Jackal Among Snakes

“So… Argrave of Vasquer.”

The lead interviewer scrutinized Argrave from behind his glasses, golden eyes moving calculatingly. Despite the suit he wore, he sported many tattoos. It spoke to an accommodating workplace, or a poor one.

“That’s right,” Argrave confirmed cordially.

“You’re applying for the position of Upper-Level Human.” The man looked to the other interviewers, on his right and left. They all wore fancy C-suite suits, with luxurious black fabric and gold buttons. “That would place you at upper management, here with us. I’m Durran, and this is Anneliese and Melanie. Our chief executive officer, Elenore, will still have the final say, but we thought this interview might provide us something to present her.”

“Nice to meet you all. Some of you I already know. All three of you, in fact. Upper management is something I’ve long looked forward to,” he answered cordially, bearing a hint of familiarity.

“Alright.” Durran shuffled some papers, taking one in hand. “Let’s start with your educational history.”

“Sure.” Argrave shifted on his seat. “As you know, I studied with Professor Erlebnis, majoring in Everything in the Known Universe, with a minor in Somethings in the Unknown Universe.”

“Professor Erlebnis in Germany, right? His thesis on Everything in the Known Universe is quite renowned.” Durran’s finger traced the paper he held until it stopped near the bottom. “But we couldn’t find any information about your educational background before that.”

“Ah.” Argrave scratched the back of his head. “I had a name change.”

“A name change?” Anneliese spoke up. “Was it due to any controversial or infamous event that could compromise the company?”

“No, I just got transported to another world. Nothing significant,” Argrave explained.

“Okay, that’s understandable.” Anneliese nodded, contented.

“You came up through the sales department. People there had nothing but positive things to say about you, from your demeanor to your performance.” Melanie looked through some papers, then focused on Argrave. “What other roles have you had before our company?”

“Well, I was the King of Vasquer, managing a population in the millions. After that, I became the Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force Against the Barbarians of the Great Chu. I’ve also been acting as the de facto leader of the Blackgard Union, managing several high-level deities with large portfolios of divinity.”

“So, you’re already well-accustomed to dealing with people that have rather inflated egos,” Anneliese said positively.

“Indeed,” Argrave nodded. “Some of them are here today.”

The joke landed, and the interviewers laughed. Argrave thought the process was going rather nicely, but Durran’s demeanor quickly became serious and the man leaned in.

“What do you think an Upper-Level Human does in his or her day-to-day? What are their responsibilities and abilities?”

The dreaded curveball came, catching Argrave off guard. He took a beat to compose his answer carefully, and the interviewers all waited in silence.

“Well, naturally, they’re immortal. That’s one of the largest perks, but also the largest responsibility. Old age can’t claim them. Any wound that they receive can be recovered from. Aside from that, it comes with a tremendous advantage against divinity. They’re sort of like… like an envoy for humanity. Not divine, quite, but like divine. A guardian, a protector. Not just a protector of humans, either—human-like mortals, too.”

“Could you elaborate on what you mean by ‘like divine?’” Durran fixated on that.

“Well, ordinarily…” Argrave scratched his chin. “If a mortal uses spirits, it’s either in one of two ways—with magic, or by strengthening the flesh temporarily by injecting it inside the body. While they’re both effective adaptations, it’s not really ‘using spirits.’ It’s jury-rigging divinity. But being an Upper-Level Human, we can finally utilize those vaunted existences properly. In a way, it could be said to be better than they use it, as I’d have a great many of the perks without the responsibilities and restriction that true divinity brings.”

“Interesting. You think spirits are vaunted existences?” Melanie probed.

“What else can I call them?” Argrave shrugged. “Magic has rules, limitations, boundaries. S-rank is the peak. Even using spirits to enhance it, there’s only so much that one single spellcaster can do. The gods, though… with the Domain of Law, I can slow time. It might be a very small amount, but it can be done. Is there magic that can achieve such a thing? Sataistador was a one-man-army in more than one sense of the word. Raccomen can open portals throughout the world, and Elenore has a cellphone in her head thanks to Lira. Erlebnis even implanted knowledge directly into my mind!”

“Is that an admission you cheated in university, Argrave?” Durran questioned.

Argrave raised his right hand. “I plead the fifth.”

“I see. Well…” Durran once again shuffled through the papers in front of him. “As we established, most of this information is something we already know. You have quite the resume, Argrave. And fortunately for you, we here at Being Co. are quite nepotistic.”

“Me too!” Argrave exclaimed excitedly. “I would also promote family members regardless of their skill. Fortunately, they just happen to be extremely skilled. Does this mean that I get the position?”

“Indeed you do.” Durran set down his papers and nodded at Argrave. “You’re going to start your role as an Upper-Level Human as soon as possible. It should be a relatively painless adjustment period.”

#####

“What’s wrong with him?!” Elenore insisted urgently.

Everyone crowded around Argrave after he had bitten into the Fruit of Being. It was because, moments after his first bite, he had slumped against the table and fallen to the floor. Everyone had moved quickly—Anneliese quickest of all, who held Argrave in her arms—but rather than unconscious, Argrave seemed to be in a trance.

Anneliese studied Argrave intently. He muttered something as he chewed on the golden fruit. His eyelids flickered, alternating between open and closed. The hand which held the Fruit of Being continually raised it back up to his mouth, taking fresh bites out of it as he zoned out. The movements were more like sporadic spasms, and his mutterings somewhat sounded like groans and coughs beneath his mouthfuls of food… but Anneliese saw neither pain nor disgust on his features. Still, the oddity of it all made her declare nothing for certain.

“What can you see with your [Truesight]?” Orion asked her, calm yet insistent. “Need we pry the golden fruit from his hand, that it might not again grace his lips? Would that harm him?”

“What I see…” Anneliese’s gaze went past the surface, into Argrave’s very being. She saw much the same thing she had seen within the fruit—an infinitely-expanding universe of possibilities with neither end nor beginning. It was as though he ate the starry skies themselves, taking in the unknown and chewing it up with his teeth until it became part of him. As for whether or not it was doing him ill…

“His soul isn’t weakening,” Anneliese said, unable to convey much else sufficiently. “Rather, it’s growing in brightness, in intensity. Most notably, however, is what the spirits inside him are doing.” She looked up at Raven.

“I see it too.” He kneeled down before Argrave, the gray eyes on his head glowing green as he called upon [Minor Truesight]. “It’s fascinating. I’ve never seen spirits behave in a way like this, ever.”

“I can’t get through to him,” Elenore said, massaging her forehead as she paced around nervously. “The connection between us is still there, but I just can’t get through. Can we stop him from eating? What if he’s in pain?”

“Pain has proved an insufficient obstacle for him in the past,” Raven observed passively.

“Doesn’t mean he needs to go through it all at once.” She looked at Raven, and fearlessly said, “Did you have to encourage him so? Can you take responsibility for what happens?”

Anneliese slid her arms under Argrave, and picked him up. In his trance-like state, he was much easier to carry—his arm even slid around her neck, like it was natural. He had grown a fair bit heavier, but the enchantments on her armor made such a task easy.

“I believe all he needs is a place to rest easy. Rest in quiet, without undue stimulus to interrupt the process.” She looked around. “I shall find a bed for him to rest in, for now. Rest assured I will have any of you at hand in a moment’s notice.”

#####

Argrave opened his eyes. He saw a blue bed canopy, and turned his head about. He felt quite clear-headed. He remembered eating the Fruit of Being, then… a strange dream.

“Hello there,” Anneliese said—he recognized her voice at once. He turned his head to see her sitting on the side of his bed.

“Hey,” he greeted, in no hurry to move. “Had a dream about you. You looked rather… ravishing. You usually do, but…” his mind went back to Anneliese in a suit, with her long legs... Was that something to keep in mind? He certainly wasn’t eager to forget it.

“That’s the first thing you say?” Anneliese scoffed. “Everyone was panicking about you dying or being in pain. You do remember eating the fruit, yes?”

Argrave sat up. “Very vividly, yes.”

“I insisted that you would need low stimulation due to your changed mind when you awoke, but I really just wanted some peace for my own inquiries.” Anneliese leaned in. “I cannot think it was painful. Am I wrong? Is it painful now? It looks like you continue to change, but I detect no pain. That’s rather unlike your past incidents.”

Argrave touched his face. “Continue to change, you said? What does that mean?”

“Internally, I meant,” Anneliese clarified. “Only internal changes, for now. How do you feel?”

“Pretty good,” Argrave said, nodding slowly. “No different than normal, really. Like nothing happened at all. But…” Argrave’s mind wandered back to the dream.

“But?” Anneliese repeated.

“I think I know how I changed,” Argrave looked at her. “I think the dream I had told me what was happening. But the things that it said… it’s a little…”

“You seem skeptical, yet hopeful.” Anneliese tilted her head.

Argrave replayed the memory in his head. It was almost too clear to be a dream. “It claimed I could use spirits as divinity could, but that I wasn’t a deity.”

Anneliese took a deep breath, closing her eyes. “Why don’t you look where we ordinarily keep spirits for shamanic magic?”

Argrave obeyed her instructions, but it was like grasping at an empty void. He touched his chest in alarm, only to realize that much more than that alone was off. All of the energies inside of him, even his blood echoes, were astir. They were changing, morphing, making room for something new deep within.

Thrusting his body to the edge of the bed, Argrave rose up and looked around. “I think we need to go outside. Not just outside—maybe back home, to the mountains in Blackgard. Quiet place, to test this out.”

Argrave rubbed at his neck, imagining what exactly this new state of being would make him into. He couldn’t say he hadn’t asked for, even expected, this change, and yet… how deep did things go?