Looking at me from the mirror was a very dirty version of myself. I guessed the big disks were showers and went over to try to figure them out, but there was no mystery: a glowing white rune appeared on one of them as soon as I got underneath it, and water poured from it right after.
I cleaned my equipment – clothes, jewelry, boots, sword, shield, and backpack – the best I could, then put them near the towels and got in the bathtub.
Which was good as heaven.
That was a great moment to decide what I would do. Obeying the Resistance was an obligatory quest, but there was a city to explore, a lot of game mechanics to discover and grinding to do.
Grinding, the act of killing monsters non-stop to better a character and make money. Yesterday I had discovered there were lots of people better than me in the game, and all I had done from then on had been running. A day in a new game was enough to create a gap as high as the sky between leading characters.
A game. It was good to force myself to remember this was a game, and therefore should be enjoyed. Was I enjoying it?
Yes, I was. Real life was just too bleak, and I wasn't even poor. I could buy a motorboat and get some chicks – had done it before – but it was so... Shallow. I wanted more. I had a calling in my soul that had only ever been met when I had started breaking my hand by hitting people on the streets.
Martial arts had made me realize street fighting was just a way out of my own frustrations, but it hadn't told me what I was really meant to do. Law school gave me some weak purpose, but not one I really found interesting and definitely not one that gave me a sense of fulfillment.
But Valia gave me what I really wanted: a more exciting world and clear purpose. Not that boring college stuff, studying boring books to work in a boring job for the rest of my repetitive life. No. An appealing world, real looking and open, where I could be whatever I wanted, as long as I was prepared to get things done. Progression, quests, traits and skills to discover. A way to transcend my own humanity.
New experiences waiting for me. Magic at my fingertips. A simple and even rewarding way to vent my frustration by killing things I wouldn't be sued for hurting.
I was a goddamn mage, not a boring lawyer studying some flawed laws.
Somewhere within I felt something was still missing, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Better to set aside such thoughts, right next to the place I had put my parent's murder and ignore it.
My position now was much different from my position in Ter'nodril. Here, I was far from any lead the deathlords might have on me and therefore I didn't need the Resistance anymore; and while working for the lich Manhart might be interesting, Marbareus and I didn't seem fated to be good working colleagues.
So, I would check the city, try to find some quests to do, grind a little and obey the Resistance. For a week.
Yes, that sounded good. I would give the Resistance a week before considering deserting and finding better stuff to do. This would also be a good week to find information about Valia and the Underworld.
Having decided that, I got out of the bathtub, took a shower, and I discovered I had a problem: my pants, my shirt, and my jerkin were gone. Thirty-five gold worth of clothing gone in the minutes it had taken me to bathe. At least my weaponry, jewelry, boots, backpack, and cloak were still there.
I immediately created four morbs – two fire, one darkness, and one death –, stored the cloak in the backpack, put my stuff and a robe on and got out of the bathroom with murder in my eyes.
"Stop right there!" I yelled to the female ghoul on the apartment door. She was wearing the same white nondescript Greek clothes and black metal collar all other servants did.
She obeyed. To the letter. She was getting out of the room when I yelled and as soon as she heard me, she froze.
"What are you doing with my clothes?"
She didn't look to me to speak, just kept frozen. "Imma takin 'em to repair, mister." Her tone was full of subservience.
"I didn't order a repair." She said nothing. "Answer me."
"Ya ain't asked me a question, mister."
I frowned. Had I found the first low-quality AI in the game? "Why are you taking my clothes if I didn't order a repair?"
"All people stuff in the palace must be gotten to repair, mister. The Prince orders and I obey."
"Huh. And how much does it cost me?"
"It's free, mister. For all peoples in the palace. 'Cept the prisoners, I s'pose."
Well, that was nice. "How long until my stuff is back?"
"Leather is easy, mister. An hour."
"That's great news. What's your name?"
"What ya wants, mister."
"C'mon, just tell me your name."
"No name, mister."
"People must call you something in here, don't they?"
"Yeah, mister." Her shoulders fell a little as she continued. "Slave p-one-oh-three-seven if ya must know, mister."
That made me shiver. Just an NPC, I told myself. "Oh. I'm sorry." She didn't answer. "Okay, thanks. Go on."
"Thanks, mister. Do ya wanna me to beg the boss for a beating?"
Of all the things I had endured in the game, the scenes of torture in the prison withstanding, this was the most pitiful and revolting one.
Miss P-1037 was a petite ghoul, who walked drawn in on herself, looking at the floor, her clothes were rags, and even calling them that was being generous. Near her was a table full of uneaten food that would remain uneaten and I bet she was hungry. Meanwhile, she was asking me if I wanted her to beg to her tormentor for a beating.
Even knowing she was just a game character, my heart was crushed. Everything seemed so real, felt so real... And it was real for her.
"Huh... Marta. I'll call you Marta. Do you have to obey anything I tell you to do?"
"Yeah, mister."
"Anything? I mean, anything at all?"
"Yeah, mister." She added a little low: "I don't know ya tastes, but there be better beautiful slaves for these things."
"What? Hell, no. I mean, not that you aren't pretty," I added quickly, "but this would be rape. Wait, there are?" I felt repulsion. "Holy shit. Listen, Marta, I am going to give you an order, and I want you to obey, understand?"
"Yeah, mister."
"Good. The table has enough food for a battalion. Sit and eat as much as you'd like."
"Can't do that, mister."
"Of course you can, Marta. I just gave you an order and you must obey anything I tell you to do."
She swallowed and looked at me directly in the eyes for the first time. I could see something broken in there. "Look, mister, I tell ya this 'cause you seem like a nice sorta fella. If ya order me for real, I ain't not disobeying ya. But the boss gonna know I was treated nice and it gonna be bad for me later."
Holy shit. That's even worse than mother. I never thought it would be possible.
"I... Understand, Marta. Sorry for forcing you to refuse it. Please, go on."
"Thanks, mister." She walked away and was already out of my vision range when I heard her fearful voice. "If ya wanna be kind, call the beautiful slaves, mister. They be the ones who take it most bad."
That was too much for me, I needed to get out of there. I left the room without any regard for my appearance. This was a sick place for sick people.
Walking the corridors, seeing all the slaves coming and going only made me feel worse. Two vampire soldiers in chain mail, one of them with a sword on the waist and a shield on the back, the other carrying a halberd, were walking the corridor. As soon as they saw me, one of them held his hand in a stop position.
"Hold there!"
"What?!" I said annoyed but obeyed.
"State your business."
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Unless you have official business, you cannot walk with an unsheathed weapon or summoned morbs in the palace."
"Oh. I didn't know." I extinguished the morbs. "Hey, completely unrelated to my morbs, do you know where Marbareus
is?"
Their faces became rigid and they gripped their weapons tighter. "Why does a deathlord wants to know the location of the First Lord?"
Whoa. Better be careful. "I'm his guest in the palace. If not him, can you guide me to Tardas? He is the one who showed me my guest room. Marbareus said my guest room would be nearest his, but this does not help much. This place is huge."
"Lughus, go find the slave. I'll accompany the deathlord to his quarters," said the vampire with sword and shield.
"Nope, you won't," I said and the halberd guard, who was already moving, stopped and looked at me. "I'm a guest of the First Lord, not a prisoner. If you want me to obey you while you confine me in my quarters, you'd better be willing to piss the First Lord off." He opened his mouth and I kept talking. "Now, I know you are not as stupid as you look and that you have a job to do. I am going to the main hall of the palace. You can accompany me or you can create a big mess. Let's go." I resumed walking the way I had been before.
For a few seconds, the guards didn't know what to do. Then the one who seemed to be the boss spoke: "You heard the guest, Lughus. We will wait for the slave in the main hall. And the Father have mercy on this deathlord's soul if he is using the First Lord's name falsely."
The halberd guard ran off and I resumed my walk. Damn vampires were control freaks, no wonder the Resistance wanted to mess with them. Just as I had been told, drow just meddled with drow and didn't care about anyone else; the vampires were enslaving ghouls in a very demeaning way and if they had good looking slaves, those couldn't be ghouls.
Still, if there was a high ranking vampire in the Resistance – I wasn't sure what a First Lord was, but it sounded powerful –, I doubted he would just abolish slavery out of the goodness of his heart. Not Marbareus, no.
That's it, then. I'll wreck his plans somehow, whatever they might be. I just need to understand the political-
I froze. No. Not that. My whole skin crawled and I took a deep breath. I couldn't do that. It wasn't right, not after I had killed the people who had taught me. I would do my best to mess with him, but I would not meddle in politics. I needed to take my mind off it.
"Don't even think about running away, you sack of-"
Bad timing, bro. The guard gave me the escape I needed and I snapped. I took my sword as I turned around and created a darkness sphere. He was three steps behind me and I was surprising him; still, he somehow was able to get his shield from his back and defend my sword thrust in time.
"Attack!" He yelled while taking his own sword from his waist. "Attack! To me!" He slashed the sword at me.
Too fast. I was barely able to put my shield in place to defend my neck.
52 shock damage received
HP: 218 / 270
And that was with a sixty percent reduction to the damage, too. I was still thinking how to counterattack when he attacked again. This time, he used it as a piercing weapon, going for my head. I began to move the shield to defend while taking a step back, but he was faster and not only accompanied me but also changed the direction of his sword, piercing my stomach.
I screamed in pain and he punched my head.
My body flew back and I was on the floor. Just like that, in three attacks, I was down to about ten percent HP, no chance of defense whatsoever. It probably was something like this that should have happened when I was facing deathlords Shai and Renno, had they not been toying with me.
Yet again the guard approached me, but instead of killing me, he sheathed the sword and took the pouch from his waist.
"Don't move, deathlord. You're my prisoner. If you try anything, I'll kill you." His face had no anger, nor bloodlust, just focus. He was doing his job and I was just garbage to be thrown away.
Becoming a prisoner again was not my thing, and I wondered what would happen if I killed myself. Would be resurrected in this city, in Ter'nodril or in the crater where the prison had been?
"Stop!" Someone yelled. The guard obeyed, now holding something that looked like thick black shackles, and we both looked at the direction of the yell.
A young vampire was coming down the corridor. He had a black collar on his neck but unlike the other slaves, he was wearing an expensive-looking silk Grecian robe in blue and green.
"You have no power here, Eternal, the slave," said the guard.
"The First Lord has ordered me to bring his guest to a meeting."
"His guest attacked me and is now a prisoner-"
He never completed the phrase. He took an arrow to the knee and dropped on the ground beside me like a sack of potatoes. His eyes were open and he was trembling a little, but he didn't move beyond that.
I looked at the direction of the arrow and I saw Tardas there, his beautiful white longbow in his hand. The impressive thing, though, was that there were at least ten other guards unconscious around him. They all came at the call? That's a fast response if I ever saw one. Are they dead?
"You," he said as he pointed at a ghoul slave nearby. "Find me the First Lady." The slave hurried away. He looked at me. "Who attacked first?"
I swallowed. "Me."
Did the ghoul's face become even angrier?
"Why?"
"He was being annoying."
Yup, definitely angrier.
"How?"
"He called me a liar when I said I was the First Lord's guest. Then he called me a coward."
He relaxed at that. "Good." He looked at the young vampire. "Mister Eternal, may I ask you to accompany mister Thorn to the First Lord's quarters?"
"Of course, Tardas." He approached and offered me his hand to help me from the floor. I healed myself three times before going with him. I could feel Tardas' gaze on my back until we turned a corner.
"So, I'm Jack." We began to walk.
"I'm Eternal." He had short brown hair and a chubby body. "You are lucky I got there when I did."
"Yeah, tell me about it. I didn't expect the guard to be that strong. My damn luck to find some elite guard like that."
He laughed. "They are only recruits and you were lucky. A regular would never have stopped because a slave said so."
"A recruit? Holy cow. What do these people eat?"
"Blood," Eternal said with a kind of sinister smile on his lips. "Do you want," he said as we got close to my room, "to get a change of clothes?"
"Nope." This time, I was the one with the sinister smile. "Let Marbareus see how close I was to death, saved only by his summons. He'll never forgive himself."
He looked at me alarmed. "What do you mean?"
"Didn't he tell you? The guy hates my guts. If I had died fighting a guard without Marbareus' knowledge, he would probably promote the guard and decree a national holiday or something. Hell, even Tardas was right there fighting other guards, supposedly to help me, but letting me handle the fight all the same. It was a dream come true for Marbareus."
"Oh." His shoulders fell.
"Don't worry, dude," I gave him a pat on the back. "You were only obeying your orders. It's usually not good to take a dead guest to a meeting, so you did your best."
"You really think he won't blame me?" He was coy.
"Sure. Even Tardas was also willing to help me after you intervened. If anything, Marbareus is now in a stronger position to get rid of me."
At least the fight had put my head back in the right place. I couldn't do anything about my mother's slavery system in real life; I had found my own freedom by running away from home and joining local gangs. But I sure as hell wouldn't run away from slavery in Valia.
I'd grow stronger and kill every damn slaver I found.
We walked in silence the rest of the way. Golden metal double doors – probably gold – with blue and green details and lots of carved magic circles of multiple colors protected Marbareus' quarters. They opened by themselves and his voice came from within.
"Jack Thorn, a man calls you a liar and a coward, and you decide it's best to show him you are neither of those, but a complete idiot instead. I cannot think
of a better way to prove this point than to fight in bathrobes against a stronger opponent who is fully armored and better armed." He had a smug smile in his face. "Congratulations."
Man, I hate this vampire.
Jack Thorn
Unbound Deathlord
Legendary Spotter, Hedge Wizard, Pioneer, Dark Archmage
Level 10
Hit Points:249 / 275
Mana Points:535 / 620
Stamina:190 / 210
Attributes:
Strength:7
Agility:7
Dexterity:6
Constitution:8
Intelligence:14
Perception:6 + 10 [Items]
Willpower:9
Charisma:7
Traits:
Adept Mage:11 + 10 [Items]
Adept Controller:11
Energizer:3
Diviner:2
Gold Digger:2
Scavenger:2
Antimage:1
Athlete:1
Crafter:1
Healer:1
Meditator:1
Mind Seer:1
Negotiator:1
Nitpicker:1
Shadow:1
Warrior:1
14. Mister Big Heart
'Only call your enemies on their lies at the most damaging moments.'
- Mother
"You always lacked imagination, Marbareus. I, for instance, cannot think of a better way of proving one's complete idiocy than by simply being you."
His smiled widened; he was aware of his victory in our little war of words.
Marbareus' room was spacious, had paintings on the walls and a big golden dragon sculpture in the center. Marbareus was sitting at an expansive wooden desk, which had open books and papers all over it. Behind him, on the wall, a large map of what I supposed was the Underworld hung with multiple marks and inscriptions.
Daggers was already there, looking at some of the paintings. Well, at least I was reasonably confident that the Blackguard in the room was her.
Unbound Deathlord: Challenge Page 25