HC:Pacifist | Ch. 175 - Bright Blue (Patreon)

Roth’s worries about his life or death, concern for little Lin, and embarrassment for causing trouble to the top guilds vanished the moment the lion entered the room. He could only see or think about the eyes that looked at him from within that swaying mane.

“Do not worry, peacemaker; King Zion just wants to talk to you,” came a telepathic message from Mildred. The message acted like a needle that had burst a bubble in Roth’s mind. Was she helping him deal with the mental pressure of Zion’s gaze?

“Thanks,” he sent back.

“But next time you plan to bring Zion’s court to my city, a heads up would be nice,” she explained.

“Thanks. Sorry about that,” he answered in kind.

As Mildred took her leave, the many cats jumped onto the stage and approached Roth with the grace only felines possessed, forming a circle around him. Roth felt as if he was in the middle of a hurricane. Even though the most impressive presence was that of the lion, his flight or fight instincts were all in overdrive. The tiger, in particular, felt dangerous.

“Oli.”

“King Zion,” greeted Oli, none of the usual cheekiness in his voice.

“And this is the human who stood us up at the Table,” spoke King Zion as he sized up Roth.

Even though Roth wanted to speak and apologize, the words didn’t come out. He strained his lungs and throat, but they didn’t respond. He didn’t know if it was just his imagination, but it felt like he couldn’t speak because the lion hadn’t invited him to do so. Was this the result of overwhelming charisma? Or was it a game-imposed restriction?

“Let me see the little one,” he commanded Oli. Roth’s heart almost stopped when Oli bit Lin’s head. He wanted to scream, but the hold on his voice was still there. He managed to relax when he noticed Oli was just picking Lin up by the scruff of the neck. The lion smelled the baby. Lin, unaffected by the regal presence of King Zion, twisted in protest at the noisy commotion disturbing his sleep. Roth could swear the kitten had just farted. The little payback his pet had delivered made him feel happy.

“Finally… a tiebreaker.”

[Vanquish the Darkness] has been reactivated.

+100 reputation with Oli.

+500 reputation with the ratans.

A tiebreaker? What did the king mean?

Zion took a deep breath sucking in all the air in the room. Just by breathing, this beast could create hurricanes. The golden king then released all the air he had sucked into his mighty lungs and unleashed a powerful bellowing roar. It was the loudest, most powerful sound that Roth had ever heard. It felt like the moon had crashed on Earth.

Damage numbers in the hundreds of thousands appeared over the guild representatives, all fading into motes of light.

“No!” Roth screamed angrily at the lion. He was too angry to be grateful for getting his voice back. “What did you just do? You killed them?” asked Roth in disbelief.

“It seems that way,” the lion answered.

“Why did you do that?” Roth couldn’t believe his bad luck. Those people were the only ones with the means to ensure his long-term safety! No matter how powerful this NPC was, it was just a computer program. It could do nothing to help him outside or save him from Loki’s assassin.

In response to Roth’s demand for information, the cat with long ears and legs hissed at him, and the lioness snarled.

Startled, Roth spat an apology, “I’m sorry, I mean no disrespect.”

“Sawabi, Nira, peace. He’s at the Table now. He shall speak and be heard.” Turning to Roth, the lion explained calmly, “The Table is a sacred gathering. They had to go. That was supposed to be a polite request for them to leave us, but I overestimated their strength. You humans are such fragile things.”

Roth looked at the lion, slack-jawed. Was this the lion’s version of a polite request? Roaring people into oblivion? He had made the guild representatives go up in smoke just by speaking. He remembered the explosions he had heard outside. Could the lion’s roars have been what had rocked the city?

The lioness stood up, picked up Lin, and set him comfortably beside her. The kitten, smelling the lioness, woke up and searched desperately for milk. Finding it, he drank contentedly.

Lin has consumed [Lioness Colostrum].

+42 strength;

+81 dexterity;

+20 wisdom;

+13 intelligence;

+56 subterfuge.

[Level up!]

+1 subterfuge.

[Level up!]

+1 subterfuge;

+1 strength.

Roth stared stupefied at the little kitten rascal with its mouth all dirty covered in milk. The kitten let out a little burp at the injection of dozens of stats he had received. Roth was tempted to ask the lioness for a glass of that milk, but he was sure he’d be killed where he stood if he dared. Just for this increase in Lin’s stats, this whole ordeal was already worth it. That was provided he lived through until the next day.

“I now declare the Table open for proceedings.

First order of business. We’ll have the human judged. He has committed the crime of cloning one of the members of the Table.”

The joy at seeing his kitten be fed a miracle food all vanished. Roth gulped. “What? Crime? B-but I…?”

“Martyr, you will explain to the Table how you found this kitten.”

What did this mean? Was he on trial? For what? Why in the world was he on trial? And what would happen if he was found guilty? Roth wiped the sweat off his brow and skimmed through the many messages he was receiving.

“Mr. Roth, I would love to know how you know Shadow, the Tree Hunter. And do not worry, we will keep you safe from the bad man from Pegasus in return for this information,” was the meek request from the guild elder from Cerberus.

“Don’t worry about what the lion did. What is a little gold spent on physiotherapy among friends? When will the auction resume? We have much to discuss,” was the message from the Gorgons.

“Roth! Who are you? How do you know a Magister?! Only our guild leader has had the chance to interact with one, and it was only a brief meeting. And you’re friends with her? What about that lion? Who was it? My hawk has gone nuts. You have to tell me. Come on! Please! Please, tell me!” was the relentless wall of text that came from Mel.

The messages were a breath of fresh air. All wasn’t lost. He had no idea who these cats were. He couldn’t even say they were friends; otherwise, he wouldn’t be standing trial here. As for Magister Mildred, he had only met her once. But the guilds had only seen everyone coming here to chat with him. Being killed by the lion’s roar while Roth remained unscathed only cemented their suspicions that Roth was close with these god-tiered NPCs. At least the guilds were taking him seriously now.

“I will resume the auction shortly,” he messaged back. He turned his attention to the lion, whose tail gently wagged as it patiently waited for the information it demanded.

Roth put on his gamer’s hat. Memories of almost killing Loki and the police showing up at his door rushed through his mind, and he took a deep breath. This was not the first time he had been on a trial, but this time it was different. It would be OK. This time, he knew he was innocent.

“King Zion, I stumbled upon a broken piece of machinery in Oli’s house. I didn’t know what it was, but one of the dwarves told me it was a precious item. He began repairing it, and then an alligator from the Cyborg Union finished fixing it for me.”

“Oli, where did you steal this machine from?”

“I don’t recall,” said the cat dismissively.

“Typical! The domestic’s memory inconveniently fails the Table,” chastised the tiger. Oli hissed at the tiger but didn’t explain it any further. Roth grimaced at the lack of interest from the cat. Lin was his clone! He’d found the machine in his house, in his garbage! Was that all it was going to say? He thought they were friends.

“And then?” prompted King Zion.

“The alligator cyborg asked me for a DNA sample, and then I showed him the only one I had. It was a gray hair found by the foxes when someone took one of their sacred tomes. The alligator put the hair into the machine, pressed a few buttons, and a few days later, Lin came out.”

“Shadow, go and verify his story,” commanded the king. The black panther stood up and took off, as fast as lightning, out of the room. As it made it through to the door, Roth heard a few screams and then silence.

*

BlueFire and Cyclops stomped their way toward the auction house. A few adoring looks from guild members and others who had seen videos of their gameplay were thrown their way, but BlueFire ignored them.

He couldn’t believe it- he had died twice on the same day! Why were those cats so hostile? All he and Cyclops saw was a black blur, and they were in the graveyard again. Two levels were no small matter!

He felt someone punch his arm. He played with 20% pain settings on, and it hurt. “Blue! Speak to me!”

“Ouch! What is it, Cy?”

“You spaced out. I hate it when you do that.” Cyclops didn’t have her joking disposition about her anymore. She had shifted gears and now had the stony disposition of a seasoned general. BlueFire could tell she was incensed about her consecutive deaths inside an auction house, no less.

“I’m sorry. What was it you were saying?”

“What do we know about those NPCs?”

BlueFire took a deep breath. What did he know? He didn’t know anything. That’s what. The highest NPC their guild knew about was the giant under the mountain. But after rummaging through the tons of messages, reports, and memos in the guild’s database, there was no mention of tigers, lions, or panthers. Not even of a small cat! There were no felines in AstroTerra, and no one in the Ogres had heard about them either…. At least until now.

“We got nothing. What did you think?”

“Both times, I couldn’t react. I felt no danger. None of my life-saving skills triggered,” she said, frustrated.

“How do they compare to the giant?”

“The lion’s on the same level. The tiger is stronger.” Cyclops had the uncanny ability to gauge people’s fighting prowess by looking at them. It wasn’t a skill or a title, it was just her freakish woman’s intuition tempered by several life-or-death battles in the Water Wars. For her to judge the cats’ strength to be this high was unsettling.

“And the magister?”

“The caracal and the cat are slightly weaker than the magister. The panther is at the same level, and the lioness is slightly stronger. This guy is the luckiest duck I’ve seen. How on earth does he know all these unknown powerful NPCs?”

“I don’t know. But it has to be connected to Antioch.”

Cyclops nodded. “We have to take the kid in. He’ll be a good asset to the guild.”

“An expensive one, too.”

“Blue, there’s something you didn’t ask.”

“What?”

“You didn’t ask how strong the kid is.”

BlueFire halted his march and stared at Cyclops. “He’s just level 30.”

“I know.”

Cyclops’ statement intrigued him. He’d forgotten how this was the first time the general had met the boy. “And what do you feel about him?”

“It’s hard to explain.” Cyclops resumed her march, silent for a few moments. “The kid’s special. But his strength is different. It’s as if I feel everyone’s strength as different shades between white and black. I look at you now and see a light gray, and when I looked at the tiger, I saw pitch black.”

It wasn’t the first time she had explained it to him like this. Cyclops was the intuitive type. Sometimes, it was hard for him to understand what she said. “And Roth?”

“That’s what confuses me. When I look at him, it’s like I see blue.”

“Blue?”

“Blue. A very bright blue.”

“I like blue,” said BlueFire.

“You’re not funny, Blue.”

“I’ve been told. Come, let’s go place a bid.”

“You are not going to talk to Ogre?” she asked curiously.

“He told me to do as I see fit. He’s too busy trying to get his armor to level ten.”

“Alright.” Cyclops was already operating the invisible console in front of her. “I’ll summon a search and rescue in New Lisbon. I’ll get in touch with our city law enforcement contacts, too.”

“Careful. That’s Pegasus’ backyard. Don’t rock the boat too much,” warned BlueFire.

“Got it. Oh. And Blue?”

“What?”

“Tell the kid we’re not going anywhere near that auction house until he gives us the all-clear, OK? I’m not feeling like losing a third level.”

Ch. 174 - Earthquake & Bombardment?!

INDEX

 Ch. 176 - Maudib