Chapter 8 - Abby the Eye

A bit longer chapter. Not used to writing dialogue so if you have some feedback it's appreciated.

"What are you doing?" a pleasant, decidedly female voice sounded from right behind him.

Zac, whose nerves already were frayed from the past days' events shrieked in a higher than desirable octave and jumped forward away from the sound before registering the words. Somewhat embarrassed he turned around while stuttering "Sorry about that.." before once more shrieking and falling back after seeing the stranger. His fight-or-flight instincts also failed spectacularly, as he dropped the axe while falling.

What had entered his sight was not a beautiful female, as the voice had indicated. His dream of at least having a pretty girl to share this harrowing experience with died out as fast as it had flashed to life. In front of him was a floating eye, larger than his torso.

At least he assumed it was an eye. It looked as though a part of the cosmos had been taken and put into an eyeball. The pupil was a black hole, seemingly sucking Zac's soul in as he was looking at it. The monster had no iris, but rather a slowly rotating cosmic cloud, looking like it was slowly being absorbed into the pupil in the middle.

The sclera was not white as with a human, but a black studded with shining lights. It looked like the stars in the night sky. Surrounding the eye was a purplish-tinted skin and eyelid. It however had no mouth, making Zac confused about how it could make any sounds.

It was beautiful and harrowing at once, and certainly not what Zac expected after hearing the pleasant voice.

"Rude." the eye muttered. "I am lucky enough to get an assignment at a newly initiated world, and I get to work with this rube. By the way, you smell."

Zac was still sputtering, unable to fully register what was going on. Unsure of whether to run, get the ax, or bow down to the new ocular overlord he compromised by simply staring dumbly with mouth ajar at the eye.

"Oh well. It makes sense that there were no Stargazers on your planet before the initiation, humans. We usually only appear where the system sends us. My real name is a bit tricky for you to say with vocal cords but sounds something like Veth-Abarak. I am here to assist you in your endeavors regarding your outpost. You are welcome." the eye continued, somehow making a haughty expression with only the help of an eyelid. "I am sure you have some questions, though the tutorial should have explained most of what you can do."

"Um… Hello, my name is Zac… Err, Zachary Atwood. What do you mean assist me? And how are you talking without a mouth?" Zac responded, still having some problem adjusting to the situation. The eye, or Stargazer as it called itself, gave a long-suffering sigh, already seeming to have labeled Zac as a mental invalid.

"Did you not listen to the Pixies during the tutorial? I am the assistant assigned to you when you assigned this… Trailer? Why did you choose a trailer? Anyway, when you chose this trailer to be your outpost when assaulting the Incursion. I will help with answers regarding the choices you make, to get the ball rolling so to say. As for how I talk, the magic of course." The Stargazer answered, a flash of what looked like cosmic mist grandly surrounding herself to accentuate her powers.

"What choices? And no I didn't listen to any Pixies or fairies because the stupid system never sent me to any tutorial. It left me in this crazy demon forest 3 days ago while it teleported my friends away." Zac responded, starting to feel a bit peeved by being looked down on by a floating eyeball.

"Oh, you didn't go to the tutorial. I guess the… THREE DAYS? This world was initiated only three days ago? Don't you mean months?" The Stargazer started shaking, the pupil shrinking to a… well, not needlepoint, but from a basketball to a baseball in size. "Stop joking with me, how would you be able to create an outpost only after three days, even if you skipped the month-long tutorial?" Veth-Abarak shook and hovered closer to Zac's face, the grand mist surrounding it disappearing.

Zac, who had somehow started to get acclimatized to talking to this odd being, sighed and briefly explained his experience starting when the world turned dark. The eyeball seemed harmless enough and appeared to be on his side. Furthermore, he needed someone to talk to, both to unload and to make sense of the situation.

"Oh wow, I got assigned to a Defier. I guess I have some good karma after all! No returning in defeat for Abby!" The Stargazer suddenly seemed quite a bit more amiable, virtually shaking with excitement. It almost felt like the monster would start rubbing itself on him if it wasn't that he was still generally caked in grime.

"What's a Defier? It doesn't sound great. And wait, Abby? Wasn't your name Veth-something?" Zac questioned, seeming to get more and more confused the more the Stargazer spoke.

"Now now, don't be so formal. Just call me Abby." Abby answered. Gone was the slightly haughty tone, replaced with the mild pleasant tone from the beginning. "And I guess some explanations are in order. As you have figured out some people of your world have been moved to tutorial towns after your world was integrated into the multi-verse. However, some people have some sort of deficiency where they can't naturally absorb cosmic energy and the system deem them worthless. It doesn't bother with these people and leaves them where they are. These people mostly die sooner or later as they are essentially defenseless at the beginning as the system generally vastly increases the danger of the surroundings."

"And these are the Defiers?" Zac interrupted a bit anxious "Is it genetic? Do you think my family is stuck somewhere as well?"

"It's not genetic as far as I know, and no they aren't the Defiers. These people are generally called mortals. Please let me finish, we have limited time. As far as research shows, it is random who can take in cosmic energy and who can't. However, in worlds with lower-class energy mortals are more common. The higher the energy, the more common it is to be able to absorb the energy. On B rank planets and above almost everyone can absorb cosmic energy naturally."

"When I was in that black space the system said Earth had class F energy, and after the merge class D." Zac chimed in hoping for some additional information.

"Well, class F is the lowest of the low. I doubt some people could fly or use magic before the merge, right?" Zac nodded affirmatively. Abby shook her eye and continued "From what I've heard only 5-10% of the population turn out to be cultivators in an F-energy world. And most of those people are younger, as their minds haven't turned too rigid yet. Of course, this is for you humans. The Multi-verse consists of myriad races and civilizations and many races have natural advantages compared to you humans, who are notoriously average."

"Cultivators are what they call those who can naturally draw the cosmic energies into themselves by the way. Cultivators can be divided further into many types depending on class and skills, but that's for later. D-class energy is pretty good for a new world, most are E-classed. So to recap, the world is populated by mortals and cultivators. This might mean your family is safe for now."

"Lucky how? It sounds pretty bad to me that my family is probably stranded somewhere with monsters spawning just like me, but without the Titles." Zac questioned testily.

"Well, if they all are mortals they haven't been split up. They are probably together in the city you lived in. Also, even if they are mortals there is strength in numbers. Even if the monsters are normally impossible to kill one on one, they should be able to kill the easier monsters using teamwork. And while they can't just get continuously stronger through cultivating, they still get stronger from killing monsters and leveling up as you did." Abby explained patiently. While not completely comforting, what she said did make some sense to Zac. He could only hope his family was being careful and safe right now.

"Anyway, that brings us to Defiers like you. In extremely rare cases a mortal gains power far above what's expected, either through luck, talent, or hard work. There is no strict definition of them, rather a 'You know it when you see it'-attitude. The name comes from the fact that the System essentially has deemed you trash but you defy the system and fate and become strong. Your situation is extreme even for Defiers, I mean a Herald spawning on top of you and you survive? Stealing a bunch of exclusive titles? Crazy. I think it has only happened a few thousand times in the multi-verse." Abby seemed to get excited just thinking about it, happily bouncing up and down in the air.

"So it's not that rare? There might be even more on earth?" Zac interjected.

Abby rolled her eye in response. "I think you misunderstand Zac. A few thousand times in the multi-verse. Oh right, you missed the tutorial. Suffice to say the multi-verse is almost infinite, with endless worlds with life on them, most far larger and more populated than your earth. It has existed for at least hundreds of millions of years. And during all that time it has only happened a few thousand times. Which makes you an aberrant even among Defiers. You, and by extension me, have truly hit the jackpot. "

"So how does it help me?" Zac asked. "I understand that I have a leg up on others with all these strong titles, but I still can't absorb that cosmic energy you mentioned. What is that, anyway?"

"Cosmic energy is the building block of the multi-verse. It is energy, it is magic, and it is life. It is everything. You couldn't see the effects of it earlier as your world had so little of it, but you will soon see the effects of it on everything around you." Abby said, almost having a reverent tone mentioning it.

"See how?"

"Some things in nature will be unable to take in the stronger energy and die out. But many things will be like the cultivators, naturally absorbing the energy. Essentially, things will grow big. Both the beasts and nature itself. Many things will also change in unpredictable ways. A tree might gain the properties of metal and be almost unbreakable, a mouse might grow wings and fly, or suddenly be able to spit thunder. It's quite spectacular." She explained.

"Not being able to cultivate will impede you somewhat, but not as much as you think. You have a massive advantage in the form of titles, strength, and your newly created outpost. In any case, there are so many things to go over, but unfortunately, we are running out of time." Abby realized she had gone off on somewhat of a tangent, seeming a bit embarrassed.

"I will be summoned back in 10 minutes."

Chapter 9 - Forced to Fight

A note from TheFirstDefier

Was planning on publishing two chapters today, but ate too many tacos and fell asleep. Will have to write more tomorrow.

Zac was gobsmacked.

"You're not here to help out permanently?" He inquired hesitantly. While it took some time getting used to talking to an eyeball, he was pretty unwilling to be stranded alone in the forest again. Besides, there were so many things he still didn't understand about what was happening.

"Unfortunately, no. The system only summons an administrator such as myself for a short while when creating an outpost. Also, we only get summoned the first year after initiation. Something like an add-on Tutorial. But we got a bit side-tracked here, and need to hurry up with your outpost." Abby explained, seeming a bit embarrassed she got sidetracked from her duty.

"Outposts will evolve into full-fledged towns if you complete certain missions. The difference between a system-sanctioned town and a normal mortal town is that the city leader of a system-sanctioned town can use the system to summon buildings, tax the population, and connect to other city leaders for example. The difference between an outpost and a town is that an outpost is temporary. Either you manage to turn it into a town by completing your quest, or the incursion over there will stabilize and turn to a town-owned by the invading general. By then A LOT more demons will spawn, and unless you're already dead you will likely die then, titles or not."

Zac nodded, a better picture forming in his head. Remembering the 3-month deadline in his quests he realized that what Abby described would happen in roughly 3 months. Still, there were some things he was unsure about.

"But do I need to care about creating an outpost? My goal is to find my family, I can just leave before the demons arrive."

That question managed to elicit a full-body eye-roll from the eyeball.

"And go where? Couldn't go to the tutorial town so you can't learn skills or choose classes, making you quite weak compared to what you should be. There are monsters everywhere so you aren't safe anywhere. An outpost can help you get stronger through its facilities, and having a town would be the most effective way to look for your family, compared to manually looking everywhere like a vagabond. Besides, being the first to create a town has amazing benefits, just like with the titles. The system likes the people in the forefront." Abby one more went into lecturing mode.

"And if that's not enough, I can also tell you that the system hates cowards. You only get one shot at creating your outpost, if you fail the system deems you unworthy to be a Lord in the future. If you not just fail, but even abandon the mission, the system will also punish you. It would range from crippling you to outright killing you depending on how bad it judges your performance."

"WHAT?" Zac shouted aghast. "You mean I must complete this quest and kill all the other boss demons or the system might kill me?" The little goodwill Zac had been building towards the system during Abby's explanations were thoroughly erased.

"Well yes. So I suggest you improve your outpost as much as possible to have a chance at survival." Abby nonchalantly explained, as if risking life and limb fighting demons was completely normal.

"Well shit. So what do you suggest I build? " Zac hoped to get some guidance to create a good foundation for the outpost.

"I'm sorry I am not allowed to guide your choices of buildings, building a proper base properly is also a test from the system. I am only allowed to provide information. The system doesn't want to give too much direction or tips to newly initiated civilizations, as it wants to test their ingenuity. "

"Yeah, the system is a real asshole, isn't he?" Zac muttered. Abby's pupil enlarged and looked around nervously. Speaking ill of the system seemed like some sort of blasphemy, which Zac guessed made sense as the system essentially was a god. Maybe speaking ill of a being that could spawn portals that puked out demons was a bad idea after all he reflected and vowed to try to keep a lid on his mouth.

"Err… Anyway. If you imagine the words 'Outpost base' a menu will appear with your options. Most of the options are unavailable at the start, but more and more gets unlocked as your outpost grows into a town and further. You use the Nexus coins you have to buy the upgrades, and you can get more coins from various sources. Nexus coins are the official currency of the multi-verse, and the only one used when trading with the system." Abby said, seemingly eager to change the subject.

This answered the question Zac had about the coins on his status screen. He still wasn't sure why he had 5100 of them though.

"Wait, is there some connection between Nexus Coins and Nexus Crystals?" Zac asked, remembering the rewards from his quests.

"Not really. Nexus Crystals are a cultivation resource in the multi-verse. Both cultivators and mortals can absorb cosmic energy from them. The higher-grade the more energy it contains, and the faster you can absorb it."

"Well at this time I would normally have time to answer some specific questions about the different buildings, but we're out of time. Good luck Zac. If you somehow survive this remember me when you create your town!" It seemed the time for the outpost tutorial was coming to an end. Abby seemed to hesitate a bit but then apparently came to a decision.

"You… You should try to complete the quests within a month, or at least within two months. That would…" She didn't get any further before a heavy pressure suddenly bore down on the camp. Abby's pupil dilated and red squirming veins appeared all over the eye. And suddenly she was gone.

Zac wasn't sure, but it didn't feel like this was how she was supposed to disappear, as she appeared completely without him noticing. He had been able to sense something that could almost be anger in the pressure that descended. Had Abby been punished for what she said at the end?

"Complete the quests within a month…" he mumbled, trying to glean any hidden meaning. Something happened because of those sentences. If the system punished her for lying it could only mean Abby wanted him to run to his death like an idiot. But if it was for unduly helping it might be an important clue to help him stay alive. That meant something likely happened to the world or the incursion after a month had progressed. Something bad for him.

He just couldn't figure out why the Stargazer would just help him like that, even risking the wrath of the system, as she had already explained it didn't like her giving undue guidance. Zac couldn't figure out any real reason for that yet, and could only put it aside for now. Instead, he followed her instructions and mentally thought 'Outpost base'.

Suddenly a new window popped up in front of him. But while it still had the blue background and white borders, it rather reminded him of a web store than an old-school RPG game. There were multiple categories of buildings and add-ons to choose from to the left and a seemingly unending number of products in the main window.

Zac took a bottle of now tepid water from the cooler the demanding had been rummaging through earlier and retreated to the camper. The suns were starting to set, which was a relief to Zac, as it proved that at least the daily cycles remained in the world, giving some normalcy.

Unheeding of the bloody mess inside, he cracked open a tin of beans from the cupboard. Luckily they had stocked the camper well before the trip, as they had planned to spend a week on the road, and most of it was non-perishables. He still had food and water for at least two weeks unless he gorged himself.

He sat down at the small dining area, and while slowly eating his beans he started mentally browsing through the shop. Zac noticed that the prices were denominated in Nexus coins, which he had 10100 of now. He had gained 5000 coins during the day, likely from creating the outpost.

If he was going to survive in this new world, it seemed the first step was getting the most out of this outpost of his.

Chapter 10 - Preparation

Zac woke up the next morning feeling sore, but his wounds had healed even further. It no longer pained him overly to put weight on his wounded leg, and he could turn his midriff without a blazing pain erupting.

The smell in the camper was getting pretty bad though, and he knew he had to do something about it if this was going to be his base for the foreseeable future. He gathered the bloody bedsheets he had fallen asleep on when he passed out from his wounds and put them in a garbage bag. He didn't dare throw it outside yet though, afraid the smell of blood would attract beasts. With some detergent he spent another 30 minutes cleaning most of the blood away, making the trailer go from looking like the site of a vampire orgy to a serial killer hideout. The blood had badly stained multiple places, especially around the dining area, and it wasn't something he'd be able to fix in the short run. At least it smelled a lot better now.

Finally, he decided to waste some water for a quick shower in the trailer bathroom, even though the water was limited. After some intensive scrubbing away the blood caked all over him, the filth was mostly rinsed away. He stepped out of the shower and donned another set of clothes, feeling like a new man. When showering he had also noticed that he seemed to have gotten more in shape, with most of this gut gone and his muscles seeming, if not bigger, then harder and more compact than before. It seemed that the stats had some effect on his physical appearance as well. Hopefully, an increase in intelligence wouldn't make his head larger and larger though.

After a quick breakfast, he was finally ready to head out according to plans he had made yesterday after browsing through the shop. There were a dizzying array of possibilities to choose from when building an outpost, even when most of the options were disabled.

Many of them he could understand or at least somewhat intuit the purpose for using a lifetime of playing video games. There were buildings such as an inn, blacksmith, different types of stores, banks, and so on. Most of these required a town though. There was also something he was extremely keen on getting, the teleporter. If he built that he might be able to teleport to his hometown in one go.

There was one confusing aspect of the buildings though, which was that there were often hundreds of versions of most of the buildings, especially the commercial ones. Even though they seemed to fill the same function they were of different design and had some minor differences in the description. After a while, he could only surmise that the different choices represented different factions or planets. It seemed that creating a store wouldn't actually create some NPC-style beings, but rather move people here from other planets or intergalactic corporations.

There was also a huge amount of supporting buildings that could improve the offense, defense, or improve the town in other manners. There seemed to even be some sort of training facility that seemed to be able to slowly improve stat points without leveling. If possible Zac would have gone on a shopping spree, but he quickly realized the harsh reality that roughly 10 000 Nexus Coins would only be able to buy a few of the most basic buildings.

He had formulated a plan yesterday after browsing through his options for hours but needed to explore some more before actually spending the few coins he had.

Zac had seen a hill the day he had been forced to go out to gather firewood, and he planned to scale it to get a better lay of the land. Donned in a fresh set of clothing and his trusty hatchet he once again set out into the woods.

Soon he had walked up the hill, hunkered over to not be spotted by any potential threats. Luckily the hill was filled with lush bushes and even a tall tree at the top, making for some simple protection. Unfortunately, the hill wasn't tall enough to give a complete overview of the surroundings as it turned out, with the crowns of larger trees still obscured the distance inland. Still, he could see his trailer and further on the ocean.

Still, he wanted to see whether he was actually on an island, or if the system had teleported any type of civilization in the vicinity. It would be a bit insane if he lived as a transient mountain man in the trailer if a town was just a few kilometers away.

He swung the ax and embedded it slightly in the tree, and then started climbing it for a better vantage. Zac once again marveled at the improvement of his constitution from his increase in stats. He felt like a gibbon, almost effortlessly dragging himself upwards along the branches with his arms, something that would have been an impossible work-out in the past.

Soon he was almost at the crown of the tree, afraid to continue up any further as the branches seemed inadequate to support his weight. After a glance around unfortunately realized his fears. It very much seemed that he was on an island without any civilization in sight. However, he couldn't be completely sure, as there was a mountain off in the distance. It wasn't gargantuan, but still large enough to solidly block any visibility of what was beyond. It looked quite odd to have a steep mountain right next to the ocean, but Zac guessed that was what happened when the system pressed the randomizer for a world. The good news was that there was land in sight in the distance, though it looked like a few scattered islands, rather than a solid landmass.

The island (as Zac decided to call it until proven wrong) he was on was huge, and he couldn't properly assess the size. He and his trailer were on the far edge of it, while the ever-shining red beam of light was almost on the opposite side, in a vale halfway between the center of the island and the mountain. He guessed that the reason why he still only had encountered one of the demon dogs was that they mainly spawned scattered around the incursion itself.

Zac didn't have time to analyze the situation any further, as a branch in the periphery of his sight exploded into movement and instantly was upon him. Before he had time to adapt to the situation, a brown snake had wrapped itself a few loops around his torso, leaving only the arm he used to hold onto the tree for leverage free. The snake seemed to be over 3 meters long and slightly thicker than his arm.

He immediately felt an intense pressure on his chest, the air leaving his lungs and wounds on his side screaming in protest. Zac strained until his face was red with exertion, but was unable to free his trapped arm at all. The snake had him in a vise, and even with his improved strength, he could not get free. Its head slowly rose towards his, a hiss escaping from its maws.

By now all air had been squeezed out of Zac's lungs, his consciousness starting to get fuzzy and lights flickered in his sight. Zac knew he was running out of time, it was time for a Hail Mary action. He suddenly let go of the tree with his free hand, grabbed the head of the constrictor, and bashed it with all the force he could muster into the tree trunk. The slam affected the snake, as it slightly released him from its grip. With newfound strength from a ragged breath, he slammed the snake's head twice again into the tree with even more fervor.

However, just as Zac was feeling jubilant about escaping death's grasp he felt the branch he stood on give way, and both he and the still entwined snake came crashing down.