Mage Tank

No sooner had I shrugged on my boa and shrugged off Myria’s Disregard spell, than Lord Leon Heronwyte appeared. It was uncanny, and I assumed the man either had people tracking me, or some ability that let him know the instant I was available.

Either that or he’d been camping out the foyer, and my Luck score was too low. Maybe he had high Luck. No one could say for certain that Luck worked that way–many of its benefits were more tangible, like improving crits and granting Divine defense–but still. I had no doubt the stat gave a person’s favored deity an easier time intervening in their life.

Leon Heronwyte’s god was probably a meddler. I certainly felt like I was about to be meddled with.

Leon was a man of middling height with the trim-and-fit build of a person with decent Agility. He was ethnically Hiwardian, with short white hair that swept to one side, styled in a sort of feathered, spiky look. It was the type of haircut that made a groovy man look even groovier, but made everyone else look like they were trying too hard. I had a strong bias, but Leon fell into the latter camp.

Other than that, the man was unremarkable. His features were handsome in a plucky sidekick kind of way. His clothes were fine and fashionable, but nothing stand-out. He moved with purpose but not so quickly that one would take any particular notice.

“Master Xor’Drel,” Leon said, loud enough to carry, but not quite a shout.

He was on the other side of the foyer, making a beeline straight for me. I had no intention of evading the man, so I raised a hand in acknowledgment and waited for him to cross the short distance. I preferred to deal with social conflicts head-on, but I would avail myself of every advantage I could during the exchange.

“Alright, tell me this guy’s deal,” I thought to Grotto. I gave Lord Heronwyte a close look with my Sight, digging into his Level 15 gold soul. It seemed like many scions of the major houses stalled out at that level.

[Lord Leon Heronwyte is the great-grandson of Matriarch Cora Heronwyte and the third child of the current Heronwyte Thundralke. The Matriarch’s descendants often mirror her build, but Leon has invested in Charisma, rather than Intelligence. His attunement is Divine.]

I was happy Grotto got the full Hiwardian dossier from Varrin. My crash course with Riona and Sineh covered the key players, which included Cora Heronwyte, but not Leon.

Matriarch Cora was one of the highest-level Delvers in the world–a Mystic archer–whose primary party during the War of Rebellion included Patriarch Ravvenblaq, Patriarch and Matriarch Duckgrien, and Patriarch Bluewren. Her build revolved around perception and control effects, and if Leon was mostly following in her footsteps I’d need to watch my words very closely. Wisdom had too many ways to see through deception, and I wasn’t built for deceiving. The Divine attunement raised some alarm bells considering the Divine mana Lito had detected outside my bedroom, but it wasn’t damning.

“Lord Heronwyte,” I said once the man was close. “I apologize for taking off on short notice earlier. There was a minor security matter that required my attention.”

“Of course, Master Xor’Drel, I understand,” he said. If he was offended by my abrupt disappearance, he didn’t let it show. “I know how demanding these types of events can be on the host. This is a splendid estate, by the way. I especially love how the portals make it seem never-ending.”

I began splitting my focus between the conversation with Leon and my high-speed psychic chat with Grotto. Leon seemed content to exchange a few pleasantries, giving me time to dig into what Grotto knew.

“What’s the crime you think Leon was going to accuse me of, and how did you know?”

[I am unaware of the specific crime, only that he intended to make an accusation. Shortly after entering, he began calibrating a modified version of the slates many of these Hiwardians carry. He attempted to send several poorly encrypted messages to a recipient outside of the Closet, but was unsuccessful.]

“I know those things get quirky when exposed to high mana levels. Being sequestered in an enclosed dimensional space probably didn’t help, either.”

[The mana levels within the mansion, while higher than normal, are not significant enough to interrupt the slate’s function. If they were, the mundane servants would suffer serious adverse effects. No, those slates send and receive communications using a crude System Call. Because of the Pocket Delve, I am the local administrator of System Calls that originate from Delvers within our domain.]

“Oh? Then you can block and intercept?”

[Correct.]

I thought over the implications of what Grotto was telling me. “Can you see every message being sent and received by the King’s Guard?”

Grotto sent the next thought with a dose of menacing glee.

[I can.]

That was troubling, but also awesome. Despite my strong aversion to Orwellian surveillance in my past life, the moment that power fell into my own hands I quickly found myself becoming a hypocrite. But it’s not like I was spying on people in their homes. This was my house, so it was probably fine.

I set that aside to ponder later since it would be inconvenient to ponder right then.

“Alright, so you’re reading this guy’s emails.”

[Only the ones he attempts to send. I would need to request access to the slate’s message history to see anything further. I could do so, but it would likely require spending some of our newly acquired System Rep to ensure success.] ŗâℕ𝔬ＢƐ𝙨

“I have no idea how valuable that stuff is, so I’ll leave it to your discretion.”

“The chandeliers actually came from a Delve,” I said, responding to one of Leon’s questions. “It was filled with mimics though, so be careful.” I smiled. He smiled. We laughed. I don’t think he found it funny.

[Lord Heronwyte currently manages one of Hiward’s most notable auction houses–Whitebridge–on behalf of his family.]

“I think I’m coming around to appreciating how straightforward Hiwardian naming conventions are.”

[Whitebridge has exclusive contracts with the crown to auction any Creation Delve slots that are not assigned through treaty or become available via some other means.] Grotto paused for a second.[Curious. The slot you filled would fall within those parameters. You replaced an Eschen who was unavailable due to the blockade. I wonder whether such an auction was held, and if so, who paid for it.]

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“We may get an answer to that question very soon.”

“Master Xor’Drel,” Leon said, his tone shifting from the friendly cadence of small talk to something more serious. “You and your party are clearly very talented, we wouldn’t be here if you weren’t. However, a gathering of such influential Hiwardians wouldn’t occur over the mere presence of talent, but rather the success of wielding such talent in a significant way.”

“Certainly,” I said. The statement sounded like throat-clearing language, so I was willing to go along. How was talent demonstrated other than through action? It was an empty preamble.

“You’ve spoken with the king, and I’m sure that your discussions have led to satisfactory answers for His Highness. However, the ears of the king are not the ears of the people. I’d never ask that you divulge the contents of that dialogue, but I wonder if it would be agreeable that I ask some questions of my own. Questions that are certainly on the tip of every tongue in this room.”

I took a look around the small crowd in the foyer. Where there’d been gentle conversation before, there was now a sharp silence. There wasn’t even a pretense of eavesdropping as everyone openly watched our exchange. I appreciated that in some ways. It gave me a better insight into what Leon was aiming for. His words implied he wanted an interview, but I expected this would be closer to a debate.

My allies were still busy with their own interlocutors–the king, the Zenithar, and whomever else–but I noticed Patriarch Ravvenblaq relaxing in an armchair one room over. He was just visible through the archway of the foyer in a sitting room, and the corner he occupied was unnaturally dark, the other guests moving around him without giving him any notice. He sipped from a steaming mug, then held it up to me in a small toast when I caught sight of him. My interactions with the legendary Level 56 were limited, but surely he wouldn’t sit by and let Leon openly smear my name. This would be more civilized than that.

Surely.

“I’m happy to sate your curiosity, Lord Heronwyte,” I said. “There are certain topics that we keep close to the vest, of course.”

“Yes, no one begrudges a Delver holding the secrets to their own power,” said Leon. “I am more curious as to the reasoning behind some of your actions.”

“In what regard?”

“When your party chose to conquer Deijin’s Descent, you knew that it would cause the phase transition that has occurred, correct?”

“We knew it was one of the steps necessary to cause the phase transition. We didn’t know whether Zenithar Manar would agree to tackle Saekongr’s Crevice, which was also necessary.”

“You petitioned the Zenithar to do as much, though.”

“This is true,” I said. “She wasn’t very receptive at the time, but it appears that she changed her mind while we Delved.”

“You were aware that the phase transition would open additional Creation Delves throughout the world?”

“We knew that it would allow for more people to undergo Creation. We weren’t certain what the exact process behind that would be.” Leon was about to jump on a follow-up, but I went ahead and volunteered what I expected he would ask about. “We suspected it would result in new Creation Delves. We didn’t know for certain.”

“You believed this would be a good thing?”

I mulled that one over, giving myself time to consider my ongoing approach to this conversation. Leon’s questions were leading, not open-ended. They invited yes or no answers, not full-fledged responses. Laying out too much information could come off as defensive, but laying out too little would allow Leon to distort the truth.

I could just cut and run. I didn’t have to talk to this guy, the king was already on our side. Tentatively. For now.

But this was a big, hearts-and-minds opportunity. If I refused to engage with Leon, whatever social poison he was spreading might go unchecked. Honest answers might win us some allies, while evasion might earn us some enemies. Although I rarely exercised the skill, I did know when to shut up for my own good. I wasn’t too worried about running my mouth and making things worse. I’d let this play out some more before pulling the plug.

Also, I was curious.

“We believed having more Delvers would be beneficial to defending against the avatars,” I said.

“The avatars,” he said, looking thoughtful. It appeared genuine, but I expected it was performative. “You’ve met some of these avatars?”

“I have.”

“Orexis threatened the Ravvenblaq territory. You witnessed some of the battle between the godling and many Delvers, Matriarch and Patriarch Duckgrien included.”

“I did.”

“These were high-level Delvers. Some of the very highest, with regard to Bobret and Cera. Was Orexis slain?”

“He was not. I understand he fled after a lengthy battle.”

“And you claim more Delvers would be beneficial in slaying such an entity?”

“That’s a complicated question. The avatars are not invulnerable, they aren’t all-powerful. I’m not sure what it would take to kill one, but we’ve seen that sufficient force can frustrate their plans.”

Leon made a show of turning his head in thought, stroking his chin, and letting that answer settle. He made eye contact with most of the crowd as he did so.

“Most Delvers finish their Creation Delve without advancing to Level 1,” he said. “The vast majority require additional Delves to reach the first 8-point stat threshold. A Level 1 Delver is little help against an avatar.”

“I disagree,” I said.

“You believe a Level 1 Delver poses a threat to something like Orexis?”

“Not in direct combat,” I said. “My party and I were Level 1 when we confronted the specter of Orexis inside Delve 9998: The Cage. Without our intervention, the specter would have released many more avatars into the world. We also prevented a mana eruption that would have destroyed a significant portion of the Ravvenblaq Thundry.”

“According to your own accounts,” said Leon.

“Those accounts have not been disputed,” I said. “We were interviewed many times by the Hiwardian government.”

“There was no finding of wrongdoing,” said Leon. “That is not to say your claims were taken as factual.”

“I wouldn’t presume to know the inner thoughts of Central officials, only that our testimonies were never challenged.”

“Regardless, a Level 1 Delver poses no physical threat to an avatar.”

“It would be extraordinary if one did.”

“The average rate of Level advancement for Delvers is one Level per year,” said Leon. “Exceptional Delvers move faster, but the average is one.”

“I understand that to be the common belief,” I said.

“Both Matriarch and Patriarch Duckgrien are Level 52,” said Leon. “They spent decades reaching that tier of strength. Even then, they could not kill Orexis. It’s questionable whether they even caused him to flee, based on their own accounts of the conflict.” He folded his hands behind his back. “Even with an influx of new Delvers, it would take decades, if not more than a century, for Delvers of sufficient power to rise from the new ranks to challenge even a single avatar.”

“I believe that’s a pessimistic outlook. The Phase transition also provided additional tools to empower Delvers and increase their Levels more rapidly.”

“You’re speaking of the Expansion Delves, the Dungeons, the Labyrinths, and the Raids.”

“I am,” I said.

“Are you aware of their entry requirements?”

“I have some insight into them, but I can’t claim to know the individual requirements.”

“Aside from Dungeons, all such ‘new’ Delves we have discovered will only permit Platinum Delvers to enter. This means that 99% of the world’s Delvers gain no benefit from them.”

I knew that wasn’t strictly true, but there was also no believable reason for me to know a group of Gold Littans had just beaten an Expansion Delve.

“It’s only been a few days,” I said. “Such a conclusion is rushed.”

“Still, I find it troubling,” he said. “You were uncertain how the phase transition would allow for more Delvers. You believed more Delvers would help to fight against the avatars. Yet, you’re not sure that an avatar can even be killed. You admit that it would be extraordinary if a Level 1 Delver could harm an avatar at all, and you display a disheartening lack of knowledge concerning how quickly new Delvers can become capable of inflicting such harm. Tell me, Master Xor’Drel, was this ferocious speculation truly the basis upon which your party decided to upend the world?”

Ah, fuck.

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