POV: Agata Silverdagger
Agata slouched on her throne, leather hide stretching across her thighs as she spread her legs wide apart, her ice blue eyes trained on the cur prostrating himself in front of her feet.
Ragnhild had tried to dress himself up with silver filaments and gold jewelry around his arms, but that did nothing for his black hair. Stringy. Mangy. Hair that would never reach its full potential. In the past, she’d noted Ragnhild’s hair as a defect, an unfortunate flaw, and had left it at that. Now, that hair made her think of Arsen’s golden, glorious mop. A mop of hair that was soft and silky and perfect inside of her clenched fist.
Ragnhild would always be a pale imitation compared to her old friend.
Her lips thinned.
When the System had notified them that the next party could enter the trial dungeon ahead of schedule, most had been thrilled. That meant that Asthea’s party must have done well indeed. Surely, the people had chanted, Asthea had excelled, placing upon the leaderboard and perhaps even beating Agata’s score?
And yet, the new party had entered the dungeon, and Asthea’s party had never exited.
Of course, there had been instances in the past in which a petty argument had turned into murder. The Silverdagger Clan had short tempers, and sometimes, spirits went too hot which resulted in death. Or… accidents.
However, there had never been a case where an entire party had disappeared.
By now, after days, Agata feared the worse.
Although she had never loved her daughter, she could admit to a fearsome need to commit carnage on those who had dared hurt her. If Asthea had been weak, too kind-hearted, a disappointment that sent a spear into Agata’s heart, so what? She was a Silverdagger princess, and you didn’t mess with the Silverdagger Clan.
But even though Asthea had been a disappointment and was less than capable in combat, her guards had gone with her. Guards that were hand selected by Agata. With the addition of the resurrection crystal, there never should have been a possibility that she could come to harm. For not just Asthea but all three of her guards to have experienced foul play? It defied belief. Something was afoot, something nefarious. Something that reeked of an off-worlder.
“Well?” she snarled. “What did you find?”
Ragnhild straightened and lifted his eyes. “What we feared has come to pass. Arsen’s name is no longer listed on the book of lore. Instead, his name shows up on the book of heroes.”
Agata swallowed, her mouth dry. Rage was her main emotion, but surprisingly, something else tainted it. Tainted it with weakness. Asthea had been a weak daughter! A poor successor that would have failed in a competition against her sisters! And yet, Agata had born her, Agata had held her in her arms as a newborn.
Brittleness made her mouth curdle. “So she’s dead then,” she said, staring past Ragnhild as if she couldn’t see him.
“Based on the portal scans, we’ve determined that an off-worlder joined the princess’ party. He came in from a remote portal. For some reason, the System granted him access when the portal should have been locked on the other side.”
“An off-worlder?”
“It’s the only explanation. Plus, there’s the Leaderboard.”
Ah, yes, the Leaderboard.
All-Time Leaderboard
1. Agata Silverdagger – 9,812
2. Idiot – 9,811
3. Aleda Silverdagger – 9,810
4. Asthea Silverdagger – 9,808
5. Alfifa Silverdagger – 9,798
At least there was consolation in knowing that Asthea had performed beyond anything Agata had expected. She had come close to Agata’s own score. That also meant that she’d been alive up to the end.
But the result was undeniable. Not once had anyone other than a close, inner circle clan member scored on the Leaderboard. For decades, the names listed had been Silverdagger Clan leader after Silverdagger Clan leader. The second-place list of ‘Idiot’ was evidence enough. Someone had defaced their Leaderboard with a foul name. A name that was anathema to her world. That was no Silverdagger name. That was an off-worlder name.
“What world?” Agata demanded. Unless the user had a very different meaning for the word ‘idiot’, that choice was incomprehensible. There was only one possibility. It had been used to hide the user’s true name, a subterfuge to avoid the consequences of their actions.
“It wasn’t easy information to come by. It cost us dearly, clan leader.”
Agata bared her teeth and jumped to her feet, snatching Ragnhild by the throat and squeezing. “What world?” she ground out.
Ragnhild choked and tried to scramble at her hands before closing his eyes and sagging in her grip.
Disgusted, Agata pushed him to the floor where he collapsed to his knees, panting for breath.
“Speak.”
He cleared his throat, his eyes streaming. “Yes, clan leader! A newly integrated world that houses a species called humans. Not yet through its purge. Already, Pied’s Empire has staked a claim. They must have attractive animals. Attractive animals indeed.”
Pied had his paws into everything, always taking before anyone else could get a piece of the pie. Once he bought his way onto a planet, it made it off limits to the other worlds within the Collective. That meant that if Agata sent the Silverdagger Clan to the world, she’d doom her people.
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Against Pied, an immortal, she was powerless. If she enraged the man, it could mean their doom.
Agata snarled. No matter. There were ways around it. Pied could have the human world as long as Agata got revenge.
Clenching her fists, Agata collapsed on her throne and took a deep breath. A calming breath. Sprawling once again, she let her legs go boneless as she made a decision, one that would exorcise that uncomfortable brittleness that sloshed through her stomach.
“I want a bounty. A bounty for this user Idiot. Send it directly to the users on that world, bypassing Pied’s agents.”
Ragnhild’s wolf-ears shifted in startlement. “To add a bounty such as that would cost more than we can afford. Pied won’t like us interfering.”
Agata growled. “He won’t care if the users on that world go after one of their own. He cares about profit.” She dug her claws into the arms of her throne. “Are you suggesting that we do nothing?”
Ragnhild dipped his head, his ugly, scruffy hair trailing on the floor. “What price, clan leader?”
“Whatever price will get me Idiot’s head.”
***
Once the rope inflated, it was the size of three anacondas and as long as Logan’s sword. Even though it hadn’t yet formed functional eyes, its divots seemed to gleam in satisfaction. A serial killer let loose which could apply unlimited carnage. Crackling with blue electricity, a snap going through the air, it jumped from Logan’s hand like a bullet and darted towards the closest charging two-headed rat.
Underneath Logan’s exoskeleton, his body crackled with static electricity, as if directly connected to the rope. And who’s to say that wasn’t the case? After all, it was his bonded weapon.
“You have a frigging snake as well as an octopus?” said Chase from behind Logan. “Don’t tell me, you have a monster tamer class.”
“Control the rats!” urged a woman holding one of Logan’s wrenches.
Logan gave them a considering look. Even though he was higher leveled, and he didn’t feel any threat from them, he wasn’t giving away his secrets. That wouldn’t be smart.
“My class doesn’t allow me to control rats,” he said, keeping the answer vague. There. He wasn’t lying, not technically. However they chose to interpret his answer was up to them.
“Still,” said Brooke, hefting the baseball bat. “Two animals under his control is a lot. It might make the difference.”
Logan held back a snort. Both Ernie and the Cursed Rope might have something to say about being under his ‘control’.
Logan glanced behind them. By now, the children and the weaker adults were a block away, and they kept gaining distance. That gave them a cushion in case any of the monsters surged past Logan and the group. But still, he didn’t like their chances. Logan knew he could make serious dents on this monster swarm, but it wasn’t just his life on the line. If even one of the rats got past them and went after the kids, they wouldn’t have a chance.
Eyeing his clones, he weighed his options.
He knew what he wanted to do. Let them go into the swarm and start grinding, killing rat after rat. But if he did that, it would be up to the others to hold the line. Chase and Brooke were the most advanced, but they were barely above level 20. Whereas the lowest leveled rats were level 30. Plus, they were immense, the size of horses. How could these people hold them back?
Logan held back a sigh. Closing his eyes, he sent his will to his five clones and commanded them to hold.
Hold the line.
Slaughter anything that approached, but not to go into the fray. That would be up to Logan.
“My clones will stop them from advancing,” said Logan. “If you get into trouble, duck behind them and they’ll protect you.”
Brooke hesitated and then looked from Logan to his copies. “You mean those aren’t just projections? They can do damage?”
Logan nodded. “They’re solid. Exact replicas.”
Chase whistled. “Holy crap, man! Who the hell did you kill to get a skill like that? And what kind of monster tamer class gives you that ability? I haven’t seen anyone mention that.”
“…Mention it?”
Chase hefted his whip, eyeing the rats as they grew closer. “Yeah, on the Wiki.”
Logan blinked. “What Wiki?”
Chase’s forehead wrinkled as he looked at Logan askance. “You must have been out in the wild. The Integration Wiki. People have been documenting classes along with everything else.”
…An integration Wiki?
“It’s getting difficult to pull it up lately though… spotty internet. Sarah managed to print what she could before we lost power.”
Up above, the Cursed Rope jumped through the air, circling the swarm. With a snap, it jumped down to the ground and targeted the first two-headed rat.
Logan’s eyes widened in alarm. It wrapped around one of the necks, acid sizzling, its rope fibres swelling as it sucked in rat blood. Don’t cut off the head! Logan mentally snapped. It will just get stronger!
Where’s the fun in that, purred the rope. For the user to get strong, it must have a worthy opponent.
With a mental cackle, it tightened its body around the rat’s neck. The rat panted, its mouth drooling; while the other head snapped at the rope, trying to tear it apart. Each time it bit the rope’s fibres, it jerked away, hissing, its mouth smoking, the rat nose sizzling and dripping blood. Then with a sick, slick sound, the rope severed the neck of the rat, cutting off its head.
Logan couldn’t describe what happened next other than saying that a tightening went through the air. A killing intent radiated from the injured rat. In one blink, it swelled in size, doubling, while from the stub of its neck, two more heads grew like some kind of warped mutated monster. At the back, its tail transformed, lethal looking barbs springing from the end.
Ten seconds at most, and suddenly, instead of a two-headed rat, he was looking at an evolved version:
[Three-headed Rat Level 34. Bred for its offensive capabilities, this rat has spraying venom that paralyzes its victims, as well as a stabbing tail with a barbed end. Chop off a head or its tail and two more grow back.]
[Highest Stat: Agility. Characteristics: Persistence. Hidden name: N/A.]
It had just transformed into a three-headed rat! But although it had gone through an upgrade, its level was still the same.
Did that mean that if the Cursed Rope cut off another head, they’d be dealing with a four-headed rat? Or even worse? Logan clenched his fists, his neck bulging as he glared. He’d made a calculated decision to keep the rope even after its betrayal. If it hadn’t been for the rope, the Silverdagger Clan never would have attacked him.
And yet Logan had made allowances for it, assuming it had attacked Asthea to steal her True Grit Ring and make Logan strong. He could have destroyed the rope then, but he’d been too enamoured with the idea of it helping him kill monster swarms. It had proved its weight in gold against the flying snake horde, but if he couldn’t trust it, how many chances could he give it before it was enough? It was manipulating his emotions, causing rage to surge when he needed to be calm, and now it was disobeying simple commands. There was a limit to what was tolerable.
The rope will obey, it said, sounding chagrined. The user can trust the rope.
“Tell your snake to stop making our situation worse!” snapped Brooke. “Are you stupid? You can’t cut off their heads!”
Rope, that threat to burn you into dust applies to this situation. You—
Ding!
[Attention, all users! A bounty has been registered with the System! There is one user amongst you that goes by the name Idiot. Find and kill this user and you will receive the following:
1,000,000,000 KarmaCoin
1 Resurrection Crystal
1 skill ring of your choice
The loyalty of the Silverdagger Clan]