I lowered Callie to the ground as the shield collapsed. My head was  killing me, multiple skill manipulations aside, channeling Stone Limb  into a shadow construct was...hard. I was pretty sure we would have  caved if that had taken even a second longer. I wasn't sure if it had  really been eight minutes, but even if it hadn't I was damn relieved  Abel had conceded the match.

Once the shield dropped it  became more than apparent WHY he had done so. Abel was waist deep in the  stone floor of the chamber, looking deeply annoyed. "I get why you made  the feet rule now. I didn't expect to get screwed over by something  like that, but if you hadn't been able to hold that shield those punches  would probably have killed you, so I can't exactly call foul. Fine. You  can take the deed. Though I'd appreciate if you got me the hell out of  here. I could break out once it solidifies but I'd rather not shatter  the floors by accident and drop my ass into the void."

I  was kind of thrown, he seemed so much less...lofty now. Like he'd been  putting on an act before. I furrowed my brow at him. "How do I know you  won't just kill us when I pull you out?" I had zero hope of beating him  on my own, or even with Callie if it came down to it. Even the win we'd  gotten was mostly a combination of sneakiness and luck. This guy was on a  level I'd never even seen before. I wondered if the upper classmen of  the Academy were like him. I'd been impressed with the people we met in  the hunt, but he would have torn them apart all at the same time with  one hand.

He rolled his eyes at me. "How do you know I  won't kill you if you don't? You have no guarantee that I won't rip you a  new asshole except my own desire to keep my word. I said I wouldn't  kill you, so I won't. Hell, I could finish you from here if I really  wanted to. This whole conversation is just one big presumption. Besides.  You'll need to pass me to get the deed, and control of the territory  requires the deed. " His voice sounded exasperated and a little annoyed,  but calm enough that I wasn't worried about him killing us.

I  hesitated, but he was right. I walked over and held out a hand, and  when he took it I pulled him out of the pit. I let the Sucking Mid skill  lapse before I set him back down, and he brushed off his clothes  casually before stopping, staring at the still clinging dirt, and  glaring at me. He kept brushing, doing his best to clear off his clothes  before he rolled his eyes and turned them to face me.

Once  I hard his attention I moved to the side, trying to put myself in the  way of Callie just in case. Once that was done I raised an eyebrow. "Ok,  you're free. Now can you tell me more about this deed? You made it  sound like it's special. I get having ownership of the land is useful,  but a piece of paper isn't exactly some invincible artifact. Does it  really matter who has the deed?" I flicked my gaze to the rolled up  piece of paper on the pedestal behind him, trying to spot anything  special or interesting about it.

Abel just rolled his  eyes. "Babies, the lot of you. The land owned by the WCP belongs to the  WCP. That's not just a tautology, it's a magically binding declaration.  They claimed this territory. There are high ranking implications for  things like that, but on a planet like this the main function of the  deed is that it entitles the holder to access the protective measures  the WCP puts in place. Someone who own a deed is a designated land  holder, and their authority is designated by the Deacon."

That  made sense. The Flame Riot Militia for instance, didn't have the  authority to ask for protection from the WCP. The had their own  organization, but they weren't entitled to membership perks. "So you're  saying if anyone screws with the deed holder the others all...what? Dog  pile them when they get out of line? Some kind of mutual aggression  pact?" That was impressive, but it didn't really sound like magic. He'd  made it sound like there was some kind of force that would strike down  on violators.

Sure enough, the question got a head shake.  "No. There are literal defenses. Wards, gun emplacements, that kind of  thing. As long as the attackers don't breach the tier barrier the other  signatories don't step up, but even taking down a deed holder with same  rank enemies is nearly impossible with access to the defenses. If he's  trying to retrieve the deed the situation must be bad, but that's the  reason I hid it from him. With the defenses it shouldn't be an issue to  deal with most G ranked threats. Unless the original me is helping them  he should be fine. Still, you passed the trial so if he has people like  you around and is still in trouble I suppose it might be necessary."

I  had another thought though. A terrible thought. "These are WCP defenses  right? So would someone with a high enough access level be able to  override them?" I didn't think Cicero was aware of the other candidate,  but I was. We had black cards that gave us unfettered access to the WCP.  We had to pay for that access when it was needed, but things like  transportation were free, so maybe access to the protections was too.

He  cocked his head quizzically. "I mean...I guess if you theoretically had  access that surpassed the Deacon of the branch maybe. I don't think  they even have access levels that high though, or at least I've never  heard of them." I had. At least I was pretty sure I had, but it  introduced a variable no one else was aware of in either case. That was  something I'd need to take into account.

The biggest  surprise was the tier limit. I'd known the higher tiers didn't interfere  in this kind of thing for fear of starting an all out war, but knowing  there was a codified rule when it came to land owners cast that in a  much more reliable light. Before it had been entirely predicated on  people being smart enough to do what was best for them, and I didn't  have much faith in that when it came to money and power. This at least  explained why the Jerks and their friends hadn't steamrolled Cicero, or  at least why they hadn't tried. The defenses were scaring them off, and  even if their candidate could shut them down it would be announcing  their existence way too early.

My head hurt. I hated  politics. None of this made any real sense to me, and all the mitigating  factors and secondary motives were adding to my already absurd  migraine. I walked over to pick up the deed before turning to Abel, or  rather, Abel's...clone? His double. "So, what happens to you after this?  Do you die? Fade away? You're some kind of guardian right? Will you  still be here without anything to guard?" I'd never seen Spruce Bunny  fight, but Abel (this Abel) was a damn monster. He'd left an impression,  and part of me felt a loss for the world if he just vanished.

He  shrugged. "I'm not really a person, kid. I'm a snapshot. People grow,  they change. The original me will have been training for all the years  I've been down here, and he'll be much stronger than I am for the  effort. Me vanishing isn't death, its more like someone deleting a  video. Trust me, if I was a real boy I'd have gone crazy sitting down  here in this room for years on end. It speaks well of you that you're  worried about it, but don't be. If anything, I'm grateful."

That  left me flabbergasted. "Grateful? To us? But we beat you. Now you're  just vanishing. If you're self aware enough to have this conversation  shouldn't you be self aware enough to want to live?" I didn't understand  how this could work. He seemed so at peace with fading, and thinking of  myself in the same situation I'd be terrified out of my mind. He was  just going to be gone.

He just chuckled. "Grateful because  I was bored. Just because I can't change enough to lose my mind doesn't  mean I'm not aware. This place was boring the hell out of me. You  entertained me for a bit and I appreciate it. As for being afraid...how  to explain this? You ever look in a mirror?" I nodded impatiently,  obviously I'd looked in a mirror what kind of question was that? "Right,  when you move away from the mirror, does your reflection look scared?  Do you think it feels discomfort at the idea of vanishing?"

I  hadn't considered that, but it still felt weird to just leave him to  fade. "I guess not. Do your memories go to your other self at least?  Like will he know all the things you've done for him? Also when are you  going to fade? You still seem fine, is there some way we can preserve  you?" I just couldn't accept someone who'd impressed me so much  vanishing like they didn't even exist. I even considered trying to drop a  hint to get him to wish to be real, but I was pretty much dead certain I  didn't have the stats to CREATE a G ranked Ascendant out of some  illusion guardian.

Sadly,  there was nothing to be done. Even as I asked the question I noticed  him starting to become less solid. He saw my expression and shrugged.  "The guardian enchantment was anchored to the deed. Now that its gone so  am I. Don't worry too much about it kid, I had fun in our fight. Say  hey to the original me when you see him will you?" He gave me a casual  salute with his ring and middle finger before just...vanishing. He'd  been fading and then he just popped like a soap bubble.

I  held the deed in my hand, staring at the spot he'd been with a  complicated expression before walking over to pick up Callie. My  unconscious girlfriend groaned and nuzzled against me, and I wiped blood  from under her nose tenderly. She'd done a lot of the heavy lifting  there. I decided I'd focus on making the alterations to some of my DS  Mastery subskills defensive. I had a few things in mind. I had ways to  cover most eventualities but I needed to be a bit more focused with my  build to maximize my combat strength. Now that I knew how to upgrade I  was going to turn DS Mastery into a truly powerful Skill.

As  I made my way back through the labyrinth I smiled down at Callie. I  needed to catch up to her stats so I could be a proper partner. My  skills bridged the gap a bit, but we'd seen we both had a long way to  go. I'd become so focused on the sprint to F rank I'd been letting  myself lean too hard on stats. Abel showed me that the higher year  students were probably much stronger than we were. With all that extra  time to polish themselves they were probably dangerous as hell, and we  still had plenty to improve on.

I  got us back to the entrance, the traps and monsters having been  bypassed or defeated, and when I got there, a combination Cloud Step and  Leaf on the Wind took me up out of the labyrinth, much to the shock of  Cicero, who was seated at a table nearby lazily sipping tea. He nearly  choked when I came out, I guess I'd made good time, or maybe he hadn'[t  expected me to live. Regardless of reasons though, it didn't matter. I  had his deed, but he was going to pay up before he got it. I didn't ow  him any favors, and I wanted my new gear.