[MA] 217. Benefits and Responsibilities (Patreon)

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[A/N: Chapters this week: 2/3

Late chapters: 3

Next release: Saturday ]

A two-yard violet teleportation circle was inlaid on the floor, filled with runes. There was no light source in the small room made entirely of black metal, but Shen was a Guardian and thus could see in the dark. Yet, there were no openings to be seen.

He was trapped and alone; the Drow Maiden didn't materialize with him.

Her words had been clear: "If the first person you see from now on isn't me, attack and escape." He hadn't seen anyone yet, but she wasn't where she was supposed to be. Maybe someone had intercepted them, but something went wrong, and he ended up in a place not even the enemy knew about.

He needed to escape anyway. He took his spear out of his spatial ring and expanded his aura from his body to the walls, but not beyond. He didn't know if he had been detected yet. His aura was all but furtive; anyone inside it felt the extent of his Path. Until he saw someone, he would try to go unnoticed.

His aura let him detect a sliding pannel controlled by an enchantment. A swift but delicate application of vibration and magnetism disabled the simple magic, and he slid the door open.

It revealed a tight black corridor that ended on a sharp curve to both sides. Shen picked a side and moved on. He kept his aura touching the walls up to a dozen yards before and behind him and cautiously moved on.

He only briefly considered using qi to become invisible but dismissed the idea. The Drow Maiden had been clear: in the Alliance, never use qi when trying to move stealthily. Not everyone could feel it, but those who could would lock down on him easily. Enchantments that detected energy disturbances might or not feel the slight mana disturbance his qi usage created.

His aura could also turn him invisible but wouldn't let him see through. He valued his vision and the ability to see a distant enemy more than making himself harder to see, so he just kept going as he was.

However, he did use the Bat's Ears qi technique from the Feng Clan—now adapted to his Path—to boost his hearing. Qi usage inside his body didn't affect ambient mana, so there was no greater risk of detection.

He felt many other hidden doors as he moved through the corridor, but he didn't investigate them. His training had included a shallow touch on general Alliance architecture, and alien corridors seldom differed from Earth's. He would likely find an exit at the other end of the corridor.

Not that it felt like it. The first turn revealed the corridor continued until another turn, then another. Then, he could go right or left. Then, he could go right, left, or straight ahead.

He was in a maze.

His training told him to keep going randomly. Picking only one direction worked for mortals who might forget where they had come from, but maze builders knew that technique and might make false paths just to lead invaders—or escapers—into a trap. Shen was D-rank and would have no issue memorizing any pattern he picked, even without the learning ability upgrade.

The place was absolutely silent and deserted. It was eerie. He primarily focused on hearing anyone approaching, but almost as important was ensuring he wasn't heard. Gravity in that place was about fifteen percent stronger than on Earth, and while his training had included adapting to it, this was his first time "deploying" that adaptation in a real-life situation. He made sure to move as silently as he could.

His efforts paid off when he heard something as loud as an ant's leg touching the ground around 2 hours later.

Someone was coming, and they were making an effort not to be heard.

He stopped moving. The risk of detection was already high, so he expanded his aura sideways into the three rooms nearby to try to avoid the sure detection coming in his direction. All three rooms were empty and had sliding doors.

Shen nullified the sliding enchantment and used all the precision he could muster with his aura to slide the door mid-air. The thing was so firmly in place that its rollers always touched the wall. He had to apply very slight power to bend the rollers a hair's breadth—so it didn't make bending or breaking noises—then keep the panel like that as he moved it sideways. He entered the room, closed the panel, and waited.

He kept his aura touching the small room's walls, preparing for a fight but not searching for it.

Then, he listened.

It confirmed he hadn't been paranoid. Every few seconds, he heard a new step. Whoever was walking there wasn't very good or focused at being sneaky. The sound approached and then went past the room he was hiding in.

Once he was sure it was far enough, he sneaked back outside and followed the steps. He moved as fast as he could without making a noise.

This was a maze. Acquiring intelligence would be better than blindly moving around.

Shen saw the passerby a few moments later. Or rather, passersby; they were two, wearing hooded black robes. They hadn't noticed him.

Now all that remained was subduing them.

These aliens might be unsuspecting victims upon whose lands Shen landed by chance after an enemy interference. Killing them before confirming whether they were enemies was out of the question. However, attacking them without lethal intentions was not.

His Path wasn't one of indiscriminate killing, but it wasn't one of needless risks either. Survival came first. He could talk about reparations later if this was all a big misunderstanding.

The main reason behind that was a very convincing argument made by the Drow Maiden.

"When lost, confused, or in doubt, attack first and talk later," she had said. "There's nothing to gain by trying to resolve things peacefully when you're not absolutely sure of who'll be the judge of your actions and trust them enough. At best, you'll be captured, questioned, milked for everything you know, then exchanged for a lot of SC because you're a Rising Star. I stress: at best, either you will be the tool to bankrupt humankind and set them back for dozens of years, or they will lose their strongest warrior. Don't you ever dare be that stupid. A non-lethal attack will, at worst, give whoever you attack the justification for something they would do to you anyway. The risk is more than worth it."

So, Shen covered the two aliens with his aura and punched both on the nape simultaneously, using the frequency that worked most against carbon-based biological beings. He was basing that assumption on them being bipeds and moving in general like a biological biped would.

"Acceptable," a female voice said.

The two hooded people disappeared; they had been illusions. The Drow Maiden was right beside him. He had always known that this might be a test but hadn't entertained the possibility to himself. There would be nothing to gain in wasting time with idle thoughts that changed nothing.

"Thank you, I guess," he replied to her off-handed compliment. "What was the purpose behind this?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she replied with a provocative smile and teleported them away.

= - = - =

Shen found himself on something he could only call a metal world. The black metal floor extended to the horizon, and stars filled the dark skies. There seemed to be no atmosphere, no wind, and no clouds. Yet, he could breathe.

"This is my homeworld, Tar'Shalon," the Drow Maiden said and pointed at a sun that looked like a small moon from this distance. "That is Sharyan, the star of the high elven primary star system. It was also the name of their God of Gods before the Alliance pulled them in."

"High elves? Like the drow are dark elves?"

She sighed. "The Laws of Reality affect everything, including how lifeforms develop. You'll see many patterns, especially among sapient life. What the system translates to you as humanoid is a common biped biological form that develops in worlds with an environment similar to Earth's. Many races are close enough to humans, just as many are especially similar to the drow: humanoid, lithe bodies, high physical abilities, and pointy ears.

"The elf race came into the Alliance first, so the next races that looked like elves were called 'something-elves.' Light elves, high elves, dark elves, and so on. Whenever you hear about a 'something-elf' race, assume that's the case.

"But that is not the case for high, wood, and dark elves—or the Tribe of Sharyan, wood elves, and drow. All three came from the same world. We split up before the Alliance came and almost forgot about each other. When we reunited in the Alliance, old enmities and alliances resurged.

"We kill and are killed by wood elves on sight due to our bad history back in the cradle world, but the high elves were the first to leave that world and even the star system. They sent word back saying they had found a star system blessed by Sharyan, who had revealed to them that they were Sharyan's children. Yes, they thought themselves gods. The Tribe of Sharyan quickly turned into legend as communication between worlds dwindled, then ceased altogether after we also left the cradle world.

"After we joined the Alliance, we learned they were already here. The first contact revealed them to be arrogant, annoying, and egotistical. They no longer believed themselves gods but close enough. It didn't help that they already had an A-ranks while we didn't. They also didn't offer us any help. But what we saw as heartless during our first decade in the Alliance, we now see as merciful indifference. How we wish everyone else had just left us alone!"

Shen nodded. "And how did you get into their star system?"

"A war alliance, why else? Let me tell you the tale of how the True Enemy almost genocided the drow, how we bid our time until we had an opportunity for revenge with the high elves' assistance, and how we got into even further debt with them when the True Enemy almost slip through our fingers."

Shen listened to the passionate tale with avid attention. So the Dreamer worked for a faction in the Alliance that wanted to destroy new races? And the drow had deployed all their forces to kill that being yet almost failed?

"Without the Queen of Spring and Autumn's assistance, we might've been annihilated," the Drow Maiden concluded. "Killing a Titled B-rank was bad, but not succeeding would be worse."

Shen raised an eyebrow. She hadn't shared that kind of politics and strategy with him. His Concept of War let him guess some implications, but he wanted to actually know how the leaders of an entire race saw that episode.

"How so?" he asked.

"We would be punished the same way, a powerful enemy would be left alive and enraged, and it would be a show of weakness and stupidity to the multiverse. That would've attracted many opportunists, who, for once, would be on the side of Alliance law. Now, the drow and the high elves stand side by side out of necessity. The war isn't as bad yet, but I was just told it keeps progressing quickly. B-ranks will start engaging soon."

"Earth didn't seem to have it as bad as you," Shen pointed out.

"Indeed," she replied. "Thanks to you. If you hadn't reached D-rank, someone else would; the True Enemy would've made sure of that. But how likely do you think it would be for any other human to reach peak D-rank and develop an aura a month after returning to Earth? Earth would've suffered almost as much as the drow. Now that I know of the Association's ploy and D-ranks, even if they could do the same as you, which is unlikely, I expect they would've only protected an area and grown the Association's influence, not helped everyone like you did. The fewer the people alive and the less spread they are, the easier it is to control them."

Shen frowned. "But can't the Dreamer see the future? Why didn't he see it happen?"

"Because you were Void-tainted, of course," she replied matter-of-factly.

She knew he had no idea what a Void-tainted was, yet she didn't explain. The cultivator recalled her being petty during their training, but it seemed she had grown to enjoy these power plays a little too much.

He sighed and asked, "Which is?"

"Those who spend too much time close to the Void or Void Spawn can be tainted by the Void. It makes it all but impossible to predict their actions using B-rank abilities or lower. Void-tainted also often ignore perfect logic when acting. I have a theory on why these things happen, but I won't share it with you."

Shen deepened his frown. "I was Void-tainted? How?"

The Drow Maiden shrugged. "I was hoping you would explain that part to me. Earth's past can't be read, likely due to the Republic."

He shook his head. "I have no idea. I certainly don't recall seeing Void Spawn back in my days."

He guessed it had something to do with the Void Prophet but thought it better not to reveal it. He was already being investigated for being a Void Herald. Who knows what would happen if he said there had been a Void Prophet on Earth in a time the Alliance couldn't investigate?

He just put his Void-taintedness on the pile of things he didn't know and would eventually research.

They spent a while in silence after that, looking at the skies. There was a flash of light in the distance now and then, and a wave of mana followed suit, covering the world's surface. Shen guessed those were people fighting the war.

The Drow Maiden eventually broke the silence.

"Shen, you're my charge and thus drow. Not by blood, but by right. We are forbidden by Alliance law to indoctrinate you as we would someone of our race, but that is the only limitation. Being drow gives you many benefits. For instance, I wouldn't have trained a non-drow. But it also brings responsibilities.

"Every Standard year, the drow must offer one drop of their blood essence to Tar'Shalon. Part of your blood will strengthen the world's defenses. The other part will be added to the Forest of Sacrifices to hopefully enlighten future generations.

"After we're done with that, you'll be given a crash course on drow language and combat signs so you can join our war efforts for the six and a half Earth days remaining until the Summit. Fighting this war is both your duty now that you are here and a training opportunity."

Shen wasn't sure about all that, but before even considering matters, he returned her earlier provoking smile. This was too good an opportunity to miss.

"It seems you misspoke during our training, Drow Maiden," he said. "I won't have to find out by myself what blood essence is, after all. I'm sure you are about to explain it to me."

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