Nightmare Realm Summoner

The golden message announcing the Region Bosses' awakening hadn't even begun to fade when Claire put a hand on Alex's shoulder.

"Alex?" Claire asked. "You okay?"

He blinked, realizing he'd been staring off in the direction of the boss. The Title hadn't worked in the Mirrorlands because of how many Region Boss level monsters there had been. But now that he was on 274-50, the noise that had been clouding the ability was gone. It was fully functional.

An invisible string of energy tugged at the side of his skull. It wasn't distracting enough to be a real bother, but it was just noticeable enough to make sure he couldn't forget about it on accident. The feeling became stronger the more he focused on it and weakened when he let his attention drift.

"There's a Region Boss," Alex said, nodding in the direction his title was pulling him to. "Over there."

Orchid's gaze snapped to where he'd pointed beside the mountains, then returned to him. Awe and more than a little envy passed over her features as she shook her head. "You took a Hunter sacrifice? The Starfallen family is something else. I don't even want to think about how much that cost you. But how do you know it's waking?"

Sacrifice? What is she talking about? It sounds like she's saying Outworlders can get something similar to my title as well, but maybe they can only locate the monsters and not if they're waking up?

"Can you not do that?" Claire asked innocently.

"What, the Hunter sacrifice? Or being able to detect the state of bosses? Either way, the answer is no. My family hasn't been that powerful in a long time. And even if we'd had anything left to spare, after what—" She cut herself off. Her hands tightened around the gnarled piece of white wood they'd taken from the Mirrorlands tree. "Never mind. I didn't even realize there was a sacrifice like that."

Hey, if it makes you feel better, neither did I.

"Well, no matter the case, we need a direction," Claire said with a one-shouldered shrug. "We can't just stick around Valley Ford. Using the Town Token so close to it would be a horrible idea, and I don't get the suspicion they'll be very willing to let us use their Starstone to teleport elsewhere. So if we're traveling by foot, we might as well clean up a monster along the way."

"Are we really in a position to fight a Region Boss right now?" Orchid asked with a small frown. "We don't have that many people and there isn't going to be a Disruptor in the area… unless you've actually managed to arrange for one to be set in the bosses' location?"

Alex had to admit that it was a good question.

I'm not actually sure how we'll beat the Region Boss at this point. The mere arrival of the last Region Boss literally flattened Towntown. Claire and I managed to beat the Field Boss without too much trouble and we're a lot stronger now than we were then…

But a Region Boss is an entirely different beast. They were literally announced by the System. Even if this thing is on the weaker end of their spectrum, Finley was talking about us being in trouble if we aren't Adept Tiers after the meteor with the Region Boss first landed.

It's probably logical to assume even the easiest Region Boss is something you're meant to have a group of Adept tiers for… but eh, fuck it.

Never hurts to scope a situation out. You never know.

"You never know." Claire gave Orchid a one-shouldered shrug as she unknowingly mirrored Alex's exact thoughts. "You'd be surprised to find how things work out. This gives us a direction to go in… unless you have a difference preference for the direction we head in?"

"I'm not stupid enough to tell the Starfallen family what to do. I'm sure you've got something planned for this. My main plan was just selling the Town Token to pay off my Credit Debt to the System."

There was an equal amount of reverence and fear in Orchid's words when she mentioned the Starfallen Family. Claire's words from a few seconds ago rang through Alex's head, and he was forced to agree with them.

Orchid wasn't working together with them purely because she owed them a debt for saving her life or because she saw value in getting to benefit from their Riftwarped Town Token.

She was here because she thought they were part of the Starfallen Family. And the moment she found out the truth that they were just Nativeworlders like Derek…

Well, I plan to be a whole lot stronger than her by the time that point rolls around. From what I can tell, the time when Outworlders are the most unfairly powerful is right when a new world starts. They come in considerably stronger and with a whole lot more knowledge than everyone else.

Then the System equalizes that with their restrictions and restricts the growth of Outworlders pretty heavily. I'd imagine that'll stabilize once the average person on the world catches up so it doesn't become unfair in the other direction… but for the time being, I'm already nearly caught up to most Outworlders. If we can get all the extra information they have through Orchid, then their advantages go to zero. We're on an even playing field.

And if we're on an even playing field, I'm not going to lose to a bunch of cheating cowards.

"Let's get to it, then," Alex said. "It'll probably be a few days before we get there, so no point sitting around here and waiting for someone from Valley Ford to find us."

"Best of luck," Derek said.

Orchid glanced at him in surprise. "Luck? You're not coming?"

"Nope. A Region Boss sounds real fun, but I've been doing a whole lotta stuff recently. I want to take a nap. I'm not built for this constant fighting stuff. Thanks for the fun trip, Alex. And for the big sword. I can't wait to hit something with it."

"Sure thing," Alex replied, a pang of disappointment passing through him. He hadn't forgotten Derek saying that he planned to leave after they got back to 274-50, but part of him had been hoping the strange berserker would stick around regardless.

Dungeons were a whole lot more interesting when Derek was charging through and triggering every single trap for the rest of them — and he was a fantastic way to pry information out of Orchid without Alex or Claire looking too clueless in the process.

"You'll be welcome at our town… whenever we set it up," Claire said. "Just make sure you don't bring anyone else with you when you come looking. It's going to be secret."

"My lips are sealed," Derek promised. "I've got no desire to help all those arrogant, fight-interrupting pricks. And don't worry. I'll find it eventually. I've got a good nose."

With that, he turned on his heel and ambled off in the opposite direction. Alex watched him for a moment before turning back together with Claire. Orchid was a second slower to peel her gaze away.

"Everything okay?" Claire asked. "You look put out."

"Huh?" Orchid blinked, then coughed and shook her head. "Of course. I was just thinking it was a shame to lose the strength of an Incarnation when we're about to go challenge a Region Boss, but I suppose he's only a Nativeworlder. I do get the sense he might be one of the few that get strong enough to leave 274-50, though. That powerset of his is quite impressive. It's rather similar to..."

She trailed off again and shook her head. Orchid seemed to be doing a lot of that as of late, but Alex didn't press. It was pretty clear she was flipping between wanting to speak freely and remembering just what family Alex and Claire supposedly were a part of.

The three of them quietly set off with Alex at the lead, leaving Valley Ford at their backs and heading toward the Region Boss.

***

"What Aspect Gems do you have?" Claire asked.

Orchid glanced back at Claire. A thin sheen of sweat covered her forehead and her hair was matted to her back — and somehow, she was in the best shape out of all of them.

They'd been walking for over three days, following a river running from Valley Ford. That included two breaks to fish — which Claire was surprisingly good at using just her hands — rest, and bathe.

The nights had been fine, but the sun was relentless. The refreshing effects from the cool river wore off in hours and there were too many monsters lurking within it for them to consider hopping in too often.

There was nothing to do but trudge on.

Claire had definitely gotten the worst of it. Her deathly pale skin was ill-suited for walking in such intense heat. The tattered clothes she wore, ripped to shreds from the fights they'd been through, did functionally nothing to keep her from inadvertently cosplaying a lobster.

She hadn't said a single thing about the worsening sunburns, but judging by how red they were, Alex couldn't help but grimace every time he caught sight of them.

Maybe this is why there's that legend that vampires burn to death in the sun. It's not some magical thing that destroys them. They're just all pale as shit and don't have so much as a thought of melanin inside them.

"What was that?" Orchid asked, wiping her face with the back of a sleeve. She came to a stop near the crest of the hill they'd been climbing and leaned heavily on her stick.

"Aspect Gems," Claire repeated. "I asked which ones you've got."

"Oh. I'm not a repeat returner," Orchid said absently. "I've only ever been to Everbloom's homeworld, and my Matriarch couldn't afford the sacrifice cost to send someone with a domain into 274-50. The Starfallen obviously weren't going to pay it either, so I've only got a single gem. Everbloom."

That's a lot to unpack. So not every Outworlder is a serial planet-plunderer. She also just confirmed that the Aspect Gems are 100% related to domains… and that one of her gems is actually the name of her family? That should mean they have some sort of signature ability or similar domain, right?

Does that imply that all Starfallen members would also have a Starfallen Aspect Gem?

"That's fine," Claire said. "They're not particularly hard to find. Do you know if there are any particular ones you're looking for?"

"Something with lava and something with ice," Orchid replied without a second of hesitation. "But those monsters aren't really common, and ones strong enough to have an Aspect Gem are even less so."

"I see," Claire said. "Competing elements seems like an… interesting choice."

Orchid snorted. "Yeah. It didn't go over well with my Matriarch either, but it's what suits my Visualization. I'll make it work. Don't worry. Once my staff is fixed, I'll prove myself more than capable. I only lost so easily to those Broken Blade bastards because they attacked me out of nowhere. They told me they were just gathering people for the Assembly, and I was stupid enough to believe them."

Alex tried to look like he wasn't paying too much attention when he was internally taking notes on every single word that came out of her mouth like they were holy scriptures.

This is some great stuff. Claire is making it sound like a job interview to see what Orchid is capable of when it's really just us fishing for information.

"I'm sure," Claire said, with just enough doubt in her voice that it spurred Orchid to speak again.

"I've only lost two fights since arriving here," Orchid said crossly. "One of them was a surprise attack, and the other was against Ab—"

She cut herself off, but it was too late.

"Absolution?" Claire asked, tilting her head to the side.

Orchid cringed. "I — I'm still fighting him! I just had to… tactically retreat. I haven't forgotten our deal. I just need to get stronger. I managed to get away by promising to help him with something that doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. I'll deal with him, I promise."

Wait, what? I thought she was allied with Absolution. Isn't that the whole reason he helped us in the Assembly? So we could save her?

"By promising what?" Claire pressed.

"Absolution made me swear that I'd kill a Nativeworlder for him. When I do, I'll have another chance at his throat," Orchid said. Her weary features lit up as an idea struck her. "Maybe you've heard of them. Would you happen to be aware of any Natives that have the power to enter the Mirrorlands in this sector?"

Oh, goddamn it. Based on the timings, he'd had to have given Orchid that order before the Assembly had even happened.

And unless there's some freak coincidence…

The person Absolution wants dead is me.