Chapter Seventeen: Raid Breaker Part Two

“That was quite a show when you messed with those raiders,” Rad exclaimed. “I like the part where that truck rammed you — BOOM! Then, like Superman, you lifted the darn thing in the air and — SMASH!” he laughed hysterically. “The best part is — no one got recalled.”

“Wait a minute, how did you know all this?” Wilt inquired. “You weren’t there when that happened.”

Our leader was right. We all nodded to agree.

“What are you talking about?” Rad asked. “It’s all trending on Viewcom. It got over ten thousand views.” A confused look crossed each of our faces. “Viewcom? The greatest thing on the internet since Quest. And the internet itself.”

“My liege,” one of the girls reminded him, “these are newcomers.”

“She’s right,” the other said. “Viewcom is only a week old. They haven’t yet been informed.”

The Party King’s eyes widened before bursting into laughter, “Ah, silly me. That Chernobyl cocktail earlier gave my head some pounding.” He twirled his hand at the girl from his right. “The camera phone, if you please.”

She pulled out a phone from her pocket. My jaw dropped when the video revealed about me clobbering the raiders.

“A daring fellow took this during your fight,” Zeki said.

“Oh, I get it,” Wilt swallowed. “Viewcom is a video-sharing site. I didn’t know you have one of those here.”

“It’s the first of its kind, Mr. Wallace,” Zeki said. “Made by the collaboration of the Crimson Shadows and the brightest minds from your era.”

“Yeah, those Twenty-First Century eggheads are really something,” Rad chuckled. “Come, let me show you around. You and I are going to have a fun night.”

Agape, Zeki protested, “My king, you said that you assigned me to be their chaperone for this evening. And they’re about to hear my stories too.”

“I’ll take it from here,” Rad insisted while he swayed his hand to shoo him off. “You go ahead and find someone to hear your stories.”

Zeki fumed at his displeasure. Nevertheless, he drew back his right leg and bowed before taking his leave.

“Girls, I’d like to be alone with them for a while. Go have fun somewhere.”

The two agreed but not before they whispered something to his ears. Rad grinned as he waved his hands. The first girl had white wings sprouted on her back. The second girl’s lower half transformed into the body of a horse, like a centaur. Both of them kissed their king on the cheeks and went away.

“How did you do that?” Brock asked, astounded.

“Do what?” Rad blinked before snapping his thoughts back on track. “Oh, right, newcomers. I’m an Olympian, by the way. We have shape-shifting powers. I’m the one who causes these….” He gestured to the people possessing animal appendages.

“Olympian,” I mumbled. “Mt. Olympus.” Hercules was also from Mt. Olympus. Aside from super-strength, would that mean I had shape-shifting powers too? I would think about that some other time. My stomach started grumbling.

Gazing at the sparkling food on the long table, all created by Rad’s powers, they looked like they fitted for royalty. Caviars and truffles of all kinds, big steaks scented with applewood, steaming seafood, baked potatoes with gold leaves on top, and so much more. Even the chocolate fountains were dazzling. Hazelnut, mint, salted caramel, green tea, lavender were among the flavors. Alex noticed Li, Katie, and even Brock’s mouths were watering.

“Remember, desserts later.” She then glared at Li, cocking a brow. “You’re supposed to be a monk, aren’t you?”

Embarrassed, Li hung his head down. “We are all imperfect creatures,” he said with a weak excuse while fiddling with his fingers.

As we feasted, the taste was so exquisite. It was definitely fitted for royalty, and tonight, we acted like one. Our dinner was pleasant when Rad entertained us with jokes and amusing stories.

We laughed. We smiled. It was a blissful moment until Wilt spoke, “That guy has been staring at us for a while now.”

“Who’s staring?” Rad asked.

Wilt pointed at none other than the Dragonheart’s king himself. He was eyeing us across the hall while the crowd that surrounded him was conversing with one another.

“Looks like Magnus has taken a liking to your little party, huh?” Rad said.

Alex shook her head. “No, judging from his eyes, he was looking at Sam.”

“Me?” I gulped.

“Well, he is a king like me, so he knows about you, Raid Breaker. The same goes for the other leaders here. But don’t worry, he’s a nice guy.”

“I am not convinced,” I said while Magnus kept staring at me with a wide smile until his attention diverted to the new people who came to speak with him.

“That doesn’t explain why he’s scouting Sam.” Wilt frowned.

“Don’t worry, Magnus is a nice guy,” Rad reassured. “He’ll leave you alone once you refuse him to join his guild. I haven’t mentioned that he’s a hero like you, Raid Breaker. His feats are more impressive than anyone here. Like Zeki said, his heroic deeds are almost as equal as the mighty Hercules himself.”

I wasn’t surprised the Party King mentioned that guy. Like he ever found out that I was his brave.

“I’m afraid that we are not ready to join the Dragonheart, your Majesty,” Wilt stated.

We all nodded to back him up. We’d been stuck together as friends ever since we met. None of us ever wanted to join any guild.

“Bah, let’s leave politics aside for now,” Rad exclaimed. “This is a par-tay! Lift those frowns and enjoy yourselves. Eat, dance, have fun. Like my man, Raja, here. He’s having a blast.”

“Raja?” Katie spoke a familiar name.

We glanced behind and found the Jormungand commander standing by the fountains, holding a plate full of solid chocolate squares in seven different flavors.

“It’s you,” he gasped upon noticing us.

“Commander,” Wilt greeted.

“You folks know each other?” Rad asked.

“Yeah, they protected my caravan from the raider alliance, remember?”

Rad paused to recollect his memory. “Oh, that was your guild.”

The commander blinked. “Chernobyl?”

“Yep, Chernobyl.” He cleared his dried-out throat. “Speaking of Chernobyl, I could use another one or two.”

We were all dumbfounded by his statement. The Party King immediately left to find the drink that was causing him some memory lapses.

“Seems that Dionysus picked his champion very wisely,” Commander Raja commented, which we swallowed hard. “Anyways, I didn’t expect you all to be here. I didn’t even get your names.”

After we said our names, Wilt told him that we already established ourselves a party, countering if the commander asked us to join his guild.

“Oh, in that case, how about joining us.”

We all blinked to our surprise. “What?”

“Join my guild,” he offered. “How about it?”

“Did you forget the part that we’re already a party?” Wilt pointed at the nearby people eavesdropping on our conversation. “And also the fact we are surrounded by your rivals.”

“Yes, and yes,” he answered with a smug. “But I don’t mind letting them know. I’m not doing anything illegal here.”

“You sure they won’t —” Katie lowered her voice to whisper, “you know, get angry.”

He shrugged. “Not if they want to get kicked out of this par-tay. Anyone who offended the Party King would be a disgrace in this city. So what do you say? I know you want to have a guild of your own, but you’ll be safe with us, Jormungands. And I’ll make sure that you’re all going to be placed under my wing.”

All of us were hesitant to answer, so we turned to Wilt. “Thanks for the offer.” Our leader took a deep breath. “But for now, we have to decline.”

The commander cocked a brow. “Oh?”

“Out of respect, sir,” Alex interjected. “We’ve been planning to build our guild for a long time. We would like to spend more time in this world first before joining an esteemed guild such as yours. You know, going on adventures, exploring new places. Just us, friends.”

After a brief pondering, expecting anger or taking offense for refusing the commander, he let out a sigh, “I see… if that’s what you want, then I wish you luck. If anyone from my guild asks you to join, tell them you already said no to me.”

“Thank you for your understanding,” Alex said.

Suddenly, the people who were eavesdropping started moving. My fear grew when they were walking toward their guilds. It seemed that they were going to inform their Guildmasters about our party’s little goal.

“It’s a real shame that you won’t join us,” the commander said. “After what you did for saving my caravan, all of you could make great officers in no time. Especially you, Sam — Sam?”

“Where’s Sam?” Wilt realized that I was gone. They swiveled their heads in search of me, unaware that I was watching them from afar, behind the left stairway.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered before heading for the castle wall through the portal once again.

Alone on the battlement, I rested my hands on a crenel, overlooking the middle of the city with the crescent moon illuminating above. The smell of outside air calmed my nerves.

Back inside, the way those people who were staring at me gave me shivers. The surrounding air in the hall started to get so heavy that my neck got choked that I had to get away from them. At least I brought some chocolate squares in my pocket, wrapped in tissues. I breathed in and out, and my mind cleared out my painful memories.

I gazed at my right hand, flexing it a couple of times. That was a remarkable feeling when I fought those Asuras. It was like striking a pillow when my fist rammed against their metal skins, and the way I avenged Travis and saved everyone, I smiled to myself that I’d done something right, unlike what I did back on Earth.

“A hero, huh?” Despite what others said, I was far from becoming one.

Hoping to brighten myself up, I stepped two paces back and placed myself in a boxer’s stance. Preparing to punch the air, I drew back my right fist and… I stopped.

“I realized something.” I forgot about the spies lurking nearby.

My mood went sour. Maybe going somewhere else would change that, perhaps exploring other parts of the castle. As I wheeled to my right, there was a girl about several yards away, sitting on top of a merlon while staring at the moons.

“It’s her,” I gasped. It was that rainbow-haired girl.