Chapter 13: Minions

Empress was desperate to increase her strength. If she wanted to be able to get her revenge on Crescendo, she needed to be stronger.

However, not only was Empress against one of the strongest players in the game, but she was also against an entire organization. Her one advantage was that Crescendo didn’t realize that Empress knew her plotting.

Vivian planned on spending a trip in the forests outside of Northfront City. By killing the numerous primordial beasts and absorbing their power crystals, she would be able to rapidly increase her power.

But before she headed out, she had some shopping to do.

Empress stepped up to a weapon store, not the one with the green-haired girl, and went inside.

The shopkeeper’s eyes lit up as he greeted her. He recognized Empress from the tournament.

“What can I get for you?” he asked politely.

Empress had spent some time contemplating what to buy. Her gauntlets served as powerful melee weapons, but after her fight with Rai, she had some ideas in her mind.

“Do you have any arrows?” Empress asked with a smile.

The main reason she wanted arrows was due to her catalyst gauntlets. By imbuing them with her teleportation power, she could make anything she touched teleport. Combined with arrows, this would make for an extremely deadly weapon.

The salesman’s eyebrow lifted, “Yeah, we have arrows. Most people use guns though. You sure you wouldn’t rather buy some bullets?”

Empress shook her head. It was harder to retrieve bullets. 

“I need barrier piercing arrows.”

“Those are pretty expensive but I’m sure you can handle it,” the man laughed. He knew about the reward money from the tournament.

He picked up a package of arrows from behind his counter.

“Here. Premier penetration arrows. 50,000 credits each.”

Empress blanched slightly at the price, but she was determined to buy some.

“I’ll take twenty.”

The shopkeeper grinned widely. The cost for twenty barrier-piercing arrows was 1,000,000 credits. That was a significant amount of money to him.

“Thanks! I’ll even throw in a quiver for free! Would you like a back or hip one?”

“A hip quiver please.”

They commenced a trade, exchanging the items.

“Thank you for your business! Please come again!” the man smiled.

Empress nodded politely.

After equipping the quiver and loading it full of arrows, Empress headed to her next destination.

She stopped in front of the large shop, staring at the words on the front.

“Minions R Us” was imprinted in bold letters.

Shaking her head in amusement, Empress headed inside.

“Greetings! I am Horacious Gladius Max! At your service madam,” a large-bellied man with beard greeted her.

Empress blinked at the man’s name. Was he serious?

“Here to purchase some companions I assume?”

“That’d be correct,” Empress nodded.

“We have all different kinds of folk at Minions R Us, take this catalog!” the man said, throwing the booklet at her dramatically.

Empress flipped through, noticing the different kinds of minions available.

There were four primary kinds of minions: animals, sidekicks, henchmen, and servants.

Animals were primarily used to guard a person’s hideout, whether it be pits full of snakes or a guard dog. Henchmen were NPC’s without powers. They were also used for guarding bases, but they could also assist in carrying out crimes. They came pre-equipped with skills and weapons. Sidekicks on the other hand were special, super-powered minions that scaled with a player’s level. A player could only have one sidekick at a time. Servants were self-explanatory.

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After thinking about her rundown castle, Empress decided to buy two dozen servants, ten henchmen, and a few sharks to place in the moat around her castle.

Now she was currently deciding if she wanted to buy a sidekick.

“What kind of sidekicks do you have?”

“Every kind!” the man said with pride.

“We have illusionists, mind-controllers, negation users, elemental manipulators, telepaths, etc.”

Empress pursed her lips thoughtfully.

“What would complement me best?” she wondered curiously. So far she hadn’t required much assistance in combat. She had made due without a problem.

After some serious consideration, she opened her mouth.

“I want a healer.”

“A healer?” Horacious asked, raising an eyebrow, “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather have someone who could attack or defend?”

“I’m sure,” Empress said, shaking her head. Her barriers were already the best defense and offense she could think of. Healing her wounds after a battle was extremely important, especially if she planned to be out in the field for a long period of time.

“Very well,” he said, stroking his beard.

He reached under his desk, pulling out a different catalog.

“These are the healers we have available, feel free to choose.”

Empress scanned the list, reading the information about the sidekicks.

The available healers all healed in different ways. Some harnessed the power of solar energy, others healed by transferring blood or by kissing the person.

Nearing the bottom of the list, Empress saw one that caught her eye.

“Tell me about the wound transferal ability.”

Horacious smiled widely, “You have good eye. That’s the most offensive ability amongst the healers. By touching the wound, the healer is able to absorb it and transfer it to another target.

“How much for someone with this ability?”

Horacious stroked his beard in thought, “Two million credits, that includes your other underlings as well.”

Empress winced but nodded at the terms. 

“Good. We have two sidekicks with this ability. One is female and the other is male. Any preference?”

“Female!” Empress blurted out. Realizing her mistake, she blushed.

Horacious blinked, “Are you sure? The man is rather handsome.”

Empress nodded rapidly. She didn’t want a man touching her every time she got hurt.

“Very well,” Horacious nodded.

He opened a trade window with Empress, handing over four small sigils.

“Here are the summoning signs. Activate them and they will create portals containing your new minions. Enjoy!”

Empress thanked the man, giving him the credits.

She made her way to Darkreach castle, expectations in her mind.

As the castle came into view, Empress sighed. It was truly shabby. No wonder her quiver full of arrows cost the same amount. Most villains had high-tech hideouts equipped with laser-beams and motion detectors. She was probably the only person who would choose a castle.

Hilda and her knight greeted her at the entrance.

Empress showed them the summoning sigils, causing their eyes to light up in happiness.

“The castle will be lively again!” Hilda beamed in joy.

Empress laughed, and stood over the moat to her castle. She activated the sigil, causing sharks to appear inside the water.

After filling the moat with the beasts, Empress walked inside the great hall of the castle’s keep. She would summon the rest of her underlings there.