“Oh wow, that effect is amazing. With all these marks, just how strong are you?” Hannah asked.

  Without hesitation, Julian shared his status screen for everyone to see.

  Harvey was stunned. Julian had eclipsed him in every stat except Wisdom, which he doubted was very important to a warrior. He could barely comprehend such a cavernous difference in their attributes in just a few short hours.

  When nobody spoke, Julian cleared his throat and asked about their own stats.

  “Nowhere close to yours, buddy,” Hannah replied, chuckling. “I was starting to feel bad making you always stand in front, but not anymore.”

  “Yeah, you’re literally four times stronger than me,” Harvey added. “I know I said I’m more brains than brawn, but it's getting embarrassing.”

  “Don’t worry,” Julian said, awkwardly clearing his throat, “you guys will catch up in no time! I think some of the other benefits of claiming an outpost will help with that. I got the option to place that loom we were wondering about, and a terminal connected to a shop run by The System somewhere in town.”

  “Do you have an inventory or something? How are you holding them?” Harvey asked.

  “No, but it’s like I can feel that I’ve earned them. I just need to decide where they should go and they’ll appear.” Julian explained.

  “Do you have any idea how big they are?” Harvey continued.

  “Nope, guess we’ll have to find out. I was thinking we could start with the shop terminal. Other than the sign, the general store looks relatively intact. How about we put it in there?” Julian suggested.

  “Makes sense to me!” Hannah added, knocking a newly conjured arrow in her bow. “Have to make sure it’s empty first, though.”

  The group picked through the overgrown road towards the steps of the general store. The wood creaked under Julian’s feet as he ascended, causing everyone to freeze. When nothing emerged, they gathered around the door.

  The horrid stench of rotten fruits and vegetables wafted up from large, rectangular stands on tables on either side of the door. Weeds snaked their way up the legs and into the mush, turning the old display into a bizarre planter. Harvey wondered what a modern city like San Jose would look like after being abandoned for hundreds of years. Would it be anything like this old frontier town? Concrete split by rampant weeds with rotten food and dust caking the floor of a grocery store?

  After making sure everyone was ready, Julian slowly pushed open the door. The wood creaked loudly, but nothing stirred at the intrusion.

  The modest shop featured wooden displays on tables near the entrance and five aisles of dusty shelves, which were almost completely empty of useful products. A thick layer of dust coated everything, and Harvey could see footprints left by Julian’s leather boots like he was walking through sand. They roamed the aisles, checked under counters, and inspected a small office in the back, finding nothing.

  “It’s gross in here. Hopefully, there’s some magical all-purpose cleaner we can buy. I feel a stress cleaning session coming.” Hannah groaned, her hands fidgeting as she avoided touching anything.

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  “Yeah, but at least all the dust means the wind isn’t blowing through here,” Julian said as he looked around. “Where should we put it?”

  “Since we don’t know how big it is, we should probably find a decent-sized area for it. How about we move these tables towards the office and put it between the cashier and the shelves?” Harvey suggested.

  The scrape of wooden furniture being dragged across the floor filled the room. It didn’t take long to reorganize, and in the blink of an eye, the space they’d made was filled with an ornate mirror resting on a golden stand. It was massive, at least 8 feet tall and 4 feet wide, with beautifully carved crystal surrounding the edges. There was no flashing light or thud of it falling into place. Even the dusty floor wasn’t disturbed at all. It was like it had always been there.

  When Julian stepped closer, large golden letters appeared saying Thank you for Choosing John’s - Where Your Merit Means More! with smaller text beneath reading John is not responsible for injury, dismemberment, death, or destruction of worlds from use of our products. Please direct any complaints to the tapestry.

  After a few seconds, the words were replaced by a shopping window that looked eerily similar to an online store, with a search bar above an array of tabs with categories like food, drinks, weapons, armor, potions, and more. Underneath were squares displaying an image of the product, along with its name, price, and a brief description. Harvey watched Julian meander through the listings and laughed when Julian recoiled as a helmet suddenly appeared on his reflection’s head. Text saying Confirm Purchase of Infantry Helmet for 4000 Merit? Yes/No appeared on the side of the screen.

  “This is trippy,” Julian said as he stared intently, gently pawing at his own cheek. “But, it’s exactly what we need. At least we know we won’t have to starve in the short term.”

  “Can I check it out?” Harvey asked, stepping up to the mirror.

  The same welcome message appeared before listing the items for sale. Considering he couldn’t even afford the helmet, he would need to spend more time going over all the options before buying anything. He’d accumulated 3,617 merit so far, and it looked like he was going to need a lot more.

  The weapons and armor available were all some form of Infantry equipment, which he assumed was The System’s version of starter gear since the same tag was on everything he’d seen so far. There was a decent variety, but no legendary swords that shot lightning bolts with an unholy pricetag.

  What caught his eye were the two tabs at the far end of the list. Knowledge and Earth. Moving to the knowledge tab, he saw what looked like college textbooks featuring a handsome humanoid man with fair skin, dark hair, and brown eyes, making obnoxious faces while holding various tools. Each was titled John’s guide to _____ For Idiots, Morons, and You, and cost 10,000 merit each. At the very top, there was John’s guide to the Tapestry for Newly Integrated Babies, and below were other books teaching things like alchemy, blacksmithing, beastmastery, inscriptions, and more. The book about blacksmithing caught his eye. The Smithy they’d holed up in appeared to already have most of the tools he would need, and the mine behind it could be a great source of materials.

  Finally, he moved to the Earth tab, where he was stunned to see menus for fast food restaurants, 12-packs of soda, energy drinks, alcohol, clothes, and more with brands he recognized instantly. It was all ridiculously expensive, a value meal with a burger, large fries, and a drink costing 400 merit, but he could see this being a lifesaver for someone needing a dose of normal in this nightmare.

  “Guys, they sell energy drinks!” Harvey called out. Julian almost knocked him down as he ran to look. His eyes lit up when he saw his poison of choice, but he despaired when he saw the hefty price tag.

  “200 merit for one can! That’s ridiculous!” Julian whined

  “Ha! I swear every man I know is addicted to those. Do you know how terrible they are for you?” Hannah asked

  “They also sell cold brew coffee,” Harvey added, chuckling.

  “Get the hell out of my way,” Hannah interjected, pushing the two men to the side.

  “Don’t go spending all of your merit yet.” Harvey laughed, looking at the pained faces of his caffeine-deprived companions. “The standard food and water are way cheaper, and we have no idea how much the essentials we need are going to cost.”

  “At least I know killing things can buy me energy drinks now…” Julian muttered. “Maybe I should go outside and start screaming so the money will come charging right at me.”

  The group laughed hard for the first time since they got here. Just the option of getting a taste of home helped them forget the dark days ahead for just a moment.

  “What about the loom? Should we put that here, too?” Hannah asked.

  “This store’s pretty small, and I think it’s already going to get crowded with people waiting to shop. I say we check out that church down the road.” Harvey offered.

  Nobody had any better ideas, so they left the store and made their way down the street. The chapel was small and simple, built out of wood with double doors that hung open. The only thing indicating it was a church was a cross beside the door, and a weather-worn steeple leaned against the sky, its frame sagging with age. From within, a tarnished bronze bell hung at an awkward angle, the frayed rope swaying idly in the wind.

  Inside, six rows of wooden pews with a walkway between them lead towards a small pulpit. A wooden cross hung from the ceiling against a faded red curtain. Tall windows lit every other pew, showing the outline of an unmoving body lying against the wall. Two of the pews had been knocked over, and a path through the debris suggested at least one of the zombies they’d fought earlier came from here.

  “Should I take the shot?” Hannah whispered.

  “I doubt it, but that might be another injured veilstrider like Gabe. Let me check it out first.” Julian replied, tiptoeing his way over. When he’d moved far enough down the walkway to see its face, he motioned, pulling a bow back before giving Hannah a thumbs up. She knocked an arrow, took a deep breath, and let it fly. It struck true, embedding deep into the back of its head. They sat with bated breath, waiting for a fight to start.

  “It must have been dead already. Or more dead than a zombie already is, I guess.” Hannah announced, standing up.

  “No kill notification?” Julian asked.

  “Nope. Nothing.” Hannah replied

  “Alright, Harvey, do you mind helping me drag the body outside? I have a feeling we’ll be using this loom a lot and don’t want to be climbing over corpses every time we come in here.” Julian asked

  Reluctantly, he agreed, moving to grab a leg while making sure to keep his hands on the coarse pants and not the squishy flesh underneath. There was already a decently open area between the last row of pews and the base of the elevated pulpit, so Julian told them to make room before another strange device blinked into existence.

  A wooden frame towered over them, ten feet at least, its crossbars holding a weave of threads that shimmered in colors Harvey couldn’t name. At the top, thick bolts of thread sat in a neat row, each one glowing faintly and spilling a single strand down toward the loom’s heart. They shifted as if stirred by some invisible breeze, the colors rippling in patterns that made his eyes ache to follow. In front, a crystal ball pulsed faintly on its pedestal, as if it were breathing.

  “It’s pretty,” Hannah remarked, dragging her hand over the array of threads like the strings of a harp. Her hands passed straight through each.

  “I’ve actually watched someone weave a rug with one of these in person,” Harvey said. “I didn’t realize that’s what this was called, but I took a trip to Istanbul with my family when I was in high school and got to watch someone make a Turkish rug by hand. That loom was different from this, but similar enough.”

  “The notification said I could use one to create a skill after reaching level 5.” Julian reminded them. “Let’s test it out.”

  The crystal ball began leaking rainbow light as Julian placed both hands on it, the light moving up his arms to engulf his entire body. It was different than the glow of leveling up or getting a mark. Instead of carving into him, it enveloped him like a soft cloud. He stared at the empty air in front of him, nothing changing for over a minute. Suddenly, images began floating out of his mind and off his body to hover in the air between himself and the loom. They were dismembered memories playing on repeat, like clips from a highlight reel.

  Fighting off zombies as he struggled to bring Gabe to safety. Staring down the hungry Bloodrunn, intent on tearing Hannah apart. Running through the forest to cut down a zombie holding an empty robe before looking up at Harvey panting in a tree. These memories merged with images of his two marks. The amalgamation of marks and memories floated into the loom, where the red, silver, and gold spools began to glow even brighter before sending thread cascading below. Invisible hands began to weave a beautiful image of a dented silver shield protecting a tiny red heart, a golden glow surrounding the entire thing.

  Harvey’s mouth hung slack-jawed, the entire process was awe-inspiring. He’d expected a list of skills for Julian to choose from, some basic shout, swing, or speed skill to match the common warrior class. After all, he was only level 5.

  What he got instead was nothing short of miraculous, magical light combining marks and memories into something that was truly his own. The kaleidoscope of color was made even more magical against the dull backdrop of an abandoned church.

  When the image was complete, the sigil lifted off the loom and floated towards his chest. Passing straight through his leather armor, the familiar light of new markings being engraved began to shine.

  Harvey saw Julian take a gasping breath, his face filled with pain as he clutched his chest. It was a quick process, but he understood how painful a change to your weave could be. Resting against a pew, Julian eventually turned to face the others before peeling off his cuirass and the shirt underneath, revealing his muscular chest. Sitting directly over his heart was Julian’s first skill, still faintly glowing as the light receded into his body.