Joel and Trisha were the first ones to show up, “Bradley, you bastard. Have you been ignoring us for this new guy?” Bradley laughed, “Sit down you needy asshole, I have gifts, but only after everyone gets here.” Joel sulked a little. Trisha spoke up, “What have you been up to Bradley?”
Bradley detailed his fun day of bullying people who normally can’t be bullied, and slowly more and more members of Squad 0 came in, including George on Don’s hip. “I’m sure you guys were wondering why I called you here. I have a few bits of news and gifts for you all. First off, I now have a deal with Neal’s Manufacturing to sell weapons capable of killing monsters. Secondly I-”
Kevin cut him off, “Why the hell are you so focused on business deals? What happened to fighting the monsters ourselves. We are already capable of killing them. Why are you selling stuff for the company? Why is the best returnee squad just managing weaker ones? It’s all bullshit for profit.”
Bradley cringed, “Wow, way to speak your mind. Are you done now? Okay, let me ask you a question. Why do you think 1000 people will be enough to stop the apocalypse?”
Kevin was taken aback, “We are some of the strongest fighters, we can maintain the zones in our area. What does that have to do-” Bradley pulled a sword out of his inventory, “Take this sword James made for you and get the fuck out. If you aren’t going to even listen to me, then why the hell are you still in my Squad.” Bradley tossed the sword across the table and Kevin snatched it up and looked at Trisha, “I told you he was different now. Fuck you Bradley.”
Kevin stormed off. Bradley sighed, “Now to answer his questions, why am I so focused on business deals, both with the government and civilian companies? The answer is simple. When will zones stop appearing? Who’s to say they ever will. They seem to appear in areas that can block off important transport routes, even ocean ones. No matter how much I dislike the general population, it doesn’t change the fact that humanity is at risk. The group we have here, even if all the fallen we rescued got to our level, might not be enough to stop what’s happening.”
Bradley put his feet on the table, “And of course, I need influence to protect this city and its people, and I need money to fund my plans. I also refuse to abandon the people of Detroit. Even with all the financial support that we get from the government, if that system collapses, we will have to pay out of pocket. And for any of you questioning the prospect of taking care of 30,000 fallen, remember where several of your teammates came from.”
Bradley pulled back his feet and sat correctly once again, “Anyways, now that the mood is ruined I have a few more gifts to pass out. Trisha, Don, and George, take a ring,” Bradley scattered 3 rings across the table. “These rings boost mana regeneration. Take care to wear them at all times, especially outside of zones.” Trisha spoke up first, “This will help so much. I’m a bit behind on fully healing lower squads.” Don nudged George, “Thanks Mr. Bradley, I’ll take good care of this gift.” Don simply nodded and placed the ring on.
“Joel, I imagine you’ve been a bit pissy about me not taking you on the few missions I’ve actually gone on, so I made sure to put plenty of effort into your new weapons.” Bradley tossed the dual daggers across the table, “The left one absorbs mana, and the right one boosts magic damage. Keep that in mind when facing magical attacks in the future.” Joel blushed, “Thank you sir, I’m sorry for being childish.” Bradley laughed, “You are a child still, even if just barely. You can be childish.”
“Betty, I haven’t talked to you in a while. How is your training going?” Betty stated firmly, “My defense has reached 70 sir. It’s all thanks to your guidance.” Bradley walked over to her, “Your gift can’t be easily tossed across a table, so here.” Bradley pulled out a large full body shield, “I want you to focus on magical circulation to use this to your maximum potential. I implanted my Magic Skin skill into the core crystal.”
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Bradley continued around the table, passing out a spear along with spear heads to Devin, “You’re the reason why all this gift stuff even happened, since I broke your last spear. This spear is reloadable in case you break the tip, or after you fire the spear tip off. Make sure your mana is enough to handle it for the future.” Devin hugged Bradley at the waist, “This spear is beautiful, and the placement of the gem is perfect for aiming the attack. Thank you Bradley.”
Bradley turned to Ben, “You’ve been busy, and honestly I owe you the most bud. The only reason why we’ve made it this far is because of your stupid game knowledge. I bestow upon you epic gamer arrows.” Ben took the arrows, and seemed a bit disappointed, “This sure is a lot of arrows. Thanks man.”
Bradley started laughing, “Just fucking with you man, this is the real gift,” Bradley pulled out the Ivory Sniper and placed it in Ben’s hands, “A compact white sniper capable of absorbing mana from the air and firing bullets using my signature Magic Cannon spell. I call it-” Ben interrupted him, “White Death, right?” Bradley laughed, “God dammit, you sure know me too well. Anyways, for everyone’s information, most of your presents were crafted by our boy James, and I just added some tweaking at best. The only weapon I made almost entirely by myself was Ben’s.”
Kathy shot Bradley a glare from the seat right next to him, “I didn’t forget you Kathy. If anything you should be happy since James put so much effort into your kit.” Kathy gave a confused look, “What do you mean kit?” Bradley gave a quick glance to James who pulled out armor from his inventory, “This insane person not only crafted you this armor, but also a shield and sword. All crafted with what I like to call, Ivory Steel alloy.”
Kathy was handed an armload of goods, “Jesus Christ, how much is this all worth?” Bradley laughed, “If we consider what I would sell it to someone else for, probably at least 200 thousand. It is made of Ogre Bone, high quality steel, and Spell Crystals after all.” Kathy gasped, “That’s like half a year of my wage.” Bradley waved her off, “I had all the material, and it took me and James just a day to make supplies like these. Your worry is unneeded.”
Bradley sat back down, “I handed these gifts out, both to increase our firepower, but also to apologize for not going on missions with you guys and giving you managerial positions. It’s about time we pushed these positions down the chain to the other squad captains. From now on, we’ll be going on missions weekly.”
Bradley glanced over to Kathy, “Any more news on the Kobold zone?” Kathy nodded, “It’s not just Kobolds, but there are also Wyrms and Wyverns. No one returned from the zone in over 4 months. It seems that military force has been placed there to prevent an outbreak using your supplies you sold to them. Bone bullets are less effective compared to goblin blades, but luckily the Wyverns haven’t made too much trouble, and since they are territorial, they’ve been sticking to their zone.”
Bradley nodded, “Alright. So, who’s down to go fight lizard people, fat worm dragons, and bitch dragons for tomorrow?” Bradley grinned wide as the table erupted in confirmation. “George, I hate to do this to you, but you won’t be going just yet. We’ll focus on leveling you in the goblin zone next week.” George nodded and raised his hand, “Can we eat yet, I’m hungry.” Bradley nodded, “Let’s go get us some dinner.”
---------------------------------------------------
Kevin sulked outside, checking his phone to see if Bradley would message him. “Son of a bitch. Why did everyone else stay? He’s such an ass. Think you can buy me off with this sword. Jokes on you.” Kevin inspected the sword, noticing the artisanship as well as feeling the power off the item. “Damn, this sword is a perfect fit. Way better than that shitty goblin blade.”
Kevin peaked through the glass door, seeing Bradley go around the table passing out more gifts, “It seems I’m the dick I guess. Everyone else looks so happy.” Kevin shook his head, “No, he kicked me out when I was just showing concern for the group. It’s not my fault I’m so pissy.” Kevin began to walk back to his room, when a notification popped up on his phone, “Meet at 830am for Mission to Kobold Zone. Squad 0 only.” “I guess he at least listened a bit.” Kevin stretched out and swung his sword a little bit. “Damn this is a good sword though.”