Mirai had fallen asleep with her face on the journals she had brought home.

Antonio's and Raina's friend had been of great help for her investigation. Yes, that help had not been for free. Taking out data from the police database and oiling the right gears was not something that could ever come free. But she was used to that. Nothing had ever come free to her, even before her husband and daughter's tragic incident; she had fought with her teeth and nails for everything she had ever wished for or needed.

Her parents, with their stupid beliefs and lifestyle, had never really helped her in anything.

And really, there was only one thing which she had to thank for, one thing that had always helped her, and it was her amazing constitution. She was effectively tireless; she did not remember a time in which she got tired of something which wasn't mental exertion. As long as it was physical labor, she was unflagging, she could go on for hours and hours, and sleeping just a couple of hours at night was enough for her to wake up bursting with energy. When work required, she could stay up for an entire week, granted that she spent the next day in a sleeping coma.

Yet something else was peculiar of her, apart from her strength, to which she had unconsciously placed mental limiters, her senses, one in particular, one which right now was screaming at her.

"Gabriel!" She screamed, jumping awake.

Something had happened to him, she had firmly believed he was alive until now, but now something really terrible had just happened. She was sure of it.

And for the love of God, she could not fathom what to do about it.

***

The lizard boy ran through the air, its Spirit, Energy, and Mana at the bottom point. Still, it knew that his only way of escape relied on doing what it had been doing since then, shoot through the air like a meteor.

It had managed to leave the forest behind and was scared shitless by the Tyrant's army that had left the Hole and was marching through the forest.

It jumped as high as it could, with all the Power it could muster. It was the second to last Spirit point remained to it, and it used it pushing with all its strength on the highest point of the closest tree, to stay unseen by the Tyrants. Finally, the last Spirit point was used in triggering Built to Fly.

Gravity hitting him, successfully nullified, it tore across the air at the initial acceleration speed leaving behind the creatures streaming over the forest and successfully entering the Hole territory.

It soon dawned on it that it might have actually headed to the wrong part; that maybe, escaping toward the plains might have been the better idea, but if it did that, it could not escape the Tyrant following it.

But, wait a minute. It had been a while since last it felt the crazy killing intent from the monster, where was it? Had it successfully managed to lose it?

The lizard-boy had nothing to do, it could only wait for the 19 seconds of the Skill to pass, so it turned around, checking for somebody following it, but not only could it not see any Tyrant anymore, it could barely see only the distant edges of the Hole.

Had its plan succeeded? Healing it had successfully made it leave it alone? Wow, that was something the lizard-boy would remember forever.

Its eyes started closing by themselves after the initial rush. Keeping them open was harder, and it kept getting harder even as the Skill's gravity-defying powers dissipated, and instead of soaring up, it started descending into the darkness of the Hole.

***

Gabriel woke up, thanks to the wind rushing in his face.

What the fuck!? What the fuck!?

"Aaaaaaargh!"

But he quickly knew there was no reason to shout. He had to act.

How could he save himself for the impending meeting with death? He couldn't, unless.

Of course, how could he forget his new Skill? But would it work? He had to try, at least.

So he pushed, he pushed on that weird place from which his Skills burst forth, the same place where Mana seemed to reside. He singled out Built to Fly, relying on the feeling that Stamina gave him… but nothing came out.

I'm at zero!?

He turned around in the sky, trying to remove his bag, which resulted very hard with just one hand. Turning around like a cat following its tail, he finally managed to get a hold of it. He took out potions after potions; he drank three of them until he laid his hands on the much-coveted Mana potion, gulping it down in one go.

By the time he drank it, he was plummeting toward that dark hole in the ground. He had fallen much more than he thought and had entered a vast pit. It was dark as coal and went farther and farther inside the earth.

Stoooop! He thought.

And stop, he did.

Acceleration zeroed entirely, canceling his falling momentum with a tug on his core, almost as if he had just departed with an airplane.

He now stood almost still, floating in the darkness. Below and all around him was pitch-black; above him was barely distinguishable, an inkling of the colors twilight brought forth.

Gabriel knew he would have only ten seconds before he would start falling again, and yet, he could allow himself to fall a little more. He just needed to see when he reached the bottom. Or, even better, if he angled himself correctly enough, he could shoot out of that hole by reaching the walls.

Now, how to reach the walls? That was easy, he threw his spear, the metal lace was still knotted to his wrist, he just had to lengthen the laces a bit, but Gabe recalled, there was no way he could do something like that in that very moment, not only the time was not sufficient, most importantly… he had only one arm.

Fuck…

He had to drink a Life Potion, but even if he would, Life potions were not good. They would heal his wounds closed, he would lose his arm… maybe forever, if he drunk one of those. He needed for it to heal up by itself; his Life points had to replenish to full, and on its own to allow his body to fully regenerate, that much he had learned from partying with the giants.

He could not allow himself to lose, even if momentarily his arm, and, seriously, he had no idea if what Olive said was actually doable or not, so it was better to really rely on Recovery.

Though, Damn. The time was running out, he had to…

But he kept counting… at sixteen seconds, he still had to start falling again.

So Gabriel waited for the effect to end, counting up to nineteen seconds before the Skill's effect ended, and he started falling once again.

He activated it after five seconds of falling, feeling brave for his effort.

There was no time to actually think it through. To think about why his Affinity had raised so much. No time to think about Lizzy or about his arm, or healing up, nor how the fuck he had gotten here.

He just had to allow himself to hit the ground, slowly, if possible.

Source of light? No source of light, any idea, Liz? Liz?

A faint echo of a lizard vibrated inside of him as if his Lizzy was there with him, close but not exactly at his hands' reach.

Once again, he had to remind himself, it was not the time for that.

There was just one intelligent thing to do, maybe it would kill him, or maybe his increased reaction time given his Alacrity would save him… but in the absence of light, he could only think about this one way.

So he placed, spear pointed toward the ground, and he waited until the Skill stopped working, and once again, he started falling.

He recalled that the body of a human falling for three seconds would cover roughly 65 feet. Gabriel did not dare fall more than that, so he activated Built to Fly every three seconds of free fall, resetting the pull from gravity.

He had to repeat the thing twelve times before he started seeing a dim light from below.

Granted that he had no idea what it was, he rushed over it, pulling on the metaphysical breaks before it reached its destination.

Then as the light grew stronger, he could judge that he was at maybe twenty feet from it. Confident his body would survive the fall, he simply let himself drop on the floor. There was no need to waste more Mana, given that he was still pretty much in a danger zone.

Reaching the ground, he felt stone under the sole of his boots. It was not metal or wood, but pure stone. And the light came from below it where a roughly square-shaped crevice gave the form of a trap door.

Gabriel let himself fall to the ground, mentally exhausted.

He took a minute of pause. Simply breathing in and out, trying to parse the information running around in his head, the pounding from the Anchor messages, and the memories of the past hour.

Gabriel shook his head. He studied what was around before he started planning for his next move.

He knew he could shoot out by simply kicking the floor because if he really wished it to, he would be able to reach terminal velocity and get out of that hole before the nineteen seconds were up.

Yet, it was dangerous, better to find something else, or at least hope to.

The cave was tight. Lifting his head up, he noticed that the walls grew slightly larger until the dim light ended, and he stopped receiving visual input even from his enhanced sight.

He knelt down then, placing his ear on the trap door. Gabriel did not feel anything at first, but as he put his hand on it, a low humming started, and his closed eyes shot open, noticing a new source of light.

The manhole had manifested runes, they were forming all around the stone pavement, and they expanded and kept expanding, climbing even up to the walls.

They shone in the typical light of pure Mana, and suddenly as he heard the sound of a gong and soon after low, guttural roars, something forced his way through his vision.

Welcome to Turtle Island’s Challenge, Gabriel Walker.

You have received one (1) free Attribute point to allocate as a reward for finding and activating this Challenge.

If you wish to test yourself in The Challenge of the Tyrant and defeat it, a unique reward will be bestowed upon you.

Do you wish to commence the Challenge?

Yes/No

Warning. If you choose to enter, be sure that the only way out is beating the Challenge.

Warning. A horde of Armored Tyrants is reaching your way. Turtle Island’s Challenge doesn’t deem anyone who doesn’t accept it worthy of survival.

However, if you still refuse to enter it, you will face the horde. In case of victory or escape, a unique reward will be bestowed upon you.

Gabriel chuckled darkly…

There actually is no option, is it? Face the trial or die… what a bitch.

The horde was coming.

He could hear loud pops and loud stomping echoing on the walls of the tavern. It was the echo of death.

Go on, let's go for it. He decided.

The light of Mana quickly intensified until it became dazzling. Soon after, Gabriel found himself vomiting on the floor of a very illuminated place.

What the hell… is that what teleport feels like… "Bleeeeeah." He had to fight another bought of vomit. Yet, in a couple of minutes, it passed, and he started feeling better.

Gabriel slumped to the floor, taking in his surroundings.

He found himself in a cavern, an immense cavern. Its walls, slick and full of depictions of what looked like abstract concepts.

The walls were impossibly high, while the ceiling was absent, the sky waited instead in all his glory, and it was the day sky, lazy clouds adorned it, shielding him from the warm light of the… of two suns…

What the hell? Where am I?

He turned around in search of something, anything.

But the cavern was bare. He stood by the southern wall: no other rooms but this one immense-looking chamber.

What am I supposed to do here now?

Gabriel sat on the ground, back to the walls, carefully staying away from the liquid puke of his almost empty stomach. There was nothing solid to it, only liquid. And he was growing hungry, but that thought was quickly put aside because of the scene that started playing in his mind over and over again.

Greencliff's gory death.

He had stood at roughly five feet from the giant when it died. Gabriel had witnessed violence, even a lot of it growing up, attending the schools their money could allow, fighting for respect given his family origins… and yet, that was the first time he had seen somebody killed in front of his eyes.

Gabriel was sure of something, though. He had no idea why he was sure of it, but he knew; he felt it within himself. That monster had killed Greencliff, but it was looking for him. It probably failed to recognize him because of his abysmal level.

The consistent stalking from the creature, when really the one which should have been attracting its attention should have been Charlene, was proof of it.

There was nothing he could now. Gabriel knew he was still in danger, he knew he would not grieve for Greencliff, he barely knew the guy… hell, he barely knew anybody in this fucked world, but the thoughts of being the reason for his death would haunt him for long, maybe forever. He knew himself, after all. So, sighing and missing his Liz, he found the strength to focus on the Anchor Page. Maybe he could find solace in the messages.

You have killed (1) Level 57 - Armored Tyrant (Elite)

Elite Monster Kill, Experience was quadrupled.

You have gained:

Level + 642.95%

Leve + 660.58%

Class Level + 840%

Spirit Level + 504%

Built to Fly Tier 1 + 96%

Burst Attack Tier 7 + 120%

Helping Hand Tier 7 + 128%

Eyes wide for the staggering amount of experience, he thought, At least- at least they killed that fucking monster, the experience is the proof.

Congratulations, Gabriel Walker.

Your natural Affinity has increased by 1 through training.

You can still naturally increase your Affinity freely by 9.

Congratulations, Gabriel Walker.

Your natural Affinity has increased by 1 through training.

You can still naturally increase your Affinity freely by 8.

.

.

.

Congratulations, Gabriel Walker.

Your natural Affinity has increased by 1 through training.

You have reached your maximum natural Affinity.

Congratulations, Gabriel Walker.

You have reached Level 20.

You have 7 unspent Body Attribute points.

You have 1 free Attribute point.

Congratulations, Gabriel Walker.

Your Level has reached Tier 2.

Congratulations, Gabriel Walker.

You have reached Level 26.

You have 19 unspent Body Attribute points.

You have 1 free Attribute point.

Congratulations, Gabriel Walker.

You have reached Class level 19.

You can increase your Pools by 40 points.

Congratulations, Gabriel Walker.

You have reached Spirit level 14.

You have 5 unspent Spirit Attribute points.

Congratulations, Gabriel Walker.

Built to Fly reaches Tier 2.

New effect: Defy gravity for 1 Mana point. Permanently increases Stamina by 20%.

Congratulations, Gabriel Walker.

Burst Attack reaches Tier 8.

New effect: Increase your Power and Alacrity by to 225% for 1 Energy point. Permanently increases Recovery by 80%.

Congratulations, Gabriel Walker.

Helping Hand reaches Tier 8.

New effect: Increases target’s Recovery by 450% for 1 Mana point. Permanently increases Recovery by 80%.

Holy… shite.

That's one massive haul…

So, I get two Attribute points per level now?

Before thinking about point distribution and Skill selection, Gabriel used Helping Hand on himself, his Recovery soaring through the roof.

After that, it was time to continue, and he had many choices to make.

Congratulations, Gabriel Walker.

You have reached Level 15.

Select a Second Tier Active Perk to receive.

Channeling;

Far Sight;

Meridians.

Alright, explanation… now.

Channeling is the ability to continuously fuel Mana to something which requires it, including Skills, Magic Skills, and devices to increase its output or its duration.

Mana cost is doubled for each second of Channeling. Skill power and duration can be incremented only in relation to your Mana Pool size.

Warning. Not every Skill can be augmented with Channeling.

Far Sight is the ability to empower your gaze to extend far in the distance. Up to a certain degree, your vision, or other senses, will bend around objects covering it or shielding it.

It can be stacked with other Perks.

Your Meridians are unclogged. After charging them with Energy you can harvest it to enhance your Power and Resilience for 1 second per stored Energy.

Meridians can absorb up to your Energy Pool worth of Energy. Energy circling into Meridians is never wasted.

Woah… Channeling and Meridians are really good! Far Sight seems very good, especially the fact that it can be chained with other Perks, like Auto-targeting, maybe. What would happen if I targeted something behind a wall? Would an Auto-targeting enhanced weapon throw bend around the wall to hit my target?

Nice… but I think we can exclude that. Now, Channeling and Meridians. I'd love to get both of them… however, I can only choose one…

Should I go with Meridians, Liz?

He felt a faint vibrancy from his deepest part, once again, a place he could not recognize. He could not make out what she had said, but knowing her, she would have answered with a shrug.

Gabriel chuckled at the thought.

Let's go with Meridians.

Pain.

Pain so intense that he felt his very body be turned upside down, revolted like a glove. It was so intense he wasn't able to as much as scream. His mouth was wide-open, but it emitted no sounds.

After a cycle of continuous faintings and wake-ups, the pain slowly started subsiding.

He had no idea how much time passed, but he woke up one last time to a gory smell. It came from all over his body.

Gabriel had to remove his leather armor and underwear, remaining naked as a newborn.

The pain had been too much. What he felt while Enhanced Senses were developed inside of him was nothing in comparison to what he proved now.

So he sat there, back to the wall, rocking in place, arms around his knees. He spent a good half an hour there, just listening to the silence, trying to encircle that pain around a wall of conscience, or simply trying to accept it as it was.

It was another hour or maybe two, he had lost count of the time before he managed to gather enough strength to open his Anchor Page once more.