V-28 Academia (II)

Everyone should take Medic-301. It's not because the instructors are kind and generous, they are not. They are harried, they are frustrated, and they will snap at you more than once. It's not that it's an easy course. No, most students will flunk out and switch to another before a month has passed.

It's arduous. It will test you both mentally and technically. It also doesn't matter if you have pre-existing practical meta-biology knowledge. It doesn't matter if you are a surgeon. It doesn't matter about anything. To be a resident means helping in whatever way you can.

Vanguards can carry wounded Pathbearers from bed to bed, and at times hold them down when they're spasming or undergoing treatment. Shadows need to flow through the hustle and bustle of the hospital, keeping track of the patient's conditions, assisting specialists and residents in whatever way they can. And for those of you who wish to be healers, this is non-negotiable. You need to see the ugly truth about combat, about disease, about the sacrifices that our defenders make to keep us safe.

I remember the first patient I lost. We were trying to suture his injury. It was a relatively deep cut but simple. It should have been easy. But the cut, it just kept moving. It fled from us. And this is a commonality you will face. Magical injuries inflicted by those who intend to do our people harm. We tried to pin it in place. Even with the help of a resident, it still slipped past and it slipped deeper.

I will never forget Militia Sergeant Myers for as long as I live. I don't know anything about him. All I know was that he was my age. He had a brown crop of hair. He had the most terrified look on his face when he died. And there wasn't anything left of his mother's mind to mourn him. She was in the room next door. She passed a month later, choking on the fluids of her own lungs. She called for her son before she left.

This is not a class about success. This is a class about the weight of failure. And we need to feel that weight. 

We are not at the Academy to have a good time. This is not a party. This is duty

-Adept-Second Year Mallory Kaine, Apprentice Resident at Last Light Wellness

V-28

Academia (II)

In the end Shiv ended up filling his week with seven different classes. His schedule was packed tight starting from Dawnsday, then proceeding to Twosday, Midsday, Thorsday, Passday, Solsday, and Restday. 

The capital ran on a seven-day schedule, a bit different than what Shiv was used to at Blackedge. On the frontier town everyone worked practically every day, but the hours were loose and based on necessary demands. Thus was Roland Arrow's way: To see the work done and done promptly rather than waiting.

Here, however, the laborer worked 45 hours a week starting from Dawnsday and ending at Passday. Passday was a five-hour day, and Solsday and Restday were off days for other matters such as family and leisure. Students followed this schedule as well. However, those who were diligent and interested in pursuing professions that weren't so confined usually saw their time filled to the brim like Shiv.

It helped that when you had Adept-Tier Physicality, you needed a lot less time to recover from arduous activity and stress.

And with Shiv being a Legend, who knows how long he could go without rest. It also meant that instead of having a 12 to 15 hours window of activity every day, Shiv would use the entire day. And so the hours after midnight were designated as a stretch of time for Shiv to self-develop, assist Irons in his investigations, or aid Adam and the others in whatever they needed.

At present, Shiv still had quite a few hours before the sun came back up, and he was likely going to spend most of that time going through the Odes and partaking in Helix's instruction. Near the end of that time, he also wished to spend awhile more scouting the academy grounds. He'd been forced to flee from Marcus's assailants earlier, so that cut his exploratory time short. 

Now in the pre-dawn hours there would be fewer students about and also would be a good opportunity for him to examine the capabilities of his new frying pan.

Being able to carve pieces out of shadows and blend with them was an invaluable benefit. One that might just help him spike his stealth skill as well. In the capital the creeping void was more conspicuous than it was beneficial, and so he needed to evolve that skill to something more subtle, more advantageous. He would advance that in his own time.

Right now he looked over his weekly schedule once more. Today was Thorsday, which meant that he was only going to begin partaking in Gen-101 next week. That ran from Dawnsday, Twosday, and Midsday. 

His first upcoming course was Culin E-333, a per-credit volunteer cooking course that allowed students to join up at various kitchens across the city. There was no high-level cooking requirement assigned to the course, and as such no one would ask questions with regards to why Marcus would wish to partake in such a class, despite lacking the necessary levels for the requisite skill.

Time for Culin E-333 is also pretty flexible, Shiv thought to himself. Says it sees you get a credit for each restaurant you volunteer at across the capital. The course itself appears to be a cooperative program that the academy established, so first-years can get an appreciation for the capital's culinary arts, and also aid the Master Chefs there in their endeavors. I do need to get checked in with one Master Chef Ramirez, though. He seems to be the chief liaison between the capital's culinary guild and the academy.

The Deathless grinned. This'll be interesting. Frankly, this might be the class I'm looking forward to the most. I know I'm not supposed to say his name, but I wonder if anyone here was trained by Georges, too. Just have to do a little subtle investigating of my own.

Then, his next course after that was in the late afternoon. M-Theory-101, or Magical Theory, was a daily class for those who wielded attuned mana. It was a class Shiv desperately needed because he'd been wielding his magic instinctively so far, like a monster instead of an individual. That was viable for his Chronomancy since it was a monster skill, but if he wanted to develop his Biomancy further and become a proper mage, he needed to have a good grasp of the basics.

Shiv frowned as he examined M-Theory again. It had a line of text underneath its selection stating that students are to continue with the course load until adequate mastery has been demonstrated and a beginner's ritual is performed. Shiv asked Adam what that meant, and effectively all courses within the university are based on a pass or no pass structure. You got grades for individual tasks performed in each course, but ultimately it was up to the instructor to decide whether you were a qualifying Pathbearer for a specific discipline.

"It's an evolution of the old master apprentice system," Adam explained. "Long before the academies were a thing, there were warrior cults, mage schools, shadow sects, monster hunting guilds, and more. And the only way you were accepted as one of their ranks is if an existing member of the organization qualified you. The scope is just bigger at Phoenix Academy. The rest is functionally still the same."

"So that means I can finish some of these courses early," Shiv asked, "if I decide to test through them?"

"Correct," Adam replied. "However, I'd recommend that you don't be in such a hurry. Overachieving draws as much attention as underperforming. And moreover, you want to make sure that you are educated properly. Don't be a theory ape."

A snort escaped Shiv. “Theory ape? The felling hell is that?”

"A theory ape is someone who simply regurgitates the text they see in a book. It's a bit of an insult meant to offend mages specifically." The gate lord rolled his eyes. "An apt insult for some mages, perhaps, but ultimately everyone has a bit of a theory ape in them. It comes with ignorance."

The deathless grunted as he nodded in understanding. "And how many classes did you pass early in your first year?"

The Gate Lord smirked at Shiv. "Ten."

"Ten!"

"Yes, five in the first few weeks. My father saw me prepared well."

Shiv tried not to show his unease. He was competitive, but testing through ten courses when he didn't have an existing foundation of higher education was… well, it was going to be a bit hard.

"I know that look," Adam said, his grin growing ever more taunting. “Don’t try it.”

Shiv folded his arms. "Do you, huh?"

"Don't try it, Shiv. I'm serious, don't. You're a monster at many things, but if you try to challenge me here, I fear you will meet a most unkind fate."

"I'm a Pathbearer. Unkind fates are my thing," Shiv shot back with a scoff. "Besides, trying things and failing is half the fun."

"Well, just make sure you don't fail the entire course," Adam said. "That will cause us no shortage of problems. Remember, you are not Shiv of Blackedge. You are Marcus Unblood. You are part of the Wild Card Program. So what you need to do is perform adequately for most courses, poorly for physical-based courses if you're ever forced into one, and above average for courses relating to medicine, surgery, and Biomancy. Acting out of the ordinary will result in questions. We don’t need more questions directed at us.’

"All right, got it," Shiv said. It felt strange to constrain himself, but that was what the nights were for. Where Marcus would find himself limited, Shiv was going to excel. "No more being a dumb brute," Shiv said to himself. "It's time to grow into a proper Pathbearer."

"What other courses do you got?" Adam asked. "You told me about Culinary E-333 and M-Theory. Oh, by the way, E-333 is credit and volunteer, so you can keep taking it if you want, but after a certain amount of credits you are automatically designated as a pass, so long as there aren't too many issues."

"Why is the credit-based course so easy?"

"It's not easy," Adam said. "It's more like a program that's supposed to give you practical workman-like experience. You'll be going across all the kitchens, so you're providing labor anyway. Functionally, if the restaurants don't complain about you, and I expect they won't, then you're going to get through this without any difficulty. Eventually, you might be getting offers from some restaurants as well, but I'm not going to explain that to you. You probably know more about that business than I do."

Shiv grunted in acknowledgement. "Well, there’s Scout-105, at five in the morning on Passday, seems to run almost the entire day, though. It's a really long class for some reason.”

"Ah, yeah, Scout-105." Adam narrowed his eyes. "I almost took that one. I wish I did. It seems interesting.”

"Why didn't you?" Shiv asked.

"Because the instructor, Scout-Master Athena, is one of Stormhalt's family retrainers. She is the personal Huntswoman of his Fifth Cousin. I have nothing against her personally, but the risks..."

Shiv gritted his teeth. "Great. Fucking Stormhalt. And she's still got her position? And the university and the academy's all right with this? Just letting noble loyalists plug up specific courses?"

"It's a little hard to avoid," Adam replied with a light sigh. "To be noble, above all things, is to consolidate power. That's what my father told me. And so, what is power but influence as well? If you can have specific members of your household claim prestigious positions across various academies or in the government, then your power will continue to grow. And through Athena, more relationships might be established. Promising shadows, thieves, and more can be scouted for as well."

"But I should be fine, right?" Shiv asked.

"Oh yes, you should be." Adam considered that for a moment. "I suspect that unless you perform extremely highly, you will be ignored. I've heard rumors about Master Athena. She's not a harsh task mistress, but she is, however, cold and indifferent to those she deems mediocre or less. But it is a good course for you, even if she doesn't offer any special attention. Your awareness needs improving, and your stealth likely has a few gaps as well. She should help you fill it up."

"I'll probably work on my stealth myself, and I should practice with Whisper too."

The Gate Lord eyed him. He leaned in a bit closer. "Be mindful what you let the orcs teach you. Let's not forget what they managed to do to you before."

"Yeah," Shiv replied, gesturing at his Voidmantid armor, "I'm wearing that lesson right now."

"Indeed. But it's more than that. The one who teaches you also molds you, shapes you into the Pathbearer you become, and they also get a grasp of your weaknesses too. What you're doing right now is wise. Learning from a different mix of sources and a different assortment of masters will make sure that they can plug up each other's deficiencies. Everyone has their own understandings, and an apprentice only starts to surpass their master when they notice the latter's flaws."

"Is that from your father as well?" Shiv asked.

"No, that's Irons," Adam said. "Is his class still on Solsday and Restday?"

"Yep, ass early in the morning."

Adam laughed. "The other students in the class are going to hate you. I hope you know that."

"Why? Because Marcus is a cripple without any weapon or combat skills?”

"Yes," Adam interrupted. "Most people who take Irons classes are, well, at least they fancy themselves to be hardcore warriors. Many drop out after taking one too many humiliating losses. The ones that stay, though, they usually prove themselves to be quite impressive in one form or another, in one way or another."

"You think Irons is gonna go easy on me, considering I have a cover?"

"I think he's going to make things even harder for you," Adam shot back, "because he knows who you are, what you can do. If you want me to guess, he's going to force you to learn subtlety, foresight, planning, patience. Basically, he's going to treat you like an extremely promising Vanguard, and so your education is going to be mostly tactical and strategic. Which also covers for Marcus’s deficiencies.”

"Well, I best get working on my Biomancy. Everyone loves a healer. I think I’ll focus on building that up as well.”

"Everyone loves a doting healer." Adam held up a finger. "Remember that. And everyone's going to be screaming for you when they make a stupid mistake. Don’t be surprised if they blame some of their silly mistakes on you.”

"My final course is Stealth-114. Runs Dawnsday, Twosday, Thorsday, and Passday. Right before midnight."

"Ah, that's a good one as well. You'll probably enjoy that. Considering it is graded and who it’s graded by, it will have you jumping out of bushes and terrifying your classmates like they’re small slave children wandering through the woods.”

Shiv glared at Adam. "Look, I did that because you suggested it to me, and I regret it every single day.”

The Gate Lord did everything he could to avoid cracking up. “They're probably still talking about the bloody Skintaker back in Weave."

Shiv covered his face, but he couldn't help but chuckle a little. "Did scare the shit out of those slavers too, though."

"It did, didn't it?" Adam replied. "So, that's all you have for now?"

"Yeah," Shiv said. "This will be a start. I think I might take on one or two more over the week in case it's not enough."

"It probably is more than enough. If I have one more recommendation, it would be to take a basic Biomancy course on top of Medic-301.”

"Yeah, I'm considering that too," Shiv said, "but Helix would likely drive me insane with his unending complaints about how shit or wrong the Academy Biomancer is."

A beat followed. Adam blinked as he grimaced. "Yes, I can see that. I can see that very clearly. Maybe just don't take him to those classes.”

“Then, he'll drive me insane when I get back."

"Can we just kill him?" Adam asked.

"Are you, Adam Arrow, genuinely suggesting murder as a choice?" Shiv said, awestruck. “Finally. I’ve been waiting for so long.”

"Well, when it's an orc we're talking about. Yes."

Shiv snorted. "Yeah, maybe after he does something stupid. Anyway, when I finish with the Academy stuff, I'll come back here, and we can try helping Irons with finding Melissa. Otherwise, priorities are whatever you need to get done, my personal education and self-improvement. And right, shit, we still need to talk to the Dragon Brokers at some point."

"On our terms," Adam said. "We have enough conniving bastards coming after us already. We need to control what we can."

"Of course." The Deathless then cast his psionic magic into Adam's mind. "Cullywier is also bound to me. We can call him at any time, but I don't know if he's listening in on us and informing the Dragon Brokers. We need to assume that's the case."

"Bloody hell," Adam groaned internally. "All right, we'll deal with that too. Actually, you said he's a fairy, right? What's a fairy doing with a criminal organization?"

"Seems to be a banished fairy," Shiv explained. "He can't go back to the Fairwoods because he had a kid with a human or something. That's what I got."

"A child with a human? Is that even possible?"

"Well, that's what it sounded like when I spoke to him the first time. I offered to set him free, but he didn't seem to care much about that either."

"Broken Moon, it's just one mystery after another, isn't it?" Adam rubbed at his face as if he could wipe away some of the frustration. "All right, we'll deal with them too. We need to figure out a plan for the Slipgate. We can't let anyone else hold it. Not Neath, not the orcs, not the Ascendants."

"Yeah, I got a few thoughts about that. Uva is tied to the outside. She has the Starhawk with her. If we can use that to our advantage somehow, maybe we can end this fight before it even begins. But Adam, there's one more thing. The headmaster of the academy… You know he's probably a Seeker too, right?"

"What?" Adam said, alarmed. "Hades Hymn? A Seeker?”

"Yeah, his magic, it's kind of weird. And I think I felt it before at Gate Theborn."

A stressful second passed between them. And then Adam slapped his forehead. "That explains so many things. How he just suddenly appears in places. How he knows so many people across the world. How he always felt so… oily to me!" A choked sound of discomfort radiated out of Adam. "Oh gods. Does the Auroral Council know? Wait, are they deliberately funding his efforts?"

"With every answer more questions, huh, Adam?" Shiv said.

The Gate Lord's scowl deepened. "Seems to be the case." Unwelcome thoughts slid across from his mind. "Well, I think we might need to talk with the Educator as well. She has insights into Neath, the Dragon Brokers, and into what Udraal might be doing now."

"Yeah, maybe leave that to me," Shiv said.

"You're certain?" Adam asked. "Because every time you two talk, it's like you're about to tear each other apart."

"It's because we want to tear each other apart," Shiv said. "I don't like her, and she doesn't like me, but I think I'm getting an understanding of her." A beat passed. "Or maybe she's just lying to me. That's also possible. But if she annoys me that much, you're probably going to end up trying to kill her before long."

"Yeah, that's how low your opinion of my patience is when it comes to dealing with assholes, bastards, and other annoying types."

"Yeah," Shiv nodded. "You're kind of a prickly pear yourself, Adam."

"I'm getting better," Adam said, pouting as he folded his arms.

"I didn't say you weren't. I just said you're prickly. She just might make you pop. If we talk to her, let's talk to her together. How about that?"

"Might be the wisest idea. Also, Solzimort."

"What about him?" Shiv asked.

"I lost track of him. I think he said something about going underground to take a brief nap. But, right, shit, who knows?" Shiv hissed internally. Despite that, he didn't feel overly worried about the hydra. There were still quite a few unknowns regarding Solzimort, especially why he had such a child-like personality and how he managed to get to Legend, regardless. 

"Alright, just keep an eye out for him," Shiv said. "Of all the problems we have, I don't think he's going to be one of them. Not a big one, anyway."

"Oh, and Shiv," Adam said, "when you go back into the Academy, be sure to keep yourself reserved. You did a good job earlier."

"With what?" Shiv asked.

"With not tearing those poor Old Brunswick boys limb from limb, and murdering Magnolia. It was very conscientious on your part, and I need you to keep doing that. Listen, you're probably going to find some of the students at the academy quite annoying."

"I can handle it," Shiv said. "I mean, I managed to put up with you when we were in Weave?"

"Yes, worse than that. You're going to run into know-it-alls. You're going to run into arrogant adepts. People we can crush like bugs now, and who will be constantly trying to provoke you into violence. They will be insufferable, and some of them will be noble as well. Whatever you do, don't smash them, and don't assume that you can just get cute with your chronomancy either.

“Some of them will have wards, and when that slams into your shapeless tides, it's going to cause some questions. Questions like, how did my child turn up unconscious face down in a dumpster? Why were all their clothes missing? Why can't they remember who slapped them? And why did their temporal wardings register a massive hit the moment they encountered that strange crippled boy? ‘What was his name? Marcus Unblood?’"

"Yeah, yeah, all right," Shiv held up his hands, realizing what Adam was getting at. "I'll be sure to be subtle."

"Subtle," Adam said again.

"Subtle," Shiv echoed. "And if I need to hurt someone, I'll try to be very quiet about it."

"Preferably, you don't hurt anyone."

"Realistically, the system's not going to give us much of a choice, Adam."

"I know that, which is why we need to try even harder. Look, if you run into something that doesn't need to devolve into violence, just do what you did today. Evade, escape, and maybe find Irons. Speaking of which," Adam began shaping a Veilpiercer. "It's time for me to visit the captain and see what he has on Melissa's disappearance." He briefly paused before he fired a shot. "Shiv, do you, against all odds, have a Deductive Reasoning skill?"

"Yes, I did. Got one recently," Shiv said.

A rough breath escaped from the Gate Lord. "And how high is its level?"

"Eight."

"Right. Well, it's better than nothing, but still practically nothing. You're probably going to have to break into a few places at some point. When you're doing that, I think it's best that you don't have your perfect semblance active. Better to be caught as the Deathless than lose your cover. Tonight, however, that's not a concern. Tonight, we do some housekeeping and pray the system doesn't throw anything else at us."

"Well, then you better hurry up and fire that shot," Shiv muttered. "Before we get to Irons and find out he's been Udraal this entire time."

"Don't even joke about that, Shiv," Adam almost whimpered.

***

For once, the system proved itself merciful and Captain Irons simply handed over a few piles of documentation and evidence without further fanfare. As they went through everything Melissa collated, Shiv had to admit that the girl was a pretty good investigator. Her notes were extraordinarily detailed and each packet of evidence was separated to contain illustrations, stolen transcripts, magical recordings, and notebooks filled with theories regarding the so-called black orphanages that Daughter typically frequented.

There were over 10,000 different orphanages all across the capital and in a staggering feat of effort, Melissa recorded every one and eliminated all those she doubted to be one such black orphanage. That made Adam and Shiv's work far easier, though there were still major challenges to surmount. There were about 89 orphanages left over. They were circled and illustrated with further detail, with their dates of establishment and total number of orphans listed by the side. Most of them had their own packets, but Melissa hadn't finished her investigation before she went missing.

She sketched a route between each of the suspected black orphanages, and there was apparently a scheme that had specific "problem children" shuttled between establishments. They would also go missing along the way sometimes and that filled his chest with a cold foreboding. Melissa started this because she was looking for her own little sister. Considering what Daughter did to her hosts, how she casually used and spent them in combat, Shiv really didn't think highly of Melissa or her sister's odds by this point.

"Still, we should try to find out what happened to her and maybe put a stop to it somehow. Good fucking gods. How long has this been happening?"

"From Melissa's documentation? At least 80 years," Adam answered. "The earliest establishment, the earliest black orphanage was supposedly just established 100 years ago."

Then there was the trail leading to Flame Crown Castle. That was where Irons was trying to infiltrate when everything went to hell. The captain barely escaped with his own life, and that was mainly because Shiv had wounded Daughter using his Vitae. 

Irons was on the trail of one Hero-Matron Dorothy Diego. Why? Among the many pictures and recordings Melissa managed to gather, one showed Dorothy actively speaking to an unknown individual shrouded all in black. After midnight, several photos displayed an exchange taking place. The individual handed her a scroll sealed by magic and the matron offered a scared looking girl who looked at her several times and didn't seem to want to go with the strange man.

Attached to the illustrations was a magical recording. It resembled an automaton's vox speaker connected to a crystallized piece of mana. There was a button at the bottom and as Adam pressed it both Shiv and the gate lord flinched.

"No, no matron. I'll be a good girl. I'll be a good girl. Don't give me to him. Please, please. I want to stay. Oh no. I'll pray for you. I'll pray. Please don't. Don't."

A scuffle was heard thereafter. The girl attempted to get away, Shiv guessed. Then the unmistakable sound of a blunt object striking a skull followed, and then there was the sharp snap of snapping bone.

Adam looked away. Shiv felt a black rage well up inside of him.

"You utter idiot," a low feminine growl followed from the vox. "What is the point of me handing this girl to you if you are going to let her slip away? Is the point of the girl if you're just going to try and kill her? No. Put away the baton. She's still alive. Bring her to one of the Biomancers. Then have their mind wiped after. When you're done with this, find another job. Have your Master Inquisitor reassign you. You're not suited for this. An action of panic. We cannot panic. Not once. We are servants, and this, though foul, is an important duty. Now, pick her up and be away with you. Be quick. The wound is deep, and the Deadly despises the ruined vessel."

"You, wait, what's that?" Suddenly there was the sound of harsh breathing, footsteps and a loud cry for someone to stop.

Adam and Shiv looked at each other, and neither of them spoke.

"I think I had enough of that for one night," Adam finally said.

"I don't know," Shiv replied. "I think I want to make a house call. See what this Hero-Matron's all about."

A vicious glint filled the Gate Lord's eyes, but then he tampered it down in time to get through the rest of the details. "And Iron said she was missing earlier when I was in his office. And also that the Inquisition is doing everything they can to mask her involvement and protect her from harm.”

“So what do you think our angle is?" Shiv asked. "If my Marcus identity gets burned, I could, by taking the semblance of one of these problem girls, if they're the dead one."

"I don't think that's entirely reliable," Adam said. "However," he flipped back through the illustrations and pointed at the shrouded man. "We know that this one is part of the Inquisition, as with practically everything foul and underhanded happening in the Republic, they have their fingers in it. I think we're better off snatching one of them and having a conversation than swinging blind in one of these orphanages. Melissa did write something about the frequency of pickups. We could potentially intercept one of these days."

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to that," Shiv said.

Adam hesitated for a moment. "Maybe you don't focus on that. I'll see if I can get Gone or Kura to help me."

"You're worried that I might cause a mess," Shiv said, almost offended.

"No, I'm worried the system might escalate any one of our attempts to help into a full-blown battle near an orphanage. The other Legends, they're favored too, but they're not like you, and they're not like me. If we're going to keep this as subtle as possible, and we want someone with minimal profile and maximum speed."

"Hence Gone," Shiv said.

"Hence Gone," Adam agreed.

"And they should take Whisper with them too," Shiv suggested.

A look of wariness crawled across the Gate Lord's face, but the Deathless kept pushing his idea. "Yeah, I know orphans and orcs don't go together, but Whisper can keep himself controlled in most cases. And he's usually pretty hard to spot as well. If things go wrong, he can pull the others into his dimensional veil, and we can extract them without getting noticed."

"Right, right," Adam said. "All right, I think we both lingered on this long enough. We should do something else. I'm going to chat with our crafters and see if I can figure out any of the slip gate mechanics myself. I doubt it, but maybe learning more about basics can give me some ideas for the future too."

"All right, I'm going to go visit Helix. Time for me to start harvesting more cancer from my body."

"Lovely."

And just like that, it feels like we're back to old times, Adam breathed. It was almost a laugh.

Shiv grunted in agreement. "You know, I really miss it."

"Miss what? Weave?"

"No, all of it. The abyss was bad in places. Godsdamn First Blood were a nightmare, but the wilderness was something special. It was free for a while, Adam. And the people there, we have people who care about us there. The composer, she isn't perfect. She's not nearly the most powerful goddess, but..."

"I know," Adam said, understanding what he was getting at. "When I needed her, she called. She came to me. She didn't need to, but..." The Gate Lord sighed as stress and worry warred across his face. "The world isn't what I thought. It shouldn't be this way. The Ascendants shouldn't be this way. The Republic shouldn't be this way. I… I want to run too. I want to be done with this, but I don't think I can. I don't blame you if you just decide to flee entirely. When we finish saving Blackedge, when I get everyone there over to the gate, I won't blame you if you and Uva just want to."

"Adam, shut the fuck up," Shiv interrupted. "I'm just saying I miss things. I miss the peace. I miss the people. I'm not saying I want to run away and leave your ass to fight this hopeless war alone. Besides, I don't think it's up to me. Udraal's planning something, the ascendants, the other nations, everyone's always doing something. I think fleeing and hiding is just a fantasy."

"It doesn't all need to be your battle Shiv," Adam said quietly.

"Maybe not, but not leaving your ass, not leaving you alone to deal with this. I don't give a shit about the Republic, Adam. I give a shit about you."

Adam blinked. Shiv folded his arms. And then unfolded them. Then he shuffled in place. They both coughed.

"I'm gonna go do cancer things,” Shiv said, unsure how to end the conversation.

"Yes, you enjoy that."

As soon as Shiv departed the slip gate chamber, he found Helix waiting there with his arms folded and what looked to be a naked clone of Shiv by his side. The orc held onto the “not-shiv” via a flesh-made leash implanted directly into the base of its skull.

The Deathless blinked. "What the fuck is this?"

"Oh, this. It's my sloppily made homunculus. I based it off of your blood code." The orc Biomancer grinned at his so-called pupil. "Have you selected your classes yet? Any Biomancy courses?"

"A medical one," Shiv replied, but his gaze was mainly locked to the homunculus. "You're gonna explain why you made a fucked up version of me?"

"Oh, it's simple. I'm going to give it a series of diseases, viruses, plagues, and maladies, and you're going to figure out what I’m doing. And when you get good enough at identification, you’re going to start learning how to cure the homunculus. Your human academy might be a soft and easy time, but I will not, I assure you, and so when I am done, your enemies will open their own throats and end their own lives rather than face the touch of your Biomancy." And slowly, creepily, the orc began to laugh. "Only to realize it was all for naught, because you managed to restart their brain and remove all the damage, condemning them to torment regardless."

A few seconds passed. Shiv looked between the orc Biomancer and the unresponsive homunculus. Then he simply shrugged. "Yeah, why not, I got a few hours. Let's get started."