37. Quid Pro Quo


    For the latest round of leveling, Serac began by predictably putting one point into [Ambition]. This was something she’d been itching to do for some time, allowing her Cartridge to reach a comfortable total of 55 (six bullets in the cylinder to start with, then six full reloads plus change).


    The second point was a matter of some internal debate. There was nothing inherently wrong with the idea of continuing to pump [Ambition] until kingdom come. More HP meant she could take more hits, and more Cartridge meant she could shoot more things for longer.


    But the earlier fight against the Bhootas—as well as the Poise-break that almost cost her dearly—was still fresh on her mind. She used this memory of near-defeat as an excuse to mix things up, putting the point into [Abidance] for a small increase in Stamina and Poise. It did come with the added bonus of higher Infernal Mitigation, which she suspected could become more and more useful as she continued to challenge the best and worst Naraka had to offer.


    With reconstitution and leveling out of the way, it was time to decide on the next steps. Despite the Wayfarers’ earlier spat, both were in agreement that whatever was next on their itinerary could wait until the morning when the skies would shine a brighter shade of red.


    Then they debated whether the storm too might abate with the passage of time. For even if they could see where they were going, traveling on foot through an [Ossify] hazard zone would be a fool’s errand. If only they could find flatter terrain for Ash to travel through, or failing that, find a way to protect their own persons against the bone dust…


    At some point, it became clear that they weren’t going to arrive at solutions on their own. It was obvious to Serac who they should turn to for help, but Zacko took some convincing. In the end, she had to parrot verbatim Trippy’s third opinion on the matter.


    “The two of you are Wayfarers. The whole point of the exercise is that you venture out from your Anchored origins—that you grow and enrich yourselves as souls by seeing and experiencing the world. Part and parcel of that experience is interacting with the local populace and letting yourselves be guided by their knowledge and expertise. What better time to do that than now, as you’re beset on all sides by dangers both known and unseen?”


    Trippy was right, of course, and even Zacko grudgingly came around on his well-reasoned argument (but only after making fun of Serac’s stilted delivery). After all, wasn’t interacting with the local populace exactly how they’d overcome the Fibrinous Canyon and scored themselves a Steed in the process? It was, at the very least, worth a shot.


    Naturally, the ‘local expert’ both Wayfarers turned to first was Dashi. Presently, the boy had the whole Sanctuary’s attention to himself, sat upon the cavern’s highest mound as the rest of the children gathered around, rapt with attention.


    The sight of it was eerily similar to how Ravi the elder Penitent had led his fellow Sorrowers in prayer and, well, penitence. But instead of mumbling words of self-flagellation, Dashi regaled his audience with tales of his travels—the latest episode of which featured Serac and Zacko prominently.


    “Ah, Wayfarers!” The boy looked up with a broad smile as the two grown-ups approached. “Come, join us. I hope you don’t mind me taking creative license with your journey, but my friends here do love their adventure stories—especially when they’re spiced up by magic, which is a rarity in these parts. We were just getting to how you dealt with the last Bhoota. Perhaps you’d like to fill in some of the details yourselves?”


    Serac eagerly opened her mouth to oblige, only to have it covered by Zacko’s hand.


    “We’ll think about it,” the Manusya said hastily, his sallow cheeks slightly red, “but first, I wondered if you could start by answering some of our questions. If your friends want more stories of magic and adventure, well, we Wayfarers would need to keep Wayfaring, won’t we? Just thought you might give us the lay of the land and maybe a few pointers on how to proceed.”


    “Of course,” Dashi said, showing no sign that he might’ve been put off by Zacko’s brusqueness. He then extended a slender hand to the side, palm up, as if to say: go ahead.


    “Uh,” Zacko muttered, “I was hoping we could maybe have this conversation somewhere more private.”


    Dashi laughed. Sweet, lilting, good-natured. Yet… somehow also authoritative. He said, “There’s nothing you need to say to me that you can’t also say to my friends. Go ahead, Wayfarers. How could I be of help?”


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Serac frowned, for two separate reasons. First, she couldn’t see why Zacko wanted privacy to discuss such an innocuous topic. Second, she was at least slightly disturbed by Dashi’s demeanor.


    This was especially apparent in contrast with the other children that surrounded them. Children that displayed round-eyed innocence and a fidgety sort of restlessness. The way children ought to behave.


    Dashi, on the other hand… So confident, so eloquent, and so… mature. The boy had every appearance of being just as frail and soft-horned as the other Rakshasa children, and yet, whenever he spoke, one could easily be fooled into the illusion that he was an old, wise soul.


    Older and wiser than me, at least. Maybe older and wiser than anyone I’ve met…


    “Fine,” Zacko eventually half-said half-sighed. It seemed even the self-proclaimed ‘man of the people’ didn’t quite know what to make of Dashi. “If you kids want in on boring grown-up talk so badly, I’ll try to keep it simple for your sake. We want to leave this place and head north toward the Bonespires, as early as tomorrow morning if possible. What’s the safest way for us to do that? Preferably a way that would let us avoid the worst of the bone dust and—and the ghosts.”


    Zacko said this last part in a rushed whisper, as if just saying the words could speak the Bhootas into being. His cheeks turned a darker shade of red.


    If Dashi noticed Zacko’s embarrassment, he didn’t show it. He smiled his smile and now spread both arms wide, as if to say: well, why didn’t you say so sooner?


    “Why didn’t you say so sooner?” he said with another delighted laugh. “Take my lantern with you, then you could explore the Badlands with impunity. It’ll keep the Bone Blight away, as you both saw. And the light is also effective in dissuading Bhootas, who prefer to keep to the cover of night and shadows.”


    Serac stared at Dashi, mouth slightly agape. Zacko too stood in stunned silence for some time.


    Such a simple solution! Yet, surely, things couldn’t be that simple. When had anything on this journey been simple?


    “I only ask one thing in return.” Ah, there it is. “Do this one thing for me and my friends, and the lantern is yours.”


    “Should’ve known there’d be a catch,” Zacko muttered, effectively speaking for both Wayfarers. “Alright, out with it, kid. What is it you need us to—”


    Brraaahhhhmmmmm…!!


    Serac ducked and covered her head. She had no clue what was happening, other than that—along with that deafening sound—the entirety of the walls that formed [the Huskbound Sanctuary] shook, as if rocked by the biggest earthquake this side of the Sanzu River.


    She fought down her own alarm and scanned her surroundings, wanting to take her cues from the local experts. The children drew closer to each other, with some of the larger ones taking the smaller ones in their arms. They looked worried, but this worry was tempered by organization and unity of purpose. No panic. No chaos.


    Whatever was causing the cavern-quake had done this before. Perhaps even often enough for the cavern’s inhabitants to have become accustomed to the seismic event.


    Brraaahhhhmmmmm…


    The cavern-quake came at intervals and continued for some time. Perhaps for several minutes.


    Each time the walls shook, dried bone dust rained down upon the Wayfarers and the children, shaken loose from the Husks themselves. Before long, everyone was covered from head to toe in pale-gray powder, but as far as Serac could tell, this batch of dust had long lost their ability to [Ossify].


    Through it all, Dashi remained the calmest soul of all. He sat alone atop the cavern’s highest mound, smiling his calm, beautiful smile even as his friends cowered and as his Wayfarer guests became covered in bone dust. And after the dust finally settled, Dashi was also the first to speak.


    “My apologies, Wayfarers. Perhaps I haven’t been entirely truthful,” he said, voice as sweet and lilting as ever. “Earlier, when I claimed that all within this Sanctuary are safe from ill-intentioned beings, I neglected to specify: for now. We are safe for as long as the Huskbound walls hold, but as you just saw, there is an ill-intentioned being out in the Badlands who wants nothing more than to see these walls fall—and that being has been diligent in its efforts to make that desire a reality.”


    Once more, Serac found herself scanning the faces of the children.


    Calm and normalcy had returned to the caverns, yet the children continued to seek each other for comfort and warmth. Their worried eyes trained again on the Wayfarers—those fabled heroes of magic and adventure.


    The children expected nothing. How could they? Young as they were, even they knew the futility of expectation here in Mount Meru’s lowliest Realm. And yet, young as they were, they couldn’t help themselves if they let a little hope bloom within their bony chests.


    Beside her, Zacko let out a drawn-out sigh. Now, Serac could see why her Manusya companion had wanted to have this conversation in private. He would’ve felt the same hopeful gazes of the children, and—for all his professed disinterest in anyone other than himself—Serac knew that his heart too contained strings that were susceptible to being tugged.


    “Let me guess,” Zacko half-said half-sighed to the smiling Rakshasa boy. “In return for your lantern, you want us to go and smite this ill-intentioned being that wants to tear down these walls.”