B3 C55: The Third Crack

CRACK.

A great gust of purple fog vanished through the cracks and crevices of a pitch-black door. Far from accepting the cloud’s entry, the door nearly split apart, a great fracture pulling itself into existence. The purple glow behind it almost seemed to ooze outwards. It was breaking free, escaping, invading, and then-

~~~~~~~

As though punched, what little air I’d managed to pull in through Warram’s skill leapt out of my chest at his revelation. Protagonist. Protagonist. He knew.

Did he know about how the mark transferred? Was that why I was here? Of course he did, didn’t he? I strained against my stasis, wanting to scream, wanting to ram an arrow through him, but utterly failing. I don’t even know if Alara survived. I can’t die here, but if I’m going to, you at least have to tell me if Alara survived. And who’s going to tell the Larins about their kids? I need to leave; I need to leave, I need to-

Somewhere in my head, I felt something… snap?

What an odd feeling. Did I hit my head? It feels a bit tight.

The momentary distraction helped to bleed away some of my tension. After all, why was I so high-strung? Warram wouldn’t kill me. He couldn’t. Suds would kill him immediately afterwards, or if not him, the archmage. In fact, I wouldn’t put it past the archmage to figure out I was in trouble. Any moment now, he’d teleport directly before me and get me out of this mess.

No, perhaps this was just some simpler plot. He’d try to frame me for something or get me to admit to something. That sounded better. Best to get it over with then -- I had to be a good friend and check up on Alara soon, after all.

I relaxed. There was no point in wearing myself out now. Plus, relaxing made the iron grip of the skill just a touch less uncomfortable. It was still borderline torture, but after an entire semester of actually torturing myself with my resistance training, it was surprisingly tolerable.

Seeing my struggles stop, Warram lost the flicker of a smile he’d allowed himself, instead raising a single sculpted brow.

“Not going to fight it? Very well then.” He leaned towards the bars, dispassionately gazing down at me as though noting a piece of trash he’d forgotten to dispose of. “But you’re curious, aren’t you? You must be. How do I know about what you are? Why now?”

I was, actually. If Warram could prove I was a Protagonist, lots of things would come crashing down for me. Once I figured out how to get myself out of all this, I’d have to make sure to avoid making the same mistake twice. Worst came to worst, I might even need to leave Sylum.

“Normally, I wouldn’t tell you, you know. I find all the monologuing a bit tiring. Today, however, you’re in luck: I don’t even need to.”

Without warning, Emin jerked forward, Law’s Embrace releasing him from its grip. I expected him to do something with his freedom -- shout at Warram, demand to know what was happening, lunge for the cell door to free me, or even just stretch out his recently stationary limbs. Ultimately, he did none of it. As though deactivated, he simply stood there, head tilted towards the ground as he stared at it glassily.

Warram handed him a glass of water he’d pulled from some spatial item, and mechanically, Emin accepted. I wasn’t even sure he knew where he was as he brought it to his lips and started to drink.

“Researcher Emin. I require a moment to refill my mana and attend to some preparations. I believe you understand the gist of what’s happening here. Explain it to the girl, please.”

Bizarre. Had Warram told Emin something during the ride here? I hadn’t seen Warram remove any blindfold or earwax from Emin, so I supposed it was possible that Warram could have talked to him already.

It took Warram repeating his previous words again for Emin to snap to. As he regained some awareness, though, he only started to look worse, not better. There was a certain hollowness to his gaze, as though he’d gone from lost to haunted all at once.

“I… Are you sure? I think… I think perhaps I shouldn’t be here. I don’t want to be here right now. You can explain it.” He scanned the room, seeming to look for its nonexistent door.

While I could relate, in this one instance, I agreed with Warram. If Emin knew something, I wanted to know it too. And the faster we got through all this nonsense, the faster we could leave and see Alara.

Warram was of the same mind. “Please. And pay no mind to how long it takes. It took considerable time and resources to complete, but rest assured that nobody will find us here. Not the archmage. Not even my mother. And it should be you who tells her, don’t you think? You have my permission.”

Actually? That’s not really what I was hoping to hear. Well, still, it wasn’t like he could genuinely get away with killing me, especially with Emin as witness. He had to know that right?

Oblivious to my thoughts, Warram motioned for Emin to continue. Right as he gestured, however, I felt something strange brush up against my mind. It slipped off harmlessly, but not before I’d got a feel for it, Understanding letting me know what it was.

A Desire to Confess

For all nearby entities you’ve been talking to, nudges them to confess to any wrongdoings, illegal activities, or things that weigh on their conscience.

It was an understandable skill for a guard-like class to have, but its use was confusing given the circumstances. Had Warram known Emin, he would have known he was the exact type to never break a law.

Out of abundance of caution, I tried to warn Emin about the skill regardless, but the breath caught in my throat, Law’s Embrace still too tight to speak through. Instead, it was Emin who started to speak.

“Perhaps… Yes. Perhaps I should. Right.” Finally, he faced me, trembling as if each word taxed his body.

All at once, he seemed to break down. “I think… I think it was all my fault, Tess. All my fault. My fault…” A few stray tears started to trickle down his unblinking, haunted eyes, but rather than wipe them away, he dropped to his knees, painstakingly slowly. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. This isn’t how I wanted things to end up. Just… I need to explain.”

And then, with a much firmer voice, he did just that.

~~~~~~~~~~

It was another soul-crushingly late and unproductive night at the lab for Emin. As he flitted about the shoebox of a research space the Chamber of Knowledge had granted him, he placed several drops of his newest concoction into worn-down and outdated instruments. Slowly, the results rolled in, but they were all just as he’d expected: bad.

Sometimes I wonder if I made a mistake doing all this. He loved his research. Truly, honestly, deeply. How many people got to say they played with magic potions all day and got paid for it too?

But he had to admit that he was getting nowhere. Another year of middling results would see his meager research stipend and lab taken from him, and at this rate, even a year out, he knew it was inevitable. He had the drive. The skills. Perhaps he was being full of himself, but he thought he had the smarts, too.

Unfortunately, Emin simply lacked the money.

His fingers nearly bled at the very thought of how many grant proposals he’d written by now, all of them declined. One merely had to look around at the lab -- practically a time capsule of a full century earlier -- to see it. He needed new equipment, both for preparing his potions and analyzing them. He needed better, rarer, and simply more ingredients to work with. Much as he often did, Emin wondered whether it was normal to feel so painfully tired and world-weary at such a young age.

Perhaps I should have stuck with all that guardsman training I did, hmm? The thought was only half serious, of course. The training wasn’t even that hard, but they’d weeded Emin out pretty quickly. He’d played the role of “Guard” in a few school plays back in the day, but he’d quickly learned that the reality was far less glamorous. He just hadn’t been cut out for it.

Would have been a stable job with a steady income, though…

A knock on the door distracted him from his thoughts.

Who in all that’s good ever visits me here? And at this hour?

As if summoned by his previous thoughts, his visitor turned out to be a guardsman. Emin hastily invited him in before he could think better of it, the guard standing ramrod straight in uncomfortably cramped space.

Briefly, Emin worried that something had happened to a loved one, but the worry faded just as quickly. Emin, after all, didn’t really have any of those. These days it was largely just work for him.

As expected, the guard had come for an entirely separate reason.

“Researcher Emin. I hope you’ll forgive me for the late intrusion, but my name is Warram’Goss. I’ve heard about your work and was wondering if you’d be interested in a funding opportunity.”

Emin’s brain short-circuited twice in rapid succession. Goss, as in GOSS Goss? Certainly they wouldn’t waste the time of a chamber head’s family member on him, would they? But nevermind that. A funding opportunity! Focus on that, you fool!

“If you’d like to hear more,” Warram continued, “all I would need would be a small oath of confidentiality. Standard procedure for Chamber of Peace partnerships. Can’t discuss what I’m about to tell you without permission.”

Naturally, Emin wasn’t going to let that phase him. When the oath was presented to him, he practically signed the thing outright, knowing that a guardsman would never trick him into anything shady. Of course, his more cautious side won out, forcing him to read the entire thing over, but still, the entire process barely took any time at all.

“Thank you. Now, I have to stress that this opportunity is on the more unusual side, Researcher Emin. We’ve seen the promise in your research, and I’m willing to get you a large amount of funding, but we’d need you to help us with something in return. You may find it an odd request, and based on the information we have on you, I think it’s something you’d be perfect for.”

How odd. I wonder what sort of potion they want me to make for them.

The truth, however, was stranger yet.

Abandoning his perfect posture, Warram leaned over conspiratorially, delivering a request that turned out to be the very last thing Emin expected to hear.

“Researcher Emin, I’m afraid I need your help gathering information on a suspected criminal.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Only a few days later, Emin found himself trekking through the forest, surrounded by a host of would-be herbalists spanning all ages. For the umpteenth time in the past few hours, he wondered exactly how he’d ended up here.

Sure, he knew how he’d logically ended up here. Warram had been fairly honest about why he’d been chosen. The suspected criminal was apparently the granddaughter of Chamber Head Suds, if that could be believed. The chamber head -- or those he employed -- were likely to sniff out anyone hanging around his heir if they were even peripherally attached to the actual guards. Paradoxically, it was his very unremarkableness that would make Emin a better spy than someone with the Spy class.

Add that to the fact that he supported the guards, was around the suspect’s age, had listed a high Acting level on his old guard application form, and could feasibly feign a reason for joining two of the girl’s classes, and here he was.

Never mind that I don’t need to take a beginner’s herbalism class. I’m sure I can make up some fib. Still, it’s all so bizarre. What if she’s dangerous? He glanced over to the girl in question. Strange and pale, perhaps, but nothing that fired off any warning signals.

Even then, he knew he would do it, though. The satisfaction of helping keep the city safe aside, the payout was just too good to pass up on. When Warram had shown him the promised research money that came with the job, he’d had to wipe his glasses off just to make sure he wasn’t seeing an extra digit.

Better do this right, then. The instructor mentioned something about forming into pairs, and though nervous, Emin saw the perfect opportunity. He approached before anyone else could, hoping to get close from day one.

Normal, Emin. And likable! And unsuspicious. Normal and likable and unsuspicious.

“Sorry. Uh. Would you like to maybe pair up?”

~~~~~~~~~~

Through only a secure communication gem, Emin made his reports.

“I don’t know what to tell you, she seems very normal so far. Yes, I can try to get closer to her.”

…

“We’ve started eating lunch together! She seems reluctant to talk about her past, but she hasn’t said anything damning. Frankly, she doesn’t feel much like the criminal type to me, but- Of course, I’ll keep trying.”

…

“I finally managed to examine her for a while without her noticing! Two layers of obfuscation that I could see, but I think there must be a third, too. Her stats just don’t make sense otherwise. Hmm? During her philosophy class? Well, if you think you have a way to get her out of her obfuscation gear, I’m sure you could learn a lot, yes. Good luck.”

…

“Ah… Well I’m sorry that didn’t go well for you.”

…

“Nothing major to report, although I do think she might have some sort of drinking problem. I’ve started to become closer to her adventurer friend, and you would not believe how much they drink. Perhaps something I can take advantage of if she lets anything slip. Of course, that’s provided I can survive drinking alongside them.”

…

“Are we certain she’s really done anything wrong? I just attended her birthday party. I think… I think maybe you’ve got the wrong person. She’s kind. And a good friend. I’ve had my misgivings for a while, but I’m starting to feel seriously off about all this. Right. Yes. I’m aware my funding ends if I stop now. Of course. I suppose if she’s innocent, there’s not much harm in all this anyway…”

…

“Yes, just like you said. She’s invited me into her dungeon-delving party. If we want to find two other members, I may need some more expensive materials to use my class with, though. I don’t have much to fight with. You can supply those? Perfect. We’re going to end this before an actual delve, though, aren’t we? You’re not actually making me go into the dungeon, right? Right?”

~~~~~~~~~

Many months into the strange and increasingly stressful arrangement, Emin ran into Warram for the first time since he’d met the guard in his office.

It was, of all places, at the library.

What the guard was doing there, Emin couldn’t say. As for him, it was the usual: more and more research. A few new relevant books from out of the city had just come in, and he was dying to give them a read.

Still, as he spotted Warram at a table of his own, Emin couldn’t help but close his books, instead pulling out one of his own research papers that he’d been meaning to finish up.

The gem is always so impersonal. Maybe I could convince him if I can actually get a moment face to face? He knew they weren’t supposed to be seen together in public, but he had to give it a try, didn’t he? This had all gone on for long enough.

He waved until he caught the guard’s attention, a glare which nearly stopped him in his tracks. Undeterred, though, he beckoned the guard over, and reluctantly, Warram approached.

“Yes, citizen. Is there something you require a guard for?” He glanced about, not relaxing even when he saw no one listening in.

“There is. I was hoping to talk to you about my research for a moment?” Before Warram could protest, Emin pointed down to his paper and started rattling off his latest results, trying to get everything in one breath so as not to let Warram interrupt. The guardsman stood there bemused as Emin fired off everything about his work he could think of.

“... so you see, even the preliminary results of the last round of research have been incredibly promising from both an efficacy and economic standpoint. If you’ll look here, you can see the exact figures, and I’m sure you’ll agree that the project is worth further funding in and of itself, with or without any side projects. Additionally-”

At the mention of said “side projects,” Warram’s eyes hardened, and he jumped in.

“Yes. The research elements are all very fascinating; however, I believe it’s best we talk about the exact details and monetary figures for your work in private, don’t you?”

Emin readily agreed, eager to move somewhere where he could actually say what he wanted to. His work was worth something! It was worth funding even without all this nonsense, no? It had to be. He was growing sick and tired of all this spying. Emin collected his things and followed the guardsman as he hastily made for the exit.

And right then, Emin heard a voice. One he normally enjoyed, but at this very moment, the last one he wanted to hear.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Standing there, furious, was Tess.

Emin’s heart raced as she shouted at them. What did he do? What did he say?

By some miracle, Warram thought of a suitable response, and by pulling on every ounce of Acting and Deception he had at his disposal, he managed to make it through. Warram escaped, leaving the two of them alone.

She’s going to figure it out. I need to distract her. How, though? How! Maybe…

“... funding opportunity,” Emin accidentally mumbled aloud.

“Sorry, what?”

Yes, that was good. He could work with that. He pitched his voice upwards, far louder than was allowed in a library.

“Tess, that was a FUNDING opportunity. A FUNDING OPPORTUNITY!” He sold it. Sold it for all it was worth, and then some. Perhaps it wasn’t perfect, but he delivered a pretty damn good monologue for it being impromptu.

He’d been hoping for some sort of apology in response. Something that would keep Tess from thinking too hard about what she’d just seen.

What he hadn’t been expecting was for her to pull out the chunk of obsidian she’d shown him months back.

“Last time I showed you this, I’m pretty sure you said you’d give me your life savings and the life of your firstborn to see where it came from, right?”

I certainly did. That wasn’t even from my deal with Warram. He really would have given anything to study more specimens like that.

Even as Emin stood there stupefied by this new development, Tess replaced the obsidian with a new gem, this one blue and multifaceted.

“So? How would you like to take a little vacation with me?”

~~~~~~~~~

Emin hovered outside the door, someone more afraid of what came next than anything he’d done before.

Of course he’d reported his trip to Warram. It was the exact sort of thing that he’d want to know, and it seemed to blunt his admonishments for Emin’s earlier slip-up. More than that, Warram seemed ecstatic at the development, the most emotional Emin had ever heard him. He seemed convinced that Tess might take him to whatever sort of “home base” she had.

As such, Emin had been tasked with gathering whatever information he possibly could while he was here. Assuming that most of the juicy stuff would be locked up, Warram had sent him off with a gift, too. He held that exact gift up to the door, his nerves accelerating even as he stared at the small enchanted cube.

Infiltrator’s Touchstone

Unlocks any basic, mundane lock completely silently.

This was not what he’d been expecting to use this on, but the touchstone worked as advertised. The lock slid to the side. Emin entered. And he stared.

Namely, he stared at Tess who was notably, remarkably nude.

Gah, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. He made up some lame excuse even as he activated his identification ability Property Research.

Unfortunately for both of them, his skill only showed its worth if he examined his target for an extended period.

And so he stared.

He’d done this before of course -- well, not the naked part, but the staring part. Property Research was perhaps his most advanced skill, and given that he couldn’t transfer someone’s properties if he didn’t know what they were, it was surprisingly good at breaking past false statuses. It helped that he’d recently taken some class perks just for that purpose as well.

Still, he’d only ever managed to find two layers of obfuscation on her. Warram was convinced there was a third, something she would hide within her clothing.

She better, or I’m going to be absolutely mortified about this.

The first line of obfuscation broke as Tess shouted at him to get out. Still he stared.

The second line of obfuscation broke. Emin sagged in defeat as it showed him what he was used to.

Except, is her health slightly different? He scanned through the rest of her stats until he came across the line that made him freeze: It was her Prestige.

That’s far too high. There’s something I’m missing. Just a few more seconds!

Emin was half-convinced Tess would summon up her bow and arrow at any second now, but fortunately, his skill complied.

Properties clarified. Target’s marks have been uncovered.

Discovering that Tess was the owner of the settlement he was in was one thing, but it was the other mark that nearly made him gasp.

Mark of the Protagonist

That was more than enough of a revelation for now. “Right! Sorry! Out!” He bolted out the door, equal parts shocked and frightened at what he’d learned.

~~~~~~~

He reported the new information immediately. Of course he did! This entire time, Tess had been lying to him. Lying to all of them. And what was more, what was the chance that the Chamber Head of the Commons magically had a Protagonist granddaughter lying around?

She’s a fraud. And for all that she pretends, a bad friend, too.

He’d been so convinced by now, but it looked like Warram had really been telling the truth. She was some sort of criminal infiltrating Sylum.

Only, Warram’s response hadn’t been quite what he’d expected.

“Emin, I want you to listen very carefully. That’s not a mark someone like her should have. You know that, don’t you? She’s wasting its powers. Using it purely for herself. Can you imagine if you had that mark instead? How much good you could do for the world with your research coupled with a godly boon?”

It would be a dream. Can you imagine? Protagonist Emin. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the ridiculous thought. But just that. A dream.

As if reading his thoughts, Warram contradicted him. “There are ways, you know. To give a mark to someone else. And even if they didn’t work, perhaps your class skills could do something. Do you think you could level enough to transfer her mark to yourself? I’d much rather see you with a godly boon after all of this than let her have it.

“Frankly, with what you’ve revealed, you’re due a raise in any case. You said you felt more comfortable with the dark mana in this ‘Emer’Thalis.’ I’m sure I could manage to move you there, if you’d like. And funding for a full decade if you need it.”

Emin’s head whirled as everything he’d ever wanted and then some was offered to him all at once. Was all that really worth just one discovery? Certainly Warram was lying to him, or there had to be some form of catch. There had to be.

And of course, there was one.

“I’m happy to make all that happen, but I need some excuse to charge her with something, do you understand? Something that will let us bring her in when she least expects it and before anyone can swoop in to save her. I have an idea for that if you’d be willing to help… but nevermind. It’s too much. I wouldn’t ask you to do something like that.”

What could he possibly be talking about? The amount of good Emin could do with a godly boon would be immeasurable, not to mention the additional funding. What wouldn’t he do to make that happen?

“Tell me,” he demanded.

The voice on the other end of the gem was silent, as though the communication had already been cut off. After much deliberation though, Warram answered reluctantly.

“Researcher Emin, I’m aware this is a lot to ask of you, but how possible would it be for someone like you to create an… accident during a dungeon run?”