Jake woke up to a steady knocking on his door before Alan’s voice came from the hall. “Jake, are you alright?”
Jake sat up groggily, the room shifting a little as it took an extra second for his eyes to bring everything into focus. He felt unsettled like he was somehow disjointed and jumbled up.
“Jake?” Alan called again, knocking louder this time.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Jake called back before rubbing his face and getting to his feet.
The strange feeling he’d had when he first woke up was already fading, and Jake was feeling more like himself.
“Alright, well, we’ve already eaten, so we can go whenever you’re ready,” Alan called through hesitantly.
“I’ll be down soon,” Jake said, getting changed into some clean clothes before taking a seat at the end of the bed as he heard Alan head back downstairs.
The vision he’d had of The Great Dungeon and the things beyond the boundary of reality was foggy, yet the parts that he could remember were burnt into his memory in a way that left him with no uncertainty over the nightmares he’d be having.
Jake shivered as his memory touched on those colossal things that he’d seen. Even the hazy parts that he recalled threatened to give him a headache if he focused on them too hard.
Such things were not meant for the mortal mind to comprehend, and even trying to do so would be a foolish endeavour.
Turning his focus away with an act of will, Jake remembered the message from the System and called his status to mind, focusing on the Patron section.
Patron Gifts
Passive - Agent of the Great Dungeon (II) - Very Rare - You are bound to the Great Dungeon by blood. Other followers of the Great Dungeon will recognise you and aid you as they may.
Passive - Sense Dungeon (II) - Rare - As an agent of the Great Dungeon, you are able to passively sense the location of nearby Dungeons in a meagre range.
Passive - Authority of The Great Dungeon (I) - Very Rare - You have the approval of The Great Dungeon and may enact rituals in its name. You gain the knowledge of the Ritual of Castigation. Misuse of this authority may result in its removal.
“Damn,” Jake said, letting out a low whistle as he read through what was now available. Both of his other gifts had increased in rank, which was unexpected, but this new gift was completely different.
Closing his eyes, Jake tried to think of the Ritual of Castigation and immediately felt the knowledge pour into his mind. It was like he’d always known it and had just forgotten it until now.
Normally, Jake didn’t question the System or the changes it wrought, but there was something about the seamless way he had learned this that unnerved him. Rubbing his arms, Jake focused on the Ritual, learning what it did.
The Ritual of Castigation was an easy enough one to complete; it took only the blood of a classer from one of the bloodlines that served the First Pantheon and a healthy dose of Wyrd.
The reward for providing both those things was a summoning of any and all nearby monsters and beasts. They would flock to the site of the Ritual and attempt to destroy anything not native to their reality or influenced by such a thing.
It was easy enough to understand that this Ritual was designed for managing Rifts, but it would also serve as a way to kill Corrupters. Of course, once the creatures were brought together, they were in no way compelled to act in a certain way, so a bloodbath was all but guaranteed.
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If Jake ever found himself near a rift, this would give him a simple way to buy time enough to try and close it, which made it invaluable. Then again, considering that he had no idea how to go about closing one, it was more of a way to cover his escape as it stood.
Putting the Ritual aside for the moment, Jake finished getting ready before heading downstairs. He’d overslept a little, but there wasn’t any urgency, so the others gave him time to eat before they set off for the Dungeon.
Rhew and Alan were both eager to try and further their experimentation with what they’d been working on and were discussing their methods to try and earn their respective Skill as they made their way through the town.
“Find anything on your patrol yesterday?” Jake dropped back a bit from the group to walk alongside Nepthys.
“Nothing worth following up,” Nepthys said with a slight frown, pausing to check they weren’t being overheard before continuing. “I expected a lot more activity in the wake of the rift that Felix helped deal with. Especially considering the lack of Inquisitors to hunt down any Corrupted.”
“Yeah, I suppose that’s a bit weird,” Jake said, his brow furrowing as he considered what she was saying. “Maybe all the Seekers in the area have helped keep things calm?”
“Perhaps,” Nepthys said, though her expression made it clear that she didn’t think that was the case. “I’ll range out further tomorrow, see if I can sense any use of Skryx that might give them away. Any Corrupters in Strovia won’t be expecting an Inquisitor to be nearby, which might make them careless.”
Jake nodded and went to ask a question when he noticed Karl and the others step aside. Looking over, Jake saw a Triarchy patrol coming down the street, though this one was different.
Usually, two or three guards were in each patrol, and they would go past the classers with little interest. Today, however, there were a full six guards, and they were following behind a tall, pale-skinned man with grey eyes and close-cropped dark hair.
The tall man was wearing a heavy overcoat of a style that was common for those who had recently arrived in Strovia, which was warmer than Maddir, the home of the Triarchy.
Between the overcoat and the way the guards deferred to him, Jake had the sickening feeling that this was one of the Seekers that Felix had warned them about.
Jake was almost overcome with the urge to push Nepthys down a nearby side alley, but he knew that doing so would draw attention to them. Caught indecisively, Jake stumbled slightly, drawing the Seeker’s attention.
The man’s piercing grey eyes studied Jake for a moment before dismissing him, his attention starting to move away before snapping back, passing over Jake and focusing on Nepthys.
“That’s an interesting hairstyle you wear,” the Seeker called out, stepping into their path as his guards fanned out. “Not a common one in this area at all. Where did you pick it up?”
“I saw it on a traveller one time and liked it well enough that they taught me how to do it. Not that it’s any business of yours,” Nepthys said in a cool tone, her eyes flicking between the Seeker and his guards.
“Ah, of course, I should have guessed,” the Seeker said with a mirthless smile, his eyes cold as he stepped closer and gestured towards Nepthys’s face. “I can’t see the detail from here, but I can see the blue in the corner of your eye. I know what you are, Inquisitor. Come quietly, and we won’t have a problem.”
The air thrummed with tension, and Jake could see the others turning to see what was happening, but any help from them would be far too late to make a difference.
“You have to run, Jake,” Nepthys said softly, her words pitched low enough to be only for his ears. “There is no winning this here, and we can’t let them take both of us. I’ll make a distraction, you run.”
Jake wanted to argue, wanted to declare their victory, but they were outnumbered and had little more than their blades, whereas the guards were all wearing armour.
Nepthys took Jake’s indecisive silence as agreement as she reached over and pulled him past her, pushing him toward the nearby alley he’d looked at earlier. “Go!”
“Secure the area. Catch the runner!” The Seeker’s voice thundered out as Nepthys drew both her swords and immediately dove to one side to avoid a blast of bright energy.
Jake drew his sword and was about to rush back to help Nepthys when two of the guards pushed their way into the alley, levelling spears at him that were sheathed in a thick layer of Wyrd.
A cry of pain from beyond the two guards was enough to set Jake’s mind, and he turned to run, praying that he was fast enough to keep ahead of them.
Nepthys was losing her fight against the Seeker, and Jake knew he was no match for six armoured guards on his own. No, the only way they were getting out of this one was if they got outside help.
Skidding around a corner, Jake’s eyes went wide as he collided with one of the other guards, who must have been trying to flank around to catch him.
Jake recovered first and did the only thing that made sense, his forehead colliding with the guard’s nose a moment later.
“You fucker!” The guard stumbled back, clutching his face and making an awkward stab at Jake that he deftly slid past.
Despite the broken nose, the guard’s speed and strength reminded Jake that his pursuers were likely at the peak of the first tier.
There would be no room for mistakes here.