"We can’t tell the others about this, no way," I said to Nikita in a private message. Her dark face turned into a broad smile that could light up the room.
"Sure thing. Don’t let them feel anything is off. Enjoy the drinks and food, please."
I wasn’t in the mood to do so, but I tried my best. Despite the persistent private messages from both Scarlet and Katya, I assured them that everything was all right, more or less. Dave had contacted me to threaten with more fights and what not. That was all they needed to know, at least for now.
36
The finals came much quicker than I would’ve liked. After all, the battle with Dave and his minions, as well the death threats, were very much still fresh in my mind. It couldn’t be helped, so I put on a brave face and a big smile. It was enough that Nikita knew how I felt inside.
"Hey, I need to ask you something," I said in a private message to Nikita. "It’s getting confusing. How should I call and think of you? The old geezer is dead, so why stick to Sylvia? Nikita is a damn fine and strong name."
She chuckled in turn and winked.
"Nikita it is then, Aiden. Once we’re home, I’d like to speak to you about… earlier with Dave. For now, please focus on the finals. I really want that castle."
I flashed her an honest smile in turn and nodded.
"Tonight we dine at the top of the keep."
"Hey, what are you two whispering about?" Katya demanded as she got into my face, her eyes narrowed on mine.
"Umm, nothing really?" I replied with a half-question. "Talking about the battle ahead. I was wondering if there was a chance we might get jumped, just like with the last battle."
"Right, right. Whatever. We only got a few minutes left, so move it," she replied and pulled me after her.
"No worries," Nikita messaged me as she took her place to my other side. "Tonight you’re mine anyway."
Already lost in thoughts and imagining all the things we’d do to each other, we arrived at the square to a massive crowd as last of the finalists. Not that it mattered where we were, but it was mostly showing respect to the game, the opponents and the tournament.
"And here they are!" boomed a voice in the square as two men appeared on a raised podium. I cursed under my breath when I noticed it were the same two idiots who done the commentary during WR 25. Though I couldn’t help but feel a bit of nostalgic. Another time, another life.
"Sure thing they are! I have to say, this is something I have been looking forward to for a long time, this tournament. The prizes are insane, the players strong and vicious. Let us see the clans participating in--"
"You really going to listen to them?" Scarlet asked. I shook my head and turned to her.
"Nah. Was just caught up in the moment. It felt for a brief instance as if we were back in WR 25, so I got caught off guard."
She looked away and chewed on her bottom lip.
"Yeah, I felt the same just now. All of a sudden I don’t really feel like doing this anymore. We already got what we came for, no? A keep. Even if it’s one without a moat. Can’t we skip the battle and go?"
"No, you can’t," Nikita interrupted. Scarlet scowled at the AI, obviously annoyed by the interruption. "The rules state that you have to compete in order to be eligible. If you want to lose, that’s your call," she said and looked at me, "But we have to attend."
"I see," Scarlet whispered. There was no fight left in her, and that meant we were a healer short. I sighed and put my arms around her, kissed her forehead and pulled her close to me.
"Come on, please. Just one more?" I asked and kissed her earlobe. She pushed away angrily and frowned.
"What? You think you can earn my loyalty by showing me a little bit of affection every now and then?"
"No, wait, what are you--"
"Tonight, you are mine! I haven’t had you in weeks!"
"No, we already had plans," Nikita interjected. Just then, the pop ups to join the battle appeared. Dineth, Monica, Larina, Renee and Katya disappeared with a flash leaving the three of us behind.
"He’s either mine, or I won’t join the finals!"
"You nasty little--"
"Stop. Please. I can have both, I’ll make it work. First I’ll spend my time with Scarlet, and then with you, Nikita."
"No, not good enough. You’ll hurry up and leave me half satisfied!"
"How about the three of us do it together, tonight. I promise that you will be taken care off first. So please--"
"Bah! With her? She threatened to have us tortured!"
"You know, showing a little bit of humility wouldn’t hurt," Nikita shot back. "And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry for reacting like that."
Scarlet’s right eyebrow raised slightly as a smile crept up her pixie-shaped face.
"An apology from Nikita? All right! That’s what I’m talking about! Come on, let’s do this!"
Both Nikki and I were at an obvious loss for words. I wanted to scream and tell Scarlet to stop acting like a spoiled brat, but no, I wouldn’t. I knew she was entitled to the apology, as well as to some private time with me. She was neglected, in all honesty, no matter how I looked at it. We accepted the summons and appeared in the same clearing for the last time today.
Our opponents were basically a mirror of our party in classes. Two Vampires, two Wights, two Werewolves and a Mage and Ranger duo. I wasn’t really looking forward to this fight just then, as Werewolves had really nasty health regen as well as physical resistance. I had no idea how to tackle the battle, so I gave them free reign. Do whatever you want, but support each other. The two Wights were especially troublesome due to their attack and paralysis spells, but we would make do.
"Halt their tanks and target the middle line. We’ll try and get up close with our counterparts," I ordered and made my way once the buzzer sounded off. The Werewolves ignored me as I thought they would, but one of the Vamps gunned straight for me. We clashed not a dozen feet from the Banshees, which irked my opponent to no end. He kept looking back between me and his team mates, as if afraid I’d go at them. No, I wouldn’t. He was my opponent.
I thrust my claws at him, but he avoided both attacks and parried with his own blows. One struck me in the shoulder, the second glanced off my claw. I grinned when I noticed the amount of damage he caused and went on the offensive. My opponent however, was dumbstruck that he’d only managed to hit me for 4% of my total health pool with a normal attack.
"Would you mind dying?" I asked the man and used my self-buffs, then slashed at his open side two times. One caught him off guard, and struck a critical blow that decreased his attack by 30% for ten seconds. He staggered backward with his eyes wide open.
"How? How are you doing this? Surely you must be cheating!" the man yelled and struck back, but his blows were nothing compared to mine. I grinned and savored every moment. This is how it felt when you were at the top of the food chain. As I was lost in thought, he struck me with three skills and took a chunk out of my health bar. I winced and targeted the Banshee closest to me. Vampiric Bite followed by Bat Swarm to confuse the hell out of them. It worked. The first Banshee fell with three more hits, and the second after half of the combo.
"No! You monster!" the mage cried and rushed me, sending bolts of thunder and fire balls my way. Three struck me andparalyzed me. The Vampire dug in again and assailed me with all he had, accompanied by the Ranger and Mage. I cursed as my health was dwindling rapidly. But Nikita was there right away. With little less than no effort, she ended both the Ranger and Mage, leaving the Vampire to me. Everything went black for a long moment, then the lights from the square filled my eyes.
"We have our first champions! Clan Eclipse has won the level 39 bracket and received the grand prize! A castle the size of a keep with a battle moat that cannot be destroyed! Congratulations!" one of the commentators announced.
"Now onto the second battle. Go, go and goooo!"
How anticlimactic. Was that everything? I mean seriously, I’d hoped there would be a grand
parade and what not in our name, but instead, just a slap on the back and get lost. All right, I had to admit, we were the lowest bracket possible, so we meant little more than nothing. I sighed again and turned to my group.
"Fuck yeah! We did it!" I cheered and put my arms around all four of my women. Somehow, I managed to hold onto them for a few long seconds before they pushed me away, all except Nikita.
"The item should be in your mail system. Also, we get to choose one of the weaker regions as our own. Others will try to take it from us, but whatever. We’ll have a month to ourselves."
"Why the long faces?" Dineth growled angrily. "We just won the fucking bracket! Give me a fucking roar!"
Renee took the bait and roared in her sweet voice accompanied by Dineth and his two girls. I chuckled and shook my head. Yeah, I could make a fool out of myself, no problem. I roared with them and didn’t care about anyone or anything that might think any less of us. Today was a special day in more ways than one and I was going to enjoy it.
I opened my mail and found a list of names attached to the castle, among which was Bahamut Lake. The area was gorgeous and warm enough to see myself living there in peace for a while. The further I scrolled along the area names, the more curious I became. The last one was something that blew me out of my socks however. The area’s name was Gobi. It was no small town with a few buildings, it was a full blown city, and the entrance to the Oblivion map and content. Surely it would be an interesting area to control.
"Which one of the starting zones do you guys like most?" I asked and linked the names. Scarlet, Katya and Nikita all chose Gobi, with Dineth choosing a name I’d never seen. I was enlightened that it was an Orcish village. No thanks. Monica and Larina were indifferent, so Gobi it would be then.
I opened the parcel and found three new items in my inventory. Gobi Keep, Keep Guardian, and a quest scroll. I hovered over it with my eyes only to find a quest chain waiting for us called Upgrading Gobi Keep. Great. More chopping wood and whatever we would need. Next I hovered above the Guardian item. It was a white egg with green and blue scales adorning the egg all over its crust.
Error. Unable to use item. Item needs to be bound to castle.
"All right then. Let’s build our castle then."
37
"Why don’t we stay until the end?" Scarlet asked. I could feel she was reluctant to go to Gobi. We’d met Misty there and were reunited in a way with Dave and Natalia. If only for a second.
"Well, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get to other, more important matters. You know?"
Her eyes lit up and the corners of her mouth rose slightly.
"Oh, right," she chuckled and cuddled up to me. Katya’s and Renee’s stares told me volumes, but I had to make decisions. Living our lives like this would always bother someone, or they might feel less wanted or loved, but all I could do was to try and prove I did care about them. And this was the first step, bring back Scarlet and myself to a certain level.
We ported to Gobi one after the other and found ourselves right on the bazaar. An emissary of the local AI lord met us there and offered to show us three plots of land for the Keep. Luckily, we didn’t have to walk as I was getting impatient. He teleported us first to one spot, a desolate waste surrounded by nothing but sand and an oasis. The second was just outside of town hewn into a mountain, while the third was the marble mansion itself. I frowned and looked at the building.
"Wouldn’t that be such a waste? I mean, look at it. And where would the NPCs live?"
"Oh, no worries. The building would take on the look of a castle and there would be a small office in the courtyard for the officials and chambers for the servants. Do not trouble yourselves with it. However, each time the town is razed because of the raids, it will be up to you to finance the repairs."
"Hmm," I muttered and looked at Nikita. Without the need to be questioned, she gave me the information.
"It would cost us about a million coin to repair everything from scratch. We can farm the necessary amount as we are in four days. But with each level of upgrades, the cost grows. Not only does the keep change appearance, but the shacks and hovels and homes as well. With each level, the cost goes up by 100%. First it’s 1 million, then 2, 4, 8 and at level 5 it’s 16 million. However, we can only be attacked once. And I doubt they will raze everything to the ground, as, if they win, it will be up to them to repair everything from their own wallets."
"I see. That’s both good and bad news. We should assume that Gobi will be targeted every month as it’s a hot commodity in my eyes, especially once upgraded."
"Hmm, I’m not so sure. It’s more of a starter town. Not much tax to be earned. In any case, I suggest you take this spot. It will look fabulous, all of the walls and towers made from granite, marble and gold. The girls will like it."
"All right ladies, I’ve decided!" I announced in group chat immediately. "We take the town and will make a metropolis out of it. You will co-own the most beautiful building in Hazard!"
"And you saw it fit to discuss everything without us? Just with Nikita?" Katya asked, her arms crossed over her chest.
"Not discussed. I decided it myself. All I asked her is how expensive the repairs were, nothing else."
"Liar. I saw you stare at her tits. I’m sure you’ve been talking behind our back how and what and whom and what way!"
I gave her my dumbest look that I could think of, and she couldn’t help but smirk in turn. We as a collective burst into a fit of laughter, which was something we’d sorely needed.
"Jokes aside, I don’t think this spot is supposed to be available," Katya said and looked at Nikita.
"Who knows," the Overmind shrugged. The corners of her mouth turned upward, barely noticeable, but I could see it. She’d done something naughty again, the little witch.
"Right. Whatever the case, how about you let me finish before we’re interrupted by someone?" I asked and stared at the AI NPC. "We choose this third location. How fast can it be done?"
"My lord! In seconds! This world works in mysterious ways! Just activate the item in your inventory and choose the third option!"
I looked at him suspiciously, but nodded and went ahead. A message popped up before me and I accepted. In seconds, the earth started shaking violently as the building exploded and sprouted anew from the ground. My heart skipped a beat as it felt like the keep would rise into the heavens, but no, it stopped somewhere at about thirty feet at the outer wall. A moat appeared out of nowhere, five foot width and ten deep with a majestic portcullis and drawbridge.
"The fuck is that?" Dineth asked, his voice a pitch higher than usual. "It’s so pretty!"
"Hah! It sure is, you green bastard! So, who wants to go check out our new home?" They couldn’t help but beam in delight. Neither of us had the chance to do it alone, except Nikita, but they didn’t have to know as much. It was something we all created for our clan. Would it grow? Most likely. It remained to be seen.
The inside of the keep was as impressive as the outside. Stables, barracks, an office, a fountain at the dead center and many more buildings were scattered across the big area. NPC AIs milled around and organized things, started working on their new jobs, or took their position on the walls and at the gates.
Black and white marble that was adorned with gold rose from the ground up. It was too much for my taste, but I couldn’t help it but stare at the four towers and think how feminine it looked. The central building was walled in by another wall and surrounded by smaller towers, but it was easily a hundred feet wide and 80 deep. More than enough for all of us.
Inside, a great open space with a table with thirty chairs greeted us. At the far end, a great fireplace blazed and radiated heat all the way to the door. Must be the game mechanic, I thought and walked past the first set of pillars. There were twenty of them that kept the building upright. To the right of the fireplace sat a throne with four smaller replicas, two to each side.
"Thanks," I said in private to Nikit
a.
"No problem. I’ve taken some liberties here, but I think you’re going to be thankful to me in the long run."
"Oh, I have no doubts about that baby, but won’t it raise any red flags?"
"Even if it did, the ordinary techs would never dare raise such a question with their superiors."
"I see. How do we get up to our quarters?"
"Tell the system you want to go up. Duh." She chuckled and swirled around playfully.
"I want to go to our quarters," I said to no one in particular. The castle prompted me three options: the master suite, the officer’s suite and the recruit suites. Then I remembered that I hadn’t given anyone their ranks and groaned. I opened the clan menu and observed. Leader, one spot. Officer, four spots and found myself having no idea how to proceed except as with Dineth. I assigned him one of the officer ranks.
"Hell yeah! I was about to ask but was embarrassed," he cheered and gave me a monstrous bear hug. I coughed and pushed away from him, then looked at Nikita for guidance.
"How do I proceed with the room and rank allocation? I want all four of you to be with me on my floor, so how do we go about it?"
Renee, Katya and Scarlet looked about nervously. I could see it in their eyes that they weren’t comfortable with this question and especially with the outcome.
"That’s a hard one. I have no idea," Nikita said. But before anyone could protest, she raised her hand. "However, I will… play with the system that all of us are recognized as his… spouses so we can get there without problems. We can’t have ranks obviously, or we’d be located in the officer’s suite. I will do the same for Larina and Monica so they can stay with Dineth. He has a quarter of a wing for himself, so they will have sufficient room for the three of them. I’m sure of it."
"So all four of you get your own quarter as well? At least something is going to plan."
Hazard Online 2: Revenge Page 21