145 Let Loose (1/2)

I shrugged, ”Yeah, sure.”

Torix pointed upwards, ”Let's go up to the fourth floor then.”

I turned towards Althea, ”How many floors are there?”

She raised a hand and counted on her fingers, ”There's five. They're called the residential, tech, magic, logistics, and sky floors. They're pretty self-explanatory honestly.”

Torix nodded, ”The fourth floor's name is where we'll discuss plans and hold meetings. That's where we're headed next.”

I gestured forward, ”Lead the way.”

We walked out of the dueling area and through the study. After reaching a series of elevators on the floor, Torix waved a hand at them,

”The first three floors are public access. The fourth and fifth floor require clearance.”

Two of the elevators carried runic inscriptions along their edging. Laminated with glass, the runes powered the lift. The inefficient etchings required quite a bit of mana. Torix walked up, placing a palm on the doorway,

”The mana requirements act as the preventative measure.”

The door slid open, and we all walked in. After elevating up, we walked out of the runic doorway. As we walked out, the lack of light stuck out. I turned around, glancing at the supporting pillar. All across it, a dozen plasma screens covered the column.

They streamed the view of many scouts. Most of them were out in nature. A few of the screens showed our agents visiting other towns. They acted as ambassadors for my guild, spreading the word about our stronghold. Considering we had weaponry and knowledge, the offer must be tempting.

Torix nodded at the structure, ”This keeps us up to date on the comings and goings of scouts. It allows us to better organize them and create an up to date map of our surroundings.”

I frowned, ”This seems like a bit too much surveillance.”

Torix shook his hand, ”Do you see the dark screens?”

I nodded. About 30% of the screens were blank.

”Those screens indicate that a scout has shut down their video cameras. Most scouts opt into the recording process for safety reasons. It's much easier to send pre-emptive help in real time, something which is otherwise impossible.”

”Oh...” I cupped my chin, ”How are the other towns doing near us?”

Althea chimed, ”I've seen a lot of it myself while flying around. Most towns are really well off. So far the average level is about 80 at this point. People have organized town governments and are even fighting for dungeons.”

She shook her head, ”I couldn't believe it at first, but...yeah, humans were killing each other.”

I shrugged, ”Eh, if anything, it's a good sign.”

Torix nodded, walking away, ”I agree entirely. This means that humanity isn't struggling against normal eldritch growth. Quite the opposite.”

As Torix walked out, I observed the rest of the room. Circular desks lined the middle pillar, much like the study below us. The difference was that almost everyone used an obelisk. Situated inside spheres of white, they operated within a digital medium.

Compared with the previous floor, this one oozed data, charts, and numbers. The last level oriented itself around experience, emotion, and magic. The granite floor and jet black walls emphasized this shift. It closed the room off as if the only way out was with a connection to outside.

Torix pointed at the various desks, ”These members of the legion handle distribution of income, resources, and logistical difficulties. Having workers with independent thought helped more than I imagined it would in that regard.”

Torix flicked his hand in disgust, ”No matter how long I attempted training my summons, such tasks were beyond them. These men and women took to the challenge with gusto by comparison.”

We walked past the series of desks. Rooms lined the wall like in the previous floor. These rooms had different purposes, however. Meeting rooms, personal offices, and summoning ritual rooms were placed here. Out of those three kinds of places, one didn't fit.

I pointed at the conjuring room, ”Uh, why are personal offices and monster summoning rooms right beside each other?”

Torix raised a hand, ”Excellent question. What you see below is where the most magic takes place. Unlike most magic, however, summoning is more of a science. Instead of 'feeling' your way through the spells, you must act with precision.”

Torix spread out his hands, ”That kind of procedural thinking aligns better with data sciences than actual magic. Most of the summoners under my tutelage agreed with me.”

Althea jumped up while spawning wings. She flapped them beside me, whispering in my ear, ”Trust me. Torix is an expert at making magic boring.”

I snickered with Althea while Torix rolled his eyes,

”Laugh if you must. Summoning must be performed with great restraint. Otherwise, you may bring over something that is more than you can chew. Unlike you, the monster will have no qualms or worries with chewing you.”

I nodded, ”That makes a lot of sense.”

Torix gestured at one of the offices, ”Now that you've seen the floor, for the most part, let's discuss our plans in the meeting room.”

We walked into the meeting room, the doors sliding on the ground as we opened them. As they closed, the air sucked into place. This made the space airtight and soundproof.

Around us, numerous blackboards lined the walls. A square desk sat in the middle of the place. At the center of the office, a three-dimensional projector was waiting to be used. In front of every seat around the table, a touchpad was present. Beneath that, a notebook was available with pens.

Torix sat at one of the chairs. Torix pointed at the other chairs, ”Go on and make yourself comfortable.”

I walked over and sat down. Althea sat down beside me. Torix opened his status screen, sending a series of messages. Althea sighed, and I raised an eyebrow,

”What messages are you sending?”

Torix raised his wrinkly eyebrows, ”Oh, that? It was a message to Hod's caretaker. You see, Hod rarely if ever responds to my inquiries. I gave him a responsible assistant who will help get him here on time. I send her the messages rather than Hod for obvious reasons.”

I chuckled a bit before Torix raised a finger, ”As much as I despise admitting it, Hod is a valuable asset in discussions. His perception is by far the highest among us. His intuition gives him answers to the most difficult questions.”

The meeting room door opened. A large, female Eltari tossed Hod into the room and slammed the door. Torix steepled his fingers, grinning with glee,

”Oh, how I do enjoy her way of handling things.”

Hod scrambled to his feet, ”But Hod having fun with lady friends.”

He turned towards us, several kiss marks and scratches on his metal beak. I turned towards Althea,

”Are those...human lips?”

She grimaced, ”By Schema...I think so.”

Torix narrowed his eyes, ”I see your slaying of Yawm has assisted in your love life.”

Hod shook his head, ”Hod already popular with ladies. Ladies attracted to strong, handsome, and smart male. Hod think ladies attention only natural.”

Torix's blue fire eyes flared orange, ”As natural as my disdain for you.”

Hod walked up, flopping into a seat, ”Hod wonder what Dry Man favorite sandwich is?”

Torix's eyes narrowed, ”Why do you ask?”

Hod raised a finger, ”Hod wonder why as well. Hod already know Dry Man's favorite sandwich. Peanut butter and jealous flavor.”

Althea and I sat flabbergasted for a second. The joke was so dumb and so meandering that I didn't get it at first. When we did, Althea and I bust out laughing.

Torix looked at us, ”Oh hah hah. Very humorous.”

Hod nodded at him, ”Hod agree.”

Torix pinched the bridge of his nose. He snapped his fingers, dimming the lights of the room. I turned towards him,

”Where's Kessiah?”

Torix looked up at me, ”Oh, her? She's training soldiers here.”

I looked at Althea then back at Torix, ”Why not include her in the discussion?”

Hod looked up, ”Hod know why. Lady Friend #2 not want to meet Harbinger.”

I looked at them both, ”What did I do?”

The room went silent. Torix sighed, ”Hmmm...Well, Kessiah is as you know, a revenant. Korga Ryker was actually one of her childhood heroes. While you didn't kill him per say, you didn't save him either.”

I scoffed, ”So it's my fault that Yawm killed him? That seems kind of ridiculous.”

Althea put a hand on my shoulder, ”I talked with her. She already knows it's unfair. Kessiah's just getting past it is all. Please, give her some time.”

I looked at Althea. I sighed, ”Yeah, I get that.”

Althea hugged her arms around my waist, ”Good.”

Torix leaned his elbows on the desk in front of him, ”Now let's begin our discussion.”

Torix gestured his hand outwards at everyone, ”You all saw the quests granted to us, I presume?”

We all nodded.

”Excellent. I'll write the tasks down for reference.”

Althea and I sat facing Torix while Hod sat on his own side of the table. Torix flicked his fingers, a piece of chalk writing on a blackboard. On the bottom of the table with no one sitting, Torix wrote out the quests gained from Yawm's death.

They didn't have the sentinel rights or Fringe Walker quest lines. Torix did have the unknown status and bounty quests though. They were the quests up for discussion.

Torix looked at everyone with his hands spreadout,

”Of course we should finish these quests as a team. We can all agree on that?”

We agreed with curt nods.

Torix pointed at the quests, ”I am of the opinion that we should handle our bounty questline first.”

I raised an eyebrow, ”Why?”

Torix waved an arm at the entire room, ”Our bounties put targets on our backs. This compounds itself with our unknown status. Lawful organizations, in particular, will aim to gain favor with Schema by eliminating us.”

He raised a single finger, ”But if we attack an illegal organization first, then our endangerment doesn't increase with our bounties. This makes attacking the criminal organization the least risky endeavor.”

That line of thinking fell right in with what Torix usually suggests. Torix valued safety above all us. Time or efficiency didn't matter since he was effectively immortal.

Althea leaned against the table, ”Why wouldn't an unlawful organization want to get our bounties too?”

Torix leaned back into his chair, ”They've already shown that they care little about Schema's favor. Why would that factor change?”

Hod spread his wings, ”Hod thinks criminals hard to find.”

I leaned forward in my chair, ”Good point Hod. How are we supposed to find these criminal organizations without the help of locals?”

Torix waved off the concern, ”I'll gather intel and Althea will scout for us. I assure you, discovering their location will not be an issue in the slightest.”

I tapped the table. My finger echoed pit like someone dropped a fridge with each tap. I stopped, the sound distracting me.

Torix's idea was safe, but it didn't seem practical to me. I narrowed my eyes, deep in thought. For some reason, my mind wandered towards Yawm. Before we killed him, he didn't just want to escape Earth. He wanted his followers back too.

I called his strategy 'layering.' You could also call it killing two birds with one stone. In his case, Yawm's greed and arrogance ruined his plan. Learning from him was a good idea though.

I leaned onto my elbows and steepled my fingers. I tried negotiating like Yawm for a second,

”How about this instead. We make contact with some Giess, then we offer to take care of a criminal or organization as a gesture of good will?”