Buttopia
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Chapter 87: Spiders & Giants
🕑 Added 2025-01-21 23:07:39 +0000 UTC“Come on, we’re getting back to yer place immediately. Everyone keep their mouth shut and don’t agree to anything anyone asks,” Mel said as his way of greeting us. Whether he was willing to say it or not, his dark green shade gave away his happiness at our survival, so I was willing to take some of his feigned anger.
“I am very glad to see you all managed your climb so successfully today. I have some of the details of what happened and the formation of your faction, and I wish you all the best of luck,” Floor Master said after Mel had finished, and I felt one of his legs brush against my shoe as he spoke. He pushed something small under the tongue of my left shoe. I wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but as he wasn’t trying to hide it from me, just everyone else, it didn’t seem overly dangerous just now. So, I wasn’t willing to draw any attention to it. I’d check it the moment we were back home.
“Thank you, Floor Master. We greatly appreciate everything you’ve done to help us today,” I said, mimicking how Rabyn had treated the spider initially. Floor Master just bowed their head in return before heading off to a new group that had entered. Mel was bobbing his way for the door with Pryte walking directly behind him. It seemed he wanted out of here as soon as possible. I checked to make sure everyone was following before heading off myself. I understood the feeling and wanted to get home as well. We needed Mel’s advice to discuss the soul knots further and that was best done away from prying ears.
“Hey there, little guy, that was some impressive work on the race track. Are you sure you want to be attached to a no-name group like this? I bet I can get you some real deals out there,” a slimy voice said to Glorp. Its owner looked as shady as they sounded, somewhere between a used car salesman and a slug. Glorp pushed them away before anyone else had to intervene, apparently having made his own decision to stick with us or just not trusting a slug dressed in a cheap suit.
The rest of the walk back was filled with much of the same. Most of the focus was on Glorp and Rabyn, which made some sense based on their performance. What I didn’t understand was why, by extension, Connie was getting none of the offers. I figured the other three were just too attached to me, and that news had spread enough to dissuade anyone from making the attempt. I filled that away as something to bring up with Connie again later.
Since we weren’t in the same mad dash on the way out as we were on the way in, I was able to get a much better look at what was around us. One side seemed to be entirely made up of waiting rooms, and I guessed that was the inside of the ring, though I wasn’t entirely sure that was the shape of the building, but it made the most sense in my head. The outer side was full of various shops, restaurants, and other gathering locations. Several of the places reminded me of sports bars with their giant monitors showing highlights of different matches. How exactly did that work with the soul oath that people were required to take? Was everyone here just already subject to it or exempt like I apparently was? For that matter, when would the others be forced to take it?
“DAVE!” a loud voice bellowed excitedly from somewhere down the busy walkway. Considering I didn’t know a lot of people, and the vast majority of who I did know couldn’t be here, I had my suspicions about who the voice belonged to.
They were quickly confirmed as Mel stopped and turned angrily to me. “Dave, why the hell is a giant hollering your name?” he asked.
“Hopefully, it’s Tomthy. We allied up with a giant squad twice, and it seemed to go well,” I answered somewhat nervously. Mel’s eyebrow raised, well, the spot that would be an eyebrow if he had one raised at least. I was pretty sure it was just a darker patch of cloud, not actual hair.
“Hrm, well, actually, that ain’t the worst thing I can imagine,” Mel said, soundly oddly okay with the news, as several giants pushed their way through the crowds to reach us, Tomthy leading the small pack.
“Glad I caught you, just wanted to say thanks. If you’re ever on Tregulep, make sure to look us up; we owe you a drink,” the giant said, his voice still as loud as it had been in the Arena.
“I’ll make sure to do that. What faction are you guys with anyway? Sorry still new to all of this,” I said, hoping that was a question you could just ask.
“ Gold Mountain Hammerfists,” he answered with a huge smile. The other giants cheered at the name.
“Well, the Empire of Dave is glad to have worked with you,” I said in return, smiling awkwardly as the embarrassment from the choice of name spread over me.
“Sorry ta cut this short, but we’ve gotta get going. If yer interested in a formal alliance though, send a courier ta Earth. We’d be interested in discussing it,” Mel said as he started to usher us back on his path.
“I’ll see what my dad says!” Tomthy called after us, his voice easily carrying over the rest of the crowd. The remainder of our walk wasn’t nearly so exciting and we found a porter waiting for us at the same place we had been dropped out. This one was, at least on the surface level, much less impatient than the last.
“The Golden Mountain Hammerfists are pretty new, but making a potential alliance with the crown prince was a great idea, Dave. I doubt any major faction will want anything to do with us, and considering the history of that giant faction, they aren’t likely to abandon us if we get anything formal in place,” Pryte said the moment the porter had returned after dropping us back on Earth.
“Honestly, had no idea. Elicec was the one who made the first suggestion. I just followed up when I saw them on another floor,” I said, glad to be once again back on Earth.
“Y’all did great. It’s important I get that out before I start whipping yer asses into a real fighting squad. I’m sure yer all exhausted, so I’ll let ya have tomorrow off before we resume anything, any real training. That don’t mean we ain’t doing nothing, though. Dave, Pryte, and I will be talking to each of ya about a detailed class manifest and yer position in the faction. We need to get that all squared away,” Mel said, volunteering me for things I had no idea how to do tomorrow.
At least I could use the meetings to get some of the answers I wanted on how people’s abilities worked, but I also needed some of my own time to go through the changes in my mana orbs. The sun was already setting here, and we still had a ton to discuss tonight, the jesters being my first priority.
“Wait, what kind of faction did I just join?” Connie said, her head looking around the property. I had been a little concerned about how she’d react when she finally learned just what she had gotten herself into; Glorp at least had some idea.
“The Empire of Dave is a brand new faction, ya want out? Fine, but we ain’t got any transport off Planet setup yet, so yer stuck with us til we head back ta the Arena,” Mel said, glaring at the woman.
“Hey, I didn’t say that, just wasn’t what I was expecting for a faction that had such a show of force against it on the first floor,” Connie answered. The front door of the house had opened, likely alerted to our return from Mel’s angry response. Alex, John, and Maud had emerged, watching us from the front porch without saying anything. Timon and Sanquar were nowhere to be seen. Neither was the bus now I looked around. Where were they?
“Good, cuz before ya walk into that house, ya need to make a decision. Assuming the Empire of Dave lasts for another year, I mean both of ya, Glorp included here, to agree to at least one year of service with the faction. If ya can’t do that, I can’t let ya in on any of the big discussions we’re about to have,” Mel said sternly.
“I will agree, but I don’t know how useful I am, and what I tell you tomorrow may make you not want me,” Glorp said sadly. I doubted there was anything he could really tell us that would make us kick him out. For one thing, we were desperate, but for another, he was in this because of us and had already done great.
“We’ll cover that tomorrow, and what about ya, Connie?” Mel asked, turning his glare back toward her.
“Yeah, it’s probably better this way. I don’t need a million fans trying to track down my grandpa anyway. What are we signing?” She asked after agreeing. I thought she looked a bit unsure despite her agreement. Then again, I’d be pretty damn unsure in her place, hell I still was, and I was the one who had to lead the empire. Pryte produced two pieces of paper and pens from somewhere and handed them to both of the newcomers. Each of them signed without further questions.
“Good, now everyone inside, assuming we can even all fit, which is gonna be one part of the discussions tonight. John was right about that problem,” Mel said, less angry than he had been a minute ago. I hadn’t realized he considered those two signing a contract such a sticking point.
“So, how did it go?” Alex asked as we finally broke for the door.
“Honestly, they did great, yer dad pulled through impressively, but that was also the easy part. It’s gonna get real bad from here,” Mel said as he floated through the door, everyone following.
There are many things a faction needs if it wants to stay solvent, not the least of which are skilled channelers. Alliances help, but they can only take a faction so far. What they need more than anything are resources. How can they possibly hope to attract any talent if they have nothing to offer? And if a faction doesn’t have enough channelers, it will only be a matter of time before they lose it all within the Arena.
Factions, Dynasties, Royalty, and the Holdings by Trig Plunderscan
