The rest of the night, we had fun in the shower and then in the new bed that I was able to order from the computer. It had instantly changed, and I made the room bigger with a sofa and some other things.

 

The next morning Chloe and I were looking over a map that was raised up from the fancy digital table she had scolded me for buying. I said it was a good buy since it would be with us where ever I go. She had relented, and now we were eating a really good breakfast hash with scrambled eggs and lots of cheese.

 

"Look, Halberd! This is that ruined city that we were in with the two dungeons!" Chloe said as she zoomed into the map. Everything outside of the city was like a wasteland with ruined and buried cities. There were some oases and patches of green. According to the map, those had dangerous monsters that were so high of level that the map just showed ??? for the location. I was already high level, but was not strong enough to take on a ???.

 

"Right, and here's the city. It has no name on it. I wonder if there are other cities like this," I said as we zoomed out to see that there were a bunch of ruins like this one with no names.

 

"We should travel North," Chloe suggested as she pointed at a vast canyon that stretched from the coast all around until about mid-continent, where it ran into mountain ranges. There was a desert over in the East, but most of it looked relatively flat and easy to cross since there was not much vegetation.

 

"Why North?" I asked. "It just looks like a big mountain range."

 

Chloe put her finger on the center of the continent and said, "Right here is where it says The Great Divide, so there must be something there." 

 

"That is sound logic," I said, and Chloe scowled at me.

 

"Look what happens when we try to zoom in on it!" Chloe said, and when she did, there was nothing there other than the image. She moved from one end of the canyon and then to the other, but there were no marks for monsters or anything. That meant that no one had ever explored there before, as far as I knew, but that didn't really mean it was a good place for us.

 

"You are still level 5, right? Even if I am 86, it is going to be hard. Are you sure about this?" I asked, looking at the map. There was a chance that we could find some really good stuff, but an even better chance that we die.

 

"I think that this is the edge that we need. Look," Chloe said and zoomed back out. "There is a group of level 50 Mecha Bandits. that should only be five, and I just have to hit each of them once, right? You should be able to take them out, right? There are also a few more places we can stop to do some fast leveling."

 

"What is with all the Mecha monsters?" I asked, and Chloe sighed. 

 

"Some worlds come into existence very strange, and this is one of them. All food comes from those machines, and in five years, this world will end. Don't even try to think about saving it," Chloe warned, and I laughed.

 

"Fuck that noise, I got shit to do, and from the sounds of it, worlds die and are reborn all the time, right? That is what keeps you Astral's in business?" I asked, and Chloe smiled sadly.

 

"Yes, while some worlds last for billions of years, others have much shorter lifetimes, but you are right, and it is not our worries. Now, back to the Great Divide. Are we going or not?" Chloe asked me, and I sighed.

 

"We need more levels, but I can't fault your logic. Let's go," I said and looked at the map. Chloe had already started to make a trail as I got up and stretched. This was more than likely to take a few days, but I was worried about Ace. "Do you think we should invite the other two? I mean, if there is a strong monster, I can just push him into the way of harm. Plus, if we do get into a bad spot, he is level 215, and Grace is 156."

 

"Look at you go! That is a good idea! Who knows, we might even be able to get this all done and still get tons of loot to cash in at the end!" Chloe cheered and then pulled out a cell phone that we had ordered from the computer. "I am going to go call that bitch and set things up! This will be the perfect time to set up the ultimate character-building scenario!"

 

"A what?!" I asked, but Chloe waved me off.

 

"Hey, you fat cow! Want to come on a trip with us?!" Chloe practically yelled into the phone, and I heard Grace groan into the phone as I left out of our place and headed to the garage. I would let Chloe sort those things out, she was the one with the master plan, and I had to go upgrade some stuff.

 

I had gotten some stuff from the fight with the mecha cats last night, but I hadn't gotten the chance to check it out. There was also the new class choice that I was getting. I was curious about it the most, but I waited till I got into the garage storage. I walked over and took a seat on one of the couches that I had gotten, and looked over at the new massive tv that was surrounded by different weapons.

 

"Alright, let's see what we have here," I said and pulled my status up on the 80-inch screen, but instead, three choices came on screen.

 

[Select new class]:

 

[Gunblade Marksman: Gain triple range with all gunblade abilities and increased elemental damage if the weapon has it. Gain the ability to craft gunblades and augment them using special materials. Customize found, earned, or created gunblades.]

 

[Storm Hammer Champion: Gain Call The Sky Down for each strike with a hammer{Call The Sky Down: cast Lightning Strike on stuck target.}, Gain new hammer-throwing abilities. Gain the ability to craft hammers and augment them using special materials. Customize found, earned, or created hammers.]

 

[Mecha Transformer: Gain Battle Form: Body becomes Mecha, and you can no longer use found or earned weapons or armor. All weapons and armor that are found or created can be used to upgrade your Battle Form. Gain Transform: When defeating a Mecha monster, you have a 50% chance of gaining a Mecha Heart. These will allow you to gain new upgradeable forms, and all extras increase each form's Combat Power. Gain Mecha Mechanic: Upgrade owned, found, or created vehicles. Gain Mecha Heart: While In Battle Form or transformed, you can die one time, but you will not be able to return to Battle form for 24 hours.]

 

I just stared at the tv, looking over each choice. They all looked good, but I needed to pick just one, and it was not an easy choice.

 

"Hey! I brought some people!" Chloe yelled as she walked into the garage with Grace, Ace, and a bunch of other people that were pulling rolling suitcases. "This is going to be so much fun!"

 

I almost shit my pants as Chloe came in, and I quickly put my mask on so Ace didn't see my face, but my level was on the screen. Ace was already coming inside as I turned to him with my black mask on and waited for the questions to begin.

 

"Hey! Mad Max... Holy shit! You are making your class choice?! Level 86?! You were just 38!" Ace explained, and Chloe squealed suddenly.

 

"Isn't it great?! Last night on the way home, I took a wrong turn, and we ran into some more cats! You should have seen him, but that is thanks to you, right? Ace, you helped him get the boost he needed!" Chloe explained, and even I believed her.

 

"What?! No way! That sounds so crazy, but there is no other way you could have leveled up so fast! Man, look at these choices! I am Brick Fist Brawler, but those choices that you got look way cooler than the ones I had!" Ace exclaimed as he came to sit beside me on the couch, as the girls took the two other chairs since she said we might have guests, but why did it have to be them already!? 

 

"Yeah, I am struggling with which one to pick; they all look good," I said, trying to calm my nerves. I was going to have to get used to him being around, but this all had just caught me off-guard.

 

"Man, I don't know which one to pick for you. They all look so good," Ace said as he looked at the screen that was still up.

 

"I think that he should pick Mecha Transformer!" Chloe yelled from across the room, and Grace nodded her head in agreement. "He is always talking about wanting a giant robot, and this would be perfect!"

 

Never once had I talked about wanting to be a robot. This was purely her opinion, but not a bad one.

 

"I think the Hammer Champion would be good for pounding his enemies, right? You like to 'pound' your enemies, don't you?" Grace asked, and Chloe whirled around.

 

{Author Note: What Class do you think it should be?}