~~~Lee~~~

Lee was in a group hug when the tears finally tapered off, green magic trickling into him and helping ease the pain of... well, everything.

The hug broke up when Anita joined in on the crying.

Alejandro let him out, but held Lee at arm's length, expression suddenly serious. "You are family, Lee. My brother... now and forever."

Lee smiled. A bittersweet smile as he thought of his twin. "I... I think I would like more brothers."

Alejandro beamed. "Of course! More family is always better!"

Maria nodded, Anita in her arms. "Si. Familia."

"Now," Alejandro said, letting him go and pulling the pouch from his waist. "Let's get those attributes up. We have more coming, too. Hopefully, we can fix you back up so people don't think you're my grandfather instead of my brother!"

Lee looked down at his hands. He was feeling better... but definitely not like he had a few days back. He didn't know if it was the low attributes, or something else, like that Source Burned trait... "Yes. Let's."

He wouldn't balk at taking the cores. He'd earned them…

"Then, when you are ready to find your brother... our brother," Alejandro clarified with a smile. "Then we will go with you."

Maria and Saira nodded their agreement.

There was a warm feeling in his chest as Lee looked at the people in the room with him... No, not just people. Family. His family.

Then he shook his head, his gaze shifting toward the distant sensation that was his twin. "I'm not going anywhere... Stanley will come here... eventually..."

It was only a feeling... but Lee knew he was right. "This will be our home. If we survive that long..."

"If he's anything like you," Saira said, touching his arm. "Then all of heaven and earth cannot keep him away. He will return."

"Of course he will!" Alejandro exclaimed. "Which means we need to get this place fixed up already! He could get back any day!"

"I think he'll like you... all of you," Lee said, drawing on their conviction even as his own wavered. "Caffeine, too. He'll love... everyone..." Lee choked back a fresh sob. Because he knew the meeting wouldn't happen any time soon... another feeling, one he wished didn't have the same ring of truth as the last.

"Until that day comes," Alejandro said. "For however long it takes... we will be here with you."

Lee smiled at them... and the expression was only a little forced.

"Now tell me what the hell happened last night?!" Alejandro blurted out, practically shouting.

Everyone jumped, and Maria swatted his arm. But from the curious glances coming Lee's way, it was obvious they all wanted to ask the same question.

Lee blew out a breath and started absorbing the new batch of cores as he sat on the couch. "Let me tell you all a story... what little I can remember... You too, Mar."

Same as before, it only took a mere thought to make his front door swing open, revealing the invisible girl in question as she flickered and almost fell into the room. She'd been leaning up against the door, trying to eavesdrop.

"I..." Mar blushed.

Lee just waved her in, closing the door behind her with another thought to Three. He loved that feature!

"It's a long story that all started a few months ago... ish."

...

"...it is called Source... and I think it's in my... our soul. Last night it... got out. Don't know how or why... but it fixed my head, while nearly killing me, and then I used it to create... Three. I guess not that long of a story..."

"What is... Three?" Alejandro asked. "I feel like it is... watching me."

Lee ran his hand gently over the floor. "I honestly don't know. Last night was... intense. When the Source was burning through me... I think I could see more. Understand so much more. But looking back now, it's all too... bright. I can't tell what most of it is supposed to do... but I know it's beautiful... amazing..."

"I saw it kill an elf," Mar whispered. "Looked like rebar came out of the wall and just ripped the thing apart... then it went back like nothing happened."

Maria nodded, then said, "Gives me mana."

Right... he'd forgotten about that. "Is it liquid mana?" Lee sent a new thought to the building.

Full Mana Access and Resident Status Granted(Maria Morales)+2 Child

Full Mana Access and Resident Status Granted(Alejandro Morales)

Full Mana Access and Resident Status Granted(Saira Singh)

Full Mana Access and Resident Status Granted(Mary Singh)

Might as well get that done. Though he wasn't sure how much it would help anyone, besides maybe Saira and Maria. He was curious if the building was going to give the kids mana too... not that they had any skills to use it yet. Right?

"Feels same as mine," Maria said. "But a lot."

Lee saw mana flow out of Saira, into her vine... adornments. It kept flowing as the vine grew thicker and more lush. Saira's eyes widened further and further while mana flowed out of her non-stop. Until she finally gasped and stopped channeling. "This is... is there a limit?"

"I don't think so," Lee said distractedly. He hadn't seen the mana flowing to her... from Three or the Well. He only saw it coming from her into the plant. Three was a gorgeous but blinding tapestry of Source runes so that might explain why he wasn't spotting a little mana among them... but Three also didn't touch the Well.

It surrounded it though... Was that enough? He knew the Well wasn't quite where it appeared to be in space...

"This changes everything," Saira breathed. "How far will this work? I could grow... everything!"

Lee tested it himself by pushing his mana into Three the same way he had with the Well before. It felt identical. He stood up and found he could push mana out of his feet too. If it worked like this everywhere in the building—which he expected it would—then he'd have a better way to dump mana if he had to blast something...

"I think it will work anywhere inside... maybe even outside if you're touching the building."

The transfer rate was still slow. For him. Which it had to be, or he'd burn... but it was much faster than trying to drain his mana pool with runes. "Just watch out for mana burn..."

He'd used up all the cores and checked his status... just into the double digits. Even without the buff from Three. "So who wants to go hunting with me?"

Maria nodded, while everyone else looked incredulous. Lee glanced around. "What? I need more cores. More than anyone else, as you now know. No rest for the wicked, right?"

"You should rest. Let me..." Alejandro said.

Maria cut him off. "I will go."

Lee stared in surprise, right along with everyone else.

"The children..." Alejandro said.

"You rest. You watch," Maria said to him, then turned to Lee. "Is safe?" She pointed at the floor, then the walls and ceiling. "Will protect?" Her gaze slid to Anita.

Lee already knew what she was asking, and he studied the building with his eyes and Mana Mind before nodding. Not that he gleaned anything new, but... "It will protect them and everyone else in here."

It wasn't clear cut in his memories what the building would really do, could really do, but it was enough. Lee remembered seeing those scared little faces while he burned with the source. He remembered the relief at the end... because they would be safe. Because Three would Protect Them. "Safest place in the world is right here... I think.... No, I know it is."

Maria stared into his eyes, and Lee saw the tension he hadn't noticed before as it drained out of her. "Good. Bien." She hesitated for a moment, something else clearly on her mind, then finally spoke, "I want children here." She jabbed a finger at the floor. "All children here. All safe."

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There was a question in her voice. She wanted his permission... and then it was Lee's turn to hesitate. All the children? In his building? How many was she talking... "Of course!"

It was not a tough choice. Sure, it might be annoying and probably loud... but that was nothing he couldn't handle. He wouldn't protect Gabriel and Anita while leaving all the others out in the cold. Not to mention that many of those children's parents were likely fighting and dying to defend the fort... to defend their families. This was the least he could do in return.

"Bien. I will tell. Alejandro too. You get armor, then we hunt. Good?"

"Sure. I can wait a bit." The sun was barely over the horizon, anyway.

They hurried off and Lee headed for the bathroom, only to be stopped by Saira's hand on his arm. She was smiling, but the expression looked... off. Almost sad... "You are a good man, Lee. This is a very good thing you did here today." She squeezed his arm and then hurried out with what looked like tears glistening in her eyes.

"Sure..." Lee said as she vanished out the door. He still needed something special to thank her for saving his life...

Mar looked just as clueless as he felt when she appeared. "Um... thanks... for inviting me!" she blurted the last bit out and vanished mid sentence, rushing for the exit.

She stopped in the doorway but didn't turn around as she whispered, "Are you really okay?"

"Okay as I can be."

"I... couldn't believe it was you... when I first saw you... like this. How... how does it feel?"

Lee stared at his shriveled hands. They looked... better than before. If only a little. It gave him hope that this might not be permanent. "I'm weaker than I was... but still stronger than before the system. I don't know if I just burned decades off my life... or if some cores will make it all good again. I'm scared... but who isn't these days?"

She stood quietly for long moments, before saying, "If you ever need someone to hunt with... I'll go. I'm not very good... but I could watch your back..."

"Thanks," Lee said. "I'll keep you in mind for... wait, are you doing Martin's training?"

"I... no." He could see her shrinking in on herself. At least her outline was. "Too many people..."

"You should try it. He's helped me a lot with only a few lessons... wait, he's still alive, isn't he?" Lee couldn't imagine the swordsman losing to any of those elves... he was better than all of them. Plus, he should have had the runed blade...

"I don't know... but I can find out!" She rushed away.

Lee smiled after her. Poor kid. He was pretty sure her class had been what it was because of her shyness. But still better than a lot of other people who'd ended up with real crappy classes.

...

He found May in the garage and invited her back as a resident, including the mana access. She flinched inside the silent bubble, which Lee was extremely pleased to see still working. Only now it was part of Three and not the original runes he'd laid down before. The building had seen the runes and integrated them into the end result... or he had...

May was frowning with her hand on the forge as the fire within flared brighter and brighter. Her gaze jumped to him when he passed the sound barrier and could suddenly hear the roaring flames.

"You! Get... out..." her voice trailed off as her eyes went wide. "L... Lee?"

He sighed. This was probably going to be a common reaction... not that he knew very many people... so maybe not too common? "Yep. In the flesh."

"They told me you were responsible for the light show last night, but this..."

"Yep. Wasn't getting enough respect so thought I'd age up a bit. You can call me Grandpa Lee now."

May smiled. "Hah. At least you seem to have your wits back. Wasn't pretty last night..."

"That was a... side effect... and Three is the other."

"Your building? And what's with this mana thing? How much can I use?"

"As much as you want, I think. We'll find out eventually if there's a cap."

"Hmm. I like it." She eyed him. "You here for armor? Going out again? You look like a stiff breeze will blow you away."

Lee hopped straight up and easily brushed his fingers against the parking garage ceiling. "Not sure how much age matters anymore..."

"Your funeral. Dennis will return soon. He can help you suit up," she said while throwing chunks of metal into the crucible. "Can't believe I'm still the only damn smith in this shithole!"

"Three can probably hear you," Lee said before she started hammering on something. He wasn't sure if that was true... but it was possible. "You know, the building that's giving you mana?"

"Obviously I wasn't talking about this amazing building," May said. "It's all the other ones that are shit holes. This one is fantastic!"

Lee backed out when the hammering started. He didn't know how the woman wasn't deaf... but probably magic.

He went to one of the armor piles and pulled out pieces one by one. Each one got a rune while he collected pieces for his own set. Despite all of his dreams of full plate, May just didn't have time to make all the little pieces it would require. She'd gone above and beyond before on the armor he'd... melted.

Now she had a new resource available. A literal pile of alien armor that was slightly too big for a human. Hundreds of them. Lee saw plenty of broken armor and weapons in the pile, all of them cut by something magically sharp...

Lee still didn't know how many people they'd lost last night... he'd seen a few die firsthand. There had to be many more he hadn't seen. They might even have enough armor for everyone now if it had been really bad.

He still stuck runes on everything he could. On the human armor. Someone would need it. Someone might live because of those runes. How could he not do it? He also strapped on the few pieces that were easy enough to do himself.

The whole enchanting process had changed since the last time he did this, which was just the night before... It felt like another lifetime. But now he no longer needed to draw each rune. He touched a finger to the next piece, the rune he wanted to draw clear in his mind.

His finger didn't move, but the mana did. It flowed out from his finger, across the metal, until it had formed the symbol he wanted. Easy. If requiring slightly more mental focus rather than dexterity to achieve the same result. Lee knew it would get better in time and with practice.

Next he tried his newest class skill. Rune Soul Storage, and that one was a whole new experience.

It dropped him into a black void. Or at least sent his mind into it... except Mana Mind was still active and still showing him everything within its boundaries. So it was strange.

The void changed when he started drawing the glowing symbols onto the blackness. He tried both versions; charged and uncharged. The first one cost mana to draw out... only he couldn't see where it was going... Mana Mind saw it leaving his body, but then it went... nowhere. The uncharged option had no such effect. It felt like drawing a rune for practice alone...

He stuck with the rune he knew best and had used the most. The simple and very basic strengthening rune he put on everything. He could do more. Could add more effects with more runes. But each addition would drastically increase the material requirements, so much so that May's rushed armor couldn't handle over two runes. To get the really fancy effects, he would need more than that...

Lee touched the next piece of armor with a fingertip and activated the skill. The charged version.

There was no rush of mana from inside him... the rune just... appeared. Even the mana just appeared in place... presumably coming from whatever place it had gone when he originally charged it... Weird.

The uncharged was barely different from doing it manually, except for one key change. He didn't need to focus. Just touch, activate the skill, let the mana flow into the new rune, and it was done.

He touched the next piece and did it again. Then again. Well, that will make life easier. Lee couldn't help the smile that crawled onto his face as he went one by one through all the remaining armor and enchanted each with no more effort than it took to touch them.

Dennis came back, and Lee added him to the building. Maybe the extra mana would let him train his banana summoning faster... since it supposedly took nearly his entire pool to make each one.

Lee didn't invite everyone else who'd gotten kicked when the building changed. Presumably because of something related to how the building left the fort when he lost control?

Given the new upgrades, and certain other realizations, Lee wasn't sure if he wanted just anyone living in his home. He still invited Jamaal. Of course. For the others, he would let Maria decide. She'd spent a lot of time among the people at home. Hopefully, she knew who to trust.

The woman in question showed up eventually, and with others in tow. Lee spent the next hour inviting those people to join his building. All the women came in with the plus child part in the notification. With some going as high as plus nine... He had a terrible suspicion that some of those children hadn't started life in that family.

It was strange that the fathers didn't get credit for the kids... but not that strange. Not enough for Lee to even ask anyone about it. He was just happy that the system let people adopt the children who'd lost their own families... maybe happy wasn't the right word for it... Fuck you, system! This is all your fucking fault!

Or... was it?

There'd been the mention of mana capacitors when it started. The real question was if the system was using them to force mana into this world, or if they'd only been keeping out the inevitable until they were 'at capacity.'

Which led to that first notification about failing the quest... obviously bullshit to name them monsters when even the so-called civilized invaders were even more monstrous. Except… Were they even civilized?

Had any civilization even attacked them yet? The first invasion he saw was the reptiles... Their leader was... not smart, but smarter than the rest. The elves? They didn't stand out as anything special...

There was also the key he'd gotten to make the fort... it said he could open a dungeon portal... which meant it was entirely possible that they'd never seen a civilized race yet.

Damn... Lee eagerly embraced the thought experiment, even though he would likely never know the answer. It was better than focusing on the hollow eyes and faces parading before him.

It was a relief when he finally headed outside into the dangerous and deadly world that was their home now... if only to get away from... them.

Buff Removed: [Three]

Buff: [Greenfield Fort]

Unfortunately, leaving his building sent him staggering when he switched to the weaker fort buff. Lee checked his status and saw the lower numbers and percentages... it would get even worse when he left the fort... and there was something else he hadn't checked...

[Feeble]

Physical exertion drains stamina at double the normal rate.

Fatigue grows at double the normal rate.

[Frail]

Health regeneration reduced by half the normal rate.

Physical toughness reduced by half the normal rate.

Well, shit. Lee had a new thought as he looked up at the wide open sky. "Maria, I need to tell you something."

She followed him away from the others she'd recruited for this hunt. "Problem?"

"I..." Lee swallowed and continued, voice low. "If I die... then Three goes with me. All the runes go with me. All the... protection. Am I... should I stay inside? Is it selfish to come out here?"

Maria looked pissed as she stepped closer, hand coming up and an accusatory finger pointing directly at him. She struck his breastplate with the fingertip, the impact ringing as if her finger was a metal rod. She spoke, words echoing alongside the repeated jabs into his chest.

"Don't. Fucking. Die!"