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The phone alarm rang at eight in the morning, waking Vincent up. He stretched his hand, stopped the ringer, and checked the hour. I overslept. Lila mumbled something unintelligible, opened her eyes briefly, and returned to sleep. The ease with which she did that was characteristic of a young person.

To start the day with the most important things, Vincent opened his Stats. He was level forty-six now, instead of forty-four, like he thought, and had gained another point in Mind and Spirit over what he had gained previously. His passive skills were higher, too. There were a few notifications he hadn't read about saving lots of people, sixteen available Tokens, and his Karma Charges were at full.

Acquiring Outsider's Refuge, Vincent postponed getting the Storage. He didn't have any high-tier items to transform yet. However, he invested eight Tokens in his stats, six in Body and two in Spirit.

Name: Vincent Valaška Age: 28

Level: 46 (2 Tokens available).

Body 44 (+4) / Mind 24 (+4) / Spirit 37 (+4).

Karmic Charges: 200/200

The phone rang again a minute after he had read the notification. It was Lukas.

"Move your ass here, they're onto something," Lukas said.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd be polite," Vincent hissed. He disliked being pushed over by what he considered pampered kids.

"Sure. Move your ass here, Boss."

"Give me a minute." He hung up, turning his attention toward Lila. She looked at him with big eyes, silently inquiring what was happening. "Trouble in Sofia. You stay here today. I'll take Ayman."

"But I'm level thirty now!" she blurted, puckering her lips.

"Exactly. I need him to level up too. If we are in trouble, I'll bring you in," he promised, resting his hand on her cheek for a second.

Half-sulking, the girl turned her tushy to him, returning to sleep or maybe giving him the silent treatment. Now that he thought better, she didn't have the usual skinny, tiny ballerina conformation. Lila's shapes were quite… shapely despite her lithe figure.

Maybe she's a modern dancer, Vincent thought. Dressing and taking his gear didn’t take long, nor did finding Ayman, who was waiting in the eatery.

"Take me with you. I'm more experienced," the medic said in one breath.

That was exactly what Vincent planned. "OK. Do you need more time to prepare?"

"I'm ready," Ayman raised a leather bag.

"Perfect. In Three… Two… One."

Letting him at Sofia's Central Hospital, he ran toward the North gate. Lukas and Briana were there. The latter scrutinized the plains to the North with binoculars. Vincent stopped short of slapping himself because he had forgotten the VR visor in Krivoburg.

He was about to jump back when Lukas offered his smartphone headset. "Bee says he wants a word with you."

"What's up?" Vincent asked after pushing the button in his ear.

"Hi, man!" Bee chirped.

"Why aren't you calling me on my phone?"

"Why bother since you're already there. Is Barbara with you?"

"Who?" Vincent knew exactly who Barbara was, but that Bee wanted to talk with her had taken him by surprise.

"C'mon! The hottest chick in town? Big sword? We're in a polyamory together."

"I don't see her around, no," Vincent looked to the right and left, grinding his teeth, before relaxing. After all, he had engaged in multiple sex sessions with Lila and Raya; who was he to care how Bee and Irene lived their lives? "

"If you see her, tell her I say hi and to take care, OK?"

"I'll make my life mission to deliver your message, my four-eyed liege," Vincent said with clenched teeth. The nerd was beginning to get on his nerves.

"Anyway… I'll tell you what I told Lukas. The Dark Knights will attack soon. They have a special skill allowing them to merge in the tens or hundreds. I read it in that book."

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"Corvinus's Book?" Vincent lowered his voice.

"Yeah. He invented the Black Knights in the first place."

"Go figure."

"They can be max level sixty but may fuse into a larger entity. If you put dozens of them together and charge at a gate at full speed, you have a living… sorry, undead battering ram. The merging is important because otherwise, only the spear's mass counts."

"Mass and speed equal energy, right?"

"Yeah, something like," Bee said. Vincent could perceive condescendence in his tone. "That would destroy any normal gate, but we have a counter. It's… err… on the untested side, but… do you trust me?"

"I dunno, Bee," Vincent said the truth.

"Well, trust or not, I'm gonna try it. I suggest you clear the premises, I mean the gates and the adjacent walls. In case it goes wrong, you know."

"Fuck… Everyone, get away from the walls!" Vincent screamed, waving his hands in the air. "Clear the walls and the gate tower!"

"Obey the hero!" Enild yelled. Only then did Vincent notice her presence. She wore a different armor set. A metal prosthetic ending in a dagger replaced her left hand.

Without the slightest protest, the defenders ran down the stairs or to the left or the right on the walls. In the distance, a giant shape appeared. A myriapod made of a hundred or more knights fused together. In the front was a reinforced spear, sixty feet or more, a horn on a sinister unicorn.

To observe the scene better, Vincent Strode to a low hill with an orchard a few hundred feet away. Hiding behind an apple tree, he put his hand over his eyes to protect himself from the morning sun. The charge began to speed up into a frenzied gallop. A dark hue enveloped the giant beetle, a spell. Vincent could only guess its purpose, but most likely, it was destined to reinforce the impact or protect the riders from being crushed.

The blended Knights were a football field's length away from the gate when a tiny object appeared in their path, hovering in front of the lance. The drone.

"What are they doing?" Vincent hissed.

The drone and the lance met. A thunderous boom, louder than a plane breaking the sound barrier, and a cloud of dust covered the plain. It took almost a minute to see something. From the merged Knights, only bits and pieces remained. A ditch thirty feet wide, deep, and a hundred yards long stretched from the gate to the North.

"Speechless, huh?" Bee gloated.

"The fuck?" Vincent yelled. "You exploded the drone?"

"Nope. Drone's fine. That's the power of my Astral Enchantment spells. Doing the impossible, remember? The diamond I put in the drone had a one-use enchantment on one of its facets. It redirected all the impact force in the opposite direction while keeping its bearer safe. That looks like a kiloton, at least."

"The fuck?" Vincent repeated, not in the brightest manner. "Bee, you're totally OP!"

"I'm not," the youngster sighed. "It works only for defensive spells and takes forever to engrave. They need top-notch materials, like those diamonds, and once they're used, the facet with the spell is ruined."

"Boss, the Shaman is here," Jorge spoke over Bee. "Don't know how she found us, but—"

"She's a Seer, idiot!" Bee said.

"You two are in the same place?" Vincent asked.

"Come to get me. There will be a development soon, and I need to be in Sofia," the woman said.

"Stay there," Vincent said. Moments later, he was in the attic. It was empty. "Where the fuck are you?"

"In the Main Square, man," Bee said.

Growling, Vincent ran down the stairs, waving at a befuddled Thomas. The Main Square was minutes away, and he intended to spare his Karmic Charges as much as possible. In front of a cafeteria, the two young men sat on a sofa, two laptops, cakes, and glasses of iced coffee on the table. The Shaman was tapping the tip of her foot on the pavement, arms crossed, standing in front of them.

"Enjoying yourselves, huh?" Vincent sneered.

"Telework has its advantages; what can I say?" Jorge shrugged.

"We don’t have time for your witless alien sarcasm," the Shaman said, a deep concern on her face. "There's trouble. The Grand Khan is dead."

"What?"

"I sensed it an hour ago… With only minutes beforehand, there was no way to warn him. Then, I received a vision and a quest to assist you. I looked, but you were nowhere to be found. I don't see locations in my visions, only people and an overall idea."

A notification erupted in Vincent's eyes moments after she finished speaking. He read it, scratching the back of his head and walking back and forth. It was troublesome.

Quest: A Chance at Peace. A convergence of coincidences has created a cluster of major karmic probabilities. Meet Ludwing Corvinus's emissary in Sofia and hear his offer. Wherever you accept or refuse it, your choices will decide the fate of many.

Archetypes are momentarily restricted from interfering with this quest, and the System takes direct control.

"I guess we should be going," Vincent shrugged. With one hand, he grabbed one of the glasses, and with the other hand, the Shaman's arm. They reappeared near the wall. For an instant, he thought the enemy had attacked again and broke inside; so loud was the noise. It was only the happiness of the city's soldiers. The display of power they witnessed gave them hope.

"Vincent! Come here!" Barbara yelled, opening her arms to hug him.

Vincent forwarded his palm in a stopping gesture, sipping the cold liquid as fast as possible. "Bee's the one behind that explosion, so keep your hugs for him," he said bluntly. He didn’t want to give ideas to another Amazon after barely breaking up with the previous one… His heart still ached after Raya, Vincent realized.

"I knew it. Hunny Bunny's destined for greatness," Barbara let out a roar of laughter.

"There will be a messenger. Open the gates for him," the Shaman said. Like several times before, she had spoken in a low voice, but everyone could hear her. Silence fell.

"Open the gates," Vincent said. "I trust her."

A dozen soldiers and Amazon rushed to both sides of the entrance, working on two giant wheels. First, the portcullis rose, the group removed the reinforcement bars, and finally, the gates opened. On the other side was the Necromancer, a white flag in hand. Everyone except for the Shaman and Vincent took a step back, and the latter didn't because the Mongol woman had shoved her hand into his back.

"What do you want," Vincent frowned, angry at himself.

"We need to talk in private," the Necromancer said. "You, me, her… and someone with decision power in town," he looked at Enild.

"We’ll use the Town Hall. The mayor should be present too," Enild said.

"And Barbara," Vincent added. "Barbara's the wisest woman I know." His words made Enild gasp in disbelief, but Vincent wouldn't go between closed walls with the Necromancer without someone tough enough to hold their own in a fight.

"Show the way," the Necromancer smirked.

A shiver passed on Vincent's back. He let Enid lead the group, staying behind with Barbara. It looked like they were keeping an eye on the enemy, but all Vincent wanted was to avoid the man's gaze. The Necromancer was looking at everyone like potential minions; that was certain. Sighing, he began to write messages on the phone.