~~~Lee~~~

[Indomitable]

You have chosen the path of the Indomitable.

What the hell? Lee had to admit that he'd expected more than that.

"What's wrong?" Jeremy asked from the doorway. "Is something coming..." Amy also stuck her head into the room at that.

"No," Lee said quickly to the both of them. "I just... well, I thought making my choice would give me more information than it did."

"I suppose you could ask Z about it?"

"True..." Lee got up from his hovering seat. "Speaking of, I think he should be back soon."

"Is Z... actually a he?" Jeremy asked.

Amy barked a laugh, and Lee paused. "I think so?" He shook his head and walked past Jeremy into the garage proper. "Besides, I don't think he... or it cares what you call him."

"Why..." Jeremy said behind him, then hesitated.

Lee stopped and looked back. "What is it?"

"Why didn't you just kill it? Why let that alien join us?"

It wasn't the first time he'd heard that argument, and Lee had an answer ready to go. "Because here he can die to protect the people I care about."

Amy nodded her agreement. And sure, that was a rather callous way to see his... minion? But unlike Trak, Z had actually attacked them. He and his pair didn't come to Earth seeking refuge, freedom, or a better life. They came to kill and pillage, and Lee would spend Z's life in a heartbeat if it meant someone he cared about survived.

"I... see." Jeremy seemed thoughtful but not wholly convinced. That was fine. Lee was actually having some doubts of his own. Except his doubts were not about his choice to keep the alien here, but about sacrificing said life.

He suspected he wasn't the only one.

Either Z understood how tenuous his position here was, or he took that whole contract thing far more seriously than Lee had first thought. Because it felt like he was going out of his way to endear himself to everyone he met.

Which was obviously a good thing.

Stories trickled in daily of the zhint showing up when people needed him most. When a fight in the lair turned overwhelming or a team ran into a roaming pack, Z showed up and saved their lives. Their knight in shining armor... as it were.

His efforts were doing a lot to help sway public opinion in his favor, even if, technically, he was only doing as Lee had ordered. The question, and not one that truly mattered at the moment, was if he only did it because he had to, or if he actually cared?

Lee could test it. He could change Z's orders like he had for the Anubians. He could tell him to do as he pleased... but no, he wasn't ready to go that far. Not yet. Maybe in time, if Z proved himself, or when their situation here felt less... tenuous. Though Lee had a creeping suspicion, it never would.

They were in a war—a never-ending war—and these too short victory buffs were the only semblance of peace he could ever expect. It was their life now, and they needed to be strong. He needed to be strong. So many people were counting on him... so many lives...

Lee's brief, dark mood brightened as he came around the corner and laid eyes on the figure waiting for him. "How's it going, Trak?"

"It is well, my lord." Trak bowed his head, but that was all. He didn't kneel or anything. It was a new and pleasant development, even if he absolutely refused to stop calling Lee a lord... Small victories.

"Our healing potion stock is catching up with demand, and we have begun experimenting with enhancement potions..." Trak strolled beside him as Lee walked laps around the garage, explaining his plan to create boosting potions for emergencies. Like invasions.

Lee listened, mostly, but he had a lot on his mind. Like the fact that Trak was definitely growing bigger. Ever since their E-grade evolution, all the anubians had gotten bigger, but Trak now stood obviously taller. Not a lot, but it was there, and Lee was sure he was still growing...

He waited until Trak finished talking, thanked him for the update, and then asked about classes. Specifically, about reaching expert rank and what should happen upon doing so.

"It is an important threshold, my lord. Most notably, because that is when one can take on an apprentice."

"What about the class skills?"

Trak tilted his head. "What about them, my lord?"

"I didn't get any offered to me at expert. Is that normal?"

"That is not... no, every threshold offers new class skills. That is just how it is... though, with your class..." Trak stopped abruptly in place. "My lord, you have... reached... expert... rank?" He faltered halfway and struggled to get through it, but he asked the question. Even if he finished slightly hunched and with his head down.

"Yeah, a few minutes ago. But instead of skills, I got a class choice. I'm not even sure what it did... if anything."

"Will..." There was a very obvious trembling that started up inside Trak's body, and it only grew with each passing second as Lee felt a monumental struggle going on within the anubian's soul. "Will you... be taking... a..."

The trembling only got worse, and Trak started sinking closer to the floor with each word he forced out.

"Trak," Lee said, choosing his words carefully. "You are an Archon, are you not? Would it help if I started calling you my lord as a reminder?"

A lot of strong emotions went through the anubian all at once, and he shook violently before barking out something between a laugh and a sob. "Please do not, my lord!"

Regardless, he stood up straight again, with pride making a strong comeback in his soul. "Thank you, my lord. Now, as is the custom..." He dropped to one knee and looked up at Lee. "I humbly request, on behalf of my clan, that you... test them as... potential apprentices... my lord."

"Of course," Lee said, then smiled sheepishly. "Um... how do I do that?"

Trak bounded back to his feet. "The applicant simply makes the request, and the system will provide you with their information. Or you could make the request of your desired..."

Lee grinned. "Trak, would you like to be my..."

"Please do not!" Trak howled. "My lord, it is not right! You musn't have to request..."

"Having a legendary class doesn't make me better than you, Trak. It was pure dumb luck that I got this class..." Probably. His maxed affinity and liquid mana at the start hinted at something more... planned? Still, his point to Trak held. "We are the same, even if you call me a lord."

"Your words fill me with terror," he said, ducking his head. Then he looked up. "Yet also with pride, my lord. However, I will... disagree with you. What you have done... What I owe you..."

Trak shook his head. "No, my lord. I do not agree, because no matter what comes. No matter the future. You shall always be my lord. Even should you... cast me out, I shall never stop serving. Until my death or multiverse end, I shall stand at your side!"

Lee knew it was pointless to argue. "So long as you are standing, I will be happy to have you beside me."

Trak smiled, or at least his soul did. It was harder to spot on his face. The wagging tail didn't count... Of course, then he kneeled again. "Will my lord take... myself as... your apprentice?"

Trak Druller has requested to become your Apprentice.

Trak Druller's Runic Class Affinity: 12%

Trak Druller does not meet the Runic Class Requirements: [Liquid Mana Core] [Liquid Mana Channels]

Lee tried to hide the wince, but maybe his scent, or more likely his broadcasting soul, gave him away before he could say anything.

"How... bad is it, my lord?"

"It's not that," Lee said, deciding not to mention the low affinity. "You don't meet the class requirements for liquid mana..." But then no one would. Did this mean Gabriel wouldn't be able to apprentice, either? Or would his adaptable trait make the difference?

Trak stood, only mildly disappointed. "I suspected as much, my lord. Yet I had to try."

"Want me to check the rest of your clan?" He didn't think it would work, but there was no harm in trying.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Trak looked thoughtfully toward his clan's quarters. "Perhaps the children, as they are yet unclassed. Doubtful, but I am no expert on such matters."

"Not to be mean," Lee added while heading that way. "But I can't imagine anyone will beat out Gabriel for this." It would also probably break the kid's heart if he took someone else as an apprentice, especially after all this time waiting for it.

"Understandable, my lord. Yet I... humbly request that you test them."

It was a marked change in the formerly timid anubian, and Lee couldn't help but smile down at him. "Of course I will."

"Thank you, my lord." Trak pushed himself ever so slightly taller as he walked beside Lee. Proud but also introspective as he mused, "Though it still sometimes feels like a dream. One which, not so long ago, I would never have dared to entertain... let alone to make such a request."

"You can't imagine how glad I am to see it," Lee said, beaming down at the anubian. He meant it, too. This was so much better than before.

"Not to contradict my lord again, but I do not have to imagine. I can feel my lord's soul..."

Lee laughed. "Even better! Since you know I mean what I'm saying!"

"Indeed." Trak stared at Lee. "Though it feels... softer these last few days, and my debuff has also lowered. Are you faring better?"

"I am! Whatever Stanley's doing is working!" He stopped outside the anubian quarters and stared off toward the feeling of his brother in the distance. Like all too often these days, Stanley was angry about something.

It was an upsetting feeling, not because of anything on his end, but because he really wished his brother was happier. "Hang in there, Stanley," he whispered. Please come home soon. Or just come home at all. Whenever you can... or please, just stay alive...

Of course, his soul betrayed him again, and Trak's cheer turned to worry as his hands fluttered uncertainly between reaching for him or the floor.

Amy stepped up closer behind him, and Lee thought she might try to physically comfort him. She didn't. She only met his gaze evenly when he looked back, with the solid strength of her own conviction shining through.

Where she drew such conviction, Lee didn't know, but it gave him strength. He silently nodded his thanks, then took a few deep breaths to recenter himself before entering the anubian quarters.

...

As expected, none of the Anubians met the requirements. The children being no exception.

"Thank you, my lord."

"You honor us beyond measure."

The others managed to avoid any outright bowing, but there were a lot of ducking heads and aborted bows along the way.

Lee escaped in time to catch the returning Z, and he had no qualms about absorbing the pile of cores his minion handed over while questioning the zhint about what should happen when a class reached expert rank.

Z agreed with everyone else Lee talked to. You were supposed to get new class skills. Everyone at expert rank had the same story. Which left him as the odd one out... and more experiments with his runes gave him no insights about what might have changed, either. Nothing more than he'd already felt at the moment of choice.

He tried not to worry about it and instead focused on what his likely future apprentice had taught him this morning.

The new light rune he'd created was still flickering and giving off heat in his workroom, enough heat that he actually started sweating... something that hadn't happened in a while. His E-grade body didn't feel heat or cold the same, and curiosity had him wishing for a thermostat so he could see just how hot his room was.

In lieu of that, Lee aired out the space and got back to work.

His new creation wasn't the first time he'd done something like that, but it was the most blatant. Altering a rune from what it should do into what he wanted it to do while using only his intent instead of changing the rune's shape. They weren't drastic shifts—nothing too far from where they started—but it felt... important.

Extremely important.

Lee could feel his Runic Knowledge skill practically screaming at him that this mattered, so he listened. Of course, it didn't spell out or explain why this mattered, only that it did. But Lee thought he understood. Somewhat.

It definitely had something to do with his intent and, perhaps even more, his belief. Though maybe belief wasn't quite the right way to look at it? His desire? Or his... will?

That was part of it. He felt as much. No, he knew as much.

He made the final connection from there. It wasn't his will exactly. It was his soul.

It was obvious once he thought of it. Though not in the way he'd assumed before. Yes, his soul was a part of every rune. But it was almost certainly far more impactful than he'd ever suspected before.

Lee summoned a ceramic plate, then dashed it against the floor, where it shattered into pieces. Then he summoned another and placed a very particular strengthening rune on a plate. It didn't shatter against the floor, nor when he struck that plate with a runed sword as hard as he could. Exactly as expected.

So he tried again. And again. He kept trying, even when Amy stuck her head inside to see what all the banging was about. Until, finally, something new happened when he struck the plate.

Afterward, he stood for long moments staring down at the plate while his mind whirled with the possibilities.

Class Level Up: Runic

Skill Level Up: Artistic Rune Creation

Artistic Rune Creation has reached the Expert Threshold. No Evolutions Available. Ranking up to Level 100 (Expert)

Also that.

When he finally picked up the ceramic plate, Lee traced a finger along the large dent that left the entire thing distorted and deformed.

The dent in the ceramic plate.

He also studied the slightly diminished rune that still adorned the plate. It was a strengthening rune like he'd used so many times before. Only this time, instead of making the plate immutable, as it always had before, it made it... unbreakable?

Which was impossible. Ceramic didn't bend.

Except he was currently watching it do just that. Not only was the plate already dented, but he could see the rune ever so slowly forcing the plate back towards its original, unblemished shape.

There were obvious combat applications to self-repairing armor, especially since it looked like this took less power from the rune than outright blocking the damage. But the implications it had for his entire rune library were far more staggering.

To Lee, it felt like he had just discovered that every word in his language actually had alternate meanings he'd never known before. Perhaps even more than one alternate meaning—no, definitely more than one. Perhaps even an unlimited number of meanings.

As many as his soul desired and as many as his will could manifest into reality.

He dove headfirst into his runes, examining each one, especially the most powerful and most commonly used. He tested them one after the other, over and over, trying to tease out any and every possible useful iteration he could imagine. He kept at it until Amy started shaking him. "What!?"

Amy didn't mind his abrupt tone. She only smiled and said, "You have been summoned by a higher power than me."

Lee blinked up at her in confusion from where he sat on the floor amid the chaos and destruction of his research.

"Maria says it's time for dinner," Amy said, clarifying things greatly. "So get moving!"

He got moving.

Amy followed him to Maria's door the same way she followed him literally everywhere. He was getting used to it, and she was really good about being unobtrusive, which helped.

"You have the watch until I return," she said when Alejandro met them at the door. The same thing she said every night.

"On my life, he will be safe until your return," Alejandro replied. Same as he did every night.

It was some kind of ritual thing that neither of them would tell him about, but he appreciated that whatever it was, it let Amy get some time to herself. The only and very brief time she had to herself. Because at all other times, she insisted on remaining by his side. She even sat outside his room all night, every night.

Whatever was going on between her and Alejandro had made his adopted brother calm down a lot about the whole bodyguard thing. Amy was now the designated guard, with Jeremy only showing up sometimes.

Lee let it go and didn't dig at either of them for answers. They were both happy with things, and he got to work in peace. What more could he ask for?

Unfortunately, his frenzy of study had distracted him from talking to Alejandro and Maria about Gabriel. So he waited until dinner had mostly wound down before dropping a slowing bubble over both children.

Maria frowned at his blatant violation of the no magic at dinner rule but waited rather than saying anything.

"I reached expert rank today."

That was all he needed to say. Both parents shared a look before their gazes landed on the time-slowed Gabriel. They were still staring when the bubble lapsed.

It didn't take long for Gabriel to notice the attention, and he stilled under their combined gazes, a touch of guilt rising in his soul. "Mama? I'm sorry! I didn't..."

Maria narrowed her eyes at him. "What for sorry!?"

"I..." Gabriel looked frantically back and forth between his parents, clearly not sure what they knew and unwilling to admit guilt for anything they might not already know about. "Um..."

Alejandro saved his son when he burst out laughing, earning him a glare, followed by an affectionate swat from Maria. "Relax, Gabe; it's not about any of that," he said, then nodded solemnly. "Lee, you can tell him."

Lee took a moment as two pairs of too-young and very wide eyes swung to him. He was a little worried about what would happen if it turned out that no one could apprentice to him. "Gabriel," he said, deciding to start on a positive note. "Remember this morning when you were helping me?"

Gabriel didn't react at all as he'd expected. Instead, the boy shrank down in his seat and mumbled, "I'm sorry."

It was Lee's turn to be confused. Had Gabriel swiped another rune plate or done something else? Is that why he felt guilty before? "Why are you sorry?"

"I..." Gabriel looked around anxiously, but found no support. Instead, he only found his parents looking suspiciously at him again. "I was telling you how to do stuff." He looked down at the table and said in an even softer voice. "Sometimes adults get mad if I do that."

"What!? No! Gabriel, you helped me! A lot! You were right about the rune."

The boy sat up a little straighter and lifted his gaze from the table. "I was? Auntie Amy said I wasn't allowed to see you after school... I thought you were... mad at me."

Lee swallowed down the lump in his throat and didn't look toward the glare he could feel coming his way from Maria. "I'm not mad. Not at all! You really helped me. In fact, you helped me so much that I got to expert rank today."

Gabriel blinked, smiled, and then his eyes went wide. "Does that... does that mean I can be your apprentice!?"

"Would you like to be?"

"Yes!"

You have requested Gabriel Morales to become your Apprentice.

Gabriel Morales's Runic Class Affinity: 85%

Gabriel Morales does not meet the Runic Class Requirements: [Liquid Mana Core] [Liquid Mana Channels]

Lee had a brief moment of panic at seeing that message... until he saw the next line.

Gabriel Morales may Adapt to Runic Class Requirements: [Liquid Mana Core] [Liquid Mana Channels]

Gabriel Morales has [Child] Trait. Acceptance and Adaptation Pending on Guardian Approval.