Samantha finished putting on the fresh, new armor set feeling cleaner than she ever had in her entire life. Her hair–just long enough to be tucked behind her ears–was a glossy and smooth black. The perfumed water had done wonders for her scent as well, replacing the smells of iron and sweat with a subtle, floral aroma.

Not wanting to lose track of her precious item, she grabbed the sublime healing pill from the pocket on her old Laminar and placed the vial in a secure section of her backpack.

After pulling the bag’s straps over her shoulders, she marveled at how the soft material of the gifted armor was fitted against her body. The jacket she donned was loose enough to move in comfortably without the risk of being easily snagged or grabbed onto. Her pants were similarly tailored, and a few practice kicks proved that the cloth shoes she wore would stay on her feet even with vigorous activity.

She brushed her hands over the outfit a few times to smooth out any wrinkles. As she did, she felt a previously unnoticed piece of cardstock hidden in a pocket on the inside of the jacket. Pulling it out, she saw that it was a qi-stamped Identification card similar to the one that came with her Iron Boar Lamellar set. She focused on the card until knowledge trickled into her mind and a notification popped up.

*Ding* Silver Weaver Battle Robes (High Quality)

A superb set of lightweight armor crafted by House Braxand’s family armorers–typically reserved for use by official duellists. Crafted from the spun webbing of the Silver Weavers, this flexible armor is tougher than most spirit beast leathers. Defends especially well against slashing attacks.

Set consists of 1) Collared Jacket, 2) Pants, 3) Slippers

Samantha flipped the card over and read the handwritten message she found neatly inscribed across the back: “Find me in the third floor study.”

The short message was unsigned, but she could guess easily enough who she was intended to meet with. The idea of sneaking away from Leanna to explore the house on her own terms briefly crossed her mind, but she quickly decided against it. The risks of potentially angering the Braxands far outweighed the inconvenience of being followed around by a servant.

As instructed previously, she pulled the red cord by the door once to summon her personal guide. Within seconds a polite knocking sounded and Samantha bid Leanna inside.

“How can I assist you?” the head servant inquired, dipping into a bow.

“Two things…” Samantha began, “First, I’m meant to meet with Master Braxand in the third floor study. I’ll need you to guide me there. Second, although this replacement armor is exceptional, I’d like to keep my old Laminar. Would it be possible to have it sent back to my home?”

“Both requests are easily accomplished. Would you like your Laminar cleaned and repaired before we send it back? The service is complimentary, of course.”

“That would be great, thank you.” Samantha replied, still a bit surprised by the continued generosity.

Leanna pulled the red cord twice and pointed out the nearby pile of dirty, damaged armor to the servants that arrived. When she was satisfied that the servants understood her instructions on what to do with the armor, Leanna led Samantha through another maze of hallways and up a set of staircases.

Before long, Samantha stood before a huge set of double doors at least twice as tall as she was. The metal doors were artistically hammered and etched to depict some sort of panther in a life or death battle with a sizable boar. Unlike the other rooms on this floor, it had no other rooms adjacent to it. Along the entirety of the wall there was only this one imposing entrance, with art pieces and statues filling up the rest of the space along the hallway.

“This is the primary study. I will be waiting for your return out here, as only the master of the house and his invited guests are permitted inside. Is there anything else I can help you with, miss Cray?” Leanna asked.

“No, that will be it. Thank you.” Samantha answered, giving the woman a polite nod to dismiss her. Leanna bowed in response and walked several feet down the hallway, standing tall and still as if she herself was one of the statues.

Samantha took a deep breath–mentally steeling herself for whatever mental games were coming next– then knocked twice.

“Enter.” Lord Braxand called from within.

Samantha opened the doors at his invitation and closed them behind her as she walked into the large, open space.

The first thing that caught her eye (intentionally so, if she had to guess) was the fireplace and life-sized painting directly on the opposite side of the doorway. The fireplace was set upon a slab of marble and the brickwork was constructed with colorful hewn stones. The stacked logs in the hearth were alight with dancing flames that constantly shifted their forms to play out a scene of cultivators hunting down and capturing various wild spirit beasts, but the logs themselves did not burn.

The only explanation for the intricate flames was a qi enchantment, but she had never seen such delicate work before. Upon closer inspection, she was fascinated to see that the logs were not wooden, but some sort of stone. The ‘bark’ surrounding the logs were actually compact scripts carved into the sculpture, and as the scene in the flames played out she could see different areas of the script light up as if someone was reading it out of a book.

Inexplicably, she felt somewhat reenergized and inspired just by looking into the fire. It was entrancing.

Tearing her gaze away from the flames, she took note that the painting hung above the mantle was of a man who looked to be in his early 20’s mounted on the back of a well manicured black mare. The man was oddly slender and beautiful, and she might’ve mistaken him for a woman if his robes were not so blatantly opened as to show his chiseled chest and abs. His long, flowing hair was gently blown by an unseen breeze, and flower petals fell from the blooming canopy of trees above him. Samantha was surprised to see such a vain painting hung here, and also couldn’t help but feel that the choice of steed was curious. In a family that prided itself on a wide selection of spirit beasts, why would someone be riding a regular mortal horse in the featured artwork?

Out of the corner of Prey’s Perception she could see Ol’ Man Whisper watching her from behind an ornate wooden desk near the window to her right. He leaned back leisurely in his plush leather chair, hands folded in his lap, with a smug grin plastered across his face. Rather than be irritated by her attention not immediately being focused on him, he seemed pleased that she was impressed with his home.

“I was handsome in my 50’s, no? I was still young and a bit arrogant then–I didn’t want an impressive spirit beast taking away from my own good looks in the painting.” he commented offhandedly.

Samantha kept her features carefully controlled and wisely withheld any of her own thoughts on the matter, simply grunting once in response.

She then realized that she had lost track of time while staring into the flames, and didn’t know how long she had actually been standing there for. She did a quick scan of the rest of the room to get her bearings before addressing the master of the house.

Near the desk where Lord Braxand sat was a set of tall bookcases neatly packed with manuals and tomes of all kinds. Even from her distance a couple dozen feet away, she could tell that they were rarer and of higher quality than anything she had seen on the first floor of the Atheneum. Some looked to be ancient, the pages yellowed and thin, while others visibly glowed with qi. She expected that even a single book stored in this room was worth more than her entire family earned in a year.

Along the walls were taxidermied trophies of fearsome, beautiful, and unique beasts. Most she recognized from her time working in Cray’s Creations, but one she had not even seen in books before. While some of the trophies were only mounted heads of large beasts, this animal was smaller and had its entire form preserved and displayed on a shelf.

The color was pure white–unusual for any spirit beast in the region as it would make them stand out too much. Its body reminded her of a cross between a lizard and a bird. Its head, body, and legs were reptilian in nature and sported fine interlocking scales along its length. Its feet ended in long talons like an eagle, and two sets of feathered wings sprouted from its back like a dragonfly. Including the tail, it was probably only as long as her outstretched arm.

Like a ghost, Ol’ Man Whisper appeared behind her. She hadn’t seen him move from his seated position at the desk, and his sudden closeness made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

“A rare curiosity I acquired in my youth up in the mountains. So rare the species had no name, in fact. We tried to find more like it so we could breed them, but this one died before we succeeded, unfortunately. Despite our best efforts to care for it, it wouldn’t take any sustenance we offered it–stubborn thing.” he paused, before adding, “If it were wise, it would’ve accepted our generosity and lived–flourished even–don’t you agree?”

Samantha had a sinking feeling he wasn’t talking about the unknown spirit beast anymore.

“Sit. Let’s discuss your own future, shall we?” he commanded, gesturing to a seat on the other side of his desk.

She placed her backpack down and sat without comment, waiting to hear more about what he planned for her before reacting one way or the other.

He closed the curtains to the window to give them more privacy, then took his seat across from her. The light from the fireplace was bright enough to illuminate the space, but was just dim enough to make the room seem more ominous than a moment ago.

She waited anxiously as he looked her over thoughtfully in silence. His neutral expression and body language gave nothing away, but she knew with certainty that she could be dead in an instant if he truly desired it. She wouldn’t even see the attack coming.

After several uncomfortable moments he closed his eyes and let out a tired sigh, “It was the teeth, wasn’t it?”

“...What?” was all Samantha could get out, confused.

“As soon as I smiled at you in the coliseum, your entire demeanor changed–I saw the recognition in your eyes and knew that I had been found out. Truthfully, I’m shocked you even made the connection between that disheveled old man you met briefly and one of the most powerful cultivators in Yivesh… your extraordinary recall must be due to an open mind meridian, yes? That’s how I recognized you too, after all. So many foolish cultivators overlook its usefulness, opting for meridians that more directly increase their physical strength.” he mused, waiting for her reply.

Samantha suspected that he would easily be able to tell if she lied to him, and decided to be honest. This didn’t mean she needed to give more information away than necessary however, so she kept her response short by simply saying, “Yes, you’re correct.”

“Ah! I knew it. I really should’ve grown the teeth back… but it’s just so irritating to have to pull them out again every time I visit the gutter.” he huffed, frowning to himself.

Samantha couldn’t help but cringe at the idea of pulling out her own teeth to enhance a disguise. Ol’ Man Whisper laughed lightly at seeing her reaction before explaining, “Normally it’s not an issue since no one who would recognize me would be caught dead in that slum, and even if they were there I could hide myself from them easily enough, but you’ve put me in a bit of a difficult position.” She felt her nervousness increase as he continued, “Who would’ve guessed that it was you who clashed with my family and was fighting one of my house’s champions? And the bad luck of them addressing me directly and drawing your attention right to me? Truly, truly unfortunate.”

He sighed again and shook his head, “You know, I heard someone had been poking around looking for me. Rumor had it that they were seeking to enact some vengeance for a dead mortal courier–”

Samantha’s anxiety subsided as a flash of anger and regret took its place. It frustrated her that he spoke about Aiden in such a detached way, boiling his identity down to nothing more than another ‘dead mortal’. Her emotions briefly got the better of her as she blurted out, “Aiden didn’t deserve to die that way–he didn’t deserve to die at all!”

The air itself seemed to chill as Ol’ Man Whisper’s eccentric lightheartedness evaporated. While nothing in his body language visibly shifted, his steely gaze as he looked down on her silently caused a shiver of fear to run through her.

“No, he didn’t.” he quietly agreed.

Samantha’s simmering resentment felt like it had a cold bucket of water dumped over it as unease took over again, but she forced herself to calm down as she took a deep breath and shifted her focus away from Lord Braxand to a spot on his desk. When she felt more in control of herself, she looked back up to the man who held her life in his hands and apologized. Though it irked her, she needed to swallow her pride and to do her best to stay in Lord Braxand’s good graces for now.

“Forgive me, Master Braxand. My interruption was rude.”

At her words the frosty atmosphere thawed and his easy lightheartedness returned, “Speak no more of it! I was young and passionate once too, miss Cray. Now, where was I…?”

He looked up to the ceiling and tapped his chin a few times as if he was struggling to remember where he left off, but Samantha doubted with an open mind meridian of his own he had any issues recalling. She couldn’t understand why he bothered putting on this show when it was just the two of them here. He seemed more and more bizarre the longer she interacted with him.

Eventually, he held up his pointer finger, signaling he finally found his place in the conversation, “Right, I was about to clear the air! Miss Cray, I understand that you view me as responsible for the boy’s death–at least partially–and I don’t deny it.”

Samantha raised her eyebrows at this statement, surprised that Lord Braxand would admit fault so openly.

“The truth is though,” he said, “ I did not intend for any harm to befall him. I simply wanted all deliveries to Harold Greene to be disrupted–whoever the courier ended up being. My blame in this situation comes from hiring an incompetent idiot to accomplish this goal. You would think that having a cultivator steal packages from literal children wouldn’t result in anyone dying unnecessarily…”

He crossed his arms and shook his head slowly in disappointment as he continued to speak, “That young mortal was actually a promising recruit, and I had been watching his progress for some time! I had plans to employ him if he showed signs of receiving his cultivation quest, maybe even adopt him into a low branch of my family if he continued to grow in power. To be killed prematurely by some stunted brat calling himself ‘The Rat King’ in a fit of pettiness… it was good that you killed him. Hopefully, someone more reliable will fill his now-vacant position.”

Samantha took this all in with contemplative silence, not wanting to interrupt the High Bronze a second time. Although she still had many questions surrounding this situation, the pieces that he had explained to her aligned with what she already knew from her interrogation of the Rat King. Namely, that Aiden’s death was collateral damage in a scheme to interrupt deliveries to the alchemist.

Lord Braxand wanting to induct Aiden into his service was news to her, but she didn’t believe that anything he told her was a lie. The reality was that even if he was lying she didn’t know if it mattered in terms of how she could approach things. She could not fulfill her original goals of either bringing closure to Jacob or bringing Ol’ Man Whisper to justice, so she would work towards what she could accomplish instead.

“I’m glad to hear that you bear no grudge against me for killing the Rat King or for searching for your alias. It’s also comforting to know that you are unhappy about Aiden’s death–I believe many cultivators of your standing wouldn’t care at all.” she started, attempting to stroke his ego, “I guess the real question now is what your purpose is in meeting me like this. If it is to ensure I won’t reveal what little I know, I want to assure you that I know full well such behavior would only have negative consequences for me and my family. In fact, you won’t need to be concerned about me speaking to anyone on this floor soon–I plan to ascend to the second floor within the next 16 days.” she explained.

“Ah yes, the hidden quest. I’m aware.” he replied somberly.

“You know of it?”

Instead of giving a verbal response, Lord Braxand stood and lifted the bottom of his Jacket. Samantha feared she was about to see much more of the man than she ever had wanted to, but was relieved when he stopped below his ribcage. Tattooed in a small ring around his navel was what looked like a dull, black tangle of lines. Looking closer, Samantha could see how each line was uneven, broken, and fraying, and her hand instinctually moved to the Vortex mark on her own stomach. She remembered how hers was glowing with a faint blue light and each intricate ‘line’ was actually scripts perfectly patterned into a mandala, and was shocked to see how different the two marks were.

“It was a quest I received years ago in my youth, after slaying one of my higher ranked peers in a duel over a woman of all things. My family had enough influence to make the problem go away, and after talking it through with some old friends I decided to ignore the System warnings by refusing ascension. When the time limit ran out I received a final System notification that I had failed the quest and was deemed unworthy. My Vortex mark shattered, halving my qi pool and regeneration, and I never received another notification again–even to this day. The most I can do is open my profile, but it has old information on it… like it’s locked in time from the day I failed the quest.”

Lord Braxand lowered his shirt and sat back down as a whirlwind of questions entered Samantha’s mind. She asked what she deemed to be the most important question first, ensuring to phrase it in the politest way she could.

“How did you become so strong after that?”

“Hah! The System is not all-powerful. It is a tool that makes cultivation easier and less dangerous, but progress can still be made if you have the will to push forward.”

“The System makes cultivation easier?”

“That has been my experience. Without it, every cultivation task seemed to require twice as much effort for only half of the effectiveness. It affected everything from gathering qi to learning and activating arts, but after so many years I have acclimated to the changes. In fact, I believe there was a hidden benefit. I know my body and qi pathways much more intimately now than I ever did with the System. This mastery has resulted in me being even stronger than before–though admittedly it has taken me longer to get to this level of strength than if I had the System helping me along the cultivation path.”

Hearing this, Samantha genuinely debated with herself if this was a price she was willing to pay. Originally, the hidden quest prompt commanding her to go to the next floor made her believe ascension was her best option. On the one hand, the existence of the quest itself led her to believe ascension was not an immediate death sentence as many feared. On the other hand, the consequences for failure could very well be death since there was no description for what would happen if she didn’t complete it. The Rat King told her that he had earned his own punishment from the System, but she didn’t know if their situations were the same. Now though, if Lord Braxand was being fully honest with her…? On the surface, it didn’t sound so bad.

Her strength and effectiveness as a cultivator would suffer, and she would likely never advance past Peak Copper, but that was true of a lot of people on the first floor. Even if she was stuck at High Copper for the rest of her extended life, that level of cultivation could still be considered respectable.

While she contemplated this new information she noticed that Master Braxand’s focus on her was sharpening, and an uncomfortable foreboding washed over her. Was this a test to see if she would waver in her resolve to leave the floor? One of her only concrete assurances that she would not be a threat to him was her guarantee of ascension. That could be one of the only reasons she hadn’t already been killed off. She might be able to survive the System abandoning her and crippling her cultivation, but could she survive being a loose end for the head of one of the Big Three?

No, she couldn’t. Her path was the same as it ever was, and her decision remained unchanged.

“I have already decided on my way forward. It is nice to know what consequences I’ll be avoiding though, as they seem quite severe. I thank you for sharing this knowledge with me.” she declared respectfully, and gave him a slight bow of her head in acknowledgement.

His gaze seemed to relax at her words and he smiled warmly at her, “Ah, to be young and full of adventurous spirit again! Think of all the sights you will see that none of us could even imagine.”

“Indeed. Was that all you wished to discuss with me?” she asked, trying not to let her hopefulness show too blatantly.

“Not quite. There’s one more thing.”

Samantha’s heart sank.

“You currently have knowledge that only one of my most trusted agents would have. Therefore, I will now be considering you an agent of mine, and I have a job for you.” he said, grinning wolfishly.

The feast was in full swing, with Samantha seated in one of the most coveted positions to the right of Lord Braxand. Countless dishes overflowing with glistening glazed meats, hearty soups, whole roasted fowl, and desserts of all kinds were spread across the enormous wooden dining table. The heads of the highest branches of her family sat elbow to elbow with high-ranking Braxands, cutting deals and signing contracts while devouring their meals with gusto. More than one person at the table was happily intoxicated from the fine wines and liquors freely flowing into empty cups, and an ensemble of musicians played upbeat music as pleasant background noise.

Samantha was inundated with people visiting her spot at the table aiming to congratulate her on her success or praise her strength. Even with the help of her mind meridian, it was difficult to keep track of the vast number of individuals she had spoken to. Silas lay under her seat, completely comatose from the disgusting amount of food he had consumed over the course of the day. He was so round he looked like he seemed fit to burst, but while Samantha found the sight somewhat horrifying she caught more than one person looking at the gluttonous beast as if he were the cutest thing they’d ever seen.

She, meanwhile, did her best to appear normal. She did not let on that the food tasted like ash in her mouth or that dread settled in her gut as if she had swallowed a stone. She smiled, laughed, joked, and told tales to entertain like any guest of honor would, and no one was the wiser.

No one except Ol’ Man Whisper, who continued to smile at her with that same predatory grin.

As the evening wound down and the guests filtered out of the estate, Samantha excused herself and retired to a guest room that the Braxands had allotted for her. Her family–with the exception of a few holdouts still making business deals–had already gone to their own guest suites earlier that night, and were presumably fast asleep. Samantha pulled out the various items in her backpack that Lord Braxand had given her for her task, and changed into the second new set of armor she was given that day.

Unlike the Silver Weaver set, this new armor was darker, enchanted with scripts to make her more difficult to detect, and most importantly, unaffiliated with House Braxand. Though not as durable as the other armor set, it was equally flexible and included a face wrap to hide her appearance.

She strapped the long dagger she received to the outside of her left thigh, while she slipped the second, smaller dagger, into the special sheathe hidden inside her right sleeve. She wrapped the bandolier holding a few vials of potent poisons across her chest and tightened it so that it would be secure as she moved. Lastly, she added the sublime healing pill to a small pocket on the inside of her jacket just in case she needed it–though the idea of using it before ascending pained her.

After restocking Silas’s vest with new herbs and healing items, she opened the balcony window and checked the surrounding area for anyone who would see her leaving. As promised, there was a noticeable lack of guards around this side of the building, and she and her bond were able to leave the premises without much issue.

They moved through the night like shadows, crossing through the city along rooftops and back alleys while avoiding any pedestrians or Enforcers they came across. Samantha’s stealth armor, along with Silas’s Translucence ability made the journey easier than expected, but the most difficult stretch of the job was still ahead of them.

As she approached her destination, conflicting emotions battled for dominance within her. Worry for her family who even now were under Lord Braxand’s watchful gaze, fear for her and Silas’s safety as they were callously pushed into yet another dangerous situation, and elation that she would be able to enact some small vengeance for Aiden if she succeeded.

Maybe she could give Jacob some closure after all.