With the Sandman’s death, the worst of the illusion magic disappeared. I was now able to see normally, and I quickly collected the Sandman’s loot while under my Invisibility Cloak.

Capital City Token

Illusion Ward Blueprint (D-rank): Creates visual illusions and mana illusions in a predetermined location.

Illusion Mage (D-rank class): Grants Illusion Magic Affinity (D-rank). Teaches Vibrant Illusion (D-rank). +3 Mana Pool per level, +1 Mana Regeneration per level.

Sandman Core (D-rank): Increases Illusion Magic Affinity.

Perhaps the most terrifying of all was the last spellbook that I picked up:

Sandy Dreams (D-rank): When cast on a sleeping target, allows you to control the target in a sleep-walking state that gradually drains the target’s spirit. Cost: 10 mana per minute per target. Requires Illusion Magic Affinity (D-rank).

The effects of my insanely high Luck played out again. These were, essentially, all the skills that I had seen the Sandman use in our battle, with the exception of shitting out illusion magic reservoirs, which, admittedly, wasn’t a skill I was interested in even holding.

That said, the looting wasn’t over.

After collecting the corpse in my Interdimensional Pouch, I made my way over to the two Hell-mode challengers and collected the loot that they still had.

The woman’s armor was essentially trashed, but her greatsword was impressive.

Unyielding Blade (C-rank): +25 Strength. Requires 50 Strength.

It was a disappointment that there were no skills attached to the blade, but it granted 5 more Stat Points than the average C-ranked weapon.

Sorcerer’s Tome (C-rank): Enables and stores C-rank chants. +20 Mana Pool.

Sorcery worked with very different mechanics than “normal” magic. Rather than spells, sorcerers used chants, which were recorded in the tomes. Unfortunately, when a sorcerer died, their tome would go blank.

Starting a chant required a very large, immediate investment of mana. After that immediate investment, the chant utilizes ambient mana to power the magic, allowing sorcerers to use powerful magic for long periods of time.

If a sorcerer’s chant is interrupted, then the magic effect ends, and the sorcerer may experience some backlash from the newly freed ambient mana.

Even if a sorcerer were to memorize every word in a chant, or record the chants elsewhere and read from them, the chants would not have any affect. The syllables of a chant are actually something like a computer program, telling the tome exactly what to do, and then the tome controls the ambient mana in the desired way.

Alex would certainly appreciate a Sorcerer’s Tome. But Samantha and Petra certainly wouldn’t appreciate me giving it to her for free…I would have to consider what an appropriate price would be.

It was somewhat humbling, holding two weapons which, in the Acclimated Schema World, would be worth hundreds of millions of coins.

But this was where the lack of funds on Earth came back to bite me. If I tried to sell either of these items to another human, nobody would have hundreds of millions of coins. If I tried to sell them to a merchant, the merchant would easily rip me off, because nobody else is around to make a better deal. And by selling something like this to the Merchant’s Faction, I would be leaving our world that much weaker.

As I started my descent from the mountain, killing the monsters around me with ease, I considered my next move.

I decided to put 10 points into my Mana Pool. It only made sense, since by increasing my Mana Pool by 10, I was effectively increasing it by 15—I was able to keep half of my Mana Pool outside my body at any given time, thanks to my Mana Control skill.

Whether or not Samantha was right about Evangeline planning on killing me when I returned, I was acutely aware that one of my greatest weaknesses was a sneak attack. Right now, for example, a Mana-infused Arrow could kill me in an instant.

I put 10 points into Physical Defense, and then I put my remaining three points towards Mana Regeneration.

And what do you think I should buy from the treasury?

Samantha said.

With all these times that Samantha kept voicing her distrust of Evangeline, I was starting to think it would be impossible for me to act normally around her.

“You’re back so soon? Is it dead?” Evangeline asked, running up to me and hugging me in excitement. I couldn’t help but tense my body when she hugged me, but I quickly forced myself to relax. Evangeline’s long brown hair streamed behind her, and her warm green eyes smiled at me.

Her clothes were dirtier than they had been, with traces of blood and dirt—it seemed she had been busy killing monsters while I was gone.

I almost stepped back from her hug, but I figured if Evangeline was going to try to kill me, it wouldn’t be by the Crystalline Lake, where anyone could see.

Samantha said.

I nodded my head, returning the hug. “The Sandman is dead. I have the Capital City token here.”

I extricated myself from the hug and passed the Capital City Token to her.

“Thank you so much!” Evangeline was gushing, and her hands trembled in excitement when she held the token. “Come with me—let’s go to—Honfleur City. Honfleur is where I am from, in France. Once we turn Honfleur into a Capital City, you will be able to travel to and from Honfleur and Rebirth City whenever you want!”

I smiled, and allowed Evangeline to lead me towards the nearby town.

I was growing more and more uncomfortable. The seed of doubt that Evangeline would try something couldn’t escape my mind. Evangeline’s bubbly nature seemed entirely inappropriate considering we were in the middle of an apocalypse.

And there was also her assumption that we would go with her to Honfleur City, instead of heading back to North America through New World City in Asia.

Should we just go back to New World City?

Samantha replied.

“The Sandman is dead!” Evangeline shouted, as we walked through the town gates. Everyone—the guards on the wall, the people in the streets—cheered and applauded.

It felt uncomfortably like I was transported into a medieval fantasy. All hail the conquering hero.

“What did the Sandman drop?” Evangeline asked, as we were nearing the portal.

“It dropped a D-rank Core and a D-rank Illusion Mage Class Change book,” I said, opting out of telling her the full extent of the wealth I had gained.

“Wow, that’s so impressive,” Evangeline said, her eyes wide.

I could feel myself cringing internally. Evangeline was acting so bubbly, and so happy, I just knew the other shoe was going to drop soon.

“How did you break the illusions? Do you have like insanely high Mental Power?”

I laughed. “No, my Mental Power is pretty low. It just took a lot of Perception.”

As I said it, I couldn’t help but wonder. Is she thinking about mind controlling me? Maybe she is part of the Mentalist Cooperative?

I decided not to mention my Mana Sensing.

We walked together to the teleportation center, and then Evangeline and I teleported to the Region’s city, and then to Honfleur City.

The Teleportation Circle in Honfleur was well guarded, with a half dozen people in the room watching us with weapons at the ready. Evangeline greeted everyone with a smile, and a series of orders focused on clearing the monsters around the city, and to prepare to upgrade the city to a Capital.

Of course, there was a lot of work to do before upgrading the city. Since the shields would be down while the city upgraded, it was essential for the nearby monsters to be killed in advance.

While Europe lacked Hell Mode Challengers, it seemed there were no shortage of Hard Mode Challengers who were capable of clearing the perimeter around Honfleur City.

“Let’s get dinner,” Evangeline said. “My people will let me know when the city is ready to be upgraded. I’d love to hear more about the situation in North America.”

“Of course,” I said.

Dinner was exhausting. I was slightly unnerved that it was in a private room in a restaurant—it made me slightly uncomfortable, thinking that there were no witnesses around if Evangeline were to attack me.

I kept watching Evangeline’s hands carefully, expecting her to suddenly blast a Void Blade through my skull. It didn’t help that Evangeline spoke animatedly, waving her hands every few seconds to emphasize something.

Halfway through dinner, Evangeline paused to speak on her Communication Amulet for a minute.

“It’s the New World Government,” she said, dismissively, once she had hung up. “They aren’t too happy that you dealt with the Sandman without them. Keep an eye out for angry messages from them,” she said, with a wry smile.

I smiled weakly, tracing circles absentmindedly on my knee.

Not long after, my Mana Sensing showed that the Honfleur City’s shield was back up, and I was now in the capital city of Europe.

I waited for Evangeline to say something, about it, but she didn’t.

“How did you become a C-rank Rune Master?” Evangeline asked, suddenly. “There were no C-rank professions in our auction. Did you challenge the Infinite Tower?”

“No, it was a reward for a mission,” I said. “Have you challenged the tower? Do you have any tips?”

“All your equipment disappears when you enter. If you’re considering purchasing anything to prepare, make sure you purchase skills, not equipment. Don’t overestimate yourself. And if you see any people, don’t trust them. You know about Reyvania?”

I froze. “What?”

“The Infinite Tower is a chance to meet people from other worlds that are also experiencing Acclimation,” Evangeline said. “There is a world that used to be connected to ours, that is going through Acclimation at the same time. That’s where all our stories of elves, dwarves, werewolves, vampires, and so on originate form.”

I nodded, suddenly completely intrigued.

“When I went to the Infinite Tower, I met an elf from Reyvania. We used the chance to exchange some information between worlds. Reyvania already had some magic in the world before Acclimation. Did you know that magic is possible without the Schema? The Schema is only adding things like experience gained from killing people, or skill books that get dropped on death, and things like that. It turns out elves are able to cultivate Mana Shards and Mana Crystals to “level up”—I know, so broken, right? In Reyvania, because there is more mana in the atmosphere, they have magicians, and many people were above level 1 when the Schema acclimated their world.”

“What was the highest leveled person in their world before the Schema?”

“Some ancient elf,” Evangeline said. “They say she is over a hundred and fifty years old, and she is level—"

That was when the Void Blade sliced through my brain.

Name:

Jarek

Level:

37

HP:

0/47

Physical Defense:

28

Strength:

30 (+5)

Mental Power:

14

Dexterity:

10 (+5)

Agility:

24 (+14)

Perception:

20

Luck:

22

Mana Pool:

131 (+10)

Mana Regeneration:

72 (+10)

Available Points:

0

Coins:

1,234,000

Class:

Mana Modulator (D-rank)

Profession:

Rune Master (C-rank)

Titles:

Region Lord (E-rank)

Skills and Spells:

Identify (E-rank)

Mana Modulation (D-rank Core)

Death’s Defier (A-rank)

Mana Sensing (C-rank)

Healthy Magic (E-rank)

Aquatic Respiration (E-rank)

Polyglot (E-rank)

Soul Communion (D-rank)

Cursed Lightning (D-rank)

Spiritual Traveler (D-rank)

Soul Explosion (D-rank)

Mana Control (C-rank)

Affinities:

Internal Mana (D-rank Low), External Unattributed Mana (C-rank Low), Soul Magic (D-rank Low)

Equipment:

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

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

Imperial Scout Boots (E-rank): +4 Agility.

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

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

Communication Amulet (E-rank):

Interdimensional Pouch (D-rank):

Missions:

Zone Offense

Renegade Bounty Hunter