Meyriv traced the connection to a wealthy section of town. His attention was drawn to a midsize estate; whomever the ring was connected to was somewhere within. He kept a careful distance and observed.

Servants entered and left with regularity, but he waited for several hours with no sign of his quarry. Finally, as it began to grow dark, a well-dressed young man emerged. The connection led in his direction and stopped, but to Meyriv's confusion, he didn't seem to be the one he was looking for. Meyriv looked closer and realized the connection was not going to the man but rather to some piece of jewelry hanging around his neck. The man had zero magical ability. He checked three times just to be sure. Either he's good at hiding power, or that amulet isn't his.

As the man walked out of the front gate and started down the street, he froze and looked around in badly-concealed panic.

Looks like I've been detected, Meyriv grimaced as the man spotted him leaning against a nearby wall and ran back towards the gate he had come from.

Meyriv used a spell to drag at one of the man's feet, causing him to stumble and fall to the ground with a confused shout. He felt a flash of pain as the man skinned one of his knees.

Meyriv walked over calmly and tweaked the ring's connection to try to detect any defenses that might be around the amulet. Not only did he detect some odd enchantments surrounding the thing, but he was also able to hear a furious mental conversation taking place between the young man and a voice he dimly recognized as the 'Tutor'.

—get up and run! He's going to kill us!

I was running! I tripped! He doesn't seem all that threatening though. He's shorter than me and not all that— The man's pain was laced with confusion and depressed apathy.

Is he a bit...tipsy? I think he is. He also has very little idea what is going on, Meyriv thought to himself.

He's the one who got me into this whole mess! I was lucky to survive! the Tutor shrieked.

Meyriv grinned. We seem to have a misunderstanding, he interjected smoothly, and they both shut up rapidly.

Meyriv helped the man up and spoke out loud. "What's your name? You're not a mage, how did you end up with this?" He motioned to the amulet and carefully wove a spell to block it from listening in.

The man thought for a moment. "I'm Josin. This," he hesitated for a fraction of a second, "—was passed down to me from—"

"If you're going to lie, make it convincing," Meyriv interrupted. Josin gulped.

"...alright. It was a few weeks ago when I was watching an arena fight..."

Josin finished his story, and Meyriv was silent for a moment. "Have you seen this Vul since then?" "No, and I would have run if I had."

"Not that it would've helped if he wanted to catch you," Meyriv murmured. Teleportation made him jealous, mostly because his anchor made it next to impossible for him to do. "I'll need to take that." He motioned for the amulet.

Josin shied back. "But I need it! It's going to help me—"

"Whatever promises she made, they are only so she can manipulate you into freeing her from the restraints. I can sense many things, and I can assure you she is a purely selfish creature. She plans to kill you the moment you are no longer useful."

Josin didn't look that surprised at the statement, but he was still wary. "How do I know you are any more trustworthy than you say she is? She's my key to a better life!"

"I don't know, letting her lead you to your death seems like an unconventional method," Meyriv deadpanned. "As for my trustworthiness, I can't easily prove it, but I can validate the accuracy of my knowledge about other topics. You, for instance. You, also, are a selfish creature, though not as much as her. You've rarely considered the happiness of those around you. You constantly feel sorry for yourself, though you are more fortunate than most of those around you. You're stuck in your father's shadow because you are sitting around waiting for success and greatness to come to you. If you want to succeed, stop thinking someone's going to give it to you! Work for it."

"Don't you think I've tried!?" Josin protested

Meyriv raised his voice. "So what? As you have yet to make something of yourself, you haven't finished! Study those who are already successful! Find out how they find opportunities, and how they learned their skills! Then follow their advice! You've lived an easy life! You've been handed an education and opportunities most have to fight for! Start doing things for yourself!" Meyriv calmed himself down. Josin looked like he'd seen a ghost. The Mirrorheart pulsed around Meyriv, and he reviewed the cause of Josin's fear. Oops, he thought, It reflected my disgust with him...onto him? It's already worn off, but I cannot allow myself to use it by accident. It occurred to him that as bad as his curse had been, it had the potential to be worse. Of course, he didn't know the costs of using it that way, and he wasn't about to go around cursing people to find out.

He cut the chain with magic, snatched the amulet, and turned to walk away. Josin stood with a slack jaw and a defeated expression.

 

Meyriv returned to a secluded area and unblocked the amulet.

Tutor...you know what, that's a stupid title. I'm not going to deal with it. What's your real name? Meyriv demanded.

...Leah. She reluctantly responded.

Alright, Leah. I'm of half a mind to finish you off right now and save the world the trouble, so you'd better get talking. Start with our last encounter. Meyriv prompted.

Pangs of fear rippled from her. She started to tell him everything that had transpired since her defeat.

She reached the point her amulet was picked up by Yarn. What do you know about her? He demanded

Only that she is an associate of Vul's. He seemed deferential, but I never trusted her.

You've never trusted anyone but yourself in your entire sorry life, as far as I can tell. Next thing: show me the exact spells you use to connect a secondary catalyst.

I could do it easier if you—

Not a chance, I'm not letting you get away that easily.

Leah grumbled to herself, demonstrating the structure of a few spells that Meyriv memorized for later analysis. She couldn't actually cast anything due to the wards that had been placed on her catalyst, which Meyriv had no intention of removing.

What was the purpose of capturing Sanae? Meyriv asked.

Leah didn't respond.

I could shatter this catalyst in an instant. Meyriv prodded

Fine, we needed powerful mages—preferably untrained—to...prepare. Eventually, we were to give them to some sort of swamp.

Wait, really? It wasn't a parasitic transference scheme to empower yourself? Meyriv asked.

No, why would we try that? Nobody's ever managed to succeed.

Well...it's a bit more complicated than that, but in general, yes. However, I didn't expect you to know. Somebody's always dumb enough to try it again every few centuries after the tales of the last fool fade from memory, Meyriv mused. What was the purpose of it, then? What was in it for you?

I was granted the secret of immortality, so I had to pay back— Leah started to say before Meyriv interrupted with a fit of laughter.

You were duped! Catalytic soul anchoring may keep aging at bay, but it's the most vulnerable type of anchor! Hence why I can threaten you right now! Take it from me: There is no such thing as true immortality. There are a few ways to become more difficult to kill, but even then they barely gave you anything of value. You could have learned how to make that catalyst from any number of easily obtainable books.

Impossible! Leah protested I searched through every source of knowledge I could find—

Meyriv sighed and rested his palm on his face. They don't advertise it as a 'method of immortality' because it isn't one. And also because of the risks. The theory's implications are obvious if you read between the lines. Anyway...why did they want to feed the Swamp?

I wasn't given a detailed explanation. They mentioned fueling a useful aspect, but didn't go into detail.

Hmm. Meyriv wove a careful enchantment around the catalyst to prevent Leah from spying on him.

In a quiet, deserted alleyway, he began to pick apart the spells he had memorized.

- - -

Meyriv sent a message to Rynisia, I've learned how they maintain stable connections regardless of distance, but it will take more study to apply it to our purposes.

He sensed a faint message of acknowledgment in reply.

Why does everything useful have to be so complicated? He lamented

He searched the wealthy sections of town until he found a place that met his requirements. The location was relatively unguarded and had a large garden with a tall wall and many trees. Most importantly, it was currently unoccupied.

He snuck over the wall and into a large tree, settling comfortably into a nook in a sturdy branch. He cast a spell to bend light around him. Then he used the Mirrorheart. He had learned that it could be used to magnify the range at which he could sense emotions. Sorting through the deluge of sensations took a great deal of discipline and focus, but the amount of information he could gather was incredible. Importantly, this was not the same as his regular ethereal senses, and it did not expose him to detection in the same way. Over several hours, he carefully expanded his awareness until it covered a large section of the inner city. So much was visible to him: petty disputes among the nobility, betrayal, heartbreak, plots of murder and deception. The usual. He tuned most of this out and paid attention only to the details he needed. Although he did send an anonymous tip to warn a potential murder victim, there were too many plots germinating in his awareness for him to do something about all of them. He only intervened in those cases he decided would be the most tragic or simplest to prevent. He felt bad for those he didn't help, but such was the nature of triage.

When did I become an altruist? Meyriv suddenly wondered. He mused on this for a while. With a constant scene of suffering around me, there are really only two options: become deaf to their anguish or learn to pity them.

Several individuals caught his attention, among them the city governor Yriel and his closest allies. A handful of them were notable mages, which posed a problem. He doubted they would let him waltz into the palace to investigate the Lemnarch's fate, and he harbored no delusions about being able to fight them directly. Instead, he collected information. What were their goals? What were their fears? Who were their subordinates?

For several weeks, he continued his reconnaissance.

At last, he was ready to begin.