As Duke set himself back up on the edge of the platform, he reflected on just how good an investment it had been to collect data on the top ten. Without the detailed breakdown of what Vexxorr was, how they fought, and what their vulnerabilities were, Duke might have been in trouble in that fight. Even the simple knowledge that they were a collective and distributed lifeform was key to his victory. And the message from Aculotus, whoever that was, turned out to be unneeded advice but would have been essentially helpful if he wasn’t otherwise prepared. Duke sent them a message to come meet him.
It did not take long for Aculotus to introduce herself. She turned out to be a mousekin which immediately made Duke smile at her.
“Thank you for your helpful message.”
“It was the least I could do for the one who made it possible for so many to escape the city and possibly find their fortune out in the wilds.”
“Speaking of which, there seems to be another line forming up.”
“Serve your customers but, please, allow me to speak with you as you do so.”
“Of course. Tell me about yourself and your role here.”
“I am but a humble representative of my Entity. She always brings Contestants, but we never leave the city. Most of us are crafters. I am a healer by trade.”
“That’s all well and good, but I don’t see how that truly affects me.”
“As a healer, I made a large number of acquaintances early on here and more than a few have become friends. I have seen hundreds of Contestants and more than a few of my friends fall victim to that slug monster. It was truly insidious in how it preyed on so many just trying to garner enough points for transport off-world.”
“Transport off world? What do you mean?”
“The Thousand points required to purchase an exit ticket. I know it’s not something you need to worry about, but for many like me, gathering points early was the only way we were going to gather enough to be able to leave this place.”
“I apparently didn’t get this briefing. What happens to those who don’t have enough points to leave?”
“They die.”
“That simple, eh?”
Another voice from the line of Contestants coming to Duke for a deal spoke up, “That’s why we are all lined up. There’s about two thousand of us who have no chance of surviving if we can’t get out of the city. Even the crafters have found that they have to craft a masterpiece to garner enough points to survive. Most don’t have the resources to even get the materials to do so. That’s why we are all here.”
Duke steadily went through the line as they talked. Everyone in line was happy to accept the 20% contract and be sent outside the city. By now, Duke had noted that there were about a dozen locations that were especially popular. He decided to check them out if he had a chance to do so before things flipped over to the final phase.
The naga who had spoken up from the line finally arrived and gave Duke a bow, “Emerald at your service. I would greatly desire to take the 20% package and be delivered to the Challenge Fields.”
It turned out that the Challenge Fields was the most popular of the twelve popular areas and Duke was happy to send him on his way. He turned back to Aculotus who had taken a seat next to him on the platform.
“I take it that you have enough points to get off-world?”
“I do. Not by a lot, but enough that I can still spend some and have a comfortable margin. Healing is a very profitable profession in a place like this.”
The more he interacted with her, the more she reminded Duke of Nibblesworth from the Wildheart Refuge. He felt a strange pang of guilt at not having visited the Refuge before leaving as he had planned. Ultimately, he decided to set the feeling aside and just enjoy his easy point accumulation trick.
Of course, the peace of the moment couldn’t last. A pair of figures made their way through the crowd which seemed to easily part for them. They looked like nothing more than a pair of twin supermodels. Duke felt an enormous pressure on his Psyche as looked at them and even felt his MENTAL FORTITUDE kick in to fight off whatever effect they were emanating. A second later, he saw them for what they were – a pair of vampires. They were attractive, but certainly not the celestial beauties he had seen approach. His eyes narrowed.
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“Our Entities would have words with you. Come with us.” They spoke together in harmony, their voices blending into a potent charm that none they had met could resist.
“And if I refuse?”
The shock that spread across their features served to buoy Duke’s mood, breaking him out of the melancholy of past regrets. He followed up, capitalizing on their shock.
“Just who are your Entities and why should I speak with them?”
They pair gathered their wits and spoke again, “You know our Entities, but they know you much better.”
“Oh, fuck no! Not a chance. Never gonna happen.”
Duke’s visceral reaction to the pair was loud and intense enough to break a good portion of the crowd out of their trance which elicited several shouts of anger, triggering a cascade effect of breaking them free from the vampires’ aura effect. The pair were undeterred.
“We could make you come with us.”
“You are as fucking tone-deaf as your masters. I said no. No means no. Learn what that means. And no, you fucking can’t make me come with you. You don’t have the authority to do so and certainly not the power. You can’t attack me in this city and using your aura like you just did against all these people could be construed as an attack, so you had just better back down, go back to the twins and tell them to fuck off!”
“They will not be pleased with this defiance.”
“They can take it up with my sponsor.”
Duke felt the vampires’ twin COMPULSION Abilities flare again. This time it was filled with an insane level of power – their individual Abilities had some way to harmonize and create an intense synergy. The power washed over him and the crowd alike. Virtually every head in the crowd turned to face the vampires, fully under their thrall.
As the wave slammed into Duke’s mind, he felt his willpower buckle against the onslaught. His mind fought with everything it had to push back, loosening the grip he had on his terror held in his subconsciousness in the process. Thoughts and memories of horrors upon atrocities began to well up threatening to spill into his consciousness before his MENTAL FORTITUDE snapped into place with a forcefulness well beyond anything Duke had experienced from it before to shield his mind from the vampires’ intrusion.
*** Congratulations! You have ranked MENTAL FORTITUDE up to Master 1. Through continued supernatural trauma, you have grown your mental defenses. Your mind is now a nigh unassailable fortress. Additionally, you now have a chance to reflect a portion of any mental attack back on the attacker. ***
Duke hardened his gaze at the vampires, “That definitely should count as an attack. Why the hell are you not being smited right now?”
“We haven’t caused anyone harm, but if you do not come with us, every single one of these people will walk out the front gate of the city and just stand there, waiting for orders. I’m sure you know what will happen then.”
“There’s no way you can get away with this.”
“The slaver did. The precedent has been set. Now come with us.”
As the vampire spoke, the entire crowd started to move away from the platform. When Aculotus hopped down to join the crowd heading for the gate, Duke knew he had been beaten. His conscience could not bear that many being led to their death because of him. His PURPOSE flared in response, urging him to action.
With white-hot rage burning in his heat, Duke told the vampires to stop. “Fine. Let them go and I’ll go with you to speak with the Twins. That’s it. No more.”
“That’s all we asked. Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?”
“Don’t push your luck. Now let them go.”
“As you wish.” The sarcasm dripped off their tongues to form a puddle the size of Lake Erie on the ground, but they did release the crowd from their thrall.
All around Duke, the crowd collectively stumbled as their minds were released and their desperate fight to not walk out the gate won out. The angry cries of foul that followed echoed throughout the city. None dared to act against the vampires, but they glared and protested to the powers that be.
Duke hopped down from the platform and started to follow the vampires as they pushed their way through the crowd. Despite their ire, the crowd still parted before the vampires. On the Contest World might truly made right, and these vampires had shown the entire crowd their might. The crowd backed off, but Duke didn’t notice. He was busy planning the vampires’ death.
Just get them outside the city for an instant and they are toast. Maybe literally. Sunlight, at least this system’s sunlight doesn’t seem to affect them, but I’m sure I can find something that does.
The vampires silently led Duke to an ostentatious palatial estate within the depths of the city. It was in a section of the city that Duke had not been to before. He guessed from the number of similarly gaudy estates that this was where the various Entities resided. Every estate’s gate bore a different coat of arms but none of them struck Duke as familiar. The one the vampires led him to was blatantly obvious with its twin figures on it. The gate opened for them as they approached, and they continued their silent procession towards the mansion. The silence had become oppressive and gave the air of a prisoner being led to their execution.
When they entered the mansion, the vampires paused at the door and gestured for Duke to enter. He begrudgingly did so and the doors closed behind him.
A voice that Duke had never expected to hear again spoke up in greeting, “Hello again, Duke. I do believe we have some unfinished business.”
Duke whirled around to see who spoke up and a single word escaped his lips, “Chopie.”