“Hey guys,” Glorp said nervously as he joined us in the room, followed by Pryte, who had left to find him. He looked ready to bolt at the drop of a pin.

  “Hey, don’t feel so nervous. We’re gonna have these talks with everyone today. You’ve already well past earned a place here. Hell, if anything, I owe you for what I’ve gotten you stuck in. Basically, this is just about figuring out what you want to do,” I explained, smiling at him. I reminded myself how young he was. Was it even fair to ask any of this of him? Did we have a choice?

  “I know mostly why you’re here, and as much as Dave wants to take the blame, it’s primarily my fault. I should’ve never involved you in alerting him, but as that can’t be changed now, tell us about why you want to stick around,” Pryte said apologetically, looking guilty, an expression I’d only seen him wear when he’d spotted Glorp with us after the first floor of the Arena.

  “This is what I wanted to talk to you about, Dave. My parents died a couple of years ago, and it’s just been me and my siblings since. I became a courier to keep food on the table and pay for some of my sister’s medical bills,” Glorp explained, his nervous fidgeting finally subsiding to be replaced by a look of fear.

  “Where are they now? Did Korl take them?” I asked, worried about just how far they’d have gone to torment us.

  “No, at least I don’t think so. They should still be safe on Mrasdentia, but I don’t know how long my younger brother will be able to keep everything together. I don’t think anyone will hire him to be a courier, and there wasn’t much money left,” Glorp explained, the fear in his eyes growing as the words tumbled out.

  “Pryte, what can we do?” I asked, wanting to help as best we could.

  “I assume none of them are signed to a faction, just living on one of the Golden Path’s worlds?” Pryte asked.

  “No, we aren’t. Dad refused to join when they tried to press him into service. That was what got both of them killed,” he answered. Hopefully, that was enough for Pryte to get them here. I’d really like it if some good could come out of involving Glorp in this mess.

  “Okay, once we’re done today, I’ll have you fill out some paperwork, and we can get them released to me. I should be able to bring them here without any real issue if no one wants them,” Pryte said in a way that sounded like more of a promise than a possibility.

  “Thank you so much. I honestly don’t know what to say at all here,” Glorp said, tears running down his cheeks.

  “You don’t have to say anything. There was no way I wasn’t going to try to help them. Mel back there, despite his grumpiness, was glad we had brought you on board. Can you imagine what he’d do if we didn’t help your family?” I said with a smile, watching the young man’s tears start to dry up. Mel just nodded his agreement.

  “Let’s move on to a different topic. Yer a courier, and that ain’t the best class for the Arena; it’s damn near the worst. We have some other options, thanks to the orcs here, and we’re likely gonna have more before the week’s up. What sounds like something ya’d like? Mel asked, finally speaking up.

  “Well, that’s actually something I wanted to talk about too. After the race, I checked out a new branch that had opened up, and it had an option for multiclassing. I’ve heard that can be pretty powerful. Should I do it?” Glorp asked, darting his eyes back and forth between the three of us, his nervousness seeming to have returned.

  “Yes, that's almost certainly what you should do. Unless Mel has a better idea, but I imagine you just made his day with that announcement. We can go through all the other class orbs we manage to get after our orc hunt and see what all works the best for you. Do you know how exactly you were registered for the Arena?” Pryte explained before firing off another question.

  “I don’t know. Some thugs grabbed me after a message delivery, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up on the first floor of the Arena. I found Connie outside and she offered to help, told me to stick with her, and you know the rest,” he answered. So that meant he didn’t have any mana orbs; luckily, we had some extras now.

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  “Alright, we can get you some mana orbs, too; we’ve got plenty. Well, probably not plenty; I wish we had enough to start building a real force, but I suppose that requires people even being able to form cores here, doesn’t it?” I asked. The question hung in the air without an answer, confirming my suspicions.

  “I’d like maybe some kind of scouting class if we can find one that meshes well with courier, and then maybe a mana orb to help me get faster. I think I’d be pretty useful darting around at my size,” Glorp said, sounding unsure of the choice.

  “One of the best builds ya can do is the one that sounds most enticing to ya, so, yeah, I think we can make that work,” Mel said.

  “I’ve got some ideas; assuming we can find a class orb that fits any of them, we can talk detailed paths then Glorp. I guess the last question I have is, how do you feel about staying with us long-term? The three of us here are pretty stuck, but I don’t know that you will be,” Pryte asked. I was reasonably sure I already knew the answer.

  “I’m not going anyway. I think what you’re trying to do here is important, and I want to do anything I can to help,” he answered, pretty much as I had expected.

  “Well, that’s all I have. Anyone else?” Pryte asked, looking at me and Mel. I had nothing else, and Mel stayed quiet. “Sounds like we’re good. Thank you for taking the time to talk to us, Glorp; not that we gave you much of a choice, but your honesty is appreciated. I promise I’ll do everything I can to get your family here, even if it makes it that much more crowded.”

  “Thank you. Did you want me to send someone else in?” Glorp asked as he backed toward the door.

  “Not yet; I’ll grab someone when we’re ready, though,” Pryte answered. Once Glorp was out of the room, he turned back to us. “So I have zero complaints or real worries about Glorp. I’ve worked with him before, and he’s always been extremely reliable. It’s why I picked him to find you, Dave.”

  “Yeah, I like the kid too. He’s got spunk. My only worry is if we can’t get his family. I don’t think he’s the type ta betray us, but it’d still prolly make him somewhat of’a liability,” Mel added. He had a point, but I figured we could cross that bridge if we came to it.

  “While that’s technically possible, let’s just table that fear until it matters. Pryte, do you think you’ll have much of an issue getting his family here?” I asked, making sure the earlier promises weren’t just for show.

  “I don’t think I will. Technically, I think they already belong to us and have from the moment Glorp agreed to join. But, the laws involving the specific ownership of children are murky and rarely enforced unless there is something to gain by doing so. That was why I asked how he had entered the Arena. If he had been forced into a faction contract, this would have become much more difficult,” Pryte explained confidently.

  I pushed my distaste for the idea of owning children down before replying. Primarily because, at least in this case, it worked for the benefit of those children. “I assume they just expected Glorp to never make it out alive or become a burden to us as we had to carry him?”

  “Almost certainly, that kid ain’t what they expected, that’s fer sure,” Mel answered. Those with power often underestimated just what those at the bottom were capable of; it was the age-old story of having no idea what it was like to truly struggle at life and what that made you capable of if you experienced it. I’d never been in the same place Glorp had, but I had had my own struggles as a child.

  “Well, then we all agree Glorp is a good addition to our faction. Who are we interviewing next?” I asked. It turns out I didn’t hate this as much as I had expected I would.

  “Constance. I have some questions for her,” Pryte answered as he stood up from his chair and left the room in search of her.

  “You’ve been surprisingly quiet this whole time,” I said, looking to Mel.

  “Yeah, well, bullying you is one thing, bullying the kid is another, gotta relearn where the line is. I ain’t been an Arena manager in a long time,” Mel answered. I didn’t entirely believe the line, but I wasn’t sure what the truth was or if it really needed to be dug out, especially if it had anything to do with the reopened wound of losing his kid.

  Mrasdentia is a planet of refugees controlled by the Golden Path. They are one of the factions and planets considered to be friendly to anyone as long as they follow the laws. The Golden Path offers this benefit as a way to search for talented individuals who have slipped between the cracks. This has led to them fielding several total unknowns within the Arena to great effect and has more than once led them to a better position than they started in during various faction wars. What happens to those that aren’t useful? The same thing that happens to so many of the impoverished citizens of the Spiral, a constant fight for even the bleakest of survival.

  Faction Wars: A Brutal History by Melhelm VII

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