“What’s that for?” Clover asked cheerily.

Above, dim fluorescent lights flickered. Dark shadows danced between the shelves, imitating movement.

Rodger held a blue tube with a plastic bag attached to it in his hands. "A water filter. You pour it in one end, and gravity sorts out the rest. It doesn't catch everything, but it's better than nothing," Rodger said, then tilted his head, wondering how Clover could be so upbeat.

"Cool." Clover stuffed supplies into a backpack he had pilfered from Walmart's back-to-school section.

They drifted from aisle to aisle in silence, taking what they needed. The store was larger than Clover had expected; it felt like a small city could operate out of the building, but without its normal inhabitants, it felt empty. The Walmart was a pale shade of what he had seen in videos.

“It will only get worse,” Rodger said. No one other than Clover was close enough to hear him. "Right now, people are content to work together, but in a few days… Monsters won't be the only thing you'll have to look out for."

"You don't believe that, do you?" Clover asked, pausing as he stuffed a water bottle into his bag. Just a few hours earlier, he had felt guilty for stealing, but now… he hadn't given it a second thought.

"I'm a pessimist." For a moment, in the flickering light, dark shadows cast Rodger's face, obscuring his expression. To Clover's overactive imagination, he looked dangerous, like the type of person who would kill another without a second thought. He remembered the blood that had been dug under his nails when they had first met. The illusion shattered as Rodger chuckled. "I'd like to be proven wrong."

Clover didn't have a reply. He didn't know what rested at the center of a human heart - was it good or evil? Even with his uncertainty, it was almost unimaginable to him that people would kill and pillage at the first opportunity. He didn't want to believe it. But logically, he had to acknowledge that with the police and the military gone, there wasn't anything left to stop a bad-intentioned stranger from doing whatever they wished.

They wandered amongst the endless rows of shelves. Clover acquired a new outfit: a black sweatshirt and a pair of jeans, whereas Rodger raided the nonperishable food aisle.

“It’s about time.” The bearded woodsman hefted a full bag over his shoulder. “I have a lot of miles to cover. I should get going.”

Clover smiled sadly; they would probably never meet again. "When you get back to Canada, send me a picture of the wedding."

Rodger smiled back. "Even if she says yes, I don't think there'll be any venues left open."

“I’m an optimist,” Clover said cheekily, enjoying one of his rare moments of social ability where his brain and tongue collaborated. They were becoming more common. Maybe his social skills were increasing? Though, the wording was a bit off. Actually, he should have said…

"Thanks. I hope you're right." Rodger turned to leave but hesitated at the last moment. "Don't trust anyone. And don't look out for anyone other than yourself. Anything more than that will get you killed," he said over his shoulder, imparting a last-minute list of paranoid measures.

Clover waved. "Alright, alright. Get going already; you're burning daylight."

“Till next time.”

In his wheelchair, Clover sat alone amidst the flickering shadows, watching his retreating figure. Uninvited, the image of the dead man they had left on the street in the aftermath of the battle against the golems flashed in the back of his mind.

He swallowed a lump in his throat and then reopened his Skill Paths Screen.

Meditation I 0/5

Only in silence can some answers be heard.

Prerequisites: None

Quest: 0/1 hours of continuous Meditation.

Now understanding what a Landmark Path was, Clover understood [Meditation I]'s importance; he had an opportunity to change how the Skill functioned. Completing the Quest wouldn't be easy. One hour of uninterrupted [Meditation] didn't sound like a lot on paper, but in practice, it would be a nightmare. He could barely last a minute or two as he was now.

Once again, he couldn't help but wonder how his Durability Aspect would affect the Skill. Would he be harder to hurt when sitting still in a meditative state, or would it result in something entirely different? Either way, he didn't think it would be an advantageous combination, at least for him.

He stopped himself from spending too much time thinking about possible evolutions for [Meditation]. He hadn’t even completed the Quest yet, so there wasn’t much of a point.

Sculpting I 0/5

Art, for the novice, is dictated by rules. What ideal drives your craft?

Prerequisites: None

Quest: Create 5/5 Sculptures of [Inferior] Quality.

Since the last time he had checked, he had completed the Quest. Based on how poor his first sculptures were, he reckoned that [Inferior] was the lowest level of Quality in the System. Which, based on its name alone, made a lot of sense.

For once, the likely effects of his Durability Aspect seemed evident to him. However, a straight increase in durability didn't interest him very much. On the other hand, the possible effects of his Magic Aspect greatly interested him. Not only would it most likely allow him to recreate some of what he had seen in the Skill Stone, but after facing the Stone Golems, he hoped it would allow him to, or at least set him on the path of recreating something similar.

He had enough Skill Points to finish the Path, but he held off for now, at least until he saw his other options.

The subsequent three Paths were under [Unstable Mana Bolt]'s Skill Tree.

All The Colors Of The Rainbow 0/5

The exterior is the first to change.

Prerequisites(2): Mana Bolt I, ?, ?, Aspect: Change, ?, Variable Structure, ?, Magical Talent I…

Quest: None.

Below the Path, lines led to two more boxes, though he couldn’t see their details yet.

The first of his three new Paths, [All The Colors Of The Rainbow], had been unlocked after he had completed the Landmark Path. Based on its name, Clover blindly guessed that the Path would allow him to change [Unstable Mana Bolt]'s color - a change in which he didn't see much value. He doubted altering the spell's color would have a significant, if any, impact on its damage-dealing capabilities.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

It was possible that he was entirely off base. He couldn't predict what the Path would do just from the title alone. However, after thinking it over for a moment, Clover had a hunch that the Path's real rewards were locked behind its later iterations. He didn't have any facts to base that opinion on, it was just a feeling.

When he had a surplus of Points, he would complete the Path, but till then, he’d put it on the back burner.

Magic Refinement 0/5

Repetition is the mother of strength.

Prerequisites(2): Mana Bolt I, ?, Magical Talent I, Mana Threshold, ?, ?, Rising Density, ?, Minor Crucible…

Quest: None.

Clover read through the list of Prerequisites and fought the urge to scratch his head. He had a good number of them unlocked; he just wished the System would explain what exactly they meant.

With his limited information, the [Magic Refinement] Path sounded like a promising option. Not only was it cheap, but its brief description led him to believe it would, in some way, directly increase his power.

Delayed Cast 0/10

Discretion is the better part of valor.

Prerequisites(3): Mana Bolt 1, Magical Talent I, ?, Previously Delayed Cast, ?, Aspect: Change, ?, ?, ?, Variable Structure…

Quest: None.

Unlike the other Paths, [Delayed Cast] had 3 Prerequisites and a cost of 10 Skill Points - a cost he could not yet afford. Its high price made him think it would be more powerful than his other Paths. He considered saving up for it but quickly dismissed the thought. He needed power, and he needed it now, not in the future.

Clover spent 5 Skill Points to finish [Magic Refinement], leaving him with 1 Point in reserve.

A crucible with no name. Spell after spell, your mana grinds against itself, growing more powerful. Like a muscle, the body's capacity for magic can be trained. Continue to do so, and you will be further rewarded. +3 Magic.

Different from the last time he had raised the Stat, a shifting pressure built within his core as he, for a moment, became aware of a mass of mana that slowly leaked from his soul. Almost cautiously, tendrils of energy spread off it and rooted themselves within his chest, bridging the divide between the two realities.

Clover smiled as the effect faded. Like last time, some remnants of the awareness remained. If he focused, he could sense a vague mana blob within his core. Compared to the ambient mana, it was more uniform - less chaotic. Additionally, the distance between him and his soul felt further decreased - he could now peer into the space that held [Unstable Mana Bolt]'s crystalline structure with more clarity.

He focused, observing it for a moment.

Under his new perception, it was jagged with crystalline growths unevenly jutting out in all directions. Beneath its cloudy surface, bursts of light that mirrored fireworks reflected off its edges in strange patterns, dimly illuminating the darkness of his soul.

If he closed his eyes, he could almost see the structure. It was captivating in a foreign sort of way. As he observed it, he wondered why the spell had taken the form of a crystal? Why did it even need a physical form? Clover thought back to the Skill Stone; the one-handed sculptor had harbored a different structure inside his soul, a massive statue made of stone. Why were they different, and what did their diverging forms mean?

Clover shook his head, bringing himself back to reality; he had been alone for far too long. It was about time he should meet back up with the group.

So, with the addition of more than half a Level’s worth of Stats, he departed, wheeling through the dark store to where he heard several loud voices conversing in excitement.

Clover turned a corner.

Most of the group gathered around a giant sinkhole with sloping edges at the far end of the store. The hole was wide enough for a car to drive through it and deep enough to where it had connected to the dimly lit sewer system below. At its bottom, a staff made of twisted bones with a perfectly geometrical stone cube at its end rested.

Clover wasn't an expert on Walmart's inventory, but he doubted it was a regular part of their selection. He hadn't passed a wizardry aisle on the way here.

Additionally, in some way, he couldn't put to words, its placement was deeply suspicious. Warily, he gazed into the sinkhole, searching for movement. He found none.

Phil and Seb were absent from the group.

“Do you think it's real?” a man who carried a shovel over his shoulder asked. Like most of the group, Clover didn’t know his name, but he had overheard him talking earlier about how he had attempted to cast a Skill inside of a monster only for the System to block him.

If it was true, it would be a reasonable restriction. [Unstable Mana Bolt] would be overpowered if he could somehow cast it inside a monster's body.

"Only one way to find out," a woman said as she began to inch down the steep slope.

Clover’s eyebrows raised, threatening to disappear behind his hair. In no universe could climbing into a dark sinkhole in the middle of the apocalypse ever be classified as a good idea.

He watched with bated breath, waiting for something to go wrong - waiting for some horrible monster to jump out of the darkness and devour her.

She clambered down to the bottom, reaching the sewer floor without injury. She grabbed the staff and twirled it, then stopped and stared out into space, presumably to read a System Announcement.

"Cool!" she exclaimed, thrusting the staff forward in a stiff motion. Out of the stone cube at its tip, three skeletal hands made of pure white bone sprouted outward, reaching blindly into the darkness.

Clover let out a sigh of relief. He had let his paranoia get the better of him; not everything was a trap.

Still, he couldn't feel too down. He had seen firsthand the power of the System created treasures. Now, beyond just a slim hope, finding an item that could heal him was a real possibility in his mind.

Out of the darkness, two mice, no larger than a cup of jello, appeared. Red text did not hover over their heads - the System had not mutated them for some reason. Scampering forward as fast as their little legs would carry them, they passed the woman, disappearing down the other side of the sewer tunnel.

Clover swallowed a lump in his throat as he remembered what Rodger had told him early in the day.

"Run," he said softly. No one heard him. Like a race car revving its engine at the starting line, his heart kicked into high gear, beating wildly. "We need to leave," he said, forcing a louder sound out of his mouth.

A few members of the group gave him odd looks, but other than that, he was ignored.

“They’re coming!” Clover tried one last time. No one heeded his warning. He didn’t know the right combination of words to make them listen.

Not willing to wait a second longer, Clover turned and hurriedly wheeled away. As the distance between him and the sinkhole increased and no sound of commotion appeared, he wondered if he had been wrong - if he had been spooked by the mere shadow of danger.

If that was the case, he'd never be able to show his face again.

Before he could cross even half the distance to the exit, loud screams echoed behind him. Unfortunately, he had been right. His shoulders tensed, and he pushed his chair to go faster, but it would not. It had already reached its max speed of 5 miles per hour.

Agonizingly slowly, he inched closer to the exit.

Sprinting, one then another member of the group passed him, leaving him in the dust despite his large head start.

Clover risked a glance behind him. A proverbial sea of Bone Rats chased the group's remaining members, hot on their heels. The woman that had ventured into the sinkhole had not emerged.

His stomach dropped. Deep down, Clover knew he wouldn't make it in time; he'd be overrun before he reached the exit, no matter how he wished otherwise. He just wasn't fast enough.

One by one, people sped past him in their mad dashes to escape.

Glancing around, he spotted a glimmer of salvation. Directly to his left, an open door led to an employee break room. If he could hide there… He jerked his wheelchair control stick, and his wheelchair dangerously tilted as he rapidly changed directions.

He repeatedly glanced over his shoulder as he sped through an aisle of bathroom accessories. The tide of monsters continued forward, chasing after the main group, largely ignoring Clover. However, two had veered off to follow him.

Sweating profusely, he reached the break room. He fumbled with the door handle, then slammed the door shut just in the nick of time. The two mutated rats crashed into the door, rocking him backward. Without any other option, Clover pressed his back against the door, fighting to not let them in.

Scratching and gnawing in a wild frenzy of movement, they did not give up.