Chapter 312: Interest
Claire’s sword sliced through the air, passing no more than an inch away from Alex’s nose as he vaulted backward, springing off his palms to land on his feet several feet away from her.
“Hah!” Alex exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. “I did—”
Cold steel pressed to his neck. Claire had closed the distance between them in an instant. She sent a pointed look at her sword, then pulled it away and shook her head.
“Don’t celebrate mid-fight.”
“Oh, come on,” Alex grumbled, letting his hands lower and dismissing his chainsword. Bubbling black fluid melted down his hand and dripped toward the ground, only to fade into nothing but wispy smoke before it could land. “That was the first time I landed that. It was sick. I’m allowed to celebrate a little.”
“That’s a great way to build a bad habit. Can you imagine what would happen if you started celebrating something you pulled off midway through a fight against a Region Boss or something? You need to be able to control your emotions. Celebrate when the fight is done. Not before.”
Alex scrunched his nose. “I guess you’ve got a point. Lessons from Court, I take it?”
“Of course,” Claire replied. “We take Court very seriously.”
“I couldn’t tell,” Alex drawled.
Claire’s lips twitched. “That was a good vault, though. Looked very clean. Good job. You want to go again? We’ve got a bit of an audience.”
Alex glanced in the direction she was looking. Several townspeople had gathered at the edge of the wall of eyes to watch them spar. May and Orchid were among their number. Several people were shaking hands — some looked pleased, while others slightly annoyed.
“Are they… betting on our sparring matches?”
“Yes,” Claire said with a smug grin. “And Orchid now owes me a Credit.”
“I… wait. You bet on yourself?” Alex exclaimed.
“Of course I did.”
“But you only won with a cheap — oh, you rat. That’s basically rigging the match.”
Claire just grinned. “That’s Court, Alex. You’re in the game whether you want to be or not. So, are we going again?”
Alex matched her smile. He raised his hand, summoning his chainsword back to his hand. The ceramic-white teeth whirred to life with a roar as he lowered into a fighting stance. “You already know the answer to that. I’m not finishing on a loss. Though, hold on one second. I should check on the preparations. Rhyss?”
The advisor appeared in the air beside Alex with a faint pop.
“Yes?” Rhyss asked.
“How are things going?” Alex asked. “Did Finley manage to get everything we needed?”
“He did,” Rhyss confirmed. “He’s just finalizing the last deals now. We should have all the resources you requested prepared within the hour. The town is similarly prepared.”
“And the Astral Map?”
“Still connected,” Rhyss said. “It is very difficult to forcibly sever someone else’s connection unless you completely shut down your own Transporter’s inbound access, and it seems that Blackreach has neglected to do that.”
“Good,” Alex said with a cold smile. “The River King isn’t going to get away with screwing with us. An hour should be just enough for Princess to reform. After that… we’re coming for his ass. Keep an eye on things and make sure everything is ready, yeah?”
“Of course,” Rhyss said, his lone eye matching Alex’s gaze. Even though it was probably his brain making things up, Alex could have sworn he saw a distant shimmer of excitement twisting through the gray-skinned being’s eyes.
“Thank you,” Alex said. He turned back to Claire and lowered back into his fighting stance. “Okay. We’ve got time. Let’s do it. Just make sure you don’t spend more energy than you can recover by the time we head out. We can’t let Wess have all the fun.”
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Claire matched his stance. “There’s nothing to worry about. This is going to be the 2nd easiest Credit I’ve ever earned.”
***
A streak of screaming blue energy tore free from Wess’ gun. It split across the room with a thunderous roar, headed straight for the cracked part of the golem’s chest. Even in the split instant before it connected with its target, Wess knew that his shot had been good.
Brandon knew it too. Panic gripped the man’s features in a vice as he spun to the golem, releasing the arrow he’d been charging far earlier than he’d had any plan to. It leapt off the string, shooting toward the golem like a miniature sun.
But, even if he hadn’t been forced to loose the arrow earlier than he’d intended to, it was pointless. A gun shot a hell of a lot faster than a bow did.
Wess’ shot connected with a loud explosion. A scream tore through the room as the golem stumbled, fragments of rock and crystal spinning through the air. It pitched back to the ground and landed with a deafening crash. Dust and debris rolled out from it in a heavy wave that momentarily swallowed all the other sound in the room.
Energy slammed into Wess like a hammer. His back went stiff and his breath caught in his chest as icy rivers of power sliced through his veins and poured toward his heart.
Title Fragment Acquired.
Big Time Theif: Granted to one who perfectly timed the final blow on an enemy that didn’t even know they were present.
A mad cackle tore free of Wess’ lips. He could barely even stand straight under the intensity of the relentless magic that was still filling his soul from the stolen kill. This was even better than he’d thought.
And funnier still was the fact that Brandon had wasted the shot he’d been charging up. Instead of turning it toward Wess and trying to salvage the best out of a bad situation, he’d panicked and lost his composure.
This guy was never fit to lead, was he? I think we’re doing Crimson a favor here.
“You!” Brandon screamed, spittle flying from his lips and his voice cracking under his fury. His arms shook at his sides, veins cutting through his flesh to bulge like something were trying to burst free from within him. “You!”
“I see eloquence isn’t a requirement for leading positions in Crimson,” Wess drawled. “Good to see you again, Brandon. I’m here to remind you that you never did get me that severance pay.”
“Kill him!” Brandon screamed, grabbing an arrow and stringing it in his bow. “Kill him! Now!”
Wess burst into motion, darting to the side of the room as fast as his feet could carry him. Electricity crackled across his skin and his hair stood on end. Wess hurled himself to the side an instant before a massive bolt of red lightning crashed down where he’d been standing.
Rock shattered, pelting him with fragments of debris. He hit the ground in a roll. The sound of screams and clashing metal tore through the room before he’d even risen back to his feet. It sounded like Hazel’s team had made their move.
At the same time, Brandon loosed his arrow. It hissed through the air toward Wess in a streak of blurred red energy headed straight for his heart. But it wasn’t the only thing headed in his direction. A crackling bolt of black energy shot toward him from the left, and a Crimson warrior bearing a large axe was racing straight toward him.
Magic snarled to life within Wess. He didn’t have many abilities. Didn’t want them. Just about every piece of magic his class offered him was sent straight to his beloved gun. But he did have a few little tricks. Wess preferred not to rely too heavily on them. They took the sport out of the hunt… but there were times when no other choice was available to him.
Wess let out a sharp breath.
Then he activated Bullet Time.
The world slowed to a crawl. Brandon’s arrow, which had been instants away from driving right into his heart, turned lazy and sluggish. The charging warrior and the bolt of energy that had been headed for him slowed similarly.
All the sound in the room evaporated into a distant hum.
Wess stood still for several moments as he took his surroundings. The only thing that was still moving at the proper speed was his heart, pounding away in his chest like a racehorse. He watched the arrow draw closer and closer until it was just a few feet away from him.
That should do it. Can’t wait any longer.
Wess reached out. Pressure bore down on his skull almost instantly. He gritted his teeth, wrapping his fist around the projectile. Every inch he moved was like tightening a vice that had been set right around his brain.
But he only needed a little more.
With a snarl, Wess flicked the arrow to the side.
Time slammed back into motion.
The arrow screamed past Wess — and slammed straight through the eye of the warrior that had been charging toward him. The man’s head snapped back with a loud crack. An explosion of magic tore through the air and his head popped like a grape. He pitched forward, dead before he’d even had a chance to bounce off the ground.
Wess stepped to the side, into the patch of smoking earth left behind by the bolt of lightning moments before, and the bolt of dark magic screamed harmlessly past him.
He let his gaze lock with Brandon’s the grin on his lips growing wider as disbelief carved itself in the other man’s features. Wess drew in a deep breath, inhaling the thick smoke around him before blowing it out through his nose.
Bah. Worthless. This shit has no goddamn nicotine in it. God, I’d kill for a cigarette. Then again, I’d kill this chump for free.
Oh well.
“So… about that severance pay. I’m here to collect it,” Wess pushed his hat up and sent Brandon a wicked smile. “And just so you know, I charge interest.”