She had such commitment and dedication in her golden eyes… I couldn’t help but admire it. It was indicative of the determination within some people to get things done.

  Her mission might get her killed, or me killed for that matter, but what else could we do? My other option was to roam the AllVerse, maybe leveling up along the way, until one bad move caught up with me. The first Relic was in the Godfeathers’ stronghold. No way around that one.

  I nodded. “Alright, Sync, I’m in, but I have one request.”

  Her beak curved upward slightly in an avian smile. “Let’s hear it.”

  “If you get—no, when you get caught, and I need to rescue you, can you go back to the SimpCity class? Really, any scantily clad human class will considerably improve my morale and incentive. Saving a weird-looking bird lady just doesn’t cut it.”

  Her eyelids drooped, and her smile faded. “Seriously?”

  I smirked. “You want me at my best, don’t you? I do my best work with good incentives. This…” I waved my hand over her. “Not really doing it for me. Let’s face it, we all care more when the person is attractive.”

  Her beak hung loose with incredulity, yet my winning smirk persisted.

  She snapped her beak closed and looked away. A glimmer remained in her eyes, as though she wanted to laugh but wouldn’t let herself.

  “Mess with the ocean, you get the tide… no! You get the stoooorm!” Silas roared while wiggling all eight tentacles ominously. “Alright, I’m satisfied with that one. So what’s the plan? I wasn’t really paying attention. I had to think of a good catchphrase.”

  “You just stick with me, and—hold on—” A thought occurred to me. “The other Karjok were able to shoot guns. Have you been able to use weapons this whole time?”

  “I am a weapon, or have you forgotten our Shouldérmon experiences?”

  “Remembering that isn’t the hard part,” I said.

  “I regret nothing,” Silas replied. “Yes, I’m sure if I tried, I could wield a firearm. Maybe two, maybe even eight of them. Sounds like someone should check my Skill Tree.”

  “Good call.” I’d almost forgotten I’d leveled up. Twice.

  “You should make good use of your level-ups. And we should gear up before we—” Sync screeched like an owl again involuntarily. “That will get old. Point is I’ll need something better than a revolver, and you’ll need some serious firepower.”

  “And we need to succeed fast so you can be an attractive human again. Very important. Morale, and all.” I added while opening my character menu. Now that I was level ten, more options had opened to me. It seemed like a milestone of sorts.

  I decided to pour these points into becoming a pure battering ram. Next round, I’d put into Intelligence and other categories, but I had a sense that brute force was the way to go for this particular encounter. I allocated three points to Strength, bringing it to 17, and three to Speed, increasing it to 18.

  Afterward, I went to my Skill Trees. I could unlock four abilities, and I knew exactly what I wanted now that I’d reached level ten.

  | Hang-Gliding |

  | Your rickshaw can deploy a customizable triangular canopy to enable the gliding feature. Soar through the air and reach new places,

  or drift softly to the ground instead of plummeting to your inevitable death and dismemberment. Weight restrictions apply. Lightweight materials bonuses apply. |

  I figured that might come in handy. We’d needed to cross a chasm earlier, and with Sync no longer having the Mercurian Blessing spell, I figured it might be prudent. Besides, I didn’t foresee us ending up in the water with the rickshaw again any time soon, not with the Godfeathers’ stronghold being a high-rise hotel.

  I had three points left to assign, so I perused the new skills open to me since hitting level 10.

  It was good to stick to the basics, so I unlocked the last two tiers of the Opportunist skill, bringing my XP and AllCash gain bonus to 10%. I’m sure that’s why I’d leveled twice after saving the Karjok.

  I inspected Silas’s Skill Tree next, since I’d gained more affinity with him, and a few more skills were unlocked. None of them had anything to do with holding a gun, so I had to assume he just could do that already, like the other Karjok. A couple others stood out to me, though:

  | Witty Retort |

  | The Karjok delivers a comeback so good, it temporarily stuns an opponent…

  or a friend, or anyone unfortunate enough to receive it. |

  | Octo-Kick |

  | Tier 1 of 5 |

  | Though the Octo-Kick is innate to every Karjok, some master the

  discipline more than others. Beyond that, what’s to say?

  Karjok inflicts eight consecutive kicks. They hurt. A lot. |

  I groaned. “Why do I even look at this Skill Tree?”

  “Octo-Kick! Octo-Kick!” he cheered. “Octo—oh… I see.”

  He deflated when I selected Toughness – Tier 4 of 5 for myself.

  I arched my brow.

  “Pal, I saw you kick Spurtle. You don’t need any more kick boosters. If there’s one good thing I can say, it’s that you’ve got the kicks.” I closed my character menu and looked at Sync. “So before we do this thing, it would pay to come up with a plan.”

  “Not that anything we’ve done ever goes according to plan, but they’re nice to have regardless,” Silas interjected.

  He wasn’t wrong.

  I continued. “What will you do after you collect the bounty? What if that doesn’t work? What are our escape strategies?”

  “I’m confident it’ll work as long as I can avoid getting killed or subdued on my way in. I’ve gotta reach the Godfeather himself. Either way, if I’m caught, I’ll surrender, or I’ll be captured… by myself, so the result is the same.”

  “Unless they just kill you.”

  “Yeah, but by then, you’ll know not to come in after me. As far as escape strategies… you get in, free me, grab the Relic, and run like quail.”

  “Which will send the AllVerse haywire in some new and terrible way,” I quipped. “Excellent.”

  “I see that look. Believe me, I’d like a better plan, but until we get there, we won’t know what to plan for or to expect. We can spend a ton of time planning, but we still might fail. Gear up, do work. That’s the plan.”

  I drew Rook’s Revenge and inspected it. “Still wish this thing had ammo. It’s pretty much a one-shot kill when it does. I’m tempted to sell it, but I know as soon as I do, I’ll regret it. Dad hammered that strategy home. ‘Don’t sell anything of high value Erik. You’ll need it later and then you’ll be screwed,’” I mimicked his voice out of disdain.

  Sync turned her curious owl eyes to me. “You and your dad gamed?”

  My body tensed. I hadn’t even realized I’d spoken about him aloud. He’d been in my thoughts, unfortunately, since getting stuck in here. “Point is, this thing is worth a lot of AllCash, but I bet it’s worth more in my possession if I just be patient. For now, it makes a handy club.”

  She folded her feathered arms. “Interesting. So your dad gamed, and you did, too, at one point. Were you two close or is that why you’re so bitter toward gaming?”

  I sneered at her. “What, are we girlfriends now? Why do you care? It’s irrelevant.”

  “I don’t think so. That definitely struck a nerve. You were almost pleasant a moment ago until this came up.”

  “Almost being the operative word,” Silas cut in.

  “I have a hard time imagining this dude as pleasant. I barely know him, and I kinda hate him…” Gorlack chimed in.

  “Why Gorlack, I’d forgotten you were there, you were so quiet. Why don’t you keep that up, pal?” I shot back. “Listen, it doesn’t matter. Ask me something else about me—anything else—because that is my favorite topic. But ask something good, like how much I bench, or how many plates I can do a pullup with, or the many places I’ve traveled, or my net worth.”

  Sync held up her hands. “Fine. Sorry, I asked. It just surprised me; you’ve never talked about family. I forget you’re a real person with a family and occasional feelings, and you didn’t just spawn out of a corporate cog with an insatiable craving for money and validation.”

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  I blinked. Usually, I fired people for less than half of that mouthiness. But… that was kinda funny.

  “Oh, is that mean?” Sync asked in response to my blank expression.

  I smirked and deflected. “We can definitely make a mobile game out of that premise and fill it with micro-transactions. By the time it’s review-bombed, we’ll have made a couple million.”

  She scoffed and turned her head away.

  After a moment, I sighed. “Look, that stuff is my personal business. We’ve all got baggage, right? Suffice it to say, I didn’t have a great relationship with my dad—if he could be called a dad.”

  She looked back at me.

  “He had the wrong priorities. I’ll leave it at that.” I didn’t feel the need to share more. She didn’t need to know. No one did.

  “Clearly a touchy subject for you, mate,” Silas said. “Well, I suppose family always is. I never knew my father, so no one to be angry at.”

  “Same,” Gorlack added.

  Silas nodded. “Mother did her best, Neptune rest her soul.”

  I pinched my eyes shut. One day… one day soon you’ll be back in your Eider duck down duvet, with matching pillows and Egyptian cotton sheets, sipping a 30-year McCallahan.

  “Well, this has been cozy, but I think we’re getting close to the RPG section of Seaboard City. At least, I hope so,” I said to change the subject. The last thing I needed was Gorlack’s life story or, heaven forbid, a side-quest.

  Gorlack ferried us upriver through the bulk of the night while I stewed on recent events and tried to avoid thinking about my family. I’d gone a long time without reflecting on everything that had happened. Now memories of the past bombarded my thoughts, especially in the quiet moments.

  A memory of Mom resurfaced, one well after she’d been diagnosed and as she began to wither away. I didn’t want to think about it, but it was right there, right at the front of my mind, relentless. I shook my head as if to physically dispel my thoughts.

  It was weird. I never talked about it—any of it. Nate had never talked about it, and that was one of the few things I liked about him. There was no reason to rehash the situation, to revisit that short period of pain and suffering, followed by the excruciating loss that came next.

  Plus, when people know those things about you, it removes the steely mystique you’ve cultivated over so many years. Only simps walked around talking about feelings or needing therapy. Success was my drug, and I’m not ashamed to admit I was addicted beyond saving.

  Gorlack brought us to the docks in the fantasy portion of Seaboard City, the very same ones we’d climbed out of before causing a ruckus at The Green Apple, the tavern owned by GrannySmythe. The first rays of digital dawn shone on the horizon.

  Silas pulled himself out of the water, I lowered my arm, and he slithered up onto my shoulder.

  “Alright, first step: get you to the Godfeathers’ headquarters. Now, I’m no coder, but we already know that you collecting your own bounty, then hacking a way in for me from the inside is bound to freak out Lucretia. Any idea how that’s gonna look?”

  “No, but she will most certainly take action to protect herself from what she perceives as a threat. My class is as good as it’s gonna get for this mission. I’ll need some better weapons and more ammo for my revolver, but other than that, I’m ready.”

  I checked my inventory. “I’ve got two Energy Booster Packs, two Health Packs, a medkit, some tools, a utility jumpsuit, a bit of ammo for guns I don’t have, and an amazing endgame rifle I use as a club because there’s exactly zero rounds for it anywhere. All that to say, I’m not satisfied with my current setup. I have just over a grand in AllCash.”

  “Don’t forget you’ve got a kick-boxing, Shouldérmon-slaying champion with you,” Silas added.

  “Yeah. Problem is, pal, there won’t be any Shouldérmon in there.”

  “That you know of! But if there are, oh-ho, will they be sorry. Believe that.”

  “Oh I do, Silas. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget. Neither will those kids.”

  “Good,” Silas declared.

  Sync nodded. “We’ll make a quick stop at an artillery shop to prepare.”

  “Since you’re possibly about to get a substantial paycheck for turning yourself in, and we don’t exactly have the time for me to earn a bunch of AllCash—”

  “Yes, I’ll buy you some guns.”

  “How much AllCash do you have?” I asked.

  “Enough to buy us some decent firepower.”

  I deployed my rickshaw. “Vague, but I won’t complain. Tell me where I’m heading.”

  She climbed in, and I hurried down the medieval streets. I had to pass GrannySmythe’s tavern, and boy, did she shoot me the stink eye.

  Eventually, we reached the main brick path in the fantasy metropolis and followed that toward the modern portion of Seaboard City. I was definitely faster and stronger now than when I’d first gotten this awful class. I kept pace with cars moving at thirty to thirty-five MPH when I used the rickshaw.

  All the while, we kept a careful eye out for hostiles, but we found none.

  “It seems like when we’re absent from an area, a semblance of normalcy and stability returns, or is that just me?” I called back.

  “No, you’re correct,” Sync replied. “Just like when I hack the game, it all goes haywire. But it seems that the game balances out after some time has passed. It’s what we designed Lucretia to do: to keep order.”

  Hearing that set off every AI-inspired warning bell in my head. Terminator, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner, and countless other movies and shows featuring killer robots and rogue AIs had instilled a wariness—and now well-founded—concern that an all-powerful AI was bad news.

  The city’s aesthetic evolved from a fantasy theme to familiar old-timey brick buildings to modern ones as we progressed. Soon we crossed over the canal we’d fallen into when escaping and back into the heart of Seaboard City. One didn’t have to go far to find a weapons shop.

  Silas scanned the area. “The return to where it all began… I do hope Myrmidon Bingley and the rest of our people are alright.”

  Despite my better judgment, I found myself curious about something, so I commented. “Say, you don’t seem to be on the best terms with your people.”

  “What makes you say that?” he snapped back.

  “Well, your touchy attitude, for one. Also, what Fredrick said about the Karjok condition being your fault.”

  Silas rubbed his front tentacles together nervously. “He’s entitled to his opinions, though some might disagree.”

  “And by some, do you mean you? It seemed unanimous.”

  Silas drooped a bit. “Fine. There may be a grain of truth to it. Still, rumors spread and become exaggerated. Mistakes might’ve been made, depending on your point of view…”

  “Yeah, so what did you do?”

  “Listen, do I scrutinize every little mistake you make?”

  I blinked. “You never miss a chance. Not so fun now, is it?”

  “There, a weapons shop.” Sync interrupted. “Frank’s Freedom Emporium? Whatever. They’re all pretty similar, depending on the genre of the game. Since this one is near the Hall of Duty and Painbow Seven areas, it’s bound to have what we need.”

  Silas perked up. “Yes, a weapons shop. Let’s talk about that. Guns, ammo, projectiles, and piercing damage. Ballistics.”

  I skidded to a stop nearby, and Sync disembarked, pointing to the cluster of high-rises. “The home of the Godfeathers is tucked in there. It’s an old-timey hotel, like in the movies. Lay low, and I’ll message you when I’ve made a way to get you inside. Anyway, here’s most of my AllCash. Use it well.”

  | Player Sync has initiated a transfer of $5,500 AllCash. |

  | Accept? |

  | Player Sync: Friend request |

  | Accept? |

  I accepted both with a smug grin. “Well, well. Finally sent me a friend request. Seeing if I’ll swipe right?”

  “No, it’s… so we can find each other in case something goes wrong and we’re separated. Or the AllVerse will notify you if I… don’t respawn.”

  My grin faded. “Alright. Let’s hope they have a good selection in here.”

  We entered Frank’s together. Inside, I began examining the racks full of firepower, assessing what would best suit our mission. “You never answered my question, Silas.”

  “I did, too.”

  “No, you didn’t. You made a vague deflection. What did you do?”

  “It’s… complicated,” he replied. “I may have slightly misjudged the landing coordinates for the Nautilus, which subsequently resulted in an emergency landing, incurring a few penalties from the Earth government in the process.”

  “So you messed up the numbers and crashed the ship into the heart of Seaboard City and stranded the Karjok with millions in debt?”

  He narrowed his eyes. “That’s the way a witless sea urchin would phrase it… but, essentially… maybe.”

  “Pal, there’s no good way to phrase that. There’s no ‘maybe,’ either. That’s either what happened, or it didn’t.”

  | Affinity too low. Increase your affinity with Silas to learn more. |

  “I made a miscalculation.” Silas deflated even more and looked down. “Look, I don’t really want to talk about it, right? We didn’t pry into your family situation, so leave it.”

  “Alright, alright.” What little he’d shared was enough to reason he’d made a significant error. Having seen his inconsistent and unpredictable levels of competence, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d single-handedly—or single-tentacle-ly—crashed the ship.

  I selected a few sidearms, their corresponding ammunition, and examined the rifle selection and explosives.

  Sync did the same, choosing a sawed-off shotgun and a Tommy gun.

  I furrowed my brow at her choices. “Nice as those are, don’t you want something a little more modern? There are semi-auto shotguns.”

  “I can only use specific firearms as a Godfeather.”

  “Ah, of course. Yet another reminder that this is a terrible plan.” I stood before the NPC in charge of the shop, whom I assumed was Frank himself.

  He flashed an eager NPC smile. “Is this everything, sir?”

  “Yeah.”

  | .40 caliber pistol: $400 AllCash |

  | 5.56 AR-15 rifle: $1,000 AllCash |

  | .40 caliber ammo box x 5: $500 AllCash |

  | 5.56 ammo box x 2: $350 AllCash |

  | Incendiary grenade x 5: $2,500 AllCash |

  | Frag grenade x 5: $1,000 AllCash |

  | Total: $5,750 AllCash |

  | Purchase? |

  I accepted the purchase, and deposited it all into my inventory, leaving me with $779 AllCash. Confident in my choices, I loaded each weapon and equipped it on my person. I could easily cycle through them all, using Rook’s Revenge for my melee weapon, then my AR-15 and the .40 pistol.

  “Hoorah! Thanks for shopping at Frank’s Freedom Emporium! Remember, all munitions are on sale for Freedom Friday!” he looked to the sky and raised his arms. “Yahooo!”

  We all just stared at him for an awkward moment before leaving the store onto the city street.

  Sync had purchased plenty of revolver ammo and her sawed-off shotgun. “Alright. I think we’re all set. Let’s do this.”

  * * *

  [Initiating Player Review]

  [Icarus – Level 24]

  [Game/Class: The Godfeather – Heir of the Don]

  [Beginning Report]

  “Whatever happened to Gary Cooper? The strong, silent type?” the Godfeather asked, frowning. He sat behind the grand desk in his study, his beady eyes boring into Icarus. “Instead, I gotta listen to excuses, to whining. I gave a simple instruction. What’s so hard about doing as I ask?”

  “Godfeather, I don’t know what to do,” Icarus lamented. “I tried everything, but I—”

  “You can act like a man!” The Godfeather bellowed.

  He stood to his feet so fast that it jarred his desk. The bottle of scotch wobbled, and the fist-sized blue-and-gold dodecahedron rolled from one of its numbers to another. Both of them settled and went still again.

  The Godfeather’s feathery penguin “hair” flopped as he waddled over to Icarus, who recoiled and sank deeper into his chair. “Women and children can afford to be careless, but not men.”

  “I—I—”

  “What’s the matter with you?” the Godfeather snapped. “Is this what you’ve become, a Hollywood fennel seed who cries like a woman?”

  Icarus frowned. He hadn’t whined or been weepy, but now that the Godfeather was going, there was no stopping the old penguin. Even so, Icarus wasn’t afraid to fire back. “In my thoughts, I use the technique of positive visualization. How come I always feel undermined?”

  “Don’t tell me you’re innocent, because it insults my intelligence and makes me very angry.” The Godfeather leaned in close, his narrow beak precariously close to Icarus’s face, though his voice had lowered to a more ominous tone. “Those who want respect, give respect.”

  “I’m gonna come through,” Icarus promised. “I always have before. I’m gonna find them and gun them down in the middle of the street if I have to!”

  “Take it easy.” The Godfeather held up one of his flipper-wings. “We’re not making a western here. I don’t like violence. I’m a businessman. Blood is a big expense.”

  A tense moment lingered between them, until Icarus finally said, “I won’t fail you again.”

  “I’m glad to hear it. In fact, our quarry is coming here, so you won’t even have to go looking this time.” The Godfeather straightened his back, giving Icarus some breathing room. “It’s not personal. It’s strictly business.”

  Icarus nodded. “We’ll be ready.”

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  break--Royal Road. They call us the Critical Hitters.

  In the desolate desert of the North American Sector, the government harvests the Soul Energy of siblings Eos and Maxima in secret.

  When their powers attract the attention of a dangerous criminal organization, their routine lives are shattered. Eos and Maxima must search for freedom and the truth about their past as hostile forces close in.

  The answers they seek lie behind one word—!

  Occam's Favor

  A grizzled ex-mech pilot is drawn back into the Everwar, a decades-long conflict raging across Jupiter’s moonscape.

  This time he refuses to fight alone, bringing a crew of misfits and a mech powerful enough to rewrite the war itself.

  is a can't-miss power-scaling mech series. Read it now!

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  Dungeon Crawler Carl Audio Immersion Tunnel for Soundbooth Theater, and he's the lead writer for the Dungeon Crawler Carl Role Playing Game.