Promise to Grow Stronger

The two held each other, neither saying anything for a while. But eventually, the shadow pyromancer was the first to break the silence. With a heavy sigh, she pulled away from John’s embrace.

“Thing is, I'm not sure what we're supposed to do now. I think we're good for now, but since the Order is on high alert, it's only a matter of time until they notice you. In another world it would have been fine. Hells, even though I'm not their biggest fan, I might have been the one to introduce you. So at least you could enjoy their protection,” she said.

“Yeah, it's one thing for just my Gamer powers. But if they discover the demonic essence in me, and you get implicated for hiding it…” John trailed off, but they both understood the implied threat.

Blair solemnly looked down at the table. “I like you, John, I really do. You're the first decent guy I've met in a while. That's why I don't want to see you get hurt, not if we can avoid it. So I think maybe it might be safer if we're not seen near each other for a while. At least not until the heat dies down with the Order.”

The Gamer tensed with every word. His expression was frozen as his heart became a turmoiled storm of emotions. When looked at in isolation, what she said made perfect sense. But John knew that Blair didn’t have the full picture, and that was the problem.

Because it was Wentworth’s plan for him to infiltrate the Order anyway, he didn’t know how much of that he could actually reveal while remaining within the bounds of their Abyssal Contract. In the back of his mind, the first of its term could be recalled with perfect clarity.

1) John Newman must not tell anyone or communicate in any way, shape or form that he is associated with Victoria Wentworth. The only time this may be permitted is with the consent of Victoria Wentworth herself.

As Wentworth put it, breaking any one of the terms would bring immediate and lethal consequences down on his head. John didn’t know if there would be a warning that he was about to cross that line before the proverbial gun was fired.

But he didn’t want to lie to Blair, even if it’d technically just be lying by omission. And while he still didn’t know what to call their relationship - whether he was her boyfriend or just a friend with benefits - what John was sure of was that being with her made him the happiest he’d ever been.

The young man racked his brains and tried to think of something. For the first time, a large part of him actually regretted signing the contract with the restrictions that now held him back. But what could he risk saying without getting turned to dust on the spot but would still keep a good thing going with Blair? His eyes then widened a little, there actually was one idea that could work.

“Blair,” John began as he reached for her hand. “Do you remember how when I was first telling you about the demonic part of my powers, and said that there were parts I had to leave out? And when you asked if I can’t or won’t tell you everything, I confirmed that it was the former?”

“Yeah?” she replied. Her reddened eyes looked up at him with a mix of curiosity and confusion.

“Well, I understand your concern. And you have no idea how genuinely happy I am to know that you already care so much, even though we’ve only known each other for a few days now. But even though I can’t tell you why… I don’t think you’ll need to worry too much about the Order. Maybe you’re right about us keeping a distance for now, but it should only be for a little bit. Just… trust me on this one, okay? Please?” John asked.

The shadow pyromancer stared at him for a few moments; her eyes narrowed as both their gazes held one another's. A few moments later, she loudly sighed.

“Haaaah, alright. Fine. I'm not sure what you could have already gotten yourself into since today is, what, still just your third day of even being an Abyssal? Just don't do anything stupid that might get you killed, okay? Especially while the Order is involved.”

John just quietly nodded and tried to give her a reassuring smile. Though internally, he was a bit less confident. But he didn't have much choice other than moving forward and doing everything in his limited power to make sure that it would all work out in the end.

Without being able to give a straight explanation, the issue couldn’t really be considered settled. For now, however, it was put aside. The two continued to enjoy one another’s company and talked for a while. But all good things eventually had to come to an end.

Because for the time being, Blair was right in that John wouldn’t be able to safely stick around for long. Even though the Order had left her alone for the time being while they delved into the matter of the potential guild, it wouldn’t be long until someone came knocking at her front door.

Without knowing when that would happen or just when they decided to keep a closer eye on her for the sake of paranoia, the Gamer needed to be gone by then. So, sooner than either of them would have liked, they had to share one last hug before he had to take his leave.

John left the Barrier. As he pulled out his phone to pay for a ride, he glanced back at Blair’s home. He’d be going back to his own house for the night. But hopefully it wouldn’t be very long before he could sleep here again.

For now he needed to focus on getting stronger. Strong enough to kick Frank’s ass and claim the rewards of his quest. Strong enough to successfully follow through with whatever Wentworth had planned for him. Strong enough that if worse came to worse and the Order discovered the demonic essence within him, they’d still think twice about directly coming after him.

Some time later, the Gamer stepped out of the Bluber and waited a moment for the car to drive away. Right now it was just a few minutes past 5:30 p.m. So in terms of wanting to start the Barrier grind before six, he was actually a bit ahead of schedule.

The young man cracked his neck as he looked around the neighborhood. Blair had warned him to be a bit more careful about opening Barriers while the Order was still on high alert. But according to her, his address fell well outside their normal searching grounds. So at least for the time being, he should still be fine.

John couldn’t help but sigh. Today had already been going on for way too long, and at this point he was already well spent both mentally and physically. Even with Gamer’s Body keeping him from just dropping to the ground from exhaustion, he just wanted to take some time to relax and process everything.

But the challenges before the Gamer wouldn’t give him a pass just because he felt tired. The new world of the Abyss didn’t seem to kindly take to anyone who fell behind the curve of power. Not when trading slaves was a normal practice, anyway. He would just have to suck it up and make the best he could with the limited time he had.

“Alrighty then, no time to waste. Guess I should get to work,” John muttered to himself. With a thought, he pulled up the options for Create Barrier

Illusion Barrier Monster Population Options:
Tier 0: Grass Samurai, Asphalt Rats, Puddle Slimes, Concrete Ants
Tier 1: Garden Gnomes, Fountain Fairies, Skill level not high enough, Skill level not high enough
Tier 2: Skill level not high enough
Tier 3: Skill level not high enough
Tier 4: Skill level not high enough
Tier 5: Skill level not high enough

Toggleable Options:
Tier 0: Boss Monster

In a slight change of plan while on the ride back home, he decided to open things with a Tier 1 Barrier this time around. John had to try one since they were unlocked, so he was curious to see just how different they’d be from the starting Tier.

The ideal scenario was that it would give more EXP than the Tier 0 with a boss monster toggled. But even if that wasn’t the case, it would still be interesting to find out what kind of new challenges would be thrown at him.

So with that in mind, the Gamer decided to start with the Fountain Fairies as the first victims to his desire to grow stronger.