Caitlyn walked up to Amelia as she put her hand on one of the soldiers who had become a little careless. He’d been bitten by one of the larger beetles,

“Is he going to make it?” Caitlyn Asked.

Amelia finished her incantation, and visible energy flowed from her hands into the soldier's legs before she responded, “He’ll be fine as long as he remembers to keep an eye on the beetles in front of him.”

Caitlyn smiled, “We’re in the home stretch now—only 10 minutes until the 24-hour spawn cycle ends.”

“Any word from my brother?” Amelia asked.

“The spotters on the roof of the hangar swear that someone is off to the northwest, moving up and down the street. There are a lot of trees between us, though.”

“And the flashes that way they keep talking about?”

“No idea,” Caitlynn admitted.

“Why didn’t you fly over and check it out?” Amelia asked.

“I was going to; then these dog-sized, fierce-looking pigeon things saw me and started chasing me. Raz, our sniper, was able to take the three that were chasing me out, but an invisible wind-type attack hit me. Somehow they made the wind sharp. I couldn’t see the attacks to dodge them. When I briefed Felix, he made the call to stay put until their spawning stopped, so I’ve been helping around the hangar and taking shifts just like everyone else. You are healing people now, though; how’d that come about?”

Amelia looked at Caitlyn and smiled. “I am now the first Priestess of Keres on Earth,” she said proudly.

“Really, I didn’t notice; wait, let me check something,” Caitlyn said as she focused her gaze on Amelia. A moment later, Cailyn’s gaze focused, “You’ve reached Conviction level 4 already?”

Amelia laughed. You're already up to Conviction level 12. You know that you’re getting 10 Conviction per level for every beetle you kill. While I killed a couple of beetles to be able to get my first class, most of my actions have been centered around healing others.”

Caitlyn fidgeted a bit before she made up her mind, “I’ve been meaning to ask, how does someone become a Priest for the Goddess of Violent Death? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I am now one of her Celestial servants, whatever that means. But how can you be a healer when our Goddesses whole schtick seems to revolve around Violent Deaths?”

Amelia smiled as a laugh escaped her lips, “The purpose of Priests of Keres is simple by definition. We are to ensure that all subjects and sacrifices are at full health before they go into battle or are sacrificed.”

“That’s kind of dark,” Caitlyn said thoughtfully, “But it does kind of make sense and allows for our Goddess to have healers and priests. I guess that’s kind of cool. What level have you made it to so far?”

Amelia smiled, “I’ve made it to level 10. I have the Commune spell you do, a Minor Healing spell, and now I have a Minor Antigen spell that reduces the effects of being poisoned. “

“How powerful is your minor healing spell?” Caitlyn asked.

“Not bad,” Amelia said with a genuine smile, “For ten mana, I can heal five hit points plus one hit point per spell level.”

“You’ve been a Priest for the last 10 hours. Haven’t you been healing pretty much the whole time nonstop? What level is your spell?”

“Well, I only have a mana pool of about 203. With a Mana regeneration of 12 per minute, I can cast Minor Healing once each minute and an extra time every 5 minutes without worrying about running my mana dry. I’ve cast the spell almost 600 times. A few less, actually. Even so, I’ve been able to reach spell level 6.

“Is that good?” Caitlyn asked.

“At level six, I can heal 11 hit points every time I use it. Seeing as most people that haven’t leveled only have between one and six hit points, that’s plenty to help the survivors and low-level people who are having issues finding something to do if they’re not participating in the defense, which, honestly, most are. Most of my healing is done on those trying new skills when a beetle makes it through their defenses. Or, they’re trying a new weapon, new attack type, or just trying to do too much, which leaves them open to attacks from the beetles,” Amelia said with a shrug.

“Sounds like they’re keeping you busy then,” Caitlyn mused out loud.

“Speaking of keeping busy, do you think my brother is okay?”

“Anton? Anton’s fine. You know he can’t die, right?”

“What?” Amelia said, shocked, “I thought he just had some magic or something.”

“Actually, it is kind of the reverse with him. If he hasn’t told you, then I’ll let him decide how much more he wants to tell you, but you should know, I’ve seen him die, or at least been hit by something that should have killed him, and he reappears in under a minute, good as new, so don’t you worry about Anton,” Caitlyn said as she patted Amelia on the shoulder.

“Okay, I guess. It looks like I need to be on the other side of the building again. Where do we meet up when the beetles stop spawning?” Amelia asked.

“When you’re done healing and saving those you can, I’ll be up on the second floor in the office with Felix. Head on up. If what Anton is fighting is on the same timer, we figure he will be back at that time as well.”

“Sounds good. See you in a few,” Amelia said as she hurried toward someone who looked to be in a lot of pain.

Caitlyn watched as Amelia healed one guy who looked to have almost lost a leg. As soon as Amelia was in front of him she healed him three times before Caitlyn felt Amelia draw on her Conviction. Amelia’s hands and head glowed in an off-silver light. It was like she was surrounded by negative moonlight, but her features could still be seen. The glow intensified for a moment before the Sigil of Keres appeared above her head and flashed into the leg. There was a loud crack, followed by a grunt as the man went limp.

Amelia quickly checked her patient and then placed him in a more comfortable position as her sigil and glowing hands and head faded. Caitlyn was sure she’d spent some of her conviction to call down healing that she couldn’t do. She hadn’t known that Conviction could be used that way. Of course, it could be a Priest's specific thing. She’d have to ask when she had time.

Caitlyn smiled and turned away from the scene. It was time to make a report to Felix.

***

Seventeen hours and fifty-five minutes Anton was still fighting these Salamander-type monsters. He was not too tired yet, but, man, this day was dragging. At the start there had been a lot of monsters running around. It had taken a little while to make their number manageable. He had to use Spectral Scream and a few bursts from his P90s to clear out the monsters to a point where he could keep them confined to the general area of the Fire Node. Now, the area around the Fire Node was just a patch of burnt dirt about one thousand feet in diameter.

Still, he had gained four more levels and 17,700 Silver. Also, he’d made more money than he’d have to spend credits to replace which was a good thing. Finally, after seeing Caitlyn use Sigil, he’d kept his own sigil active and earned himself 86,438 Conviction. Other than summoning Sigils, he had not really thought about how to utilize conviction yet. When he made it back to the Hanger he’d have to ask Caitlyn what else conviction could be used for.

First, though, he had to make sure no more monsters were going to spawn from the Fire Node. A moment later, a tooltip screen appeared in the air directly above the hole that led to the Fire Node.

Elemental Node Periodic Stabilization Event has Concluded.

The next Scheduled event will begin in

143 Hours, 59 Minutes, and 59 seconds

Anton waited a few minutes to make sure no more monsters came up out of the hole and allowed his resources to replenish. When he felt like he’d waited long enough he knew he needed to check the Universal Gate. Anton activated Specter, quickly checked the whole to make sure it was empty, and then moved through the air to hover about one hundred feet above the Universal Gate. He looked south to the hangar where Felix and his people were and noticed that it still appeared to be intact.

As for the Universal Gate below him, it looked like it had activated as the vertical stone now had two panes of energy hovering just above the vertical surface. Anton moved to get a better look at one side and noted that it was filled with darkness, and stars appeared to be fading into the distance. He moved to look on the opposite side. It was also filled with darkness, but the stars were moving toward him.

Nothing had appeared in the area yet. Knowing that he needed to share the information about the Gate with someone, Anton headed to the hangar. A quick check of the building and perimeter allowed him to verify that the beetles around the building were gone. Anton ghosted through the hangar onto the second floor where Felix, Caitlyn, and now Amelia sat talking. Anton moved over to the door and deactivated Specter.

Caitlyn reacted instantly as she had her back to a wall and could see both the door he was in front of and the one on the opposite side of the room. She drew her gun, aimed, and Froze, “Anton! You bastard!”

Anton smiled, “Looks like you’ve been busy improving over the last 18 hours, Caitlyn. That was fast. Not fast enough to keep up with me, but fast.”

“Well, I was able to improve the rarity of my soldier class to Rare, which increased my attributes per level.

“Wait, how did you do that?” Amelia asked as Felix looked at Caitlyn, clearly indicating that he was extremely interested in the answer as well.

Caitlyn shrugged, “I spent some of the Conviction I earned to improve the rarity of my Soldier class. To increase my class rarity from Basic to Scarce cost, 10,000 Conviction. To increase the rarity by one more level to Rare rarity was another 20,000 Convictions.”

“Was that a temporary use, like Sigil, or did you have to sacrifice the Conviction points permanently?” Amelia asked.

“It was a temporary use, like Sigil. Also, It costs more to level a class higher that Rare Rarity,” Caitlyn explained.

“Did you keep your level when you did the switch, or did you lose a few levels during the increase?” Anton asked.

“I lost some levels,” Caitlyn admitted, “I had earned level 28 when I improved the rarity of my class. Currently, I’m level 16. As you know, though, you get more attributes, hit points, stamina, and mana with higher Rarity classes, so I saw a net gain of about ten points in each attribute. I’m 12 levels lower than I was, and I’m more powerful, “Caitlyn said excitedly, “I think the cost was worth the cost in Conviction.”

“How long will it take you to get the conviction you spent back?” Amelia asked.

“Well, as you know, we automatically earn ten Conviction per level of conviction we have per day. I’m level eight, so I’m earning a minimum of 80 conviction each day. During one of my breaks, I figured that it would be at least 400 days before my conviction has fully returned to me,” Caitlyn explained.

“But you can still earn more conviction on top of the temporary conviction that is returning to you each day,” Felix asked.

Amelia nodded, “Yeah. I asked the Goddess about that, and she said to think of Conviction as the Goddess's Investment in you or your investment in her. The SYSTEM has created a point system that allows the Gods and Goddesses to directly influence their followers and other mortals through the followers using Conviction. Certain tasks tie up some of those points for a while, but eventually, you will get them added back to your usable, or available, conviction. Sigil is a great example. For 10 points, you can create a Sigil above your head that will let everyone know which God’s servants are on the battlefield.”

“I get it,” Anton said as he interrupted Amelia; a more pertinent question, Caitlyn: can you increase the rarity of your class above Rare?”

“Yes and No,” Caitlyn said, “I can petition the Goddess to increase my class to the next rarity, which will require 30,000 Conviction from myself and also 30,000 divinity from the Goddess. I was told there are other ways to increase the rarity of all classes, but I would need to find those out for myself or spend Conviction to learn the specifics of that question. Additionally, the Goddess told me that I would need to complete a quest first.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“So, anyone with a God can increase their class up to Rare with a little effort, but going further requires some serious commitment from the individual and the god?” Felix asked.

“Well, you can also use conviction to change classes or add a second class, but again, the Goddess said this could be accomplished without spending Conviction, “Caitlyn said.

“Did she indicate how?” Anton asked.

“I did ask, but she said that some things were meant for the worthy to discover,” Caitlyn said.

“Okay. Well, I have other news. There were a total of four nodes. One for each element: Earth, Air, Water, and Fire. I spent the last eighteen hours keeping the fire node from wiping out the people over in the city of Dover.”

“You took on waves of fire-based creatures by yourself,” Amelia asked.

“Don’t worry about it, I was fine. Anyway, that’s not what I needed to talk to you all about. Directly north of the Earth Node, just past the grouping of buildings, you can see a Universal Gate on the other side of a small grouping of trees. It became active when the Elemental Node Periodic Stabilization Event ended.

“Universal Gate?” Felix asked.

“Yeah, a gate that connects this Universe to another Universe. The SYSTEM has designated this Universe as Universe 13. The connected Universe is number 7.”

“There’s a portal to another Universe north of here?” Caitlynn asked.

“Yeah. Also, there were large pigeon-like monsters north of here that looked like they had air-based attacks, and some monsters made their way east into the inlet. I did not see what happened to those two sets of monsters, but I didn’t see anyone attacking either set. The Zerenders, though. I took care of them,” Anton explained.

“I ran into the pigeon-like creatures; they’re going to be a pain in the ass. So, we still have monsters relatively nearby?” Caitlynn asked.

“Yeah, but they seemed to be staying away from the Universal Gate. When I was checking things out, none of the flying monsters came within one thousand feet of the Gate.”

“Okay, I’ll get some people over there to keep an eye on the area…”

Caitlyn was cut off as a female airmen rushed up the stairs, “Commander Sheppard! Commander Sheppard!

“Isabel, what is it?” Caitlyn asked.

“Sergent Perkins decided to investigate the whole in the runway, and he vanished!”

“What? Show me,” Caitlyn said as she stood and followed Isabel downstairs and out of the south side of the Hanger onto the runway. Anton, Amelia, and Felix stood and followed her out. As they came up to the hole in the ground, four men looked into it while another four stood a little farther away from it and scanned the surrounding area for threats.

“So, what happened,” Caitlyn asked.

“Seargent Perkins decided that he wanted to be the first to explore the Earth Node and maybe recover it for himself,” Isabel said as she pointed at an earthen ramp that led deeper into the hole.

“Let me check it out first,” Anton said as he walked over to the ramp and began walking down. At the bottom of the ramp, he found himself in a circular chamber, the Earth node sitting upon a natural stone pedestal beneath it. At his feet, he noticed scuffs in the ground that came to an end ten feet in front of him. In fact, the floor directly around the Earth Node was utterly devoid of any indication that anyone had been in this chamber.

“What do you see?” Caitlyn called down.

“It looks like Perkins made it this far but then disappeared. One second,” Anton stepped up to where the scuffs in the ground stopped. As he reached out with his right hand, a neon pink stream of energy reached up out of the ground and surrounded him, as notifications filled his vision.

WARNING!!!

You have attempted to approach a Regenerating Earth Node

Arcane Shield Present

SYSTEM Enforced Defense Activated.

Damage 100,000 Magical

Error: Target is not affected by magic damage.

Anton grinned as he stepped out of the energy field that enveloped him. Once he’d moved one foot forward, the cocoon of neon pink energy vanished as quickly as it appeared.

Anton yelled out, “Don’t come down here; there’s some defensive mechanism in play. I’m pretty sure Perkins won’t be coming back.”

“What makes you say that?” Caitlyn called down.

“The fact that the flash you just saw was supposed to do one hundred thousand points of damage to me,” Anton called out.

Anton's Perception was 462, which allowed him to easily hear Felix mutter, “Damn,” which was followed closely by Caitlyn muttering, “Yeah, Perkins is dead; that much damage would vaporize anyone except Anton.”

There was a pause for a moment before Caitlyn called down, “You’re okay though, right?”

“I’m fine,” Anton called back, “Just give me a second, and I’ll head back up.”

“Okay,” Caitlyn called back.

Anton proceeded forward to the only stone pedestal in the room. On top sat an amber gem inside what looked like an orb of energy that surrounded a it. Anton realized that when he’d touched the node before with Spectral Reach, he’d never actually touched anything. The SYSTEM had just informed him of what the object was. Anton focused on the Pedestal and then the Gem as he activated Identify to look at both.

Congratulations!

You have discovered an Elemental Earth Ley Line Nexus.

Rarity: Rare

Elemental Earth Ley Line Nexus are locations where specific leyline are anchored to the Physical World. The location distributes mana of the variety present into the surrounding environment at a steady rate and acts as a stabilizing mechanism on a planetary scale.

Congratulations!

You have discovered an Earth Node Gem.

An Earth Node Gem is an Artifact that allows the mana from a specific leyline to be absorbed and funneled into a magically powered device or artifact. Earth Node Gems can contain an enormous amount of energy. The SYSTEM has deemed that such artifacts must be provided with a minimum amount of protection in low-level areas.

Two levels of protection have been deemed necessary for this location

Spawned monsters appropriate to Earth Element

Destructive Shell

Energy from this Elemental Earth Ley Line Nexus is absorbed by the Earth Node and utilized to power the Universal Gate. Removal of the Earth Node Gem could destabilize the Universal Gate’s connection if active and is NOT recommended.

The information provided this time was different. Then again, he didn’t use Identity last time. Anton considered whether he should leave well enough alone but he had no idea what was going to come through that portal. Besides acquiring the Earth Node Gem had to be a good thing, right?

Anton reached out and tried to touch the energy ribbon that surrounded the gem. As his hand moved toward the ribbon of energy, it split and moved away from his hand. The ribbon of energy did not want to touch him at all. Anton continued to move his right hand forward until he wrapped his fingers around the Earth Gem.

Would you like to Remove the Minor Artifact, Earth Node Gem, from its SYSTEM Designated location? Yes or No?

SYSTEM Designated location? What the hell was that? Anton chose “Yes,” and an audible click occurred. The fluorescent pink barrier flashed and then disappeared as the Gem pushed his hand up off the pedestal. Anton grasped the

Gem as the ribbon of energy coming up from the pedestal receded into it and disappeared.

WARNING!

Earth Node has been deactivated.

Universal Gate stability reduced by 25%.

A moment later, Anton felt a tremor coming from the north and moving to the south like a minor earthquake. Anton activated Specter. He’d planned to float up through the ground but found himself blinded by a bright, pearlescent light coming from his hand. The gem in his hand was brighter than anything he’d come across before. The only thing that was shown as illumination when he was in this dimension was soul energy. Did that mean the gem he was holding a soul in it?

Regardless, the gem’s brilliance overpowered his vision in this dimension, so Anton stored it in his Personal Storage. The change was instant, and it took a moment for Anton to be able to see normally again as his eyes adjusted. He tried blinking a few times to help as he willed himself to float up through the ceiling of the chamber until he was on the runway above the chamber.

He moved over until he was beside Caitlyn. She peered down into the hole, looking for him, and deactivated Specter.

“Anton!” Caitlyn and Amelia both called down into the hole.

“Yeah,” Anton replied at a normal level.

Caitlyn swung at him before she even knew what she was doing and connected with his chest. There was a loud “THUNK” as he took 21 points of damage, only 17 after his Physical Damage Resistance kicked in

“Sorry, Sorry!” Caitlyn called out in shock as she looked at what she’d done.

“You know, if you would have hit anyone that didn’t have a few levels on them, you probably would have killed them, right? You’re getting strong,” Anton pointed out.

“Good thing you can’t die then. Also, you are an asshole!”

Anton laughed, “Guilty as charged.”

“Do you need some healing?” Amelia asked.

“Nah, I’ll be fine in 20 seconds or so,” Anton said as someone the hangar came running over.

“Commander Sheppard! Commander Sheppard!”

“What is it?” Caitlyn called to the man running their way.

“Our scouts say something weird is happening about a mile north of here!”

“At the Universal Gate?” Anton asked.

“I’m not sure what that is…” the soldier started to say when Caitlyn cut him off.

“We’ll check it out,” Caitlyn said as she leaped up, and her wings appeared as she headed north.

Anton looked to Amelia, “Get back to the hangar; prepare to defend it; I’m going after Caitlyn,” Anton said as he activated Specter and launched after Caitylyn. As he drew up beside her, he activated Manifest so she would know where he was.

Anton noticed immediately that she wasn’t very fast in this form, so it would take a few minutes to get there. As they drew closer, Anton activated the skill Eagle Eyes, which he hadn’t used in a while, to see what he could see. It was only level 12, so his vision was only 120% better than normal.

As they left the Air Force Base, Anton noticed immediately what the issue was. The dais and flat marble slab had both increased in size. The dais was now at least 100 feet in diameter, and the vertical slab of stone was at least 50 feet high and 30 feet wide.

As for why the portal and platform have grown so much, Well, it was pretty obvious when someone who looked like a plate-armored giant knight who was about 35 feet tall and carried a two-handed sword that was as long as he was tall stepped through the portal and looked around. Additionally, this knight didn’t give Anton the shiny good feeling of a good knight. No, this knight wore black armor with blood-red highlights in various claw-like patterns that gave it a sinister look.

What convinced him that this giant didn’t want to play nice was the sigil that appeared to be floating above him. As Anton looked at it he activated Analyze.

Divine Sigil

God: Tartarus

Domain: Torture and Destruction.

Divine Sigils declare to everyone who sees them that the actions of the individual they look upon serve Patron of the Sigil.

Anton looked over at Caitlyn, who seemed to have frozen up as the Giant-Sized Knight came into view. He could imagine what she would be saying right now if he could hear her. Instead, he pointed to the ground below them and moved. Caitlyn altered course and followed him to the ground, where he deactivated Manifest and Specter

“Is that a fucking giant?” Caitlyn asked.

“It is. Here,” Anton said as he started drawing all of the 50 caliber sniper rifles and any extra guns he had, as well as a lot of ammunition from his inventory, and placing it on the ground. In front of him, “Grab all of this and get everyone into a defensive position at the hangar. If I fail, I’ll meet you back there if I can.

“You fail?” Caitlyn asked disbelievingly as she touched the equipment he’d put down and began pulling the items into her Personal Storage.

“That’s a giant. I don’t know how much damage I’ll have to do to kill it, and I’m pretty sure…

Another giant dressed much like the first one stepped through the portal.

“You were going to say you weren’t sure he was alone, weren’t you?” Caitlyn asked.

Anton nodded.

After Caitlyn finished picking up the equipment, she took to the air and turned to fly toward the hangar. The first giant pulled a a crossbow the size of a motorcycle from his storage, aimed at Caitlyn, and pulled the trigger.

Anton was fast. He had two full seconds to try to deflect the quarrel, which he did with Telekinesis. He failed. Either the quarrel, which was actually a fletched spear, was moving too fast, or it was too heavy, or both. Luckily, Caitlyn looked over her shoulder, saw the danger, and dodged it partially.

Instead of piercing her back and possibly taking out her heart, the spear entered her back on the left side and exited just below her left breast. It was not a minor wound. The force of the blow caused Caitlyn to tumble out of the air and hit the ground behind a small building, which placed her out of sight of Anton and the giants.

Anton was pretty sure Caitlyn had survived that blow and was relieved when his perception picked up Caitlyn calling out, “I’ll Live.”

Anton’s gaze turned and fell on the first giant. As their eyes met, the second giant pulled a crossbow and fired it at him. While his telekinesis hadn’t been powerful enough to do anything about the first quarrel, and he couldn’t physically intervene because Caitlynn had been almost 100 feet off the ground, A quarrel or spear thrown at him was another matter altogether.

Anton activated his Sigil of Keres as his high perception, agility, and strength allowed him to sidestep the quarrel, pluck it out of the air, redirect its momentum, and add even more strength to the attack as he sent it back toward the giant that had shot it. Ultimately, it was a spear throw from someone who wanted to put that spear through the eye holes in his target’s plate-armored helmet. Someone who had an effective luck attribute of 3,786.

A moment later, the quarrel pierced the helmet, his target's eye, and exited the back of the helmet. Anton had thrown the giant quarrel with such force that it had exited the helmet even as it splintered. Parts of the Quarrel, skull, brains, and blood flew through the portal behind the giant. The angel was bad because he was shorter than the giant so anyone behind the giant would probably be spared any of the significant detritus his attack had created.

The first giant looked at his companion, stunned, as he toppled like a tree that had just been cut down. In that moment, Anton checked his Combat Log to gauge how powerful these giants were.

Combat Log Start

Quarrel caught.

Giant quarrel thrown at target.

Called Shot: Target’s left eye

Target Hit!

Base Damage: 10

Bonus Damage: 224

Critical Strike Multiplier: 3

Total Damage: 702

Hit Points remaining: -158 of 544

Target has died.

Anton took his attention away from his Combat Log and looked at the first giant as he looked back at him. Anton smiled. These giants weren’t weak, but they weren’t all-powerful either. This could be fun.

As thoughts ran through his mind another giant stepped through the portal. The first giant ignored the newcomer, stored the giant crossbow, and raised his two-handed sword above his head as bellowed in Common, “In the Name of Tartarus, All will die this day!”

In a louder voice that shook the air and was heard by everyone within a mile, Anton called back, “You’ve got that right Asshole!”