Nick stood over the headless body of the Grumbler, keeping his telekinetic grip on the spike necklace that directed its actions, while the others searched the cave for additional signs of trouble.
He could have told them there weren’t any himself, but that would have revealed more about his sensory abilities, and he needed a moment of privacy anyway.
Once both adventurers and Monte had disappeared into the cave, Nick pushed his will through the Shard, which glowed a crimson violet light. The necklace was enveloped in a storm of emotions so intense and raw that they seemed to be pulled straight from the ether, overwhelming the person on the other side of the connection.
The link winked out with a lingering sense of pain, and the artifact went inert, letting him place it into the iron ring without resistance.
“That’s what you get for not knowing when to cut your losses,” he muttered, shaking his head. He lacked the proficiency with mind magic to do more than send a metaphysical punch to the peeping tom's brain, but considering how pure and dense the emotions flowed through the Shard, he was sure it would be one to remember.
I might have actually damaged his third eye, at least temporarily. That means someone will be looking for revenge, but they wouldn’t have left us alone anyway.
Now that he was sure it was over, he finally checked the System notification.
Level sixty-nine felt good, though it did occur to Nick that with all the Feats he’d achieved, the boost the Shard gave his magic, and the unique advantages of his build, he was now capable of easily defeating a level eighty monster that once would have been a suicide to face.
Admittedly, he wouldn’t have been able to obliterate its head so easily without the Shard. Grumblers, like most larger goblinoids, had some level of magic resistance, and it probably would have survived the [Spirit Crunch] if it had been freehanded, especially given how quickly he cast it.
But that was why he built himself a new focus. Speed, consistency, and sheer power were all improved across the board, even though it meant risking his sempiternal soul in a deal with a demon and the possibility of incurring the wrath of two different deities.
Overall, it was a pretty good deal in his opinion.
Staring down at the slowly bleeding corpse, he sighed and made it disappear into the ring as well. He couldn’t afford to be picky about these things, not after how drained his pockets had become from buying the orichalcum.
“And I’m sure Tholm will want to examine it, though he might complain I destroyed the brain and thus any trace left behind in it…”
With the necklace, he believed he could avoid a reprimand. He hoped so, at least. The Archmage had been unusually moody since the attack on Osmod, making him harder to read than usual.
Once he noticed the others reaching the end of the cave, and what he was pretty sure were human remains the Grumblers had been snacking on, he let a whisper of wind reach them to tell them to pull back.
They were startled but obeyed quickly enough, spooked by the sights and the dark atmosphere.
I almost miss the times when that was enough to scare me, he thought amusedly. His outlook on life had really changed over the past year, to the point where it was sometimes hard to recognize himself, but then he looked at the Shard, remembered what he’d done to build it, and decided he wasn’t quite so different after all.
“Put it there,” Tholm grunted, pointing to the examination table covered with thousands of tiny glyphs and runic scripts that Nick couldn’t make heads or tails of.
He’d spent a considerable amount of time recently learning about ancient languages, but his new skill with Irvinic didn’t give any clues about what it all meant.
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Still, he could guess they were containment wards, at least in part, so he quickly took the necklace from the ring and floated it to the center of the table.
Tholm hummed, eyeing it with pursed lips. “Yes, you are right that this is Shadow Ore, but it’s not just that,” he said after a moment.
It wasn’t surprising that he, a Master Artificer, would notice more than Nick, but he still leaned forward, curious about what he might have overlooked.
“This is a dwarven artifact, and not the kind they typically allow out of their kingdoms. They are called [Chains of Obedience] and are most often used on some of the more powerful beasts that dwell in the underworld to guard the deep tunnels. This isn’t the kind of thing House Hone could have gotten their hands on during regular skirmishes, unless things had escalated much more than I’ve heard, and I would know if we were besieging the Deep Cities.”
“Then how did they get them?” Willow asked, eyeing the spiked wreath with both wariness and curiosity.
All of Tholm’s apprentices were present for the debriefing, but while the others simply reported increased monster activity in the wilderness and a few encounters with local adventurers who were getting rich from the chaos and trying to keep newcomers out of their territories—only to be quickly put in their place—Nick was the only one to bring back actual proof of enemy action.
By now, everyone in the squat but cozy building they had erected to serve as the centerpiece of their camp knew Nick was a special case. He was quickly reaching the higher levels of the mortal tier, and while his growth would probably slow down, he still maintained a remarkable pace compared to everyone else.
Tholm looked at Willow meaningfully, and she sighed, realizing he meant this to be a teaching moment and that she would have to come up with an answer herself.
“If this isn’t obtainable during regular battles, then they’ve either gone deeper into the mountains and are fighting more than the invading armies, or they have an agreement with someone on the other side. But I don’t see why the dwarves would send off this kind of artifact if they value it as much as you say,” she rattled off, not seeming particularly convinced by either option.
Tholm’s eyes swept over everyone else, waiting to see if they had anything to add, but when Nick went to open his mouth and speak, the man subtly shook his head, and he settled back down with only a minor pout.
Don’t ask if you don’t want to get an answer. Putting aside his mental grumbling, he could understand why Tholm was trying to make them think for themselves. The enemy they faced wasn’t just the savage power of the monster tides that were even now brewing deep within the dungeon, but also all the shifting alliances and secret pacts made by the noble houses of the northern Sunlands. And that was assuming they could finish things quickly enough that word didn’t reach the major powers of the south.
Raphael finally broke the silence, glaring at the [Chains of Obedience] with disgust. “They might have an actual dwarf working for them.”
That wasn’t impossible, actually. Nick had been thinking more along the lines of House Hone sending specialized troops deeper into the tunnel on missions to retrieve this kind of treasure, but now that he thought about it, kidnapping a dwarven artisan would do the job even better. However, the logistics of keeping a psychic prisoner and having him work for them were significantly more complicated than anything else proposed so far.
Tholm hummed softly. “That could be true, though I do not believe it to be the case. You need to remember that while House Hone wants to enrich its coffers, their greatest desire is to gain royal recognition. They want to be elevated to Counts and gain control of the entire northern Sunlands. If they had managed to capture a dwarven artificer alive, they would have offered them up to the king on a silver platter and would have been justly rewarded for their efforts.”
He tapped his finger on the table, and several runes lit up, followed by a surge of mana that Nick couldn’t sense the specifics of, beyond the fact that it was some kind of data.
“This is probably one of the better spoils from an unsanctioned attack on a dwarven city,” he said, and Nick had to fight the urge to fist-pump. But what Tholm said next made him freeze.
“The only problem is, this has been in human hands for at least a year.”
The two statements seemed inconsistent with each other. The war in the north had been ongoing for a couple of months, with skirmishes starting at most six months earlier. If this artifact was truly usually kept that deep in the underworld, no human could have gotten it in that timeline.
But further reflection revealed several possibilities, only one of which matched all other clues. Nick met Tholm’s eyes and saw that the man wanted them to arrive at that exact conclusion.
“You believe House Hone has been raiding the dwarves for over a year. That they could be the real cause of their belligerence, or even that they might have intentionally provoked this war far from their land to gain all the profits without fearing the repercussions.”
It was a clever plan. Berea's speciesist attitude meant any diplomatic efforts from the dwarves would have been dismissed, assuming there had been any, considering how surly they could be. Meanwhile, with everyone’s attention on the north, House Hone could begin expanding its influence in the south and enjoy the advantages of being a major supporter of the campaign, which was easier since they had already been established there for over a year.
The one thing they couldn’t have predicted was that a new dungeon would appear in their lands. Especially since word of the one in the Green Ocean spread, and it is considered a once-a-decade event. They probably breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that nothing could stop them.
And yet, that dungeon had been closed in record time, and a new one had appeared in their backyard, catching them with their metaphorical pants down.
Tholm nodded slowly. “I have no proof at this time. Nothing that would stand up to the scrutiny the Royal Court would bring, at least. But we have two weeks before word about our presence here reaches Archmage Hone, and though the Tower Master promised he will hold him for as long as possible, I don’t like relying on uncertainty.”
And thus, the true purpose of their trip was revealed. Nick had thought it was petty revenge, and in a way, it still was, but while they would continue fighting through hordes of monsters, it wouldn’t be about keeping House Hone away from the prize, but about gathering more proof of their misdeeds and undermining their efforts to establish themselves as the top local power.
Usually, Nick would say no one would be stupid enough to leave such proof lying around, but he was the one who retrieved the [Chains of Obedience].
“You think they might actually be that arrogant?” he asked, and Tholm smiled.
“They don’t know I am here, only that the few nobles who still resist their control are banding together with some foreigners. They will see this as the perfect opportunity to crush any resistance for good and do their best to accomplish it.”
“But wouldn’t they already know, since Nick said someone was watching from the other side of the necklace’s enchantment?” Willow asked, and Nick shook his head.
“That guy isn't going to tell anyone anything for a long time, if his brain didn’t dribble out of his ears after what I did to him.”
The other apprentices exchanged surprised looks, but Tholm appeared in a much better mood than he had in days. “Wonderful. Then your mission is clear: infiltrate, explore, and crush!”
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