Chapter 62

The group returned to Jay's room but did not go inside. They couldn't. Standing in front of Jay's door and positioned so no one could quite squeeze past it to enter the room was a standing staff, standing perfectly upright in front of Jay's door.

“What the..” started Aiden. M'redith's eyes narrowed as she muttered to herself.

“Is that what I think it is?” asked Jay.

M'redith nodded. “Yup. Looks like the staff from that guy that watched you in class. How many standing staffs are there around here you think? I'm guessing one.”

Jay did not reach out to grab the staff. One did not just grab strange staffs in a world of magic – one never knew what might happen as a result. Instead Jay reached up and tugged loose the note that had been taped to the staff's tip.

The note was sealed and Jay and his friends leaned in to make out the design. The seal showed an upright palm with a staff and censer crossed in front of it. An impossibly neat ribbon of wax encircled the entire note on both sides.

Jay broke the seal and opened the strange note.

“Jay, it seems we missed each other after class somehow. I would like to find a moment for us to speak over a contract opportunity I wish to offer to you – something that would do the Church a great service. I will attempt to speak with you again tomorrow. Perhaps you won't be as quick to leave a second time? -Lux”

Jay held the note out for his friends to read it. Aiden laughed, M'redith looked upset.

“What's wrong?” Jay asked.

“He knows you dodged him today and he wants you to know he knows. He found where you sleep and made sure you couldn't even get in to your room without reading his note. This is not a simple man. We need to be careful around this one.” M'redith explained patiently.

“You're talking about the staff guy right? The one wearing simple linen clothing? He didn't look so scary in class.” Aiden joked.

“If you base scariness on looks alone you better be prepared for a lot of surprises in your life Aiden.” M'redith remarked dryly.

Jay laughed and Aiden made a pained apologetic face.

“I'm just saying that everyone else just gave up for the day when they couldn't find you. This guy though tracked down your home and blocked you out until you read his message. That is some pretty intense focus. Aggressive.” M'redith said thoughtfully.

Aiden's expression sobered a bit. “Do you think.. do you think he's waiting inside?” he said haltingly.

M'redith shared a look with Jay. Neither of them had considered that possibility.

Holding the note Jay reached for his door and this time the staff hopped to the side to allow him to pass.

“Animated staffs are still rare around here, right? I mean – this is weird, it's not just me?” Jay asked as he peeked his head in to his room and turned on the lights. “It's empty. Come on in.”

The three entered the room relieved that Lux was not inside. Jay closed the door behind him, leaving the standing staff standing outside.

“Do you think I should have invited the staff inside? I'm not sure what the etiquette is for a semi-sentient upright wooden weapon after it locks you out of your room. I think we'll just leave it outside for now.” Jay said without drawing a breath in between sentences.

M'redith and Aiden both laughed.

After a few minutes though Aiden couldn't take it any longer, “I have to look!” he said as he whipped open the front door. The staff was gone.

“See? Nothing to worry about. Until tomorrow I mean,” she said sheepishly as she looked away from Aiden's glare.

Aiden shut the door and sat down on one chair. Jay sat on the other and M'redith perched on Jay's lap.

“So what is the deal with Lux? I mean the Church of Gaia specifically, any idea what his role is?” Jay asked M'redith.

Aiden answered for her though which surprised everyone, Aiden included. “Undead dungeons. Gaia's Church is pretty focused on keeping them from growing too much and spilling over on to the city proper.”

Jay looked at Aiden curiously but motioned for him to continue.

“Well you already know there are many different types of dungeons. Some repopulate very quickly – think daily. If you don't kill those monsters then the next day more monsters appear. They start to run out of room so some of them leave the dungeon. They rampage across the countryside making a general mess of things.” Aiden said before pausing to rummage around in his pack.

Aiden found what he was looking for and pulled out a meat stick he had saved for later. Aiden had decided that later was now and took a bite out of it. Still chewing he continued as M'redith looked at him and rolled her eyes.

“So to stop that from happening someone has to go in and cull the dungeon every day. That can be tough to make happen on a regular basis and you can't afford to miss too many days or people can get hurt. So the Church stepped in and built Temples over some of the dungeon entrances – the ones inside the city walls especially. There aren't many of them but the ones that are there require daily attention.” Aiden finished.

Jay looked at M'redith who shrugged, “He's right.”

Aiden finished his meat and raised the stick in to the air as it disappeared in to motes of light. “I'm betting that he has a hand in that. He wasn't dressed as a pretender, he wasn't wearing adventurer chic, he looked like he was used to working – adventuring – fighting in a dungeon. He either fights in a dungeon or works with those that do.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

M'redith nodded, “I agree. He looked like a hands on type of man, not a paper pusher.”

Jay sighed but shrugged, “I mean it isn't like he's out to get me or anything – he just wants to offer me a job right?”

Aiden and M'redith shook their heads but M'redith spoke up first. “Sure, he isn't out to get you. And it's a contract not a job. Very different circumstances.”

It was too early for their normal bedtime even if they did all have to get up early so the three just sat with each other and chatted for a bit. The three friends finally bid each other good night though out of fear of the early hour they would all have to wake at tomorrow.

Aiden gave out his half hugs but looked both ways before he left Jay's rooms just in case the staff had returned. The standing staff had apparently really freaked Aiden out.

M'redith stayed a few minutes longer and they just sat on the chair quietly before she stood up and gave him a kiss on the cheek goodnight and let herself out.

Jay sighed and got undressed and set his clothes in a neat folded pile on the floor next to his bed. Getting in to bed he lay back on his pillow and turned on his Tropical Island Aura and let it work for thirty seconds cleaning and refreshing him and his bed. Before he knew it his bed smelled like the beach and he drifted off in to sleep.

He dreamed of running from the undead in a nondescript temple, the undead pouring out of every exit. No matter how far Jay ran he could not find a way out. Time passed gradually and Jay tossed and turned before his dreams shifted to a new dreamscape and he found himself on a raft with M'redith drifting on a clear blue sea. The waves lapped at the raft gently and soon Jay slipped in to a dreamless slumber.

----

On the other side of the city Boland's agent had been busy. He was wearing rags and smelled awful. He sat up against a building with a cup, begging for coppers. His cup had three coppers in it, two of which the agent had placed in to the cup himself to get things started. His head lay back against the building as if asleep.

He looked like a bum and no one looked very long at a bum. It allowed the agent to just sit across the street from the building he was watching without having anyone bother him or approach him.

Two members of the Watch walked past the agent and he was careful to remain still. He wasn't looking to start a conversation with them and he was counting on his unpleasant smell to discourage the two officers from starting a chat themselves.

Even the Watch left him alone and moved a little away from him as they passed – he wasn't hurting anybody and he wasn't even calling out, merely sitting with his cup and sleeping. Had the agent tried that on one of the main streets the Watch would have moved him along but here, in the quieter part of the city, it wasn't a concern and they let him be.

The building the agent was watching had multiple floors – the ground floor then three floors above that. The top floor had two windows and both had just gone dark. The two members of the Watch, both wearing leather armor but no head cover, walked past and continued down the street.

The agent waited for almost a half hour before he moved. Walking further down the street he climbed a fence and scampered across the open grassy area between the fence and the four story building. The agent muttered something under his breath and then scaled the side of the building as if he were using a ladder. There was no ladder.

Arriving at the flat roof of the building he crouched down and looked about. He was on the flat surface that served as both a roof and a patio. The sides were lined with brick half-height walls and there was a door on the roof that gave access to the building below.

The agent froze as he heard a squelching noise where there should have been none. Not hearing it again he slid in to the shadows as a small black orb the size of a volleyball floated in to view. It was gross looking, its skin made up of something that looked like sludge and it floated six feet in the air. The sludge swirled across the surface of the orb as it moved. It had no appendages of any kind but appeared to be searching for something.

The orb wandered about the roof for a few more moments before floating off to the neighboring building and continuing the search there.

The agent had expected security but whatever that had been was overkill as far as security went. Thankfully the agent had moved in time. He needed to get inside the building before that thing returned and found him. It would most likely alert others while trying to kill him if he were caught.

Moving to the roof access door he took out a lock pick and a tension tool. He slid the tension tool in to the door's lock and gave it a tiny bit of force as he used the pick to slide in to the lock and push at the tiny pins inside preventing the lock from turning.

Each time he pushed the pin just right he could feel a solid click and the tension tool would rotate just a little further. He went from the back of the lock to the front one pin at a time. It took a few tries and he had to be careful not to press too hard on the tension tool or the pins wouldn't move at all.

Turning his head briefly he could see that the sludge ball was floating towards the building the agent was on once again. The agent refocused on the lock and set the final pin with a click. Finally he pushed harder on the tension rod and the lock rotated. Putting the tools away quickly he opened the door a crack and checked for traps. Finding none he slid in to the stairwell and pulled the door shut quietly behind him before the sludge ball got too close.

The agent paused for a moment to catch his breath. That had been a surprise and the agent hated surprises like that. Breaking in to a K'tharkle City Office however, he was bound to run in to some higher end security.

As the agent crept down the stairs he found himself in a large building almost like a warehouse. The walls were lined with filing cabinets. All of them were labeled. The agent listened for a moment and hearing nothing crept further in spurts. A few times he had to consult a piece of paper he pulled out of a hidden pocket in his rags and turn around to go down a different aisle of filing cabinets after getting lost.

Multiple times he was forced to backtrack or dodge down a side hall to avoid a floating sludge ball. They patrolled the inside of the building too it seemed.

The sludge balls were obviously some very expensive custom security and it was only due to the agent's refusal to use lights of any kind that saved him. The sludge balls would have instantly noticed the light inside of the building.

Although it was pitch black the agent held no device to provide light – he was obviously using some sort of ability or potion to improve his eyesight for that evening. He stopped and compared his piece of paper to one filing cabinet in particular.

He muttered something under his breath and a sound proof field rose up around him.

He carefully opened the drawer keeping an eye out for traps. Rifling through the contents he pulled out a folder and set it aside. He then took a folder out of a pouch that he had wrapped against his chest. He unwrapped the folder and placed it in to the filing cabinet before closing it and taking the original folder. He stuffed it in to the pouch and wrapped it back about his body.

Listening for any noise at all he remained motionless for a minute before he quietly crept back to the stairs and went up to the door to the roof. Slowly he opened it and peeked outside. He could see the sludge orb just leaving to float to the next building.

The agent froze not daring to move. The orb had no eyes so the agent had no way of knowing if it saw him or not – he couldn't even tell how it saw anything in the first place. As the orb moved off to the next building he relaxed a bit and crept out of the stairwell, closing the door behind him.

Scurrying to the side of the building he muttered something under his breath again and climbed down using his invisible ladder. Dropping to the soft grass he ran across the open space to the fence, climbed over, and was gone.

The sludge ball passed by the sign for the building, looking for the agent but not finding him. “K'tharkle Registry of Deeds” the sign displayed in serious looking letters. The sludge orb finally gave up and returned to its normal patrol.

The agent had done well.