Hearing that the System, which was by far the most unusual friend he ever made, had sent people searching for him proved too much. It was possible to bear all the losses that came before when life seemed like a grim march forward through darkness and death. A cheerful User bringing affection from Union Central – home – struck down those illusions.

  He didn’t fall apart in that moment of greeting, but the tide of grief began to rise as the User and her Orisha friend chatted with their group. No one particularly wanted to talk, which was fine with User Macy, because she could fill every silence, barely pausing to breathe.

  “When they started talking about some Xian killing a Dragon, we were all ‘no way, fake news’ but then your name came out and they were like ‘is that the hat trick guy who set us up on the Strongholds’ and we were like ‘dude totally one-shot that bitch’. It’s on brand, you know?”

  The Orisha Lisa was better at reading the mood. She flashed an apologetic smile at Hector. “Is anyone hungry? My heart space is packed full of fruit.”

  “Are you still giving out sobriquets to Users? I like ‘Slingshot’ if you are. Being named after a Skill might be weird, but I’m the first person who used it without dying. All thanks to Lisa. She uses spatial energy to keep my slingshot sphere inflated in the primordial. Four people died testing the Skill. Crazy, right?

  “Even now it doesn’t really work right. Informational energy isn’t firm enough to keep the sphere inflated. Really stupid to depend on someone else for your Skill to work. We just kept traveling the miasma vein until we got to Eden. Then we were tired of bouncing between worlds, so we stayed to help out the Alfar for a while. Good luck, that.

  “Are you going to come back to talk to the System now? My friend Teddy thinks you must be needed to keep the Svarga bastards from invading Union Central. Lisa says it’s more likely another Dragon, but those only pop up like once a century. What I think is the System just likes you. Taking care of Users is basically its job. We annoy it sometimes, believe it or not. Or at least I do. It tells me I’m only allowed one question a day. But I’ve been gone for like two months now. That’s a ton of questions saved up.”

  Macy never let up. The rift closed and they began the task of hunting down the remaining monsters while she chatted at everyone in ear shot. Lisa proved her worth by rescuing people who were in the path of monsters, blinking into existence and then pulling them through space to escape. Macy occasionally shot a silver Force Lance. She explained numerous times that her class wasn’t Force Mage. Her Wanderer class allowed one offensive Skill of any kind and she’d chosen the one most well established.

  That made a stark contrast to her experimental Slingshot Skill, which sounded like a strange hybrid of transit spheres and singularity travel. An orb would form around her, then she would launch free of one world until she crashed into another. All aiming had to be done prior to exiting the origin world. After they were launched, it was just hold on until they arrived elsewhere. Lisa’s expression throughout the explanations suggested that Macy wasn’t very good at aiming.

  Their rescue operations ended when they encountered a group of Alfar warriors led by a familiar figure. Warden Finn, who once fought the Ogre Cataclysm alongside Hector, greeted him with a solemn nod. “I am pleased to see you survived, Demon Hector.”

  “Can you not call me Demon?”

  Finn inclined his head. “As you wish. What is the proper name of your kind?”

  “Xian, though you could just use my name by itself.”

  “I prefer Xian Hector,” the Warden said.

  “If you want to be formal,” Isabel interrupted, “his title is Lord Dragonbane.”

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  The Warden accepted that without blinking. “You did us a great service the last time we met, Lord Dragonbane. You rid the world of an Ogre and a Strigoi.”

  “Humans and monsters are at war in the multiverse. All humans must stand together.”

  “As you say, Lord Dragonbane.”

  The agreeableness of Warden Finn was nothing like the man’s previous attitude. It could have been due to gratitude, as he seemed to be suggesting. Hector had a more cynical take. He was several levels higher than he’d been back then. Power encouraged politeness.

  Hector pointed. “It looks like there are still monsters in that direction.”

  Finn smiled. “We have it under control, Lord Dragonbane. If you would like, there is a guest shelter where you can rest.”

  He allowed himself to be persuaded. They received an escort to a pleasant hall half-buried in a hillside, with several fruit trees providing shade along the front. There were unusual local proverbs painted on the walls in flowing script. They gave off the same vibes as 'live, laugh, love' wall plaques did back on Earth.

  ‘The ladybug eats the crop eaters.’

  ‘Running water is cleanest.’

  ‘Five fruits, two greens, two nuts, one meat.’

  ‘Labor, eat, dance, sleep, repeat.’

  Hector sat down in a chair outside the hall itself, which was subdivided into small sleeping nooks. He began to work the Shuttle Technique. That was what he usually started his sessions with. It required the most dexterity, so it was best done before he grew weary. As he sat there, Riley squatted beside him. “Are you well, Hector?”

  “I will be, Riley.”

  “Shouldn’t you take a break?”

  “I can’t afford a break. I need to get to the peak in everything.”

  She patted his arm. “You need to take better care of yourself. We all think you should take the night off and get some sleep.”

  “I don’t need sleep anymore.”

  “Hector….” Riley sighed and left without continuing her thoughts.

  Only to be replaced by Macy. Hector almost lost his temper before she even said a word. “There is a debate among the Users. Some say the multiverse is ending and all we can do is delay the inevitable. That’s what most say, actually. Others claim that things are going to get better if we can hold on for a little longer. You know things. You’re a Lord and a Sage and best friends with the System and someone said you might know Foresight. What are our chances? Are we going to make it?”

  Hector stared out at the night, which was beginning to slowly brighten in the lead-up to dawn. There were Alfar warriors fighting monsters which they were barely qualified to do, but their leadership didn’t want foreigners helping them. It seemed an illustrative example of how foolish humans could be. That wasn’t everyone, though. Much as Macy might annoy him, she was one of many Users sent out to locate him and aid him by the System.

  “I can’t see the future, Macy. Our collective actions will determine what it will be. Everything we do, good and bad, influences what is coming. I believe we can survive. Win, even. But I don’t think it’s going to be easy. I wish more people cared enough to do the right thing.”

  Macy went silent for a long time as she pondered his words. When she spoke again, it wasn’t for another rambling stream of consciousness dump. “Well, I think we’re going to make it. Goodnight, Hector Stalwart Chaos Dragonbane! I need my beauty sleep if I’m going to hook up with one of these pretty Alfar boys before we leave.”

  Left alone, finally, Hector slavishly worked at the various techniques he knew, training domain and aura as his cheeks grew moist. Thoughts of the tragic Ajax and Nestor bombarded him. Neither of them lived long enough to see their home world liberated and restored. They were now nothing more than names on the list of people he had lost. That list grew far too quickly for his liking.

  And it would continue to grow if he survived this war. Even without transcending, his body was already biologically immortal. He would outlive so many people precious to him. Was that what he wanted? Hector didn’t even know. Living forever seemed like a very childish thing to wish for. Or at least selfish and short-sighted.

  Whatever he decided on that matter, his immediate goals remained the same. He needed to be as strong as possible for when the time came. Evelyn wanted him to be at level ten. A misunderstanding, most likely. She probably heard him referred to by an honorary sobriquet and made assumptions based on that. He knew firsthand how flawed her prescience could be.

  No matter what, though, he needed to be ready for Aes. Their mission was no small thing and he wouldn’t fail humanity because he didn’t properly prepare.