Chương 24: The Next Plan

"What has you so dazed, Ivan?" Rys was the one who had called him. She sat on a crate near the pot, bowl in hand, her damp hair combed back while her ears pricked at every raised voice. Ren leaned against her leg, eyes half‑closed over his own stew.

"Nothing much," Ivan said with a smile.

"Just thinking about the fight. Level 100 is strong."

"No need to be so humble, Ivan, we've all seen what you're capable of," Yara said from where she had claimed an upturned barrel. Her armor hung open at the throat and under one arm. Her sword stood point‑down in the dirt beside her. Gareth stood just behind her left shoulder, as if he'd been carved there, arms folded. Elizabeth perched on a crate with her staff horizontal over her lap, eyes hooded but too sharp as she drank coffee.

Leo poured from the pot with the care of a man who did not want to be yelled at for short servings. Marcus sat a little away from the fire with his back against a log, one hand on the ground, the other resting near Hanno's shoulder. The big man slept under bandages and a blanket, chest moving slow but steady. They said he might not wake up before they returned to America. The only reason he had survived at all was a Blessing. Ivan finished his tea and collected a bowl and moved to sit near Marcus.

"Thinking and reflecting on a fight is all good, but eating is important," the healer said with a soft smile.

"I agree," Ivan said. The first spoonful burned his tongue and tasted like the best thing he'd had in months. Gareth's attention shifted his way. Ivan felt the prickle under his skin a heartbeat before the man spoke. [External Inspection Detected.] [Source: Gareth Holt – Level 109] [Allow inspection? Y/N] [Advanced option: Edit Displayed Information] Ivan didn't even pause his spoon. Edit, he thought. Show Race: Human Level 15. Show Class as Arcane Scribe, Level 15. And let's just hide everything else.

Information flexed and snapped into the familiar lie. On the other side of the fire, Gareth frowned.

"This doesn't add up," he muttered.

"Still Human, Level fifteen. After all that, you should be blasting through Level 25 at least." Elizabeth's voice drifted over, dry.

"Maybe your skill is broken." Gareth ignored her.

"That is a fake status, isn't it? What type of Item are you using? A Level fifteen Human does not help kill a General." Ivan lifted his bowl a fraction.

"Maybe I'm just very motivated." He had intentionally left it at Level 15, not by mistake. It was a good thing if they thought he was bigger than he really was. Elizabeth lifted her staff point a little, eyes still mostly closed.

"Inspect." The System brushed him again, sharper. [External Inspection Detected.] [Source: Elizabeth Warren – Level 117] [Allow inspection? Y/N] [Advanced option: Edit Displayed Information] He suppressed a sigh and gave the same answer. Another prompt blinked underneath. [Repeated output pattern detected.] [Save this edited profile as your default public inspection display? Y/N] Finally. He was surprised and a little annoyed that this option had not appeared before. Yes.

The System clicked around the lie, locking it into place like a saved template with his name on it. Elizabeth's eyes opened fully as she read.

"Human," she said.

"Level fifteen. Yeah, it's a fake." Leo smirked.

"Nah, Gareth's surely right, he's surely just weak and pathetic. You guys saw." Ivan scraped the side of the bowl with his spoon.

"Keep talking. I'm taking notes."

"You have a lying Class," Elizabeth said.

"What's your true Level? What's your Class?"

"It keeps me alive," he said. Yara watched the exchange with a thoughtful frown.

"Alright, enough. Stop pressuring him. I don't care what his Status says," she said.

"I care what he did. We all do, and we should be grateful for it."

"Thank you," Ivan said. Gareth's jaw tightened.

"Let's just hope we're not feeding a snake," he said. Ivan let it go. Gareth's suspicion was almost comforting. It meant the man was still doing his job. Yara reached into her pack and pulled out a small leather book and quill.

"I need your help with something," she said. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

"That sounds dangerous," he said.

"Go on." She balanced the book on her knee.

"We have to send a report as soon as possible since this isn't a small matter," she said.

"The Council did not authorize us to decapitate a Chain outpost let alone go crazy and kill one of their Generals not far away from Victor's seat." Marcus snorted.

"Understatement."

"If I write 'We saw injustice and decided to fix it,'" she went on, "half of Aurora's archivists will faint and the other half will demand I come home in chains. So. I need the truth, shaped in a way that does not look like a declaration of war. Whatever your real Class is, it is still related to being a Scribe, yes? Can you help me figure out what to write?"

"... A Scribe isn't quite a journalist or writer, but sure," Ivan said.

"Hmm. I've got an idea. Maybe you should start with, 'We came across an established Chain processing site supplying transoceanic routes, in violation of multiple treaties. We attempted to assert the Aurora's right to inspect conditions. The Chain responded with force and unleashed a collared monster into an area containing civilians. We intervened in defense of our lives and the captives. Somehow a General reached the dock, decided we were the masterminds, and attempted to kill us. What followed was self defence.'"

Yara frowned for a moment and looked as if she might reject the idea. Then her quill moved, neat script laying down exactly that.

"It is accurate," she said.

"Omitting only that we fully intended to make a mess before we started talking."

"Intentions are hard to prove," Ivan said.

"Actions less so. By the way, won't the Aurora know? As a Primordial and your sponsor, she probably saw right?"

"The Aurora understands the situation better than the human council will, rest assured. While she didn't permit us to attack the camp initially, she didn't reprimand me despite everything that happened either. That means she's not dissatisfied with my actions," she explained.

"That's good."

"Then we add," she said while writing, "that an unaffiliated caster tampered with slave‑control devices against my express orders, forcing our hand to limit casualties." Gareth looked at him.

"That would be you."

"How terrible," Ivan said.

"These reckless civilians, always getting in the way. You might even have to scold me in the margin." Marcus huffed out something like a laugh. Yara signed the paragraph with a small, crisp flourish and set the book aside to dry.

"You're wasted in a scribe vault," she said.

"I was," he agreed. She studied him for a long heartbeat.

"I don't know what your Class is, but we could use someone like you," she said.

"In the field. In the Citadel. You think around corners. You don't freeze. You understand what reports do. You'd fit in anywhere. Even in my team." He stared at her.

"That sounded like recruitment," he said.

"It is," Yara said without flinching.

"If you traveled east with us and converted to Aurora's light, my commander would very likely petition her for a Blessing on your behalf. The Aurora doesn't ignore people who break chains and put their own lives under her sky. Not if they stand under her sun willingly." The gods' offers flickered again at the corner of his sight, faint echoes. None of those four were as strong as the Primordial, Dawnbound Aurora. In fact, she was one of the few beings in reality who could stand against Victor's sponsor…

Ivan thought of Victor's hand closing around his throat, invisible pressure crushing his windpipe while the Heart's glow filled his vision. He thought of golden code burning into his skull when he rewrote the Corrupted Scroll.

"Flattering," he said in the end.

"Fate is a strange thing. Just a few months ago I'd have been ecstatic at that offer. But… thank you for the offer, but no." Gareth's head snapped around.

"Look at this arrogant bastard," he said.

"You speak of the Aurora as if she were some petty lord. Her Blessing is a gift beyond–""Gareth," Yara said. He closed his jaw with an audible click but did not look away from Ivan.

"His refusal is his own," Yara said.

"The Aurora does not need you to be offended on her behalf." Marcus cleared his throat.

"Did you already get other offers, perhaps?" Ivan nodded.

"Four. Two of them are Major. All very generous."

"And you refused all of them? Hmm. Your choice is your own, and I have no right to tell you otherwise, but the Aurora does not bless just anybody. Here only Yara and Elizabeth have her Blessing. You should consider this a bit more," Marcus suggested.

"I have someone in mind," Ivan lied.

"Sorry, I can't say who. Personal reasons." Marcus held his gaze for a moment, then let it go. They didn't have another clean opening to press him. Yara sighed and closed the little leather book. Elizabeth sipped her coffee and watched him over the rim with open curiosity. Up close, in the firelight, she looked less like a sleepy student and more like an alert mage ready to step into battle.

She was short and slim, with long dark‑blue hair half‑tangled down her back and a robe scorched at one hem where something had tried to bite through space and failed. Her teal eyes were the only truly awake thing about her.

"So," she said.

"You get four offers in one night and say no to all of them? Seems you have big plans." He shrugged.

"I don't know, I just have bad experiences with people who think they own the board."

"You're aware most people would kill for even a Humble Blessing," she said.

"Especially in your case, where you have just the Skill but not enough mana to use it freely. You're treating them like spare potions when you ought to be wiser than that."

"Give up, I'm not going to be convinced," he said.

"I have my reasons." Her lips twitched.

"Stubborn," she said.

"Stupidly stubborn, but… useful. I'm curious how far you'll reach like this." Ivan went back to eating. Elizabeth kept watching him over her coffee. He noticed, obviously; he just didn't have anything useful to say back. Rys's ears flicked. The fox woman's tail curled lazily behind her as she leaned back on her crate. She looked at Ivan and then at Elizabeth.

"Careful, Sorceress," she warned.

"You're staring too much. You'll set my human on fire." Elizabeth snorted, unbothered.

"If I set him on fire, he might be born anew like some phoenix." She turned her attention back to Ivan.

"Tomorrow," she said to Ivan, "I want you with me when we look at that Void Ship. Its runes are old and dangerous, and the Chain likes to tangle their control webs. You see structure the way I see flow, which should help us the way it helped today."

"Fine by me." Rys huffed softly.

"Everyone wants a piece of you now," she murmured to Ivan.

"Gods, sun knights, and now space mages."

"Jealous?" Ivan asked.

"Of course," she said, clearly lying.

"But at my age, you learn to be patient. I can wait." Yara pushed herself to her feet. The movement dragged a wince out of her before she forced her shoulders square again.

"Enough for tonight," she said.

"We have four hours before first light. Gareth, Leo, you guys take the first watch. Marcus, you sleep. Elizabeth, if you're still upright in ten minutes I'll take that staff away."

"Hey, I just had coffee…" Elizabeth tried but Yara sent her a glare. She sighed.

"Yes, captain," Elizabeth said, already setting her cup aside. Yara's gaze found Ivan last.

"Four hours," she said.

"Then we go to the harbor, take their Void Ship, and put as much sea as we can between the people we freed and this place. Victor and the Chain will feel this, and I do not want to risk him coming here personally." If she's really worried about Victor coming personally, even four hours is a risk, Ivan thought, nodding.

"I'll be there. I want that ship out of their hands as much as you do."

"Good," she said simply, and turned away to murmur with Gareth about patrol routes. The fire sank lower. Armor creaked as people finally let themselves sag. Ren had gone boneless against Rys' hip; she shifted just enough to tuck a spare cloak around him, then rested her head back against the crate and closed her eyes. Ivan set his empty bowl down near the pot. Four hours wasn't enough sleep for tomorrow. It was just what they had.