Sharp, white bones sank into flesh with a crunch.

"Mmhmm." Lee grunted, as he took another bite of the taco. His hands holding the food up to his face trembled with fatigue and he had to set the taco back on the plate. He closed his eyes, chewing as he savored the meal and its various flavors. There was a spicy salsa, beans, and carne… his chewing stopped.

"This isn't carne asada…" He chewed again, once. "Definitely not." His eyes opened and glanced at the wall where an alien hand had been severed. "Doesn't taste like anything I've had before…" Another chew. "She wouldn't feed me… that?" His eyes tracked up to the woman in question and found her staring at him. He managed not to flinch. Her gaze flashed to the floor where he had been looking and back to him, fast enough that he couldn’t be sure it had happened and Lee could have sworn a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. It didn't reach her eyes.

He looked at the taco on the plate and then back up at her. Gulp. He swallowed his mouthful. She definitely smiled now and looked meaningfully at his plate. Lee contemplated the taco, then mentally shrugged, lifted it back up with a shaky hand and took another bite. "It does taste good." He thought. "Just different." Besides he had more important things to worry about.

The messages that had been waiting in his head when he woke up had been legion and not many made sense. A few, however, had been particularly interesting.

Alert! You have been conscripted into the Dungeon [Greenfield Village]

Invaders are coming! Join with your allies and prepare your defenses! Fight!

Rewards will be granted based on Contributions to the Defense or the Assault once the Invaders have been Defeated or Driven Out or when all Defenders are Defeated.

Congratulations! The Dungeon Invaders have been Defeated or Driven Out. Dungeon Defense Successful. Victory!

Area Protected from All Dungeon Incursion Varieties for a duration of (7)(Local Days)

All Regeneration(Environment, Resource, and Individual) +25%

Recover. Rebuild. Rearm. Prepare to Defend The Dungeon.

Your Contributions to the Defense have Earned you:

+1 All Base Attributes

+1 Class Level

Title [First Time?](Effects: 1% chance to randomly detect the direction of the nearest Invader during Dungeon Defense)

Earn Greater Contributions to earn Greater Rewards.

Apparently he had been in a Dungeon the night before. Lee suspected the first message had come while he was unconscious and he had been too distracted when he woke up to take it in. And apparently, sometime later the humans had won.

Congratulations! You have Demonstrated the Skill [Mana Bolt](Effects: Release a Bolt of Raw Mana from your hand. Damage dependent on the amount of Mana used.)Note due to (Liquid Mana Channels) Skill has been changed to [Liquid Mana Blast](Effects: Releases all remaining Mana in a Cone Area of Effect from your hand. Damage dependent on total remaining Mana. Higher Mana use may damage the User.)

You have Burned your (Liquid Mana Channels)-15% Mana Channel Capacity

That one explained the balcony. "Note to self, don't do that again." He continued with his notifications.

Congratulations! You have successfully combined Initiate Ranked Runes and created an Apprentice Ranked Rune.

Class Skill [Rune Scribe] has been Evolved into [Rune Creation]

Congratulations you have Earned a Trait.

New Trait: [Magic OverReach I]Effects:

+1.5% Effect of All Magic Attributes

-1.5% Effect of All Physical Attributes

(Overreaching is a dangerous path to Power, be sure you're reaching towards what you truly desire.)

That one hadn't bothered him very much, but the next one…

Attribute [Soul] Requantified as [Twin-Soul](Unique)

It explained a lot.

Congratulations! You have combined Initiate Ranked Runes and created an Adept Ranked RuneScape.

Congratulations! You have demonstrated the Class Skill [RuneScape Creation]

Congratulations! Trait Upgraded: [Magic OverReach II]

After he'd read that one Lee had gotten sick of the stupid congratulations and discovered he could adjust, at least somewhat, how his notifications appeared.

You have Combined an Adept Ranked RuneScape with [Source] and Created a Legendary Ranked RuneScape.

Trait Upgraded: [Magic OverReach IV]

You have Successfully Infused a Legendary RuneScape into a Structure.

You Created a Legendary Ranked Structure. [Building 3(Soulbound)]

He had basically enchanted the whole building, using the power the system called [Source], and the worst part was that he couldn’t remember how. It was all fuzzy and jumbled up in his memory, with key details buried under a blinding glare.

Trait Upgraded: [Magic OverReach V]

Effects:

+15% Effectiveness of All Magic Attributes -15% Effectiveness of All Physical Attributes

Trait Earned. [This Is The Way]

(Your commitment to pushing the boundaries of your Class has not gone unnoticed. +10% Effectiveness to All Runic Skills and Abilities.)

Mixed in among those notifications were lots of messages about [Source] and burning and Attribute losses. And of course almost dying.

Lee swallowed the last bite of mystery taco number three and looked at his now empty plate somewhat sadly. "That was really good." He sighed and called up his Status.

Status

Name: Lee Cascade

Race: [Human](F Rank)

Titles: [First Time?]

Traits: [Adaptable] [Source-Touched] [Magic OverReach V] [This Is The Way]

Class: [Runic](Initiate V)(Legendary)

Class Skills:

[Rune Creation(Initiate V)](Rare)

[RuneScape Creation(Initiate V)](Rare)

Attributes:

Strength: 1

Vitality: 1

Dexterity 2

Perception 4

Intelligence 10

Willpower 8

Twin-Soul ???

Non Class Skills:

[Source Regeneration]

[Liquid Mana Blast]

None

Buffs:

[Building 3]

[Resting]

[Well Fed]

Debuffs:

[Feeble]

[Fragile]

[Mana Burned]

Lee sighed again. "Feeble and Fragile…" He thought. "I'm old now."

His shriveled hands, lying in his lap, betrayed what he didn't want to look in a mirror to confirm. "Nothing to do about it now."

One of his fingers touched the plate and he focused on his new Skill [Rune Creation]. The skill brought with it the knowledge of how to create Runes without having to draw them out with his finger. Or maybe the knowledge had come from that Source and the skill just let him keep it. He simply had to visualize what he wanted.

A faintly glowing blue line traveled out from his fingertip and started to draw a simple symbol on the plate. He had almost finished the drawing with a small and simple flourish that he was mostly sure would enchant the plate to remain clean. He was pretty sure. Unfortunately the knowledge didn't actually make him any better at focusing on his visualization and before he could complete it, his hand trembled, the ceramic broke with a sharp crack and the line faded.

"Oops." He didn't look at the woman, whose name he still didn't know, but he did check on the two children sleeping next to her. "Still asleep." He suspected that his low Dexterity was the cause of his shaking hands and the -15% Physical Attributes couldn't be helping matters. He had barely been able to sit up and was a little worried about whether he would be able to stand up to take himself to the bathroom. He really didn't want to ask for help from the scary woman sitting on the other side of his living room. He hadn’t seen her husband, or at least the man he assumed was her husband, since he woke up. From what he remembered of the night before Lee wasn't actually sure whether the man had survived.

He glanced at her. "Damnit!" She was glaring. "It was one of my plates…"

He wasn't sure why she was still in his apartment, the whole building was about as defensible as his place now. Lee could remember that much at least about what he had done the night before. "Well… she did make me breakfast…" He reminded himself.

His musings were interrupted by his front door bursting open and the woman’s husband came inside in a rush. "Guess he survived." He was wearing some kind of leather… armor? If it was, it was too small. The armor also had what looked like blood stains all over it.

Lee watched as his gaze tracked over the occupants of the apartment. As he took in each member of his family, the tension in his body and face relaxed until he settled on Lee.

"You're awake!" He said, his voice booming in the quiet room and waking up the sleeping children. "And you've had a chance to meet my lovely wife." He said while he swept his children and wife up in his arms.

"Lovely?" Stanley thought, while watching her glare at her husband. "I thought she was going to kill me when I woke up."

He had woken screaming and immediately had her hand covering his mouth. The look on her face had shut him up quick. Also the lack of air. And Lee was pretty sure she had been holding a knife to his throat as well but he hadn't been able to see it from his position. That, combined with the rush of system notifications, had distracted him enough that he forgot why he'd been screaming. At least until that last notification… Something had happened to Stan, wherever he was. But after focusing on the link between them he could tell that his brother was okay and already calming down.

By the time he remembered the crazy neighbor lady, she was setting a plate of tacos and a bottle of water in front of him. She hadn't said anything, just stalked over to her sleeping children and sat down.

While the family caught up, Lee decided it was a good time to get up and go to the bathroom. It took a few false starts before he realized that he was too weak. He was working up the nerve to ask for help when a hand appeared in front of his face.

"I'm Alejandro." The man said with a smile. "That's Maria, Gabriel and the little one is Anita."

Lee forced a smile onto his face. "I'm Lee." He said as he accepted the handshake. Instead of shaking his hand, Alejandro pulled him to his feet with no visible effort.

"Nice to officially meet you." Lee gasped as his head spun and he swayed on his trembling legs after the abrupt rise. "Glad you came out all right." He added and glanced towards his stomach where the sword had struck him.

"Hah. It was just a flesh wound." He boasted. His wife muttered something in Spanish and he quickly added, "and my beautiful Maria is a miracle worker." She just muttered angrily. Lee glanced towards the bathroom and Alejandro must have noticed because he began half carrying, half walking him that way.

As they entered the dim hallway Alejandro spoke, more quietly this time. "How did you like the rabbit tacos?"

"That's what it was!" Stanley let out a chuckle. "They were delicious." He said. "At first I was worried Maria was feeding me one of the monsters. I think she's mad at me." He whispered. Alejandro laughed then. "It was a monster!" Lee stopped walking to stare at him. "Yes! The rabbit was a monster, bigger than me and it took five of us to kill it." Lee just started walking towards the dark bathroom again. "Shit."

"Also," Alejandro continued, "She is not mad, she is just afraid of you."

Lee stopped in the doorway. "What! Why?" Alejandro continued forward, almost carrying him inside. "We will talk after you finish here." He gestured at the toilet. "Can you handle it in the dark?" Lee thought for a moment. "Hold on I think I can fix that." He touched a finger to the countertop next to the sink and focused on what he wanted. A faintly glowing blue line crawled out from his finger and spun into a simple spiral and then flared into brilliant blue light. He knew from the knowledge in his head that the shape for this Rune didn't really matter, it was basically an incomplete Rune, drawn just stable enough to hold but also badly enough that it leaked its Mana away as light. It would last until the Mana ran out or, like the night before when he overloaded it, then it would destroy itself in a blinding flash.

He looked up and caught sight of himself in the now illuminated mirror. "Oof." He looked away from the image. "I bet Stan looks like Santa Claus with that ridiculous beard he refuses to chop off." The thought brought a small smile to his face. He shook off the melancholy and turned to the toilet.

"I got this." He said to Alejandro. He took a step and would have fallen but Alejandro caught him and held him upright. "I will help." He said and walked him into position.

Lee felt his face heating but he really needed to go. He got his pants down while another man held him upright and then lowered him to sit on the seat. He knew his face was red now and it wasn't that he was half naked, it was the sheer helplessness he felt. His fists clenched weakly and his eyes stung.

"No shame." Alejandro said quietly. Lee just stared at the floor. "You are a warrior." He continued. Lee looked at him. "You were wounded in battle." He stated, matter of fact. "I saw you before. I know the price you paid to help us."

"But I…" Lee started. "Do not worry." Alejandro cut him off. "Besides I used to help my father like this too." He added with a smile. "And you are family now as well." Lee grunted and looked at the ground. "You're older than me…"

The other man stepped out the door. "I will be just out here. Simply call when you are finished and I will gladly assist you, brother." He closed the door. Lee felt the vibration of him walking away through the floor and heard his wife say something but their voices were too muted to understand it.

Lee sighed. "Crazy neighbors…" But he did feel better. "A warrior…"

A short while later he was sitting on the couch next to Alejandro while Maria and the kids sat on a mattress that he had never managed to get into the bedroom.

Alejandro turned to face him. "I want to thank you, for your help last night." Lee started to reply but he continued over him. "I believe you saved all our lives." His wife muttered something and Alejandro said louder. "And Maria also believes you saved us. She is just afraid of you." The aforementioned woman jumped and said something scolding in rapid fire Spanish while gesturing at both of them. He lifted a hand in a hold on gesture. "Maria, he is family now." She opened her mouth but he continued before she could speak. "He is family. And family must always be honest with each other." She stilled at that in a way that made Lee think that this was a common rule in their home. "The truth is that I am also frightened of you." He paused. "Though less so today than last night."

"I'm not your…" Lee started and Alejandro cut him off again. "You saved my family. So you are now family."

"What is this, fast and furious?" Lee thought.

"Many people died last night." Alejandro continued quietly. "Maria spent much of today healing those that survived."

Lee tried another argument. "This." He gestured at his face. "Wasn't from helping you. This was…" He paused. How much did he want to tell them? How much could he trust them? That message in his notifications had him worried. But did he have any choice but to trust them? He couldn't even walk...

"If I tell you this." He began and paused. "If I tell you, you could become targets." He saw the confused look on their faces. "I suspect that I will be hunted… along with my brother… Are you sure you still want to be 'family'?" They both glanced at each other and Alejandro looked for a long moment at his children. "Yes." He stated, emphatically. "We are family and will be until the end." His wife stared at him with an unreadable expression, looked at her children and then turned to Lee and nodded once.

"Well damn." Lee thought. He took a deep breath. "It all started about three months ago…"

"...and Stan decided to keep driving the truck because he said it was a good way to train his power and earn money at the same time." They both were silent and focused as they digested the story. Finally Maria spoke up. "This thing you stole, that was… last night?" Lee nodded. "Yes. Though that was actually my brother, he was… I think he was fighting for his life." He swallowed. "I just got dragged along for the ride."

"Our brother." Alejandro said. Lee just rolled his eyes, he saw Maria doing the same thing and she noticed him noticing and glared at him. He just smiled. It felt good to share his story, a story that no one would ever have believed until today.

"And today?" Alejandro asked. "Maria said she felt it earlier."

Lee nodded, remembering. "Yea, that was Stan. I think someone threatened him." He said. "Or Caffeine… I'm not sure. It's not clear communication but more just impressions and feelings."

"Caffeine… the dog?" Maria asked. "Yep. The best dog." Lee nodded again, while thinking back on what he could remember of the night before. "I think he got bigger…" He thought. "I think it was more of a panic attack this morning and after last night…" He trailed off.

"It's actually the afternoon." Alejandro told him. Lee nodded and opened his mouth but then froze and turned his head, seeing past the wall in front of him. "He is angry…"

Maria followed his gaze then looked back at him with a confused and slightly worried look. "Stan." Lee clarified. "He is angry about... something and now he is smashing up some… zombies?" Maria looked troubled as she put her hands on her children. "You're not going to start glowing, are you?" Lee shook his head. "We both almost died from that power. Stan knows that."

He focused for a moment. "He should be coming this way…" He mused. "But he isn't getting closer… I wonder?" He looked at Alejandro. "Did anyone say if the Dungeon kept us from leaving?" The man looked confused. "I don't know what you mean." Lee thought about it. "That message said, you have been conscripted. So maybe we can't leave until we win?" He looked back at the wall, focusing on Stan. "Maybe he is trapped…"

Alejandro put his hand on Lee’s shoulder and Lee winced at the impact. "He is strong, you said so. He will make it back." Lee wasn’t so sure. "Something almost killed him last night." He thought. "If he is still trapped after all that…"

The children sitting next to their mother had gotten bored with the adults talking and now the older brother was poking and teasing his little sister, much to her displeasure. Her very vocal and high pitched objections pulled Lee out of his musings. Lee looked at both of them and then looked their parents in the eyes. "So? What do you think? Someone or something will likely come after us, are you sure you don't want to find a safer place to go?"

"Safer?" Alejandro chuckled. "Haven't you seen what this building does for residents?" Lee just looked at him, confused.

"Ah what was it that man said? Oh yes, Buffs." Alejandro said.

Lee remembered seeing something, so he pulled up his Status and focused on the [Building 3] buff.

[Building 3]

All Official Residents in the Area of Effect gain:

+10% All Regeneration Rates

+10% All Ability and Skill Effects

+2 All Base Attributes

Lee paled. "Shit!" He whispered.

"What's wrong?" Alejandro asked. "Did you not get the buff?" Lee was taking deep breaths trying to stay calm. "No, it's not that." He said. His hands trembled.

"I only have one Vitality." He whispered. "And one Strength…"

"So the building will give you more, no?" Maria asked. Lee shook his head, his mind going back to that message of Imminent death. "So close… did I make that buff intentionally?" Lee swallowed and tried to still his hands. "No… I have only one 'with' the Buff." He could see their eyes widen when they understood. "I'll die if I leave the building..." He stared at the floor but didn't really see it.

"Hah!" Alejandro suddenly burst out. "No worries." Lee looked up to see him digging in his pocket before he pulled out a piece of glass. "I just remembered this." He held it out and dropped it into Lee's hand.

You have found a [Core Fragment(Chip)].

[Attribute Chip(Common)](F Rank)

Effect: +0.1 - +0.5 Dexterity Attribute

Absorb [Yes/No]

"Huh." Lee muttered.

"The rabbit dropped that and the creature in our apartment last night dropped one that gave me Strength." Alejandro said. "I was going to give that to Maria but you can have it." She muttered something under her breath but Alejandro ignored her and continued in a cheerful voice. "Don't you see? With these you'll get your numbers up in no time."

Lee was nodding. "Of course. We're supposed to get stronger and level up. Of course there'd be a way to raise stats." He looked at Maria. "You can have this one. I still have two Dexterity…" He trailed off as he spoke. "Right. So I have zero without the building buff. How would that even work? No motor control maybe?"

Maria shook her head. "You keep. I need Wisdom for better healing." Lee looked over his stats. "I don't have Wisdom…" Before he could say more Maria broke into laughter. "Haha." He said dryly. Alejandro, chuckling, patted him gently on the shoulder. "Don't worry I don't either. Maria is the wisest of us. Never forget that." Lee just shook his head and smiled. "I actually need Intelligence." They both laughed then.

Things looked bad right now but he just might be okay.

He absorbed the chip.

You have gained +0.4 Dexterity

He felt no change and as he moved his hands trying to tell if it felt different his eyes landed on the sword leaning against the couch next to Alejandro and an idea formed in his head. "Alejandro, how is the sword?" That had been one of the elves' weapons. "Because I might be able to make it better." His mind was already going over the Runes that he knew.

Alejandro hefted the sword and carefully passed it to him, being mindful of the bared blade. "Going to put some glowy lines on it?" He asked. Lee nodded. "Yep. Although…" He looked at his shaking hand that could barely lift the blade up from where it now lay on his lap. "Maybe find me something to practice on first? I don't want to break this by accident."

He eyed the undersized armor the man was wearing. "Might be able to do the armor too. But practice first." He remembered something from the night before. "Do you use a shield?" The man nodded. "Yes. My Class is Guardian. Though I haven't found anything yet, the creatures last night didn't use any." Lee nodded. "If you find something, even another pot lid, I should be able to make it tougher at least." Maria looked up from watching her kids who were now reading a children's book that Lee had no idea where it had come from. "No more pot lid. How you expect me to cook if destroy my lids?"

Alejandro made a placating gesture. "I'll find something else, mi corazon." Lee had a thought. "How did you cook the tacos?" Alejandro answered. "Barbecue grill on the porch." He pointed towards the front door and the balcony that circled the inner courtyard. "The rabbit will feed many today."

Lee said hesitantly. "Does the buff go out there?" Alejandro nodded. "Yes. Whole building and maybe a few feet outside." He gestured with his hands to show the distance. "Don't worry we'll get your numbers up…"

Something shook the building with a boom and distant voices screamed. Alejandro had the sword in hand and was on his feet in an instant, his wife right behind him. They both ran to the sliding glass doors and looked out over the railing and immediately jumped back as what looked like a massive snake's head passed by the porch.

"This one will be a good start." He said to Lee with a grin. He ran to the front door only to stop when his wife followed. There was a heated back and forth in Spanish before a defeated Alejandro turned to the kids and said quickly, "Stay here with your uncle Lee." Then he followed his wife outside and shut the door behind him.

Lee looked from the door to the two children that were now staring at him.

"Dude…"