Chapter 15: Chapter 14

After waking up Silver stretched and began his morning meditation. He enjoyed it more than he originally thought that he would. On Earth, meditation had few real benefits for the average person. He was never a meditation person. It was boring and he'd drift off. His Ex used to love to meditate and do yoga. Silver was more of a homebody. He enjoyed reading, gaming, and going out sometimes with his friends to grab a drink. But now, he could feel his body growing passively stronger as he sat there, reveling in the euphoria of it. When he finally opened his eyes he noticed Tara sitting in front of him, meditating as well.

  She had decided that Silver's tent should be her meditation spot as well. He didn't really mind, but he didn't want her to become overly attached. He wasn't looking for any attachments at the moment. He just wanted to focus on getting stronger, and integrating into society. He was aware of his feelings for Savarti, yes, but even he didn't take himself seriously. She was out of his league, and he was pretty damaged.

  After Silver's evolution Jimmithy kicked up the pace of the march. He'd already been impatient to return home, as well as explore the cave, and the delays had only made him more so. Silver was ready to return to civilization as well, even if he currently didn't have a home. He continued to meditate whenever possible along the way until they reached the cave.

  After making it to the vicinity of the cave Jimmithy stopped the band and had them wait. According to Savarti, it was around an hours walk away. Jim gathered his expedition team and had them meet him in the command tent.

  When Silver arrived, he noticed almost nobody was there. Savarti was already there and seated at a table laid out for the meeting, as was Gervase. Savarti gave him a short glance, but Gervase outright ignored his presence. He walked over and tried to make small talk, but neither seemed interested. Savarti gave a few brief responses, but Gervase did little more than grunt and eventually glare at him as if he was being a nuisance. Luckily for Silver, Mern showed up shortly afterwards, saving him from the awkward atmosphere.

  "Silver," Mern hissed, "Good morning." Silver smiled at his strange friend. As much as he hated to admit it, he liked Mern. He still felt other Picton were kind of sketchy, but Mern was...decent. A little off, and definitely scary, but okay. As long as you ignored his sickly grey skin, patchy, sparse scales, and overly long limbs. Being around so long, he'd also noticed that their hands were slightly too big, and fingers slightly too long. Another unnerving aspect he conveniently chose to ignore.

  "Morning," he said back. "You think there's going to be snacks for the meeting?"

  "Doubtful, The Fish does not care for pleasantries or hosting. Just business."

  Silver feigned disappointment, then laughed at himself quietly. Mern raised a brow but didn't comment on his silly behavior. "Do you have any more of those larva?"

  Mern's face fell as he gazed longingly into space. "Unfortunately, no. I have to get them imported and I only brought a few on the trip with me. The ones I shared with you were the last of them."

  "Ah, sorry. I'll find a way to repay." Silver noticed Mern smirk as he said that. "I know that they're expensive, but I'll be able to repay you eventually. Once I'm back on my feet in the city."

  Mern didn't comment immediately. He thought about something and Silver left him alone, silently waiting. "You should think about starting your own gang as soon as possible, and eventually your own syndicate. Once you hit Tier 3, there'll be very few people who could stop someone like you. You have several abilities at only Tier 1, and they'll only get stronger as you get stronger. And they can affect beings of a higher Tier."

  Silver nodded. "I've been thinking the same. I don't know where to start yet, but I'll figure it out once we're back in the city." Silver's expression hardened. "I don't want to be at anyone else's mercy. I want my own power. My own control." Mern nodded as well. The two continued to talk snacks, with Mern occassionally throwing an insult or two about the tent's occupants into the conversation. He even grumbled about one of his apprentices wasting his time. He didn't tell Silver the reason, so he didn't pry, but he just allowed Mern time to vent.

  Yana came in while everyone was getting comfortable. Savarti ignored her. Gervase glanced over before realizing who it was and quickly glancing away; Silver found that curious. Her face was stern as always. She was dressed in her uniform, everything perfectly in place, her hair done up in a high ponytail.

  She walked around the table to the opposite side of everyone else, stopping at her chair, and looking at it in contemplation. Eventually she sigh and sat, wincing as her bottom settled against the seat. Mern snickered, having noticed as well. Silver just looked on confusedly.

  Mern and Silver ran out of topics of conversation quickly and settled into an awkward silence. The atmosphere didn't remain for long, as Jimmithy pushed his way into the tent, silencing all conversations with a wave of his hand as he walked to stand beside Yana and leaned over the table to look over the group. Following him into the tent were two others. Calix, his other officer that Silver had seen the first day. He was fully geared up, with his axe hanging from his back in a sling. Beside him was a woman Silver hadn't noticed around camp much.

  The was about as tall as Yana, but nowhere near as fit. She was almost thin enough to be worrying, with long red hair and a light smattering of freckles along the ridge of her nose. She was also in a uniform similar to Yana's, but didn't seem to be as high ranking. Yana seemed to be surprised to see her here, and the other woman just grinned at her, face twisted up smugly.

  She walked to stand behind Yana, and leaned forward slightly with her hands on her shoulders. Silver raised a brow at the heated whispering going on over there. Jim looked at the two of them, and they quieted down, waiting on him to go forward with the meeting along with everyone else.

  "I called everyone here to give a brief overview of tomorrow's events. First, I want us to be at the cave tomorrow before sunrise. When we arrive I want everyone to be aware of their duties and the purpose of our delve. We will not be delving deep. I want to eradicate this group of Imps and find their source, and seal it. We have Gervase for that. He'll seal the entrance when we find." He nodded to Gervase, who nodded back in acknowledgement. "We will also be capturing at least three Imps to send back to the Empire. I have a connection to one of the lesser princes back home, who wants his Tier 4 siphon to be a Deep Beast. His funeral."

  Everyone around the table nodded, except for Mern who gave Silver an odd look, and Jimmithy who also gave him a cursory glance but didn't let his gaze linger, unlike Mern. Something to ask about later.

  "Yana, Calix and Me will be in charge of the lesser Imps. If we're able to successfully find the Alpha and it hasn't returned to the deep, Mern's job is to kill it and Silver is to assist. All the rest of us will be useless, besides me, but I need the carcass intact for a necropsy once we return." He looked at Mern. "I need as much of the corpse in tact as possible, especially the head. Can you kill a Deep Lurker Imp without damaging the corpse?"

  Mern raised a hand to his chin, genuinely pondering the question. "I should be able to. It'd be difficult on my own, but with Silver's help I should be able to manage."

  "Alright. Silver is to help with the trapping efforts as well. His stasis ability will make it easy. We only need Tier 1's. Only one is for the prince. I have another contact who is also dumb enough to siphon a deep beast. The third is for another necropsy." He looked at Silver again this time, before moving forward.

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  He introduced the woman who came with him, whose name was Trinity, as a requisitions officer under Yana. He allowed her the floor for a moment to go over supplies and what to bring, as well as what would be supplied. Silver tuned it out and turned to Mern. He'd had an idea when Jim mentioned that everyone would be useless against the Alpha Imp besides Mern.

  "Mern," he whispered. Mern turned his head and looked down at Silver. He hated how tall the Pict were too. Everything about them was either unnaturally large or long. "What's so bad about these imps?"

  "Deep Lurker Imps are terrible for anyone without magic, so basically most of the population of the les-other races," Silver shook his head but decided to selectively ignore Mern's slip up. "Regular Imps are resistant to physical damage of all kinds. Alpha's are immune. The best way to fight them is with magic. Alternatively, enchanted blades work well too."

  "Impressive. Thanks." Mern gave Silver a predatory grin.

  "Of course. I can't wait for tomorrow. To watch how you put this information to use." Silver chuckled nervously.

  "Right. I just wanted to know before facing them, you know. It'll be my first time facing a Deep Beast, and I know they're bad news."

  "Mmm, of course." Mern narrowed his eyes slightly, but didn't say anything further. Mern was definitely suspicious of why he wanted to know about the Imps, but why? Did he suspect that Silver's first siphon was a Deep Beast as well? Why was everyone so wary of people siphoning them? Silver wanted to make plans for the trip, but looking around, he realized that Mern was his only ally here. Sadly, Mern's motivations for befriending him were sketchy at best. The fact most people kept Mern at arm's length, or were outright afraid of him, was enough reason for Silver to keep his guard up around him. He needed friends and allies, but that didn't mean he'd naively trust them like an idiot.

  Eventually the meeting winded down. Jim reminded everyone to be ready to move in the dark tomorrow. No lanterns would be provided. Anyone who couldn't see in the dark would be attached to someone who could for the trip there.

  Silver left the tent at the same time as everyone else. Jim stopped Yana as she tried to leave and asked her to stay behind with him and Trinity. Apparently he had more to discuss with her.

  The first thing Silver did was head to his tent. They weren't moving today, so he wanted to get a little bit of meditation in. He braced himself as he walked in, in case Tara wasn't meditating and was waiting for him, but nothing happened. Nobody slammed him with a big hug. All he heard was snoring from his small bed where a teacup werewolf was lazily napping on the job.

  Silver walked over, a gentle smile on his face, and crouched beside the bed. "Uno," he cooed. "Uno, wake up~!"

  The lazy kobold raised its head and blinked its blurry eyes in Silver's direction. The two stared at each other for the duration of the time it took for Uno to realize who he was looking at and where he was. Seeing the gentle smile on Silver's face sent a chill down his spine and he shot out of the bed.

  The little kobold bowed to Silver and whined softly, trying to appear cute.

  "I'm too soft on you, apparently. I don't ask much of you Uno, yet the little I do you still find a way to slack off on." Silver put a hand to his head and massaged his temples. He paused, a thought occurring to him. What good would having minions do him if he couldn't even keep his servants in line. He looked down at Uno. "You know, if you promise to work harder, I'll get you some help and help you evolve into an Alpha."

  He watched as the small creature's body froze, before Uno glanced up at him with fierce, determined eyes. He nodded slowly and gave a soft growl of assent. Silver didn't know how, but he'd gotten better at reading the Kobold's body language after his evolution. "Good! Get my things ready for tomorrow and keep everything in order here while I'm gone. When we get back to the city I'll see about getting you some buddies. Continue working hard for me and we'll see you evolved soon after." After that he asked Uno if he knew where Tara was, but his hairy little butler just shrugs, reading over the list of things Silver will need for tomorrow.

  Silver looked over Uno's body and thought, He needs a monocle.

  Silver left to find Tara. He was greeted respectfully by those he passed, returning a nod or a word of greeting in return. Most of these people he had little to no interactions with. He was respectful, but he knew his imaginary status that everyone was wary of set him apart and put him on the outs. Few would approach him, unsure of his exact status, or fearful of his mysterious 'backing'. Some, like Edwin, had status and didn't care; they had their own connections to fall back on. They would try to strike up a conversation and build connections. Silver allowed it, but he wasn't able to get close to anyone besides the few he initially met or were approached by. Every passing day he realized more and more how much he needed to get to Jimmithy's city. Only there would he be able to recruit and network as he needed. He'd need money first, a place to stay, a base of operation, more servants than just Uno, and people who would be willing to follow him. Jimmithy would teach him enchanting, but after that he was on his own.

  He was drawn from his deep well of thought when he heard Tara giggling nearby. For some reason that lit a bit of fire in his gaze. He turned in that direction, brows drawn down, and stalked toward the sounds happiness.

  He followed the sounds to a dingy tent slightly far from the rest of the camp. The area smelled faintly. Sitting in front of a fire that was an intriguing golden color, but gave off a pungent stench, was Tara and she laughed at a story being told her by Nevan of all people.

  She spotted him immediately and her face lit up, her scales shining beautifully under then light of the fire. She almost looked crystalline. He had to admit, she was beautiful. Probably more fitting for him as well. But, he wanted to go for what was out of his league for once. He frowned slightly. Actually, now that he thought of it, she was actually way out of his league as well. Hmm...

  "Silver! Come, come, please. Nevan was just telling me about the craziest party he'd ever been to." Silver couldn't hide his skepticism. Someone had invited Nevan to a party before? He humored her, though, taking a seat by her side. Nevan continued his story, and Silver grew even more disbelieving as he went on. It sounded like a fairy tale written by a teenager high on shrooms! Tara was enjoying it, though, so he kept his criticisms to himself. Even when Nevan claimed Peta Pans himself had appeared at the party and challenged Nevan himself to a drinking game, that he claimed to have won and been blessed for.

  Right, you won anything against a god. Silver shook his head, and spent the next hour listening to Nevan talk about various parties before taking his leave. He still wanted to meditate some today, and he needed to be asleep early tonight. Tara followed him, of course, wrapping herself around his arm, and telling Nevan goodbye and that she'd come visit him again soon.

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