Chapter 81: Speaking With the Manager (Patreon)

Though the pressure may have subsided, Edwin was still very aware he was talking to quite possibly the most powerful person he had ever met. This merited his full attention.

Cough.

Hopefully his brain got the memo. He was hopeful, given the constant pressure he was feeling just from speaking to someone so powerful.

“What is there to speak of… your majesty?”

The emperor didn’t speak to correct Edwin, so he took that to mean he’d gotten it right. Instead, the emperor gave a curt nod, and spoke with an easy grace that warred inside Edwin’s turbulent emotions, trying to put him at ease. “Peace, Edwin. I do not wish to harm you, unless you force me to.”

Edwin cautiously nodded. Fair enough.

“You’ve been quite a curious force within the Empire. The new liquid stone beginning production in Farport was your doing, I believe?”

“Wait, they actually got it working?” Edwin blinked, and hastily added, “Your majesty.” He’d screwed up methods of address badly enough for one day, he wasn’t going to do it again.

“To a certain distinction of working, I believe. It will perhaps be an interesting place for you to visit someday? I believe you intended to travel.”

“Yes, your majesty. Particularly now, after…” Edwin trailed off, unsure what to say exactly.

He got a distinct sense of amusement from the avior, who gave a curt nod, “Understandable. Korizan is a lovely continent with many spectacular vistas. I frequently fly here when I wish to use my wings. As an alchemist, I believe you will find many of the herbs and creatures native to the Verdant, as well as the frozen lands to the north uniquely useful, though I believe you have some experience with the former?”

Edwin nodded, “Yes, your majesty.”

“Befriended a fey, no less. Or, adopted by one, rather. You’re very fortunate, you know that?”

“Oh?”

“Yes. You survived a year living with a fey? And you did not emerge from the arrangement as an eternal slave, mindless, nor missing several key emotions or sensations, and your name and personality are essentially intact. There is a reason they are usually confined to the Verdant- though impressive work bypassing the border, I must admit. That shows ingenuity, smuggling an Arcadian in through your very skin.”

Edwin froze, “I’m not in trouble, am I?” He hadn't even considered the fact that he might be punished for bringing Inion into the empire, but if fey were meant to be banned…

“Peace, Edwin. No, you are not in trouble for bringing your ‘friend’ from the Verdant. She is the agreeable sort of fey, which is to say she is likely to overlook minor slights and opportunities which others of her kind might utilize to wholly ruin a citizen, and instead focus her ire upon those who wrong her more directly.”

“Thank you, your majesty. However… I don’t imagine you merely came to discuss my social life?” Though Edwin was dealing well enough with the pressure the emperor emitted, it was still more nerve-wracking than any interview or even test he’d ever had, and was eager to get it wrapped up.

“You would be correct in your assessment. It is nothing onerous, I must merely ensure my empire is not threatened by your presence.”

“By me?” Edwin was confused. Surely… ah. It was the Outsider thing again, wasn’t it? Some things never changed.

“Indeed.” Xares confirmed, “Outsiders have always heralded great change and massive disruption to the world, and for the good of my citizens, I must ensure they will be safe and secure.”

“How… how will you do that, your majesty?”

“I merely have a few questions regarding your homeland, and of your first few days upon Joriah. If you could recount your experience from first waking up within the Verdant. Merely answer honestly and completely, and you shall return to Vinstead quickly.”

Edwin idly wondered if… actually, he could just ask. What was the worst that could happen, “Does time pass more quickly here, your majesty? It’s a long story.”

“Very astute.”

He took that as a ‘yes’ as he sat in silence, gathering his thoughts.

It was kind of amusing. He had literally just refused to tell the story to the governor not ten minutes ago and nearly gotten killed for it, and here he was, about to give the full story to another authority figure. It wasn’t the same, he knew. Xares most likely already knew the entire thing, and he’d been quite reasonable this far. He deserved to know Edwin’s tale at least as much as Tara did, if not more. However, this would be his last time telling anyone, he told himself. It was just too risky, required too much trust. Since he had left the dwarves, he had only told Tara and Inion, both of whom had been sworn to secrecy and had extenuating circumstances. Tara had him at swordpoint, and Inion already knew. Hopefully, Xares would keep quiet? Not that it really made a difference.

“I don’t suppose… well, if you wanted to tell people who I was, your majesty, you would be capable of doing so already?” The avior didn’t respond, but Edwin had already decided his course of action, “Well, I suppose even if time is less limited than it should normally be, it’s still precious.

“The first thing I remember was waking up as I fell from the sky. I thought I was experiencing a nightmare, but…”

----

Edwin wasn’t exactly practiced in telling people about his full history, but with a few expertly-directed questions from the avior emperor, who had conjured a pair of chairs for the two of them to rest in while they conversed- it didn’t escape Edwin’s notice that Xares’ was taller and grander, but it also wasn’t really a surprise either- he managed to recount his experiences to an apparently satisfactory level of detail.

“Was that you, your majesty?” Edwin realized he could ask, when his story had reached his flight up the mountainside, fleeing from the immensely powerful beings fighting.

“It was indeed, Edwin. I regret that it so nearly resulted in your death, but it is quite fortunate for us both that you survived.”

“Would you be able to tell me what it was about, by any chance?”

“No.”

Edwin waited for any further elaboration, but when none was forthcoming, he mentally shrugged and moved on, “Well, your majesty, from there I found myself caught in a snowstorm that…”

-----

There was something about the presence of the avior which made recalling his past easier. Perhaps it was some report-getting Skill? Or perhaps a general Skill-enhancing aura that improved Memory? If Skillful Assessment was usable at the moment, he might have been able to get some vague idea, but alas.

“Yes, that was last week, your majesty. I’m still familiarizing myself with my new Skills, and Refine I’ve yet to level even once.”

“Interesting set of Skills. Such synergy and interconnectedness is usually not seen until the fourth tier if not later. You’ve spoken to a Registrar about this?”

“Of course.”

“Good. Now, some of those Paths, they are from your world? Physicist, Engineer, Biologist. What are these? You claimed you were a physicist?”

“Physics student, yes. Ah, your majesty.” he hastily added, “I hadn’t completed my education when I found myself transported here. Physics with a particular emphasis in material sciences.”

“Science. That’s what you called magic on your Earth?”

“No, it’s more like… well, it kind of is. It’s trying to understand the world and bend it to our will. It’s not magic, that’s more like an addition to the normal laws of physics from what I’ve so far. It’s a way of skeptically interrogating the world for how it works. Specifically, it-.”

“What are the sorts of things you can accomplish with it?”

“Well, from the time science was really ‘invented,’ Earth went from technology only slightly beyond what you have here on Joriah to mechanical flight, traveling to the moon, inventing and exploiting the heck out of electricity, making the internet, developing seriously advanced medicine…”

“Go on, tell me of the wonders of your home. You clearly miss it.”

“I… I suppose I do, your majesty.” he hesitated in his response, slightly hopeful that he might pick up on it and inquire about it. Fortunately, he didn’t, and Edwin breathed easy. He could talk about science all day. Few things helped him put off anxiety than having something he could talk about with fluency, “So, where do I start? Let's see….”

----

“No, it’s not magic. It’s… well, it’s about trying to discover new things which other people can then figure out how to use in inventions.”

“Yet not anyone can discover this new knowledge?”

“I mean, yes? In theory, anyway, anyone with the right mentality and training could discover something new, but by my time, pretty much all those easy discoveries had been made. It would take hundreds of people to find anything new… maybe? We had this quote, back on Earth, which is attributed to this really famous scientist, to the point where practically half of all physics is named after him. ‘If I have seen farther, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants,’ because no individual person can really push knowledge and development as far as everyone working together, even across time and space, can.

“Like, I won’t say that science is better than magic. Or well, no, it kind of is? Or maybe not? They’re different. Magic is a thing, science is a methodology. Well, in any case, magical science is the best, though….”

-----

“This… 'internet' you speak of. You claim it is accessible to all?”

“Well, to most of the world, at least. It’s not free, but it’s not insanely expensive and anyone can connect over it in theory. Some people take it upon themselves to catalogue knowledge on it, so there’s these massive databanks of information that anyone can access. Sort of like your Skill database, but anyone can access basic information on pretty much any topic for free whenever they like. It lets people figure out what they might be good at, just by finding out that something they hadn’t even considered as a skill they possessed is actually really valuable.

“If I might be so bold as to opine slightly over the setup of Liras?” he let the emperor nod before continuing, knowing he was on thin ice. His nerves returned in full force, but he’d already committed, “I do feel like that sort of approach may be superior to the Registrar system you currently have, let people figure out their own Classes based on what millions of people trying their own routes to success came up with. Then you don’t need to worry about those who try to do their own thing, and you can learn better Skill combinations faster.”

“We have tried similar concepts on a smaller scale a few times in the past.” the emperor countered, “Almost invariably, individuals took Skills which were utterly superfluous to their actual role in society, wasting their skill allotment. Having access to this magnitude of knowledge, however, you say encouraged people to embetter themselves and learn of the world?”

“Well…” Edwin’s mind brought up a slew of counterexamples, “Some people did?”

“Did the people of your world cast aside small-minded, foolish instincts when given access to facts which countered their views?”

“...No,” Edwin had to admit, his own experience betraying him,  “But everyone was given the same opportunities to, and those who excelled did so spectacularly! Some people simply are hopeless, but that doesn’t mean trying to bring those who are determined to waste their lives away up to a decent level of productivity should also involve dragging ambitious people down to that level too.

“Also, what about the people who just don’t fit in?” Edwin started feeling himself get wound up, and he tried to pull himself back before he started insulting the system the godlike emperor in front of him had set up.

He was… well, he didn’t totally fail.

“I met one bandit who just had the bad luck of not being able to get the Walking skill, but then because of the Management and intolerance for people who didn’t fit it, he was forced into a life of being a murderer! How is that better?”

“Yes, that is the purpose of the Adventurer program,” Xares was unflappable to the point where Edwin felt slightly ashamed of his actions- enough that he could wrestle his annoyance back into its box, leaving a stronger sense of embarrassment and sense of being out of place, “Many promising individuals were forced into ostracism through no fault of their own, and so the Adventurership system was established. If you would seek to use that as exemplary of the benefits of allowing individuals to control their own Skills, I would remind you that of those who leave my wings, fewer than one in ten survive to their thirtieth year, and the vast majority live in entirely preventable poverty. However, if you can present a solution for that problem, please do inform me.”

“Ah, well... “ Edwin didn’t really have a response for that. He was sure there was one, but… “What else did you want to know about?” he sighed in resignation.

“Tell me of the government which can afford so many of its citizens wasting their lives.”

“The US? Well, okay…”

----

“Okay, so yes, democracy has the issue of giving people the government they want, which might not always be good for them, but it’s at least the people choosing that.” Edwin insisted.

“Would it not be superior to simply provide a consistent government, which does not so readily bow to the idiocy of the crowd?”

“You know, your majesty, until maybe a year or so before I left Earth, I might have disagreed with you fairly vehemently. These days…”

-----

“But your majesty, Earth has the firm advantage technologically. So much of your manual work performed here is done instead by mechanical muscles on Earth. Hardly anyone needs to work with their bodies anymore, and as a result far larger and more complex projects can be undertaken.”

“Is it not the case that you are simply incapable of performing the tasks, and so require these complicated machines you speak of? If you had the Skills which you feel impede progress, what need for such technological development would there be?”

“I think that’s what I’m saying?”

“Yet you say it as though it is a hindrance for my citizens, when it is in truth a strength.”

----

“I mean, sure. If you have someone able to harvest an entire acre of wheat with two strokes of a scythe, then the combine harvester is pretty useless. But if you didn’t have that Skill, then… Or, you know, what about if the harvester had a Skill for its use?”

“Why would you desire such a specific Skill, though? And what of the Skills required to create such an intricate piece of machinery?”

“Well, okay I guess, but then you don’t need to dedicate a Skill for it. It’s a pretty big commitment, and with machinery, you don’t need someone at the absolute peak of their career to continue working forever. What if the person with that Mass Harvest skill died?”

“Then we have another take their place. It is one of the purposes of Class control, after all. We never need worry about losing a critical member of a project, for none have unique Skills upon which the entire project must rely upon.”

“Well, I’m not convinced that that’s a good thing. Why would you even need Mass Harvest, if you could replicate its effects with a machine? Wouldn’t you prefer to have that be a Skill with an actually unique effect?”

-----

“Well, fine. If you had Packing, then you wouldn’t need to have massive cranes, but… well, no, you need trained operators to use them as well, I suppose.”

Edwin stopped to think for a moment, “Well, it’s not like those trained wouldn’t also be able to do other things as well.”

“Packing is likewise an immensely useful Skill. Surely that Skill is more valuable than any you might obtain as a ‘crane user’?”

“I mean… I guess so, your majesty?” his stress had settled into a sort of meta-stable state where he felt moderately comfortable refuting the emperor, even if he was still incredibly stressed, “But still, you don’t need to be an expert crane driver to do the job. A few days of training is all, which means you don’t need a dedicated person using the crane, but several who can all do the work.”

“But what of the usefulness of Packing? Such a common and useful Skill is one which many would find useful fairly often. Is it not better that they are capable of improving? Furthermore, what of those who dedicated their lives to developing and building these cranes?”

“I mean, if you can have half a dozen people dedicating their lives to doing all the heavy lifting across the world, then sure. But that much work just isn’t possible. It’s just division of labor, but…”

-----

“So am I the first one to come from Earth?”

“I do not know of the origin of most other Outsiders, though I believe you would be the only from your world, yes. Particularly with the Path you received saying as much. The System would know far better than I do in such matters.”

“Is there any way back?”

“That I simply do not know. History is unclear on what happened to your predecessors in the end. At least one met their end facing down an entire army, though most simply fade from all records after a certain point.”

“What have some of the others accomplished?” he asked. He knew his forerunners had been impressive, but he didn’t know what they did for that level of distinction.

“That is a tricky question, you understand?”

Edwin shrugged helplessly, “Why?”

“It is not always clear what an Outsider has actually accomplished or what is merely attributed to them. In addition, I am aware of at least one who later became conflated with, or perhaps became, a goddess.”

“Oh! I know that one. Sal...Salvierra, right?”

“Salverria, indeed.” He assessed Edwin, “How did you know that?”

“Inion mentioned it, I think.” Edwin shrugged, “Along with an alchemy book I found.”

“Ah, of course. I ought to have expected you would know of the founder of alchemy. Yes, she brought knowledge of potions and magical materials to Joriah, overturning much of what was believed to be known about magic. Or would that be science?”

“Not… not sure, actually. Probably magic, though? Your majesty.”

“Hmm. It showed that external magics could be harnessed, even if personal spells and the like remain the dominion of birth. You claim to have not had mana previously?”

“No, your majesty. I do believe I obtained the ability to use magic after I arrived on Joriah. I do think that others should be able to learn it.”

“Unlikely. Such things have been tried previously. It is most probable that the traveling imbued you with such magics.”

“Well, I still think it was just being exposed to a lot of mana at once that let me get a magical Skill, and I just went from there?”

“Such things have been attempted in the past and have failed.”

Hmm. He should ask to see the experiment logs at some point and find out if they made a fundamental error in their testing methodology. It wouldn’t surprise him, but that wasn’t what he needed to focus on right now.

“So, Salverria?”

“Of course. There was also Elthis, the creator of Vis’Daric and its gozau, the unnamed Warrior of Koraith, the first druid Tasthen who is said to have created the weather itself, the enchanter Resslian, though it must be said it is unknown if Resslian is merely another name or title for Salvierra, then further unnamed individuals responsible for the World Tear, The Destiny Weaver, and more besides. At some point, rumor, myth, and history all collide and it is impossible to tell reality from fiction.”

“They all left pretty big marks though, didn’t they?”

“Every last one. This is why it was important enough that I personally assess that you are not a threat to Liras.”

Edwin nodded silently, the eternal dread of expectations looming heavy over his head. How was he ever supposed to compare to those cultural giants? They might as well have been gods, though they had the benefit of exaggeration on their side. There was no way Tasthen managed to create the weather. That was just ludicrous. The others, though?

“What’s Vis’Daric?”

“It is a wandering city-state which frequently flies over imperial lands and the rest of the world, populated by the gozau, men of metal, wood, and glass no less intelligent for the fact. They are the premier location for newly created magical artifacts of any complexity.”

“How old is this place?”

“Its age was already lost to time back when I first hatched.”

Edwin let out a low whistle. A flying city-state founded in the mists of prehistory that still survived to this day, populated primarily by sapient automata? Vis’Daric immediately shot onto Edwin’s list of places to visit, and he made a bunch of Almanac notes to look into how to reach the floating citadel once he had a chance.

“How many outsiders do you think there have been?”

“I truly have no idea. At minimum, a dozen, with even more whose names are lost, blown by the breeze of time.”

“They all accomplished so much, though.”

“Much of which is still felt to this day, yes.

-----

“So,” Xares finally asked the question Edwin had been dreading, and he wasn’t sure if he had an adequate reply, “What will you do?”

“I want to change the world,” he lamely admitted, “Not that that’s an informative goal. I suppose… My world’s strength wasn’t in magic or in flying cities, or whatever else my predecessors had experience in.

“I don’t have whatever they did. But what I do have is a Skill that lets me write down my knowledge and experience in a way that maybe one day anyone could access, and I want to share that knowledge with whoever it might help. I can bring science, I suppose. And science is big. It’s really big. That saying I was talking about? ‘If I have seen farther, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants?’

“Yeah, I don’t know that I can be the person standing atop the giants. There’s just too much I don’t know about the laws of this new world, too many enormous things to explore and figure out the fundamentals of. I won’t be the seer, but hopefully I can at least be the giant, empowering those who come after me to see farther and farther than I ever could.”

“An interestingly honest answer. Best of luck to you in that endeavor.”

“Wait, just like that? You’re not going to try to take me and use my knowledge to revolutionize your empire, or drop me in a lab and try to learn things for you?”

“No. You are too much of an unknown, and as you admit yourself, you have no particular expertise I can capitalize upon. Any funding I have towards alchemy is better suited for high-Tier alchemists already of the empire. Their Skills are more useful than yours in any regard which matters.

“You may be an Outsider, and thus far more likely to be of use than another Adventurer, but you remain an Outsider, and attempting to corral you or contain you will inevitably end poorly. Indeed, simply being near you is liable to be hazardous to any facilities you might utilize. Best to keep you far, far away from anything critical, which might suffer under the strain of a ‘scientific revolution.’”

Ouch.

“Well, what about research? I have a unique take on things, I might find something totally new!”

“If you do, I am certain I will learn of it in time. You just told me your goal is to make everything you learn public knowledge, no?”

“But...” Edwin’s newfound dreams of fabulous wealth working for the empire vanished in an instant before they could even fully form, “I can ensure you’d learn about them sooner?” he tried.

“What care have I for such a discovery to come a decade earlier? It would still arrive in due time. And as I am certain you will not allow all your unique knowledge and training to die alongside you, so even if you do not find all you might under sponsorship, your apprentices might, or the next generation of alchemists, taught the knowledge you have brought with you from Earth.” The emperor forestalled Edwin’s next rebuttal before he could even open his mouth.

“Could I at least get… oh, I don’t know, a cart or a carriage or something? Just something that I can use in my travels as a bit of a portable lab and way to carry around my stuff somewhere other than on my back. I’d be willing to not hold that,” Edwin waved his hand in a vague indication of the mess with the governor, “against the Empire as a whole in exchange for something like that.”

The emperor gave a curt nod, scarcely even stopping to think before agreeing, “I will assign the cost of such as partial reparations for Soraia. You shall have your carriage.”

Huh. He… hadn’t actually expected that to work. Score! And so easily, too! The tight ball of stress wound up in his chest began to loosen, if Xares was so readily willing to help him out…

…Then he promptly realized all the other possible things he might have been able to ask for- Adventurer status for Inion, maybe a house or something, some decent gear, or alchemy ingredients, Skill training, access to the Grand Library…

Edwin silently sighed.

No wonder the emperor had been so quick to agree. And if the governor would be the one to provide the cart, it probably wouldn’t be that high quality as she tried to spite him or wiggle out of her obligations… he’d totally just screwed himself out of something potentially great, hadn’t he?

Even as his stress rebounded, now strengthened by Edwin’s own annoyance at himself and forming a tight knot in his stomach, Edwin forced himself to give a nod in thanks, “Thank you, your majesty,” He forced out. It wouldn’t do to start badmouthing the source of his pressure just because he messed up. This was entirely his own fault, he’d own it.

To be fair, it was still more than he had anticipated to get out of the meeting with the governor. He’d expected a boring hour or two of being prodded at, then being sent on his way. It may have ended up being far more stressful than he had initially anticipated, but he also got more out of it in turn, so… it broke even at worst.

He found it difficult to blame the emperor for any of the recent revelations, honestly, though he suspected that was a Skill of some sort at play. Or maybe that was just sheer charisma and millennia of practice with diplomacy. Blinking Skillful Assessment on still just overwhelmed him with a uniform, monolithic wave of Skill light, so he had no help from it in this case. Would there really even be a difference between supernaturally good diplomacy and centuries of experience?

His thoughts notwithstanding, their time was clearly coming to a close, and Edwin floated to his feet, giving another deep nod/shallow bow to the emperor in farewell

“Very good speaking with you, Edwin. Best of luck in your endeavors,” the avior assured him, and Edwin almost felt like he was being pulled into a desire to prove himself worthy of the Emperor. He nodded wordlessly, doing his best to distract himself with something until the Skill effect faded.

He didn’t like people messing with his mind with Skills, but some part of Edwin told him that it wasn’t that different from just using words to try and convince him of something. Did that mean that he was… spiritually gullible or something? Skill-ly gullible didn’t sound right. Emotionally gullible? Eh, spiritually gullible worked. In a world where emotion-altering effects were objectively commonplace, did that make them any less moral than simply being good with your words? Were kids taught as they grew up not only how to be skeptical of words being said, but also how to avoid acting out on unnatural emotions being shoved onto you?

It was… oh hey, the Skill had subsided. Edwin mentally reviewed what Memory told him the emperor had said as the surroundings began to darken ever so slightly.

“I will return you to the gates of Rhothos’ garrison such that you are hopefully able to avoid the attention of the full court. I will pass the instructions for you to receive a carriage to the governor, and you shall hopefully receive such within a reasonable amount of time.

“I expect I will be hearing much more of you in the next few decades, and I eagerly anticipate it.”

Edwin gave out one last hasty thanks as the gray clouds around him thickened, enveloping him entirely and obscuring his vision as his surroundings blurred and faded away. For a brief moment, he felt utterly weightless and immaterial, like a cloud floating on a breeze, then reality returned and he crashed into the ground under the peak of the garrison’s entry archway. Edwin barely caught himself with Flight, and even then he only had time to soften his landing, rather than blunt it completely.

There was some form of commotion going on inside the building, giving Edwin the perfect opportunity to slip away. This time, he didn’t get lost on his way to the Golden Grain, no matter how nervous he may have been. As he walked, Edwin felt his emotions get rowdier and rowdier, trying to break free of their bindings and overwhelm him. He’d been on an emotional knife's-edge for hours, and it was starting to wear at him.

Nope, not starting. It was seriously wearing on him, and was unraveling the ball of stress he’d shoved to the side while talking to the emperor. He quickened his pace, trying to get back to his room, where it was quiet and where it was safe. Most importantly, where there weren’t any other people. Edwin’s fingers grew jittery and he enabled Longstrider, nearly crashing into a few people and actually running into a few obstacles in his staggering gait. His breath grew ragged as he got back to the Golden Grain, and his hands were shaking as he opened the door.

The interior of the inn was busier now, as more patrons had come in for dinner, and the raucous laughter slammed into Edwin’s skull like so many jackhammers. He rushed upstairs, only recognizing the innkeeper’s wave of greetings after it was too late to act upon it, and tried to open his room door.

Naturally, it didn’t work, and Edwin fumbled for his key, withdrawing it from one of his pouches. He went to unlock the door, and bit back a curse when he realized the lock jam from Apparatus was still active, for better and for worse.

It took him far too long, but he eventually managed to flip his head into the right space to cancel that manifestation of the Skill (and the ring he wore made of the same stuff at the same time), got the key in the lock, and burst inside.

He scarcely managed to close the door behind him, let alone lock it, and Edwin was a jittery, emotional wreck by the time he collapsed onto his bed. His hands were shaking to the point he couldn’t even tell how bad his fingers were trembling, and he couldn’t lift so much as his own pillow.

At least the noise from below was essentially gone. Though not gone enough. There were still faint echoes of yelling and singing clawing their way through the sound-dampening Skill and to his ears, raking across his eardrums. His blanket was so itchy, tiny bits of wool digging into his skin and overwhelming him. Turning off Perception did nothing, and directing all his attention to his smell just made the stench of cedar splinter into his mind. Taste was little better, stale air and wet wool nearly causing him to gag as his mind searched for solace there.

He sought any kind of escape. He needed to sink into unconsciousness, to get away from the suddenly so loud and disturbing world, which had finally abandoned all pretense and was now directly attempting to get him. No more was it trying to go through intermediaries, it had found out how to assault his senses and drive him mad directly. Adaptive Defense did nothing against this vicious attack, and he fruitlessly tried to escape his torment, scrabbling at his Skills but finding no purchase.

He needed to use Sleeping, but his mind refused to flex the mental muscles required to activate the Skill. He needed his sleeping potion, but even his own Memory was betraying him as it refused to tell him where the life-saving medicine could be found.

Another burst of noise from below brought him to clench his ears even tighter, desperately trying something- anything- to escape the awful cacophony that defined his very existence.

When Edwin did eventually sleep, it was to the sound of his own whimpers.