“Fuck.” I said to myself, standing in the middle of a narrow forest clearing.
Turns out our suspicion had been right. Even though it hadn’t yet been a month since his last ‘hunt’, Magnus was doing another one. I guess that malicious little shit just couldn’t wait to torment more slaves. When I’d been dragged to the same clearing behind the manor, Magnus had already had two other dead-eyed slaves clothed in little better than rags waiting. After a short, self-aggrandizing speech that I honestly hadn’t paid much attention to, we’d been let loose into the forest. I knew what I had to do; I didn’t need to listen to that asshole jerking himself off over his own perceived brilliance.
All right. All right! I knew where to go, and I knew what to do! I was stronger than I had been last time, and I was more comfortable with my class and skills. Monsters at this level, or even fifty levels above me were dumb as shit from what I’d learned from Grey. I’d had the right idea last time, getting that bear-rabbit stuck in a loop and exploiting it.
Let’s do this.
Sufficiently hyped up, I broke out into a sprint in the direction of the higher-level zone. However, I didn’t make it very far. No sooner had I passed the tree line to exit the clearing than I found myself inexplicably flying through the air and spinning. Caught off guard, I couldn’t even tell what happened to me it was so quick. Seconds afterward, I found myself hanging upside down. Dazed, with blood running to my head, I looked upwards.
I…somehow, I was caught in some kind of rope trap? Both of my feet were bound by thick lengths of rope, from which I was hung like a side of beef by a tree branch far above me. What the hell? Had I stumbled into a hunter’s trap or something? I didn’t even know anyone hunted in these woods for anything but monsters.
Before I could reach for my hidden dagger to try and cut myself down, I heard the sound of boots crunching in the fallen underbrush. Looking back down, I was stunned by what I saw from my upside-down perspective. Slowly, I saw the blurry figure of a woman fade into view maybe twenty feet from my position. As she walked closer to me, she became more and more defined, until I could make out her form more clearly. My first thought was that she looked like she had a leather fetish. Clad head to toe in it, the only thing visible about her was her bright blue glowing eyes. Not even her hair was visible.
When the woman reached my position, she crouched down to better meet my eyes. “Well.” I heard a feminine voice say, with an oddly ringing metallic tone to it. “I was wondering when you would finish your little inspiration party in that clearing.”
I felt my cheeks redden slightly. I’d thought I was alone, so I’d done plenty of arm pumping. That didn’t matter right now, though. “So, uh, is this your doing then?” I said, gesturing above to the rope.
“Hmm.” She made a vague noise of assent. She didn’t say anything else though, she just continued to stare into my eyes intently.
“So…” I trailed off. When she still didn’t say anything, I grew a little irritated despite my vulnerable position. “Do you need something, lady? I’m kind of busy.”
She let out a small laugh. “I do, yes. I happen to have some questions for you, Mr. Mysterious Slave.”
Mysterious? The hell was so mysterious about me? Aside, from, you know. The obvious stuff she couldn’t possibly know about. Maybe she’d been trying to Observe me? I kept my Status veiled with Hidden Amidst the Spheres these days as a matter of routine. Either way…
“Can you cut me down first?” I asked her. “I’m getting a headache. I promise I won’t run without hearing you out first.”
“How bold of you, to make demands of your captor.” The lady said, amused. “Still, I believe you. Very well.” In one smooth motion, she stood up from her crouching position and drew a small throwing knife from a gauntlet on her left arm. She flicked it idly at the rope holding me up, easily slicing through and lodging the knife in a nearby tree. At the same time, I fell face-first into the dirt. Pushing myself up, I spit out a dead leaf that had gotten into my mouth. Wonderful.
With a grunt, I sat up and leaned against the tree I had been suspended from, still sitting. Looking up, I heave a sigh. “All right. Ask your questions quickly. I’m on a time limit.”
That sobered the woman up from the mildly bemused manner she’d been treating me with. Carefully, the woman lowered herself to the ground to sit directly across from me, folding her legs beneath her. Leaning forward, the woman spoke intently. “You are the slave that belongs to Azarus of House Savoy, correct?”
I grunted; not unlike the person she was asking about. “Sort of. I technically belong to Magnus, but Azarus asked for me and Magnus didn’t care to say no.”
The woman was silent for a moment. I got the impression she was surprised. “You are…shocking direct for a slave. Few are the bonded that would refer to their owners so frankly.”
“That wasn’t a question,” I said, irritated. “Get on with it. I don’t want to die from being held up too long.”
She nodded sharply. “Very well. I’m looking for someone, and my investigation has led me to this town. I’ve been observing it for some time now, and have noticed irregularities that lead me to believe my quarry is here. I must ask you, have you heard or seen anything that indicates Magnus of House Savoy is harboring political prisoners?”
I was taken aback, though I tried not to show it. I was silent for a moment myself. “Who are you, lady?” I asked cautiously.
That caused the woman to narrow her glowing blue eyes at me. “Inconsequential. Now, answer my question.” She said menacingly.
I tensed up. “You want me to answer that, you answer mine. Cause my answer to that really fucking depends.”
In a move too fast for me to decipher, much less react to, the woman exploded in my direction from her sitting position. Instantly, she’d pinned me to the tree with one hand with the other held a knife to my throat. “All you’ll get from me.” She hissed into my ear. “Is that I’m a daughter searching for her Father. Now speak, or suffer.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Despite the perilous situation, I wasn’t afraid. Her words had jogged a memory loose regarding a conversation I’d had with Grey several weeks ago. I opened and closed in mounting astonishment. Finally, I managed to get the word out. “Sylvia?” I asked in disbelief.
Slowly, the woman who I suspected was Grey’s Sculpted daughter drew the dagger away from my throat and kneeled in front of me. “Where did you hear that name?” The woman said quietly, voice thick with emotion.
I stayed where I’d been pinned against the tree, still gob-smacked at the sheer cosmic coincidence. This was the one person in the world who probably wanted Grey to be free as much as he did, and she had held me up at knifepoint. I pushed down a hysterical laugh. “Well, because you’re right. Magnus is keeping one specific political prisoner, at the orders of his Father. But he’s been foisted off on his cousin for…reasons. Grey, or rather Headmaster Greycton, is in the village, sitting around in Azarus’s house.” I paused awkwardly. “It’s, uh, nice to meet you. He’s talked about you a little.”
Sylvia closed her eyes tightly and balled her hands into fists in her lap. “Excuse me for a moment.” She said tightly, shooting to her feet. Rapidly, she walked some distance away from me and behind a tree. I don’t think she walked far enough way though, because shortly thereafter I heard low, muffled sobs from where I was sitting. I tried not to listen.
………………………………………
Sometime later, she approached me again, with her composure intact again. While she’d been gone, I’d gathered and dusted myself off. I’d spent the time both awkwardly staring off into space and nearly bouncing on my tiptoes in impatience. I didn’t have a ton of time to waste.
Before she could say anything, I held up a hand. “Hey, can we, like, run and talk?” I asked anxiously. “I really don’t have a ton of time to get this done for that fucker Magnus.”
Sylvia paused and then nodded at me. “Very well. Lead the way.”
I took off, Sylvia hot on my heels. Running wasn’t as strenuous for me since I’d gotten my Status, and especially since I’d leveled up more lately, so it wasn’t hard for me to run and speak at the same time. As we started to make out way to the higher-level area of the forest that I’d been to last time, I told her all about Magnus’s little ‘hunts’.
“Tch.” She said, clicking her likely metal tongue and making a noise akin to a ringing bell. I’d noticed that if I was having an easy time of the run, Sylvia looked like she was nearly gliding around the forest floor, with how simple it was for her. She was probably higher level than me, which was unsurprising. “I’d suspected he was up to such things, and there have always been rumors about him. How…degenerate.”
“Degenerate. Yeah. You could say that.” I said between even breaths. Movement caught my eye up ahead. Turning to face it, I saw that it was another damn Warg. “Fuck.” I said under my breath, reaching for my still-hidden dagger.
Sylvia’s hand on my arm stopped me though. Turning to face her, I saw that she was shaking her head slightly. “Allow me.” She murmured. Still racing towards the Warg, she raised her right hand and made a flicking motion with it, causing a small heat shimmer in front of it. Ahead of us, the Warg tensed up and snapped its head to the left. With a distorted howl, the creature sprinted off in the direction it was looking, never even noticing the two of us.
I furrowed my brow. “How…?”
Sylvia gave a low chuckle. “You can consider me something of an illusionist. What that fodder saw was the two of us taunting him off to the side, and then sprinting away. By the time the illusion dissipates, we’ll be long gone.”
“Cool.” I wanted to be more impressed, but I still felt pretty focused on the task at hand.
Much sooner than I would have expected, we reached the gloomy high-level zone. I was surprised by what I found, though.
The sinuous red vines were back, snaking through the thorny underbrush. I slowed down when I saw them.
“What is it?” Sylvia asked me.
“I…know these vines. I killed a monster last time I was here that was using them as a trap. But…now they’re back.”
“Such is the nature of monsters. Ever do they return, no matter how many times you destroy them.” Sylvia said dismissively. “Is this beast a viable candidate for ‘Lord’ Savoy?”
I shook my head. “No, it was immobile. We should go around this stuff though; the brush is too dense.” I’d been planning on doing this anyway, before Sylvia even showed up. Last time, I hadn’t had Thorn Grapple. Now I did. Sylvia seemed higher level than me anyway, she could probably keep up.
Extending a hand upwards, I shot out a blood-red thorny vine upwards towards the tree branches. Feeling it catch, I reeled it in, shooting into the overgrowth and landing on a tree branch. Looking around, I saw that we were in a particularly dense section of it. I could just hop and skip my way across them, the branches were so dense. When I turned back around, Sylvia was standing patiently right next to me, giving me a speculative look.
I jumped. I hadn’t even heard her, much less felt the branch bend to accommodate her solid metal weight. I shook my head to clear it of useless thoughts. “All right, let’s go.”
Sylvia merely hummed in the back of her throat.
We set out across the treetop.
………………………………………
It didn’t take us long to find a monster. More importantly, this one wasn’t rooted to the forest floor.
“That’s one fucked up looking deer,” I said, looking down. I was crouched on a wide branch in order to better look down. Idly, I used Observe on the creature below us.
Name: Corrupted Blade-Rack Hart Alpha Level: ?? Age: 4 months Species: Monster Abilities: ??
Corrupted, huh. I could see why it was called that. The ‘hart’ milling around below us barely even looked like the monster I’d once gotten my ass handed to me by. It wasn’t even red, dammit. That was what made a stag a hart. I should know.
Instead of seeming to be flesh like the others, this one looked like it was made out of plant material. Green and fibrous, it looked like it had similarly green bark-like armor growing on it, but in a haphazard way, shooting off in random directions. It still had the same silverly antlers that had goddamn knives growing on them, but they were…wrong. There were too many of them for one, with multiple sets of antlers growing from its head, both large and small. That wasn’t what caught my eye the most, however.
Creeping all along its sinewy body were bright red, thorny, hooked vines.
Syliva hummed in the back of her throat, catching my attention.
“What is it?” I whispered. I didn’t know if that monster could hear us up here, but I wasn’t going to risk it.
“I was perhaps too dismissive, earlier. It’s possible that the beast you fought last time was the Prime of this forest if it’s taken to corrupting other monsters.” Sylvia whispered back to me. I guess she didn’t know if it could hear us either.
“Prime?” I asked, confused. I’d never heard the term before.
Sylvia’s eyes darted away from the monster to meet mine. Seeing that I was serious, I could see her furrow her brow behind her thin mask and hood. Oh, right. She didn’t know I was a Precursor, at least not yet. I’m guessing that was common knowledge.
“It’s not important right now,” I said in a low voice, shaking my head.
Sylvia remained staring at me for a moment before speaking. “Very well.” She whispered. Turning her attention to a pouch on her belt, she rummaged around in it before producing a tightly folded piece of rough paper. “Take this, and give it to my father when you see him next. I took the time to pen it earlier. I believe I know how we’re going to lead your monster back to Magnus.”