Nolan walked alongside the most powerful man on planet Earth. The very air itself seemed to not just follow his commands, but accentuate his presence. It was a daunting feeling, and one which was becoming more understood by the day. Dao. Along with mana, it was this strange energy which allowed Grant to move with such purpose. There were others in the city beginning to move like that themselves.

The older man looked at his hand, flexing his fingers and enjoying the feeling of his strength. His Fortitude attribute was high, and the strength to crush stones went into making his fist. He could punch through a metal door with a single blow. In a few months, he was faster and stronger than anyone on Earth had been before the Shift.

It wasn’t enough to protect anyone.

The world was more dangerous than ever before. Nolan’s level of strength was not the cap, it was the bare minimum. Yet, even knowing that, it didn’t change the fact that he could not progress in levels. He was stuck as a Grade 0 until he figured out the weird, poetic nonsense that others kept suggesting. Lost in thought, it was only when Grant stopped walking and repeated himself that Nolan broke from the reverie.

“Do you need help, Nolan?” The young man asked, kindness in his voice. Nolan looked Grant in the eyes, something he found increasingly difficult to do. First, he had failed Grant by letting the situation in the city become so competitive. There hadn’t been a lot he could have done, but he saw his own shortcomings clearly. Second, the strange magics that were affecting the world seemed to be focused to their sharpest point in Grant’s multi-hued eyes.

“What would help from yourself even look like at this point?” Nolan asked, helplessly. It wouldn’t be unfair to say that Grant had saved the city. From what the survivors of the Elite dungeon had told him, even getting to the first safe room was nearly impossible. Grant had taken on the whole damn thing. Didn’t that mean he was more dangerous than the dungeon?

Grant’s face broke into an easy smile, and the humanity of it was disarming. Their journey to the airport continued as they spoke, the pair walking along an empty motorway. Grant threw his arms open, as though he were embracing the world. “I’ve been in two minds about this place. Its people are rougher than those I first met, mostly because of the city itself, I think. It kept you all feeling like things were going back to normal. Did you know that I have a mansion built by the System?”

Nolan stopped walking, looking at the strange youth with the red hair. With a high quality, buttoned-up shirt, his pale blue and loose trousers which fed into the black boots at his feet and gloves of the same colour, he would have looked bizarre before the Shift. Nolan saw these eccentricities in a different light, now.

The older man thought of the housing issues in Londimin which meant he shared a small apartment with his two daughters. Of course Grant had a magical mansion which he had left behind. That was what it meant to live in the System. The bounds humanity had placed itself under with rent and debts and grudges didn’t need to exist anymore. It was every man and woman for themselves after the world fell apart, yet with his strength Grant could give of himself constantly.

He had embraced the System and been embraced by it in turn. What had Londimin given Grant except problems? Well, Nolan conceded, I am giving him an aeroplane. The transaction was as haughty for the old world as possible, but Nolan just felt that oddness creeping back up on him. He was giving a plane to a man who could easily be described as a wizard. A dragon wizard, even.

Realising he had frozen for a few moments, Nolan chuckled and began walking again. “A mansion and a private jet? I guess you are basically the only celebrity around these days.”

“That’s a grim thought.”

“Is it wrong?”

“No,” Grant sighed. “That honestly explains what I was going to suggest quite well. I am pretty well known at this point, and that’s only going to get more noticeable. I don’t know exactly how the System will mess with us next, but I do know things are just getting started.” Grant flicked open a System prompt and showed it to Nolan. Grant had done this before, but it was just another way in which he felt like a member of a different world to Nolan. Controlling the System in any way was a step beyond himself.

“You…” Nolan frowned in thought, “you want to become the leader of Londimin?”

Grant’s eyes widened in fright. “No. No, no, no, god no. I’m terrible at it. Maybe one day it would make sense, but right now it just doesn’t. This would be more like coming under my banner. I’m truly not sure what effects this will have further down the line but it should make the coming days and months easier.” Grant took a deep breath and turned, pointing. “That way are my towns. I can feel them like a compass pointer. There are strong people there. Londimin joining The Ascent should help with making contact, if nothing else.”

“The Ascent?” Nolan asked, causing Grant to falter a little. He scratched the back of his head and to Nolan, he had rarely looked more his age. The boy couldn’t be more than twenty five, could he?

“Uh, it’s dumb but it was basically just the first thing that came to mind which worked for a guild name. The System is a climb, so… The Ascent.” With Grant looking away from Nolan shyly, Nolan caught the eye of Naea. The image of his daughter’s smiling face as the fairy played with her flashed before his eyes.

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“Do it.” Nolan’s voice was firm and sure. Grant looked at him for confirmation and Nolan nodded. Before he met Grant, his family was surviving the apocalypse but fracturing in different ways. The events of the trial wave were frightening, but they had ignited the stagnant lives of those who survived. It was Grant and Naea who had created that, within days of being in the city. Nolan could only imagine what the place founded by the man was like, and he was excited to see it. Lucy would be over the moon, no pun intended.

Grant smiled and there was a ripple in the air. The world around them for miles seemed to release a held breath. “Do you feel that?” Nolan asked, exhilarated all of a sudden. Grant had his eyes closed, and mana visibly danced around him. It was Naea who answered instead.

“Oh yeah, we feel it. That’s the building blocks of the System running through the world to accept the arrangement between your cities. Lots of people to bind together. Oh,” Naea held up her hands as worry crept into Nolan’s expression, “nothing like that. Just tiny threads of destiny connecting you to Grant. You make similar links by shaking someone’s hand, to give you some perspective. It’s just that with Grant… the handshake is pretty firm?”

“You seem different,” Nolan said simply, his fears assuaged. He didn’t follow her meaning very well, but if she said it was okay, he trusted her. Having fought alongside her for the lives of his children, watching her fly into true danger to protect the people of the city, there was a bond there, too. Naea seemed to fluff up happily at his words, to which Nolan smiled as though he meant to compliment her from the start.

“I’m a Dungeon Master Fairy now, puny mortal,” she giggled.

“It’s done,” Grant said, his voice breathy. He took a step and his feet seemed to betray him, causing the younger man to fall forward. Nolan flinched, jumping forward and trying to catch him before he hit the ground, but Grant’s falling motion turned mystical as he was caught by the wind itself and simply floated upwards instead. He hadn’t slipped, he just decided not to walk anymore, and the strangeness of the movement threw Nolan off.

Nolan doubted he would ever become used to the new world like that. The best he could do was survive within it and make it easier for his daughters to find satisfying lives within the System’s seemingly endless bounds. It was a confusing set of desires. “So, we’re officially a vassal of the great Grant Kaeron now? Are you my liege lord?”

Grant had a look of surprised excitement as Nolan referenced a popular television show he had seen. He could already see the young man getting carried away with the thought. Naea gave Nolan a light slap on the arm. It was like being clipped by a rushing “Now look what you’ve done, he’ll be wondering about that for days now. For the record… yes. We are your lieges now.”

Nolan felt some tension slip away. It had only been him holding it, but joking with these two no longer felt forced. Without any more important conversation, their small group arrived at the airport. The guards on duty threw up hasty, unprepared salutes and they walked through the checkpoint. “At ease,” Nolan told them. Then he rolled his eyes at the faux judgement of Grant and Naea. “Oh stop, the military words and actions make them feel more official.”

“Yes sir, General Fair.” As one, Grant and Naea answered and saluted together. The older man just grunted and pushed past them, leading them to the already prepared hangar. It was a surreal moment to see Grant in his magical System attire start to perform flight checks. Part of the delay in leaving was that Grant needed to actually learn how to fly the plane. He assured Nolan that he was ready, and there was little Nolan could do to prove otherwise except letting him fly.

The aircraft had naturally been grounded once everything changed. With most things like food and furniture vanishing, it had been a surprise to find the planes intact and whole. Luckily, one of Seth’s few smart moves was securing the place for future use. The plan had been to find civilisation once their own safety was set. Of course, they had since learned that they were civilisation as far as the world cared.

No, Nolan knew that this was realistically one of the only uses left for these vehicles. As dangerous as the world was, no one had braved the skies since the change. It was more than likely Grant would meet serious dangers as he tried to find his family. The thought filled Nolan with a small dread and a lot of admiration. He was doing what Nolan wished he had the power to do. He would not burden Grant with the task of finding Maisie. Nolan had convinced himself that she was alive, but she could be truly anywhere in the world.

“By the way, I opened up a line of communication back to my cities.” Grant winced as he said this, as though the act left a bad taste in his mouth. He turned to Nolan, away from the engine he was checking. “There’s no one called Maisie there but they’ve apparently made contact with some other settlements in the area and are looking.”

Nolan’s mouth opened and closed a few times, trying hard to start a sentence. Emotion began to bubble inside, and he shoved it down with a joke. “You can’t read minds, can you?” Nolan asked, half-serious.

“No, you just have talkative kids who aren’t as scared to ask for favours as you are. Speaking of my liaison back home, they gave me this but I don’t want it. Do you?” Outstretched in Grant’s hand was an Aspect, one which Nolan actually recognised. The reflective surface of the orb danced with striations that appeared and faded at random. Nolan decided not to look down on the gift and accepted it with humility.

“I can’t pay you back-”

Grant held up a hand. “Just… survive. The System has taken so much, and we have to hold onto hope that we can get some of it back. The only way to do that is to live long enough, and become strong enough, to take from the world. You look after the people at my back, Nolan Fair, and I swear we’ll find your wife one day.”

Nolan looked at the man before him and was almost bowled over by the respect he felt. His promise wasn’t binding, Nolan wouldn’t hold him to that. There was no telling what had happened to anyone else, but he would do as Grant said. He would endure, he would grow strong and he would challenge this world just as Grant had. With a nod, he absorbed the Aspect of Metal.

Skill Unlocked - Metal Manipulation

Malleable for some, unyielding for others. For you, whatever you wish.

“Oh?” He said as the magic took hold. “Oh, it’s that simple?” There was a creaking in the massive room as the metallic walls seemed to compress inwards for a moment. As a deep understanding of metals began to flow into Nolan’s mind, the sensation at the edge of his periphery came into full sight.

“Bend, but never break.”

Aspect of Metal evolved to Dao Pool of Metal

Dao Pool - Metal

The heart of a star. The core of a world. The central pillar of You. Be forged anew by the trials before you and temper yourself against the coming storm.

Effect: Fortitude +50, Will +30, Fortitude Attribute +15%, Will Attribute +5%

Grant and Naea clapped happily as Nolan fell to the ground, senses confused by the attribute jump and the feeling of Dao permeating his every breath and movement. He could feel every piece of metal around him. The complexity of the aeroplane was laid bare to him and it was hard to focus on anything else. It was a lot to take in. The main emotion in his heart was success.

He had done it. This strange boy had arrived and changed everything, and now he had allowed Nolan to break through the barrier that scared him most. Every barrier that he thought existed had been smashed to pieces by their innocent strength, something they now shared with him. He gave up on holding back emotion and pushed himself up to grab both Grant and Naea in a big embrace. “Thank you,” he softly sobbed, “thank you.”

Grant patted his back and fell into the hug a little himself. It was nice. “You’re welcome, Nolan. Let’s save the world, bit by bit. Yeah?”

“Yeah.” The man agreed.

“Yeah!” Naea shouted, ruining the moment.