The next day, Matt was on his way to the cave where the Goblin bandits were living, planning, and generally having a good day.
It was his intent to change every aspect of that sentence to dead.
Initially his plan was to kill them for experience, loot their corpses and maybe head home, but in the span of twenty four hours…well nothing about that had really changed except for where home was, and the fact that he now got Merit for his efforts.
He had spent the night going through the Merit system and was shocked to find that the currency could be exchanged…for currency.
That's right, he could convert his Merit directly into System Credits, and while that might not seem like much, it was actually a much more intense realization than he thought.
You see, the problem with trading with people is they have a need to change prices based on things like supply and demand, something the System simply didn't worry about. The reason for this is that even though the System valued Merit at a 1:1 ratio with credits, the simple fact of the matter was that Merit was surprisingly difficult to gather…for normal people who didn't kill things and explore for a living.
To make the situation even more interesting, Matt could submit almost anything to the Merit Exchange, he was going to push this title change as hard as he could, anywhere within a hundred miles of his town of origin. This meant that Matt could go out in the morning, do a few hours of work and come back several thousand credits richer, and these were normal credits, so he could spend them on Earth as well as he could anywhere else.
Establishing a Merit Exchange was also exceedingly difficult since one of the major criteria was that the entire civilization had to collectively agree with a System generated vote that not only was expanding was valuable, but also that the Merit Exchange itself was worth investing in.
Considering the Humans of Earth's collective failure to collaborate on something as direct as avoiding extinction, Matt was fairly positive the trade value on Merit was going to remain stable for quite some time.
So as he walked, practically skipped if we're being honest, he put very little thought to the upcoming mission and its potential dangers.
Now there is a little phrase that's gained popularity, that being "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail". Matt had the general intent of this phrase drilled into his head from a young age and had generally proven to have a solid respect for its wisdom.
While Matt had indeed failed to plan, it is also worth mentioning that another saying was equally true.
'The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.'
This lesson is taught far less often, and even though there were no mice to factor into this situation, Matt soon found that there was no combination of plans or knowledge that could have prepared him for what he found in the cave.
Matt had been told a low population group of Goblins had taken up residence there, so at worst he'd expected to find mildly intelligent folk of a wicked bent or run of the mill goblins who hadn't quite reached intelligence yet.
What Matt found instead was a group of small, green, insane creatures clawing at each other, and not in a good way.
Not in a good way at all.
Body parts littered the cave, with arms and legs ripped and chewed into pieces that would put Earth's most reviled serial killers to shame.
The sight of parts and blood, meat and organs, strewn haphazardly around the cave immediately put the thought that maybe a Walker had gotten there first out of his mind.
No Walker could, or would, do this.
This was the work of a monster.
A fiend.
As the horror mounted, he failed to find an appropriate word to describe the animal capable of this.
Conveniently, as one of these Goblins wandered into view, the System politely offered a term that he had never seen before.
Soul Mimic: Goblin
Level 90
The term meant nothing to him, a fact that changed as the feral creature caught sight of him and was on him so fast the air barely had time to react.
Viciously sharp claws and fangs approached at nightmarishly fast speeds, intent on replicating its priorly brutal success with its fellow Goblins.
Had Matt been a normal Walker, this might have worked.
The thing discovered two things, one that Matt was much faster than it, and two he held an impressively sharp sword.
It discovered these things simultaneously because it was split in two with a single swing and both sides of its previously single brain had the thought as it died.
Or at least, as it would have died.
Both halves flew past Matt and landed on the ground outside the cave, almost immediately trying to crawl towards each other.
Before it had the chance, Matt rushed forward and decapitated both sides, an effort that leveled him up to thirty.
Thirty.
Nineteen levels gained with a single kill made no sense, even with its high level.
The creature's halves melted into a faintly glowing teal goo that made him feel nauseous on a scale he didn't know was possible.
Growling came from the cave as another one stepped into a shaft of light behind him.
Turning slowly toward it, his brow furrowed as its neck opened up, revealing the meat of its throat and a row of razor sharp teeth flowed out along the skin.
Its neck mouth moaned low and soft, like death itself calling for him as it began shambling closer to him.
The blood around it began flowing up along its legs and to the new orifice.
It drank long and deep as its ribs broke free of its back and began shooting out as spears toward him.
Carefully trained reflexes let him dodge the bone by centimeters, but the final rib serrated outward and carved a long gash along his shoulder. He bit back the yelp that grew in his throat as he watched the creature slump forward without a ribcage to support its upward stance.
Dragging its arms along the ground, it continued shambling toward him with distressing intent.
A split second passed before Matt stepped forward and swung his sword at a slight angle, removing the thing's head from its shoulders.
As it died, its eyes flashed bright teal as some form of energy left its body and flickered to the back of the cave, disappearing abruptly into the mouth of an approaching figure.
Clad in a black business suit, the Goblin dabbed at its mouth with a small cloth as it said, "You'll have to forgive my compatriots their…lack of decor. They were recently exposed to some new worldviews and don't seem to have taken to them very well."
It chuckled, a low smooth sound that felt unnatural coming from the creature's mouth.
Felesterix: Consumption Incarnate
Level 600
Every strand of muscle in Matt's body tightened instantly as he stood as still as possible.
Level 600.
Felesterix radiated power in a way that he had never even considered possible, so much so that space seemed to bend around itself.
A faint sense of hunger began to echo in Matt's stomach, like he hadn't eaten that day, though it began to ebb and flow as it spoke.
"Yes, I do quite respect those who recognize when they have no chance," it said with surprising grace.
Matt took a breath to speak when Felesterix raised a hand and shook its head.
"Don't ruin my opinion with words, young Human. You've caught me at an inopportune time, running tests. I have noticed that you've aligned yourself with that local…settlement, and for that you have my thanks. Despite how it may seem, I am a patriotic member of the Goblin race and your assistance has riled that patriotism up in a special way."
Barely daring to breathe, Matt nodded slowly.
Smiling, ever so slightly revealing sharply pointed teeth, Felesterix continued.
"Taking into account your efforts with my people, I've decided to let you live. No need to thank me, just keep doing your best as you no doubt would have."
Nodding again, Matt did everything he could to make it clear he wouldn't fight or make any stupid choices.
One would think this would be obvious, but Walkers tended to be brash and Felesterix had clearly had enough experience with brash and violent men with more muscle than sense.
The Soul Mimic rubbed its fingers together, taking a moment to consider something before saying, "I see. No, of course not, I would never."
Somehow speaking to someone else, it began to pace back and forth as it muttered through its conversation, leaving Matt to his own, admittedly stationary, devices.
The phrase above one's paygrade is generally used as a means to explain away lacking information or ambition.
This situation preempted an entirely new phrase, something perhaps along the lines of "If I move even a centimeter I will die and nobody will ever know what happened."
A bit wordy for sure, but it was significantly more relevant.
Snapping its fingers, Felesterix said, "I can certainly make it to that meeting, if you need me, sir."
Sir.
It answered to someone?
There must have been a look on Matt's face as the Mimic raised a finger to its lips in a shushing gesture.
Matt nodded hard and fast as it finished its conversation, "No sir, the experiment failed. Understood, I'll forward you the data as soon as I return home so you can look it over before the meeting."
The conversation came to an end and Felesterix sighed deeply as it looked back at Matt, its head twisting at an unnatural angle that might make one assume it would break its own neck.
There seemed to be no such luck, and it said, "Well, duty calls. Feel free to make of this little lab what you will, I'm sure there's much in the back that would be of value to you."
Without waiting for a response, Felesterix's body began contorting in on itself, flesh warping down to a single point before it simply disappeared with a pop as the air rushed to fill the space it formerly occupied.
A second passed.
Several seconds.
A minute.
After five minutes of standing perfectly still, almost unwilling to breathe, Matt collapsed, gasping for air and clutching his chest.
Level 600.
Nobody really knew all that much about levels beyond the basic understanding that having a higher level made you stronger.
Ok, maybe some people knew, but they weren't sharing with the average person. The Bureau was filled with impossibly smart and knowledgeable people, some he looked up to and others he feared, but even they had failed to release information of note in regards to levels.
There were a lot of people who theorized that level 250 was the highest level any living person could reach, likely based on the fact that it was the highest recorded level thus far.
The power pouring off of Felesterix had altered reality and to think that Matt could shrug that off because he was plucky and ambitious was the height of folly.
He couldn't.
His mind raced, alternating between trying to parse the incomprehensible power he'd just witnessed and trying to think of literally anything else to avoid thinking about it.
Inevitably he landed on the idea that many would, justifiably,find themselves considering.
Was Felesterix a God?
Even as the thought finished, something inside of him twitched.
It came from a deep, primal place that would eventually be officially recognized as his soul.
His heart raced even faster as gruesome vitriol flooded his mind, a vicious hatred he'd never experienced before.
The words appeared in his mind as jagged static text at the same moment as a System window opened.
There are no Gods.
For some reason, they poured a soothing energy over his overworking mind, a guaranteed constant he could rely on even in the face of whatever that thing was.
Another System notice.
True and False > True and False [Max]
What the hell?
Skills, abilities, Unique Abilities, everything in between and everything beyond that scope possessed the potential to grow and even evolve. It was common knowledge that mastering a spell like Fireball had multiple possible evolutions depending on how one used it, so the change itself wasn't shocking.
What caught him off guard was that it had improved at all.
The skill was…unimpressive to say the least.
It let him know when people were lying, to be sure, but even for a passive skill, it didn't seem to do much otherwise.
What had triggered its growth?
The only thing he could think was that using it had to have improved it somehow, or maybe he'd improved his use of it?
Pushed, for a moment, to the edges of his ability to understand the world and what he knew, had he discovered a truth of the world…or a falsehood?
The mental relief from True and False triggering gave him the energy to stand again, even hold himself upright.
The Human mind, as it would be discovered later, was perhaps one of the strongest strengths his race had as a tool for survival, despite their current plan to seemingly ignore that. It was this very strength that allowed him to recover from what many might consider existential obliteration and push on past the still overwhelming gore that had been painted on the walls, floor, and ceiling.
At the very back of the cave was a pile of gear and assumed valuables that Matt could grab.
Say what you want about the Mimic, it was honest…and generous apparently.
Like so many things about a slow burn System apocalypse, it was important to note that this pile of rewards originated from neither the System nor Human hands. This might seem like a minor thing to mention but it assuredly isn't when you take into account the level 'fairness' the System enforced and the relatively low tier of crafting Humanity had achieved.
With the assumption that the gear and valuables would be sourced from Goblin lands, Matt found his stereotyping challenged once again.
Checking with Identify, he was stunned to see that not only was the gear all high quality, the valuables included multiple thousands of Merit worth of crafting materials and jewelry.
Oddly enough, there were several weapons that seemed like they should have been powerful based on their appearance and a faint, almost echolike, quality of energy they possessed, but were almost completely inert.
Sifting through the entire pile seemed like a tremendous effort of time and knowledge that, quite frankly, he didn't have and didn't see the personal value in accruing.
Not when he had the System!
"System, can you give me a quick value on all of this?"
Ever since the world quest not too long ago, Matt had made an effort to occasionally ask it questions as though it were a person, and while it hadn't paid off yet, he felt it would eventually.
Total Merit available upon submission: 25,385
One Item inadmissible.
Willow Branch
Submit all admissible items?
Yes / No
Overall that was an amazing number to see, and would do wonders for the town.
His home.
A place he could call home, outside of the Uplifters Initiative.
The information still rang in his head like a church bell.
Pushing the warmth away, he pressed the yes button and it all burst into motes of light, disappearing to wherever the System took things.
A single branch of wood, willow apparently, clattered to the ground with no fanfare.
Even seeing it made him feel strange, like it was almost familiar.
Grabbing it made him feel like a kid again, before his parents died and he would play swords with his friends.
Adventurous energy crackled through him as he held it, moments stretching on to hours.
That joy you feel when you remember something pure that you've forgotten, of better times before your life took a wrong turn you couldn't control.
The giddiness tingled in his mind as shook his head and put it in his inventory, letting the smile that had grown on his face linger.
Matt was not an angry person, nor sad or depressed in any way, but a long life of struggling to improve had left him determined and focused to the extent that maybe he forgot it was ok to just be happy sometimes.
A tear came to his eye and after letting it linger for just a moment, he wiped it away and turned to leave the cave.
Even leaving through the mashed up gore splattered entrance did little to bother his mood.
Ok, a little, but seriously who could see that and not be a little distressed.
Behind him, a pair of brightly glowing red eyes blinked as a wide smile opened in the darkness he'd abandoned for the world of light beyond the cave.
The #)@#)# is watching the Eversoul.
Anomaly detected.
Class: Eversoul adjusted for accuracy.
Class: Eversoul has been made into a personal trait.
Personal Trait: Eversoul has been activated.
Paradox Confirmed.
Paradox Reconciled.
Constellation #)@#)# has been given a new moniker.
The Queen of Time has chosen her moniker.