On the way to Leo’s apartment they passed multiple people, more often than not lower level and accompanied with a worried expression. They’d told them to go find Cecelia in the woods as that’s where people were gathering. They were untrusting at first, but after seeing that Leo and Ashley meant no harm, they’d gone along with it.

But it had all made Leo think about his own tutorial even more.

When he’d met Henry and his ex-colleagues, Leo figured they’d maybe just been crafters or not been all that combative during their own tutorial. But now that he’d seen that the vast majority were barely level fifty at most? He was thinking it may have been a bigger outlier than previously thought. He’d hit level fifty before the tutorial had been half done probably.

With the rank he’d received, Leo figured that it might be somewhat rare. Although, compared to the entirety of Earth, and perhaps his whole universe, one town of people wasn’t really a good sample size. Boyd had managed to reach a high level, but Leo was hesitant to bring up his rank.

“What rank did you get, anyway?” Ashley asked, almost as if reading his mind.

“What?” he stumbled out, flustered.

She gave him a smirk that he knew all too well. “I didn’t want to bring it up in front of Cecelia—her complex, ya know? But I do want to know what the great hero Leonidas got from his rewards.”

“Something called ‘Paragon Rank.’ Gave me quite a lot of store credits to use and a special shop.”

“Ooh,” she purred, “sounds fancy. I got Diamond Rank myself, probably the same as everyone else who killed the Queen. Haven’t confirmed it yet. So, whatcha buy?”

“You first,” he said quickly.

“Well, I ended up with a couple million credits, didn’t gamble any like you did during the tutorial.” An item appeared within her hand. “I bought that compass you recommended, cost me a boat-load.” She blew out a puff of air. “After that I could basically afford two decent things, or one good thing. I went for the latter.”

She wiggled her eyebrows. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”

Unable to hide his intrigue in his expression, Leo answered. “You’ve already seen one of the purchases.”

Ashley squinted at him with a slight head tilt. He pointed to her, or more specifically, to the small dragon that had suddenly become furrier than ever before.

With movements as quick as his own, Ashley yoinked Ellie from her shoulders to see a small fox-like creature before her. Big brown eyes, a long nose and some sharp teeth. She was entirely coated in red-orange fur that glistened like flames were budding under the fur.

Ashley squealed, drawing attention from random passerbys. “Oh my gods, look at you! What a great skill you have!”

Ellie wriggled as Ashley stroked her much softer skin and fur. It suddenly stopped as the woman froze, turning to Leo with a very serious expression.

“Can she turn into a human?”

“Nah. Not yet anyway.” He then told her the information about the skill Ellie had learned. She nodded once in understanding and went back to cuddling.

“I also bought one of the compasses. I know there’s multiple charges on it, but I was worried about being able to use two at once. Like, what if your dad and Nat are complete opposite ways. Can’t point in two directions. I mean, probably.”

“Yeah, same thought I had,” she said. “What’s the last one? You did only get three purchases right? Not some kind of Paragony bullshit extra buys.”

“That would have been nice, but no.” He chuckled. “I managed to get a really good skill. At least, I think it’s good? I haven’t exactly been able to test it yet.” She gave him a quick look.

He continued. “It’s defensive, meant to stop attacks. Figured…” He let out a small sigh of breath. “That I need to be able to defend myself in the future.”

A comforting hand stroked his shoulder briefly before she turned him in place to face her. Her eyes were sparkling with a look he’d not seen on her since…perhaps the end of the Beast Pens. He stilled. Completely submitting to whatever she had in mind. Not like there was any use trying to deny her.

“It just so happens that my other purchase is a really perfect skill for this very moment,” she said, giddy. “Stay right there and get ready to use your skill, okay?”

Skepticism had risen within him, paranoid about what this bulldozer of a woman had in mind. But if she had a way to test his skill then, well… he nodded.

Ashley took up a fighting stance, similar to his own, fists raised, eyes locked on him. Then she pulled her fist back, cocking it.

A grin spread across Leo’s face as he understood. She was going to punch him.

Excitement began to overtake his skepticism immediately. He prepared himself in his own stance, casually holding a hand up for her to strike. Ashley’s stance was not a trained one, it was more like those videos you would see of people trying to hit those punch strength measuring machines.

I wonder if she can even hit hard enough to make my skill worth it, Leo thought.

A thought that was almost instantly discarded as Ashley’s aura spiked. Her fist lit up with a dim white light that began pulsing softly, then rapidly as the white light brightened until it was a solid white-looking mass coating her fist.

The power was making his Nerveflash go wild. It was easily on par with the strongest hits he’d ever dealt with, minus Serrix. It seemed to have somewhat of a charge up, but maybe this was just so he was prepared.

Somehow, the light grew brighter and brighter. The strain on her face showed how difficult it was to amass so much light.

“Ash, maybe—”

“If your arm comes off then we better find Amy!” She roared, fist swinging.

Like a bullet had been fired, Leo felt his Nerveflash tell him to dodge, to move. But then, a different tug on his mind came forth. His hand snapped up again, intercepting the attack as his feet grew heavy and all his nerves tingled.

Boom

When Ashley’s fist struck Leo’s open palm, the resonating bang almost had his ears ringing. The moment the attack had touched him, Leo felt Grounding Surge begin to direct it. The light mana travelled through his veins. The sheer force of the physical strike travelled through his muscles and skin, culminating at his feet.

A dull, reverberating hum pulsed out. Only once, but it was anything but subtle. The ground around them cracked. Plants that had encroached were swept away or scorched with lightning and light combined. It dispersed entirely, leaving Leo completely unharmed.

But the cost was quite substantial when he looked at his resources. Over a thousand mana and stamina had been consumed to absorb this attack. Not enough to completely drain him, not even close, but still a large chunk of both.

When the energy settled, Leo’s hand still cupping Ashley’s fist in silence, she spoke. “You kept your arm! Nice!” She pulled her hand away and started walking non-chalantly.

Leo stood there, still taking everything in. Then it hit him.

“What the fuck was that?!

~

The pair reached his apartment soon after. Leo’s building hadn’t been untouched by the terraforming of Earth, but it hadn’t been destroyed like some others. The doorway had been demolished, leaving no visible entrance from the bottom. That wasn’t really a big deal. But it did make him worried about the interior.

“How high can you jump?” Leo asked, staring upward.

“I can’t jump five storeys, dummy. Maybe we can climb?”

“Alright,” he replied, shrugging. “Sorry in advance.”

“What do you—” Leo scooped her up into a princess carry and coiled his legs like springs. A Cloak of Wind formed around his shoulders. This all happened within the span of a second.

Before she could even speak, the pair rocketed upward as she squeaked out a scream, easily clearing the building’s rooftop. Ashley clutched to him before realising that she’d likely survive a fall from this height and relaxed as they drifted downward.

“You could have warned me,” she grumbled.

“Kinda did.”

“He’s so mean to me, huh Ellie-bean.” The little fox was just grinning, tongue hanging out a little in excitement.

Leo laughed. “Not getting any sympathy from her, she’s a dragon. The sky is her world.”

Ashley trilled her lips as Leo controlled their descent into his slightly open window. Grabbing onto the wall with one hand, he kicked the glass, scattering fragments into his room. He could have probably just opened it, but doing so would have required putting Ashley somewhere. Not a lot of room to do so on a tiny windowsill.

Ashley crawled out of his hold and into his apartment first through the broken window, cracking glass as she stepped on it. Leo followed her like he’d been swinging into windows his whole life, landing with barely a sound.

It was a bit dark, the one window not exactly illuminating the room, but he could still pretty much see. Whatever sense increase his Senses of the Dragon gave him included a bit of night vision. Still, he tried the lightswitch. It clicked, up and down a few times, but there was no light into the bulb. No electricity he realised when he’d attempted a few others and some lamps.

Alright, I guess there’s no more gaming. Suppose that means no internet too. I’d be devastated if not for the wondrous magical powers.

Ashley flicked a hand and the room brightened even more. Leo winced.

“Could have at least cleaned up before having a girl over,” Ashley teased after picking up a t-shirt that was more dust than fabric. “At least I know you weren’t a player.”

“Yeah, yeah, I bet your place is just spotless.”

She gasped. “It is!”

“Sure, sure.”

“We can—” she stopped herself, biting her lip.

“It’s fine,” Leo said, smiling. His smile started to change when he thought about a bulldozer like her having a clean apartment.

“You’re thinking something offensive!” she said as Leo hid his expression behind false confusion.

“Feels like forever since I’ve been here,” Leo said, changing the subject.

She paused but she was more than happy to let the subject drop. “It feels weird being back. It’s all so different, like we’re in another tutorial or simulation.”

He nodded, all too familiar with the thought of this being all a weird matrix-like dream.

Ellie had found his small bedroom and curled up on the bed. The pair joined her. It was a lot less comfy than the system made bed. He’d have to find one of those.

The room was cramped with all three of them in there along with his desk and computer. Two monitors sitting atop with his fancy looking, yet not all that expensive, mechanical keyboard and gaming mouse.

“There’s… not that much stuff,” she said, voice soft.

Leo smiled. “I didn’t have a lot of money. Most of what I made, that wasn’t spent on food or rent, I sent to Natalie.”

Her hand found his. “You’re a good brother.”

Leo reached down and picked up a picture frame. Wiping the dust from its surface, he couldn’t help but smile at the photo.

“She’s real pretty,” Ashley said softly.

It was himself, Natalie, and his parents. One of his most prized possessions. He stored it within his Dragon’s Hoard, which he now just mentally referred to as his ‘Inventory.’

“Anything else you need?” Ashley asked, voice kind.

“Just a few things from Nat’s room. Pictures and stuff she loves. Don’t want anyone to come looting.”

Before long, Leo had picked up everything he needed and the trio had decided to depart from the building. Ashley had said she wanted to try jumping from the window herself, and Leo allowed it. With how much vitality they both had, it surely wouldn’t be fatal.

Unless the fall damage in this simulation is bullshit, Leo thought with a chuckle.

She hit the ground fairly hard, but it didn’t crack under the force. A few vines crunched. Leo drifted down after her, falling gracefully like he was loved by the wind. Ashley made a face that Leo assumed meant her next skill choices would be swayed by this very moment.

“Did you want to swing by your place to pick anything up?” Leo asked carefully. He knew she was still feeling some kind of turmoil after her ex-boyfriend betrayed her.

“No.”

“Okay,” he said quietly.

“Sorry,” she replied, sighing. “It’s just…it’s hard, you know? Like, I know he’s gone and he’s a dick, but I still loved him once. I think I need time to move on.”

“Whatever you think is best,” Leo said.

“I didn’t take any pictures when I left home, kind of a sour exit.”

“No worries.” Leo smiled warmly.

“Stop being so understanding.” She huffed.

“If you think I understand you past being a bulld—”

Her look stopped him. “Finish that sentence, Leonidas.”

“Think it’s time we used the compasses,” Leo said, voice strained and a bit higher pitched. He pulled out his own compass, and upon seeing it, Ashley did the same and stopped glaring.

“How do we use them, exactly?” Ashley asked, hesitant.

“Maybe we just think really hard about the person we’re looking for?”

He pictured Natalie clearly within his mind. Blonde hair like his own. Her features, beautiful enough to cause her issues with boys and girls alike during her life in school. Many of which Leo had offered to step to but she was highly independent and fought her own battles. Her high intelligence, even before the system measured it, had made it a breeze to win them. Not to mention her unfiltered crass speech and defiant, headstrong behaviour.

The compass started glowing, the needle on the inside twirling. It surprised him how alike this was to a regular compass.

Would you like to use Compass of Fates to track: Natalie Hawkins (Earth)

Yes/No

Yes!

What he once thought was just regular glass on the compass began to glow brighter, rising from the surface into the air until it hovered just above his hand. Then, like a zap of inspiration struck him, Leo turned his head toward what he thought was south-west. It was like a pull, some kind of tether connecting him to something. It was vague, but he knew if he followed it then he’d find her.

The utter relief that flooded him upon the compass working was so intense he almost collapsed. A moment after his worked, Ashley’s did too.

“It worked!” she called out, joy written across her face.

“Mine too!” She hugged him, Ellie wrapping herself around both their necks as they did.

Leo’s Nerveflash triggered, and he pulled both of them to the side sharply.

A body, bloodied and broken, crashed into the wall of his apartment building. Leo hadn’t even noticed anyone approaching until now, nor had he felt any waves of mana or combat. He kicked himself for being so distracted. Whatever killed this man he could have likely stopped.

They turned, and the monster that had attacked was revealed. Black fur, sharp white teeth. Yellow, glowing eyes.

And in its claws, a pair of weapons.