Flossindune

Chapter 92

Added 2023-08-14 18:41:14 +0000 UTC

Atlanta - 10:01 AM

I zoomed through the streets of Atlanta at speeds I couldn’t have reached before I purchased the Parachute Pants of Agility and obtained their Parkour Expert passive. The wheels on my Heelies of Hermes were doing double time. If they had been a regular pair of Heelies or even roller blades then I would have been worried about wearing them down to nothing due to the high speeds they brought me.

It was a moot point, anyway; even if they did wear down, the washer back at the Angel Express would rejuvenate it without issue. Even without that, the fact that they were so hardy made them incredible utility items. No matter how often I used my Warmind abilities, the Divine Messenger passive that came standard was without a doubt a contender for number one most used ability.

[[Skill]]

Divine Messenger

When traveling on the Heelies of Hermes' wheels, gain a boost up to double your speed in accordance to how full your inventory is. You may also use the wheels indefinitely as long as you are on level ground or a downwards slope.

It helped that downtown Atlanta was fairly easy to navigate. At times I would have to switch to running, but not often. The place I was heading for was close to the Merder Stadium safe zone, situated only a block away. I could have used Broken Boundary to return to the World Congress Center and make it over much faster, but I didn’t want to introduce the world to Warmonger in such a way.

The Warmonger should be a whirlwind of eccentricity. Simply walking through a glowing door wouldn’t be enough, it had to be loud, boisterous. It had to get people talking and pointing and, in some cases, a little upset. I was under no delusions that the Anthony of several runs ago would be embarrassed to be caught acting up like I planned to, but I wasn’t the same man. Not that I was immune to embarrassment, but I could deal with any shame to reach my goal.

“Alright,” I said out loud as I navigated one of the few streets the Goblins hadn’t cleared. “So, the coward. Guess I should let you in on all that.”

[[Patron Message]]

If you want to plan, feel free. I’m going to be seeing it all very soon so I don’t mind waiting but I also don’t mind the… You humans call them spoilers, right? I don’t mind spoilers.

Sincerely,

Sara

“Yes, spoilers,” I chuckled. “Not quite so much, but there’s a lot of context that’s not going to be explained as I take care of the things I need to take care of. Also, hold up a minute.”

A pack of beasts up ahead caught my eyes. Since I was avoiding the safe zone until my big debut, it wasn’t something unexpected. However, even though I saw the monsters that didn’t mean I had to slow down for them. I continued wheeling forward as more of them came into view.

Trats were a universal monster during the times of the first scenario. Unless you went to places of extreme cold, there was a good chance that you would find them lurking damn near everywhere. The hairless rat-like creatures that oozed paralyzing mucus from their pores were going to be mostly extinct within the next week or so as their stats were quickly passed by the players.

Their ears perked up as they heard me coming, and their beady black eyes quickly shifted towards me. Some of the Trats began hissing and growling at me, while others let their long, toad-like tongues hang out of their mouths as if to make sure I knew it was a bad idea to mess with them. Any pack that had survived this long would know to run when a human was coming due to the danger they brought, and this one looked no different.

With a glance, I noticed the glass shards near their feet. While the Goblins hadn’t cleared a path here, that didn’t mean the area was safe from looters or other monsters. Vehicles of all kinds were missing windows or doors, with trunks dented and opened or tore off entirely. A quick count showed seven Trats and two Alpha Trats, bigger and more powerful versions of the original recipe. I snorted.

Without stopping Divine Messenger, I began Lifting the glass and debris two at a time underneath them. Shards pierced through the first pair of Trats, slicing through their torsos and coming clean out the other side before I moved on to the next. Decades - no, centuries - of practice made this easy for me. Glass rained towards the sky as I shifted my attention from pair to pair.

I was confident in my abilities as a Warmind, but some things never changed. Getting used to Split was one of those. Because there was no dampening in its power, the ability took a lot of focus to pull off. Just like teleporting, it was something that was strange at first. Something to get used to as you used it more.

By the time I passed by the Trats they were all lying on the ground, skin perforated and blood staining the road where they once stood. Some had tried to flee once they realized what was happening, but none of them made it far.

[[Victory!]]

You have defeated x2 Alpha Trat. +4 points.

You have defeated x7 Trats. +7 points.

“Almost not worth it,” I muttered to myself as I snapped away the victory screen.

At the very beginning, Alpha Trats had been worth 5 points and their more common versions were worth 2 points each. If regular monsters were treated the same way as boss monsters, then they would have had the Dormant prefix attached to them, which meant that they were weaker than the scenarios intended for them. Trats certainly weren’t an issue for most of the people who fought regularly these days, that’s for sure.

“Where was I? Right, spoilers and context.” I turned onto another street. “So Howard the Coward is the guy’s nickname. Got it when he was really young and it stuck. Not to say he’s some bastion of bravery or anything; he’s not going to be getting into any fights if he had his way of things. So the biggest thing about Howard is that he was a gambling addict before the system showed up. Still is, actually. Right now he’s under the ‘protection’ of some less than scrupulous individuals. Hence, saving him.”

[[Patron Message]]

This Howard guy sounds like he won’t be able to bring anything to the party. He’s the one who’s going to be your manager?

Sincerely,

Sara

“Yes, that paints him in a bad light, I know, but the gambling is what gave him his class. He’s a High Roller.” I skirted around to the sidewalk to avoid another party of people. They nodded as I passed, but I didn’t react to them at all other than to give them space.

“The High Roller class doesn’t have a lot of abilities, but the ones they have are well suited for gambling at places like Merder Stadium or casinos. When they bet, they can go above any betting limits that may be in place. Depending on if they win or not, they also get bonus points. For me, where my only worry is how many points I’m going to win from the Chaos Cup, he’s perfect…

“… Except for the part where he might betray me,” I hesitantly admitted. “The reason why I have to save him is because his old loan shark has come to collect. He was in deep and Jacob Branson, the guy he owes, wants what’s owed to him. Not in money anymore, obviously, but in points. And he’s a mean son of a bitch. Very frugal, very pragmatic. Jacob and his buddies are looking to fix the Chaos Cup as best they can to get the most out of it all. They’ll manage six of the sixteen teams, one of which has an MVP on it. An MVP who’s with Howard and Jacob right now, actually.”

[[Patron Message]]

So you know that he has a chance to betray you? If he’s going to do that, I can’t see why the points would possibly be worth it.

Are these the people you’re cutting yourself off from Kayla and Jeff over? I don’t like the thought of you being isolated when this is going on. You can handle yourself, I know, but that doesn’t mean you have to choose to go along with your own personal Judas.

Sincerely,

Sara

I held a hand up to the sky. “I know, this doesn’t sound like a winning strategy. You’re worried about me even though, as you’ve admitted, I can handle myself. I’ve done this plenty of times, and I know what works and what doesn’t.” I paused. “Well, I’ve only done it a couple of times as the Warmonger, but enough to know that everything’s going to be fine by the end. I’m stronger now than I was then.”

[[Patron Message]]

Anthony, you still haven’t alleviated my fears that he’s going to turn on you. I am your girlfriend, I have the right to be worried about you. This 100% doesn’t sound like a winning strategy.

Sincerely,

Sara

“Well, of course it’s not, I want him to sabotage me,” I explained. “You remember when Manny was explaining things? He said that the managers could make bets on the side limiting what their athletes can do. This leads to more points, and that’s exactly what we’re here for, right? I mean, sure, an invite to the next round for even more points are nice, but I can change my manager to Kayla for that. She’ll get experience here, none of the loan shark teams will make it through, and she’d do great.”

[[Patron Message]]

This still sounds like an incredibly ill advised plan. Has this really worked for you before? Points are great, sure, but the way you’re going about it sounds totally wrong.

Sincerely,

Sara

“Of course I’ve done this plan before. And the more limits I have on me, then the more points we win from betting. It’s just math,” I responded defensively. “This is my plan. I’ve done it several times before. I will admit that this plan was born from my own stupidity really early on, but I’ve found the right path to make sure it’s the most lucrative one.”

[[Patron Message]]

What about the points for winning the Chaos Cup? Aren’t those enough for you?

And what if you bite off more than you can chew? This run is different, you can’t say you know what’s going to happen when Kayla and Jeff are running around nearby. The smallest thing can change so much.

Sincerely,

Sara

“Yeah, the Butterfly Effect, I’m familiar,” I retorted with a huff. “Look, just like in Etson, I’m the strongest one here. One team, four teams, eight teams, whatever; I’m the one with the most combat experience. I’m more familiar with one on ones, team battles, raids, everything. Whatever they throw at me, I’m going to win. That’s why I need handicaps. This evens the odds, and it still won’t even be close.”

This time there was a pause.

[[Patron Message]]

What do you mean that you need handicaps?

I winced as I saw that Sara hadn’t bothered signing this one. A part of me was glad for my mask, but another part of me guessed she could see right through it using vague Patron powers. “To get more points. I need handicaps to get more points,” I replied lamely. “After all, I’ve never made it to the end with enough points to save everyone, right? This is the path I came up with to maximize point gain and-“

[[Patron Message]]

Anthony Franklin, are you bored?

My words caught in my throat as I read the short message that appeared before me, and I slowed to a stop as I stared at it. The accusation felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. I had taken great, painful strides towards saving the world and everyone in it. My mind threw off all but the most grievous pain and suffering, my thoughts were sharp and ready to adapt and win. How could I possibly be bored?

And yet when I opened my mouth to tell her that she was wrong, that I was fine, nothing came out. She was my Sara. I couldn’t lie to her, and she knew me better than anyone could.

Centuries of preparation had gone into this final attempt. I had lived far longer than any human ever could, and my mind was a mess due to Regression Imbalance. For the first time in a long time, doubt clouded my thoughts. Were the handicaps necessary? Or was I just trying to get a cheap thrill where I could? What if it did lead to me losing out on points that could have gone into saving people?

Even before the system, I had been a decisive person. I didn’t need a lot of time to think things through and making decisions wasn’t something that caused me a lot of anxiety. So I crossed my arms, pushed the doubt aside, and looked at things as objectively and rationally as possible as I started walking towards my destination.

In my past runs, had I gone off the beaten path to test solutions even though they had a slim chance of working? The answer was yes, obviously. Some had worked out, some had not. Were those time more thrilling to me than aggressively following the path I set for myself?

I had to admit, the answer was still yes.

Thinking back, the time when I was in Stanley was one of the more thrilling times in my run so far. Despite how Pustibule made me feel, it was exhilarating. More so than the Writhing Juggernaut which was basically hitting a checklist of places to visit, but not as much as its evolution or Pustibule messing with Amlex. Finding a whole new boss, discovering secrets about the world that I hadn’t previously known, and recruiting Jeff to Etson had been great in my mind. I had gone off script and, while it had gone well this time, there was a possibility of things going sideways.

In a way, they already had thanks to Pustibule and Jeremiah. Things were still well within the realm of what I considered overall positive even with the surprise death of Gloria. Etson was still on track towards the golden age of healing I expected of them thanks to Gabrielle stepping up. Kayla and Jeff were welcome additions to the team, and interacting with them stabilized me. They showed concern and were ready to stop me from going too far.

I frowned as I thought about that. Why hadn’t I gone and helped Kayla out before? Even when she was brought out of the Kingtin’s mental funk by Mercurial Mind, she had been incredibly wary of me. This was fair, and I never blamed her for that. I chose her because she was small and cute and that was the lowest of the lines I would let myself cross that would cause the victims to firmly plant it in their heads that I was a bad guy. Now that I knew her background as an orphan shunted from house to house, it was like the pieces all clicked.

As I thought it over, I decided it was simply because I didn’t prioritize it. I quickly learned that Stanley was mostly fine when it came to dealing with their main scenario and there were other places that had a higher chance of reward. Whether it was because of Regression Imbalance or because of Esaraphelscion’s Kiss, the boon that apparently made me want to put more good out there in the world, Kayla connecting with me had given me a new path that I barely hesitated to jump on to.

And all it cost me were the most comfortable doomed socks in the world. Now that the mourning period was over, I could wholeheartedly say that it was worth it.

Making it harder to save the world would not have been. I hadn’t broken any concrete plans by going up to Stanley. The decision to go was made quickly, but I felt it came from a healthy mental state. I had slept well and everything leading up to the tutorial had gone exactly as planned. Given the choice was between going to Stanley to save one man, likely saving others in the process, and spending all day in an auction and spending ten minutes talking to a Treasure Hunter so that he would know me later, I thought I made the right one.

I released a breath of air after I had walked a few blocks, running my hand over my hooded head. “So, the answer is maybe,” I admitted to the world around me. “I might be bored. You can only build the same world so many times before it starts to grate on you a little. However, and this is important, this is still the ideal route forward when it comes to risk and reward. High risk, high reward; and that’s the name of the game, isn’t it?”

Just in case she was already ready to send another message, I held a hand up to the sky. This conversation was already getting quite expensive.

“Thank you so, so much for worrying about me,” I said, offering a small smile behind my mask. “As asinine and dangerous as it is, I’m going to stick to this plan because I know it works, but I will feel better knowing that I have my own Guardian Angel watching over me. If anything does change, I’ll need you helping me out. Please, will you keep watching my back?”

A few seconds passed before I got an answer.

[[Patron Message]]

Come on, Ant. You know I’m on your side no matter what. If you think that this is for the best, then do it. I’ll keep watch and warn you of any danger you didn’t already see coming.