Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 20

Chapter 20

“Thank you.  I really appreciate you working with me on this.”

Thaden had been surprised to learn that the Teglir Branch Leader of the Adventurer’s Coalition was only Diamond Badge Rank, as he expected her to have at least Platinum, if not Platinum+ like his own.  As such, Eleria – the Coalition Leader – was unable to provide him a Platinum-Ranked Badge, as Diamond was the highest that she could provide; it was the only spare Badge of that Rank in the entire city, apparently, and he would have to visit the capital to upgrade it to Platinum Rank.  As for Platinum+ Rank, Eleria didn’t have any information on where to go for that.

“It is my pleasure to be able to handle it for you.  Would you like access to a Gold-Ranked room as an accommodation for someone of your exalted status?  Unfortunately, that’s all we have available, as the very few Diamond-Ranked Adventurers that visit usually stay with the Baron.  Unless that is your plan?” the Branch Leader asked, seemingly unsure of herself despite the power that she obviously wielded.  While his ability to determine the Level of people had improved ever since he’d acquired his newest Class, he still couldn’t tell exactly how strong she was – but the aura of strength that the Netherine exhibited was enough to tell him that she was probably over Level 100.  Possibly Level 150 or even Level 200, but he didn’t feel it right to ask; it didn’t really matter, anyway, as she had been accommodating to the extreme since the moment he walked into her richly appointed office.

“I have no desire to bother the Baron at this time,” Thaden responded, “so a Gold-Ranked room would be absolutely fine.”

“I understand.  Would concealing your presence from the Baron be considered a part of the assistance you’ve asked for?” Eleria asked cautiously.

“Tell her no.  I have a feeling that doing so could cause some loyalty issues.”

Taking Sadia’s advice, Thaden shook his head.  “No, though I’d appreciate not volunteering the information that I’m here.  If he asks about me for some reason, then you can tell him.  Otherwise, as I said, if anyone from the Local Legion comes sniffing around, please instruct your staff to plead ignorance.  My particular assignment for the Coalition cannot have them interfering.”

Thaden’s heart had felt like it was going to beat itself out of his chest the entire time he was with the Branch Leader, but he thought he’d done a fairly good job in keeping his nerves together.  His objective was not only to replace his Badge, but to convince the Branch Leader to hide his presence.  The experience with Rivella’s reaction to his Rank in Felith, along with some information from Sadia regarding the Coalition, had led him to believe that his Rank had more than a bit of pull with the local Coalition leadership, and so he was willing to lean on it to get what he needed.  While he couldn’t stay anonymous forever, he hoped to stop anyone coming after him – especially from the Local Legion – from pinpointing his location until he could defend himself properly.  Once he was strong enough to do so, then he could potentially stop hiding; until then, he would have to play it safe while he went about his business.

“We can do that,” Elaria said, clearly relieved that she wouldn’t have to lie to the Baron if the noble asked about him.  “Unless there’s something else you need, I can have Wyrdla show you to your room?”

“Only one more thing.  I need to blend into a local Adventurer Party around my current Level.  There were two individuals I met earlier that I believe might be an adequate cover, but we’ll need a Mage and Control to round out a complete Party.  Would you be able to find some appropriate, and discreet, individuals to help me out?  Then, once I’ve worked with them for a while, we’ll probably be tackling some of the harder Quests you have available.  For now, my goal is to Level-up as quickly as possible; after that, I have some other objectives.”

Thaden didn’t explain any more than that, as based on Rivella’s reaction – and from what he’d experienced from his conversation with Eleria – they all assumed that a Platinum+ Ranked Adventurer being nearby meant that they had a special assignment.  He used this assumption to his advantage, as it was important for his next steps; he wasn’t necessarily taking advantage of the Coalition, because he wasn’t exploiting their ignorance, but he wasn’t above leveraging his Rank to do what needed to be done.

“I’ll put something together for you as soon as possible and have it for you in the morning, if that works for you?” the Coalition Leader queried, and he nodded.  “If I may ask… how quickly are you expecting to increase your Level?  At Level 15, I can see you perhaps reaching Level 20 over the next year if you’re lucky, but I’m not sure if that will help you in your objective, whatever it is.”

“You’re correct, it wouldn’t really help to be Level 20 for what I have planned next.  And to answer your question, I expect that Level 60 should be more than adequate for my next objective – which I can’t see taking more than a few months with what I have planned.”

The shock on the Coalition Leader’s face was worth revealing some of his intentions.  “What?  Level 60… in a few months?  How is that possible?”

“Let’s just say that I have some special advantages and leave it at that.”

Eleria snapped her jaw shut before nodding a few times.  “I see.  Then I’ll get to work on finding you a Party, and let you get some rest.”

The next minute saw another Netherine working for the Coalition leading him into one of the Gold-Ranked rooms they had available, and he thanked her as he closed the door behind him.  Looking around, the luxury that a higher-Ranked room provided was quite noticeable, as the size of the room, the materials used in its construction, and the additional amenities – such as a large soaking tub and multi-spout shower in the bathroom – made it a welcome change from the tree he’d slept in the previous night.  Of course, after that rough sleep in the trees, he’d forcibly met some powerful members of the Local Legion, followed by his flight away from Purbooth, the fights throughout the forest, the river battle with numerous Tentacled Stranglers, and finally arriving in Teglir. 

Did that all really happen over the last day?  It was hard to believe.

His body and exhausted mental state believed it, especially after all the work he did to act slightly arrogant and powerful when meeting with the Coalition Leader; it had wrung his nerves out more than he expected.  He nearly collapsed on the bed once he was alone in the room – though he wasn’t alone for long.

“Phew, that was intense.  I think you got what you wanted, though.”

He looked over at Sadia from where he was lying on his back on the expansive – and comfortable – bed.  “I hope so.  Do you really think they’ll keep my presence a secret if that Party from the Local Legion investigating Felith come sniffing around?”

“They should – or at least the Coalition members will, if they’re told to.  You can’t really prevent other people from talking, though; you’re unique enough as the only Human in the City that the word will eventually get out.”

Thaden grunted in agreement, realizing the accuracy of her statement.  He just hoped that by the time that happened, the heat would be off of him; or if they were searching for him, he would be strong enough to reveal some of who he was.

But there was something else that had been bothering him.  “Am I doing the right thing, Sadia?”

“What do you mean?”

Thaden waved his hands around, as if encompassing everything around him.  “All of… this.  Getting stronger in order to go to the Front Lines, where I can use their resources to search for Corinna.  I know you said that there’s a good chance that she’s still alive, but what do I do if I actually find her?  Meet her and say, ‘Hi!  You don’t know me, but we used to be a thing back on Tarth, even if you don’t remember?’  What if she’s completely moved on, found someone to spend her life with, perhaps even started a family?  Am I just supposed to barge in and hope that I could convince her to become my somewhat girlfriend again?  Even if she’s still single, I can only imagine that more than 200 years having passed since we last saw each other could drastically change someone; what if she’s completely different than I remember?  The more I think about the whole situation, the more I think that it could be a big mistake to even try.”

Sadia was silent for a while after he stopped pouring out his concerns.  Eventually, she jumped up on the bed and walked around so that she was looking down at him in the eyes.  “I can definitely see that this has been worrying you.  I don’t know if I have an answer for you, though.  At least, not one that you’re going to like.  The easiest thing would to be to forget about her and live your own life, but I also sense that isn’t what you want to hear.”

“Even if I somewhat agree with that, you’re right.  I don’t actually want to hear that.”

She nodded.  “I know.  You needed a goal to strive toward when you first arrived, and finding Corinna was a perfect objective to aim for.  Now, though, after learning that she’s been here for over two centuries, I think you have to alter… your purpose.”

“My purpose?  Like, what is the meaning of life or something like that?”

The giant squirrel shook her head with a snarky smile on her face.  “No, and you know that’s not what I meant.  What was it you were working toward on Tarth?”

Thaden didn’t have to think real hard to come up with his reply.  “To get as strong as I could, reach the top of the Rankings, and use that access to figure out how messed up the Assimilation System and the Persistent Adversary really is – all while doing my best to save as many people from Earth as possible.  Why?”

“Has anything changed?”

Now he was forced to think about the question a little longer.  “Yes,” he said slowly.  “At least somewhat.  After learning that many of the people on Earth were sacrificed for their life energy to fuel the assimilation of Earth into Plangea, it honestly feels like there’s nothing left to fight for.”

“But there is!  More than a billion Humans survived the assimilation, and they’re out there somewhere.  Now, I’m not saying that you need to feel responsible for all of them, because you shouldn’t, but they are your people.  And those people include Corinna, as well as likely a bunch of other people you knew from Tarth – if they’ve survived this long, of course.”

Hmm… I never really thought of that.  “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m trying to say that you’re not alone, Thaden.  There are other people out there for you, even if they’re not your one-time girlfriend of a couple of months.  I’m also not saying to completely give up on her, but you should go into it knowing that she, as you said, might have moved on—and be fine with that.  In the least, you can watch her from afar – though not in a creepy way, if at all possible – before deciding if you want to even reunite with her; if not, then you can move on, yourself.  Either way, finding her will indubitably lead you to finding where the rest of the Humans of Earth ended up, which will allow you help them in one way or another.

“And as far as learning more about the System and the Adversary, I know you have some nebulous plans that revolve around discovering what they are up to and potentially putting a stop to it, but I’m not sure how feasible that is.  I’m not going to stop or even discourage you, but I think you should, at least at first, decide what you want to work for in the near future.  As I said, you need to find your purpose, which in this case, it basically a goal to strive for.  You want to get stronger, I understand, but why?  If using your strength to simply locate Corinna is off the table, say if you unfortunately learn that she’s passed, then what?  What are you going to do?  What purpose does getting stronger accomplish?  That is what you need to decide for yourself.”

Thaden sighed, the weight of the conversation almost too much for him at the moment.  Purpose?  I have no idea.  He’d had a fairly clear goal while on Tarth, but if he took tracking down Corinna away from his list of objectives, what did that leave for him to do on Plangea?  Any lofty ideas of investigating the System and the Adversary would have to wait, of course, because he was nowhere strong enough to do any of that.  Survival was at the top of the list, of course, but thoughts of locating the rest of the Humans from Earth – or their descendants, as it had been a couple of centuries since they arrived – was an appealing goal.  While he hadn’t let it bother him too much, he had to admit that not seeing another Human in all of his time on Plangea had been getting to him to the point where he would give just about anything to see another person that didn’t look wildly alien to him. 

He didn’t decide on anything at that point, however, because he was too tired to think too clearly.  Taking a long shower to wash off the last couple of days felt amazing, and once he was done, he practically fell into bed, pushing off any complicated decisions until the next day.  Or the next week.  Or even the next year, as he had a lot of work to do before he was strong enough to make a difference in whatever he chose to do in the future.

Sleep found and then pounced on his consciousness less than a minute after his head hit the pillow.

                    *

Eleria watched the door to her office close after Thaden and Wyrdla exited, with the latter showing the Platinum+ Ranked Adventurer to his complementary room.  Once she was once alone in her office, she exhaled deeply before leaning over on her desk, putting her head in her hands in a bout of sudden mental exhaustion.

Why is a Platinum+ Ranked Adventurer here – and why is he Level 15?  How is that even possible?

She would’ve doubted her own eyes if she didn’t know that the System and its assistance with operating the Adventurer’s Coalition was perfect and infallible, which meant that what she’d seen had to be correct – as impossible as it seemed.  And while the Human, Thaden, hadn’t seemed like he necessarily deserved that Rank, there was no way she was going to jeopardize her position or her life to bring up her doubts to his face.

But that didn’t mean she didn’t have them.  While the System was infallible, people weren’t – and she had a feeling that someone had messed up along the top Coalition leadership.  She wasn’t sure what could’ve happened, or even how it occurred, but she was almost 100% convinced that this Thaden had somehow acquired his Rank through nefarious means.  She needed proof of wrongdoing, however, before she passed her concerns up the chain of command.  Until that time, she would go along with what he had requested, which wasn’t that much of a hardship; keeping his presence a secret from any Local Legions that asked about him was easy.  It made her wonder about why they might be looking for him, which was something she would be adding to her private investigation.

His room was also a write-off that was barely a footnote, as they had very few Gold-Ranked Adventurers staying in the city.  Putting together a Party for him was also a non-issue, as it was something that the Coalition already helped its members with.  She kept expecting him to start asking to borrow powerful items or other costly demands – which someone who had nefariously acquired a Platinum+ Rank would undoubtedly do.  But he never mentioned anything of the sort, which was a surprise.

What if he really is a Platinum+ Rank and is here for a specific assignment?

It was possible, of course, but she had a hard time believing it – if only for his Level alone.  Then again, if he could be believed, he was planning on getting to Level 60 in a few months, which was so incredibly impossible that it was laughable.  Her own Level 122 had taken her over 400 years, though she had slowed down her development drastically during the last century, so it wasn’t exactly a fair comparison.  Still, to think that someone could achieve even half that Level within a few months was so out of the realm of reality that she had barely been able to hold in her incredulous laughter when he said it.

He lies as easily as breathing.

To catch him in his lies, or at least to find out more information on this “Platinum+ Ranked” Human, she turned her attention to what he had asked her to do next.  Finding a Mage and a Control around Level 15 was easy enough to do, but she had a pair of Adventurers in mind that would be perfect for his Party.  They were also completely loyal to Eleria, not just because they were Netherines, but because they were family.  Great-great-granddaughters, but still of her blood. 

With a few adept manipulations of her System-powered Coalition interface, she sent out a few communications, arranging things for the following morning.  I’m going to discover more about you, Thaden, one way or another.