Once the smoke finally cleared, all of FAE’s members had escaped the area. All that was left was a mass of very confused and disoriented players, and a field littered with thousands of dropped items. Abysses End’s leaders were captured, and everything was over. The rest of the players were left wondering what to do now as the dust settled. Some wanted to search the area, others were sure they were already inside the outpost. Still more were trying to figure out why even though he was online Atius wasn’t responding. The one thing they were sure of was this fight had cost them a lot more than it had FAE.

  Amser opened her eyes and found Gale once more and led her to the inn to wait for Xeal to return. They made themselves comfortable in the waiting area. Aalin joined them a few minutes later and after an hour Xeal finally arrived with a troubled look on his face. They paid for a four-person room. It had two beds and a pair of desks to work at.

  “I hope I didn’t put you through too much Gale.” (Xeal)

  “To much, you bastard. How dare you ask her to use such a skill. If she hadn’t had me with her, she would have fallen out of that tree with all the crap you were putting her through.” (Amser)

  “Amser, it’s alright. I knew what I was getting into, as did Xeal.” (Gale)

  “Yes, you still don’t know what this cost him.” (Aalin)

  “What do you mean cost him. He avoided all pain and damage while Gale was in agony. Sounds a whole of a hell like a good deal for him.” (Amser)

  “Amser, why do you think she is still blind folded?” (Aalin)

  “What? Gale why haven’t you taken it off yet? Xeal hasn’t needed it for a few hours now.” (Amser)

  “Yes, he has. Amser, the only reason I insisted you wait here is to ensure you knew what he paid, since you were so angry for me. Now Xeal, are you ready?” (Gale)

  “No, but I don’t really have a choice.” (Xeal)

  Xeal made his way to the bed to lay down before telling Gale to go ahead. With that Gale removed the blind fold and all anyone could hear was the screams from Xeal. It sounded like he was being ripped apart as he rolled off the bed and fell to the floor while writhing in agony.

  “What the hell is going on?” (Amser)

  “He is paying his price.” (Gale)

  “Ok, and what exactly is that?” (Amser)

  “For every bit of pain I felt, he has to feel it twice. He will take no damage, but the pain I felt was nothing compared to this.” (Gale)

  “Why would he do that to himself?” (Amser)

  “FAE means that much to him.” (Gale)

  “Look, he didn’t have a perfect plan and he knew he was going to take more damage than he could afford to in this operation. His build practically ignores health and so he needed a way to increase his survivability, and this was the only option available.” (Aalin)

  “He had asked me if it would be alright, and at first I thought he was crazy for even thinking about it. Then he explained why it was necessary. Make no mistake, he is going to have to make this up to me in other ways too, but how could I turn him down? He knew about the blowback and still accepted it; how could I refuse to pay half that price?” (Gale)

  “Still, is he going to be okay?” (Amser)

  “Who knows? This is the first time we’ve used this skill for more than a basic test. He is experiencing far more pain now then I even care to imagine. Hopefully the system will have some safeguards in place.” (Aalin)

  “It does, but it will cost him a death penalty if it kicks in.” (Gale)

  “And what is it?” (Amser)

  “If he loses consciousness, he dies, but he assured me he had a guard against it.” (Gale)

  With that the three of them watched over Xeal as he went through his ordeal for a full hour. All the while he was fighting to stay conscious, he didn’t want to lose his fruit of life just yet. He was happy that he had it or this plan would have been far more dangerous than he would have liked, but that didn’t mean he was open to losing it. Amser was impressed with his resolve and found herself admiring his dedication to his guild. She found herself asking if she could go through this for anything in her life and hoping she never had to answer that question. She could also see the genuine worry on Gale’s and Aalin’s faces as they watched him go through this. Finally, she understood and could accept that however unorthodox their relationships were, they really did share genuine affection between each other. It actually made her a little jealous of the three of them, and how they could be so true to their feelings.

  Dragon’s Heart city-

  Casmir had just arrived carrying his sack, adding it to the other three that were already there. With this it was time for the next phase of Xeal’s plan. Casmir, Amser, Amet, and Takeshi each took one of the sacks as Clara, Ignis, Aalin, and Gale acted as security, with Xeal leading the way. They made their way to Dragon’s Heart city’s prison where Xeal had sent an advance warning to marshal Kaleb Bates that he would be bringing in some prisoners. When they walked in one of the guards guided them to a room in which four NPCs waited. They were, Marshal Kaleb Bates, Sheriff Sanford Colee, Baron Ulric, and Viscount Weawen, the mayor of Dragon’s Heart city. Xeal was surprised to see the viscount, baron and sheriff, but he was happy to see them as well. It would make what came next even better.

  “Sir Xeal, it’s good to see you. I see you have been keeping busy. This is Viscount Weawen. He is the mayor here in Dragon’s Heart city.” (Ulric)

  Xeal knelt and the rest behind him mimicked it as well, other than the four carrying the sacks, who just lowered their heads.

  “It’s an honor to meet you, Viscount Weawen. I am Sir Xeal, a simple knight of the kingdom, as Baron Ulric has stated.” (Xeal)

  “Simple would be an understatement from what I hear. Please rise. This is not a formal event. I am simply here as a witness.” (Weawen)

  “Thank you, Viscount Weawen. Now, onto business. Marshal, where do you want me to put them?” (Xeal)

  The marshal pointed to four chairs, each with restraints placed on the arms and a loop on the floor underneath where chains could be attached. It took some time to remove the four idiots from their sacks and undo the bindings to switch their restraints over. It didn’t help when Tenbris tried to make a break for it, but it was a vain effort as Amet grabbed him and threw him into the chair. Once they were all restrained, Xeal started to speak again.

  “You four have been brought here under the charge of attacking a noble of the kingdom, or his holding. This action carries with it several punishments as you did so by raising an army and attacking with the force of arms. You are now all considered to be in open revolt. I will now remove your gags and yield the time to the honorable Marshal Kaleb Bates. Be warned, if you can’t hold your tongue until you have been directed to speak, the gag will go back in and you will not have another chance to defend your actions.” (Xeal)

  With that, Casmir, Amser, Amet, and Takeshi each removed the gag from the prisoner they were standing behind.

  “Thank you, Sir Xeal. Now, as witness, Viscount Weawen, the lord of Dragon’s Heart city, shall bear record. As such, he is responsible for maintaining order in the four outposts surrounding the city and the area in which they maintain. Now as stated, the four of you are seen as in open rebellion. How do you all plead?” (Bates)

  “Not guilty.” “Not guilty.” “Not guilty.” “Not guilty.”

  “Very well, first question to you on the far left. Did you not attack the guild FAE?” (Bates)

  “Yes, however they are not a part of the kingdom’s nobility. They are adventures like ourselves. No hostile actions were taken within the outpost, or any other guarded location.” (Atius)

  “Do the rest of you hold the same position?” (Bates)

  The other three nodded in concurrence with the statement.

  “Ok, now next question. Was this a coordinated action between the four of you? You on the middle right, answer.” (Bates)

  “I refuse to answer. Just let Atius over there answer.” (Djimon)

  “I’ll take that as a yes, we did work together, as why else would you let him answer for you.”

  At this point Atius was glaring at Djimon, while Djimon ground his teeth. He had tried to be smart and just let Atius do the talking to avoid messing up and saying the wrong thing. Instead, he had only confirmed their suspicion, though why that mattered was lost on him.

  “Now you on the far right. Who was the leader of your group?” (Bates)

  “Atius, over on the far left was.” (Tenbris)

  “You lying piece of shit. At least take responsibility for your own failings!” (Atius)

  “Silence! Gag that one. He has made his last statement. Now you on the center left. Who was the leader?” (Bates)

  “It was that idiot over there on the far right, Tenbris. He came up with this plan and we followed it.” (Martelli)

  “Thank you. Now I think we have enough to pass judgment. I, Marshal Kaleb Bates, here by find you all guilty of open rebellion against the kingdom of Nium. You willfully attacked an organization recognized by the kingdom as the force of one of their knights without following protocol. You failed to petition the kingdom on any wrongdoing made by said knight and launched a full out assault. Without a signed treaty approved by Viscount Weawen, you will all be sentenced to 100,000 gold worth of mining and each of your followers will be sentenced to 10,000 gold worth of mining. I return the floor to Sir Xeal.” (Bates)

  “Thank you marshal. Now, as you have all heard, you’re in a tough spot. Just to be clear, how much does the average prisoner bring in a day while incarcerated?” (Xeal)

  “Around five gold worth.” (Bates)

  “Thank you. Now, if my rough math is correct that, would mean it would take around two years for any of the followers and 20 for these four here to serve their sentence. Now what I’m going to offer each of you is the chance to save some face. I have prepared some terms of surrender under which each member of your guild has the option for a commuted sentence. For the four of you, you will sign a contract that states you will serve a sentence of 900 gold followed by exile from the kingdom of Nium. You will be forbidden from restarting your characters until after you are exiled, and you will not restart on this continent. For each of your members they will have the option of serving a sentence of 450 gold, or turning in 900 gold in raw materials over the next two years. Each of your members will also have to sign a contract that they will never take hostile actions against the kingdom of Nium again. It’s Martelli, right? Does this seem acceptable to you?” (Xeal)

  “Why would we sign any deal with you? We would be better off to just restart.” (Martelli)

  “That’s right, you might think-mmmm” (Tenbris)

  “Thank you, Amet. Now it looks like only the two of you can do the talking. As for why you would sign the deal, it is quite simple. In fact, Casmir, go ahead and let Martelli use one of his hands to look up the restart option.” (Xeal)

  “Sure thing.” (Casmir)

  Casmir undid the restraints on Martelli’s right arm letting him navigate the menu. As he did so his face went from angry to shocked as he found what he was looking for.

  “It is showing 180 ED days as a cool down due to being charged with a major crime, right?” (Xeal)

  “You, what did you do?” (Martelli)

  “Me, I did nothing. You four are the ones who committed crimes. Now you have the following options; refuse to sign the contract and once the cooldown ends restart, or sign the contract. If you sign the contract, you will actually need to complete the terms before you can restart which should take you 180 ED days anyway. However, you will be saving all those who joined your guilds and were dragged in this with you from suffering the same fate. Djimon what are your thoughts?” (Xeal)

  “Stop asking me questions. I have nothing to say.” (Djimon)

  “Well, it looks like you have to tell me your thoughts then Martelli.” (Xeal)

  “Why the hell would we agree to do manual labor for six months? I think I’ll just take a break and restart when the time is over.” (Martelli)

  “Hmm, there are two glaring flaws in your logic. One, the timer only counts days you have logged in for at least six ED hours. Two, if you refuse this offer you will have 50,000 players who will be screwed over because of it. Now, I don’t know about you, but if I had my real-life information displayed on a workshop’s official website, I would be careful about screwing over a large group of people. Especially when that workshop will likely hang you out to dry after this. Oh, and we have already uploaded these terms to the forums in case you don’t think everyone will know. Now let me ask you one more time Martelli, will you accept these terms?” (Xeal)

  “I can’t make that decision!” (Martelli)

  “Oh, but you have to. You as well Djimon. Each of you have to for yourselves. Now, just to make sure, Viscount Weawen, do you find these terms acceptable?” (Xeal)

  “Hmm, it does seem a bit light.” (Weawen)

  “If I may interject Viscount Weawen, I think Xeal here is trying to give all those who followed these fools a chance to redeem themselves. He has only recently become a knight and it isn’t well known yet, so most of them may not know they even broke the law.” (Ulric)

  “I see, hmm, Bates what are your thoughts?” (Weawen)

  “It does feel a bit light, however it would remove the four main offenders. Sanford, you know Xeal the best, what are your thoughts?” (Bates)

  “If I may be so bold, I do believe he is thinking in the long-term best interest of the kingdom. If we imprison 50,000 adventurers, it may have a negative effect on our ability to attract new ones. His suggestion allows the vast majority to just have to work off a debt and avoid a major sentence. He even has a clause ensuring that they won’t attack again. The question I have is what is the penalty for breaking it?” (Sanford)

  “An excellent point. What is the penalty, Sir Xeal?” (Weawen)

  “Viscount Weawen, there are two. One for knowingly and one for unknowingly. As I feel most have unknowingly done it this time as well, it would be just double the current penalty with a ban on making a new character until the debt is paid off. However, if they knowingly and willfully do so they will be banned from ever making a new character.” (Xeal)

  “That’s insane! No way anyone would agree to that! Mmm-” (Martelli)

  “Sorry, I should have moved quicker; I just didn’t expect him to be so vocal.” (Casmir)

  “It’s ok, but now Djimon, you are the only one who can speak. So, after you hear Viscount Weawen’s thoughts, I hope you can give us your thoughts.” (Xeal)

  “Just gag me now.” (Djimon)

  “Very well. Viscount Weawen, your thoughts?” (Xeal)

  “Hmm, so with this it would force repeat offenders to deal with a harsher punishment. I can approve of this.” (Weawen)

  “Thank you, Viscount Weawen. Now the four of you have a choice to make. You can either sign the peace treaty, or refuse. Marshal Bates, are you fine with letting Atius over there speak?” (Xeal)

  “Sure, but once he has answered your questions, the gag goes back in.” (Bates)

  “Very well. Now Atius, I am well aware of the fact that you are the smartest of the players here. You probably have enough info to know this is a good deal. Now, do you have any questions or comments before you agree or disagree?” (Xeal)

  “Sure, I have a few. One, where will we be exiled? What happens if the new country we join goes to war with Nium? Finally, do you really think Abysses End will take this laying down?” (Atius)

  “Excellent questions. Let me see. I believe you will be exiled to the edges of the kingdom’s border with the wildlands. As for if the country goes to war with Nium, you just need to stay neutral in the conflict. Lastly, no, I fully expect Abysses End to be irate, but they will have no avenues to attack for quite some time. So, it is an issue I can ignore for now. Does that sound about right Marshal Bates?” (Xeal)

  “Indeed, it does.” (Bates)

  “So, there you have it. Any other questions?” (Xeal)

  “Just a single demand before we sign.” (Atius)

  “Oh, and why should you get to make one of those?” (Amser)

  “Relax Amser, he is trying to save some face. Go on Atius.” (Xeal)

  “Instead of the wildlands where we are sure to die, let us go to a village in another country.” (Atius)

  “I see you are trying to save the time that you spent on these characters. While I don’t have any issues, finding a country to take you may be an issue. So how about this. If it’s okay with Viscount Weawen, the four of you can be sent to any country that sends a letter accepting you before your sentence is up. However, you have to find a way to pay for the travel expenses, even if it is simply by adding gold onto your sentence.” (Xeal)

  “Very well, I can agree to that.” (Atius)

  “Viscount Weawen, is this acceptable?” (Xeal)

  “Very well. It does put the burden on them.” (Weawen)

  “Well, there you have it, do you accept?” (Xeal)

  “I do.” (Atius)

  Once Atius signed, Djimon, and Martelli signed with no issue. Only Tenbris was acting like he had something to say. However, all it took was the threat to withdraw the offer for him and he signed like a good little boy. Once they had signed, each were taken away, hopefully never to be seen by Xeal again. It was over. Now Xeal could focus on the growth of FAE and the upcoming expansion into the rest of the kingdom of Nium. As he walked away from the prison, he enjoyed holding both Gale’s and Aalin’s hands. He hadn’t realized when it started to feel so natural for him to do so, but he wasn’t going to complain. Life was going great and Xeal was looking forward to the next few months.

  Atius had just joined the meeting that was going over the fallout from their failures in Nium. FAE had made a complete fool out of them. He knew what would come next.

  “Good, now that Atius has joined us, Tenbris please explain your actions.” (Unknown 1)

  “I failed. What else is there to say? Those bastards lured us into a trap.” (Tenbris)

  “No, I mean why did you attack when in the middle of a parley? Your actions are beyond reprehensible. I have been in meeting after meeting with our shareholders trying to calm them down. Do you realize what you have even done?” (Unknown 1)

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18