"Hey you. How did you get in here?" Said a level 120 player who was pointing his staff at Lucan.

Before Lucan had the chance to answer another player showed up behind Lucan and drew a sword. "GUARDS!!! WE HAVE BEEN INVADED!" The player shouted.

Within 10 seconds he had been surrounded with weapons pointing at him from every side.

"Make way." Said a strong voice pushing their way through. When he reached the center he suddenly dropped to a knee. "Lord Quilldrake, it is an honor to see you again."

"Mmm, it's good to see you too Brandt. Do you mind helping me out here?"

The Captain of the Guard stood up and shouted to the crowd. "Keep crowding around Lord Quilldrake and I will throw you in to stocks. MOVE!" He hollered.

The NPCs and the players dispersed. The 2 who called him out were the first to disappear. Within a few moments only Lucan and Brandt stood in the street.

"Don't blame them." Brandt said. "We have been having issue with the demon covens lately. Its better to say something than be ambushed."

"Are things bad."

"Not yet, but it doesn't look good. It seems the demon covens are working together. They are the ones who put Lord Mentas in charge of our old home. They have since learned that we have fled here. Several times in the past week they have led groups into the Goblin Plains to massacre those in your coven."

Lucan heard footsteps running his direction.

"I heard there was an intruder." Lisel said coming around the corner with Will.

"Sorry, just me." Lucan said.

"My apologies, things are tense lately."

"That's what I have heard."

"Are you here alone?" She asked.

Lucan nodded. "I was hopping to level in the plains, but I don't know if that is such a great idea now."

"We have set up a base of operations in the center of the village, I will take you in there." Lisel said leading the way.

While they walked, Lucan caught up with Brandt. He was friendly to Lisel and the others, but his duties as Guard Captain came first. He would not do them any favors or leave his post unless it was a duty of Guard Captain. They had never had the chance to stroll down the street and chat with the Elite Guard Captain like Lucan.

Lisel lead them into the central administration building. A large detailed map spread across the table. Lisel and her followers had confirmed that Raze's map was still accurate, and she had explored a few new areas as well. Lucan had already noticed the high number of NPC shadow elves in the city, he assumed they were her followers. Lisel had been working hard in the battlegrounds.

She pointed to the map. "There is a free city here, it belongs to no coven and is open to all. Right now there are 40 players over level 135 staying in the city. They are from the demon Coven alliance and are the source of our problems. We have no idea where their territory is, but I suspect it isn't close. Every few days they leave the city and come to troll the goblin plains. They mow through any of our followers that are out there leveling."

"What have you been able to learn about them?" Lucan asked.

"Not too much. We only have 8 players here over level 135. We haven't had any direct clashes. They kill everyone, usually waiting until our players are busy against several goblins. We have managed to get names, levels and basic classes."

"Okay, I know a guy. Get me a copy of the information and I will see what I can dig up."

One of Lisel's followers started to copy all of her notes after receiving her leaders nod.

'Hey super, I have some real work I need done. 40 players, I want to know everything about them.'

'It will be expensive, but business had been good. It will cost 60% of your cut from this month's profits.'

'Sounds good. Do you have time to talk now?'

'Sure, give me the scoop.'

Lucan began to explain everything about the Eldritch Battleground and the situation.

'Okay, I get it. You can say no if you want, but I can knock the price down to 40% if you invite me to this Battleground place. It sounds interesting. Not all other coven's have to be enemies right?'

'That's true, but if I invite you to the coven you must act in the best interest of the coven. The only reason I didn't invite you before was because it would require you to not betray those in the coven. I don't know how selling information fits into that, you may not be able to talk about certain people freely.'

'That doesn't bother me. You and Raze have helped expand my business along with my power. Things have become much easier now, I have no problem standing with my backer.'

'Good I am almost out of time today. I have already added you to the coven. The entrance is in Raze's palace. As one of my direct warlocks, the guards shouldn't give you any trouble if you tell them you want to go to the Eldritch Battleground.'

'Great, I will start compiling reports. Give me 2 days.'

'Sounds good.'

Lucan turned back to Lisel. "In 2 days, we should know a good deal more about them. The person I just added to the coven is my information broker. He may bring some people with him to set up an information exchange here."

"I assume you trust him if he is a direct warlock of yours."

"Mmn. He will still sell information about you, but it will be non-essential or outdated. He understands the importance of the coven."

Lucan then bid his goodbyes and logged out.

Brax stretched and took off his game helmet. He took his phone into the bathroom and logged into his bank's website. He started to laugh from the toilet. All his gold had sold. There was 8 million dollars sitting in his bank account.

It was amazing but then the stress came. He would have to talk to a tax accountant if he didn't want to screw things up.

*Ring, ring, ring* *Ring, ring, ring*

Brax picked up his cell phone and answered it.

"Uncle Bo, what's up?"

"How have you been kid? I haven't heard from you in almost two months. Any luck with the job search?"

"Things have been good, I am back on track and shouldn't have to worry about money or looking for work for a while, you don't need to worry about me."

"Good for you, but I am disappointed. Your aunt and I wanted you to move back in with us. But it sounds like you will have no problem supporting yourself."

"How is your new job Uncle?" Lucan asked, ignoring his Uncle's real reason for calling. "They promoted you and moved you to the other side of the country, Is Auntie liking the new city? How are Chris and Derek?"

"Everything is great out here, it's amazing. You should see the villa the company got us. Your cousins have both made plenty of new friends and Marie found a group at the country club that she enjoys spending time with. The grounds of our villa even have a couple of guest houses. You could even have one to yourself if you move out here. Come on Brax, do you even have a reason to stay in Chip city anymore? This loving Uncle of yours is even willing to rent you an apartment in the city if you don't want to stay with us."

"I don't know, I am still figuring things out right now."

"Think about it, will you? I won't call myself your father, but Marie and I raised you. We miss you. I am putting my foot down and saying you have to at least come out and visit."

"Okay, okay, I will fly out and visit sometime soon."

"Good, good. You should pack a lot. Once you get here you won't want to leave. Ha, ha, ha, this will work out well."

Brax convinced his uncle to stop talking about living situation and they spent the next 20 minutes cathing up. After a quick shower he got dressed and went to go meet with an accountant.

***

Brax was walking home, a folder in his hand. He had several more forms to fill out, but the accountant had put him on the right track and answered all his questions. The accountant advised him to spend 10% at most right now. It was important not to do anything stupid.

Brax stopped in front of the Hasbo Luxury sports car dealership and contemplated what to buy. After thinking for a few minutes, he decided to splurge. Brax walked into the corner Quickstop and bought a case of his favorite flavor of ramen instead of getting the one that was half off this week.

He smiled on his way back to his apartment thinking about his new life while carrying the tax forms and the case of instant noddles.

Back in his apartment Brax had his TV on while sitting at his computer. He wanted to make one real purchase. He was reading about the different type of game capsules. They were much better for the body and could slightly improve his performance. There were dozens of different dealers each selling just as many models.

There were capsules that ranged from $10,000 all the way up to $200,000. Brax was determined to take his time and go through everything before making a decision.