Midnight Bounties 4 - Chapter 20

Wolf scoffed and shook his head as we entered the eating area. The smell was fouler than an Ogre’s sock drawer, but we endured. The room was large and round like the previous arena but smaller. A long circling table sat in the middle above which a kind of orb hung suspended in the air and slowly turned, giving off a faint buzzing sound that rose and fell in pitch.

There were more paintings of distant, strange places hanging from the walls and I took a moment to try and understand what I was looking at. One depicted a city of pointy white buildings set on a coast bordering on a pinkish sea. Another showed mountains with reddish forests at the base and some strange buildings or ships floating around it. The most curious one was a kind of tower that seemed to reach high into the skies. It looked like it was made of hundreds of smaller buildings and towers built one upon the other connected by numerous bridges and arcs.

A sudden hiss followed by a high-pitched, almost childlike voice.

“Welcome!” I turned and saw a tiny metallic creature coming at me, so I instinctively jumped off Wolf and cut it in half with Mercy. Sparks and gears flew every which way and black oil sprayed from the two halves. My Deeproot didn’t chime. I had gotten no experience for the kill.

Strange.

Another hiss came from the same place and made me realize there was a door in one of the white walls that opened and yet another metallic little man walked out.

“Oh, no. My apologies,” it said then rushed towards me.

“Stop!” I yelled and to my surprise it actually did.

The thing had two metallic arms with three fingers on each hand, a small bulbous body, and four insect-like legs. The head was almost as large as the rest, sporting one glowing slit instead of eyes and sieve-like opening through which it spoke.

“It’s a shame,” it said. “Butler Unit 331 was a good friend, but malfunctions happen. Again, I must apologize. I hope this will not sour your stay with us! Now, why don’t you let me clean this up and I’ll get straight to your order, sir? It will make me so happy!”

“What? Who are you?”

“Butler Unit 332, of course. But you can call me Butlee. It is my honor to host such esteemed guests from across the stars. What a pleasure! I’m absolutely ecstatic to be here. May I?” it said, pointing to the other I split in half.

I slowly stepped away, never looking away from it.

“Alright,” I said and the thing chirped strangely, then skittered towards the remains and picked them up, then packed them away into the door it came from. Finally, it returned to one of the strange chairs and pulled it out.

“Please, it would make me so happy if you took a seat and joined us for lunch!”

“Lunch?”

“Of course! We sport delicacies from across the stars! You say the word and my good friend Chef Unit Six will spawn it for you in no time.”

It pointed at the slowly turning globe at the center of the round table. I looked at Wolf as if to ask him for advice for some reason. The big galoot licked his sharp teeth, watching the butler thing hungrily.

“Fuck it, let’s try it out.”

“How lovely! Fuck it! Why don’t you?” Butlee said.

I sat down, realizing right then how tired I actually was. I must have been on my feet for more than a day by then. And what a day it was. Between the Redmaw, Kathaan, Hell, and Morgefah’s prison I was constantly on the move either fighting or running somewhere. I had developed an appetite, too.

“Place your order, sir. Anything! Anything you want!”

I thought for a moment, trying to come up with something I had always wanted to try but never got to. There were a few things on my mind, but I wanted to keep it simple and delicious.

“Alright, I want steak—wait, I want ortok beef steak with…. sprouts in cheese sauce and a whole rabbit, grilled to perfection.”

“Of course! And something to wash it down, sir? May I suggest Malterian wine?”

“Sure, why not.”

Butlee snapped its metallic fingers and the globe in the center chimed softly. A moment later, a green beam of light lit up the table right before me. First a plate materialized and seconds after, well, a disgusting green-brown goo oozed out of the plate, onto the table, and on my lap. I jumped up and stepped away.

“What the hell?”

“Doesn’t it look delicious? What a treat!”

“It looks disgusting! What is that?”

“Your order, sir. Exactly as you’ve described it.”

“Right,” I muttered. Of course the thing didn’t work. It must have been too old. There was a glass of wine there, too, except it was filled with a thick black goo that didn’t look too appetizing either.

“We’re done here,” I said, looking to the door on the other side of the room.

“You must be real hungry! Traveling light years does that I hear. It’s such a pleasure to feed our esteemed guests. Such a pleasure. Hard to describe, really.”

“Yeah.”

“Can I interest you in a little rest time in one of our specially designed resting rooms? They’re just through the door and down the hallway. Complete privacy is guaranteed!”

Despite everything, I was pretty winded. It couldn’t hurt to see if I could find a spot in that cursed place to sit down at least.

“Lead the way…butlee.”

Wolf shot me a worried glance. I scratched him under the chin and grabbed the reins.

“It won’t do us good to fight exhausted, Wolf. I need some rest too. Morgefah waited for so long, it won’t change nothing if he waits for an extra hour.”

The little tin man took us through the door and down a wide deteriorated hallway, just as promised. The door opened into another large hall with several floors connected by stairs and dotted with even more doors. It reminded me of the Lusty Lion in the way everything was set up. Butlee approached the closest door, lowered its metallic hand on a panel at its center, and it hissed open.

“Here you go, oh sweet, esteemed guest of ours. May your rest fill you up with joy and energy so you can take part in the rest of our fantastic entertainment facility. I’m so incredibly happy!”

“Entertainment facility,” I muttered. Why the hell would they refer to Morgefah’s prison as an entertainment facility? Not that it didn’t look like one. There was the arena, the dining area, and now this place.

Butlee waited at the door for me to enter. I peeked inside first and whistled. The place was large and roomy, the walls were tanks filled with water and tiny rocks, though nothing swam in them anymore. There was a large bed without sheets or covers but beside that, everything was as white and stale as the rest of the place. Despite who knew how many centuries of existing, there was not a speck of dust anywhere.

“There you go! Call me whenever you need! Just say my name and I’ll appear from inside one of the walls. No problem. I love it! I love to serve. Boy! I’m so happy.”

“Shit, you are, aren’t you?”

“Absolutely!”

That was the answer to my ongoing question on who was happy nowadays. Butlee, the tin man of Hell.

“Butlee, I want you to come inside with me and answer some questions, how about it?”

“Nothing would make me—”

“Yeah, yeah, come on.” I brought Wolf inside and the door hissed close behind us. I checked the room for any threats just in case, and then sat down on the bed and unpacked some of the food Snowdog had prepared for my deviltail and me.

“What questions would you like answered, dearest guest?”

“Hold on,” I said, biting into a piece of dried chicken and washing it down with water from my pouch. Wolf was busy munching on his own piece of meat in the corner.

“Gods, I had no idea how hungry I was. Alright, Butlee. First things first, what is this place? Why did you call it an entertainment facility?”

The slit in its head blinked green then went back to white.

“Fantastic question! We are happy, so incredibly, unapologetically happy to have you with us here in the Imperial Game Office and Research Facility 12, or as our gracious hosts like to call it, IGORF 12 of Erf. The system administrator council works tirelessly to keep everything in IGORF 12 functioning up to Imperial standard. All our guests are privy not only to staged arena games, but also to the inner workings of our laboratories and one of the central operating hubs! Isn’t that incredible? All hail the Emperor for his reach is endless.”

A piece of bread dropped out of my mouth and onto the floor. Butlee scooped it up quickly and packed it away into its mid-section.

“Cleanliness makes me happy!”

I couldn’t speak for a long moment. Many of those words made little sense to me. I had no idea what empire he was speaking of nor what a game office or research facility was supposed to be.

“Can you speak in simpler terms? What is going on here?”

“Simplicity is happiness! Indeed, I can!” it chirped. “There are three central operating hubs on Erf established to keep everything within the game world working properly. But only this beautiful facility is equipped to host guests. Erf is a large world; larger than the other six game worlds the Empire established and therefore required some special tinkering and an upgraded and experimental system. To be able to look inside the workings of one is a privilege like no other, dearest guest.”

“Erf, you say that word like it means something.”

“It’s the planet we’re on! Hurrah!”

“The planet,” I muttered. “And Hell? And Morgefah? How does it all fit together? I’m the Spellmonger, I’m supposed to find Morgefah. How do I do that?”

Butlee cocked its big head to the side. The light in its slit turned green again, then red, and finally returned to white.

“I’m very sorry. I don’t have the answer to those inquiries. I’m not familiar with any of those terms. Huh…I’m a little sadder now. A strange feeling indeed.” He looked up at me. “I like it. It makes me happy.”

“You—” I shook my head, losing my appetite almost immediately. I lit my cigar instead and leaned back on the bedrest, puffing out smoke and rubbing my chin. I hadn’t shaved in a while.

“What is a game world, Butlee?”

“Brilliant question, absolutely genius. A game world is a planet fashioned into an entertainment vehicle for the wider Empire. The Emperor’s scientists find a nice planet with a sentient race and seed it with different alien species, genetically modifying many of them, of course. In the process, the native civilization is usually destroyed or changed beyond recognition as cultures and societies from other planets take root. Finally, in a stroke of Imperial brilliance, a planet-wide game system is introduced on a subatomic level that allows the emerging peoples to improve in mind and body in quantifiable ways.”

“The native civilization is destroyed?”

I rubbed the back of my neck, remembering the satyr’s shlong curled around it. The memory sent shivers down my spine.

 “Absolutely!” Butlee continued. “There are, however, two particularities to Erf. Namely, the experimental introduction of telekinetic powers introduced as magic. There’s nothing like it anywhere else. But more importantly, and this has been approved by the Emperor himself, the removal of power thresholds. Though they are a cornerstone security measure on other game worlds, many have complained that it curtailed the entertainment factor. Everything on Erf can grow endlessly! Imagine that! We are so happy to see what will happen here, so, so happy!”

“Hold on,” I muttered. “We are a game world?”

“Who is we, sir?”

“I mean…this world we are on is a game world. A place for entertainment?”

“Impressive reasoning and cognitive functions, I’m completely stunned. So happy, so, so—”

“For who? Who made this place?”

“Why the Emperor’s engineers, gene-weavers, and quantum programmers, of course. And a whole host of other scientists. Would you like me to list them? It might take a couple of Erf days.”

“I guess not,” I muttered, feeling not a knot, but a big boulder forming in my guts. Was it all really true? Is that what we truly were? A playground for some godlike creatures? The thought was overwhelming. So much that my mind refused to take it in.

“And the Emperor? Who is he? What is his empire?”

Butlee’s lights flickered.

“Of course! The Emperor is the Immortal Justice, the uniter and ruler of the Five Prime Worlds, the Light Administer of the Five Realms. That which stands in opposition to the Flesh Dominion, mind you.”

“A humble description,” I muttered. “And what race is he? What does he want?”

“Such an inquisitive mind. Congratulations! He is a Faydar, of course. The only true race in the Galaxy.”

That meant absolutely nothing to me. I had never heard of these Faydar or their overblown ruler. But apparently he was my boss as well. Everyone’s boss if what this tin can said was true.

“And this Flesh Dominion?”

“Oh, yes…” His lights blinked red, then green, then red again. Butlee’s voice changed completely. The mindless enthusiasm swapped for a dark, brooding tone. “An inconsequential pest that will be dealt with. The tragedy of Realm Four will be avenged and they will be destroyed. No more words must be wasted on them.”

“Uh-huh. Doesn’t sound inconsequential to me.”

Butlee just stood there in silence. I had hit a nerve apparently.

“This is a lot to take in, Butlee.” Another thing crossed my mind then. If all we ever were was just a world for entertainment and games, where was the audience?

“One more question. Where are the Faydar now?”

“Oh, yes…” Butlee’s big head cocked to the side again. “They haven’t visited in a while. I…I think I miss them—Oh, no. I’m sad again. My esteemed guest, you have a way of making me sad. And I’m usually not very sad. Strange.”

“I have that effect on people. When was the last time this world had an audience?”

“Checking the last log entries. Hold on. Yes. The last visitors arrived 788 cycles ago. Which is 8,002 Erf years ago. Oh no, that made me even sadder.”

“Eight-thousand years ago?” I snapped. “So…they’re gone? Are they even coming back?”

A confusing sense of relief washed over me. If they had truly been absent for so many millennia, that meant we were on our own. I slapped my own forehead.

“Holy shit, the Pilgrims were right.”

“I don’t understand that, sir.”

“Never mind,” I said, laughing. “Those fucking bums had it all figured out. Wait, what about the Deeproot? Is that, what is it? Is it a god or…can you explain?”

“I’m not familiar with this word, Deeproot.”

“The system…Uhm…These numbers that show the increase in our power.”

“Oh yes, the game system. A true jewel of engineering unlike any other. Checking system logs. Yes. No. Oh, no. The system was shut down 8,002 Erf years ago.”

“What? No, that’s not true. Check again.”

“Happy to do it! Checking! Nope, the game system of IGORF 12 was deactivated 8,002 years ago.”

“None of this makes sense. What is the Deeproot then if not your damned system? Bah!”

I flung the cigar on the floor and Butlee quickly picked it up and stashed it away.

“My brain hurts, Butlee. I need to rest. Are you sure nobody will disturb us here?”

“Of course, sir. Privacy is guaranteed. Would you like me to set a wakeup call?”

“Matter of fact, I would. Give me…four hours. That should do it.”

“Done! Off I go! Hurrah!” Butlee skittered out the door and it closed behind him with a soft hiss. I leaned my head against the bedrest and breathed out.

I tried to catch some shuteye but even as tired as I was, after everything that metalhead said, my mind wouldn’t stop thinking. There was only one thing that I could do to gather my thoughts. I sat down on the floor and crossed my legs, then focused on my breath.

It wasn’t easy to empty my head of all the random shit Butlee fed me, but after weeks of training at Snowdog’s temple, I somehow managed to focus about half an hour in.

I felt a hint of excitement when I sensed the tug of the souls grabbing for my mind.

[WARNING: Souls begging for the Everdark 838/1000]

[DESCRIPTION: More souls wish for the Everdark with every passing day, month, and year. Spellmonger, you can ignore a whisper, but can you turn deaf to the wailing cries of a thousand souls?]

This time there was no whispering or wailing innuendo. The voices addressed me clearly and immediately.

“Spellmonger, we can see you now. You have done well. It is now time for your final challenge before you meet him.”

“Final challenge, huh? It never stops, does it? Never mind,” I sighed. “Can you finally tell me who you are?”

“You must—” There was a sudden interruption, a strange cry that shut off our connection. I opened my eyes and looked around. Wolf was snoring in the corner, fed and content. I closed my eyes again.

“Meet him first and all your answers will come.”

“Didn’t he send you? Didn’t he create this quest? And what about that ship you keep mentioning?”

“He will lie, he will—”

“Well, shit, how do I know you’re not lying? You’re not answering any of my questions.”

“Do not let him escape—beneath his chamber—”

Another strange sound washed over me, like waves breaking against the shore. Our conversation was lost once more.

“You’re all driving me insane!” I snapped, getting to my feet.

My Deeproot chimed with a notification.

[You have gained +6 to your INTELLECT stat]

[You have received 18,000 experience points toward your SPELLMONGER CLASS]

[CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE LEVELED UP!]

[SPELLMONGER LEVEL: 68]

[SPELLMONGER CLASS EXPERIENCE: 5,200/49,000]

[You have gained +2 STAMINA stat]

[You have gained +2 STRENGTH stat]

[You have gained +2 AGILITY stat]

[You have gained +1 INTELLECT stat]

BASIC INFORMATION

NAME

Frank Midnight

RACE

Human

CLASS

Spellmonger

LEVEL

65

STATUS INFORMATION

STRENGTH

95

STAMINA

90

AGILITY

89

INTELLECT

106

Not only was I leveling like mad, there was another notification that I wasn’t counting on at all.

[CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE REACHED 100 INTELLECT!]

[ULTIMATE SPELLMONGER CLASS SPECIFIC UPGRADE AVAILABLE]

[CHOOSE A SPELL TO UPGRADE]

The explanation was pretty sparse. Basically just that I could upgrade one of my spells to its ultimate form though I had no idea what the upgrade entailed. The only thing I couldn’t select was my (Final Contract), the spell that would turn me into a demon, though I figured that thing really didn’t need any upgrades.

I had to pick carefully.

All my attacks skills were upgraded to a point where I was slicing through everyone and everything. My defense rating and attack power were so off the scale I felt like upgrading them further didn’t even make sense. The spell that grew closest to my heart by far was (Rift Walk) but I felt it was a shame to waste the upgrade on a teleporting spell. My eyes hovered over (Dark Embrace) the only true spell in my arsenal. I was a spellmonger, after all, but most of my victims died by my sword.

“Fuck it,” I said and selected it.

[SKILL: Black Embrace]

[DESCRIPTION: The black embrace of the Everdark pulls your enemies toward it]

[UPGRADED EFFECT: Summon FOUR orbs that will float around you. On activation, send any number of orbs of attractive darkness to a target location. Activate them to pull all enemies in range toward it. ACTIVATE AGAIN to detonate the orbs causing massive dark energy damage.]

[Are you sure you want to unlock the ultimate form of Black Embrace?]

“Yeah, I’m sure. Just do it,” I said, feeling a heaviness set in behind my eyes. Gods, was I exhausted. The Deeproot chimed and my body tensed for a moment as the room lit up in dark purple.

[ULTIMATE SKILL UNLOCKED]

[SKILL: Black Apocalypse]

[DESCRIPTION: Engulf the caster in the full power of the Everdark. Bring about the darkness across a vast area summoning a DARK MAGIC TEMPEST that will wreak havoc for 10 minutes.]

[SECONDARY EFFECT: Surround the caster with an inexhaustible amount of black magic orbs that can be used to deflect most damage and attack your enemies.]

[NOTE: Only the Spellmonger is immune to the damage from the DARK MAGIC TEMPEST.]

I whistled, satisfied with my choice. If only Tyfus could see what I could bring about nowadays, he’d eat his little heart out. The thought somehow calmed my busy mind. I climbed back on the bed and breathed, out feeling my eyelids becoming heavy.

“Fuck you, Tyfus,” I whispered. “Gods and emperors and all,” I grinned.

If anything would motivate me to see this clusterfuck of gods and demons come to an end, it would be idea of pissing that gnome off one last time.