Chapter 459 - Bond Of Loyalty
Arthur learned another trait of hobgoblins, and it was their raw emotions. Mero was milder than the overflowing machine of emotions in front of him, which kept crying as it apologized for wasting Arthur's money.
"Seika, what did you do?" Diana asked with confusion, as she didn't know what conversation they had.
"It is... crying because of our meeting," Arthur said, and his companions looked at him with doubt.
"Aha, that makes sense," Ma said as he squinted his eyes at the hobgoblin. "As expected of our Seika..."
"You don't have to act as if you believe me," Arthur muttered, and Ma closed his mouth, choosing to confirm that he indeed believed nothing. "When are you going to stop crying?"
As he directed his words to the goblin, the bond between them worked on translating his words. Finally, the goblin stopped sobbing, but he kept sniffing.
"I am sorry, I am..." he was about to bawl again, but Arthur raised his hand to stop him.
"I have a lot of money to waste. Do not worry about it," he said to reassure the hobgoblin even though it was a lie. Every gold coin he spent today would have to be obtained again through his artifacts. "I need you to tell me how, when, and where they captured you."
"Yes, my lord," the hobgoblin said, but its strength started to fade. "However, I fear that my death is near. My lifeforce is unable to keep this body going anymore."
"As if I would let you die as soon as I bought you," Arthur frowned. It seems this hobgoblin was indeed going to be sold for the skill-kill. "I will heal you."
"My lord, this cage is a special one. It cannot be opened by anyone and is designed never to be unlocked. The moment it looks, the bars will fuse and then strengthened by the runic lines," Ma warned.
Arthur touched the bars, and it was indeed like his manager explained. There were layers upon layers of runes working together to keep whatever inside weakened and imprisoned. It was nothing that Arthur couldn't understand, but it was indeed a mess.
"This work is amateurish," muttered Arthur as he saw how runes were thrown into the mix without harmony. The real danger stemmed from these runes overlapping and causing a disaster if untangled incorrectly. "Maybe that was their aim."
"The king made this, Seika," Ma said as he blinked his eyes. "I did not you could appraise runes."
"Oh, right," Arthur realized something and turned to Ma without standing up. "Go out," he ordered, realizing that Ma should not be here. Ma opened his mouth as if to protest, but he closed it and left, downcast.
"This will leave a scar for a while," Dia said with a smile as she saw Ma leave. "Am I allowed to watch?"
"I would die if I asked you out," he smiled. "Furthermore, there is not a lot to watch," Arthur turned toward the cage, which exploded with runic lines to cover the underground room. The runic lines intertwined, and some of them united to form symbols. It was a magical scene.
They formed rings around the two of them, and Dia looked with awe at the swirling snakes full of power. As she reached out to touch, Arthur was quick to warn her.
"Any instability to the lines will blow them up," Arthur said, making Diana freeze and retract her hand.
"This is beautiful," she sincerely whispered in awe. "You never told me that you can do this, Arthur. It is similar to the power you use to teleport."
"They follow the same concept, in a way," he knew she meant his teleportation rune, which he allowed to see. "The most living being of this world are rune. They pulse with life as they create everything around us."
"And you are the Seika of Living Beings," she said in awe. Arthur did not correct her misunderstanding because it was hard to reveal the truth. Even though he trusted her, he didn't understand his powers himself, not to mention trying to explain them to someone else.
"I am, indeed," muttered Arthur as he tapped an intersected point where the lines met, "and this is how I can fight against the world."
As if he played a video backward, the lines ceased moving before retracing their earlier motion and gathering in a single spot. However, this time, they were organized. Arthur stood up and took a step back as he watched the bars split apart to release his hobgoblin.
"You are free now," Arthur smiled at his hobgoblin with a Heal-III rune in his hand. "And now, you are going to be healthy," he declared as he got closer to the goblin and directed his rune at it.
The wounds and scars that the hobgoblin suffered began to heal rapidly as the color returned to his green face. His crooked giant fang recovered as well, but it stopped growing after healing the crack.
"My wounds... Kakan... you have healed them!" the hobgoblin stood up and grabbed his hand. Arthur could feel Dia almost attacking out of reflex, but the hobgoblin only had awe in his eyes.
"I need to ask you something before you tell me what happened," Arthur said, and the hobgoblin nodded repeatedly. "You can break the bond if you want. I can tell that now. So, why aren't you doing that?"
"My lord. All these years, we grew stronger because of this bond. We vowed that one day, we would renew our bond with you, and we shall rise together. This bond is our most sacred possession."
Arthur stared at the monster silently. This was not the answer he expected. There were not many answers to begin with, and he didn't know what to expect. However, those answers did not include loyalty.
'These monsters will never forget a debt,' Arthur smiled as he looked at the goblin. A golden spark left his hand, and it made the goblin flinch. The spark turned into a symbol of two fangs around a circle. It was a manifestation of his Goblin's Lord skill.
"A renewal?" the hobgoblin's face lit up, and it reminded him of his brother. They were of the same height, a bit shorter than him and with a childish look. "I am not worthy, my lord."
"I am the one who is not worthy," Arthur shook his head. "It seems to have been years since we last met, for you, but I am still so weak."
"You have the power to make us powerful, Kakan," the hobgoblin was confused. "Does that not make you the most powerful of us all?"
Arthur simply smiled and didn't say anything. The symbol floated between their arms, and the hobgoblin reached out toward it with reverence.
Arthur was not doing anything like before. There were two conditions to establish a bond with the goblins: fear or loyalty. The first time he created the bond, he used fear. Now, there was no need to make them afraid, as their loyalty knew no bounds.
As the hobgoblin grabbed the light, it scattered before entering both of their bodies, strengthening the weakened bond that was about to break. The hobgoblin closed his eyes before going on his knee, his head lowering toward Arthur.
"We have reunited, my lord."
***
Ma was enough to arrange for the materials to be delivered, so Arthur sent him to meet Avadil. Despite incurring such a loss by his bidding, Arthur's wealth was more than enough to accelerate the growth of his city.
The artifacts were sold for more than they had anticipated, and Arthur looked down on the bidders losing their minds over the artifacts he created. There were countless protection artifacts, fire swords, vegetation, and even armoring artifacts.
Their numbers made the people speechless. However, they were enough to arm a small platoon to become one of the best in the kingdom. Furthermore, Blessed Spirits made another appearance, with five artifacts being sold.
Arthur chose to sell five exactly to allow speculation. As he suspected, people thought that Arthur was selling the artifacts he was safekeeping because his city was suffering financially.
This speculation made them fight ferociously to get the artifacts. However, they knew that this was the best investment they could make, given how much money these pots would bring them.
Arthur watched their woes and joys toward things he could create with ease. It was not an intoxicating feeling as he thought it would be, but it was fear-inducing. If these people knew that he could create artifacts, no one would take his side.
Greed will devour their hearts and conscience, and they will eat Arthur in turn. It was the only fate that he could think of unless he grew stronger than anyone.
'I can grow infinitely stronger, so why shouldn't I?' Arthur knew the answer. It was told to him by the Spirits Sovereign, and Arthur knew it clearly, deep down.
As he is getting stronger, Arthur is losing himself.