The group sat for a while, recuperating, and checking their gear and each other. Joe passed his flask around as Kier cast a handful of healing spells on the others. Joe was elated but not truly surprised to see that absorbing the soul had healed not only him, but Bixby as well. They talked for a short time and Bixby relayed a version of what Joe had felt when the swords had pulled Gharial’s soul out. We are truly bound huh buddy? Joe thought.

  Joe went through his discarded notifications, closing the ones that told of damage taken and recovered then focused on the few that really mattered.

  Joe shook his head and idly scratched his beard. He took a deep breath, let it out then looked to Bixby. He was expecting the dog to be on guard, but it seemed that he too was looking at his notifications or perhaps his Status screen. Joe could only guess what Bixby was seeing or even understanding. It’s been a month and I still have no real idea what’s happening. I’ve been reacting to everything with no way to really be proactive. We really need to get a town established so I can access a Shoppe. Patting Bixby, he went back to his notices.

  Use it wisely? Joe pondered the words from the achievement. Okay, so I absorbed a soul. Apparently, I can use it somehow? Joe scratched his head and looked at his sword’s description, but nothing about how to use the absorbed soul was evident. Well, add another thing to look up in the Shoppe. With a sigh, he closed those screens and opened the loot pool. “Whoa!” He said out loud.

  “You a’right laddie?” Rory asked.

  “Just looking at the loot.” Joe raised an eyebrow at what he was reading.

  “Oh aye.” Grinned Rory. “Quite the haul, but nae anything that I can use. Have at.”

  Joe saw that there were two items and two spells. Kier and Iona both could not use the spells but Kier did claim one item.

  Joe watched as Kier claimed the hourglass into his personal inventory. He then looked at what remained.

  Joe’s eyes widened at the spells and the Corrosive Claws spell in specific. Then he looked at the last item. It looked precisely like the gigantic khopesh that Gharial carried.

  Joe let out a whistle. “No one wants the giant lizard’s sword?”

  Iona answered, “Nae a one of us has the skill for it.”

  “Fair enough. Maybe we can sell it.” Joe went back to the spells. “You all mind if I take the spells?”

  Kier looked up from his screens, “None are in our ability to learn, but mayhaps Bella could?”

  Joe nodded at that and said, “Well, since I killed it, I’m claiming the Corrosive Claws spell. If Bella can use the other one, she’s welcome to it, if not, I’ll claim that one too. Fair?” There were nods all around, so Joe pulled the tome out and opened it. The strangely moving script continued to astound him as the book disappeared and the knowledge of the spell filled his mind. Joe patted Bixby, “That one was for you buddy.” Bixby gave Joe a lick and a slight woof. Joe laughed, “You’re welcome.” Ignoring the notifications for gained experience and gold, Joe stood and moved to a protruding tree root and sat. It felt much better than remaining kneeling in the water.

  Joe looked around at his companions and clapped his hands on his thighs, “So!” he said bit louder than was really necessary, but it got everyone’s attention. “Are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?”

  “Eh what?” Rory queried.

  The baffled stares from the others made Joe realize his problem with the expression. “Sorry, it’s a human expression, it means…” Shaking his head, he continued, “You know what? Never mind.” He made sure he had made eye contact with the three dwarves before continuing. “Are we going to discuss what happened with this guy here suddenly jumping to level eighty?” He casually pointed at Gharial’s body, which had begun to draw flies and other insects to it.

  “I figured it’s because of whatever is watching over you.” Commented Kier dryly. “Truly, since we’ve met you, we’ve seen a sight of odd happenings from the System what I’ve naer heard of before.” He placed his helm back on his head, pushing a stray lock of red hair out of his eyes, “And truth to tell, until today I was concerned, but seeing this, now I’m afraid.”

  Joe nodded in acknowledgement of Kier’s words. He was feeling much the same. He idly wiped his hands on his thighs but only managed to smudge the mud and blood already there. “So far, the glitches seem to be targeted at me and Bixby. Like loot. Spells changed and this mysterious person giving me gifts. Even the integration glitch seemed to only affect me. But this time, technically the glitch affected all of you as well instead of being just targeted at me still.” Joe looked at his friends with an expression that was almost begging for an explanation.

  “Who’s to say it weren’t still aimed at you lad?” Rory asked.

  “What? What do you mean?”

  “Well, I ken that you’re fighting the lizard and something changed it mid fight. Who’s to say it still weren’t targeting you. The rest of us were just bystanders caught in whatever’s picking on you.” Kier and Iona looked a bit dumbfounded at Rory’s explanation. He got an angry look on his face, “What’re you idjits looking at? Just cause I smash shite donnae mean I ain’t smart.”

  Joe’s eyebrows went up as he thought about it. “Okay, I can see your point, but up until now all of these glitches have been beneficial to me. They may not have all been exactly pleasant, but I gained from it somehow. This time, though, this thing got way tougher and could have killed me. That seems the exact opposite of having a patron or whatever has been helping me.”

  Iona, cleaning blood from her helmet said, “Who’s to say tis the same entity what’s been looking out for you?” She scanned everyone’s faces before continuing her cleaning. “What if tis another what had a hand in bumping this boggin up?” Kier and Rory both nodded their heads in agreement.

  “Wait. What like a second person is involved?” Joe’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t know.” He shrugged, “At this point it’s all speculation until someone or something comes forward to explain it all.” He stood up and stretched, “I suppose, until that happens, we just need to be extra careful and keep our eyes open for the unexpected.”

  Rory snorted, “So you mean keep going like we have been?” He smiled and tossed a large chunk of jerky to Bixby who snatched it out of the air and barely chewed it before swallowing it.

  Joe smiled, “Yeah, pretty much.” He took a swig from his flask and then put it away. “If everyone is ready to go, I think we need to go collect Bella, Kelly and the kids and meet the survivors.”

  The group made their way back through the swamp, stepping out onto Ocean Street almost directly across from the County Building. They encountered no more saurians, but they did see small squads of humans making their way through the dead and looting them. As Joe, Bixby and the dwarves all stepped from the tree line, a shout went up and every human turned towards the group. Someone shouted, “Defensive line! Mages stand ready!” Immediately the groups began forming up defensively.

  Joe held up his hands, “Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Take it easy! We’re the good guys!” Joe could hear many voices asking questions among themselves. The entire group became even more tense when Bixby stepped out of the trees and stood next to Joe, his hackles raised.

  Finally, a voice among the group called out, deep and commanding, “Who or what are you and what do you want?”

  Next to Joe, Iona spoke quietly, “Mayhaps they think you’re a monster?”

  Rory chuckled, giving Joe an appraising look, “They’re nae far off.”

  Understanding finally dawned on Joe and he swapped out his Umbral armor for his dwarven tunic. He took a small step forward, “My name is Joe Sherman and I’d really like a hot bath!”