CHAPTER 342 – IT’S NEVER THAT SIMPLE

They had seen the sights, but they were still on a deadline and if anything, everything had become more urgent. The high level of the sapients and the myriad of choke points meant the city was going to be almost impossible to crack militarily.

“We have to quest faster.” Keikain said what they had all been thinking. “Get new quests and gather as many contribution points as possible. We’re going to need them.”

“Agreed,” Michael said immediately, and their previously aimless walk curled back toward the centre of the city. Every permanent fortification, village, town and minor city they had visited had contained a Judicial Caste building, and they were always in the centre of things where it was easy to find. The eye-catching purple and white sphere always marked the location even when it was no more than a tent. Given the number of senses it had to accommodate the marker was very particular in its characteristics. Besides those previous details, it was always hot to touch for those species that functioned in infra-red wavelengths and when observed with magic sense you could see a spiral travelling through it which glowed with the feeling of the sun. The magic type chosen was deliberate. Given they were hundreds of metres under the surface, to the locals the echo of the sun was very distinctive.

Their target when they found it had a sphere that was almost ten times larger than all the others they had seen. Even with its enhanced size it almost seemed small in comparison to the structure it marked. A massive, intricate creation with columns to hold up the roof and no external walls although there were internal partitions. It was nearly as grand as the point of power had been. More impressive, actually, because this felt like it was created by mortals. While that crystal construction had been extraordinary, it had also been otherworldly, like it had been a creation of a GOD which distracted slightly from its impact.

They entered the grand structure and found themselves in what had to be the atrium. An immense room with the ceiling ten metres above them and dimensions that would not be out of place in a throne room of a minor lord. It was unclear where they were supposed to go. The city was a slime city, and this building was designed accordingly. There were no nice, obvious rows of counters for them to approach. Instead, there was what he would describe as display cases, a series of stacked alcoves that contained a single slime each. There were no recognisable patterns or marks on the floor to direct them toward a liaison that could help them.

Michael took a few seconds to assess the room and pointed at a slime which was in an alcove where its top was at eye height. “We’ll try that one. Tom, can you do the honours?”

He froze, not sure how to respond. The choice looked random; he checked the target with his identification abilities. It was weak at the lower end of the slimes in the room, but hardly unique in that regard. “What am I missing? Why that one?”

The healer grinned. “It’s an educated guess. Physically it is a low rank but despite that its sitting in one of the better alcoves, that’s suspicious. With a lack of actual information, it’s a good point to start. Plus, I’m not going myself. I’m sending you.”

“Very funny,” he muttered. Then his eyes swept over alcoves and assessed the rank of the people in each of them. The ones on the floor level were filled with slimes ranked around thirty-six and the next height level, which Tom knew as the best position in slime culture was occupied with forties. Above that, almost linearly, the rank of the slimes reduced as they got higher. The neighbours of the thirty-two-rank slime that Michael had identified were all thirty-eight or nine. Tom glanced at Michael with a slightly worried expression. “Hopefully, this isn’t a prince or something like that.”

“We’ll see, we’ll see.” Michael whispered, amused before he pushed him in the shoulder to encourage him to go forward. “If it is, then Social Silence will save you.”

Tom approached very aware that in this room, even with the chosen to defend them not all of them would survive if a fight broke out. The power level of their opponents was too far above them. It was possible if things went awry none of them would come out of it alive, their fellow competitor allies included.

The slime stirred as he approached. Small movements that acknowledged him. Tom monitored his skill by continually framing questions and pushing them right to the point of asking and registering the slight swirl of physical reaction the process caused. The method let him test a phrase while reducing the bodily impact.

“I greet you.” He finally said after a silence approaching almost a minute had elapsed. “We are looking for the best person to help us find quests that need solving.”

Then he waited patiently. Another sixty seconds passed, which told them all how far above them the slime placed itself. “Impressive. You came directly to the right person.” It hummed to itself. “You’re astute, clever and too perceptive by far for my comfort.”

He delayed until it became polite to respond once more. “It is a function of being an adventurer. You have to be intelligent to survive.”

“A quick but meaningless response. Your casing of the city’s defences along with the point of power, is that the usual action of an adventurer?”

The accusation hung there. Tom wished Michael would intercede, but this was something that his ability could cope with better, so he knew this was on him. The long silence that the conversation called for let his body physically react to the sudden flare of fear. His heartbeat faster and sweat ran down from his underarms. If the person he was addressing had been human, he would have bowed his head apologetically to diffuse the tension with body language, but with a slime such an action would be useless. A non-response was his only choice. “The place of power was beautiful, and we always explore unknown places. It is sensible.”

Another long pause greeted his words.

“There is a difference between exploring and scoping.”

It took all his discipline learnt when hiding from stronger enemies to stop himself from glancing at the gathered slimes. There were too many of them to fight he already knew that. Visually confirming whether they were preparing to attack would do nothing but alarm them and risked tipping everything over the edge. Tom knew he couldn’t afford that. This needed to be resolved peacefully. “What do you mean by scope?” Tom blurted out surprised that his skill let him react so freely.

“You are no imbecile. You know the meaning of the word I used don’t you?”

“It has multiple meanings in my native tongue. I assume you are using it in the context of ‘to assess and investigate something.’ Is that correct?” Tom responded carefully. “I’m confused as to why you think we would want to do that? What would I be investigating.”

“That’s a good question?”

It seemed amused and Tom expected a clarification, but none were forthcoming.

This time he waited for the longest period of time yet until he was sure he had to reply before his silence switched into the realm of rudeness. “I take it our sight seeing has caused problems and if you are aware of our actions today, you probably possess detailed reports covering all we’ve achieved over the last week. I’m sure they’re clear that there has been no contact with the surface.”

Another pause. “I am not convinced that assertion is as accurate as you imply. Your team regularly creates loot portals to send and receive. What you do with them is unexplained.”

Tom heard a gasp of surprise from Gerald and the shifting of the feet of his whole team. They went from tense but relaxed to be ready to fight. A slight but significant change to transition from resting into battle stance. All Tom could think was that they should have done it earlier. The latest revelation, at least to his mind was not as significant as the earlier ones.

Around them all the slimes stirred. It felt like all activity in the room had ceased, so hundreds of slimes that were all higher ranked than them could stare at him.

He wet his lips and prayed the others would not overreact. Being prepared was one thing. But turning that into aggression would be the height of stupidity. The stone against his chest controlled by his domain roiled. His emotions were getting the better of him. Mentally, he suppressed the movement and hoped it hadn’t been noticed. His instincts, that fight or flee reaction when facing en enemy were out of control.

They knew! It was the only thought that was going through his head.

The desire to summon his spear left him almost trembling from the effort it took to resist it.

Fucking Control Yourself! He screamed internally.

The slime was waiting for a response. “We’re a competitor race. We have access to chat with our friends and those we consider family. All we have done is keep in contact with them.”

“Where are they?”

‘Not here,’ he wanted to say, but social silence wouldn’t let him. A chill washed through Tom when he realised what that probably meant. His words were being assessed for truth. He wasn’t allowed to lie. “A long way away.” he equivocated. Everlyn’s team, in terms of their position in the zone might have been on the other side of the earth. Tom considered his statement to be absolutely accurate unlike his first attempt, and Social Silence let it through. His fear intensified. If this went sideways… he remembered his promise from yesterday. If that happened, he would have to run. Tom licked his lips and deliberately steadied his breathing while his domain mapped out an escape route. Unfortunately, there was no way he could take anyone else with him.

They had been arrogant, and their ploy had been seen through. He wondered how much of this conversation was a result of Keikain’s thoughtless words earlier. If he hadn’t said anything… well, if that was the cause he would suffer the consequences and Tom couldn’t protect him.

The slime stirred. “You must think very poorly of us with your half truths and dishonesty.” It was delivered flatly, and Tom had never been so aware of his surroundings. None of the locals began to gather magic to themselves or started to form complex spells… but… the natives knew they had the advantage and he hoped this was not a presumed victor’s monologue. “We are not idiots and we have learnt more about how this shard world functions than you have. Are you really so arrogant to assume that we don’t know the conditions required to break out to the outside? We know, and it makes your surveillance of our strategic fortifications rather suspicious.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Tom licked his lips. He wanted to interrupt, but his throat was like a vice was clamped upon it.

“Your lack of instinctive denial is noted and appreciated. To open up a path to the outside is difficult and we know the points of power both here and on the surface must be aligned. We are familiar with the rules and have been from the start. There have been comments raised about how it’s curious, no not curious, how it’s suspicious that you haven’t organised an army to assault the surface!”

“Because I don’t want a war.”

“Cease the platitudes. They do not serve the obfuscation purpose you intend for them. We are not fools. We know you came with another group, and then broke in half with you coming here and them joining the surface kingdoms. On the topic of the portals… your so-called communication with friends and family. How many of the ones who split off from you are in that category?”

“Some of them.” Tom answered.

He wondered what emotions Michael was picking up? Was the slime smiling at him? Was it acting in a predatory matter or from a platform of cold logic? He couldn’t tell, but he imagined it smirking at him in glee as it sprang its traps.

“And have you been communicating with them since you got here?”

There was nothing that Tom could say. Everything he could argue about would undermine his position.

They knew everything!

The slime let the silence stretch. “You see, the problem, don’t you? As I said at the start, you are collectively all to astute by half. Clever enough to be dangerous but possibly dumb enough to think you had a chance of being successful.”

“We haven’t betrayed you or even discussed it.”

“No equivocations this time and you jumped straight to the crux of the issue. I’m impressed and you I believe, but I wonder would your companions be able to say the same?”

“We would,” Michael interrupted. “We’ve probably all privately thought about what you’re suggesting, but we haven’t conferred on what actions are needed to achieve that final global requirement. Aligning the points of power has been the only unresolved issue for days.”

“I would have thought logically it would be solved by backstabbing one of us mid-fight. Isn’t that why you set up this way? Sending half down here and half up there.”

“I’m not going to insult your intelligence by saying that is not an option, but we are investigating other alternatives first.” Michael stared defiantly at the slime.

“I believe you.”

The tension that had filled Michael vanished and the healer, despite his experience almost physically sagged in relief.

Tom was very glad they hadn’t had time to debate their future plans. Instead, their intentions had all been left unspoken with all of them on the same wavelength. They had been lucky. The revelation of the strength of the city would have forced a frank conversation the moment they had privacy.

If the slimes had waited a couple of hours before making their accusations… Tom internally shuddered… then he doubted Michael and he could have made the definite statements toward their innocence that they had.

There was a big difference between being able to say we have not discussed anything versus admitting an intention to betray their hosts.

“We will continue to treat you as allies.”

“Thank you.”

“But a friendly word of warning. Your half-baked plan it won’t work. The surface kingdoms are not stupid. They will be watching your companions as hard as we’ve watched you. Be careful in your desperation. Collectively, even with your surface allies you are not strong enough to tilt the results of the battle between our forces. If I was in your place, I would search for a different solution. Now let us turn our focus toward more pleasant topics like economic realities. I believe it was to discuss local quests.”

Michael seemed to be almost on auto-pilot as he took down the details of half a dozen local quests and some more significant ones that dealt with major threats at the far reaches of the dweller’s collective communities.

Tom felt for him, his own clothes were soaked with sweat. The conversation had destroyed all their faith in their ability to influence the zone. They had underestimated everything. Foolishly, they had thought the split without playing the sides off against each other was clever. It was an easy mistake. It was a small matter to assume the trial might help them by enforcing a blind spot in the locals. A reasonable hypothesis that the setup would allow them to grind reputation with the key fractions until they were trusted enough that they, when they betrayed them would be able to do immense damage. It had been a false hope which had been proven wrong: there was no artificial obstruction to aid them.

That delusion had been shattered. They had a façade of sapience, which excluded such manipulation. They were smart and had seen through their ploy effortlessly.

With quests in hand and a new urgency, they left the city in silence.

“Keikain your view?” Michael asked with a sigh once they were clear of any observers.

“We’re on the clock, but it’s not super urgent. Providing we construct a plan in the next few days, we’ll have a chance to execute it. But backstabbing as part of their army is clearly not going to work for us or Everlyn’s team. We can’t let her try. The dwellers warned us explicitly that the surface kingdoms will be waiting for that, and I trust their judgment more than my own. We don’t know how they think? It sounds like they enjoy playing games and would be willing to go down the path of pretending to be vulnerable right until they act and then crush them.”

“I’ll warn her.” Thor promised. Then he turned to face Tom. “Can you direct a dream tonight.”

“Is this the same question like the last five days or do you have an idea to resolve the current mess.”

“Yes, it is Tom. It’s been eight days since the wador split. They haven’t returned yet, and that’s too long.”

“For goodness sakes, Thor, if it was about saving us now I’ll do it tonight. But as a salve for Selena’s emotions. Nope. I’m not even going to consider it. If there’s nothing in two days, then maybe I’ll do it then.”

They completed the quests they had been assigned. Brief intense battles that the forces amassed in the centre of the city could have easily managed by themselves unlike in the outer lying territories where the communities genuinely needed the help. That knowledge sapped the excitement and the feel of achievement from them.

They returned, and they felt like outsiders. There was a sense of impending violence that accompanied them like they were standing under a guillotine and the natives were going to attack them at any moment.

“It’s amazing what a single conversation can do,” Gerald observed. “This is bloody eerie. We need to make a decision because the uncertainty is getting to me.”

“It’s coming,” Thor promised. “Everlyn has a plan. She’s finalising it as we speak.”

“How hard is it to write down that we’re going to war,” Keikain said fatalistically.

“We’ll see what she comes up with,” Thor said evenly. “I would like to think that given the power of the natives here that there are alternative approaches available. A team made up of members of competition species shouldn’t be struggling against a zone only thirty percent stronger than them.”

“Not thirty percent stronger.” Keikain snapped in annoyance. “We’re talking about ranks. A third stronger, a third harder to kill, a third more agile.”

“We know the mathematics.” Michael interrupted.

“A third more magic, which makes them almost three times stronger.” The earth mage finished angrily.

“Which the rest of our skills and advantages negate,” Michael said. “Which is why we’ve crushed the previous zones when we had the same differential.”

They stared at each other awkwardly and then debated various options they could use to solve the last piece of the puzzle.

“It’s here. Finally.” Thor called out as a portal opened in front him. He pulled out a multiple page letter which had to contain significantly more words than was needed if it was just to declare a basic we’re going to have a big fight strategy. Hopefully that meant she and Vidja had come up with a proper strategy. As he usually did, he started reading the note before sharing. “Tell us what’s in it.” Michael complained.

“Headline plan is to bribe the two surface kingdoms who control their points of power to channel wind energy through them. Get them to do it for an hour and then we’ll be able to leave.”

“If she thinks she can do that, then why were you frowning.” Michael asked.

“Oh, I think she definitely believes her plan is sound. She has assurances from both kingdoms, providing we put together the required materials. That’s the problem. She has sent us a list and even underground it’s going to take days maybe a week to gather.”

Keikain was grimacing. “That’s going to push us a bit too close to the deadline for the zones collapse to be comfortable. What happens if the surface kingdoms betray us? We won’t have time to react”

The healer shrugged helplessly. “This is better than any plan we’ve come up with. The dwellers don’t want war with the surface, and Everlyn has suggested the same for them. A bribe for them to channel a different energy seems more feasible than engineering a conflict considering the public inertia. Plus, we might not need to source it all ourselves. I have a feeling that the Judicial Caste was probably looking for us to do something like this. It’s the only reason I can think of why they gave us so much leeway. By rights, they should have crushed us when it was clear we were considering betraying them.”

They spent an hour discussing the details of what they had to do and then Michael got up and rushed towards the door.

“Wait,” Tom called out. “Where are you going? If we leave, we go together. That was what we decided.”

Michael hesitated clearly torn over what to do. He studied Tom’s face. “You look exhausted. I thought, given our time pressures.”

“Yes, I’m fatigued because I’m dreaming every single bloody night. But we’re not splitting our group in this city. If we do, it’s too easy for it to end in disaster. Together, we might not be able to win, but we will extract a toll if they attack. If we split, they can just eliminate the threat without cost.”

The healer sighed. “I know. You’re right. The idea was stupid. We’ll go tomorrow.”

Tom went to sleep and was woken with careful prods from a spear. “I’m up.” He groused and took the offered plate. It was meat and three vegies without the vegies. “What’s the plan?” He asked while using the fork to lift the entire stake to bite rather than use the knife. “Given the discussion last night I’m guessing we want to go straight to the Judicial building?”

“That’s no longer necessary.”

He glared at Michael. “Don’t tell me you were stupid enough to sneak off by yourself after we discuss the risks.”

“Nothing like that Tom. Our liaison visited here. I suspect the surveillance was more extensive than we realised. It came prepared to negotiate and I reckon we chattered for about four hours until we were both satisfied.”

“And…”

“They’ll help, but would also like to see if Everlyn can make more firm peace overtures.”

“They want what?” Tom was shocked by that suggestion, but no one else reacted. They probably already knew.

“Their request is for an hour of all the points of power channelling wind magic every month, and they’re willing to pay for it.”

“And is us achieving that contingent on getting their help short term.”

Michael shook his head. “No, it’s just a bonus for them that we’ve asked Everlyn to convey to the kingdom’s above. It’s the least we can do. They’ve been very accommodating. We owe them this. If they were less genuine people, we would be dead.”

But what’s the point if they’re going to die right after we leave when the level collapses… Tom thought but wisely said nothing out loud.

Then he reconsidered. Did he know that for a fact? He didn’t! The GODs or the trial spirit could do anything they wanted in the background. All he knew for certain was if he remained on a level after the deadline, then he would die. There was no way for someone of his power to truly determine how the trial worked.

Even the facade of sapience might be a lie. He hoped not, but it was more than possible that they were people who had a veil placed over them purely to stop Keikain’s and Clare’s feeding. And such a lie would also serve an alternative purpose of allowing the competitors to kill without any associated guilt.

This world shard could be an actual place. A persistent existence where their actions could have an impact. A devastating one if they killed and a longer term positive one if they established a peace treaty.

As he thought about it, Tom could feel the truth of the moment. It was the same feeling of certainty he sometimes got when unravelling the purpose of fate and of course when he had derived his plan to steal another species’ racial trait.

Tom glanced at Keikain who had killed the young guide for absolutely no benefit. He decided it was best to keep his new revelations to himself.