The ogre’s corpse and those of the goblins had barely hit the ground when my vision was obscured by another message.

  The System light suffused me again, and I felt my stamina and my body return to perfect condition. "Man, I could get used to that."

  A white light appeared. The dust cleared, revealing a stone chest.

  I stared at it for a while. “Well, what the hell is that?”

  "Of course you don’t know," Balt said, with a hint of weariness in his voice. "It is a System Reward for completing a hard Task or hidden objective, and it is the first one I have seen in person."

  The chest clicked and hissed open. I walked over with the others and peered inside the chest.

  Inside I could see there were several items:

  I picked up the field kit and showed it to everyone. It was just a leather bag with a picture of a tent on it. A message popped up in my vision asking me if I wanted to store it. I clicked yes, and the bag disappeared.

  Balt was smiling from ear to ear. "Nice! These kits go for a lot of system credits. That's one heck of a pull."

  I reached back into the chest and lifted the scroll next. This is obviously meant for Alice. I took out the swaddling of silence blanket and handed her both items.

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  Lastly, I lifted the leather vest and put it on. “Cool.”

  I concentrated on my Anchor and clicked the storage option and pulled out a mana potion and a healing potion and handed it to Balt. "Thank you for helping us."

  Balt nodded his head in thanks. "Man, what a haul!"

  Alice raised an eyebrow. "Looks like quite a haul indeed."

  "We earned this," I said.

  "Maybe you did, bub, but I just stood there with Liz."

  I came over and pressed my head against hers and put my hand over Liz’s head. "Dad is gone, and it is my job to protect you now. You have her; what were you expecting to do in that

  situation?"

  The world seemed to slow down for us, and dust whipped through the stony ground as we both just stood there in companionable silence, thinking our own private thoughts.

  Alice looked up and smiled. "I know you will do everything you can, but I need to get stronger. If Balt hadn’t intervened earlier, Liz and I would have been finished."

  I did agree with her, but before he could say something, the System Chest seemed to flicker and disappeared. There left on the stone lay a Black Bracer. My vision burned and Identify triggered.

  All of us without a word walked over to see it. I cracked my neck and rolled my shoulders to loosen up as I bent over to pick it up. "Well, what do we have here?"

  If you want to join this crazy, I gestured all around me, it looks like here is your ticket."

  I watched Alice glance between the bracer and Balt. "Is an Anchor appearing out of nowhere normal in this world?"

  Balt just shook his head, looking intently at the newly found Anchor. "No, not normal at all. If I were a betting man, and I am ... this was no accident. From the color and shape, that is a Faction Anchor.

  It was not in the loot chest and did not appear until after the chest was gone. I would avoid that Anchor for now.

  Alice motioned to me, and I handed it to her.

  "Be careful. I know we just met, but I swear on the system that people apply for most of these in a system shop. Not out in the wild like this, said Balt."

  I just looked at Alice. "It’s your decision, sis." Alice hesitated, holding the Anchor in one hand and Liz in the other.

  "Help me, Bub. I can’t keep Liz safe like this."

  I hesitated. Balt was shaking his head in my peripheral, but when I looked at Alice... I saw the determination in my little sister’s eyes. I reached out and put the Anchor on her wrist.

  The world went dark. I heard Balt whisper, "Oh shit."

  A black portal cracked open, destructive lightning cracked in all directions, and the portal expanded to reveal a figure in the darkness.

  I felt the pressure before the man stepped out of the portal onto the ground. My body dropped to a knee before I could think.

  Balt collapsed onto his stomach. Pressure, like being deep underwater, attacked me, trying to pin me down, but I fought it, refusing to go all the way down.

  Alice screamed, trying to help me up. She had remained calm and collected despite the surrounding chaos they had been through. But now she screamed in frustration trying to get me up.

  Liz was bawling, and I couldn’t move. What the hell is this?

  I could not even reach for my Anchor because of the pressure.

  "SUPPRESSION! Balt gasped. Dungeon Elite!” Then, Balt stopped moving on the ground. I tried to yell to tell Alice to run, but I couldn’t move an inch.

  A figure strode through the portal, agile, dangerous, and walked as if he were taking a stroll in the park.

  The Elite was tall, light-skinned and had dark hair; his eyes seemed to burn with blue light. And his gear gave off a shining aura.

  I tried to use his Identify. But all I got was a notification that it had failed. The strange man took them all in and spoke in a deep resonate voice. "So, this is the famous Riven." "What’s up, brother?"

  "Brother?!" I gritted out.

  "Well, to be more accurate... brother-in-law. Isn’t that right, baby?"

  The man moved his eyes to my sister. I still could not move, and the man just looked at me with what appeared to be contempt.

  "Oh, sorry about that, he laughed. "You're a little under-leveled to be around me, I suppose."

  I felt the pressure leave, and I stumbled up, getting between Alice and the strange man. My eyes narrowed. “Who the hell are you?”

  "I’m the father of your niece. And I am here to take her and your sister back to the faction."