Braided Sky
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PftA Book 3 - Interlude 1 - Outside Perspectives
🕑 Added 2024-03-29 04:54:25 +0000 UTCThe Patriarch of the Epikairos Sect watched as his first personal disciple in nearly five centuries methodically killed the group of bandits whoâd dared attack her. Sheâd given them two opportunities to leave in peace, which was gracious, in his opinion.
He was elated to have made it in time to witness such a moment. Heâd only just reached the village a few hours prior. The young-looking Tier Ten Time Mage hadnât even bothered checking in with the Gatekeepers who managed the town yet. Since his junior sect brother had already handled the logistics of his stay, heâd been able to immediately access the holofeed that allowed him to monitor his disciple.
Heâd been watching ever since.
He was pleased to see the training sheâd done with the young Space Mage had been worthwhile. His disciple had balked at the training at first, claiming she was not a ârogueâ and had no desire to learn how to fight as one. But sheâd given in easily enough once she was reminded that entities like Harbinger Cultists and bandits existed.
When the last bandit fell, Emie glared at the body with a look of fury. Henlen Kairos doubted the girlâs companions would realize how little sheâd wanted to take such action, but he understood her thoughts quite well.
Theyâd discussed the appropriateness of killing in self-defense several times, especially after sheâd opted to let the newly awakened natives of Earth live after their assassination attempts.
His disciple preferred to show mercy whenever possible, but he was glad to see firsthand that she was capable of acting decisively when necessary. The little island prison sheâd created had been an amusing alternative, but such things didnât exist within a dungeon. The only real options were to let the bandits continue robbing and murdering other challengers or cut them down.
The latter was the only real option in such a situation, and heâd made that clear to her before she entered the dungeon.
Emie was well aware that bandits were practically kill-on-sight throughout the Alliance. Part of that was because they all inevitably violated the Accords. Those who hadnât yet managed to cross the line were still sentenced to death under most kingdomâs laws, making their deaths justified as far as the system was concerned.
The dungeonâs segregation by tier made it possible for bandits to exist without violating the Accords, but theyâd never survive leaving the dungeon, or even climbing very high. Nobody wanted a high-level bandit running around. Henlen did not doubt that some of the new elites entering the dungeon had orders to ensure that such individuals progressed no further.
âHave any sect representatives contacted you?â the Patriarch asked his junior sect brother, Elder Ammon.
The Tier Eight Elder and his wife had been given the assignment to observe Emie as a reward for their contributions to the sect. The pair had enthusiastically accepted the assignment, and Henlen suspected they planned to use the opportunity to raise a couple of children away from the politics of the sect.
Not that the sect was a bad place to raise a family.
Ammon and his wife had already raised three children within the sect, the youngest of which was more than a century old. However, the assignment gave them the rare opportunity to do something different, and both had mentioned wanting more children multiple times over the last few decades.
âNot personally,â his junior brother replied. âBut Lizbet has been approached a few times. Most seemed surprised at Emieâs presence more than anything. Iâm not sure if itâs her status as your personal disciple or that she comes from a previously mundane world thatâs piqued their interest more.â
The Patriarch nodded and watched as his disciple tried to convince her companions to take the items ejected from the fallen banditsâ inventories upon their deaths. It was obvious none of them wanted any of the ill-gotten goods.
The senior Time Mage shook his head at their naivety and turned to his fellow sect member. âIs there anything I should be aware of?â
Ammon shook his head slowly. âNo. None of the elites are on the third floor. It looks like the trend has shifted to enter at the start of Tier Four, so none of them have interacted with her yet.â He hesitated before adding, âI would not be surprised if some of the newer elites are informed of her presence, though.â
The Tier Eight Time Mage didnât elaborate, but the Patriarch understood the implication. As sect elites, it was expected that they would test themselves against each other. Knowing their actions were being observed would curb the worst of it, but some elites truly had no understanding of their place in the wider universe.
âI will reach out to the Gatekeepers and inquire about potentially obtaining a few more slots for our sect elites now that the restriction has effectively been lifted,â the Patriarch said thoughtfully before returning his gaze to the holographic projection of his disciple. âIt may be good for Disciple Emie to get to know some of her sect brothers and sisters while she has the chance.â
Before he could task his Interface Assistant with researching potential candidates, the priority message icon began flashing on his visual overlay. Spitting his mind, he reviewed the message as he observed his disciple. It was from one of the few Patriarchs heâd developed a long-term friendship with.
How fortuitous. Doesnât old Heph have a descendant around the right tier?
The old man smiled as he thought about his friend. The Hephaistos Sect was renowned for their skill at Smithing. The two sects had been allied since their inception, back when Heph and Henlen were still relatively unknowns.
While pushing for more Epikairos Sect elites might ruffle some feathers, nobody would balk at the addition of a Hephaistos Smith.
The Time Mage grinned and began drafting a response to his friendâs message.
= = =
Faith collapsed on the bed after the mess about loot was finally settled. Emie had outright refused to keep anything from the bandits, which was good. Had she decided to keep their items, it would have made her no better than the bandits sheâd cut down in cold blood.
It was bad enough that she planned to keep the money from selling it all. While Emieâs explanations made sense, Faith found herself deeply conflicted about the entire situation.
The dark-haired girl shivered at the memory of her companion killing the bandits. Their lifeless bodies fell one by one like marionettes with their strings cut. It was horrifying.
Intellectually, she understood the other girlâs actions. There was no government, no police or prisons. There was nothing they could do to stop the othersâ actions aside from forcing them to stop. Quite frankly, only killing them would accomplish that since you didnât necessarily need hands to cast spells.
But that didnât stop Faith from inherently rejecting such actions. They went against everything sheâd been taught. Now that sheâd had a few minutes to process everything, she found herself struggling with her own culpability in the banditsâ death.
We could have run, her mind insisted.
Another part of her mind pushed back, claiming the bandits would have just killed someone else. Emieâs comment about not wanting the banditsâ future victimsâ blood on her hands had been enough to get Faith to go along with it, even with her doubts. But now, she wasnât so sure it had been the right thing to do.
Aiden seemed mostly okay with everything that happened, which was also concerning. When had he accepted murder as an appropriate response to conflict? Were there deeper implications she should consider?
When they were attacked outside one of the Trials on the second floor, the bandits had run away. Part of her had expected the same thing to happen this time.
But it hadnât.
The worst part was, it was mostly her fault. She was the one who pushed Aiden and Emie into doing the Trial, all because she wanted her own meal-making device.
She knew the others could sense her struggle to keep up. It couldnât be a secret at this point. The Alchemical Bombs helped a little, but they were by no means an equalizer. And she outright refused to be fully reliant on the other girl for manatech weapons.
If she was honest with herself, she was somewhat surprised sheâd made it this far. She probably should have quit back on the second floor. At least it was built up more than the third floor.
She definitely didnât want to be stuck here for the rest of her life. That was her biggest motivator for continuing to progress. She wanted normality and amenities. If there really was a city on the fourth floor like Emie said, maybe she could be happy there.
There was another village somewhere in one of the zones. Emie had mentioned it before, and sheâd often seen people who didnât live in the village coming to sell things at the Trading Post. Not all of them were human, which sheâd found interesting.
What had disturbed her was hearing about the âdungeoneersâ who were supposedly born and raised in the dungeon â a concept that made her shiver.
Was that what would happen to any children she had? Would they grow up thinking that living in the dungeon was normal? What kind of future was that?
âWhat are you thinking about?â Aiden asked as he sat beside her on the bed.
âNothing much,â Faith replied. âI was mostly wondering if the next floor would have a real city worth staying in.â
She eyed her boyfriend, gauging his reaction. She brought up the possibility of settling down a few times, but heâd never seemed very interested. He was much more focused on pushing ahead and eventually escaping the dungeon.
âIâm sure it will be better,â Aiden said confidently. âThe fifth floor is supposed to have two decent-sized cities. Real cities with thousands of people,â he clarified.
Faith sighed. âYeah. You mentioned talking to one of the natives about that,â she said, letting the conversation drop.
They were silent for a few minutes before Aiden asked, âAre you sure youâre okay? You can talk to me if youâre having a hard time with what happened.â
âArenât you?â At his look of confusion, Faith said, âYou donât seem to be struggling with the fact that Emie basically murdered five people in cold blood.â
Aidenâs brows furrowed as he looked at his girlfriend in surprise. âEmie didnât murder anyone, and it certainly wasnât something she did without consideration,â the Fire Mage said. âShe killed them in self-defense and to protect us. Thereâs a HUGE difference.â
âShe could have taken us and ran away. She didnât have to kill them,â Faith argued, though it felt hollow, even to her. âIs it really self-defense if there was another option?â
âWhat if we ran away and they killed someone else? You heard what Emie said about that, right?â
Faith shrugged and looked away. âYeah, but that wouldnât have been on us, no matter what Emie said,â she replied, rejecting the hypothetical blame. âWhat gives Emie the right to decide who lives and who dies? How does that make her any better than the bandits?â
Aiden withdrew the hand heâd placed on his girlfriendâs shoulder and stood up. He stared at Faith in confusion. âThere⌠Faith, we arenât on Earth anymore,â he said slowly, watching as his girlfriendâs eyes started watering again. âThe dungeon doesnât work the same way. Hell, Iâm not sure Earth still works the same way. I thought you realized that by now.â
The dark-haired young woman sniffled a few times and wiped her eyes roughly. âI understand we arenât on Earth, but that doesnât mean we should throw rules and laws out the window!â she practically yelled. âLaws were developed for a reason. One person should not get to decide the fate of someone else like that.â
Faith narrowed her eyes. âEmie murdered those people⌠and we helped her.â Her voice broke at the end, and she started openly sobbing.
Aiden fought the urge to step forward to comfort his girlfriend. Instead, he took a few steps back and bumped against the door. He shook his head slowly. âYouâd rather she let them kill us?â
âIâd rather she let us run away! We could have told someone!â she countered angrily.
âWho? There is no authority here. Who would she tell? The golems?â he asked. âShe told us what she was going to do if they attacked. If you had such a problem with it, you should have said something!â
âI didnât think she was actually going to kill them!â Faith screeched. âMaybe we should have told the golems! Theyâve ejected people for breaking the rules before. If they thought the bandits deserved it, they could kick them out. My point is we shouldnât be the ones making that decision,â she said, making a triangle shape with her finger between the two of them and the direction of Emieâs pod.
âIâm sorry you feel that way,â Aiden said with a frown. âI think Emie made the right decision. Weâre in a dungeon. Those bandits were robbing and killing people for their loot. They shouldnât be allowed to prey on others, and the only way to stop them is to kill them. Thatâs the reality we find ourselves in. You need to adapt sooner rather than later,â he said coldly.
Hearing his declaration, Faithâs tears began to flow freely once again. She turned away and faced the wall, no longer wanting to look at someone who disappointed her so deeply. âI just want things to go back to normal,â she said to herself.
She didnât react when the door to the pod slid closed behind Aiden, and he left without responding. While heâd comforted her when she felt homesick or wished for things to go back to the way they were before, he never really understood.
To Aiden, gaining magic was a dream come true.
Sure, Faith had enjoyed playing Atlas Online, especially when the sect expansion was introduced. But that was a game. This⌠this was real. Death was real and final. There was no respawn mechanic and no starting over.
The thought was terrifying. Yet, Emie had casually cut down real, living people, then taken their loot like a bandit herself.
She claimed she was going to sell everything to the Trading Post, but didnât that make her just as bad as the bandits? Sure, it would get the weapons and gear back in circulation, but they would be benefiting from killing other people.
Faith refused to be a hypocrite and decided to reject any proceeds from the bandits' belongings. Further, she would look into getting her own apartment when they returned to the village. There was no way she could sleep beside someone who thought casual murder was okay.
Emie and Aiden could justify it all they wanted. It didnât change the fact that Emie was a murderer, and Aiden supported that kind of behavior.
With her decision made, the weight on Faithâs shoulders lessened, and she quickly fell asleep.
Comments
Braid
Yep. Thanks!
Mark Ridlewsky
thanks for your story i just found an tipping error " message icon began flashing on his visual overlay. Spitting his mind, he reviewed the" i'm sure you mean "Splitting his mind"
SilverbladeTE
Most people have never had scum or an actual (diagnosed and convicted) psychopath seriously try to kill them, or other genuinely horrible things. ~ Real violence is ugly: you can empathize with suffering you have to inflict on another being to survive or stop serious harm; but I have very little damn sympathy with actual scum (empathy and sympathy aren't the same things) As opposed to folk doing bad things from foolishness, error, emotional overload, true and justifiable desperation etc which is forgivable. ~ About a third of the folk in jail are not actually "bad", but the rest deserve total exile (Devils Island) to protect ordinary folks from their abuse, or the "Big French Razor". Current legal system is just a total joke to enshrine the power of the Elite, not to protect or bring justice, and blood lust/expedience etc nearly always make a mess of the "Law" anyway I could go on about other aspects but it's too long and complex, so put simply: scum deserve what they get because they chose that path. See: "RULE .303" ~ Sorry, my 2cents of real life experience :( And forgive me if it intrudes on a very enjoyable work of fiction :)
Wesley Pint
I know many Soldiers who have done their duty and they are very remorseful about it. Usually, I just tell my wife I did my job and that I've never hurt anyone who wasn't trying to hurt me, which is true. Unfortunately for Faith, in this world, might makes right. Until she grasps that, she will always be a victim.
Wesley Pint
Unfortunate. Faith is a child. What she doesn't grasp is that the system is normal. The lack of mana on Earth was an artificial situation. Her idea of normal is an aberration.
Kevin Rule
I feel like sheâs being incredibly foolish, but people are often foolish. Sheâs also wrong, by definition, murder is killing those who have no intent to do you or others harm.
