Chapter Seven

“What is a plate Jerry!” Rey said pumping his fist like Tiger Woods did. “Wooo! All that Jeopardy I watched with mama is starting to finally pay off.”

Leeb didn’t smile.

“Why did you only mark a plate Rey? You need to find and mark things that will help you survive.” Leeb said.

“Sorry. I tend to make jokes when I get anxious and the reason I only marked a plate is I have kind of been thinking that I was maybe going fucking crazy. I mean, I would think my friend was losing it if he said ‘I talked to a god and he told me to prepare for the apocalypse’” Rey said, making a goofy voice at the end.

“I understand. Now you will have something to show, yourself, and others that you are not going crazy.”

“What will that be? The plate? I showed it to Nova and she couldn’t see the mark.”

“Yes the plate and no the mark still will not be visible, but you will be able to pull it from thin air, then make it disappear. That should prove to at least YOU that you’re not going crazy.”

“When will I be able to do that?” Rey asked.

“As soon as we’re done here.”

“Will the other champions on Earth be able to do the same thing?”

“Yes, unless they didn’t mark anything.”

“How many champions are on Earth?”

“I don’t know.” Leeb said.

“Could you give me your best guess please?”

“I estimate no more than 750,000, but it’s likely closer to half a million.”

Rey’s went pale, Leeb didn’t think that could happen here.

“Half a million.” Rey said to himself.

“Yes”

“If would have put all my points into strength, how strong would it have made me?”

“Roughly three times stronger.”

“So if I dead lift a little over four hundred, than at twenty four strength I would be able to lift eight fifty, and at thirty two strength twelve hundredish?

“That would be a close estimate.”

“We’re so fucked. Why did y’all decide to give the champions the added attributes and the storage a whole ass week before the war?”

“I believe the decision was made so the champion would have time to become familiar with their new attributes and how to use the spacial storage.”

Rey was staring off into the void rubbing the back of his neck.

Nova would have recognized Rey was deep in his head, because he was.

Trying to think of every possible scenario he may encounter in the next six days was hard. He would try all the same.

He decided that taking this seriously would be the best course of action. If he treated it like he was going crazy and it was actually real the consequences would be worse than him treating it like it was real and him turning out to be crazy.

After a few silent minutes of Rey trying to rub the skin off of his neck he turned back to Leeb.

“Ok let’s recap to make sure I have all of this right. Seven worlds will be combined, forming a battle ground. The chosen champions of the gods will fight an invading force. While also fighting each other? We need to clear that up.” Rey said.

“Most gods are in groups called pantheons. Some pantheons oppose each other.”

“Alright so, what about us? Who are our allies and who should I watch out for?”

“Our situation is more complicated than that. I’m not in a pantheon.” Leeb said.

“Does that mean we don’t have allies or enemies?”

“No. It means you will have to decide who is an ally and who is an enemy. I will try to help so no other god or pantheon targets you, but there are whole pantheons that are the very definition of evil.”

“Ok so I’m alone essentially.”

“Yes.” Leeb slowly nodded.

"That’s great!” Rey imitated Tony The Tiger, sarcastically. “Ok well I have a few more questions.”

“I’m sorry they will have to wait. We have some things to go over. First they approved the “Magic for Dummies” book.” Leeb made air quotes. He continued. “They allowed you to have one skill of your choosing and the translation.”

“That's great! Let me think for a second.” Rey said.

“Here are your choice of skills.” Leeb said.

A screen popped up in front of Rey and he started swiping at it like it was a mosquito buzzing around it’s prey.

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Rey stopped waving his arm around to look at Leeb.

“Can you get rid of this screen please?” Rey said.

The skill choices disappeared and Rey stood in silence for a moment.

“Do we have enough time for us to talk about this decision?” Rey asked

“We should have time, but you need to decide today.”

“Do you know the types of things I will be fighting?”

“Yes. We have seen many of the same invaders on previous worlds.” Leeb said.

“And you know the best ways to kill them? Or avoid them?”

“I don’t, but there are gods who keep record of those types of things. If you’re thinking of a skill that will identify things for you. I won’t be able to get that skill for you, it’s been banned.”

“That seems like a real useful but mundane skill to ban. Why didn’t they want champions using it?”

“Because one of the chosen used it, in combination with another skill, and he became vastly more powerful. The other gods said ‘its not fair’, so they voted to ban the skill.” Leeb said in a mock whiny voice.

The topic of conversation looked to be stirring up old memories.

This was the first time Rey saw Leeb’s stoic demeanor fade.

Maybe Leeb just wasn’t a people person, so he took the more professional route to deal with new acquaintances.

“So what made the skill the useful wasn’t the skill by itself, but it’s use with that other skill? Why wouldn’t they just ban the other skill?” Rey asked

“Oh they did AND they banned me from SEVENTY FIVE FUCKING INTEGRATIONS!” Leeb exclaimed.

The words were coming from all directions.

Rey could feel the anger coming from Leeb, actually feel it, like Rey’s very being was resonating with the emotion. He would remember the way it felt.

Similar to the feeling from Bay and the deer, but also very different. It felt tainted, by what, Rey didn’t know yet.

Leeb took a breath trying to get back to his more reserved attitude.

“I apologize. The skills that my first champion used are not allowed anymore. One of the skills was Identify. It didn’t start off a powerful skill, but after she figured out how to increase the skills potency she became almost unstoppable.” Leeb said.

His tone of voice told Rey, he felt what ever happened back then was his fault.

“What about the other skill?” Rey asked.

“That's not a skill I can give you, so no need to worry about it. What are you thinking for your skill?”

Rey didn’t like prying into sensitive subjects.

“One more question before I decide. What happens to the things in my storage, if you know, I kick the bucket?” Rey said holding up his hand indicating the ring.

“Nothing. It stays in the storage dimension. I would be the only one with access to it if you were to die.” Leeb said.

“So there’s no loot drops when champions are killed?” Rey asked, immediately cringing for asking such a morbid question.

“Ha no there aren’t any loot drops from the invaders or other champions. When you level up I will be able to gift you with magic items or new skills though.” Leeb said.

“Hypothetically, could you make my storage dump its contents or drop a single item on the spot where I die?” Rey asked.

Leeb looked at Rey with fear of what was going to come out of his mouth next.

“Hypothetically yes I could do both of those things.” Leeb said.

“Instead of a skill could you get me some sort of device to identify things, like monsters, their weaknesses, strengths, preferred terrain, maybe even plants and what there good for. Stuff like that.”

“That’s not a good idea Rey. You will have to fight ferocious creatures and a good offensive skill will help you do it and they’re not going to let you have a device with that much information. In the slim chance you figure out how to use magic for yourself plus that device would put you way ahead of the other chosen.” Leeb said.

“Leeb I feel like you genuinely care about my survival and my autonomy. Please go back to them and ask for me. If they say no, tell them that you will make the device eject from my storage upon my death. If that doesn’t work tell them you’ll empty the damn dimension thing all over my dead body.”

“That will probably persuade them, but it will definitely put a huge target on your back. Do you understand that? Once they figure who you are, they will come in droves.”

“Yeah and they gone catch these mutha fuckin hands.” Rey said bobbing and weaving throwing some punches at nothing.

Leeb rolled his eyes at the goofy man.

“Have you decided on what weapon you want?” Leeb asked.

Rey stopped bouncing around to address Leeb.

“I was thinking about it and I was a little confused. There are tools that I would like to bring with me. Like a pitch fork for example and a frog gig. Are those types of tools allowed?” Rey asked in a manner that suggested he was considering every word carefully.

“Yeah they’re allowed. As long as they’re not reinforced to be more deadly.”

“Oh ok that makes sense. I think the best weapon would be a ranged one. I would like a bow. Could you get me a magical quiver that doesn’t run out of arrows?”

“Yes I can!” Leeb said excited. “That's the only smart decision you’ve made so far.”

“You just ain’t on my level. I’ll teach you one day.” Rey said feeling more comfortable now with jabs being thrown back and forth.

“Is there any other things you would like to go over right now? How do you feel?” Leeb asked.

“Uhh I feel fine why do you ask?”

“Being here” Leeb gestured around him. “Can put stress on your soul. Raising your vitality helped. That’s why our last meeting had to be much shorter. As long as your not feeling any discomfort we can keep talking.”

“What is this place?” Rey asked.

“It’s a temporary dimension I created for our meetings. Your soul isn’t really here. It’s more of a projection I pulled from you.” Leeb said.

“Holy shit! That's wild! Will I be able to do that one day?”

“It will be a VERY long time before you can do anything like this.” Leeb said.

The nothingness started changing, and Rey could feel it changing or feel what ever was changing it, it was strong enough that he started to get dizzy.

After the dizziness disappeared his eyes widened. They now stood in space, countless stars shown from all directions.

Rey was speechless gazing at the endless beauty of sparkles dancing all around him.

He started feeling a little pressure in his head now, but it wasn’t hurting.

“Do you still feel ok?” Leeb asked.

“Huh?” Rey said lost in the endless colors of the cosmos.

“Do you still feel ok?” Leeb said but slower.

“Yeah I feel fine.” Rey said.

“Let me show you something.”

Their surroundings changed again.

Grass swayed in the wind, on rolling hills as far Rey could see. He couldn’t feel or hear the wind. The sky was bluer than he had ever seen it. All he could think about was how much Nova and Darbie would love it here.

It changed again.

Now they stood in a parking lot next to a large man loading groceries for an elderly lady. Rey couldn’t hear the words being spoken or feel the hot sun beating down.

The man was done loading the bags and the woman appeared to thank him as he turned and walked away.

Again it changed.

Two boys wrestled in the sand in front of a house that was made out of what Rey would describe as clay.

Fraying and torn, the clothes the boys wore would be hardly considered rags. The smiles on their dirty faces were glowing and genuine.

Rey’s head was starting to hurt now.

It changed.

Earth was the only thing Rey could see. They stood right outside Earth’s atmosphere. The clouds flowed and swirled with mountains and forests as a back drop.

Leeb didn’t look away from the planet when he spoke.

“I’ve been here for long time Rey and I don’t want to see it destroyed. The other gods just see it as another world filled with pets to play with. Don’t let it end like the others, please.” Leeb’s words were filled with sincerity.

“Don’t worry Leeb we’re gonna give them a spanking and send them packing.”

“Good. Its time you go back. I can tell you’re in pain.” Leeb said.

Earth was gone and the only thing that filled Rey’s vision now was something black. Maybe leather.

After Connor’s punch connected with Rey’s face, his vision went black.