Ch 247 - Ed Makes Some New Friends

As Ed, Nigel, and I headed for the military command building made up of magical building blocks where we’d meet up with Tony and his forces, Cyrus’s voice boomed across the sky.

“Good morning, contestants from Earth! Day 17, and look how many of you are still around. No time to sit on your laurels, though. You’ve only got 5 days left to complete stage 3 and some of you are lagging. Since I have yet to find an excuse to trigger the apocalyptic destruction of stage 2, I can promise anyone remaining on stage 3 five days from now will have front row tickets to a truly epic ending of their lives.”

“But don’t focus on the negative. You’ve all accomplished amazing things, and some of you have gained a truly remarkable number of followers. Even better, the Earth movies that your teams were based on have sparked unprecedented interest across the multiverse. Earth might be a backwater little planet with no magic, but you’ve created something truly incredible with your entertainment wizardry.”

“You plucky humans have garnered so much interest that hunger for Earth movies is sweeping the multiverse. Earth copyrights might not apply, but those who contribute still get rewarded. As such, each member of each team will receive mana crystals for every view purchased for your team’s movie. Views are already racking up by the billions, so it should add up quickly. Mana crystals will be automatically credited to your inventories each morning. Enjoy!”

“Thanks for giving us some of the royalties,” I said when his voice trailed off and the echoes faded.

Cyrus responded, his voice once more at conversational levels. “Thank Ruby. We’ve never had a game world bring such unique entertainment options to the game. The novelty is driving interest through the walls.”

“It’s through the roof.” Cyrus hadn’t messed up an Earth phrase in a while. Was he back-sliding, or just messing with me?

“That seems messy. Greater interest should expand a property, making it larger and more successful over time.”

“Maybe, but you’d have to rebuild the roof anyway.”

“Your approach to progress is so antiquated, Lucas.”

“Maybe, but I’ll take more mana crystals any day.”

He chuckled again. “Ruby’s question of royalty sharing was perfectly timed. Enjoy the windfall.”

I checked my inventory and did indeed have 5 new tier-7 mana crystals. That was 50 million tier-0 mana crystals. Honestly, it barely made a blip in my inventory, but for most folks it would represent a much-needed windfall.

Ed gasped. “Three tier-6 mana crystals!”

Huh. Team Shakespeare hadn’t racked up nearly as many views as Team Jumanji. Was that just because aliens didn’t appreciate Shakespeare as much, or because my team was more popular?

In the distance, someone whooped with joy. Other voices joined in, and soon people flooded the streets to celebrate and, in some cases, actually dancing little jigs. Quite a few headed for Sam’s tavern to celebrate. He was about to have a very lucrative day, which meant so was I.

Owning 40% of Sam’s tavern was turning out to be an even better investment than I’d first hoped. I grinned as the previously grim mood hanging over much of the town cracked under a fresh wave of celebration. People had needed the positive boost. Over 2 weeks of constant danger and stress while our survivor counter steadily fell and our friends died around us, we’d suffered a real toll.

Usually I could push all of that aside. I kept busy, and fighting the next monster gave me plenty to focus on. When we returned to Earth, I’d find quiet times to deal with the fall-out of the insanity we were living, but for now, I had work to do. Helping Ed arrange his spells and gear so he could once more progress definitely helped too. His obvious joy and relief and renewed hope bolstered my own.

With a lighter step, I led the way into the military command building. I expected the main room to be packed, but only a few people milled about. Clint Kingsley, the archer on Tony’s team, waved.

“Good timing guys. Meeting’s about to start. Coffee?” He gestured at their drink dispenser.

“Sure.”

I sipped the huge, clay mug he handed me. Hot enough to have melted my throat back on Earth, with plenty of cream and sugar. I produced a plain donut to dip, shared another with Ed, and asked, “Where is everyone?”

“In the new meeting hall. Come on.”

Clint led the way through one of the doors spaced around the central room, then down some stairs that hadn’t been there last time I visited. They descended to an enormous stone room with a high ceiling dotted with bright, white crystals. The room was mostly unadorned and was about a third full with about 50 people in the various uniforms of the wall guard and the scout teams.

Spatial distortion spells were so fun. No way such a giant room should fit under that command building, but there we were. Back on Earth, constructing such a thing under an existing structure would have been impossible, or at least extremely expensive. On Arasha, all it took was buying the upgrade.

Tony stood at the far end of the room on a slightly-raised wooden dais. No podium or chairs, just an empty platform, but it worked. Tony looked tired and grim, and for the first time in days he had shed his Tony Stark business suit in favor of the same scout team uniform leathers as most of the others.

Sally Rogers, with her Captain America shield, and Natasha Portman, who had swapped her skin-tight assassin’s leathers for an epic set of blended metal and leather armor, stood at the back of the platform, flanking the 2 remaining members of Burns’s team. Hector Rodriguez, the silver-haired duelist and Megalyn Ragettie, who I knew only a little, sat on the wooden platform, looking depressed.

To their right sat another pair, the 2 that the murderous traitor Martin Briggs had claimed were spies while under the influence of my truth spell. Carrie Nowak was a thick-set teamster woman, while George Dunning was an older, fat guy from that tourist group I’d helped rescue down on stage 1. They looked terrified, their hands bound in front of them, huddling under the stern glares of half a dozen men and women with drawn weapons.

I hadn’t expected Tony to bring the accused traitors to the meeting, although it wasn’t a bad idea. Were Hector and Megalyn in trouble too? Had they known about Burns’s plans? If so, I doubted Tony would let them live.

That depressing thought snuffed out my previous good humor, and I hurried around the room to the dais, with Ed close on my heels. Maybe I could keep Tony from doing something impetuous. He spotted our approach and waved us to join him on the dais.

“Glad you could make it,” Tony said, clasping my hand in his, then did the same to Ed. “And I’m glad you’re looking so good.”

“I never imagined I could, but Lucas helped me figure out how to use my spells a little,” Ed exclaimed happily.

“That is good news. I look forward to learning more later.”

“What’s the plan with them?” I asked, nodding toward the 2 pairs of seated prisoners.

“We’ll figure it out now.” He raised his voice and shouted, “Come to order! We have a lot to discuss.”

The low murmur of dozens of conversations snapped off as everyone bunched up near the dais, silent faces expectant.

“Thanks for coming,” he said, his words laced with a hint of his charisma. “We’ve overcome a lot of insane trials in the past 2 weeks, but this game just keeps throwing wrenches at us. Today we have to deal with one we haven’t seen before, and it’s one I wish we could have avoided.”

He took a deep breath before continuing, his voice ringing loudly through the room. “Some of you know, but all of you have heard the rumors. Today we set the record straight. Burns is dead, as are Liz and Adam from his team.”

Heavy silence descended over the room. Memories of Burns’s insanity flashed through my mind, along with the images of all those poor broken classers he and his team had executed. Thankfully no one shouted or cursed or demanded answers. They simply waited. Only Hector, the old duelist from Burns’s team spoke.

“Are you finally going to tell us what happened and why Megalyn and I were arrested?”

“Yeah, what did we do? You have no right to detain us!” Carrie shouted from her spot next to George.

Tony ignored her, but did half turn to regard Hector. “Burns suffered a psychotic breakdown, or his mind was twisted by one of Queen Marisara’s agents. We do not know which, but he was beyond saving. He convinced Adam and Liz that the best way forward was to murder Edmund and all of the broken classers.”

“No,” Hector breathed, looking totally shocked.

Beside him, Megalyn started to cry. “He wouldn’t. He was so strong.”

The rest of the room was still deathly silent as folks bunched up closer to the dais. Ed spoke into the quiet, his face anguished and his deep voice breaking as he spoke.

“They said we were going hunting, but then when we were far from town, they just attacked and started killing us. No warning, no explanation, and no mercy. Lucas and Tony arrived too late to save us. I came to within a single percentage point of dying too.”

Tony added, “When confronted, they offered no sane explanation but attacked and tried to kill us too. We had no choice but to put them down.”

That was accurate for Burns, but a bit of a stretch for Liz and Adam. I still would have preferred trying to interrogate them more, but arguing over that now would just complicate an already-complex situation. They might have just been following orders, but they’d participated in committing mass murder, so I couldn’t blame Tony for executing them.

“So we don’t know if a monster or boss turned them?” demanded someone from the crowd. The voice sounded familiar and I barely restrained a laugh of joy. Not the place for that, but I recognized the man.

“William Treville. Baby human level 52. Team Three Musketeers. Class: Unflinching Concierge. Leveraging an unbreakable oath to protect members of his team, William gets stronger when the danger grows dire.”

I hadn’t seen William much since I saved him and Joey from the werewolves and zombies after they were dragged up early to stage 2 like I had. Joey’s death from the Spectral Mauler had really rattled William, but from his description, it seemed like he’d leveraged the experience to grow stronger.

I stepped forward, meeting his gaze, and smiled a welcome. He grinned and raised a fist in salute.

I said, “We don’t know for sure. We’ve confirmed that Queen Marisara has been spying on us through various means. We’ve shut down some of their sources, but can’t guarantee we’ve stopped them all. I personally ran into a member of her court with mental powers strong enough to break someone’s mind if they don’t have very strong resistances and if they’re not as lucky as I was.”

“Did you kill them?” Tony asked.

“No. They got away, but I’m on the hunt.”

Hector spoke up again, sitting straighter. “I see now. You thought perhaps Megalyn and I had also been corrupted.”

“Or that you knew of his plans and did not inform me,” Tony confirmed.

“We didn’t. We wouldn’t,” Megalyn cried, tears streaking her face.

“How could you not know?” a woman shouted from the crowd, eliciting a ripple of angry murmurs. The mood turned dark, and that group could easily rip them apart if they worked themselves into a frenzy.

Tony raised a hand to calm everyone, and I said, “You haven’t asked them about Burns until now. Do you have a way to confirm they’re telling the truth?”

“I have a truth spell,” a man cried from the crowd.

“And I can check them for mind control or other invasive auras,” cried another, followed by several more with abilities or spells to ferret out other types of mind or soul afflictions or influences.

Tony beckoned all of them forward and stepped to Hector and Megalyn, extending his hands to help them to their feet. “We have to be sure. If you are innocent, then you’ve been victims of Burns’s breakdown even more than most.”

“Ask us anything. Test us in any way you like,” Hector declared.

It took only a moment to confirm they were telling the truth, and I sighed with relief. Once she was cleared, Megalyn rushed to Ed and wrapped her arms around him, sobbing loudly and apologizing that she hadn’t seen the danger.

Hector joined them and said, “I too owe you a debt. Together we’ll hunt with you and help you gain the levels you need. I swear on my life to help you until you can fix your class.”

“Me too,” Megalyn said, sniffling loudly.

“Thank you,” Ed said, fighting back his own emotions. The three moved to the side of the dais, talking quietly as Tony turned his attention to the other 2 prisoners.

================================

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas holiday, full of fine foods, close family, and tons of books!