The Nestling: 2

That caught me a bit off guard, as he said it. Especially with his easy mode of speaking.

He wanted to offer me a job. Instantly, my mind was alight with possibilities, with what he could want or what that could possibly mean for me. Why would he care this much? What were his intentions? Was he planning on using me? Things like that, my mental power dedicated to alternate scenarios and ideas, and very little dedicated to actually formulating a response. When I realized I had been silent for over ten seconds already, I awkwardly formed what I felt was a reasonable reply.

“…Why me again?” I said, very dumbly in the process. Kicking myself for it almost right away.

Virion chuckled a little bit, as if he was expecting this reaction. His eyes settled on me after briefly flitting over to one of those display cases, which made me make a mental note to see what was being displayed before I left. But I filed that away as a thought and inquiry for later.

“That’s quite the complex question, more then you’d think. The short version is that we’re technically short a member. We’re supposed to have five members. We have four. Myself, Ni, Kellek, and the man you just saw, Gira. We each practice one of the five methods of magic. Myself, the divine, Ni, the primal, Kellek, the blood, and Gira, the arcane. We each fill a niche within our team with our various specialties. However, we are lacking one school, and one specialty. A sigilist, and a melee contender with…technique.”

He chuckled again, with a fond smile on his face as if thinking of something else in that moment. He looked to me for my reply in the same stroke. Folding his hands in front of him on the table.

I did note the lizard being an arcane user, though. That was good information to know. Anything about their capabilities was, in all honesty, worth knowing.

“…I’m flattered, but…” I trailed off, words failing me.

“…But?” He said, motioning for me to go on, seemingly curious as to what I’d cut out of my statement.

“Why me specifically? Sigilists aren’t common, but I’d imagine you have options, considering who you all are. Resources to find a better pick, or something.” That much was true, mostly. I did suspect scarcity was apart of the choice, but I was absolutely positive there was more to it then that.

He took a brief pause, contemplative, before responding next. “How many Sigilists do you think live in this city? I know of very few. Most are reclusive. I’ve found that the numbers of Sigilists are less the problem-and more that they lend themselves very much to a solitary lifestyle, and without need to leave their areas of work, will devote themselves to building power near endlessly in preparation. You and Tali are the only ones of any real significance currently engaged in this conflict. All others in this city are either too weak for me to reliably consider, in the early stages of magical development, or are reasonably powerful, but too far entrenched in their ways.”

I took that in. It made sense, at least, that I would be a prime candidate. It didn’t seem like Tali would be switching sides anytime soon, based on what I’d heard during my fight with him. Alright.

“So I’m the only candidate, then? Or-the only choice?” I said, raising an eyebrow. Trying, and perhaps succeeding, to put a bit of pressure on, maybe get him to reveal something.

“No, no, nothing like that. We don’t need a Sigilist, whereas we need a fifth member. And while what I said is true for here in Aressa, it’s not true universally. We have resources, and can acquire a new member from another area, it would simply be costly. There are other candidates from the Kingdom’s effort here, ones who we have helped in one way or another who would jump at the chance to join our numbers. All to say-you aren’t the default choice. I’m asking you, because I want you to join us.” He spoke with resolution, enough to tell that this was a genuine offer. He had actual interest. I couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or not.

Once again, a moment, to process.

“Alright. Switching to a different line-if you’re alright with more questions?”

He nodded affirmatively.

“Right. Who exactly are you people? You seem like mercenaries, but Noctis definitely pays more then the Kingdom. You aren’t soldiers, and you don’t look like Phirine backup. What’s your angle, generosity?” I said the last part of my statement with heavy doubt. While some people from the Kingdom, like me, would be willing to fight for the preservation of our honor and land, this group didn’t seem like natives.

“You’re correct, we aren’t from Phirine, thank the Five for that-well, save for Gira, who I believe trained there. We all don’t really share a common origin, we’re from all sorts of corners of the world. I, for one, hail from the Egaitheion, a holy center to the west. Ni is from the Elven Wood, Kellek from the Coalition. We are all…mercenaries in a sense. Though we each have significantly different reasons for it. I am not someone who frequently partakes in work of this sort. I serve my god, Shie-Kar, the best I can, and I believe the best way to do that is travel. Unfortunately, his temples are not to be found in every city, so I attempt to make coin best I can to fund my excursions. I, personally, want to attempt to help those of this world the best I can, and thus that is why I have not taken money from Noctis. The others do this for their own reasons, you will have to ask them. But I believe they are good people.”

I had the information Shale had given me, and that was a card I wanted to keep close to my chest. I didn’t trust the Noctis member fully of course, but considering how he’d acted, I had little reason to believe what he’d told me had been entirely fake either. Virion’s story was too spotless for my taste. Regardless, though, I nodded, not showing anything but a measure of trust. “Alright, I suppose that makes sense. What makes you think I’m a good recruit, though? And why do you need five members?”

“It was apart of the contract. I was in charge of recruiting five skilled individuals for our overarching mission, and being somewhat familiar with most of the other three, or having heard of them through other means, I recruited them. I had another fifth in mind, but he left the area, and things began to intensify here, so we elected to engage before finding the fifth. We’ve dragged our feet ever since, but after seeing your performance…I figured it would be best to kill two birds with one stone, yes?” He smiled at me. Dammit. Convincing.

“And you hadn’t heard of me previously?” I said, covering my bases.

He shook his head. “No, finding you was a surprise. The others I’d heard of, or was directed their way with rather…glowing reviews, shall I say. I hadn’t heard of you before this. And I haven’t found all that much since, to be truthful. A few potential contacts and references, but we never really poked further into those since we never really found the need. Your merit, by and large, has spoken for itself.”

That was odd. Based on his description, he should have been more through. So I switched lines of questioning, somewhat. “Is there some kind of timetable here? Something you’d need me for?” I said, raising an eyebrow slightly.

He paused a moment. A bit of recognition. Affirmation. Ha! I’d gotten it.

“…As a matter of fact…” He sighed, and paused another moment “…Yes. There is a matter that we would appreciate your help with, that your specialty would apply to. It’s a part of the reason I propose this now instead of at a later point.”

“Right. So again, I suppose my question is, how much of this is my merit compared to your need.” I squinted a bit at him. Trying to make it seem like I was still reading him, when I’d been doing it the whole time, for the most part. Trying to get a bit more of a figurative squeeze on the situation as a whole.

“It is your merit that makes you qualified for our need, Acuzio. We need a Sigilist, yes, but we also need a qualified Sigilist. One who isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty, and knows his way around a battlefield. Not just some random newbie, or some ingrained master. You fit perfectly into the role we need.” He remained steadfast, in a way I couldn’t help but be slightly moved by. He was serious, about all of this. Which only left me with one question, really.

“So then…what’s the job? The one that you need a Sigilist for?” I said, tilting my held slightly. I couldn’t think of much that one of their other members couldn’t accomplish on their own.

“That is the trick of things. If I tell you, I’m afraid you’ll have to accept the job. It’s quite confidential otherwise.” He gave me a half stern look.

“Right. That makes sense, with Noctis at play…” I trailed off, then paused for an uncomfortably awkward long moment.

“Take all the time you need to decide.” Virion said, smiling slightly, folding his hands and waiting.

I took a bite or two of food, and mulled everything over. Dammit. I was torn. On one hand, volatile mages who apparently had a kill count. On the other hand, we shared an enemy. And if they got out hand, I could inform the Kingdom and they could be dealt with accordingly. An information gathering tool as a contingency. The only thing I stood to lose, realistically, was my life. And if I was giving it in service of the Kingdom, that was a sacrifice I was willing to make, even if I didn’t like the idea of dying at my age. The pros outweighed the cons enough…and besides, I liked Virion so far. He seemed like a good enough guy. The rest…less sure, but at the very least, they’d be on my side.

That was that, then.

“Alright. I’m sold. I’ll join your team. What’s the job?” I made sure to smile, even if it wasn’t instinctual.

Virion’s expression, on the other hand, lit up with a sense of measured glee.

“Excellent! I’m thrilled to have you Acuzio!” He nodded to my secondary statement. “Yes. The job I need help for…I want for us to strike a blow to the core members of Noctis. The organization is held up, in terms of morale, by a stark few people-relatively powerful magi who make up it’s inner circle, and act as heroes in the lines. If we can strike a blow to one of them, we can both clear a threat from the field, and deal a strike to their morale. And I have a particular target in mind. A wizard, one by the name of Golomora. A dwarf, who specializes in warding magic. A school of magic which borrows heavily-“

“-From Sigilism. Right. I’ve heard of that” My inner magical scholar took over a moment, to the point where I hadn’t noticed interrupting Virion. “-Sorry.” I hastily corrected.

“Perfectly alright. As I was saying. It borrows from Sigilism, to imbue objects with power, but generally stationary ones. They’ve been using her capabilities to make sieging their inner fortresses much more difficult. However, they won’t persist, if her well of power were to be…cut off from this world. Permanently.”

That made sense too. Since most magic users (with the exception of Sigilists and Malificars) drew power from sources that weren’t rooted in this world, once they were removed as a conduit, most of their magic would simply fade.

“Right. I can manage that. But how are we going to get close?” I couldn’t imagine getting close to her would be easy, especially if he intended to attack her residence.

“That’s the trick of things. Gira has gotten us some fairly good intelligence, as to the layout and location of many of the wards. He believes this operation is still…too risky, for his tastes. But he rarely attends these missions to begin with. I believe, that with the information we have, this objective is perfectly within our grasp. And could open up more in the future.”

That set off some alarm bells. But then again…I trusted Virion more then the mystery lizard.

“Ok. Sounds like a plan. When?”

He frowned.

“That’s the trick of things. I’ll need to gather the others and inform them of the situation. And perhaps see if they have opinions. I’ll call a team meeting in a day or two. That being said, something else to mention. The room you stayed in tonight, it’s available to you, should you desire it. Staying close together has worked thus far for us, in terms of avoiding having our home base attacked.”

I thought about that. But came to a quick conclusion.

“No. I’ll be alright. I have my own place that I’d like to keep maintained.”

Virion nodded. “Perfectly understandable. Other then that, I have little else to mention. I will call you here when I require you. But feel free to come and go whenever and howeveryou would like. This place is now open to you as if you were one of us. Welcome to the team, Acuzio.”

He stood, passing by me, clasping me on the shoulder firmly, before walking out of the room, the front entrance to be specific. Out of the building entirely.

I elected to finish my food first, being hungry, before standing from my chair.

I was tempted to just go. But then again…

If I had the run of the place, I may as well look around. After all, I should probably learn more about my new…

Friends.