Chương 11

"The bloodiest day in our Kingdoms memory. Thirteen Conduit deaths. Powerful ones. Can you imagine." The merchant shook his head. Kirk looked at Tafaro Wheedle. He had to bite back the urge to tell the merchant that he was wrong. Not only about the pollution, his Beast Archetype was adamant about it, but also that amount of death-"How many Rifts are there in the Kingdom?" Kirk said. Tafaro blinked at him.

"What?" The bloodiest day in our Kingdom's memory? Kirk pictured the line of wounded, barely able to stand as they waited for access to a Healer. The one Healer this Rift possessed. How many individuals died for that many to be mauled? This spread across the entire country? Tafaro shrugged and answered as though he followed Kirk's thought process.

"The bloodiest public event. Of high Tier Conduits. Ever since then, the Maester Council has strongly lectured against such Ascensions. I'll admit-" The merchant held up a hand as Kirk opened his mouth again.

"Their effect of that pollution is greatly overblown. Especially at the early Tiers, the effects are minor, controllable. But at the very least, you can understand where they are coming from." Kirk's jaws clicked together.

"As to your other question, price." Tafaro shifted across his space, now cramped due to the various silhouette setup, and stubbed his toe against the iron base of one of the torches. Cursing, Tafaro paused, dragged the iron stand outside, and stomped out the torch. Kirk joined him, taking the other out. Very soon, the smoke in the merchant's store began to clear. Tafaro rubbed his hands together and moved to the far wall, behind the counter. It was lined with small drawers.

With great care, the merchant moved through, opened several, peered inside, and shook his head. Eventually, he turned back to Kirk.

"Let's be frank; there are certain dubious catalytics that I dare not sell to you." Tafaro said.

"It is not about you. It is about the Albion name you bear. You might be the youngest of your siblings, but if the result of your Ascension isn't up to snuff, your parents will look for someone to blame. I do not want to be that individual. Therefore, I would need to acquire only the best ingredients. You are at least in luck- for Ascension to Tier I, Peakhold is a treasure trove.

"But those critical, and pure, ingredients are only found within geo-4 habitats, near the base of the slope. To secure them, I would need to post a bounty. I suspect the price…" Tafaro did some mental calculations.

"Between twenty and thirty gold coins." Kirk just looked at him.

"That much? Just for Ascension from Tier 0 to Tier I?"

"That much," Tafaro shrugged.

"Catalytics are heavily regulated. By Maester decree, every alchemist is required to refine catalytics, no matter the Tier, for the price of a single gold coin. So long as the Conduit provides all the raw materials.

"The secondary market for materials is vicious-- you aren't just competing against Tier 0s, but Tier IIs, who need your key material as a primer for their own Ascension. The price has to be high, so no one buys our materials for resale."

"You said the pollution is overblown," Kirk remembered.

"What are the actual effects?"

"Voices, impulses," Tafaro said.

"Even the Maesters don't quite understand why. But Ascension within the Rift breathes a bit of life into the Archetypes." Inside of Kirk, the Beast hissed.

"At lower Tiers, you can ignore them. But a Conduit that Ascended within the Rift, loses their temper faster, reverts to violence when challenged. If the Bloody Solstice proved anything, it's that as Archetypes grow in strength, your humanity is eroded." Tafaro rubbed his cheeks. Kirk furrowed his brow and Tafaro chuckled.

"Don't give me that look. Who knew an Albion would be so cheap. I admit it; when you think about it, it's not like these aggressions happen in a vacuum. These are warriors who have been trained to survive in alien worlds and the threat of monsters. That probably has just as much of an influence as the pollution-""I see," Kirk whispered. Tafaro paused.

"Ah, I forgot. It was an Albion that penned the Maester Council's warning, wasn't it? Just consider what we talked about today to be my personal theories." Kirk walked back to his tent in a daze. The Beast rumbled out a questioning grunt. Opposite it, Kirk's Spark Mage Archetype didn't release a peep. Kirk leaned back and sprawled out on his bedding.

"If nothing else, I can't deny there is an effect," Kirk muttered to himself, housing one Archetype born outside the Rift, one inside. Kirk remembered the way his Beast Archetype had nudged him. Not in a way to influence his behavior, but it gave him a set of instincts. It observed the monsters within the Rift, fed Kirk their weakness, read their movements. It also guided the way to move a body without creating noise. As for whether it was dangerous or not… Kirk didn't know.

What he did know is that he wanted to change this world. He wanted to resist the weight of an unfair sky. He pulled out the thin pamphlet passed out in the Hold. Aside from the three lines of the Conduit's Code, the rest felt ambiguous and vague. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. It offered Kirk no way forward. Even more damning was the fact that the Maester Council's regulation warped the catalytics market. Kirk did some quick calculations.

He had spent four days in the Rift. When he came out, he had gotten two silver. Admittedly he had kept some of the cores, but that meant it would take fifty trips, four hundred days, to make a single gold. Almost 30-40 years of working as a Conduit then, ignoring other expenses, just to afford the first Ascension. Kirk's memories weren't complete, so his understanding of the economy was from a small sample size, but that seemed ridiculous.

Meanwhile, his Archetype gave him a concrete path to walk toward unlimited power: Just Ascend inside the Rift.

"I trust you," Kirk said to his feline Beast.

"And wouldn't you like your fellow to awaken?" The Beast growled out the affirmative. Kirk smiled. If that's settled, it's back to the original problem. I need more Feats.

Rufus Down folded his arms and squinted toward the horizon.

"He won't come." Clara just looked at him, leaning against her large shield in the predawn light.

"The Administrator challenged his pride. Publicly. Mark my words, he's going to skip the patrol again and-""Good morning." Both swiveled. Kirkland Albion, with his messy golden hair and dark eyes, stood there. Even as Rufus stared at him, Clara stepped forward.

"Young Master Albion! It's good to see you again. Are you alright? After you collapsed, I- we were worried." Clara flushed with embarrassment. Rufus considered using his tongue to block off his airway to escape this moment.

"Call me Kirk," he said. A silence followed. Kirk looked from one to the other.

"What are your names? Have we met before?"

"You don't even-" Rufus's eyes bulged.

"Kirk probably speaks with so many individuals! It makes sense he can't remember everyone," Clara said. But Rufus didn't miss the way she flinched, when Kirk asked for their names.

"I'm Clara. This is Rufus. We- we were your group. When you came with the new levies."

"After you fainted," Rufus spat the words out.

"We had to haul you like a sack of barley up to the return stele. We were almost ambushed by a geo- if Clara hadn't held it off-""We were a team," Clara muttered.

"It was my job."

"You two saved me." Kirk said. His dark eyes were suddenly illuminated as the first rays of dawn now peeked over. With a serious expression on his face, he looked at Clara.

"Thank you. I owe you a debt."

"No, it's not a big deal." Clara fidgeted. This is exactly it. Rufus could almost feel steam wafting out of his ears. You two-faced bastard. I'll rip off your mask, if it's the last thing I do.

"What's your Ascension?" Kirk said.

"If you need help, I wouldn't mind assisting." Rufus just blinked at Kirk; he couldn't keep up with this cunning young man's thoughts. Then his face creased with suspicion.

"Asking about a person's info is incredibly rude. Do you think you are entitled to everything? And also, why the hell would you help local levies like us?" Kirk shrugged.

"All that matters to me is that you are Conduits, like me. I would help because stronger Conduits mean fewer will die in the Rift. Fewer lives will be lost. The world will become fairer. Isn't that a goal worth pursuing?" Can you do anything other than regurgitate nauseating niceties!? Clara actually answered.

"My Ascension Quest- it's a hard one. Called Pilgrimage. I need to travel to rifts or different sections within rifts. I've gotten halfway through, and came to this Rift because of the layers, but I'm slightly afraid."

"After I Ascend, I'll take you there," Kirk easily promised.

"What's your Archetype?"

"Shield Bearer." Clara said, ignoring Rufus's hiss of indignation at the casual reveal. She lifted her large sheet of metal that she carried around. Then Clara gave Rufus a long look.

"I know that the Drill Sergeant recommended we not share, but who does that benefit? Won't we be able to accomplish more by sharing and pooling our information?"

"It benefits people like Kirkland Albion, either way," Rufus muttered, but the other two had already begun to ignore them as they walked away from the Hold's gates.

"My Archetype is Spark Mage," Kirk replied. Then he hesitated before adding.

"Actually, I have two-""I'm a Squire," Rufus grunted out the words. Then he retroactively heard what Kirk had said. Again, Rufus found his eyes bulging.

"What? Are you trying to claim that you have two Archetypes?"

"Yes," Kirk nodded, completely straight faced. Rufus couldn't believe geoshit wasn't leaking out of his nose and ears.

"It happened when I collapsed in the Rift. I awakened the Beast Archetype."

"You…" Rufus felt so much roaring anger he couldn't gather his words. It was exhausting having so much to say at once. He stomped his foot.

"Are you really so arrogant that you can't just admit you fainted? You have to make up nonsense about two Archetypes-""Rufus," Clara interrupted. Her eyes also caught the light as she pivoted slightly. They were the purest blue he had ever seen.

"It would explain why Kirk collapsed, right? And don't you remember the legends? When the Great Wound opened and the Rifts emerged, the people of Eira didn't start with Archetypes. Only a few, talented individuals awakened-- it's why the fallout was so massive." Clara's blue eyes shifted to the side of Kirk's face.

"Kirk is just the descendant of those original warriors." Rufus clenched his jaw.

"Oh, does that mean... In the legends, the memory of those Conduits-" Clara's eyes widened. Kirk nodded.

"Exactly. I lost most of it. There is a lot I don't understand. Which is why I think your idea is exactly right- we should share information and work together."

"Of course, I'd love to." Clara smiled. Rufus forced the muscles of his chest to loosen.

"Me too." Kirk looked at him in surprise.

"You're going to join in after all?"

"If I can squeeze value from an arrogant noble like you, of course I'm going to do it," Rufus growled.

"And now, if you back out, I'll spread the truth; that you are a liar and a hypocrite, just like I've always said." Kirk tilted his head to the side.

"You know, sometimes it feels like you don't listen to a single thing I say."

"That's exactly wrong," Rufus snorted.

"As far as I can tell, I'm the only one who actually bothers to listen to your drivel." They glared at each other. Clara sighed.

"Just two and a half more hours of patrol."