Twenty-nine days after the Awakening, the County was almost clear of mutated beasts. There was only one red spot left on the map, near Mount Port Crayon Preserve, on the extreme northeast of the county. Leaving the car a couple of miles from the destination, at the end of the dirt road, they hiked. A mild exercise for Rowan but an exhausting chore for the rest. Isla and Thomas panted and heaved at every other step.

  “My feet are killing me,” Isla complained. “Even the buttocks ache. I’m using muscles I never knew I had.”

  “Unbelievable!” Rowan facepalmed. “You both have more Strength and Toughness than I do, but bitch for going up a hill like it’s Everest.”

  [Cory to all]: Strength is a vague representation of your capabilities. For Isla, it helps to fight. For you, it means hiking. By the way, Isla, since we’re talking posteriors, he’s ogling yours.

  “Hey, that’s not cool, you snitch!” Rowan blurted.

  “I’ll kill you in your sleep… If I… huh… survive this…” Thomas heaved.

  “So, you do admit ogling my butt,” Isla turned around, frowning.

  “It’s in my face, I can’t help it!”

  “Go in front. Now.”

  [Cory to all]: Negative. Keep this formation. The tank in front, the hybrid DPS in the middle, and the Rogue in the back.

  “I’m not a Rogue,” Rowan objected. "I'm a knight in jeans."

  [Cory to all]: Until you learn proper magic, you are whatever I say you are. Stop. The target is just ahead, one hundred yards. Keep silent. Use the chat.

  [Rowan to all]: What should we expect?

  [Cory to all]: I don’t know. My sensors are vague until I reach level ten.

  [Thomas to all]: I hope it’s not another mutated hare…

  [Isla to all]: You liked Bugs Bunny a lot when you were six.

  [Thomas to all]: Yeah, but he wasn’t jumping all around, trying to bite my throat out. I’m fed up with this quest. There are too many of them.

  [Cory to all]: The quest didn’t ask for a quota. Most people killed a single mutated beast and let you do the rest. Easy XP and AP with no stress.

  [Rowan to all]: Damned freeloaders...

  [Cory to all]: You’re paid a hefty salary. People might think you must work for it.

  [Rowan to all]: Sit tight. I’ll scout ahead.

  He barely made a step when the phone rang. Or rather buzzed, as it was set on vibrations. Rowan did cuss but answered.

  “Hi, sweetheart,” he whispered. “Can you make it quick? I’m in the middle of something here.”

  “Please, come back home,” Grace’s voice said. “I have that dreadful feeling, again… I beg you… just come back… I love you so much… I don’t want to lose you.”

  “I promise I’ll be careful.”

  Without any other words, he turned his phone off. His mood soured all of a sudden. Grace was all over him lately, and while he did like her, Rowan was not yet sure she was THE ONE. He planned to take things very slowly, with baby steps, until his feelings clarified.

  [Cory to Rowan]: She’s just hysterical. Having a fiance, despite her previously decadent sex life, must mean the world to her.

  [Rowan to Cory]: Shut up. You’re a bad and impolite core.

  [Cory to Rowan]: Only ONE more kill, and I’ll be level ten. Think of the greater good and dispatch that creature already.

  Shrugging, Rowan sneaked through the forest, taking his spear in hand. One hundred yards and five minutes later, the target was in view. It was a huge bear, twice the size of a normal Grizzly. The creature was nonchalantly munching some berries, sitting on its derriere.

  [Cory to Rowan]: Blackberries.

  [Rowan to Cory]: I know. I like the preserves.

  [Cory to Rowan]: Can you please kill the monster? Its back is turned to you. Easy crit.

  [Rowan to Cory]: What if Grace is right, and it’s more dangerous than it looks? I’ll go get the others.

  [Cory to Rowan]: Just message them.

  [Rowan to Cory]: Just shut up.

  Returning to the group as discreetly as possible, Rowan beckoned them behind a rock formation.

  [Rowan to all]: It’s a trap.

  [Cory to all]: What are you talking about?

  [Rowan to all]: It’s a bear.

  [Cory to all]: So what?

  [Rowan to all]: Bears smell people miles away. The wind blows toward him. There’s no way it doesn’t know we’re here.

  [Thomas to all]: You sure are a hiking nerd.

  [Cory to all]: C’mon... It’s just a low-level monster.

  [Rowan to all]: Exactly. What low-level monster stays put, knowing three top predators are around?

  [Cory to all]: Oh no! You’re right. I’m detecting ten disturbances… cloaking devices.

  [Rowan to all]: Meaning?

  [Cory to all]: The bear’s someone’s pet. A Beast Master’s. We have been infiltrated by hostile forces.

  [Rowan to all]: You can stop nukes but can’t stop people coming in?

  [Cory to all]: Nukes are no big deal. Classed people are. This means they know about the quest and meddled with it to lure us out here.

  [Isla to all]: It’s not hard to find out about the quest; it’s all over the Bounty Boards. But why the ambush?

  Cory to all]: Best guess? To capture or kill Rowan and claim the County. Change of plans. New formation: Thomas and Rowan are in front. Thomas steps back when his skills are on CD, and Rowan replaces him as the tank. Isla, stay behind the rocks; you’re the most vulnerable.

  [Isla to all]: No. We’re retreating. I won’t have Thomas fight in a real battle.

  [Cory to all]: You have no choice. The disturbances are taking a crescent formation behind the tree line and have you under observation. I’m detecting guns now. If you run, they’ll shoot you.

  [Rowan to all]: What if we advance, pretend to go for the bear, and attack them first? Thomas, stay here… no, better run away while we engage them.

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  [Isla to all]: Cory, you were supposed to teleport hostiles out!

  [Rowan to all]: True. What the fuck are you waiting for?

  [Cory to all]: They don’t register as hostiles yet, just intruders. But… what if Rowan accepts the invaders as immigrants and grants them citizenship? If they attack us, they’ll become criminals. And criminals can be teleported.

  [Thomas to all]: That’s an exploit, right?

  [Cory to all]: Queen of Exploits is my middle name, so yes. The only problem is I can’t send notifications to hostiles. Rowan, yell something at them.

  [Rowan to all]: OK, here goes nothing.

  Clearing his voice, he yelled as loud as he could: “I, Count Rowan the First, accept the ones invading our territory today as immigrants and grant them citizenship, but they have to obey the law.”

  There was a long silence, and then a hail of bullets hit the rocks protecting them.

  “What the fuck happened to the teleport?” Thomas yelled.

  [Cory to all]: Oh, no… The System interfered.

  Leadership Quest: The Awakened Warriors that had infiltrated your territory refused your offer. The System has decided to allow them to challenge you. Count Rowan Allinder, prove your mettle by repelling the incursion.

  Reward for winning: Continued Existence. Various. Maintain your title and your control of the County.

  Penalty for losing: The County will be taken under the winners’ control: Unnamed Awakened Military Faction.

  “They’re on us!” Isla shouted, unsheathing her gun and firing it wildly. “Thomas, run!”

  A group of semi-translucent shadows advanced toward them in turns, pausing to take and offer cover, almost invisible, except for their silhouettes' faint distortions on the surroundings. Ignoring Isla’s order, or maybe obeying it, but in the wrong sense, the boy dashed ahead, yelling Taunts, interposing himself between the incoming enemies and his party. Bullets bounced off him like heavy raindrops from a hard stone.

  [Cory to Rowan]: Go help him!

  Rowan followed the boy, running as fast as he could. Their foes were invisible, but their guns released smoke and light flashes. He executed a skill that made him move forward like lightning, a Rush, pointing his spear at the nearest shadow.

  You have slain Invader, level 40. XP gain is delayed until you are out of combat, as per your choice of settings.

  His spear had skewered the enemy. The cloaking failed, revealing a middle-aged man with short hair dressed in military fatigues. Rowan pulled his weapon out violently, and the man dropped on his face, dead.

  [Cory to Rowan]: Dodge!

  Dodging and rolling on the grass, Rowan heard a bunch of bullets pass above him. One hit his shoulder but got flattened. His Tough Cookie perk was now enhanced throughout the County, and his leather armor added another layer of protection. At the same time, from behind the rocks, Isla fired her gun like mad, reloading and firing again.

  Rowan flourished his polearm around, hoping to catch someone by chance. It worked; another man fell, his severed foot spilling blood. A second swing cut half the man’s head off, passing through a military helmet like through butter.

  You have slain Invader, level 40. Any further XP gain is delayed until you are out of combat, as per your choice of settings.

  “Your plan failed, surrender!” Rowan yelled.

  “You surrender, piece of shit!”

  Someone kicked him hard in the kidneys. Normally, it would have knocked Rowan down, but he willed his pain away and turned to face his foe, hitting him… no, her; it was a woman… with a fist in the stomach that made her fly in the air. Her skull exploded before she fell down, a magically enhanced bullet from Isla.

  Team member Isla Culloden has slain Invader, level 40.

  “Get the boy!” someone shouted.

  Three people emerged from their cloaking, surrounding Thomas, and another three near Isla. One of the latter tried to shoot her, profiting she was out of bullets. Still, she moved too fast, grappling with another man and shielding herself behind him, making him soak the shots. She broke a bandit’s neck off with her bare hands, then headbutted the last adversary, smashing his skull inward.

  Team member Isla Culloden has slain Invader, level 40, x3.

  “Stop, or we kill him!” a man yelled.

  There were only three foes remaining, but they had the advantage. A man restrained Thomas, another man—the one shouting orders—kept a gun at the boy’s head, and a young woman aimed a pistol at Rowan.

  “OK, OK!” Rowan yelled, throwing down his spear. “Don’t hurt him.”

  “Don’t move!” the leader of the invaders told Isla, who was advancing and growling like a mama lion seeing her cub in peril.

  [Thomas to all]: My Invulnerability is off cool down. It holds for 3 secs, so be quick. Now!

  Isla unsheathed her spare gun from her ankle, firing toward the man restraining Thomas. The projectiles hit the boy too, but the spell held, and a bullet managed to find the foe’s head, killing him. The two remaining invaders shot at Rowan. He felt the bullets hitting him hard, like giant fists, but Rushed onward, grappling with the leader. From the corner of his eye, he could see the younger woman fall and Thomas throwing himself down to take cover.

  Team member Isla Culloden has slain Invader, level 40, x2.

  “Who are you?” Rowan shouted. “Tell me, and I’ll let you live.” Surprisingly, even for himself, he had managed to disarm and restrain the leader of the other team, holding the man’s own knife at his neck. Isla’s lessons had paid off.

  “We’re with the government, you fucking traitor.”

  “Fuck!” Rowan blurted, suddenly noticing that Isla was wobbling and gurgling blood. His eyes saw red; for a second, all he could feel was hate. “Changed my mind. Thank you for the XP,” Rowan sneered a low growl, punching the knife through the man’s throat ripping the jugular, carotids, and trachea in the process. He shoved the body away and ran toward Isla, trying to chase away the notification filling his field of vision.

  You have slain Invader, level 40.

  Leadership Quest cleared. Ambush defeated. +1 free Lvl. + 1 free AP, XP

  Leadership Quest cleared. Incursion defeated: +1 free Lvl. +1 free AP

  Quest: Clear the County; tier 1 has been cleared. +1 free Lvl. +1 free AP

  You have reached Lvl. 42. 4 AP in each Stat have been granted for passing two level thresholds (30 and 40). You have 16 free APs available.

  “They got me… s-sorry…” Isla stuttered, lying on the grass.

  “Mom!” Thomas screamed, kneeling near her.

  “Thomas…” Isla whispered, fondling the boy’s cheek. “It’s OK…gh…”

  “Stand still!” Rowan took off her vest and cut the blood-soaked shirt with the knife. Fortunately, he didn’t have to undress her breasts. Unfortunately, the wound was in an armpit; a bullet had managed to go around the armor. He tried to stop the bleeding using the T-shirt, but it didn’t work. “Shit, she’s fainting. Cory, help! Tell me what to do!”

  [Cory to all]: Slap her to keep her awake and tell her to invest Attributes Points into CON. She’s near fifty, I hope she’ll be able to choose some Regen perk.

  “No slap… I heard…” Isla mumbled, going on and off unconsciousness every other few seconds.

  [Cory to Rowan]: She unlocked an Enhanced Regen, but it’s still insufficient. She won’t make it. Rowan, invest points in INT until you get 25. With luck, you’ll unlock Healing because of your first-aid training.

  “Are you sure?” Thomas yelled, holding his mother in his arms.

  [Cory to all]: Y-yes…

  Pushing five Attribute Points into INT, as suggested, Rowan crossed his fingers.

  “Fuck!”

  Intelligence Perk, Threshold 1 obtained: Strategic Sixth Sense. You can read a battle situation, politics, or just moods with uncanny accuracy. Offers access to the advanced skills: Inspect and Analyze.

  [Cory to Rowan]: Hurry, put the rest of your points in—

  He acted before the core finished the sentence. There were enough points to raise his Will to seventy-five.

  Will Perk, Threshold 3 obtained: Full-Fledged Magic User. You have unlocked Minor Mana Manipulation. You can learn Spells or enhance items, skills, or perks with Magic. First Aid Skillset Unlocked. Harmonizes well with the INT stat, normally with the rest.

  Dismissing the notification, Rowan hurried to press a bandage over the wound.

  “Stop the bleeding, damn’ it!”

  First Aid Skill: Stop Bleeding (Minor) applied. Success. 100 MP consumed.

  “Yey!”

  [Cory to all]: Err… Sorry, but the bullet is still inside. But I guess she’ll make it to the hospital, where a proper doctor could help her.

  “Extract bullet!” Rowan yelled, removing the bandage and touching the wound with his index. It was a shot in the dark, but it worked. As attracted by a magnet, the projectile crawled its way out, and he threw it on the grass.

  First Aid skill: Extract Bullet (Minor) applied. Success. 100 MP consumed. You have unlocked Minor Telekinesis. Warning: You have inflicted Bleed on your teammate Isla Culloden. Temporary status with the teammate Isla in the negative: Your Guts Are Hated.

  “You idiot!” Isla grimaced in pain.

  “Stop Bleeding,” Rowan blurted again, slapping the bandage on Isla’s skin again.

  First Aid skill: Stop Bleeding (minor) applied. Success. 100 MP consumed.

  Rowan decided to try something else: “Heal!”

  Minor Heal fails. This spell is not in your current repertoire. Achieve Max INT or/and Advanced Mana Manipulation to unlock it.

  [Cory to all]: It’s OK; her HPs have stabilized. I suggest not moving her until she’s around 50%. That will take about 30 minutes. Usually, parties have Healers, but there are only two in town now, and they have a lot of patients.

  [Cory to Rowan]: Why don’t you let them have a mother-son moment while we chat about your build? I’m disbanding the team.

  “You two should rest. I’m going for a stroll.” Rowan retrieved his spear and walked away.