Mask of Humanity

The Examine text hovered over his Marked hand, Nicolai’s eyes skimming through it.

Shelter Glove

This glove is Imbued with a Symbiote of Shelter, and is capable of forming a barrier before the user. It is also hardy, knuckles and back plated with Infused metal.

Quiet Turtle Statue

This statue is Imbued with a Quiet Turtle Symbiote, and is an aid to Cultivation. Once activated, it draws Aura towards itself, acting as a focus point for the Cultivator.

Darting Talon Rapier

This rapier is finely crafted, and Imbued with a Darting Talon Symbiote. When provided Oma it may move under its own power, controlled by the Cultivator’s Soul Sense.

Move under its own power? Nicolai was very curious as to how that would look. He’d have to test it out, something he was eager to do; though he knew it would be difficult to use with his Seed.

Even ignoring its ability, in his opinion it was also a slightly higher quality weapon than his other rapier. There was no real difference in the skill of either rapiers make, but this new one was a few inches longer and it seemed sturdier, too. He saw little reason to ever use his previous rapier again.

The glove sounded even more useful, but that would also bear testing. If it couldn’t deflect bullets then its use would be more limited.

As to the Quiet Turtle statue, he was unsure of it. He remained uncertain as to the exact processes and the requirements of Cultivation, as an act. He opted to ask Kleos about it later.

Nicolai turned to the jewellery next, examining his ring of flight first and smiling at the description. It was still his most prized possession, at least for now.

Pegasi Ring

This ring, Imbued with a Pegasi Loft Symbiote, provides the defining feature of a typical Pegasi archer, the ability to fly.

Searchlight Ring

This ring is Imbued with a Symbiote of Searchlight, capable of blooming with radiance that can reveal the area around its wearer. The Searchlight aids in revealing secrets, prying them out from the wearer’s surroundings.

Blood Bite Ring

This ring exudes a bloodthirstiness that contrasts with its function. When worn and first activated, it will bite the wearer, tying itself to them and their blood. It is Imbued with a Symbiote of Blood Bite, and when activated it reduces the bleeding from wounds its wearer sustains. Removing such a ring can be quite troublesome.

Swollen Eye Amulet

This amulet depicts an ugly, swollen eye. It is Imbued with a Swollen Eye Symbiote, which provides an unusual ability. Once charged, it will occasionally warn the wearer if someone is observing them. It is especially responsive towards evil intent.

Nicolai let out a thoughtful noise after reading the last. Truthfully, he’d expected more. All the jewelry had powers that sounded useful, but nothing compared to the Pegasi ring which fundamentally altered his capabilities. Being able to fly was something that could be applied in infinite ways, whereas the others were much more specific.

Finally, he turned to the keys and the metal bar.

Contract Permit

This permit temporarily increases the user’s Contract limit by one. Once the user has formed another Contract and used the additional slot, ending any Contract will return their limit to the original value.

Use Contract Permit?

Library Keys

These keys allow one to access higher floors within the Library.

There it is. Nicolai smiled.

Maric had mentioned he might find some remnants of the librarians in the prison. Now he could see about taking the first step to completing his bargain with Kleos, something the Contract compelled, and also complete Maric’s quest. That, however, likely wouldn’t be for some time. Kleos had mentioned the Library was likely to be well guarded, especially on the higher floors, and Nicolai had other aims to pursue.

He intended to get his band off, first, and then he wanted to investigate the various routes available to him. With his shimmer poncho he could creep up on the Sniper, and he still wanted her rifle, drone, and whatever she knew about the Trade Link.

Nicolai turned his attention to another matter, considering the Contract Permit in his hand, and the words hovering over his Mark. It was a silver piece of metal, the same rectangular shape as the points tags, but thicker, weightier.

Nicolai accepted the Use Contract Permit? in his interface with a thought, and the piece of metal dissolved into a shimmer of golden light that crawled over his hand and merged with his Mark, causing a faint ripple in the gold. An extra Contract slot was handy to have, he supposed, though not particularly world-shaking to him at that moment.

As his Mark shimmered, the torch abruptly crackled and died. Night had fallen.

‘Found the key to the library upper floors,’ he said to Kleos.

‘Good, good,’ Kleos breathed, and he could hear its smile.

Nicolai placed the things he’d been examining aside and turned on the radio, going to channel eleven. The moment the torches turned off, he thumbed the mic and spoke into it for the first time.

‘Johan,’ he said, and he waited. There was no reply. The channel was quiet. ‘Johan,’ he said again.

‘Nicolai,’ came the reply, ‘now you’re asking for me?’ A weak chuckle. ‘It’s too late. Where were you? I’ve been calling two nights in a row.’

‘What?’ Nicolai frowned at the radio, exchanging a glance with Kleos. ‘What’s the problem?’

‘I’m stuck. Fucking Chosen. They’ve been hunting me. Chased me into my hide a day ago. They blocked the entrance, and I know they’ll be back before I can get free in the morning. I’m stuck here.’ There came a pained laugh. ‘And they got me pretty good. They’ll find me tomorrow.’

‘I’ll come as soon as I can. Where are you?’

‘I’ll be done for by the time you get here.’

‘You might not be. Where are you?’

‘Very helpful, all of a sudden. What do you want?’

‘I need you to do something for me.’

‘There it is. Fine. If I survive, I’ll see you tomorrow. If you get here fast enough, maybe you can unblock my door before they arrive. They must be sheltering in their base overnight.’

‘Where will I find you?’ asked Nicolai.

Johan gave him detailed instructions. After hearing them Nicolai mentioned that his place was quite far from Johan’s, so it would take him at least two hours after sunrise to get there. Johan started muttering about it being pointless for him to come, he would be too late, and so on, but Nicolai simply told the man that what would be, would be, and switched his radio off.

Nicolai was not actually two hours away from Johan’s place. If he left the moment the torches turned on, and Johan’s directions were accurate, Nicolai could get to Johan’s place in under thirty minutes. Nicolai had said those words for the benefit of another.

He felt it quite likely that the Chosen had listened to their conversation. They were a large group and clearly already made much use of the radios. Having a few of their people dedicated to listening to all channels in order to monitor communications in the castle would be a reasonable move.

And even if not, Johan had said he was expecting the Chosen to arrive as soon as they could manage the next day.

He felt there were good odds that the Chosen would therefore attempt to get there in time to catch him and Johan. Likely, they would be coming ASAP regardless of his words, but if he got lucky his act might cause them to delay.

His eyes turned to the Imbued items on the table. When he arrived he would be as prepared as could be. It was time to determine whether any of them could be of use tomorrow. If any were, then he intended to be practised in using them. With the number of Oma crystals he possessed he could afford to explore and learn how they worked.

First he took out the rapier, Examining it once more.

Darting Talon Rapier

This rapier is finely crafted, and Imbued with a Darting Talon Symbiote. When provided Oma it may move under its own power, controlled by the Cultivator’s Soul Sense.

Nicolai placed his Seed in his hand, so it touched the rapier where he held it, and connected to it. The rapier let out a faint shimmer, tiny lines of light moving up and down its length as he pushed Oma into it.

This Imbued felt, again, a little different to any other he had used. There was a place to store the Oma, similar to his Pegasi ring. But where upon activating the Pegasi ring the flying Art would wash out over his body, the rapier was different. It wanted his Soul Sense, he could feel it needed it, in some manner. Nicolai wrapped his Seed’s Soul Sense tight around the rapier, and then shaped and activated the Art.

His Soul Sense firmed where it touched the rapier, connecting into it. With a thought the rapier lifted slowly out of his hand, floating. He felt the Oma within it burning away, powering its movement. He moved it simply by moving the Soul Sense tendrils around it, and as a result found the task quite easy, as he was well used to controlling them. But the rapier’s movements were slow, clumsy.

Frowning, Nicolai made a sweeping gesture with his arm while directing his Soul Sense. The rapier swung through the air in response, faster than before. He pulled his arm and Soul Sense back and the rapier retracted, then he flung his arm forwards and the rapier darted through the air. It was still slower and clumsier than he’d have liked.

‘It helps to move my body,’ Nicolai observed.

‘Naturally,’ said Kleos. ‘I told you this before.’

‘I didn’t think the effect would be so… significant. It is hard to move it unless I also move.’ The Oma in the rapier was almost done, so he pulled back with his Soul Sense and made a flicking gesture with his arm, then ended the Art. The rapier spun through the air toward him and he caught it by its hilt. ‘It means my attacks will be predictable. There will be a visual component.’

Kleos was smirking for some reason, actually seeming quite smug. Like an old man looking at a youth struggling with a task they, too, had struggled with long ago. ‘Indeed. It is one of the struggles of a Cultivator. Learning to control Arts without any movement is difficult. It takes time and focus.’

‘But it can be done? Even for this rapier?’

‘Of course.’ Kleos eyed him. ‘It is not so much the Symbiote, or the Artifact, that matters. There is no such thing as the best Symbiote. There is only the best Cultivator.’

‘Is that a quote?’ asked Nicolai.

‘A piece of ancient wisdom. Heaven only knows who said it first,’ said Kleos.

‘I’ll keep it in mind,’ Nicolai murmured, sheathing the rapier and placing it aside. Next he put on the Sheltering glove, and once again lightly charged it with his Seed. He didn’t intend to overuse his Seed that night, not with what he would be facing come the morning. With so many crystals, he had enough Oma to practise as long as he liked, yes. But his Seed could only take so much strain.

Once the glove was charged he activated its Art. A shimmering disc of pale energy appeared in front of his extended arm, and he felt the Oma dissipating inside of it. This one was much easier to use, it just took a thought to activate it then a little effort to keep it going.

As he moved his arm, the shield moved with it, as though a large, invisible pin kept it stuck in place, a short distance in front of the glove. The shield was a decent size, too, bigger than the typical medium shield an undead might wield. Held out, it almost entirely covered his body, only leaving his lower legs unprotected. It moved in response to the movements of his hand and the glove, but even pushing and pulling at it mentally, he was unable to move it away from his hands. Its positioning in front of the glove appeared to be set.

He bent his arm to bring it across his body, drew a dagger and stabbed the energy shield in its front. His knife deflected off as though hitting a wall, though with no noise, while a faint ripple crossed the energy and Nicolai felt the shield weaken through his connection to the glove. Immediately the Oma still within the glove drained slightly as some poured out and the shield was restored.

Nicolai kept stabbing at it, letting out little grunts as he pumped his arm, feeling the shield gradually weaken and weaken, the glove gradually running out of Oma to replenish it. A short time later he was approaching thirty solid, hard stabs, the glove was out of Oma, and he reckoned the shield was going to pop anytime soon, when Kleos spoke up.

‘Don’t break it,’ said the head.

Nicolai paused. ‘Why not?’

‘If you do, you’ll experience feedback. That’s what you get whenever one of your Arts is forcibly broken. For a normal Cultivator, their Soul would take a hit and they’ll get a hell of a headache. For you, I expect your Seed will take the hit. Though you might avoid the headache, it won’t be good for your Seed.’

‘Got it.’ Nicolai ended the Art, and the faint disc of energy spun away into nothing. He reckoned it could block some bullets, as long as they were of lower calibre. On top of that, as he’d held the shield out he’d felt something, felt that he could be doing things a little differently.

He injected more Oma into it, and began to shape the Art. Only this time, he was more forceful in his directions. He didn’t want a flat disc, he wanted the shield to be curved, like a shallow bowl, with a point in the middle. His knife had tended to deflect from it whenever he hit at an angle, and the resulting loss of Oma had been lessened until he began hitting it straight on. That would work on bullets, too. If he was able to deflect bullets at a bit of an angle, the cost in Oma should be quite reduced.

The Art firmed and the shield shimmered into existence. Nicolai twisted and turned it, looking it over. There was a faint bump in the centre, perhaps the hint of a curve to it. This was quite far from what he’d imagined, which had been a much more pointed shape.

He pulled a face. This was going to require practise, but he couldn’t afford that, not right now. Practise would strain his Seed. For now, this was the best he could do.

He dismissed the shield and it snapped away, Nicolai able to feel the outflow of Oma from where the Art had collapsed, quickly disappearing into the air. He grasped at it with his gloved hand and his Soul Sense, wishing to take it back, but he was unable to find any purchase, just empty air. It slipped away and was gone. The loss irritated him.

He turned to the remaining Imbued to continue, planning to test all of them insomuch as he could without straining his Seed and prepare himself for the morning to come before he slept.