Chapter 2

The weekend after Jack learned about the Abyss he and his mother stood in the evening desert outside of town. All throughout the week, Jack had practiced in empty dungeons to train and develop new skills. So far, he had developed a variety of Mana techniques, like Energy Bolt, Mana Shield, and Mana Blades. Those skills, combined with the Blunt Weapons Mastery and Power Strike he'd gotten from swinging a bat around, were enough for his mother to let him try to open a low level Illusion Barrier with zombies in it.

"Hey, Mom? Before we start, can I try something?"

"What?"

"I want to see if I can make a party."

"A party."

"It's a game thing, so it falls under my theme, so I might be able to do it. It should let us share experience and stuff. Admittedly, it would help me more than you, but—"

"That sounds like a good idea. See if it works."

"Okay, Create Party."

You've created a party.

What will you name the party?

"Yes! I did it!"

Name the party "Yes! I did it!"?

"What? No!"

"Jack?"

"It's asking me what to name our group, any preference?"

"No."

"'Kay, Name: Team Darby. Invite: Mom."

June startled when a blue box appeared in front of her face. Hesitantly, she reach up to press the button labeled "Yes".

"ID Create."

Which type of Instant Dungeon would you like to create?

Empty

Zombie

Jack selected the zombie option and suddenly they were surrounded by the shambling undead.

June couldn't help but laugh as she roasted everything that moved. Jack was shooting her odd looks, but she couldn't bring herself to care. It had been far too long since she'd cut loose like this. Despite the years of relative inactivity, her old tactics and techniques were fresh in her mind.

She had been so worried at first that she had almost insisted that Jack put this off for another month, but these monsters were so. Very. Weak. June could kill them with a single well placed blast of flame, and even Jack could kill them with two or three swings of his bat. (It had taken him four or five in the beginning, he was improving drastically before her eyes.)

Right now, Jack was in a narrow canyon that they had cleared of zombies. June was stationed near the entrance, letting a few by for Jack, and killing the rest herself. Hearing her son call out to her, she threw up a wall of fire and trotted back to him.

"Is everything alright?" He didn't seem to be injured, but with his powers, specifically A Gamer's Body, that didn't necessarily mean anything.

"I'm fine, but I'm almost out of MP, can we quit for the night?"

"Of course."

Soon enough they were back at their home, sitting at the table and discussing how the night had gone.

"…and I got a title, so I guess that's also a thing my power does, Apprentice Undead Slayer. I was thinking that I should try to create some sort of crowd control skill. Maybe an energy rope to bind them if I can work out the shape manipulation."

"I noticed your attacks becoming stronger, did you level up too?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm level sixteen now. I should probably think about allocating stat points."

"Stat points? I think you mentioned them earlier, but I don't know what exactly…"

"Okay, so, when I look at my status, I see six different categories—vitality, dexterity, strength, intelligence, wisdom, and luck. Each category has a number to represent my physical and mental capabilities. I think I can raise all of them naturally, though I'm not sure what I'd do to raise luck. I can get more vitality by running, strength by weightlifting, dexterity by doing yoga or stretches or something, intelligence by studying, and earlier in the week I got a wisdom point for 'making good decisions.'"

June straightened in her seat, all traces of drowsiness gone. "You said that you could increase them naturally, is there another way?"

"Yeah, every time I level up, I get five points to spend. I already put five into strength, so I have seventy points to spend. What should I focus on?"

"Why not divide the points evenly between each category?"

Jack shook his head, "No, it's better to be specialized than to be a random character. Random characters have all stats equal." He added at her questioning look.

"That may be true for games, but this is real life."

"Point… Status."

June watched her son's eyes flick up and down a screen only he could see before he spoke again.

"I've been using Observe a lot to level it up, and I noticed that the average adult has stats somewhere between ten and twenty in each category. There are exceptions, of course. This kid in my class, Raf, he skipped a bunch of grades, he's like eleven or twelve. He has almost forty intelligence points. I have enough points to get everything up to fifteen to give me a strong base to work with, and the rest… I think I'll specialize in intelligence."

"I'm not complaining, but why intelligence?"

"My mana attacks like Energy Bolt get stronger the higher my intelligence is. Also, it seems like the most useful stat for day-to-day life."

June watched Jack's fingers dance midair as he enhanced himself. There didn't seem to be any physical changes.

Jack's eyes widened and he reeled in his chair, "Wow."

"You can feel the difference?"

"I got a skill for raising my intelligence to fifty. It lets me sense and manipulate mana better. This should help me with creating my own techniques. I've got to—"

Jack stood up from the table and started to move, but she caught his arm before he could leave the room. "No way. It's past midnight, you can work on your skills in the morning."

Jack looked like he wanted to argue, but nodded anyway, "Oh, before I forget—" he rummaged in his pockets– "Do you know what these can be used for?"

June stared at purple gemstones and— "Are those teeth?"

"Yeah, Observe says they're called Teeth of the Dead and Soul Stones. Apparently they can be used for alchemy and spell casting, but I don't know which spells would need them."

"And you got these from zombies in the Illusion Barrier?" At his nod, she dragged a hand down her face, "Your powers are ridiculous. Those zombies don't even have real bodies."

"They seemed real enough to me."

"No, it's—look, when Illusion Barriers with monsters are formed, they basically gather restless spirits and give them physical forms made of energy, what you call mana or MP, but those forms are like soap bubbles. There's no substance to them. I think I mentioned earlier that people can harvest things from them, but the abilities and spells required are closely guarded secrets."

"Oh." Jack's face fell, and June hoped he understood, because she couldn't bear to say it aloud. Just awakening his powers made him a target, but having an ability like this? If anyone ever found out, people would come for him. People with guns and magic and mercenaries, and June wouldn't be able to protect him. He would be taken away and forced to work for his captors until he died.

June felt paralyzed. What should she do? What could she do? Their best protection was anonymity, but that was so flimsy. She hadn't contacted any of her old associates since before Jack had been born. For all she knew, her old group had been run out of their territory or destroyed in one of the squabbles between factions that flared up from time to time. Even if they were still around, June had never been particularly high in the hierarchy, not like—she had no leverage to ensure Jack's safety.

"Mom? Mom!" Jack was by her side, looking concerned. "I—I'll be careful, I won't use any of my abilities unless I'm in a Barrier, and..."

June twisted in her seat to pull him into a hug, "It's okay, I'll think of something."

The next evening, Jack followed his mother through their neighborhood. They had cleared out the zombies near their house and were searching for more undead to hunt. It was eerie to see the streets he'd grown up on devoid of life and cluttered with zombies. Tonight, Jack was focusing on energy attacks, particularly his long range options. He was very pleased with the results; his heightened intellect meant that he could kill each zombie with a single shot.

Whenever they got rushed by a group and had to resort to close combat, Jack was keenly aware of the weight around his neck. The charm was a small thing, but the unfamiliarity of it made it seem obtrusive. He was uncomfortably conscious of the fact that small piece of amber etched with symbols was all that stood between him and detection. Hopefully, he'd get used to it soon.

He was jolted out of his thoughts by a loud growl. Whirling to face the sound, Jack was shocked to see a figure looming over the rooftops. "Observe."

Legion Zombie LV 34

HP: 15200

MP: 1200

The aggregate of zombies holding grudges. It appears when there is a large scale massacre of zombies. It doesn't have any magical powers, but it has immense strength and stamina. Its low speed is its weakness.

"Oh crap."

"Jack! Leave the Illusion Barrier now!"

"Okay! ID Escape!"

You can't escape this area.

"Mom, it's not working!"

"What?"

"Can't run from boss fights!"

The shambling monstrosity had worked its way around the houses separating it from them and now stood just down the road. June ran forward to meet it.

"Stay back, let me deal with this!"

Jack retreated and climbed onto the roof of a neighbor's SUV both to give himself a better shot at the zombie and to avoid an ambush in case any zombies hadn't joined the Legion.

"Energy Bolt! Energy Bolt! Energy Bolt! En—damn, Mom!"

His projectiles connected with the creature's chest, but they barely put a dent in its HP. Meanwhile, his mother had reached the giant and called up light and heat, and burned the thing's right foot off. He knew she was strong—he still couldn't see her level, even—but this was something else. There was an enraged roar as the monster fell and tried to hit the woman backing away.

Jack aimed his palm at the zombie's head while his mom circled around to avoid the boss's flailing limbs. He gathered energy to his hand and concentrated. What did he want this attack to do? The Energy Bolts had barely done anything, so he needed something new. He needed an attack that was less like a BB gun and more like a hollow point. It had to penetrate and devastate. A ball of mana formed in front of his palm, and he molded it into a cone and set it spinning with an application of thought. There was a flash of light when his mother attacked again and Jack took the opportunity to launch his projectile. It sped through the air, pierced the amalgamation's skull, and exploded once it was in. The Legion Zombie's head was gone, and its health bar dropped to zero.

"Whoa."

You've defeated the Boss Monster, Legion Zombie.

You've obtained the title, "Zombie Slayer".

You've created a new skill.

Name the skill?

[Yes] [No]

Jack pressed the first button and tried to figure out a name for his technique. He had to call his attacks to use them (which made him feel like a cartoon character), so the name should be short. Maybe Spiral Shot? Drill Shot? Explodo-Drill?

"Spiral Shot." Alliteration for the win.

Name the skill "Spiral Shot"?

[Yes] [No]

Once Jack confirmed the decision, a new window appeared.

[Spiral Shot (Active) LV 1 EXP 1.0%] A skill to draw on a large amount of mana and shoot it in a spiraling cone. Penetration power and strength increases as it charges. Penetration increases by 20%. Attack Power increases by 600%. Basic charge time: 4 seconds. Maximum charge time: 10 seconds.

Oh, wow, this was amazing. He was definitely going to level this skill up. Maybe he could decrease the charge time that way.

"Jack!"

He made his way to the ground and ran over to her, "Yes, Mom?"

"Jack, what…" she sighed and gestured to the ground, "what is this?"

He finally noticed the little pile of items on the asphalt, "Our reward for defeating the boss?"

His mother started to speak, but closed her mouth and shook her head, looking one hundred percent done with him and his powers. "Is that real money?"

Jack bent down to pick up the small stack of bills from between five glass vials and a book. He tried adding it to his inventory. "According to my powers, it is. My cash just increased by five hundred dollars."

"Of course it did, and what are those?"

"Observe."

[Lowest grade Recovery Potion – Rank: Normal] A lower-middle grade potion that instantly recovers 200 HP. It tastes like strawberries.

"Strawberry flavored Recovery Potions?"

His mom looked like she wanted to dispute the entirety of his statement, but she latched onto the first part, "What, why strawberry…?"

"Well, if they were cherry flavored, it wouldn't matter how effective they are, because I'd never use them."

She gave him a flat look, "Potions like that exist in the Abyss, but they're very rare. Like, even the least effective is worth over ten thousand dollars. Your powers created over fifty thousand—oh, excuse me—fifty thousand five hundred dollars out of nothing."

"Oh," and there his powers went again, giving him another reason to be fear discovery.

"I'm scared to ask about the book," she picked it up and very nearly dropped it. "The book is asking me if I want to learn a skill."

"Huh? You can use skill books too? Is it because you're in a party with me? What skill is it anyway? No, wait—Observe."

[Skill Book: Life Drain – Rank: Rare] Technique possessed by some middle rank or above undead that can absorb life force. It absorbs the target's life force and adds it to the caster's life force. With training, it is possible to transfer the user's life force to allies.

He relayed the description to her, "You can learn it if you want. I'll probably get another one eventually."

"If you're sure…" The book burst into motes of light.

"I wouldn't try using it on the undead, though. In some games, using skills like that on them causes the spell to backfire."

"Alright… Jack, if these Boss Monsters are going to be a thing with your powers, then from now on, whenever you learn how to open a new type of Illusion Barrier, you need to bring me with you until I'm sure you can handle the boss on your own."

"Alright."

"Okay, let's go home."

A couple of months later, and Jack was ready to expand his arsenal. It had taken up all of his free time, but by running through countless zombie (and later ghost and dire wolf) dungeons, he had amassed almost a hundred thousand dollars. Honestly, since he tended to shove it all into his inventory as soon as he got it, the money barely felt real to him, but when he checked his accounts, there it was.

He'd created or acquired a few new skills of his own during that time. Shortly after creating his first technique, he succeeded in forming a Mana Rope and using it to Bind enemies. Inspired by the piercing power of Spiral Shot, he also developed Spinning Mana Arrow. That technique was a perfect long range attack, especially since the number of arrows he could form and fire at a time increased as he leveled the skill up. From the Boss Monsters he'd defeated, he got Life Drain, Flash Step, and Enhanced Senses.

He needed more abilities, though. Healing was at the top of his wishlist. Life Drain was all well and good, but he couldn't use it in all situations. None of the mobs he had access to right now inflicted status ailments, but it might be a good idea to get a cleanser anyway, maybe if he had money left over. Defensive buffs were a must, for both him and his mother. Mom's martial prowess aside, they were both squishy wizards. Debuffs might be worth looking into if he had money to spare. He really wanted to be able to summon minions to fight for him, and finally, some more offensive spells would be nice.

After a hour of careful consideration, Jack was ready to make his purchases. He'd found a healing spell with built in status cleanser, a technique that would make his skin as hard as bronze and as tough as leather, a technique to boost regeneration, another to boost strength, four books to summon each of the four major elements, a blindness spell, a set of accessories to boost his MP capacity and recovery, and a phone case that boosted fire techniques for his mother. He paid an extra three hundred dollars to have his things delivered within thirty minutes.

Twenty-eight minutes later, there was a tapping at his window. Jack was bemused to find what looked like a miniature UFO carrying a large box beeping at him. He pulled the window open, and it flew in.

"Are you Jack Darby?"

"Um, yes?"

"Thank you for purchasing our products."

With that, the drone severed the cords connecting it to its package and flew back out the window into the night.

As soon as June stepped into the house, a party invite popped up. She accepted it and went to find Jack.

"Mom! I got some stuff for you!"

He handed her four books and a cell phone case.

"What's all this? I thought you were just going to get me one defensive skill?"

"Well, yeah, but I thought about it, and doesn't it make more sense for both of us to be able to heal? So if one of us is too hurt to fix ourself, the other can help. And as for the rest… They just seemed really useful, and better to have and not need? And the phone case was only two thousand, and it should boost your pyrokinesis, so I thought, 'Why not?'"

"Only two thousand?"

Jack pulled a new necklace out from under his shirt and raised his other hand so she could see the matching set of bracelets, "These cost almost ten times as much, so…"

"What do they do?"

"Gives me access to more mana and boosts my MP regen."

"Don't you have enough already?"

"There's no such thing as enough. The goal is to never run out of mana, no matter how many techniques I use or how long a fight lasts. Now, can we open up an ID? I've got some people I want you to meet."

Moments later, she watched as her son materialized four beings. Oddly enough, one looked like a human girl in a yellow dress, and the rest looked like manifestations of fire, wind and water.

"Mom, this is Gnome, Salamander, Sylph, and Nymph; girls, this is my mom."

"Hello."

"Hello/Hiya!/Hi/Hello."

"If you don't mind me asking, why does Gnome…?"

"Because she wants to look like that."

"Okay."

"Oh! Once I formed a pact with them, I got an affinity with each of their elements." Jack created a small flame on his fingertip. "See, now I'm kind of pyrokinetic too!"

June smiled.

Jack exited KO Burger and texted his mom to let her know he was done for the day. He'd gotten this job at her insistence to both disguise the fact that he always had money on hand and to build a resume in the real world. It was frustrating, though, both the grief his classmates gave him for working here and the fact that there were so many better uses of his time.

As he made his way over to the bike rack, a blue motorcycle caught his eye. As little as a year ago, he would have been fantasizing over owning a bike just like that despite the fact that it was clearly custom built. Now though… the text floating above it was the most notable feature.

[Autobot Warrior] LV ? : Arcee

"What the hell? Observe." Curious despite himself, Jack moved closer to investigate.

Name: Arcee

Occupation: Scout

Title: Autobot Warrior

Level: ?

Age: 61408

Race: Cybertronian

HP: ?

MP: ?

Vitality: ?

Dexterity: ?

Strength: ?

Intelligence: ?

Wisdom: ?

Luck: ?

Status: Normal

Information: Created in Altihex, this femme joined the Autobots as a scout in the war against the Decepticons. When that war came to earth, she followed.

Mood: Hostile, Stressed, Mournful

What.

Notes: So it turns out that the entirety of my last AN was a lie. I meant to go through Darkness Rising; really, I did. But then I realized that I needed at least the first ID Boss Fight and party mechanics and set up at least some of the skills that he'll use later, and all of that prompted even more exposition, and... Anyway, we've at least made it to the start of the episode, so that's something. Thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, favorited and followed.