To Hadorix surprise, a massive wolf entered the arena. It easily weighed 2,200 kg. Hadorix was dumbfounded as to how he would manage to defeat the creature. At that moment, a crazy idea crossed his mind. He charged at the wolf in his lion form. The wolf charged at Hadorix. Monk held onto Hadorix mane. Hadorix pounced over the wolfs head. The wolf threw its head in the air to try to hit him and missed. Hadorix shapeshifted back into a human and swung Tree Slayer with all his might toward the wolfs spine. A loud crack could be heard throughout the entire arena. It sounded like a great tree had broken in half. The wolf immediately fell to the ground. Hadorix had cut its spine in half, it was paralyzed. Blood gushed out from the wound. Hadorix moved up the wolfs back and swung down with all his might on its neck. The axe was sharp enough that it decapitated the great beast. Hadorix was as amazed as the audience. He had not realized the full extent of his newly increased strength.
Casper spoke, "Arena goers, welcome your new champion, Hadorix the Archdruid."
Hadorix shapeshifted back into a lion and plopped down on his side of the arena.
The two wolves came in and removed the corpse to take it to Hadorix wing of rooms. They then returned and took Hadorix to his rooms.
Hadorix first sought out Obcha. When he found her, he said, "Has the green fairy arrived?"
Obcha replied, "She has, and she has gotten the Husky and the woman to a stable state. They can be moved carefully. She has also begun to patch Adonis. He was barely alive when he arrived, but barely alive is still alive. She may be able to save him yet."
Soon the clutch of dragon eggs was delivered. It was a large clutch. There were 10 eggs in total. Hadorix was elated. He had no clue what he would do with them. But at least they would be safe at the Mystic Orchard. He had but to survive one more challenge and they could all return home.
Hadorix then asked for the massive wolf to be cooked. He and all of those that were with him and ate meat would feast on its flesh. Fortunately, Obcha was an incredibly talented cook. She roasted the wolf after skinning it. The skin would make a wonderful new armor. She then called all the creatures that Hadorix had saved to eat.
Hadorix took the first bite.
路 Dexterity +1
Flashed before his eyes. All the creatures dug in greedily. No one wanted to miss out on this stat improvement. Few of the creatures would ever manage to kill an epic creature on their own. This was a major achievement. No one spoke throughout the entire meal. They were too busy enjoying and savoring the flesh of the wolf. By the time, the entire beast had been consumed, Hadorix had managed to gain another 15 Dexterity. He felt fully restored and significantly more agile.
Hadorix then decided he should likely study his basic spell book before the next match. He wanted to find a spell to communicate with the beasts, and he knew there were several in his basic spellcasting spell book. Unfortunately, Hadorix fell asleep while researching one. The past few days had been exhausting.
He awoke to the 2 wolves returning to take him for his final arena battle. When Hadorix arrived, he again went to, and plopped down on his side of the arena in lion form. He intended to gather the spirit of his choosing and leave directly after the battle. The trolls needed darkness, anyway, so tonight would be the perfect time to travel. While he was contemplating this, Casper began to speak. "Give three cheers to the arena champion Hadorix. He has defeated all challengers since arriving at this arena. I do not wish to waste any more gladiators, are there any in the audience that wish to challenge his rule?"
After seeing his battles with the massive wolf and Adonis, no one dared to challenge him.
Casper spoke again, "As no one desires to challenge his reign, as Arena Champion, Hadorix is entitled to honorary membership in the pack. As you are all aware, that means he will have access to all varieties of trade be it in slaves, spirits, or anything else of value and will receive the discount of an alpha. He will also retain his wing of rooms for use at any point he desires. I will now request that he retire from the arena while we still have slaves. As he is retiring, a new competition will occur over the next week to find a new arena champion."
路 Passive ability unlocked, Alpha of the Pack. "You have become an alpha in the pack of Casper. This entitles you to an increase of 25 points to the maximum you can possess in each stat at each level."
Casper then came into the arena and escorted Hadorix out. The speech Casper just gave confused Hadorix greatly. He had thought Casper aimed to kill him, and now he was seemingly helping him. This truly was a confusing place. Casper led Hadorix back to his personal armory console. He reminded Hadorix that he needed to choose a piece of gear from the console. As he had become the arena champion, he would allow him to choose an armor and a weapon spirit.
While Hadorix browsed through the selection, Casper spoke, "Hadorix, you did well in the arena. You are not soft like the last Master Druid. I have an alpha that wishes to create his own pack that will be leaving with you. He has 4 females and 2 male wolves following him. He possesses a soul stone. The others do not, but he will teach them how to develop one. You are taking him with you will save me trouble in the future, as eventually he would have challenged me for leadership. Few packs can possess multiple alphas without conflict. The Arena Champion likely would have soon as well for the same reason. In killing him you also did me a great service. As a reward, I would like to secretly offer you a deal. Always keep a druid here in your wing of rooms. This will show your status as an alpha. It does not have to be the same one, change them out daily if you desire, it matters not to me. In fact, that would show your power more than stationing one here. Support my rule of the pack. In return, all noncombatant humanoids will be gifted to the druids to bring back to you. Humanoids will be allowed to retain their armor and weapons for use in the arena. After seeing the power of you and your druids, none would dare to debate the fairness of such a thing. Your people will be powerful. If you or your druids find a combatant that they desire to recruit, you have only to ask, and I will grant you a fair price. What do you say?"
Hadorix replied, "I had misjudged you Casper. I thought you wanted me and my people dead. Now you are aiding me. I must admit, I am surprised, and extremely grateful. It will be an honor to work with you."
Casper responded, "I had to make it seem as though I wanted you dead. I can never look weak in the eyes of the pack. With your race and the size of your army, I could not aid you until you proved your strength. By not challenging you, they are acknowledging that you are stronger than every member. This grants you a rank just below my own in the pack. Now no one can challenge me merely because we speak. In fact, us speaking will deter challengers, as will a member of your court staying here."
Hadorix replied, "You are a wise leader Casper. What you say makes sense. I will be leaving soon to go to one of the cities of the spirits. If you ever desire to move your soul stone to another location as a safety measure, let me know and I will gladly place it in my throne for safe keeping. You will always have a place in the Mystic Orchard should you ever tire of leading the pack. In fact, I believe the pack would greatly benefit from joining with The Mystic Orchard. But back to my choice of spirit items, I believe I will take this fire axe spirit weapon and poison spirit armor."
Casper gave him the spirits he desired and escorted him back to his rooms.
Hadorix then called a meeting of the druids and explained all that had happened. He then asked for an update on the injured creatures.
Obcha replied, "The husky and the woman continue to improve. I expect a full recovery by morning. The yali, Adonis, is still unconscious. He is still among the living, but it will take quite some time to heal his wounds even with the green fairy's magic. Without the fairy, he would already have died."
Brina spoke next, "You say you will need a volunteer to stay when the rest move back to the Mystic Orchard. I will volunteer for the first assignment here. Will I be allowed to compete? After spending time with Phynia, I believe we would do well to try to knock out and recruit more humanoid beasts like her. I hope you were sincere in your offer of allowing her to try to become a druid. She would be a great addition to our ranks. When she is stationed here, it will give all of the slaves a boost to moral as well."
Hadorix replied, "I accept your request. We will be leaving out as soon as everyone is packed and ready. I will leave the green fairy as well as the injured beings in your care. I will request that you stay for a full week. In that time, I should be back to check on you and the injured. Hopefully, Casper will hold up his end of the bargain and we will have several noncombatant humanoids to accompany us. Either way, I will have to find a way to house them. The Mystic Orchard is not really setup to be a town."
It did not take long to prepare everyone to leave. Casper gifted them several sleds to use to haul the dragon egg clutch and the bones of the boar. These would be pulled by the wolves and other beasts. The druids shifted into their animal forms and the group was off. The humanoid creatures rode on the sleds with the eggs. In this manner the trip home was extremely quick.
Upon arrival at the Mystic Orchard, Hadorix spoke first to Ivory and Phynia. He wanted a volunteer to be the first to go to the throne. He would take one soul stone at a time as he had before. Hadorix intended to see if either of them was capable of becoming his fifth druid.
Phynia volunteered first and gave Hadorix her soul stone. Hadorix led them and the druids down to the throne. The rest of the beasts remained upstairs.
When Hadorix made it up to the throne, he could see one of the fixtures glowing. The closer he got with Phynia's soul stone the more brightly it glowed.
路 5/10 Druids Recruited.
Phynia's soul stone had entered the fourth slot for the druids. She glowed with a bright light. Hadorix patiently waited. It was unclear what would form of shapeshifting she would possess. Would she transform into another type of beast? A human? What would she be? When the glow stopped, Hadorix spoke, "What shapeshift did you get? What is your familiar?"
Phynia, like the others, chose to answer by showing him rather than speaking. She shapeshifted into a falcon and flew around Hadorix's head. She then summoned her familiar. A phoenix appeared beside her. A phoenix is a bird that appears to be completely on fire. Hadorix's jaw hit the floor. He never expected her familiar to be a mythical creature as powerful as a phoenix. He then excitedly took her to the area where the manikins resided. On hers sat a set of black and white armor made perfectly to fit the body of a harpy. She thought, druid equip, and she wore the set of black and white leather. Unlike the others, her chest piece had an insignia of a harpy carved into the center. On the back of each shoulder sat a crossbow. On each leg, a short sword. When Phynia pulled out the crossbow, a bolt appeared out of thin air. It glowed with the same fire as the phoenix. It would likely burn anything it encountered. She smiled and put it back on her back. The fire went out as soon as it left her hand.
Hadorix took her back upstairs to meet with Ivory. It would now be her turn to go to the throne.