IRONROOT SOVEREIGN: Rise Of The Marked Envoy

#3: First Deception

For a moment, I ignored everything and focused on the warmth spreading from my stomach after each sip of the mysterious liquid that they were forcing me to drink, filling my whole body. It was not just my wounds that closed with an incredible speed, but every sign of blood loss disappeared as well.

 《+1 Health》

 《-1 Health》

 All while those two lines popped in occasionally. The silver lining, I didn't need to fear that the liquid was poisoned or drugged.

 Not with their magic voice more than enough for the task.

 My short, continuous breaths filled the room as I was busy processing the miracle that was happening in real-time, more than enough for sainthood. Especially since it was not just my wounds that were disappearing, but also all the little pains and aches that accompanied me for years, all the evidence of a misspent youth.

 I wondered if it was a permanent change, but something temporary.

 "What a waste, maybe we should —" said someone at a distance, before one of the other servants poked and silenced him, sending a worried glance at me.

 A detail that I was happy to see. If they were worried about what I would hear, they wouldn't have any immediate bad thing they had for me.

 However, soon, I ignored the miraculous nature of my healing, and focused on my arrival here, hijacked by someone else. The brief discussion I had heard showed that they had summoned that unlucky student for a purpose, likely linked to all the weird numbers that were popping in my vision.

 The title of a Marked Envoy was rather telling.

 There were no thoughts of rejecting the deal they were offering to me — no matter how unfair — as their earlier talk showed that they had the ability to get rid of me and find someone else, stopped only by the cost of doing so.

 I decided to play along.

 The first step, looking like I was easy to manipulate. I didn't know whether it was one of their requirements, but I suspected so. Otherwise, they wouldn't have tried to call someone from a college, an institution that was famous for pointlessly coddling anyone that attended, with no idea how the real world worked.

 And, it was easier to fix the misconception later on if they revealed that they were searching for someone … less idealistic.

 It was time to give them a first impression. I raised my gaze and started looking around, pushing an expression of fascinated confusion on my face, like I was a boorish tourist that accidentally walked into a fancy party filled with celebrities.

 There was an art to faking personalities, and that started from ignoring my first instincts. I forced myself not to focus on their weapons and their gazes despite all my instincts shouting at me otherwise, and instead focused on the fancy items in the background.

 Conveniently, the background gave me a lot to focus on, marble walls foiled with several gleaming metals that looked similar to gold and silver — but certainly different, the way they reflected the light was wrong for pure gold and silver, or any of the alloys he was familiar with — the walls filled with weapons that looked too ornate be useful in the battlefield, and various stylized drawings of monsters.

 Even when I looked at the men that surrounded me, I tried to focus on their clothes than their expressions, completing the impression. All the while, I kept my body lax, suppressing my reflexes so as not to react to anything in an undue manner that would hint that I was a dangerous man.

 A minute passed as I put a play for my audience, my body feeling more and more amazing with each passing second. And. just as I felt like I could run a marathon, the notifications I was receiving changed.

 《+1 Health》

 《+1 Health》

 …

 《+1 Health》

 "W-where am I?" I asked, doing my best to sound fascinated and confused — luckily, only the first part I needed to fake.

 "We will answer that soon enough," Falael said as he grabbed my arm and helped me to stand up. Only then, I paid attention to him. A man in his forties, with a considerable belly, reminded me of one of those life government employees that dealt with their lack of ambition with food.

 Yet, I didn't miss the fact that, as he helped me up, he didn't show even the slightest hint of discomfort. To test it, I acted like I lost my footing and put my full weight on his arm. If I tried the same against one of my bodyguards, the least they would receive was a sprained wrist.

 He didn't even register it as he waited, his wrist immovable as he waited, and a servant rushed toward us, carrying a white robe. I looked down and then dipped my head, acting flustered as if I had just noticed my nudity.

 Yet, before he put the robe on, the servant touched me with some kind of device. A different sensation crawled over my skin, even as a layer of soft light appeared on my skin, removing any sign of blood and dirt from my skin.

 "Let's walk," he said as he accompanied me to a side room, leaving the huge chamber behind. One other person accompanied us, and a short corridor later, we arrived at the next location, a smaller room, but only relatively. The previous room was as big as a cathedral, while the current room was more of an ordinary church.

 Nothing but a huge table going through the center, filled with food, some familiar, most foreign.

 Food that smelt more delicious than I ever smelled in my life. That put a smile on my face, not due to sudden gluttony — though I did my best to give that impression to my observers — but it was just another confirmation that they were trying to embrace the soft sale.

 "What do you remember?" Falael asked, after I sat down, though this time, his words were once again accompanied by that subtle pressure, wrapping around me, forcing me to tell the truth, and nothing but the truth.

 Yet, once again, there was a sense of distance between that sensation and my mind, a thin layer that protected me. Not fully, as I doubted that I could actually lie to them. "I was … in a library, and there was a portal of light, of many colors, calling for a … Marked Envoy," I started, doing my best to sound slightly confused.

 He nodded, giving me my first sense of victory, confirming that he was confident in that magical effect he was reflecting.

 Enough not to bother correcting my little omission about who the portal was calling.

 "And what else? Why were you wounded? Did someone attack you in the tunnel?"

 "No," I said with a tremble. "It happened back in my world. Three gang members were in the library, chasing someone as they fired their weapons indiscriminately, accidentally hitting many people. I was a target as well," I explained.

 "Don't worry, you're safe now," another voice said, once again accompanied by that weird pressure, but this time begging me to have some favorable impressions about the speaker. I recognized his voice as the second person that was speaking, who did his best to look kind but only came across as smug as he examined my expression.

 "T-thank you… But what's happening," I uttered, doing my best to look overwhelmed. "I'm just an old, unemployed man, who decided to enter the library for some safety," I said, leveraging the lack of pressure to slip some misleading truths and almost lies. I was certainly old and entered the library for some safety, and technically, at least according to the government, I was unemployed as well.

 "You have been chosen for a great destiny," Falael said, though his tone was not too different from what I used when I assigned a young and enthusiastic criminal to a horrible job with a nice title, confident that I would eat it up.

 Not that I blamed him. Even without the magical pressure that accompanied his voice, it was a strong sell. A magical portal with a drugging sensation, floating crystals, gold and silver — or at least some magical variants — everywhere… It was a strong, convincing story.

 I had just lived enough to know that, if someone was trying to sell a shiny object quickly, it often hid a beautiful con.

 "What destiny?" I asked.

 "That'll be explained the day after tomorrow, by the princess herself," the second one said, though interestingly, his voice didn't carry that necessity to force me to accept. "For now, let's not think about it, and enjoy your food."

 "Good idea," I said as I reached for a piece of meat, filling my mouth with an incredible flavor, but even as I did, their expression was filled with a certain sense of distaste, a subtle one, so I acted unaware, and chewed it down.

 Only for it to grant me another notification.

 《+1 Health》

 "It's happening again," I muttered. "Something called Health is increasing…"

 "Don't worry about it, it's just a part of the System. All will be explained later. Now, let's just enjoy the amazing food," Falael said, whose words, unlike the second one, slammed with all the weight of an immutable order.

 Why should I worry about anything when I was safe, and with friends, enjoying the most glorious food I had ever tasted, I found myself thinking as I took a bite from a peach-like fruit, another line of writing appearing occasionally, informing me about increased Health.

 Only halfway into that peach, the sensation disappeared enough for me to push it away, leaving only a chill behind. Yet, I didn't slow down my eating, acting more than happy to be entertained by the food as they said absolutely nothing. I didn't probe further, as they were clearly not interested in explaining further.

 And any crumpets of information I might get were not worth revealing my — very limited — ability to ignore their magical suggestions.

 I didn't grow up to be an old criminal by letting impatience rule me.