Lurona city [southern shores of Fuminao Legacy Kingdom], local time [1794.01.12]

Zeph’s face was immutable like a sculptured stone, cold and unresponsive. His gaze was distant and absent – as if gazing into the infinity of the universe itself. His body taunt and unmoving, courageously rejecting the influence of time and space; suspended in what could only be called the perfect meditating poise.

No power could incite his living shell to respond. No force could attain his attention, and no circumstance could awaken him.

Meanwhile, Aisha was rolling on the floor, laughing loudly enough to strain the privacy enchantment, drowning out every other sound produced by the people in the room.

He ignored it, though. The enlightening moment couldn’t crumble from just that. His shame knew no bounds nor limits. It was all-encompassing and growing into the infinity that he saw, leading his consciousness forward and beyond…

Makani smacked the back of his head, breaking the sacred seal that was put on his mind. Thus, the Manacaster became the cause of the calamity that soon followed.

“Aaaaaah!” Zeph screamed in defiance, gripping his head desperately.

It was too much. The awareness was too much to bear!

“Stop playing around and listen!” Makani screamed right into his ear, making him jump in his seat a little.

“What do you want from me, traitor?!” he exclaimed, blindly pushing Makani’s face away. “You were aware! You knew!” he accused, even as a part of his mind agreed with the Manacaster – his acting was getting out of hand a little. But his emotions had to find an outlet, it was no joking matter!

Besides, was it even an act anymore?

“Look, what you did brought a net positive,” Kwan stated loudly, trying to be heard over the raucous laughter coming from Aisha and P’pfel. “Even if you are no longer—”

Zeph screamed again, covering his ears.

He used too much force while pushing with his legs and landed on the floor near Aisha’s wheezing form when his chair flipped over. His body started convulsing in reaction to the information that his body was instinctively trying to reject.

Aisha’s laughter regained its strength, sending her back to the floor once again, just when she managed to support her torso with her arms.

It’s not happening! It’s just a mirage. Yes, yes, it has to. I was betrayed! No, that never happened! It’s just a dream. Yes!... But my bad arm hurts! No, no, it’s a phantom pain! the thoughts flew through his mind with the speed of light.

Suddenly, a heavy hand landed on his chest, breaking him from his reverie. He opened one eye to look at the source of the new pain. Aisha’s red face greeted him.

“Don’t… say… anything… more…” she wheezed, trying to regain control over her body.

He instinctively pushed her hand away. Rotating in place, he sent a kick at her face that was easily blocked by the back of her hand.

“You are the source!” he declared, madness overcoming his sense of self. “You are the one who brought it on m—”

She blocked another kick and reversed her grip. His bones screeched under the pressure as she pulled him closer.

“Stop hollering like a kid,” She said a little more seriously, but still fighting to regain control over her facial muscles, “My stomach hurts…”

Slightly panicking because of the sudden pain, his brain concocted the best answer it could possibly create at that moment.

His answer was simple, assuring, and… “But grandma, I am just at the right age to be a child of yours!”

What happened next, would never leave this temporary meeting room of the Sepia Familia Guild.

Enough to say, his ‘Zeph the idiot’ persona was destroyed in its entirety that day.

~~~

“Can we, finally, proceed?” Kwan asked angrily the unruly trio standing before her. She was sitting in her armchair, legs crossed and head resting in her hand.

“Yes”

“Yes”

“Aye...”

P’pfel, Zeph, and Aisha responded. Each of them sporting an imposing bump on their heads.

Kwan’s patience had its own limits, as they have learned firsthand.

“Zeph,” she almost growled.

“Yes!” He shouted, standing at attention.

“I will ignore the fact that you started overwriting your own behavioral patterns for… pleasure,” she started, daring him to disagree. “Even though Zora had explained it to you long ago…”

“Sir, yes sir!” he responded, defaulting to his military training.

He really did make a major mistake back there. He honestly miscalculated how much ‘playing a role’ could influence his psyche. Especially with his Will constantly working in the background as he was falling deeper and deeper into the role. Aisha had explained enough about using fake names in the context of mental health and a possible conflict occurring in his Soul. Later, she expanded on the topic, explaining more about the dangers of adopting a fake personality, rejecting reality to the point of becoming delusional, falling under heavy emotional stress, and, in general, being affected by mental ‘manipulation’ or ‘self-manipulation’ techniques, or developing mental disorders causing similar symptoms.

It was almost impossible to overwrite the memory of a Soul – not without damaging it – so the conflict between the Soul, Will, and mind was a given in such circumstances.

In other words, he should have known better. He should have been able to recognize the symptoms despite the unexpectedly fast-acting positive feedback loop that had occurred. Although, they still weren’t able to tell why exactly it was developing this fast.

“… yes. Anyway,” Kwan massaged her forehead, “your actions brought a mostly positive outcome, so I won’t discipline you more than that.” She turned serious, raising her club and smashing it into the floor. “You are now, officially, a social-slash-mental cripple in the eyes of the Lurona society. Don’t ever try to escape that image outside of the closed doors until we allow you!”

“Sir, yes sir!” he exclaimed automatically.

A teardrop could, or could not, have fallen down his cheek following this response. His public image was destroyed – by his own hands nonetheless – so he would now have to learn how to live with that fact.

“Professor!” she called aggressively, glaring at the Gremling who was clumsily holding a monocle.

The small man jumped in place, almost dropping the gadget as a result. Thankfully, after flailing for a moment, he successfully placed it on his eye.

His face immediately scrunched as his hand involuntarily corrected the position of the ocular. “With all due respect, shouldn’t you talk more reason to the other one?” he immediately asked.

“Maybe,”— Kwan’s tone changed to a playful one—"but I wanted to congratulate you personally before that,” she said, giving him a small bow. “From what I understand, despite your level, you had not only geared us with outstanding enchantments but also found the most crucial information during the banquet. We – the Heads and the Guild as a whole – are in your dept,” she stated resolutely, lowering her torso even more. After that, she straightened up and reached behind her seat.

She retrieved an ordinary-looking wooden box and carefully handed it to the professor.

A small smile bloomed on the Gremling’s face. He graciously accepted the parcel.

“I will make sure to expand my meditation sessions,” he declared, moving back and away from the center of the center of the shitstorm. Witnessing all that, Zeph was sure that his other personality was in for some serious scolding.

Unfair treatment at its best, he thought with disgust.

“Most appreciated,” Kwan nodded noncommittally, then turned her head to the last problematic child. “Aisha.”

“Hmm?” she reflexively looked up. She wasn’t even trying to hide that she wasn’t listening at all.

Kwan frowned. “I would be grateful if you were to stop… provoking certain behaviors…”

Aisha shrugged. “We both know that’s not going to happen. So…” she leaned forward, “where is my reward for steering our test su—”

“Do you want to be punched in the face?” Zeph asked, despite knowing that the chances of succeeding were nonexistent. It seemed that she had manipulated him a bit when he talked with her about his plan.

He wasn’t going to complain about the omission of the crucial information – not only he should be aware of the risks but it was his own idea in the first place. But this time, the effects could become too far-reaching to simply ignore what she did. Or, to be more precise, what she didn’t do.

Before the situation could even start to devolve into a scuffle once again, Kwan raised her club.

Hearing the floor creaking in relief as she lifted it, and feeling the overbearing aura of violence emanating from her form, they immediately froze in place.

“At attention, idiots!” Kwan exclaimed while smiling ominously, placing her oversized weapon on her shoulder. “You are both to be rewarded and punished.”

Aisha groaned in displeasure but didn’t say anything. Zeph just looked away with a grimace.

“You are officially recognized as one unit within our Guild,” she declared, to the relief of the rest of the room. At least none of them was to become Zeph’s caretaker, which was an expected resolution given their current situation. “Because Zeph can no longer play the role of an independent Head of Department, after the Tournament, Aisha Zora, you are going to become the Head of a new one – the Department of Information, Research, and Execution, a combination of your ‘Information and Fighting Force’ and Zeph’s ‘Spells and Innovation’ Departments!”

“What?! Him? No!” Aisha exclaimed with disdain, shuddering at the idea of managing Zeph’s exotic experiments.

“Department of wha… No!” Zeph exclaimed simultaneously with her; the disgust at the abbreviation of the name twisting his face into an ugly grimace.

Kwan giggled, which was never a good thing. “So that’s what you have problems with? Eh?”

They both glanced at each other.

“Don’t worry, Aisha,” Kwan continued. “The Department will receive triple the funds from the Guild for the IFF part.”

“Hey! That’s an obvious bribe!” he immediately protested. Gaining more funds from the Guild was never easy and he fought for more for a long time already – of course, without any success.

Kwan’s group owned the land while also being a part of the Guild. As so, other Heads didn’t have to pay rent for the space taken, and a majority of the profits coming from the activity in the area was fueling the Guild’s shared fund and monetary reserve. This money, though, was mostly used for maintenance, construction, and security. For a Department to suddenly gain more from the fund meant, indirectly, that Kwan was going to pay from her Department’s pocket.

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“Hoh? I can find a use for additional money…” Aisha said, now thoughtful. “Bribe or not~” she snickered.

“I wouldn’t call it that,” Kwan said, amused. Changing her position on the seat and placing her club on her lap, she started explaining. “Internally, not much will change, so you can divide those funds as you wish between yourselves and your projects. But you will need more space to make sure your old offices can work as a decoy.”

Zeph’s brow raised. “That still sounds wrong, though? You said triple, not double. Are you going to hide us in the headquarters’ core, or something?”

“No, no. That’s unnecessary.” She waved her hand. “We just need a guarding dog for you and your team, so it’s normal to pay a little more. We have to make amends publicly as a Guild, either way, so I will just use the reserve fund to pay for the changes. Just start working together as one group in your old laboratories and offices. Also, I believe that if you start supporting each other in other fields—especially the security—it should return a profit equivalent to the expenses from the Guild’s perspective.”

“Well, it’s not like you two will be the only ones doing that,” Makani added with a sigh. “I need Zeph’s help with some Spells. Part of that will be useful for the new flying prototype, which is already a group project between me, Ghrughah, and P’pfel. Merging the funds and workforce for it would help immensely.”

P’pfel the professor nodded. “Same with a few mixed projects we are developing together with Irra or Ghrughah. Are we sure we want the department's funds to be separate still?”

“Definitely,” Zeph said with confidence. “It works best for our projects. A centralized system would only slow us down. Not to mention, it would have a tendency to prioritize more profitable ventures, leaving the rest with less resources.”

“I agree,” Ghrughah said slowly. “But some projects are slowly reaching the level of the collective effort. Like the flying prototype…”

“Without a general fund, each Department spends only as much as it is willing to sacrifice,” Aisha countered, sitting down in her chair. “It’s more efficient that way. An abundance of resources incites corruption and wastefulness.”

“The overall speed of our progress may decrease… is what you are saying?” Kwan asked pensively.

“We shouldn’t be trying to fix something that works,” Makani said, using a saying he learned from Zeph. “More importantly, can we share our findings already? It’s getting late.” He looked around at the gathered Heads.

“I will start,” Zeph proposed, as they finally returned to the original agenda. The summary at the beginning was rudely interrupted by a certain Priestess and big-nose midget, but Kwan didn’t seem compelled to continue with it as people with critically important information already informed them of that fact. That was the reason behind the P’pfel’s early reward, even though he had yet to disclose any details.

The Gremling managed to discover and trace back the materials used in the creation of the last-resort weaponry their opponents prepared. It wouldn’t be enough to determine what exactly those were, but it was an important piece of the puzzle that would limit the possibilities and, hopefully, lead them to the sources. Also, it would grant them insight into the political map and the structure of the connections that had formed between different parties in the city – possibly pointing out the culprits responsible for trafficking the most crucial components of the devices.

After taking his seat, Zeph narrated what he managed to uncover about his targets. He started with Cyrus Jobenke and the state of his Soul, followed with Avery Rubella’s and Mindie Trichaya’s unusually slow Mana Generation and barely-perceivable Soul fatigue, and finished with miscellaneous information he managed to extract, which wasn’t much. He didn’t notice anything strange about Arrio Arslancle and the helper woman from the industrial group, too.

“Soul fatigue…” Kwan murmured, deep in thought. “And from what we saw, one-time use artifacts…”

“Mmm,” Ghrughah hummed, nodding to himself. “A Soul-link with Mana-hungry creation perhaps… A Soul-bond would leave more devastation in their Souls...”

“P’pfel, any ideas?” Aisha turned to the Gremling.

“My guess is as good as yours,” he said, shrugging. “I will leave a detailed list of materials I’ve found about. If that doesn’t help Ghrughah-jiji, then I don’t know what could.”

“Ghrughah,” Aisha turned to the giant. “If you have any ideas, I can check what other materials and components were potentially available to them – my department has quite extensive data on the markets, both public and unofficial.”

“And I can suggest potential partnerships between facilities or factions, in case some elements had to be created on-site in Lurona.”

“Much appreciated,” the giant nodded. “I will work on it.”

“The Arslancle’s situation isn’t normal, though,” Kwan continued. “I’ve never heard of similar symptoms. Did you?” she asked their local Priestess.

Aisha leaned forward on her seat, putting her chin on her clasped hands. “I gave it some thought but I can’t be sure. It sounds a little like a damage that Undead Soul conglomeration of hive organisms can inflict. But there are two major problems with that idea. Firstly, Souls of Myconid hives can’t form Undead conglomeration without losing their hive characteristics, as they are extremely centralized. Secondly, if I understand correctly, those were mere ‘dents’ in his Soul, not real damage?” she asked, glancing at Zeph.

“More or less,” he waved his hand. “Although the strain was quite serious, it didn’t seem like he lost anything. But the traces of the Will conflict on the borders looked like he might have damaged information content there.”

Aisha nodded and turned to the group. “You see, the ‘shape’ seems similar, but there was no real damage. If a Soul conglomeration manages to take direct offensive actions, it never ends that well. It’s more like he hosted a parasite, but it doesn’t make much sense either. If the Myconid Soul was intact – be it in a living body, body replacement, or in the form of a Soul-bondable artifact – the standard Will clash would naturally take place. There would be no time nor occasion for tunneling through the Soul,” she explained mechanically, like she was rehearsing the same line of arguments for the umpteenth time.

The room was silent as she finished. People were waiting for a conclusion or suggestion.

But Aisha was silent. She closed her eyes and tilted her head down so that her forehead was now resting on her hands.

Kwan squinted her eyes. “Why are you hesitating?”

“Because…” she said quietly, “I think my blindly-made guess may bring more harm than good.”

“We are too deep in the topic already,” Makani said with confidence typical for him in such situations. “I know full well that some kind of shielding preventing the Undead from infiltrating is one of the possibilities. The concept is easy enough, even though nothing like that exists.”

Everyone nodded at his comment.

Aisha sighed with irritation, finally raising her head.

“Do you understand the consequences of what you are suggesting?” she asked with a twitch in her eye. “Technicalities aside, a layer of neutral Soul ‘matter’ encompassing your whole Soul? Strong enough to oppose Will-driven Soul contact while not possessing a Will of its own?”

Makani blinked in surprise. “What… Soul engineering is a fact and—"

Kwan was first to understand, her eyes opening wide.

“Once applied, it couldn’t be removed,” she interrupted. “The leveling process would stop, too… No, not only that. How would you even… shield every shape?” she asked into the air. “If the Soul isn’t able to transmute, how could the Will move around? And if not, how can the shield change shape without Will?”

P’pfel’s head snapped up as he realized something. “Wait! Weren’t you guys using something similar?” he asked Aisha.

“It brings to mind a thing or two, isn’t it?” Aisha smiled ruefully. She sighed again, this time with resignation. “Aegis ritual is what you are thinking about.” The comment caused everyone except Zeph to tense. “Any Onji can apply something similar, but the act requires an active modulation to remedy the aforementioned issues. That interference is obvious for every living organism nearby…” she trailed off.

“And because it’s that demanding, it’s mostly used against Netherbeings…” Makani finally caught up.

Cold shivers run down Zeph’s spine at the mention of the… invaders. Are they here?! With them?

He could feel it as the barely-forgotten dread started resurfacing. The last encounter was still fresh in his mind – it happened only a few days ago, after all, even if he felt like much more time had passed.

Maybe that’s why Aisha didn’t want to talk about it… he thought, trying to distract himself while taking deep, calming breaths.

The thought of encountering something similar so soon…

No, calm down! He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw, spending an unhealthy amount of Will and Willforce to enforce balance.

Slowly at first, he started regaining control over his emotions. He was suppressing his fears and he knew that it wasn’t healthy, but he didn’t have time for this right now.

The adrenaline was still cursing through his body, causing his hands to shake slightly. He let go of the armrests and clasped them together, opening his eyes.

Everyone in the room was looking at him, mostly with worry.

He snorted in slight irritation. “I’m okay. Stop looking at me like that. Did I miss something?”

“Suuure,” Makani said doubtfully. “You missed nothing. Your Veil started to writhe all around. It was too distracting to continue.”

He blinked in disbelief. It did?!

Gra! came the confirmation from his forever-helpful companion.

It was a rhetorical question, he deadpanned, sending a mental equivalent of a roll of his eyes.

Greu. He shook his nonexistent shoulders noncommittally.

“Let’s go back on track. Netherbeings,” he said, turning to Aisha while trying to keep a steady gasp over his body. His voice broke slightly at the end, though.

She gave him a long look – her almost-white eyes drilling holes in his skull for a good five seconds before she started speaking.

“For the record. Netherbeings also have their own version of Soul shielding. Its function is slightly different, but appropriate in this case. Isolating Soul from its environment, as you all should know. But more concerning is the fact, that Netherbeings aren’t capable of causing the Will clash. Which would mean…” Her eyes scanned the people in the room as she paused.

“The thing he was carrying was of Nether origin.”

“Or Undead origin when something similar to shielding was applied—”

“To either him, or the artifact’s Soul…”

“A shield that had to imitate or use Nether, an Onji’s power, or both.”

Aisha nodded each time as people summarized the problem, talking one after another. As her gaze landed on Zeph, he finally noticed an issue.

“Which should have been noticed by Tiwaz Onji,” Zeph finally realized. “Because he is observing you actively!”

“And that places the whole idea even further into a fantasy category. It’s the only explanation I have, though—”

“A third party may be involved,” Kwan suddenly said, her voice harsh. “The Temple of Pure Souls wouldn’t use such methods. Not the Nether. And I am sure that we would hear about a Soul shielding if they managed to invent something better than the Aegis.”

Aisha nodded. “Exactly that. Also, about Cyrus Jobenke,” she sent a meaningful gaze at Zeph. “And about that letter…”

He understood immediately as the pieces of the puzzle started falling into their places. Gibbons aren’t targeting him. Which means he isn’t actively involved with the Temple of Pure Souls. A third party connected to the Nether… The idea seems more and more probable.

“Do you think that that faction has something to do with the horde?” he asked Aisha to cover the topic, even if everyone already knew why he wasn’t speaking openly in the presence of Kwan. “It all seems… like too much of a coincidence to me.”

“Their indirect involvement is almost guaranteed,” Ghrughah answered for her, stealing his attention. “Believe me when I say that – no major incidents on this stratum are free from Nether influence. You are asking the wrong questions.” He pointed his oversized finger at his chest. “Is the intelligent fraction of the horde involved in our affairs, is the right question.”

“One we cannot answer,” P’pfel added, clearing his ocular. “The friggin’ monsters were staying in hiding for years. We know nothin’.” He spit to the side.

“Whatever! Let’s continue, we don’t have all night,” Makani said, once again pushing the discussion forward. “P’pfel, care to elaborate on your findings?”

As so, the evening’s meeting started anew…

================ Alex PoV ================

He collected the empty glasses from the table in a blink of an eye, professionally maneuvering between the half-drunk idiots loudly arguing over the most irrelevant of things – the preferred size of the chests.

He cursed himself for believing they meant anything more than the women’s equipage. Hearing their slurred words from up close, he doubted they were just acting while employing some kind of a sophisticated code – at some point, such discussions were just too authentic to believe otherwise.

Maneuvering with grace, he walked hurriedly in the direction of the kitchens. He returned a smile and nod his manager sent him, almost grimacing right after from the pain. Thankfully, the woman didn’t notice.

The banquet was coming to an end, but much later than he anticipated.

His altered body was screaming at him to be released. His Soul wasn’t faring better – the information written within already conflicting with his current visage.

After entering the kitchens, he quickly put down the tray full of empty glasses and looked around.

“Uh, Miria,” he reluctantly called to his coworker.

The woman turned her head immediately, smiling widely. She was stubbornly flirting with him the whole evening, even after he tried to dismiss her. “Hey Kahn! Need something?”

Sadly, there wasn’t anyone else around. “I feel dizzy… I think I will finish a little early.” He didn’t try to act – his face was already pale from the strain.

“Oh, my!” she covered her mouth with her hands in a fake consternation. “Do you need help ge—”

He sighed heavily, raising his hand. “Please, just tell the manager that I need rest.”

She pouted, crossing her arms, but disappointment was visibly emanating from her eyes. “You will own me for this!”

“Yes, yes. Sorry, the overtime is a bit too much…”

Her eyes softened somewhat. She nodded. “I will let her know. See you tomorrow then~” She skipped away.

More like in the next life, he grumbled internally, slowly walking to the elevators.

The real Kahn was long dead. Putting himself in his shoes was an unexpected strain, but it was finally coming to an end.

Even with his convictions, it was hard to play the role of a man he personally gutted if he was interacting with people who cared for him. The knowledge that said man would die today either way didn’t help.

Playing with and against true leviathans… What a stupid man, he thought, entering the primitive lift.

To raise his mood, he started recollecting Zeph’s antics during the banquet. Heh, he did well. Killing three birds with one stone… Good job, indeed.

In his eyes, Zeph was always the jester of their small squad, even if none of the others agreed with his opinion. They always saw the serious face of Einar – the bioengineer, the scout, the medic… the man who was balancing on the border between sanity and death.

But all he was seeing, was a man of a lost purpose; a man who was bumping against invisible rocks constantly. A man who was incessantly laughing at himself for doing so, no matter how many bruises he accumulated along the way.

But Zeph’s mindset was something he could never understand. It required a form of strength he was never privy to. Self-depreciation seemed to fuel his confidence. Mistakes he made seemed to power his curiosity and will to life. He never gave to the pressure, inadvertently forcing a change in his environment instead of fitting in.

Almost the exact opposite of him.

After entering his room, he slammed the door shut and almost immediately crashed on the bed. The putrid smell of a slowly decaying body accompanied the pain coming from his skin and muscles. His body started transforming back as soon as he relaxed, all related sensations escalating at that moment.

The room was bathed in darkness, but he could see in his peripheral vision a silhouette emerging from the direction of the door.

He mumbled out the password. Words came out with difficulty as the cells on his face started to rearrange.

Alana fired up a small lamp, basking the room in its reddish, weak glow.

“I heard the news. How did it go on your side?”

“All blood samples gathered,” he said slowly. “We are ready, but the VIPs weren’t present.”

Indeed, none of tomorrow’s main combatants was present at the banquet today, and he couldn’t blame them for that. Well, all except for Sepia Familia’s Heads.

Alana grimaced. “A shame. Working around with their attendants is such a pain…”

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