Everyone shielded their eyes against the sun as they took in the fields of the neutral instance. Nearly four months had passed since they entered the Survival Challenge, and there wasn't a single window or external door in the school it took place in, leaving them with just the artificial lighting.

Seeing the sun for the first time in months was a slight shock to their systems, and they took a few minutes to adjust. Once they did, Nathan collected his decks of cards, telling them that they weren't going to be doing Optional Challenges in the next run, and that the two familiars would keep everything clean.

"But then you two would just earn a bunch of Points," Michael protested.

"And they haven't already?" William asked.

"Exactly!" Michael said. "They're the ones who need it the least!"

"Keep in mind these runs aren't for that," Keith said. "We can return after Samantha gives birth for you guys to clear out the monsters and earn Points and Levels better. Ichtvar and my familiar will just deal with the early monsters and anything the rest of us can't handle. The Points distribution would be a lot better then, since the later monsters give more and there are more of them."

"You guys aren't reading the notices, are you?" Nathan asked, and the others looked at him.

He was sitting on the ground, sorting through the cards to see what had been used and to remake the decks.

"It's just our rewards notices," Michael told him. "You know, the-"

"It only gives one notice," Nathan said as he let Ichtvar back out for the rest period. "There are two."

Everyone checked the second message, realizing that in addition to receiving what amounted to pretty much nothing compared to what they earned during the Challenge, they had an additional reward.

For completing a Survival Challenge lasting 100 days or more for the first time, a limited-edition Skill has become available for you.

Nathan had already purchased his using the 100 Skill Point Voucher from earning 100,000 Points in a single Challenge. He didn't give it a second thought based on its name, and when he pulled up the information, he found himself pleasantly surprised, even though he had expected it.

Enchanter's Shop: Level 1 Allows you to access a shop with enchanting materials. Stock may vary. Level 1 Max

He was sure that surviving such a long Challenge was something that normally granted a limited-edition Skill, but also that whoever ran the game had swapped out what he originally would have earned for that.

Judging by that, he guessed that they wanted him to succeed in his enchanting exploits. He suspected it had to do with his guns – without needing his stats at all, the guns were able to damage things, as long as they were enchanted well enough.

If that were the case, then the theory of them needing strong combatants became a stronger possibility.

"Hey, Nathan," Keith looked at him. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say that you and I possibly have the same Skill available from this?"

"What Skill?"

"A shop," Keith answered. "For enchanters."

"With varying stock," Nathan nodded. "That part is interesting."

"Agreed," Keith said. "I just bought it, it might help us."

"Same," Nathan nodded, then dismissed the message. "Everyone, rest up. We'll enter the next session closer to the end of our time in this safe zone."

He then promptly opened up the Enchanters' Shop, which had five sizes of mana crystal ranging from small at 10 Points to massive at 250 Points and an inscribing pen.

Nathan purchased a Small Mana Crystal and examined it. It was roughly the same as any other small mana crystal he'd had so far.

"That's interesting," Ichtvar floated closer, inspecting the mana crystal.

"What?" Nathan asked.

"It's not artificially-produced," the phoenix told him. "I was curious to know if they could generate mana crystals through this system of theirs, but that's a genuine crystal. It's not artificial, like most of the items from their shops."

Nathan inspected the crystal again. Odds were, he'd lose it when he left the game, if he hadn't used it up by then. If they were sending real mana crystals, whether or not they could generate them through the game's system probably had a negative answer.

It would explain why 'Stock may vary'. It would depend on what they were able to have for sale at the time. That did, however, bring them back to the question of what the limits of the System's ability to generate were.

It could recreate mana crystals on someone when they entered the game, yet possibly couldn't generate them on its own. Why? What created these restrictions for it? Just what was the System?

Nathan sent the mana crystal into his Inventory, then laid on the grass, using his hands as a pillow. He closed his eyes, and the others stared at him.

"He's asleep, isn't he?" Samantha asked.

"Yes," Ichtvar responded. "Nathan is quite adept at falling asleep whenever he wants. It's a demigod thing."

"Since you two are buddies, now," Samantha looked at Keith, who was focused on the shop as he thought over stuff. "Has he told you any plans regarding the next Survival Challenge?"

"Beyond what he already said?" Keith asked. "It's basically going to be nearly four months of boringness. I think Nathan has some children's books to read to his baby, as well as a stethoscope and a few other 'necessary' things, but that's about it for the plans. He used up pretty much everything we had for the enchanting in the last Challenge, and he'll probably want to hold off on using the shop further until we're out of the game."

"Why?" Michael asked.

"Because," Samantha said. "If they lose the items when they leave, like most stuff bought in-game, then it would be a waste. If he bought it outside of the game, then he could create a large supply, then enter the game several times and use it over and over."

"Oh," Michael said. "That makes sense. What do we do now?"

"Rest and relax," Samantha answered as she laid next to Nathan. "And wait until Nathan initiates the next Challenge."

"Hey, Ichtvar," Keith said.

"I don't like that curious tone you just used," the phoenix said.

"Can I use your flames to-"

"No."

"But-"

"I'm not a stove," Ichtvar said. "And I can hear your stomach rumbling. You're asking if you can use me to cook something."

"Start a fire," Keith said. "I was asking to start a fire. Not use your flames to cook."

"You can make fire with your magic," Ichtvar rolled his eyes, then flew into Nathan's chest, his markings fading a few moments later.

Keith shrugged, then pulled out several playing cards from his backpack.

"You kept some?" William asked.

"How do you plan on starting a fire?" Michael asked. "We don't have wood."

"Nathan gave these to me before we entered the game," Keith answered. "For a situation like this."

He then triggered them, revealing a bundle of firewood, a bundle of sticks, and a bundle of twigs. Keith untied them, then got to work building a fire, before working his magic to start it.

"I hate making fire with magic," Keith grumbled.

Once he had enough coals and low flames, Keith set up a pot, which he filled with water, and a saucepan, which he used to simmer the sauce. When he finished cooking, they had spaghetti with marinara sauce, which they ate off of paper plates with plastic silverware.

After their meal, Keith used his magic to create more water to wash the dishes with, then sent those into some cards once dry, then relaxed. Michael, William, Mitchell, and Elise walked off to spar, and Keith let his familiar out so it could stretch again.

Samantha woke sometime later, and after seeing that four of their companions were off in the distance, training, and Keith was meditating a few hundred yards away, she gave Nathan a small smirk, checking to make sure he was still asleep.

She was confident she'd figured out what woke him up and what didn't, and it had to do with the intent of waking him during the act of going to wake him.

As gently as carefully as possible, Samantha undid the button and fly of his slacks, before reaching into his underwear and receiving a flick to the back of the head.

"No."

"Are you seriously turning down a blowjob?" She looked at Nathan, who was glaring at her. "Nathan, everyone else is occupied, and it's not going to hurt the-"

"I don't like your position," he sat up. "What if-"

"It's not like we're fucking," Samantha said. "And the baby's fine, Nathan. Will-"

"No," Nathan stated. "You're in an awkward position for it."

"It's not-" she cut off at Nathan's glare, knowing she wouldn't win. He'd made up his mind, and that was that. "What guy refuses a blowjob from his girlfriend?"

Nathan opened his mouth to respond.

"When they've already been sexually active."

"The kind who cares about his baby."

"There's no risk to the baby," she said. "I'm pretty sure lots of pregnant women still do this and have absolutely no issues."

"The answer is 'no'."

"Fine," Samantha said. "If you and I don't do anything before I give birth to him, then I get to name him and-"

"No," Nathan said. "I already have a name picked out."

"We haven't discussed this!"

"Keith."

"We're not naming him after your buddy."

"William."

"We're not naming him after someone crushing on me."

"Mitchell."

"We're not naming him after our friend."

"Michael."

"Now you're being ridiculous."

"Cyrus."

"Cyrus?" Samantha gave Nathan a bewildered look. "Where did you get that name from?"

"My brother."

Nathan stood and walked away, leaving Samantha even more confused. Nathan didn't have a brother. She'd known him for fifteen years – nearly their entire lives – and had been at his house many times. There had never been a sign of another brother. Ever.

"Why did Nathan walk off looking all moody?" Keith asked, startling Samantha from behind. "Well, more depressed than moody. That's not like him."

"I don't know," Samantha frowned. "We were discussing names for our son. He said he'd already picked one. After going through him just messing around, he said 'Cyrus'-"

Samantha noted Keith freezing up at that mention.

"-and when I asked where he got that name from," she stared at Keith intently. "He said 'my brother', then walked off. I've known him for fifteen years, Keith, and I've never heard of this 'Cyrus'. Based on your reaction, you know who Cyrus is."

"You know – or knew – Cyrus," Keith told her. "If you never saw a sign of him, then he probably pretended to be Nathan. They were identical twins. I only ever found a few photos of the two of them together. Some of those pictures you've seen of Nathan were probably Cyrus, too."

"What are you talking about?" Samantha asked. "I'd eaten dinner with them several times, Keith. There was only ever one child there."

"I don't know the full details," Keith shrugged. "Just that Nathan was an identical twin, and that his brother, Cyrus, died four years ago. We're actually near the anniversary."

"How near?" Samantha asked as a feeling started to form in her gut.

"The accident happened on June 13th, the funeral was June 20th."

Just a few days from then, out of the game. It might explain why he wanted to do several long runs before then, if Keith were being honest. Then there was the date of the funeral…

"You aren't screwing with me, are you?" Samantha asked. "Because if you are, so help me, Keith-"

"I solemnly swear it," Keith told her. "I don't know why you didn't know about Cyrus, but what I said was true. Why did you react so negatively to the funeral's date?"

"That's when Nathan asked me out," she told him. "If you're being serious, then Nathan asked me out the day this mysterious twin of his died. How did you find out about Nathan? Hacking into his personal life?"

"Nathan's known I knew," Keith told her. "I saw him at the cemetery last summer. Before you ask, I wasn't stalking him, I was talking to a necromancer."

"In the cemetery?"

"He doesn't raise the dead," Keith shook his head. "Just commune with spirits. It happened while my helper and I were working on the magic bomb that failed. A pretty decent enchanter was rumored to have been buried there. Turned out, their new enchanted items were actually old ones from a stash they'd found, so that was a dead-end. Before you ask, I didn't ask the necromancer to summon Cyrus's ghost.

"Enough talk of the dead," he shook his head. "Are you hungry? We have quite awhile before the next game begins, and Nathan may not return until it's time to start it."

"A day of boring nothingness," Samantha sighed. "Followed by almost four months of boring nothingness. And yes, I'm hungry, Keith. The baby's asking for food."

Keith got to work cooking, and the others joined the two of them for the meal. As Keith had predicted, Nathan only returned an hour before their twenty-four-hour rest period was up.

"Where did you go?" Michael asked.

"As far as possible," Nathan answered. "It's just fields as far as you can go, it seems. Returning here was easy, though. All I had to do was wish to return, and distance itself seemed to warp to allow me back."

Something he assumed was put into that dimension so that a team that split up for any reason could easily meet back up in the central zone.

Nathan began the next Challenge for them, then waited for them to agree to it.

"Time for another four months of boring training," Michael said.

"I have playing cards, some board games, and a chess set," Nathan told him. "Just accept it so we can get on with the boringness. And just accept the start already, everyone else has."

Michael snorted, then accepted the Challenge, and the seven teens found themselves back in the school, the two magicians sending their familiars to start clearing things as they prepared for an even more boring run than the last.