A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

"What about you?" Nila said, turning the subject to Beam, now that they'd both said their piece. "How come you were passed out in the middle of the road like that? And what's with the wounds on your back? Those were claw marks, right? They were huge!"

Judas nodded along with her. "I'm interested too. What the fuck could wound you as you are now, when you gave that evolved hobgoblin what for? You're even stronger than you were back then, aren't ya? I can smell it on you."

"Ah… Yeah, I suppose it was a busy night. Sorry for worrying you," Beam said. "I was planning to get some sleep once I got back into the village, but I guess I must have just fallen asleep earlier than I was hoping to."

"And you weren't eating," Nila said. "I can tell. You've just been working, haven't you? Hurry up then, what did you spend the day in the forest doing? Did you learn anything?"

Beam proceeded to tell them about the day that he'd had. How he'd seen Dominus, how he'd found the goblins half-evolved after eating the kills that he'd had stored. And then how he'd come up with the idea to set a trap, so he could lure all the monsters in the forest in one place. Then, how they'd evolved and caught him off. How he saw the shadows, how he killed them, how they summoned a Titan.

He said it all matter-of-factly, as though it was all quite normal, and just something that needed to be done, but as he proceeded, both the expressions on Nila and Judas' faces gradually contorted more and more in surprise, until their faces could not longer contain it and they both ended up shouting out.

"How the hell did you get mixed up in so much trouble!?" Nila shouted.

"How are you still kicking after all that?" Judas said.

Beam laughed at their reactions. "Yeah, I have to say, the monster lure was playing with fire a bit. But as a result, we learned something about why they're spawning so often."

"Those shadows and their crystals, right?" Judas said. "That your first time killing a man? You said they faded away to ash, aye? The fuck's that about?"

"Mhm... I only killed one of them though, the other one seemed to get eaten by some kind of poison when I tried questioning her," Beam said.

Nila looked at him carefully. "Are you really okay..?" She asked cautiously, figuring that the act of taking a life would definitely be weighing on his mind.

He shrugged. "I mean, I'd rather it didn't happen. But these guys were clearly the enemy. They were raising up monsters. I said I'd protect the village, and I don't plan to take half-measures."

Again, his resolute words stunned them. They could hardly fathom how he remained so sturdy, despite being forced to endure things that could well and easily break a normal man, or at least cripple him for a while.

But with such a base of suffering, of trauma, adapting to new conflict did not require that much energy for Beam. It didn't require him to change who he was, for he'd already had to build himself up to such a state that he could survive his circumstances.

"I mean, you're right, but… I don't know, I thought you would be the type that would y'know… say that life is sacred and that, even if it's the enemy," Judas said.

With a raised eyebrow, Beam looked at him. "You've got a pretty distorted image of me. I'm not some saint. I'm not even a particularly good person. I'm just doing what I want to, and I'm doing what I have to in order to keep doing what I want to."

It was an usually simple way of dismissing such a complicated situation, and both of them were eyeing him carefully, trying to find any cracks beneath his expression. But they were unable to find any. Beam couldn't afford any – if he did not maintain a sufficient enough balance in his own mind, then he wouldn't be able to maintain control of the leash of Ingolsol and Claudia, and he would crumble.

"These monsters you fought…" Nila began, changing the subject. "How strong are they? You've mentioned Gorebeasts and Konbreakers and horned goblins, but I've never seen one of them. And this Titan too, how strong was that? Was it strong than the evolved hobgoblin you fought?"

"A single Gorebreaker could comfortably deal with a whole pack of lesser goblins. A pack of horned goblins could deal with a few Gorebreakers. And then a Konbreaker by itself could probably deal with two or three Gorebreakers… A Konbreaker is probably similar in strength to a hobgoblin, maybe a bit weaker.

And then the Titan… That particular one could probably have dealt with two or three of the evolved hobgoblins that I fought before," Beam said, as he considered it.

"Seriously..?" Nila said, blanching, as she held her head in her hands. "Y'know, being your friend, it might be the most worrying thing in the world. I mean, how can anyone rest easy when they know in a single day you've gone and encountered just… just all these insane monsters. How are you even still kicking, Beam?

Those claw marks on your back had me worried, but just how strong have you gotten that you can go through all that and come out alive?"

"I'm of the same opinion, lad," Judas said with a shudder. "At first, y'know, seeing you slay goblins, getting all cut up and that, I thought it was cute. I respected the struggle. Now… How much time has passed? A month? How the hell have you gotten so strong so quickly?

It's frankly kinda… unsettling."

Seeing Beam raise an eyebrow, Judas hurried to correct himself.

"I mean in a good way, of course, even if you're freaking me out a bit. But Gods, I just saw you take on the most monstrous of monsters a little while ago, and now you're telling me you've surpassed even that?" Judas said.

"Well, as I said earlier, there are limits to these crystals that they were using. Though it might have been physically as strong as two or three evolved hobgoblins, its mind was unstable, and so I was able to exploit that to win," Beam said.

Judas and Nila shared a glance, shaking their heads. "I don't think you get it Beam… Well, whatever the case, I'm glad you're on our side. Though I can't help but think you won't be staying in this village for long. With strength like yours, it's only a matter of time before someone sees it, and offers you something better."