Kurt walked quickly down the street. He was in a hurry but didn't want to spook the locals. Unlike most of the town survivors, he knew what was going on. It had all happened the night after the System came into being. At the time nobody knew where they had come from but Kurt learned later that they had come ashore in a drug-smuggling submarine.

Somehow the criminals had been able to paddle the subs to shore. There were twelve in total and two subs. They killed the mayor and the sheriff while giving the remaining officers an ultimatum. Fall in line or their families would be killed in front of them. Two of the town's ten officers took offense at this.

They were subdued by the criminals. Hours later the men returned with both officers' families in tow. They were forced to watch as the men raped and tortured the women and killed the children. Then they killed the two officers.

The message was clear and the rest of the officers fell in line. That was until last night when Officer Richmond and his wife were found dead in their home.

Kurt clenched his fist until it turned white. He knew what got Richmond killed, the man had been trying to recruit people to kill the cartel goons. He had come to Kurt a few weeks ago trying to recruit him. Kurt warned him against his plan but the man had gotten angry with him and they got into a shouting match.

They hadn't talked since. But that wasn't the reason Kurt was heading in that direction. He had received a troubling report that a strange house had appeared. That was surprising in and of itself but then he was told the house was some sort of store, selling enchanted items. Already a few people in town were walking around with these weapons.

He needed to put a stop to this before the cartel thugs learned about it and they killed off these people... or worse used them to enhance their strength even more. What he didn't know is that he was already too late.

***

Carlito punched the man in the face, knocking him and the chair he was tied to the ground. God, he loved the strength and power the System gave him. His men had found this civilian walking around with a magical weapon. When they had asked him to relinquish it he had refused. At least until his men beat him unconscious.

That wasn't why Carlito was angry with this man. When one of his men took the weapon he had been burned severely and ended up losing his arm.

"Tu puta madre, tell me where you got the weapon!" he yelled, kicking the man in the side and eliciting a pained groan.

"I- I told you, from the enchanting house," he cried out.

"Where!"

The man gave him the street name.

"Good. Juan, take Alejandro with you and see what's going on."

The two men left, leaving the injured man on the floor with Carlito and two of his men.

"So, who's turn is it?" Carlito asked, "I believe it was your turn Julio. Clean up after your done," he said, wiping his hands and walking out the door with Diago tailing him.

There was a scream of pain that was muffled as the door closed behind him.

***

"Another satisfied customer," I said as the Barbarian lady left with her new 'enchanted' mace.

Out of the eleven people that had taken advantage of the first free sample only one had requested a second item. That was fine, we weren't here to make money, only to cause a stir and see if we could draw out the criminal element.

Martin was sitting on the couch teaching Ska how to play chess. I shook my head in amusement before walking over to a folding chair. It was a nice day and there were no more customers, so I decided to relax on the porch. 'I really wish I had a rocking chair.'

I was relaxing with my feet up, for about ten minutes, before an angry-looking large Scandinavian man with a buzz cut stormed down the street toward the house. I raised an eyebrow but otherwise remained seated.

"Fiona, go alert the others, looks like we may have company," I said quietly, hiding my words behind my hand and a fake yawn.

I felt the cold tap on my shoulder letting me know she had heard me.

My eyes followed the large man as he stopped in front of the house. I was a bit surprised that he was wearing a police uniform and armored vest but otherwise I waited for him to talk first.

"You need to stop!"

"Is it illegal to sit on my porch?" I asked, nonchalantly.

"You know what I'm talking about," the man replied.

"No hello, no how ya doing, not even a name, just stop. I really expected more hospitality from this lovely town."

With each word, the man grew redder with anger. I decided to use Identify on the man before he popped like an overripe tomato.

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Kurt Longstrom | Praetorian | Level 9

His level was higher than any others I had seen in town. All of my other customers were in the four or five range. That didn't surprise me given the natural barriers that kept the monsters at bay.

"I don't have time for this nonsense. You have no idea what is going on in this town, stop before you cause issues or worse, someone's death."

"Sorry, can't do that. I have customers that desire my work," I replied.

"If you don't stop, I will make you," he said, placing a hand on what looked like a saber.

"Nice sword, I could enchant it for you. Also, I don't think you will have the opportunity," I added, motioning behind him.

The man blanched before turning around. Two Hispanic men were standing ten feet behind him, looking oh so tough.

"You can leave, Kurt," the shorter of the two men said.

Kurt gave me a pleading glance before swiftly walking away.

"You the man that is making the magical weapons?" the same man that addressed Kurt said.

I decided I needed names, so I used Identify on them.

Juan | Stalker | Level 12

Alejandro | Shaman | Level 12

Neither of the men noticed as my scan finished. I saw their eyes flick over to the door as Martin and Ska stepped out.

"I do. So, Juan, Alejandro... what can I do for you?" I asked, getting to my feet.

Calling them by name seemed to set them on edge. Seems they hadn't explored the wider world and learned about identify spells.

I stepped down the stairs, stopping at the bottom. Martin and Ska took up positions at the top of the stairs. I knew Ska could cover the distance from here to the men quicker than even I could. And Martin didn't need to close in.

The shorter man, Juan, pointed a wicked-looking knife in my direction, "you will only be enchanting weapons for our men," he replied in a threatening tone, "or else," he added, running the backside of his blade across his neck.

I took a step forward, my staff appearing in my hand, to the surprise of the two men. "So you're threatening me. You see, I don't take kindly to threats," I added, evenly.

"Me cago en tu puta madre!" Juan said before he turned into dark smoke and rushed at me.

The man was slow, well, not really slow, just slow compared to me or Ska. He slashed at my face with his knife but I easily avoided the blow, stepping to the side. Ska and Martin could deal with the other guy.

Again and again, the man tried to slash me, he did manage to hit me a few times. It was a testament to his skill with a knife, more than his attributes or abilities. The cuts did burn, like acid had been dumped into my veins. I grit my teeth and used Rejuvenate to counteract the pain.

I saw an opening and smashed my staff down. The man didn't even attempt to block, thinking himself invulnerable in his smoky form. The strike passed through his form disavowing him of that notion. Not that that knowledge would do him much good for long.

The man went down in a heap, screaming as my runic-enchantment burned through his body. He blindly swung his knife, trying to hit me but I had stepped out of range. Since my guy was temporarily incapacitated, I decided to check on the others.

The three of them had torn the other man apart... literally. I saw an arm laying ten feet away, a leg or part of one in the road. The rest of the body was black and bloated. I had been so focused on my fight that I didn't even see what they had done. I would have to ask them about it later.

I returned my attention back to the flailing blind man. "Martin, you want to do the honor?"

Martin nodded and walked over, three blasts of his mana pistol brought an end to Juan.

"Well, who wants lunch?"

"Hmmm, yes, I have worked up an appetite," Ska said in delight.

"Excellent, Martin, you go whip us up some grub, I'll clean up this mess."

"Thanks for this, Paul," the man said, clapping me on the shoulder.

I gave him a nod and a return pat on the arm. The man needed this closure.

Honestly, the fight had been anti-climactic. I somehow expected them to be at a higher level. Sure the man was skilled with a blade but that only amounted to so much. The man put too much faith in his ability to take a non-solid form. Thankfully my staff was able to bypass this ability and strike him directly.

I had wondered if it would work on him. Even though I had tested it on phantoms, I couldn't be sure it would work on other abilities until it was tested. And now I knew.

I placed the intact body in my ring. That one was easy to clean up. The other... not so much. I looked at the mess and sighed.

The big parts went into my ring and while it felt like a waste, I used regenerating rain to wash the blood off the sidewalk and street.

I was done after a few minutes so I started whistling a tune as I headed back into the house.

***

Kurt had watched the altercation from a safe distance... and was surprised at the speed at which the newcomers had dispatched Carlito's men. It wouldn't matter though. As soon as Carlito learned of this incident, his retribution would be swift and violent.

Kurt couldn't stop them or become involved further, he needed to keep his boy safe. Now that these people had killed two of Carlito's men, that may no longer be possible. Taking his son out of town was not an option.

He had witnessed the creatures that dwelt past the plateau, had been forced to fight them on more than one occasion when he had tried to flee. There were only ten survivors of that attempt and none had tried after. No... he knew what he must do, but he didn't like it.

Kurt steeled his nerves before knocking on the door to the old mayor's office. Carlito knew he was here, his men watched every entrance. It made the man feel powerful to make people wait. And so Kurt stood there until Carlito called him inside.

"What is it, I'm busy?"

The office was in disarray and Carlito sat in the chair behind a big wooden desk. His feet were propped up on the desk while he picked his teeth clean. Kurt bristled at the scorn this man showed for the once prestigious office, but he kept his emotions in check.

"There are some outsiders that have come to town."

"Yes, I am aware... what of it?"

"I saw them kill two of your men today," Kurt spoke.

Carlito paused, flicking his pick to the ground. He lowered his feet slowly off the desk and got out of the chair. A knife appeared in the man's hand and he jammed it into the top of the desk with enough force to plunge the blade to the hilt.

Kurt swallowed hard but didn't move. The man approached slowly, walking around him without saying a word.

"So you just watched my men die?"

Kurt stiffened at the man's cold tone.

"I didn-," he was cut off when Carlito slammed his head into the desk with enough force to shatter the edge. The blow left his vision hazy and distant as he lay groaning on the ground.

"I will deal with you later," Carlito growled as he left the room.

Kurt could only lay in a daze on the ground from the attack. Blood leaked from the split skin on his forehead and his mind wavered between conscious and unconscious. He knew Carlito was powerful but this level of strength had been a surprise. Kurt was no pushover, having placed more than half of his attribute points into strength and endurance. Now he couldn't even rise from the floor.

He realized he had fucked up by coming to tell Carlito. Now when Carlito and his men finished with the newcomers, they would drag his son in front of him and make him watch while they tortured him to death, before they finally ended his pathetic life.