image [https://cdn.midjourney.com/14a5c192-e321-4be5-8003-8548b562d38d/0_2.png]
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"What are you doing?" Redroar yelled. Her hand jerked for a second like she was on the point of slapping Peter.
"I present you the former conqueror of Atlantis," Peter said, pointing at the throne. Instead of the majestic old man, now it displayed a skeleton lying in a heap, dressed in military clothes. An ID tag was hung on its neck.
"This is not a normal US tag," Regina said after looking at the item. "Earth-Two?"
"Probably… He must've beaten the Dungeon and got entranced by the core… It's cursed."
"How did you know?" Redroar asked.
"The image was flickering a lot, and then I remembered what the Shaman told me: the fog is not about violence, but wisdom... since all we did was fight, it meant there was one more challenge to it."
Your fault, bro. Regina did warn you to respect Pandy Panda or be cursed.
"What do we have here?" Redroar exclaimed.
Next to the throne was a small chest, filled with coins. A notification came:
Rewards for clearing the hidden city of Atlantis and destroying its Cursed Core:
1000 one-ounce gold coins.
Nano-Mithril coating for all your pieces of armor and weapons you have used in the fight. Extra durability and extra damage.
+2 levels.
The Main Quest is now unlocked. Clear two more trials to gain access to the secret of the Fog. Hint: search to the southwest of this place.
"I have a bespoke reward about Pandy!" Regina said, squeezing her fist in joy. “Aha… beware, monsters."
"I have some personal rewards too," Peter said. A few more blue screens said:
+1 Level
+5 to Concentration; + 5 to Magic Power
Detect Curses unlocked and added to both forms of Inspect. Intuition added to both forms of Inspect.
Inspect Skills has reached the Apprentice tier.
Warp has reached the Journeyman tier.
Spear of the Minotaur: bonded to Peter Hillden. A Rare quality weapon that can change its size and shape as long as it remains a spear type. Fully made of Mithril, it can be effortlessly infused with magic.
He thought about it for a second, then put eleven points into Magic Power, to reach Journeyman, one in Charisma, and two in Will, for the same reason, and one in Intelligence, because twenty-eight looked better than twenty-seven.
Peter Hillden, age: 22, Class: Impulse, Lvl. 31
Strength: 61 / Dexterity: 72 / Constitution: 41
Intelligence: 28 / Will: 41 / Concentration: 26
Charisma: 41 / Luck: variable / Magic Power: 41
"What do we do about this?" Regina pointed at the skeleton.
"I'll see if my doppelganger knew him," Peter said, storing the ID tag.
The crown fell on the throne. It was made of gold, that much was clear, but also displayed a description on the HUD: Protection artifact. The wearer will be ignored by any monster lower than level fifty as long they don’t initiate combat.
"It's useful for scouting," Peter said, putting the crown in storage, along with the gold in the chest. The only item remaining around was a Cultivator's core, the skeleton's. After a brief hesitation, Peter put it into storage too.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
"If this guy had family, I'll give it to them. It must have some monetary value. So, what next? We're pushing on, right?"
"Are you mad?" Regina yelled. "We barely survived."
"Just joking," Peter lied. There was so much adrenaline in him he was eager to slay more monsters. "What are you going to do with your part of the money, girls? Three hundred ounces… That’s short of a million in Earth One’s money.”
“I’ll help my parents to buy their house,” Regina said. “We should put a tenth of our gains in a common fund, to go toward future expenses."
"Fine with me," Redoar creased her nose. She was not enthused by the idea, that much was clear.
"C'mon, let's go home, I'm tired," Regina pushed Peter's shoulder. “Beam us up, Scottie.”
The return was uneventful, and once back at the rendezvous point. Peter counted three hundred gold coins to Redroar, who put them into a leather sack, and then into her backpack.
"It was nice to fight together, my friends," Redroar said.
"I'll bring you your part from the Minotaur core when possible," Peter said.
"Sure… Cya."
She started running, and her silhouette soon disappeared beyond the low hills. After the barbarian was gone, they started walking toward their camp in silence, arms locked.
"You were right, we need more people," he said. "It was a tough fight."
"I know I was right…" she gloated, raising the tip of her nose higher. "Any suggestions on who to pick?"
"Naomi and Ariana are trustworthy, but… not so strong… The first is a geek, and the latter… well, her best weapon is Shredder… I won't forgive myself if something happens to them…" Mostly to Shreddi, he added in thought.
"What about those guys from Two?" Regina asked.
"That's very smart!" Peter stopped and kissed her. "We’ll make a pit stop at their bar. We tell them about the crown, but not how artifacts can protect us from the frog... sorry, fog... I’m tired..."
They returned on their tracks, with Peter Warping once to get to their objective faster, stopping a hundred feet farther, behind a dune to inspect the resort. It was late into the night, yet the beach was lit and lots of people were running around, with fishing nets and cudgels. They threw the nets into the fog, pulled them out, and then beat whatever monster they found inside with the wooden weapons.
At the bar, there were more people, but only two were of interest: doppelgangers Peter and Jack. Raising for a second, when no one else was looking, Peter waved his hand to catch his double's attention. Seconds later, his alter ego left his chair.
"I'll take a walk to clear my head," he said.
"Cheersfl," Jack said, his tongue heavied by the alcohol.
The doppelganger pretended to wobble and took his time. Peter was starting to curse in a low voice when the other arrived.
"Radiant beauty, it's a pleasure to bathe in your lovely presence," the double bowed, taking Regina's hand and kissing it.
"Oh," Regina giggled, blushing.
I'll kill him, Peter promised himself.
"So? Why are you here?" the doppelganger asked. "You have news about what we talked about?"
"No," Peter shook his head. "I have a way to explore the depths."
"What?" the double yelled.
"All well, buddy?" Jack called.
"Yeah, it's nothing, just tripped," the doppelganger answered. "For real?" he repeated.
"Yes… We went into the fog two hours ago. There's a big city south of here."
"I know, we went there during the day. Some went even the night… they never returned."
"Sweetheart, remember the tag?" Regina said.
"What tag… Ah, that tag… In a moment," he said to her. "At night, it transforms into a Minoan city, a sort of a dungeon."
"Like the Minotaur?"
"Yeah… we fought it… and won… I found this on a skeleton down there," Peter dug in his backpack and pulled out the military tag and the core.
"Our Sarge," Peter from Two frowned after inspecting the tag.
“You’re in the army?”
“No, I’m a heavy equipment operator, but everything in the Sixth Reich is under military rule. This guy was an asshole but with a family.”
“I was thinking selling the core and—”
“Giving the money to the family... my thoughts exactly."
"You think I should recover his bones too?"
"Forget it. There will be questions, we don't want that. You were saying something about exploring?" the doppelganger returned to the matter at hand.
"Yeah… We found this in a treasure chest." Peter produced the crown.
"So?"
"There was a note attached to it, says it repels monsters up to… the fifth rank," Peter tried to find an equivalent for levels.
"Oh my God!… This is big… What do you want for it?"
"It's not for sale. But we need more people for the team. Good fighters. We had a third friend with us tonight—"
"He didn't make it," Regina said, and Peter applauded her acumen. Redroar's presence was better kept secret until the last moment. If his other self from Two planned to steal the crown, a mercenary he didn't know about before appearing in the party offered deterrence.
"How many people do you need?" the doppelganger asked deadpanned.
"Two or three, but reliable."
"Jack's one," the double said. "He's eager to go for the fog. I'll make up some pretense about how I met you guys…"
"We are here with the school, why don't you say you just walked around and bumped into us?" Regina said. "We talked and befriended each other."
"Jack, come here!" the doppelganger yelled. "You won't believe who I met. Relax," he lowered his voice. "Everyone around here knows there is a One full of doppelgangers. No one cares."
"What's up?" Jack from Earth-Two arrived. "Whoa!" he jerked when he saw the couple, falling, his buttocks hitting the sand.
"There's a school from One nearby, on a field trip," Peter from Two explained. "What a coincidence, right?"
"You're beautiful," Jack sighed and hiccuped, getting up with his friend's help.
"Thank you," Peter joked. Regina laughed.
"I meant her, man, you're not my type," Jack said seriously.
"Order a beer for me," Peter from Two slapped his friend's shoulder. "I'll be back with you momentarily."
"Uhuh," Jack said, walking backward, to keep his eyes on Regina. He tripped and rolled down the dune, then learned his lesson and stepped on as normally he could in his inebriated condition.
"The second one is me," the doppelganger said.
"You have powers?" Peter asked.
"Yeah… I'm registered as a Wild Magic user… and I have more tricks up my sleeve. When do you want to go?"
"Wednesday?" Peter asked.
"Not poss, have something to do."
"Friday?"
"Friday's great."
"Let's meet in between our camps. Nine evening One's time?"
"Works for me. Milady," the double kissed Regina's hand again.
"He's cute," she whispered to Peter after the doppelganger left. "But so… petite."
"I hope he has real powers, not only bragging," he sighed.