[42:08:50]

  Thankfully, Buck's harrowing little jaunt through the woods wasn’t a total loss. Sure, he’d just charged through the woods like a rampaging bull, convinced that at any moment, his life would be ripped from him by some bulbous bear's paw. His only true quest— to find any of his loved ones again— remaining unfulfilled, his hard-earned strength being siphoned out of him and back to some nebulous cosmic entity called the Root. But hey, it seemed like he had unlocked a new skill. Small victories, right?

  [Running] (Uncommon - Exploration)

  -Level 1-

  The wind whipping through your hair. The feel of your heart pounding in your chest. Each step propels you forward, faster, and faster toward your goal. This is what it is to feel alive! Why walk when you could run? Also, if you're going to survive out here, you'll need to do a lot of running. You might as well get some practice in now before something catches you.

  Another Skill. Another step on the endless ladder of progress. It was still a long way to go before he got any to 25, but it was proof that he could still improve even in failure. That bear, though. Gods. The Root had truly outdone itself with that thing. Even with a [Sneak] skill that was gradually climbing, the beast had noticed him the moment he activated an [Ability]. It was like the thing had a sixth sense for Source.

  His [Basic Hunter] had saved his life. Without the ability to know when the beast had locked onto his presence, that bear would have caught him. Thankfully, the ability had another use: the notification had disappeared once he’d lost the bear, confirming that he’d well and truly escaped. Buck could only hope the furry monster would return to its hunting grounds on the northern bank, far away from his little slice of hell.

  Getting to his feet, Buck made his way over to the Apothecary. Every time he returned to his little home away from home, Evander and William proved they weren’t sitting idly by. This time was no different. Buck was blindsided by the improvements that they’d made to the camp.

  First off, right next to the Apothecary, an impromptu structure had been erected. It looked like someone had started processing all the coyote meat that Buck had collected. Coyote pelts had been cleaned and stretched over a wooden frame, and strips of meat hung drying in the sun. He couldn’t imagine coyote meat tasted any good, but it was a welcome sight after days of surviving on raspberries.

  On the other side of the graveyard, a small garden had been marked off with stakes. Buck was surprised to see some sprouts already poking through the soil. The Root Source must have accelerated the plant’s growth cycle. At least they wouldn’t go hungry anytime soon.

  The only change that confused him was a cleared section of trees behind his father’s grave. The wood was piled to one side, along with some of the stone he had picked up from the river while he’d been harvesting the [Laminar Grass]. He’d figured it was better to gather as much as he could in case someone found a use for it. Turns out, William had.

  “Young pup,” Williams' deep voice rang out across the clearing. “We were startin’ to get worried. You’ve been explorin’ these woods here for quite some time. Evander assured me we’d a known if you passed, somethin’ about getting a new Quest for a new Ruler. I still worried, though.”

  “Billy,” Buck said, smiling. “It’s good to see you. You wouldn’t believe the beasts I ran into. You’ve done a lot of work around here. Evander still cracking that whip?”

  William chuckled. “Oh, that little feller ain’t too bad once you get used to him. He spouts all that crazy nonsense about the System and the Old Gods, and I just go back to what I’m good at—working with my own two hands.”

  For the next hour, William and Buck sat next to the Nexus, catching up. Buck explained how he was starting to get used to his new [Skills] and [Abilities]. The coyotes weren’t much of a challenge anymore, as long as he didn’t get swarmed. He also warned William about the new beasts he’d seen, especially the bear stalking the northern woods.

  William, in turn, showed off the new [Skills] he had unlocked: [Skinning], [Tanning], [Gardening] and [Construction]. Turns out he’d cleared that little section on the back side of the Nexus so that Buck could build himself a proper little home. Buck had no idea where to start, but William assured him the knowledge would come as he worked.

  “Just start,” William said. “The Root will guide you.”

  Buck hesitated, then gestured towards William. “I don’t mean to be insensitive, Billy, but… you're a ghost. How are you, you know, touching stuff?”

  William grinned. “Don’t worry, Buck. I have come to terms with my new appearance. But to answer your question, one of my Abilities is the [Interact] spell. For a small infusion of mana, I can become corporeal. It’s really quite something. At my current level, I can go most of the day without needing to rest and recharge my mana. Evander says there’ll come a point where I won’t even notice the mana drain.”

  So William had a Spell. Buck had gained a number of Abilities up until this point, but only one required mana. He could only assume Bev was tailoring his path, steering him toward a melee fighter build. William, on the other hand, seemed to be some kind of mystical butler. It made sense he’d have spells.

  Noticing Buck pondering the mysteries of the universe, William stood and stretched. Did ghosts get cramps? Buck made a mental note to ask later.

  “Now,” William said, tipping his hat, “if you don’t mind, young pup, we’ve got to get into the weird stuff that’s been happenin’.”

  Buck sighed. “Let me guess. Evander’s been cooking up something diabolical. Probably related to those coyote corpses he was cutting apart last time I saw him?”

  “Yes, sir” William said, his tone equal parts amused and wary. “Evander’s gone and gotten himself a [Class]. And by golly, it's a doozy.”

  The two men stood and walked towards the Apothecary. Buck noticed for the first time that the tower was spouting a sickly green smoke. It spiraled up and out of the tower, dissipating a few meters above the roof. The Necrohamster was up to something. And Buck had a feeling it was going to be equal parts fascinating and horrifying.

  —-

  Buck passed through the heavy stone doors of the sepulcher and froze. The scene before him could only be described as a mad scientist's lab. Evander had set up a massive cauldron between a pair of embalming tables, its contents bubbling ominously. The little hamster was pouring what looked like a bucket of blood into it, and as he did, a plume of green smoke erupted from the concoction. Evander let out a shrill cackle that sent a shiver down Buck’s spine. This hamster had some serious problems.

  “Evander!” Buck shouted across the room, grinning as the little hamster jumped in surprise. “What the hell are cooking in here? Smells like a dumpster fire in a slaughterhouse.”

  “Blackwood. Good, you’ve returned.” Evander jumped hopped deftly from cauldron to table, then to a counter, putting himself eye level with Buck. His tone was as haughty as ever. “Much has transpired in your absense. That [Laminar Grass] you so gracioussly harvested has provided a much-needed insight into this world. Come, come” He motioned the two men to follow, his tiny paw waving impatiently.

  Evander led them closer to the smoking cauldron, and Buck’s nose was immediately assaulted by the scench of…well death. Whatever unholy concoction this creature had brewed was staining the very air with its foul odor. It reminded Buck of those days he’d forgotten to take out the trash for two weeks and was forced to carry out the rotting mess to the dumpster at arm’s length, praying he wouldn’t projectile vomit.

  “What in the Gods name have you created, Evander.” Buck asked, covering his nose and mouth with his hand. “Did you raid a morgue and decide to make soup?”

  “It is truly marvelous, Blackwood,” Evander said, his voice brimming with pride “A few days back, I discovered the [Alchemy] skill when I was trying to make a poison out of the coyote blood.” He gestured to one side of the room, where a coyote had been strung up by a rope, its blood dripping into a bucket. This place was a nightmare.

  “When I reached level 5, I gained an Ability that modified [Identify] and allowed me to ascertain that the grass you harvested was actually the key to creating a [Basic Healing Potion].” Evander explained, pulling a small vail from a pocket in his cloak. With a deft swipe of his paw, he dipped the vail into the cauldron and corked it before any of the noxious gas could escape. He gave the vail a quick shake, and the sickly green liquid inside shifted to a more vibrant emerald color.

  Evander hopped over to Buck and handed him the vail. “Go ahead. Use [Identify]. I’ll finish brewing the rest.”

  Buck hestitated. “Let me get this straight. You’re telling me this…sludge…is a healing potion? Made from grass and blood? What’s next, a smoothie made from toenails and regret?”

  How in the hells was this supposed to be a healing potion? From what he could tell, it had been created by combining that grass he had found in the river, and, well, blood. In a certain sense, blood was an essential part of life, allowing every living creature to circulate oxygen throughout their system. But drinking it? That was a hard sell.

  “Your skepticism is noted,” Evander said dryly. “But I asure you, the results speak for themselves. Now, if you would kindly stop wasting my time…”

  Buck activated [Identify].

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  [Basic Healing Potion]

  Created by combining [Laminar Grass] and [Coyote Blood]

  All the health nuts are gonna be talking about this. Who would’ve thought that your mom was right? Eat your greens, and you will truly become stronger. As long as you can get past the taste.

  Use: Drink to Heal Wounds

  Gods the crazy hamster was correct. He’d actually created a healing potion. The only problem? How would Buck go about drinking this. He assumed he would have to keep the potion down if he were to experience the effects of it. Vomiting was not an option.

  “Well, here goes nothing” Buck said, uncorking the vail

  “Wait, you imbecile!” Evander yelled from across the room. “You might be some big shot chosen by the Root to disrupt all of nature or whatever, but you don’t wanna drink that straight. It is truly atrocious. Add it to your Inventory, Equip it to your Hotbar and then Select it. What a buffoon,” He added under his breath

  Buck paused, the followed Evander’s instructions. When he clicked on the potion, it disappeared from his hotbar. A cooling energy spread through his body, starting with some of the deeper wounds that hadn’t fully healed and working its way to the minor scratches he’d gotten while running through the forest. It wasn’t a full heal, but he felt like a new man.

  “Well, I’ll be” Buck said, genuinely impressed. “You actually did it, Evander. Color me shocked.”

  “Yes, yes,” Evavder replied, waving a paw dismissively. “Your awe is duly noted. I have much more experience with this stuff than you do. But if you think that was impressive, come see what else I have accomplished” He motioned for Buck to follow him towards the coyote corpse.

  As they walked, Buck asked “William tells me you got your Class?”

  “Ah, yes,” Evander said, his tone smug. “I had engage in some… negotiations with Bev to secure a Class related to Necromany. Once I discovered the [Dissection] Skill, we were off to the races.”

  Dissection. Yikes. “So, what Class did you get?”

  “It’s called [The Corpse Mage],” Evander said, puffing out his chest. “It’s a prestigious Class, I’ll have you know. Though I do wish it came with some sort of Poison Spell. Those are really fun. I’m hoping that [Alchemy] will provide me with enough knowledge to get offered a better class when I hit the second echelon. Regardless, it has an ability that will be really useful for us in the short term.” He paused as they reached the coyote corpse, then with a deft flourish of a scalpel, sliced the beast’s eyes out of its skull. “Behold, [Animate]”

  Buck watched as a wave of energy passed up Evander’s arm, bending the air around it. Buck could feel it, this was different then the source. The source felt…well natural. Like it grew from the very ground around him. This felt, well unnatural. It had to be mana.

  With a soft woosh, the two eyes lifted from Evanders paws and floated in midair, their optic nerves dangling like grotesque ribbons. The eyes turned toward Buck, and he felt a chill run down him. Evander had just raised something from the dead.

  “This one can be yours, Blackwood.” Evander said, grinning. “It’ll give you good practice controlling a Minion. Bev calls it a Corpse Seeker. Or Seeker, for short. They make excellent scouts, I already have a few patrolling the camp to ensure no beasts get too close. Once I level up the skill a bit more, I’ll be able to animate the coyotes themselves to assist us.”

  Evander eyes turned glassy as he was activating something in his interface, and suddenly, a prompt appeared on Bucks screen:

  [You have been Gifted, Corpse Seeker, Level 1]

  “Uh, thanks, I guess” Buck said, eyeing the floating eyes with apprehension “How do I control this thing?”

  “Its quite simple,” Evander chuckled. “You merely use your words. Minions are the lowest level of being in the Cracked Kingdoms. They don’t have enough sentience to be considered a Peasant, and they can never be upgraded to Players, no matter their level. With a high enough Charisma, you should be able to get it to do whatever you need. They also provide you with extra experience to whatever Skill they specialize in, so it's good to have at least a couple with you at all times.”

  Buck stared at the pair of yellow eyes floating in front of him. They were deeply unsettling. A faint whisper of energy swirled beneath them, keeping them aloft, while the optic nerve swayed like flags in the wind.

  “Great,” Buck muttered. “Just what I needed—a pair of creepy eyeballs following me around. This world just keeps getting better and better.”

  [Corpse Seeker]

  Basic Minion

  -Level 1-

  This Minion specializes in the Scouting Skill, providing its Master with up-to-date information about the world around them. Be careful though—they’re squishy. One swipe from a bird's talon, and the Seeker will be snatched up like a grape on New Years.

  Skills: Scouting

  Buck looked back to Evander for more help, but the little hamster had already leapt back up onto the embalming table and was busy filling vial after vial with potions. Buck took a moment to check his Inventory and was surprised to see he had access to almost fifteen potions already.

  “Oh, Blackwood,” Evander said flatly, not even looking up from his work. “Do not forget. Drinking any potion in quick secession is not recommened. There is a cooldown. Drink them too fast, and well… there is a chance they will have the opposite effect, tearing your body apart at the molecular level until you're just a human-sized pile of flesh.”

  “Great,” Buck muttered to himself. He’d already noticed a little timer appear in his interface after he had drunk the potion, so he’d assumed something like that existed. Still, it was still nice to know the stakes. “Thanks for the heads-up, Dr. Frankenstein.”

  “You’re welcome,” Evander replied, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have important work to do. Try not to get yourself killed before I can finish.”

  Buck rolled his eyes and turned to his new…companion. “Alrighty Mr. Seeker,” he said, addressing the floating eyeballs. “Let's go check the Nexus before we head back out.”

  The Corpse Seeker bobbed slighty in the air, the sharp yellow eyes locking onto Buck. He wasn’t sure if it was acknowledging him or just floating aimlessly, but he decided to take it as a sine of enthusiasm. He made his way out of the Apothecary and across the graveyard towards the Nexus, the Seeker trailing behind him like a creepy little shadow.

  He paused just a moment before he placed his hand on his fathers grave. With a mental push, he activated the Shop to peruse all the new items that had been added since he started leveling up his Skills.

  The selection was impressive. Evander had mentioned that the Shop would sell basic items to help new Citizens gear up for combabt, but Buck hand’t expected this much variety. For each skill that had been raised to level 5, a whole new collection of gear had been unlocked. There was everything from shirts and pants to swords and bows. If he wanted, he could completely change his fighting style.

  He even considered it. He could pick up a bow and arrow and just start over. Why did he need to keep subjecting himself to melee combat? Getting flayed alive by tooth and claw at every turn? He could become some sort of stealth hunter—hiding in the bushes and releasing arrow after arrow before his enemies even knew he was there. But Buck wasn’t ready to give up on his fists just yet. He couldn’t just start over from zero.

  It didn’t take him long to decide what he needed. At this point, Buck was still wandering the forests half-naked, and the idea of adding some protection—instead of just wearing a pair of torn jorts—was a godsend. He scrolled through the armor section, his eyes lighting up at the options.

  After some quick calculations, it seemed he was gaining one or two pieces of Bronze with each coyote kill, and over the past week he had killed his fair share. As loath as he was to admit it, he’d started to get pretty good at sneaking up on the beasts and pummeling them with his bare hands. He wouldn’t go as far to say that he was enjoying it, but even he had to admit, it felt good to be good at something. Regardless, a little armor wouldn’t hurt.

  The first thing he purchased was a pair of shoes reminiscent of ancient Roman gladiators. They were made of a tough brown leather that wound their way up his shins, providing a simple barrier against damage. As they appeared in his hands, he took a moment to inspect them. Etched into the hard leather was a strange runic language he didn’t recognize. It reminded him of the ancient norse alphabet, Futhark, but with a cursive twist that looked almost Arabic. He wasn’t surprised to feel a faint pulse of Source radiating from the boots. The Shop had said they were magic items.

  [Gladiator Boots of Stillness] (Basic)

  Not-Attuned

  Upgradable

  Repairable

  Effect: +1 Dexterity + 1 Endurance

  As Buck pulled them onto his feet, he felt the warmth of the Attribute increase spread through him. He’d chosen this item for one main reason: stealth. While getting nearly pummeled to death by every beast he encountered was super enjoyable, he figured it was time to lean into the silent aspect of his Class. If he could use [Soft Steps] with [Novice Hunter] to sneak up on his opponents, he wouldn’t have to worry about his guts being ripped out.

  These boots didn’t have anything specific that increased his [Sneak], but with a name like the [Gladiator Boots of Stillness], he could only assume they’d gain some sort of stealth-related Ability when upgraded. Plus, he already planned to get an Attunement related to stealth and Death because he needed to get the [Fog] Defensive Talisman to hide himself and his Kingdom from the Viewers. So this was a win-win.

  The “Repariable” tag was also a big selling point. Looking down at his once-gorgeous pair of jorts, Buck couldn’t help but worry that in the heat of battle, he’d once again be some nude creature of the night, fighting for his life while also worrying about protecting his nether regions. Unfortunately, there were no pants options in the Nexus yet, but with how quickly he was leveling up [Skills], he assumed he would gain access to a pair soon enough.

  With the remaining Bronze left in his Inventory, Buck purchased a Basic [Sleeveless Tunic] that didn’t have any special Effect but was Repairable and a set of Basic [Leather Vambraces] that he could also Repair. Looking down at himself Buck couldn’t help but feel he was starting to look like he belonged in this new fantasy world—albeit with a ridiculous pair of torn-up jean shorts.

  Before setting out on another round of monster slaying, Buck trotted to one of the flatter headstones in the graveyard and unrolled his handwritten map. Calling this thing a map was being generous at best. Buck had more or less guessed at the scale, partially because he had no idea how much the Wind River Range had expanded and partly because his artistic ability was on par with a toddler’s.

  The map showed crudely drawn mountains and trees that shaped the valley he found himself in. The Popo Agie River ran west to east, flowing out of Sinks Canyon, and a single dot marked the spot he’d affectionately labeled “Rasberry Grove” with an asterisk. The asterisk led to a small note at the bottom of the paper: ‘Dangerous; Coyote Ambush.’

  All that was left to fill in now was the location of his graveyard. With an attempt at a cartoony headstone, the first section of Buck’s map was complete. He gazed upon his work of art with more than a little pride. He estimated he’d covered somewhere between three to five kilometers on the southern bank, proving how much this area had expanded. Before the integration, it had been around four kilometers to get from his hometown to the trailhead for the Middle Fork Falls. If he had traveled four kilometers, he should’ve exited the forest or at least run into several buildings. But this world didn’t play by the old rules.

  To Buck's surprise, a familiar fanfare filled his mind.

  [Congratulations, Your Cartography Skill has Increased to 1]

  [Cartography] (Common - Exploration)

  Level 1

  Like Christopher Colombus before you, you have bravely set out to conquer the new world. And like Christopher Colombus, you found the local population and beat the ever-loving shit out of them with your fists. Don’t worry, though—they’re ‘monsters.’ ‘Beasts’ that couldn't possibly have their own wants and desires. Onwards! To Victory! For the Kingdom!

  Buck shook his head at the description. “Thanks, Bev. Always a pleasure.”

  Looking back down at the map, he was happy to see that, as with the other skills, the level-up had immediately improved his abilities. The mountains needed to be pushed back a bit further; the river didn’t curve quite like that at that juncture, and his placement of the Rasberry Grove was nearly a kilometer too far east. But for now, Buck decided to leave the adjustments for later. He folded up the map and turned to his new friend.

  “Well, Mr. Seeker,” Buck said to his Minion as the eyeballs seemed to perk up. “Let's go see what you can do.”