Domain Core detected.

  Do you wish to awaken an Affinity?

  (Caution! This is a permanent action. Be certain.)

  Y/N

  She hesitated for a moment, making sure this was the right choice. With a deep breath, she chose yes.

  The Rune Domain Core dissolved into a swarm of purple fireflies that shot into her Core. Her body came alive with magic, and her mind lit up with an influx of new connections. There was new knowledge there, too, but things were whirling too fast for her to explore it. The magic settled into her Core, and she felt a new Affinity form there, nestling in next to the others.

  Rune Domain Affinity awakened.

  Your Rune Domain Affinity is Rank 1

  You may now learn spells from the Rune Domain.

  You gain +3 to all mental stats.

  You will learn languages 50% faster.

  For each level you gain, you will receive:

  +3 Intelligence

  +1 Willpower

  +1 Spirit

  Increase the rank of your affinity to improve these bonuses.

  You have been granted knowledge of 9 basic Runes:

  Water, Fire, Air, Earth, Light, Life, Cleanse, Endure, Connect

  —————————————————————————————

  Your Seidrsidhe Bloodline has advanced by 2%

  ——————————————————————————————

  You may choose 1 of the following spell patterns:

  Rune Scribe

  Mastery of this pattern will allow the user

  to spend mana to carve simple magical runes into surfaces,

  creating temporary enchantments.

  Possible Advancement Paths:

  Runeweaver, Runic Trap, Runeforge

  Rune Sight

  Mastery of this pattern will allow the user

  to spend mana to perceive hidden inscriptions,

  wards, or lingering enchantments.

  Possible Advancement Paths:

  True Lexicon, Lorekeeper’s Eye, Glyphhunter

  Lexicon

  Mastery of this pattern will allow the user

  to spend mana to comprehend any written language.

  Possible Advancement Paths:

  Polyglot’s Tongue, Living Word, Elder Tongue

  Char wanted to take Rune Scribe the moment she saw it, but she forced herself to slow down and read over all of the options. Rune Scribe would give her an immediate and versatile power boost. Being able to spot enchantments could be useful, and Lexicon might be handy for communication, especially if Polyglot’s Tongue was a translation spell.

  She debated the merits of each with herself for several long minutes, but what decided her in the end was the boost to her ability to learn languages. Only magic would let her add enchantments to items, but she could learn to read and speak other languages with good old-fashioned effort if she needed to. Taking Lexicon would be a shortcut, but she could do without it for now. Rune Sight might be handy to have, but its uses were limited. Rune Scribe, though… That could be a game-changer, and it could help more than just her if it meant she could create enchanted weapons for the other survivors.

  She chose Rune Scribe. The pattern that appeared in her mind was complex and modular. She knew instinctively that it would be different each time she cast it, depending on the runes she was inscribing, the item being inscribed, and the effect she wanted to create. It was going to take a lot of practice to get it right.

  There was a fringe benefit, though: the pattern came with knowledge of how to shift and modify it, and that insight gave her clues for how to alter other spells. She’d forced Mend Flesh to advance through will and instinct, and she could already see ways she could have done it better.

  She pulled a thread of Rune mana into her pathways to get a feel for it. Lightning mana made her feel energized and reckless, Flesh mana made her more aware of the ebbs and flows of her body, Rune mana… Her thoughts felt sharper, and her mind clearer with this new Affinity coursing through her. Her hands itched for a pen and paper so she could start getting her plans and impressions in order and recorded.

  Letting the power go, she got to her feet. Lulu had stretched out where she could watch out the window, but she lifted her head when Char moved, and stood when she did. She sent Char an image of her food bowl with an imploring feeling of hunger. Char smiled. “Yeah. We’ll all get some lunch, and then we’ve got some walking to do.” She knelt to give Lulu some serious ear scritches. “We’re gonna head back to that little store. I bet Leigh will be overjoyed to see you again.”

  —————————————

  An hour later, and with full bellies, the three of them set out following the river back up the valley toward the desert biome. As they walked, Char noticed that there were more birds, and she even caught sight of a normal gray squirrel. Not a crazy flaming squirrel—a perfectly normal squirrel, doing perfectly normal squirrel things.

  She could still feel the connection with the Sanctuary, and it told her that all was well in the valley. Only time would tell her if it would stay that way. They had a twenty-eight-day grace period. Was that keeping the monsters out, or was the valley more like a game preserve? Would it stay protected from all the altered wildlife so that Earth’s normal life would have a place to survive? She hoped so.

  Maybe she could do more than just hope, though. Her new Rune affinity would let her place magical effects, even if she could only create temporary ones at the moment. Maybe she could figure out how to make permanent ones and enchant some sort of filter across the mouth of the valley to keep monsters and hostile forces out even after the grace period ended. It was worth working towards. She loved her Lightning, but her Rune affinity might have a much larger impact on the community she wanted to build.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  And she did want to build a community, even if she didn’t want to be in charge of it. She might be something of a loner, more at home in her own head, and comfortable in solitude, but that didn’t mean she wanted to avoid people altogether. Even introverts can get lonely, and she had to admit, it had been nice to have Declan around to watch her back and joke around with. He was growing on her, like a little brother.

  Just because she was taking a group of people under her wing, it didn’t mean she had to settle in and become the town mayor or anything. Anais, Cory, Irina, and Jabat would all make better leaders than her, anyway. She wanted to keep exploring, keep getting stronger, and find more survivors to bring back. Maybe even find her family, if they were still alive.

  It didn’t take nearly as long to get back to the border with the desert as it had to fight their way into the valley. Now that the wall of darkness was gone, she could see how the valley had been artificially shaped to create a narrow opening between the hills. It was the same at the other end, beyond the City Tree. From the vantage of the canopy platforms, they’d been able to see how the hills curved around to form a dead end with a narrow gap to let the river flow out. The water tumbled down a steep escarpment for about a quarter of a mile, churned white by jutting boulders and vertical drops. It fell into a pool and then over another ledge to vanish beneath the upper canopy of a rain forest.

  She made a mental note to find where the river entered the valley. With only one or two entrances, the valley would be pretty easy to defend from ground forces, though it would also be easy for a besieging force to bottle them up. That was probably the point, though. The Aldevari were training them for something, and if they needed warriors, then it wasn’t a great leap of logic to assume it was war. They had been warned of greater challenges to come. Her mental note became a mental list as she added finding out what lay beyond the hills to either side of the valley and exploring the evergreen forest below the falls to her growing pile of tasks.

  There were so many things she needed to do and to learn. She still hadn’t taken the time to explore her inner world, to learn about the changes going on inside her, and she knew that it was because she was afraid of them. She’d used them when she needed the power, but turning her inner eye to face that fear had, so far, been beyond her. There were also all the odd inconsistencies with the System. As soon as she could get her hands on a notebook and some quiet moments to think, she needed to write it all down and try to figure out how the puzzle pieces fit together, and what picture they would show.

  Then, there was her new Affinity. The Rune Domain seemed to touch on knowledge, communication, and enchantment. The mana sharpened her mind and helped with logical thought. If she could learn to harness it, it would open up all sorts of new possibilities. Just thinking about it made her want to start practicing the spell.

  There wasn’t much conversation as they walked. Char was lost in her thoughts, and Declan was playing with his mana, trying to get the hang of shaping it. Lulu ranged out around them, stopping often to sniff and listen.

  She kept an eye on the sky as they crossed the baked, sand-dusted clay of the desert. They angled straight for the brutalist apartment block, bypassing the other cutouts. She added another item to her mental list as she looked out across the wasteland at the other buildings in the distance. The cultists from the hospital may have raided the closest buildings, but there were many more out there. They should be searched, and soon. Any survivors still hunkered down out there would be running out of water and getting desperate.

  They needed to find an area with lower-level monsters so they could start getting everyone levels. They’d also need to find a reliable way to get Domain Affinity Cores. At that thought, a little smirk twitched up the corner of her mouth. That magic compass might not be so useless after all. One more item on her list: find another dungeon. Hopefully, there would be one closer to the valley. The Toxic Rootworks was a bit of a trek, and she wouldn’t wish the trauma-inducing encounters inside on anyone.

  Getting up and down that cliff wasn’t exactly trivial, either. The cliff up to the tundra was around thirty feet, but that would mean a slog across unstable meltwater bogs. If they followed the cliff to the more stable forest biome, the climb would be closer to fifty feet. She wondered how hard it would be to carve steps into the exposed bedrock.

  She was still puzzling over ways to get people up and down the cliff when they reached the apartment block, but hadn’t come up with an answer.

  The back door opened before they got to the edge of the concrete and asphalt circle around the building. Sergei stepped out, crowbar in hand, and Char had to fight to hold back laughter. He wore a cooking pot on his head as a makeshift helmet. The handle had been removed, and an attempt had been made to shape it, but it was still quite obvious how it had started its life. It was a good attempt at armor, and it made sense, but it was very hard not to laugh about it.

  Declan lost that fight. He started to giggle. Sergei tried to scowl at him, but the big man was having trouble suppressing a smile of his own. He reached up and knocked on the pot, letting a huge grin spread across his usually dour features. Declan’s half-suppressed snorting giggles turned into full laughter, and it did Char’s soul good to hear it.

  The pot wasn’t the only thing Sergei had adapted as armor. He’d torn up the industrial carpet from Irina’s shop and had sewn it to a jacket in small, overlapping scales, like fuzzy snake skin. It looked heavy and hot, but it would give him some small amount of protection from claws and heavy blows.

  He started enthusiastically telling them about the armor in Russian, with only the occasional English word thrown in. Char didn’t understand the language, but she realized that she could pick out the words more clearly, and when put together with his body language, it was easier to fit the words to the context. She didn’t just know the language, but she could tell that her improved learning speed for languages was already working.

  Irina was in the doorway now, shaking her head fondly at the big man’s enthusiasm. She smiled at Char and Declan and waved for them to come inside. As soon as Char was through the doorway, the older woman pulled her into a hug. “I am so glad to see you alive. We were afraid that something would happen and…” She stepped back, waving her hand like she was shooing a fly, brushing away the pessimistic thoughts. “Is no matter. You are here. And Royce? You are back so fast. Did you…?”

  Char nodded. “He’s dead.”

  “Khorosho! We can stop watching for him around every corner then.” She grinned and pulled Char into another quick embrace.

  Sergei slapped Declan on the shoulder and rattled something else off in Russian. This time, Char caught one word. Vodka. Irina was about to translate when Lina came rushing down the stairs. Jalong and Jabat followed behind her.

  There was a confusing jumble of voices as everyone greeted each other and asked about what happened, all talking over one another. Char felt her chest start to tighten, and her breathing got faster as the old anxieties started to creep in. Lulu sensed Char’s unease at being mobbed and bombarded with questions, and got everyone’s attention with a loud bark. In the moment of quiet that followed, Char said, “I’ll tell you the story. Let’s go sit down somewhere. Please.”

  She let them move ahead of her. The hallway between the two shops wasn’t very wide, and everyone had been crammed in close, all excited, all talking. Irina was a hugger. Lina was demanding. Even though it hadn’t been a very large group, it had been enough. It had nearly been too much.

  It had been a very long time since a crowd had made her that uncomfortable. She’d never had full-on panic attacks, but large groups made her anxious. Between being alone on the truck and now isolated by the end of the world, she’d gotten out of practice dealing with people. She couldn’t help but laugh at herself. Here she was, the strongest person around, able to face down monsters out of legend, but put her in a room with more than three people and she was ready to run for the hills.

  She took a deep breath and followed everyone up the stairs to Irina’s apartment. Irina took charge and got everyone settled, doing her best to be a proper hostess, despite the apocalypse. Char was glad, as it gave her a chance to regain her equilibrium.

  It didn’t take long to tell them all about the valley Challenge Zone, the fight with Royce, and then the fight with the Zone Boss. She let Declan tell them about the City Tree, and watched their faces transform with wonder and cautious hope at the news of the Sanctuary. That moment, when Jabat’s eyes lit up and the tension in his shoulders lessened. When Irina grabbed Sergei in a huge hug, her eyes shining with unshed tears, when Jalong and his sister grabbed one another’s hands… it made Char feel like all the pain and fear had been worth it. She couldn’t wait to see their faces when they actually walked through the doors in the trunk of the giant tree and saw it for themselves.

  “So, it’ll be a few days. Instead of trying to get you all up the cliff, we’re going to go back to the other group and bring them here, then we’ll all head to the valley together. When we left, there were around thirty or so people. I’m not sure how fast we’ll be able to move with that many, but it’s about a two-day walk for just the two of us, so… Maybe a week? Do you have enough food to last that long?” Declan asked.

  Jabat nodded, thoughtful. “Yes. I think so, if we are careful with it. Is there food in the tree?”

  “There’s a kiosk thing where we can buy rations, and there are fruit and nut trees in the valley,” Char said. “We’ll need to do some hunting, too. And get farming started as soon as possible. It might be tight for a while, but yeah. It looks like the Aldevari are trying to give us a chance.”

  Declan started piling brown paper-wrapped packages on the table. They were small, about twice the size of a protein bar. “I bought some of the rations. They’re bland, but not too awful. These should help you stretch the food a little farther.”

  Char kicked herself for not thinking of it, but she was glad that Declan had. They should have gotten more for the group at the mercado. There were even more mouths to feed, and convenience store fare wasn’t exactly nutritious. ‘Yeah, Char,’ she thought to herself, ‘You are definitely not good leadership material.’