“No, even though you were bitten, you won’t. It doesn’t work that way. I’m going to teleport us straight to the Sarenton compound,” said Garth, holding the leather wrapped woman.

Steven was actually quite relieved to hear it, though maybe he shouldn’t have worried. Whenever he respawned, reset a floor, or teleported, his body was returned to its default state. Which was great, because not long ago, he was pretty sure some of his ribs were broken.

He watched as Garth stooped a bit to tap on the Red Eye, and after a moment he received a dungeon notification message.

Sarenton Family Estate node activated.

Party member has initiated transfer.

Teleportation in 10 seconds.

He dismissed the message and waited until the room turned black. The strange vacuum of nothingness replaced the world, but a split second after the teleportation started he felt a strange twist, like gravity had shifted for a split second and he fell sideways. It was momentary, and the rest of the teleportation process felt the same as it always had.

The world reappeared, and he found himself standing on the transportation platform near the area with gazebos and the guard shack. Except the guard shack wasn’t where it was last time he saw it. He looked toward the stairs off the platform and a small crowd of people were being funneled to a dark orange crystal that was placed about thirty feet away from the final step. The guard shack was there too, adjacent to the crystal.

“…relinquished inside of the guard post. This is Decree the First from the Eternal Emperor. May the pain enlighten.”

Steven heard a man yelling over the crowd. It came from a man wearing a frilly red and gold doublet. He had a black and gold tricorn hat on his head.

“That’s impossible,” Garth said from right beside Steven, making him jump. He looked over at the man still carrying the unconscious woman. Garth wore a heavy frown and continued, “I know I selected the Sarenton compound.”

They stepped down off the platform and joined the crowd, before the crier made the declaration again.

“Until further notice, all persons shall report to the mana crystal upon exiting a dungeon floor. There, they are to place their hand upon the crystal. The crystal will remove your excess mana as a tithe for the Eternal Emperor. It is suggested you exchange your mana for levels before tithing. If you do not have enough mana for a level, you are to return to your dungeon and gain the necessary mana. All items of value will be relinquished inside the guard post. This is Decree the First from the Eternal Emperor. May the pain enlighten.”

Steven and Garth stared at each other while listening to the crier’s speech. When the speech was over, Steven tapped on his implant and checked his status page. He had over six thousand mana saved up.

“Dude! I have tons of mana, and I can’t exchange for levels. I probably got a huge amount from the minotaur,” said Steven, drawing glances from nearby people when he mentioned he couldn’t exchange for levels. He ignored the looks. “I was going to buy some new gear too. Self repair stuff.”

“Take Mari,” said Garth, and he handed the unconscious woman to Steven. She was surprisingly light in his arms.

Garth tapped on his own implant and inspected the holographic screen that appeared. They had taken a few steps closer to the crystal, and more people had gathered behind them. “I need to get her somewhere she can rest. Hopefully she’ll wake soon. I don’t have enough mana for any levels, but I’m not far off either. Unfortunately I was dead when you killed the minotaur, so I got no mana from it.” He looked up from his screen to see Steven cradling the woman, then gently tossing her into the air before catching her.

“Stop that! She’s already been through hell.”

“It’s ok, I’m supporting her head. She’s really light.” Steven said, but he still stopped tossing the woman and handing her back to Garth, who was shaking his head.

“No, you’re just stronger. Might as well give them everything,” said Garth, bringing the subject back to the crystal. “We have more important priorities anyway. And I wonder what happened to the council? As far as I know, we’ve never had a particular ruler, let alone an emperor. Serenity Springs was always run by a council, headed by members of the four families.”

A nearby woman leaned over, “Rumor has it, the families backed this emperor and gave him power. He heads the council now, and the council are just advisors.” She threw Steven a contemptuous look, “and you should treat those less fortunate than yourself with more respect.”

The woman tsked and returned to her previous place in the crowd as Garth stifled a laugh.

“But I saved her,” mumbled Steven, and hung his head down with shoulders slumped. He didn’t know why, but it felt like he was scolded by his grandma.

They moved forward every few seconds, not speaking. The crier repeated the decree several more times and before they neared the front of the crowd. Steven wondered why there weren’t more people here if the population of Serenity Springs was over four hundred thousand. There were only a handful of people in front of them, and maybe sixty or seventy behind.

A good number of people that teleported in heard the decree and teleported back out again, presumably to gain some more mana for a level before giving it to the crystal. He heard several people swear when they discovered they couldn’t teleport to other nodes in Serenity Springs. The general consensus that Steven gleaned from the dull roar of mumblings around him was that absolutely no one liked this arrangement. It left no mana for supplies or other payments.

Steven had a better look at the crystal now, and it had changed color from a dark orange to a yellow mustard-like color. It was flanked by two guards who were no longer wearing the blue gambesons with the guild crest. Instead they had a golden breastplate over some sort of red long sleeved shirt that had frills on the sleeve cuffs. They wore red pants with no armor over their thighs, but golden greaves protected their shins. Their boots looked like modern black combat boots. They both held a golden armet tucked under an arm.

Minutes later, Steven was next in line and stepped forward to place his hand on the crystal.

“Place your hand anywhere on the tithing crystal, and it will remove all but a tenth of your current mana,” the guard droned quietly. He wasn’t even looking at Steven, but had his eyes focused on an unknown spot in the sky. “The Emperor appreciates your generosity.”

Steven was a bit relieved to hear that he got to keep a bit of mana, but he would have to pay the Matron a little bit every time he came to town to make sure he made his rent. As he placed his hand on the mustard yellow crystal it began to change color to a bright yellow, then dull green. The crystal continued through the spectrum until it finally stopped at a dark violet. He heard murmurs behind him as he pulled his hand away. The guard was staring at him.

“You were very generous, but the Emperor wishes you to exchange your mana for levels first. The higher floors contain more mana, and it would be better for everyone to progress your dungeon floors.”

“Sorry, I forgot,” replied Steven, bowing slightly towards the guard and looking at the ground.

“Heed the decree on future tithes, or punishment will be administered. Proceed inside the guard post for inventory inspection.”

“One second, please. I need to help my friend.” Steven said as he held his arms out for Garth to deposit the unconscious woman.

Garth handed over the woman and placed his hand on the crystal. It barely brightened, and after a moment he removed his hand and took the woman back. They both started towards the guard post when the guard raised his voice.

“All persons must tithe!”

Steven stopped and looked at the guard, who was staring right at Garth.

Garth had paled a little, but stared back. “She is unconscious and has nothing. We have just saved her from a loop.”

“Yeah,” Steven said, “I gave enough for the both of us right?” He took a step towards the guard post, looking back towards Garth, who started to follow.

Garth managed a single step before a halberd appeared in front of him, barring his path. The axe-like blade was dangerously close to the unconscious woman’s chest, and the hook on the back of the halberd was pointing at Garth’s chin. The other guard, who was now armed with an arming sword and roundshield, had circled behind Garth and was poised to attack the man’s back.

Steven turned to face the halberd guard while the crowd shuffled back away from the altercation. He heard boots stomping from the guard post and stole a glance over to see two more guards exit the building. One had a large two handed morning star, the other wielded two small hammers.

He put a puzzled look on his face as he assumed a fighting stance, “When did you put your helmets on?”

Right when he finished his question he heard a loud explosion that rocked the entire area. Most of the crowd had fallen to the ground, and the rest of them ran towards the Red Eye. He looked back at the halberd guard and flexed his legs, preparing to dash at the man, when he saw an arrow the size of a spear thunk into his back. Immediately after, a second arrow hit the sword wielding guard in the side. Both guards crashed to the stone ground at the same time.

Garth was able to avoid being cut by the halberd blade with a small hop backwards as the guard fell, and yelled, “Behind you!”

Steven turned to see the two guards that were running at him fall to the ground and skid along the stone into his legs. Both had spear sized arrows protruding from their backs.

Both Steven and Garth began running in the direction of the lesser guildhall but were cut off when a ninja, in a traditional black ninja outfit holding a larger than usual recurve bow, jumped in front of them.

“Come with me if you want to live” the ninja said, before Steven and Garth even came to a skidding stop.

Steven looked over at Garth and said, “I don’t know why, but I want to go with ninja Kyle Reese.”