We looted what we could of the main cabin and shared potions with the mind-warped cult members as they awoke. Abbie’s control disappeared when she died, but her influence did not fade entirely.

  Most of them still had fuzzy memories, and none of them could remember what happened to the women in their teams. Ruby surprised me by taking the lead in explaining that Abbie had murdered them all. She broke the horrible news with a gentle empathy that helped ease the shock.

  I never could have done it as well. It was still a very difficult situation. Most of the men were horrified, some raged at the insanity of it, and Charles the baker beat his fists to bloody pulp against the wooden palisade wall.

  All of those reactions made sense, but a couple of the brainwashed men looked conflicted and one of them looked downright sad that Abby was gone. He said, “In some ways, living that lie was better than facing reality.”

  “You’re insane!” Charles, advancing on the brain-addled fellow in a rage, his fists still dripping with his own blood. “She killed them all. She killed Tess.”

  His voice broke, but he raised an angry fist. I intervened then. “We all got a taste of Abbie’s mind control. She was a psycho murderess. Give him time, Charles. His mind will clear and he’ll realize it.”

  Charles spun and stomped off and finally took a healing potion. We returned their weapons, clothing, and gear, which we found in the other log cabin, along with a bunch of other equipment. I shared most of the mana crystals I’d looted from Abbie too.

  “I can’t take the ovens out of the kitchen,” Tomas reported as I came out of the storeroom where we’d found all the gear. “It’s some kind of warped version of Base Camp, but doesn’t seem to disappear like the tents.”

  “Shame,” Jane said. “We cleaned out the cooked food, but the ingredients are considered part of the kitchen. It’s a unique setup. I wish we could take it with us.”

  “Maybe we can.” I paced around the log cabin, studying it more closely.

  It was smaller than Abbie’s den, maybe twenty feet by thirty. That made it about the size of a smallish ranch-style house. The construction was far sturdier than anything the mind zombies could have build. Made sense that it was a system construct.

  Tomas asked, “What do you mean? Think you can drag it down the mountain behind Switchblade?”

  “You’d get stuck when you reached the first trees,” Ruby said.

  “I was thinking something more direct.”

  Near the back of the building, the ground looked softer. “Jane, can you move dirt with your telekinesis?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never tried.”

  “Try. Right there. I need a hole deep enough to crawl through all the way to the middle of the building.”

  “You can’t be serious!” Tomas exclaimed, eyes widening in understanding.

  “It’s worth a try.”

  Ruby looked from him to me, but it was Jane who exclaimed. “You seriously think you’re strong enough to pick up a house?”

  “There’s one way to find out.”

  “How? You’re only level 8,” Steve protested. “I know, you got some weird loot that gives you extra stats, but you can’t be that far above the rest of us. I’m stronger than the strongest person back on Earth, but it would take a lot of people to lift a log cabin.”

  “I’ve got a trick or two up my sleeve. Jane, can you do it?”

  “Let’s find out.” She still looked doubtful, but she loved a challenge, and the idea of me lifting a building resonated with her adventurous spirit.

  “Actually, never mind. I’ve got a simpler plan.” I was tempted to try the original plan anyway. Lifting a house would be so awesome, and I honestly believed I could do it, but we’d already wasted too much time.

  I pulled out a Gypsy Camp potion and poured it onto the side of the log cabin. The entire building shimmered with ghostly amber light, then abruptly vanished.

  “What happened?” Michael shouted from near the open gate as everyone stared at the empty space where the log cabin had stood. I explained about the potion as I stoppered the bottle.

  “You loser,” Tomas said. “You had me fooled. I totally thought you were going to lift the entire building.”

  “I still think you should try sometime,” Jane said.

  “Me too.”

  Ruby smiled. “So you just claimed a unique Base Camp. Can’t wait to see what you can cook up for dinner.”

  “Will the rest of us be invited?” Steve asked, perking up from the somber silence he’d slipped into. “Or are you planning a more intimate dinner for two?”

  “You’re such a muppet,” Ruby laughed, and that helped ease some of the dark mood we’d all been feeling. The entire situation still sucked, but smiling helped more than I expected.

  Before we left, I used a scroll of Firestorm to torch Abbie’s lair and destroy all the possessed silks. I was surprised to receive an achievement.

  “For releasing the trapped souls of all the women murdered by Abbie Forrest, you receive an emerald Guardian loot box.”

  “Hey, why did you get an emerald box?” Michael exclaimed when the huge, glittering emerald appeared in the air in front of me.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Who can explain how the system works?”

  “So if I had torched that cabin, I could have gotten that loot?” Charles asked.

  “I guess we’ll never know.” I accepted the prompt to open the box.

  It flashed and disappeared, leaving a ring made out of intertwined threads of silver, blue, and red, like Cyrus had melted diamonds, rubies, and sapphires to make it.

  “Last Chance ring. Epic. Ring will activate once you defeat a boss monster. Will then auto trigger with one of that boss’s powers to counter an otherwise fatal attack. Cooldown: 7 days, plus another defeated boss.”

  “Whoa,” I breathed as I slipped the ring onto my right hand. That was amazing. I needed to find a boss to kill anyway, so I wasn’t too worried about that odd limitation to the ring’s power. The ability to survive an otherwise fatal strike was definitely epic.

  “Nice ring. What does it do?” Ruby asked.

  “Added defense.”

  I wasn’t about to share all the details with so many other people around. I already had enough gear to make some folks consider stabbing me in the back to loot my corpse. With Abbie’s cruel evil still so fresh, I could not pretend everyone was an ally just because they came from Earth.

  Luckily, the others had found a more direct route to the hidden valley than I had. The journey to shepherd the survivors of Abbie’s cult to Stepstone went quick and uneventfully. We did not talk much.

  The rescued men livened up when they saw the huge settlement. They’d survived a very bizarre ordeal and even got some unique loot boxes out of it. They thanked us profusely when we reached the gate, but then rushed off as soon as they heard about Sam’s tavern.

  Charles, the French cook, was particularly eager to meet Sam and get a job. Hopefully focusing on positive work would help them deal with their recent trauma. We’d all lost teammates, but it had to be tough knowing they’d stood by, helpless, while Abbie murdered people they knew.

  Tomas and Jane headed back to his Base Camp to meet up with the rest of his team. I joined Ruby and Steve for a sumptuous dinner of stroganoff in her Base Camp. I was tempted to drop my log cabin home onto a vacant lot near her tent, but I didn’t plan to spend much time in town. Why waste one of my few gypsy camp potions?

  “Steve and I got assignments to join a hunting team to clear the western slopes first thing in the morning. A larger expedition will be entering the second stage to begin preparing the next town site.” Ruby said, tossing her plate and utensils into the air where they vanished. “I bet I could get you on that yoke with us.”

  “Thanks, but I think I need to hunt higher on the mountain.”

  “Alone?” she asked, not disguising what she thought of that.

  I shrugged. “You know I need more experience. I can’t afford to share with a huge team or I’m not going to make it.”

  “You’re only 2 levels short and you’ve got 2 days. You can make it,” Steve said with a thumb’s up and an encouraging smile.

  “That’s easy for you to say.”

  “Easier than getting sucked into another death cult. Look what happened today. You nearly died and we nearly died coming to rescue you. Didn’t even get to enjoy the experience.”

  “Sorry about that. I’ll be more careful.”

  “We’re supposed to be a team.” Ruby said, her tone turning angry.

  “I know, and I want to hunt with you, but there are a couple things that make it difficult right now. First, I am way more mobile than you two, which means I’d be slowed down. Second, I need way more experience, as I mentioned.”

  She didn’t look perturbed. “Fine, but you don’t have to be an eejit about it. Come with us, but range ahead of the group on your bike. If you run into monsters you can handle, take them out. Like that, you shouldn’t have to split experience, but you’ll be close enough for us to help if you run into trouble and get banjaxed again.”

  That was actually a good point, and I did not want her angry with me.

  While I considered it, she added, “Our mission will be to clear the way for the rest of the town to ascend to the second stage. We’ll be making the transition smoother for everyone.”

  Was that just an idle comment, or did she know me better than I’d realized? Either way, she got me. “Okay, I’ll try it. If it doesn’t seem to be working, I’ll leave the group and hunt higher by myself.”

  She smiled, looking very pleased. Steve looked between us and one eyebrow raised in question. “Am I sensing something more than just team spirit in the air here?”

  “What do you mean?” I asked. Ruby looked confused. We didn’t need Steve to invent drama. We had too much work to do.

  “Nothing,” Steve said in a tone that suggested he definitely meant something. “It makes more sense now how you broke out of Abbie’s spell.”

  Ruby cocked her head and regarded me thoughtfully. “I was wondering about that. None of the other guys did.”

  “I have a higher mental resistance.” I did not share the fact that I’d gotten most of that after rejecting Abbie’s mind control. Most likely, my tier-1 evolution had given me the edge.

  “Hmm,” Steve said in a way that tried to hold lots of hidden meaning. I ignored it

  “I’m going to see what’s been happening since last night.” I rose and waved. “See you guys in the morning.”

  “Good night,” Steve said with another of those too-knowing smiles. Why did that get under my skin so much?

  Ruby fixed me with a serious gaze. “Don’t wander, Lucas. I will expect you in the morning.”

  “Yes, mom.”

  “Oh, get out,” she exclaimed, pulling one of the silk pillows from her inventory and throwing it at me.

  I spent an hour exploring the town again. Stepstone had grown noticeably in the day since I’d left. Over 100 new residents had arrived, shepherded by the Explorer teams.

  I spotted the tourists led by George and Lucy and stopped to chat briefly with Catelyn. She had gained another level and acquired some armor that shone faintly green in the afternoon light.

  “We’re doing well, thanks to you.” She recounted their busy night hunting before the Explorer team arrived.

  “I’m glad you were willing to take the chance.”

  “I’m captain of my entire hunt team. We’re going to join a couple other teams hunting some bulls on the plain tomorrow.”

  “Good. That’ll give you some great experience and hopefully some good loot.”

  “This town is amazing. I can’t believe we hid in that tiny valley so long. We’re so much stronger here.”

  She’d used her time well, getting connected with the town leadership and exploring the area. At one point in her tale, she paused then asked, “Lucas, you didn’t leave a defensive item with us and not tell us about it, did you?”

  “No, why?”

  She shrugged. “Nothing, or at least nothing concrete. It’s just, sometimes while we’ve been fighting monsters, weird things happen. Monster suddenly stumble, or their hits seem softer than they should be. It’s weird, but the strange events have saved us a lot of injuries and at least one fatality.”

  “That is weird. I have no idea why that’s happening, but I hope it continues.”

  “Me too.” She shrugged, then shared all the news she’d heard, including word from a couple other Explorer teams who had found other groups of people who refused to join the town.

  Some had set up homesteads like George and Lucy, choosing to hunker down and hope they’d get ignored. Others were loners. Back on Earth it would be tough to set up an entire homestead or compound like Abbie’s in just a few days, but with magic and loot boxes, people were finding creative solutions.

  “We can’t save people who don’t want to be saved. They’ve all been warned. Hopefully they’ll do the smart thing and head up to the second stage like us.”

  Some people had a weird mindset. How many would refuse to see the truth until it was too late and they paid for their short-sightedness with their lives? Other people in the town seemed just as bad, though.

  I spotted folks so busy building businesses or homes they had forgotten we needed to leave in 2 short days. Most had hit level 10, but a lot of folks seemed content to stay there. Maybe the hard time limit was a good thing. It helped us focus. I could only imagine how much drama we’d see if the time limit was indefinite.

  Heading for Sam’s tavern, I noted new buildings. A couple of them were even two stories tall. Some now had stone facades, and several sported signs for new vendors. I’d have to visit those later and see what they offered.

  “Ah, Lucas. Good to see you.” I turned to find Paul the mayor exiting the town hall, munching on a bear’s claw pastry.