(I) Infiltrate
Chapter 67 of "Path of the Deathless" starts revealing surprises: -: Aviary Training Manual35 (I)InfiltrateIntimidation > 20âOkay. Do the expression again.â Adam waved his hand... Read on!
-: Aviary Training Manual35 (I)
Infiltrate
Intimidation > 20
âOkay. Do the expression again.â Adam waved his hand in front of Shivâs face.
Shiv just stared at him for a beat. Then slowly opened his mouth wide and started staring off at nothing.
âMouth widerâeyes more distant. More distant. More distant.â
âAdam, my eyes canât get any more distant. I donât know what you want from me.â
âJust think about a traumatic moment in your life,â Adam said.
âIt was kind of shit when you got back from your academy and decided to make everyone notice me,â Shiv said. âThat just makes my hand shake a bit from the adrenaline, though. So does remembering how badly the War Priest and the faithful beat me.â His expression turned to snarl.
âNo⌠⌠Shell shock, Shiv. Shell shock. Horrified. Mentally spent and lost inside yourself. Not the face of a snarling dog.â
âThen weâre not going to be able to pull this off with my memories, because the worst ones just piss me off?â
âGodsdammit, youâre useless,â Adam muttered. He dropped his head and looked at Uva. âUva, can youâŚâ He gestured wildly in Shivâs direction.
The Psychomancer glared. âFirst. I canât get to his mind when heâs wearing the mask. Second, are you truly asking me to mentally the mind of someone I care for so they can achieve an exaggerated expression of trauma by being actually traumatized?â
Adam considered her question. âCan you do it if he takes the mask off, briefly?â
Uva clenched her jaw tight and took a step closer to Adam. âOf course, Adept Adam. But this will require careful calibration, so he still has a mind left to perform the incredibly complex and delicate task that is infiltration. A task he is not actually trained forâand has no skills for. I must damage him just right, and to do this, I need a testing canvas first. Being the only other surfacer hereâand one that shares a culture and history with himâI think you are the only viable candidate. Wouldnât you agree?â
By this point, Adam was actively backing away from Uva as she practically loomed over him, her agitation clear with every word. Off by the side, Shiv looked on and sighed. âBroken Moon, that drives me wild.â Back when he was growing up, he never expected people caring for him, let alone getting mad on his behalf. Now, with a attractive Umbral threatening to destroy Adamâs mind, Shiv was feeling his stomach do backflips.
âIâI think this is the most amount of words youâve said to me at once,â Adam stuttered.
âI can say more to you. Mentally. Shall we begin, Adept Adam? This might take a while. Oh, but then the mercenaries will pass by without being infiltrated, and this whole thing will be pointless.â Uva practically had her nose against Adamâs forehead. âAdam. Do you understand how and I think this operation is, yes?â
âYes,â Adam said, creating more space between them. âYou told me. A lot. All day.â
âWell. Let me tell it to you once more, and add something else: Stop overcomplicating. His goal is to get in with the group, confirm the presence of the weapon, and then create an opening for us and Trapdoor to eliminate the enemy, if possible. If they are beyond our capacity to handleâor the situation does not lend itself to an ambushâhe is to pin a mana tracker onto the weapon so we have something to offer as evidence, and so you have something to follow after they enter the gate.â
âYes, yes, fine, okay,â Adam said, holding his hands out so that Uva would stop menacing him. âShiv. Just⌠be simple, okay? You can do that, right? Itâs not much harder than you are right nowâŚâ
âSure, Adam. Of course, being the simple man I am, your next meal might end up forgotten. Because simple people canât remember that much stuff at once.â
âFine, just⌠do what I showed you, okay?â Adam scoffed. âYou two are nightmarish together.â
Shiv and Uva shared a look. They might not be able to communicate via mind magic right now, but their eyes said enough.
Still Waterâs voice echoed from Adamâs brooch.
Shiv grinned. That explained why his Intimidation went up without him doing anything earlier.
Adam stared at Shiv. âLetâs hope the latter.â
âI hope the former,â Shiv muttered. âI want to fight another high vampire. Itâs been a while.â
Adam gritted his teeth. âKeep your bloodlust in check. You can level any other time.â
âNot without good enemies, I canât,â Shiv muttered.
âShiv, System help me,â Adam said, pinching the bridge of his nose. Shiv thought back to when Ikki compared Adam to Uva, and he shivered.
âFine,â Shiv grunted. Iâll do what I can.â
âBefore that,â Uva said. She walked over to Shiv and traced his jaw with an armored finger. The act looked weird against his Perfect Semblance, but Shiv understood. He pulled off his skull helm and lifted the mask for a moment, revealing his true self. He was about to ask her what she wanted. Only for her to pull him in for a taste of her lips.
For a few heartbeats, Shiv didnât do so much thinking. He was just a happy animal. A man. As she pulled away, he grinned at her, and she smiled slightly. âRemember. Careful.â
âYes, Sister Uva,â he breathed. He put the mask back on and locked his helm back in place using his Biomancy. But the floating feeling of euphoria lingered inside him for a few moments longer. Shiv breathed out, completely relaxed despite the coming mission.
Adam blinked at Shiv before he turned to Uva and laughed. âWell. Looks like you did it anyway!â He grinned at the happy Shiv who managed a perfect, absentminded expression while using the slaverâs face. âThatâs the exact expression I want. Now. Letâs get some more blood on him. We really, really need to sell thisâŚâ
Approximately an hour later, Shiv was staggering out from the woods, clinging to the memory of Uva as he tried to keep his expression consistent. The mercenary transport team was loud enough that even he could hear them from hundreds of meters awayâand to make matters more interesting, he felt his mask-hidden mana splash into a much larger Biomancy field almost six minutes before the group actually arrived.
The mercenary transport team arrived just as his face was about to start cramping up. He counted eight on the road, dragging a large trolley containing what he assumed to be the Animancy Core behind them. If the others werenât there, Shiv guessed they were spread out in the woods to prevent someone from managing an easy ambush. They were already looking more professional than the outfit Shiv and the others hit last night.
The one pulling the core along was thrice Shivâs usual height and muscle. The skin he left exposed was a rough and ugly gray lined with scars, while the rest of him was layered in dense chunks of obsidian. A fanged mace hung from the bruteâs side, and it was a bit bigger than Shivâs true body. The big beast stopped dead as other members of his group noticed Shiv. The Deathless watched as the brute regarded him with two beady eyes of piss yellow, slits for a nose, and a jaw filled with rows of jagged teeth.
Then he had to suppress a sneer as another thought entered his head.
The orc drew in a breath and declared: âContact.â His voice rumbled out far and wide as he extracted his fanged mace with a sigh. Rather than hurling threats or responding like a savage, the orc took a measured step forward, leaned down, and placed his massive paw on the shoulder of one of his companions in the vanguard. This one was obscured by a veil of swirling shadows, and Shiv sensed they were at the epicenter of the Master-Tier Biomancy Skill.
Both the orc and the supposed vampire eyed Shiv as they exchanged a few words. They were far enough away that he couldnât hear themâbut Shiv was pretty sure Adam got every word. The Deathless added a brief stumble as he kept the shell shocked look on his face, opening and closing his mouth a few times. It might not be much, butâŚ
Skill Gained: Acting 1 (Common)
It was enough.
The orc patted the vampire on the shoulder twice more before stomping forward. Shiv noted the other members of this ensemble. They were all clad in heavy armorâexcept for an Umbral. Her armor was, in fact, , seeming more like a small fortress built around her body than anything. Even her open visor looked like a drawbridge leading into an old castle.
The orc walked out alone, his footsteps hammering hard and loud as he approached Shiv. The ebony road was wide enough to accommodate an adult cave biter that made the orc look like a speck. Yet, there was something colossal about the orcâfar greater than his obvious size. Shiv felt it in the way the orcâs footsteps made the very ground tremble. It was like the earth below was roused to agitation by the creatureâs approach.
The orc came to a stop with five meters between him and Shiv. The brute clicked his teeth together and hummed, looking what he assumed to be a bloodied slaver up and down. âYou are a ?â
Shiv didnât know the exact nomenclature for slavers, so he just continued doing the look instead of saying yes. That was the recommendation everyone gave him: Keep it simple and sell the trauma.
An uncomfortable silence followed. The orc breathed in deep. And then made a low, clucking noise with his tongue. âYes, I think. Hmm. Rather traumatized too. Tell me, were those your compatriots a few kilometers away? The flayed ones hanging from some of the mushrooms by the roadside.â
This time, Shiv nodded with a shaky slowness. He hoped that he sold it well enough.
âAh. Unfortunate. Unfortunate, indeed. But that is the nature of the trade, no? We move things people want, and they pay us much for it. But never more than what the item is worth. So there are always dangers. Dangers hidden in the dark.â The Orc looked into the woodsâand Shiv spotted a flash of metal in the distance. âAnd dangers in our hearts. For greed plucks at us so easily. Would you not agree?â
Shiv opened and closed his mouth.
Acting > 2
He was going to be a theater star in no time.
The orc let out a heavy breath that washed over Shiv. He was expecting to smell something rancid, but to his surprise, the orcâs billowing breath came with the taste of mint.
âWell. You have nothing to fear from us, little flesh runner. Nothing at all. Because we do not have the time for you.â
âGate,â Shiv managed, trying to sound as vulnerable as he could. âTake me there⌠pleaseâŚâ
The orc observed him. âHmm.â He blinked briefly, turned to stare at the vampire, andâShiv caught the vampire rollingtheir eyes. When the orc faced Shiv again, he was smiling, and that look was triggering Shivâs fight or instinct something severe. That was not the face of a herbivore at all. But so far, the orc seemed oddly pleasant. Even rather affable. âMy name is 811. You wish to go to the Compact gate?â
âGate ?â 811 asked further.
Shiv was about to agree again when he paused. He didnât actually remember what the gate was called. Ikki mentioned it at some point, but he just let it slip from his mind. âI⌠I think⌠I donât know⌠There was⌠so much blood. The attack is⌠My memory is bad right now.â
811 nodded. âUnderstandable. Trauma does this to a mind. Ah. Come along, then. Let us take a walk. You may tell me what happened to you, if you so wish. I understand this makes your race feel betterâyou are , correct?â
Shiv suddenly felt like he was an animal on exhibition. The orc walked next to Shiv and placed a hand against his backâa hand that covered his entire back.