Chương 78: BtWB Book 2 Chapter 1

"… PaardoOn?" Ding! New Evolution option earned for Skill: Haunting Whispers (F) Bob 'blinked' for a moment before – after noting the man in front of him still looked fairly off balance – quickly opening the message sitting on top of his massive backlog. Mentally begging the system that the evolution be what he needed it to be. Ding! New Evolution!

A Friendly Voice (E) (Provocation/Illusion) based evolution for Haunting Whispers (F) Causes a friendly and compelling voice to speak from a location chosen by the caster. Opens (Provocation) route for (Haunting Whispers) Skill Requirements: Haunting Whispers (F) Level: 10, Used Haunting Whispers (F) to communicate with another sapient being multiple times It wasn't perfect, but it was damn close.

Bob felt a bit of trepidation over how 'compelling' the voice might turn out to be, but the evolved skill had to be better than what he was currently working with. Him having already used up all the words he'd managed to program into Haunting Whisper's lexicon.

And with the man in front of him re-firming his grip on the massive hunk of steel in his hand, Bob figured it was better to take a risk on possibly-detectable mind control than it was to have even his most peaceful statements come out sounding like horrific eldritch curses. He mentally selected the evolution, and was about to restate his request for negotiations before another voice decided to break the lingering silence that had somehow formed between himself and the three men.

This one coming from around the corner, where he could sense the majority of the remaining 'sapient' signals standing not six feet from a mass of F-rank monsters they were somehow holding at bay.

"Davin! DAVIN! I'm almost out of fucking mana! We need you on the line!" The shout caused the large man's eyes to widen slightly; them quickly twitching towards the sound before coming back to land on him. When they did so however, Bob was able to see as an emotion briefly flashed over the man's face. One he knew all too well, even if he could no longer physically display it given his own wooden countenance. Hopelessness. Complete, utter, irreparable hopelessness.

The man standing in front of him seeming for a moment so entirely certain of both his and his companion's deaths that Bob was shocked he hadn't already fallen to his knees. It was something the two teens in his grip noticed as well. Both of their struggling forms going still at nearly the exact moment the man's mask fell apart; them likely recognizing what it meant for their chances of 'rescue'. The expression wasn't one Bob was used to his presence inspiring in either lifetime.

And the bits of him that still worried over his sense of morality breathed a sigh of relief when seeing it sparked zero joy within him. Though, that said, he also wasn't about to ignore the opportunity it presented.

"If you agree to end hostilities and open negotiations, I can protect you from the outside threat. Something I think we both know you otherwise will not survive." The voice which now echoed from Bob's broken form bore absolutely no resemblance to the deathly shriek he'd used prior. Though if anything its kind, genderless tone seemed to leave the men even more shaken.

One of his captives actually appearing to faint as a body went limp in his grasp, while the older man took a shaky step back; eyes widening again with fear.

"I promise I mean you no harm. I am not a normal monst-""I know exactly what you are." The larger man cut in, his voice tense.

"What I don't know is why something like you would ever offer to help anyone. What do you want from us?" Bob was about to reply before their conversation was once again interrupted.

"DAVIN! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU!? THE BARRIERS ABOUT TO FALL!" The man's eyes again jerked to the side, this time when they came back to him however, they were filled with a different emotion; something else bleeding through the still-there hopelessness clouding his features. Desperation.

"I want nothing other than basic information, and an agreement of non-violence. Anything beyond than that can be further negotiated between us after your comrades are safe." Stolen novel; please report. It was obvious the man was on the edge of agreeing, his body language screaming that he thought he had no other choice. Which wasn't a shock given that Bob hadn't been lying earlier, their current situation seeming less-than-survivable without his assistance. Something was still holding him back however.

Whatever he thought Bob was apparently being dangerous enough that the man was wavering on whether 'certain death' might be the better option. Luckily, the human instinct for self-preservation was a powerful one.

"Drop the boys first and I agree." Bob didn't hesitate." Deal." The word almost echoed through the world as soon as he spoke it, the dull 'thud' of the two men falling to the ground acting as accompaniment. And it was obvious that 'Davin' had felt the same thing he had. Their agreement had been bound. Something certified by the system itself shortly afterwards. Ding! Congratulation! You have acquired the Geas Path Skill: Binding Verbal Agreement (C)"What the fuck was that!?"

The man in front of him demanded, though his angry step forward was quickly stymied by another desperate shout of his name; this one sounding even more panicked than the last.

"That was the system binding us to our agreement. Now quickly pick me up and take me to the rest of your party, everyone needs to cluster within five or so feet around me in order to be safe."

"Five feet!?" The man said, even as he quickly dropped his mace to gingerly pick Bob's mostly-crushed form off the ground.

"There's over a dozen of us not even counting the goblins and horses! How are we supposed to do that!?"

"Sorry, but that's the radius of my Skill. Also, make sure you inform your group not to attack me. As the bonded individual you have assumed responsibility for the actions of the rest of your party, and thus will face the penalty for any breach of our contract on their part. Given that possible System-enforced consequences include loss of Class or Species level, I suggest doing your best not to be found in violation."

"Oh, Gods fucking damn it. Kal! Grab Hugh and follow me!" The man didn't waste time, already in motion even as he was shouting orders to the teen now falling behind them. Bob also noted that this 'Davin' was stronger than he looked, the thirty to forty pounds of wood and iron comprising his form not even slowing the man down as he sped towards the 'blips' formed up in the near distance. As they turned the corner, Bob was allowed to see them for the first time.

A mob of around twenty or so men, women, and what could only be goblins desperately cramming anything they could find into the gaps and open doorways of a crumbling stone wall. A massive, unending swarm of monstrous beetles being held back by a translucent orange barrier formed up just beyond it; one which seemed to have been created by a pale man kneeling near the edge of the fortifications. His hands pressed against dimly glowing runes etched onto one of the wall's least-destroyed sections.

"Everyone! Stop what you're doing and gather up on Petyr! Get close and let me at the center! And don't touch the fucking box!" Bob found himself shocked at how quickly the man's orders were followed, given how nonsensical they were; even the non-human members of the group dropping everything to run over. Something he wasn't too sure the man himself was terribly happy about, if his gritted teeth were anything to go by.

Still, by the time they themselves were approaching the visibly sweating man, the others had already surrounded him; a path being quickly made as they neared. It was only after they were amongst them however – and the greater majority had a chance to see exactly what their boss had been lugging along with him – that questions began to pop up. The first coming from a wide-eyed woman whose gaze had been locked on his form as soon as they'd come within forty or so feet.

"Davin… You are aware that you're holding a fucking mim-""I know exactly what I'm holding Elra! I made a deal! It was possibly a bad deal, but also the only one currently on offer!" The man said as he shoved himself to the center of the group.

"Petyr! How much longer can you hold!?" The only response the trembling man gave was a grunt, one which largely went unheard as people were herded into a small circle around him; Kal and a now-awake Hugh finally reaching the group a few moments after they had. The humans looking visibly uncomfortable as they were pressed closer to the diminutive green-skinned goblins. Still, in only a few moments it was apparent that all there would fit within his radius reasonably comfortably.

At which point the man holding him seemed to come to a decision, turning to one of the nearby goblins and jerking his head off towards the distance.

"If any of you lot want your master to live, you best move quickly and let him know to get his fat ass over here, cause we aren't shifting." The seven blank stares he received in return said quite a bit more than words ever could. Their silence was also probably for the best, given that 'Elra' – rather reasonably in Bob's opinion – still had a few words of her own she wanted to express; obviously not being terribly assuaged by her leader's previous answer.

"How the hell is making a 'deal' with a half-dead mimic going to help us in this situation, Davin!? Have you gone completely fucking insane!?" At the woman's incredulous demand, a good number of the others circled around him began nervously glancing between themselves and 'Davin'; obviously also feeling uncertain of what exactly the plan here was supposed to be.

At first Bob was content to let him attempt to explain things, but as the man continued to hold his silence under a grim and uncompromising expression, he eventually lost his patience.

"Making a deal with me is going to help all of you because I'm not a 'normal' Mimic. Now everyone please try and squeeze in as closely as possible, because it looks like your friend has reached his limit." The expressions which turned to face him would have been much more satisfying had their surprise not been tinged with mortal terror. Still, at least Bob was only forced to gaze upon them briefly, with the long-suffering 'Petyr' giving up the ghost near-immediately afterwards.

Though, considering the moment also aligned with the man turning to look at him in wide-eyed horror, Bob supposed his thumb might have been on the scale a bit there. As soon as the barrier fell, the monsters quickly proved the caravan's attempts to rebuild the wall pointless; their hard-shelled forms scaling the ancient stone as quickly and easily as they'd traveled over flat ground.

Pouring over the fortifications in mere moments, their rage-filled shrieks echoed throughout the surrounding ruins as they charged towards the group of sapients directly in front of them. Only for those shrieks of rage to turn into shrieks of pain only inches before their razer-sharp mandibles could reach soft, succulent flesh. Bob hadn't been able to check how many levels 'Lesser Mantle of Domination' had gained since escaping the crab, but he could certainly feel their effect.

The F-rank insects who weren't able to quickly escape its radius soon curling up on themselves and dying; a wall of corpses beginning to form at the edge of his boundary even as the people closest desperately attempted to kick them away. Somehow the group managed to stay together. There was a slight bit of tussling as the crowd closest to the beetles attempted to push backwards to gain distance from the threat, but it was quickly sorted out by some of the stronger members of the crew holding people in place.

The man carrying Bob screaming at the top of his lungs as he attempted to keep everyone organized and under control. And eventually, a few horrifying, panic-filled seconds later, things began to level out. Enough beetle deaths finally convincing the swarm to weave their members around the 'circle of doom'. Though one out of every ten or so would inevitably give in to temptation, their bodies adding to the ever-swelling circle of corpses.

It took a few seconds more before the people surrounding him began to slowly regain their composure, Bob waiting until the last panicked breath reached something approaching a natural state before he finally decided to interject again.

"I don't suppose now would be a good time to discuss the other part of our agreement, Davin?" Sadly, it was at that exact moment that the beetles finally reached the horses.