"He hasn't been let into Forest yet, so he's been quarantined in one of the external buildings over here," Robert said through ragged breath.

"Thanks for coming to find me, man. You were right that this is urgent. I have been waiting for this for two years now." They were running at Robert's tempo, which wasn't exactly slow but still not anywhere near Eik's preferred speed. It was urgent, yes, but not urgent enough to really warrant a super sonic piggyback ride.

"You're been waiting for a cultist to show up at our doorstep for two years?" Robert asked, puzzlement clear on both his face and in his voice. "Why?"

"There was someone I got to know while I was over there. I haven't really told many people. I'll probably tell you soon enough, but not quite yet," Eik said with a pat on the young man's shoulder.

"Alright, that's fair enough," Robert acknowledged with a nod. "What was going on with that man and woman back there anyway?"

"They were talking shit about my little Bin and I didn't like that," Eik growled, a gloom settling in on his face.

"About Bin?" Robert asked with surprise. "But she's the sweetest little girl ever. What the hell do they have against her?"

"They think she's a filthy creature." Even just retelling the insult to a friend like this nearly set him on the warpath. Looking back on it, Eik had no idea how he kept himself from murdering the both of them right then and there. He and Profound Toxin was pretty much a single entity at this point. That meant he had more control over the violent and aggressive emotions than when he had first Awakened to the Worldbreaker, but it also meant that those emotions had become more ingrained in his own fundamental nature.

Some of the color drained from Robert's face as the gravity of the insult registered. "I think I might have showed up at a pretty good time, huh…"

"Yeah…" Eik muttered. "I broke the guy's fingers and the woman's nose. I honestly don't know if I would have killed them or not, Bob. I thought I had a better handle on my emotions, but I clearly need to do better. What the hell good would it do Bin if I killed the parents of one of her classmates, even if they're mean?"

"It would make everything worse. Even if you're strong and influential, and maybe even above the law because of it, neither you nor your daughter are above the disdain of the people."

"Yeah," Eik agreed. "As disgusting as I think they are, they're simply ignorant. Especially the wife probably doesn't know much about the Unified Mass yet, with the exception of the fact that it killed her family and friends."

"I have been hearing rumors of a movement opposing our association with Unified Mass:"

"Yeah, me too," Eik said. "But how can they stoop so low as to direct their ire toward a little girl who has never done anybody any harm."

"I don't know, man," Robert said with a shrug. "Fear and hate can do strange things to people. Make them blind."

"I just exacerbated this whole thing with my stupid reaction, didn't I…?"

Robert glanced at him, jaw tight. They both knew it was true. "They played a major part and started it all themselves. Don't ruin a child's life if you don't want to get pummeled."

"Damn, dude," Eik said with some surprise. "That's a new attitude."

"You aren't the only one who loves that little girl."

***

"I brought him," Robert breathed as they finally reached the small buildings erected against the outer side of the outer wall. Guards were stationed on each side of a small door. "This is Eik Magnasen."

"You're Eik Magnasen?" one of them—a young woman from whom Eik could feel an energy akin to that of a D-ranker—asked. "I kind of thought you would be bigger."

"The one and only," he nodded. "And you're not the first to say that." With a mental order, he let his aura of pure death flare up all around them, careful to push down any actual harmful intent but virtually paralyzing the poor guard with its strength nonetheless. Armor of the Scourge clinked into place across his entire body, the death lord look completed by a horned great helm with shrouded hood that fell into an ankle-length cape that billowed in the energy waves of his aura.

As quickly as it had been deployed, it all evaporated into blue motes that floated away gently on the breeze. Both of the guards had collapsed at the knees, gasping for air as their lungs finally allowed them to breathe again. Tears and snot ran freely down their faces, a mix of physiological and psychological responses to the intense fear caused by the near liquid intimidation of Eik's aura.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"All right, all right, you two," he laughed, pulling them both to their feet. "You're okay. Just a little trick of mine. Just like you did now, remember to listen to your body's instincts. If an enemy feels overwhelmingly powerful, then they probably are. There is no shame in running or stalling for time if it can keep you alive."

Cold sweat drenching their pale foreheads, they both nodded. They didn't seem quite ready to speak yet. This wasn't the first time he had sent people to their knees with his aura to give them a taste of the Ak'ki arts. It was a good way to get people directly interested in what was essentially the foundation of many of the skilled non-combat disciplines like alchemy, smithing, and many more.

And he would refute anybody who tried to claim that a part of him also simply enjoyed it. That totally wasn't the case at all!

"Anyway, well done, both of you," he praised, stepping in between them. "I'm going inside now." None of them made a move to stop him.

He did actually have an ID card but he had forgotten it at home as he had a habit of doing. But as luck would have it, many knew roughly what his abilities looked like, even if most didn't know his face.

"You!" a man dressed in a simple linen shirt and a pair of linen pants exclaimed the moment Eik entered. "You're Eik Magnasen! I wish to speak with you!"

"So I've been told," Eik said. The man's face wasn't familiar. "You're from the cult, I hear."

"We are no cult!" he spat angrily. "Our cause is—… was noble…" he trailed off, growing quiet.

This caught Eik by surprise. Had she managed to convince them of the truth of her new visions? "So she told you then? What she has come to know."

The young man nodded. "Aye. I have been convinced. The pain of it torments me every day and keeps me awake at night but I have been convinced."

"How?"

The cultist stared at Eik as if he had asked something completely outrageous. "When it is my Lady who says it, how could I then doubt the truth of it? Only she could know and she would not seek to deceive me."

"All right, fair enough," Eik said. "So she succeeded! That's amazing! But how did the other prominent figures take it? I can't imagine someone like Oru the Devourer would have taken the news particularly well."

The man looked at him with puzzlement? "I'm not sure I understand."

"I'm saying Oru the Devourer, that crazy S-ranker, can't have been too happy to find out that his oracle has discovered something so utterly antithetical to your original mission. I'm surprised he didn't resist."

"I fear there's been a misunderstanding," the cultist said carefully.

"How so?"

"I have not come here to inform you of a reformation of the mission of Moon Shall Swallow," he said, weariness and frustration shining clearly through both on his face and in his voice. "I have come to ask for your aid."

"Our aid?" one of the others in the room—a soldier of Forest by the looks of him—sneered, planting a hand on his shoulder, fingers digging into the joint. "Why the fuck would we do anything for any of you filth? My mother and sister died when you attacked us two years ago! As a matter of fact, I have no idea why you're even still alive!"

"I don't want your help! You're weak! Of both mind and body!" the cultist hissed, shrugging the hand off with no sign of pain.

"You insane, murderous piece of garba—" Eik had to step in when the man began to draw a blade from a sheath on his belt.

"Tell me more. Why are you seeking our— or rather, why are you seeking my help?"

"You can't be serious, dude!" the soldier shouted, slapping Eik's hand away from the butt of his sword with anger. "Why are we listening to this guy? He's insane! We can't trust him! We need to kill him! Now!"

Eik whirled about, a vague mask of blue materializing in front of his face. "I want… to hear him out! Understood?" he hissed. "Tell me."

"I believe my Lady has been in contact with you before. I do not know to what extent, but I do know that she trusts you to some degree," he said, glancing at the other people in the small building. "I would prefer to continue this conversation in a more private setting."

"That's not going to happen!" the same soldier who had spoke up before growled.

"Get out," Eik said.

"What? You can't be serio—"

"I said get out!" he yelled, light blue aura flooding the room like a million snakes. As the only person affected, the soldier suddenly seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.

Robert grabbed the stunned soldier by the arm pits and dragged him out, everybody else following him without a single word of complaint. Eik pulled up a chair and sat down in front of the cultist. "What's your name?"

"Vendekaabe."

"Vendekaabe. I see…" Eik said, keeping his face neutral. "Go ahead then."

"She's been taken," Vendekaabe said, deep pain evident in his voice. "My Lady has been taken."

"Taken? Why?"

He chewed on his lips as he attempted to get himself under control. "I don't know what happened between the two of you, but ever since meeting you, she had been growing bolder. The first thing she did was bring me and five others into the Fold of Truth and Knowledge. That's the name of the circle of people who know the truth of her recent visions."

Eik admired her guts for taking such risks with nobody to support her. But apparently it hadn't gone to plan.

"Okay. And what happened?"

"I… I just… don't know. I don't know what happened. One day we just lost contact with her. They pretend like nothing's happened but I know there's something going on. Three of the other five have disappeared and I haven't heard a word from her. Three of us were told to find you in case of an emergency. The two others are gone." Without realizing it, the cultist had begun to rock back and forth as he stared into the floor. He was at his wits' end and had done the only thing he could. Find the only other link with the oracle's revolution—Eik Magnasen.

"All right," Eik breathed, leaning back in his chair. "All right, I understand. I have been waiting for her to contact me since I escaped. This isn't exactly what I expected. Do you know why she didn't?"

"No… I apologize."

"No, no, don't. It's okay," Eik reassured him. "So, you did as instructed and came to find me. What's supposed to happen next?"

"I am to request your aid in the operation to dismantle the ability of Moon Shall Swallow to reawaken the Lord of the Moon."

"All right, and wha—"

"And, if I may, I have a request of my own," Vendekaabe said, desperation on his face. He swallowed hard. "Please help me rescue my lady, whatever has happened to her."

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