Sylver Seeker Chapter 116: Skip To The Good Bit

A few days passed without much to show for it.

For the most part, Sylver ate, slept, and watched the cloudless sky while he waited for his leg to grow back.

He had a knee now.

And a quarter of a fibula and tibia.

But oddly enough it was the knee that he missed the most. It was just nice to have sothing he could bend, even if there was nothing on the other side of it.

Sylver had had another match in the tower, but it was very short and quite boring. He was ard with a tallic cudgel, while his opponent was ard with a short sword and a small shield. His opponent was extrely proficient with the weapon and even managed to disarm Sylver.

But when Sylver was completely unfazed by his lack of weapon and just lunged at him, the man surrendered the mont Sylvers hand touched the mans chest.

When you mixed in what Sylver had done to Ilkes with what ended up happening to Aciles the stretchy cannibal, people were very wary of letting Sylver touch them.

It wouldnt be a problem if there was a clear track record, only hard climbers got crippled, while the soft climbers were at the very worst spooked. But so far Sylver was 2 for 2 in doing sothing fucked up to his opponents. He couldnt even bla the swordsman for wussing out, in his shoes, Sylver would have likely done the sa.

After a few minor expenses, Sylver was left with a very nice round 130,000 cuts.

He doubled his money from his fight against the swordsman, but then spent a big portion of it buying so tech Grant asked for, plus the tools his captives needed for the next part of the plan.

Truth be told Sylver almost didnt want to bother with Chen or his lot anymore, but at the sa ti, he recognized that he was only 1 lost match away from being financially fucked.

He wasnt planning to lose. Losing wasnt an option.

And quite frankly the only way for Sylver to lose is if his HP went below 5%. He had too much control over his body to be knocked unconscious, there wasnt anything soone could really do to make him surrender, so his HP was his only weakness. Even if they tore him limb from limb, the only thing that he would be willing to surrender over was safely locked inside an unbreakable vault.

Not to ntion Sylver had his [Hares Great Escape] perk, which so far only activated less than a handful of tis. And every ti just prolonged the pain whatever had critically injured had caused him. Now though?

If soone got him below 20% of his HP, he would have 100 seconds with an extra 400 points in dexterity, during which he would likely decide to use one of the many many cards up his sleeve to win the fight at the cost of revealing one of his skills.

Sylver was considering making his axe known. With [Coat Of Carrion]it would be a perfect match.

[Bound Bones] and the shades were the only 2 Sylver would wait until there was no other choice. Because if he were to be captured, those two would be critical in escaping.

As a rule, Sylver did his very best not to underestimate anyone or anything.

Sylver learned from his mistakes.

So he had to repeat a few tis until the lesson had been understood and learned.

But there were so very rare, and very big, mistakes that Sylver learned on his first try.

Sylver felt soone was looking at him and sat up and made eye contact with the man.

Is there a problem? Sylver asked.

The one-eyed man appeared, as did the others, surprised that Sylver wasnt asleep and was so quick to notice soone was looking at him.

Were finished, the man said.

Sylver waited for a second while he got the report from Spring.

So you are. And you even went as far as to scrub the rooftop. Did you have any problems with anyone? Sylver asked, as he reford his leg and got up from the floor, and cracked his neck.

No sir, the man answered.

Sylver hadnt asked for any of their nas, because quite frankly he wasnt all that pleased at what he was doing, and the less morable the people he did it to were, the easier it would be for him to forget about it.

Spring kept track of things, so Sylver didnt need to worry about that side of things. They had figured out that Sylver had a tough ti telling them apart, and tried to use that to their advantage.

But on the whole, his group of deadn had been extrely compliant.

Sylver wanted to believe it was due to his natural leadership skills, his raw charisma, his excellent social skills, and that he wasnt being unreasonable.

But in reality, the more likely reason everyone got in line so quickly was because Sylver could snap his fingers and make them all feel like theyre drowning for however long he wanted. It was a completely safe, simple, and easy thod of torturing a large group of people.

In Sylvers defense, if a defense could be made for what he was doing, none of them were willing to cooperate when he was polite and gentle with them. He explained things clearly and was straightforward in what he wanted and expected of them, and yet so of these geniuses thought that a revolver hidden up their sleeves would be enough to kill him.

To say they were surprised when they pointed their guns at Sylvers head, but couldnt for the life of them pull the trigger, was a huge understatent.

Even under those circumstances Sylver remained polite and calm and asked one last ti for everyone to listen to what he was saying.

Hed expected at least a couple of people to understand what situation they were in, but oddly enough, the few that had wanted to just pick up a shovel and get to work, stayed where they were out of fear of going against their peers.

Sylver couldnt hate them for it.

He understood all too well how impossible it was to go against your own people. But it pissed him off that they wouldnt think for themselves, as much as it made him feel sorry for them.

But Sylver had studied under at least 3 dictators, and at least 9 that explained that they werent dictators, but were basically dictators with a few extra steps in the mix.

So it wasnt a question of if but a question of when.

And the answer was about 4 days.

It was hard to call these people loyal but they did what they were told, and that was all Sylver really cared about. He would have preferred to just kill all of them and raise them as zombies, but he was still hoping Chen would give enough of a shit to co and negotiate with him.

Sylver looked down at his small Iris and checked what ti it was.

3 hours until dark Alright, tell everyone to pack up and go ho. et in the red district, southern block, near that small fountain with the giant stone mango, sa ti as usual, Sylver instructed.

The idea of slavery didnt sit right with him.

He preferred to think of this whole thing as paying off a debt. He gave people ti to go ho, recuperate and rest, and didnt do anything to anyone if they just did their job.

He wasnt under so illusion regarding as to what this was, but that didnt an he had to feel bad about it. On a rational level, Sylver was in the right.

But his unnecessarily overly emotional side didnt care all too much about that, all it cared about was that if Edmund ever found out about this, he would look at him with an indescribable look of disappointnt in his eyes.

If one of the people that tried to kill him, who by Sylvers logic had forfeited their lives at that very mont, didnt like what he was making them do, they always had the option of dying.

Sylver even explained that he could make it so painless they wouldnt notice it had happened.

But so far not a single one-eyed-would-be-murder had taken him up on his offer.

Sylver stretched his leg as he walked, and watched everyone as they gathered their tools and silently walked around him and made their way to their hos.

At first, Sylver had planned to handle everyone individually, but after the most recent attack, that wasnt really feasible. He had 122 eyeballs floating around in 2 separate jugs now, and a matching number of people.

Most of them went off to do work in other sections, but a few that Sylver thought looked competent, he gave tools and told them to fix and prepare a house to sell to the Garden.

The profit from selling the house was split extrely unevenly, but Sylver gave them enough cuts that they wouldnt starve to death. Initially, they all complained it was impossible to live on so little, but thats only when the number is being compared to the amount they earned by beating the shit out of defenseless shopkeepers and stealing from people.

And the rest Sylver wasnt interested in hearing, and simply repeated his offer of a painless death when they tried to complain.

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Sylver could tell Kass was nearby by a faint prickling at the back of his neck.

Mages could sotis be grouped in very strange ways. Ice and fire, for example, could be considered opposites.

But if you consider that one is the absence of heat, while the other is the presence of heat, then theyre not that different. All magic had a connection to one another.

Including necromancy and clairvoyancy.

In this case, the connection was that both functioned off primal energy, in one way or another. The shades hiding in Sylvers shadow are all connected to him through a primal energy based link.

To Sylver and the shades senses, Kass was like a hole in the primal energy field. There was a pull towards him, as his magic sucked up and digested raw primal energy, and shit out what it couldnt process as unpleasant interference.

A strong enough clairvoyant can sever a persons connection to their senses. They could blind soone, make them lose their hearing, their sense of touch, their sense of taste.

Oddly similar to how a dark mage would curse soone.

In Kasss case, the most he could do was make Sylver feel slightly sick. And if Sylver wanted to, he could make Kass go insane just by dumping a tric ton of compressed primal energy towards him. His brain would cease to function and he would fall into insanity.

Or at least all the clairvoyants to whom Sylver had done that to have.

Sylver felt Grant tense up from where he was sitting in the kitchen, as Sylver opened the door and Kass was there.

I need to have a word with Grant in private, Kass said, before Sylver so much as opened his mouth. Sylver looked at the man for a while, before he nodded and let him inside.

Sylver walked out of his house and closed the door behind him. He chose to respect Grants privacy and didnt listen in.

Sylver was going to take a walk around the area, but before he was out of earshot he heard the distinct sound of Grant yelling, followed by the unmistakable sound of a fist connecting with a face.

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Sylver did his best not to smile too much as he very carefully stitched Kasss forehead closed, but he failed miserably. Grant had a sprained wrist from not punching properly, but otherwise, he was fine. He went to take a walk, while Sylver and Kass spoke.

Thats a very interesting choice of knot, Kass said, as Sylver pulled the needle out and gently pulled the thread through.

So did you co here just to get your ass kicked, or was there sothing you wanted? Sylver asked.

I co bearing good news, Kass said, as Sylver tied the last knot and burned the excess thread off.

I do love good news. You decided you no longer need but since you already found it youre going to just give it to ? Sylver asked, while he looked through the kit and found the balm they used for swelling.

The mont I find it Ill let you know. But no, its about your sponsor, Kass said, while Sylver patted the swollen shut eye with a mango-scented healing balm.

Going by the look on your face its good news with an asterisk at the end, Sylver said.

Not exactly But theres been a change of plans Quite severe and quite drastic, Kass explained.

Damn, that sucks. Good thing our deal only includes winning a few fights and then bringing soone along into a specific persons house, Sylver said without a hint of concern in his voice. He placed a hand on Kasss neck to use the balm on the bruises from when Grant had tried to strangle him.

That deal still holds. No changes there. But Id like to offer you a second one, unrelated to the first Kass offered, as Sylver let go of his neck and leaned back in his stool to look at him.

Grant really fucked him up.

But if the snippets of shouting Sylver had heard while he rushed back to stop him from killing him were to be believed, Kass more than deserved it. It was classic clairvoyant shit that Sylver absolutely despised.

What would you like to do? And what are you planning on offering ? Sylver asked.

You can walk around during the night, can you not? Kass asked.

Given that you said that out loud, while Iris can hear us, I assu everyone is aware of that, Sylver asked.

No. We arent completely safe to talk, but were safe enough. No one knows what you were up to during your walk, but you were out for a while and ca back completely unscathed, Kass explained.

Sylver cocked his head to the side slightly at this.

What do you an? Sylver asked.

They turn all the caras off during the night. Otherwise the you know whats can get them through the screen. When the lights turn off, they dont even let the tablets use a cara unless its certain it isnt going to look out the window, Kass explained, as Sylver started to put the first aid kit away.

I see Sylver said.

Assuming Kass wasnt lying, this made things a little easier.

Do the microphones work during the night? Sylver asked. He hoped he had used the right word.

They do, but they cant hear anything said outside a living area. Even if you hold them next to an open window and scream while standing a foot away from it, it wont pick up the sound, Kass explained.

Huh Sylver said to himself.

I can just grab one of them and try to speak to it

Assuming Kass is telling the truth.

Kass leaned towards his jacket and reached into one of the pockets. He pulled out a small box and inside was a small tallic thing. Going by the way one side of it had shinny lines it was one of those data storage devices.

What do my nightly walks have to do with a sponsor? Sylver asked.

Kass reached up to scratch his head but flinched as he touched one of the bumps.

Theres a certain place we would like for you to go. And once youre there youll need to find a fuse box and attach this to the bottom of it. If you can do that, then tomorrow morning youll be offered a fight against a level 150 climber. And once you win that, youll have a sponsor and will be more or less done with boring one on one fights, Kass explained, as he held out the little piece of tal towards Sylver.

Why? What will happen if I do this? Sylver asked, while he just looked at the thing.

It will trip a very important alarm and will get a certain Leaf in deep shit. This will give us room to do what we need to. The Branch that will end up being your sponsor will benefit from this, and in return will help you, and whoever else you want, up into the Trunk, Kass explained.

Sylver crossed his arms over his chest.

Just like that? Thats all it will take? Ive got this whole plan with Chen and Burts and Lokke and the other one, and now youre telling all that was a waste of ti? Sylver asked.

Truth be told, the main reason this offer is possible is that you earned yourself a ton of good publicity. Even with the ripping peoples eyes out stuff, youve done wonders for your image. So of the n youve got shoveling shit and sweeping the streets safe to say youve already got more fans and people cheering for you than so climbers that have been at it for over 10 years, Kass explained, oddly uncomfortable by his words for so reason.

Why does that matter? Sylver asked.

In this case it ans more people betting youll win, for no reason other than that they want to support you and see you succeed and keep winning. With a sponsor involved, you can earn cuts from people betting on you, as opposed to betting with your own cuts. This sponsor also just so happens to be in just the right circles, and has all the right connections, Kass said, as he placed the small piece of tal down onto the kitchen table, while Sylver just looked at him.

I just stick this inside a fuse box, and then I co ho and absolutely nothing happens to ? Sylver asked.

There will be a huge glitch in all the Iriss in this area. Even if soone sohow figured out what weve done, and they wont, they would need to question a little over 500 people as to their whereabouts tonight. Which would make a mistake that shouldnt be possible, extrely public. Which is the last thing any of the Leafs want. Its all handled, is what Im trying to say, Kass explained.

It cant take this much effort just to get revenge on a single person, Sylver said, as he picked up the small tallic device.

It can if its a very important, and very well-protected person. If youre interested in the whole story, I could arrange a eting with the person in charge, Kass offered.

Sylver looked at the small tallic device and turned it over in his hands as he thought about it.

The main concern was that everything was a little too easy.

But maybe thats just how this realm works?

Or maybe the woman in white is orchestrating this entire thing, trying to nudge Sylver along.

Does anyone get hurt from this alarm getting tripped? Sylver asked, almost as an afterthought.

A man who should have been shot in the face many years ago will lose his job. But even thats a maybe, more likely than not, absolutely nothing will happen to him. The purpose of this is more as a demonstration than anything else, Kass explained.

Sylver checked with his stomach and wasnt getting a response.

It wasnt bad, but it wasnt good either.

Fuck it. Explain what I have to do and Ill get it done, Sylver said.

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As he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, Sylver consulted his hand-drawn map and moved towards the large tallic tower on his left. He climbed on top of it and was close enough to the glass ceiling that he could touch it if he wanted to.

At Kasss suggestion, Sylver wore a dark bed sheet like a cloak, just to be on the safe side.

He tried to spot the partition in the wall that Kass had described to him, but Spring found it first.

As Sylver jumped off the tower and landed right next to the wall that separated the Garden from the outside world, he felt like sothing in his chest tightened.

Fuck, Spring swore in Sylvers shadow.

Sylver ignored him and closed his eye for a mont.

Even if he had wished it were different, the direction the feeling ca from was unmistakable and undeniable.

Spring, or the other half of Spring, was outside the Garden. An area allegedly occupied by hundreds upon thousands of monsters.

Allegedly because the glass covering the Root area didnt allow anyone to look over the wall, to see what was up against it. It could have a swarm of monsters, or there could be nothing there, Sylver didnt know for sure.

But what was more worrying, significantly more worrying, was that Sylver could feel that he was moving, and was unhard.

aning either soone had sohow managed to turn him against Sylver

Or that Spring was disobeying a direct order and was doing sothing outside the wall willingly

Or hes stuck there and cant get back in,Spring offered.

Or that, yes You couldnt get through the glass ceiling, aning he cant either Ive seen and felt those shade things moving around tonight, so what does that an? That the ones he followed live outside, and these live inside? Or that they swapped places Why wouldnt he co back the mont he felt hed be stuck outside? Sylver tapped out against his leg.

Just because he was alone in pitch blackness and allegedly all video and audio recording devices werent functioning, didnt an no one wasnt listening. Although his soul sense said otherwise, you couldnt be too careful.

As Sylver approached the wall and could see the panel that would open to reveal the fuse box, he felt sothing even more worrying.

The Spring outside wasnt just outside.

He was outside and lower than Sylver.

aning there was a strong chance that for so reason half of Spring is trapped outside and underwater.

One problem at a ti, Sylver said as he very gently pulled open the rusty box and took the device out of his pocket.

Sylver had a huge smile on his face as he found the place to insert the device and it fit perfectly on his first try.

Sylver waited for sothing to happen.

That sohow everything would go to shit.

He was ready for anything as he very carefully but quickly ran to his ho.

By the ti Sylver was inside his house and was in the process of locking the door, he didnt know if he should be happy or beyond concerned.

Because considering how much hes going to be benefiting from this, that was too easy.