He left the group behind and leaped to the top of the museum. He had drawn the eye of more than a few people and in truth he wasn't in the mood for more conversations. Instead, he leaped from building to building until he arrived an old alley. The lack of lights and cleaning told him that he had found an area that people didn't live in. He had said he would explore the place but he wasn't sure what there was to see. It was pretty clear that the place was stuck. The people here had almost no spiritual energy. Even the guards were sub level three. He couldn't blame them though. They were all either retired soldier or injured vets. People who shouldn't be on the front lines anymore. People he would need to protect. His thoughts were interrupted by the roar of gun fire and then two screams. Maximilian's eyes widened as he shot off the ground and to the top of an apartment building. He took a moment to survey the situation and what he saw wasn't good. A trio of monsters had attacked the northeastern wall. They were serpent from what he could tell. Almost twice as long as a person and with a six-inch horn on their heads. He blasted off the building with enough force to collapse the upper floor. He swore and hoped that the building had been empty.

  "Check that one for anyone injured!" He infused his throat with enough spiritual energy to be heard as he dropped a bottle of pills. It would have to be enough. He had to make three more leaps before he arrived on the battlefield. The sound of thousands of bird chirping filled the air as he imbued Severing Disc with the Dao of Static. He launched the blade with preternatural precision. The blade split a serpent into half a dozen pieces seconds before it could crush a wounded soldier. Maximilian spared the man a glance just long enough to confirm a lack of injuries. A half dozen bolts of electricity formed a second later. He couldn't be sure how strong the snakes were, so he settled on overwhelming force. The next serpent was hit with enough power to turn its skin almost pitch black. The third snake launched at him, but it was far too slow. He imbued his hand with the Dao of Static. He stabbed his fingers through the snake's skin and tore out its stomach. The battle had lasted less than ten seconds but it was more than enough.

  Maximilian was about to order everyone to retreat when a premonition of danger forced him to release his Dao fields. Water and Electricity exploded outward like the fury of Jupiter seconds before the ground exploded. A snake almost as big as an elephant shot attempted to swallow him whole. Maximilian unleashed a pair of Severing Disc and attempted to eradicate the beast but its skin was much together. He only managed to gouge out a chunk of flesh and divert its path. He swore and rushed to get himself between the beast and the city. Prismatic Barrier formed seconds before it serpent crashed into the wall. He coughed up a mouthful of blood as the snake crushed the shield and launched him like rocket. He caused man-sized section of the wall to crumble. He leaped back to his feet and launched another duo of blades. His mind raced as he searched for options. This snake had to be around his level. He was confident he could win but the city would be a problem. He would have to fight it at close range. He swore as he snake shot toward him. Fangs the size of swords glinted in the sun light. The snake had crossed half the distance when the roar of gun fire filled the air.

  Maximilian swore as the bullets made almost no difference. He unleashed his killing intent and did his best to aim it toward the serpent. The snake hesitated for less than a second before it decided he was the real threat. The creature opened its mouth and shot an emerald blob the size of a volleyball at him. He was about to dodge it when he realized he couldn't. Instead he brought his arms up to block his face and circulated his Daos. His ears were filled with the sound of his own flesh burning as the acid tore through him. He bit back of scream of pain as he tried to heal. Only the dao of rain was nowhere near enough. It was like trying to put out an inferno with a normal hose. He abandoned healing in favor of offense. He roared and summoned a dozen electrical darts. With a flick of his wrist they shot forward like the rains of judgement. They were upon the creature before it had a chance to react. Maximilian didn't bother watching the result. He formed two imbued Severing Discs and waited. The serpent endured the barrage and opened its mouth. Maximilian eye's flashed as he launched his skill.

  The discs tore through the soft flesh of the beast's throat and then ripped their way out. Emerald green blood spilled to the ground but Maximilian wasn't willing to wait. His wounds screamed in protest as he raised them. Attack from both Dao, one from each hand shot into the remains of the snake. He didn't finish until his Dantian surged with spiritual energy. There was just enough to push him to level 14. He resisted the urge to drop. He summoned another bottle healing pills and popped one it his mouth. A wave of relief washed through him as the wounds began to repair themselves. The pills did nothing for the horrid smell of his burned and dissolving skin. Nor was he certain smell was really there or if it was in echo in his mind. He was just about to head into the settlement when his mother and the rest of the council arrived. She took one look at what happened and ran to him. He started to stop her when she removed her jacket and held it in front of him. His confusion turned to horror as realization dawned. He grabbed the jacket and then shot back into the city.

  He searched through some of the abandoned buildings until he found a replacement set of pants and a shirt. When he was dressed he sat down on what remained of someone's bed and pulled up his status screen. All three points went into Intelligence which brought the attribute above two hundred. He activated Static Bolt to see if there would be a difference in the skill. There wasn't. He flexed his fingers and once awed by his healing. At least part of it was his own healing ability which only made him feel better. He opened the window and a few moments later he had returned to the site of the battle. What remained of the serpents was splayed out over the ground as a group of men went over it. He could tell that they were trying to salvage stuff from the bodies but weren't having an easy time of it. The knives they had were no where near strong enough to rip through the creature's scales. Nor were they strong enough. He watched them struggle for a few moments before he summoned a sword from his bag.

  "Mind if I help? If you show me where to cut we should be able to get it done together?" He smiled at the men who froze like deer in head lights. A moment later they relaxed.

  "Your the guy right? The one who fought these crazy sons of bitches?" A man who looked like he was in his late forties with the arms of a sailor asked.

  "Yeah." He chuckled awkwardly and shrugged. "They weren't too tough. I'd avoid the bigger one though. I am not sure how its acid works. That and I don't think you'd survive if it got on you."

  "No need to worry about that brother. If you are serious about the help I wouldn't mind showing you what I know. This skin might be able to make some good leather. Assuming we can even get that far into the process."

  Maximilian laughed as he placed the edge of his sword against the scales. When he confirmed he could cut through it he nodded to the group and began removing the skin. He spent almost two hours working with them. He wasn't able to keep the skin in one piece so they made the call to separate it into three sheets. He wished he could say he had done a good job but he hadn't. It was mediocre at best and the skin would've been useless if there wasn't so much of it. Despite that he couldn't help but feel pretty good about it. He wasn't going to start working as a tanner anytime soon but it was nice to get something normal done with his hands. He was able to confirm that the snake attack was a one off situation. Which allowed everyone to relax. Though he still had no idea why they attacked. If it was the quest than they were in a worse situation than he thought. He had assumed the beasts would be teleported to them but if that wasn't the case than they were in trouble. If the monsters increased to the point that it was unsafe than they could be wiped before the tide began. When he finished with the group he made his way back to the council. He needed more information, and he knew how to get it.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  He entered the room where he found the leadership of the settlement in hushed conversation. Conversation that stopped as soon as they saw him. One look was all it took to know that his hunch was right. He glanced at his mother who didn't offer an answer. "You all were hiding the truth." His mind raced as he followed the logical thread that they should've followed. He grimaced when he got it. "You've been trying to keep a sense of normalcy. You don't want them to panic. That's why you had the conflict with the cultivators? Were they hired or had they demanded something for their help? Something you refused to give." His questions were directed toward his mother, but it was the general who answered.

  "Of course we were after a return to order. Order and reason. We can't have—"

  Maximilian held a hand to stop him. "You want to hold onto an outdated system. Let me guess you thought that you could treat the cultivators like soldiers? That if you commanded them they would follow? Based on what an outdated sense of hierarchy." He shook his head and pushed his growing irritation down. "It doesn't matter. If the serpents are any sign than the real tide is going to be hard. I won't survive if I have to protect everyone. Not at my current level.

  "Well that it sounds like the obvious answer is to increase your level. Based on how well you dealt with snakes it shouldn't be too difficult. Right?" The oldest looking of the women asked. Her dark brown eyes stared at him with a defiance that made his hackles rise. Not because he was afraid no if anything it made him want to fight.

  "And why should I do that?"

  "Oh please. We've heard enough from you cultivators. Leveling up is like an addiction to you all I imagine its even more so to someone like you." The General raised a finger. "In addition if New Philadelphia falls you won't find your father. Our connections are your best bet so why don't you stop complaining and start solving problems." The red faced general slammed his hands on the table and got to his feet.

  "This isn't what we agreed." Ashanti spoke up her gaze leveled on her counterpart. She shifted toward Maximilian and sighed. "Your assumptions are more or less correct. We were trying to rebuild a slice of rationality in this world. The cultivators started by asking for a strange set of stones. We found a few to begin with but soon that wasn't enough. They started asking for other things. Things we refused to give. I do not know long it would take for you to get strong enough to help but we would appreciate it if you could. We don't have enough credits to teleport our population. In addition, you should understand how dangerous it is to travel. Even with your protection."

  Maximilian stared at his mother for several moments as he considered her explanation. She was right. It might even be harder to protect them all while traveling. He also couldn't promise that the harpies would let that many go through their area. If they didn't it could take double or even triple the travel time. Even a best case scenario would put the deaths at over a third. That being said there was no way to rapidly increase his level. He would have to go out and fight or lock himself a way to cultivate. Neither would work. If the snakes were indicative of the situation they would continue to attack. He would have to stay here. "Won't work. I would have to leave to train either that or drown myself in spirit stones. I don't have enough to force my level but there is a third choice."

  His words stole the red-faced generals' momentum. "You could give me control over the settlement." He held up a hand to stop the question forming on their faces. "You all need to complete the quest to gain access to the shop. If I leave, I can't defend you. Even if you released the cultivators in prison, they won't be enough. Not if those snakes represented an upper tier threat. The sheer number would drain you all. Winning might be possible. If you send every person to fight with everything that even resembled a weapon. That would lead to deaths. Even if I did the heavy lifting. If I were to leave you would need to find a way to deal with things until I got back. Two months would be a long time to survive without me. So, you would be forced to make the same deal."

  "That may be, but I fail to see how that helps solve our problem." The oldest woman asked.

  "Simple. The shop has arrays. You can think of them as like magic circles. If we purchased some of them, we would be able to defend ourselves. It could make the difference defensively and offensively. Of course doing so might end the quest all together. Since you would have failed it." He assessed the group as he finished speaking. If their goal was too safe the most people than the answer was obvious. They would likely complain about whether they could trust him, but it didn't matter. They would have to do that anyway. Sure enough General Adams was the one to broach the question.

  "I suppose we are meant to take your word for it? That you would save the people here and not use it for your own goals?"

  Maximilian opened his mouth to form an argument, but he didn't. He doubted he could. He could point out that they needed him. That they weren't strong enough to survive. That the beasts would kill them but none of those were arguments for trust. They were for power. "I am going to do the best I can. I plan for Nubia to be a leader in the new world. I will tell you the same as I've told the others. I welcome the advice of people who know more than me, but you have to understand. Understand and accept that we will do things my way. So, should you take my word for it? You don't have much a choice. I've treated you well so far and I will continue to do so." He was pretty sure that his mother would support him either way, so it was up to the others. He would need three of them to side with him assuming democracy was the way they would make the choice.

  "We need time to think about it. Give us a few days to think it over." General Adams spoke up.

  Maximilian considered pressing them for an answer now but decided against it. He didn't want to use force for his problem especially not when he was close to winning already. It would also give him some time to explore the surrounding area. On the off chance there was a way to deal with the monsters early. There was always the chance he would encounter something nice in the woods. It would also let him get an idea on how they ran things. He wasn't idealistic enough to believe that there wasn't going to be shady things going on. If it was something he wasn't willing or couldn't accept than that would be a problem. "Very well. I will give you all one week. During that time, I will keep an eye on the place and deal with any monsters that come. If I find any problems with anything in the city, I will put an end to it so now would be the time to tell me." His gaze locked on his mother's as he said that last part. He doubted she would be involved in something untoward, but he also knew she was driven. He had gained power during the tutorial, but she hadn't. She didn't know if either him or his father were alive. What would she do in that situation?" Once again her face was inscrutable. He tore his gaze away and glanced at the others. He then turned and left the meeting room.