Duran's brows furrowed as his eyes unfocused. "I only meant to follow Emris. I wanted to steal from the thief, from the music box... There was another place... It was where the powerful things are kept. There's no air or light there... I was freezing and on fire. I... failed to get the best things but these were close.

Orison didn't know what problems Duran had with talking but he could tell that the boy had given it his all. Orison told him as much and thanked him then turned his sight inward to inspect the box. Upon opening it, Orison wondered why his s.p.a.ce hadn't tried to eat it. It was obviously a boundary item with s.p.a.cial laws in it. A quick inspection brought Orison to the conclusion that his s.p.a.ce wasn't interested in it because the concepts of dimension that the box contained were already possessed by his s.p.a.ce.

As soon as Orison made contact with the contents of the box, several items evaporated into his s.p.a.ce. All minor items with limited use on their own, once their concepts were untangled and added to his own, would help him later. There were a few more items in the box that his s.p.a.ce was interested in but wasn't strong enough to consume. Among them was a black silk coin purse that gave a dangerous vibe. After insuring that there wasn't even more goodies inside of them, he pushed the 'eat later' pile into the darkest, essence free zone of his s.p.a.ce.

All in all, there was a fairly substantial amount of stuff in the box and Duran's 'black hole' key was a hungry thing. Orison didn't dare ask how much the kid had managed to grab because he'd probably cry after hearing the answer. Before inspecting or getting attached to anything, Orison thought it would be better to see if anything resonated with the others. It would be a lot easier to give it up if he didn't know what it was and it seemed wrong to be stingy when it was all the hard work of someone else to begin with.

With the air getting stale, it was time for them to return. Two transporter flashes later and they made their way back to Rithus, Gan and an already drunk Ivan. Playing slick, Orison didn't just invite them to some place private to dig through loot, he brought all the boundary items out of the box and took turns playing a game of darts or sharing a drink and chatting with plenty of back slaps, shoulder squeezes and the like to see what resonated with who.

He was glad he did. A bone dagger resonated with both Rithus and Ivan but he would give it to Rithus. A miniature gla.s.s chess set resonated with all three of them but he would give it to Gan. There were a couple of things that resonated with Rithus but felt like they would suit Venito better. His instincts told him to hold on to them instead of just giving them away. He wasn't sure why but even though the friend in front of him could use them, it didn't seem that helpful compared to their worth.

After he had made all of his decisions, Orison thought about the pitifully lonely garland of mistletoe that was Ivan's only decent item and felt bad. He might have some grudge against Ivan for past misdeeds and embarra.s.sing situations but he had dragged Ivan into 'climbing the tower' and it felt wrong to not show some sincerity. In a way, Orison was Ivan's teacher and from that perspective being too calculative made him think of certain unpleasant past circ.u.mstances with educators he had wished could have been a little more supportive instead of callus and ambivalent. With slight reluctance, Orison moved a gold hand sickle with a pearl handle and a copper torc onto Ivan's pile.

Using his superior s.p.a.cial control and Ivan's lowered vigilance, Orison slapped Ivan's back one good time, injecting the pile into Ivan's s.p.a.ce. A look of surprise on his face, Ivan slumped to the floor in a dead faint. Chuckling, Orison told everyone at the canteen not to worry, Ivan had just taken one too many and needed to sleep it off.

When Orison approached Rithus, his currently Draconos friend was antic.i.p.ating and reached out with a shadow coated palm, giving Orison an easy way to transfer. Seeing Rithus return to his conversation with a local, not so much as a twitch in his face, Orison lamented how much more convenient and user friendly Rithus' key and core concept seemed to be. With that gripe still was.h.i.+ng across his mind, he thought the minor spikes of sudden jealousy that was an inheritance from the original Orison were a childish thing the young mage hoped he'd outgrow sooner rather than later.

Orison went over to Gan who was swirling a nearly empty pint of the grotesque green beer that the young mage despised. "A gold for your thoughts. I'd offer less but alas, smallest denomination available."

Gan smiled weakly and said, "Just thinking about how close we came to pus.h.i.+ng daisies today. Now that I've got this world's junk sucked out of all my nooks and crannies, I appreciate how downright nasty this place actually is. It practically made me a stranger to myself and I was 'practically' happy about it... You know, it's not even the big changes, it's the small ones.

"There was this scar on my knee that I got when I was little. Gran kissed it to get me to stop bawling. I barely remember the event itself but I remember the memory, if that makes sense. No matter how lonely I get, I could roll up a pants leg and there it would be, a reminder that someone loved me with all they had. If I had lost it following you into the G.o.ds' chamber pot, I would have known it was my decision and I'd have maybe missed it a little but that would be it. This place just stole it from me... Never mind that, I'm just being a wet blanket."

Orison said, "No, I won't 'never mind'. I happen to agree that the little things can be some of the most important things to us... Personally, I blame your bad mood on that awful beer you've taken a liking to, though."

Gan started laughing. "F*** off back to your fruit juice, kiddie table."

"Gladly, but first I have something for you. Care to take a walk?" Orison said.

The scout quipped, "This is the part where I'd normally make a crude joke you left yourself wide open for but considering the past couple of days, I'll give you a break."

Orison thought over what he'd just said. "Generosity noted and appreciated."

Once they had managed to find a secluded spot, Orison handed over Gan's share one at a time. Gan's invisible map 'key' might not have came with a convenient inner s.p.a.ce of its own but it did have one advantage. Gan could influence the s.p.a.ce around him, at least on the energy spectrum level. With time and some more concepts to draw inspiration from, there were a great deal many things the scout would be able to do with that. The most important at the moment was Gan's ability to avoid supernatural detection.

Most of what Gan got didn't seem to inspire much excitement from him until he took in the gla.s.s chess set. After a few minutes of dizziness, the scout finally showed the kid at Christmas look that Orison had expected to see much earlier. He expressed that his map had felt like it was missing something to work the way he felt it should and now it had that, 'whatever it was'.

Due to having influenced them so strongly in the forming of their 'keys' and conduits, one or more aspects of Gan's, Rithus' and Morrel's supernatural gifts were similar to Orison's own but the young mage had never been able to get a good grasp on Gan's. Conduit aside, Gan had a map and that seemed too lackl.u.s.ter in comparison but now Orison understood more firmly. The map really was just a projection of Gan's 'key'. The scout had inherited a version of Orison's sub-mind. The reason it hadn't been that noticeable before was because until Gan had taken in the gla.s.s chess set, it had lacked processing power. Before, it had been like a flash drive with a few small programs installed on it and relied on Gan's brain to run them but now it had it's own computational ability.

Gan's look of child-like glee turned into grim seriousness followed by explosive action with astonis.h.i.+ng speed. Before Orison could figure out what was going on, he found himself nearly being sat on by the scout as Gan whipped out his conduit in the form of a tower s.h.i.+eld that immediately produced a sound akin to metallic popcorn. While Orison oriented himself for combat, Gan started yelling to warn everyone about the a.s.sa.s.sins.

Having missed their target, the four people that had emptied hand crossbow bolts at them didn't try for a second round and bound off in different directions. With less than three seconds down, if it weren't for the poison smeared bolts, it would have been like they were never there. This new problem was the most headache inducing scenario Orison could imagine. These a.s.sa.s.sins weren't idiots. Once they missed, they'd hide and wait til another situation presented itself, hara.s.sing and wearing down the nerves of their target until the job was done.

Common sense kept the young mage from making a dumb move like following them or wasting the last use of the badge. Even if he managed to get one, it would end up being fairly fruitless for the amount of danger involved. Orison had no doubt in his mind that even if this team of four was completely wiped out, there would probably be replacements waiting for their turn. There were only two ways Orison could reliably see this situation efficiently solved. He'd either have to put fear into their leaders.h.i.+p or remove the motivation.

On alert, the group gathered together some supplies and went back to the cabin where Ivan had been sleeping oblivious to the goings on. Contrary to Orison's expectations, Ruby didn't ask him and his group to leave. In fact, the Daconos militia promised to give their cabin a night guard if they didn't. Despite being vocal about support, no one would give a direct answer as to why, offering plat.i.tudes and vague comments about duty or affront over the a.s.sault of visitors.

With no other better thought in mind, the party stayed put in the cabin while while Orison and Ivan exercised their meager but useful connections to gather intelligence. Two days in, Ivan was called back to his family with a.s.surances that there would be no further attempts similar to the one that had driven him away and since it represented an opportunity to help the situation, the Nunos man agreed. With lots of downtime, the party focused on consolidating their gains, engaging in their own practices and training.

By day four, Gan took his chances and went to visit 'a friend in Auma'.On the fifth day after the attempted a.s.sa.s.sination, Orison received word from Mo. The druid instructor wanted to meet him and had some news to share. After leaving a message with Gan and Ivan, Orison and his two remaining companions went to Daub. The Draconos militia man stationed at the transporter wished them well on their journey and expressed that Snow Cap would be willing to lend a hand in whatever way they could. Two transporter flashes and a bit of hiking later, Orison was being ushered into Mo's house while Duran accompanied Rithus to visit the trainer in Daub.

After a round of pleasantries, Mo said, "It seems we're always meeting in unfortunate circ.u.mstances, Orison. Hopefully, I can alleviate some of that. As you can well imagine, my sources inform me what any fool could easily guess. The third prince hired a.s.sa.s.sins in an attempt to drag you to the afterlife with him... His death in the Listless Corridor isn't the end of your concerns, however. It is rumored that a standing bounty exists in underworld circles. The person to claim your life will be rewarded substantially. For reasons that should be obvious and some I can only guess at, the royal families aren't inclined to do much about it."

Orison nodded, "I represent an unknown, linked to something that is capable of threatening them. They're probably looking at this as a good chance to see just how deep the connection is and what I'm capable of. Even if it weren't for that, they don't have any particular reason to go out of their way to help me since I'm not a resource they can use as they see fit."

Mo took a sip of tea and said, "A dour but mostly accurate observation. You aren't completely without supporters, understand. A few of my acquaintances have benefited from your information about Fortune and have moved a few of their p.a.w.ns to block lesser underworld ent.i.ties from joining in on the game Emir and the prince have cooked up for you."

Orison said, "Alright, what do I have to do to get the purse string cut. The entire ordeal becomes meaningless to them if there's no reward in it."

Mo smiled faintly. "To the heart of the matter then. I have three offers and each request is more ridiculous than the last, granted, but no one is certain what you're capable of or how much this event even matters to you. Prepare yourself. I don't exaggerate when I say their initial offers are... unrealistic.

"A certain merchant of Fortune claims to have the ability to make the largest portion of your bounty disappear through some bureaucratic means. They'll offer their aid for a return of youth. I don't suppose you actually..."

Orison frowned. "No."

The young mage thought of four possible ways to grant the man's request but he was looking for ways to end problems. Something like restoring someone's youth would make him a target to every powerful old person in the world. That was a proposition many fold more terrifying than he already faced.

Mo looked at him skeptically but didn't comment on it further as he moved on. "A third generation Sek royal outside of the thirty-nine blessed promises everything at his disposal if you can extend royal blessing and privilege to him."

Orison thought about it. Not only was it doable, the offer was for more than just a single time help and with Auma as his only dubious backing, it was somewhat appealing. There were many reasons why he didn't take it that seriously, however.

The young mage said, "It's not impossible. I'd have to burn a bridge to do it and I wouldn't be able to extend an offer like that again but... let's hear the last one."

A subtle raising of eyebrow was Orison's only clue to Mo's inner thoughts on that revelation as the elf spoke again. "A certain person here in Daub wants to know if you have the ability to remove a fallen mark from a royal family's record. If you could do so, the reestablished royal family would have the means and the inclination to aid you."

Orison smirked. "Why do I get the feeling that wasn't one of the original three offers?"

Mo coughed. "I have it on the most trustworthy of sources that it's the best offer for you."

Orison said, "I'll see what I can do."

The young mage reviewed every option that could give him the biggest bang for the buck when it came to the badge. The best one he could find was one that allowed him the ability to call one session of the First Family council and be awarded a nominal half vote. The reason that he hadn't used it immediately was that there was a stipulation. Osomo, the artifact, also had a nominal half vote and the tie breaking vote would go to a royal monarch of the council's choosing. It was risky but rewarding if he could pull it off. With a possible elf monarch as his tie breaker, Osomo variables could be axed.

Orison brought out the badge and said, "I initiate the right to call a First Family council session."

Allowing the beacon transport to connect with his crystal, Orison was whisked away. He appeared in a gray room with a skeleton at his feet that turned to dust as soon as he appeared.

A woman's voice said, "Please wait for the council to a.s.semble. Estimated waiting time..."

A screen of light appeared before Orison with an eternity symbol on it that flashed rhythmically every second. Orison knew what the fate of the poor remains below him had been. Seeing the rusty dagger not too far away, the person who had came to this room before him had chosen to end their own life rather than die of thirst. Due to him not being an actual family member, he didn't have any power to get Osomo to do anything before the session began but being that Osomo was computer-like despite the powerful supernatural devise she was, Orison tried that track of thought.

With the aid of his sub-mind, Orison ran through as many potential verbal commands as he could before he finally got a hit. "Initiate remote voting protocol."

The woman's voice responded, "Remote voting initiated. Council will convene in one ***** rotation. Pet.i.tioner may use the guest quarters until council convenes."

The wall behind him opened to reveal a mind blowing vista of abandoned civilization.