Chapter 7: Core
Yrella hadn’t been lying about Yund not giving days off. The next morning and day went just the same as any of the others Victor had experienced in the Wagon Wheel. Wake up, get breakfast, workout, and go back to your cage to be bored shitless until the next day. At least it seemed to be going that way until the Boss, himself, approached Victor’s little trio as they were working on his axe forms. “Runt! What level have you managed to get to?” he hollered as he got close.
“Uh, level three, Boss.”
“Huh, not terrible. Listen, I may be a right scoundrel, but I keep my promises, and I offered your group a gold reward if you won. I already gave the old Ghelli his prize, now it’s your turn, and I’m going to give you a choice.”
“Okaaay....” Victor didn’t know what to expect, so he looked from Yrella to Vullu, and they both maintained neutral expressions, so he just looked at Yund expectantly.
“Well, you came here at level zero, right?” Victor nodded, “Well, I doubt either of these two geniuses have helped you build a Core yet, eh?”
“No, I don’t have a Core. I’m also holding five attribute points if you could give me....”
“That’s not important right now; listen: I can either pay one of those book-brains from the academy a fee to come and help you make a good Core, or I can buy you a racial upgrade fruit. You’re at the lowest level for your race, right?”
“Uh, how do I see that?”
“On your status sheet. What the runny shits have you two been teaching this kid?” He glared at Yrella and Vullu.
“Only to keep himself alive in a lopsided pit fight, no big deal!” Yrella retorted.
“Huh. Look at your status sheet, kid, where it lists your race. What does it say after it?”
“Um, base one.”
“Right, that’s the lowest. I can get you a fruit to lift it to base two, or I can help you make a good Core. What’s it gonna be?” He stared pointedly at Victor, who had no idea what the correct answer was, so he looked at Yrella. She mouthed the word “Core” pretty clearly, so Victor shrugged and turned back to Yund.
“The Core, I guess.”
“Smart man. One racial upgrade probably won’t save your ass during the next Pit Night, but using Energy just might.”
“Hey, Boss,” Victor licked his lips nervously; he’d wanted to ask this question for days now.
“Yeah? I gotta go schedule this thing; what is it?”
“Well, I kinda got fucking kidnapped and forced to come here, and I have no idea how long you own me for. Is there any way I can get free?” He cringed back as the massive, red-skinned man frowned down at him.
“Huh, I’d call you ungrateful, but I guess you have a point. Listen, kid, most of the dregs I buy from those mages don’t last more than a fight or two. No point talking about freedom when that’s the case, right? Tell you what: you win five matches, and we’ll make a contract. Nobody ever better say I ain’t fair, right Vullu?” Vullu nodded his head, but he wasn’t smiling. “Right, well, I’ve got a business meeting, then I’ll see about getting you some help with your Core. Get back to work!” He turned and walked away, not glancing at Victor, let alone waiting to see if he was amenable to his terms.
“That could have gone worse,” Yrella said, slapping Victor on the shoulder. “Smart move asking him right after a big win.”
“I didn’t plan it that way, but yeah. I’m not really excited about having to fight four more times, but I guess it’s something to shoot for.” Victor looked around the big exercise room and, for the hundredth time, wondered if there was another way out of this predicament. What if he ran to the police or whatever and told them what had happened to him? It couldn’t be fucking legal just to summon innocent people and then sell them. Every time his mind went down that road, he remembered the warnings about getting ‘tagged.’ He knew Ponda, Urt, or one of the other lackeys was always watching the door. Then he thought about how it was his word against Yund’s and that no one, literally no one, in this entire world knew him or could vouch for him.
Shortly after that, they had to return to their cage, and Victor played around with Yrella’s dice while she and Vullu did their meditation thing. They had just finished and were getting ready to teach Victor a new dice game when Ponda slammed open the main door and walked over to their cage. “Kid, follow me. Boss got your reward.” He unlocked the metal gate and motioned for Victor to follow.
“See you later, Victor,” Vullu called. Yrella just waved and leaned back against the metal frame of the cage, letting her eyes close lazily. Victor nodded to Vullu and then followed Ponda. He didn’t know why, but it felt like he was going somewhere to be punished. He hoped he was just being paranoid.
“Boss has that wizard waiting for you in his office. He said I have to leave you alone in there, but I’ll be right outside the door. Don’t mess with any of Boss’s shit. Clear?”
“Yeah, I’m not going to mess with that dude’s shit. You think I’m interested in his old socks and diaries and shit?” Victor scowled at Ponda; the big furry guy was acting like his friend Mike’s dad, and it rubbed him the wrong way. Mike’s dad was always assuming he and Victor were up to no good, and, while it was true a lot of the time, it was shitty to assume the worst of people. Then again, Ponda was a hired guard for a bunch of criminals they were forcing to fight to the death. It was probably healthy for him to assume the worst.
They got to Yund’s office door, and Ponda opened it, giving Victor a little shove, then he pulled it closed. Victor looked around in the dim light, glad to see Yund wasn’t present. Instead, a man the size of his six-year-old cousin sat in Yund’s chair. The guy was wearing a shiny silver robe and had painted his entire bald head royal blue. There was a leaf painted in white on his blue left cheek. He cleared his throat and, in a surprisingly deep voice, said, “Ahh, Victor, I presume. Take a seat.” He gestured to the wooden chair in front of Lund’s desk.
Victor sat down, keeping his eyes on the strange man, and as he got closer, he saw that what he had at first taken for sparkly blue eyes were actually gemstones. The man had glittering little gems where his eyes should be! “Uh, hello,” he said as he sat down.
“Hello. I’ll cut to the chase, Victor. I was paid to perform a service, and I’m going to do it, then I’m going to get out of here. I’m not here to waste any time. Is all that clear?” His eyes stared at Victor, not blinking as normal eyes should, and it was unnerving as hell.
“Yeah, fine. What do we do?” He slouched in his chair, feeling like he was in front of an annoyed Dean of Students for the thirtieth time.
“I’m going to perform some diagnostics, and then I’ll help you, with the aid of some tools, to form your Core. First, how much Energy have you banked?” Victor looked at his status screen.
“Two-twenty,” he replied.
“That should be more than sufficient; I’ve helped Bogoli children form Cores with only forty-five.”
“Bogoli?”
“My race, now please don’t interrupt my process with questions.” He closed his eyes, twiddled his fingers around in the air in front of him, and then a blue, sparkly sphere appeared in his hand. He set it on the desk.
“How did you do that? I’ve seen a bunch of people pull shit outta nowhere in this world!”
“You don’t have dimensional containers where you come from? My ring - it's also a storage device.” He closed his eyes again and wiggled his fingers, frowning like he was trying to find something. Victor thought about his answer, and he would have been a bit more shocked, but the truth was, he expected something like that. He’d been fucking summoned by wizards to get here, after all. The blue-painted guy grinned, and a pair of thick, lavender glasses appeared in his hand. Victor caught himself thinking of him as ‘the blue-painted guy’ and remembered his foot-in-mouth conversation with Yrella after the Pit Night.
“Hey, what’s your name, mister?”
“You may call me Dolo. It is an honorific meant for teachers and elders among my people.”
“Er, okay. Thank you, Dolo.” The little blue man nodded, then pointed to the sparkly, blue crystal-looking sphere.
“Well, that’s my job done. I appreciate you making this tedious bit of shady business at least a little interesting. Good luck with your endeavors.” Dolo scooped up his candle and other paraphernalia, then stood. All the while, Victor tried to get his breath back and take stock of his situation.
“It worked?” He finally croaked out as Dolo was walking around the desk, his little blue-painted head just a few inches higher than the top.
“Oh yes, I’d say you must have a powerful rage affinity after that display. I’d be careful using too many Energy abilities unless you want to lose yourself in it. I’m sure you’ll gain more and more control with practice and, hopefully, a class that helps you refine your talents.” Once again, he looked around the filthy office with a frown, then said, “Good luck,” and knocked on the door. Ponda opened the door immediately, and Dolo walked out. Victor stood shakily and started to leave as well. Ponda blocked his path at the doorway, though.
“Well, what did that little weirdo do for you?” He asked with a note of genuine curiosity in his voice.
“Helped me form my Core.”
“Ahh, you were that far behind, huh? I knew you were shit level, but I didn’t know you didn’t even have a Core. Well, back to your cage, runt. Two more days until the next Pit Night!” Victor nodded and walked toward the pens, calling up his status sheet as he moved:
Status
Name:
Victor Sandoval
Race:
Human - Base 1
Class:
–
Level:
3
Core:
Spirit Class - Base 1
Energy Affinity:
3.1, Rage 9.1
Energy:
93/93
Strength:
14
Vitality:
10
Dexterity:
9
Agility:
10
Intelligence:
8
Will:
8
Points Available:
5
Titles & Feats:
–
Skills:
System Language Integration - Not Upgradeable, Unarmed Combat - Basic, Knife Combat - Basic, Axe Mastery - Basic, Spear Mastery - Basic, Bludgeon Mastery - Basic, Grappling - Improved
That little guy hadn’t been lying about his rage affinity, whatever the hell that was. It looked like his normal Energy affinity had gone down. “Well, here’s hoping that guy didn’t fuck me over.”
