Chapter 20

  The next night, I once again donned my Phantom Mask disguise and secretly left the house to find out if the old man had been able to set up a meeting with the individual that had the spell diagram I was looking for.

  My pace through Night Glen’s slums was swifter than the previous night as I had a clear destination in mind this time. Once I reached the Whisper Wind Pub, I went straight to the cellar door and gave the passcode of the week I was given last night.

  The same man as before opened the door for me and I quietly proceeded to make my way down the stairs. Like the man I had encountered upstairs, the man in the cellar was the same and unlocked the secret passageway for me just as before.

  The journey through the tunnel was quickly accomplished and soon I emerged into the underground bazaar. It was apparent that the bazaar was just as populated as it was last night with groups of individuals weaving their way in and out through the market.

  Like an arrow, I went straight to the old man’s stall to find out what he had been able to arrange. As I advanced upon his stall, the old man noticed my hurried approach and a smile formed on his face while he took a quick puff from his pipe.

  Once I was before the old man, in that same raspy voice he said, “You sure didn’t waste any time getting back here to talk to my old self.”

  “With how sensitive this whole interaction could be, I thought it prudent to know the answer to my query sooner rather than later.” Was my reply to his statement.

  “Well then, let us not stall any longer. I must say when you first approached me with the ask to put you in contact with whom you seek, I thought my associate would outright reject the proposition despite how much history I have with the man.” The old man then took a deep draw from his pipe before exhaling a thick cloud of smoke from his mouth.

  “You must have been born under a lucky star because he has agreed to meet you and here you out. He did not say whether he would accept your proposition, but he is willing to meet you in person and decided afterwards.”

  In response to what the old man was able to accomplish I simply said, “Just being able to talk to this person and have them hear me out is more than enough for now. What happens after… well… that will be for the two of us to come to terms with.” My answer caused the old man to smile and raise his left arm as he gestured in a ‘come-hither way’.

  I could hear heavy boots making their way towards the stall from behind me and as I turned to see who was approaching, my vision was blocked by a wall of muscle. The man who had come up behind me was by far the tallest man I had ever encountered and stood a good three feet taller than me and at least a foot taller than father.

  He was well built, and it seemed as if his muscles had muscles. His head was shaved bald, but a handlebar mustache was prominent on his face. He had on leather pants that seemed to squeal from the strain they were facing with trying to containing his colossal frame, a simple shirt that was covered in a leather vest, and a large, spiked mace strapped to his backside.

  This was not a man who I wanted to have an altercation with. Which was probably why he was one of the enforcers for the rules of the underground bazaar. “This gentleman will take you the individual I have spoken of. Good luck… Good Sir.”

  With those words the old man returned to smoking his pipe while he waited for a patron to come by and sample his wares. The giant of a man then turned and proceeded to make his way through the bazaar with me following close behind him.

  The two of us did not have to weave through the crowd to advance; rather, the crowd avoided us as they split apart to allow us passage. I guess everyone else wanted to avoid the giant as much as I did.

  It didn’t take long for the giant and me to leave the bazaar behind and soon we proceeded to make our way towards one of the other tunnels that led to the underground dome. We entered a tunnel that was to the right side of the dome from where I entered and it was similarly lit by torches spaced evenly throughout the tunnel.

  After several minutes of walking, the giant proceeded to lead me towards a sturdy wooden door at the end of the tunnel. The giant then calmly approached and rapt against the door four times before a crystal clear “Enter” could be heard from the other side of the door.

  As the giant opened the door and I followed behind him, my senses were assaulted with the sight of opulence. The walls of the chamber I had entered were adorned with tapestries and artwork that looked like they cost several hundreds of golds apiece.

  The floor was covered in an exotic rug that must have come from one of the textile centered providences. To my knowledge, only the desert region of the Sol Providence exported such extravagant textiles.

  Off to the right side of the chamber was a large bookcase that was filled with leather bound tomes and various trinkets. Based on everything that I could see, every object in the bookcase must be both extremely expensive and exceedingly rare.

  Hanging overhead was a large ornate chandelier that was lit with Mana Lamps. That was a dead giveaway to how much coin this individual spent as it was very expensive to keep Mana Lamps working.

  Unlike ordinary lamps that relied on a flame to produce light, Mana Lamps required Mana Stones to keep their illumination going. True mana lamps produced significantly more light than an ordinary lamp, but the constant supply of Mana Stones needed to do such was why they were only seen in noble households or in the royal palace of the Capital. The last place I had seen Mana Lamps was in the home of the local noble when father, mother, and I were invited for a festival gathering.

  The Mana Lamp chandelier was doing its job admirably in casting enough light to vibrantly illuminate the chamber and further highlight the riches that were on display all around me. At the other end of the chamber was an extravagantly ornate desk that had been carved with exquisite craftsmanship.

  As I got closer to the desk, I could see that it had been fashioned from exotic wood, but the exact type was something I could not place. Sitting behind the desk was, I presumed, the man or I should say the Elf that I was to have my meeting with.

  A tall, handsome elf sat behind the desk with his hands clasped in front of him. He had long blond hair that easily reached past his shoulders and which framed his angular face well. The trademark pointed ears of an elf could also be seen sticking out from under his hair in defiance of being hid.

  He also wore several rings on his fingers that were golden in color and studied with a variety of precious gems. His entire appearance spoke of a noble upbringing, but his eyes told a different story.

  His piercing green eyes looked at me with calculation as he sized me up even before our conversation had even started. And as I was noticing his gaze upon me, Adam said, “Alright Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome, you want to have an appraising contest, try and top what I can do.” I soon felt the activation of Adam’s Scholar’s Eye skill and what it revealed made me extremely nervous about this meeting.

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  Name: Cain Dorcha

  Age: 366

  Skill: Shadow Master

  Sub-Skills:

  Shadow Manipulation, Shadow Stitch, Shadow Exchange, Shadow Cage, Shadow Pierce, Shadow Trace, Obscure Vision, Shadow Forge, Camouflage, Night Vision, Dark Magic, Mana Perception, Mana Manipulation, Dimensional Movement

  Spells:

  Increase Pain, Dark Enhancement, Poison Application, Truth Sense, Dark Blast, Dark Summoning, Hex Placement, Death Touch, Mana Siphon

  Str: 88

  Agl: 135

  Dex: 148

  Mana: 300

  Int: 291

  Wis: 296

  All of Cain’s skills, spells and stat values were leagues above mine. After viewing his status board, I could plainly see the advantage the long-lived elven race had over humans. Because elves lived for, at minimum, five hundred years, they could continue to increase their skills and stat values over hundreds of years, where humans had at best, fifty years to increase their stat values.

  Cain’s stat values alone were enough to make me sweat under my mask, but one spell he had, made me more nervous than anything else. Having observed that Cain could cast the spell Truth Sense, I was, at that moment, confronted with a huge hurdle I had to overcome.

  I had read up on that spell and it allowed the caster to tell if anything spoken to them was truthful. In other words, they would know if they were lied to.

  The spell did have a blind spot for half-truths, but an experienced caster of the spell would also look for bodily ques to back up what the spell was inferring to them.

  Through this whole interaction I would have to be mindful of my words as a single misstep could end with me dead somewhere in the slums. Cain, seemingly done with his initial appraisal of me, then spoke to me in a deep honeyed voice that was contradictory to his dark attributes.

  “Welcome, my name is Cain, and I oversee all that transpires down here. To whom am I speaking to.” Thinking carefully about my response I answered, “People call me the Phantom Mask.” Cain nodded his head approvingly in response to my answer. My guess is that his Truth Sense spell was telling him there were no falsehoods in my statement.

  “Well, my old friend Grey tells me that you are looking for a very specific spell diagram. One that is very hard to come by and those who have it, guard it like the royal vault.” Cain’s voiced flowed smoothly, but the more he spoke the more I could get a hint of the darkness buried within his honeyed words.

  “That is correct.” I replied in a respectful tone while placing my hand behind my back. “I am looking for a status board illusion spell diagram and I am willing to pay for the chance to purchase it or, at the very least, study the spell diagram for a period of time.”

  Once again Cain nodded his head approvingly in response to my words. “Excellent, now we enter negotiations about your request. I am not willing to sell you the spell diagram you seek. You see, I covet it highly as many come to me to broker a deal for the services of my employed mage to have the spell cast upon them for a short period of time.”

  “Hence, the question becomes, how much are you willing to forfeit for the chance to study the spell diagram you seek?”

  To answer Cain’s question, I fished around in my cloak for my pouch of savings that contained all the coins I possessed. I then threw the pouch onto the desk in front of Cain, put my hands back behind me, and waited for his response.

  Cain then picked up the pouch of coins from where it had landed and dumped the coins onto his desk. What scattered across the desk were ten gold coins, forty silver coins, and seventy-eight copper coins.

  Cain inspected the total sum of coins while giving no outward appearance of approval or disapproval before speaking. “A decent start, but not near enough to view the spell diagram you wish.” With those words my heart sank as all my hard work had amounted to nothing towards my goals.

  Cain then continued to speak, “The reason I say this is because if you are willing to settle for just studying the spell diagram, it ultimately means you have a way to cast the spell. And if you end up mastering it, you could undermine the services my employed mage provides. What guarantee can you provide that, that won’t happen?”

  Cain didn’t know I knew about his Truth Sense spell, so his question was meant to have me say something that was a possible lie to confirm his concerns. To this, I smiled underneath my mask as I could tell him a whole truth without disguising my words.

  With that mindset, I looked Cain in the eye’s and confidently stated, “I have no interest in performing the spell on anyone, but myself. I just want to disguise my status board to avoid unnecessary attention from others.”

  My statement caused a new emotion to come across the face of the elf [Shadow Master], surprise. It was as if Cain could not believe that my words were spoken with such complete honesty. A fact compounded when he started to lightly laugh.

  “Is that not just a shock that such a bold statement can be said with honest conviction. I believe I am beginning to like you Mr. Phantom Mask, but the fact remains that the coin you have supplied is still not enough to view the spell diagram even considering your intentions.”

  Underneath my mask a frown formed upon my face as a hint of disapproval seeped into my response, “So, where does that leave us in terms of our negotiations? What I have provided you is all the coin I possess.” To my statement Cain once again clasped his hands together and took on a more professional business air before responding.

  “Well, that depends on a few factors. The first of which is, do you consider yourself confident with that sword you have hanging around your waist or are you strictly a magic practitioner?”

  I had to take a moment to consider how to answer that question. Cain had correctly guessed that I had a way to use the illusion spell diagram. The fact was I could utilize magic, with Adam’s help, but I was also very confident with the sword father had taught me to use. Therefore, my response had to reflect both sides of my person.

  Giving it another moment of thought, I then gave my answer, “I am very confident in my ability with this sword, and I am a practitioner of magic though I am still studying that side of my skills.” As I was saying this, I made sure my posture was straight, and my voice had a tone of confidence to leave no doubt about my statement.

  Cain just observed me with a look of complete focus as he weighed my response and posture against his Truth Sense spell. He then said, “Then I would like a demonstration of your supposed skill. If I am pleased with your performance, then there might be a way for me to complete your request.”

  “And how exactly would you like for me to demonstrate my skill?” I replied. Yet, I already had an inkling of what Cain had in mind.

  In response to my question, Cain stood up and finally emerged from behind his desk as he made his way over to the bookcase I had observed earlier. He then ran his hand along the spines of the tomes until he found the book he was looking for and then tilted it towards himself.

  Once the tome had leaned out a certain distance the bookcase then began to swing inward of the camber revealing another passageway behind it. “What is it with criminal organizations and there need to have secret passages everywhere. It just seems excessive to me.” I heard Adam say in sarcastic tone.

  I did not reply to what Adam said as I was keeping my focus on Cain and where he was leading me to. Cain pushed the bookcase further open then turned his back to me as he said, “Follow me if you would.”

  Every instinct I had was telling me not to, but based on Cain’s tone the missive was not a suggestion. It was an order.

  Cain entered the passage with me following, while the giant took up a position behind me as we walked. Looking around I noticed that the passage was evenly lined with Mana Lamps so that not a sliver of darkness could enter the corridor. Eventually, I could hear muffled shouting and cheering coming from somewhere up ahead.

  This noise continued to grow louder the further our procession walked and soon the passageway gave way to an arena where two participants were battling with spells and weapons as a gathered audience watched from their seats.

  I swiftly realized that I had just entered an underground dueling establishment.