Daniel, Steve and Kota exited through the Training Room portal together and emerged into Daniel workshop. It felt a little weird to Daniel to be in his old workshop. So much had happened in a relatively short amount of time that being back here just felt slightly strange.
Together Daniel and Steve stood at the threshold of his shop's open garage door. It was dark outside the sun having fully set several hours before. That was something else that was weird for Daniel; he had seemed to have lost all sense of time while constantly being in the training room. The training hall did not have a day night cycle, so he just slept whenever he felt tired. And with his new stats and skills that had become a less frequent occurrence for Daniel.
Steve and Daniel engaged in some idle conversation while they waited for John to arrive. It was about seven minutes later when a red SUV pulled up in front of them and parked. The driver cut the engine, the headlights which had been blinding Daniel turned off and as his eyes adjusted a man stepped out of the now parked car.
As he exited the vehicle Daniel noted that he was moderately tall; maybe just shy of six foot. He had a slim athletic build. He was nowhere near as broad chested or thick in the arms as Daniel was, but as the man walked towards them he gave off a large hunting cat with his agile grace. He had a disorderly mop of red hair on the top of his head, and his eyes were a vibrant green. His white skin wasn't pale as you often saw on people with red hair. instead it looked to have a natural tan that one might expect to see on a person who spent a lot of time outdoors. He wore a black leather jacket over a Grey shirt. He wore blue jeans and a nice pair of leather work boots.
As the man drew close he flashed both of them a brilliantly white smile and reached out a hand for them to shake. His smile revealed the crows feet at the corner of his eyes. It was a face that seemed very used to smiling. When Daniel had first seen the man he would have said the man was around the same age as Daniel, maybe in his early thirtieth, but now Daniel thought the man was probably closer to his forties than early thirties.
John first shook Steve’s hand in a firm grip formally introducing himself. Then he turned to Daniel. Daniel reached out a hand to shake as well, but before he took the other man's hand the passenger side door of John’s car opened and Daniel’s attention turned to the new figure.
A young woman with the same red hair as John stepped out of the car. Unlike John's wild mop of red hair hers was much more orderly. She also had the same green eyes as John. She wore a plain white tee shirt, black yoga pants and a nice pair of running shoes.
She was quite attractive and had fine facial features, but she was definitely no older than mid twenties. If Daniel had to put an age on her he would say she was probably twenty two years old.
Daniel felt John shake his outstretched hand and his attention turned away from the woman and back to the man in front of him as John spoke. “And who might you be?”
Steve had mentioned that it was your shop we would be going to, but didn't give me your name."
"Daniel Martin. Nice to meet you."
"Well, it's good to meet you Daniel if you don't mind me calling you by your first name. The names John Parker and it's a pleasure to meet you as well. Please feel free to call me John." They shook hands and Daniel couldn't help but notice how firm the man's hand shake was. Daniel had no doubt that he would be able to crush the man's hand easily with how many points he had in strength not even mentioning his 'Powerful Grip' skill he had gained from his profession, but there was a strength to the man's grip that didnt come from raw stats.
After their hand shake John stepped back and gestured at Kota as he walked up to John, “and who is this handsome boy?” John said as he kneeled down and began to pet Kota.
“That's Kota. He is my animal companion.” As Daniel spoke he examined Kota to see if he could spot any new changes to his body after his most recent mutation. Daniel couldn't notice any new changes to his fur, which made since his newest gave his companion a brand new organ in his body. However Daniel could almost swear that he could see the shadows that were around Kota’s body were larger than they should have been. He didn't know if that was just his mind tricking him into thinking there was a charge since that was what he was expecting or if it was really there.
After John gave Kota lots of pets he stood and waved the woman who was standing behind him forward. When the woman got close John wrapped his arm around the woman’s shoulder in a protective way. "This young lady here is my beautiful and lovely daughter Miranda. She turned twenty about a month ago so don't either of you boys get any ideas, especially you pretty boy." John said while gesturing at Steve. “I know you were only expecting me, but I didn't want to leave her alone at home.
As soon as John introduced them to his daughter Daniel felt like he had just been punched in the gut. Memories of the day he had first been introduced to the wonders and horrors of the system came rushing back. He was reminded of the goblins that had attacked him and that he had killed. The memory of the sight of the woman's half eaten body. Consumed by monsters that should not have existed in this world. The cops had been able to find her purse in her flipped over car and had managed to identify her since most of her body had been unrecognizable. Her name had also been Miranda. He had been too late to save her then.
With his greatly enhanced mind Daniel continued to replay the events of that night through his mind in vivid clarity. Soon the memory of the woman's blond hair began to turn red in his mind as the growing pool of her own blood dyed her once bright blond hair crimson. Daniel had a hand pressed to his face as he continued to be lost in his own thoughts and memories.
Noticing this Steve elbowed his side. “Daniel are you alright you look kind of pale?” He said concern in his voice.
“Yeah.. I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?” Steve questioned with a still worried tone.
Daniel stood up to his full height and projected a confidence into his voice that he didn't feel. “Yeah, I’m fine. I was just thinking about something.”
Steve gave Daniel a slightly doubtful look.
“Really I’m fine. It wasn't anything really important.”
Steve still looked doubtful, but dropped the line of questioning. As he turned back to John to continue their line of conversation.
In the back of his mind though Daniel wasn't alright as he had said. Daniel gave a quick glance at Miranda. In that moment their eyes briefly met before Daniel broke eye contact and looked away. In the back of his mind Daniel wondered if he would also be unable to protect John’s Daughter Miranda just like he had before. Daniel forced the negative thoughts away from his conscious thoughts and focused back on the conversation between John and Steve. It seemed like he had been zoned out of the conversation for longer than he had thought as when he zoned back in the conversation seemed to be coming to an end.
“Well, it has been a long day of travel for Miranda and myself, so I think we will take our leave and find a place to stay for the night. We can pick this conversation up again tomorrow.”
Having added nothing to their conversation up to this point Daniel felt the need to say something. “I don't think that's a great idea.”
“Oh, and why is that?” John didn't sound offended by his statement, just slightly curious.
“The training hall has a time dilation effect inside. For every second that passes out here four seconds pass inside. If you were to go to a hotel and sleep for eight hours you would have wasted a day and half of time in the training hall that could have been used on improving yourself. We are after all on a countdown and every second matters.”
“That is true. I did some reading on the wiki on the plane ride over here. While I may be able to enter the training hall, my daughter can't since she’s not one of the heroes, so I will need to find her a place to stay.”
“She can stay at my house. It's only about a two minute drive from here. We can go and continue our talk there.”
“Are you really okay with that?” John asked Daniel.
“Yeah, it's fine. We are all on the same side now right?”
“Well it's settled then.” John said, clapping his hands together. “We will follow you there. Please lead the way.”
“Sure just give me a minute to lock up my shop then we will all go together.” It only took Daniel a minute to close and lock up his shop then everyone piled into their own cars. John and Miranda got into the SUV they had arrived into. Steve got into his own car that he had also driven to Daniel's shop, and Daniel and Kota got into his truck.
Daniel pulled out first then waited for a moment for the other cars to follow behind him. As Daniel drove past the spot where he had fought the goblins. He couldn't help, but looked over to where he knew the goblins victims Miranda’s blood still stained the concrete. His thoughts were still a mess after meeting John’s daughter Miranda. Daniel focused back on the road as he finished driving the rest of the way to his house.
As Daniel pulled into the driveway of his house he felt another pang of sorrow pierce his heart. After the recent event that had transpired in his mindscape, memories of his father were coming more frequently. As Daniel stepped out of his car and opened the passenger side door for Kota he had to admit to himself that his emotions were an absolute mess. As he walked to the front door and unlocked it different memories and emotions raged through his mind his thoughts were in turmoil.
As Daniel led the group inside Daniel’s eyes fell on his fathers empty recliner. It caused him to pause for only a moment before he led the group to the dining room. After they had all taken a seat Daniel brought everyone something to drink before he too took a seat at the table.
They all sat around in awkward silence just idly sipping at their drinks. They seemed to be able to sense Daniels' somber mood.
Eventually after several minutes of silence Steve finally broke the silence. “So, John, would you care to tell us why you brought your daughter with you?”
John gave each of them a massive smile trying to lighten the mood. “Ah, where to begin?” John hummed to himself for a moment before continuing. As both of you already know, I was chosen as one of the heroes. As you may have already surmised my daughter was not. She however does know a lot more about different types of games that this new system of ours seems to be similar to. I have never really been interested in any of those games. I have always been more of an outdoorsman. My daughter has been helping me to understand how this system works and has been assisting me in making good choices about the two feats I chose and how I should use my skill points. We were able to do quite a bit of research through the wiki on what feats I should choose based on the class I was given.” John looked over and gave his daughter a wide smile before he continued talking.
“For her part my daughter wants more data to better understand the system and how it works. Once she has gathered enough information about the system she is going to publish it on the internet for everyone to have access to. The best way we think we can gather information on different classes and skills is to go and talk to other heroes about their different classes and skills.”
Daniel felt uncomfortable at the idea in a way he hadn't felt before. It was almost like the very idea of sharing what his class was capable of and its strengths and what its weaknesses were to Miranda was anathema to him, and didn't know why. “I’m not sure I am fine with that idea Intellectually. I understand what you are trying to do and it's a good idea and could help people, but something deep down in my body is rebelling at the very idea of giving away such detailed information. I am fine with explaining how my class and skills generally function, but anything more feels wrong to me in a way I can't really explain.”
“I feel something similar, but not exactly what you are describing.” Steve remarked, “I am a class trainer, so it's in my classes nature to share information,” Steve then gestured a hand at Miranda, “but to give that knowledge to someone unable to learn my class feels wrong to me.”
“I was afraid of that,” John said. “I feel the same thing as well. It has made it hard to try and figure out what skill I should choose for myself. I looked up the reason why we get this feeling in the wiki and there are apparently two primary causes. The first being that she is not yet a part of the system and the second is that the classes heroes receive are considered to be very rare in the rest of the universe and the knowledge on how to obtain them are closely guarded secrets of powerful factions.” John sighed before he continued speaking. “Thankfully I was able to get her a list of all of the feats I got access to when becoming a hero, and have been able to tell her general information I have read from the wiki, but I have only been able to tell her very little about my class. I really can't give her any more information until she gains access to the system.”
“Well, that is a problem, but I can see a few ways around the problem.” Daniel said when John finished talking. His voice was still somber, but he was trying his best to engage in the conversation.
Miranda had slumped into her chair slightly dejected as Daniel, Steve and John had discussed their inability to talk about the various specifics of their classes and skills, but when Daniel spoke about the possibility of a solution she perked up and spoke for the first time since they had all met. “Really?! How?” Her words were demanding, but her tone was excited as Daniel offered her a possible life line.
“Well,” Daniel responded slowly as he gathered his thoughts before continuing. “We can purchase basic guide books of the system with coins from the system shop and give them to you to read and study. I have seen several such books in the shop about the theorized best tier I classes and such.” Daniel then resides a couple of the titles he could recall from memory. “‘How to maximize stat allocation in the lower tier.’ ‘Basic dungeon delving for a new adventure.’ ‘How to maximize beast harvesting.’ And so on. I personally saw no reason for me to purchase them since we have access to the system wiki, but we could buy them for you which you could use to make your guide.”
“That would be great. I could get started right away if given the books. Would you be able to purchase some of them for me now?” Miranda said enthusiasm practically radiated off of her.
Daniel winced. “I could go and purchase some of them for you now, but I don't have that many coins left at the moment.”
Daniel glanced at Steve silently asking him the same question. “I have about nine thousand coins left after purchasing those two skill stones for us. I could also buy a couple of informational books for you as well, but for the time being the coins we have are a very limited resource.” Steve then turned to John and asked the same question to him. “What about you John, have you gotten any coins yet from the dungeon?”
“No, I am still level 1. I haven't even entered the Training Hall yet. I wanted to talk to you gentlemen before I did anything too hasty that might get me killed and leave my daughter without any parents.”
Daniel decided not to comment on the last part of the man's statement and focused on what they needed to get done. “Okay so we need coins. We need to buy information books about the system for Miranda, and we need coins to buy gear for you John. We can talk about more of what you will be facing in the Dungeon once we bring you into the Training Hall.” Daniel looked over to Steve to see if he had anything he wanted to say to John, but Steve seemed to be lost deep in thought.
Then Steve glanced up and made eye contact with everyone sitting at the table before he spoke. “Okay, I don't want to make this conversation too personal, but I have some information I would like to share about myself.” After saying that he turned to Daniel and spoke directly to him. “I have mentioned some of what I am about to say to you, but I didn't tell you the full extent of what I am about to say.”
Steve then turned back to the rest of the table and began to speak. He took a deep breath to steady himself before he spoke. “John. Miranda. I know we have just met, but with the countdown Earth is on I don’t have the time to figure out whether or not I can trust you before telling you important information. I am going to tell you what you need to know now and hope that I am not making a mistake in confiding in you.” Steve then turned to look at Daniel as well. “In all of you. Daniel I know we have not known each other long, but I trust you. You have saved my life and I believe that our friendship has been forged in the fire of battle and will not be something easily broken.” Steve then turned back to face John and Miranda. “John, I hope that I will also be able to relay and trust in you in the same way I have come to trust Daniel.”
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John nodded to Steve. “You can count and trust in me Steve. You as well Daniel. I understand just how important the mission given to us by the system is. The goal to protect the world is not a small one, but it is one goal that you can count on me for the sake of protecting my daughter.”
“That's great to hear John.” Steve then clapped his hands together, “Now of the information I wanted to tell you. I found out early on that you could sell items to the shop in the training room. From that moment I began making plans and setting some things into motion. With the arrival of the system's currency your world's money will soon be all but worthless as soon as the world is fully integrated. To that end I have begun using my wealth to purchase various gems, metals and other raw materials that I intend to sell to the system store in bulk. I have already purchased several of the warehouses that surround Daniels shop where I intend to ship these raw materials I am purchasing to be later brought into the training hall and sold to the shop.”
“Yeah, you mentioned that to me Steve. I could still pitch in my own funds if you want.”
Steve once again waved away his offer of assistance with a gesture of his hand. “This is where I slightly deceived you Daniel and why I turned down your offer of help for buying materials. If you were to put a value to all of my available assets my net worth would be valued at several billion dollars. I am currently in the process of liquidating what assets I can to fund my purchases.
Daniel was shocked and when he looked at John and Miranda he could see the same surprise on their faces as well. “Steve, that's insane. If you manage to convert all of that money into raw materials to sell to the shop you could probably buy anything that you wanted. My maul was less than one hundred thousand to purchase. There are skill gems I have seen in the shop that sell for millions of coins. With that kind of money you might be able to afford those kinds of skill gems.”
While that is true in this relatively short period of time before the systems count down ends I won't be able to sell some of my assets. However, that isn't important. This money isn't just for me Daniel. It's for us. For Saving humanity. I told you this before Daniel, and now I will tell this to John and Miranda as well. I want to turn us into the pillars that can support humanity just like the system is trying to do with the 10,000 heroes. This is one of the reasons I am trying to gather as many hero's as I can together before whatever the system has planned arrives.”
“Now that's a goal I can get myself behind!” John Said with enthusiasm as one of his hands slammed into the dining room table with quite a bit of force. Several of their cups were knocked over, spilling their content over the table. Realizing what he had done John looked over to Daniel sheepishly. “Ah, sorry about that Daniel. I don't tend to make a habit of coming into other people's houses and making a mess when they so graciously allowed me and my daughter to stay here. Please allow me to help clean this mess up.”
Daniel waved away the man's apology. The man's momentary lapse in judgment had amused Daniel and for a moment had made him forget about all of the negative thoughts going through his mind. “Really it's fine. Steve, can you use some of that water magic of yours to clean this mess up?”
Steve nodded and with a wave of his hand all of the water that had been spilled onto the table was gathered into a sphere. Steve then floated the sphere of water over to the sink where he then released his control and the sphere of water fell into the sink with a plop and drained away.
“Thank you Steve. Now to get back on the topic at hand. Your plan has a few problems Steve. Even with your money we just don't know enough about the system to really know what we should even buy with all of the money. Even if we have unlimited money to max out five skill gems slots with the best possible skills, which ones would be the best to buy. Doing that would make us individually more powerful, but would it help us in our goal to protect as many people as possible. We also have the five skill slots that can be directly taught by teachers. We won't be able to fill any of those slots any time soon unless one of us gets a general skill to max level with skill points instead of training it. The Training Hall’s AI might be able to tell us about what skills we should buy, but that could be a gamble.” Daniel then paused in thought before he continued speaking.
“Like we were discussing before, I think it would be a good idea to give Miranda as many books as she can so she can give us as much information as possible as well as help educate as many people as possible about the workings of the system. I think the next safest option on what we should buy would be gear. Buying high quality gear should be much easier than trying to figure out what skill gems to buy out of millions of possible options.” Daniel finished.
“I agree. It will help a lot if we have the best possible gear money or rather coins can buy for our tier.” Steve said.
“Now I don't know as much about the shop yet as you two,” John said, “But I’m afraid we might run into a different problem when trying to buy high quality gear and also by extension skill gems from the shop. Traditionally throughout history the best items that have been sold won't be found at your local store. They are either custom ordered pieces or sold at auction. We don't really know if what we have access to in the shop is really the best or if it's just what we have access to. I think we need to be thinking bigger if we really want to invest in making humanity as a whole stronger.
“What did you have in mind John?” Daniel asked.
John tapped his fingers on the table thoughtfully before he continued. “Well can we purchase structures, fortifications, blueprints or other simpler items from the shop? buildings that have similar functions as the Training hall. From what I have read on the wiki, as soon as the system's countdown ends we will lose access to the training hall which is currently our most valuable asset. I only ask because my class seems to specialize in using grand rituals to make large fortifications and structures. If we could buy buildings from the shop or the blueprints for such structures then I could make fortifications to protect people.”
Daniel nodded. He would need to ask Ulgatha about some of what they were discussing here to see if she had any ideas about what steps they should take in the effort to save humanity. At this moment though he didn't speak up, and allowed Steve to take the lead.
Steve also nodded at John’s words. “You're right, we do need to think bigger. It's possible that the entire world is at stake. If we are to save the world then we will need to save as many people as possible. Which brings up the topic of more problems. logistics of just housing and feeding even one million people would be staggering. As long as we retain access to the shop after our time limit is up feeding people shouldn’t be a problem, but it would be a constant drain on our resources. To feed one million people a day would cost about ten million dollars at just ten dollars a person, but that's in USD I have no idea how many coins it would cost us.”
“We can go through the shop to see if we can find any useful structure we can buy. If we can't buy fully constructed buildings from the shop we can look at also buying blueprints for John so that he could possibly build the structures himself.” Daniel then stopped talking, and grew somber once again. The thought of saving humanity had made him think about his father again. Which made him consider another topic that they had not discussed.
“I’m about changing the subject again, but I think there's another serious topic we need to discuss. Do you guys have any friends and family that you want to save? We still don't really know what's going to happen after the system's timer runs out even if we do have our suspicions.” Daniel then looked down at the table paused to think for a long moment. There in front of him on the table was a circular back mark on the table. He had taken a hot pan off of the stove and placed it directly onto the table which caused the wood to slightly burn. His dad had been angry at Daniel when he had found out. Not because of what he had done, but because he had tried to hide his mistake from him. If Daniel had told his father what had happened they may have been able to mitigate what damage had been done to the table. The old ache of loss once again flared up in his chest. With the events in the mindscape these memories of his father had been a frequent occurrence. All at once and unbidden tears began to flow from his eyes and trip onto the table. Then he began to tell these people he hardly even knew about his late father.
“As for family I really only ever had my old man, but I lost him to cancer a few years ago now. Losing him was the worst moment of my life truth be told. He was an amazing and kind mind that didn't deserve to be taken by such a terrible disease. He was a larger man. Bigger than me in every way you can think of. Personality, size, kindness, generosity and so much more.” Daniel continued to look down at the table as the tears continued to stream down his face as he spoke, but he didn’t stop. Somewhere deep in his chest Daniel felt the need to tell these people about his fathers life, so he continued to speak.
He was quite literally a bear of a man, and had a kind heart to match his size, and he gave just the best hugs you could possibly imagine.” He said with a smile on his lips despite the tears. “I can't tell you the number of times he let some stranger in need into our house. He helped so many people throughout his life. Would you believe it if I told you that I still get letters in the mail from people thanking him for what he did for them not knowing that he's dead.” Daniel let out a small chuckle, “Can you believe that?” I get at least one or two letters a month thanking him for one thing or another. And when I do I will go sit down in his favorite chair and read them. And each and every time I do it’s like another punch in the gut that reminds me of what I lost. Most of the letters are from people I never met that express how thankful they were to have met my old man when they were struggling to get by or pay bills when my father entered their lives and helped solve their problems. Then once I finish reading the letter as was his tradition I store them away in a box where he has kept the hundred of letters from people he has helped over the years. Then after that comes the worst part. I then need to write a return letter to these extremely grateful people who considered my father their guardian angel to tell them how he died from cancer a few years ago. I also still receive awards in the mail addressed to my father for all of the humanitarian work he did. He truly would help anyone he saw that was in need and never truly wanted recognition for doing so even though others still give him recognition.
Daniel let out a long breath before he continued, "You know his death wasn't even the worst part, it was watching him slowly waste away while he was sick. The blood cancer just continued to sap away at his strength little by little, day by day. By the end he had lost over fifty pounds and could no longer stand on his own without help. He was thin, pale and weak. While he was in the hospital I would visit him every day, and when I would leave he would always tell me the same thing. ‘Don’t you worry champ I’ll beat this cancer soon enough and then we can go on that trip we had planned.’ By the end he was just a shell of the man I once knew. Even though he never gave up hope it was so hard to see him in such a state. To watch as the man who was my hero that could wrap me in a hug, lift me up and spin me around with ease as if I was a small child even as an adult be reduced to such a state that was the worst thing I could have ever imagined.”
Daniel let out a deep shuddering sob and it took him a moment to gather himself before he continued. “He was the only family I ever had or really ever known. I have an uncle, but had never spoken to him until he came to dad's funeral. I chose to have dad cremated at the end. I didn't want anyone who had known him from before who hadn't visited him in the hospital to see him in such a diminished state. I wanted people's last memories of him to be of the large caring man he had been; not what the cancer had turned him into. I truly wish that had been the end of it, but my old man was true to himself till the very end, and even though it caused me a lot of trouble I have to love him for it. In his final will and testimony he gave away almost all of his remaining savings to this family who had a young child who also had cancer.”
They had been staying in the room next to my father, and he had heard through the grapevine that their insurance had declined paying for their daughters' treatment. Because of this they were going to have to take out a massive loan and clean out all of their savings to pay for the treatment out of pocket. It's through his generosity that the girl is alive today, and their family isn't swamped with medical debt. It wasn't like my father was a rich man, but he still gave all of his money away to someone who needed it more than himself, and it's not like I needed the money. At that point in time I had made several investments that were already providing me with returns. I also had my blacksmithing business that was starting to grow as well. After he had given away all of his money to that family, all that he had left was this house, the land that it rested on, and all the items stored inside which he gave to me, his only son.” At this point tears had stopped leaving streaks of tears that had begun to dry on his face.
“Of course that's where the problems started. The uncle I mentioned before that I had never met was my dad's brother, and he had apparently only come into town not for my dad’s funeral, but to see what he was going to get from his dead brother's will. Of course when he received nothing he threw a huge tantrum. In the end he ended up trying to take me and the family my father gave all of his money to, to Court to try to profit something from my father's death. His argument was that my dad was clearly too sick to make any decisions about his will because of the cancer, and that this family had taken advantage of my fathers lessened mental state to steal all of his money, and in the process removed him from the will. I won in the end. I literally had hundreds of witnesses I could ask to testify on the character and generosity of my father and how this was exactly something he would do while on his deathbed. I haven't seen my uncle since then and I wouldn't care if I heard he died tomorrow.” With that all of the thoughts and emotions that had been swirling around Daniels head stopped. He had told others about some small portion of his fathers life and it had made the burden he carried just a little lighter.
After Daniel's impromptu heartfelt speech there was silence in the room. Daniel didn't want to look up, but when he finally did he saw unshed tears in the eyes of both John and Steve, and Miranda was openly crying tears still streaming down her face smearing her makeup. The silence grew slightly awkward for Daniel and he felt the need to say something. "I'm sorry that I didn't mean to unload all of that onto you guys or make this conversation so personal. It all just sort of came out. I mean I hardly even know you guys.”
Miranda ended up being the first to reply, "You have no reason to apologize to us Daniel. I am happy you shared the story of your father with us, and I am truly sorry for your loss and for what your uncle put you through. Your father truly sounded like an amazing man and I would have loved to have met him." Miranda’s words rang with so much sincerity to his ears that Daniel felt tears begin to form at the corner of his eyes again.
"Thank you, that really does mean a lot to me." Daniel said as he wiped away his unshed tears.
John and Steve expressed similar sentiments as Miranda which gave Daniel a lot of piece of mind. Eventually silence once again returned to the room, but this time it was not awkward, but thoughtful. All of this deep in their own thoughts. Eventually Daniel broke the silence to ask the question he had meant to ask before he had spilled his heart out to people who had hardly even known him. “So, do any of you guys have any friends, family or people you would like to protect. As for my family, I don't. I have a couple of friends, but they live all across the country now. As for people I would like to protect. I want to gather as many people as my father spent his life helping to protect them. Doing anything less would diminish fathers legacy.”
Steve hesitantly spoke first. "I have an ex wife and a few not very close friends. It's hard to make true friends that don’t have ulterior motives when you have as much money as I do. As for other relatives I am in a similar boat as you Daniel. I was an only child. Both of my parents were only childs, and they died over five years ago in a helicopter accident. Both sets of my grandparents are dead. I probably have a few distant cousins, but if I do I have never met them before. As for my friends and ex wife, if the world is really going to end when the system countdown ends it's not like I want them to die, so I would like to protect them if possible. What about you John?”
“I do have some family like my parents and some extended family I am close to as well. I would also invite my deceased wife's parents and family, but I doubt they would want to hear from me nor would they listen to anything I could say to them.” John let out a sorrowful sigh, “Well I guess it's time I share some information about myself as well. When I was nineteen I got my then girlfriend pregnant with Miranda here. I did the right thing and took responsibility for what happened and the child that was made. We got married and were in the process of planning to raise the child together. During that time I got a job as a ranger at a nearby national park. Well her family didn't appreciate me getting their daughter pregnant, and resented me for ruining her life. They wanted her to get rid of the child so that she didn't ruin her future, but she was a headstrong woman and had decided to keep the child. It was only natural then that their hate and resentment for me and their daughter's child grew when she died during childbirth. In their eyes I am the person who is solely responsible for killing their daughter, so they don't want anything to do with me or the child that got their daughter killed. I will try to send them a warning, but I doubt they will listen or believe me even if they get my message.” John's voice trailed off after the last few words seemed to relive some memory from his past.
Miranda spoke up next, her voice subdued after her fathers story. “I have some friends from school I would like to save, but who would really truly believe that the world is going to end if I told them. How many of them based on my word alone would really book a flight down here? Only a couple of my really close friends would really listen to me, but no one else would at least not without a lot more proof. Proof that we currently don't have.”
Daniel nodded. “We need to find some more proof. Steve, when will you first batches of material start to arrive?”
“The first of my shipments will arrive in a couple of days from now. We can plan out what we want to spend our current coins on in the meantime. Miranda needs books and John needs gear, items and training.”
“Ulgatha also told me that beasts can learn general skills, so we also need a ‘Party Interface’ skill gem for both John and Kota.” Daniel said.
“Good to know.” Steve replied.
“Who is Ulgatha?” John asked.
“To summarize. She is a psionic elemental that lives in my mind and possesses a great deal of knowledge about a lot of different subjects. I’ll tell you about her later.”
“Of course, I definitely don't have any other questions after that explanation at all.” John said sarcastically. Putting emphasis on the word that.
“Glad to hear it.” Daniel said his tone light with a hint of amusement in his voice. His mood had greatly improved after he had told all of the others about his father. A great weight had been lifted from his shoulders, and he was glad for it.
“I think it's about time we go back to your workshop Daniel, so we can return to the training hall. We have a lot of work to do, and every second matters.”
“Wait before we go.” John said. “Daniel, are you sure it's okay if Miranda stays here?”
“Are you really asking me that after everything I just told you about my father. I wouldn't be his son if I refused to let someone stay at his house.”
“Thank you Daniel. That's very generous of you, and I would be happy to take you up on your offer.” Miranda responded.
“Yes, that you Daniel for your hospitality. Though I can't say I am not concerned about Miranda being here without me. I would like to check in with her every once in a while if that's okay.”
“That's completely understandable. If you want I can summon the entrance portal to the Training Hall here. I did lock up my workshop so it's not a problem.”
“That's a good Idea Daniel. Doing that will also let us quickly give Miranda any books we purchase from the shop for her and minimize the amount of time we will need to spend outside the time dilation effects of the Training Hall.” Steve said.
With a new plan of action decided Daniel turned to a bare wall and re-opened the portal to the Training Hall. They were going to have a lot of hard work ahead of them.