Chapter 9
After this final test Alec joined the other adventurers in a tent, where they waited for the actual tournament to begin. About one hundred people had gathered in the big tent when the first match was finally announced. Not one of them had as good results as Alec, although most had excelled in at least one of the categories.
The participants were matched in order of their overall score in the initial examination,. So the more points one had scored the fewer matches one had to fight to reach the highest ranking, as such Alec had to wait for a long time until it was finally his turn.
Those that fought in a match didn't return to the waiting area, instead they had a separate one. Apparently the organisers didn't want that the competitors exchanged informations among themselves.
As such Alec was rather surprised when he finally entered the arena for his first match. His enemy was way younger than he had anticipated. He must be one of the few that had lived longer in this world than in the old one!
The young man was slightly smaller than Alec and had blonde hair and blue eyes. Apart from his head his whole body was clad in a heavy armour and he held the corresponding helmet under his left arm, while resting a long sword on his right shoulder.
“Another Old timer, is it?” The young man greeted him mockingly, “Are you too gonna complain about fighting a kid?”
“There is no time for taunting, don't you agree?” Alec said after moving in front of him in the instance that the young man blinked once. His blade pointed straight towards his enemies pupil.
Surprised the armour clad man scrambled backwards while donning his helmet and readying his weapon. When the dust, that had been dispersed by Alec's rapid movement, settled down it revealed two foot holds created from wood. One where Alec had accelerated and one where he had come to a halt.
“Are you ready now?” Alec asked calmly, to which the boy nodded without taking his eyes of him “Good, then let's get this match started.”.
Alec moved immediately and once again charged towards his enemy. Alec pressed the young man with a heavy over head attack, that would have cleaved him in half had he not managed to parry the blow in the very last moment.
But before he could counter-attack, Alec already had moved slightly out of his range. After that first encounter Alec didn't move so fast around this young man, instead he exchanged blow after blow with him and when he had landed a blow against him Alec always moved away a bit to let him regather his bearings and posture. His goal wasn't to kill but to test this young adventurer.
The young man grew more and more frustrated, he felt like he had completely lost control of the situation at hand. He couldn't hit Alec at all and he couldn't completely defend against him, although he had avoided all would be deadly strikes. He had to use his trumpcard, even if it could cost him dearly in the long run of this tournament. This would be the last fight of the day either way, so he would have time to recuperate.
“HERO'S MIGHT!” The young man shouted and all of a sudden accelerated like never before in this match. Yet Alec easily reacted to this increase in pace and encountered the enemy's weapon with his own. Only to be flung away.
“Locked in space, aren't ya?” Alec mumbled, “Well, I guess that's one way to solve the friction problem.”.
Alec didn't stand still after this exchange and seemingly ran from the armoured man. Meanwhile trees began to grow from the ground. And then the tables began to turn once again as the whole space was littered with footholds that accommodated Alec's attacks.
Suddenly Alec's enemy collapsed and silence filled the arena. The only thing breaking it was the heavy breathing coming from the young man.
“That's an really interesting ability you have there, but the drain does seem a bit too high for you to manage.” Alec said while kneeling next to the young man and carefully freeing him from his armour.
“You.. you toyed with me...” The man gasped.
“Of course I did, or else you would have been a bloody heap long before you could have shown all your skills to the audience.” Alec replied. “If I had been serious your steel armour would have been cut into stripes along with your flesh beneath it. I will remain in this city for quite some time, so if you seek guidance come and search me at Councillor Robert's house.”
With that Alec left the arena and joined Quini, who awaited him at the exit.
“The councillors were so impressed that they probably are still discussing your match.” Quini said while they walked towards the 'Chequerd Cow', with the alibi of celebrating Alec's victory.
“Sadly most of them want to recruit you, so we can't pinpoint our enemies yet. But I doubt that we will have to wait for long for them to take actions.” She continued, “So what do you think about one of the main instigators of this whole tournament, after you have fought him? I believe Stephen is his name.”
“He has potential and is definitely skilled with the sword, but he lacks tactical and magical understanding.” Alec replied, “Were there any suspicious or openly hostile councillors?”
Quini silently shook her head in reply.
“Of course, Life can't be this easy, could it?” Alec said slightly discouraged, “Anyway let us get something to eat.”
Once again the two of them strolled through the bustling streets of Alderich and were once again surprised by the variety of crafts and people in them. Although, like Robert had said, there were rarely any non-humans around. In fact Quini gathered quite some stares on her person and especially her ears.
Just slightly before the sun would have set they had reached the inn. Like last time the host stood behind his bar cleaning some spotless glasses. When he saw them he asked “Like last time?”.
To which they nodded and followed the voluptuous man into the very same room as last time.
Just as they had comfortably sat down, the panel opened and Beoldar entered the room.
“Beautifully done. Although it didn't go as planned. I never expected that the nobles would react so strongly to your emergence.” Beoldar greeted them and too sat down. “Don't look so surprised, I have quite some ears and eyes in this city. Not that it was necessary to use them, when I was able to see everything that happened in the Noble's booth from a simple seat among the common audience.”
“At least now they will probably talk and try to recruit you. If we are lucky they will directly reveal parts of their plans to you in order to convince you, but as far as I can tell they are too cautious to do that. Anyway it would be beneficial if you could further impress them.” He continued to talk. “Do you know how the tournament will continue?”.
“No.” Alec replied, ”All that they revealed was the seeding system, which I passed with flying colours today.”
“Well, they can't possibly manage all the adventurers in one day, right?” Beoldar half explained half asked. “So they will continue ranking the adventurers for a whole week, this should give you more than enough time to get some interviews with some nobles. Hopefully we get some leads, but if we don't, then we will have to use some more drastic methods. Like forcefully claiming the guild building and the mine, which are the areas that lead closest to the dungeon's heart.”
“Wouldn't that lead to an open war?” Quini asked worried.
“Probably. But a war is better than the loss of most of the lifeforms on this whole continent.” Beoldar answered, “It would be the lesser of the two evils, but it would be an evil nonetheless. The relationship between humans and dwarfs would probably be sour for centuries.”
After that was said they began to leisurely eat their meal, that just didn't seem to taste as good as last time.
“I still can't believe that someone would dare lay a hand on the dungeon, after your race's history has spread among the common folk.” Quini said after she had remained silent for quite a while.
“We have proven countless times in our history, that our kind is rather resistant towards learning from our past. Many think that they are different from their ancestors and will succeed where they have failed, when realistically their chances to do so are the same as that of their predecessors.” Alec explained. “Also there is a fundamental difference between our original races. Yours thrived through adaptation and harmony with your surroundings. Humans dominated it, they tamed and mastered many of its aspects. For fucks sake we took one of our main competitors, comparable to your Qun's, and made them into pets! Some of their offspring were less dangerous than rats! We called them dogs, and they came in a wide variety of forms and colours. Sadly there are none around in these lands or I could show you some.”
“So you think they will try to dominate the dragon?” Beoldar asked paler than the wall behind him, “I have considered this as one possibility, but with your explanation I will have to re-evaluate some of my gathered information. Say is there a certain personality profile that would fit a person that would try this?”
“No, with the right motives even the friendliest among us could be tempted to try it. 'For the greater good!' they would say and commit atrocities you couldn't even imagine.” Alec replied with sadness veiling his face.
“Our history is not a peaceful one. There have been horrendous crimes committed in the name of a 'God' that is claimed to be 'All-forgiving', 'peaceful', and that loves all of his creations equally. Truly ironic. To be fair thought in many cases religion was just a cover and not the real reason for war. Anyway there is no easy profile for a villain that threatens this continent with his arrogance.”Alec clarified.
Soon after they went their separate ways, Beoldar had a lot to organize and review, and Quini and Alec had to meet up with Robert, who probably had been sieged by the other Nobles.
Luckily, when they returned to Robert's house, there weren't any of them around, but Robert greeted them with an armful of invitations for Alec. One of them was actually from Robert himself.
“Hey, I too could use someone with your abilities from time to time.” He said to a perplexed Alec, who rummaged through the heap of paper.
“I guess I will have a busy week.” Alec finally replied.
“Most probably. I would recommend that you get yourself a nice suit. Although you don't have to impress the Nobles any further to get a job, it would help you in creating an image of professionalism and won't hurt you at all.” Robert said.
“I guess you are right. Its always easier to burn bridges than to built them, so why don't I take a few precautions to reduce the risk of fire.” Alec replied.
“If everyone would understand that as easily as you, we probably wouldn't have that much problems as we do right now. Hah! The prime example for that would be our 'revolt' against the dungeon.” Robert joked self-deprecating.
“Anyway, Its late and we all have a couple of busy days coming up, so we should go to bed now.” Quini said after listening to the conversation between the two men.
“Yeah, we probably should. Good night.” Robert said and left towards his quarters, while Quini and Alec walked towards their guest rooms.
Meanwhile in the 'Chequered Cow' Beoldar was still busy planning their future steps. But the more he planned the more he felt the dread of the whole situation creep into his mind. They knew nothing of their enemy, the only lead that it even existed was a dead dwarf and a web of rumours, that indicated that they searched for someone strong.
The only straw his mind could hang on to in order of not falling into chaos was the knowledge, that no dwarf alive knew completely how the 'key' could be made. Sure everyone knew in general what it is, just like everyone knew what a crossbow or a sword is, but to know in general what it is and how it works isn't nearly enough to replicate something, especially something as complex as the 'key'.
“Sir! Marie and Peter have returned from their mission, they wait in their quarters to give you their report.” A dwarf, one of Beoldar's subordinates, said and awoke him from his thoughts.
“I will meet them right away.” Beoldar said and followed the messenger that led the way through the tunnel system under the city.
It was a system that had been created by the dungeon itself, but only extremely few among the human citizens had learned of it. Why the dungeon created all this was a mystery to Beoldar, but it wasn't uncommon for a dungeon to do this.
After a short walk he came to a halt and knocked on Marie's and Peter's door, who promptly opened it and beckoned him in. The two of them seemed rather restless and eager to tell of what they had found. Even before Beoldar had sat down at the table in their living room, they had begun to give their report.
For accuracies sake they had begun with their departure and their travel towards a small forest east of the city. Both were rather uneventful, but with their arrival at aforementioned forest their voices grew more and more heated.
“We found a big group of humans there and many wore what appeared to be Councillor Alden's emblem, which isn't really surprising since he owns that patch of land.” Marie reported, “But what was strange was the fact that Alden's son was there. He is a bit of an oddball, you know?”
“Yes, I have read the intel on him.” Beoldar replied. “It said something about unconventional lines of thought. What exactly does that mean? And weren't most mental illnesses healed when we were transported?”
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“Well, either it wasn't considered a mental illness or it wasn't deemed to hinder his survival, so it wasn't rectified when he was transported here. Anyway he is what we would call an autistic person. His case isn't really sever and it is only visible in his shyness and an extreme talent regarding certain things, while at the same time crippling his progress in others.” Peter explained.
“Back to topic, what was strange about him being there was the fact that Alden wasn't. He normally dotes so much on him that he would only leave his side when he had to go to the council. And then there was the boys escort.... Somehow they felt more like warders than anything else.” Marie continued their report.
“And then there was what they did in the forest. I can't say for sure what they did but it lit up the whole forest with a bright white light, not much else thought, there wasn't any residue or crater left behind.” Paul said while reaching for his cup of tea.
“A bright light you say?” Beoldar asked rhetorically, “That's rather worrying, the key creates something similar when used. But if it left the surroundings intact they probably haven't figured it out yet. That means we have still some time left. But now we have a lead. Tomorrow when Alec returns from his first set of meetings with the nobles, I will direct him to accept Alden's contract. Hopefully he can uncover a bit more in that position. We mustn't let anyone, who knows how the key is made, escape after all.”
“What will you do with them when we catch them all?” Marie asked slightly worried.
“First of all we will bring them to Ungelheim.” Beoldar said. “Some have to be judged because of the kidnapping and murder of our fellow dwarves and the others will be brought in front of the dragon, so that she can show them what they wanted to achieve. Hopefully that will convince them to let the dragon cleanse their mind of that knowledge, if not they will have to die.”
In an awkward silence they ended their meeting and rather unsuccessfully tried to rest for what remained of the night.
The next morning, Alec, as usual, had awoken rather early to absolve his morning training. As usual he hummed a tune while absolving exercises that normal people couldn't hope to absolve. He was resting on his left index finger while in an handstand, when the idyll of the courtyard of Robert's Mansion was broken by a rather familiar person's intrusion.
“I didn't expect for you to come looking for me so fast.” Alec said without interrupting his training, which consisted of a constant slow shifting through awkward and strenuous positions.
“I came as soon as the detrimental effects of my ability faded.” The ironclad young man said, “I fear our introductions cam a bit short last time. I am Bernard Arison, but most people simply call me Ben.”
“Alec. Nice to meet you outside of the arena.” Alec said and shook the young man's hand. “So I imagine that you came prepared. What do you want to know, or do you need help with something?”
“I prefer to solve my problems on my own, but I would appreciate some guidance regarding my magic.” Ben said. “I simply have no clue how it works, only how I activate it and that methode is kinda embarrassing.”
“So it wasn't for show after all.” Alec said while chuckling. “What I am going to say won't be pleasant to hear so prepare yourself.”
Ben, who imagined all sorts of bad news, nodded when he was mentally prepared.
“Your training up till now, which was mostly physical from what I have witnessed, was completely wasted on you. Your ability forgoes all physical aspect of your body.” Alec explained. “It allows you to simply move through space.”
“But I can do that already!” Ben said angrily. “What's the use of such an ability?”
“Can I stand on air?” Alec asked and begun to awkwardly jump around. “No. Even the strongest human in this city and probably the whole continent can't do that. Even an air attributed mage will find that this is a troublesome task. But if I am right you can easily achieve it.”
“Also it might be possible that your perception of your magic is rather warped. It happened from time to time in the past that children didn't correctly recognize their magic and interpreted it in a way that wasn't exactly coherent with their actual magic.” Alec explained. “One's perception can change much in the status information, although we can't force it to lie. The best example would be the elves, that were first named goblins because of their physical resemblance to them.”
“So my magic isn't hero's might?” Ben asked.
“It's probably something like space manipulation. A cool super hero power isn't it? It can make you faster and stronger. You could even fly with it.” Alec explained his guess. “Say, Do you remember playing hero, while using your magic?”
“Yeah...” Ben said. “It was awesome....”
“Well that's the source of your problem in mastering your magic.” Alec said. “You see, if you give it an alias, it will be more exhausting to use. That's mainly because you have created a wrong image of it in your mind and actually don't know what you want it to do or how to achieve it.”
“By the way I kind of lied back there. I can stand on air, but it is an extremely fickle thing to do.” Alec said and stepped up an invisible stair. “I can synchronize with many things and change their properties through that, although plants and earth are the easiest for me to control. I can only do this because I understand my magic to an extreme.” Alec stomped down with one of his feet and with the sound of a popping balloon he fell down to the ground.
“Fickle as I said.”
“Then what could I do with my magic? And how do I do it?” Ben asked.
“That's mostly for you to find out. Magic is like an additional limb that differs from person to person. A snake can't teach you how to walk can it? But I can theorize with you which applications might be possible.” Alec answered. “For example you can move yourself around with it, probably by binding your body to the space around you and then move said space. Its akin to using your own body as a marionette,.That's why your physical strength is meaningless. Your first technique should be to levitate yourself, its a movement you can't possibly unconsciously fake. After you got a feel for it, you should learn all possible movements.”
“Couldn't I simply rip space apart and cut my foes with it?” Ben asked curiously.
“Do you know what would happen if you did? Or at least how to mend it back together?”Alec asked, while shaking his head. “You shouldn't play around with the fabric of space time, it might lash back.”
Solemnly Ben left to meditate about what he had learned. He would come back, if and when he had additional questions.
Soon after Ben left Quini entered the courtyard and told him that the tailor, which Robert had called for him early this morning, had arrived and awaited him.
Alec cleaned up and then entered the room where a woman equipped with a measuring tape and a pincushion, which held so many needles that it looked like a porcupine.
“Ahh, here he is the promising star of the first day of the tournament.” She greeted him. “You won't be the last of the tournament favourites I will vest this week. But you sure seem to be the most interesting among those that are handled as the strongest in the city. If you would undress a bit I could get started measuring.”
Alec stripped down to his underwear. And a slightly disappointed tailor began her work.
“Why so disappointed?” Alec asked a bit confused.
“I just anticipated a bit too much it seems. You are so strong and yet you are a far cry from those old Greek statues.” She said without stopping.
“Hahahaha. Of course I am, I ain't a freaking bodybuilder that tries to get rid of almost all his body fat and bulk up his muscles.” Alec said.”If I did, I wouldn't be able to fight like I do.”
For the rest of the hour, that the tailor worked and altered his new suit they idly chatted with each other. Through that Alec learned some useful informations about some council members and some high ranked adventurers.
“All done.” She said and twitched a bit more at his suit. “I guess we will meet again at some festivities organized by the Nobles. It has its perks to be the most renown tailor in the city.”
As she left, one of Roberts servants entered the room.
“Sir Alden sent a carriage for you and awaits you at his mansion.” He said.
“A tight schedule, isn't it?” Alec said more to himself than to the servant. “I will be on my way then.”
Ten minutes later he arrived at Alden's villa. It was a lavishly ornamented building, which consistet of three wings oriented in a U-shape. The carriage had halted in the semi enclosed court. A huge fountain had been build in its centre. Alec thought he had seen some carps in its waters.
A retainer greeted him at the door and led him through carpeted corridors towards the houses master. Alden received him surprisingly warmly. The cold and calculating demeanour described by Quini and even Robert was nowhere to be found. Even the room he was in spoke a totally different story about its inhabitant.
The furniture was comfy and all walls had been decorated with seemingly worthless but still good looking bits and pieces.
“Ah I see you discovered my son's souvenirs. He loves collecting all sort of stuff. One of the few normal things he does these days....” Alden said as he followed Alec's gaze through the room.
“I must say, I am rather surprised. You don't really fit the picture others paint of you.” Alec said after he had sat down in one of the comfy winged chairs near the fireside.
“Let me guess, they described me as cold and analytic, right? No, don't even bother to answer. I know what they say about me, after all I created that image myself.” Alden said between sips on a pot of steaming tea. “But what use is a facade if it lost its cause? When it failed to cover what it was meant to?”
A shudder wandered through Alec's body, which he identified as the activation of an area spell. But despite that sudden interruption he still calmly sat in his chair.
“Don't worry, that was just my ability. It allows me to separate us from the outside, although its still possible to leave and enter this room, it is impossible to eavesdrop on us right now.” Alden said and placed his cup on a small table. He stood up and strolled to one of the many souvenir-covered shelves.
“Its one of the few reasons they never bothered placing guards or spies in my house. Sadly they found other means to control me.” Alden said with a face warped by pure rage.
“Do they know of us and our purpose?” Alec asked.
“No, luckily the others were rather ignorant towards the few signs you and your dwarven friends left behind. I only know of all this because I used to use the tunnels of the city to have some private time with my son. I stumbled upon some lost dwarfs in there and listened in on their conversation. ” Alden said with a now calmer and more controlled face. “At first they wanted my son for his ability, but now they also use him to control me! I have barely seen him this month...”
“I guess you want me to free him? But won't they get suspicious when you so openly invite me to talk with you?” Alec asked worriedly.
“Pah, they are mostly fools, only the women in red that leads this damn group is cunning. And she hasn't noticed your presence here yet.” Alden replied.
“Women in red? Doesn't she have a name? And how can you be so certain, that she doesn't know of me?” Alec asked.
“Sadly I can't give you any names, mostly because they use disguises and voice changing magical items whenever they meet. But the women clad in red is their leader as far as I know. Also if she had noticed you she would definitely have given us orders to immediately bring you to her or recruit you. Or even kill you. She can see through ones power, like my son can. He informed me that you might be our only hope to flee from their clutches.” Alden said and continued in a kneeling position. “I beg of you free my son. This should also help your cause, as he holds important information about their project!”
“Can you give me any clue on how I could free him? Or at least where he is held captive?” Alec asked.
“Luckily they have never bothered to keep the general location a secret from me. After all they let me visit him from time to time. But I don't know the complete way as they always blindfold me.” Alden said. “There is a cave system attached to the mine next to the city. But I don't know exactly where. Its a huge labyrinth down there and I imagine that they regularly send patrols through it. The entrance is also probably concealed.”
“Would it be probable for them to recruit me, if I win this tournament?” Alec asked.
“Maybe, but it could also happen that they get suspicious about you by then.” Alden said.
“Would it help if they believe that we separated on bad terms?” Alec asked.
“Maybe.... No. Not really, it would be better if you just left and said that you want to compare the conditions offered from the Nobles.” Alden replied while thinking for a while.
“Then I bid you farewell. There is still a lot of work for me to do.” Alec said.
Half an hour later he arrived at the next place he had been invited to.
He quickly noticed that his carriage, or rather Alden's, wasn't the only one present. The whole plaza in front of the building was occupied by them.
Baffled he checked the corresponding invitation and noticed, that it mentioned a grand ball.
For the first time of the day he felt relieved to wear a suit.