I picked a corner of the atrium and waited for the others to gather up. While I waited a miniature hierarchy formed. Me, Amahle, Romulus, and Masquerade took up corners of the room. The rest of the top ten stood in the neighboring room and everyone else walked quickly through. The whole thing felt a bit like being in the VIP room of the club only there were no bouncers. I decided to spend my free points while I waited. All four went into Agility and I felt my muscles loosen. It was hard to piece together just how impactful four points were but every little bit helped.

"So Amari are you planning on staying for this gala?" Keshaun asked. "It is most certainly an attempt to impress you and get you on their side."

"Of course it is. I am a bit curious to see what they do. Are they going to try and threaten me? I don't have family to capture or control so I don't think so. Are they going to offer me something? It should be fun."

"More than a few rulers have been taken out due to lust. Whether desire of women, men, money, everyone wants something."

I chuckled and shrugged. "Never been super interested in either. I can notice a pretty face but I doubt that's what gets me. My guess is it will be ole reliable."

"Why are you so flippant about it?" Romulus asked. The man who had somehow found Roman-themed armor for himself asked as he looked me up and down.

"Why should I be worried? I am not going to just eat whatever they give me and I have little interest in joining anyone at the moment. On top of all that the System likes the bold."

He chuckled and shook his head. "On that last part, we can agree. I still don't see why you wish to attend the gala. It seems like a pointless attempt at peacocking around."

"Says that man who stylized himself after the Roman empire," I said with a chuckle before leaning against the wall. "The question I am really curious about though—"

"Where 'The System's Herald' is?" Amahle interrupted with a smile. "I doubt that they would have invited the rest of us and not them. So why would they choose to miss this event."

I smiled and nodded. "If they aren't here they either are on the lost continent or they are hiding."

"If they can't be bothered to show up why should we bother to care?" Romulus asked while tapping the butt of his spear on the ground. "I am much more interested in how your level is so much higher than ours. In just the last few days you have gone up to level 31."

I smiled playfully. "Well if you eat your vegetables and drink your milk you will grow up big and strong just like me."

Amahle laughed. "Is there a skill at level 30?"

"No, or at least I didn't get one. If you don't mind telling me I would love to know the rarity of your classes. Since everyone is in a sharing mood."

Amahle rolled her eyes. "Rare"

Romulus snorted. "Rare as well."

"Mine is also rare," Masquerade added.

"Oh? The masked one speaks? Welcome to the party. My class is Epic by the way."

The trio stared at me as if they would find the answer on my forehead. Their eyes felt like lasers against my skin which only made me smile. "Epic's also the highest rarity you can get."

"How could you possibly know that?" Romulus asked while leaning forward as if the slight change in distance would allow him to hear the answer better.

"I got a title for gaining the highest tier of class possible. I am sure the tutorial workers mentioned rarities so I think there are rarities above Epic. Just those aren't possible at this realm."

"Fascinating. You are a font of information. What is your plan exactly? You won't join the government are you interested in allying with us?" Amahle asked. The intensity of her gaze made it clear that this was the important question.

"I want to rule the planet. No, to be more accurate I want to see the top, be the GOAT, whatever else that means." I flashed her another smile. Surprisingly enough she blushed before looking away.

"And I thought that I had a god complex. No one else in history has conquered a planet and you think that you will do it? Are the rest of us supposed to sit back and watch?" Romulus added while gripping his spear.

I shrugged. "We have to deal with monsters first after that who knows."

We fell into an uncomfortable silence after that. We all retreated into our parties and stayed like that until a man stepped down a flight of stairs. He wore an all-black suit with tails that made him seem like a relic from olden days. His grey hair and leathery skin didn't help him in that respect. "We will now begin distribution of your purchases. Please follow me. As leaders of humanity you have been given room to go through your items."

I nodded and moved toward the stairs. I noted the older man's aura which was not blood stained. His reminded me more of a pillar of stone. It wasn't strong enough to compare with the rest of ours but it was still interesting. Part of me wanted to ask how he had changed his but now wasn't the time. We were all led down a hallway and then guided into a side room. I decided to enter first just in case there was something amiss. The room itself was rather large. It had a table in the middle and a TV screen hanging from the ceiling. There was another entrance on the other side and a couch to the right. The room's moldings were covered in sigils that crawled along. The complexity of the design told me the room was something the System provided. Either that or the government had more than what it let on.

We had just made ourselves comfortable when James and Mei entered the room. The former still looked like the consummate military man. His gaze lingered on Keshaun for a moment longer than everyone else before he gave me his full focus. "Greetings Mr. Jackson. I had hoped you would allow me a bit of your time."

I smiled and nodded. "Of course, I wouldn't be much of an American if I couldn't be bothered to speak to the former joint chief right?"

He stared at me as if trying to figure out how serious I was before he took a seat. "We have done a bit of background research on you—"

"How?" I paused for a moment as connections formed in my mind. "No way you just happened to have my or any of our information around here. That would be a colossal coincidence but the internet doesn't exist. Phones haven't worked since we got back from the tutorial. Not even for those people who stayed behind. "You have some kind of private network? Got the LAN Cables set up."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

He stared back at me. "We have researched you and aren't entirely sure why you are so strong. We show you as being raised in the Jackson Memorial Orphanage until you turned eighteen. After which you attended the University of Chicago including its Law School. Of which you were a student until the cataclysm began. Would that be correct?"

My smile faltered for a second before I schooled my facial expression. I leaned back and nodded my head. "That's me alright. Now do you mind telling me why you care about all of that."

"Well, we were hoping you could explain that to us. We have no records of you before you arrived at the orphanage. Of course, it's possible that those were lost in whatever the System has done to us. When combined with your meteoric rise we couldn't help but take note."

My joviality faded as I followed the line of questioning to its conclusion. The first part was easy to ignore, the second was interesting but if the third was what I thought then I fucked up. My reaction to the pearl on its own would be nothing but would it be hard to assume there was something odd about me if you took it together with the other two data points? We were told that there were other worlds. I shook my head and did my best to calm my beating heart. It was all just a theory at this point.

"My power came from the tutorial."

"That it did and the few people we have spoken to from your group had an interesting story to tell. They say you refused to cooperate with others after the initial trio of quests. That was a very risky choice. Surely it would have been better to work with others?"

"I think it would be best if you were to explain what it is that you need. Unless the new government is attempting to go back on the sale of our leader's items?" Keshaun placed a hand on my shoulders and bought me a second to relax.

"I was just wondering that myself. I would hate to discover that you all have put on this auction as a way to deceive us."

James stared at the two of us and shook his head. "Of course not." He nodded to Mei who stepped out of the room. Less than a minute later she reentered pushing a cart covered in everything we had got. The daggers were in the place of honor but it was the pearlescent orb that had my attention. Despite trying my best to ignore it I couldn't stop from following it with my gaze. It was like the orb was an impossibly powerful magnet.

"The strange pearl seems to have drawn your eye, Mr. Jackson. Would you like to know more about it?" James said.

I had to resist the urge to punch the man in the face. I closed my eyes and took a steadying breath before giving the man my attention. "If you have something more to share I would love to hear it." I had to work to put a jovial tone in my words. When all I wanted to do was claim my prize.

"The person who found it was a snorkeler who was underwater when the System arrived. Of course, he wasn't a cultivator so he wasn't saved from the ravages of the ocean. He told us how the ocean had changed and a deep abyss appeared beneath him. He could just barely make out monsters of legend in that deep darkness. He had started to return to the surface when he saw an object. It was floating in the water in defiance of the abyssal darkness around him. The pearl called to him and before he realized what he was doing he was fighting through the murky waters for the object."

James continued describing what the man saw with such detail that I was convinced he was trolling me. I didn't think that there were that many ways to describe being in dark water. By the time he finished his story, my will was running low and I was seconds from leaping across the table. If I could just take the pearl I should be able to figure out what the fuck it did. Even if I couldn't I would still have the thing.

"Would you like to know where the beach is Mr. Jackson?" James' voice broke through my thoughts and from the awkward weight in the air he had asked the question at least once before.

"You know that I do. So why don't we stop the bullshit and get to what it is you want?" I lost control over my aura for less than a second. That second was enough to force everyone in the room back a step. My killing intent was almost tangible and the room turned into a battlefield that could rival any war in Earth's history. Even the former Chief paled. I took a breath and sealed it inside me but I could tell that my control was fraying. It didn't help that a familiar mental caress had returned. It was working along with my irritation to drive me forward. To his credit, James returned to his seat and continued talking.

"As I was saying we are prepared to offer you an escort to the beach in exchange for your assistance."

"No, I won't join you," I said plainly and circulated my energy. I didn't want to kill anyone here but if they weren't going to give—"

"We aren't asking you to. Not yet anyway. No, we want you to investigate something. We are preparing an expedition to the lost continent and we want you to join it. We have already sent two ships to its shores and neither has returned. We are presenting similar offers to the rest of the 100 we can reach."

I froze for a moment before chuckling. "You should have just led with that. I have no problem going but I am sure you all have noticed the monsters are growing in power. I won't guarantee your people's safety."

"We don't expect promises. We expect you to put a serious effort into securing a path to the continent."

"And what about after that? Natural treasures are sure to be plentiful." I tried to focus on our conversation but the initial surprise had worn off and the siren call of the pearl began again.

"Anything you find is yours. You are also free to establish a foot on the continent if you like as long as you don't destroy or kill our people to do so."

"Fine, fine anything else?"

James shook his head and got to his feet. "I look forward to speaking with you at the Gala Mr. Jackson. Please enjoy your new treasures." With that, he turned and left the room along with Mei. I waited another minute after they were gone before I got to my feet and grabbed my prize. As soon as I touched the pearl my soul throbbed with desire. I had to resist the urge to just try and swallow the damn thing. I sent a thread of energy into it and instead of it disappearing inside, the pearl pushed back. The purest energy I had ever experienced flowed into my hand. It felt like liquid fire was passing through my body and into the core of my being. I endured for less than thirty seconds before I gasped and dropped to one knee. I fought like a man drowning to break the connection before it completely consumed me. The pearl fought back even harder and for a moment that felt like an eternity, we were trapped. The stalemate shattered along with the link as the pearl fell to the floor.

"Are you alright?" Keshaun's voice was the first thing to break through my delirious haze.

I got to my feet and braced against the wall. "Y-yeah it's not a pearl." My words were slurred like I had been drinking all day. I cast my inner eye over my body but there was nothing wrong. Instead, it was my soul that nearly invisible part of myself that throbbed. Part of me wanted more but the dull sense of danger brushing at the edge of my mind told me I couldn't take it. My soul would shatter if I forced it. "It's soul energy." Keshaun knelt and picked the orb up. I watched him for a moment and part of me wanted to rip it from his hands. Thankfully that part was more like a satiated beast who wanted nothing more than it wanted sleep.

"I don't feel anything, it's just a pretty pearl." He said while placing it back onto the cart.

"Let me see," Aaliyah said before picking it up. Her face shifted from a grimace to irritation as she returned it to the cart. "It wouldn't take my spiritual energy so I guess it's something specific to you?"

I shrugged and slowly picked it up. Instead of trying to take more of its energy, I placed it into my bag. It was another mystery I would need to look into. "You can take the daggers." I put the rest of the items away, everything except for the stalks. Those were already collected by Azariah. "I will buy some of those from you when we get back. I would like you to box them up and give them to Desbera. The rest you can sell as you want though don't pressure my people too much."

She gave me a smile that did nothing to reassure me. "Of course, I will do what I can to help your people grow."

"Are you going to tell us anything about what just happened?" Aaliyah said with crossed arms. "Especially about where that pearl came from?"

I shrugged. "There isn't much to say. Right now everything he mentioned is a coincidence. I really am an orphan and I really did go at it alone. The titles I got in the tutorial and right after it ended are responsible for the majority of my power. I don't know anything about the ocean though and it sounds like there might be monsters down there. As much fun as exploring the depths of our planet sounds I am not super confident at fighting a kraken underwater."

She stared at me for several seconds but whatever she wanted to say or do was lost with a knock on the door. A second later the door opened and Desbera, Christopher, and the rest of our guards entered. They took one look around the room and stared at us.

"What the fuck happened in here?"