A ship was crossing the dry desert. Nothing around it as far as the eye could see and yet, from its keels sand burst in waves. If not for featherweight and the gravity glyph, all onboard would have been seasick from it.
Once accustomed to it the human had enjoyed all the amenities, beginning with a proper bed and clothing. He wasn't that shocked at the water flowing down the tiles in the bath and spent an hour just relaxing in the steam. His hair and tanned skin cut sharp on the light blue motifs.
Then came dinner and once again, I had guessed the man's tastes mostly right.
"Mutton broth and wild boar curry, sliced raw meat, lamb ribs, seared trout, slow-braised goat, frozen yogurt, chocolate fondant and fancies."
I had to cover the steamy chocolate again while he looked at the dozen plates and bravely picked the red rice one.
The man saw me turn away and leave. As soon as I was out he called on Rascal:
"Why don't you join me?! Look at all this, I will need help to finish it all!"
The orc had another of his smirks.
"That is the masters' table." He simply observed. "Only your peers can sit with you. Besides," he had a chuckle, "I only eat what I kill."
"Yeah, I... I observed that." The man admitted.
It was a bit surprising to have him not insist and, instead, straighten himself on the seat to enjoy it all. That still didn't stop them joking while he ate.
Outside, the magnal was busy meditating on the bridge. He knew I would come here to check the ship's direction. We prefered the silence and emptiness around us.
For most of the afternoon the man stayed alone in his bedroom, checking his relics, thinking no one saw him. He wanted to test them. I could not tell yet what they did. Then, he went outside to exercise, then bathed again. Another meal as night fell before he returned to his bed.
I followed him there, silently. He had turned the desk in a small altar with a silver plate at the middle, marked with a weird circle full of useless runes. Monstones bordered it, smooth like pebbles.
He lit a candle, then put some red rice before the plate and started to chant.
Once done, the man got up, watched where the rice had vanished, snuffed out the candle and walked outside in the dark hallway. I was a meter away, a glimmering silver statue he failed to see.
I followed him at that distance while he crossed the deck. Rascal was feigning to sleep. His axe shined under the moonlight.
The human wanted to take a look at the hatch.
He opened it as silently as he could and Nasse groaned from all the way back in the study. After making sure no one was following him, he walked down the steps and plunged in the darkness.
Down there, the creaking wood had him a bit nervous. He quickly recognized the need for a light after all, used what shade came from the hatch and picked a nearby lamp that lit up the moment he touched it.
A low hiss made him spin around.
There, under the stairs, he had finally caught on to the metal bars. A prison in which a small dark mass was fuming.
The moment he got close with his lamp, the beast lunged. Its sharp legs slashed the air, missing the glass by just a bit. The monster let more hisses while biting the bar and swinging wildly.
The man stepped back in surprise, only to meet the cold silver of my armor. He nearly panicked.
"What are you afraid of?" I asked.
"Sir! You're here! I, I hadn't seen you, I was..."
I walked past him once again, to approach the prison. She was going wild, trying to break free. But the whole deck would break before those bars did.
"This monster used to be friendly, a long time ago. But the realm is relentless. And I could not let her go. Do you know what I did?"
"No. No sir, I do not."
Of course he did. He could see the result right in front of him.
"I used dark magic. I turned her into this. A moving corpse stuck on a single thought."
A true monster, maybe. Unable to adapt, unable to evolve, unable to even feed. A harmless killer that needed support to just keep going.
I stretched my arm until it could scratch my fingers, until it could hit my wrist. I watched the legs vainly rip on the silver of my arm, not even leaving marks on it.
"The realm is dead. You just don't realize it. And just as I am trying to save it, I am trying to save her."
I touched her head. She bit on my palm. Still, the mana flowed.
"Even though I can't even remember her name. I feel like, if I could, if her name was uttered, she would come back to me. Because it's lost, I can cling to that miracle."
The realm was merciful, after all.
Behind me the man hesitated, then said: "Well, it should be possible. After all, this is magical world? So, names could hold a secret power."
Can they?
Because I desperately needed to believe that they could.
Because I was wearing that badger helmet, it looked like I was scratching on my gorget. I got up, patted the human's shoulder and gestured for him to follow. Further into the lower deck.
There stood the two racks. The empty one for my armor, when Nasse was working on it. The other held the plates bearing seals.
"Soon, too soon, you will have more answers than you wish for. When that time comes, this will be your armor."
After what trinklets the system had thrown at him, this probably looked paltry to him. And he would have been right. Seals only slowed the inevitable while hindering the user severely.
"So, what do you fear? What is it you desire?"
"Pardon me, sir?"
I turned to him completely.
"I say you are the realm's savior. That makes you the single most important person to exist. That is why you are here, and why you should be revered. Yet you do not care for the realm one bit."
"I promise you I..."
"You don't have to. Don't ask for permission from anyone, for anything. Live like each day is your last, to the fullest. Crush your fears, pursue your desires. Let nothing stop you. Be greedy, be selfish and let me worry about the realm."
With this, I walked away. He had his lamp. He could explore the rest without me.
"You came here for a reason. That is all that counts."
That human came back to the realm. He answered a call I had not even made. Just that made him more precious than all of his peers.
And this whole time, during the whole exchange, what I really wantd to tell him was that I was a golem, a servant, and all those things I used to say so, so, so long ago. All the words that had become so hollow with time.
The next morning, when he showed up for breakfast, he seemed slightly more comfortable.
Still so prudent as to be walking on glass but at least confident enough to not beg anymore. He enjoyed his lobster crepes and brioche eggs, walked out and asked for Rascal to spar with him. Which made the orc laugh his lungs out.
Not because the human was too weak: the opposite. A god had asked him for a fight and he could not have been more delighted.
We had assumed he would fight bare-handed, because that was all he needed. However, he had seen the weapons in the lower deck and asked for a spear. Nasse went to pick it up for him.
"It's my first time holding a weapon, so," the human argued, "let's make it about disarming the other."
"Sure! Cut my limbs if you must!" The orc's eyes called for blood. "Those things grow back."
To my surprise and disappointment, Rascal won the first round in just seven seconds. Then the second in about the same amount of time. He was growing restless.
I was too.
"Are you mocking me?!" The orc groaned, not daring yet to roar. "Stop dropping your stick and fight!"
Just by row power that man could have danced around his prey and cut it to pieces before a blink. Was he trying to fight without mana? No, he was thrashing. But for all his potency, he lacked courage and skill.
"Come on!" The orc dropped his axe. "Strike me already!"
"It's fine, Kaele will heal him." The magnal chimed in.
That made the man look away from his fight.
"Kaele?"
And by elimination, his eyes fell on me. After which an orc's fist had him crash on the deck. He got pummeled on the ground, with no one stopping it as it was the beast's bones cracking before the human even got hurt.
Finally, his strength dawned on him and for the next round, he held for two minutes. And on the next, he finally won.
"Strike." I hailed from the bridge.
He was holding his spear over Rascal's skull. That monster was bracing for it, his whole body tense. The human still couldn't pull himself to do it.
"Strike or you will insult him."
"If I have the choice..." The human was panting. "Then I will only strike someone who can stand up to me."
That enraged the beast who pushed back the spear with one swing and left. The magnal had to pick up the axe and go after him.
Good.
I could feel it, on that human's face, in his blue eyes, his warrior's allure. He enjoyed power. He enjoyed the superiority. He wanted to rule, he wanted stand out. His gaze fell on me, still filled with that flame of envy. At seeing the silver armor that should have comforted him, it nearly died.
For a moment the human had wanted to invite me for a spar too. But that was still a step too far. Or maybe, just maybe, he needed someone to impress.
Regardless, before the evening the ruins of Chalt appeared at the horizon.
First the four tallest pyramids emerged, looking like wide towers. Then as the distance fell their terraces cut into the landscape, with the sunset filtering between them. The smaller pyramids appeared next, in the dozens, on their massive pillars.
I was steering the ship toward Malangri. Of the four monuments this one had fared worst.
"You bring us back?" The magnal complained. "Why?"
"I have anti-magic. Once I craft an orb, we can depart."
In other words, I needed the most reliable ritual any human city could provide. And if Malangri could not provide that, we would simply take over another pyramid.
The orb would not be the only limiting factor anyway.
"Sir, you are looking at the desert again." The human asked. "Are you worried about that skeleton?"
"He is not the only threat lurking in the realm."
I could not see her. I could not see Muasin.
That devilish snake would tail the Parao for days on end, finding strength in her endless thirst for human blood. Had she stayed behind, in the red ruins? Or had she never left these ones... If fighting anti-magic incarnate had me nervous, she was the real danger.
For now, it seemed we were safe. I turned back to the wheels and maneuvered for the canal beneath the pyramid.
Ahead, the drums started rumbling. They had seen us.
"What is this? What is that sound?" The human worried.
He walked down to the deck, toward the bow to get a better view. He had still not understood just the size of those pyramids.
Rascal walked up to him, just slightly behind, and patted him on the back. "That's your new kingdom!"