Max walked down a series of alleys, trying to find some private space. Even though the city was almost as populated as it had been before the monsters attacked years ago, the current population was only because people had moved together for security. Big cities more or less retained their size, but a lot of people had moved out of the suburbs.

  The commercial areas in this city were more sparsely populated than before, too. Humanity had adapted to the constant monster threat, and one way they had done so was by avoiding working alone at night or in small groups in isolated buildings. After all, the more people around and the more eyes there were keeping watch for anything strange, the higher the chance that a new portal would be spotted before anybody could get hurt.

  After Max had gotten his Challenger ID card, he'd actually pondered whether he should go back to his hometown and try some more of Alfonso's shwarma. After all, to earn some quick money, it was likely that he could happen upon a monster or two there in a relatively short amount of time. If monsters came out of a portal right away, they usually didn't move far from it, since part of their job was to protect the beachhead, so to speak.

  But Max had decided not to risk traveling. The Challenger Fair was his highest priority in the next few days. Alfonso's food was good, but there were certain things he could only do in a populated city, like getting a new cell phone. However, if he were sleeping at Alfonso's place right now, it’s true that his current situation would be far less annoying.

  Finding some privacy in an abandoned city would be easy.

  It took him over half an hour to find a truly secluded alley where he felt he wouldn't be interrupted or seen. "Okay, this is it," he said out loud. Suddenly, a big brown spider with startlingly large eyes, blurred up from his hip onto his shoulder. Even after seeing this form of Anansi several times, it still startled Max. The manifested divine remnant said, "I thought you weren't afraid of spiders."

  "I'm not, but you don't exactly look like a regular spider, and I would probably be startled or at least notice if anything scuttled up my body onto my shoulder like that."

  "Do you have to use the word 'scuttle'?" said Anansi. "You know that's kind of an offensive word."

  "Only if you're a spider," said Max.

  "Exactly," Anansi huffed. "I swear, you say you want a working relationship, but then you keep using nasty language like that."

  Max rolled his eyes. "Uh-huh. Who are you supposed to be now, Annie Wilkes? And am I just supposed to forget that you didn't tell me you were planning to make me your challenger by default after forming a contract with me?"

  Anansi grumbled, "Yes, well, it would have benefited you."

  "Maybe, but that would be for me to decide. You didn’t fully explain what ‘standard,’ contract was. And not only that, in my actual Champion contract, I got gifts and other things in return for becoming a contractor. You didn’t give me anything for that even though you were intending it to happen."

  "You wound me," said Anansi. "Is it so hard to believe that I had your best interests at heart and I fully planned to give you remuneration?"

  "Yes," said Max flatly. "We're partners now, but I am under no illusions that we are friends after I just met you."

  "I suppose that's fair. In fact, I'll tell you what, as a token of good faith, let me tell you what I've been doing over the last hour since you started trying to find a quiet, dark place to spend time in."

  "Do you have to put it that way?"

  "Yes, it's the most apt description. Anyway, Saliron, would you be a dear and come out?"

  A moment later, dark, oily smoke rose from the ground, eventually forming the tall, gaunt figure that Celeron most often manifested as.

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  "I am here.”

  “Would you please tell Max what you decided after our conversation?" The divine remnant asked sweetly.

  Saliron’s floating form turned minutely to address Max. The powerful spirit did not sound happy. "I have spoken at length to the spider god. He has convinced me, barely, that by adjusting my original limitations on you and how you acquire new spirits, I would likely benefit in the long run. The logic he suggested is that the more things you kill, the more bones I can touch and nibble on. Is this true?"

  Max gave himself a couple of seconds to really think through his answer, and then seriously responded, "I suppose that's true, yes."

  "I believe the same," said Saliron. "It does not fill me with joy to modify an existing contract, but I must admit there is logic in it. Doing or saying things that keep me from meeting more delightful bones is not logical; therefore, I would like to formally amend our original contract. Instead of a blanket requirement of rank, instead, any new spirit you form a contract with must first have my approval–"

  "And me," added Anansi.

  "Yes, and the spider god," Saliron drawled.

  Anansi didn’t try to hide his goating tone. "You see, after we formed our contract, and I was able to read your memories, I brought up to dear little Saliron that he has already made an exception for Trill. Since he already set the precedent that exceptions were possible, it didn't make any sense not to amend the contract to reflect this."

  "Thank you, Saliron," said Max. "I promise you that I will deliver more bones in the near future and as long as I live."

  "Of course, I would expect nothing less. However, do not wait too long. The bones call me. It has been a while since I've had a good lick and tickle." With that, the large, imposing spirit vanished.

  "I do appreciate it, Saliron. Max turned from where Saliron had manifested and looked directly down at the bizarre spider sitting on his shoulder. At least now he didn't have a human face. The first time Anansi had manifested physically like this, Max had firmly rejected the look and told him to modify it.

  "Actually," said Max, "my spirits are usually incorporeal. Why is it that ever since we formed our contract, you've maintained a physical form like this?"

  "Having a physical form gives me more weight in the world when I don't have other power to give me that weight on its own," Anansi replied. "The ability to create this form and hold on to it is why it was beneficial for me to form a contract with you in the first place."

  Max lifted an eyebrow. "Yeah, and the fact that you would have auto-included me as a Champion. Then if I did anything big and flashy, it would have automatically given you more power or influence. I know how this stuff works."

  "Yes, well," the spider god coughed, "how about we let bygones be bygones, and in exchange, I will help you more efficiently learn what you can do with my power now?"

  "How can you do that?" asked Max. He knew his tone was suspicious, but he didn't particularly care. So far, Anansi had been living up to his reputation as a trickster god.

  "Well, how about this? Just begin practicing how you normally fight for a while, and I will watch and simultaneously feel what you are doing through your eyes and your body, then give you nudges to let you know where you might be able to improve."

  Max thought about Anansi's proposal before shrugging. Then, without warning, he fell into mock combat, fighting imaginary opponents using all of his abilities at low power and low speed. He even tossed a few special beads that had no effect other than to return immediately after hitting the ground. He’d devised this method, which he called dummy beads, to practice working them into his regular combat flow for practice. As he spun and kicked, threw beads and instructed his spirits, he began to feel something other than words, more like a pressure in the back of his mind.

  Lightning flashed in his mind. It suddenly occurred to him that he could use Lavinia's power a bit differently now. Taking hold of an ectoplasmic rope, he flipped it above him to the alley wall. When it hit the wall, it stuck fast. Max pulled hard, rocketing himself up into the air. He manifested some ectoplasm on his hand and slapped it against the wall while he was at the peak of his jump. Then he easily clung to the wall that way.

  Okay, so I can make ectoplasm sticky now, he thought. Then he easily fell back to the ground in the alley before concentrating on more ectoplasm in his hand. Then, linking with Lavinia, and imbuing his own power into the ectoplasm, Max threw it at the wall in front of him. The ball immediately sprang open into a large, beautiful spiderweb shape that smacked into the wall and stayed there with strong, sticky power.

  "Okay," said Max, a bit of enthusiasm. He continued to practice using his abilities and discovered several other ways he could use Anansi's power. Similar to how he used his Mana Vault, he could surge his mana body, but instead of more power, it gave him more…depth. The added mana didn’t affect his physical abilities but let him draw on more power for his other abilities.

  Lavinia’s spirits, after turning into ectoplasm, could be grown and divided…as long as they took the shape of spiders. It was like the spirit only had to create the ectoplasm and the rest was handled through Anansi’s power and influence. Max wasn’t sure exactly how this could help him yet, but he was able to greatly increase the sheer volume of ghostly matter that Lavian’s spirits could produce as well as the number of individual manifestations.

  He could also summon illusionary spiders, about a dozen of them, and up to the size of a cat. “Weird,” he said. In both lives, he’d never been able to create illusions and he’d hated when others tried to trick him. He was sure there were plenty of ways to use it, but he’d need to think about it, move his mind in a different direction.

  Finally, Max came to a stop, minimized [Black Mist Incident] before putting the sword away, and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, lost in thought. Anansi ran up from his leg–from wherever he went when he was out of the way. Max suspected that the divine remnant actually lived in the small shadows his clothing made.

  [That's not bad for your first time, Max. Can I call you Max?] the spider queried.

  "You're a god; call me anything you want."

  [What about “shithead” or “motherfucker?” What about “diseased sheep vagina?”]

  "I would prefer 'Max.'"

  [That wasn't bad for your first time, Max. In fact, I'm feeling a bit more optimistic about this whole thing now. I'd already known that you were a three-path Challenger before. Three-path Challengers are rare enough. But now that you have also formed a contract with me, I think you're one of the only four-path Challengers to ever exist in the universe."

  Max didn't say anything for a few seconds until the divine remnant's words finally registered. "Wait, a what? Four-path?"

  "Yes. Now that you've used my power, I believe the system should register at any moment now."

  Sure enough, a window popped up in Max’s vision. His eyes widened as he read, [Direct Conduit Cleric Path]. "What in the hell!?"