by Seth Ring
Hearing a noise outside, Thorn quickly put his helmet back on and stood up, setting the now empty plate on the floor. Mina, who had been teasing one of the horses, slipped her wand into her hand and pointed it at the door to the barn while Velin drew her hood further over her head and equipped her staff from her inventory. The city’s atmosphere had them all on edge.
The door opened a crack and Baxby slipped in, his face tense. Noticing the glowing blue tip of Mina’s wand leveled at his chest, he froze and held up his hands, breathing a sigh of relief when she smiled apologetically and put it away.
“Hold on, don’t be so quick to put that away young lady.” Shaking his head, the old treasure hunter glanced over his shoulder and then looked back at the group. “We’ve got problems. It is a lucky thing that we didn’t drop into Shaylathemar through the Aether Gate. The island has a new lord, and she has been selling off prisoners into slavery to the Demonkin. Notice how we have not seen any Elves around? That’s because any Elf that isn’t in hiding is captured and sold to the slavers.”
“Elves are being sold? How could they?!” Mina hissed in anger. “How could the empire let this happen?!”
“Remember that game update? Well, a lot more than new bosses was introduced into the game. In addition to petty corruption rising, some big and really bad things are happening too. Slavery can be pretty lucrative so I’m honestly not surprised we ran into it here.” Baxby’s frown deepened as he rubbed his forehead.
“It strikes me as odd that the ruler of the Elven isles would be selling off Elves. You mentioned a new ruler, right? Any information on them?” Velin had placed her plate down and gotten her notebook out. The hood of her cloak was still drawn, shrouding her face in darkness.
“I did. Her name is Wellen, a half Human, half Elf. She is the younger sister of the former ruler who died about six months ago under suspicious circumstances. Regardless, my contact said that things are understandably tense right now. There are slavers crawling all over the island trying to find the Elves’ city. Apparently it just got up and walked off when all of this started to go down.”
*Walk?* Confused, Thorn held his hands flat in front of his chest and moved them as if they were feet in the process of walking.
“Yeah. Thilvena is gone. The whole city is in a massive tree, and apparently it just picked up and walked off. Now no one knows where to find it, which is going to put a major wrinkle in our plans.”
“Should we leave the city?” Mina asked, glancing at Velin’s cloaked figure, concern evident in her eyes.
“I want to say yes, but I think we might not be able to at the moment.” Baxby said with a sigh. “There was someone eyeing us when we came in, and I think they followed me out here.”
“Well, if they want a piece of us they can have it.” All riled up, Mina lifted her wand and was about to march through the doors when Thorn’s hand landed on her shoulder.
*Wait.*
“Hold on, Mina. We need a plan.” Standing, Velin put away her notebook and brushed her cloak off. “If we are not careful we could have the whole city guard down on us.”
A few moments later, the barn doors opened up and Baxby and Mina led the way, chatting casually with each other, Velin following with Akira perched on her shoulder. Just as Baxby had guessed, there was a small group waiting for them in the yard when they came out of the barn. An elegant halfling dressed in bright clothing stood before them with his hand tucked into an ornately embroidered vest that worked in vain to hide his small paunch. As they emerged from the barn the halfling held up his hand in greeting, calling for them to stop. Behind him, four thickly built thugs glowered at the group.
“Greetings, friends. I noticed that you have a powerful Dwarven war construct with you. I was wondering if you’d like to sell it.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“Sell our construct?” It was Mina who spoke, a contemplative look appearing on her face as she rubbed her chin.
“Yes. I’d be willing to purchase it at a generous price. But where are my manners? Please excuse me.” Lifting his right hand to his chest, he placed two fingers on his heart and bowed in the typical manner of a noble, sweeping his hat out behind him with a flourish. “My name is Gereon Dado, the premier war construct dealer in all of Angoril. I specialize in the strongest, smartest, most advanced constructs on both continents. I realize that it is rather presumptuous of me to approach you like this, but I have to admit, when I heard the report about your construct I was fascinated.”
“Have you seen our, uh, construct?” Baxby raised his eyebrows as he asked the brightly dressed halfling.
“Only the briefest of glances when you entered the barn earlier. I happened to be looking from my window and was intrigued by the sight of a large construct entering the barn. After I finished dressing I came down to reports of a new, highly impressive war construct that just entered the city. One of my subordinates happened to be at the gate when you came in and I was able to put two and two together. Based on their description alone I know I will be quite interested.”
“It is not for sale.” Velin’s cold voice drifted from underneath her hood like a cool breeze, immediately causing the general temperature to drop.
“But you have not heard my offer yet.” Gereon Dado grinned confidently, rubbing his hands together. “I am a generous person and would be willing to pay a king’s ransom should the construct live up to my expectations.”
“No.”
Velin’s voice, cold before, had become glacial. Hearing the robed figure cut off their boss, the thugs behind Gereon Dado scowled, two of them stepping forward and cracking their knuckles. Pretending that he did not notice the threatening gesture that his goons were making, Gereon Dado sighed and placed his hat back on his head.
“Excuse me, miss, but are you the owner of the construct? I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but I would rather make my offer to the person who can make decisions about this.”
Mina was about to open her mouth when Velin’s frozen voice echoed out again causing her mouth to snap shut. She knew better than to butt in when her friend was serious.
“I am. He is not for sale.”
“Ah. Then perhaps you are looking for something else?” Gereon Dado stroked his nose as he looked at Velin’s robed figure with a calculating gaze.
“Something else? What do you have in mind?” Baxby stepped up and interjected, hoping to reduce some of the tension that Velin’s flat response had brought.
“As I mentioned, I am the largest purveyor of war constructs on both continents. War constructs are used for a few different activities, but mostly they are used for either guarding specific areas or fighting in the arenas. Since you are obviously not here for guard duty, and you have made it quite clear that you are not interested in selling your war construct, the only real option is to assume that you are here for the arena.”
“Oh? Is it that apparent?” Smiling sheepishly, Baxby scratched the stubble on his jaw. “I’ve heard quite a bit about the arena, but you probably have a lot more insight into it than I do.”
“Oh, quite. I’d be happy to introduce you to the arena here. It is one of my favorites as it allows cross category competition. Person versus person, person versus beast, even person versus construct, so long as the fight is good they are not picky.”
From where he stood in the barn, Thorn could clearly hear the voices from the yard. As Gereon Dado finished his explanation, the Titan heard a familiar sound.
*ding*
Gladiator’s Glory
There is glory in combat and it is in the arenas scattered around Angoril that warriors prove themselves stronger than their foes.
To complete this quest, win a single fight in one of the arenas. This is an ongoing quest.
Reward: Title - [Gladiator]
Arching his eyebrows in surprise, Thorn flicked it to the side and listened as Gereon Dado continued talking outside of the barn.
“The arena is full up on matches today, but if you a
re interested I’d be happy to play host to you and let you slip into a match or two.”
“Well, we might just check it out first…” Baxby had barely finished his sentence when Velin’s frosty voice drifted from her hood again.
“Tomorrow.”
“Excellent.” His eyes lighting up, Gereon Dado retrieved a card from his fancy vest and took a step forward to give it to her. “Here is my card. If you come by the arena tomorrow you can show this to the gate guard and he will come and get me.”
Appearing in front of Gereon Dado with a [Blink], Mina smiled at him as she plucked the card from him. The Ice Witch was only a few inches taller than him, though the witch’s hat perched on top of her red hair gave Mina another foot and a half. Examining the card, she handed it to Baxby, staying in between the halfling and Velin.
The four thugs had jumped when Mina used her [Blink] spell, nearly drawing their weapons, but Gereon Dado waved them down. Running a careful eye over her gear, he suddenly smiled broadly. Any competent merchant would be able to properly gauge the quality of a player’s gear, thereby understanding the rough level at which they played the game. As Gereon looked her over, it was obvious that she was either a veteran, or someone with a lot of money.
The outfit she wore was easily recognizable as a complete set from the silver clasps and buttons that bore the same snowflake symbol. A full set of matched armor was not that rare in and of itself, but the level of enchantment on the armor was not commonly seen. Then there was the wand that rested casually in her hand. Though Mina was pointing the wand at the ground, the halfling could feel the wave of cold mana radiating from the large gem on its tip.
Finally, there was the casual way that she was standing. Despite the aggressive stance of the large thugs he had brought along, Mina was completely relaxed, as if the four men who were nearly twice her height could not threaten her in the least. Gereon took in all of this information in a few seconds as he ran an experienced eye over her, causing him to stop his men from advancing.
It never paid to try and threaten people he knew nothing about, as invariably they would turn out to be powerful. Cursing the annoying immortality of travelers in his mind, the halfling put a wide smile on his face and pretended that Mina’s actions did not annoy him in the slightest.
“When you bring your construct to the arena tomorrow you’ll be able to enter at least a couple matches. People always drop out or fail to show up, so you can sub in. I look forward to getting to see your fighter in action tomorrow.”
“Thanks, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.” After reading the card, Baxby tucked it into his coat pocket and turned to talk in a low voice to Velin. When Gereon did not immediately leave, Mina waved at him.
“It was nice to meet you, we’ll maybe see you tomorrow?”
Realizing with a start that he was being shooed off, the merchant was slightly stunned, but he still had the presence of mind to dip his head in a short bow.
“Ah, of course. It is my pleasure. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.”
“Mmhmm.” Turning around, Mina walked back to Velin and Baxby, leaving the now frowning halfling staring at their group. She had barely taken two steps when she spun around again to face him, saying brightly, “Is there something we can help you with, Mr. Merchant?”
“Ah, no, well, yes. I was hoping to go and see my war constructs in the barn but I did not want to simply push my way through.” The frown on Gereon’s face vanished as if it never existed, a broad smile taking its place. “Do you mind if we just slip by? We need to move them to the arena for the matches today.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. We are blocking the doorway. How silly of us.” Chuckling as if she was embarrassed, Mina turned back to Velin and Baxby and said something in a low voice. After hesitating for a second, Velin’s robed figure disappeared back into the barn and Mina gestured for the merchant and his men to come in as she held the door open.
Inside the barn, the sweet smell of hay mixed with the tang of oil and metal, the soft chomping of the horses tapping out a peaceful rhythm. Thorn stood to the side, holding himself as still as possible. The [Living Statue] curse made standing without moving a breeze, and for a moment even Velin thought that he looked like a construct.
There was no doubt in her mind that the halfling was making an excuse to come into the barn to check out Thorn. Thankfully, the Dwarven armor that Thorn wore was incredibly similar to the bronzed body of the humanoid war construct with the sword and shield a few stalls over. Velin was confident that if the small merchant was not allowed to get too close, he would not be able to spot any discrepancies. Signaling to Mina and Baxby that they needed to keep everyone away, Velin stood by Thorn’s side and pretended to be checking his hands.
“Oh, wow! What an impressive war construct!”
Sure enough, Gereon’s high pitched voice rang out as soon as he spotted Thorn’s huge figure. With a gasp of admiration, he started to step forward, only to find himself blocked by Baxby’s apologetic figure.
“Sorry, sir. We’d prefer if you didn’t get too close. Sensitive equipment and all of that sort of thing. I’m sure you know how it is.”
“Hey, what do you mean getting in our boss’ way, old man?” Finally joining the conversation, one of the thugs who had entered the barn behind Gereon sneered at Baxby, cracking his knuckles again.
As his words spilled from his mouth, the temperature in the barn instantly plummeted. The change was so abrupt that the thug thought at first that he had imagined it, until he saw the frost creeping across the floor behind him. Glancing backward, his eyes went wide as they fixed on the slowly rotating ice spikes that had formed in the air behind him.
“Whoa, whoa! Hold on.” The Halfling merchant waved his hands as he tried to defuse the situation. “Sorry, please excuse him, he did not mean it that way. Haha, lets all calm down.”
Still smiling, Mina slowly lowered her wand, allowing the ice spikes floating in the air to melt into nothing. The threatening cold did not recede, however, leaving the thugs shivering nervously. Standing by the door, she showed no signs of addressing the thugs. Instead, it was Baxby who stepped in to defuse the situation.
“Oh, we’re as much at fault. Just a bit on edge, you know? Can’t be too careful with a beauty like this.” Jerking a thumb over his shoulder, he gestured to Thorn. “Greymane here is a fairly sensitive piece of equipment so we like to keep people away.”
“Greymane? Is that what you call your war construct? Interesting. That name sounds familiar.” Gereon rubbed his chin as he thought about it. He knew he had heard that name somewhere recently, but he could not remember where. “Quite an impressive war construct. I’m looking forward to seeing it in action tomorrow.”
“Haha, I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”
“Well, it was nice to meet all of you. I apologize, but we have to get going.” With a nod to Baxby, Gereon directed his men to bring the two other war constructs with them and left the barn, tipping his hat to Mina as he went. Once the two war constructs had clumped their way out into the yard, Mina shut the door.
“Well, that was way more stressful than I thought it would be. Remind me again why we are pretending that Thorn is a war construct?” Mina plopped herself down on a bale of hay near the stall where Thorn was standing as she asked Baxby.
“Insurance. I have a feeling that if we want to make it out of this city, we’re going to need some, uh, extra force. Thorn is that extra force.”
“Sure, but if that is the case why did we come into the city in the first place?”
“We needed information, and we still do. Something really weird is going on. Plus, the Elves have gone into hiding. If we want to find them we need to know more, and the only way to learn more is by coming into the city. What we need to do now is figure out where we can get the information without it being completely obvious that we are looking for the Elves.”
*Fight* Holding up his fists, Thorn crossed them over each other, repeating the act
ion twice before sharing the quest notification he had received.
“You want to fight in the arena?”
Nodding, Thorn pointed to Baxby and held up his pointer fingers near his mouth, sliding his hands back and forth away from his body. Placing his hand flat in the air, his fingers at a slight downward angle, he patted the air. Tapping himself on the chest, he repeated the word for fight.
*You talk short. I fight.*
“Huh, I guess that could work. If we can figure out a way to sit with the shorty while you are in your matches, we could pump him for info about the state of the island. I mean, what better person to get information from than a merchant? Especially one that deals in black market deals and questionable sports?”
“True. And we can earn some money while we’re at it.” Mina lit up, jumping to her feet. “Oooh, I wonder if they do tag team events! I want to fight in the arena as well! Thorn, me and you can fight together and win all the prizes. I wonder if they allow betting?”