Zack and all the others Mathew told about his latest discovery went crazy. All of them instantly opened their menus, and started to get angry at themselves for not realizing the growth in their growing list of capabilities, if any.

Mathew silently chuckled to himself at their reaction. A couple of them asked if Mathew wanted to join their team. “You have a support profession, Mr. Melton gave us the report, but we haven’t seen any updates since you received your class. Another scribe would be great. It’s annoying having to write stuff down with limited supplies. We have you pegged as a business guy, you won’t have to fight if you work here with us.”

Mathew kindly refused the offer. “Right now I work for General Payne as his assistant. My job is to help bring order here on the base and outside of it. That means tons of paperwork.”

“Why does that matter? Not like anyone can enforce the rules anymore. Have you heard the rumors?” Lindsey asked. “The city is in chaos.”

Mathew nodded. “I heard a little, but that’s not my worry. That’s the government's job. I just do paperwork and sip my tea.” Mathew chose his words carefully. He had a facade to keep up after all. “Of course, I also do other duties to help around the base. I am the highest level here, so I am a key focus on the defense. Some of you surely saw me at the fight, I know I saw at least two of you.”

Which was true, he did see two of them.

A few nods confirmed his words, “Yea yea. Anyways, the entire city is being controlled by technically three forces.” Lindsey said.

Leo raised an eyebrow, “Technically three? How is that a technical claim?”

“Two forces are human. The third is undead. We have no clue what has happened since the dungeon opened, I can only pray they were ready. I do not want a World War Z scenario.” A few others closed their eyes and winced at the thought.

Zack grunted in agreement. “It also makes us worry about other dungeons around the world. We doubt it stops at Beginner rank, and just the few recorded types. Fantasy games and novels have an endless supply of what could be inside. Worse are the intelligent ones, like the Infernal Dungeon.”

Mathew looked at Zack. “I wouldn’t call the Imps smart. They barely put a dent in our numbers.”

Zack shook his head. “It’s a classic war tactic. Send the fodder for scouting. Those Imps were not here to actually win a fight. If they did, then that was just a bonus, but it was to see what we are capable of. There are hundreds of them, almost thousands. Just imagine what is still inside.”

Leo raised an eyebrow. “What makes you think that?”

Zack smirked. “Did a very similar tactic in one of my games. Instead of Imps, it was Kobolds. Little fake dragon lizard things.” He quickly explained for Mathew and Leo. “It was fantastic. If we could pull something similar off here, I would already be suggesting it to General Payne, unless he was already doing it. I’m sure he is a General for a reason.”

“Because he is a power mad control freak who is afraid of giving up power. Plus he knows how to work the political structure the government has. Not to mention the amount of social backing, money, and god knows what else to keep his old ass in charge.” Mathew thought to himself.

Leo nodded as he listened. “That makes sense. So what is our plan?” He asked Zack.

Zack shrugged in response. “Waiting on Henderson to get a new set of orders or to attempt to scout out that Dungeon. All I know is it’s believed to be Novice ranked, so we might attempt it. We are an entire rank above it after all.”

Mathew nodded, and agreed with Zack. The team should clear it out, there was little reason not to. He secretly wished he could join. He didn’t want others on the base to start outleveling him, let alone the world.

“I wish you all luck.” Mathew said.

After a bit more talking, Mathew headed off to finish making contracts for General Payne. Almost every member of the military before S-Day, and some of the retired ones, have signed the contract. Mathew knew once the Infernals were dealt with, he would be shipped away. Which gave him a time limit to pull off his plans.

Right now, he needs to gain more levels, or better yet, improve his current skills, spells, and abilities. Payne would attack in nine days. Mathew imagined right after everyone finished signing the contracts, troops would march forward.

That gave him a few days to get ready to do...something. He wasn’t sure how to officially pull his grand plan off, but that was his time limit. Hopefully Captain Henderson and his old team can figure out how Dungeons work and will help him in the long run.

Mathew returned to his own room and locked the door. After a thorough check of no one hiding he pulled a book out of his personal enlarged bag. He clicked a pen, and activated his [Writing] skill.

He spoke aloud as to help articulate his thoughts easier, “Log 1. This will be a written form of experiments. I have decided to start experimenting on my own due to The System no longer holding our hands to learn how it works. Currently the only two things I wish to test are the wolf I can summon and learning how to fight with knives using Numa’s style. Progress is slow with the latter. While I prefer to fight from a distance and use magic, having the knife as a backup will be life saving. My recent fight with the Pack Leader proves it. I can run out of mana, stamina is something I can train. Which reminds me, can I train to increase my Mana pool?”

Mathew flipped a few pages back and added that line of question to come back to another day before continuing writing the log.

“Continuing on with this log, I will attempt to summon the wolf again. Location, my own room. I closed all the windows and doubt anyone is spying on me, but I can’t be too careful. Pausing to summon the wolf.”

Mathew mentally stopped the skill and took a deep breath. He readied himself for it to be hostile again, and started to cast the spell. Several long minutes went by before the mana brought forth the infernal beast.

It appeared in a sitting position, facing toward Mathew. Mentally, he readied to unsummon the creature.

“Greetings wolf.” Mathew said, feeling a tension building. He remained as still as possible, and emptied his mind of attacking. He didn’t feel any connection as he did with the wisps still, but he couldn’t be too sure.

The wolf looked at Mathew and bared its fangs. It got on all four of its legs and locked eyes with him.

“No, bad wolf! I summoned you, I am your master! You obey me, not the other way around. I am not your enemy, either stop your hostile actions, or I’ll send you back!” Mathew stated firmly.

The wolf either didn’t understand Mathew, or didn’t care. It took one step forward toward Mathew before fading into motes of mana and fading away as Mathew unsummoned it mentally.

“Log 1, continuation. The wolf this time took longer to attack, but still attempted to attack me. As far as I could tell, the wolf seemed the same. I unsummoned it long before it even took two steps toward me. I had the feeling the wolf was somewhat real. Compared to my Wisps who are floating balls of mana and seem unemotional, the wolf felt real and alive. I am starting to think the wolf is real and alive. The spell details it has free will. Next summon I will attempt the ‘carrot and stick’ method to win over the creature. I will attempt the idea tomorrow. The mana cost is too much for me to repeat more than once a day right now. Log 1 end.”

Mathew stored the book and pen back in his bag and sat down. It had been a long day and he was tired after summoning the wolf. He glanced at the time and saw it was well past dinner. He would work on Numa’s style tomorrow.

Mathew woke up to no alerts or notifications. That was his last hope that The System still provided updates of some sort on his progress. Unless it was a weekly, or monthly update, then it would more than likely never return. He had a small suspicion that a skill, spell, or ability could replicate the alerts, possibly even an item.

Mathew walked out of his room dressed in his robes. He still suspected Imps to be lingering around after all.

The lines for breakfast were shorter today. Mathew looked around, and could tell everyone was on edge. Even he himself was on edge. People’s eyes were constantly looking around. Even while inside, they kept an eye on the doors and windows. The Imps could reappear at any moment.

Mathew looked down at the food and noted it seemed to be blander than normal. He never really cared about where the food came from. So long as it tasted good and fresh, he didn’t care who made it or where the ingredients came from.

He carried the plate toward the kitchen door and held it out. “What’s up with the food today? Did the Imps mess with the kitchen somehow?”

One of the cooks, an older woman, looked at him with a frown. “No, they avoided this place. You can thank Payne for the new diet. We are rationing supplies now. Can’t really get food when the magical shop is closed, now can we?”

Mathew hadn’t thought about that. “Nobody stocked up beforehand? How much food is there stored?”

She put her hands on her hips, “Listen, I understand it’s a scary thought, but I promise it’s taken care of. We have enough food right now, and as soon as the shops open up again, you can have a big plate of whatever you want sweetie.”

Mathew let out a breath, “It’s that bad huh?”

She shook her head. “Leave it to our Major General to worry about that. You and the others need to keep us safe. I don’t know your name, but I’ve seen you around. You are the boy with the two little floating lights. You did well fighting yesterday. A few of the cooks here saw you and were talking about you and that girl all evening.”

A small warmness washed over Mathew. He smiled at the compliment. “Thanks, I did my best. Tell the others to stay safe. You wouldn’t want me to have to cook if something happened to you all. People would rather starve if they learned I cooked.”

She nodded at Mathew. “And you stay safe as well. Here, let me give you an extra serving of sausage.” She took his plate and put two more links on it and handed it back to him.

Mathew left without another word, and sat down. It’s been a long while since he was treated like that. The thought of being seen as someone to look up to was pleasant. He continued to eat without another complaint. He wouldn’t be busy today. Between Payne planning for the war, and Henderson plus the others going to fight the Dungeon, nothing really needed to be done.

“Plenty of time to train, and plan.” He thought to himself.

His first problem was finding a way to leave the base and fight things. The Imps didn’t give him a level up, but they still gave experience, or so he thought. If his powers can grow stronger, then so can he.

Mathew leaned back in his chair thinking of a way to convince Payne to let him leave. Several ideas, lies, and other plans of distraction came to mind, but in the end, none would work. He is seen as a way to control people using his contracts. Unless someone else came around with his power, Payne would want him.

After a moment of thinking, Mathew realized Payne and as a by-product, the government, would want anyone who could make contracts. Larger workforce, increase time lines, and obtain their goals even quicker.

He took a bite out of his toast. “There is only one solution to this problem. I am going to sneak out.”