Chapter 73
Minutiae of a Leader
Asher felt excited for the first time in a while.
Before heading over to the Adventure Center and attempting a Stage, he had a new daily ritual to fulfill: saying whatever he wanted to a person’s face in an attempt to get them as angry as possible. In truth, he’d never been much of a stirrer in his life. Though he could toss out a quip or two when necessary, he hardly had the wit to come up with those exceptionally clever and deep-boring insults that other people did.
He'd have a lot of time to practice but, more importantly, dig around who Sarah was--there was a lot that could be found out from how people react to specific triggers. Mentions of war, death, abuse, marriage, kids... some things become so ingrained and involuntary that they cannot be hidden. Bit by bit, he wanted to build a house out of her life--partly because it was a bit of a hobby for him, and partly because it would allow him to decide what to actually do with her.
There was a larger-than-individual dynamic clearly at play in this world, and her importance in that dynamic was possibly quite large. He’d much rather exploit her position in the pyramid even if he could never trust her than just exercise some faintly fading rage within him.
Even if he had some doubts, she actually showed up on the dot, waiting in the tavern. Just as yesterday, the place was fully barren save for her, the barkeep--who, once again, winked at him playfully--and now Asher.
“You didn’t win, you do realize that, right?” Asher said to the woman behind the counter as he ordered a tankard of beer.
“I had fun,” she said. “Which, to me, is winning.”
“Right. Yeah.”
“Just remembering how confident you were,” she said, chuckling. “Gets me up every morning.”
“I get you off every morning?”
“Up.”
“Oh. I--”
“--don’t,” she quickly interjected. “We’re moving on.”
“Ha ha, alright. I did say, though, that if there was a way to game a system, I’d obviously not win. So, ultimately, I was kind of right.”
“Keep telling yourself that. By the way, what kind of a deal did you make with her? I’ve never seen her fume as much ever before.”
“Oh, just the best kind,” Asher said, taking the tankard. “But, ‘cause you played me like a fiddle, you don’t get to know. Stew in your ignorance, as it were.”
“Ha ha, oh I just might.”
Asher walked over to Sarah who didn’t even lift her head to look at him, likely ‘afraid’ he might consider it a ‘harmful look’ and ask her for 50,000 Souls. He didn’t mind and sat down, drinking in silence.
Minutes ticked by, and he could see that she was getting impatient--she’d even glanced at him a few times when she thought he wasn’t looking.
“Humph, can’t think of anything clever?” she cracked, eventually, and broke the silence, prompting him to smile.
“Bitch.” he replied simply.
“H-huh?”
“Bitch.”
“...”
“Bitch.”
“...”
“Bitch.”
“--ARE YOU TRYING TO ANNOY ME TO DEATH?!!”
“Oh-oh.”
“Fuck,” she grunted and took a deep breath, forcibly calming herself down while Asher chuckled for a moment.
“Deep down, beyond the facade that we plaster on as we age--the wise sort, we’d say--we’re all ultimately still just kids. It doesn’t take a clever quip or a magnificently-crafted insult to get us fired up. Sometimes, all it takes is just one askew glance. Or, in your case, just repeating a basic-ass word.”
“Wow. Insightful.”
“Y’know, I spent quite some time trying to figure out who you were back home, on Earth,” she looked up and met his gaze. “But no matter how much I tired my tiny little brain, it was pointless. I mean, for all I know, you were some sort of a silent, loving housewife in Missouri or something, living the dream. Snapping a person to this world, no matter who they were before... I imagine everyone changes.”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Not you,” she said. “Weren’t you a spy or something? You’ve come right where you belong, then.” she grinned.
“... nobody belongs here,” he said simply, taking a swig of mead. “And, no, I wasn’t a spy. It was actually kind of infuriating how most people seemed to interpret and understand espionage. There ain’t no guns in that line of work, no explosions, no car chases, no drama. You either do your job silently and without anything ever truly happening, or you get caught and either jailed for life or traded to your country in that famous spy-for-spy exchange.”
“Pretty strong opinion on something so pointless. So, what were you? A soldier? A mercenary?”
“What were you, Sarah?” he asked and she smiled.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Bitch.”
“...”
“You do have the face and the body of someone who was super popular in high school, got knocked up by the quarterback, barely graduated, and made money in her twenties showing of your goods.” She neither winced nor twitched, taking a sip of her drink.
“Thanks. Yeah, I’m quite beautiful, true.”
“... nah,” Asher said. “You’re pleasing to the eye, that’s about it. Beautiful, though? That you’re not.”
“Let me guess: ‘cause my soul is ugly?”
"Your smile," Asher said. "It's too fake. But also, yeah, your soul. That shit is like scrubbing the sewers of a city besotted with spicy food."
“You’re not very good at this, are you?” she grinned rather widely.
“Nah, not really. But hey, I’m a quick learner. Better slowly getting better than shooting fire from the start and getting you used to it, eh?”
“Sure, sure, big fella. Whatever you say.”
“I got a good one, though.”
“Yeah?”
“I bet you were both the prequel and the sequel to Teenage Mom.”
“...”
“Bitch.” Asher cracked a smile and stood up, finishing the drink and stretching. Her lips twitched for a moment but not much else.
“The hour’s not up.”
“Looking at your face made me want to beat something up,” he replied. “So, I’m gonna go and do precisely that. Don’t forget. You owe me 50,000 Souls.”
“... so, how much did you figure out about me?” she asked suddenly, prompting him to stop from leaving. He looked back and smiled at her.
“Not a whole lot,” he replied. “You were a mom... just not the conventional kind. I'm guessing the oldest of 3-4 siblings. Pop and mom were tired of raising the kids so a whole heap of shit got relegated to you. You hated it, 'cause of course you did, but it was probably the reason you eventually ended up in some sort of a leadership position. Worked out well enough for you, in the end."
"..." She finished her drink and stood up as well, walking past him and he followed. The two left the Tavern and she paused for a moment, as did he, looking up at the sky. "It was three brothers and two sisters." She said. "Good luck. Hope you die."
She disappeared as he cracked a smile and shook his head, heading over toward the Adventure Center. There was really just one reason why he considered it--the way she reacted when he said she might have been a teenage mom. Or, rather, the fact she didn't react at all--it was too fabricated, too clean, too milquetoast. Ultimately, though, it was just a guess--she was a leader, and no matter how good-looking she may be, one does not entrance another person so wholly the way she did simply by having good looks. Those qualities have to be earned through a lifetime of struggle, trying to guide and take care of morons, mostly.
A good number of the ‘natural leaders’ that Asher met in his life were just like her--either taking care of their siblings, or taking care of their parents, or simply ‘running’ the house by the time they were fifteen.
All things in life stemmed from something--there was always a root cause for virtually everything he’d seen and experienced.
He discarded the straying thoughts as he made his way over to the massive building. Unlike yesterday, where he could at least see a few people, there was nobody here today. He simply walked in and got overwhelmed by darkness. He'd already spent some 50,000 Souls yesterday on the upgrades, getting two more points into Movement Speed and increasing it to 2,9. That ran him somewhere around 20,000 Souls alone, after which spent the next 20,000 upgrading Health Regeneration exclusively. Though it was quite good already thanks to the ring, he figured that with his massive health pool, having equally massive Health Regeneration might work perfectly well together.
And so, it now stood at a whopping 7,4.
The remaining 10,000 went into damage, pushing it up to 29.
Before choosing the Stage, he briefly opened up the Status Window and stood in awe of it--comparatively to how barren and pitiful it was when he first started, it stood like a shining beacon of hope for the future.
Name: Asher Rune
Age: 0 (Died at 23y, 8m, 22d; Atlantic Ocean)
Race: Human (Unevolved)
Cabin Name: Scallywag’s Enduring Torture Room
Titles: Hell Survivor
Cabin Upgrades: 3
Blessings: 1
...
Health: 340
Health Regeneration: 7,2
Damage: 30
Movement Speed: 2,9
Attack Speed: 1
Strength: 1,6
Intelligence: 14
Agility: 0
Armor: 0
Critical Chance: 2.1%
Critical Damage: 150%
Cooldown Reduction: 0
Luck: 2,5
Gathering Range: 5 yards
...
Passive Abilities: 3
Completed Runs: 8
Unique Enemies Slain: 26
Bosses Slain: 7
Secrets Unlocked: 0
Smiling faintly, he dismissed it and focused on the Stages, slowly winding his way over to the Weekly Challenges tab where only four Stages were listed. Two of them had their Difficulty Rating set at 96/100 and 99/100 respectively so he dismissed them immediately. One of the remaining two was at 44/100, while the remaining one was at 16/100.
He frowned slightly; 16 was simply too low, though 44 was also kind of high. But there was a bit of hubris within him--he'd conquered the past few Stages rather easily, and hadn't truly faced a seemingly overwhelming challenge since the final Stage of the tutorial.
In the end, he was going to pass up on it until he’d gotten to read the rewards--or, rather, one reward in particular: Scroll of Truth. Its description was simple yet distinctly tantalizing.
Scroll of Truth [Legendary]
One Time Use
Effect: Just as light illuminates the world, truth liberates the chained and frees them into tranquility. But truth, often, is a luxury unafforded. Used almost exclusively against the most important prisoners and only ever in the Royal Courts, the Scroll compels another being into a complete submission--for one truth and one truth alone. You may also elect to have the target of compulsion forget they ever experienced it, should you so desire.