Tunnel Rat

Milo was glad he had stayed for dinner. The food was great, and Arlothe was fun to talk to, even if he did have some funny ideas about how electricity works. (Or was storm mana different? Milo made a mental note to experiment.) But best of all, he had a huge pile of new books to read. And without rude interruptions. No one was going to play 'surprise' on him in the library of the Tower of Strife.

The after effects of dueling had gone away. Arlothe had explained that some of the healing magic of the circles would have affected him as well. His muscles had relaxed during dinner as his body cleansed any remaining poison effects. The excellent meal had also helped, calming his mind as his belly filled up. He was looking forward to working on an engineering project and correcting flaws in the students' understanding of physics.

As he left the tower, he noted that there was still an ongoing argument going on in a large room of the first floor. He saw Moray and the other members of the clan in discussion with several of the students who had taken advantage of the odds on Milo and won big. There was a small stage, and Moray was speaking from a podium. Most of the room was dark and shadowy, with just two lanterns lit near the stage. Curious, he moved quietly to the edge of the door, and skulked into the room slowly, attracting no attention.

"Look, Moray, it's simple. We paid you our money and placed our bets, we won and now you pay up! All bets have to be paid on the day of the duel, no one can carry a debt. That's a rule!"

Moray shook his head. "Ah, my dear friend, Sinclair. Sometimes I wish I had joined Manticore with you so that I too could see things in such a simple and straight forward way. I have listened to your advice, but the situation is not that simple. For instance, this wasn't an official dueling day. I think it's logical to say that official rules don't cover unofficial duels."

A tall thin student in the colors of Clan Raptor Claw stepped next to Sinclair. "I will not even deign to give credence to that thin logic by arguing with you. It is irrelevant. The dueling was official as soon as Professors Arlothe and Cremona appeared and did not halt the proceedings or chastise us for our actions. Further, the third duel where these debts come from was run under the official rules set forth by the Marquis D’Camembert and officiated by Professor Arlothe, a recognized judge. If that isn't enough to sweep away your thin excuses, I'll point out you are accusing Professor Cremona of an unsanctioned duel. It's almost worth losing the cheese to see her reaction. What do you think she'll do to you when you besmirch her honor that way?"

Moray grew a bit pale at the thought. "Of course, I was not saying that at all. You are weaving a plot with large words, as usual."

Sinclair said in a loud voice, "Then it's settled. Official duel, and you need to pay us. I must say, I'm looking forward to seeing what house Emerald Wyrm has in their vaults. I'm thinking we clean out every corner and you'll have to restock with curds and whey."

The Eels muttered and huddled. Eventually Moray spoke to the crowd again. "There are additional problems. Some of you are gaining a large amount of cheese at once. For safety reasons, it would be better if the wise leaders of Clan Emerald Eel made sure that the flow of cheese from our vaults isn't more than anyone can handle. And, as much as it pains me to admit, yes, our oldest cheese will be brought forth. It will take time to assign value to it. Not all cheese is equal."

Patsy pushed her way forward. "You eels can't be trusted to do that! This is like the 'Cookie of the Month' scam you pulled, and 'Invest your allowance in the Pyramid of Wealth' scheme before that!" She then tacked up a flyer on the podium Moray was speaking at.

Moray tore the flyer off the podium, but noticed what had been added to it in bright pink letters. "Ooh, exciting! Clan Puffyfur is hosting Tallsqueak at their little tea party. Congratulations on nabbing such an impressive duelist for your house."

The people from Raptor Claw and Manticore bristled and turned towards Patsy. Sinclair was quite angry. "We agreed to discuss him together. Are you sneaking behind our backs?"

Moray sighed and looked saddened. "For shame."

Verona of Raptor Claw wasn't as easily fooled. "He's doing it again people, and right in front of you! Soon you'll be arguing about who gets the new member and Moray and the eels will sneak off and leave you wondering what happened."

Moray had actually begun moving to the edge of the stage, and one of his clan was quickly heading to the door. Strangely, he tripped and fell on his chin. A student no one had noticed before helped him up and pushed him, stumbling, back towards the stage. The assembled students formed a wide arc around the stage, and the argument continued. Finally, Moray admitted what he didn't want to admit.

"We might not be able to cover all the bets. Especially that monster bet Tallsqueak placed on himself at the last minute. Without that bet, I'm sure we could cover all of our losses. But we have to pay him first, so his windfall is what's in the way of your payouts. It's sad that such should happen, but I think, if we are all reasonable, we can see the dangers of unofficial duel days and mysterious outsiders being allowed to enter the circles and place last minute bets on themselves. Some of you are seeing two sides to the argument: House Emerald Wyrm vs the rest of you. But really, it's all of us vs. Tallsqueak. He's the problem. And you all saw how he fought? Viscious! Even taking advantage of Professor Cremona's trusting nature to win and take all of our cheese. And when I say 'our', I mean the entire Tower, and not just my own clan."

"But, I promise you, I will go speak with him and try to arrange something, the first chance that I can. He's scary, but I'm sure that I can stand up to him and make him see what's right in this situation." Moray congratulated himself on how a good part of the crowd was swayed, and the others confused. Even his own clan was impressed. Moray has obviously inherited the Dragontongue perk from his father, and was using his skill well. Once again, victory would go to House Emerald Wyrm.

From the shadows above the stage, someone dropped to the floor, landing just in front of the stage in a three-point stance and then stranding up straight. "No need to delay our discussion then, as we are both here now."

Moray felt victory make a U-turn and run away from him. Somehow, Tallsqueak was in front of him, with angry eyes and bold words. There was a small patter of applause for the perfect entrance, and Patsy cheered loudly.

Moray tried to rally. "Nice of you to answer my summons, Tallsqueak. How long have you been sneaking about?"

Milo answered in a neutral voice. "For part of a bell, actually. And you call that sneaking? I simply walked into the room. All of you need to work on your perception and dark vision. Pitiful, really, that I could just walk in unnoticed. And learn to look up sometimes. It will save you much pain in dungeons. A mage is only worth the spells they can cast. You are worthless and probably going to a quick death if you can't spot someone using a stealth skill." He looked around at the entire room and saw some embarrassed faces.

"And please, Mr. Moray, the correct way to address me is Professor Tallsqueak. I have agreed to teach a few classes while I am in the Hollow and you will give me the same respect you do to all of your professors."

All of the Eels took half a step back when presented with that statement. Things were sliding down hill. None of them liked Tallsqueak. The power and cruelty they had admired at first had turned to anger when he rebuked their offer and beat them in a duel. Some small part of Moray was pushing him to crush Tallsqueak, while the logical part of his brain said 'cower or flee'.

"Ah, yes, Professor Tallsqueak. Congratulations on your sudden promotion. But even a professor has to obey the rules, and you sorely abused the betting rules!"

Milo tilted his head to one side, thinking. Rules again. Rules people expected him to know when they didn't state them first. Sloppy. "Well, we wouldn't want that. Who made the betting rules?"

"Clan Emerald Eels set forth the rules for betting on duels three generations ago!" Moray was proud of his house for doing that, and prouder still of how it had increased the clan's wealth.

"I see, and who oversees or enforces those rules during duels?" Milo wished there was a rulebook for the entire Hollow. Maybe Gilad or Old Healer knew of one?

"Again, Clan Emerald Eels. We run the betting and adjudicate the rules. We are the last word on the rules." Moray felt it, that small window opening that no one else saw. A window of opportunity where he could delay the loss of so much wealth, and put this fake professor in his place.

"Well, that's good to know. So, at the time of the betting, your clan set the odds. You clan was in charge of the rules. Your clan didn't limit bets, and indeed, encouraged them. You were not upset at the betting and raised no objections. It's only losing that has you upset now. That can happen when you get greedy."

The window started to close. "But we don't have enough to pay both you and all the other people! Why can't you understand that!" Moray scowled at the eel who had blurted that out and broke the 'Only Moray talks.' rule.

Tallsqueak hopped up on the stage and spoke to the crowd. "I have a solution. I agree with Mr. Moray that too much cheese loose in the Hollow is a bad thing. I also don't need to have that much cheese all at once. So, I propose a compromise that solves many problems."

"Firstly, if there is not enough cheese in the vaults of Clan Emerald Eel, then logically none should be left in them. Representatives of all the other clans will help them clean out those vaults under the watchful eye of Professor Arlothe. I see we have people here from the other clans, so I suggest that Sinclair, Verona, and Patsy form a committee for the distribution of cheese, and each pick two clan members to assist Mr. Moray and two other eels in cataloguing the cheese, and moving it to the secure area under the mess hall, under the watchful eye of Chef Bleusnout."

Patsy raised her hand high. "I'm sorry, but I'm not the head of a clan like Sinclair and Verona."

Tallsqueak smiled at her. The way Professors smile and you aren't sure if it's a friendly smile or not. "Ah, but you are 3rd assistant to Ginny Sue, the event coordinator for Clan Puffyfur. And this certainly qualifies as an event. You'll do just fine, I'm sure."

"Master Bleusnout can verify the value of the eel's cheese, store it, and allow the clans to make withdrawals to control the flow into the Hollow. Any excess will be credited to me, and if not enough to cover what is owed me, I and Mr. Moray will seek the guidance of the other Professors on how to rectify the situation. I can foresee a trade of work by the eels to better the Hollow, and those contribution points going to me."

"This solves many problems: 1) Cheese is under control. 2) Debts will be paid. 3) Concerns over the eels never paying up is negated. 4) The Hollow benefits 5) Clan Emerald Wyrm is not crippled by debt unless they refuse to work it off. And I can be patient as long as I see them working hard." He turned and looked at the eels.

Moray grudgingly dipped his head. It was bad, but at least they wouldn't be in debt. Some part of him urged him to lunge at Tallsqueak and kill him. This actually scared him and he swallowed and nodded his head more vigorously. Where had that come from?

Tallsqueak turned to the other students. "I don't want to enforce rules, merely offer suggestions. How say you?" Hands went up, not quite all of them. A few Puffyfurs had made popcorn and didn't want the fun to end so soon. But the vast majority were in favor. Tallsqueak banged his tail on the podium twice. "It looks like we have an agreement. I leave it up to the committee to talk immediately with Professor Arlothe and make arrangements. I'm late for an important meeting so I will be leaving now."

Milo was so glad that was over!

He hurried to the mess hall planning to check on Larry, and then get some sleep, or log out and check on his various projects in the other world. Larry was usually sitting on the steps to the mess hall until the lights dimmed and most ratkin went off to bed. Milo was surprised, and very happy to see that Larry had made two new friends. The three of them were dancing together and there were even a few people watching. He wondered how things had gone with Larry and Charlotte. He'd ask about that tomorrow. He decided to not intrude on Larry and his friends, and head to the barracks for a nap.

He was just about to open the door to the barracks when a low voice said, "Surprise!" and strong hands gripped him, pulling him off his feet. His attacker pulled him backwards, folded him in half, and then they did some complicated roll that ended with Milo flying through the air trying to get his balance. He failed and belly flopped into the dirt.

He got up to see Gilad laughing at him. "Ah, glad to see I can still do a Flying Back Toss. Good evening, Tallsqueak."

Milo brushed the dust off of himself and bowed, a bit of his annoyance showing. "Good evening, Master Gilad. Do I have to worry about you playing 'surprise' from now on as well?"

Gilad chuckled. "Don't get your tail in a twist, young one. You earned that ambush. I suspected you were holding back in my classes, trying to keep some special ability secret to gain an advantage on me later. Your style has big gaps in it where something is missing. Imagine my surprise to find out you were dueling over at the Tower of Strife and showing off some nice physical enhancement spells. Bone armor and claws I believe they said? And an enhanced tail? No wonder some of your strikes miss, you are used to having more reach!"

The old warriors face became serious. "Why did you hide your abilities?"

Milo was unsure. Sometimes things progressed so fast when dealing with people. He got confused on what he should reveal and what he shouldn't. "Should I always tell people my secrets? That seems counterproductive, but I don't want to be seen as untrustworthy. And I wanted to learn to fight better without using my claws. I only used my spells at the tower because the silly students challenged me to duels and started fights. I even had to fight one of the Professors!"

Gilad's face turned into a grin. "And beat her from what I am told, with your claw fighting. As to your question, no, don't divulge your advantages. But just as you should train with your natural claws, you should train when using your spells. I checked, and you have a large amount of unused contribution points. With large amounts added recently by both Professor Arlothe, Chef Bleusnout, and the Old Healer. Why have you not asked for special classes with me?"

Contribution points? Oh! He kept meaning to check on those! "I would enjoy some extra classes. I learn a lot sparring with you. Not so much sparring with the other students."

Gilad turned and waved for him to follow. "Not surprising. You are nearing the third tier and have experience fighting monsters. And the benefit of fighting monstrous creatures is the points you earn for the hardest fights. Spent wisely, those can make you even stronger. These whelps are a tier behind you and still learning the basics, and with none of your extra skills.

You can only be challenged by me sending several of them at you at once." Gilad stopped when they got to the fighting ring. "I suggest we spar for at least a bell each night after dinner, and now that the Hollow knows about your little secrets, you should use your spells that enhance your fighting. Show them to me."

Milo complied. Gilad watched as boney plates covered Tallsqueaks forearms and shins. His toe and finger claws became longer and harder. The tail enhancement surprised him the most. Bone armor wasn't unheard of. There were mentions of it in the books in the Tower, and he had seen necromancers use the spells in the great war with the spiders. But this long, enhanced tail? He had never seen that spell before.

"You are some type of necromancer? I do not judge; I only seek to understand your bone enchantments." He examined Milo's claws, tested the armor with his own claws, and had Milo show how much control he had over the long, boney tail.

"Not really. My magic uses bones and runes. Old runes." Milo didn't want to have to try to explain things he only half understood, and Gilad seemed satisfied with that answer.

"Very well. Then we will begin sparring, but this time you should use your claws and tail. I want to test your limits. If you don't use exploding skulls and whistling harpoons, then I won't throw rocks. Agreed?"

"Agreed." Milo went to one end of the arena. Gilad bowed and prepared himself. Milo nodded that he was ready.

Gilad hit him. Milo had seen the old ratkin start to move, but then he was next to him, punching him in the face and tripping him with his tail. He started to press his advantage, but warned by some sixth sense, flipped backwards to avoid Milo's tail. He let Milo regain his feet. "The striking distance of your tail is a huge advantage, it made me cautious. Let us begin again, and do not blink at the start of a match. Try not to blink ever! Many warriors have skills to aid them in closing the distance between themselves and opponents."

This time, Gilad advanced normally. Milo pressed him, slashing with his claws. Gilad deflected them with open palms or his own claws. When Gilad struck, Milo blocked him with claws or forearms. Both were wary of each other's tail and constantly repositioned. Milo feinted with his claws, struck with his tail. Gilad dodge backwards, grabbed Milo's tail and suddenly Milo found himself whirling around and round before sailing through the air and landing in the dirt. "I have found a good use for that long tail of yours, Tallsqueak, it is an excellent handle with which to throw you."

Milo had to agree. The physics of the situation did favor that solution. "I noticed that."

Gilad motioned for them to start another round. "You should learn both to make your strikes so powerful that the opponent can only dodge, and so fast that dodging is not an option. As to your tail, be prepared to cancel that spell if they grab it as I did. Especially against higher tier or larger opponents. A cheese fiend would delight in smashing you into the ground over and over. They can't do that to a normal ratkin tail, too fragile. But yours is perfect."

Sparring went on. Gilad giving pointers and pounding Milo into the dirt. The consolation for Milo was that the Tail Master had to work for each victory. Gilad was sweating, and Milo had hit him several times with tail or claw. Gilad brushed off any concerns about Milo slashing him. "My regeneration is high enough that I will be healed by morning." After an hour, both were breathing hard and drenched with sweat.

Gilad stretched and cracked his back. "This had been very invigorating. I normally have trouble finding sparring partners. Justin says he needs to avoid bruises so he can guard the Hollow, and Brutus is quite clever in his excuses. Only the Old Healer is a match for me, and he is always busy with keeping control of the chaos in his clan. I look forward to a nightly spar with you, Tallsqueak. I will pass on to Old Healer that you will be seeking some lessons from him as well. His style is...well, you'll see. Or maybe you won't."

Milo was just getting his breathing to slow, when something made him turn and face a new threat. Something large and dangerous was charging at him.