Born a Monster

“I find that highly dubious.” Malkin said, taking a leg sweep at my ankles. “Twelve legendary weapons, twelve distinct Systems. No crossover points for either.”

I snorted. “Kornath disagrees.”

“He WILL kill you, when next you duel.” Malkin said. “I’ve seen how you fight. It is the very blessing of Loki that you live. He might even slay Rakkal, the false Axe Hero.”

“Might?” I asked, “shouldn’t the true Axe Hero prevail? Always?”

He blinked at me. “Fool. There were twelve legendary heroes, and they were not enough to stop the dragon of black wands.”

“So your lesson from that is...”

“The ONLY lesson from that is that the strong will win, and reign over the weak.” he said. “The strong, the swift, the clever. And when the dragons and giants turned on each other, when they were weak, THAT was the time when we the common races showed our strength.”

“Not exactly how that tale is told here in Achea.” I said.

.....

“As if I care what some backward region of goat herders say.”

“Malkin, there is more to the Tidelands than just the wool.”

“Then keep it to yourself, for the glory of Loki.” he snapped back. “We are the strong, and we are here, and this entire region is now OURS because we lay claim to it and have the power to enforce that claim.”

I scratched the side of my chin. Why did that one spot itch, no matter which form I was in? “I’m not debating that you have the numbers, or the colonists. But...” I took two steps, swept aside the door cover. “Reality is that you haven’t conquered even half the Tidelands yet. It’s a bit early to celebrate your victory. And you’ve still got your allied human army to betray.”

Malkin waved a hand in dismissal. “Nomads. They have some interesting tricks, but they aren’t a proper cavalry. Let them disrupt the wild lands, and fight the Uruk for those plains of scrub. If they don’t betray us by then, that’s a problem for when the capital is properly called Loki’s Glory.”

I blinked. Had I used the wrong words, or was he just ignoring me?

“All right.” I said. “There are a lot of people in this camp, are any of them a Naturalist?”

“We live surrounded by nature.” Malkin said. “How could any of us be ignorant of it?”

“No, I mean a Naturalist.” I said. “It’s one of the Science or Scientific classes. It specializes in identifying and classifying animals and plants. One could break down the traits of this painting, tell us exactly which creatures are represented.”

He squinted at me. “This again? It doesn’t have to be precise, scale for scale. Just close enough that it looks like him.”

I returned to looking at the artistic representation of me, three years ago.

Gods! How had I survived back then?

“I will need a good deal of nutrition to perform such a change.” I said.

“And again,” he replied, “I do not believe you.”

I threw my head side to side, still not used to the long mane of hair that I alone in the camp seemed to have. “Truthspeaker.” I said. “I literally cannot lie to you.”

“Inquisitor.” Malkin replied. “You may not be lying to me, but you also aren’t telling me the whole truth.”

A quick System search verified the ability.

“Are you ever going to tell me your whole truth, Pale Worm?” he asked.

“Not if I can help it.” I said. “My secrets are mine, and revealing what secrets I already have seems to have no effect on you. I need much more nutrition.”

“You know what?” he said. “Behind this tent and not even ten minutes walk away is the wilderness. So long as Tigrin goes with you and you sleep at night here, go forth and get your own damn piles of food.”

I turned to the golem. “You’ll want a broad brimmed hat. This will take a while, and we’ll be under the bare sunlight.”

“I don’t take orders from you.” the golem said.

“You may or may not get such a hat, and other preparations as seem proper to you.” Malkin told it. “Report back here when you are ready.”

“As you command, Inquisitor.” The golem didn’t hurry to leave us, but neither did it linger or waste motion.

I must have sighed. “You seem relieved every time Tigrin leaves us.” Malkin said.

“My first magical tutor taught me blood magic and necromancy.” I said. “But that thing is un-natural. It isn’t even necromancy, how did you make it?”

“I had the help of others of my order.” he admitted. “It is a matter of Soulistics, and spirit binding, mortared with divine mentalism.”

[Divine Mentalism: 3/3 points available.]

Crap. I mean, thanks, System, but still... Crap.

“It is a simple matter,” he continued, “of finding the right soul, and then binding it to the corpse it formerly owned. Once that is done, the matter of securing its loyalty is barely even a curse.”

“Divine lobotomy.” I said.

“From a limited point of view, yes.” he said. “The servitor cannot think disloyal thoughts, nor can it hesitate or question orders, unless I permit it.” He looked particularly pleased with his next statement. “At a whim, I can even force his soul into the afterlife, if any of his actions fall outside the acceptable.”

I remember you, Fu Dog Kumanchu. I won’t swear to come visit you someday, but neither can I swear the opposite.

“And,” Malkin continued, “if you fail to be of use to me, I can always make you exactly like him.”

I squinted. “Provided you have the help of the others. How many others, precisely?”

He chuckled. “No, it requires much more mana than even you have, magical creature. And of types that would conflict with each other if they were in the same aura at the same time.”

What? But... But even with all the mendacious things mana DID do...

Not all truths need be spoken. “You are possibly right about that.” I said.

He stood, sweeping his robes side to side to get out wrinkles. “See that you don’t leave the camp without Tigrin. And... If you have ability to prioritize your evolutions, it would not be a bad thing to prioritize combat aspects of your form.”

“Way ahead of you on that, actually.” I said. “How badly did your Axe Hero hurt himself during our first duel?”

“Not so badly as you want. A week, perhaps two. And Pale Worm, he is YOUR Axe Hero as well. IF you are still loyal to the cause.”

“Which one?” I asked. “So far, I’ve seen four purposes in this army, each of them at odds with the others.”

He laughed as he turned for the door. “That is because whatever form you take, you cannot truly see things as a hobgoblin does. All of this, the colonists, the army, the allies, the conquest, all of it serves ONE unified purpose.”

“The glory of Loki?” I guessed.

He smirked at me. “The POWER of Loki. Imagine what he can forge out of all the souls here.”

Was he truly that ignorant? “The beings who live here would probably claim that they’re still using those souls. Many are claimed by other gods, usually with their consent.”

“All the better.” he said, clenching a fist before his face. “To show even the gods that we are stronger than their mere promises, their mere prayers. To show true power, and bring that power before our god. What greater purpose is there in this life?”

I was clenching the bridge of my nose, very close to my eyes. “Malkin, your fanaticism is showing.”

He laughed at me, and left, letting the tent door fall closed behind him.

I know what you are thinking. Unguarded, unchained, unwatched. It was a great time to run. To escape. To find my way into the wilderness, and perform a transformation that my captors did not expect.

I made it as far as the outside of my tent. I breathed the air, stained by the presence of [Yellow Fever, strength one]. Wait, was that supposed to be carried on the wind?

[Yellow Fever is primarily a water pathogen.]

Yes, I thought I had remembered that from somewhere.

[Focus here to develop and use Chi Health at a cost of 21 development points.]

[Purchase complete. Ability Activated. Ability Tap Disease Activated. You already have maximum Disease mana, 6/6 points.]

No, scroll back.

[System History module has not been purchased. To purchase at a cost of thirty development points...]

I thought for a bit.

[Chi Cultivator, level one. Karateka, level one.]

Thumbs to the outside of my eyeballs, I massaged my forehead. WHEN had I gained those? How had I gained them after LEAVING the Daurian island, and the culture that was immersed with Chi studies?

[System History module...]

Yeah, .

I clearly had other things to put my cultivation and development points toward.

I did say usually. There are exceptions.