Scarlet's PoV

As the final rock giant fell Scarlet took her chance to hop down and look into the caves. Not too surprised, she saw two corpses. That was annoying, she was totally going to do that herself. Still the rest of the party would probably object to her searching through their belongings, so she took the opportunity as the battle started winding down.

Off the man there wasn't much, but off the woman she found a parcel of papers. She quickly disappeared the letters to read later and stepped out to help with the clean up.

Once the final rat had died she looked to her new dagger and equipment. Not a scratch. The armor and dagger combined worked wonders. Generally she was awesome at avoiding hits. The power of her leather armor seemed to increase her perception by just a hair. It made her dodges more economical and she could save her strength for stabby time.

Not only that but the few times when strikes were bound to hit her, she could feel an almost magnetic pull from her new dagger to parry the blow. Even when a few attacks managed to hit her, the new leather armor almost completely negated the damage.

Combined with the increased movement speed of her boots, it let her feel like she could be anywhere on the battlefield. One second she was assisting those monster wolves at their flanks, the next she vaulted to the stone top to help the little girl as she was frantically bashing things with her staff. Before she left she was gifted with a Heal spell and a Vigor Heal spell.

Then she would assist Davis while rotating back to the wolves to clear their flanks again. The defensively enchanted gear combined with Maria's support spells allowed her free reign in the midst of combat. She would have been dead a dozen times over if she had been using her original equipment. It was exhilarating!

Scarlet wondered what would have happened if she had more offensive gear? She probably would have been forced to fight alongside Davis. Increasing her attack power on these creatures was overkill due to having Sharpen Blade Lv3.

She found the rats were even weaker foes, so she was able to save mana by using a lower rank of her spell. Unfortunately she needed to use her three Full Mana Potions to keep her spell active. She wondered what her comrades would say if she told them she had used three of those treasures?

While she was reveling in her newfound power she couldn't help but be a little jealous of Gwen. Outside the arch of their alcove it seemed like there were a sea of enemies. But the rock giants were taking up most of the room in the gap, many of their foes were stuck outside waiting for their chance to get in.

But Gwen was a machine that lobbed fireball after fireball into that sea. Each time a fireball landed over a dozen of the little bastards would be cooked. Then the idiotic horde would keep pressing forward, pushing their allies into the burning pile of corpses. The scale of slaughter was something truly impressive to behold.

When she glanced back outside she found to her surprise that Davis had gone down. A second later she saw the little girl rush towards him from the stone steps. Jogging out she ended a couple of the rats as she tried to examine the situation. She was actually impressed with the girl. If she was born in her homeland she would have surely been chosen. Actually, the whole family was rather impressive.

It made her wonder about her family for the first time in a long time. Would they be as skilled as she was? But she had been chosen. At a young age she showed potential. She had been chosen to be a Knife in the dark to protect her city. The faces of her family had long been forgotten. Her only family now were her fellow Knives.

Davis said something but she couldn't make it out. Then Maria said in a panic "Uncle Davis! Wake up!" Looking at the man she could see he was still breathing. Scarlet said to the girl "He's fine, he just needs some rest."

Maria said confused "But I just used my Vigor Heal spell. He should be up!"

Scarlet shook her head and said "That only works so many times. Thanks by the way, that really helped me out." Once Gwen came down she tried to give them some space. After a few murmurings they made Davis comfortable. The wolves had taken care of the last foe and the pair came back to the party panting with exhaustion.

Once Maria had been assured that her uncle was going to be fine, Maria ran up to both of the wolf pups. Not long later the wolves were healed up and the trio were all curled up in one big ball.

Hearing footsteps she glanced behind her. Gwen was looking down at Davis and said "Thank you Scarlet. You saved my life today, as well as the life of my daughter and brother."

Gwen then laughed and said "It seems I've been saying that a lot lately. But still all the same, thank you. I'll take the first watch if you want to go to sleep."

Scarlet said "No problem. Sure, I'll take second watch if you want. Just come get me when you're tired."

Maybe this would be a good time to ask for praise for killing her husband? Nah, she would wait and spread the praises out a bit. Scarlet nodded at Gwen and headed towards her cot. Did she really want to roll in her cot with all this blood and gore on her? She could wait.

Sitting down with her back to the stonewall Scarlet started to doze off, but not before she saw Gwen looking at her fingertips. Scarlet watched the flow of lightning that weaved through Gwen's fingers.

***

Gwen's PoV

Gwen watched the lightning dance through her fingers. Near the end of the battle she could feel the new spell just appear in her mind. She had no idea what it did until she casted it for the first time just now. Fire had been her companion since she was a girl. Never listening to their parents, Gwen and Davis would find ways to leave the village. A kobold had almost killed them both.

Barely living through the experience, the fire spell unlocked in her mind. Since then she never left the village, but fire became a constant companion in her cooking. Zoning out playing with the new Lightning spell, she couldn't help but feel like a coward.

All she did was cast her spell over and over. She found the densest group of monsters, threw her spell and before it even landed she looked for another target. During the whole battle, she was never in any direct danger. Staying hidden behind even her daughter for protection. She felt shameful and weak. Gwen didn't like the feeling.

***

Charlotte's PoV

Charlotte was getting sick and tired of the endless requests from Mr. Montgomery's lawyers. She had already told them several times that the deal was over, she had other more promising clients to deal with. The idea of hiring someone to break into someone else's house just because you didn't like the deal they were offering was beyond offensive to her.

It was threatening. Reassuringly she patted the firearm at her waist. It was her grandfather's, she used to shoot with him when she was just a girl. Her grandfather was a gun enthusiast, so he had quite the collection. When he passed on he willed over the little pistol to her. Taking it out she glanced at the firearm in her hands. Why did she feel that she needed to carry this?

Her house had always been her sanctuary. But she understood more than most that when rich people with money wanted something, they got it. Laws seemed to matter less the more money you had. So far nothing had happened though, but too many times when she had been walking around she felt eyes on her. Stepping outside she drove her car to her brother's house.

Charlotte knocked on the door and a few seconds later Adam opened the door. She beamed at him. He was such a happy kid now! But with her over cautious mood lately she had to ask him, "Did you know who was on the other side of the door when you opened it?"

The little boy rolled his now healthy eyes and then said, "Aunty, I've been blind for my entire life. I know sounds, I know what your car sounds like."

A small tension released when he said that. She didn't like the idea of her nephew just opening the door for anyone who knocked. A few seconds later she saw her brother come from the living room and said "Hi sis! You sure you're okay with watching Adam? I know you're busy."

Charlotte laughed and said "My new job gives me a good bit more freedom. If anything it's all about phone calls. It's actually kind of nice, I can even sleep in occasionally. Well, so long as I don't get a call at 4am in the morning. That happens sometimes."

Her brother shook his head and said "I couldn't do that. Waking up just to take a phone call? Still, I'm glad you're happy with it."

Then he shouted "Honey, Charlotte is here, are you ready to go yet? Seriously, how long does it take for you to do your makeup?"

Adam whispered to her "It takes mommy a long time! A whole cartoon has started and finished. And she's still in there!"

The fact that he could actually watch cartoons now made her so happy. Of course he had listened to them before, but she remembered those couple nights when he had first gotten his vision back. He had listened to all of the classic cartoons before, but watching him actually see the animations was priceless.

After a few more rounds of shouting her brother got his wife downstairs, He said "Thanks for watching him sis! We really needed a date night."

Charlotte nodded and watched them leave. Turning to Adam she asked "So what do you want to do?"

Adam said excitedly "More cartoons!"

To any other kid she would have admonished them to go outside, but Adam had a lot of cartoons to catch up on. As they sat down Adam picked up the controller and said "Oh yea! We had a substitute teacher today and he said he knew you! He said to give you this."

Adam pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to her. Why would Adam's teacher be sending anything to her? This was weird. Opening the piece of paper up the note said "Greetings, From Mr. Montgomery."

She felt sick. Her vision blurred as she tried to suppress the panic. Then her phone chirped. Trying to compose herself she saw Adam look at her curiously.

Charlotte asked "Is this teacher going to be in tomorrow?"

"No, it was only for today."

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

Anxiously he asked "Was it a good note?"

Ruffling his hair she said "Yea, it's fine. Let's watch a movie! How about you go pick one out."

Adam smiled and ran off to the little spinny rack that held all the movies.

Taking out her phone she glanced at it and saw a text message.

From a number she had never seen before the text read, "Glad you got the note. He hopes to meet you again soon."

Charlotte got to her feet and put a hand on her gun while looking out of the window. A man was across the street holding a phone up. Right after they made eye contact, a car that was parked moved towards the man and picked him up.

***

Jim's PoV

Jim almost wanted to run back and leave Forrest in the dust, but he was responsible for him. Bored, Jim wondered how fast he could run if it came to it. The trip ended up taking a bit under six hours, it was going to take the rest of the day getting back to camp.

If he went alone, how long would it take? That was probably a trick question, how long it would take would probably be the same question as how many times did he get lost.

With the new 3D environment getting from A to B wasn't exactly clear. When you had an overhead view, moving in a straight line was as simple as holding down a button. When looking at a forest in first person, things got confusing very quickly. Looking at the time on his phone it seemed like it had only been 30 minutes since he left the Keeper.

Jim asked Forrest, "So how did you know about the temple out here? When were you here last?"

Forrest was still alertly scanning the area and said "Rebellious teenage phase. Spent way too much time out alone in the woods."

Considering that he had a passive skill called 'Ranger's Camouflage,' that was probably an understatement. Looking at his inventory, he remembered he still had some alcohol. It really sucked that alcohol barely affected him in this world. It seemed like a waste for him to even drink it.

Trying to make conversation he said "I have some alcohol left if you want. Things seem safe enough if you want to take a few drinks."

Forrest shook his head and said "This is too odd. There should be more creatures around here. I had to hide out from a few Giant Centipedes the last time I was out this way. Was in a tree for hours before I could move. Something is wrong."

Jim said "I'm not sure why, but things rarely seem to fight me. Over the entire time I've been in this world, the only thing that attacked me were starving animals."

Forrest said "I have a bad feeling about this. Let's try to move quicker."

Jim agreed. Just shy of four hours later they were on the other side of a hill before their camp. He recognized the area.

As Jim crossed over the rise he could only look in confusion at where the alcove was. Something was definitely different. Why was everything all black? And was that smoke?

It took him a few seconds to process. Smoke was made by fire. There was a fire. Fire was made by people. They had a party member who could use Fire as a spell. Fire had spread all over the place, which was why the whole area was covered in smoke. Finally the light bulb decided to do its job and Jim realized that the party had been under attack. He gulped. Or were dead.

Looking over to Forrest he said "Going to run ahead. Stay safe."

Forrest looked as white as a sheet but he nodded.

Then Jim let loose his legs like he never had before. He unleashed all of his power and his strides would have put olympic long jumpers to shame. The terrain flashed by in a blur of color.

Finally he made it to the gap in the alcove, where there was a literal mountain of bodies. Ignoring them, Jim put even more force into the ground and jumped over the wall. And then he realized once he was in the air he didn't have anything crazy like double jump. Passing cleanly over the wall, Jim cannon straight into the rock behind it.

Another stupid thing off the to do list. Glancing behind him he saw the human shaped hole he made. After some forceful wiggling, he got out. It was like he made a deep Jim sized tunnel. He felt like a certain coyote. All he needed was a wooden sign with a handle and a large flightless bird to taunt him. After a few more wiggles he got out of the rubble.

When he got out he was glad to see a group formed around his temporary prison. Scarlet raised a questioning eyebrow and said, "You know there is still room to fit through the front."

Jim was about to speak but then coughed due to all the dust flying around. Clearing his throat he said "Saw the smoke, is everyone okay?"

Scarlet shrugged and said "Kind of."

Davis made his way over to him with a sad expression and said "We lost our two former prisoners. We couldn't protect them."

A pang hit Jim's heart. He didn't know the older couple at all, but they should have been safe. According to Davis they were in leadership positions of the force that had attacked in the night.

He had tried to ask the couple why their group had attacked King's End, there wasn't much else to do on the road besides talk. However the pair refused to talk about it. Jim knew they weren't probably good people, but it was another example of just how dangerous this world could be. Well, seemingly for everyone but him.

Finally he looked over to the pass that was formerly the entrance to the cove, it was clogged with bodies of dead imps and large rats. Looking around there were hundreds of them, maybe even over a thousand. Then he was confused when he saw some rubble.

Seeing his confusion Scarlet helpfully said, "Rock Giant. Two actually."

Gesturing she pointed out the two now obvious mounds. Jim didn't know what to think. How powerful were they? The 'heroes' of the tale never had to face these before, but judging by everyone's grim expression, it was not an easy fight. It was the early game, it should have been an easy encounter with his pups on guard.

Then Scarlet looked towards the entrance and saw Forrest who was still a good bit away. She scowled at Jim and said "How could you just leave him out there all alone! Shoo, shoo, we're fine. Go make sure he gets here in one piece."

Like a scolded puppy, Jim walked out of the perfectly large enough gap in the corpses and jogged back to Forrest. When he got into ear's reach, Forrest said "Is everyone okay? Is Scarlet okay?"

Little light bulb was doing some work today. With a mischievous grin he asked "Anyone in particular? Or just Scarlet?" Bashfully, Forrest rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and said "I kind of like her."

Putting his arm over Forrest's shoulder he held him in like a vice and said sweetly, "Oh there sounds like there's a story here, do tell!"

After a bit of blushing and fumbling, Forrest got out the story of what happened after the party. Or at least what he could remember of it. Jim listened attentively and said "Just be careful man. She's a wild one."

Forrest finally tried to derail the conversation, "So she's okay then. What about everyone else?"

Jim sighed and told him about their two casualties. Forrest nodded and they continued back to the camp in a bit more somber mood. Wanting to cheer up his new friend, Jim turned to Scarlet and said in a cooing manner "Oh Scarlet! Look what I found for you! All in one piece!"

Jim started shooing Forrest until he was right next to her. Both of their faces went red and Jim laughed. It was just so damn cute! New love in a new world!

Jim quickly took out his phone and took a couple shots of the pair. If it worked out he would totally have to charge them for their first photo together, although the pair had their arms crossed now and had an unhappy look on their faces. Oh well, he did his part.

Now that they were all gathered, Davis gave them the run down of what happened. Jim could only listen in disbelief, his pups had a hard time fighting these creatures? Looking at the cute furballs he finally noted one thing that was missing.

While it was true their stats were almost maxed out, they did not have any ultra powerful weapons or armor to back them up. Overall power was a sum of both stats and gear. In essence they were just a bundle of stats with no gear.

They still had their default damage and armor values as wolf puppies which were heavily amplified by their stats. But even without any gear they should be on par with a level 60-70 character. When they were full grown, they would probably be comparable to a level 80 character.

Maybe some time later he could look into doggie weapons and armor? Jim thought back to his world to those cute little doggie sweaters.

Davis began talking to Forrest and were debating on what to do next. Jim glanced sadly at the two corpses. He saw Forrest staring at them as well. Jim could already tell by the expression on his face the man felt like he was to blame.

Sighing, Jim thought of how he never seemed to have any encounters with creatures. These things were supposed to be guarding the temple, yet they were here. Odds were starting to look in favor of the fact that it might be his fault. Only starving desperate wolves had attacked him in the first area.

The second area had no encounters except a spider boss that had split the human kingdom for centuries. And that boss had cowered away in a corner fearing him. Although a fact that was only revealed later in the game was that the spider boss was dying. The original 'heroes' were just very lucky.

Then there were the most recent travels from King's End till the alcoves outside the temple. Yet again no encounters. Maybe there was some subtle hint that monsters got that was warning them of his presence? Was it because of his boss tag or because of his stats? Even still, very odd.

Should he have given the party all the best gear in the game? The gear he had given them was from about the mid game. Compared to what was available at this point, the gear was absolutely overpowered. But there was still a large difference between that and the best gear.

Jim wasn't sure he should give them items they would have to completely depend on. He thought of the axiom that absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely. Hell, even he was guilty of that.

Right after accidentally creating a living world, he rolled the dice when he was about to lose access to power. What worlds would future Jim create when he didn't have a time limit shackling him? It was kind of a scary thought.

But if he gave his party the best gear in the game, it would be possible for them to become little mini-tyrants in this early game area. How much responsibility for their actions would he have if they started doing evil things? None of them were the original party's 'heroes' for the game. Even among those so-called 'heroes' there were plenty who were only motivated by self-interest.

Honestly he hated thinking about this kind of stuff. Even if their journey was rather boring, he really enjoyed their travel together. Maria and his wolves seemed to be a ball of chaos, always running around and finding different and weird things.

Davis truly cared about his village and always put his responsibilities first. Gwen seemed to be a more reserved woman but she made fantastic food every time they had a meal. He would regret it when the trip ended and he went back to having fast food everyday.

Then there was Forrest and Scarlet. From his Sense skill he knew Forrest was truly grateful to him for saving his life. And he knew from the same skill that one of Scarlet's reasons for staying with the party was because she viewed him like an item piggy bank.

Which was the major reason he was hesitant about giving everyone better gear. But even to his eyes he could see her falling for Forrest. It was actually kind of cute.

Then there was the fact that she had actually stuck around during the battle. She was definitely fast and agile enough to run away if she had wanted. Yet she had stuck with the group and protected everyone.

Jim muttered to himself "Even among the real heroes there were ones who were only motivated by self-interest."

He would have to think about it. After all, it's not like they signed up to become the new heroes of the world. The major threat had already been taken care of. They had their own mission. After Jacksburg they would all probably return to their ordinary lives as Jim pressed on to try and complete the artifact. He really hoped he could find a ship captain that would take him where he wanted.

As long as he could defeat one of the game's super bosses alone, he might be able to assemble the artifacts in a short time. The reward from the super boss would allow him to escape the Endless Storm, which was the barrier that kept the human race safe.

Hopefully RNG, the great random number generator, would bless him. With the power of the artifact he should be able to figure out how to untie this world's fate from his own. He hoped it came with a manual. Then he could focus his efforts on protecting the digital people of the future.

It was getting late so Jim told them he was calling it a night and went to log out. After returning his phone to his original world, Jim waited until his messages were loaded. He knew he should have some. Then he saw a text message from Charlotte.

"They are watching me and my nephew Adam. I don't know what to do. They keep pressuring us to sell them full rights or exclusive buying rights. This is my family Jim, please call me."

Never before had Jim truly understood what 'seeing red' meant. But he knew now. Jim put his phone down and began to flex and unflex his hand. He was going to do something, but what? It seemed to be his habit nowadays but as he thought, he scanned through his inventory with his right eye.

Jim began to pace while doing his now habitual motions. Then Jim accidentally kicked his chair while pacing. Instead of falling flat on his face, the wooden chair disintegrated into pieces.

With an evil smile he picked up one of the pieces of broken wood and turned off his right eye from seeing the other world. Squeezing the wood, nothing happened. But then he pulled up the other world with his right eye and the wood shattered in his hands.

Just like the night vision, his perks only lasted if his right eye was looking into the other world. Exploding his marble countertop with a punch made a lot more sense now.

Jim was not defenseless, and Charlotte was one of his people. But what to do? Plans formed in his mind as he began to pace once more.