The first thing Zane did when he got back was upgrade the Beacon.
The second thing was to have Reina ramp up the training. From now on, all unused essence stones went to the militia. He dedicated a chestful of stones to setting up stakes, walls, and ditches.
Whoever these Mad Dogs were, he was not taking chances.
A few days later, he got his first messages on the Beacon. When he checked, a notification popped upโ
๐๐ฆ๐บ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ. ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ.
๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ด ๐ถ๐ฑ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐จ๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ถ๐ด ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต, ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ.
๐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ-๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ค๐ฌ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด. ๐๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ต'๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ช๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ด๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฆ.
๐๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐จ, ๐ฉ๐ฆ'๐ด ๐ข ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต. ๐๐ง ๐ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐'๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ. ๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ'๐ญ๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ, ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐บ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐จ๐ถ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฆ. ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉโ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ'๐ท๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ... ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ช๐ต'๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ'๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ณ๐ฃ๐ข๐ณ๐ช๐ข๐ฏ๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ '๐ต๐ฐ๐ฑ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐จ๐ด' ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ โฆ๐ ๐ด๐ข๐ธ ๐ข ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ญ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ. ๐๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ท๐ช๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ. ๐๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ. ๐๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐จ๐ถ๐บ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐บ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ, ๐ธ๐ฆ'๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ.
๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด,
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฏ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ด๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐ข
Zane had already gotten started on the defenses. As for runningโฆ
He'd run if he had to, sure. But he was never one for running. Running only got you so far. If these folk were as aggressive as Tom claimed, they'd face up sooner or later.
And it just irked him. Running, instead of fighting.
He'd get a look at these Mad Dogs first. Then he'd make a decision. So far, all he had to go on was Tom's word. Tom seemed a nice enough guy, but Zane wasn't trusting the future of his people on the word of someone he'd met once. That last bit especiallyโtheir being glad to have the Luminous Faction at their camp... could be innocuous, a genuine kind gesture. Could be they had other intentions, just like these 'Mad Dogs.'
Zane had to see for himself.
Back at the Beacon, he could see the Mad Dogs' progress on the map. Their territory was still a ways Westโthere were maybe six or seven F-ranked dungeons between them and the Luminous Faction. Seemed like they were mostly expanding up and down the coast.
Still, every day he kept a careful eye on them. He thought about reaching out via Beacon but instantly shot the idea down. It was probably better they didn't get on the Mad Dogs' radar.
***
Around the end of the third week, a wolf Monster wandered into camp in the dead of night. Zane woke late. He only heard the aftermath. It'd cornered a child, who screamed. Luckily, this happened near the hutsโA couple of warriors woke up and took the beast down before it could do any real damage. It was lucky too that the thing was only Level 7.
They soon determined the Monster came from an F-ranked dungeon to the southwest. It must have started leaking.
Zane meant to clear it first thing in the morning, but Reina had a better idea.
"You're always going on about how we should protect ourselves," she said. "It's an F-ranked dungeon. It's nothing serious. Why don't we give our warriors their first field test?"
So they set off together at the crack of dawn. A troop of forty-odd warriors, thrown together from a bunch of different dungeons Zane had cleared. Former warehouse workers made up maybe half. There were former electricians, former carpenters, former construction workers, former truckersโa few white-collar jobs too. After integration, some accountants and schoolteachers had discovered a fire they didn't know they had.
Their old lives were all in the past. Today, they thought of themselves as warriors of the Luminous Faction.
Annie had got up to Level 11 and she was raring to go, but her mother said no. It didn't matter her Level; she was not fighting monsters. The little girl was still fuming when they left.
The leaky dungeon was called the Millennium Glade, nestled in a valley riddled with towering ancient white-barked trees. A gentle wash of sunlight poured in through the canopy. Things were lazy here, almost sleepy. There was a gentle breeze, the soft chittering of birds, the fresh smells of damp earth and wildflowers. You could be lulled into forgetting you were in danger.
And there was danger. Most came in the form of imps, these tiny green things with spears. They were like goblins' smaller, uglier cousins. They were faster too. A few warriors panicked when the Imps came rushing. But once they downed a few, they started to gain confidence. They started to believe they were really warriors; they could do this.
They came across a direwolf of the same species that had wandered into camp and cornered it and killed it as a unit. So far, Zane hadn't needed to step in at all.
He was a little more worried when it came to the boss fights, but they turned out fine too. The first was against a slender woodland sprite called the Thornheart Dryad. It used poison spikes, summoned vines and little sprite minions to mess with the warriors. After half an hour of skirmishing, they managed to whittle it down and end it. Zane only stepped in once, when a warrior got out of line and nearly ate a boulder to the face.
By the time they got to the other boss, the Greatwolf, they looked like a real fighting unit. Still green, still prone to gaffes, but much less jittery. Zane never knew what to say to them, but Reina did. She threw in encouragements at all the right timesโ"Well done," "Great read, James," or "Clean work!"โand urged them on with aโ"You've got this!" or "Come on, just a little moreโyes!"โwhen it seemed they might falter.
In the end, the mission was a massive success. They cleared an F-ranked dungeon almost entirely on their own.
Lunch was a massive celebration. They used the dungeon winnings to buy the most expensive food the Beacon offered, a kind of striped crab that would have been a delicacy at a Michelin star restaurant just three weeks ago. The Beacon gave each crab as much essence as an essence stone. Warriors leveled just by eating. They made a feast of it.
***
Zane excused himself halfway through. He went northwest. He was on a mission to clear up all the nearby leaking dungeons, starting with a former wildlife sanctuary where the beasts had escaped and mutated. It took most of the rest of the day. One in particular was finicky: a graveyard. There were three bosses there. Go figure, they were all ghosts and ghouls, they were all speed-based and they could all cloak. It wasn't hard tracking them down and squishing them, just annoying. They couldn't do much to him.
It wasn't much fun, and he longed to be on the road again soon. But he still felt satisfied after he cleared out all the nearby dungeons up north. He imagined it was the kind of satisfaction some got after thoroughly cleaning their house. Things just felt nicer.
***
The sun was starting to set as he walked back. He was still in a pretty good mood, though he could see dark clouds gathering on the horizon by the sea. There would likely be a storm tonight. The roofs had been replaced nowโturned from straw to wood to steel. They'd better be ready.
As he climbed down the Highlands, he frowned at his mini-map. There were white dots as usual, marking Luminous Faction folk, but what were those white dots with red in the middle? There was a clump of them gathered right outside the main settlement. There was a clump of white dots too, on the other side, facing themโฆ
He stilled.
He'd checked the Beacon map this morning. He hadn't seen any signs the Mad Dogs were expanding east! But who else could they be? Then he was sprinting down the plains fast as he could.
He came upon the settlement. There was Reina. Her hands were balled to fists, her face twisted in anger. Her warriors milled nervously behind her.
Across from her, just twenty paces off, stood a bald man with a puglike face. He was shirtless, exposing a very unimpressive body. His arms were riddled with tattoos. Across his chest, the word MAD DOG was carved into the flesh in gruesome capital letters.
๐ป๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ธ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ค๐ ๐ (โ๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐)
๐ผ๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ก
โ๐๐๐ค๐ค: ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ฃ
Behind him was a crew of men just like him, all bald, all with MAD DOG carved into their chests too. It must've been cleared every level upโdid they re-carve it every time? Zane had hardly met them, and they already seemed ridiculous.
"Enough! Leaveโnow!" snarled Reina. Her fists were clenched so hard they were trembling.
"Aww," smirked Derek. "C'mon, baby, don't be like that. Anyone ever tell you you're beautiful? Tell you what. You come back with me and we'll let your friends off easy. Think about it, alright?"
"What do you think you're doing in my Faction?" said Zane flatly.
They finally noticed him. All at once.
"Zane!" Reina's face lit up. "Thank God you're here! Theyโ"
"Oh, this is Zane," Derek turned his narrow little gaze on Zane. "Your girl's told us all about you. You're a big fella, aren't you? And you'reโ" his eyes widened, twitched.
But he was only stunned for a second. Then he barked out a laugh. "Phew! Level 43! Someone's been eating his wheaties."
He wasn't cowed. Interesting. Zane wondered what gave him the confidence.
"Yeah, okay. So you're a big boy, real big," mocked Derek. "But guess what? We've got a guy just as big as you. And he's got an army of Level 30-pluses to back him up!"
Ah.
The men behind Derek started to bark like hounds.
"You think you can take all of us, big boy?"
Zane stayed raised a brow. "How strong is thisโฆ Mad Dogโฆ precisely?"
"He's got two Levels on you, buddy. And a hundred fighting men willing to die for him!"
"Oh," said Zane. He gathered this was meant to scare him, but all he could think about was how interesting a challenge it sounded.
Stillโ"You should leave," he told Derek.
"I don't think I will," said Derek. He must have taken Zane's words, his calmness, as a surrender. His smile grew smugger. "How about this? We give you three days to clear out. Take all your shit and get the fuck out. Three-day grace period, isn't that nice? After that, wellโฆ all's fair game. Run fast, and who knows? Maybe we won't catch you."
"How generous," said Zane dryly.
"Isn't it? We could wipe you now, you know. We won't! But you've gotta give me something for it. I want that one." He pointed straight at Reina.
"Go fuck yourself!" screamed Reina.
"Oh, I like that!" laughed Derek. "It's more fun when they have some fight in 'em."
Reina seemed one insult away from lunging at him.
"I'm not going to ask again," said Zane calmly. "Leave."
"No," said Derek, smirking.
Zane shrugged. Then slowly, methodically, he started walking toward the man.
"Oh yeah, that's it," said Derek. "Big boy's mad. Well guess what, big boy? You touch me and you're done. Your whole village's done! Mad Dog won't spare a single one of 'em!"
Zane kept walking.
"Did you hear me, you stupid oaf? You touch me and we'll raze this shitty little village to the fucking ground!"
He was panicking; his voice got higher and higher pitched the closer Zane got. Until Zane stopped right in front of him. Zane staring down at him impassively. Derek swallowed. "Yeah, yeah, that's rightโ"
Zane slapped him so hard his front teeth went flying.
He slapped him so hard Derek's whole body went flying, tumbling spinning into the grass.
For a second, Derek just lay there, staring dumbly up at him, as though he couldn't believe then Zane really just hit him.
It took a half-second for the others to react. Then one huge black Chain whipped through the air, blasting them all off their feet. They went flying, screaming as in Zane crouched down to Derek's level.
Derek tried to rise. "You!"โ he spat. He looked furious. "You punk! I'll fuckingโ"
Zane slapped him again. This time, something audibly cracked.
But this one didn't break when he went down. Sure he choked out a sob, but he seemed madder if anything. "I'll fucking kill you!" he shrieked, slobbering drool. "I'll kill all of you! Your girl too, I'll break her like a dog! Oh, yeah. Just you wait. Once Mad Dog hears, you're FUCKED!"
Zane sighed. He looked to the sky. Then his Chains burst into being. "Once Mad Dog hears?" he cocked a brow. "But who will tell him?"
Far too late, Derrick seemed to realize his mistake. "โฆUhhโwaitโhold on, nowโ"
"You should've kept your mouth shut."