Chapter 305: A bargain kept


    Turned out Seul-ki''s ''disguise'' power could do more than trick the eye. It could trick magical wards and barriers, getting her to any floor in the tower, and who knew what else. ke was both deeply impressed, and slightly concerned.


    "Incredible," he said, smiling politely. "Not that I''m upset, but did youe looking for me for any…<em>particr</em> reason?"


    They were all putting their clothes back on, with Ilya a bit slow and drunk-looking as she hiked up her underwear. She seemedpletely uncaring about Seul-ki, which was both bizarre and exciting in equal measure.


    ke was the sort to keep looking for a woman''s ws until he''d constructed a healthy list, but finding faults with Ilya was getting pretty difficult, even for him. If you saw past the whole ''orc'' thing.


    "Yes," Seul-ki said, looking a little shy now that their...interesting sexual encounter was over. "The goblin...engineer." She winced. "His um, <em>project</em>, exploded. He wasn''t too badly harmed. But he destroyed some of yourboratory. A piece of one wall is gone. Annie was going to kill him, but I''d calmed her down...maybe I shouldn''t have left them...I should have told you sooner, but I..."


    "I''m d you waited." ke smiled, trying to smooth over the girl''s awkwardness. "But I suppose I''d best go down." He sighed, and took Ilya in his arms, kissing her passionately. "I fear my day is all down hill from here."


    The orc noblewoman grinned a little, still looking slightly drunk.


    "I''m going to take a nap," she said, wandering towards her bed. "Good luck, wizard," she called. "It would be nice if all my problems were solved when I woke."


    "I''ll do my best," ke called back, walking towards the hall with a gesture to Seul-ki. "Your disguise, my dear," he said. "There are orcs and goblins lurking about."


    She bowed slightly in thanks, and her natural beauty began to warp and shift, not changing her appearance too much, and yet enough to trick ke''s eye, even as he watched her change. He thought about his own, neglected ‘Adaptive Veil’ power and theck of use since he''d escaped the orc king trap.


    He supposed he might behave much like Seul-ki, if he wished—moving about all the orc towers at his will, using his mind powers, building a web of spies and bending the orc lords to his will...


    He shook his head and tried not to let his imagination have its wicked way. Having power didn''t mean you had to use it. Or something. ke did his best to convince himself it was better to be careful, to be fair, to let a little chaos exist if it meant other people kept their own will.


    Sometimes, he even managed it.


    This was a new ke, after all. A ke who respected the minds and lives of other people, even when they conflicted with his own. A man who recognized his own ws and frailties, and did his best to remedy them.


    But Jesus Christ it was exhausting. And boring. And it took <em>so long</em>.


    He walked with Seul-ki down the hall, ncing at her after a minute of not speaking to see how she was doing. She wore a perfectly neutral expression, no indication at all she''d just been in the other room being very naughty with a toy ke made out of thin air. She didn''t seem awkward now or needy, seemingly content just to be beside him, no need to discuss the...event...further.


    "I''m pleased you came to find me," ke said, trying to see if his assessment was correct. Seul-ki smiled politely, one of the few people ke found almost impossible to read. After a moment of silence he tried again. "If you found that ufortable, it doesn''t need to happen again. But my rtionship with Ilya is...necessary."


    "I understand," Seul-ki said. "I found it...surprising. Not ufortable."


    ke decided that was good enough. He and Seul-ki (and ke''s thumping constructs) eventually arrived at hisboratory, where they found Pliny attempting to patch up a half-destroyed stone wall. The Stoneblood lord and goblin assassin were standing in the middle of the room, looking at ke''s many constructs with poorly hidden concern.


    "Oh, don''t worry, Pliny, I''ll fix it with my Making power. It''s fine, really."


    All eyes turned to ke, and though he was nning to talk first he opened True Making on a whim and started testing patterns on the broken wall. Secondster he was building brick and stone from nothing, even making a little design that looked vaguely like the psionic affinity symbol.


    In a few moments, the wall was patched, and ke set the duration to permanent, not minding the mana hit.


    "There," he said, smiling. He watched his orc rival stare in amazement, a little annoyed with himself for the disy. He felt the urge to show off around the young lord, which wasn''t like him and didn''t help anything.


    <em>Why am I jealous? </em>he wondered. He had just left Ilya a sex-addled, dripping mess. He had saved her life. Avenged her family. Given her this tower. Filled it with defenders to protect her.


    And she had wanted him even before he did all those things. But whenever he thought about losing her, a rather horrible tightness seemed to shoot through his chest.


    Was it paranoia? Intuition? He had no idea.


    "Impressive," said the orc lord, without tone. "We could use you in the Grey tower, wizard. If Lady Ambereye could loan your services."


    ke did his best to keep the same neutral tone.


    "Thank you, Lord Stoneblood, you''re certainly free to ask her. Now I think it''s probably time we made our way to the first..." he shrugged, searching for the right term, "demon hole."


    "Agreed." The orc lord put a hand to the handle of a mace on his hip and squeezed. "I look forward to destroying as many as possible. I have sworn to follow where you lead."


    "Very good." ke looked to the goblin. "Are you ready? And perhaps a name is in order. I can''t just say ''hey you, goblin'' now can I?"


    The assassin stared, his face still covered. He took a knife from somewhere in the folds of his clothing, and held it in the air as if in disy, then tossed it at ke''s feet.


    ke very nearly turned on Telekinesis in surprise, but eventually bent over and picked up the de.


    "A bargain kept," whispered the assassin. "And ''goblin'' will do."


    It took ke a moment, then he remembered: when he''d first entered the wizard guild, there''d been an assassin he''d negotiated with, who predicted he would die horribly if he entered. On a whim, ke had bet the creature a dagger he''d live.


    "Thank you," he said with a grin, holding up the de. "I will treasure it. Now, I don''t see why we can''t deal with the Stoneblood problem first, since all the towers have simr prolems. Unless you have some objection, my lord?" ke looked at the young orc, who smiled a little.


    "None."


    "Very good, then. Annie? Seul-ki? Are we ready?"


    "And me, master," said Pliny, stepping forward with twitching eyes, wed hands picking at each other as he hobbled forward.


    ke stared at the creature, unsure. He had some kind of prestige ss, now, gained in the dungeon before they''d left. But other than the asional piece of knowledge or useful device, the creature didn''t seem exactly...dungeon ready.


    "It will be very dangerous, Pliny. I don''t want to waste your talents and put you at risk."


    The creature shrugged, then held out a hand and materialized something from nothing like some of the civilians of Nassau could do. It looked like...a helmet?


    "Protection," Pliny said, plopping the misshapen thing on his head. Between the creature''s already strange goggles, his corpse-like face, and now what looked like a metal…cup. With a twirly on the top. Pliny looked truly ridiculous.


    "Surely we don''t need this creature," said Halvar, not bothering to cover his scorn. "What use could he possibly be?"


    ke winced, feeling the orc lord''s distaste moving through him like a magic potion, ensuring he would do whatever annoyed his perceived rival the most. He really needed to get this feeling under control before it cost him. But maybe not just yet...


    "Of course you cane, Pliny, if you wish," ke said with a smile. "I have no doubt you''ll be useful. Please, gather your things."


    "Yes, master." Pliny beamed, then scurried back towards his corner of inventions, muttering to himself as he vanished several objects.


    ke tried not to regret it as he turned, noticing the assassin''s cunning eyes on him, then on Pliny, in fact somehow moving everything. The assassin definitely concerned him, especially because he realized the goblin wizards might think killing ke would deactivate all the tower constructs.


    It wasn''t true, of course, but they might <em>think</em> it was true, and thus ordered the assassin to kill ke if he got the chance.


    Not a particrly pleasant thought. But such was life for the foreseeable future. ke nced at Seul-ki and Annie and took somefort. He had twopletely loyal allies, at least, to watch his back. Probably.


    ke walked towards the tower exit, doing his best not to wish Mason were here and watching his back. Especially since Mason might be the first to turn on the others...


    He hoped he was doing alright with his ‘Nexus’ challenge, because he’d been right—it was the most important thing they could be doing. ke simply believed they could do <em>two</em> ambitious things at the same time.


    "Alright," he said, as the tower guardians pushed open the White Tower doors. "Let''s go kill some demons."


    Nobody looked particrly enthusiastic. ke couldn''t really me them.


    Demons were a terrifying foe, and it was quite possible they wouldn''t all survive. Even if they <em>did</em> trust and work with each other. Which they probably wouldn’t.


    Life was getting veryplicated. But ke’s smile waspletely authentic. Chaos didn’t bother ke Nimitz one bit.


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