“Right,” Rogue said, his entire body spoke of how little he wanted to see the Overseer, even if it was a proxy body, “Let’s get it over with. God, I hate that slimeball.”
“I should head back myself,” Xalla added, “Just leaving for a few minutes puts me under scrutiny lately, they really don't want me anywhere near Jordan and her people. Take care of yourself, Walter. I’ve got a break coming up in a few Earth weeks, maybe we can see each other then.”
“I will, Xalla,” I answered, “And yeah, let’s do something fun then. I think we all need it after this farce.”
She gave me a comforting shake of the frill and opened a portal out of the small meeting room. Rogue opened another one and gestured for me to enter. I took a deep breath and steadied my nerves, it was best not to show any weakness when confronting the head of Central.
I stepped through and entered a familiar space; if I remember correctly, this was one of the various rooms I had passed through when I first came to Site 1102, although this one was a rather large gathering area. The area was adorned with tables filled with various human foodstuffs, while an army of staff waited at attention. Yet despite the huge number of support staff, there were only two other beings who were unmistakably Sponsors here, with no Bob in sight.
It also meant that everyone present here was a god of some sort. I was hoping that they would be deities that I would recognize, but that should be the case if they were interested in the well-being of the humans here. I can’t imagine some random god from another dimension like Abigail caring about the people here when the humans here don’t even know they exist. I think Rogue was the only exception since he’s only here on account of my relationship with Xalla.
And as if to cement my idea, the other Sponsors all bowed differentially to the Xollon when they saw him. Whatever pecking order existed between the Sponsors, it was clear that people like Rogue, and I guess Big Bob, were at the top. It made me appreciate just how scary the Xollon race truly was if even the gods of myth were terrified of them.
“Lady, Gentleman,” Rogue nodded at the other two, “I’m sure you all know who’s standing beside me, but I’ll go through introductions in any case. May I present to you the famed Arbiter W, or as he’s known in the Trials, Aspirant Walter.”
“Good to meet you all,” I said with a wave, “But is this everyone?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” Rogue grumbled, “We planned for others to come, but there were some mysterious, unavoidable delays in their travel plans, so only those who were close by the Site could come. How particular.”
I cursed under my breath. If there’s one thing I can say about the Overseer, it’s that he was certainly thorough with his plans. That made him damned annoying to deal with.
“Let’s just give the Arbiter your basic information,” Rogue continued, “The Overseer should be arriving at any minute now.”
The other two agreed to Rogue as if following his orders was the most natural thing to do.
The first person to speak up, if you could even call it that, was little more than a mass of buzzing bloat flies vaguely flying in the shape of a humanoid. Just trying to focus on any one part of the creature was disorienting. I tried my best to not show my unease.
“Beelzebub,” it buzzed, even Noe’s ability to translate speech was having a hard time deciphering its noise, “It’s good to finally meet you in the flesh, I’m a fan! I have my own Aspirant in your group’s party, and I look forward to working with you in the future.”
It didn’t take a genius to figure out who the Lord of the Flies was Sponsoring, so I nodded and gave him a relaxed smile, “Thank you for looking after Father Marcus, it can’t be easy Sponsoring someone in the group as the Anomaly.”
He chuckled, although it sounded more like a swarm of angry bees than a laugh, “Well, I’m new to the program and I’ve barely begun to branch out of this dimension, so I can’t be picky, but the priest more than made up for it with his performance so far. This one has potential.”
I agreed.
“Anyway, how about the rest of us introduce ourselves first before we make small talk, yes?” the other god in the room added, this time it was a relatively normally-looking woman of indeterminable age.
Well, normal as in she wasn’t a mass of insects or being a tentacle monster. Her features were constantly changing from moment to moment. One second she didn’t look older than maybe 9 or 10, then that form rapidly aged until she looked like she would kneel over and expire at any moment, before shifting again to a new form and beginning the process again. It seems that being disorienting to look at was the norm for this crowd.
She offered me a hand and I shook it, “I’m Skuld, a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
She held onto my hand for an awkwardly long time, as if she was mesmerized by something. I had to fake a cough to get her attention.
“Sorry, Lord Arbiter!” she exclaimed as she pulled her hands back quickly, “I don’t know what came over me. It’s just… your fate is very interesting. I’ve never seen anything like it before, but then again, I’ve never shaken hands with a Xollon before either! Never mind, I shouldn’t have expected anything less from Arbiter W!”
Ok… that was weird. I’ll have to figure out what kind of god this Skuld person was later, maybe she’s able to see something weird about me because of Noe or my weird hybrid-Xollon nature.
There really wasn’t a lot of time for pleasantries after that, as the Overseer came a few minutes later. He looked like a normal human, in fact, I’m almost positive that I even recognized the dude from Pandora. It was only through his eyes that I knew it was the piece of shit Overseer and not the Aspirant. Guess he’s able to possess bodies at will, how wonderful.
“Good afternoon, as the humans would say!” the Overseer laughed as he sauntered into the room, “But there’s only the four of you here? I was expecting a bigger showing; I even had all these waiters here ready to serve up a party!”
Yeah, as if he didn't expect things to turn out like this.
“Yes, there were some unexpected delays,” I muttered.
“Pity that,” he answered with the fakest frown I’ve ever seen, “And here I was looking forward to seeing the local Sponsors for this Site.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“At least the Lord General was able to make it,” I added, hoping the Xollon could enforce some sort of legitimacy in the upcoming exchange.
“Yes…” the Overseer answered, “How wonderful of you to join us, Rogue.”
The old Xollon just grunted in response.
“Now then, since we’re all here, why don’t we get the meeting underway?” the Overseer continued, “Please feel free to have some of the delicacies at hand, I’ve picked out the best food and drink that the human species have managed to produce for this occasion.”
I chose not to indulge.
The man shrugged before grabbing a platter of food himself, “Suit yourself.”
“Enough already,” Rogue spoke up, “We’re here to hear why you decided to move this Site’s scheduling forward, and more importantly, why you thought it would be okay to pit the Humans against the Restus of all species!”
He looked at Rogue with mock innocence, “I don’t understand what you mean, Lord General.”
“You know damn well what I mean!” Rogue half-shouted, “The Humans were chosen for their latent potential, and they’ve barely finished their Third Trial at this point! If you make them fight the Restus at this stage, they’ll all but guaranteed to be killed!”
The Overseer chuckled as he took another bite of his food, “Of course I know that, which is why I am only sending in the Pandora city-state to fight, and not the Human species as a whole. You have to remember that the infamous Lord Arbiter W is helping this group of humans out, not to mention the benefits that are reaped with an Anomaly present as well. It would hardly be fair for this group of Aspirants to be grouped with the rest of Humanity, now would it? Why, it’s only fair that such an outstanding group fight the lackluster Restus.”
I gritted my teeth in frustration. There wasn’t much I could say to refute the man’s words with my limited knowledge. The people of Pandora really did have an unfair advantage over the others due to the Regressor’s actions, and in part, my own. Taking into account my exaggerated feats as the Lord Arbiter, it’s only fair to assume that we’d crush any lesser race with ease.
“And what is your reasoning for pushing forward Q’s schedule?” I added.
He gave me a causal smile, “For the same reason why the Human race was chosen as potential Aspirants. This is a species that thrives on conflict; they grow stronger when their backs are against the wall, and when the only option is to adapt or die. I am simply speeding up this process! If the Lord Arbiter has his eyes on this particular group, then it must mean that their potential is phenomenal. I’m just doing what I can to help.”
My ass he was! But damn was his reasoning sound. I was starting to hate this man more and more. I had to suppress a frown, but I was failing.
“Now now,” he continued, “Don’t give me that look, I understand just how difficult this task is, so I’m going to help you out, to make things even so to speak.”
I didn’t like the sound of that at all.
“Go on…”
“The Clan War will be dangerous, no doubt about it, and we can’t risk harming our precious Anomaly,” his smile brightened considerably, “Why is why I have used my authority to provide the Anomaly and his sister with a bonus stage to occupy their time while the War is underway. They’ll even be rewarded heavily for this, all while facing no actual danger! That way, even if you, god forbid, lose the upcoming fight, they will be unaffected! Of course, if Pandora is destroyed, I can’t guarantee what city the Anomaly will be reassigned to… it might even be so far away that another Arbiter will have to take charge!”
“And you’ll have no control over that, right?” I asked.
He gave me a polite nod, “None.”
“So you are deliberately weakening the Aspirants of Site 1102?” Skuld added in, “Without the Anomaly, the strength of the Pandora Aspirants will drop dramatically!”
“That’s a strange way of putting it, Lady Norn,” the Overseer replied, “You have to remember that I have to keep the best interests of both Sites in line. It would be horribly unfair for Site 1100, which doesn’t have an Anomaly of its own mind you, to face a site that does have one. I am merely making things fair.”
“But that’s not taking into account the nature of the two species,” Beelzebub added this time, “The Restus are known for their innate strength and tenacity, not even the strongest human Aspirants would be able to hold their own against them this early on in the Trials.”
“That is a fair point,” the Overseer conceded, but his stupid grin never left his face, “And it is a point of concern that must be addressed. So, to even the odds, I am willing to allow the Lord Arbiter here the chance to train this group of Aspirants! He will have full control over all of the resources that Site 1102 possesses until the start of the Clan War. Of course, the rewards given out must be approved by the Origin Matrix, but aside from that, he can do as he sees fit to improve the overall strength and battle capabilities of Pandora. Q’s successor can explain it in more detail once we’re done here.”
“But that would require the Lord Arbiter to work in his full capacity as a member of Central,” Rogue interrupted, “How can he do that while maintaining his status as an Aspirant?”
“Easy,” the Overseer answered, it seemed like the man had a response to everything; it was starting to become quite evident why he was able to retain his power for so long, “A stand-in for Aspirant Walter already exists, it’s one that he’s used before in fact. Plus, he is free to interact with the Anomaly and his little guild after his official duties are completed each day, so the stand-in only needs to be there for a short duration.”
Ah… it was that shitty doppelganger. I had almost forgotten about it.
“I don’t think Q’s creation can take my place for any length of time,” I said, “Its ability to disguise as myself is severely flawed.”
“Then it’s a good thing that I made some modifications to it personally!” the Overseer answered with cheer, “You will find the new doppelganger to be more than capable of this task, I swear on my honor as the Overseer of the Central Collective. Any other concerns?”
“But a month is still too little time!” Beelzebub stated, “Even if the Lord Arbiter is the one in charge!”
“I don’t think that’s the case, my good Sponsor,” replied the Overseer, “It’s not any Arbiter that’s taking charge, it is the legendary W doing so. I fear that anything more than a month would be too much of an advantage for the humans if it’s W who is at the helm. Don’t worry, I’ve already cleared this with the Tribunal, and they agree with my assessment. Surely you can understand, after looking through his records?”
Beelzebub remained silent.
“I thought so. Any other concerns?” he asked again.
I thought for a long time, but I couldn’t think of any way to refute the man. It seems that he’s been doing his homework ever since I got the better of him on our first meeting. I just didn’t expect him to be so thorough! Everything he said made sense, but the only problem was that I wasn’t this legendary figure capable of moving mountains and creating miracles! Fuck!
Once again I was faced with the cold reality that I just didn't know enough about how Central operated. If he was following all the necessary rules and everything was already approved by the Tribunal, then I don't think anything I said on my side would change my current predicament. Still, I had to try something. I had the Absolute Luck Skill once again; was there any way of using it here?
Luck Charges: 1557/1557
"There's one more thing," I added, hoping against hope that my last attempt would yield even a slight victory.
"Yes, Lord Arbiter?" he answered with a smug smile.
I opened my mouth and hoped that Noe would take over the reins and luck my way through the situation. But nothing happened.
"I apologize, my Host," Noe answered, "But the amount of Luck Charges needed to even begin to accomplish what you desire would be astronomical. I do no have that ability at the moment."
I cursed silently.
"I'm still waiting for a response, W."
"Nothing," I muttered silently. Fine, it looks like I'll have to take the fight to him after he leaves. I had a month to work with, I don't believe that I couldn't do something in that time.
“No?” he repeated, looking around the room once more, “Great! What a productive meeting! Please feel free to enjoy the refreshments here, but I need to be on my way out now. I’ve already prepared Aspirant Walter’s doppelganger, so he is free to meet up with the new Administration team when he is ready. Best get going now though, Arbiter W, the planned speech is starting soon, and you don’t want to miss that!”
I glared at the man.
“Thank you, Overseer,” I muttered with barely contained resentment, “I’ll make sure I use the time wisely.”
“Alright,” he gave me a friendly wave goodbye, “I’ll be seeing you!”