The rays of the sun peaked through his bedroom window finally pulled him out of his sleep. He ran his hands through his hair and rubbed his face. Pepper shifted onto his positioning to that of his shoulder, and immediately found Amprage laying next to him with a big grin on his face.

  “Hi dad.” His familiar said while he gently wagged his tail against the bedding.

  Pepper huffed. “Good morning.”

  “Can we go for another run?”

  He chuckled and slightly shook his head. “Maybe later bud. I’d like to get some work done on Mala today. The last thing I want is to wait until the final week to get everything done.”

  “Okay.” His familiar replied while he still held the large beaming smiling on his dog face.

  Pepper finally sat up and started to get himself changed and ready for the day. He went to open the door, but accidentally walked into it. That was when he remembered that he had locked it last night. After the quick correction, he walked out and into the hallway.

  He was greeted by a woman exiting the bathroom. She bashfully said hi while walking past him and walked into Marcus’s room. That was when Pepper realized she was the one from the grocery store yesterday.

  The awkward introduction was nothing compared to what his eyes took in as he came to the main living area. To his surprise, a good majority of the strangers were still passed out on the sofa’s. The remnants of the party last night were still strewn all throughout the area. He took in a deep breath and softly gritted his teeth.

  Pepper tuned in to the crack of a door down the hall behind him. He looked over his shoulder just enough to see Marcus and the woman were walking down and heading for the front door. They both exited the house, but it wasn’t any more than a minute when Marcus returned.

  To Pepper’s surprise his roommate came up and stood next to him. “Holy cow man, what a night.”

  Pepper tilted his head and arched an eyebrow with all the destructive evidence laid out before them. “Really?”

  “Dude… that was epic.” Marcus said while rubbed his face with his hand. “I was hoping you’d join the party man. You could have met some of my friends.”

  “Which ones exactly are your friends?” Pepper asked.

  Marcus formed a confused expression, his eyes narrowed down, and he started to point to a select few individuals within the room. “That’s Ronny, Chase, Bethany…” The slight uptick in Marcus’s voice left the impression it was more of a guess than a guarantee. “Cliff, Sarah.”

  “I see.” Pepper crossed his arms and glanced back over the group. “Well, I will admit, I’m not much of a party person.” His mind flashed back to his home. “I’m more of a campfire and relax kinda guy.”

  Marcus smiled and bumped the back of his hand against Pepper’s shoulder. “Dude, me too! We were just saying last night how we need to do a bonfire hangout. We’ll totally plan that out to help you feel more comfortable and relaxed.”

  Pepper cringed internally at the thought of what he was seeing would happen again. He tried to play off his disdain for the idea through a disguise of humility. “Oh, you don’t have to do that just for me.”

  Pepper didn’t have a chance to finish as Marcus cut him off. His roommate smiled and waved his hand in front of him. “Dude, don’t worry about it. We’re totally going to do it, but I will be sure to let you know when that happens.”

  “Great…” Pepper muttered.

  “And don’t worry about all this.” Marcus waved his finger towards the room. “We’ll be sure to clean up all this mess. It will look as good as new.”

  “Thanks, that’d be nice.” Pepper motioned for Amprage to follow him. “Come on Amp.” He turned and nodded to Marcus. “I’ll be out in the workshop for a bit if you need me.” He navigated his way around the two people who were sprawled out on the floor.

  The workshop door opened up and the distinct scent welcomed him. His spirit felt like it had arrived back home, the place where he felt comfortable and truly relaxed. I’ve taken too long of a break. He told himself.

  He walked over to Mala and took in his KBVS Champion. “Well Mala… we’re going to have to make some changes if we’re going to be successful and make it into this Regional League.” He looked over Mala’s stats page, then glanced at Marcus’s copperhead standing off to the side.

  We’re going be three times bigger, and we’re going to be going up against gladiators with a multitude of tricks up their sleeve. He thought to himself.

  Pepper’s eyes drifted back over to Copperhead, and with it, the distinct shape of the golems stat page. Hmm… no harm in taking a glance at potential competition right? He thought as his feet shuffled over and he latched onto the page.

  He began to glance over the page but stopped when he saw the psyonic rune stand out amongst the rest. His eyes looked up and back over the snake heads at the end of the tentacle arms.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “I’d be willing to bet that the golem is designed to distribute the psyonic attack through the snake mouths. If he were to parcel them out to each head, that would allow him a greater chance of effecting his opponents runes if they were scattered throughout the body. Distributing the attack throughout four points, though weaker than one focal point would act and serve just like venom would from a snake. That would practically incapacitate your opponent from countering it.”

  His eyes shifted back to Mala and his mind started to race with different ideas. A direct flame or high precision energy beam could do some serious damage to Mala’s clay. My force blast can work both offensively and defensively, but the last thing I want to be is vulnerable.

  Pepper heard a loud metallic clang behind him. He spun around to see tools scattered across the floor, but standing their frozen next to the tools was his answer. Amprage remained frozen in place but had a guilty look about him.

  “What are you doing?” Pepper asked.

  “Uhh… getting into trouble.” Amprage replied in a truthful but monotone voice.

  “Well don’t do that, you nerd.” He shook his head while he turned back around and looked at Copperhead. That was when the lightbulb within his mind turned back on and Pepper though back to the damage that Amprage had sustained in the yard.

  The regional invitational is a completely different structure from the club matches. A random drawing pool that could mean back to back matches, or waiting for hours to be paired with your next opponent. I don’t need offense, or necessarily defense. I need resilience. I need to bolstered Mala’s density and strength, rather than power.

  Pepper didn’t hesitate and placed the stat page for Copperhead back where he had found it. He immediately activated his holodex and began to order a Buzz Podz. He turned back to Amprage, the words on the tip of his tongue but he stopped.

  Amprage’s ears perked up and he lowered down as if he was about to zoom around the room. Pepper lifted his hands up to show him to calm down. “Okay, no zoomies…. Do you hear me? No zoomies, but you can come with me to the store.”

  Amprage obeyed the command but instead started to hop up and down and spin in a circle. “Yes! Yes! Yes! Adventure! We’re going on yet another epic adventure”

  Pepper chuckled as his familiar looked like a combination of a rodeo bull whipping around and a small baby farm goat which would jump and clamber around anything and everything. I don’t know if I would call spending more money as an epic adventure. But sure… knock your metal socks off. he told himself.

  The buzz podz arrived and they climbed inside. The trip to downtown was uneventful, but Pepper was curious regarding the store he had chosen. Jay’s Crazy Circus Supply. The name didn’t really seem fitting, but when he searched for Golem Supply store, it was the highest rated in the entire area.

  His doubts were erased when they pulled up to the front of the store. The area was buzzing with activity. Customers were coming and going, many of them had familiars of their own. His eye arched upwards when he saw a giant purple stuffed bear walking alongside their bonded owner. “Wow… someone really made a stuffed animal familiar.”

  “Can I go bite it?” Amprage asked while his metal nose gently pressed against the vehicle window.

  “No you can’t go bite it!” Pepper instructed.

  “But it’s a stuffed creature, it will just bounce back without any real damage.”

  “No!” He sighed while opening the door to the buzz podz. “You had better behave yourself or else I won’t bring you next time.”

  “Fine” Amprage replied with a huff.

  They started to make their way into the store and Pepper heard an audible voice call out from above him, Gnomes Rule! He barely paid any attention to it, as he was amazed to see just how large the store was. Its size alone appeared larger than what a Nordon’s grocery store was. They stood there for a half second until he was startled by an employee hidden off to the side.

  “Hey! Welcome to Jay’s. Let us know if you need anything.” The employee smiled, but it was the two security golems standing by the exit that threw him off.

  They have so much theft that they need security golems? His eyes widened and he then turned back to the grand store stretching out before them. He stepped forward and started to navigate the large aisles stretched out before them. There were large flat bed carts off to the side, and many customers were going up and grabbing hold of them.

  The entire store was a one stop shop for everything Golem League. One section was nothing but clothing and branded merchandise of your favorite gladiators. There was a section of toys and collectables, then even food, snacks and beverages. All of them branded or commonly associated with the league.

  Pepper softly laughed. “Ryan would go nuts if he ever got Big Duck Energy into a store like this.”

  The second half of the store looked more like a hardware store. Metal rods, wood planks, heavy granite boulders, large containers of clay all filled the shelves. Row after row as each aisle contained practically every option a gladiator could ever want or desire.

  Pepper was mesmerized by the grand scale of things and didn’t see the man standing in front of him. He walked straight into the man from behind and immediately turned as red as his hair. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t he realize you were standing there. Are you okay?”

  The man composed himself and turned off the holopad that he held in his hand. Pepper saw the larger built man started to turn around and adjusted his bright red shirt. His eyes immediately locked on to the embroidered wording on the upper chest portion of the shirt. Owner Jay Beraz.

  Pepper’s eyes widened and he glanced up to see the grey buzz cut of the man. He had a goatee which matched his hair color and small framed glasses on his face. The man reached up and adjusted the glasses better on his face.

  “Well, I knew I had great deals, but didn’t know they would be so good they caused shoppers to stumble into me.” The owner finished with a slight laugh.

  Pepper grinned bashfully, “I’m so, so sorry about that. Really.”

  Jay chuckled into a rolling laugh. “Don’t worry about it kid. It’s totally fine.” The man took a deep breath and then asked. “It must be your first time inside my crazy circus huh?”

  “Yeah… I used to work at a store back home. Rhino’s Supply Shop. It was the best store in the area, but it certainly wasn’t anything like this.”

  The man blinked rapidly and then crossed his arms in front of his barreling chest. He then shifted his weight to one side. “Really? You worked for my brother Ryan?”

  Pepper’s head titled forward and his eyes widened in shock. “You’re rhino’s brother?”

  The man’s smiled beamed in response. “Sure am. We have different dads. But the same mom.” Jay undid his arms and then guided a hand down his torso in a showcasing manner. “As you can tell, I clearly got all the looks, brains, and luck in the family.”

  Pepper finally felt more relaxed and started to laugh. “So what exactly did Rhino get out of the deal?”

  Jay reared his head back in shock, as if the answer wasn’t obvious. “The pride and privilege of getting to be my brother of course.” Jay ended in a laugh and waved his hand at Pepper. “What a crazy small world. I would have never thought I would run into someone all the way out here who not only knew my brother, but also worked for him.” Jay shook his head and smiled. “So what brings you out here then?”

  “Golem League.”

  Pepper didn’t have a chance to continue as Jay cut him off. “Oh nice! The regional invitational I’m assuming?”

  Pepper pointed his finger back at the larger man. “That’d be it.”

  Jay rolled his head and formed a playful expression. “So… let me guess. We need to get you some upgrades to get your golem ready for competition?”

  “Haha, nailed it.” Pepper replied while he raised his eyebrows and grinned.

  “I got you, come with me.” Jay motioned with his head and then tapped on his Holodex. “Kellie, clear my schedule for the next hour and send all customer issues to Aaron.”

  A small voice replied over his holodex. “You got it sir.”

  “Alright, now that we have some time to really spend on your golem. Let’s get to it. What composite material did you go with?”

  “Clay with a few metal bars for overall structure.” Pepper replied while walking next to the owner.

  “Did you go with an internal metal wrack setup for your power core and cards?”

  “Yeah, but I self-built it in my personal workshop back home.”

  “Okay, did you leave yourself enough room for the upgrades you want to go with?”

  Pepper had to mentally think over the question. He pictured the setup he had gone with and did his best to envision the construct from a 360-degree angle. His mindscape did its best to re-envision what room he had given himself to work with in regard to Jay’s question. “I think so. I’m thinking of an psionic defense rune and maybe an elemental expansion rune. Those two rune cards should still fit within my frame.”

  Jay’s face changed to one of excitement and curiosity. “A psionic defensive is a good option to go with. I’ve sold a lot of offensive psionic runes recently, so I would expect you’ll need to counter those. An elemental expansion… That isn’t very common.”

  “Oh man… I was hoping you’d have one on hand.”

  Jay quickly countered and put Pepper’s anxiety to rest. “Of I have one. More than one actually. It is just a rune that isn’t readily being purchased. What exactly are you planning use it for?”

  Pepper began to felt more comfortable with Jay the longer their conversation continued. The tone of Jay’s voice came across as genuine curiosity and wanting to further learn his intent to best suit his needs. With that, he divulged his plan.

  “Well with Mala being mostly clay, I wanted to boost his resilience and strength. Give him better endurance and sustainability over the course of the entire invitational. So, my thought was to get a small shard of metal and add that to my elemental expansion rune. Then learn how to activate it like a steel skin or metal shield I bring out whenever I need to.”

  Jay was head nodding along the entire time Pepper told him his strategy. “I like it… it’s creative. New, I don’t think I have heard of anyone else utilizing that tactic. You can hide it until its needed, but also adapt it to what you’ll need within the immediate moment. Heck, its like nanobots all over your golems body.”

  Jay pointed with his finger to guide their direction of travel. They turned down a long aisle of material. Pepper could see one of the stores workers was on one side of the aisle but completely oblivious to the store owner quickly approaching behind him. “Mr. Hamilton, I’d advise you get back to work and stop admiring yourself in the mirror.”

  The worker quickly scattered off and Jay continued. “Well, the one thing you have to consider is the amount of power that runes ability will force you to devote towards. Do we need to get you a better power core?”

  “No, I have a Dark Matter – Hellion Light. It should be able to handle that load without any issues.”

  Jay’s jaw dropped for a brief moment. “You’re rocking a Hellion Light? Well, no wonder you won your club match.” Jay raspberried and waved his hand dismissively in front of him. “Yeah, the Hellion should carry you just fine. How the heck did you swing that, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  Pepper grinned and felt slightly embarrassed to admit the source. “I was able to pick up a sponsor. They hooked me up with it, otherwise, there was no way I would ever have been able to afford it.”

  “No kidding there kid. I mean, not to judge people, but you don’t seem like the type that had everything handed to them on a silver spoon. What sponsor was it?”

  Pepper didn’t know exactly how to take the owners statement. On one hand it felt like a back handed compliment, on the other, it felt like it was a recognition for his efforts towards endlessly working to obtain everything he had. “It was actually my next store neighbor. He started an energy drink company. He called it Big Duck Energy and made an investment into my success.”

  Jay stopped abruptly in the middle of the aisle. “Hold on a second.” He brought the holopad back out and in front of him. A few taps on the screen and though Pepper tried not to pry, he couldn’t help but catch a side glance. The distinct layout of an email program was clearly in view and he watched as the man sifted through hundreds of emails.

  “Here it is.” Jay said while bringing the selected item up for him to read through. “Dear Mr. Berez, your brother Ryan advised me to reach out to you and inquire as to your potential interest in my newest product…” Jay tminied off and started to mutter softly enough that Pepper couldn’t hear what the rest of the email stated. The only part that Jay did perk up on was the name. “Big Duck Energy.”

  Jay quickly closed out the screen and turned back to his holodex. “Kellie.”

  “Yes, Mr. Beraz?”

  “I got an email two days ago from a Big Duck Energy. Go ahead and place an order for 50 pallets of the drink. Make sure we have it on ten different end caps, and make sure we have it at the checkout stand coolers. I also want it on the front table when people walk in.”

  Pepper’s eyes practically jumped out of his sockets.

  “Sure thing Mr. Beraz.” Kellie replied.

  “Yeah, then reach out to this Mr. Ryan guy who started the company. See if he can come down here for the Invitational Tournament and we’ll make a big shin dig out of the whole thing.”

  “Would you like me to reach out to Mr. Douglas with Golem Lore Podcast and see if he’d like to come do a special interview with this Mr. Ryan?” Kellie asked.

  Pepper felt his heart skip a beat as everything seemed to be escalating faster than he had ever anticipated.

  “Yeah, that sounds like a great idea. It’s been a while since we’ve had John come out and do a podcast episode here in the store. Be sure to have the large conference room clear for them to setup in and do their interview.”

  “Sure thing Mr. Beraz. Consider it done.” Kellie replied.

  “She’s great. I’m telling you kid, everyone needs a Kellie in their life.”

  Pepper grinned and didn’t know what exactly to say. “Well, I’m glad you have a good personal assistant in your life.”

  “Personal assistant? That’s certainly a different way of spelling spouse.”

  Pepper now felt his heart sink again… He didn’t know what to say but was afraid to say anything. It was as if every statement he made caused a dramatic turn in the conversation that he didn’t expect. There was just one thing that he was curious about and couldn’t help but ask, regardless if it made the situation worse. “Wait… you have your wife refer to you by Mr. Beraz?”

  Jay clapped his hands together and started to laugh. “Yeah… I convinced her it would make me sound more official and important in front of the customers.”

  “And she was okay with that?”

  Jay’s laughter quickly died, and he blinked. His gaze off to the side informed Pepper that reality had now hit him like a ton of bricks. “Let’s just say she is good at paying it back in full… that honey-do list is never ending, and momma buys a lot of new purses and shoes.” Jay glanced at Pepper and emphasized through his expression. “Lots… and lots, of new purses.”