Book 2: Chapter 45 (Patreon)

Madi sulked as they traveled to Arandir’s apartment. Leanthun trailed behind, now acting as a bodyguard for the elder. Orrin bumped into her and nodded toward the old elf, then Daniel. She sighed and hurried her step, asking Arandir a question about the economy of elven pottery or something else that Orrin was too busy to pay attention to.

Instead, Orrin grabbed Daniel’s elbow and slowed their stroll so they were directly in between Arandir and Leanthun. He pointed up toward the tree line, acting like he’d noticed something cool in the elven forest.

“What’s the plan?”

Daniel smirked. “It’s nice when I’m the one calling the shots and setting things up. Is this what it feels like for you?”

The smirk disappeared when Orrin slugged him in the arm. “Ass.”

“Jerk.”

Daniel rubbed his shoulder. “Did you really need to increase your strength to hit me? That really hurt.”

Orrin scanned his friend with a quick [Identify] to make sure he hadn’t actually taken off health. Daniel was fine.

“Don’t be a baby. I shaved a single point off your health.”

Daniel tried to look offended but grinned again when Orrin rolled his eyes. “I want to learn more about what he can do. If he’s really the last Admin or whatever like he claims, he can teach you. It looks like he’s on our side to a point. He did just piss off his own council.”

Orrin considered Daniel’s plan. From what he’d seen, Arandir had appeared at the last minute to offer a good compromise to the elven council’s original plan of simply taking Daniel’s Quest and going to war. The timing was convenient. It would be a good tactic to play good cop, bad cop with the [Hero]. The council still got what they wanted and all it had taken was showing the first-offered extreme option of taking the Quest and having the cool-headed elderly elf soften it up with some esoteric knowledge. If the leader of Odrana knew Arandir was an Administrator, he probably told people. The knowledge that there was an all-powerful person who could make you stronger wasn’t something people would be able to keep the lid on.

Arandir’s offer to tell them more was appearing less valuable with each thought.

“He might have staged that all to make us like him. If the guy from Odrana knows about him, his generals or whoever will know, too. It’s not like he can just say ‘Hey, let’s go invade the elves’ and everybody listens for no reason. I’m not sure we traded the Quest for anything of real value.”

Daniel raised an eyebrow at his friend. “You remember we were just going to give it to them anyway, right? Having either side incentivized to end the war was your idea. It’s not like we can go fight in the front lines and make a difference. Your trust issues are showing again.”

Arandir turned back and waved them forward. Orrin dropped the conversation as they approached where he had stopped. He pointed to one of the larger trees near the perimeter of the city.

“This is my apartment. Are any of you afraid of heights?”

Along the side of the tree was a small box that Orrin had thought was somebodies slightly large trash can. He hadn’t noticed the smallest cut in the tree behind it, thinking it was simply a natural gash in the bark. He also hadn’t noticed the rope attached to the open-lidded trash can or the latch that opened the door.

It wasn’t until Arandir had ushered Madi and Daniel into the pen that he’d realized they were all squishing into an open-aired elevator. An elevator on the outside of a tree that would easily fail any OSHA testing. It was already failing Orrin’s testing.

“I think I grabbed this rail too hard. It broke.” He held out a piece of wood that had been a guardrail a moment before. Orrin had forgotten he’d just increased his strength when he squeezed the railing in a panic.

“No worries,” Arandir said as he took the proffered stick and threw it deeper into the woods. “It will regrow in time. Leanthun, we will be above. Did you have someone set out tea?”

“Yes, illustrious one. Everything is ready for you,” the younger elf said from his bowed position. His entire demeanor was subservient when around Arandir.

“See that we are not disturbed.”

“Never… again,” Madi moaned as they exited the lift.

Daniel threw up over the edge and turned back with a smile. “That was better than any rollercoaster I’ve ever been on. Can we do it again?”

Orrin felt somewhere in the middle of his two friends. He hadn’t hated the rush of air as the lift sped up in the sky with such speed the air itself had pressed them down into a crouch. He also hadn’t loved the way Arandir had watched the ground shrink as he leaned over a waist-high rail he could easily break.

“Let’s give it a few minutes, D.”

Arandir invited them in and set about playing host. Off what was his private elevator, because of course it was, the tree door opened into a surprisingly airy and open sitting room. Cushioned chairs and sofas were arranged in a small circle with a slight opening toward the one window in the tree. That window boasted a magnificent view of the Matriarch tree and most of the city below.

Orrin noticed that while most of the cushions, the tables, and the floors had been scrubbed clean, a few of the smaller tables and a single bookshelf had a layer of dust. He ran his finger through the grime.

“My apologies. I rarely visit here anymore.” Arandir smiled when Orrin turned around. “Tea?”

His staff or servants had set out a porcelain tea set painted with blue and green swirls that invoked the ocean. The elf elder poured each of them a cup. Orrin took the dirty green water that he had no intention of drinking.

He threw a quick [Analyze] on it, just in case.

Green Tea

Daniel and Madi were already sipping their drinks. Madi made small talk, complimenting the rare offering. Orrin learned elven tea was a commodity traded only in small amounts. He set the cup down on an end table.

“This is nice and all,” Daniel interrupted Madi’s attempt to secure a small amount of looseleaf for herself. “But maybe you can tell us more about your powers?”

A small smile pulled the corner of his mouth as Arandir sat back in his chair. “What would you like to know?”

“What sort of things can you do?” Daniel asked as he copied the elf’s movements. Except when Daniel sat back, he almost spilled the tea across his lap and had to hurriedly sit back up.

“A trivial number of things that an actual Administrator could do in the past. I can Reset a fellow elf’s stats if they have the need. I can also Reset a class if they choose poorly but that only brings them back to a classless state. They would still need to find their own class again. However, we do have a large library of books and scrolls on different classes, along with the best way to obtain the same.”

He finished talking and took a sip of his tea.

“That’s it?” Daniel asked dejectedly. “Just Reset stats or a class? If you can’t give out Quests or give classes, why would Odrana try and invade you?”

The elf didn’t respond, continuing to drink his tea. He simply raised an eyebrow.

“If you told the Sedaris guy—”

“Sanerris,” Orrin corrected.”

“— that you could only do that and only to elves, why would he still be trying to get to you? Could he even make you use your power?”

Arandir put down his cup. “He could try. I have lived a very long life but even I would eventually break under torture or certain mind magics. What I am curious about though is how long have you known about the other powers of an Administrator and how you know at all?”

Shit… what? Orrin flinched.

“What?” Daniel looked confused. “You just told me.”

“I did not tell you that past Administrators could give Quests. I also did not tell you they could Assign classes.”

Daniel knit his eyebrows together. “Assign classes? Is that another power you have? I just figured if you could take one, you should be able to give it too, right?”

“Very well done deflection for a human of your age but not good enough for me.”

Daniel set down his tea on the table and leaned back in the cushions. He crossed his legs. “I’m not deflecting. One of the first things I did when I got to Dey was read a lot of books. I found a few mentions of Administrators. One of them must have said something about Quests.”

Arandir smiled like a snake cornering a mouse. “You know, I am one thousand, two hundred, and thirty-seven years old this upcoming year. I am the fourth of my line to carry the Administrator role. My grandfather took the duty from his father, the last full Administrator of our world. Do you know what they both spent their time doing for centuries after the Calamity?”

He paused for effect.

“They searched for every piece of knowledge about the world before. They brought as much of that knowledge to our forest for safekeeping as they could. It’s a mission that my family has taken seriously for millennia. We do not edit or change any information. Except for knowledge relating to Administrators. As my father loved to remind me, if anyone could piece together what really happened, they might be able to piece together that one Administrator survived. That would be the end of our line. No books with real information relating to Administrators exist in Asmea. I am quite sure of it.”

“You can’t kill oral histories, though,” Orrin piped up. “People will always tell stories. Even if you think you eradicate all knowledge of something, eventually people will put together enough clues to find some parts of the truth. Maybe you just missed something recent. Daniel did read a lot of books when we got to Dey.”

Arandir stood and poured more tea into his cup. He offered a refill to Madi, who accepted, and Daniel, who did not.

He didn’t offer more to Orrin and gave a small frown at the wasted liquid in his cup. “That may be true, but the chances are slim. The chances that the new [Hero] found that same information where my people did not is lower. It does not matter, though. I will answer your question. You asked why Sanerris would still invade. He found a relic in an excavation, buried for so long that it took him years to figure out what it does. When he was able to activate it, he learned how useless the item was. It would only activate if I used my powers but I had not used them in decades. Our people have not had the need and we have known of what he had in his possession long enough to take safeguards.”

Arandir sat and stared at the ceiling. Orrin glanced up and noticed the wood above had been carved into swirls around the natural knots of the tree, giving the impression of a pond rippling out from each imperfect spot in the wood.

“I am walking a line in what I say next, so pay close attention. I will not repeat myself.” He took a deep breath. “When the world had Administrators aplenty, those with power schemed and plotted… including those with Admin powers. Those who were afraid of what could happen created a relic or maybe more than one that could read the twists of the System. An early-warning system of sorts that could tell when someone had interfered with the System itself. Something that was normally reserved only for Administrators. Sanerris has that item. It activated a few months ago.”

“Administrators can tell when someone messes with the System?”

Arandir smiled at Daniel’s interruption. “Of course. Even a partial one such as myself can tell when something feels off. I was searching for the source of the recent waves in the System when Sanerris suborned an elf, learning of me. Naturally, he thought I was the one who activated his new toy. It does not matter that he arrived at the right conclusion with the wrong information. He knows an Administrator exists and found what he believes to be the only one in Asmea.”

The elf leaned forward, the hungry gaze in his eye again as he stared Daniel down. “Only, he does not know that I had already seen the System reacting. He does not know what I know. I am not the only Administrator. Another exists and he is playing the [Hero].”