"That was unexpected," Nathan said.

"You guys weren't expecting that?" Katie asked, pale and trembling.

"Nope," Keith answered.

"But you destroyed the gym!"

"The bomb was a little bit stronger than we expected," Keith told her. "We don't normally have a blast radius bigger than twenty feet. That was… definitely not expected."

"Maybe it was that extra rune formula we put in?" Nathan suggested.

"Probably," Keith responded, then looked around the Fields of Choice. "That was definitely unexpected."

After setting off the bomb, Nathan and Keith had both quickly erected barriers to protect them from the blast, realizing that standing at the edge of the gym wouldn't protect them the moment it went off. As the explosion destroyed the gym, they suddenly found themselves in the Fields of Choice, a message in their visions in addition to the normal one stating their reward for surviving the Challenge.

Due to the destruction of the gymnasium and resulting instability of the artificial dimension, you have been returned to the Fields of Choice for your safety.

The speed of it led to the enchanters deciding that the System was probably already designed to do that. It wasn't unreasonable to expect that others had damaged the artificial dimension's exterior walls enough to result in it become unstable before. Not when they knew that there were worlds and dimensions where using them to train was normal, and that Nathan wasn't the only demigod in existence.

"Take a few minutes to rest," Nathan told Katie. "We'll go in again after a resource check."

Nathan and Keith began taking stock of their resources and what they had left. After finishing that, they stretched a little, then Nathan took a nap as Keith walked off. Katie looked at Nathan, then followed after Keith.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Checking the Dungeons," he answered. "They change after every run to account for the party's abilities. While you won't actually affect it much right now due to your lower stats, Nathan and I both increased our Magic and Mana Stat a bit with our training. As a result, it's possible new Dungeons are available for us. Even just a few stats' difference can be a major difference in ability to handle things, and we can increase our Magic and Mana Stat by one per day if we actually try. More if we push harder."

"I see," she said. "So you do this every time?"

"Well, I only recently started this," Keith told her. "But basically, yes. By the way, have you done the Tower Dungeon yet?"

"Yes," she answered. "Just one run. You?"

"Yeah," he answered. "I went up to Floor Five before quitting. Nathan hasn't done it yet. When I asked him if he knows when he's going to, he said he's not interested. He'd rather get this research done and do some Dungeons. Stuff that will help in our quest to destroy the game and the System overall."

"Ah," she said, then looked at the Dungeon archways. "It seems like you're just barely looking at them before moving on."

"I sort-of am," he told her. "I can quickly and easily memorize their information, so I do that, then move on. We have hundreds of them to look at. Nathan'll get started on this in a few minutes, too. We'll then compare differences and make a note of what's new, if any, then head into the game."

"You didn't do this before we went in before," she said.

"Yeah," he nodded. "You being with us threw us off and we forgot. We'll also compare what's missing when we compare our lists, to see which ones were completed by others. You should get some rest, Katie. I think Nathan wants you to fight soon after we reenter."

"I don't think I'm ready for that," she told him.

"There will be weaker monsters," Keith said. "At the start. After five days, there will be a slight difference. After twenty days, it'll be almost impossible to find the weakest monsters. After a month, there won't be any. So it's best if you do at least one to five kills a day, minimum. Nathan's plan for if you're still a bit too hesitant to fight is to throw you in a room with a weaker monster and prevent you from exiting."

"But wouldn't that-"

"Either you fight, or you die," Keith told her. "Simple as that. To Nathan, that's the most effective way to get you to go from not wanting to fight and having issues with it to actually fighting. If you go with him once we're in there to do the first fight, he'll be right there for it, watching you."

"Can I ask you something?" She asked. "Something seriously, Keith?"

"I'm not Nathan," he told her. "You can ask, and I'll probably actually answer rather than fuck around."

"Why does Nathan care so much about me?" She asked.

Keith contemplated his answer as he looked at several more Dungeons, then answered as he continued looking.

"He wants to sleep with you," Keith said. "But is conflicted on that. You're attractive, and fit into his preferences, but at the same time, your personality is a bit… wrong for that. You're too passive and timid."

"But shouldn't that turn him off to me?" She asked. "From what Samantha's told me, everyone he's slept with – her included – has had much stronger personalities than me. It doesn't make sense."

"It does," Keith said. "When you factor in that the blood of a god flows through your veins."

"I think my magic being blue disproves that."

"Not as a first-generation descendant," Keith shook his head. "According to my familiar, one of your grandparents was a demigod. I'd mentioned to him one night that I found Nathan's fascination with you strange because of your personality, and he'd mentioned that you're two generations beneath a demigod."

Katie thought that over.

"So Nathan is sensing the divine ancestry," she said.

"And that's why he actually cares," Keith nodded. "Even if it confuses him. I mentioned it to him, and he just shrugged and said 'well, if she couraged up a bit, it wouldn't matter'. He wants to help you, and is trying to do it in his own way, and part of that stems from him caring about you even though you don't have the strength in your personality that he usually gets with. It's weird."

"Do you think Master Torzin knows?" She asked. "That I'm descended of a god, I mean?"

"It's possible," Keith answered. "It's also possible he doesn't know. He might have known about your grandparent, though. They're unawakened, no doubt. That, or died before awakening."

"All four of my grandparents are still alive," she told him.

"Can you be sure of that?" He asked. "Are you sure all four of them are related to you by blood? Anyway, demigods are extremely rare, and from what Master Torzin's said, it doesn't seem like there'd been one between Nathan and Merlin."

She fell silent, and Keith continued checking the Dungeons.

"So," Katie said after several minutes. "Nathan wants to change me just so he can sleep with me comfortably?"

"No," Keith said. "Nathan would fuck you now, if you let him. He wants to change you because he cares about you, and the change he wants you to make will help you survive in the game. And I do agree with him on that – you need to courage up and be ready to fight when necessary, especially if you're to be a part of Nathan's team."

"Why?" She asked.

"Because," Keith said. "He's got this new rule. If you're a part of his harem, you have to be willing to kick ass as a member of his team. Samantha doesn't need to courage up because she's already a badass chick. Michael, William, and I are all fighters, even if we aren't harem members. Elise is a pretty decent fighter as well, and she's Michael's girlfriend. You'd be the odd-one out, and Nathan won't want to lag behind in a fight or Challenge just to cater to you for being so much weaker and more hesitant than us. He'd also not be happy leaving you behind or going to weaker things just because of you. He also doesn't want a harem member who can't also be a part of his team."

"Oh," she said.

"Yeah," he said. "And I don't blame him. I'd hate having to lag behind because a member of our team is significantly weaker than the rest of us and hesitant to fight."

Katie thought over that as Keith continued checking Dungeons. She could understand where they were coming from. She did feel useless because she was weaker than everyone else. Then there was the issue that she was hesitant to fight. When it came down to it, she just wasn't a fighter.

But she was a player against her will, and that meant she needed to fight. The best chances for survival was to join a team and be a part of it, and Nathan's team was the best available option for her. The other survivors in her group didn't want her because she was weaker, and the rest of the players at the facility didn't know her that well. That left her with Nathan's team, which had higher standards than the others.

"What if I didn't want to be a part of his harem?" She asked Keith.

"He wouldn't be too bothered," Keith answered. "And before you get offended, Nathan doesn't see it as you owing him sex, even after all the help he's given you and interest you've shown in him. The only person he feels owes him sex is Samantha, and that's because of stuff she did to him. Sexual stuff. Long story, don't ask. But he'll also take 'no' from her, allowing her to give him the 'owed' sex when she decides to and isn't pregnant."

She thought some more as they continued walking, Keith checking the Dungeons. As confusing as Nathan was – and as much of an ass as he could be at times – he wasn't truly a bad person. Blunt, direct, and without a filter for the most part, but it got his point across and the job done. He did seem interested in helping her survive in the game and become a stronger player.

"What do you think I should do?" She asked Keith.

"In regards to fighting and your timidness with it?" He asked.

"Yes."

"Fight," he answered. "Fight one or two monsters a day at first. Get used to fighting. The more you get used to it, the less it will bother you. Not everyone can be as ruthless and heartless as Nathan. Some people will charge in head-first and push down their fears, only to let it to bother them once things settle down. Others? They have to get used to it over time or be forced to jump into the deep end."

"And I'm in the latter category."

"Correct," he said. "And I advocate going the route of getting used to it over time. That would be the best option for you, in my opinion. It's also why we're not doing Optional Challenges in the next run, though we will in the one after if we feel you still need an added boost. Our goal is to get you up to Level 150 and not having an issue with fighting the monsters and various other things you'll have to face in the Challenges before we leave here. That way, if you decide to not be a part of Nathan's team, you shouldn't have too much of an issue joining up with another, including the other survivors from your own batch."

"Thanks," she told him.

"You're welcome," he said. "I hope everything is clear to you, now?"

"Let me just make sure I understand things correctly," she told him. "Nathan wants to sleep with me, despite me not having a 'strong' personality. That probably stems from me having a god for a great-grandparent and him being a demigod. He wants to help me get over my issues and be willing to fight when needed, partly to strengthen me, partly because he prefers women with that sort of personality. Even if I decide I don't want to be a part of his harem or his team, he's still wanting to help me so that I can stand on my own two feet after we leave here."

"Yeah," Keith responded. "That does sum it up pretty well. That said, he does think you're nice, even without a stronger personality. He thinks you have a nice personality, it's just not one he finds attractive. If he looked for friends, your personality wouldn't be an issue at all."

"All of his friends are pretty different from me."

"He has two friends," Keith said. "Me and Samantha, and Samantha's his girlfriend, so she technically doesn't count. The others are teammates. People he trusts to hold their own in a fight and in the game. People he'll tolerate being on his team. I know him well enough to know that he'd actually be okay with you as just a friend, even if you decide to never sleep with him."

Keith paused for a moment.

"Well," he had to add. "He'd be okay with having you as just a friend once he decided that having friends was something he didn't want to avoid anymore."