Vorn finds the next morning.
I’m at the quest board outside the Undercroft entrance, although not because I’m looking for a quest – I’m classified as unclassifiable with around thirty-sothing EXP and a social skill, so the quest board probably doesn’t consider their target demographic anyway – but rather because there’s sothing concrete for to focus on when I need to think, and there’s plenty of things I have to think about.
There’s no sign of Lyra’s Unraveling on the wiki. It just says ’Generating’ underneath where the information used to be; it’s been generating all night long.
Vorn sits down next to , on the stone bench next to the quest board.
He doesn’t sit down across from – next to . Side by side. We face in the sa direction. As if we’re two observers rather than conversationalists, which, if his actions are anything to go by, is entirely intentional.
I don’t turn to look at Vorn.
He doesn’t look at .
His UI floats into my field of vision.
---
> **VORN** — Independent Contractor *(Unaffiliated)*
> Combat Rank: A-
> Relationship / Lyra: 381/1000
> Active Flags: 4
> Mood: Assessing
> Hidden: ⚠️ [Observe — 30% reveal attempt... failed]
> Hidden: [REDACTED]
---
It’s still redacted. Observe at thirty percent is clearly not enough to access any flag information. I make a note to keep watching.
"You ca to the stall last night," Vorn says. It sounds like an offhand remark, as if he’s comnting on the weather.
"Yeah."
"Lyra said you were in touch."
I glance at the quest board. There’s a new bounty listed today. A floor 2 material run, decent reward, but the recomndation is C-rank, way above my level. "We spoke."
"What about?"
Not a question. At least, the structure of the question is a question, but the tone makes it obvious that he already knows so of the details and is waiting to hear how much of his guess is right.
"Fabric," I tell him. "Mainly."
Silence. The entrance to the dungeon pulses with the rune-hum of low frequency twenty feet away. Two D-rank adventurers co into the guild, permit papers out, the efficient pre-quest excitent of people who’ve done this so many tis that they have a ritualized process.
"You’ve been in Ashveil for a week."
"About."
"Unclassified. No guild affiliations. Childhood friend of Daren’s. Passing through." He gives it to like a character sheet entry. Neutral. Comprehensive. "Those are so unique attributes to have."
"It’s humble origins."
There’s sothing in his expression, sothing that isn’t quite a smile but closer to acknowledging that a smile should have been there. "You don’t act like you’re passing through."
"How do I act?"
He turns to look at , really look at for the first ti since we started talking. Direct. Flat. Full focus. The Observe skill goes through its check, no input required.
---
> Flag Pulse: Assessnt — threat classification initiated. Target: Kai. Classification process ongoing.
> Mood: Evaluating → Interested
> Flag Updated: Reclassification from irrelevant to variable. First example.
---
Reclassified from irrelevant to variable.
Yesterday, at the market row, I was irrelevant. Today, I’m variable. I consider the difference between these two categories and wonder why Vorn is the one to reclassify .
"You know where everything is before it even gets there."
"Good instincts."
He leans back into his chair and lets so of his weight redistribute itself, as if taking ti to consider the answer to my question was natural for him. "Daren trusts you."
"We go way back."
"Lyra quickly ward up to you."
"I’m a likable guy."
"You’re friendly," he acknowledges. "That’s one of your skills."
That’s right, he knows my skills. Not the one I told him, not the one Daren ntioned – he must have assessed himself once, sowhere along the line, without noticing.
I look at him again.
"You checked my stats."
"And you checked mine," he says casually. "When we t at the Broken Crown, you were reading my UI."
I did. He clocked it. He didn’t say anything and filed it away, waiting for an entire week to remind of it, which – as it turns out – is perfectly consistent with all of the information the wiki had ever taught about Vorn.
"Then we’re both doing our howork," I say.
"Yeah, I guess." He looks toward the dungeon entrance. "What keeps coming up for is why a non-classified childhood friend with social skills is doing howork."
The D-rank party enters the dungeon, and the guard returns to issuing his permits. The runes glow steady and slow.
I wonder about my pending thirty-one EXP and the wiki entry that’s still working behind my mind’s eye.
"Daren ans a lot to ," I say. "I pay attention to what happens to people I care about."
"Good call." Pause. "Lyra?"
"She ans a lot to Daren."
"She ans a lot to Daren," he echoes. Softly. Like he’s testing the weight of the words.
There’s silence for a while.
I notice his Mood gauge changing out of the corner of my eye.
---
> Mood: Interested → Calculating
---
"And what was your conversation?" he asks. It’s not really a question anymore. Just a statent of fact. He sounds more certain now.
I hold his gaze and he holds mine. For ten seconds, it’s only the two of us in the early morning sun outside a dungeon entrance, and I consider the wiki entry’s description of how Vorn operates: he doesn’t care if she likes him; there’s another thing he wants from her. I think about how 91/100 is still pending and how many degrees of angles I left Lyra with yesterday evening.
"I told her she should speak to Daren," I say. "That’s all."
He is silent for a very long ti.
"That’s all?" he asks.
"That’s all."
Vorn turns to look at the quest board. There’s so subtle shift happening inside his jaw. Not tension, more like recalibration. The physical manifestation of a file update.
"Interesting strategy," he says after a long minute.
"I’m a simple man."
"You’re not." He says it flatly, but it carries more conviction than any emphatic delivery could have. "Simple n don’t put themselves in the way of a variable and its catalyst forty-five seconds prior to the catalyst’s appearance."
He stands. As unhurried as always, like he has a great deal of ti to spare and everyone else can just wait.
---
> **VORN** — Independent Contractor *(Unaffiliated)*
> Combat Rank: A-
> Mood: Calculating → Patient
> Hidden: [REDACTED]
> New Flag: ⚠️ Variable assessnt — Kai. Status: Active.
---
He’s flagged as an active priority item on his list. It appears in his UI and carries a unique kind of weight to it when the object of soone else’s patience is .
"He had a good night at the guild dinner, Daren," Vorn states as he straightens his sleeves, casual. "His rank rose to B. Didn’t you hear?"
I didn’t. I had no idea. He knew about it before and chose to tell as proof positive of that.
"That’s great to hear."
"It is." He looks at one last ti — taking a final inventory, thorough but not rushed. "Your EXP grinding is slow because of the twelve STR requirent."
And even that, my stats, he knows those as well.
Without waiting for to answer, he leaves in the sa manner he normally would, the sa pace he usually takes, and moves in his usual way towards his predetermined goal.
I watch him leave then pull up the wiki.
---
> Wiki Entry — Lyra’s Unraveling
> Status: ⚠️ Route divergence — rewriting.
> Variable added: Kai — active intervention confird.
> Vorn reaction: Assessing. New strategy: required.
> Current corruption rating: 91/100 — static.
> Flag: Point of No Return — PENDING
---
Still pending.
Still static.
I’m no longer an NPC in his world, not a non-essential detail or even just so background player. I’ve beco a variable. And with that, whatever he plans to do he will plan with in mind, which makes everything a lot harder and a whole lot more dangerous.
STR 12. AGI 15. Friendly Conversation. Moral Support. Thirty-sothing EXP.
Going up against a person of A-minus combat rank with four active flags and a hidden entry and a patience that took the wiki three whole paragraphs to try and describe.
I stare at the entrance to the dungeon.
Runes glow.
I have to get stronger a lot faster than two weeks.
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