Chương 62: 2.21 The Night We Met - Lord Huron (3:28)

7Spirals Yo Zeke, since Mushroom, me and Crush are technically still your Primaries until Grave says otherwise, I figured I'd be helpful now that you're back in The MIZ. You're about to have a ton of money after selling all those Reclaimer parts, but before you go out there and blow it all on something questionable - namely, anything that Crush would suggest you buy - here's what you should prioritize. A new knife: you've been using that dull one that you picked up in the Glens for a while now.

You should get an upgrade. Rations: it's boring but necessary. Buys some food, water, and backup supplies. Bedroll: get you something you can sleep on so you're not sleeping on dirt and mud. Matches or a lighter: preferably both. Whetstone: keep your blade sharp and functional. Rope: every good adventurer's kit needs rope. You always see it in a pack in DnD. Flashlight: you sold that busted handcrank one you got in the Glens. But what are you going to do when it's dark outside?

That's what you need, but you should also just walk around town and buy what looks interesting. You need to fill out the rest of your adventurer's kit instead of just picking things up piecemeal. And here's the thing, you've got a dimensional storage space. That means you don't need to be minimal with your gear. Most people, when packing, try to fit everything into a single suitcase. You don't need to do that. You can pickup EVERYTHING.

Go out there and buy some tools, then buy backups to those tools, and then buy even more tools just in case. Having that storage gives you a massive advantage you're not using. Go shopping, stock up on goods, and then check in with the forum. Hopefully, someone here will be able to tell you what else you need. MushroomCleric Oh. Books. Get a bunch of books. Buy a stack of them and start reading because that's the easiest way to get your skills off the ground without needing a trainer.

History/Lore: Fragments of the Old MIZ: A Survivor's Record The Collapse and the Quiet Years Faction Wars of the Inner Districts Puzzle Intuition Foundations of Symbolic Logic Cipherwork and Broken Languages Practical Problem Solving for Confined Systems First Aid Field Medicine for Isolated Zones There's a list of the books that would be most helpful to you. You can use them to get your skills up to around level 2. After that, you'll need to spend money on a trainer. CrushDaddyXx (Primary) Buy all the things.

I'm not going to lie though, I've never really been interested in shopping in fanfics. You did great with all the violence in the Under-MIZ, and that's all I cared about. Frankly, downtime in fanfics always felt like anime filler episodes. You're basically on the beach playing volleyball and chatting with your old enemies who are now friends. Wake me up when something goes boom. Z3ke (Original Poster) Uh… Binary is the next Primary, right? Shouldn't I be asking him about all this?

Binary, do you need me buying something for what you're planning? Also, shouldn't I be focusing on purchases that will help get me back home? How is a bedroll and a knife going to get me to NYC? Binary_Arcana Meh. It doesn't matter what you buy in The MIZ. I'll be sending you back to the Under-MIZ, but I'm not ready for everything yet. What I can tell you is that the next arc is going to be peaceful and all about lores and puzzles. CrushDaddyXx (Primary) Ughh. Puzzles and lore = boring and no action = snoozefest.

Z3ke (Original Poster) Okay. Well… I guess I'll keep all that in mind. I will say that my shopping might have to be put on hold. I don't have the credits that everyone thinks I do. Patch is still looking into finding buyers for all the Reclaimer stuff, so all I've got is what is leftover from my previous shopping. I've just been hanging at the Roaring Drake and taking a moment to not be in a life-or-death situation. MushroomCleric Ooo. Tell us more. Unlike Crush, I actually enjoy the downtime between missions.

It's where all the worldbuilding and character stuff happens. I've recently been rereading One Piece, and one of my favorite things about the manga is the in-between arcs where Luffy has just taken down the big bad and everyone regroups, counts the loot, gets their new bounties, and then heads off to another adventure. So what's your whole bounty poster situation looking like right now? Z3ke (Original Poster) Uh… I don't have a bounty. That's a weird thing to ask me about.

I will say that Milicent did give me a warning yesterday that I guess kinda acts like a bounty. I don't know. I'll let you all think about it. I'd given Patch everything that was supposed to go to Jared and Daryl as payment for the delve into the Under-MIZ. He sold everything through his contacts and got them paid pretty quick. They ended up with a bunch of credits and have now basically been just living at the Drake and getting completely hammered. Milicent stopped by yesterday to pick up her payment.

Patch and I sat down with her in one of the booths and handed over the glyph book. Once she got her hands on it she started flipping through the pages and mumbling under her breath as she read through it. Her reaction was kinda… unsettling. At first, she was curious and excited and she scanned through it all. Then, midway through the book she got more focused, like she was trying to piece together all the information she'd just got. Then her expression shifted again, and this time it was more… recognition?

It was like she was starting to understand what she was holding, and that made her go completely pale. Her reaction threw me off because I'd just paid her with what's basically the entire collected knowledge of this forum, so you think she'd be thrilled. Instead, she just looked a bit uneasy. She did talk eventually. Patch got us all some drinks and she slipped the glyph book away in her bag and told me that the trip into the Under-MIZ "wasn't as horrible as expected."

That kinda felt like praise, but it was kinda hard to tell. Then she made it abundantly clear that she had no intention of ever doing that again. She said that she's got a family to take care of, responsibilities back in The MIZ, and a bunch of work that needed to be handled. She told me that she's stepping back from delving into the Under-MIZ for a while and is just gonna stick close to home.

From what I could make out, she's going to be focused on a bunch of behind-the-scenes stuff while the younger members of her family start adventuring. She looked like she wanted to say more. I think she was going to ask about the book and how I got it, or how I was able to come up with all the glyphs that we used to kill the Reclaimer, but Jared and Daryl had spotted her around that time. They were shitfaced and made a beeline over to us and brought a bunch of drinks for the table.

Things turned into an impromptu celebration around that time and we all got to drinking. When the night finally started to settle down and she got up to leave, she pulled me aside. We headed off to a quiet corner of the bar and she whispered out a warning to me. She said that, after skimming through the glyph book, she'd learned enough to know that it held knowledge that was incredibly dangerous.

Apparently, it's the exact sort of knowledge that the Pale Regiment is interested in, and they'd want to monitor it and lock it down because they would consider it dangerous if it spread.

'If they find out that someone has access to this kind of information, they won't ask for it nicely. They'll take it. And they'll go after anyone who is connected to you to get it. That means friends, family, and work associates. Keep it quiet that you've got this info. If you ever meet up with them again, don't mention the book and don't mention me." Her warning kinda freaked me out, and now I'm wondering what I should be doing about the Pale Regiment. Do any of you have advice? DataDatum See…

this is exactly why I don't think Zeke should be hanging around The MIZ right now. Zeke, you need to lay low. You just finished a massive incident and people are going to be asking a ton of questions about you. You really don't want to be around when the Pale Regiment starts investigating the guy who killed the Reclaimer. If I were you, I'd stock up on some food and water and then head out into the Deadlands for a bit. Give it some time for everything to cool off before you come back.

PixelBaron Dood is telling Zeke to pull a Shaun of the Dead.

"Go to the Winchester, have a pint, and wait for all this to blow over." SignalLoss That plan didn't exactly go smoothly for them… but yea, I'm backing Data on this. We still don't know who sent that guy after Zeke before he went down into the Under-MIZ. That part of the story just never got resolved. Now add him killing the Reclaimer with a bunch of unknown and powerful glyphs, and suddenly getting an influx of money, that means he's building a very noticeable profile.

MoronicMnemonic I'm a bit worried about that flare gunned guy. Everyone's focused on the Pale Regiment, and for good reason, but there was already someone taking shots at Zeke before this arc. That didn't just magically go away because he killed a guy. Shootingblnks Zeke, if you can avoid the Pale Regiment, you absolutely should. People don't casually interact with them and just walk away. They're a creepy ass cult and you should do everything you can to stay off their radar.

KnightsWHOsay-NIN-NIN I doubt Z3ke can realistically stay away from them at this point. Patch can shop the Reclaimer parts around all he wants, but honestly there's only one organization in The MIZ with the capital to buy all of it in bulk, and that's the Pale Regiment. Zeke's probably going to have to deal with them sooner or later. So the goal shouldn't be to avoid them completely, it should be to interact with them as little as possible, don't volunteer any information, and get out clean.

CrushDaddyXx (Primary) ORRRR, Zeke leans into it and sees what happens. MushroomCleric Don't do that Zeke.

Z3ke (Original Poster) Alright, quick update for all y'all. I met up with Patch earlier today and he handed me a stack of credits. He said it was the initial payout for the Reclaimer stuff, but the real money is coming soon. He sold a bunch of stuff to a few different groups. He talked about an alchemical gang that wanted some of the components, and then mentioned a few scavenger families (like Milicent's) that specialized in rare monster parts. But you all were right when warning me about the Pale Regiment.

Patch said that most of the goods would go to them. He has a few contacts who expressed interest, and Patch said that not only could they pay the most but they've also probably got a few things I couldn't find anywhere else. We're going to be dealing with them tomorrow. In the meantime, I took everyone's advice and went out shopping. A guy earlier in the thread suggested that I get some boots, so that was my first stop.

It was kinda sad that I had to ditch my Converse All-Stars, but they were close to completely disintegrating. The soles were ground down and there were more holes than shoe at that point. Running through the Deadlands and Under-MIZ was not good for them. My next stop was the Wire & Salvage. It was the same shop that I visited when I first got to The MIZ. I unloaded a couple items that I didn't need anymore and cleared out a bit of my storage.

I didn't make much credits from it, only about 3 or 4, but it was something. And then after that, I just wandered through the city. This trip was kinda weird. Back before I dropped into this world, whenever I needed to go shopping it wouldn't take that long. If I needed jeans, I'd head to the store, beeline to where the jeans were, pick out what I wanted, pay for it, and then be out the door in around 5 minutes. But now… I was just strolling through the city.

My trip started with me focused on things that could keep me alive, which meant I found a pharmacy and bought a bunch of medicine. Patch had told me about a place out near the Roaring Drake. It was a small medical shop that was hidden in a tiny shopping center. When I got there I figured that I'd just grab a bit of bandages and some disinfectant and be finished in about ten minutes. But I ended up spending about two hours in the pharmacy.

The owner was this ancient dude who had way more hair on his chin than his head. He was sporting these thick glasses and I was half-convinced that he couldn't see me properly even with them on. When I plopped my medkit down on his counter and told him I was looking to restock it, he stared at it for a moment, then tsked and said "yea… we need to fix this." Then he basically gave me a two hour course on first aid.

We went over proper bandaging techniques, what different antiseptics and antibiotics actually do, when to use certain ointments that he suggested I buy, and basic infection management. By the end of it, I walked out with a full restock of bandages, some antibiotics (including penicillin) and a bunch of ointments for burns and cuts and other stuff. By the time I left, my First Aid skill had jumped up to Rank 2 and I had everything I needed for whatever the world is gonna throw my way next.

My next stop was a bookstore. It was this cramped little shop with books everywhere. They were stacked on the floor and piled in the corners and they took up the aisles. They were piled on top of each other like unstable little towers. Walking through the place felt like walking through a maze, and I was constantly worried that I'd bump into something and it would all come crashing down around me and they'd find my body two weeks later having been buried under an avalanche of books.

The owner of the shop was this guy who… I don't think he was all there. It took me a good ten minutes before he figured out that I had a shopping list of books (the ones that Mushroom suggested) and that I was interested in other recommendations that he had. While he sorted through the inventory and muttered under his breath and piled the books I wanted up by the front counter, I wandered through the rest of his shop. There was a small room in the back of the store, and the place was dedicated wholly to music.

It was amazing, just this quiet little room with all these albums and piles of sheet music. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. I've been messing around with my guitar a lot and playing whenever I've got the chance. Since Instrument Mastery is one of my class skills, I figure that it's important that I get it as high as possible.

Plus, I prefer leveling that over trying to level Persona, especially because I'm still a little freaked about what it's doing to me. Unfortunately, it feels like the skill has been slowing down. I've been practicing, but I'm not progressing it past rank 3. Part of the issue is that I don't actually know entire songs. When I fiddle with my guitar I can play the chorus or a riff or two, but I can't remember entire tracks of songs.

Thankfully, the tiny room had a bunch of guitar tab books and stuff about music played in The MIZ. I rifled through a bunch and, apparently, I can read guitar tabs now. It's kinda weird. Anyway, I added a bunch of sheet music to the books Mushroom suggested. When I was finished with the bookstore, I still had the idea of Instrument Mastery in my mind and I started wondering if I'm plateauing because I've only been using a single instrument. It's called Instrument Mastery and not Guitar Mastery.

So I stopped by this tiny antique/junk shop and found a harmonica buried under a pile of random stuff. It's small and easy to carry and different enough from a guitar that maybe it'll help me push the skill forward. With all that done, I went down the checklist that 7Spirals gave me and started filling out the rest of my gear. Someone in the thread said that they wanted me to talk about numbers and lists and to make everything more gamelike. I… really don't want to.

But I'll give you a list of what I've got in my dimensional storage space and, maybe seeing it will get you all off my back.

[Dimensional Storage Space] Blanket Piece of Canvas (sold for 1 credit) Dented Cooking Pot (sold for 1 credit) Small Journal Pencils Two Forks One Spoon Tiny Bowl from Mortar and Pestle set (sold for 1 credit) Offering Doll Bone-handled knife with cracked leather sheath Medkit (fully stocked) Canteen Flare Gun (purchased 3 rounds) Rations Water purifier Multitool Corva's Hand Axe Flashlight Bedroll Cooking Pot and Mess Kit Matches Lighter Hammer Shovel Crowbar Whetstone Soap Sewing Kit Mirror Glowrods Roap Duct Tape That's everything that I picked up today.

If you guys see something that's missing, let me know so I can stock up. I don't want to head back out into the Deadlands and get stuck somewhere and wish I bought more food or something. StoryLeech | I've been practicing, but I'm not progressing it past rank 3. | That happens to every skill. They all slow down once you get to a specific point. We talked about the Drifter class that Corva had and how it could get any skill up to Rank 7 pretty quickly. Most classes take much longer to level their skills.

There's a soft cap where things start to slow down, and you've hit it. Rank 1 -> 2 is fairly easy. You'll get there just by doing the thing a few times. Rank 2 -> 3 is still pretty manageable, especially for class-related skills. Rank 3 -> 4 is where you start to feel resistance. Progress slows, but it's still doable with consistent effort. Rank 4+ is where you start the grind. At that point, you've only got two real options in how to raise your skills. Either you practice a lot.

And I'm talking about deliberate, focused repetition. Or you find a trainer who knows what they're doing and can push you past the early ranks. Class skills, like your Instrument Mastery, are a bit easier to raise than non-class skills. But easier doesn't mean easy. It's still going to take some time. 101610166 Shouldn't one of the Primaries be guiding you through all this? Like… Binary or Crush or Mushroom?

Binary_Arcana I'll say it again, what Zeke buys in The MIZ right now doesn't really matter for what I've got planned for him. The books that Mushroom suggested, especially the ones that are tied to Puzzle Intuition, might be useful. The next arc isn't at all combat-focused. I'm sending him after undiscovered lore. It's not going to be particularly dangerous and I'm not sending him out to the Deadlands and he won't have to interact with anyone else. I'm just waiting for the official handoff of the Primary status.

Once that's done, I'll give him some directions. Since we're still technically in Crush's primary arc, it's up to him to guide Zeke. 10161066 | It's not going to be particularly dangerous | You say that as if he's not about to get dragged into a "conversation" with the Pale Regiment. If they decide that they're interested in him, he can end up getting tossed into a locked room and "interviewed" about whatever information he's got about glyphs.

If that happens, that's going to put a damper on your whole peaceful lore discovery plan, doesn't it? Maybe you should help him not get kidnapped. NullSigil Hastings is right. The horrible Primaries are dropping the ball, and now the Best Primary has to step up to the plate.

And before anyone objects: Crush needed a committee to successfully navigate Zeke through the Under-MIZ, he still almost died multiple times, and Binary is out here planning an incredibly boring arc that'll only be interesting to a select few people. Much like everything else he posts on the forum. The bar is so low I can practically moonwalk over it. Zeke, let's call this guide: "How Not to Get Kidnapped and Interrogated and Tortured by the Pale Regiment: A Beginner's Guide."

Step one, and I cannot stress this enough, let Patch do the talking. That's literally what you're paying him for. He's got the contacts and the experience and the survival instincts to know when a convo with the Pale Regiment is about to go very, very wrong. All you're there to do is nod occasionally and look like the guy who got extremely lucky. Here's the basic idea: the more interesting you are, the more dangerous your situation becomes.

You want to come across as just some random who got abnormally lucky and absolutely not worth looking into. You're not some mastermind. You're not some glyph prodigy. You're just some guy who stumbled into a lucky situation and somehow didn't die. That's your story, so you should stick to it. Now… glyphs. They're definitely going to ask about the glyphs. Your answer is that you found a few things when you were out adventuring. Here's the fun part, you can weaponize the whole Eaters in the Glens situation.

You should frame your story like, you went out to the Glens and came across some strange cult-like activity and they were using these weird glyphs and you had to run away from a bunch of dangerous entities that you didn't fully understand. Then you found the glyphs and ran back to The MIZ and were tossed into a situation which, surprisingly, allowed you to use the few glyphs that you picked up. Then you just stop talking. You need to play dumb, but not too dumb.

You've got to walk a line between "useful scavenger" and "asset worth kidnapping." I know you said that you never planned to head back to the Glens, and we all take you very seriously wink wink but the cool thing is if you do this right, you can have the Pale Regiment head out there and start poking around. The best case scenario is that the Pale Regiment looks into the Glens and decides that they're a problem and go and deal with it.

The worst case is that they find nothing and come back annoyed, but still less focused on you. Either way, you've successfully redirected their attention. Now, here's the final piece of advice. If the Pale Regiment is willing to buy from you, then don't just ask for credits. Money is nice, but it's also incredibly boring. You've got a bunch of rare alchemical materials, and you should try to use that to negotiate for something that they wouldn't usually part with.

And by that, I mean you should ask for a keystone elixir. It's a high-tier advancement item that's a single use. You drink it and a skill you choose jumps straight to Rank 7. There's no grinding or reading books or training montage. Just drink it and BOOM, you're talented now. If you can actually get your hands on one of those, that would be the single best thing you can walk away with. Think about it.

You'd get an instant survivability boost, a massive power spike, and a skill that would make you competitive in the Deadlands. You'd go from barely keeping up to incredibly skilled. You're going to want to use it on something practical though. Maybe use it on first aid or melee weapons or something like that. Don't burn it on something niche like Puzzle Intuition. CrushDaddyXx (Primary) No Zeke.

As your real Primary, I'm telling you to get that elixir and then use it to boost your Performance and become a Rockstar of destruction. NullSigil And that, Zeke, is why I'm the better primary.

Z3ke (Original Poster) Patch and I finally went to the Library of Reclaimed Thought to meet up with the Pale Regiment. You guys were right in that Patch did end up having to go through them to move most of the Reclaimer materials. I've been to the library a couple times before, but thinking back on it now I don't think I ever really gave you all a proper description of the place. The first time I showed up at the library, I was a complete mess.

I'd just stumbled out of the Deadlands, I think I was still dehydrated and starving and running on fumes and still trying to process the fact that I'd killed two people not that long before. At the time, "wow, cool architecture" wasn't exactly at the top of my priority list. Well, I figure that I'll fix that and give you guys a better picture of the Library. From the outside, the place is kinda underwhelming. It looks like a big suburban house in the middle of The MIZ.

And not even a cool one, just one of those oversized, cookie-cutter McMansions that you'd see in any HOA neighborhood. Nothing about it screams powerful secretive faction that hoards knowledge. But then you walk inside and everything starts becoming incredibly weird and offputting. The interior of the Library is absolutely massive. It's way bigger than it has any right to be, and when you look around your brain just hiccups and stutters because the math of the place doesn't add up.

There are these long branching wings that stretch out in different directions. That's where I'd gone before when I wandered around the Library. It's where I checked out the books that Mushroom had suggested so I could boost my history rank, and it's where I used that computer the first time I got to The MIZ so I could talk to all of you. Before anyone asks, yes I headed over there and wiped it clear. I know you were all freaking out about it before and worried that someone else would be able to log into the forum.

But it's clean now. Like I said before, I've been to the Library twice. This time was a little different though. Instead of heading off into the maze of wings, Patch took me straight to the front desk. The center of the Library is this massive cylindrical tower that connects all the wings together. From the outside you wouldn't be able to tell how big the place is, but once you're inside and standing at the front desk, it's intimidating. The place is at least twelve stories tall… maybe more.

It just goes up and up and up and it's this smooth, curving column that is lined with balconies and walkways. Three people were seated at the front desk of the library, and all of them were wearing those same porcelain masks that I'd grown used to seeing on the Pale Regiment members. They were smooth and pale and featureless, and you kinda get the heebie jeebies because they're just these blank faces that stare at you. It's incredibly unsettling to be looked at by someone when you can't really make out their eyes.

Patch handled all the talking. He walked up to them and explained that we had an appointment with the Arch Lector. I don't know what the hell an Arch Lector is except that it sounds ominous. One of the people behind the desk nodded and stood up and gestured for us to follow him. Or her. Again, I can't really tell. Heading up to the top layers of the tower was when things started to get weird. There aren't any stairs or elevators or anything.

Instead, there are these long, winding ramps that twist around the inside of the tower. At first, everything felt normal. We took the ramp and it curved and then leveled out and then dipped down. But then shit started to become weird. The ramp tilted as we walked. Then it twisted and turned. Sometimes we'd be strolling along and the ramp would turn and then we'd be a level lower than where we started. At one point I'm pretty sure that we were walking sideways A minute into our stroll we were halfway up the tower.

Then, thirty seconds later, it felt like we were below where we'd entered. Like we'd been sunk into some subterranean pit. Then we were two stories up. Then we were walking back down to the front desk. It was disorienting as shit. But despite everything that my eyes were telling me - that we were walking up and down and sideways or we were stuck in place - it felt like we were constantly moving forward and traveling up through the tower. It was like my sense of direction had gotten hijacked and replaced with up.

Eventually our guide led us to a room behind a nondescript door. The room was… I'm really struggling to figure out a word to use other than weird. I feel like I've used that word so often that it's kinda lost its efficacy. So instead, I'm just going to describe the room and let you all make up your own mind about it. The room reminded me of a professor that I used to know. He was pretty young for a professor and I remember one day he invited a bunch of us over for a party he was hosting.

There were a bunch of us that crammed into his tiny apartment. I was one of the first people there for the party, and he gave a tour of his cramped apartment. He had this tiny little study and the place was absolutely overflowing with books. They were stacked on the floor and piled on the table and the bookshelves were bending under the weight of them. Looking at the room, it was obvious that every single one of those books had been read, handled, and cared for. They were… precious to him.

This room wasn't at all like that study. Here, the books felt more curated. It was like they weren't there to be read, but more to make a statement. Nothing was out of place and nothing was accidental and everything gave off this quiet, almost oppressive feeling that everything in the room existed exactly where it was meant to. And that included us. Just being in the room I could feel this oppressive order pressing down on us. We were being catalogued and dissected and I absolutely hated the feeling.

And at the center of the room, seated behind a large wooden desk, was the man we were there to see: the Arch Lector. He wore the same porcelain mask as the other people in the Pale Regiment, but his stood apart slightly. Where the other masks were smooth and blank, his had thin red markings that were etched across the forehead. There was an unevenness to the markings, and I had no clue what they meant. Honestly, I didn't want to know what they meant.

Just looking at them sent a cold shiver up my spine and made it very clear that I shouldn't go digging for answers. Patch and I took our seats across from him and he didn't waste time on small talk.

"How did you come to know of Experiment 12-B?" I glanced over at Patch, hoping that he'd step in and take over the negotiations. He gave me a small, reassuring nod and that made me want to huff and grumble. I mean, he was here to protect me…right? I turned back to the Arch Lector and went with the story that you all helped me build. I told him that I'd been out in the Glens for a while before ever making it to The MIZ, and that I'd run into a group there.

"They were some kind of weird cult. They were strange and insular and not at all the kind of people that you want to hang around. When I first got to the Glens I noticed something was…off," I said.

"And I didn't stay around long enough to find anything out about their weird religion." I didn't even need to lie for this part of the story. Remembering my time in the church in the Glens had me shivering a bit.

"I was able to hide in their church when I was there, and I was watching a religious rite that they performed. It was some kind of ritual where their priest carved out a guy's eye and packed it away in a wooden box." That got a reaction. Or at least, I think it did. It was hard to read the guy with his mask on, but the room itself seemed to shift a bit. I made it clear that I had nothing to do with the cult and that I'd just been trying to escape and survive.

I explained what I'd "learned" while getting out, and said that I'd overheard them talking about something that resided deep in the Under-MIZ. They called it the Reclaimer, and they boasted of these glyphs that could kill it. I kept my explanation messy and uncertain on purpose, giving the Arch Lector only a small smattering of information.

Then I told him that I grabbed the glyphs and I didn't fully understand them - which was true - because my glyph writing was only at rank 2, and that most of what I did was just piece together the glyphs from fragments and half-understood notes. While I was telling the story I could feel my Persona activate and doing something in the background. I'm not sure what exactly it did. Maybe it was smoothing out the lies or making me sound more convincing. Maybe it was actually making me believe the story as I told it.

That last part actually freaked me out a little but I pushed it aside and tried not to dwell on it. When I finished, the room fell silent. The Arch Lector just stared at me through his mask and I was reminded of something I'd heard from a lawyer once. He said that interrogators often used silence as a tool. They'd leave gaps in the conversation and let the other person get uncomfortable enough to start filling them with information.

I pushed down my discomfort and just sat there, holding the Arch Lector's gaze while waiting for him to ask any follow up questions.

"And the storage?" he finally asked.

"One of my people reports that you produced items from thin air." I didn't even get the chance to answer as Patch stepped in immediately.

"That information isn't part of the trade." There was a weight behind his voice. It was firm and final and left no wiggle room for the Arch Lector to push through. It was a line drawn in the sand and a warning to stop asking questions. Another long pause followed as the Arch Lector turned his attention to Patch. Finally, he gave a slow nod.

"Very well." And just like that, it was dropped. After that, things shifted a bit. The conversation turned away from an interrogation and became more transactional. The Arch Lector explained that they were willing to offer compensation for the Reclaimer materials that they hadn't been able to recover for themselves - I bristled at the reminder that they looted my kill - and that this compensation didn't need to be limited to credits.

The Arch Lector reached into his desk and pulled out a small bell from one of the drawers there. He rang it once and then placed the bell on the desk before sitting back in his seat and waiting. A few moments later, two more members of the Pale Regiment entered from a side door. They carried three chests between them and carefully set them down on the desk before stepping back. Patch and I got up from our chairs and moved closer to the chests, eager to see what they contained.

The Arch Lector also got up and moved to the first chest, taking a key from his desk and opening it. The chest was small. It was about the size of a bread box. And inside it was a clear vial filled with a faintly glowing liquid, looking like someone had trapped a piece of light inside glass.

"This is a Keystone Elixir," he explained as Patch and I gaped at the vial.

"Your associate here indicated that you were interested in such an item. We will part with one. Only one." Before Patch or I could say anything, the man moved onto the second chest. This one was slightly larger and when he opened it my jaw dropped. A knife sat in the middle of the chest. It was a weird knife, its handle quickly morphing into a blade without any guard protecting it. I think it was called a seax.

I remember watching that show Vikings and the characters always had a long blade that reminded me of this one. The blade was made of a dark metal. It was sleek and almost matte black in coloring. When the Arch Lector pulled the knife out of the chest and laid it down on the desk, I could see faint lines running along the blade. They looked almost like silver veins.

"This is Searfang," he said and I could almost hear derision leaking into his modified voice. I gave him a puzzled glance and he gave a small, dismissive motion of his hand.

"The smith who created it had a tendency to name his work. He believed it imbued them with greater significance. I do not share that belief. It is, at its core, a simple knife. However, it possesses certain enhancements." I leaned in slightly, desperately wanting to pick up the knife to get a closer look.

"The blade can generate heat on command. There is a trigger along the hilt that activates the effect. Once engaged, it becomes hot enough to cut through most materials. It doesn't matter if it is bone, metal, or reinforced plating. Care should be taken while using it." The Arch Lector gave us enough time to coo over the knife before turning to the final chest. This was the largest of the three and, based off the other two items, my expectations were sky high.

He rested his hand on the lid for a moment to build some tension before lifting it open. And inside were books. It was a small, carefully arranged stack of them. Frankly, it was a bit underwhelming, especially compared to the elixir and Searfang.

"These are curated works from our collection." He reached down and lifted the top book, holding it out so I could see the cover.

"They contain knowledge of the religions found within The MIZ and the surrounding Deadlands. As well as the customs, structures, and behaviors of those who inhabit them." He set the book aside and gestured to the rest.

"You will also find detailed observations regarding the Rift Scar, the Deadlands proper, the Under-MIZ, and the city itself. They list the patterns, the anomalies, and their tendencies. They should prove useful in developing areas in which you are currently lacking." I understood immediately what the man was saying. I leaned in and took a closer look at the stack of books. They were like what Mushroom had got me to buy - books that would raise several of my skills as soon as I read them.

Patch stepped forward and gave the three chests one more measured look before nodding.

"That's acceptable," he said. And with that, the transaction was finished. What followed was almost anticlimactic. We handed over the Reclaimer materials and the two Pale Regiment members in the Arch Lector's office took them without ceremony. In return, the chests were closed and slid towards us. Along with them came a transfer of credits. It was so much more money than I'd ever held at one time. Patch gave it a quick confirmation that everything was good and that was that.

With everything finished, Patch and I got up to leave but the Arch Lector held out a hand to stop us. We turned back around and I could feel his gaze settle on me.

"You have done well to survive what you have encountered, even with such little understanding." There was a pause there as he seemed to look deeper in me. I could feel the weight of his attention settle over me.

"But understanding has a way of finding those who attract the attention of the deeper things." The guy wasn't making a lot of sense, talking all cryptic and the like. But something in the tone of his voice made my stomach tighten.

"Should you continue on your present path, you may find that knowledge is not the only thing that takes an interest in you." He inclined his head slightly.

"A thought worth carrying." With that, Patch and I got the fuck out of there. I was left with the creepy last words of the Arch Lector bouncing around in my head, slightly pissed that the man could unsettle me so easily. We hurried back to the Roaring Drake as I tried to push the last interaction with the Arch Lector out of my head. I'd got an elixir, a knife, a bunch of books, and a shit ton more credits than I started with. And yet somehow, it didn't feel like things were about to get easier.