Dean was astounded, he never thought he would see Angelo this soon. He thought it would take at least a few months before he saw him again.

“Elizabeth,” Angelo said, “Can you leave us?” Elizabeth nodded her head and walked away.

“Follow me.” Angelo began to walk and Dean did as instructed. Dean followed Angelo until they reached some sort of office. Dean followed Angelo inside and took a seat.

“Take off the mask,” Angelo demanded.

Dean did what he was told and took off his mask, revealing his face.

“I knew it,” Angelo said. He stood up and opened his arms, “Bring it in.”

Dean stood up and hugged Angelo, “It’s been a while.”

“I never thought I would see you again you know,” Angelo said.

“How did you know it was me,” Dean asked.

“Who else had ‘powers that were black as the night’?”

“Good point.”

“Anyway, how you been?”

“It’s been pretty good, I killed the minotaur and I seem to have been accepted by the Sun Office.”

Angelo laughed, “I can’t believe you killed the damn thing.”

“You don’t even want to know how many times I fought him,” Dean said, “How’ve you and the gang been doing?”

“We all split up after a month of being here,” Angelo explained, “They wanted to pursue their paths and I stayed here because of my knowledge of the future as you know.”

“Am I the only one that knows?”

“About the time shit, yeah. Although, too much has changed.”

“What do you mean?”

“Since I confronted you about your existence back at the trial, nothing has been like the other timeline. Different towns and events have happened that never happened before.”

“Like I said, butterfly effect.”

“It was way more than that, even major events changed and nothing is the same.”

“Well, your knowledge had to have helped you somehow.”

“I am getting stronger at a faster pace, but that's about it. Anyway, back to you. Your application says you want to work alone.”

“Yeah, I feel like I’ll work better alone.”

“That’s perfect actually!” Angelo raised his hands in the air.

“What do you mean?”

“A town popped up that wasn’t there in my previous timeline. I want you to work there.”

“What’s the town called?”

“It’s called Edgewalker. The town has a monster problem, and they made a militia to protect themselves.”

“Do they not have any fixers?”

“Nope, so that is why I am sending you. I already made a base of operations for you.”

“When do I start?”

“Whenever you want, I’ll send Elizabeth to escort you to a portal.”

-----

Dean was standing in the middle of the town, looking at the paper Angelo gave him. It contained the address for his new home and base of operations. Edgewalker looked exactly like Dean had imagined it to be, quiet and gloomy. Most of the people he tried to talk to were either too afraid or yelled at him. He didn't know why they did but was sure he would find out soon.

Eventually, after walking for an hour, Dean found the location. It looked like a modern home with a touch of sci-fi. The town looked the same. Everything looked futuristic but surprisingly modern. Since it was winter, the snow added to the dystopian feel of the town. Dean walked into the house and took a deep breath. The house smelled of rust and deeply needed to be clean, so Dean set down his bags and got to work. The house had two floors; the first floor was the business area while the second was for housing. Dean was in the middle of cleaning when he gave up. He threw the broom he was using on the floor and sat down.

“Do you need help?” Nancy said, coming out of the void.

“You used to clean in your past life right?”

“Yeah, I’ll do it for you if you want.” Dean waved his hand and Nancy got to work. Dean looked back at Nancy and noticed something was different, very different. She looked like a human, her old self to be exact.

“Ummm, Nancy?”

“Yes, Boss?”

“When did you look like that?”

“Oh, you mean me looking human?”

“What else would I be talking about?”

Nancy sighed, “Well since you didn’t talk to me for about 4 months, I decided to practice my skills in the void and somehow evolved again.”

“Is that how you learned telepathic communication?”

“Exactly. Every time I evolve, it seems that I grow closer to you in some way, like a knight or general.”

“But I haven't gotten a message about it,” Dean said.

“Well, my type of evolution is more like a small growth spurt. Eventually, I’ll get a big one and maybe it’ll show you a message.”

“Speaking of evolutions,” Dean said, “I have that evolution for my skill I need to do.”

“I was wondering why you didn’t do that yet.”

“I was just making sure I didn’t have to scream at the top of my lungs or explode when it happened.”

“What makes you think that would happen?”

Ignoring Nancy, Dean walked up the stairs and into his room. He sat on the dusty bed and opened his status

-----

Name: Dean Ashford

Race: Human

Class: The Jack of all Trades, Tier 1

--Attributes--

--Skills--

[Plague Arrow(Ready to Evolve)]

[Lesser Soul Invigoration: E]

[A Special Kind of Place: E-

--Talents--

[Basic Swordsmanship: B]

[Basic Street Fighting: E+]

--Affinities--

Black Magic, Tier 1

-----

Dean tapped on Plague Arrow to see what he needed to do to evolve.

--Plague Arrow Evolution Requirements--

Kill 20 Enemies with [Plague Arrow] - [Completed]

Use [Plague Arrow] in another way than intended - [Completed]

Obtain [INT] level E - [Completed]

Dean read the requirements and saw a big button that said: “Evolve”. He tapped the button waiting for something bad to happen. Instead, Dean felt a flow of energy envelop his arm. He looked down and rolled up his sleeves. Dean’s arm was now covered in black veins. The veins completely covered Dean’s hand until they eventually faded. Dean looked up to see a message that had appeared in front of him.

-----

Congratulations!!!

You have evolved the skill [Plague Arrow]

It is now the skill [Nihil]

-----

‘Nihil?’ Dean thought, ‘Isn’t that Latin for something? This has become like a game.’

Dean closed his screen and walked downstairs. The entire downstairs was now spotless.

“How did you clean that fast?” Dean asked.

“It felt like ages to me,” Nancy said, “I’m assuming the evolution went well?”

“Yeah, I got some skill called Nihil.”

“Ah, Latin for nothing.”

“You knew what it meant?”

“Latin was required when I went to church.”

“You went to church?”

“I only went a couple of times, but my father practically shoved religion down my throat. It was excruciating.”

“What religion did you practice?”

“What do you mean ‘What religion’?”

“There was only one religion?”

“Yes, it was to worship God.”

“The father of Jesus?”

“Jesus? Who’s that?”

Dean scratched the back of his head, “The son of god and the virgin mary.”

“Who’s the virgin, Mary?”

“You have the bible right?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t we?”

“I’m asking because my world’s religion seems to be different from yours.”

“I assure you, ours is the correct one.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Our bible was written by our God.”

“On my planet, there are 66 versions of the bible.”

“There should only ever be one,” Nancy said.

“They were split into two categories called the new testament and the old testament.”

“What’s the difference?”

“One is supposed to be bad while the other is supposed to be good. The old testament had 39 books I think while the new had around 27.”

“Who wrote them?”

“Let’s just say a ton of people. It was just different takes on their experiences with God. Some people were trying to take control of the population with it as well.”

“That’s terrible.” Dean could see the visible shock from Nancy.

“Yeah, but after what happened here, I’m starting to believe in it.”

Dean and Nancy’s conversation was interrupted by a knocking at the door. Nancy went to clean the upstairs and Dean opened the door. Standing at the door was a teenage girl, with a basket in her hand, wearing a red riding hood.