Chapter 34

Adrian checked his notifications.

World Threat Eliminated Successfully.

...

All temporary levels revoked.

...

Calculating contribution.

...

Note. Experience will only be rewarded when borrowed equipment is returned.

...

Borrowed Equipment.

Necklace of communication.

Adrian smiled at that, knowing others would have far more equipment on that list. It was not asking for the artefacts he had used for his suicide run, but when he looked down, he was not surprised to discover that they were all broken, with their charges expended. He took them off and replaced them with his usual kit.

Contribution Calculation Completed.

Maximum experience to be awarded. 130,000 experience.

World Saver Badge rewarded.

Additional experience from kills awarded from portal room.

Allocation of kills are as follows:

 12 class 3 Zxeatra Italraca

 6 class 2 Zxeatra Italraca

 2 class 1 Zxeatra Italraca

 One-third of a Class 0 World Destroyer

Raw Experience - 450,000

Experience that can be absorbed 110,000

Banked Experience (160,000 experience.)

Adrian stopped reading as he absorbed what he had just read. He was being credited with killing the world destroyer. Credited and rewarded with a ridiculous amount of experience. Banked experience basically meant that he would earn experience at two or three times the normal rate till that hundred and sixty thousand of experience had been given back to him. He had earned the experience, but his body could not process it instead of levels now. He would get a proportion of it later.

Congratulations you have levelled and are now level 6.

...

Congratulations you have levelled and are now level 7.

...

Do you wish to select your upgrades?

No.

It was a tired thought, and nothing happened to the text in front of him. Groaning slightly, he mentally selected the prompt and clicked rather than thinking it. Jaracol being locked away was a pain in the butt.

“You look almost depressed.”

“No, just in shock, I think. How much experience did you get?”

“Maximum, of course,” Jules said offhandedly. “And two badges.” Adrian’s ears perked up at that. He had got one badge but hadn’t bothered to check what it was. Navigating the menu sucked.

“World Defender,” Jules continued, “which I’m guessing is a generic badge for participating. That one gives ten percent better prices with traders up to them getting zero margins. It’s stackable with all other bonuses. And then the second badge is Elite World Defender. That one gives me a five percent attribute improvement.”

“I thought you maxed on strength.”

“Yes.” She pouted exaggeratedly. “Strength did not improve, but I have an option to start muscle growth for the equivalent of three attribute points.”

“Are you doing it?”

“I might do a single point at a time and see what happens?”

“Going for Miss World Bodybuilder, hey.” Jules frowned at that image.

“Let me check.” Her eyes went unfocused. “No, no, never. Not using them.”

Adrian chuckled. He couldn’t help himself.

Jules slapped him lightly on the shoulder. “So, I assume you got the same.”

“No.”

“What!” she exclaimed in disbelief.

“Everyone.” Kiyoko’s quiet words cut through the bubble of conversation instantly. “The threat is ended. A little over fifteen thousand heroes volunteered out of the eighteen thousand offered the quest. Of those volunteers, six thousand eight hundred and seventeen survived.”

Adrian groaned at those numbers. It was better than he feared. More survivors than he had feared, but it still meant over half of the volunteers died. As you know, all volunteers have been awarded a badge to signify the service they have rendered and an average of a hundred thousand experience. Experience is not a balm for the grief we all feel today because everyone has lost friends, family and loved ones. I pray we can come together as a town to grieve and prosper and that this does not break us. Just know that every breath taken by all humans in the future occurs on the back of your sacrifice today.”

The tiny lady stopped talking and there was silence as everyone absorbed what she had said. So many people had died. The experience, while it would never compensate for those who had lost their lives was significant. A hundred thousand experience was almost forty levels. Given that the elite in Wangaratta just the day before had been under thirty it was a massive leap. The town was now a powerhouse.

“We should head back into town,” Kiyoko said finally. “But one last thing, there were almost three thousand people who refused the call to arms. They no longer have access to a class or enhanced attributes. In this world, that will come at a terrible cost. But don’t feel too much sympathy. They chose not to participate and people died because of their selfishness. With them, we could have burnt down the mage that defended the entrance to the underground. The entire dynamics would have changed.”

Adrian was surprised by the vehemence in her words. “Their refusal to come cost thousands of lives, and that should never be forgotten.”

With that, the old lady started walking determinedly back towards town.

“That was harsh,” Adrian said to Jules.

“Hell no,” Jules said. “Everyone who failed to come are cowards.”

“They might have been old or—”

“Bullshit,” she interrupted without hesitation. “If they were invited, they were capable. Kiyoko is like ninety and she came. Selfish and stupid. If we lost, they died too. If we won, they lost forty levels. Idiots. Anyway, I haven’t forgotten that you got a different badge. I’m not going to let you get away with not telling me the name. Spill it?”

“I only got one.”

“What is it?”

“World Saver.”

She laughed. “Of course, you got the World Saver badge because, you know, you’re Adrian. The superhero.”

“This one was not because of Jaracol,” Adrian whispered. “At least not directly. He’s locked away.”

Jules stopped abruptly, a hand on his shoulder, concern in her eyes. “You haven’t been going through this believing your success is just because of the interface have you?”

“Not all of it,” he hedged.

She hit him again, and this time deliberately harder. “Yours and Steve’s interface helped, but I have seen what you have put yourself through to get here and, as you said. This one was earned. Plus we’ve seen lots of special interfaces and they’re doing shit all. What does your badge actually do?”

“I haven’t checked.” She looked at him impatiently, so he stopped walking and accessed the status screen before selecting Badge of the World Saver.

Badge of the World Saver.

Is awarded to an individual who has literally saved the world. This badge is rare and on average is only awarded once in every ten Alpha events.

It conveys the following benefits.

 Traders will always provide the best prices.

 Memory stones for personal immediate use will be provided at a 50% discount.

 Loot Chests will be tailored for the individual using system energy.

 Experience for all future levels reduced by 25%.

 Benefits granted by completing training facilities improved.

 All attributes increased by 10%.

 25% passive magic resistance.

 Lesser Regeneration.

 Emergency Teleport (2 uses per day).

 Provides majority of benefits available to family members.

My god.

That list felt endless, but there was nothing in it about his interface. No, get out of jail card in the badge. It felt like there should have been, but interfaces getting locked away were so rare that it was possible that they just never thought about it. He would check with a trader, maybe there was a suggestion box that he could use. Even if it didn’t get Jaracol back if he could trade the badge in to get Jaracol’s future punishment waved it would be worth it.

“It’s good,” he croaked out at Jules

“Tell me.”

“Maybe I can share.”

“Oh,” she said before her eyes went unfocused, telling him she was reading it. “This is incredible. The lowest prices possible, below that on memory stones. Emergency teleportations. I wonder what it considers family?”

“Emily, the kids, you,” Adrian told her. “You’re family. After all we’ve been through together, we are definitely family.”

A big smile broke across her face.

“Wait, that worked?” he asked.

“Oh yeah. What did you get?”

“All of it except the regeneration but a slight haircut on the percentages. I only get a 25% discount on knowledge and 15% on experience and magic resistance. Still, it’s pretty broken.” She smiled. “You’re the best big brother, ever, or maybe uncle... um.”

“I think, brother.”

“Nah, I reckon uncle.”

“What, so I’m the crazy uncle.”

She threw her arm around his shoulder. It was a bit of reach, so she yanked him down so he almost fell to his knees.

“Hey!”

She laughed and ruffled his hair. “Just teasing. The best thing about having a big brother is that I can do what I want to them. Come on, let’s catch them.” They ran, but Jules made a point of almost skipping as she did so.

“I guess this means Emily knows I am still alive.”

“Yes,” Jules confirmed cheerfully.

“Why do you sound so happy?”

Jules almost immediately slowed to a walk and look at him. “I have learnt there’s no point in wallowing. It took a few bottles, but I got there. Shit happens, all we can do is keep going and frankly, the world needs laughter.” She patted his arm. “I know people have died. I know Charlotte is worried about Mike.” She nodded at the red-haired girl who was jogging at the front of the mass of elite fighters, her face sombre. “And I’m sad about the losses, but we won a monumental victory today, and your title tells you how big this fight was. In most events, no one ever gets the World Saver title probably because the world usually doesn’t need saving. Ours needed saving, and we did it. We’ve guaranteed humanity’s survival. Not someone else, you, us.”

“At least, that’s how you’re taking it.”

“Absolutely,” she confirmed. “Any other approach is despair.”

She smiled brightly at him.

“I can’t believe I’m accepting advice from a teenager.”

“Only for a couple more months. I’m twenty soon. I can’t believe you don’t know your little sister’s birthday.”

They jogged forward once more, catching up to the group ahead of them but moderating their pace so they could trail behind them and talk without being disturbed. As they ran, Adrian looked for his companions. Apart from Mike they had all ended up in an elite squad.

“Most of us made it,” he said finally.

“I can’t see Galan,” Jules said, sounding slightly worried.

“Oh, he is flanking us.” Adrian nodded to the side where the scout was tracking their progress and making sure nothing surprised them from the flank. Not that there was anything this close to Wangaratta that could challenge a group this powerful, but the discipline was good.

“I still have not found Felicity or Andrew.”

“Felicity is helping the girl who lost her leg. I can’t see Andrew either.”

“Maybe he didn’t make an elite squad,” Adrian suggested finally convinced that Andrew wasn’t with them.

“We’ll find out,” Jules said quietly.

Worse case, they had lost Mike and Andrew. That was actually a pretty good result, given the losses the wider teams had suffered.

They kept running and then Wangaratta came into view in front of them. They were approaching from the south, so he did not recognise the landscape. The transition from country to town however was stark.

The communication necklace clicked on.

“Hi all,” a weak stuttering voice said. “I am Clive Smith and was part of the command-and-control unit. This is a gen... general broadcast. You have probably been br... br... told what happened already, but this is a general broadcast for everyone. Fir.. Fir... first.”

Their group suddenly stopped running.

“Clive,” Kiyoko’s voice came over the general broadcast channel, “Do you mind if I take over.”

“Pl... Pl... yes, go.”

“Hi all, this Kiyoko, I am an oracle class. The fight was a success and the threat to our very world has been eliminated. I would do some cheers, but you know, monsters and all.” There was some weak laughter around him. “We’ll celebrate, but we’ll also mourn. Many brave people sacrificed themselves for this opportunity and we’ll build a monument to them, but that will come later. For now, we need to talk about the future. Wangaratta has been a beacon of hope in these dark times. We have stood up and created something special from the chaos, and I want to assure you that’s not going to change. However, and I don’t say this lightly, over three thousand people refused the call and their cowardice, their selfishness cost us lives. Thousands of people died unnecessarily, and those cowards can no longer interact with the Alpha systems. They are useless, normal humans with no special skills in a world now filled with monsters and magic. As a society, we’ll need to decide how to deal with them. It’s very easy to agree to support them, provide security and food because they can’t do it for themselves. I would encourage us to take a harder line but with humility that recognises the sacrifices of their loved ones. For simplicity, I’ve split them into two groups. The powerless who had family that fought for the world and then those who had no excuse and no family to redeem them. I’ve labelled the last as untouchables. Wangaratta must make its own choice, but to have earned that label means you have chosen not to save the world when your contributions would have made a difference.”

“How many untouchables are there?” he heard Bec say.

“Only eight hundred,” Kiyoko answered for all the listeners. “The powerless are the larger group, and I would implore mercy for them. Some are now single parents.”

“We could support them then,” Bec said carefully.

“That’s not a decision for me to make. Most of you who know me understand I give advice. I don’t give orders. My advice is to send the unclean away. Banish them from town and let them forge their own way.”

“But no one will accept them,” Bec said reasonably. “Because they have nothing to offer beyond base labour. Sending them out is like sentencing them to death.”

“Almost, but not quite. As I said, that is my opinion. Everyone listening to this has risked their lives to save the world. You can make your own decision about the powerless and untouchables. If you get eighty percent support, then the loss of their class can be reversed.”

“No chance of that happening for the untouchables,” Adrian stated to Jules.

“Yeah, I’ll vote against it.”

”I’ll vote for it,” Adrian told her, “but it still won’t happen.”

“You’re such a softie.”

They caught up to the others. Charlotte was approaching Kiyoko. “Can you tell me if he is alive?”

There was no verbalised answer, instead Kiyoko just stood up on tiptoes and embraced Charlotte. Somehow drawing her downwards as Charlotte dropped into a kneeling position and was engulfed in the smaller woman’s arms. Kiyoko said nothing and Charlotte cried. The rest of the group moved into Wangaratta, looking for their own loved ones and friends, and Adrian stood next to Jules. Both of them were ready to support Charlotte, as she was far more important to them than anyone else in the town.

Kiyoko was whispering to Charlotte but the oracle’s power carried her voice to the two of them. “He stayed as part of the last distraction. He needed two hundred people to keep the pressure on the mage while the others used the teleporter. At the end of the day, he could not ask anyone to sacrifice their lives when he wasn’t willing to.”

Charlotte’s sobs intensified.

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