Solomon's Crucible 49. The Journey Begins (Patreon)

AN1: This will be the first chapter of book two of Solomon's Crucible. There will be little bits of recap scattered throughout the next few chapters to bring readers up to speed in case they skip book one or it has been a while since they read book one. I'll try to avoid being too blunt with it.

AN2: If you really want to follow along on the map, Solomon's territory is in the vicinity of the "North Umpqua Trail System" landmark on google maps. As I mentioned before, I will generally keep the flavor of the areas Solomon visits accurate in terms of geography and population density, but otherwise people and places will be fictionalized.

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Figuring out how to ride a horse wasn't the worst thing Solomon Gragg had been through in the last day or so. Of course, that had more to do with how his day had gone than anything else.

First, a system had "integrated" earth. It presented itself with an interface that looked fit for a video game, and it seemed to treat human life with the same attitude that most people took towards video game characters. It had disabled Solomon's pistol and cell phone—along with, he was pretty sure, most of the modern technology on the planet—just for starters. At the same time, it had spooked the local wildlife, setting off a chain of events that sent Solomon tumbling down to the bottom of a ravine.

He'd woken up to find his hand pinned under a boulder and a ticking clock in the corner of his vision. He'd ended up cutting his hand off in order to get free. Then he'd had to push through a series of life or death battles against increasingly challenging opposition.

It wasn't all bad news. The system handed out rewards for behavior it deemed deserving. As a result, Solomon was stronger, faster, and more agile than he'd ever been. He'd picked up a smattering of supernatural abilities, including a method for producing what amounted to magical gunpowder that worked even in the face of the system.

He couldn't play the piano, but that had been true back before the system showed up.

In the end, he'd won the system's recognition of his ownership of the square mile zone in which he'd been hiking before the system arrived. The federal government would probably take a dim view to Solomon claiming a square mile of a national forest, but he figured they had bigger fish to fry at the moment. The system grant came with a little fortress to call his own, a passive income, and a lot of options for sale. It was a system he'd explore in detail once he'd made sure his family was all right.

He'd also come away from the initial gauntlet with a... buddy was too strong of a word. A business partner.

Kanmi Critonia was an honest to goodness alien. He hadn't volunteered his home planet, and Solomon hadn't gotten around to asking him about it. He had signed up with the system for the chance to invade the next planet it integrated. Luck had seen him duel with Solomon for the rights to their little patch of the middle of nowhere. After losing, he had adapted with aplomb, and now seemed downright cheerful at the chance to get rich as Solomon's employee.

He was also relaxed in the saddle as if he'd grown up in it. Meanwhile, Solomon, who had grown up on the same planet with, as far as he knew, every horse in the universe, was fighting just to stay on top of his mount. The steady drain on his HP as the system healed his little injuries suggested he was doing something wrong. Unfortunately, there wasn't much he could do but fight through it.

The creatures they were riding weren't truly alive. They were simulations created by the system, able to be summoned or dismissed at will from a command token with the use of system-granted MP. Solomon suspected a real flesh and blood animal would not have been so stoic in the face of his flailing around.

It was a relief when they took a break for lunch. They had ridden down out of Solomon's territory and found the state highway before making their way east. They had made decent enough time, considering, although if his car were working he'd be on the outskirts of Eugene by now.

Solomon staggered when his feet hit solid ground. He had to walk around for a few minutes before his legs reached some semblance of normality. Kanmi watched the whole thing with a smile on his face. Solomon shot him a glare.

"Where'd you learn how to ride a horse, anyway?"

"I practiced," Kanmi replied. "After all, I knew I'd be coming to a primitive world."

Solomon bristled. "Primitive?"

The system had sent them back he didn't even know how many years. He thought it was a bit much to insult humanity over something that had been forcibly imposed on them.

"Hey, I know, you had cars, internet porn," Kanmi said, "and VR sex dolls."

"I don't-"

"I'm just saying," Kanmi continued, ignoring Solomon's protests, "everybody starts out at ground zero with the System and has to work their way up. I knew I wasn't going to show up and buy a flying car."

"There are flying cars?" Solomon asked. He pulled some trail mix out of his inventory and started munching on it while he waited for the answer.

"Out in the big wide universe? They got just about everything," Kanmi said. "If you ever get to visit the headquarters of some of the real heavy hitters, it'll make your head spin."

Solomon swallowed down his trail mix, then took a drink of water. "What about us? When do we get flying cars?"

He wouldn't say the collapse of society world-wide would be worth it if it meant he could buy his own flying car. It would be a nice silver lining, though.

Kanmi chuckled. "Just take it one day at a time, boss. Hup!"

At that last exclamation, he grabbed the handle of the flexible sword wrapped around his waist and snapped it open. A flick of his wrist had the blade flying towards Solomon. For a wild moment Solomon thought Kanmi had decided to eat the massive penalties the system would dish out in the event of betrayal, then the blade flashed by his left hand side and there was a wet thunk.

He looked down to see a little lizard creature had been cut clean in half. It had been just about ready to try to take a chunk out of his leg. Solomon could have killed it eventually, but he appreciated being spared the trouble. He nodded in thanks.

Their mounts had managed to brush through the system-mutated wildlife without incident throughout the morning. It probably would have been too much to expect them to stand guard as well as providing transportation, though.

Solomon ate another handful of trail mix, staring at the dead body. It was a timely reminder that in the world the system was making, truly safe places were few and far between.

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