We had reached the Safe Zone. At least the very tall wall that surrounded it. It was at least 30 feet tall and looked to be of solid rock. How it was built, I had no idea. Left or right. Which way to go. There seemed to be a tower on the right, so we headed in that direction.
When we got to the tower, there were people there. I called up to them, asking for entrance for the survivors. They pointed further up the wall and said there was a gate about half a mile in that direction. We walked to the gate.
The gate was right out of a medieval castle. It even had a drawbridge over an empty moat. As we walked over the drawbridge, a man called out to us.
“Who is in charge?”
“I don’t know that I am in charge, but I am leading this group of survivors to the Safe Zone. My name is Trevor of House Tierra”. Trevor of House Tierra just kind of slipped out.
“My name is Ralph. I need to ask questions about your group and see how they can help out. The Safe Zone welcomes everyone but they have to contribute to stay. Are you willing to do that?”
“I am sure those that are staying are willing to do so, but my Party will be moving on tomorrow. We are willing to trade for food and lodging for the night. Is that acceptable?”
“Yes. We have a few other bands that seek out survivors and do the same. We take weapons, food, clothes. Basically, anything that can help the Safe Zone. We have a few merchants and you can use the System Store if they don’t have what you want.”
System Store. That’s a new one. I definitely will be checking it out. “Great, just tell me where the hotel is and my party will head there.”
“I will need the names of your party members. Everybody has to register.”
I waved over my party, and then after a second, the elves, dwarves and Joe.
“These are my party members, including Rhonda. Of course, the elves and dwarves don’t speak English. Their names are Blade, Batella, Rockfist, and Gem.” I swear the man’s jaw touched the ground.
I retrieved our horsed from the troupe. Rhonda and the older people were riding on them. We found our way to the hotel and got 6 rooms and boarded the horses. Two guests per room and one for myself. Luckily, they took silver coins as payment. The System Store took silver and gold as payment and paid in the same. I paid for all the rooms, because apparently Rodof and Medirre thought it was the Lord’s responsibility to pay for lodging. I was too tired to argue, and it was only 20 silver coins for the rooms. Everybody got their keys, and I asked them to meet me in my room in an hour.
I got to my room. It was a large room, with a sitting area and a king size bed. I was going to take a nap, when I saw it. A shower. OH MY GOD, IT’S A SHOWER. Clothes came flying off, the shower came on. It didn’t matter that I didn’t need it thanks to Cleanse, or that the water started off cold as hell. It was the best shower I had ever taken. It was even better when the water warmed up. I let the water beat down on my and wash away the tension of the road. Regretfully, I turned the shower off after 10 minutes. Now that I was relaxed, my nap came easy and I slept. I was awakened by a knock on the door. It felt like I just laid down. I got up, yelled “Just a minute”, then got dressed and opened the door, expecting Rodof or Medirre. Instead, there was a middle-aged woman that I had never seen before.
“How can I help you, ma’am?” I asked.
“Mr. Tierra, I am Rebecca Morris” she said, as if I should know who that was. I just waited for her to continue.
“May I come in? I need some more information about the refugees you brought here.”
“Sure, come in” and moved to the side to let her in. Of course, her bodyguard followed her in.
“Do you represent the Safe Zone or something? I am afraid I didn’t know about it until two or three days ago.”
“Oh. Yes, I am the head of the social committee. It is my job to make sure everything runs smoothly. We only have a few hundred people, so we can’t afford troublesome people. Now what can you tell me about them.”
“Most of them were being held captive. Some by gang members, or by goblins, or the Spider Queen.”
“And you rescued them?”
“Not me, but my Party. I registered them all when we arrived.” I started to feel this was more than simply trying to find jobs for the refugees.
She mumbled, “good, good, good” and wrote something on her notepad.
“Now can you tell me about the elves and dwarves.”
“No. I don’t think I will.” This conversation had taken a very bad turn. The social committee seemed to be more of the racist committee.
“Look, you brought in alien creatures into my Safe Zone. I think it is only right that I know everything about them. Why are they here? What do they want? Are they responsible for the invasion? I DEMAND ANSWERS.”
There it was. She wanted a scapegoat. She wanted someone to blame, and my teammates were her first candidate. I could see the anger building inside of her.
“Don’t make me make you regret it.” And signaled her bodyguard, who stood menacingly behind her.
“I don’t think you want to go there. It would be bad for you and your Safe Zone.”
“Do you think you can take on the entire Safe Zone?” Her bodyguard was getting nervous now.
I stood up, went to the window and opened it. “Come here and watch”.
When she got to the window, I cast a Fireball out the window and into the air. About 100 feet up it exploded.
“Yes, yes, I do. But we aren’t here for that. We will be leaving tomorrow morning. I came in peace and expect to leave in peace. Your racist attitude is not acceptable to me or my party. Leave us alone and we will be out of here, fuck with us and we will respond.” At this point I grabbed the 250-pound body guard and easily lifted him into the air as a demonstration of my resolve. “Do we understand each other?”
Ms. Morris nodded and left with her bodyguard in tow. I followed them to make sure they didn’t go to any of my teammate’s rooms. Instead, they left the hotel. I asked the hotel clerk if he knew who Ms. Morris. Apparently, she was the self-appointed guardian of righteousness in the Safe Zone. While she did have some power, nothing was official. He didn’t seem to like her.
I went back to my room and waited for my teammates.
When everyone was in my room. I told them about my encounter with Ms. Morris. None of the humans seemed surprised, while the elves and dwarves seemed confused. I just told everyone to be careful and to travel in groups if they wanted to explore the Safe Zone.
Rodof told me that they had found a stash of gold and weapons in the Spider Queen’s chamber. He had a storage ring, so he pulled it all out and up it on my bed. He thought we should divide it between the four of us, because we were the ones that killed the Spider Queen. I noticed that the elves and dwarves were looking on also.
“Is any of this your?” I asked them.
“We forfeited our rights to our weapons when we were defeated. You have the right of ownership because you defeated the Spider Queen.” Blade answered.
I translated for the rest of my party. Rodof suggested that unarmed party members were more of a danger than not, so they should take back their weapons. Medirre and Sharon agreed.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
“Take you weapons. My team believes you are better party members with them, than not.”
The elves and dwarves looked amazed, but didn’t hesitate to take back their weapons. The elves took the bows and short swords, while the dwarves took a spiked mace and surprisingly a long sword.
“Rodof, Medirre and I are not from Earth. Well, I am, but not really. It’s complicated. The important thing is that we came from Tellus Nova. We are here on a quest from a different System. The Malentine Universe System. My purpose is different from the quest. I am here to rescue my wife and daughter and bring them to Tellus. I have a Gateway in Brentwood that can takes us back to Tellus. You all are welcome to come with me and my people. If you would rather be on your own, then I can provide you with some equipment. I would suggest somewhere outside of this Safe Zone, since a power player here thinks you cause the System invasion, or is just looking to blame someone.”
The elves and dwarves wanted to come with us to Tellus Nova. They believed they had a better chance of getting home there. I took some of my leftover skill level points and put them into Party, raising it to 4, and then added them. Fun fact, Party communication translates so everyone could talk to each other. Who knew. I then told the rest of the party about them coming with us to Tellus Nova. I also invited Sharon and Rhonda to come with us if they wanted. If they chose to come, I would invite them into House Tierra. Sharon accepted on both their behaves, and I officially welcomed them to House Tierra.
Next on my agenda was a visit to the System Store. I had never heard of anything like this on Tellus Nova, and neither had Rodof or Medirre. We decided to go as a group and after getting directions from the hotel clerk, we were off. It was a quick walk, only 5 minutes. We passed a few merchants on the way there. I might stop on the way back.
The System Store had an impressive entrance. All marble arches, frieze, and stout wooden door. The door was open, so we walked right in. It had to be some sort of dimensional tomfoolery, because it was bigger on the inside than it had any right to be. There were stacks and stacks or weapons of all sorts. Shelves of magic tomes, and potions. Gadgets and gizmos everywhere. It was Eldro’s shop on super-duper steroids.
I went straight to the magic tomes. I started reading the spines when one of the store representatives, a talking mannequin, came and asked “May I help you sir?”
“I am interested in your magic tomes. Do you have any Divine Magic tomes?”
“I am sorry sir. Our collection is very limited. We only have the following Divine Magic tomes, Create Food, Create Water, and Light. Would you be interested in them?”
I had the Malentine equivalent, but it might not be a bad idea. “How much?”
“Only 20 gold each” the talking mannequin said.
“That is quite expensive, most spell tomes cost less than 6 gold. Is there any wriggle room on the price?” I asked hopefully.
“If you buy all three, then I can include a 10 gold discount. These are Divine Magic spells, so they are expensive, sir” the mannequin replied.
“Okay, I will take all three. I am looking for a chained lightning spell. Where would I find it?”
“Sorry sir, but shop only carries utility and defensive spells, company policy.”
“Do you have a light spell tome?”
“Yes, it is 1 gold.”
“Great add that to the others.”
I was disappointed in no offensive spell tomes, but that wasn’t going to stop my shopping. “Thank you, I will continue to look around. Do you have a defensive magic item section? I would like to get something for my party members. Maybe a few broaches or rings.”
“Yes sir, right this way.”
When we reached the trinket section, I called Blade over. She seemed to be the lead elf and I wanted her opinion on what defensive measures would be good for us. I doubted she had any gold, but she was a party member now.
“What would be a good defensive item for you, Battelle, Sharon and Rhonda?” I asked her.
“The best defensive items would be something that creates a barrier to prevent ranged attacks and something to defend against magic. Battelle and I are ranged fighters, so that would be the most likely attacks we will face. Sharon should have something to help defend against magic and reduce melee damage. Rhonda needs Sanctuary.”
“I looked at the mannequin “Do you have any of those?”
The mannequin waved his hands and 10 items appeared on the counter.
“This necklace provides Sanctuary; it is 40 gold. This necklace provides ranged attack deflection with a 90% success rate for level 8 skills, 20 gold. This necklace provides ranged attack deflection with a 90% success rate for level 9 skills, 25 gold. These 4 rings provide magic damage reduction of 75%, 20 gold each. This bracelet provides melee damage reduction of 75%, 20 gold.”
“Yes, what about storage rings, or bags?”
“What size storage area? 1x1, 2x2, 10x10, or 20x20?”
“I think 10x10 would be acceptable” I said.
“10 gold each”.
“Great, let’s take all the defensive equipment and 10 storage rings. Put them with the tomes.”
“Yes sir” and with a wave of his hand, the items disappeared, reappearing next to my tomes on the other counter.
“What else do we need?” I asked Blade.
“Do you have skill books?” Blade asked the mannequin, to be known as Manny henceforth.
“Yes, let me take you there.” We move to another section. “What skills are you interested in?”
Blade said “Flaming arrow and Shield Breaker Arrow.”
“We have Shield Breaker Arrow, but you need to be level 40 to use it. Flaming Arrow skill is strictly an offensive skill and we don’t sell those. Company policy. For those that don’t have them, I recommend skinning, fire starter, first aid, and cooking.”
“I have all those skills.” Blade said.
“Maybe you do, but I am sure Sharon and Rhonda don’t. What is the price for 2 sets of those.”
“Only 2 gold.”
“Great, I will take them. Any other recommendations?”
“I would recommend the Linguistic skill at 1 gold each and while I don’t normally recommend this because it is so expensive, but I do have 12 copies of Second Chance skill. There are 149 gold each.”
“I will take 12 of each,” I said hurriedly. Second Chance was the best skill to have for my team members. I would also give one to Fabia and one to Justinian, if he didn’t already have the skill. Linguistic skill would just make things a lot easier for everyone.
Blade just looked at me like I was crazy, but what she didn’t realize was that I had money. Lots of money, and it wouldn’t do any good if I died.
I needed one last item. “Do you have any lightning spears?” I asked Manny.
“Yes, of course. Weapons are the only offensive items we sell.”
A diamond bladed lightning spear. Lightning shock on each successful attack. Lightning resistance of 75% for level 8 lightning at only 35 gold. I ‘ll take 2.
Thus, my shopping was done. Add in another 300 gold for items that Rodof, Medirre and the dwarves picked out and it came to 2,467 gold.
I might have walked out of there much poorer, but my team was much safer too.
Everyone got a Second Chance skill, linguistic skill and a storage ring. I made everyone activate their linguistic skill. I was tired of having to translate. The other items were divvied up according to need. Sharon got one of the Lightning Spears. I kept the other for myself.
We went back to the hotel, ate in the restaurant and then back to my room. When we got there, we discussed tomorrow’s objective. I wanted to get to Hollis and find my family. Nothing was more important than that. Everyone agreed to help.
In order for us to be best prepared, I need to know everyone’s class and levels. I decided to go first and displayed my basic information:
Name: Trevor of House Tierra
Class: Champion of Life
Level: 49 9
There was a moment of silence, when everyone saw my old level. Forty-nine was one step away from the maximum allowed for a human. Of course, I wasn’t human any longer, but they didn’t need to know that. After everyone got over their shock, we continued.
Rodof, Medirre, and Sharon followed:
Name: Rodof of House Tierra
Class: Guardian
Level: 25 8
Name: Medirre of House Tierra
Class: Protector
Level: 25 8
Name: Sharon of House Tierra
Class: Guardian
Level: 7
Our newest members followed:
Name: Blade Rose
Class: Ranger
Level: 22 3
Name: Batella Maple
Class: Ranger
Level: 22 3
Name: Rockfist
Class: Bodyguard
Level: 18 3
Name: Gem
Class: Miner
Level: 12 3
Of course, levels were only half the story at this point. I assumed everyone from off world got to keep their stats and skills. We had a well-balanced party, since I could act as healer, and Medirre could act as tank. Gem said she could also act as a tank, so he would be the off tank. Rockfist would stay with Rhonda. Blade and Batella would be ranged combatants, while the rest would be melee. Our party dynamics worked out, everybody got ready to head back to their rooms. Of course, that is when someone knocked on the door.
Brian, one of the humans from Veridia, came by to warn us. Ms. Morris had come by and asked him all sorts of questions about me. She asked about the elves and dwarves also but focused on me. He thought she might try something if we stayed around long enough. I let him know not to worry, we would be leaving tomorrow.
