An elderly African American man walks up to the pulpit, his strong gaze searching through the congregation.

The music ends and there is a moment of silence as the man seems to gather the energy of the crowd. The congregation is full, as it always is when the nation is going through a time of crisis. When people fear for their lives and for their future, that is when they turn to their faith.

“We have all heard the shocking and saddening news.” The elderly man starts, his deep voice reverberating through the church. “We grieve for the loss of our brothers and sisters across the world. Unfortunately, With this loss, has come changes that shake the very foundations of our church.” His gaze moves across the crowd, for one moment, it felt as if he looks in the eyes of each individual in his congregation. “And The world is changing, we all know it. We all feel it. A new people have risen up, showing powers that have not been seen since the time of the disciples.

“Some have asked me, are these powers from the devil? Or from the grace of god? I would have been unable to answer that question just yesterday. But I met with one of these people who call themselves ‘Beta Testers’. I will not say his name, but it is suffice to know that he came to me looking for guidance, he worried that the powers given to him were from the devil.

‘Have you seeked to harm others with these powers?’ I asked him.

‘no.’ he replied.

‘Have you used these powers for good?’ I asked.

‘Yes, I have used them to save lives and fight what I can only call... demons.’ he told me

We have all seen these demons that he speaks of, monsters beyond our imagining. And we have seen these people defend us from these demons.

So I say no. These powers were not gifted by the Devil. But by god, for only through his powers can works of good be done. I urge you to not judge your neighbor or your brother, for they have a momentous task given to them by god, in defending us from the devils who have shown themselves in this world.” The elderly man walked down from the pulpit, sitting down in a chair as a choir began to sing the songs that praise god.

Many listened to Pastor John Mars’ sermon that day, and even more listened to it as videos of his sermon began to spread across the internet. Men he had never met argued against his as the church waited to make an official declaration on the new superhumans.

Overnight, Pastor John Mars became a symbol for a growing movement in the church, one that could have unforeseen consequences in the future.

***

Elena

I touch the dungeon core in my pocket, looking in on the Twiglings. It is an interesting experience, being a disembodied pair of eyes, looking down on the group of twiglings. Since i’d last looked in on them, they had created a small little village. The towering trees had changed shape to create little houses for the Twiglings.

The starting group of ten had expanded to a group of twenty or so twiglings all going about their day. I note with interest the spears that they had armed themselves. I don’t know what they’re protecting themselves from, but it’s obviously rather dangerous, seeing as how almost every Twigling now has a spear.

I look around for the first twigling I had interacted with, but he doesn’t look to be with the village. I actually spend a minute looking for him, before I find him. He lays unmoving on the ground, moss covers him from head to toe, purple and yellow flowers growing out of him.

Ah. I see.

I’m sad to see you go little Twigling, I will make sure to remember you.

“Elena?” Elizabeth says, knocking on my room door and interrupting my inspection.

I stop touching the dungeon core, bringing my full attention to the real world.

I smile up at Elizabeth from where I’m sitting on my bed. “what is it sunshine?”

“Your eyes looked vacant. I was just… nevermind. You’ve been really distracted lately. Is everything ok?” She asks, sitting down on the bed next to me.

“The world is going to shi- heck.” I stop myself just in time. I dislike swearing in front of my sister. “But other than that… I think I’m doing pretty good.”

“Elly, why do you suddenly have a girlfriend? And how come I didn’t meet her until you were in the hospital?” She looks up at me, and I am surprised to see a lost expression on her face.

Why in the world is she making that expression?

I grab her, pulling her into a hug. I pull away and answer her question, “A lot of things have happened this week sweetheart. Rose is someone that I fell in love with very quickly, I didn’t think to tell you until it happened.”

“You… You’ve barely talked to me this week Elly. Why are you pulling away from me?” She says with the innocence of a thirteen year old.

She is right, I have been pulling away from her. I’m involved in something that I can’t talk to her about, because I don’t want her to become involved too. “Hey sunshine.”

“Yeah?”

“You have soccer practice coming up this wednesday, right?” At her nod, I continue, “Why don’t I go with you to that?”

She visibly brightens, “That would be amazing!”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“Then it’s a plan.” I say, patting her on the shoulder. “Now get out of my room, and go play with some dolls or something.” I push her on the shoulder playfully.

She gets up with an irritated huff. “I don’t play with dolls anymore! I’m not a kid.”

“Sure sure.” I respond, smiling provocatively.

She just makes an irritated sound and leaves the room, slamming the door behind her.

“You break it, you pay for it!” I yell through the door.

“Not in your wildest dreams!” she yells back.

I chuckle at our antics and stand up stretching. I glance at the portal that replaced my window just a few days ago.

It’s about time I pay off my debt to Taylor. I wonder how she has been doing since I last saw her? Hopefully she isn’t too pissed at me for my nonchalance in our last meeting.

Only one way to find out.

I walk to the portal and step into it. The world around me shifts as it usually does, and I appear in a small market. Soft guitar music plays in the background, providing a nice comfortable atmosphere.

When I arrive, I am surprised to see three humans looking at the only two Open signs in the market, they look indecisive, unsure which one they should enter.

I calmly grab my masquerade mask, and put it on my face. I am pleasantly surprised to find that the mask isn’t as uncomfortable as most masks tend to be. In fact, it doesn’t block my vision in anyway.

Without saying a word to the three people, I walk past them. I can feel their stares on me as I pass them by, but I don’t feel like bothering with other Beta Testers, especially those I don’t know.

A little bell dings as I enter Taylor’s shop.

“Hello and welcome to The Information Shop for planet Earth. My name is Taylor, I am from the planet Troi. How can I help you?” The woman says, putting her pointed teeth on display with a wide smile.

“Hi Taylor. I’m here to repay my debt.” I say, putting the gold on the table in between us. After the first trial ended, I’d gained a windfall of over four hundred gold coins. With my debt paid, it put me at exactly four hundred.

“Elena! I didn’t recognize you with that mask on, although, that is the point of that mask isn’t it?” Her smile loses its professionalism, becoming more friendly as she realizes that it is me.

“Mhm. There were some Beta Testers in the shop, and I didn’t want to advertise my identity.” I say, motioning towards the group of people visible through Taylor’s door. They seem to be arguing about something.

“Ah. I will make sure to not say your name then.” She responds, whispering conspiratorially.

“Even if they pay you gold for it?” I ask, genuinely curious.

“Well… The information is still for sale, as my contract requires. But let’s just say that no one will be able to afford that information anytime soon.” She says, winking at me.

“You are amazing, as always.” I say. “Speaking of, how many Beta Testers have access to the shop, right now? If I can ask that without paying.”

“I won’t charge you for such trivial information. Thirteen Beta Testers currently have access to the shop. An auspicious number.” She makes a sign with her hand, that I don’t understand.

Before I can ask any more questions, the bell on the door dings as the group of Beta Testers enter the room.

“Hello and welcome to The Information Shop for planet Earth. My name is Taylor, I am from the planet Troi. How can I help you?” Taylor greets them, her smile becoming business like again.

Their expressions widen in fear and surprise as they look at Taylor, some of them even reach for their weapons.

The gloves that I keep on my hands at all times light up with a white light, in a cool trick I’d figured out earlier today.

The reminder of my presence seems to calm the three of them down.

I take the chance to study them carefully.

One of them, a buff asian man has a long slightly curved blade on his back, which I recognize to be a Nodachi from my time in Japan with Akiyama Sensei.

The second, a white girl a year or three younger than me has an unstrung bow and a quiver of arrows on her back. She looks at me with more nervousness than the other two.

Jesus, she could be as young as my sister, what in the world is she doing in this stupid fucking game?

The final man, obviously of african descent, is significantly older than the other two, with a long staff held in his hands. He completes the image of a wizard rather well actually.

The african man clears his throat, calming the situation significantly. “My name is Adisa. I speak for the three of us. You say that you sell information?”

When I see that the three of them aren't going to do something stupid, I stop lighting up my gloves.

“I do.” Taylor responds.”I have information on anything you might have questions about.”

Realizing that their conversation might take a while, I nod to Taylor and head towards the other open store.

“Greetings Beta Testers, and welcome to the Shop Of Statues.” The same woman I had met last time greets me, a blue silk veil hiding her eyes from me. Her two small horns match the color of her veil.

“Good evening,” I reply, not as willing to share my identity with this woman as I was with Taylor.

More statues fill up the place than the last time I was here, each more lifelike than the last. I find my gaze getting caught on the large statue of a warrior standing ready with a sword and shield.

I feel bad for not using the chess set I bought here more. I had forgotten the beauty of their artwork.

“Is there anything specific that catches your eye?” She asks, “Perhaps a chess set? Those have been quite popular.” She says, pointing towards the many chess sets on display. When I don’t show any particular interest in them, she guides me to a set of necklaces with little figurines on them. “Perhaps a defensive spirit?”

These catch my eye, and I study them carefully. There must have been twenty different figurines, each one looking slightly different. “What do they do?”

The woman smiles at my question, “When the wearer is in danger, they will come to life and protect the wearer, becoming bigger as they do.”

My thoughts turn to Elizabeth and how defenceless she is when Dee isn’t around to protect her. “How well will they stand up to monsters and Beta Testers?”

She looks at them thoughtfully before carefully picking one of the figurines, the one she picked reminds me of a phoenix, with flames surrounding it. “This one is fifty gold and will be able to fend off any classless Beta Tester or monster below level seven. It can stay active for ten minutes.”

I study the figurine closely. “What makes it so expensive? I could just hire another guardian for my humble abode for much less.”

She smiles at my question. “Guardians will not be willing to sacrifice their lives for the wearer. This necklace won’t be sentient and won’t be able refuse commands. You also won’t have to pay a monthly stipend.”

I consider it for a few more seconds before I break out in a wide smile. Why am I being so cautious today? It’s only fifty gold coins. It’s not like I had to risk my life fighting a bunch of Monsters for the money.

“I’ll take it.” I say,

Would you like to trade fifty gold to the Shop Owner in exchange for a defensive spirit necklace?

Yes/No

The figurine disappears from the woman’s hand as it enters my inventory.“Yes.”

She smiles at me, “It was a pleasure doing business with you.”

My sisters well being is more important than a few gold coins.

But if she breaks this, I’m going to kill her.