47. Havoc
HAVOC
ENTERING NEW ZONE: Welcome to the Gilded District
I barely react to the notification as it pops up on my interface and then disappears.
I’ve already been through this zone hundreds of times, but it’s clear the other two get a notification that unlocks their map.
I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing, following these low levels around like a fucking dog, but here I am.
Because she’d asked me to.
Cipher laughs in my mind. “I did warn you.”
“Shut up,” I grumble under my breath.
I can’t even place what it is on anything in particular.
She’s a beautiful woman, sure, but beautiful women pass through the Harrow all the time, sometimes stopping and attempting to seduce me.
It’s common at this point, and I don’t blame the women.
Hell, I don’t blame the men that try it either.
Anything to get a leg up here makes sense, and having someone with a reputation on your side means that Luxe will be watching.
And if Luxe is watching, perhaps you can be a favorite and get some loot.
In my almost decade of being in the Harrow, I have never taken anyone up on the offer.
Until now.
I glance at Vesper as she moves, her movements as fluid as any Beast Bound.
She’s a Tier One, and practically useless with her powers at this point, but her Glitch has still modified her.
I wonder if she even understands that. I wonder if she knows she moves like a feline, if she knows her eyes shine in the dark.
“Looks like there’s a Minor Boss just up ahead,” the Bone Breaker comments, clearly the navigator between them.
That surprises me. Most Bone Breakers are actual boneheads. They ain’t got a lot going for them in the intelligence department. Locke seems to follow most Bone Breaker logic, meaning he uses his fists before his brain, but . . . he’s still capable of following a map. Interesting.
“You wanna head that way?” Vesper asks.
I raise my brow. “What do you mean? There are other ways to grind in The Gilded District.”
Both of them turn to look at me. The bug on Vesper’s shoulder tilts her head.
“The Minor Bosses give us the most XP,” Locke points out.
I stop and really stare at them. “Are you telling me you two have been just walking around fighting Minor Bosses instead of grinding on the easier stuff?” I shake my head. “How many Minor Bosses have you fought?”
Locke shrugs. “All of them.”
My eyes widen and I glance at Vesper for confirmation. She nods in agreement.
“Though, the last one was by accident. Debbie kind of surprised us,” Vesper adds.
I school my features quickly, pretending like I didn’t just hear what I had. All of them. Spoken as if it’s not a big deal at all. How long had I taken before I’d fought any Minor Bosses? Fuck, I don’t think I fought any of them until I was a Tier Two.
“They fought two of the bosses before they chose their Glitch,” Cipher tells me helpfully. “Locke only just leveled up with the last Minor Boss.”
I shut down all expression on my face. “Okay.” I gesture toward the street in front of us. “It’s not my business if you want to get yourself killed.”
Locke’s expression sours, his dislike of me growing. That’s okay. I don’t particularly like the Bone Breaker anyway. I’m not here for him.
But I’m very intrigued.
I follow the two low levels silently, watching as they push through the crowd.
I don’t have to do any pushing. The crowd parts for me just as much as they do for the Ophanim following Locke and Vesper around.
I’ve never seen an Ophanim until now. I didn’t even realize there were Ophanims here.
Most people talk about them in hushed whispers, and here is this one, hanging out with a Tier One Beast Bound and Tier Two Bone Breaker.
None of this makes any fucking sense.
“I think it’s this building,” Locke says, looking up at the large white stone building.
He’s right. This is the Rune Stock Exchange, and the Minor Boss in this building won’t be anything like they’ve probably fought before.
Am I going to tell them that? No. Part of me is curious to see them in action.
If they’ve really fought all Minor Bosses until now and managed to level up that way, I want to see them operate.
If only to reassure myself they’ve gotten through on luck alone.
“Some of it was luck,” Cipher admits. “But neither player chose a Glitch where their luck is exponentially changed.”
Cipher sounds . . . proud. I don’t know if I like that. Once upon a time, he’d sounded that way about me, too. Until the incident. Until everything had changed.
Nine years later, and the most exciting thing to happen to me is this Bone Breaker and Beast Bound showing up in my favorite speakeasy.
“Let’s go,” Vesper says, drawing a large bone dagger from her inventory. Her familiar dances on her shoulder, clearly itching for a fight.
“Ew,” the Ophanim says. “This building is so neoclassical. I totally hate it. Just look at that massive Corinthian column colonnade! Ugh! A travesty! Where is all the color?”
I glance at the Ophanim with raised brows, but remain silent. In fact, I don’t plan to say anything at all during this Minor Boss battle. I’m planning to watch.
They all trail up the large steps leading up to the Rune Stock Exchange, their eyes taking in the sculpture above the entrance and the strange glowing runes carved into it. Vesper looks back at me, as if to ask about them, but changes her mind.
“Cipher?” she asks instead. “What are those?”
“Runes,” he replies out loud for us all to hear. “This is the Rune Stock Exchange Building.”
She hums under her breath and follows Locke inside, so cavalier with her safety that she doesn’t even look behind her. She views me as no threat at all. I should change that.
Vesper and Locke push through the doors first. The bug flares her wings wide as they push through the large double doors. The Ophanim hovers behind them, taking in every detail with its hundreds of eyes. The moment we all step inside, I get a good look at the inside, a scene I know all too well.
Hell, I’d failed it a few times before I’d defeated him.
BOSS BATTLE INITIATED: THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
I hope you brushed up on your finance skills.
Note: This battle requires you to participate in a series of mini-games before battling the Minor Boss.
Vesper glances at Locke. “What does that mean?”
I roll my eyes and move over to the wall to lean against it. This should be good.
The Wolf of Wall Street is a hulking creature in the center of the room.
The moment we step inside, the trading doors behind us slam shut, initiating the battle.
Ticker tape rains like confetti around the room, making soft clicking sounds as it runs.
The Wolf rises from the central dais, adjusts his cufflinks the same as always, and smiles with too many teeth at us.
“Welcome, investors!” he declares, opening his arms wide. “Some of you will profit. The rest will become nothing more than a statistic.” He snaps his teeth. “Are you ready to trade?”
To unlock the Wolf of Wall Street’s true health bar, these two are going to have to survive three puzzle rounds and identify the stock designed to preserve the wealthy at everyone else’s expense.
I’d lost the first couple of times and ended up having to rush from the building through a smashed stained-glass window to avoid death.
Here in New Babel, the bosses don’t follow you.
Not the same way as others do. Simply leaving the building ends the battle and resets it.
I don’t tell Vesper and Locke any of that. Let them figure it out on their own.
“Okay,” Vesper starts, tucking her weapon away. “Looks like we’re doing this one differently than the rest.”
Locke nods and gestures to the Ophanim. “You know anything about finance, Steve?”
The Ophanim’s rings spin rapidly and stop. “I’m more of a fashion icon than a finance bro. Sorry, Lockey Poo.”
The Wolf of Wall Street watches their exchange greedily, sizing them up. When they all look at him again, he straightens, adjusting his three-piece suit and gesturing toward the broker windows.
“Round one!” he calls. “The opening bell is about to ring. There are four broker windows that will open across the trading floor. Each of them offers one stock. Choose one to invest in, but choose wisely.”
A bell rings, and NPCs rush into the large room, running to look at the ticker tapes raining from the ceiling. Vesper and Locke tense, staring at all the NPCs rushing toward the Ironhold Utilities stock broker. They fight and scramble over being first in line, pushing each other, growing violent.
My eyes go up to the elevated private balconies above the floor, watching as the silent investors look at their own ticker tape, different from the ones the public gets.
“Looks like we should be choosing that one,” Locke says, pointing to the Ironhold Utilities where everyone fights over choosing their stock.
I scoff under my breath. “There’s no way these two made it this far on anything but luck,” I tell Cipher.
The system laughs. “Watch closely, Havoc.”
I frown, focusing intently on the two players.
Locke goes to move toward the Ironhold Utilities broker, but Vesper latches onto his arm, stopping him.
It’s only then that I realize her eyes are on the investors on the private balcony.
She’s watching them closely as her fingers clench onto Locke’s arm.
“Wait,” she says.
Surprisingly, the Bone Breaker listens. He doesn’t complain or argue. He just stops and waits, following her gaze.
“They are dressed differently from these NPCs,” the praying mantis says. “More expensive.”
Vesper nods. “And they move with more confidence.”
Together, they watch as the investors pick up a phone, and the phone at the Direfang Holdings broker’s desk starts to ring.
“That one,” Vesper growls and rushes Locke toward the broker window.
I watch, surprised, as she slaps her hand down on the broker’s desk before he can pick up the phone.