Chapter 163 – Surprising Dimitri

AG. Two audio files. For awhile I thought I would do this in one chapter, then two and finally put it back to one. Fair warning there is a good chance next weeks chapters will be delayed. I have celebration of life for my dad this weekened and on Monday / Tuesday I'll be spending most of my time in hospitals supporting my wife as she gets her back looked at.

Having said that I'm over 14k words this week and that was with two visits to emergency in middle of night (wife's back) and one in the evening (son having stomach pains which went away an hour after getting there) and lots of other distractions so I might get things back on track even if it looks intimidating now.

hope you enjoy the chapter.

Tom entered the room for his quarterly meeting. Fifteen minutes was not long for a one-on-one chat. But Tom still felt bad for the other many. He had to do these with everyone over ten and that was a massive time commitment to engineer a chance to check in on a handful of reincarnators. The effort the big man put in was more than admirable.

As he passed through the obfuscations protecting the door from casual and not so casual observations from the hallway, his eyes unbidden went to the space next to the headmaster, but this time at least there were no surprise guests.

Dimitri snorted but said nothing until the door snapped shut behind him and the runes lit up, proving their privacy. “There’ll be no more surprises for the rest of your time here.”

“You said that after Everlyn.”

“I definitely did not and plus now I can warn you via Kang.” Dimitri said. “So no more mystery guests and for the record I had no issue with two visits from heroes, but three would be too much and Eden’s aware of that.”

“Eden,” Tom said the strange name she had taken.

“Yes, that’s how the rest of the world knows her.”

“I hated the name at first, but I guess it’s not that bad.”

“That’s not my problem or concern. First, I have gifts for you.” He thumped two properly bound books onto the table. “You already have precognition access via the isolation rooms. These are the other two. But Tom this is for your eyes only. No sharing with anyone, not Briana, and not even with any reincarnators.”

“I don’t talk to any other reincarnators.”

“Apart from Corrine.”

“Yes, her and Kang, but I can’t exactly fucking talk to either of them now. By the way, how is she going?”

Dimitri shrugged. “I don’t know. She’s only just completed her tour, and I don’t know what she planned for afterwards. I haven’t received word of a disaster, so it’s a pretty safe bet the tour completed as normal.”

It had been months, so the headmaster’s phrasing made his spider senses tingle. “Exactly how long is this tour.”

“Your getting distracted.” Dimitri chided. “All that will be explained in your classes. But just under six months. There’s a lot of travelling between spots. Especially if you want to do all six trials.”

“Forget I asked.” Tom said, choosing to be practical. He picked up each of the books read their title flipped to the index and then sent them into his spatial storage. As promised, they all went up to tier six. 

·        Wire Frames of Soul Spells.

·        The intricacies of manual teleport spells.

They were noticeably thinner than the equivalents of the more common elements and magic lines that he had checked out in the isolation rooms.

“Teleport starts at tier two and Soul at three.” Dimitri told him. “That’s why they’re so thin. Be very careful with them, Tom. More so than you usually are. The backlash can and has killed people studying them.”

“I won’t do anything dumb,” he promised. “Now I have a gift for you as well.” Casually, he tossed the bag of sweets to the other man.

Dimitri snatched the bag out of the air, holding it in two fingers like you would a dirty tissue. “What’s this?” he held it up and did an identification. Tom didn’t need to do the same he knew exactly what the item was.

Consumable: Boiled Lollies of Physicality – Tier 3

Delicious treats that once consumed boost both strength and agility attributes by 15% for a day. Does not stack with any other attribute boosts.

Dimitri studied him like you would something particularly dangerous. “This is a very, very interesting item. Where did you get it?”

“I presume you know about the gifting circles.”

Dimitri nodded.

“Well, someone gave that to me.” It was a lie and also not. He had actually been given lollies that sped him up by fifty percent for five seconds. This was just what his trait had upgraded them too.

“No! I don’t think so.” Dimitri shook his head. “I’ve been monitoring that and outside the Danger Sense disks Briana is handing out, which incidentally is something we need to discuss, most of the rest of the stuff circulating is junk.”

“Are you sure about that?” He pointedly nodded at the bag the man held.

Dimitri stared at him. Then he held up the bag of lollies. “Tom, why did you give me this?”

“Because allowing a bunch of kids to use them would have been wasteful. Unless my understanding of high level adventuring is particularly wrong, that belongs to the strongest amongst us.”

Dimitri’s hands tapped thoughtfully on the desk. “I don’t believe you. Tell me what’s really happening? Where did you get these?”

“Don’t talk. Don’t ask. Don’t question.” Tom said very deliberately.

Exasperation flashed across the headmaster’s face. “I know the saying. I coined it. But Tom this is not the time for games. This is important. Life and death level important. Where did you get this?”

Tom stared at him. Not saying anything voluntarily. Not even a no.

“Bloody hell Tom. If you won’t tell me where, then tell me why? Give me a hint.”

“I already told you. Those lollies are too valuable to be consumed by bratty kids.”

“You did, but that’s not why you’ve given it to me is it?”

“It was a large part of it.”

“And the smaller consideration?”

“Quality in and quality out.” Tom told him. “I want you to feed more items into the circle of giving.”

“What the hell Tom? That’s ridiculous.”

“It’s important.”

“So, you’re claiming. But you won’t tell me why?”

Tom shrugged. “Pretty much, but have I led anyone astray yet? Have my wild outrageous demands been wrong yet. And when I say quality, I mean it. You need to insert the good stuff. Things we actually can use.”

“Are you imagining proper valuable consumables?”

“Yes, ones suitable for children.”

Dimitri sighed. “If I do that, especially if I give it too non-optimal people they’ll be misused.”

“Some yes,” Tom agreed. “But it won’t cost you anything.” He nodded at the bag of lollies. “Sell that. Take a cut if you have to and invest the profit into giving back.”

“That simple is it?”

“Yes, it is.”

He checked the bag more closely. “Nineteen separate units. I can get a test run and sell them in batches of three. It’ll turn an okay profit I guess.”

“Not just those,” he said quickly. “I have other quirky things to fence through you.”

“How?” Dimitri pressed.

Tom ignored him and instead passed him an ornamental wooden charm. It was vaguely flat and looked like a craftsman had spent too long on making it pretty.

Consumable: Tattoo of Danger Sense – Tier 3

Place this against your chest and it’ll imprint a tattoo that boosts all forms of Danger Sense ability by 30%.

Can not be used by someone with an affinity over 83 or who lacks a valid ability.

Dimitri let out an explosive breath as he checked the details. “Another trial reward. This, more so, than the others you shouldn’t possess. A not parent wouldn’t have given this to their kid. This will probably sell at Tier five prices. Tom, you need to level with me.”

He shook his head. “Let me ask you something instead Dimitri do you trust me?”

“Of course I do.” The older man said scowling in frustration. “But trust goes both ways. If you have a secret, I’m not going to spread it, but I do need to know it.”

“I’m telling you that you don’t. You know the situation. Don’t talk. Don’t ask. Don’t question.”

The big man froze. “You’re adamant.”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.”

“I see. Hm… Probably a title. And um. I guess your group completed the darkhole trial so… it’s not out of the question.” He shook his head like he was clearing out befuddled thoughts. “Is there other stuff you wish to share.”

“Most certainly.” With casual disregard, Tom handed the more controversial upgrades his title had gotten him over to the other man.

By the end Dimitri’s hands were shaking. “This is too much. You’re a child and to have fifteen tier three and four items it’s impossible. If you’ve found a trial, one this high level and you’re using it secretly you shouldn’t. It’s too dangerous. You need to report it and we’ll exploit it properly.”

Tom didn’t respond.

The other man clicked his fingers. “You’re not reentering the darkhole trial, are you?”

Tom wanted to refute him, but decided it was best not to. He sat there not saying anything letting the man’s imagination run away with him. The further he went down the rabbit hole the safer Tom’s secret would be.

““Not disclosing  something like that isn’t helping humanity.”

“You can trust that I’m doing everything I can for humanity,” Tom interrupted with a hint of anger. “Remember the role I played with the heroes.”

Dimitri swallowed heavily. “Yes. If you are defending this secret, you must have your reasons.”

“Exactly.”

“I do have something I have to say to you. The Danger Sense disks that are part of your gifting circle. Those are yours, right?

“Yes.”

“The fourteen-year-olds are actively trading for them. They are very popular.”

“Which is why I put them out there.”

Dimitri waved that comment away. “I understand that and the damage has already been done, but you shouldn’t have let Briana distribute them.”

Tom froze at the warning tone in the older man’s voice and where his mind went, given the context. “It was her idea.” He responded on autopilot. 

“A dangerous one that’s put a target on her back. You should have said no.”

“I don’t think so. The assassins have to be a hundred percent sure and she’s not actually reincarnated, so she’ll be safe?”

“Is that a statement or a question?”

“Um… I. They have to have confirmed her status before they do a hit. She’ll be safe. There’s no way they’ll go after her.”

“Tom, you know you’re a little dense sometimes. You’re correct in that they’re supposed to have certainty, but they never actually do. There’s no test they can do to confirm their targets. When they kill someone, they’re guessing. Usually they’re pretty damn confident, but they’ve got it wrong in the past. Briana got second in the combat trial and is now producing artefacts at age ten that have a material and significant market value. If that doesn’t sing reincarnator to an assassin I don’t know what does. At a minimum, they’re examining her with a microscope.”

Tom shook his head. “No, she’s not a reincarnator. She’ll be safe. Plus, with all the warnings and classes explaining the reality, a reincarnator wouldn’t be that stupid. The assassins will work out that it’s a trick.”

“You think she’ll be protected because they’re going to conclude she’s a trap. You’re banking on them, determining that I’m evil enough to set up a child. Is that it?

“Yes, I think they’ll believe that. They’re a terror race,” Tom shot back. “Betraying those around them is built into their DNA.”

Dimitri sighed, again. “I guess we can hope. You might be right. Shit, this is too hard. I’m an old man. Older than anyone ever got to on earth. I’m approaching my fifteenth decade. Humans aren’t supposed to live as long as I have.”

“It’s only a handful of decades longer than me,” Tom pointed out. “And you’re reincarnated, so you get the same youth boost I felt.”

The big man scratched his hair with another explosive expelling of his breath. “Yes, that’s true. You can see it you know. The impact of age on biology that isn’t supposed to support it. Some of us are still living but others,” he shook his head. “They feel the age. Their bodies remain youthful, but in here,” he tapped his temple. “They perceive the weight of those years. I’m one of them.”

“I think I’ll probably be one of the former.”

“You’re not even a hundred yet, Tom, so who knows. I hope life never gets too much for you. Me, I think about the future all the time. I guess it’s this bloody role. Forcing me to think too much. Have you considered at all about what’s going to happen when everyone comes out of stasis?”

“What’s the point? It depends on what ranking we get.”

“Oh, if we stay below fourth, you’re right it won’t matter. But if all of our sacrifice is successful what then. Those billions of displaced, disorientated people will need help.”

“They would have gone through the tutorial just like we did.”

“For how long Tom? Decades, definitely not because if that was the case they would be here already. But years? They’ll be a chunk of them, ten percent? One percent? Who really knows and they might be ready for this. But those who only lasted months or days or hours they’re going to need a lot of help and I’m not sure I’ll be able to be there for them. This,” he waved at the office. “Has taken a lot out of me.”

“A decade exploring the world and killing stuff will refresh you.”

“I hope so Tom,” he looked at the pile of objects Tom had given to him. “There’s certainly some amazing secrets out there.” The pile vanished. “I’ll sell these and push the results back into your crazy experiment.”

“And give the goods to people who can’t use them.”

“Yeah. You’ve explained it multiple times in Kang’s conference space. That poor guy, that’s the sort of sacrifice I expected everyone to be making. But it turns out most of us aren’t that selfless.”

Tom lowered his head. “Yeah, he’s amazing.”

“He is,” Dimitri agreed. “He made his choice and all we can do is honour it.”

“I know.” Tom looked up with a grin. “Honour and exploit it.”

Dimitri reacted to his smile with his own. “Exactly. Just like he would have wanted.”

There was a subtle chime, and the runes above them dimmed slightly.

“Wow, time certainly flies when you’re having fun.” The big man was all business again. “I got you the books you needed, but the sensing skill is a different matter. To put it simply, it’s not going to happen. We have nothing suitable in our inventory.”

“That’s it?” Tom asked in surprise. “You checked didn’t find it and have given up.”

“Basically,” Dimitri agreed. “Yes, it might drop in a trial. We might be able to get it through the trade, but I wouldn’t hold out for that. You might have to wait until you are earning the experience necessary to buy it. You don’t even want it for combat reasons, so I can’t push any harder than I already have.”

“I guess that means wait or create one myself.” He mused.

“Didn’t I just give you years of study. I think you’ve got enough on your plate to get that class you mentioned. I wouldn’t be taking side quests.”

“True. Well, what will be will be.”

“Exactly, and the final piece of news is that I’ve gathered everything required to upgrade your bloodline. It’ll be announced tomorrow morning. The top seven finishers in your cohort and the two above you, twenty-one in all will be receiving it.”

“And Kang.” Tom pressed.

“There isn’t a spot.”

“If I have to, I’ll give up mine.” he countered.

“Tom, it doesn’t work like that. If you give up your spot, the eighth place getter in your cohort will receive it.”

“You have to get him included.” He insisted. “His fate is getting something like a twenty times multiplier applied to it. That’s better than what anyone else can do.”

“So you’ve told me. I’ll do my best, but,” the big man raised the palms of his hands imploringly. “I can’t work miracles, but I’ll try. And Tom, before you complain, do you have any idea how many headaches you’re giving me.”

Above him, the rune dimmed completely and any chance to discuss further was lost.

Two days later, they gathered for the ceremony. Tom recognised almost everyone through reputation. Kang was there with another fourteen-year-old who he knew to be on a crafter path. Their unexpected presence provoked him to count all the kids and there were twenty-one assembled. Seven twelve-year-olds and six from the other two younger age groups. Based on those numbers it was clear who had been deprived of their spot to award it to Kang.

He glanced at Joseph and winced. The boy’s cheeks were red and his jaw was clenching in anger. He could do the mathematics as well. He could see the difference between the cohorts and had clearly worked out that one of his friends had lost this opportunity and that Kang was responsible.

“Isn’t it great that all my friends are here.” Eloise said pointedly, seeming to read what was going through the older boy’s head and choosing the exact words to infuriate him to the greatest degree. She might as well have stuck her tongue out at him. Internally, Tom groaned, but Joseph potentially remembering their other encounters ignored her. When someone could effortlessly break your ribs, sensible people chose a pathway of non-confrontation. Joseph wasn’t sensible, but after three or four encounters he was getting there.

“Kang, I’m so happy you were chosen, too.” She continued. “It’s because everyone knows we’re better than.” She looked at Joseph. “Well, some other groups.”

The wheelchair bound boy just made some unintelligible noise, which was all he could do in the real world. To an observer it would be like he was incapable of communication.

Joseph’s lips turned up. “Why are those two here?” Joseph demanded, pointing at Kang and at the older girl. “They didn’t place in the competition. They havn’t earned the right to be here. Unless they’re kicked out, I’m going to tell my parents and they won’t be at all pleased. I demand to know why they’re here!”

“Because I asked them to come,” Dimitri answered.

Joseph looked like he wanted to argue, but wisely held his tongue as Dimitri glared at him.

“Apparently you can learn,” the headmaster said mildly. “But to answer your question there’s nothing secret or clandestine happening here. As per normal, when doing an expensive exercise like this, we consulted with the church. A bishop said these two needed to have their bloodline upgraded.”

“But he’s retarded or something,” Joseph said in disbelief, pointing straight at Kang. “What’s the point of making something like that more powerful.”

“Adele,” Dimitri continued, ignoring the interruption. “Has confirmed that she has a trait that amplifies the power of each point of fate she uses by a factor of three. She’s had it since birth, and the trait is a freak occurrence. A very fortunate freak occurrence, but one, nevertheless. If anyone was to buy it directly, it’d cost the same as a tier nine skill. Thirteen million experience points. It makes sense to invest in her.”

“You don’t have to justify anything,” Joseph stuttered. The moment Dimitri started discussing builds he knew he had pushed things too far. “Please forget I asked.”

“Stop being so sensitive neither her nor Kang are reincarnators. She’s just blessed with an amazing starting advantage. It happens.”

Tom didn’t let himself react at all to the headmaster’s words.

Internally, however, he nodded.

By this stage, he had made accidental contact with everyone. Dimitri spoke a partial truth. Adele was not a reincarnator, but having lucked into such a beneficial born trait he wondered whether the assassins would believe it or not. He guessed if they looked at her holistically, she was above average in her chosen pursuit of crystal imbuement and terrible at nearly everything else. And while that particular craft was an excellent use of her fate advantage Tom was sure there would be paper trails and memories in people’s minds of the volunteers trying to convince her to take up the dangerous but lucrative crafting task. It was the only thing that he knew of that required significant fate use just to ensure the backlash from the frequent failures didn’t kill you outright and even then the sole practitioner in town always had two healers on standby when he attempted to make a new artefact.

“As for Kang,” Dimitri shrugged. “In his state it’s difficult to get clear answers. But he’s been measured emitting at least an order of magnitude more fate per day than he should be capable of. I’m going to accept the bishop’s statement that the fate gains he gets from the ritual will get a similar boost, and it’s in the best interest of humanity to have him here. If there were two spots, young Joseph, it would be those two who would take them first.”

That Tom knew was a lie, or at least a new truth that had been developed over the last forty-eight hours. While he was confident the Bishop had said exactly what Dimitri claimed, the most likely reason was that Dimitri had given him a script to read as opposed to DEUS intervening to make this happen. But maybe once the instructions were read by a priest of his level it became a fact? Tom could imagine that type of trickery being adopted. The Bishop would take advice and read what he was given, but once it had been read it became law, allowing for blanket statements that could thwart any of the various flavours of truth spells out there.

“Are we clear?”

Joseph nodded.

Dimitri smiled. “Great, let’s walk to the ritual grounds.”

The headmaster led them out of the orphanage down to where the first ritual that had woken his dormant memories early had been carried out.

This time, there was no obfuscation magic in place to protect newly awoken reincarnators.

Instead, it was just another day in town. People were everywhere, including some non-parent spectators who were waving excitedly at their kids.

Next to him Eloise pouted. Her parents weren’t here because they had gone back out on a new set of missions. He squeezed her hand to comfort her. “Don’t frown. This is a great day. We’re all going to be stronger after this.”

She perked up noticeably and a moment later, amidst a whole lot of giggling, she and Briana went skipping away. The carefree actions and the smiles on their faces made him feel a warm glow in side. It was nice to see them being real kids for once. 

At the ritual fields, the difference to what had occurred the previous time was stark. Over a hundred people, a hundred and twenty-eight Tom corrected himself after considering the issue for a moment and potentially a couple of supervisors on top of that had been gathered to power the ritual. There were also eleven adults standing in the central area with them. None of them looking older than twenty and they were all under rank fifty.

Of course, he thought to himself. The ritual was always going to have thirty-two people in it. Dimitri had just been working with the spots assigned to the orphanage, that number had clearly been fixed in advance.

Tom didn’t recognise any of them, but from their age and power levels they were almost certainly past students who had probably purchased the spots and had helped Dimitri defray the costs.

He switched his focus onto those helping to run the ritual. They were splitting up into groups of sixteen and not one of them was under rank fifty and the ritual lead, or Tom supposed that was who it was had a rank of well over a hundred. That man had a palpable presence to him, an itch that Tom couldn’t quite ignore. When Tom deliberately turned his back, he could still sense his existence, like the way a loot portal acted once you saw it for the first time. Something with such intense power to it that you couldn’t disregard it. Based on the expressions of the surrounding kids they felt it too.

“Everyone, take your place,” the powerful man boomed. His eyes swept the entire area and then he raised his hands, and like it was a signal, so did all the volunteers. At the same time, Tom felt a subtle pressure on his body that shuffled him slightly to the right. From the looks of it, he wasn’t the only one and all those there to get a blood line boost were moved until they stood evenly apart in a rough squarish shape. 

“On three,” the leader called out and then started to count down.

Power arced from each raised hand to a point five metres above their heads. Immense amounts of mana mixed with fate flowed from the volunteers. In moments, a web created from strands of almost solidified mana was erected above and around them. It connected to the ground, and the ritual inlaid with precious metal in the stone with a precision that was breathtaking. Hundreds of lines coming down, some so thin they were almost invisible while others were the width of his fingers. They were all otherworldly in their exquisiteness. They linked together and often dozens of them descended to a single point on the ground.

It was beautiful. The most elaborate web he had ever seen, and it had been created in a moment.

Magic throbbed and burst out from the metallic pattern beneath his feet.

It invaded through his feet’s soles and then up through his legs while it also flowed up the outside of his body. Like he had been coached he let it happen and resisted the urge to push the wave of power away. In moments, he was filled with an internal network of energy, one that followed his circulatory system and a layer of potential power that covered every inch of his skin.

In the outer ritual area, the gathered treasures burned and as they did the foreign magic inside him burst into a smooth revitalising flame. It changed him, altered him and made him a better human.

Above him, the web of energy shivered and thinned as the power was sucked up into each of them. Then, without the magic to sustain it the whole web shattered and abruptly the sun was shining like normal, the gentle breeze cooling them off and the buzz of the supernatural was gone.

It had been an impressive display and surprisingly short. From the moment the leader had triggered the start to the ritual’s finish, less than half a minute had passed.

Next to him Eloise looked like the very essence of life had been drained out of her and her body had been turned into an eerily life warm waxed doll. As always, the physical appearance of someone who had entered their system room was disconcerting.

Other kids joined her, and Tom decided to check himself.

Right there on the wall were the fruits of Dimitri’s labour.

Congratulations, your blood line has been improved to tier 3.

·        Fate contribution from the bloodline has been increased by 40 to 70.

·        Your General Affinity Efficiency has been increased by 8% to 16%.

The general affinity improvement might not seem like much of a bonus, but once he started delving and gathering experience, his loot would go to the auction houses and the profits would get invested partially into resources to improve the level of the abilities he already had. Getting sixteen percent more out of such items was a material benefit in the long run even if fate was a stronger immediate boost.

He left his system room and smiled.

The progress was good, but he knew the next step would be harder. Reaching tier four in his bloodline was going to be a challenge, and he wondered if Dimitri would be able to swing it. Whether he would get that too handed to him without any work.

Probably not, Tom thought to himself. Dimitri couldn’t possibly fund something like that while also pretending Tom was a normal kid to keep him under the assassin’s radar. This ritual had cost a little under a million experience per person, but the tier four upgrade was an entire magnitude more expensive. Its price was apparently closer to ten and, even if you had the credits, sourcing the materials was not a trivial matter. Most of the human powerhouses hadn’t upgraded their bloodline to tier 4 so when buying on the open market you were competing against them, driving up the price well beyond the theoretical ten.

Dimitri wouldn’t be able to do it. Hopefully Everlyn could.

He frowned.

Maybe I should have been nicer to her, he thought regretfully.