61 Pre-War Game Discussions
~When I see your face~
~There's not a thing that I would change~
~'Cause you're amazing...~
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"Hey girls, how've you been?" Steve waved over at the two as they rushed over to him. Immediately though, he noticed the scuff marks all over their body and his keen smell caught onto the scent of what he now knew to be a Potion of Healing...which was plastered all over their bodies actually. He cast a suspicious eye over at Alex who remained unfazed by his expression. "What happened?"
"Errr...well..." Tiona began as she clasped her hands behind her back and awkwardly shuffled her bare feet. "We may have picked a fight we were simply under qualified for."
"Really?" Steve asked sceptically as he continued to look at Alex. She still continued to be indifferent towards his piercing gaze.
"Yeah well, you know how Ais is." Tiona gestured to the blonde who nodded along to what the Amazon was saying. "She wanted a spar and I just joined in. Nothing out of the ordinary right?"
Steve looked back at his girlfriends. There was no point in looking at Ais since she had a perpetual poker face, so he looked at Tiona. And he noticed that she kept her eyes closed so he couldn't read them, while she smiled her big toothy smile at him...on a side note, she had some lovely teeth. He wondered how she kept them so white...
"Well you can't expect me to believe that you didn't get a whole lot of rough-handling as you did so." Steve commented as he put his fists on his hips.
"I splashed a potion bottle over the both of them." Alex said. "I wasn't about to let them come back to you all crippled and bruised."
"Explains why their entire bodies smell of the stuff." Steve said as he rolled his eyes. "You couldn't have given them the drinkable ones?"
"One singular splash potion is always more efficient. You waste less resources." Alex folded her arms. "You taught us that, remember?"
"...Yes." Steve muttered. "Yes I did. Anyway, where are the rest?"
"Don't know." Alex shrugged her shoulders. "I know Zuri's gone to the library. Sunny said something about checking out the Demeter Familia, and I heard Ari saying she wanted to go to the cartographer's guild...weird as that is. As for Kai, she just grabbed Bete and began running off. Efe wanted to do some shopping and I have no idea were Makena or Noor went..."
---
Little did they know that Noor was at this very moment coddling monsters under the Amphitheatron under the astonished eyes of the Ganesha Familia. They rubbed their eyes as they saw a Ligerfang squirm under her playful hands and happily lick her under the chin, while Lefiya just stood off to the side, slack jawed with her staff about to slip from her grasp.
Noor then took a ball from her inventory and tossed it up and down in her hands. The tiger monster suddenly became very doglike as it lowed its front quarters to the ground while raising its rump in their and wagging its tail frantically from side to side. Noor happily cooed to it and tossed the ball away, making some of the Ganesha Familia members quickly jump aside as the Ligerfang barrelled past them after the ball.
...
Makena in the meantime was furiously hopping from one cooker to another in a certain pub...growling as she rubbed shoulders with a cat-girl cook and cooked under the eyes of a very sceptical dwarf proprietress. Makena locked eyes with Mama Mia and both their pupils filled with fire as they stared each other down menacingly.
Plates upon plates of different dishes were set out before a sweating Gareth who had to gulp and continuously run his eyes worryingly over all the 'samples' he had to take, and judge whose cooking was better. He gripped the knife and fork in his hand as he took a deep breath to calm himself, but was then startled by Makena and Mama Mia thumping their palms on the counter top in front of him, breathing steam through their nostrils as they urged him to begin judging the competition.
Gareth was a grown man (or dwarf) and had faced many stressful situations in his life which he would never have run away from...but for once in his life, under the judgemental eyes of two scary women, one of whom could step on him and flatten him if she wished so, the dwarf felt the urge to cry as he succumbed to his fate and picked up two separate steaks.
...
Sunny however was having a much quieter time in the fields of the Demeter Familia home, guiding some of the farmers on how to plant certain crops properly and showing them how to protect some very vulnerable vegetables from the environment. He was interrupted from potting some fruits by a long, pink dress being flapped in his face by the wind.
He pushed the folds of cloth aside to stare up at a very 'gifted' woman with honey coloured hair, who smiled down radiantly at him as she held up a pot of sweet tea and gestured over to a large umbrella under which was a table and two chairs, cakes and savoury pastries spread out over it.
The quiet Minecrafter smiled back at her as he stood up, pulled up the slipping strap of his dungarees and joined her for tea as they conversed over different things regarding agriculture and animal husbandry. The people who were working in the fields momentarily looked up from their work to watch the two sitting under that umbrella and smiled sly, yet hopeful smiles before returning to what they were doing.
---
"Well wherever they all are, I expect that they have gotten the same message." Steve said before he looked at Alex. "Did you?"
"Indeed I did." Alex said as she pulled out an identical earpiece to Steve's out of her ear. Tiona and Ais stared questioningly at the little thing but felt like they should not bother Alex with questions for now.
Even if the older girl had taken the time to heal them both, they could still feel phantom pains of their seriously hurtful experience earlier on in the day. Though they did wonder if perhaps they should tell Steve that about 3 miles worth of forest land had been absolutely decimated...and a couple of bandit camps had been violently slaughtered by the orange haired girl too.
"That's good then." Steve said as he folded his arms and walked out of the guild. The girls followed closely behind. "There have been a few changes but it won't make a difference. It is still according to plan."
"Is it really necessary to put on all that show?" Alex leaned over to him and whispered, trying to keep this conversation between the two. "We're trying to make sure that the public aren't wary of us right? How can you expect business to come to us if they'd be terrified even to show up at our door."
"Because whether or not we can successfully launch things in the city..." Steve said as he looked down at her. "...we can always move stuff out. Anything that comes to Orario sells for crazy money anywhere else in the world, no matter which Familia it's from. And the good thing is that we deal in all kinds of things, so there's no shortage of a range of options."
"Huh." Alex moved away away from him as she leaned back and put her hands behind her head and leaned into them. "So anyway, it seems that this War Game won't be for quite some time, especially now that we have three groups of our opposition who need to mobilise. What do you intend to do in the meantime? Any pre-emptive strikes?"
"No. Those are strictly forbidden." Steve said as he pulled out a rolled up title deed and the floor plan. "Instead, we're going to start developing our Familia home right away."
"Oooohhh, interesting. Let me see, let me see!" Tiona bounded up and tried to look at the plans. But Steve quickly dropped them into his inventory and Tiona pouted at him. "Why?"
"Because it's still our Familia home." Steve said as he booped the Amazon on the nose. "There are things in there that we must keep within our own circle. You wouldn't exactly have me looking at the Floor Plan of your entire Manor now would you?"
"...No I guess not." Tiona said as she looked down. "There are things nobody outside the Familia should see."
"That's right." Steve congratulated her. "As much as I love the both of you, even I cannot disregard the privacy and the rights of my Familia."
...
""Love?"" Both Tiona and Ais repeated. Tiona did so with more of an awestruck expression while Ais flushed a little above her nose.
"That's right." Steve nodded. "I told you I'd be honest didn't I?"
"No fair." Tiona grinned at him. "Trying to get one over us."
"You've already done plenty before me." Steve waved her off. "You in particular are the mastermind behind all of this, so I don't think you have anything to say."
"Yeah, you're right about that." Tiona said. "Oh well, I'll find some way to get you back. Just you see."
"I'm just trembling at the thought of you trying." Steve said mockingly as he leaned down towards her. Tiona just grinned slyly at him.
Ais eyed the interaction and sighed at herself for not being able to have the same capability for banter. She then took a look at Alex, and found the older girl staring at Steve and Tiona with narrowed eyes. Alex then seemed to turn and look at her but Ais chose to look away at some food stands. By chance, she saw one of them selling some potato croquettes and for a chance to get away from Alex for a bit, she broke away from the group to go and buy some.
Steve and Tiona were broken away from their flirting and raised their brows at her actions. Tiona who knew Ais well could tell from the way Ais walked was that she was anxious about something, and upon suddenly recognising a piercing stare at the back of her head from a place she didn't even need to think twice about to identify, she decided to join Ais and indulge in some fried snacks too.
Steve watched the two go and looked back at Alex questioningly.
"Are you sure there isn't something I should know about?" Steve asked.
"Quite certain." Alex said. "Nothing beyond the fact that you should take care and make sure that you know what you're getting into when you want to fight someone."
"Perhaps." Steve said. "...But just how bad did you hurt them? You know I'm going to be upset if you went overboard with it."
"I know." Alex replied. "And don't worry. I didn't hold them to the same standard as the kids...I went easy on them."
"Good." Steve said. "I love you all too...but I won't tolerate anything bad happening to them. Understand?"
"Yes, tough guy." Alex rolled her eyes and pushed him away a little. "Anyway, when do we get started?"
"Tonight." Steve said as he pulled out materials from his creative menu into his inventory. "But before that, we'll go over the battle plan for the War Game."
---
(The Grotto)
Later on that night, when everybody was through with their fun and dandy, and everybody had reconvened at the Guild to pick up their guild cards and their citizenship papers, the Ptah Familia gratefully bade farewell to the Loki Familia for spending the day with them and returned to the grotto with their baggage.
Efe had brought the biggest out of all them, and Alex had given her a good ear-bashing for all the wonton spending and the extravagance of the stuff she'd purchased. The poor girl curled up into a foetal position and begged for forgiveness over and over again on the floor before Alex finally let up. The older girl then picked up the entire pile of clothes, shoes and jewellery and tossed them into the storeroom, while banning Efe from wearing any of them and from any desserts for a week as punishment.
Zuri had bought with him a bunch of books and a...weird smile on his face. As a matter of fact, Steve noticed that he'd been staring off into the distance for sometime, like he was reminiscing about something...
Kai had brought nothing, while Sunny had brought back packets of seeds. Makena just smelled of oil and spices, and so Steve knew she'd been cooking somewhere. But judging by the huge smile and the simple air of satisfaction and superiority around her, he deduced that she was in a good mood and so decided not to question anything. And Noor...didn't really bring anything either besides some clothes and a toothbrush.
It was what Ari brought that really intrigued him however, and as the Ptah Familia sat around the dinner table (with no food to eat but simply for their meeting) Steve called her over to eventually explain what she'd done in the day. Though he did make a point to stare at the dark stain on her hair.
...
"Right!" Steve clapped his hands as he sat in the foremost chair at the head of the table. Opposite him on the other end sat Ptah with his legs over one another, arms folded and looking relatively uninterested for such an important and serious gathering. Steve just ignored him though and continued to go about the meeting. "We'll begin by recapping our day today. So, what have we learnt? What have we got? Starting with you Ptah. How did it go?"
"Besides what the lot of you heard?" Ptah held up the small microphone in his hand that Steve had hidden beneath his shoulder rest. "Nothing much. Of course, people are just pissing their pants in excitement because there's never been a War Game like this before. But it is set to occur a week from today in Lolog Lake...just as you wanted. Why did you push for it so much by the way?"
"I was wondering that too Steve." Noor looked at her captain. "Is that where-"
"Yes." Steve said. "That is where we'll put our flag. It will also be our base."
"The lake?" Sunny raised a brow. "We are good swimmers Steve but I'm not sure we could bother to hold our breaths that long...could we?"
"You should be able to." Steve said. "The Falna has boosted our already superhuman physiques. And besides, it's all for the surprise. One of the most important parts of a battle is a dramatic entrance. And what better way than by using him."
"We're going above and beyond just to squeeze some rats Steve." Alex commented. "It's never been like you to ever show off like this...it's not like you at all."
"New home, new me." Steve said flatly before looking at Ari. "Okay Ari, mind explaining that stain in your hair and what that thing is in your hand which you have not put down yet?"
"Yeah sure." Ari coughed into her hand. "Obviously we're planning to build some extensions to our manor in the future. For that we need tech, and for tech we need power, and for power we need fuel. You mentioned something about using your special modes only for the basics Steve, so that we keep on to our labouring attitude. So I took the liberty of going to the cartographer's guild to see if I could find a desert. And what do you know? There was a dessert practically on the doorstep of this city!...well technically a good long while away but it was pretty close."
"I think I know where this is going." Zuri said as he folded his arms. "Let me guess, deserts are often former sea beds where an inconceivable amount of sea creatures have died over the years and have gotten trapped under the sediments over a long period of time. Knowing this, and the fact we are in a world of wildly exotic creatures, you decided to go looking for fossil fuels."
"So I went looking for oil...so what?" Ari pointed at him accusingly. "At least I brought something to the team. What did you bring to the table that was so valuable?"
"I'm currently trying to learn the mechanisms behind the magic of this world." Zuri said as he looked over at Ptah. "I'm trying to see if I can deconstruct the very building block behind it and see if we can gain the ability to reconstruct it in a way that befits and benefits us. If none of us, then Steve would be the best person to reap the fruits of this research since he's got that {Cataclysm} skill of his. It might get him to bypass the conditions and restrictions of that skill."
"And you were doing that with the elf woman?" Sunny lifted his feet on the table and tilted his cap.
"Y-yeah...Riveria and I spent some quality time going over scholars reports and multiple papers on magic." Zuri said. "She's really invested."
"Yeah, yeah, we got the bookworms working together to make more things to bore us out of our minds." Ari flapped her fingers in the 'yapping' motion. "The point is, I found what I was looking for...and believe me, there is a lot of it. I've plugged the hole and marked down the co-ordinates, so we can begin pumping whenever we're ready. But first we need to build the power factory and the refinery before we can do any of that. The thing is though, while I was doing that, it spat this thing on my head." Ari held up the rock-like object in her hand. "It was covered in oil, so it stained my hair. But it has a weird name I've never seen before when I put it in my inventory."
"Show me." Steve gestured, and she tossed it over to him. He placed it in a slot in his inventory and looked at the text window which appeared when he hovered over the item. "It's called...Genkite?"
"Well that makes it an ore for sure." Makena said. "Or at least some kind of useful resources. In all honesty, it looks a lot like the Ancient Debris we look for in the Nether."
"I suppose it does." Steve took it out of his inventory and tossed it back at Ari. "You and Zuri will both have to figure out what this thing is in your own time. We're too busy with other things. Anybody else got something to chip in?"
"I met with the Demeter Familia." Sunny said. "Had a nice chat, did a spot of planting. Plenty to calm me down in a land of strangers. Sorry, but don't really have much."
"Well it's a good thing if you're already making connections with other Familia." Steve said. "It's a way in which we can see if we can negotiate something or trade in the future...you did remember to keep the bonemeal to yourself, right?"
"You think I'm mad?" Sunny asked. "Using bonemeal on mid-quality produce like that? Come on boss, don't insult me."
"Okay, keep your tweed hat on." Steve sighed before he looked at Noor. "Where have you been then?"
"I met with the Ganesha Familia today." Noor said. "I went to that big colosseum thingy in the East of the city. I helped tame monsters and stuff."
"Some more connections being made I suppose?" Steve said before he put his finger on his chin in thought. "They still have the highest number of first class adventurers amongst them, and they're tamers too. Could be worth having them as allies as well."
"Already done." Ptah said.
"Wait, what?"
"After the Denatus, I asked Ganesha if he'd ally with me once the War Game is over and he said yes."
"I'm not sure 'asked' is honest when it comes to you Ptah...but if that's the case, then that's one hurdle out of the way." Steve conceded.
"That's amazing Lord Ptah!" Noor looked at him in sparkles. "I was thinking of doing the same, but you beat me to it. And it was so easy? You're amazing!"
"Well I-..uh..." Ptah scratched the back of his head. "Great minds think alike you know. Of course I had to help my child in her endeavours. I guess I was just a little too good."
"Yeah, you sure were." Noor's eyes sparkled. 'Now I can play with those cute animals whenever I want!'
"Whatever." Steve said. "We know what Efe spent her day doing. So Makena, what did you do?"
"I heard rumours about this place that is supposed to be the best restaurant/pub in the whole damn city." Makena said. "So I made that fat dwarf tell me where it is and sure enough, I got to meet the owner. I sampled some of her food and honestly, it needed so much more improvement. I gave her a piece of my mind about it and she challenged me to a cook off between me and her chef. And we made Gareth the judge." Makena folded her arms proudly. "I came out on top, naturally!"
"...You waltzed into Mama Mia's establishment...spat on her food...and then went up against her in a cooking competition?" Steve asked as he stared at her like she'd just gone and nuked Florida...
...actually, would that really be a bad thing?
...
"And I won." Makena said. "What's wrong?"
"(sigh). Not many people know this...but Mama Mia is actually the former captain of the Freya Familia, the Familia we're going up against in the next battle." Steve face-palmed. "And she's still part of that Familia even though she's retired. What you just did is fan the flames a whole lot more...don't underestimate Mia's influence or her reach. She's still feared for a reason."
"...Ah." Makena shrunk back. "I might have effed up."
"Damn right n*gga, you did." Steve said before he looked at Kai.
"I didn't do much honestly." Kai said. "I just ran around the city, seeing all the sites and everything while having that puppy follow closely behind and hold my stuff. I still don't understand why you didn't let us go into the Dungeon even though you promised."
"Because the changes done in the Denatus has changed the whole plan of attack." Steve said. "In fact, I should address this now." He took out four pieces of paper and laid them down on the table. They were drawings of four different people.
"Who are they?" Ari asked before she upturned a brow "More additions to your harem?"
"WHAT! No!" Steve spluttered before he coughed into his hand. "I won't explain why just yet, but these four, you are not to hurt too badly and you are absolutely forbidden to kill. They shouldn't put up much resistance...well besides this one of course." Steve pointed to one of the drawings. "You can be a little rough with her since she will fight. However, she will fight to protect this other one, whom you simply cannot even scratch, do you hear me? Regardless of what she does, she's in a mentally fragile place and I don't want to risk that. I aim to save her and her protector from the clutches of their respective patron."
"And what about these other two?" Alex pointed to the remaining two papers. "Are they in the same Familia?"
"No, they are in the other one. As for those particular two, only one of them is actually valuable to me. However, she won't ever be separated from her friend...and the friend is sharp and witty I suppose, so she will have to come along too."
"You mean they are the ones whom you'll demand as our prize?" Ptah asked. "They fall under the same conditions as Freya does, so if you demand these specific members, they have no choice but to give them up?"
"Precisely." Steve said. "And the thing is, Apollo and Ishtar have no idea that I even know about these people and what they can do. So when we demand them so upfront and suddenly, they will not have had time to think of excuses not to give them up. I would suppose that they assume we'll take their best members. They are dead wrong."
"So we can just rough up the rest of them?" Zuri raised a brow. "It's a little bit harsh, don't you think?"
"Well I suppose you can be a bit more merciful to the rest of Ishtar's children. They don't necessarily like her either...except for their captain. That one you will leave to me and me alone. And also another thing. Zuri and Sunny, I would not recommend that you be the ones to pulverise Ishtar's kids."
""Why?"" Both of the other men asked.
"Because Amazons have a weird kink." Ptah answered them. "Most of the time they're just rough and vulgar. However, if ever they are defeated in battle by any male of any species...well, there is just something wired into the whole lot of them that makes them barking mad whenever that happens. They become fanatically obsessed with the man who beat them, and will chase them down to the ends of the planet and they don't give up until that man has given them his...er..." Ptah looked over at the intrigued Efe and tried to find the right words that would not be inappropriate in the presence of a child. "...until that man has a child with them. So unless you want dozens upon dozens of Amazons crawling all over you boys, I suggest you don't fight. Now not to say all of Ishtar's children are Amazons but the vast majority and the bulk of her main fighting force are. So steer clear."
"Say no more." Sunny said.
"Aye." Zuri shivered. "That is just terrifying to even think of...has it really happened?"
"Best example is our own ally." Steve said. "Finn once demolished Tione in a confrontation they had about four or five years ago. Ever since then, she can't go a single minute without fantasising about bearing his child...and those feelings just keep growing as the years pass."
"...Poor guy." Makena commented. "I guess us girls will have to deal with them then...clash of girl power. It's bound to have a lot of sparks."
"Then what about their captain then? I assume she is also an Amazon?" Alex asked Steve. "Won't she fall in love with you then?"
"Have you seen how she looks?" Steve asked with actual disgust written on his face. "Oh no, the barrier I will put up will not allow anybody to die permanently if I don't want them to. But that bitch is not going to open her eyes again after the War Game...be assured of that. Same for Apollo's captain."
"Why? Is he just as bad?" Kai asked.
"Not necessarily. But I have a few reasons why I don't like him. One, he's an arrogant little pompous prick. Two, his face is so punchable. Three, he's a massive simp for Apollo. Four, he treats his underlings like crap. And above all...I'm pretty sure he's a poofta."
"..."
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"..."
"Understandable." Ari said. "I wouldn't agree with that approach personally...but for the rest of that stuff, yeah I get the point."
"And also because Apollo has harassed Hestia a lot in the past." Steve said. "And while I can't kill the god himself, I can take away his captain for good."
""Hestia?"" The other players raised their brows. ""Who's that?""
"Our other ally." Ptah said. "She's one of my best and oldest friends. She doesn't have any children of her own. But regardless, she's a friend of the Familia. You'll meet her at some point."
The players nodded at him before turning to Steve as he rolled out a giant floor plan of their new mansion they were going to build.
"We can leave our strategy for shortly before the War Game." Steve said. "For now, let's get started on our home. We'll begin with the perimeter wall, and once we're done with that we'll..."
...
And so the rest of the night was spent planning on how the Ptah Familia Manor was going to be built and who would be assigned what job. They also held a little art competition for what their official Familia emblem would look like now that they had a larger family and now that they were soon to have very nice and large house.
And while they were doing that, the rest of Orario could barely get to sleep as the excitement of the upcoming great event weighed down on their minds.
High up in Babel Tower, a silver haired goddess swirled wine in her glass as her eyes peered down upon the residence of the Ptah Familia. It frustrated her to no end that she was still not able to get a clear view of this Stephen Hewer's soul. And now, she realized that she should have been wiser at the Denatus, for now there were even more magnificent souls within that tiny burrow in the city wall. Still, out of all them, Steve shone the brightest...and she had a score to settle.
In another, much smaller tower in a very active part of city during this time of the night, a purple haired goddess paced up and down her throne room, trying to hatch some devious plot with which she could deal damage to both the Ptah and Freya Familia. She also had to consider what to do with her secret weapon. She couldn't risk it expiring on the battlefield. She would have chosen not to send it...but unfortunately, the stipulations of the War Game compelled her to put everything she had out there. She needed to find a way to keep it safe and keep it's real purpose and abilities hidden from the world.
In a rather fancy manor in a more open part of the city, an orange-blonde god quivered on his bedsheets as he thought of the possibility of any of his children dying on the battlefield. He didn't want to be a part of this and yet he was being forced to throw his little darlings in with the lions just to entertain people and he knew that he had no real benefit from any of this. His gut told him that something very bad was going to happen.
---
Ouranos handed the piece of paper back to his hooded assistant as Fels tilted his head towards the Primordial.
"Have you reached a decision my lord?" The skeleton posed the question.
"Let us see exactly how this War Game proceeds." Ouranos said. "I shall get to know the true capabilities of these otherworlders, and we will know how best to put them to use."
"What about the construction of the Gate?" Fels asked. "Will you let them build it?"
"If only to move the Xenos to a place they won't be found, yes." Ouranos said. "But whatever else they may use it for...well, it is clear that the boy has some powerful benefactor working in his favour somewhere behind the scenes. If this entity wishes for the Gate to connect our world with others...I'm not sure, but we can at least moderate everything. The boy does not kneel to my authority but he will not let his actions harm his image, that's for certain. Only time shall tell Fels...only time shall tell."
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A.N. I've finished Volume 1 on Patreon and I'm about to start Volume 2 there which begins in the day of the War Game and the massive reveal. Anybody who wants to read it two or three weeks before it's official release on this website, go and join there please.
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