Nate stood at the center of an ancient stone altar. Around him, translucent figures drifted in the half-dark, each holding a different weapon, waiting to be picked."Please name your character."The system voice was warm, almost musical, and it landed right inside his skull.He thought for about half a second. "Wren.""Name accepted."Cheap, maybe. A swallow had always been his mother's favorite bird—small, tough, showed up every spring when nothing else did. It beat the edgy garbage half the people on the forums were calling themselves."Please choose your class. Touch a figure to read its details."He walked the ring. Melee classes ran on Strength and Vitality. Rogues and archers on Agility. Mages and healers on Intelligence. Standard textbook stuff.Then he stopped in front of the figure holding a long spear.He'd always loved spears. No cool reason. Just that a spear looked like it meant business in a way a sword never quite did.He closed his hand around the shaft. It was solid,

The meeting room smelled of cheap coffee and forty nervous people trying not to look nervous. Nate walked in late, cup in hand, and found a seat near the back like he always did. Suite 3001 had booked out the whole room, and it was big enough to hold sixty, which meant there were plenty of empty folding chairs to avoid sitting in.Cassie's brother was already on the stage.Nate hadn't met him yet. The guy wore a tailored suit that clearly cost more than Nate's rent, thin glasses, and the kind of jaw that looked like it had been drawn with a ruler. He stood at the front with his hands folded, waiting for the room to shut up, and the room shut up fast."Good morning," he said. His voice was cool, educated, just aloof enough to let everybody know he considered this a waste of his morning. "I'm Grant Reid. I run this house now. Whatever you were doing before you walked in here, whatever your old title was, forget it. You work for Red Dragon now. You do it well, I take care of you. You don

"Mr. Reid, the numbers are in."Brittany stood in the doorway of Grant's office, folder in hand."Spit it out." Grant was reclining in his chair, one leg over the arm, nursing a steaming coffee like it owed him money."Thirty-eight employees hit level two by six p.m. Eighteen of those should reach level three by tomorrow. The other twelve are still level one. Nobody's level three yet." She closed the folder, hesitated. "And that Wren you asked about. He's still level one, only..."Grant didn't look up. "Only what.""He's at one percent experience. Dead last on the whole board."Grant took a sip of coffee. "Slacker. Find a reason to can him in a couple days." He put the cup down and turned back to his monitor, like the whole conversation had already bored him.Nate had no idea a little red X was already drawn next to his name. He logged out, yawned, and went home to a quiet night, happy enough.* * *Next morning he logged in the second he sat down and pulled up the village board. The

**Primordial Soul Core****Quality: Rare****Use: all stats +1. Rootedness +1.**That's what the glowing ball was.He had no idea what Rootedness actually did, but "all stats plus one" alone made this whole ridiculous trial worth the bruises. He used it on the spot.The light unraveled into fine threads and sank into his skin. It felt like stepping into a warm bath—like some slow energy was washing him clean from the inside out. When the last of the glow faded, he opened his sheet.**Wren — Level 1****Strength: 4 | Vitality: 2 | Agility: 2 | Intelligence: 2****Attack: 27 | HP: 200 | MP: 100****P.Def: 6 | M.Def: 6****Attack Speed: 1.2 | Move Speed: 1.2****Rootedness: 1****Talent: Spear Mastery (Rare).****Basic Spearplay Lv4 (+1) — spear damage +50%.**Twenty-seven attack, before the fifty percent skill bump. He honestly thought he could take on a level-three mob now.He closed the sheet and hit teleport out. A flash, and he was back at the training yard gate, Blooddrinker in han

It was the Sovereigns, and they were back five minutes early."Hah!" The first one to spot them yelled over his shoulder. "Boss, they're on the wolf! It's almost dead!"More players poured out of the trees than before."On them! Kill and loot the wolf!" Rex was already pushing his way through, and the whole swarm surged.Nate's trio had no choice—they fell back, ceding the wolf for a second. The Sovereigns peeled off several of their own to start hitting the wolf, which took the pressure off Nate's side. Nate's heavy armor plus Blooddrinker could tank it for a minute. Wade and Sloane were the problem—their bars dropping faster than the potions could keep up. All the skill in the world didn't stop a hundred arrows. Rex kept finding little angles to snipe from."Fight us, will you," he called. "Today we grind you down to zero!"The direwolf's bar hit its bottom edge—under two hundred HP—and its eyes flared red.Nate knew that look. The skill.*ROAR.* The wolf's claws lashed forward thre