Juggling his attention, bouncing it back and forth, Clover commanded both his Golems - Mr. Cat and the bone dinosaur to charge forward. Their totems - their unique representations in his soul space, buzzed with feedback. Now that he had two, he could begin parsing out differences. Or at least, he could if all his attention wasn't focused on not getting eaten alive.

Still, as Mr. Cat pulled ahead, bounding toward the Level 3 Two-tailed Squirrel, an avarice energy built, slightly empowering the Golem the closer it got to the monsters. Perhaps it was an effect of [Red Carpet I], he was unsure. The bone Golem followed close behind with long and unsteady steps, a slight unnatural breeze at its back.

With a clear image in his mind that strained the limits of his Intelligence to hold during such a tense situation, Clover puppetted Mr. Cat, driving him in a series of coordinated climbing jumps that would have been impossible without the upgrade in stability and control [Skeleton I] had granted.

The golem leaped up onto a bench and then to a railing. For any other Golem, it would likely have been an impossible maneuver; the cat, like its real-life counterpart, possessed a keen dexterity that filled in the gaps between Clover's commands. From there, it climbed to the top of a glass display box and waited, slipping slightly in the process but quickly regaining its balance.

The highest Level squirrel continued forward with its gaze set upon the larger Golem. Mr. Cat had slipped from its attention. Now, he just had to wait for the perfect opportunity. The two other monsters were occupied by Claire and Ron, respectively.

In a crash that produced a gust of wind that ruffled Clover's hair, the triceratops Golem smashed head-on against the Two-tailed Squirrel. Its blunted horn stabbed shallowly into the beast as its momentum carried it forward, bowling over the monster. On its back, the monster screeched, sounding like a demonic and enraged version of Alvin the Chipmunk - a hair-raising sound. Slashing wildly with its claws, it chipped away at the Golem, knocking away small chunks of material as it struggled to get out from under its weight.

Not letting the monster get the chance, he commanded Mr. Cat to leap from the display with its claws extended. It landed stylishly on the monster's face, catching it by surprise. Strong - stronger than before, the Golem tore at the monster, slashing red lines into it. Magic pulled at its pseudo skeleton, grounding itself and allowing it to generate more force in its movements.

The monster spasmed, throwing its weight around, trying to escape. Clover commanded his larger Golem to press down harder against the mutated animal. His forehead burned at the strain of controlling both at once.

As the squirrel wrung itself free and rolled off of its back to a more powerful position, Mr. Cat's claws tore through the outer layer of muscle at its throat. Stunned, it stumbled for a moment. Then, the accumulated damage took its toll, and it fell dead.

Congratulations! You have slain a Two-tailed Squirrel - Lvl 3. +150 Exp.

A burst of energy flashed hotly inside of Mr. Cat, empowering it. Not knowing its source but not being one to waste an opportunity, Clover wasted no time and commanded his Golems to rejoin the fight. Leaving a trail of red paw prints behind it, Mr. Cat charged toward the closest squirrel, and the skeleton Golem followed closely behind it, a wind gathering at its back, slowly building in intensity - pushing it forward faster the longer it continued in a straight line.

Swinging her sword in wide arcs, Claire warded off the monster, keeping it at a distance. Unlike the other beasts, this one was particularly timid. It stayed at the edge of her range, pouncing backward whenever the blade drew near, resulting in a stalemate of sorts.

Both had endured minor damage. That was about to change.

Like a river, both his Golems descended down on the beast in a continuous stream of attacks. First, Mr. Cat slashed at its ankles, knocking it off balance with the uncharacteristic force of the swipe. The hot energy empowering the Golem faded, drained by the strike.

Then, like a truck, his dinosaur Golem smashed head-first into the off-balance monster. Bones cracked inside of the Two-tailed Squirrel and outside of it. A burst of material shot from the Golem's skeleton, dislodged by the force - the Golem was more fragile than its imposing figure would imply, possibly as a result of its base materials.

Almost feeling like he was distantly playing a video game, Clover commanded his Golems and worked with Claire to quickly finish off the monster. Another brief flash of energy surged through Mr. Cat, but by that point, there was no one left to direct it at - Ron had already finished off his opponent.

Congratulations! You have slain a Two-tailed Squirrel - Lvl 1. +100 Exp.

Clover smiled, recalling his Golems to his side in case another attack were to occur. Mentally, he reviewed his performance. Overall, he had done well. His Class upgrade at Level five had dramatically boosted his power; encounters that would have been exceedingly dangerous before were now… Not easy; that would be too much of a stretch, but they were manageable. Both his Golems had taken minor damage and had slightly less mana animating them than when they had started, but they were still in working condition, and more importantly, by keeping his distance, he had managed to entirely avoid taking damage.

Though, one black mark stained his performance, only occurring to him after the fact. He had been so caught up in controlling his Golems that he had lost sight of his surroundings. During the heat of battle, it would have been easy for a monster to sneak up behind him. His skin crawled at the possibility - he’d have to do a better job next time.

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“Nice. I hit Level 5,” Ron said while shaking out his fist. His knuckles were bruised from punching.

"Cool," Clover said, drawing out the sound while wheeling to his side. "What did you get?"

Ron poked at the air. “One minute, let me read through it first.” He readjusted his suit collar. “The first Class it offered me was [Brawler]. It gives ten Stat Points per Level, mostly spread out amongst the physical side. From the sound of the description and its name, I think it's safe to say that it will give me Skills that will let me punch stuff harder.”

Claire wandered over to listen after checking the bodies of the monsters for Skill Stones and added, "Punching stuff harder is always good."

Clover nodded. Having the capability to punch stuff or, more broadly, hit stuff harder was always a good thing. Additionally, the option lined up well with Ms. Lin's theory about Class selection - the System had likely offered it to him because of the martial Skill Stone he had found and all the fighting he had done with his fists.

Ron coughed into his hand, his posture shifting to more closely mirror that of a public speaker - it was probably something he had read about in a book. "The second option was [Laborer]. This and the last one were both Inferior Rarity, though this one gives slightly more Skill Points. The description is kind of vague, but it sounds like it will help me build stuff or carry out simple tasks."

“Even with more Stat Points, it sounds worse than the first option,” Claire said.

Clover agreed, though he didn't say anything - there was no need to pile on. The second Class also nicely slotted in with Ms. Lin's theory. [Laborer] had likely come from Ron's time working at McDonald's.

"The last one is the best Rarity-wise. [Intrepid Trader] gives 14 Stat Points per Level," Ron spoke woodenly. He flashed a half smile and then asked, "What does Intrepid mean?"

"I don't know," Clover said.

At first, he had been slightly disappointed that his Class, [Apprentice Golemancer], was only Common, but now, after learning that Inferior was the most common Class Rarity at the first evolution, he, somewhat guiltily, felt better about his selection.

"It means adventurous or brave," Claire said, her eyes tilted up while she remembered the dictionary definition. "Though, sometimes, it's used ironically."

"Oh, that fits him well then," Clover said, then paused. "Not the ironic part! The mercantile part. Before this all happened, he was going to be a car salesman."

Ron laughed a bitter sound. “It doesn’t. I lied; I was never going to leave.”

Clover blinked in confusion. “What?”

"My dad worked at the bank answering phone calls for 40 years. He made enough to survive and provide for us but never enough to get what he wanted. He worked till the day he died. On his deathbed, he didn't say it, but I could tell from his expression that he was so disappointed that he hadn't seen more of what life had to offer. I didn't want to end up like him." Ron took a breath. "After his death, I became obsessed with the idea of making money. I read all the books on business and sales that I could find, and instead of doing my homework in high school, I would stay up late and research different jobs and business ideas."

Claire stood awkwardly to the side, looking down at her feet.

"After graduating, I knew everything I needed to know - at least enough to start, and I had the time to pursue my dreams, but I never did. Time passed, and money ran short, so I had to get a job as a cashier at McDonald's. I told myself it would only be for a couple weeks - till a better opportunity came around. I blinked, and those couple weeks turned into a year. Deep down, I knew I would be there for the rest of my life, just like my dad, but I couldn't admit that to myself, so I lied. It made me feel better to think that a better life was around the corner even though I knew it was a lie," Ron said, finishing slowly.

The version of himself Ron had described did not match at all what Clover knew of him. Ron, at least in his eyes, had been brave - not even two hours after meeting him, Ron had sprinted into danger, risking his life to try to save someone else from the Old Golem's attack. He wasn't the type of person who would wait around for an opportunity; he was the type to make one for himself.

Clover struggled to reconcile the two versions of the teen.

“It feels like the System is taunting me by offering me this Class. Being a trader won’t help me survive.”

Clover knew he had to say something, but the right words eluded him. He opened his mouth, unsure of what he was going to say. "Yesterday, you said we didn't have to be who we were anymore," Clover said slowly. "I didn't believe you at the time, but now I do. I think you should take it. I think you should take the Class."

Ron didn't say anything. He stared at the blue screen only he could see that hovered in front of him. A moment passed. He clicked it with a sigh, his shoulders relaxing. "Thanks, Clover; you're a good friend."

Clover tilted his head to the side. “I try,” he said, trying to not sound too overly excited. Mentally, he celebrated. He had done it! He had made a friend!

Claire looked like she had something to add, but she decided against it with a shake of her head. "So, what did you get?" she asked after an appropriate amount of time passed.

"One of my Skills evolved - now, instead of just being a vague pull, if I use it, and a treasure or an item of great value is in its range, it will point me in its direction. I also got another Skill, but I don't think it will be very useful in combat. Worst case, I can keep doing what I have been doing and [Power Strike] anything that comes too close." Ron rubbed his hands together, shaking off the emotions that had gripped him, returning to his normal unserious self. "[Treasure Map]," he said with passion.

A map made of old yellowed and crinkled paper materialized in his hands out of golden strands of light. Aside from some vague landmarks, its surface was mostly blank, except for a large black x that marked its upper right-most central quadrant. A small red ink dot, which Clover assumed was their current location, rested not too far away from the x.

“Cool,” Clover said as he craned his neck to get a better look, awed by the display of magic. No matter how simple, it always captured his imagination.

"[Treasure Map] says there's something really valuable at the end of the museum," Ron said with a horrible pirate accent as he pointed at the x.

“Oh, what are we waiting for then,” Clover said. “Let’s go.”

After taking a short moment to regroup, they departed, the map filling in details as they went. They continued deeper into the museum till they encountered something strange. A blue screen appeared.