Chapter 233: Dinner

Chapter 233: Dinner

Waiting for his girlfriend, Leland mulled over countless decisions. An idea hung in his mind, a way to gain more from his contracts. But first, he needed to organize. He opened his grimoire and got to reading.

Name: Leland Silver

Legacy: Curses

Archetype: Apprentice of the Curse Lord

Specialization: Pact

Overall Rank: 3

Fracture:

Type: Curse

Rank: 22 (B-)

Call upon the Lord of Bone to shatter those in your way.

For a single target, break a random bone and the bones it is connected to.

Crow Massacre:

Type: Curse

Rank: 23 (B)

Call upon the ethereal familiar of the Lord of Curses.

Summon a full murder of 15 ethereal crows to attack targets for up to 2 minutes.

When all crows are present and attacking the same target, their beaks and talons are enhanced.

All resultant damage dealt by the crows bleeds the target for an additional amount over 100 seconds.

Promote a single crow to lead the murder. The leader is larger, faster, stronger, and more real. If permitted, the leader can stay summoned for any given length of time.

Abuse of summons will not be permitted.

Curse of Collapse:

Type: Curse

Rank: 22 (B)

Pull the target towards the end, bringing them one step closer to the Lord of Death.

Exhaust the target for up to 3 minutes, decreasing their speed by 50%.

Targets under this curse deal 20% less damage to you.

The Lord of Death smiles on the cursed, increasing your damage to the cursed by 10%.

Harbinger Halo: Pact

Type: Curse (Self)

Rank: 24 (Specialization: S)

Strike a dark accord with a presiding Lord, calling their aid.

Contracts last up to 50 minutes. If ended early, the cool down period is decreased.

Up to 4 contracts may be acted upon at one time.

Contracts that produce direct spells, curses, abilities, incantations, and/or passive effects that deal with mana, may have lifeforce partially supplemented. Effects may vary.

The pact specialization allows the creation of pact-contracts, thus opening new routes of power once deemed unreachable.

Circle of Souls:

Type: Curse

Rank: 23 (A-)

Call upon the souls of the Damned, channeling the power of the Lord of Souls into an area.

Encase the souls of those within 75 yards, siphoning their lifeforce while chaining them to this reality.

Fully consume a soul to increase your magical potency by 15% for 1 minute.

Held lost souls may now be given to a soul of the Damned as payment for a task.

Damage dealt to one target within the circle is duplicated onto all targets inside the circle for 35% effectiveness.

Those trapped within the circle know the fear of those who dabble in soul magic.

Soul Fire:

Type: Curse

Rank: Max

Ignite a lost soul.

Soul Fire’s strength directly correlates to the strength of the soul used. You are the Calamity.

Completed Contracts:

Lord of Magic: For the duration of the contract, all magical abilities are increased by a factor of 5%. Only usable once per hour. Ends in 6 days.

Lord of Nature: For the duration of the contract, access to the spell, Touch of Regeneration, is available. Contract is usable once per hour.

Lord of Water: For the duration of the contract, access to the spell, Shield of Water, is available. Contract is usable once per hour.

Lord of Chameleon: For the duration of the contract, gain adaptive mage perception (sight, smell, or instinct). Contract is usable once per hour.

Lord of Erupting Skies: For the duration of the contract, access to the spell, Erupting Steps, is available. Contract is usable once per hour.

Lord of Space: For the duration of the contract, access to the spell, Spatial Bend, is available. Contract is usable once per hour.

Lord of Pathways: The Lord of Pathways has augmented the parasitic tattoo, Lodestar, with a pathway.

“You’ve been hanging out with Jude too much.”

“Well sometimes, he’s right.”

“That he is. That he is. What’s the plan?”

Glenny nodded to an alleyway. “After you.”

Leland practically skipped into the dampness, the shadows and dank smell oddly nostalgic. It had been a while since they’d participated in a good thug-beating. Well, if you forget about the last time someone tried to intimidate them into buying something... which may or may not have been just fifteen minutes ago.

“Maybe it will be a mugging,” Leland said. “Then we can really—”

“Gah,” Glenny murmured. “No. You just stand there and look pretty. Your magic is too scary. We don’t want the market to evacuate because you want to take the man’s soul. Let me handle this.”

Giving his friend a look, the Legacy of Curses said, “I wouldn’t take his soul for just this. If he tried to kill us, then it's fair game as far as I’m concerned.”

Rolling his eyes, the Legacy of the Chameleon suddenly turned invisible.

“Oh great. You’re doing it like this,” Leland muttered to himself. “Leave me alone as bait. Don’t worry Glenny! I’ll just stand here like an idiot—”

A shadow ended his sentence. A figure appeared at the edge of the market, a man. He stepped into the alley, his boots now slick with puddle water. He stopped after a few steps, his bare hand showing off a Legacy tattoo of a scroll bound in a double knotted bow.

“You are a difficult man to track down, Mr Silver,” the man said, his voice tired. “I feel as though you have been avoiding me.”

Leland frowned, eying the man. Disheveled, nice but dirty clothing, lack of muscle or weapons. One thing was for sure, this man wasn’t here for a fight. Although that was possibly more dangerous.

“Do I know you?”

“No, no you do not. Despite the multitude of attempts I’ve made to set a meeting date, that crone of a Princess always seems to block my actions. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Ambassador Liam from the Gru Triumvirate.”

And just like that, the tension in Leland’s posture relaxed. The Gru Triumvirate was a neighboring kingdom to the Palemarrows and a pensive ally at best. As Aunty P described them, they were not good people. Backstabbers and corrupt politicians, the type of place a criminal might live since they could get away with plenty of things so long as they had the coin. At least, those were the stories. The whole country couldn’t be like that, could it?

“And just to make sure,” Leland said, “you are not here to attack me? You just want to talk.”

“That is correct,” Liam answered. “I was—”

“Glenny you can come out, this guy’s not a threat. He’s just desperate.”

The rogue appeared one step behind the Ambassador, a pocket knife in hand. He hmphed when the man flinched, stepping around to stand beside his friend.

“So then, Mr Ambassador, what do you want?”

The man cursed to himself. “Did that woman not relay any of my requests? Ifigured she surely would have—”

Leland held up a hand. “I assume you are referring to Aunty P, er, the Eldest Princess. Yes, she informed me of the Tear on Gru soil and your request for my help.”

Liam stared with a difficult expression. Anger? Resentment? Humiliation? He bit down the wave of emotions and spoke in a strained tone, “If you understand the situation with my homeland, why is our first meeting in an alley?”

“I’m not sure what you mean?”

“You—” The man clinched his knuckles. “A war is coming, Mr Leland. A war from a different world. And a Lord has expressed that you could help! So help!”

Leland and Glenny both recoiled at the tone. They looked at each other.

The man returned to himself after a few long breaths. Speaking through his teeth, the man continued, “I don’t think you are quite understanding. The Lord of the Lexicon expressed to us, the Gru Triumvirate, that you would be able to help our unique situation. Why he said a kid could help, I don’t know. But he did. So, please, if you would kindly come with me, I have a Legacy of Space ready to teleport us to—”

“Yeah I’m not going,” Leland interrupted. “I understand the situation quite well, but I was forbidden to go by the Eldest Princess and possibly an even more terrifying woman.”

The man raised his chin, breathing out a puff of hot air. “The Queen forbid you from assisting us? Because if that is the case—”

“Oh, no. The Queen didn’t. I was referring to my mom.”

“Your... mother... forbid you from assisting?”

Leland shrugged. “She said the Gru Triumvirate wasn’t safe.”

“Not safe!?” the Ambassador screeched. “Not safe! The Gru Triumvirate is not safe!? Of course it’s not! We have two otherworldly races about to go to war on our soil! Of course it’s not safe! People are going to die! Mr Silver! Die! By the thousands! Maybe even tens of thousands if the war starts!”

A pang of guilt washed over Leland. Still, he steeled himself. “If it starts?”

Liam rolled his head around his neck, his veins and bones jutting from his skin. “The Shellbearers estimate that the sudden appearance of Tears may slow the war effort. A few months until it starts back up.”

“And the Shellbearers, are they the turtle people?”

“Yes,” he seethed.

Leland looked at Glenny who mouthed “Floe comes first.”

And it wasn’t just that. They had been given a quest. And the Palemarrow Kingdom came first, not just Floe and Gelo. They were to investigate and deal with a few Tears until reinforcements could arrive and properly set up. There just wasn’t enough time to head into the Gru Triumvirate as well... as much as it might be the right thing to do.

Eventually Leland sighed. “Look. I have promises to keep and a job to do. I’d like to help, even if the people around me tell me not to. Your citizens don’t deserve to be displaced by a war, trust me, I know what that’s like first hand.”

The Ambassador looked as though he wanted to interrupt, but he remained silent.

“I don’t fully understand why the Lexicon Lord suggested me—” well, he did, but that would reveal things about himself he didn’t want the general population to know, “—but I also can’t ignore such a desperate plea for help... Speaking of which, what is it that you actually want me to do?”

“Speak with the Shellbearers for one. Then the leaders of the warring races. End the war before it starts, or at the very least, keep it from coming into our world.”

“Tall order,” Leland said, as he looked at Glenny who gave a subtle nod of the head. He continued, “How powerful is your Legacy of Space?”

“She can teleport you anywhere on the continent,” the Ambassador replied.

“Here’s what I can do. I have a responsibility to my friends and nation, but after I complete my job, I will help.”

The last word came out tentative at best. He groaned and tried again. “I will help. Okay? I will.”

A spring of surprise popped across the man’s face. “And how long will your job take?”

“Two months. Maybe less.”

“That’s cutting it close, Mr Silver...”

“Take it or leave it. It’s the best I can do.”

“Fine... if you answer a question of mine?”

Leland almost rebutted that that’s not how questions work in scenarios such as this, but simply chose to nod along to get it over with.

The Gru Ambassador spoke clearly with a hint of genuine curiosity, “Why you? Why did the Lord of the Lexicon recommend you?”

“Because I have connections with powerful people.”