It was rare for Madame’s intel to be so far off the mark.
She had naturally kept an eye on Freddy for the last year, and during that time, he had repeatedly astonished her. His soul was definitely far too messed up for him to use any abilities, and yet, despite that fact, he still managed to delve several times a day.
This was absurd beyond comprehension.
More than once a week was already considered too much for the overwhelming majority of archhumans. More than three times? Batshit insane. The physical and psychological stress of going through life and death took time to recover from. Disregarding recovery often led delvers to an early grave.
Freddy, meanwhile, didn’t seem to give a crap about any of this. She could understand that he didn’t care much for physical stress, but the fact that he could handle practically living on the razor edge between life and death was simply unthinkable.
And with soul damage, at that. Screw the fact he couldn’t even use abilities, it was a miracle he could muster the willpower to get out of bed in the morning, let alone complete as many as seven delves by the time for dinner!
To an average delver, risking one’s life at anything less than absolute peak form was utterly unimaginable, and meanwhile, here was Freddy, delving solo, with subpar equipment, no abilities, and with a heavily deteriorated physique that he hadn’t bothered rebuilding yet.
What was he even thinking? Did he simply have no sense of self-preservation? Did his Triple Block bring him to despair, forcing him to push himself to accumulate an ungodly amount of latent aura?
And how?
How was completing so many delves so quickly? What methods could he possibly be using? Was it that skeleton? Sheer physical might? The rumored “black sword” some claim to have witnessed him using during his fight against Nahar?
Was he even a human being?
There were so many times where she had felt tempted to break his doors down and scream his ears off because he was being so stupid with his life, but…
Throughout the history of the empire, there had been many people who were seemingly immune to risk. Those who laughed in the face of death, continuously putting themselves into danger that should cost them their life through sheer statistical inevitability of rolling the dice so many times. Those who appeared to be immortal. Immune to consequences.
Madame knew the feeling quite well.
After all, she was one of those people.
Had been, at least.
Had been, until…
Stopping him when he was on that path didn’t feel right. Clearly, his faith in himself was unshakeable. It was best if she didn’t try to change that.
When she had told Freddy to make something of himself, she hadn’t been thinking this big.
Hell, she hadn’t expected him to do anything before completing his soul healing.
But speedrunning a fifth-ranked Solo Dungeoneer badge in a year? That was madness.
The only reason he didn’t get a special medal for the achievement is because the empire didn’t give out badges for delving speed to avoid too many unnecessary deaths.
Most confusingly, he didn’t even broadcast it to anyone. No, he just put it right in his pocket and pretended like it didn’t exist.
The average person his age couldn’t restrain themselves from shouting from the rooftops when they got meansly first-ranked badge, and he casually kept things quiet despite being one of the fastest delvers in the entire empire.
Not to even mention the money—was he even aware that he had a special-ranked badge waiting for him at the bank due to the absolutely ridiculous amount of money he had earned as an independent two-star? Knowing him, even if he did, it didn’t matter. Not like it would ever see the light of day.
This was already absurd enough, but today, he had really done it.
Madame had been aware of his hobbies, but she had no idea how seriously he was taking them, let alone how ridiculously talented of a musician he was. It was that damned uncanny ability to notice whenever someone was spying on him. It severely limited her means of keeping track of what he did. Right. She had almost forgotten about that one. Just another massive WTF in a long series.
When she saw him step up on that stage, she thought she was having a stroke. She had sensed him coming to the gathering, but not in a billion years could she have predicted that he would be one of the performers. Let alone for him to be that good.
He was building himself up at a truly remarkable speed. There were countless rising stars in Starhold, and all throughout the empire, and very few could compare to him.
If this kept up, it wouldn’t be long before she was practically forced to bring him on her show.
She watched him nervously toddle into the garden, almost hiding behind his teacher. She barely contained the sigh that begged to escape her lips.
To think this soft-skinned, anxious-looking twink was one of the deadliest fighters alive at his rank. It was as hilarious as it was deeply worrying. He had grown too much, and was all-too-oblivious about how close he was to stumbling into the spotlight.
The ever-hungering shadows of the empire were unkind to those who shone too brightly.
Thankfully, he had already attached himself to the Umbras. Not the nicest folk, but they were upright enough. At the very least, nobody could afford to directly target his life.
Indirectly though?
Well.
At least he was used to suffering.
Because god knew a whole lot of that was coming his way.
Speaking of…
This might be a good time to stop him from terribly embarrassing himself.
***
Freddy looked upon the crowd, eyes hungering.
Nobody here was a simple person. And within their gazes, he could see interest. Interest in what he had to offer. What would they be willing to give up in turn? There was plenty Freddy wanted, but couldn’t afford with money alone. Namely, private dungeons.
Of course, whether his performance would be enough for something as precious as that was still unknown.
“Oh my god,” his teacher muttered, poking him several times in the back as she urgently tried to get his attention, breaking him out of his reverie. “Look who is coming our way!”
Freddy looked around in confusion, only to spot exactly who she was talking about. “Son of a—”
Madame was beelining towards him, an easygoing smile on her face.
Freddy had spent quite a bit of time around the people of Starhold over the last year, and he had gotten a better feel for decorum. What she was doing was quite baffling. Everyone had already noticed her approach, and it was the source of much muttering.
Generally, those of a higher status never directly approached someone below them. Not unless, of course, they were trying to send a message.
In this case, she might as well have pointed at him and shouted “Take a closer look at this guy, there’s more to him than meets the eye!” And while Freddy was aware of the likely hit to reputation she was taking by lowering herself, he would wait to hear why she was doing this before choosing how to react.
He welcomed her with a respectful bow, taking the appropriate stance for someone of lower status welcoming the advance of someone far above them. He had watched enough BC over the last year to have learned basically everything about high society decorum.
A hint of pleasant surprise sprung upon her face. “My, my, what a polite student you have there, Mrs. Pesk.” She nodded at the woman. “Mind if I steal him away from you for a bit?”
“O-of course, Madame. Please.” The old lady practically shoved Freddy at Madame, giving him a stern glare to behave himself. In this instance, his behavior would definitely reflect on her own reputation, and if he embarrassed himself, she would never hear the end of it.
Stifling a sigh, Freddy offered his arm up. “Greetings, my Lady. A pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise. Shall we?” She hooked her arm around his, and just like that, they headed off on a walk through the garden, with her activating a noise-cancelling necklace to keep their talk private.
“I must say, you are a never-ending well of surprises, boy.”
Freddy worked to keep the smirk on his face respectful. “You had no clue I was that good, did you?”
“Oh rub it in, will you, Mr. Sixth Sense?
Freddy shrugged. “I won’t apologize for having control over my privacy.”
“And I won’t apologize for trying to keep an eye on you.”
Cupping his chin, he hummed. “I would say ‘fair enough’, but I’m not sure if it really is.”
“All is fair in love and war, darling.”
“And which are we at?”
She grinned at him. “You’ve gotten quite snarky, haven’t you?”
He smiled. “I was plenty sarcastic before. You just used to scare the shit out of me too much to let it show.”
An eyebrow cocked up. “And I don’t now?”
“No,” he answered honestly. “Don’t get me wrong, you still scare me, just not… quite enough to inspire incontinence.”
“Good to see your recent successes haven’t gone to your head.”
“Now then.” Freddy straightened his back slightly, all-too-aware of the attention being directed their way. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this blinding spotlight shining down on me?”
“Yourself, of course.” She sighed dramatically. “I had hoped to let you stew… ‘off-screen’, as they say, but my, I fear if I leave you on the stove much longer, you’ll boil over and make a real mess.”
“Huh…” He shrugged. “I haven’t really been up to much, though.”
She chuckled. “Oh, surely not!” He cocked an eyebrow at her, and she returned the gesture. “Are you being obtuse right now?”
“I will be perfectly honest and admit I have no clue what that means.”
“Are you playing dumb?”
“What? What do you mean?”
Her eyebrow twitched slightly, which was saying a lot given the control she must have had over her body. “Surely, you don’t mean to say that you’ve completed a thousand solo delves out of sheer boredom?”
“Oh… that… I mean… I haven’t exactly been delving anywhere too crazy.”
She gave him a flat look. “You have got to be kidding me.”
“What? I really haven’t,” he insisted.
“But the speed at—and your soul and—oh, never mind. I’ll get to the point. You’re a hair’s breadth away from becoming a widely-known figure. And depending on what you do, today might very well push you over the edge.”
Freddy nearly stumbled. “Seriously?”
“Deadly so, even. Thankfully for you, the Umbras have done their duty in letting everyone know you’re under their care, but that can only protect you so much while they’re still keeping their distance. Now is the time to choose, Freddy. Are you ready to step out onto the big stage?”
“Hell no! I’m not even close to healing my soul yet!”
“Now, now… There’s no reason to panic yet.”
“But now that you’ve approached me in public, I—”
“Don’t misunderstand, Freddy, I did so precisely to keep you away from the ledge.” She shook her head. “And good that I did, since you’re even more clueless than I feared. Had I left you alone, you would have probably gone off and started bartering for access to private dungeons.”
Freddy’s eye twitched. “N… No. I…”
She gave him a flat look.
“Just out of curiosity, that would be bad… why?”
She barked out a laugh. “What do you think, why? Freddy, you are here as a highly skilled musician, and it's public knowledge that you’re suffering from soul damage. Had you gone off and tried to convince people to let you delve their dungeons, it wouldn’t have been long before everyone realized just how much of a freak you are.”
“Oh.”
“Oh, verily. Let me tell you what you’re actually going to do. You’re going to play at a banquet I’m hosting in a few days, and I will make it seem like I’m being generous and promoting an up-and-coming talent. We will keep the attention on your musical prowess. You will still get some time in the spotlight, but of a relatively harmless kind. After this, I will let you delve a few private realms I own so you can keep your activities away from prying eyes.”
Freddy’s face lit up. “For free?”
“For a reasonable price,” she bargained with a smile.
He shrugged. “I’ll take it. Beats fighting absurd bidding bonuses.”
“Well then…” She disconnected her arm, taking a step before him and turning to face him, a prim nod aimed in his direction. “That is just about the most time I can afford to chat with you without spawning undesirable rumors.”
Freddy paused. “People wouldn’t think we’re…?”
She giggled. “How adorable that you think anyone would actually care! Oh, please, I get up to so much of that that people stopped giving a crap a hundred years ago.” She winked at him. “In fact, if you’re interested, I wouldn’t mind testing that endurance of yours.”
Freddy paled. “I uh…” He turned his gaze down. “Uhm… er…”
Madame laughed.
Freddy chuckled awkwardly as he worked to compose himself. “Please, Madame… Jokes like that aren’t good for my heart.”
“Who said I’m joking?” She shook her head with a sigh. “Oh, you’re so innocent it’s making me feel a little guilty. And dear lord, those rumors about you are more true than I thought.” She waved him off. “Forget I said anything. I’ll send you the details for the banquet later today. For now, it might be best if you head home.”
“Yes, Madame. Thank you for everything.”
“You’re welcome, darling. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” She walked away, leaving Freddy on his lonesome.
The world felt like it was spinning around him as he worked to relax his nerves. “Well… Literally none of that was on my bingo card for today.” He took her advice to heart, saying goodbye to his teacher and promptly heading home, leaving before he could accidentally make a fool of himself. Well, any more than he already did.
***Days passed.
As per their deal, he played at the banquet, attracting a good deal of attention and landing a spot in many a newspaper. And, as Madame predicted, the attention ended right there. A new name had appeared in the world of high society, and it belonged to an artist, not a warrior. Naturally, some rumors of his delving escapades still slipped through, but nobody paid them much heed.
Plenty of people knew that the Umbra Clan was protecting him for some reason, but nobody was brave enough to publicize that fact and piss them off. On the list of people not to annoy, a top-tier family of killers made it pretty high, which kept that skeleton firmly stuck in the closet. For the time being, at least.
Yet another birthday arrived. With that, he was officially 25.
The last year was somehow both the most and least eventful one of his entire life.
He spent the day relaxing with his favorite drinks, his favorite food, and went out for some casual drinking with Vladimir later that day. It was a day like many others, and yet, like none he’d ever lived through before.
He was… well, happy was a strong word. He wasn’t sure he quite knew what it felt to be happy. But content… that he could dare say he was. Mostly. Yet, as the day came to a close, he struggled to fall asleep that night. His soul had recovered enough that he was no longer suffocated by the constant ennui, and as the haze retracted, it revealed an anxiety. One that would bubble and boil with each passing day.
At first, he couldn’t tell where it was coming from.
Another month passed.
One day, he arrived at his regularly scheduled therapy session.
“Hey, I think I have something you might be interested in.” The doctor extracted a ring from his storage device. “Remember that bizarre loop your soul formed? Well, I’ve been doing a lot of research on that phenomenon, and it took me down something of a path.”
Freddy eyed the ring. It looked awfully familiar. “Huh. Is that an Ether Capture Ring?”
The doctor cocked an eyebrow. “You know of those? They’re still not up for sale publicly.”
“I don’t just know of one,” Freddy smiled, pulling it out of his storage ring. “I have one.”
The soul therapist’s face lit up with realization. “Ah, so that’s who Reginald gave it to…”
Freddy’s eyebrows jumped. “Let me guess—you made this ring, didn’t you?”
The man raised a finger. “I designed the prototype. And this is something different.” He raised it. “I was hoping to get a lot more out of this, but even now, this is a pretty neat little invention.”
“What’s that one do?”
“It lets you use your abilities even if you’re suffering from soul damage.”
Freddy straightened. “For how long?”
The man groaned, clearly displeased. “Only around eight seconds. And only once per day—any more than that risks permanent damage to the soul.”
That wasn’t a long time. But in so many ways, it was revolutionary.
Freddy thought for a moment, and then nodded to himself. With even just that much, he could at the very least conjure all his blood gear. That wasn’t enough to bring him anywhere near full power, but… it was enough to let him get some serious action again. “You want me to test it out?”
“Yes,” the doctor said, nodding. “I’m hoping to push the time to about 13 seconds, which should be pretty close to the theoretical maximum.” He handed it to Freddy.
Freddy held it in his hand for a long moment, a sour look crossing his face.
“You look unhappy,” the doctor noted.
Rather than say anything, Freddy just nodded.
“What’s wrong?”
“Wrong… I guess something is wrong, huh?” He chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head. “It just dawned on me why I’m feeling so anxious these days.” He went quiet for a long moment as he clutched the ring in his grip. “The empire promised a future for a people. A people I care about. But that future rests on my back. I’ve had a nice little vacation, but… every day I spend idling is less relaxing than the last. And with this, I don’t really have any excuse anymore.
“It’s time for me to get back to war.”