They worked tirelessly until two hours past midnight, cutting down legions of goblins as they destroyed each of the five hordes. With their party including three people over level 20, even the goblin king was no issue to them. Oliver was the one to land the final blow, [Death Touching] him from behind while cloaked in illusion, as Alexandra and Alistair distracted him.
Unfortunately, despite killing thousands of the purple monsters, Alistair hadn’t gained a single level, and neither had Alexandra nor Aayush. Oliver, on the other hand, reached level 20 after killing the goblin king, and Donna was up to level 13. The single mother didn’t trust Sofia or her group enough to leave her daughter with them, so she had Tamia walk right by her side as she fired [Mana Bolts] left and right. Alistair was right next to them if anything happened, and Oliver had the Gyzorr twins as orc meat shields to protect them.
While it was lamentable that the weaklings barely nudged the meter for the high-leveled members of the party, it wasn’t all for nothing. The goblins occasionally dropped items, such as a Ring of Protection that offered 2% physical damage mitigation or an Icy Staff that took in 10 mana to shoot an ice ray. They weren’t very useful to Alistair, but he planned on hoarding items to eventually sell. More money, fewer problems was the motto on his mind.
Thinking of problems, the number one issue that plagued him was Marcus. After receiving his Dao Inspiration, he knew that if he permitted Marcus to live, it could irreparably damage the foundations of his cultivation. It might be strange that not killing someone could be harmful to his future, but after remembering the warning in his Arbiter of Justice’s description, he could instinctively feel that he had to follow his heart, no matter where it led him.
That didn’t mean he had to be stupid about it, however. Starting a fight with Sofia and her gang was problematic. He wasn’t sure how loyal they were to her, but they respected her power. After clearing an entire monster wave, his rank only moved up to #956, while Sofia sat at a lofty #587. From the presence of her aura and the position in the rankings (Alexandra was #1123 despite being at the same level as Alistair), he estimated she was level 25. Besides her invisible flying sword, her passive obscuration Skill was a hindrance, not allowing his [Eyes of Truth] to gain any information whatsoever, despite being more powerful than the standard [Inspect].
He had a plan… a plan that was potentially very stupid. Which was why he asked Alexandra to make sure Donna and Tamia were safe. After he explained his idea, she gave him a funny look and told him that his stupidity was going to get him killed one day, but she didn’t try to stop him.
After sleeping for four hours, he felt refreshed and ready to fight anew. The improvements his physical stats had done on his body reduced the hours of sleep he needed to a mere long nap. Yawning in the library's basement, he called Oliver over to ask for some assistance.
They had little time to bond beyond fighting monsters, but during their off time dealing with Aayush’s monster wave, he learned more about the teenager. He was a high school senior from Jacksonville who was an avid gamer and reader, which explained how he had adapted so quickly to Skills and Mana. He actually had a Badge for being one of the first 1,000 people to gain a Skill. If not for Jackson arresting his momentum for nearly a day, he might have been the highest ranked person in the Boston region in place of Sofia.
Oliver agreed to go along with Alistair’s plan instantly. After getting off with each other on a strange foot, he had been nothing but helpful and loyal. If Alistair was to hazard a guess, the kid was a loner in the old world and enjoyed their company. Either way, Oliver’s skillset was a huge asset, with his zombies useful for both combat and reconnaissance.
Alistair made his preparations before the confrontation, dropping off the girls at the recreation center. It was time to ditch his old house and upgrade in square footage. After Jackson died, a power vacuum formed in the subregion. It was easy enough to get Jackson’s old minions in line after they felt his powerful aura and saw his level. There were still thousands of survivors in Newton, the community ravaged by crime and attacks from the mutated wildlife. Alistair was more than happy to see Alexandra slide into a leading role for the town, coordinating defenses and keeping the peace. He wasn’t a fan of bossing people around himself.
They installed their 30,000 Gold drachma Teleportation Circle in the workout section of the recreation center, setting Alistair back a hefty amount even after being split three ways. He also bought a couple of tier 2 Health and Mana pills, which promised a higher tolerance before bodily adaptation and permanent effects kicked in, and the Terragen Wraps, a pair of magic gauntlets that magnified the effects of Mana-based Skills based on the momentum of the fist they covered. Combining all of his purchases, which also included some gear for Donna and her daughter, he was down to just 9,600 drachma, even after selling the loot from the goblins.
There goes my idea of saving up a fortune, Alistair thought. He discovered from Aayush that it was possible to transfer dollars into drachma at most banks, but it was nearly worthless for anyone without a significant amount of wealth. One member of the New Boston Alliance was an investment banker making five million a year, and he could only exchange 50,000 drachma with his savings; a hefty amount, but not anything crazy. Seeing the figure pissed off Alexandra, however, whose father had cut her off from her funds right before the apocalypse. She complained that she would have been filthy rich with drachma, which made Alistair wonder just how rich she had been. Alexandra didn’t deign the question important enough to answer.
With all his affairs in order, he was finally ready to carry through with his plan. He activated the Teleportation Circle, opening a prompt screen listing the available locations. So far, he just had the Boston City Hall as a target, having met Sofia in the Soulnet to connect their marks. Making sure Oliver was fully on the mirrored platform, he selected his destination, and his vision filled with blue light.
After a few seconds of blindness, the light faded, and they found themselves on the second floor of the city hall, in a conference room guarded by two rough-looking men. The duo were both level 18 and of the Warrior Class, carrying AK-47s. As soon as they entered the room, the men came up to them, saying that they would escort them to Sofia. Alistair obliged, following the guards out of the conference room and into the hallway.
While walking toward their destination, they bumped into a familiar face. John Desmond, the giant of a man who could construct objects made of fire, greeted them with a smile. “I hope those people are feeling warmer now.”
“Don’t worry, they’re doing fine, thanks to you,” Alistair said. He liked the older man; he seemed like a sincere person, like a responsible older uncle. Not that Alistair was keen on trusting his impressions of a person just after meeting them, but having 88 points of Charisma, he felt like he could get a better read of people. “If you don’t mind me asking, how did you come to join the New Boston Alliance?”
A dark expression came over John’s face. “My wife and child died at the very start. I almost lost myself to despair, suicidal in my hunting of the ogres that took my family. Eventually, I killed them all, but it didn’t help the pain. Eventually, Sofia found me and said that I could have a purpose, that my family didn’t need to die for nothing.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” Alistair apologized.
“It's not your fault. It was mine for being too weak to protect my family,” John replied. “You going to the boss now?”
“Something like that.” Alistair reached for a handshake as they arrived at the door to the council chambers. “Nice to see you again, John.”
“Good to see you as well. If you ever need anything, I’m your guy.” John returned his handshake. “I have to go oversee training now. Young man, it’s good to see you as well.”
Oliver nodded at the Flamesmith, also shaking his hand before the large man walked away to complete his own task.
The guards opened the door, and Alistair felt his heart rate accelerate, a nervous feeling flushing through his limbs. It was funny how he felt more fear at the thought of confronting a person he knew was weaker than him than fighting an eight-foot-tall behemoth several levels ahead of him.
In an auspicious fashion, Marcus was already in the room. It was good that he wouldn’t have to ask Sofia to call the man, who might have grown suspicious and tried to flee. There was no escape now.
He was in conversation with someone Alistair didn’t recognize. Using his [Eyes of Truth], Alistair saw that the other person’s Class was Moneylender. Besides Aayush, he had seen no other non-combatant Classes. This early into the initiation process without a structured system, those who couldn’t fight were at a tremendous disadvantage. With the safety of such a powerful group, Lauren Yoon, the Moneylender, could slowly level up without having to kill a single monster.
“Welcome back,” Sofia said from her leather throne at the center of the chambers. “I’ve been told your mission was a success.”
“It was. We cleared out the entire subregion in under a day.”
“Excellent. So what brings you here?” Sofia raised an eyebrow, her permanently cold expression revealing nothing.
“I have a request to make,” he said, raising his voice so that everyone could hear. “I challenge Marcus Richardson to a duel.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Marcus reacted instantly to Alistair’s words. “The fuck you think this is, the Middle Ages? Sofia, tell this idiot to walk his dumb ass out of here.”
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“You’re an intelligent woman,” he said to Sofia, whose countenance hadn’t changed in the slightest despite Alistair’s outrageous demand. “I’m bringing two other level 20+’s and myself to the table. If you don’t let me duel him, we all walk away. If you let me duel him, win or lose, we join you.”
“You’re dead, motherfucker,” Marcus helpfully added. “If you think you can fight me and walk away breathing, you’re dumber than I thought.”
“Why should I believe that you’ll be loyal to me? You don’t seem like the type to follow rules if you disagree with them,” she said.
“I swear that if you accept my offer I’ll help you as much as I can within the bounds of reason, as long as you do nothing in disagreement with my Dao Inspiration.”
“And what is your Dao Inspiration?” Hearing about Alistair’s Dao Inspiration caused the first crack in her emotionless exterior. He could see calculated greed on her face. It was enough for Alistair to pay 1 Karma to use the active of [Eyes of Truth].
The familiar feeling of positive Karma flowing out flushed through his body, running up to his eyes and tinting his vision red. Sofia must have noticed Alistair’s glowing red irises, but she kept her mouth shut.
Sofia’s aura was clear, odorless vapor that flowed around her like a peaceful river. Unlike Jackson, who radiated the foul black energy of lies and deceit, hers was perfectly calm, revealing nothing upfront. He could feel the same obscuring Skill that blocked him from inspecting her at work disguising her thoughts and emotions, but his [Eyes of Truth] would not be so easily denied.
“You know my Badges? ‘Deliverance of Justice’ and ‘Good Samaritan’? I think that makes it obvious,” he said, carefully studying the woman. He wasn’t sure if she knew that his active of [Eyes of Truth] was carefully breaking through the spiritual cloak covering her soul.
Every second, more and more information leaked from her obscuration. Her aura was icy blue and silver, sharp just like her invisible sword. He could see that too now, a broadsword that hovered just above her shoulder at all times.
“So it does.”
He could see her mind whirling behind her emotionless eyes. Analyzing every piece of information she had on him. Should she believe his promise? Would he turn against her one day? How would a fight between the two of them go?
“Very well. I think a duel sounds like a great idea. What do you think, Marcus?” Sofia grinned.
“What the —” Marcus stuttered, but it was too late.
Alistair was preparing the whole time for Sofia to give the word. If she said no, he had something different up his sleeve, but her approval made things much easier.
It was one of the most unfair fights of Alistair’s brief combat career, but he reminded himself it was also unfair that Marcus killed innocent people to gain power.
He [Dashed] forward, pushing his new Agility to its limit, a [Hand of Karma] already prepared in his right hand with a [Mana Strike] in his left. He wasn’t about to leave anything to chance, palm striking Marcus square in the chest with his [Hand of Karma]. The red Karmic energy dispersed into the man’s body, traveling to his very soul, cutting off most of the lines of Fate in which Marcus successfully escaped.
Alistair followed up with the [Mana Strike] in his left hand, his energy-cloaked fist landing a devastating straight to Marcus’s jaw. The familiar feeling of bones crunching under his knuckles was followed up with a shockwave as he sent Marcus flying into the wall.
The difference the Terragen Wraps made was palpable even after a single blow. He literally felt his hand grow heavier as he was [Dashing] and preparing his strike. His extra stats and new item combined to make his [Mana Strike] multiple times stronger than before. Perhaps he could even one-shot Alexandra with her absurd Constitution and health pool, Alistair mused.
In a testament to his own Constitution and willpower, Marcus managed to get up from the wall he smashed into. The lower half of his face was a gruesome sight, his jaw hanging on by a few strands of skin, looking like one of Oliver’s zombies. Despite his injury, his face was full of rage, and he directed it toward a single source: Alistair.
With more speed than should have been possible, Marcus charged at Alistair, the man he was speaking to before frantically running out of his path of destruction. In a possible homage to the drunken brawlers across the multiverse, his skin exuded a psychoactive spiritual substance that disoriented the senses, similar to the effect of being drunk. Unfortunately for the Brawler, Alistair had his [Eyes of Truth], and his vision was unaffected by the defensive Skill.
He wanted to use his new [Void Beckoning] Skill during the fight, but he felt it most prudent to not show Sofia all his cards. Despite his pledge of loyalty, it was always up in the air if her actions conflicted with his Dao.
Instead, Alistair sidestepped Marcus’s clumsy punch and delivered the final blow of the fight, an overhead double-fisted [Mana Strike] straight to the spine. Marcus keeled over, dead before he hit the ground.
While he was glad he hadn’t chickened out of his task, Alistair felt no joy in the taking of his enemy’s life. Despite the evil he had committed, he still had a family. A mother and father that loved him.
He said a small prayer for Marcus’s soul, wherever it was. Some Daoist Hell seemed likely, based on all the elements of Daoism that the Final Frontier Empire proved were real.
A notification popped up in his peripheral vision, but he ignored it as he turned to Sofia, who was looking at him with what Alistair thought was newfound respect, though he couldn't be sure as his [Eyes of Truth] had worn off.
“Many things about me might surprise you,” Alistair intimated. Every time he tried to sound mysterious or cool, he ended up looking dumb.
“I’m sure.”
Sofia stood up from her chair and walked over to Alistair, draping her arm around his shoulder. “Let’s discuss our next move.”