“Let’s talk,” said the woman.

A doctor pulled up a chair and placed it by the bedside. The woman gestured for Mark to sit and raised an eyebrow at his family. They retreated from the room, leaving Mark and the mystery woman alone.

“So, I hear you beat Wroth and his gang,” she said. “Well done. I’m Layla or the Daughter of Light.”

“Mark Johnson,” he responded. “Why, daughter of light?”

“It’s my class and my heritage, according to Luminé, the Goddess of Light.”

“Uh-huh.”

Layla smirked at him before narrowing her eyes.

“What about you? You don’t look like an ordinary human, but you used to be, right?”

“Sure, stuff happened. So what?”

“Touchy. Alright, let’s get to the point. I need help.”

“With what?”

“As you can see, I’m quite hurt. It’ll be months until I’m back on my feet.”

“What happened?”

“Wroth happened. His axe is cursed, and every wound it causes is infected with some nefarious energy. I’m fighting it off, but it’s not easy. I’m not strong enough or don’t know how to do it properly. At this rate, I won’t be able to protect my people.”

“So, you want me to take your place until you’ve healed?”

“That’s right.”

“I’m no leader. I’ll fight to protect my family, and while they’re here, that means this place, but I have no interest in leading anyone. I simply want to learn, grow, improve, and reach further.”

“I get it. Alright, then fight, and protect. I’ll lead from here, I guess. You should know that the System grants some decent boons for those who choose to lead.”

“Sure, but leading also takes time and effort that could be used to cultivate. While you’re stuck in meetings and planning, I could be moving around the Multiverse, learning, and fighting. Gaining levels and power. That’s my goal.”

“If that’s so, why did you come here? Why not head out, and fight?”

“I have been fighting. Most days since the Tutorial has been a fight. I came here to check on my family, to ensure they hadn’t died, and try to set them up for the future. Now that I know they’re alright and pretty well adjusted, my mind is moving ahead. I already feel the urge to head out.”

“Haah, fine. Just keep my people safe until I get back on my feet, please?”

“Alright, I can do that.”

With that, Layla settled back down, grimacing in pain. The conversation seemed to have taken its toll.

Mark stood and left the room.

His family gathered in a waiting room, and Mark got them up to speed. They didn’t look happy about his plan to leave soon, but neither did they argue too heavily. They seemed to understand.

A man was waiting for them outside the clinic. He was quite tall, with broad shoulders and an axe in a hoop on his hip.

“Hello, I’m Johnathan,” he introduced himself. “I got word that you agreed to aid in our defense. While you did take out Wroth, we still need to test you to ensure you’re up to snuff, so to speak. Follow me.”

The man, Johnathan, started walking without waiting for an answer. Mark looked at his parents, but they simply shrugged, and they all followed the man.

Soon enough, they entered an old stadium. Most of it had crumbled, but it retained some of the structure, and people had started using it as a practice area.

Mark left his family on the outskirts and followed the man to the center.

Johnathan stopped and turned toward him while many others stopped their training to watch.

“I shall now test your strength,” he said, and Mark held back from shaking his head. The guy seemed to want to sound important. “Prepare yourself.”

The man hefted his axe and took a stance while Mark summoned his chakram. It floated gently behind his back while he infused it with magic.

Mark saw the man furrow his brows, but he said nothing before launching himself at Mark.

A quick blink made Mark appear behind Johnathan, but he quickly turned around and swung the axe. Mark moved his chakram to block and used his isolation and weave Insight to form a barrier of hardened space, and the axe bounced off. He then sent the chakram at his opponent, ensuring he was only struck by the flat side.

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Johnathan stumbled back, and Mark formed a ball of warped space before launching it. It struck Johnathan in the chest, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Mark made his chakram carve lines around him while creating tears that tore through the air.

“Strong enough?” he asked.

He didn’t wait for an answer before he walked away, leaving the field in stunned silence.

The battle was over in seconds, and Mark wondered what the point was. There was no way either of them could go all out, and he was sure the guy wasn’t really that weak. Mark had simply not given him a chance to do anything.

His family looked on with wide eyes; Tracy had a big grin on her face, while the others had seen him in action.

“Let’s go,” Mark said. “I’ll have to look around and see if there’s a decent cultivation area nearby, but I’ll be around. At least until the boss is back on her feet.”

“Why don’t you stay?” Cecilia pleaded. “We’ll be safe and together.”

Mark looked at his mother with sad eyes.

“I don’t think that’s in the cards for me. I’ve caught the bug, so to speak. I’m not made for safety anymore, I think.”

“Haah…” Derek sighed. “You’re not the only one. Many from our Tutorial felt the same, though none have gotten that far. Several died early after the Tutorial.”

“No more choosing your difficulty, I suppose. Every venture outside could have you face too strong enemies,” Mark said.

Subdued silence followed his statement as they returned to their home.

Mark spent the night and wanted to head out in the morning, realizing the camp didn’t have a good spot.

There were no Spatially attuned areas nearby, so he had given up on finding a perfect spot, at least not until he could travel further, but a highrise or skyscraper might suffice. If he got high enough, it might work.

The family had just finished breakfast when a knock came from the door. It was a young woman who walked in and introduced herself as Tina.

“We’ve been scouting around the Deep Horizon base after their boss died, and I think this is a decent chance to break them apart,” she said. “They’re currently without a leader and in disarray. They’re killing each other for the leadership, and most of the strong ones are gone already. If Mark joins us, we might be able to take them out in one swoop.”

“Or, leave the camp vulnerable, as we’d bring the best fighters along, right?” Mark countered. Tina nodded. “I think bringing a small, elite team would be better, leaving the camp well-defended. They shouldn’t be able to mount a proper defense if they're in disarray, as they won’t have a leader to organize them. How are their guards? Alert or absent?”

“There are guards, but they’re the weakest among them, only there to sound the alarm. They seemed distracted, but not enough to walk up to the camp without being seen. Wroth was a brute, but he wasn’t an idiot; they’ve cleared a large area around their camp.”

“If they use their weakest, then I might be able to get past and bring a few people with me,” with that, Mark formed a barrier, using Light and Phase, as he had during his journey to the city.

Mark, Bruce, and Derek disappeared, leaving Tracy, Cecilia, and Tina gawping. They reappeared a second later.

“Like so. Expanding the barrier to envelop more people is straining but doable. I think my limit is five others, and we’d be packed close with that number.”

“Alright, then, let’s do it that way. I’ll go talk to the rest, make plans for the camp, and I’ll get back to you.”

Tina left, leaving Mark to talk with his family for a while.

***

Mark stood in the center of a group of people. In the end, three other people had joined him for the mission, and they now stood on the border to the enemy camp. The cleared area turned out to be houses and buildings that had been demolished, and the base had used the parts to build a rough-looking wall.

Tina was one of the three, while a healer made the second spot, as there might be captives inside who had to be healed. The final spot was an assassin type.

He was good at sneaking around and had a sneak attack skill.

The idea was for Tina to guide them, Mark to hide them, and Pete, the assassin, to deal with any opponents quietly. They didn’t speak; they had already gone over the plan, and it was simple.

Go in, deal with the Deep Horizon people, save any captives, and improvise when things go to shit.

The group started walking, keeping a slow pace so none of them slipped out of the barrier Mark maintained.

He felt the strain, as it was always harder to cover an area than create a film outside his skin or clothes. He had to focus quite hard to ensure it didn’t warp and suddenly reveal one of them, but fortunately, he didn’t need to do anything more than maintain the barrier and follow Tina’s guidance.

They crawled toward the gate and the single guard leaning against the side. Mark wondered why they kept the guards on the outside rather than on the wall or something, but he would have to wait for an answer.

They moved to flank the guard, and the young man didn’t notice them, even when they came within three meters of him.

Pete drew his shortsword and crept forward. He inched behind the guard, positioned his blade, and thrust forward and up. The sword entered the guard’s side and stabbed into the lungs and heart, instantly killing him. Pete grabbed him and gently lowered him to the ground.

The team moved up, flush with the gate, and spotted a smaller side door, likely the guards' entrance. Pete moved to get it open, as he had some lockpicking skill or something.

Mark struggled to pull his eyes from the guard’s corpse.

He’d killed Wroth and a bunch of his goons, but that was to protect his family; he didn’t hesitate, but now? Killing that guard was premeditated; it was murder, and he struggled. His vision narrowed and blurred, and his heart started beating rapidly.

Thoughts swirled through his mind until a hand shook him out of it.

“Focus, Mark,” Tina whispered urgently. “Don’t lose it. That guy has probably killed lots of people and would have killed more. You know how our reality has changed. Only the strong can afford to be lenient or merciful to their enemies.”

Mark nodded, turned to the team, and saw Pete had opened the door. He took a deep breath and moved forward.

The door led to a long corridor, following the inside of the wall until it reached another door. The door likely led to a gathering area for guards, and Mark could hear a few voices from within.

The group shared a look, and Mark raised his hand to stall them from doing anything.

Mark had been working on his runecraft for a while now, reading books and practicing every free moment, and now was the time to try something new. There was no way for them to open the door without the guards inside spotting them, and he hadn’t managed to form illusory objects with his barrier. He could mirror the other side, so to speak, but nothing else. That meant he had to figure something else out, and he immediately thought of his blink skill. He’d found that he could see his skills as floating balls of light covered in runes, and now was the time to see if he could alter it slightly.