The Last Experience Point

Last Experience Point

PART II: JOURNEY TO ALBION-4

Chapter 126: The Guy who Knows Everything

TWO WEEKS LATER

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First came an effeminate—but honestly adorable—squeak, then came a pleading, fearful look, and finally, the girl in the blue robes with the green eyes swallowed nervously. “Jimmy, this is a really, really bad idea,” she said. She pressed her back against the brick wall and clutched her staff close to her chest as though fearful of being torn to pieces. “We’re both going to die.”

Jimmy laughed. “Oh, come on, Tena. You really think I’d bring you out here if I didn’t know what I was doing?”

“N-no, but Jimmy, this is really crazy. We should run for Angelica’s. It’s not too late!”

“Just watch the master work his magic.”

“Jimmy!”

He again chuckled, but along with it, Jimmy gave her a reassuring smile. He liked this girl, this “Tena Laielza.” How could he not? She was cute, she was his age, and she was the first true friend he’d made since finding himself stuck in this world a little more than two weeks ago. And honestly? She was his type. He could easily see himself falling for her. Yet he had a goal to accomplish. He had to get home. So he didn’t have time for any of that nonsense. Even if…even if the temptation was very real.

Not only did Jimmy like this girl, but she was also the only person he currently trusted with his secret. Despite Eilea’s letter warning him never to tell a single soul who he was, he’d somehow known from the moment he met her that she would not betray him. It was just the sense he got from her, but even more so, he needed someone he could trust. Someone who actually believed him, too.

“Just relax, all right? I’ve done this kinda’ thing a thousand times before. Trust me.”

She visibly tightened her grip on her wooden staff. “Yeah, but Jimmy, that was in your uh…what did you call them?”

“MMORPGs,” he reminded her.

She nodded. “Okay, but this is real life. This might not work the way it would in your computer games.”

“Don’t you get it? How many times I gotta tell you? This is a computer game. We’re trapped in a simulation.”

“I promise you we’re not.”

“Oh no? Watch this, then. It’s gonna work just like I’m telling you it is.”

“Gods above…”

She pressed herself even more tightly against the brick wall. Right now, the two of them were on F49 in the Tower of Eternity. From what Jimmy could tell, it was a one-hundred floor dungeon in the middle of a gas giant planet that, for all intents and purposes, was basically just an infinite blue, Earth-like sky with Earth-like clouds. Or at least the real Earth. Not whatever abomination greeted his eyes when she’d taken him through that Yorna dungeon and led him to that hellscape with the crimson sky. God damn, he regretted seeing that. He’d gone to where his apartment was supposed to be, but there wasn’t anything there but rubble and level-25 spider mobs.

My home’s still out there, he told himself. I know it is. Whatever that place was isn’t real.

Visiting the dark, twisted world she’d claimed was “Earth” had been the one—and only—time Jimmy had let himself get soft. But Tena, she’d been there for him at a time of need as he tried to make sense of how any of this was possible. Eilea had only told him the bare minimum. There was so much he didn’t know. Even still, he’d constantly recite the note she’d left him over and over in his head. He’d thought of it so much he could now recall it word for word.

Dear Jimmy Green

You may find this letter distressing, and for that I am sorry, but your survival depends on you accepting what I say as fact. Right now, you are no longer on your home planet of Earth. You are on a planet known as Galterra. You have been saved from death and brought here for a purpose greater than yourself. To know more, you must prove yourself worthy. At the bottom of this note are coordinates. Go there, defeat the enemies you find, and begin your journey towards greatness. Time is of the essence. I expect you to reach level 30 within your first three months here, and if you prove yourself capable of doing so, I will find you and tell you more. It will not be easy, but you must succeed. I leave you with one final warning, however. Tell no one the truth of how you’ve come here, and do all you can to conceal the nature of your origin. There are those who would see you slain. May you walk with the guiding hand of the Goddess.

The first time he’d read that note, he’d been in the bathroom of a nice little inn in the helpful town called “The Cursed Grounds.” Despite originally intending to stay there awhile and earn some cash—or gold in this case—he’d felt driven to pursue more: to discover more. Clearly, whatever path remained for him to return home would surely go through the one who’d brought him here. This “Eilea” chick. And so, all on his own, he’d made his way into a vast, but somewhat cruddy city twice the size of Manhattan called “Whispery Woods,” where he’d found some mobs beneath the sewers, thus beginning his journey in this simulated reality.

At least I hope that’s what it is, he thought, somewhat nervously. I can’t accept this is real.

Real or not, he had no doubt that there were consequences for failure. He could feel real pain here. He could feel thirst, hunger, and every sensation from the real world. Without a doubt, if he died in this reality, he would die in the real one. Kind of like in the Matrix, right? That had to be what was going on. Right now, his real body was currently in some Matrix-like machine connected to tubes. So, regardless of the ultimate truth behind his appearance here, he was still going to give it his all, because death would be death either way.

Can’t believe she gave me three months, he thought, concealing a snicker.

Every time Jimmy thought about Eilea’s letter, he always had the exact same reaction: amusement. Aside from the very first time he’d read it, the letter brought up nothing for him but sheer, utter amusement. And why? Because of just how badly she’d underestimated him. She thought he needed three whole damn months to get level 30? Seriously? Three whole months? Get the fuck outta here! Did she even know who he was? She must not have. Jimmy Green didn’t need three months like some seething pleb scrub to get past the fucking tutorial. Are you serious? It only took him a week to get level 30 and another to get level 43, his current level.

And now, he was planning on getting two levels in the next minute.

“Take it easy, Tena. You just gotta trust me.”

“Not like I have a choice at this point, Jimmy,” she said nervously. She looked like she’d started to hold her breath.

This dungeon they were in—the Tower of Eternity—was apparently floating on a planet ten times the size of Galterra with nothing around for tens of thousands of miles in any direction: just more empty sky. And on every floor of this dungeon—at least so far—there had been windows located at the top of the brick walls. Looking out of these windows would always give a view similar to that of looking out the window of an airplane mid-flight—only with no ground. The idea of falling out of the tower was actually kind of scary. No one he asked knew what would happen in that hypothetical. Supposedly, you’d keep falling until the atmosphere became so dense that gasses behaved like metals or something, and you’d either be crushed to death or trapped until you died of starvation or lack of oxygen.

Taking a deep breath, Jimmy shifted his eyes at the long hall directly in front of him as well as the one to his left and to his right. F49 was comprised of one gigantic, T-shaped hallway with about ninety mobs in total, many of which were easily avoidable. Jimmy had killed the few in aggro range that stood in his way while ignoring the rest. And it was all so that he could hug the corner of a wall not far from the stairwell labeled F49-F50.

“Get ready. I’m breaking my mez.” Tena’s cute face puffed up with fear, but she nodded. “Chill, Tena. It’s all good. Just make sure you’re ready with those debuffs.”

Tena had the perfect ability to complement his own. That was why, even if he hadn’t found her so adorable, he still would’ve wanted to confide in her and take her with him. For the last whole week, he’d hung out with her and her friends at Angelica’s. And against Jimmy’s better wisdom, on the last two nights, they’d slept together, too. He’d originally met her after stumbling across a boss on F20 he knew he wouldn’t be able to solo. Thus, he’d briefly joined up with her in a PUG—though they didn’t seem to understand the term “pickup group” here. Right away, he’d realized that she was someone he could do incredible things with. And so now, on his first official “test run,” he’d invited her to his party and had actually taken her out here to join him. He knew she wouldn’t refuse. She, like most of those in Angelica’s, were in awe of him. Apparently, none of these “adventurers” had ever seen anyone level up as fast as Jimmy without getting PL’d.

“Okay, here we go.”

Jimmy tapped his own staff onto the paved dungeon floor, producing a little clack, and Immediately, growls and snarls filled the entirety of the world around him as he ended his mesmerize, which he had gone around and cast on every single mob on the entire floor. Now, readying himself, Jimmy watched as a horde of gremlin-looking things with sharp teeth and even sharper claws raced down the hallway from all three directions, heading straight for them. They looked like teddy bears but with reddish-colored fur, snarling faces that dripped acidic drool, and they made a chorus of high-pitched growls

HP

41,500/41,500

Name

Romping Rodent

Level

45

Jimmy held his staff in front of him. It was an Epic Rare item he’d gotten from the boss he’d solo’d on F30. Rather than wood, it was made of a reddish metal that ended in a globe-shaped pattern of golden, shining circles. His robes were also from the very same boss, and they were of made of a white, silk-like material that made him look like the emperor of some kind of grand army.

Neither Tena—nor any of the others—could believe their eyes when he’d strutted into Angelica’s last week wearing a full set of the boss’s gear along with the staff. They also cast doubt on his claims that he’d solo’d the F30 boss—multiple times, too—given its purported difficulty and recommended raid size of 30 members. But that was because those dudes never thought to try aggroing it through the wall to avoid its adds. See, it was only even difficult because of those adds. The boss by itself was like nothing. So naturally, Jimmy tried doing what any tryhard would do: finding an exploit. And sure enough, he’d found one.

“J-Jimmy,” Tena whimpered. “This isn’t going to work. We’re gonna die!”

“Nope. Cast it now, Tena. Trust me.”

Tena twirled her staff around, causing it to light up with an orange glow as it moved around, and then she swung it downwards just as all three separate groups converged into one massive one. A blinding, dizzying number of red down arrows appeared above all ninety mobs, as well as a steady puff of silverish smoke above each one of their eyes. At the same time, Jimmy also threw out his own staff, and he felt sweat trickle down his forehead from the exertion of casting such a massive AOE debuff of his own. A second down arrow appended to the end of the first, and now in addition to the smoke above their eyes, the absolute horde of mobs began to walk slower, moving with three quarters less speed than they’d been only a second ago.

“Okay shift to the wall to your left. Now!”

Tena nodded and slid along the wall the moment Jimmy instructed her to do so. Just as he’d predicted, there was a small pocket of space that they were able to slide through to avoid the gnashing, clawing mobs, all of which were slowed and blinded. Tena squeaked again fearfully as several did manage to take several swings at her, yet all but one missed. And even then, it was a pretty nasty gash, but it was nothing Jimmy couldn’t heal up in an instant, making sure she didn’t feel the pain for all that long.

“Okay, run it down the hallway. Pause at half.”

“Okay, okay!”

Together with Tena, the two raced down the hallway opposite the exit door and then stopped together, side by side. “Poisons!” Jimmy cried. “Make sure you cast until you get ‘em all! Vel en Bled! Vel En Bled!”

“Vel en Dol!” Tena cried.

The two of them swung their staves around, and now Jimmy began to pant as he was forced to use his AOE poison several times to ensure he got each and every one of them. The same was true of Tena. Her poison appeared as a black sludge that dropped down from a bucket that materialized midair, drenching the slowed, debuffed mobs about twenty at a time. His, on the other hand, appeared as a more traditional green mist that rose up like smoke from below, not above, though it did rise on the air.

“Now what?” she asked him.

He grinned. “Now we just slowly and calmly walk backwards. Watch.”

The moment the slowed mobs were nearly upon them, the two stepped back. Every few steps, all ninety mobs simultaneously made loud, pained croaks and took anywhere between 3,000 and 5,000 damage from the double poisons. “Just keep backpedaling,” he said. “Nice and easy.”

Step by step, the mobs pursued, and as they did so, their HP continued to whittle away with each tick of the two DOTs.

“Grahhurr!” ninety animal-like voices all croaked in unison. “Grahhurr!”

Tick by tick, their HP dwindled, and now, clearly becoming more confident, Tena laughed, her fear clearly diminishing. “This is working. Wow! This is really, actually, working. I can’t believe we pulled the whole dungeon floor!”

“I’ve been doing this kinda stuff since I started. Now do you see how I’m leveling so fast?”

“It’s unbelievable!”

With a dead-end wall behind them, there was some small cause for concern, but Jimmy was confident he’d thought things out properly. He was familiar with these mobs from the previous floor, and he knew how long his poison would stick. And indeed, a moment before their two backs collided with the stone wall, about fifty of the mobs dropped dead, followed by the remaining forty a few moments later, causing an unintelligible mush of xp numbers to pop up ahead of him.

+20000xp

+20000xp

+20000xp

When the final mob died, Jimmy was temporarily blinded as two massive level up screens popped up in front of him simultaneously. Ever since he’d completed his gear set back on F30, he’d earned a bonus that upgraded his Helm Sight Level, enabling him to have a much more useful display of information. Now, with two level ups side by side, he could see that he’d increased his intelligence by another ten points overall, his dexterity by five, speed by four, and only three in total into constitution, two into luck, and one into strength. Clearly, he was a caster: that much was obvious from day 1.

Still, it’d have been nice to get a few more points into strength.

Ahead of him, several bags of loot sparkled. Looked like he was making bank today, boys and girls. Confidently, he grabbed what was his, including a rare ring that was shit compared to what he had, so he threw it in storage and figured he’d head to the bazaar later to pawn it off to some lowbie for cheap. Yawning, he asked, “Wanna grab some lunch?”

Tena smiled. “Okay.” She looked happier than he’d ever seen her. He wasn’t sure why. But it soon made sense as she said, “I just leveled up six times!”

“Gratz.”

She hugged him and kissed him, and damn, he knew he was falling for this girl. He just knew it. Especially since he’d been so lonely since his ex called it off with him. Honestly, if only he could’ve met her back on Earth, he would be ready to jump through hoops for her. But as things stood, he couldn’t even be sure she was real. Or any of this was. He doubted it very much. In fact, he was sure this was all just a simulation. It had to be.

“Let’s go before they respawn.”

Walking side by side, the two of them hurried all the way back down the hallway of F49. Then, pushing open the door to Angelica’s that was just ahead of the stairwell leading to what was—presumably—a boss fight, he said, “Ladies first,” and watched as she strutted her cute behind inside the inn. Soon after, he followed, and then he let the door shut behind him.

Right away, he knew he was going to be hassled. Every head turned towards him, and the questions began practically the moment he stepped through the door. “How’d you do it, Jimmy?” asked Reni Sarwin, an adventurer who’d actually fought against that dragon during the raid that’d been going down on the day he got here. “Just tell me. How’d you kill that boss solo?”

“Quit holding out on us,” another adventurer cried, his voice uneven. He was clearly inebriated. Jimmy winked at him where he sat with two others at one of the tables near the dance floor. “Just fuckin’ tell us, kid. Sharing is caring.”

“How much you gonna pay me, Balzor?”

He grabbed his nuts. “I’ll pay you with these, Jimmy.”

“I don’t see anything. What’re you grabbing?”

He barked out a laugh. “Oh, you little shit. You remind me of Calador.”

“Pfft. Tell me ya’ll aren’t gonna spend another night talking about him again. He’s not even that good, for real.”

“Easy now,” growled an adventurer to his left. “You have a habit of talking too much shit, Jimmy. Way too much.”

Jimmy shrugged. “What can I say? I’m honest. All you people ever talk about is Zach, Zach, Zach. Kid’s got some OP bullshit abilities, clearly doesn’t know how to use them, and all I’m staying is you give me 2 months and I’ll accomplish more than he will in 200 hundred years. I’m the fucking boss, got it? And you can laugh at me right now—I see all you guys giggling—but I’m gonna be higher level than every single one of you in a month. That’s on God. Take it to the bank. I’m crushing Galterra. This is easy to me.”

Tena gasped, and Jimmy rolled his eyes. “Oh, not you, too Tena. Don’t tell me you’re offended because I said I—”

“N-no!” she interrupted, pointing fearfully at the bar counter ahead. “Jimmy, shh!”

“Why?” he asked, narrowing his eyes. “What’s going?”

“I’m what’s going on,” growled the voice of a behemoth-sized figure in full plate armor sitting at the counter downing a mug of ale. He nodded at the seat next to him. “Been wanting to have a word with you since you first walked in here, kiddo. Have a fuckin’ seat.”

Jimmy swallowed nervously. He’d only been in this world for two weeks, but in that time, he’d already mapped out the big players of the various guilds. And so he knew that the rough-edged, tough-as-steel dude sitting at the bar was none other than Donovan Iseldar, leader of the God Slayers Guild, and definitely not someone to piss off.

“Tena, get a seat at one of the tables. I’ll be right there.”

She took his hand. “Please don’t piss him off, Jimmy. You don’t want him as an enemy.”

He nodded. “I’m street smart enough to know that.”

“Street smart?”

“It’s a…it’s a term. Just go. I’ll be there in a minute, all right?”

“Okay.”

Jimmy made his way over to the counter and hopped up onto the stool. In the same moment that he sat down, Donovan snapped his fingers at the level-1027 NPC with the cat ears. “Get the kid a drink on me.”

“No can do,” Angelica said, firmly shaking her head. “Jimmy’s only nineteen years old: biologically, anyway.”

“Biologically?” Donovan asked with a grunt. “The fuck’s that supposed to mean?”

Angelica lifted her chin. “It means he has to wait two more years to drink.”

Donovan stared confusedly at the NPC. Then, with another grunt, he said, “All right, fine. Give ‘em a cherry soda.”

“Yeah, a coke’s fine with me,” Jimmy agreed.

“A what?” Donovan asked, a perplexed look on his face.

Jimmy, realizing he’d accidentally used the wrong term, opened his mouth to correct himself, but before he could do so, Angelica said, “No Coke or Pepsi here, cutie. You’re about five-thousand years too late for that.”

A nervous jolt traveled down his spine as Donovan alternated looking between him and the NPC innkeeper. “The hell are you two talking about?”

She knows what that is? he thought to himself, practically screaming inside his mind. How does she know?

He’d been so alone here for the last two weeks that he was longing badly for home. Even though he was actually kind of enjoying the world and the experience, he missed his mom, his cat, and his school—as well as his friends. Yet for the first time since being here, someone—or something—knew terms that only he should’ve known. Yet it wasn’t something he could ask her about just yet. Not in front of Donovan.

“It’s nothing,” Jimmy said, folding his hands on the table. “So, Donovan, why don’t you just tell me whatever it is you want from me. If you’re here to threaten me, you ought to know I’m not the type to bow down.”

“Relax,” he said, pausing to gulp some of his ale. “I ain’t here to threaten you, kiddo.”

Jimmy laughed. “But you came here looking just for me, right?”

“Sure did.”

“Why?”

Donovan tapped the counter. “Because I know you’re hidin’ something, and me and Zephyr want to know what.”

Jimmy shrugged. “I’m not hiding anything.”

“Really, kiddo? Really? You show up here two weeks ago, a fresh-faced, level-5 whelp, and suddenly you’re taking down bosses solo and flying through the levels like nothing we’ve ever seen before. Something’s up with you.” He raised his pointer finger. “Everyone’s taking notice.”

Maybe I should dial it back a bit after all, Jimmy thought.

Jimmy paused a moment to consider his words. “I’m just doing things a different way than you guys do them.”

“You mean you’re getting power-leveled, yeah?”

“Hell naw. That’s weak. I’ve been solo almost the entire time I’ve been here.”

“I find that tough to believe,” Donovan said.

“Why on Earth would I lie about that?”

“On where?” Donovan asked, eying him skeptically.

Shit.

“I meant why on Galterra would I lie about that?”

He gulped down more of his ale. “Dunno, kiddo. Maybe because it’s taboo and you don’t wanna get a bad reputation.”

“Yeah, well, fuck all that noise.” Jimmy confidently pointed his thumb at himself. “I know how to get shit done. That’s why I’m leveling up. And I hear these rumors every time I come in here. All you people saying Jimmy Green got power-leveled. Well you jealous haters can fuck right off. Now where’s my Coke?”

“Here’s your soda,” Angelica said cheerfully, setting it down in front of him.

Though he’d asked in a highly aggressive way, Jimmy made sure he did not forget his manners. “Thank you very much, Angelica. You’re an angel.”

“You’re very welcome, Jimmy.” She blew a kiss at him.

Yeah, I still got it.

Angelica turned around and then leaned over as if to grab something from a shelf below the stove across from where Jimmy was seated. Yet before she could do so, she let out a chirp as a high-level zombie NPC slapped her bottom. “Grundor! Not in front of the patrons.”

“I had to come see my girl,” he said.

Jimmy laughed. He liked Grundor very much. Dude was always coming around in recent days. Ever since the Royal Roses surrendered to the Guild of Gentlemen a few days ago, the zombie had been showing up here trying to gather support for a counteroffensive in Shadowfall Coast. Apparently, his guild-leader, some dude named “Vim Alazar,” was being held captive there and was scheduled to be executed via beheading in another three days. This, of course, had nothing to do with Jimmy, and so he learned of it only to blend in better. He literally cared not an iota for these guilds or whatever. His mission was to get home.

Even still, he did feel kind of bad for the zombie. Apparently, some Hitler-wannabe named Alistair Morison was threatening to murder everyone in North Bastia if they didn’t surrender, and already, the Royal Roses, the People of Virtue, and the Children of Order had surrendered and were finalizing terms. The Elves refused, and so had guilds called “The Lords of Justice” and “Defenders of Peace.” But from the chatter he heard in here every day, it sounded like it wasn’t long before they did, too.

“Donovan,” Grundor said, bowing his head from where he stood behind the counter with Angelica. “Have you seen master or Kolona lately?”

“They’re meeting me here in a few minutes, actually,” he replied.

Grundor sighed with what looked to be relief. “Maybe master will reconsider and give his old buddy a helping hand.”

“I don’t think so, Grund,” Donovan said. “Ever since getting the buff, Oli and Kolona have been exploring the dungeons nonstop. I don’t think they want any part in Galterran shit. Neither do I, for that matter.”

Grundor frowned. “We need to save the world!” the NPC zombie insisted. He raised his arms and flexed his biceps. “I’m strong, but I need allies by my side.”

“You might as well give it up,” said the GSG leader, pausing to sip again from his mug. “Soon as those fuckers launched that ‘nuke’ weapon, it was over. No one’s gonna take ‘em on anymore. Most adventurers ain’t willing to even leave the dungeons now, let alone get involved.”

“Heh, I figured that’s why it’s been so crowded in here lately,” Jimmy said, causing both of them to look his way. “I mean, it’s why I’m staying put too. There’s no fucking way I’m catching an A-bomb in Middle-earth.”

For some reason, his comment caused Grundor to erupt with uproarious laughter. “Funny!” he said. Then his face turned serious. “Wait, how do you know that reference?”

Jimmy’s mouth fell open. “How do you know that reference?”

“Because master let me read those books.”

“You mean…Lord of the Rings?”

All of a sudden, any trace of mirth left Grundor’s expression, and Jimmy knew he’d screwed up. “You shouldn’t know that name,” he said. “Who are you? Donovan, who is he?”

“I’m just a regular adventurer,” he insisted. “That’s all.”

“No you’re not,” said a far more joyful and enthusiastic voice from behind him. Looking over his shoulder, Jimmy watched as an incredibly well-dressed kid with silver hair and vampire-like fangs hopped into the stool next to him and patted him on the shoulder. “I’m Olivir,” he said. “Like Donovan, I’ve been dying to meet ya.”

Cautiously, Jimmy shook his hand. “I’m Jimmy Green.” Becoming nervous, he said, “Don’t tell me you’re also here because of me.”

“I am,” Olivir spoke with an upbeat attitude. “Actually, I’m the one who asked Donovan to come here and wait for you.”

Looking over his shoulder to ensure he had an escape route in the event things turned ugly, he said, “Okay, well, now I’m getting a bit worried.”

“You shouldn’t. We’re on your side, friend.” He laughed. “There’s a reason why I set all this up. See, you’ve been making a lot of waves lately, and me and Kolona picked up on some of it. Your words, your mannerisms: they’re strange, but they wouldn’t ring any bells with most Galterrans. But they do with me.”

“They do?” Jimmy asked.

He nodded. “I’m a vampire from Archian Prime, and I’ve got more books on human history than anyone else in the world. And you,” he said, pointing at him, “know things you shouldn’t be able to know.”

Jimmy, with a straight face, asked, “Oh yeah? Like what?”

“Like what happens at the end of Return of the Jedi.”

Jimmy lifted his shoulders. “Return of the what?”

“Kid’s lying,” growled Donovan. “I can tell. Not that I know what the fuck you’re talkin’ about, but I can tell he does.”

Angelica cleared her throat. “If you guys are gonna say anything else, you should really take it to the privacy room. This is one of those conversations.”

At this, Donovan’s eyebrows rose. “Wait, it is? For real?”

She nodded. “Sure is, sweetie. It’s definitely one of those.”

Jimmy felt his nerves begin to rise but he kept them in check. Especially as Donovan asked him to follow him behind the counter and to God knows where. “I’m not going anywhere with you,” he said, shaking his head. “And I’m not telling you shit.”

“Angelica, can I violate the rules of the inn and drag him there?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I can make an exception for this.”

Before Jimmy had a chance to react, Donovan was already leaning forward and seizing him. Panicked, he kicked out with both feet, yet all that did was send a terrible ache into his shins as he nearly broke multiple bones on the man’s steel-like stomach.

“We’re not your enemy,” Donovan said. “Just be cool.”

“Jimmy!” Tena cried out, running over to him. She unsheathed her staff, but Olivir made a waving motion with his hand, and then a firework-like spark lit up into the air near her wrist; her hand opened on its own, causing her to drop it.

“Master, what are you doing?” Grundor asked.

“Grund, trust me. We need to interrogate this kid. It could be more important than you think.”

The disturbance in the inn rippled from person to person like a chain reaction, and now, everyone was on their feet, clearly confused. So too was Jimmy. Fighting was not supposed to be allowed in here without taking one of those nullification grapes. Yet he was being assaulted right here in the open and Angelica wasn’t interfering to stop it.

“Tena!” he shouted. “Run!”

She made as if to flee, but it was too late. An Elvish woman, who must have been utilizing some kind of invisibility power, simply materialized into existence behind her and wrapped her arms around Tena, holding her in place.

“Kolona, take her with us to the room.”

As the other adventurers looked on in horror and uncertainty, Angelica rushed forward and began assuring them everything was fine; this, as Jimmy found himself dragged against his will to wherever it was they were taking him.

“Just don’t hurt her and I’ll tell you whatever you wanna know!”