Infinite Realm: Monsters & Legends

Meeting

“Our crafters should be finished with the equipment in a few weeks,” Kesla said on the ride up the elevator.

Ryun raised his eyebrow. “So soon?”

“We are devoting a lot of our resources to this, we cannot afford you to fail,” she answered.

“I’d like to see it,” Ryun said. “As soon as it is done, of course.”

Ryun had specified things that he believed would be of use to him on the mission, and with Kesla’s help the Empire’s crafters were supposed to build him an entire set of equipment. They were doing the same for the rest. He knew that some of the items they would get from their vaults, but a lot of it would be custom made. He wondered how good it was going to be. He had never relied that much on high quality equipment, but he wasn’t about to refuse it, not now.

The rest of the ride they spent in silence, which let Ryun think about the upcoming meeting. He didn’t know anything about who he was meeting, only that she was Tali’s friend from before the split. Tali had told him that she would help him, and Ryun hoped that was the case, he would much rather find a way to resolve things without needing to do what he would if Nayra wasn’t allowed to return. He hoped that this Karya person could get him in contact with the Ornn family.

After arriving to the surface, Kesla led him through the corridors of the citadel. They were heading into parts that he had never seen before, passing people dressed in elaborate outfits that cast glances in his direction and whispered thinking that he couldn’t hear. A few had comments on his clothes, which were a simple black robe—he had replaced his torn and dirty one with another from his Armory of the Stars. He kept the original inside, which allowed him to always generate copies, of which he could have six. Since he wore them personally the copies would last indefinitely, and were indistinguishable from the original. It was a simple uncommon quality robe, not truly stylish or elaborate. Which was what the people commented on.

Apparently, they were in the area of the citadel where the elite congregated. Most were wondering what he was doing here. Though Ryun couldn’t quite hear everything. The spatial effect of the citadel was messing with his senses, so he could mostly sense his immediate surrounding. He wondered if he should change, he still had the robe that Anrosh gave him. She did say that he should act and look his station. If she was here, she would’ve probably forced him to do it, but… With his sense he spotted an adequate place. He stepped behind one of the suits of armor and a pillar and quickly put his robe in his armory then equipped his nicer one—as any item in his armory was granted equip automatically, at least when he used them.

It took barely a moment, and when he stepped back out he saw Kesla blink at him. The other walking about had been similarly struck. He continued walking, not commenting on what he just did. His hair was still somewhat unkempt, but Anrosh would have to forgive him for that. Kesla started walking again, and led him deeper in the citadel.

A few among the elite walking around were wondering who he was. Wondering what a Cultivator was doing there, some could even tell how powerful he was. Though Ryun hadn’t sensed anyone trying to read his screens.

Kesla led him to a wing of a citadel filled with ornamental suits of armor and paintings. His sense allowed him to glean what was drawn, but it was too hard for him to attempt to figure it out, so he ignored them. They stopped next to a wooden door beyond which he couldn’t sense anything.

“She is waiting for you inside,” Kesla said.

Ryun tilted his head, the room was obviously under some very heavy protections. “You are not coming in?”

Kesla shook her head, just a bit too quickly. “No, she wanted a private meeting.”

Ryun frowned. “Anything that I should know about her before I go in?”

Kesla thought about it for a few seconds and then answered. “She holds a high position in the Empire, I would suggest that you conduct yourself accordingly.”

Ryun nodded his head and stepped inside.

The room wasn’t as big as he expected. It was… warm, unnaturally so compared to the rest of the citadel. A table and couches were in the middle, a few bookcases on the wall. One of the walls was one big window that showed the city stretching before it, which was… impossible. This room was in the center of the citadel, it shouldn’t share any walls with the outside. Yet it was there, another mystery that he had no interest in solving.

Instead, most of his attention was on the woman sitting on the back of a couch, holding a book in her hands. She was tall, with hair that was braided and pulled in a warrior’s bun at the back of her head. She wore a simple strapless dress, with high cuts on the side that showed her legs. Form fitting and with thread patterns covering all of it. He figured that it was probably colorful, but he couldn’t tell. The dress wasn’t what caught his attention, it was actually her body—the Essence that it was made out of. Like with most Classers it was flesh, only hers was lined with something else. The Essence that gave off heat, which warmed the room around her. He had never seen a Classer with a body like that, usually only Cultivators had things like that.

As the doors behind him closed, she closed the book and turned to face him.

There wasn’t much that he could see with his eyes. Her face was smooth with no signs of aging, as far as he could see at least. With his senses he could tell a lot more, or rather a lot less. He couldn’t sense anything inside of her, the surface of her body was the limit of his sense which was… weird. He hadn’t encountered many people that could block his sense that way, or rather, he had encountered only one like that before—Zenker.

She either had an item that prevented him from sensing anything, or she was powerful enough that she had other defenses. It… unnerved him, he had come to rely on his sense for everything.

“You had enough of a look?” She asked, bringing him out of his thoughts.

He frowned, then realized that he had been staring, or at least appeared to be.

“You are Karya Ó Cionaoith?” Ryun asked, ignoring her question.

Her mouth quirked up, slightly. “That’s right, and I don’t know you. I was told that you come from the Settled Territories, and that you are a Ranker of the Seventh Iteration? I am very interested in hearing how you know my name.”

Ryun cleared his mind, he hasn’t always devoted enough attention to conversations, but for this one he needed to be… more diplomatic.

“I am Ryun Nacht, Head of the Twilight Melody Sect,” he said. He sensed her shift slightly, but not enough for him to be able to tell what it meant. Body language was important, and with his sense he had more insight than most, still she wasn’t giving him anything. “I was given your name by a member of my sect, someone who was your friend.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You might not know, but my Empire and your people are not friends.”

“Not my people,” Ryun told her.

“True,” she said. “Still, who gave you my name?”

“Her name is Anatalien Far Solla.”

Her mouth quirked into a smile again. “Ah, yes.”

She didn’t seem at all surprised by the name. “I take it that you are friends then?”

“Yes,” she said. “The only one from the Settled Territories that I would consider as such.”

Ryun nodded his head. “She gave me your name, as someone who might be able to help me.”

“Oh, and you need help? From what I heard your group is being given everything that you could possibly desire. What is it that you need that the Empire itself cannot provide? I hope that it is important. The Empire is at war and with every moment that I spend away from the Wall, my people die.”

Ryun tilted his head, and studied her for a moment. Dressed as she was, she didn’t look like a warrior, but that meant little. She had a strong build, and was obviously powerful. He wasn’t here to waste anyone’s time, and he did appreciate the time she took to speak with him. He tried to think about how to approach this, what to say. He didn’t know this person, only knew that she was a friend of Tali’s, but that was hundreds of years ago. There wasn’t even a guarantee that she could help. Still, there was no point in wasting time.

“I wish to speak with someone from the Ornn family,” Ryun said.

She tilted her head. “Oh, that is quite a wish. May I ask why?”

“First,” Ryun started. “I’ve been trying to get in contact with someone in a high position in that family. I’ve been assured that a message had been sent, but that they are engaged in defending the Wall and are unlikely to be able to meet with me any time soon. My question is: I do not know your position in the Empire, but, are you someone who is able to facilitate that?”

She looked thoughtful for a few seconds, then answered. “I guess that you could say that I… have the ear of the Empire’s leaders. The House Ornn is very highly placed, they are powerful and old, influential.”

“Can you get me a meeting with one of their leaders?” Ryun asked.

She tilted her head. “I do have some influence with the House Ornn. So yes, that is within the limit of what I can do.”

Ryun felt like he was finally getting somewhere.

“Why do you wish to speak with them?” Karya asked.

Ryun looked her in the eyes, wondering if he should trust her. He came to the conclusion, that in the end it wasn’t going to change anything. He would get Nayra one way or the other. “I have several matters to settle with the family. First, and the most important of them is the disappearance of my Sect Leader, Nayra Ornn. She was taken from the core, the Tournament, during the fight with the Dome monsters. I will have her back.”

She blinked at that. “Why do think that she is here? And how are you even sure that she was taken in the first place? People disappear in war, in battle.”

“My people were killed, and she was taken by someone that she knew, a man who resembled her. He would’ve killed my other Sect Leader if not for her Immortality. I believe that the only reason she survived was because he thought that she was dead, he left her crippled. She told me what happened after.”

“If she was taken from so far away, how do you know that she is here, in the Empire?”

Ryun closed his eyes and extended his arm, pointing his finger at somewhere in the west. “She is that way, I know that she is in the Empire.”

He opened his eyes and looked at Karya who traced his arm with her eyes. “You can track her?”

“I know where all those whose blood I have drawn are,” Ryun responded.

“You drew her blood?” She asked slowly.

“We trained together a lot,” Ryun added.

She shifted and then spoke again. “Still, she could’ve just come back to her family.”

“Another was taken as well, her sister Daria. She couldn’t have gone willingly without breaking an oath, since I still feel her presence too, that means that she is still alive and kept against her will.”

“Nayra could’ve still betrayed you, taken her sister against her will.”

Ryun shook his head. “No,” he said immediately. “She wouldn’t have betrayed me, she wouldn’t have killed the people that she trained. And she would’ve never allowed Anrosh to nearly die. No, I know her, more than her family ever did. I understand what it is that she wants. She wouldn’t have turned her back on me for anyone, not even her family.”

She looked at him for a long few seconds. “You have that much faith in her?”

“I do,” Ryun said.

“So, you want to do what exactly?”

“Nayra to be released, Daria returned to fulfill the debt that she owes, and whoever it was that took them to pay for murdering my people,” Ryun told her.

He saw her wince. “You sound as if you are going to demand this of them?”

“Ask, demand, those all mean the same thing. They have wronged me and my sect, and that debt will be paid.”

“You would threaten them? A great House of the Empire?”

“Threats are for those who feel like the only way to get what they want is to instill fear. I do not seek to make others fear me, I don’t need that, I am only stating what will happen.”

“I still don’t think that you understand. House Ornn is the equivalent of one of your Great Factions.”

“You do not know me,” Ryun started. “So I’ll let you know about who I am. I do not care who they are, how much power they have. Even the strongest can fall.”

She crossed her hands across her chest. “I was given a report on you, when I accepted to speak with you. I know that you are here for a mission against the enemy. Our people in the core have a limited presence now, but I know who you are,” she said slowly. “A High Ranker, number seventeen, they call you the Undying Void.”

“It is what they have named me, yes,” Ryun said.

“You think that you alone could stand against a Great House?”

“I don’t need to,” Ryun said. “You are at war, stretched thin. I think that I could do a lot of damage before anyone could stop me.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You would threaten the Empire? The innocents that would die if you did that?”

Ryun thought about it for a bit. It was… familiar. He had done that on Earth, he had closed the points without caring about anybody else. Doing what he wanted, and that had caused what happened to the people of Earth. He understood what doing this would do. If he struck hard enough, he was sure that he could cripple the defense of the Wall, perhaps giving the enemy a chance to break through. He would doom the world for his word.

“It isn’t something that I want, I just want them to understand that I will have what I came for, no matter what.”

“Didn’t you come here to help defend this world?” She asked.

“That was a… side benefit. My primary concern was always Nayra.”

“You value her more than the fate of the world?”

“Yes,” Ryun said.

She didn’t say anything to that. “I think that we will want to avoid all of that.”

“Which is why I’ve been trying to set up a meeting,” Ryun said.

She nodded her head. “I think that I could set up a meeting, yes. In two weeks the Ornn family will be given a respite from the Wall. I believe that they will hold a gathering for the members of their extended family. I think that I could get you an invitation to that even.”

A gathering filled with the Ornn family members would be perfect, though he wasn’t sure that walking in alone would be the smartest thing.

“Could that invitation include a few extra guests?” Ryun asked.

“I think that I can manage that,” Karya said slowly. “If you will promise me that you will talk first.”

“Of course,” Ryun said.

“Then we have a deal,” she said. “I will get you the details and secure transportation soon.”

“Thank you,” Ryun said. “If there is anything in my power to repay you, you will have it.”

“Oh really? I will hold you onto that,” she said with a smile.

“A gathering?” Selia asked.

“Of House Ornn, yes,” Ryun said.

Erdania narrowed her eyes at him. “You are inviting us to a party?”

“A gathering,” Ryun clarified, it was going to be attended only by the family members. If he understood what Karya had said.

“This is related to the matter you told us about, your Sect Leader?” Selia asked slowly.

“Yes,” Ryun answered. “Though it will be a good opportunity to learn more about the Empire.”

Selia looked thoughtful for a few seconds. “We did not bring any formal wear… We’ll need to find a tailor here, make sure that we match. I’ll get on it immediately, we don’t have much time.”

Ryun blinked as she hurried out of the room without giving him a chance to say anything else. “Uh, what?”

Erdania laughed. “You have done it now. She is going to go crazy. Prepare to spend hours with a tailor, posing in front of a mirror.”

“What?” He asked, confused. Then something else occurred to him. “Wait, what did she mean with “match”?”

“You just asked the two of us on our first outing together with you,” Erdania said. “She isn’t going to let it be mundane. Especially not since we will be visiting what is basically one of the ruling families of the Empire. Impressions are important and we have our own reputations to protect.”

Ryun looked at her. “I…” He struggled to find words, and then closed his eyes. “Yes, right.”

Erdania laughed loudly as she followed Selia out of the room, leaving him alone. That did not go the way he thought it would.