Adamant Blood

The elevator descended a bit more, and then some big double doors opened, revealing the same sort of area as the false Inquisitor's Hall overhead; an open hallway in the middle, and a row of rooms on both sides. The ground here was stone pavers with grass growing between them and cultivated cleaner plants, like tubes of succulents, glowing and growing in the artificial sunlight. The walls and buildings were 'high class office space', so glass and white stone, with wooden interiors with rows of books and some tables. Classrooms and meeting rooms.

The back of the place had apartments, and those were opaque. Some inquisitors were back there, walking around. Mark might have known them, but he couldn't feel them; all he had to go on was his sight. Mark could still only feel the vectors about 2 meters from his body, now, which was better, but not nearly the usual 500 meter range he casually enjoyed, and mostly ignored completely.

Sentinel Walter waited 10 meters from the door.

Lola led the way forward.

Walter walked toward the side, toward what looked like an office space… and Lola followed, huffing a little bit, ignoring the lack of decorum.

Mark and the girls followed.

Soon, they were all in a room and Walter shut the glass door and the glass turned opaque. Mark's Unionsense suddenly ended at the floor and a handspan from his body. Shutting the door had activated a sensory block. It was a very, very good block—

Walter looked at Mark, saying, "Okuana wants all of the adamantium you have, for free."

Mark easily, politely, said, "Fuck right on off."

Lola tsk'd at Walter. "Surely you aren't truly here, invading this space, for such an unbelievable reason, are you? To ask for things for free? For the Empire of Okuana? Is that Empire falling apart and in need of monetary assistance from one young man? I shudder at the pain dictionaries must be feeling, over the degradation of what 'empire' must mean these days."

Lola didn't usually dress down a person, but Mark loved it when she did; it was always earned.

Walter looked at them all, and then decided to get on with what he had come here for. Asking for all of Mark's current 153 kilos of adamantium was just him trying to get what he wanted without expending any real effort. Now, he was going to talk… And Mark was glad that even if he couldn't directly Unionsense someone, he could still see basic stuff without using Unionsense.

Walter said, "Adamantium has never been as plentiful in the history of the Two Worlds as it has been right now. Your talzarki has been the main source of it, but shadow wars are being fought over those sources, and the black market has never been blacker, because there are needs for adamantium that have never, ever been met before. So it's everything a nation can do to simply maintain what it already has… Because, in addition to standing orders for things like Wands of Destruction, of which a single one turned the entire course of the Battle For Memphi, there have been new discoveries."

Kardi had used that Wand of Destruction quite well.

Mark still remembered feeling all of his astral body, all of his Powers, suddenly shutting down. That wouldn't happen to him anymore, but Wands of Destruction certainly worked very well on other people.

But new discoveries? Yeah. Everyone knew that Okuana had figured something out, but no one knew what that thing actually was.

Mark had a deep, foreboding feeling, that he was about to find out what that secret was, and then everything about his plotted path in life would change.

Walter continued about other things first, saying, "There's also Weapons of Empire, that allow a wielder to act as a kaiju-sized person on the battlefield, the Death Crystals that float above the crystal pyramids of Crytalis and some Arbors of Okuana, and growth artifacts of all kinds. It's that final one, and one other, that Okuana has made great strides in crafting, and creating. I'm sure you know what growth artifacts are."

He was reluctant to actually say what he needed to say.

Mark played along, answering, "Growth items are things like Familiars, but more specialized for their function. I want some growth items for all of my team before we even begin discussing trade deals. And they will be deals. Not gifts." Mark solidly said, "Now please stop burying the lede."

Walter got to the point, "We figured out a way to turn demons real, and then kill them. Permanently."

For a moment, silence.

And then Mark remembered to breathe.

Sally shuddered, letting out a, "Holy fuck."

Isoko asked, "That's not possible? Right? That's not actually possible?"

Lola just stared, trying to judge if this was another trick. A way to fuck over Mark… or herself, or something. She had no idea.

Mark stood stock still as his mind went blank. He was there, standing in that room, but he was also a thousand kilometers away, or more. He was thinking. And then he came back, and stared at Walter's scarred face, at the tiny bit of gold flickering behind his grey eyes. Drakarok was watching right now.

Mark said, "No one can know this. The demons would all band together to kill us all if they knew."

"It's not that simple. There are factions among the demons," Walter said, "But you have figured the biggest concern. Secrecy is paramount.

"That's why we tried to get you to Okuana and make it look like some other shit; charges of trafficking in dragon goods. Your friends would come to rescue you and there would be a fight —probably an emotional one— but ultimately you'd send them away, or we'd read them in. Probably mind fuck them into not being your friends anymore and send them away; that'd be the safer option. We absolutely can't talk to Addavein about any of this, because if he found out then he'd go on to kill all the demons and rule the entire world for dragons, and humans would never gain control of our own destinies ever again. Hard to say what would really happen there, but that is what our people suspect would happen, so we're not doing that. If Addavein knew at all he would make moves in a strong direction, too, and even that might be too much. The demons are looking at him very closely.

"All you have is Leash, a few others, and Thrashtalon looking at you.

"So what we need is adamantium, and a lot of it, and we can't pull all our adamantium resources for this one project because it's too big, and it will make too many waves, and people still need Wands of Destruction to fight against normal shit.

"So now I need you four to make a choice." Walter took out a tiny bottle of pills and set them on the table. "Memory wipe pills. Wipe the last hour of memory. If you think you can keep this secret, then you can keep the secret. If you think you can't, or if you don't want this responsibility, or if your Mind is too low and you're vulnerable to Minders, then you will take the pill. You got that AI in your head, Mark. Make sure he locks this down as critical quarantine information."

Quark whispered to Mark, "Already done."

"Already done," Mark said, looking at the pills. He was not taking those pills at all. "I can keep a secret. My Mind is at 85, too, so I can't get Mind Controlled."

Walter nodded. "Didn't expect you to take a pill; glad to see I was right." He looked at the girls, and at Lola.

Lola said, "I'm in. Obviously I'm in."

She didn't say what her Mind Power Level was at, but Mark suspected that she hadn't had to worry about Mind attacks or keeping secrets for a very long time.

Isoko solidly said, "I'm in. Mind at 90s. I'm good."

Sally said, "I'm in. I need Minder training. Move it to the top of the list."

Walter asked Sally, "Power Level?"

"… 25. 27 on a good day."

"I'm a Brawny, too, and I started there as well. It's enough. We'll spend the next week here, you and me and a few spells I have, and we'll fix that as best we can. You should be able to knock most Minder powers down to a Nudge instead of a Control, and from there it's memory tricks to stay away from crucial information." Walter picked up the bottle of memory pills and said, "Don't tell Eliot outside of a space like this, and probably not ever. His Mind is at 15 and he's already defending himself with Hearthswellian trinkets. In the future, when we speak of being gifted adamantium by you—"

"You're still buying it," Lola said—

Right as Mark was already saying, "Gifting?!" He added, "You're still buying it."

"… In our discussions about adamantium," Walter continued, "We'll talk about how we're buying it for growth items and Wands of Destruction and Weapons of Empire, and never, EVER, approach the truth of this topic with any words even close to 'permanently killing demons'. 'Permanently killing anything' isn't even acceptable. That's the last we'll ever mention those words."

"Sure," Mark said, feeling his heart beat harder. This was real, huh? Permanently killing demons… Was such a thing even possible? Through adamantium? Mark had some sudden, wild ideas of how that could work, but… He didn't really know how that would work at all. Maybe through a Contract a demon could be made 'adamantly real'… Somehow? Mark moved on, "How much do you need per… item?"

"We killed one demon using 1,950 kilos of adamantium. It was a minor demon, though calling any of them 'minor' is a delusion."

Lola spoke up, " 'Minor' demons are ones that don't have names until a Contract gives them one."

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Walter said, "It didn't have a name until we gave it one. Leash, the named demon after you, and filled with Thrashtalon's purpose, would probably require something like 30,000 to 50,000 kilos of adamantium. One of Addavein's medium spikes."

Mark felt another ripple of excitement at the hard numbers. Large numbers, for sure, but solid numbers. Numbers you could plan around.

Addavein had around 18 major spikes of adamantium growing out of his back, each of them the size of a swimming pool, and each of them something like 2.5 million tons of adamantium. He had about 100 or 120 medium spikes of adamantium on his back, each the size of a refrigerator, or maybe like 2 cubic meters apiece. They were each about 50,000 kilos, give or take several thousand kilos.

Each medium spike could kill at least 1 named demon, huh? Maybe 2?

Addavein had countless smaller spikes, each of which were maybe all of Mark's current adamantium stores, or more. 150 kilos was not a lot, when you put it all on top of itself and compared it to other piles of adamantium out there, hanging on the back of a kaiju.

… Mark suddenly felt lesser. "I can't do shit to help you?"

Walter said, "The proof of concept is repeatable. With time we might be able to lessen the requirements. But we need more adamantium. A lot more."

Mark ended this particular conversation, "We'll talk later."

Walter said, "We spent too long on this anyway." And then he stood tall, relaxed, and looked to Sally. "So. Executioner already?"

Sally asked, "Are we splitting up for individual lessons, then?"

Lola said, "That seems prudent." She looked at Walter for a long moment… Then she went over to the door, unlocked it, and went outside, breaking the privacy seal on the room.

Isoko followed Lola, silently giving Sally an 'are you good?' look.

Sally nodded.

Isoko went with Lola.

Mark lingered for a moment, and then he said to Walter, "I was always going to play ball, you know. I was selling adamantium. I was participating."

"Those who have more, have the duty to do more for others," Walter simply said, as though it was a fundamental truth. And it was, kinda; it was at least a truth that Mark believed. "Sometimes that duty grants you prestige, and sometimes that duty infringes on your personal freedoms. Try not to take us saving the world personally, Mark."

Mark frowned.

He walked away.

Lola was in another meeting room on the other side of the Hall.

Isoko was with her, and when Mark came in, Isoko asked, "Do we trust Walter?"

Lola rhetorically asked, "Do we trust the Sentinel of Okuana to do what is good for Okuana, and through Okuana, the world? Absolutely. To do what is good for the people around him, including us? Only as much as it serves the first goal. But you should know this about Executioners: They are the ones who both guard the kings, and kill the kings if the kings should prove untenable… Or at least that is their imposed duty, as dreamed up by Drakarok back when he was still Alexander Volkov. He learned this philosophy most strongly when he visited the Settlement of Xerkona, and he learned about the duty of all humans toward each other.

"So, if Okuana is doing something wrong, then Walter would be the one you would normally contact to physically fight against those wrongdoings. Obviously for Walter, personally, the needs of Okuana outweigh the needs of many individuals. But he's still a Chosen of Drakarok. If he found something about Okuana that necessitated the dismantling of a leader, that necessitated a Quest from Drakarok to right a wrong within Walter's purview, then he would do that, or his Power of Retribution would be stripped from him by his god.

"So, the fact that he is still a Chosen of Drakarok means that Drakarok approves of him in a general sense. Maybe not directly. Maybe not specifically. But generally, yes. With that fact present, and gauging what we just learned…" Her voice trailed off. Lola continued, "In a normal situation, I would say that Walter would either lose his powers, or his life, if something were wrong in Okuana and he knew about it, and he knows an awful lot. So Okuana is probably… fine?

"That's what happens to Executioners, you understand. They either do their duty, or one day people find them missing, and they find bodies desecrated under noble houses the next week. Executioners are canaries in the coal mine.

"But now? I don't know.

"I choose to believe that Drakarok is still a Good God, but I also know that small people get crushed all the time when big people start moving. That is as much as I will say on that, and I urge you two to contemplate what that means for a while before you start making any decisions that you cannot take back."

Mark wondered how he felt about all of that… And then he wondered about his team.

Eliot only had a Mind of Power Level 15. Mind was his specific weakness, since he was an Arch, with a Natural spike for Castellan, and only Castellan. So maybe it was good that Eliot hadn't come down here.

But Sally had a 25 in Mind, and she could do some tricks to help her, according to Walter, and Walter was going to teach her those tricks… And long ago, Sally had confided that some unnamed Executioners or other high up people in the Church of Drakarok, in charge of such things, had put her in place to possibly execute Mark if such a thing should be required… and Mark had mostly ignored all of that, but he couldn't. Not anymore.

Sally had one time confessed to being by Mark to kill him if he should turn evil, and Mark had kinda… accepted that, he supposed.

But the Executioners had probably been expecting Mark to kill her, instead.

Ah.

Shit.

Sally was ride or die, for sure… Blegh. No. Let's not think about that anymore.

Mark looked to Lola.

Isoko looked to Lola.

Mark asked, "Can we do some lighter topics, please?"

Lola smiled softly, and said, "Let us start at the beginning, then: learning systems.

"The systems of governments we have. Politeness in the Xerkonan style, since much of our operations are dictated by Xerkonan Etiquette. Extensive lessons on cultists. The whys and hows of difficult Powers, with a focus on those Powers that cause people to kill others without meaning to, and how to counter those powers. And finally, we have investigative techniques.

"Eventually, you will learn how to work with local governments, when to ignore local governments because they do not know as much as you because this knowledge is poison for common people, and when to kill people who are doing harm to others. Executioners usually work on state levels. The rest of us have our own duties to the world. My personal duty is to find wayward students, guide them back to the light if possible, and then execute them if they should contract with demons outside of approved situations.

"So far, I have had the unfortunate duty to kill 21 mages who would have turned into rampaging monsters. It should have been 22, but that first time I hesitated, and that boy became a serial killer. I knew he was a killer and I had the opportunity to end him before he went out and killed, but I hesitated. Hesitation is not itself a problem. I didn't bring him in; that was my major mistake. I allowed him to leave my office. He was supposed to go to detention. I thought he would go there, as instructed. Instead, he vanished and killed 4 people before we figured him out."

Mark had a near out-of-body experience as Lola spoke of her failure to act, and how deeply that had affected her. Mark couldn't imagine what that must have felt like… But then again, maybe he could. He had had the opportunity to kill Kardi several times… But he had had no reason to do so. She had just been the girl who hated him because Mark didn't like her. Then she became the girl who tried to kill him a few times as 'training exercises' in the HVP.

She had aimed at his eyes with bullets that could have gone all the way in.

Twice.

That should have been enough for anyone to recognize her as a Problem, but they were blinded by her Luck, and Mark had a bunch of other concerns back then.

Mark supposed that sometimes killers walked into your office, and you knew they were killers, but you let them go anyway because you were busy.

And so, you make a mistake that haunts you for the rest of your life.

Isoko was a lot less affected by Lola's story than Mark. She had probably heard that story before, and probably a lot of other bad ones, besides. This was the Inquisitors, after all. It wasn't the Slayers, or the warriors of the settlement, talking about monsters. This was Inquisitor Lola Turner, talking about monsters in human flesh.

"Not everyone is suited toward investigatory work, and the Pantheon recognizes that," Lola said, "Perhaps you would prefer to start accepting Quests from Freyala, to be sent after identified people that need to be killed—"

"Yes," Mark said, "That. Cultists."

"Unfortunately," Lola began—

Isoko whispered, "She got me the same way."

"—investigative capabilities and higher order thinking are still the most important things for an Inquisitor to cultivate, aside from their relation with their god. The empires of Daihoon and the governments of Earth do not recognize 'God told me' as a valid defense for what —when it comes down to it— often resembles murder. Proper investigation, note keeping, evidence gathering, and such, is vital for every Inquisitor. You have a leg up when it comes to recording, Mark, with Quark. But you still need to know how to put together evidence into a convincing case."

Mark wondered if he could even receive Quests from Freyala, anyway—

A golden light flickered through the space.

Freyala spoke through Lola, "And yes, Mark, you can receive Quests from Freyala, though since you're unaligned, you might be getting Quests from all of the gods, eventually."

Every single paladin beyond the clear windows of the classroom, and even Walter and Sally across the Hall, in their own room, glanced this way.

Isoko took a deep breath at seeing Freyala here, in the present.

Freyala moved on.

Lola grinned a little.

And then, like nothing special had happened, Lola moved to the whiteboard in the room and picked up a dry erase marker, beginning with, "Isoko has learned most of this, but duplicating lessons is useful in the beginning. To start with, let us list all the major organizations of Earth, and Daihoon..."