After organising the collective inventories of the 5 man group, Dom wrote up a basic list of what they had.

Currency:

• 125 gold coins

• 386 silver coins

• 3163 copper coins

Magic items:

• 68 mana crystals (white)

• 20 mana crystals (green)

• 2 small hp potions

• 3 minor health regen potions

• 1 small mp potion

• 3 minor stamina regen potions

• 1 gold xp orb

Monster drops:

• 3 small spider fangs

• 15 spider talons

• 1 giant spider eye

• 2 corrosive gecko jaws

• 1 bundle of dried corrosive skin

(James)

James read through the list as he idly packed food into his bag.

"Where did the potions come from? Did May make these?"

May stopped what she was doing. Which wasn't anything at all really?

"No. At this point, all my alchemical knowledge is based off chemistry. And like none of alchemy is old chemistry. Some powders that do cool things and that's it."

"So..."

"So we found the potions when we were cleaning up after your rampage."

James looked back at the list.

"Is that also where you got the spider parts from?"

"Yeah. Dom said they were a rare drop. Especially that one spider eye. That thing alone is worth 5 gold."

"So someone got analyse up to a high level?"

"We all did. We were grinding mad skills as soon as we left the workshop."

"Any new or useful ones?"

"Sure. I got the class, and it let me use a shit ton of spells called curses. Turns out witches are like support, but they debuff. Um... Callum finally got his guardsman occupation. Gave him some cool skills. Oh yeah, good news."

James was dubious about Mays definition of good news, but he bit. How bad could it be?

"Callum is essentially the tank now. He got a skill called unmovable. It completely absorbs all kinetic energy thrown at him for a few seconds. Gotta get that guy a shield."

James was relieved. Firstly because he wouldn't be the tank, but also because it looked like someone might actually need a shield. He could use the corrosive skin.

"Dana!"

James shouted he wasn't sure where Dana was. His sudden shout caused May to jump, and then scowl at him.

Dana came running into the room, jogging carefully so she didn't... show off too much. She had changed into a loose sweater and three quarter length jeans, so her sex appeal wasn't the highest it could have been, but James still appreciated the view. So much so that he forgot what he was going to ask.

"What's wrong? Are there monsters?"

"No. Ah... Um... shield."

"What about a shield."

"Um... tools. Tools! Dana, you think your dad would mind if I borrow some of his power tools?"

Dana sighed. James knew it was because she didn't think they would be back, but he would rather be polite.

"Sure. Just... be quick with whatever you're doing. We're leaving after lunch. So you have like an hour and a half at most."

"Good enough."

Taking that as a confirmation of free reign, James looked around for what he could use as a shield. It didn't necessarily have to be circular, but it would be great if it was round and mostly flat.

After a minimal effort search, he shrugged. He would just have to cut the shield base out of something.

The dining table was big and flat, but it was made of a weak composite. James needed solid and he needed it soon.

He remembered the headboard of Dana's parents bed and ran upstairs with a tape measure to check it's dimensions. A quick measure of his arm size and the material available told him he had more than enough to work with.

With his enhanced strength and more than one stealthy shot from his gun, he pulled the headboard loose.

The bed collapsed, and behind the headboard was revealed a box with... marital aids.

He understood Danas reluctance to talk about her parent's sex life, but he had been joking. Now he almost felt sick.

But he just took the heavy slab of wood out of the room and shut the door. They didn't need to go in there again, he hoped.

In Dana's garden, he used a bench as his temporary workspace.

Thankfully, all of Mr Bryces power tools were battery powered, and what was even luckier was the fact they were all charged.

He marked out a perfect circle using a nail, some string and his potentially most underrated skill: chalked line. He used a savage looking blade saw to cut away at the waste material. Really, that saw would be ridiculously useful if they encountered something with high armour.

But he thought about how close he would need to get to it. Then compared it to the destructive power of his gun.

Yeah. Nah.

There was no reason to bring it.

He used a nail gun and some recycled straps from his old armour to make some heavy duty arm straps.

He realised the wood shield was really heavy, maybe 5kg. It was fine to use for a short time but would get exhausting far too quickly.

He used a sander to remove as much excess as he could, which took up a good half hour. But he was successful. The shield was about 3 quarters of its previous depth, now dipped slightly in the centre, and was significantly lighter.

There was no easy way to secure the leathery skin to the surface of the shield. Any metal he used would probably corrode if it ever got wet. If he used something plastic like zip ties, they would break far too easily. The only solution was to use glue. He would stick it on.

He found the strongest glue he could which he was sure would adhere the skin to the wood. In this case, it was epoxy resin. James was glad he found this. It would provide another layer of protection under the skin.

The only downside was that it would take at least a day to dry.

Callum could use it as a shield but would have to avoid hitting anyone with it. On second thought, James clamped the front and back of the shield together with some thin pieces of wood he tore off the fence.

Once he had cut the excess off the clamps, it just looked like a thick wooden weel. Only he knew that in 24 hours, it would be a ridiculously cool shield.

"What's that you got There?"

James turned and saw May standing In the doorway.

"Making a shield for Callum."

"Cool, cool."

She didn't particularly seem to care though.

"Listen, I want to talk about what's going to happen."

"What do you mean?"

James was getting anxious. May was acting way too seriously.

"About when we go to see if my family is alive."

James had no way to reply to her bluntness. So he waited for her to continue.

"I love my family, and I'll be honest, I don't have a very good mental history. Most of my family don't."

"You seem fine- "

"I'm fine now. Actually, ever since I got this new body, I've felt better than I had in years. But I'm still warning you."

She walked up to him, her gaze paralyzing him. She got close, so her face was far too close to his. But she kept up the expression.

"Look. Out. For. Me."

James gulped, and nodded hastily, backing away. He had a good idea of what she meant and was impressed by her ability to reflect on It, but that didn't mean he liked it at all.

"Fine. I'll, protect you."

Suddenly her demeanour shifted and she smiled sweetly.

"Wonderful, now come in. We're finishing up, and Doms working out the party system."

"Party system?"

"Just come on."

She turned and walked inside.

James used some rope to make a quick strap for the shield and its clamps. It was easy enough to wear over a shoulder, and wasn't too heavy that it would hurt. He couldn't wait to see how well it would work.

(Dom)

They were all standing around the kitchen, finishing off a lunch of assorted breakfast on slightly stale toast. Despite the crappy ingredients, Callum had actually outdone himself. He was a surprisingly good chef, and he was eager to level his cooking skill as it frequently increased his health.

Dom even spied a saucepan hanging off the back of Callum's bag. It seemed he would be cooking for them from now on.

Everyone was looking at their respective status screens.

Dom started, using every stereotypical phrase he could think of to trigger the party.

"Begin party?"

"Open party?"

"Party system."

"Party?"

He paused for a moment, expecting to have had more phrases he could use.

"Party start?"

"Start the goddamn party!"

Callum tried it from another approach.

"Ask if you can invite someone. It might ask you to create a party... oh."

Dom looked darkly at Callum.

"I swear, I will be pissed if all I had to say was create a party."

Party Creation:

What would you like to name your party?

"Seal team sick."

Would you like to name your party: Seal Team Sick?

As soon as everyone heard him say the name, there were groans of annoyance and more than one look of confusion.

May begged on her knees for him to change it.

"Please. Anything but seal team sick. It's so shit. Please."

Dom laughed and shook his head.

"No, I don't want to call it that."

What would you like to name your party?

Dom threw an inquisitive look out into the crowd. Everyone thought for a second about what they would call it. Surprisingly, James was the first to suggest one.

"How about we devote it to Annie? Call it The Deckers Blood or something."

Dom smiled. It was already chosen. No other suggestion would come close.

"The Deckers Blood."

Would you like to name your party: The Deckers Blood?

"Yes."

What will you tribute to enhance your party?

"Oh shit. Guys. It's asking for a tribute. Um. Do you think the xp orb?"

Dana pulled out a blue marble from her pocket.

"Use this. I think it's a rare drop anyway."

Dom held the marble in his hand. It was freezing to the touch.

Analyse.

Rare Elemental Core (enraged):

Level: 17

Mana type: Freezing

Mana capacity: 206

Value: 12 gold, 40 silver

"Elemental cores rarely drop due to mana entropy. This one dropped while the holder was enraged. It's aura permeated through the core."

Dom whistled. This was quite a find. But it seemed to have no use yet. He held it up.

"This is my tribute."

Tribute accepted.

The marble blew apart like dust, leaving a blue sphere of light. The light shot into Dom's forehead, knocking him backwards.

The party: "The Deckers Blood" has been created.

You have been designated as party leader.

Skill gained: Party Leader (B)

The rest of them crowded around him as he was knocked back, but he hadn't lost any health.

"Wow. Party."

Party: (The Deckers Blood)

Leader: Dominique Fernandez

Current members: 1

Max. Members: 6

Bonus:

• +15% resistance to cold and freezing attacks and effect.

• Ice-type skills spells and weapons are 25% more effective.

• Max mana +40

• +10% damage and resistance when enraged.

"Damn. This party is awesome."

Everyone was looking at him expectantly.

Callum was the first to ask.

"Are you going to invite us already?"

Dom laughed. It was good to be in a party again.

(James)

May led everyone out the door. Though they all had an idea of how to get back to the college, she was eager to take the lead.

But as they approached, they all noticed something was wrong. There was a pillar of smoke emanating from the direction they were heading.

"You think that's the college building?"

Callum thought out loud.

James imagined it was Danas fire that had done this, but the hall hadn't really been on fire when they left. There must have been something else that did it. Someone possibly.

"Yeah, but let's steer clear. I don't want to meet whatever did that."

They all nodded their agreement, so May keep an eye out for anything that might have been approaching from the direction of the college.

As they passed it, they found that it had long since burned out, and the smoke was from its smouldering remains. James could see the neon garden through the skeleton of the walls, surprised how it was still intact. It must have been invulnerable to the damage.

"This must have started just after we left."

Dom looked like he was going to say something, but decided against it.

They silently left. It was kind of sad to see the building they had learned in for the last year just gone.

The trek to Mays house was long, but not too difficult. They all quickly figured out who had a high enough strength to comfortably carry the most. And as it wasn't particularly sunny, the walk was fairly easy going.

Half an hour in, May paused.

"Guys, I just realised something."

Dom spoke first.

"What?"

"You know the lines we saw radiating from the college?"

There was a collective reply of confirmation.

"We're going to have to cross one. And it's going to be bad."

James was worried, but a little dubious.

"What do you mean by bad?"

"So it wasn't like the houses and shit were crushed in the lines, more that the houses in the way were shoved outwards."

"So?"

"So there's about two and a half meters of rubble to climb over to get past it."

James put his hand on his forehead.

"So why didn't we just go past this line when we were at college before they started?"

May shrugged, looking only a little guilty.

"I don't know the way to my house from there."

James sighed and kept walking. At the end of the street, he realised exactly what May was talking about. What should have been an empty street was now a barrier of broken roofing, walls and furniture.

The last thing James wanted to do was climb it. It looked like an absolute death trap. The next best thing was to move the rubble. Quickly.

He quickly cast a mana sphere and moved it as close to the centre of the barrier as he could imagine.

The others caught up with his quick march, only for him to usher them away again.

"Stand back and watch."

He stood facing them but focusing on the casting behind him.

Implosion.

He waited a few seconds and dramatically clicked his fingers as the spell activated and the rubble was thrown in all directions. Nearby windows on buildings and cars shattered from the force of it alone.

He had noticed Dana roll her eyes at his theatrics, but he didn't care. This was for them.

The audience of his show were watching bright-eyed at the raining pieces of houses.

May exploded with questions.

"Oh my God, how did you do that? What spell was that? Can you teach me? Can I give you a hat and a staff? Can you start saying explosion when you do that?"

James held her back by her shoulders as her questions caused her to advance.

"Um. In order, it's a type of spell prep thing called a casting. The spell trigger was called implosion. I can teach you how to do that, but later. I will only wear the hat and staff if they will help me, and yes. I will start saying explosion more. It feels good."

May grinned, excited about her spell filled future.

"Watch with mana sight while I do it again."

All three of them crowded around him, and eventually, even Dana joined. The prospect of such a powerful spell.

He created another mana sphere, and everyone's eyes glowed blue as they watched the sphere form and then as he moved it into the barrier on the other side of the destructive path.

They all retreated again, allowing James to explain the range of the supplying mana.

He forgot to pull a cool pose and yell explosion this time, but the others didn't really notice either. They were good to advance.

But they stopped in between the two barriers.

The path stretched for miles in one direction, the end destination blurring into the horizon.

In the other direction, they could see a flat wall at the end of the path, the smoking building behind it. There was nothing about the wall that was special. It was just there.

"Wow. This is so cool. It's like a road, a boulevard almost."

"Nooooo."

"But it's so empty, like a place where dreams come to die."

"Callum I swear I will kill you."

"Almost like in this boulevard, dreams break. And I walk this lonely road~"

Callums breaking into song was hastily halted by Dom punching him in the back of the head. Hard.

The resulting status appeared above his head.

Dazed: (1:13)

Dom shook his hand, and May fought back laughter. To Dana and James' blank stares, he explained.

"Callum loves making music puns like this. I have zero tolerance for them though."

James began to see the humour in it though and began laughing too.

Dana just looked a little sad.

"Awww. But I love Green Day."

Dom pointed a threatening finger at her. James noticed the glint of green tinted metal hiding in his sleeve but made no action. Dom was serious, but not serious to start a fight over it.

"Don't. Ever. Encourage. Him."

Dana nodded hastily with her hands up.

"Ok. Ok. I swear."

His anger dissipated in an instant, and Dom flung the dazed Callum over his shoulder without much effort.

"Then let's roll out! May. Where are we going next?"