Allisium

Chapter 14

"I knew there would be trouble!" I told Dagon as I watched on the screen what the drone was showing us.

Zen and Greek were running through the forest chased by a large number of ninja minions. They were from the same clan, again, and something told me they had been planning this moment. Greek and Zen could not return to the hotel until they left combat mode behind , something that was impossible this time.

They were surrounded.

He did not know the exact number of pursuers, everything had gone too fast to count them and control the drone at the same time, but there were more than ten. Greek was in the last and Zen was ahead. The improved agility could save his life and he was already twenty meters ahead of the Italian, who was panting and barely able to speak.

"We're screwed, ragazzi ," was all he said when they were discovered.

Everything had gone well, they had even defeated wild animals to complete some missions, money and experience almost without breaking a sweat. However, neither they nor we from the hotel knew how to discover the plan of that clan that had proposed to make life impossible for us. If we hadn't killed their leader, none of this would have happened.

I was beginning to think it would have been better to let us get robbed by that idiot.

But we were going to sell our skin very expensive.

They had the advantage, but we had an Astral Magician and a trigger”happy Italian; the prey were more dangerous when more cornered they were.

Dagon and I couldn't do anything. Powerless, we witnessed the evolution of a situation that was complicated at times. The start of the chase was not all bad, Greek killed one of the henchmen and wounded another in the chest. He'd be dead by now, so the Italian had already killed four people in Allsium.

"We won't be able to hold out much longer," Zen reported.

He didn't seem too tired. The extra agility made him faster at a trot than any normal person running at a good pace. He didn't need to work too hard to outrun anyone, as long as they didn't have developed agility the same as he did. The Japanese could be dosed, while Greek was with his tongue out and his pistol unloaded.

They were lost.

" Vaffanculo ! " Greek gasped. I can not anymore! Porca puttana !

"Hold on, Greek!" Dagon and I yelled. He could hear us, but he gave a wry half smile before slumping to the ground.

"Zen, help him!" I yelled.

Suddenly, a message from Allsium caught our attention by showing up in our viewer.

It left us cold.

«ZEN HAS LEFT THE GROUP».

“That? Dagon wondered. Zen? What does this mean?

But Zen could no longer hear us. When I left the group, I couldn't access the conversations we had between the members.

However, we could see from the drone that Zen was still there, running away with Greek.

No.

Not anymore.

Zen had stopped ten meters from where Greek had fallen. In a little less than twenty seconds the pursuers would appear and that would be the end.

"Gunner!" Dagon said. We've run out of money in the group inventory! Zen has stolen what we had!

How was it possible? When had he done it? And what was more important: why? My head kept spinning without finding explanations. Dagon had become very nervous and was beginning to stutter as he pointed at the television. Now we couldn't buy from the Allsium online store to rid Greek of his pursuers.

Zen walked up to Greek and spoke.

"I'm sorry, dear mobster. Zen's voice was very cold, more than usual. Your journey must end here. I don't have many other options.

"I knew you were up to something, testa di cazzo , but I didn't expect you to do it so soon."

I didn't know what either of them meant, but it was clear that they both knew things about each other that Dagon and I didn't.

Had we been so blind?

"If my virtual life has to end here, be a man and do it yourself."

Zen stopped for a moment. The henchmen arrived, but the Japanese gestured to them and they waited.

“That? Dagon trembled with anger. I can not believe it!

He had tears in his eyes. A guy standing almost seven feet tall and with the build of a closet was about to cry at what he was witnessing.

"I thought so," Greek said, spitting on the ground.

"They'll take care of you," Zen replied. Don't think I'm happy, you're going to have a very bad time. Their leader is someone very powerful, so if I were you I'd worry about getting out of the hole you're hiding in in real life and running. He won't stop until he kills you, just like you did here with him.

"Everyone has a price, right, hikikomori ?"

"Do you know why it doesn't bother me that you call me that?" He looked Greek straight in the eye. Because I'm not a social wreck like you. It's been so easy to fool you...

“Motherfucker! Dagon yelled in the hotel room. I was scared to see him like this. She had never shown such a face, a countenance that would have terrified the bravest. If he had had Zen in front of him at that moment, he would have torn him in two with his bare hands.

"Dagon, this is not the time to waste time," I said hastily. Enter the online store, we have to buy something to get Greek out of there. How much money do we have left?

“We have a thousand credits in the safe, the rest of the money in the group inventory has been taken by Zen.

Getting money in and out of the safe was something that could be done without blinking when you were in the room. An advertisement came and it was accepted almost without reading, because it was known that it was a member of the group who requested it. The money belonged to everyone, but Zen had gambled us with the money from the group inventory and we had fallen like nerds that we were.

Despite everything, Greek was giving us a few golden seconds to be able to react.

"We have a thousand credits left, three tickets to Tveirland, the four priests, and the property contract."

The swine had had time to buy the ticket to Tveirland with the money we had left for the group. This way he would make sure to leave us at zero and, by the way, he would not raise suspicions before carrying out his plan. The purchase notice would have passed us by in the stress of the moment, but it had to be somewhere. He had even the slightest stupidity under control, and we were included.

It had sunk us.

"We have to help Greek," I said. Take the four cures out of the safe and put them in the group inventory, you might need them.

Most likely he didn't even use them. His value was incalculable and his situation was the worst possible. The cures were of no use when the future seemed immovable, only perhaps to lengthen the torture.

"Done," he replied with tension drawn on his face. What can we buy? There are smoke bombs at a good price, even weapons, but…

I knew what he meant. The Italian was surrounded by ten thugs, as well as Zen. He couldn't get out of there with a single pistol under a thousand credits.

"We can use the cures to our advantage," Dagon said with strangely trusting eyes. I have an idea, Gunner, but I'm not sure it's going to work out.

At that point nothing could go worse.

“What do you need?

"A smoke bomb, a liter of gasoline and a good dose of luck," he answered, raising an eyebrow.

The forest was thick and leafy. He knew what he was thinking, but not whether Greek would have enough time to empty a gas can while surrounded.

"Greek, I know you're hearing us," I said, speaking hastily. Pay attention. We have an idea to try to get you out of there and we are willing to spend heals if necessary. Zen is not going to get away with it. There's no way we're going to lose you, capito ?

Greek nodded. He was in such a delicate situation that he was going to accept anything crazy to get out of there. He was going for the limit moments, so he would do his part.

"Okay, mobster, I'm leaving you in charge of these nice guys," Zen said with a half smile on his darkened face. Apart from their leader, you've killed some of their companions. Don't expect them to treat you well, baka .

"You fucking traitor!" answered Greek, panting with exhaustion.

“Greek,” I said over the group channel, “we're going to put a smoke bomb in the group inventory right away, strong enough to give you time to run away and leave a trail of gasoline behind you.

“You take a breath cure, you throw the smoke bomb, you run out, pouring the gasoline while you do it. We take care of the rest. Dagon had never spoken so quickly and so confidently in his life. Whether you agree with the plan or not, insult Zen so we know you'll do it.

It took him a second to react. The Italian shook his head and smiled.

"Do you like barbecues, damn figlio da puttana ?"

“That? Zen asked raising his eyebrows and watching in surprise as Greek started to move.

Greek got up, threw the bomb we put in the group inventory, and kicked up a terrible smoke that turned the TV screen a deeper, more intense gray than Initium itself. We didn't know where the Italian was, but five seconds later we heard him speak.

"It's done, ragazzi !" Do what you have to do!

“Dagon,” I said, “leave me in command of the drone.

I ascended with him into the heavens as fast as I could. Two seconds later I was diving toward where Greek had been a few seconds before.

“Go Go! Dagon was saying almost praying. Greek, get out of there!

" Arrivederci sushi face!" “shout.

The drone crashed at top speed and its explosion blew everything up. The gasoline that Greek had left along the way was ready to catch the flame, and it didn't take long for it to spread the fire throughout the forest. Of the ten members of the clan and of Zen there was no trace anywhere.

"Greek, are you okay?" Dagon asked.

Now that we no longer had the drone, or anything with which to locate Greek, we were going blind.

"You should have seen the panicked eyes the harakiri made when I doused him with gasoline," Greek commented, panting steadily.

Dagon and I both broke out in the face. The Italian had not only been able to carry out the plan successfully, but had had enough sangfroid to take revenge for Zen's betrayal.

Greek showed that he was born to do great things in Allsium.

“You are safe? Dagon asked.

He had spent a cure. This had returned the air to his lungs and strength to his legs to continue running at the top for at least ten long minutes.

"I don't even know where I am," he answered, "but no one is following me."

"Keep running, Greek," I urged, "we need you to get out of combat mode so we can bring you back to the room."

"My goodness!" Dagon snapped. Guys, have you seen the latest notifications?

The victory tune from the video game Final Fantasy VII had played again, but we hadn't listened to it. We received rewards for completing an S”rank quest and an A”rank quest. These were general Allsium quests that were not unique to the planet Initium, but rather achievements that required much more time and experience as travelers to complete.

“The general S”rank mission was to kill ten or more people at once,” Dagon explained.

From there we could safely extract that only one of the eleven, including Zen, had a chance of getting out of there alive.

"Great, Dagon," I replied. Your idea has saved Greek's life and also helped us complete the missions.

" Grazie mille, " answered Greek. Dagon, Vinci, I will never forget this. From now on you are my brothers.

"You already were to me," Dagon said, visibly moved. We've only done what we had to to save one of our own.

It was touching to hear an Italian as tough as Greek say that. He had his quirks and a difficult personality, but he was so honest that he wasn't afraid to show his feelings when they arose.

"The A”rank mission was to kill more than ten people illegally," I said, trying not to cry.

At least the ten people in the forest and the ones that Greek had killed as soon as we set foot in Initium. Too many deaths in just a week since we started our adventure; a very high figure for some novices.

The level of qualification of the missions spoke for itself.

"How grim it all," Dagon said. I hope not every mission is about reaching a certain number of kills.

I smiled. There were thousands of general missions, what happened was that events had pushed us into situations that should not have occurred until at least a year after starting the adventure, and perhaps in other more difficult worlds, where survival was more extreme. . Initium was the planet of the beginning, where nothing like that ever used to happen. On the gray planet, missions of rank E, the lowest, were completed almost daily; they gave out healing items, such as bandages or free food. Adventurers who came to Initium usually came prepared, but it never hurt to complete quests to receive experience, money, and the odd free item.

But what was received for obtaining missions of Rank S or A made a difference, both in experience and in money or objects. They were worth the risk to complete, even if it cost anyone blood, sweat, and tears to do so.

"Guys, we've gotten enough experience to learn a few pathing skills and physical upgrades," I said.

It was a crazy experience. For any more seasoned and veteran traveler it would not be, but for newbies like us it was an incredible amount of points. We would redeem the experience received when we passed through a Guild Fountain and chose a path. At the same time we would also be able to get stronger thanks to the extra points in physical abilities.

I was looking forward to getting to some planet where I could start my path, I figured that by then we would have accumulated many more experience points. We had to remember that Zen, upon entering the Path of the Astral Mage, had learned two path skills and an extra agility bonus.

"We've also earned forty thousand credits for completing the rank A quest," Dagon reported. But there is still more.

He wasn't sure it was a fair reward to receive forty thousand credits for killing more than ten people in Allsium. Virtuality was priceless to me, although forty grand was a nice breath of fresh air in our recently emptied coffers.

“What else? “I asked for.

It was not strange that the credits were also accompanied by some object.

"My God…" Dagon said almost speechlessly.

“What's happening? I had to go into inventory to see what it was.

There it was, one of the most iconic and geeky swords in video game history: the Buster Sword of Cloud, the protagonist of Final Fantasy VII .

You could like video games more or less, but anyone who left Allsium illegally had a great journey behind them in that world, especially those who took it more seriously. Every inhabitant of reality and virtuality was well aware of the videogames that had marked an era, as well as the consoles and heroes they had enjoyed so much. Wielding the most mythical weapons that their favorite characters had used was one of the reasons why millions of geeks had decided to venture into dangerous illegality. Nobody knew how they were obtained, but they existed and it was possible to get hold of them. And apparently it was not easy at all.

And we had done with one.

By the irony of life, Zen, the Japanese traitor, was the typical Final Fantasy VII fan that every group of geeks needed in Allsium. The rest of us had played it, it would be missing more, but we did not reach such a level of veneration.

"We'll try the Buster Sword as soon as Greek gets back to us," I said excitedly.

Dagon nodded and smiled. His look had changed, he was no longer the scared and insecure young man he had been just a few days ago. His plan had been a success, and Greek owed him his life. I was sure the big guy knew that, and I was glad for the dose of confidence he'd received in return.

" Ragazzi , I'm coming home!" Greek yelled.

It was logical that he would have come out of combat mode so quickly, considering that he had been surrounded by eleven people and we had killed at least ten of us. The other one we were missing would be dead or fighting for his life, little caring that Greek had escaped.

Two seconds later, the Italian was transported to the room.

Dagon and I greeted him standing, looking at each other with a silence that filled us for a few moments.

“ Stronzos ,” Greek finally said, “I owe you my virtuality.

And the three of us hugged each other as if we hadn't seen each other for months or years. As if, despite everything that had happened to us, we were closer than ever. As if, despite Zen's betrayal, the Japanese never existed.

"We'll rest for a few days," I informed as we continued to embrace each other. We stayed like that for a full minute. Then we will leave for Tveirland.

"That sword is yours, ragazzone ," Greek said to Dagon, and Dagon gave him a surprised look. You have earned them.