Birds chirped as I walked through the forest. Iron circled high above. When I focused, I could feel his presence up there in the sky. I was probably just convincing myself the connection was deeper than it was, but sometimes I could swear that I felt the same wind brush against my face.

  It didn't take more than half an hour to spot the newly built fence surrounding our campsite. Staying in the bushes, I skirted around, looking for movement. To my relief, Aubrey sat alone and cooked some rations on a small campfire.

  I used appraisal, just in case.

  [Human LV1]

  Well, I'll be damned.

  "Got any extra?" I asked and stepped out of the foliage.

  She whipped her face my way, eyes going wide with a loud exhale. "Jax! I've been so worried." Looking me up and down, she stood up and approached.

  I scratched my head. "Yeah, sorry about that. Got a bit held up by the river."

  "Monsters? Don't tell me, the hooded people?"

  I shook my head and let her guide me to the fire. We sat down, and she handed me a piece of grilled meat while I explained. "A wolf. Large as a person, too." I bit into the meat. Hot fat flowed into my mouth and coated my lips. "God, that's good," I moaned.

  Shaking her head, her face contorted with worry allowed a small smile. "Thank you, I'm pretty confident in my cooking. What did you do with the wolf?"

  I froze. "Shit! I left it by the river."

  "Don't worry about it. I'm sure Aya and Trish can pick it up when the mistress wants a bath in a few hours. She likes to sleep in, that one."

  I sensed a hint of annoyance in her tone and leaned on my hand, motioning with the other for her to continue.

  Aubrey groaned. "I know. I shouldn't complain after all you did to help me and all. But the girl is hopeless. While we worked all day and half the night to get the place ready, she complained about how the humidity messed with her hair."

  Well, that wasn't good. "Where is everyone now?"

  "Tom should be back any moment. He and Aya went to get some water from the river. I'm surprised you didn't run into them."

  It was probably for the best. My first impression hadn't been the best.

  "You still trust them?"

  She smiled. "I do. They're good people."

  "Alright. Sorry about yesterday. I'll trust your judgement."

  We had finished our breakfast when we heard Tom and Aya walk out from the forest. The two of them eyed me skeptically at first, but Tom simply shook it off with a chuckle. "Didn't think you'd make it."

  [Protector LV3]

  [Human Carpenter LV2]

  What the hell? Protector? Carpenter? I shook off the surprise and smiled a little. "I appreciate the trust."

  Aubrey pinched the man in his side, making him squeal a little. "It's true, though!"

  "But you didn't have to tell him!" she spat with a whisper and turned to face me, all smiles. "I, for one, never doubted you, Jax." I didn't know that she had such an edge.

  Aya greeted me with a grunt and began to walk past, probably to wake her so-called mistress. I stopped her by laying a hand on her arm, making her jump and reach for her spear.

  I retreated with my hands raised. "Woah, sorry. Meant nothing by it, just wanted to return the bow. I feel like we all got off on the wrong foot. I was on edge, as I'm sure you all were too. I'm sorry."

  She just looked as I apologized, finally accepting it with another grunt. I gave her the bow, and she was off on her own. I wanted to ask about the class. Protector wasn't something I'd seen when I made my choice. Not that I was jealous, I had something that suited me just fine.

  "Tom," I said, interrupting the quiet spat he was having with Aubrey. "Your class is a carpenter?"

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  He crinkled his brow. "Yeah? Well, it's not my class, it's my profession. I told you yesterday, didn't I?"

  I suppose he did. "Can you see my class?"

  "Hold on," he said and scrunched his face in concentration. After a few seconds of intense glaring, he released the breath he'd been holding. "Summoner?"

  So it doesn't tell him the entire thing? "Yeah. Nothing else?"

  He tilted his head. "No? Should I see something else?"

  "Eh, no, no. I was just wondering if it said something about me not having a profession," I chuckled and scratched my head. It was an obvious lie, but both of them seemed to buy it. Hiding the full name just seemed prudent. Even if they weren't my enemies, they might leak knowledge about me to one. It was just better to keep the cards close to my chest. Lucky for me, none of us had lived through this before.

  "So any plans on what to do now?"

  Tom shrugged and let Aubrey speak for him. "We've just been preparing for the blood moon as well as we can. Tom is going to keep working on the fortifications while Aya, me, and Trish, look for more supply boxes. You're more than welcome to join us if you want."

  Join? I thought I was already joined up...

  I gave it some thought and ultimately shook my head. "I don't think sitting still in one place will suit me. I'll keep moving instead, try and get some more levels. And clothes..." The prospects of adventure already had its hooks in me.

  "What about the supplies you find? You're only one man, I'm sure they'll just slow you down after some time," Aya said, walking out from the camp and scaring me shitless. Large as a giant, as quiet as a mouse, that one.

  Trish followed close behind while rubbing her tired eyes free from sleep. Aya crossed her arms. "Trade them with us. We'll offer lodging and whatever else you need that we might have."

  That's not a bad deal... Pretending to mull it over seriously, I rubbed my chin in thought. "Alright."

  "If you leave the wolf to us, I'll give you a larger share of the rations you and I found," Aubrey proposed.

  I raised an eyebrow at her. Where had this confident Aubrey been a day earlier? A night's sleep was really all it took for the woman to bounce back. She hadn't been lying when she said she'd find other ways of being useful. "I'll take that deal too, and the fire steel and a sleeping pad, if possible."

  She didn't hesitate before shaking my hand.

  I could have demanded half of the supplies we'd found, but settled with way less. Add a whole wolf to the mix, and I looked like even more of a sucker. But I didn't need more. Traveling with too much weight was just plain stupid.

  "Give me a second, and I'll put everything together," Aubrey said and left me with the others.

  The mood felt a bit strained. Pushing a blade against someone's throat wasn't a great way of making new friends, or at least so it would seem. Tom wasn't a vindictive person, though. He tried to make some small talk with me and even offered to teach me how to build a treehouse of my own—apparently, I hadn't hidden my excitement at the prospect very well. I politely declined, though. It would take too long, and I was itching for a good challenge.

  We joked for a bit before he turned serious. "If you find any others, you can feel free to send them our way. We'll help them make shelter."

  "You sure? There's bad guys out there too, you know."

  He scoffed. "Just because the world ends, it doesn't mean everyone's out to get you."

  Aubrey returned before long, carrying a crude bindle woven together with the extra fabrics. I inspected it, then looked at her with admiration. "You made this?"

  She nodded happily. "I can make more stuff if you bring me materials. Tom made me a few wooden needles; they're not great, but they do the job." Tom puffed out his chest in pride at the mention.

  "Can you make me something with the wolf's pelt?"

  She rubbed her chin in thought. "Nothing advanced, maybe a poncho? But you would look like a barbarian."

  I gestured at myself. "Come on, look at what I'm wearing. Everything's a step up."

  "I'd say," Trish yawned.

  The group laughed for a bit more before I waved them goodbye and headed into the forest. I wasn't very worried about getting lost. Iron could just help me find my way back. Birds were good like that.

  Walking on my own, I let my thoughts wander. There were many things I wanted to learn. It had just been a day since the world ended, after all. First, I wanted to learn more about the tutorial and what its intended use was—apart from increasing our chances at survival. I had my suspicions that the objectives would keep growing more difficult, and the consequences more dire.

  Second, I needed to map out the surrounding lands. Judging by my short conversation with the system cat, the tutorial area was probably cut off from the majority of Earth. There might even be multiple areas. In fact, that was the more likely option. Billions of people wouldn't fit on small patches of the world. Though I supposed many had died in the collapse.

  Which was another thing I wanted to learn. How many were left? Were my friends and family okay? Dread started rising, and I shook my head free from the thought.

  Whistling, I called Iron down when we were out of sight of the camp. He settled on my arm and leaned in to hear my whisper. "Let me know if there are monsters nearby. One chirp if I can take them, a bunch of chirps if I should run. Got it?"

  Iron nodded and chirped. I waved my arm and sent him off. His claws left shallow indentations in my skin as he flapped away. Smiling, I watched him disappear above the canopy of trees. I liked the little guy, he was cute, and a much better choice than a mouse or a cat ever would have been.

  Sparse fingers of sunlight made their way through the thick weave of branches. I stopped and let one warm my face. This better not be a dream. If I woke up and had to go to work, I would never recover.

  I'd always felt that I was born too late to explore the world and too early to explore space. But with this, I was born just in time to explore the new world. And that fit me better. Why? Because the new world was one of magic and monsters, knights and legends. I took a breath and let the fresh air fill my lungs. This was just what I had longed for: freedom and excitement.

  Adventure!

  I burst into a run, pushing myself until lactic acid made my muscles scream. Ducking under thick branches, I let out a cheer, then jumped over a weave of roots. Twigs punched against my skin like small whips, and cool air made my hair flutter as the bindle bounced on my back. Thick pillars of sunlight illuminated my path through the forest of green and ivory. My heart drummed against my ribcage. And for the first time in my life, I loved cardio.

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