“Slave?!” Mel's exclamation squeaked from her suddenly constricted throat. The word, especially hearing Raine speak it, made her heart skip several beats. When it restarted, it was at a full gallop and crimson heat flushed her skin. She hoped he didn't notice in the dark.

  Celeste stood behind Raine, her jaw on the ground as she beheld Mel like she'd never seen the girl before.

  Raine shook his head fiercely, “I refuse. I’m not interested in owning slaves.”

  Mel was quick to defend herself, “It's not that bad! I can leave at any time. I’ll be credless, but whatever, I’ve been there before. It gives you the power to throw me away without concern that I’ll spill any of your secrets.” Seeing his scowl, she patted the air with her hands, “I’m not doing this so you’ll tell me any of your secrets. This is my insurance against myself. If I happen to overhear something, I’ll never be tempted to reveal it and you’ll never have to worry about my intentions. It’s perfect.”

  “No, it’s nowhere near perfect. There’s enough loopholes in this piece of garbage to squeeze a planet through.”

  Just as Mel was beginning to calm, his words caused fresh embarrassment to color her complexion, “C-can you fix it, then? I won’t feel comfortable around you if I don’t have something like this. I don’t like how things are now. I’m too distracted by all this and I don’t want to have to worry about it ever again.”

  Understanding dawned and Raine paused, realizing he'd fundamentally misunderstood her, both in the past, and now. This wasn't his first experience with people who preferred to have little to no control over their own existence. In a way, that kind of personality made sense. The world was a dangerous, scary place, and that reality was simply too much for some people to navigate. Being told where to go and what to do took the edge off in a way that he couldn't personally understand, though he could fathom it.

  Raine stared at her for long seconds, each feeling like an eternity for the squirming girl, “I’ll… think about it.”

  The tension choking Mel's muscles fled and she sagged with honest relief, “Thank you!” Raine blinked away his surprise at the odd turn the conversation took, then restarted their journey at a light jog.

  Can't believe I never noticed she was that type of person. Now that I think about it, the hints have been there all along. Wow, was I blind or what?

  Mel followed after, face skewed in confusion. [Huh? What type of person? Did he misunderstand something? It doesn't matter so long as he's willing to sign. Eventually, he's going to figure out we can read his mind and this is the only way he'll be willing to forgive me for not telling him earlier. This is definitely the right choice. I feel so much better already.]

  Celeste kept pace with Mel, sending her a message through the interface, “He means you're crazy. What the hell are you thinking?”

  Mel sent an unsigned copy of the contract to Celeste, “Protecting myself for when he eventually discovers the truth. This way, neither of you have to worry about me. I don't want to be a threat to you, either.”

  Celeste scanned the contents, not understanding Raine's disdain for it. It was fairly simple, stating Mel would never reiterate anything she learned from Raine. Nor would she knowingly betray his trust. She would follow his direct commands to the best of her ability and never act against his interests. The contract could be ended at any time of his choosing and the penalties for breach were a permanent ban from ZionLine and forfeiture of her digital and real life assets, just like the other contract he'd made them sign.

  The specific wording cleverly forced Mel to not reveal Raine's secrets to himself, meaning she couldn't tell him about reading his mind. Celeste was impressed, nodding with a thoughtful frown, “I should do something similar. Don't want him to kill me either, and he's too clever to fool for long.”

  A spike of fear had Mel responding in a rush, “You really think he would kill us?”

  Celeste nodded emphatically, “Definitely. Father always says men are straightforward creatures. When they speak, especially when it's an important topic, it's best to take their words literally and believe them.”

  Done with the conversation, Celeste leaned forward and burned Discipline, shooting away at triple speed. Mel was right behind. Her footsteps felt lighter than before, like she had wings strapped to her back.

  Two hours of grueling acrobatics and sprinting later, the sun was mostly visible on the land. Its warmth had yet to reach them but the chilly morning air was a comfort on their sweat-soaked skin. In the distance, low walls came into view. They were framed by craggy hills dotted with sprinkles of sandy patches.

  Approaching the gated wall gave the impression the town beyond was abandoned. There were no guards in view, and a lack of players, smoke, or noise lent weight to the observation.

  Mel sincerely hoped it was an illusion. She was starving, thirsty, and didn't want to walk another step without a break. Exercising in ZionLine was both familiar and surreal. Moving her avatar felt exactly like reality. Each time her Discipline dropped below half, exhaustion would set in, taking the form of heavy breathing, muscle strain, heat, and sweat. When it went below 25% the symptoms doubled, and again at 10%. At that point, the fatigue grew bad enough she felt on the verge of death.

  The surreal exception was that she never once felt like she was operating at less than her maximum strength, despite how much her body complained. A short break to regenerate Discipline was all it took to return to an optimal state.

  The real issue was the mental strain of knowing she could really die any second. The monsters had all been level five for the last hour. The rolling, spiked little turds were terrifyingly fast. She and Celeste had been glued at the hip after nearly being killed by an ambush from three of them. Before that fateful encounter, Raine always made some subtle hint they were about to be attacked, like looking at an area twice, or scratching his elbow.

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  After suddenly being jumped on from either side of the road, both her and Celeste were reduced to half health and knocked off balance. Their survival instincts kicked into overdrive. The fight had been brutal, the two of them combining every lesson they'd learned through the night to barely eke out a win.

  The pride in Celeste's eyes matched the swelling in Mel's chest when they killed the last monster and leveled again. The surge of power that swept through her was intoxicating; combined with the flashing lights, trumpets, and numerical increases in her status, she was already hopelessly addicted. Unfortunately, the need to progress and feel the sensations of leveling again only made the threat of death worse.

  Celeste was no better. Raine chuckled at the girls after sneaking a peek from his peripherals. They were hunched with bent knees, their heads on a swivel as they stalked behind him, ready to murder anything that got between them and the safety the town’s walls represented. If they knew the truth, Raine imagined they would piss themselves from fear.

  He strode right up to the unmanned gates without worry. They usually didn't open for another couple hours but that didn't mean his group would be barred entrance. There were plenty of city guards, they were just tucked out of sight where they wouldn't be easy prey for archers or casters from a surprise bandit raid.

  There were tons of players outside the walls, too. They were merely crouched in stealth, waiting for the right moment to strike. Righteous controlled this town and its surrounding areas. Usually, they would collect an entry fee from any approaching group—a huge source of income Raine couldn’t wait to mimic with his own guild. Since Righteous was choosing to let them in without hassle, it was all the more proof they were planning to trap him in the town.

  It was in their best interest to let Raine bind first, then kill him repeatedly to recover some of their lost loot. How they intended to make the attempt was yet to be seen. ZionLine was still new, and its subtleties unexplored. It was common knowledge by day three that drawing weapons in a town would lead to jail time, and outright attacking, to death. There were ways around those rules, but Raine doubted Righteous would have figured them out by now.

  Let them come. Their donations will always be welcome.

  Hidden eyes watched him rap on the thick wooden gate. Disguised ears perked as a gruff response came from within, “Name, affiliation, n’ purpose?”

  Raine wore a confident grin. He replied loudly while making an obvious scan of the nearby players, “Gold, silver, and copper!”

  “Good nuff fer me!” Barked the same voice with a laugh. One of the doors swung open enough for them to squeeze inside. Raine flipped each of the three guards a silver coin, earning him toothy grins. The one in charge elbowed his companion, practically shouting, “Search complete, no contraband found.”

  The second nodded along, his coin vanishing, “Aye, search complete.”

  The last rolled the piece of silver along the outside of his knuckles, “Yup, nothin s’picious here.”

  Raine dipped his chin, voice polite, “Pleasure to encounter such upstanding guardians of the people. Thank you for your service, sirs.” They waved him off with a round of chuckles.

  Much like Mirror Lake Town, the streets were packed. Despite the early hour, a press of bodies moved in every direction like a street fair at noon. Players shouted, selling items at a discount or for an outlandish mark-up. Offers for power leveling and guild invitations were mixed in as well. Mel wondered what magic kept the intense hubbub from reaching beyond the walls. The thought flew from her skull when Raine took off, not giving her time to fully appreciate the scene.

  Thankfully, Celeste responded quickly, grabbing Mel’s sleeve and pulling her along as they entered the moving mass of humanity. Unlike Mel’s previous experience in a town, the only people releasing red PVP shields were her and Celeste. Each time it happened, grumbles and curses were thrown at them as people were rebuffed into the crowd. The impression that those below level five were unwelcome was quickly cemented as the voices turned to shouts that followed them uncomfortably close.

  Raine led them down seemingly random streets past building after building with no markings that Mel could discern. She was lost straight away, the press of people who were mostly taller than her blocking her view. She couldn’t see Raine, having to trust that he was just beyond Celeste’s constantly flickering shield. Instead of continuing to be dragged along, Mel clung to Celeste’s sleeve with a death grip.

  They turned sharply to the left and the sound of doors banging open pierced the nearby commotion. They entered a dark room. Moss-stained walls made of worn boards were illuminated by softly glowing lamps. She blinked until her eyes adjusted, finding them in a tavern of all places. Raine led the way to a few empty seats at the bar.

  He dropped three brownish colored coins on the counter, “Three waters.”

  A slim worker with a dirty yellow apron slid his hand over the coins and they vanished. He poured their drinks from a tap below the wooden bar and slid them over one by one. He was already moving on to another customer by the time Mel thought to thank him. Raine slammed the drink back, then looked at the girls expectantly.

  Neither was quick to make a move on the suspicious beverages, instead taking another long look at the questionable interior. Raine growled, “Drink already! We have a lot to do and there’s going to be plenty of interruptions slowing us down as it is.”

  Hiding a delighted shiver from being reprimanded, Mel did as she was told. Cool, pristine water graced her tongue and flowed down her throat. A comfortable, soothing sensation prickled its way through her neck and she instantly felt like the journey here had been a dream, rather than a grueling undertaking. The cup was empty too soon and she only stopped trying to lick the last drops from it when she caught sight of Raine staring at her with a dead-eyed expression. She withdrew her tongue sheepishly, trying to laugh off her actions but knowing she failed.

  Celeste slammed back her drink. Her eyes closed and she took a deep breath, savoring the moment with a tranquil expression that did wonders for her complexion. Mel’s attention was drawn from the tall redhead's stunning visage by a blinking notification in her HUD.

  [New resurrection location bound: Dry Canyon Town]

  By the time she finished reading, Raine was off again and the two scrambled to keep up. He opened the front door and the sight on the street had changed so drastically, Mel wasn’t sure she was in the same town.

  Instead of tightly packed players, there was an open space in the shape of a large ring that took up most of the street. Three lines of armored men and women kept the press of humanity back. There must have been two hundred of them and every one of their hate-filled gazes was boring into her. None of them had weapons drawn, but the threat in their stances, and the strangely cleared street that looked exactly like an arena couldn’t have been more clear.

  A woman stepped forward from the far end of the encirclement. She wore a wide smile that pulled her thin features tight. Her voice was sharp and high. She sounded cheerful, if one ignored the bite that could easily turn nasty, “Welcome to our little town. I’ve been told you have a few items that belong to us. Give them up, along with everything you’re wearing, and we won’t kill you back to zero.” Mel’s suspicions about the woman's voice proved true as it easily altered to a snapped threat. “Don’t bother negotiating. Yes, ma’am, are the only words I want to hear. Otherwise, we’ll do things the fun way.”

  The pressure on Mel was nothing compared to the wave of vertigo that slammed into her after hearing Raine’s next thought.

  Of course it would be her. What the hell was I thinking when I married this bitch?