Chapter 160
An Impossible Task
It was impossible. Utterly and physically impossible.
The task, the mission I had been given by Mallory, especially about the random subject that popped up. Just thinking back on everything, how we got here, what it all meant, the only thought that could come to my mind right now was how utterly impossible this mission was.
I’ve stolen ten million in currency and experience potions, allegedly that is. I have been linked to but never proven to destroying an airship that might or might not have crashed after I might have left the vehicle in a disabled state. I have found a way to cure the Blight, to create Qi cores, and most importantly I have found ways to pass this knowledge onto others. I have done all of these things, yet the task I have been given now is impossible.
Silence.
Yes, that is right, the task that I have been given is to be silent, to be the proverbial fly on the wall. Be silent, that was it, yet the more I focused on the task given to me by Mallory, my truest friend. The more I feel it all but eating me alive inside.
Twitch.
My right foot began to twitch as I found myself waiting anxiously, as we moved in the long-distance flier to the mainland, where we would vet Mallory’s source.
Until then I was told to just sit here, with my hood drawn, while our super charged ship moved extremely slowly through the desert lands.
Meditation.
How did we get here?
Why are we currently taking the seven hour round trip flight to and from the uncorrupted lands?
Simple really, this all goes back to Mallory’s conversation with me earlier tonight, after the classes for the day were complete.
“Anything I can help you with?” I asked Mallory.
“Glad you asked that, once you are done for the day, I wish for you to meet me about something urgent.” Mallory said, with a complete straight face, right after I had been bullying the Lich who was also a dignitary from the Deolar kingdom, a kingdom we were working on creating an active truce with.
At first, I was going to deny it, stating that he had it coming, then I tried to of course think about all the different things I had done, trying to remember if I broke any guild laws about taking things that weren’t mine again.
Not able to identify anything immediately only made me worry even more, as I realized it was likely something old that I had done coming back to bite me.
So, I pushed myself through my magic classes, where I can’t even remember the lesson I taught, because I was so focused on this urgent meeting with Mallory.
Little did I know that it was something I would never have expected from her.
“Glad you could make it, I trust it class was okay?” Mallory asked, gesturing for me to follow her from her office out to a hover pad where an airship was just incoming.
“Yes.” I replied, still confused by what was happening around me.
“Good, well know that I have been trying to think of the perfect gift for you,” Mallory began, but I cut her off before she could continue.
“Gift?”
“Yes, a gift to show how important you are to our organization.” Mallory said.
And like that, the burden I had been carrying all this time suddenly left my shoulders, as I had been expecting the worst to happen. “So, this isn’t some random punishment?”
“Well, there might be a bit of punishment, in that I need you to swear to be completely silent and make sure to cover your face completely during this trip.”
“Trip?”
“Yes, I have found what I believe to be the perfect gift for you, but unfortunately I need you to help verify its authenticity.” Mallory stated.
“Verify?”
“Yep, you see, this is an object that has been only spoken about in legends. I figure it was worth the check, just because of what the item itself is, but I wouldn’t be able to verify its validity without you.” Mallory stated.
“I take it the item is magical in nature?”
“Very much so.”
“Would I have heard about this item?”
“Oh, there is no doubt that you have heard of this time. Now, whether you believe this item is the real deal or not, that is a different question.”
I was about to ask for more, but that is when Mallory brought me out to get on the descending aircraft.
“Now for this, I need you to be the silent partner. No talking, as they might have voice recordings that could be altered to slander you in some way. Also, I need you to be a quiet skeptic about all of this, while we investigate.”
That was it, all I was given to go on before this rather impromptu mission began. I could tell from the readout on display in the Captain’s chair of this vessel that the trip to wherever we were going was going to take three and a half ours. I could also tell that this was considered a standard trip from everything I had read about our resupply efforts to and from the mainland.
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There was so much going on that I couldn’t help but let my mind wander. But every time I got remotely out of what was happening and the fact that we were taking off, or the fact that a Troll was here, along with Jhonny my guard and a few of Mallory’s own personal guards, we were running a skeleton crew for the airship.
Yet, despite my best efforts to avoid thinking about where we were going, and more importantly what we were doing, I decided to Meditate.
And nothing.
Well, there obviously was something, but Meditation is so natural for me now that I do it while breathing and moving. In fact, after the hundred-point threshold Meditation, and other similar skills become more subconscious to increase. In fact, at this point it is harder to think about stopping my Meditation and other related skills than it is to think about keeping them going.
Which is why, even now, I feel the pull and dread of what we are about to possibly discover.
“Rick, I have to thank you for setting this all up.” Mallory stated, talking to the one-time celebrity of the world of BiPrism, who was now relegated to the role of glorified tour guide.
That’s right Rick “The Prick” Troll himself was here. Before his death and subsequent rebirths with the same flaws, but lacking his first-time bonuses, he looked a lot less glamorous.
I could talk to him, but that would end the mystique that Mallory was trying to give me. With my position outside the guild known as just the Doctor, I held an air of mystery, which is what Mallory wished for me to cultivate with my silent act.
Also, there was the small fact that I might or might not be pissed off by the answers to my questions that I would invariably ask.
“Not a problem, anything for you babs.” Rick said, with an annoying eye wink and finger bang towards Mallory.
It was clear that the two had history together. In fact, Mallory was one of the few people that did not have an issue with Rick, during his first incarnation at life. He was one of the all-time pranksters that originally made a small fortune by his wild gimmicks and uncaring attitude.
This was part of why Mallory wanted me to remain quiet while around Rick, for while he had calmed down quite considerably in these last few restarts, no one knew exactly how many he had left, it was clear that my talking to him would likely push my patience.
And apparently, I have been determined to be a hothead. Well not exactly a hothead, but there were certain categories that people knew not to press while around me.
“So, tell me again, what it is that you think you might have found?” Mallory said, clearly trying to give me a few points to think about, while also likely trying to avoid punching the man who looked less like a fun-loving kid, and more like a forty-year-old clinging to his past shreds of glory from his mother’s basement.
“Well, I know a guy who is into the spooky stuff.” Rick began.
“Spooky stuff?” Mallory fortunately asked before I could speak, which again was becoming more and more of an impossible task.
“Yeah, you know, he is one of those hoodoo necromancers.” Rick said, waving his hands and fingers in the air for emphasis.
Yeah, because hoodoo is a technical term for necromancers.
Breathe.
I force myself to breathe, “how far out is this?”
“Just in the mainland. We have it set up. You come in verify his stuff. Then when you realize what it is, I get back in the guild and you pay Mr. Bones his due.” Rick said.
“Mr. Bones?” Mallory asked.
“The hoodoo man, his real name is Reginald, or at least it was before the transfer. But now he goes for all things spooky. But I heard that you were asking around about this, and figured as the finders fee, you could allow me back in and possibly a spot at your new magic school for dummies.” Rick said, his voice having that fake surfer tone that died decades ago.
Twitch.
I feel my body shake from trying to hold still and keep quiet. I can definitely see how he got the famed nickname of “The Prick” from, as everything about him is at least mildly annoying.
As a child I remembered watching him, and thought he was funny at first. But the more I saw him act, and the older I got, the less amusing his antics were. Until now I am a grandmother in the body of a fourteen-year-old still looking at the same arrogant kid.
“Well, if your finding is as good as you say, then I have no doubt that our dean of admissions will accept you. Just know, this had better be one heck of a finding.” Mallory stated, clearly meaning that he had to impress me, but Rick as usual was either too dense, or didn’t understand the comment as he kept going on in his fake bro accent.
“Oh it is, and let me tell you, no one is more of an expert when it comes to the dead and the occult than Mr. Bones.” Rick said.
“Yeah, you have said that already.” Mallory said.
“I know you don’t believe me. Heck, I didn’t believe it myself when I first heard it, but he found it, the legendary Mirror of the Dead.” Rick said.
And with that, I felt my palms go sweaty from within my gloves as I realized that this was exactly what I had been looking for.
The Mirror of the Dead was the legendary object that everyone who ever lost a loved one in BiPrism wished to have and hold at least once in their lifetimes. A legendary unbreakable item that could allow you to focus your will and mentally have a conversation with the dead.
If this was true that the item had been found, then this would be amazing, as I could use it to find out where my parents were and hopefully find a way to them. With the ability to Resurrect the dead, such an item would prove to be invaluable to rekindling lineages and bloodlines that had long since gone extinct.
If I was not mistaken that was likely part of the cost for using the Mirror, would be for me to Resurrect someone that this Mr. Bones allegedly wanted. At least that was my assumption, again this all centered on the idea that the item that this flake of an outdated personality had was legitimate.
It also assumed that the hoodoo necromancer wanted someone to be resurrected, and not something that was truly depraved as so many necromancers seem to be portrayed.
As for me, I decided to work on integrating my new Spirit Qi and try to imagine what I was capable of while using this Qi.
If this was the famous Mirror of the Dead, then calling me as an expert made a whole lot of sense. Though again it all seemed too convenient. But then again Mallory clearly had a lot of resources at her disposal, and clearly had some form of prior relationship with this guy.
The fact that he wanted back into the guild meant that he was a part of the guild at one time. In fact, I do recall him being one of the primary founding members of the guild, and was part of why they had a mostly nomadic lifestyle at first, opting to set up shop on a moving train, rather than get tied down in one area for too long.
At first, he would go town to town, find single or married women and attempt to hit on them to varying degrees of success. Everything was going fine, and he was clearly enjoying the playboy lifestyle, until he realized that tracks made a loop, and despite how long the trains were or how long it took you to make a trip around, you inevitably went back to a yard you shat in.
He was the main reason why I told all my kids to do the right thing, lest they end up getting kicked out from their family for their poor choices.
Of course, I said this and Rob Jr. ended up doing exactly the opposite of what I warned against, so there is that. Speaking of which, I need to make sure that I speak to Zero later tonight.
Remembering my failures with Rob, or Trenton as he goes by now, made me realize that I was once again close to alienating another beloved family member.
After this last mission.
At least, that is what I told myself. Logically I know I could do a Positional Switch with my First Simulacrum and be able to talk to Zero during the flight out, but I wanted to be aware of any possible problems that might occur on the way out. Though I do make it a point that on the way back to our home, I will switch places then and try to at least talk at Zero.
I know, it sounds stupid even to me, but I need to start with something. Remembering my past mistakes, I decided to make sure the same thing does not happen again.
Then once I fix my relationship with Zero, maybe I can do the same for Trenton, yeah and pigs will fly faster than dragons. But, I do need to try.
Huh, I did it. Only now do I realize that I managed to Meditate. Well maybe Meditate is a bit too generous of a word. Maybe, selectively dismiss might be more accurate for how I have been able to tune out Rick “The Prick” Troll and his conversation with Mallory.
Mallory for her part is clearly annoyed, but willing to continue the conversation for the sake of this deal. She has all of her tells going that she has spoken too much and does not wish to continue the conversation, her body is closed off, her hands are in her lap, or covering being used to give slight gestures of agreement. She even has on her fake smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes.
Seeing her, I realized all the tells as I tried to make sure the moment any of them appeared on Mallory, I would stop what I was doing, if I could, and focus on her.
Yet, Mallory and her faux cordial feelings towards Rick were not what pulled me out of my deep meditative state.
Rather, what I felt was something deeper, something far more impactful.
I felt a deep convergence of soul energy.
Feeling that pool of energy off in the distance, I could tell we were getting close to our eventual destination.
Even this close, I could feel my teeth beginning to chatter due to how cold everything suddenly felt.
“Everything okay?” Mallory asked me.
I paused, trying to understand why she would call out to me, especially as she asked me to remain quiet. Then I realized why, as I was standing up, an involuntary reflex to the perceived threat that we were heading straight for.
Trying to keep the part, and also not trusting my own dry throat at this time to speak coherently, I just shook my head.
“What is it?” Mallory asked, fear evident in her voice.
“Oh, we must be nearly there.” Rick said, “I can already feel his pull on me now.”
Then as he spoke the whole ship entered a sphere of influence, one that was on a much grander scale than I had ever noticed before. This was one that would likely take an entire cabal to perform to keep active.
Now that we were within the range of my Angel’s Sight, I could feel the distinct pull of a deep shard of densely compacted spirit essence. This was powerful, likely enough to kill any mortal who possessed the shard for too long. If I had to guess, I figured this was the legendary Mirror of the Dead that we had come to inspect. Seeing it, I could tell that aside from those like me who had Death Shroud, or were highly resistant to the dead, just being close to the shard would cause death or paralysis.
As we entered the sphere, a faint trickle of the surrounding static energy pulsed through the ship and produced an electrical discharge on Rick’s necklace, causing it to light up with power.
With that jolt, Rick’s entire face and body seemed to stiffen as if strengthened by a supernatural presence.
I wasn’t the only one who noticed this as Mallory also spoke up about the sudden change.
“What is happening?” Mallory demanded, her words filled with power and influence. These were the words of a skilled orator who was used to getting people to follow her will by words alone.
Hearing her, the now changed and seemingly unhinged Rick turned towards Mallory.
Fortunately, we were not alone, as Jhonny, and Mallory’s two guards also jumped to their feet, but before any words could be said, the changed Rick Troll spoke.
“Justice,” Rick shouted, then it happened.