Do you know what I consider your species' most fatal flaw, human? Not your own, personally. Your own is indecision. Your own is your inability to decide whether you were going to pull that mana bomb's cord and take me with you, or if you wanted to live for that scant, slight sliver of a chance you might make it out of here. That sweet, tantalizing whisper of potential life was still greater—greater than the dread of torture, greater than anything I could inflict upon you or your fellows. You shiver before me, you shudder, you quaver. You're afraid, but you're hopeful.

  Hopeful? That's a terrible thing to be.

  But ultimately, you're indecisive. You've eyed the door several times; it seems ajar, and you are trying to estimate how high my Reflexes Tier is. You're trying to see if you can slip out and use your Stealth Skill to blend into the light and vanish from my notice to escape my fortress. But you are so uncertain, and you're so scared as to what might happen if you fail. But you've already failed. This isn't about you, no, no. You are no true threat. I am not your true adversary. You are a prisoner of your own mind before you are a prisoner of mine, Master-Ranger.

  Now, to get back to the point, the main flaw ingrained in your species is that you are so desperate to be heard, that you need to confess things that should stay deep within your own heart to those who are like you. You want community. You want tribemanship. It's in your very fibers. And it makes you betray yourself.

  To teach you to comprehend this weakness, I will not torture you.

  I'm going to be honest with you. I have compromised one of your fellow humans. You do not know who. Over the course of the next months or perhaps years, depending on how long it lasts, I will have you alternate between isolation and cohabitation. You will find yourself granted company after long periods of solitude, and one among them is a traitor. One among them will ask you questions about your state secrets, about the weak points of your fortresses, and eventually, you will bend. You will tell them because you want to tell them, because there will come a point where you are so weary, where you are so desperate for company and companionship, that you will tell them anything.

  You will know all this the entire time, and you will know that I'm right. Only then will you break properly.

  The Challenger seems to think that your race holds some promise. I disagree with my god. I instead hold a great deal of pity for you humans. There is potential, I suppose, but that potential is betrayed by all those flaws ingrained within you by evolution. The System is not an evolutionary thing. The System is made for a single purpose, and you, my sweet, sweet thinking ape, are not shaped for that design.

  -The Culturist, Legendary Orc War Maestro

  245 (I)

  Backstory [I]

  Seconds passed. Shiv gawked at Jessica. Some more seconds passed. The gawking continued. Between his weary brain and her sudden appearance, along with Adam's rapid cursing, the Deathless didn't know how to respond. He didn't know if she was here to bring him in, to ambush him, or if she was simply like him, taking a break inside the waiting room.

  "Yeah, I get that a lot." Jessica sighed, leaning back slightly. Besides her helmet, she still wore her full set or armor, but it did little to make her physique any more imposing. "I'd offer you a cookie, kid, but as you can see," she gestured toward the empty wrapper lying on the table, as well as a messy spill of crumbs that dotted its surface, "I'm all out. They're in my tummy. So, what's your damage? You one of the medics here? Some nasty blood you got all over yourself. But, hey, I've had worse on me. I had worse just now. Kind of a shitty day for me too.”

  This felling bitc— Shiv looked down and realized he had caught some of the spray when Maxime was mending the goblin. That and that of several other patients. The past minutes had been a blur. It was hard to recall everyone he'd treated, and his head continued throbbing.

  "Yeah, just kind of tired," Shiv said.

  Jessica giggled. Her voice sounded like the chiming of bells, and she seemed so much younger than she actually was. There was no hint of tension or agitation on her face. Yet, looks could be deceiving, and true intentions could be hidden.

  Even so, if she had come here to claim Shiv, she could have done so at any moment, could have ambushed him, could have demanded that he leave the room with her. To defend himself against a rival Legend meant breaking his cover, and Shiv didn't want to do that.

  Now, though, she was just being chummy. Jessica smiled lightly at Shiv. "You know, being bone-tired is a reward."

  "It is," Shiv replied, feeling like he was in a trance.

  "Shiv, don't do anything. I don't think she knows we're here," Adam said. "But just in case, I have a Veilpiercer prepared. If we have Gone, Kura, Candles, and everyone come across, we might be able to overwhelm her in an instant."

  Jessica, unaware of the ambush brewing against her, just nodded. "Oh yeah, when I was a kid, right? Didn't live a great life. Was a bit of an urban explorer, if you could call me that. And things at home weren't great either. Just went out, did stuff, got into trouble. It's hard to sleep, you know, when your family's... in..." She didn't quite finish that sentence, but Shiv got what she was trying to imply. "But when you're tired enough, sleep's easy. It's the best sleep aid in the world. And there's something special about lying down on a soft bed, pulling up—well, it doesn't even need to be silk, freshly-washed sheets. Even a ratty old rag will do when you know you gave the day everything you had.”

  She let out a sigh and shook her head as if she was reminiscing about good times. "Nothing quite like being a Pathbearer, is there, kid?"

  "I guess not," Shiv replied. He stared at her and chanced a question: "Um, are you—"

  "Oh yeah, I am the Giantsbane. If you're feeling starstruck, don't. I'm just, uh, well, I guess I am a Legend, but... When you get old enough, you're going to figure out that being a Legend is a lot more of a circumstance thing than it is an achievement of pure skill."

  Shiv looked around and realized that Rusty was surprisingly absent. That dimensional blade was always near Jessica. Now he had no idea where it was. He had the strangest feeling come over him. A tickle ran down the base of his skull and traveled across the length of his back. He fought the urge to look behind him.

  "Adam," Shiv squeaked telepathically. "Is there a sword behind me waiting to slash down?"

  The Gate Lord took only a half-second to respond. "No, there's nothing behind you, Shiv. In fact, I can't feel the damn sword anywhere."

  And that wasn't a reassuring statement. Rusty being missing meant that Shiv simply didn't know where the attack might be coming from.

  "We can bring her down," Tulveg said. "She is not prepared for us. Her face is exposed; all it will take is—"

  "No," Helix said. The orc sounded adamant. "Absolutely not. Do not underestimate her. In your last engagement with her, she was too fast for me to follow, too fast for me to react to. But I managed to cast a spell near the end, and she nearly took my hand off for it."

  "What? She was inside my cape?" Shiv asked, incredulous. "And then Tulveg decided to expel her? When the hell was this?"

  "While you were unconscious," the orc answered. "I do not mean to insult you, Insul, but in a direct confrontation, I'm not sure if I would favor your chances against her. Even if there were no Prismatic Guard intervention, no Ascendant threat, no anything. Now, if I had to guess, then the Ascendants are being held back by Veronica Chandler sending them misinformation. You did project a massive Orichalcum pillar out of the hospital. I suspect they're still scouring the rest of the campus grounds and library for you."

  "You think Jessica knows anything?"

  "I am uncertain," Helix hummed, "but currently, I am leaning toward no. If I were a Legend, and, once again, I am not studied in psychology, so I cannot make a determined statement here, I would have simply attacked you while you were in transit. I wouldn't have waited for you to come to the intensive ward. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to wait until you were in the same room as I was afterward. And I wouldn't be doing this."

  Shiv considered that, but he wasn't convinced. “How can you be so sure this isn't some ploy we're not seeing?”

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  "Perhaps she could be trying to bait out information, but why? You are alone, as far as she knows, with only a few others helping you. She is a True Legend and has the force of Divinities and a great army behind her. It is basic strategic knowledge to use colossal force to overwhelm a weaker adversary and take minimal losses. If she knows you are here, and she's simply choosing to engage with you this way, then she's playing with her food."

  Shiv thought back to his first encounter with Jessica Hawgrave aboard the Inquisition warship. "Yeah, well, she likes playing with her prey quite a bit. At least I can survive a few of her hits now. She actually has to try. Last time, she beat the shit out of me with her fingers."

  "Just her fingers?" Helix asked.

  "Yeah, like, she flicked me a few times, and it nearly took my head off. 'Course I didn't have Pillar of Orichalcum, then. My Physicality wasn't Legendary, and I was weaker overall, but you get the point."

  "Do you know something, Insul?" Helix said. "There are times that I forget you're not an orc, and then there are times you remind me."

  "What do you mean?"

  "I mean that no orc would admit to such a humiliating beating."

  Shiv shrugged internally. "It is what it is. Sometimes you get the shit beat out of you. Then you think about it, you try to figure it out, and you try again. Then maybe it happens again, and you try again. Part of the fun is figuring out why, getting better."

  "And you feel no shame?" Helix asked.

  "For what, losing?" Shiv didn't understand the orc’s worry. "Losing's the price you gotta pay for getting better and winning. Everything starts as shit, then you work to not shit, and then you try to make art."

  "What is that?" Adam asked. "Some kind of kitchen knowledge? Why have I heard it before too?”

  "Yeah. Got that talk at the Swan-Eating Toad all the time.”

  "Ha!" the Gate Lord chimed. "I heard that from my father once. I guess he took that from Georges, then."

  Shiv chuckled. "Yeah, he's pretty quotable. There's also a lot more screaming and cursing where he's involved. Speaking of which, I'm kinda wanting to do that right now, considering I'm staring at the woman who chiseled my asshole open from the inside out."

  "Please don't," Adam said. "If there's a chance we can get away clean, just take it."

  Sage of the Enkindled Heart: Listen to him. The hate you feel toward her is justified. You will enact your revenge on her someday, but it will be on your terms. You must ambush her and then beat her, and then you must destroy her ass as she has destroyed yours. Only then will you be whole. Only then will you be able to release the anger inside of you. Mostly by annihilating her rectum. For now, imagine prolapsing and then ripping it out of her before whipping her with it.

  It was such a relaxing thought.

  Jessica arced a sharp eyebrow as she regarded Shiv. "You know something? Most times, people have a lot more questions for me. They also ask me to sign something or tell me that they named their kid after me.”

  Shiv gave a slight wheeze. He wasn't even really acting. Despite that, he gained the level anyway.

  Acting 20 > 21

  "Wow, you're that spent, huh, kid?"

  "Yeah, I got kidnapped by a cancer monster earlier."

  Suddenly, Jessica's mouth fell open. "Holy shit, that was you?" She barked a laugh. "You have any idea how lucky you are to be alive right now? Vampire snatched you. That thing was sent by a Legend. On the other hand, you have any idea how bad your luck is to be one of the few kids to get snatched by a cancer dimensional?" She leaned in closer and narrowed her eyes. "What is it about you that made you get snatched up?"

  Shiv hadn't come up with a proper alibi for that. He winced. He thought back to Marcus's backstory, and he almost stopped time to buy himself some more room to think before realizing Jessica was immune to his time stops. But then, inspiration struck him.

  "I'm Cursed," Shiv blurted out.

  "You're what?"

  "I'm Cursed," Shiv repeated. "I got this mana deficiency thing. My Physicality is all messed up. That might have drawn it."

  Deception 48 > 50 (Skill Evolution Imminent)

  Oh, hells, another one… What a godsdamned day…

  "Oh," Jessica said. She actually seemed sympathetic. "Okay, I've heard something about that. You can't develop your Physicality Skill, is that why you're…" She waved a finger at his body. "Uh, yeah, but your skin… You look metallic.”

  "My Toughness is not affected."

  "That explains why the rubble didn't kill you. Damn, I can't say if I would consider you favored or simply just screwed. But then again, it is the System we're talking about here. It doesn't know what it wants half the time." Jessica looked up at the ceiling and simply sneered, "Piece of shit."

  Shiv noted her scorn with interest.

  Sage of the Enkindled Heart: Look at her core. It's filling with fire. It's doused a second later, but there is fire. She genuinely hates the System.

  Well, I sure can't blame her, Shiv replied.

  Aloud, he said, "Yeah, well, that's life for us Pathbearers, huh?"

  "Well, you're right about that." Jessica sighed again as she slumped down onto the desk for just a moment, running a hand through her lightly curled hair. "Anyway, I came here to apologize to Hero-Biomancer Javelina for putting her hospital in danger. This entire thing was actually a personal matter on my part. Well, maybe not on my part. It's mostly the fault of my strange grandson for not dealing with a long-standing rival of his that I didn't even know about. Apparently, he didn't know about him either. Whoever this Legendary-Tier vampire is, he's pissed enough to come hunting my kid’s kid in the heart of the Republic."

  “Why do you think he was hunting your grandson?” Shiv asked.

  The Giantsbane shrugged. "Only a few things will drive someone to do that. My guess is while Samuel was doing whatever he was doing for the Inquisition, he probably killed someone he wasn't supposed to... or was supposed to, and now there's a loose end that traced him back."

  Shiv was startled. He didn't know if she was taunting him with how much she knew, deliberately trying to provoke him to reveal himself, or if she simply had that much insight.

  Sage of the Enkindled Heart: Don't forget she is a Legend too, and she earned it without being unkillable. This means she has been alive for a long, long time, and she has seen far, far more conflict, bloodshed, and combat than you.

  "I'm sorry to hear that," he said uncertainly.

  Jessica waved him off. "Yeah, it's not really your fault. This life turns out this way when you become a High-Tier martial Pathbearer. And every year you don't die, it stays that way."

  She let out a long, tired breath, looking down at her right hand as she opened and closed it a few times. "Now, let me tell you about being exhausted after a good day's work. That's something you enjoy. Being exhausted after you murdered a bunch of people, half of whom you don't think deserved it, well, you don't really sleep after that at all. Instead, you just kind of lie there. Even if you're tired to your core, you lie there with your eyes open, you think about their faces, you wonder who the hells you are and why you're doing this thing, and you curse the System over and over and over again. It's how it goes."

  Jessica met Shiv's wide-eyed gaze and simply threw up her hands. "Look, I'm not doing this to freak you out. I'm just giving you a heads-up for if you manage to live that long. Judging from your Curse, though," she winced, "yeah, you're probably not gonna make it that long."

  Shiv almost snorted. Jessica Hawgrave was nothing if not a brutal chain of unending honesty. "Anyway, to keep this thing going, not only did I run into a Legendary-Tier vampire who had the entire hospital under his control—though, I'll give the bloodsucker one thing: he didn't murder any of the kids, and he didn't really jack anyone up aside from two Morbomancers. Oh, damn shame what happened to their kid, though. I'm not really sure why the vampire decided to kill their son specifically. Guess there's a grudge there."

  Man, she went on a fast tangent. And here I thought my thought process was jumpy. She distracted herself there and never finished talking about the “not only did she” part…

  Inside Shiv's cape, a pang of deep shame came from Tulveg. "That is not what happened. That is not—I did not mean…"

  "Oh, regretting your violence? How unvampire-like of you," Helix taunted.

  "Orc, another word, and I'll—"

  "Both of you, shut the fuck up," Shiv nearly snarled out loud. "I'm trying to keep my cover the best I can. If you two start to fight in my cape, I'm just gonna kill myself and give up. I can't deal with all this shit at once, okay?"

  Both of them fell quiet, though for different reasons.

  "Adam, can you go stand between the gray nerd and Mr. Vengeance? You know, just put 'em both in timeout!"

  "Mr. Vengeance?" Tulveg said, uncertain about his nickname.

  "Nerd?" Helix sounded on the verge of throwing a fit. "I am no n-nerd! I am an accomplished scholar of Biomancy!"

  Shiv sighed. "Yeah, sure, great. Whatever you are, make it quiet.”

  "You alright, son?" Jessica asked. She leaned in close. "You look distracted, like you're speaking to someone inside your head." She went very still.

  "Uh, uh, it's just a headache."

  "No, no, you're lying." She pointed a finger at his face. "You're lying. I know that face. Psychomancers make that face when they're talking to someone telepathically. You hiding a Psychomancy Skill?"

  Shiv cringed, trying to come up with an apt lie. Just then, Jessica's eyes flashed, and he briefly felt his Mask of Stolen Paths rattle. A crack sounded on the inside. Shiv didn't flinch, but inside he pleaded, Please don't break! Please don't break!

  Her eyes dimmed again, and she pressed her lips together. "No Psychomancy. But—well, I mean, you're an Adept. Where you from? Up North? Old Brunswick?"

  Shiv nodded.

  "Okay, that explains a few things. Well, let me guess, you were imagining things? Was it something sexual?" She lifted her left eyebrow. Shiv found himself even more speechless. "Was it about me?"

  Shiv's mouth went dry.

  Jessica burst out laughing, waving her hand at Shiv as she giggled. "I'm just fucking with you, kid! Relax, relax. It's okay if you do! Just don't say it out loud. It's only wrong if you let the other know. We all have our fantasies."

  She stared at him, and the moment lasted too long. It grew to be unbearably uncomfortable. Shiv stammered, "I think you're a little too old for me."