(I) Recounting

-53 (I)

Recounting

“How?” Uva kept repeating that word. “How?” She stared at Shiv, resting the palm of her hand against his face. He smiled at the warmth, but her expression was one of continual confusion, disbelief, and exasperation.

“How?” She clutched his head with both of her hands and shook him slightly, affectionately. “How is your mind healing? And so fast?”

“I told you,” he said. “I ate the Jealousy, and, well, it gave me cognitive regeneration.”

She shook her head. “You seriously ate the Greater Demon’s flesh?”

“Yes.”

“And it gave you cognitive regeneration? But how did your mind come back together after the Greater Demon broke you? After you somehow mind-bonded with it?” Her voice grew very dangerously low. “Mind-bonded with it through means that aren't intended for that kind of mind-bonding?”

Shiv chuckled nervously. “I… don’t know?”

Uva continued. “And then, after it went insane, and after you spent a while comatose, having your ego ripped in half, and barely knowing who you were, you decided—the first thing you would do after you came back to coherence—was to cook the Greater Demon, eat it along with the slaves, and somehow… somehow, you gained cognitive regeneration.”

He stared at her. “Well, I think it might have to do with my Cooking being Master-Tier now too.”

“What?” Adam said, spraying the water he was drinking all over his lap. “What did you just say?” The Young Lord grimaced with displeasure. “Another one, another one!” He flung the water canteen against the cave wall.

It bounced off a jutting crop of copper, and Ikki watched the canteen roll away. She glared at Adam. “Hey, uh, Hero Adam, go pick that up. That’s mine.”

Adam paused, shoulders slumped. He turned to Ikki. “I’m very sorry. I just… hate him so much right now.”

“Yeah, well, you’re a Hero. He’s a Master. You have the bigger penis, technically. Humans care about these things, right? The larger penis size?” Ikki wiggled her nose. “It’s a strange thing to care about. Penises are ugly anyway.”

Adam just stared at her. “Yes, I do—I mean, I care about being the greater Pathbearer, not the penis thing! But being a Heroic-Tier Pathbearer means having some dignity.” The Young Lord was struggling to put together his thoughts, and Shiv grinned at him.

“Yeah, but like, how many Master-Tier Skills do you have?” Shiv asked, needling Adam. “You got one Heroic-Tier Skill, you must have at least two Master-Tiers to go with it. right?”

The Young Lord cracked a wall with his fist as he walked after the water canteen, not bothering to even look at Shiv.

After briefly tending to themselves—administering what first aid they required and recovering their strength—Adam had led them off to a nearby cavern. The Young Lord was surprisingly good at finding hiding spots with that Heroic-Tier Awareness Skill of his. Shiv learned that was how Adam kept track of him and the others as well.

In a matter of moments, Shiv went from trying to pilot the Jealousy’s entire body across the silt plains to dragging it into a particularly large cavern Adam discovered. Judging by the accommodations—a massive campfire and heaps of human bones—Uva theorized that a group of cave biter marauders used to live here: mature, intelligent, adult cave biters who would ambush and consume people. They were, once again, in cave-biter territory, but Shiv wasn’t too worried about that—not after the fight he’d had with the Jealousy.

The Jealousy was packed tight in the cave, and the group froze the entrance with Cryomancy. Thinking it would look unnatural, Shiv piled a small mound of stones there as well, sealing off the entrance in two layers. Afterward, Adam remained on watch, peering out through the cracks with his Seer of Horizons Skill.

Shiv had to admit that Adam’s Heroic Skill was terrific, to be honest. The Young Lord could practically hear a mouse’s heartbeat from ten kilometers away in a thunderstorm. And if he could hear something, he could cast his senses there, extending his already ridiculous hearing, seeing, and even smelling further outward. It was basically like precognition, except it worked in a chain for his senses. Without proper wards, the entire world was practically Adam’s oyster. He could just jump towards the horizon over and over again, like his skill’s name suggested.

Once they were sure they'd lost their pursuers, at least for now, Shiv got to tearing open the Jealousy to finally free the rescued slaves. He'd been worried about their condition due to their chaotic escape, but it seemed the Jealousy’s inner fat tissue was remarkably shock absorbent. If anything, the bigger issue was that they'd been getting close to being crushed between mounds of flesh by the Greater Demon’s regeneration, which had slowed by now, but not stopped.

Nonetheless, many were severely concussed and suffered from dislocated limbs where they hadn't been thrown around inside their flesh chamber. Shiv did his best to take care of those that had gotten hurt by feeding their wounds into his wyrms and dumping them on some of his spare bodies once his Woundeater field had recovered enough to not knock him unconscious upon using it.

As they waited for surveillance to die down and for an opportunity to continue their escape, Shiv’s mind slowly healed, and he took it upon himself to finish the cooking he’d started earlier. There was still plenty of Greater Demon left, so he cracked part of the Jealousy open and began making jealousy-meat for everyone.

The Umbrals looked at him uncertainly—even Uva did—but the slaves reassured them that it tasted good, especially the girl Shiv had spoken the most with out of the group. The Slayers were also still dazed, with Siggy sitting between them on a carapaced bench. The merc had thrown up the entire time during the initial flight, leaving quite a mess inside the Jealousy.

Shiv made sure not to pull any meat from that section.

After indulging in a relaxing bout of cooking, Shiv handed out plates made from the Greater Demon’s carapace to everyone and started filling them with soup and perfectly-cooked meat. As they dug in, he enjoyed their expressions as each staggered, shivered, moaned, or nearly collapsed in delight.

“How?” Uva said again. “How did you get even better at cooking? How did you get better so fast?”

Shiv sat down, letting out a long, exhausted sigh as he thought about the past few days. “I’ve got a lot to tell you guys. A lot of stuff. Some of it you’re gonna like, and practically all of it Adam’s going to hate.”

“What do you mean, ‘all of it I’m going to hate’?” Adam asked, narrowing his eyes. “What did you do? Did you find the Animancy Core?”

Shiv grunted vaguely and looked at Tran. “Hey, Tran, take off your helmet. Say hi to Young Lord Arrow.”

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Adam paused and blinked.

Tran took off his helmet, causing the Young Lord to step back in surprise. “You? How?” Heather took off her helmet afterward, and Adam wasn't quite familiar with her, but he knew Tran—his father’s personal Slayer, the one he employed to keep watch over Shiv, just in case he developed a Path.

“Young Lord Adam,” Tran said, bowing. Heather bowed thereafter. Siggy just watched. She briefly looked at Shiv.

He handed her a bowl. “Just eat up,” Shiv said. “I’m not gonna kill you. Not right now, anyway. I’m too tired. And frankly, you look like shit.”

“Yeah, well,” Siggy said, swallowing, “you look like shit too, I guess.” She seemed too tired to be scared anymore. There was a point where someone was too exhausted for their courage to break, or their courage was too broken for it to crack any further.

Shiv understood. He simply nodded. “Just take a bite. Just try not to…” He sagged. He was pretty spent too. “Gods, I’m tired.”

“Why is this so good?” Ikki cried, ripping out chunks of Jealousy-meat. “It’s supposed to be a Greater Demon! It’s supposed to be something that kills people! Why does it taste so good? What did you do to this thing?”

He just shook his head. Once more, Uva was staring at him. She mouthed the word,

“Tell you later. I’ll let you all know later. Right now… I think I need to…” Shiv groaned and lay down on the spot. He needed this too. For a while, he took an actual nap.

Shiv experienced the best sleep of his life—sleep that lasted approximately twenty minutes at most.

When he woke, he felt almost entirely refreshed, and he was surprised. But then again, having Master-Tier Physicality meant more than just being strong, or being capable of wrestling with mountains. It meant that you were robust, that your lifespan was leagues beyond a natural human’s. At this point, he didn’t know how long he would live naturally, even if he could die from age. He just knew that it’d be a long, long while.

There was a saying among the Slayers in their Guild: And Shiv could see why. Masters were called to fight other Masters, and the System demanded strife. It didn’t matter if you could live forever. It mattered to that System that your life was going to be spent at some point in battle or struggle.

The others were still eating. Several wanted more, so he kept making additional portions. They all experienced his benefit as well, each of them gaining cognitive regeneration.

Uva was surprised, but more than surprised—Shiv noticed her Psychomancy field was growing, swelling, even refining. It was rippling, as if she were casting out strange frequencies or some kind of broadcast from her being. She didn’t fully understand what was happening either, but her thoughts felt clearer—clearer than ever before, more controlled. On top of getting cognitive regeneration, it seemed she, in particular, also gained a boost to her Psychomancy Skill.

Apparently, the Jealousy meat gave someone at Adept additional benefits, and he found himself wondering just what other boons, benefits, and advantages he could bestow upon himself and his allies, considering his ingredients. This was from a Jealousy. Now, with other exotic meats, flavors, and rare dishes, what could he do? What were the limits of The Chef Unwavering?

After everyone indulged in a bit of food and respite, they started a series of campfires within the cave, and Shiv recounted everything that he’d gone through ever since he went into the gate.

“It was a shitshow from the start,” Shiv summarized. He could barely meet the gazes of the others as he tried to recount his very unsuccessful spying. He was, self-admittedly, probably the worst spy in the world. He told them how he and 811 spent hours dealing with bureaucratic nonsense, how smart the damned orc was, how he didn’t think he was going to get anything past the beast, how he encountered Oldsmith beating a slave child, how he tried to save that slave child, and the brawl that ensued between him and 811.

As he elaborated, Adam’s head quickly met with both of his hands as the Young Lord began to moan in misery. Uva’s sighs became more and more frequent, until she was also pinching the bridge of her nose. It was then that Shiv asked where Valor was, and Adam replied that the Legendary Pathbearer was working on something to “convert an Animancy Core towards a better cause.”

Then, Shiv got to his encounter with Gate Lord Confriga, and about what the Necromancy did to him. He showed them his arm. It was still slightly scarred, but the wound was fading. “It remains this way between every death,” Shiv said. “It’s getting better, but it still hurts a bit.”

Uva brushed her fingers over the scar and frowned. “Are those faces?”

“Yeah,” Shiv said, a shiver running through him. “Those were the faces of the three children he had impaled on his armor.”

“Children?” She reared back, sounding horrified. “He used children to power his spells?”

“Yeah, that’s what he called it. An effigy to cast Necromancy.”

Several of the Umbrals looked at each other. “This is something that Valor must know about as well,” Uva breathed. “His mastery of Necromancy is legendary.”

“Literally, I guess?” Shiv joked. After that, he told them about his misadventures hiding and sneaking through the city, how he captured Siggy, how he managed to intercept and uncover an entire conspiracy at the heart of the Republic.

And that was the point where Adam nearly had a heart attack.

The Young Lord was actively livid, sputtering at every word. He nearly lost control of himself and punched the wall again as Shiv elaborated on what Oldsmith was planning, on what the Inquisitors had been doing to Heather and Tran. Then Shiv pulled out a notebook—the sync letter that Oldsmith gave him—and handed it to the Young Lord.

“It’s supposed to be a set of correspondences between Oldsmith and some guy called Sijjig or something. They’re all working for Stormhalt. I think he’s the dad of your fiancée. They might be on the outs with each other, though. That’s what Oldsmith said to me. She might not be involved. But, uh… I did notice how the ravens and crows avoided her during the fight at Blackedge. Guess now’s as good a time as any to tell you about that.”

Adam was trying to control his breathing now. His jaw was clenched. His eyes were a roiling blaze of fury of sky-blue bright, the writhing dawn in his irises even brighter. “Thank you,” Adam said, but there was no warmth in his voice. He opened the sync letter, flipped through the pages for a few minutes, and grimaced. “There are multiple inquiries at the end, asking Master-Advisor Oldsmith to respond, asking if there’s been a problem. The Inquisitor sounds agitated.”

Shiv winced. He’d forgotten about writing in the book. Oldsmith and the Inquisitor were both supposed to be updating each other every day at night. “Yeah, so I think you can tell him that the gate’s been under lockdown and that there’s an Aviary spy roaming everywhere, tearing people apart.”

Adam narrowed his eyes at Shiv as he produced a quill from and started writing on an empty page. “And were you that Aviary spy roaming around everywhere, tearing people apart?”

“That’s the story I got up to,” Shiv said. “A story that, uh, someone else helped me create.” He elaborated on a few other things before getting to Leu: how he got his Master-Tier Cooking Skill when he was infected by an Orcish Skill, how the Challenger—the orc god—had cursed him, and how an orc was now in love with him.

Adam let out a breath. “Y-you got an orc to fall in love with you.”

“It is not love,” Uva said, sounding slightly defensive. “Orcs cannot love. They are wretched creatures of war and violence.”

Shiv snorted as he remembered his fight with 811. “Yeah, well, their god is leering at me, watching. That’s what the System says. And now, 811’s reincarnation, 812, is probably going to be coming for me at some point. I don’t think anytime soon—maybe in ten years, maybe in a hundred—but he’s coming for me.” Shiv didn’t look forward to fighting that creature again, not with all the casualties the first time. “I’m gonna need to get a lot stronger and make sure he’s not a threat at all. And avoid killing so many innocents in the crossfire.”

An awkward silence followed that.

“And what about this Guardshead Leu?” Adam asked. “She helped you escape—what’s her agenda?”

“Oh, she just wants to kill Confriga. He, uh, kind of murdered her brother. That’s what Foreshadowing showed me.”

Adam considered that for a moment, then nodded. “Useful, very useful. Finally. A good turn. So, you, despite being quite possibly the worst spy in the world—”

“Adam,” Uva chided, “he is the most unsupported spy in the world because someone sent him alone into a gate without proper training in haste.”

Adam closed his eyes and hissed. “I know, I’m sorry, but I was desperate. Now, back to Shiv being the worst spy in ,” he reiterated, emphasizing the title.

Shiv just glared at him, staring at the food he’d made for Adam.

“The worst spy in the world somehow, somehow, despite getting discovered by everyone—from an orc, to the Gate Lord, even the Greater bloody Demon they were supposed to fight.” Adam stared at the Jealousy and shuddered. “How are you still alive? How is your mind not broken?”

Shiv held up his left arm, and to his delight, the Magebreaker was mostly back together and vibrating. Still pretty damaged, though. “Leu lent me something. It’s been pretty useful. It, uh, nullifies magic.”

Uva blinked. “Is that… is that Inertium?”

“Yep,” Shiv nodded. “How did… how did you know?”

Uva reached out and caressed the gauntlet. “Everyone knows about Inert—well, almost everyone. We would like to examine this back at Weave. We have been trying to find a piece of Inertium for years.”

“Sure,” Shiv said. “Maybe you can add to its Enchantments as well.”

He pulled out his mask. It was slightly mended, but deep cracks ran through the surface. “This helped too. Without this, the Jealousy probably would have torn my mind in half immediately.”

“Still, how did you let that bloody thing discover you?” Adam asked.

“Hey, they were hitting a slave in front of me. What do you want me to do—just let him get beat to death? What would you have done?”

Adam stared at Shiv. “I would have found a way.”

“You would have found a way,” Shiv said, leaning closer, glaring at Adam. “You would have somehow found a way to deal with a slaver who was beating a slave to death.” He looked at the slaves. “Do you believe this? Do you believe this guy?”

The courageous slave girl looked between him and Adam, then winced. She clearly didn’t want to take a side. The others muttered morosely. Adam noticed how haggard most of the slaves were, and how much blood they still had on them. Adam swallowed. “Shiv, how many died during your brawls?”

Shiv winced. “Uh…” Shiv groaned. “A lot. Is there a class on avoiding collateral damage in the academy?”

“Yes,” Tran, Heather, and Adam said at the same time.

“Several,” the Young Lord emphasized.

Shiv hid a wince and looked down. “Yeah, well, I think we might want to focus on that class first when we start our training again.”