Equalize

by Ryan DeBruyn

  The threat of tears returned with Rocky’s memory. His family was his world, and he couldn’t imagine the pain of losing a daughter.

  Another member of the group, who was short, pudgy, and balding, approached Rocky in a demanding, arrogant walk. When the cue ball spoke, his voice was hostile and filled with condescension, “Excuse me, but what the hell is going on here? Who are you, and why does this ghostly creature say you own the land around here?”

  Rocky put up both of his hands in a placating gesture, unwilling to argue with the upset man, especially in front of a father who just had lost so much. “All that matters is that this area is safe, and you are welcome to remain here.”

  Rocky shrugged his shoulders, releasing some of the tension the man's tone had caused, and his voice gained a tinge of irritation, “Or not, I am not going to force anything upon you or him.” Rocky gestured towards the father who was covered in blood and doing his best to obliterate the mound of flesh in front of them. Rocky’s voice regained a normal cadence at the sight. “Or any of you.”

  The man spluttered but was stopped from responding by the final member of the threesome, a Native American man with long, dark, hair plaited down his back. The Native man wore a simple, white tank top and blue jeans. He placed his hand on the indignant man’s shoulder. “Stop, Derik. This man is not responsible for the destruction and death we have faced. I have told you many times that your tone and action only put people on edge–”

  “Smith! This one man is claiming this land! I thought you would be more upset about something like that.” He came to a stop as the Native man, Smith, glared.

  “What, because I am Native? I am supposed to run around upset about past wrongs. Honestly, Derik, if we weren’t friends, I would punch you in the face! Just let it go.” He sighed before turning back to Rocky, which caused Derik to glower but had the intended effect of shutting the man up.

  When Derik turned back around, Rocky grimaced and told him, “Look, this area is under some sort of Ether protection. I can’t guarantee you it is safe, but I can tell you that my guide has told me some of the really scary monsters will avoid coming into the area for a while. I need to go find my family. So, I am leaving–”

  “You’re just going to leave all of us here to die?” Derik couldn’t keep his mouth shut and cut Rocky off as soon as he mentioned his intentions to get his family.

  No longer willing to listen to this man’s shit, Rocky’s voice turned hard, “I don’t give a shit about a bunch of strangers right now. I just saved you all from that Demon Bear!” He pointed quickly to the skinned corpse and the angry father who was hugging a confused Azoth and crying. “I am leaving to go get my family. You can all stay or leave. I don’t give a frisbee’s bottom. I am just explaining that I think here is safer than anywhere else on this planet!”

  Before Derik could respond, Smith stepped in front of him. “You are going to allow us all to stay in your Territory when you are gone? Why?”

  Rocky shrugged, unwilling to admit his lie about not caring. He wanted these people to live, but dragging women and children through the miles between here and Ottawa was a horrible idea. Instead, he just said, “Your choice if you want to stay.”

  After that, Rocky informed the men about the food and storage space, which kept it from spoiling. Smith quickly accepted his invitation to stay on behalf of everyone in the group, and Rocky gave him access to the food in the space. Using the interface, he fumbled around with it until he found a way to only allow Smith access to the wolf meat.

  Smith also assured Rocky that he would let anyone leave who wished to do so, but he would make sure they understood the risks associated first. Finally, when Rocky got to his exact plans of getting to his car and driving to Ottawa, Smith responded in a way that immediately made his mood sour.

  “A red Ford Fiesta?” When Rocky nodded in confirmation, the man made a gesture of placation, and Rocky felt his mouth curl into a frown. “Look, Mr. Monster Slayer, I am pretty sure my transformed, badass, lifted Chevy Cheyenne destroyed the thing. While I can’t confirm it was my beauty, I can confirm that your ride was the only thing left untransformed in the parking lot, and I am using ride rather liberally because it only had one wheel on it. The very first thing our group did was try to get to our cars. We came from that direction. It was pretty creepy to see all of our cars looking like the Decepticons, man.” Smith pointed with his thumb over his shoulder to indicate the direction.

  Rocky swore very pointedly before pulling out his cell phone which was now his last hope to get through to his family. It still had no reception, and the battery was nearing the halfway mark. When he pulled it out, Smith shook his head and made a small motion that Rocky noticed.

  Sighing deeply, Rocky glanced at Smith; the man was frowning and had a very serious expression on his face. He opened his mouth and in a low whisper said, “Bad news, friend. I was using my cell phone near the edge of the park after I woke up. I was actually in view of the cell tower.

  My signal was suddenly cut off, and when I looked over to glance at the tower, it was collapsing in on itself. I am assuming some monster knocked it over.”

  Rocky pursed his lips and drew in a deep, steady breath, thinking of the house changing in front of his eyes. It might have been something more than a monster knocking it down. Regardless, his cell phone was currently useless, and he couldn’t change that. He turned it off, hoping to save the stored battery in case there was an opportunity to use it later.

  After learning that depressing piece of news, Rocky tried to turn it around and looked at Smith with weary eyes. “I have the ability to promote you guys to a military rank. I think? It should give you guys some extra stats when you level and help you survive. Would you like me to try?”

  Derik’s eyes shot open and then narrowed, but Smith tilted his head before saying, “Anything that will help would be great, Mr. Monster Slayer, but what's the price for this help?”

  Rocky shrugged again. “Nothing right now. Just survive, but when I get back, if you want to keep it, you might have to help me build this place to make it habitable for my family and everyone. You can make that choice then, though.”

  “I don’t trust you!” Derik chose then to chime in. His voice was like nails on a chalkboard now to Rocky. He almost left right then, but Smith put a hand up and glared at Derik again.

  After some quiet words together, the men accepted for all three of them, and Rocky went through his notifications and eventually found the option to promote people under his leadership class from his character sheet.

  The ranks Rocky had access to literally were only Captain, Second-Lieutenant, and Officer Cadet. He had discovered this fact when he had been trying to figure out if his Territory would be in danger if he promoted the three men. The leadership message and Sela’s warning for Strategist were still fresh in his mind.

  It turned out that only the ranks from General down to Colonel would be considered high ranking military positions, but they were grayed out. When he tried to find out why, no information had been forthcoming. Since military ranks were a foreign concept to him, he accepted the fact and moved on. For now, he was just glad that helping these men probably wouldn’t lose him his Territory.

  How will I get access to those ranks, though?

  After the promotions, Rocky asked Sela to lead the three men back to the area of the previous camp. Smith and Derik had to literally drag the last man away from the Demon Bear corpse.

  The man’s hysterics got worse when they finally succeeded. He started screaming and crying so extensively that he literally needed their support as his body shook.

  The three men left the clearing, dragging the limp man. The terrible sounds of grief-filled screams and tears streaming down the father’s face faded into the distance as they left. Rocky had felt some of that loss when his dad died recently, and if anything, it just hardened his resolve for going to get his family. A quick wipe of his own cheeks let Rocky know he was not indifferent to the
man’s situation.

  His face resolved into a stern expression as he considered the implications of his destroyed car. Rocky now had to account for a much longer travel time. While he waited for Sela to return, he began slowly walking east as Azoth fell in beside him. He knew she could travel much faster than him, and the news of the increased travel time made him want to make better use of his current time as he searched through the menus and interface, starting with his notifications.

  Congratulations! You have promoted your first Captain.

  John Smith Promoted to Captain.

  Captain Rank increases individual’s Intelligence by +1 per level.

  Captain can promote up to 5 Second-Lieutenants beneath him.

  Congratulations! You have promoted your first Second-Lieutenant.

  Derik Martin promoted to Second-Lieutenant.

  Second-Lieutenant Rank increases individual’s Dexterity by +1 per level.

  Second-Lieutenant can promote up to 5 Officer Cadets beneath him.

  Congratulations! You have promoted your first Officer Cadet.

  Jerry Hadfare promoted to Officer Cadet.

  Officer Cadet Rank increases individual’s Strength by +1 per level.

  Officer Cadet is the lowest rank.

  Now that the group was gone, he realized he hadn’t used Analyze on them and had just assumed they had figured out their classes. Now, however, he realized that he hadn’t brought that up during the conversation. Had it just not come up?

  Or maybe I am keeping it for myself so I can be the strongest? I genuinely don’t know how far into that rabbit hole I am willing to go. I don’t think it came up.

  As he walked towards the edge of his Territory in the general direction of Ottawa, Rocky explored his menus. He did notice monsters in his Territory, but unlike the creatures from his two fights, these creatures were large insects or oversized small mammals. The largest insects were the size of dogs with apprentice ranks and levels ranging from one to ten. After a short distance, he found mammals that were also in the apprentice ranks and ranged from levels five to ten. He figured this would be a good place for his new refugees to hunt and gain levels in the safest of environments, which was excellent.

  Now he just needed to get his family here as quickly as possible. Without a car, Rocky’s only option was to hike the distance, which he estimated to take maybe six days. The X-factor in those calculations was that he could now move faster than he ever had before and maintain higher speeds far longer.

  When Rocky received the notification that he had reached the edge of his Territory, he turned back walked fifty meters and began to set up a camp. He could feel his stomach growling and only really wanted to cook dinner and wait for Sela. It was just beginning to darken outside, and he was most likely going to fall asleep after a short talk with the ghost-pixie.

  Sela surprised Rocky by arriving shortly after he began cooking the meat. “Did you take them back to camp?” he asked with a bewildered look on his face.

  Sela had chuckled and responded, “No, the path becomes rather obvious once you reach the swathe of destruction the wolves and Chimera caused. I pointed them in a direction once the trees started to look like a giant’s broken toothpicks. I just told them to follow the tree-strewn road and look for the others’ campfire.”

  Thinking back on all the creatures he had seen, Rocky asked the question that immediately popped into the front of his mind, “Sela, where do these monsters come from?” Rocky sounded like a child asking his mother where babies come from, and his cheeks flushed.

  Sela went still momentarily then laughed uproariously before answering, “Well, aren’t you asking for the greatest mystery in the universe! I don’t mind telling you the theories from my time, but first, are you okay if I pick Totem and use Azoth as my champion? If we get that out of the way, I will feel much more comfortable.”

  Rocky tilted his head. “Why not start with your actual class selection?”

  Sela shook her head sadly. A screen popped up in front of Rocky.

  Selaphelia Ardensai would like to share the vision of her screens with you.

  Yes

  No

  After he clicked yes she opened a screen and showed Rocky the problem.

  Class Selection

  Listing 1-5 of 5

  Research Guide, Strategy Guide, War Guide, Scouting Guide, Quest Guide

  Rocky immediately noticed that she didn’t have any filters active and only had five total classes to choose from. His eyebrows shot up into his hair when she opened the first option.

  Research Guide

  Guide Class

  As a guide, you will have your knowledge expanded to be an expert in Territory Research. This will greatly help your Leader to further develop their power. As you level, you will be able to access skills that will further your knowledge or intuition for further advancements. This class will speed up the skill increases in all skills related to knowledge and research for the Territory.

  No stat gains per level, 2 free skill points to assign per level.

  She didn’t get awarded stats per level, which would make her unviable in combat. However, Rocky remembered all of the leadership classes did offer stats!

  Rocky looked at Sela confused. “So you want to choose a leadership class first because these other classes aren’t as helpful?”

  Sela shrugged ironically. “I am kind of hoping that I may get some more options for classes if I am a leader. Some classes are locked and will become available if I meet criteria. Since these are Guide classes, if I am a Leader Guide, perhaps there will be more?”

  Rocky nodded once slowly then shrugged his shoulders, still not sure if that would actually work. He was still surprised when a moment later Sela swore and flew over, pointing at a new screen.

  Error. A pet of another individual cannot be selected as your Champion. Please select another champion to finish your selection of a Leader Class.

  Rocky asked for access to Sela’s interface, and she quickly accepted. Shortly thereafter, he jokingly typed in his name and another error message was soon displayed.

  Error. Another individual cannot be your champion. This person is not a pet, despite what you believe.

  Mid chuckle, Rocky was pulled up short, seeing a similarity between both error messages. It was the phrase “another individual” which had stood out, and the fact it started a sentence had helped point it out to him. He typed in Selaphelia Ardensai, half expecting an error message.

  Congratulation Selaphelia Ardensai.

  You have become your own champion and unlocked the Druid Class.

  Accept new class change?

  Yes

  No

  Later

  Sela buzzed around his head and muttered, “It says class? Will I still be a Totem for the leadership class?” With worry painted across her face, she glanced at Rocky. He could only shrug and furrow his brow as well, so she continued, “I have never heard of this class before.”

  She tried clicking the class to no avail, and the screen just continued to blink at her. Sela took a deep breath, then she fatefully and hesitantly pushed the yes button.

  Leadership Class Chosen

  Totem

  You are now a Leader +1 Intelligence and +1 Charisma per level. (Retroactively assigned)

  Class Chosen

  Druid

  You are now a Druid +1 Strength and +1 Agility per level. (Retroactively Assigned)

  That’s when Sela began to scream as if she was burning from the inside.

  Chapter Nine

  Sela’s form rippled, seeming to gain shape only to lose it again a moment later. Each time she screamed, Rocky began to reach for her and continued to encounter the same problem. His hands just passed right through the transparent pixie.

  Her notifications continued to scroll, however, so Rocky was somewhat informed of events as they occurred. Each time the screen changed, he could feel his jaw clench and his heart skip.

  Error! Druid class re
quires a corporeal form, health pool, and Ether pool. Due to these missing components class has been updated.

  Class update! Half-Druid Chosen

  Error! Half-Druid requires a corporeal form, health pool, and an animal shape chosen!

  Class update! Error! No class available. Health pool created.

  Class creation! Ghost-Druid Chosen

  At the beginning of each day, a ghost druid can choose between one of two forms: half-corporeal human form and half-corporeal animal form. All spells blocked due to no Ether pool, all incoming melee damage is halved due to insubstantiality, and all incoming magic damage is doubled due to attacks existing in both planes.

  Congratulations! You are now an Apprentice-Ghost-Druid.

  Please choose an animal form upon your first transformation: 22 hours, 15 minutes, and 32 seconds until a new rotation begins.

  The notifications had come with pauses between as each option was exhausted by the Atlantian generated system. Each failure by the system seemed to increase the pain Sela experienced, and Rocky’s heart broke for her. Near the end, it sounded like someone was slowly running over her with a steamroller.

  It got even worse when the class actually was confirmed, and Rocky couldn’t say he had ever heard anything quite like it. He had sat beside her unable to do anything, hands held up uselessly towards her floating form. It had been several long moments before Sela had blessedly passed out.