You get a weapon, you get a weapon, everybody gets a weapon!

[Chapter 2

To those who were worthy of greater powers, and to those who sought a way into another world, The Universe had answered their wishes. Welcoming these brave people, The Arc Towers had opened their gates. And for those who were strong enough, treasures were kept beneath their stone floors.]

Matt's hand paused just as it was about to touch the Element Orb. His eyes bulged after reading the system message. "Treasures?"

Magnus rolled his eyes. "Yes, Matt. There are treasures in the Towers' basements. Each Tower keeps one treasure. And I know what's being kept inside the one nearest to us." He then waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "But nobody's opening the basement door anytime soon. It requires you to reach Level 10 to be able to unlock it."

"And what about this 'way into another world'?" Markus asked while inspecting the dagger in his hand. It was called [Rogue Autumn], a C-rank weapon Magnus had given him after the Element Orb showed his father's affinities—wind and darkness. It had reddish brown colored blade, like dried leaves scattered on the soil during autumn.

Magnus glanced at his father and slightly shook his head. 'You'd think a kind doctor like him would have light affinity. But nope, he just had to be more attuned with darkness. I mean, I had already known his affinities, but seeing it again after so long is really hitting me how odd his whole situation is.'

"It's uuh," Magnus finally said, "a portal to the nearest Realm from Earth. You can only open it after reaching Level 20. So it'll still be a while before an Earthling manages to cross over."

"I see," Markus replied. "By the way, how did you get this dagger? Do you have many weapons stashed in your Inventory?"

Magnus observed as the Orb glowed yellow after receiving mana from Matt. Before the element affinity measurement session had begun, Magnus had used [Rejuvenate] on everybody to help them get a sense of how magic felt like. It took them all roughly half an hour before they got a hang of it—which was a snail's pace compared to the time it had taken TJ to achieve the same.

"Lightning, same as before…" Magnus muttered under his breath. "So yeah," he said to his dad, "I happen to stea—I mean get my hands on a lot of items and weapons from the future. There are several kinds of them that I could give to some of you, depending on the result of your affinity test. After that, I'm going to group you based on your affinities and teach you some simple spells."

He then pulled out a pair of golden-colored gauntlets from his Inventory and handed it over to Matt. "It's called—"

"Infinity Gauntlet?" Matt cut him off. "Kinda looks like it, just way slimmer."

Magnus stared at his friend helplessly before saying, "No. It's called [Thunder Catcher]. Go and inspect it. It's supposed to enhance your lightning affinity and has a passive skill."

"Oh, cool! Thanks, bro!" Matt said before softly punching Magnus' arm.

When the big guy finally moved out of the queue, Magnus spotted his mother standing before him. He smiled at her and handed her the Orb.

"Oh, gosh," Fiona said nervously. "I'm still not confident in controlling this mana thing."

"Don't worry, mom. This is why I wanted everyone to line up and measure their affinities. In a way, this can be their first practice on moving mana. But I know you can do it, mom." He gently grabbed his mother's hand and put it on the Orb. "Just give it a try."

After a moment of hesitation, Fiona closed her eyes and with his high Perception stat, Magnus could feel the faint mana fluctuations surrounding his mother's arm and hand. She was actually doing pretty well, directing the flow of mana quite smoothly. She was just underestimating herself a little bit.

Suddenly, the Orb glowed blue. It was the same blue that Magnus had seen taking up much space in the Orb back when he'd measured his affinities for the first time. Seeing that, Magnus smiled.

"Water," he told his mom. "I also happen to have the most affinity to the water element. I can teach you a lot of water spells, mom. Also, you can have this," he said before pulling out a necklace with a small pearl-like pendant. He handed it to his mother, who received it while giving him a questioning look.

"It's called [Moonlight Sparkle]. It enhances your water affinity and boosts your Mana by a lot of points. I think it also increases your Health," Magnus explained.

And just like that, one after another, everyone got to test their mana control and measure their element affinities at the same time.

Mei, Matt's mother, had fire affinity. He then gave the woman an earring called [Wicked Spark], which enhanced her fire affinity and increased her Agility.

Katja's affinities, as Magnus had expected, turned out to be wind and lightning. He considered giving her his B-rank spear called [Forthright], but he immediately rejected this idea. He still liked using the spear from time to time. He then scanned his list of 'looted goodies' before his eyes landed on a crossbow called [Tempest]. Pretty simple name, not so simple weapon. It was the same rank as his spear, but he never got to use it, mostly because he had forgotten he'd had it this whole time. "Here," he handed the crossbow to the Russian girl. "I think it has its own skill. I could be wrong, though. Go check it out."

Katja frowned. "I want a sword."

"Well, too bad. I've never been a sword guy, so I don't have any in my Inventory."

The girl could only click her tongue before snatching the crossbow out of Magnus' extended hand.

Her father then came up next. The man sent his mana to the Orb and it then glowed green—the color of earth element. Magnus reluctantly gave him what looked to be a pair of black military boots. He used to wear them before he got his [Mystic Deep] armor, which came with a pair of leather boots of its own. The military boots were called [Giant's Stomp], an item whose active skill could cause earthquakes, like the name implied.

Next up was Garrett. Magnus snorted before handing the skinny guy the Orb. No, he didn't snort because of the boy's perpetual bags under his eyes that made him look perpetually sleep-deprived. He snorted because at the exact time Garrett stepped forward, Magnus' peripheral vision just happened to spot the exact item the guy had used back in the original Universe. "Here, I'm returning it to you," Magnus said while shoving a wooden staff right in front of Garrett's face.

Garrett hesitantly took the weapon and inspected it in his Inventory. He hadn't even touched the Orb in Magnus' other hand. [Friendly Fire] was the name of the staff. "What a weird name."

Magnus chuckled. "You'll get the joke behind it once you see your affinity," he said while shaking the Orb.

Taking the Orb off Magnus' hand, Garrett began sending mana into it. Out of everyone, the guy was actually the first person who had been able to connect with his mana source. It had taken him less than ten minutes. Which was still below TJ's record. But it was impressive, nonetheless.

The Orb then glowed red. Ironically, his affinity was also the same as TJ's main affinity. "Fire, huh." He then glanced at the Inventory box that contained his staff. "I still don't get it."

Magnus rolled his eyes. "Well, it's a wooden staff. But just like some other weapons, the magic inscriptions carved on it made it resistant to some elements, in this case fire. Therefore, the fire you produce using it becomes friendly fire. Get it? Because it doesn't burn the staff despite it being made of wood, so it's friendly."

"Ah, alright. Cool," he muttered before moving away from the line, looking highly unamused. "Oh and, thanks for the staff," he added.

"You're welcome," replied Magnus awkwardly while scratching his head.

Henry, Garrett's father, made the Orb turned fully grey, as if a group of storm clouds were rolling in it and filling it up. "You have affinity with the wind element, sir. However, I don't have any more item related to this element. So I can't give you anything for now. I'm really sorry," Magnus said to the man.

Henry could only smile wryly at that. "That's okay, Magnus," he said, patting Magnus' shoulder and making way for his wife to move forward.

Gina Williams, Garrett's mother, turned out to have affinities to water and earth. Magnus hadn't known about this before, as he had never met her after the Prolog in the original Universe. Now, seeing the colors glowing in the Orb, Magnus' gaze immediately moved to one box in his Inventory. The weapon contained in it would be the perfect one for the woman, given her affinities.

However, Magnus was reluctant to part ways with this particular weapon. It held a lot of memories, after all. After a bit of consideration, he decided that instead of sitting in his Inventory collecting figurative dust, the weapon would be better off in the hands that clearly could make good use of it. "Mrs. Williams, please take this," he said while pulling a tower shield out of his Inventory and planting its bottom on the ground. "You'll need to build up your Strength in order to wield it properly. For the time being, you can just keep it in your Inventory."

The woman with the purple-dyed hair then touched the top of the shield before willing it to enter her Inventory. "Thank you, Magnus. I'll make sure to take well care of it," she said, noticing the slightly melancholic look in Magnus' eyes when he saw his shield being in another person's hands. She then glanced at the name of the shield. "[Fortitude]. I like that name."

"Me too, ma'am. It was my very first shield. It's only C-rank, but has gotten me through many tough situations."

"Are you sure you're okay giving me this? It seems you've made so many memories with it."

"It's okay, Mrs. Williams. I've already got a much better shield. Well, two of them actually. But one still needs a bit of tweaking."

"Then, thank you again," she said before giving him a brief hug and walking away.