Two

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The first step of their 'test run', as Gnarl liked to sarcastically put it, was to head towards the armory.

It was a large room back the way they had come, down a short flight of steps a bit further past the way up to his room. Like the Throne room, the armory was taller than it probably should of been, with crumbling arches and a square sort of domed roof. Old iron fittings hung in the stone weakly, and in places, the stone had been shored up by lengths of dull iron support plating held into place by ugly iron nails. Minions were up there even then, on rickety wood and stone stacks serving as 'scaffolding', trying to better support the room's roof. While, under it, the room was a mess of fallen rubble, scattered bits of armor and cloth, and broken weaponry and stands for the armor and the weapons alike.

"Let's see, let's see…" Gnarl hummed, padding around the room and picking up chunks of scrap and cloth, eyeing them and dropping them with a huff. "Has to be something here we can use."

"It doesn't look like it." He grumbled, crossing his arms over the thin shirt he'd woken up in. Surprisingly warm and well-fitted though it might have been, here in what had clearly been a room left abandoned for too long, it wasn't quite enough to keep off the chill. "Looks like a tornado went through it…"

"Eh, close enough." Gnarl chuckled, "Minions like to steal and like to stash. Both were happening in here, and then someone took something and someone stabbed someone with the thing, and, well, here we are."

"Seriously?" He sighed, "Minions did it to each other?"

"We're a rather discordant lot, Master."

"Uh huh…. So, who started it?" Jaune asked, raising an eyebrow when Gnarl only chuckled awkwardly. "It was you, wasn't it?"

"T-There are no witnesses to confirm or deny that…"

"That's just a confession with different words!"

"Eh, uh, well, they shouldn't have stolen my light-crystal!" He huffed, paying Jaune little mind as he went through what he could only really see as rubbish. "Just go and rest, Lordship, while I… Throw something together for a training run. If you don't mind?"

"And what am I supposed to do…?"

"I don't know." Gnarl shrugged tiredly, "Rest in your room? Beat up Jester if you can find him? Head to the library, see if you can find something worth reading while I focus on making you something to keep you actually alive?"

"A library…?" He blinked, suddenly curious. What the actual heck could a library in a literal evil tower? He'd have been lying if he said it didn't make him a little curious. Well, and a little nervous, too. Decided, he asked, "Where is it?"

"Have one of the little idiots show you." Gnarl sighed flippantly, "They all know the Tower well enough."

"Alright…"

As it turned out, most didn't know where the library was - or even what a library was. But, after asking a few, he found one that did who was happy to show him the way, back out through the Throne room and through the other door. Further down, they came into another hallway that split off in three separate directions, two of which split off into two more each a few yards down. They took the center one, which went straight to a large set of heavy, dark iron doors. They were covered in dust and had a sigil split between them, of a curled, armored fist, its gem set right on place of where a handle, knob or lock would have been.

He laid a hand on it and pushed, but it didn't budge, so he turned to his guide who paused mid-ear picking to look up at him.

"How do I get in?"

"Iunno." It grumbled, "S'magic!"

"Magic…" As if summoned by his words, a sort of… Instinct rose up in him and he stepped back, raising his curled fist and snapping, loudly, "Open for your Overlord."

Where the words, or the firmness behind them, had come from wasn't something he could explain. And he couldn't explain how he recognized the warm, comfortable, powerful rush that flushed through him, either, or how he knew what it was - magic. But, in spite of his confusion, curiosity and even wonder, the door groaned loudly, the gem on the gauntlet lighting up as the gauntlet's shape darkened and the wood outside its outline reddened, adding contrast that made it and the gold gem glowing on it stand out even more than they had before.

And, finally, it groaned inward, swinging on ancient, rusted hinges.

"Huh…." Magic, it had to be. Even though he'd been brought here, however that was, it was still kind of hard to believe.

But he didn't know how else a broken down tower of weird gobliny things could have a door do any of that - especially without electricity, since they'd be using that for heat and light instead of braziers, torches and fireplaces - outside of magic.

"Awesome…" He turned and the Minion guide was still waiting uitifully beside him. So, pursing his lips, he asked, "You want to go back to what you were doing?"

"Mhm."

"Ok." He nodded, then realized it wanted the order, and waved it off, "Go, then. You're, uh, dismissed?"

It nodded and scampered off eagerly, and Jaune frowned a bit. The creatures obeyed him dutifully and seemingly respectfully - Gnarl exempted, somewhat, of course. And it felt oddly natural to command them, too. Familiar, even. Like the magic to open the door had been or, now he thought about it, the Gauntlet's weight on his arm. Even the chill of the air seemed oddly familiar and homey to him, in spite of having grown up in Vale. And one of the warmer areas there besides.

It was… Weird.

He shook it off, though, and stepped into the library as odd, pale light bloomed into life.

Inside, the library was a mess, and it was actually smaller than he'd expected for a place like this. Just as big as his quarters, but without the domed roof, which made it feel somehow tighter. More oppressive, even. Shelves had ringed it, once upon a time, pressed against every wall surface possible, but most had collapsed in part if not completely. Books lay scattered, sometimes in pieces, across the floor in front of ones with broken shelves, and a few had been crushed as the whole shelving piece fell forward. In the center, embedded into the ground a bit sort of like a fire-pit, was a huge crystal that lit the room up in pale, cool light. And, between the dilapidated shelves and the crystal, piles of old, partially rotten scrolls littered the floor, surrounded by sticks.

The only thing completely intact, seemingly, was a simple desk on the opposite side of the crystal from the door, which sat in the middle of the wall across from it.

But it was bare, and caked in dust and bits of rock. The only thing on it was part of a small book, barely bigger than his hand, but its cover had decayed away. And, inside, the only thing he could make out flicking through it was a drawing.

It was of a man, sitting on a Throne reminiscent of his own, with his chin resting on his armored knuckles and a mace across his lap. He had a huge, spike-crowned helmet on, and flowing robes under his armor plates. And his eyes were drawn in a bright, amber color. But even as imposing as his spiked armor made him, as intimidating as his weapon was, he seemed to be drawn in an almost… Affectionate way, somehow.

And, somehow, he felt an odd sort of… Nostalgia come over him, and had to set the book back to shake it off.

He spent a little while cleaning up and looking through the books, but none of them were anything he could use. Most were missing pages, or sections of pages at least, or had their spines broken. The ones that were intact weren't even in Valean - so he couldn't read them anyways. But he kept working anyways, if only for something to do, carrying the ruined wood over to the door and dumping it in the hallway. Eventually, he noticed Minions coming and going, taking wood from the pile and toting it off to… Somewhere, obviously, but he didn't know where.

The books he stacked up in neat piles by the huge crystal, doing his best to straighten spines and sort them out. Rotted out ones in one pile, mostly intact in another, neater stack, and damaged ones in a few other small piles. It was boring work, but at least he had something to do…

Finally, he heard a knock and looked up as Gnarl came in, frowning, and sighed, "You know, Master, you are literally the only one not supposed to handle menial organization and cleaning in this whole Tower."

"Are you saying I can't?"

"Well, no, obviously…"

"Then it's fine." He shrugged, sitting up straighter and pushing a hand into the small of his back to work the ache out of it from so long spent bent over small piles moving things around. "What do you need, Gnarl?"

"Nothing!" He cackled, "But while some of the Minions put your armor and weapon together, I thought you would be interested in learning a few things. Getting some real work done."

"I mean…" He gestured at the at least more ordered mess between them and scoffed. "I've been working, Gnarl."

"Yes, but it's… Rather pointless work." He shrugged, "Did you even find anything useful?"

"...No." He admitted quietly, shaking his head and pacing around towards him. "Everything's ruined! Or written in a language I don't know."

"Yes, well, these books are all rather ancient." Gnarl chuckled, "Most are older than your Kingdoms are, even, if only just."

"The languages too?"

"No." He shook his head, padding over to a pile and picking one of the more intact books up, regarding it with a frown and sighing. "Or, well, yes, but only a bit. Most of the languages they were written in were known by one of the Overlord's Mistresses. These are journals from his Lordship of the time, historical documents translated by her, other journals from politicians and the other Mistresses-"

"Other mistresses?" Jaune cut him off, the Minion turning to glare petulant up at him. "Sorry, didn't mean to- I was just surprised. He had more than one?"

"He had ten, actually." Jaune's eyes boggled and Gnarl chuckled, "Power is attractive, gangly noodle arms or no."

"Gangly- Hey!"

"Don't worry, Master, we'll work on them." Gnarl chuckled, dropping the book unceremoniously on the pile and sighing. "Regardless, I suppose there won't be much here for you. Unless you happen to known a scholar or some such nerdy little tripe that might be able to translate them for you?"

"No." He sighed, "I don't. And even if I knew of one, how would we even pay them?"

"I mean, you don't have to pay a slave…"

"Gnarl…"

"Oh, he's anti-slavery, too, how utterly wonderful."

"Slavery is bad?" He scoffed, shaking his head and waving the Minion off when he opened his mouth to retort. "Just… Forget it. What is it you wanted to do, then? Since you can't read, I mean."

"I can read." He grumbled, "Just… Not thousand or so year old dead languages I never bothered learning in the first place. I read older languages, from when I grew up, and Minish."

"Minish?"

"The Minion language." He explained, cracking a smile. "See? Learning things already."

"Har har." He rolled his eyes, "You have your ownwritten language?"

"Oh yes. Rather simplistic, most Minions are rather dull, but it suffices. At least, in most cases…" He shrugged, "Regardless, I've never bothered learning new ones because by the time an Overlord acquires someone who can teach me, that person can already handle record keeping, missives, the like. And so stopping everything to teach me to do what they already can is a bit…"

"Time wasting?"

"Exactly." He nodded, "I knew you were clever. If not brawn then brain, eh?"

"Why do you keep insulting me?"

"I believe I just called you smart."

"And weak…"

"I don't remember saying that."

"Ugh." He rolled his eyes, "Just… What, again, did you want to do, Gnarl? You still haven't said."

"Ah." He smiled, "I wanted to teach you some magic, Master."

"Magic?" He blinked, waving a hand at the open door, "Like when I opened the door?"

"Yes. Er, well, sort of, but a bit more useful than opening a door up to a rubbish room like this." Gnarl chuckled, shaking his head and holding up a hand in a gesture of peace - or surrender - when Jaune crossed his arms and glowered at him. "Right, I'll be technical, and boring, then. What you worked was called a Seal. Basically, magic can be directed by things, willpower, and seals. Your Gauntlet is a 'thing' I am referring to here, and while you lack the training for sheer willpower, you're capable of it too. Seals, however, are gestures."

"So I… Made a Seal?"

"Yes." Gnarl nodded, pacing over to the door with Jaune trailing behind. As they stepped through, he went on, "Seals are just ways of subconsciously directing Mana to perform Magic, which is classically defined as 'the desired or undesired effect of Mana expulsion'."

"Defined by who?"

"Oh, some dusty bearded tossers a few thousand years ago." Gnarl shrugged, "Senseless old goats. But they knew their Magic…"

"Yeah?" He cocked his head, curious, "What happened to them?"

"Oh, one of your predecessors razed their little college, looted its mystical library, murdered the Sages, and enslaved its mystic women for-"

"Nevermind!" Jaune rushed out, sighing when Gnarl turned to him, one brow raised as they walked. "I get it, they're all, um, dead. Yeah, picture's pretty clear."

"I was just getting to the fun part…" Gnarl sighed, shaking his wispy-haired little head. "Anyways, Seals work with the subconscious mainly. You relate X Seal to Y outcome, and intuitively mold your Mana to act it out, or act upon a target, in that way."

"But the door opened without me knowing any of that." Jaune pointed out, "How could a Seal work there?"

"You saw an image and acted it out." Gnarl said, "I presume you suspected it might open the door?"

"I hoped it would." Jaune nodded, "Or I'd have looked kind of silly."

"Expectation is enough." Gnarl nodded as they passed through the Throne room and through the other doors, into the hall that lead to his quarters. "You expected the outcome, and so, your Mana worked toward it. When the door was receptive, it opened. Any user of Mana could technically do it, though it would be harder without the Gauntlet."

"Why?"

"It has a unique Mana signature." Gnarl answered, "I'll explain later - it'd be like describing Mana-physics to a toddler right now."

"Mana-physics?"

"The laws and regulation of- Ugh!" Gnarl groaned, as they turned and began to climb the steps toward his quarters. Why there, Jaune wondered, but he kept the question to himself - he was sure he'd know soon enough, so asking would waste time. Instead, he paid attention, "That's… Complicated, Master. For now, you only need the basics. I'll work with you on more advanced theory later. For now-"

"Seals make Mana do things." He nodded, "And you're going to teach me some."

"One." Gnarl nodded as they came into his room and moved over to the balcony. Stepping out on it, Gnarl turned, looking up to him, and said, "We lack the other Nests, and I don't know any Seals aligned to the Browns. Magic was never my forte, and my memory is… Rather lacking, after so long."

"How old even are you?"

"My Lord!" He gasped, one hand covering his mouth in shock, "You should know never to ask a Minion their age!"

"Isn't that for women…?"

"Minions are monogendered, so it counts." He waved Jaune off when he scoffed and instead held up a hand in a fist, then turned and motioned it out, away from the wide, mostly-ruined balcony. "Like so, Master. You'll emit a sort of 'air blast' out from your fist. Harmless, aside from knocking things away, but great for, well, knocking things away as well as breaking your fall."

Brows furrowing, Jaune held up his Gauntlet - which, somehow, just felt more right for this - and turned, curling his hand into a fist and pushing it forward gently. In response, a stiff breeze blew, weak enough he almost thought it was a coincidence from being up as high as they were. But, when Gnarl gestured for him to and he did it harder, like he was punching the air, the gust was much more powerful - enough to stagger him back in wide-eyed surprise.

He caught himself on the edge of the balcony door and pulled himself upright, laughing in surprise, "Wow…"

"Oh, this amazes you?" Gnarl snorted, "Wait until you get more powerful Magic, Lord. You'll lose your Evil little mind."

"What other kinds of Magic are there?"

"Well, there's the Elements - Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, so on. But also Alchemic techniques, as well as enchantments and body enhancements, though both are often just a bit dangerous, and my personal favorite," he smirked, "Ink-Seals."

"What do those do?"

"You apply them to a body, Human or otherwise, and depending on the seal tattooed on you can inflict various effects." Gnarl explained, "From memory, which again, flawed… I know there was a fertility one-"

"Because of course."

"-as well as ones to cause pain if they disobeyed, or pleasure if they obeyed-"

"Also of course."

"-but others that could give the recipient certain benefits. Longevity, immunities, long distance communication, night-sight, so on." Gnarl went on, ignoring his grumbling beyond a tiny little smirk he let crack across his face. "Some of these were actually sought after, you know. A struggling village couple may ask for the fertility Ink-Seal so they can finally have a bouncing babe of their own, for instance."

"And how often was it used that way…?"

"More often than I'm sure you'd think." Gnarl shrugged flippantly, "It was a great way to play politics. The prevention Ink-Seals, for instance, could be applied to noble families. And, when they proved they were loyal, the fertility one used to countermand it. Happy, contented villagers grateful to their Overlord also tend to work their fields and mines and boats all the harder for it."

"Because we can't just be nice…?"

"The effects are there either way." Gnarl pointed out, "The gratitude is natural. As for nobility…" He snorted and threw his hands up in the air, putting on a shrill impression, and went on, "Oh no, we can't have babies all willy nilly! How sad for us, the rish people who spend most our time feasting and lazing about! The horroooor!"

"Fine, fine." Jaune rolled his eyes, "You know any more Seals?"

"No." He shook his head, "Not ones you can use without the other Minion Nests, at least. The Heart can only channel basics for you without their help, and I don't remember any more Seals for you to use."

"Right, well…" He shrugged, "We'll get to that when we get there, I suppose."

"Preicely." Gnarl nodded, "Now,if you like, I shall leave you here to do… Whatever you like. And tomorrow I shall teach you basics about your Minions. Hm?"

"Sounds good." He nodded, "Tomorrow, then."

Gnarl returned the gesture and turned, shuffling out without another word and leaving Jaune to sigh and turn. The balcony was wide, curving further around the Tower to either side than he expected, and with a black iron railing all along the way. He leaned against it and it held well, letting him look out from his high perch.

The Tower was built at the top of a sheer cliff, the ocean stretching out to one side of it. To the other, an endless, snow-bound and moonlit forest stretched on as far as he could see, curving up with mountains that had to be miles away. There were no roads, paths, cities or docks breaking any of it up. It was just one stretch of unspoiled, beautiful nature, far as his eyes could make out in the light of the full moon overhead. And, he was willing to bet, just as far as his eyes could see in the daylight, too.

"Gods…" He murmured, "It's beautiful."

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So, some more exploration, characterization, background lore for stuff outside the games - since I need to bridge them to here, lol - and some explanation of mechanics being used in this story. Not a direct correlation to the games, I know, but more mechanics for my own use. Also, the Overlord usually makes gestures in-game when you use magic or issue commands, so I'm using that for my ideas here.

Some, however, like the Ink Seals are just 'That'd be neat' lol.

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Jack Redhawke :

Lol. Glad you're excited.

Forklift Revolution :

Glad you're excited too, lol.

Tr1h4rd :

Yeah, the first just felt… Rushed, in my opinion, so I wanna spend more time with it. Plus the original plot was planned out with a then-friend of mine, who then did some stuff to make Gnarl proud, so… Yeah. Better to come in fresh! Lol.

Vault Monk 41 :

I already have the first waifu planned, actually. Settled on it a bit after posting last chapter. And yes, she is from the continent, lol.

Powerball Wiz :

Penny would be… An intriguing, if somewhat difficult, pick. Winter is a solid 'probably not' just because of how heavily I'm toying with Weiss as a Mistress cabal member - just an idea, rn - and also because turning HER would be HARD. Your ideas for romantic gestures are also pretty grand, lol.