Chapter 35
A little while after Dozel’s family members pulled the bloodied body of the third out of the room, the three companions sat atop the platform they had all met up on a little over a month prior.
Some fruit was in the middle of the table, and Wes jumped at the opportunity for sustenance as the two women around him sat quietly where they had the month prior. Wes was halfway through his second helping of red fruit when Dozel straightened and looked his way.
Cutting her off, Wes said, “I know you must feel embarrassed over your family, but don’t you dare apologize. You were with me the whole time, and they made their choices. I harbor no ill will towards them. In fact, I am thankful that you two stepped in and handled that for me. I had no clue what I was going to do.”
Phony added, “I’m sorry I lost my temper with your... sister?”
“Aunt.” Dozel corrected.
Phony continued, “I know you guys did it differently on your side of the Gap, but it's hard for me to put my mind around some of your customs. And no, I’m not judging you. I’m just sorry.”
“Thank you, it may not seem like it, but that means a lot. I’ve shouldered the burden of representing my family for so long that it's strange to be able to lean on both of you.” Dozel lamented.
Wes finished wolfing down the remainder of his fruit, “You can definitely depend on her, but I’m still just a weakling. Wait a little, and I’ll be awesome.” Wes pointed at his rail-thin, flexed bicep.
Dozel giggled while Phony sighed and said. “I’m sure you got a butt load of levels. Why haven’t you filled out yet?”
Wes scanned his body, barely realizing that his flesh could be seen through the dozens of holes in his clothing. He scanned his body and couldn’t find much difference from what he could remember prior. Looking up at Phony, he dryly said, “What, this don’t do it for ya?”
Phony laughed, “Maybe we can use you as our coat hanger. Or a show rack to lay our clothing over if we put some hooks on you.”
Faking shock, Wes said. “How dare you make fun of perfection?” Turning to Dozel, he waited for her to look up from scanning his thin body. “But really, Dozel, we are in this together. And for the record, I don’t plan on taking any more spouses. So it's just us from here out, unless of course I have to for some crazy reason.” Wes flicked his head over to Phony, “You know, like your mom trying to make me pump out dozens of grandkids for her.”
Phony waved him off, “I won’t let any of those selfish bitches around you.”
“I don’t know, you came off pretty uptight and crude at our first meeting. Maybe I can get an upgrade if I bargain with your mother and trade you in.” Wes teased.
Phony held up her fist, “Don’t test me, you know I ain't afraid to lose levels.”
Wes held his hands up in submission as Dozel giggled. Dozel fought through her laughter enough to ask, “Is it safe to talk?”
Phony shook her head.
Wes took the opportunity to share his status with the girls.
Name: Wesley of 29744C
Race: Human
Age: 27
Unique Abilities: Imperial Over Metric, Back In My Day
Abilities: Deposit, Eternal Spark, Cleanse, Stopwatch,
Vigilant, Deviant, Symbiosis, H20,
Party Chat, Topographer, Superscription
Skills: N/A
Achievement(s): Bloody Soul, Pragmatic Savant,
Pacifists Envy
Trait(s): 3
Current Status: Healthy
Level 144
Savings: 8,787,128
Next Level: 4,299,816.96
Level 144 Exp Per Sec: .3456
Current Exp: 933.12
wager(+5)
“Holy Hells.” Phony called out.
Dozel asked, “How?” Before she caught herself.
Wes sat back in his seat and hunched over. “Please, this is what greatness looks like.” Snapping his fingers, he pointed toward the ground. “If you get on your knees and beg, I may want to keep you around.”
“That's not that great.” Phony shared her full status as well.
Name: Phoneuo of 7738M
Race: Human
Age: 24
Unique Abilities: Hallowed Domain
Abilities: Runners High, Mana Shield, Redirection,
SharpenedMind, LifeSteal, Mana Arrow, ManaSlash,
Paramours Lament
Skills: Swordmanship, MinorLeatherwork, Braiding,
Fluid Tongue, Workers High, Chopping, …(x36)
Achievement(s): Last Stand
Trait(s): 1
Current Status: Healthy
Level 292
Health:10,050,000(10,042,553)
Stamina:5,000,000(3,593,215)
Mana:10,825,000(6,442,732)
Strength:9,000,000
Dexterity:7,000,000
Available: 0
“Man, that is a mighty good number. But you think those numbers compare to mine.” Wes asked.
Phony clicked her tongue and dryly replied, “Yes, I do.”
“I need advice on mine. Do you think it will be alright if we use.. ” Dozel paused for a moment, “You think we could talk like we did on the other planet?”
“Huh, I’m embarrassed I forgot about that,” Wes replied over Party Chat.
Phony continued using his Party Chat, “You see, now this is why we keep you around. Your abilities are useful.”
“You think it's safe to talk using it?” Wes asked.
Shrugging, Phony replied, “How am I to know. Better than just talking aloud. To be safe, we shouldn’t discuss anything to do with your status.”
Nodding in agreement to Phony’s words, Dozel shared her full status with Wes for the first time.
Name: Brugunnardozel of ChiShiKi Empire(109899Fe)
Race: Coeus
Age: 31
Unique Abilities: GroundedGrowth
Abilities: Growing Shadow, RunnersHigh, SilentDeath
Skills: Swordsmanship, Shield, Armor, MinorRepair,
Cooking, FireStarting, Washing …(x14)
Achievement(s): N/A
Trait(s): 1
Current Status: Healthy
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Level: 264
Health:15,000,000(14,998,454)
Stamina:11,000,000(9,634,991)
Mana:12,625,000(12,237,134)
Strength:5,000,000
Dexterity:22,000,000
Available: 8,375,000
Ability Choice Available(+3)
Phony whistled while Wes read over her status in earnest. After they each took the time they needed, they continued their conversation over Wes’s Party Chat.
“Why are your stats higher than Phony’s?” Wes asked.
“You must have reduced your contract by a lot with this many offerings.” Phony commented.
Dozel nodded along, “I wanted to get out of this service contract as early as possible.”
“How many years did they knock off?” Phony asked.
“About a hundred per reveal,” Dozel replied.
“Somebody want to fill this idiot in?” Wes said.
Wes could see Phony breathe in deeply before she illuminated. “She has offered to fill out our family's records with her ability selections in exchange for knocking off years to her service contract. Before you ask, I’ll just explain it like you are stupid. Like how the republic likes to know the value of abilities, so do families. And by Dozel telling them what she was offered, along with how many stat points she received in return. They are able to compile a hierarchical list of the abilities offered. It is incredibly valuable to know both what skills are worth more and by how much. It also helps with blueprinting the routes of future generations. These guides are closely guarded secrets that can be exchanged for entire systems. Roughly speaking, when she declines the abilities offered at each 25th level, she receives a specific amount of points to put where she wants. If she did that all day by herself, it wouldn’t help my family even a little. But others have done the same as her. And after many, many generations, we’ve compiled a pretty good list of what abilities give in terms of points.”
“Okay, I understand all that, and why Dozel went that route, but why are her stats so damn high compared to yours?” Wes asked.
Dozel jumped in, “It really depends on the exchange rate. That is one of the things that families are after. It's extremely valuable to know what three skills will give in terms of points. In our early levels, especially, it can help boost our overall power if we know for sure that we are better served taking the points as opposed to a subpar ability that doesn’t go well with our trait or unique ability. Other than word spacing and word count. It’s hard to differentiate which ability is more valuable. And when I gave the list of my three offerings at each level, and what I got in return, after I denied the ability selection in favor of points. They were able to more finely tune how much any particular ability cost. ”
Phony pointed out, “Which would do no good for anyone unless you have a huge list of other abilities and ratios they received. And my family is not near the oldest, but from what I’m told, we have been one of the family’s investing in our list for the longest.”
Dozel nodded and added, “If it's alright, I would like your opinion on what I should add my remaining stat points to, and if you think I should continue the course and become a Numbers build.”
Answering immediately, Phony said, “I think that would be unwise. We need you to complement us, sure, but we are not in a rush to the mountain top. It will be a slow grind. Even with Wes’s help. I vote that you take the next three abilities unless they are subpar selections. Just hold off on choosing until my mother comes along.”
Dozel nodded to her words, “You are right. I will wait.”
“We should probably go back to speaking, though. Wes is drained.”
Wes looked at his status and said aloud, “Damn, that's a lot.”
Name: Wesley of 29744C
Race: Human
Age: 27
Unique Abilities: Imperial Over Metric, Back In My Day
Abilities: Deposit, Eternal Spark, Cleanse, Stopwatch,
Vigilant, Deviant, Symbiosis, H20,
Party Chat, Topographer, Superscription
Skills: N/A
Achievement(s): Bloody Soul, Pragmatic Savant,
Pacifists Envy
Trait(s): 3
Current Status: Healthy
Level 144
Savings: 8,785,877
Next Level: 4,299,816.96
Level 10 Exp Per Sec: .3456
Current Exp: 1.728
wager(+5)
“What’s a lot, Boy?”
Wes hunched his head into his chest in disgust.
Phony shot to her feet and looked around, not finding what she was looking for, she called out. “Father, where are you?”
Argyros materialized in the empty chair across from Wes, as if he had always been there. His eyes were still firmly placed on Wes.
Phony bounced over to Argyros and wrapped him in a sideways hug as Argyros patted her arms gently. “It’s good to see you, too, Phony. And although I can’t say it's how I would have done it, it's probably for the best. It’s also nice to meet you, as well ChiShiKi.”
Dozel got up and offered a deep bow. She held it until Argyros said, “You can sit down, little one.”
“Thank you for your compassion, father-in-law.” Dozel returned to her seat.
Phony followed Dozel’s cue and took her seat as well.
Wes was still looking into his lap when Argyros clicked his tongue. Looking up, Wes said, “I’m not going to say it's nice to see you again, you old fuck.”
“Grudges don’t do any good, Boy.” Argyros chided.
Wes sighed, while Phony took the opportunity to ask. “What grudge do you speak of, Father?”
Argryos tilted his head, “The boy thinks I was a bit hard on him when we first met.”
Wes exploded, “You ground me into paste. All because you couldn’t take five seconds to ask me a simple question. That wasn’t ‘hard’, that was fucking torture. And then you send me off onto a planet with clan members without giving me any information to help keep me alive. Are you mad?”
“And yet here you are. Stronger for it, a couple of beautiful women in your arms. A tie to a strong family, like mine. A thank you would be nice.” Argyros replied.
“A thank you? Go fuck yourself.”
“Yes, you're right, we should probably just call it even.” Argyros smiled.
Wes’s face began to twitch in anger. Phony began to laugh next to him, earning his ire. Argyros' hoarse laugh began to ring out in the very next few seconds. Wes pushed himself away from the table and went to leave when Phony said, “Wes, I’m sorry. Father likes to rile people up a bit. He is especially good at it.”
Wes could feel himself calm down for no particular reason. He looked toward Argyros, a grin plastered on his face, just as it had been in front of Marny’s grave.
Perplexed, Wes asked, “Your trait?”
“No, you could not stand up to my trait. Just my unique ability.” Argyro replied.
“Did you use it when we first met?” Wes asked.
“Just my unique.”
“Is that what Runar hates you?” Wes asked.
Argyros began to break off into one of his laughing fits. The three others at the table had no choice but to sit and wait out his laughter. After twenty more seconds, Argyros settled down enough to answer. “No, the ‘little’ boy is probably still mad that I convinced him it was a good idea to walk into a small meeting in the nude. But you know, the young can never take responsibility for their actions.” Argyros resumed his laughing fit.
Wes sent out a Party Chat to the girls. “Your dad is kinda crazy.”
Phony shot back, “You have no idea.”
Epilogue
“Why must I take this injustice? She stepped into my system unannounced and severely injured my son.” Tessonia asked.
The nine High Council members sat in their perched positions around her in a half circle. Looking up, she flashed her eyes at all nine, looking for an answer. When none came over the silence, she followed up. “Just because she has those pitiful planets doesn’t mean she should be allowed to sit outside the confines of the laws set by this council.”
Tessonia was kneeling as was customary when addressing the High Council. They all wore masks of different colors and materials. The most central member's mask was the plainest of them all, steel and affixed with a permanent frown. The individual who wore it was the longest tenured member of the council. He or she had held their place on the council since even Tessonia took her first steps on the path. Tessonia went to ask more of this person when they held up their hand. A wall of mana slammed into her jaw, shutting her mouth for her.
The same masked person looked to their immediate left and tilted their head toward Tessonia’s direction.
A sigh could be heard in the dark, empty hall. The Silvered masked individual spoke, “We appreciate you coming here. Following the laws set is what keeps the weakest amongst us from straying. You being strong of heart as well as body, we can understand your desire to test its limits.”
The member in the Gold mask, directly to the right of the most senior member added. “You are also correct, no one is above the Laws we have set. We have already passed judgment on her punishment. A judgment she has accepted and fulfilled. She is not to be touched. Her worlds, systems, embassies, Territories, and people are off limits to your personal vendetta.”
“Judgements handed out in silence are not true judgements that can be honored.” Tessonia barked.
The silver masked individual responded, “Her judgment is not private. All you need to do is ask.”
Tessonia held her tongue to think before asking, “I will not be at ease until I know that she is suffering.”
The clay masked individual at the very end of the council, sitting to her right, said, “Whether you are at ease, is none of our concern. You will respect our ruling or cease to exist.”
Biting her lip, she followed up. “Of course, I only wish to understand your ruling in earnest.”
“She was sentenced to either serve a million years in the frontier or turn over her Path Blueprints.” The silver masked individual offered.
Raising her eyebrow, Tessonia thought to herself, She turned over her blueprints. No way that wench turned over her blueprints. She has never shared any that is not already common knowledge.
Unable to accept that she turned over the blueprints, she stated. “She turned over all of her Blueprints? I want them.”
“Impossible.” The gold-masked individual answered.
Anger boiled up in her enough for her mana to leak out. It began to push into the council's own mana. Unable to contain her rage any longer, she yelled, “I will not mince my words; my anger is not only with Nia. She raised the underling that allowed me to be cursed for so long. Stunting my growth on the path. You all have sided with someone whom I consider to be an enemy. You all, as much as I, should be outraged with her. ”
Mana slammed into Tessonia at the completion of her words. She found herself lying pinned to the stone underneath. A feminine voice reverberated through her body. “We have taken no one’s side, she has simply offered us something more valuable than her blueprints.”
The Mana that had been weighing down every cell in her body released its hold on her. Gingerly Tessonia pushed herself from the crushed stone. When she raised her head from the ground, she found the most senior member standing in front of her. The frown on their steel mask was now molded into a smile, the masked individual warned, “Before you ask, no, you can’t know what she offered. I will, however, caution you. To take a step against her will be a step against everyone on this council.” The steel masked voice looked toward the other members above her.
Tessonia watched as all members, one by one, nodded in agreement. Feeling hollow, with her anger still boiling, she offered. “I will offer all my blueprints to know why you have taken her side.”
The clay masked individual answered, “You could offer that, and everyone else on this side of the Gaps blueprints, and we would still tell you no. Do not touch her, or anyone else that she holds dominion over. Do you understand?”
The remaining eight popped in around her. All nine formed a tight circle around Tessonia, waiting for an answer. Not having any way out, Tessonia answered dejectedly, “I understand.”
As soon as Tessonia was gone, the silver masked individual asked, “How long until she leaks it?”
The gold-masked laughed, “Seconds.”
The wooden masked individual asked, “Who will be assigned?”
Eight of the masked turned as one toward the steel-masked person. “Not necessary, Pyrronia is capable enough. Not to mention old silver-tongue. As soon as their name leaks, one of you will be their new protector. I’ll let you decide.”
