The front door whizzed open, followed by Issac, Royse, and Garnot, as they made their way to the front desk. “Group 28 here for a check in, we request a meeting stone for vice leader Ando.” Issac said on his way to the front desk.

The receptionist jotted down every single word that left his mouth, glancing up right as she finished. “Ok, head to the usual room and Ilus will drop off the stone like usual. Anything we need to prepare after the meeting?”

“No, we’ll probably leave after a night’s stay,” Issac said. One of the more advantageous functions of the outpost was the ability to handle critical reports. They could request a meeting stone to contact the vice-leaders in real time. Expensive, but worth the cost for truly important reports.

“Ilus has been complaining more recently, so be prepared.”

“Oh, not a problem. Back to the good old days, back to the good old days.” A slight smirk formed on Issac and Garnot’s mouth. “Good to know he’s still the same. He’s always fun. Anything specific happen?” Garnot asked.

“Don’t bother, I’m sure he’ll tell you ALL about it.”

“That bad?”

The receptionist tightened her lips with a slow nod. This oughta be fun. Garnot thought.

The three strutted down the hall, skipping up the wooden stairs as they turned into the first room on their left. It was just a simple room with five chairs surrounding a center table, nothing more.

Ilus came a moment later, slamming a small wooden box onto the table. “UGH.” He let out a puff of air as his hands twitched. “This is the third time…” Ilus took a slow breath, facing right to the tree.

“STOP FUCKING USING THESE!” Ilus’s hands clenched shut before opening his mouth to continue. “Ah….” A small stutter left, catching himself at the last second. It’s always the same…

Taking a breath, he continued in a soft undertone. “Every couple of times you use these, I have to travel across half a fucking kingdom to get more. So… Please… Stop! Not to mention we’re running out, so I have to make more of these fucking trips due to the rationing.”

Royse furrowed her brows, ignoring her smirking companions. She waited a second, letting the ‘overworked’ man calm down. It was one of the worst jobs, running to the next Kingdom and back. Only to do the same thing over again, and again, and again.

“Are we really running that low?” Royse asked, leaning back in her chair.

“Yuor is having a transition of military power in their capital, so they shut the stone mine down for security reasons. Whoever it is wants time to ensure a proper transition.” Ilus, now with a ‘somewhat’ calmed attitude, answered.

“Hm, sounds a little off to me. We can ask Ando if time permits so.” Royse said.

“All I care about is what we have now, so stop FUCKING using them, ok?” Ilus said, slamming the door as he exited, not even waiting for a response.

“Hah.” Issac chuckled to himself. “Remember when he used to love those trips? That was the time, that was the time…” He said, leaning forward as he cracked open the box.

A purple stone illuminated the table with a soft purple glow. Inscriptions on the stone pulsated throughout, adding an air of magic. He grabbed the stone with both hands, gently placing it on the table. Taking a breath, he faced the other with stern eyes. “How much should we talk about Aylsia?”

“Not sure to be honest, but we’ll talk about what happened the night we encountered the Lord and see where Ando takes the conversation. It's a sensitive subject, so we need to take care. They’ve sacrificed their lives to hold knowledge past time itself.” Royse said.

“Ok, let’s see what happens.” Issac said as he hovered his hand above the stone, preparing to activate it.

“Wait, hold on.” Royse said “I can use my mana if you would like. I have a larger reserve than normal, not by much, but my regeneration has been faster for the previous couple of days.”

Issac pulled back his hand. “Faster? That’s weird, any cause? It’s normally the region that affects regeneration, so I’m surprised it changed without anything obvious.”

“Yes, I didn’t notice it at first, but the three days of travel had put it in a more obvious light. I gained nothing towards my class, so it should be the mana doing something weird.”

“Ya, it’s always so hard to work with. Even with all the knowledge gained by Barren Moons, it still evades us. Hopefully, it’s only a matter of time. And thanks.” Issac pushed the stone over, closer to Royse as she held her hand over it. It glowed with a more vibrant purple as she concentrated on the stone.

The stone pulled mana from Royse’s core, glowing more vibrantly as a voice sounded from the other side.

“Group 28, what’s the status? You’re earlier than expected with the report.” It’s said slowly, but clearly, to ensure understanding through the stone.

“Yes, we encountered some complications on the mission, but we could confirm your conjectures, but we were unfortunately compromised.” Issac said.

…

Silence sat in the air, only the subtle sounds of breathing emanating from the stone. Hearing no response, Issac shared a look between his two companions.

“Umm, Sir? Did you hear us?”

“Yes…. How bad?” A simple question, knowing full well that this meant so much more than just a simple invasion of a city.

“One word sir… Terrible.”

“Explain.”

Issac went through the Evil Myconid invasion. Explaining everything within reason and all of their further suspicions beyond what they could investigate, like why the Lord didn’t inform the citizens of the incoming storm.

….

Silens resounded through the stone once again.

It was now a complete fucking mess for sure, one that ran much deeper that what’s known at this point. Lord Elano got away, so it wasn’t the end. Controllers were also difficult to eliminate for a multitude of reasons. They took over people’s minds, using their bodies for nefarious deeds as they hid their real bodies somewhere else.

This made it an extremely arduous task to find controllers, useless you could sense mana, knew the person beforehand, or witnessed something completely off, like the invasion on Greycott. You could never find them, not to mention they could switch bodies, resetting the whole search process. But that was the whole reason why Royse’s group was sent to investigate, although not freely able to sense mana, it was enough to find a controller.

But luckily, using someone else’s body limited their abilities, even for the most powerful Controllers. The Lord of Greycott still provided stiff resistance, but if they faced the real body, it would’ve been a different story altogether. Decimated before they had a chance to retaliate. The only saving grace was how few actually existed.

“Hmmmm, the last full Controller attack was 80 years ago. Looks like they changed their tactics… You said there was a complication when the Controller lord managed to escape?”

“Yes sir, that was my fault.” Royse said. “I didn’t react properly when… when…” She paused, taking a controlled breath. “Sir… we ran into a Curator at the same time, fighting the Controller Lord” Her face paled slightly as she rethought the night.

“What!?” The stone shook, clamoring against the table.

The three shared a look, before Royse continued. “When we originally chased after the lord, we were a couple minutes behind and when we eventually caught up to Lord Elano, he was directly fighting against a Curator who injured the lord within those couple minutes.”

A heavy breath sounded from the stone. “Are you sure?”

“Without doubt, she had the ring on her finger and her class displayed as a [Villager]. A villager who managed to injure someone as strong as Controller Lord Elano. Nothing else would make sense.”

“This is difficult… Explain everything that happened with the Knowledge Curator.”

Royse went through their first encounter in the inn’s lobby and all the way to their last moments, just an hour earlier. Including her odd actions and the feeling of their skin crawling when she first awoke. Also including their suspicion that she was one of the oldest Knowledge Curator, her already compromised condition upon finding her fighting with the lord, and her unfortunate state after the fight.

“Her eyes gone?”

“Yes sir, we used a curing phial to prevent any further damages.”

“Hold on… I need to call someone else to the room.” Ando spoke carefully, his mind turning. Steps sounded out as he walked away from the stone.

“... A librarian?” Issac asked, turning to his side.

“Hmmm, probably, but how many librarians have even met a Curator? They’re rare enough as it is.” Garnot added.

“I’m not sure if they’re any, but Vice Leader Ando seems to have someone in mind.” Royse said.

Another few minutes passed before the vice leader spoke back up. “Sorry Royse, but repeat everything you just went through to Lefyr here. He’s a librarian of stored knowledge that’s had contact with the most recent Knowledge Curator. Everything matters here, especially since she’s injured. They are the critical backup to our entire organization.” And so, Royse did.

“Hmmmm.” Lefyr thought, the tapping of his finger coming through the stone. “It’s probably safe to talk about this now, but 40 years ago, I had the chance to talk to one. This was after an earth crawler incident destroyed a section of the grand library. I can’t talk about what they said, but it was a… rather unique experience. Given that you encountered one, we can break the standard protocol. Can you explain how the ring looked?” Lefyr asked as the scribbling of pen on paper sounded out.

“It was pitch black with the sole engraving of the Barren Moons. The engraving was difficult to see against the blackness, but I had [Sight Sense] activated while chasing the Lord.”

“Completly black, you say?”

“Yes, Lefyr.”

“Hmmmm. This is quite disturbing. When I encountered the Knowledge Holder, the ring was mostly its natural color of gray with only spots of black forming. The spots of black are a natural surface decay of the ring, it’s also what enables us to engrave the enchantments into the ring despite it being metal. But essentially, the blacker the ring, the older the Curator.”

“How long would it take for a full surface decay?” Royse asked.

“I would agree with your earlier assessment, or at least it seems more probable now. Can’t make an accurate guess, but over 8,000 years to be conservative. We make a unique ring for each Knowledge Curator since the old rings are useless otherwise, and we don’t keep these things stored just because.”

“Shit.” Issac exasperated beneath his breath, clenching his jaw. “It just had to be…” He looked to the ground, strangling his thighs. The smirk from watching his old friend Ilus suffering was long gone.

“She would be abnormally old, even for a Knowledge Curator. You said she looked young?” Lefry said.

“Yes, very young, I’d say about 18 years old appearance wise. Black hair and slightly paler skin than normal, but that’s it. If I didn’t see the ring, she’s the last person you’d expect.”

“Hmmmmm, I’d be afraid to say that we made a ring long ago, and it never saw use and somehow ended up on someone else's hand, but is there nothing else that couldn’t confirm it?”

Anything else to confirm it? Hmmmm, her actions certainly lined up, or as close as one could expect, if you could even hold her to the ‘normal’ standards, that is. “Ummm, her actions certainly seemed to play the part…” Royse said, thinking as she tapped her chin.

“Yes, I would agree, but was there anything else on her or something she said that would prove, without a doubt? Any direct statements? The ring alone is probably enough, but if there’s something else, then all doubt would be a fool’s errand.”

“Ah, Royse.” Garnot said. “Didn’t you replace her clothing? Do you still have that?”

“AH! Yes!” Royse moved, immediately taking out the worn clothing sitting at the bottom of her bag. “I have a set of her clothes. They’re badly damaged, but would that work? Its construction certainly seems different.”

“Maybe. What’s different about the clothes?”

“Hmm, let's see.” Royse unfolded the worn shirt, feeling the texture and sewn seam. “Ah, yes! The construction aside, there was a longevity enchantment inlaid on it! It’s no longer effective, so that explains why it’s worn out in the first place!”

“Well, that solves that. Nobody in their right mind would spend the fortune needed to do that, unless said person was a Curator of course. Thoughts Ando?” Lefyr said.

“No doubts here. What would you recommend as our next actions?”

“Right, the more pressing concern now would be her state after the battle. When you encountered her fighting with the lord, she seemed off, correct?” Lefyr continued.

“Yes, like a sickness eating her from the inside out.”

“In order to live longer lives, there are some side effects, so you probably witnessed that. We can’t really know how severe their effects are since they vary from Curator to Curator, but they’re commonly unfavorable.” He took a second to clear his throat before continuing.

“I’m not sure if she can continue her mission with lost sight. We might be capable of healing her if brought back to the primary base. I would want to do so right away, but she herself showed no interest from her refusals to come to the outpost. Your thoughts again, vice leader?”

“Hmmmmm. They’re the last resort for the mission we stand for and they’re chosen for that purpose. We should get her back on her feet accordingly and repair her eyes, if that’s even possible. If she’s as old as we think she is, then her mission is critical to our very organizational existence. Before we decide our next procedures, let’s wait until after the meeting with the other vice lords.”

The meeting stone dimmed, losing some of its purple hue. “Ok, the meeting stone is on its last legs. Let’s meet in a few hours after the vice lords meeting to discuss this again.”

“Sounds good. We’re going to take a minute to rest on our side.” Royse said, leaning forward and hovering her hand back over the stone. Closing her eyes, it dimmed from its purple glow, turning a dull gray before long. “Crk.” And it split down the center, rocking back and forth on the table.

“Should we go after her now, before she gets too far away?” Issac asked, still keeping a tight grip on his thighs.

Royse looked over. “Not sure, the situation is more complicated now. We should probably wait until after the Vice Leader meeting.”

Issac’s breathing turned unstable, barely keeping it within line as his nostrils flared outward. “Haaahhhh.” He let out a puff of air, standing up with a jut. Why did I have to do that?! Grabbing Royse’s hand, delaying treatment!

“Issac.” Royse asked, forming a frown at her companions' sudden movements.

“I’m fine, going to take a nap before we talk again.” He hustled out of the room a moment later, not bothering to close the door behind him, letting his stops echo away.

“Hah.” Royse sighed, leaning back into her chair as another set of footsteps sounded out. It was Illus walking back into the room. “Everything ok with Issac? He stormed out of the building without even reporting. Quite unlike him.” Ilus said, walking to the table, collecting the remains of the stone before closing the box with a snap.

“An unfortunate circumstance we’re in and he’s blaming himself, but he’ll be fine before long. He’s strong at heart.” Royse said, reminiscing about the many interesting missions they’ve been to over the years.

“You sure? I would rather he have the same idiotic smile.” Illus added, picking up the box.

“You wanna check up on him in a while? You were good friends back in the day.” Royse added.

“What? You think I know him now? We hardly see each other after he became part of your group.”

“You were friends back in the day. Surely all of that hadn’t just gone up in smoke and disappeared?” Royse said.

Ilus frowned, this was no time to be callous. “Fine, you're right, I’ll do it.”

That was easy. Was expecting more resistance.

“Oh, by the way, we’re going to be using another stone in a couple of hours.” Garnot said with a grin. Ilus paused just after taking one step. He slowly turned around, smiling back. “I’m afraid that I need you to repeat that.”

Garnot’s grin widened.

Ilus's smile disappeared, his face turning stoic. “I’m going to BEAT THE SH…..”