“Good morning, Ian. I must have been asleep when you got back in last night,” Claire said as she met him at the door of her office. She noticed him stiffening, and she started giggling, “Calm down, I live in the dorm room across from yours. Besides, I’m your Keeper. I don’t need to stalk you because the system already does it for me—or will in a few weeks once you hit level 101.”

  Ian shrugged as she shut the door and went to sit down. He took up a spot on the sofa he’d used yesterday before looking over to ensure the system said the room was secure before disabling his skill.

  “Well, don’t you clean up nice,” Claire said with a smirk. “Definitely better than the whole dirty hobo look you were sporting when we first met.”

  “Good morning, and thank you,” he replied, returning her smirk. “I feel so much better this morning, but we have a bit to talk about.”

  “Oh?” she asked. “Good things or bad things?”

  “Depends on what aspect we are looking at, probably. I thought they were fantastic things. Then I spoke with an older adventurer last night, and now I’m worried about their ramifications.”

  “Who did you speak with?”

  Ian saw the smile slip and concern etch itself on her features as she leaned forward.

  “I spoke with a man named Jason in the cafeteria last night. Older gentleman, short, dark hair with a receding hairline, deeper voice. I’m not sure what his last name or his alias is, though. He didn’t bring it up, and I wasn’t sure if it was polite to ask.”

  Relief flooded her face as she leaned back, “Jason Johnson, one of the highest leveled solo delvers to still be working with the AO. He started adventuring when he was 16 and had changed his alias to The Crimson Bladed Storm when he hit 100.” Claire had to stop a second as she got her giggling under control. “He is an amazing adventurer and spends a lot of time helping new adventurers…but he’s also the poster child for how some decisions can come back to haunt you later in life.”

  Ian shook his head as he chuckled, “He definitely isn’t the first to do something like that.”

  “No, no, he’s not. But what was he talking about that got you worried?”

  “Well, he started to explain the novice leaderboards to me. He pulled them up and talked to me about how the top slots have been solidified for quite some time.”

  “Yeah, but it isn’t a big deal if you don’t make the list,” she said gently. “It’s better that you don’t, honestly. Lots of attention will come your way if you manage it.”

  “And…that’s the problem,” Ian said, realizing she wasn’t understanding. “I hit level 100 last night.”

  The smile disappeared from Claire’s face as he watched her iris turn green for just a second.

  “Holy shit, Ian,” Claire said as she jumped out of her chair and ran to a table on the other side of the room. As she scanned through papers, she began speaking again, “We may be in a lot more trouble than you think. I don’t have any of your streaming drones in yet. We have to request them through the dungeon system’s curator because they have to be able to withstand anything the dungeon can throw at them. It usually takes a few days as there is always a waiting list, but there has to be a way…”

  Claire stopped talking as she found what she was looking for. After quickly reading through the paper, she rushed back over to her desk and began messing with her tablet.

  “Are you alright?” Ian asked, as the woman was concentrating so hard, she seemed to have forgotten to breathe.

  She suddenly let out a sigh of relief, put the tablet down, and leaned back into her chair. She closed her eyes for a moment before looking over at him.

  “Your drones will be ready in an hour, so you can’t leave until they arrive,” she said. “I’ve never had to expedite them before, but it seemed the curator already moved them up to the top of the queue last night.”

  “It’s not that big of a deal, is it? I can just run without them today and start running with them tomorrow.”

  Claire’s eyes snapped fully open, and she leaned forward with a look of disbelief on her face.

  “Ian—sorry—Zero, you will not step foot into a dungeon until those drones show up. Unlike the clans, we don’t try to pull stunts or create hype for new adventurers joining the ranking tiers. You appearing on that leaderboard with your current time is going to be more effective than anything anyone could have done to get your name out there.”

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We don’t even know if it is going to count my previous attempt to hit level 100 or not. If it does, I’ll be last place on that list by quite a bit.”

  Claire started laughing, “I can see your total time with my skill. According to what I can see, you’ve spent just under 11 hours in the dungeon during your climb. You also have a level banked from your dungeon reward that will be automatically applied when you enter your next dungeon.

  “Which reminds me, you have a new inherent skill that I can’t see…”

  Excitement blossomed on Claire’s face as she made a ‘hurry up’ gesture with her hands. Ian smiled back and leaned forward.

  “It is a new inherent skill that levels. It is called Statistical Synchronization, and it allows me to provide a dedicated party member with 10% of my stats.”

  “A 10% buff of your stats, which are going to be quite a bit larger than most, is a great boost. How long does it last?”

  “Until I take it off, or they stop being a dedicated party member.”

  Claire sat back in her chair and stared at the ceiling as if trying to figure out a puzzle. After a few seconds, she looked back at him and smiled.

  “Ian, do you want to hear what my parents believe dictates the inherent skills people receive?”

  Ian nodded as he gave her his full attention.

  “They believe the skills are created by intense inner desires. My father’s ability is far more in-depth than just a normal analyze skill. He can see all sorts of information, like your favorite foods, current mood, health status, and even the names of the partners you have been intimate with. It even goes so far as to show an approximation of a person’s driving desires.

  Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  “He thinks his skill was based on his inability to trust people after spending years in the foster system. He wanted to know everything about a person so he could trust them. Now you literally can’t get a lie past him. He might not call you out on it, but he definitely knows if you are lying. It made it difficult being his daughter, but it was also comforting knowing that he always knew what I needed.”

  Ian nodded as she gave him a smile. As she went to continue, the smile dimmed.

  “He said your prestige skill was based off of your desperate desire for a fresh start. You weren’t filled with self-loathing like most would have been in your position. Instead, you were filled with a wish that people would see you for who you were instead of the lies put out by your ex. Even with that anger and despair, you still longed to have people who cared about you—people you could trust. He said you wished you had something that you could give to others, but they could never take from you.”

  Ian listened but felt his brows furrow. As much as he hated to admit it, it made a lot of sense. He had hit many low points over the past year and a half, and Walter had been the guard there every weekend since just after he had started pushing to 100 after his breakup. He was still thinking it through when Claire broke his train of thought.

  “Dedicated party members,” she stated as she tapped her finger against her lips in thought. “All of your inherent skills have that word, but I’m not sure what it really means.

  “According to the system, a party is usually a temporary group of two to six members. Official parties are groups that are named and usually have a Keeper. Official parties can have more than six members, but only six members can be in the same dungeon at the same time, or none of them gain any levels while none of their kills drop loot. They are technically allowed to have six additional reserve members, though.”

  Ian held out his hand, mind racing between all the different things he heard.

  “Alright, I have a couple of questions before we go any further.” He said after a moment. “First, your dad can see how many women I slept with? Does that mean you can too? If so, why did you give me so much shit that first night?”

  Claire’s face instantly flushed as she covered her mouth and started giggling.

  “This isn’t funny, it would have been really easy to see that I never cheated on Beth if you could do that.”

  “I can’t! I swear,” she finally got out as she caught her breath. “My father told me after you left. His skill went through multiple evolutions as he hit the tier caps. At my level, I still have the original inherent skill he had, though it has been invaluable for my job even if it is incomplete.”

  “Fine, I can believe that,” Ian grumbled. “Anyways, I think your father is right about what is shaping my skills. This new one probably came from my worry that nobody will be able to keep up with me status-wise as we level. It will be more dangerous for them than for me, and I don’t want to lose anyone important to me again.

  “Which brings me to my second question. As my keeper, are you technically in my party?”

  Claire opened her mouth to speak and then closed it again as a perplexed look came over her features. “I have no idea. We could always try the skill to see if it works. However, if it doesn’t, we won’t know if I am just not a party member, or if I fail to meet the criteria of a dedicated party member.”

  Instead of spending time pondering about potential outcomes, Ian decided to use the skill on her. He instantly received a notification.

  Warning: Target does not meet all the criteria for Statistical Synchronization. Must be a member of the same official party and not be working against the user. Target is missing the following requirement(s): member of the same official party.

  “Well, that answers that,” Ian said before looking up at Claire. “I used it on you, and a notification said you need to be in my official party and not be working against me. It also said that you are only missing the requirement of being a part of my official party. So, if we made an official party, I could probably use the skill on you.”

  “Your buff actually tells you if people are missing requirements?” Claire asked. “That’s pretty nifty. I know a lot of people who wish their skills were that useful.

  “And if you ever want to set up a party, I would be more than happy to do the paperwork—which reminds me of something that I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.” She paused, looking conflicted before continuing, “I’ll just tell you. Ashlyn applied for her adventuring license yesterday afternoon, and she will be here this weekend to start her courses and weapons training.”

  “Ashlyn…as in my sister Ashlyn?”

  “Your sister,” she said with a nod. “The very sister who spent the last year looking for you. The one who just joined a very dangerous profession and is already unpopular with her peers due to her very public opinions about what a very popular certain someone did to her brother.”

  Ian closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. His sister had always wanted to be a veterinarian growing up. She had been near the top of her class with an archery scholarship to a good university. She should have been finishing up her freshman year, so what was she doing applying for an adventurer’s license?

  “She was homeless, Ian,” Claire said before handing him a tablet with his sister’s information on it. “She applied from a homeless shelter for women through one of our outreach programs. I don’t know the whole story, but my records show she lost her job a couple of months back and was evicted from her apartment last week.”

  Ian looked at the picture on the tablet from his sister’s application. Her clothes were well-worn, and she didn’t look anything like the put-together teen he remembered. Her eyes looked tired, and her dark brown hair was unkempt. Looking at the picture, he felt his chest tighten and his breath caught.

  “Do you know where she is?” Ian asked quietly. “I can help her out, I have a bunch of stuff I need to sell to the AO from yesterday, and it should be enough to get her off the street. I can go get more today and get her put up in an apartment. I could—”

  “Ian!” Claire had to shout to get his attention. She gave him a gentle smile, “Good. I’m glad you plan on helping her. I was worried you wouldn’t be able to trust her after everything you’ve been through.”

  “Even if I couldn’t trust her, she’s still my little sister. She looks so…beaten down in this picture. I couldn’t leave her like that.”

  Claire held her hand out and took the tablet back from Ian.

  “Ian, your sister doesn’t need your money right now. She has been moved to a recruitment facility and is being taken care of until she can get here to live in the dorms. She signed a two-year contract to adventure for the AO, which means she will be required to join a team and accomplish at least four dungeon runs a week after her initial training period. Once she gets some experience, she will also be required to assist in training and possibly even teach classes, given how good she is in archery.”

  “I get it, Claire, but what can I do to help her?”

  “As Ian Spelling? Nothing.” She held up her hand to cut off his reply. “Stop and listen because you are no longer Ian Spelling. For as long as you wear that skill, you are Zero. The adventurer who is about to become the fastest person on Earth to advance through the novice tier. And Zero can do a whole hell of a lot without being suspicious.

  “Let’s say that, hypothetically, you are building a team. As a close-range fighter, you need to start shoring up the gaps in your nonexistent party. What better place to start than with the woman who won a couple regional archery tournaments? I’ve seen her videos; she’s extremely talented. The only thing that is going to hold her back from being scouted is the fact that she openly talks shit about your ex.”

  “Alright, I understand,” Ian said while still frowning. “I’d be a better help to her by inviting her to a team and keeping my identity a secret. Is it possible to send her a message saying that I would like to meet with her to discuss the possibility of her joining my team now? That way, she at least has a sense of hope about the situation.”

  Claire gave him a mischievous smile. “I already have the email drafted. I’ll invite her to meet with me about a prospective position with an up-and-coming party on Friday afternoon. I let her know that her opinions about Peerless and their members are not a concern, and I am looking forward to meeting with her face-to-face to discuss her plans for the future.”

  “That sounds perfect. Thanks, Cla—”

  A beeping sound from the desk cut him off. Claire looked over at her tablet and stood up to go to the door.

  “They’re here!”