The assembled mass of monsters must have thought the train looked like a buffet. So many different types of monsters were ignoring each other and racing directly for the train speeding through their territory. Out front were the Flying Sharks, swimming for the front of the train in a pack. Behind them were Spore Raptors, closely followed by Mist Kangaroos. There were bears, ants, and demons in the group, but Luke couldn’t tell what kind they were yet.

  Luke quickly took it all in and used Summon Vehicle to create a Viper on the ground nearby. He wanted to have his widest arsenal of weapons available to confront the horde.

  He realized his mistake shortly after the construct fell behind. It would take several minutes for the rotors to spin up, by the time the helicopter was airborne, the train would be long gone. He facepalmed and unsummoned the Viper. At least he hadn’t wasted a Machine Soul on it.

  The second time around he pointed ahead of the train and summoned a M10 Booker. It took a few seconds to fully solidify into a tank and then he threw a Machine Soul into the construct. He instructed it to race forward at full speed and take out all the monsters it could.

  While he was getting his summons into play, the other four aristocrats sprung into action. One of them pointed at the ground in front of the velociraptors and sent a tiny orange ball shooting forward. When it hit, the ball turned the ground into a tar pit. It started at ten feet wide and quickly expanded. Three Spore Raptors fell into the transformed ground before the rest of the pack ran around the hazard. The Mist Kangaroos simply floated over the tar.

  Another mage twisted and danced, and then stopped instantly. The air in front of him was warped and twisted too. When the Flying Sharks hit the distorted air, they suddenly sheared apart. It was like the lead shark had been hit by a glitch in reality, sending parts of its body to the left and the other parts to the right. Unlike a glitch though, the shark parts didn’t reassemble themselves. Bloody monster parts ran into the sharks behind them and disrupted the entire school for a few moments.

  The woman in orange robes and man in a gray onesie both sent their magic attacks forward, but Luke didn’t see them land.

  He was focused on the results of his own magic. The Booker had gotten in range and opened up with a cannon shot to the Flying Sharks. The 105mm projectile blasted through two sharks before petering out.

  The two machine guns atop the turret sprung into action at the same time. They swept the field of monsters, a steady rat-tat-tat-tat. Blood sprung up from the bodies of velociraptors, sharks, bears, and demons. They were dying in droves from the steady onslaught of the modern tank. Some monsters hid behind small outcropings, but the tank kept coming, blasting its cannon at hiding monsters.

  The Mist Kangaroos were mostly immune to the summoned ammunition, but another aristocrat had opened his window and blown them all away with a huge gust of wind. It was so strong that they disintegrated into wisps and monster cores rained from the air.

  One other monster was able to withstand the tank’s onslaught. It was his old nemesis, Blink Ants. They had insane reflexes and teleported out of the way every time they saw the machine guns point their way.

  They didn’t elude the tank for long though. Luke had been paying attention and noticed that their teleports, while fast, were predictable. He ordered the Machine Soul to simultaneously attack where they were, and where he expected them to teleport to. It took him a few tries, but eventually, he killed most of them. The glitch guy got the last two.

  Luke had killed more than forty of the fifty monsters attacking the train. He was pretty happy with himself, even though the aristocrats were giving him the stink eye. The System of the World gave him a reason to ignore their ire.

  His class level went up as well. He was now a level twenty-two War Machine. He put a point each into his Memory and Dexterity. The stats would give him a larger mana pool and more precise control of his body and his mana.

  All in all, a fantastic result after just two minutes of combat. The only sad thing was that he had spent another Machine Soul. The tank’s top speed was forty miles an hour, well below the train’s. It was quickly being left behind. Too bad he couldn’t just take the soul back, he was down to one now.

  Or could he? He hadn’t really tried. The vast majority of time the Machine Soul left when the craft it was piloting was destroyed. This was one of the few times where he had the chance to attempt to pull it back.

  He focused on the tendril of magic connecting him to the tank and imagined himself pulling on it. There was resistance, like the soul didn’t want to come back. He wasn’t even sure it was possible, but he kept trying. Time passed, and the tank fell further and further behind.

  Just before he gave up, he felt the tether wobble and contract, like a snapped rubber band. The Machine Soul shot back to him and he felt it re-enter his core. A double check of his stat screen showed that he had two machine souls now.

  This changed everything.

  He had always been so stingy with his Machine Souls since they took a full day to regenerate. Now that he knew he could pull them back, he could comfortably send out all six of them at once. It would burn through his mana at an astounding rate, but for that two or three minute timeframe, he would be a one man army.

  ???

  “If you haven’t noticed it yet, the other royals are growing irritated with you,” Cormac said and picked up his pasta sandwich.

  “Oh, I noticed. What I don’t get is why. Is my robe not fancy enough or do they all hate humans? I thought the Kalibutan aristocracy was indifferent to us,” Luke said and crunched into his nut salad.

  They were at the back of the train’s dining car because every other table gave him the stink eye. He had already been wanting to sit with Cormac because he liked the orc, but it was weird that all the royals gave him the cold shoulder.

  “You’ve heard that the essence of nobility is to have power and not use it, yes?” Cormac asked.

  “I have. Are you saying I killed too many monsters too quickly? Are they pissed that I am showing them up?”

  “In a way, yes. Using minimal power to kill monsters is seen as virtuous. You’re acting like a monster culler, coming into their hunting grounds and killing with overwhelming force,” Comac said.

  “I don’t know how much virtue there is in monster killing. It’s a job, like any other.”

  “This is not a job, it is a chance to gather glory. Perhaps this is an aspect of Kalibutan culture no one has explained yet. I will explain. Our methods gather glory for the individual and for society. First of all, those with overwhelming power need to leave some monsters for the young and newly Chosen. It’s the only way the next generation can advance. Secondly, being precise with your skills is one of the best ways to level them up. You could stand to practice a little precision. Thirdly, the Chosen have a responsibility not to make the unchosen fear for their lives. They need to trust that we will use the right amount of power and not overreach into dictatorship. They all know that restraint is the only thing keeping them free from tyranny. Seeing Chosen acting without restraint makes them very nervous.”

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Luke leaned back. “I suppose I was being a little close-minded there. I’ll use more restraint if I join the aristocrats on the roof again.”

  “That brings me to another question. Why were you on the roof in the first place? I was under the impression none of your skills were hampered by a simple window.”

  “That’s... actually a good point. Why didn’t I think of that? Huh. I feel silly. I guess I’ll do that from now on. I’ll focus on being efficient while I am at it.”

  Cormac chuckled and said, “It’s good to hear the great human prodigy can be taught.”

  “Prodigy? Says who? I got lucky with my class, that’s it.”

  “Yes, yes, you are lucky, not talented. And kobolds dance on their toes,” Cormac said dismissively. “You can’t say you aren’t a prodigy. You might be the most talented human runewright ever. Platinum classes are supposed to be difficult to level up, but you have been racing through the levels. I’d be shocked if you don’t hit your third threshold this year.”

  Luke had to admit, Cormac had him pegged there. He was pretty good with runes, even for someone born on Kalibutan. And he had already passed his third threshold at level eighteen. Then he realised something. “Wait, why do you think I have a platinum class? I’m awesome but not that awesome.”

  Cormac smiled wryly and slashed his hands down. “No reason to deny it, your secret is out. Lord Edobar told me about the blackmail before his death and I told Provisional Lord Imohi everything I know about you shortly before we went on this trip. Your platinum class is no longer hidden, sorry.”

  A flash of anger washed through Luke. He had spent so much time and effort to keep that fact secret and this old orc just blurted it out? “Why would you do that? Even if your oath compelled you, you could have at least warned me. I spent the day before we left lying to Lord Momoh’s face about my class. He’s going to think I’m untrustworthy.”

  “For that, I am sorry. I had intended on keeping your life private but Provisional Lord Imohi surprised me with pointed questions right before we left. But I wouldn’t worry about the secret getting out. Lord Edobar exaggerated the dangers of people killing you for your class core. Only the truly debased would even consider it. If you have practiced and leveled up at least a little bit since the duel, you should be safe from their kind. What are you now, level sixteen, seventeen?”

  Luke shrugged noncommittally.

  Cormac laughed and went back to eating. Luke was pissed about his secret getting out, but he decided to let it go. Instead, he asked how Cormac’s family was doing and got a detailed response. The Seneschal’s close and extended family were doing splendidly. More family members had moved to the estate village and the old orc loved it. They all knew that it wouldn’t last long because Imohi didn’t like Cormac, but he was stuck with the older orc for now. The Gobnait family was saving up and planning out the next phase for their family.

  Jinx joined the dining car then. She had walked through the wall and padded into the room. There were a few shocked gasps, but when they realized she wasn’t a monster, they went back to their dinners. Luke was impressed with their restraint. If some beast had walked through the walls, his first instinct would be to attack. He supposed if anyone was used to magical pets, it would be the aristocracy.

  He waved to Jinx so she could join him. The overlarge housecat ignored him. Instead she rubbed up against people until they gave her pets. She never stayed for long, getting pets and stealing bites of food and then moving on. When she got back to where Luke sat she demanded more pets than she got from anyone else.

  It was nice knowing that Jinx had really chosen him as her person. She had the most freedom of any pet, but still chose to stay with him.

  After dinner, Luke went back to his train car in a good mood. That mood was dashed when he walked inside. Bosa and Kruro had been talking animatedly, clearly in a good mood. While the naga was happy to see Luke join them, Bosa turned and scowled as soon as she saw him. She quickly turned and slipped into her servant room.

  “What is with her?” Luke asked Kruro. “I thought we were friendly. Ever since we boarded the train, it’s like she did a 180°.”

  “I noticed the same thing but she only spoke positively of you while you were gone. I believe she still enjoys your company, but perhaps she only likes you when you are wearing your suit of armor. Some women are like that, they prefer the uniform to the man.”

  “Maybe. Seems like a stretch though. I’ll have to ask her about it sometime.”

  “Tell me how it goes. Incidentally, I will be sleeping for the next day or so. It’s one of the perks of being a naga, we can skip travel by sleeping through it. Please wake me when we are near our final destination.”

  “Will do.” Luke said. He also suspected that she was also skipping the conversation he was going to have with Bosa. Kruro hated dealing with the emotional stuff.

  Alone in his room, Luke decided to practice the precision the aristocrats expected of him. He had a plan to get amazingly precise with his skills and show up all of them. Then, once they all accepted him as one of their own and invited him to their country clubs, he would blow them out of the water by sending a fleet of helicopters to steal all the kills.

  Summon Vehicle was the one skill that didn’t seem precise no matter how efficient he was with his mana. Instead, Luke decided to practice with his other three skills. It took him a minute, but he realized he could practice all three at the same time.

  He cleared out the middle of the room and used Vortex Door to place a large portal on the left and right walls. He stood in the middle of the portal and saw himself repeated onto infinity. Perfect. He jumped through the portal a few times just because it was fun.

  Afterwards, he stepped back and activated Armor Adjunct. This next bit might be dangerous. He was going to mess with Phantom Shot. He held out his hand and envisioned his skill firing a bullet through the portal. Instead of beginning at the tip of his finger, he envisioned it starting a foot to the side and pointing towards the portal.

  When he released the skill, an insubstantial projectile whizzed forward. It was entering and exiting the portal over and over again. He hadn’t aimed it perfectly forward. Each time it entered and exited the portal, it was just a little bit more to the left. A scant second later, the bullet hit the edge of the Vortex Door and dispelled both skills.

  He grinned. That was almost perfect. He threw up another pair of portals and focused on his aim a bit more. This time the Phantom Shot was aimed a bit to the right. It flew through his portals faster than he could track. Instinctively, he flexed his Acuity and the projectile seemed to slow down a bit. He realized it was going to hit him if he didn’t move.

  He didn’t move.

  Instead, he pushed his mana into the Armor Adjunct surrounding him, trying to strengthen his protection. The bullet dissolved into motes of mana before it hit him. The anti magic aura had been strong enough to dispel it before it hit. He couldn’t stop himself from grinning. Three skills. He could practice all three skills in this high mana area. Those two uses had taken two thirds of his mana pool, but if he was more efficient with the amount of mana used, he could extend his practice indefinitely.

  He focused and practiced over and over again, only taking small breaks to recharge his mana. He might have gotten bored and stopped after the first hour, but notifications kept trickling in. It gave him the motivation to keep practicing hour after hour until he grew tired.

  Those noble elves were snooty and elitist, but they were right about how to practice. Focusing on being efficient was paying quick dividends. The high mana concentration in this part of the world probably played a part too. The system seemed to work better and give more level ups the more mana the environment held. It was probably much easier to level up in this part of the world as opposed to the area near the portal.

  Bosa came out of her room to go to the bathroom. She was just in time to see him fire a projectile from his elbow and then deflect it off his knee. She smiled and gave him a thumbs up. Luke turned to grin at her and her own smile slid off her face.

  “Bosa, did I do something to piss you off? I thought we were good, but now you seem to hate me. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. But if you don’t tell me what’s bothering you, I can’t fix it.”

  She slashed her hands down. “No, it’s not you at all. Well, it is and it isn’t. I suppose I owe you an explanation.”

  The chapter title is a quote from Cruel Intentions (1999)

  No more chapters this week on account of Christmas. I have family plans and won't be able to write. See you next Monday December 29th.

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