“How did you get a profession?” Tucker asked, annoyed.

  “Found a dungeon that helped me. Well, kinda forced me actually. I have a bunch of tools that I had to go through to see if I could trigger it. You want to see if one works for you? You’d have to stay here and not come help with the control sphere confrontation.”

  “Fuck that!” Tucker said.

  “Must you antagonize him?” Cari asked me.

  I smiled wider and nodded as I turned to the bubble and extended my hand. As before, an opening appeared within the bubble. We all stepped through and I instantly felt the shift in ambient energy as my recovery improved. I took a deep breath and my senses picked up the power deeper within the territory.

  “You feel that?” Gregory asked.

  “Better recovery,” I said as I walked forward. “I think the Control Sphere must be able to alter the ambient magic within the protective bubble.”

  I double-checked the current quest, which had updated what information it showed.

  Quest: Concrete Jungle.

  Objective: Band together and take over the city. Control the most spheres. Each sphere is marked with a beacon and/or bubble.

  Control Spheres Controlled by You: 0/200.

  Total Control Spheres Controlled: 168/200.

  “Let’s hope they have more than one. Do you think they’ll be different flavors?” I said cheerfully as we moved deeper in. I realized I had to slow down a bit so the others could keep up.

  “I don’t think you’re supposed to eat them,” Gregory said.

  “Well, I don’t think I’d care to deal with controlling them.” I said. I’d been offered management opportunities before at the factory, but I liked what I did and it afforded me the means to have hobbies outside of work, so I was fine. Dealing with people was all fine and everything, but I just didn’t want any of the responsibility that came with it. Plus, being forced to fire people you liked and worked with was not something I ever wanted to have to do.

  “We could manage the sphere,” Cari said, batting her eyes at me.

  “I want to try at least one, just to see. Do we even know what the item rarity of these Control Spheres is?”

  “I’ve heard they are Common, but I don’t know if they differ,” Gregory said.

  “Great! I can verify a theory I have. Do you mind if I run ahead? I can leave an easy to follow trail if you need.”

  “I’m a great tracker, thank you very much! We’ll be right behind you,” Tucker huffed.

  Without another word I leapt away, sprinting between buildings and quickly out of sight of my new companions.

  My senses kept me in the right direction, and I cloaked myself as I neared the outskirts of a large camp. I spotted the five people who had taunted us speaking at one of the many campfires. I could see that everyone was armed, with weapons every bit as varied as the humanoids. What fascinated me most of all was that the most powerful being in the camp was a human.

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  For that to be the case, based on the race selection room, meant that the person needed to be skilled enough as a human to survive in the tutorial space. The human had several different bows on their person, including several hand crossbows, a shortbow attached to his belt, and a long bow on his back. Interestingly to me, he had no quivers.

  Human. Level 32.

  Ding dang. He either has a profession or has an insanely high level class. I was pondering this when the man looked directly at me.

  Shit.

  Of course he would have a high perception. He stood, grabbed a hand crossbow, and I watched a glowing bolt form in the weapon. No need for quiver. Got it.

  “Come on out!” the man yelled. The camp went silent.

  Shrugging, I deactivated my cloak and stepped out into the camp, waving my two right hands.

  “You are the one who bit a hole into the bubble, correct?” the man said.

  “Yep! Hi, I’m Dan,” I said. A hand crossbow bolt struck me in the shoulder. It did more damage than I expected, but I grunted as I pulled it out and examined it. I tossed it in my mouth and chewed, its consumed magic slightly healing the wound it had just made. “That’s rude, man!”

  “We are trying to keep others out. You have interrupted that. Did you bring those other six?”

  “My mom always told me not to talk to strangers, especially rude ones,” I said, readying myself for the next attack. “Wait, why are you okay with just chilling in here while all the fun is outside?”

  This time I was prepared. Another bolt flew at me and I dodged to the left, only to get a thrown dagger in my damned neck. I felt blood seep out as I plucked it out and ate it. The wound closed up as I received the powerful energy within.

  You have devoured Keen Dagger, Inferior. All stats increased by 5. Consuming magic items does not grant experience.

  “Hey! That was my best dagger!” the woman shouted, her lizard-like eyelids blinking sideways. She has leathery green skin and a trail of small horns running down the center of her head.

  Lacertilian. Level 21. Lacertilians are the most common lizardfolk race throughout the multiverse. They can have a variety of attributes including venom, hardened scales, or improved senses when flicking their forked tongue.

  “You hit my neck!” I gurgled back, coughing up a bit of blood despite the already mostly closed up wound. Then something weird happened.

  DING! Class: Hypocrite Revolutionary has increased from Level 12 to Level 13.

  DING! Race: Omnis Vorare has increased from Level 12 to Level 13.

  “Seriously?! The Control Spheres feed you experience?” I said, flabbergasted. “Let me guess, you have to share the experience gains and that’s why you are trying to keep others out.”

  “Of course,” the man said, putting away his crossbow and retrieving his short bow. An arrow formed as he drew. “Now, you will get out or we will kill you.”

  “I don’t think that’s going to happen the way you think it will,” Gregory said from behind me. “This guy is a real monster. He ate a whole Steelflame Bull by himself!”

  Murmuring started around the camp. The man still stubbornly pointed the bow at me and the others. The arrow flared with a dark aura as the archer fired at me again. The arrow struck me in the chest and launched me away to crash through one of the corners of a nearby building. I could still hear the commotion as I landed hard. I groaned to my feet and reached for the arrow only to find it gone. Damn.

  “Leave now, or share the same fate as the four armed beast,” the archer said, arching an eyebrow as I ran back, rubbing the slowly healing hole in my chest.

  “That one hurt, you prick!” I said. “Come on, guys, let's go.”

  Cari, Gregory, and Tucker stared at me as I walked away back toward the bubble. They quickly moved into step behind me.

  “You could take that guy!” Tucker said with more optimism than I felt.

  “That shot dropped me to 25 percent of my health, which I was not expecting. Maybe if it was just him, but it definitely isn't. I have a few ideas, but I'll likely need your help.”

  “You aren't getting our magic items to boost yourself,” Gregory said.

  I waved that away. “I'll only eat your magic stuff if you die, I promise.”

  “That's weirdly comforting,” Cari said as we reached the edge of the bubble. I was about to open it again when I sensed it.

  Or, more precisely, her.