12.5a

Mark watched the woman who his sister had let enter their apartment with discerning eyes as he told his tale. She had the look of a Zun from the great trading city, but the mannerisms were all wrong. She didn’t check the corners, she didn’t keep a skin-tight shield up at all times, and most telling her accent was ever so slightly wrong. Clues he learned in the years working at the city library combined to paint a terrifying picture.

Normal Zun of the Ten Thousand Tribes had distinct features that matched with their race, namely phoenix eyes, tan skin, and grace that came from the Wind itself as it raced across the Eternal Sands. This woman mimicked those features to perfection, but his trained eyes and mind spotted the tiny gaps in the disguise. They would be hidden from prying eyes, but this close missing the discrepancy was impossible. It worried him, but if his sister had sensed ill intent she never would have approached the woman. As a healer, albeit mostly untrained, she was empathetic enough to detect threats and avoid them. Lily had deliberately sought this woman out before bringing her here, so she was safe. If he couldn’t trust his sister, who had saved his life at insane risk to herself, he might as well just open a vein and exit the world painlessly.

Shapeshifter. Mark thought as he continued to weave his tale. Strong enough to walk through the dungeon city undetected.

Surprisingly, once he realized the insane power of their visitor his body and mind relaxed. If this woman had wanted to harm them, they would be dead ten thousand times over. As he wove the story to the end, a shift came over the woman. She shed the disguise of a Zun like one might shed clothing. In her new form, gold hair the color of ripe wheat harvested from the far nations dropped in silken shadows from her head. Calm silver eyes combined the best features of a merchant as they calculated gains and losses with the unearthly bleaching of extensive mana use. Her face was what Mark assumed a fallen angel from the ancient tales would look like. He could only glance out of the corner of his eyes, knowing well the terror of bewitching beauty.

A bored demon, or a god willing to invest in the future. Mark thought as he analyzed the woman’s body language. She can cure me, effortlessly I suspect. It wouldn’t take any more power than flipping over a hand. But, there is always a price for such things.

Mark’s mother had once told him tales of the great demons, ghosts, and gods of the world at large. The stories fascinated him as a child, and he had learned everything he could from the public education system in the City of Gold. Once public education was ended due to his age, he had turned to libraries paying his way through odd jobs. There was always a need for a competent child who could sift through the books while showing proper deference to his betters.

“For such an entertaining tale, you may have the honor of my name. I am Eve.” Eve said as she floated above her divan with no more effort than one might make breathing.

“Greetings Lady Eve. My full name is Mark Valmont, and my sister is Lily Valmont. Our house name is no longer among the register of the City of Gold, so there is no need for formal pleasantries. We are currently orphans of dwindling fortunes.” Mark said in his raspy voice as the burns from being crippled were extensive.

“Do you want me to cure you, Mr. Valmont?” Eve said as her eyes closed while she started a slow circular-horizontal spin. Mark noted as his mind raced at the offer that her robes defied the natural laws of gravity as if alive. “I could do it with no more effort than snapping my fingers.”

Mark’s breathing grew heavy before he calmed it with effort and said, “At what price?”

If I refused the chance to be healed, Lily would never forgive me. Mark thought flicking a glance at his sister who was standing behind the woman with desperate silent hope in her eyes. On the other hand, if I am going to sell myself into service I need to make sure the terms are better than the Clans at least.

He’d had dreams of rising as an independent power, dreams of righting wrongs and paving the way for others of his standing. Mark had indeed had dreams once, but the flames had burned such hopes out of him. For someone to rise required backing and a powerful hand that could shield young saplings until they matured. It was with irony, that he had realized the very forces that crippled him were simply doing for their own, what he desired for himself.

“Take a look.” Eve held out a scroll to him.

Opening the scroll, Mark observed a very meticulous Contract. There were sections provisioning what he would be required to do, as well as punishments were he to violate the document. His eyes slid down to the section on payment for services rendered and froze in shock

Affinities, by Sevren’s Lamp! Mark thought. She can twist the mana channels to mimic affinities of her own!

What separated geniuses from common trash was first the same thing that separated rich from poor, namely, resources. Once that hurdle was handled, the next thing that threshed the wheat from the chaff was talent. A talented person fed back into the cycle of strength because they required fewer resources to raise. In turn that meant higher dividends of return, usually at a far faster rate than what it cost to raise them.

Above talent though, was the pinnacle.

Affinities.

His sister’s healing affinity was what had allowed him to remain alive. The shocking thing was she had barely any knowledge of what she had done. Instead, her affinity provided a sort of ‘instinct’ on what to do in response to her desire. That was how Mark was still within the land of the living even after having his mana channels stripped out and gifted to another. Fleeing to the dungeon town had merely been a logical step since the reach of the noble families was curtailed severely in this place.

No one wanted battles being fought in the streets when there were monsters at the walls, after all. The merchants wouldn’t stand for the pipeline of profit being interrupted, either. Quite a few rowdy noble hunting groups would find themselves having tragic ‘accidents’ in the field.

Space, Dust, Ink, Paper. Mark thought looking at the four words that could change his fate to a trueborn son of heaven. Dust, can’t be that strong. Space, everyone wants spatial items true, but I can’t even see how that one would work. Instinct can only take me so far without any grounding. Paper? Never even knew that was an affinity, so that’s out. His eyes dropped solidly on the fourth and last word. Ink.

He knew ink, the library had been full of it. The ink affinity was the basis of one of the truest forms of power Mark knew, the power of pure words. Runes were simply a logical outgrowth in his mind, being crystallizations of the true effect of language on reality. He couldn’t see how Dust would work, he didn’t have the foundation for Space, and Paper wasn’t an experiment he wanted to test.

Ink it is. Mark thought while he finished reading the contract giddy with the possibilities. There were several tidbits in the contract that let him understand it wasn’t a free ride. Namely, once he died, all his knowledge would be returned to someone annotated as ‘Nota’ for dissemination into the Eternal Library whatever that was. After confirming there were no strange word traps, loopholes, or other garbage his decision to sign became solid. Not only was the offer attractive, but Mark knew without a shadow of a doubt that refusing to sign would have fatal consequences.

Placing his hand upon the section denoted by a handprint, Mark said, “I, Mark Valmont, agree to the terms and conditions within.” He handed the contract back to Eve who handed it to Lily. After his sister repeated the same motions and words there was a brief flash of light before the contract crumbled away into dust. He turned to see Eve standing over his bed with a grin before she said, “Excellent. Let’s get this taken care of first.”

The world twisted around both children before they found themselves in a luxurious bedroom. The bedroom was connected to another room that clearly served as a laboratory with a massive glass partitioning wall. Mark found himself floating alongside his sister as they phased through the glass wall without a sound. Looking closer at the lab equipment, he found that many of them seemed to be the form of a living plant.

Lab equipment that is grown instead of crafted? Mark thought as his body was laid into a tubular coffin device that was open at the top.

“Now, here’s your first lesson munchkin. Hold your brother’s hand and try to sense what is being done. That way, if you are ever in the same situation again, you might be able to duplicate what’s going to happen now.” Eve said with a kind tone towards Lily.

“Un.” Mark felt his right hand being held firmly before his body went rigid as he lay within the strange device. That was a soft click, and the connection between his body and mind became indistinct. It was greatly similar to some of the drugs he had been given back when his family still wanted to fight for justice at his treatment. Mark felt the call of sleep, and even though he struggled, darkness claimed his mind without adequate challenge.

An undetermined amount of time later, Mark woke to the sensation of a body free from pain. He gasped awake rising in reflex before slamming his forehead into the padded cover of his tube-coffin bed.

“Ow,” he exclaimed before his hands felt out the covering above him. There was a button-catch that hissed briefly upon being pressed, and Mark watched as the coffin capsule opened with silent superiority. He’d never seen technology this effortless, although the incredible magitech in use bespoke of vast wealth which wasn’t unexpected from his new master.

Sitting upright, he came face to face with a vine tip staring at him. Mark’s eyes narrowed as his instincts told him he was looking at another person. The library had stories of sentient plants, and something sentient that could build technology like this was worthy of great respect. Never taking his eyes off of the vine tip, he gave a short bow. The vine tip bowed back, before moving over to the side and prodding his sleeping sister. Mark watched as the sentient plant proceeded to nudge his sister awake before cleaning up the drool without preamble. As the vine retracted into the depths of the laboratory Mark had a brief moment to wonder before a flying tackle hit him.

Lily squeezed him like compressing a lemon as he felt her power envelop his body. Finally satisfied that her brother was no longer a cripple, she slid down the side of the capsule and sprinted off into the depths of the lab. By the time Mark managed to slide-stumble out of his capsule, Lily had returned with Eve in tow.

“The prodigal son returns to consciousness,” Eve said, as she approached.

“Greetings, my master,” Mark said, bowing low with the aid of the capsule to brace against.

“Proper respect right out of the gate! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, flattery will get you everywhere in life.” Eve said as her silver eyes glowed. Mark felt the influx of power shift across his body searching out and correcting microscopic imperfections.

“Now that you are awake, we’ll need to get some exercise done to help your mind synchronize with your body,” Eve said with a grin.

“Of course, what do you need me to start with?” Mark asked apprehensively.

“Oh, nothing strenuous. I just need you to hold the bags while we shop.” Eve said as she gathered Lily up into her arms.

Mark made sure not to allow the horror he felt to show on his face.