The Conciege
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ROTLE- Chapter 62- Existential Blow
🕑 Added 2024-10-23 11:22:25 +0000 UTCThe sun was nowhere in the sky, but the sky was soft with the touch of daybreak. Aiden’s first touch of concern was the fact that Vanisi had not been the one to wake him up. He could’ve chucked it up to was had happened in the early hours of the morning. She was either still reeling from the fact that he claimed to have run into someone using a code from the Order or she could’ve just been shy since he’d rejected her advances.
It mattered very little.
Right now, Aiden’s eyes kept flickering from side to side, checking, watching.
“Lord Lacheart,” Fjord said. “Is everything alright?”
Aiden nodded, eyes returning to Fjord.
The first request he had made today after being woken up was to ask the maid to send for Fjord. He had asked that the boy meet him at the carriage upon their departure.
Now that they stood together, the carriage was being prepared behind them. The servants were loading up the things that the princess had brought with her as well as the things that Valdan and Aiden had brought.
The sight of extra luggage didn’t evade Aiden’s attention. A few extra boxes. Two swords still comfortable in their scabbards of white with silver glints. There was a strong possibility that those were gifts from Lord Naranoff to him. But that mattered very little.
Right now, Aiden needed to finish his conversation with Fjord.
“There’s no problem,” he told the boy. “Just making sure that someone is not around. Anyway, you remember what you’re supposed to do, right?”
Fjord nodded. “I am to go to the village North of Elstrire and wait for a package, my lord.”
Aiden shook his head. “That’s not all you’re doing, Fjord.”
Fjord’s brows narrowed. “My apologies, my lord. I am also to investigate the forest there everyday when the sun comes down for an hour.”
“Correct,” Aiden said. “You are to purchase a pen and paper and record every disturbance you notice everyday during your time in the forest.”
“And if there’s no disturbance, my lord?”
Aiden did his best not to frown. The boy was laying it a little too thick on the title. He was like a child who was doing his best to be on his best behavior to avoid being punished for a crime he had committed.
“If there’s no disturbance,” Aiden said, “then you put it down on the parchment that there was no recorded disturbance.”
Fjord nodded. “Yes, my lord.”
Aiden groaned. “Alright, new rule. If we are to continue working together, you get only one ‘my lord’ for every four statements. Got it?”
Fjord lowered his head. “Yes, my—” he raised his head to find Aiden frowning at him. “If not ‘my lord’, then what should I call you?”
“Since we’ve been talking, how many times have I said your name?” Aiden asked.
Fjord scratched his head. “Once?”
“Exactly. You don’t always have to call me by my title. But if you absolutely have to, call me ‘sir.’”
Fjord’s shoulders relaxed. “Yes, sir.”
This is going to take some getting used to. Aiden had never had anyone that was not a servant address him as a superior in his past life. Apart from the palace servants, he had always been Lord Lacheart or Lord Lacheart the Younger. Then he had become the equal or the inferior with everyone he’d traveled with.
It was odd being called ‘my lord’ by someone that was not a servant of a House.
“Have you been to Elstrire before?” Aiden asked.
Fjord nodded. “Twice… sir.”
There was no surprise there. Poachers were known to travel a lot. A poacher who didn’t travel wasn’t good at their job.
“So you know how to get there, correct?” Aiden said.
Fjord nodded. “Correct.”
“Good.” Reaching into his pocket, Aiden brought out a small pouch and gave it to Fjord. “Have this. Now, the choice is up to you. This could be a one time payment that you can disappear with—I won’t come after you for it. Or you could get the job done and continue working for me.”
Fjord opened the pouch and visibly schooled his expression when he saw its contents. There was enough gold to last him the entire trip and keep him fed for at least a month.
“Does working for you mean being sent on such errands?” he asked.
Aiden hadn’t really thought about it, but that didn’t seem like a bad idea. However, if he was being honest, he had thought about how he could actually help the boy. It was not out of generosity or charity but simple curiosity.
The boy was a difficult student to handle and the instructor in Aiden was curious about if he could handle it.
“That would be one thing,” Aiden confirmed. “But more importantly, I’ve been studying your class and seeing if I could find a way around it. I will be the first to admit that it is quite the annoying class, no offense.”
“None taken, my lord.”
“However, I don’t think it is an impossible class to grow. Just an annoying and deadly one, depending on which direction you intend on growing it.”
Fjord’s schooled expression slipped slightly. His lips twitched in a barely restrained smile. He had the look of a boy staring at hope yet not wanting to hope.
He looked excited and terrified at the same time, unsure of how to respond.
In the end, he settled for something extravagant. Fjord bowed deeply at the waist. “Thank you, Lord Lacheart.”
As if he was not satisfied with his expression of gratitude, he tried to take it a step further. Aiden caught the signs before Fjord could evolve his show of gratitude. It was in the slight movement of his hand, the bending of his knee, the forward tilt.
Aiden reached out and grabbed the boy by the shoulders before he could go down on his knees.
“You put your head to the ground,” he said in a very low voice, “and be sure that this will be the last time you ever see me in your life.”
Fjord stiffened almost immediately. His knees locked up so that his legs were as straight as a ruler.
“My apologies, my lord,” he said very quickly. “It will not happen again.”
“And be sure that it does not.” Aiden hadn’t meant to terrify the boy, but he’d always learned that you took the method you knew would kill anything you didn’t want immediately.
It was true in combat and human interaction.
“I do have a question for you,” he continued when Fjord was back to standing normally. “Do you know if the priests stayed at the mansion or left to the church in this region?”
“The church,” Fjord answered. “They left as early as the third hour. I checked the time stone.”
The time stone was Nastild’s version of a clock. It carried a simple enchantment and was powered by injecting it with the smallest amounts of mana. Every time stone had a max mana capacity before it ran out and stopped working. It had the design of a sundial but was a semi-circle with a single dial hand.
The day started from one end of the semi-circle and moved all the way to the other end. Then it repeated the process back to the other end for the next day.
“What of the priest with the white hair?” Aiden asked.
“He went with them.”
Aiden nodded. It was a good sign that the boy liked to pay attention to what was his business and what was not his business.
“And the Mages?” he asked. “The lady with the colorful hair and glasses?”
“They were given a room in one of the wings,” Fjord answered.
Worry creeped into Aiden immediately. “Thank you. Now, you remember what I have asked you to do, correct?”
Fjord nodded. “But when do I leave?”
“Immediately,” Aiden answered. “You are not an employee here. You were simply hosted because I was around. The Lord of the manor is very aware of the fact that you are allowed to leave whenever you want. Just report to the head butler and you may take your leave.”
“So… I should leave the moment you do?”
“Yes.”
Aiden didn’t wait for any more words. He turned and made his way to the carriage. His steps were quick, and he did his best to hide his hurry. The last thing he needed was for Lady Estabel to find out that he had come with the princess and was leaving with the princess.
There was nobody in the manor that didn’t know that the princess and her ‘entourage’ were leaving this morning. What those who didn’t pry would not know was that Aiden was a part of the entourage.
Aiden would be very dissatisfied if he managed to avoid the [Saint] but not the [Mage].
Valdan opened the carriage door as Aiden got to him.
“You look like you’re running, Lord Lacheart,” he said simply. “Does this have anything to do with a certain man you are supposed to have a conversation with today?”
Aiden hurried into the carriage and found Elaswit already seated inside.
“We’ve been waiting for you,” the princess told him when he took his seat.
Valdan stepped into the carriage and closed the door behind him. “Lord Lacheart seems to have presented the boy he invited into the Naranoff household with some form of assistance.”
“It was nothing grand,” Aiden said, eyes glancing out of the window. “Just a task.”
Valdan’s brows furrowed. “A task?”
“Where I come from, people like him are called delinquents,” Aiden explained. “They’ve lived a life of doing things in opposition of society that it would be too much to just snap back to following societal norms and rules.”
“We also have delinquents, Aiden,” Valdan said, drawing a surprised look from Elaswit. “In fact, if you weren’t a special case, you would fall under the category of delinquents.”
Aiden made a face at him before he could stop himself. It was childish and very surprising. More surprising was the laugh that Valdan managed to suppress.
“It is always amusing yet terrifying when you act your age,” Valdan said.
Aiden schooled his expression and opened the window next to him. He would admit to having surprised himself with his behavior.
Reaching out of his window with a hand, he beckoned one of the men on a jepat to him.
“Princess,” Valdan said suddenly. “Is there a problem?”
Elaswit shook her head. “No, none at all. It’s just… you called him Aiden.”
Valdan nodded as the man on the jepat came to Aiden. “I did.”
“You always call him Lord Lacheart,” Elaswit pointed out. “And he always calls you Sir Valdan.”
“He does?”
“Yes.”
Aiden turned away from the man on the jepat for a moment to look at her. “I do?”
Elaswit looked between the both of them, befuddled. “Yes. You do.”
Aiden’s brows furrowed and he looked at Valdan. “I call you ‘sir’?”
Valdan shrugged. “That’s news to me, too.”
Elaswit frowned. “What’s going on right now?”
Aiden returned his attention to the man on the jepat. “Do you have a stamina, mana, and health potion on you?” he asked. “Partial recoveries only.”
The man nodded, hesitantly. “Yes, my lord.”
“May I have one of all three,” Aiden requested.
“No need for that,” Valdan said, loud enough for the man to hear.” He patted a small pouch on the seat next to him. “I have one of all three.”
“Oh.” Aiden waved the man on the jepat off. “It seems I would not be needing them anymore. Thank you for your time.”
The man bowed slightly before his jepat trudged away.
“I’m not sure how I feel about this,” Elaswit said as their carriage finally started moving.
“How you feel about what exactly, princess?” Aiden asked.
“This.” She gestured from him to Valdan with a hand. “And why are you calling me princess and him Valdan?”
“Because you are princess and he is Valdan,” Aiden said with a shrug.
Valdan adjusted on his seat so that he could face Elaswit. “Are you sure everything is alright, princess?”
Elaswit frowned and Valdan laughed.
“You’re mean, Valdan.” Aiden laughed. “How could you do such a thing?”
“If I’m not mistaken, Lord Lacheart,” Valdan said. “You are the one doing something.”
“What’s happening right now?” the princess pointed an accusing finger at Aiden. “When we were coming, we were the ones messing with Sir Valdan. Why am I the one being messed with now?”
Aiden shrugged. “Maybe Valdan and I bonded during our stay here.”
Valdan chuckled easily. “Maybe.”
“Despite you and I being the ones that ended up getting stuck in a cave and risking our lives together?”
Aiden couldn’t be sure, but he thought he heard a touch of hurt in the princess’ voice. As if she wasn’t being rewarded for her hard work.
Valdan let out an apologetic sigh. “Try not to hold it against him, princess.”
“And why should I?” Elaswit asked.
“Because Lord Lacheart isn’t very good at making friends. Sometimes I believe the concept eludes him.”
“And how many friends, pray tell, do you have?” Aiden said.
Valdan smirked at him. “None that you know of.”
For whatever reason, Elaswit sucked in a deep breath and let it out. “If I keep thinking about this, I’m just going to keep feeling bad.”
Aiden wasn’t sure if she was being serious or if she was still playing some angle. This was the problem with playing an angle and getting caught. It made any other thing you do, genuine or not, seem like another angle.
“My apologies, princess,” he said to her. “I did not mean to offend.”
Elaswit made a dismissive gesture with her hand. “It’s fine. But the least you could do is obey my request.”
“What request is that?”
“I take it that she’s speaking of the one she made when we were coming here,” Valdan said. “That you call her by name when it is just the three of us or the two of you. Am I correct, princess?”
Elaswit nodded. “He called me by name in the cave a few times. By the life of me, I do not understand why he stopped when we left the cave.”
“Perhaps he is shy,” Valdan supplied.
“Valdan,” Aiden said with a scowl.
“Yes, Aiden.”
“Remind me to aim my sword at your eye the next time we train.”
“Gladly.” Valdan paused. “If you don’t mind me saying, I find myself looking forward to the next time we spar.”
Elaswit looked between the both of them. “I think I would very much like to witness it. Merciful wrath against level and experience.”
Aiden turned to her taken aback. “What did you say?”
“Merciful wrath,” she repeated easily. “That’s what they were calling you at the soiree after you retired. The way you fought the lady was wrathful even if not chaotic, however, you showed mercy in the end.”
Merciful wrath was a phrase the [Saint] that had killed off his poaching crew in his past life had used to describe his actions. Aiden wasn’t sure how he felt about being referred to with it.
“That isn’t necessarily why I am looking forward to it, princess,” Valdan said.
“Really?” Elaswit asked. “Then why are you looking forward to it?”
Valdan looked at Aiden and Aiden understood what permission he was seeking. He nodded. It didn’t really matter if Elaswit found out what his level currently was. She would report it to her mother who would tell the king who would already know because Aiden would have to tell him when the king asked.
He could refuse the king’s request or even lie, but then there was the [Sage]. So, there was really no point to refusing or lying.
“My interest is not in Lord Lacheart’s fighting prowess,” Valdan said to Elaswit. “Lord Lacheart has always been very skillful. What you saw at the soiree was just him being mean about it.”
“Very true,” Elaswit agreed. “But from what I heard, the lady was probably close to level forty. Definitely in her thirties, though.”
“That’s why she was doomed to lose.”
“I don’t understand.”
“She was more fanatic than reasonable,” Aiden said as the carriage rocked from climbing over something on the road. “She did not do her research. She simply made her challenge, guided by her unjustified rage.”
“What research?” Elaswit looked from Aiden to Valdan. “What am I missing?”
“Lord Lacheart couldn’t have reasonably lost the fight even if her skills and his were equal, princess.”
Aiden and Valdan waited patiently after Valdan’s words. Elaswit just sat where she was, staring at nothing, eyes moving gently in their sockets.
“I know you guys are trying to tell me something, and I swear I’m not dumb,” she said quickly, I’m just confused because what you might be saying is hard to believe.”
“Would you like the nice knight to spell it out for us?” Aiden teased before he could stop himself.
Elaswit pulled herself together. Composed, she leaned forward and looked Aiden in the eye. “Why don’t you spell it out for me, Lord Lacheart?”
Aiden shrugged, nonchalant. “Because it will be considered bragging.”
Elaswit sat back with a sigh. “You’re level fifty, aren’t you?” she said. “I’m guessing you somehow crossed the threshold during the poachers incident.”
Aiden’s lips twitched. He hadn’t been expecting that.
“But how?” Elaswit asked in disbelief. “You were barely level twenty when we entered the cave.”
Elaswit was definitely not supposed to have that piece of information. And while it could be chucked up to assumptions, her choice of level twenty and not any other random number was a little too specific.
Her mother really prepped her.
“Not quite, princess,” Valdan interjected. “Lord Lacheart is not yet at level fifty.”
Elaswit paused, then sighed in relief. “He’s not? Well, thank the gods for that.”
Aiden cocked a quizzical brow. “Thank the gods for that? If I wasn’t mistaken, princess, it sounds as if you do not want me to be at level fifty.”
Elaswit backtracked almost immediately. “I assure you, Aiden, that that is not what I meant. It was more about my disappointment in myself than you. If I have offended you in any way, I am truly sorry. It was not my intention.”
Aiden waved her worry aside. “What do you mean it is more about you than me?”
“It’s just that…” Elaswit looked down at her hands on her lap. “If you were at level fifty, it would mean that in one month you’ve achieved far more than I have in over two years.” Her jaw tightened. “It would make me feel weaker than I know I am. Especially after what happened in the cave.”
“Then I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news to dampen your good news,” Valdan said. “But Lord Lacheart is at level 48.”
Elaswit nodded. The action was slow, accepting of her state. “I guess once we get back, I’ll have to double down on my training.”
“I would not advise that,” Valdan said. “The lady who challenged Lord Lacheart was weaker than you by level yet she was older than you.”
“And Lord Naranoff said she was the most promising talent he had,” Aiden added.
“I understand what you two are trying to say,” Elaswit said, finally raising her head to look at them. “I should not be so down because I have it better than someone else. That I should not belittle my growth.”
“That is a part of it, princess,” Valdan confirmed.
“But I am a princess, Sir Valdan. How my father raised me does not allow me look to those beneath me and understand that I am in a good position. It is to look beyond me and understand that there is a position higher than mine, a position I should aspire to grow myself to.”
“If you are so determined to follow this path, then I would just like you to know that you are aspiring to become a monster,” Valdan said. “Lord Lacheart’s growth isn’t just irregular, it is abnormal.”
“Harsh,” Aiden said. Outside the carriage was finally pulling up to the teleport location.
Valdan ignored Aiden. “To grow like Lord Lacheart, princess, you will need to place your life in the kind of danger that no sane person ever should.”
“How so?”
“He stepped into a cave when he was weaker than you, princess. Whatever was inside the cave was strong enough to make you unconscious, yet he did not pass out until after he had come out. I believe he has a tenacity that is otherworldly because he is otherworldly.”
Says the guy with the [Inevitable] title, Aiden thought.
Elaswit sucked in a calming breath. “It does not matter. I will try and try until I can try no more.”
Valdan winced at that, probably from the repercussion of having to explain to the king how he traveled with the princess and came back with her wanting to grow at a suicidal rate.
“Also,” Aiden said. “Since we’re being honest, I’m actually level 49 not 48.”
Valdan looked at him. “Another level? In a single night? How did that…” he paused and his expression saddened. “Belle.”
Aiden nodded.
Elaswit looked between the both of them. “I don’t think she put up a fight strong enough to push him to the next level without killing her.”
“She did not,” Valdan agreed. To Aiden, he added: “That was the reason you were suddenly no longer in the mood for the party, isn’t it?”
Aiden nodded.
“What am I missing?” Elaswit asked.
“The lady did not make it, princess,” Valdan said. “She probably died from her injuries.”
“But they didn’t seem that bad.”
“They were. If you ever strike someone in the chest and they cough up blood, it means you have broken something inside of them. Their rib bone could’ve pierced their lungs as easily as it could’ve pierced their heart. With all the damage he inflicted on her, without a potion, she would not have recovered naturally. Not at her level.”
“Oh.” The information saddened the princess. “And after he’d gone out of his way to spare her. I’m sorry to hear that, Lord Lacheart.”
“It’s fine, princess.”
The carriage pulled to a final stop and the subject changed.
“Are you sure you do not wish to simply travel by road, Lord Lacheart?” Elaswit asked as the [Mages] and [Enchanters] went to work in preparing the teleportation device. “That would be a safer option.”
“This is fine,” Aiden said. “We’re prepared for this so it shouldn’t be an issue.”
He hoped it wouldn’t be. With his increased level and his upgrade from [Resilience] to [Willpower] he was almost a hundred percent certain that he would be fine.
Besides, nothing bad happened until I noticed the [Multiverse Agent]. As long as I keep my head down, I should be fine.
Choosing to travel by road would have been a perfect idea since I would be a good chance to escape if not for a few reasons. One was that Aiden had no intentions of escaping without his brother, Ted. Another was because it would take him too long to navigate his way to where Ted currently was in the town of cannibals as confirmed in the letter Brandis had sent to him. And the third reason was that he had to collect the bank card the palace had prepared for him.
Once he had the bank card, there was a group he needed to get in touch with. And he had it on good authority that they had an operational branch in the capital city. After all, the good authority was his.
Someone knocked on the window on Valdan’s side of the carriage, and the knight opened it.
“Prepare for teleportation,” A lady said
Valdan nodded and closed the window with a worried look in his eyes. He placed his hand on the small bag with the potions next to him. “Prepare for teleportation.”
The princess nodded and took a deep breath. Valdan’s worried eyes remained on Aiden as if he didn’t want to lose track of him during the teleportation.
While Valdan took in a calming breath of his own, Aiden simply bowed his head and kept his eyes on his lap. He would’ve liked to close his eyes as well, but he kept them open, instead.
The last thing he wanted was for something to happen that he could’ve avoided if his eyes were open.
Then a single word filled the air. “IMPACT!”
The air grew thin, then somehow it became stale as if it had aged and expired. The world around Aiden froze, and as expected everything grew dark.
The carriage around them was the first thing to start turning to dust. The evolution was slow, black dust scattering about into the wind. In a moment, the roof was gone. Then Elaswit’s eye was swept away as dust.
Valdan started next. His left leg exploded into dust.
Aiden took a deep breath. Alright, all you’ve got to do is mind your business, Aiden.
He stayed stationary as everything around him devolved into dust. When it was all gone, he was left standing alone in the darkness.
When the entire carriage was gone, he heard the sound of something falling. It was small and light. When he turned to look at it, it was not too far from him.
Isn’t that where the luggage was supposed to be packed? He wondered, staring at the crystalized dimensional mana.
It took him a moment before a part of him realized that he shouldn’t really be surprised. That a crystalized dimensional mana did not immediately devolve like everything else during a spatial event wasn’t really surprising.
Keep your head down, Aiden told himself as he walked up to the crystal. You’ll survive longer that way… hopefully.
If he could just make sure he didn’t stare into the horizon, he would be fine.
Hopefully.
Standing over the crystal, he bent down to pick it up and froze.
Please, God, he groaned. Tell me it’s not what I’m thinking.
He’d heard a sound, and another followed in his silence. Aiden’s hand trembled slightly. The sound was small, minute. It was like the small sound of glass breaking.
Aiden turned his head to look behind him but did not stand. There was no way it was coming from the horizon. He refused to believe it.
Behind him, he was met with the sight of a different surprise.
What the hell is that? He thought, picking up the mana crystal and sliding it into his pocket. As always, he kept his eyes on a single point, refusing to look around.
What he set his eyes upon looked like a crack in the dark space around him. It spread from a single point, hairline fractures reaching about. However, it was black. A deep black that was too evident in the darkness around him.
Aiden’s brows furrowed. He opened his mouth to complain only to clamp it back shut. There was a reason he’d been thinking to himself and not talking. Two reasons, in fact. The first and unimportant reason was that he was alone. He wasn’t prone to talking out loud when he was alone and talking to himself. The second reason was that his own voice may attract unwanted attention.
As he watched, the fractures pulled together, and the point of their origin expanded in size. Nothing about this was looking good and Aiden took a hesitant step back.
Why is this shit happening to me?
The moment the hole became large enough, the cracks shot out of it once more, but this time they stretched to touch the ground around the hole. Aiden stared as the cracks moves slightly.
He stared at a black ball that had grown to the size of a car’s tire while cracks as fat as an octopus’ tentacles kept it upright.
Two more cracks spawned around him, and Aiden’s interface came alive.
You have got to be kidding me.
[Anomaly Detected!]
[Prisoner #234502385739 you have encountered your first Spatial Crack]
[Contacting System Admin for support resolution.]
[Estimated time of successful contact: 00:11:24]
[Prisoner #234502385739, Survive!]
Aiden wasn’t sure of what he was supposed to do. On one hand, he knew how long he had to survive. Eleven minutes was a lot of time, but at least he knew his time line.
Eleven, give or take, he thought to himself, taking a combat stance. Not impossible.
On the other hand, was Prisoner #234502385739 ready to meet a system admin or any form of help that would draw the attention of a system admin.
Aiden shook his head. He was in no position to be picking and choosing.
Survive first.
He raised his hands as another set of cracks appeared. The first one wasn’t attacking yet. He paused before his hands came together.
Could skills work in whatever this place was?
And was there anyway to survive without drawing the attention of the [Multiverse Agent] he was already trying to avoid?”
There was only one way to know the answer to both questions.
Aiden’s fingers interlocked and he weaved a sign with both hands.
[You have used skill Enchanted Weave]
…
[You have used Weave of Lesser Speed]
[Effect: 60% increase in movement speed.]
[Duration: 00:08:10.]
The information he read stunned him. The effect was double its normal amount. Even at level forty-nine, it was still supposed to give him thirty percent increment. It wouldn’t rise until he crossed over to level fifty. Even then, it would only increase by another ten percent at best.
Double was ludicrous.
The enchantment filled him, and he realized something else. Instead of the power filling him up from within as it always did it felt as if he was using an enchanted item like in his past life.
He’d weaved a sign, however, he was drawing power from somewhere else.
Too many questions were coming to life in his head.
Am I drawing power from this place?
His answer came to him in the form of a notification.
[You have used Crystalized Dimensional Mana]
Aiden pulled his attention away from the notification just in time.
He was gathering his thoughts when the first creature—whatever it really was—attacked.
Aiden’s hands came up at the sudden speed of the creature and he defended himself. A tentacle crack slapped into his raised arm, sending him staggering back.
Pain flared in his mind, not the arm struck, and his interface came alive.
[You have been dealt an Existential Blow!]
…
[Health: 72%]
Aiden stared at the notification as something warm and wet trickled down his nose.
Only one thought came to mind.
What the hell is an Existential blow?
And how the hell had it done twenty-eight percent worth of damage to him in one strike?
Comments
xXMetrinSlerbaXx
Man are my arms tired, hanging on to these cliffs
Keven Leigh
Thanks
