“This is the most important discovery in our history and yet it means nothing to you,” Gyle said. The professor appeared a changed man the next time Alix saw him, a few days after his presentation in class. He looked worn out, dishevelled, like he hadn’t washed or changed his clothes in days.
“I need you to understand one thing,” Alix replied, somehow not getting as much enjoyment from Gyle’s misery as he had thought he would. Gyle had abruptly ended class after Alix presented him with the sword, and cancelled all classes until further notice. A few moments ago he had knocked on Alix’s door. “The only thing I care about is surviving. The sword means nothing to me because I can easily get gold elsewhere, or create another one. Selene obviously didn’t want anyone using the sword, recognising what it would do to this place if the wrong person got their hands on it, so she broke the spell on the original. Selenite isn’t anything special, other than being a robust Spellbase. It is just an Alchemists madness given form. They can’t bring themselves to do anything the easy way. The spell is what makes the sword special, and it can be applied to any Spellblade. I’m sure you have figured out who I am by now so if you value your own life you will find a way to get over this and deal with the consequences. Here, I’ll give you this as a consolation prize.”
Alix pulled a sheet of paper and pen from his inventory. There was a sharp intake of breath from Gyle at the sight of them appearing from thin air. Alix quickly wrote everything down, the recipe for creating Selenite Spellbase and the spell forms needed to recreate the spell Selene had laid on the sword. Then he folded up the paper and scrawled another spell form across the front, and handed it over to Gyle.
“This is everything you want to know about the sword. I have placed a spell of my own on it so that the words won’t appear until four years from now. By then I’ll either be dead or…” Alix didn’t know how to finish the sentence. If the Terminus Ritual didn’t kill him, he had no idea what would happen next. “Whatever happens, you can do with the information whatever you want.”
“What is it you want from me?” Gyle finally asked after taking the paper and staring at it in silence for a few moments. Then he folded it carefully and placed it in his pocket.
“I wish you had just listened to me the first time and avoided all this shit. It was a pain in the ass figuring out how to make this damn sword,” Alix said, running his hand through his hair. Something painfully tugged at a few strands, and he suddenly remembered Pinum was back on his wrist.
Why the hell are you being so sensitive? I wasn’t talking about you. Alix was finding Pinum exhausting. He was trying his hardest to be nice to her but she seemed to have a caustic reply to the most innocuous comments. He had tried bringing her some clothes to try on earlier but she had turned part of herself into a shredder and destroyed them.
“I am not ashamed of who I am!” she had shouted.
Alix didn’t bother trying to explain how ridiculous a conclusion that was. He just didn’t want her to get attacked in the streets, but she seemed content enough to travel on his wrist, or to walk around completely naked.
Alix took a breath and focussed back on the topic at hand. “Javin sent me to you to ask for your help. I told you I have plenty of Terron Ossia. I want to make something with them. Well, not one thing. I want seven sets of armour, and seven weapons.”
Gyle physically recoiled, like he had been struck a blow.
“Seven sets of armour? Why would you need that many? I’ve only ever heard of one or two full sets of Terron Ossia armour and they haven’t been seen in centuries, likely locked away in some noble family’s vault. You would be putting a target on yourself if you were found to have seven sets. Even one has a value beyond comprehension.”
“They aren’t all for me. I’ll give you all the ossia I have. Use as much or as little as you need and do with the rest whatever you like. Flood the market and ruin its value if you want.”
Alix had been pondering what to do with the Terron Ossia ever since he had collected it. The guilt of taking it all was something that had weighed on him since that day in the Ekaiza Marshes. He should have left some for the members of the Sixfold Sanctum, but instead he was going to do them one better.
“What exactly do you want me to make with them? I’ll need the measurements of those they are for at least.”
“I’ll send them to your school in the next few days and you can take their requests.”
“No, I have a workshop on the Fourth Ring. They can find me there.”
“Alright. Maybe we should head there now so I can drop off the ossia.”
Gyle stood to show him the way and Alix followed him out.
The workshop was only a short walk from Alix’s accommodation. The building was a lot more grand than any of the other blacksmiths he had come across, but Gyle wasn’t just a regular blacksmith, but an Alchemist specialising in Metallurgy. His workshop had a large vault which Alix used to fill with all the Terron Ossia needed for the job. It still left him with a bunch which he decided to keep.
Afterwards he left to find the Sixfold Sanctum. His last sight of Sylvin Gyle was of a defeated man.
I’m sure he will get over it, Pinum said, somehow able to understand his thoughts.
I hope so. If he says the wrong thing to the wrong person my cover here will be done for.
Back at the Adventurer’s Guild, Alix waited for the queue in front of Evory, which always seemed to be filled with men asking questions they already knew the answers to. She seemed to revel in the attention.
“When are you going to go home, master? Tifayn misses your company,” Evory said, leaning forward over the counter to keep their conversation private.
“Don’t lean so close to me. Can’t you see the glares it gets me from the other guys? They are starting to think there’s something going on between us. Wait, what do you mean Tifayn misses me? Are you saying you two have been talking?”
“Not really, but I’ve seen her and she looked exhausted.”
“She’s the one that told me to stay away in the first place. I know it makes me sound like an asshole but I can’t spend the few years I might have here doing nothing but raise a child that won’t remember me anyway. I’m better off here, training and learning new skills, although so far I feel like I haven’t done much of either.”
“If it were our child I wouldn’t let you off the hook so easily for saying something like that, but if demon children are anything like vampire children then I can understand why she wants you to stay away for a while. Still, I wouldn’t plan on staying away too much longer. You can always come back.”
“True, but I don’t want to be seen coming and going from the mountain too often. Theres a few things I want to sort out first before I go anywhere. Have you seen the Sixfold Sanctum around here recently?” Alix asked, getting to the point of his visit.
“Not all of them. I shouldn’t really be telling you this but I saw Weiss this morning. He submitted paperwork to disband the party,” Evory replied in a low voice.
“Really? Did he say why?”
“I think he blames himself for Faisal’s death.”
“Do you know where I can find him?”
“I’ll tell you if you do me a favour.”
“What favour?”
“Please master, let me feed on your mana,” Evory begged.
“What? You don’t look like you need it.”
“I don’t need it, I want it! There’s nothing else like it. Nothing
else can fill me up like you can,” she breathed with visible excitement
at the memory.
“I’ll make you a deal. Tell me how you have been sustaining
yourself all this time and I’ll let you feed.”
Evory pouted for a moment, but then her voice filled his head.
The Magician’s Guild is next door. That’s why I chose this place. I can keep an eye on everything going on in the city and with the amount of mages next door, no one notices if a little bit of mana goes missing here and there. Happy?
Alix rolled his eyes but let Evory drag him to a back room. He left the Adventurer’s Guild a few moments later with Weiss’s location, and Evory struggling not to burst out of her clothes. As he left he spotted Cobalt sitting in the far corner of the taproom, grinning like an idiot at the sight of Evory’s suddenly fuller figure.
Has he been sitting there the entire time? I didn’t see him, he asked the vampire.
Don’t worry about old Cobalt. He’s harmless.
Really? He looks like he’s got more than his fair share of successful adventure’s under his belt.
Of course, he’s the oldest S Rank in the Guild, but he’s mostly retired these days. He just like’s hanging around when I’m working.
I bet he does.
Alix almost paid a messenger to go and find Weiss for him when he heard where he was but it was so close that it would have looked ridiculous. He was on the 4th Ring at the Guildhall of the Paladins, also known as the Order of the Holy Knights of Babyl. Like many in Galdea, Weiss was a member of more than one Guild.
The Paladins Guildhall was like a smaller version of the Grand Cathedral. It was built with pure white stone and decorated all over with carved reliefs showing the history of the guild. Alix wasn’t familiar with their story but each relief showed them fighting back one army or another, with the splendour of Babyl at their backs.
A shining pair of guards stood by the front door and they crossed their halberds at his approach.
“Halt. There is no admittance beyond for anyone not of the Order.”
“I’m looking for Weiss. I heard he was here.”
“Younger Weiss is in Penance. You will have to see him another time.”
“Well can you at least get a message to him for me?”
“He is in Penance,” the guard repeated sternly.
Alix gave up and returned to the Adventurer’s Guild. Evory didn’t seem surprised to see him.
That wasn’t fair. You knew they wouldn’t let me in.
I didn’t know that for sure. I thought you would try to bribe them or something.
I don’t think trying to bribe Paladins of Babyl would do me any good right now. They would probably arrest me.
“I’d like to use the Guild’s messenger service. Could you please prepare me some letters and a courier?” Alix asked, switching to public communication. It was too easy to have a conversation in silence and not realise the whole room was staring.
“Of course. Who would you like to send a message to? There is a reduced rate if they are a member of the Guild, and a surcharge if they are not and the courier needs to spend longer searching,” Evory replied.
“I need to get messages sent to every member of the Sixfold Sanctum before the paperwork to disband their party is processed. Ask them to meet me here at their soonest convenience, and that I will pay them well for their time.”
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Evory quickly wrote out the five letters, stuck them in envelopes and addressed them with the members private addresses. As receptionist Evory was privy to the members personal details and could act as a middleman for services such as the messenger service.
Once the letters were prepared and paid for, Evory headed off into another part of the Guildhall to find a courier, so Alix decided to peruse the job listings while he waited.
None of them were particularly interesting, which was something he had noticed since joining the Guild. Anything that had even a hint of excitement was snatched up by higher ranking clans. He had foolishly expected to see quests to hunt down dragons, save princesses or fight evil wizards. Instead they were mostly low level fetch quests. Amongst them all there was only one that caught his eye. When Evory returned, he took it down from the wall and handed it over.
“I want to take this job.”
“Are you sure? It’s a Rank A job. If you are planning what I think you are planning, it will cost you twenty gold just for the deposit.”
“I’m not worried about the gold. This job will take me somewhere I’ve been meaning to go, so I might as well get a reward for it.”
“It won’t be that simple. You’ve read the requirements for the reward haven’t you? I’ve seen jobs like these before. It seems pretty straight forward enough, but the wording makes it easy enough for the job poster to claim the requirements haven’t been met.”
“Just let me take the job before anyone else tries to grab it.”
Evory scowled but took the job and stamped it after he handed over the gold.
“If they turn you down, you will lose this deposit you know.”
“They aren’t going to turn me down.”
The courier confirmed receipt of all five of the letters by the end of the day, but none of the Sixfold Sanctum chose to show up until the following morning. It gave Alix plenty of time to go over his choice of words and he realised that if he was going to gain their trust, he had to reveal a few of his secrets. For their meeting, Alix chose to hire a private room in the Guild.
“We seem to keep running into you, Mr Marshall,” Bjorn began. First in those accursed marshes, then you help us with completing the job and now you call us all here? You are a curious stranger.”
“What is this all about?” Weiss asked. He sounded dejected.
“I heard you were disbanding your party and I wanted to make you an offer before then,” Alix said.
“You WHAT!?” Celeste screeched. “Who told you we were disbanding? Why is this the first I’m hearing about it?” Weiss tried to sink further into his seat but with his large size it was impossible. Celeste noticed his discomfort and turned her fury on him. “You pathetic excuse for a paladin,” she spat. “Of course it was you. I forgot that without Faisal, responsibility for clan business became yours. I didn’t think you would do something so disgusting as to try disband the party without even asking us about it.”
“Faisal almost got us all killed!” Weiss replied. “If we had tried harder to stop him from accepting that job he would still be alive.”
“We have gone over this before,” Guillem said. “It was no one’s fault. Even if you put the blame on yourself, it isn’t right for you to decide we no longer deserve to be a party.”
“Guys, if you will give me a moment to talk, we can avoid all this arguing. Your party hasn’t been disbanded yet, and I hope it never will be. The paperwork is on hold until after this meeting is concluded,” Alix said, trying to get on top of the fighting.
“So then speak,” Guillem replied.
“First, I need you all to sign something.” Alix took out a piece of paper he had purchased from the Magicians Guild while he was waiting for them all to arrive.
“That’s a Magic Contract,” Millie gasped, recognising the paper for what it was, no surprise coming from the party’s Mage.
“In a way, but it doesn’t bind you to me at all. It just prevents you from speaking of what we will discuss with anyone else. If you don’t want to sign it, I will pay you ten gold coins for your time like I promised. If you sign it, and listen to what I have to say, I guarantee you will be rewarded a hundredfold, and you can still take the ten gold coins.”
Weiss grabbed the sheet of paper and signed his name. “I don’t care what you have to say but I will take the money to donate to the order.”
“I think there is something you are keeping from us, and I would have it out of you. If this is what is required then so be it,” Bjorn said, taking the paper and signing it as well.
The other three signed after a few moments of private discussion.
“Alright, what’s all this about?” Celeste asked.
In response, Alix took out five Terron Ossia and placed them on the table.
There was silence as the members of the Sixfold Sanctum studied the object, and it was then that Alix realised that none of them had likely seen a Terron Ossia before. Finally Guillem spoke up.
“Where did you pull those from?”
It was then Alix realised that they weren’t focussing on the ossia but on him. With the signed contract, he could speak more freely, but he still needed to bend the truth a bit.
“Oh, I have an enchanted Magic Bag which lets me store my inventory in a small space. Very convenient,” Alix replied quickly.
“Yes, I can imagine. Also extraordinarily expensive, from what I have heard.”
“That’s beside the point. These are what I want to give you. They are Terron Ossia. The explosion on the ship wiped out all of the Terron’s onboard and I collected the ossia afterwards.”
“How? We searched but we couldn’t find a single one,” Guillem asked.
“Why didn’t you share them with us before? That was our job!” Celeste shouted before Alix could reply.
“The truth of it is that if I hadn’t found you when I did, you would all be dead. I was the one that set off that spell that wiped out all the Terron. You never would have managed to collect a single ossia to sell or use for anything else without me. Look, the why of it doesn’t matter. I’m giving you one each now. Do you know how much one of these is worth? No? Let me tell you. Each one is worth eight thousand gold coins.”
There was stunned silence at his words. It was more than they could hope to earn from a year of adventuring, or a lifetime.
“Eight thousand?” Millie said in a small voice.
“Eight Thousand. That’s not what I brought you here for though. You can leave here and sell these if you want after you have heard my proposal, but I hope you will listen.”
“You have our attention, Mr Marshall, but I think we will need an explanation as to who you are after this. You don’t appear to be much of a mage, but the spell that destroyed that ship had to have been of a high level.”
“You will get your answers Bjorn. First, I want to propose that you don’t disband your party. I would like to join it instead. You can’t be called the Sixfold Sanctum with only five members. I’d also like to help get you outfitted, so that a situation like what happened in the marshes never happens again. I have more ossia than these, and I want to use them to forge all of you new armour and new weapons.”
“You would just give us items of such value? Why us, Mr Marshall? I cannot understand the reason behind your generosity. With such gear, that would put our worth at greater than that of many nobles. You could have easily kept all of this to yourself and made yourself one of the richest men in Galdea and we would have been none the wiser.”
“You deserve it. You never should have had to go through what you did at the marshes. The truth is that I thought I knew which ship was out there and that’s why I went after you. My plan was to deal with the ship before you got there but I wasn’t quick enough.”
“What do you mean you knew which ship it was? Why didn’t you tell us before we accepted the damn quest?” Celeste said with barely restrained fury. Her anger alternated between Weiss and Alix as she tried to process everything.
“Would it have made a difference? I only said I knew of the ship, I didn’t say I knew the terrons were there. That was a surprise for all of us. A simple bit of research shows that the Ekaiza Marshes is connected to both the Dreadloch and Mortlake, and Mortlake is one of the areas where the Ghosts do their dealings, so I assumed that the ship had to be one of theirs. One of their businesses is slavery, something that I absolutely cannot abide. I was hoping to find some clue as to their whereabouts on the ship, but as it happens, I already know of another location where the Ghosts work. I don’t know if you can really blame the Ghosts for what happened to Faisal,” I’m more to blame for the entire thing, Alix thought to himself, although if the Ghosts had never stolen the ship in the first place I wouldn’t have had to blow it up, “but if you want to get some revenge, I have accepted a job, one that I hope you will help me with, to deal with the slave trader partners of the Ghosts in Celadon.”
“That sounds like a dangerous job, Mr Marshall,” Bjorn was the first to reply. Our party is only Rank D.”
“That’s true, but there is an obscure rule in the Adventurer’s Guild handbook that states a party’s rank can increase in relation to the strength of their equipment, if the equipment is of what’s called ‘Substantial Worth’. I’d say Terron Ossia weapons and armour would more than classify, which I hope would make you a Rank C party.”
“I think I’ve heard about something like that, but I’ve never heard of the rule being used before,” Guillem said.
“Even if we were to rise to Rank C, what rank are you, Mr Marshall?” Bjorn asked.
“Technically, I am still Rank F,” Alix admitted. “My last job was to deal with slimes, and the job before that was only to collect a Terron Ossia, not to defeat the Terron themselves. I could probably appeal to increase my rank, but there is no need, I will be able to look after myself.”
“It sounds like you just want to use us as shields for the job so that you can get a boost up the ranks once the job is done,” Celeste said.
“Don’t be so mean Celeste,” Millie said, surprisingly coming to his defence. “Mr Marshall, what spell was it that you used to deal with the Terrons?”
Alix withdrew a sheet of paper and pen from his “Magic Bag”, and quickly scrawled the glyphs he had used to create the weakened Firestorm spell form, then passed it over to Millie.
“I slightly changed the spell Firestorm so that it wouldn’t be as potent. You were all still fairly close after all. It was fairly simple, I’m sure you could have pulled it off as well.”
Millie studied the glyphs, and then her face turned white. The paper dropped from her fingers.
“What’s wrong Millie?” Celeste asked, leaning over to hold her shoulder. “You look like you are about to be sick.”
“I couldn’t have done this spell Mr Marshall,” Millie said, ignoring Celeste. “I have only heard of drawings like this before. I have never seen them myself. It is said only the highest level mages can use them. How do you know about these? They are said to be one of the Guilds greatest secrets. I can only use spells with an incantation.”
“Really? I learned it from a book in…my grandfathers library. I could try and teach you some if we are to party up.”
Some colour returned to Mille at the thought of learning the powerful spell. “Would the Magic Contract allow me to use it though?”
“If not, I can always modify the glyphs on the contract to allow that.”
Millie turned pale again. “You can modify them?”
“Millie, what is going on? How strong is he?” Celeste asked, giving her friend a shake.
“If he can create spells like these and cast them without incantation, as well as modify existing Guild spells, that would make him a triple S rank Magician,” Millie said in a quiet voice, as if she didn’t believe what she was saying.
“Triple S!?” Celeste screeched. “That’s impossible.” She turned to stare at Alix, as if had suddenly grown horns.
“Are you a member of the Magician’s Guild?” Guillem asked.
“No, I am only a member of the Adventurer’s Guild. I have no need to join any of the other Guilds.”
“Then there is little way to prove the claims to your strength.”
“Are these Terron Ossia not enough proof? We can go back out to the marshes and I can set off another Firestorm spell if you want more proof.”
“Without appraisal how can we be sure these are real Terron Ossia? You could have made this whole thing up to take advantage of us.”
Alix sighed in exasperation. He hadn’t expected them to be this resilient to his plea. “What would I have to gain by doing that? Look, whether or not you believe me, you can keep the ossia. Get them appraised, sell them, and do with the gold whatever you want. If you still have reservations then, that still wont change my plan. I am going to go to Celadon and deal with the slavers there once and for all. Millie seems to understand that I can handle myself. What more proof do you need?”
“It appears to me that you have been deliberately trying to hide your true rank and strength, Mr Marshall” Bjorn said. For a Berserker class, he seemed awfully polite, but under his hard gaze even Alix felt a flicker of fear. “I think you should appeal with the Adventurer’s Guild to rank up based on your dealings with the Terron, and also on the rule you so kindly made us aware of. You must have some pretty high level gear yourself to have dealt with the Terron so fearlessly. There is also a test you can take at the Magician’s Guild to reveal your magic affinity and skill. I propose that you take this test and appeal with the Guild, and if you can match or beat our rank, I will join with you. Then I propose that we don’t disband, but change our clan name. I was never fond of Sixfold Sanctum.”
“If that is good enough for Bjorn, then that is what I will agree to as well,” Guillem said.
Millie nodded her agreement as well. Celeste turned to glare at Weiss.
“If this is what it takes to save our party then I’m in.”
“What about you Weiss?” Alix asked the last member. This wasn’t what he had been expecting, but if it was what he had to do then so be it.
“If the Terron Ossia proves to be authentic, then I will join with you.”
“We are all in agreement. What now, Mr Marshall?” Bjorn said.
“I will get the proof you require. Let’s meet back here in one week. In the meantime, here is the address of a workshop. Go there and a Sylvin Gyle will create you whatever weapons and armour you desire.” Alix handed them each a slip of paper with the address of Gyle’s workshop. “Also, have one other Terron Ossia here that I’d like you to sell and give the money to Faisal’s family, if he has any.”
“He had a wife and a daughter,” Weiss said.
Shit.
“In that case, take two,” Alix said, removing another Ossia from the ’Magic Bag’ in his pocket.
“This is not enough to replace a holy life of a child of Babyl,” Weiss said with a broken voice.
“I know that, but it is all I can do for now.”
The five remaining members of the Sixfold Sanctum took the papers and the Terron Ossia and walked out, shattered. Millie needed Celeste’s help to walk and she stared at Alix with a mix of awe and fear as she passed.
Once the room was empty Alix breathed a sigh of relief. The meeting hadn’t gone the way he had expected, but he felt like a little bit of weight had lifted from him now that he had told them the truth, or a version of it at least. He had a lot to be getting on with, but he had something else to deal with first.
Mr Bones, he called.
It is good to hear from you my lord. I hope everything is going well.
Things have not gone the way I expected, but it has been interesting. How are things going there?
The little one is going through a phase I fear. Her outbursts can be terrifying.
The little one? She has yet to name herself still?
I think it will be soon. I fear things would have been worse if not for Mr Faisal. He has proven adept at dealing with the little one. I think she can sense your touch on him.
For some reason it annoyed Alix that Faisal was getting to bond with his daughter more than he was.
I expected Faisal to run at the sight of a demon. How has he been doing?
I don’t think he fully believes she is a demon. He is terrified of Tifayn, not to mention the other skeletons and the gargoyles, but as the little one has yet to develop her horns, Faisal can pretend she is a normal child. He spends most of his days wandering the castle in a daze, or reading voraciously in the library. I need to have one of the Dark Elves following him at all times so he doesn’t hurt himself by accident.
I expected to be back soon to deal with him myself, but things have changed. I will be going to Celadon. The Ghosts said that’s where they were going to sell the Ringtails so I’m going to investigate. I need you to write a letter for me and give it to Faisal. I think it’s time he went back to his family.
Of course my lord.
Alix sent Mr Bones the instructions for Faisal's task and then headed out to deal with tasks of his own.
