The girls turned to see Tamin walk into the backyard. He was escorted by two other students Pepper recognized from school. Rachel and Grant who slowly make their way towards them. But after a few feet, they stayed back and didn’t come any closer. Andrea stood up and faced them, then looked down at her holodex. “Holy cow, is it that time already?”
Rachel was wearing high-cut blue jean shorts and a maroon zip-up hoodie. Her dark brown hair was all over to one side. She closed the distance to Andrea and gave her a quick hug. “Hey, girl, I tried to message you. You ready to go?”
“Yeah … totally,” Andrea replied and quickly twisted back towards him. “It was great hanging out with you, Pepper. I’m sure I’ll run into you soon.” She then turned to Summer and gave her a hug. “Happy birthday, love.”
Summer thanked her for coming and the two girls chatted as the group slowly walked back towards the two boys. Tamin glared back at him and the two seemed poised to erupt into conflict at any moment. Each one was prepared to counter whatever the other did. Pepper didn’t want to start trouble, but he had no problem trying to end whatever problem came his way.
“Pepper?” a voice called out. “Pep, what’s wrong with you?” It was Summer placing her hand on his shoulder that brought him out of the trance.
He looked up to see that she had returned to the fire and was standing next to him. “Sorry.”
“You almost looked possessed. You really don’t like him, do you?”
“Nope,” was all he muttered through gritted teeth. “I should probably get going too.”
“You sure?” Summer’s voice had a sad tone. “You’re welcome to stay longer, you know. You don’t have to take off.”
His heart was now more bruised than his eye, and his spirit sank even more when he heard the sadness in Summer’s voice. He knew he wouldn’t be much company and just wanted to be alone. “Yeah… I’m sorry, Summer. I think I just need some time alone now.”
He stood up and wrapped his arms around her, and she gave him a firm squeeze.
***
Pepper walked into his workshop and plopped down into the recliner in the corner of the room. He took a few minutes to just sit and embrace the quiet. His eyes glanced over the walls, and he gazed at all the different posters he had tacked up over the years. The original golems that had been in the League with their gladiators in front. Some were fan art that had become popular in the League chat forums, and he had ordered them and pinned them up alongside each other.
His eyes finally arrived at the most recent cylinder of clay he had purchased from Ryan. The promises he had made to both Meg and Jackson were now weighing on his heart. He stood up and opened the cylinder. There isn’t enough for a full Mala, but I should be able to get a few of the limbs done, he thought to himself.
He gave a quick search through the rest of his supplies until he found a base that would work for him. He then found his metal wire and began to cut the pieces he would need to form the armatures. His hands began to twist the metal pieces together, and the skeletal frame slowly created the statue’s anatomy.
“You’re home earlier than I expected.”
Pepper glanced over to see his dad walking into the workshop. He made his way over to the recliner and took a seat. Pepper turned and faced his dad, but his eyes were still focused on the metal pieces he continued to manipulate in his hands. “Well… the mood was certainly ruined when Tamin showed up.”
“I see.”
“They came to pick up Andrea and that was basically the end of everything.”
“Hmm… who is they?”
Pepper rolled his eyes. “I don’t know… some girl named Rachel and a guy named Grant. They go to school and hang out with Tamin a lot. I don’t really know them.”
“So Andrea left with the smaller group and not just Tamin?”
“That’s what I said, didn’t I?” Pepper huffed.
His father lifted his hand defensively. “Ease up there, big shoots… I was just asking to clarify and make sure I didn’t misinterpret anything.”
The room quieted for a moment. Pepper finished the final metal piece he needed to, placed it on his workbench, and folded his arms in front of him. “Doesn’t matter. Once I get accepted into the Regional League, I am out of this place.”
“Is it really that bad here?” his dad asked. Pepper tilted his head sarcastically and glared at him. His father smiled. “I suppose that’s fair. I remember when I was eager to leave the nest too.”
“Oh, Grandma and Grandpa were as bad as you and Mom, huh?” Pepper chuckled.
Trent smiled. “Nah, they weren’t that bad. As a kid, you always feel like you’re being ruled by a dictator. As a parent, you realize the dictators weren’t necessarily wrong. You then wake up one day and realize, geez, I’m a dictator myself.” Trent chuckled. “At the end of the day, I think most parents, if not all of us, just want what is best for our kids. We do what we can, the best we can, but even we fail at that sometimes.”
“I suppose,” Pepper said nonchalantly.
“You ready for your club match? It’s next week, right?”
Pepper turned his head towards his golem. “Yeah. I mean… as ready as I can be. You still planning to be there?”
“I have it on the schedule.” His dad smiled back at him.
They both heard the thud of footsteps quickly approaching. A shadow arrived at the doorway first, but then Brent came rushing into the shed. “Dude! Iran is joining the Golem League!”
Trent tilted his head a little. “Well, it’s nice to see you too, Brent.”
Brent snapped his head over to Pepper’s dad for a second and gave him a nod. “What’s up, Mr. Walker?” He turned back to Pepper with his arms out in front of him in disbelief. “Dude! How are you not on top of this?”
Pepper chuckled. “I have a match coming up. I haven’t been paying much attention to the League Chat or news. What have I been missing?”
“Missing—well, clearly everything! I mean, you’re not even in school. What have you been doing with your day?” Brent asked.
Trent chimed in. “Yeah… what have you been doing with your days, Pepper?”
“Very funny, Dad. Besides, it’s only been like two days. I still have plenty of time to get the extra chores done, catch up on League news, and work on my golem,” he countered.
His dad stood up from the chair. “All right, I’ll leave you guys to it. Don’t stay up too late, huh?”
“Got it,” Pepper replied.
Brent could hardly wait to continue. “Okay, goodnight. Anyways! Iran, Mongolia, North Korea, and Vietnam have all announced that they are going to join and participate in Season 11 of the Golem League. The news report said they’re expected to have golems competing in the spring tournament just before the season launches.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Pepper took a deep breath. “Well, I can only imagine that they’re going to enter into the Drakonic Lands conference. That would”—he started to count on his fingers—“give them ten different countries to compete against. Yeesh. Talk about some serious competition.”
[:::] BREAKING: Two countries to leave the Confederation of Europe! [:::]
They each looked down at their holodexes. Brent chimed in first. “Yo, what is going on, P-Dub? This is crazy!”
Pepper turned on his holoscreen and loaded up the news report. Erika was standing in the center of the camera with a scrolling bar down at the bottom that read “Breaking News.”
“We have even more breaking news for golem fans around the world. Early today it was announced that Iran was joining the Golem League—more specifically, they are going to join the Drakonic Lands conference.”
Pepper chuckled. “Called it.”
He turned back to the video. “But that isn’t the only shake-up that we’re seeing in the League. As of a few minutes ago, both Iceland and Norway have announced their decision to leave the Confederation of Europe and join the Independent Federation of Nations. This move brings the IFN to eight countries total. It goes without saying, but golem fans are sure going to be in for some exciting matches in Season 11.”
The video ended and Pepper turned the holoscreen off. “Well, that was unexpected,” he said.
“I’ll say,” Brent replied. He turned and looked over at Pepper’s golem. “You fixed the shoulder up?”
Pepper nodded and plopped down in his hammock. He kept his left leg dangling over the side and used it to rock himself back and forth. “I ran a diagnostic check and then patched it all up.”
Brent started to press down on the area Pepper had been working on. “It seems to have hardened up good.”
“Only one way to find out,” Pepper countered.
“Don’t be a negative Nancy, P-Dub. You are going to get this win.”
“We’ll see.”
Brent shook his head and turned towards the work bench. His eyes found the most recently updated stat sheet Pepper had filled out. He retrieved the paper and started to read the information.
Golem Name
Mala
Gladiator
Pepper Walker
Command Interface
7 Seas – Explorer
Height
4ʹ 8ʺ
Weight
>1 ton
Material
Clay
Power Core
Forge – Hammer
Main Weapon
Not Applicable
Runes
1. Quintek – Power
2. Quintek – Controller Rune & Interface
3. Quintek – Energy Absorption
4. Quintek – Energy Strike
5. Quintek – Energy Shield
Pepper couldn’t help but notice how closely Brent inspected his stat screen. He smiled at the sight and felt sad for his friend. Brent had always talked about competing and trying to become a Golem Master as well. His friend had tallied up four wins and forty-two losses before calling it quits. He had given Pepper both his energy strike rune and his energy absorption rune.
“The power core still working?” Brent asked.
Pepper sighed. “It’s still showing the correct ELLS, but the MPC is still under the technical specification.”
“Aren’t you worried about that?”
Pepper looked up at the ceiling. “I’m worried, but there isn’t much I can do. It’s not like I have one of those Campell power cores that the golems at my dad’s work have. I got to use what I can for now.”
Brent set the sheet down, then jumped up and took a seat on top of the workbench. “It still doesn’t look like a battle tiger.”
Pepper rolled his eyes. “I don’t have enough clay to finish all the details.”
“It looks more like a man who was mauled by a tiger.”
“No, it doesn’t.” Pepper scowled at his friend.
Brent laughed. “Looks almost as ugly as Tamin.” Pepper now joined in the laughter for a moment. “You ready to take him on—knock him out like you did on the track?”
Pepper recalled the event in his mind. He would have been lying if he’d said that he hadn’t been thinking about it. The suspension had given him plenty of time to reflect on the matter. “It wasn’t like that. He didn’t fight back at all. He wanted to get me suspended and he succeeded. I barely even hit him, he just covered up and started crying out like I… I…”
“Like you were a battle tiger mauling him!” Brent finished with a laugh. “Don’t worry, P-Dub; my money is on you. I know you will pull out a win.”
A small knot began to form in Pepper’s stomach. “Brent, don’t tell me you are.”
“Of course I am. It’s easy money, P-Dub! Heck, I just made 30 Flex today at the underground match. That Timo is on a win streak like no other.”
“Luck, that’s all it is. Luck.”
Brent shrugged. “I mean, maybe… I guess you could say there is this small amount of luck that plays into it. But if you just bet on a sure thing, keep it small… you’re going to make easy money.”
“That’s what they all say, don’t you know.” Ryan’s voice startled them as he entered Pepper’s workshop.
A big smile was on Ryan’s face. He had on a custom ball cap with his duck energy drink mascot on the front and a bright orange jacket. Pepper chuckled internally; it looked like a life preserver. He’d finished off the look with cargo shorts and flip-flops. Pepper shook his head. Ryan’s bottom half looked ready for the beach and his upper half looked ready for fall. The entire outfit was a unique look to say the least.
Ryan placed a grocery bag down on the workbench. “You know, Brent, my old buddy Bill Baxter. Yeah, that there man, oh dear, was he a hoot and a half. But, you know, that Bill got caught up in that gambling thing in the college days, yup, he did.”
Brent chuckled. “He did?”
“Oh yeah, yeah, see. He started to get upside down in the payments and all. And then, of course, yuh got your college loans and all. I mean, that Bill Baxter, he been struggling ever since. You think you’re ahead, but you’re really behind, don’t you know.”
Brent had a confused look on his face. Pepper chuckled slightly. “See, Brent, you are really behind rather than ahead.”
Ryan snapped his fingers and pointed at Pepper while looking at Brent. “See, Big Duck Pepper over there gets it. You best be careful there, Brent… Might wanna consider it while you can. Aye?”
Brent crossed his arms and shook his head. Pepper read the frustrated expression on his face. His friend didn’t appear to appreciate the scolding he had just received.
“So, what brings you by, Ryan?” Pepper tried to save his friend from any more embarrassment by changing the subject.
“Welp… I figured I would bring my two favorite flavor testers the latest creation from Big D Energy.”
Brent arched his eyebrow. “What does Big D Energy stand for again?”
“Well, Big Duck Energy, of course! When you goes down there to the local pond, you know exactly which big duck that is. You sures don’t go messing with it. If you catch my drift.” Ryan reached into the bag and grabbed a large can for each of them.
Pepper glanced over the can, but there was nothing printed on it.
Ryan noticed his inspection and added, “I’m still working on the label. You know that there marketing and whole branding image thing is no joke. But I think I’m close to getting the final image complete for this flavor.”
Brent was tilting his can and looked nervous to even pop it open. He had a slightly disgusted face, and Pepper was sure he recalled the last flavor he had tried. The immediate pressure of Ryan standing in front of him won out, though. Brent cautiously opened the cylinder and then asked, “What flavor is this supposed to be?”
Pepper had already opened his can and was about to take a drink just as Ryan answered. “I’m calling it Busting Blueberry.”
Pepper almost spat out his drink. He quickly swallowed. “Don’t you think that’s a risky name… you know, from a marketing standpoint?”
A confused look came over Ryan’s face. “What makes you say that? Don’t you like blueberries? I know I love me some blueberries, so much so I want to just bust them open.”
Pepper chuckled and turned to Brent. To his surprise, his friend seemed to take a liking to it. He noticed Ryan was turning between the two of them, intently reading their expressions. Pepper finally started to nod and replied, “Not too bad, Ryan. I don’t know if it’s as good as Quackariffic Red, but that could just be my personal preference.”
Brent chimed in. “I would actually go with this one over the last one.”
“You don’t say.” Ryan had a large smile on his face.
Brent shrugged. “The berry flavor is actually really nice. It’s sweet but has a more tart taste to it. It leaves this zing-like sensation on your tongue. It’s not bad.”
Ryan snapped again and wagged his finger at Brent. “You got it… haha, you got the zing. Oh boy, does that sure make me happy and all.” He was beaming with joy at the feedback.
Pepper noticed there seemed to be something else in the bag. “What else you got in there?”
“Well, I figured with your big club match coming up, you might need a little zing.” Ryan pointed back over at Brent. He merely rolled his eyes in response. Without missing a beat, Ryan continued. “So I brought you a few extra cans to enjoy. Consider me your first official sponsor on your path of becoming a Golem Master!” He finished with a big smile.