After saying goodbye to Ranitri, Lilijoy had a few more hours to spend on the Inside before sunrise in São Luís. Then she would make the decision whether or not to divide her consciousness between the two worlds. Unless there was going to be fighting or something requiring a similar level of dedicated processing, she felt it was a reasonable thing to do, and quite possible, even easy now that her motor circuits were multiply redundant.
Her brain was still recovering from overheating, as fixing the original neuro-circuitry was not a simple task. She had stimulated the growth of new neurons and was in the process of retraining them with the help of Stage One. It wasn’t strictly necessary for her to do so, but she couldn’t help thinking that having her organic brain intact would be a good thing. Even if it was more symbolic than anything else, she wanted to know that, underneath it all was still the original biology she had possessed long before the Tao System entered her life. Much of it was incorporated into Stage Two, but she didn’t see that as a reason not to repair the rest.
Now, how shall I spend my time? I could find Rosemallow and ask her what Arpentra meant about understanding skills better, or I could play around with Nandi’s Boon a bit. Maybe find Skria and Jessila and see how their day is going. Find Professor Anaskafius and ask about Enhancements, or the skill thing… he’d probably answer that better anyway. Or maybe I should find out what classes Attaboy has. I wonder if he’s in Subtle Arts?
She allowed her legs to carry her back to the Academy building as she optimized the next few hours. She had her own classes too, though much to her disappointment she had discovered that learning about arrays would only be possible once she could craft array components, which in turn would require her to learn several additional skills such as Engraving and Runes.
Once she had learned that, she put the array project on the back burner and decided she should take as many introductory crafting classes as she could reasonably fit into her schedule. The Inside allowed for every stage of a craft to be learned, while also providing finished materials as loot drops when appropriate. Unfortunately, those were rare, and often found in scenarios already firmly controlled by one clan or another.
Besides that, the clans did their best to maintain monopolies on every stage of the crafting process. Want to make leather armor? Good luck finding the best leather. Inscribe a scroll? Where was the ink and paper going to come from? Worst of all was anything involving metals, which was why a simple knife, such as the one Magpie had given her, could cost as much as five silver coins. Insiders didn’t do much to help the situation, preferring to trade within their own communities, both from fear of clan reprisal and their own resentment towards Outsiders in general.
What little in the way of quality base materials did manage to make it to a common market were almost always lower quality, and even then didn’t begin to address demand. Or potential demand, since nearly every Outsider who wasn’t in a clan hadn’t bothered to try purchasing crafting mats in generations. The crafting that did go on outside of the clans' control was largely individuals who had taught themselves to be entirely self-sufficient, learning every stage of the process from basic materials to finished product. Even for them their best option to make an income was from a black market with greatly increased risk and artificially low prices. It wouldn’t have surprised Lilijoy to learn that the clans were behind that too.
The only successful strategy, as she understood it, was to raise one’s reputation sufficiently with an Inside race so that they would provide shelter and free trade, but that was no easy matter after over a century of Outsider misbehavior.
Anything she wanted she would need to find, or create herself, at least past the most basic levels of quality, items with no magic, or weak magic. To have a sari like Ranitri’s, she would need to raise the silkworms, or whatever creatures produced silk on the Inside, learn how to loom-weave at a Master level, learn how to make dye, learn how to dye fabric, and then learn how to tailor at an Expert level. Never mind the fringe, which she suspected incorporated gold.
Or she could join a clan.
It wasn’t impossible, and she thought it might even be inevitable, but she was far from ready to take such a step. Her long term strategies were still forming, and until she knew more about the various clans’ true activities and objectives she was reluctant to involve herself. To join a clan was a commitment to deceive, and the thought of spending all the time and effort pretending to be something she was not while manipulating those around her was not attractive in the least. She had already seen where that could lead.
I wonder where Magpie is?
Aside from sending a single message, which had received no reply, she hadn’t had contact with Magpie since the day they sneaked into Averdale. She wasn’t heartbroken about it, but it did bother her. Magpie had been used almost as much as she had, and Lilijoy felt some sympathy, along with plenty of justified anger and mistrust. Her mixed emotions didn’t change one important calculus though; Magpie knew things that Lilijoy needed to know and she had connections that Lilijoy wanted to use.
Perhaps most important, Magpie knew how to acquire information that others wanted to keep secret, and Lilijoy didn’t know if there was anyone else she would find with those particular skills anytime soon. On a purely practical level, Magpie could, potentially, play a vital role in her future plans. Even though she couldn’t trust her, Lilijoy felt that she could predict her which was almost as valuable.
What she couldn’t predict was the organization that was using Magpie. She was still piecing together what had happened, the way that she, and Magpie, and Sinaloa even, had been pieces moved on a giant chess board. Initially, Lilijoy had felt that Eskallia was the primary force behind what had transpired, but the more she rolled all of the bits and scraps of information around in her mind, the more they outlined a different figure, one she didn’t even have a name for. Internally, she had begun to call them Puppetmaster.
All she knew about Puppetmaster, or suspected anyway, was that they were an Insider who had somehow established a presence on the Outside, that they were running schemes and operations in both worlds. Given what she knew about Insiders, she could only assume that they were at least a Tier Five subset. Beyond that were only guesses.
The Gongen all seem to have found a path. Rosemallow’s involves struggle. Nandi’s is joyful anticipation. Eskallia’s was, is, growth.
She had spent quite a bit of time thinking about Eskallia’s path, and paths in general. Emotions seemed to be at the core of the process, though it wasn’t a neat and tidy relationship. At first blush, growth didn’t seem to be an emotion at all. It was only when she thought about her own feelings involving growth that it made sense, that feeling she got when she improved, when there was a concrete sign of personal accomplishment. It was related to pride, connected to satisfaction but neither of those ideas contained the almost addictive quality, the need for more. At the same time, it existed as a primordial drive, well beneath the level of conscious emotion. It was a process, and the feelings created by the process, the true opposite of death in the way that love was the opposite of indifference.
Though her understanding of the paths was limited, she felt like the Puppetmaster must be cultivating something like paranoia.
She chuckled. Or maybe that’s just what they want me to think.
If it wasn’t paranoia then it had to be the feeling she had during the Stealth contest, that feeling of being hidden, superior, safe and dangerous all at once. Seeing but not being seen. The words echoed in her memory.
See, but be not seen. Think, but be not thought of.
The edge owns the center like darkness surrounds the light.
To be subtle is to be the threshold, the shadow, the unknown and unforeseen.
She did know one thing for sure though; both Rosemallow and Magpie knew more than she did.
Add that to the list of things. Except I can hardly message Magpie out of the blue to ask about her biggest secrets.
She put that aside for the moment and turned her thoughts back to Puppetmaster. There was no way for her to know if her own role in the game was finished, or if the Averdale situation was just a part of a longer gambit. If Eskallia was able to talk, Lilijoy might have tried to get answers from her, but Rosemallow seemed to think it could be years before that would happen.
Eskallia, Rosemallow, Puppetmaster... Professor Anaskafius? Would he know anything about this? He’s known Rosemallow for a long time.
She knew there was some kind of history between Anaskafius and her trainer. Both of them had made comments about the other in her presence that made her think they were old… somethings. Friends, associates, enemies, it was honestly a bit difficult to tell, though a certain kind of respect between the two was apparent.
With that thought she decided that seeing her magic mentor should be her next stop. She reached into her inventory and withdrew his appointment token. It was a simple device, so far as magical communication went. Sympathetically linked to an identical token in his possession, its range was limited to the general area of the Academy, and it transmitted temperature. All she needed to do was hold it tightly in her hand for a few moments, and she would know if Anaskafius was available.
Sure enough, after ten seconds, the wooden token began to warm rapidly within her grasp, to the point where she released it before it became uncomfortably hot. This indicated that he was available to meet. It made sense as a simple tool that even the least talented academy student could use.
Unless they’re cold blooded. I wonder what he does then?
Out of idle curiosity, she scanned the small disc.
----------------------------------------
Wooden Coin of Heat Transference
Crafted by an Expert Woodcarver
Part of a set (Child)
----------------------------------------
I wonder if Professor Anaskafius made it? One more thing to ask, I guess.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
She was on her way to Anaskafius’ office, walking down the great wood-paneled hall, when she saw Attaboy slowly walking in front of her. With a little grin, she slipped into Stealth and quickly caught up to him.
“Boo!”
He looked at her with mild surprise but kept walking. “That’s a nice trick. Did you learn that here? Also, hi, Lilijoy.”
She was a little disappointed in the result. He had clearly been distracted, perhaps reading something on his internal awareness, and she had hoped for a more dramatic reaction.
“Don’t forget, I’m Lily in here,” she cautioned, falling in next to him. “Whatcha looking at?”
“Just character stuff. I leveled up after the tournament, so I was thinking about how I would spend the points. I’m not supposed to do anything until I meet with Dean windbag though.”
Lilijoy couldn’t help but glance around to make sure Dean Reunification wasn’t lurking nearby.
“How bad is she?” she asked.
Attaboy waved a hand. “We’ve dealt with worse. At least she can be reasoned with. She just really likes to talk at me. It’s all ‘Great Mind’ this and ‘Great Cycle’ that.” He shook his head. “I’m just here to have fun, plus it beats the hell out of staring at rock all day.”
“You aren’t worried about all the stuff I told you about being eaten?”
He pulled her to the side of the hall, next to a window overlooking a grassy lawn with an archery range. Lilijoy couldn’t see the archers or the targets, but the sporadic arrows wobbling through the air let her know a beginner class must be in session.
Attaboy shrugged. “It just doesn’t make any sense to me. Guardian was made to protect humans from their own worst impulses, when the choice looked like that or extinction. I can’t wrap my head around how we got from there to cosmic mysteries taking place in an elaborate game.”
Guess he’s in full-on Atticus mode, Lilijoy thought. It made her sad to see her childhood friend buried under memories of the twenty-first century.
“Don’t let the Insiders hear you call it a game,” she warned. “They think we’re the ones who don’t understand how reality works.”
“Oh, the Dean has made that abundantly clear,” Attaboy replied, wincing. “Abundantly,” he repeated under his breath. “But I refuse to believe that Guardian would directly harm anyone without a greater good. Especially those of us...” he lowered his voice “...with the right system.”
Lilijoy hushed him. “You saw how easy it was for me to sneak up on you. There could be someone from the clans standing right here, if their Stealth is high enough, never mind someone with magical listening abilities.”
She didn’t think it likely, as it would take at least a Master level stealther to hide in plain sight from her with her current level. But Attaboy still hadn’t really grasped the realities of their world, stuck as he was between Atticus’s memories and Attaboy’s experience, or lack therof.
“The clans are surely watching both of us closely,” she continued. “Let’s not give them anything to work with.”
Attaboy snorted. “It’s not like they can do much to us in here. And I don’t think my situation can get much worse Outside.”
Lilijoy reached out with her system and opened a communication channel.
Lilijoy did a double take.
Lilijoy was still having a little trouble coming to grips with the new information.
Lilijoy spent the next few minutes getting the stories of all the Bros that Attaboy had known when he was Atticus. By the time he was done her head was spinning. Timout was Tim Wojciechowski, an old friend of the family who Henry had brought in to help run the company finances. Onlee was, plainly enough, On Lee, a college friend and research partner of Henry’s. The others Attaboy knew less well, at least with his current memories, but they all had one thing in common.
He brought in all his oldest, most trusted friends, Lilijoy realized. Bros indeed.
she asked.
He shook his head.
“I need to get to a class,” he said aloud. “Let’s start walking.”
They started back down the hall, both lost in their own thoughts. After a bit of silent walking, Lilijoy brought up the topic she had meant to discuss when she first approached him.
His steps slowed.
Lilijoy stomped her foot. “Don’t be a stubborn… idiot!” she hissed.
Attaboy looked down at her with wide eyes, an angle that seemed so wrong to her.
He faced forward and quickened his pace.
She saw the stubborn set to his features and kicked herself.
I wonder if Atticus was just as pig-headed, she thought.
He turned back to her as they walked.
Did I just get played?
“We’ll see,” he said aloud. “Like you said, we can talk about it.”
***
“This tea is so much better than the first stuff you ever served me,” said Lilijoy.
She was sitting with her legs curled underneath her on Professor Anaskafius’ plush brown couch, mug cupped between her hands. His study smelled of hickory smoke and jasmine, and was one of the few places in either world where Lilijoy felt truly at home.
“I brought out my best in celebration of your safe return,” her magic mentor replied. “I was this close,” he said waving his tea cup, “to interceding on your behalf. Had I known the full extent of Eskallia’s...” he sputtered for a moment. “Well, what she did was just wrong. If I had known that was why she wanted you in Averdale, I would have...”
“It’s okay, Professor,” said Lilijoy. “I understand. You didn’t know.”
“It is certainly not okay! It wasn’t fair to you, and it was an abomination for the Greatwood as well. To be woken in such circumstances.” He shuddered. “That’s why the Archon sent Rosemallow, you know. Not for you.” He settled into one of his wooden chairs, his quills rippling. “There. I’ve said more than I should on the matter. But please accept my heartfelt apology on behalf of, well, me, I suppose.” His dark, beady eyes fixed on Lilijoy’s. “Not all of us play such games.”
“Professor, how did you meet Rosemallow?”
He choked on the tea he had just sipped. “Ah. Well, that’s a bit of a story, you know. Not so sure your trainer would be happy if I shared it.” His eyes twinkled. “So best keep it to yourself. You should know that Eskallia was not always as you found her. When she was young, she was the most… well, suffice to say she was an elven maid of great beauty and power. And goodness too. There was just something about her.” His eyes took on a dreamy look before closing altogether. “She saved people. Saved me, to be truthful. She passed through the world and left it better than it was, and those who benefited, well, we flocked to her banner, as it were.”
He sighed. “So it was that a small group of us, her closest friends, mighty adventurers we considered ourselves let me tell you, this small group came to hear of a fearsome creature terrorizing a peaceful land, spreading pain and suffering in its wake. It, though I should say she, as you’re a smart girl and can already see where this is heading, captured those it could and killed the rest. Hundreds died under her cruel club, but they could be counted among the fortunate, for the survivors were imprisoned in a great earthen labyrinth, and there underwent horrific struggles until they could endure no more and perished.
So this small band of brave souls, and myself as well, we made our way to the labyrinth and persevered through trials that tested our very sanity, fighting off survivors who had become twisted from their long captivity. Well, as you may have guessed, we made it through, though not before several of us were sent to respawn in horrible ways. And at the end, there she was in all her glory, Rosemallow the Foul, her tusks dripping with the blood of her latest kill and her third eye looking into our very souls. Even Shadow could not escape her scrutiny and we all cowered beneath her gaze. All save Eskallia.”
He stopped speaking and took a long sip of tea. The silence stretched until Lilijoy couldn’t help herself.
“What happened? What did Eskallia do?”
Professor Anaskafius shook himself from his reverie. “Do? My dear, Eskallia did no more than say three words to overcome the evil before us. While it was many years before Rosemallow began to resemble the person you know today, her path to redemption began in that instant, and thenceforth she and Eskallia were rarely separate.”
“But what did she say?” Lilijoy felt her curiosity burning hot within her, and then she knew what, inevitably, was going to happen next.
Anaskafius smiled and raised a single clawed digit. “Oh, I think it’s much better if you think about that, my dear. What could Eskallia possibly say in such a situation, her pure soul laid bare before the monster’s gaze? What would you say?”
“Your path is curiosity, isn’t it?”
He chuckled. “In part. There have been some who wondered why I and your trainer get along so well, but I bet you know why, don’t you?”
Lilijoy did. “It’s because you understand each other’s paths. Curiosity and struggle are both paths of cruelty, or they can be.”
Anaskafius pushed up his spectacles. “I wouldn’t quite put it that way, though it’s not a bad observation. What I did to you just now could be called cruel, I suppose, but no harm will result. Ideally, it will allow you to grow, much as one of Rosemallow’s merciless exercise routines would. The perception of cruelty, in both cases, is very much bounded by time. Present suffering turns to future success.”
Lilijoy considered this for a moment as they both sipped their tea. Finally, she returned to what could be the most important question of all, at least in the short term.
“Who was Shadow?”