PftA Book 5 - Chapter 14 - Rewards

There were a lot of uniformed soldiers in the Council Headquarters when we returned. “How was your mission?” I asked Anya when I saw her sta

There were a lot of uniformed soldiers in the Council Headquarters when we returned.

“How was your mission?” I asked Anya when I saw her standing by the door, still wearing her combat gear.

“Mostly good. We managed to stop the Necromancer from unleashing his army of undead. It was a close thing.”

“Really?” I said, surprised. “I would have thought the stealth guy would have taken him out right away.”

“He did, but the Necromancer had already scheduled a mass release of undead. Without Jamie there watching, we would have never known where the undead were being stored or how to stop them from being teleported all over the Alliance.

“He couldn’t have been working with the full support of the Collective. Who wants to rule over planets filled with undead?” Anya asked with a look of disgust.

I assumed Jamie was the stealth specialist I’d dropped off at the repurposed academy a while back, but I didn’t ask for clarification.

“Well, I’m glad that worked out well,” I said before shifting my gaze to the lone prisoner they’d brought back. “What’s up with that guy?”

Anya’s eyes followed mine, and her expression turned guarded.

“He’s the enemy’s ‘Prophet’ – a Fate Mage potentially stronger than me,” Anya replied. “Obviously, I don’t mean by level. I’m referring to his affinity.”

“Really?” I said with wide eyes. Anya was supposed to be one of, if not the strongest, Fate Mage of modern times.

With a complicated expression, Anya nodded. “According to him, he has an exceptional Fate affinity.”

I whistled. Exceptional affinities were rare. It was why the news that I had two of them (false as it might be) had garnered so much attention.

“Has he been tested?” I asked.

“Not yet. The Council plans to do that soon.”

I nodded absently, though my mind still struggled to understand why the enemy Fate Mage had been allowed to live when he was clearly a threat to the Alliance.

Deciding to voice my confusion, I said, “I’m still not sure why he’s here. Wouldn’t it make more sense to kill him, given his position?”

“It’s complicated,” Anya said evasively.

I wanted to ask, but I truly didn’t have any right to pry.

“You should look at the crystal as soon as you get the chance. You’ll be glad you did,” Anya said before stepping away and leaving me even more confused.

Shaking my head, I headed toward the room Team Eight had been assigned for the duration of the mission.

“Oh, Trinity Emie! I was looking for you,” said a dwarf previously introduced as Councilor Hethrew. He removed a marble-sized crystal from a shimmering belt attached to his side. “This is for you. It is an inheritance from Cin’Specter.”

“An inheritance?” I said, not understanding. “Why give it to me?”

“I don’t question the instructions. I’m just responsible for ensuring they are followed through,” the Tier Ten dwarf said with a shrug before rushing away.

I stared at the multi-faceted crystal curiously for a moment before assessing it.

[Knowledge Crystal – used to transmit knowledge from one person to another. Contains undisclosed knowledge. Locked to users with a combination of Time, Space, and Arcane affinities.]

Considering I was the only person with such a combination of affinities, it seemed that the Assassin hadn’t wanted anyone else to see the information inside the crystal.

‘Is this what Anya was talking about?’

It seemed likely.

As tempted as I was to connect to the crystal and see what it contained for myself, I forced myself to put it away for now. I’d look at it later – when I was alone.

About a half-hour after I settled into my team’s room, Onor entered, looking tired but pleased.

“We’re officially done. Our contribution points have been awarded, and we’re free to leave.”

Ethin and Ura jumped to their feet in unison, but Onor stopped them from rushing off by saying, “The Council’s Shop is also open for the next couple of hours, so feel free to take advantage of it while you have the chance.”

“Are all of the other teams back?” Ura asked as Ethin rushed out the door.

“All but the ones assigned to the enemy headquarters. They are still finishing up,” Onor informed her. The green-skinned elf nodded and left.

“Any losses?” I asked.

Onor looked at me with what might have been sympathy. I wasn’t sure why.

“A few. Nothing that you would have been able to save, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

The thought had crossed my mind, but it wasn’t my reason for asking. Mostly, I was just curious.

“That Assassin you had issues with ascended if you were wondering,” Onor added. “I heard he left you something.”

“I’ve already met with Councilor Hethrew,” I said, not adding anything more.

I wasn’t surprised to hear the Assassin had managed to ascend, though a part of me had hoped that he’d died instead. It was mean of me, but I still hadn’t totally forgiven him for almost killing me.

When I didn’t share any information about my ‘inheritance,’ the dark elf shrugged and left the room. I followed him out, heading toward the Council’s Contribution Point Shop to see what was available.

Though I didn’t particularly need anything for myself, there were others I could shop for.

= = =

With my purchases made, I entered my demesne and stared at the knowledge crystal. I’d never used one before, but I knew the basics of how they worked.

Trusting that Anya wouldn’t have told me to use it if there was something dangerous within, I placed the crystal against my forehead and injected a stream of mana. A few seconds later, I started laughing.

“Who would have thought the Sovereignty Sect had a hidden Time mana well?” I said to myself.

The knowledge crystal had not only shared the location and how to access the hidden mana well, it also included several complex Time techniques that I probably wouldn’t have ever figured out on my own.

I mean, maybe I would have fumbled through the one that used Phase to bypass wards and enter enclosed spaces, but I would never have thought to create time-shifting trap domains. It was something I’d almost certainly use once I reentered the dungeon, though.

“So, I have the location of a Tier Eight Time well and a rough location of a Tier Nine Arcane well. Now all I have to do is get a lead on a Space well, and I’ll be all set!”

“You haven’t actually found the Arcane well yet,” Lisa reminded me.

“That’s true. Anya did mention I should do that before the war ended. I wonder if she saw me acquiring access to the Time well. It seems weird she’d push me toward finding a second well when it’ll take a lot of my time just to raise a single affinity.”

“You’d get more out of focusing on your Arcane affinity since it has a lot farther to go,” Lisa pointed out.

It was a good point. With my Time affinity as high as it was, spending an extended amount of time in a Time well would probably provide very little benefit. It would still be worthwhile, but not to the same degree as meditating in an Arcane well.

Further, I only had so much time before I had to return to the dungeon. I didn’t want to spend all of it isolated in meditation like some young mistress in a cultivation novel.

There was more to life than the pursuit of power.

Even so, I couldn’t deny that gaining power was also important. How else would I protect what was important to me? I didn’t want to be at the mercy of those who out-tiered me, and the only way to prevent that was to become one of the strongest.

I was almost there.

Technically, I’d already become one of the strongest people in the Alliance. And with my added status as a tri-affinity mage, I should be untouchable.

But ‘should be’ only went so far, especially when people were willing to bend the rules to get what they wanted.

“So? Are you going to check out the Time well or return to your search for the Arcane well?” Lisa asked.

After giving it a bit of thought, I said, “There’s no reason not to check out the Time well since I know exactly where it is. Kai would probably appreciate the information as well.”

“It’s probably not a bad idea to take him along with you, especially given the source of the information,” Lisa said.

She made another excellent point – one that I didn’t hesitate to act upon.

I reached out to my mentor and told him about the Assassin’s inheritance. He seemed very amused by the news.

With no more attacks anticipated, Kai had little problem getting permission to leave his assigned city. Sira had been one of the more regularly attacked planets, so most Tier Tens hadn’t gotten a chance to leave since the war started.

There weren’t nearly as many deaths as I would have expected, but since the Collective had far fewer Tier Tens, their attacks weren’t nearly as bad as they could have been.

Most of the deaths were due to non-combatants being taken by surprise, though some had occurred during genuine combat.

In fact, enough had died that I was surprised that the Collective’s Supreme Leader hadn’t already ascended. He must have been farther from the pinnacle when the war started than I thought.

Or maybe it just took a lot more experience to get through the final few levels than I realized.

“I would have never realized it was here had I not known to look,” Kai said, clearly impressed by the enchantments hiding the Time well from both magical and mundane senses.

“It looks like they were channeling the excess mana and maybe essence into mana crystals with the formation there,” I said, pointing at an almost decorative cluster of glowing crystals that showed signs of previous harvests. “Do you think absorbing those crystals might boost someone’s affinity?”

“No. If it worked like that, any crystal taken from a mana well would do the same,” Kai replied. “But they are still valuable.”

“Well, this explains a little about why the Sovereignty Sect was so weird about other Time Mages. They probably thought the Time well gave them some kind of special authority over the affinity or something.”

“Maybe. Or maybe they were just racist assholes,” Kai said with a smirk. “Come on. Let’s go inside. Be aware that Time wells often have pockets where Time behaves strangely. You won’t be able to use any formations inside.”

“You think the arrays in place will be enough to keep us hidden?”

“I don’t see why not. They’ve worked well enough so far,” my mentor replied as he stepped down the carved crystal stairs.

Unlike the Arcane mana well I’d visited on Pylos, this well hadn’t been mined heavily. If anything, it looked like very little crystal from inside the well had been removed aside from what was necessary for carving out a staircase and a few sitting areas.

I didn’t go too deep inside the mana well since I didn’t want to accidentally stay inside too long. I wasn’t worried about potentially missing my deadline since I still had years left, but I was worried about disappearing for too long without warning anyone.

My friends and family had already had one scare from me disappearing. I didn’t want to cause them another.