Yesterday, after making it back to the safe zone, Zane had noticed the familiar System chime and realised he’d levelled again.
He hadn’t reacted right away.
Food had been the priority—always food. Once the fires were going and people were settling, he finally opened his stats and made a decision. Dealing with people was becoming harder by the hour, not easier, and if he was going to keep this fragile community from tearing itself apart, he needed every advantage he could get.
So he spent the points.
Two into Charisma.
One into Strength.
One into Dexterity.
One into Intelligence.
It felt… right.
Now, standing outside the Dungeon Cube in the clear morning light, Zane pulled up his stats again.
He stared at them for a long moment.
Not long ago, he’d walked into a dungeon for the first time with shaking hands, a borrowed weapon, and more fear than he’d ever admit out loud. That man felt like someone else now.
Level: 12
Strength: 27
Dexterity: 28
Constitution: 31
Intelligence: 14
Wisdom: 16
Charisma: 18
Zane exhaled slowly.
Bloody hell.
He didn’t feel invincible—not even close—but he felt capable. Solid. Like he could take a hit and keep standing, not just for himself, but for everyone else too.
The problem was, he had no idea where everyone else stood.
Last night had been eaten up by long talks with Max—working through the implications of the soul bond, Skippy’s existence, and what the hell that meant going forward. Important talks. Necessary ones.
But it meant Zane still hadn’t checked in with the rest of the party.
So he made his way over to where Bell and Lily were standing, quietly managing the crowd and keeping people away from the Dungeon Cube. As he approached, he could already tell it was getting too busy for a serious conversation.
Zane cupped his hands around his mouth and called out.
“Anyone who hasn’t had breakfast yet—or needs more food—head to the cooking area now! It’ll be closing shortly!”
The effect was immediate.
People scattered in a rush of footsteps and muttered complaints, most of them sprinting for first—or second—breakfast.
When the area finally cleared, Bell turned slowly toward him, one eyebrow raised.
“Didn’t we agree to keep serving food until nine to keep people calm?”
Zane rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged, not quite meeting her eyes.
“Yeah. I just needed some space to organise things with our lot.”
Lily snorted. “Dad’s version of organisation usually involves yelling.”
“Effective yelling,” Zane corrected mildly.
Bell shook her head, smiling despite herself.
Zane pulled up his stats and shared them with both of them.
“Alright. These are mine. I want to see where everyone’s at. Once we’ve compared, we can go rescue Max and Skippy from Tarni and Kai so they can share theirs too.”
Bell let out a long, appreciative whistle as the numbers appeared.
“Well damn,” she said. “Those stats are almost as sexy as you are, honey.”
To Lily’s absolute horror, her father blushed. Not just his face—his ears, his neck, all the way down.
Bell noticed immediately and laughed.
“Oh don’t look so shocked, sweetheart. Who do you think chased whom back in the day? Your father was painfully shy. I had to ask him out.”
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At the exact same time, Zane and Lily protested.
“Mum!”
“Bell?!”
And, naturally, that was when Tarni chose to walk up.
He’d heard Zane chase off the crowd—and unfortunately, he’d also heard Bell’s last comment.
Tarni clapped Zane on the shoulder and leaned in, speaking in an exaggerated stage whisper.
“Don’t worry, mate. I’ll only tell your kids the best stories about you and Bell’s courtship.”
Zane swung for the back of Tarni’s head without thinking. Tarni dodged easily, laughing as he stepped back.
Before things escalated, Bell stepped between them, placing a firm hand on Tarni’s shoulder. She lowered her voice, perfectly mimicking his whisper from seconds earlier.
“That’s alright, Tarni Walker. I’ll be there to set the story straight.”
Tarni froze.
Then, very deliberately, he raised both hands.
“Okay. Apologies. I withdraw the joke. No exaggerated stories. No embellishments. I value my continued existence.”
Zane gave him the stink eye for a few seconds longer than necessary, but eventually let it go.
Tarni cleared his throat and smoothly changed the subject.
“So. Big guy. Why’d you chase everyone off?”
Zane sighed.
“I want to check in with everyone in the party. Stats, progress, any surprises. If something’s going wrong, I want to know now, not when it blows up in our faces.”
Tarni nodded, the humour fading from his expression.
“Good call.”
The Dungeon Cube loomed nearby—silent, black, and waiting.
And somewhere inside it, a group of armed professionals were learning the hard way that this new world didn’t care about intentions.
___________________________________________________________
Kai shook his head as he watched Kaitlyn, Max, and Skippy rush off together, excitement spilling out of them as they went to show their parents.
Did I just think of Skippy as Emma and Liam’s child?
Why would I even think that? How did that happen?
He frowned, gave his head a quick shake, and shrugged it off. Whatever that meant, he didn’t have time to unpack it right now.
Kai picked up his pace, heading toward the rest of his team—and arrived just in time to hear them finishing up a stats comparison.
“Hey,” Kai said, cutting in. “I want to see everyone’s stats too.”
Tarni was the first to respond, already grinning.
“Yeah, mate. Here you go. These are my basics.”
Tarni Walker
Class: Ozzie Assassin
+5 Points per level
Points to spend: 0
Level: 12
Strength: 22
Dexterity: 32
Constitution: 22
Intelligence: 17
Wisdom: 15
Charisma: 18
Total: 126
Kai scanned the numbers—frowned and mumbled.
“Total of 126. That looks… high.”
He pulled up his own stats beside them.
Kai Rider
Class: Battle Healer
+5 Points per level
Points to spend: 0
Level: 11
Strength: 14
Dexterity: 13
Constitution: 21
Intelligence: 30
Wisdom: 20
Charisma: 10
Total: 108
Kai’s frown deepened as he did the maths in his head.
“…Tarn,” he said slowly, “your stats are ridiculously high.”
Tarni blinked. “They are?”
“My total’s 108,” Kai continued. “I know I’m only level eleven, but yours at level twelve is 126. That’s a difference of 18 stats.”
The mood shifted instantly.
Silence settled over the group.
Kai turned to the others, unease creeping into his voice.
“Alright. Everyone else. Show me. I want to know how far behind I actually am.”
They didn’t argue.
One by one, they shared.
Zane Rider
Class: Vanguard
+5 Points per level
Points to spend: 0
Level: 12
Strength: 27
Dexterity: 28
Constitution: 31
Intelligence: 14
Wisdom: 16
Charisma: 18
Total: 134
Kai swallowed.
Bell Rider
Class: Hunter Ranger
+5 Points per level
Points to spend: 0
Level: 12
Strength: 20
Dexterity: 20
Constitution: 18
Intelligence: 15
Wisdom: 15
Charisma: 15
Total: 103
Kai shot his Mum a sideways look. “Okay, that one at least makes me feel better.”
Lily Rider
Class: Water Dancer
+5 Points per level
Points to spend: 1
Level: 12
Strength: 20
Dexterity: 20
Constitution: 20
Intelligence: 19
Wisdom: 19
Charisma: 20
Total: 118 plus 1 unspent
Kai stared at Lily’s numbers.
Then he did the maths.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
“…Why do you have six more points than me?” he asked slowly. “We started with the same amount of stats and have the same reward from our titles, You just made it, and You Took Your Time plus one to all stats until level 5.”
Tarni opened his mouth. “Well, mate, you are one level lower—”
“I accounted for that,” Kai snapped, panic creeping into his voice. “That’s five points. Not six.”
He looked around the group now, eyes wide.
“I’m one level lower than Lily… and I’m down eleven points compared to her.”
No one laughed.
No one joked.
For the first time since the System arrived, Kai felt something cold settle in his chest.
Something wasn’t adding up.
And in a world where stats meant survival, that scared him more than any monster ever had.
Before Kai could spiral any further, Lily grabbed him by the shoulders and started shaking him—hard.
“Remember my new title!” she snapped, speaking directly into his face. “Keeping It Even! I got six extra points from that!”
Kai froze.
Then he peeled Lily’s hands off his shoulders, stared at her for half a second—and slapped his own forehead.
“OHHH MY GOD,” he groaned. “I literally just explained that title to Max. I watched it trigger on Skippy’s stats. And somehow, in the thirty seconds it took me to walk over here, I completely forgot it existed.”
Tarni burst out laughing. “Mate, you’ve been healing people nonstop, running on fumes, and the world ended yesterday. I reckon you get a free pass.”
Lily smirked. “Plus, panic suits you. Really brings out your eyes.”
Kai shot her a look and, with a roll of the eyes, said, “I hate all of you.”
Zane clapped him on the shoulder. “Good. That means you’re thinking straight again.”
Kai exhaled slowly, the tight knot in his chest finally loosening. “Right. Okay. No stat conspiracy. Just… titles doing exactly what they say on the tin.”
Lily crossed her arms, satisfied. “Which is why we keep notes.”
Kai nodded. “And why we don’t do maths while sleep-deprived and surrounded by overpowered, smelly assassins.”
Tarni grinned wider. “Oi. Overpowered by design.”
With an elbow to Kai's ribs, Lily teased.
“Maybe the smell is overpowering due to your lack of stats.” Before she skipped out of his reach, laughing.
The tension bled out of the group, replaced by tired laughter—and the quiet certainty that, strange as the System was, it was still playing by rules.
Rules they were finally starting to understand.
