On his way back to the city, Tom had a lot of time to think. "If I am fast enough to get back there after visiting the traders, I could probably clear it alone if I figure out some way to deal with the big golem.
All I need is a big enough shield that I can use to rush through the tunnel into the chamber while blocking the rocks. Then I can defeat the golems before the others manage to get to the chamber...
So why should I sell it if I am only fast enough to make it back there before anyone else? But it actually doesn't even matter if somebody else finds it, as they won't be able to approach the obelisk. And it will take them some time to make it back to the city unless I am unlucky enough, and it is a big group that finds it."
Tom was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't even notice that there was a man climbing up the hill he was currently descending.
Tom noticed the other person only once they yelled, "Hello!" He stopped in his tracks immediately. He had played enough games to know that other humans were one of the biggest threats in any game.
He had no idea what stance people had about killing other players. It could be like in any other game, but there was also a possibility that people would be more united as they had a common enemy to fight. However, as there were so few golems and other such enemies, there were bound to be fights over them no matter how united they were, unless someone manages to establish a system that would punish such behavior.
To make matter worse, Tom looked like he had just come out of a fight. His leather armor had countless scraps and holes all over it, and he was carrying a backpack that looked full. He must have looked like a walking loot box, so he didn't dare to relax. Tom was quite sure that he could defeat extremely skilled opponents by leveraging his advantages, but he rather not fight other humans if possible.
"Hey!" Tom answered, keeping good ten meters between them. The person was wearing the same starting clothes Tom had at the beginning, and he was holding a shield and a hammer that was bigger than his.
He had run for half an hour, so he should have covered around nine kilometers (≈5,6 miles) thanks to his new and improved physique. So the other person was quite a ways away from the city.
"Where are you coming from?" The man cordially asked.
When Tom once again laid his eyes on the shield, he got excited. He almost wanted the other person to attack him, so he could get it for himself. Now he needed to figure out if this person could be possibly useful, so he wouldn't have to go all the way back to the city. Of course, a lot depended on what kind of people they were, he rather not take a knife to his back during the fight, as he was well aware that he wasn't the only one capable of making risk-reward analytics.
"Well, you know, I am just looking around, trying to find something interesting. How about you?" Tom answered.
***
Mike had been incredibly surprised, once he had seen that there was already somebody all the way here. He had kept up a quite harsh marching pace, only wasting some time looking around the mountains until he had run into a strange stone pile that had come to life, and he had easily defeated the golem that emerged from there.
But during that time, someone had already made it this far, and they had clearly been fighting for quite some time. Mike could only presume that they had already visited the center. The only question he had left was if everything there had already been claimed, and if was he just wasting his time.
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So he got straight to the point and asked. "Is there anything left in the center of the zone?"
He could clearly see how the man in front of him went through a myriad of emotions, firstly they were surprised, then it morphed into a panic, then they focused and took a defensive stance.
Mike could clearly see how the person wasn't the best at fighting just by their stance. He would only have to bash him once with his shield to the face while fainting an attack with his hammer to break their defenses. It would be so easy, especially as he was sure that even if they somehow could survive the attack, they would have a hard time hurting him, thanks to his awakened body one. Of course, he realized that not just anyone would be out this far from the city at this point, but one had to have faith in themselves.
***
When Tom heard the question, he was firstly surprised, and then he immediately went on guard. He was sure at any second now, the other person would attack, and he would have to put them down. A small part of him almost wanted it, as he could get his hand on a shield.
The atmosphere was extremely tense, both just stared at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. Almost a minute later, Tom finally decided that maybe they wouldn't have to fight. He answered. " I am Tom, and yes, there still is something left in the center, too much of something in fact." At the same time, Tom relaxed his hands and placed them further away from his hammers that were on his belt.
"Hi, I am Mike." The atmosphere was somewhat relaxed as both seemed to have come to the same conclusion not to fight. " So how much of this something is there for you to look this banged up?"
Tom decided to come clean about everything in the mountain as if he wished for them to have a chance to clear it they couldn't afford to suspect each other.
After a bit more of back and forth, they decided to work together. Then they started arguing about the loot distribution as they started making their way back towards the mountain.
Once they had covered more than half the way to the mountain they had finally managed to come to an agreement about the loot distribution. They would keep everything they got until they made it back to a trader and then ask them to evaluate the value of their haul, and spilt it 50/50. If either of them wanted anything from them, they would pay the other its value, and if both wanted the same thing, they would decide it by rolling dice.
As they finally came to a conclusion about their agreement, they found another feature of the Secverse. A window popped up in front of their eyes with a document that had everything they had discussed written on it, and a choice to agree or disagree below it. There was also a warning that if they broke the contract, the AI would punish them however they saw fit.
Of course, Tom had tried to argue that he knew more about the mountains and thus should earn a bigger cut, as he had already made their job easier by culling their numbers. But Mike had smelled blood in the water and hit where it hurt. "Then why are you retreating if you had everything under control? And aren't you already getting a bigger cut as you managed to get some of their cores already" Tom could only begrudgingly agree at that point.
As they had almost reached the mountain, Tom couldn't keep his curiosity in check anymore, there were only a couple of good reasons why Mike would know that there was something in the center, and the most logical was." Did you get into the Secverse early?" Tom asked.
Mike seemed momentarily surprised, but got quickly got over it." Yeah, I guess the question about the center gave it away."
"Not as much the question as the conviction you asked it with like you were sure that there was something there."
Mike nodded in acknowledgment, and he asked. " You?"
"Huh, you got me too. What gave it away?" Tom asked curiously.
Mike just laughed, and said "I had no idea! I just asked it to keep the conversation going!"
From there, their conversation got naturally going, as both compared their experiences thus far in the Secverse, both of them tactfully evading the topic of cultivation and what they did with the cores. When they finally had competed for enough about who had had the worst experience, they got back on the topic about their up and coming venture.
They spent the rest of the way discussing their attack plan and talking about their strengths and weaknesses, so they could fight better together until they finally reached the valley.
Once they made it to the valley, they stopped by the grass pile so Tom could store his gear, and then they prepared for the battle. This time there would be no half-measures, they decided that either they would clean the mountain up, or they would get a fast-travel ticked named death to the city.