The Classless Sorcerer's Self-Stealing System

Interlude 2 - Nelkaar: Duty in Diligence

The duties of a champion far exceeded the boundaries of what could, or perhaps even should have been asked of any one person. Physical limitations aside, and mental fortitude notwithstanding, the weight of a city, and of a nation, more often than not rested on the shoulders of a single individual. Upon this person, a delicate harmony between what was right and what was necessary balanced as if on the edge of a knife. And should all roads lead to the end of that city, of that nation, then such a person would be beholden to the truest test—perhaps the only test of their championship...

Sacrifice.

Nelkaar knew she would die for her homeland, long before her ascension to the status of champion. Young though she had been when the honor was first bestowed upon her, the years of her tenure had not mitigated such forewarnings in any meaningful way. Rather, it might have been truer to say that they had reinforced her premonitions to such a degree that they were an uneasy comfort in times of uncertainty.

And recent times were more than a little uncertain.

"Here you go, kid." Gisela's voice interrupted Nelkaar's musings suddenly. Nelkaar looked up, just in time to see the innkeeper set a small container down on the counter in front of where she waiting quietly. Gisela yawned, "Bring it back to me when you stop by for—ah, hell, you know the deal by now. And make sure you eat it all too. Would you? I swear, you're getting paler by the day young lady!"

Nelkaar smiled faintly. Reaching her gauntleted hand out towards the small box, she bowed her head slightly, and replied, "Thank you kindly, missus Kornfeld. I'm sorry to trouble you at such an early hour so often. I should really be better about preparing my own meals."

"Oh stop it, you're not troubling anyone." Gisela shook her head dismissively, and the innkeeper was already moving on to prepare the rest of the kitchen for an undoubtedly busy morning. Loudly, she added, "Three have mercy on my soul, you know I'd sell my inn and hitch a ride to the mainland before I allowed you to go hungry. Besides, it's not like I'm not up this early anyway. Don't get a lick of sleep no how! Not between the dogs, the grandchildren, and Harald snoring up a storm. Good grief…"

Nelkaar chuckled quietly to herself, but thought to ask, "How is he? Harald? Walking okay?"

"Been better." Gisela replied, her tone neither here nor there, "Good days and bad. He's healed mostly, but… I don't know. The fall took a lot out of him. Hell, he tells me he wants to be back out on the water already. Can you believe it? After all that drama! Ah well, far be it from me to deny him. That man certainly has a pair of sea legs…"

Wordlessly, Nelkaar placed a few gold coins on the counter for the trouble, knowing full well Gisela would have likely handed them right back if she had seen, before tucking the package under her arm. Already able to smell the eggs and sausage, Nel's mouth watered a little bit, but she had a bit of a walk ahead of her before she could enjoy it. Looking back towards the innkeeper, Nel said, "I'm glad to hear he's doing better. Please give him my regards. And please be sure to let me know if anything comes up with one of your patrons. Trelen."

"Sure thing, Nel." Gisela nodded, "His master's a real piece of work, you know that? Boy's alright though, seems like a good kid. You want me to let him know you were asking about him?"

"That won't be necessary." Nelkaar shook her head, "Just let me know later if he seems in good health."

Trelen had already been involved in enough as it was. And of course, there was the matter of what she'd seen him do down in the dungeon... that was a matter for another time, though. For now, he deserved to rest and to enjoy the company of his friends.

"Best of luck out there today. See you for supper!" Gisela waved Nelkaar off.

Nelkaar waved over her shoulder in response, before stepping out of the Half Full Flagon in pursuit of the busy day that no doubt awaited her. At the very least, she had a warm meal at hand to keep her comfortable.

***

The castle grounds were alive with scurrying servants and harried soldiers, no doubt having something to do with the recent turmoil, as Nelkaar entered the lower bailey. She wasn't technically a ranking member of the peerage, of the military, or even of the small council, but that didn't stop the slew of salutes, nods, and awkward eye contact that seemed to follow her everywhere she went around the grounds whenever she visited.

Entering into the major portion of the castle proper, Nelkaar immediately ascended the antechamber stairs and turned left into the first corridor, slowly navigating her way through the series of smaller chambers and hallways, she eventually found herself standing in front of the room designated for small council meetings. Two of the castle's royal guard were posted on either side of the heavy, wooden door, indicating to Nelkaar that at least one member of the council must have already arrived.

The older of the two guards, Enzo, a grizzled veteran who kept a rough beard, offered a half-salute upon seeing her, "Good morning, Nelkaar."

"Hello, Enzo." Nelkaar nodded, "Have they already started?"

Enzo and the other guard, Walter, a much younger man, but taller with dark-blonde hair and considerable muscularity, exchanged sidelong glances for a moment, before Enzo turned and said somewhat awkwardly, "…Apologizes, there's no small council meeting today. His Majesty's orders."

"I see…" Nelkaar frowned, only somewhat disappointed that she had walked all this way for seemingly nothing, and certainly without having had the chance to dig into her breakfast.

She wasn't surprised though. It was becoming increasingly more common as of late for the King to resign himself from his duties. Not that Nelkaar was unsympathetic to His and Her Majesties situation. However, she couldn't help but feel that Skeggan was dearly important to her too, perhaps the one person she cherished most, and yet she herself couldn't afford to resign herself from her duties, not even for a day.

There were too many mysteries and foul natures at work in Frostwall, conspiring amongst themselves to do as they pleased while the King grieved. Frost giants raided the kingdom's northern routes, cultists grew increasingly ambitious, and with the strange anomaly that seemed to be plaguing the dungeon as of late, at worst a forming raid sequence, the people of Calvergia needed the strength of their King now more than ever.

Nelkaar needed the strength of her King, of whom had entrusted in her the defense of this city all those years ago.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"You too, huh?"

Nelkaar's brow furrowed, and she turned her head, looking down with an amused expression only to find a familiar, indifferent smile awaiting her.

"Hello, Skaldan."

Tossing a perfectly oblong, blue-ripened rimefruit from one hand to the other, Skaldan took a big bite, before saying, "I see my father's content to leave everyone waiting this morning. Not the first time, I suppose..."

Nelkaar shook her head, "I serve at the pleasure of His Majesty. I can always return later." Turning back to face Enzo and Walter, she added, "Please inform His Majesty that he may call on me at his leisure. Good day."

"What—well, wait up!" Skaldan scrambled, as Nelkaar turned to leave, and she was already several paces down the corridor before Skaldan could catch up, "Hey, come on, I'm serious. Where are you going?"

Smirking somewhat, Nelkaar glanced down and across at the prince following her, "Has His Highness already grown bored of house arrest? Or has he already planned out his next evening sleuth?"

"Hey, you make it sound as if I knew the Knave had like… enchantments and stuff." Skaldan replied, a half-argument at best, "Besides, I had a good reason! You'd know that, if you actually gave me the time of day. I've been trying to talk to you for a week!"

Nelkaar frowned, "I know, and I apologize. Things with the Hall have been… complicated. There are matters that require my undivided attention. And I'm doing my best to accommodate everyone, while maintaining the defense of Frostwall and the integrity of our dungeon to the best of my abilities."

"Investigation going that bad, huh?" Skaldan murmured. However, Nelkaar noticed him perk up out of the corner of her eyes, and he added more coyly, "You know... I might have something that can help."

Nelkaar slowly came to a halt. The young prince took a few more steps forward without, before stopping to turn himself. He tilted his head and looked at her confusedly.

"Skaldan…" Nelkaar murmured coldly, "I told you not to involve yourself any further. I... I don't want you to get hurt. Your brother—"

"Skegg got involved." Skaldan interjected immediately, "That's why he is where he is, right? This is about that Cynric fellow? About Skegg going down to the dungeon for him and doing who knows what? I know he had an open quest, but all the information about it is in the wind. You and I want the same thing, Nel. Can't you see that? I'm trying to help!"

Nelkaar's eyes widened momentarily.

Skaldan was a clever boy, and crafty beyond his years. What he lacked in experience, he made up for in wit... most of the time, anyway. It made sense given his station that he'd be able to put the pieces together so quickly. But even still, nobody knew what Skeggan was really involved with. All indications pointed to some kind of tampering within the Hall, foul play at worst, and it wasn't clear just where exactly the dwarf was hiding out either, or if he was even still alive. Between that and what was going on in the dungeon, Nelkaar was more certain now than ever before that someone she knew, maybe even someone she trusted, was responsible for what happened to Skeggan.

Skaldan simply could not be involved in something like that, it was out of the question.

"Do you know where Jhannrick might be?" Nelkaar asked plainly, electing to change the subject. If Jhann was here this morning, at least she could vent to someone while eating her breakfast, "I was hoping he might want to join me at the Hall this morning."

Skaldan rolled his eyes, likely having known she wasn't going to answer his previous inquiry at all, and sighed, "I don't know. We didn't have lessons this morning. He's probably visiting his father again. Anyway, I can't imagine anyone who would want to go down there at a time like this. Well, except for me but I guess that's not happening. You know, I hear the Hall Keeper's furious!"

He's not wrong. Nelkaar thought to herself, not looking forward to meeting with Ulrich herself in a little while.

It had only been two days since the dungeon incident, and they still didn't have many answers to what had actually happened. The diviners had a hard time even confirming that a raid sequence adjacent event had even occurred at all, and it was largely thanks to the item she had received on drop that helped indicate anything of the sort had happened in the first place. The fact of the matter was, the Adventuring Hall was scrambling to come up with answers. There were still three delvers missing and a mass of angry citizens to contend with, which meant nobody was heading into the dungeon for regular routine anytime soon. This, in turn, resulted in the volatility rating increasing steadily without sufficient means of managing spawns, which only served to put all the effort on the highest rated parties to go in and cover for the slack. This meant much greater odds of something going wrong given the demanding hours and larger areas to cover.

In short, the Hall was under serious pressure.

If things went on this way for even a week longer, a significant portion of Frostwall's economy was likely going to feel the burn too. After all, energy crystals, monster materials, drops… these things had buyers elsewhere in Sulren. A cease in production for local vendors was not going to go over well with anyone involved in the Silver Vault's ecosystem.

"Well, if you see him, please tell your teacher that I would like to speak with him urgently." Nelkaar turned at the foot of the stairs, "We'll be heading back into the dungeon this evening, and I would like to go over our scheduled route."

"Alright, I'll let him know…" Skaldan grumbled under his breath. However, his expression softened, and he said, "You sure you don't want to see Skegg before you go?"

"Hmm." Nelkaar muttered quietly.

She wasn't sure it was her place to be at his side at a time like this. If Enzo's words were to be extrapolated upon, she was certain His Majesty was likely already with the prince this morning. He often was. She had no right to stand there with him, no business trying to offer him the comfort of her presence, not after she had let Skeggan go into the dungeon by himself that day…

Nelkaar, above all else, knew that she could see what others often couldn't.

Ever since she was a little girl, ever since her eyes first peered upon the Bloodwood, her sight had the power to pierce the veil of time itself. It was why she knew so clearly that she was destined to die for her homeland. She had seen it— watched her fate play out so many times in her waking dream that it was no different than her reality sometimes.

And that moment… it was drawing nearer and nearer, day by day. She didn't have much time to set things right, and thus she couldn't afford to be deceived again. Not by casual smiles, nor by charming deflections of the truth. There were forces at work here, forces she didn't fully comprehend yet. And despite that, she was willing to go to whatever lengths in order to bring them all to heel.

Nelkaar was the Champion of Frostwall, and if all else failed, her duty was in the diligence of her blade alone.

"Have a pleasant morning, Your Highness." Nelkaar bowed her head slightly, "Please extend my deepest well wishes to His and Her Majesties."

"You know, when you talk so formally like that, it makes me think you're up to something." Skaldan chastised, "Seriously, Nel, can we please talk soon?"

Despite her best efforts, even Nelkaar couldn't resist the young prince's determined nature. He and his brother were so much alike, it was both tragic and endearing.

Smiling, Nelkaar turned to exit the castle, and said over her shoulder, "Very well. We will speak soon, Your Highness... I promise."

"Just so you know, they can't keep me here forever!" Skaldan shouted, his voice echoing through the antechamber of the castle, "Can't you see, I'm not giving up!"

"I see, Your Highness..." Nelkaar murmured gently, if only but to the company of herself, "I often do."

The morning sky was a brilliant blue, set ablaze by the rising sun, as Nelkaar stepped out into the courtyard. Peering down at the box in her hand, Nelkaar sulked for a moment, realizing all at once that the meal Gisela had so graciously provided her that morning was probably long since chilled by now.

"Hmmmm… how unfortunate." Nelkaar sighed pitifully. However, she tucked it back under her arm, flipped her winter hood up and over her head, and proceeded onward.

She could handle the morning without food probably, though she was certain she couldn't handle the affairs of the Hall on an empty stomach for long. Either way, she'd have to make do. There was far too much work to do today, and there was not nearly enough time to do everything she wanted to get done in a timely manner, at least not before her scheduled delve. Frankly, Nelkaar had been hoping to speak with the small council above all else today, the King a close second, and Jhannrick if nothing else. Somehow, she hadn't managed to do any of the three.

Nelkaar's stomach grumbled violently all of a sudden.

Against the odds, it seemed that even a warm breakfast was destined to evade her this morning.