~‌‌ ‌‌2.32 ‌‌-‌‌ No Rebirth Today ~‌‌

Dustgrove

4th Voidday of the Full Moon

With Than’ro at his side and most of the red plated guards trailing behind them, Flea walked into town. The gate they passed through was manned by three times the usual number of guards, many of whom left their posts and now formed a loose formation around Flea’s procession.

Crap! I should have sent someone ahead. Spread out as we were on the road coming here, our torches probably made us look like an invading army. And to make matters worse…

Waiting for them just ahead in a small square that was part of the merchant district was most of the townsfolk as well as a large number of guards. The crowd was also peppered with several adventurers. In particular, one looked much like an old TV character named Vampira. Her Cobalt tags stuck out more than her outfit.

As they came to a stop, Flea suddenly realized how tense of a situation they were in. Most of these people looked angry, scared, or some combination of the two. He also didn’t notice the red plates move into a protective formation around him. In fact, the only person who seemed happy to be there was Than’ro.

“Is it true, you have the real baron?!” someone yelled from the crowd.

“How did you know?” asked Flea.

“Sorry, I ran here as fast as I could to tell Elder Mangus,” a red plate stepped out of the crowd rubbing the back of his head.

Well, so much for my invading army theory. It looks like they knew who was coming.

“No apologies necessary. Yes, we have the baron in custody. Her name is Baronetti, and she is a Tanuka. It was the baron who planned the poisoning of the town’s Elders and then took control of this territory.”

That news seemed only to agitate the crowd. As the two sides seemed to stand off against each other, Flea spotted Elder Magnus coming through the crowd towards him. He really hoped the Elder was here to help.

“How would a Tanuka achieve such a feat? They aren’t like Beastkin, nor are they able to shapeshift anymore,” Elder Magnus said.

“I don’t know, but she had help from someone she called ‘Old One.’”

Many in the crowd gasped in shock. The appearance of Magnus had seemed to ease some of the tension from the crowd, but now even the Elder looked a bit worried.

“Are you sure of this, Flea?” asked Elder Magnus with more than a hint of caution in his voice.

“I am. Here is one of the Communication Books they used.”

Flea removed the book from his bag and handed it to the Goat Beastkin. The elder began to flip through it until he landed on a particularMagnus’spage. Then he read for some time. He then read a few more pages after that, periodically shaking his head as he did so.

“It appears The Glitched ᛜᛜᛜᛜᛜaᛜᛜaᛜ has been helping the baron.”

Again the crowd collectively gasped, with some shouting to bring Baronetti to one of the capitals to be removed from the game. Arguments were breaking out amongst the townsfolk over what course of action should be taken. This time Flea noticed when the red plates closed their ranks even more around him. But any previous thoughts of diffusing this situation were pushed aside as Flea felt it was more important to understand what the hell was going on in this game. Feeling like he could get some answers, Flea pressed the Elder for information.

“Magnus, when you say the name The Glitched. All I can hear are distorted noises coming from your mouth after it. I know when I tried to read a certain book, the title had strange symbols, and I could only make out the letter ‘A’ in the name.”

The Elder looked over the Gnome for a few moments, seemingly in thought.

“Flea, there are those in The Games who have been playing for longer than anyone can remember. The Glitched are one of the races who are referred to as ‘The Old Ones.’ Records from before the epochs began to be counted say this race vanished from the system upon their third and final wave finished integrating. The records do not indicate why this happened, but do say they retained the ability to level and possibly respawn.”

“What do you mean integrating? Waves? What did The Glitched do to get them purged from the system?”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t answer any of those questions. The Glitch cause havoc wherever found, according to past records. This ᛜᛜᛜᛜᛜaᛜᛜaᛜ has been mentioned many times before.”

“Why does the system distort his or her name?”

“The system is processing unexpected information in regards to The Glitched. As such, it doesn’t yet understand how to translate the material into your language. The longer you play, the more accustomed the system will become with your language. It is then you will see the translations start to fill in more of the gaps.”

“Thank you, Elder Magnus. Keep the book if it will be of help to you.”

“What will you do with her?” asked Elder Magnus, pointing to the small Tanuka inside Than’ro’s hand.

“I’m going to speak to Tenzin first, then decide.”

“A decent choice,” replied the Elder. Then loud enough so the crowd would hear, “Tenzin has been the protector of this village for ages. I have absolute trust in his judgment. Everyone, please head back to your homes now. We will surely have more news in the morning.”

After a few moments, Flea quickly passed through the crowd. Most had departed once it seemed the Elder had a handle on the situation. A couple of the red plates, town guard, Elder Magnus, and a few Flea had no recognition of, followed the Gnome and the massive yellow man towards the town’s Crystal. He also noticed the Cobalt adventurer was now staring daggers at Than’ro.

Coming into the square at night, Flea could see a large fire going near the Crystal. Around it were bundles of figures and within one such group, an easily recognizable cat. As Flea marched up to his companion, he felt a gush of air blow past him, then a yelp from behind.

“No hurt, Than’ro!”

Flea turned around to see Tenzin with his massive sword to the yellow throat of Than’ro.

“Stop, Tenzin!” shouted Flea.

The Elf looked back at the Gnome in slight shock.

“Why have you brought a Dengre into town, Flea?”

“A what? The baron was using him to keep herself safe. Things kinda happened, and now he is following me.”

“He follows your orders?”

“Yes, yes, yes. Than’ro follow the Gnome.” the Dengre quickly insisted.

“Flea, if you wish to allow this ‘Than’ro’ to live, you need to take him far away from here. Better yet, you need to bring him back to his kind up north.”

“Why? What is wrong with him being a Dengre?”

“Their race grow to massive sizes. Some of them develop the [Seismic Wave] skill and have been known to use it to destroy entire cities by accident. They are not a particularly smart race and have been hunted to near extinction because of the amount of damage they can do.”

“Then how is it, no one else knew what he was? There must have been hundreds of people who’ve seen him.”

“Their kind hasn’t been seen anywhere around here for generations. The last one I put down was around the year 4200 when one destroyed an entire town to the west. He just can’t stay here, Flea.”

“Alright, then I’ll take him home. But before we get to that, he holds the baron inside his hand. I want you to take control of the town or tell me who to give it to.”

The old Elf looked shocked. He spent several moments staring down at the closed fist. Seemingly coming to some decision, Tenzin asked the Dengre to open his hand. As soon as the massive hand opened, Baronetti tried to sprint away. Tenzin grabbed her by the throat instantly and held her in front of himself.

“All this time, I figured the baron was a group of people who cycled in and out of that compound of yours. No wonder after so many years, I couldn’t find and kill you. I thought of you as just a pet that never left the manor. How could I have been so foolish?”

Tenzin tightened his grip around her neck, the baron letting out a yelp of pain. She began to struggle and kick. The only sounds coming from her now were strained gurgling noises. Ignoring her discomfort, Tenzin asked Flea.

“You truly don’t want to lead the town?”

“No, thank you. I tried to run a city before; I hated it.”

By now, Bob and the Tanuki were gathering around the commotion. Bob stood next to Flea and went wide-eyed when he spotted the massive yellow man sitting on the cobblestone with his knees to his chest, crying.

“What the hell happened?” asked Bob.

“Like you, he acted on his kindness. If you don’t mind, I’d like to return Dustgrove to a council of Elders, Flea,” said Tenzin.

“No, I don’t mind, Tenzin.”

Baronetti squealed for a split second before everyone heard the ‘crack’ and then a tiny ‘thunk’ as the baron’s body hit the pavement. Tenzin stood up and walked over to the town Crystal, placing a hand on it. A few moments later, he nodded and walked back to the gathered group.

“Thank you, Tenzin. We will restore the town to what it once was,” said Elder Magnus.

“My Kin Yulia will remain here as an Elder. I will leave my Lorien to her and Zyla’s care. With them, I leave two generations of my clan to help protect Dustgrove. The others I’ve assigned as the new Elders will seek you out, Magnus. I leave them all in your care.”

“Where are you going, Tenzin?”

“Because of this one’s gift, I’m ready to leave my kin behind and travel to The Spire,” Tenzin said as he gestured to Bob.

“Was your boon that great?” asked Magnus.

“It was…adequate. The information I received was far more valuable.”

“I see. I must head back to the guildhall and get things organized before the new elders’ arrival. But first…”

Elder Magnus walked up to the massive-purple Crystal and placed his hand on it. Seeing the action, Flea ran over and placed his hand on it as well, reregistering the Crystal to his magic bag. In all the commotion, the Gnome had forgotten he was no longer tied to the town’s Crystal. Finished with his task Magnus turned to Flea, throwing something golden at him.

“Your reward, young adventurer. Use it how you want; sell or give it away.”

Flea looked down at the Golden Crystal and put it into his bag before anyone else could see it.

“Thank you, Elder Magnus.”

The Elder waved his gratitude away and began making his way back towards the Adventurers’ Guild. Bob walked up to Flea, giving him a puzzled look.

“I’ll tell you later,” was all his companion would say.

Flea walked over to the Dengre, who was still holding his knees and patting his side. The massive yellow man looked down at the Gnome.

“Once we get some supplies, we’re going to head north. Do you know where your people are?”

“Mountains. Lots of snow.”

“You’ll find what's left of his kind in the Fringtel Mountains. You can’t miss them after four or five days of traveling north,” said Tenzin.

“What will you do, Tenzin?” asked Flea.

“I will say my goodbyes to Yulia and Zyla. Once young Zyla reaches level 10, they can move into my Lorien. Yulia can then watch over the area as I had. I will be heading to The Spire while I have enough Energy to teleport. Flea, when you are able to read the book I gave you, please do so immediately. I hope to meet the two of you again someday.”

“Thank you again for helping us. Once I raise my Intelligence enough, I’ll make sure to practice with the Manariken.”

“Make sure you do, Flea. It will become a powerful weapon for you.”

The old Elf walked up to Bob, picked him up, and hugged him tightly.

“Thank you again for sharing the core with me. Your act of kindness has changed The Games for both of us. You’ll see what I mean soon enough.”

The Elf sat down the slightly embarrassed Bob and was just gone in a blink of an eye. The wind picking up for just a moment was the only telltale sign of his exit.

Looking around, Flea spotted Zan and walked up to him. He removed the stone pendant Esalune had given him and handed it to the Mantaman. Upon seeing the pendant, the Tanuki began to cry.

“Esalune said you would know what this meant?”

“She won’t be returning to us anytime soon.”

“Why did she want you to have it?”

“It’s the symbol of the Bake-Danuki, our ancestors, and the leaders of our clans. By giving it to me, she wants me to continue leading our clan till she returns.”

“Oh, I see. At least once she rebirths, you can keep in contact with her. Each of you will be able to do so with the papers Bob gave you.”

“You are correct, Flea. Thank you again. I wish we could give you some type of reward for all you and Bob have done for us.”

“Don’t worry about a reward. I have a feeling the reward she gave me will come on the last Moonday next week.”

The Mantaman gave Flea a questioning look, then looked up and began howling with laughter.

“Esalune bit you?”

"Yes, yes, she did.”

“That is just like Esalune. Flea, I hope she told you how she regained the ability to shift. The Bloodline of Werewolves affects each race differently. I’m unsure how you will handle that peculiar Bloodline, as most of the Gnome race went to The Spire in the second epoch.”

“Less than a Mea week to find out. Will your clan remain here?”

“Once we know where Esalune has rebirthed, we will travel towards her.”

Flea asked Bob for his Communication Book and ripped out a page. Marking the page in his book, Flea gave the paper to Zan.

“Let me know how you guys are doing. Maybe one day we’ll cross paths again.”

Zan took the paper and placed it inside his bag.

“I, and my clan, look forward to such a day happening. Thank you again, Flea.”

Looking around at the dwindling crowd, he walked back over to Than’ro to get him up. They passed quietly through town as they headed for the north gate. Flea saw the Cobalt adventurer standing on the palisade over the exit as they approached. Passing through and out onto the main road, Flea slowed down. Looking back, he now saw Tenzin had joined her. Both seemed to be looking intently at Than’ro. She did not seem happy with whatever the old Elf was telling her. A moment later, she vanished. A second later, Tenzin followed suit. Unsure of what he just saw, Flea ran to catch up with Bob and the Dengre.

Reaching Tenzin’s Lorien, Flea had Than’ro carefully make his way inside. He asked the Dengre to sleep in the basement as it was the only room large enough to fit him comfortably. The Gnome explained to the Dengre they would be traveling north tomorrow after they went into town for supplies. In the meantime, Flea wanted him to stay near the Lorien till they got back.

“What a day, Bob. To be honest, I hope to never see this town again. Almost as much as I want to stay as far away from that mine as I can. I’m going to log off for a few hours before we start our trip North.”

“Hey, what was up with the Vampira lady?”

“I know, right. No idea, though. It seemed like Tenzin sorted it out, though. So you watched her show?”

“Yeah, it was almost as good as the one with the robots?”

“Robots?”

“Oh, I have a good show for you when we next have some downtime.”

Bob seemed delighted at the idea of bringing some new entertainment to Flea.

“Alright. By the way, what did Magnus give you?” asked Bob.

“A Golden Crystal.”

The damn cat just shrugged.

Flea left Bob in the basement and sat in one of the plush chairs on the first floor. After a brief time considering the absolute incredibility of this day, the Gnome grinned to no one in particular and then logged out.

End Vol. 2