After a bit of time running I felt safe to slow down again.

Walking a little further the trees open up to a much nicer house than the previous farmhouse I had checked.

Exercising extreme caution after the fox incident earlier I carefully look and listen for anything other than me living in my vicinity.

Seeing nothing I am about to walk out into the clearing when I have an idea. My Seeking Empowerment was able to see the crystal in the foxes’ head when it was dead, but it would also presumably be able to see the crystal while it was alive.

Running with this hypothesis with a pinch of salt I activate my Seeking Empowerment and check my surroundings for anything that resembled the crystal I had taken from the foxes’ head, while I saw nothing resembling it I did see my first bug since the TV on the first day of the apocalypse. It was surprisingly regular-sized but its entire body glowed under the effects of Seeking so i figured empowerment affected different lifeforms differently.

With a bit more confidence than before, I walked out into the clearing and up the wooden stairs leading to the house’s front door.

This time the front door was locked so after a half-minute of fighting with the knob I got frustrated and sent a small magic missile right into the keyhole. It turned nice and freely after that.

Opening the door I walked into an elaborately furnished sitting room. Ignoring the paintings and decorations I immediately started searching for the kitchen of the house. As soon as I walked into the kitchen I knew I had hit the jackpot.

The cabinets were all stocked to the brim with foods, everything from boxed pasta to canned beans and veggies. Stuffing my bag with everything I could find only skipping snack foods like potato chips (although I did stuff a few bars of chocolate I found into my bag) I quickly ran into a problem, I didn’t have enough space to fit all the food.

Something tugged at the back of my mind and it only took me a second to figure out what it was. My ability Otherworld Workshop only stated that other people would not be able to enter it. I assumed i would keep anything I entered the area with. That would make it the perfect place to store these supplies.

Deciding I would try the idea I took a seat in one of the nice cushy armchairs in case the grand system decided it would give me another extremely painful ability and clicked on the Otherworld Workshop ability.

Would you like to activate Otherworld Workshop?

YES - NO

Clicking the YES button I was pleased to not experience any eye-gouging pain and was also amazed when a Doctor Strange style portal opened in front of me.

looking through the portal I saw a medium-sized workshop area, it was filled with tools that I had not the slightest idea of what they did. Stepping inside I was happy to see that everything I had on my person came with me.

What most caught my attention was across from me a door stood. Walking towards it I turned the knob and pulled the door open. What met me was not what I expected. It was a blank black wall. Confused I went to close the door when a blue box popped up on the wall.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Expand the Workshop for 10 life-force?

YES - NO

Intrigued and not discouraged by the life-force cost, I pressed YES and another box opened on the wall.

Please choose one of the following options!

Living Quarters

Bathroom

Storage Room

Please level up Otherworld Workshop for more options.

Deciding that it would be best to have a place to put all the food I clicked the storage room option. Quicker than I could react I felt a sucking feeling from my finger and the door slammed shut, confused i opened the door again and was surprised when instead of the black wall I was greeted with a large room filled with racks and even what looked like a walk-in freezer in the back.

Across from me was a similar door as the one I first opened. That was when I understood how the upgrade feature worked on this ability. I would be able to open new rooms for a life-force cost.

Deciding that it would be wise to quickly load up my storage room I walked back through the portal in the workshop area and found myself back in the house.

I started taking back and forth trips between the kitchen and the storage room taking everything I could get my hands on, this time including the potato chips.

I was on my last trip out of the portal when I heard something outside. Quickly deactivating my Otherworld Workshop I activate seeking and am nearly blinded by a whole bunch of crystalline shapes. The noise is clearer now its someone talking.

“Whoever it is has to be over here. My tracking ability leads right to the edge of the clearing”

Another voice replies.

“You're sure its a person? You have only tracked animals before…”

The original voice replies back.

“Yea, the prints were foot-shaped this time. Normally they are shaped like some kind of paw”

A third voice tunes in.

“Guys, stop arguing. I can smell them now.”

Thoroughly creeped out now I slowly and carefully walk up the stairs to the second story of the house. 

A few seconds later someone bangs on the front door frame and calls out.

“Hello! Anyone there?”

Saying nothing I flip open my knife and point my finger down the stairs at the door ready to fire a magic missile if I need too.

The door swings open and a buff man in his late teens sticks his head in.

“Hello?”

He calls out once again.

Still staying quiet I hold on to a brief hope that they may just move on without investigating further.

Directly in opposition of my wish however the man swings the door open further and starts to walk into the sitting room, about three seconds after he opened the door fully he notices me crouched at the top of the stairs.

A bit startled he calls out again.

“Hey there! We heard a boom in this direction and figured we would come check it out.”

I reply back with a tester question to see how honest he would be with me.

“How many other people are with you?”

He replies back 

“I have three other people with me, there outside right now”

Before I could ask any other questions he started talking again.

“Do you need any supplies? Or are you hungry, I notice you don’t have a bag with you.”

Cursing my stupidity I realize I left my bag in the workshop. A person walking around with no supplies in the apocalypse is probably a little suspicious. 

Apparently thinking my face displayed indecision he continued.

“We have plenty of food and water we could share with you.”

Feeling cornered and not wanting to expose that I had a storage ability I considered taking him up on his offer. He didn’t seem openly aggressive and he would probably have some information that could be useful to me.

As if reading my mind he called out.

“We could also swap stories, me and my group have figured out some pretty cool shit.”

Lowering my guard from a critical threat level to a respectable severe I sighed and started down the stairs to take him up on his offer.