Asher was surprised that the atmosphere didn't grow tense or cold from Bordan's sudden declaration that he was going to execute him once this was all said and done. The truthseeker, true to his class, was simply speaking what he viewed as the truth. It wasn't intended to be a threat to get him to cooperate or anything, Bordan was just being entirely upfront and honest with him.

Honestly, as annoying as he found the man, Asher had to admit he was impressed with how consistent Bordan always seemed to be. It felt almost as if the large man was incapable of shying away from what he deemed as the truth, even when a simple little white lie might have made his life far easier.

Once he'd informed Asher of what was going to happen, Bordan nodded, activating Ring of Truth and encompassing both him and the inky assassin within his skill.

"Before we start with the other assassin you brought in, I have a few quick questions for you," Bordan said, eyeing Asher warily. "What is your name, and what elements do you have?"

Damn it, Asher thought, already feeling his body reacting to Bordan's skill. He should have seen this coming, but he'd hoped that getting a potential lead on Eight from one of the man's senior assassins would interest Bordan more than he himself did. Unfortunately, it would seem escaping from their skill-dampening cells had left more of an imprint on the truthseeker than he had expected. His newly evolved Complete Resilience pushed back against the Ring of Truth, but he could tell within seconds it was a losing battle.

"My name… is Asher," he answered, struggling all the while against the skill as he tried and figure out his next move. He could trigger Complete Resilience's second tier effect and purge both the chains and truth-compulsion in order to flee, but that would most likely mean missing out on getting the information he needed from the assassin. "...and my elements…"

A sudden thought struck him, and Asher saw a potential way out of this that just might work. It was risky, but so was dancing around two deadly truthseekers, or losing the only lead he had on Eight yet again. Before he finished answering, he flexed the second tier of Complete Resilience, purging both the truth-compelling effect of the Ring of Truth and the skill-binding effect of Clare's chains.

But rather than dip into the astral and escape Clare's bindings that were still wrapped around him, Asher used that brief moment of freedom to access his interface.

Picking up a resistance to truth, and evolving it within the same breath.

Spend 100 shards to unlock truth resistance?

Resistance: Truth - Gain innate resistance to truth.

Spend 1,000 shards to evolve truth resistance?

Resistance: Truth - Tier 2 - Gain superior innate resistance to truth. No longer compelled by truth skills.

"My elements… are Knowledge, Illusion, and Freedom," Asher finished, letting out a sigh of relief as he quickly thought of three elements that could potentially be used to explain both his strange skills and how he'd managed to escape the skill-dampening cell last he was here.

Filling up his third and fourth choices for resistances was a costly gamble, but he'd been leaning toward picking up truth resistance since he first learned about resistances anyway. Knowing the truthseekers were after him, it seemed like a rather obvious choice, and he'd only held off until now for two reasons. For one, so long as he managed to completely avoid the truthseekers like he'd planned, snagging a resistance to truth and evolving it felt like a massive waste when there were so many more dangerous resistances he might want to pick up. There were a number of forbidden elements in this world, and Asher wanted to keep his options open.

Seeing as his original plan to avoid them wasn't panning out very well, that reason was feeling more and more flimsy with each passing day.

The second reason why he hadn't picked up a resistance to truth until now was far simpler. He'd learned from his earlier research that in the Noala Kingdom, having a resistance to truth was not only highly illegal, but grounds for immediate execution. Now that he'd purchased the resistance, it didn't matter what his background was or what actions he'd done, he'd now knowingly committed what was essentially this kingdom's version of a felony worthy of an immediate kill order.

He just had to hope Bordan didn't have some method of sensing he had an evolved truth resistance.

"He has an evolved truth resistance," Bordan frowned, looking more confused than anything as the truthseeker studied him. "But he didn't a few moments ago. How did you manage to access your interface from within Clare's chains? That shouldn't be possible."

"Would you believe me if I told you I'd spill the beans once your interrogation with inky there is done?" Asher asked, flashing Bordan his best smile. Even now, he could feel the Ring of Truth trying to compel him to answer honestly. However, he now had Complete Resilience and his evolved resistance working in tandem as an unbreakable bulwark. Bordan could keep his skill up all day, and he wouldn't get so much as a peep out of Asher if he didn't want to say anything.

Complete Resilience - Lvl 22

What was more than a little terrifying was that despite his newly evolved truth resistance claiming he was no longer compelled by truth skills, he could feel Bordan's Ring of Truth trying to worm its way past his resistance. He didn't know if it was just because the truthseeker's skill was most likely in the third tier, or if it was that powerful for some other reason, but he had a hunch that if he didn't also have Complete Resilience defending him, eventually, he would have cracked.

That realization just went to show how dangerous the truthseekers truly were.

As it was, Bordan could only stare at him as he fought off the man's skill and refused to give up his true elements. A small part of Asher hoped Bordan would take him up on his offer and interrogate the inky assassin before dealing with him, but he knew that was rather wishful thinking, and the truthseeker's actions proved that as well.

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"Sorry, rules are rules," Bordan said, grabbing his greatsword and stepping closer. "Escaping the cells downstairs was one thing, but you've bypassed Clare's skill as well. Not even factoring in the evolved truth resistance you just picked up, you're far too dangerous to keep as a prisoner."

Before Asher could answer, Bordan slashed forward, his blade aimed straight for Asher's neck. Rolling his eyes at the man's stubbornness, Asher activated Complete Resilence's active ability again, shrugging off the effects of the chains and slipping into the astral just in time to keep his head attached to his body.

But just because his original plan had fallen through, that didn't mean he was giving up.

Clare had been suspending him in her chains, so after falling a foot to the ground, Asher landed and did his absolute best to remain perfectly still. He knew from experimenting that so long as he didn't move a single muscle and kept his breathing steady and shallow, he could remain in the astral realm for nearly fifteen minutes before having to return to the material realm.

For his part, Bordan didn't look the least bit surprised at the fact that Asher had simply vanished rather than die by his blade. His frown deepened, but he sheathed his sword without a single word.

Clare, on the other hand, had a slightly different reaction.

"What?!" she screamed, flinching backwards and staring with a gaping mouth at her now empty chains. "That… That shouldn't be possible! Nothing can escape my Binding Grasp! We tested it against every skill we had access to!"

"Clearly, we've found something that can," Bordan said, shaking his head and sighing at Clare's stammering. "I understand you're worked up, but you're going to have to grow used to things like this, Clare. The life of a truthseeker means that we will inevitably end up meeting most of the strange and unique members of the kingdom that few others have the displeasure of doing the same. It comes with the job."

Witnessing this conversation was particularly strange, as Asher was in fact still standing directly between the two truthseekers. For all intents and purposes, other than the pale colors of the astral realm and slight warble in the sounds that reached his ears, it felt like he was still in the room with them, and they just couldn't see him.

Having said his piece, Bordan surprised him by turning and finally beginning the interrogation of the other assassin. Asher suspected Bordan knew how his Astral Dip worked by now, so he thought the man would at least wait a bit or change locations before beginning his interrogation. Still, he wasn't one to throw away an opportunity, so he didn't question his good luck for once.

While Bordan got started, Clare stood there, fuming at the fact that someone had finally broken out of her skill. The woman had been so relaxed and easy going, Asher hadn't realized just how much someone defeating her prized skill was going to bother her.

As Bordan interrogated the other assassin and Clare stood there, being angry, Asher focused on keeping his breathing steady and minimizing his movements as best he could. Activating the second tier effect of Complete Resilience twice in a row had actually taken quite a lot out of him, and it took some effort to catch his breath. Doing something like that would be a pretty risky move in the middle of combat, so he was glad he'd managed to slip away rather than try and fight the truthseekers.

As much as the thought of fighting either one of them made his palms start sweating and his heart race in eager anticipation, even Asher knew when he'd be biting off more than he could chew. It was pretty clear both truthseekers had skills that were most likely evolved to the third tier based on what they were capable of. Which meant fighting a one-on-one with either would be beyond reckless, and fighting both together would be functionally suicidal. He'd also be willing to bet that the duo were farther down the elemental advancement chart Draken had explained to him, which certainly wouldn't do him any favors.

Asher craved combat, but that was because he loved the deadly dance where his life was on the line, dangling by a thread.

When that thread didn't exist to begin with, he was a bit more hesitant.

The interrogation against the inky assassin was far more boring than Asher had expected. As soon as he'd escaped, Clare had snapped her chains over to the tank instead, shattering the skill-reinforced glass in a single blow and binding the assassin with them. The moment her chains made contact, the man snapped back into his scrawny human form. He looked more defeated than anything, and he didn't even struggle as he answered Bordan's questions.

The inky assassin's name was William, and he'd been a member of the Guild for six years now. Hilariously enough, William's own story was actually rather close to the fake story Asher had accidentally made for himself by wandering around and killing people with the librarian class. William had originally been a scribe, which explained the Ink origin element. He'd been one of the lucky few to stumble upon a Knowledge element in Whikoga's library, which was something Asher was surprised to hear happened every couple of weeks. The magnificent building was large enough that elements such as Book or Knowledge manifested within its walls rather frequently.

When people discovered these elements, they were expected to hand them over to the librarians in exchange for a rather fair and hefty sum of shards. It wasn't quite what the element would be worth on the market, but that was because selling these elements was actually one of the ways the kingdom made money.

Instead, William had absorbed the element.

And got caught doing so.

That was what started his descent into the underworld, as rather than allow himself to be arrested, he tried to flee. Over the passing weeks, a member of the Guild witnessed him using his Ink Body skill to slip into a building and steal some food, and they had immediately offered him a job.

Asher listened to William regale Bordan with his life story, all the while mentally encouraging the assassin to get to the good stuff. Despite his best attempts at remaining still, every minute Asher spent within the astral drained him further, and he could tell his time was quickly coming to an end.

Finally, after describing how he'd killed the man who had originally vouched for him and took his place as one of the senior assassins, William mentioned something worthwhile. For the first time, when Bordan asked him if he had any knowledge of who Eight was or where they could find the Finger, the assassin tried to fight against the Ring of Truth.

"I… do know something," he said, struggling pointlessly against the powerful skill. "I don't know who Eight is… but, I know where they work. Or at least, I know where they make their ink. Yet as much as I want to kill Eight, I don't think you or that punk with the weird teleporting skill are strong enough to take him out, and it will be my life that's forfeit if I help you!"

"Explain," Bordan ordered, crossing his arms.

"I have the Ink Examination skill," he gasped, fighting with his own body as Bordan's skill compelled him to answer honestly. "It's like the standard Examination skill merchants have, but far stronger, due to its specialization. Just by looking at ink, I can tell a lot about it. The materials that go into it. The technique used to make it. And even the location of where it was originally made. Eight communicates with us solely through notes brought to us via rat, which means I've had plenty of opportunities to check their ink and confirm what my skill has told me all these years."

William desperately fought to keep his mouth closed one last time, no doubt knowing that even if the truthseekers didn't execute him, Eight most certainly would when he caught wind that he'd been sold out. Sadly, Bordan's Ring of Truth cared little for the assassin's meager willpower, and the answer was all but ripped from his lips.

"Eight's workshop where they make their ink is located within the fourth ring of Whikoga," William gasped, his entire body going limp as he finally gave up the fight.

"Specifically, within the Frent family estate."

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