Transcendent rays of golden light bathed the camp in their splendour as their creator gently rose above the gentle green fields which surrounded the camp.
Amidst the cluttered tents and sporadic campfires a rat, white as snow towered above its fellows. The rat moved gracefully between the lesser rats making its presence nothing more than a whisper amidst a cacophony of shouting.
It must have been two months now since my training first began. The last two months had been anything but unproductive.
My training, while brutal, showed incredible results not only in my control in the prism but throughout my whole being. The king had pushed me not just in the perfection of my characteristics but also in an endless pursuit of bodily perfection.
Every day he would sit me down and devour and reconstruct my muscles in an endless cycle of improvement. I became his experiment. Infusing my muscles with new elements each day. Desperately in search of a powerful substitute for flesh and blood.
The pain of these 'procedures' is only shadowed by the continuous improvement of my body. No longer could I be considered just a regular rat.
I was no normal little gnasher beforehand but now I had transcended far from that of just a regular rat. It was no longer just the effects of the characteristic which now burned ever stronger within my core. I was quite frankly built differently.
The flesh and blood now mixed with other elements crushed the already meager gap between myself and the captains of the clans.
I could count on mere fingers the number of creatures I had met who were stronger than myself.
Among this exclusive bunch, I counted: The goblin prince Skulk, The golbin king, Lorath and the king of rats himself.
Creatures like the horologrium could also be counted but I still don't know if that thing survived its wounds after its destruction of the goblin town.
However, as Itch has stressed to me maybe a thousand times over the last month 'Strength is easily conceviables young ones don't lets its gets to your heads'.
Nonetheless, today should be the final day of this helish training. Tomorrow that shitty golbin city will fall. And that bastard with it.
My internal monologue was quickly concluded with my arrival at the ever-so-familiar tent.
Pushing my way inside I quickly fell to my knees, resting them gently on a small pillow placed in front of the great throne.
"Good morning my Lord" The words left my mouth routinely.
"You are spending too much time with that wise-worded monk, good morning is a term used by humans, not by us esteemed rats."
"I apologize my Lord"
"We rats do not apologize, Own your mistakes little one"
I see he is equally philosophical today.
"I am ready for our lesson, my Lord"
"No lesson today, for I will finally be using you little one".
Finally, this old bastard is ready to tell me my role for tomorrow's battle.
"You are to journey west little one".
My jaw gently loosened and my eyes dilated.
"Why my lord, I will crush that city with my own claws".
"You believe that you could do what I could not. Why waste you here crushing a starved city when you could be of use elsewhere? That goblin you don't shut up about left days ago. The city is all but abandoned."
My mouth finally fell agape. All these months building to a battle that will never even happen.
"Why send me away" the words sputtered out my mouth as I balanced my desire to know while still trying to keep adequately respectful.
"There are rumours of a physical characteristic forming in the western areas of the forest. I expect you to retrieve it. We are unsure of the specifics"
A physical characteristic. Lorath had briefly mentioned them before in one of his tediously long lectures. When a orb of characteristic is left long enough to grow and fester it can take the physical form of a few different things.
The form largely depends on the percentage of characteristic the orb represents.
The first of the forms is that of an object, this is most common. A lower percentage item might be something like a box with slowly devours whatever is put inside it.
The second of the forms is that of a weapon. A powerful artefact imbued with the power of the characteristic used to form it.
The final and most deadly of forms is that of a creature. Powerful and unkempt. These creatures are born from a characteristic and are not pulled by the laws of nature. Creatures of higher percentages can be dangerous calamities which break havoc on the surrounding areas.
I could only hope that this characteristic was one of the first two forms.
"We do however know that the goblin king has also heard of this fact and that he has chosen to send his only other child. The goblin princess."
Dark thoughts immediately crept into my mind. If I could not harm the brother. I will show him the pain I endured. By ripping his sister's throat apart and bringing her spine to him as a gift.
This had made me much more eager to depart. The potential for a powerful artefact as well as a bit of revenge for myself.
"This information is very important, Characteristics that have grown large enough and powerful enough to transcend their very nature and become physical often alter the area around them, conveying their own nature onto that which surrounds it. Be careful little one, it would be a shame to lose such a vital piece".
A sanctuary. Lorath had only briefly brushed over these. Considering prior to this I would have no need for such information. Each sanctuary is based on the artefact it contains. Never to be underestimated.
"When do I leave"
"Tonight, gather a cohort of 5 and head off at dusk. Travel due west and search for any signs of the artefact. If you run into the goblin princess.. well I'm sure you already know what you should do. May the great devourer have mercy on you little one"
"Yes my Lord"
I picked myself up and exited the tent. It seems my peaceful existence has suddenly gotten far busier.
---------------------------------
A human shadow formed a gentle outline against the cloth door of the spacious tent.
"Enter Lorath"
"YOU STUPID FOOL!"
"Lower your tongue when you speak to me, You are speaking to a king".
"Why would you send him there"
"He needs to become stronger"
"It does not matter if he is stronger when he is rotting six feet under. You endanger our plan with these reckless moves"
"And you halt our plan with your carefulness, how can a mouse become a dragon when it has never witnessed one's fire with its own eyes".
"Again with your stupid philosophies. I better see that white rat alive again or our deal is dead"
"You forget yourself Lorath. Do not forget who keeps you hidden from those who would rather see your head on a spike".
"Tchh"
The human now steaming and red stormed from the tent.
The great rat finally sat back in his chair as a slight and subdued breath escaped his throat.
"It seems 'It' really was correct, it really is happening soon".