Wish upon the Stars (Original Superhero cultivation sci fi litrpg)

[Malcolm Tent]

We took the trip to Ironreach slow. I was concerned about being noticed now, not just by the godchildren, but possibly by the Void Child too. I had faith in the candles (because realistically what could I do if they didn't work?) but I decided to be cautious. Slowing down meant more time to process each area with Murmur, which meant better stealth.


While we walked, I left Callie to her own devices and hung back to talk to someone else I'd been worried about…my apprentice. Bella looked tired, if excited, but I could see a bit of fear in her eyes.


Thinking about it, Bella had been through a lot. From being a casual bandit on Rackham to storming a dangerous dungeon, the hits had just kept coming for her. I slowed down to stroll next to her, not bothering to say anything, just letting her get her thoughts in order to decide what she wanted to say, if anything.


"Is it always like this?" she eventually asked. "Being…powerful? I mean, these people are scary. Seeing you and those other two fight back at that village, I've never seen anything like that. One the one hand it's amazing, knowing I might reach that point, but on the other, I feel like this water is too deep for me, if you'll excuse the pun."


I chuckled. "You know the trick to surviving in deep water?" I asked her wryly. She shook her head. "Be a shark. Ascendants are a lot like sharks. If you don't move forward, you might not move at all. In my experience, growing as an Ascendant is about momentum. Seize the initiative, then keep it. Show you're amazing, then use the power from that demonstration to be even MORE amazing."


"Master," she said in exasperation. "No offense, but I'm not sure you can give me reasonable advice on this. You and your friends are all monsters."


"All great Ascendants are monsters," I told her bluntly. "Some of them are polite, or kind, are fun, but they're all creatures that are no longer humans. Normal people don't become high rankers. My Uncle gave me this same speech when I was younger, and I didn't really fully grasp it until now. Teaching really is the best way to learn, I guess. I thought he was warning me that becoming powerful would change me, but he was also saying I'd have to change to become powerful."


She cocked her head in confusion. "Master, you just said the same thing twice."


"No," I laughed. "It just sounded like it. What I mean isn't that normal people can't adapt to the process, it's that normal people don't even have the right state of mind to attempt it. It takes a special kind of monster to cultivate the mindset of a high ranker, and you have to have that mindset to get there. You can't think of yourself in comparison to most people, or other people. You have to compare yourself to the limits of what you can imagine.


"Don't ask 'am I as strong as this guy in front of me?', ask, 'am I as strong as the strongest guy who has ever BEEN in front of me?' Find the limit of what you think you can achieve and push past it," I continued with enthusiasm. "Because if you can surpass your limits for just a moment, and someone else hears about it, your new limit will be even further. That's the nature of being a living legend."


She looked…energized. I was happy to see my speech had helped, at least a bit. It was one of my better speeches as a teacher, I think, and I wondered if Zeke had felt the same mixture of pride and expectation when he gave me his version of this speech.


"Anyway, I want to do a bit of training while we travel," I told her cheerfully. "Nothing directly combative, just some control exercises. Want to join me? I THINK I might be able to help you learn one of my established techniques now." I was planning to try to teach her 'Extinction Event' since I had such a good grasp on it. Beyond that, I had some ideas for how to improve it myself, or at least my control over it.


Honestly, I was expanding my repertoire too damned fast. I needed to start over. Slowly refine each step of my process, and start trying to integrate them into a larger combat system. Once I did that, I could figure out what I was missing, and skew my future domains to cover those weaknesses.


My pseudo Domains were all strong, and varied, but just like I could integrate skills and techniques into the domains themselves, I should be able to integrate THEM into larger 'demi-domains'. Of course, that was just adding more complexity for the moment, I would look into it once I managed to master the abilities I currently had. I knew there was a lot of room for improvement with what I could do, especially with the staff.


Bella nodded excitedly, and I held a hand out. "This," I told her solemnly. "Is Extinction Event. It's a powerful instantaneous combat technique, relying on the principles of explosion and annihilation." I explained the mechanics and imagery of the Extinction Event. "The foundation of this move is the black flame of Mephistopheles. Since you've come into contact with that, and have the Skill for it, you should be able to use this technique, much like you were able to learn a version of my Waltz."


Or rather, Supernova Step, my mother's technique that I based it off of. But the logic held up. She could use Mephistopheles, at least momentarily, so she should be able to create the event.


"Now, beyond instinctual power release, I'm also planning to refine my control." I focused, and in my palm, an orb of annihilation the size of a pinhead appeared. I locked it down with my willpower, then started to expand and contract it. One moment it was the size of a pea, then a baseball, then a pin again. I varied the speed, the intensity, I even slightly altered the shape. I gave Bella ample time to study and perceive it as I worked.


It was hard. I hadn't expected to run into this kind of a challenge, thinking my willpower and soul were both more than up to any challenge. But it turned out while my raw power with techniques was pretty much at its peak, and kept climbing, my finesse had lagged behind. Automating the Skill with the library hadn't helped, even if it hadn't hurt as much as I might once have assumed.


This was more…technical. Like Callie had said before, it was like muscle memory, but now I was learning to control exactly how that muscle flexed when I was paying attention. I focused on the Event. Larger, smaller, shaping in patterns. Bella watched, entranced as I turned the dark sphere into a star, a pyramid, and a few other very basic geometric shapes.


It was an odd sensation. It felt draining, but not on my soul, really. At least not the same way as I usually felt soul strain. I'd experienced something like it during training once before, but it was so long ago I couldn't remember the exact instance.


After about ten minutes, Bella got a determined look on her face, coming to a stop. I did the same, though I also triggered Mornax, just in case. The others kept going for a bit, then stopped and turned around. "I think I've got it master!' Bella said solemnly. "Stand back! I'm going to use Extinction Event!"


I didn't stand back. I was in Sammael and Mornax at the same time, not to mention wearing C-rank armor. She couldn't have moved me with a D-rank forklift.


She held out her hand, palm up, and STARED. And stared. And stared. Her face turned red, cheeks puffing up and sweat beading on her forehead. Nothing happened. She growled, then removed her staff from storage and started practicing the Mephistopheles stance, moving slowly through the motions as she tried to find the headspace.


That made sense. She couldn't use the forms naturally, so needing to perform the stance in order to execute the technique was understandable.


She moved slowly, feeling it out, and then, finally, she lashed out with a thrust and yelled…and a small hayseed sized black sphere appeared at the end. My hand snapped out, wrapping around the staff as I slammed my will down on her technique. I'd created it, and the form she was using to channel it, and I could just FEEL the energy. I held it in place, then glanced up at her. "Alright, you've got it, now reel it in. Give me some more power."


Nodding tightly, she growled, eyes narrowing as she poured her will into the staff. I was holding the technique in place, something I had no idea I could DO before this, but I suspected had something to do with the library and the tome containing Extinction Event. It was something to look into later, at any rate.


I felt her will flow through the technique, and I let it, just maintaining the shape. I was pretty sure she could have wrested it away from me with almost no effort, this was only working because she was allowing it, but it was still amazingly useful.


As I watched, the hayseed sized black sphere began to grow. First to grape size. Then to a golfball, then finally to the size of a small plum. It stopped there, and I had to hold it together because Bella's will was getting shaky. Then, just like she'd seen me do, she pulled back on it, shrinking the orb.


It was slow, and irregular, and the shape wavered in a way that was obviously unintentional. But it happened. She flexed the willpower in the technique, altering it and slowly controlling it until finally, she fell backwards.


I released the technique, but not the staff, using the stick to catch her and pull her back up to her feet. She wobbled a bit, but I clapped her on the shoulder proudly. "That was fantastic Bella! You got it! Do you think you can do that again? Once you recover I mean, don't try it now. How does your soul feel?"


"Sore," she groaned, rubbing her temples as she put away the staff. "That was really hard. I saw a lot of weird stuff."


"Not surprising," I said, waving her off. "But you didn't answer. Can you do that again?"


She paused, thinking it over, then nodded. "Yeah. Yeah I think I can. It'll take a lot of practice, but I think I can do it. I think my Goetia Staff Art improved too. It didn't rank up, but it improved. Maybe that's how I'm supposed to train it? Learn to use the energy outside of the stances. Do you think I'll eventually be able to use the forms like you can?"


We walked back to join the others as we talked. "I suspect you will," I confirmed. "At the very least, there's a bunch of ranks of the staff art to go. I can't imagine at the Grandmaster rank you won't be able to tap into the forms manually."


I wondered if she could REACH that rank right now. I'd made the Skill, but it was a genuine part of the system now. Whatever that meant. If other people could learn it, could they surpass me? Or would they be stuck until I ranked up and paved the way? It was a fascinating subject, and one I'd be looking forward to studying…in the future.


But for now, I had other things to worry about. Like the giant collection of black metal towers jutting into the sky off in the distance. I'd already asked the Citizen about it, so I wasn't surprised by their appearance. We'd arrived at our destination. We'd officially made it to Ironreach.

 

[prymael]

My thanks to you author for coming up with a cultivation story that isn't all about an endless speedrun for power where the characters just happen to be nearby as a distraction or means to an end and not the focus. I appreciate that this work is able to let us readers watch as the characters grow as people, you know, cultivating themselves as they learn how to influence their paths towards something greater. Thank you for sharing such a great story and I look forward to reading more.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

My thanks to you author for coming up with a cultivation story that isn't all about an endless speedrun for power where the characters just happen to be nearby as a distraction or means to an end and not the focus. I appreciate that this work is able to let us readers watch as the characters grow as people, you know, cultivating themselves as they learn how to influence their paths towards something greater. Thank you for sharing such a great story and I look forward to reading more.

Click to shrink...

That means a lot, thank you. I'm really glad you're enjoying the story.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

Unlike the last city, the gate guards at Ironreach didn't make things hard for us. The Citizen was clearly well known here, and when he brought us to the gate, they let us right through. Once we entered though, I noticed things were different than expected.


Based on his descriptions and his general demeanor, I assumed Ironreach would be lively and bustling. It WAS pretty packed with people, but it wasn't loud or energetic. Everyone walked quickly and silently, eyes trained on the ground as if afraid to catch a glimpse of something they didn't want to see.


I frowned at the Citizen. "Is this how it normally is? I was expecting more…just more. This is weird and grim."


He shook his head, brow furrowed as he scanned the streets. "No. This is strange. Ironreach is a rowdy place. Something is wrong. Come on, I need to go see a friend." He paused. "Unless you think this was enough?"


"You're a guide," I said dryly. "Guide us."


He chuckled distractedly and then led us further into the city. We eventually came to a stop outside of a small building. It was a noodle shop, apparently, basically a stand with a roof and a front wall. He pushed the door open, then strode up to the counter. "I'll have a number thirteen with extra peppers, and thirty seven degree twist."


The girl behind the counter, who looked so bored I thought she might have been asleep, looked up fuzzily. "Ah, right." She hit a button and the counter popped up, opening a path into the back. We walked through the kitchen, reaching a staircase with a sign beside it. It simply said 'Inverted Heaven.'


Without pausing, the Citizen opened the door, gestured for us to go ahead, and we all piled down the stairs, coming out in some kind of…gambling parlor? Everyone was playing a strange game involving symbol covered butterflies and a remote controlled toad. Technology here wasn't exactly medieval, but it was definitely eclectic. The designs were very old fashioned, and the toad was made of dark metal with lots of gears.


The Citizen ignored it, walking through the parlor until he reached the back and knocked on a screen door. There was a pause, and then it slid open. "I'm here to see Caladwen," he told the towering mountain of muscle on the other side.


Glowering down at him for a moment, the man nodded, then slid the screen closed. After two minutes he came back, opened the screen, and stepped away.


We were escorted back to into a spacious antechamber, where a blonde woman with bright green eyes reclined on a couch, reading a book. "Tag!" She said brightly as she sat up. "So good to see you! You didn't say you were coming."


The Citizen (Tag I suppose) shrugged. "I wasn't planning on it, but things just kind of worked out this way. Sorry to disturb you Cal, but I had some questions about…well about a lot of things. What the hell is going in Ironreach? Everyone is so quiet and reserved. This can't be natural. Your sister must have some idea what's causing this, why hasn't she stopped it?"


"Dez is…busy," she said grimly. "There's been an infiltration from the Deepchild Collective. The organization isn't TECHNICALLY illegal, because no one can prove they're connected to the Pale Men, even if we all know it. One of their priests has been causing trouble, and he's here with the backing of Algenclave, so Dez can't just kill him."


He blinked in surprise. "Algenclave? I thought he was dead. Didn't he vanish like twenty years ago?"


"He did, and now he's back," she shrugged. "He killed Zelgar over in Shadowcrack and took over the city. He's been pressuring Dez for the last few months, sending his Mistwardens to "patrol" Ironreach territory, collecting taxes from our villages, and a dozen other little things he can claim are misunderstandings but everyone knows are blatant provocation."


I stepped forward. "Hi, sorry, don't mean to interrupt, but what exactly are you guys talking about? This is fascinating, don't get me wrong, but I've got things."


Tag snorted. "Sorry, where are my manners. Caladwen Renfroe is Dezcarta's sister. She's also a powerful force in the city. This is Solomon, he's looking for some friends of his in the local area. We were planning to ask Dez, but maybe you've heard something."


I gave her a detailed description of everyone, and she shook her head. "Like I said, we've been busy. I'll ask around, but Dez would probably have a better idea. I just don't know if you can get in to see her. Algenclave has been applying lots of pressure, and slipping this priest in has made it all worst. He's been ministering, doing charity, and all sorts of other things that seem harmless but are almost definitely brainwashing."


Glancing at Callie, I exchanged worried looks with my wife. I refused to believe that the 'Deepchild Collective' wasn't in some way involved with the Void Child, especially given the stated connection to the Pale Men. This priest showing up here might have something to do with Callie, or with my friends, or might just be the usual Ascendant bullshit making our lives difficult, but whatever the case, it was almost definitely going to drag us into a mess.


So I decided to be proactive. "What if we look into it for you?" I offered. "No one here knows us. I infiltrate the Deepchild Collective's organization and feed you info, and in exchange you search for my friends with your local connections."


She raised an eyebrow at me. "And what makes you qualified to do that? I don't know you, you might be a total weakling. Maybe you'll just get murdered the second you step in the door."


"Maybe," I agreed cheerfully. "But what does that have to do with you? No me means no deal, which means you don't have to investigate. And like you said, you don't know me, so it won't matter much to you if I die."


Staring at me for a minute, she burst out laughing. "Well, I suppose that's true. I like this kid. Fine. You infiltrate the Deepchild Collective, we investigate and try to find traces of your friends. You have a deal. When can you start?"


I shrugged. "Depends what I'm doing. I need to know more about them, where their bases are in the city, how they interact with people around them. If they're looking for geniuses I can just roll up and offer to join, if they're low profile I might need to wait for them to notice me. I need to know what I'm dealing with."


Actually, I was pretty sure I could find a breakthrough point just from investigating with Murmur or Dantalion, but casing places like that took a while, and I didn't have the time. Between the Void Child and the godchildren, without even mentioning the local forces, my friends were in extreme danger. And now Callie had attracted the attention of that THING in the ocean, and I wasn't able to do anything to fix it yet.


I felt like I was suffocating, surrounded by enemies on all sides. I'd been honest with Bella earlier, when I gave her that speech about being a shark, but I was also putting on a brave face for my disciple. In reality, I wasn't sure we could all get through this, and the worse it got the more afraid I was that one of the people I brought here would die and it would be all my fault.


My own life was…not irrelevant, but less important. If I died, I died. I wouldn't be around to worry about it. I'd never have let that thought pass through my head if Callie could hear it, but it was true. The danger and pain I'd been through had almost ground away my fear of death. Could dying hurt more than being burned alive with ego fire? Than the falls? The idea of being killed just couldn't move me anymore.


But watching my loved ones die. No amount of soul refinement, training, or mental polishing would ever make that anything but terrifying. If I had to see Callie killed, or Benny, or even Abel…I didn't know what I would do. I suspected it would be violent and very drastic.


So I needed to be proactive. Find the answers ahead of time. And this priest was a servant of the Void Child, so he should have information. That was the real reason I'd volunteered for this. I could see Callie staring at me, and I knew she was worrying. She would be aware of what I was doing, and while she couldn't exactly get mad that I was putting myself at risk for my own wife, I knew she wasn't happy because she would have already figured out that I couldn't let her come with me.


With her current connection to the Void Child, it would be too risky to expose her to one of its servants, even if we didn't have rock solid confirmation.


I spent the next hour talking to Caladwen while the rest of my group decided to test out the game being played in the parlor. Based on the yells and cheers the few times the door opened, Bethy was apparently really good at it, or was possibly cheating. Regardless, hearing them so carefree really helped me calm down, and the warm feelings of support through my bond with Callie didn't hurt either.


Caladawen was straightforward and helpful, of course. I was going to take care of her enemy for her, or at least give her the keys to doing it herself, so she would naturally do her best to be helpful.


Speaking of which, I wasn't sure how this would work out. Would I have to fight the priest? And if I did, would that C-ranker (I was assuming) they'd mentioned come after me. I wanted to avoid that if possible, obviously. If it WASN'T possible…well, I'd cross that bridge when I came to it, for the moment I just needed to know the exact stipulations of the agreement, so that was what I asked.


Caladwen hummed, considering the terms. "I'd say I need you to at least give me evidence of foul play. What that is, I'll leave up to you, but if you can prove he's corrupting the minds of the citizens with an ability, that should be enough. Sacrifices are also an acceptable excuse, or experimentation. I don't know what the Deepchild Collective actually DOES, just that I don't want them doing it here."


I couldn't help but laugh at that. It was nice to deal with someone who didn't mince words. Not that most of my friends did, but too many Ascendants leaned hard into the PR and reputation aspects of building their legend. People like Abel who let their fists do the talking were rare, and meeting another one was definitely a good thing.


"Anyway, your entry point will be the Broken Song Ministry. It's a shelter the priest set up in Old Town. Anyone can come there for a meal or a place to sleep. He also hires "guards" to keep the peace, but everyone knows its an excuse to recruit a private army in Ironreach without violating town law."


I nodded. "I can work with that. I doubt I'll run into anyone I know there." I couldn't seer the high and mighty godchildren stopping at a shelter, and while I would definitely investigate, I wasn't planning on causing trouble there either. I would apply to be a guard, then use Dantalion to gather info, possibly slipping into the deeper parts of the base if they existed. I assumed so, Ascendants loved secret passages and hidden chambers.


With the agreement made, I decided to get some extra insurance. I wrote out a contract and we both signed it. Once that was done, I headed out of the parlor, leaving my friends to enjoy themselves. I would be less noticeable alone, especially without my mask. I didn't plan for this to take too long, after all. No one who might be a threat to my life was going to have it easy with me looking into them.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

I had to borrow some clothes. Removing my mask made me stand out less, but being a baby faced six four behemoth in a thick suit of pitch black plate mail was still really attention grabbing. I snagged a set of…well, kind of old fashioned clothes from Caladwen before leaving, stowing my armor in my ring, and then set out toward the ministry.


Arriving at the ministry, I queued up for entry, but when I reached the door, I didn't follow the greeter in to be given a meal or a bed. "Hello, I'm here about the security position," I told him cheerfully. "I'm…Wayne. Wayne Shyndham."


The pause between the beginning of the sentence and my fake name wasn't long, so the greeter didn't notice it. I was relieved no one from my group was here, because that was the worst fake name I could have possibly come up with. In my defense, I hadn't ever needed a fake name outside of my costume, so I hadn't ever put much thought into it.


"Welcome!' Said the pale young man. "You certainly seem like a strapping lad, I'll take you to see Father Abraham. He'll be so happy to have another applicant. Security positions are tough to fill around here. Most of those skilled in combat choose to take the wrong path, joining thise unsavory organizations that oppress the common people. Or the city guard, of course, we would never dream of slandering Lady Dezcarta."


His tone, still cheerful, made it clear that he definitely WOULD dream of that, and was in fact doing it at this very moment, just in the politest way possible. He chattered casually to me as he escorted me down the corridor that split off from the side of the large hall where the meals were being served.


After walking for about fifteen minutes, we came to a worn wooden door. The greeter knocked, and a smooth, charismatic voice rang out. "Enter."


Pushing the door open, the greeter stuck his head inside. "Father Abraham? We have another security applicant?" He ushered me inside. "This is Mr. Wayne Shyndham, he heard about us from…" he paused. "Sorry, I was so excited I didn't ask. Who mentioned our job opening?"


"Ted," I told him vaguely. "From the shop. And just call me Wayne. Please." I tried not to sound like I was begging. I really didn't want them addressing me by my terrible spur of the moment last name. "I'm trained in martial arts. I use a club. I'm not sure if that helps or hurts me, but I wanted to be up front."


While something like a spear or sword would be incompatible with my staff art, a club should be mostly fine. I actually HAD used short wooden sticks early in my journey, so I had a bit of familiarity with them.


Father Abraham chuckled. "An honest man, what a rare commodity. Please, take a seat." He gestured to the chair across the desk from him. "I assure you, any weapon proficiency is more than expected. All I require is dedication and an open mind. Do you consider yourself open minded, Wayne?"


Father Abraham was not what I expected. He was tall and intense, with a square jaw and symmetrical, pleasant features. He looked like an honest, upbeat person, with intense amber eyes and a wide grin that invited you to smile along. Despite his clearly cultivated image of reassuring welcome, I felt my Danger Sense tingling slightly. He couldn't hurt me, but he didn't have good intentions.


"I'd say I'm open to new ideas," I hedged. Contrary to popular opinion, acting like a sycophant wasn't the best way to gain someone's trust. People valued things they had to work for. I had enough experience with infiltration to know my best move was to be cautious and let him 'win me over'.


This would also allow me to keep my guard up. I triggered my Promethean Fire Soul Body, keeping the outward signs of it suppressed so my eyes didn't start randomly glowing as I took my seat across from the priest.


"And cautious too," he said approvingly. "That's wise. People who just believe whatever they're told are wonderful parishioners, but they don't make good LEADERS. I think you've got the makings of a fine leader, Wayne. Would that be interesting to you? I can see you've had some fortunate opportunities, and I bet you're excited for your talents to be recognized."


He was talking about my Impact. I hadn't hid it, mostly because I knew being a cut above everyone else was a good in. Opportunities to boost Impact were RARE, but they existed. The Shoals was a big place, and not having seen every impressive person was natural. Obviously, Abraham was interested in recruiting someone who would always be just a bit better than everyone else.


Of course, he was also blatantly manipulating me. My great grandmother was a cult leader, so I was pretty familiar with this kind of thing. I'd done more than a bit of research on the kinds of tactics people like him used to recruit.


Still, it was as good an in as any. I hesitated, but let my face show a hint of eagerness. "You really think so? I mean, I've never led anything before. What exactly would you want me to do for this leadership position?"


"Nothing strenuous," he chuckled. "You'll be responsible for driving off unsavory elements, protecting our parishioners, that sort of thing. Of course, you'll also need to enforce internal discipline within the security force. Sometimes outsiders can be a bit…obtuse. When those outside the flock don't understand their role, a good leader knows to remind them of their place. Don't worry, I'll be happy to help you get started."


I suppressed a grimace. That sounded a lot like hazing, turned up to eleven. I suspected he was hoping that giving me power over others and pushing me to abuse it would isolate me, forcing me to rely on him more. He was clearly VERY interested in my Impact.


"That doesn't sound too hard," I said slowly. "Are you sure the lack of experience won't be a problem? I don't want to cause tension coming in unqualified. I came here for an entry level position, but being hired as a leader right out the gate might upset some people."


"The Deepchild provides opportunities for all his followers," he said serenely. "Even if yours might arrive earlier, the others need only have faith that their time will come."


I highly doubted the abomination living in that ocean gave a shit about who was 'following' him, at least aside from people like Abraham, but I nodded seriously, pretending to correct my mindset.


As he spoke, I felt…something. Some kind of gentle pressure probing my mind. Nothing as overt as a touch, but like a sort of pervasive mist coiling around me, looking for a way in. Specifically, the same mist I'd felt from the ocean outside. Except this was much fainter, and much purer. It was obviously higher quality than the stuff being driven off by the candles.


My Promethean Fire Soul Body, of course, melted it all before it got close, but I could sense him layering it into his speech in a strangely hypnotic way. I wasn't sure what Abraham's ability was, but the assumptions of brainwashing were dead on.


Caladwen wanted evidence though. No one would be able to sense this except me, at least not unless he tried to directly influence them. If it was that easy they would have done it themselves by now. So I smiled gratefully, bowed my head, and followed the greeter (whose name was Simon) out into the hallway and further back into the ministry.


"So you can sleep here, of course," Simon chattered as we walked. "We have separate bunks for security, but we naturally supply our own people with the same opportunities we grant to others. Free food, lodging, and an additional stipend of bone coins based on performance."


I wasn't sure what 'performance' I was supposed to have. Or for that matter why they needed a whole security force to stop people from stealing basic food supplies from the needy. Whatever the excuse was, it was clearly a pretense to build a private army, but I didn't even know what the pretense itself was.


We arrived at another door, this one a metal security door bolted together with rivets. Rather than knock, Simon just pushed it open, stepping an ahead of me and clearing his throat.


The area inside looked like some kind of bunker. An arched rock ceiling, beds lining the walls, dirt floors, and not much else. When Simon entered and coughed, everyone in the beds jumped up to attention, all of them looking terrified as if they'd been caught doing something unforgivable.


"Preston, Felix, I saw you two over there reading," reproved Simon gently. "Do I need to tell the father about this?"


Two of the men went deathly pale. "No, of course not Simon!" he said quickly. "You're just joking, right? I know you always look out for us. Here, I'll give you my stipend for the month, for being such a good friend."


The other one nodded. "Of course, Preston is right, you always look out for us, you deserve a reward."


Simon, pale and fragile looking, smiled happily, his eyes looking hard and out of place as he gloated. "Well, it's nice that you realize how much I do for you. It would be rude to turn down your good intentions. I suppose I can accept your reward. But don't let me catch you doing it again. I can't protect you forever, can I?"


I could smell the dishonesty on the air with Scent of Truth. It was easy to figure out what was going on. He was blackmailing them, and he wasn't being subtle about it. I cleared my own throat. "Simon, you were going to introduce me?"


He flinched, but recovered quickly. "Ah, of course. Apologies. Everyone, this is Wayne. Wayne is going to be the new captain of your little squad. Wayne's word is as good as mine of the father's, so what he says goes." He turned to me sheepishly. "We don't allow Preston or Felix books anymore, because they were bringing in heretical material. The first time was just a warning, but after their second offense they were forbidden from having reading material."


Gesturing to the two, he held out his hand, and they withdrew a book each, setting them in his palm. "Well, I'll keep it in mind," I lied cheerfully. "But for now I think it would be best if I got to know everyone. Can you give us some time to get acquainted?"


"Of course," he beamed. "I'd be happy to. I have to get back up front anyway. Sylvia is on greeting duty, and she's dreadfully lazy. She'd better not be napping again." As if just talking about the possible infraction got him spun up, he turned and stormed off, already plotting how to punish her in his head.


I watched him go with a grimace. "What a deeply unpleasant human being," I commented to the room after he closed the door. "So, I'm Wayne, and fuck everything else that guy said. Seriously. What a dick." They'd all been watching me tensely, but at my proclamation, I saw them cautiously relax. "Look, I'm in charge of you guys now, but I'm not trying to step on toes. I'd appreciate if you could help me get settled, tell me how things work, that kind of thing."


One of them, a dark skinned guy with lots of very tight miniature braids pulled back into one long ponytail, smiled and held out a hand. "Well, how can we say no to that. I'm Daniel, nice to meet you Wayne. Now pick a bed, and I'll get started on giving you the dirty details of this place." I grinned as I followed him deeper into the room towards the empty beds. Maybe this part of things wouldn't be so bad.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

The rest of the security team was quick to open up about Simon. Apparently, he was a bully and a rat, and never hesitated to throw them under the bus for his own benefit. Even when he kept things to himself it was just to get leverage over the others. Everyone in the ministry hated him, but the father kept him around because he was loyal.


Of course, that was their opinion, but I wasn't so sure. Something about this place was…off. The air around us was heavy with misery and unease. I'd noticed it in the town, and even moreso here. I assumed it was a side effect of the brainwashing, but I was starting to think I was getting cause and effect mixed up.


Simon went out of his way to cause misery, to make people unhappy and stressed. Father Abraham used a mist similar to the stuff in the ocean, but somehow denser and more saturated. But the question was, saturated with what?


I'd used Dantalion a few times, though I had to wait until I was alone to avoid showing any outward signs. My analysis had shown that my suspicions were accurate. The mist didn't just brainwash, it FED on negative emotions. The more miserable the people here became, the more insidious the mist got. Simon wasn't just tormenting them for his own amusement, he was doing it on purpose.


Which made the choice of venue especially disturbing. Were they feeding on the misery of the desperate people who came here for help? The mist allowed them to slowly erode the will of those nearby, but beyond even that, it induced negative emotions. Hunger, envy, rage. The Pale Ones were basically unstoppable rage ghouls, and they CAME from the mist.


But again, this was all stuff I figured out through analysis. Most people couldn't perceive the mist at all, let alone analyze it. Besides I didn't KNOW Dezcarta. I didn't want to reveal our position in regards to the Void Child. Who knew how the local power structure interacted with it.


So I decided to look around in person. Once I finished dinner with the security team, I headed back to the bunk, vaguely mentioning turning in early. Then I went to my bed, the furthest from the door, and triggered Beelzebub. I suppressed the effect substantially, manifesting just a single clone, and then split off a parallel to control it, before having the parallel get in bed.


Once that was done, I triggered Murmur, then slipped out of the room. Once I was out, I moved slow. The longer I took, the deeper my stealth became, and I wanted the best chance of staying hidden I could get.


I slowly made my way down the hall, listening in on what was happening as I went. The first thing I came across was a pair of people in a room. Simon was talking snidely to a smaller man, one of the kitchen staff based on the calluses on his hands (Dantalion gave me the extra info). "Look Charles, I don't know what to tell you. You know we don't allow smoking here. It doesn't matter if you went outside or were on a break. The father has a zero tolerance policy. A little gift won't smooth this over, it's a very serious offense. I want your wages for the month."


"Simon, PLEASE," the small man begged. "My daughter is SICK. I need that money for medicine! I know I shouldn't smoke, but I've just been so stressed. I promise I won't do it again, just please let me off this once!"


Simon just clicked his tongue, shaking his head in faux sympathy. "It's a shame when the innocent suffer because of our actions, but rules are rules. If I let you off this time, people will think the rules don't matter. Then everyone will expect a pass, and before long, we'll have anarchy? Is that what you want, Charles? Do you want to be responsible for the ministry descending into anarchy?"


The smaller man's eyes filled with tears. "I…no, no of course not Simon. You're right of course," I saw his shoulders droop. "I can find someone to borrow the money for the medicine from. Of course you deserve to be rewarded for keeping my secret."


Simon beamed. "That's a wonderful attitude Charles. You're going places here, I just know it." He held out his hand, and the other man grimly fished out a pile of bone coins and dropped them into his palm. The last time this had happened, I hadn't noticed anything, but this time, I was in Murmur, which meant I was constantly scanning the surroundings, and I'd been here for a bit listening.


As the coins dropped into Simon's hand, there was a flash of black light across the surface of the bone. The energy around Charles, meanwhile, dropped slightly.


My eyes narrowed. Those coins came from fish in the black ocean. I hadn't really connected that to the Void Child, but now it seemed like Simon was using the coins as a CARRIER of some sort for the misery he was gathering. Were ALL the coins carriers? Did they collect misery from this place as they were circulated?


It was a disturbing thought, but I didn't have much time to think about it, because Simon said his goodbyes to Charles and walked out, strolling right past me as he made his way further into the base. He followed the hallway back, stopping before a full sized portrait of Abraham ministering to the poor. He looked around to be sure no one was watching, then hooked his fingers behind the frame of the picture and pulled. It swung away from the wall like a door, opening onto a small stone landing and a set of stairs leading down.


Stepping onto the landing, Simon started to pull the portrait shut. Cursing, I triggered Double Trouble, appearing behind him as the portrait clicked into place, plunging the whole landing into darkness. There was a scratch and a hiss, and Simon was holding a lit match and a candle stick, the latter of which he ignited before flicking the former into the darkness beside the staircase.


He descended the steps slowly and casually, and because they wound around, I had a lot of time for Murmur to process the chamber we were circling. We arrived at the bottom in about five minutes, and I followed him to the center of the chamber, where a pool of water sat in front of an altar made of blue green bone, with a dark metal effigy sitting atop it.


On the altar lay a tarnished silver bowl, and Simon, scooped himself a bowl full of water from the pool and then set the bowl on the altar before dropping the coins he'd collected into it. As the bone hit the water, there was a deep hiss, and the water exploded outward into the air as a plume of mist.


Simon watched serenely as the mist circled above the altar before being sucked into a small glass orb on a necklace hanging from the tentacles on the face of the black metal figure. The orb glowed with a dark light, almost sucking the brightness from the world around it somehow, and then quieted.


Leaning in, the greeter squinted at the light. "Damn, still not enough. Useless trash, can't even suffer properly. I should up the dosage of weakening agent in the food. Maybe have that new thug beat some respect into those whimpering 'guards'." His voice was cold and detached, as if everything he was saying was just a matter of course, and I thought he was talking to himself until the pool began to bubble. Simon's eyes widened, and he dropped to his knees, slamming his head against the floor so quickly it must have caused damage.


The pool emitted a strange, strangled hiss, and Simon stayed kneeling, listening until it finished, before finally responding. "Apologies, my lord. I meant no disrespect. I was simply venting my frustration about the lower beings."


A laugh sounded from above. Abraham descended the stairs, entering the field of Murmur's detection only seconds after he started laughing. "Oh Simon, how can the master listen to you whine about 'lower beings' when you yourself are simply the dregs of this world. It would be like hearing a rat sneer at a cockroach."


Simon's fingers dug into the ground in anger, but he didn't respond. Abraham walked past him like he wasn't there, kneeling in supplication, though I noted he only went down on one knee. "Master, your unworthy servant returns. We've acquired a new pawn today. He's a step beyond the mortal dross, and I believe he can be cultivated into a useful tool. Perhaps even more useful than some we already have." His tone was scathing as he flicked his gaze to where Simon was laying.


The hissing emerged again, and Abraham beamed. "Of course. I will begin his education. Once he has seen the light, I will usher him into your presence. As your father's most devoted spawn, I am sure such a paltry will can only crumble under your pressure."


Father…ok, that was…interesting. Because it implied this thing wasn't the actual Void Child. Unless the void itself was sentient and planning to kill us, but i had to believe that even MY bad luck and attraction to nonsense had limits. I would assume for now that this thing was probably the 'spawn' of the Void Child. Which was its own kind of disturbing because it meant the Void Child was BREEDING down there, potentially with the horrifying C-rank abomination in the ocean. Fantastic.


I watched them for a bit longer, and they only traded barbs as they reported to the pool. They were doing…a lot of terrible shit. Just heinous things. Poisoning, beating, stealing. Abraham had apparently arranged for multiple people to be crippled, just so they would be forced to attend the ministry.


His sermons were also specifically designed to induce nightmares and paranoia, and the people who slept in the building slept with a bone cone unknowingly hidden beneath their mattress (which was apparently designed to be uncomfortable, because I guess they decided they weren't quite evil enough). By the time they finished talking, I was ready to just straight up murder one or both of them out of sheer moral outrage.


Instead, I did the prudent thing. I went back upstairs, got my clone, and sent it back to Caladwen with a report. Sadly, apparently hearing them literally CONFESS to a fucking eldritch monstrosity wasn't evidence (I really hated the term 'hearsay'). So I was asked to stay under.


Given my progress though, I was informed the search for my friends was underway, and they would be brought to Ironreach under guard as soon as they were found. That made this a lot more palatable. I still needed to learn more about the monstrosity in the pool and the thing that spawned it, so I wasn't too upset about staying aside from the general hatred of being around these people.


I went to sleep that night under guard, with a clone under Murmur watching me sleep, and I slept in Mornax, for an added bit of protection.


When I woke up the next morning, Simon came to get me, and I resisted the urge to punt his skull off his shoulders like a ball. He chattered cheerfully as we walked, and it made me physically ill to listen to him sound so friendly when I knew what a fucking monster he was. I honestly hated him more than Camden's cousin, who had been a sociopath who murdered his own sister as a child.


He escorted me around the ministry, introducing me to workers (including poor Charles, who I planned to visit after this was over to see if I could help his sick daughter with Zagan). Finally, we ended the tour, and he brought me back to the front where the food was served. He beamed at me as we chose a seat. "Now that all the training nonsense is out of the way, you can see the real reason people come here. Father Abraham is a hell of a speaker." Somehow, I didn't doubt that at all.

 

[Malcolm Tent]

Father Abraham's speech was surprisingly persuasive, even with my mist resistance. He called us all together into an informal huddle in the middle of the room, dragging tables together, and sat up on one of them smiling benevolently at everyone. "Friends, you know me, you know my mission. I seek only peace between land and sea."


Some of the parishioners nodded, but a few, who must have been new, looked bewildered. One of them, a lean girl with wild eyes and braided hair scoffed. "Peace? The Pale Men come from the waves to kill and eat us. How are we supposed to have peace?"


Abraham smiled benevolently at her. "Ah, but are they the only ones who plunder? Do we not fish from their waters, killing the living things to collect their bones for their usefulness? I think you'll find that if you look back, it was we who invaded first. The depths of the sea have done their best to keep us away, releasing the mist to drive us back, seeking only their solitude. Humans are hungry, greedy creatures, it is we who insist on stealing the bounty of the waves."


She bristled. "Are you saying our lives aren't worth as much as FISH?"


"Are the lives of all living things not valuable?" he asked benevolently. "Can one put a price on a living existence? I admit, there have been grave sins on both sides, but just as someone cast the first stone, so too must someone lay down the first sword. At the Deepchild Collective, we believe that with enough time and persistence, we can reach a common understanding with those beneath the waves, and aim to create a better world together."


Another man, this one tall and tan, smiled at her encouragingly. "I know it sounds odd, but the father really believes in coexistence. Don't look at the Pale Men, who are only weapons unleashed to drive us back, many of the creatures below the ocean are wise and benevolent. The father has told us many stories, and there's a lot we can learn from them."


I was disgusted. I'd heard that thing in the pool, had seen the tentacled monstrosity in the depths. The oceans were not some benevolent undersea kingdom of misunderstood creatures. They were fucking death traps full of nightmarish abominations.


The worst part was, I UNDERSTOOD. He wasn't selling them the ocean, he was selling them hope. They'd lived their lives in this despicable cage world, trapped on the islands and constantly assaulted. The mists undoubtedly increased misery wherever they got by the candles, even when they didn't have a chance to convert anyone to a Pale Man.


Not to mention the fucking bone coins. SOMEONE in the higher ups of Skartaris the Weeper's organization had to understand what those did. There was no way they ACCIDENTALLY built their society around evil hate batteries.


Which made me think of the cloak in the Ghost Bone Tranquility Tower. He had seemed benevolent and helpful, like he was taking our side…but was he? Going out of his way to introduce us to the coins, not to mention the NAME of the tower was incredibly suspicious when taken in the context of this cult and the coins themselves.


These people were being kept in conditions approaching torture by their overlords, all of them pushed the point of mental and emotional exhaustion. Thinking about it, Malzareth's Mistwardens were ostensibly protection, but Wesley had implied they mostly bullied and extorted, making things worse, and we'd seen no signs of them when the Pale Men attacked, either.


The more I saw of this place, the angrier I got. And someone like Abraham, who had essentially abandoned humanity to side with the monsters who prayed on them, disgusted me even more. I wasn't one to put value on a nebulous concept like 'humanity', mind. I turned myself into a part time fallen angel, and some of my best friends weren't human, but there was a difference between a racial trait and becoming a toady for predatory monsters that ate people's misery.


I wondered how involved the vanished gods were in all this. Were they really just taking advantage of an opportunity? But I decided that line of thought wasn't useful. Being careful was fine, but going down a rabbit hole trying to connect unrelated issues wouldn't do anything but send me into a spiral.


Father Abraham, meanwhile, was just getting warmed up. "It's true, my child," he beamed. "Beneath waves, in the deepest parts of the world, there are great cities and civilizations, wonders and treasures and knowledge for those brave enough to seek it. The shallows are where the scum of the ocean reside, and the monsters you see breaching the surface are simply criminals and villains to the wise and benevolent sea faring races."


I had to flare my Promethean Fire Soul Body hard as he spoke. Something in my head wouldn't let GO of the image of that thing in the dark. Not even the one Callie saw, just that tentacled monstrosity that had tried to drag her down. It was like an infected splinter in my brain that wouldn't go away.


Grimacing, I made a note to spend some time in Leviathan, purifying my consciousness a bit just in case. That seemed like it might become a problem later if left unattended.


Abraham continued, speaking of shining underwater cities and wise unknowable creatures with knowledge of great art, science, and philosophy. He spoke of impartial justice systems and crafting masters, and advanced technology. It basically sounded like a dream come true, and I could see even the sceptical girl starting to be won over by his words.


I was confused as he spoke, not understanding the goal here. He was giving them hope, making them feel happy and excited and all the things that weren't useful for him. It wasn't until he finished talking and the parishioners dispersed that I realized what he'd been doing. As they left, the spell of his stories faded. In comparison to that fantastical ideal world, the current darkness seemed even bleaker, was even more unbearable.


With my Perception, I was able to see the hearts of these people breaking as they were yanked out of their beautiful dream and shoved back into the cold hard grasp of reality.


Why were they DOING this? What was the Void Child gaining. Power, I assumed, but to what end? Why create this terrible place and fill it with these suffering people. Why engineer this system to purposefully torment them. Was it trying to break out? But it must have been involved with creating the void barrier around this place. Couldn't it just go back to the void? I was missing something. Possibly a lot of somethings.


I approached Father Abraham, putting on a look of wonder. "Father, that was so amazing. Can such a wonderful place really exist?"


"It does exist," he said warmly. "I've seen it. The cities beneath the sea are wonders of the modern age. Towering monoliths are as common as cabbage and great heroes exist on every corner. Most of my flock will never have a chance to see such sights, but you, Wayne, are a bit special. Would you be interested in joining our collective? You would need to earn your place before descending, but in a few years, you too could dive beneath the waves to receive the blessings of the Deepchild."


I put on a delighted face. "That sounds amazing! I wonder though, is the Deepchild really only one being? I always assumed the Collective was mentioning multiple entities."


"Yes and no," he said, his expression turning genuinely fanatical. "The Deepchild is the origin and the truth. It descended from the higher world to save us all, and teach us the weakness and sin of this fragile mortal realm. To that end, it spread its love to the great beings in the depths of the sea, for only they could withstand its power. From these unions came the Abyssal Lords, its trueborn children, the Lords are the ones who created those great cities."


This was what I'd been looking for here. Learning more about the presence of the Void Child. It seemed like it didn't act directly very often, preferring to allow the Abyssal Lords to do the dirty work. This meshed well with what I'd seen. That tentacled thing in the deeps that had grabbed Callie must have been an Abyssal Lord, acting on its parent's behalf.


If not for Callie's connection to the Abyss I wouldn't have even known about the Void Child, and my Perception was nothing to scoff at. I briefly wondered if the thing in the pool was the same Abyssal Lord that had tried to grab my wife, but I decided it probably wasn't. We were a long way from where that happened, and it sounded like there were more than a few of these creepy things. Hopefully not TOO many, but enough that I didn't think we'd run into the same one so quickly.


"What would I need to do?" I asked hesitantly. "In the collective. I'm not good at much, I'm just ok in a fight. If you need me to do anything complicated I might not be able to help."


He clapped me on the shoulder. "Not at all. In fact, you'll be perfect for what we have in mind. See, sometimes when we help the less fortunate, people take advantage of our hospitality. They steal from us, hoard supplies, and drain our resources. Most of these people are despicable liars who will never admit what they've done. Even in their last moments they claim to be the victims, trying to invert good and evil and frame us."


I had a bad feeling about this, but I gave him a 'puzzled' frown. "There are such people?"


"Far too many of them," he sighed with an air of faux melancholy. "And that's why we need a big strong lad like you. We need you to track these villains down and take back the things they stole from us. A smart boy like you won't be swayed by their insidious lies or their false pleas. By helping us take back what belongs to us you'll ensure that we have enough resources to help the others in the ministry, undoing the despicable wrongs perpetrated by these heinous thieves."


So…he wanted me to rob a bunch of poor people. Classy. I could already see where this was going. He's send me to 'repossess' some of these so called stolen goods, push me to beat these people and rob them, then soak in the suffering as I unknowingly destroyed their lives, all the while twisting my mind until I slowly came to agree with his way of doing things. I wondered if Simon had started out like this. Genuinely optimistic and wanting to do good. How many people had this monster ruined?


But if you have to manipulate and brainwash someone, a demon is a bad choice, even if only one in spirit. I could play vicious games too.


Pretending to be unsettled, I chewed my lip, before finally nodding slowly. "I can try. But I don't know if I can bring myself to resist someone pleading like that, even if I know its false. Can you come with me the first time, Father? With you there to reassure me I'm on a righteous path, I'm sure I can harden my heart to do the right thing."


I saw the smugness in his eyes, the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth, and the excited clench of his fists. I wasn't surprised. With the mist, he should be able to manipulate the target to basically confess, setting up a perfect first outing to begin my corruption.


Of course, I was just as smug. Providing evidence of him actively participating in robbery and assault would be more than enough reason to evict him from the city, or worse. I would tip off Caladwen and then help her capture him. Once that was done…well, I could question him under Dantalion to learn anything else I needed to know about the Void Child. I couldn't live with myself if I let this scum walk these streets another day. It was finally time to act.