Arbiter (Underdog Book #7) Read online

  I felt no temptation to be done with my nulled level for good. Why give up always receiving the maximum reward for every victory? I had lots left to do and finishing it all would take a huge number of tablets and esses.

  At present, all silvers were going into leveling stats and spells for my new pets. By the end of the week, Coal and Sparky had hit level forty. They each got one new spell. Thunderstorm for Sparky and Fire Wave for Coal. The descriptions of the spells made an impression. I could only imagine what they would look like in person. The whipsnakes themselves then had probably changed and grown visually as well.

  I was in no rush to summon them yet, though. First of all, there was no room for them and, second, I didn’t see a good reason. We’d get acquainted at the end of the week.

  Mee ended up getting something from the tablets and esses, too. We brought up his level to twenty and improved his stats and skills.

  The system told us that his Dome of Invisibility and Wave of Healing had hit their level cap at six. Beyond that, Mee got another two new combat abilities. Sword Wielding and Archer. In connection with that, we ordered him some weapons and equipment from undermountan craftsmen.

  We didn’t forget about the gremlin’s potion brewing, either. He managed to get two recipes for level one in the skill. Now, in theory, Mee could brew two kinds of poison. I rubbed my hands together mentally. Now someone would be able to take on rebuilding the laboratory we found in Foreston next to the armory.

  I was planning to induct Mee as a magister as well. To do that, he would have to do some running around in the woods by the dark portal hunting for dark creatures. The foxmaiden sisters could take care of leveling him while I went underground to get the crystals.

  While I was traveling in Taria, many changes had taken place in Foreston. Twenty new sequoias had put down roots inside the city. They were necessary to house a few foxfolk clans that came down from the north of the Dark Continent to join us. Murk’s countrymen were fleeing yet another invasion. The necromancers’ flying beasts had reached the Icy Passes.

  And with the arrival of the northern clans, the political situation in Foreston had changed sharply. The heads of the local houses had to work quickly to settle the issues. It didn’t take long to deliberate, though. By the middle of the week, Foreston had been completely transformed into a Monster Hunter city. To avoid dishonoring the house heads, or the leaders of the newly arrived clans, I had to give them all the title of magister. And so, now, the Order had a council of magisters.

  I was not afraid of placing power into the hands of the quarrelsome old foxmen. When they became Monster Hunters, they put themselves under my total authority. Basically, the council didn’t make any decisions. The last word always laid with me. I simply gave the leaders, who were accustomed to holding power, a chance to voice their opinions on the issues of the day.

  Right now, our biggest problem is the war creeping ever closer to the city.

  The attacking necromancer spawn had transformed the forest around the city into one solid refugee tent camp. And it was no longer just halflings. Other denizens of the Dark Continent were now also coming including ogres, trolls, elves, dryads, orcs, goblins. And though forest dwellers often moved on, called further by the Heart of the Forest, steppe dwellers generally stayed in the area around Foreston.

  They weren’t all acting the same way, either. Loners tried to blend in, and small clans and tribes tried to flex their muscle at first. But Murk didn’t give them much chance to explain if they overstepped their bounds. They were told harshly whose land they were on and whose laws they had to obey. Don’t like it? Go back to the steppe. Oh, don’t want to? Then expect hard pushback.

  We realized the situation could spin out of control very soon. Now all the refugees were frightened and bled dry. But with time, when they came to their senses, it would turn into a free-for-all war. Our forest was gradually turning into a camp packed full of different races and tribes that had been at each other’s throats right up until the flying monsters appeared.

  The halflings were the easiest to handle. Especially after old friends showed up at Foreston’s gates. Yes, the halflings Gorgie and I rescued from captivity by the draks finally made it in the end.

  Elun, who had taken charge of the uprising in the snake den, and who was subsequently wounded by a poisontooth, had survived despite his uncommon injury. I was sincerely glad to see him. He by the way was equally happy to see me.

  After Elun and his brothers got seated at a table in my office and started greedily supping down the lunch provided, I learned that they had written me off for dead and their entire tribe had heard about my historic self-sacrifice.

  To say that Foreston struck them would be an understatement. Foxfolk were always these semi-mythical creatures to them. But when they found out who called the shots around here, they were speechless.

  Then came their tale of woe. They had wandered the steppe looking for a suitable location for a new settlement for some time but, as soon as they found one, flying monsters appeared in the sky. After somehow repulsing the mystery beasts, the poor saps had to get back on the road. They had heard very recently that the legendary foxfolk were offering sanctuary and, naturally, they did not believe it until they saw it with their own eyes.

  After our lunchtime chat, I ordered Elun’s tribe to be allowed to enter Foreston and to be assigned one sequoia. By doing that, I both helped my friends and showed the other halflings still outside the city walls that friendship with me paid off.

  The response was immediate. By day two, there was a delegation at the gates consisting of a dozen elders from several halfling clans.

  We met the emissaries in the council hall where all magisters other than Brown were present. He was still in our castle on the other side of the Dead Ocean.

  After a brief introduction, without much ado, the heads of the halfling houses asked what would be required for them to live inside the city walls.

  We had a few terms. An oath of loyalty to the Order and its Supreme Magister, i.e., me. Extensive contributions to the city both military and otherwise and, finally, strict adherence to our internal laws.

  Surprisingly, the halflings didn’t put up their hackles. They accepted all the terms without even discussing. They must have been expecting approximately that. When the agreement had been sealed with an oath, a few of the elders even breathed sighs of relief. They were seemingly willing to accept even less favorable conditions. I wasn’t going to abuse my position, which I had told all my magisters in advance. We needed friends and allies, not slaves. A paradox. That was exactly what the Steel King had once called me. I’m reminded that, at that time, I thought the ruler of Fradia was not such a bad guy... Ahem, if only I knew who the Goddess Fortuna had really brought into my path...

  Beyond the halflings, it was quite simple to reach an arrangement with the trolls.

  First of all, there weren’t many of them. Just six families. And second, their mistrust and suspicion disappeared without a trace as soon as I showed them the amulet I got from the troll shaman.

  They didn’t want to live in the city. And no wonder. A troll’s home is in the forest. Like all forest dwellers, they were here because of the Heart’s Call, but decided they wanted to take a look around before heading deeper into the woods.

  After I told them the true state of affairs in the newly rooted Great Forest, they lit up, packed up their belongings and got underway to the other side of Narrow Lake the same day. Just in case they ran into problems with the keeper, I advised them to say that they were my friends.

  The orcs, goblins and ogres had yet to reach out. But that was all just a matter of time. Before I left, I gave Murk clear instructions for what to do if the refugee situation spun out of control. Thankfully, the albino already knew what to do, so I left Foreston feeling at ease. I was slightly worried about Mee, even wanted to leave Gorgie with him, but Murk promised me he’d look after the gremlin. On top of that, I would need the harn’s support mysel
f. And there was no talk of me taking anyone else along. I was not planning on risking the lives of my friends. Based on Gallia’s tales, the boundary of the Abyss was one of the most dangerous places in our world.

  “READY?” I ASKED IN a somewhat nervous voice.

  “Hrn,” Gorgie responded and fell to the ground with his head tilting to the right.

  We were in the mountains not far from our castle. Not a soul around. A good place for a first encounter. There was no reason to keep this waiting any longer. Logically, I understood that these two snakes were also my pets just the same as Gorgie. And that they, as the line opposite their names said, were absolutely loyal to me. But the memories of the giant sphere they were born from and grew up to unbelievable size in were still dancing before my eyes. Though I was afraid with my current figures, I couldn’t even imagine how I’d be feeling without all that Will.

  Not doubting myself another second, I activated the summoning amulets. And a few moments later, two huge snakes appeared ten paces away from us in midair.

  When I saw how big they were, I gulped only to find my throat completely dry. They had only really gone up ten levels, but they looked twice as big. Queen of the Draks eat your heart out... Next to these giants, she would have seemed like a pale little grass snake.

  Like Gorgie after the first time I activated his summoning amulet, the snakes seemed somewhat disoriented.

  Turning their huge heads all around, they stared nervously into the distance while hissing menacingly. The sound made all my body hair stand on end. I thought I was the only one to get so spooked, but I glanced at Gorgie and realized it had gotten to him as well.

  Coal’s black and gold body quickly heated up. The sheer amount of steam coming off the ground was staggering. A bit more and his scales would turn white hot.

  Sparky curled up into a tight little ball, looking like a glowing hedgehog. But instead of spines, her skin flickered with hundreds of forking bolts of lightning.

  Time to get started.

  Raising my right hand up while trying to make my voice sound steady, I said:

  “Alright, kiddos! Settle down. We’re all friends here. See, it’s just me. And Gorgie. We’re family. Nobody is gonna hurt you!”

  After saying the last part, I chuckled to myself. To think... Us hurting them. They’d have nothing to worry about from just about anyone.

  The whipsnakes simultaneously turned their heads in my direction, making them look like two curious geese.

  As soon as the meaning of my words hit them, their bodies went back to how they looked before. That made me breathe a sigh of relief.

  Coal stopped melting the stone around him while Sparky relaxed the tight coils of her body. A second later, they both came our way.

  My throat went dry again. Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at Gorgie but, much to my surprise, the harn was not showing any signs of unease. In fact, it was more the opposite. He was deeply intrigued. And totally unbothered by the fact that he looked like a little kitten compared to the two monsters.

  Looking on with dignity as my new pets approached and formed a powerful ring with their bodies, I fearlessly placed my face beneath their big, huge, warm, split tongues. Gorgie and I were carefully sniffed all over. And a few minutes later, we were rewarded with a loud hiss that just about made me go deaf. That was my little snakes expressing their happiness to meet me.

  Gorgie matched their pace. He jumped fearlessly onto Sparky’s back and started sniffing her red scales. I meanwhile gave Coal a delicate pat on the black nose.

  Watching my three pets peacefully getting to know one another, I gradually settled down. I wonder how the others will react to my new little beasties.

  I didn’t notice it right away, but there was a system notification floating before my eyes.

  — Attention! The Higher Powers have taken note of your accomplishment! You are the first person in many centuries to domesticate and summon three pets at the same time!

  — Congratulations! You receive:

  — Experience essence (700,000).

  — Diamond tablet (50).

  — Iridescent tablet “Cohesion with Pet II.”

  Really? After rereading the notification with surprise, I opened the description of the Iridescent. It said that, after using the tablet, my passive Cohesion with Pet magic ability would change. Essentially, it would gain another effect. And specifically: from now on, every victory by any of my pets would now be giving me rewards, too. In full measure. As if I myself had just defeated the same opponent. That meant I no longer had to deal any damage to my pets’ opponents. I would get a reward no matter what.

  While activating the tablet, I tossed ten points into Mind. Now that was up to sixty-nine. Rereading the new effect’s description, I gave a satisfied smile. Good thing I decided to activate the growth spheres after my trip to the border of the Abyss. The four of us will probably reap a rich harvest of tablets there!

  “SO, YOU’VE MADE UP your mind,” Lu-Moa said both inquisitively and affirmatively.

  I summoned the mother of the Stoneheart brood the day after I met my whipsnakes. The amulet she had given me worked its magic. Before the hour was up, the familiar hunchbacked figure was at the castle walls.

  Stepping out of the gates, I greeted the old blind woman and declared my intention to go find the body of the guardian of the Lord of the Deep.

  “I see,” she answered. “You need lots of crystals fast. Methinks, you want to bring to life an army of golems.”

  “You know about it?”

  “Who hasn’t heard of the Bronze Legion?” the blind old woman snorted. I could hear pain and anger in her voice. In their time, the kobolds must have taken quite a bit of damage from the deadly gnomish machines.

  “And what if I don’t want to help you bring that army to life?” the matriarch tilted her head to the side.

  “You do remember the oath, right?” I asked.

  “Lu-Moa forgets nothing!” the old woman barked back.

  The prospect of bringing the golems back to life must not have filled her with joy.

  “By breaking a blood oath, you will be inviting ruin into the lives of yourself and your children,” I reminded her.

  “I said what I said!” the matriarch hissed through her teeth. “I forget nothing!”

  “Then what’s the point of this conversation?” I shrugged my shoulders.

  The old woman breathed a loud sigh and lowered her shoulders fatefully.

  “You can’t even imagine how much trouble those machines have caused us...”

  “As far as I know, the kobolds did their fair share of damage, too,” I said.

  I had taken some time to study the two races’ ancient conflict.

  “You’re probably right...” the matriarch said thoughtfully.

  “For my part, I can assure you that, while you are on Order of Monster Hunter territory, you will not be under threat,” I had to somewhat soften the tone of the conversation. “Without the legion, we will not be able to defeat our foes,” I added. “We’re up against the whole world. As a matter of fact, if not for Darkness and the necromancers, I would not be taking part in the conflict. But in the Labyrinth of Fright, I saw what those bastards are capable of.”

  The old woman was listening carefully, as if combing my words for deceit. After a bit of silence, she said mutedly:

  “Alright... A deal’s a deal... Are you going alone or taking a group? Actually, you don’t have to answer. With beasties like that, you don’t need a group. Yes, yes. Don’t act surprised... he-he... It would be hard not to smell your little snakes. Are you ready?”

  “Yes,” I responded firmly, then turned and waved goodbye to Brown who was standing up on the wall and watching us closely.

  “Then follow me,” the old woman said and made a barely perceptible hand motion.

  At that very moment, a portal arch appeared before us.

  Chapter 3

  AFTER FOLLOWING THE OLD WOMAN through the porta
l arch, I found myself in a huge underground room.

  I looked around in a daze. Oh gods! Did someone really have to go through all the trouble of building this? Gigantic carved columns, their tops reaching somewhere up beneath the stone ceiling of the cave struck me with their monumentality. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was not a room at all. In fact, it was a never-ending corridor with stone columns lining its walls like trees.

  “Well, how d’you like it?” the old woman chuckled. “Make an impression?”

  “Yep,” I didn’t lie.

  “The ancient Palace of Ten Thousand Columns,” the matriarch said with esteem in her voice. “It was built by the primordials. Now it serves as a nursery for unclean beasts of every stripe.”

  After she said that, she spat on the ground in disgust.

  “I don’t get it,” I responded with surprise. “I thought we were going to the border of the Abyss.”

  “Go down three floors and you’ll find your border,” she answered cantankerously.

  “I just don’t get it...” I shook my head. “Is the border here in the palace?”

  “That’s right,” the old woman nodded. “Right where an ancient fool once opened the original dark portal. No one remembers his name any longer. But everyone in our world knows of the Abyss.”

  “One second, did you say this place is full of dark beasts?”

  “Yes,” she nodded. “The descendants of those who managed to make it across the Boundary and be reborn before the Keeper of the Deep sealed the portal. Then he left a few guardians behind, but our people got mired in war and forgot about the defenders. And meanwhile, the keeper ordered us to take care of the ancient golems. But then, with time, they stopped working.”

  “And the beasts multiplied...” I finished her thought. “There’s just one thing I can’t figure. Why are all these monsters still here? Why haven’t they come up to the surface?”