SoK Chapter 144

The path through campus was easy, especially since more than half of it had been left untouched by the New Republic. The places that Sven and Raya had seemed to decide they couldn’t protect were left alone, and they’d chosen to disregard the buildings already destroyed by monstrous presences. TJ realized that he hadn’t asked anyone about if they’d been in whatever Tutorial was here in Tempe, and what monsters they’d fought here. Or how big the bounds of the Tutorial were. Sure, he didn’t have any clue as to how big his own Tutorial had been, but he’d traveled at least a dozen miles to get to Pine, and it stretched a fair distance in every direction from there, which seemed to be the center of it.

Ideas of how the other Tutorials flicked through his mind as TJ ran through the streets. A couple creatures seemed to be moving behind walls and out of sight, and TJ didn’t care enough to track them down. He wouldn’t get any meaningful experience out of it, and the people who needed the experience would have to search further for the ability to grow strong enough to protect themselves. Seeing the destruction all around, TJ couldn’t help but wonder what had caused all this to happen. Sure, some of it was sure to have been people with the same kind of idea that he’d had to try to build up a barricade, but that didn’t explain all of it. In fact, most of these broken walls and remnants of destruction obviously came from something larger than any Participant TJ had seen, including himself in Divine Transformation.

Maybe a Vargr had been the Boss for one of the Tutorials? Or something like it? TJ couldn’t say if he’d prefer a Boss tier Vargr or the Wendigo Ritualist. He was familiar with the Wendigo, but its Skills were painful and hard to deal with. On the other hand, a regular Copper tiered Vargr’s Skill was enough to hurt him when he was basically the same level as it. What would the Vargr’s other Skills be? As far as TJ knew, an Elite got one or two Skills, like the Wendigo’s frost and cannibalism, and the Boss got another, the ability to reanimate corpses. Maybe it was something different about it being Copper tier? The System didn’t answer when he asked it… 

Then what other Skills would a Vargr have? Dozens of thoughts about how much more dangerous the world was than he’d already expected filled TJ’s mind. He sighed, realizing, once again, just how little he understood. This world… it wouldn’t ever be safe for Junior. He couldn’t guarantee it, even if he ascended to godhood. He’d seen in visions and, hell, he’d read in any mythology that the gods were always fighting. In the Bible there were the angels and the devils, the Greek gods were constantly overthrowing each other, there was Ragnarok for the Norse…

For the first time, TJ almost wished he’d just brought Junior out right now. There hadn’t been any real dangers so far, and he could have protected his son against everything that’d happened. If he’d taken it seriously, the Vargr would have died quite quickly, so it could have been—

No. There were Silver tiers that were going to make their appearance. TJ didn’t think the System would let one just shred everyone to pieces any time soon, but it was a threat that was going to appear sometime. If TJ couldn’t do something to protect Junior before that, he wasn’t going to allow him to come out here.

Conversely, the longer it took for Junior to come out of the stasis, the more disadvantaged he would be, given that the world would evidently continue to grow more and more dangerous as time went on. So, just as he evolved to Silver would probably be the best time possible for him to bring his son into this new world. The thought terrified him. When Mari had died, TJ had gotten rid of his bike out of fear that he’d get killed on it. Now, he had to choose to bring his son into the most dangerous version of the world that he could imagine. A Gold tier… it could destroy everything around him without a second thought.

TJ focused himself on his immediate surroundings. He was nearing his neighborhood, and there were faint sounds nearby. He couldn’t place any of them as in his house, so he didn’t concern himself with them. After all, the world was different now, and people could take care of themselves. When he realized what the voices were saying, though, he got real involved in a real hurry.

“I found it, so it’s mine!”

“Are you stupid? If someone can kill what this came from before preparing this, then they’ll come back for it! You’ll get yourself killed! Just keep the food, since we’ll eat it and it’ll disappear. The pelt is too much!”

“And that’ll be my problem! Look, if we’re nowhere near here when they get back, then there’s no way they’ll know it was me. We’ll get some awesome stuff out of it, and nobody will know or care!”

A man and woman were fighting over TJ’s pelt. They’d made their way down the street, fortunately in the direction he was coming from. They, obviously, didn’t know who he was, and they were so caught up in the fight that they didn’t realize he was coming. The woman was arguing to leave the pelt, the man to keep it. They both had backpacks stuffed full of something he couldn’t see, though he had some guesses as to what it could be. With a thought, TJ activated Stealth through his Shroud and came closer to the couple as he Appraised them.

Zealot, 18

Acolyte, 17

The woman was the Zealot, the man the Acolyte. From behind, he could see that there was food stuffed in their packs, and he swore he saw his sleeves of oreos. Kukulkan’s pride swelled inside of him, at these weak petty thieves thought themselves capable of robbing his home when he wasn’t present? He nearly killed them both out of hand, but TJ grabbed the writhing serpent of revenge and pulled it back to a more reasonable calm. Even so, the small amount of goodwill he’d fought to maintain towards them died in that second, and, while the woman slowly gave up on the pelt and let it go, TJ lunged forward and placed his hands on the back of both of their necks. 

To their credit, both of the arguing Participants reacted pretty quickly. She pulled a kitchen knife out of her jacket to stab him with, while the man’s Sacred Weapon, a crossbow, appeared in his hands. TJ was more than quick enough to deal with both, though. He shoved the Zealot hard, away from him, and pulled the Acolyte close, his hand on the man’s throat.

“What the fuck man?” the Acolyte shouted as he turned and saw TJ’s face. “You don’t do that! You’re lucky you didn’t get stabbed! Now let me go!”

Though the Acolyte blustered and cursed, TJ saw the very second that the Zealot Appraised him. Her face went pale, and she, with shaking hands, put her knife back in its sheath as she raised her hands in a conciliatory manner.

“I will once you give me back everything you just stole from my house.” TJ tried to keep his voice calm. After all, petty theft didn’t merit death, and if he lost his cool, that’s what’d happen. Maybe being so calm was the wrong choice, though, because the woman’s eyes went wider and she begged,

“Please, don’t kill us! We were just looking for food! We’re hungry, that’s all, ok?”

“That’s why you took the most valuable item in my house and left the meat that’s all prepped to be eaten? That’s why you only took the nonperishable things from before the Integration? Cut the bullshit and give me my supplies.”

More than seeing, TJ felt the man trapped in his arms realize exactly who TJ must be. “You just… you left it, you know? Life is hard, right?”

“It is for all of us, and, by what you were saying, you already knew damn well that there was someone who the shit you were taking belonged to. Now, give me the backpacks and my pelt, and be on your way.”

“They’re our backpacks, man—”

TJ didn’t say a word. He just shook the man once and he went silent. Before the Acolyte could do anything, his companion pulled her backpack off and tossed it over to TJ. He caught it in his free hand before stepping back from his prisoner. Fortunately, the thief didn’t try to pull anything, and just let the backpack fall off his shoulders. Then, when TJ didn’t threaten them any further, they scampered off with a couple glances behind themselves to make sure that he wasn’t following. 

The anger in him wasn’t unfamiliar to his life. TJ’d been angry plenty of times, and it was natural to be. But now that he’d embraced his Bloodline again and again, that he’d taken a Class that pushed him to further embrace Kukulkan’s legacy and mould it to fit his own future, TJ felt his anger grow to be more of a part of him. He was more prideful, and he found himself looking down on people for being weak when he’d never done so before.

You always were weak. That’s why you never did before, you were already on the bottom.

That part inside of him seemed to whisper doubts to him, and TJ wondered if he should even care. Frustrated with continuing to lose himself in stupid philosophizing, TJ grabbed the two backpacks and his pelt before jogging towards his house. In there, he could see that most everything had been ransacked. The two nameless people he’d just caught hadn’t cared about merely taking what was in the house. They’d broken cabinets in their haste, trailed mud and other crap through the house, and a couple wrappers were on the floor from fruit snacks the pair had eaten as soon as they’d found them. 

“Assholes.” TJ muttered to himself as he came to a decision. He couldn’t leave anything of value here, not when he wouldn’t be around to protect it. He’d already known that, but seeing it kinda made him sad. Truly, this wasn’t his home any more. Not anything that he could consider a sanctuary, at least.

The choice made, TJ grabbed his dolly from the garage and a couple of boxes. He filled them with wherever came to mind, sets of jeans and shirts, some of Junior’s clothes as well, and food. With three boxes stacked, the house was basically stripped of everything worth taking, except for the Vargr corpse out back. After thinking about it for a second, TJ wrapped it in an old bed sheet and slung it over his shoulder. He was totally loaded up, but his journey back to campus was only a couple miles, and he could deal with whatever came his way before then.