Seeds of Discordia

Liam stared at Cryptic Wing trying to process what he had just said. He didn’t know how to respond to that. He was still ignorant when it came to dungeons and dungeon breaks, however, he did remember someone stating for a dungeon to break it needed to not be challenged or completed over a certain amount of time. If that was the case then how were they planning on making one happen if all the dungeons on the island were being challenged on a daily basis in the Dungeon Tower?

He wasn’t the only one thinking about this as Noxi asked, “How would they be able to make that happen? I’m pretty sure all the dungeons in the Dungeon Tower have been challenged and completed several times a day."

Cryptic Wing looked at Lady Arachne who was already looking at him. She gave him a nod of acknowledgement before he looked back at Noxi and everyone else replying, “You are correct on that. Albeit, there seems to be a new dungeon that has not been accounted for or has not been announced to the public. A Black Dungeon.”

“A Black Dungeon!?” the other Legs shouted.

“You’re not serious are you?” Orchid questioned.

“How? Where is it located?” Noxi demanded with some anger.

“Do you know how long it has been on the island?” Midnight Claw demanded.

“Why hasn’t this dungeon been made public? Shouldn’t the authorities or even the Mayor know about this dungeon?” Silent Saboteur inquired, a fist forming.

Cryptic Wing remained calm as he waited for each member to let out the questions they were burning to know. After they waited for an answer and went silent, he started back up, “First off, I will say I do not know everything since not all the papers in that folder were able to be copied. I can answer some of the questions with certainty while some will be met with guesses.”

The others remained quiet, waiting to hear what he had to share.

Cryptic Wing nodded before looking at Orchid and continuing, “For your question Tantalizing Orchid, yes I am certain. In the information I was able to get there is a Black Dungeon on the island.” Cryptic Wing looked at Noxi. “Tranquil Noxitanous, I do not know where it is located. That part of the information was not salvaged before it was destroyed. However, I will say that the location of the dungeon is not normal since none of the places where one would appear does not have it.”

Orchid and Noxi clicked their tongues at their answers.

“I do not know how long it has been on the island, Midnight Claw,” Cryptic Wing answered as he looked at her. “If I were to make a guess I would have to say either around or before the kidnappings happens.”

Midnight Claw crossed her arms as she listened to the man. She, too, didn’t like that response.

Cryptic Wing looked at Silent Saboteur. “As for your answer Silent Saboteur, I wasn’t able to get any information as to why on that from the salvaged papers, however, this folder right here might shed some light as to why no announcements have been made by the authorities here on the island.”

Everyone looked at the folder that Cryptic Wing pulled out from his inventory. Liam was able to get a glimpse at the name of it and furrowed his brows. It was the folder titled Allies and Potential Threats. It was one he didn’t get to look at before that lion-folk arrived.

“In here it lists all their allies who have been making deals with these Seven Immoral Vices Cult members as well who they believe would be a threat to their operation,” Cryptic Wing answered.

Midnight Claw slammed a fist down on the table as she growled, “Are you saying there are traitors from our race working with these bastards? How could they be willing to go through with their plan? To slaughter their own kin…” She let out a snarl, making Liam believe she couldn’t finding the right words for what she wanted to convey.

“There is some belief that they do not know the full plan of the Seven Immoral Vices Cult members,” Cryptic Wing stated.

“What do you mean?” Noxi questioned.

“While going through all the Allies paperwork there is a section that states, Agreed upon the fabricated Deal,” Cryptic Wing informed. “I couldn’t find the details of this Fabricated Deal, but it does not look like they were informed about the actual plans the Seven Immoral Vices Cult members had going on. After looking at all who had become allies to these people…” Liam could hear the venom in the word as Cryptic Wing’s mouth shifted into a swift snarl before returning to the emotionless expression he had before. “I wouldn’t put it past them they would have agreed if they had truly known. However, since we do not have any information on the deal they agreed upon as well as the full pan, they can be considered greedy bastards.”

Silent Saboteur stared at Cryptic Wing. When there was a pause from Cryptic Wing he stated, “Assuming you are bringing this folder up after my question. Am I safe to say that the mayor is one of these…Allies…” Silent Saboteur sounded like he wanted to make some angry sound but held back.

Cryptic Wing nodded. He then opened the folder and spread out the papers that were in them. He organized it so the ones labeled as Allies were closer together and the Potential Threats were placed close by each other as well. “Your guess is safe to assume, Silent Saboteur. He along with a few nobles associated with this island along with some crafting companies as well.”

Liam glanced over the papers that were in the Allies section. He narrowed his eyes as a bit of anger swelled up within him as his eyes landed on one that was familiar to him. Of course that fucking Weasel fuck is a part of that list. Liam internally growled. He then shifted his eyes over on the Potential Threats and scanned them as well. To his surprise he saw some had names of businesses like The Cat’s Paw-ldron on there. He also saw one that said Clan Cait Sith. Another had Fred, the bear-folk Head Security of the Teleportation Tree. He had some choice words written on his paper which led Liam to believe the Seven Immoral Vice members really didn’t like him.

 The last one was even more surprised since he thought the man would be on the Allies section since his information was spread out when it came to Crafting. Mr. Lyca, the man who was in charge of the Crafter’s Association. He would have thought that since the Seven Immoral Vice Cult members were kidnapping crafters, he would have been the perfect ally to them.

As Liam scanned the papers there was one name that didn’t appear, especially in the Allies section. After looking over the group three times to make sure he didn’t miss it, He asked, “Why isn’t Lucy in the Allies section?”

This one question brought everyone’s attention right upon him. Liam stared at them as they looked questioning at him. They then looked at the Allies section as well. After a few sections of silence, Lady Arachne said, “That’s…that’s actually a good question. If these folders were in her office and she hid them…she should have been in this section. Especially being a Beast-kin and not a Demon-kin.”

“That actually begs another question,” Noxi started up after thinking something over. “Not only is her paperwork not in the Allies section, why would she have all this information? I wouldn’t bet that the Seven Immoral Vice Cult members would allow a Beast-kin to have all this information. The part about everyone involved having a Fabricated Deal points to that. So then…how?”

Noxi brought up a really good question. One that made everyone think hard on. After a few more seconds of silence, Orchid asked, “Is she a Demon-kin in disguised as well?”

“I don’t think so,” Cryptic Wing offered. “There should be a magical defense actively running to spot any illusions being used while in the Teleportation Tree. I would assume that if she were a Demon-kin, she would have been spotted the moment she tried.”

“I’m not too sure about that,” Liam interjected.

Cryptic Wing looked at Liam with a look that said Are you doubting me? Liam stared at the man and stated, “You weren’t here when I made my report of my mission to grab these folders. I’m not sure if anyone here has filled you in on the happenings that went down, but…I ran into a Lion-folk that acted a lot like a Seven Immoral Vice Cult member. At least his paranoia and the things he said.”

Cryptic Wing looked at Lady Arachne with a brow raised. Lady Arachne nodded before informing him of what Liam had told all of them. After she finished Cryptic Wing brought a hand to his chin.

“That is indeed most confusing,” Cryptic Wing stated. “However, while I find this conundrum very confusing, I can tell you that the Illusion Defense is currently running right now.”

Liam raised a brow at that. “How do you know that?”

“Because of my race,” Cryptic Wing stated. “You see I am a Bat-folk with a very special Bloodline that helps me perceive active magical spells.”

Liam was intrigued to hear this. he hadn’t heard a lot about Bloodlines and what they were all about. He was about to ask more, but was stopped as Cryptic Wing stated, “Before you ask, no I will not tell you more about my bloodline. Since I was told you are new to our world I won’t be upset with your ignorance. However, I will tell you that you must never ask someone about their bloodline unless they are willing to tell you. Bloodlines are sacred and rare. Not everyone in the world has them.”

Liam, a bit disappointed hearing that, nodded and thanked the man.

“So if the Illusion defenses are up and working then how have these crazy bastards been getting on the island?” Orchid inquired.

Cryptic Wing shook his head as he replied, “I do not know.”

“What about when they are planning to execute this plan of theirs?” Silent Saboteur asked. “Was that on any of the papers you were able to salvage from the other folder?”

Once more Cryptic Wing shook his head. “No. However, I would believe it would take some time for a Dungeon break to happen unless they have some way to accelerate one.”

Something tugged at the back of Liam’s mind as he listened to the two men. His brows furrowed as he tried to think what it was. Something about time seemed to trigger it, but he wasn’t entirely sure. He tried thinking about everything that had happened to see if someone had said something related to the topic.

He thought about the banter the Beast-kins had with Uncle Naro. The one who took the leading role stated the usual low key villain banter about being surprised they could see them along with luck ending and leaving him alone and not interfering with them taking me. Nothing about time there. Uncle Naro had asked if they knew who he was, strange of a question as that was, but that wasn’t it either.

If it wasn’t then, then maybe… Liam thought to himself as he pushed earlier into that night.

His scrunched brows deepened a bit more as he tried to think about what else had happened. As he was doing this he wasn’t aware that both Lady Arachne and Cryptic Wing were staring at him. Cryptic Wing was about to ask him a question but was stopped as Lady Arachne brought a hand up to stop him. The man looked at her and watched as she shook her head and brought a finger up to her lips. The other members noticed her do this and looked at her before looking at Liam.

Liam unconsciously started to mutter softly to himself as he tried to go back in his memories. “Time…what was it that I heard about time? Was it then? No. If not then, then maybe…”

Liam’s eyes suddenly widened as he remembered. It was what Lucy had said. Liam snapped his gaze up and was about to say something, but stopped as he noticed everyone was already staring at him. Unsure what was going on, Liam asked, “Is everything alright?”

Lady Arachne nodded as she replied, “Yes. We noticed you were deep in thought about something and were waiting to see if you had anything to add.”

Liam felt a bit embarrassed. He didn’t think he was that obvious, but apparently he was. He was going to need to correct that somehow. He mentally shook himself free from the stray thoughts as he readied to inform them of an abridged version of what he was going to say.

“There is something I need to add. It’s about time,” Liam started.

Everyone looked a bit confused for a moment before coming to realize what he had meant.

“I didn’t remember it at first, but Silent Saboteur’s question about when they were planning to execute their plan tickled something at the back of my mind,” Liam stated. “I do remember hearing one of the members stating that they had new orders. Their new orders were to move the schedule of their plans ahead. Whatever their entire plan entails, they plan to do it soon.”

Orchid looked surprised while Noxi formed a fist with both hands. A weird noise escaped Silent Saboteur’s mouth behind his mask as Midnight Claw snarled. Cryptic Wing looked skeptical and was about to question him on it, but wasn’t able to as Lady Arachne asked, “How reliable was the source? Do you think they could have said that in order to throw people off?”

Liam shook his head as he answered, “No I do not believe it was said in order to throw people off. As for the source…I trust it entirely.”

Lady Arachne nodded her head and was about to say something, but stopped as Cryptic Wing butted it, “What do you mean by you trust the source entirely? If some lowly grunt said it then I hardly believe it is trustworthy.”

Liam narrowed his eyes at the man. He was starting to get a feel of the man. he was one that didn’t trust unconfirmed sources. He was right if it was from some grunt of an organization then the information could be unreliable. That was the case for many organizations back on earth. Tell the grunts random things so if they were captured they had false information to feed if they were the type to squeal. However, this didn’t come from some low end minion. No. After looking at everything and questioning some things, he was starting to think that Lucy was much higher and deeper in this then he originally thought.

“I can understand why you would think that,” Liam started as he stared back at Cryptic Wing. His sudden surety made Cryptic Wing look surprised…for a brief moment. “However, what if I said this didn’t come from a lowly minion?”

“Oh? if not from one of those Beat-kin pawns, then from who? If you met one of the higher ups then I must ask why you haven’t brought that information to the table,” Cryptic Wing argued.

“To be honest I had forgotten this with everything that had happened I am still regaining my bearings,” Liam answered. “I know it is no excuse, but it is facts. I apologize for my lacking.”

Lady Arachne shook her head. “Do not apologize for something that can happen to anyone. We might have a sub-stat that helps with remembering things, but sometimes we forget that some have lower levels in that sub-stat as well as sometimes going through events much like the one you went through; It can jostle memories. Can you tell us who this reliable source was that said this?”

Liam looked at her and said with as much confidence as he could exude, “It was from Lucy herself.”

The others stared at him. They didn’t know who he was going to say. A few had believed he was going to introduce a new key figure, but instead he had brought up the one they had talked about earlier. They still didn’t know where she fit in all of this besides working with them and having more knowledge about the Seven Immoral Vices’ plan.

“Why do you believe she is a reliable source to go with?” Lady Arachne asked, curious on the subject. “I know that we believe there is more to the woman than we know, but why do you specifically believe she is a reliable source?”

“I want to know how you heard her say this?” Cryptic Wing questioned.

“I won’t go into much details since I am still trying to remember everything,” Liam lied as he stared at the man. He wasn’t sure if he had something that could tell he was lying, but he decided to go stick with that. “However, I can say that a certain situation had brought me to hid when she happened to enter a room I was in. there she spoke with some members she was with, and she told them about their new orders.”

He then looked at Lady Arachne and added, “As for your question, Lady Arachne. There is much mystery around the woman right now, albeit, I believe she is much higher up and deeper in this than we think. The fact we questioned how her paperwork wasn’t in the section of the Allies. How she is able to have the important files of their plans even though she is a Beast-kin, that we know of. How she is head of the New Arrival Agent Department which allows her to have access to all information on the new arrivals coming in here, which also allows her to use that information to determine if said new arrival fits what they are looking for. All those questions point to someone who is deeper in the mess of things or has a higher position in the group doing all of this. None of these point to someone who is a mere pawn.”

Everyone digested what he had said. He had made some really good points. Liam could see the emotions warring on their faces, or through their body language in Noxi’s and Silent Saboteur’s case.

“Your thought process on that makes a lot of sense,” Lady Arachne finally stated after a while. “Thank you for sharing that with us.” She then looked at the others and with an authoritative voice ordered, “Knowing that they are pushing their plans ahead of schedule means they have a means to force a dungeon break. We are going to send out an order for a Priority Emergency Mission, or E.P.M., for all members on the island. The order is to locate or find any signs of a Black Dungeon. If any suspicious people are found doing something they shouldn’t be doing must be reported as well. This order is being execute right this second!”

Liam felt a vibration in the pocket his Web Watch was in. He reached in and pulled it out. After channeling some mana into it, Silky opened the pocket watch and dove right into the darkened area with as much speed as her legs could move. After she disappeared inside, she repeated the words Lady Arachne had just stated.

“Thank you Silky,” Liam whispered to her.

“You’re welcome Phantom Cat. – Silky.”

Liam closed his Web watch and put it back into his pocket. He then looked at Lady Arachne and listened as she said, “Phantom Cat, thank you again for telling us all of this. I know you have been through a lot already, but I must ask if we can use your skills in crafting and make as many potions as you can for us? I am hoping it won’t come down to it, but there is a chance some of our members will need them. Can you do this?”

Liam nodded. He needed to make some for himself as well, but he had a question that could be fatal to what she needed. Without any hesitation, Liam asked, “I can, but the highest quality I can make are Average. Will that be alright?”

“It is acceptable,” Lady Arachne replied. “We know you’re still new here, but that level of potion making is still much higher than usual new arrivals are at. Noxi can make some higher quality ones, but it is always safe to have more. Also, some members can benefit from yours as well since those potions are close to what is best for them.”

Liam nodded the paused as thought about something. He needed to restock on some of his Chemicalized Creations as well. Deciding to take a chance he asked, “Is there a possibility I can also get some supplies to make some more of my Chemicalized Creations?”

Lady Arachne stared at Liam. She then looked over at Silent Saboteur who didn’t say anything. He looked like he was contemplating something. After a few seconds he nodded.

“Granted. However, Potions take priority first,” Lady Arachne stated. “Go with Silent Saboteur and get to crafting.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Liam replied. He then let out a breath and thought to himself as he followed the portly man out of the room, This is going to be a long day again.