Blake dove behind a thick tree stump as dangerously sharp claws raked through the air where he had previously stood. His spear was embedded within the first Ursa, which hobbled its speed and would normally lead to an easy victory.

Unfortunately, a second Ursa ambushed him mid-fight. He wanted badly to blame this disaster on his companion, but could not even convince himself of the lie.

It was just pure bad luck.

He had ordered Metal away from scouting to distract the first beast. Everything proceeded like clockwork, he thrust his spear into the Ursa, withdrew his longsword, and began to pepper it with light attacks. Death by a thousand paper cuts might not be the most glorious form of battle, but it was safe.

Until a wandering Ursa found him.

He gave his companion credit where it was due. Metal warned him immediately when it saw the monster, and thus saved his life. He rapidly scrambled to his feet in an effort to evade the monster.

They’re supposed to be territorial!

Blake must have completed this scenario a hundred times in his past. In all that time, he had never seen an Ursa defend another of its species. They hated each other as much as they hated humans. Its strange behavior baffled him.

He had dropped his sword during his desperate escape from the additional threat. It lay half a mile behind him. His small dagger would do nothing to stop the destructive creature. Blake needed to circle around to retrieve his weapon.

If this freaking thing will let me!

Every time he thought he escaped the monster, it caught him, despite his increased speed. In the last two days, he had enhanced his Physical Power twice more, which brought it to eighteen point three. At this point, he could run at over forty miles per hour and bench press a car.

Compared to the Ursa that ambushed him, that was nothing.

This monster seemed far stronger than the others. If he did not know it was impossible, he would suspect it was a higher level as well. He could only assume it had invested all twelve of its points into Physical Power.

Maybe that means it has low stamina. I wonder if I can tire it out?

The plan was weak, but at this point, it was all he had. He was barely able to stay ahead of the monster as it was.

What’s its stamina at, eight? Nine?

Blake knew that Ursa started with higher physical attributes than humans. On the flip side, their magical attributes were far lower. It was why this scenario was popular when you gained a level or two. The problem was, he had never fought against them at level zero as he did now, and did not know how high their stamina was natively.

Please be under ten. Please be under ten.

He repeated the mantra as he hurdled over fallen logs and curved through the trees. Every time he used the environment to his advantage, he felt satisfaction at escaping the monster yet again. That glee would then be thoroughly destroyed when it used its speed advantage to catch up to him.

Suddenly, he had an idea.

Metal! Bring me my sword!

I am unable to comply, Master. My contract forbids me from physically interacting with the environment.

Of course it freaking does! Arggggg! Just find the Ursa with my spear in it and follow it. Update its marker on the map every five seconds, I don’t want to be surprised again.

For the next hour, he played a deadly game of cat and mouse. Finally, when he had just about given up all hope, the Ursa began to flag. He himself was out of breath and gasped desperately. However, when he saw the monster on his tail slow, it renewed his determination and gave him another burst of speed.

The new sluggishness of the Ursa allowed him the time he needed to finally choose his direction. So far, he had been unable to angle himself toward his dropped weapon. However, now that he did not have to focus on the surrounding terrain quite so strongly, he would be able to rearm himself.

Rather than rely on his memory of the location, he utilized his companion.

Metal, mark the sword on the map.

The sword’s location appeared before his eyes, and he angled directly towards it. Five minutes later, he returned to the site of the original battle and gleefully scooped up his weapon.

Blake continued forward without stopping until he ducked behind a large tree. It had a trunk three feet in diameter, and would hold up to the titanic force the Ursa could unleash.

After he slipped behind the protection, he turned and raised his sword. He panted heavily while he waited for the flagging Ursa to reach him.

Donna Summers: Hey Blake! Can you talk?

Not now!

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

He mentally dismissed the message, and a moment later, the monster closed the distance. He dodged its telegraphed attack, and then responded with his own.

The Ursa squealed between wheezes, but was undaunted. It wheeled and began another charge. Careful to keep the large tree between them, Blake evaded the next strike as well. He ducked and dodged, and did his best to lash out each time there was an opening.

Finally, after it accepted an innumerable amount of small cuts, it collapsed to the ground, dead.

You have gained 15,000k nano for completing a directive.

The system message could only mean one thing - all Ursa within the scenario were dead.

Blake collapsed to the ground and panted near the fallen creature. Sweat dripped down his face and he closed his eyes as he focused on all that went wrong. Blake berated himself for his lapse, and promised himself it would never happen again.

He dismissed his recalcitrant companion.

It took ten minutes for his breathing to return to normal. During his recovery, he searched through his reward choices and selected a new piece of armor. His old jerkin had seen better days as the Ursa had been brutal to it, and the new studded hide would protect his upper arms.

While he waited for the armor to assemble, he brought up his status and focused on just his attributes and nano. He needed to see how much nano he held and which attribute to enhance next.

Attributes - Increased by 22%

Physical Power - 18.3

Physical Stamina - 11.0

Physical Resistance - 11.0

Magic Power - 11.0

Magic Stamina - 11.0

Magic Resistance - 12.2

Nano - 23,287k

More power or more stamina?

With how exhausted he felt at the moment, he was sorely tempted to enhance his Physical Stamina twice. The scenario had tested his body’s limits, there was no way he could complete another scenario until he had a nice long sleep.

He immediately dismissed the idea of increasing his resistance. It would need to rise to over twenty before it was high enough to blunt the fierce attacks of the Ursa. With only three more enhancements before he hit his limit, he had to choose wisely. Once he reached the maximum allowed enhancements, he could no longer raise his attributes until he purchased his combat class.

I’ll increase both.

Blake spent twenty million nano to upgrade his Physical Power and Physical Stamina. The increased stamina would help heal his wound, and reduce the time it would take him to recover. He worked his body to the bone to survive, and it would take a full day he could not afford to lose to recuperate.

Once decided, he retrieved a bottle of water from his spatial storage and pulled a snack from his pocket. Despite eating two full meals just a couple of hours prior, he was ravenous. He found himself eating over five-thousand calories per day, yet he seemed to be losing fat. Now that he enhanced two more attributes, another twenty-four million nanomachines would draw from his depleted energy reserves.

We need to win that money soon, or my parents are going to go broke just to keep me fed. Shit! My mom!

Between the life or death combat and choosing his rewards, he had forgotten that she tried to contact him.

He quickly opened up a holo-chat session with his mother. After just two seconds, she accepted the invite and appeared before him. His mother sat on the couch alone in her living room. She had bags under her eyes, and he could tell she was worried.

“Hey mom, is everything okay?”

She shook her head. “No, it’s not.” Donna took a deep breath and then added, “The sheriff went on TV. He’s telling everyone that you’re a dangerous fugitive who attacked his deputies. There’s a reward of ten thousand dollars for information on your whereabouts.”

Un-freakin-believable!

“Well, good luck with that.” he responded. “I spend all my time doing scenarios on another planet or sleeping in the fire tower.”

His mother still looked concerned. “They… I think they have someone watching your father and I. I’m not sure if it’s an off-duty cop, or what, but everywhere we go, a car follows.”

“Are you guys okay? Do you need me to take care of it?”

“Take care of it?” She looked confused. “How would you do that?”

“Well, for starters, I could break his legs so he can’t drive.”

Donna gasped. “Blake Henry! You will do no such thing!”

Blake sighed. “Mom, I don’t think you remember what’s at stake. The entire world is going to end in a few months. He and billions of others are going to die within weeks of Invasion day. Meanwhile, we’re trying to save humanity and he’s making things worse. That makes him a traitor to humanity.”

“He doesn’t know the world is going to end.” She objected.

“It doesn’t matter.” He shook his head. “They are all corrupt. Their response to a high school fight was to close down your restaurant, bribe a judge so they can track my cell phone, and then send cops to arrest me. Now they’re lying about me and saying I attacked them and following you two around. Trust me, they deserve whatever I do to them.”

“I’m upset too, but so far they’re harmless.”

Blake sighed and rubbed his temples. “I don’t think you get it, mom. With all the nanomachines draining my energy, I’m eating over five thousand calories per day. That means I have just one day left of food here. If you guys can’t bring me more because you’re being followed, I’ll have to go steal food myself. Not only will that take away time I could spend gaining nano, but it could put me at risk as well. I’m not bulletproof yet.”

His mother remained quiet while she digested his words. Finally, she asked, “Are you okay, Blake? Why are you laying on the ground?”

“I’m fine,” he assured her. “I’m just tired after fighting, and I’m waiting for the nanomachines to finish assembling my armor. As soon as it’s done, I’m heading back to the tower and going to sleep.”

“Just… be safe. Don’t do anything too dangerous, okay?”

“Don’t worry, I’m not in any danger,” he lied. Then he changed the subject. “Where’s dad? Did you get a response from the health department?”

“No response yet, you know how slow the government is.” She took another breath and added, “Peter’s looking for Oliver.”

“Is everything okay?”

“We don’t know. He would normally show up at the apartment while we’re at the restaurant and grab some food. But, we’ve been home for three days straight and haven’t seen him. We’re worried.”

Blake cursed.

Did I change things that much, or did he do this before, and I never noticed?

Unfortunately, there was no way to know. He could only hope that his brother would be fine until he was able to create a faction and get an alchemist to work on a cure.

At the moment, he needed to solve the food dilemma.

“How about this? When dad gets back, go to Dall-mart and pick up a backpack. Fill it up with some food and water, and then go hiking on the Blue Ridge Trail. It’s only a quarter mile from the fire tower. I’ll make sure no one’s following you, and you can drop off the backpack if it’s clear.”

“I’ll just drop it off either way,” she replied.

Blake shook his head. “No, if they think you’re aiding me, they’ll watch you even closer.”

She snorted. “It’s almost dark, Blake. No one’s going to believe I’d go hiking through the woods at night.”

“Crap, it’s that late already?” He absently rubbed his sore chest. “It’s fine then, just wait until tomorrow morning. You can go with dad and enjoy the great outdoors.”

“Okay,” she nodded. “And, I’ll let you know if we find Oliver. I love you, Blake.”

He smiled. “Love you too, mom.”