Mason mostly stayed silent as he watched his six players come up with team tactics and fight wave after wave of monsters. This training hall truly was a gem of a resource, and he intended to make much more use of it in the future.

But they didn’t have long before the tournament, and for now the main thing was just to get familiar with each other’s powers and not get in each other’s way. They had to figure it all out on their own.

So after watching the first round, Mason took a breath and decided it was time to sort out the Becky situation. He wasn’t entirely sure where she went. He knew he could technically check with his Wayfinder power and Patron ability, but it always felt a little creepy.

Instead he just walked back to his new house in the Nexus. He found Becky in the main ‘living room’, planted on a couch.

"Hi."

She winced and looked up at him. "I know I shouldn't have...in front of them, I mean. I got carried away."

Mason sighed and sat beside her.

"Yeah. But I shouldn't have picked you. That didn’t help."

Becky put her head on his shoulder.

"Kinda hard. Datin’ the boss, sometimes."

"You’re just getting too stubborn. Must be spending too much time with Rosa,” he said with a grin.

"I'm guessin' you fought Carl and Phuong?"

He nodded, and she could obviously tell by his expression that he’d won. She shook her head.

"Guess I forget sometimes. That yer....you know, you. Dunno why I was worried. Guess I get scared one day you might bite off more than you can chew."

Mason snorted because he expected one day he would. But he didn’t actually worry about it. He got a bit more serious.

“I worry about getting everyone else killed. Because I do something, or don’t do something. I don’t have the luxury of worrying about myself."

Becky met his eyes.

"Well someone should."

It was hard not to smile at that.

"I don't mind, if you like. I kinda like it."

She threw her arms around him, and he just breathed her in and closed his eyes.

“Does this count as a fight?” she whispered. “Can we...uh, make up next?”

Mason definitely would have taken her right then and there, but he had a lot to do and on his mind, and he wasn't as disappointed as she seemed to be when he heard Haley coming from the other room.

It didn't hurt the ego to have the beautiful cowgirl desperate to get him naked, that was for sure. But he was happy to just sit with that knowledge. He had a lot on his mind. And he needed to talk to Haley.

He gave Becky a kiss then called for Haley. Becky gave him an unhappy stare, so he put up his hands.

“It’s work. She's my assistant. If something fun is happening, I’ll come get you.”

“You better.” Becky gave him another little kiss, then stood and walked off towards some other wing of the house he’d probably never stepped foot in. Haley gave him a curious eye as she sat beside him.

“What was that all about?”

“Dating the boss shit. I want more tournament details. Everything you know. From wherever you think it makes sense to start.”

Haley’s suggestive glances stopped as she snapped into assistant mode.

"There’s a lot. I think I get extra info because of my class and because you’re an important patron. I've got access to a huge amount of detail. I doubt you'll last long listening to it."

Mason sighed. "I'll do my best."

"OK." Haley took a breath. "First off, we'll be at this 'tournament' for awhile. We're talking a week. They'll have housing for us, rules about where we stay, curfews, check ins, a bit like an Olympic games, I think."

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Mason just nodded and waited for more.

"They'll take care of everything,” Haley explained. “Food, organization, the schedule. We pretty much just do what we're told."

"Unsurprising," Mason said, feeling his usual impotent rejection of being roboGod's puppet.

"But. Here's where it gets interesting," Haley said with a big grin, curling her feet up on the couch. Mason fought the urge to pull her into his lap and call for Becky. "There's going to be some kind of...'world market', where civilian crafters set up shop and can hawk their wares. We use our own point system, and the system takes a 'cut', but I think we're basically free to exchange. Free to buy. And we civilians have a lot of unused points."

That was interesting. Mason was too ignorant to see the exact pros and cons, but obviously Haley thought it was exciting. And if they suddenly had access to some kind of big market, no doubt there’d be useful things.

"OK," he said. "So civilians are coming too. Do we take everyone, or what?"

Haley shook her head. "Two per player. We'll have to choose."

"And let me guess," Mason said. "It'll want us all in separate housing. Or split up men and women. Or some other annoying rules that make us miserable."

Haley grinned and wiggled her eyebrows, coming forward to slide a hand up Mason's leg.

"Um, biological imperatives, remember? Pretty sure it’s happy to breed us like rabbits. We can shack up however we want, and it'll roll out the red carpet."

It was supposed to be a sexy thought, and in a way it was. But Mason couldn't help but think: yes, exactly like rabbits. Smart rabbits in a fancy little rabbit zoo. But he smiled and pat Haley's hands.

"OK. Anything else?"

"Yep." Haley pulled back without looking disappointed, no doubt sensing his mood. "You probably want to know how the tournament combats work?" He nodded, and her eyes glazed as she pulled up the info. "I think it's a bit like the training hall, but...more brutal. I wouldn't expect pretty, blue shields. I think it's going to...regenerate you."

Mason nodded, staring at the wall as his mind processed that. It was good for him, ultimately, because it meant his powers would work properly, and his familiarity with suffering would give him an advantage.

But it also meant he was going to have to wound and maybe 'kill' anyone he fought, including his own people if they matched in the single duels, which seemed inevitable.

Even if it was 'temporary', it was a terrible thought. What if they put him up against Blake? Against Becky?

"What about...rules. Can we take items? Anything about animal companions? Prep?"

"It sounds like basically anything goes," Haley said. "Except no 'consumables', which I guess means Rosa's potions are out. Other than that, any items. All powers. Though it says something about 'time preparation caps' and 'total mana preparation caps' for casters before entering. I'm guessing it might effect someone like Blake? But I don't really know."

Mason nodded, a bit annoyed, actually. 'Any item' meant the eastern players, with their much larger civilian base, would likely be coming in far more equipped than the players in Nassau. Another of his fuck ups, probably.

"If it brings you any pleasure, I might as well just admit you were right," he said. "Civilians matter more than I expected. Items might make a big difference in there, especially for the weaker players."

Haley squeezed his thigh.

"You couldn't do everything. And most of our players are quite powerful. They should do pretty well, items or no items."

Mason smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek, which swiftly turned into another, much less chaste kiss on the lips. He sighed.

"Not tonight. I need all that energy. I'm going back to the training hall to try and deal with two nasty targets at a time until I'm exhausted."

Haley frowned, but nodded.

"You need your sleep, too. Don't wear yourself out before the actual tournament."

Mason winked and lifted her as he stood, giving her one last kiss before he went for the door. He needed a lot less sleep than a normal person these days, and as long as his mind could keep going, his body could, too.

He turned and was about to ask Haley if she could maybe get him something to eat halfway through the night.

"I'll get the girls. We'll cook something for you."

He gave her a smile, not sure how he'd lived without this woman for his first twenty years.

"See you in a few hours."

* * *

"I'm comin' too," Becky said as he eventually went out the door. He gave her a skeptical look, but just shrugged.

"Do as you please, soldier. Just don't get in my way."

She stuck out her tongue, then walked towards the lift and glanced back at him as if waiting. He smiled and jumped off the platform, slide/climbing down the great tree at dangerous speed.

"Show off!" Becky called from above.

Mason was most of the way down as the Great Tree entered his mind as easily as always...and giggled.

Tickles. Tickles, brother druid.

Mason blinked in surprise. Hadn’t Calypsa said it wouldn’t actually speak in words for years, or something?

"You can speak now?” he said with Speak with Nature, gripping and stopping on the tree.

He got a feeling like ‘yes obviously, dummy’.

“You have a name? Mine’s Mason. And uh, sorry about that."

OK, brother druid, said the tree with something like a yawn. But I call you Tickles.

"You're awfully articulate," he said, dropping to the ground.

Tick? What tick? Pretty lady teach words. But not that word. He felt the tree’s love for Calypsa like the warmth from the sun. Pretty lady says very smart tree. Pretty lady nice.

"Yes," Mason agreed, thinking he should definitely visit the nymph when he came back from the tournament. "Pretty lady is nice."

"What pretty lady?" Becky said, hopping off the platform.

Mason hadn't actually told any of his girls that the warrior nymph was now living in the settlement. It probably wouldn't be a problem, exactly, but since they were still all…adjusting to a house full of women, he thought it best to give it a minute.

"Haven't you seen a guy talking to his tree before? Stop eavesdropping."

Becky grinned, obviously assuming 'pretty lady' meant her. She put a hand to the tree and gave it a pat.

"Well ain't you a sweetheart."

Mason cleared his throat and walked towards the training hall, eventually holding Becky's hand. No doubt she expected a little spare time to finish what they'd started, but Mason only had about a day left to prepare for this tournament. He intended to spend every moment preparing.

When this 'emperor' was cowed—when the entirety of the human world understood Nassau wasn't to be trifled with—maybe then they could relax.