As two interstates merged, the road suddenly went from completely barren to slightly crowded; mostly with people leaving the small town, however, rather than those like himself coming in.

The first exit outside Fort Tazewell was mostly just an RV park; which appeared to currently be on fire, with at least a dozen cop cars there. Marcus considered stopping to find out what was going on… but he was hungry, and hoped he could get both a bit of info as well as a meal here in town; but… should he stop by the police station, first?

Looking down at the steering wheel of the car he was driving, he came to a decision… there might be someone else this Nathan was planning to give a ride after work, or god knew what sort of situation. The cops should be able to track down Nathan’s family, get that sorted out.

The cops would be the perfect people to talk to about that.

He nodded to himself… and pulled off, heading towards the RV park… and came to a stop not far away from it. There were gunshots; screams; even the sound of explosions.

He started to re-think being there… only to realize… they might need help. That legendary revolver of his might be able to make a difference in killing some monster, though god knew how one could get strong enough to be dangerous in only a few hours.

He parked the car, and headed towards the line of police cars blocking off the park; there was a crowd, right by the entrance. An older woman was yelling at the officer, wearing a bathrobe over an ancient nightie and waving a cane.

“This is my home! I live here! You can’t keep me out of my own home!”

The officer signed. “Look, lady. Until the incident is contained, nobody is going in there. That thing has already killed at least seventeen people.”

Marcus stepped closer, and looked at his uniform for a moment. “Excuse me… Officer White?”

The man glanced at Marcus. “That goes for you too, sir. Its deputy, but its fine.”

“Whatever’s going on… I got lucky with this whole ‘system’ thing, and the weapon it upgraded for me is a Legendary. It might be useful for killing whatever that is.”

He looked at Marcus for a moment. “Let me see it.”

Marcus slid the revolver free, extending it handle-first to the deputy; who took a step closer, looking it over.. And gave a nod. “It might be at that. Go ahead. Supposedly one of those ‘Chosen’ is going to show up, but he’s dealing with an incident in Dallas right now, so nobody knows how long that’ll take.”

White glanced at the crowd, then back at Marcus. “Just be careful. Its a dog…. They were running dog-fights like a mile from here, and the beast killed some bait animals, the other dogs, the guys who were there to bet on the fights, everybody, some livestock that were trapped in their pens, then started on the neighbors. Normal bullets barely hurt the thing now and its almost as big as a damned horse.”

He gave a slow nod. That sounded way scarier than a 5-foot lizard, and explained a few things. “Damn! I’ll be careful, sir.”

As he started walking into the RV park, he could hear White calling it in on the radio… and he could see one of the RVs suddenly flipped over on its side.

There were at least a dozen deputies, with shotguns, rifles; most of it clearly not standard police issue; shouting, opening fire… and then he could see the… ‘dog’.

It was at least several hundred pounds, its thick grey rhino-like hide covered with old scars and fresh bullet wounds, and as it hopped atop the RV, it looked at the sky, letting out a loud howl….

Whatever it was, something in that howl damn near made Marcus wet himself. It felt like… just pure fear. He could barely hold the revolver steady as he raised it to aim at the beast… which wasn’t looking at him at all, instead turning to face a man who’d just opened up with a double-barreled shotgun, causing a nasty wound in the beast’s torso.

He held his breath, trying to control the shaking… and after the dog pounced on the deputy with his shotgun, grabbing the arm holding it and tearing it right off of his body in a trail of blood… he pulled the trigger.

An empowered bullet arced out with a visible glow; not one of the fake spirit rounds it made with magic, but real gunpowder somehow augmented by whatever made the gun work… and it slammed into the dog’s shoulder, leaving a fist the size of a hole… and causing it to cry out again in anger… now turning to look at Marcus.

As he kept pulling the trigger in a panic, backing away, the next three shots all missing, he finally hit it again with the fourth one, causing the thing to stumble, a massive, drooling mug slamming into the dirt… and then a sudden loud crunch; as a cop car slammed into the animal’s side, crushing it against one of the other RVs.

With it suddenly immobilized, and clearly badly hurt, Marcus fired the sixth and final bullet; any more would just be the weaker conjured rounds…. And this time, pegged the beast between the eyes…he watched the eyes glaze over…. And its struggle to escape ended.

Congratulations! You have gained your second level!

He looked down at the revolver… and dropped to his knees, staring at the corpse of some poor, abused dog. He felt terrible; it had gone through hell at the hands of its owners, forced to fight and suffer for their amusement.

If not for the system, it would still be doing exactly that; but all the arrival of this magic meant was that it suffered a shorter, more violent life, and took a few innocents out with it.

One of the deputies stepped up, and clapped him on the shoulder; he accidentally dropped the revolver. The man smiled down at him; he was older, perhaps his fifties, with an immaculate white mustache with a few flecks of blood in it. His uniform read… ‘Mayhew’.

“Well then, son. That was handy. You looking for a job? I hate to say it, but we’re gonna have to hire a bunch of deputies after this…” He looked around. “Maybe more, later.” He shook his head. “Anyways. What brings you out here? Just trying to help?”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“....I came to talk to the cops. After a monster attack out on the interstate, my truck got destroyed, so I… borrowed… the car of a man it killed. I was just trying to hit the coast, figured I should report it, didn’t want anyone to think I stole it, and I needed to get a new ride, a legal one. I…. my dad died. Gotta get to Oregon.”

The deputy sighed. “Well. We’re currently in a state of emergency. Credit cards are finicky, cell phones, too. This whole system thing can be used for messaging, but its unreliable.”

He glanced at the dead dog. “You’ve done us a solid. You should get some food and stay at Charlottes for the night… the motel off the next exit. If I can work something out with one of our impounded cars, I will. Definitely not gonna leave you hanging either way; absolute least I’ll do is get you a ride to the airport tomorrow.”

Marcus sighed… and nodded. “That sounds…”

There was a vivid white flash… and two figures appeared in midair. One of them a man; but at least seven feet tall, wearing some sort of golden plate armor, with a musket strapped to his back, and a massive hammer in hand…

The other… a woman in a long black robe, etched with glowing flames; her face covered by a black mask, similarly etched with flames, only showing long black hair… as the two settled to the ground.

He blinked, looking at the man in gold… and tried ‘Examine’ for the first time.

Unknown(Chosen) Level: 20

The target is too much higher level than you to get any details they don’t wish to reveal. Continue using Examine to acquire the skill; once it has reached Mastery, it can identify any person or object.

Ahhh. The Chosen that was supposed to be coming to help.

The man in golden armor had stepped up, and was looking at the dog… talking to the deputies around the corpse. The other, in the black robes, glanced his way… and then grabbed the man’s shoulder, giving him a firm tug… and pointing at Marcus… or rather, the revolver, laying on the dirt.

The man focused on the weapon… Marcus picked it up, tucking it into his belt, concerned… as the man stepped closer, looking down at him.

“Well hello there, mister Grey. Myself and Nightfire just finished handling a… problem… at the Dallas zoo. We’re going to be heading to another destination shortly. The deputies mentioned you took Cujo over there out with that revolver. Mind if I take a look at it?”

Marcus looked down at the revolver… and lifted it up, letting the man look at it. “Been in my family for generations. Its been used to shoot Confederates, Nazis, and Vietcong… and now, apparently, monsters.”

The golden figure glanced around behind him. The black-robed woman was talking to the deputies now. “Well. I’ve got a musket, used in the revolutionary war; but its only a Rare. That revolver there… is Legendary. Means that it’ll get stronger over time, to match the user, even unlock new powers. With Uncommons, rares… we have to swap out items now and again or they fall behind.”

“Huh. Sounds like I lucked out on this. What about Epics?” He patted the other revolver… which drew a stare from the man.

“Tha…. well. Epics… are the next step down. They still get stronger over time. But don’t have as many powers. Anyways! I would like to make an offer. The system uses a currency called ‘Credits’, which are basically just distilled mana. You can spend it to level faster if you’re below the level for your area.. And if not, you can use it to buy gear, or special abilities. Me and Nightfire are going to be teleporting to another hotspot as soon as her teleport cools down, but…. That revolver…”

He looked at it again. “It would make a huge difference for me. Having a legendary gun might let me take out the sort of monster that poses a threat to a city. If you’d be willing to part with it, I’d give you six thousand credits; and teleport you to a level five zone. You could come with us… bump up to level five immediately… and have enough credits left over to buy a whole set of rare gear, or uncommon gear and a few cool powers, like regeneration, or teleporting.”

He patted the gun on his back. “I’ll even leave you my musket; shoots slower, but does crazy damage, so you won’t be defenseless.”

The revolvers were bound to the Grey family; which was just him, right now. And, well. Nathan for the Left, but Nathan was dead. Even if there was some way to unbind them, he wasn’t sure he wanted to do so; if this golden man was so big about them, they must be really valuable… so he’d be best holding onto them.

“..I appreciate the offer. But these guns have been in my family for over a hundred years. If I ever have kids, I’ll pass them on to them. Otherwise, I’ll hang onto them.”

He chuckled. “Figures. Maybe someday I’ll see you beside me on the front line, saving humanity from the monsters.” The golden figure gave him a nod… and turned back to talk to the woman… who glanced back at Marcus again, before checking to make sure the dog was dead.

A few seconds later, the duo vanished; undoubtedly off to save some other town.

He shook his head, watching them go…. And then turned to head back to the entrance of the RV park. He needed to get something to eat. And maybe check out that motel… he felt tired as hell for some reason.

***

The hotel room was clean, calm, dark; Charlotte hadn’t cared that his card hadn’t worked; the deputy had put in a good word for him, that he’d shot the dog that was causing so much havoc; and the room was his for the night; or the next few, if he needed it.

The world was in chaos. Ordinary creatures were growing, mutating; the worst places were the zoos, but everything from ants to cockroaches was growing at an alarming pace; but so far, nothing humanity couldn’t deal with. Everyone figured the Chosen were a bit overly concerned; they’d been taken away, allowed to train for a full year in a place where time ran faster, and then returned to earth merely hours after they left; and were claiming that everyone needed to prepare, this was going to be the end of the world if people didn’t change. The government, of course, said it was all in hand; and the military was being stood up and sent out to help.

Marcus… wasn’t too sure. Just the two monsters he’d seen had been damn nasty, but he couldn’t imagine one facing a tank.

The owner, Charlotte, was a bit old for him, but had very definitely been flirting. She was still good-looking for her age, so he was almost tempted…. But no. He was just getting ready to settle down for a much-needed nap when he heard… a knocking at the door.

He frowned…. He’d just gotten out of the shower, just had his boxers on… wasn’t planning to get re-dressed til morning. But… fine.

He slipped on a pair of slacks, and another T-shirt; this one the Grateful Dead; and stuffed the revolvers in his pockets, before heading to the door, peeking through… to see the woman in black outside; the glowing red fire emblems making her stand out in the darkness.

He opened the door, glancing out at her. “Ehh? Nightfire, was it? What did you need?”

The night air was cool; uncomfortably so; and he wanted to keep this as brief as possible.

She tilted her head. “I’d like to give you another chance to reconsider Greg’s offer. The Golden Boy could make a tremendous difference with that gun. Far more than you could. You’re not just only level 2; you have no titles. No gifts.”

“I appreciate that. Maybe I’ll be as good as he is someday. Maybe not. But the answer is no.”

“Maybe you aren’t understanding me.” Suddenly, he felt… intense heat. As if his skin were on fire, his body being lifted up into the air. “You’re only level 2. I just hit 21. If you have no idea what that means in terms of power, let me be clear… I can crush you, like a cockroach. So. Last chance.”

He focused on the revolver. He had zero chance here. At best, he could hurt her. This was no hero. Could he set the ‘Bane’ to human…. Ahh. Yes.

He grabbed the revolver, yanking it from its holster, pointing at her and pulling the trigger… in a feat of speed and reflexes he would have marveled at mere days before.

And… she gestured. A brilliant flash of red light; what appeared to be a whip formed out of pure fire lashed out, wrapping around his body… and when the tip of it smacked into his forehead, the world went black.