Remember the group of people you want at your side will need to be diverse however, there are certain traits and types of people you will want to prioritize. First, you'll need people who are good at working together, this is critical as most groups will tear themselves apart from internal pressures long before they die of external threats. You'll want medieval reenactors, sewing experts, the mechanically inclined, and of course someone who is unnaturally good with animals of all types. Wilderness survival experts are a good pick, and people who hunt with bows will be essential to your survival past the first week.

---

When the world changed it did so in ways I did not expect. There were no warnings, no notifications, and no boxes.

There was instead a feeling of pause. Like the world froze for the briefest of moments before continuing on. Every single person in the subway car I was is jerked to alertness. The service dog one seat over didn't move a muscle, just stood like it felt nothing. This was clearly something only humans felt. It was a solid few seconds before someone got up the courage to ask,

"What the hell was that?"

And then everything went to shit.

Alarms blaring from speakers that didn't exist. Brakes screeching as the lights went out and the train car was plunged into darkness. When we finally came to a halt, the speakers blared out a sweet-sounding voice.

"Please make your way to the surface where you will be addressed."

One line, one measly line of instructions. My phone wasn't turning on, there were no other lights, and several hundred panicking people were trapped a hundred meters underground. What could possibly go wrong?

Nearly an hour of stumbling around in the dark with a string of random, confused commuters finally lead to the surface, and a large number of gathered people from other subway tunnels. Several stared at me like I would hurt them. I'll grant you a 6-foot 2-inch man covered in dust and sporting a goatee is normally a sight most people are uncomfortable with, but I thought it was a little odd to garner that severe of a reaction.

And then the first dream hit. It was like nothing I had ever experienced. Swirling colors in a black void, fireflies of light dancing around in a frenzied swarm, splitting and joining in a million places at once. Colors no human eye could see, sounds no ear could discern. Like I had been blind and deaf my whole life and now I wasn't. When the Lady of Light spoke to me for the first time it was the most magnificent thing in the universe. What she had to say was far less welcoming.

"Welcome, your universe has been granted to us." The same voice from the train spoke, coming from every more of light at once.

"As your new owners we have decided to renovate this idiotic mess. You are being informed as a courtesy. The stellar model your universe was based on is insufficient for our current needs. As such a stitchwork is being constructed. Your planet and all others containing complex carbon-based and compatible life will occupy this new sphere."

Trying to speak got me nowhere, no sound or motion was possible. The voice continued, "Humanity has shown an incompatibility with *Mana*, faint compatibility with *Ki*, and significant compatibility with *The Veil*" (these were not words, they were ideas, concepts poured into my mind, fleeting and unimaginable in their depth, like having an entire encyclopedia on each word poured in one ear and out the other in an instant).

"As such, your options in your new and improved universe will be limited accordingly. Analysis of local parallels has shown this as the optimal route for universal balance.

As a human male, you have been assigned the species classification 'Human', with a gender setting 'Male'. Due to humanity's advanced technology and the benefits, it will no longer provide, humans are being given a minor boost to primarily beneficial attributes. Some discomfort is normal."

Agony ripped through me. Imagine a hundred meters of razor wire wrapping around your body, forcing their way down your throat, and shredding you from the inside until nothing is left but the pain. That's as close as I can get to describing this torture.

"Fatality rate at less than 50%, conversion successful. You will find yourself able to think and react slightly faster, with an overall mental improvement of approximately 3.5%. Your ancestral abilities as endurance predators have also been enhanced. Expect 20-30% increased stamina. I hope you will succeed humans. I hate losing a bet."

And just like that, she vanished. My world returned as I knew it, I once again saw the street surrounding the station. This time with a bunch of unmoving people. Then I blacked out.

When I woke it was night, it seemed nearly half the people I came up with were still present, until I remembered the Lady of Light had said. 'Fatality rate less than 50%'. It looks like it was damn close though. Everything was strangely detached. Like the whole world was a dream. But here I was in the middle of Desori, and not a single light was shining. A city of 10 million people. And not a soul in sight.

"Well, shit."

A deep chuckle resonated through the halls of Tartarus. It should not have, the prison was designed to deaden everything, suspended in an empty reality, void of all natural substances.

"He's laughing. I hate it when He laughs."

"Bear with it, it never lasts more than a minute."

" OH YOU BEAUTIFUL, FOOLISH, IGNORANT PEONS."

"Shit shit shit, he can't talk. That's not possible!"

"YOU SCREWED UP. YOU ALL SCREWED UP. NOW MY CHILDREN ARE FREE OF THEIR SHACKLES. THE FIRSTBORN WALK FREE ONCE MORE."

"How the fuck is he talking? And what the fuck does he mean by that?"

"How should I know? I've barely been here a century!"

"IT MEANS, LITTLE DEFILER, THAT YOU SHOULD BE AFRAID. BE VERY, VERY AFRAID. YOUR FOOLISH MASTERS MADE AN OVERSIGHT. THEY NEGLECTED TO CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITIES. NOW MY CHILDREN ARE FREE. AND THEY'VE GOT A LOT MORE THAN FIRE THIS TIME."

"Shut him up, engage the punishment array, I don't care what you have to do, just make that voice STOP."

Deep in the Hidden Palace of the Court, a single fae grinned.

"Oh it's been so very long since I got to enjoy a show like this. I do hope they're as fun as they used to be!"

The creature giggled as he stared into a pool, a billion faces flashing past as his smile grew wider and more vicious.

"Vengeance is a dish best served when your enemy is complacent. Do my gifts proud, little flames. Make them burn.