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The next day, before lunch, Vincent and Barbara went to the mercenary base. When the prisoners saw them enter the room, they flinched and tried to retreat to a corner. The woman wore her full armor and had a short sword shaped like a cleaver in her hand.
“My friend will ask questions. You will answer. Or else.” Barbara’s voice was cold and held promises of unspoken violence.
“Do you know somebody called Fenros?” Vincent started.
There was a worried expression on Kaelith’s face, but she kept silent. Barbara stepped forward, growling.
“He’s our son,” Drakhan said. “We’re weak,” he turned toward Kaelith. “They will extract this information from us anyway. Let’s keep the little health we have.”
“Is he all right?” Kaelith asked.
“He was when I last saw him,” Vincent groaned. “He froze time and cut my arm,” he raised his right hand. “If you tell me how to counter him, I promise I’ll spare his life.”
“Will you swear on—” Kaelith started.
“On what? The System you try to destroy?” Vincent snorted. “I give you my word. Take it or met Barbara and—”
“Johnny,” the Amazon waved the cleaver.
“He spared our lives twice,” Drakhan said.
“Fine!” Kaelith sneered. “I had a terrible pregnancy. The boy was in a reversed position, and our chances were grim. I entered the pod and waited for a miracle. In time, medicine advanced, and C-sections became safe.
“Fenros was influenced by that tech inside the pod and developed that skill of freezing time. He can do it for eighteen seconds and a maximum of twice in a row.”
“Anything else?”
“He studied a lot of fighting styles and favors those from the Far East.”
“Talking about fighting skills… How did you penetrate my armor during the first fight?”
“I did not penetrate it. I siphoned Health from you, leaving wounds in place. It’s my best ability.”
“Hm…” During the second fight, the two couldn’t land hits on him. They had been weakened by hunger, true, but his new capped Awareness had done most of the job. “OK, go on.”
“Fenros is always on the road, taking bounties or contracts. If you met him, he was hired to fight against you. He doesn’t care about politics, the System, or anything.”
“He might like the new System better because it increases the cap in stats and levels,” Drakhan said.
“I advise you against fighting him,” Kaelith said. “You’re stronger than us now but won’t hold a candle to my son. You don’t even cycle your Mana.”
“Cycle my Mana? Vincent creased his forehead. “Are you talking about cultivation?”
“She’s talking about training hard,” Barbara said. “It’s nothing like the stuff in Bee’s books.”
“Bee reads books about cultivation?”
“Big fan.”
Vincent beckoned his prisoners, aiming toward the door. “Let’s talk while we take a walk. I’ll show you around the farm. You’ll be free to walk around during the day. If the sun is gone and you’re out, you will be shot on sight.”
With Vincent in the lead, they exited the building and started touring the farm, with Vorrak following leisurely. “That’s Jiri,” he pointed toward the guard’s booth. “He or the other guards will bring you food once a day, but it will be enough for three meals. If you harm any of them, you die. That’s the front fence; don’t touch it. It’s electrified.”
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“It has lightning magic,” Barbara explained. “You won’t be killed, but it will incapacitate you.”
“You were talking about cycling Mana,” Vincent said.
Kaelith nodded. “Never keep your Mana pool full. Spend some every second. Get naked, run in the cold, heal your frostbites. Pull hot irons out of the fire with your bare hands. Jump from heights to break your bones or hit things. Let yourself hit on purpose. Each time, you will gain toughness and resistance and heal faster. Every atom of your body will learn to use Mana efficiently. This technique is called Endless Training.”
“I get it… Be like the Shaolin Monks. Now, to the most important matter. Why did you start a revolution?”
“For many reasons,” Drakhan said.
“Enlighten me.”
“For instance, Kaelith and I were disappointed the System trusted the Lotus Eaters.”
“Lotus Eaters?”
“Pod addicts. Brindabella, The Raven, Hibris, Kiara. They should have been left to their fate and their pods given to other people. There are many Summoned who are worthier… The pods were not intended to be used to ride other people’s bodies or keep your mind awake. They keep you frozen so you can wake up when work is to be done.”
“And those ‘worthier’ Summoned,” Vincent made air quotes, “are one of the factions behind the rebellion?”
“Yes. Another is made from the still functional Archetypes who feared you’d kill them as you did with the Raven and Mysafyr. That advanced the plan.”
“So there was a plan to take out the System… Let me ask you a question. Before attacking Bella, have you killed other addicted Archetypes? I won’t hurt you as long you tell the truth.”
“Teams were sent to eliminate various targets. We took out two pod addicts the night before by ambushing the bodies they rode.”
“They were both in the same village, near Niș. They were obsessed with their childhood village. Brother and sister,” Kaelith said.
“What happened to their pods?”
“We left them behind. We didn’t have time for them. We ran all night to reach Sophia.”
“And what about the New System? Is it made from those AIs taken from the spider?”
“You mean the alien intelligent spells? In part. The consensus is the Alien spells; fewer and better Archetypes are superior to the Old System. Changing to a new System will benefit everyone.”
“And how do you plan to do that?”
“It must be obvious by now. Our allies conquered the Old System’s temple.”
“Not really… I destroyed the whole building.”
“We were told there are backups on Emberveld and Frosthaven.”
“OK. Don't go on that road on the left. It’s another limit. Now, I want you to tell me the names of the other strike teams and the Archetypes targeted.”
“A team of four was secretly sent to deal with Hubris and Kiara. The Clockwork Queen didn’t want them harmed. She’s their daughter.”
“Names?”
“Aloysius, the Archetype of—”
“Just the names.”
“Aloysius, Humbold, Javier, and Kulla.”
“And the rest?”
“We know only that Dubromir and Edwin were sent after two Archetypes in Northern Italy. They worked closely with the Clockwork Queen. She considers herself the leader of our coalition, but truth be told—” Kaelith stopped short both from talking and walking, biting her lips.
“Spit it out. Who’s the real boss?” Vincent asked, stopping as well. “Now that I know there’s one, I won’t leave until I know. One way or another.”
“The Cursed King,” Drakhan said. “We never met him and don’t know his real name. That’s how the Queen referred to him.”
“I’d say that his nickname is a title by itself,” Vincent sighed. “Goodness, this list of villains never stops. Very well. You did your part. I’ll do mine. I’ll find a way to spare your son. Nevertheless, you two are murderers. This farm will be your prison for as long as you live... How long do you have, considering you lost your powers?”
“I don’t know,” Drakhan said. “The average life span of a common human is a hundred and twenty.”
“On Stellarterra, maybe. Here’s about eighty.”
“Then perhaps twenty to thirty years.”
“Then I hope you like the countryside. I was not joking about not leaving the farm. That hangar is the outer limit; don’t go in the forest behind it. Cameras... Surveillance constructs and automatic guns have been placed around the perimeter, and someone will always be watching. The new guards will put special bracelets on your ankles to track your movements.”
“May I ask you something?” Drakhan said. “Why are you going against the current? The old system is gone, and the new one is the only way to preserve order.”
“My people seem to be doing well without that new system.”
“In time, the old individual Operating Systems will disappear. You cannot pass them to your children.”
“We’ll see. Let’s head back.”
Half an hour later, after the new guards installed the ankle bracelets on the prisoners, Vincent returned to the hotel, taking Barbara and Vorrak. No one was on the site; everybody was out.
“Why do you treat those bastards so nice?” Barbara said. “They deserve to die."
“They’re powerless and provided good information, so I kept my word. For the rest, they don’t need to know the System is alive or that most of their friends are gone. Say… tonight is the next stage of the talent show… do you want to be my assistant?”
“Doing what?” Barbara asked.
“I’ll ask a jury member to come on stage, and you’ll throw daggers at them.”
“I’m bad at throwing knives… If you want people to survive, that is.”
“That’s perfect. You’ll throw the daggers directly at them, and I’ll use my Awareness skill to catch them before they’re killed. That’ll look neat, right?”
“I like how you think,” Barbara grinned.