Chapter 172: Unsettled

Chapter 172: Unsettled

“Well, child. It seems you have come to me with a most interesting discovery.” Vevosis said, the Spire Head lounging back in his chair, the thin line of his mouth curved into a slight smile. Or was it a sneer?

Johan suddenly found his mouth dry and his heart rate accelerating. It was the effect of being in the direct presence of someone over twice his level, he knew that, but the nerves still fluttered up within him.

“Sir, I-”

“Shhh, I already heard from my subordinate. A monster infiltrating our esteemed Academy... what would the sponsors and factions think about this...”

“It’s in the temple! Down in one of the lowest-” Vevosis interrupted.

“And?”

“A- And?” Johan spluttered.

“And... was your reaction to this... creature... appropriate?”

“I... I don’t understand sir.”

Vevosis sighed. “Look at you, boy. You’re a mess. If anyone saw you on your way into my office they would have thought you mad. They would have assumed that an incident had occurred. There are eyes and ears all over the islands during the quadriad, appearance is important.”

Johan blinked, he didn’t understand what the man was talking about. There was an incident! Why did how he looked matter? The monster might be going on a rampage as they were talking. They didn’t have a second to waste.

“But sir. Aren’t the people in the temple in danger? Shouldn’t you go to-”

“Are they?”

“What?”

“Those participating in the excavation. Are they in danger?”

“Of... of course.”

“If the monster was hostile, wouldn’t it have already attacked? Tell me, did you warn those in the temple that they were in danger? Or did you come straight to me?”

“I... I knew they wouldn’t listen. And... I...”

“And you caused a scene?”

Johan felt heat rise in his cheeks, and it became harder to keep his breathing under control. Sweat beaded on his brow, and his vision narrowed. This was stupid, they didn’t have time for this. Couldn’t the lecture wait.

“Did you even consider that if your actions had been noticed by our little imposter, that it may have been forced to act? That in forgoing subtlety you endangered lives?”

“But sir, it was doing something with the dead tree. There were golden lights and everything, apparently it somehow got through the final door. A door that was locked! It could be plotting something! It could be preparing to attack the Academy!”

Vevosis raised a single eyebrow, leaning forward with interest. “Golden light, did you say?”

“Yes, golden light.” Johan said, trying to force down his frustration. He stepped forward. “As I said, it was doing something to the tree. Probably trying to bring it back to life, or pulling power from it somehow. Nothing good, I assure you.”

The Spire Head didn’t reply, instead the man simply smiled, tapping his fingers on top of a stack of papers. Johan felt the frustration bubbling inside him turn to anger. He took a step forward, hands scrunching into fists. Why did nobody take him seriously? Why wasn’t a man known for his dedication to humanity acting? Shouldn’t a leader of Fracture be more keen on destroying an enemy of humanity?

“Interesting.” The blood mage said after several seconds, his smile widening. “Very interesting indeed.”

Johan’s fist slammed down onto the desk, causing every loose object to jump . “Are you even listening to me? Why are you ignoring my warning?!” He yelled. “How can you sit there and-”

His words were cut off as his entire body went stiff, his limbs freezing up and his breath catching in his lungs as a pervasive chill raced through his veins. He stared in terror down at the Spire Head as he was lifted bodily up into the air, his body tugged slowly upwards as if strings were connected to every cell. Johan’s eyes widened and he began to struggle, though his limbs were out of his control, he reached for every skill he had access to, cycling through anything he could mentally reach for.

A compressed orb of wind manifested over his left shoulder, only for the still forming working to be snuffed out of existence as Johan’s aura was suppressed completely. He gagged, choking on nothing as his head became light and feeling began to flee from his extremities. Vevosis just sat in his chair, the smile never having left his face. Finally Johan dropped, collapsing to the floor of the office as his limbs failed to hold up his trembling body.

His head spun and vision blurred. He didn’t notice when the Spire Head stood, or how he had moved so fast. Only that firm fingers had grasped him by the top of his bald head, yanking his face upwards to look into piercing eyes that sparkled with flakes of crimson.

“Child.” Vevosis cooed, his tone soothing, expression calm. “Never raise your voice like that in the presence of your betters. It is... undignified.”

Johan opened his mouth to speak, but his lips were sealed by the older man’s index finger.

“Shhh, no talking. I will explain. You wonder why I am not acting immediately? It is because I have no need to. If the creature hasn’t attacked already, it isn’t going to within the next few hours. I am... aware of what this thing is. Its kind are relatively common in the regions past the northern kingdoms. They’re parasites, scavengers, crude beings of wood and blood. There is a chance this imposter has planted blighted seeds within those it has come into contact with during its time at the Academy. This is fine, as I can deal with any infection personally.”

“You need to kill it.” Johan wheezed.

“Kill it? Boy, why on earth would I do that?”

“Because... It’s... an enemy. A threat.”

“If this creature is what I assume it is, then it is no threat. It is a resource. Potentially one of incredible value.” Vevosis chided, tightening his grip and forcing Johan to look up into his eyes, then letting him go and standing, striding for his desk. A communications device was pulled from a draw, and several words were spoken into it. Johan barely paid attention, his head throbbed with the rhythmic pounding of an intense headache.

The Spire Head brushed aside the objects on the edge of his desk without touching them, then sat, one leg crossed over the other. “I’m gathering my people now. Are you pleased, child?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you understand, child?”

“Yes... sir.”

“Mhmmm, you don’t. Well, we have time to wait until those I requested arrive, so allow me to educate you.”

Johan swallowed, but didn’t try to stand. The office darkened as clouds passed in front of the sun, the light no longer streaming in through the large glass window that occupied the far wall of the room.

“There is strength in blood. In our blood. In human blood. It is what ties us together, emboldens us to act, and compels us to protect and love. It is a passionate thing, a beautiful thing, a power that connects every man, woman and child. But there are those with tainted blood, those whose ancestors committed the taboo act of binding their bloodlines to the horrors that lurk where the light of civilization does not shine.” Vevosis said, his words silky smooth, knowing, mocking.

The [Operator]’s fingers dug into the wooden floor, though his nails failed to scratch the polished surface. Why did the office even have wooden floors? Wasn’t the entire building made of stone? He blinked, snapped back to the presence. He had been trying to distract himself from what was to come.

“I can sense the purity of bloodlines, you know? Most blood mages cannot, but it is a core aspect of my path. I can look at anyone, and know how loyal their family has been to humanities cause. Do you know what I see when I look at you, child?”

Johan squeezed his eyes shut, clenching his teeth to fight down the anger, the disgust, and the self hatred.

“I sense the blood of dragons. How their foul influence flows through your veins. Not much, your bloodline has no doubt been cleansed over the generations. Yet it still persists. You feel anger, child? Rage? Tell me. Which part of you is furious? Which part of you wants to lash out in anger? The human, or the animal?”

“I am human.” Johan whispered.

“Mmm.”

“I am not a traitor to my species. I have dedicated my life to fighting back against our enemies.”

“Is that so?”

He shook, tears welling up unbidden. He didn’t know what to say, could muster up the energy to answer the implied question. He was failing, had been for years. There was little chance he would successfully complete the four year tenure at the Academy, his level was too low, his commendations lacking.

“Let me give you some advice, child. It is not the purity of your blood that gives you value. Oh, caught your attention, did I? Yes, alas, it is true. How truly human someone is has no bearing on their value as a person. Yet a lack of purity is always a bane, always a hindrance. Do not despair... dry those tears... there is still hope for you. One’s disadvantages can be overcome with action, with dedication, and with duty. Will you live in such a way that your shame can be overshadowed by your deeds?”

There was a clapping sound from beyond the entrance, then Vevosis’ voice came again, this time pitched to carry further. “I have an interest in meeting one of the members of the expedition. I recognised the names of everyone listed as official members, except for one. It’s quite unusual for a visitor to our grand Academy to so proactively participate in our extra-curricular activities.”

“Back.” Leif sent to Marcus. “We’ll use one of the side entrances.”

The [Seeker] nodded, backpedalling down into the temple. Then his eyes went wide, and Leif could tell why. The cold sensation that was slowly filling him turned icy in an instant as an invisible hand felt like it had reached into his chest and taken hold of the very core of his being. Marcus cried out as he was sent stumbling forward, Leif quickly reached out and caught him with a pair of golden arms, his real ones being used to support himself against the wall of the tunnel.

“Ah. But it seems he has arrived.” The Spire Head said, then a moment later a shadow fell across the entrance. The man was tall and sharp, he wore the Academy’s uniform, though over it was a vivid red coat. His eyes shimmered the same colour as they locked onto Leif’s own amber gaze, and his mouth stretched into a shockingly white grin. “Hello there friend. Why don’t we have a chat?”

The man didn’t move, but another tug, this time even stronger, made Leif stumble forward a step. But that was okay, the direction of the step didn’t matter. Still holding onto Marcus, Leif vanished in a blur of golden light, both his, and Marcus’s bodies dissolved, the blood mage’s grip on them breaking as they temporarily lost physicality. The golden light streaked backwards, following the exact path they had taken to arrive at the main entrance. [The Amber Path] fizzled out somewhere in the middle of the temple’s many underground passageways, well out of range of the Spire Head’s perception, or anyone else he had brought.

“Shit.” Marcus cursed, blinking rapidly as he regained his balance. “Was that some sort of blood manipulation skill? It felt like my veins were going to be ripped out of my body!”

“It’s likely.” Leif said, already turning to flee deeper into the underground complex. “Come, we need to leave.”

“Ah man. And things were going so well.”

“If the temple falls down on our heads, then fate is playing a trick on us.” Leif hissed as he dashed down a partially dug out tunnel. The two of them quickly reached an intersection. As Leif tried to remember the routes to the other entrances, Marcus spoke a word that shook the air.

“Reveal to me.” He intoned, his hand extended. As if compelled by an invisible hand, he turned and pointed, his eyes closed. “That way.”

They ran, their footsteps echoing off time-warn foundations and partially crumbled pillars. The lights that had been put in place by the expedition were fading, the power being fed to them along tort wires dissipating, slowly plunging the buried structure into darkness. Marcus created several balls of shimmering light, flinging them down hallways or into unlit chambers to guide their steps.

The two of them rounded a corner, only for the orange glow of torch-light to filter down from over a stone balcony, the sound of hurried boots striking dust covered rock making them skid to a stop.

“Back!” Marcus hissed, his expression panicked. Leif had already grabbed him, and with a blur of amber light they were gone, rapidly retreating back the way they had come.

“Were they the Academy guards?” Leif asked.

“Yeah. I think so. Damn it, why now? How did they even find you? Hang on, let me look for another way out.” Marcus closed his eyes, one hand outstretched, the other holding onto Leif’s arm. “There are three more entrances that the excavation has uncovered, but from here only two are accessible. Let me search for people in those directions...”

Shouts came from down a shadowed corridor, Marcus’s eyes snapped open. He didn’t need to say anything, his grimace told Leif everything he needed to know.

“We need to go our separate ways.” The scion said, already striding away from the approaching sounds. “They’re after me, not you.”

“That’s stupid, I can still help you get out.”

“If the worst comes to pass, I have a way out. I don’t think they can stop me. I could take you along with me, but I don’t recommend it. Fleeing would be an admission of guilt, and it might just ruin your life here in the empire.”

“You’re going to teleport out?”

“Not unless I have no other choice. But it might come to that, I don’t want to fight anyone associated with the Academy if I’m not forced to.”

“Okay... Alright. We’ll split up. I have plausible deniability if they don’t find us together. What do you want me to do? Go find Hera?”

“If you could, that would be much appreciated. Try to find Lucia and Roy too, they should be on Pellus watching the quadriad. If you find them, tell them to stay at the residence and I’ll try to get back to them. I don’t want any investigation of me to end up getting their identities revealed to the wrong people.”

“I can do that.” Marcus said, letting out a deep breath as they reached an intersection.

“The way to the tree is down that way. Stay alive.”

“I’ll try my best.” Leif said, gripping the other man’s forearm. They shook, then ran in opposite directions.

===

Leif sprinted into the final chamber of the temple, the salty scent of the sea blowing in through the still open doorway on the far side of the massive room. He could sense the vitality signatures of his pursuers in the higher floors, and could feel them drawing closer. He skidded to a halt, turned, and pulled back a hand.

His newest skill, [Fist Projection], required around a second of buildup, a haze of energy manifesting around his clenched fist. He focused on [Might], feeling as strength flooded through his body. Then he struck forward, aiming for the ceiling above the passageway he had come. The air rippled as the projected force of his punch flew upwards, crashing into the stone and sending a cascade of dust and debris raining down. Then he kicked off, dashing towards the corpse of the long dead amber tree.

He passed through the doorway, his form briefly casting a shadow back into the temple as the afternoon sun poured down from the tiny gap far above. Leif reached out, brushing fingers against the door frame, willing it to close. Golden light appeared briefly, but the stone door didn’t move, its mechanisms grinding against one another, but the degradation of the structure prevented it from closing. The scion cursed, sensing a rising swell of agitation coming from behind him.

Leif knew he could fight. From an attribute standpoint, he outclassed any human of the same level, and he had little reason to believe the Academy guard were much higher in level than himself. And even if they were of significantly greater level, they weren’t comparable to the Blades. He could win. But fighting here would likely cost him more than he gained. He could run, leap off the cliff and fall down into the water. Walk along the seafloor and hope he could sustain his body through healing, even as he suffocated. It was risky, but potentially less so than engaging his pursuers.

There was one final option. A choice he only realised as he desperately dug through his system interface for another way out that didn’t involve teleporting away hundreds of kilometres. It couldn’t work. Shouldn’t work. As written, the skill did not function in the way he wanted it to. But spellcraft let one push the limits of their abilities, and he had already proven he could interact with the roots of the dead amber tree. He took a sharp breath, the sound coming as a hiss as air was sucked through the mouth slit of his mask. He placed a palm against the tree’s trunk and pushed. Activating [Tree of Respite].

There were restrictions, and they made themselves immediately apparent as he tried to fuse with the tree’s twisted trunk. Living, non-evolved. The target of the skill fulfilled neither of those conditions, but maybe.

“Fuse.” Leif said, focusing his [Willpower]. At the same time he let his vitality flow freely into the petrified wood, flooding it with life once again. Reality twisted, the breeze going still. There was a flash of pain within Leif’s soul, and the invisible wall blocking him out cracked, but not enough to let him slip through.

Quickly. Leif thought, panic rising. He had seconds before his pursuers saw him.

He pushed again, but the innate resistance from trying to push his skill beyond its limits delayed him. The scion cursed, then ducked around to the other side of the tree. He was just in time, shouts and cries reached his ears as over a dozen men and women dressed in a dark uniform burst through the cloud of dust he had created to distract them and block their line of sight. No intent locked onto him, so he was yet to be detected.

“Fill, stabilise.” He commanded, mentally intoning the words instead of speaking them aloud. But spellcraft wasn’t subtle, the awareness of the Academy guard snapped in his direction. Golden blood flowed in a torrent from his outstretched hands, draining his cultivated reserves drastically with every passing second. Within moments he had pushed forty percent of his stored vitality into the tree, then fifty, sixty.

He reactivated [Tree of Respite] once more, and this time his hand slipped into the trunk, then his forearm, bicep, shoulder. As the guards spilled out into the space where the amber tree’s petrified remains were rooted to ancient stone, Leif vanished, becoming fully subsumed by the petrified wood.

Immediately his ability to perceive his surroundings lessened, his sight, hearing and sense of smell went first, then his ability to feel what he was touching quickly followed. He became part of the tree, and it became a part of him. The nature of the corpse resisted him, and pressure built within his soul, quickly turning to pain. But he was far from the same being who a year ago could only use a couple of skills a handful of times before he needed to rest.

His aura tightened around him, cloaking what little part of his physical form remained, his entire mind dedicated to the task of fighting back against the petrified wood’s attempt to eject him.

Living beings surrounded the tree, and he could sense the beating of their hearts, the power contained within their bodies. They milled around, confused as to where he had gone. He sensed one vanish over the side of the cliff, the person’s presence disappearing immediately as it left the constrained range of his perception. The pressure on his soul built, insistent and violent. In response Leif let more of his vitality flee his body, flowing into the trunk around him.

“Hold.” He tried to command, but he couldn’t focus on spellcraft and maintain his position within the petrified corpse of his forebear at the same time. He could feel his body slipping, approaching the edge of the trunk as he began to reconstitute. Leif shut everything out, falling into a meditative trance. It was easier to pull off than he had thought, [Meditations on Eternity] more than eager to accommodate his needs.

But his cultivation was all but dry, tapped out completely from the insane expenditure to make the impossible possible. It merged with the petrified wood, then faded, the corpse unable to hold incompatible energy. So instead Leif reached out, grabbing what vitality he could with his will and pulling it back. A tiny trickle re-entered him, but it wasn’t enough, and what he did regain immediately left him once more. He reached out further, deeper, and drew in everything he could. Then again, and again. With each repetition he gained proficiency, confidence, the life-force loop he had created was inefficient, but it would give him the moments he needed to stabilise his position.

“Hold.” He tried again, his soul screaming as [Tree of Respite] was pushed to its very limits, the structure of the skill beginning to tear. In his mind’s eye he saw it, a flickering orb of gold that represented the ability, fraying as it was pulled in every direction at once. He sought out the golden thread, finding that it came easily now that all distractions had fled his mind. Through the mysterious connection he tried to find something, anything that could help him. If he could just connect with the long passed being he was taking refuge with then maybe-

It snapped into place. A tenuous connection to something insubstantial, lost, dead. But it was something, and he had nothing else to do but try.

“Protect me.” He begged. Whether it was luck, stubbornness or the remnant will of Aei’lesh that made the spell working function, Leif wasn’t sure. But finally the corpse of the amber tree stopped fighting him, instead it embraced him, holding him closely, protecting him. Vitality flowed into him more easily, the trickle of amber energy he was pulling from his petrified surroundings growing to a stream, then a river. Golden blood that only a second ago had been invisible, undetectable to his senses, became clearer, as if it had always been there, only hiding out of sight.

I bet this is how I’m supposed to upgrade [Font of Life]. He mused, his mind numb and soul aching. A moment later the system confirmed his thought.

Congratulations! Your [Scion of Aeons] skill [Font of Life] has met an upgrade threshold!

Would you like to upgrade [Font of Life] from rank III to rank IV? Y/N

Yes, obviously. He mentally commanded the prompt, the last of the burden of maintaining his situation falling away as his control increased to the next level. Finally he let his meditation drop, the veil that had been placed over his still functioning senses being lifted as he took in his surroundings.

The people surrounding the petrified tree were present, but they weren’t focused on him. There was alarm, worry, even fear. But he wasn’t the target, Leif could sense as much. Then, as if receiving orders he couldn’t hear, they left, fleeing back into the temple as quickly as they had come.

Leif let them go, focusing on [Spirit] to encourage his recovery, letting the ache in his soul subside partially before he detached himself from Aei’lesh’s mineralised body. The surface of the trunk rippled as he fell out and back onto solid ground. His clothing was rumpled, and mask askew, but everything was otherwise as he had left it. Letting out a sigh of relief, Leif fell to one knee. Only then did he realise how strangely cold it had gotten. And when he looked around, a faint mist was rising up over the edge of the cliff. This was normal, an everyday occurrence on the Academy’s four islands.

Though that was only true after the sun had set. And there was still daylight left.