Chương 95: Chapter 100: The Chief

I turned around to look at my companions. They were all tense. I was too. Usually I had no trouble with authority. Working as a lawyer, I met judges on a daily basis, magistrates, politicians, military and police officers, any kind of figure really. It wasn't the status of "chief" that made me wary. No, my companions could probably feel it indistinctly, but my aura was giving me a good picture of the being we were about to meet. It was brushing against another aura that was unrestrained in the building.

It flooded the room we were about to enter and spilled through the open door. It felt heavy and suffocating, like drowning in a pit of quicksand. It was on purpose. This was a stage. The whole thing was prepared to test us, or more probably to take advantage of us, given the words of the chief.

"Don't agree to any kind of deal. He wants something from us, and we are too ignorant to know our own value," I whispered to my team. They looked at me in confusion for the most part, but Tom and Alya nodded soon after, while Quinn's face looked pissed. Marcus was stoic as usual, while the girls were still uncertain.

"Why are you so suspicious?" muttered Melissa.

"Not everyone is an enemy…" Mary put a hand on her shoulder.

"Maybe, but these people are not even of our own race. You can't expect them to have our interest. It's better to be careful." It was the most I heard her speak in two days, and it was a warning. That said a lot about her current state. I took a step forward and pushed open the door. I couldn't let the chief wait forever after all. Inside it was more of the same, but the wooden room was nearly fully covered in tapestries, carpets, paintings and more trophies. Heads of strange beasts stared at us with vacant eyes.

There was one though that took the center of the room, hanging behind the giant desk. It filled the room's ambience with its presence, more so than the alien himself. Quinn was the first to break the silence.

"Is that a dragon?" he said incredulously.

"Ah, a common misconception among your people," said the man, the literal mountain of a man sitting on a high chair behind the desk. I looked at him, studying him as he studied us. He sported a salesman's smile on his face, a face that looked even more inhuman than the guard we had just met outside. His skin was dark grey and metallic, like ore just mined. He was as tall as me while seated, and I noticed a lack of chairs in front of the desk. A power play maybe?

He continued, but I could see his aura moving about, probing and flowing around us. Mine was kept under control with an iron will, not a sliver spilling out.

"No, young human, this is not a dragon, but a very distant cousin of one, an earth wyrm. Dragons are much bigger and impossibly stronger. It is a fascinating thought that a manaless world like yours knew of dragons and other magical races while remaining so terribly isolated…" He paused, his voice resonating in my bones for a second longer after he finished speaking.

"You slayed it, I suppose?" I told him while approaching the desk. He focused his gaze on me, his smile cracking just a tad.

"Of course. Like any worthy trophy, it needs to be hunted personally, with one's own hands." Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"I see. Anyway, pleasure to meet you. I am Elias Mercer and these are my companions, Tom, Marcus, Quinn, Alya, Melissa and last but not least, Mary. We came as it was asked of us. May I know the reason for our summoning?"

"Interesting, a charisma-based class? But you saw some combat too. Well, it is good to forge your bones on the battlefield before settling down. I did the same after all, and the tutorial is the best place for doing so. I commend your foresight," he said with a small nod. What was this thing about? Charisma? I never invested a point in that stat. He was under some kind of misconception, but I wasn't going to correct him.

If he was truly oblivious he was better off not knowing, and if he knew, I wouldn't give him more information than necessary. These were childlike manipulation tactics, but two can play this game.

"Why should the tutorial be the best place? A controlled hunting ground with known beasts would make for better training than nearly dying to an unknown, wouldn't it?"

"Oh yes, in that regard you are correct. But outside of the tutorial you won't experience a tenth of the improvements you will here. The System truly is great in this regard. It loves the first generation with a passion." What? I could see that I didn't hear wrong. The others were looking around and discussions soon broke out.

"Please," the chief said while raising both hands in a placating gesture. When we returned to a semblance of order he continued.

"You could not possibly believe that rising in levels and skills was so easy, right? The System sees you and provides challenge and rewards alike. Not only do you have access to the shop in the tutorial, but more than anything you experience unprecedented growth. Everything is made easier for you. Prerequisites for classes and skill evolutions are diminished. Insight into skills and your very class is spoon-fed to your brain. You are very lucky to be here, despite what you might think about it." Fuck…

this explains it. That is why we are moving faster than what seems logical, because we are, but artificially. If outside of here we progressed at one tenth of the speed, it would have taken basically two months to reach this point by ourselves. No… if skill acquisition and the requirements were voided or reduced, we would all be incredibly weaker than now. More than the leveling speed, it was the insight he was talking about that worried me.

How hard would it be to modify skills, improve on them, unlock the right evolutions without the System's help? But that wasn't the point right now. The point was, why? Why did this guy give us this information so wantonly?

"I have to say that this explains many things, but it still doesn't explain why we are getting introduced to the multiverse, why the System does what it does, and why we need this kind of growth in the first place."

"Ah! The great question! Why the System, the Great Nexus, the Confluence works the way it does? Well, humans, empires rose and fell on those questions, and still we are not closer to the answer. Maybe it just got lost in the river of time. But we have theories, too many actually. In any case, I don't really think you are here for those. Those are for the philosophers. You need something more practical." He had a flair for theatrics, just not the right kind.

I was starting to suspect that this guy wasn't that good at what he did…

"Before continuing, allow me to introduce myself formally. I am Bikrmorr, Chief of the Olog tribe and overseer of this Safe Zone. I summoned you for a reason very related to your last question. You see, you need every ounce of growth the tutorial could give you because outside of this place, your world, Bk 7B19, is going through the integration, and when that finishes, it will be ripe for the taking.

There are too many factions interested in that little azure ball, and I'm sorry to say it, but you won't be able to contend with them…"

"What do you mean?" asked Mary all of a sudden. Bikrmorr smiled larger at that.

"It means that your world is as good as gone, and you will be next. You have no idea of the powers that have grown for millennia in the wide multiverse. If you think of what you managed to accomplish in a scant few days, imagine someone who had an era to accumulate power… and imagine that now it wants your world. You have no chance of keeping it for yourselves…" Then he leaned forward a little, fingers interlocking as he regarded us with a winning smile.

"But I can offer you a way out of all the pain and devastation that will follow… just listen to me…"