Sacrifice Mage

At first, I wasn’t paying much attention to how people were swarming and congratulating me over the broken ground. There weren’t a lot, but the blue screens still took up most of my attention.

[ Rank Up!

Your Thauma and Agility Attributes have risen by one Rank.

Your Flare and Illumination Aspects have risen by one Rank.

Thauma: Gold I

Agility: Gold VI

Flare: Silver X

Illumination: Silver IX ]

Nice ranks—nice in that I’d have a new Augmentation for Thauma I’d need to think about—but the Weave’s messages disappeared soon after. I was quickly forced to reckon with my increasingly untenable situation.

I needed a bit of time to extricate myself from everyone who had gathered to watch my duel. A part of me wanted to make a beeline for the Guildmaster and interrogate him about what had just happened. I had known that he wanted to extract more out of me after acceding to my demand for lower ticket prices.

Making me fight against an Opal-ranked jerk from Claderov had not been on my cards, though. And who was that other woman? I hadn’t felt much from her aura, yet a certain instinct had screamed that she was a worse danger than Yulien.

Sadly, in the swarm of people who accosted me as the bounding fenceposts were deactivated, the Guildmaster disappeared.

“That was so amazing!” one cultist said.

“I had no idea you were that strong, Cultist Ross!”

“Did-did you really summon a star? That thing was so bright.”

The variations of excitement flooded in from all directions. Everyone who had called me a celebrity were probably laughing their asses off now. I was starting to feel more and more overwhelmed, but thankfully, I was soon able to extricate myself, especially once I got some help from Ugnash who had come to visit. He got me out pretty quickly with his size.

“Hey, Ross,” he said. “Remind me not to duel with you. Ever.”

I snorted. “I wasn’t going to duel here. It’s dumb. I just got pulled into it. Do you know who that woman was?” I looked but couldn’t see her or Yulien in the crowd any longer.

Ugnash grunted. “That’s a Vaunted. Basically one of the strongest people that Claderov has to offer.”

That wasn’t much to go off of. But from what he explained, I got that if I hadn’t liked the Zairgon nobles, I for sure wasn’t going to enjoy the Claderov ones. So far, that had proven to be true. It wasn’t like I was purposefully prejudiced against them. But at the same time, they weren’t exactly acting all friendly and nice.

The next day, I once again headed to the auction. Since I had more or less fulfilled my duty for supplying entertainment yesterday with the duels, I had been able to leave the festival pretty early. This gave me more than enough time to prepare.

Of course, I could have just Sacrificed some of my sleep and tried to spend the time I got on preparations. But I figured there was no need to make a mountain out of a molehill. I had the way to gain the funds I needed. I had help from Ascelkos. Those would be enough to get me the treasure I was seeking.

“How’d you make them hold the auction for the treasure at the end of the day?” I asked Ascelkos.

He grinned at me. “Magic!”

I snorted. “Yeah, well, thanks for that.” With the other auctions going first, the revenue streams would kick in and I’d be able to acquire, if not the funds themselves directly because of transaction times, then at least a line of credit significant enough for me to purchase what I needed. “I should have enough to get what I want.”

“You should. Especially since I also let loose a few rumours that the auctions happening first are the ones with the best available purchases. We’ll hopefully find far less competition.”

“Oh, I see now.”

Ascelkos was smart. He had tackled the issue from higher up. I didn’t know how or where he was able to exert his influence, but he did have it, and he had wielded it effectively by suggesting which treasures from the Nether Vein would be more or less worth investing in. After all, he had a direct line to someone who had gone into the Nether Vein itself and had already seen the treasures.

Along the way to our target auction hall—there were several ones within the larger building that housed all the auctions, each a different size to accommodate different crowds—we met Revayne.

“Standard patrolling protocol?” I asked.

She nodded. “Standard patrolling protocol.” She greeted Ascelkos next. “Are you here to attend the auction?”

“Our friend Ross is here to win the auction, Guard Captain!” Ascelkos said with a wide smile.

Revayne finally looked up from her book. “Is that so? Want the Nether Vein treasures for yourself that badly, do you?”

“Your book told you that,” I said.

“Really?” Ascelkos, who had taken in her eccentricities without blinking even once, now appeared very interested. “A fascinating Aspect you have there, Guard Captain. No wonder your family was elevated so highly.”

“Well, it wasn’t just because of our Path,” she said. I remembered how her family was one of the foremost insect farming organizations in all of Zairgon. A vital if understated cog for the whole economy. “But thank you, Lord Ascelkos.”

“I’m surprised your family hasn’t grounded you from the auction too,” I said.

Revayne very clearly held back a harrumph before burying her face back into her book. “Please, I’m not grounded. I merely… appear a lot more often in my parents’ books now than I used to.”

I blinked, needing a second to understand. Then I laughed. Revayne couldn’t quite hide her little scowl.

“Is your husband-to-be attending?” Ascelkos asked. “I would have enjoyed speaking with him directly. For all the fetes and galas I have attended, I don’t think I’ve spoken to the man directly even once.”

“His family is attending, as is expected. That is why I’m here.”

She didn’t elaborate any further after that. I was left wondering how much Ascelkos knew about Revayne’s crazy plan of marrying into a noble family just so she could investigate them from within. He probably knew nothing, and Revayne clearly didn’t want to lie.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Revayne started walking off. “Enjoy your auctioneering. Don’t forget to treat me when you’ve won, Ross.”

“You’re free to join us,” I said.

Ascelkos echoed my sentiment.

Revayne waved it off. “Unfortunately, I must carry on.” She hesitated. I couldn’t see her expression from this angle, not when her face was lost inside her book again. But I could tell she was bothered by something. “I mustn’t tarry when I’ve… never mind. Good fortune to you both.”

I frowned as she left. Our last meeting had disquieted me a bit about her experiences in the Nether Vein too, and this seemed like an extension of that. Losing comrades, losing her own sergeant, had hit her hard.

A part of me wondered if she’d be open to talking about it, but I didn’t want to be pushy either.

We headed to the actual auction. The attendance was indeed less than what I had been expecting after the first one I had seen with Ascelkos. It made me feel a little more encouraged.

“We have this in the bag,” Ascelkos said. “You have your funds prepared, yes?”

I nodded. “You’re right. We got this.”

We took our seats and only had to wait another ten or so minutes before they wheeled in what we were all looking forward to. The auction’s officers, dressed in the same uniform as worn by the general cadre of Ring One workers, presented the treasure of the Nether Vein with no less aplomb than Ascelkos at the magic festival.

“Today, honoured guests,” the slim, smartly-dressed Raksha said, addressing everyone in the large room with a sonorous voice. “We bring you yet another treasure from Nether Vein. One that we have dubbed as a chunk of its heart. Without further ado, let us… behold!”

I tutted and shook my head a little. From what I remembered, one of the artificers had pulled the contraption on display out from the mechanisms of the Nether Vein. Heart my ass.

The rest of the auction audience ate it all up though. Lots of them were leaning forward in their seats, several of them inspecting with undisguised desire. And they hadn’t even explained what it was capable of yet.

“Excuse my uncouthness,” Ascelkos said, lightly glaring at the people who seemed a little too avid. “But they’re losers. People who desperately seek something they can take back with them, after their bids came up short at previous auctions. They don’t really care for the item in question. Not in its actual function, at least.”

“Just more reason to not let them win,” I said.

“This heart of the Nether Vein,” the Rakshasa officer said, raising the plum-sized contraption high in the air. “Has an extremely potent property. Something that makes it stand out against all the artifices in the world.” He let the suspense build, let the people lean forward even more. “It can simulate a mana core, but for the rare and powerful Netherthreads found only in Nether Veins.”

I frowned. Could it actually do that? I was under the impression that it drove mana into the Nether Vein’s mechanisms. If it could also draw in, store, and generate Netherthreads…

“Is auctioning suddenly going to be a lot more difficult?” I murmured.

“Maybe.” Ascelkos seemed unsure. “But then again, how many of the attendees truly grasp the implications of something that can control Netherthreads? Pits, even I don’t fully understand that. You, however, would know well, yes?”

I slowly nodded.

“It’s fine,” Ascelkos said. “Let’s wait to see how the bidding starts off.”

Right. That would set the tone for the rest of the auction. It would basically determine how much I’d need to spend, and if I even had enough to win this thing. So naturally, I ended up waiting with bated breath.

The announcer had been talking about the treasure all this while, and I had only half paid attention because he was just fluffing it up for the benefit of the ignorant. What got my attention, though, was when he got serious. The room grew hushed in preparation for the starting bid of the Nether Vein treasure.

“Due to the nature of this tremendous treasure that the heroes of our great city have sacrificed so much for,” the Rakshasa auctioneer said. “We will start off today’s bid at a hundred and twenty thousand gold!”

A rumble of murmurs rippled through the crowd at that. I raised my eyebrows at the price. This certainly wasn’t as high as the last auction I had attended.

Ascelkos quickly turned to me, unable to contain his excitement. “How much have you got?”

“Almost one hundred thousand in credit so far,” I said, laughing a little. The other treasures and my extra sweet deal with Dahath had pulled through, as had Ascelkos’s rumours. “And my own two hundred thousand plus from my bank account.”

“Excellent. The others won’t be raising the bid too far above it.” Ascelkos turned his grin back to the stage. “This auction is ours.”

Se-Vigilance was getting a little tired of the meeting. The delegation from Claderov wasn’t being very productive, and she had so many better things to be spending her time on. She wasn’t even supposed to be here. Ghistara, Wargrog, and Ashnik were the far better negotiators than her.

The real reason Se-Vigilance had been called here was because she was the leading authority on the Nether Veins. A subject they were finally getting around to.

“Claderov,” said the leader of the foreign delegation. “Has already reopened its Nether Vein gate, as I’m sure some of you either already knew or suspected.”

True enough. With Zairgon taking the major step to throw open the Nether Vein, any old treaties between the Southern City-states about keeping it closed were now null and void. They hadn’t done it on a whim, of course, or even just for the advancement of their city, which would have been a valid enough reason. The threat had been existential, so they had responded in kind.

“Don’t tell me the train idea you’ve been floating will go through the Nether Vein,” Ashnik said, ever the most astute of them all.

I fear their intentions with the Nether Vein might not be so benign, he said through their manalink.

Admittedly, Se-Vigilance responded. I would not call ours benign either.

That said, she understood what Ashnik meant in truth. Claderov had a certain motive with the Nether Vein, and they weren’t about to share it.

“Yes,” said the same delegate. The same Vaunted woman who had been the only one speaking despite the delegation containing three other members. It had made Se-Vigilance wonder if they had something akin to the Councillors’ manalink, though that was highly unlikely. Things like that tended to be an open secret, of sorts. “It would be the most efficient.”

“And I presume,” Ashnik went on. “That you intend for Zairgon to continue exploring and clearing the Nether Vein till we reach all the way to Claderov.”

“Please,” the Vaunted said, waving her pretty little hand almost dismissively. “You act as though the undertaking will bankrupt your entire city.”

“It is a major undertaking,” Se-Vigilance said, staring the woman down. There would be no sullying of the efforts of those who had lost their lives and suffered in the Nether Vein. “One who sits back isn’t likely to understand.”

“Apologies, Councillor,” the Vaunted said smoothly. “I don’t mean to offend. But we are, after all, taking care of setting up the rail lines. We are also investing a great deal in Zairgon itself. Surely, with those in mind, Zairgon would be kind enough to open the Nether Vein fully from city to city? And we aren’t sitting completely idle, of course. The area around our gate has been cleared already, if you must know.”

They remained silent at that. It was true. They were, strangely enough, investing in Zairgon infrastructure and businesses.

I don’t know if loans to companies like Shikarthola Builders and Ration Houses are investments I’d count, Wargrog grumbled.

Their motives as yet remain inscrutable… There was a note of warning in Ghistara’s words.

“Is shortening the distance between Zairgon and Claderov your main goal, Vaunted Auriam?” Se-Vigilance asked.

Sister! Ghistara mentally chided. You’ll put her on guard!

No, Ghistara, Se-Vigilance said. Sometimes, we must be blunt when needed.

So, I can be smoother afterwards? Ever the push and pull tactic.

To her credit, the Vaunted didn’t show a single flicker on her face. “I will admit, Claderov is ambitious. Our rail lines have progressed greatly over the last decade or two. Enough that we would be glad to expand it beyond the borders of our city. To all the Southern City-states, if possible. Imagine the interconnectivity we can achieve!”

Se-Vigilance wasn’t taken in. Even if what the Vaunted said was true and there was nothing else to it, she was still pretty sure Claderov’s first and foremost concern was one of profit. “And the Nether Vein helps because it’s the shortest distance? Even if it’s the most dangerous route possible?”

“It is actually less dangerous provided the right pathways are cleared and the Klevacite is used correctly.”

“And Claderov knows this well because they’ve been studying the Nether Vein for a while?”

Now there was the flicker on the Vaunted’s face that Se-Vigilance had been waiting for. The only admission she was going to get in this meeting. “We have been studying the Nether Vein for time immemorial. There are records stretching all the way to the Rupture, if you must know.”

“Ah, I see.”

She did. She was starting to see it all now. The man who had been trapped within the Nether Vein and created that barrier, whose clothes and possessions suggested he was from Claderov, was a very important key to this puzzle.

Ghistara, Se-Vigilance nudged her fellow Councillor. If you would.

“I hope Claderov will also be kind,” Ghistara said out loud. “And host the heroes who manage to reopen the Nether Vein all the way from Zairgon to Claderov.”

The Vaunted blinked at the sudden tonal shift. “Why, of course. Claderov would be greatly honoured to host the heroes of the Nether Vein.”

Unfortunately, the meeting didn’t end there. Se-Vigilance was yet to taste freedom. She had to sit through more discussions, play her part as a negotiator and Councillor, and give her input on all sorts of matters.

Nevertheless, her mind kept returning to the Nether Vein. To the dead man from Claderov and to how Ross Moreland seemed to have absorbed a fundamental piece of the Nether Vein’s divine fabric. Because she and Ross and the few people she had confided in weren’t the only ones who knew of the divinity inherent in the Ascendant’s Monumental Opus.

When it came to the Banished Gods and the last of their traces on the world, Se-Vigilance needed to ensure that their lingering influence didn’t destroy everything she held dear. Whether it be through the unwary involvement of someone like Ross Moreland.

Or the potential malintent of an entire other city.