Inexorable Chaos: God Games

Glancing at the slowly regenerating nub that is my hand and then staring at the defeated boss, I can't help but feel that I wouldn't be able to defeat it on my own. Hell, if the golem wasn't injured already, my team would run out of stamina before we took down enough eyes to combo our attacks.

I hate to say it, but I'm lucky there was another group to weaken it. Speaking of which…

I turn my head to the three remaining survivors. Two men and a woman. All human. They huddle together, wary and vigilant of mine and my team's actions.

Focusing on them a bit more, their jobs pop up in my vision.

Considering their job levels, their classes are probably in the expert realm. Which means that even if they're tired and exhausted, they are still a major threat.

I shift my attention to my team.

"Boriss, search the golem for a key. Auranta, help him. Yuto, let's go speak with the survivors." I order in my deepest voice.

"Yes, comrade."

"I will assist."

When the [Samurai] approaches me, I take the opportunity to transform into a cat. I then hop up on his shoulder.

"Be ready to react in case they're hostile."

Yuto nods.

We approach the three humans. As we do, I notice that they aren't just exhausted. One of the men is leaning on his right foot while the other has a bloody gash on his arm. Only the woman looks unharmed, though she is a decent bit pale. No doubt because she is most likely out of mana.

"So, who here is the champion?" I ask once Yuto is three meters away.

All eyes turn to a mangled corpse on their left. The woman raises her arm and points. "That's him."

The leaning man growls. He pulls down her arm. "Ayda, don't give away information. We don't know who they are."

"We're not in a position to keep secrets, Vulen!" She argues back. "You can barely stand, I'm out of mana, and Flinar looks ready to pass out."

She turns her head back to me. "We'll comply with any of your demands so long as you spare us."

I nod slowly. "Drop your weapons."

The woman throws her staff to the side while Flinar unlatches his axe on his hip and allows it to drop to the ground. Vulen frowns for a moment before throwing his spear away.

"Good choice." I say. I hop off Yutos' shoulder. "Lay your friend down. He'll die without medical attention."

Ayda complies and helps Flinar lay down. The man groans from the movement.

"Remove his shirt so I can see the wound."

Ayda struggles, but manages to reveal the wound on the man's side.

What I see is a nasty gash, but not so deep as to have damaged the organs. He's bleeding, but not the heavy bleeding you'd expect from a damaged artery.

"Can you heal him?" Ayda asks.

"Nope, but I can make sure he survives long enough to get him proper help."

Stepping closer, I lay my tail on the wound "Make sure he doesn't thrash too much," I order.

Taking a breath, I call up my mana and form runes on my tail. My tail is set on fire, surprising the woman. As I adjust to the heat, I increase the temperature until the wound starts sizzling. I keep my burning tail on the wound until it is thoroughly cauterized.

I remove my tail. "Your friend's good with pain. He didn't thrash at all."

"He passed out," The [Mage] says. "Thank you for helping him."

"Why are you helping us?" Vulen asks.

"Vulen!" Ayda yells.

"It's fine and a good question. If I was any other champion, you three would be dead."

Vulen raises an eyebrow. "So you're different?"

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"Of course," I flick my tail, raise my head, and puff my coat. "I am superior to the other champions in looks, capability, and most importantly…" I grin at the three. "Fluffiness!"

I hear Yuto snort while Vulen and Ayda stare dumbfounded, clearly incapable of comprehending the greatness before them.

"Comrade Fluffy, Is key, yes?"

Boriss arrives with a piece of metal in the shape of a key. The key is exactly the same as the keys from the previous.

"Yup. Go open the tower and then start looting everything."

"Do you wish me to assist?" Auranta lands next to the Russian.

"Auranta, Is that actually you?" Ayda asks aloud, eyes bulging.

Auranta nods to the human mage. "Ayda Keakrana, it has been awhile."

"You know her?" I ask.

"I do. She is a senior from the mage academy that tutored me." Auranta stares at the insignia on Ayda's robes. "For a [Fire Mage] of your standing, I wasn't expecting you to become a [Mercenary]."

Ayda sighs. "Says the wind specialist." She grimaces. "It was this or the military, and you know how I hate being bogged down."

Auranta looks down. "I can somewhat relate. Regardless, Quasi is a kind [Captain]. As long as you cause us no problems, then you and your friends will be unharmed."

"[Captain]" Ayda blinks at me. "You're a [Captain]?"

"I am." I turn to Auranta. "Since you know each other, I'm going to leave you to keep an eye on them. Boriss, Yuto, the loot is calling."

__________________________________________________________________

As the three leave, Vulen allows himself to relax. He leans down and takes a seat, grimacing at the pain in his leg. He can feel a lot of broken bones, though he should be thankful there isn't bleeding like with Flinar.

"Last I heard of you, you became a professor at the academy. How did you wind up working under a [Captain]?" Aylin asks.

"I-" Auranta pauses. "-was tasked with researching the towers after reports of the barriers being breached. That's when I bumped into Quasi and offered my services. How about you, why'd you end up working for a champion?"

Aylin forces a chuckle. "I joined the Boulderglades because they paid the best and the [Guild Leader] was competent. I served under him for a year until recently." She glances at a wolven corpse being stripped by the human named Boriss. "The champion showed up. The [Guild Leader] made him into a [Mercenary Captain] and had us join under his command."

Auranta taps her staff softly. "Is this the first tower?"

"Second. He led us into the tower on Magnis, but we were forced to retreat immediately."

"Retreat? Why?"

Aylin grimaces. "Because everything is underwater. It would cost a literal fortune to outfit everyone for underwater combat."

"That's why you came here." Auranta concludes

"It was." Aylin frowns. "The [Guild Leader] isn't going to be happy to know Yutani is dead."

"Fuck him," Vulen curses. The man leans forward a little. "He put us under a greenhorn that's not even an expert. He should have called a retreat as soon as we lost members instead of pushing forward." Vulen shakes his head. "I'm quitting the guild as soon as I'm out of here. I recommend you do the same, otherwise you're going to end up dead."

The human [Mage] grimaces. She can understand Vulens anger, even agrees with it, but leaving a guild involves breaking her current contract, which means she couldn't join another guild for at least a year. She'd be jobless… unless.

"Auranta… would your [Captain] be interested in employing a [Fire Mage]?"

_______________________________________________________________________

From just a glance, the weapons wielded by expert leveled fighters are clearly of superior quality. Unfortunately, it seems that epic level equipment is harder to obtain than expected. None of the loot exceeds ten runes.

After a good hour, all of the loot is collected, sorted, and packed into bags. Once that most important bit is done, I work with Boriss to create a makeshift stretcher. We then put Flinar on the stretcher and then have Yuto and Boriss carry him into the tower while Aylin helps Vulen limp. All under the watchful eye of Auranta and myself.

"So Aylin, why'd your [Guild Leader] fund going into the tower?" I ask as we make our way to the stairs.

She looks around curiously, then frowns at the question.

"Yutani promised him treasure- well, the possibility of it. In exchange, Mercer is willing to fund this expedition."

"Failed expedition," Vulen adds.

"Then he's going to be severely disappointed." I comment.

Vulen chuckles. "There is no treasure, is there?"

"There is, but only for the champion. Your [Guild leader] was going to be disappointed regardless."

We reach the stairs and begin traveling down.

"I don't suppose you'd tell me what Yutani would have gained from this?" Vulen asks.

"A skill." I answer honestly.

"What skill?"

"Don't know yet, but I'm hoping it's useful."

We reach the bottom to find the usual crystal ball. Within the ball is a card with a picture of a golem dripping magma.

Hopping off Aurantas shoulder, I shift into my Fenrimorph form. I approach the ball and lay my hand on it. The glass breaks as is usual.

"Lower Finar to the ground." I order.

They comply. Once the man is lowered, I reach down and touch the card.