Chapter 26 Compulsory Task
The town of Kris was well lit with lanterns that were hung on metal poles throughout the town. The streets were made of cobblestone and there were a few dozen huts and stone buildings. The main street ran north and south through the town with a fork in the middle. The fork split the two southern paths into one north path that led back towards Aegis. Where the road forked, stood a tall building that had a dim neon sign that read, "Pigtail Inn" in multiple colors.
Pebble was surprised to notice that there was a road that the team could have traveled on, but they all missed it during their skydive. The team approached the road so they could enter the town from a main path rather than coming in from the woods. There were a few people still walking about on the streets even though it was later in the evening now.
"Kris used to be a nightlife hotspot back in the day." Puffy divulged, "The Hero that ran that scene ended up kicking the bucket. The crowd seemed to disperse into several cliques before fading into obscurity." Puffy was still riding Pebble's shoulders as the crew walked on the cobblestone road into town.
A couple glances were cast in their direction. Pebble noticed a man holding his hand over his sheath as they passed, "People are antsy here, huh?" He reached up and poked Puffy.
"Don't poke me, I'm antsy too. Just get to the inn and get us a room." Puffy looked around at the townsfolk and smiled awkwardly.
Pebble sighed and continued walking. Each step was still a manual task, as his mind was still swimming with nerves after finding out about his viewership. "Say Puffy, have you ever offended anyone with a high standing?" Pebble questioned.
"Why would you ask that?" Puffy replied seriously.
Pebble was thinking about that 150,000 CP bounty that was placed by a Donor in his Divine Favor tab, "I just had a feeling, I don't know." Pebble scratched his head and Puffy gave him a scrutinizing stare, but did not reply. "Sorry, forget I mentioned it." Pebble backed down.
They had arrived at the entrance of the Pigtail Inn, after walking past the fork in the road. Pebble reached out and rested a hand on the door, "Alright, I think Bard should do the talking. Thoughts?"
"Agreed," Said Bard.
"Yeah, can't argue." Phil replied and Fred simply nodded.
"Okay, let's do it." Pebble pushed the door open to the inn and was met with a warm welcome as the Dwarf behind the counter cheered. The room was well lit as it had a blazing fire going in the fireplace which a few people were reading next to. There were a couple tables with patrons who had tall glasses of beer and mead.
"Ah ho! Welcome! Come in, come in. Wow, look at those impressive muscles!" The Dwarf flexed at Pebble and raised his eyebrows expectantly. Pebble looked at him with a lost expression and Puffy smacked him on the back of the head.
"Don't be rude. Flex back, you dingus! It's a Dwarvish greeting." Puffy grumbled in Pebble's ear.
"Oh, my bad!" Pebble said as he quickly began to flex back at the Dwarf with both of his massive arms. He brought his fist together in front of his abs and tightened his chest and back, creating quite the imposing posture.
"Ah ah ah ah!" The Dwarf responded by taking off his shirt and flexing while he reached his arm upwards and backwards to reveal his equally impressive back muscles. His eyebrows once again give a wiggle at Pebble.
"Okay, I see you. If you would excuse me." Pebble picked Puffy up and put him on the ground before untying the top of his white robe and flexing his back at the Dwarf.
The Dwarf laughed heartily and ran over to touch Pebble's muscles. "These are finely honed. They are firm like stones. Do you have Dwarvish blood running in those veins, boy? I've never seen a human with more muscles than…" He coughed, "That particular gentleman."
Pebble was unsure how to proceed now that the Dwarf was feeling him up, "Uhh, excuse me, sir. I'm not familiar with Dwarvish culture. Is this another greeting or are you making a move?"
The Dwarf removed his hands, "Sorry, lad! I figured with muscles like yours, you must have at least had a Dwarf uncle." He hobbled his way back behind the counter, "My name's Dink. Welcome to the Pigtail Inn! How can I help you guys today?"
"Uh, should I still do the talking?" Bard questioned with his finger in the air. Pebble shrugged, "Alright, I'll just proceed then. Hello, good sir, my name is Bard and I believe you've already met our beloved big brute, Pebble. This little one is Puffy."
"F*ck you." Puffy said.
Bard ignored him and continued, "That old man is Fred and the snake is Phil. We'd like to purchase a room for the night please!"
"I didn't need your names, son." Dink rolled his eyes and looked back at Pebble. "You get in for free, they have to pay 8 copper each."
"Okay, I'll butt out." Bard backed down and stood behind Pebble.
Pebble shrugged and held out a gold coin, "They only gave us gold, does a gold coin cover…"
"YES!" The Dwarf snatched the coin out of Pebble's hands at lightning speeds and began furiously writing in his business records. Puffy looked at Pebble like he was looking at a bad dog.
"Are you stupid? You don't go waving around gold like that!" Puffy whispered aggressively, "This is not the type of town to flaunt what you have on you unless you're looking to get mugged. Are you ready to kill, pretty boy? Keep it up!" Puffy shook his head in annoyance.
Pebble looked around at the dining area around him and realized that a few people were indeed watching him, "Sh*t, I didn't think about that."
Puffy sighed, "It's not your fault. I know of your condition." Pebble felt helpless in his current situation.
"We've got your back, bro. If someone tries something, I'll stab 'em. Nice and simple." Phil said in an effort to comfort both Pebble and Puffy.
"Please do not stab any patrons. Anyone who isn't a customer is fair game." Dink said, "I've placed you guys in room 101, you're right around the corner over there." He pointed over the dining area at a bright lit hall. "It's the safest room in the house considering yours truly gets to watch your door all night." He nodded at Pebble, "One gold coin will get you two weeks. Here's your keys. Breakfast is every morning from five to ten. Let me know if you have any questions." He put 5 plastic key cards on the table.
Pebble took the cards and started passing them out to the team, "Thank you, Dink." Dink nodded in response and the team walked through the dining room to approach room 101. Pebble noticed a few gazes following them across the room and did his best to remember the details of the people who were watching them. They got to the room and Puffy jumped up with his card and unlocked the door. Bard opened it up and the party entered the room.
The room had four twin sized beds and a sofa. There was a table positioned in the corner and the opposite corner had a little bathroom with just a toilet in it. There was no shower and no sink. Above the couch was a window that had a view of the back alley behind Pigtail Inn.
"Oh wow, we got our own room! It only cost us a gold coin which would equate to 100 copper." Puffy shrugged, "Can't be too mad honestly. It's not our money in the first place. Pebble, give the coin purse to Fred. The person with an actual intellect should be the teams' treasurer."
Pebble shrugged and tossed the coin bag to Fred. Fred struggled to move his arms and accepted his fate as the coins came barreling towards his face, but Phil caught the bag and handed it back to Fred.
"Be careful, Fred isn't 30 anymore." Phil half joked.
"Oops." Pebble walked over to the table and took a roasted chicken leg and a plate out of his inventory. "Anyone hungry?"
The team gathered around the table and ate their first meal in the town or Kris. Not too long after the meal, the team each took a bed, Puffy ended up with the couch, and they all fell asleep except for Pebble. Pebble stood at the ceiling and occasionally checked his Divine Favor menu.
'The viewers went up again. Why are you creeps watching us sleep?' Pebble thought as he stared at the ceiling. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw movement in the window above Puffy. Pebble stared at the window intently for a long time.
"Oh sh*t." Pebble muttered.
—
"Charlie, did you see anything? This is the room right?" Questioned a man in a black mask.
"Steven, he waved a gold coin around like it was nothing and walked right into room 101 in front of everyone. This is absolutely the room." Charlie replied through a black mask of his own.
"Did you ask Darz to assist? There were five of them, we need some men." Steven said as he tried to peer through the window.
"I did. He's rounding up a few lads and they will meet us here shortly." Charlie said as a loud cracking sound was heard a few yards behind them. The next moment, Charlie could see nothing and could no longer move as he was encased in rock armor that looked like a thief.
"So there's going to be a second wave?" Pebble scratched his head as he walked forward from the dark alleyway.
"Who are you! What did you do to my friend?" Steven shouted at Pebble.
"Hi, I'm Pebble and I'm struggling here. Do you want to chat?"
"Why would I talk with you? You killed my friend!" Steven grabbed his dagger from his sheath and held it defensively.
"Please don't do that. Your friend's not dead." Pebble slumped his shoulders, "Look, I got a Compulsory Task to eliminate the threat." Pebble shrugged, "I'm going to be more honest with you than I've been with my buddies, okay?"
Steven's eyes went wide, "Why?"
"Because, I'm not normally a liar, but this world has changed me very suddenly and I've been having a hard time coping." Pebble summoned his axe.
"Oh my f*ck, you're a Hero." Steven fell to his knees.
"Yes, but I'm also a Double Challenger, and that means I have a few gods who watch everything I do." Pebble said.
"Are you going to kill me?" Steven was trying to hold back tears and snot from falling out of his face.
"I'd honestly prefer not to, you and I are going to test something out. You're going to fully surrender and we will see if that counts as eliminating the threat." Pebble nodded seriously at Steven.
"Uh, what if it doesn't" Steven was now also about to wet himself.
"You and I both don't want that. Let's just try our luck for now. If I free your friend, would he be on board with this?" Pebble asked.
"Charlie should know better, right Charlie?"
"Mmmmhmmmm!" The stone armored thief said.
Pebble unsummoned the armor and Charlie immediately yelled, "Get him!" and started charging at him. Pebble rolled his eyes and quickly kicked the ground, retrapping the man in another set of stone armor.
"You have five minutes to convince your friend, I really don…" Pebble was trying to plead his case to Steven, but a bolt shot out from behind and landed in Pebble's right shoulder.
<43/50 HP>
Steven's eyes went wide, but he quickly readied his knife and began to run at Pebble. He knew that if he could get away with one desperate strike, he could end this right here. He screamed and sprinted as fast as he could.
"Don't make me do this." Pebble begged, but Steven did not listen and proceeded to shove the dagger with every bit of strength that he had right into Pebble's chest. Pebble was truly surprised since the man seemed sensible just moments before.
<8/50 HP>
A familiar voice returned.
Steven was utterly terrified as Pebble did not flinch from either the bolt to his shoulder or the knife to his chest.
Pebble looked at Steven, "Sorry, I'm not letting that happen." Pebble swung his axe horizontally. With his new Axe Mastery skill, the weapon practically swung itself. Pebble didn't even feel resistance when the blade cut through the man's bones.
Steven was confused, he didn't understand why Pebble was now sideways. Or why he could now see his own body. 'Where's my head?' were the last thoughts of the decapitated thief, before he succumbed to his wounds and accepted the cold embrace of death.
<+100 CP>
<+250 Exp>
<18/50 HP>
The thief with the crossbow yelled after seeing the death of his friend, "No, Steven! What are you!" He tried to reload the crossbow but after the sight he just witnessed, he was too shaken to succeed.
Pebble ignored him and swung the axe horizontally again at the stone armored thief, cutting the statue in half. The top half of the statue fell to the ground and crumbled into bloody sand. The legs were held in place by the stone armor and blood began shooting in the air like a fountain. Charlie looked at his Pebble in horror and attempted to scream, but was unable to find his voice. He looked back at his remaining friend in the ally and croaked before bleeding out.
<+100 CP>
<+250 Exp>
<28/50 HP>
<29/50 HP>
Pebble turned around and saw that the crossbow thief was trying to run. He stomped the ground and sent a rock into his lower spine. The man screamed and fell to the ground, his spine broke where the rock impacted and he was now paralyzed below the waist.
"I need to kill you with as little blood as possible! Sorry for this!" Pebble said as he walked over to the man and stepped on his neck. The man squealed and then went silent as he was unable to pass air through his throat. He looked up in panic at Pebble before his consciousness faded away.
<+100 CP>
<+250 Exp>
<39/50 HP>
Pebble could feel his muscles spazzing in anticipation. He knew he was just a couple drops of blood away from triggering his Blood Luster trait and he desperately did not want that to happen in the middle of a town. Pebble spoke out loud, "I know there's more of you. If you wish to die with your friends. Come now. If you choose to live, leave. It's that simple." Pebble waited but heard no response, so he continued, "I won't even loot your friends. Feel free to grab their bodies when I'm gone."
Pebble began walking away, "Oh, and please don't wake up my friends!"
<1200 CP>
<1400/2400 Exp to level 7>