Nick and the team made it back to the dining room without an issue, though the pace wasn’t very fast. Nick was still incredibly banged up, his own skill and Betts’ healing had got him moving but he certainly wasn’t in anything close to a decent shape. The group all got in line for some food and when it was finally their turn at the counter Nick realised they were all a bit hesitant to order.

“I’ve got the pills guys, I really owe you one for literally saving life you know. Go ham.” Nick said with a smile.

Hardy was the first to throw caution to the wind, he ordered three separate meals with glee. That broke the dam and eventually everyone caved in and got some, the women got two meals each and Frank got a whopping four. Nick wasn’t too surprised though, Frank was an absolutely giant human being, he had no doubt the man needed all the food. The bill racked up to over 40 pills and Nick could understand why the group was so happy with a free meal. It wasn’t an enormous amount compared to what he could earn, he’d earnt like 200 from the one room he’d cleared today, but it was still a hefty sum. Nick didn’t mind footing the bill one bit though. The team had saved his life and they all seemed like pretty cool people, Nick wasn’t going to be a cheapskate in a situation like this.

The group found a table and started chowing down, everyone went quiet and just enjoyed their food. Nick found it funny how happy each of them looked while they were eating, they were savouring each bite. Hardy looked like he was ready to cry tears of joy with each mouthful. Eventually Nick couldn’t hold it in and began to laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Hardy sounded mock defensive.

“The food can’t be that good, surely?” Nick said with a laugh.

“Our rations from the Parklands ran out a couple days back, we’ve been having to eat the garbage from the ovens since. This stuff is certainly that good.” Hardy replied with enough certainty in his voice that Nick began to doubt himself.

“The food from the ovens surely isn’t that bad? I don’t think so at least.”

“You’ve only been here for what, a month? You’ve got no idea lad. The hotel food is terrible, you can taste the taint in it. Disgusting stuff really.” Frank said with a sigh.

“It’s only been a week.” Nick said with a laugh. “I didn’t realise the food was that bad.”

“Only a week? And you’ve got this much loot? Damn, maybe I should have gone Explorer.” Kitty said in disbelief.

Betts smacked the women over the back of the head.

“You’ve heard the stories, you don’t want that. No offence Nick.” Betts said with a slight smile.

“None taken, I didn’t choose to take the class. Though I am curious, what stories are told?”

“You didn’t choose the class?” Kitty said, rubbing the back of her head and glaring at Betts.

“Yeah, you hear about Tony? The dude that ran the 72nd floor? He forced me to take the class on my first day here.”

Hardy whistled. “What an asshole. Not cool at all. What happened to that guy when Bethany took the floor?”

“He ran off with a bunch of kids hostage. My brother being one of them.” Nick said with a sigh.

“Jesus, that’s horrible. I’m sure something nasty will come of him. Tony, not your brother I mean.” Betts said, wincing at her own wording.

“Yeah, me too.” Nick replied softly.

The atmosphere around the group went quiet.

“So, wanna hear those stories about Explorers?” Hardy chimed up.

Nick smiled. “Sure, they can’t be that bad right?”

They certainly were that bad. Each member of the group knew plenty of horror stories about Explorers. It seemed like the class was one of the boogeymen that mothers told their kids about back in the Parklands. Explorers were the class used to teach kids about the dangers of picking the wrong class and having to deal with the consequences. Stories about lovely people taking the class then turning into insane hoarders who would trade their families for a single extra piece of gear, or other fable-like stories were the most common type. The stories that interested Nick the most were the ones about the Executioner’s Treasure Hogs.

The Treasure Hogs were the Exes dedicated squad of Explorers. The stories about them were wild. They were led by a man named Kimaris, who was apparently the highest level Explorer in the complex. There were stories about the Treasure Hogs being single handedly responsible for every bit of wealth and loot the Exes had. That was the fun side of the stories. The darker side of the stories were told in hushed tones. Stories of insane greed and avarice, of people being killed over the smallest scrapes of loot. Of mad men and women who scoured the land for the slightest sign of treasure, and were ready to spill any amount of blood for it. Needless to say, these stories terrified Nick.

“If you want to meet them, all you’ve got to do is ask. They’re certainly not that bad, I assure you.” A familiar feminine voice interrupted Hardy telling a particularly gruesome story.

Nick turned and saw Paige standing next to him. A look of terror spread across Hardy’s face.

“Oh hey Paige, I was looki-”

“I’m sorry for what my teammate said. He meant nothing by it, harmless kids tales is all.” Frank interrupted Nick, much to his confusion.

Paige smiled at the man, showing all of her teeth. It was the first time Nick noticed, but she had fangs. Actual fangs. Frank certainly noticed and Nick saw he began sweating buckets. What the hell was going on here? This woman who was barely five foot three, in her heeled boots, was making a musclebound six foot five man sweat buckets. It was almost comical, if Nick couldn’t see the genuine fear in the eyes of the team around him.

“Harmless kids tales they are. I’m sure you’ll be much more careful about your choice of words in the future hmm? The Executioners don’t need people disparaging their good name.” Paige said, a sharp glint in her eyes.

“Of course not.” Frank said, gulping. “Thank you for your understanding.”

“So, you were saying something Nick?” Paige turned to him with a smile.

Nick was a bit shocked. “I uh, yeah I was looking for you. I want to have a private chat at some point.”

“Oh?” Paige raised her eyebrows. “You want some private time with little ol’ me?”

Nick couldn’t help but blush, for some reason sometimes he felt like a small boy in front of this woman.

“N-Not like that. I just wanna talk.”

“Isn’t that how it always starts?” Paige said with a giggle.

Nick’s head span and he was flustered. What the hell was going on? Why did Nick feel like a schoolboy unable to probably get a grasp of the situation. He took a deep breath and shook his head, focusing on the energy inside him. He cleared his mind and looked at the woman before him.

“I’ve got some questions about your involvement with the invasion. My brother has been kidnapped and is currently being held hostage down on the 64th floor. I thought we had something of a friendship building and I can’t help but feel a little betrayed here.” Nick spoke clearly, holding steady eye contact with the strange woman before him.

Paige’s face finally became serious. “Certainly some business better held in private then. Well, I can find a room for us at any point.” She then grinned. “For just talking of course.”

Nick just shook his head. Paige was a very strange woman and Nick didn’t know how to deal with her at all.

“Sure.” Nick checked his watch. “How about an hour from now? Meet me in the kitchen?”

“Oh I do love a man who’s assertive.” She said with a giggle. “That works for me. See you then.”

With a wink she turned and walked away. Nick dropped his head into his hands and sighed. He wanted to be serious and get some answers from the woman and she’d just flustered him with a line of conversation he hadn’t expected in the slightest.

“Jesus she’s a scary bitch she is.” Hardy whispered.

“Shut it dickhead.” Betts smacked him across the back of the head. “You could have gotten us killed!”

Nick’s head sprang up. “Killed? Paige isn’t that bad.”

Though Nick realised he didn’t actually know the woman that well. She seemed pretty chill about killing the female bandit he’d brought back.

“You have absolutely no clue who that woman is, do you?” Frank asked him.

“I’ve been hanging out with her for the last few days, she seems alright, certainly a bit strange.” Nick said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Nick wasn’t even sure if he believed what he’d just said. He certainly had his doubts about the woman.

“Well, Paige there works directly for Paimon, one of her highest officers in fact.” Frank explained.

While those words meant literally nothing to Nick, it certainly got a reaction from the rest of the group. Wide eyes and slight gasps all round.

“And uh, who’s Paimon?” Nick asked.

This earned a long sigh from Frank. “She’s one of the Councillors of the Executioners Nick.” Frank noticed Nick’s raised eyebrow and continued. “Bloody Latecomers. The Executioners are run by a Council of seven. Each one has a different specialisation and are likely the strongest representatives of their chosen field in the Complex. They aren’t people you want to be noticed by, for good or bad reasons. Though if you’re buddy buddy with Paige, I have no doubt Paimon knows all there is to know about you. Good luck with that lad.”

Well, that was certainly a lot of information for Nick to process. The woman he’d been hanging out with lately worked for one of the strongest people in the strongest faction in the Complex. That, and she’d actively been trying to recruit Nick. He wondered if Rina had similar connections. Nick was pretty happy with all the information though, he finally had a bit better understanding of one of the factions now. Every bit of information he gained was a win for him. Knowledge is power as they say, and in this case Nick was a megalomaniac.

The group chatted for a bit but there was a lingering bit of tension in the air. Eventually Nick decided to bite the bullet and head back to his room. It was time to face the music and talk to his family. At least for a bit before he could use the very timely excuse of his meeting with Paige. See, Nick could plan things out when it actually mattered. Everyone thanked Nick for the food when he got up to leave, that’s when Nick asked if he could potentially run with them at some point over the next few days. He found out that they were staying on the floor for about a week in total, with a few days left before they went back to the Parklands for a while.

No one in the group had any objections to him tagging along for a while so they all decided to meet up the next morning for a bit of roaming. Nick was keen to work with the group, they seemed like a really friendly bunch and it would likely be Nick’s chance to work with a real team for the first time. He would also get the chance to use his skills to help get a bit more loot than they were probably used to, which would be a sweet way for him to pay them back for saving his life and all.

Nick then made his way through the kitchen and towards the rooms. He paused out of the front of his room for a bit before finally walking through the door. His family and Maddy were sitting around a table playing some card game; they all looked up at him as he walked back through the door.

“It’s not even been two hours and you’re worse looking than I’ve ever seen you. Christ Nick.” Lily was the one to break the silence.

“Yeah, it’s been uh, really rough couple of hours for me. Ran into a few more problems than I expected. I lived though!” Nick said with a chuckle.

Henry got up and dragged his son into a fierce hug. Nick winced and couldn’t help but let out a slight whimper of pain.

“Back to our old tricks Nicky?” The man said with a sigh.

“Stress always has brought out the worst in me.” Nick replied softly.

Henry then pulled away from him and looked him out and down, realising that his own clothes were now caked in dried blood.

“Okay, you never came home this bad. What the hell happened to you?”

Nick gave out an awkward cough.

“I uh, overextended myself in a challenge room with wave after wave of increasingly challenging monsters.”

“Well that was silly.” Lily interjected.

“Oh it gets worse. I got pretty badly injured in there and could barely walk back. So, of course that’s when I encountered an unfriendly group of folks who wanted my gear.”

“I can’t help but notice that you still have all of your gear Nick.” Maddy pointed out.

“Yeahhhhhh.” Nick awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

“You beat an entire group while injured?” Lily asked.

“Not at all. I got the better of one of them with a surprise attack. The other four weren’t as easy. They got me pretty good and were beating me to death when an actually friendly group rocked up.”

“Wow. That was lucky.” Lily said.

“Yeah sadly it’s a temperamental skill at best.” Nick said with a smile.