by Aaron Oster
“Alright, I think this is a good spot to camp for the night. What do you think?” Gold asked Arnold cheerily as they stopped just outside the city limits.
Arnold let out a snort.
“Does it even matter what my opinion is? You’ll just do what you want anyway.”
“Right you are, my dear psychopath,” he said, patting him none too gently on the cheek. “But what fun is a road trip without conversation?”
Arnold just scowled. Gold had marched them on for the last ten hours and had only stopped now that they’d finally made it out of the last city in the Central Kingdom, which left him to wonder as to where they were headed.
He felt a boot connect with the side of his knee and grunted as he hit the ground in a heap. He was really starting to hate this man.
“Oh, don’t give me that look,” Gold said, pouting a bit. “It makes me feel like you don’t like me.”
Arnold’s eyes widened a hair, wondering at Gold’s stability.
Gold let out a low laugh and turned to examine their campsite for the evening. It wasn’t much, just a small clearing a few feet from the road, but it would conceal them from any passing soldiers. Not that Gold would need to worry about the likes of mere men.
Gold turned back to him with a grin.
“Well, aren’t you the popular mass murderer? So tell me, Arny. Who are your friends?”
“Arny?” Arnold exclaimed, face going red with anger. “No one gets away with insulting me like that!”
Then the rest of Gold’s statement sunk in.
“Wait, what friends?”
“Why, that group of people all dressed in black standing behind you,” Gold casually said, gesturing to the seemingly empty forest.
Then six figures seemed to appear, as though from thin air. Arnold stumbled back in surprise.
“We’re no friends of his,” said the lead figure, in a gruff voice. “Just leave him to us. We have no quarrel with you.”
Arnold grimaced at that. So the Guild had found him already and judging by what he’d seen so far, or rather, what he hadn’t seen, he could be pretty sure that they were out of his league.
“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Gold replied, in the same cheery voice. “You see, that man killed thousands of civilians on the day his kingdom attacked ours. I believe King Herald has more of a claim on him than anyone else. Don’t you agree?”
“Get out of our way!” another one of them said, shoving her way to the front. “Do you know who we are, peasant? We are the elites of the Assassins Guild. Now leave or die!”
“You’re not very good assassins, if you go around announcing yourselves like that,” Gold said, placing his hand over his mouth to cover a yawn. “Now if you don’t mind, kindly leave. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow and I’d like at least an hour of sleep before we continue.”
The assassin let out a low growl, then a mage shield suddenly covered her body.
“No one insults the Guild and lives to tell the tale!”
A boulder the size of a house fell from the sky and squished her flat. There was a loud crunch of bones and an explosion of gore as the assassin's body popped like an overripe tomato, coating the others liberally in her blood and internal organs.
“What the shit?” Arnold yelled, leaping backward at the sudden attack.
When the hell had Gold moved that boulder into the sky?
The other assassins stared at the bloody smear that was once their comrade, in utter disbelief.
Gold was right, Arnold thought, they really are horrible assassins. What kind of trained killers were so ineffective at doing their one job?
Finally, the group seemed to collect themselves.
“You will pay in blood for attacking one of our members!” one of them said, taking a step forward.
“No, I won’t,” Gold said in a sing-song voice, and another boulder fell from the sky, squashing him flat.
The rest of them broke, scattering into the surrounding trees and hurling threats back at him as they fled.
“Bunch of cowards.”
Arnold turned to see Gold staring after them with a look of disgust on his face. He turned back to Arnold with an appraising look.
“Guess you weren’t lying,” he said, waving his hand in the air.
Arnold sighed in relief as the stone cuffs holding his arms behind his back fell to the ground with a muffled thump.
“No shit!” he replied, rubbing at his aching wrists. “Now can you give me that damn key so I can get your students out of that Beast Zone?”
“Nope,” Gold replied, another grin coming to his face. “If the Princess is as innocent as you say, then I’ll be meeting her in person before handing over any key.”
***
Morgan watched Sarah as she angrily pulled on a pair of pants. He then looked over to where the massive beast lay dead in a field of icy spikes and had to wonder at just how powerful it had been, for her to be forced to use her most powerful skill.
He turned back to Sarah, who had just gotten the pants over her shapely hips and was closing the snap at the front. The pants then tightened as they conformed to her legs and she looked up to see him watching her.
“Creep!” she yelled, then stalked towards the dead beast, her face red with anger.
Morgan blinked. He had to admit that it had been an odd sight. He’d heard some shouting coming from outside the cave and he’d come out to investigate, only to see Sarah, clad only in a pair of silky underwear and her shirt, fighting a massive badger.
The sight had been so strange, that he hadn’t even been interested in the beast, but rather why Sarah was fighting it half naked. He had to admit that the thought of challenging a beast with only his skin as protection was exciting in a sort of primal way, but in their current situation, it was hardly appropriate. What if she’d been injured?
And why’d she called me a creep? he wondered.
He shrugged to himself, then headed back towards the small cave. He squeezed his way back in, wincing as his broken ribs scraped against the stone, then made his way over to the fire. The last of the wolverine meat was cooking there, but wasn’t quite ready yet. He sat down, balling up his coat and placing it against the wall, then carefully leaned back to test his weight against it.
He felt a slight twinge of discomfort, but it wasn’t too bad. He looked around for the core he’d been about to examine before he’d left to investigate the noise he’d heard, and spotted it lying on the ground just a few feet away. He grabbed it excitedly, settling back into the coat and opening the core’s status.
Name: Dire-frost bear Matriarch core
Rank - 14
Total available energy - 7,217/7,217
This core was taken from a dire-frost bear. As this core was taken from a zone Matriarch, and an evolved beast, the amount of available energy has been slightly increased.
Wow, Morgan thought, the amount of available energy was incredible! It had even more energy than the steelwool-ram they’d fought a few weeks ago and it had been rank 15. Then again, this beast was a hell of a lot tougher to take down.
Morgan quickly assigned the energy and checked his status.
Name: Morgan
Supermage: Rank - 13
Energy to next rank - 18,117/26,000
Ability - Divine Gravity & Air
RP - 720/720 (Regen - 7.1 per second)
Strength - 67
Agility - 80
Constitution - 71
Intelligence - 72
Wisdom - 71
Skills - Enhanced flight, Heavy impact, Gale force, Condensed wind blade
Traits - Gravity field, Recovery
Extra - Gravity storm
He was getting pretty close to the next rank and wondered if he would lose any attribute points if he just ranked up now. Before he could decide, he heard the scrape of metal over stone and Sarah came into view, squeezing through the crack and coming into the cave.
“So what kind of beast was it?” Morg
an asked, leaning forward and turning the meat over.
Sarah still seemed to be angry at him from before, but she answered all the same.
“It’s called a fire-fur badger, and it was rank 16,” she replied, slumping to the ground with a groan.
“That’s not good,” he replied, pulling their supper from the fire. “The Arc on the previous stage was only rank 14. If the first beast we run into is that strong, it can’t bode well for our chances here.”
Sarah nodded in agreement, the last of her anger fading away as he handed her a piece of meat.
“So what do we do?” she asked, taking a careful bite of the steaming meat, before chewing slowly. “Will we have to go back to the previous stage to train some more? Because even with all the energy I just got, I’m only rank 13.”
“Same here,” he replied, tearing off a chunk of his meat and chewing heartily.
After a long day of fighting and all the injuries he’d sustained, he was in desperate need of some nourishment.
“I’m pretty close to the next rank, but if the first beast was rank 16, then the Arc may very well be over 18, which means that we won’t be able to progress until we’re at least rank 19.”
“Oh, I can assure you that the Arc – excellent name, by the way- on this stage is only rank 18. Although, you are correct in assuming that you’ll need to be stronger in order to defeat it.”
Sarah and Morgan both jumped at the sound of an unexpected voice and both whirled to see a man squeezing his way into their small cave.
Morgan was getting ready for a fight, when he caught sight of the man’s face and froze on the spot.
The man squeezed his way through and stood to examine the two shocked teenagers before him.
“I know we don’t exactly know each other that well, but I was expecting something a bit different than shocked expressions. Then again, you wouldn’t really expect anyone to be here, so I understand your surprise.”
The man nodded, then seated himself near the fire and reached out for a piece of meat. Morgan and Sarah both just stared as the man dug in, tearing off a massive hunk and barely chewing before swallowing.
He looked up to see them both staring and raised an eyebrow.
“Well, don’t stop eating on my account! Go on,” he said, gesturing with the piece of meat.
When neither of them continued, he let out a long sigh and set his food down.
“Fine; let’s get to the reason I’m here, shall we.” he said, licking his fingers. “I figured it’s about time the two of us had a chat, don’t you agree?” Samuel asked.
27
Katherine was pacing back and forth in her room, waiting restlessly for Arnold to contact her. It had been nearly thirty hours since he’d left, and she’d yet to hear anything from him.
If that sack of shit had run off on her, she would hunt him down and feed him his own testicles,
She stopped her pacing and forced herself to take a deep breath. She was a princess; she had to remain calm at all times in order to make well thought out decisions. Slowly, she allowed her clenched fists to uncurl and made her way slowly over to a plush sofa.
She sank into it with a sigh and felt at the small core resting on a chain around her neck. True to her word, she’d had the core Morgan gave her made into a necklace. All cores looked beautiful, with their swirling red and blue pattern, but most people would just absorb the energy and be done with it.
She’d seen thousands of cores in her years as a fighter, but this one held a special significance to her. It wasn’t just who had given it to her, but what it represented as well; a way for her to end the war and overthrow her idiot of a father.
She suddenly felt a slight tingle run down her spine and quickly pressed a hand to her ear. Arnold’s voice came through after a moment and she breathed a sigh of relief.
“I think I found the key, but we have a bit of a situation.”
Katherine scowled when she heard that. Of course, things were never easy. Ever!
“I have a guest that insists on meeting you before handing it over. It’s Gold, the mage from the academy.”
Katherine sat up straight.
Gold? What possible interest could he have with Morgan? Then again, he had stalled her back at the academy to cover their escape…
“I’m opening a portal. Tell him to come through.” She concentrated then, closing her eyes and allowing her ability to seek out her targets.
It only took a few seconds to locate them and with a minor effort of will, a portal popped into existence, connecting the two areas.
A moment later, she felt them enter. She sat up straighter in her seat, quickly fixing her long golden hair and readjusting her armored top. She considered delaying them so she could put on a new layer of makeup, but dismissed the idea in the end. Morgan needed her now. She wouldn’t jeopardize him and her entire kingdom, just for vanity.
A few seconds later, Arnold stepped through, looking quite the worse for wear. Then Gold stepped through, looking as unconcerned as a man taking a stroll on the beach.
“You look like you took a hundred-foot fall and decided to land on your face,” Katherine commented as Arnold stepped up to her.
“An apt description, I assure you,” Gold said with a grin.
Arnold merely scowled and folded his arms.
“Oh, don’t look so glum. You’re lucky I didn’t kill you. Be grateful.”
His scowl deepened and Katherine was forced to intervene before it came to blows.
“May I ask as to why you insisted on accompanying Arnold here?” she asked him, making sure to keep a neutral tone.
She wasn’t exactly sure how strong Gold was, but she knew from her time at the academy that his rank was at least in the 40’s.
“You may,” he replied cheekily, then walked over and plopped down in one of her sofas.
Arnold let out a growl and his fingers twitched as though suppressing the urge to attack the man.
“You can go, Arnold,” Katherine said with a dismissive wave. “I’ll call you when I require your assistance.”
Arnold threw Gold one last glare, then walked stiffly out of the room. She waited until the door closed behind him before turning back to Gold.
“Why did you insist on coming with? And more importantly, do you have the key to the Beast Zone?”
Gold interlaced his fingers and examined her for a few long moments, his eyes stopping on the glittering core before moving up to meet her eyes.
“I had to see for myself if that murdering toad was telling the truth, but I can see now that he was. You’re not at all what you pretend to be, are you Princess?” he asked, his mouth turning up in a slight smirk.
Katherine folded her arms and stared at him levelly.
“You still haven’t answered my second question. Do you have the key?”
Gold shrugged.
“I have a key, though if I’ll hand it over to you, is yet to be seen.”
Katherine let out a long sigh and allowed her shoulders to slump.
“Out with it then. What do you want?”
“A simple test,” he replied. “Pass it, and I’ll hand you the key. Fail, and you get nothing.”
“I can always take the key by force,” she said, allowing a ripple of power to flow out from her.
Gold didn’t even flinch.
“You can try,” he said with a shrug. “You may even succeed, but you won’t do so without a considerable amount of effort on your part, and I’m willing to bet that this city wouldn’t survive the battle.”
Katherine inwardly winced when he said that. He had her dead to rights. She could attack him, but a fight between the two of them could very well level the city, costing hundreds of thousands of lives.
“Fine,” she agreed. “What exactly do you have in mind?”
Gold leaned forward, a wicked grin spreading across his face.
“Have you ever heard of the infernal-bane lyvern?”
Katherine’s eyes widened w
hen she heard that name and she felt her pulse quicken in fear, as Gold’s grin widened.
“Good. I thought you would’ve.”
***
Morgan stared, heart racing with adrenaline, as the most powerful being in the world set down his half eaten meal, licked his fingers clean and turned to look at him.
“Talk to me?” he dumbly asked.
Why would the most powerful being he knew of - a being that Dabu, an omniscient supermage, had described to be as old as time itself - want to speak with him!?
“Yes,” he said with a smile, then opened his mouth to continue, but was rudely cut off by Sarah.
“Samuel?! What the hell are you doing here? How did you get in? Can you get us out?”
The questions came one after another in rapid succession and Samuel held up a hand as if to ward her off.
“Whoa there, one question at a time!” he said, chuckling lightly.
“Fine,” Sarah said, leaning forward with a huge grin on her face. “How did you get in? More importantly, can you get us out?”
“To answer your first question, I got in by walking. To answer your second, I can’t take you out of here.”
Sarah’s excited expression vanished, replaced by one of anger instead.
“What the hell kind of cryptic shit answer is that? Why can’t you take us out?”
“That would be against the rules,” he simply replied.
“What rules?”
“Well, telling you would be against the rules as well,” Samuel said with shrug.
Morgan decided that it was best to cut in before Sarah tried to attack the all-powerful being.
“If you can’t get us out, then why come here?” he asked, surprised at how calm he suddenly felt.
“To speak with you, of course. Haven’t you been listening?”
Sarah let out a huff of anger and folded her arms, glaring at Samuel.
At least her anger’s directed at someone else for a change, Morgan thought.
“Alright, out with it then. Why is a god interested in speaking with me?” he asked, being as blunt as possible.
Just where was this confidence coming from?
