Seeds of Discordia

"I just don't get it," Mercer muttered under his breath as he stood off to the side watching as the ritual underwent its progress. He wasn't really close to the ritual circle nor was he far away. The soldiers and those related to the goddess deity Adva was Champion of as well as those who worshipped the Primal Beast of the Water and Ice Horven, weren't exactly thrilled to have outsiders here witnessing the ritual take place, but due to Adva's authority, he, Avery, Blair, and Gimmel were allowed to stay.

When they had arrived earlier they went through each piece of materials that were to be used for the ritual and tried to see if anything was amiss or wasn't supposed to be there. While they didn't know exactly what they were looking for, they didn't see nor feel anything that was not supposed to be there or tampered with. Many of the people involved in the ritual believed Mercer and the others were just using this as an excuse to be there, but once again Adva squashed their complaints. This was further emphasized when Uncle Naro and Key had arrived and also gave the complainers a piece of their mind.

Since they couldn't find anything, Adva had requested they stay and keep an eye out for anything that seemed either out of place or felt like it could be a threat. With Gimmel's abilities he was able to use his puppets as scouts. Before he did so, he started to panic. He had finally realized the puppet he had following Artem's group had been destroyed and when he looked at the one following Liam and Val, Liam wasn't with her. Instead, a group of Lizard-folk men were with her, and they were looking around the city in hurry.

Gimmel explained all of this to Mercer and even Mercer was concerned for his teammates. He understood something was going on and they didn't have any way of getting the information needed to understand the situation now. As much as he and the others wanted to race to Val's side, he came to understand that the group of men with Val were members of the Fiddler's Spider Web and that meant if they had raced to her to get information it would ruin her cover and possibly more. After taking in the information he was given from Gimmel, Mercer decided that Val and the group of men were probably following a trail of sorts. As for why Liam wasn't with them…he decided that he had probably felt something was off somewhere and followed that trail instead. He told Gimmel to keep an eye on Val and to see if he could spot Liam anywhere if he decided to approach the area they were currently at.

That being said, Mercer was thoroughly impressed with the site of the ritual and the sight he was currently witnessing. The area was away from the city, but the location was high enough it could overlook not just the city, but the entirety of the island as well. They were positioned on top of a plateau that was up a hill. Two giant coral reef like trees towered over them and tilted with the tips arcing into one another. Several streams of water flowed from the ground and into the air all around them.

In the middle of the plateau was an area that dipped down with stoned steps. Several braziers lit with bluish fire that looked more like water waving around inside them were spaced equally all around the steps.

In between each brazier stood a member of Adva's goddess's church channeling their mana into a device that was slowly creeping out of the item and towards a giant pan full of the ritual materials they had just inspected not too long ago. Behind each member was another who was getting ready to channel their own mana into the person before them when they needed to. Omira stood in a position that was directly in front of the arced Coral trees and was focusing with all her might. Unlike the others who were participating in the ritual, she had someone already pouring their own mana into her to help her keep going. Several others were in line behind that person getting ready to switch places with them when the time was right. In the center of all of this was a giant pool of water that had started bubbling an hour into the ritual.

However, while the sight of ritual site was impressive, it wasn't as nearly as impressive as the giant being that sat underneath the arced coral like trees. Because what was sitting there was none of than the Primal Beast Omira had told them about, Horven.

Horven looked like a massive thirty five foot pure white as snow squid with a massive amount of tentacles that were longer than its main body and icy blue eyes that were glowing with powerful mana that it was channeling itself. Most of its tentacles were wrapped around the two coral like trees while the others were wrapped up in a protective manner around the bottom of its body.

According to Adva, once the channeled mana that was going into the item the people were holding had reached the right amount it would move towards the materials in the pan in front of them. After enough of the channeled mana filled the materials it would then make its way towards the center pool of water would eventually start to rise up and make its way towards the middle of the air. The tip of the raised pool would then connect to the water streams all around them right as Horven would connect its own manner to the area where the streams and the central pool connected.

She wouldn't tell him exactly why they needed to do this, but from his guesses he was making it might be a cleansing thing that required the materials as well as Horven's mana to be used. At the same time he believed that by using Horven's mana in the ritual it would also send a territorial marking throughout the sea making any monsters who believe themselves powerful enough to try and make the sea their own think twice.

As he watched the ritual take place he was starting to understand why there was many who weren't happy with him and the others being there. This ritual held a lot of risks. If one were to contaminate a single material or even a mana source, it could ruin the entire process. Having knowledge on what they used and how they did things was a big thing. Many who were antagonistic to anyone here could screw not just those involved but everyone who lived in this territory and that was something many of the people here didn't want to have happen.

Even though Mercer was excited to be able to witness something as grand as a Ritual of this cale, he was also very annoyed. He didn't like that he wasn't able to find anything made to look like a fool for looking over every ingredient and material that came out of the bags Adva had asked him to look over. He felt it deep within him that what he was looking for was a magical item or at least something on an alchemical scale.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

However, since his search bore no fruits and they couldn't figure out where the mysterious items were placed, all he was left with were people believing he was either paranoid or someone making excuses so he could watch something he wasn't supposed to. Since his mood was growing sour by the hour he was starting to get irritated. It didn't help that he wasn't able to get any information on the others and what they were doing. All he could was wait for any news and hope nothing happened.

Mercer noticed Gimmel slowly approaching him from the right side. He looked to be troubled by something as he muttered something softly to himself. As he reached Mercer, Mercer asked softly, "What's wrong?"

"I'm not…I'm not entirely sure if I'm being honest," Gimmel responded equally as quiet with a puzzled expression.

Mercer's brows creased as he asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well…," Gimmel started as he looked to be trying to process what he was about to say. After a moment of hesitation, Gimmel stated, "Well, you know how I've been practicing with my puppets to get better at scouting right?"

Mercer nodded. "Yeah. You said you wanted to try out new things so you can get better at it."

"Well, I was finally able to get one of those things down," Gimmel informed. "At first I was trying to figure out what I can do with my puppets that could really help out with scouting. After some theorizing, and trials and errors I decided on the first step. Mana Sight through my puppets and illusionary puppets."

Mercer felt his eyes widen slightly as he realized what that meant. If Gimmel was able to use Mana Sight through any of his puppets or even his illusionary puppets then they would be able to see mana being channeled and spot people getting ready to use any spells from afar. This would help keep them safe and be ready for surprise attacks. He looked at Gimmel and swiftly asked, "Were you successful?"

"Partly yes," Gimmel stated. When he saw the confused and questionable look on Mercer's face he quickly explained, "I was successful with the main puppets, but I still have some ways to go with the illusionary ones."

Mercer slowly nodded at that. While it would have been great if he was able to use Mana Sight on both types of puppets, the fact he was able to be successful with the regular ones was good enough so far. It would help with searching for any type of mana that wasn't a part of the manas being channeled right now. He looked back at Gimmel and noticed he was still looking a bit puzzled. He understood there was more he wanted to say than what he was just explaining. Mercer decided to move the conversation along as he asked, "What else? I feel there's more you want to say."

Gimmel nodded as he said, "Well, shortly after I became successful with being able to apply Mana Sight to my puppets, I found Artem's group."

Mercer felt a sigh of relief escape his lips. He felt another escape him as he heard Gimmel say that Liam was with them. However, he felt his body tense as Gimmel added, "They aren't alone."

Mercer's gaze swiftly turned on him and he quickly asked, "What do you mean? Are they under attack?"

"No," Gimmel said slowly. "They look to be friendly with the five newcomers, but…"

"But what?" Mercer asked. He felt his voice threatening to grow slightly louder than the whisper they were trying to keep it at, but he held on strong.

Gimmel hesitated for a brief moment before saying, "I could see faint traces of Shadow Mana leaking off of Liam along with an eerie green on that I've never seen before."

Mercer felt like he wanted to slap Gimmel behind the head for making think something bad had happened. While Gimmel was starting to see all of what they were hiding he had never seen Liam's other mana. He couldn't blame him since Liam didn't use it much, but at the same time he wanted to have Gimmel understand that anything Liam used shouldn't be an issue…for now.

Mercer was about to say not to worry about it, but stopped as Gimmel continued, "Also one of the newcomers has the same faint Shadow Mana coming off of them as well as one I hadn't seen before. What I'm confused about is I was able to feel the mana through my puppet." Gimmel gave Mercer a very concerned look as he finished, "And what I felt was similar to the magic being used that one night on the island where everything was falling apart."

Mercer felt his whole body go stiff as he heard this. Questions and thoughts raced through Mercer's mind as he tried to figure out what was going on. They knew that both powers were making their way to this island, but for Liam to find one of them already, to already be with them and moving as a group like they were friendly…that was both confusing and concerning to him. Now more than ever he needed to get information on what was going on. He looked at Gimmel and asked, "Do you know where they are heading?"

"Their trajectory will lead them to this place," Gimmel stated.

Mercer nodded. He needed to intercept them before they ran into anyone here saw them and found them suspicious. Well, the newcomers were suspicious, but the rest of his team wasn't and if they were supposed to meet back with them then things would be complicated.

He looked around and saw Adva glancing over at him. Her facial expression changed to one he believed was concern which was probably due to the conflicted expression he had on his face. It was made even worse as she made her way over to him.

"What's wrong?" Adva asked as she approached them.

Mercer had thought of something as she made her way over and replied, "I was think that we needed to get Liam here. His enhanced sight could be useful here to help us spot any problems."

Adva stared at Mercer for a long moment before she asked, "Do you know where he is?"

Mercer nodded. "Gimmel was able to spot his location, and I was thinking of heading over to him and grabbing him and possibly our other members as well. Would that be alright?"

Adva looked to be thinking it over. While she felt that having Naro here was good enough with his heightened senses, she could see the pros on having more people with those capabilities. After debating it in her mind she nodded and said, "I'll inform the guards to let them through after you bring them here."

Mercer gave her an appreciative nod before turning to Gimmel and asked, "Which direction are they?"

Gimmel understood what he wasn't saying and pointed in the direction he saw them. Mercer quickly started jogging not wanting to waste any more time. As Adva made her way to talk to the guards Gimmel went back to his puppets. As they were talking he had the original ones come back to where he was. Since he could use Mana Sight with them he wanted to do a once over around the area. As the puppets arrived above he stared at the area and saw something odd.

As he tried to comprehend it he suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of his head causing him to wince. As he winced he felt his sight start to blur and his body start to feel off balanced. He wasn't sure what was going on, but what he had saw sent a countermeasure right back at him making him drop to his knees and begin to lose consciousness. He tried to fight it, but the power that was sent his way through Mana Sight was too much for him to fight back against. He needed to tell someone what he had found and quickly.

Avery had noticed Gimmel's sudden change in demeanor and had started making her way to him. That slow walk she had going on quickly change into a sprint as she saw him start to fall to ground. She was able to catch him before he full dropped. She tried asking him what had happened, and he tried to tell her, but before he could he fully passed out leaving her both scared and concerned.