My arrival at the Monarch’s hall was prompt. No washing this time, and the barest attempt at healing my back. They opted for bandages and sterilizing alcohol after the worst of the wound was healed.
To my surprise, no one looked particularly unhappy.
The Able spoke first, “Please tell us why you didn’t kill the Unalaran, Earl?”
“’Cos I’d won, Able. Why would I kill him?”
He frowned and cleared his throat. “Because of your entire history in fighting here so far. Why else?”
“You got your mind mage to calm me, didn’t you?” I knew fine well that she hadn’t.
“No, Earl. She’d not yet begun her work.”
“Then maybe it worked like a prophylactic or something. Is that the word? You know, when they give you a tablet for your headache and the headache goes away, even though the tablet was just a bit sugar.”
“A placebo effect?” the Able answered.
I waved a finger at him. “Yeah, that could be it. So what’s a prophylactic?”
“It was none of those things. You showed mercy to the Unalaran.” The words were clipped and sharp, and came from one of the golden armored men. He wasn’t as tall as the arena guards, but taller than everyone else in the room and with an extra air of danger about him.
“You people need to make up your mind about what you want.”
The speaker removed his helmet so that I could finally see his face. It was very human, though the features weren’t quite right, and his skin had a glistening golden sheen to it.
“I have been told that you never show mercy. It is why you were paired with the Unalaran. It would have been convenient for him to die this day.”
I had the feeling I was being played with, and I didn’t like it. I checked his Identifier and that of his golden armored shadow.
Name: Ardel Loran
Title: Warden of House Besas
Level: 47
Class: Warrior/Mage
Name: Issa Milra
Title: Augur of House Besas
Level: 34
Class: Mage
Ardel had the highest level I’d seen so far. Probably a real handful, but I had an overwhelming urge to have a go at him. “Convenient my arse. I take it you’re the Archon scout?”
His face puckered up like an arsehole about to fart. “I am the Warden of House Besas. One of the highest-ranking officers in Prime Besas’ army.”
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Ah. I thought you were here to look at fighters. Sorry. Wrong fella.”
He shuddered with disgust at my probing. To my right, both the Monarch and Able were growing more tense as the conversation went on.
The Warden, however, took a calming breath. “However, today I serve in the capacity of a scout of sorts, running my expert eyes over a selection of interesting combatants that have come to our attention. How did you hear of my presence?”
“Yeah.” I could have thrown Captain Estwin under the bus, but I decided not to. “Oblesi told me you were here. He was hoping to get a sponsorship off you.”
“Interesting. What else did he tell you?”
“That he was going to kill me like the dog I was.”
The Archon smirked at that. “He is a very promising young warrior, but we believe he had an ulterior motive for trying to catch our attention. You see, he had designs on infiltrating a powerful Archon house. We do not know why yet, but we will get to the bottom of his machinations.
“What I want to know from you is what else he told you? Why you commit the Akra with every fight? Why the Siroth want to recruit you? Why, for the first time in your short arena history, you chose to spare a random opponent? And last but not least, if the name Henshaw is common on your planet.”
I sighed. “As a surname? Henshaw’s common enough. The Unalaran told me nothing else. And your Akra means ‘screw you’ on Earth, and doing it got me fans. I hadn’t heard of the Siroth until later, and I’ve got no idea why they want me.”
The Archon rubbed his chin then shook his head. “I do not believe you. You will come with me for further questioning.”
“I think not,” the Monarch snapped. “He is the best pool fighter we’ve had in decades. There are already huge sums of money on the table for his contract.”
“From the Siroth!” the Archon snapped. “Selling to them is treason against the Union.”
“It is not certain that the buyer is part of the Siroth, but the suspicion was enough to prevent us from making the deal as we are upstanding members of the Union. Nonetheless, we stand to make a great sum from the Earther’s sale. We are a business. This is what we do.”
“As for Earl consorting with the enemy of the Union,” the Able interjected, “I can assure you he has neither the will nor the mental capacity to achieve such things. Earl wishes only to fight and grow stronger. His complete lack of respect to everyone he meets is proof for his innocence rather than of his guilt, and from a legal standpoint, our Monarch is quite correct. You have no grounds on which to take him.”
The Archon seemed to run the Able’s words around in his mind for a long awkward moment, then he nodded. “We will have a truth test here, but I will return with one of our Seekers to perform the task. If he is guilty, then no law in the cosmos will save him from being executed. If he is innocent, then we may offer to purchase his contract ourselves. From what I witnessed today, he would be an interesting addition to our training program. Apparently, Earthers are proving to be popular pets this year.”
I felt my hackles rising over how they were talking about me. I opened my mouth to interfere, but the Monarch was faster to respond.
“If the money is right. He is a prized asset.”
“We will discuss money on my next visit. Despite his apparent ability, his level is surprisingly low, and that will be represented in any offer we make. What are his stats exactly?”
“I’m still here, dickhead,”
“Earl, be silent,” the Able snapped. Then he turned back to the Archon. “You must forgive him, Warden Ardel, his stats represent his nature. Toughness is very high, his Mental Acuity is reasonable, and his Harmony is so utterly awful that it’s not worth mentioning.”
The Able looked at me, his expression serious, but I saw a threatening glint in his eye. “What is your Toughness now, Earl?”
He was trying to cover up my lack of Harmony, that much was obvious, but would it matter to a prospective buyer? I suppose it would.
So, even though I had a hankering to set the Able up, it was probably wise to play along until I had time to work out what I wanted out of all of this.
Name: Earl Henshaw
Title: Pool Fighter of the Velkyn Arena
Level: 13
Class: Warrior
Stats:
- Toughness: 24 +5
- Mental Acuity: 16
- Harmony: 0
- Total: 40
Progress in Class:
Warrior, Level 12: 10/120
Level 10 Boon: +5 in durability-based Toughness. Bonus points not reflected in level.
Tradesman, Level 0: 0/10
Mage: 0
Finally, the Paths made sense! There were boons! “It’s 24,” I said, not bothering to add the additional information.
The Archon let out a surprised grunt. “That is a remarkably unbalanced build you’ve developed, Earther. Yet it seems you have learned to use it to your advantage.”
His haughty tone got my back up. “I didn’t need to learn. It’s who I am.”
“Quite so!” He turned back to the Monarch. “I will take my leave, with Oblesi Harak. He will be needed for question.”
“The Unalar is none of my business, Warden Loran. Farewell.”