“What do we owe your visit to, Veles?”
Melina stirred awake at her mention and sat upright.
“Three contestants have already been eliminated, leaving you at twenty-seven. Several are on the brink of destruction as well, but that’s only a given.”
“Did any of the favorites die? Or were they randoms?”
“Randoms. The favorites are doing the killing.”
“So they moved that far out and ambushed the owners outside their domes?”
She shrugged weakly and looked down at Scar. “I don’t know, but there’s one thing I need you to do. Go help your people clear the boss defending the gates at the Sylmar tower. They’re losing time, and there’s no way to do it without a good breaking weapon.”
“Do we all go?” Melina asked. She looked excited all of a sudden.
“If you want it done fast, yeah, though Viktor could do it alone if he was careful enough.”
I let out a sigh and thought about it real quick. “I’ll bring Melina and Mark along with me. We got Lana and Scar as well, so it shouldn’t be a hard battle.”
“Then we’ll go and do it today,” Melina said hurriedly. “I need to start pulling my weight, especially after reaching a high rank.”
“Oh, you do.” She laughed, cutting me off from saying what I wanted next. “See, once the tower gate is clear, make sure you’re the first to go in and claim the reward for yourself.”
My eyebrows rose slightly along with the corners of my mouth. “What kind of reward?”
“I don’t know, Viktor. Now, is there anything you want of me before I’m gone?”
“We got two cores from rank eight monsters. What can we do with them?”
“Oh? What kind?” she asked curiously. “I can’t read them for some reason.”
“A second tyranitaur and a cortonoth.”
“Hmm, they’re pretty useless right now. If you’re smart, though, you’ll wait until you have gathered the other rank eight cores from the third zone. I know that once combined, they’ll provide an immense boost to this place.”
“This… place? The inn, you mean?”
“Exactly. The dome will become stronger, larger, and you’ll have access to buffs and all kinds of things. It will become a… thing of its own or something. I’m not quite sure, but that’s what I’m getting from the Divine Database.”
“Divine Database? Something like the internet for you Gods?”
She chuckled and nodded weakly. “Yeah, you could say that. Now, if there’s nothing else?”
“Why don’t you ask about the blueprints?” Melina said.
“What kind?”
“High-ranked ones. For the cortonoth and the tyranitaur,” I added and smiled at Melina. How had I forgotten such a thing myself? Just proved all of this was slowly starting to get to me.
“You can find them in the tower, but remember, you’ll need crystals from the dungeons to buy blueprints. You can get other things like stat potions, special kinds of tools, and even skill scrolls from points you gather in the tower.”
“Shit,” I cursed. “I’ll have to carefully manage my time between the tower and the rift.”
“And that’s the whole point! See, Viktor, this isn’t something that will be done and over with anytime soon. Games could go on for centuries, even a millennium in a case I’ve been a part of so far.”
“When will I get him back?”
Veles shrugged. “I’d like to bring both of them with me. Give me three days or so. Don’t do anything stupid until then.”
I let out a deep sigh and slumped back into the bed. “Yeah, please do. We’ll take care of the tower before they’re back, and then we’ll have to start scouting the place for our enemies.”
“I’m glad you remember what our primary goal is supposed to be, Viktor. It makes my heart all fuzzy and stuff.”
I rolled my eyes and squeezed Melina’s hand. She was trying to keep herself from giggling but wasn’t doing a very good job.
“This is supposed to be some serious stuff, Melina,” I mock-protested. “Why are you laughing?”
“It’s just that I realized I’ll be strong enough to kill Anton myself very soon, won’t I?”
“Now isn’t that a really good way to kill the mood, huh?” Veles laughed. “Mortals. You really have no sense of tact.”
Lana appeared next to Scar with a flash of lightning. She looked much worse than yesterday for some reason.
“Hey, what’s wrong with her?” Melina asked before I could. I could swear there was a hint of worry present in her voice.
“She needs to catch up with you and be filled up again. See, her body leaks Enma and will probably need to be maintained for a while. At least until she becomes much stronger than she is now.”
Lana remained silent for some reason. I wanted to ask her how she felt and if she was alright, but she wouldn’t meet my eyes.
“See you in three days, my dear champions. Don’t embarrass me, alright?”
Chapter Twenty-One
The morning went by quickly. We got dressed, ate together with the others, and had a short talk about going out. Mark wasn’t all that happy with joining us outside, but after Sarah scolded him for becoming lazy, he mostly decided to go out to spite her. Or so it felt anyway.
The specialists were sitting outside near the smithy and working on crafting some gear when we left the inn. They’d gotten several blueprints and were making armor for the group. Having gained three different types of parts, they were already getting quite ahead. To my surprise, they were all happy and laughing nonstop. I was about to ask Scar to try to scan them or something, but then I remembered he was gone.
“You guys alright? You look like you’re high.”
“Oh?” Sebastian replied. “Why? Because we’re so cheerful?”
I nodded slowly and studied the man closer.
“We did a great job on coming up with a hunting tactic, is all,” Jason added hurriedly.
“And we had a blast having sex while powered up. Bastion lasted all night.” Mirna laughed.
“Mirna!” Samantha hissed. “You really need to get that thing down there checked!”
I put up my hand to stop them. “I’m… not interested in your love lives, alright? Tell me about your progress so I can go and destroy that damned tower gate.”
“You’re going to clean that thing out?” Sebastian asked incredulously. “We bombed the damn shield, and it… wouldn’t crack.”
Realization dawned on him when our eyes met.
I smirked and nodded. “Yeah, you need to use weapons crafted in this place to break down the shield value first.”
The other three weren’t as dumb, but they were in a melancholic state, even more so than he was. Bastion snapped his fingers to draw their attention.
“Boss, please let us go with you. I want to show Kade what can be accomplished in such a short amount of time under the right guidance. Your guidance.”
I looked down at Melina, who had taken a seat right next to the girls. She shrugged and then nodded barely visibly. Yeah, well, why not? I was curious to see what trained people could accomplish with the right gear.
“We’ll move out in an hour. Get cleaned up and eat if you need more energy. We’ll be moving straight to the gate.”
“Yes, sir!” all four boomed in unison, now equally excited.
Mark carried his lance proudly, and to the others’ strange glances, Melina’s war fan didn’t impress them as much. She wasn’t going to be dealing any damage anyway, so it wasn’t like it mattered. But it did get me thinking. What did Samantha end up with?
“What’s your poison?” I asked, staring at Samantha. I knew she had some kind of rod on her back, but I didn’t know what it was.
She looked away, slightly embarrassed, but eventually replied, “It’s a battle umbrella with two modes. One is folded, and the second is unfolded. When folded, it acts as a club, and when unfolded as a support shield.”
My eyebrow
s rose slightly. “How the hell did you come up with the design?”
“Melina helped me. Well, having her in mind helped me. See, I can do support, but I’m a big girl who likes to fight, so I wanted something I could fight with if the need arose.”
“I’m not someone to judge, so don’t worry. Speaking of which, give me a minute.”
I pulled Melina aside and took her hand in mine as we stepped over to the fountain.
“Do you need that pouch? You got that ring now, right?”
She nodded and frowned. “I’d rather give them the ring.”
“You sure?”
She slid it off her finger and handed it to me. I felt for the space. It was all empty. I tried to feel for how big it was on the inside and got a sense just like with the pouch. It should be around the same size, maybe a bit less.
“Yeah, just take it. I don’t want anything to remind me of him and… well, you know. I just want to move on. With you.”
I’d be lying if I said that she didn’t strike a chord just then and there with that single comment. It was a strange feeling I couldn’t get used to no matter how many times I felt it, but it was a good thing, I guessed. One thing bothered me, though. She didn’t say anything about the items that were stacked inside the ring. Deciding it wasn’t that important, I filed it away for another time.
I took her hand again and walked back toward the group of specs.
“One of you needs to keep this on their finger. It’s a ring that allows you to interact with a dimension other than our own. Imagine it like a freight container. It’s a big empty space where you can put all kinds of things, and they will remain in that state indefinitely.”
“Sounds expensive,” Sebastian said as he reached for the ring.
“It is,” I replied and pulled the ring away. “This remains with you for as long as you’re a part of… this place here,” I said, pointing at the inn. “Go ahead and try stashing your weapon in there. Then pull it back out.”
“How?” he asked, his face set into a frown.
“Imagine opening a dark cargo container and reach into it. It’s pretty simple if you use some Enma and focus on the ring itself.”
I shut up then and there, interested to see if he would have what it took. If I managed to open it, everyone should be able to, but some people just had more innate abilities and affinities with certain things. To my surprise, Sebastian managed to do it in less than a minute. He stashed his sword and shield away, then pulled them back out with ease.
I tried to shut out the screams and laughter of his group when they saw him perform what looked like a magic trick, and started walking toward the gate. They screamed some more and practiced stashing items together, all while Mark, Melina, and I waited. It was a funny sight, one that could very well have been me under different circumstances. I’d have to keep reminding myself that the card Veles dealt me was much better than what most had gotten.
Several minutes later, they ran up to us and were all grins.
“You guys ready?”
All four nodded without another word. The way they looked at me changed rapidly from being excited to worry. It was only a natural thing to be worried under such circumstances, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried at all.
I looked back toward the portal and took Melina’s hand, stepped up toward the blue swirl, and went right through. It was bright daylight when we stepped out on the other side. A strong gust of wind blew our way, but it didn’t do much else but bother me slightly. The familiar sight of soldiers greeted us, along with several tanks and gun emplacements. For some strange reason, they’d upped the military presence on my gate.
I frowned and put my hands on my hips.
“Who the hell is in charge?” I yelled. A rail-thin man ran over to us. Sebastian seemed to recognize him and offered the man his hand.
“Corporal Fowler, sir!” The man snapped to attention. “And I’m very sorry about the extra presence, but the general ordered that we need to keep this place safe, sir!”
I nodded, glad I’d misunderstood what was going on. But then something caught my eye. A group of over thirty… hunters, if that’s what I could call them, stood off to my left. They sat and ate there, drank, and chatted. It was only then that they finally noticed our arrival and got to their feet.
“What’s with those hunters over there, Fowler?” I asked, nodding at the group.
“They want to go into the rift, sir. We have orders not to let anyone in.”
“From General Kade?”
He nodded and stood at attention. “We are grateful for what you did, sir, so we’ll do whatever we can so as not to cause you any inconveniences!”
I let out a sigh and held a hand up to stop the man, then walked over to the small area that had been closed off from all but one side, and even that side was a narrow corridor. The “prison,” as I thought of it, was made from a material that looked like plexiglass. It was very thick, that much was obvious, but also very see-through.
“Do you guys have a leader or someone who is in charge of you?” I asked as I walked around the wall and stopped inside the narrow entrance.
They almost swarmed the door, but at the last moment a man snapped his fingers, and they stopped. I looked over at the man in question and raised an eyebrow. He was a typical antagonist: tall, broad shouldered, brimming with muscles, and scarred all over his arms, with a deep gash on his face.
He got off a bench and turned to face me. Our eyes met for a brief instant, and I knew he was no ordinary man then and there. He was dangerous, though how much I had no idea. The man finally walked over to the door as the crowd parted for him.
“Who wants to know?” he asked.
I was sure the man didn’t think much of me, but I wasn’t trying to look intimidating. Wasn’t it so much more satisfying when you saw the looks on your enemy’s faces after beating them up?
“The owner of this rift,” I replied bluntly, trying to sound as calm as possible.
“Oh? Why didn’t you say so right away?” He laughed. “The name is Edge,” he added and offered me his hand.
I took him up on his offer and squeezed slightly harder than appropriate. He squeezed back, and I ended up having to squeeze five times harder than I intended to finish this game of cat and mouse.
“You have a good grip, Edge.”
“You too, stranger. Can you tell me your name?” he replied through gritted teeth. He was hurting, that much was obvious, but he did a good job hiding it.
“Viktor. This is my wife,” I said and nodded at Melina, who stood behind me. “The other guy is Mark. He’s my right hand.”
“Right hand? So you’re some kind of boss?”
He stared at our weapons, and to indulge him even further, I activated my armor. Heavy plate and spikes grew from my body, leaving me standing there like the devil himself. Instead of flinching or running, he took a step closer and grinned.
“You’re not afraid?”
He shook his head slowly and pressed his head against the gate. “I think we could get along just fine, Viktor. See, all I’m interested in is to see what’s on the other side and maybe get my hands on something… similar to what you’re wearing. Would that be alright?”
Strangely, the guy felt much less dangerous than what I thought him to be.
“Somehow I don’t think so. See, I don’t want troublemakers in my rift, Edge, and if I’ve ever seen a troublemaker, that’s you right there.”
He frowned and took a step back, almost as if I’d slapped and insulted him. Then he did something I’d never expected him to do. He pulled out a wallet and opened it, pulled a piece of paper out, and then showed it to me. It was a picture. On it were him, a woman, and three little girls. Two of them looked very similar to him, at least how much a kid can look like a parent.
“Your kids?”
He nodded and stashed it away again. “All three are mine. See, I’m a family man, Viktor. I’m not looking for trouble, but what I am l
ooking for is to make money so my family can have a good life. You and I can help each other, I’m sure of that. It’s only a matter of if you want to or not.”
“What’s your rank?” I asked suddenly, even catching myself off guard.
“I’m ranked A+, but that can easily go up given some training and help. Most of these people with me are anywhere from rank C to B+.”
“Alright, so you want to make money using the portal. And you want to make me money as well. I understand that, but why are you in there?”
He looked away and muttered something. I could see he was slightly embarrassed by my question, but that only made him seem more earnest.
“We tried to force our way in, and then they erected this damn… cell. The Apocalypse people as well as the army are trying to make a monopoly of the rifts, so I thought… well, yeah. I don’t think I need to go any further.”
I rubbed my temple and shook my head slightly, then turned to where Fowler was and waved him over. He came running like a little puppy, but it was only to be expected.
“Sir?” he said as his eyes moved between mine and Edge’s.
“What do you think of these people? Are they good, upstanding citizens?” I asked so everyone could hear. I knew I placed him in a tight spot, but that meant nothing when I could erase them all in a single heartbeat.
“I don’t know. I do what I’m told, sir.”
I nodded and turned back to Edge. “I’ll talk to Kade, but you make sure your people don’t do anything stupid. Once I’ve taken care of the tower, I’ll try to come up with a solution. I want to hear what the general has to say.”
Edge nodded slightly and turned around. He made his way back to the bench and sat down, then stared off into the distance as if nothing had even happened.
“Sir, we need to go,” Fowler whispered as I stared for a moment longer.
“Alright, Fowler, but make sure nothing happens to these men before I’m back.”
Crafting Death: A LitRPG Cultivation Series (Towers & Rifts Book 2) Page 24
