“Get yer ass over here and drop everything yer carrying, or yer about to be a very dead orc!” Mel screamed at the newcomer. It was a good thing he did, as I had already pulled Corey from my storage, and Cecile had his hoe in his hand. Surprisingly, the orc listened, and the moment he was in front of Mel, he undid his belt, dropping a ton of things to the ground, several of which were pots and pans that clattered as they pilled up. I wasn’t even sure how they had all fit on his belt, but I hadn’t been paying enough attention to it before he dropped it.
“The only thing still in my storage is food. If you are able to do a penetrative scan, you’re welcome to do it,” the orc said. Mel stared intently at the orc for a few seconds, similar to how he had looked at my kids.
“Alright, yer clean. Now what the fuck did ya say ya wanted?” Mel asked as his color returned to normal. Was anger just the man’s happy state?
“I heard what you were all saying from the woods. I was already making my way here after Wralf’s death to pledge myself to whatever faction decided to take this world for themselves,” the orc said. What made him think any faction, especially mine, would want him? They had just slaughtered their way across the planet.
“Then, as ya just overheard, Earth took itself, so what exact worth do ya think yer ass has to these people after what yer faction just did?” Mel asked, his voice growing angrier. Considering I was having a hard time holding my rage in check, I was amazed Mel was.
“My offer still stands. I heard what you said: you need Arena fighters. I’ve been there. I’ve even climbed further than Wralf ever did. He died in his pathetically failed attempt to claim a first-floor prize. I’ve already cleared floor nine. So before you decide to kill me, consider that,” the orc said. Was that enough to keep him alive? It sure wasn’t doing anything to reduce my urge to kill him. I knew that.
“Dammit, what’s yer class. I assume something in support and this is yer play to get a chance outside of the orc factions?” Mel asked.
“War Chef,” the orc answered. So he cooked things for battle? That seemed strange.
“Dave, I can’t make the call; it’s yer home, but as much as I may hate it, I strongly suggest we take him on for now, at least. We can always kill him later,” Mel said. I already had to make life-or-death decisions? How hard was it to abdicate a faction head position?
I sighed and thought for a moment, then finally spoke. “What’s your name, and how many people have you killed on this planet?” I asked. I wasn’t sure if the answer would help me make a decision or not. If we really needed him like Mel said, was there much of a choice? With how worried the man seemed, I didn’t know if I could safely say no to the request.
“Rabyn, and personally killed? Zero. But I did supply many of the buffs that allowed for the squadron to decimate your world,” Rabyn answered. Before I could make up my mind, Corey sent me a message.
Corey: Dave, do you want me to kill him?
Dave: No. Well, I mean, I do want him dead for what he’s done, but right now, we have a bigger problem, and Mel seems to want him alive.
Corey: I do not understand.
Dave: To be clear here, you and the orc did very different things, but sparing him, at least for now, would be done for the same reason I didn’t destroy you at the time. Sometimes the value of someone or something at a given moment can be greater than the damage they already caused. I don’t know if that’s true here, but it’s hard for me to argue with Mel. He’s gotten us this far.
Corey: So you believe Rabyn is needed to solidify the foundation of your faction?
Dave: I wouldn’t put it exactly that way, but yes, that is what Mel appears to believe. Personally, I’d rather not have a faction, but it seems like it’s too late for that now.
Corey: I believe I understand now. Sometimes, there are no good choices, so you are stuck making the best of a bad choice.
Dave: Exactly.
“I’m going with Mel’s recommendation here. There is no chance beyond this one, though: if you hurt any of my people, that is the end of you. Is that understood?” I tried channeling my best dad voice from years past. That was pretty close to how an emperor talked, right? Even if it wasn’t, it was about the best I could do at it for now. I added politics of empires to my list of things I would need to read about begrudgingly.
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“I accept. I pledge my allegiance to the Empire of Dave,” Rabyn said. I shook my head, trying not to laugh at the stupidity of the name and how ludicrous this entire situation was. Was it possible to at least change the name?
“Well, as much as I hate it, this does make our lives a tad easier. Speaking of classes, we’re gonna need to handle that. Pryte, I assume yer access to the Spiral is still good?” Mel asked, looking at the small man.
“It is. Do you want me to go collect Cecile and Elicec’s class orbs?” He asked.
“I want you to get all three of ‘em, not just those two. We need to see what their options are and work on synergizing a team ASAP,” Mel said. So that was how this worked. The class orbs the Arena provided gave us options to choose from. I assumed that it worked with our cores in some fashion and gave a list. What would my options be?
“No can do for Dave. He entered with an insignia. That means Sanquar is supposed to provide that part of this, and unless you have the money, there isn’t any way we can really change that,” Pryte answered. I had forgotten about the insignia, the thing that kicked off even more of this mess.
“Damn, alright. Did you get the class orbs off the orcs here?” Mel asked, turning back toward me.
“Yeah, we have twenty-two of them,” I answered.
“Okay, I’m going to go get those identified. Pryte, you get these two their classes. Elody, Cecile, and Elicec go find out just what Rabyn can do. Timon, Sanquar, yer with me, we need to talk about some things. Dave, go spend time with yer family. I may have brought some stuff to light that wasn’t supposed ta come out just yet,” Mel said before turning toward the garage and floating inside, likely having spotted the class orbs. As the group parted, I joined my family at the front door.
“So, uh, I get to be a grandfather?” I said to Alex, who was determinedly staring at the ground. I didn’t think I had been the type of father to make her think this would bother me. Yeah, the world had gone to hell, but having a kid at her age was entirely normal. Hell, the grandkid might have been the biggest deciding factor in accepting that I was stuck as head of an empire.
“Yeah, it looks that way. I didn’t really know how to tell you or anyone, for that matter. Kyle was a bit of an asshole, and we just didn’t mesh, and I didn’t realize I was pregnant until after the breakup. Then the world went to hell, so I guess I don’t really need to worry about telling him,” Alex said with tears in her eyes. I hugged her tightly.
“We’ll figure this out. That kid is third in line to rule an empire, after all,” I said, trying to lighten the mood with a terrible joke and considering the nervous laughter through her tears, it had worked.
“Dad’s right because I sure as hell don’t want to be an emperor,” John added. Alex’s laughter got a little louder.
“Can I be an emperor? Wait, is it empress if it’s a woman? If I’m empress, can I just demand to be called emperor?” Maud asked, trailing off and talking to herself.
“How far along are you? We’re going to need to find you a doctor somehow, and I have no idea how we are going to do that in the immediate time frame,” I said, suddenly realizing the real issue. She needed to be under the care of an OB-GYN.
“Two months, and I’ve got some pre-natal vitamins in my bag. The baby was healthy during the last checkup, so we might be safe for now, but yeah, that was one of my big worries, too. I do not want to deliver naturally,” Alex said. I wondered if my remote telemetry could pick up the pregnancy. I switched over to the life orb and scanned Alex. Yep, I was able to see she was currently carrying a fetus, and her own health was in acceptable, if not perfect, parameters. I’d have to play with the mana skills on the orb later and see if I couldn’t find a way to get data on the baby as well.
“Well, the good news is I can use some of my magic from my life orb to give you a quick medical check-up, and it’s reporting back that you’re healthy. I can’t seem to do it for the baby yet, though,” I said.
“I’ll take what I can get. God, it’s been a weird day. Did you really just become the leader of an empire?” Alex asked, her tears mostly gone.
“Sadly, it looks that way. I suspect Mel has been plotting this for a while. I’m not overly happy about it, but it may really have been the only way to potentially save the planet,” I said, still extraordinarily annoyed at the whole situation.
“And that orc, are we really stuck with him?” John asked.
“For now, I don’t know about long-term. Until I really understand what the Arena is like, I can’t say anything long-term. Are you three okay if I go find Mel? I need to discuss something with him,” I said. That thing specifically was every detail I could get out of him on the Arena. I refused to go into it blind.
“Yeah, go, I’ll get some dinner started. I think Maud is dying to talk Alex’s head off about potential baby names, so that should keep them busy, too,” John said, patting his girlfriend on the back as he did. I nodded and headed for the garage. Another thing I wanted to know was why Timon was the only one willing to stare at Korl like he was ready to murder him.
“Dave, think fast,” Timon said the moment I spotted them in the garage. The words were followed by one of the class orbs flying at my face. Somehow, I managed to grab it before it broke my nose. I opened my mouth about to complain when a new option appeared in my vision.
Would you like to overwrite the class orb?
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One of the main functions of a liaison to the Spiral is to handle the faction’s business, licensing, and documentation. As factions grow, the office of the liaison will need to grow with them. It’s usually a thankless job, but all factions are required to have one. Due to how much they are privy to, many a liaison has wound up dead after an attempt to sell faction secrets has backfired.
System Paths, Careers in the Spiral by Glarppp