image [https://cdn.midjourney.com/3f99578c-384d-454f-b6fc-974e72e8f3bd/0_1.png]

Vincent couldn’t care less about the paltry reward or penalty. The good part was in the blue notification.

Do you want to merge your shapeshifting weapon with the Lance of Darkness? This will allow you to modify the lance’s shape as long it registers as a Lance, Pike, Spear, or similar weapon with the System.

Pulling out the spear and the shapeshifting weapon from the monster, he let them merge, then stored it along the armor, dressing back in casual clothes. Pressing his comms button, he asked: “Dragon, this is Axe Raven. Do you copy? What’s your situation? Over.”

“Axe Raven, this is Dragon. We left the town toward the west with the Humvees and the bus. We’re a bit crowded… Took some refugees with us. We lost contact with Thug and the base. Over,” came the answer.

“Dragon, this is Axe Raven. The enemy is dead. I say again. The enemy’s dead. Come back. Over.”

“Axe Raven, this is Dragon. Negative. I say again: Negative. Confirm the base is under control first. I say again: Confirm the base is under control first. Do not answer. Out.”

The merc voice had a tone Vincent hadn’t heard often… Dead serious. So Thug was in the base but somehow incapacitated? What was going on? When he arrived in front of the tree, the door didn’t open. Trying to Stride inside, he failed. Befuddled, he knocked at the door. There was a noise of steps descending the stairs, and then a small window cut in the wood opened. A pair of eyes looked at him. From the tattoos and piercings, it was Ludwing’s daughter.

“Hey!” Vincent waved his hand. “Open the door.”

“No can do,” she replied deadpanned.

“Look, miss… What’s your name again?”

“Szarathustrinella.”

Vincent slackjawed.

“I know,” the girl said. “Pa was fond of Nietzche… He has only weird friends… You can call me Szara or Trinella.”

“OK, Trinella… can you open the door for me, please? There’s no more danger.”

“We have a bit of a situation here… Access is blocked… Have to go… See ya later…” The girl closed the window, walking away in a hurry.

“Hey! Come back here!” Vincent yelled but obtained no result.

“Ahum,” Hubris cleared his voice. “Why don’t you Inspect the tree?”

“What’s up with you?” Vincent asked. “Are you a stalker or something? Go away, dude!”

“This is important,” Hubris hissed.

“Fine,” Vincent hissed back. His Arcane Awareness revealed a thin and almost invisible pellicule of energy surrounding not only the door but the whole tree as well.

The Prodigia Lair has been enclosed in a pocket universe. Because you have already been inside, and it is an Active Mana universe, you can breach into it using Return. Cost: 10 Karmic Charges. No additional costs for you, +1 Charge for every person brought with you.

“Take me with you,” Hubris said. “Just think of me like I’d be a normal person, and I’ll follow. This is important,” he accentuated the word again.

“Suit yourself,” Vincent rolled his eyes. His Karmic Charges were full, the cause obvious, so he had travels to spare. He appeared inside Irene’s… their room. Cupcake rushed to hide under the bed, hissing at him. “Sorry, I didn’t want to scare you,” he said, rushing outside. The last time he had seen Thug, it was in the dining room, out drunk, so he decided to search first here.

He opened the door. The room was divided in two by a forcefield. On the nearest side was Trinella and a group of people. Ayman, the doctor, was busy reattaching the left hand of the young scientist, a man in his mid-twenties from Finland. The Healer’s magic weaved strands of meat and bones together; the hand had been cut between the wrist and the elbow. Aside from him was another woman, as dead as possible, a black hole looking at Vincent from the middle of her forehead. She was of middle age, in her early fifties, and Chinese.

Bee’s mother… Fuck! Vincent gasped. The woman’s belly had been cut wide open, intestines and other organs bursting out. A sizable pool of blood lay underneath, soaking the floor.

On the other side of the room, behind the energy wall, were Thug and Lukas. On the farther side, Lukas was lying on his back, unconscious but breathing. Thug was sitting on the floor, his back resting on the wall, and had a pistol in the right hand and a glass jar holding a deep green ball in the other. On the floor was a small black cube, the source of the forcefield and probably Lukas’s work.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

There was also the senile old man lying on an armchair, eyes closed, maybe dead or maybe sleeping. Two mercenaries, Wrath and Ghost, were on Thug’s side of the room, too, but obviously dead. Bent over a chair, Ghost had his neck snapped, his eyes looking into nothingness. Wrath was impaled onto a stag trophy on the wall, the antlers’ points sticking out of her chest. The stocky woman had been Dragon’s second in command.

“What happened here?” Vincent asked.

“He happened,” Ayman pointed at Thug.

“Howdy,” Thug raised the gun, saluting. His voice was muffled by the force field but not by much.

“There was a little arguing, and things went out of hand,” Trinella said.

“Thug, you tell first,” Vincent said, calling his revolver in hand.

“Hey, I didn’t kill anybody,” Trinella stepped back, hands up, aiming for the backdoor to the kitchen. “I’m an innocent bystander!”

“Stay put, or I’ll shoot your kneecaps off. Thug?”

“The dead lady went crazy,” his friend said. “She came here with this in hand,” he shook the jar and told the other idiots they needed to take it to a safe place, and she needed an escort.”

“It’s the core,” Hubris said. “It must’ve tricked her somehow. By the way, they can’t see or hear me. Avoid talking to me directly.”

“A core can be moved once planted?” Vincent asked. “Core? Care to explain?” There was no answer.

“I have a theory, but we’ll talk later,” the archetype said.

“The morons said yes, but Ghost and Wrath wanted to check with you first. When they tried to call you, she swallowed the pill and jumped them. Killed Ghost in one blow. The old timer woke me up, and I saw the lady and Wrath fighting. I had my bowie on me, but she was strong. The stupid kid threw a sort of flash, got in my way, and got his arm half chopped off. The lady threw Wrath into that antler thing… poor girl had no chance… Then this guy,” Thug looked at Lukas, “comes in, a gun in his hands, aimed at me. I take his gun, knock the guy out cold, and bang.

“The bloody corpse was still moving, trying to grab my legs. The old pants screams the pill in her belly must give her powers, so I cut her up. Comms went dead, and the gun guy,” Thug pointed at Lukas again, “comes back to life and activates that barrier before I knock him out again. I think he wanted to trap me, but he messed it up. That’s about it,” Thug concluded. “The doc and the cute lady stayed out of it, and the old timer cheered for me.”

Cute lady? Well… she beat you in a drinking contest. Who knows… maybe that’s how true love begins… “Aapo, your turn,” Vincent ordered to the man on the floor. “What was in your head?

“Trying to save the core?” the man said, grimacing in pain. “We saw two nukes going off, and Bee’s mom told us we have to run with the core before this place is destroyed. She told us the guys you brought went rogue—”

“And you idiots took her side over my guys? Maybe because you think yourself superior to some hillbillies and recycle your shit and—”

“I recycle a lot, man,” Thug said. “The bodies of those I killed feed tons of crops.”

“I’ll tell you morons how I see things,” Vincent snapped at Aapo and Ayman. “The core manipulated Bee’s mom. I’d bet it promised she’d be able to control Bee somehow. You fell for it without a second thought. What do you think Countess Dracula here would have done—”

“I resent your words, Guildcher Vincent,” Trinella said in a haughty tone, crossing her arms. “I’m a princess. And I do not associate with hicks of the Draculesti sort.”

“—once out of town?” Vincent continued. “She would have slit your throats and take the core for herself. I didn’t think you were an idiot, doc, yet you prove me wrong.”

“I would not have done such a thing,” Trinella waved her hands, returning to her informal tone. “I’m a lover, not a fighter. I would have pickpocketed the core only to return it to you, its lawful owner. No hard feelings, right?”

“You have no idea how lucky you are,” Vincent sneered, continuing to speak to Aapo and Ayman. “Thug must’ve gone out of his way to spare you.”

“Right,” Thug nodded. “’Cause you’re my pal, and I didn’t want to upset you.”

Vincent bit his lips“, sighed, and continued: “What happened here must not leave the room. I’ll make up something… Shit… I hate lying to friends… Never mind, it’s the only way… It’s better than having Bee hate Thug…”

“I can deal with it,” Thug shrugged.

“Wait until you meet Bee’s wife before speaking,” Vincent sneered. “As for you two,” he stared at Ayman and Aapo, “that woman on the wall was Dragon’s second in command. I saw him shoot a man’s dick off because he kicked his cat. This. Stays. Here. And last but not least, missy, if you spill the beans, I’ll bring back your father. He might be surprised about your lifestyle.”

“Pa? Nah,” she waved her hand. “All I have to do is stick my little finger in his nose, pull, and he’ll follow around like a dog,” she demonstrated the gesture. “I’m eighty, sweet tushy. I can deal with Pa.”

“Then act like an eighty years old. Be responsible. Go play Bingo on a date with the young gentleman here,” Vincent pointed at the old man, now awake and rubbing his eyes with a befuddled expression. “Enough! Time to return the core to its place. Thug, wake up Lukas, and make him turn off the device. Is that cube responsible for the outer—”

“No. The pocket dimension is a core’s last protection,” Hubris said. “Take the core, and let’s talk somewhere in private; this is important.”

Thug went to Lukas and woke him up with a few kicks in the ribs. “Turn that off,” he gestured with the pistol. After searching his clothes for a remote control, Lukas pressed the button, and the forcefield disappeared.

“You’re welcome,” Thug forwarded the jar to Vincent.

“Wait here,” Vincent said toward the rest. “Thug, they move, shoot their kneecaps.”

“It goes without saying.”

Vincent exited the room, descending the stairs, imagining the core had a nook or something in the basement. The problem: there was no basement. The only room downstairs was the small lobby.

“Core, I’m a nerve wreck now. You better talk to me, I warn you. Where’s your… whatever you call it. Lair?”

The core remained silent but emitted a bright light twice.

“I think it can’t talk while in there,” Hubris pointed.

As soon as Vincent opened the lid, a message appeared.

Progidia Guildchy Core: Thank goodness…. I’m claustrophobic. Master, let’s run before the orbital bombardment begins. I’ll leave a fake print of me here. It should hold until the monster is destroyed.

“I killed the thing… The orbital bombardment is canceled.”

Progidia Guildchy Core: You… killed the Calamity?

“Tell me, core,” Hubris said. “Is this pocket universe isolated from the System?”

Progidia Guildchy Core: I sure hope so…

“Wonderful! Let’s talk somewhere out of earsight,” Hubris said.

“Hearing, you mean,” Vincent said.

“This is important!” the man repeated his catchphrase. “It’s about the System.”