He could hear the slight whimpering of Ismene beside him, from when he slapped her. He was walking through the halls with her on their way to the wizard as he stared at his second card. There were a few changes from when she gave it to him that morning, and he couldn’t understand them in their entirety.

Whosoever's card this is shall be henceforth declared the Primus of EarthConditionsClass 42 Limiter; Class X Limiter; Memory Wipe; Immortality DecreaseTrue RaceStratovian High Primus of Universe LL971501222Secondary ConditionsClass 11 Limiter, Class E LimiterPassive Allele repair Inactive; Automated Repair Partially active : 0.08%Stratovian Uplink Inactive; Passive Immunity Inactive; Special Status : A Crack in the wall...Crack %.04% Of trueTotal Limiter99.96%Passive Unlock rateA drip : 0.01% a dayDue to extensive activity, this mind has begun to unlock, it shall accelerate its speed the further into this process it goes…

Shown below this was a small amount of text explaining the changes

Recent changes :

Limiters Changed: Class F to Class E ; Class 12 to Class 11

Status Added, “Passive Unlock rate”,

Starting rate : 0.01% a day

Automated Repair; from inactive to 0.08% activity

A moment later, after examining the card he put it back in his pocket, and pulled out the other one. His original status card

NameAjax ScylaxPrimary ClassGod among menHealth800ManaN/ALevel1Health Regen/Sec65Mana Regen/SecN/AStrength35Agility21Wisdom103Intelligence146Stamina320Vitality32Dexterity34RaceDecended StratovianSpecial StatusProtection of the Twins[tr]Special StatusThe ever widening mind…[/tr ]

This too, had changed but no as much as the other one; Only a few stat changes and a new row at the bottom.

Ismene : “You didn’t have to slap me…*sniffle* I was only worried about you…”

Cornelius : “You were trying to force yourself on me again, I could see it in your eyes…”

Ismene : “But I love you master…” She said with pleading puppy dog eyes, inching closer to him as they walked. He let her lean on him, as he contemplated pushing her away…

Cornelius : “Woman it’s not my fault that you forced yourself to love me, causing this outcome…”

Ismene : “But I was so struck by your gallant figure that I instantly became infatuated with you. Stop being so devilishly handsome and brilliant or you will draw in more young and pure maidens!” She said, half jokingly as she clung to his arm.

Cornelius stopped walking, pushed her against a wall and turned his head.

Ismene : “So daring master! I would prefer if we could continue this in a room, but if you desire it in the hallway then I shall immidietly start strip-“ She was muffled a moment later by his hand, as he harshly said in a whisper

Cornelius : “quiet woman!!!

Ismene, noticing the change in his attitude nodded, and became serious only a moment later. Cornelius, noticing the change let go of her and tip toed over to the corner of a hallway which they had stopped a few feet from. Voices could be heard just down that hallway…

??? : “Yes…

Yes…

No! please don’t!!

I…will obey…

I have not been able to do that yet…as the Kingdom has already taken precautions in order to prevent any information leaking… If I tried to –…

Yes…

I shall obey…”

It was a one sided conversation, between a male servant and an orb, similar to the one which gave the heroes their status cards. The servant seemed slightly distressed

Cornelius had noticed this, only moments ago and had crept up to eavesdrop on the conversation…

The servant put the sphere away, shoving it behind a pillar, and turned himself around, a depressed look on his face, the look quickly went away, as the servant had found Cornelius standing there with a smile upon his face.

Servant : “Good day to you my lord, are you lost? Do you have need of my services?” (slightly tense)

Cornelius : “Oh no, just in the mood for a casual chat friend, one which requires a second person.”

He spoke boldly, but quietly, so as not to alert anyone else in the surrounding rooms as to what the conversation was about.

The servant looked at Cornelius, clearly puzzled by the words which were spoken.

Servant : “A second person my lord? Do not all conversations require a second person?”

Cornelius : “Indeed they do friend, now I must ask however, who was the second person in that conversation… For as you have said yourself, all conversations require a second person….”

The servants face changed after heading his words. It went from a puzzled face to a tense face. A cold sweat was breaking out on the man’s back. How much of the conversation had this hero heard? What could he derive from the information? Could the man fool him?

Servant : “I was uh communicating with my family just then, for you see, this sphere here is a magical instrument that allows communication over vast distances. My family back home was inquiring about my wellbeing so I disregarded my work and took a break to answer them. For my slacking off, I am extremely apologetic, and ask that you graciously do not tell my superiors.”

Cornelius (nodding) : “Uh huh… So then, which of your family members is giving you commands? Or what does your family have to do with the kingdom’s control of information? Your conversation sounds an awful lot like spying to me…”

Servant : “P-p-preposterous there is no way that a noble servant such as I would connive with the enemy, nor plot the downfall of this great nation!”

The humble servant seemed sincere in his words, but a tinge of doubt was also present.

Cornelius : “So then, what lead to your betrayal? Money? No you are too sincere for that… Something else? You said you were talking with your family right? Do they perhaps have your family held hostage?”

The servants eyes were flitting from right to left, searching for an object to stare at. Finding nothing to stare at in this rather bland side hall, his eyes met Cornelius’s again and he hefted a huge sigh.

Servant : “Yes… My family was captured and sold into slavery when our city fell. Our enemy is paying me money, which I could otherwise never receive, so that I can buy back my family… I truly am sorry for my actions, but I saw no other way to save my family. Please… do not report me… I did everything for the good of my family…”

Cornelius : “Do you know what my motto is?”

Servant : “No my lord… I do not…

Cornelius : “No, I thought not… Well for reference it goes something like this

‘Lie cheat and steal, just don’t get caught…’

I have nooo problem with what you are doing, the problem is in the way you are doing it… So here, let me propose something to help you out…”

Servant : “What???” He was completely baffled at the turn in the conversation. He expected to be persecuted as a traitor and be executed after being tortured just like all other spies…

Cornelius : “First, work for me… I can’t pay you right now, but soon enough I will have a large amount of assets with which I can pay you. You will still report information to the enemies, but what specific information you report is up to me.

Second… If you are going to work for me, don’t get caught, as you may reveal, under a magic spell, that you were also working for me. This would ruin me, and make all future actions I take nigh on impossible to complete without brute force.

Third… Should you refuse this offer, I am going to have to kill you… I am sure you can understand why, but in case you can’t, it’s because I have already told you that I want you to work for me, and again, I cannot allow information of this event to spread.

And lastly, I don’t expect you to be loyal… to me, or the enemy. But for the sake of business, adhere to the contract, and I will have no reason to dispose of you, as the enemies are sure to do. Instead I will protect you, so that you may live a long happy life with your family…

Do you accept?”

Servant : “Of course I accept! But w-what do you want me to do?”

Cornelius : “Just live your life for now, when I have need of you I, or one of my servants, will find you… But first, what is your name?”

Servant : “My name is Alfred, and what is yours my lord… should you wish to give it of course.”

Cornelius : “My name is Cornelius, and it is a pleasure doing business with you Alfred…”

Alfred : “Likewise Lord Cornelius…”

-------------

So uh, spoiler this time is on the creator…

Spoiler : The one who created the Stratovian race, as said before, is named Mark Stratos (hint hint)

He is a human supergenius, who after various events, already explained in pervious spoilers, created the First Stratovian city, He then toiled away for three whole days in the primeval world to create the Stratovian race.

His IQ is unknown, but estimated to be beyond four thousand. He has many “personal” creations but chief among them is his massive computer system, named Lara. Now (as in this point in the timeline) Lara is running on version 9.3

She is the same Lara that Athena and Minerva referred to 2 chapters ago!!

Cameo from the Creator coming up maybe?

I am off to go eat lunch, enjoy the white box…

OH AND BTW I used "skew" on purpose, as in statistics, when data is aligned away from the balance point, or median, it is referred to as a skew...

Just saying... Now you know...

LURKERS BEWARE FOR I DESIRE COMMENTS!!!