by Ryan DeBruyn
Common Skills: Analyze – 20 (+2), Endurance – 1 (+2), Perception – 12 (+1) Sneak – 19, Trance Meditation – 4 (+2)
Profession Skills: Butcher – 1, Skinner – 1
The only good news with the slow down in leveling was that his stats of Stamina, Strength, Wisdom and Charisma were approaching the breakthrough point. He shuddered as he considered going through that kind of pain—and humiliation—again. The issue there was how to best breakthrough in certain stats. From earlier conversations, he knew Stamina and Strength were paired, and Intelligence and Wisdom were also paired.
Charisma and Luck were paired, but they were spiritual stats and likely didn’t cause the same physical ‘breakthrough.’ At least he hoped they didn’t. One of the big issues on his stat page was the massive gap between his low Intelligence score and his Wisdom score, which was about to hit fifty points. Luckily, it appeared that his Enchantment boots counted toward the breakthrough point.
I can use that.
He decided to save his stat points for the moment so he could force the breakthrough when he wanted it. It was looking like he’d have to spend a lot of Crystals soon on gear that would force breakthroughs, to ensure he stayed in balance. Rocky broke into a cold sweat as he walked. Leveling mid-battle and receiving his assigned stat points could break him through and cause those convulsions at a very dangerous moment.
Okay, first goal is to ensure that never happens.
Rocky shook off his worries as he entered the Tower. He continued down the hallway toward the elevator to receive a few updates from Smith.
Smith, Sela, and the five Golem Knights were deep in discussion, secreted down a different hallway, when he arrived. His eyes narrowed. Why hadn't they waited for him? Why hadn’t they told him they would meet?
He chased those thoughts away when he saw Sela.
“Rocky, the operators assigned to the monitors upstairs found the console that lists people who are still alive. Everyone wants—”
He was already running toward the elevator.
Chapter Fourteen
Rocky stood in the elevator, pushing the Operation Room button each time his heart lurched. His jaw was clenched and he was sweating like he had run a marathon—not the thirty feet to the elevator.
“Calm down, Rocky. Pushing the button won’t speed up the Elevator.” Sela said. She rubbed his back.
Rocky took in a deep lungful of air, then bit his tongue to stop himself from what came next. He was going to scream at her, and he knew she was just trying to help. She just needed to stop taking charge in every situation. Especially ones she didn’t understand, like right now.
Also an unfair assessment, which he recognized distantly. Stupid emotional web.
If only he didn't dread the end of the elevator ride. He needed answers to a question that had dogged him since Gaia hit reset. But he was afraid he might not like the answer he got.
You aren’t angry with Sela. Just don't search their names. I’m better off not knowing—but I need the closure if they aren't still out there. Gahhh.
He clicked the up button like a machine gun.
The doors opened to the Control Room floor, and all but Rocky exited. Sweat dripped down his brow, and he tasted the salt of it in his mouth.
“You ready for this, Rockland?” Sela’s eyes filled with tears that threatened to spill over.
No. The answer was definitely no. Still, her words successfully unstuck his feet from the ground, and he managed to place one foot in front of the other. His stomach clenched tight enough that he thought it was halfway up his throat. He licked his lips and tasted even more salt.
He scanned the room to find Smith standing near a station and looking back at him. Sela took his hand, and together, they walked over.
He knew that if he tried to speak a sentence, he would break. Then he would be crying, and they would never respect him as a leader.
“Barkclay,” he choked out. Sweat misted off his lips from the one word. He prayed that they would understand.
The woman at the computer typed in the surname he had given her. The results returned, and he was looking at a list of twenty individuals. None of them were named Nadine, Benoit, or Lacy.
He almost tipped into a dark place, one that would never release him once it sunk its fangs into him. Wait—his mother had kept her maiden name, and his sister had married—taking her husband's last name. He tried again, “Shealds,” hoping for a better result.
Please be there. Please be there.
The woman typed in 'Shields' and he stopped her hand from hitting the search button. He reached over her shoulder to correct her spelling. His fingers left wet marks on the screen, and the woman wiped them away as he stepped back. He hadn’t hit the enter key. He couldn’t.
Sela squeezed his shoulder.
The screen populated, and this time, fourteen people were listed. He immediately saw his mother Nadine and his legs crumpled under him. He grabbed the table and his forearms left puddles on the surface. He held on for dear life, not wanting to slip. He read the whole entry. Name, Class, Rank, and Level. There was no location listed, and he had no way of knowing where she could be.
His stomach, still in his throat, did a somersault. Tears joined the sweat on his face. He nodded vigorously, trying to get his body to unclench his larynx. He had one more search to make. He wasn't able to speak. He released his death grip with one hand and reached past the woman. He typed in three letters. 'Obi.' This time, he hit enter and watched as names appeared on the screen.
Forty-two names scrolled across the screen, listed alphabetically, just like the last search. He scanned the alphabetical area Benoit should have been. No one named Benoit was registered. His second arm gripped the edge of the desk and he swayed. His arms slipped in the sweat and he collapsed.
His body convulsed, and he fought it. He had lost one of his loved ones, and it hurt. Benoit had been one of the good ones, a man who had come into his sister's life and brought joy. Rocky had loved him and considered him a true brother.
Sela knelt down and hugged him, hard. She whispered, “I am so sorry.”
His eyes met Smith’s. “Lacy?”
Smith jumped forward and scrolled down the list. “There is a Lacy here.”
Sela hugged him, and he let the convulsions take him. His body jerked around like a fish in shallow water, completely beyond his control. He cried, in sorrow and in joy. Two of his family still lived.
Each beat of his heart solidified an iron core of resolve. “Two of them are alive, Sela,” he said.
He would find them. They could be starving to death in one of a million schools out there, but he would find them.
Chapter Fifteen
Rocky finally got control of himself. He stood with Sela still hanging off his neck. She squeaked, and he softly disentangled her with a whispered, “Thank you.”
He felt heat suffuse his cheeks and turned away. Back to the screen. He hadn't looked at the top of the screen during his initial rush. Now, he looked at it and saw the multiple tabs displayed for them to select.
● Planetary Leaderboards
● Guild Leaderboards
● Hall of Fame
● Monster Compendium
● Atlantean News
● Search
“Have you looked at any of these other tabs?” asked Rocky.
“I looked at each one briefly before realizing we could search names. Since then, there has been a non-stop request to check on loved ones,” said the woman behind the desk.
“Would you mind?” he asked the woman at the computer station. There were so many things he needed to find out. First up, he needed to recruit other active combatants for the upcoming invasion. The outstanding question from Michabo twirled around in his head. With Sela in the room, he decided he’d wait to look that up when he was alone.
He sat down on the wood stump the woman had occupied and began clicking through the tabs.
He started with the Leaderboards and
found that the names near the top were dominated by Master rank classes. The top forty names on the list almost all contained ‘Mechano’ in their class titles. The top two individuals were both Master rank and had Classes of Death Knight and Paladin, respectively. They both shared the same last name. Maybe they were related, like brothers or something?
The top leveled Mechano-Lord was named Ernest. Rocky felt his heart pound and his body flush with heat. Eight of the names on the grouping were greyed out. Included in that list was Corsair, the sadistic leader of Ottawa. Sela squeezed his shoulder again, and his skin broke out in goosebumps.
The list stretched to the top 100, and the next group of Journeyman ranks had no Mechano titled classes. That didn't mean too much, but it did say something. He scrolled and found Sela, Zippo, and himself listed in the nineties. They were all level eight after the day's events.
He clicked Guild Leaderboards next and found only 'Meliora' listed. The guild tent was expensive, and that likely meant people were opting to build the Guild Hall later. Still, the benefits he was currently seeing, like sharing escort quests, Etherience taxation, NPC leveling and more, were just so helpful. Ninety-nine percent of the human population was missing out on those features, and Rocky’s throat clenched. The human race needed to be stronger to repel The Guild Collective.
Another problem to add to his ongoing list.
He browsed through the other tabs quickly and didn't find any information in two of them—just more options to narrow the search parameters.
Hall of Fame had different areas to search through, but he didn't want to get into them with Sela present. Monster Compendium asked the user to define what type of monster they were attempting to find.
Atlantean News brimmed with archived Newspapers. The most recent edition had the headline “This is the End!”
He wanted to scan through that article and perhaps the other archived days that led up to whatever had happened. His curiosity would have to wait another day as a runner entered the room and placed a knowledge tablet on the station, complete with a list of searches. He glanced at it, stood up, and thanked the woman for allowing him to use the station.
Once she was seated again, the group moved away, and Rocky asked Smith, “Anything else to add?”
“Yes. We have been monitoring the satellite feed, and it is currently over South America. We have found some cities that seem to have cleared out the majority of golems and are collecting survivors to bring back to their Territory, like us. We also found some alarming—creatures.” As he explained, he walked to the satellite station and nodded to the operator stationed there.
The screen zoomed in on a mountain. “Is it moving?” asked Sela.
Smith nodded. “It seems to be created from asphalt, and we have found quite a few of these monsters out there. Our current theory is that they are converted interstate highways and connected roads. If the Satellite sizing is correct, they seem to be on par with the Rocky Mountains.”
Rocky gulped audibly and scanned all the faces in the Control Room. Every face was pale. Each pair of eyes pinned to Sela and Rocky. Was it comfort they wanted, or assurances that these things weren’t a threat?
Rocky couldn’t provide either, so he tapped the operator and motioned at the zoom out button. “Any good news, Smith?'
“Some of these other stations seem to tie into defenses for the Territory, Grotto, and Planet. However, since we have none of these, we aren't entirely sure. Finally, we have ensured that all escort quests have been shared with all guild members. On a side note, the military is currently cut in half to complete these requests. The council has asked that you and Sela attempt to find a ship. They don't want to spread our military too thin.”
“They are scared to send out too much of the military?” asked Sela. “We are going to see Garnell in an hour. Right now, we are going to be taking an Elixir of Shortened Sleep. You should probably join us, Smith. At the shop, as well.”
“We can likely handle it ourselves. I mean, Smith has quite a bit to do here,” Rocky said.
Sela looked at Rocky pointedly. “It would be good to have a third person there, if nothing else, to confuse Amelia.” Her look conveyed more than the words. She wanted Smith there for something else. Why wouldn’t she just say it?
“Okay. I guess that’s true,” Rocky said. He would see how this played out.
Smith headed toward the elevator. “I will need to find someone to handle my post. Let me get Mr. Pips or Bart.”
The group rode the elevator down, and Zippo hesitantly asked, “Can I come with you three into the shop as well?”
Rocky nodded ‘yes’ as Sela shook her head ‘no’. If Sela was going to bring Smith. Rocky was going to bring Zippo.
Rocky spoke quickly. “Both of you need to find a disguise to wear into the shop that hides your body and face. You aren't to speak until we have a private room. Do you understand?”
Sela raised a questioning eyebrow. He shrugged at her as Zippo began bouncing on his toes. Rocky couldn’t fill the fatherly role that Zippo needed. Joe had done that for him before he died. Now Rocky saw Smith and the boy bonding, and he hoped this would strengthen that connection.
Zippo saw their unspoken conversation. “Don’t worry, guys. I got this.”
Both Smith and Zippo split off on the ground floor. Sela and Rocky approached the Golem Knights, hoping they weren't interrupting a personal meeting. Epsilon motioned to Gamma and Tao, who opened the circle, making it inclusive instead of closed-off.
“Glad to see you are back safely, Rockland, Selaphelia.” Epsilon greeted them with a nod of the head. Rocky was surprised to hear the proper pronunciation of Sela's name. He would have to work on it himself if Epsilon was going to show him up.
“Adam has returned with the group you brought in. We have a meeting in the shop, but we wanted to check in and discover your plans moving forward.”
Epsilon looked to his fellow warriors. Each Knight nodded—they were ready to take anything on.
With the last member’s acknowledgement, Epsilon said, “We wish to help with the surrounding villages, but we think that there is another way.” He stared intently at both of them, taking a deep breath and explaining, “We think we should attempt the larger towns as a group. By targeting large towns, the Knights would stay together. We also think that, in this way, you may find additional Territories.”
“You said you couldn't capture Territories? Why the change of heart?” Sela asked. She never gave Rocky a second to get his own question in.
“Logically, we have assumed Gaia did not want us to capture Territories. We also believe we cannot hold them. However, the predicament of finding humans and needing to escort them all back to one place is not going to be easy. Having multiple Territories under your control will make the task far easier” said Delta.
The return of Smith with Bart in tow signaled the conversation’s end.
“We will talk about this more tomorrow morning,” said Rocky.
Bart was complaining about having to do more work, and Smith expertly countered every point. Zippo sprinted toward them. wearing a blanket like a robe. The front of the quilt shadowed his face. “Go take your Elixir of Shortened Sleep and put your blanket back on your bed, you goof,” said Rocky.
He chuckled at the boy’s antics before turning to Smith. “Is yours just as bad?”
Smith bared his teeth and pulled on his collar.
Chapter Sixteen
After waking up from the Elixir of Shortened Sleep, Rocky, Sela, Zippo, and Smith made their way to the shop.
Garnell was momentarily confused when four kimono-garbed, fox-masked Beastfolk appeared, but a casual hand gesture from Rocky had put him at ease.
The trader invited the four of them and their disguises into the more expensive sales room.
Rocky liked this room a lot better. Mesh backed chairs surrounded a beautifully polished table. The smell of wood and leather dominated the room. But how much of that was real?
They were in the shop, after all. Just projected images.
Sela got down to some business while they waited for Amelia to arrive. “This is Smith and Zippo... We are attempting to find the best transport ship available in the shop. Any ideas, Garnell?”
Garnell considered the question, and waited a long time before giving an answer. “The technology available in most shops is obsolete sell-offs. That doesn’t mean I can’t find ye something serviceable, but defensible?” He stroked his chin. “Ye are meeting with Amelia; ye may want to voice that question to her, since it is in her best interest to help your defense.”
Smith shared a glance with Sela, and she nodded. Rocky did not understand the significance until Smith asked, “What does she know about transport ships?”
“The wee lady has a very unique class, and because of it—the lass is very up to date on technology. But it isn’t my place to share her secrets with ye. Just like it is not my place to share yer secrets with her.”
They continued to wait, and Rocky couldn’t help but wonder if the Iridescent Kobold could truly help?
A tiny figure popped into the room and scampered onto a seat. Once the small rainbow snout poked above the table, Amelia wasted no time. “What in the ninth tunnel has taken you all so long?” She glanced around the table.
“The fleet left going on a week ago and is deeply into the Etherless Void. Now, though, they have a bearing and are heading toward your planet at full speed. You have just over a year before they arrive. That’s not even the bad news! With the beacon, they already have access, which allows them to control their constructs.”
Rocky gritted his teeth and considered the leaderboard. At their first meeting, Amelia had mentioned Floridians. Unfortunately, where in Florida would be much harder to locate.
When we get back, I will tell the people watching the satellite to begin searching.
Amelia continued, “I have been keeping a close eye on their captain’s logs. Early on, they sent out ships to check on planets as they passed—” she licked her snout, “—and they examined nine planets, all of them entirely devoid of life. Dahrix then set off bombs filled with poison gas on those planets—”
