While they’d walked to the Hunter’s Guild, they’d flown to the next meeting. The Bekali Hauler was the first he’d seen of the magical platforms up close. It was a broad, wooden construct twenty meters wide that gave him a disappointing message when he tried to scan it.
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System Alert: Attempted use of Function: Encyclopedia on targeted Item has failed as you do not possess all required Powers: Crafting to learn the Formulae.
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The gist was that the item was his level, as Identify Item showed, but it was too complex for him to make alone. It would have been worse if he didn’t already have an idea for making his team fly, even if Khare could have managed better on something like this. The construct’s flight was slow, intended for carrying cargo as the name and the hooks built into the underside suggested. This grade of construct was necessary for their whole group as both Murdon and Khiat would have overloaded smaller ones.
Willow was the only one to abstain, riding on Tlara’s wyvern after very reluctantly putting Spinner back in the pouches she now carried. The young avianoid had been interested in going on the hauler but Tlara was adverse to her sister being too far from her after what had happened at the border. Whether this whole experience was changing her or she was just being a self-centered jerk like normal, he still couldn’t tell.
Getting to the top of the mountain only took half an hour as the hauler climbed at a slight incline. Tlara had been encouraged to stay close as whenever she broke off one of the many ballista of Aurus began tracking her. They docked at another of the secluded islands, just under where the political center of the region was. Unlike most, this island didn’t have a land route to Aurus, leaving the lavish mansion truly isolated.
Surprisingly, there was more than just one faint connection to Murdon’s manor of old. In addition to being the fanciest place in town, most of the people inside were air gestalt, like an entire workforce of Ashiers. Murdon made eye contact with Daniel at one point and it was clear his mind was on the Tyrant as well. There wasn’t much in the way of actual conversation as everyone just wanted to get through this meeting and deal with the fallout of Aughal’s siege.
As they entered what looked like a war room crossed with the courtyard of a resort, the staff, gestalt and otherwise, promptly departed save for one carrying a sword. Quala and Tounaki were standing around the large central table as well, along with a handful of other avianoids and one whitish-pink draconoid he couldn’t identify. Daniel and Thomas were the only humans in the large space.
The Cleric’s attempt to run over to his former mentor was fully arrested as everyone turned towards the armed air gestalt. Their body had rapidly changed to form a swirl of colors that was faintly reminiscent of the robes of what he suspected was some elder Illustrious, though it was only in their iridescence. What had drawn everyone’s eye was the way they were speaking.
“Ah, good! I always appreciate being ahead of schedule. Here I thought we’d be sitting around for another week waiting for you.” Several of the people he didn’t know covertly glanced at the gestalt, not in surprise like Daniel but faint affront for some reason. The gestalt made a noise mimicking their throat clearing, and what he said next was in a far more formal tone. “I, Soraso, Regent of Threst, Protector of the Region, Servant of the Octyrrum, and so forth, welcome hunters Daniel Brant, Thomas Kaysian, Khare of the gestalt, and Khiat of the duskers, as well as Silora Thelonas, and Rait Geshel to my home.”
The Fate seemed slightly peeved that she’d been mentioned fifth, though this didn’t match Rait’s surprise that he and his last name had been included. Daniel again thought of Cloak and guessed the god wasn’t here. While his control over illusions was supreme, it was limited in maximal power while in the Proxy. This was exactly the kind of place that would have protections capable of detecting him. “Thanks,” Thomas remarked casually as Daniel pondered, breaking the silence that had fallen after the greeting.
“A poor reply, but what can you expect of a scion of Aughal?” one of the bystanders Daniel now decided was stuffy murmured, his borrowed Keen Senses allowing him to pick it up.
“Well, now that’s that over, we should get to business,” Soraso said without as much formality. Daniel started to follow the group to the table when something wrapped around his arm. Khare, standing behind him, had an expression of pure shock on their formed face.
Oh, damn it! Why his thoughts had gone to Cloak first instead of his friend, he didn’t know, but this was obviously the air gestalt he’d mentioned. Makes sense that if they’re anyone, they’re the leader of this place. At least I don’t have to look for them. Now that they had his attention, Khare was rapidly alternating a mark on Soraso, as if their interest wasn’t obvious. “Khare, I’m sorry, I don’t think this is time to ask them,” Daniel answered, whispering. “I know how important this is for you, and I’ll definitely ask after the meeting. If it’s an item that’s doing this I’ll do my best to copy it.”
“Salvation,” Khare replied lowly, though in an amazed tone. It hurt to lie to them like this but Cloak had been clear on how he should go about this. Bonds were the only answer. As they both caught up to the rest, no one missed how Murdon stood next to Tounaki and was closer than even Thomas was to Quala.
Looks like Thomas wins that bet, Daniel thought to himself as Soraso waved a hand to both gather everyone’s attention again and summon an illusion over the table. It was like the map of the region he’d seen in the Hunter’s Guild, only displayed three-dimensionally. He did his best to closely examine every part in case his phone could replicate this too.
“I’m sure you’re all wondering why I’ve decided to make so much fuss over a few pilgrims from Aughal,” Soraso began, with a hint of what reminded Daniel of Lograve’s flippancy. “To summarize the current situation, we have confirmed that a Tyrant has taken control of Aughal following an attempted coup by the Spiritualists, who have now been fully recognized as enemies of the Octyrrum. Whether they were responsible for Rikendia, we are not sure as our scouts have not returned yet. What we can assume is that this is related to the global crisis I was warned of. This makes our endeavor all the more important. Before we continue, I want everyone in the room to understand this is our secret.”
An odd sensation passed over Daniel. It was familiar to the few times he’d been hit with a social power before, though this one didn’t seem directly hostile. He could even resist the effect which came as a surprise since its source was the leader of the region. “Ah, for those who are new here, this power will restrict you from discussing this topic with those who do not know about it. You are free to decline, which will screen our words from you. We have several comfortable chairs for you to wait in should you so choose. Trust Me, we won’t mind if anyone doesn’t want to hear this.”
Rait immediately headed for one, leaving Silora alone at the table. Khiat gave Daniel a questioning look and he smiled back, nodding at her to stay. He wasn’t entirely thrilled by the prospect of being magically forced to keep a secret, but if Murdon was going along with it he would. Thomas would be able to reverse the binding worst case. Daniel accepted the odd feeling and felt a brief bit of mana on his tongue before the sensation faded. Ok screw that, Thomas is taking this off us as soon as we’re out of the room.
His thoughts didn’t make their way to the Regent, who just nodded, seeing that only Rait had left. Before they could speak, the stuffy avianoid did. “Lord Regent, I must ask why we have stopped to include outsiders in this venture. Considering its importance for the future of this region, I’d recommend we reconsider.”
“Thank you, Director Kayati, for providing me with the perfect segue,” Soraso replied smugly. “You are looking at part of the team that was responsible for the death of the Spiritualist leader in Aughal. This young human, by all reports we’ve gathered, was the one who finished the job. He’s also an Artificer,” they added, which struck fresh interest in the crowd. “We can’t ignore the possibility that those bastards, uhm, excuse me, those terrorists have snuck traitors into our organizations. Who better to trust than those responsible for stopping the destruction of another region? If any of you are still doubting that, there are unconfirmed rumors that Daniel has met with the Hammer himself.”
This mollified the group and several looks of respect were thrown to Daniel’s side, most notably from a Cleric garbed in the regalia of Hammer. Seeing the symbol sparked a mote of anger in him, though without the rage power he was able to fully suppress it. Murdon coughed conspicuously and Soraso gestured towards him with a small chuckle. “There’s four members of the team who’ve gone missing, including a close friend of both the Regent and myself. Considering the importance of what we’re doing, I’d like Aurus to make a request on my behalf to every Fate here. We need to find them.”
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“A rather onerous demand,” Soraso replied dramatically before anyone else could, “But considering your friends have brought another Fate along it’s only fair, even if we’ll have to provide a Focus Chamber.” Murdon nodded in thanks and no one else spoke against the move. “Now, for the actual matter at hand. A few months ago as I was participating on a hunt. In doing so, I made use of the Sword of Threst near the sky limit.” The weapon on their hip unsheathed itself and Daniel felt an echo of something within him. The item was a Spoke, and the power was so concentrated within it compared to the Spires that he could sense it. “There is space beyond the limits, of course, and it is only with this sword that they can be reached. Most of it is rock below and treacherous void above, but in this particular spot I found something astounding by rare chance.”
The map on the table shifted to an area mostly devoid of charted sky islands. The movement didn’t draw Rait’s eye, so Soraso’s secret power must even cover visual occurrences during the meeting. “The entire world was once the domain of the Octyrrum, as hard as the Crest makes that to believe. Enough time has passed that most of the works of our ancestors have faded, though not all of them.” The sky limit of the projection lowered slightly, and a large block appeared above it. “We have discovered ancient ruins of this past civilization.”
An avianoid in deep purple robes nodded as the Regent indicated him. When he started to speak, Tounaki visibly stiffened to attention. “As far as the Mage Flight can tell, this megastructure was preserved due to the space above the sky limit being a special dimension created by the Octyrrum. During the first Collapse it was preserved from the ravages of the Crest, and when we reconstructed the region with our Spoke, we inadvertently opened a way back to it. The question remains as to what this structure is for, though it must be important if our precursors built it in such a secluded area.”
Daniel had a premonition with the news, figuring that this was exactly what Cloak had wanted him to be here for. The god would’ve known about it since he’d been around during the first Collapse. Was this some kind of temple that could bring back Hunter without a body? “Why do you need us?” he asked, desperate to know more. Speaking without permission didn’t endear him to the gaggle of officials but he still had some credit from his history.
Ultimately, Soraso answered without chastising him. “There’s something… wrong inside. I made a brief inspection when I first discovered it and quickly ran into strange monsters. Nothing that could withstand the might of Threst,” they said with the faintest hint of sarcasm toward the end none of the natives noticed, “But I didn’t want to risk something stronger being within. It appears even if the cataclysmic effects of the Crest don’t reach inside, monsters may still spawn as they do here. These, as I have said, are strange. I hadn’t fully understood their nature until the reports of other unknown variant spawns began to come in. What’s more, from my brief encounter I believe those that do spawn become as dangerous as those faithful to the Octyrrum within the ruin are. I was the only one within, and it seems just too much of a coincidence that all were on my level.”
“We’d hoped to form a large team of competent hunters to explore this place in Soraso’s place,” Murdon picked up. “From our experiences in the Thormundz, and…” Murdon paused as he put whatever he was about to say more diplomatically, “the nature of the experience the best of Threst has to offer, we are the best suited for an initial exploration. But Lograve and the rest going missing complicates things. I’d suggest we delay this until we find them.”
“Outrageous!” the outspoken Kayati exclaimed. “We have forces enough to repel any threat arrayed against us. If these foreigners cannot muster the strength, let us rely on our flights and make clear the price of treason for any who dare refuse the order.” That got a few nods, but Soraso wasn’t one of them.
“Despite this new disaster, I have decided on caution for now. The new monster variants are troubling, and I would like to secure the region before diverting resources on what may be only dust. I can open the way, but without following myself those we send will be cut off until they return to where they entered the structure. What I need to know now is only if you are willing to take up this charge.”
For Hunter, Daniel thought, seeing only one answer and no reason to doubt Soraso’s words. “We will. But I need some time to get my team ready for hunting here too, and I want to get them stronger before doing anything with these ruins. Evalyn, Tak, Lograve, Gadriel, finding any of them would help tremendously.” He briefly thought to ask if the Regent could help out with registering at the guild but thought better of it. Murdon and this strange gestalt had some kind of former relationship, but he didn’t know how far he could go based on that.
“Just the three of you?” the other, pink draconoid in the room asked curiously. “You do make for an interesting team, but are you sure that’s enough? I haven’t seen many non-avianoids fight well in the skies, and I’ve buried too many overconfident hunters from other regions who thought an item or potion would be all they need to survive a fall.”
“We can handle it. And, it’s not just the three of us,” Daniel said, regretting his words for multiple reasons. “We’ve also got a Beastmaster.”
…
Nothing else of substance was said over the rest of the meeting, which devolved into procedural deliberations of how to adjust the region’s defenses over the next month. Daniel’s group didn’t have to be there but both Murdon and Quala stayed at the table. Since he wanted to talk more with both them and the Regent, he half-listened as he internally organized what he wanted to do to prepare for hunting here.
First, have Thomas remove that secret blocking effect. Soraso seems like a nice guy but that feeling weirded me out. Second, get better at enchanting and heal my other body. Once I can reliably enchant level 2 stuff, we do Khiat’s armor, then figure out flying. Last will be my claws… and my gun. He wasn’t sure how long all that would take him and was worried that he’d have to cheat with the wolf material. For Khiat he’d certainly do so since he couldn’t mess up the complicated armor, though for the rest he was considering trading for lower level material.
The Hunter’s Guild had claimed a fair number of bodies as part of the deal for handling processing, about a third, but he’d managed to do better than the full half Temir had initially wanted. That would leave him with an insane amount of fur and bones which would be valuable to other Artificers as long as they had leathercut or bonecut. If not, he could sell them the affix as part of the deal.
As the meeting ended, Daniel was caught by Quala before he could go to either of his other targets. “Thomas has told me about your issues,” she began sympathetically. “I am sorry for your loss.”
“I’m getting him back,” Daniel said, slightly evasively before he got to the real point. “Did he tell you about the healing I need?”
“I think I’ll have to see it for myself to believe it, but yes. Do you have plans tonight?”
“Besides sleeping? No.”
She saw him looking intently at Soraso and must have realized why Khare was standing centimeters behind him. “I’ll wait for you and have us brought to the Divine Quarter together. I’ve used some of my mana today, but I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks.” Daniel was about to leave it at that, but he felt a sudden weight in his chest. It wasn’t new, just something being in her presence reminded him of. “Could we talk, too? Just about everything that’s happened.”
“I am prepared to give you all the help you need.” Quala gave him a soft smile and patted him on the shoulder as she walked away.
I’m telling her about Earth, Daniel decided. Thomas already knew and there weren’t any secrets between him and his mentor. Better she heard it from him first. Khare wouldn’t let him stew on that for long and almost dragged him to Soraso before someone else could talk to them.
“Ah, the Artificer himself and a cousin of the earth. I’m glad my wayward fire aspirant didn’t spend too long flying in circles looking for you.” Even now, the perfect speech coming from the cloud man was jarring. There wasn’t a full face or anything to accompany the words, they just issued forth like how all other gestalt talked.
“Speech!” Khare called out, patience exhausted.
The cloud mouth of the regent turned down slightly as they looked away. “Ah. It’s a common question that comes up whenever another gestalt meets me for the first time. I’m sorry Khare, I don’t think you can find what you’re looking for with me.”
“Why not?” Daniel asked, a little confused. Soraso had done some research on them since he knew Daniel’s last name, something that had only been infrequently mentioned. The bond he had with Khare shouldn’t have been much more difficult to figure out.
“This is due to a rare Bard power that awakens to my race,” Soraso explained. “In fact, I don’t know of anyone else that has it within the next region or two, not that my kind are as prolific as humanity or the avianoids.”
That’s not right, Daniel thought, confused. Did Cloak just forget about that power, or did he assume it was more likely to be a bond? Soraso has no reason to lie…
Khare asked a question before he could. “Diversify?”
Soraso studied the earth gestalt for a second while he parsed the question. Only gestalt within an element could understand each other, and the racial Empathic Link likewise didn’t cross. It wasn’t too hard of a puzzle though. “No, I don’t recommend multiclassing in search of it. I know the pain my galavanting in front of the other races must cause you. I’d say it’d be best to come to terms with what the Octyrrum has planned for you, but you’ve gone and bonded with a human so what do I know?”
“Is there anything from our bond that could help Khare speak?” Daniel asked, now wondering if Cloak had straight up lied to him.
“Perhaps,” Soraso said ponderously, dangling that temptation in front of Khare. “I myself have no bonds so it’s hard to say. What you two share is the most precious of everything you own, possessions and powers alike. I hope you understand the pressure that puts on young Khare, dragging him between two worlds.”
“I do,” Daniel acknowledged, looking over and nodding to his friend. “I’m already ready to do the impossible for one of my friends, and I’ll do the same for Khare.” Part of him hoped that declaration would prompt a bond development, and in the next moment, he feared that intention had spoiled any possibility of it. He was about to thank Soraso and move on when he caught up to something they had said. “Wait, young? What do you mean?”
“Oh, you didn’t know?” Soraso peered at Khare again and nodded their head. “I’m not the best guess with the people of the earth, but I’d put Khare at about a year old, give or take a month.”