Anton followed Conflict up and over a hill that looked down on a building that suspiciously resembled Tony Stark's cliffside house, which had fallen into the ocean in that old Marvel movie.

Not knowing how to address God, Anton said, "Seriously?"

"Just call me Brandon now that we're by ourselves, and yes, that's the house from Iron Man."

"Isn't there a copyright or something?" Anton asked as Brandon led him through the front door.

"Technically, there is a place where this is under copyright, but the Merchant handles that, and he doesn't care what those of us who are still around from the original Earth do in our God Realms."

"This is your God Realm?"

"It is."

"Okay, so what happened to you after you disappeared from the stasis bubble you were trapped in?" Anton asked.

"Honestly, not much. I became a divine being in the 9th iteration, and was going through the indoctrination process when The SYSTEM gave me a choice. I took it and woke up in the 10th Iteration after societies had started to form on Terra, the planet you were just on."

So why go by the name Conflict, couldn't you have picked Odin or Zeus or something as one of the new gods of this Universe?" Anton asked.

"Those of us who came from before, who aren't Immortal like you, had to take on Domains, not names. The Domains were pretty broad, but basic. Also, when the iteration occurred, many of the old gods chose a different path. I'm not sure what that choice was because I decided to remain and take on the Domain of a God."

"So, how long have you been the God of Conflict?"

"A couple of thousand years or so."

"A couple thousand years?"

"Oh yeah, I've been here since the first demi-humans and humans appeared on Terra?"

"They evolved here?"

"Naturally? I don't think so. When I came out of stasis, they were already here. My Domain covers the violent interactions between them and tribes of the same race, of course." Brandon said.

"Okay, so what's up with the Empire Officers?"

"You noticed that, did you?"

"Yeah. Are there Jedi and Sith as well?" Anton asked.

"Nope. I just got bored and decided that if I was the God of Conflict, why couldn't I introduce some good old-fashioned fan fiction?"

Anton's mind whirled as he thought about how the god was responding, his attitude, and the attitude displayed. "You were bored?"

"Bored and Lonely. It's the beginning of the 10th Iteration, there are not many gods around, or I should say there are not many gods within any single universe or Realm."

"So you're setting up an Empire and Rebellion?"

"Yes."

"The technology level is wrong, this world is what, equivalent to 14th century Europe with magic."

"More like 18th century, but yeah. Besides, the conflict isn't entirely frivolous. I hope it will inspire others to take the next step on their path to Godhood. The 'God' clubhouse is empty right now," Brandon said.

"Okay, so you're trying to encourage the creation of new gods and you're having a little bit of fun while you do that. Why am I here?" Anton asked.

"That's easy, I'm pulling you off the planet until the Labyrinth opens or we come to an understanding. You are way too volatile."

What about the people I saved? Some of them seemed interested in the Goddess who marked me."

"Keres?" Yeah, I saw her arrive. Most likely, the people you saved, a couple of them at least, will cause her to manifest as a god here fully. When that process begins, the SYSTEM will require her to choose a basic domain. After that, she will need to work to regain the prestige she once held and her name. Wasn't she the goddess of violent death or something like that?"

"She was. I believe darkness also fell within her purview," Anton said.

"There are currently no gods of Darkness, Death, or Violence, and of course, as it's a new iteration, she can change her focus and rebrand herself," Brandon said.

"The couple of times I've earned Conviction, it seems like her old Domains are still intact. Anton said questioningly as he quickly double checked his notifications and nodded, "Yep, I seemed to get more conviction from those that died violently."

"Most likely, that's because you are a follower from the previous iteration, and she hasn't established a temple in this Realm yet, though, after your recent actions, that is probably going to change."

"How so?"

"We'll get to that. For now, have a drink and relax, we have a lot to talk about," the God said as he pulled out two chilled tall glasses and poured two beers from the fountain at the bar. He put one in front of a seat and sat on a stool behind the bar as he took a drink of his beer.

Anton sat on the indicated chair and picked up his beer. He tilted it slightly toward the god in acknowledgement and took a long drink…with a grimace.

"Miller Genuine, Draft, Seriously?

"Hey, that's some good beer?" Brandon answered

"You were from the East Coast, weren't you?"

"What does that mean?"

"That means, Budweiser or bust," Anton said good-naturedly, "Seriously, though, thanks for the beer, it's been a while."

The God smiled, "No problem. It's not like there are a lot of people around from the old days," Brandon said before he took another sip.

"Are there others still around?"

"There are, but we were split up. The few gods that stuck around during the iteration reset that exist in this Universe besides me are not from Earth. Those of us from Earth do have the ability to reach out to each other, though a messenger-type system for gods. Granted, we don't use it all that often because we're all quite busy. "

"I bet, when you're influencing the clothes people wear and creating a conflict-based society based on fantasy from a galaxy far, far away."

The God laughed and raised his glass in a toast, "Exactly!"

Anton mirrored the toast and took another drink of his beer before he asked, "So, why am I really here. Meeting up with someone who freed you from a stasis bubble doesn't seem like justification to pull me out of the world for this chat?"

Brandon smiled, "It's not. I called you here to ask you to head into the Labyrinth when the entrance opens in just over eight days."

"Why?"

"Simply put, you are too powerful for this Universe. Additionally, I don't think you'll find anything challenging on this planet for at least the next two to three hundred years. I might be influencing clothing and uniforms through my worshipers, but the SYSTEM doesn't like it when technological advancement is artificially accelerated. The Mortals have to discover technology for themselves."

"I could…"

"NO! You shouldn't do that. You fall into a weird category as a being from the 9th iteration. If the SYSTEM discovers that you're trying to influence the natural technological progression of the people, it will probably do something drastic. The SYSTEM wants them to find the various technologies for themselves."

"The SYSTEM has a Prime Directive?" Anton asked.

"Yes, and no. No information from before can be arbitrarily gifted by the divine or those who came from before. There are a few exceptions, but they're unique, and gaining access to knowledge is highly restricted.

"Such as?"

"Technically, Earth still exists in its original Universe."

"How is that possible. If it has been as long as was implied, entropy should have destroyed everything there. It should be nothing but photons, or the base of a new universe by now." Anton said.

"Yep, it should have. Someone stops the process from happening?"

"Somone…stops…entropy. How is that even possible?" Anton asked bewildered.

"I'm not sure exactly. I know that every 100 years or so, the whole universe is reset to approximately 2037. That is the will of the patron who watches over it. He's one of the ancient ones. He might not even be a god, at least as the SYSTEM defines gods, but the Universe that houses Earth is his domain, and nothing goes on there that he does not know about."

"Does this person have a name?" Anton asked.

"He's simply known as the Merchant. He's an Ada…"

Anton's mind flashed with pain as a similar pained expression came across Brandon's face. Anton took a deep breath as Brandon did the same before he asked the god, "Are you all right?"

"It's nothing, just the SYSTEM making sure certain information is not passed on to mortals unless they find it for themselves, even immortal mortals. As for Earth, the Universe it resides in is the first Universe of the 10th Iteration and has been declared off-limits by the SYSTEM, unless you're invited. I think it's a safety feature to keep what happened last time from happening again. This universe, all the other realms and domains have, or I should say, will occur naturally or be seeded and then filled by the SYSTEM."

Do we exist in this recreation of Earth?

"We have, but what happens changes every time, and when he resets the whole thing, no one there remembers."

"That's weird," Anton said.

"It is that, though, whenever it's reset, I can head on over and pick up Star Wars memorabilia, I have permission to do that at least.

"What did happen? I have a feeling, but I don't know," Anton said.

"I don't know exactly, but the SYSTEM informed me that a creature of chaos tried to wipe out the Multiverse. He was stopped, and the SYSTEM, with help from someone or something, initiated the 10th Iteration after everything settled down.

"Just a guess, but not much time has passed, has it?" Anton asked.

"No. In fact, a lot of time has passed. This Universe is young, though, that's why I'm going to ask you to head into the Labyrinth once it opens. You are much too powerful for Terra. Your ability to be immortal has allowed you to do something that should not be possible. I need you to move along into the Labyrinth so that you don't artificially accelerate the introduction of higher ranks into this universe. Since you are eternal, one day you might be the most powerful of all, well, the 4th most powerful being I know of. That's why I'm asking you to limit your activity in Bensen to working with the people who have decided to follow Keres to set her up a temple in the city, and then for you to head into the Labyrinth. Alternatively, I keep you here until the Labyrinth opens."

"I was already planning to head into the Labyrinth when the portal became available. No offense to Terra, but I'd much rather be in a place with technology and magic, not just magic," Anton said.

"Me too. Waiting for various races to figure things out is going to take a while. They have a good understanding of magic, but not so much of advanced technology. On a more important note, you're more likely to find challenges in the Labyrinth than you are on Terra."

"Why do you say that?" Anton asked as he took another swig of his beer.

"While the Labyrinth will be new to Terra when the entrance opens, it existed in a transdimensional state and can create creatures, monsters, and plants it had access to before. Although you are the one who activated the seed, the reason access was not granted immediately is that access points are opening everywhere throughout the multiverse, and I mean everywhere."

"Are you saying that the Labyrinth could lead me outside the SYSTEMS domain?" Anton asked.

"The Labyrinth can go anywhere that exists anywhere, so yeah."

"Good to know," Anton said as he changed the subject and asked another question, "If I leave enough money to create a temple for Keres, that's not going to mess with your followers?"

"Why would it?" Brandon answered with a smile, "Most likely she'll either become the Goddess of Death or Violence, both domains are currently unassigned. Death is a possible result of conflict, and violence is almost always a result of conflict. We'll be synergistic. Plus, it's my understanding she's from our universe. Not Earth, but somewhere similar. I might finally have someone I can have a conversation with."

"When I first appeared here, Keres told me she couldn't find anyone from our Universe, yet you're here?

"Well, I was busy riding an Avatar until I received a notification that someone had let off a Master Ranked Fireball, twice. I figured I needed to drop back into my realm and figure out what was going on, and here we are," Brandon said. As for getting Keres all set up with a Temple, I can order my followers to ensure that they help the fledgling followers who have just accepted Keres as their Goddess. Also, I've been meaning to ask, how did you earn 1 trillion credits?"

"Oh, that. I participated in a System Battle Royale. I picked up a lot of items and treasure. Unfortunately, it was right before the switch-over to the 10th Iteration. All the treasure I was carrying, which was considered normal or that I wasn't wearing, was converted into Credits. For the most part, I had to start over just like everyone else, well, except for the three magic items I was allowed to keep."

"Sounds right. Everything I have now, except for a couple of personal items, I had to either repurchase or fabricate myself. Iteration resets suck."

Anton finished off his beer and pointed at the tap. Brandon nodded as he said, "Feel free."

Anton stood, walked over, and refilled his glass as he asked, "You mentioned that the other gods went off somewhere during the reset instead of coming forward?"

"Yep, and honestly, I don't have an answer for you, except to say that it concerns something known as your true soul and that the SYSTEM seems to be involved. Being Immortal, I don't know if you'll ever be able to 'move on' as it were."

Anton nodded, "That's fine. Seems like there's enough to do as it is, and if you've seen my spells and skills, you know I'm trying to make sure that if I get stuck somewhere, I'll be able to survive and start over if necessary."

It does look that way, yes. So, let's discuss how much you want to spend on a temple for the goddess Keres and whether you'd like to dedicate some of the Conviction you've earned to Conflict, you know, me."

"Why would I give you, or your church, the credits?"

"Well, would you like to go through the city government, get zoning permits and the like, or would you like an act of a god to have the temple sprout up instantly? Can we bring Keres in so I know which Domain she's going to choose as well as let her have primary input on her domain?" Anton asked

"I'll do you one better. You tell me how many credits you want to dedicate to the new temple and how much of your conviction you're going to sacrifice to your Goddess and me. Yes, it has to be a sacrifice of Conviction to establish a temple or call on the assistance of another god not in your Pantheon. That might change later, but for now, Keres and I are not aligned.

That's easy, I'll sacrifice 80,000 Conviction to the Temple of Keres and 20,000 to you. As for the money, how much did your Temple in Bensen cost?

"Originally, not that much, but with the upgrades and improvements, I want to say it's worth at least 20 million credits and costs about 100,000 credits per month to maintain," Brandon said.

Alright, I'm going to donate 20 million credits plus 12 million in upkeep fees for the next 10 years. Additionally, I want to donate 20 million credits into the church's coffers so that it can be utilized to house and feed those that the goddess brings out of stasis when she becomes active again."

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

"Stasis?" Brandon asked.

"The goddess put my family and other followers in stasis. When she reappears within the world, she will be bringing others"

"How many others?"

"Not sure, but it can't be more than a couple thousand.

"Okay, that's easy enough to set up. Transfer the credits to me, and sacrifice the Conviction, and I'll put my people on it while we finish our beers." Brandon said.

"Okay," Anton said as he sacrificed the Conviction to establish a Temple and get the help of Conflict in doing so. Then he transferred 52 million credits to Conflict to cover the expenses. That left him with only 520 Conviction and wiped out any levels he'd earned, but credit-wise, he still had 1 trillion 312 million credits after spending 52 million.

"Is there anything else you'd like me to do?" Brandon asked.

"Could you give my sister Amelia two items I have once Keres brings them out of Stasis, or I should say make sure that she…"

Brandon smiled, "You can just leave them with her yourself when you get back."

"What?" Anton said with a bit of surprise in his voice.

"You just sacrificed your Conviction to a God. The Temple will be done in about an hour. Keres is handling that. Additionally, your friend Caitlyn has been sent into the city with one of my chosen to procure an area for housing, which is also being constructed immediately with my blessing."

"My family will be out and about shortly?" Anton asked.

"Yes, but remember, like you, they are being reset to the 10th Iteration. Caitlyn is a special case, but everyone else is reverting to their normal human state and will have to pick a new class and work their way back up. The credits you're leaving them will help, but they're still only going to be level zero when they appear."

"But they'll be in a city and they can live their lives again," Anton said.

"Yes."

Anton looked at the God questioningly, "And you don't have an issue with everyone Keres is bringing out of Stasis?"

"Not at all. Unlike the cheat of a creation that you are, they're all balanced. They'll live and die by the rules of this SYSTEM, and none of them have a significant advantage, well, except for Caitlyn, but she is a direct servant of her god, and she'll be learning the rules that govern her shortly."

"How do you know all of this?"

"I might have a couple of different Avatars running around, keeping an eye on things while I'm sharing a beer with you?" Brandon said.

"You can do that?"

"The ability to split our perception into multiple Avatars at the same time is an absolute must when dealing with multiple temples. Conflict never ends after all."

"I guess it doesn't," Anton agreed.

"Do you know if Keres made her choice about what Domain she's going to oversee?"

"You should be seeing those notifications shortly," Brandon said.

As if on cue, Notifications filled Anton's vision.

SYSTEM Notification

The Goddess known to you as Keres has taken on the Mantle of Death

Perk: Mark of Keres has evolved to Marked by Death

Marked by Death.

The Goddess of Death has recognized and marked you.

All death-based attacks by you are 25% more effective

All death-based attacks against you are 25% less effective.

At will, you can call forth the Sigil of Death to indicate that your actions are on behalf of your Goddess. Additionally, you may bring your goddess's will to bear in two ways with a touch.

Death's Embrace

With a Touch, you may spend 100 conviction for each turn you would like the target to lose the ability to regenerate health or be healed by spell or healing potions, with one exception. Spells and healing effects received from the God of Life or one of his priests or clerics work normally. All other healing effects from any other divine beings are ineffective.

Death's Interruption

With a Touch, you may spend 100 conviction for each turn you would like to prevent the soul of your target from leaving its body. While this power can be utilized for nefarious purposes, it was initially designed to lock the soul of the target in the body, allowing healers the time they needed to repair the body before the soul fled into the afterlife. NOTE: The body of the target can still be damaged, and the target rendered unconscious; they just can't be killed while Death's Interruption is active. If Death's Interruption expires and the body has zero hit points, the target dies immediately.

"Marked by Death, huh? That's a good one, and when you earn some more conviction, it'll allow you to overcome some troublesome opponents like trolls and the like," Brandon said.

Anton closed his notifications and looked over to God as he stood and placed the glass on the counter, "I can see that."

"I assume that you putting your glass on the counter means that you're ready to head back?" Brandon asked.

"It does. That is, will my family be there?" Anton asked.

"They will be shortly, in about an hour or so. Since you donated so much Conviction to me, though, I can offer you a bit of advice. You have a pretty unique class, which allows you to mimic a lot of other classes. If you have the skill points open, I suggest finding a skill that supplements the weapons you're using, ranged and melee."

"What kind of skills are out there for that?"

"There's a Fighter's Guild in Bensen, seek them out and find out, AFTER you pick up a weapon that can handle your strength. You're extremely brutal right now. Now, with the permission of Death, I am going to place you within her Temple sanctum; it's already finished. Other areas of the temple are still under construction and being detailed. If you find another one of my temples or shrines, or you feel like sacrificing some Conviction, drop a line to say hello.

"I will, and again, thanks for the Beer. It was nice running into you under better circumstances this time."

Branndon nodded, "Again, thanks for releasing me from that stasis. I would have been free eventually, but thank you anyway."

"You're welcome," Anton said.

Anton watched as Brandon, or Conflict, nodded his head, and reality shifted around Anton until he was standing in an empty Altar room with a definite sex dungeon, or sacrifice dungeon motif, depending on how you thought about it. Alright, the sex dungeon thought was probably just wishful thinking since the guillotine in the corner had, what looked like, fresh blood on the blade.

"Death?" Anton called out.

Anton felt Death appear beside him just before she responded, "When it's just us, or us and anyone from before, Keres is fine."

Anton nodded, "Noted. Now, what's up with the nasty implements of death equipment?"

"The what? she said as she looked around, saw the implements, and waved her hand as she called out, "Pavo!"

Pavo popped into existence in a regal black robe, a significant improvement from his uniform when he was running supplies at Dover Air Force Base. "Yes, Goddess," Pavo asked.

"What are those?" she said as she pointed toward the implements of torture.

"Implements of Death, Goddess," Pavo said.

"No. Please remove them and then gather the design team. I am now the Goddess of Death, not the Goddess of fearing for your life until you die, or more appropriately, the God of terror. Now get them. We have some rebranding to do."

After Pavo scurried down one of the hallways, Anton spoke up, "I was wondering what that was all about?"

"Not that bullshit," Keres said. "Did you ever read 'On a Pale Horse' by Piers Anthony?"

"Actually, yes. Please don't tell me you're going to adopt a bit of a sarcastic streak?"

"No, nothing like that. Just that death is inevitable. I want my followers to present the patience of death in everything they do. While terror can be a part of that process, it is not a requirement. I'll even bring in your sister and Caitlyn to figure out how we'll be presenting Death, me, to the world."

"And me?" Anton asked.

"The few gods that exist believe you tip the playing field of faith too far in my favor. They have recommended, and I agree, that traveling into the Labyrinth will be good for you. Now, it's my understanding that you want to leave two of the powerful magic items that you were allowed to keep through the iteration?"

Anton nodded, "Honestly, the Bracers of Telekinesis won't be as useful for me until I earn more Conviction, and the Bracelet of Protection, well, Amelia could probably use that more than I can. My Physical Damage Resistance ignores the first 171 points of damage from anything, I think that includes most common monsters?"

"It does, but don't get cocky," Keres said. There are monsters out there that can bypass Physical Damage Resistance altogether."

"As you know, I have a backup plan," Anton said with a smile.

"Perhaps, but as the Goddess of Death, I can say without doubt that it looks like everything dies eventually."

"What do you mean by that?" Anton asked.

"Simply put, you were not the only immortal from the last or previous iterations. Where are they now?" Keres asked.

Anton thought for a moment before he said, "Other Universes, realms and the like."

If they are, they are outside of this SYSTEM, which I've been informed is highly unlikely. The reason the gods are based on Domains currently is that there are so few of us. There are localized gods with significantly less power in the various universes, which encompass domains such as farming, conflict, and the like. In contrast, the universal domains encompass spheres like magic, including Death, Life, Fire, Water, Air, and Earth, among others. Well, we're farmed out among the Universes, but our Domain includes all of them, and Immortals are antithetical to death, so I know where they all are—all of them. There aren't very many left."

"Did they choose to pass on, or just give up?" Anton asked.

"It's possible, but I don't know. The SYSTEM might," Keres said. "It was a really long time between the end of the 9th iteration and the emergence of sentience. Those of us not in stasis would have had to exist for that whole time without much in the way of stimuli."

"And you have no idea what happens to someone after they give up everything?" Anton asked.

"Not a clue," Keres said. "Now, let's talk about what everyone here who was just brought out of stasis will be dealing with as they take their place in the society of Bensen here on Terra."

When it was all said and the Goddess was done, Anton was happy that he wasn't staying. If he were to stay, he would be the equivalent of a Nuclear Weapon present during the Roman expansion. Nothing would be able to step up to him and his family, and everyone Keres had saved wouldn't be able to do anything as the other forces on the planet retaliated.

By the end of the day, the Temple was complete, and it resembled the chambers of the Vatican without the Christian trappings. Housing had also been created and provided, which included running water and toilets, which were not common throughout the city. They existed, but the Goddess let him know that not everyone did.

Anton came to understand that it wasn't Brandon who had done everything, but his priests and followers. With Earth, Water, and Air mages helping out, everything had gone smoothly. That is, until the followers of Death were all given clothes that resembled either A Jedi, Sith, or Monk outfit. Then he thought about it and laughed. Followers of Death wearing outfits that made them look like Darth Maul, it actually made sense.

Over the next seven days, Anton spent time with his family and made sure they had enough money to get started. He left 10 million credits to each of his seven family members and Caitlyn. He also donated 50 million credits to the Temple of Death to help everyone else. The influx of funds and individuals into the local economy ensured that the city was not dissatisfied with the followers of the new Goddess of Death.

For the next seven days, Anton also helped around the Temple and visited various merchants as he helped his fellow earthlings acclimate to their new existence. The followers of Conflict were also beneficial, so he donated 20 million credits to the Temple of Conflict. That left him with 160 million credits he could spend before he dropped below One Trillion.

Equipment-wise, he picked up 14 basic canteens, enough dried meats and fruits to last for 14 days, a sleeping bag, a tent, and other camping necessities he might need if he found himself in a magically desolate zone. Anything he needed, he could now conjure, so he wasn't too worried if he stayed in magical areas, but he didn't want to take any chances. These were his emergency supplies, which he packed into. He made sure to have one backpack set up that he would pull out every time he knowingly stepped through a portal. It would carry the basic tools he might need to cut wood, start a fire, and set up a basic camp with enough food for three days with three canteens. It wasn't much, but it would be better than nothing.

The last merchants he visited were a weapon and armor merchant. He picked up five Longswords, Shortswords, and daggers. He decided to stay away from ranged weapons for now. Maybe he'd find something he wanted to use later, but with his skill in Stealth and his speed, he'd rely on being sneaky and getting close. The longswords cost 400 credits each, the shortswords 300 credits, and the daggers 100 credits. Altogether with all the equipment he purchased, he'd only spent about 116,000 credits.

During the evenings, he spent time with his family, including Caitlyn. Felix was busy, and Anton got the feeling that Amelia and his Mom didn't get along with him, so he was staying away. He was sure they'd get over how everything had gone down because there was no way it was Felix's fault, though, it had been at most just over a month since the world started to fall apart, and now they were so far away from where they'd been born so many years in the future that the number didn't make sense. He was reasonably sure they would eventually come to terms with this new reality.

On his last night in Bensen, as they were sitting down for dinner, his youngest brother, Jack, asked, "When will we see you again?"

Anton thought about the question before he answered his little brother, "Honestly, I don't know. But I do know that I have access to a potent spell that I can use to come back here at some point. It's just more powerful than I can use right now."

"What rank is your teleport spell?" Amelia asked.

"Master, but with the way things are going for me, I should be able to use it once I get my Advanced Cores and Advanced Evolutionary Cores. Maybe sooner."

"You know you're only a common rank right now. That's three ranks away," Caitlyn pointed out.

"You know how things go for me?" as he smiled brightly for everyone at the table.

"That we do," his father said with a sigh.

"I'd tell you to be careful, but what's the point?" his mom pointed out.

"Exactly," Anton agreed.

After dinner, Anton conjured some whiskey and a couple of decks of cards, which he'd leave with the family. They sat, played cards, and just laughed the night away as they were all too aware Anton would be leaving soon. As the night drew to a close, Anton went to his room, lay down, and tried to fall asleep. That was impossible because his mind was racing through possible contingencies. About an hour later, there was a light knock on his door before Caitlyn stepped inside.

Without waiting for him to speak, she looked him in the eyes and asked, "Yes or no?"

Anton smiled. "First, yes, of course. Counterpoint, you and I will be around for a very long time. Is this something you are going to regret down the road?"

A glint of mischief entered Caitlyn's gaze as she said, "Only if you have no clue how to please a woman."

"Oh, so that's how it is?"

Caitlyn walked toward the bed, shedding her clothes with each step, "Yes, that's how it is."

"All I have to say to that is, Challenge Accepted. Round One, Fight!"

A couple of hours later, as Caitlyn opened and closed the door behind her as she left, Anton lay back and thought that he might have a problem falling asleep. He was wrong. After what only felt like a moment, he opened his eyes to the light that was shining onto his face through the window.

He washed, dressed, and headed downstairs to find only his mother at the kitchen table, sipping coffee.

Good Morning, dear. How'd you sleep?" his mother asked.

"I slept well, thanks. Where is everyone?

"Your sister, Amelia, made sure they were all out of the house before Caitlyn came out of your room, your father has gone to work at the Temple," she said before she smirked and added in a mirth-filled voice added, "While I know we never talked about you bringing girls to bed under our roof…oh, wait, we did," she said with a small laugh.

"Hold on, I did not bring her to bed."

"Really."

"Nope, she stopped by after I was already in bed," Anton said in a hopeful voice that his point would get him out of trouble.

"Uh huh."

"Not buying it?" Anton asked.

"Not at all, but you could have done worse," his mother mused.

"Not sure it's going to be long term, I'm leaving, as you know, I may not be back for a while."

"Well, go take a shower. I'll have breakfast waiting for you when you get back, and then I guess you're off,"

"Yes, Ma'am," Anton said as he thankfully turned and headed to the bathroom. He quickly showered, shaved, and used the utilities before coming back downstairs to a breakfast of eggs, bacon, and hash browns. As he sat down in front of his plate, he said, "Thanks, Mom."

"You're Welcome. Now eat, you have a long way to go before you even get to step into that Labyrinth thingy."

"Labyrinth thingy?"

"You know what I mean," his mom said.

"I do," Anton said as he picked up his fork and dug in.

His mother cleaned up the kitchen and then sat at the table with him while he ate. When he was done, she picked up his plate, put it in the sink, and then walked over to him as he stood, "I still can't wrap my head around the idea that you're immortal, so I'll just say, the Universe is a big and anything is possible, so you be careful out there", as she took him in her arms for a hug.

"I will, Mom, and thanks for everything. You all should be pretty well taken care of for a while. Work hard and try to earn some levels too."

"Our first job is to see your youngest sister and brother grown. Sara is only 10, and Jack is 13. The age of adulthood here is sixteen, which is crazy."

Anton stepped back, "Well, they're in fine hands, and figuring out how all of you and Keres will fit into this world is up to everyone here. I'll do my part as I'm out and about, but it will mostly be through making monsters dead and growing stronger."

"I love you, son."

"I love you, too, Mom."

With that, Anton turned and walked out of the house. Once he was outside, he activated Stealth and began jogging through the streets at roughly 40 miles an hour, which allowed his echolocation to notice everything that came into his path and avoid it. He quickly made his way to and through the west gate and headed down the road toward the City of Alifax.

Anton stayed off the road, mainly because it was busy. It was packed with carts and wagons loaded with supplies. At forty miles an hour, he made it to the gates of Alifax and slipped through without issue. If the gods didn't want him to influence the locals, then he'd adhere to their wishes and not interact with the locals, for now.

As he slipped through the gate, the desolate and destroyed town he'd first encountered had been replaced by a bustling crowd as they went to and fro. The damage he'd seen before, gone. The streets, which had been mostly dirt, were now paved and orderly, and the city had been adjusted so that there was now a stone wall around the entrance to the Labyrinth in the middle of the street. As he walked forward, he noticed a line had formed that was blocked by a guard shack and a very angry Galvin Drungearson, the knight he shared breakfast with when he'd first made it to Bensen.

"What do you mean we can't enter?" A burly man asked incredulously, "It's a Dungeon, it's open, let us in!"

"This is NOT a Dungeon. This is the entrance to the Labyrinth, and we must ensure that nothing exits it into the city. I have a team that was sent inside…"

At that point, Anton stopped listening, cast Adjust Weight on himself to reduce his weight to 25% normal, and jumped over the wall. He headed down the ramp and passed through the curtain of energy into the Node room, and looked around. Everything looked the same as it had when he'd woken up in here after he cast the Fireball.

He quickly touched the node.

You have already discovered this Labyrinth Node

Labyrinth Node 1.

With the Perk "Labyrinth Walker," you may return to this Node from anywhere within the Labyrinth Node once per day.

He'd forgotten about that. If he wanted to return he could always return here and then head home.

Anton checked to make sure Stealth was active and then stepped through the curtain. Immediately, the smells of death and blood filled his nostrils as he looked into a vast cavern. As he took in his surroundings, he found the team that Glavin had sent in. They were in the process of being eaten by various-sized reptiles that resembled the Gorn from the Star Trek series, which had been released on Earth back in the early 2020s.

As Anton watched, one of the larger monsters lifted its head and looked in his direction as it drew in a long breath. Damn, it looked like their sense of smell was good enough to at least detect him, even with Stealth active. Anton had been wanting to try to use two swords at the same time for a while, so he pulled two shortswords from his Portable Exchange, equipped them, and readied himself as he watched the large Gorn-like creature move toward him, sniffing as it looked to its left and then to its right.

When it was within ten feet, he activated Identify

Rank: Common

Race/Level: Velcirex / 35

Immediately, Anton knew why the party had died. There were four other large Vecirex in the chamber and eight of the smaller ones. When the one in front of him moved, it did so quickly. Without hesitation, it lunged forward and slashed both claws at where he was standing.

Anton utilized his Dodge skill to side-step the first set of swipes, but was caught flat-footed when the creature turned on a dime and attacked again. He'd expected the beast to be normal and attack about once per turn, but it had attacked twice. He had to waste two of his actions to bring his shortswords up to parry the claws and then two more actions to riposte and sever the clawed hands at the wrist.

His actions had two unwanted consequences. First, the monster screamed as its claws fell to the ground. More importantly, his Stealth skill failed, and every monster in the room looked at him. Before the fight began, one thought crossed his mind: There were a lot of claws in this room; the odds that his leather armor was going to survive this combat were slim because, as fast as he was, he couldn't dodge or parry attacks from 12 monsters at the same time.

Resigned to what was about to happen, he looked at the monster and yelled, "Well then Fuckers, What are you waiting for?"

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