Chapter 116: A Million Gold
Despite coming in fast, Zach did not even feel a shock in his knees as he landed upright, his two feet slamming into—and then going through—the sand so that he sank into it all the way down to his hips. For a brief moment, he’d actually feared he’d keep going and end up submerging himself just like the boss they’d killed. This caused Kalana to raise her fist to her mouth as if to hide the fact that she was obviously laughing. Did she not know he could hear her?
“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, only half his body now visible. “I fell from like two-thousand feet. Of course this is going to happen.”
She removed her fist from her mouth, then uncurled her fingers so that her hand became flat, and she extended it to him. He grabbed it. With that, she yanked him up and out of the sand, now laughing openly at him. “Tell me the truth, Kal,” he said. “If you fell like that, would this have happened to you too?”
“Nope,” she said, chuckling some more.
“Why not?”
“It’s ‘cause I know how to land properly. There’s a trick to it.”
After patting himself down to shake off some of the sand, he took off both his shoes and shook out any that might’ve gotten inside before putting them back on. Then, expectantly, he fixed Kalana with a hard stare and asked, “What’d it drop?”
She made a playful face. “What’d what drop?”
“Kal…”
“Okay, okay. Here you go, baby.”
She reached into the pocket of her tan-colored shorts and produced a ring, then extended her arm and handed it to him in her open palm. Zach swelled with excitement. “It was your drop?” he asked. Since they weren’t in a raid group, things worked the way they usually did, which meant one of them would be lucky enough to see the shine and get the drop any time one resulted from the death of a mob.
“Yup. But now it’s yours. This is the only item it dropped.”
“Is it good?”
“I dunno. I didn’t look.”
“Seriously?” he asked in disbelief.
“Yeah. I mean, you’re still missing a ring, so whatever it is, you probably need it more.”
He smiled. “Gods, I love you so much! Thanks, Kal. Really.”
“Aww, stop.”
“No, you’re the best. And I’m sorry there wasn’t more loot. I’m surprised the boss only dropped one thing.”
For some reason, Kalana averted her gaze. “Well…”
“What?” Zach asked.
“I mean…”
He sighed. “Kal, what? What is it?”
In a way that came across as way too innocent, she curled her bottom lip. “It also dropped some gold, too.”
Just the word “gold” caused Zach to feel his heartrate increase. “How much?” he asked at a whisper.
“A million,” she said, speaking the two words quickly as though it were something she didn’t wish to dwell on.
Having not yet taken the ring out of her open palm, Zach met her eyes and said, “I want it.”
“Nah-uh.”
“Why? You’re already rich.”
She frowned. “It’s not for me, Zach. It’s for Den of Ziragoth.”
Zach took a deep breath to contain the rush of emotions and frustration that shot to the very center of his being. He fought to keep his voice under control and his temper even. “I thought we’re already giving our stones to them.”
“We are.”
“So…so why do we have to…you know, give a million gold?”
“You know why. You know the situation. Stop asking me stuff you already know the answer to.”
Pausing a moment before replying, Zach asked, “How about we keep the gold this time and then…” He shrugged. “You know, if we get another million later on, we give that?”
With a straight face, she replied, “We should give both.”
“Kal, babe, come on. This is getting to be ridiculous now.”
A scowl popped onto her face so suddenly it actually startled him. “I’m not gonna lie, um, your greed’s starting to really make me mad. I usually let it slide ‘cause I love you, but sometimes it gets me so frustrated.” She shook her hand holding the ring, as if gesturing for him to take it from her. “Why can’t you just be happy with this?”
“I am. It’s just a million gold…do you not understand how much that is? We could buy a fully detached, three-floor home in the suburbs of Giant’s Fall with that much gold. That’s with a swimming pool and a garage for our DEHV.”
“So what? A few minutes ago, you were saying you didn’t wanna ever leave here. Now you wanna move to Giant’s Fall?”
“No, Kal,” he said, becoming somewhat annoyed. “That’s not my point. My point is that’s a huge sum of money, so of course I’d want it.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean why?” he asked, baffled at the question itself. “Because it’s a million gold.”
“What about the people who can’t afford dinner tonight ‘cause of the dragon?”
“Fuck them!” Zach shouted out, regretting the words even as he spoke them. Truly, he didn’t mean them. He really didn’t. That wasn’t how he actually felt. He was just frustrated and…and he didn’t know what was wrong with his head to ever say something like that. It was to such an extent that, not an instant after speaking, he immediately added, “I didn’t mean that.”
Still, the damage was done. Kalana closed her hand around the ring and then threw it at his chest. It bounced off him then landed onto the sand. With that, she turned around and stormed away. Zach looked down at the ring, then back at Kalana, who was marching her way westward without him. Quickly, he picked it up, then chased after her.
“Okay, Kal, wait. Just wait!” Running to catch up to her, he almost accidentally aggroed something that looked like a cross between a broomstick and a vacuum cleaner as he hurried over to her side. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. I swear I didn’t.” She didn’t reply. She kept her head and eyes pointed straight ahead, and she ignored him. “Kal, you’re overreacting. It was just a joke. I didn’t even—”
She halted abruptly and spun around towards him, her pointer finger pressing into his chest. “It’s not a joke.”
“I swear I didn’t mean it.”
“I know you didn’t.”
He scratched his head. “Then why are you so mad?”
“Figure it out,” she growled, turning around once more and continuing to walk away.
Zach watched, filled with so many contradictory impulses, as she once more moved away from him. When she was far enough away that he could no longer speak to her at a conversational level, he shouted, “I already said I’m sorry! What the fuck do you want from me?”
What pissed him off so much was that he didn’t even really think he’d done anything all that wrong. So, okay, he’d said something insensitive about the people of Den of Ziragoth—were any of them here? Whose feelings was he actually hurting? And what about him? Did any of them care how much shit he’d gone through?
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“Kal, wait!” he shouted, once more chasing after her. Even as his feet dashed across the sand, he had no idea how she did this to him. There was no one else on this planet that could have him chasing after them like some sappy idiot. “At least talk to me!”
Eventually, she did, but not before walking more than a mile westward. At the top of a hill, the terrain transitioned from sand to short stalks of grass. Now well into the morning, the sun was even brighter in the sky, and Zach began to sweat as he hurried after her through a wide area of plains covered in short grass which gradually became more of a savanna with the occasional, relatively short tree to be found with seemingly random regularity. Much, much farther into the distance was a large forest, and to his left, he could just make out what he believed to be the path she was telling him about earlier, though it was so far away he couldn’t be sure.
Ahead of him, Kalana was continuing to march away, though Zach knew if she really wanted to get away from him, she could. At one point, he worried he’d actually lose sight of her for good, as a giant herd of massive, six-legged, level-50 mobs began passing through the area immediately in front of him; each was twice the size of an elephant, though they looked nothing at all like elephants, and there were about fifteen of them in total. They were also very strange in appearance. The creatures were a dark shade of green and had six large legs that supported their roundish bodies, which had black spots running down the sides of it. They also had mouse-like ears and square-shaped teeth. Thankfully, they appeared to be passive, and so unless Zach physically touched them, they wouldn’t bother him.
HP
92,300/92,300
Name
Herding Galgor
Level
50
Fidgeting anxiously, he waited for them to pass, and as soon as they did, he would take off at a sprint in the direction Kalana had been heading. But then, once the last of them ambled along peacefully, he saw her standing there, now facing in his direction, her hands at her sides. He ran over to her, more sweat gliding down his forehead. It was so hot that he found himself looking forward to the next twenty-minute thunderstorm, which was probably a couple of hours away, assuming the pattern she told him about held.
“Look,” he said as he approached her, “I know you’re—”
“I’m sorry,” she said, confusing him.
“Wait, what?”
“I was too mean. I just got so frustrated.” She grabbed him and pulled him into a hug, and he wrapped his arms around her. “So many people are suffering, and I just wanna help them.”
“I know you do,” he said, “and I love that about you, but Kal, it’s not wrong to keep something for ourselves.”
“Of course not. But I just don’t get why you act like you don’t have anything.” Slowly, she broke off the hug, and then she waved her arms at the world around her. “I’d share all this with you. Anything I have, I’d share with you. If you ever needed gold for anything, I’d give it to you.”
Zach sighed. “I know you would, but I want to earn, too. I don’t want you to just give me everything. I want to build something for myself.”
“And I support that,” Kalana said. “But sometimes you don’t see the big picture, Zach.”
Trying not to become defensive, he asked, “How so?”
“Do you really think you’re not gonna be a billionaire?”
He snorted. “Not at this rate, no. I can’t seem to even make it to millionaire.”
“Zach, stop. Do you really not get it? You’re so powerful. You’re gonna be rich, too. Power and money are never all that far away from each other. You’re gonna have all the gold you could ever want. Everyone knows this but you. Alex knows it. Donovan knows it. Everyone knows it. You’ll probably end up being one of the richest people in history. But today, right now, there are people who are hungry. I dunno why you can’t see this.”
Zach found her words shocking, because not only did he not see things that way, but he couldn’t believe that anyone would. “Kal, you grew up in the same situation as me. We didn’t have shit. You should know what a million gold means to someone like us. I can’t even imagine seeing that amount of coin with my own eyes, let alone ever having it.”
“Fine,” she said. “You still don’t get it. That’s why I can’t stay mad at you. Here.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper that reminded Zach of the meal voucher he’d gotten from using Gacha Ge’tcha.
“What is this?” he asked.
“Use it to get a million gold. This is the other thing that dropped. Take it.”
He reached out with his hand opposite the one holding the ring, and he placed two fingers against the paper, but he did not grasp it or take it.
This is a test, isn’t it?
“I want you to have it, ‘cause maybe if you do, you’ll feel rich enough so we don’t gotta fight over the next million or the million after. But Zach, I’m gonna be the governor of Whispery Woods, and it’s my job to make sure everyone—not just the people in the city—is okay. I don’t wanna lose you over something stupid like gold. So if this will make you feel like you’re in a good place and can afford to be more generous, then take it.”
There’s no way this isn’t a test, he thought.
Studying her eyes, he could see no duplicity in them. Kalana wasn’t even the kind of person to do something like that. She wouldn’t offer this if she didn’t mean it. So then why did he feel so guilty in taking it? It was a million gold. If this wasn’t a test, and it didn’t ruin his relationship to accept it, then why did he still feel guilty at the thought of it?
“It’s not a trap,” she said, as though she were reading his mind. “Maybe the reason I can be so generous is ‘cause I have so much now. Maybe if you had a lot, you wouldn’t feel so insecure about money.”
“No,” Zach whispered, shaking his head. “That wouldn’t change a thing. The truth is I’m just plain not a good person, Kalana. I should be better than this, but I'm not.”
“Nah-uh! Don’t say that. I know you. You are a good person.”
“It’s true, though.”
I can still feel their blood on my skin.
I can feel it.
“Keep the gold. You were right. I was wrong. We were having a great time, and I screwed up the mood.” Hoping to change the subject, he finally took a good look at the ring she’d given him. It was silver with an aquamarine gemstone that had a brilliant blue shine to it. Honestly, it was quite a beautiful item for something that came from such a disgusting mob.
Name
Purified Ring of the Megaworm
Rarity
Epic Rare
Item Level
65
Luck
+50
Ability
Lucky Ducky (Passive)
Description
Increases Luck Efficacy by 2% (For each 30 points into luck, adds an additional +2% activation chance on chance-based activations)
“I thought it’d be better,” Kalana said, standing next to him and reading it over. “Usually Epic Rare items are a bit…you know, more than that.”
Zach looked at her. “This is actually incredible.”
“Stop, Zach. You don’t have to pretend.”
He shook his head. “I’m not.” He slipped the ring onto the middle finger on the same hand that he wore his blasting ring. “This is going to help me tremendously, Kal. Maybe it’s just because of how different we are in terms of our abilities and equipment, but for me, I can totally see why this is a purple item.”
He explained to her just how important it was that he proc’d his stamina regain ability on the sword her mother had given him and how much of a difference that made in fights. With this ring on, his luck increased to 80, which meant that, under normal circumstances, he’d have about a 2.6% increase to the chance of his item abilities going off. But, with this on, he now had just about an 8% chance. That meant, with the natural 8.5% chance that the stamina proc had to begin with, it was now more like 16.5%.
That was actually pretty good.
I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I killed so many people.
I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I killed so many people.
I can’t sleep. I’m so tired. I can’t undo what I did. It was my fault. Those mages were running away. Could have let them go. It wasn’t just self-defense. I could’ve let them go. I didn’t have to do it. I didn’t have to finish off the officer. He was beaten. It was murder. I was angry. I was angry and chose to do it. I am a murderer. I murdered.
I killed so many people. I killed so many people. I KILLED SO MANY PEOPLE I KILLED SO MANY PEOPLE I KILLED SO MANY PEOPLE.
“Kal, let’s go do the quest!” he said excitedly, smiling at her.
She beamed at him. “Mhm.”
Zach was excited. He wasn’t upset. He wasn’t. This was a great time he was having with the person he loved. He killed a boss. He was adventuring. He was living the exact kind of life he wanted to live with the person he loved. What happened before didn't matter. He was starting over. Nothing that happened before mattered. So stop thinking about it. Please. Please just stop. It wasn't his fault. He didn't mean to do any of this. They attacked him. It was self-defense. IT WAS FUCKING SELF-DEFENSE. WHY WOULDN'T THE THOUGHTS GO AWAY?
"Hey, look at that mob, Kal."
She laughed. "Some of them are pretty funny."
He held her hand. He loved being with her. It was such a beautiful day in this tropical paradise BUT SHE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND HOW BADLY HE WAS TRYING TO HOLD IT TOGETHER. HE WAS SLIPPING.
Slipping.
"Kal," he said, shaking, barely able to remain on his feet.
"Zach, what's wrong?"
"I don't think I'm going to make it."
She grabbed him and held him. When had he begun trembling so fiercely? "Let's go home."
"But the quest."
"We can always get it to drop again. Let's go home."
"I'm fine."
"I'm calling Jascaila. You promised you'd talk to her, remember?"
He nodded, then shamefully, he began to weep. Then bawl. "I can't get their blood off my hands. I can feel it. I can't stop feeling it. I thought I washed it off on the plane but it's still there. I can feel it."
"Come on. Let's go home."
What am I doing? Why am I acting like this in front of her?
Zach pulled himself together, embarrassed. "I'm fine," he said again, wiping his eyes and regaining his composure. His moment of weakness had passed. "I want to finish the quest."
"No."
A warm breeze came over him, making him feel refreshed. "It'll rain for two weeks straight if we fail."
"Crap, you're right," Kalana said, a response that actually surprised him but he was nevertheless happy to accept. Then, as she continued to speak, her reaction made a bit more sense. "She won't be able to safely fly here in that weather, and I can't expect her to swim all the way from South Bastia. Okay, we'll finish it, but then we're going straight home and you're gonna see her tomorrow, okay?"
Zach laughed. "I'm actually fine now."
She glared at him. "You're seeing the therapist!"
"Okay, okay. Sheesh. Does it have to be tomorrow, though?"
"Yes!"
"You said my appointment was next week."
"Yah, well, now it's tomorrow."
He rolled his eyes. "Let's just do the quest."