Zane only narrowly dodged the next swing, rolling across the ground and scooping up his weapon as he went. Pain shot through his leg like lightning—the damaged foot refused to take his weight, and his sprint ended in a stumble.

The troll turned toward him, snarling, yellow tusks gleaming through the haze of dust. Thinking fast, Zane raised his hand. "Create Light!"

The glowing orb appeared stuck to the troll's craggy nose, exploding with brilliance. The creature reeled back, roaring in fury as it threw up one massive arm to shield its eyes. Zane didn't wait—he scrambled away, ducking behind the nearest tree, chest heaving.

For a few heartbeats, there was silence except for his ragged breathing and the pounding of blood in his ears. Then came the low, guttural sound—the troll growling deep in its chest.

Zane froze. It wasn't stumbling around blind like he'd hoped. Instead, it made a strange, snorting noise, its nostrils flaring.

No, no, no—don't tell me it's using smell.

The troll huffed once, then turned toward him. Slowly. Purposefully. Behind it, the forest trembled again. The others were coming—he could feel it through the soles of his boots. But before they reached him, the first troll let out a bellow.

The sound wasn't just loud—it was physical. A wall of force slammed into Zane's chest and skull, dropping him to his knees. His vision blurred, his balance vanished. His eardrums burst with a wet pop, and the world dissolved into silence, replaced by a single shrieking roar inside his head.

He couldn't hear the troll anymore, but he could feel it. Each footstep was a hammer blow through the ground—closer, closer.

Zane raised his head. The massive shadow loomed over the tree, blotting out the light. When the troll came around the trunk, its face was twisted into something that might have been joy—or malice. Maybe both.

He clenched his jaw, tasting blood. His shield came up, trembling in front of him. "Sorry, Bell," he whispered through broken breath. "Sorry, guys. I'm not going to make it."

The troll grinned wider. It reached out one hand, slow and confident, like a child about to crush a bug.

Zane moved. He threw himself forward with everything he had left, both legs pushing off the ground—even the shattered one. Pain flared white-hot, but he ignored it, screaming wordlessly as he drove the machete upward. His hope—his prayer—was to force the blade through the soft skin beneath the troll's jaw and drive it deep into its mouth, straight toward the creature's brain.

Steel met flesh.

The troll roared, its hot breath washing over him. Zane barely had time to register the impact before he saw the troll's arm coming down—fast, impossibly fast. Even with everything he had, he wasn't going to get more than a few centimetres of the blade in before he was hit.

The shadow fell over him.

Ding!

SYSTEM INITIALISATION COMPLETE Your world has been successfully integrated.

Before the troll's hand could do more than brush against him, Zane heard it—the ding—clear as crystal, even though his eardrums were ruined.

And then he was gone.

He didn't fade. He was thrown.

The world snapped around him like a breaking rope, and suddenly he slammed shoulder-first into solid stone—the wall of the cube's tunnel—his body bouncing and rolling until he came to rest in the dirt.

Bell was still standing outside the Dungeon Cube's entrance, whispering prayers to the System, to the old gods and the new—anyone who might listen—for Zane's safe return.

When the light above the cube flickered and a body was suddenly hurled out, she screamed.

The figure hit the dirt hard, rolling once before coming to rest in a bloody heap. For a heartbeat, her mind refused to understand what she was seeing—then it hit her.

It was Zane.

Oh my god. He's dead.

Her body moved before thought could catch up. Two stumbling steps, then she was on her knees beside him, hands clutching his arm. "No—no, please! No!" she cried, trying to pull him toward her.

But then his arm twitched, slipping from her grasp, and his head turned just enough for her to see his face.

He was smiling.

That same crooked, infuriating smile that said I told you I'd be fine.

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Bell's breath caught. "You are not fine, Zane Rider!"

He blinked up at her, confused. "What?" he shouted, then pointed at his ears. "I think my eardrums are gone!"

Before she could say more, Kai and Lily skidded to a stop beside them, both pale and wide-eyed. Bell still had a death grip on Zane's arm as she kept scolding him, half in tears, half in fury.

Kai dropped to his knees beside his father, hands already glowing faintly. His healing skill flared to life, whispering the list of injuries into his mind—broken bones, torn muscle, burst eardrums, internal bruising, a shattered ankle.

He focused, steadying his breath.

First, a general heal to stabilise his father. Then a targeted one for the head—ears, nerves, skull. Finally, one more focused on the shattered foot, the magic sinking deep into the tissue before his skill warned him to stop.

Zane gasped, blinking as his hearing slowly began to return.

Bell was still holding onto him, tears on her cheeks. "Don't you ever do that to me again," she whispered.

Staff Sergeant Scott Lewis wasn't paying much attention to the commotion near the Dungeon Cube's entrance. Most of his focus was locked on the glowing blue panel hovering stubbornly in front of his face.

He couldn't even try to swipe it away—his hands were still tied to the damn tree.

SYSTEM MESSAGE Congratulations, Scott Lewis. Your world (Earth) has been fully initialised into the SYSTEM. A Random Skill has been selected for you. Due to the efforts of five champions, you have been granted 3 levels, and the following global integrations are now active:

Skill proficiency now increases through use

• Party system unlocked

• Map system unlocked

• Item drop rate increased

• Safe Zone created (future Safe Zones can be established)

• Bag of Holding added to loot tables

• Job Classes and Crafting Skill Sets added to Skill Tree

• Guild & Quest System unlocked

• Soul-Bond Companions (1 in every 100,000)

• Quality-of-life improvements to the System interface

You have 9 points to spend. Class: Basic Human +3 Points per level Level: 3

Stats Strength: 7 Dexterity: 7 Constitution: 6 Intelligence: 7 Wisdom: 6 Charisma: 7

Titles: Nil Skill: Basic Healing Touch — Active skill. On touch, for a moderate mana cost, perform a basic full-body heal. Gear: Nil

Maya, Hutch, and Deev were all tied to their own trees a few metres away, talking in low, frantic voices.

"It's completely real," Maya whispered. "This is crazy… what's with my skill?" Deev muttered. Then Hutch, louder than the others: "How do I spend these points?"

Scott's instincts snapped back into place. "There will be no spending of points until we have more information!" he barked.

All three of them tried to straighten automatically before shouting in unison, "YES, Staff Sergeant!"

Scott exhaled through his nose, eyes flicking back to the glowing screen. The words Basic Healing Touch hovered just beneath his name. "…Why the hell did I get a healing Skill?" he muttered.

The air around the cube still shimmered faintly, a soft hum that no one dared to approach. Bell sat beside Zane beneath the wide shade of a gum tree, her hand resting on his arm, unwilling to let go again. Zane's breathing had steadied, though his face was pale and his right foot was still tightly wrapped in Kai's bandages.

Lily stood a few paces away, arms crossed, eyes flicking between the tied soldiers and her brother. The soldiers looked different now. The fear and confusion that had clouded their expressions before had been replaced with something else—focus, maybe even belief.

Kai, Lily, Bell, and Zane had a quick talk amongst themselves before agreeing to untie the remaining soldiers, one of them having already left with Tarni to help those at the twins' birthday party.

Staff Sergeant Scott Lewis sat straighter against the tree he'd been tied to. As Kai approached, he hesitated only long enough to glance at Lily, who was covering him with her bow. When she gave a small nod, he pulled a knife from his vest and sliced through the rope. The sound was soft, but it felt loud in the silence that followed.

Scott stood slowly, rubbing his wrists. "Alright," he said, scanning the clearing. "I think it's time we had a proper talk."

Kai stood his ground, his usual shyness replaced by the quiet assurance of someone who'd already seen too much. "You've all seen the blue messages," he said. "You know this isn't just some hallucination or tech trick. The whole world's changed."

Deev gave a short, humorless laugh. "Changed? Mate, batteries are dead, radios are dead, even my bloody digital watch stopped. I'd say that's more than a change."

Scott nodded, his expression tight. "And then there's… healing." He looked down at his hands, flexing his fingers as if he could still feel the faint warmth of his new ability.

Lily stepped closer, her voice calm but firm. "It's the System. It gives us skills—some to fight, some to build, some to heal. The rest of the world is going through the same thing right now. Cities are being attacked by… things."

Scott's jaw tightened. "You mean like those… goblins your mate was talking about, right?"

Bell, still sitting with Zane, looked up. "Yes," she said softly. "And worse. What's coming won't care about your uniforms or ranks. It'll kill anything that moves."

Zane shifted slightly under the gum tree, grimacing as he spoke. "She's right. I just fought a troll the size of a house. Nothing we had before would've touched it. Guns won't work, tech's useless, and the only thing that matters now is what you can do with the System."

The soldiers exchanged uneasy glances. For a moment, none of them spoke. Then Scott nodded slowly. "Alright. Let's say we believe you."

"You do," Lily said quietly. "You've already seen enough to know it's real."

He gave her a small, tired smile. "Yeah. Guess we do." He looked to his team. "We were trained to adapt, to work with what we've got. Right now, what we've got is this… System."

Kai brightened slightly. "That means you'll help?"

"Help?" Scott repeated. "Kid, if what you're saying is true—and it sure looks that way—then we'd be bloody stupid not to. We'll follow your lead until we get the lay of the land."

Maya crossed her arms, giving a slight grin. "I've got a tracking skill too. Might come in handy."

"Yeah, mine is a healing skill." Replied Scott

Zane gave a weak chuckle. "Good. Kai's going to need a break at some point. Healing me's been like fixing a car that keeps running into trees."

Bell shot him a look that could melt steel. "You're lucky that car still runs at all."

Lily rolled her eyes but smiled, tension finally easing from her shoulders. "Alright. If we're going to work together, we need to move soon. This area is a Safe Zone, but it's the only one we know of."

Scott nodded, all traces of doubt gone now. "Then we'll need to get as many people here as we can. Just tell us what you need."

For the first time since her dad had gone into the dungeon alone, Lily allowed herself a small breath of relief. The soldiers were no longer enemies or captives—they were allies.

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