“You should have told me the full extent of your plan,” Ersabet said. “This is far beyond my expectations.”

  We were in my new sleeping quarters in the Hunters Lodge. It wasn’t as comfortable as my room at the nearby inn, but I wasn’t about to leave the stone walls of the Hunters tonight. No one was. I made sure of that.

  It had been a long night, and I was desperate for a moment to myself. Killing those Kurskins had given me enough experience to level up, but I hadn’t yet had time to address that. I also received a notification on my yet unused Social tab. Perhaps I was finally gaining some influence, not that it made a difference to me.

  None of these items could be addressed because Ersabet wanted to talk, and I owed her some answers.

  “My plan is to end the game, either by winning it or by breaking it,” I said. “You’ve known this from the beginning.”

  “I understand your endgame, John,” she said. “What I don’t understand is why you’re in such a hurry to get there.”

  She sounded just like Val.

  I threw my hands up. “We are being killed for fun! We are slaves, and the faster I can free everyone, the better.”

  She crossed her arms. “If you are dead, you will accomplish nothing. You are not strong enough. I understood your plan to lure Prajio back. He would likely kill you easily, but there is a chance you’d find a way to make it out alive. But if you and the Hunters follow through with this, the Kurskins will have no choice but to retaliate. Your people cannot hope to defeat them if they come in force, which they will.”

  “You’d be surprised how strong humans can be when their will is their own,” I said.

  “It will not be enough.”

  ‘I told you.’ Val echoed.

  I knew they were right. Many people were going to die because of me, but if we could pull this off, it would send a shockwave through the games.

  Tomorrow night, the Hunters and I would assassinate every Kurskin in this town, which, by Val’s estimation, was well over one hundred.

  I knew there was no way we could kill them all, but we could kill enough of the bastards so that the others would have no choice but to flee.

  Even with all the Hunters at my side, there wouldn’t be enough people to put up a proper fight. We’d have to recruit more at the last minute, but nearly all assured me that they each knew of friends or family they could trust and who already had an extreme distaste for the Kurskins who paraded around this town like they owned it.

  And once the fighting spilled out from the shadows and into the street, I hoped others would join in.

  “This will disrupt the game,” I said. “The Kurskins are still fighting a war against your people. How much of their force do you think the lizards will be willing to part with?”

  “Enough to quell your little rebellion. Enough to kill you if Prajio doesn’t.” Ersabet said.

  The pit in my stomach grew. “Humanity is already destroyed. Those that are left deserve a chance to fight back, even if it's hopeless.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “If you understand it be futile, why do it?”

  “Because it doesn’t always have to be hopeless. If word spreads that humans fought back here, it could inspire hope in others. All the humans on whatever’s left of Earth are as good as dead. Sure, some of their deaths will be premature because of my decisions, but I have to do something. I’m the only human that can.”

  I took a deep breath. “This is going to cause all those alien bastards a whole lotta trouble, and I’m going to spread this trouble across the world, and in my travels, I will continue to accept quests and grow stronger. After that, the Voxals will have no choice but to get involved.”

  ‘Stop talking!’ Val shouted in my mind.

  I shut up.

  Ersabet looked at me curiously. “Why would you want to get the Voxals involved? That’s a death sentence, you know. There are things about them you aren’t aware of. Trust me, even I wouldn’t attempt to fight a Voxal, not here, at least. It would be a fruitless exercise. So please, tell me, why are you trying to get the Voxals involved in your shenanigans?” She said that last word like it tasted terrible on her tongue.

  Val popped into existence next to Ersabet. Her cheeks were nearly as red as her hair. ‘Do not under any circumstances reveal your knowledge of the Voxal Controller,’ she said.

  I blushed. I was about to do just that. But Val was right. Ersabet knew I was a Player, and my lost memories had been restored. She knew I was aware of the Triarchy and the races among it, but that was pretty much the extent of what I’d revealed to Ersabet regarding the depth of my knowledge.

  This was complicated. I couldn’t think of a way to explain why I wanted to attract the attention of the Voxels. Best to just let her think I’m an idiot. Honestly, it could be the truth.

  “I’m going to find a way to kill them,” I said confidently.

  “You cannot kill them. Even the highest-level Player would stand little chance of defeating a Voxal. They aren’t Players. They are more like guides and rule-keepers. Their primary purpose is to monitor the wargames to ensure the fights are unfolding in an appropriate manner. But if they get wind of what you are, they will abandon the wargames and hunt you down. Or not, since your grand plan involves summoning them to you.”

  The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  ‘But I have a secret weapon, right Val?’

  She cocked her head. ‘You found some weapon I don’t know about?’

  ‘You’re the secret weapon, Val. You!’ I wanted to shake my fist at her, but Ersabet’s eyes were still on me.

  “I’ll figure something out,” I said. “And if I don’t, then I die. But at least I’ll have ruined their fun.”

  Ersabet shook her head and sighed. “Unfortunately, I am in this too deep to back out now, so I will help you do this. But I will say ‘I told you so’ the first chance I get.”

  “Thank you for standing by me. But I have to ask, what happens to you if I die? What if I die and your people find out you were helping me?”

  She took a step forward. “I do not think of such things. I think only of what it will be like when you survive until the end or even win, but that’s likely beyond your reach.” She took another step to me. “Did you know that all who survive until the end of the game are forgiven of all crimes committed within the sphere? Players can never be prosecuted for the actions they committed here. If I survive, I may become an outcast, but I’ll become the wealthiest outcast in our history. Everyone will want to hear my story. If you survive…,” she shrugged, “if you survive, the story will be worth even more.”

  I shook my head. “There has to be more to you than this. I saw the hate in your eyes when we fought those Kurskins.”

  “I hate murderous creatures. Goodnight, John.”

  I said goodbye and collapsed backward into my semi-soft bed. Tomorrow, this building would remain locked down, and not a soul would be allowed outside lest some rat flees the nest and alerts the Kurskins to our plan. During the day, we would prepare. I would instruct all the Hunters to hone their blades, and Ersabet would teach them the easiest and best ways to kill a Kurksin.

  When night fell, those who had seemed the most enthusiastic about joining me would leave the Hunter’s Lodge to find friends or family that they had assured me held no love for the Kurskins.

  Then we would wait, and at midnight, we would kill every Kurskin we could find. I didn’t know how the city guard would react, but I needed them on my side. That was where Harl would come in. He told me he has a cousin in the guard. Harl’s mission was to find him and convince him that the Kurskins were rising against the humans, not the other way around. Hopefully, that would get some of them to pitch in. It was unlikely the captain of the city guard would support anything like this. Val told me he was a Special NPC and a Quest Giver, which made it possible for him to support the Players over his own species.

  We planned to kill as many in their sleep as we could, as that was by far the safest way to do it. Any Kurskin out walking the streets at night could be taken by surprise, too. It’s not like they had any reason to fear us. But we would only be able to surprise them once. After that, it would come down to a fight. The Kurskins had powers, and all we had were numbers. Currently, not enough numbers, but if the majority of the Hunters were any indication, then there was a good chance other humans would join our battle, even if they weren’t sure what they were fighting for. There was still an innate humanity in each of them. They valued human lives more than any Kurskin.

  This would work. It had to.

  Sleep was knocking at the doors of my mind, but I had A couple of things left to do before I could rest.

  First, I opened up the Social tab in my interface and was shocked to see it full of names now. I recognized Tara’s name, but all the Hunters were there now. It allowed me to view their condition and the location based on when and where I last saw them. I couldn’t use this interface to command or communicate with them in any way. It just showed these people respected me and had pledged service to me. After what went down last night, I was essentially the de facto leader of the Hunters.

  I wondered if I should connect with Ersabet through the Social tab. I would assume it allows for some form of communication between Players. I’d need to remember to ask her.

  Next, I needed to level up, and I also had an achievement notification.

  CONGRATULATIONS PLAYER. YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL SIX.

  I couldn’t help but bask in that warm glow of newfound power coursing smoothly through my body. It didn’t last long, but I still felt better than I had moments earlier. I was stronger now. Faster. I could feel it. It was only a minor change, but it was noticeable to me.

  YOU MAY SELECT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING SKILLS AND ABILITIES, OR YOU MAY ENHANCE ONE OF YOUR PREVIOUSLY CHOSEN SKILLS OR ABILITIES.

  I took some time to consider. Devastating Strike was working well enough for my needs. I was almost scared to enhance it further.

  Magic Begone might be worth an upgrade. It had saved me from being blasted backward into a stone wall earlier. Silent But Deadly was useful, even though I hadn’t used it well yet. I could hold off on that one.

  Close Combat Specialist’s unpredictability nearly got me killed. If I were going to upgrade anything, it would be that.

  I decided to check out what the AI was offering before deciding.

  CULT LEADER: Your followers are practically worshipping you after that speech you gave. Have you ever considered a career in radio? Ha! I jest. I jest. Anyhoo, this ability makes it easier for you to influence people. And before you ask, yes, it only works on weak-minded humans.

  Fuck off

  ENSHROWDEN: You seem to have a strange fixation with dark places. You’re not secretly a vampire, are you? Ha! Now, you may ask yourself, ‘Didn’t my friendly personal AI already use that joke before?’ The answer is yes, and you’ll just have to deal with it. Ok. Glad that’s settled. This skill makes you one with shadow. You can wrap yourself in shadow and become nearly undetectable in the dark. I wouldn’t recommend using this ability on a sunny day. Some bumpkin will surely think you’re a demon or a ghost. It’s quite helpful for those who like to sneak around in the dark. This skill can be cast twice a day and lasts thirty seconds.

  THROATED: You seem to have a strange fixation with cutting throats. It’s like you can’t even go a full twenty-four hours without slicing someone's throat these days. To each their own, I guess. The ability works as such: Whenever you slice someone's throat with a bladed weapon, your weapon will consume their life energy, allowing you to cut another's throat from a distance. All you have to do is swing your blade and activate this ability. You must be within ten yards of the intended target. Oh, and it only works once. You’ll have to slice another throat for real again to recharge it.

  Wow, that last one was a little too morbid for me. And my heart was already set on ENSHROWDEN. That would serve me very well in days to come.

  Lastly, I opened my achievement notification.

  NEW ACHIEVEMENT: PLAYER HUNTER

  You killed multiple Players outside the bounds of the wargames. Good job! Hopefully, they were assholes and deserved it. Eh, who am I kidding? You seem like a nice guy to me. Stupid but nice. Those Players had it coming if you ask me. The PLAYER HUNTER achievement unlocks access to the System Hosted PVP Trials. You can fight solo or as a team and prove yourself in the arena.

  That was a big no from me. I would have enough fighting tomorrow, and I sure as hell have had enough fighting for this night.

  I closed my eyes and let slumber take me.

  The Seam: Book One of Texas Accelerated.