<Alex, Real - Endure, High School Class Room>

Bzzt! Alex growled.

He wasn't making progress any more, and he knew that tiredness was the reason, no matter what his stamina gauge said.

He was worn out, but he still didn't want to sleep.

In truth, as he considered, he didn't want to stop because he didn't want to be alone with his thoughts, but he even shied away from that notion.

BZZT!

Alex threw the silly box into his Inventory before throwing up his hands. "Fine! I'll sleep!"

He wasn't sure who he was talking to.

The beginning of the 'last attempts' had gone well as he leaned more heavily on his Basic Mana Manipulation skill, but it hadn't taken long before he'd fallen into a fog of somewhat mindless attempts.

He should have stopped then.

Well, I've stopped now.

He was still sitting in a chair, however. It wasn't a very comfortable chair, and for what felt like the umpteenth time, Alex considered going back to the bank to grab the chair he'd left behind.

…It just wasn't worth it.

If he was nearby, going out for some other reason? He'd grab it, but he doubted that would come about.

Regardless, as things now stood, he both was mildly uncomfortable and unwilling to rise.

He thumbed his wedding band, his mind beginning to sink into unpleasant thoughts.

Thirty-two. At least thirty-two Initiates died who we might have saved. True, it was possible there were even more, but he refused to acknowledge that possibility. On the other side, those sixty-eight might have been only potentially savable if he'd had outside knowledge… even so, he couldn't let himself off the hook that easily.

What if he'd been faster? What if they'd investigated on the way back, instead of getting some back to the base, then going out again?

He shifted in the chair, more in an attempt to relieve his mental discomfort than his physical.

"Did I do right, love?"

He knew his wife couldn't hear him. He knew she wouldn't answer, but he still asked. He still longed to get a response that he knew would never come.

He didn't cry, his eyes didn't even water. The loss was an old one, long worn smooth by years of remembrance, her absence had long become a familiar weight within him.

He sat there in self-recriminating silence, knowing he was being a bit silly, but hating the results all the same.

Alex tossed and turned in the chair, unwilling to force himself to stand, and yet wanting nothing more than to sleep.

He wished she were there, but she wasn't. She hadn't been in years, and she never would be again. Yet, even still, he knew what she would have said, 'What do you think, Alex? Did you ignore something that could have changed your choice?'

"No… I made the best choice that I could have at the time. Still…"

'You can only do what you can, my love. No one is perfect.'

"But I could have done better…"

He was being unreasonable, and he knew it. She'd have known it too. 'Go to sleep, my love. You are well past what your mind can bear. Tackle this fresh in the morning.'

Alex groused, then groaned and forced himself to stand. He was near to truly hallucinating his dead wife into the room with him, and while a large part of him found that idea appealing, most of him knew it wouldn't be a good road to go down.

Thus, he slumped off to find a bed, prepared to tackle his various tasks in the morning.

He felt like he barely closed his eyes when they popped open again, revealing a dimly lit room with no one else in it.

There had been quite a few sleeping figures when he'd come in the night before, but they'd all seemingly woken and departed already. They'd either been kind enough to not wake him, or he'd been so exhausted that what noise they did make hadn't mattered. Either way, he was grateful.

He groaned, looking around to see what had woken him, but found no one and nothing out of place.

He'd just woken up because he'd rested enough.

That… Huh… That's novel.

It felt like it had been ages since he'd been able to do that.

He almost pulled out the clear box and set to again, but his stomach rumbled, and he decided to check on what food might be available. I hope I didn't miss another meal…

He stood and stretched, twisting this way and that, feeling a bit of a twinge in his back still. I also need to find time to stretch properly…

Thoughts of his back took him back to the undead hammer-crest that had caused the injury, and that made him think of the unturned and their 'late-onset rigamortous'.

That also made him think of Phil, the non-Inititiate who was the first person that Alex had unturned.

He only hesitated a moment before nodding to himself. "Food, then Phil."

He chuckled, still working to wake up. "Fill me, then Phil."

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He chuckled again.

Yeah… He needed a bit more time to wake up.

That in mind, he started walking, using the movement to do just that and stretch as he went. He hopped as he walked, easily lifting a foot or two of the ground with each hop. He shook out his arms and rocked his head back and forth, doing his best to get his blood pumping.

Alex was sure that he looked ridiculous, but it was what it was.

By the time he made it to the cafeteria, he was more or less ready for the day. There weren't many people around, but Ms. Woods was nearby, and she approached him as he arrived, pulling out two meals worth of food from her Inventory. "Natasha asked us to hold onto these for you." She smiled. "You needed the rest, and you shouldn't miss out on food."

Alex took the offered meals with a grateful smile. "Thank you, Ms. Woods."

"Of course. We non-combatants need to help how we can." Without waiting, or trying to extend the conversation, she turned and strode off, clearly seeming to have a purpose.

He hesitated a moment, then shrugged, beginning to eat the first of the offerings, the other already in his own Inventory to help maintain its freshness until he could get to it.

That had been easier and faster than he'd expected, so he decided to go try out his new utility of Create Water to have a personalized shower.

For ease, he decided to use the shower stalls that were already in place. Thus, he made his way to the locker rooms and found several other people already availing themselves of the luxury.

Thankfully, there was still a shower open, and he stepped in, moving all his clothing to his Inventory with a thought.

Naked, he cast his spell up near the ceiling, letting the water rain down on him.

If he remembered right, even a low-flow shower was nearly two gallons of water per minute. That was… that was a lot now that he considered it. His mana regeneration was still so low that even using room temperature water, it would take him more than a quarter hour to recharge his mana for each minute he took for his shower.

He didn't want a room temperature shower.

He did take the time to test temperature and placement, and as it turned out, creating the water at the extent of his magical reach—that being roughly three feet above his head—made for an alright speed for the water as it fell down. Doubling the mana to two mana per cup of water resulted in a pleasantly hot temperature as well. So that meant it would take a half-hour of regeneration to restore his mana for every minute of showering, at least for the moment.

That discovered, he sighed and simply turned on the facet.

It was actually about the same mana cost to use the showers as for his spell, but that cost came from the base's pool, which everyone contributed to, allowing a truly prodigious supply and constant increase that together made such luxuries reasonable, so long as he didn't take too long.

It's a more efficient use of my mana through the base than if I do it myself too. He chuckled at the thought, then stopped to consider.

The base was ingenious in how it essentially utilized the recharge rate of everyone within, keeping that 'extra' from being wasted. Could he do something similar?

In the past, he'd considered filling water skins with his excess recharge rate, but he didn't need that much water himself. But what about doing it with hot water? His Inventory would keep it hot, and he could then use it for the meals or tea, coffee, or bathing?

If he did that, though, he'd be depriving the base of his recharge rate…

Still, if he was outside the base's reach? Yeah, he could try. And it would exercise my use of Inventory too.

He wasn't sure that he wanted to be slowly filling his Inventory with boiling water, but it was at least an idea.

An idea for later.

He used a towel from his Inventory before leaving it to dry on a rack and taking a fresh one into the space for later. It was time to take another, fresh crack at the clear boxes, then he'd need to…

He stopped, having just willed his clothing back into place. He grimaced and sighed. "No, I need to check on Phil and the other unturned. Then I can take another crack at the boxes and go from there."

That decided, he headed off to find those people. As it turned out, they were all in a first floor room that seemed to have been converted for the purpose of keeping them together and comfortable as they convalesced.

Phil was still weak, having not really recovered much—if any—since Alex had un-turned him.

The other three were actually all awake, even if they were resting and weak. All told, it didn't take long for Alex to figure out the broad strokes of what had happened.

The base had been doing alright, keeping the few undead who took note of them at bay as enemies swarmed past in growing numbers, but a few of the Initiates had started to hear… something, promising them power and safety. It was quickly noticed that those with the lowest Mental Fortitude were the only ones subject to the promises, and that made it clear that it was an attack, rather than a System granted option.

Alex was all the more grateful that he'd just upped his Mental Fortitude so much…

Unfortunately for the other base, even with them all 'knowing' that it likely wasn't a real offer, one of their number had seemingly fallen to temptation.

That mere acceptance had turned their base from 'secure' to 'under contestation' or something similar, and the undead that had been largely ignoring them due to their defenses had surged inward instead.

The beast tamer had tried to kill the traitor, but even when the traitor had fallen, it hadn't been enough, the undead having already breached the outermost defenses.

Things degraded from there.

They fought as best as they could, but they were taken down or turned one by one.

Alex knew the rest already.

It was a bit of a horrifying prospect, especially since they hadn't faced—let alone killed—anything that seemed to have powers bent toward such subversions. That meant it could be out there, right then, trying to gain access to this base.

Henry caught Alex's attention and informed him that Kaylee had been by earlier, and after the discussion, she'd apparently purchased some base upgrades to counter just that. Better, it was one that wasn't considered a 'perfect' defense, so it should remain up… if they understood things correctly.

In essence, the upgrade effectively added a hundred points to every occupants' Mental Fortitude for the purpose of resisting compulsion and subversion.

That… that was actually quite reassuring now that Alex considered it. The System hadn't lied to them yet, at least not in any way he'd been able to catch. One hundred points was a near doubling of Alex's Mental Fortitude, so it should be far more than that for most others.

All that to say, if the System 'sold' Kaylee a counter to a specific threat, they had no reason to believe it wasn't effective.

That determined, Alex did his best to check the unturned over thoroughly, finding that they were essentially unchanged. Their bodies were not naturally generating excess Life despite being at their currently diminished maximum.

So, that is a benefit of my race? Or maybe my class? He wasn't sure as both were unique among those he knew. Regardless, it meant that infirmities wouldn't be going away on their own. Or it means that it's only been a day, and we should be patient…

Either way, the seeming lack of Life recovery meant that even if he could figure out a way to use other people's Life, they might not naturally recover it. He intended to try regardless, partly because he should be able to replace it afterward, and partially because the potential was too powerful of a tool to ignore, if it was possible.

After all, if I took a point or two of Life from everyone in the base I could heal these Initiates completely, and most people wouldn't notice the difference, even if they had their full lives ahead of them.

Yes. It was definitely worth the attempt… after he attempted the boxes again.

In the end, he thanked the four—the three Initiates and Phil—and left them to get some more rest.

He had boxes to open and, hopefully, loot to enjoy.

And best of all?

Best of all, they'd already paid the System imposed 'boss spawn' for the loot from the bank, so opening those boxes should be a complete boon.

That is, if he could get them open at all.

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