Chapter 157: Shade

Jason’s cloak fluttered around him as he drifted to the ground.

“Clive said that some people think the powers we get are reflections of who we are,” Sophie said.

“So?”

“So, floating out of the sky with an attention-grabbing cloak made out of sparkles seems very much like you.”

“I can’t help if I’m pretty,” Jason said. “I like your new armour, by the way. It’s a very ‘killing things for money’ kind of look. Professional.”

Gilbert Bertinelli, who supplied Jason’s armour dealt exclusively in men’s apparel, but Jason had asked for his recommendation for someone who worked with trap weaver leather. He suggested someone who developed armour specifically for women. The result was a simple outfit with clean lines, compared to the flowing lines of Jason’s combat robes.

In shades of dark grey and black, Sophie’s outfit reminded Jason of combat fatigues more than anything else. It had a neat but loose fit for maximum mobility, with hardened panels over critical areas and plenty of loops and pockets for gear. Compared to the body-hugging clothes Sophie normally wore it was all business, masking her lithe body.

“I would have preferred something in white,” Sophie said.

Jason acknowledged to himself that she looked exceptionally good in white, but didn’t say anything. As much as the indenture contract was in practicality a fiction, he was very conscious of the men who had sought to exert power over her for their own gratification. He didn’t want to be one more guy piling it on.

“So I guess we head off,” Jason said.

“If those noises we’re hearing are anything to go by, we’ll be running into plenty of monsters. Especially if they’re spawning faster because of the extra magic.”

“I reckon you’re right,” Jason agreed. “If we come up against anything nasty, you grab its attention and I'll set up the damage. Otherwise, we take it as it comes.”

“Sounds good,” Sophie said. “With all these trees and broken buildings throwing shadows, this place should be a playground for you.”

“If you don’t mind,” a voice said from behind them, “I would like to have a word before you set off.”

They both turned around, startled at whoever had approached them undetected. Standing in the middle of the overgrown street was a dark figure, like a person made of the same shadow-stuff as Jason’s cloak. He was a living silhouette, a person-shaped hole in the universe.

“Who are you?” Sophie asked. “What are you?”

“Why do you sound British?” Jason asked.

“I don’t know what British is,” the shadowy figure said.

“That’s for the best,” Jason said. “Don’t tell them you don’t have guns or they’ll colonise the crap out of you.”

“I lack the context to grasp the exact scenario you are positing,” the figure said. “I assume you are introducing a confusing tangent to the conversation to gauge my response to an unanticipated reaction to my approach.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it. I like you, British shadow guy. You got a name?”

“I am Shade.”

“That’s rough,” Jason said. “You’re a person made of shadows and your name is Shade? That’s like my name being Human.”

“You are not human,” Shade said.

“Yeah, but I was when I was named. I'm Jason and this is Sophie. Are you a local, Shade?”

“In a manner of speaking,” Shade said. “I am the invigilator of the Legacy Trials. I will administer each of the five tests you must pass to receive the legacy of the Order of the Reaper.”

“If you’re running the show, why have you appeared before us?” Sophie asked.

“My nature is multifarious. I am currently appearing before every person who has entered the trial grounds. I am here to introduce you to the trials and instruct you on what you must do to pass them.”

“Well that sucks,” Jason said. “And here was me thinking we had a head start. Why did we not appear in the same place as our other team members, Shade?”

“There are twelve gate towers. Each person that enters arrives at a random tower.”

“Twelve,” Sophie said. “We could have been split up entirely, so it could be worse.”

“I’m worried about Clive,” Jason said. “Humphrey will be fine on his own and Neil is a healer, so he’ll have no trouble finding some people to roam around with. Clive is a harder sell, especially with Clive as the salesman.”

“There’s not much we can do about it here,” Sophie said. “All we can do is head for the middle and trust that he can do the same.”

Jason gave a reluctant nod.

“If I may interject,” Shade said, “part of my task is to instruct you on the trials to come and what will be required of you.”

“Go ahead, Shade.”

“Thank you,” Shade said. “The legacy of the Order of the Reaper is here to be claimed. The one to do so will be the one who proves that they can embody the ideals of the Order. Courage, intellect, resolve, capability and wisdom. Over the course of five trials, you will need to demonstrate these five virtues.”

“And these trials are located in the middle of the city?” Jason asked.

“The final three are located in the heart of the city,” Shade said. “This City of Fallen Echoes is itself the second trial; the trial of capability. It constitutes the longest of the five trials and not everyone will successfully navigate the dangers therein.”

Quest: [The Second Trial]

The second of the Reaper’s trials is to reach the heart of the city.

Objective: Reach the centre of the City of Fallen Echoes.Reward: Random magic item.

“The city is the second trial?” Sophie asked. “What about the first?”

“The first trial I will administer now. It is the simplest in that it cannot be failed. Instead, it is a choice that will be important once you reach the final trials.”

“It can’t be failed?” Jason asked. “That seems like a gimme but I can’t help thinking there’s a catch.”

“The trial is simply this,” Shade said. “Do you wish to enter the second trial with wisdom or courage?”

“What’s the difference?” Sophie asked.

“To enter with wisdom means you will receive two items. One will allow you to escape the trials entirely. You will not be allowed to enter again but it can extricate you from an inescapable situation. The other is a recovery item that can save you in a critical moment.”

“And courage means entering the second trial without them,” Jason said.

“Exactly so,” Shade acknowledged.

“It seems like wisdom is objectively the better choice,” Sophie said.

“That is why it is the path of wisdom,” Shade said.

“Then why would anyone choose courage?” Jason asked.

“Each of the final trials will test the virtues that have yet to be demonstrated,” Shade said. “But to reach the trials of intelligence and resolve, one must pass a trial that tests that which they did not demonstrate here, in the first trial. For those who have already proven their courage, the test of wisdom will assess their judgement. Failure means being removed from the trials, but there is no danger in it. For those who have proven their wisdom, they must face a test of courage. The test is simple but dangerous. To pass is to move on and to fail is to die.”

“So it’s a choice between safety now and danger later or safety later and danger now,” Jason said. “What can you tell us about the later trials?”

“Only that you will be informed of the nature of each trial you face, immediately before you face it. Once you have navigated the city, each future trial will be explained, after which you may choose to face the next trial or be safely removed from the trials altogether.”

“So you can tell us about the second trial now?” Sophie asked.

“I can, yes,” Shade told her. “There is no limit on time beyond the closure of the trials in eighteen days.”

“What happens if we’re still here after eighteen days?” Jason asked.

“Then you will be trapped here,” Shade said. “There are dangers in this place, of which the monsters are not the greatest. There are two larger threats to be aware of.”

“We appreciate the warning,” Jason said. “What can you tell us about them?”

“I can explain the practical dangers,” Shade said. “If you would prefer, I can explain the origins of the trials and the dangers you will face in undertaking them.”

“I’ll take some context, if you’re offering,” Jason said.

“This astral space was originally a training ground for the Order of the Reaper,” Shade explained. “You travelled here from the ruins of the Order’s final and most hidden redoubt. It was once a hidden place to instruct the Order’s initiates, turned into a final hiding place as the churches sought to purge the Order.”

“The churches purged the Order of the Reaper?” Jason said. “I found an underground fortress that had suffered some kind of attack, centuries ago. I think that belonged to the Order as well.”

“The Order did have an underground facility that was wiped out. At first, it was believed that the hidden training centre had escaped the churches' attention after they attacked that location. The Order was betrayed, however, and the hiding place under the lake revealed. The churches came, shattered the magic domes that held back the waters and drowned all within.”

“That’s horrifying,” Jason said.

“Which churches?” Sophie asked. “It can’t have been all of them.”

“It was not,” Shade said. “The Order of the Reaper served a number of important purposes. In a world of kings and queens, leaders are chosen by blood instead of virtue. A fool or mad person can, by virtue of birthright, be given the power to consign countless lives to chaos, suffering and death. In such cases, a knife in the dark can be the deliverance of nations.”

“Royal assassins,” Jason said. “I’d say you should try democracy but the results where I come from are very mixed.”

“Though the Order remained hidden in the shadows,” Shade continued, “its function was known and accepted by the nations and organisations of the world. The Adventure Society, the Magic Society, even the churches.”

“But not all of them,” Sophie said.

“No,” Shade said. “There were two churches. One is the church of The Unliving. More than just assassins, the Order were also hunters of the undead. The peace of final rest is the Reaper’s most core principle and more necromancers fell to the Order than princes or kings.”

“The Adventure Society does that, now,” Jason said.

“In the Order’s absence, others must take up their tasks. The church of The Unliving did not act against the Order alone. There was another church that, like the Order, was inimical to the church of The Unliving. Nonetheless, they formed an unholy compact to remove what this church called the unclean methods of the Order.”

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Jason said. “The church of Purity?”

“It is as you say,” Shade confirmed.

“How is that church even vaguely pure?” Jason complained loudly. “They team up with the worst people they can find at the drop of a hat.”

“I do not know of what you speak,” Shade said.

“They’re at it again,” Jason said. “The church of Purity have teamed up with some interdimensional turd nugget to strip-mine astral spaces.”

“That can wait until we’re back outside,” Sophie said. “Right now, we need to focus on these trials. I assume you were working your story towards the danger you mentioned.”

“Yes,” Shade said. “When the churches discovered the training facilities beneath the lake, the last grandmaster of the Order sent all the initiates here, into the city. They then sealed the entrance, that the churches could not follow. The keys to the entrance were taken and scattered across the world. The goal was that someday, someone could prove themselves worthy of the Order's ideals and reclaim that which was left behind. That day should now be coming soon, but if all you who have entered fail, there will be another chance.”

“Oh?”

“After eighteen days, the trials will close. The keys can be used to open them again in a year, that others may try where you failed.”

“What about all those initiates?” Sophie asked. “What happened to them?”

“The churches were unwilling to leave behind the threat posed by the initiates, but could not reach them in the astral space. In the early days of the Order, one of the grandmasters found this astral space. It was unstable, a proto-astral space that was as likely to dissolve into the astral as become a true realm.”

“Obviously it did,” Sophie said.

“The Order of the Reaper has long used such places,” Shade said. “There was ancient knowledge of how to anchor such realms, provided by the Reaper itself.”

“So, the Order really is connected to the great astral being,” Jason said.

“It was,” Shade said. “The grandmaster who built this place was akin to you, Jason Asano. Like you, he was an outworlder with the dark essence. Many of the functions of this place are based on his abilities. I was his summoned familiar, once.”

“You were a familiar?” Jason asked.

“I was. Now, I am bound to this place until the trials are completed and the legacy claimed.”

“He was from my world?” Jason asked.

“He was not,” Shade said. “You were originally humans, which do not exist in the world he originated in.”

“You didn’t tell us what happened to the initiates,” Sophie said.

“As I said, the churches were unwilling to leave the initiates be, but the means by which this astral space was anchored to the world left the those hunting them locked out. So the churches made a second bargain, this time with entities of the deep astral. Known as the vorger, they have the power to violate dimensional boundaries.”

“Like those of an astral space,” Jason said.

“Yes,” Shade said. “They cannot enter a truly physical realm, but astral spaces are partly of the astral and partly of the physical. It is unknown how they lured such creatures as they are animalistic entities, acting only on primal urges. Lure them the churches did, however, and the vorger remain here to this day.”

“What are these vorger, exactly?” Sophie asked.

“They are creatures intangible in nature, for they are not physical beings. They take many shapes but their nature is the same. Their touch warps flesh, twisting it into hideous new shapes.”

“That’s what happened to the initiates?” Jason asked. “They were killed by the vorger?”

“Worse,” Shade said. “The vorger do not kill. Their victims do not enjoy the sweet release of death. In what is perhaps the greatest insult to the Reaper, the initiates were warped into unageing abominations of flesh. They never die, their souls trapped inside twisted shells of rage and pain, cursed to eternal madness. They roam this place still, striking out against anything they encounter.”

“Those are the dangers you mentioned,” Jason said. “The vorger and these flesh abominations.”

“Yes.”

“What can you tell us about how to fight them?” Sophie asked.

“The vorger have no physical substance,” Shade said. “Magical weapons will have some limited effect on them but unless you find them in isolation, it will be insufficient to handle their numbers. They tend to appear in swarms and without specialised tools or abilities, they are difficult to deal with. They will warp your bodies until the city gains another flesh abomination. As you both possess an affinity for astral energy, you will be far more resistant than most, however.”

“Your abilities should work well,” Jason said to Sophie. “My sword should be effective enough as well. What about the flesh abominations, Shade?”

“If you can kill them and release their souls from torment, then that would be a mercy. My advice, however, is to avoid or escape them. Their power is at the bronze-rank level and they are no easy match. Their bodies will adapt to your attacks and defences, making them more effective and you less so, with every passing moment. If you must fight them, then I would recommend fighting one after another instead of working together. When they adapt to one form of attack they may create a weakness to another which you can exploit.”

“Thank you,” Jason said. “We’ll remember your words.”

“Then your next step is the first trial,” Shade said. “Your choices remain: courage or wisdom.”

“What do you think?” Sophie asked Jason.

“I’m thinking wisdom,” Jason said. “I feel like courage is probably the best choice for getting to the end, but as much as I would love a cloud palace, I’ll take alive and no cloud palace over dead and no cloud palace.”

“I would have thought you would have gone for courage,” Sophie said. “All the stories I’ve heard about you paint you as pretty reckless.”

“I used to be,” Jason said. “Probably still am, to be honest, but Farrah’s death brought some things home for me. Death is easy enough to find as an adventurer. I don’t need to go looking for it.”

“Alright,” Sophie said with a nod, then turned to Shade. “Two for wisdom.”

“Very well,” Shade said and raised his shadowy hands. Resting in each was a small vial and a medallion. They took them, feeling the cold of Shade’s shadowy hand as they picked up the objects.

Jason looked at the medallion first. It was made of the same glossy black stone as the archway through which they had entered the astral space and was embossed with a scythe symbol. It was small and on a cord that could be easily slipped over the neck.

Item: [Medallion of Escape] (silver rank, uncommon)

A path of escape for those with the wisdom to know when to let go (consumable, teleport).

Effect: Project your aura into the medallion to be immediately evacuated from the astral space. Only functions within the City of Fallen Echoes.

“Project your aura into the medallion,” Jason read. “Doesn’t that mean anyone without aura control can’t use it?”

“Part of wisdom is knowing which challenges not to accept,” Shade said.

“Good thing you picked up an aura power,” Jason told Sophie. They both slipped their medallions over their necks and tucked them under their armour. They then looked at the second item, the vial.

Item: [Lesser Miracle Potion] (iron rank, legendary)

Salvation in a bottle (consumable, potion).

Effect: Fully restore health, mana and stamina. This potion is only effective on normal and iron-rank individuals. The magic of this potion lingers in the body longer than normal potions, meaning additional recovery health and recovery items will not be effective for a longer period.

“Strewth,” Jason said. “Now, that’s a potion.”

“I didn’t realise potions like this were even possible,” Sophie said.

“Me either,” Jason said, carefully placing it into his potion belt. Like him, Sophie had an enchanted potion belt that would protect the vials from breakage unless a concerted and directed effort was made to do so.

“One last thing,” Jason said to Shade. “I don’t suppose you can tell us where our teammates are?”

“I can,” Shade said, “but I won’t.”

“That’s what I figured. We’ll see you in the middle of the city?”

“You will,” Shade said. “Good luck.”

With that, Shade vanished in a swirl of darkness.