Marlin and his friends had come back far too late for the liking of Betty, she had relentlessly begged Bradford and the chief to go after them.
Upon meeting the group half way, Bradford and The Chief almost didn’t recognize Marlin in his newly minted armor.
It was after he took his helmet off, that they lowered their weapons. Marlin wasn’t very aware of what happened next, Bradford hoisted him over his shoulders and he passed out.
Milly POV.
Once she saw both their dad’s, she felt immense relief. She was tired, exhausted. The fight with the bear almost seemed pointless now. In the heat of the moment she hadn’t even picked a feat or perk.
She saw the gamble Bron had made, taking his Mindless Frenzy, it had been such a double edged blade and if it hadn’t been for Marlin taunting like mad, risking his own life thrice over, taking most of the blows, Bron would have died.
She had been furious for a hot second at Marlin’s reckless display, until she remembered. Marlin had taken immediate charge, Bron had hesitated for a split second. She, although crucial to their victory had gone on auto pilot. The few commands Marlin had given turned out to be just as crucial.
Both Bron and Marlin’s injuries were severe. A Darkness that had been injected with the pummeling they took from the Dark lord had seeped into their wounds. Sucking their already dwindling Stamina down the drain.
Using the potion on Bron had been a necessity to stem the internal bleeding but it had, by the looks of it, also forced the second reservoir of long endurance to be tapped into.
A decisive but narrow victory. Kotak the most spry of the group had taken it upon himself to explain, she shared her perspective from time to time.
she saw both dads share glances, both their expressions were Dark.
”Daughter, I cannot begin to describe the pride I feel for you all. You have brought immense honor to the tribe”.
”Yes, remember that” Bradford said, “The congregation of not 2 but 3 Individuals that possess the tyrant mark should have been a terrible omen, you subverted that”. He smiled
but Milly didn’t need Marlin’s perception to see the older gents taking the news of this Dark Lord with a heavy heart, slain or not. Marlin, who may have defied it with all his might, was part of some dark fate. Dark forces were at work here.
Marlin POV
Marlin after waking up from a 30 hour nap, two days later, was suffering. He wanted to wear his super duper cool armor because some sort of hidden mechanism of the set kept him from stumbling over from the -4 to his dexterity. But everyone told him no, it was after the trembling lips of Betty, his mother that he had been utterly defeated. Milly teased him the whole day calling him ‘mommy boy’. So it stood on a mannequin in his room taunting him.
Bradford explained that one of the big problems right now was that long endurance only came back properly if you did nothing, absolutely nothing, on top of that, practicing skills during this time period was very detrimental, as you quickly learned all the wrong habits which you had to unlearn again. So he was stuck, getting smothered and spoiled by Betty and Milly.
It made the agony bearable, all he needed was a few more Boars and he would be level 2. 2! What he had assumed would take him another half year, was dangling as the proverbial ‘carrot on a stick’ in front of him.
something that had put things in perspective for Marlin a bit, again, is that for the fight with the Bear, the Canta’s had received 250 xp and Kotak 150 vs his whopping 400+. Against the dark lord it had been 300 since all of them where lvl 3.
XP gains dropped off pretty fast, and somehow his mind kept losing that tidbit of information. his total 5500 + gain, was completely unprecedented and as far as Bradford knew, it should not be possible.
He only told Milly and Bradford what had happened when he absorbed the xp and the memories and begged them not to tell anyone. He felt the less people knew the better.
Jerry after some Bear Bacon, was back to his old self. The bear Bacon was a big hit. Marlin was surprised with how succulent it was.
He remembered having tasted bear meat in his visit to some natives in Alalaska? He couldn’t remember the name of the place precisely but he remembered tasting the bear meat. Stringy, strong flavor that you had to get used to.
”Hey Bron you want your own personal bear cloak? We know how to hunt em now and eh, the stockpile of bear meat/bacon is dwindling fast”.
Betty was tapping her foot, she had caught Bradford sneaking out some of the bacon but after he stuffed some in her mouth, her argument was invalid. She sat down tsking but everyone saw she loved the flavor and she joined in the festivities.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Ijjjj downd nnnow Marlin, wud ifw we wun indo a dawk wowd again”? Bron’s slur was horrible.
“Well we do the same thing as before but i will be lvl 2 and be hella strong” Marlin grinned. As exhausted as he felt. As anxious as he was to get that level.
Life felt good. He had beaten the odds yet again. He had honorable and good friends and A powerful man such as Bradford who would watch over him if things got too dicey, for many more years to come.
and he had achieved all of this in half a year. “No way on earth this would have happened this quickly”, he thought to himself, not to him at least.
with some actual strength in his grasp. Seeing how well him and his Minions fit with the T’jut. For the first time he truly felt at peace, serene.
a feeling, distinctly lacking in the memories absorbed from that man. Always paranoid, always on the run, always chained to his own indulgence.
Marlin understood how the tragic chain of events had shaped the man but was sickened by the Man’s crumbling lack in strength of character and resolved himself again, as he had done so Many times already, he would never fall to the dark side.
Bradford POV
A Dark Lord raised by orcs, and one who could command them.
Bradford had to release tension over and over, some of his fights with Dark Lords had been downright traumatic. It had played a part in why he had retired so easily.
From the sound of what Kotak and later Marlin, had described this Particular Dark lord didn’t match what he knew of Dark lords.
The first thing, that Dark lord seemed to have been suffering from exhaustion drain, otherwise Marlin and His group would have been dead.
To possess a Tyrant’s crown and a signet. was a mark of prestige and undeniable power among the Dark circles of those who were born under the ominous star.
What Marlin had briefly described from the last memories he had absorbed, this Sinister Dark Lord had been on the run. He had possessed a discipline called Dark Harvest which would have allowed him to siphon the stamina reserves of slain enemies. It was a discipline one step removed from blood sucking. This particular Dark Lord had taken its first steps towards vampirism.
Vampire Lord was a subclass of the Dark Lord, Bradford had helped to defeat 10 Dark lords in his life and never had he heard of this, Marlin had probably not wished to scare him.
”To think, I recommended him Dark Lord al those years ago”. Back then Marlin had stated that, even if he had picked Dark Lord it would only ever have been to supplement his Main class, warrior. At first glance a Dark lord was a leader. But once you dived into it, a question was posed.
A Dark lord of what? He knew that this would be tempting for Marlin, the boy had always struggled with his lacking attributes, he hid it well, no one saw it, not even Betty his own mother, but Bradford saw it, everyone marveling at his cunning use of foul language, always having his wits about him.
Once the realization had set in How far back he would fall, Marlin like so many others had almost fallen to despair. The forlorn look Marlin had when he had been practicing of late. And now.
He looked at his boy that had creeped past the walls around his heart, sitting peacefully talking with his friends. Marlins face told him those sickening thoughts were already an afterthought for him.
”such beautiful resilience”, Bradford thought and he was beginning to feel very tender and excused himself smiling.
The xp absorption Marlin spoke of, an age long question on Bradford’s mind was answered, how did Dark Lord’s always seem so powerful and high leveled when they almost always had the Blessing of strife?
Dark Lord’s siphoned the experience of others, specifically of other Dark Lords. In a sick twisted way it made perfect sense. There can only be one Lord.
The Dark Lord.
On the one hand he was exhilarated to see Marlin at peace with himself, the gods had given him a challenge and he overcame. Bradford saw the subtle favor of both Artis and Nirvana at work.
Which made the significance of this situation all the more Painful.
“By the god’s the more i delve into this the more ominous it gets, i might have to get out of retirement”.
Bradford sighed. He had done the work in his life what most would do in their entire lifespan by the time he had hit 50. 250 or so more years to go he had amassed enough wealth to live a simple life with Betty, Well 240 now. He was still in his prime. In fact he had just hit Level 12 a couple of days ago.
as elated as he had been to review a feat, discipline and perk. This dark omen made him think on the words of his own Grandfather, a champion of Justice and Order.
“Everything that happens in your life will be bound by fate, especially for those born under one of the 3 Illustrious stars”.
How heavy those words of wisdom felt.
He looked at Marlin and Bron two people that had nearly killed each other over something trivial and stupid, now bonded, brothers in arms as were Kotak, Milly and his gnolls, stuffing their faces with Bear Bacon, while Billy got the freshest carrots and cabbages.
Bradford had to admit, the bacon was good but seeing his boy make actual friends felt better. He sighed as he walked up into his boys bedroom. He looked at the ominous set of armor. Marlin was going to wear it. He had that sparkle in his eyes. The best toy you could give him.
He traced his fingers along the ridges, The armor had changed shape, subtly according to Milly. When the Mysterious Lord had worn it. It had looked: rugged, vicious, Malicious and disturbing or disgusting. Milly had said.
when it had Finished Merging with Marlin’s armor, it still had that dark sinister, rugged and vicious look, but exuded Power and authority.
Bradford sighed. “In line with his potential, Marlin’s potential”. He noted that the armor for all intents and purposes a normal set of armor with self repair properties, had more to it but it was hidden even for him.
“Were you meant to be found”? Or did your previous Master assume Marlin an easy target”? Bradford chuckled darkly, he knew the answer to his own question.somehow everyone underestimated Marlin, and it all cost them their lives. But this particular Dark Lord had found Marlin, no, sought him out.
Bradford Knew in his heart Marlin would now pick Dark lord as his secondary class. The difficult times to come he needed strength and Dark Lord presented him with too many benefits, just like the Discipline Profound Manifestation so close now.
Marlin craved strength, it was undeniable. As his father he couldn’t get himself to stand in his way. A few tears fell down into the floor board. He trusted Marlin but the fear gripped his heart, he begged the gods it would not be him who would have to face Marlin if he ever fell to the curse of true Darkness.