Captain Blanc stared at the glowing box in Orion’s hands with obvious fear.

“Before you go opening that box, I think you should go outside. Far from me, and the town for that matter.”

“Why?” Orion looked down at the innocuous box and cocked his head. “What’s wrong…?

“The System told me what I just repeated to you. Take this quest and get that thing out of my office.”

Timed Critical Quest: The Western Frontier.

Time remaining: 6 days, 17 hours.

You and your party have successfully cleansed the western side of town of its corruption. Unfortunately for you, that is not the end of the monster threat to the western gate. Further west, in the Eclipse Forest, the Queen of the Forest has sensed the weakness of Valbrand, and wishes to expand her domain. Take the fight to her and vanquish the threat before the monsters of the forest descend upon the western gate.

The quest added a mark to their map. In order to see the location and Valbrand, the map had to be zoomed out until the town was the size of a fingernail.

“So…” Arika’s jaw was tight. “Despite being arguably the strongest party of adventurers after finishing that last quest, we can’t help the other gates without jeopardizing the western gate. Is that about right, Captain Blanc?”

“You hit the truth of it. Now you comprehend the dire situation we find ourselves in. We Have to rely on the other…” Captain Blanc’s face scrunched up and his lip twitched. “… adventurers. They’ll have to defend the northern and eastern gates while you and the other party deal with the west and south—and that’s if your friends to the south complete the first part of their Critical Quest.” He looked up and released a deep breath. “We are besieged on all sides.”

The frustration of it all hit Orion. They barely had a chance to breathe since he’d arrived in this strange world, and the stakes were ever increasing. Townsfolk had already died because of the actions of those they could safely assume were Felsteg and the rest of Hand of God—a party that was still a looming threat. A pressure built in his head and his mind raced—trying to find a solution that didn’t leave Valbrand’s fate up to chance.

As quick as it had arrived, he quashed it.

There’s no choice but to go on—to move forward, one step at a time. We’ll go west, crush this Queen of the Forest, and return to annihilate any monsters that dare to assault the city directly. Everything else is out of our control.

“Shall we, supreme leader?” Honeypot asked Orion.

Orion gave a firm nod in response. “Thank you, Captain Blanc. We have to get moving.”

They left Captain Blanc with his head in his hands, staring at the maps before him, paralyzed with indecision.

“Oh, one more thing!” Honeypot said, peaking his head back into the office. “We didn’t find Bigfoot, but we’re on his trail. We remain vigilant for any sign of his presence, Sir!” He put his hand to his forehead, giving the Captain a crisp salute.

“Get the fuck out of my office, Honeypot.”

“Yes, Sir!”

As they stepped outside, Arika turned to the mischievous Priest, genuine confusion on her face.

“Why didn’t you tell him about Gileal? I feel like the Honeypot I know would have relished in that and done more than simply hint at Bigfoot.”

Honeypot shook his head in disappointment.

“You don’t understand me at all. I’m marinating him. It’s gambling a small amount of chaos now for a bigger payoff later. Think of his reaction if he ever sees the gorilla with his own eyes!”

She cocked her head at him.

Stolen novel; please report.

“As silly as you are most of the time, you’re kind of terrifying.”

“Thank you!”

Before they found a safe place to open their mythological party box, Orion wanted to talk to Dave and Carl. Telling his friends to take care of any preparations required before heading out on their new quest, he took off at a jog toward Concoctions by Carl.

Arriving at the hole-in-the-wall shopfront, Orion was promptly let in and escorted down to Carl’s dwelling. He launched into a quick summary of the events of the last few days to his Alchemy teacher, drawing shock, dismay, and a respectable amount of existential dread from Carl.

“That is truly, truly terrible news…”

“I’m sorry to be the one to warn you of the incoming monster attack, but I have some ideas for prep—”

“Huh? The monster attack? Who cares about that? We already know.”

Carl still wore an expression of dread, which confused Orion.

What’s he worried about, then?

“I’m talking about you getting so many Alchemy levels from using your potion. You are disgusting. Truly abhorrent. Your existence cares little for the toils and tribulations of all the alchemists before you, and just looking at you makes me sick.”

“O-Oh. So it’s not normal to get Alchemy levels from using potions of your own creation in… creative ways?”

“Oh, it happens alright, but at the Journeyman level? Twice? Back to back? Preposterous.” Carl narrowed his eyes at Orion. “You know, I think I hate you.”

“It’s only natural for me to be so gifted with a teacher like you, master.” He grinned at the old alchemist.

“Don’t you butter me up, boy. Though, I’ll admit your Bountiful Potion of Miraculous Healing was extraordinary, and you do have quite an impressive master...” Carl adopted a conspiratorial look. “… who you couldn’t have gotten this far without…”

“Exactly.” Orion nodded along. “Also, I have an idea to help toward both our Alchemy and the defense of Valbrand. Would you like to hear it?”

“Oh? Do tell, lad.”

“I want you to teach other alchemists how to make my potion. We’ll both get experience for each one crafted, and the town will gain a valuable source of healing if the monsters make it to the walls.”

Carl stopped what he was doing mid motion and raised an eyebrow at Orion. “Are you sure, lad? I’ve told you before… I’ll get most of the experience if I teach it, and you can just teach them yourself.”

“No time.” Orion shook his head. “Timed quest, remember? I’m happy for you to teach others. Maybe you can set up a workstation somewhere and teach some other adventurers Alchemy, too?”

“Nope. Not happening on the last count, but everything else is agreeable. There are other, second-rate alchemists in town that can teach more adventurers the profession, though. I would be happy to… facilitate that. You are my only student, and I plan to keep it that way.” Carl rubbed his chin in thought. “What about the Stim Leaf? We’ll need a lot more of it if we plan to go this route.”

“Not a problem—well, other than the bomb-lobbing Stim Leaf addict that might come for my head for giving away his spot—but that’s a me problem.” Orion shared the location of the Stim Leaf herbs Tallon gave him. “You’ll need herbalists to harvest it properly. I assume you’ll be able to facilitate that, too?”

In response, Carl held out his hand, so Orion grabbed his hand and shook. Carl gazed down at the handshake with reverent eyes before the same wave of energy welled in Orion’s abdomen and shot out through his extended hand. A look of ecstasy crossed Carl’s face.

“Alright, maybe I don’t hate you—perhaps a strong dislike of your general existence is a more accurate description.”

Orion rolled his eyes and smiled at his master, sensing the lack of malice in his words.

A short while later, the party walked out of the western gate and found a clear area that was a safe distance from the walls.

“This new quest is so far away, I bet the reward is going to be some sort of travel option!” Shadow was rambling, intoxicated by the prospect of loot from the mythological party box. “Like a bunch of horses, or maybe even something from fantasy games. Oh my god, what if we get dragons?”

Smiling at Shadow’s infectious happiness, Orion walked over to a tree and snapped off a branch. He placed the box on the ground in a flat spot and tried to pry the box open with the branch from a safe distance. Nothing happened, the lid and the box unmoving.

“Try using your will.” Honeypot said.

Orion turned, raising an eyebrow. “My will?”

Honeypot shrugged in response. “This world is all about will, right? I’ll give it a crack if your will is too weak.” His cheeky smile took the sting out of Honeypot’s words.

“I’m not a Jedi, I can’t just move things with my mind.”

Honeypot gave Orion a look of profound disappointment. “You are the dumbest smart guy I know. I mean the box. Use your will on the box, not to move the stick, you dingus.”

Shrugging to himself, Orion tried to use his will to open the box. He focused on it, envisioning it opening and revealing the treasure inside. A push came back from the box, as if it was sentient and resisting. He smiled as he realized this method would work—it was just a matter of how much will he could exert.

He doubled down on his focus, doing his best to picture the object as an extension of himself. The box was part of him, and he wanted it to open. With a final push of physical and mental effort, the lid popped open.

An explosion of pressure and air that was reminiscent of a miniature Arika-Explosion rushed from the box. Thankfully, because of his increased level and stats, the blast didn’t send him flying as Arika’s would have.

There was a bright golden light still radiating from where the box had once been, the explosion covering the surrounding area in splinters of the destroyed box. As the light cleared, a blurry shape stood in the epicenter. He squinted, trying to see through the light that remained. The shape resolved itself as the light receded further, and he thought he could make out a vaguely humanoid silhouette.

Eventually, the light was completely gone, and they all stared—dumbfounded at what had been inside.

“Hit me, Daddy,” a humming, robotic voice said.