49 Family Reunion
A.N. Ramadan Mubarak to my Muslim readers. I hope your fast is easy.
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(Players' Camp-Captain's House)
Steve concluded his story as well as his propositions and his plan to his friends. They sat around his large table which he'd pulled out of a furniture mod just for the aesthetic purposes. Efe was still clinging onto him but the others sat in deep thought as they drank in his words.
"So let me get this straight. It's a whole lot to unpack." Alex rubbed her temple. "You found a new world, in which there are other people just like us, roaming around?"
"Not exactly like us." Steve answered. "There are humans although they're not necessarily like us in every way. And there are elves which we have encountered before if you remember our Middle-Earth rounds, although these elves are quite different. Appearance wise, they are pretty much the same though. Then there are dwarves, and little Hobbits, although they call them Pallums in that world. And then there are beast-men which is quite simply people who are mostly human-like but they have animal appendages such as ears, tails, claws, teeth and a boat-load of other things. And then there are Amazons. Think of them as a race comprised only of women, who are slightly stronger than the norm. They are born warriors as a whole, but they're also built for beauty and seduction as they only reproduce with strong men. As a result, you may find that they're not all...modest."
"What makes us different to those humans?" Zuri asked as he furiously wrote down notes in a book. Out of all them, Steve was certain that Zuri would be most willing to go. Zuri was a scholar at heart, and the opportunity to go to a new world filled with new species, new resources and entirely new concepts was too much a golden opportunity to pass for him.
"Well to begin with, the gravity in that world is three times weaker than our own. Our muscles are designed to operate under extreme pressure, so once we cross over there, we're quite literally superhumans. We can lift thousands of tonnes if we wanted to quite effortlessly. Without a Falna, our speeds would definitely rank high even amongst first-class adventurers, and we can jump greater heights too. There's also the fact that despite all the time we've spent here in Minecraft, we've never gotten sick. The closest to that we've gotten is when we're poisoned, but unlike them, we can survive most of the deadliest poisons. We also never get tired, as we can go on endlessly without sleep if we wanted to. All we need is to make sure that we've eaten and there is no limit to what we can do."
"So they're overall just pissant weak?" Kai leaned back and pouted disappointedly. "Well that's just a disappointment. All the same, I'm more interested in this Dungeon place you speak of."
"Wait a minute." Alex said as she fixed the girl with a stare. Kai backed off. "We still haven't finished off the topic at hand. Steve, there was another race you mentioned. Gods?"
"I'm not quite sure how I would classify them." Steve admitted. "A 'god' could be encompassing as opposed to God, which just generally refers to a singular omnipotent being. I can tell you that these beings are not omnipotent, that's for sure. The one I've joined however is as close as to what we imagine of that term though. All I've got is that they are some sort of superior celestial organisms 'born' or formed with supernatural powers. They can then use these supernatural energies to influence reality as we know it, to the point they can remove a mortal's limit and help them grow stronger by the use of their own blood. They look just like humans when in their sealed forms. I've yet to come across one that looks like any other race. I strongly advise against any sort of misdemeanour with them though. There's no telling exactly what their hidden abilities are."
"And they are the ones that create this Falna-thingy?" Makena interjected.
"Precisely. It's all made out of some sort of magic, or something alike. So far, it looks like only a god can grant it. But it's really just a rudimentary gaming system, not like the stuff our own interfaces become when we step into certain realms of Minecraft. However, under certain conditions, there is no limit to how powerful a mortal can become with it. Where we get XP from our daily activities as well as monster hunting, they get it from killing monsters in the Dungeon or simply fighting one another. They call it Excelia. And see here." Steve pulled up his inventory screen which they could clearly see. A couple of them pulled up their own screens to mimic him, and he could see theirs. "It looks like none of them can see our screens even if we physically pulled them out. The only one who has seen it so far is Ptah but I would guess that is only because he has made me his child."
"I see." Sunny leaned forwards and clasped his hands together, his prosthetic one completely reinstated. "What interests me is this level thing you're talking about. Is this like those level systems we had whenever we went to certain fantasy realms?"
"Yes. When you've accumulated sufficient stat points, and you go through certain experiences of...I guess you could say 'enlightenment' or extreme emotional turmoil, you level up. As the levels go on, it becomes significantly harder to raise your stats since the potency of those stats is nothing like what you would get of the ones below. Normally, it takes a person years to even go from 1 to 2. Even the most talented people in that world have crossed that distance in only a year. The thing with US though, is that when we accept a Falna, our XP levels gets converted into stat points. And because ours are just so potent and so flipping hard to get given the time we spend to raise them, all the emotional investment we put into our XP appropriates a level up when we hit our natural threshold. Now remember what I said, we are biologically superior to them. 999 stat points in an attribute is first class to them, and anything beyond that is the cream of the crop to them, legendary heroic figures with unimaginable might. It takes some serious hacks to break past that 999 cap. I had a natural cap of 1599 points, and I'm assuming it will be the same for you lot. So I was even BEYOND that legendary class. And to top it off, I'm at the highest level ever recorded, only a hair's breadth away from uncharted territory that nobody has touched before."
"It's certainly quite convenient." Ari said as she put up her feet on the table. "It explains why you were able to kick our asses like that. Not like you weren't doing it before but to that extent? Unless you're using those stupid cheat powers that we don't have, there's no way you could have done all of that naturally."
"Speaking of." Noor turned to Steve. "Are you stronger now than you are in those modes?"
"I'm invincible when it comes those special powers of mine." Steve said. "Even the Falna can't compare. But I've not turned it on to fight for a month of that world's time."
"All the same, if we decide to go with this, we can figure out what levels we're going to be if we count our XP now." Zuri said as he span his pen. "How much did you have that made you level 9 Steve?"
"About 72,000 approximately."
"Okay." Zuri said. "So if our hard cap in every attribute is 1599, and there are five attributes..." The spectacled player quickly did his calculations. "...then that result is what we'll have to divide by to get our determined level. Tell me your XP levels guys. Mine is approximately 50,000."
"Same." Ari said.
"Mine is about 53,000." Sunny said.
"2000 more than that." Noor said.
"Mine is about 60,000." Efe beamed, before she suddenly gained a suspicious look and started sniffing Steve again with narrowed eyes. The gamer ignored her as he was invested in this topic.
"Mine is 64,000." Makena said.
Mine is almost 67,000." Kai said.
"69,000." Alex sighed.
"Alright. Put that into my mental calculator." Zuri quickly divided it all up. "Got it. So me, Ari, Sunny, Noor and Efe would all be level 7. Makena, Kai and Alex would be level 8. Is that high?"
"That would make all of you legendary class!" Steve expressed in joy. "Level 7 and above is considered special, something only a handful can achieve. Less than 1% of the total adventurer population make it to level 7 and even fewer make it to level 8. Only one before me has reached level 9 and I'm paper thin close to level 10. Add into it that with our natural biology, we're physically superior even to the normal level 7's and 8's, we're legendary among the legendary. Even Zuri could wipe the floor with Ottar's face."
"That's the guy who was previously the strongest before you came along, right?" Alex asked. "Some guy whose Family you've just entered into a war with? You're not just pulling us along so we can help you sort out a mess you created right?"
"No." Steve said. "I could take care of the whole thing myself. I'm just thinking that the War Game would be the best time for us to announce our presence is all. The whole of that damn city knows me by now but obviously they don't know you. And I was going to drag you all along anyway so we could get the Familia business started. And by the way, they call it Familia, not family."
"Which I guess would bring us to the eagerly awaited topic in all this." Alex followed up as she glanced at Kai who was suddenly ten times more interested. "This Dungeon, what exactly is it?"
"The Dungeon is a mystery even to the gods. Nobody knows exactly what it is. What we know though is that it is a living entity that has many different floors to it full of monsters of thousands of variety. The deepest levels are like mini-countries for all I know. The deeper you go, the stronger the monsters become and the more valuable resources you find. I currently can swat aside everything that the known floors can throw at me and I imagine it would be the same for you. But no-one knows exactly how far down it goes. For all we know it could be infinite, though I do have some theories."
"Like?" Zuri prompted.
"I have a feeling that the Dungeon is in simple terms, 'Mother Nature'. I think that the Dungeon is in fact the planet itself. At certain times, when the surface becomes too unruly or too controlled, the planet will seek to balance itself out. So it will send a common enemy to the mortal races above, which are monsters. However, the Dungeon regards the gods with a particular hatred and I think I know why. You see, I think the Dungeon was trying to bring Nature back into balance using the monsters. But the gods came down from their realm and contained it, collaring it like an animal. That enabled the mortals to start venturing inside IT to take it out from within and at the same time rob her of much of her resources. Think of it like the human body. The planet is the body, and the crust is the surface of the skin where the 'pathogens', i.e. the mortals live. And now that its opening is contained, the mouth of the Dungeon is like an open wound, where the 'pathogens' are now invading it, and weakening it by 'feeding' off of it, by taking from it its natural resources as well as the monster stones which are pretty much ores of pure magical energy and life-force, thereby destroying it from within. None of that would have been possible though without the gods leashing it."
"Interesting. I wonder if those stones could be used in our potions somehow." Noor said. Her flavour texts had regarded her as someone with an interest in alchemy.
"Probably." Steve said. "Look guys, I know I've been gone a while. And I'm asking a lot of you by just asking that you uproot your lives here and come with me to this new world. But I genuinely think it will be better. We will get to experience things outside of our reality and we won't be limited by our interfaces. We'll get to meet and connect with 'actual' people instead of those sub-human villagers who only bother to make contact with us when they're offering their scams."
"Yeah, that is annoying." Sunny grumbled. As a farmer, he'd often had to heckle quite a lot with the villagers but those blighters were so stubborn and never made any changes to their deals. "Well, you know the way I am boss. I go where you think it's better for us to go. I'm down."
"As am I." Zuri said. "It sounds like even the mortals of that world have not discovered their world fully yet. There's bound to be so much to explore. I can't wait to begin writing new journals."
"Well this Dungeon thing has got me pumped." Kai said. "It gets boring seeing the same retarded monsters all over again. Though I'm still yet to beat the Warden like you Steve, I'd rather check out this new gig. I'm down."
"I'm with Kai." Noor said. "It'd be interesting to see if I could tame these new monsters."
"No complaints here." Makena shrugged. "It sounds like there are plenty more ingredients in that world too. I could found out about a whole new range of cuisines to cook for us."
"I bet you would Kay." Steve called her by the nickname he sometimes used. "I'd say that they would definitely need your help. They don't even use their spices properly, everything is just plain bland sometimes."
"...Alright that's it!" Makena slammed a fist onto the table making everybody besides Alex and Steve jump. There was a fire in the black woman's eyes. "Now I'm definitely coming! Uncultured PEASANTS! Who the hell makes bland food?! Just what are they raising their children on? Animal Feed!"
"There she goes." Alex rolled her eyes before staring at Efe. "Efe, why do you keep sniffing Steve like that?"
The gamer finally took note of what the little girl was doing to him and looked down at her. The girl stopped sniffing and looked at him with sharp eyes, like he'd just committed the worst crime imaginable.
"Big sister Alex." Efe muttered dangerously. "Onii-chan has the smell of two other girls on him."
Everybody stopped at that and stared at Steve as his cheeks notably turned red. He rubbed his nape and looked down at Efe.
"You can tell that, Princess?" He asked her.
"Yes I can." She replied. "Explain."
"Yeah dude." Zuri said with a sly smile. "Would you mind elaborating for us? No juicy details left out please."
"Steve..." Alex gave him a side-eye. "What have you been up to?"
"Are you my parents or something?" Steve huffed. "I'm in a completely consensual polygamous relationship with two girls from the Familia that we have allied ourselves with. I've got two girlfriends guys, there I said it."
Sunny whistled. "Bastard. That's why you've been away so long haven't-cha?"
"Partly the reason." Steve said.
"Then I'm definitely going!" Efe shouted as she turned away from him and clenched her fists in front of her while gritting her teeth. "Nobody takes my Onii-chan away from me! Nobody will have him!" She hissed.
...
"Riiiiight." Steve drawled before looking at Alex. "Well Lexy, whaddya say? Everybody's on board. I can't exactly be leaving my vice-captain behind now can I?"
Alex looked around at the gathering as she clearly contemplated her decision. For some reason, it looked to Steve that something was on her mind, something important. Alex squared her shoulders and said to the others authoritatively.
"You lot sit tight. We'll be back soon." Alex looked out window to see the setting sun. "It won't take us long.
"Us?" Steve questioned. "Alex, is something wrong?"
"There's something that us elders need to discuss." Alex gestured to the others. "Something that the kids don't need to be privy to."
Everybody immediately looked away, Alex's serious tone prompting them to disconnect themselves from the situation. Even Makena decided not to say anything thereafter and Efe began walking away from Steve whistling to herself.
"...Alright." Steve stood up and followed Alex as she walked out of the house and out of the door.
---
Once he closed the front door behind him and they both found themselves in the orchard, he turned to her. "Is everything okay bestie? You don't look so well."
"There's just a lot going on at the moment." Alex said. "I have no qualms going to this new world with you. What's one more to add to the list? But there are things going on around here beyond just you and me. Things we thought long gone."
"...Why are you talking like that Alex?" He asked her, his skin starting to feel prickly all of a sudden. "You're unsettling me."
"As you should be. Follow me." Alex equipped her Elytra and pulled out a bunch of fireworks from her inventory. "There's something you need to see."
Without waiting for her to answer, she jumped off of a few blocks and began blasting away into the distance. Steve equipped his own wings and just jumped about 50 blocks into the air before blasting off with his own fireworks.
...That sickly feeling was starting to come over him again.
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