Chapter: 541 – Who Might You Be?

Tala found herself rather enjoying the campfire that the unit had made outside the cell’s antechamber. Several hefty sections of wood had been skillfully arranged into a hot, long-burning fire.

It occasionally crackled and popped, but Tala saw that more as a feature to be enjoyed than as something to be avoided. Additionally, with her enhancements, when the smoke came her way, she felt no need to move aside.

The fire wasn’t needed, of course. Everyone present was at least Refined, it was still just late afternoon, and it was summer. Regardless, it was enjoyable.

There was a quality to the heat from fire that was just nicer than many other heat sources.

It was dry and clean.

Perfect.

But the enjoyment of the fire was ancillary to her purpose, there in the wilderness with a bunch of strangers. She was along on this little excursion to close a cell for a Defender unit.

This unit was sharing food, joking, and chatting, among other things. They’d offered Tala some food, but she’d declined.

As to conversation, initially on the expedited trek through the wilds, they’d engaged Tala occasionally, but while she’d answered without hesitation or difficulty, she hadn’t gone out of her way to extend the conversations, causing them to fall off in frequency until they essentially ended.

At the moment, some of the unit were reading, a few were eating, and one even seemed to be napping. Two of them were taking the time to spar, off to one side. Though, they were doing so without active enhancement or spellwork.

The two sparring were a halberd user and a woman with a curved sword and buckler. Both were fast, and the clashes would likely have been all but impossible to follow for a mundane, but they seemed a bit slow to Tala’s eyes.

-Critic.-

Of course. They’d both fall to even a halfway competent Eskau.

-Well, to be fair, they aren’t actually showing their full capacities. They are going slow to not harm one another, and not using their inscriptions.-

I suppose that’s true.

The two went back and forth, the buckler giving a defensive advantage that was countered by the reach advantage of the halberd.

She almost inserted herself in, either challenging both or offering to provide correction and teaching, but she couldn’t figure out a way to do so without coming off as an arrogant know-it-all.

-Ahh, social incompetence. It’s been a while since that’s mattered.-

Yeah… These people are almost peers, so there’s not much awe, but they aren’t actually peers, so there isn’t the sense of unity.

-I don’t think any of these were at the party when you became a Defender either. So, they aren’t aware of how fast you’ve risen. That would put proper awe in them.-

No, I don’t think so either, not that such is actually my goal… Regardless, they’re a newer unit, or at least one more newly arrived to Alefast. I don’t think I even saw them before we left the city for our honeymoon.

-So really new?-

Or just operating in different circles, yeah.

Regardless, this group handled things very differently than Mistress Cerna and Master Clevnis had.

First of all, no one went into the antechamber but Tala… Well, Tala didn’t either as she could see it just fine from out near the fire.

They’d opened the initial door, and then set up camp out here on the superficial.

Tala had gotten some odd looks when she didn’t go in either, but they assumed she knew what she was doing and didn’t actually question her.

Huh, I wonder how many of the Paragons who came with us were just winging it?

-That’s a bit of a terrifying thought. I think we always had in the back of our mind that they were there to keep everything from falling into disaster if needed. As it turns out, they might have been just as flawed and uncertain as we were… are.-

I don’t think that notion—if known—would be very popular… lar?

-Rhymes aren’t required.-

But they are fun, and it was so close to one.

-Fine… but stay on task, Tala, or at the very least let me stay on task.-

Fine…

She had moved a bloodstar cloud in to make sure she didn’t miss anything due to perspective, but Alat was handling most of that, with Tala simply supporting the low-level effort of will required to extend her aura and authority into the expanded space.

It helped having Kit stoneward of the whole thing… well, sort of. Cells and their antechambers extended into the void rather than simply hanging stoneward, but Kit was stoneward of the entrance, adding weight to Tala and Alat’s authority and power within.

Terry was splayed out beside her, having been excited at the prospect of wandering out into the Wilds once more. He’d barely been around at the beginning, as he went about to hunt and range through the hill country, but as the day had progressed, he’d stuck with her more and more.

The unit of Defenders had given him odd looks at first, but by this point, he was mainly ignored.

Barbarians.

-I know, right? Not even offering him jerky.-

They’d be dead already if this were the old Terry.

-We are such a good influence on him.-

I know, right?

They had already documented the entire antechamber, including the treasure, and sent the information to Master Grediv and the other overseers of this process. Though, Alat was diligently continuing to examine the area for further clues.

Regardless, Tala had a pretty good idea of what was inside.

It seemed to be a being that could make copies of itself—all tied to and dependent on a single soul—and any damage or effect enacted on any one of the clones, could be sent back as an attack upon the one who enacted it.

The various pictograms seemed to imply that not only could the being within delay that ‘return’ of effects, it could use any of them on others instead of the original ‘actor.’

This also seemed a bit like the cell that made unlimited copies which adapted to every death, though this one was more reactive, and less flexible? It didn’t seem like they could actually change to mitigate damage, more they could throw that damage back. So, while they seemed a bit similar, Tala could also see just how different they truly were.

This prisoner was ungated and either a humanoid magical creature or an arcane… or had copied the form of one long ago.

The base concept was incredibly obvious: Perfect replication.

Well, it probably has some kitschy wording like: To copy is to honor the original.

-Or a perfect copy is indistinguishable from the original.-

Yeah… that sounds better.

-I know.-

It’s also odd that there are warnings that simply obliterating everything within the cell—even self-sacrificially—wouldn’t work.

-Yeah, it definitely feels like it should? But they seemingly tried something like that, and the Mage died without ending the prisoner. It seems like even they didn’t fully understand all that this prisoner could do.-

Regardless, it seems like it’s a question of authority, though I can’t quite tell how? Tala groaned. I wish I could just handle the cell myself. I don’t feel like I can actually ensure the safety of this group.

-I mean… we could? It’s important to note that we aren’t actually responsible for their safety, that’s on them, but we definitely could try to handle this ourself nonetheless. I’d want a true anchor within for you to work your magic from if needed, but I can handle the repair of the cell.- She laughed. -Honestly, Kit can do most of that work, but I need to monitor her and assist, or she’ll just eat the cell, and that wouldn’t be ideal.-

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Yeah, and we need to keep Kit’s magics from coming anywhere near this creature, as the ability to replicate such would be… unideal.

-There is the danger that if they can use effects more than once even a single wrong action could doom everyone. That possibility was somewhat implied, but not very explicitly, and I feel like it would have been made very clear if that was the intention.-

Agreed. In the worst case, it could have a bank of things it can do, yeah. Unless the ‘collection’ fades over time? It’s been millennia for them, so? Tala shrugged.

-Yeah, that’s fair. So, as to the matter of an anchor within the cell?-

Yeah… Terry? He’d have fun being a part of this, and through him we can deploy our field of iron spikes.

-Oh! That would do it. That should allow me to better work on the repairs. This is my first time, and I expect it will take a bit longer because of that.-

Tala nodded slowly, smiling to herself. Then, she hesitated briefly. So, are we really going to just handle the cell?

-We can try, yeah. If it doesn’t work, we close it up and have this unit help us.-

That swept away the last of Tala’s hesitation. That’s a good plan, yeah. Has Master Grediv gotten back to us?

-He concurred with our assessment of the likely nature of the prisoner as well as a basic course of action—that our handling of it would technically fall within—but we are still awaiting final council approval to move forward and act on that information.-

Understood. Start prepping. We’ll go as soon as we get that go-ahead.

–Will do.-

Tala reached out and scratched the back of Terry’s head and neck. “Up for some fun?”

Terry opened an eye, regarding her for a long moment. Finally, he closed it again and let out an affirmative chirp.

“Alright. I’ll let you know when.”