The Last Experience Point

Chapter 209: Parting Gifts



Zach tried really hard not to laugh. And he almost succeeded, too. He came so close. He even held it in at first, which caused his cheeks to puff up, but all that did was make it burst out of him along with a whoosh of air, which led to him laughing even harder. As a result, not even the overall loudness of the bowling alley could cancel out the sound of it.

It's not my fault, he thought. That was just too unexpected and surprising!

It was all because of the way Tyson had behaved just mere seconds ago. Zach, who had been hurrying over in the event of some kind of confrontation, managed to arrive just after Vim Alazar, Abram Gespon, Mr. Oren, and a bunch of other political guild members surrounded him where he was bowling beside Jimmy.

"So, I've finally found you," Abram had said, his tone neither heated nor soft. "You've been missing for a while. And yet here you are."

Tyson, only moments from throwing a ball down the lane, stopped what he was doing, turned around, and responded to the man—as well as the others—in a way that caught Zach so completely off guard that he was now entering a laughing fit.

Tyson, with his nostrils flaring, set the ball down, folded his arms, and angrily shouted, "What in the name of the Gods are all you…you political-guild riffraff doing in a dungeon? This dungeon is for adventurers only! Since when do we let filthy politicians come in here? Sir Donovan! We have intruders!"

The fact that he himself was still technically the guild leader of what was currently among the most powerful guilds on Galterra, combined with the fact that he was a brand-new adventurer, all hit Zach at once, and now, they were turning and glaring at him as he bent over, his mouth open from laughing so hard. This caused Jimmy to start laughing as well, and then so too did Donovan, who had only just hurried over to see what the commotion was.

"All right, settle down, Tyson," Donovan said, laughing heartily. "Let's keep our shit-talking behind their backs like we always do."

"Absolutely not! They're in our dungeon. No political guild members allowed! Out! Now!"

"T-Tyson, stop," Zach said, bordering on chortling.

"Yeah, chill," Jimmy said, barely getting the words out. "You way too amped up right now."

Donovan, putting himself in front of Tyson, looked down at Abram, who was nearly a foot shorter than the GSG leader. "Everything all right, Abe?"

"Everything's fine, Donovan," he replied, his expression completely calm and neutral. Zach had a hard time imagining the man wasn't vengefully angry on the inside, however. He already hated Donovan to begin with for damaging his office, and now Donovan was refusing to show him the respect of using his title. "I just wish to speak with my guild-leader."

"He ain't your guild-leader anymore," Donovan said immediately. "Not sure if you heard yet, but Tyson belongs to the Explorers Brigade now."

"Oh, that's fine," the well-dressed, de facto leader of the People of Virtue said. "I don't have any problem with that."

"You…don't?" Donovan asked, seemingly taken by surprise. Zach was also mystified by the man's reply. Yet his intentions soon came to light as he explained himself.

"Not at all. There's no conflict of interest. Adventuring guilds are not 'real' guilds. They're just very lively clubs. They hold no weight on the world stage, and if Tyson wishes to join such a club, I don't have any problem with him taking up a hobby. After all, I was the one who sent him to Sir Calador in the hope he would join your little entourage. No, that's not an issue to me."

His eyes narrowed, and a much more serious look came upon his face as he continued speaking. "What I do have a problem with is the complete and total disappearance of Tyson from the world stage. I still expect him to show his face at least once a month. He is the leader of our guild, after all."

At this, Donovan caressed the battle-axe sheathed by his side. "You might think we're stupid when you talk down to us, but we're not, Abe. I know as soon as you get this guy alone, you're gonna kill him."

Abram opened his mouth, likely to refute the accusation, but Mr. Oren extended his palm and interjected. Even as he spoke, Donovan began glaring at him. At the same time, Zephyr and numerous other adventurers were hurrying over.

"Donovan, that's not at all what we intend. In the interest of fostering trust, I won't deny that…that things were complicated at an earlier point in time, but going forward, I can assure you that Sir Gespon the Virtuous hasn't the slightest desire to harm his nephew."

"That's right," Abram said, nodding. "In fact, as I hear it, the man actually has some real talent. Supposedly, he's become indispensable to you—to the extent he can accomplish things that were previously thought impossible, correct? In fact, from the things I have heard, our guild-leader has talents so vast that he has the ability to gain items worth hundreds of millions of gold, if not more."

Donovan frowned. "So that's what's going on here."

Abram's business-like smile filled his face, though the seriousness in his eyes did not even slightly lessen. "I just want to ensure my guild-leader is not being exploited." He made a dramatic gesture of giving Tyson a look-over. "Indeed, I see our guild-leader is now wearing an entirely new set of armor, one that is doubtless many times more powerful than anything most of our members have even seen before. I'm guessing he's already begun to accumulate wealth and powerful items. Yes?"

Abram began rubbing his chin. "But this confuses me," he continued, "because I'm unaware of any of it being shared with his guildmates. I'd hate to think that our guild-leader is hoarding treasure and keeping it all for himself."

Donovan's frown deepened. "So, this is another one of your shakedowns, huh?"

"I hardly consider it a 'shakedown' when the adventuring community is benefiting off the labor of the People of Virtue. And yet, we are virtuous, so all I'm asking you for, Donovan, is half."

"Like hell!" Donovan exclaimed—and so too did Vim Alazar.

"Are you nuts?" Vim asked. "If anyone's getting half, it's the Royal Roses. You sold him to us, remember?"

"I did not. I gave him to Zachys Calador on a temporary basis."

"That's not what you told me at the time," Vim growled. "You told me you couldn't stand the sight of him anymore and wanted to dump him off on Zach."

"And you told me that Zachys Calador would never take him."

"Okay, so? He did. What's your Gods-be-damned point?"

"My point is that nothing was ever exchanged for Tyson. And I never explicitly said he's yours. It was always understood I'd be wanting him back at some point."

"Okay, well, he wouldn't even be useful to anyone if not for the Royal Roses, so you can fuck off, Abram. I'm not putting up with this shit. Tyson belongs to the Royal Roses."

Tyson cleared his throat. "That is false. My loyalty is to Sir Zachys Calador."

"Okay, and Zach belongs to the Royal Roses, wise-guy, so shut the fuck up." Vim pointed at Abram. "You heard him."

Now, Donovan once more got involved, and Zach could tell from his face that he was becoming heated and annoyed. "Listen up, jackasses. You're all in a dungeon right now. Like Tyson said, this is our house. And in here, you don't march around making threats or demands. Now look. If it keeps things smooth, I don't mind putting aside a few gold from each boss we kill just to keep you off our asses, but fifty percent? You're outta your mind."

Zach, sensing things were cooling down a bit, decided not to intervene, as he knew this would likely be where the negotiation phase would begin. He'd seen these little interactions enough times now to know that, despite all their bluster and tough talk, everyone here had already accepted that some kind of deal would have to be reached, and Abram was likely smart enough to know that 50% was never going to happen.

He's starting high, Zach realized. Common negotiating tactic.

At any rate, since things looked like they were going to follow their typical course, Zach decided to let everything play out as it currently was. Or…or at least that was his initial instinct. But then Tyson, doing something that shocked Zach and likely every single other person watching, made an aggressive lunge forward out of nowhere and shoved Abram with both his hands, causing the man to stumble backwards, trip over a bowling ball, and fall right onto his back.

"Tyson!" Mr. Oren yelled at him. "What are you—"

And then he drew his sword. "Get out of my dungeon!" he yelled. "I'm giving you nothing!"

Did he seriously have to grow a pair of balls now of all times? Zach thought. What the hell did they do to him that he gained all this courage in like, a single day?

Of course, bravery and foolishness could often be tied together, and that was clearly the case right now. Zach, dashing forward, grabbed Tyson's wrist as he raised his sword as though to strike. "Knock it off," he said.

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"B-but Sir Calador, they're being—"

"Seriously, stop."

"Yeah, ease off," Donovan grunted. His face had become expressionless, but Zach thought he could just see a hint of worry hiding behind the man's tough exterior. "You probably just cost us a shit ton of gold."

And indeed, as Abram Gespon climbed back up to his feet, he did not look angered in the slightest. If anything, he looked pleased. "Assaulting a high-ranking member of a guild?" he asked. "Adventurers, that is not acceptable conduct: on Galterra or anywhere in this universe. There needs to be some kind of compensation for that."

Donovan gritted his teeth. And Zephyr, stepping in, asked, "How can you claim he's a member of your guild and then claim his actions represent adventurers?"

Tyson, who was squirming and struggling in Zach's grip, shouted, "Give them nothing! Abram, I'm done being abused! I'm not giving you a Gods-be-damned—"

"Everyone stop fighting right now," a voice said, causing Tyson's words to fall off, heads to turn, and Zach to release his grip on the man's wrist as Olandrin, flanked by nearly a hundred Elves, came ambling over. "This dungeon does not allow PVP. There's literally a prison in the basement that locks people up depending on how serious a breach of the rules." He extended his arm and pointed, and Zach looked in the direction he was indicating.

He gasped as he saw a bunch of NPCs with red names all cluttered together near the entrance to the bowling alley. Each had levels in the hundreds, and a few in the thousands. "I stopped them from aggroing. They would've knocked several of you unconscious and then imprisoned you. Of course, there are ways of getting out of prison early by solving various puzzles, but that's beside the point. What's going on here?"

Tyson glared at Abram even as he replied. "I'll tell you what's going on here! My uncle wanted to have me killed because I refused to spy on Queen Vayra for him."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Queen Vayra asked, stepping forward. There was anger in her eyes, and much of it popped up on the faces of many of the Elves. Abram's lips peeled back, and his guise of being calm and unruffled became broken.

"Shut your mouth, Tyson!"

"No!" He looked back and forth between Zach and Fylwen. "That's the real reason why he wanted me dead, by the way. I have the evidence on my phone, too! And if he doesn't leave me be, I'll show it to everyone."

Abram scowled. "You're making a big mistake."

"No, you are," he insisted. "I am not your guild-leader. I am not your guild-member, either. Not anymore. I am now a member of Zephyr Vextran's Explorers Brigade, and you can fuck off with the rest of the political guilds! I want nothing to do with you. And you'll get nothing from me!"

Aside from Donovan and Zephyr, who had just enough sense to know how dangerous Tyson's words were, the rest of the adventurers began wildly applauding and cheering. Zach, clueless as to what he should do, again decided it wasn't the best idea to get involved. Though that didn't stop people on both sides from looking to him as if to rebuke the other.

I can't be seen taking sides here, Zach thought.

He wasn't sure how he would avoid doing so, however, because Tyson, it seemed, wanted to continue escalating. He began taunting Abram, using various insults against him. Then he started asking Zach to help "teach the political guild assholes" a lesson; this, as Donovan and Zephyr struggled to calm the rowdy adventurers down. As a result, several of the political guild members who'd just made friends with adventurers over a few games of bowling were now backing away from what they clearly viewed as potential enemies.

"I'm not your doormat, Abram!" he cried. "You've hit me so many times. You've talked down to me. I'm not worthless like you said!"

"Tyson, dude, chill," Jimmy said again. But he was clearly being ignored. Tyson appeared to be ignoring all of them. Zach feared he would have to get directly involved, and that would cause so many complications for him.

Thankfully, there did appear to be one person here who could break through to him.

"I'm never going to do what you tell me to do! I'm not giving you a single gold of my—"

"Everything okay here?" Jascaila asked, strolling over.

Tyson's words cut off in a croak, his mouth snapped shut, his eyes turned to his left, and his face filled with such a shade of red that it nearly matched his hair. As Jascaila came closer, he nervously averted his gaze, seeming willing to look everywhere except directly at her. Whatever bravado he'd been displaying, it turned to pure shyness in her presence.

"Hey," she said to him. "What's wrong? You remember me, right? We met on Elendroth."

Tyson opened his mouth, but only strange murmurs escaped his lips. Also, a bit of nonsensical sounds such as "dahh" and "ahh." But he seemed to snap out of it, for a few seconds later, he nodded and said, "Y-yes, of course I remember you, Lady Jascaila Iseldar."

She laughed. "That's the first time anyone's ever called me that."

He bowed to her. "Everything is fine here. There are no issues."

With that, he marched away, and things likely calmed down after that. Zach didn't know, because he was too busy following Tyson. "Wait up," he said as the man left the bowling alley, stormed his way outside into the sun, where he traveled up three flights of stairs, moved beyond the karaoke room, and seemed to be heading to the card tables. Finally, however, he stopped short, and he did so with an abruptness that almost caused Zach to walk into him.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?"

Tyson exhaled. "I had to get out of there. My heart is beating so fast. She spoke to me, Zach! She spoke to me!"

"Who did?"

"Jascaila."

"So? That's what she does for a living. She speaks to people."

Tyson placed his hand over his heart. "Have you ever seen someone so lovely? So caring? Ahh! Jascaila is incredible. I lament that I will likely not have the chance to properly make her acquaintance for a very long time."

Zach chuckled at the first part of what he'd said, then scratched his head at the second. "Why not? All you have to do is talk to her."

"I won't be around, Zach."

"Huh? Why not?"

Tyson gave him a strange, concerned look. "Have you hit your head, Zach?"

"Nope."

"Well, you know that we're all going to Albion-4 very soon. There's no telling how long we'll be gone for."

At this, a jolt shot straight through Zach. "Whoah, whoah, hold up, Tyson. What do you mean by we?"

"Oh. Sorry. Yeah, by we I meant myself and the others. I'm aware you might have to catch up afterwards."

Zach firmly shook his head. "No, that's not what I mean at all. I mean…why are you talking like you're going with the others?"

"Because I am."

"Hell no you're not."

Tyson recoiled slightly. "Why would you say that? Of course I am."

Zach was so taken aback that he needed several seconds before he could order his thoughts enough to form words. He couldn't believe this was the same Tyson Revel speaking to him. The one who begged and pleaded to be left out of any situation that was even slightly dangerous.

"What happened to you in just one day?" Zach asked.

"I saw my potential. Now I want to see how far I can go with it."

"That's awesome, Tyson. I mean that. It really is. But you're not ready to go on an expedition like this. And I'm the one who got you involved in the adventuring world. So I don't…I don't feel okay letting you go. Did you even clear this with the others?"

"Of course," he said. "Donovan, Zephyr, and Jimmy are all very happy to have me come along."

"Yeah, but…" Zach again shook his head. "You're not ready."

"I am!"

"No, you're not. Gods, Tyson. You're going to die over there. And I won't be around to make sure that doesn't happen."

"If you had seen me today, you might change your mind."

Zach began pacing back and forth in front of where Tyson was standing, becoming frustrated and worried all at the same time. He stopped, however, as a thought came to him. "How's all that new gear you got?"

"The…the stuff from Grandest Library?"

"Yeah, can I see it?"

Tyson shrugged and began pulling up the list of equipment he was currently wearing. Despite dropping from high-level bosses, most of it was really quite bad. And since Tyson was his responsibility, Zach felt wrong letting him run off so ill-prepared.

"Okay, here's what we'll do. I'm going to loan you—keyword loan you—all the stuff I'm wearing now. It's in my Bank and Storage. I'll give it to you. My equipment is extremely powerful, and it's got a hell of a lot of sentimental value, so don't you dare lose it or break it or I'll never forgive you. I want everything I'm giving you back."

Tyson's face lit up. "I get to wear the armor of Sir Calador! Are you even aware of how iconic your look has become?"

Zach was, in fact, well aware. He'd been using the Archian Prime gear for so long now that people were starting to invent costumes of it. It was actually kind of embarrassing. Some people would put on makeup to try to make their face more menacing as like an imitation of the cloak's effect. The all-black equipment had, in some ways, come to define Zach. But that had never been by his doing.

At any rate, this was the only way Zach could send Tyson off with a clear conscience, and even then, he had many reservations about someone who, until yesterday, had been so timid and easily frightened. But fine. If he was truly sure he wanted to go, then Zach would make sure he went powerfully and in style.

To that end, he called upon Bank and Storage and spent the next few minutes giving Tyson all of the equipment he usually wore, keeping only his Sword of Light Amidst Darkness, as that meant way too much to him to even consider trusting in the hands of anyone else.

"Thank you for this, Sir Calador."

"Wow, you look badass," Zach said with a laugh. "Is that what I look like when I wear it?"

"Yes!"

Tyson was now clad in all black gear with a hooded cloak that concealed all of his face save for his eyes, which now had an evil, sinister glow. Zach, on the other hand, was wearing some guild attire crap that had negligible stat increases and was clearly more for ceremony and appearance than for any practical use in combat. But that was fine, as the OMP was no longer after Jimmy, the various regions weren't at war, and he didn't anticipate encountering any kind of danger over the near term.

"I'll catch up to you guys as soon as I can," Zach said. "But I'm serious. I want all that back as soon as I do."

"Understood, Sir Calador," he said. And damn. His words, though spoken in his usual, passive tone, seemed to have a great deal more weight when he wore the Archian Prime equipment. Zach was going to miss intimidating people with it, though that was kind of a dickish thing to think, wasn't it?

Definitely is, he thought, stifling a laugh.

With that out of the way, Zach returned to the others. Soon, he would be shipping off across the world with Kalana, while Jimmy, Donovan, and Zephyr would be entering into an unknown world where no one had ever before set foot.

Something tickled the back of Zach's mind. Something he couldn't explain. He felt like this was a turning point of sorts, though he didn't know why.

Hopefully, he'd have time to have one more session with Jascaila before leaving.

I'm putting all my trust in you, Jimmy. Make sure everybody gets through alive.

********

Every day.

Monday.

Tuesday.

Didn't matter.

Every day, he slammed his head against the wall. He didn't die. Couldn't die. Never died. Slam, slam, slam. He was desperate so desperate but nothing ever happened.

Hatred. He hated everything. Hated existing. Hated being trapped. Hated everyone. Hated himself.

Thousands of years.

So much time.

Enough time to try every means of escape. Couldn't get out of the item shop.

He'd tried every means of suicide. Couldn't die out of the item shop.

He'd tried to rip through the walls, but the barrier was too strong. He'd destroyed the place over and over, but it just reset every week.

He could speak, but he'd never before spoken, as he had no one to speak with. Why could he think? Why could he speak? Why did he exist? All he did was break and destroy his prison, but it always repaired itself. And even if he found a way to reduce his own HP to 0, he just respawned a few minutes later. He wanted to stop existing. He wanted to no longer be.

But he couldn't. Every day. Thousands of years. Torture, torture, TORTURE!

Existence was the greatest curse. Nothing should exist. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

Haha. Nothing. Haha. Nothing. Haha. Nothing. Nothing. Haha.

He wanted to kill.

"Welcome to Landy's item shop," he said, banging his head on the wall over and over and over. "Welcome to Landy's item shop. Welcome to Landy's item shop. Welcome to Landy's item shop."

Nothing ever changed.

It was just this.

Forever.

…what was that? Did someone…

Did someone just open the gate?


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