Anger flashed on her face, and she cast another spell. This time a column of golden light descended on him. Joe felt as if gravity had increased several times, and he was forced to his knees. The moment he dropped; the column of light rained silver crescents of metal onto him. Like a hail of razor blades, they impacted his back. Joe could feel the blades cutting into his armor, however, between his armor and his abilities, he endured the attack with only superficial wounds. As the spell ended, Joe stood up only to be engulfed by a curtain of fire that shot up from the ground at his feet. He stood in the fire unmoving. He could hear the gasps of those in the crowd, from both the humans and the elves. Somewhere he thought he could hear Rory laughing. So far nothing she threw at him seemed all that dangerous, but his anger was still running high. It was an effort of will to keep from lashing out and destroying her and he took a precious second to try to get a grip on his emotional state. Fundamentally, he knew that the System was somehow making him hyper-aggressive, but he did not know why. The aggression seemed to stem from encountering the elves. Why the elves? Is my mysterious benefactor doing this? Does he have beef with the tall, pointy eared people? Joe felt his anger shift. It moved away from being pointed at the elves and more towards whomever or whatever was actively interfering with his mind. That, in and of itself, was enough to piss him off even more. Then something unexpected happened which changed his immediate surroundings and his emotional state.
Notice! You have entered the limits of [New Santa Cruz’s] domain. The bonuses from your city titles have been restored.
Notice! The control effects of [Eldritch Arena] have been broken.
Joe, slightly confused by the turn of events decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth, smiled behind his leather mask and stepped out of the curtain of fire like an apparition. The shadow smoke given off by his armor added to the effect as he strode forward unscathed by the eldritch flames. Rainia’s eyes went wide but she recovered quickly and cast another spell as she once more closed the space between them, leading with her sword. Joe blocked the incoming attacks and allowed her to cast her spell.
Four ghostly elves appeared in the arena, each one clothed in ethereal plate armor. Moving as one, they flung their arms forward and bright silver chains erupted from their open palms to wrap around Joe, pinning his arms against his sides and immobilizing his legs. They all pulled, and the chains snapped taut and held him bound.
Rainia yelled in triumph, leapt forward, and slid her sword through Joe’s heart.
Joe caught Rainia’s gaze as the chains around him fell to the ground, passing harmlessly through his intangible form. He dismissed his swords and, capitalizing on her momentary confusion, he punched her in the face. The armored warrior woman’s head snapped back as the noise from the contact sent a cracking sound across the arena. A spray of blood flew from her face as the force of the punch lifted her from her feet and sent her sprawling onto the asphalt. Joe casually strolled over to her as she scrambled to her feet. Her ghostly attendants dissipated in a burst of golden motes of light.
“You like chains? You know, I can do chains.” Joe gestured and cast [Justiciar’s Judgement].
At the edge of the arena eight black columns rose from the ground and formed the Scales of Justice. As the smoking black scales formed, Joe heard murmurs of fear and surprise from both sides of the gathered combatants. The banner bearer for the prince could be heard, “Not possible!” Rainia looked at Joe with abject fear. All pretensions were gone, and she gaped in terror as the chains from the scales found their unerring way to her. She turned on her heel and with a burst of speed she shot towards the line of elven infantry, but the chains were faster, and she was stopped in her tracks as the umbral, smoking chains slammed into her. They pierced her arms and legs, tearing through her armor as if it was wet paper. Two chains slammed into her chest and back, then they all pulled taut.
The woman was yanked into the air and held suspended in the center of the arena as Joe raised his hand and an enormous hammer of umbral energy formed above her. The hammer hovered above the bound woman, growing larger by the second until it was the size of a bus. Joe held his hand up, palm open as he looked at the woman held by his spell. The chains shifted and she was spun in place until she was looking down at Joe. “I’m sure you had other tricks up your sleeve, but that fight was getting boring.” He made eye contact with the prince. “Several things are about to happen, and you have the power to create a favorable outcome for you and your people. To be honest, I don’t want to kill her. But I will if I am given no choice.” He regarded Rainia once more. “There’s a great word, choice. I’ve spent the last month and a bit thinking I really didn’t have any choices in my life anymore. The System came and fucked everything up. I’ve watched friends die and my world get twisted into a weird, alien thing. And you know what? I’m tired of being passive and just taking it on the chin.” He walked over to the elven delegation and addressed the prince directly, making sure that the warriors in the back could hear. “You came to my world and to my city and made demands. Hell, you didn’t even pretend to try diplomacy to see if we could coexist. You just marched up, all superior and told us we had to leave.” He gestured behind himself at Rainia and the smoking scales. “And now look at you. All of you!” He raised his voice to a yell. “Do you see?! I am a fucking Umbral Justiciar, my word is law, and I say that if you leave me and mine alone, I will do the same! But! If you so much as sneeze on one of my people, I will tear you and your people apart with my bare fucking hands!!”
He turned on his heel, not caring to see the reaction his words evoked. He stood under Rainia and said, “You now have a choice. Forfeit this challenge and live, or die right here, right now.” His eyes bored into hers as she blanched, and her pale skin tone turned even lighter.
“I…” she began.
The prince’s voice boomed out loudly, “I forfeit this challenge on behalf of Rainia Ta’Aladar!”
“My prince, No!” Rainia screamed as even his personal guard became vocal. But the deed was done. There was a resounding crack from the prince as he took the brunt of the forfeiture which dropped him to his knees.
Joe dropped his spell and Rainia landed on her feet and sped over to the stricken prince. The banner bearer and the princes guard all hovered about, unsure of what to do. An elf in ornate robes detached himself from the onlooking army and rushed to the prince’s side. Joe assumed he was a healer as he cast spell after spell on the prince. Joe strode over to stand, almost looming over the prince. This action garnered him hateful looks from those around the prince.
Joe knelt down, “That was very noble of you.” He regarded the prince who sat back on his knees while the attending healer wiped his brow with a damp cloth, the prince’s helmet discarded to the side.
“It was the only way to save Rainia from her own folly.” The prince replied through gritted teeth.
“My prince, I was only…” Rainia began to protest but the prince cut her off.
“No.” He raised his head to look at those around him. “I am at fault.” He turned to Joe, “In my hubris, I assumed that no newly integrated human could rise to the levels displayed by your status, nor be able to claim the class of Justiciar. I see now that my understanding of the situation was clouded by my mission and my own arrogance.” This caused several elves to begin to argue against his words. He motioned to the healer, “Help me rise.” The healer assisted him in standing, and Joe followed suit. The prince turned to address his people. “We, the people of Alantria honor our word. We will not pursue the land, nor bring knowing harm to the people of New Santa Cruz.” He raised his hand and pointed at his army, “So swear we!”
Almost as a single booming voice, the army replied, “SO SWEAR WE!”
The prince turned back to Joe, “I hope that satisfies your challenge requirement. I would like to add my sincerest apologies to you, Justiciar. Had I truly known, I would have acted differently.” The prince bowed to Joe, one hand resting on his chest, the other held out, palm up.
Joe did not know how to respond to the gesture, but his newly calm emotional state knew how to respond to the princes’ words. “Your Highness. For my part I am satisfied with the declaration of your people, however, I am not satisfied with the outcome of the challenge.”
This caused the prince to pause and both Rainia and Gar’An’s eyes to go wide with shock. Even the healer seemed taken aback. “What more can I offer the Jotunkin Dragonslayer for this lack of satisfaction?” the prince asked in a level voice.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Joe sighed and turned to look for Bixby, whom he saw sitting just inside the gated wall, a few feet inside the city borders. He gestured and the hound bounded over. Joe turned away from the elves and spoke in soft tones to his companion, who answered with emphatic barks and woofs and finally with a wagging tail. Joe redirected his attention back to the prince. “I think that both parties came to this encounter with high emotions and too much anger. Can we agree that was the case?” At the prince’s careful nod, Joe continued, “Can we perhaps entertain the possibility of peaceful diplomacy between our peoples? Something that has the potential to open trade?”
The prince was taken aback for a heartbeat before his diplomatic training kicked into high gear. “That is surprising to hear and is also a most welcome proposition. That does not enlighten me, though, on your dissatisfaction with the outcome of the challenge.”
Joe pulled his hood back and removed his leather face mask. He gave a heartfelt smile. “Well, I am hoping to remedy that by offering you an olive branch. Hmmm, probably didn’t translate well.”
“A peace offering. Yes, I understood.” The prince was truly curious at that point.
“I read the description of the repercussions of forfeiting the challenge. I know you just lost quite a lot of Willpower and an entire ability. I would like to offer to rescind that judgement from the challenge.” Joe watched the prince’s reaction.
The prince stood still as he took in what Joe was saying. The elves around him stared in open mouthed shock. A haze of murmuring voices behind Joe told him his allies were also both amazed by the offer and stunned that he could even do such a thing.
“I have heard that the Justiciar’s can forgive a great many things. I do not know that I have ever heard of something on this scale though. You continue to surprise, delight and to be frank, frighten me.” The prince looked around and then back at Joe, “To be clear, I do not ask this of you. I will treat with you fairly and I will open trade negotiations with your people if you can forgive my previous pomposity.”
Joe nodded along as the prince spoke, “Yeah, I thought you were a douchebag when we met, but you’ve surprised me, and quite honestly, I’ve surprised myself. Look, I don’t know if this will really work, but I’m willing to give it a try. At best you regain your stats and skill. At worst, nothing changes.”
“Very well, then, I agree.” The prince held out his hand.
“My prince! Surely you cannot be entertaining the idea of this human doing such a thing?” Gar’An spoke quickly and a bit loudly. “It could be a ruse to assassinate you or put you under his thrall!”
The prince turned on his banner bearer with fire in his eyes, “You, sir, are out of line! Do you presume to tell me what I can and cannot do?” He looked back at the army standing at attention and called out, “Captain Fernal!” An elf detached himself from the regiment and strode forward, “Take young Gar’An and remove him from his duties as my banner bearer. Place him where you see fit.”
The captain nodded and grasped the sputtering young elf’s arm and dragged him away as he pleaded and cajoled the prince not to be removed from duty.
The prince regarded Joe once more, “I apologize for the outburst.”
Joe smirked, “No worries. He was a douchebag.” He held out his hand. “Shall I?”
The prince did not hesitate to place his hand in Joe’s. The princes guard all bristled a bit but settled down as, surprisingly, Rainia motioned them to stand down.
Justiciar’s Mercy
Just as a justiciar’s word can be made manifest with [Justiciar’s Judgement], so too can their mercy reverse the judgement of another Warden or Justiciar, and even that of the System itself. In special cases, when another Warden, Justiciar or the System has imposed a penalty upon a being, a Justiciar, in their wisdom and mercy may undo the judgment and undo any penalties accrued by said judgement. This is not an easy task, nor one taken lightly by a Justiciar as the cost of [Justiciar’s Mercy] can be high.
If the judgement was from a Warden or Justiciar below the mercy giving Justiciar’s level, the cost of [Justiciar’s Mercy] is the permanent loss of 2 Willpower points and drains all but 1 point of Stamina from the casting Justiciar. The Stamina loss is regenerated at half the normal speed until fully recovered.
If the judgement was from a Warden or Justiciar above the mercy giving Justiciar’s level, the cost of [Justiciar’s Mercy] is the permanent loss of 4 Willpower points and drains all but 1 point of Stamina from the casting Justiciar. The Stamina loss is regenerated at half the normal speed until fully recovered. Additionally, it drains one quarter of the casting Justiciar’s Mana. The Mana loss is regenerated at half the normal speed until fully recovered.
If the judgement was from the System itself, the cost of [Justiciar’s Mercy] is the permanent loss of 4 Willpower points, 4 Constitution points and drains all but 1 point of Stamina from the casting Justiciar. The Stamina loss is regenerated at one quarter the normal speed until fully recovered. Additionally, it drains all but 1 point of the casting Justiciar’s Mana. The Mana loss is regenerated at one quarter the normal speed until fully recovered.
Joe reread the spell description but was brought out of his focus on it by Bixby who had prodded him with his nose. The elves were still on high alert, but it was Rainia who continued to hold them in place. Bixby barked and woofed a few times and Joe answered, “I understand the danger and I’m willing to pay the price for peace.” Bixby barked some more and ended with a resolute huff. Joe nodded and buried his free hand in Bixby’s thick mane of fur. To the prince, Joe said, “This will cost me, but not as much as it cost you. My companion, Bixby, has offered to take the brunt of the cost so as not to diminish me. We’ve argued and come to an agreement that we will split the cost if we can.”
The prince’s eyes went wide, and his regal demeanor completely dropped as he faced the duo. “Why? I do not understand.” He seemed to truly acknowledge Bixby at that point.
Joe’s smile faltered and he looked tired, “It’s pretty simple really. I’m dead tired of there being so much death and destruction because of the System. I have the power to make a difference for the lives of my people, but also to be true to my class, I would be derelict in my duty if I did not uphold my principles for all peoples. That includes my friends, my dwarven allies, as well as the people of Alantria. Is that a satisfactory answer?”
The prince nodded and seemed to deflate a bit, “Truly I have underestimated you at every turn Joseph Sherman. It would be my honor to accept your mercy. Please know that the crown of Alantria does not regard your judgement lightly.”
At that, Joe cast the spell.
Thunder boomed and the sky above Joe and the prince ripped open revealing a dark void. It was filled with shadows moving and morphing. Never taking a single shape and yet seemingly alive with movement and a sense of sentience. A dark spike of energy lanced from the heavens and pierced Joe. A spike broke off and slammed through Bixby and impacted the ground with a shudder. Joe was transfixed from one shoulder to the opposite hip as the spike ran into the ground at his feet. There was no blood, but both he and Bixby began to smoke. Black veins appeared on Joe’s face and the whites of his eyes flooded with darkness. In an instant, the prince’s flesh took on the dark veins as well, and he shook. Then the shadow smoke engulfed all three. A wind arose, snapping the banners and pennants of the attending army of elves and causing the humans and dwarves to shield their eyes.
Joe’s voice echoed out, “YOU HAVE BEEN GRANTED MERCY!”
Suddenly, the shadows left the prince and retracted into Joe. The spike through Bixby pulled itself free and finally, the main one piercing Joe slid from his body and back into the tear in the sky. With an odd zipping sound, the tear closed, and the wind immediately stopped. Joe and Bixby both dropped to the ground. Instantly Iona, Kier, Rory and Mirabella were at their side. Kier began casting healing spells on Joe.
The prince stood staring at his Status screen for a moment before directing his own healer to assist Kier. The elf did not hesitate, a look of awe on his face. Kier allowed the elf to cast his spells on Joe and turned his attention to Bixby. Minutes passed before Joe sat up. “Well, that was a hard kick in the ass.”
A collective sigh of relief came from Joe’s friends as Bixby sat up on his haunches. Rory clapped Joe on the shoulder and in a rare moment of tenderness, clasped Bixby in a huge hug. “Ah, well and good on you lads.” He let go of Bixby and adjusted his helmet, “You’re both right monsters and make no mistake. I have neaer seen such a thing.”
Joe laughed, “Look at you, you big softy.”
Rory glowered at him, “Aye, only cause it’s you. Anyone else calls me a softy, I’ll skelp their arse.” He ended his threat with a wink as he tossed a large piece of jerky at Bixby who snapped it out of the air.
Mirabella slid into place next to Rory and hugged Bixby as well while Iona stood by staring at Joe with an unreadable expression. Soon more of the council walked over and Joe finally stood. The air was tense with the humans, dwarves, and elves all near one another, but Rainia broke the emotional stalemate when she approached Joe with a deep bow, “Justiciar. I hope you will forgive me as I hope my prince will forgive me for my foolish pride and a challenge made in the heat of anger. For what you have done for my prince I am in your debt.”
Joe placed a hand on her armored shoulder, “You’re a fierce warrior. I forgive you.”
Congratulations! You have earned the skill, Diplomacy.
Congratulations! Your skill, Diplomacy, has increased to Tier 2.
And there it is. Only took the possibility of war to get it. Fucking System. Joe chuckled inwardly. Bixby cocked his head inquisitively. Smiling at the enormous hound, he said, “I’ll tell you later.”
The atmosphere immediately calmed, and the prince called on his troops to stand down as they were now conversing with allies. Orders were barked and the elven regiments stood at ease, no longer emitting any kind of harmful intent. The prince looked once more to Joe, “I have experienced a great many things in my life, but I have never seen the full might of a justiciar until today. You sir, are frightening.”
Joe chuckled, “I keep hearing that.”
As the two armies began to mingle, a distant, but slow and steady noise could be heard. It soon became clearer, and Joe could make out a rhythmic drumming that sounded like it came from a great many drums at once. Joe looked around as everyone else also seemed to become alert to the noise, “Anyone know what that is?” He asked the crowd.
With as much distaste as he could conjure, Rory spat, “Orcs!”