“How did you guys get here? I didn’t see you walk into the barracks from the gatehouse.” Tantalus walked past them and threw his coat and cloak over his chair. The bandolier strung across Tantalus’s chest was clearly visible.

“There’s another entrance that can be accessed on foot. I think it’s mostly for civilians,” Redgrave answered.

“Two entrances, huh?” Tantalus mused to himself. “I’ll have to keep that in mind.”

“I figured the squad should sit down and have a chat,” Redgrave said.

“Sorry, I only have three chairs. Some people will have to stand,” Tantalus joked. “Though, that’s a really good idea, Redgrave.”

“To begin with, I want to know why you decided to put me in your squad,” Elias said. “I’ve done nothing but disagree with you and complain ever since I got here.”

“I believe the phrase was, ‘Tantalus’s fighting is like a work of art, I want to reach that level of skill.’ I think you like me a lot more than you let on.” Tantalus smirked.

“Who told you?” Elias’s face turned red as he spoke.

“I don’t remember,” Tantalus lied. “I think you’re a good person deep down, Elias. When you got angry at Enzo and me, it was because we spoke negatively of Melkior and Dendrite. Sure, you’re not skilled right now, but I think there’s a fine soldier beneath all of those rough edges.”

“Oh, I think I’m going to cry,” Elias said sarcastically.

“Anyway,” Tantalus sighed, “I haven’t met two of you. Could you introduce yourselves, Grim, Synthwave?”

Tantalus did not recognize two of the men standing in front of him, though he could surmise who was who based on descriptions. One man in front of him was Hispanic and the other was Indonesian. He had heard from Redgrave that the Hispanic man was Grim, and the Indonesian man was Synthwave.

Grim spoke first. “Hello, Captain. I’m Grim.” He saluted; Tantalus returned it. “I’ve been a big fan ever since I saw you fight at the West Gate. I wasn’t sold on all the S-rank hype until I saw you disembowel an Orc like it was nothing. Man,” Grim was starting to get excited as he spoke, “it was like watching Lebron James play basketball against a bunch of Kindergarteners. Before that fight, I viewed a single Orc as some terrible threat that would take three players to kill. Then I saw you cut through a dozen of ‘em like it was nothing at all. It was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!”

Character Sheet

Name Grim_Fando Level 6 Blood Points 90/110 Mana Points 20/20 Race Revenant Fortitude 11 Strength 10 Agility 10 Wisdom 14

Ability Modifier: Mana Training (1)

Talents Holy Blood Identify Rapid Healing

As Grim spoke, Tantalus’s gaze inadvertently flicked over to Elias’s face. Specifically, Tantalus looked at his eye which was still covered by an eyepatch. A small amount of scar tissue could still be seen which was not covered by the eyepatch. Sure, Tantalus thought, battles like that had their fair share of heroism, but they also contained no small amount of suffering.

“Glad I managed to impress,” Tantalus gave a fake smile. “I admit, I was putting on a show. Though, the show was primarily meant to demoralize the enemy.”

Synthwave spoke next. The man wore a beanie and spoke with an air of tranquility. As he spoke, it was clear that English was not his first language. “Hey, I’m Synthwave. Most people just call me Synth.”

Thankfully, he did not salute. “I was a DJ and bassist before, but I realized doing that as a career didn’t really pay the bills. I always kinda wanted to join the military, so I figured this’d be a good time to start. My special ability is Enhanced Hearing, so I can hear pretty well.”

Character Sheet

Name Synth_Wave Level 3 Blood Points 110/110 Mana Points 13/13 Race Revenant Fortitude 11 Strength 11 Agility 10 Wisdom 10

Attribute Modifier: Mana Training (1)

Talents Enhanced Hearing Holy Blood Rapid Healing

“You were a musician,” Tantalus said. Redgrave had not mentioned that. “I hear that ConcreteBeats was looking for a bassist.”

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“Who’s that?” Synth asked.

“The woman who’s in charge of the militia,” Tantalus said, smiling darkly, “though, she doesn’t know that yet. Anyway, I saw you fight at the West Gate. Both you and Grim. You both fired straight and followed the basic rules of gun safety. I saw the framework upon which excellent soldiers could be formed.”

“Thank you, sir!” Grim exclaimed with a smile on his face.

“By the way, Elias, what is your Talent?” Tantalus asked.

“Danger Sense,” Elias said curtly.

“How does that work?” Tantalus asked.

“I was able to use it a little when I sparred with Grim here...” Elias began to speak.

“Oh, so you were cheating!” Grim accused Elias.

“I can’t turn it off, Grim,” Elias spat back. “Danger Sense gives me a sense that I’m going to be hit about a second before I’m actually struck by the blow. It also tells me where on the body I’m going to be hit.”

“I understand. That sounds like a very good defensive weapon,” Tantalus spoke. “Redgrave, how does your Talent work?”

“Right, I haven’t explained it to you yet” Redgrave suddenly remembered. “I took the special skill Hypnosis. I can put a creature to sleep by making eye-contact with it, though it's useless against any creature that is more than five levels higher than me. Activation of the ability costs one mana, and continued use of the ability uses one mana per minute."

“Do you want to know how my Talent works, Captain?” Grim asked.

“That won’t be necessary,” Tantalus said as Grim frowned in disappointment. “Redgrave has already explained to me the benefits of Identify. It allows you to determine the stats of any creature that isn’t wearing a mask, correct?”

“Sunglasses also work, but yes,” Grim said.

“And even when they cover their face, you can still determine their physical attributes?”

“Yes, the only downside is that it takes one mana to use it each time. Right now, I can only use it twenty times every four hours,” Grim answered.

“Hmm,” Tantalus mused for a moment. “Synthwave, how does your ability work, specifically? Can you tune your Enhanced Hearing? Could you hear footsteps during a gunfight?”

Synth thought for a moment before answering. “Well, I hadn’t put that much thought into it. I’ve been able to hear footsteps a hundred feet away and conversations a floor above me ever since I took this ability. Though, the sound of gunfire hasn’t particularly bothered me any more than normal.”

Synth reached into his ears and extricated two blue earplugs. “I’ve been wearing these most of the time so that I don’t have to listen to the conversations of everyone within several hundred feet. To answer your question regarding gunfire, I cannot hear anything over the sound of a gunshot. However, my hearing usually returns within a few seconds.”

“Good,” Elias interjected. “You’ve now heard how everyone’s ability works. Now, Captain, tell us about yours.”

“My ability will have to remain a secret for a while,” Tantalus smiled tightly. “I can only tell you two things: it’s an active skill, and it is much more useful if the enemy doesn’t understand how it works. My Talent is a trump card which we must only use when the time is right. So far, I have only told Redgrave its specifics.”

“Great,” Elias said sarcastically. “The secrets have already started.”

“A good military always has its fair share of secrets,” Tantalus rebutted with a chuckle. “Anyway, I would like to speak to Redgrave for a few minutes. Could the rest of you step outside?”

“Sure,” Elias said. “I’m gonna go slack off in town. You two, come on.” Elias nodded his head to the side as he exited his chair.

“Remember, our watch starts at 4:00 AM tomorrow,” Tantalus said as the three men were halfway through the door.

“How annoying,” Elias muttered as the three men walked away.

The sound of footsteps soon faded away.

“Have you been getting the feeling that you’re being watched recently, Red?” Tantalus said. “I’ve been getting that feeling constantly today.”

“Not really,” Redgrave said.

“I’ve been noticing little things ever since I logged in that points me to a strange conclusion. All of the NPCs seem to consider me the leader of the Revenants, my apparently prodigal intelligence makes me uniquely good at using magic, and my Talent is a unique skill which apparently only one player per server can use. It’s as if the game is warping around me. It makes me wonder… am I…?”

Tantalus suddenly paused in the middle of his speech. “No, that’s too crazy for me to put into words. Sorry, my brain’s just a little bit fried from lack of sleep.”

“Are you okay?” Redgrave asked, worry was evident on his face.

“Yes,” Tantalus suddenly felt like he was being watched by a third party. “I wanted to talk to you about the future. Once we’ve broken the siege and reconnected the three starting cities, we’re going to get out of Osiris. We’ll get the soldiers trained, and then we’ll become a traveling mercenary company. We’ll do simple escort and hunting missions for the major kingdoms of Rubigo."

“Why not stay in Osiris?” Redgrave asked.

“This place is a powder keg,” Tantalus said offhandedly. “The Safe Zone won’t last forever. When it breaks, a lot of people are going to die.”

“Then I guess we’ll just have to get out of here before that happens,” Redgrave smiled. He didn’t consider for a moment that Tantalus’s prediction could be wrong.

“Yeah,” Tantalus paused for a moment, “and then I’ll be able to get away from Ashcroft and the Duke and all of the others who expect me to move heaven and earth. Why do I have to do it? How many other people would kill to be the Commander of Osiris? Whereas I just want to play the damn game!”

Tantalus realized he was shouting at the end of his speech. A crazed look had affixed itself upon his face as he expressed all of the emotions he had bottled up for the past twenty-four hours. Redgrave opened his mouth, but Tantalus cut him off before he could speak.

“God, I’m sorry for that.” In an instant, the slipped mask was returned to the actor’s pliant face. “I’ve been a bit stressed. I just had to express it to someone before I exploded. It would shatter the image of the Captain of the West Gate if I said that to anyone else.”

“Why don’t you just resign?” Redgrave asked.

“I don’t know,” Tantalus answered. “Whatever. We’ve got a job to do. Thanks for listening, but I have to get back to working on our long-term strategy.”