Chương 127: Book 3 Chapter 5 - Continually Outmatched

Victor watched as Shian glanced around his shop at the new items he had brought back from Horange.

"You have some new stuff! Any more awesome weapons you want to give me?" she asked nonchalantly. He paused, unsure of how to respond. After a brief moment's hesitation, he gestured around the shop with his hand.

"Anything you want, you are of course welcome to, my lady." She looked at him with a studious gaze for a moment, then made an indecipherable sound in the back of her throat.

"That's… very generous, Victor. I was just kidding around, though." Ah, she was just messing with me. She does seem to quite enjoy that, I should have expected it. Well, he was still glad he had responded the way he did. It never hurt to be too careful around someone of Shian's caliber, and all of the items in the shop were easily replaceable. He was a master artificer, after all. He wondered if she had noticed his effort at the dueling arena, shoring up the arena's protective barrier.

It seemed obvious that she would have noticed, but he kind of wanted her to acknowledge his efforts, however small the acknowledgement might be. Then again, he couldn't just bring it up. They had developed an understanding that although he spied on her and her house, and they both knew it, they also both pretended that he didn't do it. Coming out and saying that he had attended her duel would break that unspoken agreement, which he did not want to do.

He glanced down at her left hand, which was still missing the two fingers Kane had cut off during their duel. A surprising twist, which had helped sell to the crowd that the fight had been close, when in reality she had just been toying with the man. For what purpose, Victor could not ascertain. Shian's ways were as of yet beyond his comprehension. He was a bit surprised that the fingers hadn't grown back yet, though.

It was common knowledge amongst powerful mages that once you reached tier 5, lost limbs would regrow. Maybe it was an illusion that she was maintaining for some reason? If so, it was fooling even his domain sense. Then again, if even he could modify his own appearance now, a tier 7 like Shian could easily control the way her body was shaped, fingers and all. He still didn't have concrete proof that she was a tier 7, but this was another clue that pointed in that direction.

If he did have proof of something like that, then his sense of duty would force him to report her appearance to the duke and the royals, something he would avoid at almost any cost. The proof would have to be incontrovertible, which simply hadn't happened yet. He cleared his throat and nodded at her hand.

"What uh… what happened to your fingers?" Smooth. A perfect segue, he thought proudly to himself. She held up her hand with a surprised look on her face and studied the two nubs.

"Oh, good eye. I had a duel a few weeks ago in Easton." She was going to push him to bring it up, wasn't she? He smiled slightly to himself, already thinking of a dozen conversation pieces that might get her to slip up and acknowledge his efforts with the arena's enchantments without him mentioning them outright. He did enjoy a good challenge.

"Oh?" he asked.

"Anything serious?" She shook her head.

"Nothing too concerning." He nodded.

"Good, good. How did you find the arena?" She shrugged.

"It was fine, I guess. I did appreciate the protective enchantments that kept the crowd safe, some of my opponents spells were quite insidious, I know from experience." A smug smile crept across Victor's face. Victory. She'd noticed his work and mentioned it. Her comment of appreciation was a glowing endorsement. He agreed though, some of Kane's spells had been quite nasty. Anything that leaked through might have killed the mortals gathered in the stands. Even the tier 1s would have had a hard time dealing with it.

She hung her head slightly.

"I didn't love that the duel was made into a public spectacle, but I guess it served its purpose. The baron is acting like a proper city lord again, and Easton is on the mend." Victor had missed a lot during his absence, but had since learned that some sort of city-wide feud had broken out between the nobility in Easton, and Baron Norshod had been overlooking it, probably at the insistence of Kane Vondeer.

Victor didn't like the Silver Serpent Clan, but it was one of the more powerful independent organizations in the kingdom, and not one that he wanted to mess with. The head of their local chapter, Elsa Undril, was a peak tier 5 mage, not someone you wanted to be on the wrong side of. Prior to his tier 6 advancement, Victor was arguably one of the strongest mages in the kingdom, about as powerful as a tier 5 mage could get.

Raw power didn't always translate into fighting strength though, and Victor was an artificer, not a warrior. There were likely a number of talented tier 5 fighters in the Central Kingdom that were technically not as strong as him, but still could have killed him in a fight. Elsa Undril was one of those. Tales of her fights in her younger days were the stuff of tavern stories. Plus, her raw power itself was probably just a hair under where he had been before his advancement.

He would not be surprised to see her also advance to tier 6 in the coming years. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. All of that being said, even if Victor had been around, he would not have intervened in whatever scheme Kane had been cooking up for the Silver Serpent Clan. Even Count Dremond, another notable tier 5 fighter, would not cross Elsa lightly.

The fact that Shian had intervened on behalf of Easton when neither Victor or Count Dremond would dare to was yet another sign that pointed to her true power.

"So, what brings you to my shop today?" he asked politely. He could sense the group outside that she had come with, and wondered if she was maybe wanting him to help out with some more soul oaths. If so, he would be happy to oblige. Honestly, he was curious how it would feel officiating in such a ritual after his tier 6 advancement.

"I have a few questions for you." She gestured around the shop.

"I think I already know the answer to the first one, but your expertise with artifacts might lend insight that I haven't been able to find elsewhere." He nodded for her to go ahead, excitement building in his chest. Questions about artificing was his specialty. He doubted anyone in the entire kingdom, possibly on all of Yonu, had more knowledge than he did on the subject.

"What would it take to create an artifact that allowed people to teleport?" Victor's eyes went wide with realization. He was masking his power level, showing the world that he was still just a tier 5. She could obviously see through that, and knew that he had advanced to tier 6, which meant that he had developed a domain teleportation ability. It was a sneaky way to subtly point out his advancement, and she'd worked it into the conversation so naturally! She was good.

He cleared his throat, hurrying to wipe the surprised look off his face. He should have known that would be the case.

"That is an astute observation, err… question, my lady. Let me consider it for a moment." What would it take to make an artifact like that? His own teleportation ability was limited to his personal domain. Could he translate that into runes that allowed others to teleport within his domain? What would that experience look like for them? He had a space concept, one of the requirements of developing a personal domain and advancing to tier 6.

That deep understanding of the very fabric of reality was very likely responsible for not only his domain sense, but also his ability to affect reality within his domain, and teleport within his domain. He would need to think quite deeply about that question to really come to any solid conclusions, but he realized that she was likely just complimenting him on his advancement, and didn't really need the answer to her question here and now.

She had just been pointing out his advancement in a way that maintained their unspoken rule to pretend like they didn't know very much about each other. He was slightly embarrassed that it had taken him a few seconds to realize she might not actually need an answer to the question, but she had sucker punched him with his favorite topic. He couldn't help but analyze the question and think deeply about it. Now that she had put the idea in his mind, he would probably spend hours every day tinkering with the idea.

Then again, if she had gone to the trouble of avoiding the topic of his advancement directly, he should extend the same courtesy. He decided to answer her question with a few surface observations.

"Well, I've never really considered the idea before, Lady Yountal, but I will admit that I am quite intrigued by it now that you've brought it up. Without some experimentation, I can't say for certain, but it seems like at the very least the range would be limited to a few dozen feet." She raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Why's that?" He studied her for a moment. Was she rubbing it in that as a tier 7 her own domain likely had a wider range? He breathed deeply and sighed. Even at tier 6, he was continually outmatched by her quick wit and wider range of experience.

"Well, it is simply a guess, my lady, I don't truly know what range might be achieved. Perhaps a few hundred feet, or maybe a few thousand…?" He ended it as a question, hoping she might enlighten him a little.

"Hmm," she said thoughtfully.

"So probably nothing with an unlimited range would be possible?" Hm? That was an odd question. Maybe she truly was curious to get his thoughts on the matter. He pursed his lips.

"Nothing comes to mind, but I will ruminate on the subject some more." She nodded.

"No worries, I was just curious. My second question is in regards to a few of my house retainers. I have two tier 3 mages that are on the cusp of advancing to tier 4, and was wondering if you'd be willing to give them some guidance, since you've been where they are. They are also curious as to what they should focus on after advancing to tier 4, and are hoping for some guidance in that area, too." Victor nodded. He was, in all likelihood, one of the best resources for questions such as that.

He understood magic at a level that few others did, even if they had reached the same power as him.

"I would be honored," he responded truthfully. She beamed at him with a bright smile.

"Really? Thank you! I'm sure they'll be thrilled to hear that." She gestured to the outside, where her group was waiting.

"Zoey is here with me today, but Jaden is back in Easton. Perhaps I can bring him by at another time." Victor nodded in agreement.

"Whenever is convenient for you, of course, Lady Yountal."

"Lastly," she said, "would you be open to performing some more soul contracts for us?" She grimaced.

"They did one for us at the academy, but something about it felt brittle, or lacking in some way." Victor nodded.

"I would be happy to, of course. As to the contract they did for you at the academy, it is likely just fine, even if it lacked some of the more… well rounded aspects of the ones I do." Relief visibly flooded her face, and Victor briefly wondered why she didn't just perform these soul contracts herself. Something about that nagged at the back of his mind, just out of reach.

"Your group is quite large," he added, "did you perhaps rent a room for this purpose like last time?" She shook her head.

"No, but our new estate is just outside of town. Would you consider coming with us back to the estate and doing it there?" Oh? He hadn't realized they had purchased an estate here in Portish. He very much did want to accompany them back to the estate, both to see exactly where it was, as well as to perhaps build a closer relationship with Shian and her house.

Spending time in someone's home was a great way to build that relationship, and if he was going to continue studying her more closely, he needed to shore up that foundation of trust. Outwardly, he smiled wide.

"It would be my honor. We can go now, if you'd like?" She nodded, and led the way back to her group outside the shop.