When the party left Izor's tower this time around, Rydr was largely unmolested by the mage. Urginok was nearly as happy to be away from the eccentric man as Rydr was. 

As if the rooms somehow changed since he last checked them, Hermes spent the short trip down the tower being nosy. The teen rechecked the rooms and even tried the same door handles, which were locked beforehand.

I wonder how long Hermes is going to stay with the party? If we end up too sedentary, he may strike out on his own. 

Rydr couldn't help but marvel at the teen's constant energy. 

Syrna remained quiet for the most part, while Rydr and Urginok caught the other two up on recent events. When the elemental seed was brought up, the archer asked if she could see it.

Urginok gestured at Rydr, who summoned the seed from his inventory and handed it to the blonde.

The group left Izor's tower and began making their way to the Southern tower, hoping that Amos was there. Syrna took her time examining the seed before she passed it back. When Rydr stored it away again, the group was out of the tower and walking down the overgrown street. 

Unfortunately, the number of divers within Grotto still hadn't gone up, so the city was completely overrun with plants. While most of the plant life outside of Grotto was dead thanks to the elemental, the original plant problem inside the city was totally out of hand.

As Rydr looked around, he reaffirmed his goals. Each step would get the Titan closer to dealing with the Mana Wellspring. After they met with the mayor, if it was possible yet, Rydr planned to make a bee-line for the mines once again.

Although the giant picked up a huge sum of ore last time, that was before he researched early forging techniques and materials. Rydr desperately wanted a certain mineral he saw back in the mine. 

The team's gear would be at least [Rare] quality if he could get enough of it and render the substance properly; the team's gear would be at least [Rare] quality. 

Rydr hoped that specialized gear, suited to their combat styles, would give their little group a leg-up over other divers.

And especially guilds.

While the interview was invigorating, Rydr managed to paint a target on his back purposefully. The colossus needed to grow in power to face whatever came to challenge him.

The thought of it made Rydr's heart speed up as they turned the corner to head South. Small bursts of adrenaline sent a cold shock through the Titan's body as he tried to calm himself. Despite his efforts, a huge grin spread across the diver's face.

Rydr facetiously wondered if he was turning into an adrenaline junky. Thus far, only four fights in Frontier Online felt taxing to him.

The first was against the wolf pack, not counting his earlier death. Then there was the battle against Spectre and the pressure from a full raid team. The hopeless fight against the Hobgoblin Warlord. And, finally, Rydr's fight against the Plant Elemental.

If he excluded the giant ball of death, Rydr found his absurd Strength score made elements of the game trivial. Hell, the Titan had to willingly lie down in the bed of thorns to let the elemental drag his avatar away.

Numbers were still a threat to him, for now. Rydr decided that, aside from defending Grotto, his team needed to use their downtime to pursue their fighting styles further.

The Titan's interactions with other divers was minimal at best, so he had no idea how they were progressing. If he had to guess, Rydr supposed they were still using standard progression metas (AN: meta= popular/current game logic).

Which meant other divers would acquire skills and levels as fast as possible. A few, among the millions, would receive Monte's message and chase the frontier. However, most of the population would treat Frontier Online as a normal, if hyper-realistic, game.

Rydr felt sorry for them and hoped they could correct course or start over before all the early feats were eaten up. Otherwise, it might prove truly difficult to catch up to the frontrunners. 

By the time Rydr's group made it to the Southern tower, a small group of divers was trailing them through the city, obviously recording them. 

Or rather, him. These other divers, and their online viewers, were curious who Rydr's party was, but there were ultimately focused on the Titan. 

It seemed that Rydr was fated to have a few spies on him as long as he was inside a city. 

Urginok walked up to a guard as soon as they reached the tower, "Hi, I was wondering if Amos was here?" A huge smile plastered itself onto the tank's face.

Rydr watched, amused, as Hermes executed a perfect double-take. Yeah, it threw me for a loop the first few times he switched his speech patterns.

The guard, who appeared to stand on his feet barely, peered at Urginok, "Who's asking?"

Urginok gestured at the team, "My party and I were responsible for taking down the Elemental dragging citizens away. Amos, who we rescued at the time, promised to get us a meeting with the mayor in place of a reward." 

The guard's expression brightened up, and he offered his hand for Urginok to shake, "Amos mentioned you, but I had to be sure. So," He looked over the tank's head to stare at Rydr, "You must be the one responsible for this mess."

Rydr held up his hand, palm down, and wiggled it a little, "It was already happening. I only sped things up by two months." The Titan shrugged after responding, content to let Urginok handle all the talking.

Urginok managed to get the guard's attention and asked, "Do you know where Amos is?"

The guard pursed his lips before he said, "He's already at the mayor's place. Go to the Northwest part of the city. It's the biggest house there. You can't miss it." After the man said his piece, he hobbled back to his post and stared watchfully out into the forest.

As the tank turned around, he found his team already walking the other way, "Hey, wait up!"

*****

"Well, he wasn't kidding, was he?" Syrna barked a laugh as they walked up to the largest house in the Northwest of the city. Redbrick and three stories tall, the mayor's house was the second tallest structure in Grotto, next to Izor's tower.

All the boys nodded as they looked up at the mansion. A building like this was totally outside the team's experience since most homes in their world were made out of a metal alloy. Beyond history courses, none of them had been to any of the old cities, where the wreckage of brick and mortar homes still lay. 

So, as the guards let them into the foyer, the team felt like they were stepping into the past. Even colored photos couldn't capture the grandeur a house like this had.

And, it was still a small house in a rural village. The party would see many things which felt surreal to them as they journeyed through this world.

Amos was inside the foyer when the team walked in, Rydr ducking under the archway.

"You made it!" Amos exclaimed before saying, "Tell me, did you walk all the way to the Southern tower before coming up here?" 

A huge grin split the guard's bloody face as he saw their chagrined expressions, "Ha! I knew you would. It wasn't until after I left that I thought I should tell you, then I couldn't get back into the tower, so..." Amos shrugged.

Syrna huffed, "Well, all's well that ends well, I guess?" Even though she was trying to hurry the conversation along, Amos still smiled at the blonde.

"And you are?" Amos questioned, looking at Hermes and Syrna.

The archer gestured at herself, "Syrna," then she waved at the teen, "Hermes. We're Rydr's teammates."

"Well, aren't you friendly," Amos deadpanned back at the archer. Sparks seemed to leap between to two of them before Rydr stepped between the pair.

"Alright, no need for that. Amos," Rydr asked, "Are we able to meet the mayor?" Rydr looked down at the guard, trying not to loom over him. 

Hermes' head whipped around as he tried to keep track of the conversation, his finger still in the air to start asking questions. 

"Yes, actually. Ausch will be ready for you shortly. Someone will have already informed her that you've arrived." 

No sooner had the words left Amos' mouth than the double doors at the top of the grand staircase opened, and in walked a haggard woman in stately attire.

Although she looked haggard, the new arrival was a great beauty that drew the eye to her figure and face. Behind the regal-looking woman trailed a child, a miniature version of the mayor. 

She quickly descended the stairs and approached the group.

"Amos, are these the people you told me about?" While her voice revealed how tired the woman truly was, she seemed to have an air of despair around her.

Amos nodded and gestured toward the group, "Rydr, Urginok, Syrna, and Hermes, allow me to introduce Grotto's mayor, Ausch Otto."

Ausch nodded as if she barely heard the man. The mayor moved closer to the group with tears in her eyes, unable to hold her tongue any longer.

"Please, you have to help me. It's going to kill my baby!" Ausch abandoned all sense of propriety and grabbed at Rydr's pelt while simultaneously pulling her daughter into her embrace with the other hand.

*****

It wasn't until Amos managed to get everyone into Ausch's study, and get the mayor seated, that she started to calm down. The mayor's daughter clung to her mother, eyes wide and fearful. She couldn't have been older than twelve.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's just that we're running out of time, and when Amos told me about your team's unorthodox methods..." The mayor took several shuddering breaths as she tried to collect herself.

Amos knelt next to her chair, "Slow down, Ausch. What's going on? Who's after Audra?"

Ausch shook her head frantically, "Not who! A demon! A demon is coming to take my baby!" Her voice continued to rise into a keening wail as the woman broke down again. Beside her, Audra buried her face in her mother's skirt and cried.

Rydr and his team watched everything, feeling the waves of emotion coming off the mayor as Amos did everything he could to calm her down. When they heard a demon was coming, their hearts collectively skipping a beat.

What is going on with this starter village?

*****

Finally, with a cup of whiskey in her hands, the mayor was steady enough to explain the whole sordid tale.

Apparently, way back up in their family tree, the Otto's battled for succeeding their line. At the time, Ausch's ancestor, Amalee Otto, found an ancient ritual to summon a demon.

The ritual used the demon's name to pull it into the world. Amalee believed she could outsmart the contract demon, as apparently, a male ancestor used the otherworldly power behind its name to hoodwink it centuries ago. 

Amalee was convinced she could wiggle out of the contract. So, she signed away the fate of her family.

Ever since, the demon ensured that only a female would head the Otto household, eliminating all rivals. In return, the firstborn daughter from every generation of mayor would be defiled and eaten alive by the demon.

The little girls had until a fortnight after their first menstruation, and then the demon would come for them.

"I don't care about the line. I don't care about a woman being in charge. I just want to save my baby." The mayor hoped the group of strange, powerful adventurers might be able to free her family from the curse.

When the mayor finished speaking, Rydr immediately asked, "Do you still have the contract?" 

Ausch nodded, "I do, but it's useless. The whole thing is written in Ulguth, the demon tongue. My great-great-grandmother attempted to have the thing translated, but the demon killed the translator." 

Syrna perked up when she heard that, "Do you still have the partial translation?" 

The mayor nodded again, "It's the only reason I know about the deadline." Ausch stood up, gently placing Audra in the empty seat before she crossed to a bookshelf. 

In a practiced motion, Ausch tugged on the spine of a book, which pivoted outward on an invisible hinge. A moment later, the whole bookshelf sank into the wall and slid to the left.

Hermes was initially thrilled to find a hidden room, only to be disappointed. To the side, Amos' eyes were wide with astonishment. He'd been friends with Ausch for decades and never knew about the curse or the hidden compartment.

The space behind the bookshelf was barely large enough to stand in. Within was a small dais, with two ancient pieces of parchment pressed between glass.

The mayor quickly retrieved the glass "books" and shut the compartment behind her. Then Ausch carefully placed both glass books on her desk, facing the team.

They all leaned in to look at the contract and its unfinished translation. Syrna scooted her chair forward, ensuring she was closest as she fell into her hyper fixation.

Urginok threw out a question, "This seems obvious, but do you have the demon's name?" Almost everyone in reality still knew about crossroad demon legends and things like Rumplestiltskin. 

A demon's name was usually the best weapon to use against it. 

Ausch shook her head morosely, "I don't. The demon took it, and the knowledge from my ancestor's memories, as part of the primary contract." The mayor indicated the bottom of the original contract.

Rydr peered down at it and found that the bottom sixth, the space where the participant's name should be, was torn off.

However, Rydr and Urginok also noticed that Syrna was mumbling to herself and tracing a finger down the lines of the contract.

Past where the translation ended.

The blonde archer looked up as she reached the bottom of the parchment, her blue eyes lit up with a circle of runes around her irises and blood dripping out of her nose. 

"How quickly could you adopt me?"

 

AN:

Thanks for reading this latest chapter! If you see a typo, please let me know ASAP~

Was meeting up with the mayor good or bad for the party?

The teaser for my new novel, "Slave Soul," is on Patreon for free! https://www.patreon.com/posts/new-novel-slave-55074219

[Frontier Online] Discord Server is online! https://discord.gg/5sqwPeJrYf