I took a longer bath than usual, taking the time to try and decompress. I must have just laid in the tub for nearly half an hour after cleaning myself, simply trying to clear my mind. I don’t know how successful I was at that, but at least I was thankful for the magic in the tub. I’d experienced it before, but the water was self-cleaning or something. Thank God I wasn’t just floating in a bunch of re-hydrated blood, sweat, and mud.

When I finished, I realized I hadn’t brought a clean set of clothes with me into the washroom. There was no way I was going to put my old clothes back on, considering they were ruined. They were little better than rags at this point, with all the battle damage. A shame though, they had been a gift from Ely.

I wrapped a towel around my waist and walked to my room. I doubted either Grey or Azarus cared if I walked around half-naked. Once there, I got changed into some of the old clothes that Azarus had gifted me back when I first arrived. Just a simple white tunic and brown pants, nothing special. When I was done, I left my room and headed down the stairs to join the others.

Entering the kitchen, I found that Grey and Azarus were hunched over the table whispering to each other about something. As soon as I stepped inside though, they stopped and straightened up to look at me.

I raised an eyebrow at them. “Am I interrupting something?”

Grey smiled disarmingly at me, unfazed. “Not at all, Nathan. Azarus was merely informing me of some…developments, nothing more.” He gestured to the third spot at the table. “Take a seat. How are you, Nathan? You...don't appear to need any medical assistance, but I can retrieve a potion if you need it."

I shook my head tiredly at Grey's question. "No," I sighed, wincing despite myself. "I'm fine. Just a few scratches, really. They'll probably be gone by morning." I left out the fact that my arm was still tender, and I had a persistent migraine from where I'd been thrown into a tree. For all I knew, that was just from the hunger. "No need to waste another potion."

Grey nodded his head slowly. "Very well, if you insist. Azarus, if you would?"

At his urging, Azarus grunted in assent and got up from the table. Walking over to the stasis cabinet that functioned as a pantry and fridge both, he opened the rightmost door. Inside was a plate of food, upon which rested half of a roast chicken and some equally roasted potato chunks, still steaming. The wonders of domestic magic, I suppose.

When he placed the plate in front of me, I was aware all over again of how ravenously hungry I was. Slipping Azarus a quick thanks, I tore into the food in front of me, barely remembering to wash it down with the water from the pitcher in the center of the table. I ate everything on the plate that I was able, going as far as to suck every bit of meat I could off of the chicken bones. When I finished, I sat back with a satisfied sigh. I luxuriated in the feeling of a full stomach for a moment before turning my attention back to the others.

“Thanks again. I needed that.” I said to them gratefully.

“Thank him,” Azarus said wryly, jerking a thumb in Grey’s direction. “It’s not like I cooked it.”

Grey shrugged. “I was in the midst of cooking dinner when you returned. It was no trouble to make more.” He paused. “Well…in any case, I suppose we have a few things to discuss, don’t we?”

I fixed him with an unimpressed stare. “Uh-huh. We sure do, ‘Headmaster Greycton’.”

Grey winced slightly. “Ah, yes…” He said, scratching his beard sheepishly. “Azarus told me that Prince Elysael let that slip.”

“What I don’t understand.” I began, crossing my arms. “Is if you’re someone important, why you tried to hide it from me? I mean, I got the impression you were more important than you let on. It’s not like the Savoy Prince would go through all this trouble to hold someone captive in the middle of nowhere for just anyone. I, uh, I assume so anyway.” I finished, glancing at Azarus.

He shrugged at me and wiggled his hand back and forth.

Looking back at Grey, I continued. “It’s just odd, man. Why?”

“Ah…well, it’s both complicated and not at the same time.” Grey began, folding his hands in his lap. “To begin with, let me fully re-introduce myself. In actuality, I am Headmaster Greycton, of the Academy of Mystic Arts and Archmage of the Indigo Circle, at your service.” Before I could even speak, he held up a hand to stop me. “I know that none of those names or terms mean anything to you, Nathan. Please, let me explain from the beginning.”

Grey paused for a moment. “I am…somewhat well-known.” He began slowly, only to be interrupted by a snort of disbelief from Azarus. Casting an annoyed glance at him, Grey continued. “Both for some of my personal exploits and for my position. You see, the Academy is the foremost, and truly only place upon mainland Vereden where mysticality is explored in depth. What this translates to in practice, is that we teach young neophytes to harness the forces that reside beyond the reach of their Status. In other words, Magic and Cultivation.”

“So, you run a school basically. Like, the school. That right?” I asked Grey, curious.

My question made him let out a short laugh and smile wryly. “Yes, I suppose so. The Academy resides in Herztal, much to the consternation of certain political bodies. While we are largely an apolitical organization, the fact can’t be denied that while we admit students of all races that are eligible, our presence within the Human Kingdom leads to some parties equating us to them. This isn’t true of course, but the Academy has enjoyed a largely amicable relationship with the Royal House of Herztal for centuries.” His smile faded. “Which is what I believe contributed somewhat to my current predicament.”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Grey and Azarus shared a glance.

“I haven’t been entirely truthful with you about why I’m so eager to be rid of this place, Nathan,” Grey said to me seriously. “Truthfuly I’m confident that in time I could devise a method in which to free myself. In fact, I’m certain that Prince Anguis of House Savoy is counting on that eventually, in the fullness of time. However, I don’t have that time. I was captured and removed from my position for a very particular reason.”

Leaning forward, I interrupted him. “Because Herztal is at war?”

Grey raised his eyebrows at me in surprise before glancing at Azarus. He just shrugged at Grey, causing him to look back at me. “What have you heard, Nathan? Is this another thing the Prince told you?”

“Not really, no. I just heard something off-hand.” I replied, somewhat taken aback.

“Hmm. Well, you’re incorrect, Nathan. The Kingdom isn’t at war. It’s experiencing a civil war. One that is almost entirely my fault.” Grey told me gravely.

Azarus burst into the conversation. “Godsdammnit Grey!” He said frustratedly. “I’ve told you time and again, this whole mess isn’t your fault!”

Grey rounded on Azarus with more anger than I think I’ve ever seen from him. “And I’ve told you I disagree!” He snapped back. “They are my creations! I brought them into this world, and I’m responsible for anything they do! Anything they become! And certainly, anything that happens to them because I’m stuck in this damnable house!” He finished half a step from full-on shouting.

I was taken aback. This was the first sign of contention I’d ever seen between Grey and Azarus. They had, almost frustratingly, always presented an almost unified front whenever explaining things to me.

“Uh.” I broke in. I almost flinched when Grey’s eyes snapped back to me with speed. “What ‘creations’ are you talking about?”

Grey took a deep breath. “I…” He almost looked lost for a moment. “I’ve always been something of a…tinkerer, you could say. I enjoy experimenting, you must understand. I derive deep personal joy from pushing the farthest bounds of mysticality. I was born in a small farming community on the periphery of the Kingdom known as Hollow Hill. As I grew, I witnessed firsthand the problems that plague the common man. Even with a Status, Vereden is a harsh world. The constant struggle between a need to provide for one’s family, in combination with the need to fight off the beasts that plague the land left a deep impression on me. The travels that I’ve experienced over my long life had only reinforced this dichotomy. Fifty-three years ago, I hit upon an idea. What if…I could ease this burden?” He fixed me with an almost manic look. “What if I could improve the lives of all free-thinking sapients upon this world?! What if I could alleviate the common man of the need to choose between both worlds?!”

“Sounds…kind of arrogant,” I said to him slowly.

Grey deflated like a popped balloon and lowered his head. “Yes.” He whispered, almost ashamed. “Yes, it was. I was.”

The table was quiet for a moment.

Stirring, Grey continued, still staring at his hands. “But it worked, you see. Some time ago, I witnessed a unique type of monster in the northern highlands that inspired me. It appeared to be some kind of stone man. It was quite a fight; I can tell you. Very resistant to magic. I had to rely upon my companions in order to finish the creature off. I’ll never forget it, you know. It was called a Deviant Golem.” He recounted with a far-off look on his face.

I began to get an idea of where this was going. A bad idea.

“And so, I thought to myself.” Grey continued. “If the System can create a man out of stone, why can’t I? I began experimenting. It took me a decade of constant work, constant testing and retesting. So many, many failed prototypes. In the end, the first wasn’t even made of stone, but shining silver mithril. But I succeeded. Forty-three years ago, the first of the AutoVants were born. My Autonomous Servants.”

Finally looking up from his hands, Grey gave me a weak smile. “At first, they were difficult to produce. But over time, I refined the process of creating a fully functional AutoVant, eventually learning to create them from different materials. Even the stone I was so inspired by. Months of work became weeks. Weeks became days. Until the process of creating a single AutoVant was so streamlined that even a mere neophyte mage could likely enchant one, singlehandedly. I was ecstatic of course. I released the design process out into the Academy at large, and eventually the Kingdom itself freely. There was roaring, massive demand for them immediately. After all, why wouldn’t there be? For the farmers of the Kingdom, this meant they could delegate the endless backbreaking drudgery of farm work to a new type of tool. For the military, it meant they could drive the hostile creatures of this world farther beyond the frontier without risking soldiers. In all walks of Herztalian life, the AutoVant rapidly grew to prominence. It seemed as if the Kingdom was entering into a golden age. No longer did man have to toil endlessly, forsaking their individual passions.”

Grey sighed, and seemed to stare off into the distance.

“Of course, it didn’t last.” He nearly whispered, before locking eyes with me. “I did not design the AutoVants to be sapient, merely to accept verbal orders. But they didn’t stay that way. Five years ago, they slowly started to…wake up, for lack of a better term. The first of these was the very first that I created, all those years ago.” He took a deep breath before smiling widely. “I was astonished, but in my own way overjoyed. My pursuits had never left me with the time to pursue a family, and so I took this as a sign. I adopted her. My Sylvia…”

His smile faded.

“But it didn’t end there. More and more, the AutoVants began to achieve sapience all across the Kingdom. This caused some alarm and unrest of course, but nothing that wasn’t manageable. To this day, I have no idea why or how they gained full sapience, merely that they did. Eventually, the situation must have reached a tipping point of some sort, because the System took notice. Everyone upon Vereden received a simultaneous notification. ‘A new race has been detected, beginning System Initialization’.”

I furrowed my brow, breaking out of the spell I had fallen under listening to Grey. “Wait,” I said, holding up a hand. “I swear I’ve heard about that before. Isn’t System Initialization the thing that caused everyone to gain a Status centuries ago? Didn’t you say that never happened again?”

My words caused Grey to let out a short laugh. “A minor historical omission.” He admitted shamelessly. “At the time, I didn’t wish to overwhelm you with the full scope of the situation.”

I felt my eyebrow twitch. “Don’t do that again, dammit. Just tell me upfront.”

“Of course, Nathan.” Grey acquiesced, suspiciously easily. “Well, the Second Initialization, as it came to be called, accelerated the situation. Every remaining AutoVant that had not gained sapience already gained it immediately. In addition, all of them gained a Status, fully cementing their position among the peoples of Vereden. The AutoVants organized, and chose a new name for themselves.”

“The Sculpted.”