“Mr. Grokuszuid, can we drop the formalities?” I asked. “Believe me, I have a lot to do, and Irita is responsible for all our trading operations now. If you refuse to work with her, then we can’t trade at the ASS, which means you don’t get your fee.”
Grokuszuid laughed, waved a hand, expanded the portal to let a human pass:
“Come through, Madame Irita. Mr. Scyth always wants everything yesterday, but with you, I suspect, we will be able to take a wiser approach to trading.”
“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Grokuszuid,” Irita curtsied. “I’ve put together a full list of the legendary weaponry and armor the clan would like to sell. For a good price, of course.”
“Capital, capital!” The goblin rubbed his hands. “Then let us not waste time!”
Crawler clenched his teeth as he watched the scene. It was clear by his face that he’d rather be in Irita’s shoes — he’d had his eye on the Goblin League auction house for a long time. But the roles in the team were already set; he had to go with me.
When the portal clapped shut behind the girl, I summoned Kusalarix. The goblin woman was already waiting and told us to come straight through the portal.
We found ourselves not in her office, but at the foot of Mount Mecharri near Kinema, by a cliff overgrown with ivy. The mountain itself looked like the top of a balding old man’s head towering over the cliffs: the slopes were covered in trees, but the higher you went, the sparser the trees became. The very top, which must have been the mouth of an ancient volcano, was bare and gray-black. The imagination wanted to put a bobble hat on it.
A goblin woman sat in a red boiler suit next to a chubby goblin man in a trampled glade, rooting through some half-empty bags in search of something. Further along the cliff was a gnome doing something complicated with an instrument. A forest surrounded us, and the trees were twice as tall as those on Kharinza, like sequoias, only leafier.
The male goblin turned at the clap of the portal and scampered over to us, shaking all our hands in turn and introducing himself as Chief Magineer Fitzbos. He nodded toward the gnome that was so busy with his work that he hadn’t noticed us.
“He’s tracking seismic fluctuations and we’re calculating them into the portal cannon settings. Well, who is going first?”
Bomber stepped forward, shrugging. He would be the first and last — after laying a route for us, he could portal us into the trap cell deep within the mountain himself, then we’d all be able to teleport there through the depths.
The goblin girl in the red boiler suit, Proverix, waved us over and we all followed her into the woods.
“Wait for me!” the gnome shouted after we were already walking among the gigantic trees. A barely visible cannon gleamed in the distance.
It really did look like a colossal cannon. Its twenty-yard barrel was aimed at the earth, and a metal ladder led to the very top. Chief Magineer Fitzbos and Bomber climbed up it and opened the hatch. Bomber climbed in and Fitzbol closed the round door behind him, spinning the hatch seal to lock it tight.
For a few minutes, Bomber complained in group chat that he was claustrophobic, scared and lonely, and asked what was happening. In the meantime, Fitzbos returned to the goblin woman in the red boiler suit and shouted into her ear:
“Proverix, confirm readiness!”
The goblin girl asked the gnome if he was ready.
“Seismic activity unchanged!” he declared importantly.
“Confirming initiation!” Proverix shouted, looking at a control panel floating in the air beneath her nose.
“Three, two, one… Fire!”
Chubby junior magineer Jabatik jabbed a big red button at the base of the cannon, knelt down on one knee and covered his ears. I noticed he was crossing his fingers.
Rings of light began to roll down the barrel one after another, getting faster and faster. The growing hum made my ears pop, but no explosion came — on the contrary, the silence was deafening.
“Object delivered!” Fitzbos declared triumphantly, staring devotedly at Kusalarix.
She puffed smoke at him:
“Pray to Maglubiyet that he returns.”
A few moments later, Bomb popped out of thin air nearby. Seeing our looks, he smiled broadly and gave a thumbs-up.
“It’s the perfect trap! I made sure to check the map — it’s a separate zone.”
After his skill cooled down, the warrior took the whole group to the trap. Now we all had the route.
“We’ll have another five traps ready by the end of the day,” Kusalarix told me after we got back. “We’re puttin’ one of ‘em on Kharinza.”
“In three days, we’ll be able to start building a temple on Terrastera,” I said. “Can the builders get it done in twenty-four hours? Less, even — I’ll need a little time to dedicate the temple to Tiamat.”
“They’ll get ‘er done,” the goblin woman answered. Then she took me by the arm and led me off to the side. “I got something to discuss in private, Scyth. Best in my office.”
Nodding, I watched with a smile as the boys decided which of them should go back to Mengoza. This was their first time in Kinema and they all wanted to see the city.
“I won’t be joining you,” Crawler said. “Irita and I are going to take a look at the Bazaar, see what we can get for the workers and the clan. So Bomb and Infect, you guys play rock-paper-scissors for it.”
I didn’t see how that ended before Kusalarix and I teleported to her office. She didn’t even sit down before getting down to business:
“The League has a message for ya. I mean, a message has come to you through the league, but it ain’t from us. One of the undyin’ made a very generous donation to Maglubiyet and asked the League to help him contact you. His exact words were: ‘I am just like Scyth, and I wish him only well. I need his protection.’”
Kusalarix offered me a Faded Coin.
“You don’t have to take it. Decide for yourself. It’ll link you to the undying one who left the message. His name is Hiros.”
Hesitating, I took the communication device and put it away in my inventory.
Then I said good-bye to the goblin woman, activated Depths Teleportation and selected the edge of the Lakharian Desert as my destination — the place where I’d once fought Ervigot.
Hinterleaf hadn’t said anything, which meant the legates hadn’t yet come to the imprisoned Mogwai’s aid. My stats still weren’t done redistributing, so there was no point in going back to Oyama. I’d taken Flaygray and Nega to Latteria, and they’d only just begun their search for a mortal who sold his soul to demons. The castle construction would go on without me. This was the first free time I’d had in maybe two full months.
My curiosity overwhelmed my fears of falling into an ambush. Choosing the desert as my destination, I’d already made my decision. I had to find out who this Hiros was and what he wanted.
I activated the communication coin.
First a narrow window opened allowing us to talk to and see each other, but all I could see was a brick wall. The window expanded into a fully-fledged portal, but nobody emerged from it.
An instant later, a fountain of blood sprayed from my eviscerated chest.
The instant Sleeping Vindication explosion tossed up tons of sand, but dealt no damage to whoever had made mincemeat of my flesh. I stepped back, seeking my enemy with my eyes, took damage and, when I’d finally decided to run, I took a mighty blow to the head.
Losing my balance, I fell to the sand and realized with horror that I’d lost a third of my health already, my armor was full of holes and more and more were appearing, and I saw nothing and no one before me.
Chapter 20. Audacious Demonstration
I WAS USED TO fighting without seeing my enemy. How many times had I been covered in mobs and just waved my fists around?!
Although the situation was different now, not a pile of enemies but a single invisible one, I fought the same way, striking blind in the hope of my Hammerfist finding a target. I launche
d my strikes directly ahead because I’d taken wounds to the chest and stomach, but I hit nothing. I threw my shield forward, but it came back without hitting anyone.
The weapon that cut into my body was invisible too. With no hint of what was hurting me, I decided to escape the battle and activated Flight. But as soon as I started to ascend, the attacks stopped. My health hovered in the orange zone.
Below me, a figure slowly appeared, shrouded in black cloth armor like the kind assassins usually used. The man knelt down, took off the mask covering his face, bowed his head and put his hands up.
“Hiros begs forgiveness for this audacious demonstration, Scyth-san. Hiros asks for understanding and mercy.”
What a careless moron I was! Why didn’t I have an escape plan? What were my friends for? I didn’t have Immortality any more! Dis maintained balance; if a fish in their pond got out of control, they could always throw in bigger fish… I mentally upbraided myself and ground my teeth as I looked at the man, frozen in a pose of submission. My emotions boiled inside. Belated fear mixed with panic, anger that I’d been caught unawares, shock at how easily Hiros had nearly killed me, even though he was below me by…
Hiros, human, level 342 Ninja
Over 200 levels! How had he survived Reflection? How had he taken so much health from me so easily? What about the penalties?
I saw no clan information — either he was solo, or it was just hidden. Curiosity overcame anger and fear. The situation was in hand, but I had to keep my distance from that ninja. I flew away a little, cleared my throat just in case I squeaked in embarrassment, then got ready to teleport away just in case, and answered shortly:
“What’s going on?”
“Hiros will explain his impudence.” The ninja rose and approached, continuing to speak without raising his eyes. “Hiros needed to confirm that you were the right man. That you are Scyth-san and not a fraud. Hiros had to be certain. Hiros is certain.”
“I could have killed you!” I said, unable to resist bluffing.
“With the greatest respect, Scyth-san could not kill Hiros. Hiros is special, like Scyth. The fifth letter of the alphabet speaks of Hiros.”
The fifth? So he was an E-class Threat. Strong. His potential was only one level lower than Crag’s.
“What’s special about you?”
“Hiros has shown.” He gestured to the holes in my armor. “A temporary escape to another dimension, with complete immateriality. Then Hiros’s attacks cannot be reflected, they ignore all defensive skills, all level penalties, armor stats. None are invulnerable to Hiros. Scyth-san now knows it.”
“Uh-huh…” I bit back a mention of the Nether. “I know it. What is it you want, Hiros… san?”
“Protection. Scyth-san knows very well what threatens those like us. Hiros is tired of always hiding. Hiros knows that if Scyth-san managed to survive even after the whole world learned his name, then that means Hiros must be by Scyth-san’s side.”
“Are you in a clan?”
Hiros looked at me blank-faced and shook his head.
“Sorry, dumb question. But I need to know — have you been in a clan before? How long have you had the fifth letter of the alphabet? Who else knows? Who are you afraid of?”
“Hiros will tell his story…”
He turned out to be a young man, twenty years old. Unlike me, he was lucky — he got his ability only after he left the sandbox. It had happened over two years ago, back when I was just waiting for my fourteenth birthday so I could start playing.
Hiros had planned to level up his craft, but once he got the ninja class, he changed his plans and focused on combat skills.
“The Mercenary Guild pays good money,” he explained.
But he never did join the guild. His class of invisible assassin allowed him to explore even top-tier dungeons alone. It was in one of those, in a hidden cache, where he found Astral Fury, a skill with the effects I’d already experienced. Hiros didn’t go into great detail. With that skill, he could not only loot dungeons on his own, he could clear them too. The hour-long cooldown for his thirty-second skill meant it took a long time, but it was always effective. Thanks to his total invulnerability for that half a minute, Hiros leveled up this skill with daggers and crossbows to rank three. And it was the nature of this skill that prevented Reflection from dealing him any damage.
After hearing his story, I paused to think. If I could be sure of his honesty, there would have been no question — no clan would refuse a damage dealer with such power. He’d make my team lethal beyond measure. But taking in strays was too risky.
My fears fought with an idea that had been rattling around in my head a while — to unite the Threats. The Preventers had the Alliance? Fine. We’d call ourselves the Union. The Union of Outstanding Threats! Pursued prey who once hid from all — together, we would be the hunters!
“Are you looking for work in Dis only?” I asked, still doubtful.
“Yes, but…” The ninja hesitated. “Hiros’s former friends suspect something. Hiros began alongside them and completed quests with them. It was hard to explain why Hiros began to play solo. When the man meets with them in real life, friends ask as if in jest whether Hiros has become a Threat. And those jokes become more and more serious. The man was foolish, showed off a new flyer. The man moved to a better home, more expensive, and this did not go unnoticed. The man invited an ex-girlfriend there and she told others.”
We were both silent for some time. He was waiting for an answer while I stood, thinking. I couldn’t come to a decision.
“I need to think about it. Scyth doesn’t trust Hiros, although he will let you add him to your friends list.” The ninja raised at an eyebrow at me as I unconsciously copied his manner of speaking. “If the answer is yes, then you’ll have to move somewhere else in real life.”
“Hiros agrees.”
I nodded. Before I left, I couldn’t help but ask:
“Why does Hiros speak about himself in the third person?”
“The man controlling the character does not associate himself with Hiros. The man’s name means nothing to Scyth. The man will reveal his real name if Scyth decides to give Hiros and the man protection.”
“Tell me honestly… Did you fail to kill me because you didn’t want to, or because you ran out of time?”
“Hiros never lies. Honesty above all. Hiros would have killed Scyth if he had the time. The reward exceeds the risk of the attempt.”
“Okay. I can’t say this was my favorite introduction, but… Pleased to meet you, Hiros.”
“Hiros is happy,” the ninja answered.
It was hard to say if he was sincere, because throughout the conversation, his face had remained stony. The only sign of emotion he had shown was a raised eyebrow.
Chapter 21. The Ninth Legate
CRITERROR REACHED the Modus castle within less than hour of my meeting with Hiros.
I was on Kharinza then, figuring out how the stationary portal installed by the haulers’ guild worked. The dwarfs had built a separate structure for it, taller than the Pig and Whistle tavern. At least, the old version of the tavern; the new one was several times the size of the old. They connected the portal to the guild’s global network, giving us access to practically all the cities of Latteria and Shad’Erung.
I thought for a moment, then restricted access to the portal to officers only. The workers could do without it for now. Foreseeing a chorus of complaints, I decided to hold back knowledge of this new travel until they relocated to Kharinza.
A message from Hinterleaf interrupted my study of the list of available portals: Criterror is already here. He’s breaking down our forcefield. Hurry!
As soon as I told him I was on the way, a notification pinged. A message from Yary. Hinterleaf’s right hand had sent me the reports from his scouts about the other legates of the Destroying Plague: one of them had reached populated lands and was approaching the castles of non-Alliance clans. Horvac had already reported that he had a blockin
g cell ready in the Travelers main castle.
We were well prepared, but events were unfolding too quickly. The earth was crumbling beneath our feet.
Crawler, Infect and Bomber jumped to me. I grouped up with them, then teleported us all to the Modus castle. Rubbing his forehead, a bandit hobbit got up from the floor; we’d knocked him over.
The castle grounds were so full of clan troops there wasn’t room to swing a cat. Apart from fighters, the place teemed with NPC guards and hundreds of mercenaries. The veil of a forcefield dome hummed above us, reflecting the undead attacks. I heard screaming and the clash of metal. On the southern fortress wall, the castle guards and a few battle stars of mages and archers fought, raining fire down on the besiegers.
Path of Spirit (Disgardium Book #6): LitRPG Series Page 20