Chapter 55

“A monster?” Michael asked reflexively. He didn’t know if his strategy worked, but he had a theory that displaying emotion and quick reactions was throwing Theobond off balance.

“That is correct.” The king of the castle said, “you must understand how you look from our perspective. The difference between an intelligent monster created by this wretched place and an adventurer is thin. Only by seeing you leave and return could I be sure.”

“Does this make you a monster?” Michael asked.

“I prefer not to say, and you will respect that.” The king said, displaying more emotion than in the whole rest of the conversation combined.

“Of course. I apologize.”

“In any case,” the king said. “Hear my proposal, and then take some time to think it through.”

***

Michael left the king’s tent several minutes later, carrying with him the loot from Ice King’s fight in his bag like a goodwill offer from the castle’s ruler. The new general back at camp was curious to know how the negotiations had gone, and a crowd had gathered around Michael, but he ordered all of them to leave him alone to meditate on the conversation with Theobond. Without Drullkrin, he felt like there wasn’t much insight to be gained from talking to his underlings, and he realized just how little he had actually valued the monsters apart from the single goblin general. Surely there was more to them than he gave them credit, but he wasn’t in the mood to find out.

Alone in his tent, he took out the loot from the dungeon. Apart from the always-welcome coins, there were two upgrade stones Michael immediately recognized. One was for the [Presence] skill, and the other was for [Voice of Command]. The slip of paper, instead, was a note. It read:

“Here’s a freebie, since you always forget to use some skills. They could have made your life much easier.”

“Fucking dungeon,” Michael muttered.

But no matter how much he wanted to rage against the seemingly sentient hunk of magical rock, the dungeon was right. Michael was at the point where he had too many skills, and he was forgetting to use them all to the most effect. For instance…

A tiny portal in the void appeared, and a little spirt flew out of it. It circled around Michael’s head twice before settling on his shoulder.

“Sorry, can’t have you lazing around. Perhaps next time?” Michael told the spirit, “scout the enemy camp and warn me if they start to move strangely.”

Feeling better as the spirit left, he absorbed the skill stones, pulling up the new skill descriptions.

A good upgrade. Too bad it was utterly useless to him right now.

Now this was a useful skill. Not only for the dungeon either. In fact, this was most useful outside of the dungeon, and it went to great lengths to assuage his fears of betrayal.

Would I use it on Old Dave or Travis, though? What would they think if I asked them to go through with it? Can oaths be cheated with clever wording?

Perhaps the skill was more nuanced than he initially thought. A possible pain in the ass. Surely he was going to use it on the low-level grunts. The extreme mana cost would force him to use it sparingly, but at least he could make sure he had a loyal workforce that could not be bought off.

But the problem is rarely a traitorous grunt. It’s the higher level people, people who could break off the oath, that usually become a problem.

In the end, however, he would have to learn to trust people. He did trust Old Dave and Travis, didn’t he? Even if he was paranoid with it. He had contingencies, and they would have to suffice.

Well, this was a good enough distraction, but I think the king will want an answer now.

Leaving his tent with a somewhat conflicted mood, he made his way to the king’s tent in the middle of the bridge. Another spirit he summoned told him that all was calm in the blue men’s camp, and he approached confidently.

“Tell me straight,” Michael immediately went on the offensive once inside, not giving the calculating king time to play his tricks, “you will give up your glyphs, all of them, even your own in exchange for information?”

The king studied Michael’s face. “That, and a mutual oath of non-aggression. You have gained the ability to form oaths, have you not?”

Michael’s eyes narrowed as his assessment of the king changed once again, the blue man’s danger rating skyrocketing. “I did, yes.”

“Then we shall swear on it: I will willingly give you all of the pieces of the Unity you need and allow you to complete the floor’s challenge. In exchange, we shall swear never to attack each other. Neither I or my troops will attack you or your troops. Neither you or your troops shall attack me or my troops.”

“What’s the definition of ‘troops’ here?” Michael had been naïve, once, but he was getting better.

“What you refer to as the ‘blue people’ are my troops. I have no claim over the volcano and desert territories and the monsters therein. I simply conquered them to speed up the resolution of this floor’s conflict, and to make sure that you would not die to either of them prematurely. Everyone under your command is considered your troops. Any rogue monsters are excluded from the oath until they are either killed or brought under your command. Other than that, I require knowledge about your world. Not the details, but the general history and society. I want to know what you know about the dungeon, and what your experience of it has been. Is this satisfactory?”

“I don’t get it,” Michael said. He was exasperated and confused. The king was being too reasonable and his ability to negotiate was suffering for it. “You are evidently stronger than me, and even than me and my troops combined, outside aides notwithstanding. You know of my skills, somehow. You know of my magic. You could kill me and all of the monsters I control, take the Unity for yourself. Why offer this deal?”

“It must seem like a bad deal for me, to your eyes. This only speaks to how much you do not know. What if, after I kill you, a much less reasonable adventurer is offered the same challenge floor? I would have to play this farce all over again, forced by the dungeon to act in a way that’s contrary to my nature so that the challenge floor could be hard but not unbeatable. What if the new adventurer did not wait around like you did, and instead rushed at me immediately? I would not be at full strength, and I would die.”

“But you’d have the Unity.”

“I cannot use it. And my forces would stagnate. Monsters cannot grow unless they are under the command of an adventurer.”

The king was clearly giving up precious information so that Michael would take the deal. And why not? After all, the deal was making more and more sense the more the king spoke.

“I see,” Michael said. “You want to strike a deal while you hold power. You can’t grow, which means that unless you kill me I will soon surpass you. Even if you kill me, it can only end badly for you.”

“That is correct,” the king sighed, a rare display of emotion. “It might not be a human such as you the next time. The dungeon is fickle, it moves things around. So far I have repelled several adventurers, but not without great risk. I seek to end this.”

“By striking a deal with me, you break out of the loop.”

“I do. I would stop playing according to the whims of the cruel master of this place. I would remain a prisoner, but my cage would be gilded rather than a death trap. That is the best I can ask for.”

“Very well then. I will swear. But I want information as well.”

“I shall part with some information, but only within what I consider to be safe limits. I do not wish to be smitten by the dungeon, and already I feel its evil gaze watching me.”

“Why not come under my command?”

“I have my pride. To have power and lose my independence? Never. By making you agree now, I buy myself independence even after you outgrow me in the future.”

“And if I don’t agree?”

“Then I will kill you, and try again with another.”

With that, they swore. Michael felt a veritable tide of magic, Qi, Intent, and much more he could not discern wrap around Theobond and squeeze. Then it rebounded towards him, flooding his Skill Sanctum and reaching for its most central part. Where Michael suspected his soul resided. When it reached there, Michael felt the squeeze himself. It was like the feeling of cold, icy fingers around his heart.

His body was drained. His mana pool was strained. His soul felt heavier. Michael realized that he could not hold infinite chains tethered to his soul. Certainly not many chains binding powerful beings such as Theobond.

And he realized something else as well. The fucking wording of the oath.

Not only had he extracted an oath from the willing king. But he himself had been a willing participant, and how he felt like not upending his end of the deal would break the oath, and let the king know of his betrayal.

Good thing to know for the future.