Sorry for the delay, I like to get at least a few Betareaders to give me the okay before I post things. Enjoy! It's half-again longer than normal.

Chapter 71: A Giant Problem

As soon as Pellin was done packing a gratuitous amount of wood onto his horse, the three of them got to work.

Cass asked Bella to lower herself until she found a happy medium for balance while they figured out how this would work. Getting the huge man on her took planning and coordination. 

They worked together to first roll him, then stand him up, each member grunting and wheezing under the precariously shifting dead weight. Pellin complained that he was given the ass-end of the problem, but Adya reminded him that was because he was the slowest to help get the man up.

Adya was on one side of Bella, pulling the man’s arm as the other two pushed from the other, “First come, first served, Pell.”

Deep under the man, Pellin’s bent figure was shoving the ground in an attempt to lift him. “I just wish I wasn’t served ass-cheeks almost as big as I am.”

“Could be worse,” Cass commented as they made a little progress. “He could be facing the other way.”

After several more sounds of frustration and more than a few curses, the trio finally got him onto Bella’s back. The draft horse rolled her eyes at Cass as Adya tied him down with some rope she’d been carrying on her mount.

Thy complaints fail to account for the burden I bear in these troubles. Strong tho I may be, this man doth have a presence to him.

“Presence is a very diplomatic term, Bella. Your language is getting better. Also, sorry.” Cass replied, rubbing the end of her snout. “We’ll try to be quick.”

Adya volunteered not to ride. As the fastest and the person with the most stamina, she gave Cass her mount while jogging beside everyone. Of course, Pellin had only one thing on his mind.

“I can’t wait to set up my bench.”

“Did you already pick your reward?” Cass asked, if only to continue the conversation. He was still recovering from the second dungeon’s lack of sound.

“Nope. I’m not entirely sure what’s going to happen when I hop into the Index, so I’m saving it for when I’m ready to build. I’m at my gate right now, and putting this thing together should help me cross it once I figure out something new to invent. Honestly, I think those pieces from the tree will help. I could only catch a glimpse of how that Corruption’s system operated, but it gave me all kinds of ideas.”

“Please!” Cass begged. “Don’t force me to come purge your workbench. I’m pretty sure the System takes a dim view of its engineers creating those.”

“I’ll be careful,” He promised, but in a high lilt, as if he were saying it to his mother.

“Speaking of-” Adya commented, then paused and stood still as the mounted party moved past. She caught up to them only a moment later. “Done.”

Pellin blinked twice as something added up in his head. “Ugh, no fair! You already grabbed your reward?”

“Yep! If you don’t like it so much, then why don’t you just shoot me with one of your Pellblasts?” Adya challenged.

“Mmm, that’s not a good idea. I don’t know if you remember this, but they left some pretty big holes in those Greybeards. I’d rather not have Cass chasing me with his axe in five minutes. He’s a lot faster than I remember from Foundational Training.”

“I promise,” Adya said, sprinting ahead of the group and turning to face him. With the new distance, she put her torch down, then yelled, “I’ll be fine!”

Pellin looked at Cass, who nervously shrugged, then pulled one of his weapons out. 

“You sure?”

“Yep!”

“F–fine! But I’m lowering the intensity as much as I can. I’m not going to kill one of my closest friends after we all survived a soundless shithole and a murder tree.”

“Sounds good!” she yelled back; her spear held at the ready.

“Pellin…” Cass warned.

“Dude, she’s literally asking for it,” he said, fiddling with his weapon. In a moment, his arm was up, though a little shaky, as he yelled out a countdown.

“Three…two…one…” Pellin fired the Pellblast, and all three of them, including Bella, watched the cyan glow take off with speed.

It missed her by dozens of feet.

“Pellin!” Adya admonished.

Small wonder he cannot find a mate, Bella commented, causing Cass to laugh uproariously.

“Shut up, Cass!”

“Just shoot me already!” Adya yelled.

The next shot didn’t miss. Pellin’s arm steadied at the last moment as the cyan glow of his weapon charged and fired. Passing through the darkness, the low-intensity projectile shaded the empty dungeon in light blue until it crossed the yellow burning torch on an unerring heading directly for Adya’s chest. 

The Scout didn’t flinch as the tip of her spear crossed in front of her in a blur, batting the projectile away. Adya didn’t pause for celebration.

“Again!”

Now confident in his friend’s ability, Pellin didn’t look at Cass for confirmation as he fired another shot. It was deflected slightly slower and to the right.

“One more!”

This time, when the projectile approached, Adya stabbed forward. The spear didn’t move in a blur as Cass’s enhanced eyesight picked up what was happening.

The sharp tip extended out, and instead of breaking the Pellblast round or causing a small explosion, it reflected the projectile back the way it had come. Or, in other words, directly at Pellin’s face.

“Ahhh!” Pellin shouted, ducking low to his mount as the round clearly went high over his head.

“Success!” Adya crowed, gathering her torch and sprinting over. “Cass, did you see that? If I use Predictive Thrust, I can angle Deflection to send things back where they came from. It’s awesome!”

“That almost hit me!”

“You were fine,” Adya huffed, wiping a bit of sweat from her forehead. “But man, that really takes it out of me. Hopefully, it gets easier to use the more I test things out. I think three is my limit right now.”

Pellin patted himself down, looking for damage and not finding any. He glared at them both. “No more Deflection training.”

“What did I do?” Cass protested.

“You’re a guilty bystander through romantic association.”

Bella grew in size while they were talking, her hoof meeting the ground with a powerful stomp. I mean not to interrupt, but he is most heavy.

“Bella wants us to get moving.” Cass translated, as he mounted up and they headed out again. During the ride, Pellin asked Cass to shift the Quill into several different forms as he watched closely, a notepad in one hand and a pencil in the other as he struggled to maintain his balance. By the time they got to the doors, he was quietly mumbling to himself while they opened on their own from the other side.

“‘Bout time,” they heard Alan say. “Come on and get in here. I’m assuming you were successful.”

Adya slipped through before the horses, then stood stiffly. “We were. Cassio destroyed the corruption, which was in the shape of a large tree.”

He nodded as if that was the most normal thing in the world. “And this?” Alan said, looking pointedly at Bella as she shrunk to fit through, her large load easily seen.

“We found him near the corruption. There was a small piece of the tree on his body that seemed to be attempting some form of infiltration.”

“Your analysis?”

“Possibly a sacrifice by the Guildtower. Could be he escaped and ran into the tree by accident. Could be several other options. We won’t know until he wakes up and tells us.”

Alan looked at the man closely, then grunted, “He’s a level 100 Private, hell of a sacrifice if that theory proves itself. Looks like his name is…William Atherby, from the Fifth.”

“Level 100?” Pellin said, pencil falling from his hand while the other clutched his notepad tightly.

“The level isn’t what bothers me. The Privates are mostly paper tigers; they look strong, but they don’t have any active abilities. It’s why he’s there, and not knowing which seriously bothers me.” Alan tapped a fist against his hand as he stared at the man, then sniffed.

“Korring got it right; we won’t get the rundown till he tells us. Herald, you can drop him there. I’m going to put him in a safehouse within the countryside, one designed not to be found by outside eyes and abilities. He could be just what we need to hit the last Dungeon. That boy will have all kinds of information that’ll prove useful, assuming he’s of sane mind.”

Bella shifted enough that the giant man fell off her back. The ground shook just a little as he landed on his side, still unresponsive.

That is ever so much better.

“You could’ve been nicer about it,” Cass commented to his Bonded.

Alan shooed them out, telling the group that everyone else was at Johan’s shop waiting for them. The other two left with the horses as Cass held back for a moment. Something was bothering him.

“You always seem to have more information than you’re letting on.”

Alan turned from his study of the giant to look at him. “Tends to come with being really, really old. You learn when to keep your mouth shut.”

“And this time, I’m asking you not to,” Cass replied. “You know something more about what’s going on here, and I’d like to hear it from you now, rather than a month down the road and right before some huge operation. I believe I’ve earned that.”

Alan chewed on his cheek, then tilted his head. “Fine. It’s mostly rumors, but big ones and heard often enough that I’m starting to believe them. I have a few contacts in the Guildtower, and a few more back at the Capital who slip me things when we can. They all add up to the same conclusion; Liberty is even worse than it seems.”

Don’t know how that’s possible. 

Alan stared off for a moment, so Cass asked, “Worse how?”

The old Scout shook his head. “Most of the Generals in this place are low-level, while almost all of the Privates we meet are the opposite. And worse, once a Private starts to reach a certain Tier, they go missing. I don’t like what it’s adding up to.”

“What do you think it is?”

“I’m not one-hundred percent sure. If I knew for certain, I’d inform the Capital, and they’d come busting in here. They even sent an Auditor who didn’t find anything too unusual,” Alan replied, his eyes trailing back to the slow-breathing man on the ground.

“Will you tell me if you find out what’s going on?”

“Yes,” Alan said, almost seeming surprised by his own answer. “I’ll tell you the moment I learn the truth.”

Cass turned to look at the giant with him. “I just don’t like all the mysteries that this place holds, you know. It feels like every time I understand how a part of Liberty works, something else turns that on its head.”

Alan grunted, “I know one thing. That beehive you sleep in every night is surely going to buzz when they realize they’re missing a Dungeon. And when they find out the Speed Dungeon is gone too, well, things are going to get pretty tight in Liberty. Keep an eye out for trouble if you can, and whatever you pick in the Index, make sure it’s something that can keep you alive.”

“I’m something of a Survivor,” Cass deadpanned. “But I’m curious. What did you pick?”

Alan mimed closing his mouth as he smiled, then walked over and sat down, elbows on his knees as he looked at the 11th Tier Private in their midst. 

Cass left Caligula’s End and hustled over to Johan’s. Bella and the other horses were picketed outside, so he knew everyone was there. But when he got inside, the shop looked empty. Then his exceptional hearing picked up the voices in the back.

“...will never be the same. I’m sorry, Gary.”

“Price of doing business, I guess.” Gary’s stoic voice replied.

Oh no.

Cass pushed to the back, entering through a thick curtain separating it from the front. Within were several thin cots and everyone from the excursion who weren’t currently staring at a giant.

Shirley lay on one, her arm and shoulder wrapped in several layers of bandages. Gary was in another with a similar state. And in the last was Jason, eyes forever open as they stared at the ceiling without blinking.

His armor was covered in blood and placed on the side of his bed. Cass was privately thankful that the sheet covering him didn’t show how the rest of his body looked.

Oh Jason… I’m sorry I couldn’t do more for you. But I promise you, it wasn’t for nothing.

Gary noticed Cass standing there and gave a weak wave with his unbandaged arm. “Hey, buttface.”

“Hey yourself. Are you only going to be shaking hands with your right now, or what’s going on?”

Johan moved over to look at Adya’s scratch as Cass moved closer. Gary being Gary, he laughed.

“Nah, it’s not so bad. Johan said I’d have some weakness in the arm, but I’ll be fine.” He looked over Cass’s bloody form. “Shouldn’t you be getting help from him too?”

“Him?” Pellin said, sidling over. “He took a stab to the shoulder, then just kept on fighting. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t been there.”

Gary looked at his bandages. “Must be nice. But don’t worry about me. I’ll be out there, bread in my mouth and a mace in my hand soon enough.”

“Is that why you’re not holding those loaves anymore?” Adya asked, Johan having already tended to her.

“Yeah,” Cass replied, “I thought that was weird. I’d gotten so used to seeing you with a big piece of bread in one hand. So, you’re just eating it?”

“Yep.” Gary gave a big smile. “You’re not the only one who can figure out ways to mess with the System, Cass. As long as my body is in contact with the tool of my Calling, strength will fill my limbs, or whatever. I find the hardest piece of bread I can, bite off a small piece, then stick it in the corner of my mouth. It’s like…Baker magic.”

“Baker magic,” Pellin said with a laugh. “That’s a riot, Gary.”

At the sound of his laugh, Shirley leaped up from her cot. Glancing at the group, she gave them a sharp glare, then stomped out of the area after a last glance at Jason’s still form. Wallace, Seb, and Damien made apologies for her, but quickly followed.

“Maybe it wasn’t the best time to laugh,” Pellin said with a frown.

“She’s just going through it right now,” Johan said, putting a few items back on shelves. “Give her some space. Shirley’s grieving. She needs time, more than anything.”

Adya and Bella took Cass back to the Guildtower. The moon was high overhead by the time he got to his room, and he darted through the entryway before Jamison could see him. Cass didn’t want the servant and potential spy to see the blood on his clothes.

After a shower to clean it off, Cass lay down in his too-big bed and stared at the ceiling. Closing his eyes, he accepted the prompt to take him to the Index.

Well Hello.

Hello, Source. Can we skip any funny business tonight? It was a long day, and I’d just like to pick my reward.

Certainly.

With your increase to System Trust II, new options are available.

Can I just use my current points to satisfy our earlier negotiation?

No.

Cass was too tired to argue as the Index populated his options. There weren’t any new categories, but within each, Cass found several that stuck out to him. After settling on one, he asked the Source to set it aside for review. 

Then he looked at another, and another. Though he was exhausted from the day’s trials, he went over them meticulously, settling on three separate choices.

[Resonation]

Ledger Augmentation.

[System Trust II] Prerequisite fulfilled: Complete 10 Quest Webs 

Modifies the QuestWright’s Ledger to include an additional option.

[System Trust II] When drafting a Quest, receive the option of attaching it to others in forming a predetermined Quest Web. Resonating Quests have a reduced Stamina cost.

Point cost: 30,000

Cass’s exhausted mind simplified the options.

Easier Quest Webs.

[Wayfarer’s Right]

Title

[System Trust II] Prerequisite fulfilled: Unlock three Ways in the Survivor Path 

Doubles all experience earned within Dungeons.

[System Trust II] Doubles all experience earned within Dungeons, regardless of origin.

Point cost: 20,000

More experience and more Dungeons.

[Preservation]

Ability

[System Trust II] Prerequisite fulfilled: Purge two or more corrupted objects. Unlock System Trust II.

Upon taking fatal damage, a System-enforced protective field will surround the QuestWright.

[System Trust II] The protective field is only partly empowered by System energy. Activation will severely drain the QuestWright's energy.

Point cost: 50,000

An oh-shit ability.

That’s accurate, yes.

Any advice?

Mmm, no. I’m not going to tell you how to manage your own Calling. This is entirely up to you, Cassio Vale.

Thanks.

His brain finally saw the added-up point totals, then compared them with how many he currently had in the bank.

51,940

Oh, god damn it.

In the darkness, with only the single point of light overhead and his options before him, Cass mentally cursed out a friend. Pellin had said Cass would pick the thing that helped people the most, and he was certainly leaning that way.

But then Alan’s words about surviving came to the front of his mind, and Cass got angry all over again.

Stupid Pellin, think you know me so well. Stupid Alan, trying to…keep me alive. Of course I want to pick the thing that’ll help people. Of course I want to live. 

But still, this is bullshit.

I just happen to have over 50,000, and Preservation costs exactly as much as the other two put together. There aren’t enough points.

Are we negotiating?

No! And fuck you for the offer. You’d probably give me a devil’s deal.

I’d offer you an agreement that weighed heavily on my side, yes. 

But who wouldn’t?

I’m not taking it. I’m living within my means, damn it. 

If Cass could slap himself within the dark metaphysical realm, he would. Instead, he settled for screaming.

I gave away all those points!

It was quite charitable of you, but I have to say I’m getting rather tired of this.

You and me both.

Make your decision, Cassio Vale, then live with the results.

Are you hinting at something?

Not in the slightest; I just want you to get a move on so I can focus on other, more important things.

None of the options you’re considering are bad.

They’re just choices.

You need to make the decision.

Cass wanted to select Preservation. It was as his mind had uttered, an oh-shit button. A System Protective Field, which was likely the same dome that dropped down whenever he fought corruption, appearing when he needed it most.

But…

That wasn’t who he was. Pellin really did know him well.

Two for…the price of one, please. I’ll take Wayfarer’s Right and Resonation.

Your wish is my command, Cassio Vale.

The two choices lit up, and it was the last thing Cass saw in the Index before opening his eyes. He immediately closed them and finally caught some sleep.

Cass was awoken by Ana banging on his door. When he opened it, her face was flushed as she said, “The harvest has started, and I’ve been conscripted for work.”

“...What?”