would it include some sort of hive consciousness? They’ve never indicated any sort of intelligence, but we can’t rule it out.

“How do you want to handle it?” I call out, still facing the other way.

“Switch paces with me,” Jeffrey replies. “Who wants the honor of first kill?” He adds dryly.

I turn around and take Jeffrey’s place, the zombie making poor progress in the dense undergrowth.

A loud silence follows as the scientists debate with their eyes.

“There might be other ways to obtain classes.” Charles says, bringing up an old argument. “All the classes can’t be based on just killing things, surely?”

“There is the Alchemist class that O’hara has,” I say, “But that was still acquired by killing the wynot. I haven’t seen any way of acquiring levels outside of killing.”

“How did the black mage level up then?” Clarissa asks, stepping up beside me and Keith, eyeing the zombie with distaste.

I shrug. “He must have gotten it from operating the instance. Or some other way, there is no way to know.”

“Until you start getting levels randomly.” Kieth cuts in.

A silence descends on us as we contemplate. We had discussed this issue yesterday and this morning in length, but we still had no real answers.

“Hurry it up, fellas!” Jeffrey calls back to us. “If you want to wait for your classes, just have Greg destroy it already.”

Before anybody else can say anything, a distant gunshot rings over the landscape. Grabbing his radio, Jeffrey calls out to Jones and Duncan.

“Status, Corporal.”

“Just a single zombie we neutralized, Lieutenant.” The frank voice of Duncan replies over the radio. “No much else to note. We’ve found the sludge stream and avoided it, but other than a single zombie it's been quiet. We both have infections, but they are in early stages, we plan to stay out for another ten minutes before heading back.”

“No sign of the temple?”

“No sir. We found the western boundary, as it is. It is… interesting to look at. I’m sure when we get settled Keith would like to inspect it. We are turning north now.”

“Be careful, Corporal.” Jeffrey replies back. “No unnecessary risks.”

I wonder what a necessary risk would entail, but the Corporal merely replies in an affirmative before signing off.

The unnatural silence comes back in force at the end of the call. The struggling zombie captures all the attention.

“Is it a coincidence that both zombies appeared at the same time?” Charles asks, looking around, concerned. “Or is the instance starting to activate its functions?”

…

I don’t know.

“It’s too early to tell,” Keith cuts in. “For now, we need to decide what to do with this zombie.”

“I’ll do it,” Clarissa says hesitantly, her voice lacking a clear desire.

“How do you want to do it?” I reply back, keeping my eyes on the creature.

“I’ll electrocute it.” She says grimly. She gives the zombie one last look before turning back to the supply cave.

We had brought some tools with us for this scenario. What were the ways we could manipulate the system to get useful classes? Bring specialized tools with us to do the job. One was what Clarissa was pulling out now.

A powerful taser, overcharged to be lethal. Not a practical weapon in real life, guns would be far more effective. But perhaps a way to get a unique class? Why not?

“I’ll incapacitate it.” I say aloud and then I wait for the zombie to clear the obstruction he was currently struggling in. Clarissa makes it back before the zombie breaks free and we wait a few moments.

…

If she got some awesome lightning powers from this, that would be... awesome.

Soon enough, the zombie moves on and I move forward and try to make some precise swings at it. I don’t use flare or edge, but just the blade of the weapon. A couple strokes later the arms are inexpertly chopped off. Unperturbed, the zombies stumbles forward at me, its rancid breath giving me infection notifications.

I move back with it and soon enough the legs are gone too. It falls forward on its face, wriggling ungainly on the ground and making soft grunting sounds, muffled by the mucky soil.

“All yours,” I say dryly and step back a little to give Clarissa a clear opening. I cleanse myself of the infection.

Her face a little pale, Clarissa steps close, her instrument of choice in her steady hands. Then she bunches her face up in disgust. “I got infected again. This thing is disgusting.”

“This is why we won’t keep it for study. I’ll cleanse you and the zombie when you are done.”

One fried zombie corpse later we got what we wanted. While I cleanse away burnt black zombie and its remains, Clarissa read out her new class for the group.

“Torch Bearer. A class that equips items and ideas and moves them forward.”

I glance at Keith and he holds a contemplative frown. “Not what we were looking for. Kind of ambiguous. What’s that really mean?”

“What are the skills that come with it?” I ask, finishing up my task.

“Uh” she replies, her face getting that odd unfocused look. “I’ve got Equip, which allows me to take a physical item or weapon and uh, understand it? It’s not clear, but it's letting me equip this taser thing.”

A moment later her eyes light up, literally, and she gasps. “Yeah, wow. I’ve got this thing now. I got a notification giving me information about it. Not much new, just a basic understanding of how it works. I can also…” Her voice fades as she appears to fiddle with it. A second later, she looks up with a smile. “I’ve just linked the device to my mana. I can charge it. Oh wow… I can see it. I can see the taser, I mean, I can feel how it works. Wow. I could probably make repairs to it too, if need be, with just my mana. This seems like a pretty versatile skill.”

She starts finagling with the taser again as I consider.

I tap her on the shoulder and hold out my spear. “Here, equip this and tell me what you see about it. I haven't been able to identify it yet.”

With a slight hesitation on giving up her taser, she takes the spear from me. Keith and Charles look on with interest, Keith scribbling madly on his notepad. Jeffrey was still keeping a sharp eye out for more enemies.

Clarissa’s eyes light up again, with a noticeable glow, which I assume is a sign she is activating her skills. She gives out a gasp again.

“Wow! Just…. Wow. This thing… where did you get this Greg?” she asks me excitedly. “This was from the black mage?”

“What can you tell me about it?”

Clarissa frowns again and peers down, inspecting the beautiful craftsmanship. “There is a lot that’s locked. I think I’ll have to get to a higher level before I can properly see it, but there are certainly a lot of functions built into it. Most are blocked and I can’t see. This thing is a high quality item, it's designed to be nigh indestructible and can link with a mage to be a conduit for spell casting. An amplifier. I can’t use those kinds of functions as I am not a mage nor am I high level enough. I can do this, though.” She points the spear away and it makes a loud whistling sound before a jet of yellow and orange flames burst out of the tip like a flame thrower. The affected lasted only a second before it ended, Clarissa suddenly swaying on her feet.

Lowering the spear to lean on it for support, she gives us all a smile. “Whew! That almost used up the rest of my mana.”

“Holy shit, that’s epic!” Charles says, looking at the scorched ground appreciatively. The edges of the scar is still lit with small flames, but eventually the dampness of the land snuffs them out.

I have to agree with Charles. Shooting flames! I can see myself roasting my enemies at range already! It's probably mana intensive, but I’ve got plenty these days. I hold my hands out eagerly.

“It is great, but neither of you can use it.” Clarissa states, looking at me. “This thing is made for mages and only they can properly activate it. I can do it because of my class, but I won’t have the mana reserves to properly operate it.”

…

How can this be??

I take my spear back, a sour expression showing on my face. Clarissa gives me an amused laugh. “It’s still a good weapon for anybody, but you won’t be able to use most of the functions. Perhaps Corporal Duncan could use it?”

“She and Private Smielnisk are technically sorcerers,” Charles adds. “It might be a class restriction.”

Maybe. I don’t know if I want them to or not, even if it does work. I study my beautiful spear mournfully. Why do you hide your secrets from me? Am I unworthy?

Jeffrey gives me a look and a grin from across the supply pile. “Don’t worry, Greg. Nobody is taking your spear without your permission.”

I grunt back a reply, still sour.

Clarissa was low on mana for the moment so she explained her other skill while we waited for Ducan and Jones to call in.

“My other skill is Channel. It says I can copy a skill from another person.”

My eyes bulge. Are you kidding me?

“Can you take my cleanse skill?”

She considers and nods. “I’ll need to wait a while till I have enough mana to activate the skill, but I think I’ll be able to use it.”

“That would be incredibly helpful! That skill is the only one that keeps us alive here!”

“Can you take any other skills?” Jeffrey asks.

“I can, but at this point I can only have one at a time.”

Jeffrey nods. “Take cleanse when you can then.”

Eventually, Clarissa’s mana returns and she takes my skill, grabbing onto my hands and closing her eyes. A moment later I feel it, I can feel my skill with her, like an extension of my ability. I feel I can cut it off too and end her connection to it. It's a weird feeling and slightly uncomfortable.

But ultimately successful. Moments later, Clarissa is a proud user of cleanse.

“The target has to be willing,” I add once we are done. “I feel I can take the skill back on my end.”

Jeffrey nods, “Good to know. That’s a convenient class.” He looks over at Keith and Charles, “With how powerful cleanse is, we might have at least one of you two take the class as well. It might be helpful in working with the temple controls here too.”

“Assuming it's even here.” I add unhelpfully.

“I could try equipping the core,” Clarissa says, looking over at the large black marble sitting off to the side. “We could get a lot of information that way.”

“No way, we don’t know how it will react to you touching it.” I say hastily. “It tried to eat me when I touched it!”

“But you were an enemy then,” she says, looking back at me with a thoughtful expression. “I am an ally.”

“Does the core know that?” I ask rhetorically.

“I’m willing to risk it.”

“You are not doing anything right now, so hold your horses.” Jeffrey breaks in before I could reply. “We can discuss that option later. For now, just keep unpacking the supplies.”

I suppose that’s the best option. I can just see the core sucking the life force out of any poor sap on contact, despite it being under my ‘control’. I’m not feeling particularly in control right now.”

Clarisa’s willingness to try her mettle at the core only reinforces my idea that, despite how conventional she and Charles may appear at first glance, both are decidedly abnormal. Normal people do not willingly, nay, enthusiastically, enter a world like this instance, knowing what they are getting into. If I had a choice, I would never have come back here. The soldiers get a pass because they are soldiers. But these scientists? What would drive them to leave the safe confines of their laboratories to come to this place where death threatens with every breath of the lungs? Mad, every single one of them.

No additional zombies show as we continue to unpack the cave. Buried in the supplies were parts needed to assemble the trailer meant to carry most of the goods, along with a small treaded engine meant to pull it. Little fuel had been given to it, the contraption was mostly meant to be a one time use to carry all of our food and supplies to the temple. It can be solar powered too, but I’m not betting on the sky clearing anytime soon. I cleanse the supplies often during the process of unloading. I’m not about to take chances with my precious food supply.

Soon enough, Jeffrey’s walkie talkie squawks as the soldiers report back. The temple has been found.

They were sick and infected though, and said they were heading back, marking the Temple’s location, northeast of here, based on the dim sun’s location in the sky. They encountered another single wandering zombies but no skeletons, not testing the creek for wynots. One other creature they saw though, a black greyhound skulking around, eyeing them for a moment before slinking away into the underbrush. Ghostly black wisps dissipated from where it had stood.

I wasn’t surprised, but I still felt my gut drop at the words. Pesos was back. Again.