Back to Basics - 1.7

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Klbkch looked at me with an intimidating stare. At least I assumed it was intended to be intimidating. Antiinium faces were hard to read.

"Don't try to deny it, I am already certain you formed a Unitasis Network. You may have locked me out that first day, but I am a True Antinium. I can still feel it— though faintly."

Ah. He was referring to my powers. Why does he think he recognizes them though?

"I think there's been a misunderstanding. I have no idea what a 'Unitasis Network' is. What exactly are you referring to?"

Klbkch stared blankly at her for a moment.

"I am referring to the telepathic network that you are currently broadcasting. You say it is not a Unitasis Network? What is it then?"

"Oh, that? It's a skill I gained a while ago. I'd rather keep the details of it to myself if you don't mind."

Klbkch leaned forward, slamming an armored hand down on the table between us.

"That is not an option. You will disclose the details of your skill to me."

I narrowed my eyes at him. Why was he being so insistent? Was telepathy some sort of Anitium secret?

"I don't think I will. I already told you, it's not a Unitasis Network. That's all you need to know."

In an instant, Klbkch was standing up, hands resting on the twin blades sheathed at his hips. I tensed, ready to dart backward the moment he so much as twitched, I had Shield Spiders surrounding the inn, ready to burst in at any second.

"Do you know who I am?"

"I'm guessing someone more important than a Senior Guardsman?"

His mandibles clicked angrily.

"I am Klbkchhezeim of the Centennium, Prognugator of the Free Antinium. But the humans know me only as Klbkch the Slayer."

"Fancy titles. The answer is still no."

I leaned back in my chair and gazed cooly at him. As I hoped, I felt [Heroic Stance] kicking in to make my posture seem more confident.

If he decided to kill me, there wasn't really much I could do about it. I had no idea if any of my smaller bugs had venom that would work on him. His blades would reach my neck long before any of my larger ones reached him. My only hope was to bet that he wanted whatever information he thought I had, more than he wanted to kill me. That would leave me room to negotiate.

"Has the reputation of the Antinium faded so fast? Perhaps you will respond to more concrete threats then. You and your teammate are not Liscorian citizens and therefore not under its protection. If you don't tell me what I want to know, you and your partner will be taken to the Free Hive and thoroughly interrogated."

Shoving my emotional responses into my bugs, I slowly sat up and pulled down the collar of my shirt. There, resting right over my heart, was a small Shield Spider.

"Are you familiar with the potency of Shield Spider venom? It's fangs are already in. The moment I give the signal, it'll pump the venom straight into my heart. I'm disposable, but I've worked with people who would treat your whole Hive as an inconvenience. Trust me when I say, you'd rather be dealing with me."

Klbkch considered me for a moment, trying to decide if I was bluffing. Outside the inn, my bugs tore into each other expressing the panic that I couldn't. My body lay completely still and my face was a blank mask. Hopefully, it'd be enough to fool him.

After a tense few seconds, he relaxed his grip on his weapons and settled back into his chair.

"Very well. I admit, I may have been hasty. I meant no offense to your organization. I am authorized to negotiate on behalf of the Antinium. What price would you demand for this information?"

I pulled my collar back up and thought for a moment. What could I get out of this? Would he even be satisfied with whatever information I gave him? The thing I needed most was time.

What was the best way to delay giving him the information as long as possible, while still getting the reward? Then, an idea came to me.

"Before we talk about price, let's talk about what I'm willing to offer. The skill I use is related to my specific class. A class that's very difficult to obtain and requires extensive training. I would be willing to train some of your Antinium for a price. Per person and session, of course."

"Hmmm… depending on the exact price that seems reasonable. How often would you be coming to the Hive?"

"The same Hive you threatened to interrogate me in? No. We do this here, or we don't do it at all. Two-hour sessions, three times a week."

"That is unacceptable. Liscor imposes a limit on how many Soldiers we can have on the surface at once. The training sessions must be held in the Hive."

I shrugged.

"That sounds like your problem to deal with."

Klbkch looked like he was about to argue but calmed himself.

"Fine. Now shall we negotiate the price?"

***

"Food's ready!"

Erin came back just as we finished negotiating the details of our arrangement. Having just finished dealing with him, I had to say… Klbkch was a terrible negotiator.

It was like he had no concept of money! I couldn't tell if it was an Antinium thing or a Klbkch thing, but he seemed to just accept whatever price I suggested. The only thing he cared about was getting the most training time possible. He'd even promised to let me look at a catalog of the Antinium armory if I added more training sessions.

Suffice it to say, Erin and I were going to be getting some new toys to play with. It almost made me feel bad for taking advantage of him. Until I remembered that he had been threatening me with torture only minutes before.

"Thanks, Erin."

"Thank you, Erin."

Klbkch and I accepted our plates from Erin, silently agreeing not to acknowledge what had just occurred. Relc came out of the kitchen carrying another plate when Erin hit him in the stomach with a frying pan.

"No more for you! You already ate a whole batch while I was cooking!"

"Aw come on! That was just a taste!"

"Nope! If you want more, go make more!"

Relc sighed and handed Erin the plate. When he was about to sit down, Klbkch interjected.

"Actually, I think it is about time we returned to our duties. Let us go, Relc."

"What? You haven't even finished your food."

Klbkch lifted the plate, tilted his head back, and dumped all of its contents down whatever Antinium had for a throat.

"Delicious.Thank you for the meal, Ms. Erin."

Klbkch nodded at me and then dragged Relc away from the table. Erin and I stared after them as they made their way out the door.

"What was that about?"

How much should I tell her?

It probably wouldn't help Erin's mental health to know how close we had just been to dying. The only things she needed to know about were the arrangements of the deal. I'd tell her about how exactly it went down once we'd had more than a few days for things to settle down.

"Klbkch and I made a deal. In exchange for a few favors, some magic items, and a lot of money, I'm going to be training some Antinium to be [Superheroes]."

"That's awesome! Are they joining our adventuring team?"

"No, just training. They're going to be coming over four days a week, for three hours."

"Alright. Did you already tell Pisces? Actually, where is he? It doesn't take that long to get water… Do you think he ran away again?"

It didn't take that long to get water. Pisces had been waiting outside the Inn invisibly while I was talking to Klbkch. Once we'd settled into negotiations, he'd gone to actually get the water. He hadn't overheard anything important— he'd already seen my bug control — but I needed to make sure he kept quiet about how voluntary the negotiation really was.

"He's probably just being lazy. I'll go look for him."

With that, I got up and exited the inn. It didn't take much waiting before Pisces approached the door with a bucket of water in hand.

"Pisces. Whatever you heard in that negotiation stays between us, alright? I don't want to worry Erin."

"Understood. I must ask though… were you lying to the Antinium?"

I considered for a moment.

"I may have stretched the truth, but most of what I said was true."

"Hmmm… I see."

We both headed back into the inn and sat down at the table with Erin. We spent the rest of dinner discussing what we would be doing over the next few days. There was an underlying tension to the meal, that we all refused to acknowledge. It had been a long day and everybody was looking forward to getting some rest.

I yawned deeply.

"I think it's time for us to get to bed. We'll be going for another run tomorrow morning."

Erin sighed but she was too tired to whine about it. Pisces simply grunted and went down the halls to look for a room.

"Night, Taylor."

"Good night, Erin."

I headed to my room and hit the bed. I lay there, thinking about how busy the coming weeks would be. I needed to be ready. Erin was counting on me. Other people from Earth were probably out there too, lost and confused. I couldn't help them right now, but I would. And I'd make whatever allies and enemies necessary to get us home.

I slowly drifted off to sleep, planning for the future.

[Superhero Level 5!]

[Skill – Forced Surrender obtained!]

[Skill – Bullet Time obtained!]

***

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

A small goblin scurried across the Floodplains under the cover of night. She was scared. She didn't want to be here. But she had been told to go. And so she did.

The tribe had been planning to attack the female human again. Despite their earlier failure, she was still an easy target, far from the other humans. The scent of food wafting from the building was too tempting a prize.

This time, they decided to be careful. To be smart. They chose to wait and watch the human. To strike when she was weak. They refused to be embarrassed again.

They had worried when more people had come to the building. People with armor and weapons. Fortunately, the people with weapons had left. Only three humans remained. A scrawny man and two women. One of them was a cripple. Still easy to defeat.

Just in case, the goblins decided to scout out the building. They needed someone small to avoid attention and fit into small places. Someone smart enough to be cautious and gather information. Someone like the little goblin. The littlest goblin. So she went.

She scrambled up the hill, careful to stay away from the windows. It was night so the humans were probably asleep but the little goblin was wary. She darted around the building looking for a way to make an entrance. Everything was locked. The front door shut tight. She kept searching and…

There.

The building was old and worn. There was a rotted board in the foundation, peeling away from the others. The goblin grabbed it and heaved, prying it loose. She looked around frantically to see if the sound had been noticed. Nothing.

Steeling herself, the goblin squeezed into the tight underbelly of the building. It was cramped, but she could tell she was just small enough. As she made her way into the darkness, her hand brushed against something. She pressed her hand against it and felt hard bumpy ridges. Then it shifted.

The goblin scrambled backward, stifling a scream. She ran for the hills, but they followed. Shield Spiders.

She'd seen them crawling around the building before, but she'd thought they were all gone. She was wrong. Spiders of all sizes flooded from the building, scuttling after the goblin. She realized she couldn't escape. Her tribe had fought their kind before, but she was alone. And she was small.

She tripped and tumbled to the ground. The swarm was almost upon her. She closed her eyes and tucked into a ball, hoping that it would be over soon. The mass of insects flowed over her, and she felt her limbs constrict as they were bound with silk.

Huh?

She'd seen goblins killed by these spiders before. They bit into the goblin, injecting it with venom before dragging it back into their lair. They dragged her body across the ground, but the venom never came.

Eventually, the spiders stopped. Through the silk, she could feel that the floor was even. Was the building their lair? Had they already feasted on the humans inside? The goblin did the only thing she could do in this situation and waited, silently.

Her ears were muffled by the silk, but she heard the sound of footsteps.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

They were getting closer to her. Her heart which had calmed down during the wait, sped up once more. Was she a sacrifice? Did they spare her so she'd be fresh for the [Chieftan] of the spiders?

Then it spoke.

"Really? It is way too late for this shit."

***

I inspected the bundle of silk on the floor as Erin and Pisces stumbled groggily down the stairs. I'd had my Shield Spiders on autopilot while I slept. Their instructions for intruders were to bind them in silk and wake me up. When I was lucid enough to tell what was going on, I'd had them drag their captive into the inn while I woke up Erin and Pisces.

"What the heck is that?"

Erin was the first one down plopping herself down at a table in her spider silk pajamas. Pisces followed suit, though he was still wearing the same clothes as the day I'd met him. Making a mental note to deal with that, I turned to Erin.

"I'm not sure. I gave my spiders standing orders to capture anything or anyone that entered the inn while I was asleep."

I had one of my spiders make a slit in the bundle where I assumed the face would be. The silk fell away to reveal a small green face, twisted in terror.

"You woke us up for a single goblin? Why didn't you just kill it? We can collect the bounty in the morning."

Erin spun to look at Pisces, horrified disbelief on her face.

"Kill her? She looks terrified! Taylor, untie her!"

Not this again…

"Erin, she was trying to break in. I'm not going to untie her until we figure out why."

I really didn't want to get into that argument with Erin again. And over a goblin of all things? I wasn't a fantasy person, but even I knew they were stereotypical enemies.

"Pisces tried to rob us and look at him now!"

"Erin, that literally happened yesterday. You can't use him as anecdotal evidence if he hasn't proven himself. No offense, Pisces."

"That is fair. Though, if I may offer my opinion, a single goblin, especially one this small, is hardly a threat. There should be no harm in untying it. I could deal with it in a single spell if it tried anything."

"See! Harmless! No spells though, Pisces!"

I studied the little goblin on the floor, staring up at us with wide fearful eyes. It didn't look like a threat. But then again, neither did I. In the end, I decided to trust Pisces' assessment. He was a native after all.

"Alright, fine! Let's just get this over with."

I had my spiders undo the goblin's bindings and it immediately scrambled away from us, tucking into a corner. It really did look pitiful.

I walked slowly over to the goblin and it flinched, though I stopped a good distance away. I crouched down looking directly into its eyes.

"Why are you here?"

I waited for a response but the goblin just stared at me in fear.

"Taylor?"

I turned back to look at Pisces.

"What?"

"Goblins don't speak. They mostly communicate via grunts and body language. It's quite fascinating really."

I sighed. How was I supposed to get information out of it then? Yes or no questions? This was going to be exhausting. I turned back to the goblin, trying not to show my irritation.

"Can you understand me?"

The goblin nodded quickly.

"Alright, good. Did you come here alone?"

The goblin hesitated before shaking its head.

Suspicious.

"I don't believe that. Why don't you try again?"

I had my bugs buzz from all around the goblin. It spun around whimpering then curled up into a ball.

"Taylor! Stop that!"

Erin shoved me aside and went to comfort the goblin. Before she even got close, the goblin took off scampering for the nearest exit. I had my spiders block them all off and it froze, cowering again.

"Erin, we need information. How do we know this wasn't just a scout?"

"Look at her! She's just a little kid! And she's so skinny too— she must be starving!"

Erin turned and walked hurriedly into the kitchen.

"Ummm… Taylor? I can't see anything."

I suppressed the urge to palm my face and summoned some fireflies to light up the inn.

"Rhir's hells! Are those acid flies?"

I turned to Pisces with a quizzical look. Both he and the goblin were spinning around warily, keeping as far away from the flies as possible.

"What do you mean by 'acid flies'?

"I mean the acid-spitting flies that are currently filling the inn!"

All flies spit acid. Are these ones more potent?

I had one of the flies land on a table in front of me. I could feel its instincts and they were similar to a normal flies'. I situated it over a stray pasta noodle to test Pisces' claim. I activated the instinct the fly had for vomiting on food, and it spat out a glob of glowing green goo. It dissolved right through the pasta. And the table. And the chair. And part of the way into the ground before fizzling out.

"Wow. That seems very useful."

I can't believe I've been using these as flashlights.

"Yes, as well as incredibly dangerous. I'd prefer it if you kept them away from me."

"I have perfect control over them. There shouldn't be any harm in using them for light."

"Forgive me if I'd rather stay in the dark for now."

I shrugged and turned back to the goblin. It was still staring up at the lights, but this time not in fear. This time, its eyes were beaming with curiosity. It noticed me watching and cringed away.

Taking a closer look, I noticed it— she was a girl. A very skinny girl. She must have been malnourished.

At that moment Erin came running out of the kitchen with some hastily fried eggs. The goblin looked ready to scramble away again, but the sight of the food made her freeze.

"I made you food! There's pasta too, but it's still boiling. Here, eat it!"

Erin set the food down on the closest table and backed away. The goblin didn't move. Her eyes darted around as if looking for a trap.

"I know you're hungry. We aren't gonna hurt you. You can eat the food."

The goblin still seemed skeptical, but her hunger proved to far outweigh her caution. She darted over to the eggs and dug in. She didn't eat sloppily, like I'd expected, but carefully. As if every scrap of food were something too precious to be wasted.

While she was eating, Erin turned to me and gave me a look that was growing exhaustingly familiar.

"Can we keep her?"

For the hundredth time that day, I sighed.