The Golem, Meteo City

Though business hours technically don't start for The Golem until around mid-afternoon, Lifk is more than happy to accommodate the both of us in light of our relationship, and even shares in a slightly teary 'cheers' after we relay the tale of how Geronil met his end by our hands. Something that happened a bit ahead of schedule thanks to our surprising success at taking down his minions, but I don't think either of us are about to complain.

Supposedly, his wife was one of the many abduction victims a few years ago. And while he's given up hope of ever seeing her again, hearing about how the mastermind behind her disappearance has been brutalised and killed has given him immense peace of mind.

Thereafter, he leaves me and Henna to hash out the details of what exactly I hope to accomplish, and what role she has in the whole scheme.

To summarise, Henna will, on paper at the very least, be an Officer of Truthseekers - Guilds aren't exclusively for players, after all - but won't be part of the management structure formally. At least, for the time being. Should she change her mind, I can find a way to accommodate her, but she's content to have unrestricted access to the Guild's eventual resources, once we eventually get the ball rolling.

Once we get enough people to create our business arm, provisionally named 'Meteor Manufactory' she will be joining that as well, as one of the core members and given a share of the profits, a generous 8% of total profits once all fees and taxes have been squared off, with the rest going back into Meteor Manufactory and Truthseekers in whatever ratio seems necessary at the time. That might not sound like a lot, but even board members of major corporations back in reality would be lucky to have as much as 5%, according to some of the research I did on the subject, and the value of the business promises to rival or even eclipse them, if we play our cards right.

Admittedly, there's a lot of optimism, maybes and wishful thinking wrapped up in there, but Henna shut down any attempt I made to temper her expectations with nought but a quiet stare. Her faith in me is burdensome, but more comfortable to carry than the weight of my grander ambitions.

As for Meteor Manufactory itself, it'll be based out of Stone Arsenal, which will need extensive renovations in order to house all the equipment, resources and people employed there. Perhaps it would be in some ways smarter to buy the deed to a more suitable building, but that involves even more legal and reputation-grinding themed hoops that need jumping through, and I've already expended much of the goodwill we've accumulated. Since Henna - technically her family - fully owns the rights to Stone Arsenal as a business, as a building and the land on which it sits, we can skip all that.

All we need now is a good Schematic, the required materials and a team of Architects. Which will, naturally, be exceptionally expensive, and we definitely lack the funds to enact the plan, however, as with the fifty Stone Gold fee, it is a necessary investment that will pay for itself in time.

It helps, of course, that as Stone Arsenal is now under the umbrella of Truthseekers, we can funnel a chunk of the profits gained from sales towards that end, something Henna agreed to easily enough. Moreover, I will be foregoing the market stall idea for my Appraisal business and operating out of the shop instead, selling more Miner's Nightmare equipment while we're at it - though I still need to register myself as a Merchant if I don't want the City Guard bashing down the door to arrest me for tax evasion and so on.

In summary, I'm essentially Sponsoring Henna's business. Just in an ass-backwards kind of way.

All that's left now is to go to City Hall and get the paperwork sorted.

"You're off with the stars again, Silver," Henna interrupts my thoughts.

"Give me a Stone Platinum and I'll gladly share my thoughts with you," I quip, taking a long draught of the cheap, slightly stale beer served here. I've definitely had better, but you get what you pay for.

Unamused, Henna punches my arm, just hard enough that if she were seriously trying to hurt me it'd probably snap. Wincing, I rub the sore area, "Mind your strength."

"Stop making the exact same terrible joke," She snorts, merciless.

"When I develop a more sophisticated sense of humour, I'll be sure to treat you to the results," I fire back sarcastically, taking another quaff of ale, choking when the front door to the establishment slams open, accompanied by the hoarse panting of a man and woman that strike me as immediately familiar.

"S-silver...there you fuckin' are..." The woman - Windy - wheezes, Angelus bringing up the rear, staggering through the open doorway.

Surprised, I rush to my feet and move to support the exhausted Beacon, "What happened?"

Reaching out, I'm struck by a wave of intense nausea that's becoming all too familiar of late for my liking, forcing me to take a half step backwards before I recover my composure and power through it, lending Angelus my shoulder and bringing him to a nearby table.

"G-give it to him, Ange," Windy huffs, the colour returning to her cheeks.

Seeing as how Angelus doesn't respond and simply stares at his clenched fist, I flick his forehead with the back of my finger, "Hey, focus."

Reluctantly, he raises his fist to me, arm shaking. Hurriedly, he snaps his eyes shut, grabs my hand with his free one and encloses a small hard object in it that sends a shiver up my arm and renders my hand almost numb, like I grasped the heart of an arctic glacier, "Take...it...away from us."

Complying, I retreat to the corner of the room, and the pair slowly relax. Curious, and still sickened, I open my fingers and discover a small, droplet-shaped black rock, shiny like polished onyx and dark as crude oil. It is reminiscent of the contents of the Pool of Desire, only solid, concentrated and lacking any form of sentience. The more I behold it, the more I feel my discomfort rise, like a phantom itch at the periphery of my mind and body.

Cautious, I use the Monocle's Appraisal ability, and get the surface details on the first try.

 

 

The effects of this item are astoundingly powerful for it's level, and although I can't see all the hidden information, it's obvious to anyone that comes into contact with the Droplet that it is exceptionally cursed. If the Presence it emanates didn't give it away, then the fact that eating this would be the equivalent of thirteen and a half levels of free attribute points for a fucking Bronze Tier consumable, anyone capable of rational thought would be suspicious. Although perhaps that's giving the Newborn a bit too much credit for this stage of the game, even if many will have developed a sort of sixth sense with how oversaturated with media the world at large is these days.

"You found this in the sewers, I take it?" I question once the pair have caught their breaths and settled their minds.

"Yes," Angelus nods, "The Subjugated Citizens were...attracted to it, it seemed."

I murmur understanding, "I suppose that makes sense."

"It's got this weird...hypnotic affect on us, but we figured that it'd be safer to hand it off to you," Windy explains, "Y'know, given the whole 'SILVER SMASH BIRDCAGE GAAAHHH' incident. Thankfully, someone saw you 'n' Henna come this way, else one of us'dve eaten it already probably."

"You make it sound like I'm some sort of Berserker," I roll my eyes, "But yes, it's probably best if I held onto it for now. I'll stop by the Warehouse when I've a free moment."

"Mm. Just, keep it away from us," Angelus pleads, "I got an uncomfortable look inside the mind of Gollum for a time there."

"As you say. I've little idea of what to ultimately do with this, but that's not really the problem that comes to the forefront of my mind," I furrow my brow, frowning deeply.

"What's wrong?" Henna questions, concerned.

"If, as they say, this was formed within the City's sewers, then we just got yet another reason to deal with Arevas," I raise the Droplet, "Think of this as being like a more concentrated form of Terrorstone. Or like the seed form of the Pool of Desire. If such treasures are able to manifest themselves inside the City itself, heedless of it's defences, then the corruption caused by Arevas' Presence simply...existing...in the area has basically reached a breaking point. If one were to dig a hole straight down, just about anywhere in Fander Field right now, they'd likely run a cropper of some Terrorstone about thirty feet down."

"And that's bad, I take it?" Angelus seeks confirmation, crossing his legs.

"Yes and no," I err, "On the one hand, it means we're not likely to run out of it any time soon, and there will almost certainly be a number of similar..let's say 'manifestations' like the Pool and this Droplet of Obsession here. The problem is that much Corruption in the area will eventually cause massive problems for the local Mana, and the people living here. It also means that Big Bird himself isn't going to be caged up for much longer."

Since none of this happened in the original timeline, I assume that someone managed to solve the problem relatively early on. Damned if I know who or how. I know and recall uncomfortably little about what exactly went down in Meteo City during the early years once I'd moved on to greener, not Rose-coloured pastures - even the public matters.

Still, knowing that a solution was presumably found and implemented quietly gives me some hope of repeating the feat.

"So, tl;dr, we need to go kick the shit out of the demon," Windy nods in understanding, handily reducing it all down with little regard for the nuance, nor the difficulty of her assertion.

"It would, if nothing else, be a step in the right direction," Angelus agrees half-heartedly, "It would deal with the source, if not the effects already in play."

I nod, putting the Droplet of Obsession into my inventory, "Agreed. Even should we find away to suppress him, that still leaves the matter of how to fix the damage that's already been done. This might not be an entirely accurate analogy, but you can think of especially powerful beings like Arevas as being akin to a rod of unstable nuclear matter, as just by their sheer existence, they destabilise and 'corrupt' matter around them. Even if you remove the rods, people would still be suffering the effects of radiation poisoning from standing nearby."

"Interesting," Angelus scratches his chin, "What kind of Level would we be talking for that to be possible?"

"I don't know," I shake my head, "But if I had to make a guess, easily several hundred."

Windy chokes, "Several hundred?!"

Both Henna and Angelus join her in silent shock, the Beacon's mouth hanging slack, while the Battlesmith immediately chugs down the rest of her drink to calm her nerves.

"Yes," I confirm, "That would be the case if he were able to bring his full might to bear, at least. Restrained as he is now, it'll be a mere fraction of what he's truly capable of, which gives us a...admittedly small chance, at least. I won't lie, there's a very high chance of suffering not just a loss, but permanent consequences."

"And we have to fight that?" Angelus looks despondent, yet resigned to our fate.

"Unless we want to start over again from scratch, yeah," Windy groans, "Stupid Quest."

"Not necessarily," I try to calm them down, "We've been summoned for an audience, which means he wishes to speak to us first. There's a slim chance that we can talk our way out of it."

Privately, I know that any reconciliation is, simply speaking, impossible, and making any sort of deal with him is likely to piss off Lady Jannis big time. Her distaste for demons is pronounced, and she absolutely will not allow one of her Blade's to exchange words with one such as Arevas that don't match the spirit of: 'I'm going to rip your soul to shreds and feed what's left to a Rogvast'.

But I believe that it's better that they have hope for a favourable outcome, as well as an understanding of the gravity of the ordeal ahead. Even in my prime, with my Guild and our connections backing us up, I wouldn't wish to butt heads with an enemy this powerful. The most I could hope for is to put a three-inch scratch on his talon.

"I'll come too," Henna thumps her chest, "I still have a score to settle with The Magpie Demon."

Much as I don't want her anywhere near Arevas, I can't find it in my heart to reject her offer of assistance, "Fine. But at the first sign of mortal danger, you are to leave immediately when an opportunity presents itself, no questions or hesitation. Our lives here are expendable, whereas you only have one chance."

"It won't come to that," Henna proclaims confidently, "You've my word on it, Silver."

"Promise me, Henna," I plead, not wanting her to throw her life away.

"If it turns for the worse, I'll be dragging you out with me," she pledges, her hand over her heart with the ring finger pressed down by her thumb, a formal salute used by the Empire of Stone's military at formal occasions. I sigh, realising that it's the best I'm going to get out of her.