A Warlock's Ascent

Grump's aggression startled him, he knew that the old man was very strong, he had seen that man take down three centaurs in just a matter of minutes, that alone proved he was indeed very strong. So when a guy like that acted in such a way, he knew that he has to play it nice, otherwise he would be the next person on the receiving end of the old man's big ax. So he played nice.

He started asking him questions about his inventory. He was very interested in his ability. He wanted to know what he had stored in his pocket space, so he conjured a spear that he stole from the tower...

"Nice spear… Where did you steal it from? This craftsmanship…. You stole it from some soldier's barrack didn't you?"

"So what?". Then the old man handed the spear back to him and asked him rather nicely.

"Listen kiddo. There is no easy way to say this but… Earthians are a very costly commodity here in Midgard. Nobles and wealthy merchants would pay a huge amount for your ass. And after they had bought you, they will chain you up and make you their bitch. That means that they could do anything to your ass no one could do shit about it… So now the question is whether you want your freedom. Or do you want to become someone's bitch?"

"Are you telling me that you will sell me?"

"I was going to. But now I am interested in the ability that you showcase about a moment ago…. You know I am strong right? I can protect you from all the evil people out there. You just have to be honest with me." His words were like the temptation of the devil, he felt as if he was a child and a pedophile was trying to lure him into his room. He didn't feel good.

But thing was, he understood that he was stuck with him for now. He could not do anything to the old man. He could try to run away, but after hearing about Accumulation and all the shit that had been going on out there, he felt that even if he runs away that then there will be a higher chance that he would be killed by a monster.

"What do you want?" He asked admitting defeat.

"How much space do you have in your space pocket?" Grump asked with a big smile.

Surprisingly when he showed him how much space he has, Grump's smile widen, and he started looking like the grinch, smiling at his collection of Christmas presents…

He also showed the old man how much stuff he had in his inventory. And there was a lot of space still left in there. Seeing this the old man started smiling even more. He became so happy that he picked Dave up and raised him in the air and started dancing.

After his constant protest, the old man finally let him down. And it was then the old man told him about what made him so happy…

As it turns out, the old man is an adventurer as well as a smuggler. And the smuggling job had a lot of money in it. But the only problem in this job was the taxation, there was strict regulation on trading between cities, as no one wants to share their resources with one another. That is where smugglers come in.

Smugglers had to pay a certain fee to the soldiers and higher officials to turn a blind eye to their operations. Sometimes bribes almost take 40% of the whole cut so making their profit margin even slim.

For example. Ravenshade and Cloudhold were allies in the name. But the higher-ups of Ravenshade keep a very close eye on exports and imports from Cloudhold. And anyone is caught smuggling things to Cloudhold without a permit would have a bounty raised on their heads. And they will be advertised as criminals.

Because of this, the smugglers had to pay a lot of money to the soldiers of both the city to keep their mouths shut. But with him, the smuggling job could become a lot easier. Because no one can check his inventory, which is why Grump had planned to use him as a smuggler's vessel. He would use him to smuggle things in and out of the Ravenshade.

As the walls of the city had fallen, Grump was eyeing this as a pretty good business opportunity. With his contacts, he would be able to secure good smuggling contracts. And he had planned to become rich as soon as he can and retire….

"So let me get this straight. You want me to smuggle things in my inventory and make you a lot of money."

"Yes."

"Okay… Why should I agree to work with you?"

"First of all, work on your listening skills. You would work for me. Not with me. For me. Second of all, I will give you a cut."

"How much?"

"10%," Grump said with a grin.

"50%"

"Fuck no! How about 25%?"

"40%"

"You are asking for too much."

"Okay… I will be happy with 25%. But… I will only agree to it if you give me other types of compensation along with the money."

"What do you want?"

"First guarantee, that I will stay anonymous. I don't want to meet with anyone who would be involved in the deals. If I ever have to meet them then I will wear a mask to hide my identity."

"Hide your identity? Sure… It is a weird request but sure."

"Second thing that I would need is your teaching. I need to learn how to fight monsters and humans alike. The place where I came from is a very peaceful place. It is nearly not as violent as this place is. So in order to survive in this place, I would need you to teach me things…'

"My teaching… sure why not? I can surely teach a thing or two."

"Third thing that I would need from you is a partnership. I know that I will be working for you. But I would have a full right to back out of a job if I see it as dangerous. And you will not force me to do anything against my wishes."

"Yeah yeah… So do we have a deal?" Grump asked putting his hands in front of Dave. And then both of them shook hands.

***

When Gilbert woke the next morning, he felt oddly energetic. He was very excited because he had found a gold egg-laying goose. And he only had to do a few more jobs and he would be set for his retirement. The notion of retirement in his dream house with two maids had made him so energetic that he had decided that he would try to reach Ravenshade today, by nightfall.

As he got up from his bed, Gilbert looked at the other bed beside him. And he found it empty. Seeing the empty bed, he started panicking. He thought the golden egg-laying goose had run away. He frantically got up and came out of the room, only to find Earthian by the fireplace.

He saw that the Earthian was hanging from a wooden beam. There was the smell of sweat in the room. He saw that there was a sword lying beside the Earthian. And he was constantly pulling himself up and down the beam. Seeing this, Gilbert smiled. This Earthian reminded him of his younger days.

"I see you have been working diligently." He said. Hearing this the Earthian finally got off the beam and turned towards him with his sweaty face.

"You get the sudden motivation to get strong when you make a deal with a smuggler and you are constantly attacked by monsters," he replied. Hearing this Gilbert took a chair and sat on it.

"Sleep well last night?"

"Nah… With all the things that had been going on, I just couldn't sleep."

"Unhappy with the deal you struck eh?"

"Sort of… Back on Earth, I was a normal cook. And since I have come here, I have been constantly attacked by monsters, abandoned a few people so that I could save my ass, and now I have struck a deal with low life smuggler like you. I have done all the things that I would have never done back on Earth. And no I am just confused about what kind of man I have become…"

"I tell you what you are… You are a Dumbass!"

"A Dumbass? Really?"

"Yeah… Why are you always crying about small things? You abandoned those people because they were of no value to you. You left the corpses of those people behind because there was nothing else you could have done at the moment. And you struck a deal with the smuggler because it is the best deal that you have which will not only let you survive in this cursed place but would also nurture you. You did all of those things because they are beneficial for you. It is good to be selfish about yourself."

"You wouldn't understand what I going through."

"Fine. I don't want to understand. Because as far as I know, you couldn't have done anything else to make these situations go away. And I am just saying… Don't beat yourself up because of things from the past. Just look forward and move on. Life is too short. And out all the amazing things that you can do with your life, you should not use to carry the burden of your past…" he then left the Earthian to cook breakfast.

The whole thought process of Earthians was very weird. From what he had heard, most of the Earthians have a hard time adjusting here because their world is very peaceful when compared to this place. But still, it baffles him that the Earthians are such big babies. Like the one, he was stuck for now…

After eating breakfast, he went around to the tower to scavenge anything useful. He found a pouch full of money under a shady floorboard under one of the bunk beds. As Ravenshade was mostly destroyed, he knew that there will be a shortage of food there. So he made his Earthian friend carry all the crates of dried fish and beef jerky. He figured he could sell some of them for high prices as there is bound to food shortage in the city.

After taking everything, they started their journey toward Ravenshade…

While walking, the Earthian stayed silent at the start. But after they have covered some distance, he broke the silence…

"How did you get this strong?" he asked.

"Killing anything that got in my way," I said honestly.

"Did someone taught how to use your weapons? Like did you have a teacher while growing up?"

"Nah. Didn't have any teacher of anything. And what is even there to learn about weapons? You just need to remember that to kill a being you just need to stab it from the pointy end."

"Got it…".

***

As they moved forward, Dave started to notice that Grump was acting weird. He was more vigilant toward his surroundings, and he seemed to be overly protected for him. Seeing this, he started to wonder whether the old man swings that way…

Because of Accumulation, traveling has become more dangerous. That is why Grump insisted that they should travel as fast as they could. At first, he thought that Grump was an overly sensitive guy, things couldn't be that bad. But soon he also started seeing the results of Accumulation during their journey.

While they were moving, they eventually crossed a town that was in ruins. Based on moss and vegetation growing around the town, one might assume that this place was abandoned a very long time ago. But according to Grump, he visited this town around a week ago for the annual festival that is celebrated here. And he enjoyed the festival very much.

Seeing the abandoned town and hearing Grump's story gave him the extra motivation to push himself further. Now he was on board with Grump's plan to reach Ravenshade by nightfall and have dinner there…

The rest of the journey was quiet and they didn't speak to each other that much. But when a group of goblins attacked out of nowhere, Grump once again showed Dave how strong he actually was. There were around 20-25 goblins in the group. But for Grump taking care of the goblins was like walking in a park. He swiftly killed them and never let any goblin approach him.

Finally, by nightfall, they were able to reach Ravenshade successfully. But when they came close to the great walls of Ravenshade, his heart started aching…

Long gone was the majestic city that had left him and his friends in awe. A big chunk of the wall of the Ravenshade was missing. The top of the walls was covered with black color sticky goo, which he recognized very well.

As they got inside, they saw that the hustling-bustling city was no more. Now the only people left in the city looked like zombies. There were many more homeless men and women on the streets. While most of them looked like they had been through hell.

Seeing the condition of the city, he started to wonder, why would gods kill their own creations, for their entertainment. From the legends he had heard, all gods were portrayed as benevolent beings that cares about humanity. But the scene in front of him made him understand that all those legends are nothing but bullshit.