Chapter 38: Book 1: Chapter 16 (Part 1 of 3)

Jackson’s eyes darted from me to the corpses of his erstwhile friends as I approached the centre of the chamber. The rising panic he felt was evident on his face, his Mana exhaustion had left him vulnerable to anyone unscrupulous enough to take advantage of his helplessness.

Cue my resident bloodthirsty Jiminy Cricket. <Good job, Torin. Now, cut the sorcerer’s throat and we can get on with claiming that core.>

His words caused me to stutter-step as I reached the thrones. Irrespective of it only being a couple of days, it had felt as if I’d been tiptoeing around the imp and his attempts to push me down the darkest path for years. An irreconcilable clash of wills was inevitable. This had to happen eventually, though I’d hoped to procrastinate for a while longer.

There was a choice before me, capitulate to the imp’s desires and avoid any repercussions he could throw my way or take my chances and lay down the law.

This wasn’t a choice, not really. Oh, in the past I may have hedged and placated to avoid unwanted conflict, but I never gave in and I wouldn’t give in now. I’d been doing plenty of prevaricating with Quixbix already, and it was high time for that to end.

“No, Quixbix. We won’t be doing that,” I announced firmly.

<What? What do you mean you won’t be doing that? Jackson’s group turned on you, his life is forfeit. Kill him already, I demand it> he choked out in response.

“No,” I said quietly.

<No? No! What kind of Dungeon Corsair Captain are you?> the imp yelled in my mind. <Have you forgotten how difficult I can make your life?>

“Quixbix, when I say no, I mean no,” I growled, before continuing in a louder voice. “What kind of Dungeon Corsair Captain am I? I’m the kind who is the motherfucking Captain!” I roared. “There will be no more threats from you, veiled or otherwise. You will do as I say and not the other way around.”

My body quivered as my repressed anger was unleashed. Shana smiled coyly and bowed her head in deference, visibly displaying her approval and submission.

Jackson cringed away and slipped off the throne. He struggled back up onto his feet using the throne as a crutch, with a thoroughly confused, yet fearful, expression on his face. He couldn’t hear Quixbix’s side of the conversation, so I must have seemed quite unhinged.

I was prepared for the imp’s response, but he still managed to catch me by surprise.

<Well, it’s about time you figured that out. For a while there I thought I would have to literally spell it out for you> he chuckled merrily.

Shana giggled along with him, while I stood there with my mouth slightly agape.

I rubbed my forehead with my thumb and forefinger. “Are you trying to tell me that you’ve been constantly pushing my buttons to get me to front up and take charge?” I asked wearily as my anger drained away.

<That’s about the size of it> he quipped.

“So, all that gubbins about shafting your previous owners was horse shit?” I asked in exasperation.

<Hmmm, no. I totally shafted those undeserving weaklings at the first opportunity> he professed glibly.

“But you aren’t going to do that to me,” I pressed.

<Nah, I’d hardly tell you I could do that if I planned to walk you into an early grave would I?> he reasoned.

“I suppose not,” I agreed.

<I knew you had the stones, right from the beginning> he complimented.

“You did, huh? How could you be so sure I wasn’t telling you what you wanted to hear?” I asked and instantly regretted the question.

Why was I trying to convince him to change his mind?

Quixbix laughed before he answered. <How many times do I have to tell you that we are bonded at a molecular level. We may not share thoughts, but we share a body. There are so many chemical tells when you lie. It was really hard to keep a straight face when you tried. ‘Exercise restraint to further my other nefarious machinations’> he quoted me from our first conversation back in my apartment and chuckled. <You must have thought I was created yesterday.>

“So, you don’t really want us to become the most feared and renowned pirate crew in the galaxy after all?” I quizzed him.

<Of course, I do. And we will be. I just understand it’s going to take you more than a few days to accept that it is both your destiny and in your best interests. You are still settling, after all> he answered.

“Huh, settling?” was my less than eloquent response.

You are reading story Corsairs & Cataclysms at novel35.com

<Yes, settling into who you are. You keep oscillating between who you were and who you are becoming. Cutting down people who are obstacles without mercy or doubt one minute, and saving chubby enemies from certain death because you feel sorry for them in another. In the meantime, I’ll be here to make sure you don’t make any fatal missteps until you arrive at your final destination. Finally telling me you were the boss means you’re well on your way> he explained.

Obviously, Quixbix hadn’t shed all his bloodthirstiness.

“Who are you talking to?” Jackson gulped.

I turned to the young sorcerer, whose legs seemed to be steadying under him. “I have a quest imp. I’m speaking to him, you can’t hear him, though.”

“A quest imp,” Jackson remarked. “I read about those in the help files. They are super rare and much sought after.”

<This kid is growing on me> Quixbix started. <It’s always nice to be properly appreciated. I’m glad you didn’t kill him to play along with me. Anyway, time is a ‘wasting, and you don’t get forever to hang around once a dungeon is complete. The good news, Torin, is that your class means you can remove that grate currently blocking access to the core. So, you won’t have to waste time breaking your way through. And I’ve got a fresh dilemma too, relating to what you do with Jackson over there.>

“I thought you couldn’t do that in a dungeon?” I said.

<I can’t give you quests. And a dilemma is not a quest> he advised.

You have slain most of the members of another party that you ran a dungeon with. They attacked first, and dungeons are dangerous places, everybody knows that. Nobody needs to know that Carl Fuchs and Kelly Stevens lived to the end of the run but didn’t leave alive. Only one of their comrades lives to tell the tale, but what will you do?

Kill Jackson Templeton.

The simplest solution. The secret will never leave the dungeon. You won’t have to share the XP or item rewards, doubled for being the first to conquer this dungeon at level 1, with him either. You will gain a permanent buff doubling the XP reward for killing fellow dungeoneers on a mutual run.

Let him live, but take steps to ensure his silence.

You allow him to live. This option grants you early access to a class quest and makes it repeatable. The quest is related to forming your crew which is usually reserved until after you have secured your Dungeon Ship and can’t usually be repeated. You will need to force Jackson to sign the Corsair’s Canon for life and bind him as crew or lose these benefits.

Let him go.

You allow him to go free. +25 Notoriety. All podiums in the state of Michigan will be automatically informed of these events. There is a chance that podiums within Law Abiding settlements will generate capture or kill quests. (Proximity to the dungeon Anastasia Ruslanovna influences the likelihood of quest generation and severity.)

 

“Come on, Quixbix. What the fuck is up with that last part. Quests to hunt us down, really,” I snorted.

<Okay, confession time. Although I can offer you dilemmas at pivotal moments like this, unlike custom quests, I don’t actually control the terms. The Framework does that directly for dilemmas> Quixbix admitted.

“Again, that is the kind of information I require before, not after you or we do something,” I berated him.

<Yeah, I get it. Look I know you are Mr Grumpypants, but a dilemma always offers you some nice goodies. And I also know from experience that the tougher the choice, the sweeter the offerings. You get to pick between a permanent XP buff, making a class quest repeatable or a chunk of extra notoriety, but each has an associated cost. In this case, killing someone for your personal gain or binding him to a life of piracy at your side permanently or the potential inconvenience of people hunting for you down the line. Which you pick is up to you, but we both know which one you’re going for> he taunted companionably.

“Do I have to pick straight away?” I asked.

<No, but you have to pick before you leave and if he legs it before you decide, you’ll default to option three> he warned.

I nodded my understanding.

“Shana, watch Jackson. Don’t let him leave. Jackson, stay put and we’ll talk in a minute,” I ordered briskly.

Shana hopped down from the throne she’d been standing on and took up a position between Jackson and the exit. She didn’t nock an arrow to her bow, but she did twirl one between her fingers and observed him languidly.

The thin sorcerer gulped audibly. “I won’t give you any trouble.” He smiled wanly in an attempt to mollify us.

I ignored him for the moment and moved over to the well. The small red gem pulsed faintly at the bottom. When I examined the grate that blocked access, I knew instinctively how to remove it. I bent over, reached down and gripped the grate in just the right place. I made four attempts to twist it to the left followed by two in the opposite direction, then four more times to the left before finally switching back to twist from the right and the grate unscrewed and came loose on the fifth twist.

You can find story with these keywords: Corsairs & Cataclysms, Read Corsairs & Cataclysms, Corsairs & Cataclysms novel, Corsairs & Cataclysms book, Corsairs & Cataclysms story, Corsairs & Cataclysms full, Corsairs & Cataclysms Latest Chapter