95 (I) Change

Alright, this book of recipes is more than just about taste, ingredients, and the monsters you can kill to get them.

Or well, the plants and other stuff you can forage, but that's not as fun as monster killing anyway, at least in my opinion.

Thanks to The Chef Unwavering, what I've basically discovered is that when you prepare dishes that are made from specific creatures and, well, maybe in a variety of different ways you can get different effects, and it can be pretty interesting and

Shit. I’m not good at this writing thing at all yet. Yeah Shiv, write and a few hundred more times… . Wish I spent more time on it at Blackedge, focusing on the written word. Right. What did Georges say? If you can’t do it fancy and complicated, do it simple and right.

Anyway, let's start with the basilisk. Most people eat for the flavor. Basilisk has a really sour flavor, but more than that, the basilisk will save your life. Because you see, basilisks regenerate constantly and and thanks to the Chef Unwavering, if I cook it just right and preserve the midsection of the meat to be mostly medium while the outside remains well-done, a very specific kind of effect can be achieved.

Shit. I wrote two ands. Godsdammit. I need to cross that out.

But, before that, let's start with the poison glands. The venom glands. Whatever kind of gland it is. Frankly, there's a lot about the basilisk I haven't figured out. It's a pretty cool creature. I think I'm gonna get a lot out of it. The biology of—felling sidetracked myself again. Okay. New draft. Starting over.

-Draft Excerpt of Deep Delicacies and Exotic Delights, Written by Shiv

95 (I)

Change

Greed and power were potent tools. Tools effective enough to turn smart people stupid, and stupid people suicidal.

Such was why three squads made an attempt on Adam’s life almost immediately.

Three squads of mercenary Pathbearers who didn’t properly consider just who they were trying to kill. Three squads made up of twelve Pathbearers who thought their Adept and, in one case, Master-Tier Stealth Skills were enough to ambush and eliminate Shiv, Uva, Adam, Can Hu, and Valor.

None of them made it halfway up the building before they were noticed by Adam. Uva’s mana strands went for them first. Her reflexes were snail-like compared to Shiv—were nonexistent when he triggered his Chronomancy. One second, the mercenary teams were working their way up and along the sides of the building. Then, without any hint or reason at all, eleven of them were reduced into smears of brutalized gore. One was spared. One that found herself soaked in organs and blood. The organs and blood of her comrades. She dropped her Pyromancy-infused dagger. Her jaw quivered, her eyes welled with tears, and she began to scream. Only for a heavy hand to close around her neck. She let out a choked gasp instead as Shiv picked her up and casually shouldered his way through the walls.

Outside, people cried out. Only by now did Uva and Adam catch up to what he just did.

“Shiv. Warn me next time you use your Chronomancy,” Uva said, feeling slightly dizzy. “The effects are extremely jarring when I am linked to you.”

“Sorry,” Shiv grunted. The mercenary assassin gasped. Shiv turned her around and glared at her. He watched her eyes widen. He gave her a squeeze, and her mithril helmet shattered into broken pieces. She was sobbing wildly, whimpering for him to let her go. “I kept one alive. I’m thinking about ripping her in half in front of the other mercenaries.”

Uva considered that act with a thoughtful hum.

Adam was immediately horrified. “What? No. Don’t do that. It’s pointless. It’s cruel.”

Shiv felt his Dread Aura thundering, and he looked disdainfully at the mercenary. “She’s probably a slaver. That, and she was coming for you. She was coming for us. The fear will make the others think twice.”

“Actually, her living might be better if we desire fear. And I partially agree with Adam as well—naked brutality is effective. But only to a certain extent.” Uva’s mind was clinical, while Adam was purely operating on his own ethics. Strangely, there was an intersection. “You slew eleven Pathbearers in an instant. It is a horrifying feat. And it can be compounded by releasing a sole survivor. She will tell the others what has happened, and that will make them wary. It will also make them realize there is still a possibility of hope.”

“Hm? Hope?” Shiv didn’t get where she was going.

“Hope that they can be spared. That you are merciful. Tyrannies are built on hope. Have her released back among the others. I will keep a strand with her for now.”

“What?” Adam said, surprised. “No. We should put her in a prison or a holding facility. We cannot have her just…” The Gate Lord considered what Uva was saying. “The deliberate mercy and the fear… Are you sure it will work?”

Uva let out a slight sigh. “I am not sure of anything. But uncertainty is our ally right now. Uncertainty. Fear. And our superiority contrasted with all other Pathbearers. Lord Scorn has placed a target on our backs. We must teach the people here that we are not targets. We are the spiders, and they are but the insects we have spared in our nets. We should continue monitoring the situation regardless. It is best to keep them anxious, but also to show them we aren’t complete monsters.”

Shiv loosened his grip slightly. The mercenary gasped for breath.

“Lucky you,” Shiv growled under his breath. “You get to live a while longer.”

“I—I—” She gagged and wheezed for air.

“You should deliver her to the mercenaries on the bridge,” Uva said. “They already fear you, know little of me, and are uncertain about Adam. This can be to our advantage. We can shape their perception of us with focus and deliberate action.”

“Alright,” Shiv said. “Any idea what I should say?”

Uva chuckled. “Just be yourself. It should be enough.”

“Why did you say that, Uva?” Adam groaned. “Shiv, be four percent of yourself. At most. No flaying people or killing anyone else that doesn’t deserve it.”

“They’re slavers and bastards under Compact,” Shiv sneered. “They all have it coming.”

“And right now, they are prisoners of war at most under the rules of war,” Adam stressed. “We cannot debase ourselves and break the laws of hospitality in these conditions.”

“I don’t remember signing any laws,” Shiv replied bluntly.

“Shiv!” Adam hissed.

“Fine,” Shiv responded.

He hovered up into the air slowly, his gravitic field making both him and his prisoner bob up and down. As he rose into the faint ambient light cast by the now azure mana core, heads snapped to him—heads from windows, heads across the entire plaza. With so many people packed tight, there really wasn't any room for most to go. A mess of tents were being set up and, in some cases, the outside was better than the insides of certain buildings just due to the sheer amount of waste that was building up.

And Shiv winced at that. The waste was partially his fault. Most of the Adepts here were still “bowel-broken” due to his brief try at biological warfare. And the effects still lingered somewhat. With so many slaves and other Initiate-Tiers, it could get very bad real fast.

“Everything to see here, folks!” Shiv called out loudly, shamelessly. “Just a failed assassination attempt.”

“Gods, Shiv,” Adam cringed.

Shiv snorted. If he had to put up with being feared, he might as well have a bit of fun with it.

As he continued his leisurely path over to the bridge leading to the Surface Gateway, Shiv looked down at the many mercenary tents lining the bridge. What’s more, the mercs were already building their own platforms and expanding their available room with Geomancy and some other skills. Soon, though, the survivors were in an uproar, loudly talking about what was going to happen. The dread across the surviving district spiked high—but Shiv didn’t get any levels.

Yeah, considering the last massive jump happened when I scared the eldritch bastard, making normal people and weaker Pathbearers terrified is not going to cut it anymore.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

The surge of fear exploded through the mercenaries as he descended. Many of their number poked their heads out of their tents and gawked. Some fled back in. Most were armed, but kept their weapons low, clutched in shaking hands. Shiv chucked the only assassin he spared down at the mercs. She bounced once but didn’t react to the fall at all. Instead, she began crawling on her hands and knees away from him. She already fouled her pants, and she was whimpering incoherently as she looked at the blood all over her.

A few other mercenaries loudly vomited. And that just made their collective morale worse.

Shiv hovered in the air for a moment, his body shrouded by the pale blue light, his form a visage of death, his irises bright white and utterly merciless. He saw Siggy in the group, and she was shaking most of all. She, more than anyone else, had contact with him, knew his aberrant nature, and knew what he was capable of. But he wasn’t here to scare the shit out of her. Frankly, she did as she's been asked and found some Biomancers to keep him stable earlier, so he felt more positive about her than most people here. He gave her a nod.

Faintly, he felt the fear in her lessen. She nodded back.

So, slowly, as he dangled there in the air thanks to his gravity field, he pulled off his helmet, and he addressed the mercenaries. "All right, eleven of you are dead," Shiv said bluntly. "They tried to come for the Gate Lord. They wanted to get the rewards from the Quest and all that other stuff. Well, I can't say I blame them entirely. We’re Pathbearers. We’re going to want levels and items. We’re going to want to grow. But I'm gonna be very honest. You can't pull it off. You can't."

He stared at the mercenaries for a while longer. Any judgment? Some were outright cowed, looking down at the ground, refusing to meet his gaze. A few others tried but failed; they flinched away, his glare too much for them to bear. And then there were some that were terrified, but they clenched their fists and they hardened their faces. Those were the ones he needed to watch, but they could also be those he could use to keep the others in check. If he targeted those, then maybe the rest would follow. He spiked his Dread Aura, and even the rebellious mercenaries began to quiver. A few of the ones that had been shivering already seemed to piss their pants.

Smells bad, but doing this is kind of funny… Shit, Uva, am I developing a bit too much sadism?

“It’s alright,” she replied, indifferent.

“Not a bit,” Adam shot in. “Bloody hells, Shiv, they’re already scared. Just threaten them a little. You're going way overboard.”

“Now. I know most of you are slave-running pieces of shit or Sell-Skills without a moral fiber." Siggy cringed. Shiv kept going. "Well, you understand that if you come for us, you come for the people who slew the monster that destroyed the entire gate. Yeah. That thing? It was some kind of eldritch entity. We fought it. I wrestled with it. One of my companions ripped its mind apart. And then the Gate Lord killed it.”

Shiv gave them a few seconds to digest what he was saying.

"I sense a few Masters among you," Shiv declared, "but I don't see any Heroes. And of the Masters I see, I don't think a single one of you is even a True or High. But maybe you can get lucky. Maybe you can kill me. Maybe. If you don't, though, it's gonna hurt. It's gonna hurt real bad before I let you leave for the other side." Shiv swept the crowd again, and most of them didn't have anything to say.

“But we’re not just going to butcher you. Well. My companions asked me to be nice. I still might get there. Depends on if you guys keep shitting yourselves. The smell is starting to bother me, I’m not going to lie.” He struggled not to laugh.

“Shiv!” Adam hissed. “That’s literally your fault.”

“I know,” Shiv replied, cackling internally. “That’s why it’s so funny. I’m blaming them for it.”

“But consider this a merciful warning,” he said, pointing at the screaming assassin. She clawed at her clothes and hair, trying to get the blood and gore to come off. Several other mercenaries threw a blanket over her and started hosing her down with Hydromancy. “I didn’t kill that one. Not because she’s special. Just to show you all, I’m not here for your pain. Frankly, I don’t give a shit about most of you. So, don’tmake me give a shit. Otherwise, you and I will learn more than a few things about Practical Metabiology together. Me more than you, I suspect.”

With his speech done and his Dread Aura thundering happily inside him, Shiv prepared to turn and leave.

But then there came a thin voice, a near-defiant voice, but as Shiv listened to it, it sounded more desperate than rebellious. "And what are we supposed to do?" a tall elven mercenary gasped. She had long, flowing blonde hair, but her face was pale, her legs were shaking, and she seemed to be some kind of cavalry, judging from her kit and armor. Long lance, heavy armor, and riding leathers…

Shiv let a bit of his Creeping Void leak out before he stopped it. That only increased the unease in the air.

"You're supposed to keep yourself alive and not throw away your life meaninglessly. Because that's what's gonna happen if you keep coming for us. We will see you, and we will kill you. I will kill you. And you might not get the sudden ends the first group of lucky winners experienced.”

“No! No!” She held up her hands in horror. “I—I misspoke. I don’t mean that! No one will ever attempt to cash in on Quest while you are here! No one!” She looked at the other mercenaries. “No one! But—but I mean—I beg your mercy, Hero. But… There's no food," she continued, grimacing. "There's no food for the weakest of us. The few Biomancers we have also cannot care for all the sick. There was an outbreak of dysentery, so many are weak—some are dying."

At this, Shiv barely held back a grimace. Again, that was probably his fault.

“You might be able to go months—years—without food, or water, or even breath, Hero, but we are not so strong, especially with the sickness. And the people in the district… The diseases that will be certain to spread…”

And her courage crumbled as she looked away, her will to speak faltering.

Shiv didn't spike his Dread Aura again. Instead, he stared at the mercenary and considered what to do next. He descended from the sky and landed just before her. She took a step back. She was shaking, but she didn't look away. Siggy was also staring at him, peeking from around a tent.

"Right. Tell me what you need." Shiv looked up at the elf. She was really tall, which made it weirdly amusing for him how terrified she was of him.

"What?" the elf mercenary asked.

“Actually, tell me your name first. Then tell me what you need.”

"Me? I am… I am…" She swallowed but managed to get the lump down. "I am Thelora. I was… I was a Captain of the Scarlet Feathers. We were—we were a company contracted to defend the gate. I… I ran. That’s why I’m alive.”

She looked ashamed. Shiv grunted in understanding. “You're alive because you’re wise, I guess. So. You need food and medical assistance.”

“Water, too,” she added.

“Power cells,” an automaton cried out by the side. “And a maintenance facility.”

And soon, the mercenaries were all crying out random things they needed. Shiv spiked his Dread Aura slightly. They all choked and went quiet.

“Alright, Thelora,” Shiv said, reaching up to grip the deserter on the shoulder. Her face went pale as she felt the sheer power in his very fingers. “I’m appointing you as commander of these… prisoners of war. You gather a list of what you need and give it to me later. I’ll see what can be done. In the meantime…” He looked at the gateway. “We’ll see what to do with the gateway. Some of you are surfacers. I know you want to run. But that’ll be on our time. Not yours. Got it.”

Muttered agreements and breaths of gratitude followed.

“Yes. Yes. Thank you. Thank you, great Hero—” Thelora gasped.

“Don’t kiss my ass,” Shiv muttered. “Just keep being wise. I don’t have the taste for killing you. Not after what I’ve been through. Got it?”

“Y-yes.”

“Good.” Shiv blasted back up into the air and watched as the mercenaries stumbled back. “I’ll come see you again in an hour. And also, get some volunteer teams ready or something. We’ll be scavenging the ruins soon. There will be plenty of stuff there too.”

Then, he shot off without a proper farewell, returning to the others.

"Well, they're gonna be a felling problem," Adam groaned telepathically. “I’m not bloody looking forward to watching them all the time.”

“We might not have to,”

“Uva. Do you have any idea how many Republic laws we are breaking when you operate this way?” Adam asked.

“None that matter, since we’re in another dimension,” Uva replied. “We do things for effectiveness. Not because of tradition. We do not hurt these people without reason. We do not do anything to them without reason. But we must keep them distrustful. As alienated from each other as they are from us. That is how we keep any saboteur cells from developing. That is my say in the matter.”

“I just…” Adam bit back his discomfort. “I am trying to accept this. I really am, but the Republic—Psychomancy is a dangerous tool.”

Uva sent a pulse of reassurance into him. “Yes. And it must be used carefully indeed. But these are the methods my people use against the First Blood. And these are the same methods that will aid us now.”

Adam folded. “Fine. Fine. I trust you on this matter. Just… be mindful. I don’t want us escalating things to the extreme.”

“I am always mindful,” Uva said. “I think it is Shiv that you must worry about.”

“No,” Adam said. “He’s your problem. You are in charge of keeping him controlled.”

“Hey, asshole, I’m right here. I was plenty controlled just now.” Shiv frowned.

“You made a dozen people foul their pants, Shiv,” Adam complained. “I can smell it from inside the Garden of Bountiful Alloy.”

“Yeah?” Shiv snorted. “I made them shit themselves tactically and strategically.”

“Oh, how is that?” Adam spat. “How was that tactical or strategic? I want to hear.”

“Tactically, they’re afraid but hopeful, so they might listen to us. Strategically, you got to enjoy the smell of shit, which amuses me.”

“Bastard.”

“Boys…” Uva said with a low growl. “Focus.”

“Yes. Thank you, Sister Uva,” Shiv said mockingly. “Someone has to keep us focused. Unlike a certain negligent Gate Lord who can't even figure out how to use his own core. Did you find out what's wrong with it yet? Or do you need me to find you some pills to fix the dysfunction?”

“I was busy using my Awareness, you bull-sized literal piece of shit,” Adam replied as sweetly as he could. “Besides. I know the problem. Here. Take a look.”

Gate [Name Pending]

Category 4 > 3

Skills

[Severe Mana Decay in Progress]