System Break

The jovial cut and thrust of banter with the peasant come black cloak girl was in stark contrast to the mood in the master's chamber.

The walls were lined with shelves where hundreds or thousands of scrolls which were rolled up and sat haphazardly. There were work benches covered in all sorts of parts and curious mechanisms and the room was well lit in comparison to most places in the undercity.

The master himself was shrouded in black robes but his glistening blue eyes shone as he caressed and peered into a dark orb. Although his eyes were bright his skin was leathery and crinkled with age and as his hands passed over the orb orange and yellow swirls appeared and disappeared.

The old crone moved to leave and when my guide was about to follow she was ordered to stay. There were the four of us in the room. The master, the young guide, myself and the powerful creature which hid in the corner. She wasn't visible to normal sight, but I could see the shade's core. While the young street girl was talented, and the master had spent decades improving his core the shade made them look like amateurs. Her core was three times as large as Benzhi's. Larger than anyone I'd seen.

Even without the girl's warning I knew to be wary. It didn't escape my notice that she stood close to me and was more nervous than I was. While I drunk in the room and everything in it, she stared at the floor and tried to disappear.

There was another important thing of note, there was a land core withing what looked like an altar covered in pictographs. The carvings were unlike Egyptian and I wasn't sure was early Chinese writing looked like. 

Unlike the land cores in the noble district this was not connected to anything, it was not part of their grid.

"Interesting," the master said.

The girl shifted nervously.

He looked up at me with his bright blue eyes; they looked young in contrast to his leathery skin. "I rarely find interesting people these days," he said. His voice had a gravel yet high pitch; it contained mild amusement and self-assurance.

"Is that good or bad?" I asked.

His hand ran unconsciously over the orb and his eyes sparkled. "I do not know. Let us find out. Shade," he said, and I looked towards her corner. His eyes were locked on me and he smiled – my tell was deliberate. I wanted them to know I knew where she was.

"Interesting indeed," he said. We were playing a game within a game. The girl was just a warmup.

She stepped forward and appeared and like him she was shrouded in a black cloak. Her head was bowed and only her eyes were visible from the dark depths of her cowl. She kept walking and the closer she got the more nervous the girl became.

And as Shade closed on me the girl retreated away from the both of us. Curiously she circled me with her head and cowl angled towards the ground she inspected me with her peripheral vision or with something else entirely.

I could feel her aura rather than see it with my qi-sight. It was generated by her qi but it was something else entirely. Her streams vibrated and what emanated from her were waves of energy. Her aura was like something I should have learned in physics if I had paid more attention. 

It was a field. 

A field generated by her qi. I was amazed by it just as much as I felt its pressure and the reason the girl backed away became apparent. The pressure was like gravity pressing down on me with an ever increasing force. It had a volume knob, and she was slowly turning it up.

"Interesting," the master said as I withstood her assault. 

My own qi reacted, and my streams filled like I was about to engage in a deadly fight. I was glad I came, she had power unlike anyone I'd met. If I was going to grow and defeat a Titan I would need to learn from a being like her.

Although I couldn't see her I was sure of one thing. She was not human; she was something else entirely.

She was slightly shorter than my short ass lump and although she was fully enclosed in a cloak she moved gracefully across the floor. It wasn't obvious if she stepped or glided as she circled me and tried to get me to drop to the floor.

The girl was as far away as she could get, and she fell to her knees moments before I did.

The pressure was insane and despite my qi leaping to my defence I did not have the technique to protect myself.

She glided back towards the master and stood behind him. The pressure slowly left like it was water in a sink which was circling a drain. I could hear the street girl's hard breathing as I stood back up. I was glad she was affected so badly because it made me feel better about falling to my hands and knees.

"You are a novice?" the master asked.

"I am," I said.

"Did he defend?"

"No." When she spoke her voice reminded me of Gisael. She couldn't possibly be a Svartalfar could she?

I looked for her hands, but they remained by her side and the sleeves of her cloak hid them. I had to get her to do something so I could see her skin. I had to know if she was a Svartalfar.

"How did he stand if he doesn't know how to defend?"

She did not answer.

"Reiko?"

The girl whimpered and I now knew her name. "How the fuck should I know." Then she added belatedly. "With all due respect master."

He ignored any slight.

"Tell me adventurer. How can you stand when you are a novice who does not know how to defend against a pressure aura?"

"Pig headedness."

He chuckled and shook his head. "Keep your secrets it will be a fun game to unravel them." 

He looked at Reiko and his eyes unfocused as he thought. "He lacks training, but he can spot your tail easily."

"He has training," she said. "He easily defeated the other adventurer and he's been in the undercity before."

The master did not react to her words but looked at me instead. "What shall we do with you? That is the question."

We stood in silence while the master pondered me. I had to play this smart, keep them onside so I could use them. I kept my mouth shut and waited.

"Why did this one not come to notice before?"

"He died and it took time to come back."

The master chuckled. "Oh to have such power. You can fight without care."

"We can die the real death."

"Tell me? No wait let me puzzle it out." He rubbed his orb unconsciously as he thought. It took a minute, but his toothy grin spread across his face and then he said, "Consume the core."

I nodded. "Consume the core before we escape back to the old world."

"Is it wise to tell me this secret?"

I shrugged. "Is it wise to visit the den of the black cloaks?"

He chuckled. "Touché. So, you're a novice and unwise. And yet you are intriguing, what shall we do with you? Reiko?"

"I'm not ready for an apprentice."

He chuckled. "Granted - you do not know much."

The shade moved forward, and it was barely perceptible. But both the master and I noticed her tiny movement which was in contrast to how she was like a statue before.

"Shade?" he asked.

"I want him."

A look of surprise sprang to the masters eyes. "You … what?" He said and turned.

"I want him," she repeated.

Reiko shot me a warning look of impending doom.

"For what? You don't take apprentices. You are my seer and adviser."

"This one I take."

"What aren't you telling me?"

Her head tilted and her cowl fell away slightly showing a tiny amount of skin on her cheek. It was not green it was cerulean blue but as quickly as it appeared it disappeared back within her cowl.

"Much," she said.

He cackled. "I want to give him to you just to see what happens."