Chapter 155: Hiding

I bit my lip, turning on my intercom, “Are you serious? Does everybody know my identity?”

Torix shrugged, “I didn’t think you would be hidden forever anyways. Considering our overall fighting potential as a group, we don’t have much to worry about.”

I took a mental note of this. The next several hundred levels I gained would be invested into perception. Having everyone see through me wasn’t what I wanted here.

With that in mind, I turned off my intercom and sighed, “So you know who I am…Why could I read your status then? You obviously can hide it from me.”

Caprika scoffed, “I let you read it. It’s my way of being polite. It also sends a message.”

Caprika leaned forward, her claws crossed, “You’re not the only one who’s hiding out in the middle of nowhere. In my case, I’m trying to crawl my way back into the Empire’s upper echelons. Unfortunately, there are very few ways of making that happen when I’m stuck here.”

She pointed a claw at me, “That’s where a brute like you comes in.”

Torix tapped the right shoulder pad of his gray armor. His helmet slid off,

“And you want this lug to fight for you right? We’ve already heard about it from your assistant.”

I pressed my own right shoulder pad, sliding my helmet off my face, “Suddenly I’m a savage now?”

Caprika leaned against the left side of her throne. With her right arm, she clicked a transparent screen. Moments later, a giant video appeared. It was me fighting the yana cluster. Caprika laughed,

“You’re more than just a barbarian from some backwater world. You’re terrifying in combat.”

Caprika shook her head, her mane of hair rustling, “I couldn’t fathom it. Defeating a yana cluster…with your bare hands? You’re not just a freak. You’re a monster. It’s perfect for the tournament.”

I molded my actual black armor from my face, frowning at her,

“You’re doing a great job getting me to help you, especially that freak comment.”

Caprika leaned forward, “Is that your true species?”

Torix chuckled, “No wonder you believed he was a freak. You thought his metal skin was normal.”

Caprika leaned back in her chair, “To my knowledge, you’re the first human to ever leave earth. If it weren’t for that video circulating on the net, I wouldn’t have known what your species was.”

I shrugged, “I’m not a normal human, I can tell you that much.”

Caprika tapped her red mask, “Yet you’re surprisingly easy on the eyes. I imagined you’d be a hideous, deformed abomination.”

I rolled my eyes, “Good to know. So uh, I have shit to do. Let’s cut to the chase. What do I get for doing this tournament?”

Caprika clapped her hands, closing the video floating in the center of the room. She stood from her throne, a full seven feet tall,

“Access to the capital, information on enhancing several skills, and you’ll be fought over by several high tier factions. I will also give over the reward for the tournament itself. I don’t need or want for it. I’m after the recognition.”

Torix crossed his arms, “And what might that be exactly?”

Caprika walked down a few steps, getting surface level with us, “It’s a mythical compendium.”

Torix whistled. I looked back and forth between them, “What’s that?”

Torix shook his head, “It’s a manual that describes how to create a mythical skill from start to finish.”

I spread out my arms, “So why’s that so good?”

Torix raised his eyebrows, “Are you serious? Have you noticed that there are very limited guides on discovering skill trees?”

I nodded. Torix continued, “The reason is that the information is valuable. Very few people will give away that information for free. If they do, teaching the creation of skills can be an arduous task.”

Torix raised one hand, “For someone of your stature, fighting with your fists comes naturally. If you tried teaching me your techniques, it would take an eternity. I simply wouldn’t learn it in the same way that you would.”

Torix raised a finger, “If you gained a skill for fist-fighting, I might gain a skill for pugilism instead. That throws a wrench in the entire teaching process.”

Torix waved his hands, “This process can repeat many times. It makes teaching other people your skills nearly impossible.”

I frowned. That explained why no one ever asked how I made my legendary skill. Mimicking 45 of someone else’s abilities was a tall task. If someone learned one wrong craft, the legendary skill wouldn’t form. I never gave it any thought, but it made some sense.

I tapped my chin, “So if I tried learning Sword Fighting from someone, I might gain Blade Working instead. That’s basically the hurdle behind teaching skills?”

Torix nodded, “Yes, precisely. Imagine if you taught Althea your own variation of fighting. Knowing how she battles, her skill would develop into Mauling or Beating.”

I grinned, “That sounds like her.”

Caprika sighed, “The point is that unless someone else’s talents are just like yours, they end up with a different skill. A compendium attunes to someone’s obelisk, generating the correct description to learn the skill.”

I raised my eyebrows, “Are they made by Schema? It sounds like it.”

Torix nodded, “It’s a useful object for progressing your skills and trees. It deletes itself as you read it, so you can’t use it more than once.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Caprika waved her hand, “I don’t care for it. You fight for me, and I’ll give you 100% of the tournament’s reward. I won’t demand a slice of the reward.”

I frowned, “So why shouldn’t I join without you?”

Caprika laughed, “You need to represent the branch of a guild in a town. Considering your attempts at hiding your identity, I doubt you want to represent the Harbinger’s Legion.”

Torix turned up at me, “She has a valid point. This is a good way of maintaining anonymity yet getting noticed at the same time.”

I tapped my chin, “I’ll do it then, but I need a few days to level some. My perception is too damn low to go into a tournament with high-level sentients.”

Caprika walked up next to me, “The tournament is in two weeks. Does that sound like enough time?”

I nodded, “It’s plenty.”

I turned around, walking away, “Cya here two weeks from now.”

Torix grinned at her, “My associates and I will be monitoring this location in case you decide to betray us. Considering you’ve already spied on us, that shouldn’t be a problem.”

Caprika raised her palms towards us, “I’m no fool. You are the Killers of the World Eater. I know when to pick my battles.”

Torix jogged up, catching up to me. We slid back on our helmets, walking out of the room. I cut on my intercom, “Want some lunch after I speak with the chancellor guy?”

Torix shrugged, “Why not.”

We reached the receptionist’s desk. I opened my status, turning it towards the espen up front. It showed my contract, along with the reward of 250,000 credits. I grinned at her,

“Aric promised to double my reward for finishing this.”

The receptionist’s eyes went wide. She coughed into her hand, “Well, uh, we can arrange that. I’ll have Aric send that money from his own private savings. He made the promise after all.”

Torix laughed a bit, “As the old adage goes, you reap what you sow.”

After she showed us verification of the contract passing, we walked outside. I glanced at the bazaar beside the guilds,

“What can you eat?”

Torix shook his head, “My immortality came at a cost. For me, it was the pleasures of the flesh.”

We walked past a few restaurants, choosing a stand with noodles and fried creatures,

“You make it sound gross.”

Torix sighed, “If you analyze life, it is rather repulsive. All living things are essentially sacks of meat sustaining themselves with instincts.”

I shrugged, taking three squid looking things that were lodged on a stick,

“Well, I’d rather be the meat sack that lives than the meat sack that dies.”

I turned towards the outpost of the Soldiers of Fortune, “I’m picking up another quest real quick. We’ll meet outside of town.”

Torix nodded, “Hopefully you won’t break someone else’s nose this time.”

I walked off with the fried creatures in hand, “Let’s pray.”

When I walked into the outpost of the SoF, I noticed a change in atmosphere from before. No one stared, though I caught a few sideways glances. No one bothered me until I walked up, looking at the quest log. I tapped my chin, looking at several of the rewards.

The highest one gave eight red dungeon hearts. I took the quest. I was going down the line of the most significant rewards. When I turned around, the head of this guild branch was standing behind me. I put my hands on my hips,

“So how’d the blackmailing workout?”

The lithe espen facepalmed, “Can you keep quiet about that?”

I rubbed my fingers together, “Only if you pay the price?”

He paled for a second. I laughed, “I’m just joking, alright. At least you know what it feels like now, eh?”

He frowned, “You’re not here to make friends are you?”

I shrugged, “Only if they’re friends worth having…What do you want?”

Iasis scratched his forehead, “I’m acting in my position at the moment. The Soldiers of Fortune have a one in one out policy. You can’t take on multiple quests if you bit off more than you can chew.”

He waved his hands, “I understand you might want to change contracts since that deal you took takes a lot of hard work. You’re not a member of the guild, however. You can’t cancel taken contracts.”

He smiled, “Sorry about that.”

I put a hand on his shoulder, and with my other hand, I gestured to all of him, “You know, you’re like a petty villain that reports to his boss that he failed his mission. After that, the boss flips a switch and you fall into a pit of sharks. It kind of suits you since your face is so forgettable.”

I lowered my hands, “Nothing that you said matters. I already finished my previous quest. That little restriction doesn’t matter.”

He grimaced, “Really now? Can you prove it?”

I pointed at the quest log, “Surely there’s a passive system set up that prevents someone from taking all the contracts, right? I accepted this new contract already. It’s not on the quest log, is it? That proves I finished the other contract already.”

Iasis glanced back between the quest board and me. He pursed his lips, “I suppose.”

I tapped the side of my head, “Looks like you need to invest a few points into intelligence.”

I walked past him, patting his shoulder, “Hope my advice helps. Take care.”

I paced out of the guild, shaking my head at that guy. His tried pestering me. He walked away with a nasty burn. That’s what happens when you play with fire though.

I walked towards Torix and my meeting spot. I was already reading the next quest.

Worshippers of Emagrotha(lvl 3,200 requirement, lvl 3,800 Recommended| Recommended Party Size: 4 | Tier: B-) – Rumors have spread of a cult that worships Emagrotha, a gialgathen that committed war crimes in the past. Find and eliminate the influence of this branch of the sect.

Reward: 8 Red Dungeon cores. Goodwill with Giess increased.

The quest seemed pretty straightforward. Find some cult, get rid of them, then move on. With my food on a stick in hand, I reached Torix and my meeting spot. It was a solid mile outside of town, giving us some breathing room.

As I walked up, Kessiah, Althea, and Torix sat on logs around a green campfire. A thick, purple smoke waved up from the fire. I walked up and sat down on beside Althea. She smiled when I put a hand on her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze.

Kessiah dragged her hands across her face, “Bones over here just told us that you’ve been discovered by two people already. You were even spied on.”

I pressed my right shoulder pad, my helmet sliding off, “It’s not like I’m a spy or something.”

Kessiah sighed, “Yeah, ok.”

Althea leaned onto my shoulder, “Looks like you already finished a quest though?”

I lifted the six-legged squid thing, biting into it,

“Yeah…It wasn’t hard. My skills suited it.”

As I chewed, several seasonings ran wild in my mouth. It tasted like the smell of cedar and cologne. The texture wasn’t squishy. It was chewy, like soft jerky. At the center of it was a savory gravy of sorts. From what I saw in the stall, the chef injected it with some sauce.

It was really, really good.

I chomped away while Torix sighed, “My lack of diligence led to one of those discoveries. To think there’s someone with resources like Caprika in Icosah. I won’t make the same mistake twice, I can assure you.”

I shrugged, “It isn’t like we designated you as our identity protection. Relax some. The guildsmen are underestimating us big time based on how they’re trying to blackmail us.”

Kessiah grimaced, “Which one tried blackmailing you?”

I rolled my eyes, “Some guy called Iasis. I shut him down pretty hard.”

Torix frowned, “While winning a verbal joust can be satisfying, be mindful of the long-term consequences.”

I scratched the side of my face, finishing my first skewer, “If I let him walk all over me, that has consequences too, doesn’t it?”

Torix pursed his lips, “Fair point. I suppose we can’t always live in fear.”

Althea grabbed one of my skewers. She bit into it. After chewing a bit, she looked up at me, “Sorry. you made it look good.”

I grinned, “It is. There’s some sauce in the center though, so be ready for that. It can catch you off guard.”

Kessiah grumbled, “Looks pretty good.”

I bit into my last skewer, “Oh it is.”

We chatted away before I finished my skewer. With that done, I stood up, “On to the next quest.”

Kessiah raised an eyebrow, “Another one…Already?”

I rolled my shoulders, “I’m bored if I’m not doing something. I think it comes with high Willpower maybe?”

Torix raised an eyebrow, “What’s the contract detail?”

I opened it, turning the quest log to Kessiah and Torix. They read it. Kessiah grabbed her legs and leaned back,

“I might know what the quest is talking about, actually.”

I crossed my arms, “Really now?”

A slight grin traced up her lips, “Yeah, but it’s going to cost you.”

Althea giggled, “She need more spending money.”

Kessiah shot Althea dirty look before glancing back up at me, “How about 50,000 credits?”

I shook my hand, “20, tops.”

She waved a hand at me, “Cya then.”

I turned around, walking off. Kessiah stood up and grabbed my shoulder, “Wait, I’ll take 20k. By Baldowah you are hard to worm credits out of.”

I shrugged, “You’re pretty easy to read. You always overshoot your deals by a large margin. Simple as that.”

She scowled, “Ok, good to see you have faith in me. Anyways, I was talking with someone selling a few illegal poisons and firearms. He mentioned how a few locals walked in and bought a few trapping supplies.”

I frowned, “Anything else? Calling that a lead is a stretch.”

She nodded, “It would be, but I saw the same guys rummaging around through a few of the dumpsters behind several shops. It’s weird because they were these old looking espens. They wore the furs that most of the locals here wear. They were collecting tons of disgusting garbage.”

I raised my eyebrows, “Why would they be collecting garbage?”

Kessiah opened a hand, “I’ve already got you covered. I guess that they are the people spreading silvers. Why? They’re collecting silvers with the traps and keeping them alive with the garbage.”

She shrugged, “The two things fit together in my head at least.”

I sent Kessiah the credits, turning around and waving goodbye, “Thanks. Send me images of them if you have them.”

She looked at her inbox, grinning at the influx of money. She gave me a salute, “Aye aye, captain.”

I jogged back towards Icosah, making sure my face was covered. By the time I reached the city, Kessiah had sent me a few images of the espens. They wore brown rags, blocking most of them besides their faces. Considering how different every espen looked, finding them shouldn’t be difficult.

With that in mind, I walked around town, keeping to alleyways. I kept my senses sharp, looking for figures digging through garbage. While I did that, I opened my grimoire and focused on rewriting my cipher. Considering my need for perception, I decided on creating a rune for it.

As with all cipher inscriptions, the first step was understanding the concept. Unfortunately, I didn’t understand perception as well as endurance. I dwelled on what understanding meant to me, but I couldn’t get any meaningful answers.

All my ideas were pretty shallow. Thoughts like, ‘Perception is knowing whats around you,’ or, ‘It’s when you’re not unaware.’ These ideas weren’t concrete. I didn’t have any resolve behind the concepts. After two hours of thinking about it though, I came up with something decent.

Perception is comprehending all of something. It was the difference between seeing the picture of a mountain and being at one. The image gave you sight, but being there gave you all your other senses. The brushing of leaves, the cold wind, even the taste of dirt, that encompassed what a mountain was.

I’ll admit, it wasn’t a perfect translation of my ideas, but it was serviceable for now. For the next few hours, I carved the dimensional cipher into my grimoire. As I finished the text, a rustling occurred behind a machine shop nearby.

It was the perfect timing. I laid my palm onto the cipher, pouring mana into a black page while following the hooded figure. After another half hour of hounding the espen, he walked off into a nearby hut in the old part of town. After walking into his house, I felt like a stalker.

I scratched the back of my head, feeling like I wasted my credits on Kessiah’s lead. Before I ended my search, I pulled my last ditch effort. I stomped the ground, giving me a trace of surroundings. Underneath the home of the espen, an underground trail led outside the town.

I stared at it, “There we go.”

After a couple more stomps, I reached several miles out of the town. Surrounded by the forest, I arrived at a trench in the middle of the woods. It was crack in the earth, stretching for miles. At the bottom of it, a pool of water swelled.

I leaped into the abyss, grating my hands against sides of the cavern. I took a deep breath before plunging into the water. With no light around me, I sensed the different currents and heat fluctuations. Using these sensations with Hunter of Many, I got a vague idea where everything was.

I found a chain leading downwards. I grabbed it, letting myself sink deeper into this pit of water. the liquid thickened over time, turning into thick mud. After descending through a layer of clay, I reached a thinner pool of sludge. I existed in my suit engulfed by a thousand feet of gunk.

I held onto the chain the entire time. Whatever metal it was made of, it resisted rusting. It guided me downwards, making sure I never lost myself during my descent. That easy to do in this poison. It was the same sludge that the yana cluster sunk itself into.

I held back a gag, thanking Torix for my gray suit. It kept this harsh, toxic mush away from me. Thirty minutes of sinking passed, letting me complete the runic carvings of my cipher. I kept it dry with a bubble of antigravity, carrying it in an air bubble.

After implanting them on the palms of my hands, I landed on stone. I let go of the chain and stomped the ground, radiating a pulse through the liquid. Sound rushed into my suit, the tiny fluctuations giving me another image. I held that image in my memory, closing my eyes and observing it. I gasped at the sight.

Underneath all this poison was the ruins of a city.

Now I was curious. I walked around, stamping my footprint into the rock beneath me. With the images, I charted the forgotten city. After thirty minutes, I reached an enormous chapel of some sort.

Mana stones encrusted its stone walls, keeping the building stable. I tapped the wall, and a hollow sound resonated back. There was air in this building.

After exploring the outer part of the building, I discovered the entrance. A trapdoor led down a tube twice my height. I dropped myself into it, swimming through the tunnel. After that, I swam up another pipeline of mush. At the end of it was a pocket of air.

I lifted myself out of the tube of muck, letting myself out into the pocket of air. I slung the sludge off my suit, letting me see my surroundings. Not much was exposed. Only the gentle light of mana ebbed throughout the chamber, revealing little of the massive expanse.

I took a deep breath. The thick smell of iron filled my nose, along with something acrid. I glanced around, noticing steel reinforcing the windows. The inside of the chapel was utterly different from the outside. All around me, lights were cut off. A few still hummed from their recent exposure.

I listened close. Something buzzed like a light bulb flickering on and off. I opened my dimensional storage, pulling out some glow sticks. I snapped them. A few tosses later, and green light melded with the subtle glow of the mana stones.

This light exposed what was hidden in the shadows. A silver’s face locked with mine. It had two hollow eyes. Plates of metal covered it, thought its joints remained uncovered. With long, spindly arms and fingers, it looked like a steel witch.

It hunched over an espen corpse. In its hand, a mana torch was unlit. It etched brands into the back of the espen. It looked back and forth like I wasn’t supposed to be here. Its hands and knees shook, its shoulders hunched over. I walked up to it and frowned,

“So who are you supposed to be?”