Nightmare Realm Summoner

”Tell me about that weapon you mentioned,” Mite said, studying Alex and Claire intently from beneath the mop of brown hair on his head. ”I might not have some fancy group backing me, but that means I’ve got to figure shit out myself instead of just getting it handed to me.”

”Are you implying that you’re better than the Great Tide’s best man?” Claire arched an eyebrow. ”That’s arrogant, to say the least. He’s been in the business for longer than you’ve been alive. Experience means more than almost anything.”

There was a large part of Alex that just wanted to grab Mite, sling the boy over his shoulder, and make a run for it. They didn’t have time for a long debate in the middle of Valley Ford.

He still had no idea what the destruction of the Disruptor would do to the city or its Outworlder inhabitants. Whatever it did definitely wouldn’t be good… and it was clear that the Great Tide had already realized their property had been destroyed. Even though their guards were putting up a front, Alex had no doubt they were searching to figure out who had attacked them.

No part of him wanted to be sitting around in enemy territory if or when they realized it had been him and Claire.

Alex was fairly certain they’d find out soon enough. He just didn’t want to be around when that happened.

But Claire knew what she was doing — and there was no benefit to rushing ahead. He’d managed to pick up that Claire was trying to make the situation seem like they were doing Mite a favor and not the other way around.

That would all come crumbling down if he let on just how much of a hurry they were in.

Fortunately, it seemed that Claire’s strategy was working.

A spark of anger flashed in Mite’s eyes.

”There’s more to making things than just experience, and you can’t get experience without work!” Mite snapped. ”If you only ever look at what someone can do right now, then you’ll regret it in the future when they’re capable of more than you ever dreamed. There’s more to ability than just what someone was lucky enough to be able to afford. That asshole had access to all the resources of the Great Tide family. I don’t, but I’d be willing to bet I can do anything just as well as he could if I could get some material that wasn’t steaming horse shit. God, how am I getting screwed over in my essays even after the apocalypse?”

Alex bit back a laugh. It was pretty clear Claire had hit a nerve. The boy had more than a small hot streak to him.

”Were you applying to college before shit went south?” Alex asked.

Mite glanced at him mid-breath, clearly not having planned on finishing his rant yet. He blinked, then coughed into a fist and adjusted his shirt.

”Yes. It was not an enjoyable experience.”

Tell me about it.

”I’ll give you one thing,” Claire said. ”You’re not wrong about the potential versus current ability argument — but we aren’t running a school or a charity. Nobody wants a weapon made because they like giving their workers practice. We need it for a reason. Are you capable of making something powerful?”

”Depends how powerful we’re talking. If I had time and materials, I’m confident I could.”

”And you think you could do it better than what the Great Tide’s engineer could do?” The tone of Claire’s voice made it abundantly clear that she didn’t believe her words.

Mite scratched the back of his head and let out a short sigh. ”You have to realize that these guys will overcharge you for anything they do. That’s how fame works. Engineering is about optimizing costs, you know. Who cares how good their guy is if you pay 100 times more for a product that’s only slightly improved from what I could do? Look to the future.”

”To the future?” Claire tilted her head to the side. ”Keep going.”

”Well, I can tell you’ve got powerful materials,” Mite said with a nod to the egg tucked under Claire’s arm. ”And I can’t imagine you only want a single thing made, right? Once this weapon is done, you’ll want another. Then another. It never ends. You’ll have to keep hiring people to do stuff for you.”

”Right,” Claire said. ”That would be how things generally work. Those who sit around inactive fall behind. And in a world like this, falling behind means death.”

”Exactly. So why not establish a relationship with someone that has potential and something to prove?” Mite asked. ”My prices are good right now. But soon enough, people are going to learn my name. Then I’ll have so many customers that you’ll need to get in a waiting list to hire me. I’ll be charging ten times what I do now. Maybe more. But if we already have a good relationship…”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

He trailed off, letting them fill the rest in on their own.

Alex suppressed a laugh. The kid definitely held himself in high esteem. There wasn’t so much as an once of self-doubt in his voice. That was a good thing. The System wasn’t going to be kind to anyone that didn’t make themselves believe in their own abilities.

The only question was if that esteem was born of confidence or arrogance. There was a stark difference between the two. One was born from reason, while the other was nothing but delusion.

So all that really remains is to see which one Mite is. Realistically speaking, I don’t think we’ve got much of a choice. He might think we’re picking from some list, but we really need the first bloke who can smack things together that we can get.

Mite does actually seem to be somewhat competent, though. That puppet thing was pretty good. It could even speak. Then again, I know shitall about engineering classes. Maybe that’s easy as fuck to do.

”I see what you’re getting at,” Claire said. She hesitated, as if considering his words. ”So your biggest pitch is that if we hire you now, you believe your potential and determination will carry you farther than the Great Tide’s man?”

Mite gave her a firm nod. ”And if you give me that power source you’ve got under your arm, I can show you.”

”How are you with dangerous environments?” Claire asked. ”We don’t need someone that buckles at the first sight of danger. You have to realize that selling yourself as potential means we’re going to expect a lot more hands-on effort from you. It won’t be safe.”

”I don’t care,” Mite said. ”I’ve fought monsters when I was making my way here. As long as you aren’t expecting me to hold my own against someone whose whole job is fighting, then I’m more than capable of working on the field. Good luck getting someone from the great Tide to put themselves at risk, though. They’ll definitely void your contract.”

Claire studied Mite for a few more seconds. Then she inclined her head. ”You make a good argument. Very well. You’re provisionally hired. So long as you prove that you’re as capable as you claim, we can improve the terms of that offer to something more permanent.”

Mite blinked. ”What? Just like that?”

”Why would we waste time? You made your point. I heard it — and if you were wrong, we’ll just come back and hire the other guy,” Claire said with a shrug. ”We have nothing to lose. You have everything to prove. Seems like it works out either way.”

”Yeah, that’s true,” Mite said with a hurried nod. ”What am I getting paid, then?”

”Materials.” Claire tapped the egg. ”And a chance to harvest that potential you were so proud of. We can arrange for further pay depending on what you’re actually capable of making. How’s that sound?”

”Incredible!” Mite exclaimed, his voice cracking slightly as his eyes lit up. He paused and coughed awkwardly into his fist. ”Uh, okay. I guess. It’s okay. When do we start?”

”Today.” Alex jerked his chin over his shoulder toward the city gates. The sooner they could get out of here, the better. ”We don’t like wasting time. Let’s get going.”

”I — now?” Mite blinked. ”Like right now?”

”Right now,” Alex said. ”Unless you’ve got something else you’d rather be doing?”

”No! Nothing like that, no.” Mite hurriedly shook his head. The hunched puppet that had originally followed them into the ally abruptly jerked upright. It walked over to stand beside Mite without a word, and Mite gave them a nod. ”I’m ready. Have everything I need, actually. Always bring my stuff around with me. In case of situations like this. Lots of people that might want to hire me on a dime, you know.”

Right. He definitely just doesn’t have anything, but that works with me.

”Then let’s get moving,” Claire said.

They all followed after her, making their way back into and through the market. There was a very large part of Alex that couldn’t help but feel like this had been far too easy. He’d been certain the Great Tide would have figured something out while they were waltzing through the city.

But nobody stopped them as they continued on their way and stepped out of the city gate, emerging back into the outside world. A minute ticked by in silence as they all walked. Alex’s confusion only grew.

I haven’t even seen any major effects from the Disruptor going down. Maybe it stored the energy it gathered in some form of battery? If that was the case, maybe the Great Tide doesn’t actually know the extent of the damage yet. That does make me wonder just how much energy it could have —

A rumble ran through the air from the direction of Valley Ford.

All three of them spun.

The massive rivers of water swirling through the air above Valley Ford to flow into the huge ocean suspended above the city were trembling.

And, standing at the edge of the city walls, staring straight in their direction, was Invictus.

The water swirled behind him, flowing away from the ocean to gather at his back. It was the very same pattern that it had taken moments before Invictus had destroyed an entire horde of monsters charging the city with one blow.

”Oh, shit,” Alex said.

No wonder they weren’t pressed to attack earlier. That ability has a huge range. They could have hit us with it whenever they wanted to, and attacking in the town would have just destroyed it needlessly.

We may have fucked up.

”They were watching us,” Claire said with a curse. ”Probably waiting for us to regroup with our team so they could take us out at once. They must have known what we were doing the whole time.”

”Known? Known what?” Mite asked, taking a step back. ”The Great Tide got that mad you didn’t hire their engineer?”

”I think it might have been something else,” Alex said, coughing into a fist. Riftsense told him that the nearest portal to the Mirrorlands was around a minute or two away if they ran at a full sprint.

No time like the present.

Alex grabbed Mite by the arm.

”What are you do—”

”Run!” Alex roared, sprinting for the unopened portal as fast as his legs could carry him. Claire and Mite’s puppet sprinted after him.

And, in the air above Valley Ford, an ocean prepared to come crashing down upon their heads.