Wyatt stared at the message from his Reformation Orb for several moments.

• ⦗Maria’s Giant Purse⦘ ⇶ ⦗Communal Bag of Massive Holding⦘

• ⦗Maria’s Giant Purse⦘ ? Unavailable

• Missing Formula

An inventory. Finally. That’s what it seems like. Even if it’s just a bag that can hold a bunch of stuff. Three arrows too, just like my titan skin. Is that what the upward arrows meant? Or maybe it was a comparison to the inventory I have, which is none. Or I guess, my titan-skin belt.

With very little deliberation, he used a genesis seed.

Except, he realized, he accidentally used the plastic water bottle’s essence seed as well, which had still been primed.

Is that what made it different this time?

The purse lifted into the air, glowing.

Slowly at first, then all at once, the team’s argument died.

I should have moved somewhere more private.

Too late now.

The purse shuddered violently in the air. The smooth brown leather surface rippled and warped, as if something was pushing against it from the inside. Hairline cracks spread outward across it like a spider’s web.

A faint glow seeped out from the growing fractures, the leather groaning and stretching.

Then with a sudden burst, the purse violently split apart. Pieces of leather flew in every direction, then, like with the other items, slowed then stopped, freezing in midair.

From the shredded remains, a bulbous mass of dark plastic fabric weaved together into a new form. It grew thicker and more dense, pushing outward like rising bread dough.

Intricate patterns wove themselves into the fabric, glowing faintly.

By the time the purse finished transforming, the entire team had gathered around him save for Camila, who was watching the scene but staying near Tyler, waiting for her Energy to recover so she could try healing him again.

“Now what have you done to my purse?” Maria asked in awe.

It had been made of leather, but now looked to be made of plastic-metallic darkness. The straps had grown more intricate, and symbols faintly glowed over the entire bag.

Wyatt examined it with Analyzer.

Communal Bag of Massive Holding

A bag capable of holding a great deal. If you can find what you’re looking for. Accessible by all team members.

Level: 1

Type: Normal

Slots: 1000 standard

“Whoa,” Brandon said. “I can use it. There’s a interface for it.” He frowned. “Just a grid of boxes, no sorting or anything.” He took off a shoe and it disappeared from his hand.

Soon everyone was experimenting with it. Jasmine made her top disappear right from her body.

She raised an eyebrow at Wyatt. “That’s handy.”

He nodded. “We could swap armor sets in the middle of a fight.”

She sighed, seeming disappointed.

Wyatt was too distracted with the possibilities to notice.

The interface for it was a large grid that faded out at the edges and which he could move with a thought. He could zoom out to see all the slots at once, but there didn’t seem to be a way to search for things other than visually.

Each slot seemed to be able to hold one item, regardless of its size. Each shoe took up one slot on its own, but connecting Jack’s sandals by their velcro straps let two go in one slot. Tying shoelaces together didn’t work for some reason, and pulling shoelaces out made them take their own slot.

Items didn’t appear to stack either, each shard from the ratapua taking up its own slot. The same was true for money, even of the same denomination, each bill or coin taking up a single slot.

It was still an amazing item. Anyone on the team could access its contents, even without touching the bag.

It didn’t let them use any of Jasmine’s items, however. Patrick was zapped of Energy when he tried.

“This is so cool,” Brandon said, removing one of Jack’s sandals. “We can teleport stuff! I wonder if it would work on a person.”

Wyatt wondered this too.

“We are not testing that out,” Camila said firmly from beside Tyler.

Wyatt tried to open the bag, but found there was no way to do so.

Completely sealed. I wonder what would happen if I cut it open.

But he wasn’t willing to risk losing such a treasure.

Wyatt picked the bag up. It was heavier than he was expecting, but not heavy. He ran Energy into it.

Nothing happened that he could tell. He checked the item’s stats, but they were the same.

He didn’t mind. It was actually nice that it didn’t need Energy to use.

It was a great item, though he didn’t like that everyone had access to everything, and there didn’t appear to be a way to change that.

But that went both ways. He’d have access to any items they put in it as well.

“What are you doing?” Kevin snapped as Wyatt slung the bag over his shoulder.

He considered saying that it belonged to him since he was the one who made it, but didn’t want to draw attention to that at the moment. Everyone was so distracted with what it could do, no one seemed to be wondering how he’d managed to create it.

“Testing its range. We—” he began, then stopped as he felt his Energy flow into it.

It suddenly vanished from his back.

But it was still there, he could feel it. It maybe weighed a little less than it had, but otherwise felt the same.

“It turned into a tattoo,” Brandon said thoughtfully, staring at Wyatt’s back.

Grace, Jasmine, and Olivia all crowded around to get a look at it.

“It looks like the one that guy from that band has,” Olivia said.

“Which one?” Grace asked.

Olivia shrugged.

Wyatt wondered what it looked like. He’d never had any desire to get a tattoo. At least he wouldn’t have to worry about losing it.

He discovered he could make it turn back into a bag by putting Energy into it again. He kept it as a tattoo, since it didn’t use any Energy to stay that way.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

He walked to one end of the clearing then opened the inventory grid and put a shard inside.

“Someone take that shard out.”

Brandon did immediately, and the shard disappeared from the slot Wyatt had just placed it in. He let out a whoop. “Teleportation for the win!”

Wyatt was smiling as he walked back to the group, though he didn’t notice.

“I’d like to see just how far its range is. I’m going to—”

“It’s not safe to leave,” Camila interrupted.

“I won’t go that far. But this clearing isn’t very big. Also I want to see if we need line of sight.”

“I’ll go with him,” Lena offered, using her Beastborn skill to transform into a tlilcoatl. “I already went out to hunt those snakes that ran away. I cleared a path.”

Wyatt nodded. “Good. Let’s go then.”

🞠

“It worked the whole time,” Brandon said when they returned a few minutes later.

Wyatt nodded. “We’ll need to test it more eventually. But at least we know it’s got a decent range.”

“How far did you two go?”

“Eight-hundred steps.”

“Is that what you were muttering to yourself?” Lena asked with a chuckle. “I thought you were trying to distract yourself from looking at me.” She’d shifted back to her human form once they’d entered the jungle to preserve Energy.

“I was counting,” Wyatt said, not looking at her. Although just her drawing attention to her lack of attire distracted him, which was annoying, because he’d actually forgotten about it thanks to getting an inventory item.

Now he was thinking about it again.

“That’s, what, eight-hundred feet?” Brandon asked.

“My stride length is thirty-two inches when running. Not sure when walking. Maybe eighty-percent of that. So four hundred times twenty five… point six? That’s… eight thousand plus two thousand plus two forty inches. Divided by twelve, so about… Wow, yeah, eight hundred and fifty feet.” He frowned at Brandon. “How did you know that?”

Brandon shrugged. “Certainly didn’t do the math. Just a guess.”

“Good guess. I remember reading something about humans being good at instinctual math, but we tend to dismiss that first instinct.”

Brandon snapped his fingers. “Oh, that was Liu’s class, right?”

“Maybe.”

Brandon shrugged again. “I pretty much just assumed one foot per step. You said eight hundred steps.”

“Oh, right. That’s much easier.” Wyatt had a bad habit of complicating math problems. His Number Theory instructor had looked at his proof that two was even and told him it was an interesting way to go about the proof, in a tone that clearly indicated it wasn’t interesting in a good way.

Wyatt looked over at Camila. “Any progress?”

“I just need to heal him again,” she answered, not looking at Wyatt.

But she’d healed him several times now. Wyatt wasn’t sure it was even doing anything anymore, since Tyler’s health circle was the same size as it had been and the red icon was still present.

Maybe there were some things you just couldn’t heal. At least not with an E-Rank skill.

In calling attention to this, Wyatt inadvertently brought the mood down.

He sighed, and he noticed Jasmine near one of the ratapua corpses, looking like she was about to start eating it behind Carlos’s back.

At least someone’s still focused on making progress.

He walked over to her, noticing Chekotae hovering a few feet away, eyes on Jasmine.

“That scroll you made, have you tried to use it yet?”

She shook her head. “Haven't exactly had time. I did test out the slingshot. I’m bollocks with it though. I was aiming for the pyramid, and I missed.”

Wyatt frowned. How did she miss the pyramid? It’s huge.

“Can you unroll it?”

“The scroll?” She sighed and shrugged. “Not like I’m doing anything else.” She glanced at the ratapua corpse.

“Hungry for them?”

She gave a smiling grimace. “Yeah. And I have plenty of Energy. It’s just…” She glanced in Tyler’s direction.

He was pretty sure the glance was supposed to be meaningful, but he couldn’t parse it.

“You’ll have to take the scroll out,” he said. “I’m not going to get my Energy drained again.”

All the items she’d made were now stowed in the bag-tattoo on his back. It had increased the weight, but not by anywhere near as much as the items weighed. The bag wasn’t exactly light, even as a tattoo, but it wasn’t much of a burden. Maybe because his strength was more than doubled from its baseline.

Her eyes focused on something he couldn’t see, then the scroll appeared in her hands.

She shook her head. “That’s so mental. I can just make things appear from nowhere.” She unrolled it for him.

He couldn't read whatever was written there. It looked like a runic language, though the symbols were different than the ones on his shield.

“Can you read it?” he asked.

“No.”

“And when you inspect it, it says scroll of durability? That’s it? No level or anything else?”

“Just scroll of durability.”

“Can I see your phone again?”

She handed it over and he used it to try to translate the scroll, but didn't get any result. Whether that was because he wasn't connected to the internet or because it wasn't a language from Earth, he wasn't sure.

He tried his upgraded Interrogate on it.

Scroll of Durability

Contains basic effect of Durability.

Crafting potential: Good

Use ⦗Essence Orb⦘ for more information

It doesn’t have a level. And it’s one of the few things still requiring an Essence Orb for more information.

The group of ratapua that had attacked with the giant had mostly given shards, but Lena had gotten a level 4 Essence Orb from one of them.

He was curious what extra information he’d gain if he used it, but didn’t want to waste it. It could bring someone to level 1, or maybe even him to level 3.

I wonder if the orb’s level influences how much information it gives.

Crafting thing’s interesting. How do you go about crafting things? Could Jasmine just focus on something and add durability to it? Or maybe you need—

“Wyatt?”

He looked up at Jasmine. “What?”

“My arms are getting tired here.” She glanced over her shoulder. “And I’m hungry.”

He nodded, holding out her phone to her. “Go eat. Maybe we’ll get some useful items.”

“A girl can dream.” The scroll vanished from her hands into the inventory and she took her phone. “Are you still going out to hunt monsters?”

“I don’t know. They seem to be attracted here. But I don't know if that’s because of all of us being here, or if it’s the sacellum that’s drawing them. Does Chekotae know anything about that?”

She shook her head, glancing over at the hat-wearing monster. “He just seems to think this place is safe.”

“Doesn’t seem safe to me.”

“We’re alive, aren’t we?” she shot back.

She seemed rather defensive of the little creature.

“The shrine protects us. Maybe not completely, but it’s better than nothing. Plus it’s how we level up.” She smiled. “That’s what we're supposed to do, right? Like in one of your games.”

One of my games, he thought again.

“Maybe,” he answered. “We do need to get stronger.”

“So, how are we going to do that?”

“I have some ideas,” he said, thinking of his quintessence.

“If any of those ideas include hunting monsters, we should do it before it gets dark according to Checky. That’s what I think he means, anyway.” She glanced at the monster with a smile. “Hard to say with him sometimes.”

Wyatt frowned, realizing it wasn’t as light out as it had been.

He checked the time remaining.

Experimental time remaining: 4095.5 days

Trial 1 time remaining: 1.5 days

That’s new. Is it because Analyzer reached D-Grade? I don’t have the Perceive permutation active—

He stopped, realizing the skill was active, but there was no Energy running into it.

Like a true passive skill…

[Analyzer] modes discovered

Modes?

He pulled up Analyzer and saw it had a new section at the bottom.

Analyzer

Rarity: 1⁄1

Quality: D-Grade

Scion Capacity: 0⁄1

Integration Type: Subject Inherent

Permutations:

• |Interrogate|

• |Perceive|

Modes:

• Active

• Reactive

• Passive

Do all skills have modes?

But he restrained himself from pulling up Debuffer to try to find out, because he’d felt on the verge of some realization, and it was slipping away from him.

His frown deepened. What was I thinking about?

The upgrade to Analyzer had completely distracted him. I shouldn’t have pulled up its message.

He could feel the realization drifting further and further away.

“What’s wrong?” Jasmine asked.

He shook his head.

She forced a chuckle. “Scared of monster-hunting in the dark?”

It clicked. “The monsters. We’ve killed thirty-two. Out of one-twenty-eight.”

She groaned. “Don’t remind me.” She looked around the clearing, littered with ratapua and tlilcoatl corpses. “Still have so bloody many left. It’s like, I’m hungry for them, but at the same time, that’s a lot of work.”

“No, I mean, that’s the same. Think about it.”

She frowned at him. “What?”

He grunted. Talking was so much harder than thinking. He forced himself to slow down. “The countdown says we have one point five days of trial one remaining.”

“It does?”

“Yours doesn’t?”

After a moment she shook her head. “Two days.”

“Well mine is different. It says one point five days.” He pushed on before she could ask any questions about this difference. “The important thing is that we’ve killed thirty-two monsters now. Thirty-two divided by one-twenty-eight is point two-five. And—”

Her eyes widened. “And twenty-five percent of two is naught-point-five days. Precisely how much time has passed according to your message.”

She clearly read the surprise on his face because she cocked an eyebrow at him and put one hand on her hip. “Hot girls can be smart too.”

“Not usually.”

She scoffed and punched his shoulder. “I’ll have you know I studied maths in uni.”

“You went to college?”

“For about a year and a half. Then I found out how much more I’d make off my hotness than my intelligence.”

“That’s smart.”

She laughed for some reason.

“It tells us one thing for sure: this isn’t Earth.”

Her mirth fell away. “Yeah. Or it’s inside some crazy big dome,” she said gloomily as she looked up at the sky. She let out a deep sigh and looked at him again. “So time only passes when we kill monsters. I’m not sure if that makes me want to kill them more or less.”

“Me either,” Wyatt agreed.

“Well, I’m going to go eat. Might as well see what new treasures I’ll get.” She grinned and bit her lip. “Feel free to watch.” Then she knelt next to the ratapua corpse and dug in.

Wyatt watched in fascination as she began consuming it, spikes and all. Either her skill protected her and increased her strength, or the corpses were a lot weaker after their orbs were removed, because she was tearing it apart like it was stewed beef.

Carlos made a gagging sound and put his hands over his ears, turning his back to the sight.

Wyatt noticed Camila was glowing again as she once more healed Tyler.

The glow faded several moments later.

Tyler remained on the ground. Still unconscious.

Camila made a sound in her throat, and Maria wrapped her arm around the other woman.

Wyatt stood there, thinking. What would happen if they didn’t kill the monsters? Would time stop counting down?

What would happen if they did? What came after the first trial ended?

And what happened when the experimental time ended?

One way or another, he intended on being ready.