Max sat in the living area of his training warehouse, skimming articles on his laptop. Many of them were similar:

  "Is Max Cunningham the strongest adventurer in the world?"

  "Summoners, confirmed strongest class!?"

  “Who is Max Cunningham?”

  "Battle lines in America with invaders advance for the first time in years!"

  “Human battle lines in America move forward!”

  “America finally being reclaimed!?”

  "White Ape King power vacuum among monsters—will there be a replacement?"

  On social media, there were countless clips from Max's fight with the Ape King, some even edited, set to music or turned into memes. The videos felt strange to Max when he watched them because it was almost like he was viewing somebody else, not himself.

  The time that Max had come closest to being deleted, while battling the Ape King, was the most…strange for him. In the actual battle, during the time depicted in the videos, Max had been fighting for his life, full of adrenaline, so he'd mostly shaken his close calls off after acknowledging that he could have just died.

  But in the video, he watched himself thrown around like a ragdoll. The handfuls of rubble the Ape King had flung and delivered a glancing blow with, very obviously almost did him in. In the videos, he looked like a fly that had just caught the edge of a baseball, slammed into the ground, sending rocks, bits of sticks, and clods of dirt flying from the impact. He’d left a Max-width skid across the ground of the small field of sparse grass that he landed in.

  He just couldn’t stop watching the memes that people made of his close call with death. Some were very creative, and still made him chuckle, even as he watched himself nearly die over and over and again.

  Max was shaking his head, watching another video of his brush with death that someone had added the song "Wipeout" to, with a loop of Max getting crushed into the ground over and over again, when the doorbell buzzed. A moment later, Lavinia whispered in his ear, "Max, it's the two that you were expecting."

  "Got it," he said and stood. Then he moved through his training warehouse and opened the door to see who had come calling.

  He blinked as he took in the appearance of a ridiculous, comically disguised Lance and a much less ridiculously disguised Chad. Chad was just wearing sweats and a hoodie, the hood pulled up. Lance on the other hand was wearing name brand clothing and gigantic sunglasses, like an actor in an airport.

  "You look goofy as hell, Lance.” He sighed.

  “Whatever. I gotta dodge the media attention. It’s even worse now that you’ve done your thing. You know, the kind of stuff you always do.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Come on in.” Max turned and began heading back to the mini apartment area.

  Behind him, Chad took three steps into the warehouse before asking, "What the hell did you do to this place?" His voice sounded a bit strained.

  Max looked around at all the divots in the concrete, holes in the wall that he'd patched up mostly with spray foam, and the mess of training equipment all over the place. He shrugged and said, "It's a training space. I train. Without it, I'd probably be dead right now, or the Victory Guild would still be mind-raping people and turning them into demonic energy psychos." Chad didn't respond, just continued to look around with a stricken expression.

  Lance chuckled, "This is where you were training, Max? Isn't this small and kind of…quaint?"

  Max rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, you're rich, we get it, Lance. If you want to do something useful, then send me some money for a better training area or pull some strings and get me one."

  Instead of reacting the way Max had expected him to, Lance just nodded and said, "Alright. I'm on it."

  After leading the two men into his de facto living area, Max quietly made them both a cup of coffee with his instant coffee maker and then sat at the table. "All right, I agreed to this meeting," he said. "Now, what did you two want to talk about?"

  Lance and Chad gave each other a look before Lance said, "Max, I know that you don't really want to be famous, or at least you don't want to deal with what might come with it, but we really need you to go out and give some press conferences and maybe do a parade or something. If I can suck it up, so can you."

  Max grunted. "Yeah, but you like the attention.”

  “Even if you’re neutral, you don’t exactly hate it either, Max.” Lance gave him a level look.

  “Yes, but I'm not actually running away from the limelight," he said, "or at least not for the reasons that others might think. You both know why I have been trying to keep a low profile, but you do even better, Lance."

  The other summoner nodded seriously. "Yes, I know. And I even agree with you that spreading your face and voice everywhere all over this world is probably not the greatest way to avoid instigating the powers that be in the Quartet system. But Max, if I use a variation of arguments that you've used yourself before, what is the point of avoiding Adjudicators if our world gets overrun with monsters? I am not sure if you realize just how desperate the situation is. When you killed the White Ape King, it was a huge win. It’s just what North America needed after the Victory guild got taken down, too. Without the win, that would have been…awful for morale. However, thankfully now, people are actually excited for the first time in years.

  “I mean, we've almost taken back two states now. It's a big deal.” Lance paused. “The only reason we even had our front line when you came back to Earth is because we strategically gave up so much land to buy ourselves time to build our defenses. Otherwise, we would have been steamrolled, and there'd be no more humans left on this continent."

  Max nodded slowly. "I've read the histories and the reports, I know." He sighed. "I can't really argue with your logic, Lance, but I don't think I'm wrong, either. It just feels like it's too early. I'm too weak."

  Lance chuckled. "If you're weak, what are the rest of us?”

  “Really fucking weak," said Max evenly. Lance frowned, stricken, but Max ignored him. He tapped a finger on the table, thinking. "I've also been thinking about all the letters that I've gotten from the various guilds and governments asking me to help with some of their boss monsters. I'm considering doing some of that, helping out. I think it would probably be a good idea to pick the ones that I can maybe, hopefully kill quickly, using my time wisely to do the most amount of good in the least amount of time possible. But I really can't spend too much time fighting on the front lines with everybody else because it will slow down how fast I can grow in power. I understand that not many people even know this, much less understand it, but I know that both of you do. So you also understand my need for secrecy. Eventually, the Adjudicators will likely come calling."

  Chad put his head in his hands. "Do you know what a mindfuck it is? Being one of the only people in the world to know that Earth is going to eventually be in the sights of some evil galactic organization?"

  Max shook his head and said, "We don't know that the whole organization is bad, just that certain people in it are. But at least now that I'm a four-star mana body, I feel like I've got the power to start actually experimenting with and learning more about the daggers that I took from Adjudicator Swan. I also might have some more time now to look for other spirits."

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  Lance muttered, "Listen to this guy talking about picking up spirits like a dog picks up fleas. He talks about it like it’s easy!"

  Suddenly, looking like a giant spider with the head of a man, about the size of a guinea pig, Anansi manifested on the table for everybody to see. "Easy? You mean finding new spirits? It really doesn’t have to be super difficult, you know. You just need to know where to look, man-named-Lance,” drawled the divine remnant.

  Both of Max's guests stayed stock still for a half-second before Chad screamed, falling back in his chair and pinwheeling his arms. At the same time, Lance stood quickly and then slowly backed away from the table, his eyes wide, tilting his head like he was listening to something or somebody speak to him. His spirits, no doubt.

  "What the hell are you doing, Anansi!?" demanded Max. "You are supposed to be a secret, aren't you?"

  The dead spider god shrugged, which was a very strange-looking thing to witness a spider do. "They might all be dead soon anyway, right? And these two already know some of your secrets. So why should I be hiding out in the background like some sort of sexy ninja? I want to come into the light, baby. I want to sing songs. I want to tell jokes. I want to be—"

  "Shut up, Anansi," said Max. "Don't ever do this again, please."

  Anansi muttered sullenly under his breath before sitting on his haunches and smiling, seemingly changing his entire demeanor. "But I'm out right now! That means I can stay out, right? Easier to ask forgiveness than permission, and everything. Cliche cliche cliche.”

  Max sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "I guess you can stay out for a minute, but please let Lance's spirits know that everything's okay. He looks like he's getting yelled at by about a thousand different directions right now."

  Anansi turned his head in amusement and said, "Hey, little spirits, quiet down, or I'm going to eat you."

  Max had thought that he was imagining a soft sound before, almost like white noise, but when it immediately stopped, he realized that he'd been catching the very, very fringe edges of whatever Lance's spirits had been saying to him. Eyes wide, Lance returned to the table. Chad came back slower, a look of utter revulsion on his face. "I hate spiders, man," he grumbled.

  "Hey, don't be racist, human!" demanded Anansi, dramatically putting one spider leg over his heart. "How would you like it if I took on that same attitude against all you goofy, mortal animals? Look at you, acting like you're all special walking around on two legs. If spiders were as big as you were, this whole world would be covered in webs!"

  "That's exactly the problem," said Chad quietly. He was looking a little green around the gills.

  Max frowned. "Enough! Everybody focus, please. Anansi, if you're going to be out, then you need to keep your comments constructive. Otherwise, I'm going to make you go back."

  "Fine, fine, fine. Look, this is me, not rocking the boat. Not a boat-rocker. Nope, not me, no siree."

  Suddenly, in the back of Max's mind, he heard Siliron say, If that one can come out, then why can't I?

  Mentally, Max responded, Because Anansi is only extremely frightening to most humans. You are terrifying. And you know that. Do you want more validation, Saliron? Or are you done?

  The dark spirit spent several seconds, filling Max’s mind with a deep, disturbing laugh. But if I come out, I can get a better view of their bones.

  Don't be creepy, Saliron, responded Max. "Actually, never mind, you're always creepy, just don't come out.

  So be it, Contractor, responded Saliron. I will ignore your provocations, as I admit, I am still very pleased with you for introducing me to the bones of that monster recently. The Ape.

  Oh, that's right, you said you might learn something about the monster from your…digestion. Do you have anything for me yet? To one side, Chad gave him a concerned look as Max continued sitting quietly, having a mental conversation. But Lance, most of his attention on Anansi, softly shook his head at the other man.

  No, unfortunately not, Contractor," said Saliron. But soon, perhaps. As I continued to lick and nibble and caress the memory of the bones.

  Please don't give me the details, but thank you.

  Max turned to his human guests and said out loud, “Chad, I need you to help me find the best, quickest missions that I can take on to kill some more boss monsters in America. I'm willing to go to other countries too, but only if we get some sort of good rewards out of it. I'm all for humanity and all of that, but we have our own problems, and I will be risking my life after all."

  "Got it," said Chad. "So you're using this to help build the Trifecta Guild back up again?"

  "Exactly," said Max. "Most of the reports I'm seeing in the media are focused on me as an individual. I want more people and the general public consciousness to tie me together with the Trifecta Guild, just like they all do with Lance and the Patriot Guild."

  "That's smart," said Lance.

  "Cool. So what about the other matter, Lance? Are your people at the Patriot Guild ready?" asked Max.

  "I think so. I mean, they'll never actually say they're truly ready, but ever since you showed up before, they've been working all-nighters almost every day. They're very excited."

  "All right," said Max. He tapped a finger on the table again and looked at the calendar where he had it hung up on the wall. "How about four days from now? I'll teleport to the Patriot Guild. You can be there too. And then I will try to summon our friends that we knew in the Quartet."

  “Good, so that’s settled now,” Lance said and suddenly stood. "That's really all I had to talk about, and I'd love to stay and chat, but I have a lot of things to do."

  Chad nodded. “I’ll head out too.”

  Surprised, Max asked, "You came in person all the way here, spending tons of money on the teleporter, just to have this short conversation with me?"

  “Yes. “ Lance nodded seriously. "Because when we're in here with all the protections in here, in this training building, and all our spirits keeping watch, nobody can eavesdrop on us. Most other ways of communication are not one hundred percent secure. I mean, for all I know, this one isn't, either, but it's about the most secure we're going to get."

  "Point taken," said Max. "Good thinking. Let's make a note to not talk about any of these sensitive subjects anymore unless we're in a warded facility that one of us owns and we have at least you or me present, Lance." All three men nodded, and then Chad and Lance stood from the table.

  "What are you going to do after we leave?" asked Chad.

  "I’ll do what I do every night, Pinky. Try to take over the world," said Max in a completely deadpan tone of voice. Then he amended, "Actually, I’ll try to actually train and try to develop my mana body, but you know, the first thing sounded a lot funnier and cooler."

  “I thought it was funny,” said Anansi. “But I’m just a handsome spider man that everyone is trying hard not to look at right now. It’s unfair! If I wore red and blue tights, like that other, less popular, dumber spider man, maybe I’d get some respect around here!”

  Chad and Lance ignored Anansi, glanced at Max, then shared a look. Lance sighed. "Max, the whole world domination thing is a lot less funny when it’s possible. Like, I don't know. You've already increased in power so much that if you do hit a five-star mana body, then you probably could take over the world. In fact, if you hit that level of power, please promise me you'll do some PR first so the world won't decide that you're a greater threat than the monsters."

  "They wouldn't think that, right? Like, they really be that dumb, would they?" asked Max. Then, remembering the news cycle prior to the monsters coming to Earth, he answered his own question. "Okay, yes, they would be that stupid. All right, point taken. Again."

  Chad nodded, his expression sincere. "You should also think about coming by the guild headquarters more often." He hesitated and then slowly said, "You really need to go see your family too, man. Do you know that your mother has been doing interviews about you?"

  Max winced and groaned. "Yes, and they're not very flattering either because she's mad at me. She’s been bringing pictures on talk shows of when I was a little kid and telling embarrassing stories."

  Lance winced. "Yeah. Honestly, man. She has a reason to be angry. Go see your family."

  “It's not that I don't want to see them, it's just like, how do I explain everything?" Max hung his head as his voice trailed off. “I don’t want to overwhelm them, either.”

  “Too late for that, Max. By now, like the rest of the world, there’s no way they haven’t seen videos of you being slammed around like a ping pong ball by a boss monsters.”

  Max winced again. "I don't even know what to say to them, though, about simple stuff, much less about…serious things.”

  "Family is always like that, Max.” Chad grinned and said, “Not only that, it’s not like her fears are irrational. Like Lance said, she has probably seen you fighting a giant, monkey monster, and is terrified that you are going to die fighting. And meanwhile, you haven’t visited her since going to the Quartet.”

  “You’ve watched her interviews,” accused Max with a frown.

  “Yup!” Chat looked entirely unapologetic. “Anyway, sorry, but this is not a problem you can cut with a sword or beat up. Be brave, buddy." He patted Max on the shoulder. “Good luck!”

  As Max's two friends left, he muttered, "Everybody's a fucking comedian these days."

  Ha ha ha!, Saliron suddenly said in his mind, his mental “voice” deadpan. Contractor, I thought it was fairly humorous. But we can all be better served collecting bones. Jokes are nothing compared to bones.

  Max groaned.