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1318 Words
Matt facepalmed.
12
Matt quickly scooped up his bond and the abused bunny. It took more than a little gentle coaxing to get her to let go of the fluffy whitetail. Once he did get the bunny free, it jumped from his arms, to rush toward what it expected was freedom from its tormentor.
Instead, it jumped up and kicked his bond in the head before bounding away twice, then turning and wiggling its nose at her.
Aster flew from his arms and raced toward the disappearing bunny.
Allowing the two to play, he turned back to following Liz’s AI marker. He found her talking to another group of delvers and was waved over once she noticed his approach.
“Matt, this is Amy, Gerald, Franklyn, and Dee. They got screwed over as well.”
As she spoke, Liz entwined their fingers, a little firmer than their usual hand holding. He squeezed her back. While he had been assured that she was fine through their AI, it was still good to see her up and moving about. He assumed from her hard grip that she felt the same way.
Amy was closest to him, and proffered her hand to Matt, which started a round of handshakes all around.
Amy had an odd accent that Matt couldn’t place, but he sympathized with her words. “We got a mission. They told us to take the fort if possible, and our reinforcements just went poof. Never arrived. It was f*****g bullshit.”
Dee leaned in and added, “But guess who we found here?”
Matt just raised an eyebrow along with a shoulder to show he had no clue. He would have expected her to say one of the people they fought, but his short walk through the relaxation area showed him that it was only filled with kingdom personnel. Separating people was a good idea when they had nearly killed each other, after all.
Gerald fell back and punched at the air. “A friend of mine, Jen. Dead like us. She was a part of a cobbled together relief team, and their commander forced them to hold back and wait until the team they were supposed to relieve had died. That way, they could earn the points for capturing the fort themselves.”
Matt gaped toward the still standing members of the team and said, “No f*****g way. They just threw you to the wolves?”
“Yeah, f*****g pricks. I…”
Matt missed what Dee said after that as his thoughts slipped to their own team’s situation. Heat seeped into his veins like molten metal. A glance at Liz was returned with a nod. She believed that they had been screwed the same way.
Wanting to see the full extent of the damage, Matt brought up his AI messages.
Prior Total (last updated 0 days ago): 16,776 points.
TEAM MERITS:
(Calculated for Tier 6 Combatant).
· Enemy vassal killed, Tier 5. Worth 1 point. Performed 72 times.
· Enemy vassal killed, Tier 6. Worth 5 points. Performed 130 times.
· Enemy vassal killed, Tier 7. Worth 25 points. Performed 7 times.
· Medium fort defended. First wave: six vs one hundred. 2,500 points. Five times normal points are awarded for difference in numbers. 12,500 points.
· Medium fort defended. Second wave: six vs two hundred. 2,500 points. Ten times normal points are awarded for differences in numbers. 25,000 points. Failed.
PERSONAL MERITS:
(Calculated for Tier 6 Combatant).
· Enemy vassal killed, Tier 5. Worth 1 point. Performed 13 times.
· Enemy vassal killed, Tier 6. Worth 5 points. Performed 58 times.
· Enemy vassal killed, Tier 7. Worth 25 points. Performed 2 times.
· Medium fort defended. 2,500 points.
ARMY MERITS:
· Items and equipment looted but returned. Worth 2,834 points.
UNACHIEVED MERITS: For reference purposes only.
· N/A
SUMMARY OF GAINS:
Team Merits:
· Raw Total: 13,325
· Team Multiplier: 1x
· Category Total: 13,325
Personal Merits:
· Raw Total: 2,840
· Personal Multiplier: 1x
· Category Total: 2,840
Combined Merits:
· Sub-Total: 16,165
· Total Multiplier: 1x
· Grand Total: 16,165
New Gains: 18,999 points.
New Total: 35,775 points.
Pather Team Ranking (Kingdom of Seven Suns): 52,312nd place.
Estimated Daily Stipend: N/A.
18,999 points lost. No, Matt corrected himself. They had also lost the 16,776 points from taking the fort in the first place. 35,775 points vanished into thin air, as if they had never existed. That was without the 25,000 they could have received if they had been able to hold onto the fort.
The heat that rippled through Matt cycled with his mana. He wanted to break someone, and the leader of their reinforcements had a lot of explaining to do. He doubted that they could explain their decision to his satisfaction, but he’d give them the opportunity. Then he would do some breaking.
Matt wondered how many times he could challenge them to duels before the army would force him away.
Liz pulled him from revenge fantasies when she excused them from the group. It didn’t take long to realize why. Annie, Emily, and Conor were at the door and glancing around at the colorful, animal-filled area in something between wonder and bewilderment.
He understood the oddity of the situation, but it didn’t stop him from running a hand through a sheep’s silky curls as it brushed up against his leg. He still didn’t know how he had gotten here before all of them. His fight had lasted longer, and he had died after them. His only guess was that their wounds were less severe, so they were a lower priority.
Liz reached forward and grabbed their hands, pulling them forward. “We need to talk, and we can’t do it in the doorway.”
Annie seemed completely distracted as a butterfly larger than Matt’s head gently fluttered past. It took Emily forcefully dragging her with them to keep her from running off.
They found a secluded grove, and all sat in a circle.
Liz started them off. “We got f****d. Hard.”
The three recent arrivals looked confused, but it quickly turned to anger as Liz explained what she found.
“The relief commanders were playing f*****g games with us. They intentionally let us die so they could get more points for a capture of the fort. I talked to two other teams who died in the same way.”
Emily looked ready to spit fire, which matched Matt’s feelings. “What f*****g pricks! I lost thirty-five thousand points! If this is true, I’m out. I’m switching sides and killing that mother fucker as many times as I can.”
Matt was about to agree when Liz held up a tempering hand. “I was thinking the same thing, but two things are keeping me from going through with it.”
Seeing all of their displeasure at that, she continued, “Juni wanted to talk to us. His message was short, but he seemed just as mad as we are. Second, if we change sides, we lose the leverage we have over the prince, and more importantly, Juni.”
Annie shrugged, unconcerned. “I don’t think that anything they say can convince me to stay. If we stay, I won’t get the chance to kill whoever failed us.”
Conor, surprisingly, spoke up, “Not necessarily true. I talked to my healer’s assistant. It’s what made me take so long to get here. Apparently, the army has a system for assassins, and they don’t have any restrictions on who you kill as long as you give them a heads up. You just need to pass a practical test or something. They didn’t know much more, but I think haunting the leader for weeks then killing them could be worse.”
They all looked at Conor with blank stares. He hadn’t yet shown such a dark side of himself.
- Writer
