Seeds of Discordia

Liam stood in an alleyway, covered in shadows hiding himself from the people walking by. He stood there staring at one of two items that’s been sitting in his inventory since he came to this new world.

It was a mask that had followed him to this world from Earth. A mask that held a lot of memories and a name he went by that was given to him by others. He reached in and grabbed the item and stared at it again. It was a full mask that was completely white. The eye holes were small giving it a slit eye look. Under both eye holes were tear drops. One was red and the other was black. A thin wide smile with small lines running down over the smile made it look like the smile was stitched shut like that.

 Even though his old life now felt so long ago, the reality was it really wasn’t that long ago. He knew and understood he was in a new world, but there was something holding him back from just wearing this mask casually again. What if someone who had seen this mask back on Earth was around?

He knew the likelihood of the chances happening would be extremely slim, but those kind of odds had been occurring more often than not. He had another reason as to why he was hesitant to wear it again, but after thinking about it, it made him feel like he was just being paranoid.

“Hey buddy,” Liam whispered as he stared at the mask. “Looks like that wasn’t the end for us back then.” He felt kind of stupid talking to his mask, but at the same time it was helping him work over his feelings and push away his worries. “I know I haven’t pulled you out since we’ve got here, but I haven’t found a reason for us to go back to our old ways.”

Liam fidgeted the mask around in his hands as he continued to look at it. “I mean, there’s a reason why I need you right now, but it’s not for what we used to do. I…I don’t want to go back to that. However, for stuff like this…I think we can work something out. What do you say?”

Liam stared at the mask for a long moment before letting out a breath of air. He took his eyes off of the mask and slowly waved it up and down. “What the hell are you doing Liam,” Liam quietly chastised himself. “You’re standing in an alleyway talking to a mask like its alive or something…Have you lost your mind?”

Liam stopped waving his hand up and down and looked back at the mask. He knew it was just him trying to get over some of his past issues along with making himself believe that no one would recognize the mask. Letting out one more breath of air, Liam placed the mask on his face and waited.

He didn’t know what he was waiting for, but he did feel something while wearing the mask. Relaxed. He felt like all the tension he was feeling moments ago had just washed away after placing the item on.

He looked down at his hands. Then his feet. He turned his hips as much as he could to get a better look at his back side and found…nothing. Nothing had changed. No one suddenly appeared out of nowhere, recognized him, and started cursing him. It was just quiet.

Liam shook his head. He finally came to terms that he had worked himself up over nothing. After coming to grips with it, he opened his wardrobed menu and picked out the attire he was going to wear.

He chose a pair of black pants that ran down into a pair of black boots. He wore a shirt underneath his Ooze Cloak that he had received back in the Blue Dungeon he had taken on with Cindy. He replaced his gloves with a pair of black fingerless ones and called it good. He pulled the hood of the cloak over his head to hide everything but the mask from sight.

He was ready to head into the Adventurer’s Association to deliver these A.I.D.’s so any relatives of these fallen adventurers would have answers to whether if they were still alive or not. It wasn’t a pleasant thing to do, but he understood it was something that needed to be done.

Liam deactivated his Veil of Shadows and walked out from the alleyway. He turned right and made his way across the street where his destination was. He felt a bit off walking into the crowd of people while wearing a mask over his face. He noticed a few people eyed him for a brief moment before continuing on their way like it was normal.

He was slightly puzzled by this, but then noticed that there were others wearing some kind of mask. He stared at these people and realized they were Adventurers. Their masks weren’t like his, but they were still weird looking. This made him relax even more as he approached the building.

People were walking in and out, but as he approached the open doors he noticed the flow of traffic had stopped. No one was around the door, which made him feel a bit more at ease for some reason. After stepping inside he felt something vibrate in his pocket.

He put a hand in it to feel his Web Watch vibrate a couple more times. Confused, he channeled in a small amount of mana into it before pulling it out and opening it. He brought it up closer to his face to make it look like he was checking the time and saw a message form shortly after Silky disappeared into the black void.

 

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“Fiddler’s Spider Web member: Sleight of Hand Illusionist is close to your proximity. – Silky.”

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Liam was confused at first, but remembered Silky stating that her kind could tell when another member was close by. He looked up to see if he could try and pinpoint where the member was and was surprised when he saw someone put away an object that look a lot like his Web Watch. The person he spotted doing this was an actual employee of the Adventurer’s Association. It was the man who had helped him get his A.I.D. set up when he first came here with Cindy. It was Don.

Liam was taken aback at first because he wasn’t sure why he would be this in the open when secrecy was a big thing in the Fiddler’s Spider Web Association. However, that had changed after he remembered the name Silky had revealed. Sleight of Hand Illusionist. That name told him that he was an illusionist. Sleight of Hand could be that the name the people knew him as here could be an alias and his current form could be a disguise made from an illusion.

Liam thought it to be pretty smart for doing it like that. No one would be the wiser unless they had ways to dispel or see through it. which meant his illusion magic must be pretty high up there for him to be this confident in his disguise.

In as quiet of a whisper, Liam said, “Thank you Silky.”

He got the message back from her and watched here escape the black void and closed it. He went to put the pocket watch away in his pocket and take a step forward but was suddenly pushed off to the side as someone elbow chucked him from behind.

Liam’s worries of someone recognizing his mask suddenly resurfaced and he was about to get ready to defend himself in case he was going to be attacked, but stopped himself as he saw who it was.

It was Chad the Elf.

“Watch where you’re standing idiot,” Chad sneered as he walked by him. The sneer that was on his face turned into one of disgust as he commented, “That mask looks horrible. Is it even good for anything besides making you look like some weirdo?”

Liam felt his hands form into fists, but before he could react on the impulse of punching him right across the face, Liam let out a breath. He then ignore the man turned towards Don, who was eyeing them, and started walking away.

Chad let out an irritated scoff as he stated, “Are you ignoring me?” When Liam didn’t respond he walked quickly and got in Liam’s way. “I swear, this is why I hate dealing with uncouth Adventurers from backwater places like this. I was talking to you. Are you deaf or something?”

Liam let out a sigh. His irritation was growing quickly, but he tried hard to hold it down. Instead, Liam said in a slow and calm manner, almost like he was trying to talk to a rude child, “Yes…I was ignoring you. Seeing as I have business with the Adventurer’s Association and not with you, I felt my time would be better spent there. Now if you will kindly excuse me.”

Chad’s look of annoyance started turning into one of anger after hearing what Liam said. He opened his mouth to retort back but was stopped as a cough was heard behind him.

Both Chad and Liam turned their attention to see Don staring at them.

“I do apologize for interrupting…but as the man in the mask has stated he has some business with us,” Don informed. His demeanor and speech pattern full of professionalism.

Chad stared at him for a long moment before shifting his gaze back at Liam almost like he was contemplating something. Coming to a decision, he turned his back to Don and went to say some again to Liam, but once more was stopped.

“I don’t hate to interrupt you once more, but as I have said before this uncouth Adventurer has business with the Adventurer’s Association. As backwater as this place is, this is still an Official Adventurer’s Association. If you wish to stand in the way of one who has official business with the Association then I would like to remind you about Article thirty six subsection two,” Don stated. His mannerisms and smile still looking professional, however, Liam could hear a subtle threat towards the end.

I am going to have to see what that Article is about. Liam thought as he noticed Chad’s body twitch.

Chad let out a low groan before looking at Liam. Like the man Liam was beginning to feel all too familiar with, he stated before walking away, “Count yourself lucky that you’re not worth getting a demerit on my A.I.D. for.”

Liam raised a brow under the mask he wore. Apparently, that article was a warning and a punishment that involved some kind of demerit. That was good to know.

Now that Chad was no longer in his way Liam walked up to the counter where Don was sitting. The man gave Liam a professional smile before saying, “Good evening sir. A little spider has told me that you have some business here at the Adventurer’s Association.”

Liam blinked at the man and what he had said. He didn’t know how to respond to the little spider comment. He understood what the man was saying, but the phrase took him back since he was used to it being a little birdie instead. Liam pushed it back as he stared at the man and nodded in response.

Don stood up and with grace stretched a hand to his left towards a hallway. “Please come with me then. A room is open for us to talk.”

  Liam followed the man into a room down the hall. It was a small one with a couch a table and a chair. there were other décor in the room, but Liam didn’t pay much attention to them.

“Please take a seat,” Don said as he closed the door.

Liam walked around the couch and did as he was told. Shortly after, Don walked around the couch and table towards the chair that sat on the other side. As he sat down, Liam watched as Don’s form suddenly change as the area around him waved out like a mirage was being lifted. .  At the same time mana had suddenly filled the room all around him.

Liam tensed as soon as he felt the unknown power. However, before he could make a move, Don stated as he placed a black pocket watch on the table, “Be at ease Phantom Cat. I have simply put up a barrier so no one will hear our conversation.”

Liam was surprised at the man calling him by his Web Name. that moment passed by quickly once he looked at the pocket watch. It was a Web Watch like his. He looked back at the man and got a better view of his current equipment.

He wore an aqua long sleeved shirt with a navy blue vest and dress pants. His short blond hair was now slicked back brown hair. A white mask covered his face from chin to forehead. To Liam’s shock, the mask seemed alive. Wisps of smoke swirled around forming several different shapes.

Liam looked back at the man’s Web Watch and decided to do as he did. He reached into his pocket and placed his Web Watch on the table as well. Liam noticed both Web Watches vibrate a couple of times before falling silent. As this happened, the white wisps formed a cloudy face. The face looked both surprised and pleased.

“I must admit that I didn’t think you had learn the proper etiquette Fiddler’s Spider Web member meeting outside the Webs,” Don or Sleight of Hand Illusionist stated. “I was told you were a brand new member, so I didn’t think you had taken the time to learn the proper protocols yet. Although, you have only done half of what you’re supposed to do so I’m not sure how much you have learned.”

“I’ll be honest with you,” Liam started. “I haven’t been informed of anything yet except the fact our Web Watches know when members from our Associations are close by. I just had a feeling that I was supposed to place my Web Watch out on the table since you did.”

Sleight of Hand Illusionist gave Liam an approving nod. “That is acceptable. I commend you for being honest. If you’d like I can let you know what the proper protocols are for meeting another member while not in the web.”

“I’d appreciate it,” Liam said.

“When meeting another member in a setting like this, all parties place their Web Watch out, so all knows that the other is an actual member and not a fake,” Sleight of Hand Illusionist informed. “After they are placed the Web Watches will vibrate, letting you know that the Web Watch is real. If there is no vibration then it is a phony. Afterwards, both parties will change into their work clothes. For now I won’t ask you to change since you are still new and are probably still creating your look.”

Liam gave the man a nod of thanks. “Thank you for letting me know. If I may ask a question. I know it’s not proper to ask due to secrecy, but your name isn’t really Don is it? Is it an alias?”

The smoky face gave Liam a wry smile as the man answered, “It is an alias. Whenever you meet with me out there please call me by that name. Whenever we’re in more…business apparel I am Sleight of Hand Illusionist, but you can call me Slight. I work here as a point of contact for the Fiddler’s Spider Web. I keep an eye or ear out for rumors of information and send them to Silent Saboteur.”

Liam was impressed with that. What this man was doing was basically spy work. It just went and showed him that everyone had their areas in the Association. “Alright,” Liam said. He wasn’t sure how he felt about people shortening their names. While he could agree with calling him Slight because of his long name, but what was the point of having these names if every other person shortens them?

Slight brought him out of his thoughts as he added, “And that brings me to remind you to never ask someone for their name. While many have given theirs to those they trust in the Association, it is still taboo for us to pry into others private life.”

Liam nodded. “Thank you for that.”

“Now if that is all the questions you have for me for now, I believe Lady Arachne has sent you here for a couple of reasons.”

Lia raised a brow behind the mask. “A couple of reasons? I know of one, but nothing after that.”

The smoky face on the mask gave him a frown. He then pulled out a letter and stated, “That is strange. I received a letter from one of Silent Saboteur’s owls stating our newest member, Phantom Cat would be coming by to update me of on an event currently happening as well as to deliver something as well.”

 Liam frowned a bit. He wasn’t under the impression he had to deliver news about what he had found. He thought all he had to do was deliver the A.I.D.’s. however, if that was what they decided on then he would do it.

“I wasn’t informed that I was to deliver an update, but I can do that,” Liam stated. He then went into full detail of what he had discovered earlier that day. After he was finished he pulled out the A.I.D.’s and placed them on the table.

The smoky face on the man’s mask went through several different emotions as he listened to Liam’s news. While the emotions were easy to read, Liam couldn’t tell what was actually going on in the man’s mind.

After a couple minutes of silence, Sleight finally asked, “Are you sure it said Toxo Corpse Controller?”

Liam nodded. “Yes…”

“Do you have the body with you?” Sleight inquired.

Liam shook his head. “No. Lady Arachne has it.”

Sleight shook his head as he mumbled a curse.

“Why? Do you need it for something?” Liam asked.

“I need it for proof when I go to the Branch Manager of this Association,” Sleight replied.

“Why do you need the corpse? Can’t you just tell them about it?” Liam questioned with some confusion.

“It’s not that simple,” Sleight stated as he stared down at the table. The face formed on the mask looked like it was thinking something over.

“Why?” Liam asked. “I don’t know much about these creatures so I might be missing something. Can you tell me what I am missing here?”

Sleight’s attention shifted back on Liam. He gave him a puzzled look before realizing something. With a sigh he stated, “That’s right. You’re new here so of course you don’t know much. Alright I’ll tell you what you need to know about the Toxos.”

Liam gave the man his full attention.

“The Toxos are a species of Undead that are both deadly and annoying to deal with,” Sleight started. “They are a Hive type species that has either a Queen or a King. Depending on which they have will determine how dangerous the situation is. If they have a King the situation, while still being bad, isn’t as bad compared to if the Hive has a Queen.”

Liam’s brows scrunch. “Why would that matter?”

“Breeding,” Sleight stated. “Adding more to why they are annoying and dangerous. Kings will look for females, race or species do not matter, and mate with them. If the Hive only has a king then they can be easier to deal with as long as you make sure it never finds a female. This will enrage it and you will have a mad Toxo chasing after you, but you can essentially kill off the hive if you isolate the hive from everything else. The Queens however…”

“The Queens don’t have to worry about finding females do they?” Liam asked.

Sleight nodded. “Mating isn’t an issue since then can mate with any male around even if it’s from their own hive.”

Liam grimaced at the thought.

“Another reason as to why they are annoying to deal with is due to their ability to move about without anyone knowing until it’s too late. They usually send scouts to search out food or possible hosts for egg carrying purposes or body controlling.”

“What do you mean by egg carrying purposes or body controlling?” Liam asked. He had an idea of the latter, but the former made him very curious.

“Exactly what I meant,” Sleight stated. “There are various different types of Toxos. For example, the Corpse Controller. Those one take hold of a body that has died or is on the verge of death. As for the egg carriers, they aren’t an actual creature, but rather a venom.”

Liam’s ears twitched at the mention of venom. He didn’t know why, but it tickled something in the back of his mind.

“Besides Corpse Controllers, each type of Toxo has a venom they use to plant eggs inside a creature’s body. That venom spreads throughout the body of the creature they injected and after a while it turns into a disease. That disease makes the creature turn hostile, losing their minds to a rage they don’t understand. It slowly eats at their mind and body till eventually they die. After the creature dies, they turn into an Undead creature and that’s when the eggs start to gain their nutrients. The body of the Undead Creature starts to age rapidly, which is weird for an Undead Creature. What I mean by age rapidly, their movements start to act weird. Almost like they are drunk and are having a hard time moving about.”

The memory of the Possessed Zombies flashed before Liam’s eyes as he listened to Sleight. Before he could say something, Sleight continued, “Other creatures whose bodies don’t act like that end up having a lot of patches of grey tissues all over their body. Bones will protrude and a nasty smell with exude from the body. Their strength also starts to plummet compared to when they were first turned.”

Liam remembered seeing the patches of grey all over the Zombified Hobgoblin Warrior and was starting to understand why those creatures seemed so weak.  

“It’s a nasty thing to have happen to you. The name of the venom they use to do this is called…,” Sleight started to say.

“Rageful Rabies Venom?” Liam quietly muttered.

Sleight stared at Liam. The smoky face turned into a mixture of shock and suspicion. “Yes…Tell me. How do you know the name of that venom? I could have sworn you were new to our world and didn’t know anything.”

Liam looked through his inventory. As he did that he started to reply, “I came across Diseased Feeble Forest Goblins a couple of days ago.” After he found the item he was looking for, Liam pulled it out and finished explaining, “I received this as loot.”

Liam placed the sealed Vial of Rageful Rabies Venom on the table. He noticed the smoky face looked both shocked and surprised as he stared at the object.

Almost as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, Sleight asked, “Is this real?”

“Unless if there was a way for someone to fool the system that I don’t know about then yes. This is real. I didn’t know the importance of this vial besides that it was nasty and some of the effects. However, I didn’t know that it was a venom from the Toxos.”

Sleight stared at Liam. “This…this right here…Can I have this? This is what I need to prove everything you have reported to me. With this vial I can take it to the Branch Manager, and we can send out parties to look for the dungeon. Can I use it?”

Liam didn’t hesitate to nod. If he could get more people to look for the hidden Black Dungeon then that would only help their efforts and possible stop whatever the Seven Immoral Vices have planned.  

Sleight quickly stood up as he grabbed the vial and stated, “Thank you. Thank you for all of this. The information, this evidence, and for killing those creatures in the Green Dungeon, the Goblin Forest. You might have saved more than you might realize. Now that we have some evidence, I need to inform the Branch Manager of this Adventurer’s Association right now.”

“No problem,” Liam stated as he grabbed his Web Watch.

Slight reached for his as he re-casted his illusion or disguise spell to make him look like the man he was before coming into the room. “Also thank you for retrieving these A.I.D.’s. The families or friends of these fallen Adventurers, while will not be too happy right away, will also be appreciative that you brought them back so they can know what happened to their loved ones.”

Liam looked down towards the floor. “It’s the least I could do. I mean, even though I didn’t turn them into those monstrosities, I did end up killing their zombie forms.”

Slight placed a hand on Liam. “You didn’t kill them. You saved them from turning others into what they had become. You helped them…remember that.”

Liam nodded. “Okay.”

Sleight gave him a serious look as he added, “Also…a word of advice.”

Liam looked at the man, curious as to what he was about to say.

“If you see any insects that stand out, keep a careful eye on them,” Sleight advised.

Liam’s eyebrows scrunched at that. He wasn’t sure what he meant by that. However before he could ask the man about it, he opened the door and ran off.