All of the choices for the incentive went well until I got to the final one and realized something. There's one very important piece of information that completely changes how this incentive works and I'm not sure what to do about it. Maybe this was the god's way of trying to screw me over a little while offering me honey? Give some hope and then reveal that it's unreachable for me?

Hopefully, that's not the case.

"I don't know the names of any Perks," I tell the golem. "At all. I know about the ones that can boost my resistance to the natural ambient Mana, but you didn't tell me their names."

Which means I can't pick a Perk to learn about. I need to actually give a name for it, the golem was pretty clear on that.

"The Perk which improves one's resistance to ambient magical energy and which is best-suited for your living situation, your body, your bloodline, your Classes, and the resources available to you is [Mana-Infused Body]. When combining those factors, it is possible to earn this in approximately five days or less with no risk to your health apart from the ones being in this area naturally have. Would you like to learn how to earn it?"

That bit about "no risk apart from what's already here" sounds much too good to be true. However, I do want to learn it and this confirms my suspicions about the reason for the [Level-Block Potion]. The god is including that so that I can earn the Perk before gaining a Status Level.

"Yes," I tell the golem. "I want to learn how to acquire [Mana-Infused Body]."

"In an area with a high concentration of ambient magical energies," the golem tells me. "Drink at least 0.5 ounces of a [Basic Healing Potion] or better every hour eight times each day. It does not have to be exactly on the hour but doing that works best.

"This is a form of adaptation and training similar to muscles but not exactly," he continues. "Your body is being damaged by the ambient magical energies, then healed from it. Over time, it becomes stronger and more resistant to it. It is a process which ordinarily occurs over many generations and thousands of years, without any noticeable damage to the persons involved.

"However," he continues. "In an area with ambient Mana as strong as here, the process can be sped up and achieved in only five days by following the aforementioned plan."

"And what does the Perk do?" I ask.

"It improves your natural resistance to ambient magical energies," the golem starts with the part I already know. "While also providing a bonus to your Mana, Mana Regen, Constitution, Magic, and Vitality every Status Level you acquire after earning it."

This sounds absolutely insanely broken unless those bonuses are small. It also means that unless the gods can take away Perks – which they probably can't considering the Perk itself isn't an incentive, just the information on how to earn it – then the god has just given me something it can't revoke if I turn against the promise to try this out for a month once I gain it. Is that a show of trust on their part, or a promise of punishment if I betray the promise?

Not that I intend to, as much as I'd rather not stay here. My fear of a god's wrath is more than my desire to live somewhere safer, with people I like and care about.

"Okay," I say. "Now for the rest of the incentive… how do I get it?"

The golem gives me the rest of the incentive the same way he gave me the original [Starter Pack]. First, I have to confirm that all of my selections are correct, then he gives me the money, then he gives me cases with tokens in them.

"In order to make transporting such a large volume of bonus items more easy," the golem tells me as he puts his hand on the counter again, the hand turning blue for a moment. "You have also been awarded a temporary storage item which will expire in two hours or once everything placed inside of it has been removed, whichever comes first."

When he moves his hand away, there's a black band ring sitting on the counter. I pick it up and examine it, noting that it feels metallic as I do.

[Temporary Storage Ring] This ring has a 2-hour maximum lifespan and is designed to carry the items granted to Carter Leif Elm as an incentive for accepting a Quest back to his home. Only the items from this incentive may be stored inside and once they are all removed, the item will expire.

I slip the ring on and try it out. The golem has to tell me how to work it after a minute of attempts but after that, I can move everything inside without issue.

With how much money I now have thanks to the god increasing the incentive by 5,000 syscre each time, I browse the shops a little bit more. There's no way I'm taking any of it home right now with what space I have, but it's good to look through the shops more seriously now that I can afford more than just some basic things.

There's nothing else for me to do here except for completing the pair of Quests I'd accepted this morning so I do that, then start to leave. Just as I reach the threshold of the shop area, a magihawk flies straight toward me. I noticed it too late to strike first so step back while beginning to cast a [Stone Bullet].

Rather than slamming into the supposed barrier of the shop area, the magihawk flies straight into it, soaring past me. I turn and watch as the magihawk turns around and flies over to one of the nearby benches, landing on it and tilting its head to the side a little as it looks at me.

"Uh," I look at the golems, then back at the magihawk. "You're not a hostile one, are yo-wait."

I step closer to the magihawk, which hops closer to me. There's something tied to one of its legs. I kneel down and reach forward, then stop and look at the magihawk, which nods. Someone tamed this monster and sent it to me with a message and I'm fairly certain it was Grandma.

The paper tied to its leg has Grandma's handwriting on it, a message meant for me. At a guess, I'd say that this is paper bought through the System, with ink from there as well. It's not the bleach-white and super-smooth paper that I'm used to but one with a slightly yellow tint and a little bit of a coarser texture as well. There aren't any lines on it like notebook paper has but Grandma's still managed to write in perfect lines.

Carter,

I'm making sure that others are safe. I know you're strong and gifted, so surviving won't be an issue for you. That's why I haven't come and looked for you. The ambient Mana in the air here is intense so I'm setting up camp at the high school with what survivors I can gather and tomorrow, we'll set off as a group southwest, toward the middle school there. It's not a far distance but it might be all a group this size can manage under the circumstances. If you don't meet up with us by tomorrow evening, I'll send you our next destination.

Join up with us when you can. A person traveling solo can do so faster than a group. Tessa and Dakota are here with me. She's figured out an affinity for ice magics and he's working on trying to mix magic with his martial arts. Tessa asked me to tell you that she's "alone again". I'm not sure what that means by that since you're gay and she was already single and all she'd say was "Carter knows what it means" so I guess you do.

Your brothers are pestering me to go find you but I know you're going to handle things just fine. You're of my blood. There's not much space left so I can't go into more details, but many of the people whose families have been in this area for generations have ancestors from another world. We are some of those descendants. I'll explain more when we meet up.

I'll explain more when we meet up about this as well, but if a god grants you a Quest ACCEPT IT. No matter what the Quest is, how absurd it seems, or how suspicious it is. They are purely benevolent toward lesser beings. Any Quest they issue you is to benefit you and you alone.

Lots of love,

Grandma

PS. His name is Fea

If I'd gotten this before accepting the incentive, I'd have probably only become more suspicious. The fact that I received the message after not just going through the whole incentive choices and putting the items away but also after looking through the shop again makes me not as suspicious. This came from Grandma and it's given me some… shocking information.

We're descended of people from another world and Grandma knows stuff about it, magic, the System, and the gods.

I trust this information now because of when it arrived but I would have only trusted it before now if Grandma herself came to me and told me this stuff. The gods are benevolent? That's the sort of thing a god would try to convince me of while trying to get me to take on a Quest, not thirty minutes after I finish picking out my incentive packs after giving in.

"Hey, Fea," I look at the magihawk. "Are you okay with me sending a message back to Grandma with you?"

Fea gives me an affirmative "kee-ee-arr" with a bob of his head.

"Alright," I say. "Let me get some paper."

A basic stationary kit from the System Shop costs 50 syscre, another example of the odd prices. I really want to know how they were determined because I can't line them up with the old values at all.

With the kit in hand, I sit down on the bench beside Fea and begin to write. The kit came with only fifty sheets of paper, a board to write on, an inkwell, and a quill. I'm not used to writing like this but manage to get the hang of it after using an entire paper for practice.

Ready to write, I work on my letter to Grandma.

Grandma,

A god issued me a Quest earlier and was very insistent on me taking it. They gave me an incentive and then kept increasing it when I was refusing. The Quest's for living in this area for the next 6 months. The incentive was to get me to try it out for at least 1 month.

I'm still a bit suspicious even with your message. The gods are purely benevolent toward lesser beings? That's unlike any mythology I've seen. And what benefit could I possibly hope for from living in an area that's already dangerous and only going to get more so over the next 6 months?

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

The incentive was pretty high, though, and it did include information on how to earn the [Mana-Infused Body] Perk. In an area with an extremely high amount of ambient Mana, drink at least 2 doses of a [Basic Healing Potion] every hour 8 times a day, every day. In an area like here, that would only take 5 days. It improves one's resistance to the ambient Mana and grants boosts to some stats every Status Level.

I've been attacked by a lot of monsters already and I've seen a lot of dead people. There's plenty of fear in me but I'm able to remain calm and focused.

Tessa was about 2 months pregnant; not showing yet. It was meant to be a secret until it couldn't be anymore. There's a good chance the Mana Flood killed the baby.

Could you tell her and Koda "good luck" for me? And go them, adjusting to this already. I guess you can thank the twins for being concerned about me, too.

How the fuck did you tame a magihawk?

Lots of love,

Carter

PS. Are the Nashes there?

I fold the paper up and then tie it to Fea's leg using the same string Grandma used, then thank him. He takes flight and soars away, then I put my stationary kit on the wagon and leave.

In regards to the baby, I was trying not to think about that because it shouldn't be important. There are other things more important here than having a kid. Surviving in this new, monster-filled world is one of those.

Tessa brought up the whole kid thing on her own, but the baby was more for me than for her. I guess she'd picked up on my desire to have a kid of my own after seeing me hanging out with Logan a lot.

While I do see him as a younger brother, it did make me wish I could have a kid and I didn't want to spend a fortune on surrogacy with someone I didn't know and trust. At the same time, I wasn't going to say to Tessa "Hey, would you be willing to carry my child"? She's also the only woman I'm close to and who I also trust enough that I'd be willing to go through with surrogacy with.

It's not like I can't care for a kid despite being only twenty – I have more than enough money to do so. I know that some people would say that I'm too young, but those same people can mind their own business.

No, I just didn't feel it would be appropriate to ask my best friend if she wanted to get pregnant for me.

For her to suddenly show up at my house one day, go "Is Logan here? No. Good. Let's talk about you wanting to have a baby" was a huge surprise. It only took one attempt for her to get pregnant, too, which we were both happy about.

I'm not really sure why Tessa was willing to carry a baby for me and she wouldn't tell me. With how well I know her, I know it's not a case of her being someone who just wants to be pregnant all the time. There was… definitely something else involved, but I know her well enough to know she'll tell me on her own, when she's ready.

I'm disappointed that being a dad is delayed, but at the same time, I'm happy that I'm not bringing a kid into this world while things are still definitely dangerous and also that Tessa won't have to deal with being pregnant in such a dangerous place.

Upon reaching my home, I stop thinking about that and start focusing on a bigger problem. If everything old is dissolving because of the ambient Mana, then my house is going to disappear soon enough. Not even two weeks from now, it'll be gone. I'll need to figure out something before then, won't I?

I bring everything I have with me into the back yard, then start processing the stoneshot squirrels and magihawks. When that's finished and everything is cleaned, I head into my storage room and move all of the fragile stuff (the jars) off the shelves and onto the floors so that when the shelves inevitably give out in the next few days, the jars don't break.

It was pretty nice of the god to convert the food for free, even if I'm still suspicious of their motives. Why would the gods be purely benevolent?

"The room's a clutter now but I can deal with that some other time," I say to no one in particular, then head out back as I try to figure out what to do. "Oh, hello, Fea."

Fea has returned and is sitting on the railing for my deck, a letter attached to his leg. I ask permission for taking the letter and remove the paper once he grants it. I open up the letter as I sit at a table.

Carter,

Do not think of gods as mortals. They are beings from a vastly different plane of existence as ours and are fundamentally different from us. There are no squabbles between the gods. Again, they are fundamentally different from us.

When it comes to us, they have no reason to cause problems between us. These are beings at the highest level of existence I know of. As far as I'm aware, they mostly view us like characters in a show. They pick some "channels" to watch and keep an eye on them to see how things are doing. If they feel someone needs a nudge to do something which will benefit that person and make that person happy and they like that person enough, they'll issue a Quest.

With a fundamental difference in their desires and interests, the gods do not seek conflict or drama or strife or suffering. They do not look at the "channels" that focus on it but rather, the ones which focus on people overcoming challenges, having fun, clearing obstacles, persevering, taking down terrible foes, going about their daily lives, having sex, or whatever.

There's too much to explain in just letters, but remember the important part: gods are fundamentally different from mortals. They like inner strength, kind lives, perseverance, and so on. And even stuff that would count as "slice-of-life", where people are just going about their daily lives without any adventure or action (maybe with adventure and action in bed).

If a god offered you a Quest to live there for six months, then that means he believes you would be happiest there. Also that he's watching your "channel". If he was insistent on it even after you were determined not to, then that means he believes you would be extremely unhappy if you went through with your other plans.

That explains why Tessa looked like she was hiding tears. She confirmed it when I asked but said it's not her place to talk about the pregnancy so I'm a bit curious about the situation. Carter…?

Lucas got separated from his parents before they met up with us. They're currently looking for him and I've been helping some. So has Dakota, so I can't pass him your message.

I knew magic already. My father began to teach me when I turned twenty-one – he's one of the people who moved here from another world – and I was going to begin to teach you on your twenty-first birthday. Then I accidentally caused Earth's own Mana to awaken and… whoops?

At any rate, I already knew how to use taming magic.

Lots of love,

Grandma

I'm not entirely sure which part of the message to focus on first and decide to just… focus on none of them. There's still some doubt about the messages but I'm starting to trust that it's Grandma. Her accidentally starting a magical apocalypse is something I can see her doing.

Without knowing where Lucas got separated from his parents from, there's not much I can do to help out. That said, the school itself isn't too far from here when driving. It would take about forty minutes by walking to reach there, maybe an hour if factoring in monster attacks. I also know where Lucas lives and it's closer than the school.

If I run… I could make the trip in a lot less time, but I'm not sure how well my body would hold up for that. Not with the damage it has right now. However, if Lucas is alive, I do want to try and find him.

I grab some of my new paper, the inkwell, and the quill, then write down a message for Grandma.

Grandma,

Where are they looking for Lucas at? Where did they get separated from him at?

Lots of love,

Carter

PS. It was my baby. She can say.

I tie the message to Fea's leg, then he takes off. While waiting for a response, I empty out my ring and look for one of the [Starter Pack]s in it. When I find the right one, I open it and remove the Skill Scroll inside.

The ribbon on this one is reddish-orange and the wax seal is the same, this one with a flaming bullet emblem. I break the seal to learn the selected Skill.

You have learned [Fire Mastery]. You have learned [Flame Bullet].

After that, I take out the scroll for [Air Bullet] as well and learn that Skill. This gives me the four basic bullet spells, then I grab one with a red ribbon and wax seal, the seal bearing a potion bottle emblem. This one awards me both [Alchemy] and the related Class.

You are now a Level 1/50 [Alchemist]. +1 Strength +1 Constitution +1 Magic +1 Mind +1 Skill Point +1 Attribute Point You have gained 1 EXP.

The reason I took this on now is so that I at least have the basic abilities for it rather than needing to experiment around to get it or follow a lengthy guide. Also because I knew it would give me some stat boots and I wanted it over the other Class I'll qualify for by the time I finish preparing for the search, even if that one is technically more suited to what I'm doing. With the Attribute Point, I invest it into Magic.

With [Alchemist] acquired, I then pick up the [Level-Block Potion]. It's yellow in color but more akin to a bolder lemon juice than something less pleasant. Attached to the neck of the bottle is a small, green-brown pill. If I want to disable the effect of the potion, then I just need to take that pill while it's active and the effect will end, allowing me to gain whatever Class Levels I should have earned during the effect.

I uncork the bottle and down the entire potion as I have to drink the whole thing for it to take effect. There's a hint of berry and something nutty in the taste of the potion and it's not an unpleasant flavor. I was expecting it to be bitter or sour or foul, not delicious.

For the next 604,800 seconds, you will not gain any Class Levels that you should have earned. Instead, those will be stored and once the effect of this potion ends, you will receive all Class Levels that are stored, in order from the Class which earned the most to the Class which earned the least.

I close the message and set the bottle down. This will allow me to earn that Perk before reaching Status Level 1, and will also avoid netting me new Classes or Levels in anything before getting [Elemental Mage] up to Level 10.

Going for that instead of just letting myself reach Level 1 is probably a stupid move but it's what I'm going to focus on. As long as I'm careful, I should be fine for the next week. I hope.

The next thing I do after using that potion is access another [Starter Pack] and remove the Skill Scroll token from it. The ribbon on this one is white and the seal is golden with a sunbeam emblem.

You have learned [Holy Mastery]. You have learned [Lesser Heal].

You are now a Level 0/50 [Holy Mage]. Level is withheld until the potion's effect is ended.

This particular spell doesn't last very long but it does provide at least some bonus. I'd have to burn through a lot of Mana to make it really efficient, but I do have 2 Skill Points still available so I use those to bring it up to Level 2, reducing its casting time to 9 seconds and increasing its duration to 2 seconds. I was planning on taking this even without the emergency situation as it can provide some benefit on its own.

I prepare a backpack just in case, then wait for the response from Grandma. It doesn't take too much longer before it arrives.

Carter,

They were separated at the clock. Kyle says they're currently searching east of it as that's the direction he'd gone. At this point, there's little hope that he's survived. They can't find any sign of him and Lucas is not a fighter. If you do go look for him, be careful.

The strongest monster we've seen so far is a breezestep deer. They wield wind magics and this includes blades of it around their bodies as a defense against both attacks and anyone who gets too close. They're also able to boost their speed using wind magic to burst forward, getting in close to ram people with their antlers, and some can use an [Air Blast] spell that creates bursts of compressed air in varying sizes to blast their target with.

One of them is what separated Lucas from his parents.

With concern,

Grandma

That sounds like something which could cause the injuries I saw on that group of people on my way to the System Shop. Their bodies were still kind of warm despite the cold which suggests it had happened recently. Was the breezestep deer that killed them not sticking around? I'm surprised it didn't attack me but at least I know about it now.

"Alright," I tell Fea as I set down the letter. "I'm heading out now. If Grandma asks you what I'm doing, just tell her that I'm making sure I'm safe."

Fea lets out what I think is supposed to be a laugh, then flies off. I watch him until he's out of sight, then set off.

It's time to see if I can find Lucas.