Next Steps

When they had finally returned to the guild base, people hugged those who had left and began to talk excitedly amongst each other. All except Tom, who had gone to the security office and closed the door behind him. Seeing him go there, Derek and James followed after him.

"Hey, dude. You okay?" James asked as he entered the room.

Tom held up one finger to have them wait a moment. His notifications had been flashing and he pulled them up to see what they were about.

War Victory Against Stormcrusher!

You have defeated the guild Stormcrusher! Due to the total calculated power of your guild being higher than Stormcrusher, no bonuses have been added to your rewards. Each member of your guild will receive the following rewards:

XP:

50,000 XP

Item:

1 random weapon appropriate to the user's class

Monster Cores:

1 rare monster core

You Have Defeated an Enemy Guild Leader!

For your role in defeating the enemy guild leader, you have earned extra rewards! Continue to lead your troops from the front lines to earn even more rewards!

XP

250,000 XP

Monster Cores

1 Epic monster core

Guild Points

150,000 Points

Level Up!

You have earned enough XP to advance to the next level. You are now level 31! Continue to work hard and push yourself to gain more XP to continue to level up. You receive 10 attribute points to distribute as you see fit.

"Sorry, just wanted to get through those damn notifications so they'd stop blinking at me. Yeah, I'm alright. Still a bit shaken up but more tired than anything else now." Tom replied when he dismissed the notifications.

He would have to look at assigning his points later. Maybe when he got back to his room for the night.

"That was really something else. I thought Shandra would be more of a challenge than that." James said.

"It wasn't as easy as it seemed, but with all the training we've been putting in with an actual trainer rather than running around getting hurt to get better I would hope we were stronger," Tom replied.

"Bron has helped us more than we could ever repay him for," Derek added.

"Yeah. But for now, I just need to be alone and think. There's so much to do and we still aren't ready." Tom said, rubbing his eyes with his hands as he leaned back in a chair.

"Just don't forget that you need to celebrate the victory. The others will be looking to you to say something to them." Derek reminded him.

"Sure. Just set something up, and I'll be there. Tonight, have it where we were having the other party. They should be able to drag that stuff back out, right?" Tom asked as he turned his head to look at James and Derek.

"Probably. Shouldn't be too much effort. I'll talk with Brian and set something up." Derek replied and walked out of the room.

"And how are you feeling?" Tom asked James pointedly.

"Better. But not great. I'll get over it eventually." James said looking down at the floor.

"Don't get over it. Get through it. You need to experience it, not try to find a way around it. At least that seems to be what I'm having to learn too. Just remember that you aren't the only one struggling and you can talk about it." Tom spoke gently to James, but the expression on his face showed he was serious.

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"I just keep seeing his face, everywhere. Anytime I see a kid, it's him. When does that stop?" James asked, pulling up a chair next to Tom and leaning forward.

"Probably as soon as you forget him," Tom said shrugging and placing his hands behind his head as he put his feet up on a table.

"But...I don't think I can forget him." James replied feeling hopelessness welling up inside him.

"Right. you aren't supposed to forget. That's why you get through it. Eventually, the freshness this has caused from you trying to forget it will pass. You'll become accustomed to it and learn how to deal with the feelings. But you can't do that if you don't accept them. They're called feelings for a reason. You are supposed to feel them." Tom said emphasizing the word feel when he said it.

"I hate feeling like this," James said after a pause.

"Everyone does. Because it sucks. But the reason it sucks as much as it does is because you just kept not dealing with it. It will get easier, but not fast." Tom said.

"Yeah. I know. Are you dealing with this too?" James asked.

"I am. Not well so far but it's always worse in the beginning. I too will learn to deal better with it in time. Until then, we just have to grin and bear it because there are people counting on us. As long as we work on it though, it will make us stronger." Tom said.

"How so?" James asked.

"In the same way that you workout to make your body stronger, you also have to work on how you react to situations. It will get to a point where it isn't something someone could use against you." Tom said, sitting up to get closer to James. "And I'm gonna be here every step of the way."

"Thanks, Tom," James said. "Thanks for always being there."

"No problem. Now go on. enjoy some rest." Tom shooed him away as he leaned back in his seat again.

James walked to the door smiling and opened it to leave. Before he did, he turned and looked at Tom.

"You better be drinking tonight. You won't have to be on guard, right?" James asked.

"Alright, I will. Get me something tall and strong." Tom chuckled.

With that, James left, leaving Tom alone with his thoughts. He stared up at the security cameras and watched as people continued moving around the various parts of the building. When the lobby had mostly cleared, he left and went up to his room. Taking his clothes off, he stepped into the shower. Jerky didn't join him this time, so he assumed he was off getting something to eat.

After washing himself thoroughly he walked out and laid on his mattress. Letting out a long exhale, he stared up at the ceiling for a long time before putting on some leisure clothes that Steve the tailor had made for him. Lying back again he replayed the events of the day. Eventually, his eyes grew heavy, and he drifted off to sleep.

Light sounds of knocking on his door woke him and he stirred in his bed, wiping drool from his mouth.

"Tom? You in there? The party is all ready for you to come and join in." Derek's voice came through the closed door.

"Uh...right. I'll be down soon. Meet you there." Tom called back through the fog of his brain trying to wake up.

"Alright. Be quick, we don't want to keep people waiting." Derek replied.

Tom rolled out of bed and pulled out a pair of socks and shoes from his inventory to put on. He suddenly realized that he could probably just equip them but decided to continue putting them on manually.

Walking into the bathroom one more time, he relieved himself and looked into the mirror. Straightening his hair, he took a long look at himself. He barely recognized the person in the mirror from before the apocalypse but was happy with the improvements. What he wasn't happy with was the feeling he had that he could have done things differently.

"No sense in dwelling on what's done. Just have to move forward." Tom said to himself after a long sigh.

Turning and leaving the bathroom, he walked to the door and exited his room. Taking the elevator down, he leaned on the bar in the back and waited to get to the ground floor. When he exited the elevator there was a cacophony of noise as a huge crowd of people yelled out at once when he arrived.

"TOM!!!!!!!" They said in unison as he walked out to the lobby.

"What is all this?" Tom asked stepping back slightly at the sound.

"We just wanted to do something for you tonight. So, we are celebrating not only our victory but you as well. You don't get enough credit around here you know." Derek said, a huge smile on his face.

"Somebody get this man a drink!" Jay called out as he laughed at Tom's discomfort at being singled out.

Everyone began to move outside, and Brian hit the music again on the machine he hooked up to the speaker system. We Are the Champions by Queen came blaring through the speakers and bouts of laughter erupted from the crowd. James approached Tom, a drink in each hand, and passed one to him. Tom accepted the drink with gratitude and took a sip, wincing as the alcohol burned on its way down.

"Holy shit, that's strong," Tom said.

"Long Island iced tea. You'll learn to love it after about three of them." James chuckled as he took a big swig of his own drink.

The party continued late into the night, with more dance music being played and people letting loose to celebrate. Tom even got in on the Cha Cha Slide this time, letting his hair down as he followed the directions the song gave for the dance. Tom got to meet all of the newest members of the guild, many of whom thanked him profusely for what he did to help them.

By the end of the evening, Tom was feeling quite tipsy and was finally feeling like he was able to let loose. Looking around at everyone enjoying themselves, he sighed with relief at the feeling of contentment that was welling up inside him. The pressures of having to constantly look over their shoulders at a war on two fronts were finally over. He could let that go and focus on the future now.

Just as he was beginning to enjoy this feeling of peace, a message popped up in his view. He tried to minimize it to continue with the party, but it would not go away. Growling slightly with frustration he opened the message and read its contents, hoping that would make it go away. His eyes widened when he read its contents and his heart sank into his shoes.

Administrator Call Incoming:

Administrator #53 would like to speak with you about the approaching Space Pirate invasion. Accept the call?

Yes

No

"Oh, shit,"

End of Book 2