I was coming up on a week rift-side in an hour, time to head back to Valhalla and refit. I’d been talking with Hep about it and there is an option to start my rift on the same day as his did. I’ll have to go it alone without communication, but it’s a much better option than starting my own. Cost effective I guess. So, that’s the plan. Rita left to do that a few hours ago. I guess there is an equalizing effect where we won’t be able to see each other until the day after tomorrow in this rift. Not in Valhalla, anyways. I can’t say I’m not excited, I know I shouldn’t be since it’s basically a simulation of the end of the world, but still. An apocalypse is a warrior’s wet dream. I spend my last hour organizing my house, and enjoying the work the people here have put in. The initial wall was finished, a hair under twenty-feet, with guard towers every fifty meters. The front gate was more sliding door than anything wheels set on the bottom so it can roll across. We’d managed to encompass the entire little neighborhood, fourteen houses in all. It was still kind of cramped for some, but the next goal was new homes. Not anything fancy, there is a few little towns within a short distance from here that we can clear out. I watch the timer in my peripheral turn over and will the portal to open, walking forward before it’s even completely formed I return to Valhalla. -MISSION- -Finding a home- -Found a position that is acceptable to requestors needs > 1000 EXP -Mission completed within timeframe > 200 EXP -BONUS- -Repelled an Incursion event > 400 EXP That ain't bad, add it to the kills from the mercenaries and I’ve got a nice little four-thousand eight-hundred. More than enough for my needs, especially since I’m only going to be allowed to take basic gear with me. Hep started his rift on advanced, which is why the incursion could happen in the first place. My green message icon is blinking in my peripheral, telling me I have saved messages from this side. I only know a few people here. Maybe it was Rita before she left, I’ll check it while I eat. Deciding I was going to get some decent food, and a good night’s sleep before I go. I head out the door and up to the second floor of the great hall. Stepping out the door the hallway is empty, must be an off-time. I figured this place was bumping all the time. Snatches of the food from upstairs are still wafting on the wind so I know there will be food. I’ve got to stop myself from sprinting up the stairs once I reach the bottom. I haven’t had anything but basic rations, and gamey meat since I started the last mission. That was two whole weeks, you can’t go back to the exact time you left the rift-world if you leave the refit room. Leaving it causes time to move at a normal interval parallel to Valhalla. Hep tried for a good-long while to explain it to me, but I couldn’t wrap my head around it. The System regulates time streams so that thing’s don’t get all crossed, it’ll take me a few hundred-years of being interested to begin understanding it. Luckily, I feel fine knowing that it works, even if I don’t know how. Reaching the top step, I see Ianata sitting at a table by herself near the far wall with a tablet like device in her hand. I wave at her but she doesn’t notice me. Great, I’m that asshole now. I look over at the waitress, pointing to myself, then to Ianata’s table so she knows I’m going over there and I’d like some food. There aren’t many people in the hall, it’s later than I thought, around zero-two-hundred. I snake my way over to Ianata’s table. “Hey you.” She puts up a finger in the universal sign of ‘gimme a sec’. Pulling a seat, I sit down across from her. When the waitress shows up a moment later I ask her to bring me some of the soup, and a hot-loaf of bread. “I’ll have the same, his treat, thank you.” She smiles at the waitress and gives her order. “Considering you stabbed me at some point I’m pretty sure you should be buying.” I don’t mind buying a pretty girl some food, but I’m going to bust her balls while I’m at it. “Yeah, but you probably deserved it. I talked to Rita earlier and she said you were coming back to make a start in Heps rift. I approve. The three of you will make a great team. It seems the group hep picked up also has a few of the fated headed to Valhalla when they die. The girl you met, Jillian? She will be positioned at this outpost once she has reached the realm.” That’s one hell of a nice way to say she’s going to be here after she dies. “On to other news. Did you read my message?” I shake my head no, “Ok then. Lena. The girl you offered a convert to wants to come over to our camp. There are stipulations. It’s going to cost you a thousand EXP. You’re going to owe HEL a favor, and she will be considered your ward. Any trouble she causes will be on you. This offer only lasts for the next couple of hours, she made the request at a temple and is sitting in a limbo waiting for you to come out.” Godamn it. “Is there anything else or is that it? Do I get to talk to her about it before it happens?” It’s too much, I’m exhausted. I really thought the universe would throw me a bone here, give me one night to sleep. “Until your decision has been made you cannot run any missions. If you decide she can come here, you must wait twenty-four hours for her soul to integrate before you can go on missions. Integration will reset her level to match your level five. As your ward, she cannot out level you by any more than two levels. She’s also coming with nothing. From the report, I got she sold everything to get clear of her guild debt. Her assets are a few sets of clothes, a pistol with enough ammo for a couple of reloads and a tac-vest. I’m pretty sure that is about it.” Damn it. Couldn’t she have waited a week or two to convert? It sounds like she’s burned all her bridges too. God hates a coward. “Fuck it. I’m game. Quick question, can I trade that favor Hel owes me so that we don't owe one another?” Tapping around on her tablet for a minute she looks up, “If you trade up, it downgrades to a small favor that Hel will owe you, is that acceptable?” Her eyebrows quirked a little in interest. I guess she’d missed that lady Hel owed me one. “Yes, that’s easy enough. I accept the offer.” She taps a little more on her tablet, “OK she will port in around this time tomorrow. Go to a portal room then and the system will recognize why you are there and send her through.” She takes a bite of her soup, it’s a cheesy broccoli stuff. Lots of mushrooms and potatoes, I’m loving mine. It’s not sausage, and Kraut, but it’ll do. “Is there anything else Ianata?” I finish my food in pretty much record time. “Nope, that’s it. Your living space will stay the same. The side room opposite yours should be acceptable for her to live in. You’ll have to come back and stay sometime, let me buy you a dinner for trying to kill you.” She’s got that wolf look on her face again, I’m not prepared for that tonight. “I’ll take that into consideration, I’ve got to go crash out now. I’m beat, catch you later.” I make a hasty exit, looking over my shoulder to be sure the wolf wasn’t following the sheep to his slaughter. Luckily, she must have had better things to do and I make it out clean. The walk back to my room is much faster than I remember, and I’m showered, then in bed sleeping within a few moments. Morning comes much too fast. I’m not sure what I was dreaming about but I wake feeling the calmest I’ve probably felt in years. The room is the perfect temperature, the blankets are piled around me like I’d been resting inside of a cloud bank. I consider going back to sleep but decide I need to get my stuff together. List making time, first I need to see what Ianata was talking about with extra room, there’s only one here. -MESSAGE- Gnome: Sorry to bother you but I think I need to move rooms, I only have one bedroom, and I am not sharing it with Lena when she gets here. Ianata: Open the interface on your table and select ‘home customization’ you can select to customize your room. You can change the layout in there. Once you open the interface it will give you directions on how it works. It will cost some money or EXP depending on what you want to spend, but it’s worth it. Gnome: Alright. Thank you. Ianata: No problem, message me if you need any more help. I’ll be around in Valhalla for the next month or so off rotation. Sounds easy enough. I walk to my couch and sit down, flattening my hand on it to signal I want the interface to pop up. It comes alive with a simple list interface, a long list on the left-hand side that opens menus in trees moving to the right across the screen. I’m sure the options can be changed, but this seems like it’s straight-forward, so I’ll keep it as is for now. I find the list on the left and select ‘home customization.” The list fans out to the right with more options ranging from floor layouts to purchasing compressed space boxes, closets, and rooms. Considering the compressed space stuff, I almost gag, the prices are beyond ridiculous. Backing out I look at the layouts. There are a few that have my attention. One I’m considering the most pushes the far living room wall closer, using the space to make a bedroom that almost mirrors my own. There’s one like it that makes the common room a bit smaller but adds queen beds to them for a couple hundred extra EXP. Deciding having a bed I’m not afraid I’ll fall out of in the middle of the night is important I select the choice to add the extra room and queen beds. -UPGRADE- -All occupants must leave the domicile for upgrades to take effect. -select start from the door menu to lock-in selected floor layout. (700 EXP will be drafted once selection is confirmed by homeowner.) The mention of a homeowner brings up more questions. With a quick search through the list’s I find an option for adding people via a list/search type function. There’s something neat. -HOME- -Registered owner > Gnome. (Owner has right to change anything inside of the domicile. Also, has ability to add entry permissions.) Residents > Lena (North bedroom permissions.) (Have the right to manipulate registered rooms, owner must approve other changes/permissions.) -Entry permissions > Hep, Rita, Ianata (Assigned Valkyrie). I guess Ianata has permissions as my assigned Valkyrie, it won’t let me limit her or anything. No use worrying about it I guess. I’ll let the ‘home’ do its thing after I finish my list and head out to the store. List time I guess, what does Lena need? Shit, maybe I should just take her straight from the rooms later and she can just figure it out herself. She was in Hels realm longer than I’ve been here, buying her the wrong gear would be stupid. Guess that leaves me most of the day to do…what? Can I set up mission parameters from my room? Deciding I’ll be spending most of the day inside my room anyways I step out and start the home upgrade. -HOME- -Upgrade in process > twenty-minutes remaining. Should have expected that I guess. I wonder if it just, like, migrates or if there are inter-dimensional gremlins that move everything around? Might be an interesting talk to have with someone at some point. Staring at the door I realize that I don’t want to stare at a door. I make my way to the bazaar; the town is much livelier now. There is a definite feeling of tension though. People seem more tight-lipped, everybody has weapons holstered and is moving about quicker. I’ll ask Ianata about it later. The bazaar hadn’t changed any, it was still a giant, glorious wally-world. Walking to the weapons counter I select all the gear worth anything and sell off almost everything. Including my trusty Granger, sans sight. She’s been a wonderful companion so far, but I need something with a little more oomph. And silenced. I love the idea of a bow but I never really got too deep into them back before the jump. After drooling over everything in the shop I’m torn between whether to get one of the modular AR type rifles. You can swap the upper receivers like a regular AR and customize it as needed. The package I’m looking at comes with a 12 inch 5.56 upper, and an optional 16 .300BLK upper for an extra cost if packaged. Or the M1A type scout rifles. The base model package I’m looking at comes in .308 with an optional low end silencer. They’re both calibers I’ve trained on and am comfortable with. The price difference, even with option, is minimal. If I didn’t have to buy for Lena, I’d just get both and be done with it, but for all I know she’s a pistol expert. Godamn it. In the end, I decide on the AR packaged with the .300BLK upper with a x8 sight, and six magazines for each caliber. The scout rifle would have been nice, but in the end the AR is just too versatile. I don’t even need to get another pistol I can just give it to Lena. -WEAPON- -Rhino AR style modular lower receiver > LVL. 5 -Quality > Above average. -Weight > 2 (Lbs.) -DESCRIPTION- -The Rhino AR style lower receiver accepts compatible upper receivers without physical modifications. (Buffer spring, and buffer included.) -WEAPON- -Rhino AR 5.56 upper receiver > LVL. 5 -Damage > 80 (Per shot) -Effective range > 300m -Quality > Above average. -Weight > 6.5 (Lbs.) -DESCRIPTION- -The Rhino AR 5.56 upper receiver is a battle-tested weapon trusted by many militaries before the collapse. Good for close to mid-range engagements. -WEAPON ACCESSORY- -Rhino AR 5.56 silencer > LVL. 3 -Sound reduction > 30 (dB) -Quality > Above average. -Weight > .30 (Lbs.) -WEAPON- -Rhino AR .300BLK upper receiver > LVL. 5 -Damage > 140 (Per shot) -Effective range > 800m -Quality > Above average. -Weight > 9.2(Lbs.) -DESCRIPTION- -The Rhino AR .300BLK upper receiver is a swappable caliber variant for the Rhino lower receiver. It has more stopping power, and is specifically made for longer range engagements. -WEAPON ACCESSORY- -Ambient Mana long range engagement scope > LVL. 3 - 4x-8x magnification. -Quality > Above average. -Weight > .5 (Lbs.) I’d have loved to gotten a silencer for the .300 but the amount I spent on the package went way past my expected budget. Sixteen-hundred EXP lighter I make my way over to the area with tactical helmets. I need to get one with a jumper and maybe a night vision slot. Selecting a helmet was worse than the gun. The helmets were situated next to full body suits, some of which had connected helmets that retracted. They were some serious space age tech. I think I should just stick with what I have for now, the only thing we can take with us into the initial rift is going to be guns, ammo, and rations. Maybe I’ll have enough for one of these sweetums when I finish. I decide to grab a quick disconnect, compression pack that will weave right onto my vest on the way out. It’s only a couple of silvers and I’m sitting on twenty-three gold with all the bodies I looted. Feeling like someone had stolen my happy I carried my purchased weapon back to my room and pulled everything out and set it up. I had decided to go with the extra lower. Lena had a rifle when I met her in-rift, I figure she can live with it for a mission. If she doesn’t like it she can give it to me and I’ll either sell it or rearrange my kit to make it usable. I almost don’t notice the difference in my home as I walk in, the living room is much smaller, but the kitchen has moved closer to the door. It’s cozier than what I thought it’d be, an upgrade, or adding compressed space rooms in the future might be a good idea. Rubbing my hands together in anticipation I start pulling packages out of my inventory, and assembling my kit. After everything was put on both rifle’s looked intimidating. After the silencer was put on the 5.56 upper was only five or six inches shorter than the .300BLK. I’d decided on getting them in a base flat dark earth color scheme for everything. It’d been the color I chose for all my firearms before the collapse, why ruin a good thing. Checking the time, I still had another six-hours before I needed to pick her up. Maybe I’ll make a quick meal and then grab a nap. I fire up the oven and throw some frozen chicken nuggets and French fries on a sheet inside. Wishing I had thought to buy aluminum foil so I didn’t have to clean anything afterwards I set an alarm and walk back to the table. Engrossed in the options for the table I barely realize that the food is done. I pull them out and toss them on a plate, sliding the sheet into the sink. I move back to the table and am lost in the options available in the system. I can search for different rooms, homes, anything from here. The one thing that has my attention is the option to plan a mission from here and just head down to the rift-rooms and jump in. It would have been nice to know before, but it wouldn’t have changed anything. Before I realize it, I’ve nibbled through my food and it’s about forty-minutes until Lena comes through. I’ve managed to plan the rift world. To the depth that once we walk out of the rift it will subtract the EXP needed. Then Send Hep a message that we have finished our initialization and our worlds are merged. The system options get incredibly in depth. Even more interesting is the fact that there are some options greyed out, and no matter what I do I cannot access them. I hate being denied access by a computer. -KNOCK- -KNOCK- “FUCK.” Scared the shit out of me. Who the hell is going to be knocking on doors at this hour. Falling back on old habits I rack the slide on the pistol and set it against the door before I open it. “I heard you set up the gun gnome. The chances of you being attacked here are pretty low.” Ianata. Keeping the pistol set against the door I pull it open “Can I help you? I was just getting ready to head out.” “It’d help if you put the pistol away. But I doubt you will.” She looks a little red, and unhappy. Oh well, she tried to kill me once. Respawn might just be a joke for her, I don’t know. “I’m here because it’s time to pick up your ward, I have something I need to talk to you about beforehand.” Sounds serious. Pulling the gun off the door I pull it open and wave her in. “Alrighty then, let’s have a conversation.” She looks haggard, much worse than she did last night. “I’m not going to step around it, I need you to understand the facts now, and I need a decision before you head through to your rift.” Shit, it is serious. Holstering my pistol, I take a seat on the opposite side of the couch from her “That’s pretty much the best way to get through to me anyways. Lay it on my lady.” Sitting back and taking a deep breath she looks much more anxious, come to think about it, almost afraid. Not sure what kind of things scare a fucking Valkyrie I’m getting a bit worried. “Do you know we can die gnome? We can die and be sent back to the cycle: You, me, even most of the demi-gods, they are just people who have gained enough power to ascend to the next plateau. There are certain weapons, and individuals who have the skills to do so. You are leveling at an accelerated rate compared to others. You’re not special, you just work harder, and ignore fear better than most. Making you more efficient.” The intense stare she’s giving me is moving further from fear and more towards wolfish again. It’s confusing. “I’m on the verge of ascending to the next plateau. I need disciples, you would still work under Odin as your main god, but you would need to move your base with me wherever I went. I don’t have the power to oust the current demi-god here. I can’t stay either, he knows I’m close to moving up, he’s been trying to send me back to the cycle it’s why I disappear so often.” I’m not sure what she’s asking entails, but I’m going to make her ask me outright. I like her, she seems like she wants to help, and isn’t looking to make too many waves. It’d be nice to live in a smaller town, getting catcalls and whistles every time I try to walk anywhere here. An eternity of being taunted for a mistake is not something I find fun. “That sounds good for you, you must be super excited to be able to do that. I’m unsure of what you want from me though. I feel I know, but you said you were going to lay it out. Cards on the table, don’t leave anything out.” After expressing I knew what she wants aloud without an outright denial her face gets much calmer. She spends most of the time up till I must go and get Lena explaining. She explains that as a demi-god she should either wrest control of a town from another, or take control of a mini-outpost. It’ll involve much the same thing as here since she’s picked enough people who want to stay on this side and either guard walls, or go on local missions. All I’d have to do is move to her outpost once I reached Level ten and I could keep on like I am. There were a few key differences. The outpost being small we’d have to wait for ordered weapons and such to be delivered from other outposts and towns. I wouldn’t have to pull anymore wall guard since she chose people specifically for it. There would also be a twelve-percent EXP and coinage tax taken from every mission upon completion, to go to the betterment of the town. Not bad as far as taxes go honestly. The main reason she was propositioning me is;the more people of worth a town/outpost has the faster it will grow. If the person becomes famous or well known it might draw others. Basically, she’s betting on my success. Something about that makes me warm inside, I’m so used to people stepping on one another to get to the top I've forgot that you can climb by helping each other up. The biggest downside is that she has enemies. Until she has held the outpost and its surrounding areas for a month straight she can be sent back to the cycle. There are ways those attacking her can send others back too, but it’s rarer. More likely to happen to the more powerful people she is asking to go, but the fact that my growth isn’t a secret might put me in danger. It’s a little bit terrifying, and a lotta bit exhilarating. “I can’t give you a yes right now, I’ll let you know before me and Lena leave tomorrow though, I’m leaning that way though. I just need to sleep on it before I decide.” More than likely I’ll take her offer, but maybe I’ll have some insight after a sleep. Standing up and taking my hand in a warrior’s grip “let’s go get your ward. I’m not going to put you in a position you don’t want to be, but if you did this I’d owe you a big favor.” Godamn it, that pretty much makes up my mind. I’m not going to tell her that though. A god owing me a favor, and a demi-god owing me a favor would come in handy. Assuming Ianata survived. Releasing me she heads towards the door. I throw on my vest and weapons before following her, clipping my helmet to my hip as I close the door behind me. We talk about small things on the way down to the rift rooms: the weather in Valhalla, Heps progress in Rift. Even a little of what she can tell me about what to expect after I jump in. “Hell, it doesn’t matter that you’re going back to the first day of Heps rift. You’ll always be put in a different location, and because of the things he has set you have to match them. You’re going to run into enemies that are challenging. You won’t even have a map going in, you’ll have to find a way to navigate. If your very, very lucky you’ll start in a small town. More than likely Hep set the starting parameters to high. there is a good chance you're heading into a large city. Probably with a few minutes before the drop, or a fortified position a few minutes after, likely mid-assault. It’s going to suck, and if you or Lena die before the initial seven days are up you’re going to start from the beginning.” That got the blood flowing, it’s worse than I thought. I had known we weren’t going to have much in the way of usable gear. I guess the question now is do I try and kit Lena to survive, or outfit myself to the max and try to make my survival a priority. “Shit, what would you do? Do I make my survival rate higher, or try and kit Lena up enough so that were close? This wouldn’t have been an issue had she given me a few days. Godamn it.” I don’t want to be annoyed at her before she even steps through the door, but it looks like it’s going to be. Trying to calm myself down I stick my hand on the scanner and head into a rift-room with Ianata in tow. We’re already past time when Lena was supposed to walk through. She’s already sitting at the table looking more than a little confused, angry, and afraid. “The fuck man? I had the verification message that I was accepted. When I walked through I couldn’t access the system interface, couldn’t open the door. If I’m accepted why am I locked out?” She seems a bit peeved. “It’s because you are a ward. You don’t have full rights yet, Gnome must decide how much freedom you are going to have. For most intents and purposes, you are an indentured slave.” Lena’s face drops, apparently, she didn’t read the fine print. “Indentured slave?” The fear on her face is painful on a primal level, not sure where that comes from. Not sure I want to know. “I’m going to give you all the permissions you promise to behave for Lena. I’m not looking for a slave, I’m looking for a compatriot. I need someone who wants to stand at my shoulder on the line, not someone who has to. I’m not going to demand anything from you that you are unwilling, or do not want to do. Well, I’ll probably figure out the mission schedule most of the time. I will expect you to follow me on most missions.” Her face lightens some, I’ve still gotta lay the heavy stuff on her though. “Were probably moving to a much smaller outpost then where we are now after the next mission. One we have to pay extra mission resources to live in. Instead of me getting a part of your EXP after missions it’s just going to be set up to pay the system fees. I’ll put the extra two-percent on top of the ten you are paying, but it’s coming out either way. I’m not trying to fuck you over, it’s the rules of the deal.” The fear that was there a moment ago, is gone, replaced again by annoyance. “Why should it come out of mine? Why aren’t you paying it?” Fine, let’s be assholes. “Because you got back to your world and immediately requested to move to me. You’ve upset pretty much every plan I had made. The system is taking a tax out of your keep any way you look at it, this way it goes straight to principal. What you had given to me would have went straight to that anyways.” She’s still got a shitty look on her face, “All right. Let’s get to this right out of the gate. I’m an asshole. I’m not going to rape you or anything, but I’ll expect you to keep up with me, and I won’t ask you to do shit that I won’t." "Unfortunately for you, I’m a fucking nut-bag. That bullshit I pulled back at your camp? I FREQUENTLY put myself in those situations. I’ll expect you to wade in either right behind me, or when and where I tell you. If you won’t try, I’ll leave you behind. I’ll pull every fucking permission you have and you’ll sit in the rift-room until I’ve completed the mission or died. I will not expect you to be the best there is, but I’ll expect you to try your hardest. Because I will.” Her face had hallowed out again, but I’ve got to finish my thought, lowering my voice I keep on. “I hold myself to a high standard, if I see you are unable to keep up I will adjust, or change plans.” Her head has lowered and I see tears coming down her face. “look at me Lena. I’m usually a semi-reasonable guy, but if you are not going to try and be useful let me know. I’ll even make you a guarantee.” Setting my hand on my heart I look in her eyes, “I swear on my soul that I will never ask you to do something I wouldn’t do.” Ianata’s eyes widen and she takes a step away from me as a door opens behind me and Vidar walks out of the door. “A soul contract must be officiated by a system bound god. You will place your hand in mine and make that oath again once time resumes if you mean it. If you tell me, you do not I will step back through the door.” I can see the dare in his eyes, the test behind what he’s doing. “Restart time, I wasn’t kidding.” He puts one hand out and snaps his fingers again. Time resumes and Ianata and Lena are staring that Vidar. “Gnome has made a statement that needs to be system bound. I am here to do so.” He puts his hand back out and waves me over. “You know what you have to do Gnome.” Without any hesitation, I walk to him and set my hand on his palm. “I swear on my soul that I will never ask more of Lena than I would of myself.” “I accept.” Without another word after his proclamation he tilts his head at me and walks back out his door. “Well fuck me Gnome, I don’t know if I can keep up with you but it’s going to be a hell of a ride. I’m in.” Lena has a look on her face of somewhere between confusion and star struck. I can’t help but shrug, “I’ve been told I do things a bit different than most. It’s worked out for the best so far, I’ll let you know if it stops.”