The Oracle sighed as he waited for Karl to stop being distracted. It was clear that he was mentally communicating with someone, but the way that he looked around made the Oracle certain that it was the bird.
He turned to see what Karl was looking at, then realized it was likely out of sight to him.
“You know, out of all of this, I can’t believe that I got dad joked by a teenager.” The Oracle began.
Karl smiled, and the old man shook his head and continued. “Not that kind of Troll, indeed. You have no idea the sort of chaos that your presence has caused, even if you aren’t somehow responsible for these incidents.
There is a theory that your presence when the Dungeon formed might be causing these incidents to follow you and whoever else was there on the first day.
But more than that, the mere fact that you managed to make it almost all the way across the country without being detected, while travelling with an entire wagon full of Elites and clerics, is like a cock slap to the face of the council.”
Karl chuckled. “Well, that’s… graphic. I will say this much, though. We’re not here to cause trouble or spy for anyone. I did consider that the incidents might be following me, but only the last two, the undead and this one, have been even remotely close to centred on my position.
The first ones that we encountered near Oakhamping put us on the very north edge, and one of them didn’t even spawn with us in its radius, we travelled into it during the day.”
The Oracle frowned, then made a note. “The Council isn’t sure what to do with you. One thing is for certain, we’re not going to allow you to die in our territory if there is any chance that these incidents are focused on you.”
“Oh? I had thought that would be the go-to option.”
The old troll shook his head. “No, eliminating the target doesn’t stop the effect of an anomaly, it simply fixes the position of the anomaly. If something happened and one of your members died here today, it is possible that we would have a Giant Boar and Cyclops spawn at this location every morning, forever.”
“See, that is valuable information to have. Do you know what the plan might be? Because I am considering making a run for it.” Karl informed him, letting a bit of his curiosity leak into his voice.
“Well, my guess is that Morrisa is going to suggest taking you somewhere to strangle you to death for making fun of her.
But my visions say that it’s more likely they will decide to send you back to the humans and make you stay there, or to the Mountain Giant border, where any more anomalies would be their problem.
There has been no decision, and I have seen both possibilities.” The Oracle explained.
Karl sighed as he scanned the horizon for threats. “That’s not highly encouraging. I’m not sure what I should choose. It’s encouraging that they don’t intend to kill me or my friends, but I also have no intentions of being locked in jail.”
The Oracle gave him a faint smile. “Honestly, I’m not even sure how we would keep you in prison. Even with the suppression field on the Fortress, we couldn’t stop you from setting a Royal Rank Bloodbath Spider loose in the hallway behind the guards.
Blocking magic and skills is all well and good until half a tonne of razor-limbed arachnid is loose in the locker room.”
[Oh, that’s a great idea. Attacking them when they’re naked on a slippery surface. It will be chaos even before the blood flows.]
“Having the ability to see the future sounds like it’s not a whole lot of fun.” Karl noted.
“You have no idea. Oracles of all sorts very rarely see anything but tragedy. Even if I want to look for good news, I have to look for the absence of bad instead. Only then can I see things going right.”
“What a crap skill set. No offence.”
The Oracle chuckled. “Have you never interacted with someone who can see the future before?”
Karl made a noncommittal gesture. “I have, but I never really asked about how they saw things, or about their visions. So, should I be expecting an Overlord to show up here with very little notice, or an army unit?”
The Oracle’s eyes went white, and he frowned, then took out a sword.
“Yes.”
Before Karl could ask what that meant, a portal opened six metres tall, and an armoured group of Giants that looked like they were made of solid stone, only identifiable as living creatures by their eyes and teeth, rushed out.
A second portal opened behind Karl and the Oracle, and Morrisa stepped through with a snarl on her face and an axe in her hand.
Once the Mountain Giants had arrived, one last Giant, two metres taller than the others, crouched and stepped through the portal.
“You really do see only bad luck. Have you considered the fact that Oracles might be a Jinx?” Karl whispered.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re not funny?” The Oracle whispered.
“More than once, actually. But you might want to step back before things get messy.”
The Mountain Giant Overlord scoffed.
“Do you think that having him a few more metres away is going to make a difference?”
Morrisa rumbled a warning, but Karl gave him his best smile.
“Do you think that your warriors can go through me without my permission?”
The Oracle poked Karl in the back, and Karl heard Tessa laugh on the other side of the farm.
[Oh, she’s glowing red. Does that mean we’re fighting?] Hawk asked.
[Maybe, maybe not. We will see what they’re planning. The War God’s glow could be for protecting the children when things get spicy.]
[Why are we even fighting?] Remi asked.
[Because Rae needs more Monarch Rank Giant blood for her pond, of course.] Thor stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
[Oh, that’s a good point. I hope the Overlords fight, we can scoop up some of the splatter to make leg cream for Rae.] Remi agreed.
“What are you thinking? Stop it, I can see the shifting possibilities.” The Oracle whispered.
“Sorry, wandering mind.” Karl replied without taking his eyes off the squad of Royal and Monarch Rank Mountain Giants.
