Fell Champions

Sami flicked the blood off her blade in one quick swing, a skill she’d perfected in previous video games, and was pleasantly surprised to see carried over to the real life physics of Fell Champions. She kept the emotion off her face. She had no desire to make others think she enjoyed what she’d just done, even if she had. 

The corpse of the orc was dissipating to a black mist that tapered off into a rainbow hue, evaporating before her eyes. She sheathed her sword as she watched it go. In a way, it looked very beautiful. From darkness into light. Poetic, if she were the type to appreciate poetry. 

When the orc had finally completely vanished, all that was left was her second sword, pinned to the ground, and a soul crystal. 

It was tempting to just pick it up, but it felt like a trap. She looked to Holt, and he had a neutral expression. A carefully crafted blank one, as if he were hiding something, and didn’t want to let her know.

“May I?” she asked.

The facade broke, and he smiled. “Of course, of course. So polite. I always liked that about you, Ms. Yamamoto.”

It had been a test of some kind, she was certain. And she didn’t know if she’d passed or failed. She hesitated, but masked it by retrieving her sword first. The blood had disappeared with the orc, but even so, she gave it a sharp swing before sheathing it, as if to flick off blood. It gave her the second she needed to think.

She picked up the crystal, and gave Holt a small bow. The smallest of bows. Enough to acknowledge respect, without acknowledging he had any power over her. 

She deposited the crystal into a small pouch containing what little money she’d looted off various slavers and bandits. 

“Not going to use it now?” Holt asked.

“No. Why would I? You hinted that there are other uses for soul crystals.”

“I did, didn’t I? Well, good of you to save up. Most people would just gobble it down. Do remember it’s unattuned, though. Others might try to take it from you.”

Sami shrugged, and gave a pointed look to her audience. “Thieves have a habit of losing their hands around me.”

Holt laughed a mirthless sound. “That they do. Good times. Now, what do you want for your reward?”

“Reward?”

“I did say there would be possible rewards for coming to my little tutorial. You volunteered for one of my demonstrations, ergo, reward.”

Well, that was interesting. There were a lot of things she could use. Better gear, for one. More travel supplies. A reliable way of getting water, outside of a glyph stone that was supposed to find it and just ultimately didn’t really work because she was in a desert. 

But all those problems could be solved if she could just get out of the Salass Wastes. She had to be careful. She couldn’t just ask to be transported to the Silayan Islands. For one, she needed to bring Everett with her. She couldn’t just abandon him. And secondly, she wasn’t sure she trusted Holt to transport her to the same island as Rua and Otter, or even somewhere remotely safe.

No, better to make her own way. But he could help facilitate it.

“I need transport. Something to get me and my associate out of the Salass Wastes and across the sea, preferably.”

Holt blinked, as if he hadn’t been expecting that. “Easily done. I can arrange a sand skimmer, convertible into a wave finder, with an instruction manual. Nothing too fancy. Enough room for a small party. No defenses, but enough space to add some in the future, should you wish. You can go play pirate, if you want.”

“I’d rather just unite my clan,” Sami said, then pulled a pouch that had been tied to her belt. It clinked, the ten soul crystals she’d saved up clattering against each other inside. “Speaking of, the Community tab in your menu says you can form a clan for a price, but has no way to actually turn it in. I imagine I have to handle it through you?”

Holt sighed. “Bother. I hadn’t expected anyone to actually save up enough for that already. Of course you did. Bet you just couldn’t wait to get a whole new poly family together again, could you?”

“What I do with my clan is entirely up to me. So, can I form one?”

“I suppose. You’ll need to deal with Castille. I suppose I should introduce you.”

He turned away from her, and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, a woman in a tailored military suit reminiscent of a modernized Napoleonic uniform. Her red hair was tied back into a ponytail, and she had a pair of glasses balanced on the edge of her nose, not quite framing her eyes correctly. She held a tablet in one hand, and stood to attention.

There was no fanfare to her arrival. No flash of light or sound to mark her arrival. Just not there one moment, and then there the next. 

She looked around, addressing the crowd rather than Sami in a thick French accent. “My name is Castille Arsenault. I have been appointed by Ingram Holt to serve as a go-between to work with and help facilitate the clan system in Fell Champions. All communication and requests for assistance with clan-related matters will go through me. Any other requests will be ignored. Any attempt to interfere with my station or… troll will be punished. Unlike Mister Holt, I have little patience for unruly children.”

Sami stepped towards her. “Then can we–”

“You will find me on the Online list going forward,” Castille said, completely ignoring her. “From there, you will be able to contact me. I want to reiterate. Any and all messages to me will be concerning clan matters, and nothing more. Any attempt to socialize, ingratiate yourselves towards me, requests for help, or prying for information concerning my employer or Fell Champions will result in an immediate block, and will be denied access to any further clan functions going forward. If anyone attempts to sexually harass me, I will just teleport to your location, and relieve you of your soul crystal then and there, bypassing your appearance in the arena and any subsequent chance to come back into the game.”

Well, that was useful information. A killed player that lost their soul crystal wouldn’t get a second chance. 

Finally, Castille looked to Sami, and held out one hand. “Your soul crystals please, Ms. Yamamoto.”

Sami handed the bag over, and Castille very deliberately opened the bag and counted out the crystals inside, even inspecting two of them in the sunlight, presumably to authenticate them. It felt a little insulting, but Sami held her tongue. 

“Everything appears to be in order,” Castille said. She held up the pouch, and it vanished, and then began to tap away at her tablet. “For a level one clan, you will have a limit of five members. You will have access to the clan tab going forward. Invitations and clan settings will be handled there. Should you need to level up your clan again, just message me. I will reply at my earliest convenience.”

Sami nearly asked what this woman could possibly be doing with her busy schedule to not be able to respond to a message right away, but kept it to herself. Something told her Castille was good on her threats.

“Will you be naming your clan after your old Gallant Stand II one? ‘Pledge’, I believe it was called?”

“No,” Sami said. “I… I won’t be the leader this time, I’m afraid. I don’t trust myself in the role any longer, and the leader should decide on the name.”

Castille nodded. “I will put you in the leadership position, but it is transferable via the menu. The name ‘Pledge’ will be used as a placeholder, but will be able to be changed when you sort out your leadership problem. I assume you will be foolishly be putting GrandTheftOtter in charge, given the state of your guilty conscience.”

So, Holt had shared her history with this woman? And presumably to any other potential minions he had waiting in the wings. That, more than anything, pissed Sami off. 

“Am I needed for anything else?” Sami said icily. 

“No, the transaction is done. The next level up will unlock further benefits. It will cost twenty-five soul crystals. Be sure not to contact me again until then.”

She didn’t look up from her tablet the entire time. She made a shooing gesture with her hand, and suddenly Sami found herself back in the stands. Otter was sprawled out on a bench, Rua on top of her, the two of them busy kissing and groping at one another. The area was once again surrounded by one of those black domes Rua summoned, her so-called Truthshield ability.

“Really?” Sami said with an arched eyebrow.

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