Lurona city [southern shores of Fuminao Legacy Kingdom], local time [1794.01.11]

Knowing that the proverbial wall behind their backs was removed, the tension of the group disappeared almost instantly.

Every one of them was carrying a lot on their shoulders – the success of the Duel Tournament was a group responsibility and would determine their future in the city. The situation was bad enough that they were ready to leave this place behind if their opponents managed to gain enough leverage over them.

But now, that was all in the past. Even if their six Department Heads still needed to win every Duel, that wasn’t required from their champions anymore. And even if they didn’t manage to acquire the full Landlordship title for Kwan, they had a whole new resource to play with. A resource that wasn’t a subject of the current fights.

Trading parts of Lucas’s assets to regain the rights lost in the Duels wasn’t out of the question.

As Kwan explained in detail the rules of her Duel and what that meant for their Guild, a festive mood started blooming in the room.

While excitedly discussing the possibilities and future plans, they returned to their seats to enjoy the rest of the fights.

The sun was setting down already—although the hour was still young—painting the arena in golden colors. Some of the glass panels on the higher altitudes were reflecting the rays of light down to better illuminate the battlefield, unexpectedly giving the fights a more dignified feel – as if they were watching a grand showdown between the best gladiators in the country instead of simple Duels between chosen champions of the city factions.

Or maybe it was just Zeph’s skewed perception, caused by the first good news in what felt like months. It was hard to tell.

Kwan wasn’t going to hide the truth from their fighters and immediately sent a few people to deliver the information to the rest of their Guild. In response, the flow of the fights changed. There was less desperation in their movements, fewer mistakes made.

It became obvious just how much of a morale boost the news brought. Their fighters were more composed, more confident and focused. They have won every fight until now but there were a few close calls along the way. And now, as the Tournament progressed, they started dominating it.

Instead of surviving, they thrived. And that simple fact made the morale soar even higher.

When the last match finished, it was already close to the evening, yet the buoyant atmosphere didn’t subside at all. The sky was black for hours now; the stadium illuminated by gentle, warm light coming from the barrier above their heads was only adding to the overall vibe.

“Well, that was fun! What’s in the schedule?” Makani interrupted quiet discussions, energetically jumping to his feet as the last announcements for the day were playing out.

“A general meeting in La-Kwan’s quarters; a banquet is starting at first night cycle for interested; and strategizing session is planned afterward,” Arhen dutifully reported.

“What are we waiting for, then?” he asked, looking around the room. “I want to hear these rumors!” he said with a vicious smile on his face.

Aisha laughed and even Kwan smiled a little.

“Can’t say I am any different,” Ghrughah added, standing up.

Like that, they all relocated to Kwan’s abode. It was more of an apartment really, geared with a full-blown conference room and luxury appliances. It was stylized like how Zeph imagined a Roman household. A lot of sculptured stone and marble with minimal amount of wood to fill the interior, everything kept in pastel yellows, reds, and light bronze. The only difference was the lack of wall paintings and an amazing number of pillows and cushions scattered around.

Every Department Head had a similar apartment all for themselves. The rooms were just a floor below their spectator hall, all close to each other. The champions and necessary assistants had their own, smaller abodes further away on the same floor. The rest of their retinue would stay at the ground level, in the garden area.

People from opposing factions were placed on different floors. There were more sections inside the ring of the building, separated by the public areas, but it was in good taste and faith to host the combatants in the same vertical segment of the complex. That way everyone had more privacy while being close enough to easily interact with each other.

A big table in the conference room greeted them as they entered. It was fully packed with dishes in an open buffet style. That reminded everyone—with the exception of P’pfel, who abused the stadium services to the full extent—that they forgot to eat a full meal during all the excitement with the Duels.

As so, before tackling the small mountain of reports sitting on a low table in the center of the room, they laid siege to the buffet. The food was, of course, provided without the entree, but the quality was outstanding for a mere Class-zero serving.

The lodgings could be granted for free for the combatants, but no sane person would invest in the infrastructure necessary for keeping the livestock alive without taking a pretty penny for it. Besides, it was a place of violence, not leisure. People could earn their Soul fragments in the arena instead of stuffing their faces with freshly killed animals.

Plates full and seats taken, they started reading the summary reports while taking a bite.

Zeph was sitting between Aisha and Ghrughah, unhurriedly chewing on some bird’s leg as he skimmed through the document.

The room was silent for a few minutes. Some of the gathered started frowning, though.

“Jaavla…” P’pfel cursed silently and this time, Zeph understood what the word stood for. “Are they stupid or something?”

“Well… I did tell our people to gather even unassuming gossip…” Kwan said with a sigh.

“This is… a total mess,” Zeph said, shaking his head.

The summary wasn’t even trying to explain the logic behind the gathered information. It plainly summarized what was heard, how trustworthy the source was, and how it related to their intelligence’s data. The problem was – most of the records stood in obvious opposition to each other if taken seriously.

It looked like an information noise; like a summary of forum posts randomly grabbed from the internet and put together without care. Heck, going by the confirmed sources, people were contradicting themselves.

A typical chaotic disinformation and chaos. Something Zeph never expected from simple rumors.

Aisha groaned, putting the papers down. “I reeeealy don’t want to go through the detailed reports…”

“No evident clues about their last-resort devices, too,” Ghrughah added with disappointment, still scanning the summary.

“Nothing noteworthy about the people themselves… Let’s speed up this meeting a little,” Kwan decided. “Aisha and I”—the woman in question groaned again—"will try to extract something more from these,” she shook the paper in her hands,” before the strategy meeting. I am badly wounded and Aisha is…” she glanced at the Priestess.” In a very bad mood, so we can excuse ourselves from the banquet. Anyone wants to bump heads with our esteemed competitors?”

“Zeph, you are obviously out,” Aisha said before anyone else could, massaging her eyes. “Try to do what we talked about instead of wasting time. You can even skip the strategy meeting if necessary. And Makani,” she started, glancing at him, “I forbid you from attending as well.”

“What? Why?!” the man exclaimed with a mix of surprise and disbelief.

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“You are the only Manacaster taking part in this event… Well, the only official Manacaster, anyway.”

Zeph was surely also classified as one, but people able to attain such designation without a Tower’s teachings and help were very rare on Corora’s surface.

Also, he expected that he would have to register officially at some point, if only to not be seen as a deserter. Nobody was paying much attention to a low-level Generalist, though, so he was safe from that headache for now.

“You will be bothered if any of the Landlords find you away from the group,” Aisha continued her explanation. “Don’t underestimate political pressure they can apply, or their ability to extract information. If you give them enough clay to work with, they will shape it into a new tool for their use. Your ability to take part in this event is by the Tower’s permission, not approval or admission. If the Landlords twist the truth just enough, you may find yourself disqualified.”

“You worry too much,” professor P’pfel said stoically, cleaning his mouth with a cloth.

“Better to be warry now than be sorry later,” Ghrughah countered.

Makani sighed in disappointment. It seemed he was looking forward to the banquet, for whatever reason. “I understand but… Can we really count on these two?” he said, pointing at the giant and Gremling.

“This won’t be my first banquet with Lurona’s politicians, not by a long shot. I am quite sure I met most of them already.” Ghrughah huffed, crossing his arms.

“I will stay in charge,” the professor assured them, adjusting his glasses. “I am curious about a few things, so I wanted to be there anyway.”

“Those two have the best chance to find any traces on the combatants. Soul stuff isn’t that relevant and they will have precautions. Mana and physical? Not so much,” Aisha said in a monotonous voice, slowly coming to an acceptance of her paperwork responsibilities. Very, very slowly.

Kwan’s raised eyebrow made Makani grimace and sigh in defeat. “Whatever… what am I to do, then?”

“Work with Zeph, maybe?” Aisha shrugged. “You won’t be much help with the documents…”

“I actually would appreciate some help,” Zeph interjected. “I, for sure, will need to steal P’pfel for a moment, while he is still available. Also, Pavail, can you assist as well?”

She nodded without hesitation.

“A help with… what exactly?” Makani asked skeptically.

“Magicule shenanigans?” That actually caught his attention.

Kwan nodded. “In that case, Ghrughah-jiji, help me adjust my armor. We should still have an hour or two before the banquet starts.”

He gave a short, affirmative grunt.

“Before we split, I wanted to discuss the financial report…” Arhen stated weakly. Everyone turned to him at that, making him visibly uncomfortable. He cleared his throat. “The tickets sold quite well thanks to our Information Department,” he started, giving Aisha a grateful nod. “Even despite the disadvantageous order of the Duels, with the Heads fighting first, we still managed to meet the basic objectives. But the bets… we lost around half of the possible income,” he said with disgust, shaking his head. “In total, we have earned around half a million from the tickets’ margins and around a million from bets… On the other hand, we have earned a lot of goodwill thanks to the invites and information sharing.”

Kwan and Aisha nodded in sync, unperturbed. The others in the room also didn’t react excessively, already accustomed to working with the Guild-scale monetary transfers. Only Pavail looked somewhat surprised.

“Not much for an event of his proportions, but anything helps. How did our competition fare?” Kwan asked.

“Around five times that in total, but split up in many more directions…”

She shrugged. “Seems about right with our predictions. Anything unexpected?”

“Ugh… This volume isn’t quite represented on the market; as if the money didn’t enter it at all. The commence Guilds aren’t reacting. Normally, they would buy out more stock, like in the case of the three we are using.”

“Did you send the copy of that report to my subordinates?” Aisha asked, tilting her head.

“Obviously.” He nodded.

“Then don’t worry about it. That part is taken care of by our dear detective division,” she said with a wide smile, closing the case and further discussion. “Anything more?”

After a few less important questions and issues, it seems that everything was accounted for. They quickly finished their meals and split up to finish their tasks.

Zeph’s room was a short walk away. It was almost the same as Kwan’s, although the decorations were kept in darker colors and it lacked a table full of food.

P’pfel and Makani quickly found comfortable seats, discussing the viability of using liquid reagents and chemicals in a battle, while Zeph decided to look around his apartment. They had to wait for Pavail to collect the documents from the medical team before he started explaining what he needed, either way.

He had to give it to the stadium’s administration, the place was cozy. He found some towels and togas ready for him in the closets, nicely placed fragrant flowers and aromatic candles put all around his bedroom, a full set of shaving and bathing equipment in the small bathroom, and many more ins and outs that defined the meaning of luxurious accommodations.

Finally, Zeph found some snacks in the small kitchen area, so he happily brought them to the table and sat on the sofa opposite the chatting duo. It was mostly dried fruits, nuts, and simple cakes, but it should be enough to satiate his still-recovering body.

Looking back, I don’t think I saw any dish that would require a complicated recipe yet. Well, they don’t need them if they can make delicious food either way, but… I still remember some recipes. Maybe I should try them in the future? Aisha for sure loved those improvised tortillas… he reminisced, going back to their trip through the Westibule mountain chain after she and Makani had found him. Those were good times. The life was much easier, too…

His thoughts were interrupted when Pavail returned; the entry doors loudly crashing against the wall. After a few silent bumps with the stone walls, she marched into the conference room blindly, a high stack of papers in her hands obscuring her face.

Zeph facepalmed. “You could have asked the attendants…” he mumbled.

“Sorrryy...” she said, wobbly coming closer. “I had to take some recipes that areeee—” She ended up slamming down the stack on the table after bumping into it, almost losing her balance in the process. “Uhhhh… Sorry!” she said, quickly straightening up while holding her hands up. Which she quickly rectified, as the stack of papers was already tilting forward.

“Don’t worry about it,” Zeph sighed, helping her to stabilize the small tower of documents. “I didn’t bring anything to drink yet, so we are safe. What were you saying again?”

“Ah, yes! I had to ask for recipes of some of the medicaments they had used on you, but they are classified, so I had to bring them here myself,” she explained, sighing in relief as they split the tower into more manageable portions.

What she said wasn’t a surprise. Some recipes could only be handled by people with the proper Class and experience despite not being patented. Mostly because strong stimulants, drugs, or other chemicals could pose a problem if handled without necessary care. Not to mention strong psychiatric medications.

“Out with it,” P’pfel said, jumping up on his cushion to sit straight. “What is it all about, Zeph?”

“I need you to help me recreate the mix of drugs that they applied to me during the surgery. Gru had his hand in this, too. At the time, I achieved a trance-like state and I want to be able to recreate it. But first, I need to know what was applied before trying to recreate the effect…”

He narrated what he experienced back then and shortly explained his new General and Profession Skills. It quickly became obvious why he needed them.

It was a shame that the ‘Bioscience Alchemy’ wasn’t available because of its fusion with his future rewards. He knew for sure that the exact mix of stimulants that had influenced him at the time was present in that General Skill. A slightly problematic issue that could be easily amended by the System, if it wasn’t for the fact that it probably wouldn’t work for the second time.

‘Shamanic visions’ General Skill explained enough even after a few minutes-long session with it during the champion fights.

It was something he expected, too. Not only his notifications clued him in by pointing out that his Profession needed to take an active part in the process, but he also knew that the composition of stimulants wouldn’t be that easy to recreate. Back then, he was heavily wounded, unconscious, and under the influence of many different enzymes and hormones produced by his own body during and after the fight. Not to mention, a lot of things that were pumped into his body were unnecessary or even detrimental to the process.

In other words, he was in no stable state at the time. As so, the first step was to learn the scope of what had happened. Then, he would start testing.

“You know that it will take much longer than one evening?” P’pfel asked, still skeptical of the idea. “The number of combinations is…” he once again glanced at the medical summary, “in thousands?”

“Treat it more like a preliminary experiment, P’pfel,” Zeph said, already preparing a list of medicaments to be delivered. Some of which being substitutes that seemed to stimulate the body more similarly to what he experienced. “Remember, what I really need to do right now has nothing to do with the trance-like state directly. And I think I know how to get rid of those foreign Magicules. I even have a few different ideas on how to achieve that. But I can as well try to gain something more knowledge first. Also, I am quite sure the necessary mix isn’t that strict. I just don’t want to try overdosing myself with potentially dangerous drugs without reason. What we need to do, is to find the main components. Also, I believe the state of my mind will play the main role in the act itself, so let’s just prepare the most promising mixes so I can start testing them.”

P’pfel sighed, closing his eyes. “Always in a rush. Always pushing into the unknown… You remind me too much of my other self…”

The discussion ended there as they started to sort out the data. Makani, meanwhile, was perusing his General Skills to see if he had any information on the Magicule group that Zeph described. Initially, he wanted to try and feel them directly, as Zeph could, potentially, displace some by using his Willforce-puffing skin enchantment, but he quickly backed away from the idea after Zeph reiterated Aisha’s story about the ‘parasitic’ Will-Magicules.

Two hours later, P’pfel left the room to prepare for the banquet. Before that, he instructed Kwan’s people to bring some of his alchemy equipment to Zeph’s apartment.

An hour later, he and Pavail were ready to extract and synthesize some of the most promising stimulants. It was decided to test what could influence Zeph’s body in the first place instead of feeding his body with complete, complex medicaments. The number of potential mixes was too much; they had to decrease the number of possibilities.

In the case of what Gru and Phleya had done, it would stay the same. Gru not only didn’t have that much influence over Phleya while the colony played a major role in producing the chemicals, but he also didn’t know what exactly was produced.

Another hour passed before they were ready for the first test…