Laying down her whole body was enveloped by her bed sheets. Sophia wore soft cotton pants that were colored pink with little puppies on them eating from dog bowls each with a different name. She wore a matching long sleeve shirt. Sophia stared at the ceiling watching her fan go around in circles.

  “I know I should train or something but.” She looked around her room, it was a mess never once in her life had she let trash pile up like it had now. Seeing the mess killed her motivation to do anything she felt fine while she was out and her mind was distracted but as she came back she wanted nothing more than to rot in bed. Grabbing her pillow she screamed into it everything just feels like it's falling apart.

  “What would father think?” She said out loud her voice muffled by the pillow. Her memory drifted to when she was a little girl no older than five or six years old. Her father scolded her for beating up a few classmates. They deserved it picking on others. This smile her father had while he was telling her what she did was wrong had given her mixed messages.

  “ Father would have probably cleaned the room up huh?” Yeah then he would take her out to spar, beating her up in the process. Not maliciously but as a way to distract her. She let out another scream and threw the pillow back against the head board. She leaped from the bed practically floating out. Her feet landed on some boxes that had once been filled with oatmeal.Sophia spent the next hour cleaning as she saw the room become cleaner. Her motivation hardened, it felt good and gave her a great sense of progression. She changed into leather combat boots the leather was dyed to a deep shade of brown to match the hide pants she wore. They were flexible and tough with magical reinforcement. They were new and so the leather was still a bit stiff. She strapped her greaves made of steel to cover the pants. Wearing a thick cotton shirt she donned a haubark made to fit close to her body but maintain flexibility over that came her cuirass. Her van bracers were made of a thick leather with steel plates riveted on top all to maintain the most flexibility she could have. Once fully dressed in her combat attire, she looked at the floor to her discarded clothes. It was like a stain on the new clean room. I can pick that up later. She thought to herself.

  “ No. I will be no later, do it now.” She said, slapping her cheeks and cleaning up her clothes.

  Valder sat in the superintendent's office on the top floor of the adventurers administration. Each branch's superintendent was different, decorating their offices in different ways. The normal seem to be ostentatiousness as those usually promoted came from prominent families. Her office was decorated with a simple desk and a few folding chairs set out for the guests that were set to attend. The hard metal chair creaked as Valder shifted his weight. He was the first to arrive even before the superintendent herself. A plaque on the desk read. Janus. Slowly but surely people started trickling into the office. Eagorsa was the second to come in choosing to stand next to the large window overlooking administration square. She was followed by Alverez and Hazel. Next was Lord Vindell, the founder of Vindell academy.

  “ What is going on?” Vindell asked, his voice nasally and slow. He wasn't a large man dressed in a fine gray suit. His presence was unmistakable as his aura pressed into everything like a bull wandering around right hallways.

  “ I've been wondering the same thing.” Eagorsa said she wore tight fitting pants made of spandex and had a spaghetti strap top on. “ I was in the middle of my afternoon run when I was given this missive to attend here. It held express instructions to head straight to the superintendent's office.”

  “ Same.” Vindell agreed

  “ We all did.” Alverez said matter of factly. “ Where is Georgia?”

  “ What makes you think she would be attending.” Eagrosa said. Alverez gave her a flat stare.

  “ You're not daft. She's the only other ecumenopolis ranked adventurer in the city. If all of us were summoned, it's only smart to reason that something's happening that needs our attention.” Alverez said.

  “ She is not in the city.” Vindell said. “ It's to my understanding that she has left this planet to attend family matters in Frothes.”

  The doors behind everyone burst open as Janus walked in.

  “ She has. Unfortunately we could have used her on this.” Janus spoke as she strided across the room. A flock of attendees behind her. “ Set up the hologram.” She barked out. “ I'm going to cut to the chase here. On the northern coast approximately ten thousand miles away we have detected a Titan.”

  A holographic display appeared over her desk depicting the image of a large bipedal creature. It looked uncannily human. Its body was elongated to unnatural proportions. The creature's arms were short in comparison only reaching down to its chest. The bottom of its knees waded through water. The hologram changed from a translucent yellow to a full colored image revealing its dark gray skin and black pock marks. The creature's face was devoid of features with one large hole in the center.

  “ Damn.” Eagrosa muttered under her breath.

  “ The monster is currently moving at about a thousand miles a day. If it manages to stay on this course it will reach Xulun city in a little over a week.”

  “ Any reading on the mana field it's producing?” Alverez asked.

  “ Yes.” Said Janus “ it's manifesting in the form of multiple rifts about one for every four hours. The rifts quickly destabilize and monsters flood in from what we can tell, this is a birthing Titan The monsters housing themselves inside the monster's flesh.”

  “ why is Lord Vlounderparts not here?” Alverez demanded. “ If this monster gets close enough to the city the mana will destabilize and interact with the city's defenses. The mana field. Or aura as today's generation has started calling it. Will interfere and most likely destroy the shield just by getting within a few miles of the city.”

  “ Lord Vlounderparts has been informed and is being briefed by one of my supervisors on site of the shield generator.” Janus said.

  “ Does that mean the tournament will be canceled?” Vindell asked.

  “ No. We have plans to move up the start date. The adventurers administration cannot afford to lose the revenue that this tournament will produce and as of right now Monday will be the first day.” Janus said.

  “ We should not be discussing the tournament right now. We need to develop a plan of action.” Valder said standing and walking over to the hologram. He stared at it thinking back to when his team, including himself had just reached the peak of what they thought humanity could get to. They encountered a creature similar to this and the five of them could barely handle it now. He was older, more experienced and stronger but again they only had five people.

  “ What about all the other cities along its path? Do they have anyone of Ecumenopolis rank?” Valder already knew the answer. There were scant few of them across the cosmos and they each knew one another keeping tabs on each other to make sure one didn't go power hungry. There was nobody else on the planet.

  “ No.” Janus said She indicated for her assistant to change the hologram to a map. The map showed Xulun valley at the bottom and a dotted line showed the projected path of the titan. “ The only city currently in danger besides us is a coastal city by the name of hòng shuǐ “ Janus said pointing to a dot on the coast.

  “ Lovely place. They produce a tea that is so flavorful.” Eagrosa said

  “ The superintendent of the Hòng city branch is already gathering every single Megalopolis ranked adventurer they have to intercept and hopefully deal with the hundred of monsters the titan is producing. I wish we could lend more support but with recent terrorist attacks protocol dictates that we hold the majority of area forces here in the city due to its size. All Megalopolis ranked contracts have been cancelled and all Megalopolis rank adventurers will be held here on standby.”

  Sophia walked into the holo annex. It wasn't necessarily a whole other building, however a few floors down underneath the academy. Here students gathered talking of strategies and preparations. It was nearly impossible to get a holoroom, each room was a standard ten foot by ten foot box with multiple cots laid out each connected with a mess of cables to a central computer system. The room was tight and there was really only enough space for around four to five people. One of the benefits of her own last names was she had a special room reserved specifically for her and her team. Douge, Liliandra, and herself had used this room to practice together often but now it had sat abandoned for months. She logged into the central computer and laid down in the cot donning a large helmet that covered her head like a fish bowl. A wave of mana washed over her as she allowed the magic to take a hold of her. Sophia was transported to a blank white room filled with adventurers in full gear and kit. One of them a stout man. No a halfling was kicking the air.

  “God’s damn he canceled again. This is the third time we managed to get the rooms reserved and that fu.”

  “Thim calm down.” A tall human said

  “ No Bas’ef you know how hard it is to get these reservations.” Thim the halfling said he was about waist height compared to Sophia wearing leather garbs he had two daggers at his hip they looked almost like short swords on him. The others of his party looked solemn and disappointed, one was a male elf in plate male his helmet hanging from a strap on his waist and the other was another halfling. The Humen Bas’ef continued to console their party leader.

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  “ Excuse me. I hope you don't mind me interrupting.” Sophia said. She hid her nervousness, yes she could still do this. “ If you'd like, I could spar with your team.”

  The Halfling looked at her and scoffed.

  “ No offense lady but a one on four scenario wouldn't benefit us.” Thim said, crossing his arms.

  “ It's better than nothing and I can assure you your team will have a harder time than you think.”

  “ Look lady, I said no.” Thim’s voice a kinda twang to it one Sophia couldn't exactly put his finger on.

  “ What our leader means is thank you for the offer, however we will have to decline.” Bas’ef said

  Sophia sighed she figured she would be stuck doing monster scenario simulations there was only a faint help to find a group to practice with.

  “ Thank you for your time.” Sophia said.

  “ Why not bet them time in your reserved room Sophia?” Sophia whipped her head around to Douge he wore a set of platemail his large shield strung across his back a hand on the pommel of his sword. “One of the girls near your dorm said they saw you leave in full gear so I figured you would be here and it looks like I was right.” Douge said with a smile on his face. Sophia turned back to Thim who was eyeing Douge.

  “Lets make a wager then two on four. If you win I'll let you use my holoroom whenever you want.” This wasn't too hard of a deal to make in a few weeks maybe months she would no longer be on the planet to use it anyways. With Douge behind her the nervousness went away and she started to feel more confident. Thim seemed to consider.

  “ Okay, okay I'm liking that.” Thim said

  “ What if we lose” Bas’ef asked

  “ There's no need to think on that, we're not gonna lose.” Thim said.

  “ If we win.” Douge said.

  “ You buy me twenty boxes of oatmeal.” Sophia said.

  “ Yeah twenty. Wait what?” Douge said baffled “ it should be twice that. Forty boxes of oatmeal.”

  “ Oat-meal?” Thim asked glancing to his other teammates

  “ Yes.” Sophia said a grin on her face

  “ Sure why not.” Thim said.

  Ten minutes passed and the area around them changed as Bes’ef picked a location for their fight. Trees grew out of the ground and the air changed to the fresh scent of pine and wet rocks. The canopy over head covered the false sun dotting the clear ground before them in splotches of darkness. It all reminded her of the rift. Both Douge and herself shared a glance and then nodded.

  Thim wasn't actually a halfling; he was born with a genetic condition called dwarfism. The term was archaic and hardly used these days but was necessary to differentiate him from the other shorter races as medical care was different amongst all of them. In public it was easier to be considered a halfling instead of explaining that he had dwarfism, as it usually led to a conversation about how he's not a dwarf. If only he had thicker muscles and can grow a beard, he might be able to pass as a dwarf but that wasn't possible. Bes'ef picked a forest zone, his team would have an advantage here. Their elf being skilled with Earth Magic. Donning his helmet Gorlufre began chanting out a spell. Their thief, the real halfling Limbel, used wind magic to obscure her position.

  “ Bas’ef sweeping flames on them.” Thim said, watching the two. He recognized the tall man he did look different, thinner really but that was the prime Douge the better of the triplets he was a tank who used earth magic so a similar match up to their tank. Bas’ef finished casting and a wave of fire spit out from his palm. He held his hand to his chest, eyes closed. Thim grinned as he saw the slight shimmer of Limbel making her way on the outskirts of the flames. The flames swept over Douge and his partner. Douge, without looking, still turned to the girl and pulled his shield from his back, holding it up to the flames. It was stupid to think a simple shield could protect the two of them. Gorlufre finished his cast, the earth rumbled as spears of rock emerged from Douge's side. Flashes of light shot out and chunks of molten hot rocks scattered. The moment the fire stopped Thim felt something he didn't know what it was but his instincts screamed at him. Like a deep seated terror. Thim drew his blades bringing them up to block crossing them and catching a long thin sword. Thim gapped if he had been a second late that would have been the end. The women who seemed to float mid-air dashed off his physical form becoming a blur.

  “ Bas’ef!” Thim yelled but he was too late as Bas’ef body feel limp. No physical harm would come to your body inside this place, but the pain and mental strain was very much real. Thim watched in horror as Bas’efs body split horizontally and slowly slid apart. A loud ringing brought his attention back to the present. Gorlufre grunted with exertion as he held back the attack his shield dented. Thim rushed forward as he began to chant. His voice felt gravelly inside his throat as the words of command came out. Droplets of water formed around him in a half arc holding momentarily before shooting off each droplet facing a trail of blue through the sky. The woman didn't seem phased As she dodged her body moved with the flow of wind stance weaving between each attack striking out at Gorlufre keeping him on the defensive. Thim wasn't far and should have been able to help but in the seconds it took for him to turn around and cast his spell Gorlufre was defeated the thin sword slid into the eye slit of his helmet. In less than a minute his team was effectively defeated.

  Sophia groaned and stretched out her body. She hadn't been laying down for long but the mental strain of the fight affected her body. Glancing at the other coats she saw Douge in his full plate mail like he was in the simulation. He shifted as he regained control of his body, taking the fishtank helmet off, swinging his legs and sitting up to face her in one smooth motion.

  “ That felt good.” Douge said leaning his head side to side audible pops could be heard as he reached up pulling his head down.

  “ It did. I've only been able to weight, train and practice my form. I felt good to let loose even if it was just a little. I think you scared that poor halfling.” Sophia said as she held her hand out and up mimicking what Douge had done. After she had dispatched the Humen, elf, and other halfling she had turned to help Douge only to find his blade still undrawn holding the little thief up by their throat. In a display of overwhelming power he had snapped their neck.

  “ Not my proudest moment. It felt brutal but I wanted to see how it felt. See if I could do it.” Douge paused leaning over and cupping his hands together. “ I know that it's just a simulation and something you can't help what happens but I used to feel sick when I would win by killing. Now I don't even feel phased by it.”

  It was typical to fight until surrender, going for non-lethal attacks while inside the simulation. They had both brutalized their opponents and Sophia realized something.

  “ It doesn't bother you anymore because you've seen worse Douge.” Sophia said, only getting a nod in return. There was a long moment of silence before Douge spoke again.

  “ Come on let's go buy snacks and drinks and head to Rin's room “

  Sophia's heart jumped, she had spent so long with out thinking of him why did Douge bring him up

  “ His room?” She asked.

  “ Yeah. He wants to talk with us. Asked me to tell you.” Douge said, moving towards the door carefully stepping around equipment. Sophia's heart leaped at the thought.

  “ Why not just text me that he wanted to meet. He can be so dramatic at times.” She said chastisingly but couldn't hide the smile that was on her face.

  Leaning against the concrete wall Rin looked around. Claire and him had traveled twenty floors down and a few cityscape buildings over. A long walk but not too unpleasant. This section of the block looked identical to the one he grew up in. Claire had decided to go into the general store he was currently leaning against. She asked him to stay outside so he did. He watched as men, women, and even some children walked past. This was a busy hallway but that made sense since there were a large number of stores down this one path so these people were most likely shopping. An old man hobbled over to Rin his whole body was leaned over a cane and he looked in pain. Despite his age his head was full of orange hair. Transplanted? Rin wondered. The old man cackled as he approached.

  “ Well my boy it's good to see you.” The old man said.

  “ Do I know you?” Rin asked. The old man's tone gave Rin a hint of familiarity but he'd never seen this man in his life.

  “ I know you but you don't know me yet. This might be your first time meeting me in memory.” The old man smiled, his grin was toothy with a few missing leaving gaps between them.

  “ This guy is crazy. I suppose that normal there's always a crazy guy.” Rin thought to himself. The old man stared directly at Rin's missing arm.

  “ I see the mark is gone in flesh at least but I can still feel it there lingering like a phantom.”

  This startled Rin, provoking action from him. In a swift motion he pulled malice from his inventory placing the tip of the barrel against the underside of the old man's chin moving in close to obscure the gun from any passerbys.

  “ You're with the cult?” Rin asked, his teeth gritted. “ I should blow his brains out right now but that would make a scene.” Rin thought and glanced towards the sliding glass doors.

  “ My my put that thing back into your inventory. Young boy, you have no need for it today. I am not a part of that farce. I am merely an observer of your story. One that has seen this played out before.” The old man was unphased, his lips closing but curling into a grin.

  “ God’s. What!?” Rin didn't shout but his voice urged anger.

  “Finshe taking that women home. But when she offers to let you inside decline. I know what it is you're doing here. You're searching for that feeling you had with the poor beast-kin girl. You won't find it in the way you think.”

  Rin's eyes went wide. The old man was wrong. That's not what he was doing was it. Yes he was attracted. Very attracted to this woman but he thought. Rin stopped realization dawning on his face. God’s he was going to use her. Not like how he used Liliandra but. He felt a sudden disgust with himself. Another new emotion.

  “ Who are you?” Rin asked, malice disappearing from his hand and as if the old man had been a figment of his imagination, there was no one in front of him. But a voice rang out in his head. A new notification appeared in his vision.

  [Carrot Man has left a gift, do you accept?]

  [Yes]

  [No]

  What kind of name? Rin mentally clicked yes.

  [You have received: Carrot of the Mad King.]

  Baffled Rin pulled it out of his inventory examining the carrot. Such a random thing. Was that man one of the gods? So far the only time his interface has interacted with someone else without his approval was by the Demon King and his interface had called him the progenitor.

  [Carrot of the Mad King : ?????????]