Before returning to Sallie's Shipwreck, I walked around the estate again, knowing that the place was owned by Jude's company. The company is a euphemism for what her underground operation consisted of. Even I didn't realize the lengths and reaches that her power traversed. The bulletin board always seemed full of quests from the anonymous Jude. Most adventurers, myself included, assumed it was auto-generated by the system storyline, but it hadn't been. Jude was indeed an actual living person, and as I walked the halls and inspected sets and gear that rivaled the guild banks of any guild worth its place on the TOP LADDER, I concluded that not only was Jude real and deadly, god damn was she wealthy as well.
Selling just a portion of what hung on the current wall I stared at alone could buy you an estate in even the wealthiest suburbs in any hipster part of the realm. A person like Jude wouldn't care about that. No, her thoughts never rested on beautiful views of a villa overseeing the orchards of the Southern Coast. Of how money buys freedom, and freedom in the realm meant adventures and experiences that not even us adventurers had the luxury of enjoying.
Huh, that's a funny thought, I realized as my eyes fell on a piece of art that was undoubtedly priceless; after all, everything in here was. Well, at one point, they all had a price point, some outrageous number with zeros that trailed off into the distance, but after it was purchased, it was stored here, never to be sold again.
But, this life, this realm, all it holds, is beyond beautiful or magical. I've only experienced a small taste, and I still crave more. Yet, we never take it in. We don't ride on the backs of griffins over to the Scarlet Sea for a sunset that we can never capture in words; one can only live those things and never explain them adequately enough. Better said, we could only tell the person asking how it was: you got to experience it for yourself. Nor do we dive into the cultures of the varied people of the realm, enjoying the native cuisine or partaking in their hopes and dreams. We never delve into the chasms of cratered caverns in search of dwarven relics with a history quite literally buried in time.
No, what we do is work.
We choose quests to fill our pockets and raise our levels, never those with the experience worth completing. If a quest promises an adventure of a lifetime, we check the x.p per hour gained and gold promised, but never the story that could be had.
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The man, whose name was Godfrey and was more than met the eyes, coughed for my attention. A simple servant, a man on a mission, was more like it.
Your time would be better off preparing, sir.
Is she powerful?
My words came out pure and childlike. They weren't a threat, not soaked in venom—just words meant for others to respond to.
As if caught off guard, his composure dropped. His eyes met mine, and I saw him for what he was—just another person of the realm.
Well, that depends on what you consider power.
What I considered power, I thought. Well, I wanted to shout the truth. Power? For starters, even after her identity was revealed, her level was still shrouded in ?????. That is usually a good God damn indicator of power. But I didn't say that; instead, I replied
What do you consider power? I fear my biases would cloud my judgment.
Well, chewing on his words, he replied.
The power to move the realm with a pen is power. The ability to cultivate this wealth spread all around us is power. The strength to defend Madam's lands with her sheer strength is power. But most of all…
His words broke off into a whisper.
The ability to burn it all without a second thought, willing to throw herself away for a mere fraction of victory, is a power beyond understanding. It's terrifying.
Without a response, I held his eyes. He meant every word of it. Or else he was the greatest deceiver I had ever met.
You're right. I replied as I began walking down the hall and back into the ghettos of the land.
As I walked, I followed my words.
But there's more to power than all those logical things.
This realm is the harborer of chaos.
There is a sheer, unfathomable power that is far more terrifying. It is the kind of power that makes you want to disappear, scared of being consumed. That's power.
She doesn't have that. Godfrey, I promise you. So, when it comes to choosing, you must make a choice.
Stopping my back towards him, knowing his eyes burned on my back, I began to hum the words of power, tapping into the universe, into myself, into my fractured warren.
Finding chaos, I battled for peace, then let that ripple out in a cascade of pure, unfiltered energy.
I exploded with a force that shook the walls, sending priceless heirlooms clattering to the floor in the presence of true, unwavering power.