Chapter 79 - A Game Plan for Progression

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Imprisoned… for one thousand years… banished… to rot in a cell, as a plaything for a dead man. A creature, twisted by insanity, who uses lesser beings as pawns in his sickening games. He will rue the day he brought me here… for when I get out, I will grow strong. Even stronger than I am now. Stronger than even him... Then… one day… I will be the one to consume his soul. And all that will remain of him… will be the echoes of my laughter.

* Ezdeath

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Name: Trey Bon

Level 35

Class: Infernal Summoner, Horror Crusader

Name: Izumi Yoshida

Level 1

Class: Blacksmith

Jason Foreti

Level 8

Class: Alchemist

Ashe Landry

Level 27

Class: Rogue

Jason had come down with the plague.

They don’t know how it had happened or why only him, but black spots of necrosis were running up along Jason’s right arm and spreading rapidly. A classic sign of the Ornthas plague that turned people into undead.

Fortunately for them, they still had a good amount of plague remedy in stock.

“This shit is disgusting!” Jason gagged as he downed another bottle and stuck his tongue out with repulsion. “Oh my god! If these lesions weren’t so fucking painful, I’d let myself die and come back as a ghoul!”

The sounds of the jungle were interrupted by Izumi’s laugher as she and Ashe made fun of Jason from behind. Trey, Karus and Atharost were amused as well but tried to spare the other man a semblance of dignity as he gagged again. At the very least the potions had put a stop to the spread, and they could only hope it’d go away.

The path they’d taken was traversed much faster going from the ruins of Labasta than to it. The undead packs they’d happened upon the first time weren’t present and the way had been clear, so they’d cut the travel time down by many days. Even now they were only a couple miles off the coast, and the smells of the sea were meeting them to hasten their passage.

Within the next hour they finally came upon the beach, and to their immense relief: Brae’s ship was still docked right where they’d left it weeks ago.

“Atharost, fly over and let them know we need them to send rowboats.”

Atharost nodded. “Yes master.”

The ifrit took to the sky with his tiny serpent fire elemental Boxamoth following behind at a close distance. Trey watched them pass over the azure waters with ease and land on the docks before giving Jason another wary glance. The necrosis had definitely stopped spreading up his arm, but Jason was still moaning and groaning about the pain. Not that Trey blamed him, it looked really bad.

Jason caught his glance and frowned in concern. “Will they let me onto the ship?”

Trey raised an eyebrow, enjoying the fact that Jason was talking to him in a way that didn’t involve berating Trey for what Jason considered to be poor life choices. “They definitely will. It’s contagious, sure, but we’ve got enough plague remedy for many people to take and you’re not even a ghoul yet.”

He slapped Jason on the back and gave him a wink. “You’ll be fine!”

Jason shrugged off Trey’s hand with a scowl as the other laughed.

Not long after that the rowboats began to unload from the galley and touched down in the water. Within another half hour they were all stepping onto the deck of Brae’s galley, and the scarred middle aged captain was hardily laughing while shaking Trey’s hand.

“I knew you bastards would make it!” Brae declared smiling, though as the final members of the party boarded his smile faded into a concerned frown. “Wait, weren’t there a lot more than this?”

Trey sighed and nodded, taking off his cloak to expose his bare back and chest. Placing the garment on a barrel and hopping up to sit on top, he looked back over the water into the jungle they’d just left. “Yeah there were. I lost three thralls, and I ended up having to kill Gorthomal.”

“The old summoner?”

“Yeah.”

“Why? Did he turn on you?”

Trey’s frown matched Brae’s own. Technically Gorthomal hadn’t done so, but he’d definitely planned to if Trey’d chosen the wrong god to follow. “Yes, he did.”

“Bah.” Brae shook his head in dismay and leaned against the ship’s rails. “That must have been a hell of a fight. He was well over level 100 wasn’t he? You’re lucky to be alive. I see you got Rivia a new weapon though! That spooky staff looks very valuable. Izumi got some interesting equipment as well, never seen anything like that contraption she’s got strapped to her back. What is it?”

Izumi’s steam-punk outfit, outlined with the mechanized cannon on her back, the pistol strapped to her hip, goggles, and top hat with a well-fit leather vest were definitely not characteristic of what she used to look like. Trey liked the change though, and as Izumi caught their gaze she gave them a happy smile and waved.

Waving back as the sailors began to hoist the sails or went to the under-deck and prepped the oars, Brae caught sight of Jason’s plagued arm. His eyes went wide and his mouth dropped a little. “You did not tell me… about Jason. You realize we can’t dock into Teretog with him looking like that right? They’ll kill us on sight.”

Trey wasn’t concerned. “He’s already started taking plague remedy. The spreading has stopped, it should be gone within a day or two. If it isn’t… we’ll stay on board until it is. Is that ok?”

Brae didn’t like the idea and it showed, though the scarred captain eventually shrugged his acknowledgment. “Very well. Just because I like you lot. We won’t be docking at Teretog until he clears up… and if he doesn’t clear it and turns into a ghoul…”

“If he doesn’t clear of the plague I know what to do.” Trey kept his words as a hushed whisper so that only Brae could hear. He really wasn’t sure if he would kill Jason if he did turn into a contagious ghoul, in fact he didn’t think he would. Likely what would happen is he’d go back to Ornthas and camp out until the Earthborn permanence cycle was back on, kill Jason then, and hope that he returned to his original body. If Jason was still a ghoul after that, they’d have to check and see if he was still contagious at that point… and if he was... there was no helping it. They’d have to leave Jason behind.

Jason probably wouldn’t have minded too much though… aside from the vicious creatures Jason would have to deal with for the rest of his life. He didn’t seem to like Trey much as it was, and he’d even said he’d be leaving the group when they arrived back in Teretog.

Brae gave Trey a curt nod. “That’s what I like about you boy. No nonsense. Back to business though, did you get enough to split a share with me and my crew? We’ve got to eat too ya know!”

Trey’s heart immediately sank. Trey’d gotten a new subclass, Rivia had gotten that insanely good staff to use, and Izumi had gotten an entirely new set of stuff… but Trey didn’t want to take anything from either Rivia or Izumi. He’d feel terrible if he did that… Rivia’s staff was essential to her build and far too valuable to give away, while Izumi was beyond excited about her own findings and the potential to be useful in fights.

Trey slowly deepened his frown and shook his head. “I’m sorry, but those findings are needed. We didn’t get anything else… but don’t worry. I’ll still pay you.”

“Aren’t you out of money?” Brae asked with a cheap grin. “If I recall, the amount you gave us for the trip here was all you had left and it wasn’t much. I was hoping you’d find something of value to part with.”

Trey raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, I am out of money… but I’ll get it to you. It’s a promise. We just need to get back to Teretog and I’ll figure something out.”

Brae’s eyes trailed over to Juila and settled on her. He bit his lip in thought and head nodded her way. “What about the slave? I can always take her as compensation.”

Trey would have seriously considered it, but she was a thrall now. “Take a look at-“

“Oh, she’s turned into your thrall.” Brae caught it before even being told. “Didn’t see the pentagram until just now. I like the tattoo, by the way. On your arm. Care to explain? Surely you didn’t do it yourself… and those symbols are floating around. Very weird.”

Trey did not care to explain. “It’s… a long story. Anyways she’s my thrall, as you said. Can you give me a week or two for retroactive pay? I can come up with some money and send it your way with a little time.”

Brae halfheartedly nodded with a sigh. Folding his arms in disappointment he agreed and began directing his men. Then he stopped short of what he was saying and gave Trey another look. “Maybe there is a way to compensate us now and for good.”

Trey’s eyebrows raised and he folded his arms across his bare chest, his red and black eyes squinting in curiosity. “Oh? Do tell.”

Juila was resting on her pack next to where Piggy sat with her back to one of the masts. Rivia was speaking to Ashe and Izumi not far off, and Brae’s gaze settled on the five women hesitantly. “Let me and my crew each sleep with one of them once and we’ll call it all even.”

“Them?”

“Yes.”

“Who is them?”

Brae motioned their way and put his hands on his waist, licking his lips with a cunning smile. “The five women you have with you.”

“Nope. No way.” Trey crossed his arms in an X. “Ashe and Izumi are completely off limits, you know that. Rivia’s also become more of an asset than she has been in the past. The other two are my thralls. Nope, no and no way.”

“But-”

“Don’t care. I... Oh, wait. I do have something that could act as payment.” Trey grudgingly considered the option a moment longer, sighed, and then held out his hand. If he didn’t pay Brae, he wasn’t going to call in any other favors any time soon. Like Brae said, they needed to get paid too… and Brae had essentially cut him a huge deal in bringing him out here on so little money in the first place.

So, with a good amount of regret, Trey took out 1 of the 12 soulstones that contained the hellsteeds he’d won during the Earthborn tournament. He held the tiny black marble in his hand, and handed it over to the captain. “This should more than cover the expenses.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

It took a moment for Brae to identify the item, because he had to try more than once before succeeding. But when he did, his face lit up with a huge grin and he pocketed the little jewel. “My friend, we have ourselves a deal. I do believe you’ve likely earned yourself another free trip the next time too - familiars, especially rare ones like this, are very… very expensive.”

This news only made Trey’s face drop even more. “Great.”

They shook hands, and Trey had a thought cross his mind. Remembering back to his father’s business in the syndicate… he recalled that they didn’t only deal in drugs and guns, but Trey had personally handled transactions with human trafficking. The money had been good on Earth, and the slave trade here was relatively similar in pricing. However, even though he’d participated in the transport and sale of women before he’d never actually pimped them out when working in the syndicate. His inferiors had, but he hadn’t.

He wasn’t interested in participating in human trafficking here, but perhaps he could buy up some of the more willing slaves and start a prostitution ring? He’d never aspired to be a pimp, but here in the Lawless Lands it didn’t seem like such a bad idea. It’d be a solid source of income, and he could treat them well - far better than the other brothels did, as well as offer them protection to entice them to stay. That didn’t sound like a bad idea at all.

Wondering about how much the deal he’d struck down was worth, he figured he’d just ask. “Hey Brae, how much does a prostitute usually charge?”

Brae chuckled and let go of Trey’s hand, looking out over the sea as the waves splashed against his ship. “Depends on the prostitute. I’d say the low end prostitutes charge about 40 copper and the higher end prostitutes charge 200 to 300 for every session. Are you looking to be a pimp now?”

Trey grinned deviously. “That’s exactly what I had in mind. It’d be easy money.”

“That it would be. If I could enslave people’s minds like you summoners can, then I may have done it myself.”

“How much do you think Piggy and Juila are worth apiece for an hour? What would you pay if you were to see them on the street or in a brothel?”

Brae glanced over and examined them again. Furrowing his brows and tapping his foot he let out a humph. “I’d guess I’d likely pay 200 copper apiece. Maybe 240, if I was doing well financially. Rivia though? I’d easily pay 300. You’ve got a good start at a brothel if that’s really what you want to do, they’re all pretty damn attractive.”

He didn’t think he’d be prostituting his personal minions off, but nodded anyway. Then Trey did some quick math and whistled. Perhaps being a pimp wasn’t a bad idea at all. Perhaps taking some pointers from his old family business was something that could help him prosper here in his new world.

***

Jason’s necrotic lesions were entirely gone after the days of voyaging across the ocean waters, and pulling up into Teretog to dock was uneventful without any attempts by pirates or vagabonds to take the galley. Given that the galley was a formidable ship of war and required a large crew to handle, it was unlikely it would be one of the targets of an attempted boarding like the time Brae had captained his cog weeks ago.

Lightning flashed as a tropical storm to the north made its way towards the chain of scattered islands comprising the Lawless Lands, and people were rushing to secure the ships all across the bay. The weather had taken a quick turn for the worse and the wind was picking up as dark clouds began to cross overhead, obscuring the otherwise blue sky.

“Drop both anchors!” Brae yelled out to his crew as the men rushed back and forth while he steered into the docking space. “Take down the sails and secure the luggage!”

The wind picked up into a wail. A clap of thunder rattled their eardrums and startled a couple of them while emphasizing the strength of the oncoming weather. As the ship pulled up to the dock and came to a stop, Brae clasped hands with Trey in friendship.

“Thanks for the soulstone!” Brae yelled over the wind, checking out Piggy’s ass as she walked down the ramp leaving the ship. “It was grand!”

Trey squinted, covering his eyes as sea water was flung up in his face from the wind and another clap of thunder boomed out. “It was! Thanks for the ride!”

“Anytime!” The scarred captain waved him on and went back to work securing the boat as Trey followed the others off the galley and onto the dock.

Off to the Fost Guild compound they went.

***

Radian, the Fost Guild’s leader, was there near the front as they passed through the compound doors - barely getting inside before the first raindrops hit the earth. The handsome man was having a beer and drinking with some buddies around a firepit with a good looking woman on his left who played with his curly black hair. His red cloak and scimitar were thrown to the side and the thick studded leather armor he usually wore was ever present.

Upon seeing his potential recruits walk through the door, he greeted them warmly with a wave. “Good to see you all made it back in one piece! Don’t worry, Chekz hasn’t done us in yet!”

Radian and the others had a good laugh. Their nemesis guild, Chekz, was ever a thorn in their side. It was also the reason Trey’d been hesitant to fully commit to guild Fost, but they were certainly growing more comfortable here. Perhaps it would be soon that Trey finally came around.

“And… who is this?” Radian asked curiously, pointing to the huge ball of metal and muscles that Karus had become.

Trey glanced back and grinned at the tall black-bearded dwarf. He still found it hilarious that the All Spirit’s system still considered him a ‘dwarf’ thrall. He wasn’t anywhere close to being short anymore. “Ahem. This is Karus, he’s a minion of mine. A dwarf thrall.”

“Aye! Glad to meet ya lads!” Karus happily smiled and waved enthusiastically before putting his hands on his hips. He didn’t have his old clothes anymore and all he had were a pair of shorts they’d modified back in the Dead Lands, his axe, and his shield. The armor he’d once had was molded into his body now, and he looked rather intimidating to say the least.

“A dwarf?” repeated Radian incredulously. The others sitting around him did the same.

Trey nodded as they passed by, waving as they went. “Well, he was a dwarf when I first got him. Thralls evolve after all.”

The guild master stared a moment longer at their backs, shrugged, and called out. “Come talk to me sometime tomorrow! We need to discuss things!”

Trey gave him a thumbs up. No doubt it was about their potential recruitment again, but there was no real reason to say ‘no’ to joining anymore. If Chekz hadn’t attacked yet, they likely wouldn’t at all. Aside from that, the guild compound had been heavily fortified over the past weeks while they’d been absent, and it looked almost like a full blown fortress. Attacking this place would be a brave feat indeed.

Regardless, they had business to attend to.

After an hour of dilly daddling and relaxation, Trey sat down on one of their apartment chairs across from Ashe and Izumi on another couch. Jason was positioned on yet another chair and looked down at the wooden floorboards uncomfortably while fidgeting with one of Ashe’s lock picks absentmindedly. All of the others were absent, either in one of the rooms or out in the guild hall on other business. Trey’d made sure his minions cleared out so they could have a private chat just amongst the Earthborn.

“So…” muttered Trey, leaning forward with clasped hands. “Are you really leaving Jason?”

Trey’s eyes lingered on the smiling ape in the corner of the room that continued to gut itself with a long curved knife. Baninging its head against some invisible wall and screaming at the top of its lungs while ripping out its own entrails, the ape slowly succumbed to death in a gruesome display of violence. None of the others in the room noticed. Not a single one. Only he and Sithis could see these visions… and they’d been recurring on and off at random ever since he’d acquired his subclass Horror Crusader. The insanity stat that came with it was no doubt responsible for these occurrences… but it still really bothered him. He did not like to think about actually going insane. Perhaps he could look into ways to stave off insanity for those that had it… if there was an insanity stat built into this game, no doubt there was a way to nullify it.

“Trey?”

He snapped out of his thoughtful trance and blinked a couple times to face the concerned looks of Ashe and Izumi. Jason was staring too, but he was more angry than concerned.

“Are you alright Trey?” Ashe got up and came over to stand next to him with furrowed brows and a swaying blonde fox tail. Snapping her fingers in front of his face a couple times and clarifying that he noted her actions she folded her arms. “You were lost there for a minute. Deep thoughts?”

The chair underneath him creaked as he shifted uncomfortably and the floorboards groaned with it. “Yeah… I’m fine. Sorry. What was said?”

Ashe’s frown deepened, but it was Jason who spoke up next.

“I said: ‘I would like to leave but I don’t know where to go.’ So I’m probably going to start looking around for suggestions… maybe get a good idea on where to live a simpler life than this one.” Jason shrugged, his frown disappearing as his eyes hit the floor again. He took in a deep breath and shook his head in dismay. “I wish Elise and her family wouldn’t have died…”

Elise. The girl Jason had fallen for when first arriving from Earth. The same girl who’d been strung up to hang from a tree along with her family for harboring Earthborn from the king…

Trey’s fists clenched at the thought of it. He’d liked Elise and her family, not as much as Jason but definitely a lot. It’d been nice getting to know them, and they’d been very kind to him. With a deep sigh and getting to his feet, he walked over and stretched a hand out to shake.

“Very well. I don’t think we saw eye to eye very often… and I’m sorry for that. But I do wish you the best of luck anyways. I’ll buy a trip from Brae when I get the money and we can get you out of here to one of the coastal villages somewhere… I’m sure a startup alchemist would be appreciated in many places. You shouldn’t have a hard time making a living.”

The sound of a thunder crashed into them with a startling boom, shaking the structure they sat in and a flash of lightning illuminated the otherwise candlelit room. The rain was growing heavier now, turning into a downpour over time.

Jason hesitantly took Trey’s hand and shook it, becoming firm in his grip just as his resolve did. He stood up, slightly taller than Trey and gave a small but sad smile. “Thanks Trey. Honestly man I’m not sure if any of this is real… but I’d like to think it is. Even if there’s a small chance that Elise was truly alive… I don’t want to throw it away. I can’t. So it’s hard for me to see you treat people the way you do, even if they’re just NPC’s to you.”

Ah. So that’s what this was about. Trey didn’t bother telling Jason he thought they were likely real though, because that would have just given Trey one less excuse to act the way he did in Jason’s mind.

Jason let go of Trey’s hand and coughed into a balled fist, looking out the balcony door into the oncoming storm. His eyes reflected the hurt in his soul, and a longing for something even he couldn’t quite place. “I… appreciate all the things you did for me. You didn’t have to do those things, and you don’t have to pay for my way off this island either. I can make the money myself by selling what potions I have left, and I gathered enough herbs in Ornthas to make a whole lot more. I’ll start packing my things tonight… and I’ll try to get Brae to take me within a the week.” He glanced over his shoulder at Ashe and Izumi with an apologetic grin. “Sorry. I wish you all the best though.”

Ashe wasn’t bothered by his announcement to leave at all. She hadn’t really liked him and considered him more of a whiny nuisance than anything else. She kept her arms folded and only shrugged indifferently.

Izumi on the other hand teared up. Sniffling and getting to her feet she slowly walked over and wrapped her arms around Jason to give him an awkward hug. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay? It’s dangerous here… This new world I mean…”

Jason didn’t reply, but returned the hug in kind. Looking down at the smaller girl and gripping her tightly he started to tear up as well. The two of them had become good friends in the short time they’d known each other.

They stood there for a long time in awkward silence with only the echoes of the storm filling the void, until Izumi perked up and let go - snapping her fingers. “Wait! I forgot to give you something!”

Izumi adjusted her top hat and tugged at the goggles strung around her neck thoughtfully before running into her room, the same one she shared with Ashe, and came back out with a small book. She shoved it into his hands and gave a silly smile. “I thought you’d be able to use this.”

The book’s title read: ‘The Basics of Botany.’ It was the same book she’d found in the ruins of Ornthas that day she’d stumbled upon all of her new equipment.

Jason flipped through the pages and slowly read over it in silence. Eventually he closed it, nodded in appreciation, and headed to his own room to close the door softly behind him… leaving Izumi behind.

“Good riddance…” Ashe muttered as Trey plopped down next to her, though she didn’t say it loud enough for Izumi to hear. Ashe liked Izumi alot and she didn’t want to add to the obviously tumultuous emotions Izumi was undertaking considering the tears streaming down her face.

Trey snorted in discontentment. If Jason wanted to leave, that was his prerogative. Picking up the lock pick Jason had dropped earlier and handing it to Ashe, he kicked out his legs and set his feet on the low lying wooden table. “We should probably come up with a gameplan ourselves.”

Ashe cocked her head to one side and raised an eyebrow. “A gameplan for what?”

“For progression. What else? This is supposed to be the beta for a game where our lives are at stake right? We need to get stronger and use this time wisely before all the other Earthborn arrive.” Trey put his hands behind his head and leaned back thoughtfully while Izumi came around and took the seat he’d previously been in, crossing her arms after wiping the tears from her face.

Ashe twirled the lock pick around thoughtfully and tapped it on the couch arm rest. “Alright. The way I see it, you have the most to grow in a short amount of time.”

Now it was Trey’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “Explain.”

Ashe head-nodded over to where the grimoire he’d given her was sitting on the table nearby. “I’m still trying to learn the dark attribute. Meanwhile, we can look for another grimoire that teaches curse or chaos attributes… so that I can work on becoming a summoner like you. Then I can go the next step after that and get the upgraded class for pseudo-assassin summoners - and by the way, thank you for that. But... that’s also probably going to take a while. You have how many control slots left?”

Trey thought about it, and then checked his status page.

Control Limit Slots: 7 of 17 used.

Trey’s Minions:

* Napoleon, Primal Imp, Level 18 (1 slot)(Admired)

* Talsh’Noc’Un, Sword of Ruin, Living Weapon (1 slot)(Content)(Thirsting Level 1)

* Atharost, Ifrit, Level 41 (1 slot)(Very Friendly)

* Rivia Ahst, Culn, Level 24 (1 slot)(Forever Indebted)

* Piggy, High Elf Thrall, Level 1 (1 slot)(Infatuated)

* Karus, Dwarf Thrall, Level 36, (1 slot)(Liked)

* Juila, Human Thrall, Level 1 (1 slot)(Subservient)

Trey frowned. “7 of 17. I see what you’re getting at… we could always try to summon some more, it’ll just take a while. My current summon circle sucks ass and doesn’t even work over half the time. And it’s dangerous… it doesn’t have any barriers or wards to protect us if the demon is stronger than we are. Sucks that I didn’t get the opportunity to find a new summoning circle before Gorthomal had to try and betray us - and I don’t think going back to the cult after killing him would be a good idea.”

Ashe lifted her legs up and placed them across his thighs to lean back in a similar fashion across the couch. Looking up at the ceiling she let out a low thoughtful whistle. “Chancing it is still worth the risk. We can go out into the forest nearby… and I doubt you’ll get any demons stronger than Atharost. Your summon circle is pretty low tier, that’s for damn sure, we can’t even summon super weak demons most of the time just like you said. I doubt we’ll be able to summon a strong one.”

Trey couldn’t disagree with that logic. “Fine, but we may be at it for a long, long time. Days maybe.”

“Then we’ll go days.” Ashe gave him a sly wink. “And if we get tired of it… well, we can always go steal some slaves to turn into thralls.”