Limitless Path

He finally finished up and turned partway around and shouted, "Bill, front and center."

Bill Scott came around from the side of the meeting hall and walked in front of Zack.

"Whaddya need gunny?" he asked.

"I'm stepping out for a little. Take over the desk. Most of the groups are in and we have a good tally of who's where," Zack responded.

"Alright, got it," Bill replied.

"You," Zack said, looking over at Beth, "Fall in."

"Do what?" she asked, perplexed.

"It means to get into formation," he replied, shaking his head. "Never mind, just follow me."

Zack started up the street heading north, and Beth followed along behind him. They walked up the street and turned east when they hit the 3-way T-stop at the top of the neighborhood. They walked down two-thirds of the street until the street that dead-ended at Beth's house, where they turned and walked up the road and right to Beth's house, at which point Zack made to knock, but Beth pre-empted him and simply opened the door.

"Hello!" Beth's father called out from the living room.

Beth led Zack into the living room where he greeted her father.

"Zack, what brings you here?" her father asked.

"Want to go over some of our findings with you. Also want to borrow your daughter for the rest of the afternoon."

"Oh, sit down and we'll talk. But first, what's this about Beth?"

"I would like to have her help with hunting and killing a few ants and beasts around the neighborhood today. I assure her safety while she's with us," Zack walked in and sat across from Beth's father.

"If Beth wants to join you, she can. As long as you're supervising, I don't have any issue. Now, let's talk about what's happened so far," her father replied, casting a quick, stern glance at Beth.

As Zack and Thomas started comparing notes Beth said, "I'm getting some more food." Her father responded with a wave and Beth headed to the kitchen.

Her mother was busy with doing some kind of prep work when Beth walked in. Neither of her sisters were around, likely both in their rooms.

"I see you're back," her mother said, glancing over at her. "You should have let me know you were going out there. Be more careful."

"Like, dad knew. Isn't that OK?" Beth replied.

"Don't conflate your father and me. I would appreciate being informed when you run off to fight monsters," her mother frowned. "Anyway, have you eaten?"

"I had some stuff at the meeting hall," Beth replied with a frown of her own. "But I am still hungry."

Her mother pulled out a container from the refrigerator and set it on the island with some dressing. She pulled out a second container and stuck it in the microwave. Beth started in on the first container, a large salad which she coated in Ranch Dressing. Her mother set a glass of water in front of her and took the dressing.

"Easy on the dressing Beth," she said, putting it back in the fridge.

"Hm, hmph, smph," Beth replied.

"Just eat, Beth."

Beth tore through the salad like a buzz saw through, well, lettuce. Just as she was finishing, her mother set a bowl of pasta in a light sauce in front of her and took the salad bowl. She rinsed the first bowl and left it in the sink and returned to the prep work she had been doing when Beth walked in.

"Thanks for the food," Beth said, getting up.

"Wash your hands and face before you leave," her mother admonished.

Beth did so, and then returned to the living room where Zack and her father were still going over information. They had finished going over the neighborhood safety information, including contacting some people via their cell phones to check their safety, and were now on to information about monsters and levels. Beth reclined on the couch and waited, looking at the TV, until Zack brought her in to the conversation.

"So, Beth. I'd like to try some things. Would you be willing to take your father and I to the woodlot to try to take out a few ants?" he asked.

"Uh, sure. It's not really that hard, let's go," she responded, hopping up again.

"Give us a moment to talk to your mother. Go out to the backyard and wait," her father responded.

Zack and Thomas moved into the kitchen to speak with Rachel briefly while Beth walked out through the mudroom into the backyard. After just a minute, Zack and her father joined her. Beth simply motioned for them to follow and walked through the yard towards the woodlot.

As they entered the wood, Beth looked around while proceeding slowly. She could take out the ants easily with her ability, but they could still hurt her with their mandibles. She would really like to not be surprised and have bandages on both legs before the end of the day.

"There," she said, pointing off the left.

"I see it. Let me try," Zack replied and walked toward the ant. As he approached, he drew a large, double-bladed knife from a sheath attached to his belt and assumed a fighting stance, bringing his hands up to guard.

As he got close, the ant performed as they always did. From antennae wiggling frantically, to turning towards the source of disturbance, to charging at the source headlong. Zack stopped as the ant charged and observed its approach. When it got to within a few feet, he stepped forward at an angle much like Beth would and slashed with the knife. Whether from being blessed with low intelligence or poor reflexes, the ant barely even started to react as the knife sliced right through its left eye.

The ant immediately hissed and thrashed, but Zack was an experienced old soldier and had already taken a step back in preparation for a retaliation from the ant. Its flailing about didn't hit him, and as it seemed to refocus and turn toward him, he stepped forward on the ant's left side and drove the point of the knife deep into the already ruined left eye. The ant made a slight hissing sound and collapsed, dead as a doornail.

"Well, these little bastards are certainly tougher than you might expect. A good steel knife still gets the job done, though," he commented before getting a far-off look.

"You can look through the class menu. I'll make sure nothing runs up in the meantime," Beth told him.

After a minute or so he turned to Beth. "I have a couple questions kid. First, I only get to pick one of these things, right?" he said while pointing at empty air in front of himself.

"Yeah, for now at least. In some games you can get more classes later or evolve your class, but right now it looks like you just get one," she responded.

"Second, what would you recommend? I have Young Warrior, Young Mage, Man-at-Arms, and Marine," he questioned.

"Well, I would say it is either between Man-at-Arms or Marine. It seems like almost everybody on Earth gets the first two. Anything besides them is bonus for either your stats or your accomplishments in life or something," she explained, again tapping her chin.

"I don't really know the difference. I would pick Marine as my first choice because, well, Semper Fi. But is it better than Man-at-Arms?" he asked.

"At this level you're just looking for stats. I think it might also affect what happens later, if the class evolves. Like a Man-at-Arms might become a knight or champion of some kind. A Marine might become like a fleet commander or a general or something. I don't really know enough about how the Path works."

"I see, so you're saying both stats and future classes weigh in on this? Even an old Marine like me can do this simple math, they both get +6 points total every level. I think I'll stick with what worked for me for twenty-two years," Zack pondered, then made a gesture in the air while again saying, "Semper Fi."

Beth chuckled, "You don't have to touch it, it's even better than a touch screen, you just think of the option you want, and it picks it."

"Right, girl, let's see about getting Thomas one of these classes," he ignored her laughter and got ready to continue on.

"Hold on. You should assign your points first if you didn't. You get two free ones for getting to level one, and you can put free points in any stat. Depending on what your class gives you per level, it might be a good idea to shore up what it doesn't give you a little."

"And what do you mean by that sweetie?" Beth's father asked as both men attended to her explanations.

"Pretty simple. My class give STR and DEX and END per level. If I used my free points to dump into STR as well, I would get really lopsided quickly. INT and WIS are important even though I fight by punching things. I started with INT and WIS slightly high and END slightly low, so I used my free points at level one to catch up my END. If your WIS is low Mr. Thompson, for example, you should throw two points into that. You need every stat; it's just about how much your class needs to perform well," she explained, holding her chin-tapping finger up as she lectured.

"I see. Well, I get a WIS every level but not an INT, though my INT is at 7. I guess I should catch my DEX up, it's only at 6," he said before his eyes got the slightly far-away look of somebody interacting with their screens. After another moment he re-focused and said, "Let's get your dad a kill now."

They started heading north again, and Zack flipped the knife in his hand to grab the blade and held it out to her father. Her father took the blade with a nod, and they continued for about half a minute before Beth stopped and pointed.

"Another one ahead and just to the right," she said.

Her father approached the ant carefully and proceeded to use much the same technique, stepping forward at an angle. He did not, however, go for an eye slash like Zack, but with careful aim, stabbed down right behind the ant's head and twisted. The head of the ant practically popped off and the body collapsed immediately, the legs twitching slightly.

"Good kill," commented Zack.

"Check your classes, we'll keep watch," Beth commented, giving her father a thumbs up.

Her father checked through everything while nodding. He pulled out a small pocket notebook like Mr. Scott had been using and made a few notes. He continued for a minute before giving a firm nod and turning to the two of them. "All done. I would like to go back to the house and swap out for Rachel so she can get level one as well."

"What did you get?" Beth asked eagerly.

"Other than the standard classes, I had several other options. In the end, I picked Apprentice Spellblade. I liked the description, and it has rather good stats."

"Oh, a Spellblade. That's pretty nice," Beth nodded.

"What the hell is a Spellblade?" asked Zack.

"They are usually swordsmen of some kind that either cast magic on their sword or fight with a sword while also casting spells. They aren't necessarily the best swordfighters or the best mages, but the combination of both physical and magical attacks makes them really strong," Beth explained again, tapping at her chin.

"Sounds pretty tough. Well good, let's rinse and repeat," Zack said, and led the group back through the woodlot and to the Bell's house. Beth's father handed the knife to Zack and headed inside and, a minute later, Beth's mother joined them.

"I guess I'm killing an ant?" she asked.

Zack simply nodded and handed her the knife.

They repeated the same process, walking into the woodlot a ways until Beth pointed out an ant again.

"So, I just stab it, huh?" her mother asked.

"Let me help, it doesn't matter for the first kill," Beth replied.

Beth moved forward, putting her guard up as she drew close to the ant. She used Identify, remembering both about the skill, and that they seemed to level up through usage.

Common Ant Level 1

Well, she thought, still super useful at Copper[0].

She performed the exact same approach as when she aided Kim in her kill. Darting forward at the last moment and planting her left foot by the ant's right side, she lifted her right leg and quickly stomped on the ant's right front leg. The ant hissed and staggered, giving Beth the second she needed to take a half-step forward with her left foot, lift her right leg, and smash down on the middle-right leg of the ant. Just like the first ant, four legs were apparently not enough, and it flopped down on its bulbous abdomen when it tried to flail in response to the leg crushing.

"Now, stab it!" Beth exclaimed, motioning to her mother.

Her mother darted forward and performed almost an identical move to Thomas, slamming the knife home behind the head. With a sudden twist, the head was almost entirely removed, and the ant twitched once before going still.

Common Ant Level 1 slain.

"Alright, pick your class and we'll watch. Tell me if you, like, have any questions," Beth told her mother.

"OK," her mother replied and adopted the looking-at-screens appearance.

After about a minute she nodded and seemed to finish up. She turned to Beth and said, "OK, done. Let's head back to the house."

"Come on, watcha get?" Beth asked with a slight whine.

"None of your business, young missy," her mother replied with a slight grin and started leading the group back to the house.

"Spoilsport," Beth huffed and followed along.

When they returned to the house, as they were about to head inside, there was a sudden *Crack* followed by a *Bzzt* as what looked like a small bolt of lightning shot out one of the rear second floor windows.

"That was Sophia's room!" Rachel cried, sprinting into the house.

Zack and Beth looked at each other with raised eyebrows before following behind Rachel. They moved a little slower, jogging down the main hall and up the stairs. Both Beth's parents were there as well as Kim, with Rachel having just walked into Soph's room.

"Sophia! Are you OK?!" she exclaimed, grabbing hold of her youngest daughter and worriedly checking her over.

Sophia was redder than a newly ripe tomato. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't...I thought...I was just-" Sophia was clearly frazzled and couldn't seem to get out what she wanted to say.

Their father moved forward and put his hand on their mother's shoulder. "Let's all calm down. We can fix the window easily, and it looks like no one is hurt," Rachel seemed to calm down but still held Sophia by her shoulders.

"OK." Sophia took a deep breath and seemed to calm down. She was still quite red, though. "Uh, sorry about the window."

"It's alright, just tell us what happened Sophia," their father said soothingly in his deep voice.

"OK. I was, uh, studying magic, and, uh, got a little too into it," Sophia responded.

"Explain what you were doing, this could be very valuable," their father responded.

"Well, I was studying the way magic works, and I got too into it. I figured out how to channel opposing magic polarities through my hand, and, uh, I shot out a lightning bolt," she explained. "It did get me to level one for discovering how to cast a spell without any guidance."

"Wow, that's pretty good. Did you pick a class?" Beth chimed in from the landing outside Soph's room.

"Yes. I'm an Early Sorceress," she replied, starting to regain her equanimity.

"Woah, cool. Magic and spells all the way," Beth nodded excitedly.

"Clearly, the more refined path. Who would just hit things," Soph responded with much of her typical haughtiness. It seemed she really was recovering, returning to her usual self.

"I understand the world is changing, but how about we practice things that could shatter or explode outside the house for now, OK?" their mother asked.

"Yes, mother," Sophia replied.

"Well, maybe normal guns won't be as effective anymore. Not if even little kids can shoot lightning outta their arms," Zack muttered as he turned and headed back down the stairs.