The Scalekin charged at me and swung his sword at a speed that felt very slow, which I caught with one hand and ripped from his grasp. “Is this a summoned blade?” It felt like a purely magical object. The crowd gasped.

  “I-I-It is!” the man stuttered.

  “Interesting. And if you resummon it, it disappears and goes to your hand?” In answer, the scalekin pulsed some mana and the sword crumbled in my hand and regrew out from his hand. “That’s pretty cool, not gonna lie!”

  “Th-thanks?” the man said, confused.

  “Alright, now, let’s try that again.” He moved in more cautiously this time, swinging a few test swipes. I dodged away from each of them. He swung again, and this time I let it hit. There was a spark, leaving behind a small cut that slightly bled as I watched it heal over.

  “Hey! Nice! You cut me!”

  The man gawked at me, then his shoulders slumped and he unsummoned his blade. “I’m sorry.”

  “No problem!” I said with a wide smile. “What’s your name?”

  “Stan.”

  “Stan! I’m Dan! Anyone else want to lead?”

  No one stepped up.

  The crowd parted for me as I walked back and hopped up onto the platform.

  “Okay, Bethany, grab any people you trust, and Stan. I like him! Cari, Gregory, this is Jenny and Tim, who I used to work with pre-System.”

  We exchanged greetings as Bethany took us to a building room with a long table, insisting I sat at the head of the table. After we were seated, Bethany excused herself to gather a few others. Stan sat far from the others.

  “What in the hell happened out there?” Tim asked.

  “She called me the slayer of Jarrod, but it was technically her and her group that did the killing. I mostly just held him while they did so.”

  “It was wild!” Gregory said.

  “Yeah, we certainly didn’t see it coming. How bad was Jarrod?” Cari asked.

  Jenny and Tim explained that Jarrod and his group had rolled up on their group and killed the leader, claiming the control spheres and forcing them to join his group. He was especially violent toward anyone who argued with his ideas, pushing them out or killing them outright if they questioned him.

  “Well, good riddance then,” I said.

  “Not to change the subject too quickly, but what’s with the sex armor?” Cari asked, looking at Tim.

  “I was going to ask the same thing,” I laughed, “I know you were sleazy before the System, but it looks like it rewarded that for you. What are you, some kind of erotic warrior?”

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

  Tim looked annoyed at being called sleazy, but took it in stride, “Pleasure Knight, actually. My profession is Power Broker.”

  I erupted in laughter, taking a few moments to compose myself, “Holy shit, man! The System really rewarded your… you-ness? Amazing!”

  “It’s not funny!” Tim said, nearly stamping his feet.

  “I’m a Magical Girl Librarian!” Jenny said, trying to change the subject.

  “That is an odd combo, so no more great big hammer, eh?,” I said, wiping my eyes as I tried to get control of my giggles.

  “You want to see?”

  “Hell yeah!”

  Jenny stood up and held out her hands with her fingers splayed out. Tattoos on her palms formed the shape of a bright pink bookmark, which promptly appeared in her hands.

  “Archivist’s Knowledge, ILLUMINATE!” she shouted as she wrapped her fingers around the bookmark. A cascade of glowing letters, loose paper and entire books erupted from the bookmark, swirling around her as she floated up into the air. Her body began to glow as the paper wrapped around her form, becoming an only slightly skimpy outfit that incorporated paper and books with flowing script throughout. The swirling coalesced into an enormous locked book with a hefty handle in the center of the spine that she grabbed as she struck her pose.

  Tim stared hungrily at her, but everyone else around the table looked impressed. I clapped in much the same way she tended to when she was excited. She smiled and slammed her book weapon onto the table as she sat.

  “I am in no way surprised that you picked this, though why librarian?” I asked.

  “I love reading manga, romantasy, and non-fiction military history books!” she said with a giggle.

  The last entry made me open, then close my mouth with a shake of my head. I was going to point out the disparity, but Bethany arrived again with several others in tow. She introduced them one by one. Another Phoenixfolk she pointed out was her sister Sarah. An Ailuropod Ursan, a humanoid panda man, named Hector. A tall elven woman named Fiona. A wide standing elephant man, a Loxodon I found out later, named Dennis.

  “Are we good to begin?” I asked. Bethany nodded. “Great. First things first, I am not going to be doing any administrative shit. I do not want to manage anything, so I won’t.”

  Tim looked excited at the prospect. I locked eyes with him and shook my head.

  “Jarrod must have kept you close because you are competent, Bethany. I see no reason for that to change.” Bethany said nothing, simply nodding. “You will be responsible for assessing those who want to join the hierarchy of this group. Tim, if I hear you tried to con or… Pleasure Knight your way into getting a position of power, I will eat you. If anyone gives you trouble, Bethany, just let me know and I’ll handle it.”

  Some of the group laughed uncomfortably. Tim looked angry and huffed a puff of smoke from his bullhead nostrils, but said nothing.

  “You gonna eat them too?” Hector said, his voice low and with inherent growl.

  “Only if necessary, depends on the nature of the problem caused.”

  “This sounds like something we need to figure out with some rules,” Sarah said. She sounded a lot like Bethany but more rambunctious.

  “That will no doubt take some time, and I’m sure you all will figure it out. I need a reasonably safe space to work on my enchanter profession. Stan, if you’re okay with this, will be the guard over the area while I work.”

  Stan nodded, but his expression bore confusion, “Why me?”

  “You had the balls to question the leadership. That is valuable.”

  “What do you need from us? Jenny, might I have some paper?” Bethany asked.

  Jenny unlocked her large book and reached inside it like it was a bag. She pulled out a ream of paper still in its wrapper and a Pilot G-2 pen. “Of course!”

  “We need to find the other groups and incorporate them into ours. We will not force them like Jarrod did, but it will be beneficial if we can all work together.” Bethany wrote quickly as I spoke, hesitating when I said the next thing. “Also, I want one of the Control Spheres to eat.”