Chapter 99: Someone Else’s Game (1/2)

Dean Tuckell was part of a team of adventurers that arrived in a village in the delta. The team was a makeshift one put together for a road contract, patrolling a fixed route through the delta and beyond under the supervision of a bronze-ranker. The others were unhappy to be on punishment duty instead of the big expedition, while Dean was just happy to get away from the city. He didn’t want the people still working for Thadwick Mercer to find him and take him out for a little chat.

The team moved straight to the adventure noticeboard.

“This one actually has a notice,” the bronze-rank team leader said, taking it from the board. This was their third village for the day, and every noticeboard had been empty.

“Trap weavers,” the bronze-ranker read, causing the iron-rankers to groan.

“Wait, this one’s been claimed already,” the bronze-ranker said. “Just not completed, yet.”

As he said it, the paper dissolved away to nothing in his hand.

“And now it has,” he said. “Next village on the list, then.”

“Can’t we stop for a drink?” someone asked. “There’s a tavern right there.”

“We can stop once we’ve dealt with at least one monster,” the bronze-ranker said. “Assuming we can find one.”

Jason dropped a stack of papers on the registration desk in the jobs hall.

“Three contracts, eleven board notices,” he said.

“In three days,” Albert said. “That’s some schedule you’ve got going.”

“Any assigned contracts for me?” Jason asked.

”No, but there are a few incentivised contracts. Fewer adventurers means less competition.”

“I think I’ll leave those for others,” Jason said. “Maybe it’ll get a few more people picking up contracts.”

Jason didn’t need to go back to his inn for a shower, having cleaned himself off with a bottle of crystal wash. Switching from his battle robes to casual civilian attire, he caught the loop line out of the Adventure Society campus to the park district and bought a flatbread wrap from a food cart. He ate it on a park bench with a fruit drink from his inventory while he watched the sun go down.

“Not bad,” he said to himself.

He took the world phoenix tablet from his inventory and looked at it in his hand. Since being told it was his way home, he’d considered throwing it away time and again, closing that door forever. As always, he put in back in his inventory.

When the sun dropped below the horizon, a city worker came along the pathways of the path district, lighting up the magic lamps. Jason got up, walked away from the paths and into the darkness. He took out his sword and a crystal, similar to a recording crystal. He tossed it away from itself, where it stopped and floated in the air. A few moments later, a soft, entrancing sound started coming from it. Jason drew his sword from its scabbard, which he dropped onto the grass as his cloak of stars appeared around him He started moving in time with the meditative music.

His movements were slow and small, deliberate and smooth; something between a sword kata and a dance. Gradually his motion became larger, with moments of speed, although always completely controlled. His cloak flowed around him, throwing off motes of light.

The Dance of the Sword Fairy was a meditation technique Rufus had taught him that merged mind and body. Despite the inclusion of the sword, it wasn't about fighting technique. The goal was to meld the conscious and unconscious. Rufus had described the goal not as using the sword, but becoming it.

Ability [Verdict] (Doom) has reached Iron 0 (100%).Ability [Verdict] (Doom) has reached Iron 1 (00%).

Jason ignored his newest ability advancing, losing himself to the dance as movement and meditation became one. He felt as if he were merging with the world around him. Something tickled as his senses, so faint he wasn't sure it was there at all. He continued on but sensed it again and this time he was sure. He stopped, looking off into the darkness.

“You sensed me,” a male voice said. “That’s quite the surprise.”

The accent reminded Jason of Rufus. He couldn’t see anything in the dark, even with his vision power, and he could no longer sense what was out there.

“Meditation increases sensitivity,” Jason said to the hidden person.

“An impressive feat, even so,” the man said, “you must have been deep in it. My apologies for disturbing you.”

A man walked out of the darkness, which Jason found disorienting. He could see through the darkness, yet the man was invisible to him until he didn’t want to be. He had midnight-black skin like Rufus, but instead of being bald, his hair was dark, woven into rows and threaded with colourful beads. His outfit was neat and fitted, also like Rufus preferred.

“Not at all, Mr Bahadir,” Jason said. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”

The man raised an eyebrow.

“How did you know?” he asked.

“Your aura,” Jason said. “I’ve been around enough silver-rankers to know what it feels like when they restrain their aura. There’s a stillness; almost an absence of power, like the shadow of an unseen object. Your aura melds into the surroundings, like there’s nothing there at all. There’s only one gold-ranker expected to come here, and the accent and the clothes just clinch it.”

Bahadir laughed, moving closer to shake Jason’s hand. From that simple contact, Jason could feel the power flowing through him. Bahadir's hand was perfectly controlled, lest his gold-rank strength crush Jason's hand with more ease than crushing an egg.

“Emir Bahadir,” he introduced himself.

“Jason Asano.”

“I’ve been hearing a lot about you, and wanted to see for myself.”

“I’ve been hearing about you too,” Jason said. “How was the wine festival?”

Bahadir laughed again.

“Very fine, thank you. How have Rufus and his friends been?”

“Also very fine,” Jason said. “They’re not in town, right now.”

“So I’ve heard. There’s no rush; I’m not officially arriving for a little over a week.”

“Well, if you’re looking for something to catch your interest, I suggest a visit to the Magic Society. They’re excavating a complex out in the delta that belonged to the Order of the Reaper. That is why you’re here, right? To investigate the ancient order of assassins?”

“I didn’t think Rufus had such loose lips.”

”Oh, he didn't tell me,” Jason said. ”Neither he nor the Magic Society knows about the connection.”

“But you do,” Bahadir said.

“Some friends and I found the place, but the Magic Society cut us out. You’d be amazed at what a rogue Magic Society official and an acolyte of knowledge can dig up between them. Someone tried very hard to erase these assassins from history.”

“So if you haven’t told Rufus, and you haven’t told the Magic Society,” Bahadir said. “Why tell me?

“You wanted to see me for yourself,” Jason said. “Call this me wanting to make a good first impression. At the very least, I’m capable of piquing your interest until Rufus gets back. Let’s just hope he doesn’t take three months.”

Jason stood in the ruins of a coastal village. It had been one of many such villages scattered along the desert coast. They made an industry out of scouring the waters for water quintessence, which formed in larger than normal proportions due to the magic of the Mistrun River washing out to sea. Villages up and down the coast made a living from that and fishing, but it was not a practice without risk.

“Sundown, right?” Jason asked.

“That’s the normal pattern,” Vincent said. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

They glanced around at the broken remains of the village. It was very small, mostly constructed from bamboo, and it looked like a hurricane had passed through. Boats and buildings ranged from severely damaged to smashed into pieces. There were net-drying racks and other paraphernalia of a coastal village, none of which was left untouched. Scraps of netting, broken barrels and the remnants of objects too destroyed to recognise made up a carpet of debris.

The only two-storey building was stone on the bottom floor and bamboo on top. There was a dinghy jutting out of the wall of the upper level. The doorway on the ground floor had been ripped wider, brickwork cast aside in huge chunks. Inside was some kind of nest made out of debris and the bones of large sea animals. Jason spotted the skeletons of fish upward of a metre and a half long

“That’s where it’s been coming back to,” Vincent said. “That’s the normal pattern. Roam the waters attacking deep-sea fish and coming onshore to raid villages. It picks the first territory it conquers to make a lair.”

”But it's slower out of the water right?” Jason asked.

“Very,” Vincent said, “but you can see for yourself how strong it is. If it’s hurt badly, it will retreat into the ocean. Submerged, it will move faster and heal very quickly. Do not pursue it into the water.”

“Other than that, though, no exotic abilities?”

“No,” Vincent said.

Jason knew all of this but wanted the assurance of double-checking. The tidal troll was the first bronze-rank monster Jason would face on purpose, and he was facing it alone. He brought up his character sheet to help his resolve.

Jason Asano

Race: Outworlder.Current rank: ironProgression to bronze rank: 10% (2/4 essences complete)

Attributes

[Power] (Blood):[Iron 2].[Speed] (Dark): [Iron 0].[Spirit] (Doom): [Iron 0].[Recovery] (Sin): [Iron 2].

Racial Abilities (Outworlder)

[Party Interface].[Quest System].[Inventory].[Map].[Astral Affinity].[Mysterious Stranger].

Essences (4/4)

Dark [Speed] (3/5)

[Midnight Eyes] (special ability): [Iron 7] 84%.[Cloak of Night] (special ability): [Iron 6] 19%.[Path of Shadows] (special ability): [Iron 6] 21%.

Blood [Power] (5/5)