Rise of the Omnimage

Impacts and the sound of waterboarding could be heard coming from their shower location as the commanded "interrogation" of the would be assassin.

The wooden chip which Sorin later found was assassin currency called ferryman coins. Apparently, they were made from the bones of targets and inscribed with a scythe on one side and a boat on the other. They were used to purchase different things within the underground or black market as Sorin would know it to be.

The dead bodies of the ones that killed themselves were stripped and hauled off to he disposed of, but the yet living on was taken into the guard house showers where the torture for answers had begun and was still going off and on for the last hour.

"Has he given us anything yet?!" Euryale asked angrily.

"No my lady. He has a water path and can regenerate very quickly rendering our ability to torture information out of him rather difficult." Reegor said wiping flecks of blood from his fists on a towel he had.

"Take a break Reeger. We will come up with something. Sorin you watch the prisoner. If you can get anything out of him, I'll reward you." She said looking at Sorin who was walking into the shower.

Sorin was not amused with the torture. It rarely ever worked right and what information you recieved was always unreliable because you could never tell if they just broke and told you whatever you wanted to hear.

Upon entering the shower he saw the assassin strapped down to a sturdy table with water pouring over him. Sorin turned off the water and went to the only chair in the shower.

He put a smirk on his face and looked at the assassin who looked exhausted from the pain and torture.

"Looks like you're going to be returned to your guild. Hopefully they treat you well knowing you gave up client information." Sorin said.

Nothing came from the assassin so Sorin continued to lay it on pulling the bone coin from his pocket.

"It's ok, you don't have to tell us anything. We are in the process of doctoring security footage showing you told us that Aeon Pallas hired you to kill me." He said tossing the coin up and down.

"I wonder how your little group takes to its members being so open to giving information so easily. Do you think they would welcome you back with open arms when we send a copy to Aeon Pallas himself?" Sorin asked.

He watched the face of the assassin for any changes and he got it when he mentioned sending a copy to Aeon.

"The shadows won't believe you." The assassin muttered. Glancing at Sorin.

"They don't have to believe it. There just has to be doubt. When we lay your dead companions at your feet too with a little letter to Aeon and making fun of the sensitive little noble and his inability to even select a group of assassins that couldn't even keep from turning on themselves, I'm sure it will plant even more doubt." The assassin shifted uncomfortably.

Sorin took put an envelope he had taken from Euryale's office with her families crest in it letting her know had an idea.

"Lies." Came the response.

"Oh absolutely, but that's the thing about the mind. You can see something with your own eyes and still not believe it sometimes. Now with an organization such as yours that deals in death and deceit; what could be worse than someone that turns on their own and gives up secrets?" Sorin said

Sorin put the envelope into the inside of his robe where there was a pocket.

"There are things much worse than death as I'm sure you know. I think giving you back to your little group will be amazing for your with the information or we can come to another arrangement."

Sorin knew backing an animal into a corner with no way out never ends well. He had gotten the man talking and it looked like the man believed he was refusing to give information, but people will often find it's not what you say as much as how you say something. He was already sure it was aeon thar hired them. It's too obvious it was him and with the assassin speaking after saying they would give the information over to him it essentially confirmed it, but Sorin wanted more. He needed to leave the man with a way out.

The assassin looked at Sorin with a look of perplexity. "Your master would never allow it." He whispered.

"She trusts me enough to leave me here alone with you and try for answers. So that also means she will believe anything I tell her you told me as long as I give a plausible explanation. So let's say for example you tell me everything and I mean everything about this kill order and I tell my lady that you broke free, suprising me knocking me to the ground, tried to kill me again, failed of course, and then left when you realized you had failed again."

Sorin said looking down at his hands. Sorin watched the assassin carefully. He could see the thoughts going through the man's head trying to reason out everything and play the odds. Then settled on an answer.

"No. I'll take whatever death awaits me." The man said.

Sorin got to his feet. "I had secretly hoped you would say that. He turned to the door and locked it then fused the lock closed.

"I don't need others getting my own secrets." Sorin said.

"Here is the deal. I'm rather..." Sorin rolled his hand as is looking for a word. "Rather upset with you. See my life is already hard enough without more people actively trying to kill me that you add to that pile so now you're going to become a catalyst for my growth. I've had ideas for how to expand my path, but don't know how to do it and now you present yourself."

Sorin walked over to the man who didn't even flinch. Sorin opened his Greater Fire Sense and looked into the man. His core was different than Sorin's own with his aquamarine blue compared to his own orange-yellow. The aether within was different than Sorin's as it was not the gaseous type that he had. His channels were very wide, and the amount of this liquid aether infuses the man's flesh.

"Density might be an issue, but I find the different forms of matter will still interact when pressure is applied."

Sorin said as he touched the area of the assassin just above his core and began to pushhis aether into the man like he did when he healed Linx, but this time he wasn't healing. His aether pushed its way into the man's channels causing the man to wince in pain then push with his own aether ejecting Sorin's own.

"Hehehe! You are below me in tier. You do not have the will nor capacity to use that technique set." The man said with amusement.

"So this is a known technique?" Sorin said.

"Oh yes." The man chuckled. "I don't mind giving this to you. Its known as hollowing. It's used to burn out another's core and channels. You invade with aether not of the person's affinity and destroy them from within. Fate worse than death you said earlier, but you're too weak and pathetic. You will never get through." He said with a smug derision.

"Sorin nodded. "You see that is extremely useful information. Where I come from we have a saying "Knowledge is power."

"You may be right, I can't push my way through and destroy your core or channels that way, but perhaps..."

Sorin reached down and began to wrap his aether around the man like tendrils and began to push slightly in multiple places. The man laugh and pushed. Sorin acted.

Sorin wrapped his aether immediately around the aether of the man and activated absorption. Sorin knew aether was nothing but energy. Energy could neither be created or destroyed, but changed. Sorin ripped at the man's aether quickly snaking his own aether down and around the man's aether and pulled more and more.

The assassin was confused, by the tactic and did resist, but continued to push as Sorin had his aether try to burrow into the man's channels who then pushed out more that got entangled in Sorin's aether. It went like that for few minutes until Sorin had a good grip on a massive chunk of the man's aether.

"Hahaha! You are rather stubborn and stupid are..." The assassin started, but stopped

Sorin ripped.

The man went pale with horror and panic as he felt his aether begin streaming from him on its own accord. He tried to pull it back, but to his horror he could only slow the stream leaving him. His channels that were not slowed he pulled back and that is when tendrils of foreign aether slam into his own channels scorching them.

The assassin bucked and screamed then pushed causing his aether to stream out faster trying to purge the foreign aether.

"What...are you doing?!" The man screamed

Sorin was too focused to care as he gave one big pull and had his aether invade the liquid aether of the man changing its color slowly but surely into fire aether and then began to absorb it.

*bleep*

He felt the heavy aether hit his channels and they bowed out from the pressure of it. It began to change the aether around it, also making it liquid. Great amounts of pressure within his channels as they began to further expand and reinforce from the influence of the higher tier of aether.

Sorin kept pulling and slamming his aether into the man's channels causing him to expell more and more. The aether hit is core and Sorin let out his own scream as agony erupted with him as his core took on a fundamental shift. He couldnt stop pulling now, but he didn't change the aether type and he began to absorb the water flavored aether and it changed his own becoming a lighter purple and still Sorin pulled.

*bleep*

The man's voice went horse from the screaming. Sorin could feel his own core expanding and condensing reinforcing as was the case with his channels. He was right in his idea and it could be done. He could control different aspects of aether.

*bleep*

The man's core was entirely empty, but Sorin had one more idea that was given to him by the man himself. He took his now liquid aether, formed it into a sharp lance within the man's core and slammed it into the edge of it. With the feel of shattering glass, the man screamed and passed out.

*bleep*

Sorin withdrew from the mans channels and just sat there trying to regain his balance. His stats had been altered and drastically. He was about to pull up his HUD when the banging started. Then the smell of fire as the lock was melted through.

Sorin looked up at Reeger and Euryale's confused and angry faces.