"Already making breakfast?"

I look behind me to find Collin exiting the house wearing just a pair of sweatpants. It might be cold out here, but that's not stopping him. Then again, I'm also barefoot and bare-chested, having only slipped on underwear and sweats before exiting the house. I considered putting something on after feeling the cold bite of the air but decided to wait until after I ate. It's not quite freezing right now so I won't suffer from it and putting something in my stomach was more important.

Though I am using one of Chance's lanterns due to the hour. The sun has yet to begin to peek and the trees are still growing taller, thicker, and more full of branches and leaves. It's fairly dark down here, and that means it's a little bit colder right now as well.

"Just something small since it's still early and Lucas hasn't woken," I tell my brother as I return to preparing to make myself something. "Though if you give me an update, I'll fix you something as well."

Lucas likes cooking for all of us, so we let him handle it when he's awake. However, that doesn't change the fact that I woke up extremely hungry and don't want to wait until after a trip to the shop, nor for him to wake up so he can make something small.

Right now, only Collin and I are awake. At least, for those of us in my house. I constructed the temporary shelter for Trent and Grace on what used to be two and a half houses over, across the street. Part of the reason for that is the lack of trust, but also partly because we're kind of using up a lot of space with our own things. Just making the space for their temporary shelter required cutting down some big trees and we needed the space to store those.

Chance did get a door built for them, including with hinges, though it's not as sturdy as the doors for my house since we didn't treat the wood or use leftover treated wood. Nothing really tries to get in, so we didn't feel it was necessary to use the stronger stuff for it. The proper house they get if they contribute to life here will be sturdier, though.

Since they're sleeping in a different building, Coyon was sent to guard them. He's also there to keep an eye on them just in case my suspicion about something not being right with their story is correct.

I shared my suspicions with Chance while we were working, and he shared them with Collin at some point after.

Even though Slushy can make images using his goo and water magic, Collin struggles to understand him over a distance. Coyon seems to be better at figuring out how to convey things in a way Collin can understand through the familiar link, so he was chosen to be the observer.

"From what I can understand," Collin pours himself some milk from the jug on the counter where I'm working, then casts [Fire Mastery] to heat it. "They both passed out pretty fast after they went to bed last night despite having just a hard floor. Are you sure it was fine to not to go the System Shop last night?"

We probably should have gone so they could get their [Starter Pack]s – assuming they were honest and hadn't received them yet – but I decided not to. I wanted to see how they reacted and both seemed relieved to be able to rest. They ate enough to indicate they probably had been struggling for food and it didn't hurt to check things further.

"Yeah," I answer. "They needed the extra recovery time. Does Coyon say anything about what they did apart from going to sleep?"

"Uh…" Collin says. "Actually, he says they fell asleep pretty much immediately after you left last night and they slept through the whole night."

"They're awake?"

"Still asleep," he shakes his head. "And Coyon's good at pretending to be asleep, so I don't think they're faking."

A sign of two people who really were exhausted, then. Their story is more plausible now after hearing that when combined with some of the observations I made yesterday. However, how they managed to survive with all of the ambient magical energy assaulting their bodies for three weeks is what doesn't make sense. Not without healing items, which they've stated they didn't have.

With the healing we gave them yesterday, combined with the couple of more crude potions we let them have in the afternoon, Trent and Grace should be fine until we get to the System Shop and they get their [Starter Pack]s.

"How many eggs and slices of bacon do you want?" I ask. "Was planning on two and four for me."

"Sounds fine for me," Collin says. "Are you taking them to the System Shop once the sun starts rising, then?"

With monsters being fairly quiet during sunrise, that would be the optimal time to take them there. I'm planning on waking them shortly, but want to at least eat first.

"Yeah," I start cracking eggs. "Wyatt doesn't want to go to the shop since he woke briefly when I got up and I know Lucas wants to rest some more. Chance has his project with the membrane item he wants to work on. What about you?"

"Might be best if I go with you," Collin says. "Just in case."

"Nah," I say. "My [Mana Sense] went up yesterday thanks to some efforts of mine and I could sense their pools. They're about what I'd expect from what they're claiming."

Now, I can sense Mana up to about five or six feet away depending on how well I'm focusing on it. I can't do it for very long, though. It takes a decent amount of focus but also… the amount that's in the air is rather intense.

"And if there's a lie?" Wyatt asks. "You're right, their situation is suspicious."

"I've been feeling a god in my head since I woke up," I start placing strips of bacon on the skillet, then get to chopping the herbs for the eggs. "Shred cheese into the bowl, yeah?"

"Do you know how disturbing it is to know you can feel them in your head?" Collin asks as he starts shredding cheese into the bowl with the eggs.

"It's not really 'in' my head," I frown as I try to figure out how to describe the sensation. "Even after three weeks, I can't quite word it properly. That's the closest I can get, though. I can tell when they're watching me, too, but this feeling is a bit different."

"Yeah, I can feel that as well," Collin starts mixing the egg mixture, letting me add the herbs to it. "When I was playing with my familiars yesterday? I could tell a god was watching me. Chance says he's always feeling like one is watching."

"Same here," I tell him. "Except when I'm going to the bathroom. That's the only time it doesn't feel like one is watching me. Back to the original point, though. This is the first time I've felt a god in my head and they haven't given me a Quest or an incentive. It has me a bit curious as to what actually causes this feeling. Also if the current one is related to Trent and Grace or not."

"I'll send Coyon with you, just in case," he tells me. "Just say it's standard if someone's going alone."

"Alright," I say. "Thanks."

We finish making our mini-breakfast, served with hot chocolate that Collin prepared. Once we've eaten and the dishes are washed, Collin grabs something from inside the house to show me.

It's a box several eggs in it. Each one looks like it's made of some sort of goo with a membrane, semi-transparent, and roughly two inches in diameter. Slime eggs? There are five of them in total: two grey-tinted blue ones, a bluish-green one, a greyish-white one, and a brownish one.

"Water, air, earth, and two normal," Collin tells me. "All slime eggs. I used some of the [Monster Egg]s we had over by the… uh… lake. That is a crescent in shape. Anyway, I figured that since there were slimes there and in the Dungeon the eggs were from, we'd probably have a higher chance of hatching slimes.

"While you were doing your thing after returning yesterday," he continues. "I set up a place to raise them, opposite direction of here from those two. I think I'm going to try with just one of the plain ones for now and see if I can't convince it to be a plain magic slime. Do you mind if I use up the plain maginiite you got yesterday?"

If he's set up an area to raise slimes in already, then I don't see an issue with him going for it. We need plain magic slimes so that when we need a variation, we can simply do some slime breeding of that one. Slimes apparently reproduce asexually so only one is needed.

"Go ahead," I tell him. "Just remember that I expect a discount for awhile."

"No worries on that!" He laughs. "Thanks, Carter."

"Also," I say. "If it works, go for a mana slime next. We need those as much as we need plain magic slimes. Maybe even more, considering we can use those to make mana potions. And that just takes absorbing Mana from the air, so we won't have to use precious crystals on it."

"Alright," he says. "I'll work on that now. Want me to have Coyon wake them up?"

"Yeah," I answer. "Could you have him bring them over? I'll give them some meal bars, then take them to the shop. They'll be carrying the packs with the goods."

Them carrying the packs was agreed upon with them yesterday. It might not be much, but it's work they can do to help out in some way.

I head into the house to get ready to go and grab some meal bars, then find Collin frowning when I exit into the back again.

"What's wrong?"

"Coyon says they're not waking up," he says. "At least, I think that's what he's saying. They're alive, though, but he can't get either one to wake."

"Weird for two people who were supposedly living in fear for three weeks with a constant threat of monster attacks," I say. "Trent wakes easily, too. I couldn't get up to get a snack or go pee without him waking when we were hooking up. I'll go get them."

I head around to the front of the house and make my way along the path I created using conjured paving stones. It leads me straight to the front door for the stone shelter I built for Trent and Grace. As a courtesy, I give it a sharp, loud knock, then wait a few seconds.

No response comes, so I open the door and enter. They're both curled up together in front of the fireplace, which has embers from the fire they ran through the night. Coyon is currently licking Trent's face, then looks at me as if to show that he did try to wake them.

"I know," I say. "Let me try."

I kneel down in front of the two of them and conjure some ice-cold water, then pour it onto Trent's face. There's zero reaction to that, which makes this extremely strange. He's still breathing – the fact that they don't have a blanket and are in the same clothes they wore yesterday makes that obvious. I can see his chest moving.

His chest that doesn't have as much meat on it as before due to how little he's eaten over the last few weeks. That actually makes me start to suspect something about their situation.

I reach out and touch him, feeling his chest, stomach, sides, and arms as I examine him. There's an off texture to his skin, and there probably will be one for Grace's as well, though I don't bother checking.

"Coyon," I say. "Lucas. Healing potions. Healing salves. Now."

Coyon tilts his head.

"Now," I repeat, then return my attention back to Trent.

It's not that they were lying to us, it's that we overestimated how quickly ambient magical energy would cripple or fatally wound someone here. We'd expected the damage to reach a severe level after maybe a week to week and a half without healing. There wasn't really anything that supported that idea, it was just something we'd guessed.

After feeling the texture of Trent's skin, however, I'm going to guess that it actually takes longer than that. Everywhere I healed feels fine, like normal skin. Everywhere else feels off.

I reach under my hoodie and pull out my regeneration amulet, then fix it around Trent's neck. [Lesser Heal] will be able to at least fix the remaining damage to his skin so I start casting that. While I could just let them die, we really could use the extra hands here right now. Using up our most precious resource on them now will hopefully pay off later.

As long as we can actually save them. There's still a little bit of suspicion about how they survived against the monsters, but at least I now know why it seemed like they were surviving exceptionally well against the ambient Mana.

They weren't, they just didn't know it.

After about a minute of me treating Trent, there's a knock on the door.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Carter?" Collin calls. "I can't understand what Coyon's trying to tell me. Everything alright?"

"Take off your amulet and give it to Grace," I tell him and the door opens. "They're not waking up because they're literally dying."

Collin hurriedly does as I instruct, then tells me he'll be back with Lucas and healing supplies. A few minutes later, Lucas and I are using [Lesser Heal] while Wyatt and Collin are applying healing salve to other parts of their skin. The less the amulets need to mend, the better. Chance is doing something with his inscribing pen, drawing runic formations on one of the walls.

Almost ten minutes of treatment pass before Trent begins to stir. I stop using [Lesser Heal] and open up a bottle of healing potion, forcing it to his lips. A few more minutes pass before Grace wakes up, and it takes a few more than that before Trent starts to properly come around, his eyes clearing up a little.

"Carter?"

"Shush," I say. "And drink the next potion. That burning feeling you've had since the Mana Flood is the air literally dissolving your body. I did mention it earlier, though I guess I wasn't clear enough that it affects people as well."

"You have-" Grace coughs. "You have a lot of these."

"A limited stock," I say. "They aren't the ones from the System Shop and are a bit weaker. Now both of you shush and drink until we say stop. Chance, now that they're at least stabilizing, mind explaining what the hell you're doing?"

Whatever it is he's doing, it's massive. He's covered a significant portion of one wall with the runes and it looks like he's only halfway done. The silvery markings emit a faint glow, unlike the enchantments on the potion bottles, despite there being similarities.

I want to know why he thinks putting a strengthening enchantment on the temporary shelter is important in this moment. Maybe later, but not while we're trying to heal these two.

"Uh…" Chance looks at me, then the runic formation he's drawing, then me, then the runic formation he's drawing, then me. "Experimenting with a runic setup to draw ambient Mana out of the air to use as a power source. Linking it into a strengthening enchantment since I already know how to do that bit and I need something to be fueled by the absorbed Mana. It should make this home safer for them to be in for now. If it works instead of blowing up."

He's not even using a book, which means he's doing it by memory. I have full confidence it's going to work – this is a guy who created a regeneration amulet in just a few hours. Enchanting seems to be a talent of his and Grandma's been pretty clear that magic-blooded people learn quickly in that which they're talented in.

"Alright," I say. "Verdict, Lucas?"

"Um…" Lucas looks between Trent and Grace. "I-I think t-they should b-be f-fine, n-now."

Between the two of us, he's the better healer and I trust his judgment on healing progress.

"Then that's enough potion," I say. "We'll give you two about twenty more minutes to recover, then we'll be heading to the System Shop."

"What?" Grace asks. "Even though-"

"Yes," I say. "Even though you just nearly died. This isn't the old society anymore. Business is business, and the [Starter Pack] gives free healing potions. I can't get those for you so you need to go there in-person. Those are also decently stronger than the ones we've made. And with the potions you've consumed, the salves worked onto your skins, and the amulets, another twenty minutes should be all you need."

"There's no getting out of this, is there?" Trent asks.

"Not if you want my continued assistance," I stand. "There are some meal bars on the floor there. Coyon will let you know when it's time to go. Lucas?"

Lucas follows me out of the house, while Collin stays behind. We don't go far, however, as Collin said he just wanted to ask Chance something real quick.

They really should be fine in about twenty minutes, and we really should go during sunrise to minimize monster attacks. If I'm taking them by myself (with Coyon), then the quieter hours are the better ones for the trip.

That was quite a lot of healing potion and salve we used on them. They have twenty minutes to decide on if they want my help or if they want to stay independent.The choice is theirs, though they'll still pay me back for the used supplies at some point. I don't help people for free without good reason.

"Oi! People!"

Lucas and I both turn to face the speaker, a guy who looks to be around our age and who's waving at us. He has soft-looking brown hair with golden highlights and amber eyes with a faint golden touch to them.

Dressed in black pants, boots, and a brown sleeveless shirt, it's easy to tell that he's lean and toned, slightly muscular. Around his right wrist is a trio of bracelets, one of which is a leather band while the other two look like they were made with plant fibers and bones. His left wrist has a single bracelet, made of leather and bone.

Around his waist is a belt, from which hang a few potions, two dead stonefang snakes, a magihawk, and three rabbits. Three pouches are also fixed onto his belt, one of which has what looks like some sort of plant poking out of it. Several loops of twine hang from his belt as well, along with a hunting knife. Also hanging from his belt are a pair of leather gloves.

Strapped across his back is a dark brown leather quiver filled with arrows with brown-and-grey feathers on their ends. Held in his left hand is a wooden bow with a leather grip, a few feathers and bone beads hanging from it.

Lucas and I look at each other, then at the approaching archer. He's got a wide, happy grin on his face.

"Hi!" He says. "You're the first we've seen since a few weeks ago. Lots of people gathering up at the high school, but they're gone now. So's it, actually. Getting turned into a forest, it seems."

"We?" I ask.

"Me and my dad," he looks back. "He's back over where we've been camping out still, I went for an early morning hunt and noticed the slightly-paved path and started following it since it didn't seem natural when everything else got dissolved away."

An early morning hunt? Dawn has only just begun despite the time spent talking, cooking and eating a mini-breakfast, and then treating Trent and Grace. Just how early did he get up?

"Where'd you come from?" I ask.

"My dad and I lived past the food pantry past the dairy plant, near one of the small lakes there," he answers. "We've been mostly sticking to that area. There's a Rank 2 Dungeon where the dairy plant used to be, by the way. Uh… I don't recommend going in there. I'm only Level 1 and the System Shop said that it'd be stupid to give it a try."

Probably not with that phrasing, it most likely just told him that the Dungeon's Rank is based on its Status Level equivalent.

A Dungeon at the dairy plant, though? Is that why I've been having a feeling that I should check out that area? Or is it because of the chance of meeting Todd and his dad?

"My name's Carter," I introduce myself. "Yours?"

"Todd," he answers.

"L-Lucas," Lucas introduces himself.

"You went pretty far for an early morning hunt," I note.

"Was hunting down one of those breezestep deer," he tells me. "That thing can feed Dad and me for awhile and I haven't caught one yet. It ran this way and I was chasing after it, then got distracted by the System Shop."

"Distracted by it?"

"There was one at the site of the old food pantry," he explains. "But it vanished about a week and a half ago. We figured there might be one this way, but didn't really need it. But I wanted to see if there was anything for sale at it and as I approached, I noticed the stones."

A System Shop vanished? That's all the more reason for me to get to the shop sooner than later, in case ours suffers the same fate.

"I put those down yesterday," I tell him. "Just a bit of earth magic, to make a trail since the forest is… expanding. You and your dad are doing fine?"

The trees have grown dense enough and the undergrowth has formed enough by this point that an actual trail is needed. When I made my evening trip to the System Shop last night, I realized that even the paths were going to lose use soon due to saplings having grown on them. A path of my own was necessary.

"Hunting animals and foraging, yeah," Todd nods. "Though the internal burning we're dealing with is annoying. It's part of why I'd wanted to go to the shop, actually – we need more healing potions. We'd stocked up on some, thank goodness, but are just about out."

Todd looks along the trail leading from the temporary shelter further in to my territory. My house can be seen from here and that causes him to raise an eyebrow.

"Everything old dissolved," he says. "Yet I can see a house. How in the fuck? It's a lot different from this one."

Todd gestures to the shelter we're by just as Collin exits it.

"This is just a quick shelter I threw up yesterday with earth magics," I explain as Collin joins us, a wary expression on his face. "To house a couple of people we came across yesterday morning. A friend of mine and his girlfriend. The house had two weeks of preparation that went into its construction and houses me, my brothers, and the two guys I'm hooking up with. Used wood and stone and stuff from the new version of this world and which I conjured to build it."

"Ah," he says. "Yeah. Dad and I have a place built like this one."

He indicates the temporary shelter for Trent and Grace.

"You mentioned you knew about the school," I say as Lucas shifts to be behind me a little. "How come you guys didn't go with them?"

Questions need asking before we can know for sure whether or not we can give Todd some initial trust. It might have been a bad idea to put a trail between here and the System Shop. While Grandma's letters makes it seem like magic-blooded folk are going to be fine… I still have skepticism. That's why Grace was under suspicion due to me not knowing her that well.

I don't even know Todd, so I'm more suspicious.

"We originally joined up," he says. "Some woman was taking charge of things… Cassandra Elm, I believe her name was? Dad actually knew her a little, said she was the most powerful mage in the area before the incident."

Another person Grandma knows? I can ask her about him next time Fea comes by, though the background check might take some time to come in.

"Yeah," Todd chuckles a little as he scratches the back of his head with his free hand. "Apparently, there was magic on Earth before there was magic on Earth. Anyway, we didn't have an issue with her taking charge or anything… the problem was the normies. Dad and I just had some bad vibes about traveling with them and Dad said we'd be able to survive here on our own. We didn't expect to not run into anyone else, though, so sorry if I'm talking a lot. It's the first time I've talked to someone who wasn't my dad in three weeks."

"You're fine," I say. "So your dad knew about magic, then?"

"Yeah," he nods. "Was apparently going to teach me once I turned twenty-one, but since the world's now full of it… he's taught me what he can so far."

"Archery magic?" I ask.

"Some, yeah," he nods. "I can conjure arrows of the different elements if needed, though I reserve that for if it's needed. Normal arrows work fine most of the time and I can imbue the arrowheads with elemental power, anyway. Dad knows a bit more magic and he's the one who built our shelter. I'm… not that good at smoothing stone to help block the wind."

"What did you guys do before now?" I ask.

I don't have any bad vibes about Todd, but I still want to at least check things with him like I did with Trent and Grace. More so with him than them since I don't know him and it doesn't seem Lucas did, either.

"Dad did real estate and I was in college for art," Todd answers. "Though Dad also took me hunting fairly often, so I already knew how to use a bow and skin and tan a hide. He also taught me a bit of leatherworking and how to do things like make rope and twine. Before he moved here, he lived out in the country and did stuff like that all the time growing up."

Todd looks over toward my house again, then back at me.

"So are you the one in charge?" He asks. "They're both seeming to let you handle things."

"Sort of," I answer. "It's more that they all asked to stay with me, so it's kind of my property and they're my guests, in a sense. Why?"

"Like I said," he shrugs. "Dad and I have been by ourselves for a few weeks. If you're fine with it, then mind if we move closer? I know you can buy rope and twine and stuff at the shop, but you can't sell raw hides there, right? Unless you've got it covered, Dad and I could do the skinning and tanning for you guys. And I can help out with the hunting."

Those are some useful skills. I look at Collin.

"We could use the extra hands for that," he says. "I was going to suggest you teach Trent and Grace how but if Todd and his dad already know…"

"Yeah," I say. "That would actually help us out on earning syscre. Managing it by ourselves is getting annoying."

The main problem is that I don't know Todd or his dad, but that alone isn't reason enough to say no to the idea. We really could use someone who can properly skin and tan hides. Only about half of the ones I've been doing are coming out successful. If we have them do the butchering, skinning, and tanning for us, then that would definitely increase how much syscre we earn.

As long as they actually have and use the skills Todd is claiming, then letting them join us won't be a problem. Even if they don't, I'd hold the same policy as with Trent and Grace – as long as they do something to help out, I won't mind sharing things and helping them.

"We don't need a place super close," Todd adds as Chance exits the temporary shelter. "The tanning process does produce a smell, so-"

"That's not a problem," Chance says as he joins us. "We figured out a way to purify the air so it's not a problem for us."

"Really?" Todd's eyes widen. "That's awesome! The cold is messing with things a bit, so if it works indoors-"

"It does," Chance glances at me, then looks back to Todd after I give him a small nod. "Wind maginiite purifies the air, so just put some in the room. We have our tanning and butchering station in a structure… uh… more like this one here than that one."

Chance gestures to the temporary shelter built for Trent and Grace, then to the house. Building a proper shelter for the tanning center isn't too important, but ours does have some heating in it.

"Really?" Todd asks. "Then that would be good. If you guys don't mind, could we move over here? We do want to be closer to a System Shop."

"There's one up by the high school," Collin says. "That's probably closer than this one. Not saying I don't want you here, just letting you know that there's one there."

"It's gone," Todd tells him. "Vanished a few days after the big group left."

That's only furthering the suspicion that ours might vanish, too. I'm fairly certain the golem spoke as if they would be around for awhile, though? I'll have to ask about that.

"I don't see a reason to say no," I say. "And even if I do, it's not like I own the area. If you wanted to, you could just pick a spot that's not too close. As long as you help us, I won't have an issue helping you out. Just don't expect freebies."

"We won't," Todd says, then lets out a whistle and looks up at the canopy. "Hold on a moment."

As he waits, Todd pulls on his gloves. About twenty seconds pass before an odd-looking magihawk comes down from the canopy. It must have been higher up. This magihawk is primarily white with some grey speckles across it, and it lands on Todd's left arm, which he's held up.

"Can you let Dad know I've found some others?" Todd asks. "And a System Shop? And can you bring him to the System Shop? Tell him they said they don't mind us moving near to them, too, and would be willing to trade for our help with butchering and tanning."

"Kee-ah!" The magihawk responds.

"Thanks," Todd says, then lifts his left arm up a little.

As he does that, the bird takes flight, weaving its way through the canopy and out of sight. Then he gives us a nervous look.

"I, uh… know how to tame," he tells me. "It was the Skill I chose for my [Starter Pack]. I've only got the one, though."

"I'm a tamer, too," Collin says. "So it won't bother us, don't worry. I've not seen a monster like that, though. It looks like a magihawk, but it's not, right?"

"It is," I say. "The pattern matches the ones we've seen before. Is it a variant?"

"A wind-based one," Todd looks relieved now that he knows we're fine with tamers. "He did start as just a magihawk, but I've had him mostly using wind magics for stuff and then a few days ago, he… I guess 'evolved' would be the right word? Now he's a breezewing magihawk."

"Neat," I say.

"How good are you at talking with him?" Collin asks. "I struggle to understand what my familiars say sometimes. Grandma's good at it thanks to magic she knew before the Mana Flood, but that didn't translate to my ability. It is better than other tamers' I met before coming back here… but I still need to practice more."

"I'm the same way," Todd's cheeks redden a little as he scratches the back of his head a little. "Half the time, I have no idea if he's saying he's going hunting or if he's wanting to seek out a mate. Dad can understand him fine, though, so I can at least tell him what I want him to say, then he can tell Dad and the message gets across. He's helping me practice, but it's a bit of a struggle."

"Oh," Collin says. "Maybe he can help me, too."

"You can ask," Todd says. "I'll head to the System Shop to wait for Dad, then."

"Why don't you come with us?" I ask. "You've got a limited time you can stay there and we'll be heading there shortly, anyway. Trent and Grace haven't been to one yet so they need to pick up their [Starter Pack]s."

"Dad'll probably take a bit to get there, anyway," Todd nods. "Sure, I'll go with you."