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206. Deeper
🕑 Added 2024-11-02 14:00:03 +0000 UTCMag led the way. Ike and Wisp followed. They didn’t need to discuss it, but both of them kept their eyes open, watching the forest around them for any tricks or traps. For all that, Mag led them right. He didn’t bring them to a monster’s den, or try to hop off a cliff where they couldn’t follow. The more earnest he was about it, the greater Ike’s anxiety grew. Was the thing he was leading them toward so dangerous that he didn’t need to trap them? Or rather, did he not want to trap them, because he needed them at their full health to get the other half of the skill out of wherever it had been put?
He did say he’d failed to retrieve it before, Ike reasoned. He shouldn’t be surprised that Mag wasn’t tricking them. No, he was the one who was mistaken, for assuming that Mag didn’t need them at their best. Mag wasn’t weak. He’d been able to fend off both Ike and Wisp fighting together when he was only at Rank 3 himself, supposedly the equal to either one of them. True, they’d ultimately been able to best him by working together, but nonetheless, he’d been able to fight both of them at once on equal footing. If he hadn’t been able to retrieve the other half of the skill, it had to be stuck somewhere truly dangerous, difficult to reach… or both.
He glanced at Wisp, but her eyes were locked ahead, watching Mag. She watched him in silence. He followed her gaze, but whatever she looked for, he couldn’t see it.
Ike shook his head and ran on. Maybe all his doubts were for nothing, and Mag didn’t intend to betray them at all. Anything was possible, after all. Still, he doubted it. Mag had no reason not to attempt to betray them. They’d beaten him, but by a narrow margin. If the circumstances were different, or Mag got the upper hand in battle, he couldn’t confidently say that they could beat him again.
Bright lights flashed overhead. Mag ducked into the shadows. Instinctively, Ike and Wisp did the same. Two flashy mages flew overhead on brooms, glittering with steel armor. Hunkering in the trees, Ike squinted up at them. “Is that normal here?”
“Hmm? For mages to wear armor?” Mag asked.
Ike nodded.
Mag considered. After a few seconds, he shook his head. “The Steelbound Sect almost always wears armor, but it’s not normal for mages in this region in general. Ah, but they have a good reason for it. They’re expert enchanters, mages who specialized in the art of engraving skills into weapons and armor. They’re weirdoes who won’t use their own skills in battle, except as a last resort. They’d rather use skills embedded in their gear.”
“Kind of like permanent talismans?” Ike asked.
Mag shook his head. “Talismans encase a single usage of a skill in paper to be used later. Enchantments permanently imbue an item with a skill. It’s said that Steelbound mages can’t use skills that they’ve imbued into their gear without that gear.”
Ike squinted. “What’s the advantage, in that case? Wouldn’t it be better to keep the skill inside you, where you can use it at any time, rather than linking it to a piece of gear that you might lose, or might be stolen?”
Mag spread his hands. “Supposedly, it allows for instantaneous activation and stronger skills. They aren’t using their bodies to channel mana, so they aren’t bound by the limitations of how much mana their bodies can handle. Instead, they’re only bound by the amount of mana they can store in the mana gems attached to their gear, and the volume they can instantaneously channel through the steel. In other words, it’s a system for losers who aren’t themselves strong to fight on and cheat their way into higher Ranks anyways.” He scowled. “I don’t like them. Covered in shiny things that I can’t steal? And you can’t tell what Rank they are by looking at them, only by looking at the strongest piece of gear they have, whatever that is. They’re annoying, unbelievably annoying. If I could wipe them out, I would.”
Ike raised his brows. “Is that so? What if we helped you do that?”
“Huh? Why would you do that?” Mag asked, earnestly taken aback.
Wisp turned as well, putting her hands on her hips. “Yeah. Why would we do that, huh, Ike?”
“We’d do it for our share of the loot,” Ike said.
Mag frowned. “Greedy.”
“We aren’t working for free. Think about it, Mag. You just admitted you can’t wipe them out on your own. But with us at your side, you’ll be able to take home one-third of all their shiny things. A whole one-third! Compare that to the none of their gear you have now. Way better, right?”
“One half.”
“One third. Wisp is her own person.”
“Damn right I am. I still haven’t heard why we’d want this, though,” Wisp said.
Ike leaned toward her. Quietly, he explained, “Think about it, Wisp. It’s a kind of gear that doesn’t exist on our side of that desert. Not only will it provide us with a massive tactical advantage when we use it, but we’ll also be able to sell it for a premium. No mages on the other side of the desert will have seen it. They won’t have any other way to purchase the enchanted items, so we can pretty much charge them whatever we like. Plus, we’ll be able to raid their treasury, while we’re at it. Always a bonus.”
Wisp’s mouth shaped into an O. She nodded slowly. “I see, I see. It’s treasure. Loot! Very valuable loot, back where we’re from.”
“Right.”
She turned to Mag. “You should count yourself lucky you’re getting a cut at all. We beat you, so that makes you our servant, but not the kind who gets paid.”
“They call those unpaid interns,” Ike whispered.
“An unpaid intern!” Wisp said cheerily, pointing at Mag.
“How dare you,” Mag snarled. He puffed up, inflating his chest and rounding his shoulders.
In his mind’s eye, Ike saw the bird version of Mag puff up its feathers in an attempt at intimidation. He snorted. How intimidating. He should give up. Birds are adorable, not scary.
“An even stake in the loot means I’m recognizing you as an equal,” Ike pointed out.
“I’m a king, not an equal.”
“A king with no subjects is no king at all,” Ike returned.
Mag opened his mouth in anger, then paused. “What’s a subjects?”
“A subject is someone who recognizes your authority as king.”
Mag stared at him glassy-eyed.
Clearing his throat, Ike continued. “That is, it’s someone who will follow your orders unquestioningly, simply because you’re the one who gave the orders.”
“Oh! I have tons of subjects,” Mag said, puffing out his chest, this time in pride.
“You do?”
Mag pointed up. “The birds.”
Ike shook his head. “The birds don’t count. They’re animals. Kings don’t… well, I guess they can own animals. Even whole categories of animals.”
For no reason, the image of a deer with red crystal antlers flashed through his head. Quickly, the images of Clarina and the others reacting to him eating that deer followed. Ike scratched the back of his head as a wave of cold washed over him. Er, could that be why they reacted that way? Because the king owns all deer?
“Yeah? So what?” Mag asked, jolting him back to reality.
“So… right. So animals don’t count. They have to be sentient. Humans, or beasts, or monsters. As long as they can talk and they recognize your authority, they’re a subject.”
Mag thought for a moment, then gestured at them. Before he could speak, Ike cut him off. “Neither Wisp nor I respect your authority, so don’t even think of claiming us as subjects.”
“Yeah, if we’re talking subjects and royals, Ike and I are the royals here, and you’re our subject,” Wisp chipped in.
Ike thumbed over his shoulder at her. “What she said.”
“If you guys don’t count, and the birds don’t count, then what does count?” Mag asked petulantly.
Ike shrugged. “Someone weaker than you, that you can claim taxes from.”
“Taxes?”
“Money paid to a king.”
“Huh? For what?”
Ike shook his head. “For the priviledge of being a subject, I guess.”
Mag’s eyes lit up. “Pay me, and I’ll let you be my subject.”
“Nah. I’m no one’s subject. I haven’t been paying taxes, anyways.”
Mag turned to Wisp.
She spread her hands. “This is human bullshit. Monsters don’t pay taxes. In fact, we don’t acknowledge anyone’s authority. Even if we live on a king’s land and eat his beasts, all he can do is sigh and shake his head! Monsters are stronger than kings. And of monsters, spiders are the ultimate. That’s right. Gaze upon the truly superior lifeform!”
With that proclamation, she struck a flashy pose and grinned at them, one hand in an L under her chin and the other wrapped around her midsection.
“…Right,” Ike said. After a second, he turned back to Mag. “In any case, there are people who do pay taxes and do things like acknowledging a king’s authority, but it’s not either of us. You’ll have to find some of that kind of people.”
“What kind of people?”
“Sheeple!” Wisp offered cheerily.
“What’s a sheeple?” Mag asked.
“I dunno. But I heard a mage say it once,” she said. After a moment’s thought, she posited, “Someone who pays taxes?”
Ike snorted. His mind went to his uncle, who, for all his haughty attitude and king-of-the-slums position, had nonetheless paid Lord Brightbriar his due. I’m not sure what a ‘sheeple’ is myself, but I’m pretty sure my uncle would blow a fuse to know he’s being considered one.
“You’re talking nonsense. I’m a king, and you’re stupid,” Mag concluded. He set off again, checking the skies as he went to make sure the Steelbound mages had well and truly cleared out.
“What about raiding the Steelbound Sect?” Ike reminded him.
“I’ll think about it. Maybe if you pay me taxes,” he said.
Wisp chortled. “Sure, kid, sure. How about we just do it ourselves, and leave you out? You ever think about that? Your cut is even right now, one third, just like each of us. But if we go and take them on ourself, just me and Ike, it could be nothing. Zilch. Zero.”
Mag scowled. “Rude.”
“Everything you’ve suggested has been kind of rude, too,” Ike pointed out. He crossed his arms. “We’re here to help you find the other half of this skill, don’t forget. You should treat us a little more kindly.”
“You’re going to take it, though,” Mag pointed out.
“That’s what you’re assuming. I could share it. Or even pay you back for your share of the work. You know Wisp and I have lots of money.”
“Money? Ptooey.” Mag spat.
“…Lots of pretty shiny things,” Ike amended, pulling a gleaming lamp out of his storage ring.
Mag stiffened. His eyes glistened with desire.
Ike put the lamp back into the ring. “So? Think about it. It benefits you to work with us, instead of against us. I can give you a lot of shiny things in return for that ugly half of a skill orb.”
Mag pursed his lips. “I’ll think about it.”
Ike watched his back. He was under no illusion that he’d convinced Mag, but he had to make an attempt. He didn’t really want to fight Mag again, or to put up with whatever traps the bird boy came up with. I’ll keep working on it. I’m sure there’s something I can offer him that he’d want enough to not betray us. The question is, what?
Wisp cut her eyes to him. She gestured at Mag, making a stabbing gesture at his back.
Ike shook his head. Not yet. Mag was a risk, but he wasn’t a guaranteed risk, and nor was backstabbing him guaranteed to kill him. Better to keep him on their side and find a way to ply him with honey, than to attempt to kill him. At best, they’d have lost their guide. At worst, they’d have a powerful, angry Rank 3 who knew what their objectives were and had every reason to follow them around and sabotage their efforts.
She sighed silently, but shrugged. The three of them walked on, all of them plotting in their own ways.
