Samantha’s detailed instructions continued, as they had for the last hour.

We had made it back from Missouri without any trouble. The teleportation mage wasn’t able to jump between Region walls, so instead he took us directly to the region wall that connected the Missouri Region with the Crucible’s Region, and then we teleported to the nearest town, and from there, we finally made it back to the Crucible.

We dropped all the loot off with Declan, and claimed our additional rewards. The manticore body and core were extremely valuable, but rather useless to most of us. As a result, we were all offered more appropriate rewards—another benefit of the size of the Crucible. For myself, at Samantha’s suggestion, I picked a rune pattern:

Concealment Rune Pattern Blueprint (E-rank): Necessary to complete a Concealment Rune Pattern (E-rank). When activated, the Concealment Rune Pattern makes the desired object less noticeable.

According to Samantha, high-rank rune patterns built off of each other. The D-rank Invisibility Rune Pattern built off of this Concealment Rune Pattern. Samantha, as usual, was playing the long game—if I was able to make Invisibility Cloaks for the Crucible, that would be a huge benefit.

After collecting our rewards, we each went our separate ways. Ryker returned to Reed City, Adia went off looking for her father, and River went back to California as well.

I opted to stay at the Crucible, and work on creating more Interdimensional Pouches. I needed to prove my worth if Lord Ignatius was going to loan me 24 million coins.

Fortunately, thanks to the Crucible’s huge network, I had all the materials I needed, even the Mana Shards to power the pouches.

It was just mind-numbing work.

It didn’t help that the room I was in looked more like a prison cell than a bedroom. Sure, it was large and spacious, but the furnishings were incredibly bare—a bed, a desk, and a slitted window placed high in the wall. The walls and floors were a monotone cement. I intentionally left the door open, just so I wouldn’t feel like I was in a prison.

Footsteps alerted me to Parker’s presence long before he appeared, holding a bowl of nachos. There was something peacefully normal about his appearance. He wore a matching set of Star Wars pajamas, complete with fluffy Yoda slippers on his feet.

“Dude, you need to relax,” Parker said, the moment he saw me hunched over my desk with my Rune Master’s Knife in hand. “Try some nachos.”

He put the bowl on my desk, jolting the leather ever so slightly. I sighed, putting my knife down.

“There’s someone in the kitchens 24/7. You should stop by sometime. They probably have the best-stocked pantries in the state," Parker said as he glanced around my room. “You need to touch this place up a bit. Place a mission on the board. You’ll get dozens of people, eager to help you set up this place for just a few hundred coins. They’ll bring in the artwork and everything.”

“Thanks, Parker,” I said, between mouthfuls of nachos. “Make yourself at home.”

Parker was already heading towards my bed to sit down.

“Today’s been so hectic, we didn’t have much of a chance to talk,” Parker said. “What stories do you remember?” He asked it eagerly, staring at me.

“What?”

Parker took out a small notebook from a pocket in his pajamas and started flipping pages.

“I’ve been talking to as many Readers as I can. There are at least twelve different web serials that mention the Crucible. Of course, some of them were blatant fanfiction, so we can probably discount those. My best guess is that Realms of Nether was the first one written. Anyway, what have you read?”

I opened my mouth to respond, but Parker continued. “What have you read that mentioned the Crucible, I mean.”

“It’s all kind of fuzzy,” I started, pausing while Parker nodded encouragingly. “I remember the Death King’s Trials and Humanity’s Last Bastion.”

Parker scribbled something in his notebook. “In Death King’s Trials, who was the leader of the Crucible training camp?”

I shifted uncomfortably. “What is this, some kind of trivia contest?”

“Think about it,” Parker said. “Someone in the Crucible wrote these stories and included powerful compulsion spells that lay dormant until the world changed. If the story is written by the Crucible, then the people associated with the Crucible in the stories could be important. The stories are generally a mix of fact and fiction, and so if we piece together everything we can remember, we might be able to figure out secrets to the world we are living in.”

“Well? Is there anything you’ve figured out so far?”

Parker nodded, swinging his feet from the side of my bed. “Most of the stories I’m aware of feature an ascent into godhood. So I did a bit of research—in the Atropos Schema, if you can pass a certain level—either level 200 or level 250, I’m not sure—then you can gain eternal life by merging with the Schema, becoming a god. Gods can grant powers to their followers—it is likely that many of the Hell mode challengers are already chosen as apostles of various gods.”

I felt my brain stumble for a bit. I wasn’t particularly religious, and the idea of gods that were actually out there—people that had killed their way to the top of humanity in order to become gods—left a sour taste in my mouth.

I took a bite out of a nacho, and frowned. The cheese was starting to harden, and the chip was starting to soften.

“I’m not sure we should be talking about this,” I said. “The Crucible web serials I remember are all vague—a lot more vague than any other stories I’ve read. Maybe we’re not supposed to remember them.”

Parker sighed, leaning back on my bed. “Knowledge is power. If we’re going to fight for the Crucible, we should be as prepared as possible.”

“Then ask Lord Ignatius to explain all of this stuff,” I said.

“He confirmed my godhood theory,” Parker said. “But he’s been busy.”

Our conversation paused for a second. If I had a clock, or a watch, I would have looked at it pointedly. I had work to do—Interdimensional Pouches to make.

Parker leaned forwards towards me, placing his hands on his knees. “I have another theory,” he said, pausing for me to react.

I nodded at him to continue.

“I don’t think we are the only Crucible cell,” Parker said. “Several of these stories were originally published in Chinese and Korean. It wouldn’t make sense to only have a Crucible cell in North America. And, honestly, think about Lord Ignatius. He takes himself so seriously. Can you imagine that man writing a web serial?”

“Maybe he was so embarrassed by it, that was why he made us all forget what he wrote,” I said, half-joking.

Parker smiled wryly at me. “Alright, new topic. Tell me about River. Is she single?”

I opened my mouth, and then closed it again. “I barely know her,” I said.

“C’mon, man, help me out. Does she like flowers? Chocolates? What do you know about her?”

I sighed. “I don’t think I’ve had a single conversation with her where she wasn’t mad at me for something. She blamed me for her friends’ death in the Tutorial, so we haven’t exactly hit it off.”

“Oh, shit,” Parker said. “Although, the upshot is, that increases my chances. Think about it. It would be hard to date someone who isn’t Chosen, so how many options does she have? Ryker and Amos are both like decades older than her.

Parker flipped to a new page in his notebook. “Hey, I made a list of pickup lines. Let me know what you think.” Parker cleared his throat, and deepened his voice. “Are you on fire? Because damn, you’re hot. Or, I want to stop, drop and roll with you, tonight.

“They’re fire-themed,” Parker said. “Because, you know, of her fire affinity? Or, I could try this one. You’re the prettiest girl I’ve Avecyn. Get it? From Magic the Gathering?”

At my blank look, Parker shrugged. “One more. Are you a magician? Because when I look at you, everyone else disappears. Well? What’s your favorite? Which would she like best?”

“I don’t know,” I said, sighing again. “Just…don’t do the Avecyn one.”

Parker stood up. “Alright, I can take a cue. I’ll let you get back to your runing and brooding. Later, Jarek.” He spoke somewhat sadly, in a different tone from the energy he had throughout our whole conversation. He walked out of the room slowly, and I was soon left with an empty bowl of nachos.

The room was finally quiet, and I felt a brief moment of loneliness.

Then Samantha spoke up.

Tried and failed, I thought back.

I assumed it was the vibrations in the ground, or some other bullshit power.

I sighed. Not another lesson. Samantha, I’m exhausted.

Samantha said, smoothly.