Chapter 29

“Report first, then toys and then you can grill me.”

I took control of the circus, which was unusual for me. Normally it was Heather’s show.

Miles of interlocking tunnels led either in a spiral up or a spiral down. The ants liked long linked spirals. Down was the direction needed, dead ends were the norm, rather than the exception.

The queen was the goal, and she was at the bottom, waiting. The Royal guardians weren’t a hassle, even when they were surrounded. Heather’s Rain of Fire, Kate’s steady Heals and four corners of attackers kept them at bay.

It wasn’t until the lowest floor that they faced danger. Normal ants would dig through walls, ceilings, and floors opening holes for their brothers to pour out of. Some of those spouts were even formed directly under the team. Ed disappeared at one point, yet climbed out after dealing with her ambushers.

That near-fatal ambush happened during a long confrontation between the Royal ants, a pair of Kings and our friends. During that encounter, Kate had to step forward and block the gap in their formation which Edna left with her absence.

That was when our pretty little Healer lost a foot of her hair at the shoulders. A corrosive spit from a King landed on the back of her head causing untold pain and burning away the ends of her hair.

In the White Room, Ed evened out the rest of Kate’s do, making it even shorter than hers.

We all assured Kate that her new hairdo looked cute. She didn’t buy it, even from Nat.

The hatchery held one queen and eight Kings. The eggs would hatch frequently, leaving a sticky goo residue behind, and making the footing unsure. The Kings smartly took that into consideration when they attacked. No one besides the Kings were allowed to enter the hatchery while intruders were there.

The Kings were also limited in a fashion. Once engaged in hand to hand, they no longer spat their fiery acid at their foes. The team had learned that in the previous encounters.

“The King’s spit was as strong as Heather’s Fireshot. Their forelegs were scythes. Think of them like skeleton leaders, a point or two stronger with double-thick armor and hooked greatswords,” Ed reported.

“How was the queen?”

“A school bus filled with glucose. She couldn’t even move.”

“Anyone else have anything to add?”

They all had something to say. Which was noted by my recorder and Heather’s ever-present notes.

“What goodies did you get?”

Heather brought out a silver lockbox. “None of us have any keys. Jude won the draw but we want you to keep it for now until she gets one.”

“I can do that.”

“We didn’t loot as well as we should have, but we were kind of pressed. Our longest rest period was six hours.”

“Toff got a helmet no one else wanted. Show him Toff.”

It was a black ant’s head. We all laughed.

“Don’t laugh yet. It’s DR 3.”

“OOOH!” Calls of ‘if you don’t want it’...

“I’m keeping it.” Our part-time instructor and full-time teammate smugly replied and passed around his prize for others to see. Surprisingly, the helmet didn’t restrict vision in any way while wearing it, giving us all plans for future helmets.

There were seven drops, including the helmet and excluding the silver box. One was a Brass key and another was a Brass lockbox. Koz won the lockbox. We all had a Brass Key or two. She got a Spell. Courage, self only. Casting cost: four Mana, duration 10 minutes, Recharge 30 minutes. No restrictions on learning.

She kept it, no one blamed her. It sounded interesting. The rest of the drops were typical ones.

“I received a gift. From our favorite general.” They all looked at the messenger.

I brought out the lockbox that Koz had given me that day we went out. “You have a key?”

“It’s not mine. It was part of the gift. I only get what is inside, everything other than the Jokers. Those need to be returned to the general.”

“Grr.”

“Just open it, Jason,” Nat ordered me impatiently.

The rest of us had basically taken the week off from dungeon diving. We had nothing to open.

“Two jokers. I passed them over.”

“A gem and a bone ring.”

Hmm... “I like the ring. It is protection for the hands or feet. If I wear it on a toe it protects the feet, Plus DR 1.” It went on my right ring finger.

“The other, I will save. It’s an additive. It grants 20% dark magic resistance to any one piece of armor.”

DB got slugged for wishing aloud for that item. Thrice by his wife to be.

“I might consider a decent trade from everyone other than DB, I don’t want Caitlin mad at me.”

Poor guy.

It wasn’t as good as a universal ring but still good.

“Thank the General for me, please.”

“Already did.”

We did note that this silver lockbox seemed to have less in it than the previous ones and discussed it for ten or fifteen minutes.

“Is there anything else anyone wants to share?” I threw out.

Hint, hint.

“Jude, Kate, and I all made Level 5.”

Cheering and congratulations filled DB’s great room. A few bottles of champagne were opened, and glasses were passed around. The three beer mugs with two fingers of champagne in it were priceless. DB didn’t have enough wine glasses for all of us, even though he insisted that he did

Of course, pictures were taken, and smiles were shared.

I could tell by Kate and Jude’s attitudes that there was more.

Nat grumbled good-naturedly. She wanted in on the next run, being less than five hundred experience away from Level 5 herself. Her turn to Level up would be next.

Bouncing in her chair, she about-faced. “Did something else happen? Did you get a title?” Nat bulldozed her way through the remaining conversations.

We quieted down at their, Kate and Jude’s guilty semi non-reaction. They hid it poorly, whatever it was they were hiding.

“I did,” Edna, diverted our attention to her, sparing the two teens.

“Want to share?” That was the first Heather heard of it, by her reaction. Even if she teamed with them in the last dungeon run.

“It’s grayed out. We can’t see what it does. Just what it says, and we can’t say what that is.”

“The system is not letting you? That’s a first.” Beau questioned.

“Not quite.” Two of the terrible actors looked toward me. I guessed the reason.

“I’m a Hero. ‘Earth’s First Hero’, according to my title.” I announced to the class.

“Are you shitting me?” Matt was stunned.

“That explains why you are so strong!” Enlightenment entered Austin’s eyes. If this were a cartoon, the lightbulb would be on.

“Cheating bastard.” Matt echoed Nat’s thoughts from earlier.

“That means we are in the Hero’s Party! Gravy train here we come!” Mar was all for it.

“Miss Edna, does your secret have to do with that cheater’s title?” Beau showed his wisdom. Not only Nat called me a cheater these days.

“Hero’s companion.”

“Us too.”

“And it’s grayed out, you say?”

“Yes,” Jude answered for them.

“And you got those titles after you Leveled?” Beau asked.

“We think we need to run with him again to unlock it,” Kate nodded at Jude’s guess.

“What does it do?”

“We don’t know,” Edna repeated.

The clowns took over the circus, yet again, for the next hour or so.

Not Heather, though, she wanted answers from me.

“Okay, Hero. Why did you sic the press on those pretty ladies? Toffy too.” Beau was going to get as much mileage as possible off this, when he asked the question that they all had been wanting answers to, in Heather’s stead.

“Allies,” Koz answered for me.

“We need allies. Jason was advertising for allies with his stunt. He had been complaining for ages, that we can’t get any decent people to join our team.” Francis snarked at the guys.

“I’d like to have been warned.” Heather didn’t disagree with my intent or methods, she just didn’t like me surprising her.

“What is your plan?” Ed finally spoke up. She knew my thoughts; she was just playing the straight man. Woman.

“We don’t hire out members. If someone needs help, they join us for a run or three. We help them get stronger, they give us a token gift for our tutelage and move on after some training and a few runs, with a good view of us.”

“We Power-Level a person here and there and they say good things about us? That’s your genius plan?” Austin wasn’t buying it.

“People can get injured. I hate to say it. But with our small numbers, even one person missing time hurts us. Look at Beau.” I said.

“Slacker.” Francis and Beau had been getting along pretty well lately and Francis was willing to take potshots at the guys.

Nat jumped in. “So what? You want to borrow from other teams if one of us gets injured?”

“No, he doesn’t.” Heather’s slow-paced words rang out, while she thought about the implications.

“If we develop a tradition of letting people join our teams for a run or two, we won’t have to ask for bodies. They will come knocking.”

“What happens if one of us wants to join a different team?” Kate scratched the record with that question.

“Then Beau will be sad. Look at that face. We don’t want it sad, do we?” Mar tried adding levity to a not-so-pleasant question.

“Kate, if anyone wants to leave, they can at any time. We are a group of friends. We will not be the only friends that you make in your lifetime.” I, along with everyone else, faced the young teenaged girl when I responded.

“You for one, Francis for another will get offered large sums of cash. Maybe even a Skill or two thrown at them to go work for someone else.” Heather spoke up. “Right now, we are all risking our lives for adventure. You have to ask yourself if the payout that your new employer offers is worth risking your life for, and if you even want to continue dungeon crawling with us or anyone.”

“And are your new teammates good enough to support you and not let you die if they run away? That is if you decide to continue adventuring. Will they take you with them or throw you behind them if you are slower or injured?” Francis added, not the most pleased with the young lady across from him.

“Mercenaries work for money. Some will throw you to the wolves if they can get benefits.” Koz added in, with a dagger twist at her own profession.

“I was just asking,” Kate shrunk in her seat.

“Did someone talk to you offering a lot of money Kate?” I asked very gently.

“Kinda.”

“What is a lot?” DB asked.

“Five million dollars a year.” He nodded at her sum. Five million was a lot.

“Five million. You are eighteen. That is a great deal of money. The next question is what will they expect? Will they demand some of your silver? Some of the magic you find? Keys? Will you have to Power Level his friends? Other hirelings? Will you be forced to relocate? Management, team environment, personnel, and expectations are all part of getting yourself traded or looking for a new contract.

“We are not a football team, but owners, coaches, GM’s, players, unions and cities all matter when you sign a multiyear contract. The same applies to Portal teams,” DB continued.

“Right now, you are Level 5. You are higher than anyone he can hire to his side, probably by two Levels or more. You are higher Leveled than most everyone in the world outside of the dedicated special forces teams internationally. Jason gave you a high-Level Skill. Gave you. Do you expect your employer to give you bonuses? Are they written in the contract? Do you have representation? Will your old team welcome you back with open arms?” DB questioned.

“Yes.” “Of course.” “Without question.” A few of us interrupted DB’s monologue.

“What happens if you come in conflict with Jason’s team while on your new one? Look around you. I’m the last person to say never switch teams. I did that three times in five years. Some were better than others, some weren’t. I had friends on all of those teams.”

“I like this team. Maybe you have a conflict with someone here. If it can’t be resolved, then have your agent, not you, go look for a better team.”

“Solid words,” Austin noted and continued in his friend’s stead.

“Katie.” Austin began, “whoever you have a conflict with, talk to them. If it is just about the money, then look long term, not just short term. You might make five mil for five years under one guy, but another will offer four for two years and then you are a free agent again, your price will skyrocket if you continue like you have been. Guaranteed contracts. Signing bonuses. Second contracts, after the first ones expire, are ended are where the real money lies. A long-term contract might not be in your best interest. A short term, lower-paying one might be better. It might not.”

Mar spoke up, “Lousy teams suck.” Nods all around from the five. He knew about bad teams. Tampa Bay, his old team, had sucked for decades.

“What happens if your new team are all Level 2s? You will get mired down in their suckiness. Imagine having to fight giant spiders or ants for the next six months.”

“Girl, if you want to quit, sit back and get paid. Go for it. Fleece those asses,” Caitlin gave a not-so-surprising opinion.

Kate the whole while, was hunched into herself.

“We would love to have you stay. I want you to stay. But we want you to be happy,” I added. “All of us will support any decision you make. If you want a lawyer, talk to DB, he probably knows some great ones. Koz, over there, can get you on the best teams in the world, but those teams are in the military. Though your pay will not be high, you will be able to pick and choose who you team up with.”

Too much too soon, Kate ran out of the room, followed quickly by Nat and Jude. The rest of us stayed put.

I shook my head at their withheld questions.

Nat came back in five minutes, borrowed Mat’s keys and the three of them left.

“What was that about?” Mar asked.

“Kate is in love with Jason.” Koz unhelpfully filled in the blanks for the clueless.

“But, Ed. Oh. I need a beer. Anyone else want one while I am up?” Marshawn wisely shut up.

“She is eighteen; five million and no college ball. How many of us would have said no to that?”

“I didn’t make a million the first year,” Matt volunteered. “Including bonuses.”

I received a look that it was all my fault and we would be discussing this at length, by a certain redheaded woman.

“Natasha, let’s go for a ride.” Ed led the other woman out of the room, hopefully to rescue Kate from whatever her friends planned.

I wasn’t sure who was the most surprised when Ed stole Koz to chase after the girls. I voted for me.

“Jason, keys.” I separated the ring which held the condo keys and tossed them to her.

“Can’t you keep it in your pants?” Beau demanded, but not seriously.

“Now it’s my fault?”

“Dude, how did you not know?” Austin heckled Mar when he returned with beers.

Kate had not been subtle in her hard-core crush on me.

Matt received a call a few minutes later, checked an app on his phone, gave my cross streets, and hung up.

“You know, it’s not just love. Kate ... well, all three of those girls believe he is their Sir Lancelot. He took them in, fed and clothed them. Jason is their Hero. Kate most of all.” Toff spoke for the first time since the Kate debacle began.

“You have all heard the story by now. They found him and begged him for help. He did help those girls, saving them from certain death. And who knows how many times they would have died without Jason with them? We have all been with Jason on a run. He attracts danger. But he is worth ten men. To a teenaged girl, he is Superman.”

Toff’s assessment subdued all of us.

“And you don’t help your lot at all by leading that girl on,” the oldest of our team admonished me.

“My first and only girlfriend in college was for three months during rehab. It was my PT. I’ve had two since then, neither lasted a month.”

“And she got burnt. Happens.” Toff meant Kate.

“Let’s hope your Edna can talk her down. God knows those two twits will only make things worse.” I hoped he meant Jude and Nat by ‘twits’. Sometimes, Toff was hard to read.

Caitlin, noticeably, just watched us at DB’s side.

They had questions about me being a Hero. I did my best to answer them.

We broke up at ten, I texted Koz, who told me to sleep somewhere else. Beau offered me a bed.

We were up until two talking, mostly about his past girlfriends and their expectations.

...

I headed home after breakfast, arriving at 8:30. Ed’s car was in my spot, so I parked in the visitors’ section.

I had to get buzzed in. Ed had my condo keys, which I didn’t even understand why she needed them. I knew that she had a set of my keys on her key fob.

My girlfriend was wearing one of my button-down shirts, tents on her, and Koz my Northwestern jersey, an even bigger tent. At least my shirts were fitted. Both women wore their shorts from last night, almost unnecessary considering the length of my shirts on them.

Those were the only two bodies moving around. Handing me a Coke, Edna ordered me to sit.

“Crisis averted for now.”

“For now? What set that off, or do I already know?” I asked.

“Kate’s title was not the same as Jude’s.” Ed said.

“Oh?”

“It took Nat to beat it out of her,” Ed announced flatly.

“Beat?”

“Oh yes. Kate was bruised. Nat wasn’t gentle.” Natasha shook her head at their brutality. I had seen them be physically aggressive with each other, but with just light kicks and smacks, nothing too bad. They could get quite harsh vocally with each other, as only the best of friends could, and still be that close.

“What is it?” I inquired.

“Hero’s Saintess.”

“I don’t get it. How was that bad?”

Koz replied, “Jude is Hero’s Companion.”

“Okay?” I was still in the dark.”

“Edna isn’t either of those.” Koz again.

“I’ll bite, what is your title?” I asked Ed.

“Hero’s Chosen.” Ed answered.

“And Kate knows this?”

“I can see their Hero-related titles. I can see your Hero title too. They can see mine and each other’s.” Ed again.

“I can’t see yours.”

“Probably because they are grayed out.” Koz noted.

“What about her stalker?”

“Trent Green. She admitted to receiving a call from him.”

“And?”

“Your tickets. She can make just as much from those as he can offer, with no strings attached. You don’t come with strings. All she has to do is put up with not being first in your life.”

“That can’t be all it took.” Money wasn’t the reason she was leaving her two best friends behind.

“Jason, she learned the Spell. She learned the Spell that YOU gave her, that is when her title changed.”

“What did it change from?” I asked.

“She says she doesn’t know. I think she does.”

“I agree with Natasha. She knows.”

“Let’s not press that too much. She changed classes?”

“Apprentice Saint.”

“So it’s not the Saint or the current title that upset her, but the unknown one before that?”

“We think so.” Natasha considered, “Kate isn’t telling anyone. Unless Natalie or Jude got it out of her last night. We will probably never know.”

“What reason did she give for staying? That might be important.”

“She doesn’t need a reason to stay, just one to run away.” Koz opined.

“Jason, Kate isn’t going anywhere as long as you treat her well.”

Those two thought too much alike.

“What do you recommend that I do?” I asked.

“Fuck her silly,” prompted Natasha.

Giving Koz a patient look, Ed spoke her thoughts on the subject, “Take Kate out on a date. Shower her with attention and treat her right.”

“And then fuck her silly,” Natasha said again.

“Natasha.” She earned a moue of disappointment from Ed.

“Me too. But I can wait for Kate to settle down. But that girl needs you inside and by her side.”

Ed and I both rolled our eyes. We were keeping our voices down as not to wake anyone.

“You can wait until winter.” Ed wasn’t pleased with Koz’s joke / non-joke. There was an interplay between those two that I wasn’t catching. Or hoped that I wasn’t catching.

“Hey us spies need loving too.” Their whispered bickering let me know that Kate’s leaving concern was really settled. At least for now, according to both of them.

I entered into Kate and Natalie’s room. Nat had not spent much time sleeping in there since hooking up with Mat. Kate had moved to the lower bunk after her ‘abandonment’. Curled up in a ball, she hugged what looked to be one of my pillows, given the color of the pillow case on it. My sheets were a light gray, hers a pale teal.

“Hi.” Two tired eyes watched me sit on her bed by her knees.

“Hi.”

“I heard that the big evil guy tried to tempt my favorite Saintess away, to play for the bad guy team.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m glad you are staying. I like having you around.”

“You have Edna, why would you want me?”

“Don’t forget Koz chomping at my heels.”

“She is a slut.”

“I’m not sure about that.”

“You would think that.”

“Kate, do you honestly believe that Natasha would befriend me if she didn’t like me, let alone date or anything else?”

“No.” She did not like admitting that.

“I heard she saved you quite a few times in ant hell.”

Natasha stood directly behind Kate in their last run and was tasked to keep an eye on Kate, as her primary obligation.

“...”

“I’m supposed to go to see my new house in a little bit. Bruce has a few questions for me. Do you want to come along in an hour?”

“Just me?”

“If you want. What about Nat and Jude? Do you want to ask them?”

“That isn’t very nice.”

“What isn’t?”

“I see what you are doing. Might as well invite everyone.”

“I asked Ed about her stylist yesterday. She got you an appointment for tomorrow. Let’s make a day of it. You can invite anyone you want or not invite.”

“Just the four of us. No one else.”

“You hold the invite card. I heard you got a new Class. Congrats Apprentice Saintess.”

“I’m your Saintess. Just like you wanted.”

“What about you? Did you not want to be a Saintess?”

She didn’t answer. She might have not wanted that title, but she wanted the Skillset.

“I just want you to be happy. I told you that beforehand.”

“I know.”

“I heard that Nat was mean to you last night.”

“She was fine. I needed a wake-up.”

“Then make sure you tell her. She is listening above us.”

“I know. We were talking when you came home this morning.”

“I need a shower and a change of clothes.”

“And a shave,” Nat called from above to prove that she was more than just listening in on our conversation.

“And a shave,” I agreed. I would agree to anything as long as Kate stayed and was happy. “Are you coming?”

“Thanks, Jason.” Kate responded with that very strange response. A response laced with too many teenaged emotions for me to understand or comprehend her true intent.

...

Kate sat in front with me, with Koz and Ed in back on the way to my new house. Both Jude and Nat declined. They went straight to UE for their usual training, and to give Kate time with me and, I suspected, those two sitting behind me. What went on the minds of women these days just baffled me.