The sewers were dirty affairs. They had nothing to do with modern water waste disposal. A narrow stone medieval tunnel system had appeared under the new City Center, with a dirty liquid flowing through it and rats infested. Big and ferocious but low-level, the main challenge was to corner them. They ran like hell.

  “One more… around the corner, in a cul-de-sac,” Grace grinned, extracting two ninja stars from her belt, one in each hand.

  “Yey! Go, spoil yourself,” Rowan made an inviting gesture.

  During the last two weeks, Rowan has been relegated from a bulwark, defending a permanently screaming Grace, to a second-row spectator. She had gained confidence, that was sure. Stepping briskly, she threw the star in her left hand and missed. The rat dashed forward, trying to escape between her legs. From a close distance, the second ninja star embedded itself in the monster's forehead. A second later, it dissolved into specs of light, and a notification appeared.

  Quest: Clear the County: Elkins Sewers, tier 2, has been finished. +1 free Lvl. +1 free AP

  “You really are good at range fighting,” Rowan complimented her.

  “Thanks… I’ll put a point in Strength and save one for later,” Grace said.

  “What about your Constitution?”

  “I invested points in it already. I’m Threshold one in Constitution and got a plus twenty-five percent physical resistance.”

  “Good thinking. I think I’ll increase my Dexterity and Constitution,” Rowan replied. A second notification followed his words.

  Elkins’s Sewers can be upgraded. Select one of the choices:

  Mushroom Farm

  Comestible Toads Farm

  Amusement park with scary thematic

  [Cory to Rowan and Grace]: Go for the third and make big money.

  “No, thank you,” Rowan said after looking at Grace, who raised her index in the air. “Mushroom Farm.”

  [Cory to Rowan and Grace]: Suit yourselves. Please exit the sewers so I can start upgrading them. You’re expected home for a meeting with The Mayor. He will give you a quest.

  “I hope it’s better than this… Fifteen days for a level and a point,” Grace sighed.

  [Cory to Rowan and Grace]: This unlocks more quests with APs. Do I need to remind you how important APs are?

  Taking the northernmost exit, the two jogged at a relaxed pace toward the house. Five minutes and a mile later, they entered the garden.

  “Stop!” Grace yelled at Lizzie, who was preparing to dash and hug them. “We’re filthy. Go inside and entertain our guest.”

  The little girl growled like a tiger stopped from eating its prey but obeyed. Taking the back door, they went to the master bedroom, undressed, had a shower together, dressed in fresh clothes, put the dirty ones in the laundry room’s bin, and finally joined the ones waiting downstairs.

  “What took you so long?” Isla frowned, crossing her arms.

  “Isla, Mayor,” Rowan nodded.

  “Your Lordship,” the Mayor nodded back, rising from the couch for a second to follow the protocol.

  “Daddy, Mommy!” Lizzie ran to hug them, finally.

  “Hi,” Dmitri waved, bringing in coffee and putting a small cup in front of everyone. “Greek coffee,” he proudly announced. There were also some cakes on the table. The coffee was too strong and bitter, and the cakes too sweet, but the combination was good.

  “We’re grateful for everything you do for us,” the Mayor started, “but we must address a few concerns. The rest of our classed people complain that you have only taken easy tasks lately.”

  “But it’s the best for our builds,” Rowan said. “Going slow helps to—"

  “It might be, but you have to do your part of hard work at some point. After all, that’s why the county pays you two hundred grand, right?”

  “You mean all the advice I give you weekly during the Council meetings about keeping up the good work is not enough?” Rowan joked.

  “Your Lordship’s guidance is admirable, yet—”

  “Geez, just call me Rowan.”

  “Let’s compromise… Count Rowan. If you look back in history, Lords delegated the boring stuff, like the economy, finances, and so on, and took care of the fun part. Fighting.”

  “For the record, my goal in life was to become a Bourbon Production Manager and maybe start my own distillery. That’s what I define as fun.”

  The mayor ignored him. “For our economy to thrive, we must trade with the other Core Towns. And trade also means assistance. Vladivostok has trouble maintaining order. Strikes and revolts are common.”

  “Falling sick with food poisoning made the Knyaz look weak,” Isla said.

  “And Rome is having a civil war. You promised the Russians to help them maintain peace in the Zoom meeting last week and delegated Rome to my care,” the mayor paused, looking with intent at Rowan, who shifted his position on the couch because he had forgotten about all that. “We don’t have enough good fighters to cover both. Choose one of two quests: Stabilize the situation in Vladivostok or help the rebels in Rome. The Town’s Militia will cover the one left.”

  “Let’s do Vladivostok,” Isla said. “I can take Thomas for peacekeeping.”

  [Cory to Rowan, Grace, and Isla]: Go to Rome. Vladivostok is risky. Some people there think the Knyaz’s sickness was an attempt on his life and could try to harm you. The Militia is better for that task.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  “Cory says to go to Rome,” Rowan said.

  “I know, she SMSed me,” the mayor waved his phone.

  “So… Are you coming too?” he looked at Isla.

  “Sure,” the blonde nodded.

  “I’m coming too,” Grace said.

  “What if it’s dangerous?” Rowan objected.

  [Cory to Rowan, Grace, and Isla]: Your Rezzes are now worldwide.

  “I’m coming, and it’s final,” Grace frowned, crossing her arms.

  “OK, then I’ll email Rome to open a portal for you,” the Mayor said. “They replied: Portal in one hour, sharp, Town’s Square.”

  When the time came, there was no portal. The group had to walk back and forth for fifteen minutes, waiting, rolling their eyes, and checking their watches. The Mayor had accompanied them for no obvious reason, making Rowan wonder if the man was working something for the town or just slacking.

  “When they said one hour sharp, we should have expected it was Italian sharp,” Grace sneered. As soon as she finished her words, there was a notification:

  Incoming town-to-town portal from Rome. Accept: Y/N.

  “Here it is,” Rowan said.

  A blue circle appeared after Rowan selected the yes. A woman passed on, shouting: “Sorry for the delay, we were attacked. Can we bring the wounded? We can’t reach the hospitals.”

  “Sure,” Rowan nodded. “I can give them first aid.”

  About a score of people hurried to pass, a few on stretchers and the rest carrying them.

  “Just stabilize the ones in critical condition,” the woman asked. “We have to go back.”

  “On it,” Rowan blurted, extracting Band-Aids and slapping them here and there after infusing them with magic.

  “The hospital is half a mile away, I called all available ambulances,” the Mayor shouted. “Go!”

  “Portals could be a useful Town Perk,” Grace said before passing through.

  [Cory to Team]: What a genius suggestion. Stupid me for going for an Earth-wide Rezz. Do you have any other brilliant—

  They lost contact with Cory as soon as they arrived on the other side, in a grove. The air was very hot and filled with red dust, but it also smelled strongly of pines.

  “What the heck! Where are we?” Isla yelled, turning her head around.

  “North of Villa de Medici,” the woman who brought them shouted, taking cover behind an improvised earth fortification. “I’m Carla, by the way,” she blurted while running toward another redoubt. They followed by instinct, albeit there was no danger in sight.

  “Where’s the bloody town?” Isla continued. “This can’t be a town’s road,” she pointed at the slag under their feet.

  “We are in the bloody town,” Rowan said. “This is—"

  “Incoming,” their host warned, producing a pistol and a grenade and throwing the latter forward. “Where the fuck are our guys?” she asked herself.

  The explosions were followed by a couple of wails, and then bullets started to arrive, hitting the earth mound.

  “We’re fucked,” Carla screamed, checking her phone. “I have a message from the boss. The police ran, and the rest of our team retreated to Villa Borghese.”

  “Give me your gun,” Grace erupted, snatching the pistol and discharging it wildly behind them. Two men dropped dead, and a third retreated, cursing.

  “I’m wounded!” they heard him shout. “Help!”

  Team member Grace Garcia Larmontel had slain Rebel x2, levels 16 and 18. No XP gained.

  “I had a premonition they’ll sneak on us,” Grace said.

  “They speak English in Rome?” Isla asked, visibly more and more befuddled. “Is this Rome, Italy, or Rome, Georgia? What? Hey, don’t look at me like that. It’s a perfectly legit question.”

  “Our core has a Universal translator Perk,” Carla explained. “Hey, where’s he going?”

  Rowan had jumped over the rampart and ran forward, knowing he was impervious to small caliber guns. The caliber of the incoming fire wasn’t so small, though, but in the end, he reached the enemy with no more than a few grazes on his hands. His helmet and jacket had stopped most of the projectiles.

  A spear swipe decapitated two foes, a thrust to the throat killed another, then, he dazed two women with a fist to the head—because he was a gentleman and dead set of not killing the fair sex—a headbutt caved the skull of a fourth man, a fist did the same for a sixth, a kick collapsed the thoracic cage of the seventh, while the eighth, the one wounded by Grace, ran away, screaming his lungs out.

  You have slain Rebel x8, Levels 16-19. No XP gained.

  Hm… something’s off.

  “Please, don’t kill me,” one of the two women pleaded. “I’ll do anything!”

  “I have a fiancee, and I’m not the rapist type, so no thanks,” he replied blankly. “Leave any weapon behind and scram. If I see you again, I’ll kill you. I meant if you’d attack us. If we accidentally meet in some bar, we’re OK.”

  “Thank you, sir!” Interrupting his rant, the woman pulled her comrade after her, the latter still confused, and they ran away.

  “I’m coming back, don’t shoot me.” Five seconds after signaling his return, he arrived behind the earthwork. “These rebels are so low-level. I feel bad about them.”

  “It might not feel good, but that’s what we’re sworn to do,” Isla said.

  “No!” Carla screamed after checking her phone again. “They’re assaulting Villa Borghese. They’ll kill the boss."

  “Where?” Isla asked.

  “Four hundred meters due northeast.”

  “What the fuck’s a meter?” Isla yelled.

  “Yards, it’s like yards!” Rowan screamed and dashed in the said direction.

  With their awakened powers, they should have run four hundred yards in fifteen seconds, but the terrain was filled with obstacles. Trees, fences, fountains. A minute later, they stopped and looked around.

  Isla looked around, a befuddled expression on her face. “Where’s the fucking villa? There’s nothing here."

  “Fuck, she meant the Galleria!” Rowan screamed.

  “Where the fuck is that?”

  “Same direction, five hundred yards or so.”

  “Where’s the villa?” Grace asked, panting and arriving. Her speed was much slower. “There’s nothing here.”

  “Another five hundred meters… yards ahead.”

  They ran again, and the terrain wasn’t any better. A lot of trees to wave in between.

  “Where. Is. The. Fucking. Town?” Isla bellowed. “I’m telling you, this is Rome, Georgia.”

  “Shut up! Here’s the villa,” Rowan gestured.

  They had arrived, but maybe too late. In front of the large, white building, a group of five Classed, armed with swords, were assaulting a sixth one, who was defending against them using an umbrella. At each hit, a bluish energy covered the panel, a forcefield. It was clear that the surrounded man would not be able to resist much longer, but also that the attackers were not intending to kill but to capture him. Aside from the fighting group, a few dead bodies lay on the ground, the rest of the defenders.

  Rowan threw his spear. He aimed high but hit low, biting into the calf of an attacker. From behind came a shot, killing another man on the spot.

  Team member Grace Garcia Larmontel had slain Rebel, level 30. Minor XP gained.

  “Bloody cheater,” Isla groaned. Meanwhile, Rowan killed the wounded, took back his spear, and faced the remaining enemies. Isla discharged her gun in the lot without aiming too carefully. She got one foe in the head by sheer luck after winging Rowan’s right hand.

  “Hey, watch where you’re shooting!” he protested.

  She didn’t pay attention, charging at the remaining attackers instead, throwing a man to the ground and bashing his face with her boot.

  Your team has slain Rebel x3, level 30, 35. Minor XP gained.

  The last foe, thin and tall, covered in a slick metallic armor made from woven filaments, hissed and turned toward Rowan, plunging a thin blade into his shoulder, moving lightning fast. It would have hit his chest, but he had twisted his body at the last moment. Rowan countered with a spear thrust, but his blade met only air; the enemy slid over the ground, backward, like on ice, escaping at the same time Isla’s kick and grazing her on the ankle as well.

  Party members Rowan Allinder and Isla Culloden have been infected with The Blood’s Bite by ???, Vampire Scout, Level 100. Corruption DOT of 1.5% HP/second. If the total reaches 100%, you will be Turned into a Thrall (Vampire slave). If the enemy is defeated before the deadline or you exit combat, the Blood’s Bite is stopped, and 50% of its overall DOT damage is converted to healing.

  “Fuck!” Isla exclaimed, panicked. Rowan thrust his weapon again, but the opponent repeated the sliding backward movement twice, putting more distance between them. The DOT was not only sapping his health but also slowed his reactions, spreading a burning sensation in his veins.

  It counts on the DOT to finish us on its own!

  “We’re under attack… The idiots from Elkins… What should I do?” the Vampire spoke in the air, undoubtedly using some communication device. The voice sounded somewhat familiar to Rowan.

  A louder shot resounded, and the front of the Vampire’s helmet broke. Behind it was the blonde woman who accompanied the Knyaz the week prior. A moment later, the Vampire disappeared, leaving behind a whiff of cigarette smoke.