Chapter 69 of 78 · Book 5, The Butcher's Masquerade

Chapter 69 — The prize counter

Book: The Butcher's Masquerade · Part: The Butchering · Previous: Chapter 68 — Off-worlders · Next: Chapter 70 — Anaconda · Floor: Floor 6 — The Hunting Grounds · Series: the series

Opening

I turned my attention to the back of the room.

Summary

Chaco the Bard, born a skyfowl, in metallic armour now, braces for a fight. At the counter, Zabit: level 66 Beastmaster, an Atoll — four arms, three fingers each, a shovel face with a dozen nostrils and no mouth, signing words a hidden device speaks — wearing a trap-module bandolier Carl once sold. His night weasels were the first attack on the floor; twenty-five scalps. 'Why do you do it?' For the survival of the Atoll: not citizens, oxygen and land not a right, the money pays for the habitat's upkeep, failure this season means hardship or indenture; 'No, it doesn't make me feel tough or powerful […] I would object, too, were the situations reversed.' Twenty scalps for a drop shield, three for invisibility potions, into a box inventory; hunters keep only what they carry when the floor ends and get 'practically nothing' in credit. Chaco on Mordecai: 'I regret it every day. But if we hadn't done it, we'd all be dead, including him and his brother […] If you survive long enough in this place, they'll eventually make you turn on your own party. It happens every time […] we're all alone in the end.' He jerks as if shocked. Sixty-six hands: a carousel of holograms — potions at one hand, one upgrade per crawler at two (+10% lowest stat, +5% highest, +2 to a skill), scrolls and spellbooks (Paw Patrol, the Milk of Lamashtu, Poison Grapple, Scar Tissue, Fish Blaster), a single level-up potion at ten, sheet music, Future Floor Boons at thirty — Seventh Floor Pole Position, sold out to the goat, who had 33 hands and pointed at it without asking, and an Eighth Floor Book of Lore — and at a hundred hands a memorial crystal. Mordecai, who already knows who runs the counter (Donut told him): shove dynamite up Chaco's ass once the seal breaks; for Donut's eight hands he recommends +10% to her lowest stat and the random spellbook. Chaco on sheet music: Skedaddle at ten hands, a lesser Wings of the Pyxie; 'Can she hold pitch?' — sheet music tears when sung badly and joins the repertoire when sung perfectly. Donut's song tonight is one she has heard her whole life, a chicken-and-egg mystery. Mordecai on the crystal: 'Forget everything else. Get that' — soul crystals are mined from Scolopendra's lair, made of souls filtered through the centipede; memorial crystals are made by fallen gods and demigods and hold god-tier spells and knowledge, charged by killing. This one was found by elf miners, is the queen's most prized possession normally on her neck, and the spell obliges the host to offer her most valuable item. Thirty-four hands short; no pooling, no opening prize boxes without a saferoom, and Chaco teleports out when the seal breaks. On stage: Team Flamengo's dexterity-only Brazilian and Gimli the stone hawk ('I couldn't loot him'); Prepotente screams once and Bianca sets the stage on fire; hunters snap at Vrah, 'We just want to go home'; Elle corners the Crest and leaves him crying. Carl buys the shrink wand, the eighth-floor lore book, Skedaddle, Feather Fall and healing potions — one hand short of a skill upgrade after Eva's theft. Then Mongo's turn, meant to be low key: the lights dim, red glow, smoke, and Louis on the loudspeaker. 'Oh fuck.'

Characters

• Carl — Asks a hunter why; spends 66 hands; wants the crystal.
• Chaco — Prize master; his warning about turning on your party; teleports at the break.
• Zabit — Atoll Beastmaster; hunts to keep his people's habitat alive.
• Mordecai — Wants Chaco dead and the memorial crystal bought.
• Prepotente — Bought Seventh Floor Pole Position; Bianca burns the stage.
• Princess Donut — Eight hands; 'I HAVE THIS IN THE BAG.'
• Elle McGibbons — Interrogates the Crest.
• Louis and Firas — On the loudspeaker.
• Eva Sigrid — Her theft leaves them seven potions short.
• Vrah — Losing her own side.
• Tsarina Signet — Talking to the judges, untouched.

Locations

• The high elf castle — The prize counter opposite the stage.

Motifs

• The hunters — The Atoll's economics; 'We just want to go home.'
• Scolopendra — Soul crystals filtered through the centipede.
• The gods — Memorial crystals from fallen gods.
• The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook — Chaco, aloud at the prize counter: 'Alone and broken with the choices we've had to make.'
• The Butcher's Masquerade — The host's most valuable item as a prize; Future Floor Boons.
• The Great Race — Seventh Floor Pole Position, sold to Prepotente.
• Donut's songs — Skedaddle; tears and repertoire.