Ch077-A Brisk Walk

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Ch077-A Brisk Walk

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Fire as red as blood engulfed the crowd. The air filled with the screams of children and adults alike. Creatures that couldn’t possibly exist surrounded the area, each one larger and more grotesque than the other, armed with a variety of tools and instruments. They started to sing and dance, and small blasts of multi-colored illusionary fire exploded above and below them to match their singing.

Sylver gently grabbed Flesh and Bones by the shoulders and led them out of the prong of people excited to see the traveling band of entertainers. He wanted to stay and watch too, but their current bodies had a time limit, and Sylver couldn’t waste time like this. They would still be here for another 2 weeks, so they’d get to watch the show later when they weren’t in the middle of decomposing.

Thomas had said to meet near the wall with two stumps nearby, and Sylver sent his shades out to find it for him.

On top of the guards inside having a significant boost to all of their attributes while within the city borders, there was also a giant barrier surrounding the whole area. It was wrong to say it was impenetrable, or impossible to invade, but it would take a considerable amount of time to achieve.

Or so Sylver thought.

“If I asked, would I like the answer?” Sylver asked.

“No, at least I don’t think you’d like it. This is temporary, you still have to go through the proper channels, I’m just here to hold them for you,” Ron said.

He was talking while standing in a doorway. That wasn’t there a split second before, and now looked like the whole thing was built long before, and the wall itself was built around the doorframe. It was the same metallic door Ron had for his main entrance.

Ron casually said an odd string of words, and both Flesh and Bones perked up at them. Flesh said something different, but in the same language, and Ron smiled at it.

“It’s always nice when everything works out. What language is it?” Sylver asked. Ron handed Sylver the sheet of paper he had given to Thomas and saw that all but 3 of the languages on it were crossed out. He had Bones write out every language he could remember, in the hopes of finding someone who could teach them Eirish.

“Dead. Not dead as in gone, but dead as in, no one speaks them. I had someone with a relevant skill check, and they offered good money if you’re willing to lend them out to translate a few things. The three left are Upsiya, Anfuri, and Tongo. Upsiya and Anfuri are both ancient elf dialects, there’s maybe 50 people in the whole world who can speak it. Tongo on the other hand is from one of the [Hero]s. It was originally called Doichlan, or something similar. I happen to speak it because… Well, I just happen to speak it,” Ron explained.

Bones cleared his throat and said something else in Tongo. Ron responded and moved back into the doorway to give them space to pass.

“Is there any point lying to him about anything?” Bones asked in demon tongue.

Sylver squirmed slightly as he forced his vocal cords to move to accommodate the sound he needed to make. He coughed once to clear his airway.

“I want to say I fully trust him, but I can’t. Learn Eirish and try not to let anything related to your past slip. He might be one of those people that will be aware of you two appearing out of nowhere, so try to get along with him. He’s a great guy. I’ll try to find suitable hosts as quickly as possible,” Sylver explained. He spat out blood as he finished speaking and saw the change in Ron’s body langue.

It wasn’t right to say he appeared frightened, but there was something there. Either he recognized the language, or he felt discomfort because of it.

“Use Flesh and Bones for names, for now. I’ll change them when I find the proper bodies, it wouldn’t do to have a name that doesn’t match the face or ethnicity. Raises too many questions,” Sylver explained. Both Flesh and Bones nodded silently.

“While I have you here, the temple of Ra is looking for you. They’re not as in a rush or insistent as last time, but I thought you should know,” Ron said in regular Eirish.

“Thank you, I’ll go see them when I have the time. You seemed fully booked the last time I was in, do you have enough rooms for them?” Sylver asked.

“I do. I normally wouldn’t charge you anything, but I need to, to meet a certain requirement,” Ron explained.

“Not an issue, just take whatever it costs out from my chest. How much do you want for teaching them Eirish?” Sylver asked.

“Eh… 50 gold? But there’s a specific ingredient I need, I would be happier if you brought me that instead,” Ron said.

“Monster or plant?” Sylver asked.

“Technically both. It’s a plant that lives on the back of a monster, but I need the monster alive, so the plant doesn’t die. I’ve posted a quest at the adventurer’s guild, but it’s been nearly 5 months and no one’s taken it. I’m not in a rush, but it isn’t all that far away from here and I thought you’d be able to handle it. It’s around level 50, or it lives in an area where mainly level 50s live,” Ron said.

“Sure. I’m heading to the guild next anyway; I’ll accept your quest and handle it for you. You can keep the reward if you manage to teach them the basics,” Sylver offered. He extended a hand towards Ron. Ron reached out with his own and they shook.

“Deal. They’re called Shuba. The quest will explain the rest. Good luck,” Ron said.

Flesh and Bones followed the plate armor wearing man inside, and the door shut behind them. Sylver didn’t blink but still couldn’t see when the door had disappeared. He pressed his hand against the spot, but absolutely nothing he could feel told him there was a door there a moment ago.

He looked up to where the bribed guard was pretending to look the other way and went back to the giant line of people waiting to enter Arda.

*

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Having just returned from a crypt, Sylver had expected something like this. Checking for contraband and other dangerous materials was completely normal, they normally just used an item or a spell to do it. Sylver had known he would have to show them his artifacts and didn’t have any issue with it.

What he wasn’t expecting was to walk into a room with 20 guards standing shoulder to shoulder, surrounding a small table and chair, where a man Sylver hadn’t seen before was sitting.

“Have a seat,” The man offered. His hair was a very dark brown, and slicked back to the point it was shiny from the oil he used. His face had enough lines and wrinkles on it, that even though Sylver could feel this human man was barely in his 40s, he could have very easily believed this man was in his 60s or 70s. His uniform was a very pale blue, much lighter than the kind Leke normally wore, or any of the government employees Sylver had seen.

His hands were thin and delicate looking, but Sylver could tell by the way his mana channels were arranged he used his fingers to cast his magic. Sylver also felt a very faint suppression effect acting on him, very similar to the one Bear used, but significantly weaker. It was enough to hinder Sylver, not stop him, but he suspected it was something that could be increased on a whim.

Sylver walked over and sat down on the chair the man had offered. They hadn’t removed any of Sylver’s weapons, or so much as searched him. Sylver wasn’t certain if he should be worried about that, or if it was just common procedure. For whatever this was…

“Sylver Sezari. Arrived at the city as a level 3 necromancer, promptly joined the adventurer’s guild, and then went on to fight several giants and returned with 10 extra levels. Then you went on a quest with the Pixie party, where you allegedly single-handedly defeated Haklang the swift, and his backup, after which you went on to face his brother, Asland the dreary and killed him along with his mage, Lora the blue, and then proceeded to raise all of them as shades,” The man said. He spoke as if he were reading this from somewhere, but he was staring Sylver right in the eye.

“When you returned from Medera, you brought Salgok the dwarven blacksmith in tow and spent several days hiding in Ron’s Rest. When you returned one of your arms was damaged, but that didn’t stop you from accepting an invitation from the Grey Cats party and going on a 4-month long journey with them. You returned with 16 extra levels, which is within the confines of normal for a 4-month long journey,” the man continued.

“But, isn’t it odd that all 5 members of the Grey Cats party only increased their level by 2? They were all in their 30s and 40s, granted, but I find it hard to believe they took the time out of their busy schedule to help out a newbie adventurer, to the point he gained 16 levels,” the man said. Sylver looked around the room and leaned back in his chair, so only two legs were touching the ground.

“And after that, you didn’t show up once in Arda, and returned barely 2 weeks later with 11 more levels, having completed only one single quest in Orest. A D rank gathering quest, if I recall correctly. You disappeared again and returned after working as a bodyguard for one Lola Aeyri. She was so pleased with your work, she later hired you again to escort her to Torg. You returned and almost immediately went down into the dungeons below, and the rest of the information available has been unofficial and unreliable,” the man explained.

“And now here you sit. A level 73 necromancer. A man who is, on paper, a nobody, and yet every single attempt I’ve made to investigate you has been far too difficult, and very often, denied,” the man continued.

Sylver continued to look around the room and lazily allowed his gaze to return to the man sitting across from him.

“Well?” the man asked.

Sylver shrugged his shoulders and started to look around the room again. He made eye contact with all the guards he could see without turning in his seat and took his time to memorize everything he could about every one of them. He smiled ever so slightly as one of the guards got a better grip on his sheathed sword.

Alright, they’re scared of me, I can use this.

“If you’re done with the tough guy act, I would like to ask you some questions,” the man said.

“Would you now,” Sylver said. Spring was already looking for Tom or one of the cats to contact Raba and sort whatever this was out. Sylver simply needed to stall for however long it took for someone to come and fix this.

The man took a very deep breath before he spoke.

“What is your relationship with Lekelga,” the man asked.

“The none of your fucking business kind?” Sylver asked. His tone was neutral, but the air in the room seemed to lose whatever pitiful warmth it had a moment prior. Sylver heard leather stretch, as one of the guards either changed their stance or got a better grip on their weapon.

The man leaned forward and locked his fingers together. He spoke an octave lower than he had before, and in a way that sounded like the kind of thing Sylver said when he’d already decided violence was unavoidable but was giving negotiation a chance just to be safe.

“See… Right now we’re pretending… We’re pretending that this is a regular conversation and that these fine men just happened to decide to take their break in this room… But here’s what’s going to happen once we stop pretending. You’ll be cuffed, and thrown down a hole so deep and dark that you’ll forget what light is. Then your friends from high up will likely attempt to get you out, but I’ll tell you right now. By the time they’re able to pry you from my cold dead hands, there’ll be nothing left of you,” the man said.

Although Sylver was almost certain the man wasn’t bluffing, he couldn’t help but smirk. Spring was just told someone was on his way, and Sylver only needed to wait a few minutes for the person to be teleported here.

“Let me guess. You don’t have a wife or children, your parents have already passed, and the closest thing you have to a relationship is your arthritis-ridden left hand. So you’re going after me as a man with “nothing to lose.” Am I in the right ballpark here?” Sylver asked.

The man smirked back at Sylver, but it wasn’t as friendly or as confident as Sylver’s was.

“You’re smarter than you look,” the man said.

“Thank you, I have a self-image problem, and it’s always reassuring when men who look like they have sour lemons for breakfast, lunch, and dinner compliment me,” Sylver said. The small smirk on the man’s face disappeared entirely.

“Are you finished?” the man asked without so much as a drop of a reaction in his voice.

“Who knows? You’ve failed to provide me the smallest slither of courtesy, you’ve insulted me and you’ve threatened me so I’m tempted to just waste both of our time sitting here and insulting you until I find a sore spot. And I always find a sore spot eventually, it’s one of my many many gifts,” Sylver explained. He realized his completely black eyes helped a lot with what he was going for, and his smile widened a bit more.

“The fact that you’re still sitting here and talking, as opposed to crying about getting your face bashed in, is more courtesy than you deserve,” the man countered.

“Sure, sure, whatever you say. I do have to mention a couple of things first though. 9 months 3 days, and 11 hours. Arrow through the neck,” Sylver said, with a finger pointed towards the nameless man. He mimed getting stabbed in the neck with his free hand and then moved it and pointed at the guard standing in the corner.

“2 months, 5 days and one hour, sword through the mouth,” Sylver said, as he moved his finger to the next guard, “11 months, 12 days, and 17 hours, poison. 4 years, 1 month, 9 days, 23 hours, crushed to death, 9 months, 22 days, 2 hours, incinerated, 2 years, 1 month, 9 days, 2 hours, eaten alive, 2 years, 1 month, 9 days, 1 hour, eaten alive, 2 years, 1 month, 9 days 3 hours, eaten alive, 2 years, 1 month, 9 days 3 hours, eaten alive…” Sylver explained as he pointed at each guard in turn.

“Strange, there must be a monster outbreak in 2 years, 1 month, and 9 days. Or some sort of extremely competent cannibal,” Sylver said, as he moved his finger.

He went through 4 guards before his finger settled on a woman guard. “Ah, something different. 4 days, 12 hours, raped, and then dissolved in acid,” Sylver said, as he moved his finger to the only other female guard, standing to her left.

“Oh a double, interesting. 4 days, 7 hours, raped, and then dissolved in acid. Do you think the 5-hour difference is because you were forced to watch, or because you simply lasted longer? Or just a coincidence?” Sylver asked as he pointed to the guard standing between the two women.

“Let’s see. Oh wow, six hours, paralyzed from the waist down and bled out through a hole in the stomach. My condolences, I would write a will out as fast as possible if I were in your shoes,” Sylver said, doing a very faint mock bow towards one of the younger-looking guards.

“Hmm... 15 days, 16 hours, hung and quartered… Public execution by the looks of it, maybe you’re the one who raped these two?” Sylver asked. He pointed at the guard who had initially tightened his grip on his weapon and said the words with a wide smile. His completely black eyes really helped right now, “And you, 3 months, 1 day, 2 ho-”

The guard Sylver was pointing to was suddenly standing directly in front of him and placed his armored hand on Sylver’s throat. The man pressed down so hard, the wooden chair Sylver was sitting on shattered under the force.

The room erupted into chaos, as the remaining guards struggled to restrain the terrified guard that had attacked Sylver. Lights of various colors exploded around the room, as a bright red flare appeared directly on top of the head of the guard that was strangling Sylver. Sylver felt the strength leave the man’s hands and used his robe to effortlessly remove them.

A prime example of why the system was a double-edged sword.

Things settled down as the offending guard was pulled off him, and someone helped Sylver get back to his feet. Sylver brushed off the dust that had gotten on his robe.

One of the guards who had been outside of Sylver’s field of vision approached the one being restrained. His shoulders were lowered, even though he was holding a drawn and glowing sword in his hand.

“You…” the guard made a sound that sounded like a cough. Sylver wondered if the pain they felt for disobeying their class was anything like the kind he felt for questioning the system. The man struggled against it but eventually continued.

“You’ve violated the law. Under section 4, subsection 11 you’re under arrest and-”

“If we’re only here having a friendly conversation, I’d be inclined to forgive the assault on my person,” Sylver quickly interrupted. The guard who was speaking to the one with a red light floating above his head turned to look at Sylver. His eyes looked slightly wet.

“But if I’m under arrest, I would like to see this man tried and punished accordingly. Beheading, if I recall, given that I haven’t broken any laws and was attacked completely unprovoked. Not to mention the blatant abuse of power,” Sylver said. The room was dead silent as Sylver looked at the only man that wasn’t wearing a guard's uniform.

“So? Is this a friendly conversation and I’m free to go, or am I under arrest, and this boy will be killed? While everything is sorted out, he would have to… How did you put it? “Thrown down a hole so deep and dark that you’ll forget what light is?” Or is the procedure different for a guard?” Sylver asked. The gazes that were fixed on him slowly turned to look at the man who had attempted to interrogate Sylver.

“Marshall,” the guard with the drawn sword said. There was a plea in his voice, but he managed to mask it well.

The man, named Marshall apparently, remained silent. Although Sylver could almost see his soul boiling from the suppressed emotion, there wasn’t so much as a hint of it in his expression.

“See, I do respect the legal system. I do have some qualms with the specifics regarding what is and isn’t allowed, but as a whole, it’s as good as can be when there are such vast differences between the people being governed by it. But what I hate most of all is-”

The door behind Sylver slammed open and shattered as it collided with one of the guards standing too close to it. A small-statured man stomped in, with the kind of gait Sylver normally associated with a dog. Looking at the man, despite the curly grey hair, Sylver couldn’t help but see him as a physical representation of a bulldog. Although it was more to do with the way he carried himself, rather than any physical feature.

“Mister Sezari, don’t say another word, my name is Shawn Bitzer, I’ve been hired as your legal counsel to assist with whatever nonsense you’ve been charged with,” Shawn said, as he reached into his coat pocket and shoved a large stack of papers into Sylver’s hands. Shawn looked around the room and saw one guardsman holding a sword to the throat of another guardsman kneeling on the floor, with two guards holding him down.

“Thank you, but I haven’t been charged with anything. Marshal and I were simply having a conversation, and I was just about to leave,” Sylver explained. Shawn’s eyes narrowed slightly. He nodded the smallest amount.

“I see… And this?” Shawn asked, with a gesture towards the guard with a glowing red orb floating above his head.

“A misunderstanding. Isn’t that right Marshal?” Sylver asked.

Marshal remained completely frozen in place, Sylver could almost hear the gears in his head turning to try and find a way out of this.

“Marshal? You were about to apologize for wasting my time, and I was just about to leave, right? Or do I require Mr. Shawn’s services and we would all have to have our minds read to make sure my retelling of events is genuine? Which would very likely lead to this fine young man being executed for his abuse of power, regardless of whatever else they find?” Sylver asked. To his credit, Shawn was beyond confused but masked it perfectly.

Marshal looked like he was about to say something, but Sylver interrupted and continued to pressure him.

“Well, Marshal?” Sylver asked. He said the words as if he were the one with a sword to his throat, the more urgent Sylver sounded, the more urgent the situation felt.

Marshal remained quiet and looked around the room. If he was expecting any reassurance from the guards, who were about to be forced to kill one of their own, he wasn’t getting any.

“You’re free to go,” Marshal said. His jaw was clenched so hard, Sylver could almost hear the strain in his teeth.

Shawn gently tugged at Sylver to turn around and go, but Sylver remained where he was.

“You forgot to apologize for wasting my time,” Sylver said. All urgency had left his voice, he was as relaxed as he was when he initially entered this room.

Marshal’s face went perfectly blank, even as Sylver felt the man’s soul turn cold in rage. About 20 seconds of complete and total silence passed. Sylver stood perfectly straight with Shawn’s hand gently pulling him towards the door, while Marshal stood behind his small interrogation desk and the guard who attacked Sylver shook from the stress of being forced to the floor, as well as the brightly glowing red orb that floated above his head.

“I apologize for that,” Marshal finally said. The guards, and Shawn, all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

“For what? Didn’t your parents teach you manners? Or are you so old you don’t remember how to apologize properly?” Sylver asked. He had to apply a small amount of mana onto his robe to stop Shawn’s grip from bruising his skin.

An entire half a minute passed, during which Marshal didn’t blink. His teeth made a high-pitched sound as he ground them against each other.

“I apologize for wasting your time,” Marshal said.

“Apology accepted. Make sure it doesn’t happen again, I don’t like being bothered with this kind of stupid fucking bullshit. This guard is innocent, no crime has been committed against me,” Sylver said.

The red orb floating above the guard's head disappeared, and the man glowed a bright light for a moment, as all of his bonuses returned.

Sylver allowed Shawn to lead him out of the room and didn’t even look back as he left.

*

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“Was that necessary?” Shawn asked, as Sylver walked out of the inspection room, and reabsorbed all of his weapons back into his robe. All of his daggers and darts stood out like a hedgehog for a moment, while Sylver found a good place for everything.

“He didn’t offer me tea, threatened me, threatened someone close to me, and wasted my time. The least I could do is humiliate him a little,” Sylver said. He summoned Spring out of his shadow and handed the shade his bag to carry.

“What did he want? I’ve already been paid, whatever you tell me is strictly confidential, you would get a notification if I were to ever tell anyone else without asking for permission first,” Shawn said.

“Don’t know. I lost my cool when he said someone’s name, and things went slightly downhill from there. I’m normally a lot more lenient when dealing with those above me, but he said the one thing I couldn’t let him get away with,” Sylver explained.

“The guard, what happen there?” Shawn asked.

“Oh, I told them when they would die and how, and that one didn’t want to know,” Sylver explained.

“Really? When am I going to die? I always thought it was just a myth?” Shawn asked.

“It is. But no one’s seen a necromancer for a while, especially one of my level, so who’s to say what I can and can’t do? I can’t see when people will die, just to be clear. I just said that to get one of them to attack me,” Sylver said.

“Why?”

“To turn the tables on Marshal. I’ve heard the guards here are bound by their class to stop all crimes that they see being committed. I also know that it is a crime to attack someone unless they directly threaten you. I didn’t threaten anyone, I just told them when they would die. It’s his fault for overreacting,” Sylver said.

“I see… Shera was right, you are suicidal,” Shawn said.

“I don’t like being put under pressure, and I don’t like hearing the names of people I care about coming out of the mouths of people coming after me. How do you know Shera?” Sylver asked.

The man laughed with a nearly literal bark.

“She’s my wife. I’ve heard about you back when you accepted that giant-killing quest. She said you looked just like Anton did when he was your age, and it broke her heart to let you leave on an impossible quest, all alone,” Shawn explained.

“Anton?”

“Our son. He went off to be an adventurer and hasn’t been back for 4 years now. He’s in the east somewhere, his fiancé sends us a letter about him now and then. He nearly died on his first adventure and Shera has made it a personal goal not to let any new adventurers repeat his mistake,” Shawn explained.

“Ah… And here I thought… Something inappropriate to say to her husband. Did she tell you I came back perfectly fine and killed 5 giants all by myself?” Sylver asked.

“She did. She even went as far as to get the guild to change one of the rules because of you. F rank adventurers can no longer accept whatever quest they want, they need to do several low-risk quests first, to build a track record. It apparently decreased the fatality of new adventurers by nearly 60%. In the past, they would go after wolves, realize that they overestimated their abilities, and would get eaten. Now they go after sewer rats, realize they overestimated their abilities, and come back to the guild banged up, but ready to listen when someone tells them they shouldn’t go after 5 giants when they’re level 3 and alone,” Shawn explained.

“Happy to be of help,” Sylver said. He and Shawn walked quietly for a while, with Sylver waiting for the small man to walk away. Shawn spoke with an oddly uncertain tone.

“You do know Marshal is going to come after you again?” Shawn asked.

“I know.”

“And humiliating him like that very likely means he’s going to go after you even harder than he would have if you left in peace?” Shawn asked.

“Despite my youthful appearance, I know what I’m doing. Marshal will be handled,” Sylver said. He didn’t need to look at Shawn to see that he had turned pale, Sylver could feel his soul from this distance, and could hear it in his tone.

“You’re going to…” Shawn said, unable to finish the sentence.

“Not necessarily. I believe in following the path of least resistance. In this case, I’ll find why exactly Marshal has a hard-on for me, and I’ll see if it’s something that could be resolved peacefully,” Sylver explained.

“And if it can’t be resolved peacefully?” Shawn asked.

“Then it can’t be resolved peacefully,” Sylver answered.

Shawn walked with a lowered head while he thought about it.

“How much would you be willing to pay to have this handled for you?” Shawn asked.

“No offense, but why do you care how I handle it?” Sylver asked in response.

“To put it simply, he’s been on the path to becoming someone with real authority. The kind that could harm this city if wielded incorrectly. And with the way things are going-”

“I sincerely apologize for being curt, but I’m on a relatively tight schedule. Just answer me this, if I were to pay you to handle this for me, how much would it cost? How long would it take? And how permanent would your solution be?” Sylver asked.

“3,700 gold, I would have results within 8 days, and after 2 months Marshal and anyone associated with him would be incapable of doing you, or anyone, harm ever again. He’ll be sent back to his home in the south, along with the rest of his brothers, cousins, and cronies that are taking up precious space within the already difficult to maneuver legal bureaucracy. Arda as a whole will be stronger for it, competent people will take their place, and if you ever run into any legal trouble, you’ll have more allies than you could ever need,” Shawn explained.

He forgot to breathe, and Sylver could hear that he had practiced it, but he appreciated the honesty.

“Sure. I’ll ask Shera to transfer you the funds when I see her,” Sylver answered. He stopped to turn around to look at Shawn, who had stopped walking when Sylver had started speaking.

“Just like that?” Shawn asked. Sylver could almost hear the next part of his explanation struggling to stay back.

“Yes, just like that. You speak very well, but at the heart of it, you want more power and authority so people like Marshal can’t fuck with you or yours. Or at the very least you don’t want the people with the power or authority to be incompetent and unfair, like Marshal. Other than money, do you need anything else from me?” Sylver asked.

Shawn only now seemed to realize he had stopped walking, started to walk again, following Sylver on his right.

“No, just the money will be enough. I already have everything planned out, I just needed the capital to get things started. It all starts with 55 lawsuits for abuse of power, all at once, followed by 18 lawsuits for criminal negligence and-”

“Great, sounds like you know what you’re doing,” Sylver interrupted, as the two of them arrived at one of the entrances into Lola’s workshop.

“I’ll introduce you to the others, they’ll be dying to-”

“Shawn. I’m paying you to handle this, so handle it. I’m not a legal expert, so I won’t be able to understand if what you’re proposing is going to work or not, there’s no point telling me. If what you’re doing somehow ends up harming me or my people, we’ll have a problem, but until then, you’re free to act as you see fit. I’m in a bit of a rush, so are you sure there’s nothing else you need?” Sylver asked. He realized something as Shawn spoke.

“No, just the money will be enough. No one will even know you were involved until it’s all over. We can discuss how you would like to be associated with us afterward,” Shawn explained.

“How do you know I have the money for this?” Sylver asked. Shawn answered with barely a moment of pause.

“Shera hasn’t told me anything. She not only can’t, but she also wouldn’t even if she could. I came to Ron to ask for advice and he suggested asking you. I was going to approach you after the tournament was over, but I was contacted when you were being questioned by Marshal and decided it would make the conversation easier if I rescued you from his clutches. I’m not involved with the rope people, I’m only sometimes employed by them,” Shawn explained. Sylver placed a hand on the small man’s shoulder and was glad to see he was telling the truth.

“Alright. If I’m not around talk to Lola Aeyri, or Tamay if she isn’t available. Best of luck!” Sylver said. He reached down with his hand and shook Shawn’s.

Shawn shook back and Sylver waited for the beaming man to leave before he turned into smoke and entered the workshop through one of the open windows. He could have sworn he saw Shawn skip as he went around the corner.

*

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“Marshal? Oh, that man is disgusting. When we were getting everyone’s employment documents sorted, he refused to move a muscle I agreed to have dinner with him,” Lola complained, as she continued to draw up gathering quests to find some of the more obscure materials Sylver needed. Lola had everything he needed, but some things needed to be freshly gathered.

“Well now I feel like I shouldn’t have let Shawn handle it,” Sylver said. He had decided to sit and wait for Lola to finish writing out the quests, so he could pass them onto Shera since he was going there next anyway.

“It’ll be cleaner this way. From what I’ve heard Marshal’s brother is pretty high up in the merchant’s guild or at least has enough connections to make things very difficult for everyone. If not for Wuss, I’m fairly certain we wouldn’t have been able to so much as buy the land, without paying as much in bribes to that man. If Shawn can get rid of him and his ilk, I’ll hire him myself to handle the other pieces of shit,” Lola said, as she tallied up the total amount of gold required for the quests.

“When did you go to dinner with him? And where?” Sylver asked.

“I didn’t. Wuss handled it for us. Same for all the class permits, and the material contracts, Marshal has some pull, but Wuss has been doing this for a lot longer. So there’s 4 of us now,” Lola said. It took Sylver a moment to understand what she meant.

“I’m honestly struggling to see any real connection. Flesh and Bones were around before either of us, at least they seem to think so, and I’ve apparently got something similar to them. We’ll find out if you have the same thing when you meet Bones, but neither of us got bodies did we? I’ve got my thing, and I’m using another person’s body, and yours was literally made from scratch. Is it even reincarnation in that case?” Sylver asked.

“It’s something. Which is more than what we had a few days ago,” Lola said. She moved the completed stack of quests off to the side, along with a handwritten note. “I don’t get it? You want a metallic ribcage with some weird tube inside?” Lola said as she looked down at Sylver’s blueprints.

Sylver held up one of the small stones in his hand.

[Rune Of indestructibility - ??? – Ancient Quality]
[Any item tagged by this rune will become indestructible.]
[Any item tagged by this rune will lose all other effects until it is untagged.]
[Only the destruction of this rune can remove the indestructibility effect.]
[Uses: 1 item]

“I’d use it on my skull too if I could, but from what Bones told me it will only work on 1 single piece of material. I wouldn’t be able to move my head if I had a metallic skull. I’ll put my heart in here, and these holes are for the aortas. The needle will go here, so I don’t have to worry about someone somehow stealing it from me. They would have to rip out my torso to get it, which I would hopefully be able to prevent. It won’t affect my [Shadow’s Soma] perk, or it shouldn’t at least, but I’ll stop worrying about someone accidentally hitting the sweet spot and destroying what is in essence my phylactery. Normally I would hide it somewhere but…” Sylver explained.

“But since you have no idea how it works, and whether range is an issue, you’re afraid of doing that. Not to mention, it counteracts one of the negative effects of one of your perks but requires physical contact with it… Since the rune will make it indestructible anyway, does it have to be metal?” Lola asked.

“See the breaks here? I’ll insert it in pieces into myself, and then weld them all together. Salgok will handle applying the rune, and if it’s something brittle I would be afraid of it breaking during the process. I can’t use it to defend my spine, since I need it to bend, so this was the best way I could think of applying it,” Sylver explained, showing Lola the final blueprint with all of the pieces connected.

“Are you going to be able to breathe? Bend forward? What about your center of balance? If it’s indestructible, does that mean your mana channels would have to go around it?” Lola asked.

“My core is right around where my heart is, these holes, here and here, will be big enough for what my body can handle, for the time being. I’ll change the design as I grow since the rune can be removed and reapplied. If I find a second one, or more accurately if you do, I’ll use it on my skull too. Regrowing a head is difficult, but doable. As long as my torso and the needle are fine, I should be alright after a while,” Sylver said.

“Won’t your body reject it?”

“Maybe initially, but I’ll use my soul to adjust my immune system until it stops reacting to it. If it’s indestructible it means it won’t rust or chemically react so it’ll be easy,” Sylver answered.

“You’ve done this before, haven’t you?”

“Not quite like this. I replaced my entire skeleton, but I’m not all that sure the crystal I need to do it exists on this side of the Asberg, and it took me 30 years back then, I can’t imagine how long it would take now, even if I did find it. This is good enough for now, I’ll need to adjust the rest of my bone marrow to compensate for the loss of ribs, but it shouldn’t be too difficult,” Sylver explained. Lola flipped through the 20 pages and made small notes on some of them.

“How does a tungsten alloy sound? It would appear black after treatment, but I could have it ready in 2 days? How are you going to… insert it in yourself? Do you want me to find a surgeon to do it?” Lola asked. She didn’t look up as she continued to scribble notes onto Sylver’s design.

“I don’t think a surgeon would be able to do this, at least not without me demonstrating how I want it done at least once to them. I’ll have Spring do it, don’t worry about it. And the explosive?” Sylver asked.

Lola continued to make notes onto Sylver’s designs and wordlessly moved them to the side. She walked over towards one of the storage altars and took out a grey ball.

“Since magic isn’t an option, the only solution is purely chemical. What do you think?” Lola asked. She placed the ball onto her table and pressed down onto it with her hand. It squashed and flattened as if it were made out of dough.

Sylver poked it with his finger and sent a pulse of mana through it.

“Octanitrocubane. Nearly 3 times as powerful as the same amount of the explosive they use for mining. It costs 40 times its weight in gold and is such a bitch to produce and transport the alchemist who made it sold the formula for almost nothing. Extremely volatile, I could have one of the girls downstairs design a timed flint and steel. Since you have 1 hour until it disappears, you could summon as many as you need. You’ll need to test what happens when it unsummons, but that’s for you to figure out,” Lola explained.

“Are the fumes created when it explodes noxious?”

“Can be, if you want. But this is a clean version, doesn’t even produce any water. Kind of sticky too, you could very easily shape it for whatever it is you’re doing and hide it. It needs open air to ignite, obviously, but I’ll have the final version have an air pocket next to the ignitor just in case,” Lola said. Sylver left the [Rune Of Infinite Summoning] on her desk so she could incorporate it into the design.

“Great. And the anti-teleportation device you’ve promised me since day 1?” Sylver asked.

Lola smiled ever so slightly at the words.

“Almost ready. I had a change of heart for the design, and everything was scrapped and redone,” Lola said, she spoke up before Sylver could say anything, “But! I’ll have it ready by the end of the weak. You’ll love it, trust me,” Lola promised.

Sylver chose not to comment and instead smiled back.

“How are you holding up?” Sylver asked, now that everything had been covered.

“Honestly? Better. Not great, but not terrible either. I’ve hired a new manager; she’s been helping out a lot. I’ve also got a teleportation expert on retainer, he’s been a huge help with getting to meetings and transport. We had a small issue with one of the girl’s family members trying to steal them away, after initially selling them off to pay off debts, but Thomas’s people handled it. One of the kids was kidnapped, but Thomas handled it before I was even made aware,” Lola said. Sylver nodded.

“One of the dwarves bought her way out, or her fiancé did at least, but she’s still working here, and trying to get us to employ her fiancé. He’s a nice guy, but Wuss’s people are still in the process of vetting him, so we’ll have to wait and see that this isn’t some kind of ploy. I would ask you to check with your soul sense, but we need to get used to working without you being around. What else… Sofia seems to think you and I are in a relationship, and it bothered her,” Lola said.

“Because of the race-mixing?”

“Not that, I don’t think people care about it here, not as much as we’re used to at least. But I can’t tell if it’s because she wants to lure you into her temple to lock away your necromancy, or because she’s interested in you personally. Did you know the temple of Ra doesn’t have any problems regarding premarital sex?” Lola asked, with a small smirk.

“It wouldn’t work. We would both need to wear lead cuffs so as not to hurt each other, or more accurately, so I don’t get burned to a crisp,” Sylver said.

“I think she would be up to that. Although more in the sense of shackles, collars, chains, whips and-”

“Alright, I’m old enough to be your grandfather’s grandfather, I’m not going to have this discussion with you. But how sure are you about this?” Sylver asked, adding the question as if it was an afterthought.

“Technically, with your body being that of a 20 something human’s and mine being a fully grown high elf’s, I’m old enough to be your grandmother’s grandmother, ten times over. And pretty sure. Sofia talks a lot, and if you don’t interrupt her there’s no telling what she’ll say. Despite her age, she hasn’t had a lot of chances to-”

“How often do you talk to her?” Sylver interrupted again.

“She comes over sometimes. We’re employing a healer who she was very close to, and more recently, she’s been coming over to talk to me and complain about the difficulties of managing a giant temple. Then I complain about the headache the merchant’s guild is constantly giving me, and then one of us has to leave to sort out an emergency, that could have easily been solved by someone with a couple of drops of common sense,” Lola explained.

Sylver was on a tight schedule, but if he was reading Lola’s soul right, talking to him seemed to be relieving some sort of tension. He made a mental note to come to see her after he was done with Flesh and Bone and have a proper talk.

Sylver left after nearly 3 hours, and only because Lola’s presence was needed to sort out a dispute.

He left with Lola’s quests, a large bag of gold, and made his way towards the adventure’s guild.