AA. 175

Historical records say that Ashe Fall was once a druid sanctuary. The grove tamed the harsh fauna, planted Yggdrasil’s seed, and nurtured her daughter to nourish the rogue planet. Previously, it housed no intelligent life, and monsters haunted it, feeding on the arcane minerals spewed by the world's volcanoes. Once Ashe grew big and strong enough to sustain and protect herself, the planet went from a training ground for young druids to a hub world. It took several millennia before they gave in to the cultivators and magitech engineers, letting Ashe Fall become a Control World.

Heimer had a far more illustrious past. It revolved around a Jupiter-like gas giant and started off as a frigid ice moon. Its native people originally lived in frozen legalities within mountains or underground springs around the natural Wells of Power or geysers. Only the best and strongest ventured out into the frozen wastes to hunt magical beasts and get the settlements’ protein. Then, a Void incursion in a nearby universe brought refugees and terrors from the unknown. Locals and immigrants had no choice but to band together and wage war against the invaders. 

It took a thousand-year war to eliminate the twisted terrors. The time of darkness and trials came at the incredible cost of millions lost. However, it also forced countless magical and technological breakthroughs. The unity forged through hardship helped them figure out how to defrost the frozen moon and make it fertile. In recent decades, they found a few forgotten waygates, and Heimer became a hub of multiversal trade. 

Selia’s brief proved valuable as the ship arrived at port. Nil struggled to differentiate the titanic curved mountain that bordered the bay and man-made structures. The towering coastal city got its name from the black mountain stone it was carved out of. 

The silver, gold, and orange lights of Sable danced on the dark waters around the vessel. A carriage awaited the trio, and the crew promised to transport their luggage to their accommodation. The valets only loaded the essentials before taking off. Selia and Susan sat inside the vehicle while Nil stood on an extension at the rear, clinging to a bar. No beasts of burden pulled the carriage. Instead, a humming aether engine powered the boxy contraption.

It traveled along tracks through the port into Sable’s bottom levels. The vehicle slotted into a seemingly endless shaft. Loud clamps grabbed the top and bottom and bars on either side, and a winch system hauled it through several floors. The colors and sights shifted. They passed mushroom farms, vegetable gardens, barns, processing centers, service areas, and residential levels. Everything appeared more spread out, polished, more decorated, and less populated with every floor.

Earth magitech was primarily normal technology with parts switched out to make it magical. In most circumstances, it was the power source or a tool for increasing output. On Ashe Fall, they mostly saw biotechnology spliced with arcane tools Nil struggled to understand. Meanwhile, the technology on Sable suggested it was a world that followed the traditional path up to the Renaissance or industrial era and then relied on magic for further advancement. 

Magic replaced steam and coal. Crude oil never entered the scene. As a result, there was no plastic. He imagined such a world didn’t need transistors or circuit boards. “Andy would love this place,” he whispered to his friends before they finally disembarked.

The carriage didn’t travel far from the shaft. The tracks ended just beyond it. A porter with a trolley took their luggage and guided them toward their accommodation, explaining how to navigate around the city and highlighting places of importance. Susan and Selia maintained straight faces, as the wonders of the alien world didn’t faze them. Meanwhile, Nil had to struggle not to fawn over everything he saw.

It's like an amusement park but not brain-numbing for anyone over sixteen.

The sites of Ashe Fall, though extraordinary, hadn’t intrigued Nil to such an extent. He didn’t understand magic. It was so alien that Nil didn’t know where to start, and the fact that he had no potential and feats limiting him also kept him from getting invested. But Heimer fascinated the former student of mechanical engineering. He wanted nothing more than to spend hours figuring out how everything worked. 

“The rest of your belongings will be up shortly, my lady,” the porter told Susan, bowing. “Do you need a guide for—”

“I’m no stranger to Sable,” Susan replied curtly. Her tone, posture, and general demeanor sold the noblewoman backstory brilliantly. 

The manor in question looked like a high-end pub with palatial rooms fit for foreign dignitaries. The only time Nil had seen accommodation so fine was when he briefly worked at the Claridge’s hotel in London’s affluent Mayfair neighborhood. The luxury establishment catered to royalty and people who made more money per day than he did on life-threatening quests and arena adventures. Nil personally believed Claridge’s was the perfect example of the word opulence, and their new accommodation matched it.

“The Weave doesn’t skimp, does it?” Nil asked once they were alone. “This place is fit for gods. Forget royalty.”

“I’m supposed to be the daughter of one of the world’s Immortals,” Susan said. “That probably holds more weight than mere royalty.” Her eyes flashed for a moment. Skoll and Hati shimmered into existence a moment later, standing no taller than squirrels. They didn’t wait for instructions. Summoners and their beasts shared an intimate bond far closer than that of a person and their spirit companion. They went off in different directions as soon as Nil opened the window. “Any Cursed Energy thus far?”

Nil shook his head. “I’ve never had to find something specific among such dense, arcane signatures before. It's not like Ashe Fall, where things were a lot more homogenous. Anything out of the ordinary stood out. Tracking down Cursed Energy here will be like finding a needle in a haystack.”

“Well, it's about time you fine-tune Energy Instinct and turn it into a magnet,” Selia said. “I’m betting Layla insisted you join me specifically for that ability’s sake. We need to find that needle.” She turned to Susan. “What’s the game plan?”

“You want me to come up with a plan?” Susan shot Nil a surprised glance before returning her attention to Selia.

“You worked for the police and served the Nexus as a tracker and investigator. We might be having trouble getting along, but that doesn’t mean I’ll go on an ego trip and not use your talents.”

“Protocol in these kinds of situations is generally canvassing,” Susan said. “We have the communication devices. Perhaps it's best if we split up. You’ll escort me to my meetings as discussed. Then hunt for Cursed Energy signatures separately.”

“Splitting up?” Nil frowned. “Are you sure that’s a smart idea? Splitting up is how people usually get killed. Going alone—”

“Who said anything about going alone? A summoner is never alone. Thanks to Andy, I’m also armed to the teeth.” She looked between Selia and Nil. “Meanwhile, the pair of you are in the middle of Cleansing training. If you find something and the Scourge is here as you suspect, this is the perfect opportunity for you to test your skills against their Champions while working as a duo.

“Stealth and espionage is your specialty, right? I’ll meet you halfway. Take Nil. Find Cursed Energy signatures. I’ll see if the Weave’s leads take me anywhere worth investigating.”

“And we have communicators for when things go wrong,” Selia stated. “I suppose we can do this one quick and dirty. It's a good enough plan for now.”

“I don’t like this,” Nil said. “The danger level on this quest is pretty high. We’re all Bronze Realm here. Maybe sticking together is the best decision.”

“We might be on the same Realm right now, but you two are still green,” Susan said. She smiled, placing a hand on Nil’s shoulder. “I got this. Trust me.”

“That’s what people say before they get themselves killed, you know.” Nil sighed. He found some relief in the fact that the pair weren’t sniping at each other and cooperating. “But fine. We’ll do this your way. For now.”

The sensory overload via Energy Instinct continued when the valets accompanied their masters to her meeting. It got worse when they departed for their errands. It wasn’t an uncomfortable load of stimuli as long as he disabled the visual component of the ability. He struggled to differentiate between arcane signatures greater than a dozen meters away. 

This is the kind of environment I need to train Energy Instinct.

Sable was a busy, bustling environment. The megacity didn’t give the valets a lot of room to stretch their legs and speed through the environment. Constant surveillance also limited their freedom. Black stone constructs stood at regular intervals. They were stationary monoliths and reminded Nil of the guards in the arena’s backrooms. He could feel their lifeless eyes on him. Nil had no way of confirming it, but their energy signatures seemed to follow him, almost as if they knew he was an outsider. 

The duo had no choice but to use the city’s elevators, stairwells, and other transport methods to visit the listed sites by the Weave, completing their master’s ‘errands.’ They checked each location on their list. Nil studied with Energy Instinct. Selia phased through the walls, peeking in every room and container. Light also seemed to phase through her, making her nearly invisible. If not for Nil’s familiarity with how her ability worked, he would’ve struggled to find her.

It wasn’t long before they were more than halfway through her list. The pair found themselves venturing lower into the city with every visit. Things got hotter, more crowded, and greasier.

“Could the Weave be wrong?” Nil asked when they reached the mushroom farms. They had been at it for hours and found no clues. “It’s almost time to get back. Susan’s meeting, ball, or whatever it is, is almost over. We waste any more time, and our cover is blown.”

“Yes. We have a couple of days to do the job and get our reward regardless. Not all intelligence is correct. Often, the Weave’s work is about ensuring that they and their suspicions are wrong.”

“Are you contracted by them? Do you owe them a certain amount of service or something of the sort?”

“Not in so many words,” Selia answered. “They did more for me than I did for them. I owe them. This is the second of the five jobs I need to do for them. The quests can’t be refused, and I need to do them to the best of my abilities. They’ll respect my limitations, though. No seductions. No hooking up with strangers. No killing of minors or innocents without reasonable evidence.”

“What counts as reasonable evidence?”

A shiver ran down Nil’s spine as they descended to the city’s basement level. The signs told them it was the quickest way to get an express carriage to the higher levels. It was a fleeting sensation and passed almost as suddenly as it hit him. It was a noxious clawing at the back of his head and throat. Selia answered, but Nil wasn’t listening. His eyes followed a boy no older than Sam. He seemed perfectly ordinary.

“What is it?” Selia asked, following Nil’s line of sight.

“What do you feel?”

“Nothing.,” Nil answered.

“Nothing? Why are we stopping from nothing?”

“Every person and bit of this place has an energy signature. I’ve been overwhelmed, but that stopped for a brief moment.”

“A nullification spell?” Selia said.

Nil nodded. “It's like an anti-magic or anti-detection field and bloody sickening. It's probably just a stupid hunch.”

“What do your instincts say? You’ve got good instincts, Nil. Listen to them. Is this kid worth tailing?”

“I know we’re deviating from the plan, but yes.”

Selia loosened her collar and undid the top button. “We’re no longer valets following their master’s instructions. We’re bad employees goofing off for a little romantic adventure. Let’s go.”