Path of Transcendence 1: Ultimatum of the Nameless God (19 page)

The road parallels the Bull-rush river. With the passing of the mid-afternoon rains the road is reverting form soup to just plain mud. Though, the slick mud surface, with deep ruts, makes for poor travelling conditions. At first, a few of the Shit Hole trash tried to follow us, but we have not seen any sign of people, since mid-morning. It has been a long boring day of travelling.

“What kind  of a freak is he?”

“I know! He's wearing all that armor and the cloak, but he isn't even sweating.”

“I wonder if he's really even human.”

“At least, he seems to do what Jinmu tells him to.”

“So true, I would be too scared to be in a party with him, if Jinmu wasn't here.”

“I know. His eyes are so cold. I feel like he would kill me without a second's hesitation.”

Xenia and Perzey are closer to me on point than they are to the rest. When they started talking about me, they stared walking a ahead of the rest of the party. Periodically glancing at the main party behind them, they do not seem to know that I can hear every word they whisper. Or maybe, they do not care if I hear. If you really do not want to be overheard, you use a whisper charm.

Up ahead, I see a meadow on the landward side of the road.

*Jinmu, we have a meadow less than half a mile ahead. It's a good as place to camp as any we're likely to find.*

*It is your choice. I prefer stopping, while it is still light.*

Most of the dangerous predators in the Swamp of the Lost stay well away from the Bull-rush river and Bogwater. They have learned that humans are more dangerous than themselves. Still, there are few that foolishly try to prey on humans. Just to be sure, I check the surrounding area, while the others set up camp.

After eating, I take out Ravix's hat.

“Delilah.” I toss her the hat, when she looks in my direction.

“You should study that hat. Find the keys to unlocking the thread points. I don't think Ravix knew enough to tie soul threads it, and it feels like there might be a strong power hidden in it.”

Delilah's cheeks turn red, and she looks down, before looking toward Jinmu. “I don't know how to unlock thread points. I've never had anything but minor items of power.”

“But your body, the original soul was a caster. Even if you never had anything when this was a game to you, her memories should have the knowledge.”

Delilah face assumes a nonplussed expression. “I've been trying to keep her memories locked away. They are just to crude and unnatural.”

I look at the rest of them, and they all sort of half-shrug and look away. None of them are using their character's memories?

My hand slaps my forehead, and I rub at my temples, with my fingertips. I understand why they are so weak. This is just too ridiculous. I cannot believe I actually face-palmed.

Jinmu laughs, but it is a confused sound. “I will teach them. You do not need to involve yourself.”

“Fine. I'll take the first watch.”

The walls of Bogwater came into sight in the middle of the afternoon, but we still need to cross the wide delta. Both the Bull-rush River and the Bogwater River flow into this one delta, and the town of Bogwater is on the far side of the delta from the Bull-rush River. There is no bridge or regular ferry service, but there is a dock and a mirror on a pole. travellers use the mirror to summon a boat or barge to ferry them to Bogwater.

I stare at the town while we wait. Levees shore up the delta side of the town. I was told that every year the town sinks a little more and over time building are destroyed and rebuilt after the land has been built up. Stone walls encircle the town and extend along the jetties that shield its harbor. Even though the stone to build them had to be ferried in from the plateau or the northern mountains, the walls still stand over twenty feet tall. The levee walls and the jetties are also made of stone.

Even though there have been no beast attacks in recent centuries, Bogwater is filled with tales and legends of the past when the more dangerous beasts would regularly attack the town. Over time, as new layers were added to the walls, stones scarred by beast attacks were replaced with new stones and the scarred one reused in the new layers. I suppose it was meant as a warning to other beasts. Some of them have near human levels of intelligence.

Bogwater only had around 18,000 permanent residents when I was last here, but there were five times that many transient residents. It really is more of a city than a town. Nearly all the hunters and gatherers who operate in the Swamp of the Lost use Bogwater for their primary market. Because it is the only large center for trading beast parts and herbs with other zones, it has mercantile expeditions coming and going year round.

After the ferry arrives, we all pile in and are brought to the Bogwater docks. The walls Bogwater extend out into the river delta atop the jetties that shield the harbor. With the jetties blocking the already turgid current in the delta, Bogwater's harbor is nearly a placid lake. The high stone wharfs piers can accommodate well over a hundreds of ships at once: riverboats, fishing boats, and the shallow drafted galleys used by beast hunters.

Our small ferry docks at one of the lower piers that extend out at regular intervals from the main wharfs at regular intervals to accommodate smaller boats. We use the Stone stairs at the back of the piers to ascend to the main docks.

The sheer number of people in close proximity is almost more than I can handle. I do not like people in general, and the more there are, the more uncomfortable I am. The last time I was here, I was a Half-Dvergar and everyone made way for me. This time they are all clustering around me, jostling and shoving, and I have to resist the nearly overwhelming urge to lash out.

Jinmu's hand touches my shoulder.
*Brand, remain calm. Use your ki. You do not understand how intimidating you are. Have trust in me. If you put up an aggressive aura, the crowd will part before you.*

I remember the way Jinmu's wild ki was oppressively flooding the area around him, when I first woke from the coma after being murdered. An aura, containing his incredible force of personality, surrounded  him at that time.

The mind is the source of logic, reason, and ideas, but emotion comes from the soul. When a person is said to have heart, they have a resolute, courageous soul. The same with a commanding presence, it is an expression of the strength of a soul. Because a soul is seldom developed, even a soul with twice the strength, giving a larger than life presence, is not that strong.

I have spent my life suppressing myself, so I would not lose control and hurting someone. A least, I did not want to hurt someone, where the social camera would record it. I would keep everything bottle inside, never letting my hate, my rage, my desire to dominate, my desire to destroy, or anything else that could cause problems for me be seen.

Taking several deep breaths, I do something with my ki I have never done before. Instead of channeling the ki through my body, I turn it back into my soul. I never looked for it, while living in my Half-Dvergar body, but since being  returned to this weak one and training with ki, I have begun to sense the slight gaps between body, mind and soul. I can clearly differentiate one from the other, and also faintly sense the mana and psi, within my body and mind.

Because of my ki training, my soul is many times stronger than an average person. Creating a loop of ki that moves through my mind, I bring the small amount of psi that naturally clings to my ki into my soul. A pulsing of energy in time with the beat of my heart begins to build. I completely stop suppressing myself. I let those darker emotions mix with my ki, infuse the psi, drawn along with the ki. As the power pulses, I force it outward.

The ki field is not very dense. It is more like a thin fog being burned off in the morning sun. Still, it is more than strong enough to affect the normal humans, even adepts and casters feel it. Slowly, they begin to look around uncomfortably, their eyes lingering on me. Confusion obvious in their faces, they still back away.

Glancing at my party, with the exception of Jinmu, they are all shying away. The shadows of fear and confusion cloud their faces. Again, they are seeing me through the sames eyes they used when I found them huddling in cells like cowards. Staring at Xenia then Perzey, I smile slightly, as their faces pale. Perhaps, they are thinking about their words that I overheard, and maybe others that I did not.

I do not need this strong or obvious of an effect. I pull in the aura, keeping it tighter, making it thinner. As I start walking, it is enough for the crowd to give me room. There is a small space surrounding me on all sides. Everyone in the crowds seems to unconsciously avoid getting too close to me.

*Jinmu, you should take everyone except Sigurd with you. Scout the bazaars and buy anything we might need. Ravix's gift to us.*
I give him a back of coins, mostly gold and silver, from one of Ravix's ring.

Jinmu bounces it on his palm a couple times before stuffing into leather pouch attached to his harness.
*Oh? Did he have anything else?*

I shrug.
*Clothing, weapons, armor, food, tools, money, gems most probably the spoils from Thug Horde's victims.*

I cannot deny the convenience of being in a party and being able to use the chat channel to carry on a conversation, without being overheard.

*Sigurd, you come with me. It's time we pay the frog a visit. You should know all the gear you wanted from him, and he will be more than willing to give it to us. Free of charge.*

Sigurd looks more than a little nervous.
*Isn't that illegal? What about the town watch?*

The viciousness of my laugh causes people in the crowd to look in my direction. Some, seeing my face in the shadows of my hood, turn away with a shudder. Most of them do not even bat an eyelash. They are not weak, cowardly Earthlings.

*Once that thieving frog understands who I am, he won't dare to deny us or get the watch involved.*
I smile with grim satisfaction at the memories. The frog and I have a history. Or at least the frog and Talon have a history. When I thought Taereun was still a game, the frog tried to cheat me, until I educated him.

A good party charm has two levels, party and raid, and all of our charms are good ones. After, the party has been turned into a raid, Sigurd and I are moved into our own party within the raid. This way, each group will be able to use a party channel, without interfering with the other group. Leaving Jinmu and the others, I make my way to the southern end of Bogwater, with Sigurd in tow.

Bogwater is the center for an extremely valuable trade, and the resident merchant council, who are the ones in charge, make sure to use the tax money extorted from non-residents to display it. All the public buildings are made of stone, and every street is well paved with cobblestones. Even though the town is barely above the water level of the delta and the big lake, the gutters flow into a costly sewer system. Several miles outside of town, there is supposed to be some elaborate system for removing the sewage and sewer  water and dumping it into the lake. Criminals, especially tax evaders, are sentenced to the slave labor workforce that is used to operate the place.

The frog's house is in a section of housing belong to Bogwater's old mercantile families. It is not the biggest or the most lavish, but is supposed to one of the oldest. The frog is not part of the merchant council, but rumor says, the merchant council will never deny any request from him.

The main house, more accurately a mansion, has to be around 15,000 square feet, with a single floor 4000 or so square foot annex on the side that serves as a workshop. There are two entrances to the compound, one for the main house and one for the shop. The shop entrance has walls that extend from the the road to the door, keeping customers from wandering about the property.

At the end of the walled entry lane, two human guards stand on either side of the door. The pair look enough alike that they must be brothers, and they are both seven feet, if they are an inch. As imposing as they appear to be, they are nothing but doormen. The real guards are inside the shop.

The guard stare at me, as we approach. The guard on the right licks his lips nervously. At a subconscious level, they are afraid and cannot understand why. Neither of them is a strong adept, but they give the impression of having some limited adept abilities.

“State your business.” The one on the left does the talking.

Sigurd steps up beside me. “We're here to pick up bags that we ordered from Master Slan'laad.”

Looking at me, probably not sure whether or not I am safe to let in, the left guard pauses a moment. “Okay. Go inside.”

The front room is simply a square empty room, with a counter and a door next to it. Behind the counter, a redheaded woman, with a professional smile and empty eyes, sits on a stool. The gilded collar on her neck gives testament to her status, and her sleeveless, white dress does nothing to hide her tits.

Sigurd steps up to the counter, smiling at the slave. “We're here to pick up an order. Is Slan'laad available?”

“Your name, sir?”

“Sigurd. I'm picking up an order for a party of six.”

The slave rings a bell and waits. He eyes are staring blankly at us, as though she can no longer feel anything. She is one of the frog's ways of insulting people. Coming for expensive magic devices and being handled by a slave, what would be more insulting? It must drive the frog insane that the Possessed just stare at her tits without even realizing they are being insulted.

There are two ways to get the frog's dimensional items. The first is to pay the asking price, which is anything but cheap. The second is to perform a task for the frog. Usually, he will just demand a certain number and type of monster parts, but sometimes it can be a pretty ugly mission. When I came here as Talon, he demanded that I assassinate an adept for him, but the adept knew I was coming. It turned into an ugly fight, and I convinced the frog to give me some extras.

We wait for close to ten minutes, before a somewhat fat man comes out. He is not wearing a collar, and, like the slave, I do not recognize him from when I was last here. Considering it has been around fifty years since my last visit, the non-adepts working for the frog are quite likely dead.

Humans here only live to an age of around sixty or seventy normally, if they live long enough to die of old age that is. Some adepts, depending on the nature of their Power and abilities, can live considerably longer.

The man has a surly expression. “So which ones are you?”

“Sigurd, I'm picking an order for a party of six.”

The man looks surprised, before getting control of himself again. “Um, this way. Yes, this way. Please, come with me.”

We follow the fat man through the single door into a large workshop. Thirteen men, with slave collars on their necks, labor at workstations or perform various tasks supporting the craftsmen. On one wall, there are three workstations each, for tailoring and leather working, with six men working at them. Well away from those workstations, two workstations for smelting and smithing are next to two for making jewelry. On each of the walls with no workstations, six inactive flesh golems await orders.

The man takes us into a room that is a combination of a lounge and a showroom. There a few cases with items that have some items in them, items that have a trace of Power. In each corner of the room, more inactive flesh golems awaits orders. These golems are the real security for the frogs business.

Fidgeting nervously, the man backs out of the room. “Wait here. I will inform Master Slan'laad that you are here.”

*Did you meet the fat man, when came here before?*

Sigurd glances in my direction.
*Yes, but he wasn't like this. He was a more confident. I suppose arrogant would be the best way to describe him.*

*He probably never expected to see you again. You are supposed dead or a slave, right now.*

Sigurd's face hardens, and his eyes cloud with anger. He came here to deal in good faith, he was sold out. Betrayal, it leaves a bad taste in anyone's mouth.

Sitting in a chair, I enter a light trance and circulate ki through my body, mind and soul. I am not sure what kind of an effect it might have to circulate ki like this, but the aura projection was a very interesting discovery.