Thankfully Devon was still off the ladder, even at level 37. He spent a while sorting things out in his head and collecting everything of value in the cleared-out lair before heading back to Plainstown.
In a sense, Eve had made the objectively correct choice. She had cast aside any sense of obligation she had towards anything other than her number one, her primary objective, Phil's safety.
The bonds of family aren't something that can be so easily dismissed.
But it still left him in a slightly troubling spot. In his mind the role Eve had been meant to play was that of a hunter amidst a war, someone who ignored the conflict at large completely to focus only on killing overseers. He'd have to fill the vacuum she'd left behind or else their chances would take a significant decrease.
How ironic, now I'll actually have to put together a squad to hunt overseers.
The creation of such a squad, especially within the more passive mindset of Plainstown, was a bit of an issue. It would be troublesome explaining the situation with the overseers while giving a compelling excuse as to why they would be unable to allow the squad to function until the battle between the two camps happened.
Still, he supposed it would be as good a use of his time as any. He couldn't do any meaningful hunting while his spirit was wounded, so all he could do was continue to stir up animosity between the camps and pick out candidates for the squad.
Create sub-plot.
What is the objective of new plot?
Set objective as create task force.
Confirmed. Calculating… Done.
Accept sub-plot?
[Create Task Force]
Tasks: [Scouting Out Potential]
Accept sub-plot.
He'd really wanted to use Eve for this purpose instead. Unlike the squad he'd be creating, Eve was already well aware of the threat of the overseers. That combined with her position as the top ranker meant he hadn't needed a plot to fulfill the role.
Of course, creating a plot for the purpose was always nice because he'd be able to reap the completion rewards. The main reason he'd been content to let Eve shoulder the burden was because creating a squad came with the risk of exposure and a time investment that he could have spent hunting to potentially make the same gains. Though he supposed that was before the apes had given him 4 levels in a single encounter.
Devon had to suppress a smile. Technically the squad would be subservient to Trey's authority, with Devon only acting as a coordinator, somebody who served under Trey. He was becoming used to thinking of Trey's assets as his own, to be moved and used as he wished.
That left the matter of his wounded spirit. There was nothing provided by the system within the tutorial that was remotely related to the hidden stat, not even any datalogs that mentioned its existence. Most likely the spirit was something that wasn't meant to be awakened within the confines of the tutorial, so the system didn't bother giving any assistance in the matter.
That left only the hard way to build it back up.
No, even before that I'd like to find a way to properly utilize it.
The final clash against the shining silver had likely been a situation that wouldn't come so easily in the future. At that moment Devon had been weak, and the ape had been desperate to reclaim its pride as the dominant soul. The circumstances of that situation had led to a clash of spirits where both had stood still, simply weathering each other's spiritual attacks.
But such a clash would not be easy to replicate, and if it meant exposing his soul it could even be considered to be ill-advised. If he tried to instigate a spiritual clash against an evenly matched opponent it was likely they'd exploit his lapsed focus to skewer him before he could extinguish their soul. Even the way he'd used it to see the world around him was primitive and self-damaging.
What he needed was something to channel that spiritual energy, like a conduit. The ape had used its magic in just such a fashion. The question was whether it was possible to acquire a skill like that with his limited set of generalist skills.
Gah, yet another reason I want to go out and level some more. But no, I need to focus on what I can do right now.
Once he made his way over to a mostly unused corner of Plainstown he spent an hour conferring with Trey over possible candidates through the message function while he tinkered with some side projects. Then once he was done with his improvised crafting he made his way over to Arkania.
He had to wait half an hour after messaging Phil before the old man came to the back of his ramshackle pub to let him into the back room.
"Busy day?" Devon asked.
"Every day is a busy day now that the two camps are at each other's throats. Just as I thought people were beginning to settle into this kind of life trouble pops up and ruins people's peace of mind all over again. Though I suppose you'd know all about that wouldn't you, Devon?" The old man tossed him a vial across the room that Devon deftly caught in his hand.
"Well, it's not like I can deny it."
From the beginning Devon had known it would be pointless to try and con Phil into giving him the sleeping draft. Even a moron in Phil's position would have been able to connect the dots when the only alibi people were able to give was that they'd been sleeping off a stint at the bar. So Devon had resorted to guilting the man into giving him what he wanted, reminding him that Phil owed Devon his life and giving sweet assurances that everything he was doing was for the greater good.
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It was almost disturbing how good he was getting at manipulating even those he had considered friends, how capable he was at putting aside his reservations in service to his scheme.
"Has Eve stopped by here today?"
"No. Why, are you trying to get her involved in whatever you're doing too?" His face turned dark, "No matter what you say, if you try to use her…"
"She's actually planning on taking you and running away from everything."
Phil looked taken aback by that, "...Really? Did you do something?"
"Don't go pinning everything on me. She made her own choice."
"And I suppose you want me to talk her into doing something else."
"Not remotely." Devon knew instinctively that any attempt he made to appeal to Eve through Phil would be seen through at once, and could turn her wrath on him. If she was intent on removing herself from the equation then all he could do was adapt.
However, he did find it interesting that Eve hadn't come directly here. It meant that she was likely going to wait until probably a day or two before the protected period expired to make her move. He imagined she was probably roaming through the endless maze of ruins under the mountain, trying to find a suitable spot where she could take Phil and hide out.
Phil sighed, "Fine then. Go now, I still have customers waiting on me."
Devon took his sleeping draft and left without a word of protest.
Another reason that Devon couldn't find it in himself to truly be mad at Eve was that taking Phil away from this place before the final battle had already been a part of his plans. Not only would he have been able to pin the kidnapping on the overseers, but he'd put Phil out of harm's way before the battle.
No, maybe it's better I didn't have the chance to go through with that.
He could only roughly predict how Eve would react to any given prompt, and that may have spelled disaster right before the battle. Even knowing that, he'd been resolute about taking Phil away from the battle before it began. There was no strategic or tactical reason behind the action, but something in the back of his mind told him he'd have done it even if it meant Eve made a mess of everything.
Devon was fond of the old man. In the endlessly boring days of university hanging out at Phil's place had been one of the few pastimes that had felt truly meaningful. When he'd been playing chess and studying it had felt like he was simply going through the motions of life. It was only when he'd been helping Phil out or messing around with Trey that he'd felt like he was truly living. So he couldn't bring himself to simply abandon the old man in the middle of the maelstrom he was creating between the two camps.
He couldn't help but smile at his own hypocrisy, or maybe it was better to say he was selfish. Devon was completely willing to throw every single human within the tutorial into a chaotic frenzy of death and mayhem except for the ones he cared about.
It's fine if they think of me as a devil or fiend, so long as they survive. If Trey, Phil, and I can all make it through this alive then it doesn't matter how many sins I have to pile up.
Those two were the only ones Devon was concerned about. The only real attachment he had to Eve was their shared connection to Phil, but that was it. And besides, she didn't warrant his concern when she was about as monstrously strong as he was.
He was grateful Trey was capable of handling himself, so Devon also didn't have to worry about him so much. Since Trey was in a position of power the likelihood of him dying in the battle was also lessened. In myths and fairytales the commander always leads the charge, but reality wasn't so inspiring.
If everything goes as I expect the people of Plainstown won't need to be led into battle, they'll charge in of their own free will.
Devon assumed one of his many faces and blended into the small crowd inside Phil's pub. An hour later he had a new identity ready, with the sleeping beauty stashed in an unused tent in Arkania's sleeping area. Just because his stats were temporarily reduced didn't mean he couldn't get work done.
----------------------------------------
"Water! Bring some water over here!" Vanir shouted out to the panicked crowd of Plainstown residents
Vanir had been arguing with Susan over the despicable actions that the people in Arkania had been a part of recently. Susan wanted him to calm down and try to settle their disputes peacefully, but how could he when one of their people had treated her like garbage? He didn't care about the thrashing he'd received nearly as much as how they'd treated her like something to be disposed of.
A resounding boom had interrupted their conversation, and screams prompted Vanir into action. When he got a good look at what had happened he was stunned.
A small section of the outer wall had been completely demolished, and he could see wooden wreckage littered all over the surrounding area. The worst part was some of the wreckage and the undamaged segments of the wall were aflame, with plumes of smoke starting to rise.
He leapt into action, buying as much water from the terminal as he could before setting to work putting out the fires. His cries for help were quickly met when several other people stepped in to help put out the flames alongside him.
In short order the remaining fires were extinguished, leaving people to stare in mute shock at the damage. The destruction of the wall by itself wasn't too much of an issue, they'd hunted all of the monsters in the settlement's close proximity to extinction. The problem was determining what happened, and who was responsible.
"Vanir," He heard a voice call out. When he turned he saw Trey beside him, "What happened?"
"I don't know," Vanir said, "I was talking with Susan and heard an explosion, then found it like this."
"I see," Trey nodded thoughtfully, "I'd like you to help me ask around and see if anybody knows what happened. You up for that?"
Vanir couldn't help but smile, even in the wake of the incident. Back on earth barely anybody would give him the time of day, let alone entrust him with such an important task. But this wasn't earth, and his hard work to claw his way onto the ladder had given him a measure of respect from pretty much everybody around the camp.
He spent the next two hours going around interviewing people who'd been in the area at the time. When he felt he was ready he made his way towards Trey's massive tent. As he entered he saw several other people who held influence within the camp conferring with each other.
Trey spotted him as he stood by the entrance, unsure of what to do. "Vanir, come in. Tell us what people saw."
Vanir stood before the small assembly and relayed what others had told him. There were minor injuries among 3 people, but other than that nobody had been hurt. Several people had seen a shady figure they'd never seen before hanging around that wall, but nobody had paid them much mind at the time. One person claimed that they'd recognized the man from before they'd transferred from Arkania to Plainstown.
One of the men mused out loud, "Some of the Arkanians had guns before the overseers took them away, didn't they? It probably would have been easy to deceive the overseers and keep any ammo they'd brought into the tutorial. From there it would have been easy to make a bomb with the leftover gunpowder"
"Now wait a minute," Susan protested, "We can't just go blaming all our problems on those people just because we've met a few bad apples."
"I'm sorry Susan, but I'd have to disagree," Trey said, "It's too much of a coincidence to ignore. I think the probability that somebody within Arkania is behind this is extremely high."
"Trey!" Susan proclaimed, "We can't villainize these people at every given opportunity, what if it leads to-"
"I'm well aware of what's at stake, Susan. However, we need to be prepared for every eventuality. We'll triple the guard, and we'll have to crack down on anyone who seems suspicious. Until then, I want everyone to keep quiet about this. There's no need to rile tensions up further than they already are. I'll commission some of the craftsmen to repair the wall. Everyone is dismissed."
Of course, trying to keep such suspicions under wraps was a vain effort, and the entire settlement heard about the prevailing theory behind the attack within the day.