The enchanter’s home had expanded to a whole district, with many smaller workshops surrounding the large one. The constant sounds of hammers, roaring flames, and the seldom explosion were quite soothing. It was almost like being back in some normal semblance of life, where everyone was focused on their craft and earning the daily bread. Of course, the fact that all of that was with the sole purpose of killing stuff better somewhat destroyed the serenity of it all.

Come to think of it, the Sanctuary has also expanded outward a bit. Funny how much change a few weeks bring.

Alan wasn’t sure how that worked, but he was sure Rosalyn had her hands full. Reclaiming what had been lost and allowing progress to take precedence was great. He doubted they could keep up with the new threat, considering their advantages, but every step forward was a good one. Even more so now that he had dropped a bomb on her and left. He quite regretted it, but ignorance was dangerous. Especially when it came to survival.

“Hey, Tullis,” Alan greeted, then nodded toward the third floor of a nearby building, where he sensed the slightest fluctuations of mana.

The guy was getting good, but he was still an open book to Alan’s constantly improving abilities to read the flow of the mana around him. He was quite surprised it had not turned into a skill or trait, but insights seemed to be more malleable and less constricted by rules. That was all fine and dandy. He didn’t need the System to tell him how to walk or breathe, did he?

“Hey, Alan. How are you?” the large man greeted, straightening up.

That’s new. About damn time.

“You remembered my name this time around?” Alan asked, with a smile.

Tullis seemed to grow a bit nervous, but he quickly shook it off and returned the smile. “I’m one of those that rely on weird skills to level. My mind is foggy most of the time. I hope I haven’t insulted you.”

Alan stopped in place. This was a new development.

“We were wondering…” Tullis spoke slowly. “How’d you get so strong?”

What? Alan’s eye twitched. Was it his latest actions that had caused this change? Was he famous?

I never thought I’d be a celebrity, but here we are. I wonder how I should answer this…

“Well… I got a bit lucky at times, took some dumb risks, and generally just went with the flow. This new reality we live in is full of opportunities and beings that will be interested in making use of your friendship. Some are bastards, but generally, there are gains everywhere. And skills can lead to some pretty wild things if you let them.”

Tullis frowned and his mouth moved as if he was trying to chew on the worlds, while Alan tried his best not to look uncomfortable. He was as far away from being a teacher as one could get. The very idea of standing in front of a bunch of people and telling them how to deal with life was more terrifying than a full-grown planet-sized dragon.

“Look,” Alan rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Just look deeper into things. Energies, concepts, and all that. I can sense you are close to reaching the limits of tier one so you should delve deeper in what you already have. As far as I understand the harder the conditions for the tier up are, the better.”

“Were yours very hard?”

“Yes, but I had help. If I’m around, feel free to find me if you need help too.”

Tullis smiled, and Alan felt the hidden guard move excitedly. Something about Alan’s words had made the control over his mana signature wane, lighting the stealthy archer up as a Christmas tree.

“Thanks!” Tullis beamed. “Master Muge wondered when you’d show up. He’s expecting you… I think.”

That old fart. Bet he will act busy once again. Maybe I should…

“Nice seeing you, Tullis. Take care for now.”

Alan stepped forward and [Dark Stepped] toward the entrance, opting to stop behind a large column so as to not alarm the rest of the guards. There were quite a few around. Shadows crept up from his feet crawling beneath the door. He could not use them to see, but sensing was another thing. They spread like spiderwebs and when he was satisfied and once again used [Dark Step].

Mr. Muge was busy fiddling with a piece of wood, and Alan observed him carefully from the corner he had chosen. Every so often the [Enchanter] would peek toward the doorway and mumble something unintelligible under his breath. He seemed thoughtful, and not in the way Alan expected him to be.

Perhaps he was already alerted of his arrival, perhaps not. It was still quite fun to act like an unruly child from time to time.

“Whatcha making there?” Alan asked almost in the man’s ear, after shifting even closer to Mr. Muge. He was loving this improved [Dark Step].

The old man screamed and turned. His simple clothes suddenly lit up with runes and an oval golden shield reminiscent of the one covering the Sanctuary in those first days covered the man, while a ring on his finger shattered.

Alan watched it all transpire with a smile frozen on his face. Moments later the doors were knocked open, with more than half a dozen guards pouring into the room and looking for the threat. Tullis was the first to come, along with the archer who peeked from a whole on the roof that hadn’t been there before.

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“A-Alan?” Mr. Muge breathed out.

He seemed to relax as Alan waved half-heartedly, unsure what to do. The awkward silence and the tension lasted for a good while. Then, Mr. Muge turned around and exploded.

“You all failed! You were slow! I’d have already been dead if it was a real threat! What do you think this is?! A game? A joke? Fuck off and think about what you did!”

The guards left one by one, ashamed.

“Sorry about that,” Alan said. “Didn’t mean to get you worried.”

The barrier fell apart and Mr. Muge took out another wooden ring from out of somewhere and put it on.

“That was a good test, even if I want to scream at you too. How did you get in?”

Alan shrugged. “Just a skill.”

“Just a skill? I’ve spent hours enchanting this workshop so ‘just a skill’ won’t be enough for anyone to do what you just did! This makes it all worthless. I’ll start anew. Right! Next time you come, try to sneak in again! We’ll see who gets the last laugh!”

Is this turning into a challenge? Sounds fun.

“Now!” Mr. Muge clapped his hands and grabbed Alan’s arm. “Come. I’ve got some things to show you. How’s that dagger I gave you been treating you?”

Alan blinked, then remembered the dagger. It had a fancy name and everything, but to him, it had just been a tool to coat in shadows and will. He had neglected using his weapons. The staff remained the best of the bunch, but it felt like a crutch when he was trying to improve on his own. As for the dagger, there was little use to the weak enchantment, which acted similar to Alan’s many times stronger energies. [True Edge] was the one he still considered useful, although his will seemed to have a similar effect as well.

“Well—”

“I take it not that well?” Mr. Muge with a grimace. “That’s all fine. It’s weak, and you’re strong. I might have another few things for you, but you’ve got to give me time to catch up. Not everyone can be a freaking monster. Now to business. First of all that jaderin ore you brought, and the iron… you got more?”

I knew it. He had seen the armor, and even Tullis had a small thing of it on his bracers.

“You like it?”

Mr. Muge exhaled. “Like it? That thing will transform the Sanctuary if we get enough of it! It can both repel and store mana, it can even hold skills, but the latter takes a lot of effort to achieve. I’m thinking of creating a whole grid throughout, and make mana emulate electricity if we’re lucky! I don’t know if that’ll be useful though. Maybe something like that fancy tower of yours will do better.”

“Some of the monsters in the Dungeon could copy simple skills,” Alan said, remembering. The latter ideas sounded great, although skills seemed to take care of most issues the lack of modern amenities created.

Mr. Muge nodded. “The armors you probably saw all over are lined with some of the unpure jaderin, the scraps so to speak. Even they are enough to give protections we hadn’t been able to achieve in the long term. Sure, a shield or a barrier here and there is a simple affair, but a constant dampener against most elemental spells? It’s beautiful!”

“I’m glad you’re making use of it. To answer your question, I have a bit more, and better yet I can point people in the direction of the Dungeon I got it from. The issue is getting there, as its quite far.”

“The situation with the World Temples won’t help?” Mr. Muge grunted back.

He was leading Alan through the back room. It was a large storage hall filled with everything. They weaved through piles of strange materials, weapons, and armor. The mana inside here was in absolute disarray, with even the smallest object having its own say. Alan found it a good game to try and dig out the different mana signatures, but Mr. Muge’s question distracted him.

“What about the World Temples?” he asked absentminded.

“The fast-travel!”

“Well, sure it could help. We have no Sanctuaries in that direction. I know of one...” Or two. Maybe finding where Jay is from will be good. I can steal some more of Amir’s skills and talk with them about an alliance? “We can’t go to war with them though.”

“Can’t you just take them out on your own? Aren’t you this big scary monster now?” Mr. Muge’s tone changed as he stopped near a bench holding a few pieces of dark cloth. His eyes bore into Alan’s own, as if searching for something. “Aren’t you thirsty for blood?”

The shadows responded at the question as if it was asked of them, and Alan had to exert some effort to stop himself from frowning.

“Come on, Mr. Muge. I’m trying to be a better person—”

“Bah! This world has always eaten good people as breakfast. Now more than ever. Don’t worry, I’m not asking you to go slaughter innocents. I’m just checking if you’ve gone mad. We’re once again getting more and more cases of bastards losing themselves to power.”

Rosalyn didn’t mention anything about that… As for going mad, he’d be surprised.

Mr. Muge continued as if nothing weird had transpired. “My idea is different, and I’ll speak with Rosalyn about it or send a runner, but don’t you think having to conquer all the World Temples is a dumb way to have this new world develop? Frankly, I expect only a small portion of the countless that exist to survive as long as we have, and I don’t expect things to get easier. The System has a goal. It has to. Why would all of this be happening? We’re given the tools and the magical abilities to create civilizations unlike any other! Resources buried in the ground, pieces of forgotten history in the form of dungeons. What else is there? What does it want?”

Alan nodded. He thought similarly too, and it was nice to finally hear something like that from someone else. His contact with Mr. Muge had always revolved around enchanting and deals, and this was different. This felt good—like being trusted without fear.

“Perhaps it’s just a test of our limits. I know for sure there are many races out there, and I know there are rulers too. Not of a planet or two, but the whole realm. From what I’ve seen they are pretty cruel when it comes to their lessers…”

Mr. Muge remained silent for a few moments, then sighed and spoke again, ignoring the direction the conversation was heading.

“The World Temples are living enchantments, Alan. Unlike any! I can’t even begin to unravel the tiniest stone, but I can feel it in my bones. There should be a way to connect them, without conquering them. Trading with other Sanctuaries is fine, but we need to communicate. To form alliances. To prosper. I can’t die before reaching the end of the road… this is everything I’ve ever needed. Rosalyn needs to do better!”

The older man was oddly emotional, and Alan let him have his moment. It was almost as if he knew of the threat looming over them. Perhaps he did, or perhaps Rust’s silly games had made others think of the wider world.

“We’ll survive, Mr. Muge. Don’t worry. All you have to do is keep improving.”

“Damn right! Come now. I’ve made some armor for you! It’ll cost you some more ore though… if you can spare some.”

“I think I have a few rocks in my pocket.”

“Don’t get smart with me! Now—”

Mr. Muge lifted a simple shirt off the bench. There didn’t seem to be anything special about it, but Alan could feel the mana twisting strangely.

“The best I’ve achieved. It’s prototype and needed the skills of the greatest [Seamstress] we have. Each thread is infused with jaderin dust that has been refined and connected again into steel threads only after the crafting, creating a weave. I know you’re some sort of a caster, so I didn’t go for bulk. This should have the effect of the armor you saw. In fact, it should be stronger due to the purity of the ore used. I need you to out and test it.”

Alan held the shirt. It was heavier than a regular one would be, but he could barely tell due to his enchanced attributes.

“You wan’t me to go out and get attacked?”

“Yes!”

“And here I thought you were thoughtful… Do the pants go with it?”

“Yes. No underwear. I’ve also got another thing here…”