Spell Weaver [Book 2 Complete]

Alex’s feet shuffled on the ceramic tile of the Zone 1 Headquarters building. All of his muscles ached, and the lights overhead felt so bright, he wanted to get a pair of sunglasses and wear them for the rest of the day.

He followed the receptionist’s directions through the pre-integration government building. When he reached the briefing room, there was already a small cluster of people chatting toward the front of the large room.

The flooring was swapped to a thin carpet texture, and a dozen steps took him to the base of the room, where a table and whiteboard sat for larger demonstrations.

“Ah, Mr. Moore!” Xavier greeted him warmly.

Alex had to keep himself from wincing. Even after drinking part of a healing potion, he had a headache that begged him to get more sleep. “Good morning,” he said.

A large man stood next to Xavier, his laughter genuine and booming as he saw Alex.

“Man, you look like you spent the night in a duster’s den!” he laughed again, the others joining him.

That time, Alex did wince.

Xavier stepped to the side to open some space in their circle for Alex to join.

“Alex Moore, this is Captain Crouch. These here are agents Tilly and Ross. Each of them is in charge of the day shift for running two of the city’s checkpoints.” Alex looked up at those gathered. Everyone looked at him with hints of amusement or curiosity on their faces.

The captain was a big man who clearly leaned toward putting points in Strength or Constitution. Tilly and Ross looked small by comparison, but they both had the lean physiques of Awakened.

“Good morning. Nice to meet you all,” Alex said, forcing himself to stand straight, the sore muscles in his abdomen and lower back protesting as he did. His brain worked quickly, cataloging how the group looked and going as far as to scan each of them, despite it being rude.

Even though the System gave him a full readout for each character, he only felt the need to focus on names, levels, and class.