"It's good - not what I expected, though," Clover said as the trio traveled through the factory.

Light on his feet in a way that Clover was jealous of, Ron strode beside him and responded with a nervous smile, though he was quick to cover it up. "Nice." Ron raised his hands to cover his face like a boxer, then slowly extended a punch. Clover wasn't an expert, but in his opinion, his form had massively improved - if someone saw Ron practicing in a martial arts gym, they wouldn't think he was out of place. "You're not the only one who's gotten stronger. I learned a few new tricks, too."

Clover was too nervous to think of a response. Passing by clusters of beaten and battered survivors, they traveled in silence.

Inside, Clover felt like a fraud. He had talked big, but now that it was time to walk the walk, he was terrified again. He was already sick of the feeling. He was trapped in a maddening cycle. Every time he went to press forward, his mind would pull him back.

He knew what he had to do; nothing would change that, yet no matter how rationally he tried to argue, his mind would respond with nothing but fear - an overwhelming desire to run away. He felt the phantom of the Bone Rat's crushing teeth press against his hand.

Stiffly, he continued forward, wondering if he would always feel this way. Out of reflex, his attention drifted away, focusing on his newest Skill.

For completing the Path, Clover had unlocked [Minor Alteration]. The Skill intrigued him. On the surface, it wasn’t that useful, but according to the Skill’s description, he could influence the random nature of [Unstable Mana Bolt] just by altering its appearance. Which, by all accounts, was monumentally more useful than merely changing the bolt of mana’s color.

He couldn't wait to try it out. While the System hadn't explicitly told him how to use the Skill, he had noticed that inside his soul, [Unstable Mana Bolt]'s crystalline structure had shifted. Now, the colors that reflected inside it, like falling fireworks, were more vivid.

Additionally, after completing the Path, a new one in its series had revealed itself: for the price of 10 Skill Points, [All The Shapes Beneath The Moon] would likely further improve [Minor Alteration]. It was a compelling prospect, though if he had any choice in the matter, he'd rather upgrade [Meditation] and [Stone Puppetry] before investing more Points into [Unstable Mana Bolt].

With a sense of growing nausea, he arrived at the loading bay doors. Ron and Claire followed close behind. Light streamed in through the opening, and tentative pairs trickled out the door.

It was time to go.

He glanced down to check his wheelchair's remaining charge. Even though he had tried his best to expend as little energy as possible through the night, the counter had slowly ticked down. If he ventured too far out today, he could conceivably run out of power. Not to mention all the damage the chair had taken - encountering mechanical failure or a flat tire was even more likely today.

Clover took a deep breath, the fear in his chest not diminishing. Loud and boisterous, a group of men brushed past Clover, walking confidently as if they were about to depart for a leisurely trip to Las Vegas. As Clover watched, questioning why he couldn't be like them, he had an epiphany.

If he was going to suffer either way, he might as well have fun. Or, at least, he resolved himself to pretend to have fun. The line between fear and excitement was so thin that he hoped that he could act his way across it - fake it till he made it.

As he watched the group depart, he wondered if maybe they, too, were pretending.

Clover was still for a moment, then enthusiastically said, "Operation Night at the Museum starts now." He wheeled forward, exiting down the loading bay door's ramp. "Let's go. If we get there fast, maybe we'll be the first ones there."

“Shouldn’t it be Day at the Museum,” Ron asked as he followed him.

"That's what I said," Claire piled quietly on.

They crossed the Safe Zone's blue border, entering a cracked parking lot. "Well, it's too late to change it now; the mission has already started. Now, where are we supposed to go?"

Claire pointed to the left. "That way." She wrinkled her eyes, then jerked her arm to the side, pointing it in an entirely different direction. "Actually, I think it's this way. It's hard to tell with how much stuff has been randomly teleported around.”

Ron pulled a ridiculously sized tourist map of the city out of his back pocket and unfurled it with a shake. Claire shuffled around to take a look. "I think you're right," Ron said. He carefully folded the map and placed it back in his pocket. "It will get more obvious once we head away from the Safe Zone a bit."

Not inspired by their dubious navigation skills, Clover followed closely behind as they navigated down cracked city streets. Out of an abundance of caution, they moved slowly. After backtracking twice, they stumbled upon an arachnophobe's worst nightmare.

A giant spider, the size of a car, skittered across the street, dragging two web-covered sacks behind it. A human arm stuck out of one of the sacks at an odd angle. Perhaps ten or fifteen significantly smaller spiders followed along, mirroring the larger monster's movements.

In horror, they hurried away, hiding in an otherwise empty store, before the spider monsters could stumble across them. If the sun was not out, perhaps they would have sensed them, but as it were, with the System's restrictions, they continued across the road without stopping.

“Ya, let’s not go that way,” Claire finally said, breaking the silence. Her face was pale and clammy. “I hate spiders.”

“Me too,” Ron said. He peeked his head out of the building. “It’s clear.”

The trio continued, cutting a wide arc around where they had last seen the spiders. Thankfully, the rest of their journey was uneventful. Slightly tired but in one piece, they arrived at the Ohio State Museum of Natural and Ancient History.

Located at the city's edge, the building was large and grandiose, with intricate stone fixtures practically spilling out of its entrance. Without a doubt, it was an impressive sight, but out here alone, the workmanship took on an ominous air.

A large field of grass surrounded the building, and past that, the road disappeared into a thick and overgrown forest. A variety of trees populated it, the most common of which he could not identify. It had a thick trunk and stalwart branches like those of an oak, but its coniferous leaves were similar to those of a blue cypress. Clover narrowed his eyes. He had never seen trees like that in Middleburg before. It looked alien - not from this world.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

He supposed that the System could have mutated a local variety of tree, but he doubted it. The forest filled him with suspicion, it was not natural.

Fortunately, they did not have to venture into it today.

They crept through the parking lot on the lookout for monsters. At least outside, there were none. Nestled in front of the museum's large doors was an annoyingly long row of linked stanchions that doubled back on their length five times.

Claire walked through the queue, looping round and round, slowly inching forward. Even empty, it looked like a pain to walk through. Ron skipped it. Clover followed Ron’s example, feeling slightly guilty for doing so. He knew it wasn’t illegal or anything, but it still felt wrong to skip the line.

“In life, you don’t get paid for going the long way. There’s always a shortcut,” Ron said in his best attempt at a philosophical tone as they waited for Claire.

“You sound like a real used car salesman already.”

Ron laughed.

It made the wait less nerve-wracking.

Still walking through the queue, Claire groaned as she reached the fourth switchback. She doubled her pace through the final stretch.

Clover opened his mouth, about to unleash the joke he had been working over in his head while he waited, but Claire spoke before he could, entirely ruining his comedic timing.

“I wanted the extra steps,” she said with a huff.

Clover steeled himself, prepared for the worst as they entered the building. Dim red backup lights flickered, presumably powered by a generator that was running low on fuel. Sunlight beamed in from many of the museum's windows in long arcs, sufficiently illuminating the interior.

Nestled off to the side was a tacky-looking gift shop with a bright banner. Past that were three entrances leading to three different exhibits; they seemed to stretch on forever. Clover didn't see any obvious signs of danger, but something in the air was off - he knew there were monsters hiding in the building. He could feel it.

“Which way should we go first?” Ron asked.

“If we start at the Rome exhibit, we can make a full loop around the building,” Claire said.

She was the resident expert, so he went with her opinion. “That makes sense. Let’s do that. But first, do you mind if we stop at the gift shop?” They looked at him strangely. “I want to get a bag - to, you know, help carry stuff.”

"Sure. I don't mind; we have all day," Ron said. In a way, it was true. As long as they made it back before dark, there wouldn't be a problem. Now that they had made the trek out here, it was abundantly clear that no one else would come.

Clover made quick work of the gift shop. While on the lookout for System Treasures, he grabbed a trendy green bag with the museum's logo imprinted on it and a ridiculous lunch box that was painted with spartan warriors.

“Is that what you were looking for?” Claire said from behind him.

On edge, Clover flinched away from the sudden noise. He took a deep breath and gathered himself. When the inevitable happened, he’d be ready. Till then, he’d try to enjoy himself. Or at least pretend to. So far, he’d done a good job of that.

"No, it looks pretty cool, though, right," he asked as he held out his haul. His hands jittered with nervous energy. "I'm looking for a magical item. I figured this would be as good a place to look as any."

Her mouth widened to the shape of an O as the dots connected for her. “So that’s why we’re here,” she mumbled.

“Come on,” he said as he waved over his shoulder, leaving the gift shop.

With his two sculptures and a gift bag in his lap, he entered the Ancient Rome exhibit. He held his injured hand out in front of him, readying himself to cast [Unstable Mana Bolt] as he scanned the room. Plates of armor and ancient weapons lined the walls. Alongside a decrepit pair of sandals, a recreation of a boat sat in the center of the room.

Filtering in after him, Claire walked up to the wall, her hand hovering with indecision as she inspected the weapons. She cringed as she ripped a gladicus if the small plaque was to be believed, free from its display. She twirled it around, gaining a feel for it.

“Nice sword, Claricus,” Clover said absently as he kept his eyes peeled for danger. Immediately, he questioned if what he had just said had been cringe. The sliver of attention he dedicated to the task came back with a resounding yes.

“It’s only an imitation. Most of the stuff on display isn’t real, Cato.”

She hadn’t seemed to mind. Maybe he was overthinking things. “Come on, Cato isn’t a real name. It doesn’t sound even remotely Roman,” Clover said.

"It is! Google it..." She froze mid-sentence as, in the distance, a loud crash rang out - the sound of stone slamming into the floor.

Clover’s lips pressed together. “Did you hear that, too?”

Ron nodded. As quietly as possible, they crept forward, searching for the source of the disturbance.

Clover peaked his head out from around a corner. Among the rubble of a brown vase belonging to some ancient civilization, a squirrel of monstrous proportions stood. It had two tails, and thick bands of muscle lined its frame.

Two-tailed Squirrel - Lvl 1

Clover's breath caught in his throat. Suddenly, he was back at Walmart, on the brink of death - helpless as his flesh was torn from his body. His heart began to race wildly in his chest, pounding like a drum. It was so loud he could hear it. He'd bet the monster could, too. He needed to run. At any moment, it would turn and…

Clover tightly clenched his injured hand. The pain gave him focus. No. He would not run. It was only Level 1. If he couldn't beat such a weak monster…

He forced a slight grin and squared his shoulders, faking an air of confidence. "You ready?" he whispered.

Claire hesitantly raised her sword, and Ron straightened his collar with a nod.

“[Stone Puppetry].” Clover sent the dog sculpture forward, looping it around the beast's back - the side of the room farthest from him. The squirrel stared at the stone puppet, not understanding what it was looking at.

He tugged at the string connecting him to the Puppet, sending it leaping toward the squirrel's face in a burst of speed. Clay tore as it landed. Clumsily, Clover commanded it to claw at the animal's face. With his lack of experience, he wasn't very precise, let alone effective, but it was enough to distract the Two-tailed Squirrel. It thrashed about, trying to shake off the stone Puppet.

With its attention sufficiently drawn away, he wheeled out from around the corner and lined up a clear shot. His focus sharpened to a razor's edge, cutting away all distraction as mana gathered in his palm. Amidst the chaos, he felt a moment of complete calm and stillness. Torn in two, the two halves of his Puppet sailed across the room. It had bought enough time.

Congratulations! Stone puppetry has reached Level 4. +1 Skill Point.

The Two-tailed Squirrel didn't know what hit it. With the force of a sledgehammer, the bolt of mana crashed into the monster's back. Following up quickly, Ron surged forward using his superior Agility.

“[Power Strike],” Ron shouted. His fist gained a slight red glow as it smashed into the monster. A cracking impact rang out, and the beast was slammed into the ground.

Before the Two-tailed Squirrel could recover, Claire screamed and stabbed her sword into it. It did not survive.

Congratulations! You have significantly contributed to the defeat of a Two-tailed Squirrel - Lvl 1. +100 Exp.

Even though the battle hadn't lasted more than a few seconds, they all breathed heavily. Clover's grin ticked upward, not entirely fake anymore. He needed only one more, then he'd reach Level 5. Anticipation built in his gut; odds were that within the hour, he'd get a Class.

“That was easy,” Ron said.

Clover made an x with his hands. “Take that back.” Ron blinked in confusion. “That’s like the number one way people jinx themselves and die in movies.”

Drawn by the sound of their fight, two more monster squirrels rounded the corner and entered the room.

"God damn it," Clover said as he raised his arm, prepared to blast out more bolts of magic. This time, his hands did not shake.