The Gauntlet of Barbatos
When you carelessly touch the gauntlet to the shard, there is an explosion of light that blinds you temporarily. When your vision returns, you see that the gaudy gauntlet has shattered, leaving behind only the precious jewels that had been embedded in it. Of the shard there is no sign. Maybe it was not such a good idea after all. There are traces of magical energy left in the air: something happened, but you are unsure what.
That is, until your right hand laughs dramatically.
“Guhahahahahahaha!”
You stare at the thing that has appeared over your arm. It is a black gauntlet, made of metal and polished to a mirror-like sheen. Here and there elegant spikes jut out of the construction, and the tips of the fingers end in wicked claws. An orb, even darker than the surrounding metal, is embedded in the dorsal aspect of the hand. A menacing aura emanates from the entire gauntlet. It is as evil an accessory as any you have ever seen. You think Rin might like it.
“Thou who hast awakened me… Doth thou desire the power? The power of the Demon God Fist?” speaks the gauntlet pompously. “Hmph. I sense the hunger for battle within thy soul-“
If there is one thing you have learned from your heroic days, it is not to deal with talking magical items. The last talking sword you procured had a huge justice streak and shouted at every single petty criminal and lawbreaker you encountered. It had been a rather stressful experience, all things considered. Even Kyle would not take the sword off your hands. Indeed, the party was unanimous in that you should do with the sword as you see fit. Within weeks you had successfully traded it in to a shiny-eyed young adventurer for a good sum, multiplied accordingly thanks to your status as a Hero. Everyone has their place, and a sword of justice’s niche is not with you. The last you heard, the adventurer was killed in his sleep by an unassuming elderly couple as he tried to take on, all by himself, the worst hive of scum and villainy in the Seven Kingdoms thanks to his new sword’s advice, so… lucky escape for you there.
Before anything like that can happen again, you try to take the gauntlet off. Or at least, you try to. It does not budge from your arm no matter how much you strain and pull at it. Figures. A cursed gauntlet. It must have been some curse, to avoid your methods of detection.
“C-Careful, boy!” yells the gauntlet, losing a bit of that archaic, arrogant tone that it was carrying.
“I don’t remember giving you permission to be on my hand, glove.”
“Why, I am no mere glove! Do not insult the Demon Lord Barbatos lest thee bear the stigma of a fool!”
You rap the gauntlet against the table.
“Wait, nay, wait!”
“Speak plainly. Demon Lord Barbatos, was it?”
“Yea. I am the mighty Demon Lord Barbatos, the Philosopher of the Fist and one of the Seven Demon Lords of War who once hath served the noble Demon God Vaalgrahf,” announces the gauntlet proudly. “Though mine form is now that of a weapon, mine spirit is no less diminished in its strength. I-“
“Hold on, let me take some notes.” Sighing, you reach for a quill. “This is going to be a long story, isn’t it?”
“Guhahahahaha! Not at all! There is not much to tell of mine, Barbatos’s legend, for thou must already know of it!”
“I have absolutely, assuredly, never heard of you in my life, Demon Lord Barbatos, nor of these Seven Demon Lords that you speak of.” That might be because you came from another world, but you do not tell him that.
“Th-That cannot be! The legends I spent a hundred years carving out in the wilds of battle! Lost in the seas of history?” The spikes seem to grow duller as the gauntlet shudders with despair.
You ignore the dejection and begin questioning the strange thing.
As there were Seven Demon Lords, so there are seven corresponding weapons that had each come to be associated with their signature fighting style.
Neros of the Sword.
Curainnos of the Spear.
Reminos of the Bow.
Merdeos of the Dagger.
Athos of the Staff.
Barbatos of the Fist.
And finally, Equinos of the Golem.
Firstly, they had been transformed into magical weapons by the Demon God Vaalgrahf in a last ditch attempt to defeat the chosen heroes. The process had stripped the Demon Lords of their personal power and in turn granted the Demon God the full culmination of their potential strength on top of his own might. Equipping himself with the power of his seven lieutenants, he had sallied forth and almost turned the tide of the war single-handedly. Then, three of the seven weapons betrayed the Demon God. Barbatos does not know why: all he knows is that Neros, Reminos and Athos vanished from the Demon God’s side, and were next seen in the hands of the five heroes that the gods had chosen.
After the Demon God’s defeat and exile, the seven weapons were left behind, and the passage of millennia scattered them all over the world. They would awaken in the proximity of those that had sufficient strength and compatibility with their powers, and through battle the inheritors of those weapons would decide who was the strongest Demon Weapon of all. Barbatos had been sealed in the previous battle, centuries ago, by that ‘sneak rat Athos’, and by borrowing your power to defeat a small fragment of Athos just now, he was now gloriously revived.
“Wait.” You stop Barbatos’s long tale. “How did it go from being a relic of the Demon God to deciding the strongest weapon?”
“The years are long, boy. We need to do something.” You notice that the more Barbatos talks, the more his accent slips into a less archaic one.
“Would you not try to bring the Demon God back? He was your boss after all.”
“Oh, after you have been doing that for the first thousand years or so, with no results to show for your effort, it gets quite disheartening.” And that accent is almost completely gone now, leaving you with the impression of some rowdy general complaining about his unrewarded efforts.
“I can understand that,” you nod emphatically. Indeed, effort with no result is the absolute worst type of effort.
“Guhahahahaha! This is why you were chosen! We think alike, boy, you and I! The compatibility in thy soul for the Demon God Fist techniques shall be unparalleled!” gloats Barbatos, his archaic accent returning with no warning. “Mountains shall be destroyed! Oceans vaporized! And we shall finally beat that sneak rat Athos’s head in once and for all!”
You are not so sure about this issue of compatibility – from the sound of his voice, Barbatos must have been a large, burly, muscular, bearded Demon Lord in life, which is exactly the type of people you do not want to be called compatible with – but you will just have to play along until you find a way to get rid of the gauntlet.
The Gauntlet of Barbatos immediately bestows upon you the knowledge of battle aura: you recognize it to be something similar to the basis of martial arts that Mieren used. By channeling your mana and focusing it around your body, you are able to increase the speed and force of your physical attacks. The technique works differently from magic: rather than consuming mana to realize an effect, as you do with spells, in this case the mana itself is the effect. When you ask, Barbatos explains that it is because mana is life-force, a form of energy that in itself can be manipulated to strengthen the wielder if they know how.
“The philosophy of the Demon God Fist is in its powerful and straightforward attacks,” lectures Barbatos. “Its techniques are designed to defeat the enemy head-on in a brawl, which is the most amusing way of defeating the enemy.”
You do not see how it is amusing. Perhaps Rin would understand, and you wonder why the gauntlet chose you instead of her. She would definitely have more compatibility with Barbatos’s philosophy of crash and smash.
***
Besides learning how to create a battle aura, you also pick up another of the many techniques in the Demon God Fist.
A. Body-Piercing Demon Fist. A fast, charging attack using your explosive battle aura to close the distance and drive your fist through the enemy. Created cunningly by Barbatos when he invented the tactic of running forward and punching through the plate armour of a human general.
B. Demon God Wave. A technique that allows you to focus your energy and send out a wave of concussive force from your palms. Created in frustration by Barbatos to bring down pesky dragons that do not have the decency to land for a honourable brawl.
C. Shadow-Slaughtering Demon Steps. A footwork technique that increases your evasive ability in close-combat, allowing you to skillfully dodge even an assassin’s hidden blade. Created in the heat of the moment by Barbatos when he was caught off guard in the latrine by a shadow monster sent from a rival Demon Lord aiming for his life.
***
"Thou'st truly a boundless talent in the art of pugilism. As expected of the one who would stir mine slumbering essence!" Barbatos praises the speed at which you understand his instructions. Perhaps you do have compatibility with him after all, despites your misgivings. But it does not make you any happier, particularly to be walking around with a gauntlet you cannot remove.
"Fear not," he says when you make your concerns known. "Thou need only think, and it will be so. This form of mine is but a manifestation of thine own fighting spirit." Following his instructions, you release the form of the gauntlet. It turns incorporeal, and then vanishes, leaving behind only an ornate black crest tattooed on the back of your hand.
"Ah, such a discerning eye thou hast, boy. That is the symbol of the Barbatos family. Our motto is: may thy fist stay mighty and thine enemies maimed."
You do not remember asking for his motto. Sighing, you flex your fingers and will the gauntlet back into existence. It appears again. And then you make it vanish again.
"Boy, wh-what are you doing? You are making me dizzy!"
"Well, it is convenient. As long as you do not start talking all the time and picking fights with everyone, Barbatos, it should be fine. The last talking weapon I owned had a bad habit of doing that. I sold him. I'll sell my hand too, if I have to," you warn him.
"I do not pick fights. I challenge worthy battles!" Barbatos sounds slightly aggrieved at your choice of words. "I commanded an army of ten million demons, boy. Do not think me incapable of subtle tactics! You will take your accustomed lead in negotiations for I know better than to speak wantonly in public. One of your predecessors was brought down by a mob of enraged dragons and beastmen when I spoke carelessly, after all..."
That is concerning, but if he can manage to keep his mouth shut... "Hm, if that is the case, we might get along passably well after all."
"How can we not? I am bonded to your... soul. A... strange one, it is, but I am bonded nonetheless. From now on, we are of one body!"
One body? Something crosses your mind. You touch the table and run your fingers across it. "What do you sense, Barbatos?"
"A crude table. Roughly made. The texture is that of wood, carved from aspen using poorly maintained tools. It has been constructed hastily and recently. The architecture is... probably goblin. Guhaha! Are you surprised, boy? Despite my proclivities, I am quite the connoisseur of furniture."
"You can feel what I feel?"
"Only what you touch with the Demonic Right Hand, but yes."
"Even if it is another person, or myself?"
"Yes? What are you getting at, boy?"
"What if I have... urges? Or women?"
"Guhahahahaha! Is that what you are concerned about? Come now, there can be no shame between warriors!"
"I see."
You put down on your list of things to do, underneath reviving Mieren: Remove Demon Lord from right hand.
***
You spend the next week organizing the goblins into a more coherent force, having them construct more fortifications and dig deeper into the earth. You do not know how long you will stay here, but before then, you should make it as defensible as you can. Rin teaches them better ways to fight, while Aria and Arlin join in on the training. Surprisingly, her ways of teaching - which rely on instinct more than anything - resonate well with the goblins and the twins. Some of the younger goblins had come of age, further increasing the village's forces.
The troublesome little interlude with the gauntlet aside, you begin thinking about gathering more information. Although you have no doubt that you are strong, the recent encounter at Erise, as well as Barbatos's story, has led you to understand that there may be powers here that surpass your might. You also need to find a way back to the Seven Kingdoms to repay your debt to the Theseons, and then there was the matter of reviving Mieren. Of course, you would also like to have Barbatos out of your hand before you get brainwashed into becoming a muscle idiot like him.
To do all that you need more information, and sitting here lazing about in the goblin village like a god will not get you that information, no matter how much you wished it would drop from the sky and into your lap. The only thing that dropped into your lap was a muscle idiot of a Demon Lord, which might be proof that your luck never gives you what you want. Your magic studies will also hit a limit without a proper library to peruse. It is a real hassle, but it looks like you have no choice but to venture out again if you want to get anything done in a reasonable amount of time. Furthermore, though the Barzamites have not made another move thus far, they must have known that the team they sent to investigate the ruins never returned. That no other groups attempted to send any expeditions to investigate the pillar of light is slightly concerning in itself. For all these reasons and more, you think that the capital of Methuss, Yuiria, would be as good a place as any to start.
After consulting with Aria and Arlin, you have figured out a better way to disguise the halo on your head. Peddlers and merchants in this region often wear large turbans on their travels. Yours would have to be larger and taller than most, and by the time Arlin is done with the wrapping it looks more conical than round, but it would have to do.
As for the means of travel, you decide to have the goblins construct a carriage for you. It is more of a cart with a roof on top, but it will do. Lucy has turned out to be remarkably strong for her age, and she should be able to pull such a cart with goods and passengers. You will pretend to be a travelling merchant heading for the capital, and with the carrying capacity of the carriage you are confident of being able to turn your silver into more money along the way.
There is no way you are going to walk to the capital.
***
From Erise Village, there are a few places you can visit, from where you can get onto the larger thoroughfares leading to the capital. You set your course for:
A. Ontoglia, a thriving mining town. Its mines are famous for producing several different types of ores, including some rarer ones used in magic. This place may be a valuable resource for your magical research.
B. Velburg, one of the larger trading centers in the region that is close to the Methussian-Galbaldian-Barzamite border, and as such serves as a hub for many merchants hailing from those countries. It would be the quickest place to make money.
C. Naguria, a fortress town home to the Knights of the Azurelion, and the closest stop to the capital. Normally you would avoid dour and boring knights like the plague, but rumour has it that the Knight Captain is a real beauty.
***
As for who to bring along, you are undecided.
(Freeform choice of candidates, up to and including a goblin squad. Current named characters in the village are:
Rinnefiela
Aria
Arlin
Runde
Petze
Robust
Boss
We will go with a vote style if this cannot be sorted out.)