The newly overgrown cityscape creaked and groaned as buildings fell and settled from the rush of rampant growth that the Final Seeding had put into motion. Birds filled the air, both Eidos and wildlife, flying across the city as, in a rush of energy, the natural and supernatural suddenly claimed the world of man.

Julian kept look out from the second floor of the dormitory as survivors of the Final Seeding walked across the USF campus. Omen snored softly in the floor beside him while Obi rested on his shoulder.

Across the yard, Julian watched as the dorms that served as the infirmary slowly crumbled as vines and roots ripped through the foundation. He sighed, trying to decide if it was luck or coincidence that had forced them to move out of there. The mob had been good for something, at least.

Andre and Maria were busy securing the dormitory while Dr. Winslow and Kiyoka stabilized an unconscious Monty. Turns out his sadistic display earlier came from a newly onset fever from infection. The strong pain medicine wasn’t helping his mental state, either.

All was quiet since the tutorial’s end. For now.

Julian’s bracer vibrated before Andre’s voice broke through the silence. “All clear in the building. Everything is secure.”

Julian’s eyebrows raised in surprise at Andre’s voice. The communications network sounded as clear as if Andre was in the room beside him.

Julian’s attention turned to the string of notifications he had left untouched since the Final Seeding.

[Tri-Bracer System, version 7.346751 Initialized.]

[All Bracer Functions Initialized.]

[Class System: Active]

[Rank System: Active]

[Leveling Synchronization: Active]

[Tamer Functions: Active]

[Survive, Bond, and Thrive…Together]

The interface of the bracer was mostly the same, but there were now now menus to explore.

[User Information]

[Eidos Information]

[Tri-Bracer Network]

[Mapping and Information]

[Inventory]

Suddenly, a new notification pinged on Julian’s bracer.

[Tutorial: Complete]

[Introductory Den Raid: Complete]

[Survive the Final Seeding: Complete]

[Calculation Rewards]

A spinning dial appeared on the screen as they system started it’s calculations.

Julian sighed. Looks like he would have to wait.

Maria stumbled into the room, her attention on her bracer. “Did you get the recent notification?”

Julian nodded as he turned to face her. “Yeah, I did. It stopped me from checking out the system update.”

“Me, too. I wonder what the reward’s going to be?” Maria smiled, excitement pouring off of her.

Julian chuckled. “Look, I know gifts are your love language, but I’m not sure about this one.”

Maria shrugged. “Hey, you never know.” She walked towards the door to leave the room. “Andre has went out to see if he can secure any supplies for us and check on survivors across campus. With the safe zone down, it’s every man for themselves out there.”

“He went alone?” Julian asked angrily, causing Omen to groan and lift his head in response.

Maria glared at him. “Of course not. Some students who were helping move Monty are with him. They all have Eidos, so don’t worry. Plus, he knows he can call us or use the SOS beacon.”

Julian’s shoulders slumped as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “My bad, sorry.”

Maria left the room, before suddenly poking her head back in, smirking at him.“It’s good to know you care.” With that, she left him to his thoughts.

Julian kept watch across the remains of the USF campus well into the evening. He finally saw Andre’s group coming across the campus. The group had grown by leaps and bounds as other survivors joined them, their arms full of their belongings and supplies. Julian counted around seventy or so people. It was going to get a bit crowded.

Julian tapped his bracer. “Andre, you good?”

Andre was quick to respond. “Oh yeah. The students vetted these people. Most are faculty, staff, and their families, plus other students who lived on campus. It’s a solid group.”

“Do we have enough supplies for everyone?”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“For a couple of days at most. The gym is demolished, so the few supplies we could scrounge up came from what was left of the tent towns. We’ll talk about it more once we get everyone settled in. For now, let’s enjoy the fact that we’re still alive.”

Julian dropped his bracer to his side at that. Looking across the survivors as they approached the dorms, they looked worse for wear, but there was a joy over the crowd. Children were busy playing with the occasional Eidos and laughing. Others were busy going over notifications on their bracers and mumbling to themselves. There was a resolve there, and Julian was glad to see it.

The group entered into the lobby of the dorms one at a time, settling in. Julian took the opportunity to leave his post and head to the roof. As he stepped away from the window, Omen jumped to his feet, following faithfully behind him.

As Julian took the steps up, he found people already up on the other floors finding rooms to stay in.

“Look! Puppy!”

Julian chuckled as children pointed at Omen, running towards them. He felt a wave of dread radiate from his Canis.

The wolf shifted into Julian’s shadow, hiding from the children.

“Woah! Where did he go?” One little girl asked, looking around excitedly.

“Aww, bring the puppy back, mister!” A little boy demanded, his hands on his hips.

An older woman poked her head out of a nearby dorm room. “Kids, come back over here. Leave the man alone.”

“But, the puppy!”

Omen’s wave of despair grew as he pleaded with Julian to go up the steps faster.

Julian took the steps two at a time, leaving the kids behind.

The final set of steps came into view, and Julian made his way out onto the roof.

Omen slipped out of Julian’s shadow, trotting alongside him as they found themselves alone.

The scene across the campus was strange to Julian. The supernatural overgrowth made everything look so much older and decrepit. If the Overseers were trying to get the point across that the age of man was over, they were doing a good job of sending the message. He never imagined so much could change within twenty four hours.

His bracer vibrated.

[Calculations: Complete]

[Tutorial Rewards:]

[Equipment: Capsule Container (Common)]

[5x Eidos Capsules (Common)]

[10x Healing Wave Capsules (Common)]

[10x Status Wave Capsules (Common)]

[Manifest Rewards?]

[Yes] [No]

Julian held off for now. There was more to look over.

[Calculations: Complete]

{Introductory Den Raid Rewards:]

[Tamer Ability: Chosen of Izun (Exclusive)]

[System Ability Points: 10]

[Ability: Elemental Fusion (Exclusive)]

[Manifest Rewards?]

[Yes] [No]

Julian looked the list of rewards over, trying to decide where to start.

Maria’s voice broke through his concentration. “Party meeting! Where is everyone?”

Andre was the first to chime in. “I’m with Kiyoka in Monty’s room.”

“I’m on the roof keeping watch,” Julian replied.

“Roof sounds good. See you guys there,” Maria said.

Julian took a seat on the roof, resting his back against the brick overhang.

In no time, Maria came bounding through the door, excitement radiating off of her. Matilda held on for her life, clinging to Maria’s shoulder.

“Told you!” She yelled out, her voice echoing into the air.

“Shh! Easy!” Julian shushed her, looking out over the campus again.

Kiyoka and Andre stepped through the door and onto the roof. Dorffi trotted through the doorway behind them with Ember jumping on his back playfully.

“Told you what?” Kiyoka asked, her eyes heavy from being up so late.

Julian felt bad for her. “Kiyoka needs rest. Can’t this wait?”

“No! We gotta see what we got!”

“Maria,” Julian glared at her, sighing heavily.

“No, it’s fine,” Kiyoka said, smiling at Julian. “I’ll get some rest after. Hopefully these rewards or whatever bring some peace of mind. Let’s check them out.”

Julian looked back to the list on his bracer.

[Manifest Rewards?}

[Yes] [No]

Julian pressed [Yes], and so did the others.

Golden particles swirled in front of Julian, appearing out of thin air as his first reward list appeared in front of him.

Capsules clinked together as they dropped into roof in front of him. He recognized the empty Eidos Capsules immediately, but then smaller, rectangular capsules fell among them. Stamped on the sides of a few of them were, “Heal,” while the others said, “Status.” A button rested on the small side of rectangular capsules. Lastly, a strange looking bandolier fell to the ground.

Julian picked up the bandolier. It was slimline, with clips holding the capsule container to a sturdy strap that had buckle connectors. The container itself could be removed from the strap and put on another strap if necessary.He immediately noticed slots for Eidos Capsules. He reached into his pocket and placed Omen’s capsule in first near the top of the container, and then placed Obi’s capsule in under it.

He felt his bracer vibrate.

[Synchronization to Capsule Container in Progress.]

“That’s weird,” Julian said, looking back at his stuff.

Items were spread out across the roof in front of the party. It looked as though they got the same rewards for the tutorial.

Julian went on to the next list of rewards.

[Manifest Rewards?}

[Yes] [No]

He pressed [Yes] once more.

More golden particles swirled before him, dropping two dull black capsules into his hand. One immediately cracked and activated, causing his bracer to vibrated once more.

[Chosen of Izun: Active]

He clicked the notification.

[Chosen of Izun (Exclusive]

[You have earned the favor of an Overseer.]

[Passive Ability: Izun’s Eyes]

[Your eyes serve as a way for Izun to see the world from a different perspective.]

[Affinity Sense Granted]

[Allows for Eidos tamed by the Chosen to have a second Ability Slot]

[Skill Rank: 1]

[Warning: This ability isn’t found in the standard roster of system abilities.]

Julian looked up from his bracer, confusion all over his face. Then, he felt something pierce his left forearm underneath his bracer for a second. He groaned in pain, shaking his forearm when suddenly, he noticed his vision swim for a moment before settling back to normal.

“That was even weirder,” He whispered.

“You okay?” Kiyoka asked. Everyone else was deep into their loot, and she was the only one to notice.

“Yeah, I think so,” he lied, his forearm burning. He looked back to his bracer.

[Item Drop Identified]

[Ability Capsule: Passive]

[Elemental Fusion: Exclusive]

[Allows the Eidos to use their elemental affinity across any type of attack, merging elements for greater effect.]

[Add to Catalogue?]

[Yes] [No]

Julian immediately clicked [Yes], letting the new ability get added to his bracer.

Maria sighed. “Ahh, nepotism at its finest. Working for an Overseer is going to have its perks.”

Julian looked over at her. “What do you mean? Did they give you stuff, too?”

Maria shrugged. “Too? I assumed all of this was from them. Did you get something special?!” She jumped up excitedly. “Not fair!”

Julian chuckled. “Let’s see what else we have here.” He turned back to his bracer.

[Class Options Now Available.]

[Please Choose Your Class.]

“Now, this looks interesting,” Julian said, smiling as he clicked the screen.