Nightmare Realm Summoner

“Shit!” Evelyn exclaimed from just behind Alex. “Seriously! You both have the same damn ability? What, are you cockroaches?”

“Someone told me to always go for blows that you know will kill your opponent,” Alex said with a wry smile, turning to face her. “Turns out, that was good advice.”

Evelyn pulled her helm off and rolled her eyes. “I don’t need advice from someone a decade my junior, you little brat. But that was well fought. I didn’t expect anything like that from the two of you. Especially the suicidal opening attack. Seriously, are you both really new to using the arena?”

“Yeah,” Claire said as she walked up to join them, henry following after her. “Why?”

“Because it tends to take people some time to adapt to literally killing themselves just to increase their chances of victory,” Evelyn said. She squinted at Claire. “You don’t have a death wish, do you?”

“Not nearly as big of one as he does,” Claire said as she nodded to Alex. “I just understand the rules of the game. Speaking of which, I do believe you owe us a Denarius.”

“Already got it,” Alex said, patting his pocket. “I guess the arena enforces that as well.”

“It does,” Evelyn grumbled. She shot a quick glare at Henry. “Unfortunately, it does not stop your partner from showing off like an idiot and getting himself killed way too early.”

Henry coughed into his fist. “I must admit that I was not expecting to get hit. Perhaps it’s been too long since I fought at the Adept stage. But I certainly don’t remember ever being in a situation where an attack could catch me so easily.”

“Unfortunate,” Alex said. “Maybe you were just too focused on Claire.”

“Hm,” Henry said. His eyes narrowed slightly as he studied Alex. It almost felt like he was trying to peel Alex apart with his gaze. “You know, I don’t think that was the case.”

Alex shrugged. He wasn’t about to go explaining how the Singularity Core worked. Even if he’d wanted to, he didn’t entirely understand himself. And explaining the terms of their victory hadn’t been part of the deal.

“Maybe this’ll make you take the next fight more seriously,” Evelyn said with a smirk. She bumped her shoulder into Henry, then gave Alex and Claire a small nod. “Congratulations on your win. It’ll be interesting to see how you improve. Once you’ve left the Adept stage, find me again. I’d love to try my hand a second time around. Wouldn’t even mind sparring without a Denarius. You’ve both got some guts.”

“Thanks,” Alex said. “We’ll probably take you up on that at some point in the future. Right now, I think we’ve got to head back home. The Empty Court is kind of dangerous. I could see myself spending months in a row here, but the world isn’t waiting for us.”

“No, it isn’t,” Evelyn agreed. “You’d best be off, then. Make sure you spend your Denarius. You’ve got an extra, now. No point hoarding wealth when it can instead be useful. Just keep the one you originally had for next time so you can spend it on a good fight.”

“Any particular suggestions?” Alex asked. “Given that you joined pretty recently as well, I’m sure there’s something you wish you got with yours. Or maybe something you got that was definitely worth the price?”

“Go talk with Brim. He’s a representative from the Traveler’s Guild,” Henry advised. “That’s definitely the best place to start. Some of the shit he’s got for sale… well, it’ll take you farther than any random weapon or armor ever will. It’s all about connections.”

“Oh, don’t start now,” Evelyn said with a groan. She sent a sidelong glance at Alex and Claire. “It’s not bad advice, though. Brim is worth chatting with. But real power comes from inside. Not connections. It’s all about your own abilities. Friends only go so far. After all, you never know when they’ll screw around and fail to perform in the arena because they’re busy showing off.”

Henry cleared his throat. Then he pointed up the mountain. “Halfway up. The little shack with the Traveler’s Guild’s logo on it. The dove. He’s in there.”

“Thanks,” Alex said. “Appreciate the fight. And the advice.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Evelyn said with a wave of her hand. “Don’t get yourself killed back on your planet. It’d be a shame.”

Alex and Claire waved farewell, then headed past the small crowd at the base of the arena and up in the direction that Henry had indicated. There was no reason not to at least check out his suggestion.

It didn’t take them long to find the house he’d indicated. Calling it a shack was still a bit of a stretch. It was really more like a tower. Though its base was only about the size of a small room, it rose easily three stories tall. The building had been made out of a myriad of different kinds of marble, giving it a rather motley white-gray pattern that made Alex feel as if it were about to pitch over at any second.

The door to the house was wide open. Above it was a golden circle roughly the size of a dinner plate embossed with a simple design of a dove.

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Alex and Claire stepped into it.

A plain wooden desk sat against the back wall in stark contrast to the marble all around it. Hanging against the wall behind it was a rope ladder. It ran up to a wooden walkway running along the ceiling where the second floor of the house should have been.

The walkway spiraled up all the way to the top of the building where it seemed to continue straight into the roof. There wasn’t a door or any way to actually pass into the roof. The path just… led there. No matter how Alex looked at it, the whole structure seemed completely pointless.

There was a loud clunk, followed by a curse.

A bearded man popped up from where he’d been ducked under the desk, rubbing the back of his head. His bright green eyes alighted on Alex and Claire and he hurriedly dropped back into a rickety chair behind him.

“Ah! My apologies. I was fixing the desk. I hope you weren’t waiting long,” the man said. Something about the way he spoke felt off. It took Alex a second to realize that his mouth seemed to be moving half a second before any sound actually came out of it.

“We just walked in,” Claire said as she and Alex walked up to the front. “Are you Brim?”

“I am,” the man replied. He patted the counter before him. “What brings you here? Looking to send a letter? A purchase order?”

“I think we’d just like to browse what you have for offer,” Alex said. “Specifically for the price of one denarius. We were told that you might have some interesting things available.”

“It might be simpler if you told me a bit more about yourself,” Brim said. He splayed his hands out on the table. “It seems like you might be new to the Empty Court?”

Claire nodded. “We are.”

“That would explain things,” Brim said with a knowing nod. “I represent the Traveler’s Guild. We have a treaty with the Empty Court… among with most families in the Infinitum. We deal in deliveries. People, information, items, and whatever else it is that you may want. If you want something passed from one place to another, that’s where we come in. I’m proud to say that our network has recently continued its expansion and now offers service in a whole 2% of the Infinium. Rounded up.”

“That’s it?” Alex asked. “Two percent? Isn’t that a little…”

“Our next largest competitor doesn’t even round up to one hundredth of a percent,” Brim said cheerfully. “Having a fully functioning semi-instant-transfer network across the Infinium is a considerably more difficult task than you would imagine. But that’s why we’re here. You don’t have to imagine. And, fortunately, very few people have any reason at all to want to send something to a location we don’t service. The Infinium is a very big place… and the vast majority of it is not particularly compatible with existence.”

“Right,” Alex said slowly. The implications of what Brim was getting at were more than a little concerning. But that wasn’t exactly his concern at the moment. “We’re not really looking to send anything right now. Do you have anything that might be useful for someone who’s just recently joined the Empty Court?”

“Of course I do,” Brim replied. “How close are you to your nearest entrance?”

“Not,” Alex said. A spark of interest lit in his eyes. “Can you…”

“Get you a short cut?” Brim grinned. “We transport everything. That includes people. Pretty much everyone that comes in here grabs a direct connection to a gate into the Empty Court. They’re quite useful. No set-up time, either. They work instantly.”

Brim reached out. The air before his hand rippled, and then there was a small black stone within his palm. He set it down on the table before himself.

“How?” Claire asked. “Do you need to come to our Town to build it?”

“Nope,” Brim replied with a shake of his head. “It’s not really a structure so much as a magical link for your Starstone. You can think of it like a half-jump. Instead of sending you into a specific coordinate, it sends you right into the magical connection between the Empty Court and one of its many entrances.”

“What about the way back?” Alex asked.

“The link is two-way, but you need to touch it to your Starstone for it to work in the first place,” Brim replied. “But if you’re worried about getting home, we can get you there as a little bonus for the first purchase. One-way trips are easy. Just promise to consider building a Traveler’s Guild outpost at your Town once it grows large enough to warrant it.”

That did sound really convenient. They didn’t currently have a single good way to get to and from the Empty Court, but it seemed the Traveler’s Guild could solve that issue completely.

“And it costs one Denarius?” Alex asked.

Brim nodded and rocked the stone back and forth on the table with one finger. “Including the free trip home. Cheap, right? The Empty Court actually covers a portion of the cost on their end to encourage people to buy these. If they didn’t, this place would be pretty… well, empty.”

Alex and Claire exchanged a glance.

“Will you keep the location of where we get sent?” Claire asked.

“No,” Brim said. “We pride ourselves on discretion and secrecy. We work with everyone in the Infinium. That includes entities that may need to protect their identities and the locations of where they work. I can assure you of our secrecy. And the proof is before you. The Empty Court is one such entity.”

“Might as well,” Claire said after another moment of thought. “We need to get back. This’ll save us a lot of time, now and in the future.”

“And I guess Absolution isn’t exactly waiting for us outside anymore,” Alex said. He shrugged. They were definitely going to have to buy a way to and from the Empty Court eventually. Now was as good a time as any. Especially since it also got them right back to Mirrorwane. “Let’s do it.”

Brim smiled. “Fantastic.”

Alex took the Denarius out of his pocket and slid it across the counter to Brim, who rested a single finger upon its surface. The heavy coin disappeared. Then Brim slid the black stone over to Alex.

“We just touch this to the Starstone?” Alex asked as he picked the stone up and sent it into his Spatial Ring.

Brim nodded. “Exactly. And now, a trip home. Would you like it now?”

“Yeah,” Claire said. “Especially since we’ve got a way back.”

“So you do,” Brim said. Then he stepped straight into the counter, passing through it as if nothing was there. Both Alex and Claire nearly jumped back, but Brim didn’t seem to notice. He just rubbed his hands together. “Just focus on where you’d like to go. I’ll get you on your way.”

“Just like that?” Alex asked.

“Just like that,” Brim said. He gestured. “Go on. Make sure you aren’t thinking of different locations, or this is going to be a little awkward.”

“Okay,” Alex said. He and Claire both nodded. “We’re ready.”

“Then I wish you a safe trip,” Brim said. He gave them a toothy grin. “See you soon.”

Then his hands fell on their shoulders.

A sharp jolt of electricity arced through Alex’s soul. Reality folded in on itself like it was a piece of origami.

Then he and Claire were gone.