21. A Brazen One
I glanced around at the crowded ballroom. The women gasped, while the men stared in shock at the request. “You make this offer in public? In front of witnesses?” I asked. “What kind of assassin are you?”
“A brazen one,” she said. “My name is Selene, by the way. I knew I’d never get you alone, so I figured I’d get you in public. It’s an honest offer. I hate the guy. I’ve been working for him for weeks and he disgusts me. He issued a quest to kill the kids who are below him in the line of succession. That includes your brother. As far as I’m concerned, you’d be doing Lagrea a favor, and probably stopping a civil war.”
“If I have Storm assassinated, then I am guilty of the crimes that he has only been accused of. It is unproven who was responsible for the quests that killed my uncles,” I pointed out. “I’ll not have my family’s blood on my hands due to a mere accusation.”
The woman shrugged. “Okay then. Follow up offer. Let me work for you.”
“First tell me the relationship between yourself and the adversary,” I insisted. “ I know that you have one.”
Selene sighed, and pulled over a chair from a nearby table. She motioned for me to do the same, but I stood, holding my blade between us.
“Explain!” I insisted.
“I, like, renounced her, okay? But she hasn’t renounced me. I keep getting quests from her and turning them down, or doing the opposite. I thought it would be fun early in the game to research the religions. It’s a simple eight god pantheon at first glance, except there’s a ninth who’s equal to all of them that none of them talk about. Or something. Because she’s evil. So I start investigating to figure out if she’s really evil or if it’s just the plot of the game. Turns out it’s plot, by the way. Nyxandra and Thedum are partners. Thedum builds, Nyxandra knocks it down. Thedum builds, Nyxandra knocks it down. She never destroys anything completely, however, and he never builds something that she can’t knock over. It’s a tug of war game of catch that’s supposedly been going on for thousands of years without either side--”
“Enough of your blasphemy!” I shouted. “Thedum! Strike her dead!”
There was no answer. I looked around, uncertain.
“Thedum’s not going to kill me for the same reason he doesn’t just smite the Darkspawn, Hail,” the strange woman informed me. “Because as his avatar, it’s your job to judge me. I’ll bet he’s very curious to see how this little exchange is going to play out.”
I growled in frustration, because I wanted to run her through. With the event going on, her effective level was reduced to level thirty, and although I was a [Lord] with no combat gear equipped, I had a chance of killing her. Especially if I got the first strikes in.
I imbued my sword with [Holy Weapon] and slashed her across the face. She simply turned back to look at me and shrugged. “Is that the best that you’ve got?”
I had been hoping that she would counter. Fight back. Something. Instead, she simply allowed me to apply [Brand of Sin]. It was a cosmetic effect which would cause Natives to treat her with disdain, and if she was a worshiper of the adversary, then it should be impossible for her to remove. She didn’t even seem to care!
“Do you know why Thedum doesn’t kill me, Hail?” Selene asked.
“The adversary protects you,” I said, figuring it out on my own.
“The adversary, Eclipse, Mossheart, Stormeaver, and Stonebeard. I’m working on Skyfire but those dragons are stingy with sharing their dogma,” she said. “The gods all like me, Hail. Even Thedum likes me. I’m an important piece of this world. Gideon Lachlann thinks that he’s the first person to get the offer to go canon, but he’s not. I was. But I refused to be part of project NPC, which I now understand is called Project Hailstorm.”
She paused dramatically. “If I had decided differently, you would have been born a girl, and I would have been your mother.”
“You’re just saying that nonsense to confuse me,” I accused.
“I’m trying to hold a conversation,” she argued. “But the topic keeps slipping away from me. What did I want when I came here again? Oh, right. So I offered my services as an assassin and you turned me down. I asked for a job, and we had a weird sort of job interview. So let’s hear it. Am I hired?”
“What would you even do for me?” I demanded.
“Point out your mistakes, for one. Marquise Peori was a good choice for an alliance. This little shindig was politically necessary despite the points that it cost you with the people who think that the nation should still be in mourning because there’s no new king yet. You’re working on regaining your levels after your accident the other day, which is great. But why the hell aren’t you talking to the Beggar’s Court?”
I paused, because it was a fair question. Why hadn’t I contacted them more? “What can they do for me?”
“They have the best spy network on the continent that isn’t run by Auroras Teoran,” she informed me. “And that’s just for starters. They have their fingers in so many pies it’s unbelievable, but they crave legitimacy. Offer to restore their titles and give them land and they’ll fall over themselves trying to figure out how to get the mean nasty Storm out of the way so that your brother can ascend to the throne. Which he’ll probably shit on, if he’s left there for more than five minutes. I can help you get in contact with them, if you want.”
“I don’t need you for that,” I said. I had my own contacts with the Beggars Court.
“Right then. I can give you a crash course on how you’re hacking the system and how to do it better,” she suggested.
“What are you talking about--”
“You probably don’t need to talk to communicate with the system. Train yourself out of that ASAP or people will know when you’re pulling up a command prompt. Once you do that, try to make the system do every little thing for you. Make it open doors, make it close windows, make it light candles. Make it make food appear in front of you. Have it warm things up or cool things down. Test the absolute limit of what you are and aren’t allowed to do. Because if you can get away with doing it, then you’re allowed to use it.”
I was silent a moment as I considered her. Finally, I spoke. “I will not employ anyone who has consorted with the Adversary to the extent that you have. Perhaps my initial reaction to seeing the favor she has for you was misguided, though I do not apologize for it. I believe you’ve given me honest and earnest council, so I will not pursue you further, now that I know you. In fact, if you would testify to the church that you were issued a quest from Storm to commit assassinations, that would further my political ambitions and I would be grateful. But I will not employ you as part of my staff.”
“Hmmm...yeah, I’ll think about it. Quest accepted, but I’m not sure that I’ll complete it. I like Thedum well enough, but I don’t particularly like his church,” she said. “Anyway then, if you’re not going to change your mind about employing me, then I’ll take my leave.”
She stood, curtsied, and smiled. “It’s been a lovely evening. Please do thank Marquis Peori for me. For the invitation.”
I bit my lip, sheathed my sword, and gave her a polite bow. She sashayed her way through the crowd, which parted quickly to let her through. The moment she’d left the ballroom, an irate Marquis Peori arrived from one of the other entrances, his expression dour and his face red.
I looked around at the stares, and I wonder how much political damage I had just caused myself.
“<
“I’m not going to have time to get through all of these names,” I informed them, “But if you come to my court in Ebbyvale, I’ll happily hear whatever concern it was that caused you to seek me out in this fashion. Tell that to your friends on the forums as well. I shall be holding court extensively over the next few days, now that I have been officially introduced to society.”
I slipped the dance card into my pocket rather than my inventory, and I took my leave, logging out for the night and returning to the lobby. I was the first, but the others soon arrived, each of us wearing the same clothes and in various stages of exhaustion. None of us were particularly happy with the way that the evening had gone, I realized, even if they hadn’t encountered a Traveler like Selene.
“Should we talk about it, or just go to bed?” I asked.
We considered the problem for a few moments, then mutually agreed that it would be fastest to just recombine into one person again. We asked the system to put us to sleep, and I experienced the most intense and vivid dreams of my life.
I awoke in the morning, nine hours after I had gone to sleep. I was one person again, and I remembered all of the important pieces of the dance. Not the dancing itself, that was one long blur of changing faces, names, and dress styles. I remembered being approached by Selene, and I remember the argument that Tarisha had gotten in with one of the pro-guilds, which had led to the supposedly professional player screaming at her in the middle of a RP event.
I opened the messenger system and brought my canon friends into a chat group.
Hail
Good morning everyone.
Tarisha
Good morning Hail.
Daemon
How long have you been able to divide yourself, Hail?
Hail
I’m not going to answer every question about my abilities anymore, guys. But I figured this one would get out sooner rather than later.
Daemon
Yes. Timestamps, unfortunately. You were seen in different instances at the same time, so it’s very clear that the previous rules have changed. People are wondering what else has changed as well.
Hail
How bad is the fallout from my almost fighting Selene last night?
Laurant
The black haired femme fatale chick? It’s generated a lot of interest into who the hell she is, but nobody on our side has a problem with it.
Thena
Larissa and I have been scrying her, Hail. She’s … we have no idea what she’s doing. We keep getting images of her scrubbing the floors of some large building. But she’s a Traveler, so either she’s farming rep or she’s completing some quest or something, but our magic doesn’t give us enough information to know where or what faction or anything like that.
Daemon
As for the Natives … I’ve spoken with Peori and a few of your other allies. They don’t seem to remember anything going amiss last night at all. To them, the night was a resounding success. What’s your perspective? Or, um, perspectives? Are you still one consciousness, Hail? Are the different you’s linked? You don’t have to answer, I’m simply curious
Hail
I’m always one person, even when I’m more than one. I don’t magically know what the other me’s are doing. I get put back together when I go to sleep. I don’t know how to really explain it, I’ve only done it a couple of times. But I’m going to keep doing it now that I can.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Phil
Sure. Sounds useful. I think anyone would like the ability to be in two places at once, and you actually can.
Cedric
Hail, I’ve been thinking of ways to put this ability to your advantage. I’d like to meet to discuss them in detail. And I’d like to help you test its limits, if that’s okay.
Hail
I need to spend some time thinking before I log in, then I’ll meet you in Ebbyvale.
Cedric
Of course
With that, I pulled up my class sheet to see what had changed recently.
Name
Hail Jeoran
Active Classes
Age
15
Class
Level
Race
Human (blood of the travelers)
Lord
31
Class
Placeholder level 5
Acolyte
14
Experience
0/500,000
Mage
25
Job
Earl
Warrior
25
Titles
Dungeon Master I
Archer
9
Veteran of Mooncrest Manor
Free Points
Veteran of The Battle for North Shire
Experience
263163
Stats
16
Skills
9
I had gone to the ball as a level 25 Lord and earned enough experience to become level 31. After a bit of inquiring the system, I learned that when I logged in as the same class multiple times, as I had last night as [Lord], the experience gained was averaged rather than totaled. Otherwise, I likely would have gotten many more levels.
I could have applied Free Experience to immediately bring Warrior and Mage up to level 31 as well. However, with the warning that I’d gotten from Thomas that Rebirth Resonance would lose some of its potency when I hit level fifty on any class, I was determined instead to raise the other classes as high as possible through traditional methods.
I also noticed that my bump in experience from the ball had put me at approximately half of what I needed in order to level [Placeholder] again. While I had initially hated being stuck with the class, now that it was related to my ability to multiply myself and be in multiple zones at the same time, I was considering making it a priority.
As I contemplated my next moves, I began doodling on a set of cards. A crown for [Lord], the Circle of Thedum for [Acolyte], a flame for [Mage], an axe for [Warrior] (even though I don’t use axes), and a bow for [Archer]. It was only five cards, but I shuffled them carefully as I planned before setting them on the table. Then I went into the map room and examined the different zones where I had been active.
North Shire was, actually, drawing to a close in terms of the attention that it required from me. The bandits were eradicated, either slain in the Battles for North Shire or arrested thereafter per the terms of surrender, in which they would be spared execution so long as they could swear to Thedum to have never committed murder. I needed to review the status of the few trials of those who did not simply plead guilty, but it wouldn’t require too much of my direct attention.
Arkan and Montague, the steward and constable who had been running North Shire into the ground and profiting from it in ways that were corrupt and illegal, were likewise about to face trial. I might be called as a witness to those, but for the most part it would be in the hands of High Inquisitor Trenac.
I did need to follow up on the status of the banks which were attempting to stick me with the hereditary debt of the Mooncrest family. I had Trenac’s support on that, but unlike the other matters in which the crimes were against the crown as much as they were against me, in this instance I would be expected to be involved in the prosecution.
Thorn March … there was something I was forgetting about Thorn March. I needed to check on the status of Leonard’s project to bring in Travelers from Earth to live in a sort of peaceful, low competition zone. And that was where my family was staying until the completion of my mansion in North Shire, so I always had a valid reason to return there. Aside from that, I needed to visit the Goblin Natives and confirm that they were integrating into the kingdom successfully.
Then there was the matter of the succession. Now that my brother had been born and his position in the line of succession was established, I needed to work on the other candidates to get them to either support me, or withdraw from the contest altogether. There was the third option that one could manage to convince me to throw my support behind them, but considering what I knew about them I deemed that possibility unlikely. Not impossible, just unlikely.
Selene, the dangerous woman who had once nearly killed me with a poison dagger, had brought up a valid point the night before, and I would need to get in touch with the Beggar’s Court and see where they stood in the matter of succession. Despite the fact that they were destitute nobles, it was possible that hidden society would come to my aid in this matter.
I needed to meet with Peori to discuss the outcome of last night, as well as the next steps forward in convincing the various nobles throughout the kingdom to align behind my brother. And, although I wasn’t looking forward to it, I would have to meet with the Bishop of the Faith to see where the church stood. Aside from their firm stance that they would not crown a fratricidal king, they hadn’t declared for any candidate.
I sighed, making my way to the map room. Before Thomas’s visit and the revelation of my new abilities, I would have been depressed thinking of all of the things I had to do today. Now, however, I only needed to dedicate one of my duplicates to the long list of tasks that needed my attention. It made no sense to send anything other than a Lord to complete them, of course, so that’s what I would do with one of my divisions.
The others, those I would send to different locations and … just level as fast as I could with them. I had come to a decision not to use Free Experience to level anything but [Placeholder]. If I could unlock another division by leveling it to level six, then that would take off that much more pressure.
Thus committed, I examined my map for a few minutes, planning and scheming. Finally, it was time to act.
“<
<
“<
I was moved slightly, and the five of us were standing in a circle, staring at each other. Wordlessly, we walked over to the table where I had set the cards, and we each drew one of them.
“Mage,” I said.
“Lord,” Said another.
The others all listed which card they had drawn, then began pulling the respective gear sets from where they had been hanging in my wardrobe, which had magically expanded to include them. Not to mention magically cleaned them.
Living in the lobby was convenient.
Aside from [Lord] Hail, the rest of us assumed disguises using [Illusion Magic: Disguise], which had been gaining levels steadily lately. We set our preferred names to Hagi, and we logged into the planned destinations throughout Lagrea.