Knowledge Is Power 10 (1/2)

Boxxy woke up within the aptly named Vessel of Dreams, which was located in the depths of its personal dungeon. It crawled out of the mithril chest in its natural Hylt Creeper form, then rapidly moved through a series of bodily transformations in rapid succession. It became a wooden chest, a perky catgirl, a tower mercenary, a mini-Nagnamor, a goat-headed toad, and a giant porcupine with swords for needles, only to end up back where it started.

These ‘morning stretches’ were something it had been doing quite regularly lately, as its body had been feeling strangely stiff whenever it woke up. That oddity was troubling to say the least, but not as much as the frequency with which it happened. Whereas before the shapeshifter could go for a few days without bedrest, these days it found it hard to stay active for more than twenty hours or so. It wasn’t like it was getting weaker or slower or anything, it was just feeling inexplicably tired all the time, to the point where it had slept every single night ever since Keira’s official return to Azurvale four days ago.

Initially it had attributed this lack of energy to pushing itself on Mortimer’s Quest, but it was having serious doubts whether fatigue build up was the cause of this. It was ludicrous to think someone with Legendary Endurance would succumb so easily to something as simple as exhaustion. Was this caused by some weird disease? Or perhaps it being a plant hybrid was to blame? Trees did enter a sort of dormant state during the winter, so perhaps the vegetative part of its confusing physiology was trying to hibernate?

No, that wasn’t it. Even if that was somehow possible, Boxxy was part Hylt. Those titanic trees continued to produce fruit and maintain their foliage even while being pelted by blizzards. If it inherited even a tiny bit of that absurd vitality, then there was no way the cold was having an adverse effect on the creeper. It was unlikely it would be a disease, as Legendary Endurance made it so all but the most ridiculous of illnesses would fail to so much as cause a sniffle. And if the creature had been infected with something like that, it would be suffering a lot more than some exhaustion and stiff joints.

The only other thing it could think of was that something was going on with the doppelganger side of its body. Unfortunately, it had nobody to ask. Reggie still hasn’t made contact ever since going dark, making Boxxy wonder if the old ‘ganger just skipped town entirely. Well, it expected that sort of thing when it cut the elder monster loose, so it really shouldn’t have gotten mad at him for running away to preserve his own life.

It shouldn’t have.

But it still did.

This was another issue Boxxy noticed ever since coming back to its lair - it was way too easily agitated, getting needlessly emotional over seemingly inconsequential things. Granted, the Mimic was by no means a bastion of rationality and logic, but it still found itself getting incredibly ticked off at even the smallest thing. Its temper had gotten so bad that it even started spilling out into its Facade despite its best efforts to remain calm, due in no small part to that antagonistic bodyguard.

Speaking of which, it was about time to get back into character.

“Snack, how goes it?” it called out telepathically.

“Good morning, Master. I am almost done eating breakfast with the elf. I’ll be out of the house and on my way to the Central Consortium within minutes.”

The ex-succubus had been filling in for Keira so that her master could sleep in peace within its shiny bed. It didn’t help its fatigue much, but it was still the preferable sleeping arrangement.

“Alright, let me know when you’re out of the house so we can swap. After that you’re to resume tending to the alraune seedling.”

“Ugh. That fucking thing again?” groaned Xera. “Can I not?”

Boxxy and its demonic posse had been able to acquire said plant during their trip through human lands. The djinn was the one who led the shapeshifter to the source of the mountain alraune that Ambrosia had taken a liking to. Yet she had quite a few reservations about handling it, mostly because of what she was forced to do in order to secure it. It was not a tasty experience, to say the least.

“You know full well you’re the only one who can care for it, so don’t slack off and do it seriously. Ambrosia’s expecting a prime specimen, and you do not want to disappoint her. Or me. Understood?”

“… Yes, Master.”

“Arms, how are things on your end?”

“Hey, boss. Still as fucking quiet as ever,” reported Kora.

“Hmmm, perhaps you were a bit too subtle last time?”

“Pfahahaha!” burst out Xera, unable to contain her laughter. “Subtle?! That meathead?! Aaah-hahahahaha!”

“Shut it, Snack!” snapped the Mimic. “Claws, find Arms another target to crush. Something a bit more high profile.”

“You got it, Boxxy!” responded Drea in high spirits.

The intent here was to have the archfiend serve as bait to draw out the Foundation. She was the most easily recognizable of the Sandman’s minions, so having her trample a few small time illicit businesses was sure to catch their notice. She was, of course, not the most observant of demons, which was why Claws was on hand to act as her eyes and ears. It didn’t have to worry about either of them getting captured, either, as even if they could be overpowered and subdued, the addendum to their contracts would allow them to flee at any point. Admittedly whether such a crude tactic would actually work on an organization as secretive as the Foundation was… questionable, to say the least. However, the Mimic couldn’t just keep reacting to things, so it had to try something.

At the very least the living embodiment of violence that was Kora was able to bring back a decent amount of loot from her outings. Not just gold and gems, but also alchemical supplies, raw materials, enchanted gear and other illicit goods. She was actually getting rather good at discerning the value of an item beyond ‘it looks shiny,’ which was a pleasant surprise for boxxy. Perhaps her claims that she wouldn’t be a singularity of stupidity forever had some weight behind them, though Xera naturally remained sceptical.

After sorting out its shady business for the day, Boxxy swapped places with Snack and assumed the guise of Keira. It continued on its way to the Central Consortium while mulling over its recent health issues, for lack of a better term. Nothing had changed since earlier that morning though, so it still couldn’t think of how to go about addressing them. Not even a dunk in Ambrosia’s Waters of Life had cured it, so it was already out of options.

No, that wasn’t quite true. There was still Whatshisface the gazer demon, the one that Arms met during their last dungeon crawl. Hiring him as a dungeon master in exchange to poke at the information in his centuries-old mind was definitely an option, but not a tasty one. Demons were inherently devious and untrustworthy beings, and the ‘rankers’ were even worse. The business with acquiring the alraune seedling in particular showed just how unpredictable they could be. The Mimic therefore continued to resist the temptation to hire him, at least for the time being.

Boxxy gave up running in place mentally when it arrived at the Central Consortium building and focused its attention on the task at hand. Keira walked into the lobby and, with her trademark smile and cheerful voice, called out to the beastkin that was waiting for her.

“Hey, Nao! I’m not late, am I?”

“Morning, Keira,” he replied. “No, you’re right on time as usual. Did you, uh, sleep well?”

“More or less. What’s tall, dark, and gruesome doing here?” she asked while pointing at the bodyguard standing behind him.

“My job, ya little shit,” responded Kuro “You burned off Nao’s eyebrows yesterday, so I’m tagging along to make sure you don’t take off his head next.”

“That was just Chaotic Disposition randomly going off! It wasn’t like I was trying to harm him on purpose!”

“Oh, so you’re saying you only accidentally set people on fire? That’s not exactly helping your case.”

This was bad. Boxxy seriously could not deal with this guy, as his hostility towards its Facade was a major source of ire. It was well warranted, all things considered, but that was besides the point. The shapeshifter needed to make an effort not to engage with him, otherwise things could get out of hand real fast.

“Yeah, okay, I guess you have a point,” conceded the catgirl with a sigh. “Intentional or not, it was my fault. I’ll try and be more careful from here on.”

“Now, now, don’t beat yourself up over it,” said Nao reassuringly. “Random magical emissions aside, you’re getting the hang of things much smoother than I anticipated. I guess being a polymagus isn’t just for show, huh?”

This ‘polymagus’ thing did turn out to be relatively tasty, despite how badly the Hero of Magic had phrased it at first. Apparently it was a trait that was exceptionally rare amongst people, but present in nearly all dungeon-born monsters, including Boxxy. The important part was that, while a polymagus didn’t have a ‘strongest’ element, they also didn’t have a ‘weakest’ one. They had the potential to wield all forms of magic at a reasonably high degree of competence, though actually doing that would take considerable training, study, and dedication.

“I fail to understand why lightning seems the odd one out though,” remarked the Hero of Magic while cupping his chin. “You seem to struggle with it a lot more than you should. Perhaps it’s some form of psychological block or mental trauma? Can you think of anything like that?”

Boxxy naturally knew full well what ‘psychological block’ was causing this. It was because lightning was its Bane, so channeling the element filled it with a sense of primal loathing bordering on fear. It made it profoundly difficult to successfully cast either the Lightning Bolt or the Spark Blast Spells. It could still do it if tried hard enough, though, and it wouldn’t even get hurt. At least, not unless it was stupid enough to stand within Spark Blast’s area of effect.

However, all things considered, this wasn’t something the shapeshifter was planning to risk using in the heat of combat. Nor was it about to divulge that information to its teacher. Luckily, it knew just the right scapegoat to blame for keira’s inadequacies.

“… Well, I suppose there was this one incident during the war,” she said quietly while scratching her neck. “I’m not going to go into details, but the gist of it was that a superior officer subjected me to a rather harsh and unwarranted jolt of electricity. Right after waking up from being in an inexplicable coma for a few days, no less.”

“O-oh. I, err, wow,” stammered Nao. “I suppose that would have caused you to have some reservations about the element. But it’ll be okay! I’m sure you’ll overcome it and get the handle of lightning if you put your mind to it!”

“I can’t take all the credit,” she replied with a smile. “You’re a pretty good teacher, you know.”

“Eheh! Hehe…”

Seeing him laugh in a goofy manner at a such superficial and stereotypical compliment gave Boxxy pause. Nao had steadily been developing a crush on the redhead catgirl over the last few days, which was perfectly in line with the monster’s plans and goals. However, the same couldn’t be said about Keira’s. She wasn’t the sort of girl who’d fool around on her significant other, nor was she dense enough to not notice the awkward wolfkin’s affections. There was no way this could carry on for much longer.

Strictly speaking, it was already something of a miracle this had carried on for as long as it did. Not only was Keira’s romantic relationship with Rowana not a secret anymore, but it was still something of a hot topic within the capital’s rumor mill. Then again, Nao was the shut-in bookworm type, so he probably didn’t have a lot of chances to gossip.

His sworn brother Kuro was another matter entirely, however. He may have been rather crude and vulgar, but he didn’t seem like the type that would miss a saucy rumor like that. It was therefore in the catgirl’s best interest that she be the one to clear this up, lest she be suspected of stringing Nao along on purpose. The only reason someone like her would do that was if she was buttering him up for her own personal gain. Either that, or she secretly played for both teams and was about to become a cheating slut.

And, as stated earlier, Keira wasn’t that sort of girl.

“Nao, I really need to tell you something,” she said in serious tone.

“Wh-what is it?” he responded with more of his awkward stammering.

“We, uh, we should probably go to the practice range first. It’s kind of… personal.”

It wasn’t like there were that many people around. In fact, the place was pretty dead during winter since the very few adventurers were willing to undertake Quests in this sort of weather. However, the lobby was still a public space where anyone could walk past and overhear something sensitive.

“Oh. Yeah, okay. Let’s go, Kuro.”

The beastkin trio headed towards a certain room in the building’s basement, one large enough to be an auditorium. The walls here were heavily fortified with magic dampening enchantments and lined with bronze to further raise their durability against Spells while various target dummies shaped like common monsters were strewn about the place. This was a space where magic users could practice their craft without fear of hurting or inconveniencing others, and was the site of Nao and Keira’s private lessons. The chamber normally had quite a few people in it, but when the Hero of Magic requested to reserve it, the Broken Mirror guild that owned it were more than happy to oblige. His title carried quite a bit of weight within the robed community, after all.

“So, what’s this about Keira?” asked Nao.

“Well… Uh… Wow, this is harder than I thought it would be… I guess I should start by saying that I’m sorry. I might have unwittingly sent you some mixed signals and given you the wrong idea.”

“… Okay? And what idea would that be?”

“Sweet Brandon this is awkward! Look. I like you, Nao, and I don’t want to hurt you, but if you’re going to be like this, then I’ll just come out and say it.”

Her words understandably confused the wolfkin. He was happy to hear ‘I like you,’ but the context filled him with unease and dread. Which were well warranted, considering the bomb Keira dropped on him next.

“I can see clear as day that you’re… attracted to me, and while I appreciate the sentiment, I’m already in a serious romantic relationship, so I can’t be with you.”

“Oh… That’s…” muttered Nao, obviously not sure how to cope with this news. “So you don’t… feel anything towards me?”

“I do! Just not in that way.”

“Why not in that way?!” he shouted, his voice cracking and taking on a weird tone. “What’s wrong with me?! Is it because I’m not ‘man’ enough for you?!”

“No! For real, it’s not because of you! You’re great guy that any girl would be lucky to-”

“That’s what women always say!” he snapped back. “I’m not an idiot! If you have a problem with me, come out and say it! I’d rather have the truth than your pity!”

“Nao. She is telling the truth,” butted in Kuro. “This girl here? She’s a carpet muncher.”

“… A what?” he blurted out dumbly.

“She’s not into men, but into women. Really girly girls, too, the way I heard it.”

“So you knew? Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“I just heard it recently from the receptionist here, okay? Besides, it’s not like you would’ve listened to me with all the blood rushing to the wrong head!”

“That’s so not fair!”

“Neither is getting angry at me. I’m not the one you have a problem with right now.”

“Yeah, about that!” shouted Nao, his outrage snapping back to Keira after being skilfully deflected by Kuro. “How come you didn’t tell me sooner?!”

“I thought you knew!” she countered. “It’s not like I went out of my way to hide it! I mean, what sort of relationship do you think I had with Rowie for us to be living together in a one-bedroom house?!”

“… I thought you were roommates or cousins or something.”

“Lovers, Nao! We’re lovers! Girlfriend and girlfriend! The kind that take long moonlit walks through the park and do naughty things together!”