II-42Affliction

Everyone fights for something. This is a very simple statement, but you're going to discover how true and how important it is if you ever join up with an army for hire. 

The Sell-Skilled... A lot of people think little of them, being mercenaries and all that. Personally, I don't dislike them, I find them to be remarkably honest as Pathbearers. In fact, I find them to be some of the most honest Pathbearers you can come across.

Most people who walk a path, they're out there for their own benefit, for their own power. Mercenaries just want to get rich too, without binding themselves truly to an ideological cause.

That makes them useful for disposable work. For messy, ugly work that you don't want to sink your own hands into. But it also makes them unreliable when you have matters of severe sensitivity or something that requires deep, personal loyalty.

Now, the stereotype of the mercenary betraying their master, that's pretty common, and it's not entirely false. However, there's another section to the stereotype.

It's the part where the mercenary doesn't get paid or feel slated in some way.

Again, these are exceptionally honest people, and if you're going to treat them dishonestly, then they're going to show you how honest their anger and violence can be.

The Sell-Skilled want to be paid, and if you don't pay them, well, they're going to have to find a way to extract value. And sometimes that's sacking what you have and selling what you own, and sometimes it's selling you.

At the end of the day, there's no quicker way to make an outlaw of mercenary than not paying them for far, far too long.

More than a few cities were burned down that way, and more than a few gates fell because its defenders simply ran out of money before they ever even came close to running out of supplies or “practical” manpower…

-Sell-Skilled: A History of Mercenaries

II-42
Affliction

"They do not have a dedicated automaton slave overseer," Can Hu said. "I know this because I observed the condition of their automaton slaves. Most of them are not being used for long-term service. Instead they are being dismantled."

"Dismantled?" Shiv said. "They’re not keeping the automatons alive?"

Can Hu groaned a note of low anger. "Their parts are to be sold. That is the primary profit with the automaton slaves. That is why you do not see them mostly mingling with the others. Good automaton slaves are sold as servants to specific Pathbearers as rewards. But even they are harder to maintain than organics. They require replacement components and active engineering. They need to commune with the system to maintain their code stability. Automatons are expensive and require devotion. Or they require the expertise for self-maintenance."

"Like you," Shiv said.

"I am different. I was always different. Penitent chassis were meant to be enduring. We were designed from old world technologies before we awakened. Many of the altered automata, they are adapted, aligned to the system's rules. And they start out more fragile and vulnerable than we."

"Right, yes, I remember this," Adam said. "The Law of Skill Supremacy. It's why automatons can't just replace their own parts and bypass Toughness. If you put a piece of adamantium on an automaton and use it as a transplant or a replacement component, the adamantium will become as brittle as their actual skill tier and level.”

"Indeed," Can Hu concurred. "And so, though automatons can work near constantly and function in harsher environments than most organics, they still require maintenance, energy, and time for internal code maintenance. That means logistical support—especially for the binary within their minds. This kind of logistical support is not present at Gate Theborn, and as such, the machines are merely temporary at best, and fated to be taken apart. But this is to our advantage."

Can Hu placed a few stones on a few buildings listed as “automata holding sites” on the metal table that also doubled as their map. "I have found most of the automaton slaves in these locations. They are stored within storage containers, and the floors above are dedicated to decommission and dismantling.” Can Hu paused as a stream of ones and zeros flashed back into its head. "Several of my drones have slipped in. This operation is run mostly by human mercenaries, and they are actively sorting the captured automata between immediate decommission, gradual dismantlement, and long-term service.”

Shiv sneered. “It’s like everything in this place is run like a godsdamned slaughterhouse.”

"That is the nature of a place when you treat people who dwell inside it like they’re just things," Can Hu replied.

"Yeah, well, they're going to find out what my nature is real soon," Shiv scowled.

“Shiv,” Uva said, casting a thought into him. “Focus. Be vicious. Be brutal. But before all that, be effective.”

“Right,” Shiv said, nodding. “We wound to kill, not just to hurt. So far, we've bled them a little and have everyone in the gate on edge. But they’re not broken. Not yet. That’s where we want to get to—a place where Confriga has barely any support aside even within his own home.”

"Still, we did well for a day," Uva said. "Two dead Master-Tier Psychomancers frees up my effectiveness substantially. The bureaucrats and administrators will also see the day-to-day functions for this gate grind to a halt. I expect the mercenaries to start suffering first, as their payments and contracts will soon be trapped in limbo.” The Umbral Psychomancer paused briefly. “Perhaps we should also destroy all their local banks to completely collapse the local means of exchange.”

The Young Lord eyed Uva and immediately began picking out all the banking establishments on the map. “That is a good idea, actually. And it will do more than that—it’ll devastate the connected businesses as well and turn things to the black market.” Adam froze and then turned to regard Siggy.

The goblin shivered as Adam looked at her. “Uh? What?”

Adam considered her for a beat. “Shiv. Did you say this one was a drug dealer?”

“Yeah. Real virtuous Pathbearer.”

Adam approached Siggy with a plot churning in his mind. “Adept Siggy. I have a few questions for you to answer.”

“Uh, I’ll try to… give you answers,” Siggy stuttered.

“Be thorough,” Shiv said, spiking his Dread Aura. The goblin nearly went pale at his terrifying presence.

“Firstly, where do you usually deal?” Adam inquired. “And after you answer that, tell me what do you usually deal.”

“Well, Little Gomorrah is a big place. A-and the thing I hand out the most is Drift. That’s gonna be in tight supply now that the gate’s under lockdown, though. I won’t be able to just get that stuff out of thin air if you want me to start slinging again.”

“No,” Adam said. “I just want to know where the black market is, and how to get there. Should we collapse the official channels of trade within this gate, it will cause a breakdown and a rush for precious goods.” The Young Lord hummed. “Ah. Now it makes sense.”

“What?” Shiv asked.

“The Republic fought a brief war with the Stormlord of the Vast Atlantic before,” Adam began. “During that time, a great many cities and towns were destroyed and the economy nearly collapsed. We went from paper currency to a mithril standard in the aftermath because practically everyone was trading that material anyway. So. I think this means we have two sets of banks to hit. The obvious bank in the open, and the primary source of precious goods in this place’s underbelly.”

Shiv grunted. “Well, just show me the place and the targets, and I see what I can do.” Then, Shiv paused. “Wait. Little Gomorrah… Siggy, does that place sell food too? I was only briefly there last time. I know it’s also a brothel.”

“A brothel?” Uva said, turning to regard Shiv. “You didn’t say you went to a brothel.”

“I wasn’t really focused on which walls I was crashing through when fighting 811.” He almost laughed at the absurdity of the memory. “We were beating each other to death through several private rooms.” 

He sent her what he could remember, and Uva squeezed her eyes shut. “I… And the orc told you he loved a few minutes later?”

“Yep,” Shiv grunted. “But to the point…”

“Yeah, it sells food.” Siggy wrinkled her nose. “Food’s not that great, though. People are mostly there for the drinks and the succubi or incubi.”

And the grinding gears within Shiv’s head turned just a little faster. “Everyone. I think I have a cunning plan.”

Adam placed his hands on his hips and laughed. “This will be good. Let’s hear it.”

“There are lots of other restaurants too,” Shiv said. “Other establishments and sources for food. I’m thinking about tainting their supply.” He promptly pulled out Odes, and Adam gave a groan. “There are chapters in Odes on bacteria, viruses, and parasites. And I think some of the bugs and rats in our building are pretty sick.”

“Shiv,” Adam began, seeming incredibly uncomfortable with the idea. “This… this goes against every convention of warfare agreed upon between the Republic and other recognized nations.”

“Well, do they recognize Compact?” Shiv asked.

Adam paused. “...Not officially.”

“And I don’t remember attending any convention either,” Shiv deadpanned. “Ultimately, these people are slave trading bastards, so they can get tainted. And in fact, that’s what I’m going to do to them—taint their damn food.”

“This could have significant risks,” Uva said with a frown. “Plagues are a dangerous thing for a hidden dimension. Weave was suffered immensely from the First Blood’s biological agents already. There is a chance that this could backfire and even affect us if it is done poorly.”

“And that’s why I won’t do it poorly,” Shiv said. “I’ll experiment on some bugs first. Then I’ll move on to some mercs and Vultegs.”

“Where will you get mercenaries and Vultegs to experiment upon?” Adam asked. Uva and Shiv looked at Adam with shared expressions of suppressed amusement. “Oh, Ascendants. I let you two out to do one night of mass killings and already you’re both bloody spiraling into darkness. Kidnapping people and experimenting on them is a crime!”

“Who says anything about kidnapping them?” Shiv asked. “I’m just going to cast a spell on them from over 200 meters away.”

“And we will have no shortage of volunteers,” Uva said. “I’ll just make them participate consensually.”

The Young Lord’s eyes bulged in disbelief. “Uva, that’s… participate consensually? Really?”

“It is technically accurate, is it not?” She asked.

“It’s effective. And they’re pieces of shit.” Shiv justified.

“It’s still… Killing them is one thing…” Adam flinched, very much unsure about the moral dubiousness of it all.

Shiv and Uva looked at each other again and shared a smirk.

“Soft and fragile,” Shiv began.

“But good and decent,” Uva finished.

The lovers then shared a snort, patted Adam on his respective shoulders, and continued plotting how they were going to give every Vulteg, mercenary, and slaver the worst agony shits of their life without affecting anyone else.

“I have insights into biological warfare,” Can Hu spoke up. “I will provide additional recommendations where necessary.”

Adam licked his lips and looked around the room for someone else to protest. He stared at Siggy for a moment, and she awkwardly looked away from him. Finally, he looked to Valor, and the Legendary Pathbearer only sighed.

“I cannot fault you for wishing to have a level of conduct which everyone holds themselves too,” Valor began. Hope almost swelled inside Adam, but then Valor continued. “However, I murdered my mother and half brother when I was around your age and then spread a grand fire that killed many unresponsible and likely innocent people to assist in my escape. What Uva and Shiv are planning should be rather effective as well. If nothing else, if their strategy is focused and Shiv’s spell is well cast, we will see a diminished number of enemy Adepts in the field soon.”

“It just feels dirty,” Adam muttered.

“It’s going to get dirty,” Shiv commented off by the side.

The Young Lord just sighed. “I suppose I’ll… I’ll oversee this so it doesn’t turn into another mass death incident.”

“You don’t trust me, Adam?” Uva said, batting her eyes at him—almost mockingly.

“No. You don’t care so long as something’s effective, and he’s enthusiastically doing this because he wants more skill levels. No, I don’t trust either of you. Tell me what you’re doing so we don’t end up food poisoning a bunch of children to death too.”

***

Practical Metabiology > 31

Woundeater > 71

Adam, Uva, and Shiv observed the progressive “fruits” of their labor through three stalls using Seer of Horizons. After a day delving through Odes, finding the best location to target, ensuring that no slaves or innocents would be caught in the cross fire, and mind-wiping an elven chef, Shiv deployed instance one of his Bowel-Breaker.

Two Vultegs wailed with pain. One’s cries were far weaker than the other. At the far left end of the room, the healthiest Vulteg was shivering and delirious, but still standing. “L-Lord Scorn,” he whimpered. “Please end my life. Please just kill me. There is no more left in me… Why do I still—aghhghhh!”

He shuddered as another series of stomach spasms followed.

In the stall to his right, a spent Vulteg lay sobbing from its single eye. It had collapsed forward, detaching from the waste-tubes and repainting the walls. He didn’t have the strength to pray. He didn’t have the strength to stand. Severe dehydration had set in and soon unconsciousness would be his friend. 

In the third stall was silence and death. Adam looked once in the third stall and never again as he struggled not to gag.

“Well, I think we got it,” Shiv said, nodding. “New spell: Bowel-Breaker.”

“It’s just modified dysentery,” Uva said. “Quite effective though. You learned to cast that quite fast.”

“Yeah, I just did a minor spin on what Ekkihurst did in the book. He’s a lot more complex with his spells, but I do believe I got the basics down. Now, if I can only learn how to cure it… It’s always harder to fix than to cause. Damn body’s too complicated. I’ll probably figure out how to mess up someone’s genetic patterns before I ever get to solving the cancer problem.” With every word Shiv spoke, Adam shuddered. “Hey, Adam. Can you go back to stall one? I want to check the—”

“No,” Adam growled. “No stall one. Never stall one again. We already made the poor bastard shit himself to death. Let him have some peace.” And the Dimensional Archer sighed. “I can only imagine what poor fool will be made to clean this.”

“The only vector of spread should be the food you cast the spell on, correct?” Uva asked.

“Yeah,” Shiv replied. “It also doesn’t last that long. A few hours at most. I managed to figure how that worked on the bugs and rodents. By the way, we shouldn’t go to the tenth floor anymore. I sealed the level off entirely to stop the infection from spreading, and I think I contained it.”

“I regret every second of this,” Adam whispered.

“I think it will be effective,” Uva replied. “When this is done and most restaurants suffer a series of violent food poisoning incidents while Little Gomorrah seems relatively pristine as an option, more of the gate’s personnel will go there—where Shiv will be cooking. And we can harvest even more information from there.”

“You know most Pathbearers will eventually just stop eating and drinking when they catch on, yes?” Adam asked.

“Before I incapacitate a good percentage of all Adepts in the city?” Shiv asked.

“I—” Adam bit back a groan. “I hate this. So I can only imagine how the Gate Lord will feel.”

Uva hummed. “Shiv. Let’s test this on as many places frequented by the guards as we can. I think we’ll be able to see some of the most obvious effects by tomorrow.”

“Yeah. And sneaking around will be good for my Stealth as well.” Shiv chuckled.

“Sneaking around, poisoning food, and making people defecate themselves to death,” Adam lamented. “Who have we become.”

 “Heroes, Adam,” Shiv said, entirely earnest. “We’re doing all this for Blackedge. And the slaves. And more skill levels. Whatever it takes.”

“You can’t just justify everything by saying that over and—”

“Whatever. It takes.” Shiv began to chuckle. “I can’t wait to find out how Confriga’s going to react to this.”

***

"This is unacceptable!" Gate Lord Confriga roared. “Thirty percent of the guard taking leave from their posts in a time of crisis! All of them fleeing toward the restrooms over and over! I will not accept this! I will find out what they are trying to hide from me! If this is another drug epidemic, I will flay every dealer I find!”

Leu followed closely behind him and winced. Master Shiv and the others warned her of what was actually happening, and though their ways were odd, she couldn’t deny the effectiveness.  "Gate Lord, perhaps I should handle this. The scene is... it's vile. It's disgusting. It's unbefitting of your person."

"Your concern is noted, Guardshead, but follow my orders and speak no more. I will rip those fools apart. I will rip them for defying me, for ignoring my commands. I have summoned them, they will come to their even if they are on the verge of death!"

But as he blasted through the restroom door on the ground floor for the central Volteg barracks, he saw a horrible, nightmarish sight. Gate Lord Confriga stumbled back, briefly shocked out from his blind rage. 

On the ground were wailing Voltecs, all of them in various states of undress and the floor, once white, was smeared with... 

The Gate Lord looked away and he gagged at the smell. There were fights happening in the stalls. Voltegs were relieving themselves as they fought uncontrollably, jets of horrible color sprayed across the wall and the Gate Lord staggered away, shaken by the sight. "Leu! Execute all of these guards! Burn this place! Get the purifiers, burn this place!” And as he charged down the halls, he saw another small mob of guards rushing toward him with hands on their stomachs.

The Gate Lord stood still for a moment, just looking at each of the guards as they ran past his person. They didn’t even acknowledge his presence or position. That’s how much pain they were in. That’s how bad the poisoning was.

“The… several of our Biomancers have gone missing,” Leu said, subtly trying to provoke the Gate Lord further. “And most of Compact’s top lawyers, the internal maintenance engineers, the gateway dimensionality engineers, the bankers, and two of our foremost Psychomancers. The Corpse-Shedder is taunting us.”

“Corpse-Shedder…” Gate Lord Confriga muttered, his eye widening in absolute fury. He threw his head back and roared. His roar echoed out from the mana core in the sky, and a massive blizzard smashed down upon the city as Confriga fully unleashed its mana in a wild act of careless rage. “CORPSE-SHEDDER!”

***

“CORPSE-SHEDDER!”

Practical Metabiology > 32

Silhouette > 63

Shiv guffawed with laughter as he heard the Gate Lord’s roar of rage from kilometers away. Uva covered her mouth and tried not to double over. Adam was doing his best not to smirk, and failing. Off by the side, Valor and Can Hu chuckled along.

“Okay, fine,” Adam sighed. “It’s a bit funny.”

“It’s the funniest thing I’ve ever done to another person,” Shiv wiped a tear out of his eye.

“Even funnier than you pretending not to know me and lying to me about the Weaveresses’ breeding habits?” Adam asked.

“Much funnier than that,” Shiv said, grinning. “Sneaking in and casting the spell on their military rations was a good idea, Uva.”

“I suspect we will be seeing a great deal more dimensionals and automata on patrol soon,” she said, looking proud of what they’ve done. “The Gate Lord cannot be everywhere, and his lesser facilities will soon be vulnerable. He will be consolidating his forces soon—trying to hold what he can.”

“And that will make him vulnerable,” Valor said. “If he wishes to keep this place’s mana core stable, he will need to battle to assert his control. And I fear he has neither the character nor competence to achieve that. We have a major opening. And Adam and I might have a solution to the Animancy Core problem.”

“Might?” Shiv asked.

“It’s quite straightforward, but it will require a bit of…” Adam flinched. “Precision. I examined the damage Confriga’s Necromantic whip left on the surface of the elevator. It was substantial. It corrodes adamantine like any other material, and perhaps with a few more hits, he could have cut clean through. Now.” Adam pointed at his vambrace. “I have a means to contaminate a dimension with Necromancy. Theoretically, if we create a layering of spatial pockets or even minor dimensionals around the elevator and corrode them all at once, I should be able to cut through the elevator itself before the Animancy Core is shuttled across to Vulketh.”

Adam paused and narrowed his eyes at Shiv. “If that happens, I fully expect you to dive across another dimension, try to fight a god, die horribly, and then somehow come back with the core anyway.”

“Seems to be the way things go for me,” Shiv said. “But yeah, that sounds pretty good. We can snatch the core and put it in the cage when the elevator ends up in freefall.”

“That is the general idea,” Adam said. “We just need a proper distraction for the Gate Lord. He moves quickly, the mana core of the gate can teleport him, and the only person here who can reliably face him directly might kill us all if a Necromancy spell strikes them.”

“Such is where I come in,” Can Hu said.

“Not quite yet,” Adam corrected. “Not until we are truly desperate. I am thinking of a third party distraction. Since we’re planning to infiltrate Little Gomorrah to target the local underworld soon as well, I think Uva should plant the idea of a mass escape for a few of the mercenary groups. Then, we inform Leu, she informs Confriga—but only at the last minute as they are fleeing out of the gates. He will be too busy trying to react to this that we’ll have an opening. Then, we make it seem like the Corpse-Shedder was working with some mercenaries at Little Gomorrah all along, increasing the internal tension of the gate, and forcing a crackdown on the underworld as well.”

“We’re making Confriga break even more of his gate,” Shiv nodded. “I like it.”

“This will also have the double-effect of collapsing his authority entirely,” Valor said. “Do you understand how one becomes Gate Lord? Or the lord of any place?”

“Not exactly,” Shiv said. “Leu told me a bit about it—mostly about how Confriga can use the core’s mana to power himself and do things too. Mostly, he has just been blasting the gate with blizzards, but apparently, gate’s have their own skills as well.”

“Indeed. But the way a Gate Lord is decided is through authority and recognition. When the population of a gate believes and recognizes someone as lord, that begins a process of mana synchronization. After a certain period, when the core is fully synchronized to someone’s mana, they will be able to direct and wield the gate’s mana and shape its development.”

Shiv hummed. “So, if people stop recognizing Confriga’s authority—”

“His is a slightly different case,” Valor said. “His authority is recognized by the lawyers of Compact, who the population accepts as their thought leaders. With many of their number dead and the gate in chaos, however, the outcome is the same. When a sufficient number of people stop accepting someone’s authority, a desynchronization will begin, and the lord of the domain will only have so long to settle the problem. And during this time, challengers might emerge, and only when all other challengers choose to submit or are eliminated can a single lord be ordained once more.”

And that captured Uva’s attention. “I see. So. Perhaps some people should start openly challenging Confriga soon.”

“We will need to target someone of sufficient power,” Valor said. “Confriga’s casual cruelty is accepted in this place, so we need someone he cannot easily kill. Several Master-Tiers. The goal here shouldn’t be to have them win, however, but to cause so much civil strife that Confriga is desynchronized from the core.”

“And then we all attack him at the same time,” Adam said. “While his forces are in disarray, with his core stolen, and while he is alone.”

The plan sounded good and clear. Now, the main question was speed and focus. Blackedge was still holding since the quest hadn’t failed yet, but they were racing against the clock. And there was also another issue on Shiv’s mind. “What about the third gateway? One leading off to Vulketh? Can you close that off with your vambrace too?”

“Yes,” Adam said. “But not for long. Which the other thing Valor spoke to me about earlier.” The Young Lord hesitated. “We don’t need to capture for long Animancy Core, actually. We can just… cage it, and then destabilize it. Outside of this dimension. After I corrode the gateway for cover.”

Shiv, Uva, Can Hu, and Siggy stared at Adam.

“You want to set the bomb off?” Shiv asked.

“I—kind of.”

“In Vulketh?” Uva added.

“I looked through the gateway,” Adam said. “There’s nothing for miles. It leads out into an ocean of molten metal connected to a submerged military base. It will likely unmake a section of Vulketh’s inner core, but the blast won’t go beyond a hundred kilometers or so.”

“That sounds pretty large, Adam,” Shiv muttered.

“Not from a planetary scale,” Valor corrected. “And not for a world like Vulketh. The main risk here is angering Lord Scorn and the potential that it might destabilize the gate should it also destroy the gateway connecting Earth to Vulketh.”

Shiv stared harder. “Well, now it’s my turn to be unsure about this. What happens if that happens?”

“Then, the mana core starts imploding, and depending on if we’re closer to the surface gateway or the Abyssal gateway, we get squeezed out in a certain direction while a surge of unattuned mana washes over us.”

“Oh,” Shiv said, sighing. “Since the mana is unattuned will it be like Passage or just a bunch of colors?”

“Well, the ones who collapse a gate usually are rewarded in certain ways,” Adam said. “It’s how my father got this armor for me. Raiding and collapsing gates is practically a way of life for certain Pathbearers. A good deal of the mana will end up back with the system, but we will probably get something from this. However…” Adam winced at Uva. “I don’t think this is optimal due other risks. Such as exposing the sister to sunlight.”

Uva considered something for a moment. “I am interested in discovering if the light-curse can still affect me when I am in someone else’s mind. Wait. Great Valor, you said you traveled the world and have seen many things. Are you not afflicted with the curse as well?”

“I am?” Valor said. “So I simply avoided the light and used disposal bodies when I was forced to face my foes in the open. For your case… it depends on how your Skill Evolution functions, but this is what I suspect: You will be able to hide in a mind if you remain tight within a single mind, but if your mana strands emerge, you will be seared by the light, as it burns our very souls.”

The Umbral looked disturbed by Valor’s statement. “That… Do you know why such a curse was placed on us?”

“I do not think it was placed upon us directly. In fact, think we got it from someone else, and we were just collateral.”

“Who?”

Valor paused for a moment. “The Great One fell for a reason. They lay broken for a reason. And there are burns on its body for a reason. We are merely affiliated because we share its dreaming tomb.”

A brief contemplative silence followed. But it didn’t last. A sudden, blaring siren sounded throughout the entire gate—loud enough that Shiv and the others could hear it clearly in the anchor.

“Oh, what did that bloody giant child of a Gate Lord do now?” Adam said. His eyes flared bright. As he cast his senses out, Uva connected everyone to his mind, and they watched as he accelerated his senses out from the anchor, up through their building, and into the air. 

The mana core was unleashing massive surges of coldness across the land. It was practically channeling a constant blizzard over the world, and the temperature was only dropping further. It wailed while it did this, and several of its chains glowed bright, painting the dimension with hues of black and gray. Then, Adam noticed a small army of ice dimensionals flying through the air, heading for a gateway.

The surface gateway.

“What the hells?” Adam muttered. He noticed a single, solitary figure walking across the bridge from the gateway, and his eyes widened. “This—” Then, he cursed. “Shit. She’s here already?”

“Who’s here?” Shiv asked.

“Something that slipped my bloody mind in the chaos—Some Inquisition agent called the Educator. She wasn’t due until—not now? She got here too early, and why is she alone?”

The moment Adam invoked the woman’s title, Shiv felt a massive blow struck his spirit. His Foreshadowing trembled, the beginnings of a vision like no other began to creep in from the corner of his eyes.

Uva clenched his arm, but Shiv muttered he was okay.

“Guys,” Shiv grunted. “I think I’m about to have a vision. And I think it might have something to do with our new friend.”

However, as Adam's perception zoomed closer, he cried out as he felt his senses crash into something unseen. It was like a solid wall—a set of wards against perception that extended a goood 500 meters around the figure. 

"She has wards," Adam declared. “The bloody Symposium didn’t have wards like these.”

And Shiv’s Foreshadowing only thundered even harder. Something turned inside his stomach. An ill feeling of foreboding came over him like never before. “Adam. I think maybe we should—”

“She noticed me,” Adam gasped.

Everyone went stiff. True to the Young Lord’s words, the woman was staring directly in their direction. On her face was a look of wry amusement.

“It’s very rude to peek, you know?” she chuckled. Everyone studied the woman through Adam's eyes. Even 500 meters away, they could make out some details. Her face was mature, but also odd in the way that Shiv couldn’t tell how old she was at all. She didn't wear armor; rather, she was clad in a black and flowing scholar's robe with a red sash that fluttered in the air behind her. She also had a brilliant crystal badge pinned to her shoulder, and to her back was the largest tome Shiv had ever seen. The Educator wore the tome like a backpack, and it remained bound to her by chains.

Then, she hummed, and she stared—Shiv felt like she was staring even through Adam, directly at her.

“Oh. How surprising. An Aviary agent with Foreshadowing?” She licked her dry lip. The blizzard didn’t seem to bother her at all. “Perhaps we should have this conversation in-person, then?”

And then Shiv felt something snake out from her being, and strike his soul directly. The real world vanished around him entirely as he felt something inside him crack open. A vision began to swallow him. A vision stronger and more vivid than all the ones before.

Foreshadowing: Her Skill-Fused Awareness and Reflexes allows her to peer through her current observer, and she sees the boy looking at her. Ah. A surprise. Roland Arrow’s only surviving. The other one with him in the skeletal armor—she knows that boy too. That’s the son of Harlon and Vera Lowe. So, Roland kept him alive after all. But why are the two of them together?

There are others in the anchor with them. A lich. A goblin. And an Umbral. How odd, but interesting. She was wrong. They are not Aviary. They are something else entirely. And she can’t wait to find out what.

The Educator stepped, then. She stepped across Adam Arrow’s perspective, and decided to make some new acquaintances.

Especially with the Lowe boy listening to the system narrate this story right now. I know you are reading this, Tanner. And I will be speaking to you directly very soon—

Foreshadowing > 41

Shiv broke out of the vision just in time to throw himself in front of Adam. The Educator stepped out as if through thin air. He slashed at her using his kukri—and she parried the blow with a brush. She painted a stroke of black in the air and went wide as Shiv parried her blow too. He cast a laceration into the Educator. His mana detonated against her, but she strode forward unstaggered. She briefly ignored Uva’s strands as well and smiled.

“Ah, Master-Tier,” she laughed. “Your parents would have been so proud.” She launched a pen at Uva—and the Umbral’s shield intercepted the blow just in time. “And Rose as well. Which is my first question: Why do you have a fragment of Young Lord Adam’s mother in your soul?”

And just then, a second vision began to consume Shiv. Just as Adam fired his first arrow. Just as Valor cast a surge of Necromancy at the Educator. Just the chains holding her book shattered, as its pages flung open, as the insides of the teleportation anchor they were in dissolved and changed.