(TPOR) Chapter 118: No And Yes (Patreon)

Zed woke up with the taste of iron in his mouth and the feel of iron on his back. He wondered what he could possibly have done to have someone place something so cold and uncomfortable on his back.

He paused as he wriggled his back. At first the motion had been involuntary, then it had been intentional. Something about the result told him that he was wrong somewhere.

Oh, he realized, it’s not on me, I’m on it. Color me corrected.

The room around him was dark as he allowed himself remain on the uncomfortable platform because he refused to call it a bed. He reached for his face with tired hands and rubbed it as one would when trying to shake off drowsiness. He was tired, much like someone who had slept too long but not enough. His arms were weak and his body was in no mood to comply with anything too tasking.

It took him a moment to finally open his eyes. When he did, he was met with a ceiling of bright white. There was no source of light above him from what he could see, yet the ceiling shone bright with the color. It didn’t take him long to realize the white was all around him. He was still staring at it when a notification came up.

· You have gained -2 [Wil].

He stared at it for a while as memories came back to him. He remembered Abed’s betrayal. Although, he wasn’t sure he could really call it a betrayal. The man had never been on his side in the beginning. If anything, he was certain that Abed had seen himself as the one who had been betrayed.

He remembered his conscious decision to fight Abed when the mage had all but thrown him aside like a rag doll with the single swing of his sword. Memories continued to pool in his mind as he remembered Ash and Chris’ fight to stay alive as they fought Abed. His conscious decision to trigger [Bloodwrath] came last and he fought back a sigh.

He stared at the notification again. As the notifications had warned him, the skill had come at a price.

“Two points in Wil,” he muttered to himself. “Also, how many times do I have to tell you that a negative is not a gain. No one gains minus two.”

“Depends on which math professor you’re talking to.”

Zed moved at the sound of the voice. His motion was quick and, if he was being honest with himself, a bit too fast for him. His body, in its haste, met the edge of whatever he was lying on and he almost stumbled off whatever it was. He caught himself at the last moment and his hand touched on something strong and firm. It was a handle, and a notification popped up in front of him.

· Would you like to equip [Titan’s Axe]?

Zed consented almost immediately. The notification dissolved with his consent and he felt his body flood with new strength. He felt stronger, more powerful. He felt ready.

· You have equipped [Titan’s Axe].

· You have gained +15 [Strength].

Penalty detected:

· Weapon [Titan’s Axe] is a Rukh rank item.

· You do not meet the requirements to use this item effectively.

· Penalties have been applied.

· You have gained -2 [Speed]

· You have gained -2 [Agility].

Zed ignored the penalties. He was sacrificing four points for fifteen. It might seem like a loss, but the extra gains were not the reason he had been quick to consent. He had seen the word ‘axe’ and the familiarity of it was more than enough for him. All he had needed was a weapon.

He moved [Titan’s Axe] and placed it between him and whoever his guest was. He was ready for a fight but froze at the sight in front of him.

Oliver waved at him awkwardly.

“Hi,” he said.

Zed stayed still. He remained motionless. The weight of [Titan’s Axe] bore down on his arm. It was the only reminder that he was holding it as he stared at Oliver.

“Ollie,” he said, hesitant, before turning his head.

He looked at the room they sat in. Besides the chair Oliver sat on, which if they were being honest was more like a bar stool, the entire place was white. It was so cleanly white that it was almost impossible to tell where the floor ended and the walls started, or even where the door was.

Zed focused his attention on Oliver. Oliver wore a jacket over his shirt. The jacket was singed at different places as if Oliver had spent some time running through fire while dodging spears. Apart from that, Oliver simply looked tired.

“Rough night, huh,” Zed said, dropping the axe.

Oliver’s brows furrowed in confusion.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Nothing much,” Zed answered. With [Titan’s Axe] no longer weighing him down and his alertness gone, Zed had enough freedom to take stock of himself.

The first thing he noticed was how tired he was. The fatigue that filled him was great. He was also hungry. No. Starving was the better description. He sighed deeply.

“I could really go for a good horse right now,” he muttered.

Oliver continued to stare at him, saying nothing.

Zed lowered himself back to whatever was serving as his bed and stared back at the ceiling. With a simple shrug of will, his notifications came up. He scrolled through it, looking through the older notifications.

· You have defeated a sentient being vastly stronger than you.

· Due to the achievement of an acknowledgeable feat additional rewards will be garnered.

· For defeating a sentient being significantly stronger than you for the first time you have received additional reward.

· You have received [Titan’s Axe].

Zed read the notification with a slight frown. He didn’t remember it. The [Titan Axe] had come as a reward for an achievement. Personally, he had assumed that he’d gotten it from whatever he’d defeated when he’d activated [Bloodwrath]. He couldn’t remember much but he could remember that.

His vision blurred as he thought back to what he remembered last and he placed a hand against his head. The memories came to him easily. He had evolved into category three before triggering [Bloodwrath]. He’d had every intention of killing Abed. The axe had told him he’d been successful. Now, he was quite disinclined to believe so.

“I guess killing a Rukh mage is still out of my league,” he chuckled awkwardly.

“What do you mean,” Oliver asked in disbelief. “You—”

“Oh,” Zed muttered as another notification came into view and his jaw dropped. “Who woulda thunk it.”

A small smile touched his lips and he smacked his forehead. He winced at the pain of his headache.

“That was stupid of me,” he said as he stared at the new notification. “It clearly said I defeated a sentient being stronger than me. I guess I won.”

He continued to stare at the notification.

· Would you like to use [Conqueror’s touch] on Rukh rank mage [Abed Hafeez]?

Okay then, he thought, then scrolled on to the next notification. He was curious to know how much [Exp] a Rukh rank mage had given him.

“Zed?” Oliver said.

Zed raised a hand in response, halting him. “Just a moment. I’ll be with you in a minute, just need to confirm something.”

“You’re staring at nothing,” Oliver pointed out. “You’re just standing there, making faces and talking to yourself.”

Zed turned his attention to Oliver. The notifications remained where they were. They did not move with his eyes as he turned his face to look at Oliver.

Oliver looked worried.

“You know,” Zed said. “I never really gave any thought to what you guys see when I do this.” A small grin split his lips as a thought came to him. “It must piss Chris off a lot.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Speaking of mean girl,” he continued, “where’s everybody else? And before you answer that, did I really kill Abed? I know I did but I just really want someone to tell me I did. Ronda said she’s seen Beta mages defeat Rukhs before… at least she insinuated it, but I really need someone to confirm it.”

Oliver nodded slowly.

“You did,” he confirmed.

Zed paused. He let it sink in. He had killed another human being. He waited for the guilt, the dissatisfaction. It never came. Instead, he found himself remembering just how utterly scared Shanine had been of Abed. He remembered the entire experience in the forest as Shanine had depended solely on him simply because she didn’t want Abed near her. He remembered how Abed had been strictly against him. He remembered how Abed had tried to kill him.

He felt no guilt.

“Y’know, Ollie,” he said, his voice small. “I killed a man.”

“Yes,” Oliver agreed. “You did.”

“But I don’t feel bad. I took a life and I feel nothing.” Zed turned to stare at the new notification in front of him.

· You have used [Conqueror’s touch] on Rukh mage [Abed Hafeez].

· You have gained +424 [Exp].

· Consequences of skill [Bloodwrath] is in effect.

· You have gained -212 [Exp].

· Exp to category 1 Rukh 1051/5000.

“Five thousand’s a high number,” Zed muttered.

“What’s that?” Oliver asked.

Zed thought about explaining it to him. If he was being honest, he had never really considered sharing his notification system. The quests and the abilities and the numbers. Now, however, with some of his memories back and the sense of comaradery he’d felt between him and Anthony and Nurifa and Peter, he found himself missing it. He missed sharing things with people who cared. In this place, Oliver was the closest thing he had to that level of comaradry.

“Did you play video games before all this madness?” Zed asked, making a vague gesture with his hand. “Before the monsters and the magic.”

Oliver nodded. “I did,” he said.

“And you played all the games where you had to level up and get more gears and distribute points you gain to make you stronger. All of that.”

“You mean role playing games. I played those too.”

Zed’s lips puckered in thought. “I can’t say I would go as far as to call all of them role playing games but… For the purpose of this conversation, let’s go with that.”

“Let’s,” Oliver agreed.

“So what if I told you that that’s the life I’m living now,” Zed went on. “What if I told you that I have points I use to get stronger and I can—”

“No,” Oliver said. His tone wasn’t harsh neither was his voice loud. But there was a finality to his words.

Zed cocked a brow at him. “I must say that took me by surprise.”

“Zed.”

“Ollie.”

“No.”

Zed cocked his head to the side. “Yes?” he tried.

“No, Zed.”

“Yes, Ollie.”

Oliver sighed and rubbed a hand down his face. “You’re misunderstanding something. I’m not trying to play a game right now.”

“Kinda feels like you are, though, with all the no and yes flying around.”

Oliver chuckled lightly. “You were the one saying yes for no reason. My no has a reason.”

“So does my yes,” Zed countered. “I just need to figure out what it is. Still, I get the strong feeling that you don’t want me to say what I want you to hear.”

Oliver nodded. “It’s not that I don’t want to hear it, it’s that I don’t want you to say it here.”

Zed’s brows furrowed in caution. “Why?”

“Because we’re in a VHF spaceship.”

“Oh…”