The World Which Is, CH 97

Reaching the top of the building Dardanus highlights on my HUD is as simple as running around until I see it, then up its wall to the top. It’s only once I’m there I realize the problem I have. This is a great vantage point over the nearby buildings, but they obstruct my sight of the roads two blocks from me in any direction.

“Dardanus, can you show me where everyone is?”

Forms become highlighted, some in green, others in red. By the numbers I work out green is my team, red Xander’s.

“Thanks.” With only a bit of studying them, I work out which is Brandon. “Brandon, you have someone three blocks ahead, one…to your left.”

“Thanks.” He doesn’t change course, and I realize he probably asked for the same information.

Okay. He’s going for the wall breaking orc, Helen the sorcerer. Silver’s not heading toward anyone at the moment.

How do I help? How do I do the most damage to the Xander’s team? “Highlight the berserker.”

One red form filled completely. He’s alone, unsurprisingly considering he can be just as dangerous to his side as mine.

I take slow breaths, waiting for him to step into a cross street so I have my shot. As soon as he does, I raise the bow and pull—

I nearly fall from vertigo as my vision zooms in with the motion.

That little detail would have been nice to know. I’d expected the bonus to just adjust the arrow’s trajectory. I pull the string and get a clear view of my target, to the point I make out the fur strands of his armor. I let loose the ripping arrow for a torso shot. Center of Mass movies call it. Easiest shot to make, with some low chances to inflict deadly damage. I’m not counting on that part. Just that I’ll cause damage he’s going to have to heal.

I don’t see if I hit since my vision returns to normal the instant I let the string go, but the form staggers. I notch another ripping arrow and aim again. I watch him rip the arrow out without seemingly caring for the extra damage it has to cause him before I let it loose. I aim again with another one.

I get five into him before he gets himself under cover.

As I look for another target, they hurry behind a wall, except for the one fighting Brandon, the one facing Helen, and one behind Silver.

“Silver, one’s trying to sneak up on you.”

She hurries into a building. “Where? I don’t see anyone.”

How good are thief classes at being undetected?

“Dardanus, Silver should be looking at the sneak. Do they have an ability that makes them invisible?”

“No, but they have a few that make perception checks harder to succeed.”

“Silver, when I tell you, I need you to run out of your building, down and across it and take shelter in another one at least one full block away.”

“Got it.”

I don’t remember the kind of armor the sneak has, but it can’t be too heavy. Not that it means much with magic. I take an armor piercing arrow and notch it.

“Now.”

Silver’s form takes off running.

The sneak doesn’t move.

“Any kind of tracking ability?”

“Yes, but not one that lets her see through walls. It’s about finding signs left behind.”

Which means she will have to step onto the road if she wants to go after Silver. So why isn’t she? When she stops at the corner of the building and I pull the string to aim and see her poke her head around, she looks left, right, then up, before pulling back.

Right. The berserker almost certainly told everyone about the archer.

“Dardanus, didn’t you give Silver an overlay like mine?”

“Yes.”

“Then why can’t she see the highlight the way I do?”

Dardanus curses. “I hadn’t read deep enough. One of those abilities affects every method by which the specified target can know she’s there. That includes my overlay.”

An explosion makes me look away and immediately curse myself for it. Fortunately, the sneak is still where I last saw her.

“How does she pick who she’s hiding from?”

“She needs to see her target. I’ve relayed the information to Silver.”

That means she can’t hide from me. But I can’t focus all my attention on her if I want to help the entire team.

“Can you send automatons to help Silver?”

“I can, but I don’t have anything there that will be much help.”

“I’ll take whatever you send me,” Silver replies, and I only now realize that my conversation with Dardanus might have been on a private channel until then.

I scan the battlefield. No time to worry about which one is best, broadcast everything to everyone when we talk, or leave it to his discretion.

Xander’s team is on the move again, but they are keeping close to walls. When one runs across the road I shoot them, but I don’t have the time to aim and I miss. I try each time one of them crosses, but they always run and stay low.

“They’re onto me, Brandon. Can you move your fight into the open so I can help you?”

His response is grunts that I don’t think mean anything more than he’s busy.

“Helen?”

“Not exactly controlling this duel.”

I return my attention to Silver and her follower in time to see the sneak carefully move along a building wall. Silver’s moved another block away.

I ready myself, armor piercing arrow notched. A few more steps and she’d going to step out from behind the building blocking my shot. She does without slowing. I pull, aim for another center-of-mass shot, and let loose. I aim again in time to see her hurry back, arrow in her stomach.

“Silver, I’ve given your sneak something else to think about. Put some distance. If you go left for a dozen blocks, you should have a line of sight on Helen. She can probably use some help.”

“I’m fine,” she replies.

“On my way,” Silver says.

“Fuck,” Brandon curses and I look in his direction. He’s now dealing with two opponents.

“I need you in the open, Brandon.”

“I’d love to comply, but they aren’t letting me,” he grumbles.

“Who are you up against?”

“The orc and the bear.”

Bear? “The berserker?”

“Yeah.”

There’s a roar and Brandon curses.

I watch, powerless to help as one form charges him. Fortunately, the other is also scared of the berserker and is running away instead of helping him.

When he stops moving, he’s with someone else from Xander’s team, and I don’t understand why they’re not doing anything until I realize I’m missing some of the players on the field.

“Dardanus, show me the automatons, make them gray.”

A lot of them appear. Unfortunately, most are away, but heading in our direction. I now see the mass of automatons the orc, and whoever he’s with, are fighting. They are winning, and when there’s maybe a dozen left one of them breaks off. The other has no problem—

They’re in the open.

I notch a ripping arrow and aim. Woman, is what I get, which makes her either the other explorer or druid. The roots breaking the pavement to bring down an automaton as I let the arrow loose tell me which.

The orc’s running to someone else’s help, while another’s moving deeper in. I aim, trying to see that one, but they remain under cover at all times. The best I get is a back as they use an overturned car as cover to cross a street, but I didn’t pay attention to who wore what.

I’m thinking Xander, considering they’re avoiding fighting and heading toward the gold reserve.

Checking in on the sneak, I get another arrow into her as she follows Silver’s trail along the street. The entire thing’s in my line of sight. And this zoom when I aim means she’s going to be in trouble anytime she tries to pick up the trail.

She tries not to give me shots, but she can’t avoid it. Her ability needs her to find a trail. It’s not some tracking spell, which I’m sure’s a thing.

Each time she does, she gets an arrow, ripping since her armor doesn’t seem to be overly protective. Whiles she’s under cover, healing herself. I look around at the other fights, but there’s little I can do with them. Brandon’s still going, his health’s below half, but that’s where he likes it. His stamina suddenly goes up, so he has potions to keep going. Helen’s mana’s full, although she lost a quarter of her health and her stamina’s steadily dropping.

I aim in her direction, trying to see something, but there are buildings in the way.

The sneak’s on the move, so I put two arrows into her before she hides again. You’d think she’d learn by now, but I’m glad she’s giving me something to do since—

I nearly fall when the ground under me shakes.

What the fuck?

“Guys, did you feel that?” I ask.

“Feel what?” Silver replies. She’d running toward Helen.

The ground shakes again.

“This.”

“Not feeling anything.”

This time I lose my balance. How can she not feel this? When it shakes again, a crack appears from the edge of the roof to a third of the way to its center. At the periphery of my vision, two forms are highlighted at the foot of the building. Focusing on them doesn’t tell me who they are. One’s far enough to be in the middle of the other block. It’s been razed already. The other walks until they’re next to them. Turns and runs at the building.

The impact shakes it, and more cracks spread over the roof.

Fuck. That’s the orc. The wall breaker.

I’m still staring as he returns to the other, stays there long enough to maybe exchange a few words, then he runs at the building again and this time pieces of the roof fall in.

Fuck, he’s going to bring the entire thing down. I take off for the opposite side, then run down the wall. I make it to the ground and on the other side when the building lets out a whine of metal that makes my teeth ache before crashing down.

“I’m good,” I tell the others. “But I’ve lost my perch. I got careless, and they triangulated my position.”

“Don’t get into a direct fight,” Brandon says, sounding out of breath. His health is below a quarter and I have to resist the urge to ask if he needs help. I Doubt I can offer anything. All I can do is make sure these two don’t get to rejoin the others. So I run through the cloud of dust, the overlay letting me avoid fallen and falling debris.

They’re walking away when I round the corner, are a block further, when I reach the road they’re on. They aren’t even looking over their shoulders.

Overconfident pieces of shit. How about I make you pay for that?

I notch a ripping arrow and aim. From this distance the zoom is such I see the earring on Xander’s ear. I hadn’t noticed that before. I hesitate to shooting him in the back, but it isn’t like the asshole’s got any compunctions about sending killers after me.

The arrow hits, and he almost falls.

I have another arrow notched, and I aim when he turns and smiles. I let it loose and even without the zoom; I see him bat it aside. Another notched arrow aimed and I see he’s holding a sword, something katana-like, or that’s what movies call it. I shoot him and he bats the arrow aside with it.

He stops the orc from running at me and when I’m aiming again; he grabs the arrow in Xander’s back. When he pulls, I shoot.

However painful that’s got to be isn’t enough to keep Xander from batting another arrow aside. When I’m aiming again, he’s drinking a potion. Probably healing, so that worked? Not that I expect I’ve done much damage to his stash.

The orc’s not happy about being sent away but complies.

I shoot arrow after arrow at Xander, as he walks in my direction, with the same result. They get batted away.

“Dennis,” he calls when he’d halfway down the block to me. “Maybe you should stop wasting your arrows? I doubt someone like you can afford it.”

It takes three more before I admit defeat.

On the upside, I gained a level in archery and quick-notching out of this.

I keep the arrow notched, but lower the bow.

“How did you find me, Xander?”

“How do you think? I had you tracked.”

“So, getting those bounty hunters to murder me wasn’t enough for you? You wanted to watch it happen?”

He laughs. “You need to grow up, Dennis. I didn’t send those to kill you.”

“Maybe you should have told them that, because too many came close to it.”

He shrugs. “If it had happened, then that would have been fine. But what they really were, was motivation. I knew no son of Aaron Sentino would let this insult stand. Like your father, you’d need to hurt me. And like him, you’d do that be denying me what is rightfully mine.”

“I’m not his son.”

“Really?” the derision’s so loud I think my ears ring. “How did you get his armor and journal, if you aren’t?”

“I found them where you left them after you killed him and discovered the journal was locked in a way you’d never be able to unlock. How else?”

He stares at me. “Aaron’s dead?”

Okay. That sounds like he didn’t expect that. How good of an actor is he? “Poisoned. He escaped through a ruin, but couldn’t get it out of his system.”

“I’m sorry.” He sounds genuine, which is odd, until I remember he thinks I’m Aaron’s son. “I hated him, but he was a good explorer. You don’t deserve to have your father taken…” I think it’s sinking in, but it doesn’t have the effect I expect. No derision, no smirk that I didn’t actually lose my father.

“How about this, Dennis? If he isn’t your father, you don’t have a reason to continue with this. Hand over his journal and I’m going to take the bounty off.”

“No.”

“Dennis, reasonable. You can’t win this. Your friends can’t win this. The only reason they aren’t dead already is that I told my team not to kill anyone.”

“Thanks?”

Now he smirks. “I figure they’re more useful alive in convincing you to hand it over.”

“You aren’t getting it from me. And even if you do. Anything you’d want to know is locked behind a quest you can’t do.”

“I told you, I didn’t kill him. Which means that lock isn’t for me.”

“Maybe, but you still can’t do it. Because it needs you to do something nice. And you’re too much of an asshole to be able to do that.”

“Don’t push me, Dennis. Worthless insults are Brandon’s thing. Be smarter than that thug. Hand the journal over.”

“What, so you don’t have to kill me and have your sneak go through my corpse? She might not want to get close to me after all the arrows I put into her.”

He smiles. “Yes. Thank you for that. Without it, I’m not sure I’d have worked out where you were shooting from. Great marksmanship, by the way.”

He can’t be serious. He’s just trying to goad me into doing something. And he’s getting me there. I’m considering how likely he can deflect an around at this distance. Based on the previous ones, way too likely, but I still want to shoot him.

Instead, I turn and run.

“Dennis, don’t be an idiot!”

At least I got him to sound annoyed.

I round a corner, sending the bow to my inventory. I locate a three story building with an intact wall and round it. That wall is mostly intact, enough for what I plan to do.

I look around, ignoring Xander as I get in position and decide not to inform the others. Brandon’s busy enough as it is, and Helen and Silver are dealing with the sorcerer. They can’t afford distractions.

Neither can I.

I gauge the distances and watch Xander approach. When he reaches the building I run. When I reach it, I run up the wall. I can’t really change my speed, but I timed it well, and he’s at the corner before I reach it.

I throw myself at him, equipping my sword. Momentum of my fall added to the hit should—

With a smirk, Xander steps forward, grabs my arms and changed my angle so that I hit the ground instead of him and my health flashes. I can’t see the sliver, so it’s not significant.

“You went the momentum route,” Xander says, as I stand. “That’s a choice.”

“Let me guess. You went the brawling one.”

He laughs. “I have friends for that. I do the research.”

“You, friends? How does anyone stand your assholeness?”

“I told you Dennis. Insults aren’t you. Leave them to Brandon. Only my enemies see this side of me. If you insist on continuing this, you’ll see worse.”

I rush him, and he rolls his eyes. He parries, steps aside, deflects, and even sends my swords flying out of my hand, before giving me a cut up my cheek, which also cuts the headband off, without looking like he’s trying.

“You are a child, Dennis. If you want to return home, stop this and give me the journal. Let me worry about the lock on it.”

I back to where my sword landed. “No.”

“Please tell me you didn’t pick up Brandon’s suicidal brand of stupidity.”

“Not giving into assholes who use their money and status to shove people around and get what they want, no matter the cost to others, isn’t being stupid. It’s being a morally upstanding person.”

He laughs. I’m surprised at how hard he laughs. If not for the ease with which he fought me off, I’d take advantage of it.

“Where the fuck are you from, Dennis? What bump-fuck little village did you crawl out of to believe there is any morality in this world? The system gave us a world where those who can, do. Those with the power take. It is the most equal world you could ever imagine. Fuck ton better than the one from before, with its governments and imposed laws and its morality that needed to be enforced through violence. This world is honest. If you think it’s moral, you should give me the journal right now because you aren’t going to survive it for very long.”

Not fruitlessly rushing him is hard. The world is just. It’s assholes like him who take advantage of every little thing, of everyone who isn’t strong enough to stand up to them.

“This isn’t about what the world is,” I reply through clenched teeth. Okay, it’s not as just as I want it to be. I’ve seen that firsthand. “It’s about who I am.” But that doesn’t mean I have to just give into it. “It’s about what I can do about it. About people like you.”

He looks disappointed. “Very well, then.” He raises his sword. “I’ll make it—”

I take off running in the opposite direction.

“Dennis!”

I’m not an idiot. I can’t take him in a fair fight, and my morality’s flexible enough to be willing to bring myself down to his level.

I just have to figure out how to do that.

Without the HUD, all I have to guess where he’ll be is my certainty he isn’t going to stop chasing me until he has the journal, and the fact he doesn’t care about the noise he makes.

I want to call him an overconfident prick.

But what he is, is fucking overpowered.

I press myself against the wall, sword at the ready, listening to him approach. I get one hit, then I’m off again. Hit and run. Urban guerilla, if this was some sort of post apocalyptic movie.

I so want to ask Dardanus for any kind of help he can give me, but that’s going to draw attention to him, and he already said he wouldn’t be able to do much anyway.

Xander steps to the edge of the wall and I move, slashing at him and run off. I have no idea if he expected me or not, but he easily deflected the slash.

“Dennis. The only thing you’re doing is delaying the inevitable. How about this? You give me the journal, and I make sure you and your friends return home safely? I’ll even pay for an escort for the lot of you.”

Keep talking, while I keep running. There has got to be somet—

I barely skid to a stop in time not to fall down the hole. The too fucking deep hole. I hurry back as I can feel myself fall, hear Rich laughing.

I’m up and ready to run away, but Xander’s standing in the way. I go left and fuck Xander’s fast, already in my way. I go right and same thing. The only reason I stayed ahead of him is because he let me.

Did he guide me here?

No way. He didn’t know Aaron was dead. He doesn’t know about the power plant, or Rich shoving me down the hole.

“It’s called, end of the line,” he says, smugly advancing.

I back until I’m at the edge of the hole.

“Give me the journal, Dennis. And I’ll leave. No boons, no me helping you get home anymore. But I’ll leave you alone going forward. So long as you don’t get in my way again.”

“No.” There is nowhere near the defiance in my voice I want to put in it. I’m too fucking aware of what’s behind me.

Too fucking scared of what I know’s coming.

“No?”

He leans in and I close my eyes, ready myself for the feeling of freefall, the pain of the impact and the hope it’s going to be quick.

“That’s deep Dennis.” He leans back outside of my personal space. “I don’t know if it’s going to kill you, not that I care at his point, but it is going to hurt. And I still get the journal. You have to see you aren’t gaining anything being this stubborn. Just give it to me.”

I open my eyes and try to glare at him. “No.” My voice shakes so hard I don’t think the word came out.

“Okay. You made your choice.”

He pushes me.

I try to grab his hand so I can pull him with me, but with that condescending smirk of his moved it away.

And I can see his triumph as his sneaks pulls the journal from my corpse. The casual way he dismisses my dead body and everything he did to lead here

And fuck no.

You don’t get to walk away from this unscathed, Xander Pope.

I equip the bow and shoot arrow after arrow at him as he grows ever distant. The surprise on his face tells me he never saw this coming, and it feels so fucking good.

More arrows, and he staggers back. Got to love the snap-shot bonus to this thing.

You have killed Alexander Pope

Pain explodes the message away.

Then cool blackness removes everything else.