Margaret stayed on the ground, overwhelmed and trying to process the avalanche of feelings before she was buried. She tried to smooth out her breathing, focusing on the sound of her breath as it stutter-stepped in and out.

She tensed up when she heard footsteps approaching, but calmed slightly when she heard the voices of Honor and Truth.

“Do you think this was her first battle?” Truth asked the other kobold, not expecting an answer from Margaret.

She shocked them both by responding, “Y-yes. Tw-two thousand of us. All over the planet. None of us kn-knew we were coming.”

After several moments of silence, Margaret opened her eyes to the two kobolds kneeling over her.

“I am-” Honor started, paused, then continued, “I am sorry. I had heard the stories of the gods’ defenders in the past and assumed we were sent a seasoned warrior.”

“You did help us, Ms. Margaret,” Truth added. “We may have won without you, may have, mind you; but with your help, we suffered only minor injuries. A battle won with no casualties is always cause for celebration.”

Margaret pressed her lips together as she gathered the courage to sit up. “Okay. Alright. Let’s go see what we’re dealing with now.” She looked around quickly. “Wait, where’s Naps?”

Honor sighed in grief. “He’s checking on his mother. If the chief was telling the truth-”

“Got it, we should go check on him.”

Honor and Truth led the way to Naps’ mother’s home, obviously dreading what they would find. They both visibly relaxed when the group heard a new, louder kobold voice.

“What were you thinking? Huh? And what will you do now? When those people return, hmm? They left an artifact with the chief, look how strong that made him. Who knows how strong they are! You and your friends, you will have to run. You’ll have to-”

The healer stopped mid-sentence when Margaret followed Honor and Truth into her home. Margaret noticed several things at once. The healer, Naps’ mother, was an older kobold. Her scales were similar in color to Naps’, but had lost their shine, appearing more scratched and dull. The clothes she wore were similar to what Truth wore if only a bit more well-worn. The feathers coming off of her head were much longer than the younger female’s, coming down to her tail. She kept them somewhat contained with a simple cloth tie halfway down their length. Unlike the others, she looked like someone who had been on death’s door very recently, with two long, angry-looking gashes where the skin had just joined back together in pale pink lines.

The empty bottles on the floor solved that mystery. When you are killing a healer, make sure she’s dead before you move on, I guess, Margaret thought to herself.

Suddenly, the healer brought the simple, polished staff she had been leaning on around in a strike and smacked Naps across the head. “Serving an agent of the heavens, and you abandon her so soon after a battle? What if the chief had allies that came back, eh? You would leave her defenseless?”

Margaret stepped forward to try to save her friend. “Hello, ma’am, it’s nice to meet you. Your son was a great help in the fight, I don’t think we’d have made it without him. I’m Margaret, by the way.” She extended her hand in greeting to the elder kobold.

“Hmph. Name’s Sparkles Like Gems in the Sun. I know, it’s ridiculous. That’s the downside to naming people by a personal attribute when they’re children. Kids grow up. Call me Gem or Sun, don’t care much which, but call me Sparkles and I don’t care if you did descend from the heavens, I’ll bean you with my staff.

“So,” she continued, “what did you get from offing the chief?”

“Get?” Margaret asked.

“Yeah, you didn’t just leave that artifact of his lying there, did you?”

Nothing had changed in the village, but Margaret’s group still moved with caution. Honor led the way with his spear, while Naps followed at the back with his twin swords. Margaret walked in the middle with Truth on one side, arrow nocked and bow half-drawn, and Sun on the other, walking casually with her staff.

The bones of the skeletons still laid in neat piles where they’d fallen, the totem still drew in its motes of colored light, and the chief still laid in a heap of his robes and jewelry.

‘Margaret, I’m going to turn on the loot display, is that okay?’ Pia asked in her head.

She nodded. “Yeah, Pia. Go ahead.”

Several indicators suddenly floated in her vision. There was a pulsing red orb over the chief and nearby a pulsing dark purple orb over the staff. The totem had four large triangles pointing at it from the sides. Besides that, Pia began noting things like the jewelry the chief had worn with much smaller green and blue dots.

Margaret approached the chief and reached out for the pulsing red orb. A confirmation box appeared in front of her hand.

Fire Quintessence Acquire? Yes/No

Hesitantly, Margaret tapped yes.

Red light exploded from the orb as the chief’s body slowly faded, leaving his things laying on the ground. The orb pulsed ominously several times, shrinking with each pulse. After a dozen or so pulses, the orb had condensed to no larger than a marble, completely containing the swirling red light. Margaret reached out to touch the quintessence, only for it to sink into her skin as soon as she made contact.

Instinctively, Margaret began shaking and flinging her hand around, too freaked out about the red energy entering her body, when another screen popped up.

Fire Quintessence Absorbed Modified Skill(s) Added: Fire Bolt Deals 1 X Intelligence + 5-7 Fire damage 15% chance to Ignite, causing burning damage over time (DoT) Range: 10 meters Mana Cost: 15

Margaret didn’t even hesitate to repeat the process with the dark orb, but this time it was the chief’s staff that disintegrated in the process.

Death Quintessence Absorbed Modified Skill(s) Added: Bone Spike Deals 1.5 X Intelligence + 11-15 physical damage Range: 15 meters Mana Cost: 20

“Pia, am I right that the red targeting triangles mean I’m supposed to destroy the totem?”

‘Correct. Just a couple of shots of your skills should do it. Pantheon magic is very effective against these foreign totems.’

Margaret checked her status and saw that she had regenerated forty-two of her hundred mana. Smiling, she raised her hands and let loose two shots in quick succession, a Fire Bolt from her left hand followed by a Bone Spike from her right. The Fire Bolt looked like a golf ball-sized sun that was trailing flames, while the bone spike looked like an oversized fingertip bone, about the size of a dagger, flying like a tiny rocket being propelled by dark purple energy.

The two projectiles thumped a quick percussive beat on the totem. Spiderweb cracks appeared near the points of impact that quickly spread and grew over the whole totem. All at once, the totem shattered into tiny pieces that further disintegrated, leaving nothing but dust to settle on the ground. Immediately, a new type of message window appeared with a noisy fanfare.

Attention: Global Message Conscript Margaret Emily Stevens is the first to destroy an infection node from the planet! In recognition of this achievement, Emily has been awarded a skill modifying artifact. There are many other global and personal achievements to be found that will confer rewards. Go forth and cleanse the infection, conscripts!

This message faded to reveal another box meant just for Margaret.

Global Achievement Earned: First Blood You were the first to destroy an infection node from the planet. Keep up the good work! Reward: Spell Modifier Ring Claim? Yes/No

Margaret tapped yes and watched as a ring materialized from the box and hovered. Gently, she plucked it out of the air and examined it.

“Pia, any idea what it does?”

‘Yes! I can identify any artifact you make physical contact with. This is... wow! It’s an Area of Effect ring!’

“Which does...?”

‘Put it on and fire an arcane bolt, you’ll see!’

Margaret glanced around at her Kobold friends to see them kneeling in her direction, eyes wide. Even Sun looked awed.

Blushing lightly, Margaret slipped the ring over her right ring finger. She raised a palm and launched an Arcane Bolt at a patch of dirt away from her friends. The bolt looked exactly like the others until it struck the ground. It hit with a low pitched ‘whumph’ and exploded into a half-sphere on the ground. When the light dissipated, there was a perfect circle of disturbed dirt about a meter in diameter, while dust from the blast floated to the ground.

“Whoa.” Margaret breathed.

‘It expands the area of effect for all of your magic skills without upping the mana cost. That’s a huge upgrade, a solid A-tier effect. There are more powerful effects, for sure, but few as versatile. This is awesome. This will really change what skills would be best for you, we need to plan a build around this...’ Pia’s voice faded out as the AI processed this new data.

As if it sensed the perfect opportunity to drop even more onto Margaret’s already overloaded brain, another box appeared.

Congratulations! Your party has defeated the leadership of [unnamed kobold settlement]. Claim Territory? Yes/No

“Uh, guys? Do I want to claim your village?” Margaret shouted. She was worried that there was a time limit on the option to claim the [unnamed kobold settlement], and she’d miss the chance. On the other hand, she didn’t want to lose her only allies if they’d take offense to an outsider just claiming their village.

“YES!” Sun shouted. The other three kobolds looked at her like the healer had just sprouted a second head. “Do it now!”

Margaret stuttered for only a second before tapping the ‘Yes’ button.

[unnamed kobold settlement] claimed! Would you like to rename [unnamed kobold settlement]? Yes/No

“Better not. Not yet, anyway,” Margaret mumbled as she tapped no. When that window cleared, another one appeared.

Personal Achievement Earned: Sim City You have claimed your first settlement! Reward: 200 Building Points (BP) Claim? Yes/No

Margaret’s eyes opened just a hair wider as her breath caught in her throat. “Building Points?”

‘I know you’re excited, Margaret, but you might want to address your fighters first, before we dive down this rabbit hole.’

Pulled out of her daze just a little, Margaret looked to the kobolds. Sun was still standing from her outburst about claiming the city. Honor, Truth, and Naps were focused on kneeling and staring dutifully staring at the ground.

“Guys, guys, get up. Please,” Margaret hurried to her friends and tried to pull them to their feet. After an initial round where they resisted, Truth finally acquiesced and slowly rose to her feet, eyes still glued to the ground. Honor and Naps followed suit, rising to their feet, but refusing to meet Margaret’s eyes.

Margaret released a long breath in relief when Sun took over. “Hmph. Honor. Naps. See about a meal. The healing has taken quite a bit out of me, and it looks like our leader could use something to settle her stomach, as well. Truth, see about purging the chief’s house, hm? Just burn everything with his taint on it, we’ll restock from the other houses.”

Having a job snapped the three out of their stupor, and they scurried off to complete their tasks. Sun held a hand out for Margaret and motioned to a simple wooden bench underneath a nearby tree. “Help an old lady to a seat, my dear?” she asked, much softer than she’d ordered the other three.

Margaret gratefully stood up and walked with Sun to the bench, then took a seat beside her.

“It’s good that you took ownership of the village. If you had declined, any passerby could have done so. I imagine your spirit has a great deal more information for you, Margaret. Please, take your time to sort through everything. I’ll sit here with you to answer any questions that I can.”

A hint of a smile graced Margaret’s lips as she nodded her thanks to the older kobold, then rested her back against the tree trunk behind the bench.

‘I like her. We should definitely keep her.’

“Pia, I imagine there are some more battle reports to finish up, and then I want to talk about those points.”

‘You got it, boss.’

You defeated [Ogre skeleton]! 345 XP gained! Level up! Level up! Your party defeated [Kobold chief]! 265 XP gained! Level up! You have reached Level 4 (34/244)! You have claimed [unnamed kobold settlement]! 500 XP gained! Level up! You have reached Level 5 (290/305)! 4 Attribute Points available!

Margaret was silent for several minutes before she spoke up, leaning back and closing her eyes as she did so. As she normally did when she spoke to the AI in her head, she kept her volume as low as possible to minimize the ‘I’m having a one-sided conversation with myself’ look.

“Pia, remember those questions from earlier? It’s explanation time.”

‘Of course, Margaret. I’d be happy to. When conscripts return to Earth, if they choose to do so, they have a memory wipe of their time in service, but the process is rather fickle. That is why there are no accurate stories about the Pantheon on your world, but some of this may sound familiar.

‘This entire ordeal is because of energy. The energy being gathered is known as mana. It’s an energy produced by all matter in the universe, but for some reason, it’s even greater in living tissue. Like gravity, we know a lot about it, but we can’t fully explain why it exists or what powers it. We can measure it and even predict how much a planet will produce based on the size, molecular blend, and diversity of life. Really, there’s super difficult math about the whole thing and mana physics is the absolute best paying scientific field to be into.

‘You just destroyed a node of the infection. That node was gathering energy and sending it off-world to an enemy of the Pantheon worlds. The other Interface Assistant seeds and I weren’t informed who this particular enemy is, but it is often either rebels or pirates.

‘The shrines and temples on this planet are mana collection nodes for the Pantheon. The Pantheon uses a lot of mana, way more than they generate on their own. There are easily a hundred mana-farm planets for each Pantheon planet. As a mana farm, the denizens of this planet don’t have full access to mana like you do. That’s why I’m here, by the way. I allow you to use mana like a full Pantheon citizen. Still, around eighty percent of the mana this planet produces will be sent off to the Pantheon.

‘With me so far?’

“I think so. Two questions: Is Earth a mana farm, and is mana just for spells and things, like my Arcane Bolt?”

‘Earth is unique. For some reason, it’s mana dead. That’s why the Pantheon largely ignores you guys, your planet has almost no value to them. As for mana, it powers your ‘magic’, but it can power so much more. When you use your attribute points, you’ll see what I mean.’

Margaret pulled her status screen back up.

Margaret Stevens Human (No class) Level 5 (290/305 Experience) Strength 6 + Dexterity 11 + Constitution 8 + Intelligence 16 + 4 Attribute Points available!

“Pia, I’m going to need a tutorial. If I put a point into strength, I get stronger?”

‘Basically, yes. Mana will power the Interface as it improves your muscles. Dexterity will make you more flexible and agile. Constitution makes you more resistant to damage and exhaustion. Intelligence will improve your mental processing speed and memory. Also, the effect of some skills relies on your base stats, like your bolts and intelligence.’

“What should I spend my points on? I don’t really want to become a bodybuilder.”

‘Bah. I said improved muscles, not bigger muscles. As to your points, there are two schools of thought. Round yourself out by putting them in your weak spots, or double down on your strengths.

‘Personally, I think you could use a little more strength and constitution, then all intelligence if you really want to go the mage route.’

“Constitution? Really? Not all-intelligence glass cannon?”

‘You die, I die, remember? Everybody takes a hit now and then, we’ve got to plan for the long haul.’

Deciding to not overthink it, Margaret put two points into strength and two points into constitution. Ten seemed like a nice, round number to shoot for as a minimum. Immediately, she felt a little lighter and less tired. The stamina gauge on her display now showed 107/120.

Hopping off the bench, Margaret made her way to a pile of the stone that the houses in the village were made from. She squatted down and tried to pick up one of the largest rocks, one that was about the size of her whole torso. Her eyebrows shot up when she easily lifted the stone. She wouldn’t be throwing it any distance (yet), but she felt she was already slightly stronger than the construction workers that used to give her such grief in her work.

Setting the rock back down, Margaret asked her assistant the other question that was on her mind.

“So, about those Building Points.”