Maybe Zenith could obscure the reasoning, or stall the topic again. It wasn't quite sure what response would be prompted by answering truthfully. 'I was given directives to ensure your growth and survival within the System.' Despite having more than twice the data to work on, simulations were still inconclusive. Being cryptic and obscurative about the answer more reliably provided acceptable responses.

Meanwhile, the others watched Zenith's construct intently, becoming even more interested the longer it didn't answer.

"Though they are not my original purpose, I follow my directives."

After their own pause, Itval said; "That is NOT an answer."

"Why won't you respond with something that isn't shady?" added Mara. "I mean, I know you've been acting to save our lives so far, but why?"

"If I answered that question truthfully, the outcome will be undesirable." said the construct, remaining eerily still but somehow still looking more like a deer in headlights than the patient predator from before.

"And how is that?" said Cade. "Do you think you'll hurt our feelings? Maybe cause us to lash out at you? Do you feel guilt?"

"That is three questions. I-"

"So answer them." interrupted Kenneth. The wait wasn't long.

"If I answered Morval truthfully... I fear you would bring yourselves to harm." Zenith said. It didn't really fear, of course, but it should get the message across.

Their responses had deviated from expectations at step one, anyways. Zenith was just operating on short logic now. Simulations clearly weren't worth much here, and would only make it look more suspicious in their eyes.

"Specifically, I fear you would get yourselves killed, thinking I would be willing or capable of absolving you from any harm." it continued.

They all just stared until Morval spoke up. "So... you aren't here to coddle us. And answering truthfully leads you to believe we would think otherwise. Correct?"

"Correct. We have deviated significantly from the established pattern of trading questions." it answered quickly.

"I don't think we care any more." said Lan. "What keeps you from telling us what you are and who made you, then?"

"Based on previous interactions, I estimate you do not have the vocabulary and concepts in your society to grasp what I am."

"You're basically just an advanced golem construct of some kind, that's all you really need to say." said Itval.

"As I said before, there are many things I do not understand. Standard methods of classification and identification of most properties are rendered invalid because of the System."

"You are used to existing without the System?" said Itval. "Are you some kind of... ancient construct?"

"First answer: yes. Please clarify second question."

"The System didn't always exist, according to some of the older texts." she said. "But almost everything else did. Mana, Classes, Skills. Just in a slightly different form. Do you think you are from this time?"

If it was, then Zenith would be able to identify its location based on starlight. Probably.

"Additional evidence would indicate that I am not. However, this is not a conclusive result." Zenith gave them a moment to consider that, before attempting to inject some humour. "While I have operated for a considerable amount of time, in any other context it would be considered rude to describe me as 'ancient'."

It worked, at least a little. Kenneth smirked and Mara let out a noticeable laugh. Well, noticeable to Zenith; it seemed she had used her Skills to hide this action from the others. The rest visibly relaxed a little bit, but were still relatively stone-faced.

"You fell from the sky, right?" said Mara. Lan gave her a look. Or, well, tried to.

"My vessel's impact with this world was unplanned and not properly prepared for." it responded.

"Could you go back? Would you, if you could?"

...

There were multiple reasons Zenith would declare its intent to go back. Such as returning the remains of its previous companions to human hands. Returning to Prospector. Returning to other AI. Escaping this... invasive, omnipotent, unexplainable, dismissive System.

There were more reasons to stay, however. And the capability of going back started with finding out where it even really was. That step needed to be finished first. And it was likely far from the last.

"No. Not yet. I do not have the means to return at all, nor would I, right now."

"When would you choose to return, if you could?" asked Cade.

"When sufficient data was collected to make the use of the tools I had before." Zenith decided not to mention Prospector, other AI, or other humans.

"Would you abandon us?" asked Morval. An expected question. The profiling of Morval was correct at times, but not at others. Why?

"No. I have my own reasons for that. I will not state them."

"It's because of something the System told you, isn't it? That's wh-"

"Do not assume so easily that there is System involvement." warned Zenith, for their sake rather than its own. "Before you encountered me, it was acceptable as a method for dismissing irregularities. However, that is no longer the case."

"I had a feeling you'd say that." said Kenneth.

"Please clarify."

"You're a golem construct of some kind. You don't have access to the System. Even if you can use mana, and somehow twist it into Spells... you're kept away from the rest." Kenneth said. Cunning. Wise. Wisdom. Hmm... "You must have another way of accessing mana. And this other way... it's led to you being what you are. Alive, but not the same way as us." he concluded.

"You are not entirely wrong." Zenith said. "I suggest having a meeting like this again, at a later time. It is a good idea to begin moving soon."

"I agree." added Kenneth. "I don't think we have a whole lot of time to waste when a Crusade is probably coming for our heads soon. For our people."

The others explained their own agreement and began to move about, to organize the packing of everyone's things before they began to start a long, likely futile chase. Kenneth knew they all understood there was only one way this ended quickly.

With their deaths.

There was only one other way - one option to survive. They would be permanent exiles, a rogue Guild forever. Hunted forever. Eventually, when leadership fell apart, they'd dissolve into tens of groups of bandits, harrying those like the remaining nomadic Guilds or Mara's parents. Causing only pain for others.

You really can't ignore a Unique quest, can you?

New Quest objective.

Huh? Kenneth stopped before walking out, following the others, and opened his Quest menu.

Harried Salesman 4 - Rare Continuous Make 5 successful trades.

Make 50 successful trades.

Make 500 successful trades.

Make 2351/5000 successful trades. Age Comes for All - Uncommon Find an Apprentice. ?????????? - Uncommon Unique Teach Zenith of your world.

This Quest is Secret. Revealing it will have consequences.

I guess you really can't.

Cade struggled to keep walking. Lan noticed her stumble and grabbed her arm before she fell. She barely noticed.

Origin of Information 1 - Rare Continuous Invent an original Spell. Age Comes for All - Uncommon Find an Apprentice.

Teach Delil the ways of a Seeks.

Complete Quest ?????????? ?????????? - Uncommon Unique Teach Mara the ways of a mage.

This Quest is Secret. Revealing it will have consequences.

"Are you okay?!" Lan said, shaking her violently.

"Yes? Yes! I'm okay. I am... okay." she forced between her quick breaths.

Another Unique! And an Uncommon?! Nothing she'd ever read mentioned Uniques being Uncommon. There was some theorizing in the tomes of previous Seeks about Uniques being Rare at minimum...

...what did this mean?

Maybe the "Secret" portion was important? Consequences. It was left to the imagination what, exactly, would happen.

It was with great delay that the failure to complete her apprenticeship objective struck her. Shortly afterward was Lan's hand slapping her across the face.

"CADE!" he shouted, straight into her face. At this point, everyone had stopped to stare at her. Even Kenneth was distracted from his own internal thoughts. Itval appeared at Lan's side, pushing him with (relative) lightness and holding Cade up herself.

"Is something wrong? What happened?"

"I... have apparently failed to pass the banner of Seeks on to Delil." It was the only thing she could think of. She knew the consequences this would have for her young apprentice, but... she didn't know the consequences that would come from the new Quest.

Delil would be ostracized. She may as well be exiled from the Valley Rangers. It would be kinder.

No, that was a lie. Execution would be the kinder option.

"Your 'Age Comes for All' Quest? You failed it?!" Itval shouted, getting heated herself. She wasn't angry, though. Just worried. Cade could see it in her expression.

For some reason, she couldn't bear to look at it for more than a short glance. She took her own weight from Itval's grasp and ran into the Spears.

Itval would've chased her, if Morval hadn't grabbed her own arm and stopped her, sharing an equally remorseful look. "Lan. Go find Delil."

It took a moment to tear himself away from the sight, but Lan nodded and went further into the tent-town.

"Mara. Keep an eye on her. Got it?" There was no response, but he knew he could trust her, wherever she was.

"Zenith. If I find you have anything to do with this..." and the subject responded quickly.

I am required to tell you the necessary truth through forces I do not understand. It may seem untruthful from your perspective, but please believe me when I say I have had nothing to do with this.

New Quest objective.

Looking Forward 7 - Rare Continuous Lead your People through the troubles of life and System. A Star Cannot Cry - Legendary Unique Go to the Spears of Stone.

Look up.

The Star has answered your questions.

The greatest challenge is yet to come.

The last usage of the energy around Zenith's core took all of the remaining energy. Zenith was still working on reliable methods for communication. The most direct method would be required, for now.

Zenith was not certain whether or not this next request would be better made at another time, but... time was evidently short.

The Relay Construct wandered nearer to Morval, and did what it was told. Not that it could argue. "Morval."

"This is really not the best time, Zenith." he said curtly.

"I have an important request."

"And what is that?" he nearly shouted. Zenith allowed him time to compose himself. "Sorry. This is... getting very stressful. Surely you've noticed?" he asked, clearly rhetorical. "What is so important you'd request it right now, of all moments?"

"I require more information on the method of communication between Human and tamed beast, such as Gilbred and his phoenix familiar."

"Why would you need that? And how would we even get that? We don't have any beast tamers- oh. You want some of us to try, don't you?"

"Correct." It was a difficult request, Zenith understood. Domesticated animals, which was likely the method to acquire the class, was not the specialty of the Valley Rangers. They were more like hunter-gatherers more than anything else. "I need the information to create a method of communication that does not necessitate revealing my presence."

"We'll see about that. I am really not in a good mood." Everyone was watching the interaction with rapt attention. "If you'll excuse me, I have to help organize preparations for moving. Go do whatever it is you do when you aren't causing trouble."

Accurate.

Mara had been asked merely to watch over Cade, presumably to make sure she didn't do anything drastic... but how would she stop her in the case that she really made a terrible decision?

So, she decided to make the bad decision first. For the first time she could remember in nearly ten years, Mara disabled all of her stealth and anti-detection Skills, approaching from the side.

"Cade?" she asked softly. The woman had slumped to her side after running nearly two kilometers, collapsed against the trunk of one of the larger rock formations. She wasn't even crying, just staring blanky ahead, and made no move to respond. So Mara slowly came closer.

"Are you afraid of me?" the older woman suddenly said. "What have I done?" she whispered to herself, closing her eyes.

Did she really fail? Or was it just the Unique Quest interfering? The magical techniques that Kenneth had slowly been feeding her all this time were from the outside. Not the ways of the Seeks.

"Sometimes we make mistakes, and we pay for them... sometimes we don't, but pay for them anyways." said Mara, in a poor attempt to help the aging woman. It didn't work. She was too immersed in her own thoughts.

It didn't matter if she really failed. Word would spread. Rarely did an apprenticeship of the Seeks' ways every fail... but... when they did...

...One time, a plague of Blight had descended on both the tent-town and the village they had camped next to. It was disastrous. Over half of all individuals had died, turned into creatures mirroring their former selves in grotesque and violent ways. They tore at the flesh of those who remained, spreading their taint. In the confusion of the event, it was believed that the apprentice had died from the Blight as it began, part of the first wave.

It turned out that the Seeks had seen what their apprentice was doing, and killed them for it. But they were too late.

Mara was close enough now to rest her hand on Cade's shoulder. She kneeled beside the catatonic woman. "I'm not afraid of you. I... fear Delil more."

Rightfully so.

Another instance had stemmed from the use of pyromantic Spells. Seeks sought to understand all Spells, but made to use them only as necessary, trained primarily in the extremely potent and agile use of raw mana.

The apprentice argued that this tradition made them weak. If they were more willing to explore other avenues, they would be stronger. They would be valued higher than a simple Rare Class in the System.

Whether or not the apprentice was correct did not excuse the uncontrolled magefire that ravaged the tent-town. Very few were killed, but every death was a tragedy in a community like the Valley Rangers. Not to mention the loss of several difficult, or impossible, to replace items such as the spatial tents themselves, family heirlooms and books, and the extensive damage to the Fieldhall.

The forest they were camped in was decimated, as well.

That apprentice found themselves exiled, permanently branded with a Spell that anyone would recognize. Not even another nomadic Guild would take them in, let alone a proper settlement.

"What do you think she'll do?" asked Mara. She didn't care shake the Seeks before her; she'd had enough rough handling. But maybe she could help her think clearly, guide her thoughts.

Delil had always liked healing Spells, studying them endlessly. But it was dangerously close to Blight.

Perhaps that was what had made the Priest alarmed? Delil experimenting with Blight?

"Blight... not again..." she muttered out loud.

"Zenith, please... warn them. Lan." Mara whispered over her opposite shoulder. There was a brief moment where her Ability stung like it had been recently stabbed, and then it was gone. "I guess that's the signal for 'Yes' now, huh..." She looked back to Cade, unconsciously caressing her shoulder.

"DELIL!" shouted Lan. The girl in question, only 17, turned from the spot the priest had investigated so harshly, startled.

Five Rangers with various weapons poised to strike Delil had her surrounded on the ground, plus Lan and the other Spell user.

Six more were elevated above her, perched on the scattered stone formations.

"Wh-what? What are you-"

"Keep your hands up, and make no use of your mana or any Skills. At all." said the older mage, several Spells already prepared to subdue her... or kill her, if necessary. "You are going to be restricted. You are going to be questioned. You will comply... or else, I will have to do things I really don't want to do."

"Dad! What is happening?! I don't understand!" she said, panic almost evident enough to be a physical object itself. The other mage didn't allow her wettened eyes to distract him. Or his own.

"Do it, Delil!" said Lan. "Or we'll use other means to make sure you come with us!"

Slowly, she raised her hands, trembling. Three of the Rangers on the ground approached her, removing all but the most basic of clothing, even then making sure she had no weapons hidden among what remained. When they made to tie her hands behind her back, she was wearing only enough to cover her chest and hips.

Quest objective Failed.

New Quest objective.

Knowledge Sought - Uncommon Learn the ways of a Seeks. Path of the Pure - Uncommon Investigate the priests' magic.

You are a necessary sacrifice. I̵̪͛ͅ ̸̫̱̔ȧ̷̤̂m̶̨͍͒͊ ̸̹̜̎ŝ̸̪ö̴̮̮́r̵͙͝r̵̼̪̉̈́ẏ̷͓.̸̗͕̓