There weren’t a lot of things that radiated the level of power I could feel from outside, and even fewer who would also be willing to knock. Most things that were powerful also tended to veil it, so whatever was out there wanted us to know just how strong it was, and I liked that even less. Though, the fact that they bothered to knock at all suggested that talking our way out might be possible.

  Another knock sounded as I moved toward the door, my mind made up. Whoever was out there wasn’t going away, and if I could talk our way out of this fight, it would be for the best. I had plans for the day, and we were burning daylight.

  I blinked several times in surprise as I pulled the door open, spotting just what was on the other side. The mutated owl creature we had seen earlier watching us from the trees was standing there, waiting. It was much taller than I had realized at the time, its head nearly reaching my own.

  There was no way this was a native of Earth. Mutated or not, I didn’t see how an owl could hit six feet so early into the integration. Plus, there was the matter of the apparent intelligence and power coming off it. Was this one of the faction’s leaders?

  “May I come inside?” it asked slowly. The voice behind the words sounded ancient.

  My worry was growing by the second. Had I somehow attracted the attention of a bored god? Being caught up in whatever horrible games kept them amused was the last thing I wanted.

  “Sure,” I replied, doubting I could have stopped them if I tried.

  “Oh, good, there’s still some of the beans left. I was hoping there were,” said the figure, as its head swiveled to the remains in the cookpot.

  As they walked toward it their form shifted. The strange owl was replaced by a much more human visage, one that matched how old their voice sounded. By the time they were scooping some beans out with a bare hand, a long white beard had sprouted on their face, completing the image.

  Neither Floof or Ash had moved, but both were watching him intently. Floof had his head cocked with a look of confusion, all of the earlier alarm gone. What did that dog think was happening here?

  “Who are you?” I asked, keeping my tone calmer than I felt.

  “Hmm?” he asked, looking up from the now-empty pot. “Ah, yes, a name. Sorry, it has been awhile since I’ve conversed with anyone like this. I am Relph, though I suppose if you can take on one of these local names, I may as well join you. How about Ralph? Does that sound natural?”

  His eyes moved to Ash as he asked the last question.

  “I guess,” she replied, looking back to me for answers I didn’t have.

  “Ralph, it is. Why are you all staring at me like I have two heads? I’m pretty sure I only have the one.” His hands reached up and started feeling his head as he spoke.

  “Yep, just one.”

  Ash laughed, a long, loud burst of actual mirth. It was the first time since the spiders. She had always liked the stupidest comedy movies, and this, whatever he was, was playing directly into the themes.

  But that was exactly the problem.

  What was he? How much danger did he pose to us? It wasn’t impossible that he could be helpful. I had met a few impressively powerful beings who I would consider genuinely benevolent. But they were the exception, not the rule. The System generally bred a cruel multiverse.

  I took a deep breath and asked what needed to be asked, consequences be damned. “Alright, look, I can feel just how powerful you are, and I don’t have time to beat around the bush here. So suicidal risk or not, who are you really? What do you want?”

  The old man let out a deep bellowing chuckle. I had no idea if that was a good sign for our future or not, but Ash was still smiling, and Floof hadn’t moved, so it couldn’t be entirely bad yet.

  “Sorry, I just really looked at your face and realized what you must be thinking,” Ralph answered, as his laughter died out. “I’m just an observer, and you, Adam, happen to be by far the most interesting thing on the planet.”

  Well, that was probably better than a god toying with our lives. Then again, a god could have helped us. An observer was more than useless.

  Every integration had a couple. They were generally old fools determined to push themselves further on the System’s path, but stuck, endlessly searching for some mysterious revelation to move the next inch.

  They were feckless morons, watching the world go by as people died, refusing to use their power in any way to help anyone.

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  Were they even allowed to make contact like this?

  “That doesn’t fully answer my question. It’s been a long time, but I don’t think observers are allowed to interact at all with the integration, so again, why are you here?” I asked, unsure what would happen to them if they broke the rules. Were they System-enforced or something else?

  “Entirely correct, we aren’t supposed to interact, interfere, make ourselves known, et cetera, et cetera. But I’m not sure you count in regards to those rules, Adam, and by extension, it’s possible Ash here doesn’t either,” he replied.

  “Wait, are you saying you’re willing to help?” I asked, astonishment plain on my face. I didn’t know a lot about observers, but I was reasonably sure this wasn’t normal behavior at all.

  “Well, no, not really. I won’t go that far. Something like that risks the System doing to me whatever was done to you. Or did you do it yourself? I wasn’t really able to find the records on that,” Ralph replied, barely giving any answers.

  “That’s not really any of your business. What’s important, right now, is why you’re here, taking time away from monster hunting.” I steeled my voice, trying to make my point as clear as possible. Whatever good grace he had earned was quickly fading.

  Ralph ran a hand through his long beard, looking lost in thought for a moment. “I’m stuck. I’ve been stuck for a very long time. And no matter how many integrations I watch, no matter how much I seem to learn, and no matter how many beings I try to emulate, I cannot advance. Something is missing. I don’t know what that something is, but it’s time for something different. And you, Adam, are incredibly different.”

  “I don’t care. We don’t need an observer following us around, alerting everything nearby to our presence. Especially when you won’t even do anything to help. Go away,” I said, steeling my gaze as I stared at him. It wasn’t a request. I wanted nothing to do with him.

  “You’re thinking about this all wrong. I can’t interfere directly, but Adam, you aren’t from here, and despite that, for all intents and purposes, as far as the System is concerned, you’re a native. A native full of information from the greater integrated System-space. There’s no reason I can’t have in-depth conversations about those topics with you.” He winked as he said the last part.

  Damn, he had a point. I still wasn’t big on the idea of carting him around. So far, he hadn’t exactly proven stealthy in the slightest. Then again, just showing his power like that could be enough to scare off some of the problem creatures out there.

  It was another gamble, and a pretty big one at that. I only really had his word for what he was. If there was some way to prove his claims, I wasn’t aware of them. There were the usual class abilities that would do so, but none of which we had any access to.

  “Are you going to be following us into every fight?” I asked. The old man was right. There were too many potential benefits here to just ignore them. That didn’t mean I trusted him remotely, but I had to accept the possibilities. “And where does this information sharing end anyway?”

  “I’ll hang around, but not directly involve myself. And anything you could already know I’m entirely willing to discuss, but I’d like to know some things in return as well,” he answered.

  “I’m guessing that means no information on just who is invading the planet, or what species could have come from the planets Earth was merged with? Probably not willing to tell me anything about System-space after I left it either. But classes are nothing new, so why don’t you give me your opinion on our current plan for finding Ash a good class?” I didn’t actually care that much what his opinion was, but I wanted to test the information he’d share and see what exactly he was going to demand in return.

  “Yes, though I may be more willing to share information there as you encounter and deduce some of the details yourself. I am not totally unwilling to test the boundaries of what I am allowed to do, otherwise I wouldn’t have contacted you at all, self-interest or not.” He looked at each of us, Floof included, in the eyes for a few seconds before he resumed speaking.

  “With how sick Ash is, I approve of your goal. The best choices will be available at level twenty-five. But you already know that. What you should start considering is how to push those classes the moment you have them. Even once she is on the path to healing, she isn’t going to be able to fight, not at anywhere near your strength, though I suppose not many here can. Why this planet, Adam? What drew you here? What was it like to lose all of your System-advancements?”

  Ash’s head turned to me, her eyes wide. Ralph’s questions had caught her attention as well. The sun continued its climb outside the window. We needed to get to hunting. There were spiders that I’d prefer we found before it was dark again.

  “I’ll answer these questions, but that’s all for now. You can ask me more once we are back here tonight. I should have more for you then as well. Will that work?” I asked.

  “Seems fair,” he replied, a giant smile spreading across his face. It looked ridiculous under his mustache. What the hell had I gotten us into with him?

  “I chose this world because it was full of Humans. I didn’t know how long my abilities would last once I broke free of System-space, and I didn’t want to waste any of my residual manafire trying to make a new body for myself. I wasn’t any good at veils even at the best of times, so I stuck with what I knew.”

  I took a deep breath before continuing. Even Heather had never heard this second part. It was something I didn’t like talking about.

  “It had felt like part of me was tearing itself out of my body. Senses I had relied on for so long were gone. I felt like a child learning to walk again. The smallest things caused me pain. My body could easily be cut or broken, and I had no way of dealing with it besides a long, slow healing process. In short, it was hell. But I survived it, and found a new life, one I love,” I finished, giving a nod to Ash to make sure she understood how much our family was worth to me.

  Ralph yawned as the System integration message played in his head. He had done this thousands of times before, and was still stuck. He had known the level one thousand bottleneck would be hard to surpass, but not this hard. None of the worlds being mixed looked likely to give him any new insights.

  He needed something new. The question was what? He had even started to consider giving up being an observer.

  And then a giant ignition of mana caught his eye. Nothing like that should have been in the world already. Perhaps there was something he could learn here. He would need to get closer, and investigate.

  Memories of the observer Ralph as the Integration started.