NOVEL FROG Chapter 315 - I’ll buy what time I can. Run NOW!
“Me too! Me too!” Jack crowed, kowtowing before Jack. “This unworthy one bows before his master!”
Eric laughed. “Very funny. But seriously, you guys want to learn cultivation?” His gaze turned solemn. “Can you all keep a secret?”
To this he received several rapid nods.
“Good. Because it just so happens that there’s a cultivation academy adjoining the territory with those twelve endless delves I was talking about. Rich tear delves with Adventurer’s Promise and Adventurer’s Paradise both in play, by the way.”
Richard’s eyes widened. “I don’t even know what the hell that means but I’m getting the feeling it’s a damned good thing that our foreign ‘friends’ would absolutely hate for us to take advantage of.”
Eric grinned. “And you would be absolutely correct in thinking that. Endless wealthy delves, a tier two pod, and a cultivation academy just one territory over that I get the feeling at least two of you could make great use of. But don’t let an empty pool fool you. If all the shit we once read in our favorite novels was in any way preparing us for what was to come, then at least a few of you with quiescent nodes might just have the potential to cultivate awakened with your first Fire Peach.”
He couldn’t help but gave fondly at their rapt expressions, like a favored uncle giving extra presents at Christmas. “And if I perhaps did happen to have a handful or two of those Fire Peaches that I deliberately kept with friends with absolutely no ties to my mother, then maybe I’ll have a fine gift or two to give my future adventuring companions, assuming things work out the way that I sincerely hope they will.”
Yuki gazed at him slack-jawed for long moments. “You’re practically offering us the world. And as much as I like you… no one’s that nice, Eric Silver.” She bit her lip and locked gazes with him. “So, what’s the catch?”
“You mean besides me enticing you with my dark charm to fall madly in love with me?”
Yuki snorted. “Yeah. Besides that.”
“Nothing, really. I just want to see humanity blossom and thrive, despite all the assholes that are doing everything they can to divide, conquer, and destroy us all.” He smirked at the looks of awe they gave him. “But no, seriously. Those fire peaches are worth a fucking fortune, and I only have a few that I didn’t sacrifice for a wonderful cause. Those will be going only to my favored future disciples and my closest adventuring companions.”
Yuki smirked, a teasing twinkle in her eyes as she approached him with a sultry strut. “And if this future cultivator offered to rock your world to taste one of those wondrous peaches?”
Eric laughed. “Then I’d count myself a lucky man, if you weren’t teasing me. Now come on. We’ve got a delve to clear, a bonus to earn, and who knows? Maybe a future alliance to look forward to.”
Richard smiled. “Fair enough, Eric.” He turned to the others. “Come on, guys. Looks like we have a rift to clear, and now I’d like to think that we actually have a chance at clearing it.”
Everyone nodded, continuing on their way after a final check of their gear, ignoring a spluttering Ron.
“Wait, that’s it? None of us are going to ask how the fuck this kid’s got five times our base stats? Are you fucking kidding me?”
Several members did look uncomfortable with that, but Steve laughed it off. “Seriously, guys. Who the fuck cares? We already know our good buddy Eric’s a Contender. Sure as shit, he has access to backdoors that we don’t.” His smirk turned deadpan. “But he’s the only cat I know who’s actually offering to share his good fortune. Not to mention hooking me up with everything he’d learned about walking the crooked path involving Soul magic, just so that I don’t end up a shriveled fucking prune in ten years or less.”
Jack nodded. “He’s also just given us all a hell of a lot of good advice regarding holding off on level 50 for elite class advancements, leveling up our skills instead, and maybe seeing if we can get ourselves a class that will actually allow us to ascend to Bronze.”
Yuki grinned. “And if boy wonder here actually has a backdoor pass to a cultivation academy and a territory full of rich tier delves… I’ll be fucked if I won’t be paying him back in spades.”
“Yeah? And what if he’s been doing nothing but spouting bullshit?” Ron countered, hooded suspicious eyes locking with Eric’s own once more. “For all we know, it’s ambushing parties like ours that got him this fucking powerful in the first place.”
Eric’s bemused smile froze to an angry glare. “Watch it, Ron. I’ve been putting up with your shit like a good sport from the start, but you’re crossing a serious line right there. Because it would have been a fuck ton easier wrapping things up when the tanks were helpless in my wheel cart!”
“Guys, relax!” Richard snapped, glaring at Ron before turning to Yuki and Jack. “Do either of you guys get a bad vibe on our buddy Eric, here?”
Jack shook his head. “Nope. I totally get his flow. He’s aces in my book. And if he can unlock a cultivation class for me… I’ll keep him up all night, right by Yuki’s side,” he said with a too-wide grin, earning snorts and laughter.
“Alright, he’s yours! I concede!” Yuki smirked, before her gaze turned solemn. She held out her hand. Confused, Eric grasped it.
“Do you want to rock my world, Eric Silver?”
Eric’s heart started to pound. Because it was a serious question, he could tell. And as cavalier as he tried to be after everything he went through…
“Like you wouldn’t believe. but I’d probably feel guilty as hell, afterwords.”
The group grew strangely quiet. Yuki gave a satisfied nod. “And do you have any plans on cutting our throats or draining our powers or doing any other fucked up Contender bullshit to harm us, steel from us, drain us, or otherwise doom our future in your quest for absolutely disgusting levels of power?”
Eric smirked. “Nope. I’m perfectly happy leaving you breathless and quivering in my arms, Yuki Li. No need for any of that treacherous bullshit when I have other paths to embrace sweet, sweet badass power.”
Yuki’s cheeks flushed. When she turned to Richard, her voice was husky.
“He means every fucking word he said, fearless leader. Though now I’m wondering how the hell he plans on doing all that...”
“Contender’s prerogative,” Eric said with a grin. “Though I’ll tell you something else for free. Cultivation, for those of you who can wing it, is another sweet path to power. And if you get strong enough as cultivators before hitting the pods at level 50… I’m thinking that you might find some incredible options waiting for you. Because the System and Cultivation are in a friendly sort of competition, so don’t be surprised if you find choices you never would have dreamed of before. And even if that’s not the case… why the hell wouldn’t you grab a handful of extra points or so, even if you can only progress a handful of levels as a basic cultivator?”
Eric spread his arms, miming taking all the cheese. “Even if you only have limited progression, so what? Grab the points and cultivation levels that you can by clearing whatever meridian gates are available to you, because why the fuck would you leave money on the table. Am I right?”
Jack whistled. “Shit, are you serious? Why the fuck do I feel like there isn’t another soul alive who would share that information with us?”
Eric smirked. “Because there isn’t. I’m one of the few who’s walked this walk without being a spoon-fed scion of a ridiculously powerful clan sworn to secrecy… and you already saw just what the would-be rulers of this world think of me smashing the status quo in the fucking face because I want EVERYONE to rise up with equal opportunity to excel and grow, which will in turn help us to rebuild our entire planet and everyone in it! Not just leave all choice and power in the hands of corrupt administrators and profiteering tyrants.”
Eric took a deep, shuddering breath as he forced himself to pull his mithril collar from storage, his heart glaring in sudden furious hate for that tool of pain and degradation before flipping it right back into storage, now that he could, pretending he hadn’t been bothered by the way everyone had flinched and stepped back.
He cleared his throat, speaking on. “Our enemies want to kill me because I want to take it all back. Take the entire world back from all those who would oppress us, exploit us, claim our treasures, and ultimately see us as nothing more than slaves or food chattel forever enslaved to forces who hold us in absolute contempt!”
Eric’s voice rose to a furious pitch. “So to hell with them. To hell with all the corrupt sycophants would would sell our country’s dreams to corrupt alien bastards, happy to trade human lives like chattel, so their own families can get ahead! And to hell with all the would-be tyrants who think they can set up unelected counsels and dictate the flow of power with their twisted decrees, corrupt contracts, and false edicts! And here’s a final juicy tidbit for all you cool cats. Once you accept that you are at war with every corrupt administerial power within this world, once you understand that their every whispered snake-tongued word is simply an attempt to throw you off balance and destroy you using arcane chains of subjugation and false obligation, you realize that their Lawfare has absolutely no power over you. None whatsoever!”
Eric clenched his fist, no blazing brightly with spiritual fire. “So I invite you all to delve with me and grow rich. Delve with me and grow strong. Strong enough so that no corrupt asshole can dictate your life or steel your future. So strong that you can choose to fight for the world you love, the people you love, without ending up another notch in a Snicklit assassin’s belt! Strong enough that the earth quakes under our footsteps, and even our most fearsome enemies know better than to cross us. That is the strength to which I aspire, one day at a time. One delve at a time!”
Eric took a deep, shuddering breath, gazing intently at the half-dozen wide-eyed adventurers. “That’s a journey I was prepared to go alone, all hands against me in my final hour, a kill-collar fastened around my throat.” He flashed Yuki a grateful smile. “Before I was shown mercy in the most unexpected of places. So perhaps this journey need not be quite so lonely as I had feared.”
A shaken Jack locked gazes with Eric. “I’m in,” he whispered. “Whatever you want to do, however far you want to take it, I’m your man.”
Eric blinked in surprise. “Honestly, I’d love to have friends at my back, Jack. But right now? My goal is to get you all a first-clear boon in record time, and then we head straight to Ashland and set you all up with the classes of your dreams.”
“But you’re going to teach us cultivation as well, right Jack?” Asked Yuki with a smile that was both teasing and hopeful. “Because that’s also a path to true power, right? Combine that with a strong kick-ass class like mine, and like Jack’s. Because whatever else he may think, he’s got the highest kill-count of all of us right now. Besides you, I mean.”
Eric took a thoughtful breath, seeing so many hopeful gazes peering intently into his own. He gave a slow nod. “Absolutely. Hell, we might be able to crack open some nodes in all of you. We’ll see. And now that I think of it, who the fuck says we can’t clear every delve between here and Ashland? Because why settle for twelve points when you could have sixty?”
Everyone gazed at him, rendered utterly speechless.
“Are you fucking serious right now?” Steve asked with a breathless whisper.
Eric grinned. “Absolutely! When I wasn’t busy screaming in inconceivable agony, my Contender Interface was busy mapping all the territory I was passing through, noting all the Delves that needed at least a first pass claim by someone before the territories themselves could be claimed. And there are five Delves that need to be cleared before the territories between Ashland and New York can be taken off the board.”
“And you’re the one who would claim these territories?” Said a strained-sounding Ron, gazing at Eric with the strangest mixture of awe, desperate hope, and bitter despair.
Eric’s cold smile denied nothing. “Damn right I plan on doing just that. Claiming them right before giving them right up. The how and why of it is not something you need to worry about. All that matters is that I also plan on clearing every single dungeon in every territory between New York and Ashland. What I want to know is, would my new friends the Silver Griffins like a piece of that action?”
Eric was more pleased than he wanted to admit before six hungry gazes turned to a handful of solemn nods, even Ron dipping his head.
“Fuck, kid. If you can actually help us lock in sixty fucking points free and clear… if what you’re saying about first-clears turns out to be true, and if Yuki’s actually capable of what she claims she can do...” Ron flashed a hard grin of his own. “That would change absolutely everything.”
Emily’s eyes lit up with warmth. “Eric, if you can actually do this for us...” She swallowed, shaking her head. “I… I just don’t know what to say! Except that it would mean the world to us. To all of us.”
Richard positively beamed. “I think you just might be the best thing to happen to Silver Griffins in a very long time, Eric. Now let’s clear this dungeon and see if we really are fortunate enough to receive a boon that would change absolutely everything.”
“But even if we don’t get shit, we don’t give Eric a hard time, as long as he gets us out of here in one piece,” Yuki cautioned, before flashing him a brilliant smile. “So long as his cultivation academy talk wasn’t bullshit.”
“I promise you it isn’t.”
Yuki gave a sultry chuckle, squeezing his hand. “I guess we’ll have to see, won’t we, Eric Orcbane?”
Eric smirked. “I guess we will.”
Their patter was broken up by the sudden feeling of pressure in the air.
Yuki and the others visibly paled as the ground began to shake, and even the most distracted among them was suddenly wincing under a fearsome wave of killing intent.
Jack blanched. “Why do I suddenly feel like all of us bullshitting in front of the corpse of what must have been the second in command might have been a bad idea?”
Eric flashed a fierce smile, slamming his fists together. “It wasn’t.”
“How do you figure?” Jack snapped, before blanching and stepping back as the very walls seemed to buckle and stretch. “Of fuck. It’s getting closer.”
Eric dipped his head. “It is.”
“Shit. What do we do, fearless leader?”
Richard froze, mouth open, turning to Eric, who had yet to claim the massive corpse filling the now stretching hallway, only the giant axe radiating the essence of sharpness.
“It’s alright,” Eric said. “How about you guys back up a bit? I’ll stay here.” He gave his new friends a gentle smile. “Seriously, haven’t you guys figured it out yet? There’s a reason why I haven’t gathered the corpse yet.”
“You left it out as bate, asshole!” Ron roared.
Eric nodded. “Damn right, I did. Haven’t you all noted the way these hallways are saturated with fluctuating Arcane energy? Spiritual energy as well. Somehow, I don’t think we’re going to find the boss of this hellhole before he wants to be found.”
Yuki shook her head in dismay. “So you had us bullshitting around your latest kill, the only one you haven’t popped into storage, so it would come to us.”
Eric nodded. “Sounds bad when you put it like that. It was a hunch, Yuki. Nothing more. And tell me that it doesn’t beat wandering endlessly until we’re weak with hunger and thirst and it then picks us off at its leisure? This way, we’re taking it on our own terms, before it can wear us down with a dozen more wandering monster encounters. A much better option all around, don’t you think?”
Yuki’s gaze narrowed. She crossed her arms, glaring at him. “If I didn’t actually agree with your fucked up logic, your nose would be a flattened pancake. You get me, Eric Orcbane?”
Emily trembled, eyes widening with growing horror. “Shit, I feel it. This is no 60th level beastie!”
Eric shook his head. “No, it isn’t. The System level notifications seem to be somewhat deceptive. First clear bosses are true bitches that I think are pretty damned close to Bronze, even here in Orange Territory. I don’t know for sure, though. But it makes sense, as you need to eliminate the overpowered boss and lock the Rift into the local manafold to both claim the first-clear bonus, stabilize the monster levels within, and from there be in a position to claim the territory, if you happen to be a Contender.”
But Emily’s eyes were wide with terror, her fear stench a tantalizing musk that even Eric could sense, and if the ground-shaking roars rapidly approaching were any indication, their foe could as well.
Eric flashed a cold smile as the corridor began to stretch and grow vast at a monstrous pace. First the size of one of Elonia’s palatial gala rooms in her central palace, then the size off a baseball field. Then the size of a stadium… then stretching endless in all directions as a tiny black dot rapidly grew in size, Eric soon making out the countenance of a massive beast with obsidian horns, blazing red eyes, and smoke blowing from its nostrils.
Eric couldn’t help flashing a fierce smile as his entire body trembled with excitement, gazing upon a minotaur that was thirty feet tall if it was an inch, built like an Adonis, if such has a bull’s head, cloven hooves and a body covered with thick, bristly curls.
Then it smiled, and Eric’s furious surge of confidence froze to bitter ice. Suddenly understanding so much in that precious half second.
He knew it was impossible. Utterly forbidden. A graver insult than even his existence. Or maybe it was pure wild chance. A roll of the dice. The luck of the draw.
None of that changed his frightening ability to sense the mask that nightmare creature was wearing.
He recognized that smirk.
A cocky young scion pretending he was all bluster, presenting a false cookie-cutter image of shallow pride, easily pricked.
Only to hide a true monster underneath.
Unified Perception check made!
You know your mother… and you recall all too well the reindeer games you yourself used to play!
You sense the spiritual pressure radiating from an ascended core.
Willpower check made!
You manage to keep from screaming like a little pussy, realizing just how fucked you are, messing with a TRUE Contender!
“Change of fucking plan! Do NOTHING to antagonize it. Just run. Run as fast as you fucking can!” Eric hissed.
“Eric?”
He turned, flashing a terrified-looking Emily a smile far closer to manic than comforting. “This thing’s no Orange-tier Boss. It’s already ascended.”
Her eyes widened in horror. “No. You don’t… that’s impossible! It’s...”
“It’s a Bronze Contender, Emily. I’m guessing he was seeded in by a clan even more corrupt and powerful than the assholes trying to steal our rights away in Freetown.” His voice turned desperate. “I’ll buy what time I can. Run NOW!”