Chapter 379: The Arcane Order

Blake took a seat with Seul-ki and Annie under a giant...pond frond, with a decent view of the eastern leaders. And as close as possible to a bar.

"Two old fashions and...a sprite." He smiled at the alien or robotic bartender and decided Annie and alcohol likely weren't the greatest mix.

"Of course, sir. Cost will be deducted from your overall Neutral Zone Allowance seen in your profile. And please don't over-indulge. Important information will be communicated soon."

Blake raised an eyebrow, lifting the drinks with Telekinesis as he walked back to this table. He looked at his ‘allowance’, which seemed pretty large as compared to a few drinks.

"Cheeky robot," he muttered, settling beside Seul-ki with a pleasant smile. "Here you are, my lovelies. We haven't been people watching too obviously, have we?"

Annie blinked and stopped staring at someone, glancing around the room with embarrassment. Even Seul-ki looked somewhat disturbed and not her usual self, lost in thought rather than paying attention to the rival players.

"Is everything alright?" Blake put a comforting hand on the small of her back.

"Oh. Yes. My apologies. I've been...thinking, of my family..." she trailed off and shrugged.

"You're not the only one," Blake said softly. "With so many people, I know everyone is hoping to see loved ones. Chances will be higher when we see the civilians. But I think it's still not wise to hope. The math…isn’t good."

Seul-ki smiled politely and nodded, and Blake went back to staring at the other players. He'd already tried Mental Influence (for science, of course) and got a not so subtle warning from the system:

[Please refrain from using any powers on other players while in the Neutral Zone. This will be your only warning before penalty. Thank you for your cooperation.]

"I thought it was just no violence," Blake had muttered unhappily. "Maybe next time give us a better list of rules."

But complaining to roboGod and its minions rarely did much good. So Blake kept his powers in his pants, and resorted to that most ancient art of man: subtle creeping.

"Have you ever heard the expression 'monkey see, monkey do?'" he asked his girls with a grin. Annie nodded right away, watching him with such eager innocence he could sometimes hardly believe she also butchered things with a giant axe.

"Well." Blake winked. "It's not very accurate. Monkeys don't copy each other nearly as much as us. We're not as bad as lemmings, maybe, but we're a lot more like that than monkeys. So it should really be ‘human see, human do’."

Annie smiled a little, and Blake gave her a smile as he looked back at the eastern leaders around several rectangular tables. What he wouldn't have given to be able to use his powers to listen in. To read some minds...

"Excuse me."

Blake blinked and turned to find a red-robed Caucasian looming above him a few feet away. The man was blonde and blue eyed and handsome, very thin in face and stature, somewhere between a model and a corpse. Blake stood and met his eyes.

"Can I help you?"

"Pardon the intrusion." The man's accent was the perfect 'Central US' of system-translation to Blake's ears. "I couldn't help but notice you carrying your glasses with some kind of caster power. Could I trouble you for a few minutes of your time?"

"No trouble." Blake smiled and held out a hand. "Blake."

"Erik. Alberg." The tall blonde took Blake's hand rather weakly and without much coordination, as if he typically avoided the gesture. Blake excused himself from the girls, then the robed player guided him to an empty table. He sat with a kind of awkward precision, inspecting the table as if for crumbs. Then he smiled with equal precision and nodded his head.

"I dislike small talk," he said, with no other preamble. Blake practically snorted due to extreme lack of surprise.

"It does get tiring," he agreed with a smile. "Why don't you and I agree to skip straight to the good bits?"

"Thank you." The rather strange, probably European player took a breath as if preparing for a rehearsed speech. "I am part of a guild, or consortium of casters based in Catal city. Many of us were scientists or engineers in our past lives, but ultimately, the only requirement for membership is an affinity to the arcane arts. Please excuse the rudeness, but I have some minor identification powers, and I can see you are...what we call pure caster. This is quite rare, and is generally accepted to our order without interview."

Blake said nothing, and gave no reaction, which as intended made the uncomfortable man even more uncomfortable.

"As I do not recognize you," he cleared his throat and went on, "I must assume you are from the Western continent. I do not know what you have learned or have not learned of this new world and its rules. But my interest, as ever, is knowledge. So I hope you will accept some as a token of my order's good intention."

Blake smiled, deciding this man deserved his attention now. "I share your interest, Mr. Alberg, and I would be happy to accept such a token."

The man nodded, seeming more confident, probably a bit closer to familiar ground.

"You will be aware of the affinities." He said this without question. "But you may not be aware that each affinity has exactly two gods. Or perhaps two aspects of the same god. Originally we believed this duality to be some equivalent of male and female, but have since changed our minds. The tying theme, or origin, appears to be what this game or alien considers order vs chaos. We have found each god in their respective affinity corresponds roughly with one or the other."

Blake did his best not to stare with rapt attention now. It was the most interesting thing anyone had said to him since the moment he left the tutorial. He adjusted how he was sitting and leaned forward.

"What did you say the name of your order was?"

Erik smiled, obviously pleased at Blake's interest.

"The Arcane Order. We work in the capital, and therefore beneath Emperor Jeong’s protection. But our business is our own. I am also a member of the Council of Man, and enjoy the emperor's trust."

Blake nodded, knowing he was treading on dangerous ground here. But even if Mason was forced to fight this 'emperor' and whoever else, there would be a time after the war. Humanity had a far better chance of survival if they banded together, or at least respected each other, and worked to solve common problems.

Blake intended to unite the disparate factions of intelligent creatures of this new world, worrying about uniting humans later. But he saw no reason whatsoever not to start building relationships now.

"I would be very pleased to join your order, Mr. Alberg," he said. "At least after discussing the details. The physical distance between myself and your city notwithstanding."

The man nodded. "Of course. Our situation is unique. And details will follow. There are many...complications." Here he shrugged, as if with a kind of contempt for geography, and probably politics. "It is ironic, yes? That men like us once devoted our lives to the lifting of ignorance. To the banishing of ancient gods and tribal conflict, using reason and science, one small step at a time. And now..." he shrugged, "now the ancient mystics are correct. There are gods and magic beings in truth. And we must explore them to understand the universe."

Blake smiled, liking the man, despite also feeling a sense of unease around him.

"Maybe you need less scientists, and more priests."

Erik laughed with a sharp, almost pained 'ha!', before nodding with complete seriousness.

"We have some of those, as well."

Blake just smiled through the man's awkwardness, leaning back in his chair. He decided definitely not to tell him about Seul-ki, glad her powers hid her in the guise of a civilian. He didn’t trust these people, of course, and assumed they knew more about him than they let on.

But the promise of knowledge was tempting. Very tempting. And if it meant walking a careful line between his loyalty to Nassau and to this order, it was a dance he was willing to learn.

Ultimately, Blake's only loyalties were to himself, to his brother, and to the project of saving humanity. That he had been 'placed' in Nassau was not his doing, and not important. Sooner or later he would have to 'count with all men, but none too much'. This was only the beginning.

He thanked Erik for his time and said they should speak again soon, wishing for the hundredth time he could read some damn minds. But he supposed it was a crutch he needed to avoid. Before his mind powers he had been prepared to navigate the halls of power with nothing but his wits. Probably best if he prepared to do the same again.

To do that he had to play the hand he was dealt. Which was not a bad hand at all.

"Oh, and Mr. Alberg," he called. The older man turned, and Blake smiled as their eyes met. "Good luck in the tournament. Perhaps after a few displays, we might have more to discuss. You may discover us western casters have a thing or two to teach you as well."

The man smiled, though not with his eyes.

"I look forward to that, Mr. Nimitz."

With that he walked back to his own table, and Blake returned to Seul-ki and Annie with a busy mind, and a growing excitement.

He intended to join this 'Arcane Order', but certainly not as some 'unfortunate western student', wide-eyed and thankful for every bit of knowledge. No. Absolutely not.

First he'd slaughter his way through whatever the eastern men threw at him, hopefully getting the chance to murder their best with his inferior knowledge.

He'd suspected, of course, but Erik using his last name had made things clear. They knew who Blake was, and who his brother was.

They wanted him to join to start gaining leverage, to divide and conquer, and yes probably also to learn. The world was complex and so were men's motives. But one thing was always certain: everything was negotiation.

And Blake decided standing on a pile of your opposition's corpses was the best ground to begin negotiating.