As he passed the patrol man noticed Randidly and Tessa but his eyes went straight to Tessa drinking in the curves of her with a lewd gaze his smirk making him really seem like a sleazeball from a bad gangster flick
Tessa What a coincidence Did you manage to get tickets to the concert As he spoke he reached out for her shoulder Frowning Randidly knocked his hand to the side The man’s face fell and he turned to glare at Randidly
Alex Tessa started to say but the man’s face was already red
You fuck are you trying to say you are better than the Freedom Fighters While you are sleeping safe at home while your government is too scared to move we are the ones risking our lives on the front lines You have some fucking nerve
Randidly gave him a sidelong glance The crowd had quieted around them drawing back away from the confrontation Although he hated to actually deal with this worthless person since Tessa was here weren’t you saying how struggling was worthless for us just yesterday You sure changed your tune fast Now on the front lines Very admirable
You Alex clenched his fists eyes flashing One of the bigger guys from the small group stepped forward laughing
Common newbie don’t be so tense Hey man I just think that’s Alex’s girl She just needs to come with us and everything’s forgiven Otherwise
The man smiled grimly the threat hanging in the air The crowd around them began to mutter but they kept their eyes on the ground looking away
Randidly just chuckled Do you think that if you say things nicely that changes things You want to take an unwilling woman with you That’s rape
The man’s eyes darkened but his smile stayed easy Haha rape Now now now don’t throw around words like that If it was rape would all these people really stand by and just watch it happen
The crowd crept back further The group of Freedom Fighters aside from the tall orange haired man at the center glared around drawing their sabers
No one spoke
Yes Randidly said simply For they are weak
Tessa was sobbing quietly I’m so sorry I’m sorry
Alex leered at the two of them So you are the only one who thinks somethings up
Now he’s just a Newbie The man drawled But he is still a Freedom Fighter now and afforded certain protections And one of those protections is against civvies like you stealing his woman while he is away fighting on the front lines And
Stand down
Randidly blinked and looked towards the central figure the tall man with orange hair He hadn’t spoken then entire time but now he interceded his tone brooking no dissension
The orange haired man then grinned and added The concert is about to start I’m not gonna miss Raina because we were fucking around with some girl Move
Unwilling but ordered the Freedom Fighters sheathed their sabers and pressed forward through the crown
Alex eyes bulging hissed You’re lucky this time Don’t you ever fucking let me catch you again asshole or else
Then he turned and left
Randidly still bemused shook his head then moved to follow
Randidly What are you doing They won’t do anything now but after the concert We should go hide Tessa’s voice wavered but Randidly just yawned
No worries I’m sure it will be fine Besides would you really waste these backstage passes
Tessa stood still torn But Randidly just walked casually forward pushing his way right through people and she was forced to sigh and hurry after him After all if he was going to waste his time rather than train or search for Sydney or Ace he sure as hell wasn’t going to waste his time in the nosebleeds
Inwardly she wondered when he had become so brave Or so dumb
Chapter 72
The people at the gate were shocked when they saw the backstage passes and directed them around the side of the stadium to another quieter entrance A man with a clipboard took their passes and checked them off
Oh so you are Cassie’s guests The man said his face warming immediately looking them up and down After a few seconds of scrutiny he extended his hand to Tessa And you must be the gifted seamstress that sewed the costumes Beautiful absolutely beautiful If you ever have some spare time please consider making a gown for my daughter I’ll pay very handsomely
Tessa just gave the man a blank stare Randidly politely disengaged the conversation and walked into the stadium dragging a dazed Tessa
How how did you say you got these
Randidly frowned Sewing I told you
Sewing gowns Tessa asked incredulously
Randidly’s frown deepened but he did not reply He couldn’t decide whether it was more embarrassing to acknowledge it or to simply stay silent
Daniel peered through the newly available options for the village excited even after the exacting interview he just sat through with Regina
Most of the new items available for purchase with SP were simply higher tiered versions of the shops they already owned Weapons Armor Miscellaneous Accessories etc
There were however some notable and expensive exceptions
One was the purchase of Gold Nexus coins which could be used to found another Newbie Village Although this didn’t seem a very practical way to handle things it would allow them some way of making outposts should the need arise
In addition Nul informed Daniel that the golden Nexus coins had two other uses The first was they could be consumed by individuals with Classes to allow them to have another extra skill above the normal skill cap This could be used as many times as they wanted but at 5k SP it was too expensive to be feasible for general use And even concentrating a few on one person was bound to have a low level of return
After all they would need to first position themselves to learn a useful skill and then take several weeks to level it up to a level where it could impact battle
The second use was to bribe a random monster to act as your companion In the case of rare monsters you needed to be a higher level and have beaten it until it is near death but then it would serve the user for the rest of its life It would continue to level
This option was mostly attractive due to the currently unused Ride skill that Donny and his knight mentees had If they could gather a cavalry squad
Aside from the coins Daniel now had the option to purchase what he could only guess were higher leveled buildings Production focused buildings which Sam was already very interested in pre made smithies and workshops Watchtowers A shop for rare crafting materials A very expensive cathedral Something referred to as a Nexus Array
And also most intriguingly to Daniel was the Adventurer’s Guild building The rest of the counsel were less impressed and insisted on first purchasing several Watchtowers to help with the immediate threat of monsters and a Smithy in order to advance the weapon and armor crafting past the basic stages
But almost unwillingly they agreed that the Adventurer’s Guild could be the next building Eyes sparkling Daniel looked at the 8k SP option and to him it only meant one thing
Quests
After thinking about it for a long time he was sure that it could only be for acquiring quests Or bounties Or something else game related
Always the downer Mrs Hamilton had suggested that it might be possible that it allowed more individuals into their world like the strange portal that had sprung up and would open in several days But Daniel didn’t think it was that likely At this tier their strange and confusing bond with another Trainee Village would probably be their only contact with other forces in the Nexus
Still even that contact posed interesting questions
Daniel was very much looking forward to that portal opening
After a long walk down a deserted hallway Randidly and Tessa emerged into a large cluttered space full of people with glassy eyes drinking straight from liquor bottles At the far side of the space was a small opening in the curtains from which flashing lights and noises echoed