NOVEL NEXT Adventure 212 – The Phantom Cat
Liam stared at the folder with confusion and curiosity. He didn’t know what S.I.V. meant nor did he have any ideas. After trying to wrack his brain over it and not coming up with anything, Liam asked Eri, Do you have any ideas on what S.I.V. stands for?
Without missing a beat, a message notification appeared right in front of him.
“Not a clue. It could stand for a lot of things, but nothing is coming to mind as of this moment. Also you won’t be able to open it. – Eri.”
Liam tilted his head to the side as he stared at the folder. What do you mean?
“It has a protection magic that requires a certain kind of magic to undo it. The magical ability placed on it has two effects. It restricts anyone who isn’t attuned to the magic from being able to open it. And the other is if you try to force it open then it is set to disintegrate itself. Someone at the Fiddler’s Spider Web might have a magical ability that can undo it. – Eri.”
Liam nodded as he looked at the folder. As he placed it inside his inventory he said, Good to know. Thank you for telling me that before I accidentally destroyed potential information. Do the others have the same kind of protection?
“No. Just that one. – Eri.”
Liam nodded once more before looking at the other folders. He didn’t know which one to look at first. After wasting a couple of seconds trying to decide, he went with the first folder that read Targets on the front.
He looked at the first page and was confused. It had a picture of a woman with deer-like horns, blond hair, and green eyes. He read the first bit of information that only revealed her first name – Sarah. Her age – twenty six. Her race – Half Breed: Deer-Folk, Human. He stopped after getting to the next line that was written in red letters: Status – Deceased.
He turned to the next page and saw a middle aged man with long golden hair and a golden beard that flowed around his face like a mane. Once more he read the first bit of information. Name – Leonard. Age – Forty eight. Race – Half Breed: Lion-Folk, Human. This next part was in regular black in, and it read: Status – Alive, Cooperating.
This confused Liam. He wasn’t sure why the whole status part mattered, but instead of thinking more on it he moved on to the next page. And the next page. And the next. Each one he read was closely similar to the first two. They had a picture of a person, some basic information and a status part that was either in black ink saying Alive and Cooperating or red ink saying Deceased. He decided to speed read to see if he could find anything that stood out. He didn’t really notice anything weird until he reached the last page.
This page had a picture of himself with some of his basic information. Name – Liam. Age – Twenty two. Race – Half Breed: Cat-Folk (Cait Sith Species - Extremely Possible. Must obtain at any cost), Human. The Status part was originally in red ink with the words Deceased, but they were crossed out with black ink with the words next to it saying: Alive, Whereabouts Unknown.
After seeing this he moved past that and paid more attention to the information after that. Crafter? Yes. Single Focus or Multiple Focus? Multiple Focus. If target has Multiple Focus, what crafts are currently known? Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Enchanting, and Tailoring. Party Members? None. Family? None known or seen around the area. New Arrival or Born on Paracosm? New Arrival.
Liam kept reading and seeing check marks or circles around or after each bit of information. After seeing this, Liam had a sudden thought and looked back at the previous pages before his. To his surprise and realization, each and every person in this file had a lot in common. They were crafters with multiple focuses, Half Breeds, no known party members and family members, and a few others. Besides the crafting and them being half breeds, the other part that really stood out was they were all New Arrivals.
“Shit,” Liam quietly muttered, not realizing he sent the words to Echo Talon.
“What? What’s wrong?” Echo talon quickly asked.
Liam shook his head as he responded while keeping his mouth shut, “I believe I have found the exact information you’ve been looking for.”
“Really?! Are you sure? If so then that bit of information you happened to stumble upon to lead us here was extremely lucky,” Echo Talon replied with some disbelief.
“Yes,” Liam stated. “I found a few folders that are marked with Targets, Allies and Possibly Threats, and a few more. However, there is one that is magically protected with the words Project S.I.V. Retrieval on it.”
“Holy shit dude. That does sound like exactly what we’re looking for,” Echo Talon said with a happy tone in her voice. “Nab it and head back out as carefully as you can.”
Liam was about to answer her back until he felt a faint vibration coming from his receiver device. Liam looked at it with some confusion before remembering what that vibration meant as it grew in strength.
“I’ve got company incoming,” Liam stated as he placed all the folders from the steel case inside his inventory. He then grabbed a few folders from the pile that belonged to the bottom drawer and placed them into the steel case. After that he put everything away as fast as he could while feeling the vibration from the small device he was holding growing stronger every couple of seconds.
After putting everything away. He quickly activated his Spirit Weave ability and used Veil of Shadows and slowly made his way towards the cabinets. He wedged himself in between a couple of them and waited as he heard a key slip into the door. A click filled the air of the room as the door unlocked and then opened.
Liam stared at the open door as some light entered and lightly illuminated the area around the doorway. He was expecting to see the owner of the room but was surprised to see a tall bulky Lion-folk standing there instead.
He watched as the Lion-folk scanned the room before entering. Liam relaxed a bit as the man’s predatory gaze didn’t stop on the area where he stood. He doesn’t see me or feel that I am here. That’s good. Liam’s eyes scrunched as a new thought came to light. Why does this man have a key to Lucy’s office though?
Liam then watched as the man slowly walk towards the desk. He could hear the man grumbling as he approached the desk. “Stupid bitch…making me come all the way out here just to grab that stupid ass case. Why leave it here if you were going to need it later anyways…” He pulled out each drawer and looked for the object he was sent for. “Now where did she say it was again…Ah ha. There it is.”
Liam watched as the man pulled out the steel case from the hidden location in the top drawer. After he grabbed it, closed the trap door, and placed the clipboard back, the man began to make his way towards the door with the steel case in hand.
Liam decided to use this as an opportunity to sneak out by getting behind the man and tried to use his shadow as a cover. He was curious as to why the Lion-folk didn’t place the steel case into his inventory but decided that maybe it was an object that he couldn’t for some reason.
Liam ducked and slipped behind the man as he turned to close and lock the door. As he turned back around, Liam crouched again and started making his way back behind the man. As soon as he made it behind him, Liam noticed the Lion-folk’s body tense after taking a few steps.
Liam swiftly ducked as low as he could without distorting the man’s shadow. He noticed the man had a mixture of a confused and annoyed look as he looked around the area. After he didn’t find what he was looking for, the man narrowed his eyes and started walking away from the door and down the hall.
Liam stayed as close to the man but at the same time as far as he could without creating any suspicions in the man’s shadow. Once more after several steps, the man stopped. Liam, thinking the man was going to turn around again, crouched down to his knees. As soon as he dropped all the way down, the lion-folk man spun around and swung his extended claws out through the empty space above Liam’s head.
Liam gulped as he watched this. He was glad he dropped as low as he could when he did. If he didn’t then those claws would have sliced right into him. Liam stared at the man’s face again and noticed it was starting to get angry. Liam wasn’t sure what was going on. While he had tried this tactic out with the members of the Fiddler’s Spider Web earlier, they had stated there was no way for them to notice he was behind them unless they saw his shadowy form on the ground or the walls.
He knew this man didn’t see his shadowy form so he was unsure and uncertain as to how this man could feel someone was around him. He didn’t act like this when he wasn’t around inside Lucy’s office so what had changed? The only thing that did was how close he was to the man. But once more, he shouldn’t be able to feel that some thing or someone was near him while using Veil of Shadows. Especially while in this Spirit Weave form that gave him a bonus increase to Shadow abilities.
Liam noticed the Lion-folk man start to snarl as he scanned the area again. He say the man open his mouth and was about to say something, but stopped as a new voice called out, “Zareth, what are you doing?”
The Lion-folk male tempered his snarl as he turned around to look at the newcomer. Liam peeked around Zareth to see Head Security Fred, the Bear-folk. Liam was confused as to why this man was suddenly here. Was he in on what was going on? Was what Liam heard earlier from the disgruntled security members just a ploy to throw people off? More questions started to form, but they stopped as he listened in on the conversation before him.
“Head Security Fred, I didn’t know you would be patrolling this floor? If you’re referring to me swinging my claws around like that then sorry, but I felt like something, or someone was behind me…”
“I didn’t mean that,” Fred started to say. He drew a strict expression on his face as he asked, “You’re patrol doesn’t take you on this floor. Why are you patrolling outside your designated area?” Fred’s eyes then landed on the steel case resting in Zareth’s hand. “Where did you get that case from?”
Zareth grew an annoyed look before reschooling his facial features and answered, “Miss Lucy asked me to swing by her office and bring this to her.”
Fred slightly narrowed his eyes as he looked at the man before saying, “That doesn’t explain why you are patrolling outside your designated area while on the clock.”
Zareth frowned as he repeated, “Miss Lucy asked me to…”
“I don’t care what Miss Lucy asked you to Zareth,” Fred interrupted. “She is not your boss. I am. I gave you specific orders to patrol floors twenty to twenty four. I went to check and see how everyone is doing starting with the top floor and making my way down. When I got to your assigned floors what did I find? No one there.” Fred stared Zareth down. “I was lucky enough to find someone who overheard you asking Mannith to let you come down here for an hour and patrol while he went to find his replacement. You know that isn’t how we do things here.”
Zareth stared at Fred. Liam stared to straighten his posture, so he didn’t remain crouching the entire time. The moment he straightened up, however, he instantly dropped back down as Zareth swung a clawed hand once more right over Liam’s head.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Fred demanded as he placed himself into a fighting stance.
“You don’t feel it?” Zareth asked sounding agitated.
“Feel what?” Fred inquired, keeping his eyes on the Lion-folk.
“The feeling of someone who has committed a great sin?” Zareth responded. “I don’t know why I keep feeling it, but its like a fly that you can’t find. It keeps reappearing and disappearing without a trace in sight.”
Liam’s body froze as he listened to the man. Those words sounded familiar and made his blood run cold. Fred’s eyes narrowed as he asked as cautiously as possible, “What are you talking about Zareth? You sound like a Seven Immoral Vice Cultist when you say it like that.”
Zareth’s body froze as he heard Fred say that. He took in a deep breath and slowly let it out before turning and giving Fred an ashamed look. “I’m sorry. With everything going on my mental state isn’t in the best condition. Since you’ve got us on high alert all the time I’ve been doing my best to focus on what I need to do.” The man then pointed at the steel case and added, “I guess I let myself be an errand boy for Miss Lucy as well thinking it would help with whatever was going on.”
Fred continued to stare at the Lion-folk man without saying a word. After a few moments passed Fred relaxed his stance and facial features and replied, “There have been some strange things going on. I guess I can be partly to blame for making things feel tense around here. After the couple of incidents recently I’ve been on high alert myself.” Fred thought it over. After coming to a decision, he added, “Go ahead and take that to Miss Lucy and then take the rest of the shift off to relax. I want you here tomorrow in a better mental state so get some rest.”
Zareth gave the Bear-folk male a slight bow while saying, “Thank you.”
Zareth made his way past Fred. Liam transitioned himself from Zareth’s shadow to Fred’s as the two men passed each other. After what Zareth had been doing, Liam didn’t feel it safe to stay within the Lion-folk’s shadow anymore.
Fred waited until Zareth was completely gone before muttering to himself, “I don’t want to believe it, but…maybe the Teleportation Tree isn’t as secured as I once believed it to be. The question now is…if its true then how did they bypass the illusion protections?”
Not too long after that, Liam was able to make it to the stairwell and separate himself from Fred. He deactivated his Spirit Weave form and reapplied his Veil of Shadows as fast as he could before making his way down and out of the building.
After making it into an alleyway, he informed Echo Talon that he safely made it out. He then told her he would be slowly making his way back to the Fiddler’s Spider Web but had something to do first. Liam made his way to the Dungeon Tower, got into the yellow dungeon and refilled both his Spirit Pool that he had used during that situation and the Flawed Orbs he had to feed to Devour. He didn’t waste much time and only did the first floor of the dungeon before slipping out covered in his shadows.
It didn’t take long for Liam to get to the Fiddler’s Spider Web. He wasn’t sure if anyone was there since it was creeping so close to midnight. However, after walking in, he was surprised to see not only Silent Paw and Echo Talon standing there, but also Lady Arachne, Noxi, Silent Saboteur, Orchid, and even the woman with long braided raven black hair and emerald, green eyes, and either Panther or Black Jaguar features. She had on the best-like bone half mask she wore the day before when she had briefly appeared. Liam remembered Lady Arachne calling her Midnight Claw.
As soon as they saw him enter the room they each turned and started clapping. Liam was both confused and surprised by this and asked, “What’s going on?”
“Congratulations!” a few of them shouted as they continued to clap.
Still confused, Liam asked, “Congratulations? What are you congratulating me for?”
As the clapping died down, Lady Arachne took a step forward and informed, “We are congratulating you on completing the final test given to you as well as making it back safely.” Lady Arachne glanced at Echo Talon and stated, “I was told that an issue arose during the middle of the mission, but seeing as no alarms went off and both she and Silent Paw didn’t have to try and eject you from the situation; that means you were able to get out without any problems.”
Liam thought about the situation she was referring to. He was happy they were congratulating him and saying he did a great job, but the small amount of information he had obtained held him back from enjoying this moment.
Lady Arachne sensed the feeling in Liam and stopped him before he could say anything. “I know you want to give us all the details on what you have discovered. Echo Talon updated me on what you had told her, but that can wait for a moment. Before we go over the details of everything and receive what you obtained, we must finish the procedure of making you into a full member of the Fiddler’s Spider Web.”
This got another round of clapping. Those with masks that didn’t cover their mouths even whistled.
“Now I assume Wild Card gave you a specific item before sending you to this location correct?” Lady Arachne questioned.
“Wild Card?” Midnight Claw suddenly blurted.
Everyone turned to look at her with a confused expression. Before anyone can say anything Lady Arachne stated, “That’s right. You two haven’t officially met yet.” The shorter woman looked at Liam while pointing to Midnight Claw and introducing, “This is Sixth Leg Midnight Claw. She is an Illusion, Information Gathering, and Stealing Specialist.” Lady Arachne looked at Midnight Claw and informed, “This young man is The Wild Card’s apprentice.”
Midnight Claw looked surprised to hear this. She then nodded her head in an approving gesture as she said, “It is a pleasure to meet you. I hope the Wild Card hasn’t been too hard on you.”
Liam let out a slight chuckle before replying, “He sets the bars high for a lot of things so far, but I can understand why he does it and I am quite thankful for it.” After he said that, Liam noticed a new feature he hadn’t seen before on the woman’s face. Underneath her eyes, barely visible thanks to the mask she was wearing, he could see faint outlines of certain symbols. Liam held back his curiosity but made a guess that they were similar to the man’s, who they were talking about, symbols.
Midnight Claw noticed the subtle realization that he had made and brought a finger up to her mask where her lips would be in a hushing gesture. Liam nodded, understanding that he shouldn’t ask or say anything about it. while it did raise some questions and concerns, he wasn’t going to press his luck. Instead, Liam pulled out the pocket watch Lady Arachne was referring to.
Liam looked at the pocket watch. It was black with a spiderweb in the shape of a fiddle. He remembered the first time he had looked at the object. It was on his first day in this world. Now that he was here at the Fiddler’s Spider Web he was excited to see what its use actually was.
Lady Arachne placed a hand out and waited for Liam to put the object on her palm. Hesitating at first, Liam finally did as she wanted him to and she explained, “This object right here is a Fiddler’s Spider Web member’s lifeline. The object is a way that helps the members identify themselves when going to different branches, how they can keep track of missions given or mission completed and failed. It is also a way for the Association to communicate and send out emergency summons, information, or emergency missions. There are other features this device contains, but we wont go into that for now.”
Liam nodded.
“At first this device is just a plain ordinary device that can not be opened. No matter the strength of the person who is holding it, it will not open without meeting special requirements. Those requirements are: Becoming a full fledge member of the Fiddler’s Spider Web’s Association, attuning your mana to the device, and a Web Name being bestowed on it.”
Liam looked at her confused. The way she was describing it. He felt like this was something similar to a soul bound item, like in the games he used to play.
Lady Arachne smirked as she saw his expression. “That’s right. These items can only work and belong to you once you infuse your mana in it and a Web Name has been given. I ask you to channel your mana and pour it into the object. When a certain amount of mana has been infused into it I will bestow your Web Name.”
Liam felt nervous and excited all at once. He wasn’t sure if it was because of Lady Arachne and how she explained it all, but he felt like this was something similar to winning an award or graduating. Without waiting, Liam channeled his mana and manipulated it towards the object.
Lady Arachne waited for a few seconds, allowing a certain amount of mana to enter it. While the object did take in the mana, he was still not as proficient in manipulating and controlling to keep all of it inside the object. Because of that, a good portion of the mana he was infusing leaked out of it.
After the right amount of mana had finally infused itself into the pocket watch, Lady Arachne began to speak with both a magical and authoritative tone of voice, “We stand here tonight, witnessing the birth to a new Fiddler to our Web. We welcome a new member to our family full of those who hide in the dark. A new member who fabricates, concocts, and assembles deadly items through crafts. One who moves unnoticed through the shadows like a feline on the hunt. One who dances amongst us like a specter. One who’s will and spirit will not bend to any in front of him. I, Lady Arachne, First Leg of the Fiddler’s Spider Web located in Cashat Port, use my authority to bestow a Web Name to this deserving member. Recognize the name and imprint it upon yourself so that this member will gain the recognition he has earned from the members standing here as witness. Welcome and Rejoice our new member, Phantom Cat.”