The Guild's Village Idiot is Actually the Strongest.

The Arcane Inquisition

The Hall of Resonance felt different by daylight. The same circular, marble-lined chamber where Silas had endured his affinity test now held an air of judicial solemnity. Instead of testing stations, there was a semicircular table of dark wood where five figures sat. In the center was Arcanist Kaela, her severe face framed by the high collar of her Branch A robes. To her left sat two older mages—one from Branch S with storm-grey hair, another from Branch B with the calloused hands of a practical artificer. To her right were two administrators, including the pinched face of Arciclerk Mordred, the Guild's chief bureaucrat.

Sir Alaric stood at a lectern to the side, looking every inch the noble petitioner. Silas stood alone in the center of the room, the sole focus of their combined gaze. The air smelled of beeswax, old parchment, and cold judgment.

"Specialist Silas of Branch C," Kaela began, her voice crisp and devoid of warmth. "You are brought before this Oversight Committee on complaint from Knight-Elect Sir Alaric of the Storm. The charge: unauthorized and reckless intervention in a Branch B priority repair, resulting in potential destabilization of municipal infrastructure at the Grand Baths. How do you answer?"

Silas's mouth was dry. His [Empathic Diagnostics] hummed with the room's tension—Kaela's clinical disapproval, the artificer's skeptical curiosity, Mordred's bureaucratic hunger for a violation. Alaric's emotional signature was a controlled blaze of vindictive satisfaction.

"I acted under a City Council contract assigned by Guildmaster Torvin," Silas stated, keeping his voice level. "The 'repair' in question was the source of the anomaly. My intervention neutralized it."

"Your interpretation," Alaric cut in smoothly, without being prompted. He addressed the committee. "Honored elders. A Branch B geomancer, Master Durn, performed a standard mineral-fusion seal on a cracked inflow pipe. This specialist," he said the word like a slur, "with no formal training in geomancy or elemental theory, chose to apply untested, alchemical methods to a delicate magical construct. He did so without consulting the original craftsman, without filing a secondary work permit, and without regard for the structural integrity of centuries-old plumbing that serves half the city's water-heating needs."

Kaela's eyes narrowed. "Is this accurate? Did you consult Master Durn?"

"No," Silas admitted. "The situation was an ongoing public hazard. Four citizens were trapped. Immediate action was required."

"The immediate action," Alaric pressed, "was to secure the area and summon a qualified Branch A or B elemental specialist. Not to play with clay and vinegar in a steam tunnel."

The Branch B artificer, a dwarf named Hargin, leaned forward. "Explain your process, lad. In simple terms. You found a mineral fusion gone reactive. How did you know your method would work and not, say, cause a thermal backlash that could have cracked the main cistern?"

This was the moment. Silas couldn't explain his system. He had to use the logic of the world. He drew a steadying breath, calling on the cold clarity he'd felt in the quarry and the marsh.

"The fusion was unstable because it was a closed loop," he began, his words gaining strength as he fell into the pattern of explaining a system. "Master Durn's spell locked the crack but created a perpetual reaction between the spell matrix and specific minerals in the water. It was building energy, not sealing it. My method didn't attack the spell. It provided an alternative, stable end-state for that energy to flow into—the clay matrix, which when heated, could absorb the reactive ions and re-crystallize into an inert ceramic. It was a controlled dissipation, not a counter-attack."

Hargin the artificer grunted, rubbing his beard thoughtfully. "A bypass, not a breaker. Interesting."

"Speculation!" snapped Mordred, the bureaucrat. "Unlicensed magical theory! He admits he has no training. Therefore, his actions were inherently reckless. He violated Guild Code 7.12, subsection C: 'No member shall alter or attempt to repair another member's magical work without express permission or a Guild-issued override.' The violation is clear. Penalty: suspension of active duty for thirty days, mandatory remedial theory classes, and a fine of fifty percent of the mission reward."

A cold knot tightened in Silas's gut. Thirty days of inactivity would destroy his momentum, his finances, and his hard-won reputation. He'd be back at square one.

As Kaela opened her mouth to deliver what was likely a concurring judgment, a faint, unsettling tremor passed through the floor. Not a physical vibration, but a wave of wrongness that made the ink in Kaela's quill well blur for a second. Silas's [Empathic Diagnostics] spiked with a sense of unraveling, a dissolution of order. His system flickered at the edge of his vision—a glitch of distorted text that vanished before he could read it.

Before anyone could comment on the odd sensation, the doors to the chamber burst open. A young page, breathless and pale, stumbled in. "Honored Arcanists! Forgive the intrusion! There's an emergency at the Hall of Records!"

Kaela's face tightened with impatience, but a flicker of concern touched her eyes—she'd felt it too. "What manner of emergency? This is a formal hearing."

"The records... they're unwriting themselves!" the page gasped. "Ink is fading from parchment in the main archive. Not all, but random documents. Tax rolls, property deeds, Guild contracts! It's spreading from shelf to shelf. The archivists are in a panic. Guildmaster Torvin is there. He requests the Committee's immediate assistance and... and he specifically asked if the 'Branch C specialist' was still with you."

All eyes turned to Silas. Torvin's request was pointed. The timing was suspect, but the threat felt undeniably real, connected to that tremor of wrongness.

Kaela stood, her decision made by necessity. "This hearing is suspended. Specialist Silas, you will accompany us. Your... experiential knowledge of anomalous phenomena may be of use. Consider this a provisional continuation of your review. Your conduct in this crisis will be noted."

Alaric's controlled mask slipped for a fraction of a second, revealing pure, incandescent fury. He had been moments from victory. "Arcanist, with respect, this is highly irregular. A clerical issue does not supersede—"

"The Hall of Records houses the city's legal and historical memory, Sir Alaric," Kaela interrupted coldly. "Its compromise is a threat to the Guild's very foundation, far exceeding a procedural review. You may accompany us to observe, if you wish, but do not impede."

As they hurried from the room, a new prompt seared Silas's vision, its text jagged and urgent, bleeding static at the edges.

< SYSTEM ANOMALY DETECTED. PROXIMITY: IMMEDIATE. >

< PARADOXICAL PATH INTEGRITY... SCANNING... >

< IMPOSSIBLE CHALLENGE #016: CONTAIN DATA-CORROSION EVENT. >

Objective: Halt the anomalous dissolution of recorded information in the Hall of Records.

Secondary Objective: Identify the source.

Reward: DATA UNAVAILABLE. SYSTEM CONTINGENCY PROTOCOLS ACTIVE.

Failure Consequence: Localized reality instability. Corruption of system-host synchronization.

Note: An external protocol is interacting with this domain. This is an incursion.