Mathew attempted to stealthily approach the group of voices. Either they didn’t have anyone with a high enough stats or skill to detect him, or they didn’t care.

Mathew eyed a seven man group of people. Five males, and two females. None of them looked familiar to him. They all looked to be in their twenties minus one of the men. He sat in the back with his arms crossed and eyes closed. He was older. Probably in his fifties or sixties.

He was currently hiding behind a tree, with Agnox up above the foliage. Jeffery was a safe distance away, easily within shouting distance.

“I’m telling you guys. I saw a flying red bird.” A man said. He was the only one in the group with a gun. Most likely a rifle.

“Jeff, we trust you, but why do we care? It’s not bothering us.” A woman said.

“It’s experience, guys. We all agreed to kill anything in here unless it’s a person. What if it’s another rare area boss?”

“We haven't seen one of those in a month. The only thing here are novice leveled enemies. We are Beginner rank, it won’t be worth anything to us.” Another male said. Given how everyone was looking at him, Mathew assumed he was the leader, or the most trusted in the group.

“Max is right. We need to focus on moving to the next floor to really reap in the rewards. We’ve done two challenges, and both were mediocre in rewards.” The woman said again.

“What if the bird was the boss to kill for the floor?” Jeff suggested.

Mathew knew he was talking about Agnox. “I guess he was seen.”

That caused everyone to pause slightly. “A flying enemy would be something to bridge between Novice and Beginner.” Max said with a thought. “If you see it again, let us know. We won’t go out of our way to attack it. All bosses are hostile. The fact it just flew by and left us means one of two things. Either it’s bringing help to kill us, or it’s not a boss.”

Jeff sighed, but knew Max had a point. “Fine. But when we have to fight it, I’ll remind you all I was right.”

Max pointed in the direction Mathew came from. “Let’s keep going that way. The other groups went west and north of here. Less odds to bump into them again.”

“They were with a larger team?”

Mathew watched them. He wanted to know where those two other challenges were. Mediocre rewards were fine. So long as they kept stacking. Even little bonuses paid off over time.

The problem was he was outnumbered. If they were hostile, he was screwed. Then again, he was easily over their level.

He pursed his lips before his greed won him over. He brushed himself off and started to walk toward the group at an angle so they could see him coming. Keeping his arms to his sides, Mathew put on his best friendly smile.

“Woah, it’s a dude.” Jeff said.

“No shit.” One of the women muttered. Max glared at Mathew. “We don’t want trouble mister. Where is the rest of your group at?”

“They are around.” Mathew half lied. He did have a group, just one was a large mouth imped, and the other was a glutton of a wolf. “We heard you all and I decided to say hello. Maybe trade information about this place and such.”

Max nodded. “Makes sense.”

“Did you see the red bird?” Jeff half shouted.

Mathew grined. “I have not seen any red birds. Just boars, wolves, and panthers. What about you seven?”

“Same.” Max admitted. “What about the floor boss? Have you seen one yet?”

Mathew shook his head. “Sadly not. No idea what they look like either. I did come across one of those challenges. Gave a stat boosting fruit as a reward.”

Max raised an eyebrow. “Really now? Care to trade for its location?”

“Sure, how many have you all found?”

“Just one.” Max lied.

Mathew tsked. “No reason to lie Max. I’m fine with a one to one trade, but you shouldn’t keep secrets from me.”

The group looked shocked. One of the women responded with harsh toned words. “Just how long have you been spying on us, you creep!”

“Oh? Was that information you didn’t want others to know? That’s a shame. I’ll keep it a secret too. Only the eight of us will know.”

Max put a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Relax Steph. He’s just trying to fuck with us.” He turned back to Mathew. “There is a Challenge another two hours that way.” He pointed back behind him. “It’s a puzzle room. The reward is some Universal Currency and a knick knack. Probably worth some more UC at a shop.”

“What’s the solution to the puzzle? Tell me how to beat that challenge, and I’ll tell you how to beat mine.”

“Tell us where your’s is first.” Max stated.

Mathew didn’t care about the information he was giving up. It was worth more to them than it was to him. “It’s a Challenge of Might. Simply run down a hallway and you get the fruit. Go a few hours in the direction you are already going and it’s there. Look for a hill, it’s at the foot of it.”

“That’s it? That simple?”

“Very. I finished it with no problem.”

“Just you finished it?” Max asked.

“No, but I was the first to. Everyone who received a reward got the fruit.” Mathew calculated the truth to be exactly that.

“Well thanks for the info. Puzzle is easy enough to finish. Just move the pieces around till you finish the picture.”

Mathew was about to head off, but another idea popped into his head. “Say, if you don’t mind me asking. Where did you all come from?”

“Oh? Our group is from Southern Canada. Nearly a thousand of us joined up at one of the Safe Zones. What about you?”

“Pennsylvania. The zone I came from is called Blue Oaks. None of you would be representatives would you? I can set up alliances and such for my zone.”

Max scratched at his head in thought. “No, I don’t think any of us can. Our leader didn’t bother coming into this place with everyone. The coward never leaves his penthouse. My group and I came here to get strong enough to leave that city.”

Mathew raised an eyebrow. “Why leave?”

“It’s boring. People are trying to hold onto the old world views. Rumor is the Hearth Crystal owner is not even level 10 yet. But there are enough guards there to prevent anyone trying to steal it. Last person that tried was killed by a barrage of gunfire.”

Mathew let out a whistle. “Sounds intense. The leader of Blue Oaks is a great guy. He’s over level 20.”

“No way!” Jeff exclaimed. “How close is he to ranking up? We are all level 19 ourselves.”

Max glared at Jeff, then turned back to Mathew. “Yes, we are almost 20 ourselves. It’s nice to see not everyone is forced to work for someone who hides behind closed doors. See you around man. I hope you and your group make it out of here alive.”

“I think we will do just fine. You all stay safe. If you do leave your home. Blue Oaks always accepts new members.”

“You as well. This might be a Novice floor, but it’s not a joke.” Max said, as if giving advice to Mathew. “We are using it as a training ground before we progress to the next floor. I imagine your group is as well.”

Mathew watched the seven man group leave. He also eyed the old man who had said nothing thus far. “That guy gives me the creeps. There is something up with that old man.”

Once they were out of eyesight, Mathew let out a shrill whistle and continued to trek onward with his ‘group’.

“I like the idea of using this place as a training ground. I still have several Novice ranked powers. Not to mention my Axioms.” Mathew tapped his chin as he walked.

Ideas of how to train his few Novice ranked powers and Axioms crossed his mind. It wasn’t even half an hour later before Mathew met with another group. This time a smaller three man team. As soon as Mathew made eye contact with them, he knew it was about to be trouble.

Agnox was long and out of sight. Jeffery remained near him this time. Since he didn’t think a three man group would cause problems.

“Hey old man. What are you doing out here alone with your mutt?”

“Oh this is going to be fun.” Mathew thought to himself. He eyed them over. All three had a sword of some kind and a gun or two. They wore a mix of military and new world gear. Three heavy bags were worn on their backs.

Mathew then peered closer, seeing one of them had something up their sleeve. Something long. “A wand probably best stay alert for magic.”

“Going for a midday stroll. It’s such a pleasant evening here in this place.” Mathew said with a slight flourish of his hand. “It would be a shame to ruin it with three numbskulls who want to cause problems.”

“What did you call us? You better be nicer than that or we will kick your teeth in. Don’t bother us ya freak.”

Mathew took a deep breath. “No no, I don’t need to resort to violence. New leaf Mathew.” He looked around him. “That’s fine. I’ll be on my way then.”

“No you don’t. You can’t disrespect us and walk away without showing how sorry you are.” The one on the right said.

Mathew stopped and glared at him. “What is this? A movie? Surely this is much more obvious than you realize.”

The three of them looked at each other slightly confused. “This isn’t a movie, old man. This is real life. Magic is real, or did you not realize that?”

Glancing at Jeffery, Mathew was starting to think all three of these guys were dumb. Not even an Intelligence score of 100 can help them. “Does the giant red wolf not explain that I know what magic is?”

“Could be fake. Or a real dog painted red.”

A vein on Mathews forehead almost popped out due to how much mental pain Mathew was in. “Listen, just…just go. You are going to cause me to become dumber by talking to you three.”

“Insulting us again? Oh, you really must not know the shit you are standing in, old man.”

“Fine, a small lesson. I can’t let them keep insulting me. Plus they keep calling me ‘old man’. I’m not even in my forties!”

Mathew looked down at Jeffery. “Don’t kill them, but don’t leave them unscathed either.”

That sentence seemed to shake some sense into the three as Jeffery jumped in front of Mathew growling. As they drew their weapons, two with swords and the third with a wand, Jeffery leapt forward.