The hallway was now painted in a patina of shrapnel and body parts, and Eric could only thank the heavens that he and his friends had made it through relatively unscathed, thanks to their armor, the 4-way intersection the bounty hunters had stopped at, and the 15 yard distance.

“Well shit,” Eric softly said.

Morlekai nodded. “At least now we know that whatever absurd vitality a thirtieth level tank might have, even that’s not enough to resist a fucking black powder bomb blowing up right in your lap. Especially with one of your superheated arrows drilling through it… and him.”

Eric took a deep, ragged breath, collapsing to his knees, now that the immediate terror and high of battle had been replaced by post-battle shakes he only ever got when forced to fight his own kind.

"Fuck it all. After how utterly those assholes mastered us when they took us by surprise... I can't believe we're the ones drawing breath, and not them."

“You sure as fuck aren’t the only one, Eric,” said an awed Drake, shaking his head in disbelief at the scene before him. “You know it's only thanks to Lady Luck that none of that shrapnel hit the exposed parts of our faces, right? And that man… Lyons... a complete fucking monster. One punch, and I was done. Absolutely done. And he ignored my bardiche like it was fucking nothing! And for a hot second, I was feeling so softhearted that I just wanted to let him go. What the hell was I thinking?”

Eric flashed a sympathetic smile. “Don’t feel too bad, Drake. Check your interface battle logs. He had actually used one of his Nodes to claim some sort of Leadership persuasion power. To put it another way… we were all being influenced by a high level Charm effect.”

Louie blinked. “No shit.”

“None whatsoever,” Eric said with a cold smile. “Save at his end. It was the wife comment that really threw it off. Because if you happened to catch a glimpse of his hands when the gloves were off... there was no wedding band.”

Alice flashed a sad smile. “You know, Eric, that doesn’t necessarily mean—“

“And no paling of the skin, contrasting with his otherwise well-tanned hands. I mean… before they were completely blown to smithereens.”

Alice's gaze turned thoughtful. "And with your Perception, you would spot pretty much any lightening in skin tone. Thanks, Eric. That… makes me feel a bit better about how things went down."

“Damn right,” Morlekai concurred. “Had we let that man out of our sight, we would have had a thirtieth level monster eager for revenge at our backs. One who could probably take us out by surprise, far quicker and harder than we could take him.”

Eric nodded. "Because with his wife being bullshit, I'm betting that his implied promise to swear off vengeance and headhunting was also complete bunk. Which to my mind means that he was very much thinking of how sweet it would be to make us all suffer, the minute he could get out from under our thumbs and heal up."

Louie nodded. “Well, shit. I guess there's some merit to that mental resistance stat, after all. And don't for a minute think we don't know that it was thanks to you that our cuffs and collars disappeared and the door popped right open. You a lock picking whiz, or something?”

Eric smirked, a handful of steel collars and cuffs popping in his hands. “Or something. Now that I've somehow soul-bound myself to these things, I sure as fuck hope I can get them forged into something else, to make up for the half soul point and a couple hundred experience I spent binding this crap.”

“Eric?”

“Yeah, Morlekai?”

“How?”

Eric winced at that one word, even as a strangely solemn Alice, face still splattered with the blood of her almost-lover, did the same.

Eric took a deep breath, sharing a long glance with Alice. “You okay?”

She flashed a bleak smile. "Yeah, Eric. It was just like…" she shook her head. "Just like playing a character in a scene, you know? I was becoming the tawdry little slut Nelly secretly yearned for." She swallowed. "And maybe I got just a bit too close to the secret yearnings of her heart. Forced to realize that she was, well...”

Eric lowered his gaze, emotions roiling with exultation, relief, and horror for what he had done. As much as he felt fiercely vindicated, and reveled in taking out multiple foes three times his level… almost surprised he hadn’t earned any title or boon for the feat... he’d be lying if he didn’t acknowledge, at least to himself, the guilt roiling in his soul.

“She wasn’t just an enemy npc in a game. She was a person, with hopes and dreams of her own, and presumably with a husband, and perhaps a whole family, that loved her.”

“Exactly,” Alice whispered, eyes filling with regret equal to his own, before instantly hardening. “And even if my role was limited to seduction and distraction… I still set her up, Eric.” She swallowed, shaking her head. “Even while losing myself in that role, I still knew damn well what you’re capable of. I could still feel the pulse and pull of your bloodmagic. I knew…” she licked her lips. “I sort of knew just the moment to… you know. And she was lost in sweetness. And then you struck, and it was done.” Alice bowed her head. “And I grabbed my wand so fast before darting away from her body. Not because I was hungry for the next kill, but because I couldn’t bear to look at her. Not right then.

She gazed back at the fallen and now very dead mage. “I knew how it had to go down. My only concern was Ferret killing us all before we could counter him. But somehow, by some fucking miracle, you were actually able to trap him.”

Eric nodded, using the tiniest piece of the massive experience dump he had received with three 30th level deaths that had completely filled his level 9 bar and pushed his core density from 60.1% to 67.9% to repair the portion of his undead bulwark that Lyons had actually managed to destroy, before summoning it in its Venus fly trap form once more, positioned to block the hallway just beyond the steel cage.

Drake whistled, chuckling softly. “So that’s what the fuck you were practicing in the tunnels. Just in case we needed it, right? It narrows the passageway, and you can just squeeze past. But if I so much as brush my hand the other way, it bites right into me. And damn if there aren't hundreds of little bone spikes and scales… and are those actually teeth? Catching on everything.”

Eric grinned. “Exactly. Think roach motel. You can check in...”

Louie chuckled evilly. “And check this out, Drake! on the other side, the needles, bone spikes, and teeth are all pointing the other way, so you’re fucking stuck in the middle. Perfect trap for a fucking speed freak that would otherwise dart around so fast, he’d laugh at your arrows and slit your throat before you could even blink twice!”

Eric nodded solemnly. “Exactly. That’s why I didn’t bother with a solid wall. It would stop them until Lyons tore through, and then we’re still dead. But this way, we caught and killed one idiot moving before he even thought it through. And when Lyon’s tried to bust through in a frenzy, because the narrow opening was way too damned small for his giant-sized frame to pass through, it was still plenty wide enough for me to hit him with a supersonic fire arrow, just like an archery slit or murder hole in any castle. And because it was absolute pitch blackness, as far as he could tell, beyond the smoldering remains of his partner that killed his night vision in the too narrow tunnel, he didn't even see death coming. He had no idea I was lining up my shot."

Eric took a shuddering breath, finding his gaze inevitably wandering back to the head that had finally stopped blinking. "He probably didn't even fully grasp how Ferret had died or realize that yes, superheated needlepoint bodkin arrowheads ripping through the air faster than sound will pierce even his thick-ass armor, til a heartbeat after I released."

Alice laughed coldly. “And I refuse to feel any pity for that bastard. Because there’s no way in hell the fucking Confederation would have sponsored him and somehow gotten him and the others up to level thirty in a non-bullshit class if he hadn’t been one of their prized hounds, roping people for death or slavery by the hundreds. Or hell, maybe by the thousands!”

“I agree,” Eric said. “And how fucked up is it that we’re enslaving and killing members of our own race when the rest of the galaxy seems eager enough to do it for us?”

Morlekai shook his head. “That Confederation is pure madness. But Alice is right. Confederate bounty hunters are adventurers who volunteered to become part of the CSA. They’re never press-ganged, in case they have too much sympathy for their targets and lose themselves behind enemy lines, as soon as they figure out how to wiggle out of their forced oaths.” He flashed a bleak smile. “I would never raise my hand against a fellow survivor press-ganged to serve, so long as he isn't aiming his spear or crossbow right at me. But I sure as hell I have no problem cutting down anyone daring to put chains around my neck, because that’s a job they deliberately volunteered for.”

Hard crimson eyes locked with Eric’s own. “And neither should you.”

Eric swallowed. “I know. It’s just that...”

Alice’s hand gently slipped into his own. “Nelly. She had a husband, and maybe children of her own, just like you said.”

“God, I hope not,” Eric said, Alice nodding right beside him.

“Thank you, Eric,” she whispered.

He blinked at her bemused smile.

“For pulling our asses out of the fire. Again.”

"Damn straight," Louie said, wrapping Eric in a bear hug. "I will never ever underestimate the bow again. And fuck if I don't want to get an extra-dimensional storage space of my own, so I can fucking make zombie corpse traps on the fly, just like in MiningCraft!”

“Be damned careful before you consign one of your Primal Nodes, assuming you can even unseal it, once we unlock classes actually worth claiming,” Morlekai warned.

Louie frowned. “Why the hell not? Unlimited storage space, shaping shit inside as you will? Pretty damned powerful, Morlekai.”

The vampire shook his head in disapproval. “I wouldn't recommend it, Louie. You already know you can purchase extra-dimensional storage space rings and bags in Freetown. So long as you have enough cash."

"Yeah," Drake snorted, "If you have a million credits to burn."

“Which we soon will,” Morlekai said with a cool smile. “So no need for either of you to waste one of the precious few slots you will have available to master powers that will define you for the rest of your lives. Leave that to the rubes who won’t be up millions of credits when our heist is said and done.”

“Fair point, boss,” said Louie before furrowing his brow, peering intently at an awkwardly smiling Eric. “And how the fuck does Eric pull half the shit that he does with his ES Space anyway?”

Morlekai shrugged. “Who knows? I’m just glad that he can.”

Alice squeezed her lover's hand. "Did you see how hard Nelly had to work just to summon that steel wagon cage you poor boys were stuck in? That took at least a minute, and tapped a good portion of her mana. Don't get me wrong, it's a damn useful power to have. But storing stuff, or pulling it out, in the blink of an eye? That’s all Eric.” She flashed Eric her most winning smile. “Maybe if we’re really good, he’ll show us the trick of it.”

Eric smirked. "Actually, it's something that psycho pod gave me. You could almost call it a gift."

Drake’s eyes widened. “Really?”

Eric nodded. “Just before it spat me out, still damaged and weaker than I’ve ever been before in my life. But not before deliberately crossing out all my class options besides the absolute weakest, like it was taunting me… then depositing me just feet away from a cluster of feral rats eager to eat me alive.”

Drake whistled. “Now that is seriously fucked up.”

Eric’s flashed a bitter smile. “Make no mistake, it was bait that was supposed to kill me. Because the cost of that ES Space was a good portion of my muscles and health. Enough to devastate my Vitality and drop my 13 Strength all the way down to 8, so I was a sitting duck for the rats. And all because I refused to make a ‘voluntary donation’ of my Fire and Wrath Essences to that psycho pod.”

Louie shook his head. “I knew there was something wrong with the pods in this territory, but that tops the fucking metaphoric cake.”

Eric nodded. “It sure as hell does,” he said, before he proceeded to make the steel wagon cage and all remaining traces of the corpses disappear. "But damn if I didn't do everything I could to train like a maniac and regain what I had lost, and so much more." He gave a pleased grin. “And I can’t deny how sweet it feels to turn this trap of a gift into the ultimate tactical survival tool. For the tunnels, at least.”

Morlekai nodded. “Light and Darkness. Narrow constricting corridors. Being able to strike your enemies by surprise, without any chance of them flanking you.”

Eric dipped his head. “Damn right. Because if I had tried that shit against those three thirtieth level pros anywhere else but here, where our infravision and blood-sight gives the three of us such an edge, or, hell, if I had tried anything anywhere, without Alice using her epic-level succubus powers to leave two of our opponents so hot and bothered that they couldn't even think straight, and the third so eager to avoid that scene that he cracked open a fucking book...”

“We’d all be dead or enslaved,” Alice whispered.

Eric nodded. “Exactly. So I guess it’s clear what we should all be doing now.”

Drake nodded. “We should be busting our asses trying to get stronger. Doing all we can to train and level up and get decent classes and adventure our asses off. And when we eventually hit thirtieth level, we sure as hell won’t be cocky bastards taking our enemies for granted. We take them all out fast and hard, taking no prisoners, and giving them absolutely no chance to turn the tables on us, like you guys did to those three assholes.”

“Correct,” Morlekai said. “Overconfidence is a great way to get killed, and determining the best path forward for each of us is the wisest investment any of us can make.”

Drake flinched under Morlekai’s hard gaze. “No matter how much it costs.”

Drake sighed, before nodding his head. “I know, Morlekai. It’s just that, all that gold...”

“Do you have any idea how much manuals that can show us the best path forward for ourselves using pods, classes, cultivation, magic, resonance, class evolutions… all of it, will cost? Items that are normally forbidden for the denizens of freshly exploited worlds like ours to possess. Treasures that only Major Houses even have the clout to provide, and only to a select handful of favored beneficiaries. Can you even fathom the astronomical price tag?”

Morlekai chuckled bitterly. "Never mind the answers we seek. There are so many questions we don't even know to ask! Questions which our enemies, limited in the power they can bring to this world for only so long, probably figured the answers to, countless centuries ago. If we can't secure a foothold in our own world, with thousands of humans ranking up in classes that are actually worth claiming, with the correct talents and abilities to make the most of their affinities…"

“I know, Morlekai. You don’t have to say it,” a chastened Drake murmured.

“Good. Then you already know what we need to do. And why we need to do it. And the CFA, however noble or twisted their intentions...”

“They sure as hell aren’t noble, Morlekai,” Louie snorted.

“And they aren’t thinking of the bigger picture, either. Only securing the former USA for themselves. And what the hell good is it, if all they have to show for it are two million survivors with the weakest possible class, wielding only basic equipment and slave collars around their necks, with a 90% plus mortality rate suffered just to get that far? Maybe a hell of a lot more, with all the enslaved Conscripts who will die fighting just to get there. And how hard will they fight to survive, when no honor, glory, or prestige awaits them, when no beautiful damsel will be there to salute or reward their efforts and sacrifice, with absolutely no happy ending to the stories of their lives. Just chains of steel, forced oathbindings, and their masters’ whips.”

Morlekai shook his head and glared. “And the CFA actually expects them to stand up to the countless hoards of Advanced tier classers that Master Grim is all but certain will flood our world in the years to come.”

Louie glared at the blood-spattered remains left on the tunnel floor that Eric was just now making disappear, smacking his meaty fists together. “And the one chance we had to make the score to end all scores, to get rich beyond our wildest dreams, and sure, Morlekai, secure ourselves some sweet intergalactic knowledge tomes or cubes while we were at it… was fucking snatched right out from under us, thanks to that goddamned conniving bastard of a worm Stibbs, and these fucking bounty-hunting assholes!”

Alice nodded, her gaze equally hot. “And without the keys and codes, all the work we did, everything we strove for, doesn’t mean shit! There’s no way we can go back with a hundred fucking cannons and automatons ready to make fucking mincemeat of us while the mayor laughs in his cups. And these fucking assholes… these fucking assholes!”

She shook her head and sighed. "There's no way in hell Lyons has anything intact on him."

Eric nodded in bitter agreement, doing his best to come to terms with the reality of their situation. One way or another, that golden prize had always been dangling just out of reach.

Whether thanks to a treacherous mayor or overpowered opponents, they never had a chance.

And there was no way in hell Lyons had the keys or codes on him, because even the remains he had been able to recover was shredded beyond repair.

Then Eric lurched, his heart skipping his beat.

Realizing what he was missing.

Unable, in fact, to hold back his excited grin when he pulled out not one, but several prizes free.

“Um… guys? Actually...”

Alice frowned… before she squealed with delight. “Ooh, an Ice bolt wand! Is that for me, you beautiful boy?”

Eric shrugged and handed her the prize. “Sure. Why the hell not? You’re the mage of our group with a sweet, sweet mana pool. And although I wouldn’t mind practicing with it and you teaching me the very basics, I know I’m stretching myself thin as it is. And here’s a necklace. I’m almost positive it also has something to do with ice, though I’m not sure what. I think you should keep both of them. Because without you, there’s no way in hell I could have pulled my end off.”

She flashed a sultry smile, darting forward to kiss his cheek, and claimed her prizes. “Thank you, Eric, I don’t mind if I do.”

Louie gave him a high five. “My man. You just doubled our mage’s utility. Smart play, Eric. Hands down.”

But Eric wasn’t done pulling prizes out of his metaphoric hat. “And I think this little black book would look pretty damn dashing, tucked in your red suit vest pocket, Morlekai.” He smirked at the man’s poleaxed expression before revealing his final trick of the day with a flash of gold. “And look at this! Some keys to go with it.”