Eric, still speechless with relief, couldn’t quite hold back his cheeky grin, taking a deep swig of milk, before passing it to a suddenly wide-eyed Alice.

Magesight enhanced Infravision skill check made!

Infravision is now at Rank 13!

“Shit, Eric, is this actually… fresh?”

Eric nodded, not saying a word, just walking, then running, into the heart of the bunker.

“Eric, slow down, we have to talk!” Morlekai snapped.

But Eric just shook his head.

Because now, for the first time, he could see it.

The silvery strands radiating through the bunker. Connecting everything from the lights shining overhead, to the air filters he heard purring, even the temperature regulator kicking in. Silvery threads connected to all of it, and more than a few strands gently entering their ears as well.

Because in all the weeks he had lived here, after the world had ended… why had he never had to worry about light and power, or a refrigerator forever stocked with his favorite foods? Even when he was obsessing over limited stores in his cabinets, which were filled with far more food than they should be able to fit, he never thought twice about the fridge he opened even now, seeing it completely stocked with his favorite foods.

Eric shook his head, chills shivering down his spine, caught between horror and wonder. A waking dream, recalling so many times he had worried about rat rations and ramen packets while whisking himself an omelet in the nonstick pan even now looking almost guilty in its perfectly clean perfection.

A nonstick pan he had never once bothered to clean.

No wonder his rat-kebobs had tasted so much better in Junk Town! Then he had been dealing with the same extremely limited rations and diet as everyone else. Unlike when he was living in his bunker, absentmindedly eating the same delicious food he had always enjoyed, then forgetting he had even done so moments later.

Never truly hungry, but always worried that he should be.

He stumbled, barely catching himself against the fridge, heart roaring in his ears as he drunkenly headed to the bathroom, needing to know. Almost afraid he already knew what he would find.

All he had to do was look in the silvered mirror in the bathroom with cold, clean running water to see the silver strands caressing his ears.

Strands he glared at, halfway bemused and halfway terrified to see them shirking guiltily away, as it all finally made sense.

“Eric, stop!” Morlekai’s voice was tinged with a tension beyond simple frustration. “This whole place might collapse!”

But Eric didn't dare speak. He wouldn't let a single word flow from his lips on a divergent topic that would somehow become the topic of the moment, and all the incongruencies would be pushed away and forgotten.

Again.

He gave an angry shake of his head as he entered what passed for their living room and swallowed his own suddenly parched throat, heart hammering in his chest as he dared to pick up the remote to the TV and hit the power button.

And there was nothing.

No response at all.

He couldn't quite hold back a chuckle as Drake caught up to him, a concerned smile on his handsome features. "You okay there, buddy? You look just a bit dazed, Eric. And… yeah. You're covered in blood and gore and god knows what else. You sure you want to track that into your pad?… well shit," Drake shook his head in awe when Eric instantly made all his attire disappear, then reappear a second later, his armor completely spotless, scales perfectly polished, the few that had been cracked by monstrous rodent teeth pristine and whole once more. And it had cost him only the tiniest fraction of his potency, a couple experience points worth, to repair even the missing scale finger of his gauntlet once more.

All this Eric did by sheer instinct, though he left his helm and scale gauntlets in storage as trembling fingers dared to reach down and press the power button to what had once been his pride and joy.

A high-end rig complete with a pair of 27-inch LG Ultra Gears monitors, Dual-RTY graphics cards, and an i9 11900X Intela Core.

A custom-built rig he paid a struggling guildmate way too much for, to help her get back on her feet without it ever being called charity. A rig that should have had no hope of powering up, no matter how much effort was into repairing what should have been fused and melted hardware, let alone be just a single button push away from popping to life before a stunned Eric’s eyes, instinctively falling back into his seat that nearly collapsed under his weight and careless strength. But he paid no mind to the creaking chair, nor his friend’s awed curses, his eyes riveted to what was being displayed on the screens before him.

“What the hell, Morlekai! It’s a map of the US! How the hell is that thing even working?” whispered an awed Alice.

And Eric could all but sense his friend shaking his head, his Rank 12 Infravision now truly in sync with his skin's natural ability to sense heat, thanks, he suspected, to finally restoring his Fire essence fully and then somehow saturating it even further, resulting in a rough 360-degree sense of his environment, now that his essence infused heat resistant helmet was off his head for what felt like the first time in days. Yet as awed as he would otherwise be to find he actually had full awareness of his environment, all his focus was riveted upon the pair of monitors before him.

The leftmost one showed what looked to be a map of North America. But instead of being divided into US states or Canadian territories, the land was instead split up into hundreds of tiny parcels of territory of various colors, like arteries and veins flowing through the vast body of the continent, and Eric couldn't help but note that all of those multicolored plots were surrounded by far larger and more uniform-looking plots of a light pale grey hue. Fortunately, he didn't have to be a genius to instantly understand what he was seeing, mirroring as it did so many strategy games he had played, once upon a time.

“I don’t see any outlines for the fifty states, boss,” Drake noted. “Just tiny slivers of all sorts of colors.”

“I see that,” Morlekai said. “Any idea what it means, Eric?”

Eric frowned at the odd inflection in his friend’s voice, but answered nonetheless. “I think the different colors stand for different territories, which means we have dozens of would-be rulers, each staking their claim. And the vast sea of grey terrain surrounding these long arterial rodes of actual claimed territory? My guess, if this is like the strategy games me and Elonia used to play, is that the grey represents land that no one’s claimed yet, for whatever reason. Which is still most of the country, in fact.”

Eric’s eyes narrowed as he took a closer look at the map near their current whereabouts, somehow not at all surprised that he could zoom in, just by touching the screen.

Never mind that it had had no touch-screen capacities before the world had ended.

Clearly, his former computer wasn’t playing by any rules he understood.

“And look at this. Where we are, the ruins of this city? Completely red. And this isn’t the only red territory.” He zoomed out again. “Dozens of red territories, all over the continental US.”

Louie whistled. "Damn. That would make these orcs one of the biggest players on this map. But there seem to be different clusters that are different shades of red. And holy hell, did you just zoom into the city live?"

Eric frowned, zoomed in again, shocked to see what looked like a live feed of the city as a whole, including hundreds of tiny figures the monitor enhanced with a blinking red glow. "Now isn't that convenient," he said, flashing a fierce smile as chills of awe, wonder, and delicious possibility raced down his spine.

“Damn right it is," said an equally awed Morlekai, hand now resting on Eric's shoulder. "I get the feeling it's about time you and I had a talk, don't you?"

Eric smirked but didn’t turn away from the screen he was intently studying. “I think you’re assuming I know a hell of a lot more about what’s going on than I do. Truth is, only when I snuck in via the hotel route, which is now the home of the Orc Chieftan, by the way, and made my way down to the basement using passcodes I had thought long defunct did it finally click that there was something really, really strange about Mother’s little isolated paradise that had served as our shelter before Elonia and I were captured by orcs.”

He clenched his jaw, giving a bitter shake of his head. “And my head was so filled with cotton that not once did I wonder how the hell I was drinking fresh milk, flipping omelets, and eating ready to microwave food every damn day I was recovering and risking my life hunting rats in a desperate bid to get stronger. It just… never even occurred to me.”

Louie frowned, sharing a look with Alice. “Hell, kid, don’t feel too bad. It hadn’t occurred to us either.”

Eric nodded. “I know. That’s because there are silver strands signifying arcane magic all over this place, if you know how to spot them. I’m just surprised I was still clueless for so long, even after coming back with a 40 in Soul Reserves and a Rank 6 Mental Resistance.”

Alice’s eyes widened. “What? Rank 6 Mental resistance and now you have Arcane Perception? No fucking way!" She chuckled and shook her head. "Even stuck at level 9, your build is so absurdly broken that it's not even funny."

Eric flashed a cheeky smile. “I know, right? Anyway, point being, I was just as clueless as you, until about ten minutes ago, when I finally caught sight of the silver strands that had been inching toward my ears.” He shook his head in awed disbelief. “And here I find that my gaming rig that I had thought utterly defunct is somehow connected to the world stage. Or at least, the North American stage, and I can actually zoom in on various territories. And hey, will you look at that? What color is adjoining orc red here by the city, guys?”

Drake chuckled softly. "Green. How much you wanna bet that's the elves?"

"Oh, we know it's the elves," Morlekai said with a fierce smile. "We paid them enough to gain friendly neutral status with them."

Eric blinked at this. “Really.”

Morlekai nodded. “As you might have figured out, traveling through claimed territory is not always easy or advised. Though the greyed out territory that no one has claimed yet poses serious problems of its own, inhabited by monsters so much more violent and vicious than those you have to worry about in the territories in contention. Probably why they are in contention, and why absolutely no one is bothering with the wild regions. Yet."

Morlekai took a thoughtful sip of the beer in his hand. "We're fortunate as hell that those abominations are staying put in those unclaimed territories, at least for now. But with the arterial nature of the territory layout and the perils of skirting into the Grey zones, Contenders are able to effectively roadblock access further west, at least as far as Gilton is concerned. Fortunately, the Sylvan Faction and all its subsidiary clans are open to friendlies crossing for an appropriate tithe, or if they are skilled Professionals looking to start a fresh life in Elvish territory, they might even be welcomed into their communities. Lucy, for example, with her talents as a Greenmage, would be highly sought after and treated quite well in Elvish lands, at least according to Master Grim’s research into how all this works.”

Morlekai sighed and shook his head. “And I’ll probably never see her again. At least not before we put down a certain bastard.”

“And we want to think long and hard before embracing that sort of stupidity, considering how damned solid Junk Town's defenses now are," Alice cautioned with a hard look, before giving her brother a sympathetic hug. "I'm sorry about Lucy, though. I know how much she meant to you.”

Morlekai just smirked and shook his head. “It was a passing summer fling. We both knew that. And I know that as much of a backstabbing coward as Stibbs might be, he's hardly a fool. He won't dare cross the hand that feeds him. If anything, I'll bet he does his best to avoid her as much as possible."

Eric smiled and said nothing, a part of him hoping a certain message had been successfully delivered, and having absolutely no doubt that things will get very hot for a certain corrupt asshole of a mayor indeed, once his own sweet summer fling finally ascended a throne of stone brought into existence… had somehow always been in existence, just for her. He then shook his head, trying his best not to think of what he also had lost, and focus instead on what was before him.

A marvel and a wonder like no other.

He licked his lips, mind racing with possibilities, before turning back to Morlekai. “I… there have been some interesting developments in the city as well. I don’t suppose you know how to get in touch with the elves?”

Morlekai frowned. “That would be a tall order. It’s possible, but… why?”

As concisely as he could, Eric explained what he had been up to for the last three days, from taking out a rat incursion he dared not ask them to assist with, to making new friends and reaching out and touching a few orcs with his supersonic arrows.

Drake whistled. “Wow. That queen bitch could get inside our heads?” He gave a nervous laugh. “Honestly, I was a little jealous you were probably out there and leveling up and leaving your buddies Drake and Louie behind. But now? Yeah, thanks for taking care of that, Eric. I know that our mental stats are something Louie and I still have to work on.”

“When we have the points to afford it,” Louie warned. “Right now, it’s all about getting as strong and tough as we can, to survive what’s ahead. And once we get to Freetown, maybe we can finally get some solid info on builds, and can game out how best to prepare ourselves for a pod-class evolution. Best not to waste points on anything but our strengths, not until we’ve met the requirements for classes we’re actually interested in.”

Drake nodded. “And you’re pretty sharp as it stands already, Louie. I think you’re beating me by a few points in that department. So yeah, I guess we’ll focus on what we’re good at for now, and we leave the mind mage killing to boy scout here.”

Alice was gazing at Alex with an odd mix of awe and disbelief. “So, wait, you took out a high-level rat queen and permanently closed that dungeon yourself? And as a result, the entire underground territory this magic command bunker was attached to collapsed in on itself? And that’s why the back door is now permanently sealed shut?”

Eric shrugged. “Close enough. And if we can get some kind of assurance from the elves that the humans forced to obey the Orc Chieftain will be allowed to escape with their families without being hunted down, I think that might give the adjoining elves a major edge in whatever conflict is brewing between them. Because between you and me, Those javelineers are a hell of a lot deadlier than the orcs firing muskets… not that the guns are a joke either. The ball and shot they fire hits as hard as a 10 gauge. But still.

Morlekai gazed curiously at Eric. “You heard there was tension between those two races? How did you discover this, exactly?”

Eric smirked. “Come on, Morlekai. I've never heard of a game where elves and orcs weren't focused on tearing each other's throats out. I mean, sure, sometimes elves and dwarves get along, and sometimes they're like exes forced to cohab, but both of those races are fighting orcs to the death. Always."

Morlekai flashed a humorless smile. “So, we’re shaping our entire worldview on what you learned reading fantasy novels and playing RPGs. Is that it?”

Eric laughed. “Hell yeah. It’s what we’re all doing to maximize our own builds anyway, since we now really are in a world where you can actually level up.”

Alice laughed. "Well, for your information, mister know it all..." she smirked and shook her head. "You're absolutely right. However things might be on more integrated planets, they're always in a state of contention on unclaimed worlds like our own. A juicy tidbit I actually learned for free, when speaking with a member of Blue Corp about real estate opportunities in the nicest quarter of Freetown."

“Then maybe we can work something out with the elves that will benefit both them, all the families trapped here, and us at the same time,” Eric said, smiling at the intent looks his friends were giving him. But the fact was, Eric wasn't holding back any secrets. At least, not about the state of affairs on the world stage. He was as clueless as they, probably far more clueless, now that he thought about it.

He shook his head, more than a bit chilled to realize he still had absolutely no idea of just how long he had been stuck in that death pod struggling so viciously to tear free his Essences. But clearly it had been a lot longer than the couple of weeks he had feared.

Morlekai frowned. “As much as I can appreciate your absurdly strong sense of ethics, Eric, how exactly is getting in the middle of a blood feud going to help us claim our ultimate prize?"

“Simple," said Eric with growing confidence. "If all the orcs are busy fighting for their lives in one corner of the city, they sure as hell aren't patrolling the streets around our target, and they won't be in any state to respond, or care, about unaccounted-for humans breaking into various buildings when they're busy fighting for their lives against the elves. Especially if their strength has been reduced, maybe significantly, with the loss of all the human adventurers that fled in the night."

Morlekai furrowed his brow. "Wait a minute, Eric. Didn't you say all of them had been forced to take oaths to obey their master’s orders without fail?”

Eric nodded. “I did. But either because of the chieftain’s paranoia or the shaman’s arcane limits, that binding oath only affects the chieftain’s direct orders. From what I gathered from the father and son I talked to, it can’t be delegated. They feel no compulsion to obey the orcs giving day-to-day orders, save for fear of reprisal, same as what motivates soldiers and employees everywhere. But so as long as the humans don’t hear the chieftain's actual words… they’re not technically compelled to obey anyone at all. Even if they don’t dare make any waves at this point. Not without having some kind of escape route for themselves and their families that they can take advantage of.”

Alice chuckled softly. “So if they can plug their ears with cotton and flee into the night, they’re technically free as birds. At least for so long as they can get far enough away that they never have to worry about the sound of that chieftan’s voice again.” She turned to her brother. “It’s not a bad plan.”

Morlekai gave a thoughtful nod. “Agreed. Eric, if I may?”

Eric smiled and gave his friend his seat. “Let me guess. Going to see if we can find Stibb’s bank using the map?”

Morlekai nodded, his intent expression soon turning to a scowling frown as the screen's magnification and orientation failed to change with Morlekai's movements. His frown turned to a glare when even the mouse did nothing.

Eric smirked. “Shit, Morlekai, that’s a high-end system! You break it already?”

The man shot him a look, before surrendering the chair, Eric having no problem at all panning with both mouse and touch screen once more, before flashing Morlekai a cheeky smile.

“There, see? Easy as pie to manipulate. I guess you just don’t have the touch,” Eric teased.

Alice smirked. “Don’t be an asshole, boy scout. Though you do have a knack for it, that’s for damn sure. Now zoom out. We want the lower right quadrant… there. Right there. Bingo, motherfucker!"

Eric shared Alice’s grin as they zoomed down on a grand building complete with triangular gable supported by Corinthian columns that could only be a bank. Or, perhaps, a government building.

Eric grinned. “And even from this bird’s eye view, it looks like a bank right out of Gotham.”

Alice chuckled throatily right beside him, her breathy voice sending shivers down Eric’s spine. “You’re damn right it does. And the building’s basically so well fortified you’d need a tank or a cannon to break in by brute force alone.”

Louie nodded. “They made that branch back when armed bank robbery was still a thing, long before digital assets dwarfed the physical ten to one, and passwords were a cyberthief’s best friend. Back then? It was all about fast hands, safe-crackers, and vault busters.”

“Correct,” Morlekai said. “And you’ll note, even from here, that bank’s looking pristine and intact, with half the neighboring buildings broken ruins already. There was a reason why we went to such efforts to secure the keys and codes. Because even with Strengths in the twenties...”

“Sledgehammers still aren’t breaking us in. Not through the front door, and sure as shit not into the vaults below,” Drake noted.

Eric frowned. “Frankly I’m surprised the orcs haven’t tried busting it open.”

Morlekai snorted. “Why would they? The city has thousands of buildings, including banks, and almost all of them are effortless to open. So why would they bother with a curiosity like this, especially this early in their campaign? Not when all they see is an impressively tough building of stone and steel.”

Eric nodded. “Actually, that’s a good point. We’re looking at things from the perspective of people who already know there’s a shit ton of gold in the basement vaults. But if we had no idea where the bank was… would we really tear through every building in the city?”

Drake and Louie exchanged grins.

“On second thought, for a billion in gold? I guess we would,” Eric allowed with a smile. “Good thing they have no idea.”

“Damn good thing,” Morlekai said. “Now how about you explain what the blinking light on the other screen is?”

Eric frowned, noting that there was indeed a blinking light titled ‘Sylvan Defense.’ With a bemused smile, Eric clicked the blinking light and the second full-sized screen suddenly came to life, revealing a strikingly handsome man with emerald green eyes and a no-nonsense look to his features.

Eric blinked at the sight, far too perceptive to miss a glimpse of pointed ears underneath the man’s golden curls, though what was most intriguing was the militaryesque uniform the man was wearing, a jade forest green with more than a few medals pinned to the lapels.

“Jade to Silver, your Gilton terminus has now been pinged as active.” Emerald green eyes hardened. “Aurelia, you made it clear that you were done with the city. You made it even clearer that Valorn was welcome to it, if the commander to dared claim it. Why have you returned?” The man frowned. “And why, by the Hero’s Edge, is your camera turned off?”

Eric blinked, quickly seeing the problem. Elonia had been at least as much of a gamer as he was after her recovery, to the extent that her acting and fitness routines allowed it, anyway, and had been very finicky in her use of speakers and headphones.

He quickly waved his friends back before adjusting things to his liking, and turning on his camera and mic.

“Silver to Jade? Hey there. Name’s Eric. I don’t suppose you represent the elves near Gilton by any chance?”

The man’s eyes widened with surprise, and just a touch of bemusement. “Eric Silver?”

Eric blinked at this. “Maybe?”

The man stared at Eric worldlessly for long moments before shaking his head. “Your mother made it clear that your piece was off the board.”