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50. Impromptu Battle

  Peter’s plan—in fact, suggested by Fafnir—was to train with Redroar, the best sparring partner to prepare with for the incoming fights. The Dungeon AI had contacted her and arranged everything. Obviously, the dwarf was better at communicating between floors than the System.

  To avoid being noticed using the obelisk and passing through the camp, Peter took the secret passages. Warping and Stealthing were now second nature, and his decision was made easy by the rendezvous point, the bar on the beach. Redroar was already there, sipping on a beer.

  “Howdy,” she saluted.

  “Hey.”

  “Anything to drink?” the barman asked. “On the house.”

  “I’m fine, thanks. So, what do you have in mind?” Peter asked because it was the barbarian who had insisted on meeting there.

  “Do you remember your doppelganger hired me to hunt a group of bandits?” Redroar said.

  “The day we went for the dragon, right?”

  “Yep. I got a few but couldn’t find their base until now. He did it,” she pointed to the bartender.

  “I was a police detective before the Awakening. I could tell stories that would make your hair go white,” the man said. “Or laugh. Or both. Depends.”

  “What about the bandits?” Peter asked directly. He liked detective stories, but training took priority.

  “They attack our best transports like they know in advance. It means they bought some of our people. I put a tracker on a guy I suspect to be the snitch. He went to this place repeatedly,” he said, showing Peter a map on his phone screen.

  “There’s nothing there,” Peter frowned. He knew the place, seeing it often from the air. Starting a few miles southeast of the camp and going south were only forests and hills for miles and miles.

  “It’s a rendez-vous point. They’re meeting somebody to pass on the information,” Redroar said. “So, the training will consist of helping me with the bandits. “We track them, find their base, and take them alive, if possible. Pays better. ‘Cause they can tell us about other bandits.”

  “C’mon! You’re using me to make easy money again. I want to train in one-to-one—”

  “Later. Why are you complaining like a little cub? If you learn to handle multiple targets simultaneously, you’ll be able to deal with one easily,” Redroar said. “Now … last time I checked, you still owe me money from the Minotaur core. Have you sold it already?”

  The core was long gone, used in vaccines, and Peter didn’t even remember if he had paid the lioness her part. “Here,” he pushed her a roll of twenty-five one-ounce coins. It was the bribe Kostel had asked for, which Peter did not intend to pay. On the other hand, he did have in mind to pay the bet at some point. Gentlemen had to keep promises, even if their loud mouths got them into trouble, and now Kostel had a large and lively family on his hands.

  “Let’s go,” Redroar said. “Beam us up, Scotty!”

  “You watch human shows?” Peter gasped.

  “We have cable, we’re not savages,” she snorted.

  “What do you like best?”

  “I dunno,” Redroar frowned. “Maybe the Universal Stormtrooper Two. The hero, Narold Shwartzenjager, fights the villain Jean Claude—”

  “Goodness! You’re watching Second Floor Nazi shows? Nazis are bad!”

  “They’re good in their movies,” Redroar shrugged.

  “It’s called propaganda! You shouldn’t… Never mind. Who put this bounty, anyway? I don’t want to work for the Gestapo by mistake,” Peter sneered. “What if those bandits are the good guys. Robin Hoods and—”

  “Trust me, they ain’t,” the barman said. “And the bounty is issued by the company. No politics.”

  “I’ll help, but we take them alive, and if I think they’re good guys, we let them go,” Peter raised a finger in warning.

  “Sure, little cub!” Redroar creased her nose in disdain, patting Peter’s head. “Brings me more money bringing them alive, so…”

  After a brief exchange of snorting and eye-rolling, Peter Warped them away and reached the spot in no time. It was a matter of twelve miles or so. However, as Peter had said, there was nothing there.

  Redroar began sniffing the air, and Peter used his Insight. He didn’t get anything. However, his companion led the way to a rock formation. “The scent stops here,” she said.

  “You think it’s one of those portals?” Peter asked, trying to push his hand through the stone. It didn’t work.