"Do not worry, you goblin. All you need to do is pay me 3,000 merits for the losses you caused me at the Ledger. Then let's say another 3,000 for the pain and suffering of some of my fellow members here that you killed."
Rune laughed, the sound sharp and tired. "That is what you are going with? I do not even see those thugs from the forest here."
His gaze moved slowly across the circle, measuring faces.
"Oh, there he is," Rune said, stopping on one of them. "Leader of that group, at least from what I can tell."
He tilted his head, expression thoughtful.
"Wait. Where is Carl? He was your friend, right?"
Rune was enjoying himself now, prodding at the only name he actually remembered.
A low, squeaky voice answered from behind a tree.
"I am right here, Mister Goblin."
A small man stepped out from the shadows, noticeably shorter than the others, shoulders hunched as he tried to make himself look smaller than he already was.
"Oh, hey Carl. It has been a bit. How are you doing?"
"Oh, I am fine, I think," Carl said honestly. "They keep dragging me places and I end up dying, but what are you going to do?"
"I hear you," Rune replied with a tired nod. "I am completely worn out from today's dungeon run."
A large hand snapped out and smacked Carl on the back of the head.
"What the hell do you think you are doing, talking to him?"
Carl flinched. "He asked how I was doing. It is only polite to respond."
The man's face twisted in anger.
"You stupid idiot. We are shaking him down for merits. If he does not pay, we kill him. And you are standing here chatting like you are friends?"
He shoved Carl hard, sending him stumbling to the ground.
"Get your crap together, Carl."
Rune slid his hands into his pockets, pausing to think it over. He weighed the options quickly. In the end, 6,000 merits would not break him, and he was fairly sure he was carrying more than that in raw crystal alone.
"Alright," Rune said. "Deal. Come on down and let's get these merits transferred."
The greasy haired Broken Crown member began to respond, then stopped. He had clearly expected resistance. Threats. Begging. He had rehearsed enough menacing lines to last a lifetime.
Instead, the Immortal Goblin had agreed without a fight.
He jumped down from the rock and walked toward Rune. Rune stretched out his hand, already preparing for the transfer.
The man clasped it.
Rune leaned in close, voice dropping to a whisper.
"You know, I never did get your name."
"Stryker," the man replied. "Name's Stryker."
"Oh," Rune said softly. "That sounds like one of those names you picked yourself. Trying to sound cooler than you really are."
Stryker opened his mouth to snap back.
And then his body locked up.
Every muscle seized at once, his grip frozen around Rune's hand, eyes widening as he realized he could not move at all.
Rune leaned closer and whispered into his ear. "I just learned this one from myself. You can unpack what that means that after you revive."
When their hands had first met, Rune had already acted.
Shadow Tethers crept up Stryker's arm, unseen, slipping beneath skin and armor. Some drove straight into his chest, coiling tight around his heart. Others climbed higher, threading into his throat and crushing down on his voice before a sound could escape.
Stryker tried to react.
He could not.
"Remember," Rune said calmly, almost conversational. "I asked you all not to bother me today."
The tethers tightened.
"And you are the one who kept pushing."
There was a dull, wet rupture.
Stryker's body went slack as his heart burst under the pressure, the light draining from his eyes in an instant. Blue motes rose where he stood, drifting quietly into the air.
Rune released the hand and wiped his palm against his pant leg, already turning away as the last of the motes faded. Putting Both hands into pockets, he stood there, waiting, ready for whatever was about to come.
"What are you waiting for? Attack him from range with element. Pin him down!"
Ice spears streaked toward Rune. He moved through them, steps sharp and controlled. Where the spears struck, they shattered and melted, spreading into a slick, frozen sheen across the ground. The surface turned treacherous in seconds.
Rune adjusted without breaking stride. Element fed into his armor, the weave gripping and stabilizing him. Without it, he would have gone down.
Fire came next.
Several of them hurled blazing spheres that detonated on impact, bursts of heat and force rippling outward. Rune did not even flinch. He stayed where he was as the explosions washed over him.
Fire splashed against his armor and the ground around him, rolling past in waves. Smoke rose from his body. Steam curled upward as ice met heat and turned to mist.
Rune stood in the center of it all, unmoved. His posture was relaxed, shoulders loose, hands still tucked into his pockets.
Compared to what he had just survived, this was nothing.
The Crown members threw everything they had at him.
Roots burst from the ground and wrapped around Rune's ankles, tightening as they tried to drag him down.
"Come on," Rune laughed. "I have seen this one before. Show me something I have not seen."
He slowly lifted his arms and spread them wide, reaching out openly. His eyes were bright, clear, and entirely unafraid.
Whirlwinds began to form around him, tightening as they spun faster and faster. Rocks and jagged debris were torn from the ground, pulled into the spiraling currents as they closed in.
The cutting winds raked across Rune's body.
Nicks opened along exposed skin. Thin lines of blood traced his face and neck. Sections of his armor tore free under the pressure, crystal filaments snapping before already beginning to pull themselves back together.
"More, more! Show me more ways to use element. This is all new to me."
The moment the words left his mouth, something shifted.
Fear rippled through the group. Anxiety followed close behind. They were giving him everything they had, pushing their element to its limit, and none of it was stopping him. Worse, he was smiling. Laughing. Asking for more.
Here they were, surrounding him, calling him a monster, and yet he stood untouched in the middle of it all, enjoying himself.
He was truly living up to his nickname.
The Crazy Immortal Goblin.