The rest of the trek back into town was uneventful, and eventually we split ways. Cal retired to the Etheric Realm to recuperate. Arturo headed over to the chapel to get shitfaced—no surprise there. Renholm hauled ass into the night, probably looking to loot the town or score some alone time with his blue sprite friend. So long as he didn’t score in my room or on top of my stuff, I couldn’t care less. As for me, I made my way to the Three Chimneys, ready for a hot meal, a hot bath, and a bit of shut eye.

The Inn was more sedated than usual. My favorite red headed songstress was nowhere to be seen—she traveled with the caravan, which had departed, bound for the next town over. Most of the drunks looked sullen, playing cards or rolling dice, while everyone else nursed brews or brooded over steaming bowels of stew. After slogging around in the mines, killing Stone Spiders all day, I appreciated the quiet. Maggie was working the bar, a bright smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye.

“Must be dirty work, whatever you’ve been about,” she said crinkling her nose as I plopped down on a barstool across from her. She leaned forward and cast a conspiratorial look in both directions. “Been playing down in the old mine shafts, have we?”

Suddenly I was as sharp as the edge of my K-bar.

“How could you know that?” I growled, mentally preparing myself to unleash a gout of magically conjured fire on her if she got aggressive. Maggie hadn’t really been a suspect on my radar, but I hadn’t ruled her out either. The fact that she knew about the mining operations instantly moved her higher up on my suspect list—though still well below my ol’ pals Sigge and Gustav.

“Easy,” she whispered, reaching out with a finger and dragging it across my cheek. The tip of her digit was covered in a fine soot like powder. “Selitrium dust. I’ve lived here long enough to remember the good old days.” She dropped her voice even lower. “I’ve also seen more than a few men coming back as of late covered in the stuff. Marcus Pekkala, Jenken Trenouth, and the Virtanen brothers to name a few. They stumble in here looking to spend their coin and fill their bellies, and I see it all. I’m not sure what’s going on down there, but I have a sneaking suspicion that there are those who might not take kindly to you poking around.”

“You threatening me?” I growled, squinting at her. Trying to figure out her game.

She snorted and rolled her eyes. “I’m trying to help you, you great dolt,” she replied. “And I’m trying to do it without getting myself into trouble. These people, they see you sitting here covered in Selitrium dust, talking to me… well, they might start asking me what I said. And some of that lot likes to ask questions with their fists. I don’t need that sort of trouble. Neither do you. If I were in your shoes, Vigil, I’d head over to the baths, clean myself up right and proper, and then call it an early night. Could be a generous Inn keeper would even have food and drink brought up to your room.”

My grimace softened. “Sorry,” I said, feeling like a jackass. “It’s just been a long day and I’m more on edge than ever.” I pulled out a full golden crown, looted from the Grass Hounds, and plopped it down on the counter. That was enough to keep me in good standing for a month. “A tip for your trouble and kindness.”

“Oh, you don’t need to do that,” she said, though I noticed she disappeared the crown with a quick swipe of the rag in her hand. “Now get. And keep your nose clean, hmm?”

***

On Maggie’s suggestion, I headed over to the baths, feeling a small pang of guilt as a new bath attendant helped me scrape and clean the gunk from my body before I slipped into the steam rooms. I couldn’t help but think of the girl that I’d failed to save. Minna. Cut damn near in half, skin flayed from her body. Poor kid. I was gonna find out who was behind that mask, and when I did, I would unleash some divine retribution on their evil, shapeshifting ass.

After I was squeaky clean, I returned to the Inn and used the servants’ stair to slip into my room, unseen. There was a conspiracy unfolding in this sleepy little city and I didn’t want to get Maggie drawn into my mess, especially if there was any chance she could wind up dead. I liked her and I already had one dead girl weighing heavily on my conscious—I didn’t need another. True to her word, there was a platter of food waiting for me on my bed. Warm, crunchy bread, hearty brown stew that was still hot, and flagon of beer strong enough to leave my eyes watering.

I ate slowly, mulling over everything I’d learned so far. Trying to put the clues together. A rough picture was starting to form—one involving politics, corruption, and ritual magic—but there were still too many missing puzzle pieces for me to see anything clearly. But, I was more sure than ever that Sigge and Gustav were somehow complicit in whatever was going on around here. Was it possible one of them was the Hexblight? Fuck yeah it was possible. Any time there’s a chance to make money, people do dubious shit.

If it’s enough money, someone might even be willing to sell their soul to the Devil.

And even if they weren’t the monster I was hunting, they would be able to tell me more than I knew now.

I pulled out the invitation that Renholm had found. Tomorrow night was Gustav’s fancy cocktail party—my two prime suspects would both be in attendance. If there was incriminating evidence laying around somewhere, what better place than in Gustav’s home? I wasn’t going to get a better chance to poke around and maybe grill those two shitbirds about what they knew. And if either of them was the Hexblight, it was possible they wouldn’t want to shift in front of all their guests, outing themselves as a monster in the process.

I could use that to my advantage.

Golden opportunities rarely showed up on silver platters, and I intended to seize this one.

After finishing my food, I brushed my teeth, and racked out for the night, waking up a handful of hours later. It was still dark out, the sky cast in the steely gray of predawn. I dawned my janky brigandine armor—not even duct tape would save it at this point—strapping it into place with disgust, then stole out of the Inn through the back so I wouldn’t wake anyone. There were a few people up and about, bakers, tradesmen, fishermen, but the streets were largely empty and silent.

The main chapel doors were locked up nice and tight and I knew Arturo wouldn’t appreciate me waking his drunk ass up at this hour. Which is why he’d given me a fat brass key for the rectory entrance around the back. I let myself in, ghosting past Arturo’s room on silent feet. The priest was in, I could tell from the chainsaw snores echoing through the building. Guy needed to see a doctor about sleep apnea. I paused and glanced into his chambers—even in the dim light, I could see him sprawled out on the bed, one leg hanging over the edge of the mattress, an empty bottle of hooch cradled against his chest like a stuffed animal.

Couldn’t blame him. I’d seen my friends killed and it had messed me up, too. And Arturo had it even worse since it had been his operation and he was also the sole survivor. Talk about a mind fuck.

I left him to snooze and headed into the chapel proper, slapping my hand against the altar. There was a whirl of power and light as the room dissolved and I stepped into my now-familiar Soul Vault. This place was beginning to feel more and more like home, every time I came back.

But now wasn’t the time to lounge and relax. I had a dinner party to get ready for—a dinner party that required copious amounts of espionage and possibly shooting some asshole in the face. Sounded like a lot of fun, actually, but I had preparations to make. As Drill Instructor Screw Y’All used to scream at us, Prior Preparation Prevents Piss-Poor Performance!

My rotating Avatar was the first stop.

I’d killed so many Juvenile Stone Spiders that I’d lost count, and big mama Stone Spider had generously left me a hearty 3,500 Essence in her will. That, combined with the flood of Essence from the other Stone Spiders and the 1,000 Essence Bounty Reward for purging the den, was enough to push me up, not just one level, but two. I blazed straight from Novice Gold, past Acolyte Bronze, and smack dab into Acolyte Silver. And, because I wasn’t just ascending between ranks, but had moved up a class, I unlocked an additional 10 Ward Points to spend along with 2 bonus Attribute Points.

I intended to put them all to good use.

>>

Boyd Knight

Race: Vigil Bound

Level: Acolyte, Silver Rank

Current Essence: 2,130

Next Ascended Rank: 15,000

Attribute Points: 4

Ward Points: 30

Characteristics

Brawn: 18

Verve: 18

Finesse: 15

Arcana: 14

Insight: 15

Vigil Wards

Ward of Justice: Soul Bound Weapons (Boon), Peerless Warrior

Ward of Valor: Diamond Body (Boon), Combat Sense

Ward of Wrath: Arcane Insight (Boon), Fire Javelin, Warded Shield

Ward of Balance: Language of the Heavens (Boon), Sidhe Pact, Fae Tether

Ward of Truth: Threads of Fate (Boon)

Expand Ward List

>>

Before divvying out all my points, I decided to active my Threads of Fate Boon, reclaiming all the Ward Points I’d spent so far—other than my Sidhe Pact with Renholm. The Pixie was an annoying turdball with a god complex, but so far he’d been worth his weight in gold. Sure, he only weighed two ounces, but gold was gold. I braced myself for the inevitable wave of soul-searing agony and triggered the effect, reclaiming 60/65 total Ward Points, which was a fortune as far as I was concerned.

I consoled myself with the thought of how badass I was gonna be while I writhed around on the floor, praying for the sweet, sweet release of death. No big deal.

Once the pain finally relented, I gained my feet—swaying and lightheaded—nabbed my Grimoire of Virtues and started picking out the skills that I would need for the soiree. I instantly found myself in a real shit pickle. I had a metric butt ton of crafting I needed to get done, but if I dropped thirty points into Sage Smith, Infusion Forger, and Affinity Retrofitter, I wouldn’t have enough time to Respec again before the shindig kicked off in earnest. Either, I could hold off on tearing through all the new armor and fabrication ingredients I’d earned down in the mines, or I would need to go into the party with thirty points tied up in abilities that wouldn’t keep me alive.

It was a terrible choice.

After mulling it over for a few minutes, I decided the answer was to hold off on tinkering around in the Soul Forge. I had my enchanted mace and my Colt, and although my brigandine armor was scrap at this point, I had the new silver partial plate mail and my Grass Hound leather armor—which was probably what I was going to need for the party anyhow. Afterall, tonight’s mission wasn’t about beating ass and serving up a steaming pile of gun-barrel justice, it was super-secret squirrel business.

This was recon. I needed answers and incriminating evidence. Crafting better gear wasn’t liable to help accomplish the mission.

Instead, I needed to focus on the abilities tucked away inside the Ward of Truth. But first, there was the matter of the four Attribute Points to dish out. I was roughly 13,000 Essence away from my next level—looked like the easy gains were over—so there was no telling exactly how long it would be before I got more Attribute Points to spend. I needed to make these count. My gut reaction was to dump a point apiece into Brawn and Verve, but I’d seen firsthand how powerful magic was. Fire Lance could deal three times as much damage a swing from my mace—but only if I had an Arcana Pool large enough to make it practical.

Right now, my Arcana score was at a pathetic 14. No wonder casting spells took so much out of me. Time to change that in a big way. Because my Arcana was so low, I decided to Sacrifice 1,300 of my available Essence, elevating my base score up by two points to a slightly more respectable 16. That left me with 830 Essence—just enough to nudge my Insight Attribute up to 16 as well. That was a must, since most of the skills I’d be picking up for tonight came from the Truth Ward, and they all required a higher Insight level.

Another soul-flaying round of agony ensued as the Essence I’d acclimated down in the mines was siphoned out of my core, courtesy of Satan’s sippy straw. Pain was weakness leaving the body, I reminded myself as I rocked and shivered intermittently for the next five minutes.

A third round of hellish torture ensued after I placed all four of my Attribute Points into Arcana, increasing the stat once more, this time from 16 all the way up to 20. Why yes, it was like having my teeth pulled out with pliers. Didn’t matter, I told myself. I wasn’t even going to remember how bad this hurt when I was calling down lighting from the heavens to smite the people that pissed me off. Monsters. Crooks. Anyone who drove slow in the fast lane. Lightning bitches!

With that messy bit of business out of the way, I started choosing the skills I’d need for my recon mission into ol’ Gustav’s crime mansion. The Ward of Truth was my new best buddy. There were abilities to make me stealthier, discern whether someone was lying, help me supernaturally pick locks, offer “suggestions” that would bend people to my will, or steal the dreams right out from their heads. Hell, I could turn myself completely invisible if I was willing to shell out the massive amount of Ward Points necessary to unlock Crystalline Shell.

Not a one of those skills would help me survive in a tussle, but they were perfect for what I had in mind at Gustav’s. There were a few skills that I couldn’t afford to go without, though. Combat Sense was just too damned useful and so was Fae Tether. With that, I’d be able to instantly disappear any evidence I found in Gustav’s manor back to my Soul Vault and no one would be any the wiser. I hadn’t actually used Totem Transformation yet, but it only cost two points to unlock, and it would give me a nice backup plan in case things got hairy.

Plus, turning into a Stone Spider in the middle of an upscale party for the city’s finest was an absolute power move.

That left me fifty total Ward Points to go hog wild with, and I knew how I wanted to spend ’em. I glanced through the expanded spell list, crossing referencing the various abilities with the Grimoire in my hands.

Ward of Truth

Boon of Akora: Threads of Fate (Unlocked) College of Rhetoric Master Mentalist; Cost: 4 Calm Emotions; Cost: 8 Honeyed Words; Cost: 10 Beguiling Call; Cost: 12 Greater Suggestion; Cost: 18 College of Deception Stealth Step; Cost: 5 Deft Touch; Cost: 8 Wyld Wisdom; Cost: 15 Dream Thief; Cost: 15 Crystalline Shell; Cost: 25 College of Reason Sage Smith; Cost: 10 Infusion Forger; Cost: 10 Affinity Retrofitter; Cost: 10 Arcane Transmuter; Cost 10 Alchemic Mastery; Cost: 10

College of Rhetoric focused mainly on understanding and manipulating people through the psyche to get to the truth, while College of Deception was a bit more esoteric—deceiving people through arcane means to uncover the things they wanted kept secret. The skills in Deception were undeniably powerful, but that meant they also came with a heftier price tag. Crystalline Shell, wouldn’t make me invisible—so much as it would turn my body into a diamond-like substance that allowed light particles to filter through my body.

Badass, but it also cost 25 points, and had a recommended Insight level of 22.

Way out of my league.

Beside, I could accomplish more or less the same thing with Stealth Step and that bad boy only ran me 5 points. Sure, I couldn’t disappear in plain sight, but I would be able to blend in with the shadows, making me harder to spot by the undiscerning eye, especially in low light environments. Next on the list was Deft Touch. It would allow me to consume a combination of Stamina and Arcana to magically pick any mundane lock I could get my grubby paws on. That went onto my shopping list. The next was a must have and was probably one of those abilities, like Combat Sense, that I should’ve just been running around the clock.

Master Mentalist

A Vigil’s mind and senses are uncanny tools, as powerful off the battlefield as on it. Just as a combatant often telegraphs their moves, so too does the dishonest man, seeking to keep the truth from coming to light. A twitch of the eyes, a pause in speech, an elevated heartrate, a nervous tic. All signs that a Vigil can read with ease, allowing them to instinctually know when someone is being dishonest—or when things aren’t quite what they seem. The effects of Master Mentalist are directly proportional to a Vigil’s Insight Levels. At higher Insight Levels, a Master Mentalist can even discern hidden insights, including a subjects physical and magical capabilities.

Recommended Attribute Minimums: Insight, 16

I’d be lying through my teeth if I didn’t say that having some Sherlock skills tucked away for a rainy day wasn’t a dream come true. Not only would Master Mentalist help solve this epic clusterfuck, but it would make for a great bar trick once the heat was off and the monster was dead. I also decided to snag Wyld Wisdom from the College of Deception, since it seemed like the perfect one-two combo when paired with Master Mentalist.

Wyld Wisdom

A Vigil’s senses aren’t rooted merely in the Material Realm, but in the Etheric. Drawing on a connection that defies any explanation, Vigils blessed with Wyld Wisdom can glimpse Intention, Purpose, Need, and even Fate itself. People or objects may “glimmer” with Wyld Power, visible only to the Vigil’s enhanced senses. Such glimmers signify that the object or person is of importance, though how precisely they fit into the grand pattern of creation is not revealed. The ability to discern such “glimmers” are directly proportional to a Vigil’s Insight Levels.

Recommended Attribute Minimums: Insight, 18

That sounded almost exactly like what Renholm had described to me after he’d discovered the invitation from Gustav to Sigge. I figured between that and being able to Sherlock people, there wasn’t anything getting past me. Problem was, I was two points short of the recommended Insight minimum. Chances were, it wouldn’t work for me at all. Or, if it did, it would suck my soul out through my eyeballs. I didn’t want to find myself curled into the fetal position right in the middle of Gustav’s party.

Hard to intimidate someone who’s seen you crying like a toddler.

Thankfully, I had a fix for that—a skill that didn’t come from the Ward of Truth at all.

Mantle of Authority. The Valor Ward had a whole group of different “Mantles” buried under a category called Bastion of Presence. Every single one of them were AoE buffs, designed to boost the abilities of teammates. I was essentially a team of one, but they would work just as good on me as they did on others. Mantle of Authority was an active aura that temporarily gave an Insight boost to all allies in a thirty-foot radius and made spells like Cunning Glamor, Honeyed Words, Beguiling Call, Greater Suggestion, Stealth Step, Wyld Wisdom, Dream Thief, and Crystalline Shell more effective.

And unlike Wyld Wisdom, Mantle of Authority required Verve and Arcana—since it burned both Stamina and Arcana—both of which I now had in spades. It was a thing of beauty.

That left me with 10 Points, enough for the final skill I wanted in my repertoire for the evening, Honeyed Words.

Honeyed Words

A silver tongue can be just as deadly as a sword when wielded by a warrior of words. After all, a sword may topple an opponent, but a well-placed word can topple empires. Consume Arcana to activate Honeyed Words, imbue your suggestions with potent power, making them seem more agreeable and persuasive than they normally would. Telling an obvious lie or suggesting something that is unreasonable or detrimental to the target will make the spell fail. This skill can only be used to influence a single target and does not affect those with certain magical immunities or creatures that do not possess higher reasoning. The Vigil’s persuasiveness is directly tied to Insight Levels.

Recommended Attribute Minimums: Insight, 18

Satisfied with my choices, I added my new skills, then glanced at my updated Character Screen.

>>

Boyd Knight

Race: Vigil Bound

Level: Acolyte, Silver Rank

Current Essence: 130

Next Ascended Rank: 15,000

Attribute Points: 0

Ward Points: 0

Characteristics

Brawn: 18

Verve: 18

Finesse: 15

Arcana: 20

Insight: 16

Vigil Wards

Ward of Justice: Soul Bound Weapons (Boon)

Ward of Valor: Diamond Body (Boon), Combat Sense, Mantle of Authority

Ward of Wrath: Arcane Insight (Boon)

Ward of Balance: Language of the Heavens (Boon), Sidhe Pact, Fae Tether

Ward of Truth: Threads of Fate (Boon), Master Mentalist, Honeyed Words, Stealth Step, Deft Touch, Wyld Wisdom

Expand Ward List

>>

I closed out from the screen with a flick of the wrist. Now all that was left to do was change into my Grass Hound Armor, wake Arturo’s ass up, and get ready to wine and dine with the biggest bunch of douchebags I’d met since waking up from the dead.