Nathan had three options.

  [Tide Caller Overlord], [Shaman Of The Sea's End], [Obsidian Fisherman].

  The first one that Nathan was attracted to was [Shaman Of The Sea's End]. Not because he was considering how useful it would be, but mostly because he thought the name was sick as all hell. I mean, if he has to pick a class, naming was of course a very important aspect. What, were people going to flee in terror when he told them that he was an [Obsidian Fisherman]? "Oh no, I'm so scared," they'd say, laughing at his face.

  [Tide Caller Overlord], on the other hand, was equally as absurd, but not quite as badass. He bumped it down to second.

  With the naming rank now established, Nathan supposed that he should probably actually look at what they do.

  Nathan's glanced up. The sun's rays lit up the sky with a brilliant red. It contrasted with the darkness of the alleyway in a way that forced Nathan to admire it, at least briefly.

  Right, he thought. So I have three fundamental options. Healing, summoning and support. Water magic offense. Or fisherman powers go brrr.

  If Nathan had been struggling with the opponents that he'd been facing up to this point, he would have gone with [Tide Caller Overlord]. Straightforward offensive power would have been helpful.

  But it wasn't, because he'd been crushing basically everything in his path, with the sole exception of the Mother System.

  A sudden chill. It looked like she was still at least a little bit aware of what was happening, even if she was still out of commission from her fight with Thalassa.

  He mentally imaged two middle fingers.

  [Shaman Of The Sea's End]... Again, Krakens were cool, but it was all physical power, which was something that he had enough of. The healing ability was nice—but he hadn't made use of that in ages anyway.

  Nathan hoped he wouldn't regret crossing that option out, but...

  No, he knew in his heart what the option he would pick would be.

  His hand traced over the [Obsidian Fisherman] title.

  He clicked it.

  One second he was mid-press. The next, every atom in his body was vibrating with energy. The call of the ocean seemed to surround him from every side. A pressure in his chest caused him to kneel over and drop to the ground. His hand, of course, landed in the manure.

  But Nathan didn't have the mental awareness to really care about this.

  His skin was glowing blue.

  Nathan didn't think that skin was supposed to be glowing blue.

  Light blasted out of him and into the sky like a beacon.

  Then it stopped.

  All of it stopped and he was now on his knees, hand in manure. He stood up, then summoned a high-pressure jet out of the air and blasted his hand to clean the manure.

  He looked up at the sky.

  "I sure hope nobody saw that," he said.

  There were a few hurried yells. A dog barked and a cat yowled like they'd just seen the face of God. Nathan walked out of the alley, glanced left and right, then walked forward and whistled.

  His body slammed into what felt like a solid brick wall. He stumbled back, then blinked his eyes in confusion.

  "Oh, sorry, didn't see you there—"

  Nathan locked eyes with Bree. Behind her, Dr. Ada had pulled out a notebook and was writing something down.

  Nathan tried his best to smile.

  "Who are you?" he said.

  I'd better hope that this disguise is perfect, he thought. Otherwise I'm about to get completely screwed.

  ---

  "You're looking for someone named Nathan Lee?" Nathan asked. "What makes you think he's here?"

  "We saw a sudden blast of pure water energy in the air. It's actually raining about a mile away from here due to the sheer amount that was suddenly injected into the atmosphere. The only person I can think of who could be responsible for that is Nathan."

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Dr. Ada nodded and placed her pencil in her mouth. She chewed on it a bit like it was some sort of stress toy.

  "It's of the utmost essentiality that Nathan Lee is located as fast as possible," Dr. Ada said. "His disappearance has caused enormous destabilization."

  Nathan knew that asking would only make him feel guilty.

  Which was why he immediately asked what had happened.

  "What do you mean by destabilization?"

  Also, Nathan thought, how on earth have they not figured out who I am? This wig is really doing a lot of work.

  "Humanity is leaderless right now. Thankfully, he'd managed to get the Top Ten on his side, so they've sort of formed a ruling council. But it's not sustainable in the long run. They don't have the same level of trust that Nathan did."

  "Yeah, but nothing bad has actually happened yet, right?" Nathan asked.

  "Nothing other than the attempted assassination of the current temporary orc leader."

  "What?"

  "Yes, apparently the elf princess has a bit of a history with him. As soon as they arrived, she's been sending death squads after him. He's been poisoned, nearly stabbed, nearly shot—I'm kind of amazed at his resilience."

  "And the temporary orc leader is who exactly?"

  "A man by the name of Bjorn. Former member of Nathan Lee's personal party."

  This isn’t my fault in the slightest, Nathan thought. I had absolutely nothing to do with any of this.

  “So what are you guys doing here?” Nathan asked.

  Bree and Dr. Ada looked at each other, seemingly deciding something with a single glance, and then they looked back at him.

  “We’re members of the Top Ten. As I said, we’re here to try to find Nathan Lee.”

  Dr. Ada stepped closer and right into Nathan’s personal space. Nathan was forced to lean back in order to avoid her head bumping into his own.

  She adjusted her glasses and wrote something down in her notebook without looking at it.

  “You were close to the epicenter of that explosion of energy,” she said.

  “What explosion of energy? I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

  “What are you, blind?” Bree said.

  “Yes. I was legally diagnosed three months ago.”

  “Oh, my apologies.”

  Deception: 100.

  “Are there other members of the Top Ten running around?” Nathan said.

  “Not here.” Bree paused. “Actually, there is one. If you come across him, you should flee.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he’s not aligned with anybody. He’s a free agent of chaos. And due to the limited size of the circle, he’s become more and more of a threat.”

  A free agent. Aligned with no one?

  There was only one person who Nathan thought they could be referring to. He hadn’t been seen in the last circle and—presumably he’d been licking his wounds after getting his ass kicked by Nathan. But if he was back...

  “Thanks for the information,” Nathan said. “Good luck with your search.”

  Bree stared at him. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  Nathan’s body froze mid-step.

  “What is it?”

  “Come on. Did you really think we wouldn’t notice the amount of energy leaking out of you? Your hands are glowing blue for goodness sake!”

  Nathan shot his vision down at his hands. They were, indeed, glowing a bright, unnatural blue.

  “It’s a weather effect.” He looked back up and made the straightest face he could. “During this time of night, the air causes light to pass through it in a strange way, creating the illusion of blue hands.”

  “Do you really expect me to believe that?” Bree asked.

  Dr. Ada stroked her chin and looked up at the sky like she was seriously considering it. She shook her head.

  “It’s possible, but extremely unlikely,” she said.

  Nathan reevaluated his situation.

  They knew he’d been in the epicenter of a huge explosion of energy. So much so that apparently other people could even sense it.

  But that wasn’t proof that he was Nathan Lee.

  Still, he needed some sort of explanation. Some sort of reason for why—

  He had it.

  This is never going to work, he thought. This is such a terrible idea. I should just admit the truth and—

  “That’s right.” Nathan lifted his lips up into a twisted grin. “I killed Nathan Lee.”

  This is never going to work. Not at all. They’re going to break my kneecaps for this one. I’m so, so finished.

  Bree’s eyes watered.

  Okay, what the hell?

  “You bastard!” She stomped her foot into the ground and a prison made of stone exploded out of the ground and around him. “Why would you do such a thing! He was just a boy!”

  When did 22 years old become a child?

  “It was simple. This entire world prophesies his coming! Well, it more describes his coming, but it’s all the same. Thus,” he spread his arms out in a dramatic fashion. “Killing him would make me more powerful than the System itself! I defeated a prophecy!”

  Dr. Ada pulled a calculator out of her pocket and tapped a few of the numbers. “The odds of you successfully killing Nathan Lee—for anyone successfully killing Nathan Lee, for that matter—are functionally equivalent to zero.”

  “Those are a lot of words, and all I have to tell you is that you’re wrong.”

  “Your opinion does not change the objective facts of the situation,” she said.

  “Yeah, the objective facts. Like the fact that he’s dead. Because I killed him. With my hands.”

  Bree cracked her knuckles.

  “This isn’t funny. I don’t know if you even met Nathan, but I bet you know a little bit about what happened to him. You’re coming with us.”

  Nathan could have easily slipped between the bars by turning into water, but there were two problems with that solution.

  First, he’d be losing his clothes for the second time in the past 24 hours. This would be great for setting a new record, but not exactly good for his dignity.

  Second of all, that would completely confirm the fact that he was indeed Nathan Lee. He’d have to get a new wig, new clothes—it would be super annoying.

  I need a distraction, he thought. Then I can slip away between the bars and disappear.

  “Look, it’s Nathan Lee!” He pointed behind Bree.

  She raised a singular eyebrow.

  “I hope you didn’t expect me to actually fall for that,” she said.

  “It was at least worth a shot,” Nathan said.

  Nathan glanced around at the edges of the rock cage. Bree hadn’t been expecting him to be particularly strong, he could already tell. The stone bars were fragile. A single good strike would knock them apart.

  I’ll be restricted in my escape, he thought. No water powers. No fishing pole. No harpoon. No fish summoning. I’m going to have to get by on nothing but my strength and speed. As soon as I can get away for a little bit, I can turn into water and vanish from sight. They’ll probably think I teleported.

  Bree stepped forward, her eyes as hard as iron.

  And in that moment, Nathan made his move.