Chapter 2 #4
“Rise, worthy disciple.” The prince’s melodious words resonated with good humor, which was a weight off Alex’s chest. The man’s eyes didn’t go ice cold with sudden unexpected hate, and Alex sensed nothing but approval from the enigmatic headmaster herself.
That, and he noted the incredibly thick multifaceted layers of Silver-tier enchantments around them both… and the rest of the party as well.
“You and your companions have served both the school and the city exceptionally well, and are to be commended. Now we have but one final task to complete before we can focus all our attention on strengthening our city’s foundation once more.”
Alex blinked and swallowed but knew better than to say anything that might question the prince’s authority, lest his patient smile turn hard and cold and Alex play the fool in the worst possible way.
Instead, he bowed his head. “It will be as you say, Your Grace.”
“Excellent.” The prince’s hard smile softened. “Expect good things to come your way in the very near future, my Ruidian friend. Now, I understand that you and your companions might need a few moments to… compose yourselves?”
Alex bowed once more to the prince covered in enchanted steel he could only hope would ward the bites of massive shadow pumas, before turning to a smiling Fitz and Lieberman.
“We’re ready whenever you are, battle leader,” Lieberman said.
And for all that Alex hated so many measuring eyes beneath the genuinely friendly smiles as both headmaster and prince looked on, between one breath and the next, he and his Ruidian companions were one.
Congratulations! You have successfully formed Gestalt with Ruidian Slave Nodes designated: Battle Companions!
You have elected to serve as spokesman for your group (lest alternate words slipping free of various sections of your hive mind prove unnerving to the uninformed!)
“We’re ready whenever you are, Your Grace,” Alex said even as he took in a far clearer and more detailed picture of his world from four pairs of eyes instead of one, infravision also kicking in to full effect.
And though he could sense only a slight increase in the heart rate of Dui Zhong, Te Chang, and Sulia, the prince and headmaster both seemed momentarily taken aback, Alex and his extended psyche only then realizing that they were moving, blinking, and bowing as one.
Yet the prince did nothing but smile gamely.
“Very well. We shall have our Ruidian friends immediately initiate wards of fire and ice the moment we enter the rift, which I understand you all are exceedingly skilled with. The headmaster and I will enhance your arts with our own, once we see them in place, and I assume I can trust the hero of the hour to keep us informed of our shadow friends’ whereabouts before they strike. ”
The headmaster nodded. “It will be as you say, Your Grace. Lady Sulia and I will focus on obliterating our opponents while Dui Zhong and Te Chang guard us and strike any spirit beast that manages to pierce our wards, unlikely as I think that will be.” She caught Alex’s eye.
“I understand that you’re able to direct your team to best effect.
So strike to kill. Our goal now is to thin whatever herd there might be.
Afterward, we will do our best to hunt down those stones, and if I understand correctly, you, Alex, have both a knack for the terrain and an understanding of what we’re looking for? ”
“I do,” Alex solemnly said, heart racing as he looked the headmaster in the eye, knowing he was at risk of grave consequences if he dared to expose himself in the way he was planning, but what if something unforeseen did occur and he had done nothing to prevent it?
And practically speaking, with half his party already knowing what he was capable of, were he not to offer it to the prince and the headmaster herself…
The headmaster tilted her head. “Is there something you wish to say, aspirant?”
Alex forced himself to nod. “If you and His Grace were to accept my party invite, you would both be graced with an intuitive sense of the battlefield, sensing where everyone is, in relation to everyone else.” He was glad that Ya Ling wasn’t here, even as he flared the idea of absolute autonomy like an alarm through his head, so not even for a heartbeat was he in danger of committing the vilest sin imaginable.
To enslave the ruler of an entire city state to his will.
Alex shuddered at the very thought, wise enough to understand what the repercussions would then have to be.
In truth, he had never expected to find the prince here and now, or he would have done everything in his power to avoid this encounter.
But as it stood, to deny the prince a gift he hoped the man would refuse would itself risk the very offense he was desperate to avoid.
And though he hated to say it, it could well save the man’s life, and there was at least a chance that he wasn’t susceptible at all.
With an odd mixture of relief and dismay, Alex found his newest companions accepting his boon, and after a minute of everyone adjusting themselves to the sensation of knowing where all their adventuring companions were with a thought, they linked arms and proceeded through the rift.
And Alex most definitely did not look at the brightly flashing interface messages flaring off in his mind’s eye, all his focus on the delve ahead.