Ander left the room stunned and afraid. He could feel the circlet eating away at his natural mental shield like something scratching incessantly at his mind. It was slow, but Ander figured it would only take a few weeks for his mind to be fully exposed to any attack. It was cold comfort that the circlet added another more protective barrier around his mind. Ander couldn’t think of what the circlet could be for however. It broke down a person’s natural defence while providing one of its own. Was it there just to get someone addicted to it? Remove their own capabilities and force them to rely on it?
The thing disgusted Ander, and he tried to throw it away multiple times as they left the building, but it always appeared back on his head. Ander quickly stopped, knowing that it wasn’t going to get him anywhere.
“Why would he do this?” Ander asked suddenly, catching Sir Argvald off guard.
“What, give you a rare magic item?” Sir Argvald sounded confused.
“Give me a rare magic item that erodes away my mental defences.” Ander said. “It seems like an item designed to force you to use it.” Sir Argvald stared at Ander for a few seconds before his eyes went wide.
“That is a better gift than you realize.” Sir Argvald said. “Does it provide a mental defence of its own?”
“Yes, but I don’t see how that helps.”
“Ander, please understand how different noble psionics are from normal mind attacks. They have the ability to bypass most defences with that special attack you felt today. That shield you feel around your mind is all that most people have to defend themselves. Now you have a better one. If it has to erode the natural one away to provide a better defence, it is a good tradeoff.” Ander was starting to come around to the circlet, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was making him more vulnerable in the end. And if that was the case, it meant that the High Lord wanted him more vulnerable.
“Well, it was good seeing you.” Ander said acidly. “But I have places to be, and they are far from here.” Sir Argvald snorted.
“Sorry, kid. But you have one more meeting. You missed the meeting Sir Mattheos had with all the other top people in the Pit. He wants to see you as soon as possible.” Sir Argvald smirked at Ander. “Appreciating your gift from the Lord Father now?” Ander simply groaned and followed behind Sir Argvald. They had to walk about five minutes, as it seemed Sir Mattheos was housed in a manor a small way away from the main square. Ander felt like he was walking towards his doom and was seriously tempted to start letting loose with everything he had, throwing fireballs in every direction. But he discounted the idea. The monster next to him, Sir Argvald, wouldn’t allow it.
“If it makes you feel better,” Sir Argvald said. “Sir Mattheos has not drafted anyone else. It would be bad form for him to do so straight out of the pit.” It did ease Ander’s anxiety. If only a small amount. He wanted to believe he would get out of there with his mind in one piece, and Sir Argvald’s words gave him a strand of hope to hang on to.
They approached the manor which looked ominously gothic, and swung one of two chimaera head knockers. The house was silent for a moment before the door swung open, revealing an impeccably dressed older commoner. The man ushered them inside and led them to a side room where Sir Mattheos was lounging on an oversized couch in a dressing robe. Sir Argvald immediately knelt, pulling Ander down with him this time.
“My Lord, if we have come at a bad time, I sincerely apologise.” Sir Argvald said.
“No worries, Sir Argvald, I was just resting after my bath.” Sir Mattheos turned his smirking gaze on Ander. “And this would be the famous Ander Nightshade! Killer in the night, though it was just self defence now wasn’t it?” Sir Mattheos winked at Ander in a way that made his stomach turn.
“Yes, my lord, it was self defence.” Ander stated in a bland tone.
“Well, Ander, I have called you here to inform you of some of the changes that have been made to the championship tournament at my request.” Sir Mattheos said. “I have already spoken to your contemporaries and they spoke so very highly of you. Cormal especially.”
“I am glad to hear that my lord.” Ander said with the same neutral tone.
“First is that the tournament has to be moved up. It will happen in a week from yesterday, rather than a month. The High Lord and I simply cannot stay that long. Second, as none of you have proven yourselves before the creator, it has been deemed that you are unworthy of your legendary abilities.” This made Ander look up straight at the leering Sir Mattheos. “Thus during the quarterfinals onward, your legendary abilities will be locked. It will be the same with all of the other contestants. I do not doubt that you can make do without them, if you are truly worthy.
“Third is that the fights before the quarterfinals will be battle royale style. One on one fights with that many people would simply take too long, and so we chose to have a half dozen smaller battle royale style events instead.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Finally, I have something that I need you to do.” Ander stared at Sir Mattheos for a minute.
“What would you have me do? My lord.” He finally forced out.
“In the ruins of the Karak-Mur stronghold, I believe that is the ruins that the Dusk’s Rangers controls, there is a forest of stone eggs. I greatly desire one of these eggs, and I will pay handsomely for you to retrieve one.”
“Why ask me, my lord?” Ander asked.
“Because of all the people I have met so far, you are the one to impress me the most!” While it sounded odd, Ander was sure Sir Mattheos was telling the truth. That made him sweat. He did not want the attention of this man. But that was simple enough. He simply had to fail the quest. But he did have to make it look like he made an effort. If he got on Sir Mattheos’ bad side, it could be even worse for him.
“I would be happy to accept.” Ander replied. “Do you have any more information on this egg you desire?”
“Nothing that would help you.” Sir Mattheos said. “They polish up to something quite beautiful. They are all quite dead, but can be made into some incredible decorations or even jewellery. So please, be quick and get me one of those eggs. I wish for each of my wives to be decked with new jewellery before the month is out.”
“Very well, my lord.” Ander said. And he and Sir Argvald left the room. They walked for a few minutes before Sir Argvald spoke.
“That went far better than expected. I thought you would go in, burning fields and bridges behind you.” Ander looked at Sir Argvald askance.
“Why the hell would I do that?” Ander shuddered at the thought. The level 63 that had popped up when he inspected Sir Mattheos had nearly stopped him in his tracks. Sir Argvald shrugged.
“Just seems like the kind of thing you would do, though I suppose I guessed wrong.” Sir Argvald said. “In any case, good luck on your quest. I don’t know if succeeding or failing is worse for you, but good luck anyway.”
“You are still acting awfully nice to someone you profess to hate.” Ander commented. Sir Argvald sighed.
“I don’t hate you, I simply think you are incredibly dangerous. Like a local monster that has to be put down because people have been disappearing from the forest. Except I can’t put you down. And I can’t kick you out. Instead I have to find a way for you to be removed from this place.”
“Then why are you trying to help?” Sir Argvald smirked.
“Because my plan has already succeeded. By the time you finish the championship tournament, you will be on your way out of here for good. I can afford to be a bit nicer.” That statement stunned Ander, and he failed to make a comeback before Sir Argvald walked away.
“Damn him.” Ander said, but there was no heat to his voice. Apparently he had been outplayed, and he didn’t even know how yet. In any case, he had to figure out where those eggs were. He figured he would return with some egg fragments, rather than a whole egg. That should be enough of a failure to lose Sir Mattheos’ interest but enough of a success as to not earn his enmity.
Of course, that meant getting information from the Dusk’s Rangers. He could try to steal it like he did with the Crimson Stars. But he had good relations with the Dusk’s Rangers and was tired of the problems caused by his interactions with the Crimson Stars. He would try a different way. Apparently he would be out of the pit in two weeks, so he could afford to be a bit more free with his promises.
It took him ten minutes to arrive at the Dusk’s Ranger’s guildhouse on Stalactite Street. His entrance turned heads, and the entire place went silent when he announced that he was going to join. Then they all exploded with cheers. Apparently, as Ander learned in the ensuing chaos, before Cormal rose up, the Dusk’s Rangers were led by their own great fighter. He had left The Pit some six months ago, and Cormal had been pressing them hard ever since. Ander’s very presence as a member of Dusk’s Rangers meant that they gained breathing room to build up and train. That was aside from the mountain of resources they would gain when Ander participated in the Tournament.
When Ander was introduced to the current guild leader, he was offered a great deal. He would have to make an appearance on the shared border between Dusk’s Rangers and the Crimson Stars, and make a little trouble. He would need to do that once a week in perpetuity as long as he stayed in The Pit. Otherwise, he had access to all the resources they had at their disposal, and freedom to do what he wished. Dusk’s rangers already were a far more hands off organisation, and so his relative freedom was far more acceptable to them. The guild leader floated the idea of Ander replacing him as the new guild leader, but Ander flatly refused. Ander could tell that the poor man was at his wits end trying to keep the Dusk’s Rangers afloat, but as a guild leader he wouldn’t be able to do any of the things he needed or wanted to do.
While the guild leader was obviously disappointed, he accepted Ander’s refusal, and gave him immediate access to their stores of information. The only time an egg had ever been found was by the selfsame guild leader who had left six months previously. He had claimed that it was down on the 32nd level, which would be quite the feat to get to. He went on to describe a forest of round stones that flaked to reveal a mother of pearl iridescence. He had sold the thing for half a million contribution points which he had used to set a stable foundation for the Dusk’s Rangers upon his leaving. The one thing he never did was show where the hell the egg forest was, which meant that all Ander really had to go on was an unreliable 32nd level. Which was far lower than Ander had ever gone. The old guild leader must have been at a very high level to get down that far.
That would be tricky, but Ander figured he could get down there if he had a week. He would slowly make his way down, grinding his levels and skill levels at the same time. It was a good enough plan, but he had to take care of some things first. He went back to the inn and found Karsish in his room.
“What are you doing here? I thought you were going into hiding?” Karsish said.
“I was going to, but Sir Argvald dragged me back.” Ander said. “I am free to go now, and will be in the ruins for a bit. I just wanted to make sure you had the reading materials you needed.” He then proceeded to place several full bookshelves around Karsish’s room.
“Thanks, Ander.” Karsish said. “I didn’t know what I was going to do about my research with you and all the books gone.”
“Don’t mention it.” Ander said. “Just get done with your research so we can both learn real magic.” Ander then left without another word.