“My Lord?” called out a tentative voice, “Is that truly you?”

Ray risked popping his head above the car they had taken refuge behind to look at what they were facing. There, arrayed in front of him at a variety of heights and behind various forms of cover, were nearly two dozen {RANGER}s led by none other than Verrick himself.

“Holy shit, it is you!” Ray said excitedly, standing up. Then he paused, Verrick didn’t look exactly thrilled to see him. In fact, the Aelvin looked almost hostile.

“Ah yes. Lord Ray. A pleasure to see you once more,” he said, drawing an arrow in his bow as the dozen {RANGER}s followed his lead. “I can assume that you are here to bring us back into your ranks once more. Should that be the case I am afraid I am going to have to respectfully decline. We will be slaves no longer.”

Ray stood there for a moment staring at the man. Then he laughed. He laughed so hard he had to bend over and hold his sides. Ray held his hand out to forestall conversation as he recovered. A few moments later he had recovered from his bout of mirth and straightened.

Whatever the Aelvin {RANGER} had expected, humor wasn’t part of it.

“Verrick I never wanted you as a slave. That whole system was beyond fucked up,” Ray said, grinning. “Granted, I would much prefer if you didn’t put me in the same family as a porcupine, but I don’t blame you.”

He dropped the smile, getting serious. “I won’t lie though. I’m here to find allies, soldiers, people, and anyone else who can or is willing to join me. At this point… I can’t really afford to have a whole lot of factions running around causing problems. Definitely can’t have any putting our goal to unify the area at risk. So I just have one question for you… are you going to be a risk or will you join back up with me?”

“I don’t see any benefit in bringing the {RANGER}s back into line with you My Lord,” Verrick said without hesitation. “Particularly not without any benefits.”

“How does regular food, an undead-free territory, the backing of a powerful corporation, an established and fortified base, and better weapons sound?” Ray countered, recognizing that they were negotiating.

The Aelvin {RANGER} simply stared at him, “All things we could gain on our own in time. The factions in this territory are weak, and while we have not subjugated them as of yet it is only a matter of time.”

“There are eleven left, and I only see a few arrows in your quiver,” Ray pointed out. “You do have those fancy energy arrows, but I bet your Power reserves only give you a few a day. We, on the other hand, are capable of making or buying pretty much anything we need a this point.”

Verrick tapped his finger on the side of his bow several times, clearly thinking his proposal over. Without any warning and a movement Ray could barely follow with his eyes, the Aelvin brought his bow down, pointing his arrow at the ground. His men followed suit behind him.

“And just what would the terms of our… alliance be?” the {RANGER} asked.

“Not slavery, that’s for fucking sure,” Ray said, grinning again. “How about a standard employment agreement for now? We can examine what we may need going forward and alter it as needed?”

Verrick frowned slightly at that but ended up agreeing. “Very well. We will agree to food, water, weapons, and a safe place to rest. A duration of no more than thirty cycles of the sun. We can reexamine our relationship at that time.” Almost as an afterthought he added, “We can also leave at any time we choose.”

“Agreed. That’s easy enough to say yes to,” Ray acquiesced. “In return, you are going to help guard, fight, and patrol. We can start right now. You can come with us as we make contact with the other factions here. Got any information you can share?”

Verrick placed his bow on his back, returning the arrow to the nearly empty quiver on his side. “Indeed My Lord, I do.”

Ray sighed in relief as the Aelvin moved forward to meet with him. He realized that he was as lucky as he was fortunate to have negotiated an agreement with Verrick. The Aelvin were powerful, dangerous warriors and scouts. The fact he had secured a thirty-day period where they would help, hopefully, was beyond what he expected. But it also confirmed that the slave contracts were no longer in effect. The Orkin and Goblins with him now had every opportunity to leave, betray them, or kill them all. The fact that he stayed told him that whatever he was doing, he was doing it right.

“There are ten remaining factions within the territory,” Verrick began after closing the distance. “Six are very small, a band of a dozen beings. Orkin, Goblins, and humans. They keep to themselves, avoid the larger groups, and try their best to survive. The undead are a major presence within this zone and are a constant threat to them. Two of the groups are larger, forty or so each, and are allied. They reside in a… place of commerce on the other side of the zone. A singular long, two-story building with various shops within it.”

Ray nodded, “Sounds like a shopping mall of some kind.”

“Yes. That is indeed what they referred to it as My Lord,” confirmed Verrick. “The remaining two groups are much larger and far more dangerous. One is located near where we are now. They are a group of inventors, Gnomes, and humans mostly. Their building is fortified to a level I would not want to attempt to take with even a small army. Their numbers are few. Maybe thirty beings? However, they are more than capable of holding their territory against any other group here.”

“That leaves the last group, which is probably the biggest in size and the biggest problem right?” Ray guessed.

The {RANGER} nodded, “Indeed My Lord. The remaining group is closer to a thousand beings, mostly humans. If I am not incorrect, and I may well be, they are the combined remnants of the so-called bandits that we encountered during our exploration of the city prior to the Integration.”

“Grand. That means they are probably heavily armed, hostile to everything that moves, and violent to the extreme,” Ray said, grimacing. “On the other hand, it also means a good portion of their number are enslaved people. People we can rescue. How many actual combatants do they have?”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Verrick shrugged, “Unknown My Lord. Their patrols are usually twenty to thirty strong, with several out at a time. I would put their combatant numbers at around three to five hundred. They control the entire west portion of this territory, and getting past their patrols and the undead is difficult without alerting either.”

“Yeah, I imagine that would be. Those fucking things are drawn in by even the tiniest amount of noise. Hell, we ran into a Minor Horde a while back that was led by some freaky uncommon undead that we barely beat,” Ray said, agreeing wholeheartedly. “What is your group's relationship with everyone?”

“We get along with most of the groups and avoid the bandits. There are two of the smaller groups we are hostile to, but they eat the living as food rather than grow, hunt, or scavenge,” Verrick reported.

Ray sighed, “Cannibals. Right. Those groups we can just kill on sight. No need to even negotiate, we won’t be able to trust them anyway. How about these inventors? Are you on good terms with them?”

“Yes, My Lord. We trade with them regularly, and they know us by sight. We have accepted a few requests for materials from them as well and scavenge the area,” the {RANGER} replied. “We also warn them if we run across a bandit group that has entered their territory. They want the inventors badly. Something about motorized transportation and weapons.”

He grimaced. The very thought of the bandits getting their hands on cars and guns made him sick to the stomach. That would give them range and firepower that would put them on an entirely different threat level. They would expand and consume until nothing was left, and then they would destroy themselves. He couldn’t allow them to cause that much damage. No. They would be either rolled up into his own forces or outright exterminated, depending on how bad they were. The honest, and disgusting, truth was that he couldn’t afford to leave even a single person behind. Not unless they were complete monsters.

“Lets go to the inventors and see if we cant strike up a deal,” Ray said, making a decision on his first stop. “We have another day before we have to head back home. Any longer than that and the others may begin to freak out.”

Verrick looked at him questioningly. “Others, My Lord?”

“Yeah. I found Derrick, a few Orkin and some Goblins. Oh, and Nyx as well,” Ray said marking the groups off on his fingers. “We fortified a base, fought a Drake, she works for me now, made a deal with a really shady demon, and sold some stuff for a ton of NEX.”

Verrick stared at him blankly for a solid minute. “How completely expected of you My Lord,” he said calmly.

“What's that supposed to mean?” Ray whined as Verrick turned to Nyx. “Hey! Hey I’m talking to you!” he said, but the Aelvin completely ignored him to inspect his canine companion.

“Ray is absolutely abysmal at introductions. I am Nyx, his Soul Companion,” Nyx said, sitting next to Ray and eyeing him with mildly feigned disgust. “I can see that you are also experienced with his ineptitude when it comes to social interactions. I would recommend you do the talking, {RANGER} Verrick, when we meet with these inventors of yours.”

“The… animal can speak. I should not be so surprised anymore,” Verrick said, blinking rapidly in surprise. While Ray pouted. “I am pleased to meet you. You seem smarter than the Lord. I wish that you will serve him well.”

The comment for a chuffing laugh out of Nyx as he continued, unabashed, “It is also good that the engineer lives. He will get along well with the inventors. I will take you to them. Come. They are not far away.”

Verrick and the {RANGER}s led the way, performing both vanguard and rearguard actions. There was a surprising lack of undead any other monstrosities encountered, even though one of their escorts would occasionally peel away to deal with an errant creature. Overall, however, Ray was impressed with how proficient they had become in traveling the streets. Granted they had been in this territory for as long as he had been in his, but they seemed far more familiar with a larger region of it than he was with his own.

That would have to change.

They traveled quickly, although not as fast as the {RANGER}s could have at maximum speed. The Aelvin were fast, each of them having received new abilities that focused around supporting their profession. Ray had even observed a few of them fading into the environment around them. When he asked Verrick the answer had been quick and informative.

“It is a new ability we found ourselves adapting to called {URBAN CAMOFLAUGE} My Lord,” the Aelvin explained. “It allows us to blend into our environment seamlessly as long as we find ourselves within an area that could be classified as a Town or larger. It is rather useful for surprising foes that would be otherwise difficult to engage or avoid.”

Ray nodded. “I bet it is. I could probably mimic the effect, but the cost in Power would be quite a bit. Changing items and weapons seems to be worth it in the long term,” he replied.

“My Lord?” questioned Verrick, curious as to what abilities Ray may have picked up.

“I can use my Power to alter the world around me. I have, apparently compared to others I have spoken with, a staggering reserve to use. I can give weapons various effects, create materials from nothing, and even alter entire buildings,” Ray said, outlining his ability to alter the fabric of reality that the System managed. “I think I can even alter living things, but I really don’t want to try that without a reason.”

Verrick nodded, “A wise precaution My Lord. The System does things for a reason, even if we do not understand that reason. Altering something it has created could have consequences we cannot foresee until it is far too late.”

The discussion died off into silence as the group came upon a wide, flat plaza that spread out in front of them. It was roughly four city blocks in size, with streets lining each side. The center seemed like some kind of open-air stage and park complete with a fountain. There was also a number of small shops lining the buildings on the other side of the road. But it was the single large L-shaped building that covered the rear of the plaza that caught his attention.

The building had been, at one point, a shopping mall. Just as he had expected. The inventors that called it home, however, had fortified the fuck out of it. Where there had once been open windows to see goods, outward-facing shops, and exterior entrances were now fortified walls, spikes, and barbwire. It seemed that the sole entrance to the building was a large double-door gateway that led into an open-air courtyard of some kind, similar to an outlet mall. This was also heavily fortified, the difference being the solid steel portcullis hanging like an executioner's axe over the entrance as well as what looked to be some kind of improvised flame thrower located on either side.

Overall it was impressive, and something that he certainly wanted for his own base of operations.

“Come My Lord, they will already know we are here. The technology that they have wrapped into this place is beyond impressive for what they have to work with,” said Verrick. “I have no doubt that you will both want to speak to one another. There is much to be learned here. The inventors are as much tinkerers as they are creators of technology. I have no doubt that they will be interested in your story. I wish to hear the full tale myself.”

They walked up to the front of the fortified shopping center. When they got to the front gate both flamethrower turrets turned to them. A high pitch sounded as the speaker above the door came on.

“Halt and identify yourself!” said a deep baritone voice. Then it changed rapidly, becoming much friendlier. “Oh hey, Verrick! The damn camera lens needs to be cleaned again, I couldn’t recognize you. I… holy shit, are those Goblins? Guys, there are Goblins here! With Verrick!”

The voice paused for a moment before the sound of several large locks being opened could be heard.

“Come on in! Any friends of Verrick are friends of ours!” the voice rang out. “Just stick to the hallway until we get the doors closed again. Couldn’t want you to be immolated accidentally. Still working out some bugs.”

Ray blanched. This was going to be interesting.