Chapter 28: I CAN EXPLAIN! (1/2)
“Hey, can you also explain why you secretly brought a war golem?”
“Don’t give me that shit, Farren. Solfis is an insurance against strong monsters, and I don’t advertise his abilities because I don’t want to end up with a dagger in my back if someone realizes he is worth a fortune. Are you telling me you brought an assassin as an insurance against monsters? A fucking assassin?”
“Where did you find a war golem anyway?”
“Faaaarren,” Viv interrupted him. Her voice turned dangerous. Marruk turned her shield towards the voice of Neriad. Her expression was a mix of anger and disappointment.
“Don’t fucking try me,” Viv finished.
The thing she recognized as intimidation lashed out. She finally understood what it was. Power and ruthlessness left an imprint on who she was, and the skill was simply the mark on her soul making itself known. It told the other person: I have done terrible things before and I will do them again, to you.
“Fine. Let’s all calm down. I’ll tell you the whole truth.”
“Make it snappy.”
Farren’s pride rebelled at the verbal lash, but he still offered his explanation.
“The trip was a test, not one of loyalty, but of capability. I wanted to know how well you could clear undead monsters from enclosed spaces for a project of mine. I am very much satisfied. As for Irao, he… well, he and I go way back. I met him in Morny when I was twelve, and he has been looking over me ever since.”
“So he was here to protect you from us?”
“Alright, so, Irao does what Irao does. I saved his life and, despite my best efforts to tell him that there were no debts, he has followed me. To answer your question, he was here to protect me from everything. Irao is not very loquacious.”
“Is he even human?” Viv asked. The strange being clung to the lower cliffs of the uncanny valley as far as she was concerned.
“He is a human variant.”
Before Viv’s incredulous expression, Farren decided to expand.
“He is mostly human. I suppose you don’t have that in your homeland. Hmm, how should I explain? A century and a half ago, an outlander arrived in the distant land of Halluria. That’s north east of Baran, near the Isthmus. Halluria was, and still is, a lawless den of ignominy, where life is worthless, and the dark gods are openly worshipped. He displayed an amazing ability to twist people into different forms to create chimera using a process he called splicing. His most infamous achievement was the creation of the Hadal Strain humans. They are literally that, a human variant.”
Marruk took a protective step towards Viv and made a religious sign before knocking on her shield. The solid woman was obviously shaken at the mention of Hadal Strain people, whatever they were.
“He was murdered for that. The Princeps of Halluria loved an entire subspecies dedicated to assassination. That was until they became the prime targets of those new agents. So many powerful nobles were slain in the following years that the outlander was executed. We have no record of his name. Only his legacy was left behind.”
“Hold on, are you saying that Irao…”
“Is one of them, yes. He is an ancient assassin so far in his path that I don’t know exactly what his limits are. The Hadal Strains have been hunted and killed whenever possible, so I don’t know how many still survive. It doesn’t help that they are not exactly the most social people around.”
“What makes them so special?”
“They have a few monster traits and an unusually high black attunement. That’s all we know for sure. Many in the church would kill Irao for what he is, but I won’t let them. And I hope you won’t either.”
Viv did not have to think about that. Would she risk the wrath of a century-old assassin in the off-chance that it would accrue positive opinion with religious ethnic cleansers?
Absolutely the fuck not.
“My lips are sealed provided that you come clean with everything. Now.”
“Yes, yes, getting to it. You are the one who asked the questions, remember? Anyway, Irao is a separate issue. My test relates to the project I have that could propel Kazar to prosperity in less than a generation.”
Farren’s demeanor changed. From being afraid and seemingly out of his depth, the young administrator grew animated. Viv recognized the fervor of the man talking about his passion.
“Alright, so Kazar is a remote city with little strategic value due to a variety of reasons. First, its remoteness means that resupplying remains a constant challenge, thus stopping any prospect of becoming a trading town. You follow so far?”
“Yes,” Viv replied with impatience.
“That’s because of the Deathguard forest. The forest is massive and unforgiving. Clearing it is an absolute impossibility. The second is that we have no natural resources to exploit, at least none that would justify the hassle. Even the fertile land is a thin band nearing capacity. All the arable lands west of here, along the sea, are simply too remote to bother. Anyone here would be at the mercy of roaming monsters.
But what if there was a way to solve both problems at once?”
A guileful smile bloomed on Farren’s face.
“Are you familiar with the history of the empire, Miss Bob?”
“No.”
“A long time ago, the Old Empire and the Enorian heartlands were connected by a network of tunnels that snaked through the entire chain. The closest one went through the Min Goles iron mines. I believe that I know where the entrance is. We locate it, and we find a path that bypasses the forest, cuts travel time, and gives us access to iron deposits.”
“Thus providing both a shortcut and the resources justifying trade,” Viv finished.
“Yes! We only need to make sure that they are clear. Just imagine how much the veins have regrown by now.”
Viv blinked.
“I’m sorry what?”
It turned out that, since the planet was sort of ‘alive’, mineral deposits regrew. Viv asked if that meant the tunnels were refilled with stone or something and Farren looked at her like she was retarded.
“But… of course not!”
“Listen, I never had to work on the minutiae of mining operations before so cut me some flucking slack.”
“I understand. In any case, your performance is more than adequate. I came here to make sure that you were on par with war mages despite the fact that you are still early on the path, and you are. I also came, ahem, this is embarrassing.”
“To make sure that I was not an asshole?”
“In a way. Yes. Or try to extort me. I did believe that Irao would be enough to protect me, should the worst come to pass. I just did not expect you to have a hidden asset as well.”
“You’d better not tell anyone about Solfis.”
“On my honor I so swear. In return, I will ask you to keep Irao’s existence a secret. I would not just be punished by my hierarchy, he would also be tracked down.”
“You seem to care about him a great deal.”
Farren’s expression turned grim.
“I do. However, and with the exception of your golem, Irao is the deadliest being in all of Kazar by a large margin.”
This surprised Viv quite a bit.
“I assumed that it would be Lady Varska?”
“No. I do not mean to demean her, it’s just that assassins are sent after mages for a reason. They are the only ones who can stop a mage before they can bring their power to bear, and Irao is firmly at the top of the assassin path. I have seen what he can do… when he bothers. If hunters come to take him down, it will be a bloodbath, and he will simply disappear.”
“So, your plan is to have you, Irao, Marruk and I clear a freaking tunnel? What if there is stuff in there that’s not black-aligned?”
“No no, my plan is to have a full retinue of warriors go with you as support. I will come as well, of course. We will find the entrance, and explore carefully over a period of a few weeks. I do not expect us to find a way immediately, just as I do not expect the path to be fully cleared. Some measure of digging will certainly occur. I can solicit the local mountain tribes for workers. Sardanal knows that they can use the money, may he bless them with wealth.”
Farren seemed to think of something and it was important enough, so he stood next to Viv and spoke in a low voice.
“Look, I need you to understand so I will state it one last time. I do not control Irao. I don't even know where he is most of the time. Irao is his own man, and I will do nothing to change that. His kind has been used ruthlessly as tools since the moment of their creation. I refuse to do the same. And there is something else…”
“Yes?”
“Reports of Hadal Strains have decreased over the past decades, so he might very well be the last of his kind. Cut him some slack, please.”
“Ok fine. He follows you around because he is grateful and that’s it.”
“Yes. Pretty much that.”
“Fine. Ok. Anyway, let’s check the tunnel then go.”
“Agreed.”
With Marruk first, they walked down to find that the nascent Necrarch had dug through the next room but failed to properly clear it. There was a sort of circular room at the end that reminded Viv of a lair or something. It had been wiped completely clean. There was only one thing left.
“What a good find,” Farren said, as he kneeled to pick up a black sphere.
“What's that?” Viv asked.
“A black-aligned core. Very rare, considering what you have to kill to get one. Of course a nascent Necrarch would have one. You can find them in very old gut spillers as well. It will contain mana that can be used at a later date by drawing from it. Black-aligned cores can only store energy from the relevant color, so it can only be used for specific tasks. Here, take it.”