Chapter 101: What Lies Below |
Using rituals to train Spellweaver was an expensive endeavor. Having the clones cast spells and unraveling the threads didn’t help as much as he had hoped, confirming Lukas’s suspicions that ascension required using all of an ability’s functions, not just repeating one element of it repeatedly. He left it alone for the time being, convincing himself to be patient and not rush. Even if he reached the threshold, Lukas wouldn’t get the opportunity to ascend until he returned to the Gray. The process was bound to knock him out for a day, if not more.
Flukas filled in for Lukas, interacting with the party and heading into the underground baths again. He played the role well, even though the clones hated maintaining a serious and professional facade. Putting up with Xander’s odd ways and watchful eye was an annoying endeavor, but that’s why Lukas had clones: to put up with nonsense and accomplish tasks that annoyed or didn’t interest him.
While on the Realm of Greater Beings, he had grown too comfortable living hidden in isolation. It was safe. The clones took on all the danger as Lukas coordinated them from afar, sharing magic and abilities with them. His final decade on the world came with no mortal danger. However, they were boring. It reached a point where Lukas was merely existing while desperately searching for a way to Fracture or trying to convince one of the many entities he served to open the path for him.
Putting himself in danger was far from ideal, but it helped Lukas feel alive again. He exercised as much caution as well and had the clones carry the bulk of the burdens. The old him wouldn’t have investigated the building that was stinking of rot himself and delegated. Now, he moved with the Stalkers and Stormtroopers in the dead of night, circling the old building and seeking a way inside.
It was Lukas who found a concealed roof opening. Heavy stone slabs weighed the trapdoor down. Layers of straw and peat concealed it. Arcane Scan, along with Spellweaver’s passive effects, sensed arcane threads leaking through the opening. It took considerable effort and finesse to pry the door open without making too much noise. Two clones went in while he remained outside with one, keeping watch.
Four civilians kept constant watch. It wasn’t always the same people. The faces rotated every couple of hours, but the surveillance was continuous, and they all resided in the same riverside neighborhood. They were miners or worked in the upkeep of local infrastructure, and their families. It surprised Lukas when the clones found children keeping watch, too.
It seemed everyone in the area was in on whatever was going on or, at least, had been recruited into the concealment efforts. Lukas was sure they weren’t dealing with something as simple as a drug or illicit material trade or a simple invasion.
Shade’s Mantle and Silencing Shadows made him and the clones undetectable at night to all but the most skilled eyes. Not even Penelope, a significantly stronger magic user, could see through the spells unless she was specifically looking. Yet Lukas retreated from the building to the mill connected to the water wheel, leaving the stalker who accompanied him to guard the trapdoor.
Even though he didn’t have Morph’s enhanced nose, Lukas could smell the rot. It turned his stomach. There was more than rotting flesh. He had grown used to the stench in the sixty-something years since his first transmigration. The rot carried arcane traces.
A room in a mining town’s production center did not need a ritual room. There were no known mages, enchanters, or artificers in Reistein besides the local healer and apothecary duo.
The clones checked the bookshelves on the walls for curious texts. There was nothing of note so they descended to the ground floor. It was an ordinary refining and packing facility. The machines, residue, tools, and hanging protective equipment suggested that the floor’s primary purpose involved processing everything that came from below ground.
Treated logs sat stacked by the riverside, tied together and ready to be loaded. It was an ingenious, economic system. There were tools by the building’s rear, which was the closest side to the river, for building rafts and packing them. The floor was considerably more mundane than the level above. After several minutes of scouring, neither clone had found anything. However, the arcane rot traces were significantly stronger.
It didn’t take them long to find a hidden door to the lower levels. Leaving the Realm of Greater Beings might have robbed Lukas of decades of knowledge, and his new body needed the muscle memory and reaction time that came with martial training. However, breaking and entering, investigation, and looking for the hidden were experiences developed over a lifetime that one didn’t easily forget.
The clones encountered a warded door with an inefficient sealing enchantment, intended to prevent arcane energies from leaking out. One of the clones had Spellweaver and used it to unravel the locking element of the magic to open the trapdoor.
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The smell of rot hit the pair like a dense, suffocating fog, and they weren’t alone. The space was brightly lit with natural, luminous stones, making Shade’s Mantle stand out. One clone managed to race to cover, avoiding notice, but the other wasn’t fast enough.
“Did you just see that?” A man asked.
“There’s someone there,” his female companion confirmed.
The second clone failed to find an adequate hiding place and dispelled himself. Only the Spellweaver remained below. If word of mysterious shadows moving around Reistein returned to Leisel or the auditor, they’d know that it was Lukas not following the party leadership’s instructions. He couldn’t afford to have his guild-reputations affected while everything was going so well.
Memories of the second clone came not long after. The alerted duo didn’t give up easily, making it hard for the Stalker to maneuver. It managed to get deep enough to get a glimpse of the source before dispelling itself.
The building’s basement was large with high ceilings and crumbling walls. It looked like it had once served as a warehouse. Now, pulsing fleshy growths snaked up pillars and spread across the ceiling like a network of veins. The clone followed the pulsating masses, expecting to find a pile of decomposing corpses. There were none. Instead, it all led to a heart as big as a bull. Several fist-sized eyes squirmed on the surface, unfocused and darting in all directions. When one met the clone’s eyes, several followed, and a blinding headache followed. He immediately dispelled himself, unwilling to find out how the mysterious existence would react.
Lukas summoned a stalker with Alter Metal Mass and a mage with Spellweaver. They took over surveillance duty, while he and another clone retreated, returning to the inn. Lukas’s heart raced; he had inherited the clone's headache. It could only mean one thing.
The entity had come from beyond all the realms and the multiverse. In Lukas’s experience, only an entity from the Void had inflicted discomfort or pain that didn't die with the clones. He inherited more than the memories.
For the first time in a long time, Lukas felt fear. He wanted to flee, but that was never an option with the Void. All magic and life from it was like a parasitic infection that consumed, spread, and rapidly became an inescapable infestation. The only time Lukas had seen Lady Silverspine personally tackle a problem was when the Void King, Oth the Devourer, manifested an avatar on the Realm of Greater Beings. She personally destroyed it with dragonfire before the avatar could rise to full strength. The cult that summoned him faced a similar fate. Their friends and families had their arcane circuits scarred, ensuring they were permanently cut off from all magic and spent the rest of their days in agony. Victims of the punishment described it as living with fire in their veins. Many called it a fate worse than death.
Lukas agreed. Death had finality. It came with solace. He had experienced countless through the clone. They gained peace afterward. Enjoyed an escape from all pain and regrets. He had to live with them.
Stop. Don't spiral.
Interactions with the Void often had similar effects. They drained sanity, encouraged negative thoughts, and drove people toward the darkness. Lukas didn't have Minarv to purge his memories. He needed psychic protection and the ability to purge memories or trauma from his mind. Things weren't as bad as they used to be in the Realm of Greater Beings. The memories he inherited from the clones were closer to dreams. The pain they felt in their final moments didn’t haunt his dreams. Now, he knew it wasn’t the same for psychic trauma, or at least any inflicted by Void entities.
It’s times like these I miss knowledge from the old realm the most.
Lukas didn’t feel the journal vibrating until he was back in his room. He collapsed, clutching his skull after arrival. It took several minutes of deep breathing before the skull-splitting pain faded, becoming a dull ache. Finally, he gave the relic the attention it desired.
You have encountered traces of a Void Lord’s influence.
The Gray and the surrounding landscapes house far too many of Lady Silverspine’s interests. A Void infestation cannot be allowed to take hold and spread across the mountains. The local landscape and extreme weather are perfect for entities from the beyond to thrive without interference from outside presences.
It goes without saying that we can’t let this thing exist. The question is, is there a cult? Because I’d need to eliminate them too to ensure the infestation can’t return.
No cult or deep magic traces are present in the vicinity. The Heart feels ancient and is in a stage of rapid growth.
It sounds like the Heart was dormant for a long time. Someone found it, was possessed or tempted by its corruption, and now here we are.
You’re assumptions are most likely correct. The Heart needs to be eliminated; destroying it should purge the infestation from Fracture.
This is a standard quest, correct? I’ll be compensated for this task.
This is a matter of survival and aligns with your current task. Not eliminating the Heart will not just hamper Lady Silverspine’s interests but also your future. However, the energy release should empower me, unlocking new abilities.
I suppose that’s better than nothing. Lukas sighed. I’ll do it, of course. Could you use a part of the energy to make my next upgrade instantaneous? I don’t want to be knocked out for several days.
It should be possible to sacrifice my upgrade charges for such a purpose. Ascending from tier one to two shouldn’t take more than a couple of charges. It’ll be impossible to confirm the exact amount until you reach the ascension threshold.
Fine. Let's figure this shit out.
Even though it was within his capabilities, Lukas refused to take the risk of eliminating the heart alone. He now needed to figure out how to guide Liesel and the auditor to the solution without revealing that he had already solved their mystery.
