Mathew was sitting outside his old business alone. He wanted peace and quiet. After his vision, he kept going back to it. “Why did I see this?”

He knew it wasn’t from being near death's door. He was very wounded, but not to the point of death. Not like he was with the wolf. His worst injuries were broken bones and mana fatigue. He played around with his knife, every now and then rubbing a finger across the broken tip.

He couldn’t get it repaired until he returned to Blue Oaks. So he would be forced to use his back up knives for the rest of his time here. He looked over the blade and was surprised he was able to kill the giant undead.

Bones are very tough material. To cut through it is difficult. Now, normal bones are nothing when backed with a strength stat of over 50 like Mathew had. He was five times stronger than he ever was before, not including the training he has done. If anything, he would lean toward being six or seven times stronger. Yet, five times one is still five.

He kept replaying the fight in his head, curious as to why the monster went right for him. It wasn’t like he was the only threat. Two guards, Jeffrey, and Agnox were all harassing him in melee, yet he ignored them. The freak was physically strong, able to ignore most attacks, even Mathew’s own strongest current attack.

He had not yet checked his menu. It felt wrong to do so. He’s been focusing on doing things outside what The System said he could do. Looking at his menu now to get the answers would be like cheating on a test. Any other day Mathew would do this, but he didn’t feel like it now.

It was as if he needed to prove something before allowing himself to see the answers. He pulled out a different knife and inspected it. A knife typically only had one side edged, with a thick back side to support the blade. Mathew knew this thanks to Zack’s boring conversations of what he had learned as a smith.

The blade he saw had two edges, but that didn’t make it any less of a knife, even for its size. It’s about shape and proportions for its weilder.

Mathew walked over to a brick wall, ignoring the warnings from Samuel. She told him not to do strenuous activities, but he didn’t care right now. He had something to test…to prove.

He walked to the wall and placed a hand on it. Humming to himself he then thrusted forward with his knife as hard as he could, putting a heavy force behind it.

The knife tip slipped to the side as he connected with the wall, leaving behind a shallow cut in the brick work. Mathew wrinkled his nose in disappointment. “That’s not right…”

Mathew took a deep breath and listened to his body as he tried to stab the wall again. He thought over his actions and what he was trying to do. “Penetrating a wall requires me to bypass its own structural integrity. To pierce through it, I need both precision and penetration. Precision to attack perfectly, and penetration to bypass its…defense? Resistance?”

He blinked, but shook his head. Refocusing on recreating what the giant blade did, he pulled back his arm and thrusted forward. He only moved halfway before stopping himself. It felt wrong.

Just before he struck, he knew it wouldn’t have worked. He didn’t aim properly, nor was the strength behind it enough. Mathew repositioned himself, but decided to let some mana and mental energy flow forward. He focused on reinforcing his blade with resistance. To resist the wall itself. Yet, this time, it was different than any other time he used that Axiom. [Resistance] had a weight to it. This time, there was a thin sheet of energy that entered his blade.

Again, he doubted it would work, but as soon as he started to push the energy forward, it felt right. He smiled and pushed more energy into his blade. The blade’s tip shone for a moment, then Mathew struck forward.

The knife went all the way down to the hilt. Brick dust floated in the air, causing Mathew to cough and walk away from the wall. Yet, he couldn’t stop smiling. “I don’t need a menu to know what I just did, but just to be sure…”

He laughed. Mathew was laughing at what he saw. Not only had he acquired Level 24, but that single battle had pushed him over the edge in several areas. He quickly placed his stats to even out a few numbers and looked at the end result.

Name: Mathew McGonald

Race: Human [Beginner]

Class: Summoner

Profession: Contract Scribe

Level: 24

Universal Currency: 34,566

Titles: Child of Axiom, Classy, Dungeoneer II, Forerunner, Hearth Crystal Owner, Lawyer, Pack Leader, Soloist, Survivor II

Axioms:

Glint of Piercing [Novice], Glint of Resistance [Beginner]

Strength:

61

Vitality:

120

Dexterity:

120

Endurance:

86

Intelligence:

268

Wisdom:

264

Unallotted Stat Points: 0

He scrolled down to his two Axioms, greedily looking at what his newest, and upgraded ones did.

Glint of Resistance [Beginner]: +20 to Endurance, +25 to Wisdom, +5 Intelligence

Glint of Piercing [Novice]: +10 to Dexterity, +10 to Intelligence, +5 to Strength

“The Axiom doubled the number of stats it gives as it tiers up?!” If that pattern continued, he was afraid of what Gods were like on their stats. An Axiom at Godly level would give a stagering 6,400 stat bonus…EACH. Mathew already had two. Who is to say he can’t have more? Who is to say someone like The Black King or Gaia didn’t have several?

If Mathew wasn’t already laughing, he would be now. “What even is the point of Class stats when I can get stats like this just from understanding things?”

Then again, Mathew realized how hard it was to acquire the two Axioms. He quickly went over his powers and noticed something odd about his [Knives] skill.

Firstly, it remained at Beginner 9, but there was an asterisk next to it. He clicked on it, opening up a new menu.

Skill is unable to rank up due to lack of requirements, Replacement available.

Shadow Knife | Requirement: Follower of Numa

Your fellowship of your Goddess has given you the ability to tap into her powers. You can now manifest a blade out of shadows.

Replacement: Piercing Weapons | Novice 0

Your ability to wield piercing type weapons has improved through combat and enlightenment. All weapons of this type are improved in your hands.

Mathew heavily frowned. “That bitch…” He already didn’t trust the Gods. Now that if he tries to learn from them, they can force him to either comply or start over was atrocious. He didn’t even pick that upgrade for Numa, simply to learn something new. Now, he was never going to pick an upgrade or power that involved a God…ever.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

A small worry of the quest Gaia gave him caused him to pause. Then again, the quest reward never mentioned the Goddess at all directly. He silently hoped it would remain that way, or he would refuse the reward. He needed reliable powers that were his, not someone else's. He reluctantly accepted the replacement. He didn’t feel anything, but a few swings with his knife proved those small nudges to help him were gone.

Mathew had two other powers to upgrade. He opened the first one, which was a small surprise to him.

Skill Upgrade - Conjure Weapon

Triple Binding: You can now bind up to three weapons at a time.

Mana Weapon: Channeling mana allows you to manifest a weapon from your mana.

Reach: You can summon your weapon to any place within five feet of you

Mathew was torn between the first and second option. At first, he almost instantly selected the first one. Being able to bind both his knife and rod would prevent his two main weapons from ever staying out of his grasp. Then he could bind a third back up weapon, and forever have his own arsenal to protect him.

Rereading the second choice made him pause. He knew it wouldn’t be what it sounded like. He doubted he could summon a whole nuclear warhead out of his own mana, as that did not sound right for going from a Beginner upgrade to an ability.

Then again, The System was known to not be fair. He thought about how each one he could mimic himself. The third one would probably be easiest, with the first one being a close second. He never even thought of trying to create weapons out of his mana.

In the end, Mathew selected the second choice and moved to the upgrade for [Mana Bolt]

Skill Upgrade - Mana Bolt

Controlled Projectile: You are able to control the bolt mid air, moving it as you please.

Upgrade - Ice Bolt: You create a sharp frozen bolt of ice and launch it at your target.

Piercing Bolt: Your bolts have increased penetrating power.

Exploding Bolt: Your bolts have increased explosive power.

This caused Mathew to think. He instantly removed the final two, thinking he could recreate those effects himself, primarily the piercing one. He assumed the option only appeared due to his new Axiom, or maybe was affected by his ‘new’ skill.

He was tempted to take the upgrade spell. He knew upgrades were rare, and powerful. Then again, did he want to limit himself to an actual icicle? He assumed it increased the elemental prowess of ice, something he didn’t care that much about.

The idea sounded pleasing, but less so than Controlled Projectile. That was something he had been working on, and The System was going to reward him for his efforts. That allowed him to jump to training something else entirely, and selected the option. He closed his menu and looked at the wall where his knife was stuck inside of.

He had focused so much on his new Axiom, that he didn’t reflect as to why his first one had ranked up. After thinking about it for a moment, he realized that it was because of the newest way he looked at it.

In the fight with the giant undead, he had used it as it was intended. A defensive ability. He infused his arms with mental energy, which was the sole reason he was both alive, and only had one broken arm.

Mathew pulled the knife out of the wall, and saw it wasn’t damaged at all. The wall was just about the same toughness as the monster's skull he pierced, if not slightly less. In less than a few hours, he was already stronger than before.

Turning around, he went back inside his store and saw Samuel looking very angry. “I told you no more testing, working out, training, or any of that. You almost died. It’s my job to keep your dumbass alive. Dr. Garcia would be very upset if you didn’t listen to me.”

Mathew rolled his eyes. “I know my limits. I barely did anything, mostly looking at my menu. I leveled up by the way.”

She continued to stare at him, not saying anything.

“Since when did you become my mother? Why do you even care about my life? I thought you hated being here, and disliked me.”

“Mathew, you are smart, but an idiot. What do you think happens when you die?”

He shrugged, “Depends on what you are talking about. Heaven and Hell? Don’t believe in it, parents shoved that down my throat enough as a child. I assume you mean what happens to Blue Oaks.”

“Correct I do mean that. You are one of, if not, the strongest in Blue Oaks. If you die, we lose a powerful asset. In the military, if we lose a huge stock of weapons or if a base is destroyed, the enemy knows we are weaker, and might start pushing to test how weak we are. Do you want to just throw away what you want? To be in charge?”

“And not pushing myself will cause me to remain weaker. I know my limits.” Mathew noticed the empty room, and was starting to feel something else was going on to this conversation. “That battle was unlucky. I didn’t do anything wrong. It was a weird and new type of situation. Nobody here could have, or did expect that undead monster to come right at me. I still don’t even know why he did it.”

Samuel looked behind her. “Agnox, get in here. Tell him what you told me.”

Agnox floated, looking guilty. Mathew raised an eyebrow, “What are you getting at.”

“Well Boss, I was thinking. What if you were targeted for a reason. Either because you are the strongest, Blue Oaks leader, or the Dungeon Boss thinks you are a threat and wants to take you out before you have a chance to stop him. It’s what Morthrus tried to do with Leo and the others. She sent out Pittrudix to clear out any possible trouble.”

Mathew nodded slowly, seeing his point. Samuel smirked, “Which means you are not to go out with so few people anymore. Actually I think you and Leo should stick together for now on.”

“No, I agree, but I’m going to take it a step further. The Dungeon Boss sent out one of its strongest people right? Why not strike now while they are at a disadvantage?”

Samuel frowned, “I see your logic, but can we wait till we get help from the other zones? Just the small group we have won’t be enough if what Leo said is right.”

“Leo is back already? When did he show up?”

“Just after you went outside. He’s in your old office.”

Mathew walked past her and Agnox. He wanted to know how the talk with Bob went.

Walking into his old office, Leo was taking off his armor to clean up. Some undead blood was all over him. “How did it go? Which contract did he agree to?”

“The second one. Bob seemed…odd. Like the serial rapist case I had when I first was hired here for only a few weeks. Less creepy, more off putting. He’s hiding something, and I don’t like that.”

“How's that related to that case? It was all creepy and off putting. Dude captured seven women, his own wife, and all their children. How can Bob be worse than that guy.”

“Not saying he is, but you saw the guy on the trial stand. You had a small claims case right after that, so you decided to watch how I did when the two teens I was representing were questioned. Remember how he kept smiling as if he had won somehow?”

Mathew nodded slowly “I do. Bob had the same kind of smile?”

“Very similar. He asked a few off questions, and seemed confident. Too confident. For someone who hates magic didn’t even bat an eye at me. Let me keep my weapon on me. He seems too trusting.”

“Or assumes he is stronger than you are.”

Leo nodded. “Before I left, I asked to visit the Hearth Crystal. I lied, saying I wanted to check a level up thing. I was looking him up on the Leaderboards. I assumed he was at least Level 22, and that was a low ball. Want to know what I found?”

Mathew raised his eyebrows, “What?”

“Absolutely nobody named Bob, Bobby, or Robert, or anything similar to that name. Actually, kind of odd nobody named Bob is at least level 22, but that is besides the point.”

“So either he is lying about his actual power, or Bob isn’t named Bob.”

Leo pulled out the contract, “Yet, he signed it with the name Bob. Can people put false names on your contract?”

Mathew looked over the signatures and started to think. “I have no clue. Our old contracts require a legal name. I have no clue if The Council requires the same.”

“I don’t trust the guy, simply because he was too open to trade. Barely put up a fight. He was heavily against magic being used. Said it was against his laws.”

“Does he have someone who can impose laws in his zone?” Mathew asked.

Leo shrugged, “I doubt it. Sounds like any law type profession will be able to use magic. Speaking of, he realized your contract was magical. After he signed it, he said he felt mana drain from him.”

“I never knew it did that. Nobody else claimed it, not even Ty.”

“Exactly. Why would someone who is against magic know how mana is used? Nobody else knew it was being used, but he did.”

Mathew took a deep breath. “I need to meet him personally before I agree or disagree with your thinking.”

Leo smirked, “Good, because you have a date tomorrow with him.”