Chapter 431: The First Wave'd

“What terms are there to be discussed?” Vil asked. “I want to live, but if you think that I’m going to let you turned me into an indentured servant—”

“Nothing like that was ever on the cards,” Alex said. Then he snuck a glance at Claire. It hadn’t been in his cards. He was pretty sure that hadn’t been in hers either, but he’d never learned the full extent of exactly how things went back on Ayrin.

Fortunately, he was spared that particularly uncomfortable conversation topic when Claire shook her head firmly.

“We don’t need servants. We need warriors. People who can provide something useful to our town and get the same out of it. None of us are going to ask you to throw your life away — but we need to know that you’re worth letting past our walls.”

“What do you need?” Vil asked, looking up to her, eyes narrow and lips pressed thin. “There are no questions as to my allegiance. That much I can promise. I have no ties left. They’ve all been severed. If you give me a place where I can recover and grow stronger, then you’ll have no trouble from me.”

“There’s a bit more to it than that,” Alex said.

“We need to know that you aren’t going to be a problem for the rest of our town,” Claire said. Her words were measured and her features were completely unreadable. “That doesn’t just mean you not having a grudge against us. It means you aren’t going to go out of the way to screw our people over in your pursuit of strength.”

“The only people I have any malice toward in my heart are the ones that sent me here in the first place,” Vil said. She straightened her back slightly, letting her gaze move from Alex’s to Claire’s. The only thing within it was cold determination. “I’m not going to lash out against your town if you let me stay in it. I’m not an idiot. There’s nothing to be gained from that. I’m sure the Outworlders would love to do to you what they did to me — but I’ll be damned if they do that through me. I’ll never help those bastards.”

The vitriol in her voice wasn’t something that seemed like it could have been easily faked. It definitely seemed real enough to Alex. He snuck a glance at Claire. Unfortunately, it was still completely impossible to tell what it was she was thinking.

“We can accept that,” Claire said after a long pause. “So long as you don’t make any sudden movements, you can stand up. We don’t want you kneeling forever.”

Vil smiled. She rose to her feet, brushing the dust off her knees. The woman was a little shorter than Alex had expected, standing a few inches lower than him, but that did nothing to reduce the freezing anger emanating out from her. He could practically taste it in the air.

“Were the people in the other giants really complete strangers?” Alex asked. “You didn’t know them?”

“Not at all,” Vil replied. “The System just outfitted them in my armor and popped them in. They were probably other poor fools who got sent… wherever this hellscape is.”

“Your armor?” Claire asked. “How does that work? I’d like to know more about your magic.”

“I’m a Deadwood Priestess,” Vil said with no small amount of pride. “It was a real pain in the ass to get this class. It’s a Legacy reward. You ever play any RPG games? It’s something between a necromancer and a druid, I think.”

Alex blinked. Somehow, Vil hadn’t struck him as the dungeons and dragons type. Maybe it was the murderous intent radiating from her. She felt more like a soldier than she did anyone her age. Then again, the System had forced a great deal of change for all those who had survived it.

“So you can transform?” Alex asked.

“I can transform other things,” Vil said. “Dead trees, mostly. I have a real black thumb.”

Orchid is going to hate her. Mite, on the other hand, is probably going to be quite the fan.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“And the armor? You made it?” Claire asked.

Vil nodded. “Yes. I always keep a few pieces of equipment on me, in case things go south. The System pulled them out of my ring and plopped them onto those extra guys that got tossed in with my wave. I have no idea why. It’s a bit of a pain in the ass.”

Alex nodded slowly.

“It was making the Trial a bit harder, I guess,” Alex said.

Not that it succeeded. Then again, this was only the first of many.

“A bit harder,” Vil repeated. Annoyance flashed across her features. “You aren’t even going to try to pretend that I put up a good fight? Do you have any idea how hard it was to make these Wood Golems?”

“Probably pretty hard,” Alex said. “But, no. I don’t really see a reason to lie. You were the final opponent in the first of our Trials. I don’t think it was meant to be hard. I guess the System just wants to see how we’ll handle it.”

“That’s it?” Vil asked. Her eye twitched and her jaw clenched. “I was reduced to… an easy trial? That’s it?”

“The System is an asshole,” Alex said. “I’d apologize, but it wasn’t our fault. And I don’t think you can complain too much right now either. It seems like landing here was the best thing that possibly could have happened to you. I’d rather be trapped in a hellscape with a bunch of people that have no feelings toward me one way or another than living in a paradise with traitors.”

Vil studied him for a second.

Then, slowly, she nodded.

“That’s true enough,” she said. “You make a compelling argument. Not that I had much other choice. But a compelling one all the same. So what now?”

“We figure out exactly what it is you can offer us,” Claire said. “Can you make more of these giants? They would be far more effective if controlled by competent warriors.”

Vil waggled her hand in the air. “That’s where the necromancy bit comes in. I need materials. Good ones. Preferably soil where a hell of a lot of things have died as well. Have to grow some plants there and then kill them. If I have that, as well as enough energy sources to create the giants, then I can make more.”

“I think we’ve got the land in droves,” Alex said with a dry laugh. “The rest of it will be a bit harder… but I don’t think it’s going to be too hard to get more suitable energy sources.”

“Why is that?” Vil asked, tilting her head to the side. Interest flashed though her features. “You guys have some fancy setup in your town? I assume you must, right? There has to be a reason I got dropped off here.”

“We’re in a Trial,” Claire said. “The whole town is, and everyone gets rewarded based on how well we deal with the waves of attackers that the System will periodically send in our direction.”

“And I was…”

“The first,” Alex said.

Vil grimaced. “Ouch.”

Claire shrugged. “At least it means you haven’t missed the rest. We’re rewarding everyone in Mirrorwane for their performance in each wave. You’ll have a lot of opportunities to get a hold of that strength you’ve been chasing if you join up with us.”

“You don’t have to try to sell me more,” Vil said. She rubbed her hands together. “I’ve already said that I’m sold. I’m no pushover. You two might have had an easy time of things, but I had a bunch of brainless idiots controlling my other golems. And then there was this… haze.”

“Haze?” Claire’s eyes narrowed. “What haze?”

“Like I’d just woken up,” Vil said. She shook her head. “I kind of found myself fighting before I’d even finished processing what was happening. I can’t say more than that. But if you want more proof as to my abilities, I think the System sent me bearing gifts.”

“That isn’t particularly reassuring,” Alex said. He drew on his magic, just in case. “What exactly do you mean by that?”

“This golem,” Vil said. “It’s got a massive energy core in its chest. Rigged to explode if I die. I figure it would do a hell of a lot of damage.”

“How do you know?” Claire asked.

“Because I put it there,” Vil replied with a smirk. “Just in case. I wouldn’t want to go down without one final middle finger to whatever asshole killed me. Besides, I didn’t trust that someone wouldn’t steal it if I left it back at my town. Looks like my instincts were right. Either way, if you’ve got land where I can grow a new army, you can figure out how to remove the core and use it however you want. I’m not planning on keeping any of these golems.”

“Why?” Claire asked suspiciously. “They seem like a considerable amount of your power. What benefit do you get from destroying them?”

“My creations don’t last long.” Vil shrugged. “A few days at most. I wanted to hold onto the core for my town. But I don’t have one anymore, so it’s nothing but a bomb waiting to go off. It’ll be better left with you guys. Consider it the price of my entry and you treating me like one of your own. That seems fair, yeah?”

Alex and Claire exchanged a glance.

Mite was definitely going to be over the moon about this.

As one, they nodded.

“I think that’s fair,” Alex said.

“As do I. We can accept those terms, as it doesn’t seem like you were ever a true enemy in the first place,” Claire said. She put a hand on Vil’s shoulder. Then her eyes sharped. “Make sure it stays that way.”

“It will,” Vil said. She extended her hand.

Alex took it.

A ripple passed through the air to warp it like a heat haze. Golden letters cut through the air above Alex.

[Trial: Heavy is the Crown (1/???)]

Objective Completed. Rewards Earned.

A grin split across Alex’s lips.

They’d officially defeated the first wave.