War God for Hire- Adventurer: A Reincarnation, Cultivation Adventure

by David Burke

  It took longer than it would have if he’d simply called forth his soulbound weapon, but it was good for them to learn to work together. More than that, the battle was a learning experience for Kierra, too. Kyle could tell as the hunt dragged on, that she became more aware of just how much stronger she was now than she’d been before. As she began really to let loose, her claws cut deep furrows in the creature’s side.

  Finally, she must have decided that the elg was wounded enough and she rushed in, swiping at the back of its front leg and hamstringing the creature. She then followed it to the ground.

  Kyle couldn’t have said why, but he felt the proper thing was for him to join her, pouncing on top of it.

  She was biting and clawing at it, mauling the creature’s soft underbelly, but he managed to grab a horn in one hand and plunged his dagger deep into its neck. A surge of strength and the elg’s powerful neck gave way. The sound of snapping vertebrae filled his ears as the great beast shuddered and then flopped onto its side, lifeless.

  Kierra looked at him for a moment. He could see worry in her eyes but then her expression firmed as she steeled herself. She put one foot upon the side of the beast and then raised her head to the moon, howling at the top of her lungs. The incomplete sliver within her echoed back to him and before Kyle knew it, he too had placed his foot upon the dead creature’s neck and lifted his head.

  From the lips of a modern man turned war god came a cry more bestial than either of those things. It was a primal cry of victory, and Kyle felt the surge in his blood as their voices declared to the forest, there was a new king in their midst.

  Chapter 6 - Cleaning the Kill

  Kyle was glad when Kierra took out a knife and began to skin and clean her kill. He had to admit that he was initially worried she might jump on and start eating their elg without cooking it. It was just another misconception on his part. He was sure it wouldn’t be the last time he assumed the wrong thing on Verden.

  “Is there anything that I can do to help?” He asked.

  “It is normal for the alpha to wait for the kill to be cleaned and cooked before claiming the right of first selection. But I am learning you are not like others. You are both more and yet, at the same time, unwilling to accept the privileges of your rank. So, if it will please you, you could help by making a fire,” she replied.

  “Sounds good,” Kyle said and went off to collect firewood. He had camped a few times as a kid, but it certainly wasn’t his favorite memory. They’d been good times with his other grandpa, but not something he had ever wanted to do as an adult. Memories of bugs marred the good times.

  In fact, he was beginning to wonder about that. He wasn’t being bit by the bugs he could hear all around him. That seemed perplexing. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he couldn’t recall a single mosquito, fly, bee, or spider getting on him since he’d arrived on Verden.

  “Hilde, what's up with all the bugs here?” He asked while collecting the firewood and seeing the creepy crawlies all move away from him, even as he pulled dead wood off the forest floor.

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “I mean that no bugs are trying to bite me or even crawl on me. Back on Earth, that was part of what made camping miserable,” Kyle answered.

  “No such vermin would dare attack one of the seven gods,” Hilde answered.

  “Wait, so you’re saying that mindless little insects have more insight into who I am than humans do, or even that elg? It sure didn’t have any problem with trying to smash me.”

  “Maybe it is because their brains are simpler, that they notice your greatness. Or maybe, it is because you are a spiritual being and your body is more of a magical than a physical construct. It isn’t something I ever thought about before, but you are right—the bugs won’t bother you and will actively try to avoid you. If only all mortal pests were like that,” Hilde said.

  He could hear the smirk in her tone.

  “More importantly, what do you know about this Beltarkus that Kierra talked about?” he continued.

  “Not a lot, he lives in a cold place of ice, so my people were not keen on going there. Krig never seemed interested in stopping Beltarkus, though he had no issues slaying other fiends who tried to create a personal fiefdom on Verden. Perhaps it was because Beltarkus was creating stronger warriors or just as likely it might have been because the archfiend was content with a relatively quiet corner of the world,” Hilde answered.

  “Hmm… do you think that you could take him, if we went after Beltarkus?”

  “Maybe, but not without the boons I had before as the servant of Krig. Beltarkus may not be a true archfiend, but he is very near one, if not one in fact. In my normal state, I am likely no match for him—and that is even assuming I’m not stuck here in the mantle. Perhaps, instead of planning ways for you to draw attention to yourself by shifting the power structures of this world, we should focus on what happened with the mantle.”

  “Oh, sure. You are right, that is probably more urgent. Are you okay in there?” he wondered.

  “Yes, I’m fine for now, but the amount of raw essence in the mantle has been cut in half and I don’t know how much longer it will stay together. You really are going to need to find a way to get me out of here soon, or lose me forever,” Hilde said.

  Kyle could hear the fear in her voice. She’d tried to couch it in terms of what it would mean for him—ever the faithful servant—but she couldn’t hide what it would mean for her. Maybe it was time to reach out again.

  “Hilde, this is about more than what it means for me. If the mantle ends while you are in there, you will die, won’t you?”

  She was slow to answer but finally admitted in a soft voice, “Yes, it would be a permanent death, just as if I’d been slain on my home plane.”

  “What do you mean by a ‘permanent’ death?” Kyle asked.

  “If a celestial or fiend is killed on another plane of existence, then they will slowly reform on their home plane. It could take a hundred years, or it might take a month, depending on circumstances, but such a death is never permanent. Only on our home plane, can we be permanently killed.”

  “What makes this case different?”

  “Two things. First, my very soul is bound to you through the mantle. If the mantle comes apart, my soul would be shredded irrevocably. Worse than that, the mantle is hidden inside the void. If I lost the protection it provides, then my soul would be consumed by the void. It would be as though I had never existed,” the terror in her voice rose as she spoke, but then she paused.

  “Losing the mantle would mean the loss of your divinity. At best, you would be a demi-god then, and all War Essence would become uncontrollable. It would burn like fire and form into the raw essence of the universe—it might even alter the very nature of raw essence. No one knows for sure.”

  “Stop making this about me,” Kyle growled. “I understand your sense of duty, but what I want to know is if you want me to save you? Not because you are my servant, not because you think it will benefit me. Do you want me to save you, for you? Do you want to be by my side because you like me, or simply because I am what you think I am?”

  Silence followed his outburst for a long while. Long enough that Kyle was able to finish gathering the firewood, set it up and get the fire started with a burst of raw essence into the kindling.

  Eventually, Hilde said, “Don’t tease me with what can’t be. I liked Krig. Serving him was a great honor, but there was more. I was drawn to his drive and power, but there was also this raw sensuality to him that he didn’t even seem to recognize.”

  She paused, and Kyle stopped to focus entirely on her words in his mind.

  “You are so much more than he was, though. Not in terms of power or knowledge certainly, but you care about those around you. You are just as driven to victory as he was, but you want to share it with those you care for. It makes me want to be the one that you care for, but… but I am a
fraid.”

  Softly, he said, “What are you afraid of?”

  “I am afraid to hope too much. You will change. It is inevitable. You can’t have the power of a god without also having the mind of a god. And a god won’t feel any different about a celestial, than I do about mortals.”

  Kyle felt hope, but again realized he couldn’t push too hard. Hilde had to come to this on her own. He only added one more thing. “Love is always a risk. I realize now that I missed every opportunity for love in my first life and I don’t want to make the same mistake this time around.”

  Hilde remained silent, so Kyle started talking to Kierra.

  The lycan showed him how she had cut up the meat. She lamented that they could only eat a portion of the huge animal before they needed to return to the estate. Beyond that, she had cleaned the hide as best as she could out here in the woods, because it would be valuable once properly prepared.

  As they began eating, Kyle said, “It is okay that we can’t eat all of the elg. The scavengers will feast well. This is all part of the circle of life.”

  “That is a wise statement, pack leader, and not something I would expect from a city dweller,” Kierra said. She seemed pleased.

  “Just one of the many lessons I learned in my childhood thanks to Disney.”

  The lycan clearly didn’t get his reference, but she didn’t ask about it, only smiling shyly at him. She was quite the enigma, such a fierce and a capable fighter, hunter and more. She was sexy in her own way, too, and yet so unsure around him.

  He understood her a little better after the hunt, but if he was ever going to have a relationship with her, then Kierra was going to have to learn to relax around him.

  That thought made him chuckle. He had just been wooing Hilde a few minutes ago, and earlier in the evening he had been pining for Nyda. None of them were prepared to give him the kind of relationship that he wanted.

  Maybe none of them ever would be. But he strangely didn’t feel bad about pursuing, or at least feeling things out with, each of them. After all, Hilde had acted like it was perfectly natural for a god to expect to have more than one woman in his life. Maybe there were some real perks to this new gig.

  As they finished up their food, Kierra’s head suddenly shot up. Kyle realized that her hearing was more acute than his and so began looking in the direction that had drawn her attention. He didn’t have long to wait, as a group of men came walking out of the woods.

  Kyle counted five, no six men. The sixth man had stayed back at the edge of the woods, his bow drawn. He spoke softly to Kierra, “Bowman in the woods.”

  One of the men was decked out in a rich fur over ornate armor and other obvious signs of wealth. He called out, “Oh what do we have here... are there poachers in our woods?”

  Kyle didn’t answer right away as he took stock of the party. He guessed that the speaker was a nobleman. Two of the men with him were clearly bodyguards. Judging from their swords and armor, they clearly were not hunters. That would be one of the other men, who was moving around to his side and cautiously checking the area for danger. This man was dressed in the leathers of a huntsman, much the same as the man who had stayed back in the wood line. The final man was out of place and clearly uncomfortable out in the wilds; his robes gave him away as a mage.

  “Hardly poachers. We are on the far side of the river, any may hunt here,” Kyle replied.

  “Any free man may hunt here. I can clearly see the manacles that you both wear. You must be runaway slaves,” the nobleman sneered back.

  “Hardly. We were simply out for some training and brought this elg down. We are gladiators, from team Avarda,” Kyle said.

  The man laughed and his two bodyguards joined in. “That farce, what a joke. As though little Meeka has what it takes to lead a house, or build an arena team. Although I do admit, she has filled out quite nicely from the troubled little girl that I remember. Now, the question is what to do with you.”

  “That seems simple. We will be on our way and will not trouble you any further,” Kyle said. He hated kowtowing to this windbag, but he didn’t want a fight—not unless they had to. Or at least, he’d thought he didn’t want one.

  His blood was practically singing with a desire to test his mettle against these fools.

  “I don’t think so. You are that war elemental that I keep hearing so much about, as if such a thing could exist. Apparently, you put on quite a show whenever House Sorengaard staged whatever that little debacle was back at the stadium. Like most gladiators, though, I expect you are more bark than bite.”

  Then he looked at Kierra as he said, “This one, however, could be put to all kinds of uses. She looks like a good doggy, but if she won’t fetch a bone like a good girl, then that white fur of hers will fetch a pretty price. It might even look good on the floor of my study.”

  His words caused Kyle to see red. Something was wrong inside of him, but he didn’t know what it was or how to stop it. Before he even had time to think about it, his body was in motion. His soul bound weapon appeared in his hand in its pickaxe form. The noble’s bodyguards tried to intercept him, but it was futile, Kyle was simply moving too fast.

  More than just muscle propelled him forward as he drove the pick through the skull of the mouthy noble, ripping the weapon down through the man’s body till it ripped free between the man’s legs. The noble was split in half so fast that his bowels didn’t even have a chance to react.

  An arrow arced towards him from the woods, but Kyle shattered it in the air with a focused burst of War Essence. He didn’t even need to look at it to do so. Meanwhile, the two bodyguards had drawn and were swinging their dueling blades at him. These were weapons meant for a stand-up fight and Kyle suspected the men were probably decent duelists, based upon their relaxed stances and the ease with which they wielded their blades.

  It never occurred to him to wonder why he focused on such details. He smoothly slid his body under the horizontal slash of the attacker on his left while bringing up his pick in a half-circle to block the thrust coming from behind him. Even as he moved, Kyle called upon his Earth Essence and the ground beneath him bubbled and roiled and rose up around him as Flowing Earth Armor.

  The disruption knocked both bodyguards backward, but they were agile enough to stay on their feet. The closer huntsman had started to run, while the mage was puking his guts out after seeing what had happened to his lord. Meanwhile, Kyle saw that Kierra was busy sneaking up on the archer in the woods. Another arrow flew at him, but it barely broke his skin after his Earth Armor slowed it.

  Kyle leapt twenty feet away to draw all attention to himself. Then he cried out to the guards, “Look, you can throw down your weapons, take whatever money your lord had on him and leave here with your lives. This is a one-time offer, because if you keep fighting me, you are gonna end up just like him. If you tell anyone about me being here, the same thing is gonna happen, so don’t make me regret my mercy.”

  The two men looked at one another and Kyle could see them doing some quick mental math regarding their odds. Apparently, they both came to the same sum as he had, because not a second later they tossed their dueling blades to the ground.

  The mage was slowly regaining his composure and fury was etched across his face. Behind him, Kyle saw that Kierra had just slit the throat of the archer. The man might have possessed decent woodcraft, but the lycan was a damn ghost when it came to moving silently—even more so since being partially infused by Kyle’s divine splinter.

  This wasn’t over though, because the mage raised his hand and shot bolts of lightning into the two guards who were bent over picking through the remains of the bisected noble. Their bodies both convulsed as the magical current ran through them. Burns began to appear on their bodies as they spasmed uncontrollably.

  A part of Kyle thought he should intervene, but that other voice—the one that was speaking loudly in his head now—said that if they couldn’t defend themselves then they
weren’t worth protecting. It would have been different, if they were civilians, but they were supposed to be warriors, and the only value of a warrior was his prowess.

  When they finally fell to the ground, smoke poured out of their empty eye sockets. Their bodies had been burned from the inside out. The mage was gasping and thrust his hand to a thick belt he was wearing over his robes. In the middle of it was a large round crystal. The crystal was mostly clear, but had a wisp of pale blue mist inside of it.

  Hilde cried out a warning in his head just as the mage pointed at Kyle and said, “I don’t need nearly as much power to bring you down. You have four manacles on. So, be a good boy and follow me back to town for justice. I’m sure they might even spare your life after gelding you, so that you can work for House Davion. But if you resist me, you will know the agony only those bracers can bring.”