The Rise Of A Porter

'Why didn't you kill her!?' Nicole yelled inside Arnold's head. 

'She has important information with her. Moreover killing her would be a waste.' Arnold calmly replied but Nicole wasn't buying it. 

They could've just killed her and the rest of her slithering force. Then resurrect her as a summon to do his bidding. All the information she had would be easily obtainable once Alleiah submitted herself to Arnold. Nicole knew Arnold was capable of doing that yet he refused to do so. This made no sense at all! 

But Arnold had his reasons. In his eyes, Alleiah was a weak monster. Although she had a cosmic rank, her stats weren't impressive at all. He didn't want to waste one of the precious 30 slots just to get some information out of a monster. He needed to save the slots to resurrect stronger beings. Beings who could aid him in his war against the demigods. 

But Alleiah didn't have any of those qualities and Arnold wasn't going to waste his time or energy resurrecting the monster for something that fear alone could manage to do. But Nicole, Nina or Azyriah didn't know about it. Thus as soon as they were back in the open, Nicole once again used her telepathy to have a quick chat with her brother. 

'What do we do now?' She asked. 

'Now we call our forces here and have them stationed inside the naga city.' Arnold smiled as Azyriah filled Johnny and Kolt in, on what happened while they were visiting the Queen Naga. 

Once she was done telling them the entire tale, Kolt came rushing towards Arnold with an 'I told you so' look on his face. But before he could say anything, Johnny interrupted him. 

"What are you planning to do next? We still need to fortify this place before calling the rest of the force to join us." He asked Arnold. 

"Don't worry about it. I already have a well-fortified place in mind." Arnold smiled once again in almost a sadist manner. 

Azyriah was the first to pick up what Arnold was trying to imply, apart from Nicole who already knew what Arnold's plans were. 

"Isn't fighting alongside those disgusting monsters enough? I mean I'm not against fighting with them but living with them would be too much. Even for me." Azyriah expressed her concerns, "We don't have a problem with the monsters you summon because we know they follow your each and every command. But not everyone within the syndicate approves your methods... I meant, even though you control them, they are still monsters."

"I know what they think and I don't care."

Arnold was getting a bit frustrated at this point. They didn't even listen to what he was saying and now they are piling up on him for answers. 

"The ones they refer to as monsters, have saved my life more times than any human has. I don't care what they think about me or my methods but if anyone... Even you were to disrespect my summons, things might not end up on good terms for either of us." Arnold looked at all of them indifferently. But the more he looked at them the more he realised he was acting more like a dictator than a leader, "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to let my emotions get the best of me."

His summons felt good that their master took their side and defend them, but even they were a bit surprised at how quickly he got defensive about them. 

Nina approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "We know you didn't mean to. But the others might not so try to be more careful around the others, could you?"

"Of course." Arnold apologised to them once again before continuing to explain his plan to his fellow humans. "When I suggested that we camp in the naga city, I didn't mean to make others 'live' with them. Even I wouldn't force anyone to do so. What I really wanted to say was that we occupy their city and make it our base of operations."

Everyone immediately realised what Arnold actually wanted to do. And now they felt bad for jumping to conclusions. 

"That old naga seemed really proud talking about how they 'Occupied' the city and made it their own. I think it's time to make them realise how it feels getting 'occupied' by some other force." Arnold said. 

"Okay... But what about arming them? Wouldn't it cause a problem?" Kolt asked. 

"The way I see it, their population is around 3500. About a third of our forces and all they can fight with are stones and sticks. There are a few who can use deadly magic, but my summons can take care of them. But keeping them aside, they just don't have the resources to fend of an army of ten thousand."

"But from what I realise, only a naga can open the magical gates leading to the city. Don't we?" Johnny asked, "No matter how big of an army we have, we won't be able to do much until we find a way in."

"Also, weren't there deadly traps lying around here and there? Not to mention all those weird paths... Do you remember the paths we need to take?" Kolt joined in. 

While Kolt and Johnny were asking him questions, Arnold's summons stayed quiet. They knew their master had already figured it all out because otherwise, he wouldn't be smiling while the humans expressed their concerns. 

"I do remember the paths one would be required to take but we don't need to." Arnold smiled got bigger with every passing moment, "We just need to wait for a few more hours and after that, I'll transport everyone directly inside the city."

"Okay... Do you mind telling us how?" Azyriah asked him.

"Just trust me. Now we can either stay here and hunt some lizardmen for fun or we can head back and wait with the others, your call."

Arnold looked at everyone who shrugged their shoulders and decided it was better to get some practice while they were waiting for whatever Arnold wanted to do.