Shielded by Seals [Chapter 19] (Patreon)

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

“What’s this?” I frowned.

Keekri shrugged, but he seemed oddly smug. “You have become a member of the Inner Hand Cloister. For your efforts, you have been rewarded with a uniform. Wear it. After all… you cannot continue to waltz around in those… robes.”

I scowled at my kidnapper, but he had a point. With a sigh, I gestured for him to leave and carried the bundle clothes to the small stone bathroom. I stripped off my sheet toga. Instead, I picked up the grey uniform that Keekri had brought me. To my surprise, a notification appeared as I put it on.

You have obtained Toddler’s Stylish Silk Uniform. Toddler’s Stylish Silk Uniform adds two temporary traits to the wearer.

Silk Protection: Slightly reduces all physical damage. Increases the wearer’s resistance to poisons. Stabilizes the wearer’s temperature.

Silk Intimacy: Increases the Proficiency gain for all Skills and Traits related to Silk by a small amount. Effective until the Advanced Proficiency Tier.

“Wow.” My eyebrows shot up. “They give these out? The Fang Family is quite rich…”

I changed into the uniform. It was a dark grey, but on the small shoulders was the emerald spider of the Fang Family. The fabric was comfortable against my skin. The uniform itself was rather plain, simply a shirt and pants. Yet-

I frowned down at my miniature limbs. Part of the reason I liked the fluffy toga look was because it hid how much of a little kid I still was. Now, I seemed almost comically dapper; a dashing sailor’s cap would complete my toddler-chic look. I threw my hands in the air. Well, whatever. At least it fits.

I walked out to Keekri. He nodded and gestured. “It is time to depart.”

Toad hunked in pleasure and let me clamber onto his back. The three of us followed one of the shadowy paths out of the Gloom and back to the natural sky. The direct sunlight after three days of Gloom left me blinking. 

As we moved further away, I glanced back, my heart sinking as I realized what a large area the Gloom covered. Pretty seamlessly, the enclave front within the town had opened up into the forest, moving into a low valley. As we climbed away from it… I saw silk.

Enough for a small village to drown in, hanging up on the stone pillars. I couldn’t see any of the original town through it. I tried to spot any spiders, but they still remained invisible to me. I could only sigh and shake my head.

We hiked (well, Keekri and Toad hiked) up a path to reach the exit of the valley. It was… oddly reassuring, while also confusing, when we reached a point of elevation… and couldn’t see any seal walls. Just a peaceful landscape. In front of us was a meandering river that led down to a massive emerald dome in the distance.

I looked at Keekri. He shook his head. “That is the Fang Family headquarters. We will not go there. Not yet. This way.”

We did follow the road down to the river, but we headed in the opposite direction from the emerald dome. Instead, we walked toward an area that involved a massive wooden bridge over a portion of shallow river. Clusters of villas stood on both sides of the river, looking light and elegant in the morning light. 

Keekri nodded across the river. “On that side is the outer hand training area. This side is the Inner Hand Cloister.”

“So I cannot cross the bridge?” I asked.

Keekri looked at me. He had a small smile on his face. “There is no such rule.”

We moved toward the inner hand villas. I turned back and forth, trying to understand the difference. The color palette was slightly varied, but the main difference was that small stands existed on this side of the river, with uniformed individuals selling food. 

I pointed toward the bridge, where soldiers in emerald robes stood with folded arms. I tried to understand the reason for Keekri’s smile. “There are guards.”

“For the outer hands. The inner hands can move freely.” Keekri replied. His brow furrowed. “In the Fang Family… power earns you privileges.”

As we passed the stalls, I noticed the signs depicted prices for various base foodstuffs between 5 and 20 points. My eyebrows shot up. Point inflation! Good thing I had gathered plenty from the silk mission.

The villas were set up in a semicircle around a central tower. Keekri pointed at the tower. “That is the headquarters of the cloister. If you have questions or concerns, head there. The surrounding villas are for the training of inner hand disciples. They are separated by age. You…”

Here, Keekri paused. “You will join the Zero Leg Cloister. It is designed for training those who have not yet reached 6…” He looked at me. “As I understand it, you have been judged to be an extremely small five-year-old. Worry not; because of the Child taboos, your life will be relatively free.”

He led me to the entrance of the leftmost villa. Above the door was a spider… but one without legs. So it looked like an emerald beetle. “Go on in. The aides inside will explain the rest.”

Which left me alone on a pig, in my fancy grey clothes, sitting at the entrance of the villa. I looked down at Toad. My tamed companion sensed my gaze and began spinning, trying to look back at me.

I hopped down from the foolish hog before I passed out from dizziness and walked into the villa. Keekri left me here, but I didn’t think making a break for freedom now would yield results.

The interior was spacious and tastefully decorated. Just as I entered, an individual in a black robe stepped out of a side room and bowed. “You are… Osiris Scowl? The new inner hand member?”

“Yes.” Before I understood the situation, I would go with the flow.

“Follow me.” The aide led me up the wide staircase to the second floor and led me to the door directly opposite it. I blinked at a room taking up the left side of a villa with near floor to ceiling windows. The sun glittered in the sky, hanging above the clouds. As my eyes adjusted to the warm haze of the upper part of the villa, I saw that two aides moved through the interior, talking with several other kids lying around.

Most were sprawled on cushions on the floor, playing with various wooden toys. They looked up when I entered, but quickly lost interest. Even the aides ignored me, talking in soft voices to their chosen charges.

“This is the upper atrium,” The aide who brought me said. “When you are here, you are free to spend your time as you wish. Meals will be brought at dawn and at dusk. Storytime is at noon. The last day of every week will end with a special activity. Otherwise, make yourself comfortable.”

This… it’s just daycare? I gaped. Where is the forced martial arts training? The cruel overseers and the viciousness of the Fang Family…? Argyle, so it’s true, you were the problem this whole time?!

Well, I guess it motivated me to improve, but-

“Ah, one last thing,” The aide continued. “Since it is your first day here, you have an appointment with the head of the Inner Hand Cloister this evening. I shall fetch you then.”

The aide left. I looked around. The other children ignored me, engrossed in their own playing, dozing, or snacking. Except-

A large kid with dirty blonde hair sat in the middle of the room. He raised a trembling finger.  His expression was torn between excitement and horror. “Pig!”

Toad’s ears flicked. My tamed beast spun around, his hackles raised, and looked for the pig behind him. He pivoted again, confused. Then, in an almost miraculous moment of self-awareness, Toad raised a trembling hoof and pointed at its own chest. As though to say, “wait, am I a pig?”

Yes.

“Pig!” The kid confirmed.

Toad grunted in disagreement; it was a rare and dignified hog!

Shaking my head, I walked to the door. But as I moved to pass him and explore the rest of the villa, he raised a hand and stopped me. “In order to leave via the door, you must pay 25 points.”

“What…?” I goggled at the man. He waited. Compared to the amount of points I had accumulated, 25 was a pittance. But having to pay to leave the room…!

“You may be escorted to the bathroom for free,” The man added. “Do you need-”

“No.” I pivoted away. My eyes narrowed. No wonder the Fang’s are so rich! Not even toddlers escape their racketeering…

I walked to a nearby window, which stretched from ceiling to knee high… for adults. Standing on my tiptoes, I could just barely get my nose high enough to see out. With a little pressure, the bottom pane opened. Inwardly, I was quite impressed with the domestic technology of this world. I looked over my shoulder. The aide at the door was giving me a sharp look, but didn’t move to stop me. I peered over the edge; it was on the second floor, so-

Toad shoved me to the side and squirmed his bulk over the lip. He flailed midair and crashed downward into an unlucky bush waiting below. Dust and broken twigs flew everywhere. After a few seconds, he trotted out of the destruction and looked back up at me with sparkling eyes.

Sighing, I gauged the distance and released a bit of Silk Shot from my wrist. Then, with what I hoped was more grace, I crawled out and repelled down the side of the building. I set my feet down at the ground. Is it an intelligence test? Or one of initiative? The door costs money, but there are easy ways-

A crash behind sent me stumbling forward. When I wheeled around, a larger child stumbled out of the broken remnants of the bush. He was the blonde boy who had been so obsessed with Toad. And also…

Damn, I wish I was that large, I thought as I looked at him. He must be almost six, possessing one and a half times my body mass. His arms and legs obviously weren’t at their full growth, but their length made the two-year-old me with my oversized head jealous.

“I’m Toby,” The boy said. “I like your pig. Want to be friends?”

“Uh…” I scratched my cheek. Didn’t I feel a spike of bitterness recently, about my lack of friends? A five-year-old wasn’t exactly what I had in mind… but I had to start somewhere. After all, I suspect friendship, too, was vulnerable to grinding. “Sure. I’m… Osiris.”

This body’s name felt strange in my mouth, but I tried not to let it show. I offered him a handshake. Toby’s eyes brightened. He spat into his hand and shook before I could respond.

My lip curled and I activated Clean, getting rid of the spit when it touched me. After the handshake, Toby withdrew his hand and looked at it with a displeased expression. Toad hunk’d in understanding; he never liked it when I activated Clean on him.

“Anyway, let’s go explore a bit,” I said.

Toby grinned. “Want to play spies? We sneak around and uncover cultists.”

“Well, you aren’t wrong,” I muttered. I gestured and both Toad and Toby fell into place behind me. I looked around at the surrounding villas. Time to find out the secrets of this place.

A split second later, a thought occurred to me. Wait, his game… does this world have cultists, too?!