Judge&Jury[LitRPG Satire] Chapter 5 (Patreon)

Slip did as the book instructed. Lights flickered across the sky as new words traced themselves into the air before him.

Slip Redfletcher

Race: Kobold

Job: Judge

Level: 6

Magical Power: 98

Status: Mostly Healthy [Lightly Fried]

Intelligence: 8

Wisdom: 5

Luck: 2

Agility: 10

Strength: 4

Skills:

Unique Skills:

Eye of the Arbiter

“Wow,” Slip said, scanning the numbers. Then his eyes widened. “My magical power went up! It’s at ninety eight now! Did you do that?”

Your potential was slightly increased upon the modification of your body. You will need to work to improve your abilities. A judge must be able to defend themselves.

“Okay,” Slip said. His head still felt weird. The kobold grimaced and rubbed his eyes. He slowly stood up, then swiped at the words floating before him out of habit. “How do I get rid of this?”

The moment he spoke, the words vanished.

Your thoughts control the Eye of the Arbiter. It is a natural part of you, and you will soon learn to use it efficiently. You may also inspect others with the Eye to gain information about them. It will not be the same as what you learn about yourself, but it will come in great use.

“Okay,” Slip said for the dozenth time that day. “So… can I go to the human place now? I’m hungry, and I’d like to sleep too. That was a lot of reading big words.”

He adjusted his grip on the book and trudged back towards the small settlement in the distance, keeping one eye on the book as he walked.

“So… what was my reward for completing the quest?” Slip asked.

You became a judge.

“That’s it? What about gold? And cool magic stuff?”

Is a rare job not enough? It should have been a five second quest, so you should hardly expect much more of a reward.

“It took a lot longer than five seconds,” Slip grumbled. “I spent hours reading the Terms and Conditions. How can anyone read those in a few seconds?”

Nobody reads them! It’s not my fault you wasted your time.

“Why would you tell me to read something if you didn’t expect me to read it?” Slip asked, shaking his head. “That’s just stupid.”

The book snapped itself shut in Slip’s hands. The kobold made a face at it and tucked it under his arm.

It took him nearly an hour to reach the settlement, which turned out to be a small town. A ring of wooden spikes had been erected in a makeshift wall around the buildings. They were all quite small, with the largest being only two stories.

The buildings were made of grey stone and wood, with little thought spent on decoration. A large man in leather clothing sat on a stool in front of the only entrance to the town – a large gap in the spikes about the width of a wagon.

“Hello!” Slip said cheerfully. “Are you a guard?”

The man glanced up at him, the corner of his lip curling up slightly.

“A guard?” he asked in a deep baritone. “No. What use would a small town have for a guard? If we were attacked, I don’t think one guard would do much. I’m just watching the sunset.”

Slip looked up at the sun, which was setting behind a bed of pillowy clouds. Orange and pink swirls of light cast the sky like a beautiful canvas. The kobold’s mouth opened as he stared up in wonder.

“Wow,” Slip murmured. “It’s pretty.”

“Indeed it is,” the man said, giving Slip a wide grin. He stroked his beard and took a swig out of a flask of water that rested by his side. “It happens every night. This wouldn’t happen to be your first time seeing one, would it?”

“It is,” Slip said, not looking away from the molten sky. “I’ve never been on the surface before.”

“It’s a beautiful place now that the Dark Lord is gone,” the man replied. “When I was in the army fighting against him, I promised myself that, if I lived, I would watch and appreciate every single sunset that I could.”

“The Dark Lord?” Slip asked curiously.

“Ah, the kobolds hid out the Great War under the earth, didn’t they?” the man mused. “Can’t blame you. It was a terrible thing. The Dark Lord was a mage of great power who plunged the world into chaos with his necromancies and dark magic. The five nations of the surface went to war with him ten years ago, and he was only slain this last year. He single handedly killed thousands of good men, and it took four of the greatest heroes the world has ever seen to put him in the dirt for good.”

“Wow,” Slip breathed. “How did they do it?”

“They worked together with the army to blow up the entire county he was hiding in,” the man said with a grim frown. “It was horrible. It rained ash for months. But it worked. His armies fell apart and he died.”

“Oh,” Slip said, unable to find a better response to the man’s story. The man chuckled at the downcast expression on the kobold’s face.

“Don’t look too put out, young fellow. The world has been in chaos for years, but it’s finally starting to come back to order. Now’s as good a time as any to make a name for yourself. There’s no war to worry about, and the roads are safer than they’ve been in a long time,” he said, looking wistfully into the sky as the sun started to set below the clouds and the beautiful hues faded. “If only the baronies would stop fighting with eachother, maybe we could all be at peace.”

Slip didn’t respond – he was too busy drinking in the sight of the colors fading in the sky above him. The caves had been almost entirely gray and earthy browns. The brilliant flaming colors that made up the surface were both beautiful and alien to him.