Nightmare Realm Summoner - Chapter 296 & 297

Somehow, Claire managing to wring even more points out of Shawn than Alex had didn’t actually surprise him in the slightest.

“Oh,” Alex said. “Yeah. That makes sense.”

Shawn tilted his head to the side. “That isn’t the response I was expecting. You don’t seem very surprised.”

“It’s Claire,” Alex said. “How many did she get?”

“150 total extra points,” Shawn replied. “I won’t tell you most of what she bought, nor will I say how she managed it. That’s her prerogative. But she did buy one thing for every single one of you that I don’t mind spoiling.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“A path out of the Ancestry that won’t drop you off where you entered it,” Shawn replied.

Alex’s face went pale.

Oh, shit. I completely forgot about that. The River King and all the other families are totally just set up right outside the Ancestry doors waiting for us to come out so they can rob us blind, aren’t they?

He reached into his pocket and pulled out Gentle Shadow’s badge. Back before they’d entered the Ancestry, he’d been warned that Leah, the member of Gentle Shadow he’d briefly met back in the Assembly with Invictus, would likely have it out for them in the Ancestry.

They had been fortunate enough to avoid her. But something told Alex that she would have been one of many inevitably waiting just outside the huge doors of the Ancestry right about now, all hoping to get their chance to take a bite out of his group.

Holy shit. That could have gone badly. Really, really badly.

“Shit,” Alex said.

“It was a good catch. Not a cheap one either,” Shawn observed. “She’s shrewd. Didn’t go for the items I expected to her to either. But that’s all I’ll say on the matter. If she trusts you enough, she’ll tell you.”

“Stop that,” Alex said. “You keep trying to sow seeds of discord or whatever. It didn’t work the first dozen times you tried. What makes you think it’ll be different now? And the Ancestry is done, isn’t it?”

“Sorry.” Shawn gave him a sheepish smile. “Force of habit. I’ve been practicing for this a while. It’s gotten really baked in. I’m still not going to tell you what she got, though. That’s her choice to make.”

“I’ve got no problem with that,” Alex replied with a shrug. “Can you tell me if the others done shopping yet? Or are they still playing?”

“They’re wrapping up. The Ancestry will be complete in a few more minutes.”

“And Derek?” Alex asked. “Did he manage to secure your Legacy? I assume there was some other challenge or some crap he had to accomplish to avoid rotting away or the like?”

“What kind of monster do you think I am?” Shawn asked. “This is as much of an exciting opportunity for me as it is for all the participants. Do you really think I would risk killing the one person that I chose to inherit my Legacy?”

“Yes,” Alex said. “I do. No point giving your Legacy to someone who isn’t truly worthy of it. If I were in your shoes, I figure I’d prefer to waste away rather than to let some idiot ruin my name.”

“Ah. Well, you’re correct,” Shawn said with a chuckle. “But Derek has already proven that he suits my path. There were no more challenges for him. He is just finishing assimilation. Do try and make sure he doesn’t get himself killed before accomplishing anything significant.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Alex said.

The two of them fell silent. A minute slipped by. Another one followed it.

Alex cleared his throat.  

 “You know, I’ve been meaning to ask. What are you? A ghost? A fragment of a soul?”

Shawn didn’t reply immediately. When he did, his voice seemed distant, as if his attention was no longer together with them in the room.

“A memory,” Shawn replied.

“Can you… you know. Leave?”

“The Ancestry?” Shawn shook his head. “No. This is my tomb, Alex. Do not mistake the conversation we hold for true life. You’re speaking with nothing more than the fading presence of a man that failed to achieve his dreams. Just one more star in the sky. The System is full of us.”

“And there’s nothing you can do about it? You can’t… I don’t know. Just walk out?”

Shawn snorted. “No. I don’t exist. Not in any true form. Perhaps if my original life had reached greater heights, things would have been different. But back when I walked the universe in a true form, I never made it past Sage. Now I have decayed to Master. Every moment the Ancestry is open is power slipping away. In time I will decay away to nothing at all.”

“Oh,” Alex said, somewhat lamely. “And there’s nothing you can do about it?”

“There is nothing that needs to be done. I am already dead. Not every penitent will see God. Not every warrior will see victory. There are times when one must acknowledge what they are. And my purpose is one alone. To find one worthy of carrying on where I left off. In a great many years, when whatever true portion of me resides in the afterlife casts his gaze back to the heights of the world of the living, I want to hear my name. That is all.”

“Oh,” Alex said again.

“You do not seem particularly impressed with my goals,” Shawn said. The corner of his lips twitched. “You disapprove.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to,” Shawn replied. “Are you displeased with my lack of ambition?”

“Yes,” Alex admitted. “I am. It kind of sounds like you’ve given up to me. You’re saying all this philosophical shit. And I get it. Some of it, at least. Being famous is cool. But you’re not dead. Some portion of you is still here, and it has enough strength to do all the bullshit we just went through in the Ancestry. So you can’t deny you have some power… right?”

“I am not helpless,” Shawn allowed. “But the System—”

“Doesn’t really seem to give a shit about much at all,” Alex interjected. “How can you just sit around and accept death when you’re not dead yet? That seems so fucking lame. You found your successor. Good job. But why stop? Why give up? You literally have nothing to lose.”

“Your sentiment is one of a young man,” Shawn said with a wry smile. “Do you think your convictions and desires will amount to anything at all in the face of natural law?”

“What natural law?” Alex asked. “When has the System given a shit about anything at all? Don’t get me wrong. I’m talking out of my ass. But everything I’ve seen in the very short time I’ve been in the Apocalypse has been freedom. The System isn’t fair. A truly fair System wouldn’t let Outworlders loot the shit out of 274-50. But life is never fair. And while it isn’t fair, it really feels like the System is giving everyone and everything a fighting chance. Am I wrong?”

“You are not,” Shawn said. “Opportunity. That is what the System promises. Among, of course, other things. There are some that would argue whether greater opportunity equivales to fairness or not, but I understand your argument.”

“So you think you’re above the System?”  

“I see where you’re taking this.” Shawn shook his head. “But opportunity is for the living. There is nothing left for me to take. Everything in the Ancestry is borne of what I once was.”

“Sounds like the kind of shit a guy hiding away in a bunker would say,” Alex said. “If you’re slowly rotting away and you’ve already found your successor, I’m not really seeing what you’re risking here. Wouldn’t you rather die actually trying? I don’t know. I’m not you. It’s not like I’ve got a dog in the fight. It just seems so… sad. Wasting away for no reason.”

A flicker of anger broke through Shawn’s calm exterior and crossed over the giant’s features.

“Do you think I want to rot away into nothing?” Shawn asked.

“Dunno. You tell me,” Alex replied. “Because it sure as hell sounds like you do. You’ve literally got less excuse than a random salaryman who hates his job.”

Shawn stared at Alex. “What?”

“I mean, think about it. Back before the Apocalypse… there were countless people just, you know, stuck. Stuck working a job they hate. But a bunch of those guys didn’t have a choice. They had families. Wives. Parents. Kids. You know. All that shit. You have to put food on the table. Life didn’t give them a choice.”

“You think I chose to die?” Shawn asked.

“Who gives a shit about what happened?” Alex demanded. “You’re pissing me off, Shawn. You’ve got a successor. It’s not like you have to clock in for 12 hours a day and never have a moment to yourself. You say your existence is already draining away. The salaryman has a family and future to risk. What do you have? Nothing. Nothing at all.”

“I am nothing,” Shawn snarled. “Nothing at all of the being you converse with remains but a fading memory.”

“Maybe the memory wants to fade,” Alex said. “If you’re really nothing, then what the hell do you have to lose? What excuse are you going to have when you meet one of those people that never got a chance at freedom in the afterlife? You think they’re going to accept that you just had no choice? When you had all the choice in the world and you just elected to sit and do nothing?”

Shawn was silent for a moment. Then he snorted. “And what would you do, were you in my situation?”

Alex scratched the back of his neck. “No clue, man. That’s your problem to figure out. But I know I’d try to do something. I sure as hell wouldn’t just sit around and wait for the inevitable. Not again.”

“Again?” Shawn asked. “You imply you’ve been in a situation even remotely close to mine?”

“You try prepping for coding interviews,” Alex said. “Shit sucks, man. No way in hell am I doing that again.”

“What?” Shawn’s brow furrowed. “What is that?”

“You know what? Never mind. I’m just saying this world is pretty fucking sweet. You can do whatever the hell you want to. That’s not an opportunity everyone has. It’s pretty insulting to just sit on it. You’re dead anyway, right? What do you have to lose? Existence isn’t living. I don’t think they could possibly be more different.”

Shawn observed Alex in silence for several long seconds. Then the giant’s head tilted slightly to the side.

“The others have finished.”

“Wow,” Alex said. “What fortunate timing.”

“Why do you care so much?” Shawn asked.

“Because this is pissing me off,” Alex said. He gestured vaguely to Shawn. “But if you’re going to just sit back and let yourself die, do you wanna give me the rest of your shit? I’ll take it off your hands.”

   Shawn let out a bark of laughter. “No.”

“Figured. It was worth a try, though.”

“Yes. I suppose it was,” Shawn said. A pensive look passed over the giant’s features for no more than a split second. Then it was gone again. “It was… interesting, Alex.”

“Thanks for the stuff,” Alex said with a thumbs-up. “And for the info. Until next time.”

“There won’t be a next time,” Shawn said.

Alex shrugged one shoulder. “I guess. Saying goodbye feels a bit too much. We aren’t friends or anything. It’s always until next time with new acquaintances. After all, you never know.”

Shawn grunted. “I suppose you don’t. Until next time, Alex.”

Then he snapped his fingers, and the world was gone.

Chapter 297

A kaleidoscope of color and shapes swallowed Alex. Fractals of magic pulsed in odd, Euclidean forms that vanished before he got a chance to properly take a look at any of them. It felt like the universe was simultaneously expanding out ward and collapsing upon him from every direction.

Power beat against his skin and pressure bore down on his eyes with just enough force to make him feel ill. His stomach alternated between doing its absolute best to squeeze its way up into his throat and plummeting down into his intestines.

Then his foot hit the ground.

The colors exploded. His sense of balance completely inverted and he plummeted downward, driving into something soft and letting out a surprised grunt as he suddenly found himself falling.

That didn’t last long. He hit the ground amidst a surprised curse that didn’t come from his own mouth. Several other thuds to his sides made it clear that he wasn’t the only one who had arrived in a rather undignified manner.

Alex groaned, blinking furiously in an attempt to wipe the stars and fading splotches of color from his vision. He screwed his eyes shut and forced them open one last time. The queasiness in his stomach showed no signs of stilling as his surroundings reluctantly revealed themselves to him.

He was lying on top of Claire. She stared up at him, the slight discomfort in her features making it clear that he wasn’t the only one that hadn’t enjoyed their return trip.

“Hello,” Claire said. “I may be about to throw up. I would not recommend remaining in that position.”

Alex rolled off Claire and flopped down like a pile of wet laundry. He stared up at the domed white ceiling above them, making no move to try and sit up properly. His arm and a leg were still draped over Claire’s limbs, but he was too tired to move any further. Just lying there was about all he was capable of at the moment.

“That was awful,” Alex said.

Several groans rose up, marking the rest of their group’s position on the ground all around them. It seemed they’d all made it.

“Not an enjoyable trip,” Claire agreed from beside Alex, her voice slightly strained. She blew out a short breath. It tickled his neck. She must have been looking at him. “How’d it go?”

“The trip?”

“No. Shawn.”

“Good. I think,” Alex said. He turned toward Claire, then nearly flinched in surprise. Her face was only inches away from his. His stomach lurched, but that may very well have been from the queasiness still assaulting his senses.

“Good,” Claire said, somewhat lamely. “I… actually, give me a moment.”

She grimaced, then closed her eyes again, resting her ear against his shoulder. That seemed like a remarkably good idea. Alex closed his own eyes and tilted his head against Claire’s.

The churning in his stomach slowly started to fade. He wasn’t sure how long they spent laying there. It could have been a minute or ten. Whatever Shawn had done had been intense. Alex couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this rattled.

Laying still helped. The entire room was silent, save for the sound of breathing.

Then Wess coughed.

“Does anyone have something nasty to drink?” Wess asked from somewhere above them. “Paint stripper or worse, please. I need to forget something.”

“Why did Shawn do that?” Alyssa asked in a choked tone. “I think I fell on my brush. I’m impaled.”

“You’re just laying on top of it,” Derek said. “It’s okay.”

“Oh, hey. It’s Derek,” Wess said. “You dead, Derek? Do you look like a zombie? I can’t be bothered to check yet.”

“I look like Derek,” Derek said.

“Good enough for me,” Wess said. “Where are we?”

Alex’s eyes opened again. His senses had calmed down and his body was no longer trying to invert upon itself. Claire seemed to be sleeping against him, her breaths slow and steady.

He was surprised to find that he was actually comfortable — and extracting himself from where he’d flopped beside Claire would have been difficult to do without waking her.

Then, at the very edge of his vision, he caught a glimpse of Claire’s face. Her eye was open and staring right at him. Alex had been wrong. She definitely wasn’t asleep.

He shifted his arm slightly.

Her eye narrowed. Alex let his arm fall back to its prior position.

Looks like moving isn’t on the table yet.

“This definitely isn’t the entrance of the Ancestry,” Alyssa said from their side. A note of panic entered her voice. “Did we get captured? Shit. Where are we? What happened?”

“Relax,” Claire said. “We’re safe. I figured the Great Families weren’t going to be too happy with us, so I bought passage away from the normal exit. There probably isn’t a safer area anywhere on 274-50 for us at the moment.”

   “You did?” Wess asked. He blew out a relieved breath. “Well done. That was clever. I got so happy spending my points that I totally forgot that there were definitely going to be a bunch of Outworlders waiting to lift our shit off our bodies the moment we stepped outside. Was it expensive?”

“Yes,” Claire said. “How much is your life worth?”

“To me? A shit-ton. But if we’re talking repaying favors… I’d say about one credit. Seller’s market, you know?”

“Gods, you’re greedy,” Alyssa said. “We owe her. If she hadn’t redirected where we were teleported, there’s a good chance we’d all be dead now.”

“At what point did I ever claim to not be greedy?” Wess asked. “You lot knew what you were signing up for when I tossed my hat in the ring.”

“Hard to argue with that,” Derek said. “Wess is not a good guy. He kind of sucks. But that’s okay. He is good at shooting things. And sometimes he makes me laugh. That balances out.”

Does it?

“That kind of hurt, coming from you,” Wess said. “You don’t think I’m a good guy?”

“No,” Derek said. “I do not. Should I?”

“Probably not,” Wess said. “But it still hurt, you know?”

“Sorry,” Derek said.

“He worded it nicer than I would have,” Alyssa put in.

“Thank you,” Wess said. “Appreciate it. Still, though, where the hell are we? A cave?”

Claire blew out an exasperated breath. Then she reluctantly unentangled herself from Alex and sat up.

Alex sat up beside her, his spinning thoughts clicking back into place. Then he blinked. Finally, he recognized the rough white substance making up the domed walls rising all around them.

“Mirrorwane,” Claire said. “This is our town.”

“We’re in the Teleporter,” Alex said in disbelief. “Shawn was able to send us right back here?”

“It wasn’t cheap,” Claire said. “But I memorized the position on the Astral Map. Just in case something like this happened. And I’m pretty sure the expense was worth it. If we got attacked by something right when we’d emerged from the Ancestry, I think we’d have all been dead. Nobody was in fighting shape.”

“Holy shit,” Alyssa said, pushing herself up to a seated position as well. She blinked heavily, then scrunched her nose. “So… it’s done? The Ancestry is completely finished? Just like that?”

“Were you expecting applause?” Claire asked.

“More like a sword to the gut,” Alyssa muttered. She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I can’t believe we survived that. Gentle Shadow is going to be furious. And the River King…”

“We’ll deal with that nepo baby later,” Alex said. He did some quick calculations in his head. It had around a week since they’d last been in Mirrorwane. Given how recently the Apocalypse had happened, that was actually quite a bit of time.

How much has changed? Is everyone okay? Or have even more people died since I was last here?

“So this is your town?” Wess asked. He rubbed his eyes and squinted at the ceiling. “Why is it made out of bones?”

“Our engineer is a bit odd,” Alex said. “It grows on you.”

Derek nodded sagely. “Yes. Bones are good. I like them.”

They all looked at him.

“Right,” Alyssa said. “That’s mildly concerning. Maybe a bit more than mildly. But I’m a little preoccupied at the moment, so I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that. Did you manage to get the Rotkeeper’s Legacy?”

“Oh,” Derek said. “Yeh.”

“Yeh,” Wess repeated. “That’s it? Can’t you say more?”

“It’s good,” Derek said. “I gotta figure out how it works, though. I’ll let you know more once I get a hold of it.”

“Does that mean you’re going to stick around?” Alex asked. “The last time we asked, you didn’t seem too interested in joining the town.”

“Oh, yeah.” Derek scratched his chin. Then he shrugged. “That seems fun. I’ll try it out. Thanks.”

“Just don’t try to kill any town members, please,” Alex said. “I don’t think they’d like it.”

“Oh,” Derek said. “Okay.”

“Welcome aboard,” Claire said. “And don’t worry. There will be more than enough other things to kill.”

“Good enough for me,” Derek said.

“Great,” Alex said. He pushed himself to his feet with a groan, then stretched his arms out before himself. “Let’s go introduce everyone to the rest of the town, then.”

“And we’ve got some work to do,” Claire added, rising beside Alex.

“What, you mean with the Outworlders?” Alyssa asked.

“Always,” Claire replied. “But no. I was more specifically talking about the town. You lot will make it stronger. But not strong enough. We’re trying to compete with the Outworlders. That means no rest when there are steps we can take to grow more powerful.”

“What do you mean?” Wess asked. “You want to go fight something? Now? We just got back!”

“No. Not that,” Claire replied with a small laugh. She extended her hand. A shimmer of light passed over her palm and a stone slate materialized within her hands. Her lips split apart in a grin as she held it out to Alex. “I was more thinking we’ve got to run an analysis on what rewards we got and how they can best be used for the town… starting with this.”

Alex looked down at the slate. The System shimmered before him as it identified the item in her grip. His eyes widened.

 Forsaken Grounds (Mythic) — Blueprint

Contains instructions and the materials list required to create the Mythic Forsaken Grounds building.