An hour later, the bodies burned and goodbyes spoken, they closed the outer gates behind them and retreated underground for a quiet meal.

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

The Bear Necessities

“Giant smelly titans, rats the size of grizzly bears, and friggin’ dragons?  Screw these guys!”  Amanda was sitting on Allistor’s bed, pulling on her boots.  “The bastards running this place need to pay.”

Allistor agreed whole-heartedly.  Their arbitrary judgment that nine out of ten humans needed to be purged from the planet was unforgivable.  But for now, they needed to keep discussions of vengeance at a minimum.  They still had no idea when people were watching them.  For all he knew, he and Amanda had had an audience during their sexual escapades last night.  Though he would like to think he’d have earned some Fame Points if that were the case.

“They absolutely do.  But we need to focus on ourselves right now.  Get stronger.  Learn more.  Conquer more territory.  Beef up our defenses.”

She sighed as she stomped her boots on the floor to settle her feet in them properly.  “I know.  Time is passing, and we only have a year.  I’m studying the little critters that seem to be the key to all the magic and stuff.  But I feel like those apes from that old movie, touching the big obelisk and trying to make sense of it.”

Allistor pulled her to her feet and hugged her close, kissing the top of her head.  “You know that old saying, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”  That Clarke guy was right.  You’ll figure it out.  You’re one of the smartest people I know.”

She hugged him back briefly, then spun out of his embrace.  “Meg might have real eggs for breakfast this morning!  And Sam said he was going to test out dragon steaks.”  Allistor’s stomach growled at the mention of food.  She patted his belly and took off toward the dining area.

Allistor hadn’t told her, but after the fight with the dragon, he had decided to go on an extended solo mission.  There were several things he wanted to accomplish, and he wanted to do them without risking the lives of any of his friends.   As he followed his… girlfriend? to breakfast, he mentally ticked off his goals.

He wanted to locate more survivors.  He couldn’t claim more land if he didn’t have the people to hold it.  In his mind, he pictured a wide circle of Strongholds with a town or even a city in the center.

He needed to kill some more creatures and reach level ten.  Based on the reading he’d done, this would allow him to choose a ‘class’ based on how he wanted to interact with this new Earth.  It was supposed to come with a few class-specific abilities as well.