Shielded by Seals [Chapter 18] (Patreon)

ToC: https://www.patreon.com/posts/132353583

Robed individuals sat in ones and twos inside the canteen, using metal spoons to scoop their food. Their eyes widened as we entered, but I ignored them. Better to just pretend like they were the weird ones who overreacted to the two-year-old riding a pig.

A large fireplace crackled merrily, in addition to some glowing crystals, producing light via seals. I inhaled deeply, standing before the dishes laid out buffet style, and smiled. My stomach began enthusiastically making demands. I settled on scooping out a thick dollop of chickpea curry with rice into my wooden bowl. After relying on Argyle for sustenance…

The first bite was everything I had missed in the past two years. It was home, it was love, it was free of blood and murder. My eyes squinted in pleasure. Toad seemed to enjoy it as well, licking as much food as I could put on his plate.

A vein in my forehead began to throb as I climbed up on a wooden bench for the fourth time and was met with pleading eyes. “What, you already want a third helping? I haven’t even finished my first.”

Toad gave me a withering look. Should he be punished just because I ate slowly?

I threw my hands into the air, but filled his (and my) bowl up one more time. This time, I tried a corn meal mixed with shredded pieces of beef. Our feast continued so long that a trembling Fang Family employee walked up to me and said. “Sir… the amount of food… we will need to deduct another point.”

With the confidence of the nouveau riche, I waved my card. Then I gave Toad a look. It returned the look with an innocent blink and opened up its mouth, clearly hungry for Emit Mana. I patted his side. “Later, buddy. For now, just eat this.”

For a second, he was disappointed, but then he smelled the food and lost himself in the physical pleasure of swallowing. 

After dinner, I felt sleepy, but still hadn’t even triggered Mana Hungry. So I forced my body to move back in the direction of the silk harvesting area. When I arrived, I raised my eyebrows in appreciation; while I was gone, almost half of the silk I had taken away had been replaced. I squinted up amongst the shadowy pillars, but couldn’t spot any spiders.

My skin crawled, but I shrugged and tried not to overthink the possibility of hundreds of skittering legs hanging above my head. I resumed my training.

Consistency creates results.

First, I fed Toad his chunks of Mana. Only when he was satisfied did I harvest more silk by whipping out my Silk Shot. Not only did it create Proficiency, but it familiarized me with the feel of the Skill. I even received a small amount of proficiency in Accurate for pulling down so many strands at once. After Mana Hungry triggered, I stopped the harvesting and focused on using Clean to remove the stickiness. Then, with sleepiness looming, I separated out all the silk.

After a quick nap, I started hauling more armfuls of silk back to the woman. I knew I was being somewhat blasé, but I also knew that if there was an easy way to gather points, and points were essentially the currency of the Fang Family, I would take advantage of it.

Would it always be this easy? I decisively shook my head as I hauled more silk. Of course not. If I’ve learned anything from 1.1 lives, it’s that they shift at the most inconvenient times. I won’t miss this opportunity.

Despite kidnapping me, the Feng Family seemed content to let me wander around freely in this ‘Gloom’ area. As such, I would take every opportunity I could to gather information and resources with this relative freedom.

Not that I think I could escape, The next morning, as I went to the canteen, I took note of the guards hovering around the common area, next to the well. They gave me a glance before continuing to observe the rest of the comers and goers. Plus, beyond the guards is the seal wall, and the wall is the only thing keeping back the two-tailed hell scorpions… 

I made a face like I chewed on lemon rind. Yet I kept my thoughts optimistic and continued with my chosen schedule.

For three days, I lived in the Gloom. I trained, although the differences in environment meant I received some pleasant boosts to my feat-based Proficiency.  I made a mental note that switching up the method was effective for growth. I didn’t forget to focus my Skill training toward Clean and Silk Shot, to turn in for points.

Occasionally, older children, usually those who looked seven or eight, would move into the Gloom and clamber up on the pegs. At first, I watched them, but there was something anxiety-inducing about watching a child sway on the edge of a peg while groping above their head for silk, one misstep away from falling and breaking their neck. 

Even if I also had a child’s body, it was hard not to look at them with the concern of an adult.

When I saw that the area was occupied, I simply returned to the deserted area next to my room to train; I was the only individual staying there. Probably on purpose. They wanted to scare me with being alone.

Heh.

The only snag was at the beginning of the third day. The woman who collected silk looked at me with a dazed expression. “I apologize. I can take no more silk. I… I can only distribute ten thousand points for the year. You’ve… you’ve reached the quota.”

I felt it was a shame, looking at my card with eight thousand, seven hundred and twenty points. In the end, I just shrugged. “Well, you can have the rest of this harvest. I’ve already made it; I’ll bring it over.”

For that last day, I focused more on Emit Mana, which pleased Toad immensely. At the end of the day, after another satisfying meal, I heard a knock on the door to my small room. Keekri’s voice came through the wall. “Tomorrow, a core representative of the Fang Family will arrive. You will be judged.”

A hint of nervousness returned to me. Actually, this Gloom place wasn’t so bad. Clearly a way station for all but the laborers who worked the forest, but it was a place that reassured me that society existed, albeit in cramped terms due to the presence of hellions. Next… where would I go?

Yet luckily, an emptied Mana Pool rapidly dragged me into slumber. I didn’t even have any nightmares, either of Argyle or hellions or skittering legs in the depths of the gloom.

Three days before my third birthday, I yawned and walked to meet the representative of the Fang Family.

Compared to the austere woman who visited Father’s manor, this woman was softer, smiling as I walked into the bare room at the edge of the Gloom. Instantly, she looked me up and down. “Greetings. Your name is Osiris, yes?”

“Yes,” I said. I stood as straight and tall as I could manage. I worried she would ask all my points.

Instead, she just shook her head and spoke in a low voice. “So articulate. Small, but a body cannot hide the age of the mind within. Haah, Argyle… did you think we wouldn’t notice? Anyway…”

She looked at me again. “I am told you possess a skill related to Silk Shot? Demonstrate it for me.”

I looked at her, suddenly hesitant. My mind turned over my options. I recalled what Keekri had said, that dense would be too powerful. Would it be bad if they understood how high my proficiency had climbed? Or would I be rewarded for it? If dense was bad, perhaps I could make the Silk Shot extremely thick and fluffy…?

As I was considered, the woman pounced forward; her soft features belied a martial artist’s strength. Her hand wrapped around my forearm and her fingernails dug into my wrist, right where the Skill brought silk out of my body.

I squeaked in surprise. With the addition of the pain, I felt my instincts kick in. The chilly path of energy, from Mana Pool to wrist, had been well established. Her pressure somehow triggered it, akin to a reflex. Mana splashed around out of my pool, some seeping into my body, but some reaching my wrist. Cords of sticky, and also fluffy, web exploded from my body and toward the woman.

Her mouth squeezed into a thin line. She took a step back, but was a hair too late; almost the entirety of the arm that had grabbed me was covered in silk. Several looping strands landed on her hair. She gingerly used the other hand to pluck at it, but it didn’t loosen at all. The adhesiveness of the instinctual Silk Shot was very high. 

Her face pinched further.

“So, it was Ensnaring Silk,” The woman said. She flashed a glare at me. I felt aggrieved-- she jabbed me with her nails and caused this! After a few moments of consideration, she shook her head. “Child, you are just a pawn in that man’s sadistic game… hah. Yet it is also true that you must possess some of our blood… alright, the bloodline stone is unnecessary. I have judged you; due to your potential, you will join the inner hand cloister.”

With that, she spun on her heel and walked toward the door. Except halfway there, she jerked back as some of the stretchy silk stuck to the ground and prevented her from leaving. She glared at the offending strands, then at me. I bowed and scurried out of the room.

Keekri waited for me outside. He looked strangely at me. “The judge…?”

“Uh, she’s… busy,” I said. I weighed my options, but decided that information from a kidnapper was better than no information at all. “She said that I will join the inner hand cloister. What does that mean?”

Keekri frowned for a second. “So the bloodline test… with how much light did the stone react?”

“She said we didn’t need it.” I shrugged. “So the inner cloister…?”

Instead of answering, Keekri gave me a sharp look. Then he threw back his head and unleashed a powerful guffaw. “Ha! Hahaha! Of course, their arrogance… they wouldn’t even check? Heh.”

His eyes were disturbingly fiery as he looked at me. “The inner hand cloister… one such as you will undoubtedly thrive there. We can even-”

He exercised control and extinguished the intensity that had briefly flashed in his gaze. He pursed his lips. “Perhaps it is too soon to speak of. As to your question, the Fang Family is divided into four main groups: the ancillaries, the outer hands, the inner hands, and the direct blood. Ancillaries are just our partners. If you possess even a scrap of related talent, it is easy to obtain a position in the outer hands. I am one such individual.

“The inner hands are the next step up. They have immense potential, or are descendants of the direct blood with insufficient bloodline purity. They are the managers and intermediaries, handling most of the Fang Family business. They are also their enforcers and assassins. As for you…”

Keekri just looked at me for several long seconds. Each second, the muscles of his jaw flexed and I grew more nervous. I really couldn’t understand this man at all.

He pivoted away. “We will depart for the Inner Hand Cloister tomorrow. Prepare yourself.”

*****

Later that night, the small group of outer hands who controlled the Gloom met in the courtyard next to the silk processing facility. 

Keekri stood before them, his arms folded.

Narmanna, the woman in charge of the trading canteen, wavered at his demands. “Yet… I am out of points. He gathered too much silk. How can I not report it?”

“I will lend you points to keep up appearances,” Keekri said. “Besides, are you required to report an unexpectedly high amount of silk? Is it not just low-tier silk?”

“Yes, but…” An old man in the corner rubbed his chin. He ran the collection of silk in the Gloom.  “It is not quite low-tier silk, is it? Somehow, it has been cleansed of flaws. I’ve never seen finer low-tier silk in my entire life. Who provided the boy with this silk?”

“No one provided it to him. The boy obtained and cleansed it on his own. Even I… am unsure of the method. I believe… he has a Trait related to silk.” Keekri said.

The tension in the room sharply increased.

“That could only be possible if… Direct blood… and very pure…” The old man muttered. He looked at Keekri. “So why-”

“Apparently, Lady Canauta found it pointless to perform a bloodline check,” Keekri muttered. “He was directly placed into the inner hand cloister. For now… isn’t this ideal?”

“Proof of Security Bureau’s manipulation of the cloisters…” Narmanna whispered. 

Keekri looked around at the group. “Look, I am not asking for much. There is simply no need to blow this matter out of proportion. Carry on as normal. And if things develop as I expect…” He paused. “Have we not long thought that Madam Ruby and her faction have been… extreme in their isolation and protection of the Direct Blood? And their appointments… The Fang Family is a place of merit. If it were to come out that a descendant with extremely pure blood was placed in the inner hand cloister, just because he wasn’t related to her branch of the family…”

He didn’t finish the thought. The surrounding outer hands looked at each other.

The old man cleared his throat. “There is still the matter of this silk. We cannot simply turn this in; the quality will be noticed.”

“Leave that to me.”

In the corner, one of the silent figures straightened. An old woman with hands swollen with arthritis released a sigh. She squinted forward. “I might have fallen out of my prime… but I think I can have a little bit of fun with this silk.”