The man in front of Austin was radiating a powerful aura. It wasn’t quite bloodlust, but it sent goosebumps down his spine nonetheless.

“I’m going to have to ask you to sheathe that sword and come with me.” Agent Adam White said coldly.

“I just saved these people, couldn’t you maybe let me go?” Austin decided to try a hail mary, but White’s demeanor didn’t shift.

“While I appreciate your rescue, the fact that a suspicious masked man with Crawler abilities has shown up is something I can’t let slide.”

That was the answer that Austin was expecting, so it didn’t phase him.

“I’ve got one shot…” He resolved to act.

Austin slowly placed the sword in the buckle on his hip, and as White stepped towards him he suddenly kicked at the ground with all his strength.

The pavement below his feet cracked and a shockwave rippled outwards, sending dust and debris flying.

Austin used this moment of confusion to bolt, leaping up onto a nearby roof and down into a deserted alley.

“Release!” He whispered it this time, not wanting to do anything to give himself away. The telltale sound of a chain breaking was heard, and Austin was once more in the new clothes he had bought earlier that afternoon.

He heard the sound of footsteps on the roof where he had come from and bolted onto the main street, blending in with the crowd that was milling to and from the mall. It seemed that the Association had kept everything under wraps and they were oblivious to the monster attack that had occurred nearby, which worked splendidly in Austin’s favor.

As he made his way down the street, Austin saw White dash out from the alley he had just come from. He stopped a passerby, and it seemed he was questioning them on the masked man’s whereabouts.

“Too bad nobody here saw a masked man…” Austin snickered to himself as he made his way back home.

He arrived back at his apartment and collapsed onto his bed. Austin pulled out his phone and began aimlessly scrolling through different websites until a particular article caught his attention.

“Mystery Man Fights off Horde of Monsters!”

The article went on to detail stuff like his height and build, and tried to offer a reward for any information on his identity.

“No way am I a ‘Muscular adult male over 6 feet tall’ they need to get better sources.” As if to confirm his point, Austin made his way over to the bathroom mirror where he inspected his appearance.

“Well, I’ll be damned. I’m swole as hell!” Austin excitedly posed in front of the mirror for himself.

It hadn’t really registered when he changed at the mall, as his mind had been too preoccupied with planning his raid, but the stat increases he got from the dungeon were serious business.

“Maybe I should try to join a guild…” he thought aimlessly.

It was true that Crawlers in guilds, especially the major ones, were well taken care of. Some of the highest ranked ones even lived like kings, but joining a guild would mean revealing his secret, and Austin was still protective of it.

Half because he thought if people heard that such a ludicrous ability was able to be passed on, like how Daniel gave it to him, there would be no end to the people after him to try and take it. The other half of him wanted to keep it a secret because he felt really cool playing the mysterious superhero earlier that day, but he would never admit it.

With his little moment of self appreciation over, he returned to his bed. He finished reading the article, though nothing of note was inside.

When he was about to turn in for the night in preparation for his solo raid the next day a knock resounded from the front door.

The only person who occasionally visited him was Mrs. Green, so he had no idea who it could be.

As he opened the door, before him stood a familiar face, Johnathan Young, head of the Association’s Monitoring division.

Austin let out a slight squeak, and managed a “Sup” to the man at his door.

“Mr. McKenna, may I come in?”

Austin didn’t respond, but instead opened the door the rest of the way and stepped aside, allowing Young to enter.

Austin took this opportunity to scrutinize him with Warrior’s Sense, and if he had been drinking something, he would have done a spit take.

Johnathan Young: Level 83

Class: Summoner

Austin had never actually seen a summoner before, even on TV. They were an exceedingly rare class of Crawler who were able to summon and command familiars in combat rather than taking part themselves.

“Though, with a level that high, assuming he has no personal combat abilities would be fatal.”

Austin invited the man inside, and the two sat opposite of each other in the small living/dining space of the apartment.

“Could I -um- get you something to drink?”

Young smiled amicably, “No, I’m quite alright. I suspect this won’t take long.”

Austin gulped, but he did his best to hide his nervousness.

His best wasn’t very good.

“I will be frank, we know. You were smart enough to cover your face but not enough to refrain from wearing the cloak that you purchased not even two hours before rushing in to save those people.”

Austin began to panic even more visibly than before, but sensing that he may bolt, Young held up a hand before continuing.

“That being said, you did save multiple people and took out a whole squad of monsters in the process. Many high rank Crawlers choose to keep their identities a secret to avoid the media pestering them, however the Association requires that to be registered with us. You skipped that step, so normally we would revoke your license and forbid you from using your powers ever again.”

“But,” Austin began, “this isn’t normal?” He had picked up on the way Young had worded his statement, which led him to believe something else was going on.

“Correct. The chairman seemed extremely interested after hearing the incident report, though he wouldn’t say why. By his orders, you are to be allowed to continue working, and we will give you anonymous status usually reserved for higher ranked Crawlers.”

Austin couldn’t believe what he was hearing, the chairman of the Association himself had stepped in.

“What exactly do I have to bring to the table in this deal?” Austin asked cautiously. This was too good to be true, there had to be a catch.

“That is exactly what is so strange about it, Mr. McKenna. Despite all of our suspicions of you, the chairman has insisted that we give you these concessions.”

“But why me?” Austin muttered under his breath.

“I would like to know that as well…” Young responded.

“Moving on,” he continued, “you will be allowed to work under whatever alias you chose, we took the liberty of assigning you ‘Savior’ as that is what you referred to yourself as earlier. With this, you will be allowed to register for dungeons under your alias and conduct any official Association business without your real name.”

He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a card almost identical to the one he had given Austin when he registered, the only difference was this one didn’t have his name on it.

“We are also aware that you are stronger than a 3-Star Crawler, given the number of orcs you dispatched, however we won’t force you to be re-evaluated.”

With that, he stood up to take his leave, but before he went, Austin called out to him.

“Since I still have my normal registration, does that mean I can work as two separate Crawlers at the same time, Austin McKenna and Savior?”

Young turned and looked skeptically at him. “I have no idea why you would want to do that, but theoretically, yes.” He then turned towards the door and left Austin alone in his apartment, a million thoughts racing through his head.

“I can’t even begin to guess at why the chairman is looking out for me…”

Seeing no point at pondering it further without any evidence, Austin decided to sleep on it,

He awoke to the sound of the alarm he had set the night before and got up to get ready. He showered and ate a meager breakfast, but as he was getting dressed a thought hit him.

“Hmm, I’m planning on using Avatar inside of the dungeon since I’ll be alone, but won’t it look suspicious if I rock up unarmed wearing street clothes?”

Austin decided to at least carry his sword out in the open, if nothing else. He strapped the sheath he had bought to his back and removed his sword from the Champion’s Inventory to place it inside.

With that he was ready, so he made his way outside and began heading in the direction of a bus stop and waited for the scheduled stop.

Next to him stood a middle aged woman and a child around 8. The child was staring at him in wonder.

“Mommy mommy! Look, it’s a Crawler!” the boy was pointing at him.

“Sweety, leave the nice man alone.” The mother chided, offering an apologetic smile to Austin.

“It’s ok,” Austin looked at her, smiling back, “I don’t mind.”

He crouched down in front of the child and offered him a smile.

The boy looked at him in amazement, “Mister, are you strong?”

“I guess you could say that...” Austin responded before standing up and striking a theatrical pose, flexing his new muscles for the boy, who responded with joyous laughter.

“I wanna become a Crawler too!” The boy cried out, which was met with a frown from his mother.

Austin could sympathize with her. Most Conduits would awaken their powers around the age of 10. If the boy turned out to be a particularly strong one, his life would change forever.

“Fighting monsters… It’s the kind of life no parent would want for their kid.”

Outwardly, Austin laughed and patted the kid on the head. Inwardly, though, he prayed that his dream wouldn’t come true.

The bus arrived, and after Austin flashed his Crawler ID to be allowed to board with his sword and paid the fee, they were off.

“Maybe I can make enough money to get a car…” Austin’s mind wandered during the brief ride.

He arrived at his destination, thanked the driver, and waved goodbye to the awestruck child. He then approached the cordon with the Association employee in front and identified himself.

He was let into the sectioned off area where the familiar hole in space loomed, and as he entered he saw an armored man make to leave.

“Must be the employee tasked with guarding the Door.”

Some people who had the strength to be Crawlers didn’t have the courage. Or maybe they were just smarter than the people who dove headfirst into danger. Either way, these people could find employment at the Association guarding Doors suited to their level while the raid teams showed up.

Overall, it was a pretty sweet deal, and they served a vital purpose.

Not many monsters ventured outside the dungeon, but the few who did could still cause a calamity, so their presence was a necessary precaution.

Shaking these thoughts off, Austin stepped forward and into a new dungeon.