Congratulations!
You have received a Quest.
Powerful forces seek to destroy everything that you have built.
Stop them.
Success Parameters: Uncover the plot. Capture or kill the conspirator/s.
Failure Parameters: Lose your slaves, kingdom and life.
Rewards: 10 Million Universal Points. 5 Levels.
Bonus Reward(s): Contingent on performance.
You will accept.
“There you have it, people. This is what I woke up to. We are officially dealing with enemy action,” King said.
The Slaver King had shared the contents of his Quest with his inner council to start their day after Christmas emergency meeting to address the murders that had rocked the nobility to the core.
“I’m not getting a Quest,” Eric said. “What about you guys?”
General Mark shook his head.
“Nothing for me,” Kim said.
“I’ll probably need to give explicit orders to delegate pieces of this pie. Something that fits your specific roles and areas of expertise,” he said. “So… brainstorm with me.”
“Simple, round up all the outsiders and interrogate them. Under truth spells, Skills and everything at our disposal. We need to respond with strength and conviction. We can’t let them think they’re better than us,” General Mark said.
“That’ll work with the bronzes and silvers, but trying that with the golds is asking for a massive loss of essential resources and collateral damage to our city and citizens. If you’re lucky then someone like the Emerald Bomber will just get on her wing and fly away. Try it on someone like the Sapphire Slayer or the fireman and…” Eric let out a low whistle.
“That’ll be the unnamed blue-haired girl that somehow passed all our age appraisals and Isaac Freeman from Seattle,” Kim whispered.
He nodded, though he already knew that.
In fact he had suggested the name for the girl to the marketing division himself.
“How likely is it that it’s one or several of the contestants?” Kim said. “Why would they bother competing if they’re here to… um… destroy us?”
“For distraction,” General Mark said. “While we’re all too busy paying attention to games the enemy can run around like mice in our walls.”
“I’m not stupid, general,” King said. “And I’m not blind or distracted. I simply wasn’t concerned about this sort thing. Although, now that the spires is telling me to be concerned… well, I’m not too proud to change my mind. How is your investigation of the attack on our supply convoy going?”
“Nowhere. The trail didn’t go far before it dried out,” General Mark said.
“I see.”
“So, does that mean we’re not going to resume procurement? The other nobles are starting to get… concerned… about that dwindling supply. Restricting purchases at the auction bought us time, but that’s about to run out. They’ll realize something is up,” Eric said.
“And what are they going to do? Complain?” General Mark scoffed.
“That’s how it starts. Followed by the plotting behind our backs,” Eric said.
“There are always plots and I don’t worry about them,” King said.
“That’s cause you’re the big dick around here and everyone knows it. The rest of us on your council aren’t quite as untouchable. If you know what I mean?” Eric said.
“They all know better than to go at you to get to me. General, stop the search for now. Bring in as many of my soldiers into the city as you can without compromising defenses at my other cities and outposts.”
“Understood, your majesty.”
“Now, about the murders. My investigators have done their preliminary investigation and concluded that the murderers are most likely the same ones that’s been working in my city for the last two months. First, they killed Cabal and now my nobles. The trail will be followed and the culprits captured so that I may punish them myself after finding out everything in their tiny heads.”
“That was Lord Stuart’s youngest son,” Kim said.
“There was talk that it was Lord Reagan’s doing, something about their dispute over bets?” Eric said.
“There was evidence left to that effect, but my investigators were clear in that the evidence was obviously planted. Comically so. Whoever did this wanted to spark that little squabble into an actual fire. I’ve spoken to both lords and made it clear that there won’t be anymore fighting between their houses. And to leave retribution to me.”
“This is obviously part of the plot, right?” Kim said.
“Probably,” Eric agreed.
“Could it be one of the golds? They’re the only ones strong enough to kill an entire house. Maybe one of the wolves finally snapped,” Kim said.
“Not them,” King said, “if it was then there wouldn’t be anything left except bloody chunks. This was done with knives and precision once you see past how the scene was stage after the fact.”
“The vampires,” Kim ventured, “they grew tired of their play hunts and wanted the real thing? They used knives to cover the bites?”
“C’mon, Kim. You can’t just name everyone that makes you wet your panties,” Eric scoffed.
“Like you don’t shit your pants whenever the wolves look at you!” Kim snapped.
“Enough about the murders. My investigators are on the trail and they’ll resolve it.”
“So, what do you want us to do moving forward?” Kim said.
“I think it’s time we took a closer look at our guests. Kim, I want you to organize a survey inspection of all guest quarters.”
“We’ll frame it as us wanting to make sure that everything is up to our standards and their expectations. That we want to ensure that their stay has been pleasant and that they don’t have any complaints and if they do then we’ll address them immediately,” Kim nodded.
“Eric?”
“Yeah?”
“Start the recruitment process now. We’re not waiting till after the championships are over. Focus on the ones we’ve profiled as the best fits in our republic. Bring them on board. I want extra muscle in my pocket for when we flush out these rats. As for the ones we’ve profiled as potential problems… have your recruiters dig and push. Might get lucky and get one of them to play their hand too soon. I’m almost certain we’ll find some of these conspirators among the golds. Speaking of which, general, I’ve got two orders for you. One, up surveillance on anyone from Southern California.”
“What about the Northern California group? They have to be working together,” General Mark said.
“Not necessarily. The southerners arrested our people, but the northerners left them alone. The irony of that,” Eric chuckled.
“Observe the proper forms of diplomacy. The north did not insult us, so they are afforded respect. The south, however, have done nothing but disrespect us. I’ve been lenient so far, but that ends now. I believe we put the rangers in a quality motel? Let’s inspect it and find a reason to kick them out and force them into a crappy one and increase the guard around them. Don’t bother trying to disguise it anymore. I want them to know that I know. If they’re involved in the plot then it might spook them enough to reveal themselves.”
“And the second order?” General Mark said.
“Prepare a convoy from Disney World. I want my fists closer to me.”
“Timeline?”
“Plan for a week or two from now. I’ll let you know.”
“I’ll have it ready to go by this time next week.”
“Good,” King said. “One last thing, Eric.”
“Yeah?”
“All the locally based bands, adventuring companies, mercenary companies, whatever they call themselves… I want them brought into the fold. They’ve benefited long enough from our backing without being fully under my control.”
“Some… hell… most of them won’t like that. That sort likes the illusion of independence,” Eric said.
“I don’t care. Make the reality of their existence clear to them. They bow and swear an oath to me like all citizens or they can leave and never return.”
“If they refuse either option?”
“It’s one of those or the collar,” he shrugged.
“I think a lot of those teams will join up. One of them has being putting out feelers at something more official for a few weeks now,” Eric said.
“Oh?”
“Yeah, they aren’t particularly great. Team Alpha Sigma. Their leader was the only one over Level 40, won his first round match in the Gold Division one versus one, then got smacked around by Gator in the second round,” Eric said.
“I remember. Big warrior. Fucked up eye and face.”
“The rest of the team is in the Level 20-30 range with a couple in the mid to high 30’s,” Eric said.
“They sound adequate.” King clapped his hands. “You have your orders—” He stopped as the others suddenly jerked in their seats and stared at nothing. “—and your Quests,” he finished.
What he hadn’t shared with them was that for the first time in history people had escaped from his personal dungeon.
Nine, in fact.
And there was nothing on camera.
No alarms had been tripped.
Spells and Skills had proved equally useless.
Even interrogating the other prisoners yielded nothing.
It was an impossibility and yet, he couldn’t deny reality.
An empty cell.
A loss of leverage over the powerful Magus of the Ten Eyes.
He kept the news from his inner council.
Swore the guards with the knowledge of the escape to an oath of secrecy enforced by a Skill.
It would take a spell or Skill from one significantly more powerful than him to countermand his command.
Only he knew that there was nothing preventing the magus from fleeing or taking revenge now.
He had already ordered surveillance on the magus increased.
It was likely that whoever freed her employees would contact her at some point to tell her.
He’d catch them then.
----------------------------------------
Miami, Florida, New American Republic,
Former Miami Marlins Stadium, Current Combat Arena,
December 27, 2036
Hanna had learned to tune out the baying crowd and their lust for blood. She only had focus for her students and their battle to the death with the monsters.
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Their fifth fight in as many weeks had cracked the fragile hope she had been building in them and in herself for their chances at living long enough to see freedom.
The hardest part were the looks they had been giving her over the past few weeks as each fight saw them emerge with less losses than the new arrivals their unknown benefactor added.
It was belief and trust in her.
A look that said, “I’ll listen to you because you will help me survive the monsters.”
Yuki had looked at her like that.
Even as the demon bear had ripped the man she thought she could love in half.
Did you regret the trust you put in me, Yuki?
At the moment you knew that you were going to die?
Or did you expect me to save you as I had done before?
How much of that trust had been broken by the skunk apes in front of her students?
Monsters or mutant animals, it wasn’t clear to her. Sometimes the line blurred.
They were the worst combination of strong, fast, tough and vicious.
The noxious spray they excreted out of their anal glands choked the breath out of your lungs and stung the eyes even at a distance.
A full spray to the face was devastating.
How many of her students had been permanently blinded?
Would the stadium’s healers fix their sight?
Were they even capable?
She had seen their work.
They were no Megan, who was worlds away.
The girl with no name stung back with her one eye.
She had no class, but Hanna had used her teaching Skill to bring months of understanding the sword in weeks.
The girl didn’t level from training like the others, but she grew skilled.
Skilled enough to cleave through a skunk ape’s thick, muscular neck with the strength she had stolen from it with her power.
Her gaze swept across a cluster of apes slowing them noticeably.
Sinclair, the long-limbed young man with a Glasgow smile, loosed two arrows from his bow simultaneously.
One pierced a skunk ape’s eye while the other flew into a second creature’s mouth.
Bernard, a battered old man whose bald head was covered in ugly, puckered burn scars bared a mouth of half-missing teeth as he lunged in to skewer a skunk ape in the throat with his blade.
Lance fought with an axe in one hand and a sword in the other. Hanna’s training had given him a swordsman class, which he took alongside the axeman he already was. He had shared his dream with her. Of rumored freedom through sponsorship into the ranks of the arena gladiators. He dreamed of becoming a weaponmaster. To that end he had even started training with Sinclair and the other ranged fighters.
Deirdre, a grandmother whose family was somewhere out there in the slaver kingdom toiling beneath the collars, fired spell after spell in a desperate attempt to kill the skunk apes before any more of her comrades died.
They learned and advanced in the knowledge of the sword as much in a handful of weeks as Hanna had done in her younger days before the spires, before the classes and Skills.
They had leveled.
At least one after every fight.
And another one or two through her training.
For many, it still wasn’t enough.
The last skunk ape fell.
Hanna was deaf to the crowds roars.
She exited the dugout to take the latest toll.
To add names to the growing list she carried in her soul.
Later, Hanna saw to it that her students received proper care and ensured that they weren’t abused by the arena staff.
Jayden approached with a smug grin on his face. “Damn shame about that mauling. You’re down to 24 by my count.”
She ignored him.
“Just wanted to deliver a message,” his grin grew into a ghastly smile, “no more replacements. So, you’re stuck with what you got and from the looks of it you’ve got a couple of blind folks. They were already rejects and now they can’t see,” he chuckled. “If you don’t want them I’ll take them. It’s getting hard to fill the roster slots for real feeder matches.”
She stared at the odious man until he left.
Blind.
She had seen a movie once with a blind swordsman.
Why not a blind swordsman?
She went to the three permanently blind fighters. Two men, one woman.
“You’re going to cut us loose, aren’t you?” the woman said bitterly.
“Never. You’re going right back to the training field tomorrow,” she replied.
“Why bother? Just kill us,” one of the men said.
“Fuck that, give me a sword and point me at the monster. I’ll at least be a meatshield for the rest of you guys. Might even take one down with me,” the other man grinned weakly.
“I won’t be sacrificing anyone. Blindness doesn’t make you useless. I want you three to think very hard about this concept. The blind swordsman or swordswoman in your case. Believe that it is probable for you to become this.”
“Shit! It can’t get any worse,” the woman said. “I’ll manifest this shit so hard.”
“I saw that movie,” the older of the two men said, “this blind samurai dude kicking ass. Yeah,” he nodded with renewed hope, “I can see myself doing that.”
“Movie?” the younger man said.
“I’ll tell you all about,” the older man said. “Thanks, Hanabi, you really do care. I don’t understand why you’re working for these people. You’re better than all of them.”
“I don’t want them to win.”
“We’ve been doing pretty good making them choke on their own monster flesh,” the woman said. “So, I’m not going to let this stop. I’m going to die before I give up.”
“One fight at a time. Now, try to rest. It’s going to be a tough day tomorrow.”
Later, Hanna walked through the rows of bunk cots in the spartan barracks.
It was more like a prison.
She checked on each student until she came to the last cot in the far corner of the room where the one-eyed girl with no name sat.
The others had placed her there to keep her safe from the stadium staff.
A pact had been made if any of the staff decided to risk Hanna’s wrath.
They would all rather die fighting than stand by and let the girl be hurt further.
“Good job today,” she said.
The one-eyed girl stared at her for a moment before nodding.
“Your power is getting stronger and your blade work is improving. My one criticism is that you leave yourself open. You’re cutting with too much power. Is it an issue with the amount of strength you drain?”
“It’s not mine, so I don’t know how much I use,” the one-eyed girl said.
“Would you like to practice that?”
“How?”
“I can ask for volunteers for you—”
“No!” the girl snapped. Then she ducked her head. “I don’t want to hurt them. They protect me. I protect them.”
“Okay… what if I volunteer?”
“No… you protect us.”
“Then, what about the men who work here?”
Her eye lit up.
She nodded vigorously.
The staff had been instructed to provide Hanna with whatever she requested so long as it was reasonable.
Surely, having a few of the staff stand at the edge of the field was reasonable.
“I’ll see what I can do. Is there anything else you want to tell me? Your thoughts on the battle?”
Haltingly, the one-eyed girl slowly opened up with questions on how she did, what she could’ve done better. She shared how she felt. How her power kept growing stronger the more she used it, the more she embraced it.
Hanna shared a little of what she knew about superpowers through the people she knew that had them.
That sparked the girl’s interest.
It took will for Hanna to stick to her cover and not give the girl more hope that freedom could be weeks away.
Because then she’d have to voice the reason why the girl and the others had to suffer, had to fight and die for the entertainment of the crowd when one man could that very instant fly overhead rip the stadium apart and carry them all to safety.
No.
They died so that many more might live.
The greater good.
The thought left the bitter taste of ash on her tongue.
“I watched movies with my mom and dad. Movies from before I was born. When there wasn’t the spires and monsters.” the one-eyed girl spoke like she didn’t fully believe.
“That’s right. The world wasn’t always like this.”
“The movies had these people with costumes and powers. I always dreamed of them coming down to kill the monsters and make the world safe like they did, but it was only movies. And then I turned out to be one of them, but not until the bad men came and hurt everyone…”
Hanna had no words so she sat down next to the girl and hesitantly put an arm around the girl’s shoulders.
The girl stiffened instinctively but then softened and leaned into Hanna.
“They didn’t come save us because it was me. I was the one that was supposed to save my friends, my mom and dad, but I didn’t.”
“You didn’t have your powers when it happened, so how could you have saved them?”
“I don’t know. I should’ve tried harder to get them sooner.”
“Listen to me,” she held the one-eyed girl’s scarred gaze, “you didn’t know you had this. You couldn’t have known how to even try. There is only one thing to blame for what they did to you and your family. The monsters that pretend to be men. They’re responsible. Not you. Not your mom and dad. Not your friends. No one else. Just the human filth that chose to act as monsters.”
The one-eyed girl sniffled.
In the next cot, Deirdre rolled over to give Hanna a slight nod before rolling back.
The girl had been born after the spires. Her parents had raised her for thirteen years against all odds in a world overrun with monsters, mutant animals and darker things. Only for evil men to do what those foul things had failed to do.
Hanna held the one-eyed girl for what felt like hours before the girl fell asleep.
She tucked her in and headed to her quarters.
The next morning the one-eyed girl approached Hanna the moment she stepped on the field.
“Good morning.”
“I didn’t have nightmares,” the one-eyed girl said. “I always have nightmares…”
“That’s very good,” she smiled with genuine joy.
“My name… you asked me before. I want to be ‘Basilisk’. From the story you told,” the one-eyed girl said with her head held high.
“Alright, Basilisk! Let’s introduce you to everybody!”
The one-eyed girl, Basilisk, nodded.
----------------------------------------
“Open the door!”
The fist pounded incessantly.
“Shit!” Hardhat whispered.
“We under attack, sarge?” Greygrass idly strummed her banjo.
“I’m the King’s inspector and this is an inspection! Open up or I’ll use my Skill!”
“Is that a thing?” Hardhat hissed at Dastardly.
“Everything is a thing,” Dastardly nodded sagely.
“Thanks for nothing…”
“You’ve got seniority,” Dastardly shrugged.
Hardhat thought about it for a moment.
No one’s danger sense had gone off.
The rat-faced man outside wasn’t armed or armored.
He had one armed bodyguard and the slaver’s soldiers hadn’t moved from the surrounding buildings.
All signs pointed to the inspection being just that and not a prelude to an attack.
“Alright, hold on!” Hardhat said. “Okay, guys. They know we’re armed, but let’s not give them any excuses. We are peacefully complying, so on and so forth. Got it?”
Affirmative nods.
“Greygrass, play something… but no using Skills,” Hardhat said. “And somebody get me my hat.”
The first request cleared the motel room as the rangers groaned in dismay.
Timber rushed through the hole in the wall to fulfill the second.
“Open this door, now!”
“Jesus Christ, man! I’m getting dressed! Why don’t you pick your panties out of your crack!” Hardhat snapped.
She didn’t open the door until Timber brought her hardhat.
The rat-faced inspector blinked, eyeing her pristine yellow hardhat.
She stood as a bulwark in the doorway barring the man’s path.
“What’s this about an inspection? I believe there were promises made about the sanctity of our space. That it’d remain safe for us. Did your king lie? Or is this him going back on his royal decrees and whatnot?”
In the background Greygrass began a song, strumming slightly off-tune and singing slightly off-key.
The Devil went down to Florida,
He was lookin’ for a soul to steal,
He was in bind cause he was way behind,
And he was willin’ to make a deal…
The inspector winced. “Can you please tell your musician to stop that.”
“Stop what?” Hardhat stared at him without expression. “Please focus and do your job.”
The inspector scowled. He held up a clipboard. “The housing agreement you signed specifies that we have the right to inspect the premises at will.”
“I signed no such thing.”
“This isn’t your signature?” he pointed triumphantly at the illegible scrawl on the bottom of the sheet.
“No.”
“The notes specifically state that a woman wearing a construction worker’s helmet signed it.”
“Who’s wearing what now?”
“You are!” the inspector jabbed a finger at her hardhat.
“Oh, this? This isn’t a construction worker’s helmet. It’s a family artifact. Magical. Passed down by my father. It carries the will and spirit of the men that built this land. Indeed, this very motel we are standing in.”
“You know what. No. I don’t need to see anymore. I already see enough to know that you’ve violated nearly every rule you agreed to.”
“And what rules might those be?”
“You’ve torn down that wall!” the inspector thrust his hand at the gaping hole leading to the next room. “And that one!” he pointed to the hole in the opposite wall.
“That was already here…”
The Devil bowed his head because he knew that he'd been beat
And he laid that golden fiddle on the ground at Johnny's feet
Johnny said, “Devil, just come on back if you ever wanna try again
I done told you once, you son of a bitch
I'm the best that's ever been" he played…
“You rangers have one hour to vacate the premises!” the inspector sneered triumphantly. “You may relocate to this location,” he thrust a piece of paper into Hardhat’s hands. “Refusal will be treated as an act of war.”
“Ain’t that a little extreme?” Timber said.
The inspector whirled on his heel and stomped off with his bodyguard.
“Crap! Mouthy’s not going to ever let me forget this,” Hardhat said.
“I won’t,” Dastardly patted her on the back.
“Alright… Molds, Babyapple… pack up our toys and scrub those wards! The rest of you make sure the rest of our gear is ready to go!” she barked. “Looks like we’re moving.”
“I’ll call Mouthy and Aims so they can get their squads back here. I don’t want to move without our full complement in case this is an excuse to ambush us,” Dastardly said.
“I’m more worried about how shitty our next place is going to be,” Hardhat said. “The boss won’t let them pull an ambush without some kind of warning.”
“True that,” Dastardly nodded.