Chapter 5: Chapter 5

[Jerik Barr] has ended the killstreak of [Magnus Oran] at 417!

 

No matter how many times Jerik looked at the feed, he still had trouble believing that it was real. He’d not only succeeded in killing Magnus to complete his contract, but he’d also taken out the highest ranking player on the leaderboard. A small part of him wished that he’d had enough points to place in the top fifty names, but alas that wasn’t possible. He didn’t have any epic shards to his name, after all, so his points were maxed out at two-hundred and fifty thousand. He’d taken that two hundred and fifty thousand and split it amongst his strike team as their payment, then collected what he could of the bounty, putting him back up to max again.

To his surprise, Katrina and Benji had decided to stick around him for the time being. When he’d questioned this decision of theirs, they’d merely shrugged and said, “Not like we have anything better to do at the moment.”

He was grateful for the protection in any event. With his points maxed out and no gear to protect himself, he felt as if he stood out like a beacon, drawing the eyes of everyone around him. Morgan too had decided to stay on but deigned not to explain. Jerik accepted this as her usual cool reticence and pushed it no further. But while they were there to watch over him, he decided he might as well hit Market street and purchase some new gear.

“Alright,” he said, speaking for the first time in two hours, tossing the tablet aside, and jumping to his feet. “I’ve been lazy long enough. Time to go shopping.”

“I was wondering how long you’d take to do something productive,” Morgan said. She’d been lounging on the couch beside him, her legs propped up on the arm, reading the feeds for herself. “I don’t know what will be left to purchase though. Everyone’s rushing out for gear after the other day.”

“Still,” he said, stretching. Glancing around, he noticed that Katrina and Benji were nowhere to be seen. Lowering his voice, he added, “Are you sure that was enough for your help?”

“The points?” She asked. When he nodded, she smirked at him. “Hardly. You still owe me six hundred thousand.”

His jaw dropped in surprise. “That thing cost you six hundred thousand points?”

“Of course,” she said coolly, rising gracefully off the couch. “You saw how much damage that thing caused. It might not have been able to bypass a Raid-Class shield, but it killed nearly two hundred players.”

“You know I can’t afford to pay you six hundred thousand,” Jerik said, his eyes narrowing. “Why did you choose to do that when you knew I’d be maxed out at two hundred and fifty?”

“Let’s just say I’ve come to quite like having you around. You’re a good source of information.”

“So you’re going to take my points, then let me farm to max again, then take more?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Morgan said, her smirk widening into a smile. Somehow, the expression still seemed… suspicious. “You do owe, but you can pay off the debt over time.”

They stood in silence for several long seconds, staring at each other. Jerik watched her eyes closed, wondering what her motive for the decision was. As an information broker, Morgan rarely took part in any fighting. She was one of the few who had no interest in earning the wise, and so enjoyed her time as she saw fit, trading and selling information to help the others along. Not for the first time, Jerik thought that she might be a rich girl in the real world, and so had never felt the need to struggle for anything.

“Jerik!” Benji came crashing into view from the direction of the front door. She looked vaguely out of breath. “I’m ready to go!”

“Alright,” he replied, turning away from Morgan to look at her. “Where's Katrina?”

“She said she’s going to meet us at the market,” Benji explained. Her large eyes flicked between him and Morgan, looking a little nervous. “Is everything alright?”

He quickly modified his features back to his usual uncaring expression. He’d allowed his mask to slip for a moment there, he thought. “We’re fine. Let’s get going.”

“Oh, okay,” Benji said, though she still glanced between the two of them, looking more nervous than ever. “Well, alright. I guess we’ll get going then?”

“Lead the way,” Jerik said with a quick shooing gesture. After an uncertain look, Benji turned and started heading for the exit, the other two right behind her. She kept throwing glances over her shoulder as she led the way, wondering what was going on with Jerik. His face had been unreadable for as long as she’d known him, but just for a moment there he’d looked almost scared. Had the information broker said something that scared him? What if she’d threatened him?

Maybe Katrina would know what it meant, Benji decided. Her older sister was better at reading people, so she could probably answer that mystery. Satisfied with her decision, she picked up her pace, making a beeline for the center of town. She and her sister had decided to stick around with Jerik a little longer. Katrina was bored and thought there’d be plenty of work from him, but Benji wanted to say it because she thought she liked the way Jerik did things. He claimed to be nothing more than an assassin for hire, but he’d taken out a really bad guy, which spoke to a good heart.

“Why are we going down the main street?” Jerik asked. “That’s just asking for one of the street gangs to attack us.”

“Street gangs?” Benji turned back, frowning. “There aren’t street gangs anymore.”

“What are you talking about?” He retorted, letting out a dull laugh. “I got attacked by one day before yesterday!”

“Yes, and then you killed their leader,” Morgan put in. “Best of all, you went against eighty men.”

Seeing Jerik raise an eyebrow in slight confusion, Morgan chuckled and retrieve her tablet. She tapped on the surface a few times, then handed it over. Jerik watched the video feed that was playing on it. It was his kill of Magnus and his companion, recorded via camera drone. He watched himself roll forward, shoot the stranger he’d never identified, and then point the gun at Magnus. His pleas for mercy seemed especially cowardly in this context.

“So they don’t think he has what it takes anymore,” Jerik guessed, handing the tablet back. “So the command structure broke, and the rest of the gangs deserted him?”

“Not quite,” Morgan corrected him. “They were chased out by the other residents of Zenken.”

Jerik blinked but gave no other emotion away. “Why?”

“Well, I imagine they were furious after nearly a year straight of fear and tyranny. Once they saw that Magnus was down, they took care of the rest.”

“Good for them,” he sighed. “Well, I’m not going to complain if it means we don’t have to sneak around the city.”

“Jerik!” The shouting voice made him spin around, his hands reaching for a rifle that didn’t exist anymore. A tall and skinny man with sandy-blonde hair was running right towards him. He had a Tek sword hanging at his belt and a sidearm but was otherwise unarmed. Jerik relaxed slightly, convinced that even if he attacked Morgan and Benji could handle him.

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“How do you know my name?” He asked sharply. “I haven’t met you before.”

“I’m Nicholas,” the young man said. He looked about the same age as Jerik, so he couldn’t be much older than twenty-five. “I want to join your platoon!”

“I don’t have a platoon,” Jerik said at once. “There’s nothing to join. Besides, why should I hire you? You don’t have any powerful guns, and it doesn’t look like you have any magik gear.”

Morgan was pushing a tablet towards him again, and Jerik looked down to see Nicholas’ public data listed on the screen. Not much to see there, he thought. “Have you ever taken part in a raid yet?”

“No,” Nicholas admitted. “But I’m fast, and I’m a pretty good fighter.”

“Says here you’re a Techmancer,” Jerik said with a frown. Techmancers were the players who amassed a medley of skills between Tek and Magik. As they didn’t pick a specialty in one field, their skills were generally lacking as a result. “What’s your primary weapon?”

“This,” Nicholas unhooked the Tek Sword from his belt. “It’s Legendary-Class.”

“But it’s a sword,” Jerik said, his voice scornful. “You can’t stop a bullet with a sword.”

“No, but that’s why I have this.”

Nicholas lifted his left forearm. For a second, Jerik was confused. Apart from a very oddly shaped bracer he didn’t recognize, nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be taking place. “Morgan, do you know what that is?”

To his surprise, she shook her head. So Jerik turned back. “Alright, what is that?”

In a demonstration, Nicholas made a fist with his left hand. At once, a light blue oval sprang into life, covering him from head to toe, just wide enough to provide the proper coverage. Despite himself, Jerik’s jaw dropped open. He took a step closer to investigate, and Nicholas grinned. “Shoot at me with your pistol.”

“You want me to kill you?” Jerik asked, raising an eyebrow. “Right now?”

“I want you to try,” Nicholas said. His eyes showed a definite challenge, one that he couldn’t resist. He drew his sidearm at once and fired. The bullet evaporated against the surface of the shield, leaving nothing more than a small wisp of smoke. Nicholas smirked, but Jerik wasn’t done. In rapid succession, he fired the rest of the magazine. Part of him was curious, and part of him wanted to see the durability of the shield fail. But each bullet was destroyed by the shield with virtually no sign of damage or weakening power.

“Where did you get that?” Morgan asked, stepping up to Jerik’s side and peering at the new item. “What monster dropped that?”

“I made it,” Nicholas said. He unclenched his fist, and the shield disappeared. Now Jerik could see markings on the gauntlet fading as the light left them. “I learned how to make it from the Menorans.”

“The Menorans taught you that?” Jerik was starting to lose track of the procession of events. “Have you made anything else in the past few years?”

“Years?” Nicholas tilted his head in confusion. “I made this last month. My teacher taught me how.”

Jerik and Morgan were too engrossed in the unveiling of the new piece of equipment to notice much else of what was going on. Benji, however, accustomed to keeping an eye out after months of guard duties, noticed the new arrival at once, and she immediately went on guard. She didn’t dare lift her rifle to challenge the stranger, but she still radiated nervous energy. Jerik caught it at once and glanced around, then he too spotted the newcomer.

Approaching them from several yards away was a tall figure in an elaborate navy blue suit with silver trimming. Her uniform alone was cause for great interest, but for Jerik, the fact that her skin was a pale blue and she stood at nearly eight feet tall was far more interesting. It was the trademark of a Menoran, one of the original residents of the world. He immediately moved aside to clear a space for them, his eyes locked on to the regal face. But her head was turned to look directly at him.

“Jerik Barr,” she said, her voice melodious and musical. “You are the one who defeated the Betrayer.”

“I am,” Jerik said slowly, after a lengthy shocked pause. “And you are?”

“I am referred to by my people as Sel-Kenna. I am Chief of Craftsman City, and I find your efforts worthy of a reward.”

She snapped her fingers, and Nicholas gave a slight start, then hurriedly took off the large backpack he was carrying. Plunging one hand into it, he retrieved a small box. Jerik recognized it at once as a Tek Chest, a rare item that coded itself to a person and could hold vast amounts of equipment. Nicholas turned the chest around so that it was facing Jerik, who placed one finger on the small metal plate. There was a quiet mechanical click, and it opened.

There weren’t many items inside, but he could see replacements for all of the gear he’d lost save for Maker’s Mark, plus an epic gem. He picked that up at once and it dissolved at his touch. That left room for the point transfer chip he saw. But the most intriguing piece was in the center. He looked at Sel-Kenna in confusion, who gestured for him to retrieve it. It expanded at once in mid-air revealing a sleek new long-range rifle. The name on the side said [Paragon]. Yet another weapon he didn’t recognize. He’d have to test it out later.

“You’ve done us a great deed,” Sel-Kenna continued. “Not just us Menorans, but the world at large. If you hadn’t acted, that man would have won via dishonesty. We hope you will win the proper way.”

“As in killing all the monsters?” Jerik asked. “Do you know how many there are between the cities now?”

“I do,” she said. “So you will have to amass a loyal platoon. I have brought you your first recruit.”

 

[Smoke Brigade] has been created!

Platoon Captain: Jerik Barr

Platoon Bank: 600,000 points

 

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