Sadly, he isn’t allowed to change his jammies. Not that he’s particularly sad about it, when there are much bigger things to worry about.
The church people teleport him directly to the church’s base, where he is escorted to an underground room. The room has a single bed, a table in the middle, and two chairs on the opposite side of it. The room is dimly lit, leaving shadows hanging at the corners of the room.
“Please relax. The priest will be here in no time,” The men turned and walked away, locking him in the room with those words. Adrian wants to say something snarky, but decides that it is better not to aggravate them.
Sitting on the bed, he tries to connect to his avatars outside to enjoy his time, but finds that his connection to them is cut off. Not dispelled, just cut off, like stuck in a static.
Adrian wonders if the memories just can’t reach him here, or are his avatars just lying on the ground like bags of meat? The former will be a better situation, but he couldn’t decline the comedic potential of the latter either.
Cut off from his avatars, and unable to cast anymore, Adrian goes through the sword motions he has been practising yesterday. He takes off his shirt, and looks at his jammies. They are not the best for practice, but will do.
His sword moves are less brute force, and more focused on fluidity and his own flexibility.
When he has just been a normal human, where the difference in strength doesn’t matter against the edge of a sword, he has focused equally on strength behind his attacks, and his flexibility.
But now that he’s predominantly a magic user with high flexibility and speed than strength, he has begun to rely more on short attacks which he can stack upon against an opponent with high Resistance.
Of course if he someone has too high of a Resistance then he can always go the suicidal route and have his avatars forego technique and charge at the enemy with everything they have. I should also look for artifacts which can allow me to deal high damage. That is one of my current weaknesses. Using a basic sword at this stage is beyond stupid.
After what feels like an hour of practice, his door opens again, and in walks a man who does not look like he wanna be here, flanked by the same people from before. He throws a towel at him as soon as he walks in.
“How are you practising so early in the morning? You’ve been going at it for two hours kid,” The man grumbles as he takes a chair for himself. “Clean yourself up and put something on, and let’s get this over with, okay?”
“It felt shorter,” Adrian mumbles, calling for his timer, but there comes no response.
Oh yea, no magic.
The man opposite him is a thin man with pale skin, as if he hasn’t seen the sun in quite a while. He is wearing his church robes, but they look wrinkled, like he just put on something he found from the laundry basket.
Adrian dries himself with the tower, puts on his t-shirt, and sits opposite to the man.
“So, wanna tell me how you actually escaped from our detection?” The man asks, yawning on his chair.
“It was very easy, actually. I just had to not be a terrorist. Easy peasy.”
“That is the easiest route indeed,” The man nods in agreement, “But suspicions against your nature have been shown by some people, and it is after all my duty to look through any such suspicions. You ready kid?”
“Tell me doc, what do I need to do to prove my innocence?”
“Well there are a hundred more painful ways we can do it, but I only want one thing today. Just a look at your Status. Any and every special talent is always listed there. Do you think you’ll let me?”
Adrian looks at the man with the same smile, but internally he’s confused. Something like that happens?
“Sure, why not. How do I show it to you? I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone do it. Perhaps the church has some special means that I’m not aware of.”
“The church has me. I’m there special means,” The man chuckles, “I’m gonna give you a prompt, and you must accept it. Failure to do so will be an admission of guilt, and I will not attempt it once more, before confining you immediately, is that clear?”
Adrian nods, a little serious himself.
Then a screen flashes in his vision.
Investigator Hunna Moriya is asking you for permission to see your Status.
A person's Status is a very personal record of themselves, and should not be easily disclosed to anyone you don’t trust. Always remember whom you trust and whom you don’t, even if you think you know them well.
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
Do you agree? (Y/N)
It looks like the Tower is trying to discourage me from agreeing here. Why does it feel like it’s trying to incite aggression?
Adrian very carefully agrees, tapping the Y with steady hands, and his Status opens in front of him, this time visible to both him and the investigator.
“Pretty impressive stats for a level 21. You must have used pretty expensive Sacrifices. Now how does the son of a middle class family gather them?”
“Really just luck. I took part in the special tests, and actually found some pretty decent Sacrifices which I used to replace two of my own,” Adrian replies.
“Do you mind telling me your Sacrifices?”
“Will I get into trouble if I don’t tell you?”
“Not really, I’m just curious. I’ll treat you to lunch if you tell me though,” The man says.
“... I think I’m gonna pass,”Adrian relents. The offer is enticing, but not enticing enough to sell his secrets.
“Ah well pity. But your Status looks clean. Impressive, and clean. Those are two words that I always like to hear. Sadly, the chance appears much less than you would expect.” Hunna sighs.
“Well, it was a pleasure meeting you. You may leave the way you came, I’ll tell the officials about your report. Oh, and also we’ll be calling for you when the scouting team leaves, since you might have to go with them. So be ready, okay?”
“Yeah sure. I’ll be around. You guys should be able to find one of my avatars lying around here and there anyway,” Adrian says. “Oh by the way, if the information is proven right, then who will be part of the attacking party?”
“I don’t have that kind of information, but expect to be updated soon. Either personally, or through an announcement. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a nap to catch up on!” The man leaves the room so fast that it looks like he is gliding.
The other two bows at him, and escorts him out of the building, free once again.
As soon as his feet leave the dark room, a flood of memories assault him. All his avatars, the ones training parkour, the ones studying, and the one going through the market for favourable artifacts come back to him, and he staggers a bit, feeling all the various memories at once.
A few seconds later, he gets back to normal, and goes back home, still wondering why in the hell does his Status not show his special talent?
#
A few days pass and Adrian is called for the scouting mission. The mission basically proves his point that there is indeed an illusion like the one he described. How did the church members see through it, Adrian doesn’t know.
He doesn’t try to understand it either.
The next day, Jarad comes to find him, much happier and much more friendly. Adrian asks if they will be allowed in the mission, but is refuted. Jarad informs that the High Ranker Aymeric has decided to take the mission in his hands.
“Is he afraid that some higher ranking terrorists will be in headquarters? Wouldn’t they have sensed me in that case?” Adrian questions.
“It’s not the case, but he still insists on taking the case, and how can we really say no to someone like him, you know. So don’t worry about it anymore, it’ll be taken care of properly!” Jarad exclaims.
“So when is he taking action? I assume it’ll be before the public execution, right?”
“He’s currently not on this floor. He’s on the third floor on some personal business, but he will be back in a few days, so you can expect it to be taken care of in a few days.”
Adrian hums in response. Of course, the High Ranker wouldn’t sit here all the time.
“You will have to come to the church with me once. There are some papers you’ll have to sign,” He continues.
“What kind?”
“NDA stuff. Don’t worry, it won’t take much time. So let’s go?”
Adrian sighs and follows the man.
He has not expected to meet a familiar face when he enters Jarad’s office, but there he is.
“John? The hell are you here for?” Adrian asks.
“I can ask the same actually. Although it’s probably the same reason for both of us. NDA,” John shrugs.
“You also found the hideout?”
“An accident really. I was fighting around the place when a man walked out of the swamp, probably to check on the commotion. I killed him, and took something which looked like a card. As soon as I touched it, the swamp suddenly vanished and I was staring at a trapdoor. Obviously I had to check.”
“Was the card the one used to open the doors?”
“I don’t know, I didn’t check. But I presume so, yes. I ran away as soon as I could after looking inside. To think you beat me to it. I was expecting some first come first gets reward,” A moment of envy falls on his face.
“I didn’t get any reward either, so you’re not actually missing on something to be honest.”
“Huh, that does make me feel a little better,” John smiles.
“Now now, of course there will be a reward for the both of you! How can we let our church’s name be dragged through the mud like this without awarding two of our brilliant climbers here? Adrian will of course get a bigger award for the location, but you can expect something good for the keycard as well!” Jarad laughs.
“So what’s the NDA about?”
“Oh yes,” He brings two papers from his desk, his demeanour changing at a switch to the formal archivist, “We want you to stay silent about the details of what you have seen inside the hideout. This information can only be shared among people who already know the existence of that room. The contract will stay in effect until you’re either above the 10th floor, or dead.
“You may read the full contract for the remaining clauses, but these are the main ones. Please take your time.”
Adrian raises an eyebrow as he goes through the contract, which basically forbids him from talking about the room, the contents in it, or trying to fabricate the room in any way or form. The contract in itself wasn’t a normal contract, but could cause severe damage to his Soul should he ever break the contract.
“What exactly is so special about the metal walls that guarantees this?” John asks.
“That is not for you to know. At least not at your current stage. Please sign them and leave. All of us are quite busy,” Jarad responds.
Although feeling unsure about it, Adrian still signs the contract. What else is he supposed to do at this stage?
As he signs the contract, he expects to feel something. Some kind of reaction in his own Soul, but nothing of such happens. Perhaps it is because of his own inability to sense his Soul.
Adrian and John walk out of the church together, wondering and asking.
“What the hell could it really be about? What do you think?”
“I don’t know, but the place really was a little creepy. Like it did not belong there. Have you ever seen something like that?” John asks.
“No… most rooms are made out of wood or bricks. Metalwork is not really said to be feasible, nor structurally safe to use when constructing houses, much less an underground hideout.”
“And yet it exists,” John whispers.
“Yet it exists…” Adrian thinks about the white hall, and the metal doors at either side of it. The red slits beside them suddenly feel like eyes. Eyes looking directly into his soul.
Watching and judging if he’ll be worthy enough of reaching the 10th floor and learning its secrets.
#
