After waking up, Arthur needed to cover the front counter to help a harried-looking Adam.

From what he could gather as they served customers, Chris hadn’t turned up for his shift. It wasn’t the first time, Arthur knew. Usually, he was only a few minutes late. This was different. He shook his head and resolved to pull the man into a meeting.

Derick had done the same to him the few times he’d been late. They usually involved yelling. Arthur promised himself that he wouldn’t do such a thing to Chris. There had to be a better way to deal with the situation.

He pondered that as he served customers. Most of the faces he recognized belonged to the work crews he’d seen with Jemima. Each grabbed a breakfast of fruit and vegetables, curtesy of The Greenhouse, alongside the new set of safety helmets and boots. They appeared excited when he showed off the helmet’s durability.

Their excitement increased when he told them the price.

Both boots and helmets, if bought together, would only set them back two golden pennies. The system wanted him to set the price at ten. Arthur declined. He wanted to make a profit, of course. Any action that grew his hoard was beneficial. That didn’t mean he wanted anyone to go unprotected.

"Besides," He thought as he looked at the other customers, throwing curious looks at the new gear. "I’m going to sell more of these fairly easily. Who wouldn’t want some extra protection if they could get it?"

It turned out to be a fair few. The equipment flew off the shelf, to the point where he knew he’d need to set it as a duplicate target before he sold out completely. Thankfully, with the surplus of food they had, it was an easy one to replace.

Adam sold another meal and set of safety gear, and Arthur heard the familiar noise of a pop-up. He couldn’t keep the grin off his face as he read it through. It appeared that breaking into the level twenty range held additional benefits.

STORE LEVEL INCREASED

Current Level

21

Current Gold

3685 Golden Pennies

Store Experience

14500/17200

Store perk points gained

1

Trade Networks

3/7 Used

"Not only more trade networks, but a perk point? I suppose it makes sense. The list is getting more expensive. Epyrth needs to make sure I can afford it." He mused, spending some time admiring his current gold total before waving the pop-up away.

Chris turned to him when he chuckled, but he waved him away. It wouldn’t do to tell him how excited he’d been after reaching his first hundred golden pennies.

"How times have changed."

Once the rush turned to a trickle and Carla arrived to help, he left them to it.

Augustus was waiting for him at the door, baseball bat in hand. Two of Mike’s external security guards waited there as well. They would help watch the store while Arthur, Theobold, and Augustus were away. Both carried what most now considered standard equipment—a lightning gun and a bat. Lethal and non-lethal, as required.

Not that the lethal approach had ever been used so far.

Arthur agreed with the idea and wished he’d had something like that at his old store. Maybe then he wouldn’t need to be there.

An ember of heat filled him as he thought about that attack. Then he squashed it and shook his head. No good would come from dwelling on that. Besides, a simple look around told him that, in some ways, he was better off.

"Shall we go?" He asked Augustus, who squeaked and followed him to the rickshaw where Theobold waited for them.

The young horse mutant nodded to them as they climbed in. "Are we going directly there?"

"Yes," Arthur said as he settled back into his seat. "Lisa said she’d meet us there, and I don’t want her arriving first. Things are going to be awkward enough."

Augustus squeaked.

"I know. I should have told them she would drop by. There’s been a lot going on."

In truth, he simply hadn’t wanted to discuss with Captain Swordsman that he used their base as a bargaining chip. He clutched his cane in one hand, and double checked that his briefcase sat securely in the seat well.

"Let’s go," he said.

"On it, boss."

With that said, they sped off. Arthur gave directions occasionally, but most of his attention remained focused on the streets whizzing by. His eyes flicked over the collapsing buildings. They appeared no different from any of the other times he’d driven by them. However, now, a thought lay unbidden in the back of his mind.

"Are you hiding some Pit Fiend ready to ambush us?"

He couldn’t help but wonder what Rathnil did, or was doing, to drive the beasts out of The Pit. They showed no signs of being organized, a fact that made Arthur doubt that their actions were an attack directed at him. Which probably made it more of a happy accident from the dragon’s point of view.

Not a thought that made him feel any safer. Though, by the end of this trip, he might have found a solution to that problem.

"What do I do if they refuse to help me?" He thought to himself as he continued to judge the buildings that blurred by. "Go to the knights? Honestly, it wouldn’t hurt to have both. The Assembly is flashy and would make people feel safe while the knights brought in the manpower and expertise."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

It wasn’t difficult to imagine the two groups working in tandem to deal with the creatures that crawled out of The Pit.

"Alyssa wouldn’t give up control to Captain Swordsman, and vice versa. Maybe dual-heads of department? What would it be called, though?"

He tried to come up with a clever name, but found it eluded him as he dreamed up and discarded various options. Heads of Monster Slaying? Captains of Defense? An Adventurers Guild? That last one made him chuckle.

As thematic as he supposed it might be, he knew deep down he didn’t want another organization under him. It would be a department. Though the Department of Adventure had a nice ring to it, even if it was flippant.

As he looked around, his eye caught the skyscraper he’d noticed when he first got here. Arthur imagined living at the top. He would sit in a luxury office and watch as the entire city worked underneath him to build it up as a place of commerce. A smile crossed his face, and he shook his head.

"I have too many problems as it is. Besides, it’s not like we have the skills or experience needed to rebuild that."

Familiar buildings entering his sight told him they were getting close. He broke out of his musings, checking to see if Lisa had arrived early. She hadn’t, to his relief. Though any good feelings vanished as he spotted the monsters swarming The Assembly’s headquarters.

The first thought he had was that they were new. His second was that they were disgusting. They appeared as bulbous masses of flesh that took on a toad appearance. Long, spiked teeth filled their maws. They tumbled about, hopping through the air on their short legs.

Even with their odd form, they moved quickly, if not accurately.

Captain Swordsman stood among a group of pigeon corpses. His blade shone with blue light as he parried the attackers that got too near the door. Arthur watched as any cut that didn’t kill the monsters healed over.

The creatures spun as the squeak of brakes filled the air. Theobold, forcing them to a stop so as not to get too close.

"Arthur!" Captain Swordsman yelled out as he sliced a creature in two. "Right on time. Help me deal with these monstrosities."

With that, the battle was on.

***

His cane felt wonderful in his hand as he swung it through the air.

He swore he could hear a thrum at the speed as it crashed into a monster. It flew black with the sound of wet pudding hitting the ground—an unpleasant splat that made his teeth ache. Theobold galloped over to where it landed and sliced it neatly in two with his sword.

The longer they fought the things, the more obvious it became that they would regenerate from anything short of mass destruction of the body. Another creature leaped toward Arthur’s face, and he smacked it back. He hated them even more when they got close; the creatures became even more disturbing to look at.

Cancerous growths covered their flesh. They bubbled and oozed, the yellow and red slime flying about them on each hit. He was grateful for the fact that it didn’t appear to be toxic. It would have been next to impossible to dodge the mess.

As he smacked away another one, he wondered how effective fire would be at dispatching them. A shudder ran through him at a particularly nasty thought. What if they joined up with a Slagsoul?

That image disturbed him so much that he almost lost focus long enough to let one of the creatures bite him. Augustus stepped in with his bat raised to take the bite. When the creature had firmly wrapped its teeth around the metal, he smashed it into the ground.

The force was enough to break it open, and Arthur jumped back to stay away from the mess.

"Gross," He muttered as he stepped away from the mess.

Augustus squeaked in agreement as he moved away from the mess himself. Arthur tried his best not to let him get distracted after that. Though it turned out to be difficult, he kept an eye on the battlefield. Captain Swordsman mowed through his opponents. His sword sliced and diced, and Arthur swore he saw the man in two places at once.

Sick of simply batting the creatures away, Arthur changed tactics. He grabbed the collar of the cane just below the claw-shaped handle and swung out. When the tip lodged into the creature’s back, heat filled him, and he snarled.

With a sharp tug, he dragged the point along the creature’s back. Its flesh opened with ease.

For a fleeting moment, he felt the way he had when he stood before the elevator during the fight for Diaboli Theatrum. His strength grew along with his rage, until all he could do was fight.

The creatures didn’t make it easy. Shriekes mingled with the cries of their dying as he battled through the group. They stood in the way of growing his protection for the city and, thus, his hoard. At one point, he found himself back-to-back with Augustus as they ripped and splattered any attacker who challenged him.

After a time, no more remained. His breathing calmed as the last beast fell, and he realized he didn’t feel as tired as he knew he should. When he looked around, relief flooded him. Everyone stood safe, though grimy.

It was now time to figure out what they even were.

Arthur didn’t want to touch them, so he simply poked at the body with his cane. The corpse exploded into light as the pop-up appeared in front of him. His eyes went wide as he saw the rarity of the radiation crystals.

STOCK FOUND

1X LERNA SPAWN CORPSE - RARE

1X RADIATION CRYSTAL (RANK B) - RARE

SEND TO STORE INVENTORY

ADD TO BAG

DISCARD ALL OPTIONS

He added both items to his bag rather than the store's inventory. For a while, he hadn’t understood the difference. Then he realized the items he added to his bag counted as personal to him. Useful in this case. The last thing he wanted was for someone to grab the corpse by accident. There was no telling what might happen.

"Does anyone know what a Lerna Spawn is?" He called out as he continued to poke the corpses.

Theobold moved closer to one of the creatures and stared down at it with a look of concern and disgust. His voice came out muffled as he answered.

"I’ve heard some of the older knights speak of things similar to these. But they found them near the bottom of The Pit. Nasty, cannibalistic things. From what they describe, they devour flesh and leave anyone they don't kill sick and dying. I've heard claims they can be a source of Pit Rot, but that's never been confirmed."

Arthur picked up the pace of getting rid of the corpses. He’d seen what happened to people who contracted Pit Rot.

"I’ll need to ask the knights about why they think creatures from the depths of The Pit are on the surface. I didn’t notice any of the signs that Rathnil had messed with them. What is he doing down there?"

His desire to know warred with his desire to not go into The Pit and die.

The sounds of a scooter pulling up distracted him. When he looked up, he saw Lisa being driven by Kelsey. The older man had changed little since Arthur threatened him into letting him enter The Greenhouse.

Kelsy didn’t dismount with Lisa; instead, he kept the scooter idling as he waved to their group.

"Hey, Arthur. You still want me to take the truck to pick up that group of yours today?"

"Sure do," Arthur said with a nod. "Thanks for doing this."

"No problems. Have fun."

With that, he smiled and moved back the way he came. Lisa didn’t appear to notice him leaving. Her focus fell on the few corpses they hadn’t gotten rid of yet. A frown formed on her face as she knelt down and adjusted her glasses.

"What on earth are these?"

"Lerna Spawn," Arthur said as he moved over and poked the corpse with his cane.

It vanished, and he could see the annoyance flash on her face.

"I was studying that."

He nodded to her. "And you can continue to do so. After we get a shower and go somewhere safe."

Lisa looked around at the state of the street as though noticing it for the first time. Arthur didn’t understand how. The stench alone should have been enough of a tip off.

"You need a shower." Her words were matter-of-fact, at odds with the anger present in Captain Swordsman’s voice.

"What is she doing here?"

"I’m here for the files. Didn’t he tell you I was coming?" Lisa looked genuinely concerned as Captain Swordsman turned his full attention on Arthur.

"No." His body language spoke volumes about what he thought about the situation.

Arthur nodded. "I intended to tell you before she arrived, but. Well."

He gestured to the creatures. When Captain Swordsman’s posture didn’t change, he continued.

"Her grandfather worked here. Technically, most of this belongs to her. But can we discuss this after we head inside? Maybe after a shower?"

For a moment, no one spoke, and then a pigeon landed on a nearby wall. Arthur and Captain Swordsman turned to the Onyx-colored bird at the same time. Lady Pigonette sounded almost intrigued as she spoke.

"You are the granddaughter of the director?"

"I am," Lisa confirmed. "And what are you?"

"A failed experiment. Please. Come inside."