The Rise Of A Porter

The next morning...

Talos had taken over the role of Arnold's assistant-cum-advisor in the last year. Well, that was his official job title. And it was a position that he rightly deserved as he had been already doing it for about a decade.

Still, even though Talos was an automaton, even he had his limits and at the rate, at which the Indian government kept calling him for help every two minutes, meant one of two things. Either they were used to do pestering someone like that, or the circumstances were really that bad that they were desperate to get some help.

Either way, helping them or not wasn't his decision to make. It was Arnold's and he was still asleep. Talos knew that in the last few days, things had been difficult for Arnold. So much so, that even Talos wanted Arnold to get as much rest as he could.

However, after dozens upon dozen of calls, Talos finally had to give in and wake Arnold up. But he knew facing him right away would be a great decision. So he used the private communication network spread across memorial Island to reach his master and... it didn't look like it was the best time to do so.

"Master, I-"

"Talos? What the hell? Can't a man get some sleep here?"

"It's the Indian Prime minister again, master. It would seem they really are desperate..."

"Alright, Alright, I'm on my way but till then. Tell them to fcking hold the line or I'll storm into their office and punch some sense into them!"

"I will convey your message to them," Talos replied before disconnecting the call.

"I swear if it's nothing important, I'm gonna conquer India too. I don't give a sh*t about the treaty anymore."

Arnold was already not in the best mood. All he could think about was the news regarding Orco. He wanted to help his son first, but it looked like it would have to wait till he was done chatting with the Indian representatives. However, now that he was getting constant calls from them, he was really annoyed.

Although being around Nina and Aiden had calmed him a bit, the comfort soon turned into rage as he got ready to storm out of the room to see Talos. But before he did, he accidentally woke up the sleeping beauty.

"You're up awfully early... Are you going somewhere?" Nina mumbled in her sleepy voice.

"Yeah. It would seem, being the strongest man in the world it's not as wonderful as I was told by my parents." Arnold smirked while slipping into his clothes, "Everyone told me about the Dragon, the castle and the princess. But no one told me about the work I would have to put in to get those things in the first place! Sometimes I think I was better off working as a porter. Just carrying my humongous bag filled with useless crap."

"Hm... maybe you would have. But if that were the case, we wouldn't end up together, you know?" Nina was now out of her sleep completely and immediately went to check on Aiden who was sleeping peacefully in his crib despite Arnold's loud voice, "I never thought about it but it has been a long time since we first met. Do you remember the lecture you gave us about Astral beings and stuff? Back then I said I knew about it, but frankly, I didn't."

"Oh, I knew about it all this time. Either way, I'm sorry but I gotta head out now. Got to act as a superhero again."

"Do what you need to. Just don't be too late or Aiden would start throwing tantrums." Nina gave Arnold a quick peck as he left the room, "And no more dungeon hunts! I can't have you going missing every other day, you oaf. Especially after considering your past. I'm telling you, if you disappear again for more than a couple of days, I'm gonna revoke your parental rights."

"Don't worry, this shouldn't take long."

***

'How long is it going to take...' Arnold thought to himself as the meeting that was supposedly only going to take a few minutes, had now crossed the two hour mark. All because of continuos illogical ramblings of the prime minister and his secretaries, much to Arnold's dismay.

"I'm sorry Mr Prime minister, but all I have heard in the last couple of hours is, blah blah blah... people went missing... blah blah blah... help us." Arnold finally had enough, "You said you couldn't give the details to my assistant who is more capable than the bunch of baboons you have working in your office and yet you haven't given me any important information either. Moreover, I'm not buying your half-as*ed truth that your people started missing for no reason at all."

"Sir with all due respect-" The Prime minister tried to intervene but Arnold was having none of it.

"I wasn't done talking. As I was saying, if all you wanted was for me to organise a search party then you could have said so from the beginning. I wouldn't have wasted my time to just go round and round with you giving me no details whatsoever about what really happened there?" Arnold took a few deep breaths after slamming his fist on the table in front of him, "Believe it or not. I have more important matters to deal with than waste my time here. You get it?"

Everyone on the other side of the video conference was stunned after seeing Arnold's behaviour. Even though they were aware of Arnold's short fuse, it was their first time seeing it and even though they were thousands of kilometres away from him, they could still feel how frightening he was.

"Yes, sir..." The elderly prime minister mumbled, "Please forgive me for hiding the truth earlier. I swear on my country that I won't hide anything from you anymore. That being said, a few months back, a dungeon popped up around the desolated land near Kailash, one of the many holy places for the Hindus. Thus warriors were immediately dispatched to handle the threat. The only problem was that... there was no threat. The dungeon turned out to be a mine filled with an unknown metal that we had never seen before. So-"

"So you decided to hoard all of it by yourself?" Arnold shook his head in disappointment.

"Yes... and we terribly regret making that choice. And, now everyone who enters the mine disappears. I know what my cabinet did wasn't in accordance with the treaty we signed, but please do not let those innocent warriors-"

"I have heard enough. I'll send some people to investigate the area and I expect your full cooperation on the matter. Or else, you know what could happen to you." Arnold said and disconnected the call, "Talos, prepare to send in some automatons to take care of the situation."

"Yes, master."

[It would be better if you visited the dungeon yourself.]

'And why would I do that?'

[You really don't know anything about the Immortal one, do you? Kailash is the land of the Immortal one. If things are happening there, then they must be related to him and thus indirectly related to you.]

***

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