The light faded, and Steven’s boots thumped onto icy pavement.

He glanced around, ready to call in an instant. He wouldn’t put it past the System to teleport them on top of a monster.

He saw nothing but the paved trail and snow-covered trees on either side.

“This is the coastal trail,” Micheal said. “I think we’re near the base of the main hill.”

Before Steven could respond, the System barged into his head.

“Named for the former Alaska governor Tony Knowles, who served from 1994 to 2002, the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail is one of four greenbelt trails in Anchorage. Even though the trail spans 11.0 miles each way (from Kincaid Park to just north of where 2nd Avenue ends in the Cook Inlet), it is easily picked up from several point-”

“What the hell!? Stop reading Wiki articles at me!”

Margie and Micheal stared at Steven as if he’d just sprouted horns.

“The System didn’t talk to you two just now?”

They shook their heads. “Not a word,” Micheal said.

Margie pursed her lips. “Blessed silence on my side as well.”

“So it’s just griefing me?”

“Fine. I’ll stop the articles for now, but only because you’re in a competition. Also-”

The others paused. “It’s taking now,” Margie sighed.

“You have 15 minutes until this is broadcast to the city. The masses can’t see any of your prompts or Skill descriptions, but aside from that, you’re a bunch of monkeys in the zoo.”

“SYSTEM OUT!”

Steven scowled. “Well, shit.”

“I did always want to try being on tv,” Margie said as she leaned down to give Noodle a scratch.

“I don’t want to be on tv like this!” Micheal snapped. “Why the hell is the System streaming this in the first place!?”

Steven chewed the question over for a moment. “Balance.”

Micheal froze before his hand shot up to his chin. “Balance? You mean the Augments? It said we’re already in the strongest percent of people in the city, and it’s offering us a way to get another advantage, so everyone else gets to study our power sets in return. The System said it didn’t care about the factions forming between us, but that’s not true if that’s what the broadcasting is about.”

Margie scowled. “Why, though? What’s the point?”

“No clue,” Steven said. “We don’t know what the System wants, so it’s hard to try and sus out its angle here.”

Micheal chuckled.

Steven groaned. “Don’t!”

Micheal’s chuckle turned into a full-blown laugh. “It was an ironic chuckle, I swear!”

Steven shook his head.

“Any guesses as to why the 15 head start before streaming?”

Margie scratched Buford on the head. “The System…it’s been studying us. Maybe the 15-minute head start is to see how we will react when we know we aren’t being watched.”

“Maybe,” Micheal nodded. “I can-“ he shook his head. “We’re getting distracted. We need to move. All three of the Augments I could buy are healing-related. I really want to get at least one of those.”

They nodded. “Which way do we go?” Steven asked. “Up the hill or further down the path?”

Margie eyed the ground. “I don’t really want to walk up this hill with the ice. Down the path.”

They turned and started walking, instinctively falling into the formation they’d had in the Scenario.

Buford in front, then Micheal, then Margie with Noodle beside her, and Steven at the back.

Though unlike in the Scenario, Margie didn’t have a rifle anymore. As soon as the Scenario ended, the System blocked her from using any guns. She was still fuming about it.

Steven frowned. That was a serious problem now. Margie was healthier than a week ago, but she still shouldn’t be throwing punches around. Though she could actually hurt someone with Micheal’s buff flowing through her, that should still be a last resort.

And Micheal was barely any better. In fact, Margie could take more hits than him while buffed.

Which left Steven and Buford. Buford was still a walking tank, and with the Skill Margie got from killing The Mad Doctor, she had another option in her tool belt.

The passive skill she got from passing her Threshold was also strong, but it wouldn’t be that useful in their current situation.

Steven was the only one with ranged Skills, and the group didn’t have any area of effect Skills. They could deal with small groups easily as well as a single strong opponent. But a strong group would tear through them. If Steven and Buford got held up, Margie and Micheal were sitting ducks.

Steven clenched his fists, and his mind sharpened. The doubts and uncertainty of the last week faded.

He had a straightforward goal in front of him.

Protect them.

“What’s up?” Steven glanced at Margie, but she wasn’t talking to him but Noodle.

The basset hound had his nose to the ground and was sniffing his way towards a nearby snowbank.

Steven got ready to call a shield.

The dog went straight to the snowbank, then turned and barked at Buford.

Buford trundled over and sniffed at the snow.

Noodle pointed with his nose.

Buford looked to Margie. “Go dig, boy.”

The dog plowed through the snow like it wasn’t even there, and Noodle followed in the cleared path.

Micheal whistled. “It’s been a week, but seeing Noodle ask Buford to clear a path for him like that is still uncanny.”

Margie nodded. “It’s still a little surreal for me too.”

“Why are we letting Noodle run off?” Steven asked.

Margie pointed at the trail the dogs were making. “The System said we could find points in caches, and Noodle has a nose that’s around 40 times better than ours. I think it’s a safe bet to let him sniff around a little. He’s smart enough not to waste our time.”

Steven shrugged. “Fair enough.”

Micheal started following the dogs. “Plus, we don’t want to rush just yet. Jugger can’t have more than a few minutes left.”

“Three minutes left, to be exact,” Margie added.

Stevens’s stomach flipped. Once that buff ended, they would have four minutes where Steven was their only real line of defense.

He licked his lips. “Let’s make sure not to discuss any details about our Skills once the fifteen minutes is up.”

Micheal nodded. “Agreed, and speaking of Skills, I’m slotting Run Heroes Run, which leaves me with one more open slot to fill. Eye Catching Beauty or Pretty Furniture?”

Steven had slotted Lumbering Tower-Shield but left his passive slot open. His only passive Skill wasn’t very useful right now, and he wanted to keep the slot open for when he found a better one.

Margie had opted to fill all her slots since she had immediately useful Skills to fill them with. Jugger-Rush for her passive and her Threshold Skill—Shadow-Doge—for her second active.

Steven smiled, thinking of the name. Margie despised it, which only made it funnier.

Steven turned his attention to Micheal. The man had left his new slots open since he had four Skills to choose from and wanted to wait until he knew what the situation demanded.

Slotting Run Heroes Run was a no-brainer, a direct speed boost for any ‘heroes’ moving towards him while he was in danger. But the other slot had a bit of competition. “I agree with Run Heroes, that’s a slam dunk, but could you shoot me the other descriptions again?”

—-

Eye Catching Beauty

Rarity: rare

Effect: The Damsels stunning beauty draws the eye of all nearby foes. They will have their attention pulled to the Damsel for a minimum of one second. Strong wills can resist this effect, while weaker wills will entranced for longer.

Range: line of sight

Duration: 1 second/variable

Energy cost: medium

Cooldown: 5 minutes

Pretty Furniture

Passive

Rarity: rare

Effect: The Damsel blends into the background, noticed but dismissed as a threat. Can be resisted.

Range: self

Energy cost: none

Duration: permanent

Cooldown: none

—-

Steven paused, his instincts warring with his common sense. He wanted to tell Micheal to pick Pretty Furniture immediately. It would passively make him much safer and would take some pressure off Steven if Micheal could slip away easier.

But it wasn’t the best choice. If he looked at it from a pure build planning perspective, Eye Catching Beauty was the better choice. A taunt was insanely valuable in a fight. Forcing opponents to look away from an incoming attack could end a fight immediately. And they could bait out an attack on Micheal so he could apply his buff.

At the trade-off of putting his life in greater danger.

Steven clenched his jaw and took a deep breath. Ask Micheal which he wants to pick. He’s an adult. You can’t choose him.

“Which way are you leaning,” Steven forced out.

Micheal paused for a beat before speaking. “The sane part of me wants to pick Pretty Furniture, but I think Eye Catching Beauty is better here.”

Margie frowned. “Eye Catching is the taunt, right?”

Micheal nodded.

“I don’t like the idea of you pulling the danger to yourself, but that’s what the rest of us are here for.”

Micheal gave a dark chuckle. “I’m not happy with the idea, but I can’t pass on the idea of forcing someone to look away from Buford mid-fight.”

Steven took another deep breath.

They could keep him safe. It was the right choice.

“I agree, you should take Eye Catching.”

Micheal frowned at Steven but nodded. “You alright, man?”

Steven nodded. “Yeah, just stressed.”

“Fair, though I’m a little surprised. You had me thinking you were incapable of fear in the Manor.”

Margie watched Steven, her dark gray eyes filled with concern.

Steven had been pretty close to fearless in the Manor. Feeling anything at all had still been a struggle, but the last week had pushed the apathy away, and now his fear for the others was starting to overwhelm him.

Get a grip, Steven. They need you.

“Guess I was too overwhelmed for fear in the Manor. It’s had time to catch up.”

Margie reached back to pat his shoulder.

Micheal took a deep breath and waved his hand. “It’s slotted. It feels different than before, more potent, I guess.”

Margie shrugged. “I didn’t notice a difference.”

Steven frowned. “Is that cause you lack Purpose?”

“Way to phrase it, Steven! Purposeless Margie over here!”

“No! That’s not what I meant!” He laughed.

“I know,” she chuckled. “Maybe. Who knows? We still don’t even know what the Purpose shit is all about.”

They drifted into silence as Buford continued to plow a path.

Steven was careful to avoid stepping off the path. He wore snow boots, but they weren’t the heaviest duty pair around. They only went about a quarter of the way up his calf, so stepping off the trail would dump several feet of snow into his boots.

Even if they returned from death, he wasn’t in the mood for frostbite.

On the subject of cold, they needed to be careful. Margie should be fine. She’d been in winter gear when the System grabbed them. But he and Micheal had been training, so they only had light coats and thin gloves. Passing through the First Threshold had made them more resistant to the cold, but not by much. It just took a few more minutes for them to feel the bite.

Buford would also be fine, with the buffs and his furry coat.

But Noodle wasn’t half as insulated. He had booties on, so his paws should be okay, but his fur wasn’t that thick.

It was in the mid-20s, so Noodle should be fine, but if it got any colder or if he got wet, they would have a serious problem.

And that went for all of them. Getting wet in the cold was a quick death sentence.

Noodle came to a stop and barked.

Buford turned around and eyed the other dog.

Noodle pawed at the ground, insistent. The malamute chuffed and started to dig.

Less than a minute later and they were staring at a simple brown box.

“Huh,” Steven said. “I’ll be damned. He really did find something.” Noodle gave him a smug look.

Micheal eyed the box but didn’t touch it. “Can you smell that?”

They all sniffed, save the dogs, and nodded. “Yeah,” Margie frowned. “It’s sweet, and…is that a touch of vanilla?”

Steven nodded. “Yeah, it kinda reminds me of vanilla cake.”

Micheal carefully moved his hand over the box. “It’s warm too; I’m surprised it wasn’t melting the snow around it. And…” he trailed off as he leaned closer. Steven tensed and got ready to call.

“It’s humming. It’s not super loud, but it’s definitely making noise.”

He paused and glanced back at them. “I’m going to try to open it.”

Margie shook her head. “Nope. I’m opening it. I have your buff on, so if it’s going to explode or something, the person with a magical durability effect should risk it.”

“We could just leave it?” Steven offered.

They both shook their heads. “Chances are this will give us a point,” Micheal shifted. “The System said we could find caches. I’d say this qualifies.”

Margie gave a firm nod.

Steven was clearly outvoted, not that he minded. He was being overly paranoid. He needed to rein that in.

“Let me try to open it with a shield. If nothing happens, we can assume the boxes aren’t trapped and open them normally.”

Margie shrugged. “Sure. Opening the doors like we did in the Manor was a little paranoid until it wasn’t. So no complaints here, but how are you going to open it with a shield?”

Micheal eyed the box. “Shield pull at an angle?”

Steven nodded. “I think I might be able to pop the lid with a well-placed shield.”

Micheal nodded, his blue eyes flashing with excitement. “Let’s try to crack this baby open!” He paused and looked around at the snow. “Can Buford plow a little more room for us?”

Margie nodded, and the hound stomped around for a minute, tamping the snow down with overwhelming enthusiasm. Jugger-Hound ended halfway through the process, but that didn’t dampen Buford’s mood in the slightest.

Steven smiled at the dog. Buford noticed and bounded over to lean against him.

Steven didn’t say anything. He just buried his hands in the dog's ruff and took a deep breath.

“…okay buddy, let’s go open that box.”

“Roof.”

Steven walked over to the box and called a shield. The green oval snapped into place behind and above the box at an angle. Then he called a second shield, trying to place its edge as close to the lip of the box as he could.

A week of practice had helped his aim, but he still called too close. The shield failed to form, sending a buzzing pop into Steven's head. It didn’t quite hurt, but it wasn’t pleasant.

After some testing, they’d discovered that his shields couldn’t form if the area was too dense. Water and light snow were fine, but anything more solid would stop the Skill from forming.

He called again, adjusting his aim slightly.

The glowing green shield snapped into place just below the lip.

Everyone backed up a few steps, and Steven held his hand out over the box.

After a second of hesitation, he summoned his third Hand-Shield just beneath the first, completing the partial wall.

Hopefully, that would be enough to stop a thrown dagger or something if the box really was trapped.

Steven pulled the shield towards his hand.

It shot up, flipping the box into the air before it crashed into his other shields.

It clattered to the ground, unexploded, and open.

“Hey, no boom,” Margie pointed out.

A nervous laugh slipped out of Micheal as he set Noodle down.

Steven hadn’t noticed, but the man had been holding the dog like a teddy bear.

They crowded around the box, and Steven noticed a glowing white orb a few inches to its left.

Margie poked the orb, and it vanished. She grinned and waved in front of her face. “Yep, it’s a point!”

Before Steven could answer, the System spoke. “Jesus you’re paranoid. Not necessarily wrong to be so, but come on man, pick up the pace!”

Steven ignored the System as he turned to Margie. “Can you transfer the point?”

She shrugged and pointed at Micheal.

Micheal raised his brows and smiled. “Yep, got a point.”

“That’s huge!” Steven grinned. “We lose half our points on death, but that doesn’t matter as much now. We can make sure that our points are spread out among us so that we don’t lose too much at once.”

Micheal frowned and rose from his crouch. “I don’t know. If one of us gets knocked out, this whole thing becomes a lot harder for the other two. Maybe we should pile all the points on one person so that even if they get knocked out, they can still buy an Augment.”

Margie cocked a brow. “How many points did your Augments cost?”

“4.”

“4.”

“Same,” Margie said. “So we would need one person to have 8 points to be able to buy an Augment after they die.”

Margie scratched her chin. “How about we keep the points spread out to minimize point loss, then once we have enough to get someone to 8, we do that.”

They nodded.

Steven stared at the box. “It’s balanced for several sensory Skills.”

Niches turned to him. “Huh?”

“This cache. It has a strong scent, gives off heat, and makes constant noise. That means it could be found with several different methods. I can hear through my shields, so I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume other people have sensory Skills or Traits. The caches are designed to be found by people with low level or at least new sensory Skills.”

He rubbed his hands together, a spark of excitement catching light next to his worry. “And we have two wonderful dogs with us who have noses that put some brand new sensory ability to shame, judging by the one I have.”

Steven grinned. He wanted all the Augments. Not just for him, but for the others too.

He’d settle at one for each of them, but he wasn’t going to let any of them slip through his fingers if he could help it.

“Let’s go geocaching!”