[Omen of the Witchblade] Chapter 121 – Sweet Loot

After months of sleeping roughly, always worried that there was danger around the corner, you would think that the first night in warmth and safety would be restful.

It was not.

Mel tossed and turned for more reasons than her large bed was missing a certain tall, statuesque woman. She awoke every few minutes when the silence became too much.

If it wasn’t that, it was some phantom memory that jolted her awake. She was, at her heart, a warrior. And that meant expecting an attack at any moment.

Maybe somebody who wasn’t literally sleeping in the lion’s den, surrounded by potential murderers, would be able to find some restful sleep.

Mel sure as hell wasn’t going to.

That was why, before dawn broke over the Seabrim Crater, Mel was sitting curled up in an armchair dragged in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the living room.

She cradled a cup of coffee, the one guilty pleasure that she had missed terribly during the Convocation trial.

Sipping her latte, she studied the dark shapes below her as the lightening sky turned from black to pale lilac.

Komachi scampered over, looking up at Mel excitedly. She was different from the Komachi she knew.

The one on Aldim resembled the typical Asian small-clawed otter. Although, one that was particularly chunky.

This one had some serious Moo Deng energy, except she had curly, wooly fur that practically shined in the morning light. Without asking, the soul aeder hopped into Mel’s lap and hugged her with her stubby arms.

Mel glanced at her, then back at the crater. “Mornin’ ‘Machi.”

“Mornin’ Mel!” she cried. “I missed you lots.”

“I missed you too.” It was true. No matter what Worldshard she was on, she would miss Komachi. Even if the Komachi on Aldim had taken way too long to realize who she was. It was almost funny how easy it was to trick Komachis sometimes.

And there were so many to trick.

The pobul sniffed Mel intently.

Then she did something Mel had never seen a Komachi ever do before.

She made this long, extremely startled squeal, “Eeeee!” Her bugged out eyes drifted apart, then bounced back. Usually the otter-like creature made what Magi colloquially called “lamb face” when she struggled to understand something.

This was even weirder.

“…You good, Komachi?”

She blinked rapidly. “Yep!”

Mel petted her exceptionally wooly head. “You look like a dust bunny.”

“Yis.” Komachi rumbled contentedly, the equivalent of a cat’s purr.

While she hadn’t gotten much sleep, Mel was content to pet Komachi and watch the sun rise in total peace and quiet.

It felt good in a way that she couldn’t put a finger on. Then again, Komachi had that sort of effect on people. For all the chaos she caused, she was a source of comfort and solace for many.

How the Shards continued to let her multiply and run rampant was anybody’s guess. Even Kindred were rumored to tread lightly around the prankster, but that was too impossible to be true.

Probably.

You could never be too sure with Komachi.

Mel knew she should get a jump on the laundry list of items that she needed to take care of, but for once, she just wanted to rest and recover. Sleep was out of the question, but she could stand to lower her guard around Komachi.

If there was anybody among the Magi that Mel knew she could trust without reservation, it was Komachi.

If Komachi killed me, then I’m already boned.

It was a funny thought.

With a simple enchantment woven into her mug, Mel’s latte stayed warm as the sun rose and crested the Seabrim Crater.

Three announcements reached her through the System’s Shardscript. Each one counting down when the Convocation winners would receive their reserved rewards.

After the first notice, Mel expected people to wake up, but it took until the third for the rest of the Magi to get up and around.

Under normal circumstances, that would have been Mel as well. She would have stayed in bed until the very last minute, savoring every moment with the soft and warm sheets.

Gwen left her room, heading towards the kitchen with a wave to Mel.

She was followed by Heath.

Mel raised her brow at Heath. No way. Gwen can’t be that desperate.

Even Komachi did a double take. “Ohh, this’ll be gewd for my soap opera with muh boyfriend, Shrubley!”

What?

People split up into their groups as the fourth and final notification went out. Thomas, Heath, and Gwen pulled up chairs to the window where Mel was stationed.

She didn’t move to speak to anybody the entire time. Not until the chests materialized between their chairs.

Heath looked a little different. Sturdier, more put together. Mel looked at them. “Ya’ll bang?”

“Who?” Gwen asked, blinking.

Mel pointed at her and Heath.

Gwen stared at Heath, not putting two and two together.

Thomas choked on a bagel.

Heath went beet red. “She helped me dump out–wait, no, that’s not what I meant. She helped me to do that leveling up thing!”

“Aw, that’s cute,” Gwen began to say. “He’s too young for–wait! You’re seriously gonna call it that?! Come on, Heath!”

“It’s what Mel calls it!” Heath argued.

Gwen growled. “Shoulda kicked you out after you fell asleep.”

Mel shifted in her seat and scooped Komachi into the other side of her lap. “Heath, you must have one hell of a foot fetish because you keep sticking your foot in your damn mouth.”

Heath looked down.

“Ohh, fetish burn, those are rare!” Sylvie said in passing.

Swallowing hard and coughing into his fist, Thomas finally came up for air. “Survived two months in a tournament to the death just to nearly die from choking on a bagel. Thanks, Mel.”

“At least it’s suitably New Yorkian.”

“Choking on a bagel would just be Darwinism playing out,” Gwen remarked, though she did look Thomas over with concern.

“I’m actually from Australia,” he said, wiping crumbs from his chest.

Mel stared. “You…sound so normal, though.”

He shrugged. “I’m good at adapting.”

“Crikey!” Mel said in a terrible Australian accent. “Fair dinkum, mate!”

Thomas shook his head. “Let’s just open the damn chests.”

Mel leaned forward and looked up at Thomas under the brim of her hat. “Better do it fast before the old Australian dies from a flaky pastry,” Mel quipped as she opened both chests.

Like some sort of loot box, the contents sprang out and onto the floor, but the most interesting thing was that the chests didn’t disappear.

Heath dropped to his knees and went up to his waist into one chest, reminding Mel of her time as Mira, the gold elf, when she had gotten stuck in a chest that didn’t want to give her a relic weapon.

For a moment she was worried he’d fall in, but when Heath pulled himself out, he was gasping for air. “I can’t breathe in there, but it’s so big! It’s like an Olympian warehouse in there!”

Mel frowned. “How do you know what those are like?”

Heath looked up, bewildered. “I spent a summer as a packer for Olympia for some spending money for my first year at college. Even if I didn’t, everybody knows Olympia. They’re the biggest e-commerce company on the planet. You know the saying, ‘Even the gods can’t beat our prices!’?”

Mel chuckled.

“You know they were a front, right?” Gwen asked.

Heath looked at her. “For what?”

“Think about it,” Thomas said.

“No. Seriously? No! Really? Olympians are real?” Heath looked like his head was about to explode.

“Yeah. Artemis is rather nice, if strict about her ways,” Gwen said.

“You learned that magic is real, that there are multiple universes filled with monsters and magic of all kinds, and this is what you’re flabbergasted by?” Mel asked.

“Yes!”

Mel turned to the loot.

You find (1) [Exile Gold Chest].

You find (1) [Exile Silver Chest].

You find (1) [Golden Voucher].

You find (1) [Revival Scroll].

You find (1) [Kindling Branch (Legendary)].

You find (2) [Fallen Realm Seeds (Copper)].

You find (100) [Iron Rune Coins].

You find (10) [Aspect Coins (Epic)].

You find (200) [Copper Rune Coins].

You find (10) [Health Potions].

“I really was hoping that only the top things were singular,” Mel said, looking at the pile of loot.

The coins made it seem like there was a lot more loot than there really was. Thankfully, they were in velvet pouches, so they didn’t have to pick up literally every coin, but it still looked pitiful compared to what you might expect after two months of hard work.

A metallic coupon-looking thing the size of Mel’s palm was picked up off the floor by Thomas. “The [Golden Voucher].” He handed it to Mel.

“We’ll come back to this,” Mel promised them, slipping it into her armor.

Gwen leaned over the loot eagerly. “Multiple legendary kindling branches would have been a massive power boost. Imagine what I could have gotten from Gravity, Wolf, or Primal aspects.”

“It makes sense when you think about it,” Thomas said, leaning back. “This is just the first trial out of who knows how many. If they gave one Legendary branch out for every person? That’s too much. We could all elect to give it to one person. That’d be four Legendary aspect unlocks for an individual.”

“They must be disgustingly expensive,” Heath said, paling. “I’m afraid to find out.”

“It’s a good thing we don’t have to buy any,” Mel pointed out. “We just need to compete in more trials.”

“And put our lives on the line doing it,” he said.

She nodded. “That’s what we’re here for.”

Heath looked unsettled, but he nodded in agreement. “I’m here for this incredible adventure. Seeing what all of you are capable of…I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Here, Mel. This is yours. I don’t think any of us disagree.”

Mel took the tightly rolled up scroll. It looked so old that she was afraid it would disintegrate in her hands. Handling it as gingerly as she could, Mel examined the [Revival Scroll].

[Revival Scroll]

(Copper Rank, Relic)

An ancient scroll procured from the cold hands of Charon himself that allows the reconstitution of souls who have not yet crossed the Styx.

Imprint: Reconstitutes the bodies of any deceased individuals in a 5-foot radius. Must possess the individual corpse(s), soul crystal(s), cairn(s), black obol(s), or soul flame(s). Spell fails if the souls have crossed into the depths of the Underworld.

Mel stared. “That’s…a lot of fine print.”

“I don’t know what half of those things are!” Heath exclaimed. “A black obol? How about a soul flame?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Mel answered. “I have my friend’s soul crystals and this scroll. That’s all I need.”