Chapter 86

Crisp County-Cordele Regional Airport, Cordele - 7:25 PM

I watched as Jeff knelt down to pet Corwin. He removed the Red Scarf that he and Kayla had equipped their dog with early on to give him a 10% hit point boost and replaced it with a simple shiny, metal collar.

“You’re a bit late,” I told the Dealer. “We were almost ready to leave.”

The alligator man looked around at the watermelon filled field until his gaze fell on what was left of the scenario boss. “Guess you did make quick work of things here, eh?” he remarked. “Had to make sure everything was just right back at home. Little girl I found’s a jumpy one.”

“What breed is she?” Kayla asked as Jeff pulled out a chain leash from his inventory.

“German Shepherd,” the Dealer answered. “Smart girl, like all Evolution Hounds, but doesn’t like to be alone.”

“Do you have a name for her yet?” Jeff asked. Corwin was attempting to bite at the chain as if they were about to play, and Jeff was trying to calm him down.

“Bella,” he replied. “Nice, simple, accurate.”

“So what’s going to happen now?” Kayla asked. She reached down and put a hand on Corwin’s muzzle, and he immediately stopped playing long enough for Jeff to clip the leash on him.

“I’m assuming you already know about the part of it that I need Corwin for,” the Dealer snorted. “I’ll be bringing him back in two to five days. Bella’ll have puppies in about a month, and they’ll be full grown in a couple of weeks.”

Kayla looked taken aback. “So the whole process takes about two months?” she asked, clearly surprised. “That’s a lot faster than it should be.”

The Dealer shrugged. “Dunno what to tell you, that’s just the way Evolution Hounds are. But two months to see a return on investment’s not bad, and I’ll make sure Corwin here gets everything he needs and more.”

“Evolution Hounds are common among top players later on because of Treasure Hunters like The Dealer breeding them,” I explained to the Mills. “Considering this whole apocalypse business could end abruptly with little warning, them growing up so fast is probably a decision the system made deliberately.”

“You’d best take great care of him,” Jeff said as he stood up. “Corwin, you be a good boy for the Dealer. Okay? Be a good boy for a few days.” Corwin pressed his body up against Jeff’s and started trying to lick his owner’s hand.

When Jeff passed off the leash to the Dealer’s scaly hands, Corwin didn’t stop licking, his target just changed to the alligator. “He just wants to play with the chain, doesn’t he?” the Dealer asked.

“He burns through rope toys now. Literally,  so we had to move him up to something it would take a long time to melt through,” Jeff explained.

Snorting, the Dealer reached down to pet Corwin’s head. “I’ll keep that in mind. Alright, Corwin, let’s get going.” As the Treasure Hunter started to walk away, Corwin looked at the leash and then back to Jeff.

“Be a good boy for a few days,” he said, taking his wife’s hand. The dog’s gaze lingered before he ran to the Dealer’s side and walked beside him. The alligator pulled out a small stick of jerky from his overall pocket and offered it to Corwin, who barely chewed before he swallowed.

“He’s in good hands,” I said aloud as the Dealer and Corwin finally walked out of sight. “So don’t worry about him.”

“Yeah, I know,” Jeff said while his wife hugged him. “Just very attached to the little guy, is all.”

“Come on, Jeff, let’s get back to the train,” Kayla suggested. “We’re all very tired. Psychic boy, you have the loot?”

I began picking up the items I had already identified. “Yup, got Waltermelon’s stuff right here.”

Jeff chuckled as I reused his nickname for the boss and shook his head. “Alright, let’s get back on the train and…” he trailed off as I Pushed the red and blue flannel shirt towards him, smacking him in the chest. “I suppose this is for me, then?”

“Lumberjack Jeff the Duelist,” I said with a grin. “We’re going to have to get you an axe and hat to fill out the look. How’s your beard game? Nice and thick?”

“It’s okay,” Jeff admitted. “Not my strongest feature. Always thought I’d look pretty good in a beard, but reality is humbling.”

“Natural neckbeard, got it.”

Kayla laughed before leading Jeff towards the train by his hand. “I think it’s too late to turn Corwin into a giant blue ox, but we can always dress him up," she said.

“Ugh, not you, too, Kay,” Jeff groaned. “I just don’t think I can pull off lumberjack chic.”

As we walked back to the train, I pulled off my Writhing Belt Whip and handed it to Kayla. She took it and put it on, and I could see the red marks from the vines start to soften nearly immediately. “Just a question, but are either of you under 25% health?” I asked.

“I got as low as about 35%, but no lower than that,” Kayla said before looking over to her husband.

Jeff shook his head. “Halfish, so I’m good,” he said, then his face lit up. ”Oh, right, forgot about this." He reached into his pocket and pulled out five slices of bacon. Handing off three of them to Kayla, he started munching on the remaining two in order to heal.

“Sara gave me a quest,” I stated. “The main objective was to kill the Waltermelon, of course, but there were optional objectives about getting you two back on the train at more than a quarter of your hit points.”

“Well, you certainly worked for that one, didn’t you?” Kayla asked sarcastically.

“Y’all had it covered. I had complete faith in you both,” I said smugly. “And it’s true. Jeff’s got the MVP Token, a Melon Orb, a flannel shirt, and, Kayla, you’re going to get the ability to teleport once per day.”

“Teleport?” Kayla asked, blinking.

“Yeah, it’s once per day but you’re the only one of us who doesn’t have a movement skill so it makes sense to give it to you,” I replied. Lifting the skill book out of my hands so I was only carrying the rusty loppers, I Pushed it gently in her direction. She grabbed it out of the air. “Plus, it’ll make for a quiet escape which, for you, is a lot more handy than my Crash Test or Jeff’s Explosive Thrust. Go ahead and give it a try. First time’s always the hardest.”

Kayla contemplated this for a few moments before nodding. She opened up the skill book, reached out in front of her, and accepted. Her hands, suddenly empty, flicked through her menu before she looked at the train and disappeared completely. No sound, no flash of light; one moment she was there, and the next she was not.

[[Notice]]

One of your Patron Quest’s optional objectives has been completed.

Optional Objective: Kayla returns to the train above 25% hit points.

Smiling, I turned around to see her standing in the doorway, her hand to her head. “Okay, that’s going to take some getting used to,” she stated, sounding a little worse for wear. Jeff jogged to the train, hopping on and helping Kayla to a seat.

[[Patron Quest Complete!]]

Excellent work, Ant! Good job on keeping Kayla and Jeff safe, too. I know you would have stepped in if they had been in trouble, but don’t make them worry from here on out, okay?

Reward: +800 points, +300 points (Optional Objective (1)), +300 points (Optional Objective (2)).

“Yes, I’ll try not to make them worry from here on out,” I claimed with a chuckle. “But no promises, because there’s a lot to worry about out there. Plus, there’s some stuff that’s better off not said.” I jumped onto the train to see that Jeff had sat his wife down at one of the tables.

“I’m fine, Jeff, just a little woozy,” she claimed, trying to shoo him away.

“She really will be fine, bro,” I said as I closed the door behind me. I noted the symbols from my permanent Broken Boundary on the inside of the dining car door with satisfaction. Opening the train menu, I set it so that we would start heading to Atlanta. “Now that she’s done it once, it’s going to be easier every time. Like most people who get chicken pox aren’t going to get it again. Either of you mind if I take these?”

Jeff looked over at me holding up the loppers and shook his head. “Unless they count as daggers somehow, nah.” He took a seat next to his wife.

“Nope, plus three to Strength, Dex, and Con, cuts through armor easier and gives you better results when pruning plants with it,” I explained as I tossed Walter’s Rusted Loppers into my inventory.

Sitting down across from the Mills, I swiped open the food menu and started looking through the options for anything that caught my attention.

Once he was positive that Kayla was okay, and only seeming to be convinced when the color came back to her cheeks, Jeff pulled out the two items that had been deposited into his inventory and set them on the table. One was a fist-sized orb with the pattern and coloration of a standard watermelon with three stripes arcing from one side to the other. It rolled around as the train began moving, and he stopped it from falling off of the table.

The other was a silver disc the size of a quarter. One side had a star that had been imprinted on the metal, and the flip side was blank. It would remain so until he had accepted a Patron. I reached into my inventory after ordering a simple baked potato soup and pulled out an almost identical token, the only difference being that the other side of mine had the symbol of a wing enveloped by a circle.

[[Item]]

MVP Token

This token is a record of Anthony Franklin’s accomplishments as Most Valuable Player. It is bound to Anthony Franklin, and can not be given away or stolen.

Scenario MVP Awards

Etson: Vespae Invasion

Setting it down, I slid it across the table before taking the crackers that came with the soup and crushing them, sprinkling them into my food. Jeff’s token would say the same thing, except instead of Etson it would specify Cordele. The Vespae Invasion tag would be replaced with Watermelon Walter’s Schemes, as well. Jeff took it and examined my token.

“Okay, so what do they do?” he asked, handing his own token to Kayla to look over.

“A couple of things. For starters, they keep track of your awards and you can use them to get treatment you wouldn’t normally be able to get,” I explained. “When we make it to Merder Stadium, we can use them to get VIP housing and basically skip over the battle royale section of the games I’m going to enter. I imagine you’ll probably want to stick to one on one fights?”

Jeff shrugged. “Don’t really know enough to commit,” he said. “Plus, I’m strongest when fighting with Kayla but she doesn’t have a token. Are we stopping somewhere else on the way up?”

"Unfortunately, Jeff, there's no more free scenarios like this on the way,” I replied with a frown. “So Merder Stadium has one big draw, and that’s the games that are being held there. The very first one is the Chaos Cup. It can be entered by one to three people to a team, and usually I enter alone. I really like the Chaos Cup because, at the very beginning of every match a wheel is spun. It’s got things like no abilities, no passives, return to your pre-system stats, swap classes, increase stats by forty each, etc. And it’s true RNG, so it’s different every time it’s spun. Not set in stone.”

“I’m sure that’s very helpful to keep you from getting bored,” Kayla stated. Checking her menu, she must have noted that her health was now full because she removed my Writhing Belt Whip and passed it to Jeff, who put it on without question.

“It really helps keep things spicy, yeah,” I said, nodding. “But there’s mountain climbing, games that are like basketball but aren’t, arena fights that aren’t just two guys going at it in an empty field. There’s one on one and two man team fights over at Safe Arm Arena. I tend to avoid those because, well, honestly, they’re just not very challenging to me anymore. They come with a lot of prestige, though, just like the Chaos Cup will.”

“What are the prizes?” Jeff asked, leaning back in his chair. He placed a hand on his wife’s leg as his other tossed his token back into the inventory. The orb threatened to fall off of the table again, but he grabbed it before it could.

“Points, loot, counts as a scenario for the MVP Token. There are two big thing,” I said, leaning forward over my soup. I took another spoonful into my mouth before resuming. “So after you clear enough scenarios as MVP, then you get to ignore some of the scenario limits.”

“Wait, really?” Kayla asked. “That’s really huge, isn’t it?”

“It is,” I confirmed with a nod. “It’s set up so that the best players continue being the best. It’s not a lot, but it’s stacking and completely worth it. Increased stats, access to higher levels of abilities so you get some faster. By the time we leave Atlanta, I’ll have reached the point where I’ve broken past the next scenario limit. Just a little bit. Jeff as well, maybe. Depends on how the world turns.”

“What about Kayla?” Jeff asked, looking at his wife.

I hesitated, and Kayla must have seen the look on my face because she smiled and turned to Jeff. “Probably best if we keep these eggs all in one basket,” she said, leaning against him. “I’m sure Anthony has a specific plan in mind, and splitting it between two people is already a big deal. Let’s not split it between three.”

Jeff looked from Kayla to me, tilting his head. “I mean, basically,” I said, shrugging. “I can send you guys off to do your own thing, and I probably will end up doing that at some point in the future, but for as long as you’re sticking with me, splitting it up between two is already tough.”

“If you’re weaker, is that going to mess up all of your plans?” Jeff asked seriously.

“Psh, nah,” I said, waving him off. “If anything, it’ll just make the fights more interesting. Plus, with some creative planning, I don’t think I’m going to be much weaker at all. Actually, the more I think about it, the more I think I’m going to be fine.”

“Uh huh,” Kayla said skeptically. “Alright, psychic boy. And what about the second thing you get out of winning the Chaos Cup?”

I took another bite before answering. “So this is a prize for the one on one and team fights, too, but you get invited to the next ‘round,’ as it were. Top two do, with your seeding being better if you win, obviously.”

“Obviously,” Jeff repeated.

“The next round is with winners from all over the United States. Doesn’t matter where, because you get teleported back to a stadium even if you’re out in the middle of nowhere,” I explained. “You get put back after the event. Better prizes, more points, and so on. Win that, and you start doing international tournaments.”

“Sounds like this is a pretty extensive quest line,” Kayla remarked.

“It is, I’ll give you that, but the points are worth it for what little time it takes me to dismantle people,” I said with a predatory grin. “Plus, Sara can give me Patron quests aiming for victory, so the points are going to stack up even faster than usual. Got the attention of Chiyou, once. Very demanding as a Patron, but also very lucrative. We had a falling out since I didn’t want to finish the arena matches, but whatever. That timeline doesn’t exist anymore.”

“Huh, well, I’ll have to sleep on it,” Jeff said.

“Feel free. By the time we wake in the morning, we’ll be in Atlanta so you’ve got time.”

“So we know about Atlanta, but what about the melon?” Kayla asked, gesturing towards the ball that Jeff was rolling around. He pushed it over to her, and she looked at the description. “It doesn’t really say much.”

I tapped it and brought up the description to make sure that nothing had changed. It hadn’t.

[[Item]]

Three-Striped Melon Orb

Collect all seven of these Melon Orbs and something magical will happen.

“No, it doesn’t,” I agreed. “So there are seven cities in the United States that claim, or have claimed, that they’re the watermelon capital of the world. Cordele is one, then there’s Hope in Arkansas, both Naples and Weatherford in Texas, Beardstown in Illinois, Rush Springs in Oklahoma, and Green River in Utah. The system leaned into that and the administrators agreed, so now we have seven Striped Melon Orbs.”

“What, collect all seven and summon the Great Pumpkin to make a wish?” Jeff asked sarcastically.

“Summons a raid boss, actually,” I said. “There’s going to be some hubbub about the Melon Orbs, someone’s going to pay a lot of points for them, and they’re going to summon a raid boss. It’s always awakened compared to whenever it’s summoned. Which, you know, fair. If someone spends a lot of time wandering the United States looking for some damn Melon Orbs then they should have an inkling that it’s either really good or really bad and act accordingly.”

“I don’t know if I’d call that fair,” Kayla stated. I just shrugged. “Are we going to be the ones collecting them?”

I grinned. “Maybe. With you two on my side, it might just be worth it. I mean, I hadn’t planned on it, I was going to keep it tucked away safe and sound, but it’s a challenge I haven’t taken on in a long time.” I took another spoonful of soup as I thought it over. “Let’s see how much points we can make with Sara helping us out before we decide. It’s going to be a while yet, so committing to it now doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

“Aye aye, boss,” Jeff said. “Is there anything else? Not to fight and run, but I’m ready to shower and crash.”

“I could do with some sleep, yeah,” Kayla agreed.

“There’s one more thing, but it can wait until morning,” I said. “We can discuss it on the way to Merder Stadium.”

Kayla pulled away from Jeff and they both stood up. I saw the man look down to where Corwin would have been laying before he glanced back up at me. He offered me his fist and I bumped it before doing the same to Kayla. “Don’t stay up too late,” she ordered sternly.

“I won’t. I’m going to finish this and head back to my own room. G’night, you two.”

“G’night, Ant.”

“Good night, psychic boy.”

I watched the two of them head into the sleeping car before picking up my bowl of soup and downing the rest of it. Jeff came back a moment later, taking off the Writhing Belt Whip and handing it to me with a sheepish smile on his face. I took it back, but left it coiled on the table for now and he left again.

Wiping my mouth clean, I looked up towards the ceiling. “You’ve been awfully quiet. Conserving points?” Seconds passed before I got my answer.

[[Patron Message]]

You really let them go on their own for the most part for that fight, didn't you? Make sure they don't get killed, at least. I'm already attached to these two human people.

I hope Corwin's going to be back soon. I know you trust that slimy guy, but still. Bella is a pretty name, though.

I'm wondering what you look like with a beard now. It seems like you always show up with really shaggy hair, but you're clean shaven every time. Can you not grow a beard either?

Oh, I wish I could talk to Kayla and let her know that teleporting isn't so bad.

Are you sure that you should be sharing MVP awards with Jeff? I don't want to be mean, but there's a big gap between the two of you, and letting him break the scenario limits isn't exactly going to put you two on even footing. It's just a thought, though. I don't know your plans past this but I wanted to voice my concerns.

Yeah, the messages are getting more expensive so this is going to be my last one of the day. Since you're going to sleep, I don't mind it. I look forward to seeing your adventures tomorrow.

Sleep well,

Sara, Girlfri-End

I smiled as I read through the long message. She was certainly making this one worth the extra points it would cost to send. My hand reached up to stroke my chin before I realized what I was doing. I could feel the stubble coming through, and decided to shave in the morning. “I just don’t like how itchy beards are before they stops being itchy,” I told the ceiling.

“And yes, I’m sure about getting MVP awards for Jeff. They’re my responsibility, so I’m going to put them in situations I know they can handle so they can grow stronger. It’s going to be worth it, trust me; they’re going to grow into great assets.” I paused. “Well, depending on how they deal with the trauma. They’re still holding in a lot of emotions, which isn’t healthy, but we’ll see where they go from here.”

Standing up, I stretched before I began walking to my room. “I’m going to call it an early night, but thank you for all your help, Sara,” I said lightly. “Less than a day and you’ve already been an amazing help. I’m looking forward to being your avatar, and good night.”