Arriving in his room, Colin immediately went to his worktable where he had a ruined relic on the table that he was trying to figure out. The sword that had killed the fourth Demon Lord Ari was laid about on the table with pages and pages of notes from Colin’s own work on it. A half dozen sheets were about the metals and other materials that made up the weapon. Several dozen pages were dedicated to deciphering the runes and the order they were in.

A sword that was able to kill a Demon Lord, with all the power that Colin knew they were capable of, was something he wanted to discover.

He started reading through his notes again as he thought about his current situation. Colin figured the city could deal with the invasion if it was all the basic Warrior Golems. It was the bigger one and the particular ‘Despair’ Golem that troubled him. But the basic warrior Golems implied that there were higher-order Golems on the way, and Colin needed a plan.

He mused for a moment when Rielle opened the door to their room, and the Sumo was just behind her but abstained from entering the room.

“Rielle,” Colin said dryly, standing up to look at her. “Why is he up here?”

Looking a little guilty, she looked at the ground as she considered how to speak. It was a byproduct of her time under the Fey’s disapproving stares, Colin knew and tried not to encourage. “H-He’s part of the reason I’m here at all. I’m sure that,” she paused for a moment to look at the door. “Our friend would have kept me alive as promised, but he didn’t have to because of that man.”

“Is that true, Nox?” Colin asked, looking at her shadow as Nox stepped out.

With a dramatic clack of his shadow-made cane, Nox simply grinned at Colin and nodded, “Indeed. While She was fairing well against them, when that Brawler appeared, she was getting overrun. Being subtle about my involvement would have been… interesting.”

Shrugging, Colin accepted the Goblin’s words and moved forward, “do you know anything about what’s going on?”

For the first time since he knew the Goblin, Colin saw him grimace, “unfortunately not. This should be impossible, the amount of Golems working in coordination around the city, that is.” He clarified, pausing to gather his thoughts. “Golemist Classes, that I am aware of, all have a maximum capacity for how many golems they can control. I once knew a Gnome who could create and control around fifty at once. Any more than that, and they’d be… not under his control.”

“So, other than you just killing them all,” Colin said to the Goblin. “what can we do?” he asked Rielle as well.

“Well, Golems are some of those monsters that have specific weaknesses. Rust being their biggest Bane. After that, it mostly depends on the type of Golem. Most have a weakness to ice and ice damage as it ruins their mechanical pieces,” Nox explained at Rielle’s confused expression. “But usually depends on the type of Golem. Golems made of ice will be empowered by it, not damaged.”

“Okay, I’m following you so far. I have some ice spells that can help us there, but it’s not really going to be really viable with these numbers,” Colin thought out loud. “I can make some enchanted weapons, but again, that can only help us so far.”

Nox nodded in agreement.

“What we need is more information before we can do anything else,” Colin said in annoyance. “Nox, do you remember that scarecrow we fought in Scutch Town? Do you remember the name of the Outworlder that made it?”

“Of course, AidenBrand,” Nox stated with surety. “Do you think it’s connected?”

Colin nodded once, “yes, I was in the town square when the Golems first started their attack. They wanted AidenBrand, or they’d kill us all instead of most of us.”

“Oh, Gods,” Rielle said, her hands going to cover her mouth.

Colin nodded in her direction, “yeah, it was pretty bad.”

“Sooo, Ideas?” Colin asked, going through his own options. While he had spent a fair amount of time leveling up over the past month or so, they were still far too low in his mind to do anything significant.

Nox just stood off to the side, standing as still and impassive as a statue. Seemingly unwilling to answer or help Colin as he had not been bribed to help. Rielle had her chin in her hand with the other arm folded across her chest in thought as she worked through the problem.

After several long moments, Rielle spoke softly, “I can go on the rooftops and take a look around. My stealth skills are getting pretty developed, and I-” She looked at Nox, who hadn’t even twitched, but something about his eyes said to stay quiet. “I can go scouting about outside.”

Colin nodded; it was an idea. “What level is your Stealth Skill?”

“Twenty-two,” she answered immediately.

“Twice mine,” he admitted. “We’ll wait until a little later. If we don’t have a better plan, we’ll do that. Just give the city a bit of a chance to calm down, right?”

She nodded in acknowledgment of his thoughts and looked a little apprehensive. Colin admitted to himself that he didn’t know the woman very well and knew why. He’d been ignoring the fact that he owned Rielle, and that thought always made him a little uncomfortable. Sure, he’d used enemies and killed them when they weren’t useful anymore, but Colin avoided putting innocent people at risk. The only thing he knew when he signed the ownership papers was that he couldn’t let the Fey woman Noitra win.

He’d have to put more thought into this a little later. His attention had left the task at hand, and they only had around fourteen and a half hours until the Safe Zone collapsed. Looking directly at the Death Fey, Colin asked, “Is there something you want to say?”

Rielle nodded slowly, unsure if she should speak. A heavy sounding breath later, she asked, “I think it would be better to leave now. With any luck, I might be able to find one or more of the locations where the golems are coming out.”

He nodded and gave it a moment of thought. “Not a bad idea, but if you noticed, a lot of the Golems were dropping from the rooftops. Later, it might be a little better, but now the chances are much higher that they are occupied. I don’t doubt your skills, but there are a lot of them. I can die and come back. You can’t,” Colin said, looking meaningfully into her eyes. “I don’t want you to die, okay?”

She nodded, and Colin looked away from her to look at the sword again. Not because he was trying to figure something out about the weapon, this time, he had an idea.

He looked at Rielle, finding that she’d grabbed a book from one of the stacks near her bed. She was reading it contentedly, and Colin dove into his project.

Grabbing an item from his Dimensional Bag, a pair of plain sterling silver rings that he’d gotten from Guan Li for enchanting under their usual arrangement. He took a clean piece of paper from the stacks around the sword and started writing down the enchantments he hoped to make. This took several minutes from looking at his enchanting books for references and having to rewrite his enchantment several times before showing Nox.

It took a moment for Nox to parse out what Colin was trying for and grinned with widened yellow eyes. “DevilWalker, this is very interesting. Think you can do it?” the Goblin asked, looking at the two rings Colin had withdrawn for this project.

Colin nodded, then hedged with a shrug, “maybe? If I do, it might be worth a level for Enchanting.”

Nox raised an eyebrow, “what level are you?”

“Eleven,” he answered.

Nox nodded, “yeah, it probably would. This isn’t necessarily complicated, but you’ve used every type of mana you could in this thing. That will make it difficult to control and mana intensive.”

“I know, but if it works as intended, then it will be useful for Rielle later,” Colin stated. He noted that Rielle’s eyes looked up from her book to covertly look up at him.

Nox shrugged, “do what you will just be careful of Mana Backlash. We wouldn’t want a repeat of what happened that first time, eh?”

Wincing at that remembered pain, Colin agreed and got to work.

He took both rings, one in each hand, and closed his eyes to help him concentrate. He carefully started to pull six strings of magic out of the mana core at the center of his chest. Three lines of magic began to flow down his left side and another three down his right. He moved them slowly, twisting them and trying to restrict the amount of mana they were using to keep his mana pool as high as possible.

An undetermined amount of time passed before the two braids of mana reached his hands and touched the rings. The rings soaked in the mana, and moments later, they were filled with Colin’s various powers. With Engraving Pen in hand, he started to carve the runes into the face of the rings, each conjoining and following rune seeming to increase the strain on his mana. Minutes later, he finished the rings with a rune meant to connect the two rings’ effects and make them a set of items.

This was his mistake. When the rings were connected, they started to vacuum out his mana at a rate that Colin had yet to experience. After a few moments, his mana bottomed out, and he watched in horror as it drew into his health to fill in the required mana. He felt his joints lock up at the sudden draw, and a lot of the muscles in his body tense up at the pain that flared in his body. A trickle of blood flowed from his nose while the strain wracked his body.

Seconds passed, ten health gone. Fifteen, twenty, thirty, fifty, then at fifty-three health, the drain stopped, and Colin felt the magic solidify within the items. Limbs started to relax, the blood stopped dripping, aches eased up, and he moved both rings to his right hand.

Your Mana Efficiency Subskill is now level 3. Mana efficiency has increased by a small margin, and Enchanting speed while controlling mana flow has decreased by a small margin.

Muttering, he stated, “I hope this was worth it,” and Appraised the item.

Paired Rings of Selective Detection. Weight: 10 grams (5 each). Item Quality: 9.

This pair of Sterling Silver Rings have been enchanted to allow passive and active scanning within an area around the wearer. One ring is charged to detect sources of movement, heat, and Infernal energies. The other detects thoughts, moisture, and anything within the shadows. Using these rings passively lets the wearer scan an area six meters around them, connecting to the wearer’s mind and relaying real-time information. Actively doubles the radius and can transfer anything the map has scanned to a connected Info Tablet. These rings can detect certain life forms if any of these six magics used can affect them. Charge use depends on the amount of information being sent. If not connected or unable to transfer, only one charge will be used.

Charge rate: 1 charge/ 60 mana. Current mana charge: 1/50. Passive Charge: 1/day.

Grinning, Colin reached into his Dimensional Bag and withdrew a minor health potion. Unlike the usual numbing sensation the brew typically gave, this time, it burned as it fixed whatever that drain had done to his body. A minute later and his health was regenerating as usual.

“Owww,” Colin groaned as he stood from his seat, stretching as he walked over to Rielle. “Here, these are for you.”

Rielle took one look at the rings, then looked up at Colin, then back down at the rings as a blush started to creep into her cheeks. Her eyes drifted to the floor, and the dook she was holding fell with a quiet thump. “W-Walker, I don’t- I don’t know what to say. I can’t say no but-”

Colin realized what was happening at the same time that Nox burst into immediate raucous laughter. He pointed to the rings in Colin’s waiting hand and laughed a little harder with the Antagonist glaring at him. Rielle’s blush deepened, and Colin picked up the book from the ground and tossed it at the Goblin, who paused his jeering long enough to catch the book and his breath.

Speaking before Nox could start up again, Colin explained, “I’m not proposing.” He pointed at the rings and said, “These are enchanted to scan and map an area around the wearer. Can you read the description?” he asked, giving her both items and stepping back.

She stared at the rings, and comprehension dawned on her as she stared at “them. “Oh, yes yes yes, this will be very helpful.” She sputtered, trying to move past her embarrassment from a moment earlier. “I-Is this what you’ve been working on for the last hour-and-a-half?” she asked, putting on the rings.

Colin checked his Info Tablet, “It didn’t feel like an hour and a half, Geez,” Colin said, pocketing the magical smartphone.

“Does this mean you’ll let me go scouting tonight?” she asked, running her fingers over the runes that Colin had carved.

“We’ll see,” Colin said, stretching his aching body as he contemplated what they could do again. If he went all out, he might be able to do something about a fair few of the Golems. That was until he was overrun, or that big one showed back up to fight him. Warzone Conditions made everything here more complicated, not to mention his need for some secrecy about what he could “do.

“Damn,” Colin groaned after leaning back, hands on his hips, popping his spine. The relief was immense but short-lived.

A knock on their door echoed through the door, and the Antagonist walked towards it, watching Nox as he vanished into a nearby shadow. Rielle walked over towards where the door would open, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword.

Both were ready as Colin opened it, finding the Sumo on the other side of the door. Now that he was really looking, the man’s cool brown skin and chiseled but somehow still soft features didn’t seem Japanese like a regular Sumo. He looked more Native American, though which tribe Colin wouldn’t be able to say. What little clothing he wore supported this since he was wearing a sort of skirt-like garment that was open up to his hips to allow for a free range of movement. The garment was styled in diamond-like red and moss green designs with feathery strings hanging loose about the cloth. Colin could see from his angle that the man was thankfully wearing some kind of black shorts underneath.

It was a little bit of a culture clash to see a Native American Sumo, but it was neat to see as well.

“Hey, Brother. The Players downstairs are meeting in the hotel’s ballroom about the current situation. You coming?” he asked.

Figuring that he needed to know what was going on, Colin nodded. “Yeah, how soon are they going to start?”

“No idea, they seem pretty ready to start. So… any time, I guess?” he shrugged, the motion seemed extreme in the Sumo’s large, heavy-set body. He turned towards the stairs, asking, “Shall we go together?”

Returning the shrug, Colin looked to Rielle, “Come on, let’s see what the Outworlders are coming up with.”

“Oh, My screen name here is ContraryPaladin, but you can call me Pal,” the man stated, trying to be friendly.

“DevilWalker,” Colin stated as Rielle stepped out behind him. “You helped Rielle out when she was in a bind, Paladin. Colin stated, refusing to call the man ‘Pal’ this quickly. “I want you to know that I appreciate it.”

“Sure, it was no problem,” the giant of a man stated with a happy rumble in his voice. The shirtless man started to lead them down the stairs, and for a pleasurable moment, Colin was glad that neither one of them spoke. Then the Sumo broke the silence by asking a question, “So what class did you choose, DevilWalker? I went with Brawler for my main class and subclass, ending up with the Battle Sumo specialized class.” Paladin said, proud of his choices in-game that gave him his advantages.

A little confused at the pronouncement, Colin asked, “Why are you telling me that so casually? There are a lot of people who could use that information against you,” Colin stated, continuing to follow the man. He couldn’t fathom how anyone, Player or NPC, would divulge that sort of information freely.

If the man was bothered by Colin’s question, it wasn’t obvious. He just answered with a shrug, “it’s just a game. We are meant to have fun here, not ruin each other’s time and impair our adventures in this beautiful place. “

Colin couldn’t help but agree with him. If some Players had this man's general outlook on this world, then he’d just be playing it, probably with McKenna by now. It was a sad thought, but one that Colin had no sympathy for. People would be people, and to most, their time in this other world was precious. Of course, many people would be dickish in-game if it meant getting ahead and to the good stuff a little faster.

It was an excuse, not a good reason, though, and Colin treated it as such. “I agree, but it doesn’t really matter much either way. People will do what they want, and that will never change. If you got a hold of something that someone wants, I’d be willing to bet people would fight you for it. Hence, why having your class stated like that, so boldly, is a little daring.”

“Well then, life will be much more interesting, won’t it?” The Sumo said, turning his head as they entered the lobby.

It was crammed with NPC’s trying their best to remain calm while many watched the windows in horror. Colin squinted to get a closer look and found that, true to that Despair Golem’s words, a lot of Basic Warrior Golems were patrolling the border of the safe zone. At any given moment, He could see a dozen of the Golems walking around with their assortment of weapons. Colin practically salivated at the sight of the dual Revolvers that one was openly toting around.

ContraryPaladin passed through the lobby and headed into the double doors on the right side of the stairway. A sign next to the door simply read ‘Main Ballroom,’ and Colin followed their guide inside.

The Main Ballroom was about as big as Colin thought it would be given its name. A polished gray-and-white tile covered the floor’s entirety with plush burgundy chairs in rows all faced the wall across from Colin. The room walls were white stone or plaster, hard to tell without feeling it, with gold leaf trim accenting the designs. On the ceiling hung shining chandeliers that had dozens of magical lights suspended by them, lighting the room perfectly.

The Antagonist noted this but was instantly made into side notes when he noted a number of the Players in the room that he had killed in his nightly murders. Most of these people never saw him before they were killed; those that did saw nothing more than a silhouette created by shadow magic.

Colin stood in the back near the door, declining to take a seat despite plenty of open ones. Paladin took a swath of the wall an arm’s length away, folding his arms across his massive chest and watching as a few others walked into the room. Rielle stood next to Colin with an arm near a new weapon at her hip. A length of dark leather was wound up on her belt, with a single slightly curved point like a scorpion’s tail at the end.

So Colin waited for a few more long moments in silence with Rielle right next to him as a few more Players trickle “in.

“Alright, everyone, alright!” a man called at the front of the chairs. “Please sit down so everyone can see and hear me, and we can begin,” he shouted. Everyone kept chatting as they sat down in the seats nearest to them. Colin electing to stay where he was while ContraryPaladin did the same.

Now Colin could see the man commanding the attention of everyone in the room. He was not very big, maybe five foot five-ish and maybe a hundred-fifty pounds clothed and soaking wet. A cotton shirt covered his torso under a lion skin cape and cowl, tan leather breaches adorning his calves comfortably. Grass grew along his forearms and exposed chest where hair would be on a normal man, letting Colin pick him out as a Druid somewhere in his progression.

“For those of you who don’t know, my name is Salazario. I’m a Sergeant with the Warp Driver Guild, and I was hoping we could cooperate, so we don’t have to worry about being killed and respawning elsewhere,” he said, loud enough for everyone to hear.

“We first need to worry about survival,” he continued. “Which means we need to keep the Safe Zone up and running. According to the ward crafters, they can make the wards stronger and increase the count down by several hours or even days if they have the right equipment. We need things like powdered Graphite, Warding Rods, Charged Mana Stones, Enriched Dragon Blood, that sort of stuff. We are having a list made up by them now. If you have any of this stuff, please donate it to the cause so we can keep this place safe.”

Colin rolled his eyes and started counting. It was when he got to six when Salazario added on to his own statement, “the more NPCs we keep alive, the better the reward the system is bound to give us.”

Colin shook his head as he knew this was coming. It was just the way Players thought, and there was no way around it. At least, that was what he thought until he heard Paladin speak, “what an asshole.”

He looked a little saddened by the Player’s attitude and noticed Colin’s stare, "What? He’s an asshole, talking like that about the NPCs. We should be prioritizing their safety anyway, given that they can’t respawn like us.”

The Antagonist wanted to respond but wasn’t sure how. He knew that his opinion, especially given what happened to him, was odd compared to most Players. But he’d yet to find another who cared anywhere near similar to himself. This made it even harder for Colin to form an opinion of the man. His first opinion of all Players was that they were bad news and to be avoided. Still, this man that kept inserting himself near Colin and Rielle was different.

Salazario continued, “we also need provisions. Specifically, food if we are going to hole up in here for a while. We can create water, but the food is tricker, and the hunger debuffs can be pretty nasty. To that end, I have been given the okay by the building’s establishment to use one of the back rooms for monster preparation if someone has anything edible in storage.”

“They are also offering food at a reduced rate but stated that it will not last more than a day or two. Given the number of people in the building right now,” he said, discontent growing in the room with every added statement.

“We do have some good news, however. No one has seen that Golem that killed Litt’Lev since it gave the orders to surround the building. We don’t know where it went, but it appears to have moved on for the moment. Or it has decided to lie in wait nearby to see what happens. So allow me to ask… Does anyone here have any abilities, skills, banes, or equipment good against Golems, robots, or anything of like ’em?” Salazario asked the group.

Nobody was eager to speak, and for a long moment, no one did. Then a woman stood up near the front and “said, “I have an open slot for choosing my Monsters Bane Ability.”

The man next to her stood up and said, “I have a Rusting Spell and have the spellbook room for a few more.”

“Oh oh oh, I’m A Gaussian Fist. My electromagnetic skills and Abilities work extra well on metal-clad foes!” the cheery man stated.

A few more people raised their hands and shouted suggestions, with the man in front taking mental notes of them all. That look was something that Colin recognized and could respect to a degree; compiling information that was being spewed at you was not easy.

This went on for several minutes while many people stated what they could do to assist in this endeavor. It was informative with all things being said. While he only had a name to go off for classes or various powers, it still let Colin know just what sort of thing was possible. Yet again, the power of his Antagonist of Pride Class showed its worth; with time, he could learn everything that these people were spewing in an attempt to help.

Colin hung back, listening quietly as the room fell to silence, and Salazario smiled at the group. “Okay, we have a good group of people here to try and get what we need. Remember, our first priority should be keeping the Safe Zone going, so we have a fallback point should we need it. Does anyone have anything to say?” he asked quickly at the end.

It was now that Rielle decided to speak. Standing up from the wall next to Colin, She raised her hand and waited for Salazario to notice her before speaking. “What are your plans for anyone else around here? Surely there are people, ah” NPCs,” She corrected herself for their sakes, “in some of these buildings nearby.”

“Plan? I was going to leave them be. If they are still in their homes, they are as safe as they will be. We have no reason to go out of our way to rescue them and risk our safety. If we could respawn here, I would at least consider it but given our situation; it is better to protect those already here,” Salazario explained.

Nodding, Colin knew that there was something he had to do. Pushing off the wall, Colin turned to leave the room and headed out of the room. He heard Salazario call after them as he heard Rielle fall into step immediately behind him.

As soon as they started ascending the stairs, Colin began talking to Rielle, “Change of plans. You can leave and go out and start scouting.”

“Uhm, Walker, are we…” she started, and Colin waved her “off.

“Yes, Rielle, we are,” Colin said, heading her off before she could ask. “Your priority is to see if you can find anyone that needs saving. Use your rings to mark them and move on to the next building. If trouble finds you, flee back here, got it?”

She nodded her head emphatically before hurrying ahead of him and towards their room. Letting out a large sigh, Colin felt terrible for how much he hated what he and Rielle were about to do. He didn’t have a problem with saving people, but he had objectives that this would not accomplish.

He was going to do this for two reasons. First was that he knew Rielle felt strongly about doing this and helping people. She had a good heart that had been tarnished but not stained by her life with the normal Fey. The second was a more important reason. Eventually, he was going to get back to Earth and see McKenna. He needed to be able to see her without becoming an actual evil person.

To do this, Colin needed another person, even with Paladin the Sumo presumably willing to help. “Nox, I need you to tell me about summoning. Like you told you would a week and a half ago.”