Chapter 67 (1/2)

Tessa pulled her ponytail over her shoulder nervously, spinning in front of the mirror. She felt… strange. But the world was a strange place now, wasn’t it?

She had known things were wrong in her relationship with Randidly a long time before he broke up with her, but she had wanted to work through it. It didn’t seem like he did. In the wake of that, the system had descended on the world, ripping away half of her building and all of her sense of security.

The night everything happened, both the breakup and the world shaking change, Tessa had curled up in her bed and cried herself to sleep, trying to ignore the screams.

They had been dating for a year, and it hit her hard. Not, of course, harder than the system, but still.

The next month had blended together in a desperate blur of short term jobs and and sleazy guys like that patroller Alex, always trying to isolate her and tempt her with cheap beer and free food.

And now, just finally when she was wavering, Randidly showed back up. If that wasn’t fate, she didn’t know what was.

Noticing the time, she hurried down the steps. To her surprise, Randidly was already there, calmly eating a hardboiled egg.

“Oh! I’m sorry, did you wait long?” Tessa asked, instantly nervous.

Randidly was a good hearted person, but he did have something of a moody streak. Not that he would do anything about it, he would just be grumpy, but Tessa didn’t want grumpiness to interrupt their reunion.

Again, Randidly’s even gaze surprised her. His eyes calmly looked her up and down as he swallowed the last of the egg. Then he shook his head. “No, I just got here.”

He still had the habit of keeping his face completely still while lying, which was slightly relieving. Even so, though, why did he lie about something so simple? He always lied for the dumbest reasons. Although this definitely was the same man she dated for a year, he seemed... almost completely different. Her eyes had always been drawn to him, but now there was something more to that. Like his presence drew everything towards him, as if he was the center of the world.

Tessa shook her head, trying to banish those thoughts. “So, uh, I have some food tokens saved up. I can show you around the city…”

She trailed off as Randidly gave her the look. She felt her cheeks flush slightly. It was the look he gave her when he already knew what to do, and was about to tell her. It was annoying a lot of the time, but there were some other times…

“Actually,” He said calmly. “I had a question first. What do you know about the University Lectures here?”

****

Sam grunted, turning over the breast plate. Over the last month, he had managed to set up something of a forge, and they were beginning to experiment with shaping metal. The whole ordeal was vastly simplified by when, around a week ago, Daniel had purchased the Supply shop, and they could purchase bars of smelted iron for relatively cheaply.

Far, far more cheaply than the weapons and armor they would become. The only issue left was shaping the metal. He examine the breastplate more closely.

Novice’s Breastplate Lvl 2: +7 Health

The bonus would be barely noticeable, but Sam supposed it was better than nothing. “An improvement is an improvement. Good work.”

The man who ran the smithy, Ceth, chuckled bitterly. “And fucking long hours of work too. I need to get some more points into stamina, and I should be able to make things like this pretty regularly. As my Metal Working Skill improves, so should the armor. There are even specific skills for each body piece, so when we figure out a mold for a helmet, it will go even faster. We are moving in the right direction Sam. Why the rush?”

Sam scowled powerful. “Don’t say something like that. You know it’s bad luck-”

A notification popped up, silencing him.

Congratulations! Your Newbie Village has been upgraded to a Trainee Village. The chance of obtaining superior classes is slightly increased. Raid bosses spawning in your area have a slight chance of spawning as a Tier II Raid Boss, at Lvl 30. Dungeons in your area will become active more frequently, spewing out waves of monsters. This cannot be prevented.

Due to your Tribulation remaining, the Tribulation has been strengthened. Be careful of your impending tribulation.

Due to being the first Trainee Village, on your world, the Soul Skill of Your Village Chieftain has been strengthened. The skill level will be reset, but all of the gains shall be retained.

Due to being the first Trainee Village in your Zone, you have become Earth’s Nexus Seed for this Zone 32. Searching for appropriate matching Village….

Match found! Village is first Trainee Village in zone, in world, and third in your batch of Worlds. Nexus portal has been founded near the center of your Trainee Village. In 7 days, the portal between your and your sister village has opened.

Warning, in 21 days, a Lvl 35 Raid Boss will randomly spawn on either your or their world. Good luck.

Sam’s glare towards Ceth deepened. But then he snorted, and left the smithy, heading towards the village center.