Inflame (The Completionist Chronicles Book 6), Dakota Krout [free novels to read TXT] 📗

one of his subordinates. “You’re right, this is too slow. There are a few things I can prepare to help with the war effort itself; I just need materials. On that note-”

“Most supplies, especially Cores, have a mandate on them right now. You couldn’t afford to go against that, and it has nothing to do with the value of the items.” McPoundy hesitated again. “Look, if you need stuff, you need to get the supplies yourself. Now, you already used your Candidacy on me. Your account has a mark on it, and I did nothing for you. So, after this battle, when you need something, come here and ask for me. We will call this ‘requisition’ a… raincheck.”

Joe could only nod and leave the spatial space of the private forge. He walked past the wall of smiling faces; the Dwarves were thrilled to see him be tossed out less than five minutes after entering. The human didn’t mind; his thoughts were whirling, and he was clutching at straws. “What can I do in the short term for this? I’m almost certain that I’m going to need to figure out a ritual that I can use, but… what? I have some foreknowledge of the area we will be attacking, and know a bit about the people that are there. Perhaps I could draw a map?”

He shook his head at that; the map wouldn’t be useful. The whole place was a giant empty cavern. Secret entrances? Zero knowledge. Joe didn’t know anything more than the fort’s layout. There might not even be an exterior entrance. Tunnel systems? See information on secret entrances. “Oh! Maybe I could set up a tunnel digger?”

With all the aimless thinking, as well as his rapid walking in a single direction, Joe was closing in on the gates to the city. He decided to get an outside perspective and approached a mustachioed Dwarven guard, asking her about the idea of making a tunnel digger. The reply was something he should have been expecting. She laughed in his face, “You think twiddling your fingers is going to make you better at tunnel construction than the Dwarven Oligarchy? Even the Boring Corporation got their ideas from the Dwarves!”

“You knew President Musk?” Joe gave her an intense stare; the vanishing of the President had sparked a massive conspiracy theory throughout the entire Zone of Midgard. No one could ever find the man, and many had looked, not all with good intentions.

“Who?” The Dwarf seemed confused, which made Joe groan in frustration. “What’s a president? Like a guild leader or something?”

“But you knew about the Boring-”

“Are you trying to distract my soldier, human?” A new Dwarf broke into the conversation, making Joe flinch. He had lost all track of his surroundings. “You, get back to work. You, human, stop interfering with our patrols, or I’ll hold you accountable for any crimes that occur on this route.”

Joe said nothing further, but he was happy to learn that the President might still be around, allied or at least known to the Dwarves. He’d always liked the guy, with his inventions that had all been about bettering mankind. Joe stepped under the portcullis and got a nasty shock once again, as the enchantments he crossed forcefully deactivated all his active effects. “Gah!”

A guard ran at him, weapons out. “Halt, under suspicion of-! Oh. You again. Didn’t we talk about this? I… hmmm. Might not have. It’s a crime to come through here with active effects unless you’re under orders. Do it again, and I’ll have to fine you. It costs Core energy every time the disenchantment effect is activated. Not something we can use frivolously, especially right now.”

“Oh. Got it. We’ve met?” Joe looked at the bearded, armored Dwarf, and realized that he could never pick this guy out of a crowd. “Were you the guard that sold me the map to the Caves of Solitude?”

“Might have been. Might not have been.” The guard shrugged evasively. “You all look the same to me. The hairlessness, single eyebrow, and white clothes are fairly eye-catching, I guess. Is that a popular look among your people?”

“No.” Joe’s deadpan answer made the guard chuckle. “Do you have a lot of infiltrators? This see a lot of use?”

“Not so much; not this deep into our territory, at least. Still, when you can’t see the enemy most of the time, it’s a great idea to keep an effect like this active.” Something the guard said set off a lightbulb in Joe’s head.

“Can’t… see them? They can go invisible?” Joe tried to clarify what he was hearing.

“Well, only the really powerful pointy-ears go fully invisible. Most of the time, it’s just really great camouflage, glamour, or illusions that kinda just make you… look away.” The guard waved at the swooping lines that Joe had walked over. “An enchantment like this is really the only way to see through them. Other methods are too expensive, or too… hmm… ‘Elven morality’ for us to feel good using them.”

“Need to break illusion, invisibility, not be morally corrupt, and cost-effective enough…” Joe’s eyes lit up, and he started digging through his spatial ring. “Please be in here and not in the giant block of broken stuff…! Got it! Yes!”

The Reductionist pulled open his practically untouched copy of the Grimoire of Annihilation. Dark miasma drifted from the table of contents as he searched for something he only half remembered. “Ritual of the Insomniac Stalker, no… Ritual of the Lonely Tree? Nah, too scorched-earthy, and Havoc already said no. Here it is! Ritual of Argus. Five willing creatures including yourself, an eye spawns on the back of your head. Each creature included in the rituals has dark vision, cannot be ambushed, and can see… yes! Invisible things!”

Joe looked up to see the Dwarf looking at the clearly dark book with serious concern. Right. Rituals were frowned upon in most places, and this particular book had been designed with a ‘this is probably evil’ vibe to it on purpose.