Lurona city [southern shores of Fuminao Legacy Kingdom], local time [1794.01.12]
The meeting continued. From time to time one of Kwan’s people brought additional notes they asked to gather.
P’pfel the professor’s report was the longest and most informative. The Gremling had applied a series of soft alchemical tests during the banquet – using overcomplicated but very compact tools containing a multitude of testing compounds – while vigorously taking samples from people all around the hall. A brush from skin here, a stray hair there… people didn’t notice. His presence was mostly ignored because he allowed his wild side to present itself a little more at the time. Sitting in the back seat of his mind for the most part, he was able to analyze the results and compile them into a coherent report even before leaving the ballroom.
Taking into account the exposure level, exposure time, time elapsed, presence in exhaled air, bodily fluids, hair, and dead skin, among other variables, he was able to find traces that were out of the norm.
He had yet a few hours of work to finalize his findings, but the presence of materials from stratum 1 and 2, as well as some rare and harmful ones, was already more than necessary to draw initial conclusions.
Makani and Ghrughah brought only odd rumors and politically involved news. Ghrughah has lived in the city for so long that almost every leading figure here knew how to protect themselves against his advanced Mana Manipulation and contaminations in regard to information gathering. That didn’t stop him from leveraging a few favors and his status as (probably) the best blacksmith in Lurona City to extract some spicy news. Makani, on the other hand, was a professional peeper. He could easily hear every conversation in the whole hall when using his Sound-based Spells. If not for the fact that he was baited to try and listen to a few more private conversations, he would be able to bring even more data. Alas, he wasn’t able to process all conversations in real time and he misjudged who should he spy on. His report would help Kwan in the future tremendously, either way.
Kwan herself didn’t find much. She was the eye of the storm; the central figure of this Tournament. The political maneuvering and pointless discussions were all she was met with in the four walls of the hall. And because of the Hannyajin predisposition, she was handicapped in an environment filled with lies and half-truths. She could only detect ill intent, which made her the worst snoop ever, but a perfect social bait at the same time.
Aisha spent her time with a few chosen targets who didn’t know better and didn’t even try to keep their distance; drinking liquor and laughing with them. She had trained her Soul Perception to be sensitive to anomalies in Souls’ behavior. In other words, instead of trying to perceive static shapes and the current condition of an individual like Gru, she focused on the transformation patterns the Souls were making all the time. Her rich experience and years of training conditioned her brain – she could automatically compartmentalize, filter out, and conceptualize what she saw in a way unique only to her. That allowed her to ‘see’ and intuitively understand the nature of abnormal behavior even if she didn’t have prior experience with a given case. But her methods also had their cons – it was very difficult to notice anything that wasn’t actively influencing Soul’s activity. That made her, for example, a skilled truth reader, but quite a horrible Soul-bond tracker.
Because of that, she had chosen a more traditional approach during the banquet – drinking, talking, and observing. Her truth reading helped a little. Besides that, she also checked people for Soul damage. Predictably, wounded combatants didn’t show up, so she didn’t find anything interesting on that front – just a few people with slightly strained Soul, which was normal in itself because of the fights. No actively used Soul-bound or Soul-linked items, too.
After pulling together their findings, they did an initial analysis. The results were surprising.
A clear chain of contacts, traders, and crafters emerged even before an in-depth analysis. Or rather, a very visible trail left by a third party that didn’t have any right to be in Lurona. The markets and public institutions were avoided, but a sudden rise in activity, number of contracts, and unexpectedly high-quality workmanship of previously low-key individuals was difficult to miss.
Rare materials originating from those people made it obvious that someone was meddling. Those things couldn’t be found anywhere near Lurona – especially the materials from animals. Even Aisha and Ghrughah couldn’t recognize some of the specimens’ names.
“It’s a trap, isn’t?” P’pfel asked, frowning madly.
“It looks more like a fake trail, but…” Kwan hesitated.
“Not necessarily,” Aisha shook her head. “When that one Manamaster—”
“Dominus,” Makani interrupted, almost growling. He was glaring at Aisha. “Or Master of Mana Arts. Learn your language!”
“Bah! Dobimas, Manamaster, Manaduster, what’s the difference?!” She threw her hands up. “Start using common like everybody else, you obnoxious Manariter. You can understand it well enough.”
Makani’s angry shout was stopped by a not-so-gentle slap to the back of his head. Kwan had enough of it. “Stop insulting each other and go back to the topic,” she said with irritation.
Makani straightened his body, grimacing and mumbling curses under his breath.
“Ahem,” Aisha nonchalantly cleared her throat, resetting her posture. “Like I was saying,” she started, crossing her legs. “An important guest from the Ebony Tower visited a few years back; his level, obviously, inappropriate for this Mana density. He left behind a very similar track of rare materials. Maybe our mysterious third party doesn’t care about being found? If they leave the city after the Tournament and go directly for a higher stratum… Their anonymity is almost guaranteed.”
“That doesn’t bode well…” P’pfel murmured under his breath.
Zeph couldn’t agree more. He didn’t have any bad premonitions this time which unnerved him instead of reassuring – mostly because all the evidence lying right before his eyes suggested he definitely should have some. Gru also couldn’t feel anything. Yet, the ominous calmness was weighing on his mind more and more.
They talked a little more about the possibilities in regards to the third party before focusing on more pressing – and, simultaneously, easier to deal with – matters.
They worked late into the night. The credibility of their information was assured and their assumptions slowly morphed into certainty. Ghrughah and P’pfel left the room for a few hours to finish their part… for all that it was worth.
None of them could even guess how to engineer an artifact that used Nether, nor could they confirm the possibility of such an artifact existing. In the end, even with the complete flow charts of material trades, Ghrughah wasn’t able to deduce much about the equipment of their opposition. Also, wasn’t talented in Soul Arts—to say the least—which posed a major problem in this case, as all of the seen last-resort tools left some lasting effects on the users’ Souls.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Some additional knowledge about the opponent’s standard gear was welcomed nonetheless. A new set of enchantments spinning from P’pfel’s hand was ready and would prepare them better for the coming fights.
The two most important decisions of the evening were made, too. At least – most important for Zeph.
Taking into account his relatively good health (excluding his barely-moving left arm) and the fact that the public was inclined to believe in the opposite, he saw a rare chance to truly surprise his enemy. Additionally, Aisha’s involvement in the pre-battle equipment examination should further support the idea that using a dangerous and, probably, illegal means was an overall unnecessary risk.
To sum it up – Zeph decided to at least try fighting his opponent, despite his fear and hesitations. Aisha would take part in checking everybody’s equipment tomorrow – in hopes of scaring off their opponents. Catching Zeph’s opponent with an incriminating piece of gear was much less important than his safety, and they couldn’t tell if she or Gru would be able to notice anything wrong.
Not to mention, that strategy would help the whole group.
By the end of the long meeting, their preparations were as complete as they could possibly make them.
~~~
The next morning started rumbustiously.
Everyone, including Zeph, was eager, tense, in a hurry, or all that at the same time. Even the stadium workers weren’t different.
Zeph woke up early but it would be impossible to prolong his rest anyway.
His repaired and newly polished armor was once again filled with probes in the preparation hall. Strolling through the wide corridors of the structure, he saw and experienced the buzzing atmosphere firsthand.
Despite the early hours, he was last to arrive in the observation room. Probably because the process of inserting the safety system into his armor was taking so long every time.
The room had transformed, changing drastically from what it was a mere day ago. The medical corner evolved into a full-blown hospital zone – furniture and tools included. On the opposite side on the same level, a small mechanical-slash-alchemical workshop had formed. The middle levels of the oversized steps of the arena-like floor were rearranged to accommodate a gorgeous open buffet – probably leftovers from yesterday’s banquet, but the quality didn’t change one bit. New potted plants and sculptures were brought to feed the eyes, too.
On the lowest level – their chosen vantage point – all tables were arranged into one, long, and slightly curved surface. Stacks of papers dominated most of it but its sheer size left them with enough space to comfortably eat and drink, picturesquely resembling The Last Supper painting.
To the side, Ghrughah was fussing around Kwan’s stiff silhouette. She was decked in her black armor, standing straight in a T-pose while holding her bigger-than-life battle club vertically with one hand. But some modifications were made to her armor.
Her right arm was bulky. Seriously bulky. It looked more like three oblong segments of a carapace connected together with some piston-like tubes at the joints. All that when the arm underneath was basically skin and bones, still slowly recovering from the violent dismemberment and unavoidable surgery that followed.
On her left forearm, near the elbow, a short latch mechanism was mounted on the surface of the black plates. It gripped her forearm in a tight steely embrace and looked like an overcomplicated – but unnecessarily sturdy – lever that could move vertically relative to her arm.
Coming closer, he could see a thin metallic connecting the mechanism with the club she was holding in her hand. The wire was tautening more and more as he observed; Ghrughah working diligently on it while checking the reaction of all influenced parts.
The rest of the Sepia Familia’s Heads were also present, sitting in their chairs while discussing, eating, lamenting, and—in the case of a certain Manacaster—looking around gloomily around, swiveling his head back and forth suspiciously.
What are you doing? Judas’s things? Zeph thought with mirth when stepping closer. “I see the first fight is already decided?” he asked loudly while pointing at Kwan.
His words were met with a small cheer from the group but their focus quickly returned to their previous activities. Everyone but one person seemed excited.
“You are late,” Makani growled as Zeph sat beside him.
“What is it now?” He asked with resignation, turning his head to the Manacaster.
“It doesn’t work!” he hissed, screaming almost. His face contorted in a grimace of an absolute mix of disdain and disbelief.
“…are you telling me you can’t use that?” Zeph asked incredulously.
“Yess!” He responded with all the grace of a gas kettle. “I’ve tried everything… I can’t bring up the pressure…” his voice suddenly dropped in tone as a shadow fell over his eyes when he tilted his head down.
“Calm down,” Zeph said without much confidence in his voice. That shouldn’t have happened and they shouldn’t be talking about that gear in this hall. “Let me touch it…” he suggested hesitantly, slowly reaching with his hand.
“Are you two flirting or something?” Aisha’s mirthful voice came from behind them. “By the way, Ghrughah already checked the equipment. All seems in order… from his perspective, at least. Despite the size.” She smirked saying the last part.
A loud double groan interrupted other people in the room. Thankfully, the rest were quick to ignore them.
Shaking his head, Zeph forcefully saturated the closest pipe stemming from the compression box hidden under Makani’s robes with his Mana-L, displacing the man’s Veil and Mana inside of the tubes.
It took him but a moment to notice what was wrong. He could almost see the Manasolid inside the compartment evaporating – the stream of Mana was that strong.
“The replacement parts?” he asked no one in particular.
“Ghrughah changed them two times already. The major external parts, at least,” Aisha said helpfully.
“Well…” he looked back at her, an unspoken question in his eyes.
She nodded nonchalantly. “Yes, we can.”
He nodded back. “The plastic and rubber parts are compromised. It seems that someone managed to infiltrate our inventory stock. The Mana-L conductance and saturation limits feel the same, but the internal structure of the materials has changed. My guess is – controlled microfractures.”
“Mine was as well. The surrounding Mana density was a giveaway enough. That doesn’t explain why I can’t influence the leaking. I even used more… forceful methods,” Ghrughah said, walking closer while cleaning his hands with a rag. In the background, Kwan was already testing the modifications in her armor, absentmindedly swinging her weapon around. “Life Energy should patch that up easily.”
“It’s complicated,” Zeph said, frowning slightly. Electroconductivity itself wasn’t easy to translate into a Mana-related behavior. The physical properties of the patchy, carbon-based structures even less so, and don’t make him even start on the cellular membranes and other complex biological structures. “It’s a Mana-L-conductive, biological material. If someone with high enough Skill in any organic matter manipulation—like leather or tissue—were to modify the internal structure, you would hardly notice. For example, it is theoretically possible to keep the physical parameters of the material almost the same while forming ‘channels’ that would cause any Mana-L entering it to support the transport of certain resources through the… micropores in the layer?” he shook his head at the unintuitive explanation. Choosing something more appropriate, he continued. “It would basically work like pores in any skin – a hole that uses energy to actively transfer resources through the barrier without compromising its structure. The more energy, the better transfer.”
Ghrughah’s brow raised.
“So? Can you fix it?” Makani asked with hope.
Zeph looked at the three of them. After a moment of consideration, he shrugged. “Melt it a little before reshaping?”
Aisha’s smile widened.
~~~
Landlord Arioch Chanlu stood tall before Kwan. He was almost two times higher than her – a giant of a man. His full plate armor was bulky despite his size. It wasn’t painted, nor adorned. The simple metallic gray of its sheen was almost disconcerting in its simplicity.
An enormous, two-handed Morgenstern was lightly resting over his shoulder.
It was, by a large margin, the most feared individual that was allowed entry into the Duel Tournament. Something their Guild had to agree to, as the man was under-leveled.
That didn’t change the fact that his almost-unnatural physique was elevating his Passive Enhancements to another level, alongside the multitude of physically-focused implants he owned.
Aisha was a big fan of his. She still meticulously combed through his gear before the Duel.
The hot sand of the desert dunes didn’t seem to bother them at all, as was the sand powder flying around in the soft wind.
The two of them were geared with full-blown respiratory systems – heavy gas tanks hanging from their backs. Both could handle the weight.
Kwan straightened and shifted into a sideway fencing stance, balancing her body – the heavy spiked club had a counterweight in her right arm at her back. Her weapon was pointing straight at the man’s face.
In response, Arioch grabbed the lower end of Morgenstern’s hilt with his other hand and lifted the weapon above his head. His knees bent in preparation for the attack, even though there was still a good 70 meters between them.
Even the audience held their breath as the countdown started. Not even because of the importance of this match, but because with every passing second the air around the two started to swirl more and more violently.
Gray haze started to obscure Kwan’s form while Arioch almost disappeared under the localized sandstorm of his own doing…