by David Burke
Kyle had him putting the prospective recruits off, but even he realized they would need to expand. For now though that was a problem for the future. It was obvious though that as word spread that being an adventurer in Nargossa was no longer a death sentence that some would want to return. The loot that some of the monsters dropped was quite rewarding.
The same could be said about Lash. She was still somewhat standoffish but she had proven herself to be faithful in so many ways. He realized that soon he was going to have to make a decision to restore her as his bonded servant or release her. He just wasn’t sure that she could get past… well the past. Her past with Krig, both the good and the hurt that his ‘death’ had caused her.
At least Lash didn’t try to pressure him. The same couldn’t be said for Meeka. That woman found a way to weave his so-called promise into every conversation the two of them had. She had proven to be useful in the role of merchant and was already building quite the empire. The woman clearly had skills and not just the ones she hid inside her tight gowns.
She had snuck a few kisses with him, but there was still something about her that made him hesitant. It was hard to put a finger on it, but for now he was trusting his instincts. The problem was that none of his girlfriends seemed to mind if he hooked up with her, and so his will power eroded away day by day. He sometimes found himself wondering, ‘what harm could it cause?’
Based on Meeka’s information though he knew that the leaders of Nargossa had taken an interest in Kyle and his team. They had gained a reputation for being able to take down any monster but also for being a team for hire. He didn’t want to seem too mercenary but then again he had to remember this was a different world.
The one team member that he had trouble connecting with was Skrug. It wasn’t that the troll wasn’t loyal. In fact he was the epitome of loyalty, an unquestioning hound. Kyle had discussed with Hilde and Selma if there was some way to increase his mental faculties but while there were ways that Kyle could modify his body, neither had any suggestions about increasing his intelligence.
After Selma left, Kyle asked, “So you don’t think that even a divine splinter would increase his mind?”
“Likely not. Divine splinters tend to make a person more of what they are already as well as giving them access to more essence. You have already done more with your splinters than I would have deemed possible, but I think you will find that Skrug has only the brains he was born with. Besides you only have three divine splinters left and I would hate for you to use one for anything other than the most powerful of allies,” Hilde replied.
“Okay, I get it. I will just have to come up with something else. Skrug is part of the team and deserves to be rewarded. But don’t you mean there are four divine splinters left? Each god gets seven I thought,” Kyle said while watching her intently.
“Oh… yeah. I must have miscounted. Sorry.” Hilde clearly got nervous and Kyle could feel her essence swell. Her wings even burst into flame for a second before she said, “You know you could try fusing a monster core into him.”
Kyle opted to not ask about her strange behavior and simply said, “You mean the things that drop from the strongest of monsters? We’ve only gotten a handful of them and most are lesser cores.”
“Yeah, but what about the one you got from the elder troll. That was a full monster core right?”
He nodded.
“It might be a perfect match for Skrug. Give him more of the power of his bloodline and all that. You have been very good at doing that so far,” the celestial said.
“Worth a try. I will go find him now and see if he is willing.” Then Kyle got up from the table and leaned over to kiss her on her forehead. She made a pouty face and tilted her head up to give him better access to her lips. He didn’t want to get sidetracked now but those lips just called out to be kissed.
A minute later he was out in the grounds behind the guildhall. There was a fenced area there that had been previously used for training by the guild. Like everything in the guild it had become dilapidated from lack of upkeep. Kyle had put a portion of the fund the team had been earning on bounties into the repairs though and now at least the team could spar in back to keep skills sharp during downtime.
One of the corners of the area had also been turned into a room for Skrug. It only had three walls but was large enough to accommodate him without requiring him to try to squat and squeeze through the hallways inside. As always the half-troll was munching on some snacks when Kyle got there.
He scrambled to his feet and said, “What boss man need? New mission?”
“Nothing like that, Skrug. Please sit down. I want to talk to you about something,” Kyle replied.
Skrug looked around and pulled over a second chair for Kyle before sitting. The troll might not be the brightest but he was definitely loyal.
“So Skrug, you have seen how I made Gilthan and Kierra stronger,” Kyle began.
The half-troll warrior interrupted by saying, “Yes, thems can fight much better now. Stronger is gooder.”
“Well, I can’t do exactly what I did for them with you, but I think there might be another way for me to make you stronger. That is if you want me to,” Kyle said.
“Boss man do what is best. Skrug not smart but Skrug is strong.”
“Is that your way of saying that you trust my judgment, Skrug?” Kyle asked.
“Skrug no know what judgmat be but Skrug know trust. Skrug trust boss man.”
“Very well, then I’d like to make you stronger. All I need you to do is sit still and I am going to try and fuse this monster core into you. It should raise you to a new level of power, but I must be honest. This is all new, so I can’t say for sure.”
Skrug just grunted in response, which Kyle took for his informed consent. Hell, who was he kidding, Kyle knew Skrug had the mentality of a child, a brutal child, but it was up to him to make the right decision. This would hopefully keep Skrug safer which was a good thing. It was also good for the team and as War God, Kyle had to keep that forefront in his mind.
Kyle waved his hand over his storage ring and pulled out the elder troll’s monster core. He accelerated his essence wheel and felt his power grow. Most of the time he kept it spinning relatively slowly so that he didn’t have to focus on suppressing his aura, but with practice he was learning to be able to hide a stronger aura. It was just that conscious work was required and sometimes he found himself too distracted. Besides that, sex was almost overwhelming if he expanded his awareness too far.
He could sense the structure inside the core. It captured the essence of what it meant to be a monster. Kyle wondered for a minute if he couldn’t’ use this to create a type of summoning magic. But he rejected that. Not because it wasn’t possible but because he wanted to help out his friend first.
Kyle began to rifle through the core and saw different patterns in it. It was almost like a simplified DNA. Within it there was a connection to Earth Essence, strands for durability, ferocity, regeneration, the unstoppable proliferation of troll DNA within any other organism. It was all spelled out there before him. It explained what it meant to be a troll. It made him think of certain zombie apocalypse movies and wonder if there wasn’t an element of that in trolls.
Laced within all of it was Death Essence. The power that he had used to strike down the elder troll was there and it tainted even the core. Except as Kyle considered, ‘was it really a taint or an opportunity?’ With this he could empower Skrug with two types of essence and if Kyle was going to be the master of them all then why not. Death was a part of the cycle of existence.
So he gathered a massive amount of raw essence in his arm and moved it toward the hand that held the core. He started to feed it into the core and began making little changes. He strengthened the connections to earth and death in and while trying to enhance the durability and regeneration while weaning out the ferocity and proliferation.
Once he felt that the core was charged and ready, he looked at Skrug. The ha
lf-troll was clearly waiting for him. So no more reason to wait. He pressed the core against the man’s chest and was surprised at how easily it went in. Apparently his idea and preparation were working. Maybe he was getting the hang of this deity thing.
With the core pressed in he felt Skrug starting to change. As he watched the troll part of him was taking over and Kyle did not want that. He had wanted to make his friend more intelligent not less and failing that to at least make him stronger, but not at the cost of the humanity that he had. But Kyle was hardly helpless. He willed his power into Skrug.
Inside he saw where the human and troll parts of his DNA were at war. Well he was the War God. He would decide the outcome. Kyle plucked and tugged on the strands of what made Skrug who he was. He was able to keep pouring power in and watched as Skrug formed an essence wheel. It only had two spokes for Earth and Death, but each of the spindles were large. Earth reached into the Spirit Tier and Death hit peak Monster Tier.
Still Kyle warred. He drew out the parts of his human DNA which gave him his intelligence and loyalty as well as keeping his appearance more human than monster. Some of it he was more successful with than others. As his power swelled though, he felt the point that a balance was reached within Skrug.
Then he pulled back, not only with his power but with his hand. Standing up Kyle looked at Skrug and saw that his friend had changed not only on the outside but on the inside. At least twelve feet tall now, Skrug’s face looked even more human while still having troll fangs and ears. His skin though had taken on more of the appearance of stone, laced with veins of pure black.
When Skrug opened his eyes, the irises were jet black with a brown ring around them and much larger than before. Skrug stood up and laughed. “Skrug thanks boss man. Skrug feels alive. Skrug so strong now. Even words makes more sense now. Skrug sounds silly when talking.”
Kyle dared to hope that the change had affected his friend’s mind in a positive way. It seemed to have. The half-troll might not be a Rhodes Scholar but if he was already understanding more that was a positive sign.
As Kyle examined him with more power he felt that the change had gone even deeper. He had learned how to use the same type of examination spell that the rod used in the arena held. He saw that Skrug’s new race was now Earth Infused Dire Troll. It was a mouthful but there could be no doubt that Skrug was more powerful now.
He was so caught up in the power that he felt emanating from Skrug that he almost missed it. Behind him. He reached out. There it was at the back of the training yard. Kyle bolted out of Skrug’s room into the courtyard and saw a very tall woman cloaked in black outside the yard. She was looking in from through the fence. Then she was gone.
A recognition hit him like a freight train. He didn’t know why she was here. If she was here he didn’t know why she wasn’t trying to strike him down. All he knew was that Dod, Goddess of Death had been staring through that fence at him not more than a hundred feet away. A cold chill ran down his spine. Maybe he had less time than he had expected.
Epilogue- Raina’s plot
Nothing had gone quite as she expected, but you didn’t survive for long as a demi-god if you weren’t flexible. That brute, Barak had nearly ruined everything. She had wanted him to create a challenge, an opportunity for the team to escape. Maybe even push this Kyle, if that was what he really should be called, into a place of dependence upon her.
Instead, he had charged in and nearly killed them. It was only that bitch of a celestial who managed to save her target. He was so strong, she could feel it oozing off of him, but he still didn’t understand how to wield it properly. She had seen glimpses of brilliance in his abilities, but it was never consistent.
Now she had problems of her own to deal with. A summons had arrived for her. It was one of the few summonses that she didn’t dare refuse. A demi-god was always vulnerable to attacks by one of the gods or more often by another demi. But if she lost the patronage of her father before she was ready it would be catastrophic. He couldn’t and certainly wouldn’t save her from all of his siblings but knowing that she had his favor was at least a partial shield.
It had been nearly a hundred years since she had last seen Bedrag though. That was the quandary. Why was he calling for her now? She hated not knowing things. Worse, she knew that if he questioned her too much, she would have to end up revealing her plans. There was no doubt about how that ended, but one simply didn’t deceive the god of deception, not even she could do that.
Still, it wasn’t all bad. He had sworn to give her a chance. He seemed the type to keep his word. She could tell that he wanted her too. Of course, what man wouldn’t. It was annoying enough that she had to accept he was being with the celestial. The fact that he was slumming with the lycan had been an even greater insult.
Ultimately though she swallowed her pride. It wasn’t what would win her the prize. One way or another she would have him. She had her hooks in already. His blood was hers and that should provide enough to reel him in. Even if he became too powerful for her to do so, she could still get the consolation prize from him. A fully formed divine splinter in one such as her would elevate her above all but the gods. It might be a consolation prize but then again, her contingencies had contingencies.
As she thought about him, she realized that this didn’t have to be all work either. She had caught a glimpse of him down at the river. Now a smile crept across her face. Not work at all, this was going to be fun.
THANKS FOR READING WAR GOD FOR HIRE- ADVENTURER
If you’d like this story to continue and thrive, please leave a nice review here!
Book 3 will be titled WAR GOD FOR HIRE- MERCENARY. The pre-release is set for August 16, 2021.
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Other Books by the Author:
David Burke-
Descend- First Steps
Descend- Coming Together
Descend- Going Deeper
Descend- Bursting Out
Descend- Seeing Stars
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Prism Academy- Sundown (second half of 2021)
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Gates of Hell- Sneaking Past (second half of 2021)
*Sean Oswald-
Watcher’s Test
Watcher’s Question
Watcher’s Fate
Watcher’s Repose
Watcher’s Growth (second half of 2021)
Watcher’s Expansion (second half of 2021)
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Change- Ephemeral (second half 2021)
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Shaman’s Call- Frost Burn (second half 2021)
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David Burke, War God for Hire- Adventurer: A Reincarnation, Cultivation Adventure
