Chương 8: 5A. Call Of The Abyss

The party crossed Bastion's central outer gates together. Spikes covered the exterior. Some were severely bent out of shape, while others looked half-melted. The walls extended from either side of it all around the city's heart: a massive hole that connected the center of the Level One plateau to Level Two. Most of Sam's previous employers had used the route to ascend and descend through the Abyss. It cost them nothing except the toll for entering Bastion. He only had the privilege of riding airships twice before.

The more recent one was the last time the Rangers Legion had employed him. They had ventured deep into Level Two looking for talent seeds for the offspring of Bastion's rich and powerful, and also spirits who'd be compatible with whatever gifts they received. Sam's first journey on an airship was following the Fall of Cambridge. The Rangers Legion had guided or carried survivors through their secret paths to their hidden Level Two bases. Then several vessels ferried them to other Level One plateaus and settlements.

Sam was barely conscious for the journey after almost having lost his arm.

"My talent is all about internal arcane control, especially when related to organic matter and living bodies," Sophie stated.

"It also gave me a sixth sense related to physiological states and whatnot." She nodded at Sam.

"I don't need a close inspection to know that the scar tissue around his left shoulder limits his mobility. It's nothing an awakening or skilled healer can't fix up. Last time I was in the field, my instincts told me where a corpse spider's weak points were." She grinned.

"I got a bonus for making it quick and easy for the party. It feels like a generalist talent, but no spirit I've encountered seems interested in it or me."

"It sounds specifically geared toward healing and physical enhancement," the boss told her. She wove her fingers together, brought her cupped hands together, and then opened them, releasing a swarm of bright fireflies. They stuck together as they shot ahead, weaving back and forth between the buildings on either side of the path.

"Or the opposite. Useful, but you won't find a lot of spirits related to that around here. You need to find a benevolent nature or healing spirit. We've encountered plenty of them in the Level Two's mountain quadrant. You might get lucky in one of Level Three's hospitals, but that's far from safe."

"Start with a generalist spirit who will accept almost anyone," Fred said.

"It needn't be good. Just something to start you on your journey. Then once you're stronger, you can track down a better-suited spirit."

"You're spoiled, Fred," the hooded woman said.

"Generalist spirits might seem common to us, but how often do they appear in areas a scavenger can go?" She glanced at Sam.

"We weren't kidding, and there needn't be an Inhuman involved. If either of you proves useful enough to join us on a long-term basis, we'd be willing to help you get started on your Path and even provide guidance when it comes to developing your Inner Realm."

"Subject to an employment contract, of course," the boss added.

"You'd do that?" Sophie's eyes widened. She glanced at Sam, her disbelief and surprise apparent.

"The boss helped me find my Path," the hooded woman said.

"I already had my talent and a spirit bond, but that sometimes isn't enough."

"To be fair, that was more because I wanted your talent," the boss added.

"Your scholarly experience and studies also helped. Merit had little to do with it." She smiled at Sophie.

"Healers are rare and useful. But not rare enough. So you still need to prove yourself." The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Sam glanced back at Bastion's gates. They had already closed behind the party. The road ahead spiraled around the sides of the walls connecting Abyss's upper two levels. The old urban expanse around his old home now hung abandoned, wrapped around the vertical tunnel, overtaken by nature.

Many structures stood almost perpendicular to the walls. Level One's untamed fauna nested on their sides, waiting for unwary prey to wander past. As in his last job, something in the distance tugged at the back of his mind, urging Sam to descend deeper and faster. Unlike the skies outside the Level One plateau, no clouds obscured his vision. Sam could see all the way down to Level Two. He didn't know what was calling him or what it wanted, but the sensation terrified him.

Curiosity threatened to overpower self-preservation, and Sam needed power before the world worsened and he found himself before the source, or it found him.

"Call of the Abyss?" the hooded woman asked, luminous eyes studying Sam.

"What?"

"That look on your face. The way you're studying the old skyline. You hear whispers and feel something tugging on your mind, don't you?" Sam nodded.

"How do you know?"

"It's more common than you think. A decent number of mortals and spiritless awakened report feeling it. A distant tug, drawing them toward danger, toward possible power."

"When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back," Sam said more to himself than her.

"Is it because whatever the thing is, it is calling us to our doom?"

"To some extent," the woman replied.

"We believe that this sensation is like an anglerfish's little lantern, drawing the curious and arcanically sensitive to its open maw. Maybe it's an entity. Maybe it's the wilds on the whole. It's just a theory, of course. There isn't enough data to come to an acceptable conclusion. Perhaps your experiences will help come up with a decent hypothesis." Silence followed as they stared at one another. She felt familiar now, but Sam still struggled to place her.

"So, how do you know me, Awakened?"

"Awakened?" The hooded woman laughed.

"You can drop the formalities."

"Reunions will have to wait," the boss interrupted.

"Let's brief our new friends on the job, what we can do, and everyone's roles. Do the honors, Fred."

"What do you know about the Seekers?" Fred asked, looking between the recruits.

"You're like the Rangers Legion, right?" Sophie asked.

"Except you seek powerful spirits, relics, and materials to make things better for everyone, right?"

"Not quite. That's just a bonus." Sam frowned, glancing at the hooded woman.

"You're all scholars looking for the truth behind…" He nodded at the crimson-tinted sky above and then the depths below.

"... all of this."

"Our job is to ensure the big fight that's supposed to be the end of all mortal kind never happens," the boss replied.

"We're working towards the end of all of this and trying to return to the pre-cataclysm days. Some of us work with the Rangers looking for paths to the Abyss's base and the lands outside."

"Although not all of us believe that there is an outside left," the hooded woman added.

"It's all Abyss, if you ask me. Things move around the edges; it's hard to find the lower you go. I personally like to think that the individual plateaus and towers all merge into one near the bottom. People have descended deep from Bastion and have found themselves in the Highland Towns after ascending back to Level One." She looked at Sophie.

"That's a week north by airship, for context."

"And we're not all scholars," Fred said, looking at his hooded colleague.

"Most of us are tasked with protecting the scholars, ensuring they don't get carried away, and that they remain on task. They're few and far between and have the worst survival instincts."