There are other questions, some that Todd doesn’t have the answer to. He tries to address everyone he can, as honestly as he can.

  Once there’s a lull in the interrogation, Todd pulls away as discretely as possible.

  His intention is to find Nayira Seacole and test out his new magic dipper on some of the wounded. It would be a nice way to spend his time. Of course what he needed to do was to think of a way to patch things up with Randall. Maybe he could put a larger group together and tackle normal mode. That would be a decent compromise.

  Todd’s mind drifts between his friend and the cultivation tricks that Ciforre taught him. His two full canteens arhythmically slosh against his side.

  Suddenly he is shocked out of his reverie when a hulking figure steps in front of him. Todd halts abruptly, almost bumping into the bearded figure. He blinks.

  Andrew Kreutzer stands with a long bronze spear in one hand. He has a short sheathed sword at his hip. His height and girth are looming, intimidating. His voice is gruff.

  “You. Kid,” the man addresses.

  “Wh- Drew? What is it? What did I do?” Todd entreats.

  “Your team got the treasure last round,” Andrew declares.

  “Yea?” Todd gulps.

  “I want in your group next time. We’re going to take extreme,” Andrew asserts, matter of fact.

  Todd winces. “We’re not up for another try for extreme, I don’t think. It’s just too dangerous.”

  “Why? You made it out. All I need is the right people and I’ll carry us through,” Andrew insists.

  “We didn’t all make it out. Randall-”

  “Is your friend a strong person?” Andrew pointedly interrogates.

  “He’s a good person,” Todd says.

  “Uh huh,” Andrew grunts, satisfied. “If we get your little friends and Walter, we would have everything we need.”

  Andrew puts a meaty hand on Todd’s shoulder.

  Todd cringes and shakes his head. “We wouldn’t have area of effect.”

  “Area of… oh. We don’t need it. Not if you can kill fast enough,” Andrew contends.

  “Listen, I don’t know. I’ll have to ask my friends,” Todd weasels.

  “Imagine how much stronger you can get,” Andrew compels. “Imagine the gains.”

  The older man pats Todd on the shoulder and then stalks away. His footfalls are shockingly silent, given his size. Conflicted, Todd watches him go.

  Seeking out Nayira, he discovers she has returned to her room. Instead, he returns to the cultivation circle. Joe and Candra have woken up and are trying to practice their manuals in preparation for the third level. Candra is dead focused, while Joe keeps getting distracted. He gets up and greets other cultivators, asking them how they’ve been holding up, and inquiring as to their needs. He welcomes, banters, commiserates, and grieves. It’s effortless for him.

  Todd takes a seat next to Candra. She ever so subtly scooches away.

  Something has gone wrong between them. Todd feels the distance like a twinge, a pang.

  “I was approached by Ranger Drew,” he offers nonchalantly. “He wants to take extreme with us.”

  Candra snaps out of her meditation, incredulous. “Is he crazy? Larry fucking died!”

  “I guess he thinks we’d be better off this time. He says we’d get Walter too,” Todd relays.

  “What is he trying to prove? We don’t have any reason to push it anymore.”

  “I mean, to be honest the [constitution pill]s are a big reason to keep going,” Todd says.

  “Not if cultivation can do the same thing – which the pixies say it can,” Candra refutes. “Why are you even entertaining this idea?”

  Todd tells a half truth. “It’s what the pixies keep saying. They’re acting like we need people to get as strong as possible or else something bad is going to happen.”

  Candra rocks to her feet. “That doesn’t mean it needs to be you! We have cops. We have an army. Let them worry about dealing with whatever bullshit is happening on Earth. We’re just regular people.”

  “From each according to his ability,” Todd intones.

  “To each according to his need? Jesus, you’re quoting Karl Marx?” Candra spits in disgust.

  “What? No! Maybe? That’s Marx? I thought that was from the Bible,” Todd babbles.

  Candra rolls her eyes. “Well, I’m not going to go through that again,” she resolves.

  At this point, Joe has extracted himself from his conversation and intrudes into this one. “What’s going on here?” he asks.

  “Ranger Drew wants us to take extreme with him, and Todd is taking it seriously,” Candra summarizes curtly.

  “Drew did?” Joe considers. He chews on that a second. “You know he left his group and almost made it all the way to the treasure on his own?”

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

  “So?” Candra asks.

  “I mean that if we could convince him to take hard with us, we could tear through it real easy,” Joe muses.

  Candra scowls. “You want to do that again? That was miserable.”

  “It wasn’t so bad,” Joe placates.

  “You didn’t get buried alive,” Candra retorts.

  “Point,” Joe rubs the back of his head, “but you got a magic belt and youth pills, nexus crystals and coins too.”

  Candra crosses her arms. “What do I need a magic belt for? For taking hard mode again?”

  “I don’t think we know what you’re going to need it for yet. The pixies have warned us that Earth is changing while we’re gone,” Joe argues.

  “So they say,” Candra shifts her weight, “but they abducted us. Why do we trust them?”

  Joe raises to his full height. “I think we should do it. We can do it, and we should.”

  Todd inwardly celebrates. He keeps the grin off his face. “Am I coming too?”

  Joe gives a quick thumbs up. “We can’t do it without you, Drips.”

  “Then I need to get five thousand nexus coins together to pay Teo,” Todd says.

  “Five thousand? What for?” Candra balks.

  “To watch over Toast and 4H,” Joe sighs. “Actually, he’s asking for more now. He wants a [constitution pill].”

  “Could we spare one? We’ll earn more,” Todd bargains.

  “I’ll check with Officer Bernice,” Joe says. He turns. “Candra?”

  “Ugch! Are you for real? We don’t have to do this,” she moans. “All right! Fine,” she acquiesces. “But I swear, if it turns out we did this for nothing, then I don’t even know what I’ll do. I’ll fucking tear your skin off with my fingernails or something.”

  Joe grins and jogs off to find Officer Bernice. Candra plops back down and takes out a nexus crystal. Todd slowly sits down next to her. She ignores him.

  Taking out a crystal of his own, Todd silently adopts the position and starts cycling. He holds the stone cupped between his hands and cosmic energy wafts off of it and into his palms. He drinks from it greedily until it empties. He looks over. Candra’s face twitches. She is still busy absorbing hers.

  Dusting himself off, Todd stands to take a break. The cultivation circle is huge now. Apparently the bulk majority of the section is sleeping during the day now. They must not be resting during their missions either. Hundreds of people are striving now for any advantage that they can get. Fear graces them with urgency.

  Really, now there are multiple overlapping circles which have formed into a jumbled mess. Todd tiptoes and arches to get around seated attendees.

  “Excuse me. Sorry. Pardon. Excuse me,” Todd verbalizes.

  Still, regardless of the size of the gathering, only about half of the cultivators are here. Many of the others are grouped in smaller clusters. Talking. Arguing. Drinking. Gambling. Many others have retreated to their room. Some of them just want to be alone. A scandalous number of them have paired off with the carnal desire to feel alive.

  Todd begrudges them. They’re just people being people. If only they would do more to help themselves survive, though. And the gambling! That’s the worst part. It’s just a way to lose money. He shifts the weight of his satchel and strides on.

  He checks the system store and browses the lists until someone else stands behind him in line.

  Next he goes to check the rewards for Hard Mode.

  He frowns at his survival rate, but he knows it will be much higher when he’s with the group. It’s the new inclusion of a [constitution pill] which is spurring interest in the harder difficulties. Getting one pill for free for just taking the mode and sitting out the quest is an appealing idea for some. There’s more than one group which is planning exactly that.

  Todd doesn’t think it will be so simple. There has to be a catch. He decides that he probably ought to warn someone. Maybe he should find Soup Nina and recruit her help.

  “Feeling aimless, Mister Kalogeropoulos?”

  Todd yelps. He slaps a hand to his chest and spins around. Pixie Ciforre hovers over him. Her event horizon bun buzzes and she adjusts it back into place with one hand.

  “You will need to be more resilient to surprise in the future,” Ciforre admonishes him.

  “Sorry.”

  “Stop apologizing,” she rebukes.

  “Sorry.”

  “If you have nothing better to do, then I have a recommendation for you. Have you spent time contemplating the intricacies of your skill fractal?”

  Todd remembers his psychedelic session with a skill treasure on the third day. “A little.”

  “The fractals of the system contain deep secrets of the universe which are the key to deeper power. Studying them is the pathway to true greatness.”

  “I kind of got up because I had enough meditation. You want me to do more?” Todd asks.

  “The further along the road of cultivation you reach the longer and deeper you will find yourself in reflection,” Ciforre portends. “A given E-grade cultivator could spend up to a week making a breakthrough.”

  “That doesn’t sound fun,” Todd mumbles.

  “Do you believe that fun will be a consideration in your forthcoming years?” Ciforre poses.

  “I don’t know. Really? Is it going to be that bad?”

  She adjusts her glasses. “It will be worse, Mister Kalogeropoulos.”

  Todd’s mouth works. He remains silent.

  “Look inward. Master every tool you have,” Ciforre impels him.

  “I guess I’ll try. I just gotta finish some things first,” Todd gives in.

  “Your fate is your own to choose,” Ciforre ominously states.

  She floats away. The three pixies make their rounds continually, giving out advice and insight in to the workings of the system.

  Shoving his hands into his pockets, Todd ambles for a moment. Then a thought comes to him and he focuses on the distant corner of the plaza. A red line divides the quarter along the floor, one he hasn’t crossed in some time. If he stares, a wavery curtain appears above it.

  Curiosity strikes him. He makes his way over and crosses the conspicuously empty strip at the edge of the human area.

  At the border, with his toes just at the line, he breathes in through his nose. Stepping across is just as bizarre as he remembers. A hundred aliens appear out of nothing. It’s not entirely like they were invisible. It was more like his mind was intently ignoring their presence.

  Defour is suspended overhead. She whispers into the ears of the people beneath her. Surprised figures rise from where they are seated. They shout in their strange language and others stir from their meditation and stand too.

  Swallowing, Todd steps forward and raises his hands.