Chapter 60: Fracture - Twilight Maze (7) (Patreon)

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“Will it be you, Baran?”  I pointed at the elven archer then to the dwarven rogue.  “Or, Furgrin,  perhaps you’d like to talk.”  Finally my gaze rested on Ramhof.  “Or the holy knight who is supposed to uphold justice.”

All three of them were silent.

“Any takers?”

“I do not have to play along with this.”  Furgrin wheezed out.  

Baran just turned his head away and Ramhof didn’t respond.  The Truth and Dare stone must have taken their responses as a denial because the light dimmed.  As the stone didn’t truly activate, it didn’t take half my mana either.

“Baran, Furgrin.”  Pyret looked between the two.  “What is he talking about?”

“Nonsense.”  Furgrin answered.  “He’s trying to split us apart.”

“But it makes sense doesn’t it?”  I insisted, pressing the issue.  “Kyrian, Skaris and Eltis had their innocence proven.  If my party was the culprit, why would we leave Sarai alive?  I certainly don’t think it was you either Pyret.  That leaves… only one other party of three.  Baran, Furgrin, and Ramhof.”

I saw the gears in Pyret’s head turning.  The man wasn’t stupid, he saw my point of view.

“Baran… Furgrin.  Would you be willing to prove your innocence?”

“It’s a ruse.”  Baran met Pyret’s woeful gaze.  “He could ask us any other question and we’d be forced to answer.  He could ask about our Cores or Plans.  Make guesses at them.”

“Yeah.”  Furgrin wasn’t half as good at acting as Baran was.

Pyret turned to Ramhof.

“You are a knight, sworn to uphold order and justice.  Tell me, were you involved in the murder of my wife?”  Pyret’s voice began wavering again while speaking to Ramhof.

Ramhof remained silent.

“Pleading the fourth I see.”  

I decided to prod him a bit.  “Is your mind as empty as your head?”  I said, gesturing at his baldness.

That got a rise out of Ramhof.  “You slimy little-”

“Answer the lad, Ramhof.”  Krag folded his arms, standing between us.

Ramhof glared at his friend.  “He’s trying to-”

“We swore a focking oath Ramhof!”  Krag’s yell thundered throughout the clearing.  “Look me in my pigshite eyes and tell me with your focking mouth that you had nothing to do with the murder of two innocent people!”

“Krag, I-”

“That’s Bishop Krag to you.”  Krag snarled, taking a step towards his old friend.  “Tell me.  Right now before I put my hand on that godforsaken stone myself.  By the forge and fire, tell me the focking truth!”

Ramhof paled.  “You dare question my honor?”  Then he looked at me.  Most likely because I was easier to deal with than the screaming dwarven priest.  “Be ready to have your tongue cut out.”

I lifted my chin just a bit.  Skaris, Kyrian, Eltis and Aurora were watching.  I couldn’t back down here.

“Do you accept then, Knight Ramhof?”  

I saw him grip the handle of his maul.  “I swear on the forge-”

“What use is the sworn oath of a knight who may have murdered innocents?”  I pointed at him, showing my teeth.  “Accept the Truth or Dare, Ramhof.”  

Even his bald head was red from anger.  Or perhaps from the pressure.

“I won’t play into this farce.”  He released his hand from the maul, then turned to Krag.  “Suspect me all you want Bishop Krag.  But the moment we play into his games, we have already lost our true goal.”

Krag didn’t buy it.

“By the forge… you dun it haven’t you?”  

“Think what you wish.  I was a fool to think of you as a friend.”

Was this what was waiting for me in this world of MSS? A life of adventuring side by side with my comrades, just to have our trust broken over some words?

It was a reminder once more of the cruelty of this game.

Ramhof stepped away from Krag and the rest of the group.  I saw him take a place near one of the gates and sit down, still fuming.

That was one down.

“Tell me it wasn’t you.”  Pyret turned to his comrades.

“It wasn’t.”  Baran said decisively.  By the gods, the archer didn’t even bat an eye.

Baran stuck to his guns but the damage had been done.  Pyret had noticeably distanced himself from his remaining party members.

In this dungeon, Pyret had lost his wife, his friends and any trust he had left.  The life of an adventurer was fraught with peril and danger; there were plenty of opportunities for one to die at any moment’s notice.  As a result, the other adventurers that you traveled with, that you left your backs too, the bonds were thicker than blood.  Yet, the doubt was there now; that those people had turned on him.  Taken everything away.

Someone once told me that loneliness isn’t something you feel when you’re by yourself.  It’s when you’re with other people, the feeling of circling around the group but never being a part of it.  That insecure feeling which whispered that you were just an accessory, that you could leave and no one would bat an eye.  You were expendable… and that you didn’t matter.

But I knew that Pyret wouldn’t leave them.  He’d stick with them.

Call it survival instinct.  But people need others, especially in situations where working together might mean the difference between life or death.  Even if it meant working with your wife’s killers.

No… I doubted Pyret would see it that way.  He’d tell himself that there was no way they were the killers.  If he didn’t lie to himself, he couldn’t live with himself.  At least that’s the type of man I think I saw beneath his red hair and all those piercings.  All those things about him –the bluster, the outlandish piercings and the aggressive attitude– shouting ‘look at me, but don’t come close’; weren’t they just cries for someone to talk to him? To look at him?

I could only imagine what Pyret was feeling right now.

He huddled close to Baran and Furgrin.  “I trust you.”  Then he turned to us.  “I swear that before we leave this dungeon, I’ll kill you.”

It was supposed to come out as a threat but it didn’t sound anything close to dangerous.  Just… Just sad.

Right there, I didn’t hate Pyret.  I didn’t despise him or mock him for falling for their ruse.

The only thing I felt was pity.

He knew.  We all did.

But this was the only thing he could do.

“I feel pity for you..”  I said out loud, without meaning to.

Pyret’s motions froze and he turned his head towards me, one inch at a time like a machine with a programming error.  His lips trembled like he was about to say something but nothing came.  His pupils shook visibly but all the tears had been emptied; I was sure his heart wouldn’t give him the mercy of crying after abandoning his wife’s memory.  Something inside of him had broken in this dungeon.  The light inside of his bright red eyes had gone out and so had the smoldering embers of ambition and revenge.

He…

He was done.  Even if Pyret left this dungeon alive, he’d never adventure again.

I took my hand off of the stone and it seemed like the world started moving again; I heard people take in audible breaths like they’d been holding it the entire time.  No one needed to say it explicitly, now was the time to break camp.  As my party members went about setting up, I saw Dibo and Krag approach Track.  Of course, with Ramhof out of the picture they’d need a frontliner.

“Lock.”  Kyrian muttered.  “We still haven’t discussed how we will be splitting the loot with the others.”

“Because these aren't the final participating members yet.”  I replied, my eyes glued to Baran's party.  Pyret had become subdued.  Furgrin and Sarai spoke lively with Baran cracking the occasional chuckle, Pyret staring into the fire with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“No point in talking about Loot Distribution when everyone knows that there’s going to be some kind of backstabbing going on at the end.”  I turned back to our fire, satisfied that nothing would change between the adventurers as of now.  I sat down next to Skaris, warming my hands by blowing on them.

“Ssslaveborn.  I tire of all thisssss sssscheming.”  Skaris complained as soon as my butt touched the floor.  He was poking around the logs, getting the fire bigger.  “When will we hunt?”

“Speak for yourself.  I could watch Mr. Lock do this all day.”  Eltis shot me a sly smile.  “The way you played that man… you’d do well as a Priest of Despair.”

“Your last name is Slaveborn?”

It was Aurora who asked the question.  Kyrian and I shared a look then at Skaris.

“Sssorry.”  Skaris said apologetically.  “But I do not ssssee the point of hiding it, your sssscars tell the story.  Everyone knowssss already.”

My hands absently touched the Bevor, my neck protection piece.  “Yeah… It isn’t anything to be ashamed of anyways.”  Without any ceremony I unclasped it and took it off.

Eltis winced in sympathy at my scars.

Aurora had already seen it so she made no other reaction.  Instead she rolled my name, pronouncing it.  “Slaveborn…”  It looked like she was more interested in the name.

I cleared my throat. “Let’s just say I have history with the Samak Horde.  We’ll leave it at that.  How is everyone’s condition?”

“This place interferes with gathering mana.  I’ve been conserving my spells but I’m afraid that without mana potions, I will soon be of no help.”  Kyrian pointed out.

Eltis nodded in agreement with him.

Kyrian and Eltis were the two who used mana the most.  Prolonged exposure to this dungeon would gradually drain them of mana, throwing monsters just strong enough for them to cast a spell here and there.  Then they’d be forced to resort to Mana Potions, which we should be saving for the boss fight.  The only way to replenish our mana from this point on forward was to hunt monsters and hope that mana replenishing items would drop, like from the Blue masked Namahage.

Well it wouldn’t matter.

Because starting tomorrow, Phase 2 would provide us with more than enough monsters to kill.

“Ssslaveborn.  How did you know that it was the elf and the dwarf who killed Pyret’ssssss mate?”

“Process of elimination.”  I explained.  “It wasn’t us or you guys.  Nor was it Pyret’s party… that left Baran, Furgrin and Ramhof.”

“Smart too.”  Eltis commented.

Kyrian nodded along.  “I had come to that conclusion as well.  But the only thing I cannot think of is why? Why kill amongst their own kind? Weren’t they in a party together?”

I saw Skaris and Eltis trade a look with one another and understood immediately.

“My my… it seems our Mage is a little slow on the uptake.”

At Eltis’ words, Aurora spoke up.  “Ms. Eltis… are you implying that the murder was racially motivated?”

“Sweetheart, I’m not implying it.  I know it.”  She wrapped the cloak a little tighter around herself, lowering her voice.  “The elves and dwarves have always hated the humans, almost as much as the beastman do.”

Her words reminded me of the time that Skaris and Kyrian had argued.  I’d never seen Skaris attack Kyrian or anyone with such vehement hatred before.  It wasn’t a hatred towards Kyrian but more towards what he represented.

“The Turina Empire is a machine, a machine that neither sleeps nor eats.  It desires land, people and gold.  Are you familiar with history, Scion of the Vetilius House?”

Aurora’s voice was flat when she answered Eltis.  “Yes I am.  But I am not sure what you are referring to.”

I answered for her.  “There are only two ways to get resources.  Marriage… or War.”

“Precisely.”  Eltis beamed at me and I had to fight not to let my eyes roam over her.  “As Lock as said, all the dungeons in the world have pretty much been conquered.  It has been decades since we’ve last seen the raid of a Grade 2 Monster.  A century, maybe even longer, since the world has felled a Grade 1 Monster.”

“Rumor has it that the Turina Empire seeks to raise a group of adventurers… to start hunting.  To finish what the Great Adventurer Alexander did long ago; to rid this world of the Grade 1 Monsters.  Care to guess what they are?”

I didn’t need to guess.  I’d knew enough about geography now to know what type of Grade 1 Monsters resided in the Turina empire.

“Dragons.”  I whispered and saw Skaris shudder.

Eltis’ eyes were glued to me, like how a cat might watch a mouse before pouncing.  “Yes… they wish to start hunting Dragons.  Or so the rumor is anyways.”  She stretched with her eyes above her head and I tore my eyes away from her.  I saw Aurora glaring at me.

“Even I did not know this.”  Kyrian said, more to himself than anyone else.  “Is that why the Turina empire has been so aggressive?”

“Yes… and since the empire is mostly human, you can guess where the sentiments of us regular folks are going.”  Eltis stroked her long and pointed ears.  “Any other questions? If not, I was hoping to tuck in for the night.”

“Go ahead.  We’ll stand watch.  You and Kyrian should sleep as much as possible, try to recover some mana.  Aurora, Skaris and I can stand watch in turns.”  I told the two and they nodded their thanks.  Soon after, their breathing evened out.

“I sssshall sssstand first watch.”  Skaris declared.

“Keep a careful eye on Baran’s party and Ramhof.”  I warned him.

Skaris waved a hand dismissively at me, taking out his spear and starting to wipe it down.

Then thinking back to how we’d spend the next week in this dungeon, I closed my eyes.

Darkness engulfed me for but just one blissful moment, a mere tick on the second hand on a clock before someone shook me awake.  I growled and tried to swat the hand away but my assailant grabbed my wrist with a surprising snake, their fingers wrapping around my arm like a snake closing in on its prey.  Reluctantly I opened my eyes and saw the red-scales on either side of Skaris’ temples.  His eyes were tired.

“Sssslaveborn.  Your turn.”

“How long was I out?”

“Not ssssure.”  He settled into his bedroll.  “Alssssso, Ssslaveborn?”

“What?”

“Sssssstop ogling the Priestessssss.”

I scowled at his back, mentally reminding myself to buy a dungeon watch once we were out of the Fracture.  Unlike other games, MSS didn’t provide players with how much time had passed in game.  Not until they got their hands on items which filled that function.

While I was tossing more logs into the firepit, footsteps approached.  The sound of snow being crumpled like paper accompanied by the faint scent of wood and old cloth.  I recognized the scent as belonging to Dibo.

“Can I help you?”  I said without turning around.

“I was hoping to speak to you alone.”

Turning to see the elderly elf, I replied.  “...I’d like to talk to you as well.”

Baran had led his group to a gate on the opposite side of Ramhof.  Right now, my party and Dibo’s party were the only ones near the stone.  He and I ducked to the other side of the stone slab which had stopped shining.  I knew that tomorrow it would shine once more, signaling the continuation of Phase 2.

Once we were behind the stone, Dibo cast a spell and I had the sensation of my ears being blocked by wind, something I would feel at high altitudes.

“Now, we can speak freely.”  Dibo’s eyes twinkled.

Slowly, ever so slowly, I crossed my arms in front of my chest.  That way, they were closer to my shoulder if I needed to draw my sword.  A trick I learned from Arione.

“What is it you wanted to discuss?”  I didn’t want to reveal my hand first.

“You’re a [Player], aren’t you?”

No verbal fencing.  No playing around.

He simply asked the question like he was asking me for directions or asking about the weather.  The nonchalance with which he asked the question which revealed one of my deepest secrets caught me off guard and I knew that the ensuing silence was more than answer enough.

“Ahh… I thought as much.”

I felt my face turn into a scowl.  “I did not answer you, Magus.”

“Your face was full of answers.  Though I’d suspected it from before.”

My brain was blanking out so I kept my mouth shut.

“When we revealed the stone to be a Truth or Dare artifact… Everyone's face had an expression of awe, because we’d received exactly what Pyret wanted at that moment.  But you… your expression never changed.”  He leaned back and stroked his beard.  “From then on, I knew that you were a [Player].”

Should I kill him?

My mind worked through the logic with cold precision.  I couldn’t let my emotions get in the way, not again.  I had Kyrian, Skaris, Aurora and even Eltis depending on me.  Even if the latter two weren’t part of my party, they were under my protection until this Fracture was finished.

No… if he was hostile, he would have attacked me already.  If he meant to backstab me later for being a [Player], he wouldn’t have revealed that he knew who or what I was.  There was no rationale to him revealing his knowledge of me… unless he was another [Player].

“I mean to help you.”  He said, noticing my silence.

There was no other choice.

I touched the stone and it hummed to life.  His eyes shone with delight.

This would rob me of half my mana.  

This would unlock another seal.

But I had to know.

I had to.

“Truth or dare.”  I whispered.

“Truth.”

“...What are you?”

I left it open ended on purpose.

If he used the loophole to answer in some bullshit way, answering ‘elf’ or ‘mage’ or ‘an old man’, I’d walk away and never turn my back on him.  Ever.

Actually I was ready to kill him.

But his next words stopped all thoughts.

“My name is Dibolot Garcia Aedusaus and my father was a [Player] named Frank Garcia.”  His eyes shone beneath the long white eyebrows.

The chain took my mana even before he finished speaking.  But his next words were what really shook me to the core.

“And I wish to use you to enter the [Player’s Guild].”

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