Know all that was left was to figure out what to do next. Owen had waved both Peggy and Myra goodbye, as they left to go check on their parents. That left Owen with a couple hours to burn and while there was a lot to do, it seemed like all of it would take more than the couples hour he had on hand.

He had talked with Xerxes about it a little bit, before being brought back to earth, but Xerxes had given him a list of things that he should prioritize. While he had been gifted the training gauntlet, they didn't yet have the infrastructure to actually make use of it. Which meant they needed time and money. Credits were the answer to the second issue, but if he could get his hands on enough of them, it would also solve the first issue. Thoughts of money made him remember Audrey Bower and he sighed.

Over the course of the last weeks since he had been able to get in contact with Peggy while training, Audrey Bower had been mentioned more than a few times. Apparently, ever since the system had introduced people to its own currency, Audrey had been bothering her for another meeting, but Peggy had left her hanging on several occasions. They had just been too busy, rushing from thing to thing and everyone involved knew the meeting wasn't going to be very enjoyable, since the Bower's had bet on the world recovering somewhat.

Owen just knew that they were going to become even more insistent, now that everyone knew there was going to be a battle for world dominance. Sighing to himself, he decided that as long as he had the free time, he could make an effort tot try and solve some of his friends problems. A part of him wanted to wait, especially since everyone had just gotten back from either a sponsored realm, or whatever the training from the system was supposed to look like. He pushed aside those thoughts away quickly, while everyone would want to recover, he was willing to bet that people like the Bower's would use the time to plan.

A quick walk through the section of city that had slowly become his home and Owen couldn't help himself. Even if there weren't any people to take care of, he still saw the space as his home and wanted more than anything to be able to rebuild. He slowly made a list of things to do in his head, during his walk to the police station. Just as he expected, he found Officer Adams, who looked worse for wear.

They talked for a short bit, but Owen had been planning to make it brief and it seemed the officer wanted the same thing. There was no exchange of pleasantries, but Owen did get the contact information of the Audrey Bower and where she might be located. Owen had already been pretty sure she would be at her home in the countryside, but apparently during her attempts to get in contact with Owen's group, she had temporarily moved into the city.

As he made his way to where she was supposed to be, he tried to plan how he wanted the direction of the conversation to go. Technically, he was in her debt, so he didn't want to immediately blow her off. But he knew she would end up asking for things he couldn't give and more than likely she would want to change their agreement, so that they could establish themselves with the system's currency.

Faster than he was able to make up his mind, he had arrived at what was supposed to be her new home and he couldn't help but laugh as his mind conjured up the image of her country home and compared it to the one in the city. The build was half collapsed in several sections and while the front door had her family's name plastered on it, as if it was a law firm or insurance company, it only helped to remind him that everyone would need help rebuilding.

He barely had a chance to knock, before someone Owen didn't recognize opened the door and ushered him inside. He could only gape, as while the outside looked dystopian, the inside was pristine and looked exactly like the inside of the country home had visited several weeks prior. A quick scan with his boosted perception, helped him realize that they had built a small set of rooms inside of the building, which was probably the only reason the main building could still stand. Each one was small, about the size of an office, but Owen didn't get a chance to look around much longer, before a very angry Audrey Bower appeared.

"I ask for days to meet with you children and you blow me off after stealing my money, then once the world truly starts ending, you show up unannounced." Audrey spat the words at him, but her rage seemed to die down, when she realized he had come alone. "Your friends, they aren't here?" Owen could hear a little bit of worry in her voice, before her rage came back in full force. "Never mind, its worse than I though, you show up unannounced and worse, you didn't even bother to have everyone show up." Audrey fumed.

Owen stayed quiet for most of it, there was still a part of him that made him uncomfortable around angry people, despite knowing he could probably tear this building apart and everyone in it, in a matter of seconds. The other reason he didn't speak, was because he could tell she needed a minute to burn off some steam. Everyone was tense and Owen couldn't imagine how much worse it would feel when you don't have anything you can do about it. He had only been inside for about a minute, but she finally seemed exhausted and slumped back in a chair across from an empty one she gestured for Owen to take.

"I'm sorry we haven't had a chance to speak to you about really anything yet, but part of me wonders what you even want to talk to us about. I know the contract we signed had been about US dollars, but system credits are still relatively new to everyone. In fact we aren't sure of a way to get them, other than clearing tier three gate and above." Owen started, as he sat down. Audrey seemed to expect the response and just sighed. "I went from someone, you could argue, who ran this city and yet I suddenly know nothing about the happenings inside of it. Not only do I not know almost anything since the system arrived, but the longer the system stays, the more control I seem to lose." Audrey finished and looked at him with a helpless expression.

A part of him really wanted to find a way to help her somehow, but he didn't feel any real empathy for her situation. She, by her own admission, had run this city from behind the scenes and her biggest problem right now was her feeling helpless for having lost that power. As he thought about it, any sense of empathy disappeared and was replaced with anger instead. "Do you realize how much real suffering is happening right now? You are complaining to me about how you've lost your power and yet you are in a much better position than almost everyone else in this city."

He was being half accurate, up until everyone had been whisked away for training by the system, there had still be people on the outskirts of the city that had been doing their best to avoid facing the reality of the system. There were more than likely still dozens of people that were in a better position than Audrey, but that was already quickly disappearing, with the absence of most all electronics. "I feel no empathy for you." Owen said sternly. He could see a flicker of rage in her eyes, but it left with another sigh escaping her lips. "So, what do you want then?" She asked.

"Well, even if I don't empathize with your current issue, it doesn't mean my friends and I don't owe you a debt. Me being here is in part doing to me wanting to find a resolution, before we find ourselves with bigger issues. You know what is coming just as much as I do, and we all need to prepare." Owen said, quickly using his keen eye. It was as he expected, she had barely passed the single digit mark in levels, sitting at level 12.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

He felt a wave of disappointment, since it was a sign that even those that had had drive before the system, were lacking behind. She started to speak, but he interrupted as he pushed through. "You are weak, in fact, most of the people in this city are incredibly weak and in just this next year, we are going to be facing threats of enemy guilds, gates breaking, and short supplies. I will ask this once, which of those do you want to help with? We aren't going to be able to repay the debt any other way than giving you a position of some small power." She started to protest, but Owen felt his anger spike again and he slapped a hand against the desk that sat between them.

A large crack reverberated through the room and the table crumpled under his strength. "You are either with us, or against us. My team and I are already going to be stretched thin as it is and people are going to start becoming desperate. Not only will gathering money to buy supplies cost us time, but we need to somehow fortify our base and grind for levels at the same time. We can't do everything." Owen finished as he stared at her.

He had given her the options he could think of that would satisfy her and hopefully be nice enough accommodations that she wouldn't bother making plans behind their backs. He knew nothing would be perfect, but even as he described their situation, he couldn't help but feel things were a little helpless. He knew he would manage to figure it out, especially since the next thing he needed to go address was the military base and see if they had changed their minds, since their attack.

Audrey seemed to struggle for several minutes and he could see the gears in her mind turning. The options he had given her were not equal, but they were things they would need help with and he wasn't sure what the best option would be for her. He would need her in something like an advisory role, when helping either Peggy or Myra navigate things. Eventually she looked Owen in the eyes again, and this time the flare of anger he had seen, was replaced with determination.

"I think my talents best suit helping to organize supplies and resources." She stated and Owen smiled. "Come by the guild tomorrow then and I will show you how the guild store works. We are going to need you to come up with a couple plans and more than likely we will needs a census done, to help with numbers, since everything is going to be tight until we can have teams start earning credits." Owen rattled off and Audrey only seemed to jot down a couple notes. "You've changed with power, how does it feel?" She asked, with a gleam in her eye, but Owen ignored her.

She could have a dozen reasons for the question, but Owen didn't bother to try and understand. He gave her a few other directions and a list of things to do, before they would meet up the following morning. She asked a couple other random questions, but Owen only answered a couple of them, before he left. He had, in his mind, repaid the debt his team owed the Bower's and it would be up to them to do the job right, otherwise he wasn't against firing them. His next stop was by far the one that concerned him most.

They had been in a direct conflict with the military and he was pretty certain that everyone that had been sent to fight his team, had died. He still wanted to see if they would be interested in joining their city, but he couldn't imagine a situation where one of the other could stay in their current location and military bases seemed tricky to move. The other issue he had, was that the military base was a couple hours away, but with all cars being gone now, he would need to run. That sucked, but someone was going to need to go at some point.

While he could move quickly, it would still take him a couples hours using his boosting skill. He quickly shot both Myra and Peggy and message, letting them know that he was getting ready to run to the military base. He limbered up while he waited for a response and was surprised when he saw both of them running in the distance towards him. Neither was dressed in their system gear, but both looked determined and Myra flashed him a grin. "If we are going to be visiting the base, all three of us should go. And if we can, we should clear as many gates as possible on the way." Myra said, as she slowed down her run to stand next to him.

Peggy had made it there first, but had needed to catch her breath, before speaking. "Plus with one of my new skills, we should be able to reach there even faster." She said, still slightly out of breath. Owen nodded and quickly told them about his conversation with Audrey. There was quiet for several seconds as both of them seemed surprised. Owen was worried for several seconds that he had maybe done too much while they had relaxed, but one look at the relief on Peggy's face calmed him down.

"Thanks for taking care of her, she was starting to get annoying and you're right, we will really need all of the help we can get." Peggy started. She seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, before she turned her attention towards the direction of their guild. "We will also want to recruit Thomas as his group, the faster they officially join our group, the sooner we can start trying to raise the base level of everyone in town." Owen nodded in agreement, before turning his attention east. "You guys ready to run for a couple hours and clear some gates in record time?" Myra grinned wide. "Oh man, I can't wait to show you how much stronger I am than you now!" Owen grinned back. "I guess we will just have to see, won't we?" He said, raising an eyebrow in challenge.

"Don't clear any tier one or tier two gates, tomorrow morning, while Owen is meeting with Audrey, I am going to see if I can't have Thomas and his team join and escort people through gates, just until they unlock their classes." Myra seemed offended at the idea of clearing a low tiered gate, but both of them nodded back to Peggy. Seeing the anticipation written across both Owen and Myra's faces, Peggy sighed and cast her new buff. Owen immediately felt a new energy course through him and opened his eyes wide in surprise.

"I made all of us 10% faster, so we should start running before it starts to run out." Peggy said smiling smugly. Owen and Myra made eye contact, before both burst forward, sending cracks spiderwebbing across the street. Owen began laughing as the wind rushed through his hair and Myra began pulling ahead. To both their surprise, Peggy pulled further ahead than either of them, managing to make it somehow look like a stroll as well.

They shared a few words as they ran and decided they would only clear gates on the way back, jotting them down on some paper, so Thomas's team could bring people to the lower tiered gates later on.

They made better time than Owen thought they would, but they slowed down a bit once they were close enough to the base. They waited for several minutes, after they were certain they had been seen and both Owen and Myra quickly decided that Peggy would do the talking. Peggy only grumbled a little, but agreed and before long, someone started cautiously moved towards them. Owen wanted more than anything to say, take me to your leader, since the man was looking at them as if they were aliens, but Peggy somehow seemed to know what he was thinking and threw him a look. "You said you'd leave the talking to me?" She whispered, while pointing an accusatory finger at him.

He held up his hands in mock surrender, before turning his attention back to the clearly terrified man. He held a rifle that was pointed more at the ground than any of them, which Owen appreciated, but each time any of them so much as breathed, as would spin to point it more towards them.

Peggy plastered a wide smile on her face and gestured for the man to calm down. "Please, we mean no harm, while we have had some disagreements with you guys before, we are more than happy to put those to rest." The man nodded and while he didn't calm down, his gun drooped closer to the ground. "Alright, I will find someone who is willing to meet with you guys, things are extremely hectic right now and people are trying to find an excuse to tun anyone into an enemy." The soldier said, before he began walking back towards the base, all the while keeping his eyes on them.

Owen sighed and prepared himself for a long wait.