Nicodemus shrugged as he sat down and started to shape the sand making his next set of minions. "51 seconds now. Time doesn’t stop just because things get harder."
Panicking, Abby held her hands out, desperate to pull out a win. She couldn’t wait on her gauntlet to completely rebuild the labyrinth. This was more time-intensive then just starting over. Instead, she decided to ignore a big maze with traps. She instead opted to create a T-shaped hallway with a glass ceiling, carving it into existence from the sand. The corridor running straight from the spawn points to her flag.
It was time for her to use the only trump card she had. With a mind towards the Homunculus that she had destroyed, she took the memory of its essence and embedded it into the walls of the hallway. Not once, or twice, but as many times as she could until time ran out. Abby was unsure of how many times she used her Arcane power to imbue the monster into the walls but knew it had been plenty.
"Times up." Shouted Nicodemus, not bothering to wait for a response from Abby as he revealed what he had created. From the sand and the remaining blades of grass he carried, Nicodemus had constructed a pigmy sized golem to destroy Abby’s maze,
Seeing it, Abby yelled in anger. "That really is cheating. You can’t cheat your way to a win here. I refuse to yield."
Nicodemus laughed at her expense. "It's not cheating, this little guy is equal to ten smaller minions, it’s practically the same. Besides, I hope I’ve made it clear so far that in life, nothing is ever really fair."
Abby bristled, absolutely enraged. She knew Nicodemus was right but was furious regardless. She had no intention of letting him win. She would never give up.
With a wave of his hand, Nicodemus send the pigmy golem to the start point as the thing began to move, it’s massive body tearing into the sand walls, As the pigmy moved, it’s massive body tore down the hastily construct walls, breaking the entire glass ceiling in one go, but unlike the pixies, the debris was nothing that would stop it.
From within the walls, Abby saw hands and faces begin to move. Extending out from the walls, grabbing at the golem and tearing at it, removing chunks of sand and grass as little by little, the Homunculus enchanted wall tore away the body of the golem. Abby could see Nicodemus had an appreciative look on his face, nodded at him in affirmation.
"Good work," He mouthed before returning his attention to the Golem and the walls that pressed in on it.
The Golem roared with fierce anger as it tore from the sand arms of the Homunculus wall, arms of sand falling to the ground and scattering on the floor. But it was not uninjured. Over half of its body had fallen away already, and though the Homunculus were far weaker, they were legion.
Eventually, the Golem’s movement slowed to the point that it was no longer advancing. Having been able to clear most of Abby’s defenses. The defenses she had set up though had done their job. Slowly tearing the monster down until at last it fell to the ground, unable to continue and collapsed back into dust and grass, defeated.
Chapter 22: Silver-blood
"Well done," Congratulated Nicodemus. "I was hoping something like that might happen. Good things can come from being forced into a corner. Desperation is supposed to be the mother of all invention or something like that.
"What was that?" Asked Abby as she dropped to her knees, suddenly feeling exhausted.
"That was your first time really using the school of the Arcane. It's far different to use it then read about it in some old moldy book in an Academy library. There's not many of us, you know ." He explained, his tone full of both excitement and a sense of loss. It was a subtle undercurrent that Abby couldn't entirely dismiss a reminder that this man had lost everything, even his connection to her.
“Abby look at that," Nicodemus said, pointing at the still moving walls of the labyrinth she had created. The sand she had imbued with the essence of the homunculus. "That's your evidence right there. You truly are a Silver-blood."
Abby cocked her head to the side, not really understanding what he meant by that. Of course, she was a Silver-blood. She was born into the title. She was born kin to the Emperor.
With a deep breath, Nicodemus realized this was a subject he needed to educate her on. "Here, eat this." He said, reaching into his pocket, pulling out a bit of a hardened yellow cheese wrapped in a thin cloth. He tossed it to her, and she hungrily excepted it and began to eat almost, not seeing when he followed up the cheese with a small loaf of bread.
"Being a Silver-blood is so more than being considered kin of the Emperor. It's a title only you're not actually related, but the title comes inherent with the responsibilities of that position and the decorum that's expected of it. One of the more recent rules was the Emperor's decree that Silver-bloods were not allowed to marry." Explained Nicodemus was as he hoped that Abby would draw the necessary conclusions.
Nicodemus gave her a hard look, his expression hard to describe the intense scrutiny with which he gazed upon her making her shift uncomfortably. "Being a Silver-blood, have you ever asked what that really means?"
Abby nodded, somewhat offended, and irritated that he was asking her such a simple question. Time wasted that should have been spent in training. "Of course, I know what a Silver-blood is. My father was a Silver-blood, as is my grandfather. We carry on the noble title in our line."
Abby couldn't help but notice a look of hurt across his face as he spoke up softly in a correction. " As was your mother, as am I."
She heard what he said but made the decision to not answer or respond to it.
Nicodemus closed out his eyes and let out a sigh. "That's not what being a Silver-blood means at all, Abby. It is not some title that means kin. of the Emperor. Though that does typically tend to be true. It means that mana runs richly through your veins and means you are a natural conduit for magic."
Nicodemus held out his arms, pointing to himself in example. "I am an Arcane Artificer. I create objects weapons and armor accessories trinkets you name it. And what separates me from anyone else is that the effects I imbue into the items I create are permanent. They don't require a charge. The enchantment never fades away. In 100 years, what I create will be as strong as it was as if I had created it today."
The look of confusion on her face let Nicodemus know that she was not familiar with this aspect of her heritage. "Tell me, Abby, what do you think the differences between a regular Engineer and one who was a Silver-blood?"
She had an idea of what it meant but wasn't feeling like being helpful instead of answering. She shrugged it off. "I know you know this. You're making things more difficult than they need to be. With a regular Engineer, whatever they create is temporary, but if a Silver-blood is trained as an Engineer, whatever they create is permanent. As a user of the arcane, what you can create may seem monstrous, but I tell you it all depends on your imagination. You can build wonders."
"Which leads me to the round of training," Nicodemus said. "It's called King of the Hill, and all you need to do and is get on top of the sand pile and remain there for 60 seconds."
Abby sat up, deciding it was time to ask what was on her mind. " Why have I gone my whole life without having known you?"
Nicodemus bit his lip like you want to answer, but instead, he responded. "If you can beat me in this round of King of the Hill. Just one victory, not 2 out of 3, I'll tell you why even though I don't think you want to hear it."
"Fair enough," Abby responded as she began to shift the sand together, making a hill out of the middle of the sparring arena. "I'd rather you tell me the truth whatever the answer is than think I need to be comforted by a lie."
Chapter 22: The Sand Tower
Build a hill? It can’t be that easy. Clearly there's a catch. There’s always a catch. "
Nicodemus shouted out at her, prompting her to start working. "Go ahead and get started whenever your ready so we can begin."
"I'm ready." Responded Abby as she held up both of her hands, scanning and sifting through the sand below, envisioning what sh
e was going to create with it. Internally, her gut was telling her that the task had a secret behind it. She thought and pondered for a second as the sand hung suspended in the air, swirling, waiting to take shape.
"Ah. Another one of his tricks. He means for me to build him a fortress. He starts out as the King of the Hill. I'll show him then." With hands glowing, she summoned all the water to her as a component of what she was building, injecting it into the sand to harden it. Hundreds of cubic feet of sand were shaped into a tall cylinder, four-five meters tall, and almost just as many meters in diameter.
With intense and careful movements, Abby widened out the base of the cylinder that she had created. Slowly carving narrow stairs in a spiral leading upwards. Leaving a hardened rail system on the outside for support.
As it twisted upwards, Abby flattened out the top, reforming the sand on the top of the platform into a thin sheet of glass. Scratching and marring the surface so that what lay on the other side couldn't be seen. It was not a hard glass and would shatter with weight.
From within the cylinder, she took the excess and, hollowing it and hardening the interior that was surrounding by feet thick walls on every side. Above on the platform, Abby created four spur shaped columns sloping downwards towards the center of the top platform. To each of the columns, she added a bit of water. But didn't bother hardening the pillars. Abby was only concerned with temporarily keeping their shape but remaining with the soft, malleable center of dried sand. She hoped it would be enough for what she had planned.
"I'm finished, Nicodemus," Abby shouted out, examining her work with a look of pride. If she ever gained access to better components, she knew she could create amazing things. All she needed was the time and the opportunity.
The man stepped forward, examing the structural base of the tower she had created, an ever-widening smile on his face. "You've done well, this wasn't quite what I meant when I said to make a hill, but it fits the purpose well enough."
Nicodemus walked over to the very first stair, and Abby had hidden the gloating smile she had on her face as he started to walk up the stairs. Victory would be hers.
"So, I haven't been entirely honest with what this contest is about." Said Nicodemus as he strolled up the staircase of the tower Abby had made. "The point of the King of the Hill is to be the one on the top. Once you are on the top, you need to remain on the top for 60 seconds."
Abby already knew that, figuring that he was going to start monologue any second. The likelihood was increasing as Nicodemus neared the top.
At the last stair, Nicodemus turned around, raising his hands in front of his mouth like a funnel and shouted. "I just cheated a little bit and let you design it for me to make my job of keeping you off of it easier. Because all I need to do is stay up here for 60 seconds to win. Let this be a reminder to always look at what people are saying to you and adjust accordingly. Good luck to you, Abby."
"That's cheating!" She yelled out furiously, though, in reality, Abby was calm, putting on the show of anger to not rouse his suspensions. The lesson here was something she had already learned. Nothing is ever quite as it appears, and when given a chance, people will almost always take the advantages at hand and freely available. Correctly predicting how other people will react and what they are going to do in any given situation was a power few learned how to wield. Abby planned to be different. She would be different. She would be better.
As soon as Nicodemus turned his back, Abby activated her gauntlet. The power of a Builder enveloping the entire tower in her sphere of influence. She needed the gauntlet to focus her power and rapidly deploy the changes she was going to make. Just waiting for the sound that would spring her into action.
From the top of the tower, Abby heard the cracking of glass as Nicodemus gave out a started yelp and fell into the hole she had carved out in the hollow of the tower she had created. This was her chance. She began to run up the stairs, even as she struggled to focus her power on hardening all the towers. Working to turn the sand into a thick glass to prevent Nicodemus from easily escaping.
At the top of the tower, the four pillars she had made and filled with dry sand broke apart, flooding the inner pit with sound. When she reached the top of the platform, she could still hear Nicodemus spitting out the sand that had gotten into his mouth, either while he was complaining or trying to cast a spell. It didn't matter. The clock was winding down, and Nicodemus couldn't get out.
Abby heard it before she felt and saw it. A ray of white light that shone through the whole with a steady low-tone ringing. That started to shake the ground, the seismic vibrations causing the tower to vibrate unsteadily, cracking up and down before suddenly collapsing all her around her.
The tower laid destroyed in thick, jagged chunks of glass. As Abby picked herself up from the ground, she unsuccessfully avoided nicking herself on those pieces of glass. Silently cursing her luck and twist of fortune, using words that her grandfather Porthos would have never approved of.
From within the husk of the broken tower, Nicodemus sat on a pile of sand, smiling with an easy to him, completely unbothered by what had just happened. He called out his victory over a deep belly laugh "60 seconds. I win this round." Abby found herself discouraged and disheartened by the ease with which he had to manage to win this wrong and avoid her trap. How was there any way for her to even compete with such a man as she was currently who could simply and utterly destroy anything she created?
She turned and looked at him. "This was never really a competition, was it?"
The bluntness of the question seemed to catch him off guard, though in a positive way. "No, it never was. You are strong, Abby, and you are smart, but you are not all-powerful. With time, training, and resources, your growth would be exponential, but there was never a chance of you beating me if I was forced to use some of my real power. Good work, by the way, that sand trap was not pleasant, I still have sand in my shirt."
Collapsing on the ground on her knees, Abby struggled to hold back a sob and not cry. She was angry, and she was frustrated, and here was this man who had promised her answers that was now never going to get. There was no way this would go best 2 out of 3.
" It's alright," Nicodemus said as he walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder in comfort. "I'll still tell you, I know you put a lot into this round. I think you've done enough. The lesson of this round was to show you that sometimes, no matter how powerful you get, or intelligently you use your resources, you can still lose."
Abby looked at him, frustrated with angry tears in her eyes? "Why? Why would I need to know that? Why would you want to teach me that? That sounds so hopeless."
"You asked for the answer about why I haven't been in your life, and the truth is, it is complicated and not complicated at all." Replied Nicodemus, a desperate rage to his words. The Emperor is as close to an actual god as I've ever seen. When I encountered him, I felt far more hopeless than you are now, as I watched from a distance as he executed my daughter and her husband. The only reason you're alive today is because of Porthos."
"Abuelo? What did he do?" Abby asked, curious and horrified by what Nicodemus was telling her.
Nicodemus looked away, his face hardened in a sneer. "He was a good soldier. It wasn't until the very that he found out his son and my daughter had joined the resistance, found out after he had slaughtered most of the men and women in their ranks. Many of whom were adventures stationed with this very guild. Porthos begged for your life, and for his service, the Emperor granted his request. As for me, I had never approved of their little revolution and chose to sit on the sidelines, expecting everyone to come to their senses. But no one did. The guild was disbanded, adventuring outlawed, and I become what you see now. A sad old man with his memories and his regret."
Chapter 23: What Lays Between
"It can't be true!" Screaming in her head a denial of what Nicodemus had said. It was not a surprise to her that her grandfather had been a powerful mage on the battlefield. Nor was i
t a surprise to Abby that her grandfather Porthos had defended and fought for the Empire. It wasn't even a surprise to hear the Porthos begged for her life or even that the Emperor had granted it. Her grandfather had always been dedicated to her, and from what she knew, the Emperor was an honorable man.
The surprise and horror that she felt in her heart were due to the revelations that her parents had fought on behalf of the resistance. The very thought that her father Micah, the famed Silver-blood who had destroyed the Hades Dungeon, was a traitor to the Empire made her sick to her stomach. She didn't believe it.
Anger welled up within her. With a stride forward, she brought her hand back and slapped Nicodemus across the face. An angry welt shaped print on his cheeks already forming, the blow echoing throughout the room. She screamed at him, and to Nicodemus's credit, he took it well, biting his lips and by closing his eyes, waiting for her anger to exhaust itself. "That's a vile lie. Take it back." She yelled. But in the back of her mind, she knew he wouldn't, something about what he had said rang true to her.
Her face contorted with rage, collapsed into a look of desperation as she let out a sob. Abby wracked her shoulders forward, crying. "Please, just take it back." But he couldn't, and they both knew that, and all he could do was look away, reminded so much in her of the daughter he had lost.
His heart heavy with emotion, Nicodemus collapsed on the ground and hung his head in shame, hardly able to even look in Abby's direction once he had made the connection. Beneath his weight, the sand shifted unevenly where he landed. The man hugged himself tightly, his chest wracked with a mournful sob born partially by his loss, and partly by his shame.
"I am so sorry, Abby," Nicodemus said, lifting his greying head looking her way, his eyes staring right into hers. For the first time, Abby truly felt that she knew this man and had a connection to him, the proof in the hazel of his eyes, a hazel the same as her own. "If I had been stronger, I could have stopped the Emporer from killing your parents. I could have at least stopped them from joining up with the resistance. It's been over a decade, and not a day goes by that I don't think of it."
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