It took me several minutes to calm down after I arrived in my apartment. Once I got over the initial adrenaline rush associated with a near-death experience, I spent a few moments considering how to deal with my would-be assassin as I waited for my hands to stop shaking.

A lot of my options depended on who my attacker was since the consequences of my actions could be far different, depending on who the target was.

Deciding to figure that question out first, I focused on the invisible person. Their lack of visibility didn’t keep me from instinctually knowing their location since they were being held in Stasis by my mana, nor did it block Assess.

[Andruno-Fabin Springheart – Level 27 – Light/Water – Scholar/Alchemist]

“Really? What’s with this family?” I muttered.

And what was a Tier Three Scholar/Alchemist doing playing Assassin? I mean, what the hell? Had they really fallen that far so quickly? Surely, they wouldn’t go right to assassinating independent Enchanters, would they?

That seemed wrong.

And just letting the Springheart go was obviously out of the question. They had attacked me with the intent to kill. Letting them go free would do nothing but guarantee an enemy plotting against me.

And not just the attacker, but likely their whole family.

At the same time, they were currently restrained and somewhat helpless. I didn’t think the Accords would consider me killing them now as self-defense. If I had struck back after being attacked, then their lower tier wouldn’t have mattered. But short of letting the person attack again…

It… was certainly an option.

But before I decided what to do, I needed to know why the person had attacked.

Was it to reduce competition or something else?

With no obviously better options, I removed my most stealthy pod and expanded it in my living room. I’d designed the construct to allow me to hide in beast-ridden areas, so it should be capable of preventing detection from anything at this tier.

I’d loaded the thing with stealth formations and wards inspired by the ones I’d seen outside the spa, which were far better than anything else I’d seen on the floor. The pod should also be enough to block any tracking enchantments my would-be assassin might be wearing while also concealing any sounds that were made during our upcoming discussion.

Once the pod expanded sufficiently, I pulled my invisible prisoner inside and Anchored a Time domain to the construct. Using a physical structure to anchor the long-term domain made it much more mana-efficient, which was good given the amount of mana I was planning to spend.

I scanned the prisoner using every skill and sense I had available and immediately recognized two of the talismans they, or rather he, wore. I would have found his use of my talismans amusing had the man not tried to kill me. Obviously, he liked my work.

Given that, he probably wasn’t trying to kill me because of my profession. If the items I produced were significantly better than alternative life-saving talismans, it seemed far more likely his family would have at least tried to recruit me before moving straight to assassination.

Since he had tried to kill me, I felt no qualms about taking back the items I’d created. It took a little manual manipulation of the Stasis effect to manage, but with the training I’d gotten from Master Kairos, it was practically child’s play to remove the items from the man.

Even the wand gripped tightly in one hand – the wand that had almost certainly been used to attack me, given the individual’s lower tier – was simple to remove with a bit of Space mana.

I also removed all the jewelry the man wore, including the man’s spatial storage ring. It was very well-made and at the peak of Tier Four. His family no doubt paid a hefty price for such an item.

I didn’t bother looking inside since it was possible to put protections on such items that would harm anyone other than the owner who attempted to gain access. With enough time, I was sure I could safely gain access, but I didn’t care to.

At least, not right now.

I didn’t notice anything that might be used to track the man, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t something there. To be safe, I planned to keep everything in Stasis for now.

The man remained invisible even after I finished removing everything except a thin pair of silk undergarments enchanted with [Self Cleaning]. Unless he had talismans implanted beneath his skin, the effect had to be from a spell, which made sense, given his Light affinity.

I scanned for such items, just in case, and found a small device implanted in the man’s sternum. This looked like a tracking device, and I contemplated what, if anything, to do with it.

For now, I’d leave it alone.

I’d put the device itself into Stasis once I released the assassin to keep it from being tracked while we talked. While the wards on the pod should be enough to block such devices, I’d feel better with it frozen in time. And depending on how the conversation went, it might be better for me not to mess with it at all.

Decision made, I established an Anchor and prepared to release the man from Stasis. At the last moment, I realized that I still hadn’t restrained the Springheart assassin. Laughing nervously at my potentially fatal mistake – potentially fatal for the assassin – I locked the frozen man in the pod and headed into my workshop to create something that would keep him from using mana while we talked.

Though I initially felt some disgust at the thought of creating a mana-suppression device like those used against me in the other timeline, I forced myself past it.

The man had attacked me without warning or provocation. It was something I’d understandably developed a pet peeve against.

While I worked, I distractedly approved Zavira’s request to enter the apartment. I was so used to approving her access requests that I didn’t even consider the ramifications of allowing her to see what I was doing.

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“Whoa! What’s with the pod in your living room?” she asked, causing my heart to stutter.

Would she care? Probably not. But I didn’t want to put her into a compromising position by forcing her to keep my secrets.

Thinking quick, I said, “I’m modifying some of the formations. It’s easier to do while it’s expanded.”

It was totally believable, obviously, because she seemed to put the oddity out of her mind and headed into the workshop without further comment.

“You took off without telling anyone. I was worried something happened to you when you didn’t reply to my messages,” the Force Smith said with an odd look that was somewhere between annoyance and relief.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t even see them,” I answered honestly. “You know how it is when inspiration hits.”

It was true, even. I’d had Lisa suppress all distractions while I was freaking out over my near-death experience. The thought of reviewing my messages hadn’t even crossed my mind.

I wanted to ask Zavira what she knew about the Springheart family, Andruno in particular. Was he the same one that had been harassing her? He had two affinities, which was supposed to be quite rare in the wider Alliance.

He had to be someone important, right? Especially with a tracker embedded inside of him. Surely, they didn’t do that with every family member.

But I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want Zavira to get suspicious when his disappearance was reported.

If it was reported.

I still wasn’t sure how to handle the situation.

“Well, if you’re working on something, I’ll stop distracting you. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay.”

“Yeah. I’m fine. I have my messages muted. I’ll have Lisa do an auto-reply for new messages. If it’s something important, just mark it as a priority, and it’ll get through,” I said. “I’m not sure how long I’ll be working on this project, and I’d rather not get too distracted. We should be good to take a day or two off after the beast wave, right?”

Zavira blinked a few times. “Yeah, that should be fine. But… who is Lisa?”

I chuckled in embarrassment, realizing my mistake. “It’s…” I sighed. “I named my Interface Assistant Lisa.”

Zavira’s eyes lit up. “Oh. That’s not very odd. A lot of people do that,” she said with a nod. “Okay, then. I’ll let Niall know about the break. He should be fine after all the experience we just earned. Message me when you’re finished.”

I released a pent-up breath when she finally left. I knew my reaction was unnecessary since even if she managed to enter the pod – which would be difficult for anyone other than me – the guy was invisible and frozen in time. Short of bumping into him, she’d never even know he was there.

Having her stop by was actually a pretty great alibi if anyone were to suspect me – not that I anticipated that being an issue.

I returned to my project, determined to design something that worked as soon as possible. I needed to leave myself enough time to question the guy and figure out what to do with him, and unless I wanted to leave him in Stasis while we explored some more…

I shook my head at the thought. Though the spell would hold for quite a long time, I didn’t like the thought of leaving a potential threat unguarded in my apartment. Too many things could potentially go wrong.

----------------------------------------

“Why did you attack me?”

The now-visible man/boy struggled against his restraints as he sneered in my direction. “How dare you treat a Springheart with such disregard! I’ll have you executed for your insolence!”

I rolled my eyes at the youth’s reaction. He clearly had no sense of self-preservation, given his situation.

Due to the mana-restraints the Springheart youth was wearing, the Invisibility spell had failed as soon as I released Stasis. I’d designed them to only disrupt the bound person’s mana instead of effectively creating a Null Field, which would have been the easier option.

It took a little longer to get them to work that way, but it was a necessary change to ensure I could place him back in Stasis (or some other effect) if needed.

I’d only been a little shocked when I recognized the arrogant youth. It was the same boy who’d demanded I give him my personal weapons so he could fight more effectively. Just seeing him gave me a good idea of the kid’s motivation for attacking me.

And such a flimsy justification for murder certainly didn’t help the kid.

Even so, I found myself even more conflicted about what I should do. While the would-be assassin was already well into Tier Three and physically an adult, the kid’s demeanor made it obvious that he was young. It was clear he’d been protected and carried through the tiers since I doubted his personal capabilities were enough to fell even the weakest Tier Four creatures.

What was particularly annoying was that he had Tier Four manatech weapons. The wand he had been holding was one such item. It made it all the more baffling as to why the kid had pestered me trying to get one of my scepters.

“Why did you attack me?” I repeated.

“Do you know who I am?” the youth screamed, thrashing against his bindings. He tried and failed to access his magic, growing angrier as he realized the gravity of the situation. “Where are my items? How dare you steal from me? Do you KNOW WHO I AM?”

I could have continued the back and forth, but it didn’t seem worthwhile. Even when the kid was panicking, his words were laced with arrogance and perceived superiority. He didn’t seem to comprehend his disadvantage.

It made me want to hit the kid.

I really, REALLY wanted to punch his arrogant face to shut him up.

Or maybe Teleport his voicebox out of his throat. I’d almost managed something similar during training. Maybe a little real-world experience was what I needed.

Lucky for the kid, I restrained myself.

“Andruno-Fabin Springheart, a Level 27 Scholar/Alchemist with dual Light/Water affinities,” I replied with exaggerated boredom. “Yes, I know who you are. Do you know who I am?”

The boy scoffed, and his erratic movement slowed as he replied.

“Why should I care who you are? You’re just some nobody crafter from some no-name sect. I’ve studied every sect of importance that’s entered the dungeon in the last five hundred years. If your sect was important, I would know,” he sneered disdainfully. “Your elders probably begged and cheated to get you access to the dungeon, but they have no power here! My family has the power here! We control this dungeon...”

I tuned the youth out as he yelled about the power of his almighty Springheart family. I wondered what the sect representatives observing things from outside the dungeon would think about the youth’s declarations. They obviously couldn’t see what was happening now.

But the kid didn’t know that. I wondered if he’d be confident enough in his family to say the same things if he thought they were watching.

“What would the sects watching think about your claim?” I asked with clear amusement, causing the boy’s breath to hitch.

“There’s…We’re inside!” the kid stammered before regaining his confidence and sneering. “Everyone knows the watchers can’t see what happens inside.”

“Permission can be granted for any location,” I said coolly, watching the kid’s expression. “This is my residence, so I can give permission for the footage to be shared. I’m sure the watchers are very interested to hear more about how your family runs the dungeon.”

The kid’s face paled rapidly. “I was… I didn’t mean…” He looked around nervously before resuming his struggle against his bindings. “Where are my clothes? Where are my… You tricked me! Anyone can see that you tricked me! I didn’t mean it!” the boy crowed as he frantically tried to escape.

A part of me felt bad for the deception, but the larger part was still furious that the cowardly asshole had tried to kill me. I pondered what kind of trouble his family might be in if such comments were said openly.

Would the sects send in new elites intent on proving their superiority? I doubted they’d let such slights go. Maybe a few messages to elites already inside was all it would take.

Facilitating such exposure was a risk, but I was feeling pretty vindictive at the moment. It would have been nice to ask Master Kairos for advice before acting so… brazenly. But I wasn’t about to wait around for a couple of months to get his advice.

It would almost certainly stir up some trouble, but I’d do what I could to deflect the attention away from myself and the Epíkairos Sect.

With a sneer of my own, I placed the brat back into Stasis and cast Rewind to return to the Anchor I’d set right before questioning the kid. The spell only impacted what was inside my limited Time domain, but that was all I needed.