Chapter 32: Despair
After his confrontation with her, Crimson stared emptily after Rhea as she escaped him, her tail whipping behind her as her staggering steps led her into a swift retreat into her room. It was completely silent in the room for a long moment before Nav let out a long low whistle.
“What did you put in that prayer to make her act like this,” he asked suspiciously, “I didn’t think about it much before, but for her to be behaving like that…”
He gave Crimson a hard stare, “I’d suggest you be careful. You might be a guest in this house, and I’m not blaming you for doing what was asked, but Alois might not be reasonable if he sees her acting like that.”
Crimson took a long moment to process what he’d just heard, then had a strong feeling of impending doom as he stared at the passage leading to Rhea’s room.
After giving a solemn nod to Nav - receiving a troubled grin in return - he rubbed his tingling palms together - the after-effects of touching Rhea. Her [Affinity] for [Void] brought about a strong sense of rejection for him, an instinctive repulsion as if he had come in contact with rotting refuse.
Nav wandered away, and Crimson stood awkwardly for a long moment before ducking outside. Just being in the Den was too uncomfortable.
The sun was less than halfway into the sky, and a glance at his [Blessing] told him that it was about 10 in the morning. He had nowhere else to go, and no idea where he ought to be to perform the task he’d been hired for, so he just leaned on the railing that ran along the side of the switchback.
Looking down the mountain, he surveyed the area. Lupaken was a large town but was smaller than Falst by a significant amount. The homes on the ground at the base of the mountain weren’t arranged for living, but to act as fortifications, being built in such a way as to generate choke points every few streets.
The roofs were designed to be stood on, but all were angled just slightly toward the mountain to provide cover to anyone who decided to duck down - a perfect place for archers and mages.
Contrasting Lupaken and Falst, Lupaken felt like a sharpened sword, well maintained, and kept in a sheath to be drawn at any given moment. Falst was more like an old wineskin, it had the potential to hold something amazing and valuable, but it had become rotten due to negligence and was no longer watertight.
A presence appeared from the den and approached Crimson. The steps were heavy and slow, but powerful - it was Alois.
Turning, Crimson suppressed - barely - his concern that Alois was there to enact retribution on behalf of Rhea, and quietly waited for Alois to either join him at the railing. Side-by-side, they surveyed the area, quietly inspecting the rough beauty of Lupaken.
Alois spoke, “I have never come across one such as you. For you to have a [Affinity] for [Mana] so great as to make your touch unbearable is…”
He fell silent once more. Unlike the previous silence at breakfast, this one was uncomfortable, Alois’ looming presence felt like a crushing weight and Crimson bit back the urge to take a few steps away from him. Just barely.
Silence remained sovereign as Alois brought his hands out in from of himself, rubbing his palms together and flexing his fingers. He shook his shoulders a few times and bounced on the balls of his feet before turning to Crimson once more.
“I haven’t been able to move very well for years. The last time I was able to properly participate in combat was over a decade ago, the last time I was able to move as well as I have been able to today was five years ago. The only thing to explain this difference is you.”
Crimson slowly tilted his head and met Alois’ gaze.
He had a lot of experience looking at people’s [Will]. It had been one of the first powers he’d gained when he’d come to this world. It was the power he utilized with more accidents and incidental uses than any other, meaning he had used it on many people.
There was no one whose gaze he dreaded more than Alois.
He had met plenty of people stronger than the emaciated wolfkin, even those who were physically larger than him, but he hadn’t dealt with anyone who had the same level of willpower.
Even for Crimson, his will was stronger at certain points than others, he sometimes had to galvanize his will in preparation for eye contact to ensure that he would be able to properly pressure an opponent.
Alois’ will did not waver, it did not weaken, and it honestly scared Crimson.
In Alois’ eyes, Crimson saw a man beating back the reaper with nothing but the sheer force of will. Those eyes, meeting his, allowed him to see more than Alois’ determination to live. He saw yearning and hope.
He swallowed, opened his mouth to speak, then slowly closed it, and waited for Alois to continue.
Alois bent down, allowing Crimson to maintain the crushing eye contact without tilting his head, and spoke, “Is there anything you can do for my daughter? For Rhea?”
“I…don’t know. Maybe?” He responded hesitantly.
Alois’ fixed gaze sharpened, his yearning and hope burning even brighter, “What would it take…what would I have to owe you, for you to even try?”
Crimson shook his head, “For an attempt? I…don’t even know what I would be attempting. Would I be trying to heal her condition? Weaken it? Or would my goal just be to provide her with a short burst of strength like I’m just some form of drug? I just…don’t know.”
[Mana] was Crimson’s biggest area of study and the one he knew the least about. There were some clear ground rules, that he’d figured out through experimentation, but he didn’t know enough.
Alois looked at him heavily, his yearning and hope waning until it seemed like they were flickering in and out of existence.
After taking a deep breath, Alois spoke, “I will do anything for my daughter. Anything. I…am sorry, but I require that you make an attempt to help her. No, you will save her.”
Alois’ gaze became colder, and Crimson felt danger at that moment, “I will not harm you, I will not kill you, and I will not take anything of yours, but until you have saved my daughter, you may not leave Lupaken. Should you leave, I shall pursue you. Should you hide, I shall find you.”
Alois paused, then spoke again with a more gentle tone of voice, “My daughter is my everything. Even if I should be destroyed, I will get your help. If you make no attempt to run, hide, fight, or give up, then I shall be your greatest ally. I will protect you, shelter you, strengthen you, and uphold your desires and dreams with what little life I have left in my body. Everything that Rhea does not receive shall be yours when I pass.
“You need only save my daughter.”
Pure and utter horror filled him, what had Alois just done?
Crimson hated being threatened. He had spent his whole life caged by his own body, once everything else was stripped away, his very core was nothing but the desire and love of freedom - his freedom. This threat was nothing more than a cage, tightening around him, crushing his heart and everything he was. It took from him his hopes, desires, and dreams. Yet at the same time, he didn’t want to leave Rhea to suffer - turning a blind eye when he could at least try something.
He gritted his teeth, caught between two beliefs of his. He didn’t want to leave the girl to suffer, but he also didn’t want to become a prisoner to this wolfkin’s threats. He had ambitions and desires, even the relatively petty desire to attend the Falst tournament in a few weeks would be lost to him now.
Crimson’s rage overflowed. It burned so hot it scorched his throat and left him unable to make a sound as he silently slammed his fist onto the rail in front of him, scraping some of the flesh off and causing a bit of blood to flow. He stared at it for a long, slow moment before turning to Alois to speak with a croaking voice:
“You just had to ask and offer a reward. You just needed to speak to me sincerely and look me in the eyes. Even just leaving me to think for a few minutes would have led to me offering my help for free. I don’t want you or your daughter to suffer either, I do have a conscience. I would have helped, but now…”
Crimson bit back another outburst of rage, suppressed some of the fear roiling in his gut, and took a few deep breaths to help keep his tone level as spoke once more, “Now you threatened me. I want to help because there is a chance, no matter how small, that I might be able to help Rhea. However, by threatening me, you have made it difficult, nearly impossible, for me to agree.
“I will not be cowed, I will not be controlled, and I will not bow to your threats.”
After speaking, Crimson slowly lowered his head into his hands. For the first time in a long time, he remembered what despair felt like. The sensation of falling into a dark pit, a noose around his neck. He felt like he couldn’t breathe it was so strong.
A successful negotiation required equal ground. It didn’t require that both parties be equal in standing or power, but equal ground is requisite for an exchange to occur. Alois, believing that he couldn’t reach that same ground had tried to forcibly equalize them, and had only sent them permanently askew.
How could he resolve this? Even if Alois promised that his threats would be dropped, that kind of thing could not be forgotten. He could pretend as if they’d never been made, but making that kind of compromise felt impossible. What could he do?
WHAT COULD HE DO?!
Nothing. He could do…nothing.
He could neither completely refuse Alois, and suffer for it, nor could he just give in and accept the figurative collar. It was a life for a life, and Crimson’s life held just as much value as hers - there was no way to tip the scales.
He dropped to his knees and rested his forehead against the railing. In one conversation, he had lost everything.
------------
Everything was going absolutely well for Verity. At her estimate, Crimson ought to have been in Lupaken for a week and she was certain that everything was going well for him. It was Crimson! He had a tendency to make everything go his way.
As for her, she’d been nursing a five-day headache as a result of her intensive studying. While a part of her wondered if it was worth it, she had succeeded in mastering [Lesser Healing: Holy]. She had originally planned on finishing [Lesser Healing: Purity] before [Holy], but it hadn’t worked out that way. Of the [Spells] she needed to master before Crimson returned, she’d finished 2 of the 6.
On the other front, she was worried about - the [Ritual] for her [Affinities] - she’d been making good headway. She’d been attempting to gather all the ingredients and currently had everything she needed to reach Rank 6 in each of the [Holy], [Purity], and [Life] [Affinities], but at Crimson’s advice her goal remained Rank 7 for each, and she was missing a few specific ingredients.
[Holy] had been easy, Crimson’s introduction to High Priestess Rei had given her an invaluable connection to get those ingredients. She was still missing a [Holy Crystal], but it would be delivered soon, possibly today or tomorrow. It had cost her ten thousand Royals, but she had plenty of the reward money from delving into the [Natural Dungeon] that had taken everything from her. She’d probably be broke by the time she gathered the rest of the ingredients, but that wasn’t too important.
No, her bigger problem was the [Life Crystal] and the [Purity Crystal]. There had been a [Purity Crystal] on the market not too long ago, but she’d been outbid by ten times for it, and her financial might couldn’t compare to Rhinese’s, the princess friend of Crimson’s who had won the prize.
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It really annoyed her as Rhinese was her only competition for the [Purity Crystal]. Falst was a city of [Priests] and [Holy], which means that she should have had the greatest struggle and the mightiest competition for those materials under normal circumstances. It was a lucky break that she was grateful for as she now needed to wait for another one to hit the market.
The [Life Crystal] was difficult to obtain for other reasons, [Life] was the most unpopular of the three [Support] type [Classes] in Falst. [Holy] was popular due to the [Hallowed Graveyard] and [Purity’s] defensive nature made it useful regardless of environment, but [Life] - which specialized in the manipulation of plants and the detoxification of poisons - had no environmental advantages in the area.
Neither the [Goblin’s Manor], the [Slime Caverns], nor the [Hallowed Graveyard] allowed for much room for the manipulation of plants, and none of them had a strong reliance on poison, which led to the low popularity of the [Druid Class] in Falst.
Her only lucky break in the task of obtaining the [Life Crystal] was the upcoming tournament in Falst. Many merchants were traveling from all over the continent to cater the event and hawk their wares, which led to low shipping costs and allowed her to request delivery from even further locations. While it would take a while, the one she’d ordered ought to arrive just in time for the tournament.
She still had a chance to beat Crimson to get a [Class]!
With a big grin on her face, Verity pressed her fingers over her eyes and cast [Lesser Healing: Life]. It wouldn’t actually stop her headache, but pretending like it would help did make her feel better.
After a long moment, she stood up and left the guild library to meet up with Mortimer. His childish and confrontational nature was easy for her to take advantage of, so she always had a partner to spar with after egging him on a bit. It was unfortunate, but clear that the same temperament she found useful made it difficult for him to stay in a party for long.
After reaching the ground floor of the guild, she spotted him at a table drinking what looked like ale and waved to him. He pretended to ignore her.
Frowning, Verity stalked over to him and swiped the mostly empty mug of ale out of his hands before downing it in two long swallows.
“Hey, that was mine,” he hollered at her, “you better pay me back!”
She stuck her tongue out at him childishly, “You’ll have to beat me in a spar first!”
The more childishly she acted, the more childishly he would behave, making it easier for her to get him to do what she wanted: fight!
He agreed instantly and began to storm out of the room. Verity surreptitiously dropped a few Royals next to the mug as an apology to the waitstaff for the noise, then leisurely followed Mortimer out the back.
Watching his back in amusement, Verity was tempted to give him a nickname, but that was an old habit she didn’t want to fall back into.
Most good people gave nicknames to indicate intimacy or affection - something positive. Verity had given nicknames to look down on others. It could have been for any number of reasons, but that was what boiled down to her arrogance - thinking she was better than others.
Losing everyone in her party had proven to her that she was in no position to look down on others, so she’d stopped using nicknames.
Verity looked at Mortimer, who was standing across from her in the sparring arena chanting to summon his weapons. His favorite setup was the one he’d used against Verity the first time they’d sparred, a sword, spear, and hammer, but he’d swapped a weapon out every now and then for their sessions to try and get her.
Today, he summoned a very different setup: a dagger, a shield, and a bow. It was the first time she’d seen him exclude one of his favorite weapons, which was interesting.
She had five charges on her new [Skill: Wise Evasion] and had to use one immediately to dodge both the arrow he summoned with magic and the dagger. They shot at her faster than she could normally dodge, so she needed the support of her [Skill].
[Wise Evasion] provided her with a short burst of speed as she stepped to the side, dodging both projectiles by a wide margin and she dashed forward. Mortimer still hadn’t fixed his bad habit of tracking his remote projectile with his eyes, but it mattered less as the dagger was far more responsive than the sword and hammer combined.
Whipping by her from behind, the dagger nearly hit her in the shoulder as she ducked. It got just a few feet past her, stopped dead, then flipped around and came right at her face.
In a smooth motion, she reached up and grabbed the handle, trusting her gut instinct that she’d be able to catch it.
She immediately held the dagger up to protect the part of her chest she saw Mortimer was aiming for as it wrenched in her grip, trying to get away. She changed her mind almost as soon as she finished getting into the defensive stance, trusting her instincts as she stepped aside instead of trying to block.
Her instincts saved her from an arrow to the knee as it became clear that Mortimer’s aim with the bow could still use some work.
He started summoning a new arrow and while he was, she took the opportunity to slam the dagger into the ground then stomp on it, shattering it and causing it to disappear in a shower of light.
This time, Mortimer had the bow leveled at her, and she tensed, waiting to see which way she should dodge before realizing that he wasn’t going to shoot at her yet, probably waiting for her charge.
She flexed her hands a few times, mentally double-checking [Wise Evasion]. It still had four charges and the fifth had almost finished recharging. Perfect.
She swiftly strung together three [Wise Evasions] to approach Mortimer faster than he could respond. She was rewarded with a yelp from him, but he didn’t shoot yet, he’d managed to control his gaze and fool her this time!
She was blindsided by the shield, pitching her forward onto the ground. Mortimer seemed to aim where he thought she’d land and fired.
Growling, she trusted her instincts and activated [Wise Evasion] and tucked into a roll. She managed to pass through the spot Mortimer had been aiming at right before the arrow landed and was back on her feet.
She used to have [Skills] that made it easier for her to track multiple targets in a mental space, but since resetting her [Blessing] she’d lost that support, so tracking both Mortimer’s aim and the shield became a lot harder than it would have been in the past.
Mortimer was also being more clever than he used to be in the past by aiming not just at her, but at where he thought she’d go. He was a quick learner, and a part of her was proud of him for it - she was ‘technically’ training him after all, but the other portion of her, her remaining arrogance, was annoyed that this brat had gotten anything over on her.
He wasn’t a monster like Crimson, but he was a genius, so underestimating him would only be to her detriment.
She watched as his lips mouthed the number five. It seems he’d figured out how many charges she had, and had been counting them. Maybe he was a bit of a monster.
At that moment, one of the charges of [Wise Evasion] had been restored. Noting it, she decided to pretend that it hadn’t. He might know how many charges she had, but that didn’t mean that he knew how long it took for a charge to return.
Sensing danger, she sidestepped and kicked the shield as it flew by her, obscuring Mortimer’s vision for a few valuable seconds. It was enough for her to cross most of the distance between them.
He sent the shield right back at her and demonstrated that he learned from his mistakes by having the shield stop in front of her face, blocking her sight, and leaving her lower body open as a target for his bow.
Lithely, she fainted to the left and tricked him successfully as she juked to the right while the shield went left. He shot an arrow at her in a panic and the shield lurched back toward her.
Making a split second - trusting her gut and her [Skill] she used [Wise Evasion] to dive right into the arrow. It had an effect that boosted her defense while she was using it, and while it was only a split second, it was just enough for her to be hit by the arrow without it piercing her stomach and simultaneously dodge the shield.
It also put her in range of a knockout punch, an advantage she immediately used to hit him in the gut, right in the same place she’d been hit.
Mortimer hit the ground and didn’t get back up, seeming winded. She started using [Lesser Healing: Life] on the bruise that was starting to form on her stomach. While the arrow hadn’t pierced, it certainly hadn’t felt great. She needed to be careful about using [Wise Evasion] that way, it only worked in this case because of how weak Mortimer was.
If he had another level the arrow probably would have gone straight into her.
After she’d topped up her HP, she turned to Mortimer and used [Lesser Healing: Holy] on his gut wound. It was the least she could do after inflicting that wound, and she wanted to go another round.
Like the first time, it was easy to provoke him into another round.
————
Stretching, Verity strolled over to the temple in Phase 1 of Falst. It wasn’t too far, but she figured that she’d check to see if the [Holy Crystal] she’d ordered had arrived. A big grin appeared on her face as she saw a group of wagons by a side entrance. There was an excellent chance that she’d be able to conduct a [Ritual] that evening!
Suppressing her excitement, she chose not to run full force like she wanted to, instead, she walked just a little bit faster.
Entering the Temple, she looked around and grabbed a familiar-looking [Priestess], “Excuse me, have you seen High Priestess Rei?”
Shaking her head, the young [Priestess] responded, “I haven’t seen her in several hours, she’s probably been praying. You should check the Hall of Nine.”
Verity thanked her then sauntered over to the hallway with all the statues of the Gods, with the braziers in front of them. There were nine alcoves, each holding a different statue, and as she walked down the hall she saw a large group of [Priests] in front of the statue of the God of Truth.
Because of how short she was, she couldn’t exactly see over the crowd into the alcove to see what was happening, so she tapped an [Priest] on the shoulder.
“Excuse me, what’s happening here,” she asked politely.
“Ahh, dear child,” he responded warmly, he was younger than her, but she decided to let that slightly insulting phrase pass without challenge, “one of the Head Priests, a faithful named Priest Damus, has managed to procure an offering of great value to present to the God of Truth, and we all get to bear witness!”
Verity lightly ignored the slightly fanatical edge to the [Priest’s] words and said, “Cool,” when had she picked that word up from Crimson? “Do you happen to know where High Priestess Rei is?”
“She should be arriving shortly dear child, why don’t you join us in venerating the God of Truth and basking in his light?”
Verity shifted uncomfortably, then verified, “Rei will be coming here?”
He nodded in response, turning his attention back to the statue with a gleam in his eyes.
It would probably be better to wait here for Rei then, while she wasn’t exactly comfortable with people who worshipped the gods excessively, like the [Priest] she’d been talking with seemed to, she also didn’t want to wander around and accidentally miss Rei.
A loud clunk echoed through the hall, silencing the [Priests], as a large stool was placed next to the brazier, and a dapper man stepped onto it to speak.
“Hello my brothers and sisters in the faith, I am ever so overjoyed to speak with you at this time. We come together to…”
Verity tuned him out and paid closer attention to him.
Damus was only dapper at a glance. Looking closer, she could see that he had bags under his eyes and his mustache was ragged, both of which were subtle in their being out of place like they’d been significantly worse recently and had since been put back in order.
Her attention snapped back to him and his words when she processed that ‘[Holy Crystal]’ had been said and he reached into his robes to hold one aloft. A sinking feeling was felt in her gut and a sense of horror struck her harshly.
Rei had only mentioned one [Holy Crystal] being found, not two. Which meant…
Behind her, she heard running footsteps and turned to see High Priestess Rei sprinting toward them, a panicked expression on her face.
Verity, gut feeling guiding her, whipped around to watch Damus. It wasn’t extremely subtle, but his smug expression would be easy to wave off as being unrelated to Rei’s actions.
Speaking loudly, clearly, and only slightly faster, Damus declared, “This [Holy Crystal] is hereby dedicated to the God of Truth,” and threw it into the brazier, where it disappeared in a shower of sparks, which floated up past the face of the statue, causing the eyes to glow gold.
Verity was not a [Priest], and [Classless] as well. She wanted to shout, to stop him, but it would only make things worse if she did say anything, so she bit her tongue hard enough to make it bleed and waited for Rei to reach them.
While the hall was big and would take time for even her to cross, Verity found herself extremely annoyed with the low [AGI] of the [Priest Class]. If only Rei had gotten there sooner!
Finally reaching them, Rei glanced at Verity apologetically then stalked past her, the crowd of [Priests] diving to get out of her way.
A loud, clear, and angry voice resounded from Rei, “Damus, that [Holy Crystal] had been purchased by an adventurer!”
Damus looked back at Rei with a baffled expression. Verity instinctively knew that he was gloating, and felt her face twisted in rage.
“Whatever might you be talking about High Priestess Rei? I discovered this vendor and purchased the [Holy Crystal] myself! I would never have done anything as crass or crude as stealing something that rightfully belonged to another!”
Verity slowly stalked through the crowd, carefully restricting her expression that only wanted to twist further. It was yet another situation she was useless in!
Rei gestured at Verity, “I assisted this adventurer in purchasing it, I informed her, made the offer, and set the price for her acquisition of the [Holy Crystal]. Care to explain how you could not know these things? We keep quite clear records.”
Damus stroked his mustache elegantly, looking at her with an imperious expression that could easily have been mistaken as concern for her.
“Yes,” he said with ‘concern,’ “let us double-check the records.”
Verity heard Rei curse next to her under her breath, “Gods, he planned for this!”
Damus gestured at the [Priest] Verity had spoken with earlier and he went off to fetch the records. Returning, the same records were handed to Damus and he lick a finger to begin to turn the pages.
“When, might I ask, was this order placed? What is the adventurer’s name?” He asked, more fake concern oozing off of him.
Rei did an excellent job hiding her hatred, the hatred Verity only saw as a result of the [Aura Reading] she’d activated a few minutes ago, while the [Priest] had been retrieving the records, as she said, “Verity, two weeks ago on Istday.”
“Ahh yes,” Damus said like it was a sudden realization, “the generous donor! Not often you see a commoner or adventurer offer as much as 10,000 Royals to the Temple!”
Verity felt sick.
Rei choked, then responded, “10,000 Royals was the price we agreed upon for the [Holy Crystal], [Priest] Damus.”
“There is no way,” he responded firmly, “you, yourself expressed great confidence in our records, and our records clearly show,” he turned the book around, “that these 10,000 Royals were clearly a faithful donation!”
“A remarkably helpful one at that,” he said happily, “I would never have been able to procure this [Holy Crystal] for our beloved God of Truth were it not for your generosity!”
With a malevolent gleam in his eye, he said, “She must have learned such charity from her fellow party member, Crimson!”
Verity, Rei, they had both been had. Rei had dug them into a hole by demanding the records, while Verity’s association with Crimson - who had excellent standing with the [Priests] of the temple, made her actions plausible. Any actions Rei could take now would only be seen as jealousy for not being the one to offer it herself. Verity would be treated as her scapegoat and receive some pity, but regardless, they had lost.