(There are only three bodyguards you need to worry about. One of them isn’t here—the most powerful man in the city and soone Archon himself “caught” when that man was much younger. Archon really lucked out with him. The remaining two will be at dinner tonight. One of them is guarding a man called Namior. He’s not here yet and it's not likely he’ll even co. His bodyguard is a vyssari woman. She possesses primordial thermal energy, but there are rumors that she has another. The second person you need to watch out for is the man standing next to our host.)
Sophie gestures towards the gazebo where a group of people is standing in a small circle, drinking from a delicate set of glasses. Each one has a presence that sets them apart from the other groups.
Mostly, the woman with pastel pink skin and pink hair. Her eyes are a mix of blue and pink colors, seeming to move like waves slowly crashing onto each other. Her face and skin are adorned with blindingly white dots reminiscent of freckles. She’s currently wearing a pale green dress with a similar pattern of white dots. Surprisingly, it doesn’t look as strange as I would’ve thought if it had been described to . Her pink skin and hair have taken on a pleasant pastel color, which complents it well.
Other than all of that, there is one more noticeable thing on her: a ring on the pointer finger of her right hand. The ring gleams as if it were made of white light, constantly shivering and slightly changing its shape.
[Waveshaper - lvl 265]
Behind her stands a man. He is tall and handso, wearing a gray and white suit. He has brown hair and a short well-kept beard. His eyes never stop scanning his surroundings.
[Breaker Sentinel - lvl 251]
Over his head floats a crown. It’s bigger than mine, and the design is different as well. The crown is transparent, and so kind of transparent energy seems to be swirling inside.
Sophie’s voice takes on a different tone. (The man with the crown serves as mutually assured destruction. They say the crown he’s wearing is either an [Impact Crown], [Shock Crown], or [Montum Crown]. The energy stored within should be enough to blow up the entire city ten tis over, and his life is bound to that of the woman he protects.)
(Another man Archon picked up and gave to his daughter?)
(Yes. People say that after storing energy in that crown for so long, the man is incapable of using it normally, which reduces his capabilities. But it doesn't matter, the mont he tries to use it he will die, and the crown will release all of the stored energy.)
(That’s quite disappointing. You would expect so skill from soone like that. And his level’s not very high either.)
(My guess is that he was never ant to be anything more than a threat, so the Archon didn't bother "raising him". But let’s greet one of the more powerful mind mages; I want to see her face. She is one of Beatrice’s puppets and really didn’t like it when I was invited to be a part of the Frawork’s maintenance.)
“Pyke, you can go for now. Greet the other attendees and collect as much information as you can. You are allowed to use my na for the sake of reassurances,” Sophie says out loud.
The second assistant just bows and heads for the nearest group of people, and Sophie advances towards the smaller circle of well dressed people. They’re a blend of human, thylarin, and vyssari. And I follow behind her, observing the way people turn their eyes to my crown, wondering if anyone notices the sword on my waist.
So far, most people check the crown, but barely anyone bothers to look at the sword. However, a few do seem curious as to why I would carry such a heavily “sealed” and weak-feeling weapon with .
Especially that pink woman’s bodyguard, who seems more curious about its nature and spends more ti observing it than anyone else.
Sophie joins the circle with a big fake smile and greets everyone, starting with Beatrice’s puppet, to whom she bows gently.
“So, you did have people outside of the city, Sophie, my dear,” the woman smiles as fakely as Sophie did before. As she does I notice Beatrice glancing our way. The blue and pink colors swirling in her eyes. The white freckles on her skin and face seem even more interesting. Their shape is a bit spiky.
“You could say that, Lady Kehsi. I’ve shared a path with Nathaniel for a long ti.”
“He seems useful indeed, especially his defenses… impressive.”
“It’s an arcane passive,” I say, joining the conversation, not minding the looks they send for the offense. “It’s there in case so fucker decides to try and ss with my mind.”
Silence fills the area, and judging by the looks on the faces around everyone seems to be questioning whether or not they heard right.
Sophie doesn’t say anything to stop , but I can almost feel her amusent through our link as she watches the expressions of everyone in this small circle.
After a brief mont of shock, Kehsi smiles, hers even more fake than Sophie´s while still containing a hint of interest and danger. "How rare it is," she begins her tone both amused and cutting, "to encounter soone with such audacious disregard for propriety. I can hardly recall the last ti anyone gave us a display of such... impertinent candor. Perhaps I’ve grown accustod to the practiced reverence of those who know their place." Her eyes gleam with a flicker of sothing unreadable. "Tell , is this insolence an artifact of your nature, or rely a fleeting lapse in judgnt?”
I shrug. “I don’t even know what half of these words an. What I do know is that this man has made three really nasty attempts to get into my mind three tis. Then, when he failed, he tried to etch so orders into on the sly.” I turn and point to the man in question. “I’ve already morized his mana signature and will be finding where he lives very soon. Then there’s the woman to your left who keeps trying to ss with my connection to my crown and make it explode the next ti I fall asleep or sothing. Baldie in the corner tried to leave so kind of tracking beacon on Sophie, so I left my own mark on him.”
Kehsi raises an eyebrow, her smile widening, as though my words have amused her in so darkly satisfying way. "So, beneath that coarse exterior lies a vigilance I hadn’t anticipated," she replies. "You speak as though you understand the delicate intricacies of our world. And yet, here you are—bold, undeterred, and seemingly indifferent to the dangers such accusations carry."
Leaning in slightly, she lowers her voice, each word dripping with condescension and laced with curiosity. "Tell , do you truly grasp the consequences of such… insolence? Or are you rely testing the patience of those who could end such audacious endeavors with a re whisper?"
I keep my tone flat. “I don’t care much for the ‘delicate intricacies’.”
Kehsi’s fake smile widens. “So, you an to say you don’t understand—or rather, you simply don’t care about—the consequences of your actions here?” Her voice is almost mocking, like she’s daring to slip up.
“Guess you’ll find out.”
For a mont, there’s silence. She tilts her head, almost intrigued, before finally speaking. “Bold words for soone standing alone,” she says, but her gaze shifts briefly to Sophie. “I’ll rember this… boldness. Let’s see if it can last.”
Sophie just gives her a big smile and a short nod, after which the woman leaves, closely followed by her bodyguard.
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The man I threatened to mark does the sa along with the two others who tried the ss with us the most.
(These people would be amazing at playing a group of villainous nobles in a TV show,) I note.
(Pff, more than you would think. Now watch how the others react.)
I do as I am asked, and the rest of the circle, which had treated the departed duo so well before, now turns to Sophie. They praise her, they praise , and they imdiately begin to trash-talk the people who just left.
Such shalessness amazes , but it quickly gets to be too much, so I let Sophie handle things while I filter it out. My eyes move across the garden to so sort of mana-based fireworks that occasionally explode in the sky, creating beautiful shapes. Sotis it’s a mystical animal, sotis they look like simple ornantation.
I think I should be capable of recreating them, and the longer I watch, the less difficult it seems.
Then my eyes slide to my right, eting the gaze of the bodyguard with the transparent crown over his head.
His cold eyes et mine, then he glances at my crown before looking away. After a while, he whispers sothing into Beatrice’s ear, and she nods in agreent. Then they each walk towards a different group of people.
(You’re not going to talk with that Beatrice woman?)
Sophie continues talking with her group of bootlickers but spares a bit of attention to answers. (We mostly avoid each other, and until I’m sure we can deal with her bodyguard, I would prefer it to stay that way for now.)
(Sounds reasonable. Any idea what race she is? I haven’t seen anyone like her, even in Beyond so far.)
(She and her father are the only mbers of their race I’ve t, and as you can imagine, they aren’t eager to share any details.) She also looks towards Beatrice for a mont and sighs in my mind. (You would think she’d look silly if soone had simply described a person with pink hair and skin, but she’s just so beautiful.)
(The white freckles do a lot of heavy lifting, as do the weird eyes. By the way, I think I should be able to handle the bomb guy.)
(...Are you sure?)
(How can I be sure of anything in this tutorial? In the worst case, I can teleport us all out.)
(That would destroy the Frawork, so how about we leave it for later?)
(You keep ntioning the Frawork, but isn’t it here for quite a long ti without any success?)
(Yes, but I’m sure you’d also prefer if we do it on our "own" instead of freeing a being that could squish us like bugs.)
(Well when you put it that way… it makes curious how the others intend to clear the floor.)
(As far as I know, no Hell group has cleared the 6th floor yet, so it seems like it’ll be one of the longer ones.)
(Theoretically, you could spend years on each floor. There might still be people stuck on the 3rd, unable to finish off the saint, or those who decided to spend the rest of the tutorial on the 4th. By the way, your shadow is creepy.)
(So you have noticed.)
(Right away.)
(I’ll tell you more later; I need to concentrate for now and try to take over one of these mind mages.)
(Sure, good luck.)
With that, I disconnect from the conversation. While keeping an eye on Sophie, I continue to examine the bodyguards, leaving the mind mages to her.
The constant barrage of manipulation attempts is extrely irritating, but I can control myself and hold myself back, my eyes ticking between attendees I consider interesting.
The weird crown guy is the most interesting by far. Low level and who knows how long he’s been storing energy in that crown. Then there’s a weird guy with two slim swords that seem to vibrate constantly at a ridiculously low frequency. A thylarin with a ring made of fire, and a vyssari with a mantle made of ice.
Six months ago, I might have been cautious around them, but now they feel weak—far too weak. With all my training and breakthroughs, I could easily take them all on at once.
Even down in the mines, I didn’t get a chance to use my full strength because of the situation and that cursed weapon of mine. But I can be patient when I choose to be. I’m sure soon enough I’ll be able to go all out, to test myself against soone strong, and feel the satisfaction of seeing my own progress.
I cut my thoughts short, stepping back and glancing to my left, where I find a woman sitting with a creature perched on her shoulder—a monster resembling a crow, its eyes a pupilless void of blue.
[Phantom Beak - lvl 241]
Damned abomination.
Sophie and so other mind mages separate from their bodyguards, moving towards higher parts of the garden, leaving us behind.
Much like their “owners,” the bodyguards split into groups as well, and I take the opportunity to have a seat on a comfy-looking bench I saw a few minutes ago. On my way there, I take a plate from one of the servants and a glass of a rainbow-colored drink and plop down.
And just like that, I get a few minutes of relative quiet.
While I keep an eye on Sophie in the distance, a woman cos closer and sits next to . She’s dressed like the other servants but there’s a vast difference in the way she holds herself and smiles.
She looks very ordinary—the kind of person you’d pass by without a second glance, neither beautiful nor plain, weak nor powerful. Just perfectly average. But the way she looks at is anything but ordinary, and it sends a shiver down my spine.
Hello, Nathaniel,” she says, her smile carrying an unsettling warmth. “I hope you don’t mind speaking to you like this.”
There’s a brief pause before blood begins to trickle from her nose. She dabs it away with the edge of her white sleeve, almost amused. “This body… it’s proving more fragile than I anticipated. I’m no expert when it cos to this sort of interference, so we’ve only got a few minutes before it wears out.”
“Okay?”
She raises an eyebrow, giving a faint, knowing smile. “So rude. I would’ve thought you’d rember , but I suppose that’s too much to ask; the version you knew was very… unlike this.” Her expression softens, almost fond. "Simply put, I'm also one of those who helped make your challenge possible—and, indirectly, allowed your little guest to settle in your mind."
“I still don’t get what you an, but you’re giving the sa feeling I got from that dickhead Envy. Are you one of the Rulers?”
She is nodding in a way that feels strangely genuine. “Envy can be a bit much, can’t he? This ti, he managed to pull a fast one on both Greed and I. Greed only wanted a light touch of interference, and Envy lent a hand. But in the end, the system twisted things just enough to work more in your guest’s favor.”
“Are you restricted in what you can say, or do you just like being mysterious?”
“Maybe a little of both? I have to admit, I’m glad I took an interest in this particular run of the tutorial. You’re all so unexpectedly delightful! Your sister especially—she’s got a rare spark. And that man in Beyond… he’s a treasure, so strange and fascinating. Greed likes a more hands-off approach, but I think it will be much more kind to give you at least so information.”
She leans in closer, gesturing for to do the sa as blood trails from her nose again. One of her eyes bulges, then bursts, spraying my face with blood. Her neck jerks, twisting unnaturally.
Yet she continues in a whisper, her voice now rough and rasping. “If you’re not careful, your guest might begin weaving his mories into yours, slowly replacing you. It’s possible he’s already started. That’s how the system decided to handle this little challenge, much to Envy’s satisfaction. Greed should have known the system wouldn’t take kindly to our interference—or maybe she did.”
She pauses, a strange look passing over her face. “It seems my ti has run out. Until next ti, Nathaniel...”
With that, her body contorts sharply, limbs twisting at unnatural angles as the sickening crack of snapping bones echoes through the air. Her face twists in a grotesque grimace, eyes wide but empty, as her fra collapses in on itself, her skin splitting under the strain. Her body crumples into a heap—a tangled, broken ss.
The servant’s remains lie there, twisted and lifeless, a bloody reminder of the cost of her presence, leaving an unsettling stillness in the air as if even the world itself were recoiling from her departure.
Looking at it, I stand up, wipe the blood from my face, and move to a different bench to keep an eye on Sophie.
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