~~~Lee~~~

Enemies surrounded Lee on all sides, and they attacked viciously in a coordinated assault.

Mana burst from him as he leaned aside from a sword. A plate formed in mid-air as he took a step to dodge the next sword, and his finger dropped a rune onto the plate right before another heavy blade landed on it.

The plate didn't budge.

Lee jumped into the air above two more sweeping attacks, then jumped again off thin air to avoid another sword.

He stumbled on the next step, twisted to avoid a plate, and took the next one to the back of his head.

It didn't hurt much, especially with his rune skeleton, but it was distracting. Combined with his stumble, it was enough to bring about the end of the fight.

The little monsters cheered as they pelted him with even more plates from the balcony, and Lee retreated behind his shield to avoid the rain of death.

"Enough," Martin said softly, and the violence ended in an instant. "It is a good effort. Now think on it."

Lee trudged back to the far side of the long courtyard while far too many kids jumped from the second and third-story balconies to retrieve the thrown plates.

They were loving Martin's new training regime. It turned out he needed to step things up as people got stronger. An hour of sword training with light sparring was no longer enough to gain the free attributes, and he was currently working out a dedicated gauntlet... er, training plan for the E-grades.

Plenty of children were happy to help if it meant they got to throw stuff at the adults, and they were all F-grade, which made the thrown projectiles hurt. Lee enchanting the plates didn't help on that front. Lots of people were going to hate him after this.

Luckily, he wasn't the only one running the gauntlet. Martin needed different people to help with working it out. So Lee got to sit out on the next run and watch Alejandro get pelted instead.

As if.

Alejandro never took a hit. His sword and shield came between everything that flew his way. Even the other E-grades that attacked him amid the chaos still failed to reach his flesh with their weapons. It was completely unfair. He didn't even have Mana Mind...

Lee saw Amy down there, taking swings at Alejandro, and felt a pang in his chest. Noel, his other bodyguard, hadn't survived the hidden invasion. He had only recently started getting to know them in preparation for creating better armor for the duo. Now one of them was dead.

If he hadn't gone hunting that day... they would have both been inside the building with him. Noel would be alive.

Of course, then everyone who'd gone to that lair might have died instead.

It sucked. He was just starting to like Noel... and now he wasn't sure if he wanted to get to know anyone else. How many of the people in here would still be alive in a week? In a month? Would any of them be here in a year?

Humanity was dwindling every day. Alejandro had escorted a few dozen people to the fort the day before. A few dozen who were the only survivors from a base of hundreds. It wasn't even an invasion that destroyed them. Just some random monster attack...

Lee was making a difference with his runes, and it wasn't only Alejandro that told him so. People still brought him cores almost every day, but they weren't all people from Mexico anymore. Now newcomers that he'd never met before would seek him out and thank him profusely for saving their lives...

Luckily, it only took one more run through the pain gauntlet before he got the notification.

Training Complete.

+2 All Base Attributes

Martin claimed it would get faster and give more stats once he perfected the training, and Lee felt it was a worthwhile investment of his time to help. Not only would it help the children continue to grow without cores, but it would also help the hundreds of people throughout the fort.

A shower later and a breakfast burrito to go, Lee headed outside with Amy and Miller beside him.

Miller was his new bodyguard and Alejandro's apprentice—a former non-combat class that had a decent affinity for the guardian class. There weren't many people with high enough class levels, but Alejandro was one of them.

So was May. Which made sense with how much the woman worked...

Saira was also at the right level, but she was having trouble finding anyone with a good affinity for her new class. She'd changed a lot in the last invasion, and more than just her class. Lee saw it better than anyone.

She was beneath her tree when he arrived, a towering willow-like tree that rivaled Three in height. Its drooping branches created a sanctuary within, where many other plants grew beneath the blood-red ceiling of the willow.

A rune shone from the trunk, and it was there that Lee went first. "Any issues?" he asked while studying the rune.

"None," Saira said. "It is working wonderfully."

Lee watched the mana flowing into the rune, where it slowly shifted into the same red color as the tree's leaves. The same color as the vines inside Saira's body... A bloody type of mana. Something associated with life or life-force. He wasn't sure. But she was a better healer than ever now, even if it was weird...

The vines ran through her body very much like Lee's mana channels used to run through him, and it looked like they performed a similar function for her. Except for one area. There they looped and wrapped densely, protectively, around a small form.

Lee’s Mana Mind could see through all of it. All of her. So he could see the life growing inside her.

"How does she look?" Saira asked, then smiled when Lee's gaze jumped to her face. "You had that look again."

"Sorry," Lee ducked his head. "She is growing fast. I swear she looks bigger every day..."

Saira rubbed her protruding stomach with a smile, and Lee couldn't believe he'd never noticed until the Mana Mind upgrade... Granted, she was much less conservative in her dress after the whole fly swarm disaster. Here inside the fort, she ran around barefoot, in short shorts and a tank top. At least she still wore armor for hunting.

"The timer never ticks at normal speed," she said. "I think it will be less than a month until she is ready to come out."

"I..." Lee didn't apologize. Not again. Saira was happy that her pregnancy would happen even faster than the three months it was supposed to take, thanks to the sapient lair buff. That was before the 'ambient mana level' deal kicked in. "I can't wait to meet her."

Ever since he'd created Three and given Saira the extra mana, her pregnancy had sped up. She said it had been a little faster before, but not like it was now. She didn't even need to be inside the building anymore. Those same vines that ran through her flesh also burrowed through the ground from her feet and emerged to wrap around the garage window bars of Three. Mana pulsed through them in an almost nonstop flow.

The worst part, and the question he dared not ask, was about the father. The timing looked bad when he remembered her abduction, and Lee was sure Alejandro had noticed the same thing. The man had eased up a lot since that day, but more recently, Lee had caught him watching her with that same worried look.

But she seemed happy. If she was happy, Lee would be happy for her.

Lee gave one last look at the rune he'd put on her tree. An experiment. Not just enchanting wood, but living wood. Saira had insisted he use the tree once she knew it wouldn't hurt it, and now they were trying to see how much extra mana he could feed the plant while also empowering it to be tougher and stronger. He was still on the extra mana stage. The rest would come in time.

She never came right out and explained the tree... but Lee knew she was connected to it in some way. Likely involving her new class or racial evolution. He trusted her to know what was best for herself. As well as her baby. All he could do was support her.

So he left while pushing aside thoughts of life-draining monsters and what she must have felt when they were trying to kill her and her baby... Saira had survived. Barely, from what Bradley had said. But she survived—her and the baby. That was all that mattered anymore.

His next scheduled stop for the day would be less emotionally fraught but unpleasant in its own way.

"W... Vice Commander," Lee corrected himself just in time. Wilson didn't like people skipping his title. "How are we doing?"

Wilson had noticed the slip; Lee saw the twitch as clear as day with Mana Mind. The man didn't complain. This time. "We have exceeded a thousand residents. With less than half of those being combat capable..."

Lee listened to the extremely detailed report with as much attention as he could muster. He'd been right about not wanting to be in charge... Luckily, Wilson was a natural for organizing people, and he hadn't held a grudge. Not a big one.

Sure, the guy had his quirks, but he got results. That made up for him sulking when no one wanted to swear fealty to him... Or maybe it was because he didn't give people a good buff.

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It was a stupid thing to be upset about. Lee had hundreds of sworn... followers? Subjects? He still wasn't sure what to call them. Still, it only earned him a meager thirty percent boost for now. Sure, he could see where it would shine in the future. If he got ten thousand followers, say? Then it would be something worth being upset about.

Those sounded like ridiculous numbers, but the fort was growing every day. If they survived long enough...

Lee shook off the pointless thoughts of the future. The here and now was what he needed to focus on. But Wilson was sooo boring. "...guard shifts changing from eight hours to four. This will create a better environment and increase morale, as well as..."

So boring.

Still, he was getting results. Wilson had set up a full on guard force to man the walls. Complete with rotations and schedules, so there was always a decent force ready to react to the random monsters that didn't hide in the lairs. Those monsters could be random, ranging from singular overpowered creatures to swarms of weaker monsters and everything in between. Nothing like the flies, thank god, but enough that it really helped to have people ready to respond instantly.

Alejandro's role as general primarily went to handling the Hunters. Those willing to brave the dangers beyond the walls and delve into the lairs. A mixed bag of people, but often the most powerful. Alejandro was a good fit there. His ever friendly demeanor, combined with his mastery in combat, had earned him universal respect among the hunters and guards.

Lee held some sway with them as well. Mostly because of his rune weapons and armor, but a good number of them had also sworn fealty to gain the mana boost. Including Bradley... whom Lee could see working on the walls. Mar beside him.

The walls towered above even Three now. High enough that not even E-grade humans could scale them. It didn't block all the monsters, especially the flying ones, but it gave most of the ranged defenders a solid edge. That, plus the more enclosed bunkers Bradley had added atop the wall.

Wilson never finished his rambling reports—a bunch of stuff that Lee still couldn't understand why he needed to be involved with. Luckily, something more important came up mid-meeting.

Their former commander had set up shop in the old complex leasing office, a separate little building between a few of the larger apartment structures. It meant Lee had partial sight into the surrounding buildings with Mana Mind. So he witnessed what may or may not have been an assault.

It was hard to say for sure. A man walked up behind a woman and casually placed his hand on the back of her head. He then started fondling her while she stood still and unresponsive.

That wasn't too far out. Lee saw far too much these days and tried his best not to judge what people did in the privacy of their homes. Aside from them not being inside an apartment, the problem here was the trickle of mana flowing from the man's hand into her head. Combined with her lack of response... it looked like he'd found another person who might have claimed a skill shard from the hidden invasion.

It was completely possible that they were a couple, and this was just something they were into. Before saying anything, Lee used Mana Mind to disrupt the flowing mana and break the skill. Assuming it was one.

His suspicion felt justified when the woman freaked out. Though her reaction ended almost immediately when the man sent more mana into her head... His followup reaction of dragging her away while not letting up the skill was even more damning.

"Gotta go," Lee said, interrupting Wilson mid-drone. "Good talk!"

He sprinted from Wilson's place and easily jumped through a second-story window into the stairwell. Most of the other apartment buildings in the complex were missing their glass, and the gaps had been filled in with stone by Bradley. But he'd left some key openings. It helped people move out faster in an emergency.

His target was dragging the woman through a door when Lee sprinted around the corner, and he broke the guy's spell again to delay him. Her freakout prevented him from closing the door, and Lee slid to a stop in the gap. "Hi! What's going on here?"

Lee saw fear in his eyes as he stared wide-eyed and frozen in shock. Then it turned into calculation, as he probably noticed Lee's lack of armor compared to his own rune covered getup. His plan of killing Lee probably vanished when Lee's two bodyguards caught up, both of them decked out in obviously powerful equipment.

He let go of the woman and backed away. "I wasn't..."

The woman was scrambling while staring in confusion at the small gathering. Then her gaze fell on the guy, and rage filled her expression. "What did you do to me!?"

He ran. Unfortunately, the only way out was through the doorway Lee was standing in. So his run turned into a charge, and Miller appeared in front of Lee using the same skill Alejandro always did. The shield slammed into the charging man's face, and he violently reversed course. He never made it back to his feet before Miller caught up and held a blade to his throat.

Lee hated to do it, but he used a power granted to him as the leader of this fort and everyone inside it. "I order you to tell me what skill you were using on her."

The guy was a resident. That much was obvious to Lee, since any non-residents would stand out like a beacon in the night, and he stiffened at Lee's words. His mouth opened whether he wanted it to or not, and he gasped out, "Dream... Touch."

It wasn't the same skill the monsters had used, but it was suspected to be one of the base skills. The dream part was the same, but it lacked the drain effect. Which was another skill that had dropped separately from some of the nightmare creatures.

"What were you going to do to her?"

"I..." He stopped talking, and Lee knew he was resisting the order.

They'd done some testing, and only the first order really stuck. It was a good thing. Because it wasn't only Lee who could give orders like that. Anyone with a higher rank could order those beneath them. At least this way, the chance for abuse of the system remained limited. "I wasn't gonna do shit. I was just testing it."

An obvious lie. He should have asked that question first...

"You fucking assaulted me, you bastard!" the woman yelled and kicked him in the nuts. That was a deliberate delay on Amy's part... and not unwarranted. It also ended the man's attempt to speak further, presumably in his own defense.

Lee was glad they stopped him and that they'd found out he had the skill... but that left a new issue of what to do with the culprit. They didn't have a prison. Many of the hunters were already reluctant to support the useless people in the fort. They were completely against the idea of feeding and protecting criminals.

This offence wasn't quite to the level of instant execution, at least not when they'd stopped him so fast, though his dragging her into the apartment looked terrible. Luckily, there might be another solution. But first... "What's your name?"

"A... Alfred."

"Harmony," the woman said when Lee looked her way.

"Any thoughts on what we should do with him?"

"Just kill him!" She spit toward Alfred. "I thought you were a good guy... I shared food with you when this all started, you bastard!"

"What about this?" Lee said, turning to the man. "You will swear an oath of fealty to me, and I will order you to never use that skill on another human." It felt like a loophole to get around the limited order system of the fort, but what else could he do?

Alfred didn't look all that thrilled with the choice... which was surprising considering the alternative would likely be his death.

"What kind of bullshit deal is that?" Harmony didn't like it either.

"I'll know if he betrays me by going against orders. He can still help defend this place."

"I..." She looked away and sighed. "Fine. So long as he never comes near me again."

"That can be part of the deal," Lee said, looking at the man. "So, ready to swear the oath?"

"You... you can't do this!" It looked like the reality of his situation was finally sinking in. "I'm on the guard... You can't do this!"

"Then what are we supposed to do with you?" The only other option might be banishment, but Lee was reluctant to take that route. His recent visit with Saira and seeing her growing baby...

Lee wasn’t about to unleash another monster into the wider world.

"I'll leave the fort!" Alfred's suspiciously on-point suggestion was met with only silence.

"Sure," Lee said, and he saw hope rising in the man's eyes. "After you swear."

He wasn't about to let this potential predator loose without some serious precautions. At the very least, not without him answering some questions... like if he'd used his new skill on anyone else.

"You can't make me do that!"

"You said you were just testing the skill. If that's true, then you have nothing to worry about. I might even..."

"I can't swear! I can't!"

"Why not?" Lee wasn't buying whatever sob story he was spinning.

"I..." he choked and coughed violently. "I can't say!"

"Then you die." Lee pulled his knife and took a step forward. He could order Miller or Amy to do it... but they didn't need...

Amy stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Stay back."

Miller looked at both of them and swallowed heavily. "Right... right here?"

"Just do it," Amy snapped. "Or I will."

"Okay..." Miller lifted his sword, a completely unnecessary windup for his runed blade.

"I’ll tell..." Alfred shouted, but his words cut off abruptly when he choked. Then he kept choking. Then he screamed while the mana inside his body went wild.

Lee was already stepping back when Amy dragged him away and through the doorway, putting walls between him and Alfred. He could still see what was happening in the room and saw Miller also back off. It might have been smarter to kill the guy instead of retreating, but to his credit, Miller moved to shield Harmony rather than running away.

Alfred's mana ran rampant through his body for only a few seconds before it settled back down. The screaming went with it, and he just lay where he was, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Harmony fled in the lull, and Lee pushed Amy back into the room, primarily through her refusal to let him out from behind her.

Miller looked a little shaken. "I... I didn't touch him."

Alfred blinked and looked over at Miller. "Hi."

"What did you do?" Lee asked. The guy's whole demeanor had changed...

The man sat up to look at him. "Oh, hi there." Then he looked around the apartment. "Who are you guys? Where am I? What are you wearing?"

"He's lying." Amy still refused to let Lee get past her.

Lee wasn't so sure. His expression looked so... confused. "What do your notifications say?"

"Notifications? What's..." His eyes glazed over, and he flinched back. "Ah! What is that!? What's going on?"

Seriously?

"What did it say?"

"It said I'm an... oath breaker. What does that mean? What is going on!?"

Lee couldn't completely rule out that the guy was just a good actor, but he had a bad feeling that things were worse than that. "Let's take him to the healers... and find Alejandro when he gets back."

He followed behind Miller as they escorted the confused man through the complex. He'd already drained the runes on his equipment. Just in case.

Alfred was surprisingly cooperative given the circumstances, and he also didn't hesitate to share what he remembered. He remembered moving into the complex before the system, but nothing of the events since. He also had no problem reading out his entire status to them, including his newest trait.

[Oathbreaker]

You swore an oath of fealty and broke it. You have paid the price and your betrayal will forever taint any oath you offer in the future.

Effects:

Any oath sworn will notify the other party of this trait.

The worst part was that he didn't know who he'd sworn to or what the terms had been. Which meant they had someone getting people to swear an oath of fealty in secret... and wiping their memory if they tried to break it.