Immovable Mage

– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 96 –

Terry sensed the mana signatures and slowed down. Them again?

“Anything wrong?” The security guards turned around to look at Terry, who had slowed down.

“I’m not sure…” Terry replied honestly.

It was good when his acting role and his real thoughts overlapped. Despite all the lessons he could draw from the Warlord, the Preacher, or even from the Divine Hammer, Terry at his core resented deception, even if it was a deceptive truth.

After a moment of contemplation, Terry begrudgingly decided to wield the truth again.

Misleading as the truth might be…

Terry swallowed his own misgivings with the whole act. “I recognize the mana signature of these martialists. They’re…” Terry paused when he sensed yet another familiar mana signature approach. [Rafael, what are you doing?]

[The path was blocked by enemies from the Thunderous Palm Sect,] cursed Rafael in a thought transmission. [They even brought some of their wrinklefaces. As great as I may be, I won’t be able to get through there without putting in some sweat and you said I should avoid using the Heavenly Wolf Slash.]

[Yeah, because it would give away your identity in a second,] reminded Terry. [Okay, I have an idea. I don’t sense any particularly strong signatures on this side.]

[The Thunderous Palm Sect must have a way to track me.] Rafael pointed out. [Which means we don’t have much time.]

“Did you inform the others?” Terry asked Rafael as soon as the felan was close enough.

Rafael raised an eyebrow. “No…” [What’s the idea?]

[Just play along. State everything except for why they’re here.] Terry instructed. [Leave out the specific sect.]

“The path is swarming with mana martialists, even some elders,” said Rafael without missing a beat.

Terry frowned and returned his attention to the security guards. “As I was about to say, I recognize the signatures of the mana martialists on this side. These martialists cultivate the techniques of the Blazing Sun Sect.”

[Aha! That’s why they’re weaker than the ones from the Thunderous Palm Sect,] interjected Rafael. [They’re being played for fodder! They probably had less time to mobilize and these are whoever was close already.]

“Why would the Blazing Sun Sect cause trouble now?” asked one of the security guards. “Is it possible they’re unrelated to the earlier attacks?”

“Then why would they encircle this place?” retorted another security guard.

“There was an incident with the Blazing Sun Sect in the Proving Grounds not too long ago.” Terry pointed out.

“Oh right, I heard about that!” exclaimed one of the security guards. “They tried to put on a show of strength, only to be humiliated by the overseers and then their dignified elder even got his ass whooped by General Eli.”

“The martial sects are very sensitive about losing face,” muttered another security guard. It was the familiar man that had backed Terry up earlier.

“Maybe that’s why they are targeting this district in particular?”

“Why would they target this estate specifically, though?” Terry asked the glaring question before anyone else could.

“This…” The familiar face among the security guards furrowed his brow. “I don’t remember him being acquainted with the martial sects, but I’m not privy to all details either…”

“These particulars of your employer,” interjected Terry. He did not want to give the security guards too much time to order their thoughts on the question. “There were a few martialists from the Blazing Sun Sect in the Proving Grounds recently. Is it possible that one of them made contact with an enemy of your employer there?”

Terry could see the light flicker in the eyes of the security guards as if they had realized a possibility. He pressed the point. “Could they be related to the prison break?” He let his gaze wander over the security guards. “But that would mean that the other party has something to catch their interest and make them move.”

“Right…” “Perhaps this isn’t just about face.”

Terry caught some of the security guards glancing back at the room that contained the valuable magic items and decided to play into whatever they were thinking about. “I don’t know what you have up there, but if I were you, I would be concerned on more than one account.”

Terry remembered the encounter with the security manager before. “Of course, I have no intention of telling you how to do your job.” He moved his head and looked towards the direction of the Blazing Sun Sect signatures. “I just want to focus on mine.”

“I’m getting the feeling our jobs might be related,” said the familiar face among the security guards. He turned to his colleagues. “Our superiors will take some time until they are back from escorting the others to safety. If it’s true that these mana martialists are here to target our estate, then this will get ugly.”

“I could ask for assistance from the neighboring estates,” proposed another security guard. She was looking towards two large buildings in the area. “I have some friends there and I’m sure they have a stake in bringing the situation under control quickly to minimize further damage. If I ask them to, they will dispatch some of their security forces.”

The man in charge nodded. “Good idea. Spread the word around, so that others do the same. The faster we get this resolved, the better.”

Several security guards hurried off into different directions to gather more forces.

One of the remaining guards shook her head. “The lady of the house sure has bad timing to be out the whole day. It won’t be fun to explain the situation to her later.”

“No point in lamenting the circumstances, we need to get the job done,” reminded another guard.

“Any suggestions on how to go about this?” The security guards asked Terry.

[Not bad, buddy,] praised Rafael silently.

“If a fight can be avoided, that would be best,” said Terry pensively.

[What are you doing?] exclaimed Rafael with a thought transmission. [They’re hanging on your lips. Just tell them to kill the pests!]

[Let me handle this,] replied Terry irritably. He spoke for the guards. “We can tell them to leave for now. If they refuse…”

“Right, we can’t be certain yet,” muttered one of the security guards. “But if they’re refusing to leave, then it’s obvious that they have come with ill intentions.” Several others nodded.

[Hello? World to Terry? What’s the idea?] Rafael complained. [They just served us a golden opportunity. We just had to grasp it! Why didn’t we?]

[Are you familiar with martialists?] replied Terry calmly.

[You do realize I am one, buddy?] Rafael sounded confused.

[Nearly all the people I have met from martial sects are borderline bonkers, taking rational madness to an insane level and this goes doubly so for the people I’ve met from the Blazing Sun Sect.] Terry summarized his thought process. [What do you think they will do if some security guard tells them to – what do you usually call it? ‘Scram’?]

[Naturally, they’re going to puff up their egos and… Oh, I see. Nice.] Rafael grinned a toothy grin but quickly recomposed his face to not show any agitation.

[This way, they’ll get into a conflict directly instead of us appearing as the instigator.] Terry elaborated with a strained expression.

Terry was getting a headache from trying to remember all the different lessons on influence and applying them in practice. He was desperately looking forward to getting out of Thanatos and somewhere he could simply speak honestly and freely, without weighing every single word and thought before daring to express himself.

Not long afterwards, Terry could hear the confirmation of his prediction in the form of battle noise and war cries.

***

“What the Wastes is going on here?” One of Yesenia’s assistants arrived together with several soldiers from the Thanatos Proving Grounds.

“Seems like our fugitives have gone on a rampage, but why here?”

“I had wondered if our scryers had misread the situation when they declared that they were moving here, but what the heck? I guess they were right. Why here?”

“I don’t know and that’s not important right now,” said Yesenia’s direct subordinate. “Remember the overseer’s orders. Most of our people are trying to recapture Xuan. Our primary target is the Arcanian. The overseer has emphasized that under no circumstances is Terry allowed to die.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know,” admitted Yesenia’s assistant. “But when the overseer contacted me after inspecting the contestant lodgings, she made that point very clear.” He shook his head. “Repeatedly even. Something in the cells of the escapees appears to have distressed our overseer even more than the prison break itself.”

“Uhm, I don’t mean to interrupt but…” One of the soldiers pointed. “These look like the beginnings of some huge ass mana resonance attacks.” He looked questioningly at Yesenia’s assistant. “Are we just going to let that fly? Ignoring the damage to the city and the risk to the civilians? Given the orders…”

“Good point.” Another assistant from the Proving Grounds spoke up. “What were Lady Yesenia’s exact words? Was the order just to not kill the Arcanian or…?”

“She wants to see Terry ‘alive without question’,” stressed Yesenia’s assistant. “That was her exact phrasing.”

“Mana be damned,” cursed one of the soldiers. “Does this mean, we have to…? Ugh…”

“What crawled into your boots to prick you?” teased another of the soldiers. “These shitstains are damaging the city and showing no inkling of respect for Thanatos. Getting paid to beat up a bunch of arrogant martialists sounds like a good deal to me.”

***

Terry braced himself to block the incoming combination attack from two mana martialists. Inwardly, he was cursing at not being able to rely on his mana disruption field for the risk of exposing his identity.

Before the martialist attack could even begin to form a resonance, one of the martialists was assaulted by a spell and froze into a white statue.

“What is going here?!” barked the leader of the security guards. The woman who managed security of the targeted estate had returned.

“Why are we fighting in the middle of the street? Why are you all positioned so far away from the mansion? And…” Her eyes narrowed at Terry with suspicion. “What is he still doing here?” Her eyes darted around for someone to demand answers from. “Was he the one that dragged you into this?”

“No, boss!” Several of the security guards protested instantly. “These martialists started the attack!”

“They had their eyes on the mansion!” “They were plotting something!” “They—”

“Enough!” barked the security manager while casting a lightning-aspected spell that caused sizzling bolts to rain down on the martialists. When she realized that some of the mana martialists were completely unfazed by her attack, her expression darkened.

“Reporting, these martialists are from the Blazing Sun and Thunderous Palm Sects.”

“Thunderous Palm Sect…” The leader of the security guards was scowling. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?! Before I wasted my mana!”

“I…” The man shrunk back.

“Curses…” The security manager was scowling at the battles around her. More and more of the private guards in the vicinity were joining the fray but the number of mana martialists kept increasing as well.

Her eyes darted back to Terry. “I don’t know what exactly is going on but I don’t trust you. Stay away from the mansion and stay away from—” Her eyes whirled around to a giant mana resonance of a golden cauldron forming in the sky. “Shit. Everyone, defensive formations!”

“Uhm, I’m not sure they will be able to handle this.” Terry subconsciously blurted out.

“Thanks for the unwanted advice!” hissed the security manager. “I don’t have time for people pointing out problems without providing solutions. So unless you have something useful to add, keep your damn mouth shut!”

Terry forced himself to not roll his eyes. Once again, he was glad to not work as a soldier, or as a security guard for that matter.

I was just trying to help you…

Okay, maybe ‘help’ is the wrong word to use, considering I was indeed the one who dragged these guards into this.

Terry observed the accumulation of fire- and lightning-aspected mana in the sky warily. The mana resonance of a golden cauldron was rapidly heating up.

I haven’t seen any of the security guards use anything that would be able to block this level of attack. Should I use the Immovable Object spell to block?

I feel bad enough about dragging them into this. If I let them die even though I had the means to prevent it…

“Damn, if only Lady Beatrice hadn’t left this morning,” cursed the security manager under her breath.

Lady… ‘Beatrice’? Terry’s ears perked up. In an instant, he felt a lot less compassionate about the people in the estate.

Terry reminded himself that these security guards were still only doing their job, but he couldn't help but look at them differently when recalling the face made of vines that he had seen on the Bulwark. The nature-aspected death whisperer that had ambushed Lizzy with constructs and spirit poison. The Thanatos woman that had tried to get Terry killed in the Proving Grounds.

While Terry was still feeling conflicted, he remembered words that his aunt Sigille had said after the battle in Syn City. ‘A soldier pawns their innocence when they accept the chain of command. From then on, their innocence depends on the master they have chosen.’

Terry also recalled the scene of his cousin Matteo standing against Sudden Death from Tiv’s Guild. ‘The only master I accept is my own conscience.’

Back in Tiv, Terry had mostly related Matteo’s words to his cousin’s elemental possession, but since then, Terry had seen enough to understand the true weight of the words. If you followed the wrong orders, or the wrong people in general, then that reflected on you as well. All of it.

I don’t know what to do… Terry felt intensely conflicted.

These security guards weren’t like the prison guards in the Valkyrie’s dungeon. Not necessarily. They weren’t like the imperial censors in Tiv or like the people from Willow’s faction that chose to protect Anand and Willow. They certainly weren’t like the Preacher’s Devout Division.

They were just people employed by an enemy. They might have been complicit in their employer’s bad acts, but Terry couldn’t know for sure. For all Terry knew, some of them might have only started their job this morning.

More importantly, Terry was painfully aware that the situation would have played out the same, even if the employer had been someone else. Terry was not sure if he should adjust his actions now that he had learned about the true owner of the mansion.

At least I smashed Beatrice’s home… A petty thought sprung up in Terry’s mind. He got a light chuckle out of the situation thanks to it. That makes me feel better already.

“Is there anything funny?!”

Terry realized that the woman managing security for the estate was glaring at him. Me and my honest face. Damn it.

The security manager moved her hand to her sheathed dagger. “I knew there was something wrong about you. And now—”

*Hong* *Krchkhs* *Boom* *Sizzle* Countless spells and mana-based attacks impacted on the golden cauldron. The attacks tipped the mana resonance object over and deflected the cauldron’s attack right in time.

Terry and the security guard leader could see a group of Thanatos soldiers rushing into the area to fight against the stronger mana martialists from the two martial sects.

“These are uniforms from the Proving Grounds,” remarked one of the security guards.

“They wouldn’t have a reason to be here unless…” The security manager muttered and subconsciously glanced at Terry. She hurriedly moved her hand away from her dagger while she was reinterpreting the previous encounters with Terry as well as Terry’s recent chuckle. “Sorry for doubting you, Sir. And my gratitude for the assistance you and your men have provided.”

Terry quickly averted his face to not show whatever expression he was showing naturally. “Sure, we need to get this under control. These martialists seem to take Thanatos lightly. They ought to be taught a lesson. We still have to consider the fugitives as well.”

“We have reason to believe that they are aiming for the valuables in our estate,” another security guard spoke up to inform their leader.

Terry hoped that his face did not show how happy he was that one of the security guards acted as the source of a theory that Terry had planted himself. The more social proof to back the idea, the better.

[This is bloody great!] A self-satisfied thought transmission from Rafael arrived.

[Don’t relax yet.] Terry was more reserved in his satisfaction. [These Thanatos soldiers are from the Proving Grounds. There is a high chance that they are here for us, which means that our show will probably end sooner rather than later. What is the situation with the entrance ticket?]

[The damned thing is still taking its time,] grumbled Rafael. [What now?]

Terry’s mind raced with different ideas. [Why not turn falsehood into truth?] He tried hard to not let his lips curl up, but a slight smile was playing around his lips in spite of Terry’s efforts.

To cover his smile, Terry quickly raised his hand. He hoped it would give him a thoughtful appearance. [What do you think would happen if a group of hostile mana martialists were to get a glimpse of a room full of valuable magic items?]

Terry had to admit that the thought of getting back at Beatrice had played a part in choosing an idea to go with. [Why don’t we try to move the battle line a bit closer to the mansion?]

***

“This…” Fate was clutching her mage staff. Behind her were Xuan and the rest of the lizans she had gathered from this realm of lizan fugitives and unknowing victims.

Fate’s breathing became agitated from what her magic had revealed to her. There were debts to be paid but she was unable to determine the price. It distressed her. All she could determine was chaos and battle, crimson and fire. The revelations were disconcerting.

“What is it?” asked Xuan.

A grey-scaled lizan woman stepped next to Xuan and Fate. She did not understand the common tongue of this realm but she knew what information Fate had been attempting to scry. She was also one of the lizans whom Terry had met inside the Elusive Fog of Frost.

“Battle…” Fate pointed towards the smoke rising in the distance. “He’s there…” She added several hissing sounds to translate the information for the rest of the lizan. “Paying debts… Danger…” She looked at the lost prince. “May have to risk everything…”

Xuan clenched his fists and closed his eyes. He could practically feel the gazes of the other lizans on him. He knew that they were not of a single mind. Not anymore.

Some were scared. Others were too proud to let it go. For some reason, they paid heed to his words and he might very well be the deciding voice in the decision. Xuan had long cultivated the Soaring Mountain techniques but never before had he felt as heavy as on this day. The truth weighed heavily on his shoulders. As did the lives of all the others.

Xuan shook his head slightly. Seeing this, Fate’s eyes betrayed a flicker of disappointment. The eyes of the grey-scaled lizan showed the same reaction.

However, contrary to their expectations, Xuan spoke firmly. “If I just leave it at this, if I don’t pay him back in full for what he has done, it will follow me around forever.” He had finally made up his mind. “With the path ahead, I can’t afford any mental demons to cloud my mind.”

Fate’s blue eyes shined brightly and she translated the prince’s opinion for the others into the lizan-native tongue. The lost prince could not tell, but there was pride and anticipation in her hisses.

The reactions among the lizans were varied but most showed resolve and satisfaction. A few even lifted their right fist to their hearts and lowered their heads.

“Caution warranted nonetheless…” Fate spoke up and began another scrying. “Have to find… the correct path…”

After many minutes of silence, Fate finally spoke again. “I’ll have to move first… To guide our fate… Where we will be most useful…” She looked at Xuan. “Taking chances here. Prepare the items.”

Xuan nodded and moved his consciousness into his storage item.

“Hmm…?” Fate suddenly frowned. “Someone is coming… We need to change location.” She rapidly cast a group teleportation spell to avoid the unknown pursuers.

***