Blood Shaper

“Was I right?” Eleniah asked a few hours later, after they’d let Prince Carlile know there was no way they’d be able to answer immediately, which he’d agreed with. They were now in one of the private meeting rooms in Kay’s personal section of the palace with Ahthia and Meten also present. “Was my cousin’s ‘source’ the System?”

“I don’t know yet, it hasn’t said anything to me. If you are right, it’s an interesting new addition.”

“What do we do if it is the System?” Ahthia asked, “Can we turn it down?”

“Of course we can,” Kay told her, “The System can’t strip us of our free will.”

“More along the lines of ‘can we afford to turn it down?’ I don’t know how it would go about punishing us, but it is the System. Even if it isn’t the god that some people worship it is, its still the most powerful existence around. There’s not much we could do to stop it from levying whatever punishment it wanted for defying it.”

“I’ve never heard of something like that happening,” Meten cut in. “It’s possible that it’s happened and I’ve just never run into any word of such a thing or any evidence, but it’s unlikely based on my experiences. If you refuse a Quest, which is the only urging from the System to do something that I’ve experienced, the only punishment is not receiving the rewards. And perhaps the consequences of not doing what the Quest recommends based on already existing circumstances. If you receive a Quest telling you the reward is keeping a ship afloat, then the ship sinking is probably going to happen if you refuse to take the Quest.”

Ahthia listened intently while he spoke. After he finished she slowly nodded. “That makes sense. Of course, Quests are one thing, the System directly telling people, or not telling people but convincing people, to do things directly is different. And while it’s almost certain to have happened many times before this, the System’s interactions with Kay is the first I’ve ever heard of such a thing, so I’m wary of the pitfalls. “

“I’ve only had a couple of real conversations or communications with the System and one time where I basically listened to it monologue. There was one time where it sounded like it was telling me what to do, but at the same time it spent time telling me why it wanted me to do what it was saying and giving me reasons to agree with it. I didn’t sense that there was an ‘obey or else I’ll punish you’ vibe in there, it was ‘do this thing to stop bad things from happening’. There’s consequences there, but they’re the same consequences as failing and they’re from an external source to boot. If someone comes to your house and tells you to fix your roof or a hole is going to open up during the next rain storm and dump water on you and you refuse to do it, getting wet isn’t that person’s fault.”

“Alright, so we are tentatively agreeing that the System won’t come down on you or any of us if you say no.” Ahthia noted, “What are the pros and cons of Kay, of Avalon, accepting this request?”

“Actually, before we get to that, do we even know if the System is going to be the one trying to convince Kay?” Eleniah asked, “I know I’m going against my own first impression, but if the System hasn’t said anything we don’t know it is the System. Carlile didn’t say that Alahna’s source was the System, just that she called it ‘very reliable’ and that she didn’t tell Carlile who it was.”

“You’re right that we don’t know,” Amanda replied, “But what are the other options? What rare capability does Kay have that’s hard to find? There are a few things Kay is uniquely capable of, curing vampyrism and some of the things you’re capable of because of your Class Line Progenitor title. But then they wouldn’t say that Kay is the most easily accessible, they’d say that he’s the only one that can help them.”

“Unless my cousin is being manipulative to try and pay Kay less than she would have to if he’s the only person able to help.” Eleniah muttered.

“But would she do that?” Amanda countered, “You have to know what a problem is to solve it, and we’re not going to enter some kind of binding agreement restricting us to only a particular payment for our monarch’s services. As soon as we hypothetically find out she’s downplayed how singularly important Kay is to solving her problem, we jack up the price and don’t help without it. As manipulative as you’ve told us she is, you also describe Queen Alahna as quite intelligent. I believe she’s too smart to not see the problems in that particular scheme.”

“You’re right,” Eleniah acknowledge, “That does sound like it would be too easy to bit he in the ass.”

“Thank you. Continuing my earlier point, the only ability or capability that I believe that you have that’s worth this level of effort to get a hold of, no offense to you your majesty-“

“None taken, prime minister.”

Amanda gave him a very small smile, “- Is your ability to deal with eldritch things more easily than others. Perhaps even better than others can. There are very few Classes or Skills that deal with the eldritch of any kind, and the few Ahthia has so excellently discovered for us seem to be specialized. A general increase in strength against them is quite rare. Can we think of anything else that Queen Alahna may want from you?”

“I can’t.”

“No.”

“Nor can I.”

Amanda nodded decisively, “Then until proven otherwise, my summation is that The Seramist Isles have a problem of the eldritch variety that Kay can help with. That being the case, who else could have told Queen Alahna about Kay’s abilities in that regard? We know she has good spies and I’m certain that there are some among our people-“

“There are.” Isla answered from wherever she was hiding.

“- But they wouldn’t be ‘reliable sources’ or able to convince Kay to go to the Isles to help. There has to be someone else who knows that information, could get it to Queen Alahna, and be able to convince Kay in any reasonable manner, except the System.”

“What about that restaurant person, that Kolm fellow?” Meten asked, “He’s capable of leaving and returning to the city without anyone noticing, he himself has told you he tried to get favors from leading monarchs and powerful people to advance his goals, and he might be able to convince us that this is important enough to attend to. He might even use the favor owed him by us to make it happen. That could let him get a favor from a currently more powerful monarch in exchange for losing the one he has over you.”

“I like the ‘currently’ you threw in there,” Kay told him with a grin.

Meten smiled back, “I am nothing but a partisan for my home. And my lovely daughter is putting in such hard work, of course you’re going to end up more powerful than any other monarch.”

Amanda rolled her eyes, temporarily reverting from her stoic prime minister persona to an annoyed daughter. “Why are you talking like that? It’s like you’re trying to be some wise old man.”

“I’d hardly say that I’m trying, I’m quite distinguished and wise.” He he told her with a wide grin, “I’m practicing sounding more proper for my subordinates. I’m in charge of an important national institution, can’t go around sounding like a hick.”

“I don’t think you’ve ever sounded like a hick, but if you want to try and seem more impressive, go for it. I don’t think it can hurt any.”

“Thank you, your majesty. Any thoughts on my idea.”

Kay stopped to think about it. “Kolm Davidson seemed to know a lot and is definitely very high tier, but we’ve never told him anything about me having abilities against generally eldritch things. The only way he’d have that information would be through supposition and spying. Do you think your cousin would see him as a credible source?”

Eleniah tipped her head back and stared at the ceiling while she thought. “I can’t say if she knows the guy, because I wasn’t at a high enough level to know everything about what Alahna was doing once she became queen, but if she trusted anyone enough to accept them at their word without evidence I would have known them, even just in passing. So I say no, he wouldn’t have that kind of pull with her. Especially not if she owed him a favor.”

“Then I think we can say its the System, unless one of my friends from Earth somehow landed in the Seramist Isles and magically know things about my life here. Which makes sense to me, because at this point the most valuable thing in my anti-eldritch toolkit is that vampire racial trait that we learned about right as that leg thing appeared, and that’s too new for her to learn about it anyway other than the System itself telling her. If it is-“

Kenneth Davis. System resources are currently limited so this entreaty will be brief and may lack key details.

Defense against otherworldly breaches were weakened and several incursions have incurred. Some are still ongoing.

The Seramist Isles experienced an unusual breach that has not been resolved.

You are uniquely positioned on several levels to deal with this breach, including proximity, availability, and personal relationships.

The System requests that you travel to the Seramist Isles and assist local assets in ending any eldritch incursions.

Continued corruption of System architecture must be avoided for the continued safety of Torotia.

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New Quest: Aid the Seramist Isles

- An otherworldly incursion that has been deemed “eldritch” is ongoing in the Seramist Isles and must be dealt with before unacceptable results occur. Eldritch incursions are larger and more dangerous than standard breaches into this reality and almost always more damaging if not dealt with quickly. You are in a prime position to intervene positively in order to prevent choas from ragin in the Seramist Isles and to protect the System as a whole.

Objective: End the eldritch incursion located in the Seramist Isles. Prevent any possible corruption of System architecture.

Rewards: Variable, Multiple Possible Scaling Bonuses Determined by Type of Incursion and Difficulty to Resolve

Failure Consequences: Variable, Danger to the Seramist Isles, Possible System Corruption, Other Unknown

Accept?

Yes//No

◄════════════════════════════►

“Unless it’s a very unlikely coincidence, we just got our confirmation,” Kay told the room, “The System just asked me to go help the Seramist Isles and gave me a Quest for it, which is giving me an option to decline it. Funnily enough, part of it asking me to help included the words ‘assist local assets’.”

“… It’s weird knowing my cousin can talk to the System like you do. Even if it isn’t really ‘talking to the System’,” She added when Kay opened his mouth to correct her, “Having the System ask you to do something directly is just as awe inspiring on many levels. I remember when she was a baby, and when I taught her how to read, and teaching her to throw a punch.” She trailed off with a conflicted look on her face.

“Are you going to accept?” Ahthia asked.

“We need to have an in depth conversation about if it’s worth it for me to accept.” Kay replied, sweeping his gaze across his close advisers. “The System implied that there would be problems if I don’t help, and it sounded like I really am the closest and most easily accessible person to help. That being said, I have a duty to my people before I assist anyone else. So let’s see if it’s in our best interest for me to accept this Quest.” Internally, he acknowledged that it was. As much as he was coming to grips that he did have a greater responsibility to his citizens than any random person he needed to help, Avalon was part of Torotia, and the System had flat out told him at one point that it was constantly making Torotia habitable. If the System went, so did life on this planet. Everyone on the world dying included everyone he was sworn to protect.