I wake up to the sound of soft snoring, and looking to my left, I find James asleep in a chair next to my bed. Actually, it’s not my bed. I’m not quite sure where I am, but there’s very modern-looking furniture contrasting with Catholic artwork hung from the walls. I sit up in the bed and feel my body protesting as I’m still kind of sore from the boss fight. I quickly check my stats to see how I’m doing.

[Michael Ward

HP - 6734/8657

Titan - Level 43

Strength - 400

Dexterity - 40

Defense - 192

Intelligence - 17

Vigor - 199

Charisma - 58

Skills -

[Passive] Overwhelm II - Further increase your Strength stat based on physical muscle size. Increase height by 9” and muscle growth by 17.5%.

[Passive] Might I - Two-handed weapons can be wielded one-handed if strength requirements are exceeded by 50% or more, and ordinary objects can be used as weapons, receiving stats based on their material and shape.

[Active] Shatter II - Hitting a creature while this skill is active deals extra damage equal to 1.1x your Strength stat. 20 minute cooldown. Ready

[Passive] Basic regeneration II - Restore 3 HP per level, per hour.

[Passive] ??? - Prerequisites not met

Mutations - N/A

Available stat points - 140

Party - The Misfits

Conditions -

Teamwork - Share all Exp. based on combat participation. (Minimum 8.3%) Receive bonus Exp. from combat while your full party is in a dungeon.]

I sigh for a moment, realizing that I’ve grown an additional three inches. Three more inches, and I’ll hit seven feet tall. If I keep growing like this, I’m going to have to move before long. I also check my recent notifications, since there’s a lot of them. I ignore the twelve Level-up notifications and notification of slaying the boss, since I already knew that, and look at the others.

One hundred and ten hours ago I got a skill upgrade on [Shatter] and a notification that since I was no longer in a combat zone I was able to get a mutation that I unlocked at Level 25. Around twenty-five hours ago, I got a notification that Basic Regeneration had gotten a skill upgrade as well. I begin to wonder why Carlos hasn’t healed me when some hammering noise starts in the background and James begins to wake. I say, “Rise and shine, buddy; we don’t pay you to sleep. Care to explain where we are?”

James shakes his head to help wake himself up and says, “Mike! It’s been four days; we were starting to worry that you might not wake up!”

“Yeah, I realized that from my notifications. I hadn’t realized they would be time stamped if I didn’t check them immediately, but I’m alive and somewhat well, and you didn’t answer my question. Where are we?” I repeat.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“We’re at Maria’s house; apparently, being a metallurgist paid pretty decently before the collapse, so she’s got a nice little mini-mansion she bought with her husband before the market exploded. We moved you here since it was the closest place to The Haul. You’ve been asleep ever since,” James answers.

“I guess that explains the hammering. You’re telling me I slept through that for four days? That’s got to be some kind of record,” I say, then remembering Carlos was also injured in the battle, follow it with, “Oh shit, how is Carlos?”

“He’s alright, but the ability he used to save your ass takes it out of him. I don’t really feel super comfortable discussing other people's abilities without their permission, but I’m pretty sure he’d tell you if you asked,” James says.

I nod in understanding, as I’ve had a few experiences in the past couple of days that I feel like I wouldn’t necessarily want people sharing with others either. James continues, “Needless to say, the whole party is going to be out of commission for a bit until we get Carlos back on his feet. It’s kind of dangerous going into dungeons without our healer, and even if we did, we’d be leaving him behind us, and that’s not cool or smart since we need him to be on the same playing field as us.

“Also, the team talked it through and decided you deserved this for what you did out there, saving Carlos’ life.” James reaches into the bag I’d seen Carlos wearing for all of the fights and pulls out the warhammer that the boss had used to crush me into the ground. “Do what you want with it; it’s got a 450 strength requirement, so it’ll probably be a while before you can use it, so feel free to sell it or hang onto it. Carlos probably wouldn’t want me telling you this, but he was the one who pushed the hardest for it to go to you. He really appreciated what you did for him, putting your life on the line like that,” James finishes as he hands the warhammer to me.

I’d really like to say I handle it with grace, but it looks like it’s only slightly easier for me to handle it than it is for James. It’s oversized and unwieldy, so I’m not sure how much fifty more Strength is going to help. It registers to my system as [Orc King’s Crusher], but I can’t see any more due to [450 Strength required for use] taking up the spot where I’d normally be able to see the effects it has.

“Yeah, I’ll probably sell it if I’m being honest with you. I already have 400 Strength and I don’t feel like I’m anywhere near being able to handle this,” I say.

“Holy shit, Mike. No wonder you did a number to that boss. Also, all weapons feel awkward and unusable while you don’t meet the necessary requirements. Just give it another couple of days, and you’ll be using it just fine with as fast as your Strength is climbing,” James says with a little bit of shock.

“I feel like I’m learning more every moment since I’ve been in my first dungeon. There’s so much to it, and I’m so far behind.” I complain more to myself than to James.

“Hah, imagine having to learn it all as you go. You’re playing on easy mode in comparison. Anyway, let’s go get you some food. I can hear your stomach growling from here,” James laughs back. I’ve been trying to ignore it, but he’s right. Four days without food will do a number on someone, and I feel like I need to eat like I never have before.

“Hopefully Maria keeps a stocked pantry; otherwise, I’m worried I’ll eat her out of house and home,” I say in response.

-

“I don’t understand or even care how you managed to get a refrigerator to work, but I just want you to know that I will be buying your services as soon as I can, Maria. This is the first time I’ve had a cold glass of water in months, and I’m tempted to bow down before you,” I say between gulps of water and bites of eggs.

“No talking with your mouth full at my table!” she responds, threatening me with a spatula, “but thank you for the praise. It took a while to figure out the right level and spacing of Frost Runes and a truck full of fridges to figure out, and then there was the exact properties of the metal the Runes were interacting-” I stare at her with a blank expression for a few seconds before she sighs and says, “You’re welcome,” throws her hands up, and walks away with an exasperated, “No one appreciates fine art!”

Carlos walks in at that, saying, “Good to see you’re up, Mike. We thought for a bit there that you might not make it without me being able to heal you. Is she going on about runes again? No matter how many times we tell her that we don’t understand and can’t even use Runes, she keeps on trying to convince us to learn ‘em. ‘This Rune enhances durability, and you can distinguish it from—'hey!" he cuts off his Maria impression and laughs, dodging the spatula Maria throws at him.

“One of these days you’re going to see a Rune on an enemy weapon and not know what it is, and then you’re going to be fried to a crisp, and I don’t want you to come crying to me when that happens! I’m just going to say I told you so,” she responds to his joke.

I smile as the groups interactions continue. It seems like they’ve really bonded in the time since the collapse, and I feel a pang of jealousy hit me as I try not to think about the last three months. Abe and Robin come in at that point, and Abe says with a slight song in his voice, “I smell eeEEggs; you didn’t cook them in the same pan as the bacon, did you?” as he takes the seat next to Carlos across from me.

“Of course not; I know it’s haram. You have nothing to worry about,” Maria answers, sliding another plate of eggs onto the table.

“You rock for real, short-stack,” Abe says.

As he bows his head silently. Robin smiles at me and signs, “Good morning. S-L-E-E-P-?”

I show her the sign for sleep and both sign and say back, “I slept well, thank you!” Then, turning to the group, I ask, “So now that you’re all in one place and we have a bit of down time, can I ask how you guys all met?”