The Hub was as busy as always and eyes turned my way, again, as I walked over to the Obelisk to get credit for clearing the Dungeon and my Floor gains for the day. I felt more eyes from the windows above, looking down at me. I really wanted to know who was up there and what Fractions they represented. They obviously had some interest in me.

  I stepped away from the Obelisk and looked up at the windows, one to the other. Then I smiled and waved. I heard some gasps from the people around me. Looking at the people, they started muttering, some looked away, some just shook their heads. Apparently I’d done something I shouldn’t have. With a shrug, I walked out of the Hub, leaving wet footprints behind me.

  I was hungry so I appeared back in the Entertainment District. Along with the restaurants, there were some carts that sold quick food. When I’d been walking the streets with Fred yesterday, I’d noticed a couple of them and especially the smells.

  The first one I stopped at was manned by a beast race, a lizard humanoid. This one had a more human-like head, with slits for a nose, sharp teeth and forked tongue. It stood about seven feet tall, wore a leather apron and kilt. Heavily muscled, covered in light green scales and tan for the chest and up over its head, surrounding its yellow eyes. The fingers ended in sharp looking claws.

  But the lizard humanoid managed to use those fingers with high dexterity, flipping the skewers of meat on the Arcanum-infused grill. The flames were a light blue and I could hear the meat sizzling, the fire crackling as grease dripped down onto the flames. The skewers were all meat, no vegetables. Just the way I liked them.

  “Greetings human,” the lizardman said, giving me a nod, his voice slightly hissing. “Like what you see?”

  “And smell,” I said, mouth watering.

  The lizardman laughed. It was a pretty scary sound. Hissing and scratching.

  “What is the meat?” I asked.

  “Gorituskio,” he said. “From my home of Horiya. I am T’Slask.”

  “Nick,” I replied. “From Terra.”

  T’Slask leaned back, getting a better look at me.

  “Ah, the newly opened world.”

  I nodded.

  “Welcome, welcome. How are you enjoying Crossroads and the Infinite Tower?” he asked, smiling at my still wet appearance.

  “I’m loving it. Lots of fun,” I answered, holding out and arm and shaking it to get more of the water off. “Do you climb the Tower?” I asked. “Sorry if that’s not a question I should be asking,” I added, seeing T’Slask seem to stiffen.

  “Naw, it is a fine question to be asking for one of my kind,” he replied. “Us Sauriads do not get offended by the curious. Other races might and some of the workers in the Market and Entertainment Districts are not Adventurers but Visitors, made to come and work at their Fractions desire. Me?” he laughed again, stepping to the side of his cart.

  A large two handed great sword appeared in his hand, taken from his Spatial Storage. The thing was massive, easily six feet or more long, the blade nine inches thick, the front edge cutting back to the tip in the back. Etchings ran up the length of the dark metal, the hilt had a crossguard designed to look like some kind of animal. A dragon or similar. Made of a darker metal than the blade, the hilt was wrapped in leather and ended in a wide circle with runes carved along the surface. The weapon gave off a feeling of menace.

  Just as quick as it had appeared, it disappeared back into his Spatial Storage.

  I whistled appreciatively.

  “That is one fine looking sword.”

  “Is it not? I am an Adventurer. Third Generation and not that high Ranking in my Glowing Fist Sect. This,” he said, pointing at the cart. “I do this for fun. And I get bored easily.”

  I laughed.

  “I don’t know what Gorituskio is, but I’ll take two.”

  “Two MP each,” he replied, which I used the System to pass on to him. He handed me two skewers. “I hope you will enjoy,” he said, eyeing me, waiting.

  I knew he wanted me to try it, so I did, taking a bite from one of the skewers. The meat tasted a little like pork but with some inherent spiciness. Nothing too extreme, just a tiny bite. The glazing on it was similar to teriyaki. It was delicious. I took another bite. The steak-thing I’d had in Jeriyan’s restaurant was good, but the Gorituskio Skewer was better.

  Nothing beat street food, even if it was street food from another planet.

  “This is excellent,” I said.

  “Thank you.”

  “How well does it stay in a Spatial Storage?”

  “Very well,” T’Slask answered, wide mouth open in a toothy smile that looked kind of creepy. “Would you like more?”

  “Oh yeah. I have some friends I want to try some.”

  I ended up buying a dozen more from T’Slask, telling him I would be back.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  ***

  “Good evening,” Stylo said, appearing just as I entered the gates of the Clan Howell Compound.

  “Stylo, how was your day?”

  “The same as always. And yours?”

  “Wet.”

  “I see that,” he said, looking down at the muddy footprints I had left. “You entered the Mosspond Dungeon I assume?”

  “Yeah,” I replied, sitting on the steps, Stylo hovering closer to me. “Gotta say, those solo Dungeons really aren’t that bad. Just a lot of monsters to deal with, gets it close to the time limit.”

  “Nick, you do realize that most Awakened only do the solo dungeons when they are close to leaving a Floor and just need more Tower Points.”

  “What?” I asked, surprised, pulling another skewer out of my storage. The things were good. “Are you serious?”

  “Quite. It is very rare for someone at your Level to handle them so easily. Many have tried, but most have failed to finish before the timer was up.”

  “What happens if they fail?”

  “They lose any Multiversal and Tower Points they have earned and need to run the Dungeon again but there is a delay timer before they can make another attempt.”

  “Huh, that’s crazy. I figured people did them first to gain some Levels, Essence MP and TP and get some good times so other Awakened could evaluate them for potential teams and that crap.”

  “That crap, as you put it, is vital to your Fraction’s growth in the Multiverse.”

  “I know. I need to get someone here quickly to handle that stuff. I’m just here to punch things.”

  I thought I saw Stylo crack a smile, but it was quick, his face back to the usual impassiveness.

  “When do you plan on doing that?”

  “Tomorrow,” I replied. “I’ll head home tonight so Kat can figure out who to send back with me.”

  “Kat?”

  “Katrina Anderson, my second in command.”

  “Ah, the one that really runs your Fraction so that you can punch things?”

  “Exactly.”

  This time, Stylo really did smile.

  “Is she the one that will be running your interests in Crossroads?”

  “Probably not, but she’ll be here a lot.”

  “I look forward to meeting her,” Stylo said.

  I stood up, shaking some water off me, sighing.

  “I really need to dry off,” I muttered.

  ***

  In my room there was an armor stand, and I put my stuff on it, making sure to get some towels to put underneath. Water dripped off, collecting on the towel. I’d changed into a spare set of clothes. Jeans and a t-shirt.

  When the System first hit, all the industry ground to a halt, but over time the Crafters were able to recreate a lot of what we’d lost. Jeans and screen printed t-shirts were one of the things that could be made with Arcanum Skills. A lot of the tech we didn’t need anymore, which I was 100% okay with. I’d never been a big techie. I played games and had a cellphone, but I never had the highest end gaming machine or the latest phone. My version was two or three versions old. I never used it to the fullest either. And I got by just fine.

  But I needed my jeans and graphic Ts.

  Walking out of the room, I strode down the long hall, heading for the doors. I’d taken a skewer out of my storage. They were just that good. If I wasn’t careful, I’d run out of them before I could bring some home.

  Leaving the building, I walked down the steps.

  It was kind of lonely in the Compound. Would be for a long time. I could only bring two people with me the next time I visited. Would have to wait for the next Adventurer to hit Level 100 and then they could bring two more. I really didn’t want that many people here but a couple would be nice. I’d need someone to handle the trading with Jeriyan’s Sunrise Formation and wasn’t nice to let just one person be here. They’d need company. Kat was already supposed to be working up who the first two Guests would be, so a couple folks should be ready for me to evaluate and decide who to bring.

  Or let her tell me why to bring them. The others would wait until Nathan and the others hit Level 100.

  Stylo was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs.

  “You look drier,” he said, staring at my shirt.

  “Like it?” I asked, holding the ends so he could see the image better.

  “I do not understand what it is meant to say.”

  I glanced down at my shirt. It wasn’t like my hat, which was an original from Pre-System days. The shirt had the logo of a bear’s head, based on the old Boston Bruins. And in a stylized font along the top was ‘Solacetown’ and below was ‘Kodiaks’. Once things had kind of settled down, we’d started up sports leagues again. There were some new sports but football, American Football, was still pretty popular. The Kodiaks were the local team.

  I explained all that to Stylo and then had to try to explain what football was and what the differences between American and European were. He asked why both sports were called the same, but in America the European was called Soccer. I had no answer for him.

  “So how do I return home?” I asked the Guide.

  “Through the portal, using the token I gave you.”

  I pulled the token out of the storage, flipping it into the air with my thumb. Stylo’s eyes tracked it.

  “Use that token to create a portal on your world that will lead here,” he said.

  “Got it. See you soon,” I waved as I walked to the portal.