It was Joe's shift on the night watch when it happened. In the northwest, towards the rift and the carwash, a roar echoed over the suddenly still night air. It was deep and gravelly, like the T-Rex from Jurassic Park was a two-pack-a-day smoker named Laverne. There were bass notes of squashed skulls and slowly shutting tomb doors that threaded through the howl. Everyone in the house was probably awake, but no one moved or made noise. It felt like forever but was only ten seconds of a nightmare call conveying rage and grief.

The distant sounds of metal tearing and smashing could be heard, but nothing nearly as loud as the aural beatdown that had broken the still night air. The nightbirds had gone still, with only crickets and cicadas daring to ignore the presence of a pissed-off apex predator. The sounds continued for almost an hour before tapering off.

Joe heard Travis and Jennifer comforting the children while the fighters filtered downstairs. Weapons were quietly distributed, and everyone prepared for a potential fight. Nik went upstairs and onto the garage roof to get a better view of their surroundings. Joe and Diana faced the night through the small kitchen window.

Nothing else happened that evening. After an hour, the people who felt alert continued the watch, and the rest went to bed. Joe forced himself through some calm-down techniques in order to get some sleep. He had planned a big day coming up, and that was before a new murder machine showed up.

Joe felt like he'd barely closed his eyes when light from a crack in the curtains stirred him awake. He got to his feet quickly and almost stumbled when he realized that his ribs didn't hurt. "Magic monster meat and regeneration for the win," Joe mumbled to himself.

Carl and Mike were both keeping watch, and Joe shooed them off to sleep for a bit. It looked like they'd been up all night. Nik stirred from the other bed and joined Joe in the kitchen. Joe drank some warm stale water and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"You and I should scout the rift. If the hound isn't around, we can both level up. Nik didn't waste time with small talk, cutting right to the point."

"Yeah, that needs to happen for both of us. From the sounds last night, I doubt the second hound is weaker than the first. Let's get around and hit it first thing. That thing was up late last night, so it might be sleeping now."

Nik nodded, and they both grabbed their gear. Joe went upstairs and knocked softly on Diana's door. There was no sound at first, so he knocked again. Joe heard a rustling of clothes before the door flew open, and a disheveled Diana looked out at him with surprise.

"Nik and I will scout the rift and level up if it's safe. My ribs feel good today, and I've been putting it off for too long. I'm running out of time."

Diana's mouth opened like she would argue with him but then closed just as quickly. Last night had signaled the end of their little vacation. It was time to get back to work. Joe thought how odd it was that they had fought monsters in another dimension during their 'time off.'

"Be safe. Try to keep the poisoning to a minimum."

Joe smiled and nodded before going downstairs. Nik was waiting, and they left as soon as Diana came down to keep watch. The trip to the rift was quiet, and nothing stirred except small birds and squirrels. The world was warm and silent, like a held breath. Nik was on point, and they crept through backyards and around fences, keeping clear of open sight lines.

They came to the fence where Joe and Diana had hidden and peeked over the area. The area around the rift was clear, and there didn't seem to be any damage to the houses nearby. The same could not be said of the carwash. Joe couldn't see details, but the roof was definitely sloped at a new angle near the bay where they left the hound.

Joe felt a chill down his spine when he looked at the damage. Those had been solid cinderblock walls, and something had knocked out enough to collapse part of the roof. Level four wasn't going to be good enough for this fight. He didn't want to leave everyone's life hanging on the roll of the dice again.

Nik gave the all-clear, and both men jumped the fence and ran straight to the rift. Neither said anything, and Joe's head was on a swivel, looking for monsters everywhere. Nothing jumped up or ran their way, and he entered the rift in moments. Both men breathed a sigh of relief when the artificially bright sunlight of the meadow shone down on them.

"Standard clear for the first two bosses?"

"Yeah," Joe said. "Let's get through those two, and then I'll go over the next section. We'll rest before each boss. I need to earn that last bonus."

A quick stretch and both men were off through the rift. They cleared the first four rooms in record time. They rested briefly, and Joe continued to work on his mana skills. The fox was an easy fight, and neither looked at the pillar before moving on.

The second set of rooms took a little more effort, though, with Nik's speed, the snakes and crows didn't stand a chance. They rested again, and Joe felt his mana drop again. He focused inside and saw regeneration working for the first time this run. It felt focused on his arms and legs, probably repairing the micro tears from his recent exercise.

Joe had already eaten a berry and knew he'd be in peak shape shortly. With nothing to lose, Joe bent all his attention and willpower towards his passive skill. He tried to focus all of regeneration's efforts on one arm. The skill didn't so much fight him as ignore everything he tried to do. None of the exercises from the berries seemed to work, so Joe focused on the feeling of the skill.

When he finally figured out the silent activation of Bite, it had been feeling, emotion, and need that drove everything forward. Joe realized he'd been going about this the wrong way. He'd done well in school, but it was always a chore. He'd rather hang out with friends or do something with his hands than stare at a book all day. School had been a means to an end, not something he was passionate about. So why was he working at mana like a lesson?

"Fucking Move!" Joe screamed at the air with his eyes still closed. He mentally grabbed the energy in his right arm and metaphorically tried to punch it in the face. He remained focused and kept at it even as sweat beaded on his brow. The skill ran on his mana in his body. It would do what he said, damn it. A shiver ran through his mana, and Joe saw one tiny mote of life mana break from his right arm and travel to his left. The notification in

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front of his closed eyes let Joe know the fight was over.

+1 Connection

Joe laid back on the grass with his eyes open and relaxed for a minute. Nik looked down at him after a minute, and Joe rolled to his feet. His body felt great, but there was a mother of a headache trying to brew behind his eyes. Joe ignored it and faced the other man.

"How long did that take?"

"Only twenty minutes. It seemed like you were close. Did you get it?"

"Connection. I'm full up. Let's go kill some monsters."

The treant posed no threat, and Nik pocketed the acorn that dropped afterward. Nik was faster than Joe, so the boss hadn't managed to wrap anyone up before its roots were severed. Joe ran Nik through the new monsters they would face and got a nod in return. Both men moved forward, more cautious now that they'd entered the evening section of the rift.

The fights were still easy. Both men knew combat, and the roses were only dangerous to newcomers or the careless. They rested without berries and, after fifteen minutes, cleared their way back. It was the new standard protocol for bosses near your level.

Travis had finally found some notebooks and was compiling everything they knew about The System, mana, and this rift. The information was invaluable, and he was the best person for the job. The more they learned, the safer it would be for everyone. He'd also pointed out that selling guides to the rifts could be highly lucrative. Joe's only caveat is that there would have to be an economy, and the price would need to be reasonable. Unchecked greed caused ninety percent of human issues. Joe didn't want pointless deaths on his hands over a couple of coins.

They cleared back to the first meadow before running to the last boss. The berries were too valuable to pass up; if they went deeper, Joe didn't want to trek back. Joe checked out the loot, and as usual, it was an odd collection of monster parts and a lot of white healing berries. Joe wondered if healing items showed up in most rifts. That was the only reason he could think of for the lack of people running it constantly. Either that or Frank was keeping it a secret.

Once they were back in top shape, they faced off against the raccoon bear. Nik had fought the entire time with his long knife but pulled out the bow for the boss fight. Joe ran in first and grabbed the monster's attention with a roar. He did his best to deflect the boss's swipes and get out of Nik's line of fire. A moment later, a yelp issued from the bearcoon. It turned towards Nik, but before it could get more than a step away, Joe drove a stab straight into its ass. Not the cheeks.

If Nik got a yelp, Joe's strike caused a high-pitched strangled scream. Even Joe was caught off guard and lost his grip on the weapon as the monster turned on a dime. Joe dove to the side and narrowly dodged a bite from the enraged beast. Two more arrows thudded into its side, but Joe was the only thing the boss cared about. It chased him around the clearing for the next five minutes.

Fortunately, having a glaive up your ass will limit just about anything's movement, so Joe was barely able to stay ahead of the monster. He ended up with minor cuts and scrapes from close calls but suffered fewer major injuries than usual for a boss fight that had gone sideways. After about a dozen arrows, the bearcoon stilled and transmuted into cold fire.

Joe lay down on the ground panting with exertion. He didn't reach for his glaive just yet, letting the fire remove everything it possibly could of the encounter. Nik sat next to him, and Joe thought he was choking for a second. He looked up in alarm at the red-faced older man. Then Nik's full-throated laughter rolled out of him, and Joe had to grin. It was pretty funny.

It took Nik almost ten minutes for his laughter and subsequent hiccups to subside. When it did, both men went over and took turns activating the pillar. Joe finally leveled up and, with his remaining essence, increased regeneration as well. He could feel the skill pulling down his mana to work on his wounds. Joe knew deep down that he would probably continue getting injured with his lack of practical combat skills, and he'd be foolish not to invest in being able to walk it off.

Attribute points were getting solid around the board, with bonuses shoring up Joe's pathetic magic attributes. He'd been thinking about leveling up for some time now. Joe knew what he needed for his brawling fighting style and put one point each into Reflex and Fortitude. Not getting hit would be a great change of pace, and shrugging off hits would also be nice. With his class bonuses, Joe's physical stats were pretty impressive.

Joseph Lemuel Wanderun

Class: Feral

Level : 4

Rank: Mortal

Tier: 1

Attributes:

Strength 9

Alacrity 10

Fortitude 10

Vigor 11

Reflex 8

Connection 5

Glamour 4

Skills: 5/7

Bite lvl 2

Minor Regeneration lvl 4

Tough Skin lvl 2

Lesser Poison Resistance lvl 2

Diminishing Restraint lvl 1

Joe looked over everything and thought back to level one. It was crazy to think that in just three levels, he felt like a new person. Joe hefted his glaive, and the bonus to strength made it seem easier to wield. It wasn't a major difference, but every little bit helped.

"How about it? Want to hit the next section?" Joe didn't know if Nik was too tired to continue. He'd been injured as well and was making do without a healing skill. Still, Nik had seemed to enjoy himself in the last fight, or at least at the outcome of the last fight.

"Abso-fucking-lutely."

One Joe set foot on the next path, and the sun lurched in the fake sky again. It was true dusk with just enough light to see the path. Well, that would have been true at level one, but Joe had more reflex attributes, and Nik was well beyond him. To Joe, the dark was still stifling, but not so much he couldn't be sure of his surroundings. The clearing came into view, and both men moved forward carefully.

Two foxes played a game of tag with two large squirrels. They ran around the meadow chasing one another and yipping or squeaking occasionally. Joe wasn't buying the cutesy bullshit for a second. He looked around for spiderwebs in the moonlight or spike traps filled with poison ivy. Joe looked over at Nik, and the older man shrugged as well. If he couldn't see anything covert, then the chance joe would be pretty slim.

Nik stood up slowly and, after a moment, put an arrow in one of the foxes. That's when shit got real. So the foxes were actually fox kits. Joe didn't realize that because they were the size of regular foxes. So what kind of fox has kits that size? Well, his best friend from boss room number one, of course. The other kit opened its other six eyes and screamed with its mouth filled with needle teeth.

Then the squirrels flared their cobra hoods and spat globs of phlegm at Nik. Joe shoved the other man down and out of the way without thinking. He didn't wait for the burning before eating a berry and charging at the nightmare woodland creatures. His first swing hit nothing, and two more globs of poison-laced loogey impacted his chest. The other fox was fast and had almost circled Joe in the time it took him to swing again and decapitate a squirrel.

The fox's snarl turned into a yelp, and Joe glanced back to see Nik pulling his knife from its side. The monster's feet were dragging, showing Nik had severed its spine. Joe ignored that fight as it was all but over at the moment and focused back on the last squirrel.

For the first time in this rift, a monster ran away. Joe stood flat-footed for a second too long, and another poison ball hit him in the arm. The next thirty seconds were a cat and mouse of missed strikes and increasing poison accumulation. Finally, one of Joe's lunges removed one of the squirrel's legs, and he could finish it off on the next pass.

Joe stumbled to the center of the clearing and ate two more berries before focusing on the mana again. It was the weakest poison he'd faced so far, but there was a lot of it, and it was everywhere. Joe pushed every bit of the healing mana towards his head and organs to start. Regeneration would patch him up eventually, but only if he was alive. He didn't want to test if it would heal brain damage from poison.

It took longer to fight the poison this way, but Joe was OK with that. The poison was yet another unknown, and he wouldn't have a setback from being careless. Who knew precisely how far regeneration could heal? What if he took ten years off his life from liver damage? He knew that muscle and skin would sort themselves out with enough help.

Eventually, Joe opened his eyes and saw Nik sitting nearby. Joe didn't know how long it had been, but he was stiff, so it hadn't been fifteen minutes. Stretching out his tight muscles let Nik know that Joe was back in the land of the aware, and the older man handed him a walnut. Joe looked down at it and then back at Nik.

"It's got blood and nature mana. I tested it and felt like I'd had a full meal. The squirrels dropped them. " Nik also lifted two fox pelts that had come from the meadows, other occupants.

"Well, that sucked. Squirrels first next time."

"Are you still able to keep going?" Nik seemed concerned, and the lack of macho attitude helped Joe sit still and think about it for a moment.

"Yeah. I'm low on mana, but we can at least check out the next boss."