Chapter 23

  As promised, I finished my coffee and croissant in silence. Once I’d wiped the crumbs clean from my chin, and with the final, lingering hints of pumpkin on my tongue, I looked around the tent. It was extremely obvious it was a shop. There were various shelves filled with items, or, at least, pictures of items, with crystals underneath them, no doubt the actual items themselves. Behind one of the counters, an extremely elaborate coffee machine rested. Behind another, an oven and a few random, large glowing crystals that I was more than a little interested in.

  I stood and wandered around the shop, glancing at the entrance for a sign of Guy. He’d closed the tent flap when he left though, and from the sliver of opening that remained, I couldn’t make out any sign of the colorful man. After a few more awkward minutes of wandering, my eyes skimming but not taking in what they saw, as questions swam through my mind, my patience waned. Sure, I’d had my coffee, so I was in a much better mood than before, but that didn’t mean I had the patience of a saint. Also, I wondered if he legitimately thought it took me this long to eat a croissant and drink a cup of coffee. Either way, it was time to get the strange man back into the tent, so I could ask him some questions, do so potential shopping or trades, and continue on my journey to Silver Springs.

  Or so I thought.

  Voices reached my ears as I neared the tent flap. A set of hushed, angry voices, talking quickly. And then, Guy’s voice. Muffled as it was by the tent flap, I couldn’t quite make out what he was saying. But it sounded like he was arguing with the people.

  I opened the flap, curiosity getting the better of me.

  “I’m sorry,” Guy was saying, “the shop is currently closed.” He had his back to me, and was talking to two individuals. It was immediately evident both belonged to the same organization. A guy and a girl, dressed nearly identical, with sleek black pants, almost like jeans, silver belts, and a dark purple shirt that had a swirling pattern on the front that looked like one of those Rorschach ink-blot tests… though they were identical. The patterns, like the belts, were silver. Making them all the more striking against the rich, violet that was almost black.

  Atop their heads, both wore silver circlets, that held a gem, possibly an amethyst, maybe a sapphire by the color, which dangled gently on their foreheads.

  “If you’re closed,” the guy said, motioning with a gauntlet behind Guy, directly towards me, “then why did she just walk out of your tent?”

  I swallowed hard, realizing I may have messed something up. My eyes found the ground, and for a moment, I couldn’t help but admire the boots the two individuals were wearing. They looked like a pair of Docs I’d had when I was younger. Comfortable, fashionable, and well, badass.

  “Whelp, guess the Crysta-cat’s out of the bag,” Guy said, letting out a heavy sigh, “can’t fault a Guy for trying.”

  The girl scoffed, tossing her raven dark hair over one of her shoulders, her icy blue eyes looking down at Guy.

  “You should know better than to try and pull one over on us,” she said, tone arrogant, “you have your protections, but if you get in our way directly, you know even your little deal won’t keep you safe.”

  Guy held up his hands, palms outwards towards the girl, who looked like she had to be in her 20s, no older. “I’m just a simple Traveling Guy,” he said with a chuckle, “I’d never dream of getting in the way of the Disciples.”

  She jerked her chin upwards, all pride and disdain. “See to it that you don’t then.”

  The guy, whose hair was a mousy brown, and shaggy in a way that I couldn’t help but think was cute, looked me up and down, a smile on his face. “Any chance I can tell you about the Almighty Grand Nox?” He said, running his right hand through his hair as his smile grew, “perhaps over a drink?”

  “Aaron.” The girl said, elbowing him in the gut, “focus.”

  “What Em?” He countered, feigning injury, “I’m doing the job, same as you.”

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  I noticed neither of them had full gauntlets. Each had three Mun Crystals around their wrists, and neither had any augmenting stones on their knuckles, nor an Ampllifier.

  “Take this seriously,” the girl, Em, which was obviously short for something, said. “We’ve been given an extremely important task. And if we want to move up, you know we need to take it seriously.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I’m doing,” the guy, Aaron, countered. “Recruiting. We need to recruit 10 new members, in order to move up in the organization. The cutie over there, can be the first.”

  Okay, he was cute, and I didn’t mind the fact he called me cute, but he was now giving off fuck boy energy, and I didn’t feel like dealing with that. And the girl, well, she just seemed like a self-centered bitch. Like, head cheerleader, going to peak in high school, kind of vibes. I didn’t want to deal with them, at all. Especially not considering they were part of the very cult I was doing my best to avoid interacting with at all.

  “I’m not really the kool-aid drinking sort,” I said, ignoring the looks of confusion on their faces. Of course they wouldn’t get what I was saying. “So thanks and all… but, uh,” I looked at Guy, who also wore a confused look, “thanks for breakfast, but I figure I should get going now? Don’t want to overstay my welcome.”

  “If you would like,” Guy offered me a smile, “I’ll happily travel with you back to Silver Springs. Or, at least, part of the way.”

  “That’s not really needed,” I started, “and didn’t you just come from that way?”

  “I did,” he said, before he glanced back at the two cult members, “but I think I forgot something there. Need to check with the Traveling Guy network to double check.” He looked back at me, and I saw in his eyes he wanted me to drop the subject, and agree with him. Sure, he hadn’t poisoned me, and he seemed friendly enough, albeit strange. I didn’t really have a reason to say no, and if I had to guess, he was planning to pass along whatever this was, to the rest of his network.

  “Whatever floats your boat,” I said with a shrug.

  “Not so fast,” Em said, her tone implying she did not appreciate us ignoring her and her companion. “What makes you think we’ll just let you leave now?”

  “Uh,” I looked around, “it’s a free world right? And your buddy there—”

  “— Aaron,” he interjected with a smile,

  “—your buddy there,” I continued, watching his smile falter, “said you were recruiting people. So, yeah. I’m not in the getting recruited mood. So, uh, I’ll be off, and stop wasting your time?”

  Something about Em changed then. She got a sick, sinister smile on her face, as she took me in fully for a moment.

  “You’re not from around here,” she said, her eyes lighting up. Guy literally facepalmed. “Oh, this is going to be fun,” she looked at her companion, and the two shared some sort of unspoken agreement. “Tell you what,” she pointed at me with her gauntleted hand, “we’ll let you go on your way, assuming, that is, you are able to make it past the two of us.”

  I took a step forward, laughing, as I looked from those two, to Guy. “Are you two doing what I think you’re doing?” I looked at Guy, “are we about to have a Mun battle?”

  “We are,” Em said, like a cat circling its prey, “and when you lose, we’ll drag you back to our branch leader. There are bounties out for travelers after all. And I am pretty sure bringing you back will immediately get the two of us moved to the next tier in the organization.” She licked her lips, “I can already taste the promotion.”

  “The two of you, versus the two of us?” I motioned at Guy with my thumb, “pretty sure he could take the two of you by himself. But hey, it’s your funeral. Let’s get this over with.”

  Only then, did I noticed the look of sorrow on Guy’s face. He’d been trying to signal for me to stop talking, and I hadn’t caught on to his message. At my words, a prompt appeared in my vision. The smiles on the two cultists faces, told me I’d just done exactly what they wanted.

  Tamer’s Battle Initiated

  Taylor Versus Ember and Aaron

  Beginning battle in 10s.

  “Wait,” I looked at Guy, “why aren’t you a part of this.”

  “Traveling Guy’s can’t take part in Tamer battles,” he said with a heavy sigh, “save for with Keepers to advance the Tiers of our Gauntlets. Our Muns are only to keep us safe on our travels.”

  “So,” I looked at the other two, horror dawning on me. “I’ve got to take them both on, by myself?”

  “I’m afraid so,” Guy said sadly, “it was nice knowing you.”

  A moment later, as the timer hit 0, a bright light flashed outwards from all three of our gauntlets. One moment, I was standing in front of Guy’s tent. The next, I was in a small, coliseum like building, complete with seating all around, staring down Em, well, Ember, and Aaron. A single spectator appeared in one of the seats. Guy.

  “Prepare yourself,” Em said, as she pointed her gauntlet towards the ground. Aaron did the same, “to face the might of the Disciples of Grand Nox.”

  Without much choice, I pointed my own gauntlet towards the ground. And, without any other options, summoned two Muns, the maximum of what the system seemed to be allowing me to do for the moment.

  “Whatever,” I grumbled. “Let’s just get this over with.” I had no idea what was about to happen, but I was in a bad mood again. This was not how my day was supposed to start. Was today a Monday? Because it really felt like it was a Monday right about now.