Part 20 - Countdown
Case closed.
They’d successfully solved the ‘plague’ in Port Oronis. She’d finally learned the name of the place as they were leaving.
Elizabeth also finally got the full rundown on the situation from the Ranger once the town [Healers] released him after they were no longer under blackmail threats from the anonymous killer.
Allegedly, the town medical community had begun working on a topic of interest to add to the Medical Manuscripts, hoping to immortalize themselves in history with their contributions. Then they’d suddenly started seeing people dying of conditions similar to the materials of their research and realized they’d be in trouble if anyone found out they were working with illegal substances.
Enter the anonymous killer, threatening to throw them to the wolves by exposing them if they spoke about the plague not being a plague. The first [Healer] to wind up dead after someone tried to tell the town leadership had led to a mad scramble to pressure every [Healer] into joining their pseudo vow of silence on the topic. Which was why they’d kidnapped the Ranger with the help of some random adventurers who’d been poking around after the Justiciary fell.
Surprise, surprise. Scumbags every time Liz had met them so far.
Twice didn’t make a pattern… but if she counted every member separately…
Moving along, Liz had a wild theory. The [Butler] had been a faithful servant for his entire life. Suddenly winds up in service to some newly appointed lazybones while staring down an immortal war. Best way to survive when you lose your best shield in life? Bulk up your stats with some levels.
It was a wild theory with a few holes she’d sadly never get to fill in. Regardless, she could’ve dreamt up a good detective show if it weren’t for the very real, very dead, very innocent children involved.
It put her in a sour mood even before Elina drew up alongside her during their new night of travels across the desert. Annoyingly, the sand was interfering with her sensing abilities, but she had to grant that Sand wasn’t the same domain as Earth. She was in a very sour mood indeed.
“Look, Fate, I want to talk about what you did back there.”
Liz gave her a hard look, then sighed.
“I know I’m one to talk, but what you did back there to that man was effectively torture, and you looked like you enjoyed it. I just don’t want you to do things you’ll regret.” Liz had to admit she knew what Elina had meant. She had taken [Merciless] to get an experience boost when things happened to go that way anyway.
Liz had told herself she wouldn’t intentionally try to go out of her way just to get the bonus, but somehow she found herself delighting in making him squirm, even considering him prey.
“I know. I should’ve knocked him out or just killed him. I don’t regret his death, though.”
“Oh, no, the man was a complete monster. He totally deserved it. Just keep in mind that I’m the slow, painful death gal around here. Leave the emotional trauma to me. I even have skills to help with it, like [Hopeless Optimist]. Most people aren’t cut out for the no conscience killing lifestyle, though. It’s what makes me unique, right?” Elina was practically gushing. The younger woman had a serious side, but she just rarely showed it.
“I appreciate your concerns, I think? I’ll give this [Merciless] skill some more thought. Either I’ll learn how to keep the urge in check, or I’ll drop it. Killing doesn’t seem to bother me, but when I think of kids being killed without them having a chance to do all the great things life can offer? It bothers me. How dare the choices of someone else take away the lives of the innocent?” Liz did her best to put her feelings into words. The people she’d killed had made their decisions, fallen into a bad situation and what happened as a consequence wasn’t her problem to feel bad about. But those kids hadn’t had a chance to make bad decisions before meeting their ends. It was the same for the orphans of Heron Lake, and for Jax.
Mason, the young boy who’d lost his arm, had made his choice, too. Liz just wasn’t of the Pallos mindset that said a fourteen year old boy could join a military group and risk his life yet. In the end, it had just eaten at her that he’d gotten hurt while she did nothing.
And so she’d changed that.
She was operating on very little sleep again, and as she made that realization, a sound came to her mind again.
[*ding* You have unlocked the general skill [Tireless]!]
She decided to take the skill. It had been offered before, but she had simply assumed it would be better to build up her own ability to ignore sleep naturally. In a mission circumstance, she would profit from the skill because declining it could be a problem for her. She could drop it if she had to later.
The skill did exactly what it sounded like. It made her build fatigue less quickly, and stacked with her Vitality, she was back to full operating power in no time at all.
The group ended up late to their destination the next morning, using the skill that created the sphere of ashes around their daylight-sensitive members as they finished the leg of the journey with the desert heat building all around them.
Despite the coastal region, they’d still been steadily increasing in altitude over time, and now the grand city rose above the dunes they strode upon.
The Old Capital, Mourningloft.
It was a grand city built on a high cliff overlooking the ocean, at a point with the highest elevation in the entire Justiciary. Allegedly, the stone monument that displayed all of Seira’s [Tenets] was erected within the massive cathedral that stood at the edge of the cliff, and the site was host to a festival to send off the dead every year, giving the town its name.
Sadly, despite the historical importance of the massive sandstone city, trade was important, and such a journey to a city like Mourningloft was a poor investment of time. The new capital was further south, where caravans would be more common.
Entry to the city while part of a foreign delegation right before a major event was fairly easy for them all, and the group entered without incident.
Elizabeth was amazed as she marveled at the displays of skills and ingenuity.
The city itself was far above water sources, but for the religious site, deep tunnels had been created and allowed skills to pull water from deep below. They passed through many districts of the city on their way to their accommodations near the cathedral, and every district had a fountain surrounded by a massive ring dug deep into the earth, each staffed with powerful classers that made their jobs both a vital piece of infrastructure and a tourism display.
The city operated in ways that would’ve taken a massive amount of engineering and resources back on Earth. She was astounded, but she kept her face clear of any signs of it. She was an actress, and she wouldn’t allow anyone to catch her gawking at everything.
“When do we start?” She whispered to Aegis quietly as they began to sort out rooms for their stay at a palatial building near the cathedral.
“We already have. We traveled fast, and got here early enough to have some downtime before the party preparations. That’s what we want to make use of. We’ll split into pairs and have everyone explore, get to know the city, and subtly gather information. We have suspicions that this event will be used to kill off a large number of foreign dignitaries so the Vajra can try to cut ties with their original employers and become their own state. It’s stupid with an immortal war coming, but thirst for power often supersedes good sense.”
“Right, and who am I paired with?”
“Me.” A new, slightly familiar female voice echoed behind her. The inflection was the same as someone she’d recently gotten to know, even when the actual voice was different.
Liz turned around to see a female version of the base’s blacksmith, Anders, standing behind her.
“I’m Anvers. Anders is my twin. [Clothier] and [Jeweler]. Pleasure to meet you.” The lava element of the woman’s eyes made her evoke the word [Smoldering] in Liz’s mind, and she was nearly impressed, or would have been if anyone compared to the peerless beauty of Seira. Liz would’ve bet Anvers had an appearance skill named the exact word she’d been thinking without a doubt in her mind.
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“Huh… I’m guessing you’re the reason Anders wouldn’t let me see my dress before?”
“Yes, indeed. Red and black for Exterreri colors and matched with Sorana’s infamous Runeweave. I’ll have you ready for a party in record time. Hair, makeup, everything else, I have assistants for. Normally, I have a wait list going back months, but for a special project of my brother’s? I can make time.” Anvers began to gush about fashion and Liz gave a wry smile, feeling like she was back home, getting ready for the next set. Aegis gave a small wave as she descended back into the city alongside her new chaperone.
Liz officially loved being on Pallos.
Her mentors before hadn’t had any interest in the topic, but apparently, with how much high mana consumption burned energy, most [Mages] and similar had no problems with their weight or figure. Liz could even eat while she was being fitted for the final touches on her dress—while blindfolded to prevent surprises.
She’d been keeping close to a diet of her usual healthy foods for the weeks she’d been on Pallos for (apparently) no reason. In reality, she could eat whatever she wanted without regrets. It was amazing.
The fitting was nice enough. Stats and skills made adjustments an effort of thought and mana instead of an effort of time and energy.
The same went for her hair, which was already longer than she’d liked on Earth, but the rapid levels in [Stunning] were unbelievable as the stylist changed her look from something adjacent to a rockstar and into something fitting of a cool beauty. She loved it, and it fit in with other Pallos styles much more than it had in the months prior.
[*ding* [Stunning] has leveled up! 44 -> 50]
She liked the new look and glossy sheen of her hair so much that she even passed along some mental images to Seira, hoping for some appreciation from the goddess as well. She got back a sensation that the deity was busy, but appreciated that Liz had thought of her first when sharing the new look.
Liz smiled at the closeness she was feeling from between her and the goddess the more they interacted. It had started faint, but she’d sensed the distance between them closing ever since she’d awoken from her last class-up. Sharing the connection that they had brought Liz a lot of comfort and the goddess had helped her so much that she wasn’t sure she’d ever repay the debt she felt she owed.
As she was musing, Anvers finally returned with her completed dress, still somehow keeping it from her sight as the accursed blindfold went back on.
“Now, Sorana’s amazing work allows the Runeweave to take on a skin tone, right? For sure keep the gloves look, but with legs like yours, your figure stands out more with bare legs.” Liz let the mana flow into the arcanite-woven runes in her bodysuit, letting the mental upkeep of the effect slide into a compartment of her mind with [Mental Partitioning] while she let herself be turned and adjusted to fit the dress onto her body. The Arcanite could sustain the effect alone for a while, but she preferred to fuel such minor effects with her own mana when possible.
Once she was finished, Anvers pulled the blindfold away, and Elizabeth gasped slightly at the reveal.
The dress was somewhat similar to a toga from Exterreri, to match her cover story, except the hemline of the dress swept from high on her thigh at her right hip down to a long skirt at her left ankle. The skirt was solid black, while the golden chains and decorations hung in a sash-like pattern from her shoulder to another chain around her waist, cinched to her figure in an alluring curve. One shoulder was exposed and the fabric hanging from her body was layered between blacks and reds with some white layers to offset the design.
Anvers chewed her lip slightly as she looked over the end product. Liz was satisfied with the dress, but the [Designer] was clearly unhappy with something. The woman hefted a sketchpad from nowhere and wiggled her fingers around in front of her eye while looking at Liz, then seemed to gesture like doing a drag and drop on a computer, and the details of the dress appeared on the page instantly.
Liz stared in amazement as the woman twirled the loose strands of hair that served as her bangs, then began sketching on the pad in movements faster than Liz could follow, all emanating Wind mana as the feather quill danced on the page.
After she sketched for a few minutes, Anvers disappeared into the back rooms for exactly twenty seconds. When she returned, she held ornate white and red lace that gleamed with a mana tether to the sketchpad, then with a grand gesture, the lace zipped to the skirt of Liz’s dress, swiftly adhering to the fabric in beautiful floral patterns along the high-low hem of the skirt.
And Liz would know those flowers anywhere. Hibiscus blossoms decorated her dress in a stark contrast to the black of the skirt.
“Red shoes.” Was all Anvers said as she poked into the back rooms for exactly thirty seconds, returning with some high heeled shoes.
“I know they’ll look great, but…” Liz began to eye the shoes with wariness, “I hate when my feet aren’t touching stone. Even the Runeweave has holes around the balls of my feet to keep in contact with the ground.”
“I can work with that.” Anvers slipped into the back again, and returned only ten seconds later with black sandals with red straps, except the balls of the feet of the shoes were open holes. “Easy enough to just remove some material with a quick adjustment. Wear these and then fill in the hole with conjured stone so it sits flat. If you get good enough, you can even have the stuff flex with your steps so it isn’t uncomfortable.”
Liz slipped the sandals on and did as was recommended. She was definitely going to be working on making them comfortable the whole way back across town.
“Quick question. How do I get back to the cathedral without ending up ruining any of this?” Liz gave a worried look to Anvers who simply smirked.
“I’ll escort you back and protect you. Just count on me!” The fashion excitement was somewhat infectious as Liz breathed a sigh of relief. “Nobody is allowed to travel alone anyway, remember?”
Liz then felt like an idiot at having forgotten. “Right. You’re my hero.” She pretended to swoon like a frail noblewoman, then slipped fully into her character for the evening. “Shall we head out? This ate up almost the whole day, and I need to meet with the envoy before the party starts.”
“Of course, my lady.” Anvers took her hand and surrounded them in a bubble of air currents to deflect the random mud and refuse of average Pallos cities that remained constant hazards to remaining clean. “We should’ve brought you a cloak. You’ll be getting a lot of attention wearing this.”
Elizabeth nearly received more courtship advances during that walk than she’d gotten in a whole day out back on Earth. She couldn’t believe how many people took an interest in her apparent wealth when they saw her. Or rather, she totally could believe the attention she was getting. She quietly prayed to Seira to avoid marriage proposals, but every person who began to approach her to try their luck seemed to suddenly hesitate, as if stunned into uncertainty.
Every time it happened, she got a similar notification, too.
[*ding* [Stunning] has leveled up! 50 -> 51]
[*ding* [Stunning] has leveled up! 51 -> 52]
[*ding* [Stunning] has leveled up! 52 -> 53]
[*ding* [Stunning] has leveled up! 53 -> 54]
[*ding* [Stunning] has leveled up! 54 -> 55]
[*ding* [Stunning] has leveled up! 56 -> 57]
[*ding* [Stunning] has leveled up! 57 -> 58]
[*ding* [Stunning] has leveled up! 58 -> 59]
She couldn’t have been more happy with the skill. It subtly boosted her looks, but it also circled back and kept unwanted advances at a safe distance.
The expression it conveyed for her was ‘I’m out of your league’ instead of ‘beautiful woman over here!’
It was wonderful.
They finally made it back to the envoy’s quarters, and her return was the cue for the strategy meeting to begin.
As it turned out, the Rangers who’d been on the escort detail were all selected for the specific skills that would assist. The [Senator] would have three escorts who never left his side. One was the [Healer] from the prior incident, the second was a Poison classer who had a complete skill set for sensing and neutralizing poisons of various forms for high ranking officials. And all of that wasn’t even the woman’s combat class. The third bodyguard would be the Sentinel, though his real body would undoubtedly be elsewhere, looking over the attache from a distance.
The other Rangers would be on general guard duties, prepared to cover hallways and resting rooms before the Senator even thought about retiring to them. Team Iota would use that cover for their efforts to investigate and prevent the assassination attempts on the foreign dignitaries attending the event.
If the Vajra managed to start a war on Justiciary soil, then it would rapidly become impossible to hide the bases Jayce had all over the country.
Theoretically, Elizabeth was a high ranking human [Priestess] of Seira that had been invited to join the envoy as an interested party after the fall of the nation, and had offered up her blood to the vampires as compensation. In an ideal world, if her Metal class had exceeded her Earth one, she could’ve hidden that she was a [Priestess] to begin with. Things hadn’t panned out that way, but it wasn’t a major consequence.
Liz would poke around the human nobility at the party and hope for a lead on the young boy, then pass along the information for Team Iota to get the child to safety.
“Minor complicating factor, Fate. A member of the Eladria family is present. Lynx spotted the boy’s eldest cousin nearby, despite the family having declined the deal we’d been preparing to get the kids all back home safely. It’s possible they are trying to get the child back on their own, so I want you to keep your eyes on the situation, just in case the cousin does something stupid and gets the Vajra to kill the kid.” Aegis gave her updated instructions, and Liz nodded, filing away details and sketched pictures of people she would be looking for into her mind.
They were all prepared to commence the operation, and Elina finally got a chance to squeeze over next to Liz in their cramped room, practically with sparkles in her eyes, right beside the Ice element that twinkled, showing she was in full [Artisan] mode that night.
“Oh, by the grace of the Goddess! Fate, you look so unbelievably [Stunning]! I wish I was in your position. I don’t care about the kid, so I get it, but I would prefer a gorgeous dress over filling in a food prep role.”
Liz had no idea what the woman would be doing, but she swiftly resolved herself to eat nothing at the gala. Nothing Elina had come near could be safely considered edible food.
“Thanks. Time to go, it’s almost time to start.”
