Nightmare Realm Summoner

"How powerful are we talking here?" Mite asked, his face going pale.

"No clue," Alex replied. "Claire and I couldn't even try to fight it. It's too damn strong. The information about it is just a bunch of question marks."

"How good is it at tracking?" Mite asked. "I was thinking the wall's reflection in the Mirrorlands would be enough to cloak it from most monsters. We've got a town in there too, after all. The wall's function should be roughly the same."

"I wouldn't bet on it for anything more than a delay if there's a direct portal open," Alex said. "That thing was pretty damn determined."

"Shit," Mite said. "I'll start on a stopgap immediately, then. I can figure out something more graceful later. Do we have more materials? I used almost everything we had on the wall."

"There are a lot of townsfolk hunting monsters now," Claire said. "Get stuff of them. I'm sure many will be willing to oblige you. And we've got a new trade deal set up through Finley, so he should be able to hook you up with some materials as well. We have Credits to spend if you need them."

Mite was silent for a few moments in thought. Then he nodded. "Okay. I think I can do something that doesn't mess with our processes too badly. Should I do it before I level up?"

"That would almost certainly be wise," Alex said with a nod. "I didn't really have time to think about it when we were in the middle of putting the wall up… but we really don't want that thing finding us. Trust me."

Mite paled another shade. He definitely knew Alex well enough to know there weren't a great number of things that he would actually want to avoid fighting. Nobody insane enough to build their town right in front of an awakening Region Boss was going to be worried about a monster unless it was really strong. "Okay. I'll go find Finley and start right away."

"Let him know you can use up to… say, twenty of my Credits," Alex said. "Try to avoid going over that unless you absolutely need to. And only spend for the barrier. Nothing else. I'm going to need the rest."

"Thanks," Mite said. With that, he darted out of the Town Hall.

Alex and Claire were silent for a moment. The two of them just stood there in the dark room, looking out through the door to the waiting Town.

Then Claire nudged Alex in the shoulder.

"That was good," she said.

"There are a lot of words I could have used to describe what just happened," Alex said dryly. "I don't know if good is among them. We nearly summoned a monster in the middle of Mirrorwane when it was completely unprepared for anything of the sort."

"Maybe. But you can't prepare for everything that can go wrong. There are always unaccounted for variables. Plans don't go without a hitch most of the time. But that stuff is out of your control. What makes a good leader is how you handle it," Claire said. "And for someone who said he didn't even know what he wanted to do with his life a few weeks ago, I'd say you handled it pretty well."

Alex grunted. "Did I? I just got mad at Mite for nearly killing a bunch of people."

"Handled it better than some others I've seen. There's a difference between getting mad at someone and losing your head. You got your point across to Mite without demeaning anything he did. What more can you ask for? You aren't half bad at this." Claire's eyes glinted in approval — and perhaps something more. "Wouldn't mind seeing a little more of it. You should do it more often."

"You want me to yell at people more?" Alex asked, aghast. "Why?"

The glint in Claire's eyes intensified as her grin grew wider. But, before she could say anything else, a shadow darkened the doorway of the Town hall. They both looked toward it as Orchid stepped into the building. She paused no more than a foot into it.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"No," Alex said.

"Yes," Claire said. "But it can wait."

"I see," Orchid said slowly. Her eyes narrowed for a moment. Then she shook her head and shrugged. "What happened while — actually, never mind. It's none of my business. Did the deal work?"

"Yes," Alex said. "And we found Absolution."

The blood drained out of Orchid's face instantly. "What?"

"He was at Blackreach. So was another one of the people from the Leaderboard," Alex replied. "TacticalSandal. The girl with the huge paintbrush."

"Shit," Orchid breathed. Her grip on her staff tightened. "What happened?"

"We beat him," Alex replied. "Barely. More like scared him off. He's gotten a hell of a lot stronger since the last time we met. He's got a full domain now. Not a partial one. It lets him basically lock one person in place, but we had enough people to manage to push him back."

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Orchid swallowed. "Then he knows."

"He knows," Claire confirmed. "But I doubt it would have changed anything. I think he'd have come after you sooner or later. The fact we managed to hold him off this time means we're on the right track. Absolution can only advance so fast. His advantages are limited by the fact that he's an Outworlder."

"Right." Orchid let out a slow breath and steadied herself, forcing her white-knuckled grip on the staff to relax. "Right. You're still alive after a fight with Absolution. That's more than I can say after my last run-in with him."

Alex squinted at her. "You don't seem very dead to me."

"Death isn't always permanent," Orchid replied.

"I'm pretty sure it's the one thing that is always—"

"I'm not interested in discussing this matter further," Orchid said stiffly. "Not right now. It doesn't affect anything between us or provide an advantage on dealing with Absolution, but I want to know everything that happened with him. Why was he there?"

"To kill TacticalSandal. Her name is Alyssa, by the way," Alex said. "We entered a temporary partnership with her."

"What? Why?" Orchid blinked. "She's an enemy. Just like us, she's got a Nexus Core Fragment. Killing her would net you five points. That's probably why Absolution was there himself."

"Yeah, but the advantages we get from keeping her alive are way better," Alex replied with a shrug. Then his eyes narrowed. "And I refuse to just murder people because the System tells me to. I chose who I fight. Not Absolution, and not the System. Nobody controls me."

Orchid paused for a moment. Then she inclined her head. "That's… wiser than I expected."

"What's that meant to mean?"

A small smile pulled at the corners of Orchid's lips, but she wiped it away before it could take proper root. "Nothing. So what advantage did we get? Assuming you're willing to tell me."

"Why wouldn't we be?" Claire asked. "You're stuck with us now. It's not like you can go back to Absolution or the Starfallen."

Orchid grimaced. "You don't have to remind me. I'm more than aware. Just don't make me regret it. So are you going to tell me what it is that you got?"

"We got access to an Ancestry," Alex said. "Apparently a pretty big one. There are several Great Families all competing for it, and we're going to tag along with a coalition between several of the other people from our Local Leaderboard. Do you—"

He didn't need to finish his question. Orchid's eyes went as wide as saucers in recognition and she drew in a sharp breath.

"An Ancestry?"

"Yeah," Alex said. "I take it you know what they are?"

"Of course I do," Orchid said. "Anyone who isn't completely green would. That's big. I've never been in one myself, but I've heard stories of just how well — or terrible — Ancestries can turn out."

"Terrible?" Alex tilted his head to the side. "What, you mean dangerous?"

"Dangerous is an understatement. A pretty significant amount of Ancestries are just some old bastard's gravesite," Orchid said. "And the kind of person to be powerful enough to be worth robbing is generally not the type to let go of their possessions lightly, even in death. I've heard stories of entire families getting wiped out within Ancestries."

"You're kidding," Claire said. "An entire family? Is that even possible?"

"Not on this planet," Orchid replied. "It's not big enough. But that doesn't mean this couldn't be a deathtrap waiting to happen. But if it isn't… and even if it is, if you can walk away with even a small amount of the boons within it, you're going to be in a very, very good spot."

"Kind of the way we were thinking about it as well," Alex said. Something being incredibly dangerous wasn't really the huge threat that it should have been. Everything was dangerous. That was the fun part. "I think we can glean quite a bit of fortune out of this. The only problem is—"

"A lot of Outworlders know who you are," Orchid said. "And if they realize that there's a Nativeworlder just strolling through the Ancestry with them, they're going to be pretty damn pissed. Your magic is pretty damn obvious. It's hard to miss you if you get into any sort of fight."

"Right," Alex said. "I had the same thought. And I've got a solution for it as well."

"Oh?" Orchid tilted her head to the side. "What is it?"

"Well, they don't know Claire's fighting style as well as mine because hers is harder to differentiate from that of any other warrior. As long as she wears long sleeved shirts and avoids using her wings… she's easy. I'm the hard part. So we're just going to go in disguise."

Orchid stared at them for a long second. "You're serious?"

"Yep," Alex said.

"What, are you going to put a pair of glossy glasses on your monsters' faces?" Orchid asked. "That's not going to do anything."

"It will if nobody ever sees my monsters."

Orchid blinked. "You're going to fight without them? That seems… dangerous. Even for you. You're an Evoker. Your monsters are pretty much all of your strength. How much are you going to be able to get accomplished without them?"

Alex smiled in response. "I suppose we'll find out. I'm going to need to get those disguises made, though. Within three days. Do we happen to have someone within the town who—"

Rhyss snapped into being beside Alex without so much as a pop. Alex's sentence ended in a startled curse as he jumped back.

"Yes," Rhyss said.

"Jesus," Alex said. "Couldn't you have a little cowbell when you show up or something?"

Rhyss' lone eye bore into Alex like a laser.

"Nevermind," Alex said through a sigh. "Can you intro—"

"I have already placed your request with them," Rhyss said. "They are making a disguise. It will be finished before you depart."

"Damn. You're fast," Alex said. "Scarily fast. You didn't press gang someone into service, did you?"

"I did not," Rhyss replied. "They will be appropriately compensated from the resources the town possesses. Would you like me to cancel the request?"

"No, no. It's fine." Alex shook his head. "Thank you. I think."

Rhyss disappeared without another word. It seemed the Advisor had better things to do.

"Well. Can't say he doesn't earn his keep," Claire said.

"You definitely can't," Orchid agreed, a note of awe in her voice. "That creature is, without a doubt, the best investment you've made in the town. You should see what he's shown us in the training zones."

"The what?" Alex asked.

Orchid's eyes widened. "Oh, shit. You haven't had a chance to use them yet, have you?"

"Given the fact I don't know what you're talking about — no. I don't."

A small grin crossed Orchid's lips and she turned toward the door. "Come with me. There are a few days before you have to leave again, right? That's more than enough time. Trust me. You're going to want to try this out."