Mage Tank

Chapter 268: Icebreakers

While my confidence in the cosmological integrity of our local reality was eroding by the day, my confidence that I’d done everything I could to be as strong as possible when heading into this team-up with the Littans was pretty good. I opened the portal to the Littan fortress in Eschendur, proud of how much I’d accomplished.

The moment I stepped through and saw both Major Tavio and Captain Pio there to greet us, something about how clean and professional the pair of them looked tickled a forgotten brain cell. The one that had been in charge of deciding an important aspect of my build planning, but had apparently taken a three-month vacation instead.

I realized I’d never picked up a fifth passive skill.

The pair of military officers likely inspired that thought because of how well put together they were. It evoked a sense of completeness, like everything about their lives was perfectly ordered and addressed.

Tavio’s uniform was a sandy white with dark red highlights, perfectly tailored to suit the man’s build. While most Littans were fairly lithe, Tavio’s thick layer of muscle was easily visible even through his brown fur. He was still compact compared to someone like Varrin, but his every move evoked a sense of strength, like the world was made of porcelain and he was being very careful not to break it. Littans were shorter than humans on average, but Tavio’s dark eyes were nearly level with my own.

The man had also packed on some more Levels, currently sitting at an impressive Level 23. To put that in perspective, only about ten percent of Delvers tackled Gold Delves or higher, which also meant ninety percent of Delvers were below the Silver soft cap of Level 11. Even among Gold Delvers, many stagnated between Level 15 and 20, with few enough making the climb higher.

Of course, Tavio wasn’t just a Gold Delver anymore. His soul had undergone another round of trading up. When I’d first met the Littan at Level 17, he’d had thirty-four Gold Delves shimmering around his base soul layer. Now, twelve of those Gold Delves were gone, replaced with twelve Platinum Delves. I’d first noticed this after our meeting with the empress six months beforehand, and I still didn’t know exactly how he was doing it.

My biggest hint about whatever process Tavio was undergoing was the amount of violet striations in his soul, indicating the Special Delves the major had undertaken. They were so numerous, it was starting to get intimidating. However, most of the shimmering violet marks were thinner than I’d seen in other Delvers. They had the same potent quality, but each one had a smaller effect on his soul overall. Even so, in combination, they were significant. The man could probably put most Golds into the ground without trouble, regardless of Level.

Next to Tavio, Captain Pio stood a head shorter than her superior officer. She had similarly dark eyes, but her fur was closer to white than brown. Her build was lean enough that one would be forgiven for thinking she was much frailer than she was. Having seen the woman in action back in the Pocket Delve, I knew she could take a hit, but you’d never know it from looking at her without her armor and shield. Regardless of her stature, Captain Pio had a presence of authority, although it was deferential to Major Tavio beside her.

Relatedly, the existence of the Pocket Delve and my prior familiarity with Pio’s team might lead to some tricky moments as we worked with the group, especially since I wasn’t built for subterfuge. I’d already resigned myself that the truth would come out eventually, and the party as a whole was ready to start becoming more forthright with our ostensible allies about other sensitive matters. Our personal power and notoriety were now sufficient to insulate us from most of the risk associated with the secrets we harbored.

Although there were still plenty of individuals with enough juice to swat us down with ease, at the same time, there was a king, a Zenithar, and now a Dragon or two who would be most displeased by such an act. Not to mention a host of Hiwardian nobility and other high-ranking members of society. Avarice might even be willing to get involved if absolutely necessary, and the System wasn’t entirely neutral towards us. Our knowledge, and our transparency about that knowledge, made us extraordinarily valuable. That itself was a layer of protection.

Despite our rough history with the Littans, I was hopeful that the imperials would prove they belonged in our cadre of appreciative associates.

“Master Xor’Drel,” said Tavio. “Allow me to welcome you and your party once again to Fort Ruiz.”

“Thank you, Major,” I said, then gave a quick greeting to Captain Pio as well before turning back to Tavio. “They finally named the place after the duchess?”

“We all knew that it would be so,” he said with a shrug. “But, yes, the paperwork has finished making its way through the burrows, so to speak.”

“Does that mean Eschendur has accepted the fortress as a permanent installation in their territory?”

“They have, yes,” said Tavio. “There were concessions on both sides, but the conflict between Eschendur and the empire has formally been resolved.”

“I hope everyone walked away satisfied. Are those concessions public knowledge?”

“Not so much, but neither are they a secret,” Tavio answered. “The fortress will serve as a Delver academy representing both Littan and Eschen students, with administration selected by both parties. The fort will ultimately remain under the control of the Littan military, but the academy facilities and surrounding lands will be considered as joint territory. Meanwhile, the Eschens are constructing a facility around their Creation Delve that will be under their full control, and both nations have agreed to allow mixed groups into their Creation Delves.” ɽ𝐚NȱＢÊṡ

“Oh?” I said. “That’s quite the turnaround.”

“We have a great deal of expertise when it comes to Delving, which we will share with Eschendur,” said Tavio. “This should help them adjust to having twenty-five times more Creation slots than their relationship with Hiward allowed. We will have trained Littan soldiers alongside Eschens in their Creation Delve, and have offered an equal number of slots for Eschens in ours. It will ensure a much safer experience for new Eschen Delvers.”

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“Hmm,” I hummed. “I assume this is not being done solely out of a sense of generosity?”

Tavio grinned. “Eschendur has agreed to a more favorable trade deal with the empire concerning mana-rich materials.”

“Which resolves the core conflict of the invasion,” I added.

“The official reasoning for the invasion was settled when the existence of the Operator was revealed, and the slaughter in the Eschen Gap was proven to be its work, not the work of rogue Eschen Delvers.” Tavio’s whiskers twitched. “But we both know that was bullshit, so yes, it is as you say.”

“And I bet instilling a Littan Delver culture in the new generation of Eschen Delvers doesn’t hurt.”

“I assume there are many such considerations, but they are above me,” said Tavio. “I am just excited to see how the young ones progress while having access to everything phase two has to offer. I expect they will be much more powerful on average.”

“And you’ll be looking for new sparring partners, I’m sure.”

“Ha!” Tavio barked. “It is difficult to find a good match these days.” He spread his hands and gave me a smile. “I am always open to trading pointers again, if you are interested.”

I eyed Tavio speculatively, but seriously considered the offer. Tavio had beaten my ass before, back when he’d had eleven Levels on me. Now the gap was much smaller. If he were any other Level 23, I’d probably have a decent chance. Looking at all the violet striations undermined some of my confidence, but I’d certainly put up a better showing than last time.

“Tell you what,” I said. “So long as it's actually a spar and not a sucker punch followed by a barroom brawl, I’m good for it.” Tavio’s eyes glinted with excitement, and I held up a finger. “Not right now, though.”

Xim nudged me with an elbow. “You got knocked out of the bar after one punch, didn’t you?” she said. “It was more of a full-village brawl.”

“I guess, but that sounds like the whole village was involved.”

“Their buildings certainly were,” said Varrin. Tavio’s excitement faded at that comment.

“Yes, I let my eagerness get the better of me at that time,” he said. “I paid all those who suffered any damage to their property quite handsomely. I hope they have accepted that as my atonement.”

“Wait, what?” I said. “I paid those people, too.”

“Truly?” said Tavio. “But it was my fault, and not your own.” He tilted his head and looked up in thought. “That habberdasher and baker were both very happy when I made the offer. I can see why they were so pleased now.”

“Eh, good for them, I guess,” I said. “Wake up to a ruined shop, go to bed planning for retirement.”

Tavio chuckled. “Now that we have said our greetings, I believe we should move on to the matter at hand, yes? Oh, and I quite like your hats. They look to be of superb quality.”

I reached up and ran a finger along the edge of my cavalier hat. The round brim was cocked up and pinned on one half, with a feather plume accenting the band on the opposite side. All five of us had one, and each person’s feather matched the color of their outfit. None of us were in our normal equipment, since showing up to the Littan fortress battle-ready would have been a minor breach of decorum. Instead, we’d chosen practical and well-made travelling clothes.

“Thanks,” I said. “Nuralie has become a talented hatter. They’re even mana woven to never fall off by accident!”

After another round of heart-warming hat appreciation, everyone was ready to move on. Tavio led us out of the renovated fortress dungeon where my portal was located for security reasons, and we headed toward a more comfortable briefing room.

The trip took us through the center of the fortress, giving us a view of hundreds of Littan soldiers training under the watchful eyes of Delver officers. This gave me the opportunity to evaluate the people we moved past, picking out interesting Delvers and watching for signs of hostility. While a few of the Littans sent us questionable looks, none were outright aggressive. Most simply ignored us, and a small handful even gave me a smile and nod when they caught me staring. There were a few Eschens around, but not many.

This was also an exercise in using my first Diplomacy evolution, which let me pick up on who had the most social influence in any given room. With the Littan military, influence typically lined up with rank, but it wasn’t uniformly true. Tavio had a full rank on Captain Pio, so it made sense that he had the most social influence between the pair.

Tavio also had more influence than all the ordinary soldiers that we passed. Major was a decent rank, so that wasn’t a surprise, but when we strolled by a lieutenant colonel and Tavio still had more social pull, I began to raise an eyebrow. Finally, we were briefly introduced to the full colonel who commanded the entire outpost. Even then, Tavio had greater social standing.

As far as I knew, Tavio wasn’t a Littan noble. There was little reason this fortress commander should be less influential than the affable battle maniac who I now realized was taking us on a full tour of the place. I started to think there was a good reason the empress personally knew who Tavio was, and that his number of Special Delves might have something to do with his social status.

When we eventually made it to a spartan yet comfortable meeting room, it was still just the seven of us.

“Where’s the rest of your team, Captain Pio?” Etja asked once we were settled around a large conference table.

“They are securing our transport,” she replied. “Once we are done, we’ll be meeting them at the mew.”

“Mew?” I asked, wondering if there was a mythical pocket monster running around.

“Ah, how do you say?” Captain Pio trailed off. “A large… birdhouse?”

Varrin sat forward and glanced at me from further down the table. “A mew is a place where raptors are kept, such as falcons.”

The big guy’s piece of trivia ended my hopes of wanting to be the very best, like no one ever was. Instead, my excitement transitioned to fantasies of becoming a griffon rider. “Will our transport be a falcon?”

“A hammerhead falcon, yes,” said Pio. My eyebrows went up, remembering the titanic bird I’d seen Lito face years beforehand, during our conflict with a hostile colony of Chovali.

“Before we leave, however,” said Tavio, “we should discuss some more sensitive matters.” He looked around to make sure we were all on the same page before continuing. “While Fortune’s Folly will be working alongside Team Pio, I have been assigned as Captain Pio’s commanding officer and will serve as your primary point of contact with the empire. Your official role is that of foreign consultants. Because of this, you fall outside of the normal command structure. No one will be giving you orders, but so long as you are in imperial territories, we expect you will follow imperial law.”

“Of course,” I said. “We’ve all taken the time to familiarize ourselves with the Littan legal code.”

“Excellent. In addition to imperial law, military compounds have their own regulations. Many will not apply in your case, but there will be instances where an officer may make certain requests of you. For example…”

What followed was a comprehensive breakdown of how we would need to interface with the Littan military. In typical imperial fashion, it was mostly repetition of things we’d already been told, done as a formality. Our point of contact had to review it with us personally, to ensure we understood what we were getting into. Tavio explained that this was standard procedure for dealing with third parties like ourselves. It was all very bureaucratic, but I found myself appreciating the clarity. There would be little chance for us to end up in a situation where it was unclear how we should act.

Once that was finished, Tavio moved on to the meat of our discussion.

“Now, I can finally give you more details on the Dungeon,” he said.