Chapter 73: Welcome to the Party
After a few days of preparation, with documentation and research led by Encio and John, the team prepared to engage Oswald Willard, the local Adventure Society head. Sage was a great boon to the party in their preparations; she remembered every trial that had ever occurred in thousands of years. According to her, there were repetitions.
The trial was more procedurally generated than true randomness, but that concept was a bit to involved to explain to the rest. To Encio and the rest, the trial had patterns it copied and reused. For an iron ranker that could only enter once, they’d never see repetition.
“Nara, you keep quiet. If you speak, you’re going to make matters worse,” Encio said, “Sen and I will take care of this. It’s time to act like scions, young master Arlang.” He arched up his eyebrows with a wide grin, implying he found asserting his background agreeable when it was making him a hellion.
“As you say, young master Aciano.”
They shared a fist bump, which had been picked up by the party members.
*****
Oswald Willard stared at a party of six iron rank adventurers who had just told him some extremely upsetting news. If what they said what true, Sanshi’s recent rise to popularity as the premier location for iron rank adventurer development was at risk. The trial had been discovered a few thousand years ago, but bi-yearly ventures into the trial had only started organization for the past few decades. Before then, the trial was only known by word of mouth, and most iron rank adventurers and their families didn’t bother with the trip from their hometowns.
The adventurers were not lying to him, he could tell from their auras.
“Can you tell me why, mister Arlang, what possessed your team to free the being that oversaw the trials?”
“It’s as we said, branch head. We were sympathetic to the plight of an astral being trapped in an untenable situation. As essence users, we should now allow the exploitation of another being for our own benefit, no matter how great the gain,” Sen replied with a perfectly straight poker face that indicated he saw nothing wrong at all with his line of reasoning.
“It’s an astral being, mister Arlang. They serve. It’s what they do.”
“And Messengers think the same towards us, branch head. They think of all races besides themselves are servants to be subjugated,” Sen didn’t say it explicitly, but the implication was clear.
“You dare compare me to the Messengers? With those that slaughter and terrorize others? I am nothing like them.”
“The comparison is there, branch head.”
He let the iron rankers feel his rage in his aura, pressing down on theirs with his. It should be enough for them to lose their cool, but not enough to hurt them. He was deeply dissatisfied with the current situation, if true, but wouldn’t go so offensively far with his aura. They were iron rankers, and he was a silver ranker. It was disgraceful for him to push them too far.
It shook most of them; he could feel their auras straining beneath his.
Enciodes Aciano and Sen Arlang held up better than most, the strain evident in their auras but not in their faces. Those two were adept at hiding it.
But the sixth member, Nara Edea, let the suppression roll off of her like a gentle breeze over a grassy hill. He couldn’t get a grip on her aura, not with this level of pressure. He could push further—
“Branch head,” Sen Arlang interrupted his thoughts, “We understand that this information raises concerns of the future of Sanshi. Which is why we have organized information pertaining to the trial that will prove advantageous for the future. In fact, it may significantly reduce the difficulty of the more so than the presence of the trial guide.”
Which was a moot point considering that there was no decision to be made about the trial guide. She was gone.
Sen slid a folder compiled with the information the group had gathered from Sage.
“Additionally, as a gesture of gratitude for our assistance, the astral being in question has provided a great deal of information about the outside force besieging our world. You are aware of the worldwide issue of assassinated researchers, mister Willard?”
“I am,” Oswald said, “And I am aware that some of your team members have been assisting us with that investigation.”
“It’s all in there, Willard,” Encio said, leaning forward to tap on the folder, “The enemy, their methods, their purpose.”
Oswald started to reach for it, but Encio gently pulled it back.
“Ah-ah.”
He glared at Encio, “Getting smart with me, Aciano?”
“You have an idea of what we want, Willard.”
“No punishment, no publicity. Am I close?”
“The astral being disappeared—big deal,” Encio said, with a tone that indicated anyone who actually thought so was an idiot. “New iron rankers won’t know she was there to begin with. We keep it quiet, and the Adventure Society, no, this world gets a head start on the encroaching threat.”
“This information should be offered freely, Aciano,” Willard said, his voice booming in the small meeting room, “If what you have is genuine, this concerns the fate of the world.”
“And yet, you have half a mind to punish us for an unactionable offense? I have no doubt it crossed your mind to expel us from the society.” Encio held up his hand, “And Willard, I’ve read the Adventure Society charter in full. What we did isn’t an offense or a crime.”
Oswald rubbed his temped with his hand, “I’m not the enemy here, Aciano.”
“We’re just some iron rankers,” Encio said, “We could never be your enemy, just annoyances. And yet, you’ve considered it.”
Oswald sighed, “We all consider ‘things’ in our anger, Aciano. I had no intention to expel you all from the society.”
Encio raised a questioning eyebrow, but didn’t push things further, satisfied with this level of verbal acknowledgement. Willard didn’t know if the full team or if a single person was responsible for Sage’s liberation. If it was a single person, he may have been able to single them out and expel them. But since the full team offered a unified front, expelling one or two of them but not the problematic scions would be clear favoritism.
Oswald had no intention of pandering to the great families; this was his Adventure Society. He wanted competent adventurers that would do their job.
Any good adventurer was troublesome and uncooperative, by nature. Anyone who constantly seeks challenge to improve doesn’t improve into a pushover. Which meant that despite the mess these adventurers said they had created, he couldn’t help but like them, though he kept his expression outwardly stern. Oswald relaxed his aura, letting the iron rankers take trembling breaths of relief. They were putting up a good front for their inexperience.
“Like I said, I had no intention of expelling any of you from the society.”
“Can’t be too careful,” Encio said with an unreadable smile.
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Oswald conceded the point with a tilt of his head. “Which is why I’m not angry with all of you. I was once an iron rank adventurer. Not as precocious as the rest of you—” he glared “—but I’ve had my spats with higher rankers. Can I?” Oswald gestured to the folder.
Encio nodded, finally acquiescing.
He leaned back in his chair, calmly flipping through the information offered to him. It was expertly organized, likely the result of the detective duo plus the Aciano scion, who knew his way around paperwork.
It was all laid out for him—the request of the astral being, the information given by the astral being as gratitude, compiled information on the trial (which was extensive and detailed), and suggested steps the society could take to streamline the trial process and mitigate its dangers.
“If you even decide to quit adventuring,” Oswald said, “I’d hire you as officials. This is exemplary work. Organized, detailed, thorough, yet concise.” He scanned through the folder again, “Really, consider it.”
“Have we settled the situation?”
“Yes,” Oswald said, “Even without all this, I wouldn’t just sent you all on a punishment contract to clear out monsters in the far out villages, which you seem to be doing anyway. There’s not much more the adventure society can do beyond that. This is a volunteer organization.”
“Besides expelling us.”
“Yes, besides expelling you.”
Oswald got up from his chair, “If you’ll excuse me, I need to contact the other branches with this information.”
“Ah, please wait a moment, Oswald,” Encio said with a gleaming smile.
“What is it, Aciano?” Oswald said, displeased with his impoliteness.
“Our teammate here happened to summon the former guide as a familiar.”
“What? You didn’t think to mention this earlier?”
“Hey,” Nara said, giving a small wave, “Sage?”
The familiar manifested, as a floor length robe of gleaming white. Oswald recognized the familiar by description: A hooded silver robe, filled with silver dust.
“Sage is willing to cooperate with the Adventure Society regarding the issue at hand,” Nara said.
“If you have use of it, mister Willard, I am willing to offer any knowledge I possess.”
“And,” Encio said, “Nara here has access to the entire Celestial Book library.”
Willard shut his eyes, silent.
“When were you planning on telling me this?”
“When we thought you weren’t going to be an asshole about all this,” Nara said.
“Nara,” Sen gently admonished, “What did we say about language with high rankers?”
“I’ve kept my mouth shut this whole time and she’s the one that gets to be pithy first?” Eufemia complained.
“Eufemia,” Sen admonished her too, “Are you proud of yourself for competing with Nara on this matter?”
She grumbled back to silence.
“As Nara ‘summarized’,” Encio said with sneering charm that prompted an eyeroll from Willard, “We wanted to determine your inclinations, Willard. This sort of information is very valuable. If you weren’t ‘fair’, we would find an Adventure Society head that was. If not an Adventure Society head, I’m sure the Continental Council would lend us their ear.”
“I don’t appreciate being tested, Aciano, but I will let this slide on account of the magnitude of the situation.”
He gave them a glare, fed up with all the iron rankers in the meeting room.
After an aura prod that was a non-verbal ‘get out of my office before I change my mind’, they made themselves scarce.
*****
“Well, I think that went well,” Nara said back at Encio’s suite, “Do you believe the guy when he said he wouldn’t punish us?”
“I couldn’t see anything from him,” Eufemia said, “A bronze ranker I might be able to manage but not a silver ranker.”
Encio crossed his arms, balancing precariously on his chair, a casual display of his exceptional balance and dexterity, “I believe him, but my stance is always one of caution. If Sen and I weren’t there, I’d expect he’d more thoroughly consider heavy-handed measures. But…”
“But what?”
“But it is true the situation is not extreme,” Sen said, continuing for Encio, “The Adventure Society’s hands off approach regarding the trial turned out to our benefit.”
“Ah,” Nara realized, “Since they say almost nothing about the trial to begin with, nobody knows that anything is different than previous year.”
“Unless somebody went and asked someone from a previous year,” Eufemia pointed out.
“Even then, it’s widely known that the trial changes every time,” Encio said, “If it changes from year to year, it won’t arise any suspicion. They would have to ask those from multiple years about their trial.”
“Most adventurers aren’t research minded,” Aliyah said, “They won’t expend the effort that such verification would require. They would not ask about a trial they’ve already passed, more preoccupied with training their new abilities and advancing to bronze rank. Then, adventurers will scatter as they rank up, traveling to other cities in higher magic zones. The trial will be but one page in the book of their lives, long forgotten.”
“Oswald Willard…” Encio pondered, turning over the image of the man in his mind.
“You’re thinking of whether he cares about the lives of the iron rankers,” Sen said.
“What is it with you? Isn’t Eufemia supposed to be the mind reader?”
“It’s emotion reading, not mind-reading!” Eufemia protested, “And I haven’t even gotten a chance to really use it!” She threw her hands up, “What’s the point of reading emotions if political backing will do the job!”
“Except trying to win a card game against me,” Encio said.
“And even then, it doesn’t help. Some ability!”
“On that front,” said John, “The damage was done. He couldn’t demand Sage goes back to serve as trial guide again.”
“Especially not when she had already become a familiar,” Aliyah added.
“So he was working on damage control,” Nara concluded.
“And that’s why,” Encio said, “It’s likely he would have done nothing at all. Punishing us creates noise, especially with the people at our backs. Better to let it lie low, and push John’s trial improvement plans as a way of improving Sanshi’s overall reputation.”
Nara felt a smidge bad for Oswald Willard who had just been bullied by the two scions of the team.
*****
The team was enjoying breakfast, once again fetched by Nara from an eatery downstairs, when a knock sounded from Encio’s door. He went to answer it, returning back to the table.
“What is it?”
“Apparently, a priest from the Church of Knowledge is here for us. He’s been sent as a liaison to work with us and the Adventure Society regarding the library stored in Nara’s mind.”
“Are we going down to meet him?”
“We can just let him in.”
“Might as well. Maybe he wants some food.”
Encio’s hotel, Jade Garden, had security befitting of a hotel catered towards essence users. Priests were well respected by normal people, but even they could not directly knock on Encio’s door without an invitation up first.
The elf that stepped into the room was in his early twenties. He was scrawny, for an essence user, with pale blond hair tied into a shoulder length braid and a skin tone that seemed perpetually anemic. Soda-bottle glasses would have suited him to a T, but essence users had no need for glasses.
“H-hello,” He said with a slight nervous stutter, “I’m Lawrence Ruffolk, priest of Knowledge.”
“Hi Lawrence,” Nara said with the tone of elementary students greeting their teacher. He could have sworn Lawrence’s nervousness broke for a second to shoot her a dirty, unappreciative look.
“Why don’t you take a seat,” Encio gestured, “Make yourself comfortable. Have a bite to eat.”
Lawrence did, sitting gingerly on the open chair offered to him.
“So? What does a priest of Knowledge want with us.”
“My goddess has sent me here to record all of the new knowledge Nara has acquired in the astral space.”
“Shouldn’t Knowledge…already know?”
“My goddess says your ability records all of what you see like a saving a PDF file. If you have not read it, you do not know the knowledge, although it is stored within you. Therefore, my goddess does not know the knowledge either.”
“Did he just say PDF?” John said. “We all heard that, right?”
“My goddess says, she is aware of all of the terms and technology from your world, mister Aurelius.”
John blinked a few times, stunned into silence, “Then…you don’t know what a PDF is?”
“My goddess has not told me, so I do not know.”
“Isn’t this a wildly inefficient game of telephone then?” Nara said.
“My goddess says, it is typical for gods to communicate with those who are not their priests though their priests. Additionally, sending an iron rank priest instead of speaking in person was in consideration for you, miss Nara. You may find a god’s presence…irritating.”
Lawrence frowned at the message he just conveyed, but kept his mouth shut from commenting. Knowledge priests were adept at keeping secrets, ironically.
“You should’ve just not done it in the first place then,” Nara grumbled, “So, how do I get you what your goddess wants?”
“You’re not going to negotiate for something in exchange?” Encio posed.
Chrome manifested from Nara’s aura, “It’s best she does not.”
“What do you mean?”
“Divine beings have limited opportunities to interfere with the world. Those opportunities are gained when fulfilling certain requirements. By offering information, should Nara require assistance from Knowledge later she can gain it. Should Knowledge choose to offer it.”
“That’s not guaranteed,” Encio said, “I don’t like chances.”
“You like gambling,” Nara said.
“This is important. I only gamble with games.”
“Then what, Enciodes Aciano, do you think Nara can possibly request now worth the entire cumulative knowledge of the library of the Celestial Book on this world?”
“A way to return to her world, perhaps?” Aliyah offered.
“That’s far too cheap,” Chrome said, “Dimensional travel may be impressive for you weak iron rankers, but it’s paltry knowledge for a being like Knowledge.” Chrome pointed warningly at John, “Before you get riled up, think: what has been the entire purpose of completing the trial in the first place?”
“To find astral magic in the trial,” John said obediently.
“And save money,” Eufemia added her clear priority.
“So go read a few books, and save your favor for later. It may take longer, but advanced astral magic is no use to you if you cannot cast it in the first place.”
John nodded softly, “That’s reasonable.”
He hadn’t acquired the knowledge from the library himself either. He suspected Nara wanted to stay in this world over Earth, so forcing her to use her favor on himself to provide a way home sooner when he had given up on the trial would be incredibly self-serving. He wanted to return to his wife and children as soon as possible, but rushing was pointless.
“Um, so, my goddess says that I will read and copy all of the books Nara has recorded. Either I can do so with your astral constructs, miss Edea, or I can do so with an invitation to your party, on my own time…if you will.”
“Then, welcome to the party, Lawrence.”