The blue-haired foxkin looked shocked and then imdiately outraged upon processing the two dismissive and equally rude questions. However, before he could open his mouth to potentially escalate matters further, he was beaten to the punch by Lone.
Pulling out his adventurer tag and displaying it, he said, "I am gold-silver plate adventurer Lone Immortus, Immortus the Immortal. I'm currently on a quest to escort the rchant group behind through these lands. We have no business with you just as you have no business with us. If you wish to continue interfering with both my job as an adventurer and my client's job as a rchant, then I will be forced to incapacitate you with brutal efficiency. On account of us being from the sa species, I will overlook how you spoke to a mont ago so let's just all move on, yeah?"
Lone felt like he was being more than generous here. This guy clearly knew about Void's existence and it was apparently so sort of taboo among foxkin. At least those in the know since the Church of the Primals had scrubbed the Primal from all records he had looked into thus far.
That could be a problem going forward but still, it wasn't exactly nice to be called an 'Abomination' even if Lone wasn't one to get offended easily.
The blue-haired foxkin furrowed his brow and seed to be considering his options. Lone assud he was wondering if the Golden Foxkin before him was arrogant or confident. Words were just words but Lone's adventurer plate was obviously real, so that put so weight behind his threat.
"What is your convoy's destination?" the man finally asked.
Lone raised an eyebrow. "What is your unit's destination?"
"That's none of your business. Now answer the question," the blue-furred foxkin snarled.
Lone shrugged. "Ditto."
With a noticeable flummoxed expression, the warrior said, "What? Did you just... make a random noise?"
"That doesn't translate over, huh?" Lone muttered under his breath before he spoke up and replied, "No, I said, 'ditto'. It ans 'sa'. Our destination has nothing to do with you. Make a choice now, attack us and die because you don't like for whatever reason, or move on and continue your day. Choose in five seconds. On the sixth, I'll have made the choice for you."
So more snarling and generally outraged body language was expressed towards Lone but suddenly, the entire unit of blue-haired foxkin cald in an instant as if by the power of a skill, so magic, or perhaps an item.
"The forbidden one truly is dangerous. You are lucky you appear coherent and not like an active danger, Abomination. Should we et again in different circumstances, don't expect to be so forgiving," the leading warrior scoffed before he ran past the convoy with his n in tow.
Lone stood there in confusion. "But... I was the one who initially forgave you?"
He watched his blue-haired brethren run along the road into the distance as he used The Summoning Room's telepathy to speak to Soph. 'Follow them for a bit. Make sure they don't turn around and try to pull a fast one on us. Listen in on any conversations they have too, if you don't mind.'
'Sure! I can do that,' Soph said and, presumably, teleported away.
Lone returned to the Halbundon carriage. Hopping on top of it, he said, "Everything's resolved. Didn't tell what they were doing but they seed happy enough to leave us alone. I sent Soph to follow 'em for a little bit to make sure they aren't trying to trick us."
A mont passed before Rinrin said, "That's not true. They weren't happy. If not for the Calming Stones they used, they would have all been killed by you upon deciding to attack you for having awakened to Void." Imdiately after the words of Altros's Voice were spoken, the little girl frowned and said, "I can't resist you if you don't give so warning! Stupid skill."
"Void? What's Void?" Rodorick asked, concern in his voice. "Is that the black in your tails and hair?"
"Sure is. Dunno much about it to be honest. Seems it's not a very popular Primal among the... what type of foxkin were they? Blue fur," Lone asked.
Fenlo smiled up at the sunroof that he was speaking down through and replied, "What shade?"
"Light blue but not quite cyan," Lone replied.
"Ah, Azure Foxkin. They have an inclination towards air magic, if I recall correctly. Their racial skill, Sentu's Swiftness, lets them beco one with the wind. It's rather rare though, not unlike your Tail Spear. I think it was one in ten thousand Azure Foxkin are born with it and only one in a thousand gain it through effort and hard work," Mistress Fenlo explained, completely disinterested in the topic of Void.
"Sentu's Swiftness? That's an odd na for a skill. Makes think it was man-made," Lone comnted.
"Many think the sa though no one is certain, that is the na of the skill, however," she replied.
Rodorick looked between his wife and Lone and few tis before raising his voice and saying, "Are we seriously going to ignore Lone almost got our convoy attacked and that he just casually revealed the existence of a ninth Primal?!"
"Darling, be quiet. We weren't attacked in the end and if he doesn't want to talk about his personal issues, then we have no right to ask about them," Mistress Fenlo said coldly.
"But Primals affect all beastkin!" Master Roderick countered.
The woman sighed and turned to face him. "Have you ever heard of this Primal before or another person besides Lone who has awakened to it? No? Have you ever so much as seen a beastkin with black in their bestial traits, hair, or eyes? Also no? Then it is a personal problem and darling, we are not rude enough to pry when not invited to."
That shut Rodorick up, earned a hand-covered laugh from Little Rinrin, and a full-on chuckle from Lone. He liked Mistress Fenlo. She was fierce in just the right way.
A few days later, Lone was going to bed for the first ti in two weeks. The unit of Azure Foxkin had been truthful when their leader had said they would leave. Soph had followed them for half a day only for them to move further and further away.
Apparently, they were hunting down an opposing unit of Crimson Foxkin for their mock war which Lone found interesting. It didn't really concern him or Soph though so they didn't interfere. The leader had claid to so of his n that they shouldn't report their encounter with Lone to their superiors as he would do that himself when they returned, assuming the planned skirmish with the Crimson Foxkin soldiers went well.
Lone thought that could be fun. He could use a small-scale distraction to bring his paranoid mind away from Arch Devil Zel. Then again, who was to say this wasn't so massively elaborate play from the demonic being to kill Lone? Only ti would tell.
"Be back soon. Anything you want to ask in particular?" Lone questioned Soph.
She held her chin as she sat next to him atop the Halbundon carriage. "Ask Swamp what kinda animals there are where he lives, please. I wanna know if they have chubby fluffy foxes too like our precious Kyuubi."
Lone laughed softly. "Sure, I'll do that." He leaned up and gave her a quick kiss before resting his head on her lap again. "Night."
"Goodnight, Lone," she replied sweetly.
Lone opened his eyes and took in a deep breath.
He glanced up at the ntal locks and Rubik's cubes floating around his inner soul. His gaze then drifted to the massive golden chains stretching from Darkness's inverted pyramid and Sky's cloud palace to Void's dark abyss.
"Hello!" the chipper Darkness greeted him, its form being the standard galaxy body it regularly assud these days.
It hadn't appeared like anything remotely normal or anyone that resembled a person Lone knew ever since it first took this strange purple galaxy humanoid form and he appreciated that.
"Hi, Darkness. Any changes that you haven't told about?" Lone asked.
The Primal shrugged. "I still can't so much as sense the connection to your little eting room any more. Sky ca out of his palace for a mont earlier. I have no idea why. Maybe your constant improvent of Puzzle Locked Mind has bolstered the restraints on Void, giving the fellow so more freedom? Sky's far too focused on keeping that wild card restrained if you ask . I can't even scratch your chains and Void isn't that much more powerful than us normal Primals."
"Huh. I would like to talk to Sky at so point. I need to ask it a lot of questions," Lone muttered before he nodded. "Thanks for the update."
"Any ti. Have fun in your eting, yes? Do let know if anything juicy happens," Darkness requested.
"Will do. Seeya later," Lone replied before he stopped resisting Monsieur Librarian's call.
Imdiately upon arriving in his seat, Lone heard Monsieur Librarian announce, "Let the 14th Conclave of Seekers begin."
Lone was about to engage in discussions with Swamp when two things startled him. Firstly, there was a second To of Omniscience on the first bookshelf of the room's walls. And secondly, there was a new mber of the conclave.
Lone and Swamp had decided to call the book that had told Lone about demons and Swamp about a certain mushroom a To of Omniscience since it could tell the reader whatever they most needed to know at that mont. Monsieur Librarian hadn't objected so the na had stuck.
More importantly to Lone, however, was the new mber of the conclave. The seats at the table were always the sa. Monsieur Librarian occupied the table's head, Lone was always in the seat to Monsieur Librarian's right while Swamp was to his left.
The new mber was seated next to Swamp and their outline was a deep scarlet red. They were looking around cautiously and the glowing robs orbs that represented their eyes spoke of countless calculations.
Lone and Swamp had gone over what would happen in the event of a new mber joining the conclave with Monsieur Librarian's silent approval. Lone was the more knowledgeable and well-spoken of the two so he would be the one to greet and introduce the new mbers to the conclave and what it was all about.
"You must be a bit shocked to have fallen asleep only to wake up here. I'm Human, a founding mber of the conclave alongside Swamp who you'll find to your right," the red mber had centred its entire focus on Lone, apparently confused and puzzled by his words.
Regardless, Lone continued. "At the head of the table, you'll see Monsieur Librarian. He is our host and he does not actively participate in these etings that happen once every second sixth sun at midnight. He will answer any questions you might have but be prepared to pay a price in the form of a question you must answer truthfully if he deems the answer you seek to be worthy of knowledge as paynt. I'll demonstrate with three questions. One with an affordable cost, one without an affordable cost, and one he will not answer no matter what."
Turning to Monsieur Librarian, Lone asked, "How long is my lifespan?"
Monsieur Librarian tapped his chair's armrest for a mont before his multicoloured face smiled. He was clearly in approval of Lone's induction thods. "That is a complex question. If you just an your biological lifespan, that you already know. It is infinite and will always be infinite. If you an how long will you live, that is an answer that will change the mont I tell you assuming death is sowhere in your future. You will have to tell the na of the person most precious to you for to answer the second option."
"Thank you, I'll decline," Lone answered and Monsieur Librarian nodded.
Turning to the scarlet-red figure, Lone said, "Now, as you can see, Monsieur Librarian knows I will live forever naturally but he doesn't know why. He could find out on his own but that would buy a free complex question. Since I already knew the answer, no paynt was asked of but both you and Swamp learned of my semi-immortality. All answers are given to the entire conclave regardless of who asked them and who paid the price if required. If his curiosity does lead to him learning sothing outside of your questions he might reward you with a free To of Omniscience. I'll explain what that is in a mont."
The red figure spoke for the first ti since arriving. A feminine voice escaped their lips, alluding to their gender. "May I attempt the question that is unaffordable and the question that is impossible?"
Lone nodded. "Of course. Go ahead. By the way, do you have a na for yourself? Your real na will be unintelligible which is why I am called Human and he is known as Swamp."
Swamp moved his head and smiled at the red figure, agreeing with Lone's words.
"A na... Devil will do, I would think," they said, making Lone's stomach drop.
User Comments
0 comments from readers