The next morning, or evening I suppose, I was up and eating breakfast before night fell on the city. I planned to travel on the edge of the zone, but far enough into the city I could find Night Stalkers. It was only fifteen minutes until the sun set over the western horizon, or who knows, maybe that was the east on this mixture of planets, but then again, the way humans define east and west is based on the sun, so maybe it didn't matter whether or not that direction was the east or west previously, it was the west now.

The giant ball of nuclear fusion that looked exactly like our old sun had been below the horizon for five minutes before I could sense the first Night Stalker prowling the street. Maybe that was because they came from somewhere, or maybe it just had to be that dark out before they showed themselves. Either way it was time to get moving, I'm excited to get my 8th level tonight. For me, at this point killing Night Stalkers was a matter of speed and precision, but it was fairly easy if I used my skills properly, I wasn't in danger. Thinking about what it would be like to get into melee with these creatures on the other hand, sent a shiver down my spine. I couldn't imagine getting in close enough to slit the throat of a Night Stalker, even with my Void Tainted Cowl. Someone with a purely melee class like Andy or Gideon would be eaten alive, even if they had double my levels right now, I can't imagine they would do very well against these monsters, and that's not even counting their odds against a group of two or three. I truly lucked out being a Spell Blade who is able to attack with a ranged weapon as well as fight in melee, but that's part of why I worked so hard to achieve the class I did.

Regardless of my ability to quickly kill the Night Stalkers, I still took them very seriously. It was about an hour later after cutting down over 15 Night Stalkers that I got my level.

Congratulations, you have reached Level 8.

For reaching level 8, you have received stats according to your class.

+5 Intelligence, +4 Wisdom, +4 Agility, +3 Dexterity, +4 Free stats

Name: Cassius Heart

Titles: Primus

Class: Void Tainted Spell Blade (Lvl 8)

Unallocated Stats: 0

Strength: [18] +20% effectiveness

Vitality: [20] +20% effectiveness

Endurance: [20] +20% effectiveness

Dexterity: [34] +20% effectiveness

Agility: [40] +20% effectiveness

Intelligence: [52] +20% effectiveness

Wisdom: [46] +20% effectiveness

Skills:

Energy Blade

Energy Control

Burst

Void Tainted Sight

Void Tainted Cowl

I decided to add 3 points into Strength this time and 1 into vitality. Strength in my opinion was probably my least important stat, but I felt it should at least keep up with me to some degree. While wielding my magical blades didn't actually take strength, It was still important even if just for movement. And who knows, maybe I will find something that actually stops my Energy Blade such that I have to apply pressure to cut through it.

With my 8th level and the stats from it I felt better than ever. The increase in stats at this point wasn't monumental each and every time but all bonuses were felt and very much welcome. It was only a few fights before I felt comfortable with my movements once more, I took these engagements with caution and maximum range with a Burst prepared at all times. Reaching the fifties in Intelligence allowed me to back off on the amount of energy I put into each attack. I think I'm finally able to determine that Intelligence is the potency of my energy, whereas Wisdom must be my energy stores. I was glad to finally have some solid proof of what some stats did for me.

It was a few more hours of hunting Night Stalkers before I reached the junction where the Lake zone the Desert Zone and the City connected. The fourth zone intersecting here looked to be another town, though far smaller. From what I could tell there was actually a small amount of snow here and there across the ground. There wasn't any close to the desert, but further north I could start to see small amounts of snow on the ground. The further north I looked the more snow there was, however around the city it had melted, considering how much more snow there was to the north I was fairly confident in assuming the northwestern zone was something cold as well.

The architecture of the village - yes, I think this looks more like a village than a town - was single story log cabins with an A frame roof. These houses were obviously built somewhere cold, which really wasn't a surprise with the small amount of snow on the ground. Considering the temperature the past week had been somewhere between 60 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit, there must have been quite a lot of snow for there to still be some left. I decided to give the village a wide berth and walked between the desert and the villages zone. I wanted to reach the edge of these zones and see if I was once again met with the sight of the alien world. Unfortunately, unlike the lake which was flat, the sand dunes and gentle rolling hills and sparse woodland blocked my view past this zone.

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Walking so close to the desert and the snowy village was more proof that the zones interacted once placed here by the System. The two climates had merged together and simultaneously cooled the desert and warmed the village. Walking this line between the two zones, I am forced to kill the regular monsters that attack me, they seem so slow now, I go back to working on my footwork and precise melee combat technique. At least these monsters allow me to improve something, even if the energy they give is disgustingly low now. It's kind of funny how at the beginning I could have gained a level just killing several of these monsters, but now It would take me weeks to gain one doing this all day every day. I think this is a good glimpse at how the Prime Material works.

My speed increases during my trek to the west once I only have to battle the standard monsters, I'm able to run at impressive speeds, killing as I go. Only for the larger groups do I have to slow down, and that's simply because of their numbers. Three hours later and I find myself atop a hill, to be honest you would be hard pressed to define this gentle rise as a hill, nevertheless I have a clear view to the west. I was right, the edge of this zone flows into the alien world once more.

So, a 3x3 section of zones, with a higher level monster in the centermost zone. This seems like something that would be a consistent pattern replicated across this new world we live in. I wonder if the center zone is always a higher population area, or if that was just bad luck to lose so many because the advanced monsters were in a high density zone. I won't be able to figure that out until I find another set of zones out there.

For now, I decide to head for the town, it's already daytime, so they should be awake. Another hour of monster slaying and I arrive at the edge of this village. I don't try to hide myself so when one of the sentries I sensed with my Energy Control skill spots me I'm not surprised. He watches me as I approach, and when I'm within shouting distance he waves and calls out to me.

"Hey buddy, whatchya doin out here." The sentry yelled at me in what I think might actually be a Canadian accent.

Interesting, I wave at him and walk closer so I don't have to yell as loud. As I approach, I see he's carrying a spear, and a real one too. It's the proper size and has a spearhead attached to the end instead of a knife. I'm not sure where a village like this got a spear, maybe they actually used to use spears to hunt up in Canada before this. I'll have to ask later.

"Hey, I've come from the city, and I'm interested in meeting new people." I tell him, though I still have to raise my voice because I left enough room in between us so that he wouldn't get nervous.

"They city eh? Isn't the city that way?" He says pointing to the east.

"Yeah, sure is. I wanted to see what was on the other side of your zone first though, so I'm coming from the southwest." I explain.

"Hmm, alright. I'm sure someone will be here in a moment; you can talk to them. Until then you just stay right there." He says.

"Fine by me." I give him a smile.

It's only about a minute until someone joins us. This guy shows up with a bow and arrow, that could easily be something someone hunted with before.

"What's going on here?" The new guy asks the sentry.

"Well, I was just on my patrol when this guy showed up walking towards the town like he was out for a stroll." The sentry tells the new guy in a normal voice that I'm barely able to hear from where I am.

"Where did he come from?" The new guy asks.

"He says he's from the city, but he came from the southwest. He said that he went there to see what's beyond our zone." The sentry continues to explain.

"Really?" The new guy says with skepticism lacing is voice.

"Yeah, ask the guy yourself." The sentry motions towards me.

"So you're from the city, but you came from the southwest?" The new guy asks me.

I just roll my eyes before responding.

"Yup." I reply simply trying to keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

"Right ... fine, you can come with me to meet Liam." The new guy says before waving me forward.

"Thanks." I say as I close with him. I nod to the sentry to communicate it was meant for him too.

He just nods back and starts walking northwest around the edge of the village. The guy with the bow and arrow doesn't talk with me as he leads me to this Liam guy. That's fine with me, I'd rather talk with the one in charge anyways. During the walk I notice there aren't any monsters inside the village, that's probably what the sentries are for. It's impressive that they can keep their entire village clear though. I see multiple people walking around, some wave to the guy leading me but no one comes up to talk with him while he's leading me around.

It's not long before I'm led to a nice log cabin that looks like it has an extra room or two compared to the rest. I was already sure I was being led to their leader, but this pretty much confirms it for me.

"Wait here while I go get Liam." My guide says.

"I'll be here." I say to his back as he moves to knock on the door.

A woman answers the door and after a few discrete words are exchanged my guide is let inside and the door is closed. I'm a bit disappointed that these people just left me alone outside in the middle of their village with no one to watch over me, I mean seriously I could disappear and go on a rampage. Not that I wouldn't be able to take out the single person guiding me and do the same thing, but at least they would have found a body at some point or maybe heard screams. I have no intention of doing anything like that but I'm much nicer than some people. I just shake my head and wait for whatever is going to happen next.

Some of the people who walk by give me an odd look but move on shortly after. It's only two or three minutes of this before the same man who guided me here comes back out and invites me inside. I follow him inside the house, and I'm surprised by how nice everything is in here. This could pretty much be the interior of any of the town houses from the northeast town, I'm very impressed. I probably should have expected it would be nice enough, it's not like a small Canadian town is full of savages or something just because they make their houses like log cabins. I'm led into an office and when I enter the man behind the desk stands and greets me.

"Hello, I heard you are from the city, welcome to our small town." The man who I assumed was Liam said holding out his hand.

"Hello, thanks for allowing me in." I smiled and took his hand, shaking it.

"Please, take a seat. My name is Liam. What is yours." Liam said waving to the chairs in front of his desk.

"Thanks. You can call me Reaper, and yes, I am from the city, though I came from your southwest, as I'm sure you were told. I was out there seeing what is beyond your zone." I told Liam as I relaxed into a chair.

"Indeed. Zones, are these what you call the different areas of land around us?' Liam asks.

"That's right, this town and the area around it is a single zone, then the desert to your south would be another, along with the city to the east being a third zone." I explain.

"I see, then what about what you found out to the west?" Liam asks with a raised brow.

"You've sent someone far enough west to see it then. I think that's an entirely new world." I smile at him. Before now I would have been called a loon for saying something like that out loud.

"Some believe the same as you do, that the area is part of another world, some just think that it's our world, but that it has been mutated." Liam says leaning back in his chair.

"Which do you believe Liam. If you're okay with me calling you that." I ask him.

"To be honest, I'm not sure. Considering the monsters invading our land and classes, is it really so hard to believe that there is land from another world a few miles away?" He says with a shrug and a smile.

"Well, I'd say that the idea of it being a mutation of the Earth wouldn't hold considering the land from all the zones that I've been to have been standard Earthen biomes without any mutations. But who really knows. Maybe someday we'll know for sure." I explain my thoughts, but if people want to believe the land beyond the zones is still part of the Earth, then it doesn't matter to me.

"Perhaps someday." Liam says in a surprisingly somber voice.