His body could now handle far more than it once had, his strength, speed, endurance and just about everything else having taken huge leaps in power. His entire frame was packed with dense muscle. In fact, he was so muscular that they now had to custom make his every outfit, which pleased Sebastian, his head butler, to no end. Thankfully, his armor, the rare Mythicallium breastplate crafted by Hord, was an easy adjustment.
The new piece that the dwarf was crafting from the claws and bones of the Azure-Leopard was a bit trickier, but Hord had assured him that he’d figure out how to make the metal expand along with him for continued growth.
“I would recommend a field test,” Frunk advised. “One that we can even perform tonight when we stop to set up camp.”
Arbor nodded slowly, liking the idea. He had about two-thousand gremlins following behind on their shaggy mounts, while the freed slaves and the remainder of the forces were taking a shorter way through the forest. They would arrive roughly a week after they did, but Arbor wasn’t too concerned.
“When will the main gremlin forces arrive?” he asked, wondering if they’d have enough time to erect barracks and housing for over twenty thousand gremlin soldiers and their families.
“Maybe two weeks, perhaps a bit longer,” Frunk said, checking over his notes. “And not to worry, Saiko has already arrived and begun work. The land should all be plotted out, and markers should be set by the time we arrive tomorrow afternoon.”
Arbor relaxed at that, glad that he had someone like Frunk to manage all the minutia of running such a large section of land and managing so many people. He remained relaxed for all but five seconds before Grak shattered his illusion of peace.
“Yes, we’ll arrive tomorrow afternoon, at which time you’ll be giving a speech to all of the heads of the various towns and villages within your domain. You’ll have the night to yourself, and then we’ll have the next ten days to tour your lands as you make appearances in all the towns and villages to talk to the people.”
“Do I have to?” Arbor asked, sounding almost whiney.
He didn’t know the first thing about being a leader, and this was honestly the very last thing he wanted to do. Giving a rousing speech on the battlefield was one thing, but talking to a bunch of villagers about how he, a total nobody from some backwater town, was going to lead them, was a different animal altogether.
“Yes,” Grak said in a tone that would brook no argument. “As a leader, they will expect you to ignore them, just as most of the nobility would. But you are not an asshole and will make a personal appearance in all the towns and villages.”
Arbor slumped in his seat and just nodded bitterly.
“You’ll have a day to recoup when you return, and then you can expect to host a dinner for all the Barons under your direct command.”
“Great,” Arbor muttered. “More fancy dinners.”
“It’s expected of a right pompous ass like you to throw a party,” Hord boomed in a voice far too loud for the small coach. “I honestly can’t wait to see the outfit Sebastian forces you into!”
“Think that’s funny, do you?” Grak asked as Hord roared with laughter. “Well, guess what, mister! As an emissary of the Jagged Peaks and a prince, to boot, you’ll be joining him.”
That got Hord to stop laughing, a look of abject horror crossing his face.
“You can’t be serious, lass. There’s no way I’m gonna…”
“You will, or I’m going to write to your wife and tell her she needs to come down here and straighten you out.”
Hord’s expression turned to pure terror then, like it always did when Grak mentioned his wife. Arbor enjoyed seeing the dwarf squirm, especially with how hard he’d laughed at the idea of Arbor being forced into another suit.
“There’s no need to be hasty, lass. Let’s not bring my wife into this,” Hord said quickly.
“Am I to assume you’ll behave then?” Grak asked with a raised eyebrow.
Hord nodded quickly, and Grak’s countenance shifted instantly, giving the dwarf a large grin.
“Excellent. I’m sure the Barons will all be thrilled to see you there!”
Neither Hord nor Arbor dared to contradict her. The gremlin woman could be truly terrifying when she wished, and neither of them wanted to face her wrath. Especially if she’d gone through all the trouble of setting this thing up.
“Now, all we need to do is have Sebastian fit the two of you for something appropriate,” Grak continued, taking down a few notes. “But I’m sure he’s already got something in mind, seeing as I’d informed him of this dinner last week.”
“Is that why the old bastard has been looking so smug?” Hord hissed in an undertone.
Now that he mentioned it, Arbor thought back and noticed that Sebastian had been looking particularly pleased with himself. If there was a dinner with other nobility involved, Arbor had a very bad feeling about what the butler had planned. All he could do now was hope that it wouldn’t be too horrendous.
2
Arbor walked among his troops that night, accompanied by Grak. Hord had set up his portable workshop and was banging away at something, while Frunk had gone off to speak with Grab about the movement of the troops and get a progress report from the scouts running between them and the traveling force headed by Shukle.
Arbor spent his time talking to the various gremlins, asking about their traveling conditions and commiserating with them about their sore behinds. He, of course, had traveled in relative luxury, but he’d spent enough time on horseback to know their pain. And though the Yakdaws were a far smoother ride, riding on one’s back for two weeks could really start to wear on a person.
He wasn’t idle as he walked among the gremlins, actively trying to feel for hidden or dormant magic. It wasn’t easy, as he had to narrow his Perception Field down from its usual ten feet to just a few inches off his body, in order to concentrate enough on spreading his awareness.
As far as he knew, his Origin magic would only allow him to feel the Origins of those who already had active magic. His Perception, on the other hand, had been what allowed him to see and awaken Grak’s magic. It was far different than his Origin magic, which made it very taxing to spread an aura about himself with purely Perception.
While Origin magic wanted nothing but to escape and run wild, the Perception magic fought to remain within, empowering him and no one else. That was why he had to retract his Perception Field. Walking around with steam pouring off his skin would be a dead giveaway that he was doing something.
As it was, Arbor could feel his mind and body straining to keep things going. It wasn’t that he was running out of magic; as far as he knew, it was pretty much an endless source of power, but it was limiting in two ways. Firstly, at a certain point, the body could no longer handle the strain. When that happened, one had to stop using it, or they would suffer serious consequences as a result.
Secondly, the Origin itself placed limiters on how much power could be accessed at once to try and mitigate damage. These limiters were called Tiers, and as the body grew more accustomed to the usage of magic, more Tiers would be unlocked as a result. Even at the 7th Tier, Arbor was struggling to keep a cloud of his Perception magic hanging around him.