Sachihiro
I'm in beautifully tailored court garb, or at least what the rest of Erena's retinue are wearing so I am not out of place. But I also have a sword on my hip which most of her countrymen don't, I have on a cape I liked from the Brothel dressers that frames my shoulders nicely. But also acting as a wind breaker as we travel through the desert to the other side of the mountain.
My horse has been provided by the princess and I have a 'prominent' place at the shoulder of her carriage. We are heading to one of the Hidden Palaces of the Order, one that deals primarily with sorcery and the occult. A sort of counterpart to the Spiritus of the Conclave.
The meeting is very important because without the aid of other powerful spiritists Atopia will not retained it's independence from the church. Nothing else is as effective at dealing with spirit as spirit itself, and if they can't negotiate in good faith with the Faithful. Then they will find a way to negotiate with the deity itself.
Not something that can be safety done in many places, not something that can be done without the aid of powerful sorcerers. Not something that can be done anywhere the cults have influence for fear of reprisals. I must applaud the queen of Atopia for even thinking of doing things this way, very unorthodox.
If the White Church has spies here they won't likely know what's going on until it's already done. Unless one of these 'noble retainers' snitched. I have met thousands of new people whilst I've been in Tiba and I've made hundreds of lasting relationship with people of many fields. I have spoken to many on various different topics and some in the know of the gossip of the Orders themselves.
I have gotten myself placed in Erena's retinue as the acolyte that services her because I suspected from my own research where her eventual goal would lead her. The Order of Sorcery is not someplace I could have walted into without an invitation at my own leisure.
This way though no one will barely give me a passing glance, for I am nothing but a 'whore' that can heal sexually using the blessing of the goddess Erotica. Nothing else, though that I'm also a warrior is not something I can hide from anyone with eyes to see. Not like Nilsa, Erena's servant who doesn't even walk like she is a warrior yet the frequency at which she vibrates to my awareness clear to me to see past her amazing façade.
We reach the large dark cave entrance as the wind picks up, blowing sand all around us. The horses snorting and shaking their heads to clear it from eyes and nostrils. The desert sun is always scorching hot, always. But within the mountain where the city is build one can forget how hot it actually is out here.
The two guards that were sent forward return at a trot, one reporting to the head guard the other going straight to the carriage window. He whispers something to the princess and the procession again continues forward into the cave created by the large rock outcrop in the desert.
I feel the moisture in the air as soon as I'm in the shadow of the cave. Though the surface of Tiba is dry sandy and rocky desert, there is so much water under the surface. There are spirit wards that shine to my senses carved into the rock I notice as we enter, which makes sense considering where we are.
The horse beneath me visibly relaxes and I'd dare say sighs as we slowly move forward in the now shaded and humid cave. A cave that is actually a passageway I notice with pillars and reinforcing with enchanted stone, something I've seen plenty of before.
We pass a sort of guard station where two of Erena's guards remain with the guards here and we move forward through the widening sloping tunnel until we reach a set of huge double doors guarded by some sort of spirit possessed stone golems.
The doors open with a click and a hiss and I'm surprised and how thick they are, how easily the move and how strongly warded they must be because as they open I start to feel things I wasn't aware of before on the spiritual coming from the other side. Most alarming of which is a summoned creature bond similar to the one I have with Katya.
One of Albert's summoned creatures is in this place somewhere and it also now knows I'm here as well. I'm worried, my heart is racing as we get off our horses and walk them through the gate slowly taking everything in. Albert was a pervert and a pedophile but also very clever.
He could easily have had many different types of summoned spirits merged within people. In fact I'm betting on it and I seriously doubt whoever is in here has the meek harmless spirit within Katya that only keeps her healing and in good health.
This one could be malevolent, this one could be within a dangerous being, this one could be in an agent he used to gather information for himself. This one could draw unnecessary attention towards me but there is no use in speculating until I know what's what.
We are given a short tour of the public areas of the Palace grounds before being placed in a waiting room. I'm mostly at the back as the only one of these well dressed peacocks to be wearing a weapon. Razor looks exotic and efficient on my waist I'm sure, but already some of these fools thing I'm a war wearing a prop to act like the warrior the Brothel wants to dress me as.
A number of men and women from the Princess's retinue have tried to approach me discretely on several occasions to find out how to acquire my services for themselves. There is a person for everyone that the Brothel but I'm not one of the acolytes that occasionally service men along with women. Sexual preferences are respected and no priest or acolyte is force to adopt to a sexual orientation they aren't comfortable with.
I get comfortable at the back with my attention at the edges of my awareness waiting for the summon possessed being to eventually show itself. But it's still not moving so I assume the being is preoccupied or otherwise in captivity so my cover is still safe.
A cover that has actually become my life as I really am an acolyte of the Brothel now, mission or no mission. I am what I was to pretend to be and it's also a duty I've learnt to enjoy. The introductions are made as fou of the 'Brothers' meet Erena's refreshments and tea are served, the pleasantries.
I take my own and nibble politely keeping quiet and staying back, watchful. Erena's is very nervous as previous she is used to negotiating from a position of strength. She is used yo being the princess admonishing the nobles, or an emissary of Atopia her poorer less organised neighbours.
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This is a first for her but the que I was waiting for comes and a select few of the princess and her retinue elect to negotiate on a more private setting with reduced numbers. I'm hoping to slip away now when the princess and her best advisors leave to go negotiate with the sorcerers. I will see how far I get in looking for circle members and Joseph.
But my plans are disrupted when Nilsa, Princess Erena's servant indicates that my presence is needed in the other room with the other advisers. I can't have made that good of an impression in a single night of talking surely, but I follow and I see one of her five advisors barred from entering the side door by one of her guards as I walk past.
So she doesn't trust that one but was sneaky enough to pretend otherwise until the last minutes so he wouldn't be able to sneak another spy inside with her. "I bet you advised her to let him feel secure until the last moment." I send to Nilsa we misses a step at my mental communication.
She doesn't say anything though but I can feel her trying to examine me, trying to look deeper within me as she walks behind me. She didn't feel that I was an Awakened, nobody does these days who isn't more powerful than I am as I have mastered the cloaking skill Entril taught me. I have not being able to practice martial skills in a way that improves them but I have been able to maintain my level of skill. Only my tracking, building and other craft skills getting rusty on the wayside with my focus on being an acolyte and a spy my primary focuses these many months.
But I have had a lot of time to meditate still, on a daily basis in fact when I should be in prayer. My chakra is about ready for being released the way Ava does with the power of Intent , Will , and Image behind them. I have wanted to learn as many chakra releases as is humanly possible but only a few are generic, able to be learnt by everyone.
The rest are specific and specialised to each person and their natural affinities and abilities. There are only two of the 316 releases taught to me to practice I have been able to learn, or I should say my chakra has been able to take the shape of. My bodily skills have been mostly stagnant for years now but the skills needing mental exercises, spirit body exercises, imagine exercises, chakra exercises have never been more sharply honed within me.
One of whom being the Ancient Beast method of concealing power. So I know that even as Nilsa uses her abilities of perception to investigate me she won't get much as I'm confident in my own power cloaking . Her assessment of me as a potential threat has gone way up though, her readiness slightly increased but there is no real worry in her.
Which confirms my belief that she is also an Awakened of some sort. Or she has such an overpowered level of skill in something that she can deal with Awakened threats of the first tier easily enough. Erena's two guards always at her side I'm yet to see sleep are also Awakened of some kind though. Judging by the density and probably weight of their enchanted armour and greatswords I'm guessing Full Body Vultivation Awakening.
We are seated and Erena starts speaking without preamble, conveying to the 3 men and single woman gathered the situation her nation is in plainly. I advised her not to try to hide anything but infact a picture more dire than it actually is. It puts her at a disadvantage in negotiations for them to see she is desperate, but also an advantage in the sense that truly they must have pushed too far if even with her level of desperation she won't budge.
"The Church is infringing on our state our State controlled national prerogatives on a daily basis and we have no way to curtail them. Faith magic is something solely understood by the cults with their blessings and curses but I am informed sorcery is a close second to their ways and a parallel way of using spirit power.
"If we could have some of our more powerful and noble sons and daughters trained in the way of sorcery by the Order while hiring out some of your more adventurous experts in the interim surely in only a decade we could have our first defense against their paladins, champions a d priests."
"What you are proposing is bold, but it takes many years for a true sorcerer to be trained in the arts, while only a few years for a devote believer to do similar feet's using the power of their deity." One of the robed Order figures says.
"Yes but that is borrowed power back up by a deity not in the world directly and partitioning portions of it's power to millions of different believers. Those in the know tell me a true sorcerer harnesses their own power and have a much greater depth to their casting than a believer or a paladin ever could." Erena's says quickly, already the negotiations have started and the sorcerers are trying to emphasize how difficult training new apprentices can be.
"You are strangely well informed about a topic of interest not many are privity to. Who is advising you about what sorcerers can and cannot do?" The beautiful mature woman asks studying Erena carefully.
It's a small thing but her eyes swing towards me before going back to the woman quickly. "The Queen has had specialists that understand the theory of these things working in advising us and keeping us informed of any possible ways in which we could prevent being canabolised by the Church without resorting to open warfare." She recovers but the game is up, at least the woman is now studying me more closely though not being obvious a about it.
"Because you would not survive a confrontation with the White Church and both the Queen and the Church officials know this. You are desperate young lady and have little time considering how quickly the White Church is spreading it's influence all over Pangaea.
"Especially considering it's base of operations is Atopia itself. They will want to control the nation completely. " The grey bearded sorcery says bluntly, not one for the subtlety of implied threats this one but Erena accepts his point easily enough.
"Yes. As we currently are we could not be able to prevail against the White Church of Purity." She says mollifying the sorcerer somewhat with her directness.
The meeting goes on, with the princess letting her four advisors field some of the questions and respond in her stead to veiled threats. They are actually a good group at working together, and I realise that though she seems young and arrogant and dismissive of her advisors competence in public. Actually she is very close to these four, they have her respect and trust and she their genuine affection.
Nothing is really decided on the first meeting though, which closes with another such meeting scheduled two days from now. It was productive though, every party walks away knowing where they stand in the negotiations and what they are willing to accept and what they won't. A solid foundation for any further talks and as we walk down the beautifully decorated corridor to where the rest of our party are being 'entertained' a young man walk up to us but is stopped by the guards.
"Excuse me sir, I have been instructed to request your presence." He says from where he stands loudly for all to hear while looking directly at me.
"Why and by whom?" Erena immediately asks.
The man bows to her before responding. "By my Master in the arts who has been bed ridden for almost two years now from a malady of the spirit our healers cannot stop. Master Keir Airell."
"Ahh.. Airell is awake and talking again. Let him go Highness I will guarantee his safe return if he doesn't prove to be a threat to the ailing man." One of the bearded sorcerers says, the leaner one with yellow eyes, Aureus I believe he was introduced as.
Erene looks at my face and I tilt my head forward slightly in a nod. "My personal servant will go with you in case you need to send for a message quickly." She says waving her and I find myself walking with Nilsa and the unnamed servant towards the spiritual bond that binds me Albert's summoned spirit possessed.