Ultimatum: The Proving Grounds

by Wade Adrian

She nodded. “I see. Thank you.”

  Odd that she would be chosen over Tim. Granted, the stuff was more meant for casters, but he could probably still use the stamina boost, and he would be all about black.

  Toby glanced around the room.

  Tim wasn’t there.

  “Hey, uh… where’s Tim?”

  He glanced off to the side where the group names were listed. Killian was not among them, but Liani was. That was Carol. Had he been rotated out?

  Paul leaned on the table. “You didn’t see?” He sighed. “Tim… acted against orders.” He shook his head and picked up a bit of white cloth from the table. He held it out to Toby. “He was out in the field fighting with you when you were using Rage. He knew the risks.”

  Toby’s eyes dropped to the white bundle. The anonymity hood.

  “He says this is yours now. You’ll get the most use out of it, if it works on you.”

  Tim was gone?

  Toby’s shoulders slumped. “But… damn it.” He shook his head.

  Claire laid a hand on his shoulder. “He’s outside putting in the dinner order.”

  “Well, yeah, but…”

  Paul shook his hand holding the hood. “The fight goes on, soldier.”

  Toby took hold of the hood. It had no stats to speak of, its only function was the one Tim had coveted it for. And the PK guild had coveted it, too.

  He didn’t want it. Tim was the one that made Toby feel most welcome here. He had treated him with abject disrespect, just like he expected.

  He wanted his friend back.

  He sighed. Tim wanted him to wear it. So he would wear it.

  He removed the black helmet and pulled the hood on. Nothing looked any different, really.

  Paul nodded. “Seems to work. Certainly a boon given the current situation.”

  Claire tilted her head. “Is that good, though? I mean, in certain situations, sure, but those people who showed up did so to help Tobin Ironblood.”

  “Hmm.” Paul rubbed at his beard. “You might have a point.”

  Even without the helmet, his armor was more than twice what it had been, and his stamina was much higher. He slid the hood back off of his head. Maybe he could put the helmet on, too…

  Claire blinked. “Hey, the nameplate is back.”

  “Eh?” Toby looked up, but of course could not see his own nameplate. “It is?”

  Jesse stepped up and grabbed hold of the hood. She pulled it up over his head, then slid it back again. “Neat. It only functions when the hood is up.”

  Toby tried to equip the black helmet, but he got an error message. Up or down, the hood counted as equipped.

  Hmm. Just as well. He might not have time to monkey in his inventory to find it, but it would be easy enough to pull the hood up or down.

  He set the black helmet on the table in front of Paul. “Guess this is you, then.”

  Paul nodded and removed his own. He handed it off to Claire.

  She wrinkled up her nose at the helmet. “Stuffy.”

  “Live saving.”

  “Limits my field of view.”

  “Limits the field of arrows hitting your face.”

  She seemed to consider that. “Okay, fair point.”

  Carol held up her arms and turned around. She had a raven stark cloak and a new black hat, though the rest of her clothing remained colorful. She looked up at the hat by rolling her eyes upward. “I dunno. It’s… not exactly happy. Can I dye it?”

  Paul shook his head. “Afraid not. This gear is specially set to pure black.”

  Jesse wiggled her fingers. “Because awesome.”

  Toby frowned. He missed Tim’s barbs. They had always been the most fun and understandable.

  He pulled his hood back up. “Alright, we moving out?”

  “Pretty much.” Paul picked up the last object from the table. It was Bulorn’s axe. He turned it over in his hands before placing it into his inventory.

  Toby tilted his head. “What’s the story with that? I figured it delayed the game saying he was attacking.”

  Paul nodded. “Yes. It’s an axe of Hidden Intent. Every few seconds it will delay showing the player’s attack animation. The axe is so slow you still saw the end of it. If a dagger or sword has the suffix, you would never see the swing, just the damage.”

  Toby blinked a few times. He would have been long dead if that had been the case. “Damn.”

  “Indeed. Of course, the axe does more damage. If he had been better with it, you might have lost. That was an impressive display, by the way. And I don’t mean the rage killing spree.”

  “Heh. Thanks.”

  Jesse had moved up behind him and was openly staring at the sword. “Why does it look so different now?”

  Toby shrugged. “Supposed to get stronger as I do, right?”

  “Yeah… but it looked the same until today. Until you fought B-guy.”

  “Bulorn.”

  “Him, yes.” She leaned in closer. “Hey, it has something in the window now.”

  Toby looked over his shoulder. She was still looking at the sword. He drew it and held it up. Its pop up screen in his inventory showed its name, like it always had… and a counter.

  Soulbreaker

  Rank 3

  10/25

  “Uhh…” Toby scratched at the top of his head. “Okay.”

  Paul raised an eyebrow. “What does it say?”

  “Rank three, ten of twenty five.”

  “Huh.” Claire noticeably put her new helmet into her inventory and not onto her head. “Sounds like a quest.”

  “Kinda, huh?”

  Paul shook his head as he placed the other few objects from the table into his inventory and turned for the door. “It’s not a quest. It’s a head count.”

  “Wait, so…” He turned the sword a bit, light playing over the black metal. “It gets stronger when I kill… players?”

  He nodded. “Seems so. It kept pace when you leveled anyway, but it seems that killing players gave it a boost. Or at least a cosmetic makeover. I didn’t notice its rank two form, or if rank one was the standard form.”

  Toby frowned a bit as he put the sword away. It had always been something removed from the game. Alien. Different. But it had been his. Now it seemed… less like the sword he had been using all this time.

  Or maybe the sentiment was stemming from Tim being removed from the party.

  After Paul headed out Toby grabbed hold of Claire’s arm while the others meandered out. “Hey…”

  “Hmm?” She raised an eyebrow.

  “What happened to Tim?”

  She frowned. “He knew better, but he went out there anyway. It could have happened to any of us.”

  “Yeah… I get that. But what happened?”

  She shrugged and started to leave but he stepped in front of her.

  “Claire… please.”

  At this point… he was pretty sure he had been directly responsible. If not, they would have told him by now.

  But he needed to be sure.

  “Did I do it? Did I kill Tim?”

  She looked away, her eyes on the floor. She nodded.

  “Okay. Thanks.”

  He turned for the door, but she grabbed his arm. “It wasn’t your fault. He shouldn’t have been out there, but he wanted to help. Some of them got by and were trying to get behind you. Our archers couldn’t drop them fast enough, so he just stepped off the edge of the wall and appeared down there. He jumped between them, and he was doing well, right up until…”

  The two targets behind him. He had only heard one, but there had been two.

  And he had swung at them indiscriminately.

  Just swirling shapes.

  Enemies.

  “Thanks.” He nodded and pulled away from her grip.

  He needed to be outside. It was stuffy in the tent.

  With the help of their shiny new horses, group one made it back to the church town thing place in record time. A few of the faster followers traile
d them, but by and large the rest of their people were well behind.

  Of course, they could log out anywhere and be safe. So they had that going for them. Toby intended to leave the anonymous hood up when he left. Let people see nothing but his name when they tried to find him. After a day of people trying to murder him? Fuck ‘em.

  Besides, that had not been the entirety of the Seven Eyes guild. A quick search revealed that. More were still out there, and they probably had the same goal.

  It had been dark for some time when they returned. The town was lit up. All the wooden buildings surrounding the old church seemed to have lights. NPCs wandered around, but there were players amongst them as well. This was becoming something of a hub, especially for members of the Kingsmen.

  People saluted as the party rode by, but that was more for Paul, Toby was sure. Especially given that his nameplate was missing at the moment. Any time he didn’t need to be visible, he didn’t want to be.

  Carol rode with them as the new sixth member. She didn’t have her husband’s dry wit, but she had been personable enough in the past and she could lay some veritable smacks down. That did mean Toby was the only melee DPS now, and that Tim’s handy dandy teleporting ability was gone. They’d just have to make due.

  Perhaps they had come to rely on his shadow stepping too much anyway.

  Toby found his way to the large chair left for him and sat, Soulbreaker in hand.

  The longer dark hair he had chosen fell out of the front of the hood here and there, hiding his face even more.

  Jesse crouched down in front of him as people moved about inside. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re starting to look kinda evil.”

  He nodded. “Seems to be what Miller planned, given the sword.”

  “I’m not complaining.” She shrugged. “I mean, how could I?” She waved her arms, the long black sleeves trailing behind. “I’m rocking only the latest in ‘Wicked Witch’ fashions myself.” She leaned in. “You could fix the cape, you know.”

  “Eh?”

  “Color match.” She pointed at the cloak. “Capes can change to match other cloth bits. You have a cloth hood.”

  He opened his character sheet. There was such an option. Huh. He hadn’t had time to be overly concerned with appearances before. Hell, he still didn’t have time to be concerned with appearances… but the option was right there. He tapped it.

  The dark blue cloth he was sitting on became bright white, though the gray fur mantle remained the same color.

  He was certainly becoming monochrome.

  But at least it matched. He gave Jesse a nod. “Thanks. Look less like a clown now.”

  She tilted her head back and forth. “The white helps. Don’t look as evil anymore.”

  “Pfft. Black armor out the wazoo, hidden face, not to mention the sword that seems to eat people.”

  She nodded. “All of which is badass and pretty metal. But white is innocence, peace, and purity.”

  “I think you mean surrender.”

  “I studied color theory, so shut your face.”

  “I did too.”

  “Then you know it’s not a bad look. You’ve got a yin and yang thing going on.”

  He lifted Soulbreaker. “Pointy death spike kinda throwing off the balance vibe.”

  “So wear it at your waist. It will be mostly hidden by the cloak.”

  “Hmm. Maybe.”

  Tim’s ghostly voice could be heard from far away… as if reaching out to Toby from beyond the grave.

  He said the pizza had arrived.

  21

  The break room was in high spirits. While some had fallen, most had been from the new group and seemed happy to get mowed down for the cause. The raid group made up of devs was still in tact. Tim had been replaced by Carol to fill out group one, and Bill had swapped into group two.

  The alternates were getting thin.

  Toby was quiet as he sat in the same booth they had the first night. He stared at the two slices of pizza that sat before him. They were combo. A bit of everything under the sun short of pineapple. People who put pineapple on pizza are sick in the head.

  He really didn’t have much of an appetite.

  The talk in the room was lively, and most seemed happy. The few dissenters seemed to be those who were locked out now, and their regret was not being able to see things through.

  Claire sat beside Toby making faces at her own plate. “Pizza. Again. Goddamn it I swear we had pizza yesterday.”

  “Day before.” Tim shrugged. “Though there was some left in the fridge yesterday.”

  She glared up at him. “Is this your doing? Your way of rebelling against us for what happened?”

  He nodded a few times as his eyes grew wider. “And my heinous plan has come to fruition.” He shook his head and rolled his eyes. “No. They were ordering it before I dropped out. Though I did show up in time to get something other than pepperoni. So, you’re welcome.”

  “Huh.” She prodded the pizza with her index finger a few times. “So the feds are still up there, huh?”

  “Yup. Don’t look to be going anywhere soon, either.”

  “They got any leads? We’re sort of running low on bodies.”

  “Don’t know. They’re cagey on the details. Doubt they trust us very far, or think we wouldn’t understand their super high tech world.”

  “I see.” Claire looked back down at her plate. “So that’s their plan. Trying to kill us slowly with all this pizza.”

  Jesse nodded. “Oh, yeah. Sugary tomato paste and processed dairy. We’re done for.”

  Carol rolled her eyes. “We can go get something else, you whiners.”

  Jerry and Paul were missing. Not unusual for Paul, really. Bill was at another table, having been made a member of group two. They had their own things to discuss. Probably also pizza related, unless they were trying to be professional or something.

  Toby hadn’t looked up yet. He was mildly afraid to.

  Tim was the one he probably talked to outside the least, but inside the game the most. He always seemed reasonable, if cynical, and had always put himself on the line for the mission. Right up until the end.

  Toby lifted his eyes. “I’m sorry I-”

  Tim held up a hand. “Don’t worry about it, kid. My fault. I knew the risks and went anyway.”

  Carol smiled beside him. “Besides, it’s not like he’s going anywhere. Paul had him on monitor duty to keep tabs on the data in the pit for us.”

  “Joy of joys.” Tim rolled his eyes.

  She punched his shoulder softly. “Be nice, dear.”

  “This is me being nice.” He shrugged and turned his gaze back to Toby. “But you need to be more careful from now on. I won’t be there to watch your back. And you’ve only got these…” He waved at Carol and Jesse, “glory hounds to help you.”

  Both women glared at him but he didn’t seem to notice as he pointed at Claire. “So you keep a sharp eye. It’s only going to get harder.”

  She gave a curt nod. “I’m on it.”

  He nodded back. “Then I’ll take on my Alfred role and be as happy as I can about it.”

  Toby smiled a bit. “That was a good rescue, though. I had no idea that guy was behind me.”

  “Of course.” Tim scoffed. “How could I do less for my badass rescue bro?” He held up a closed fist, knuckles toward Toby.

  Toby bumped it with his own first. “Right on.”

  Carol rolled her eyes, but Jesse leaned across Claire and held up her fist. “Hell yeah. Badass rescue… siblings.”

  Tim shook his head at her. “No way, you gotta earn that shit.”

  Jesse looked downright crestfallen as she slipped back into her seat. “Aww.” She slumped in her seat.

  Toby rolled his eyes and held up his fist in front of Claire. Jesse was seated on the other side of her. “Badass outfit siblings?”

  Jesse punched his fist. “Aww yeah. You know it.”

  Tim shook his head. “You’re chea
pening the brand.”

  Jesse glared at him.

  Toby was back in the game and comparing stats less than an hour later. Paul had given them the night off, given that all that madness had been beneficial in a roundabout way. For the survivors anyway. Toby had hit level thirty somewhere in all that mess. Probably when he couldn’t see what was really happening.

  He wasn’t ready to head out just yet.

  Thirty had given him a new ability. Another defensive one… though it was just as passive as Uncanny Dodge. He’d gained a passive damage resistance score of five. Five points of every hit were negated entirely. Certainly not huge, especially at level thirty, but against a lot of small hits it would stack up.

  He’d spent the stats points as before. Every five points was three stamina, two strength. He didn’t even consider changing the leveling scheme, pile of stamina from his new armor or not.

  Tim had died.

  They were mortal.

  He needed to plan for that.

  The skill points were… a larger issue. He ended up spending a few to make Rage stronger, even if he didn’t intend to use it. He had a feeling in the end it would be him swinging madly at whatever form Miller took, and once things got that far cutting down other players accidentally wouldn’t be a major concern.

  But he also dumped a few points into Uncanny Dodge to make its chance of going off stack faster, and the last few into upping the damage of combos. They were his claim to fame, after all.

  Not much new, really. Just more of what he already did.

  At least… unless there was some new facet to Soulbreaker to go along with its makeover. The stat sheet still didn’t tell him anything of use. The best he could figure was by comparing it to other items, which always implied Soulbreaker was better in every way.

  The hand laid on his arm surprised him. He jumped a bit in the real world, but he was seated in the game and didn’t move.

  “Hey.” Claire’s voice. He relaxed a bit. He was safe in the church. The entire town was safe now. The safe zone even stretched beyond the buildings a bit. And the buildings closest to the church had grown beyond their humble ramshackle wood beginnings. They were made of wood and stone now. It almost looked like a proper city.

  He looked up. “What’s up?”