Trey

  Trey pulled the overcoat Susan had custom ordered from the crafters for him over his shoulder. He despised ornamental garments like this, but Susan was adamant that maintaining appearances was vital in a time of conflict and uncertainty.

  Just a little longer… As soon as this is over I can go back to just being me. No constant flow of reports and requests that need taken care of, no desperate rush to gain levels to stave off the inevitable conflict with those damn reptiles.

  He was tired. Being captain of a soccer team was so much easier than managing the affairs of an entire settlement, but he knew there was nobody else to rely on. Of course, there were others who could have assumed the role, people who likely would have handled it much better than him, but he'd been the first to act. And he was unwilling to give up his seat of authority while there were still things that needed doing.

  "Are you sure you don't want to relay everything she says to me? I doubt I could remotely control the conversation, but I could at least help interpret what she says," Devon said from off to the side. His face was different almost every day now, a measure of security to prevent suspicions from anyone potentially associated with any of their enemies.

  "Don't you trust me?" Trey asked jokingly.

  Devon smiled, "More like I loathe being left out."

  "Now you get to have a taste of how I always feel. Between your mountain adventures, spirit dungeons, and countless other ventures it seems like it's finally my turn to get to have center stage. Still, it feels weird not having you try to shove instructions down my throat. Especially on something as important to the relationship between the two settlements as this."

  Nix had sent a messenger to Plainstown only a few hours ago requesting a parley, a meeting between the two established leaders of the settlements to attempt to settle their differences. They'd accepted because there was no reason to refuse.

  If they blatantly turned Nix away it would seem an overly hostile action in the eyes of Plainstown and could cast doubt on Trey's intentions as the leader. Besides, Devon had reasoned Nix also couldn't take any overtly hostile actions without plunging the tutorial into war immediately.

  "If you say you don't need any help then I believe you. I'm not so full of myself that I think I'm the only one around here with a brain. I'm sure you'll be fine."

  Trey couldn't help but smile. This was one of the things he appreciated so much about Devon. No matter how far ahead of everybody else he thought, he never allowed himself to grow conceited. It was like that back when Trey had continuously leaned on his friend for help in math, and it was the same now.

  "Alright, I'm off," Trey said, fully dressed for the occasion.

  "Good luck."

  The meeting site was half a mile outside the walls of Plainstown, in an area of the plains that was clear and free. Nix had proposed the spot, and Trey appreciated the subtle ideas behind the spot. It was likely meant to give Trey a measure of security, being so close to his own walls. It also ensured nobody else would be close enough to overhear their conversation, they'd be able to instantly spot anybody within earshot.

  There was no table or anything of the sort for them to sit around. They approached each other until they were about ten paces away then stopped, content to stand and examine each other.

  Nix's appearance was a shocking contrast to his own. While Trey was about as neatly groomed as one could be within the tutorial, Nix had the look of a woman on the edge of insanity. Her hair and clothing were disheveled, and even at the distance they stood apart he could see the raw flesh of her knuckles.

  Well, I suppose I can't blame her for being on the edge. She's had to deal with her brother and her squad in the span of a day. She doesn't look anywhere near as composed as Devon described her.

  But still, for as ragged as her appearance, he could still see the light of intelligence and fierce determination within her eyes.

  "Have you come to offer an excuse for the actions of the people under you?" Trey decided to approach the conversation without broaching on recent events. He wanted Nix to be on the defensive so he could more easily control the flow of conversation.

  Nix narrowed her eyes, "I would not enforce judgement on the perhaps innocent without conclusive proof. I have not heard anything other than witness testimony, which 21st century research proves to be the least reliable form of evidence."

  "Then you'll simply sweep any and all accusations under the rug?"

  "My people haven't exactly been untouched in these incidents either, yet reparations are not what I've come here for today. Without proper forensic evidence, I don't care for this back and forth of blaming. Let people sort out their own differences, once we leave this place any lingering petty grudges won't matter. Most of my people will likely depart for infinity and most of yours will return to earth."

  "There are those who think that's precisely the reason why such issues need to be addressed now, while they still can."

  Nix sighed and rubbed her eyes, "Trey, what do you plan to do about the overseers?"

  He'd wanted to draw out the conversation a bit more, but clearly she was in no mood for unsolvable puzzles. "I don't see any reason to share my plans for the near future with you."

  She scowled, "I know you're not stupid enough to have completely missed their intentions. If you've got something up your sleeve then I'd like to know what it is. Or conversely, if you don't have anything and you're putting your bet on some slim hope to last them out then why not assist me instead?"

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  "Assist you? And how would you have me do that?"

  "I need manpower. Good, reliable manpower that doesn't hold any stake in the petty feud between our people."

  "So you can what? Throw their lives away? Even if I thought I could trust you with them, which I don't, why should I have any faith they won't end up like your last squad? Some of my hunters found the site of that little skirmish. Did you see it? How they were slaughtered to the last man without being able to take down a single overseer?"

  "We can work out a different strategy, we can-"

  "To what end? Even if we pushed them hard enough to make them take shelter in their camp they'd just come out with a vengeance in a few days once the protected period expires. Then they'll whittle us down."

  "If you've thought that far ahead then why haven't you done anything?"

  "I already told you, I don't see any reason to share my plans with you. Your little squad failed. Why should I help you make another so you can throw their lives away?"

  "I'm so close. If I can just get them all back into their shitty little camp…"

  "Then what?" Trey probed.

  Nix scowled again before steadying herself, "I can deal with them if you help me. That's all I can say. I give you my word that if you help me corral them into their camp I'll take care of them."

  So she does have something up her sleeve. But she doesn't trust me enough to reveal it. Perhaps she imagines if she reveals her most valuable secret I'll try to claim it for myself? Or perhaps it's something she could also use against me and Plainstown, some kind of weapon.

  Trey closed his eyes and thought over her proposition. He didn't trust her, but if there was some way to settle the conflict without resorting to mass bloodshed…

  "No," He said, "If you're unwilling to extend even the bare minimum of trust then I have no choice but to do the same. You've demonstrated neither the intent of reconciliation nor the trust needed to form a partnership. I think we're done here."

  He turned to walk away but Nix shouted, "Wait! There was one more thing."

  "What?" He asked turning back.

  "I was told by… a source I'd rather not mention that there's someone who's been going around disguised as other people. I believe this person could be the cause of the discord between our two groups."

  He sighed, "You were the one who only moments ago asserted the necessity of forensic evidence, yet now you expect me to put stock in a shadowy figure?"

  "I was given a name, a false identity my source knew for certain."

  "That being?" Trey asked, feigning ignorance.

  "The man who worked alongside you in the Ray incident, Gregor."

  She's quite shrewd. She said she believed Devon to be the source of the incidents between the camps before linking him to me, implying she believes he was working alone. Quite a careful phrasing, making sure not to accuse me of being the lead conspirator.

  "Gregor disappeared on a hunting trip three days ago. So unfortunately there's no way to corroborate your story. I'll keep it in mind if any suspicious figures lurking around, but unless you have something solid I think we're done. Goodbye, Nix."

  She stood in the field as he walked away. If he'd looked back he would have seen a trail of blood dribbled down her chin from where she'd bitten her lip, but he didn't bother looking. His business with her was concluded.

  Once Trey was back in the comfort of his own tent and free of the suffocating attire he took a long sigh as he laid down on his cot.

  "Well? Don't keep me out of the loop," Devon said from the side.

  Trey gave him the gist of the conversation. "She brought you up as well. As you expected, Zane tipped her off to your shenanigans. Phrased it in a way that made it seem like she assumed 'Gregor' was acting alone, but who knows if she really thinks I'm involved or not."

  A moment of silence fell over the tent as Devon processed the conversation and Trey was left to his thoughts.

  After a minute Trey broke the silence, "You know if Nix had actually been willing to share what her plan was and if it involved fewer casualties than yours I would have gone with hers and helped resolve the camp's problems in a heartbeat."

  "I thought you were ready for this. I thought you were ready to drench your hands in blood to see those damn overseers fail."

  "I am. But only because I can't think of anything else to do to see as many humans as possible live through the tutorial. I've been thinking this entire time of alternative ways to deal with the core problems you listed back in Ray's cave, but I've been coming up blank every single time. So if Nix had presented an alternate solution that seemed viable… Devon, I value the lives of people far more than your plan."

  Devon smiled, "I did think you hopped on board unexpectedly fast back in that cave. Your logic isn't wrong. My idea isn't pretty, so if you had come across a different avenue then I wouldn't blame you at all for changing course."

  "There's one other thing," Trey said, staring up at the ceiling of the tent, "How strong would you say you are, compared to everyone else in the tutorial?"

  "Well I beat Zane without much of a struggle, though I don't think he used his entire arsenal of skills, so objectively speaking you could say I'm stronger than pretty much everyone else besides maybe Eve. But that woman is something of a monster, so she isn't really comparable to everyone else."

  "That's what I figured. In that case, I have a request. It's cheesy, corny, and sounds excessively stereotypical. When the battle between the two camps happens… Don't kill any humans."

  "You do realize what a battlefield entails, right? People will die. That will be an unavoidable consequence of our actions."

  "I understand that. But what I'm saying is that with all that strength, there's no way you wouldn't be able to defeat people without taking their lives. Maim, bruise, whatever. You could aim for limbs to crush bone or sever, it doesn't matter. Injuries can be healed with healing pills."

  Trey looked directly at his friend, "I realize what I'm saying is unreasonable. And I wouldn't ask it unless you said you were the strongest. Remember that saying that gets repeated over and over again in the comics and movies we liked?"

  Devon smirked, "You mean, 'with great power comes great responsibility?'"

  "Like I said, it's cheesy as hell. But I'm afraid that if you become so lost in your strength you'll lose sight of who you are. If we abuse our power to kill anyone we please then what makes us different from Ray?"

  Devon thought over Trey's words, "Alright, but I've got a condition. You stay as far away from the front as you can."

  "Devon, I'm the leader. They're going to expect me to lead."

  Devon's gaze grew hard, "You will stay away from the thick of the fighting. This is not a request. It is a demand. You do this or I'll find out where Eve fucked off to and drag your ass over there until the tutorial is over like she did to Phil. I'd like to see as many people survive this tutorial as possible, both for their benefit and my own, but if it means putting your life directly into the line of fire then you can forget the entire thing. I already had to watch you come back from Kal'o Kir tortured half to death. I refuse to allow you to continue to endanger yourself. Unlike me, you aren't the strongest."

  Trey smiled, "Sounds like we're both selfish creatures at heart."

  "Well, there's no denying that."