When we arrived in your apartments, Axel wandered off.

  He kept himself locked up inside a room for the first day, refusing food or water. Sometime in the night Sern managed to get him out and start cooking food.

  Yes, Axel can cook.

  “Aaaaxxxxel?” Axel grunted, flicking a shrimp and rice saute into the air. It tumbled over itself, before he caught it again in his pan. While cooking, Axel visibly relaxed, to the point where he had started talking again, though only to Sern.

  There wasn’t much to cook, since the Kizota officials regulated the amount of food we had. Considering the scarcity, I’d been surprised to find seafood and rice as the most common staples of the second area, along with fish, oysters, and all manner of things that should not be reasonable to purchase within a desert.

  Sern sat on the countertop, scribbling in a small notebook. She had no ability to read or write, but her experience was enough to where she could draw vague symbols.

  Such as this one, which had what I could only assume was a shrimp and fire, all in a big circle. Axel grabbed soy sauce and poured a generous serving into the pan.

  Sern tapped the page with the end of her pencil, reaching up with her other hand to brush the hair out from Axel’s face.

  Sern squeaked.

  “Axxxxeel,” Axel grunted, flicking sauce at Sern. She, in turn, chased him around the room.

  Those two acted like completely different people around one another. During the day, each of them were shut off.

  If we’d been allowed outside of the apartment, things might have been better. Unfortunately, while Kizota officials were happy to provide for a group of refugees, they still hadn’t figured out what they were going to do with us, hence our current situation, stuck in temporary housing.

  I sat a short distance away, keeping an eye on Junior.

  One of the workers brought him some paper and crayons, which he’d been learning to draw with. He started drawing flowers, bugs, bees, and then, monsters.

  Eventually, without realizing it, he’d draw a picture of Rose.

  Junior tore the piece of paper into shreds. “It’s not working!”

  “Give it time,” I said. “You’ll get better.”

  “Who cares about drawing anyway,” Junior snapped, throwing the crayons into a corner. The little boy curled up into a ball with his head in his arms.

  Next morning, he’d start drawing again.

  There wasn’t anything else he could do. Our apartment was relatively large, with three rooms and one bathroom. That said, it was empty. There was cooking and drawing. Nothing more.

  So I sat in the same corner, day after day, trying to keep everyone from tearing each other to pieces.

  And what would I even say?

  I let out a groan, watching the glowing bugs around the ceiling.

  The room lurched, up then down. The pan clattered against the metal, spilling broth and rice. A painting shook and the blankets shifted, but beyond that, everything else in the apartment had been tied down. Most of the time, it was hard to believe we were on a massive turtle.

  Junior stomped one foot on the floor. “Rose would’ve hated this place. We’re still caged up, aren’t we?”

  “It’s not like that,” I said.

  “We can’t go home, Grind,” he hissed. “I wanna go home.”

  Junior sniffed. “Where is that?”

  “Home is with the people you care about,” I stated.

  “Great.” Junior was quiet for a moment, before he left for his room. “Call me when dinner’s ready.”

  I held my breath and closed my eyes. Today, as I’d done before, I tried to get the notification to appear.

  Thankfully, the talk I’d had must’ve done the trick.

  {Notice}

  [You have accrued (16) instances of [Shock]]

  [Until [Shock] is cleared, you may face emotional, physical, and power-based destabilization.]

  [Risk - Negligible]

  [Process?]

  [Y/N]

  “I’m going to be gone, for a moment,” I said, walking over to our couch. The others gave me a curious glance, but they didn’t ask. Besides, they wouldn’t need my help for a couple minutes. I tapped the notification, bracing for impact.

  “Yes.”

  Rose smiled, laying a hand on my shoulder.

  I sat beside her. Watching.

  “It’s good to see you again,” I said.

  She beamed.

  My eyes opened. I found myself facefirst on the floor, emitting a faint glowing energy.

  Junior popped his head into the room. “Grind? You okay?”

  “I just had to deal with something,” I said. With the shock gone, my mind and body loosened, allowing a flood of emotion back into my system.

  Junior took a step toward me. “Why’re you crying?”

  “No reason,” I chuckled. “It’s just good to be back.”

  Compared to the other times I’d dealt with a fair bit of shock, that’d been…really easy. Almost effortless and totally painless.

  I could only assume “shock” was an incredibly flexible term for neurological damage. Different kinds of damage would be harder or easier to fix.

  In all fairness, I’d previously processed four thousand instances in a moment. Just sixteen wasn’t a big deal.

  Although I should have gotten more instances of it? Shouldn’t I? Rose had died, leaving me emotionally wrecked for a few days.

  Junior was next to me now. “You’re not okay, are you?”

  “I-I” I sighed. “I have no idea what I’m doing.”

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  He nodded. “I can tell.”

  “Gee thanks,” I chuckled, ruffling up his hair. “Go set the table.”

  Unlike respawning, processing shock felt like a natural part of the game. Which meant there had to be known rules and logic, if I cared to look into it.

  Sern walked into the room, knocking her stick of charcoal against a little silver bell, which she’d found in a cupboard.

  “Aaaaxxxeeeeeeeeeellllllllll!” Axel hollered,dropping a shrimp-filled pan onto the table. He poured a little into each of our plates, inevitably spilling some. Rather than complain, he brushed his hair back and scooped it up into his own little bowl.

  As usual, he nodded to the three of us, hesitating a little on Junior, before trundling to one of the bedrooms. We probably wouldn’t see him until the morning.

  Then it was just the three of us at the table. Myself, Junior, and Sern.

  Junior started picking at his food.

  Sern shoveled it down, crunching on the burnt shrimp and rice.

  I took a bite, suppressing a grimace at the explosively strong taste of ash and brimstone.

  Yes, Axel could cook. He just couldn’t cook very well.

  “So, how has everyone been?” I asked, stirring my bowl.

  Sern shrugged.

  Junior shrugged.

  “Good.” I said, with a couple nods to show that I was paying attention. “Good.”

  Thankfully, I found a decent bit of rice in the bottom of my bowl, which hadn't been burnt too badly. That’d hold off my hunger for the rest of the day.

  “So,” I started. “Did either of you do something fun today?”

  Junior snorted. “There’s nothing fun to do. We can’t leave the building.” He shot a glare at the door, leading out into the street. We could only leave to take out garbage, or to request something from the guards.

  “We’ll get to go outside eventually,” I stated. “And they've given us quite a bit of food and clothing, which was very generous.”

  “I know,” Junior said. He started picking at his food again.

  We had spent three days in our tiny apartment before somebody from the government finally paid us a visit.

  The messenger was relatively tall, with pale grey hair and bushy eyebrows.

  “Sir. Madam. Child.” He greeted, nodding to each of us in term, before he spotted Axel, and his face turned pale.

  “Axel,” Axel said, beneath a veil of hair.

  He cleared his throat. “Axel. Ahem. The Kizotian Governor has decided that, in light of current events, any households who can provide an eligible copper or higher union recruit will be given the full citizenship of a Kizota citizen, along with temporary housing, food, and clothing.”

  “And if we can’t?” I asked.

  The man glanced at Axel.“You can. But even if you couldn’t, we’d send you to a nature preserve. We can do the evaluation today. You have until the week to provide a qualified copper-tier union candidate.”

  Junior nodded. “And when’s the evaluation?”

  “Now.”

  With that, he walked out of the apartment, forcing us to follow behind.

  “What’s this supposed to mean?” Junior asked.

  “If I get strong enough, then all our problems are solved,” I said. “I’ll get stronger, and you’ll be safer. After that, we can go wherever we want.”

  The man led us through the black and brown streets—built from sections of Kizota’s shell.

  After a bit of twisting and turning, we boarded a train that crackled with mana. After a short ride, our guide led us to a towering building covered in silver and gold.

  “The local agency headquarters,” he stated, watching our expressions. “Not as impressive as Kizota herself, but remarkable regardless.”

  There were no doors in the building. Realistically speaking, they wouldn't matter much. A building this dense with magic wouldn’t need doors to keep the pests out, and it wasn’t like anyone would be stupid enough to break their way in.

  “Gladieal!” The desk attendant shot upright, giving a deep bow.

  “Who?” Junior asked.

  “That would be me,” Our guide muttered, bowing back to her. “Now, while there are higher levels to our system, most of our work happens at the ground floor.”

  We hurried after him as he disappeared down a corner, winding up in a vast space filled with practice dummies, other players, and pieces of equipment. The ground lurched and the whole room suddenly echoed with the sound of metal on metal.

  None of the people inside seemed to notice.

  “In order to test the potentials of union candidates, we have this little system built up,” Gladieal said. “Now, we should test Grind first, to get a baseline, then Axel.”

  Junior bristled. “You’re not a baseline, Grind.”

  “Maybe not in the first area,” I said. “But I’m pretty pathetic in the second.”

  Gladieal beckoned me forward, before strapping a piece of equipment around my arm.

  “Yes, yes, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, the second area operates under different rules than the first,” he stated. “What you may not realize is that it operates on a completely different set of principles. Think of it like training your arms instead of your chest. By our understanding, each area forces you to train the principles of the old, while continuing to advance into new territory. You will always feel like you have restarted, but that cannot be further from the truth.” He gave me a smile. “You have merely ascended.”

  I was nodding along.

  “Each area relates to an attribute. First is power, second is mind, third, the body, and the fourth, spirit.” Gladieal clasped his hands behind his back. “There is technically a fifth area, but it’s all relatively new, and only a dozen people have ever been there. Well, been there and come back, anyway.”

  He noticed my expression and changed the subject. “This is all very high level. Right now, the union just needs to test whether or not you have what it takes to improve a meaningful amount.”

  He tapped the black strap around my arm. “First, power. I want you to push as much power as you can into this bind.”

  I obeyed, channeling in my Strength.

  Gladieal nodded along. “Good. Good.”

  Junior stifled a yawn.

  “You have been in the first area enough to move powers,” Gladieal said. “If you had failed that, then you’d have already failed the entire test.”

  “Cheery,” I murmured.

  “Yes, quite.” He grabbed a small ring and slid it onto my finger. “There are only really two tests. The second is known for tripping up many an experienced adventurer. This is a suppressor. It will try and sap into your mental energy. I’m going to turn it on and you need to mentally resist it to the best of your ability. If you start to feel tired, let me know, and I’ll turn it off.”

  “Okay,” I said.

  We waited for a couple seconds.

  I blinked. “You ready?”

  “It’s already on…” he muttered, pursing his lips and making a gesture with his hand.

  The ring remained exactly where it was, without the slightest sign of interference.

  “Odd,” Gladieal said. “You should be feeling something.” He looked into my eyes, and an uncomfortably pressure settled onto my chest. “You are a Dirt, right? No exp?”

  “Yup,” I said. “But I’ve been around for a month or so.”

  “Interesting.”

  Instead of going to one of the next little trinkets on the table, he took our party to a large metal helmet, hanging from the ceiling, over a small chair.

  “What’s that?” Junior asked, poking the frame.

  “This is a…uh…” Gladieal grimaced. “The Pain Chamber.”

  I hesitated, inches from the seat. “What now—?”

  He shoved me in, planting the helmet on my head. “I assure you, I will not set the dial so high as to cause him anything more than a mild discomfort. I merely wish to see whether it was a mechanical failure or whether your friend is some sort of mental prodigy.”

  “Prodigy?” I asked, perking up. “That sounds good.”

  “Ah—” he snapped, pushing me back in the seat. “I would highly recommend using your entire concentration against the machine.” Gladieal flicked a lever on the side, and reserves of power seeped into my mind. These I felt, like loads of bricks cracking against my forehead. As I shoved them away, more and more came, settling down like a wet blanket.

  “You weren’t kidding about being uncomfortable,” I chuckled.

  At the controls, Gladieal was cranking one of the dials. “How do you feel?”

  The pressure on my head expanded, until it was like several wet towels. Then hundreds. Then the force of an elephant cracked against my head, shooting slivers of pain into my bones.

  “Yeah, that hurts,” I stated, pushing back.

  The machine ripped itself apart, rocking backwards.

  Gladieal was shaking, one hand on the dial, its knob punished all the way into the red.

  “Grind?” Junior asked.

  “I feel fine.” I rubbed my head. “That still hurt though. Did I take any damage?”

  “Physical damage, no,” Gladieal stated. “Mental, absolutely. You bleed into the range of a Lead.”

  I blinked. “That’s good, right?”

  Gladieal took a deep breath. “Yes. Yes it is. Though I’m afraid there’s not much we can do to use a skill like that. Not in the union. You’d have to find a specialist.”

  {Notice}

  [Your sense of self has been tested, and has grown stronger.]

  [Increase your rank to access newfound strength.]

  [10 Hp 10 Str]

  Gladieal looked from me to the notification and back again. “What’s that?”

  I frowned. “Doesn’t everybody have that?

  “Er…yes. But they’re incredibly rare. Just a single mental enhancement can increase your mental ability by ten percent, if not more.”

  “Funny. I’ve got three or four since I came here.”

  Gladieal swallowed. “And that was?”

  “Four days ago?” I guessed.

  Gladieal swooned.