Ogre Tyrant: Chapter 14 - Height of ambition - Part One {Rewrite}

I just stared at Gric incredulously for a while, trying to reorganise my thoughts. It couldn’t be that easy...

“Lord?” Gric asked worriedly.

With one simple act, I could unlock a Master level Class and be rid of Slaver.

According to Gric, all I had to do...was issue a quest. As the Daemon had explained it, I was apparently just shy of unlocking a Rulership Master Class that was only available to Lords of the Labyrinth. The requirements were not even that difficult, which is why I had already completed so many of them.

Leadership, Delegation and Authority. The three broad categories for unlocking the Rulership Class. Leadership just required a class that emphasised leadership...and apparently, both Taskmaster and Slaver qualify. Similarly, Delegation only required recruiting three or more minions and promoting one of them to Underlord. Clarice, Nadine and Toofy would have counted as being recruited as minions when I became Lord of the Settlement, sort of ‘Grandfathered in’ as it were. Lastly, Delegation was literally just a matter of issuing a quest and having at least ten minions accept that same quest, regardless of whether they intended to complete it or not.

“You’re sure there isn’t any sort of hidden catch?” I demanded sceptically.

“Of-course, Lord,” Gric rumbled, “The-quest-will-drain-EXP. Rulership-Class-will-recover-it.”

I couldn’t help but frown. It was the same as he had described before, but it still worried me a little. The prospect of losing so much hard-earned EXP was actually not particularly distressing, but Gric’s lack of available details on what the Rulership Class was even called, let alone what abilities it's meant to have, was rather upsetting.

Technically, as a Lord of the Settlement, I could now invite up to twenty minions in a secondary Party termed a Retinue. Functionally, it was the same as a Party except the EXP sharing suffered a fifty percent penalty and allowed four times as many members plus myself. Ushu and Gric could also form their own retinues, though only half the size of mine. With the very real capability of power levelling back from level zero, the loss of EXP didn’t really bother me. It was the distinct possibility of Toofy being left unprotected against Enslavement that I was worried about.

The only security I had in reserve was the Slave collar I was currently wearing around my own neck.

Theoretically, the collar should be enough. I had no immediate plans to linger in ‘human’ territory, not after what happened with the adventurer Guild. I was simply too unfamiliar with the politics and social norms of this world and living out here in the swamp didn’t seem quite so bad a prospect as it had only a couple of days ago.

The more I thought about it, the fewer reasons I could think of not to go through with it. Who knows, maybe the Rulership Class will have better protections than Slaver anyway? I mean, it probably won’t, but it was possible.

Making up my mind, I let out a deep sigh. “Issue quest, open to all minions with Class levels from my Settlement. Slay one wild monster. Repeatable. Confirm.”

For a few moments, nothing happened. However, before I had the chance to relax, a pair of black status alerts appeared in my upper periphery.

[Repeatable Quest: Monster Hunt {Active}]

[Conditions have been met to acquire the Rulership Class: {Imperator}. Accept? (Y/N)]

Still waiting for the other shoe to drop, I suspiciously watched the status notification for what felt like at least a minute. A little unnerved that everything had gone so smoothly, I cleared my throat, “Accept.”

[Class advancement: {In Progress}]

[Class advancement: {Interrupted}]

I groaned as the latest notification appeared in front of me, “This seems more like it...”

[Class advancement: {Delayed Pending Review}]

[Class advancement: {Pending}]

“What?...” That notification didn’t mean the Labyrinth itself was getting involved...Right? I felt a cold shiver run down my spine in response. Oh no...

[Class advancement: {Review Completed}]

[Class advancement: {Approved*}]

[Class advancement: {Complete}]

[Class: Ogre Warchief 0. +1 Willpower, +5 MP.] [Exp: 0/25000 ]

Wait a sec...

“That isn't the class I agreed to!” I growled angrily.

Gric shrunk back worriedly but said nothing.

Even though I didn’t know what the difference was between an Imperator and an Ogre Warchief, the all but confirmed meddling of the Labyrinth in what should have been my own decision was infuriating and deeply unsettling. “Status!” I barked hoarsely, wanting to get a handle on this new development as quickly as possible.

[Tim - Ogre Runt: 1 ] [HP: 40/40 ] [MP: 5/0(+5) ]

[Rulership Class: Ogre Warchief 0. +1 Willpower, +5 MP.] [Exp: 0/25000 ]

[Party: Tim’s Party] [Party Members: Tim.]

[Strength: 15*(16*) ]

[Agility: 8 ]

[Toughness: 20* ]

[Intelligence: 10 ]

[Willpower: 15* ]

[Presence: 3* ]

[(Racial Abilities: {Hide/Expand})]

[(Class Ability: Eminence): Monsters slain by your minions within range of a Settlement Totem generate bonus EXP that may be awarded through {Quests}. {Willpower} increases the range of Effect. Stored EXP:(2200)]

[(Class Ability: War Cry {Rank 0}): Issue a bellowing roar to improve the combat capabilities of yourself and your minions by consuming MP. {Strength/Toughness} increases the effect.]

[(Class Ability: Inspiring Presence {Rank 0}): Your very presence bolsters the hearts and minds of your allies giving them resistance to negative Status {Conditions}. {Willpower/Presence} increases the range of effect.]

Taking a seat on the ground, I massaged my head and tried to focus on the positives.

This wasn’t actually all that bad. Eminence almost seemed worth it. A pool of free EXP I could dole out to whoever needed it most. The thought of the good that could come of power levelled healers was enough to earn at least a wry smile on my lips. It wasn’t what I had expected, but I would make sure it did the most possible good. War Cry and Inspiring Presence would probably be very useful too, but they were certainly tied more to the name of the Class itself...

Gric smiled a little uncertainly, or at least in what approximated the expression, “Lord?” He growled somewhat meekly.

“Uh, yes?” I hadn’t expected Gric to have a request of his own.

“May-I-accept-my-Class-upgrade?” Gric asked with nervous excitement.

“Ah, I guess so? What is it?” I asked curiously, unsure how I felt about the Daemon requiring permission to advance their classes.

Gric grinned widely, “Daemon Lord, Lord,” he took special care to carefully pronounce every syllable.

I just stared blankly at Gric for a moment as my brain struggled to catch up with what I knew I just heard, “Did you say Daemon Lord?” I demanded a little faintly.

Gric nodded, “Yes, Lord.”

I gulped hard and felt my mouth turn dry.

Surely the name was just a coincidence, right? There was no way that Gric or indeed the other Daemons were hellbent on global destruction or anything like that, right?!

“Uh, Gric. What Does the Daemon Lord Class do exactly?” I asked warily, desperately holding back a wave of panic.

“It-is-a-leadership-role, Lord. Daemon Lord-inspires-Warband, generates-quests, summons-allies, and-challenges-champions,” Gric explained happily.

So it’s exactly what I thought it was...

Still, it didn’t mean Daemon Lord was an inherently evil Class. Objectively, it sounded very much like my new Class. At least Daemon Lord seemed to be oriented towards inspirational leadership rather than petty tyranny. That was actually something odd I had noticed about the Daemons themselves as well. Beyond the initial misconceptions based on their name and appearance, they were incredibly pleasant to be around. Even more than that, I hadn’t seen any of them commit a single unsolicited violent act.

“Gric?” I asked again to refocus his attention, “What would you do if I was not in charge?”

Gric looked confused for a few moments before seeming to come to grips with the question, “Gather-and-strengthen-Warband, and protect the Settlement Lord,” he replied bluntly.

It was just about what I had expected, but there was a problem with the answer I didn't think Gric was aware of, “Why though?”

Gric remained silent, apparently having no answer to offer.

“Gric, I want you to focus your efforts on supporting the Settlement so it can flourish, but what do you think I mean by that?” I asked pointedly.

Gric shifted nervously, “To-protect-the-Settlement-from-invaders, Lord,” he answered hesitantly.

I nodded slightly, “That’s part of it Gric. Keeping our people safe is important. But you need personal goals and aspirations of your own as well. I appreciate how selfless yourself, Qreet and Dar have been up until this point, but there is more to life than just fighting. Do you understand?”

Gric just looked confused.

I sighed and shook my head, “Gric, Hana told me that part of what a Daemon leader is expected to do is lead by example. You can be so much more than just a soldier. I already asked you to be a teacher. But before that, you took the initiative and taught the Serpent-Kin kids how to fish from the pond. You have the potential to be more than you are now, and if I were to support your choice in the Daemon Lord Class, I would want you to understand what that means.”

Gric seemed to slip into deep thought, hunching his shoulders so his elongated arms rested his thick knuckles on the ground to support his weight. He stood there for close to a half-hour in silence before blinking suddenly and turning his attention back to me again. “Lord?” Gric rumbled assertively.

“Yes?” I had more than a little bit of time to think on things myself and realised I probably could have handled it better. Breaking even at this point would be a win in my book, just so long as the Daemons didn’t decide to set themselves up as tyrants.

“I-want...to-lead,” Gric growled, “Protect-so-Settlement-can-grow-strong. Protect-Settlement’s-future, Gric’s-future.” The conflicting emotions on his face made it clear that the minor distinction was difficult for Gric and very likely ran contrary to the Labyrinth’s prime directives or programming.

Encouraging the Daemon to be selfish may seem like a stupid idea, because it was, but I really couldn’t handle the near mindless level of obedience they held towards higher authority. This was for one singular reason, the Labyrinth was almost certainly a higher authority to the Daemons than I was.

What was stopping it from sending a mass communication to suddenly start murdering people order sixty-six style?

Hopefully, this would at least give the Daemons a choice, or give their victims a head start.

“If you want to be a Daemon Lord Gric, you have my blessing, but not my permission.” I patted Gric on the shoulder and began heading off towards Clarice’s training grounds. She was very likely quite annoyed by the loss of her buffs, so I figured that I might as well handle the inevitable fallout sooner rather than later.

As I expected, Clarice did not look happy.

“The hell did you do?!” Clarice demanded, giving me a rough shove.

“I unlocked a Rulership Class and decided to advance it,” I explained bluntly.

Still noticeably ticked off, Clarice sighed and shook her head, “You think maybe you could have provided a little warning?” She demanded, “I was in the middle of a sparring session and thought one of my students was holding out on me!” Clarice gingerly rubbed her left shoulder.

“CLARICE!!!” Nadine was storming over from the direction of the barrows and looked pissed.

Unsurprisingly, Clarice stood her ground.

“THE HELL DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING BREAKING HIS ARM?!!” Nadine shrieked in Clarice’s face.

Clarice nodded her head at me, “It’s Tim’s fault!” She insisted dourly.

“What?!” Nadine dismissed the excuse out of hand, “Right, so Tim ‘ordered’ you to break that guy's arm in two different places?!” She demanded sarcastically.

Clarice rankled under the verbal tirade but still didn’t back down, “No. Tim changed Classes without telling anyone, so I thought Hresh was stronger than he actually was!” She replied firmly.

“What?!...” Nadine had lost her momentum and was foundering, “You changed Classes?” She asked, appearing more than a little surprised.

I nodded, “I did,” I replied, trying my best to not look guilty. In hindsight, I probably should have anticipated something like this. Clarice was more than a little out of control when it came to those synergy buffs.

“Oh...” Nadine pretty much immediately deflated.

“Yeah...” I agreed awkwardly.

“You still need to be more careful!” Nadine hissed angrily at Clarice, “You don't just break someone’s arm like that ‘by accident!’”

Clarice exaggeratedly threw her hands up in the air, “I thought he was way stronger!” She countered irritably, “You have no idea how much I have been holding back!” Clarice jabbed Nadine in the chest with her finger.

Nadine Flinched and was pushed back a step.

“Enough!” I demanded, relieved that the Slavery Bond was now gone and I didn’t have to worry about accidentally frying anyone’s brain.

Nadine and Clarice stiffened briefly and suddenly looked at me in confusion.

“The hell was that?” Clarice demanded.

“Inspiring Presence?” Nadine commented, squinting slightly, “A new buff?” She looked over at me with a curious and expectant expression.

I sighed and nodded, “Yes, it’s one of my new Class Abilities,” I explained, “It’s meant to remove negative Status Conditions, but I thought it was a passive effect since it doesn't cost any MP...”

Nadine looked surprised, “Really? Did you get any other Abilities?”

I nodded and quickly explained the changes.

Clarice was laughing like a madman, “You know, I thought I had imagined the quest alert before!” She shook her head and grinned, “But this is way better than those synergies!” The deep manic hunger in Clarice’s eyes was unsettling.

Nadine was only slightly more reserved, practically twitching in excitement.

“Oi, so when are you going to give us some power levelling quests?!” Clarice demanded eagerly.

Nadine nodded in agreement.

“I’m not sure. The Quests don’t really work that way,” I tried to explain before either of them had the chance to interrupt, “I could use it to accelerate levelling, but not replace it outright. The quests have rules and automatically calculate what a suitable reward would be based on the difficulty. So I can’t just set a quest to kill one monster and have you gain a bunch of levels.”

Clarice deflated a little, “Damnit! Stupid Labyrinth!” She cursed.

Nadine looked more thoughtful, “So more enemies would mean a larger payout? And the same with more powerful enemies?” She asked with a strange glint in her eyes.

I frowned a little but nodded, “Difficulty determines the maximum reward, I agreed a little hesitantly.

“And that retinue thing you told us about, you can have twenty people in it plus your own party?” Nadine asked with a growing smile.

“Yes...” I agreed hesitantly, unsure I liked where this was going.

Clarice suddenly perked up, “Hey! What if we had a big brawl, the last one left standing earns the EXP?” She suggested eagerly while cracking her knuckles in anticipation.

Nadine nodded encouragingly, “Make a quest for the fighters, award them EXP for every opponent they manage to defeat and give the Surgeons a quest for healing injuries!”

I just stared blankly at the pair of them for a short while before massaging my temples. “We can’t have a battle royale tournament...” I groaned exasperatedly, “We don’t have the resources or the time to spend on this sort of thing right now. Besides, everyone is pretty much level one anyway so they wouldn’t get very much EXP even if they won.”

Nadine frowned slightly, “Right, I forgot about that. Hrm...”

Clarice looked disappointed and turned to Nadine as if she was her only hope.

“What about a hunting competition?” Nadine suggested, “It would give Clarice’s students a chance to earn some EXP while also bringing in more food and manastones. Injuries are pretty much inevitable and at least this way we get supplies out of it.”

“That...Is actually not a bad idea,” I agreed hesitantly. “We could start doling out manastones for everyone in the Settlement. The increased MP would make more leeway for the healers too.”

Clarice was rubbing her hands together so hard and fast that I wouldn’t be surprised if they caught fire, “YESSS!”

“Well, I should probably get ready to teach the surgeons,” I stated a little awkwardly, “If you really want to go through with this, you should probably speak with Ushu and Gric so they can coordinate it. They both have the Retinue function as well and you will want even the unclassed Serpent-Kin for support.”

Nadine and Clarice both nodded eagerly and ran off to find their unwitting prey.

Shaking my head, I sighed and headed off towards the garlic field. Just about all of the Serpent-Kin were now fully recovered, so I wanted to try and establish a more permanent treatment facility, and I would need the help of Hana and her apprentices to accomplish that.

As I had expected, Hana and her apprentices were hard at work in the garlic field. Well...the apprentices were working hard while Hana did her best to help them improve. Having seen me coming, Hana smiled a little awkwardly and waved.

I smiled and waved back. I felt just as awkward but kept my nerve by focusing on the reason for my visit. “Hi Hana, do you have a minute to talk? I wanted to expand one of the barrows and wanted your help.”

Hana brightened a little at that, “Okay, sure. What did you have in mind?” She waved dismissively to her apprentices and they took that as their cue to take a break.

“Basically, I want to make a hospital, a dedicated building for the sick and wounded to receive treatment and recover,” I explained.

Hana seemed unfamiliar with the word hospital but perked up as she heard the description, “Alright,” she agreed thoughtfully, “Did you just want the barrow made bigger or did you have something else in mind?” Hana asked curiously.

That was the question, wasn’t it? The barrows were actually pretty good so far as shelters go, but the lighting was a little lacking and airflow was a bit of a problem sometimes. “Would you be able to grow something similar if I could draw up a rough plan for it?” I asked, “The barrows are mostly fine, but there are some changes I would need to be made in order to make the hospital more effective.

Hana looked intrigued, “Sure,” she agreed happily.

“I’ll try to have something workable by sometime after midday then,” I agreed, “Thanks Hana,” I turned to leave and was surprised by Hana suddenly grabbing my hand.

“Wait!” Hana quickly let go of my hand and cleared her throat awkwardly, “I...um, nothing...” She hurried over to where her apprentices were relaxing and began animatedly directing them back to the field.

Feeling plenty awkward myself, I brusquely cleared my throat and headed off towards the barrow.

Around fifteen Serpent-Kin were engaged in light-hearted conversation when I arrived, all of them proudly bearing the twin scars on their chests as if they were badges of honour. Which I suppose was probably quite appropriate given the circumstances.

Organising the more ‘senior’ students to go through some of the more advanced subjects. I spent the next couple of hours sketching the rough outline of what I wanted onto one of my last pieces of paper. It actually gave me an idea related to teaching.

So long as Hana was willing, she could probably make some large relatively flat surfaces to write and draw on with charcoal. It would be a decent approximation of a blackboard and could really help when teaching larger groups. That also reminded me that I hadn’t asked Hana to help out with the clothing shortage either. Hopefully her apprentices would make decent progress and be able to help share the load sometime soon.

Hana arrived a short time after midday. “You know, Nadine was right,” she took the piece of paper with my sketched designs and held it up to the light to take a better look.

I shrugged, my skills were pretty mediocre at best. Sketching covered a lot of the inherent flaws in my technique.

“Soooo, you mostly want it to be bigger?” Hana asked with a small smile.

“Well, mostly yeah,” I smirked a little bitterly. She was functionally correct. Most of my requested changes were to increase the size of the building.

Watching Hana work, I should have just assumed she would have no problem adding windows, sheltered skylights and even indoor plumbing. All I had to do was generally explain what it was that I wanted and Hana seemed to be able to figure out everything else on her own.

“I don’t suppose you would be able to weave some curtains?” I asked hopefully.

Partway through reconstructing the ceiling, Hana gave me a curious look, “I don’t know what that is,” she commented dryly before giving a small smirk and returning to her work on the ceiling.

“It’s...” I drew a mental blank for a moment as I tried to think of how to explain it, “Curtains are like cloth doors for the windows-”

“I don’t know what that is either!” Hana chuckled.

“...” I don’t know why I had assumed she would, “Wait, a window or a door?”

“Both,” Hana replied lightheartedly.

We spent the next couple of hours just chatting back and forth about mundane things I had honestly been taking for granted as common knowledge. I guess it was all relative really.

“Do you think you could draw something for me?” Hana asked a little nervously.

“I could try,” I agreed, more than happy to give Hana something in return for her help with the hospital building, “What do you want me to draw?”

“I’ll tell you later,” Hana smiled gratefully and got back to work, but there was a hint of sadness in her eyes now that hadn’t been there earlier.

Before I had the chance to ask if everything was alright, Clarice and Nadine charged through the door like a wrecking crew.

“Everythings arranged!” Nadine cried triumphantly, “We think we even figured out a way to get more of a benefit!”

“Yeah!” Clarice agreed ecstatically.

“We just have to make it a team competition,” Nadine declared smugly, “Technically your competition would be every other group, making the challenge higher, resulting in more EXP!”

“So?!” Clarice pressed, “That will work right?!”

Thinking about it carefully, I had to grudgingly agree that they were onto something.

Was I the weird one for not being excited about this plan?

“It should work,” I agreed with a sigh.

“YES!” Clarice pumped her fists, “My team is gonna win this easy!”

“What’s going on?” Hana asked, understandably confused.

“They are trying to power level using my new Class Ability,” I explained, shaking my head a little in exasperation.

“Oh...” Hana was quiet for a moment and then suddenly grew quite determined, “I’m going to compete too!” She insisted adamantly.

I should have seen that coming. Of course, Hana would be on board with power levelling...

“You can join my team!” Clarice insisted, “Tobi didn’t really want to join anyway.”

“Right!” Hana agreed seriously, shaping a spear from the wall t and taking hold of it with grim determination.

“Please tell me you haven't got Toofy involved in this,” I insisted.

Clarice and Nadine shared a brief but unmistakably guilty look with one another.

I frowned disapprovingly.

“Hey! It’s not like she is on our team!” Clarice whined defensively, “Filthy ingrate went and made her own team!”

That was only marginally better and actually made me even more worried than before. “Who is on Toofy’s team?” I asked while trying my best to remain calm.

“Just that boy Asra,” Nadine interjected, glaring balefully at Clarice, “I don’t think they are seriously considering joining in since it is just the two of them. Well, last I checked anyway.”

“Where is Toofy now?” I demanded while heading for the door.

“I think she is by the cooking fire with Ril!” Nadine called out after me but made no signs of following.

With a snort, I hustled over to the cooking fires to look for Toofy. I was REALLY uncomfortable with the idea of just her and Asra running around the swamp on their own. The giant toads were easily big enough to swallow her whole!

“Urk!” Asra had seen me coming and choked on what he had been eating.

“Tim!” Toofy jumped up excitedly and ran over to greet me, Ril trailing along on Toofy’s heels and wearing her spare tunic as a dress..

It was hard to stay mad at her when she was so happy to see me, “Hi Toofy,” I graciously accepted the skewer of roasted meat and was about to say something else when Toofy interrupted me.

“Hem!” Toofy Cleared her throat loudly and looked pointedly at Ril who was also holding up a skewer.

“Ah, thanks...Ril, “ I accepted the skewer and chose to ignore the fact that it only had a half-chewed piece of meat left on it.

“Good baby!” Toofy patted Ril’s head affectionately and then gave me a surreptitious glance.

Ril leaned into the petting and grinned happily.

Snorting a little in amusement, I transferred one of the skewers to my other hand and gave Toofy’s hair a light tousle. She was making an effort to socialise Ril, and that at the very least should be encouraged. Toofy had been doing a good job so far by the looks of it.

Ril looked about as healthy as I could tell without being invasive about it. She seemed to be growing roughly at the same rate as Gric had, but showed no signs of altering her form thus far. In a weird sort of way, she really did look like a younger version of Toofy, assuming you ignored the albinism and horns.

Noticing me staring, Ril stared back at me and smiled wide, revealing her mouthful of knife-like teeth, “Ril...Good!” She exclaimed, struggling a little as if trying to find the right words but smiled even wider when she finished.

I nodded and knelt down to bring us closer to eye level, “Then you deserve a reward,” I offered Ril the skewer Toofy had given me earlier.

“Heek!” Ril hopped excitedly and snatched the skewer, ripping and tearing into the roasted meat.

Toofy was still smiling but now jealously eyeing the remaining skewer from the corner of her eye.

“You can have this one, Toofy,” I handed her the remaining skewer.

Toofy grinned and graciously accepted the skewer before pulling off the final piece of meat and throwing it in her mouth.

Looking over at Asra, who had been attempting to very slowly back away, I fixed him with a determined stare and motioned for him to come to join us.

Asra gulped hard and timidly made his way over. “L-lord?” He stammered nervously.

“What is this I am hearing about Toofy and yourself joining in the hunting competition?” I asked sternly, making my stance on the issue painfully clear.

“Ahh...” Asra furtively glanced at Toofy, who had suspiciously grown quite still and was now avoiding eye contact with me. “Uhm...” Asra shifted uncomfortably, “L-lord I did not wa-OW!” He flinched back with a yelp as Toofy stomped hard on his foot.

“Toofy!” I called out reproachfully.

Toofy flinched and slowly looked back at me with a guilty nervous smile, “Oops?” She offered optimistically.

I shook my head, making it abundantly clear that I didn’t buy it, “Toofy, you can’t just hurt people when they do something you don’t like.”

“Hrmpf,” Toofy slouched her shoulders and scuffed at the ground with her feet.

“You need to set a good example for Ril,” I stressed, motioning to the little Daemon watching the transpiring events with wide-eyed wonder as she scarfed down the last of the meat.

Toofy stiffened and her eyes widened, “OH!” She gasped and held her hands over her mouth in horror.

Ril just sort of vacantly smiled as she followed the flow of the conversation.

“Toofy bad mama!” Toofy hissed angrily, stomping her feet and pulling her ears.

“Toofy no!” I quickly took hold of Toofy to stop her from hurting herself, “You shouldn’t do that either okay? Just tell Asra you’re sorry and don’t do it again, alright?”

Toofy slumped and nodded, “Kay,” she sniffled.

I let Toofy go.

Toofy turned to face Asra, “Toofy sorry Asra, Toofy no hurt Asra again,” she apologised quietly.

Asra gulped hard, “Ah, that’ss alright, I uh, I forgive yo-oof!”

Toofy had tackled Asra and wrapped him in a tight hug.

To my surprise, Asra didn’t panic like I expected him to. Instead, after overcoming the initial shock, he leaned into the embrace and hugged her back. It was actually a rather tender moment until Asra and I made eye contact, immediately causing him to panic, although I wasn’t really sure why until I noticed the embarrassed flush in his cheeks.

Oh no...This was going to be a problem.

“Asra why don’t you go help Gric for a little bit,” I suggested, “And, ah, Toofy I need to talk to you about some things...”

Why didn’t I get Nadine or Rose to do this days ago...

*****

Emelia double-checked the makeshift saddles for what felt like the hundredth time. Even though she didn’t have much experience with them, Emelia was still a little surprised that Tim had been able to put something like this together from the random supplies they had on hand.

“Everything good?” Tobi asked, giving her one of his shy smiles while blushing slightly.

Emelia snorted quietly and felt her own cheeks flush in response, “Stop it,” she hissed, “Do you want the others to know?” Emelia demanded playfully.

“I was just asking about the saddle!” Tobi insisted innocently, becoming flustered and blushing far more noticeably than before.

Emelia knew that, of course, but it was fun to tease him a little she knew he wouldn’t take it personally.

Calming down, Tobi moved in closer, “You sure you want to do this?” He asked, visibly concerned. “Just because Clarice asked you to, doesn’t mean you have to.”

Emelia nodded, “I want to get stronger too!” She insisted, “Besides, this is all my fault anyway...I owe them...”

“Hey!” Tobi Took hold of her shoulders, “We have talked about this, it...it wasn’t your fault Emelia. The manager twisted your arm, there was nothing you could have done-”

“I could have refused,” Emelia interrupted bluntly, feeling ashamed as she remembered how quickly she had submitted to the manager's demands.

“No, he would have enslaved you on the spot,” Tobi refuted, “Then made you do it anyway and gods know what else besides,” Emelia felt him shiver as he pulled her in for a hug.

Leaning into it, Emelia tried her best to let go. While she knew that she should bear some of the guilt over what had happened, Emelia appreciated Tobi’s advocacy on her behalf. No one had ever really taken her side before and she quite liked the piece of mind from knowing that he was there if she needed him.

“Save it for the bedroom!” Clarice cackled from somewhere nearby.

Emelia stiffened and glowered as she stared over at Clarice.

“Now now, there will be plenty of time for ‘wrestling’ after we win this competition,” Clarice grinned lasciviously as she made her way over to Thunder.

Tobi unexpectedly had not let go and was holding her tighter. “You shouldn’t talk to her like that,” he insisted.

“Hrm?” Clarice pretended not to notice, hopping up and into the saddle.

“I said, you shouldn’t treat Emelia like that,” Tobi repeated sternly.

Clarice sighed and shook her head, “Look, just because she treats you nice, doesn’t mean she likes you,” she drawled condescendingly.

“Tobi, it's fine,” Emelia insisted, “Let’s just focus on the competition.”

Tobi shook his head and gave her a pained look, “It isn’t fine. I can see that it bothers you-”

“You’re off the team by the way,” Clarice interrupted bluntly, “We have a heavy hitter joining instead,”

“Wh-what?” Tobi looked confused.

“I thought you’d be happy,” Clarice taunted, “Given I had to just about twist your arm to join in the first place.”

“W-what about Emelia?!” Tobi demanded protectively.

Emelia felt conflicted by the exchange. She was glad Tobi was standing up for her but was worried Clarice might take things too far. “It’s fine. We can just go hunting on our own tomorrow,” Emelia insisted quietly.

Tobi looked a little disappointed but nodded. “You know it’s not the EXP I'm worried about right?” He asked quietly with a small worried smile.

Emelia shyly smiled back and gave Tobi a quick peck on the cheek, “I know.” With Tobi’s help, she quickly mounted Beaky and gave Tobi one last smile before heading over to Clarice. ”I’ll see you later.”

Tobi nodded and waved while seeing her off, “Stay safe!” He called out, ignoring the laughter coming from Clarice up ahead.

Emelia wanted to reply, but Clarice was already plenty agitated and she didn’t want to make it worse. So she half-turned in the saddle and gave Tobi a determined nod instead.

*****

Organising the surgeons and roughly twice as many porters, I sincerely hoped that it wouldn’t be necessary. If there were, at least all of the aspiring surgeons would benefit. I had invited them all into my retinue as well as inviting Ushu’s apprentices and Ril to my party.

I had tried talking Toofy out of going, but somewhat surprisingly, it turned out Asra actually had a plan. The pair of them weren’t intending to fight at all. Asra was going to make the Daemons do it for them by summoning copies through his Pact Binder ability. Which made things make a bit more sense since Gric and the other Daemons were not participating.

Watching the Serpent-Kin adults rushing about and preparing sleds, I was reminded of a scene from a movie where teams of ‘runners’ were preparing to charge into no mans land to deliver ammo. Once this competition started, the comparison would only grow more accurate.

Even though the tribesmen were armed, most didn’t have Classes and would be responsible for retrieving the bounty of resources generated throughout the competition. With all the blood in the air and spattered on the ground, I had no delusions in thinking that it would be ‘safe’.

Massaging my temple I tried to focus on all the good that would come of this competition. Regardless of who ‘wins’ everyone would be better prepared for the future. This Labyrinth was a violent place. I had all but made my peace with that now. I just couldn’t shake the feeling like something bad was going to happen. Something felt...wrong.

Standing at the gate to the Settlement, I stared out into the swamp and frowned. There were fewer monsters out there than there had been over the past couple of days, most likely a result of the hunting trips earlier that morning. However, something still felt off.

Moving forward, until I was standing just behind the edge of the barrier, I slowly scanned the horizon for any sign to justify my feeling of unease. Again, I came up empty. Everything looked...normal. Or what seemed to pass for normal anyway. I was about to turn around and head back through the gate, but then I saw it.

Standing out in the swamp was a familiar shadowy silhouette standing in the bog.

“Oh no...” I croaked, somehow, despite the distance locking eyes with the creature.

The Tailor grinned, revealing rows of needle-like teeth as it began stalking forwards.

Fuck...

Whatever The Tailor was, I sincerely doubted the Settlement barrier would be able to keep it out.

A Swamp Lurker Lunged from the water dragged the unresisting form of The Tailor into the murky water.

I had seen more than enough horror movies to know where this was headed.

It was to my complete lack of surprise when the blood and mud-covered monster clawed its way out of the water, dragging the twitching carcass of the Swamp Lurker behind it.

What was it doing here? Was it after me? Jacque had said she settled the score already...

Thankful that I at least had a weapon on me this time, I waved back the Serpent-Kin that Ushu had assigned to guard duty. They had just noticed the unknowable horror lurching towards us and I did not want their deaths on my conscience.

“Maybe I can buy it off?” I muttered hoarsely, “Maybe it would accept some manastones and just leave us alone?” I hissed and gnawed at my lip. That was a bad idea, even assuming it accepted the deal, it would just keep coming back. Worse, it would be stronger every time it came back for more. No, I had to do something about this here and now.

Still dragging the corpse of the Swamp Lurker behind it, ‘The Tailor came to a shuddering halt a dozen or so feet away. “Hello...Tim,” it twitched and smiled wide, revealing its teeth again. The otherwise bedraggled and unassuming appearance of The Tailor began shifting into a form that haunted my nightmares. “I want to talk,” its voice changed, sounding like an old Slavic woman. “It’s okay, I won’t bite-” The Tailor lifted the Swamp Lurker by its neck and chomped through its head like it was an apple, discarding the rest of the Swamp Lurker’s body as it grinned and swallowed, “-I won't bite you,” The Tailor amended.

“What do you want?” I demanded hoarsely, clutching my spear so tight my hand hurt.

The Tailor grinned, “I just want to talk and perhaps make an offer?”

“What do you want?!” I repeated firmly, surprised I was standing my ground.

The Tailor frowned, “Interesting...” Its clawed hands twitched like dying spiders but the creature made no attempts to move closer. “No matter. Some young punk burned down my store!” The Tailor snarled, “You have something he wants!” The Tailor pointed accusingly at the Settlement behind me.

“You can’t have her!” I declared adamantly, levelling my spear with the creature's chest.

The Tailor hissed and snarled in annoyance, “I do not want HER!” The monster's voice had become a discordant chorus of a hundred different voices each out of time with one another, “I WANT HIM!” The Tailor pointed out into the swamp in what seemed like a random direction. “NOBODY TAKES WHAT IS MINE! NOBODY STEALS FROM KIKI!” The monster shuddered for a few moments before calming down again, “When that boy comes here for her, he is MINE!”

“Fine!” I agreed, “Just leave us the hell alone!”

The Tailor snarled, “No. That boy is coming here. I will not leave.”

“I can’t let you stay!” I insisted. This monster was way too dangerous to have around. The Adventurer’s Guild might be morally corrupt enough to accept a few missing people, but I’m not.

“I will do as I-” The Tailor suddenly stiffened suddenly.

“Lord,” Gric stalked out from the gate, Qreet, Dar and Ushu right behind him.

“Daemons!” The Tailor hissed angrily, “You consort with Daemons?!” It demanded furiously.

Gric growled and took a threatening stance, glaring balefully at The Tailor without a shred of fear. Following his lead, Qreet and Dar released deep rumbling growls and bared their teeth.

Ushu held aloft what looked like a giant snake fang dagger. Cloaking himself and the dagger in a thick fog of grey mana, Ushu thrust the dagger towards The Tailor like it was a holy cross and he was trying to repel a vampire. Surprisingly, it seemed to be working.

The Tailor shrieked and stumbled backwards, shielding its face with its long-fingered claws.

“I BANISH YOU!” Ushu hissed, thrusting the fang dagger forward again and directing the point towards The Tailor.

The Tailor fell to its knees and howled, shivering and shaking so violently that it seemed like the monster would tear itself apart. Then, all at once, The Tailor disappeared, leaving a rather plain and out of place middle-aged woman behind where the monster had been only moments before. The woman stiffly stood up, looked around, noticed me and smiled in a mechanical sort of way. “Hello,” The woman waved stiffly and began walking over.

“What did you do?” I asked Ushu incredulously. Somehow, he had managed to turn The Tailor into..well, the tailor.

“It wass an evil sspirit, Lord. I Banished it,” Ushu bowed but was still looking warily at the approaching woman. “That ssouless wass sserving ass itss vesssel, it iss very likely marked. We should desstroy it!” He insisted worriedly.

Gric nodded but looked conflicted. “We-cannot,” he hissed in agitation, “Destroying-a-vendor-will-bring-destruction.”

“From the Labyrinth?” I asked warily.

Gric nodded.

“Hello,” the woman repeated, now standing only a few feet away and staring at my face without actually making eye contact.

“Then how do we get rid of it?” I demanded, “I don’t want that thing showing up here again! Especially now that we just pissed it off!”

“Ssorry Lord,” Ushu’s expression was conflicted between relief and worry, “I thought you were in danger...”

I sighed in frustration and shook my head, “No, you did the right thing. That thing, that evil spirit? It’s dangerous and I don’t want it anywhere near my people.

“I can Ward it!” Ushu suggested eagerly, pointing at the woman. “The sspirit cannot posssesss what iss warded.”

“But what do we do with it?” I glanced worriedly at the woman who was still staring vacantly at me.

“Hello,” the woman repeated for the third time with precisely the same inflection.

Gric shrugged apologetically, “Lord-could-keep. Trade-for-supplies.”

“That...Isn’t the worst idea...Huh,” I took a few moments to think about it. “Don’t we need money, er, coins, to trade with it?”

Gric nodded.

“I guess we could always try and establish trade with some adventurers or something,” I sighed. “Alright, so, what do I do?”

Gric shrugged.

“Hello,” the woman repeated for the fourth time.

“Hi,” I replied exasperatedly.

“I need somewhere to work,” the woman commented brightly with the same vacant smile.

“I will find you somewhere to work,” I sighed resignedly. This was not the outcome I had expected, but considering how everyone was still alive, it could definitely have turned out worse.

The vendor just kept following me like a stalker. After talking it over, at length, with the others, Nadine suggested we store the vendor in its own barrow in the Grove. No one was particularly thrilled with the idea, but it made sense when Ushu confirmed that he could establish a permanent Ward thanks to the ambient mana level. So we imprisoned the vendor in its own private cell, not that it seemed to mind.

“This could be pretty handy,” Nadine commented, assuming you can trade with the foothold or some independent merchants.”

I was about to ask something but realised I had been overlooking a rather significant problem. “The Tailor claimed that a psycho burned down her shop...”

Nadine’s expression changed from mild interest to shock, “Wait, what?”

“That’s the reason it came here. It said the same guy was coming here next for Hana. Or at least I assume that was who it meant...” I was pretty confident The Tailor had been talking about The Destroyer and Hana.

“Then that means...” Nadine’s face paled still further, “We need to find out if Rose, Kirk and Millie are alright!” She insisted, “They wouldn’t have come to the third floor at all if it weren’t for us!”

I winced and nodded in agreement.

Clarice looked worried but was also pretty annoyed, “I guess the competition is off then,” she grumbled.

Nadine gave Clarice a scathing look.

“What?!” Clarice demanded defensively, “I’m worried about them too! That’s why I assumed the competition was gonna be cancelled!”

“There hasn’t been a Raid Status alert or anything. Is it possible that the Foothold barrier is still active?” I asked hopefully.

Nadine threw her hands up in the air, “I don’t know!” She hissed angrily. “We need to make a rescue party and try to find them. If they were lucky, maybe they managed to escape through the portal. Or maybe they made it onto a boat and fled upriver?” Nadine grew more concerned, “But that psycho is running out there too...”

“Sso are the treacherouss Black-Maw!” Ushu hissed angrily.

“But what can we really do? A trip through the swamp would take days in and of itself, let alone trying to make it across the river. Also, how are we meant to find them?” I asked, not meaning to discourage anyone but I was overwhelmed by the scale of the endeavour and didn’t know where to start.

“We could have one the Shamans make a Ward to keep the monsters away, and the rafts Ushu’s people used to cross the river are probably still there,” Nadine suggested, “The Foothold is meant to be by the river, so it would be relatively easy to look for them by travelling up and down the river. Besides, maybe they managed to get away on a boat and have been hiding out on the river.”

“Maybe,” I agreed, “But who would go? The more people we send, the more difficult it would be to travel through the swamp.”

“Hey!” Clarice cried out excitedly, “You could make this a quest!” She slapped her hands and rubbed them together greedily, “I mean this kinda sounds like a suicide mission, what with that psycho running around and all. So the difficulty level must be insane!” Clarice seemed completely out of sync with her choice of words and more than a little ecstatic at the prospect of rushing into extreme danger, “Just think of how much EXP it would be worth!”

Nadine just shook her head incredulously. “Well, I am definitely going. Someone needs to be responsible.”

Clarice shrugged, apparently not put out by the implication, “Well I'm definitely going,” she didn’t seem to think she needed a justification for it, which only made Nadien more annoyed.

“Ushu is the most powerful Shaman we have,” I suggested, “Would you be willing to go?” I asked Ushu.

Seemingly content to be a bystander in the discussion until called upon, Ushu was a little flustered. “If my Lord willss it,” he replied nervously.

“We will go too,” Emelia insisted, volunteering herself and Tobi.

Tobi was a little surprised but nodded in agreement.

And that made five. Looking at the way they were already grouping together and starting to talk about preparations for the trip, I realised that I was being left behind. “Just help yourselves to anything you need,” I encouraged them and then left them to their planning.