The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary C331 A Talk with Pei

Badbog, the Admiral of the biggest last airship carrier witnessed the unspeakable. He had to pinch himself to test whether or not he was dreaming the horrors before him. An unexplainable massive creature which appeared to have manifested out of nowhere just as though it was one of the honourable Shaitan Avatars, destroyed one of their ships… by eating it up whereas the other one got blown into thousands of pieces and was falling to the ground because it was unable to stabilise itself. It was definite that the orcs in that airship carrier would not survive at all as he could even feel the trembling effects caused by the impact of the explosion within the command deck.

"How could this lost technology be so frail?! I cannot believe that! We managed to do the unthinkable to transport hundreds if not thousands of Orcs through this wondrous flying piece of metal to restore the glory of our Orc Kingdoms and yet we are not even able to see their cursed capital?!!" Badbog banged on his comfy leather chair as he cursed the loss of two airship carriers and the orcs that were in the Command Deck were equally shocked by the sudden turn of events.

"I REFUSE TO ACCEPT IT! We are not going to be defeated by this monstrosity that sided with the goblins! ALL CANNONS! AIM AT THE MONSTER!" Badbog commanded while pointing at Mr Derpy.

Unfortunately for him, the Command Deck was exposed at the top of the airship carrier and a certain Thunder Ram Demon still had to work off some aggression as it gracefully leapt onto the deck of the airship carrier. Keyrin blew his nostrils and summoned multiple concentrated lightning strikes towards the Command Deck and the intense electrical discharges directly obliterated almost every Orc present as it pierced through the reinforced windows of the deck. Blue streaks of flashes exploded the entire command deck, causing even the roof to break open.

The mechanical systems were fried nearly immediately and the Orcs who were wearing metal armour were charred instantaneously. There were a lucky one or two who managed to get down under the control consoles, but the continuous strikes electrocuted them nonetheless. No one was spared in the Command Deck and those strikes of lightning continued to pierce through the metal flooring of the Command Deck.

"Damn and here I thought Kraft could interrogate them," Jin said with a hint of regret as he watched the lightning strikes thundering down the skies without a care in the world.

"Technically, since they were killed by Keyrin, some of those orcs should be converted by the System. If you wait a while, the System should finish granting them the absolute loyalty trait without my help." Kraft shrugged his shoulders and later he yawned once more at the boredom he was experiencing.

Separately, the Orcs from inside, decked in full armour and armed with various melee and ranged weapons had waited for the attack to die down. Once no more strikes were heard they rushed out to the top deck to see that there were only a white goat monster and two humanoids with their half mask left.

"Capture them! Anyone who does so will be handsomely rewarded by the King, I assur-"

The captain was struck by lightning and the Orcs who saw that got even madder. They shouted with fury and charged towards them.

Jin wanted to make a move but from behind him streams of yellowish orange flames were being shot down onto the top deck of the airship carrier. The Dashing Wyverns had already made their arrival as grand as they could with organised formations, taking turns to burn the enemies that were on the deck. The ranged Orcs tried to shoot down the wyverns but Jin did not give them any quarters to breathe.

A blast of Panda Yawning surprised the group of Orc Archers who had concentrated on to the wyverns and that strange attack caused more confusion to the ones who had no space to move about on the limited space deck especially with the fire spreading all over the decks. Their tactics and mission briefing only detailed that they would be ambushing the Goblin Kingdom where there would be debris cover and terrain for the Orcs to take advantage. Unfortunately, they were being slaughtered left and right by staying in the open on the top deck while being picked by the Flying Goblin Battalion and Keyrin shooting lightning bolts from its horns. (Keyrin knew he might cause collateral damage to the wyverns if he summoned lightning from the skies.)

Starfire stayed further back to assist the Dashing Wyverns by boosting their magical powers so that they were able to shoot flames of higher quality that had more poof and pow which made the fire burning on the top deck to be more destructive.

As time went by, some of the Orcs decided to parachute prematurely out of the top deck in hopes of surviving the massacre on the bridge. Perhaps that way, they could get their revenge by killing a few goblin civilians.

Oh, how naïve those pea brained orcs were.

While the Orcs thought that the Dashing Wyverns were busy focusing on the top deck, they did not realise that there was a sole goblin who was killing the ones who jumped off the airship carrier. It was none other than Ripcaller with his powered Gearbox boots as Jin gave him the ability to jump in the air to stay afloat while performing his kills from one parachuting Orc to another. He used the Orcs as platforms to execute the air jumps, allowing him to 'combo' his kills easily.

Meanwhile, both Slashreaver and Piercestriker used their gloves to attach themselves onto each side of the ship as if the Gearbox gloves had some sticky glue mechanism. With their other hand free, they took out a magically auto reloading crossbow each which Jin endowed them during the equipment phase before they embarked on the mission to get in contact with their fathers when all this journey was meant to be as simple as to request an army from them.

They used those magical crossbows and shot their falling enemies without any prejudice, ripping through the orcs defences like paper since they were powerless with their parachutes open, making them perfect target practices. It was near impossible to escape especially when the goblins had a seemingly unlimited amount of arrows in their crossbows.

In due time, the damage done by Keyrin and the Dashing Wyvern unit had taken its toll on the airship carrier and it also began to destabilise and sink to the bottom…well to the ground. At that time the three goblins were informed by the magpies flying alongside them that they needed to evacuate from the sides of the ship before they too were crashed to the ground by the sinking airship carrier.

As the land beneath the airship carrier was a mixture of forest and jungles, the Three Generals had decided not to pursue any Orc survivors and commended the 38th Flying Goblin Battalion for a job well done.

"Heh, we did almost nothing. The credit should go to those masked humanoids." The Captain of the Dashing Wyverns said and most of them agreed and cheered for Jin who was currently on Mr Derpy checking out his Tact Tweak, the mobile command console that Moloch had created for him.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this is not over at all. My sources indicate that more enemies are marching downwards from the North. However, it should take some time for them to come here. Perhaps a few days or maybe up to a week? I am not exactly very familiar with the terrain here." Jin told them as he studied the map on his Tact Tweak that was generated by the System. He then beckoned the Three Generals to come to him for a more detailed analysis.

The Three Generals manoeuvred their own Wyverns on top of Mr Derpy, though their mounts did so grudgingly. Mr Derpy just sneered not caring for them and continued to simply stare at the falling air carrier, wondering if he should take a bite out of it. Once they landed, they jumped off and hurried to Jin, who expanded his tact tweak map to a holographic 3D image. This kind of magic surprised the Generals but they immediately had a good gauge on the current situation.

"Assuming they know the terrain, and judging by their prior preparation there is no reason not to do so, they are probably planning to go through the mountains as it is a natural shortcut. Perhaps we can set up a temporary militia to slow the army down if we set out by today." General Argent voiced his opinion to the other Generals.

"I assume you wish to go by air with your wyverns battalion?" Gladios asked and Argent nodded.

"Igni, your Assassins Guild, can they prepare some traps along the way?" Gladios turned to the other and Igni replied positively.

"I can set the traps up before the militia arrives," Igni said as he excused himself and called his Wyvern to land on Mr Derpy for him to ride on.

"Master, may I follow my father?" Ripcaller gathered his courage to request some free time and Jin simply rubbed Ripcaller's hair to tell him to be careful. Ripcaller was delighted even though he did not overly express it and went to his father.

"With you around? I might actually feel more secure. Good job on killing the deserters. The way you handled it was superb. Maybe I should make you teach the Vice-Guildmaster some tricks!" Igni praised him without any reservations which made Ripcaller's day.

"Can we also stay?" Piercestriker asked and Slashreaver was right behind too.

"What are you talking about? The whole reason for coming here was because I wanted you guys to see your family, right? So why would I separate you so soon? Now off you go. Go! Shoo! The System and I have a few things to do back in my own world. So take your time to spend with your family. Report to me if there is anything you cannot handle on your own." Jin instructed and the two goblins quickly rushed to their own fathers.

"If that is the case, I will return to the capital to organise the defence with…my son." Gladios bid his friend Argent goodbye as he escorted Starfire and Slashreaver back to the capital.

"Now then, it's time for me to return to my Dungeon Maker!" Jin stretched a little before he looked at the destruction he and his teammates inadvertently created.

"User, do not worry. Reconstruction efforts simply mean more work for the goblins, indirectly creating a source of income for other races too. Once this is done, we can even help them out by lending out some workforce… at a reasonable price, of course." System comforted Jin in its own…peculiar way.

Jin did not argue with the System for war was cruel. He might have won the battle but the war was far from over. Every other orc who'd soon come to hear of this goblin victory would be vying to kill the goblins ten times over. They might even take revenge on the goblins that were currently held prisoner by them. Most likely the Orcs could use this as a perfect excuse to start a genocide and killing even more goblins. Whatever the case, the casualties to come should be far more than today.

"Hahaha! And here I was naive enough to have such delusions that I'd have the ability to end this war as soon as possible for the orcs and the goblins. If anything my interruption should serve to escalate things only further." Jin mocked himself after realising what was yet to come as he entered the Dungeon Maker but it was obvious he had doubts despite all the battles he went through and seeing people going against him. This was the first time, he would be taking the initiative by going to war, an event that he had actively decided to participate in. To him, he was starting to feel that it may be really necessary to end this war with even more bloodshed.

"As terrible as war might be, this is the order of nature no matter which world you would be in. It should be a universal rule, that the strong desire to dominate the weak. Of course, there could also always be some strange ones, who may be good minded people like you who would want to protect the weak. Yet, it is hypocritical no matter which side you are on. Get used to it or you will be bogged down by unnecessary feelings. There is no such thing as equality in the eyes of nature." Mr Derpy who happened to enter the dungeon maker understood his master's expression with one look.

For a fragment of a god who seemed to be blundering in everything he does, he was very aware of his master's mood. Mr Derpy went closer and opened his mouth to unroll his tongue. There was a tablet that was glowing with a particularly dark energy and Mr Derpy advised Jin not to touch it with his bare hands.

"Let this be an example. I am able to withstand it since I am more powerful than this particular tablet. Found this while I was chewing things out. The System wished me to give this to you, in exchange for some yummy Orcs." Mr Derpy explained and suddenly Pei, one of Kraft's foxes and ex-Bellator who stayed at Jin's side as a blessing bracelet appeared before Jin.

"That big fish is right." Pei who was now wearing a whitish pink kimono said as she took a look at the tablet by walking around it for a moment before she took out a wooden stick which looked like a broken wand and tapped the tablet with it. The dark energy that was emitting from the tablet immediately created a barrier as if to protect itself.

"After living for so long and experiencing enough what life had offered to me, all I can say is this. All beings that are given life are also burdened with karma and responsibility for how they treat life." Pei seemed to be trying to break the energy barrier of the tablet with her broken wand but there was no reaction from the dark energy tablet and it seemed to be buzzing while being afloat.

"They say…all life is equal, but doesn't anyone consider how much the life of others is consumed to keep themselves alive? Just think about your eating habits. For every piece of meat you eat, it means an animal had to die. For every animal that died, other plants or species were killed in the process too." There seemed to be a response from the tablet finally but the energy barrier was not waning.

"Sure, I may be generalising it as a broad perspective. Yet, I am not looking down on life nor do I think that meaningless killing is a good thing, but at the same time I am not pretending to be a saint, who advocates against violence." Pei continued as she stepped back from the tablet for a moment. The reason Pei was saying all this out was that she could read Jin's mind and emotions while providing him with mental defence against external sources of psychological or mental attacks. However, an external mental defence would be useless if the own mentality of her Master were to break himself even before the others could break him.

"You are here because you and your ancestors fought and stood atop a mountain of other lives, just like the other Royal Zodiac clans and even the people who are living right now. That is the karma that all living things must bear. That is why you have to live for the sake of all the lives which were sacrificed along the way and that is the responsibility that all living things must bear." Pei looked eye to eye at Jin when she spoke before Pei turned her attention back to the tablet.

"If you want to take the easy way out and think of shutting yourself to prevent yourself from seeing the horrors of war yourself then I suggest you abandon the System and resume your previous life before you take on more responsibility. Especially now that you are a Minion master, handling the lives of not one, not two but hundreds of minions." Pei did not mince her words as she finally got the knack to release the energy barrier of the tablet.

Jin kept quiet and processed Pei's 'lecture' as she continued to break the energy barrier down of the tablet. It was a lot to take in but somehow her advice answered some of his internal predicament and indirectly strengthened his resolve. "I am not handling just myself but a number of monsters that I do care for and call them as friends…" Jin thought to himself and remembered back to the first time he went into the Dungeon World as he tightened the grasp of his fists.

"No, I am not like last time. I am and will continue to take responsibility for the actions like what Pei said." Jin was not hesitant as before as he now accepted the actions he took. Unlike last time where all he thought about was his the survival of his own shop and wanted to keep the powers of the System. Selfish reasons. A material want rather than need.

However, now it was different. The invisible burdens of leading the Panda Clan, of taking good care of his monsters and his shop's employees. Jin now held the responsibility for more than himself and developed the need to protect, raise and nurture his clan remnants, employees and monsters. They might seem heavy but he figured if he took it one step at a time with his precious comrades, they should be able to achieve wonders.

These thoughts also made Jin remember the beginning days when all he had were the goblins and he had to hold the fort at the shop register. It did seem like such a long time ago ever since Yun took the responsibility of being the face of the place as it gave him the opportunity to venture to other tasks, which seem to pop out one after the other.

"You are right, Pei. I should not start to doubt myself and end this war as soon as possible to the best of my ability." As Jin steeled his resolve, a sharp sound was suddenly produced by the tablet. Words started to appear out of the tablet yet it was a language neither Jin nor the minions in the dungeon maker could make sense out of.

"It appears to be Ancient Orc language, User has Orcs at your disposal." The System replied and immediately referred Jin to his phone and selected the rumoured Black Disaster Nubwort in his glossary of minions.

"I guess I shall try summoning this." Jin who had wanted to call out Piercestriker, decided to refrain from disturbing his reunion with General Argent and summoned the fearless Orc General in the Dungeon Maker.

Nubwort appeared in front of Jin who had already taken his mask off. He assumed that Jin was an enemy and nearly wanted to slaughter the human but was stopped before he could point his halberd at Jin. It was at that point a rush of information was being communicated from the System and into Nubwort who quietened down and knelt in front of Jin.

"So in a way, I am alive again but at the mercy of a human from another world? In return, I have received a blessing of immortality?" The Black Disaster tried to make sense of it, with his head held up high towards Jin.

"Yes. I was the one who trained the disappeared goblin sons. So I hope this should give you an idea of what you can expect if you wish to defy me. But I am not heartless, in fact, you can be sure you will receive enough opportunities to enjoy your bloodlust in the coming days and months." Jin said as he leaned forward, unafraid of the Orc General. He knew he had to act somewhat tough but not to the point of boasting.

"Hmph. We will see about that…Master…Jin. What do you ask of me?" Nubwort seemed to treat him with the same contempt as Keyrin, as asked and Jin pointed at the floating tablet whose words were still visible on the tablet. The Orc General stood up and previewed the tablet for a moment.

"The menaces that lurked under us must not be released.

Lest upon the innocents the beasts begin to feast.

Until the menaces have all been banished from this world,

Our people would be forever shackled by fear, never knowing mirth.

Fear not, for the Light -"

"The rest of the tablet readings is ineligible. From the looks of it, it was recently worn out due to corrosive damage which caused the dark energy within the tablet to flow out." Nubwort guessed and Jin inadvertently turned his gaze at Mr Derpy who decided to slowly 'splash' his way out of the Dungeon Maker.

"Never mind, what do you make out of the readable part, Nubwort?" Jin asked and Nubwort who had some idea of what the Orc King Hamu was doing, told his master everything he knew because of the loyalty oath that he had been 'blessed' by the System.

Jin was surprised how much information he found out from Nubwort about the Shaitan Nobles including that one Orc King Hamu was possessing a Shaitan noble who was known as the True Messenger of Shaitans, Diabolos. "Diabolos was gifted by the ancient lost gods themselves the responsibility to pass out powers to balance the world. However, he abused his authority by accumulating all elemental magic from all life and transferred the elemental powers into specific nobles that decided to make full use of his potential while bribing him with wealth and notions of more power." Nubwort explained with the knowledge of a previous follower of Diabolos himself. That was also how he could receive the enchanted Halberd that stole souls and transferred them to his black armour. Jin checked the stats on his phone and noticed that the armour and halberd were shrouded with black graphical effects as if the System was playing a prank on him.

"No User, the System was unable to identify the ability of the Halberd and armour due to certain restrictions or perhaps due to the pact imposed by said monsters to not learn the true name of the equipment." The System stated and Nubwort nodded his head.

"Even though you are my master from today onwards, I do not believe in you enough to unleash the true names of my equipment. However, considering the powers you are wielding and seeing how the son of Spear General Argent was trained to such a high level. I believe knowing the True Name would not change much for you." The Black Disaster snorted as he disappeared into the emptiness of the Dungeon Maker.

"True Names? You mean there are some weapons that have a name on them and give them some magical effect?" Jin casually asked Pei who was still around in her foxish human form.

"Remember how Kraft has No Mercy and you yourself wielding Bam and Boo? Those are names provided by master blacksmiths or craftsman of transcendent level capabilities. It might not look much to you but knowing the True Names such as Bam and Boo brings you closer to your weapons and allowed you to change them into any other weapons." Pei explained as she looked at the broken wand she was holding and smiled.

"Other users who do not know the names of Bam or Boo could only wield them as simple weapons. Just like how humans have names to influence others, you know the names of Bam and Boo which makes the weapons feel closer and have more affinity towards you. That is why you should feel much more comfortable using them instead of any other weapons. Just try it out, to see how much difference it would make." Pei added.

"I see…in any case, we still do not know what this tablet is used for. Is it just a message, maybe a warning or could there be something more to it?" Jin asked Pei and she just shrugged her body and turned back into a simple looking blessing bracelet on Jin's wrist.

"System, continue to analyse this. I am going to make a call to Hou Fei and tell him about this war thing. Also, fire up the dungeon maker console. I think…we are going to have a surprise real time event for our customers before the release of the Deep Ones' Dungeon." Jin smirked to himself as he dialled up the number for Hou Fei.

Chapter end