The winner claimed all The loser begged for scraps that fell from the winnerÆs table
Wick passed several high ornate windows In a contrast to bustle that had seized this place right before they took down the Nexus ways three days of having most communication and transportation services down made the base still and solemn Not a hint of noise could be heard on the base The corner of WickÆs mouth curled upward All the silent maneuvering heh what a farce this all is
Still I wonÆt refuse to partake After all there are several dogs sitting at the high table tongues flopping out of their mouths acting like they are one of the strong It is time that they learned their place
Lightning fast micro expressions of fury and glee played across his features and Wick paused for several seconds The deep madness he held was constant and insidious and for just a moment it managed to break free of its binds and flare to the surface He saw himself striking at the flaw inflicted in this building during the great quake and sundering all of this edifice collapsing it on top of his foes Blood would seep out through the cracks in the rubble
Patience Wick hissed a breath out through his teeth and reined in his emotions Patience and folly is what separates us from the slobbering dogs
He finally arrived at the meeting room and pushed the tall wooden door open directly not bothering to knock He knew they were already waiting for him For a brief second he paused on the threshold eyes flicking to the four individuals waiting within all Commandants None of the fools who didnÆt deserve that prestigious title With him present they represented half of the active Commandant roster
The child like red skinned Commandant Tipplin his faction mate waved at Wick when he entered Her expression was smug as always but today it contained a particularly ugly curl of the lip Next to her sat the preying mantis Commandant Keckle and the faceless humanoid Commandant Vethelm Both were outwardly neutral in terms of the figures they supported
But it was the snake tongued humanoid twirling her purple parasol that confirmed Commandant WickÆs worst fears He released a low growl Commandant Zettlequill What A Pleasure
Hating you would be so much easier if you were just a slobbering dog WickÆs eyes flashed
Her long tongue flicked out from the lips of a wan smile Commandant Wick What a delight that you decided to finally join us
Meanwhile ZettlequillÆs master had been slowly moving through his full comprehension for a thousand years Even now he hadnÆt yet reached the stage of wholeness He had not bothered to call himself a Speculum rarely making an appearance in public
Once Wick had seated himself he pointedly ignored Zettlequill and stared at Tipplin What are their terms
Is having the undying gratitude of the most powerful Speculum in the history of the Nexus not enough for you Zettlequill spun her parasol casually Wick hated how relaxed she seemed
Commandant Zettlequill simply requests that the five of us assist in a grand image refinement array Tipplin responded wisely choosing to ignore ZettlequillÆs interjection In exchange she and her master will owe us a favor provide a tier 2 citizenship coin to each of us offer several year long Alymian passes
Dog slop Wick struggled to keep the sneer from his face
and donate the whole supply of Unitarium that was liberated from the Swacc base during the attack Tipplin continued even as Wick stiffened Obviously they intended to return this rare material to the Engraving Guild but considering the refusal of Lathis to respond to any communications I think we can divvy up the spoils
Suddenly Wick was very aware of ZettlequillÆs gaze Her tongue flicked out again Wick a major part of that deal is that you form the core of our refinement array We might have had our differences in the past but your attention to detail is second to none My master requested you specifically orchestrate the whole process
His skin prickled with cold needles Seen At this moment Commandant Wick felt extremely exposed She knew She knew his secret and now in front of everyone else she used that information to boldly bribe him Hatred surged through WickÆs veins but at the same time his control tightened too quickly for even the slightest hint to leak out
She might be twisting her knowledge and striking him with it but the temptation of the Unitarium was too much to resist He needed it desperately His furry features shifted at a glacial place settling into a rictus grin What an honor To be personally considered for this role by your master
Zettlequill smiled and turned to the two neutral Commandants Of course your participation is important as well my master truly believes that Military High CommandÆs power comes from all of the talents warriors it possesses Although we might disagree on the methods in the end there is no institution that so predictably turns out geniuses as us
Commandant Wick let her words fall away as she attempted to sway the neutral Commandants What she didnÆt describe was what would happen in the aftermath Should they quickly gather and refine her masterÆs image would he stop there Or would as most everyone else is currently doing would he then wait until the first individual attempted to reach the Pinnacle and follow close behind
Instead of torturing himself further with her presence WickÆs attention turned inward His emotions came in waves Fear embarrassment fury wild bloodthirsty a weird erotic attraction to Zettlequill he let everything splash against him and then recede His mind calculated the odds although he hated to work with her this gamble seemed worth it
Besides Commandant Wick mused This finally will give me what I need to deal with that foolish Ghosthound Heh I cannot wait to see the look on his face and then feel the fear in his soul
Chapter 1795
Why donÆt you wear shoes Claudette asked casually as the two of them drifted in the interior of the Shaft Randidly was taking one of his rare meditative breaks and Claudette felt somewhat bored after long bouts of training her Skills spiced up with sparring She obviously had trained hard for her entire life but her work ethic felt truly pathetic when juxtaposed so directly with Randidly Ghosthound
The man was an abomination stitched together in a lab designed purely to train
They had used time dilation to stretch their training session into a month currently Claudette felt like she was finally getting comfortable fighting with her new Skill but it was clear to her that Randidly was only getting started on his training His intensity steadily increased every day The reverberations that he had started to release in the past few days were potent enough that Claudette could use them for her training
Always he seemed to have something else to attempt or experiment or perfect He practiced with his three images he practiced with his spear he practiced with Nether he trained his physical body he practiced utilizing his emotions to mobilize his images
And the short time he spent transitioning between these brutalizing training regimens left Claudette exhausted She could see the way that the different training tasks utilized different types of energy and focus but still How did he stay sane with a pace like this
So Claudette tried to make some conversation feeling quite drowned in the silence of this place
Randidly opened his eyes and glanced over at her He must have been working on an image because one of his usually emerald eyes was simply an orb of darkness Honestly Because when I first started out in the System my shoes were eaten away by acid At the time I was too desperate to really worry about anything other than surviving So I sorta just got used to feeling the ground beneath my bare feet
Plus I quickly developed Skills related to plants and roots Randidly continued He straightened from his meditative position and bent over stretching to wrap his hands around his ankles So the contact became useful Even now having my feet pressed against the ground gives me some bonuses