Ruthless ~ Epilogue!

So bittersweet to end this book! Don't forget that all  the comments and issues brought up by patreons which I can address will be included in the final version that will get sent out to all of you on the 24th! Enjoy!

~ Epilogue ~

Joe stood near a double-helix of light that stretched into the sky, giving his mother one last hug. “I’ll be fine! This was the plan all along, after all. I was supposed to go to the next Zone!”

“But… all you have is your clothes! How will you fend for yourself with nothing? You have nothing!”  Brenda  sobbed into his shoulder. 

Not able to bear it any longer. Joe leaned into her and whispered. “I have a Legendary storage device, one that the guild packed full of anything they thought I could use. The only currency I had was contribution points, I already gave you the extra gold I have! I had suddenly gained over six million of contribution suddenly, so I went on a shopping spree.”

Mike heard that last bit, and it seemed that he might start to cry. So much lost revenue! If it weren’t for the Guild Hall being stuffed with gear from all the collected loot gathered by the new Ruthless guild title, he would have been sent packing, useful to the guild or no.

Joe patted his mother on the back one last time, then looked at his party, his Coven, and his guild leaders that had all come to see him off. “I’m looking forward to seeing you all soon! I’ll try to have a nice, safe location built up that we can all live in, okay? Jaxon… don’t collect the warrants for your arrest. It’s a bad idea.”

“The wanted posters are free portraits, though! I keep artists in business!” Jaxon gave in after a stern look, sighing sadly at the lost opportunity.

“Aten…” Joe grinned at the man, a dark smile that made the newly-reelected Guild Commander shiver. “I think you’ll be able to tell who isn’t loyal to you by the time you return back to the guild.”

“What did you do?” Aten demanded nervously. Joe just laughed, which wasn’t at all comforting. “Joe? Joe!”

Joe stepped into the bifrost, and waved his hand just before being yanked into the sky. He was moving faster than a rocket, and the ground was a thousand feet away before he completed a blink. He kept traveling this fast, but decided to use his time constructively. “Reputation… reputation…”

Then he started laughing. King Henry had really known more than Joe gave him credit for. He knew about Joe’s storage device, and gave Joe plenty of time to go get anything he wanted or needed. He also knew that in terms of reputation… Joe only lost half of what he should when he was getting punished. Instead of being thrown into hatred, his lowest reputation score was still at two thousand points, ‘Reluctantly Friendly’. In a year, when he was allowed back, Joe would have plenty of opportunity to make up for the loss. Until then, he would work to become so powerful that his guild would become the number one existence on Midgard.

Joe crested the bifrost, and saw an entire new world laid out before him. Then… he started accelerating downward. The ground came closer, closer… and Joe was suddenly slowing. He landed right between two people who were glaring at each other.

“Hello.” A musical voice called over as Joe looked around from the fluffy chair that he found himself in. Joe blinked as he locked eyes with an Elf. “Welcome to Alfenheim. You have a choice to make.”

“Welcome to Svaltarheim, and the choice should be an easy one!” The Dwarf on the other side called out. “Join the snooty Elves and become a sworn enemy of the Dwarves-”

“Or join the unruly mob that is the Dwarves, and become the sworn enemy of the Elves.”

Joe tried to catch his breath, but every single moment felt like standing in the presence of King Henry. The Dwarf narrowed his eyes as he watched Joe struggle to breathe. “You… you didn’t wait to break the mortal limit before you came here?”

“This one is clearly going to join the Dwarves, he must have no intelligence at all!” The Elf scoffed. 

Joe had a strange feeling that the two of them being in agreement was a very bad thing for him.

***

“Cheers!” Mr. Banks was hosting a small get-together for his close allies, celebrating the deal they had pushed through while the trial was going on. Not only was Joe out of their hair, but they had pulled back a large amount of power. Yes, Joe had been able to work with Aten to get the man reinstated, but it was only a matter of time before they had another opportunity to step forward and take their rightful place in the guild. They had certainly paid enough for it!

The party was going well, and they had even found a small package of Floodwater wine that had been delivered to them, all thanks to the now ex-Marquis Floodwater. Banks chuckled at the memory of finding out that they had gained so much, and now owed nothing to their benefactor. Truly, things were going well!

Banks finished off his glass of wine and filled it once more from the small stock, before standing and tapping on his glass to call attention. “Thank you all for being here today! As you all know, we took some losses in the recent days. However, let me remind you of what we mang-gged to acc-ccomprish.”

Mr. Banks coughed to clear his airway, then shook his head. No one’s eyes were on the bottle that the wine had been poured from, else they may have noticed a shifting ritual diagram spinning up. “Stho sthorry about that! Asth I was stahying…”

He trailed off and clamped a hand to his mouth as pain flooded his gums. Everyone else was doing the same, and he looked around wildly. Suddenly, his mouth felt full, and he spit out a handful of corn. Corn? No! That was… his teeth!

“Ahh!” someone shouted as they saw what was happening. “We’re ruthless!”

“Of courth we are! We alwath have been!” Banks slammed his fist on the table. “Whath going on here?”

“No! Bankth!” The man tearfully pointed at his mouth, then to the teeth that had fallen out of the mouth of everyone present. He showed his empty, bleeding gums.

“We’re ruth-less!”