After giving his assent to combine both Live Wire and Sediment, Leo watched as the skills changed before him. They vanished from the store, leaving behind something in its place that made him glad he’d not just chosen the loot box due to his inability to choose.

Grounding Surge (Epic)

Electricity does not shock the earth. It returns to it.

Stone and current run together through your frame, turning your body into a path of least resistance.
As a blow lands, spell, or strike, mana or muscle, brace and let it pass through you, driven down through bone and earth until the ground swallows what would have broken you.
A blow grounded is a blow never landed. But the earth can only take what you can carry. Channel more than your body can bear, and the excess tears back through you.

Dispersal of hostile mana scales with Agility.

Mitigation of physical force scales with Toughness

Cooldown: 5 Minutes

Requirements: Lightning and Earth Essence.

Price: 7,000,000

“Sold!” Leo exclaimed, purchasing it before he could be swayed by the cuboid devil that rested on his shoulder. Not to be mistaken for the small dragon on the other.

Although, he bet there was a little devil in her too.

After purchasing the skill, it didn’t just auto-learn like it did for Ellie. Instead, a book appeared in his hands. Dense and thick, the pages were scrawled with lines of text. Leo wasn’t sure if this was actual writing or just flavour text to make it look official. There was no cover with the words ‘Grounding Surge’ on it, just a pattern.

You meet the requirements to use this Skill tome.

Would you like to learn the skill: Grounding Surge (Epic)?

Yes/No

Leo accepted without another moment’s hesitation, the knowledge of the skill flowing into him immediately.

He breathed out a sigh of relief. It had all gone so—

He stumbled.

Something was off.

Inside him, his Lightning and Earth Essences brushed against each other as the skill bound to his class—and held there. Not fighting. Not the violent, tearing clash of the storm when it forced its way out of him. Something quieter. Two currents that had run in separate channels for the entirety of his integrated time, touching at the edges for the first time outside of his Apotheosis and finding cohesion.

The mana settled. A warmth spread through his core and went still, a held breath he hadn’t known he was carrying finally let go. Then it passed.

Leo stood there a moment, frowning at nothing, one hand pressed to his chest. Huh.

He couldn’t have explained what just happened. Only that something in him had shifted, a fraction, and quietly made him aware. It wasn’t shifting back.

Ellie had awoken from her nap, and tilted her head against his neck, a low questioning note in her throat.

“...I’m fine,” he said, not entirely sure it was true. “I think.”

The moment the feeling had begun, Leo expected pain, discomfort—something bad. So when he’d been completely fine it had just made him paranoid. A weird thing to admit, but definitely justified based on previous experiences.

At least a little bit.

“Don’t suppose you could explain, system guy?” Leo asked, not expecting anything.

“With your purchases completed,” the system guide began, “your remaining Store Credits will be converted to the standard system currency.”

“Guess that’s a no,” Leo muttered.

The guide continued, uncaring for Leo’s interruption. “You will soon be transported back to your home planet, designation: Earth. You will find that your planet is not the same one you left. The landscape, the skies, the oceans, the size, they have all been expanded. The creatures on your planet remained during the duration of the tutorial where they were offered the chances of evolution through the use of natural treasures.”

Wow this feels like it’s finally happening, Leo thought, a smile creeping onto his lips.

“On Earth, you may continue to grow along your path. System events and opportunities may await you. More details will come when certain milestones are met upon your planet or within your universe. Once again, congratulations on finishing the tutorial. May your path be everlong.”

“Where do I—”

Leo’s world shifted in an instant. The ground beneath his feet had changed to grass covered stone.

“...land.”

The air hit his lungs and he almost teared up. In front of him, buildings that had once housed stores, houses, or just general takeaways were in various states of decay. Nature had taken over the entire town he’d once lived in, encroaching over the streets like they’d been away for decades.

Quickly checking for Ellie, he found her next to him, staring up at the sky and all the buildings with absolute wonder plastered across her face.

“Welcome to Earth,” Leo said, grinning.

Behind him, Leo turned to see the writing written above the door, a sign, barely visible behind moss and overgrowth.

“Asano’s, huh?”

Back to where he started only two months ago. Returned entirely changed. In fact, this was the exact spot he’d collapsed in after his outburst within the restaurant. If it wasn’t for the little dragon and power flowing through him, he’d have thought this all a simulation. Some kind of twisted dream.

“Cece should be inside, I think. Ash should stumble across us soon enough.” Leo smiled. “She’s gonna love your new skill.”

Ellie shrank herself down and draped across his shoulders once again, the skill having worn off when she was moved from wherever the tutorial ended.

His ears picked up something from within, running toward the door with clear intent and haste.

“Move!”

“Get out of the way!”

It was muffled due to the closed door, but Leo could make that voice out anywhere. It haunted him like childhood trauma.

What was left of the door burst open, Leo stepping out the way to allow the person—people—to stumble out. He recognised every single one of them.

“We’re back! We’re actually back!” one of them said, a woman in a mage robe he recognised as Mary. It looked to be the starting gear, if he wasn’t mistaken, but it wasn’t broken in anyway. Possibly upgraded.

The moment Leo locked eyes with one of them, everything stopped. They all followed the gazes of each other, staring him down.

“No fucking way,” Henry said, his voice filled with amusement. “Is that you? Guys! Leonidas the spartan survived!”

Of course fucking Henry survived the apocalypse. That arrogant, petulant snake of a man had not just survived, but it looked like he was still in control of all of his previous co-workers and thriving.

“Hello,” Leo said, voice calm and rehearsed. Ellie was taking in all the new faces, but she could feel through the bond that Leo’s emotions were in turmoil. That something was wrong.

“We’d assumed you just died instantly when the tutorial began,” Henry said, laughing. “Looks like you made it out.” He glanced around. “Your new master must be kicking around here somewhere, then. No way did you survive on your own.”

Leo smiled to himself as he used Identify on each of them in turn.

Human - Level 43

Human - Level 45

Human - Level 39

…

The highest among them was Henry, and he was level forty-five. The laughter came before he could suppress it. It was loud and jovial, like he’d been holding it in for years.

“Seems like you’ve lost your mind,” Henry said, shaking his head. “Well, you look strong enough that we can still use you, or at least that critter on your neck. Come on.”

“Henry, he’s got the question marks,” Erin said in a quiet voice. A voice that used to make Leo’s day a little better. “And doesn’t that look like a dragon?”

“So what? You think he’s over level seventy? And has a dragon? Don’t be stupid. Dragons are much bigger.”

“Fuck off, Henry,” Leo said as his laughter started to abate.

Henry’s face morphed to the one that used to give Leo nightmares. One’s he knew meant he’d fucked up and would be punished in some way. Not physically, although that would have been arguably better.

“Grown a spine in these last two months apparently!” Henry exclaimed with his own, albeit fake, chuckle. “About time. Let’s see how it holds up.”

Henry’s eyes flashed a dull purple, and Leo’s Nerveflash warned him of the incoming attack. It wasn’t physical, but a mental attack of some sort. Henry’s robe gave it away that he was a mage of some kind.

Before whatever spell Henry was trying to cast even got halfway to affecting Leo, he blurred into motion, a grin spread across his entire face. He grasped the man by his cheeks with one hand and squeezed.

“Ahh!” Henry cried, eyes filled with shock. “Le meh go,” he said, barely understandable with how squeezed his cheeks were.

The temptation to apply just a bit more pressure was more tantalising than he wanted to admit. To take out all of his frustrations on this sad excuse for a human. His ex-colleagues started raising weaponry and pointed them toward him. They didn’t even all have storage rings.

What kind of baby tutorial did they have?

“Causing a commotion not five seconds back on Earth, huh?” a voice said from within the store. She walked out, striding confidently in her fairly stunning armour considering the rest of the people gathered. Including Leo in his all-too-short trousers. Her silvery eyes captivated everyone as soon as they met them. Not to mention her beauty.

At a glance, they could all tell that this woman was powerful. Her level was probably hidden to their Identify too.

“Miss, could you help us?” Monica asked desperately, Leo’s ex-colleague. “Leo’s gone crazy and is trying to kill Henry!”

“So that’s Henry?” she said inquisitively. “Maybe it’s just my preconceived notions based on our talks, but I can’t imagine a weasel like that walking all over you.”

“Hey Cece,” Leo greeted with a smile. “Get anything good from the store?”

She raised her eyebrows, smirking back. “Put the trash down, we need to find everyone. We have things to do.”

“M’kay,” Leo shrugged. He met Henry’s gaze with a sadistic grin right before he tossed him like the bag of garbage he was. Henry crashed into the wall across the street, landing in an ungraceful heap.

Damn that felt good.

People swarmed to him in worry. Leo couldn’t believe that they were all still obsessed with this clown.

Erin began healing Henry with pale blue-white light. Leo guessed either Moon or Ice Essence.

Moon healer sounds cool as hell. Actually, so does Ice, Leo thought appreciatively.

“How could you do that to him?” she said, voice strained slightly like she wasn’t used to shouting. “He’s our leader.”

“He’s a piece of shit, Erin,” Leo called back, voice calm. “If you didn’t think so before, you certainly won’t now. That fucker… he—You know what, it doesn’t matter.”

He turned to Cecelia. “Let’s go find Ash and the others. She should be around here somewhere.”

“You sure?” Cecelia asked.

Leo nodded.

As far as he cared, those people all died in the tutorial. Some of them apparently had. Thomas, the only one he’d been almost friends with, wasn’t with them, along with a few others.

People started backing away as Henry rose up. They gave him room to stand as he pushed away the hands that tried to help him.

“You…” he spat.

Henry’s eyes turned a full purple, not with casting of a spell, but something else entirely. It was almost like his aura was spreading, but weaker and more subtle. It tugged at a part of him that shouldn’t be able to interact with anything right now.

His storm.

Does Henry have a Bloodline?

That was the thought that struck him first, almost like an instinct. One bloodline’s skill or aura touching another. He’d not sensed it whatsoever before now. Caldrin and Iskarion sure hadn’t mentioned it. Neither had the system.

The feeling of love and affection toward Henry started entering Leo’s mind, almost like his mind was being overwritten.

Cecelia, next to him, was being affected too, turning to regard Henry with new eyes.

An attempt at controlling Leo’s mind? Fine, whatever, it was pointless, albeit irritating. Controlling his ex-colleagues he pretty much all hated? Again, whatever.

Attempting to control the minds of the people he cared about….

“Don't. You. Dare.”

Leo’s Stormforged Presence washed across the entire street, spreading even further, every person ceasing every movement. Even their breath faltered.

Cecelia shook her head next to him like she was ridding herself of a nightmare. She blinked as Leo watched her, worry evident in his expression.

“Are you okay?” Leo asked worriedly.

 

“Yes. I’m…fine,” she said after a beat, looking toward Henry. “Did he…?”

Nodding, Leo replied. “I think so. Some kind of skill, bloodline, or something to control minds, I think.” His voice was fairly neutral, despite his flaring emotions.

“You can let them breathe,” Cecelia said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Thank you, I’m fine.”

Leo relaxed his aura, retracting it back until it was contained within him. His ex-colleagues collapsed in various states of wellness. Some were pale, others were almost sick.

Henry was terrified.

Cecelia strode across the broken street, crossing in a few steps, walking confidently as Leo followed. Ellie jumped between them, landing astride her shoulders. Cecelia gave her a little scratch under the chin.

“What did you try and do to me?” she asked, much calmer than Leo had expected.

“Was it a Bloodline?” Henry’s eyebrows rose and she didn’t miss the expression. “So it is. How interesting.”

“Describe its effects,” she said pointedly.

“I—”

“Before you speak,” Cecelia said. “Depending on your answer, I may let you live. Lie to me…” She smiled, warm and inviting.

Henry nodded several times, clearly intimidated. Leo was low-key loving this. In fact, there was nothing low-key about it. Fuck Henry. He wanted to watch him squirm.

The people around them were starting to look at Henry with differing emotions. They were no longer looking like sycophants. Of course, they completely avoided Leo, but that was to be expected after feeling the hostile aura.

“Come on, now. Tell the class how you controlled them,” Cecelia said.

“It—I got it when I touched the orb thing that the guide said to use to gain my Essence. It told me a Bloodline was detected, called…” he gave her a worried look. She didn’t care.

He was forced to continue. “It was called: Bloodline… of the Mind Slave.”

“Mind Slave?” Cecelia repeated. “I’m assuming it’s something that allows you to, well, enslave one’s mind?”

He nodded ever so slightly.

“Troubling,” Cecelia muttered to herself. She turned to Leo, ignoring Henry for the moment. “If there are others with powers like his, we will need to be careful. I had little defense for his mind altering effects. Something that needs to be addressed.”

“Why didn’t it work on you?!” Henry demanded suddenly. “Why did it never work?”

“What are you talking about?” Leo questioned.

“Ever since I met you, you’ve always been able to look at me like I wasn’t worth your time. People should adore me. They always have. They always will! I was a god! How are you able to resist it? What are you?”

Leo chuckled. “Better gods than you have asked me that.”

“What?” Henry asked, face filled with confusion.

“Ellie-bean!!” A voice called. A blonde missile rocketed down the street, drawing the attention of all.

“Looks like your aura did the trick,” Cecelia said, chuckling.

Ellie took to the air in a wingbeat, another flew her into Ashley’s waiting arms. The two cuddled as she finished her walk toward the group. Other people had started approaching too, people Leo knew, others he didn’t.

It was becoming a whole gathering around the commotion.

At least they weren’t ants. Well, most of them at least.

“Hey Ash,” Leo greeted. The woman was gushing over how small Ellie was.

“Hey yourself,” she said. “Get anything good from the store?”

“Not bad, not bad, you?”

“Pretty decent.”

“What is happening?!” Henry demanded, interrupting the reunion.

“Who’s this model?” Ashley asked, thumbing in his direction.

“Ashley, meet Henry.”

“Ohhh, so this is Henry?” she grinned, walking with a sultry step toward the man in question. She bit her lip seductively.

Henry took on an instant look of hopefulness upon seeing this incredibly attractive woman approaching him with a look he recognised. Almost anyone would let their guard down, mind turning to mush. Especially those who thought themselves gods.

Leo held back his grin.

Henry carried on his clearly flirtatious gaze.

Right until he was slapped through a wall.