By the time Nick finished his tests, the sun was setting, and he realized he had missed his lunch and might miss his dinner too, so he quickly organized his things and left the room, heading for the floor’s dining area.
At level sixty-six, with ninety-five points in CON, he could go days without food without feeling it, but that didn’t mean it was wise to do so, especially since he planned to stay out the whole night and spend the next day testing the different relics he intended to use to forge his focus.
On the way there, he was intercepted by Raphael, who looked both relieved and put off upon seeing him. “Where the hell have you been? I thought Hone had gotten you!”
Nick blinked, surprised. “What? I’ve been studying and experimenting with a new artifact.”
Raphael didn’t seem to know how to react to that, as he stared for a long moment before shaking his head and sighing. “For future reference, try not to disappear in the middle of a chaotic moment like this. I know you can take care of yourself, but the people whose attention you’ve earned aren’t the kind to go easy on you just because you’re a first year.”
Clearly, he was unaware of something, so Nick grabbed Raphael’s arm and stopped him before he could enter the dining room, where he could sense most of the others.
“Did something else happen?” He asked.
“How long have you been in that room?” Raphael shot back, mildly exasperated. “Did you even notice the attack?”
“If you’re talking about the attack that resulted in the deaths of many priests and the Tower Master intervening to freeze a man in time near the auxiliary building, then yes,” Nick replied drily. He knew he could get distracted, but even if he hadn’t been right in the middle of it, he would have noticed something like that, especially since it had been days ago.
“Oh, good,” Raphael said. “Well, then, I need to catch you up on today’s events alone. There was an attempt on the poor guy kept in the med bay. Apparently, someone slipped poison into his potion rotation, and he nearly croaked, but they managed to save him at the last moment. Master Tholm was absolutely furious and cast several extremely powerful spells to find the culprit, only to be stopped by defenses that could only have been set by another Archmage. He should be returning from talking with the Tower Master soon, so we all need to head to the dining room.”
Nick, more confused than ever, hurried to catch up and was met with the sight of Tholm’s four apprentices and a woman he had never seen before, sitting silently.
She didn’t seem particularly strong to his senses, but a great deal of pity appeared to be directed at this mystery woman. From context clues, Nick inferred that she was either related to the poor guy who had almost died again or had knowledge of the events and was being held here to protect her.
Her face lifted as they entered, and he saw her eyes were red-rimmed, but her emotions were a frozen lake of sadness and an unexpected amount of relief, which were ruthlessly suppressed under a tight grip.
“Nick!” Willow, the only other apprentice he had a rapport with, shouted as she got to her feet and hurried over to him.
He was forced to swat her hands away as she tried to poke and prod him to check if he was okay, but before they could get into it, a low thump alerted them to the arrival of someone new, and Nick immediately stopped the childish play-fighting.
Tholm’s face was the picture of calm, and with his ring, divining what he was feeling was all but impossible, yet something about the tightness in his shoulders told Nick he was far from the image he projected.
Everyone sat down as he strode to the other side of the room, took his seat at the head of the table, and tapped a finger against the marble to signal the enchantment to serve their meal.
A steaming bowl of delicate fish soup appeared before Nick, and he hesitated only a moment, glancing around the room for cues before shrugging and digging in once he saw that everyone else didn’t seem to feel the need to speak first.
The courses were served quickly, one after another, until they reached a chilled fruit dessert, and Tholm finally spoke.
“The Tower Master is of the belief that Archmage Hone is only tangentially involved in the attempt on Osmod’s life.”
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His voice was soft, but it could be heard from every corner of the room, and everyone stopped whatever they were doing to listen.
“He told me that he would inflict the proper punishment, and I believe him, but he does not feel that he has just cause to remove that snake.” This time, a note of heat crept into his voice, and Nick saw the unknown woman clench her hands tightly.
Tholm’s eyes scanned the room, as if willing them to listen very carefully to what he was about to say. “His word is final, and I agreed not to pursue this specific matter further. He also gave me permission to take you all out on that research trip I requested, though he promised it wasn’t compensation. I told him I would not be involved in the matter until and unless any further attempt was made.”
The woman’s face crumbled, clearly in great distress, though her actual emotions were more of rage and annoyance. However, the other apprentices weren’t so quick to give up, and Nick knew that more than one had caught onto the specific wording Tholm had used.
“I will make sure this gets handled well, then,” Raphael interjected before anyone could speak, and for a moment, a strange cast changed his features, turning them into something quite sinister.
Nick was forcibly reminded that although this young man was perfectly kind and welcoming to him, he had been Tholm’s apprentice for three years and was considered a prodigy of spatial magic. The weapons he could wield, if he chose to, were limitless.
“See that you do. This matter will only be revisited in case of major changes,” Tholm finally said, and silence fell once more.
“So, are we supposed to go find Hone’s people and beat them up? Because I’m all for that. I’m itching to try out a few new things, and getting some test subjects sounds great,” Nick said idly, earning an eye-roll from Raphael.
“Do not be crude, Nicholas,” the other replied, though he very openly did not rebuke the meaning of his words.
A moment later, he set down the tome he’d been leafing through without much success and looked at him thoughtfully. “I’m sure this might seem all very exciting to you, since chaos has been all you’ve known during your time here, but while feuds between Archmages are a tale as old as time, they are usually much more careful than to go at each other’s throats like this. This is not a game.”
Nick sat down across from him, letting his amusement fade away. “I know that poor guy has been through enough to send a message, and lest you forget it, I’ve been the one who was targeted the most so far.”
Raphael pursed his lips but nodded. “Alright, that’s fair, yeah. Sorry, I’m just a bit tense. This whole matter with Hone smells bad, not the least of which because of the Tower Master’s intervention.”
“Yeah, I didn’t really understand that. Why would he force Tholm to stay still after his apprentice was almost killed?” Nick asked. He knew Osmod was supposed to be a disgraced student, and therefore a better target to show displeasure towards, but trying to kill him while he was in the emergency ward was a major escalation, whether through a patsy or not.
“Probably because he doesn’t want a civil war to break out inside the Tower while the rest of the city is still recovering from an attack,” Willow replied drily from her seat a few feet away, staring over the rim of her own book.
Raphael sighed. “That’s definitely part of it, but he’s never been this heavy-handed before. Horatio Bluetear made a name for himself by letting his mages tear each other apart and not stepping in until only the best remained. The fact that he’s blocking any direct fighting between the Archmages suggests something else is going on.”
“I knew that much,” Nick rolled his eyes. “The thing is, what is it? It could be so many different things, considering what has been going on in the past few days.”
The others appeared unsure, and after some more prompting that led nowhere, Nick left them to their own devices, since they seemed quite busy despite the late hour.
He hadn’t missed that both of them were brushing up on battle magic.
The first summer nights were always a bit chilly, but Nick didn’t bother heating the air around him, finding the sensation refreshing as he flew over the city, staying low enough to avoid the notice of the increased patrols.
With the [Ring of Unknowingness], he didn’t really fear being found, but since a somewhat skilled artificer like himself could create something like that, he was confident House Alluria could come up with a few countermeasures against anti-scrying. Being careful added an extra layer of safety that cost him nothing.
Sending a message to One-Ear had been harder than expected, as the usual methods he used—the drop-off points in the sewer near the Tower—had been clearly ransacked not long ago, but he trusted that his favorite informant received the message after visiting the pub where they first met and catching the bartender's eye.
His hope proved correct as he lowered to street level, made the ring vanish into his pocket space, and came face to face with the man himself.
“One day, you’ll kill someone like that,” One-Ear muttered, glancing at him darkly as he stepped out of the shadows, and Nick smiled without apology.
“Sorry, sorry. You know how it is. Too many spooks about.”
“What does that even mean?” was the sighed response, before the broker shook his head, visibly setting the matter of his slang aside. “Alright, what is it that you need? I’ll tell you now, I’ve already given everything I know of the Circle of Pure Souls to the Duke. You won’t learn anything that everyone else doesn’t already know from me.”
Nick shook his head in mock disappointment. “My dear friend, I want nothing more than to repay you, and this is how you treat me?”
Though One-Ear was clearly annoyed by his mocking tone, he definitely didn’t miss his meaning. “What do you mean you want to repay me? I thought our relationship had fully tilted in your favor now that you are among the saviors of Alluria.”
The bitterness in his tone might have convinced Nick if he hadn't sensed that the man didn’t really mind all that much, since he still benefited from being connected to him. Without that protection, he would have been purged along with the others caught in the Duke’s sweeps.
He wiggled his finger, pouting. “See, there’s that mistrust again. Well, I suppose one shouldn’t look for gratitude when doing good deeds, and I am nothing if not pious.”
One-Ear snorted harshly. He knew exactly how little Nick cared about things like that.
“Alright, I’ll stop playing. You see, something is happening in the Tower. Master Bluetear was ready to go on the warpath just a few days ago, and now he’s pulling back Archmages and stopping any kind of squabbling. It’s clear to everyone that he’s preparing for something big.”
One-Ear waited for him to explain more, but Nick had nothing to add. Still, the broker didn’t complain, because that alone was valuable, and nodded thoughtfully.
Good, now start looking into it and report back to me when you need to confirm your suspicions. In the meantime, I need to go ghost hunting before the damn priests get here.
