Uman and I didn’t speak as we left the throne room and walked towards the Teleportation Circle. I wanted to ask why he lied to cover for me, but there were too many eyes and ears in the Crucible. Uman walked at a measured pace, but I could tell with my heightened perception that he was nervous. The hair on the back of his neck stood up slightly, and his fingers were twitching almost invisibly.

And, as it turned out, I had some important Schema things to get to.

I had forgotten, really, that I had dismissed the notifications in the moment. Selecting the alpha symbol that was forever in my field of vision, I viewed recent announcements as I walked.

Congratulations for defeating the Zone Lord!

You are now the new Zone Lord.

You have upgraded the conditional title, Region Lord (E-rank) to the conditional title, Zone Lord (C-rank): +5 to all stats when fighting in your Zone.

Congratulations! You have defeated a renegade who entered your world through unsanctioned means. Increasing exp gain…

Level up!

Calculating bonuses…

You have unlocked the mission, Renegade Bounty Hunter. Every unsanctioned being that you kill on Earth will give you additional experience and rewards.

You have learned the skill, Don’t Mind Me (D-rank): All changes to your mind (D-rank or weaker) must be pre-approved by you before taking effect.

Your mind has been heavily altered from its baseline. Revert to normal?

You have transferred the conditional title, Zone Lord (C-rank). Zone Lord (C-rank) has downgraded to Region Lord (E-rank).

I stopped in my tracks, reading through everything again. Uman paused and glanced at me.

Your mind has been heavily altered from its baseline. Revert to normal?

I immediately thought, Revert.

Then, under Uman’s concerned gaze, I clumsily sat down in the middle of the cement corridor, hugging my knees to my chest, and I cried.

I cried because I was responsible for Adia’s father’s death.

I cried because I had killed River.

I cried because I had killed Kris and Darrel.

I cried because I had never even bothered to learn the names of the ROTC recruits who had died because of me.

I hated Samantha, and I hated myself.

I could see visions of violence and overwhelming gore flashing around me, of my own mutilated body, an inch from death and bleeding.

I could see myself raising my left arm, over and over again, to sacrifice it painlessly to an arrow or sword.

I remembered the brief moments, touching the crystal, begging for relief, and Samantha’s brutal refusal.

Thinking through all these experiences, moments I had experienced but not controlled, I felt a strange disconnect.

The man I had been was a monster. Disregarding my own safety, and the safety of others. Willing to kill other people—good people—and willing to fight for the slightest personal gain.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked up, sniffing to delay a trail mucus, towards Uman’s compassionate face.

“It’s alright,” Uman said. “My actions haunt me too.” He glanced around, and, not seeing anybody, turned back to me. “I lied for you, you know. I never felt Lord Ignatius’ control weakening. We need to work together, now. We need to save our families. Once you’ve found your siblings and my wife, then we can wallow in self-loathing and think about atonement.”

I wiped my nose on my shirt, and tried to breathe steadily. “I-I don’t think I can fight, anymore,” I said. Just seeing the glint of the knife at Uman’s belt sent shivers down my spine. How many times had my skin been shredded by a blade, claw, or tooth?

“Bullshit,” Uman said. “You’re the best fighter I know.”

I hiccupped. “Dawnbreaker would disagree.”

“Take away her armor, and you’d have a chance. You can do this, Jarek. Your family needs you.”

Uman reached out a hand in front of me, and I grabbed it, letting him yank me to my feet.

Didn’t see this coming, eh, Samantha? I snorted, and Uman gave me a strange look. You’re powerless now.

Samantha said, in a mildly annoyed tone.

I continued the walk with Uman. Samantha was ominously silent. For perhaps the first time, I had the chance to consider the world around me. Without Samantha’s psychopathic drive, and without the Crucible’s mind-control.

The world was going to hell. Samantha had said it before, and it hadn’t really stuck. Over half of the world’s population— 3.5 billion people—had died, probably more.

It was impossible, it was insanity. I wished, oh, I wished, I could wake up, back in my bed, with electricity functioning and with a refrigerator and tv in my apartment.

The only good news was that if Petra and Justin were captured, that meant at least they had survived the monsters. Now they just had to survive the humans.

The world was a shithole. And through very unfortunate means, I had somehow ended up on top. I had incredibly deadly powers.

Uman was right. I just needed to focus on my own goals. Not Samantha’s, not the Crucible’s. Find my family. Never get mind-controlled again.

It was a start. In fact, there was a voice in the back of my mind that was whispering that maybe it was good, that Petra and Jarek were still out there. I had a direction, a focus. The last seven days had been horrible on so many levels. But I couldn’t afford to stop now, I couldn’t afford to fully process everything that had already happened, because my siblings needed me.

Find my family. Never get mind-controlled again. I repeated the two goals to myself, mouthing the words to myself.

I had a title that would help. But also, Uman had mentioned that Mental Power made it harder to be mind-controlled.

Hadn’t I just leveled up? Opening my stat sheet, I immediately put my free point into Mental Power. I would never be mind-controlled again.

Shut up, Samantha.

Name:

Jarek

Level:

23

HP:

33/33

Physical Defense:

18

Strength:

31 (+5)

Mental Power:

12

Dexterity:

10 (+5)

Agility:

10 (+20)

Perception:

20 (+2)

Luck:

11

Mana Pool:

72 (+10)

Mana Regeneration:

31 (+10)

Available Points:

0

Coins:

5,303,000

Class:

Mana Modulator (D-rank)

Profession:

Rune Master

(E-rank)

Titles:

Region Lord (E-rank)

Skills and Spells:

Identify (E-rank)

Mana Modulation (D-rank Core)

Death’s Defier (A-rank)

Mana Sensing (E-rank)

Healthy Magic (E-rank)

Don’t Mind Me (D-rank)

Affinities:

Internal Mana (D-rank Low), External Unattributed Mana (E-rank Low)

Equipment:

Vampiric Blade (D-rank): +5 Strength, +5 Agility.

Bloodied Battle Robes (D-rank): +5 Mana Pool, +5 Mana Regen.

Boots of a Feather (D-rank): +10 Agility.

Greedy Gloves (D-rank): +5 Mana Pool, +5 Mana Regen.

Bonded Blades (D-rank): +5 Dexterity, +5 Agility.

Goat Mask (D-rank): +2 Perception.

Interdimensional Pouch (E-rank):

Missions:

Zone Offense

Renegade Bounty Hunter

I followed Uman numbly, silently, through the Crucible. The hallways were notably empty.

“Put this on,” Uman said, handing me one of the wooden, beaded necklaces he had picked up from Lord Ignatius’ loot. “Once you crush a bead, then you can design a fake Status Window. Boston City won’t let anyone enter unless they can see their names and levels. Your level is high enough they might think twice before letting you in. A level 10 swordsman should suffice. And you’ll have to unequip an item—take off that ridiculous goat mask, why don’t you.”

I followed Uman’s directions, and soon enough, we approached the teleportation room. The room where we had ambushed River. It was sickening, thinking back, how self-justified I was—we all were—as we attacked River, thinking it was for her own good. There was still a lingering smell of burnt flesh in the room, although I was sure the Crucible had tried to hide it.

As I inhaled and we approached the door, I noticed a peculiar additional smell. A more rancid odor.

I stepped in front of Uman to open the door, and I saw a familiar, grinning face.

“Don’t come any closer,” the man said. Cy, Dawnbreaker’s right-hand man, stood blocking our path. Standing just 10 yards away from him, the first thing that I couldn’t get out of my head was that he was so, abnormally large. His whole body ballooned out, swollen uncomfortably. His skin looked pink and raw.

Wrapped around his shoulders and neck was a baby wyvern. It was much larger than it had been yesterday. It had golden scales, and its wings were pure white. Its two wings were furled in against its torso, and a long tongue reached out of its mouth, revealing tiny nubs of teeth. The tongue licked Cy’s cheek affectionately, and Cy scratched underneath the wyvern’s wing lazily with a single finger.

“I was hoping for a rematch,” Cy said, smiling at me.