Chapter 27 (UPDATED)

“So you fell in the Dungeon right at the start of all of this?”

They were seated within the fast food restaurant. At a booth, staring across at each other. Caleb, Chloe, and Tyler on one side. Vernon, Hudson, and a woman named Michelle on the other side. She had blonde hair tied up in a bun, and impressive muscles beneath her tanktop. Though she was yet to say a word. When Caleb scanned her, he saw she was Aether Level eleven.

“That’s right,” Caleb said. He sucked the juice off of his finger. When walking into the restaurant, he’d been dreaming of a burger to stuff his face with. It turned out, dreams do come true. Whenever the building had been picked up and tossed here by the System, it had kept all of its stock with it. Now, there wasn’t any power to turn on the griddles, but they were able to make do with some campfires and ingenuity. The result, a delicious burger, slightly burnt on one end and slightly undercooked on the other. Perfect.

“And now you would like to join Ridgeway?” Hudson continued. His elbows were on the table, hands clasped before him. Curly black hurled fell down from his face, tucked neatly behind his ears. Quite a mountain of a man, to be honest. The other two on either side of him were almost a head shorter than him even when seated. His tone wasn’t the friendliest either, but Caleb didn’t mind at the moment. The burger more than made up for his hostility.

Even when you can sustain yourself with the energy you get from killing monsters, there’s just something about chowing down on real, artery-clogging food.

Caleb’s mouth was currently full, so he let the man continue before correcting him. He had no plan to join Ridgeway.

Hudson nodded slowly. “I could permit the three of you to join, but you’d have to start at the bottom like anyone else and work your way up. That means contributing all of your current Aether Credits and fifty percent of any that you gain in the… what?”

Caleb washed his head from side to side, taking his time as chewed the large mouthful of burger. Everyone waited as he swallowed and smacked his lips. “I never said anything about joining your Faction,” he finally said, wiping the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

Hudson paused. Vernon’s head cocked to the side. Michelle’s eyes narrowed.

“No?” Hudson asked. “I was under the impression that was the entire point of you coming here.”

“Then you were mistaken,” Caleb said.

The chains around Hudson’s waist clinked together beneath the table as he shifted. Caleb just took another bite of his burger, savoring the greasy flavor. It really was good. Tyler and Chloe each had burgers of their own and were happily chowing down as well.

Hudson splayed his hands across the table. “If you’re here to strongarm us into handing over power to you–”

Caleb waved a hand in the air, cutting Hudson off. “Not at all. I have no intention of harming you or stealing from you. But I also have no intention of just giving our resources away and working for you.”

“Then what,” Hudson growled, his fingers tensing across the tabletop.

“An alliance,” Caleb said, shrugging. “Of sorts. We work together for the benefit of everyone. The three of us will use your settlement as a sort of home base, live here, work with you, maybe train you or help improve the buildings when we have the opportunity. And in return, if any assholes ever try to hurt you, I’ll kill them and bury their bodies a hundred feet in the ground.”

Caleb let slip the slightest bit of his Presence, letting it wash over everyone at the table. Make sure they got the message. Hudson paled ever so slightly, slouching back into the bench seat. The others shrank back, feeling the weight of it pressing down on them. Caleb tried his best to shield Tyler and Chloe from feeling its effects, but his control was still far from perfect.

A second later, the feeling faded.

“You guys don’t happen to have any fries, too, do you? I would love some fries right about now.”

A few minutes later, fresh cooked fries were in a basket on the table.

Hudson, Michelle, and Vernon were off in the corner, speaking in hushed tones, trying to come to a decision on what to do. To Caleb, it seemed rather obvious. Three more mouths to feed and heads to house in exchange for no one ever knocking on the gate and punching the town’s teeth in sounded like a pretty good deal.

But Hudson wasn’t as convinced. Caleb could read the man like a book. He was the big macho type. Always had to be the strongest, baddest guy in the room. Having to admit – and worse, admit publicly – that he wasn’t the strongest kid on the block bruised his ego even more than one of Caleb’s punches would. For some people, facing the music wasn’t quite so easy.

But, come on, a measly bruised ego? Caleb felt he was worth far more than that. Refusing this offer might risk insulting Caleb.

Hopefully he’d come around, or Vernon could convince him otherwise. Caleb was really starting to get antsy. It had only been about a day since exiting the Dungeon, but he already itched to get back out there and start fighting again.

“You want the last fry?” Caleb pushed the basket toward Tyler, who greedily snatched it up despite having already eaten two burgers. Good. He needed the food.

After their discussion, Hudson and the others walked back over. Vernon was smiling, but the other two didn’t look that pleased. Which probably meant things had gone the way Caleb wanted. He grinned back toward Vernon.

“So,” Caleb said. “Come to a conclusion?”

“We have.” Hudson nodded his head once, large arms crossed in front of him. “I shall permit you to live within our community. And in return, you will stay here to help build up the community, improve it, and defend it if anyone attacks.”

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It wasn’t lost on Caleb how Hudson had phrased it. Like he was doing Caleb a favor. Permitting them to stay.

“Great,” Caleb said. “Show us where we’ll be staying, then I’ll be on my way.”

“On your way? I said you would stay here. That was the deal.”

“No.” Caleb stood from his seat. His eyes hardened. He’d grown in the Dungeon and stood even height with Hudson. “The deal is this. You give us a place to stay, we keep the town safe. You don’t get a say in what any of us do otherwise, okay? I don’t plan on just sitting in town, waiting for something to attack so I can fulfill my end of the bargain.”

“Then what happens if we are attacked while you aren’t here?” Hudson took a step toward Caleb, lifting his chin and peering down his nose as if actually trying to intimidate him. It was almost laughable.

Caleb smiled. “If you need me and I’m not here, call for me.”

“With what? You got a phone that’s still working that I don’t know about?”

Chloe pulled something from her pocket and whistled, drawing everyone’s attention to her. She held one of the crystal gemstones from the Dungeon in her hand. A sapphire the size of her palm, glittering in the dim light from the torches and candles that burned inside the restaurant.