The Drathan who walked in lines past Adam gave him looks of confusion, irritation, and sometimes outright hatred. None of them had been told why, but they were waiting to enter the portal back to their home world.

Next to Adam stood the Aerial Bombadeer, whose name was Thorgich. They had two more Tier 4s as well, probably the only reason that the thousands of invaders were walking past Adam and his friends without attacking. It was clear that no one, including the other Tier 4s, understood why they were leaving or had stopped fighting the natives. It was inconceivable to them that the natives might win the battles, yet here the Drathan were, surrendered and retreating.

The other Tier 4s had already turned over their base control crystals, as well as their bases, leaving the floating island that they were currently on as the only one with a working portal back to their planet. It struck Adam as odd that after so much violence and death, following all five of the Drathan forces battling the Sentinel Army, they could just put away their weapons and move on from their mission.

Conceding both the idea of leveling up and the desire to claim the world was a challenge for the invaders. Thorgich made it clear that the others needed to listen to him, for all their sake. He was the strongest of the Drathan on Earth, and the fear that showed in his countenance told the others all they needed to know.

Adam waited patiently, occasionally pulling out a snack as time marched onward. Once the final Drathan soldier passed through the portal, which Adam hadn't been allowed to observe or get near as part of their agreement, the last two Tier 4s exchanged farewells with Thorgich.

"This will explain to Torilyn why I ordered the evacuation of this planet," Thorgich said to one of the Tier 4s Drathan. He handed over a yellow crystal. It looked like the other knowledge crystals that Adam had seen, so he didn't think much of it. He doubted it would lead to anything worse than what was already happening.

Once the two other Drathan leaders left, Thorgich turned to Adam and held out a brown control crystal for the base.

"I cannot leave an active portal to our world in your hands. Claim this base and then I will leave. I've already contacted a subservient race that will let me portal away. I will be gone from this world within nine days."

With a nod of gratitude, Adam took the crystal.

"I can't say I'm sad to see you go, but I appreciate you being reasonable about it," he said.

A visible shiver passed through Thorgich.

"The consequences were too dire. Seeing you fight, and seeing your other…ability, made me realize that even if we had a chance to win, the cost would be too great to bear. For my part, I have sent public messages to the communication channels of the Rift menu to notify all races that the Drathan have given up any potential claim to this world. I recommended they leave as well, before the aberration comes for them. Although I did not explain why."

"Not sure I like being viewed as the universe's boogeyman," said Adam wryly.

"You will need to get used to it. Once they find out what you have, and can do, you will be a target of every high-level person among the races. There won't be a moment's rest for you. As strong as you might feel now, it won't be enough to protect you, your people, or world."

Adam sighed heavily and looked at the sky. Thorgich also looked upwards, shivered again, and then turned away.

"Please forgive any slight, but just being around you terrifies me. I will be taking my leave."

"I'd wish you a safe trip and tell you that I harbor no ill will to you or your race, but I'm not much for lying. Leave my world, and hopefully the Drathan and humans won't encounter each other in the future."

"I hope for that as well," said Thorgich, "although I will warn my elders not to cross you or your people. As scary as it is, you have exceeded what anyone thought possible of natives."

He walked until the end of the floating land and then activated a skill. It allowed him to step off the side and float diagonally towards the ground below. Adam stood there for several minutes after he left and then took control of the base.

"I'm surprised you were able to stop the fighting," said Brandon.

"The boss is just that scary to his enemies," said Tom proudly.

"I'm surprised he didn't get so angry he needed to stab a bunch of them," said Joseph.

"I know," agreed Nick. "Not only did you keep your rage in control, Adam, but I couldn't even sense the anger or heat coming off you."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Adam sighed. His shoulders and head slumped.

"It's gone," he mumbled.

"What was that?" asked Alissa, looking at him with a bit of concern. She wasn't the only one either. Most of Adam's friends could feel that something was different about him.

"I said it's gone," snapped Adam petulantly. Then he sat hard on the ground. "My rage isn't there anymore."

"Darling, how could that be?" asked Andrea.

"I—I don't know," said Adam with a heavy exhale. "When I cut off the Blaze Scion from the [System], I got caught in some memories that the [System] had. Maybe they took up too much space inside me and pushed my rage skill out."

"Could it be caused by something else?" asked Lucas with concern. "Maybe the [System] did something to it, or the activation for it changed?"

"I don't know," said Adam pathetically, "but it doesn't matter."

With self-pity Adam bent his knees into his chest and then put his face down on them. Several people frowned at him.

"What do you mean it doesn't matter?" asked Nick while sounding confused. "Don't you need the rage to get strong enough to fight?"

"Looks like the fight is all gone from him anyway," commented Joseph.

"Bah! The boss doesn't need rage to kick the invaders off our planet," argued Tom. "I'm sure he's just tired. Yeah, tired and taking a break after such a big battle."

"No," responded Nick. He knew Adam the best from before the [System] came and he saw something completely different in Adam now than before. "He's right. Something has changed. Adam was never one for depression."

"Ok, Adam," chirped Brittney with forced cheer. She rubbed his uncovered shoulder and arm to try and comfort him. "We'll just try to get it back. Maybe you can have a break and then we'll figure it out."

"It doesn't matter whether I have the rage or not…" Adam began.

"That's right!" interrupted Tom. "Rage or no, the boss is the strongest!"

"…because we are out of options," finished Adam. "We've lost."

"What do you mean we lost? We just got the Drathan to leave," said Carlos. "That message from the Aerial Bombadeer to the other invaders will surely make the rest think twice before fighting us. How is that losing?"

"Yeah, darling, it seems rather like a victory to me."

Adam once more sighed and raised his head to look at the sky.

"It isn't about the invaders anymore," he said, stunning everyone. With Adam's hate for the invaders and his need to visit violence upon them, for him to dismiss them as unimportant was too great of a change. "It's about the [System]. It's always been about the [System]."

Abbey put the back of her hand on Adam's forehead, checking for a fever. Then she cast a few heals on him. She motioned to Ed, who used his spells that dispelled status conditions, finishing it off with his mental resistance buff.

"Where is this coming from, Adam?" asked Abbey. "What did the [System] show you?"

Adam leaned backwards until his back was against the ground and he was looking up at all his friends and teammates.

"I saw the end."

"So what if the [System] showed you some way it might try to win," dismissed Tom. "We'll just stop it."

"No, Tom. It didn't show me the future. I saw the past. Felt it. 68 times. All reality ended."

"This is about the different lives your other self lived, isn't it?" asked Lucas.

Adam nodded.

"Magical bombs. Thousands. They went off at the end of each play through to create enough energy to destroy everything and to send the memories back."

"What's to say it'll happen this time?" asked Carlos, trying to resist the defeatist mood that Adam was building.

"The [System] said it. It spoke to me again. The bombs are being constructed, and, in a few years, they will destroy the Earth and everything on it. Then the invasions of this world will start again without any of us being able to fight back. We'll all die without remembering this play through or our time together. We've lost."

"Why can't we stop it?" asked Randall.

"It could be anywhere," shouted Adam. "We're stuck here, fighting to survive, and somewhere out there, out of our reach, the [System] has invaders working on destroying everything. I can't go out to search and leave Tennessee to keep being attacked, and we don't have the time to conquer and search the entire world!"

Adam brought the side of his fist onto the ground with all his strength to punctuate his words. The ground cracked and cratered, throwing grass and dirty into the air. The debris pelted his friends, but they all stood there looking at Adam, each absorbed in their own thoughts, desperately seeking options.

"Now that your rage is gone, just build a skill for it," suggested Joseph. "Like you did with that 'house sitter' guy."

"Home Protector," Elias corrected Joseph, though neither cared.

"I'm just saying," continued Joseph, "you made yourself a class, and then built a whole new class and created new skills for that guy. Just do it for yourself next."

"I can't," Adam once more snapped. "I can only see and shape things related to the protector class paths. Without having a class in one of the other lines, there is no way for me to understand them enough to make them."

"Then get those classes too," said Joseph.

Adam slowly sat up and glared at Joseph. Without the berserker rage, the intimidation carried by Adam's look didn't have the same effect. Not that Joseph would have paid attention to it anyway.

"The thing about a network," mumbled Ed quietly, "is that as long as you have enough connections, you can hook up more computers."

The glare was then turned on Ed. He also didn't respond to it, demonstrating just how lacking Adam's [Intimidation] was now.

"Are you saying I should connect more?" asked Adam slowly. Ed shrugged in response but offered no other ideas.

Once more, Adam lowered his face onto his knees. He took a few deep breaths. Then he wearily pushed himself to his feet. Without acknowledging anyone else, he turned and walked towards the edge of the floating base.

"Adam, what are you going to do?" asked Abbey with concern.

"Something dangerous," said Adam. There was a bit more energy in his voice, even if he still sounded weighed down.

His friends all shared looks, communicating hope that Adam had realized something. They seemed to come to an agreement.

"Brandon, Andrea, Elias, Tom, and Alissa, you magic users should be able to drive the Drathan bases back to Jackson. Abbey, Brittney, and Nick, stick with Adam," ordered Lucas.

"Do you need anything else, Adam?" asked Nick as everyone grabbed their gear and prepared to go where they needed to be.

Adam stopped walking and ran a hand through his hair as he thought.

"I'll need energy," said Adam. "Lots of energy. And connections."

"How dangerous will this be, darling?" asked Andrea.

"Probably deadly," answered Adam

"Plan change," announced Lucas. "We're all going with him."

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