Rogue Ascension 95. The Strongest Decides the Rules of the Game (End of Book 3)

Albert was the only adventurer in his group originally from the Zambwi Land. He figured if he was to die to the great monstrous renegade, he’d wake up at the ritual hall in a week’s time.

Albert didn’t want to die. He’d died three times so far. Each death had been gruesome. It would take him days to get over them before going back on another adventure in search of coins and levels.

It was a bloody grind only made a little better by having magic.

He met Sylvester and his group last month when the Joey Eclipse hysteria wasn’t as baffling as it was now. Members of the group came from different lands by using the ferries to cross the tides.

Sylvester and Jebediah and their cleric Natalie came from the Hirox Land. Their four scouts, comprising two rogues and two archers, came from the Vallonia Land. There were four other warriors who Albert loosely knew that came from different lands each.

This was their group. Twelve strangers who met at the Zambwi Land. The origin of the Joey Eclipse craze and promise of 25 gold coins.

Albert doubted they’d ever get near the bounty. He’d thought his group could use their unique situation to help each other level up carefully. Even a beast with 20 levels over them would succumb to multiple wounds. As long as they all attacked with drilled coordination.

In the end, as long as they worked together and killed every threat they came across, they could level up consistently. Sylvester liked this method the most while leading from the back.

It was not a plan without faults.

They had to split Experience between twelve people. Their skills and spells were low and not going up. Probably because of the lack of essence control and big challenges.

Joey Eclipse was the biggest challenge the group had ever seen. He was 30 levels above all of them. He stopped being some funny kid to Albert and became the embodiment of ferocious evil and horror.

Albert watched Joey lift inches off the jungle floor and hover with only a few winged motions. Dark embers crackled with every breath, throwing sparks, emitting trails of dangerous smoke from the corners of his mouth. His terrible tail swayed like a serpent from behind him, the barb pointing at them like it was choosing its first victim. The surrounding air turned suffocating. There was a foreboding malevolence infused with the area, all centered on Joey.

How did I not believe him? Albert wondered, disturbed. Ultimately, this situation was his fault.

He placed more emphasis on body and spirit for his points and let his mind lag. His mind was far too low to overcome whatever great and epic powers Joey had used to manipulate his way into the middle of their camp. It took another rogue to point the truth out.

The only person who had enough mind to thwart the manipulation was Sylvester. But he used his intellect for the wrong reasons.

“Attack!” Sylvester raved like a lunatic. “You imbeciles. Don’t just wait there. That’s the treasure vault right in front of us. Days of luxury and freedom and being served hand and foot! Attack!”

All the warriors except Albert charged at Joey. Jebediah ran in with tamer claws extended.

Albert stayed back, leaning on his spear. He had enough willpower. He could move. He could fight.

But Albert didn’t want to. Now that the truth was out, he knew more than Sylvester.

Resistance was futile. They were at the mercy of Joey Eclipse.

But the bounty was too much, too blinding, for the others to see this.

The other warriors wielded a great sword, a poleaxe, a glaive, and two bastard swords. The four attacking warriors used body enhancement, weapon empowerment, and other spells that were general or specific to them.

Natalie set down a zone to entrap Joey with the four warriors and their tamer. While she maintained the zone, she raised her mace and charged up a special cleric attack. Once she finished charging it up, she could point and fire with extra oomph to it.

The group’s two archers shot arrows that passed through the zone walls and flew at Joey. One archer used a rapid fire spell. The other archer used a power shot spell for heavier damage.

The group’s two rogues used glyph tiles to camouflage themselves. Now invisible, they stalked around the zone, looking for opportunities to backstab.

Sylvester reached forward with his open hands and etched his fingers into the air. His spectacles glowed blue. Where his fingers traced, glyph markings followed as Sylvester prepared a large magic ritual.

Sylvester’s eyes were on Joey and nothing else. He failed to notice Albert not joining in. That should’ve been a bad sign other than having Joey at their camp.

They’d never defeated an enemy without everyone involved. It was a sin to fight without all twelve of them, according to Sylvester. Maybe if Sylvester paid more attention to the situation than to his greed, one of their warriors would still have their neck.

Albert blinked as the head of a fellow warrior rolled off from between his shoulders. The body took another step forward, prepared to thrust the corpse’s great sword through Joey. The headless body stopped and dropped like a sack of meat.

Albert’s eyes grew wide. They couldn’t get wider when a warrior’s helmet crumpled down with a thunderous clang. His skull and blood gushed out of the gaps in his crushed helmet. Like wet meat pushed through a strainer.

Albert hadn’t seen what killed the great sword warrior and poleaxe warrior. It looked like getting close to Joey killed them automatically.

“It’s his tail!” shouted the warrior with the two bastard swords, shifting in and out to feint an opening out of Joey. “He’s moving it so fast I can hardly see it.”

“Let’s try making this more engaging for you,” Joey said casually, while dodging rapid fire arrows and power shot arrows.

He used his wings to shift his hovering position a little to the left, a little to the right, while turning his torso. Repeatedly. He slipped by every arrow attack, his slick dodges leaving afterimages.

Albert blinked again. Everything happening was out of this world. And it only got worse.

Joey’s tail now had the glaive wrapped up.

Albert saw the glaive warrior on the floor with his head separated from his body. Jebediah had a bloody hole in his face, dead.

When did all that happen?

“I need backup now!” shouted the duel swords warrior, charging in.

He had an attack speed spell. He swung his swords with a cutting blur. Like sharp steel winds.

Joey’s tail wielded the glaive roughly. With no expert skill. His tail held its own with brute force alone.

The monstrous tail bludgeoned with the glaive against the warrior’s aggressive attacks. The warrior stumbled back with each clash. Meanwhile, Joey kept slipping arrow attacks and making afterimages.

“I’ll stop him!” Natalie shouted. “Tidal Moon Lord! Empower my spell! Holy–”

Natalie flew off her feet and hit the ground back first. She stayed down. There was a big gaping hole in her chest.

Three trees fell behind her corpse. Something too fast for Albert’s perception had run through the cleric. And the vegetation behind her.

After a few seconds of stunned amazement, Albert noticed the sword Joey had been holding was gone.

Had he thrown the sword to kill Natalie? And the three trees behind her?

Why the trees?

The zone faded without their cleric. The archers stopped firing and tried to move to a new position.

Their rogues came out from hiding. They ambushed Joey from the flanks, knives glinting under the moonlight.

The tail swung the glaive in a wide arc behind Joey. The shaft struck the first rogue. And snapped the rogue in half. Like a twig.

The glaive kept going, carrying the rag-doll rogue. They ran into the second rogue. Ribs broke. The second rogue and his dead fellow flew away.

“Got you now!” The swords warrior blitzed. He raised his two swords to carve Joey’s front. Joey looked open with no weapon in front of him.

A gout of dark fire stopped the warrior dead in his tracks. The flames turned him into ash and brittle bones.

Albert could hardly believe this was reality. Instant combustion was something he’d only seen in cartoons.

“Screw this, fighting him isn’t worth it!” one archer yelled, turning to flee.

“This is fun for me. That make’s this worth it,” Joey said from next to the fleeing archer.

Did he just teleport?

The archer screamed. Joey’s backhand obliterated his skull, silencing him.

“Wait, no,” the other archer begged.

Joey grabbed an arrow from the dead archer’s quiver. He flicked it into the second archer’s eye. The arrow pinned the man dead to the tree behind him.

Joey grabbed another arrow and tossed it at the rogue with the busted ribs. The arrow ran through his head.

“Thank you for eliminating those fools,” Sylvester said with an ugly sneer on his face. “Now all 25 gold coins will be mine!”

The mage finished his ritual. He launched thick and vibrant ropes of magic at Joey. They wrapped around him fast and tight, binding his entire body from his shoulders to his feet.

The magic disrupted his wings. He fell to the ground and landed on his side.

As Sylvester laughed, giddy from binding Joey with his ritual, the monstrous rogue wriggled around. Joey moved to a seat on his butt. Then he hopped up on his feet and bounced around.

The calm expression on Joey’s face shook Albert.

“The ritual I used on you will stop the casting of spells and keep you from running away from me. You are captured!”

[Joey Eclipse has been captured. T-minus 1 hour until the capture is successful and the Joey Eclipse Bounty Hunt War is concluded with a victor. 59 minutes, 59 seconds.]

58 seconds.

57 seconds.

56 seconds.

“Yes, yes, that’s going to be me! All me! Take that, you pompous and cocky and lazy great adventurers!” Sylvester howled like a madman.

Albert kept looking uneasily at Joey’s calm face.

The rogue hopped casually over to Sylvester. Getting closer and closer.

Albert thought of saying something. He thought of warning Sylvester. He couldn’t. He was too scared of Joey.

Albert kept his mouth shut.

“You really got me, huh?” Joey hopped even closer to Sylvester. “This is tricky. Pretty strong, too, which explains why you took so long to finish the ritual. I’m going to have to use my head to beat you.”

“You overpowered neanderthal! If you were smart enough to use your head, you wouldn’t have fallen to a man 30 levels below you. It’s clear that great adventurers don’t deserve their status and power. I should’ve been chosen as a great adventurer.”

Sylvester smiled smarmily.

Joey lunged in with a flying headbutt.

Sylvester’s skull burst apart.

The thick, vibrant ropes holding Joey disappeared.

[Joey Eclipse is free once more. The Joey Eclipse Bounty Hunt War continues as normal. You have 13 nights, 20 hours, 17 minutes, 37 seconds for an adventurer to capture or kill Joey Eclipse and earn the prize.]

“I think I’m satisfied now,” Joey said with a serene voice. Blood, brains, and skull bits dripped down his face.

He turned and smiled at Albert. Like a blood-frenzied maniac.

“You didn’t attack me.” Joey pointed. “You don’t want to try?”

Albert shook his head. “No point. From everything I’ve heard about you, I have no chance in cold hell.”

“Any last requests?” Joey asked.

“Make it painless, please.”

“Fine.”

Joey flickered in and out of Albert’s vision. Albert closed his eyes.

A rush of air blew past him.

Albert waited to wake up in the revival hall, his eyes remaining shut.

There were no soothing voices welcoming him back to another life. He was still covered in dried sweat, old blood, and jungle gunk.

Slowly, Albert opened his eyes and found Joey standing in front of him. The barbed tip of his tail hung close to Albert’s face.

“I’ve killed the version of you who would’ve attacked me,” Joey said. “Now you’re Albert, some jerk who didn’t believe me when I said I was Joey Eclipse. You get to live with that and do whatever now. Unless you decide to attack me later.”

“No, no. I won’t attack you at all. I’m just here to hang,” Albert said, voice cracking.

Joey squinted his one eye, scaring the bejesus out of Albert. Then the monstrous rogue shrugged and pulled away.

All the scariness faded. The air felt normal again. The dark dragon appendages disappeared from sight.

Things seemed peaceful again. Except for the fresh corpses.

Then Joey erupted into unhinged laughter. He zipped away into the dark jungle too fast for Albert to track. Then he returned with his sword back in his hand.

It disappeared to somewhere unknown.

Albert was pretty sure Joey hadn’t thrown the sword again. Where could it have gone?

“Sorry if it’s creepy that I’m laughing.” The smile on Joey’s face was all teeth.

Albert wanted to shudder.

Despite the warrior’s fear, Joey kept talking. “It just occurred to me we could’ve used your cleric. Could’ve checked if I was speaking the truth or not.”

“What would that have changed?” Albert asked dumbly.

“Nothing, really. Your leader, Sylvester, would’ve still sacrificed you all for the gold. And I would’ve gotten a fun human massacre to test how overpowered I am here. Now that I’ve gotten that out of me, I can scale back and try to use my powers more appropriately.”

“You could have avoided us,” Albert pointed out.

“Your group could have let the bounty go. And choose peace,” Joey countered. “Or submit and beg for mercy. I’m pretty easy when appealing to my ego. I would’ve let you live if that was the first choice.”

Albert had done no begging. But Albert was the only one alive by not attacking.

He wasn’t sure if that was cowardly or smart of him. Albert knew he wasn’t a smart guy, so that answered that.

Joey grabbed one of their canteens and poured it over his face. He washed off the gore, then he drank from the water canteen.

He sifted through their stuff. Took copper coins and the few glyph tiles they group had as his spoils of war.

The items kept disappearing when they were in his hands. Did he have a magic power for storage?

Great adventurers get everything.

“I’m going to leave the rest. It’ll be your consolation prize for doing the smart thing. Nothing,” Joey said, beaming. “You should warn other steady adventurers you see. I’m not someone they can fight. I’m more of a force of nature. It doesn’t matter if you have thousands of them, I won’t lose.”

“I don’t think I’ll make it back south alive,” Albert admitted.

“Do your best.” Joey’s wings reappeared. He looked up at the moon-covered night.

It was a watercolor painting up there. Albert couldn’t get his mind around it no matter how hard he stared at the sky.

Joey seemed to belong in that insane backdrop. Or maybe he came from it.

“Farewell … old man!” With one flap, Joey swooped up like a blurring missile.

He moved through the night too fast. Albert had no hope of tracking him.

The last trace of Joey was his deranged laughter and whoops. Those faded soon.

“Wow,” Albert said. “That guy is bad news. He’s insane. He’s a monster. Nobody should fight that guy.”

But he let me live. Is that because he can be kind to people who are pretty much bystanders? Or is it because I’m his message boy?

Albert figured the latter made more sense. Joey had said to warn the other steady adventurers.

Albert turned and faced a dark night and a jungle teeming with dangerous beasts. The not-so-smart warrior did another smart thing.

He camped for the night. When he woke up the next morning and remained alive somehow, he pillaged stuff from the corpses of his former group members. Then he left the camp. He went south.

***

Joey sat on a pile of dead beasts. They’d wanted to eat the corpses at the camp. They would’ve killed Albert.

Earlier, Joey launched away to enjoy the freedom and fun of flying in the dreamy night sky of the Tidal Moon Realm. Then he’d thought if Albert would really die on his own.

Joey had thought Albert wouldn’t go into the night to reach other steady adventurers at his level. Then he’d wondered what if he did.

Joey had gone back and slaughtered the beasts drawn to the carnage at the camp. It had been fairly simple. Barely much of an inconvenience for Joey.

He had alternated between meditation, napping, and slaying beasts. When he had napped, he had Danger Sense on as a subconscious defense mechanism. It would alert him to something bad.

He didn’t have to nap. He could meditate just fine.

But sleeping was fun.

Sleeping was restful. It was a luxury.

The sad part was refilling his fated essence each time he fell asleep. It liked to bleed away without constant meditation. It was the opposite of his cold essence that would get saved up while he was asleep.

There were pros and cons to both types of essences. Maybe he could iron out some cons in fated essence with more practice in true magic.

“I’ll have to go to the prairies or any high-level beast zones,” Joey said, “to practice my true magic more. But this isn’t the time for that. I should go search for my renegades. They’re likely south, aren’t they?”

Joey followed Albert from a healthy distance the entire morning. It was enough space not to scare the man while giving Joey plenty of time to rush forward if needed.

Albert moved at a snail’s pace. Way too slow for Joey. The pace forced Joey to take in the views. Smell the roses along the way.

Solar moonlight beamed yellow through the gaps in the treetops. Underbrush and foliage splayed an array of colors in the jungle. The air smelled sweet with aromatic flowers. Joey could taste the citrus of fruits ripe for the taking.

He grabbed a large fuzzy yellow-pink fruit. One bite filled his mouth with bursting flavors, mixing the taste of orange and peace.

The humidity rose, a bother for Albert. The warrior sweated buckets.

It was only a small bother to Joey. He could make things better if he dumped all his free points into his body. Joey didn’t like the idea of unbalancing his profile right now.

Honestly, there’s nothing I need more of. I can stay the course. It’ll benefit me the best.

Joey spread his free points and kept his stats even.

[You’ve raised your mind from 265 to 270!]

[You’ve raised your body from 265 to 270!]

[You’ve raised your spirit from 262 to 273!]

Joey hummed in delight. He tracked the ten-point power bump when each stat reached 270 or above in spirit’s case.

If things went as Joey planned, he wouldn’t see these stats rise for a while. He could live with that pain for now. It was necessary for a greater prize.

Joey might get a seventh spell slot.

That’s what Mike hinted at toward the end, right? If I accomplish the entire High Moon Achievements List, Lord Tidal Moon will give me a seventh spell slot. I won’t have to swap out any of my spells!

It made sense. Seven achievements for a seventh spell slot. That would be an ultra rare reward. No wonder getting the achievements done would be impossible for most adventurers.

Joey was on track to nabbing that seventh spell slot … if Joey’s theory turned out to be correct.

Please, let it be true! I’ll finally have Phantom Phase at long last! Then I’ll become unbeatable!

This would be the perfect time for an evil laugh. But Joey was trying to stay somewhat incognito while trailing the basic human warrior.

No attacks befell Albert.

Not because the warrior was careful. He was an oaf, through and through. Joey was far back and could hear the warrior’s oafish stomps.

Albert’s safe travel came from Joey’s dominant presence wrapped around the area. The beasts felt it and stayed clear. Joey was too strong. He was king here.

The slow morning march continued.

Honestly, Joey could leave the guy to his fate and rush forward. But there was a bright side to the slow pace.

It was a waste of time.

Joey needed to waste two weeks’ worth of time to secure the 25 gold coins. And Joey would hate to admit this aloud, but … the flat-footed and oafish warrior helped counter Joey’s gung-ho and manic nature.

The painful slowdown from waiting on Albert put into perspective how few people could move like Joey. He doubted there were more than a handful of adventurers with flying abilities.

Joey didn’t even get his wings as a spell. It had come out of his evolution from basic human to superior human. Joey and Maylolee were probably the only superior humans in the beginner challenge area.

Forced to march at Albert’s pace, Joey took in more views around him. He watched clouds drift and avian beasts fly above. Flash rains fell. The raindrops dripped and drummed on fat leaves and filled the cups of large jungle flowers.

Joey drank from a flower that sweetened the water it gathered in its cup. It also smeared Joey’s lower face with its pollen. That took a while for Joey to clean off.

Albert kept lumbering through the muck and rain and jungle.

Joey’s excited mind entered a new flow. One centered on Albert. It was like watching the human experience in one slow man.

Warriors had the endurance affinity, so they could just keep going. Albert clearly invested more into body than his mind, so he was strong enough for the hard marching. He had no reason to stop. Joey kept him protected with his dominant presence wrapped around. The warrior found no trouble on his way south.

It was around midafternoon when the jungle peeled open and revealed the canyons. It was a marvelous view. Pale moons blurred by the blue day sky. Rain clouds lumbering around slowly. Down in the canyons were layered rock and patches of thorny vegetation and unique flowers.

The northern temple was around here. Joey was close to the origins of his downfall that led to his dungeon adventure success. As much as he’d grown, he still had lingering shame from getting captured. And deeper shame from abandoning his renegades.

He had left them clueless. All for the dungeon.

Joey’s mood dropped.

He’d been trying not to think about it. But something bad could’ve happened to the renegades. Mollysea might not even be alive.

She’s capable. She wouldn’t go down so easily.

Still, Mollysea’s mysterious condition was worrying for Joey.

At least there was something else to focus on. A strange sight that was thematic. Good for Scenic Discoverer.

A man with auburn hair sat knelt on a mat. He was busy over a magic tea set. Three tea cups waited on a flat rock propped by smaller rocks under it.

Joey walked forward until he reached a spot in front of Albert. The bumbling warrior jumped when he noticed Joey after a few seconds.

“What are you doing here?” Albert barked.

“Following my whims. Can’t really say what those are because I don’t know yet,” Joey answered.

Albert opened and closed his mouth. He looked at the side of Joey’s face. Then he followed the rogue’s one-eye focus on the strange sight ahead of them.

The auburn-haired man with the tea set. He was pouring into three cups.

Joey used Analyze.

[Multiverse Adventurer: Basic Human: Warrior lvl 88: He’s got some powerful weapons. Three magic swords, even. But this is his best, The Shifting Beast Rapier (Superior): transmute the metal blade with essence to make it heavier, longer, duller, thicker, thinner, and more depending on your desires that are workable with this sword. You can also run magic easier through this sword with less cost to you.]

“You should get the Analyze skill, Albert,” Joey said. “You don’t know what you’re missing out on.”

The rogue walked forward. He moved around the tea set where a second and third mat waited. Joey lowered down onto his knees and adopted the tear server’s sitting form.

“What are we doing?” Albert asked.

“Having some tea, friend,” the tea server answered brightly.

His eyes crinkled with his smile. It was warm and welcoming on a face anyone would want to befriend.

Albert stumbled over. He took a seat at the last remaining mat. He dropped clumsily and crossed his legs after shimmying around.

Joey eyed the tea server.

His armor was nice and well-taken care of. It had a mix of western and eastern designs. Like fusing a medieval knight with a feudal era samurai. Mostly silver and blue with small gold accents.

The tea server had three swords, one of which was the shifting beast rapier. The rapier and another sword were on his left hip. They looked light compared to the heavier and longer sword on his right hip.

Each sword was curved. Very good for cutting.

Joey grabbed his tea.

“Hey, wait, what if it’s poison, y’know?” Albert warned.

Joey let out a puff of air, amused. “I’ll drink first. Then you’ll drink after me if I end up okay.”

The tea server laughed but said nothing.

Albert shook his head slowly. “I’m pretty sure I’m the more expendable one. Doesn’t that mean I drink first?”

Joey finished his tea by the time Albert asked his question. Joey set his cup down and gestured for more.

Albert gawked at Joey.

“He’s not here to poison me.” Joey smiled. He watched the tea server pour out more delicious herbal berry tea. His words were relaxed throughout. “He’s here to kill me with his swords.”

“Ha! Am I that easy to see through?” The tea server laughed.

Albert sputtered while taking his first sip, tea spilling down his chin. He shouted, “Then why are we drinking with him?”

“Because it’s rude not to drink what’s offered kindly.” Joey drank from his second teacup slower. “There are principles to killing. This guy has them. He even has ethics and style to spare. I appreciate that a lot.”

“Compliments from a man as dangerous and powerful is an honor for me,” said the newest would-be killer. “I guess there’s no point in small talk and pleasantries. I am the Sword Saint Warrior, and I am interested in killing you, Joey Eclipse.”

Joey nodded stoically. Agreeing with the Sword Saint Warrior for coming to kill him.

Joey took another calm sip of herbal berry tea before he answered. “I am here to make you submit to me, Sword Saint Warrior. Your greatness will further my path as the Shade Dragon Rogue.”

“Uh. Um. Are we really doing this?” Albert asked. “Over excellent tea? How did we get to this point? How can you decide this so fast? Am I being pranked?”

“We decided this as soon as I approached the canyons.” Joey finished his second tea and asked for thirds. “Suitable location. Spacious. Right between the cliffs and the jungle. Nice view of the sky during the afternoon. You’ve gambled with that free clairvoyance to have set this up, Sword Saint.”

“Your eye sees true, Shade Dragon. I’ve gambled and won. I picked the right direction and learned how close you were to me. Which has me admitting the crystal ball network is a nifty tool. Like a small piece of the system that connects us and makes us killers.”

“Yes, yes, you got a point there.” Joey nodded sagely.

Albert watched the two great ones like he was having tea with mass murderers. Which he was.

Joe had access to the crystal ball network as a dungeon master. It was yet another thing he was delaying on until he knew what to say and how to say it through the network.

Maybe he would figure out his message to Princess Maylolee once he settled down a little more. Maybe after he submitted Sword Saint. And learned any useful information that could help Joey reconnect with his renegades and … Mollysea.

“Albert, move to the tree line. That should be far enough to keep you safe. If not, I’ll protect you,” Joey said.

Albert got up, but hesitated. “Why are you protecting me?”

“Because I want to. There’s no other reason.”

Albert wasn’t satisfied with that answer. He still followed Joey’s demands and walked over to the tree line.

“So you aren’t completely heartless, as some may believe,” Sword Saint said, putting away the tea set into a traveling bag.

“I’m incredibly selfish and egotistical. I’m also a bloodthirsty maniac who likes to be edgy even if it’s cringe. But, no, I’m not heartless. Never was heartless.”

Sword Saint laughed, bright and cheery.

He got up with his miscellaneous gear and dropped it near a tree on the cliff edge. He walked toward the middle grounds between the canyon and jungle.

Joey took a position fifty feet across from Sword Saint.

The two looked each other up and down. Smiles beaming from their faces. They looked like two best friends who were going to have a relaxing sparring match.

At least from an ignorant outsider’s perspective.

It was easy for Joey to see the killer in Sword Saint. The man’s every action was too precise. Too perfect. Too sharp. Even when he was being warm and friendly.

There was a cutting edge to his welcoming aura. This man wanted to cut with his swords. Badly.

What an interesting path, Joey mused. Sword Saint Warrior. Joey liked it a lot.

“You think you can make me submit to you?” Sword Saint asked. “Without killing me?”

“Killing you would be easy,” Joey answered. “Barely an inconvenience. But that’s not the game I’m playing.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. I’m the strongest. I get to decide the rules of the game. I want you as part of my hoard. You get a chance at killing me while I’ll hold myself back from killing you. Hell, I’ll aim to avoid serious injuries. I want you somewhat healthy to serve me after we’re done.”

“Wow. You may not be heartless, but your arrogance is unmatched.”

“It is not arrogance when it’s true,” Joey said simply. “Do you accept the game? You won’t lose if you can kill me. However, everything you are will be mine when you submit to me. Then you’ll become my Sword Saint Warrior.”

Sword Saint lost his friendly persona and became cold as steel. His eyes scanned Joey repeatedly. Joey recognized in Sword Saint’s eyes the calculations for murder economics.

Sword Saint nodded. “I accept. Don’t worry about me falling back on my word. For this one chance against a monster like you, I’ll sacrifice everything to cut you down.”

Sword Saint drew his first weapon: a katana. He assumed a kendo-style stance.

Joey didn’t really know sword stances outside of the basics, but he could recognize this from anime. Sword Saint looked like a loyal follower of the blade. He held the katana with both hands while perfectly straight and balanced.

Joey wondered how the other swords would come into play. There was the big curved sword and the rapier remaining. He would have to see during the fight.

Joey drew out his superior short swords from his dungeon.

Albert peeked from behind a thick tree trunk. The tree would barely increase his chances of surviving. If this great conflict went crazy. Joey might have to keep tabs on him, which was another burden.

Sword Saint had a real shot against Joey. The Shade Dragon Rogue had to follow the rules of his own game or suffer his oath. He couldn’t kill Sword Saint. He had to avoid giving serious injuries as best he could. Another restraint.

Worse yet, Sword Saint had the cold and clinical look of someone who studied religiously. He would know everything relevant Joey had shown to viewers during his dungeon adventure.

Sword Saint would know all the major effects of Joey’s spells. He would know most of Joey’s tells and roguish tactics.

Joey knew nothing about Sword Saint other than the name of his great warrior path. That was deadly.

Yet Joey found the threat of death by a great unknown exhilarating. This was his first official fight with another great one. It would be a test for Joey. A test for Sword Saint, too.

Joey wanted to know what superior and epic powers Sword Saint had. He wanted to see Sword Saint try to push his winning game plan against Joey’s overwhelming power and variety of tactics.

Joey wanted to see the best Sword Saint had to offer.

Then crush Sword Saint and remold him into the hoard.

Yes, human, yes. This is the way. The inner dragon chuckled darkly.

Joey chuckled aloud, keeping a smile on his face in contrast to Sword Saint’s sharp battle demeanor. Sword Saint clearly looked like a serious fighter. Joey looked like a bloody jokester.

That was okay. Joey was putting on a show. A bigger one than his dungeon adventure. People were watching. Powerful people.

Joey had to be all in to make an event named after him worthwhile.

***

Off in the nearby distance, cloaked by magic, the Head Guild Manager sat on the edge of a high cliff. Behind him, Zelva gripped her crystal ball close to her mouth.

Finn grinned like a big kid going to watch a long awaited wrestling main event. He ignored Zelva as she made a recording and commentated for a select group of important people.

People with status, coins, and grand abilities. Her career was going to skyrocket from this. Good for her.

As for Finn’s career?

He couldn’t care less right now. He was here to watch a good scrap between great ones who were probably some of the best beginners in Multiverse Z.

***

Of course, Finn and Zelva weren’t paying close attention to this first battle alone. From his seat in the moon palace, the Tidal Moon Lord watched as the two great ones prepared to clash.

His viewing port was special to him. A basin filled with magic water showed clear images of locations within his reach, which were everywhere in the realm. It crystal clear views from different angles, changing on his whims.

The Tidal Moon Lord lounged in his throne chair with a severe frown on his face. He was distracted.

He kept wondering if he should message his mother or not. But he soon put that out of his mind to focus on the upcoming fight.

It was difficult to stay focused. He could feel the growing attention of the primordials pressing down on his little realm.

If it wasn’t for the system, his mother alone would crush his realm with her full presence. The others hanging around strained the system support, which was already getting a larger allocation than normal for a lesser realm.

The Tidal Moon Lord knew things were mostly out of his control now. All he could do was referee the rules and let everything else play out.

He would die before openly admitting his hope for Finn’s dumb gamble to pay off. Everything rested on the shoulders of one psychotic boy.

***

The concerns of the Tidal Moon Lord were mainly lost on the masters and mistresses of Multiverse Z. Except for his mother. Though she had heard nothing directly from him. So she made no fuss.

Nonetheless, they were too old, too powerful, too heavy to gather like this and not warp the integrity of little realms. It was frightening for the Realm Lords and Realm Ladies when this happened, which was not the intent of the primordials. They just wanted to hang out.

The primordials had to call in a favor from the core system and endure her badgering attitude and insults, which were mainly filled with her calling them bozos. But the core system provided the needed support to the Tidal Moon Realm without the primordials having to patch into the local subsystem directly.

The primordials could watch the event and party better this way. With some restraint, hopefully.

There were reasons the primordials shouldn’t gather too heavily. For one, they liked to get rowdy. It didn’t help that the beginner they were here to watch reminded them of someone major.

Joey was a fascinating experiment, prospect, art piece, pet, snack, recruit, dance partner, idiot, and more depending on the primordial. If he excited them too much, Joey might become the reason the Tidal Moon Realm got knocked off its little cosmic pedestal. And shattered like a vase during a raging frat party.

***

Nothing happened without some kind of structure in Multiverse Z, even if the system had to improvise. The system was already corralling major duels and fights around the Zambwi Land with subtle magic as the first ever Joey Eclipse Bounty Hunt War raged night and day.

Creating easy-to-understand order out of multiverse chaos was one of the principal focuses of the multiverse system.

It made an unofficial arena around Joey and Sword Saint especially. They could fight with low chances of a mortal outsider interrupting them. The duel was too important to allow easy interference.

Additionally, the system hyped up the fight for everyone with a special view. It stayed invisible to the mortals, leaving them unaware of the system adding some flair.

A blue box with gold borders and gold letters appeared for the special audiences. The special system display hovered over the fighters. It remained until the first clash of steel and spells.

Sword Saint Warrior

VERSUS

Shade Dragon Rogue

…

…

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FIGHT!