Capítulo 3: Thurman's Gotta Go
"This is Hyde! He's the one that saved me!" Kalita said with excitement.
Right away, something about this Thurman guy set me off. The guy just seemed a bit too happy, but there was a slight change in his voice when I was mentioned.
"Oh? Did you save my lovely wife? How can I repay you?" The Thurman asked brightly, and I held back an eye roll
'This one is definitely strange. I agree with his tone, but I think there might be more like him nearby. Tread carefully with this one,' Gripton warned in my mind.
I had to agree with him on this one, and now I was on alert. I didn't let it show, but knowing that there could be more made me carefully pick my words.
"I would like to speak with you higher-ups or the one in charge. I am from the west, and I have been traveling alone, but I am lost," I explained.
I used an even tone, but I also was looking around. I was starting to notice some movement from places around us.
"Higher-ups?" Thurman asked, but his tone shifted, and I could feel the tension in the air between us.
'Careful. I told you the strength rules all in this world, and you might offend some if you mention that people stand higher than they do. That would imply there is a person stronger,' Gripton explained, and I understood what he meant.
Then Thurman drew in a deep breath and let out a high-pitched whistle that made me wince.
Seven other prominent men appeared all around us, but I had already noticed them all. This was not good.
I had no idea what kind of magic any of them had. Even with that knowledge of their magic, I was screwed against eight big guys.
Thankfully, Kalita spoke up. I hated to have a girl defuse the situation for me, but it was better than the other option.
"He isn't from around here. I think he means our elders," Kalita explained to her husband.
This seemed to calm him down some, but the men still surrounded us. Most of them looked similar, but four of them were Identical.
While twins or more were not unusual, for the exact same person did not seem right. Maybe one of them could make copies of himself, which would significantly increase my odds of winning in a fight.
"Ahh! I see, well then traveler, let me be your guide, and I shall lead us to the village! Follow me!" Thurman announced to my surprise, and I just nodded.
'I don't know what this guy's game is, but I don't trust him. If you notice anything strange, let me know,' I told Gripton in my head.
I got a mental nod from the old man as I waited for everyone to start moving. Thurman led the way, and Kalita walked beside him, but I could tell that she was slightly more nervous now.
The group all let me fall to the back, which surprised me, but I didn't let my guard down. There could still be more men or copies of the thinner man.
I followed the green meathead and the rest of the men back to where their village was. The trip was not short, so it gave me some time to think about what had happened so far.
The forest trees had dimmed to light green, and the place looked like it was slowly dying. This could be due to lack of rain, but I wasn't an expert on farming of any sort.
Maybe I really should have taken the first magic I was offered?
'Never take the first choice offered if it is offered alone. That is not a choice; it's an offer. While you might not have realized it then, nor appreciate it now, asking me to pick was the right choice,' Gripton explained in my head.
I could see what he meant, but I didn't want to collect people to fight for me. That just wasn't my style; I was the one that protected other people.
'This power that I gave you? I don't understand it, and until you learn to use it, we won't know more. I know about the magic of this world and the way it works. People get magic, and it is of a random power level; there is no balance. The next thing is, no matter how one trains, they can't really improve their magic power level,' Gription explained.
That was strange. Generally, if you worked at something, you could improve over time.
'Very few things follow your logic here, so it is best to keep an open mind about things. Regardless, your magic improved that girl's magic dramatically. That alone will break the fundamentals of this world,' Gripton explained, but I could start to hear voices from up ahead.
I was slowly starting to get a picture of what my powers could do, but that didn't really help me. I decided to put the thought out of my head and focus on the poor excuse for a village coming into view.
To be honest, I didn't really expect that much with the animal skin clothing everyone was wearing. The shittiness of the place far exceeded my expectations.
'These people look like ghosts; they are so thin! None of this makes any sense!' I raged in my mind but still kept my outward expression level.
One of the skills of being in protective duty was almost always keeping my composer. Usually, I would have a pissed-off look on my face, but this situation needed a bit more finesse.
'Quiet the dump, I bet these people could use a boost, hey?' Gripton said, but I could tell he was trying to goad me.
'You and I both know that we can't just go around boosting every person that we see!' I growled as I walked by people that refused to look up from their task.
'I don't really agree with you there, but I understand your hesitance. I will let you make the big choices, but I will remind you that you could just take control of this Thurman character,' Gripton advised, but I mentally shook my head, and he sighed.
Something sinister was happening here, or the people wouldn't all look like whipped dogs. I was sure that Thurman was at the root of it.
'One this is for sure, if the people are evil, I will not have them follow me. Plus, I don't think that my magic can make someone good, and I won't force that on people. Now, where did the Goblin go?' I asked as I tried to look for the green-haired girl, but she was no longer with Thurman.
'I don't know, why?' Gripton asked me curiously.
'This place gives bad vibes. Both of us can see that, and I am worried that something else is controlling Kalita. What happens when it can't, and she can't explain why?' I explained.
'What are you going to do?' Gripton asked.
'See what's up first, then we will decide. I want to see just how hung up the girl is on this guy and what the rest of the people in the village are like. Specifically the so-called people in charge,' I explained.
'You don't know how to quit, but I can't blame you. You did make the little Goblin into the world's biggest babe with no size limit!' Gripton laughed inside my head.
'Don't drool inside my head, you pervert,' I growled, but he wasn't wrong.
I looked around and tried to find Kalita but ended up running into Turman instead. I had got lost in my thoughts and almost walked right into him with my wet clothes in my arms.
"Toss them to one of the wretches over there, and they will make sure they get dry! Then I can take you to the old ones! Not sure what you want with them, but that's your business! Ha Ha Ha!" The mountain of a man shouted, making the people around wince.
Thurman was bright as ever, but the Elves all kept their distance. I thought I even saw one of them piss themselves.
'Not like you can leave now.' Gripton said almost casually, but I had no intention of leaving.
'Oh, I am not going anywhere. You dragged me into this, but now we are going to do this my way!' I growled back.
I looked around, but the rest of the men were gone now, but I could still see two of the copies in the background. It was time to start trying to push some buttons.
"I'll just keep my things with me for now, Herman. Just lead me to the elders," I ordered Thurman, and the smile vanished off his face.
"I don't know who you think that you are, but I run things around here and am the strongest! You had best remember that!" Thurman growled at me in a low voice that made the others around me shrink back in free, but I wasn't fazed this time.
The moment that we had entered the village, I started to look for weapons. The problem was that there weren't any, which was very strange.
The only one that had one, to my surprise, was Thurman. None of the others that had been with him had weapons.
This didn't mean there couldn't be some hidden, but I was more comfortable pushing now. I needed to see just how far I could push before this big Dumb Dumb dropped the face smile.
"Did I stutter? Or is your magic the ability to only hear what you want?" I taunted the muscle head, but he only laughed at me, switching back to a cheery voice again.
"HA! My magic makes me stronger!" Thurman boasted.
"I see, well, Norman, lead the way," I replied casually, waving my hand for him to keep moving.
"Fine! But after you are done speaking with the elders, you can come and put your strength to the test! We can see if your hands can back up your words, little man," Thurman tried to taunt me.
I had already crossed my arms and didn't hear most of what Thurman was saying. When the oaf finished, I rolled my eyes and tapped my foot.
"Any time today would be nice," I said as I looked around the village, but that seemed to be the over-the-line spot.
Thurman looked like he was about to do something but just smiled and turned like he had a secret. More likely, he was just stupid and remembered that lunch was soon, but I didn't dismiss it altogether.
'Was that necessary?' Gripton asked me, and I could tell that he sounded stressed out.
'Really? You are asking me, the feeble-minded that? I thought you were supposed to be the teacher?' I asked jokingly.
'Mind yourself, I see your point now. You know the man's magic and how he will be nothing without it,' Gripton answered, but I could feel his own eye roll.
'Exactly, but there is more than just that. We know that all the people are terrified of him and that he is ruling with terror from what I see,' I explained, but Gripton still didn't seem to understand.
'Then why does he still have his magic then?' Gripton asked me in confusion.
'Weapons. I have only seen the knife that The big Dumb Dumb carries. I find it hard to believe that there is only that weapon here. If they have bows, and every elf I have ever heard of does, I could easily end up a pin cushion,' I explained and received an appreciative mental nod.
'You continue to surprise me. Not just some knucklehead, after all! Still, I am sure that these people could clean your clothes up,' Gripton chuckled in my head, sending me a mental image of him holding his nose.
'Did you empty my pockets?' I asked.
'...Before you died? No…' Gripton replied slowly.
'Well, there are things in my pockets that might be useful, but my old phone will be wrecked. There is a chance that my magic might work with some of the items. I don't want Thurman going through it before I do,' I said in my mind as I followed Thurman to the back of the village to a hut identical to the rest.
I followed the angry Thruman up to a hut covered in leaves like the rest. I would have thought that the elders would have a more excellent place.
This was just more evidence to support my theory that Thurman was ruling the place with force. I would have to hope that these people were willing to be open with me, or I wouldn't be able to help.
Thurman opened the flap when we got to the door, and I walked in. Thurman tried to follow, but I put a hand up to stop him.
"Big kids are talking now, Birdman. Go wait outside," I said, glaring at the big man.
Everything slowed down as I watched Thurman start to reach for his knife. I wasn't about to make the same mistake twice, and I had a pen in my pants.
I had fished it out of my wet pants while walking, and I had also slipped on my right glove. Before the man could reach his knife, I had the tip of the pen pressed into the side of his neck.
"Doesn't matter how big your muscles are. If I tear this place in your neck, no one will be able to stop the blood. I said I wanted to talk to them, not you!" I said loud enough for the four people I had seen inside to hear.
Thurman held my stare, but I didn't budge. I was more than prepared to carry out my treat if his hand reached his knife.
No one in the room behind me breathed. Even the sound outside had ceased; just our breathing filled my ears.
"You had better be careful, little man. Next time we won't have weapons, and then we will see how big your talk is!" Thurman growled, but he pulled away from me and left.
After about ten seconds, I turned back around, and the four in the tent started to breathe again. I walked in to stand in front of the group that looked very stressed.
I guess I couldn't blame them if this guy had been terrorizing them.
'I will watch the light around the bottom of the hut to see if anyone is listening. For now, I see no irregular shadows,' Gripton reassured me.
I gave him a mental nod and focused on the… Elves? Considering their ears had pointed tips, I had to assume that they were, but I wasn't about to call them out.
"Who are you?" The first woman with light green hair asked me.
"My name is Hyde, and I stumbled on to one of you people being attacked by a giant spider. I killed the creature with a rock and brought her back. With the help of that meathead," I explained.
"Where are you coming from?" The woman with brown hair next to her asked.
"I think the question should be why is he antagonizing Thruman? When he leaves, you know what will happen!" One of the old men with white hair whispered like a conspiracy theorist.
"You are right; where I come from doesn't matter, but I can tell you that I won't be leaving any time soon," I said, and all four of the gathered Elves gave me a confused look.
"Have you come to take over our village? You seem strong, but he is not alone. Thurman has fifteen other men that follow him, but none are allowed weapons," the other bald-headed old male Elf said.
"It can't get much worse, My name is Nuwari, and I vote yes."
She was the one with soft green hair and a modest set of breasts but a shy smile. I was surprised how fast she had just agreed, considering I really hadn't said much.
"I'm in too. You look handsome, but differently than I have ever seen before. Those strange markings on your arms and neck intrigue me. My name is Tescelle," The other woman said, making both men real back in shock.
I had to admit, this was pretty strange, but I had made sure to assert my dominance. This world was all about strength, and even if I didn't like it, I could play the game.
"Are you two sure about this? You hardly even know him? What if he is just pretending to be good but is even worse than Thurman? He could just sell us off!" The long-haired Elf whispered, and I had to agree with him, but I didn't get a chance to speak.
"Don't be blind, Gawain! I know that you can see something different about this man! There is something in his eyes, almost like a star shining behind it all. The more you look into them, the brighter the star gets," Tescelle explained.
Suddenly everyone was trying to look me in the eyes, but I had no clue what they were talking about.
'That is the thing that sets you apart from most, but there are others that have this spark in them as well. It is your soul, the thing that allows you to be reborn,' Gripton explained to me.
That was strange, and I really didn't know how to respond to it. I was no genius, but the implications were clear.
This was not my first time walking across worlds. This also would not likely be my last.
'I am glad that you are starting to get a better understanding of things. The problem with other people's Souls or Sparks here is that you will not be able to see them. At least not right away until you can reconnect with that person.' Gripton explained, but I was drawn back to the four in front of me that had started to argue.
"I don't see anything! His eyes are blue, and that is rare, but there is no light!" Gawain, the long-haired man, whispered.
"Wait!" I shouted before the girls tried to explain.
Everyone went silent and looked up at me again with shock. I wasn't sure how this Spark crap worked, but I tried to explain.
"I am connected to certain people, but I don't know who they are. That is part of the reason why I am here is to see if I can find them. Somehow, these women must be connected to me. This gives me even more reason to help you out, but I am going to need some help," I explained.
The women were urgent to nod, but the men still didn't look convinced. When I got to the last part, the two men almost started to laugh.
"Have you not looked around the village? We are all clinging to life here! What do you expect from us?" Gawain whispered in defeat.
I understood what he meant, but I couldn't reveal my power just yet. There was a chance that Thurman might try to use the power that was controlling Kalita on them to get answers.
"You will have to trust me, but first I will need to pick five villagers and head off on some sort of a mission," I explained, but when everyone had confused looks on their faces, I added, "I mean Quest."
The four looked at me for a moment but then looked at each other. The Elders all seemed to have an idea, but none of them looked too excited to explain it when they turned back to me.
Tescelle was the one to speak up. She was a brown-haired woman, and her skin was more tanned than Nuwari's.
"There is one problem we are having, and you have already dealt with one of their kind. There are more of them in the forest, but they harass the men that hunt."
"Spiders? I am sure we could deal with a few spiders," I said but was not excited.
"Dealing with the spiders alone won't help, the queen will make more, but you should take Kyra with you. She can speak to animals, but she can't hear them," Nuwari explained.
'Wow, talk about a sad power,' I said in my mind.
'You will find a lot of spot-on-the-wall types of magic. There are far more basic magic types that serve very few purposes than strong types,' Gripton explained.
"Sure, I will take her with me. Are there any others that you might suggest?" I asked, and Tescelle nodded and then turned around instead of speaking.
I waited as she started to dig through a package behind her. Once she found what she was looking for, she turned around with some crude paper, a bottle, and a feather.
Tescelle started to use the feather and ink from the bottle, writing down names. These women didn't look old anymore, and I felt I may have to judge them.
Both men looked concerned by this and got up to leave, but I stopped them.
"I will ask you to wait until I leave before you do," I told the men as they looked at me with confused looks.
I planned to send them to freeload for all their hard work to keep this place together. If they walked out the door before I did, there was a good chance they could get something meant for me.
Luckily, Tescelle handed me the paper, and I thanked her. Then I turned back to the man whose name I hadn't gotten yet.
"Do any of the hunters have bows or other weapons? I know you said that Thurman doesn't allow them to use weapons, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have some, right? Also, what is your name?" I asked.
"I am Thiamin, and no, he only has the knife. Because Thurman cannot use the bow, he destroyed all of them," The bald-headed man explained.
This was precisely what I wanted to hear, but I wanted to see if I could get a little more info about the other girl. I knew something was up with Kalita, and I wanted to see what I could dig up.
"Can you tell me about Kalita? She was the one that I had rescued and seems to be married to Thurman, right?" I asked cautiously.
To my surprise, that made both girls stand up abruptly. This caused both men to fall over backward in shock, but I couldn't blame them.
Suddenly, both women were clutching my sides and whispering into my ears at the same time. The experience was a sensory overload with the pressing of their bodies, and I couldn't tell their voices apart.
"This is the worst of all!"
"Thurman forced Kalita's father, Markeye, to convince her that Thurman was the best person!"
"This was a lie, as you know!"
"But he said he would make them both starve if Markeye didn't do what he said!"
"They just got married, so now we are all worried Markeye will end up in an "accident" while out collecting food."
"Wait!" I said, pulling out of the heavenly grips of being sandwiched between the two women's breasts.
I stepped back and took a deep breath to calm myself, but it didn't work. My blood was starting to boil as it raced through my veins.
"Why does she seem so attached to him?" I asked in a low and dangerous voice that I barely breathed out.
The women's expressions both changed as they looked at my face, but neither could speak, it seemed. I looked at the men, but they just shook their heads no.
This was a problem.
'The person must have prevented them from talking about them. I am not sure what kind of power this is, but we have no way to know which of the fifteen is doing it,' Gripton explained, but that was my last straw.
I reached into the pocket of my jeans and pulled out my other glove, slipping it on. Then, I turned around to walk out the door with the paper in my hand.
As much as I wanted to kill the man, I needed to play my cards right and be careful. Fifteen against one was not good odds, but I had a plan to even them.
Thurman was going to pay.
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