Chapter 264: Family Problems (1/2)

Stepping over a few scattered clothes, I left our room, Althea sleeping soundly in our sheets. I passed through Mt. Verner's upper floor, the top floors delegated for only a few suites spread out by hallways. The people here settled down while night encompassed the day. Looking forward to a night of peace, I walked out of the hollowed mountain, stepping out into a waning skyline.

Finding several piles of craggy, dark metal, I snapped my fingers. The golems sprung to life, more animate than before. They still took a few seconds to fully form, but they didn't mix and match pieces with each other anymore. They created rows that stood as a battalion of sorts, about one hundred strong.

It was an impressive sight. Hard work pays off after all.

Speaking of work, I got back to it, messing around with the cipher inscriptions at my disposal. In the corner of my eye, Florence's friend request came through. After accepting it, I sent him a map of Mt. Verner. I also asked for a talk at some point over the next few days. Settling in, two hours passed in the blink of an eye, my work consuming me as I weighed over a problem with the golem's targetting.

A blip from my status ripped me from my stream of work. It was from Florence. He wanted to go ahead on the talk, so I sent him my location. Fifteen minutes later, snapping twigs and crushing leaves let me know where he was. As he pushed a branch aside, he peered down at me,

”Hah, you enjoy working in solitude, I see. You and I are quite unlike each other in that regard.”

I peered up, sitting on a flattened stone,

”This is...I don't know, like therapy for me? I love forests. Always have. I also like working with runes and carving. It keeps me at peace.”

Florence tilted his head, ”What? You're telling me that helps you focus? If anything, I'd end up depressed working out here.” The styled albony flopped down in a cross-legged position,

”No offense.”

”None taken.” I stared down at my carvings, ”You don't mind if I work while we talk?”

Florence raised an eyebrow, ”Certainly not. I'll assume your using multi-consciousnesses right now. I was never a fan of them, but their utility in certain situations cannot be denied.”

I frowned, ”Maybe, but I don't actually know what a muli-consciousness is.”

”Oh...How do I put this...they are fragments of your mind delegated to certain tasks. That lich was using them earlier, no doubt. That's the only way he could've handled that kind of workload. That and being a literal genius.”

I made a mental note to look that up and do some research on it. I looked up at Florence, ”Torix is damn good at working with numbers, hypotheticals, and magic. Since you'll be working under me, I need to know your talents too so I won't waste them. This is also an introduction. I'll be relying on you after all.”

Florence's black mask sheened from a fresh coat of wood stain,

”I as well...I've heard about you from your accomplishments and demeanor. Helios was impressed as well, and that means quite a bit. Obolis's impression of you shines, however, and that's means even more.”

”Well...that's good to know.”

”Isn't it though?” Florence leaned forward, ”You know I've been seeking Obolis's approval ever since I was just a cub. I still haven't earned it. Within minutes of meeting you, Obolis was sold on your bearing. Earning either of those two's respect is hard, almost impossible even. I don't know how you did it.”

I raised an eyebrow, ”I'm guessing you've tried?”

”Schema knows I have. I remember when I was a child, we were doing a dungeon clearing exercise. It was a simple sort of task, the kind that teaches teamwork and risk management. I led a group of misfits to second place, clearing the dungeon in record speed.”

”You broke the record but still took second?”

Florence winced, ”Yes. Helios abandoned his group and outpaced us, setting an even better record by himself.” Florence stared off into the distance, ”That's how it goes when you live in someone's shadow. You can stand as tall as you like, but when you're in the wake of a mountain, you end up lost in a sea of darkness.”

I frowned, my grimoire in hand,

”Sounds rough. That's the first time I've heard about school exercises like that though.”

”What? Your race doesn't educate its cubs?”

”Eh, I was born before Schema's systemization. I lived the majority of my life without any influence from screens and the eldritch. If anything, I came from a very primitive time.”

”Ah, that expains it. It's easy to forget given your position...Wait. how old are you?”

I frowned since I hadn't thought about my age for a long time. For the most part, time blurred together since I didn't need to sleep. I blinked, counting up the months since the systemization. If I included the time I spent in dungeons and rifts where time was stretched, then I was...Damn, I didn't know.

I scratched the side of my head, ”Hmm, maybe 22? 25? I really need to start keeping track in all honesty.”

”How long are the years on your planet?”

”They're 365 days, so decently long.”

Florence opened his status, doing a few conversions using tables of his home world's time. Schema could convert most computations, but some numbers required perspective that couldn't be handled by an algorithm.

Florence leaned back when he finished,

”I'm...older than you are. I'm 33 on your world.”

”Damn. Good job living that long. You're obviously doing something right.”

Florence blinked, ”By Schema...Here I thought Helios was impressive. He's a mere child compared to you.”

I shrugged, ”I got lucky.”

Florence grinned, ”Hah, so did I and so was he. We were born into positions in an established family. I was also given an excellent rank and title due to my talents, though I personally doubt what others see in me. Tell me, how were you gifted?”

”I spawned in a dungeon when the system started, so I ended up ahead of the leveling curve.”

Florence froze in place, his hairs standing on end.

”You...you were spawned into a dungeon? From pre-Schema to post-Schema...in a dungeon...That's ridiculous.”

I looked back and forth, ”Yeah, I know. It gave me a huge leg up in levels.” I banged my thigh, the metal ringing, ”It's how I got this armor too...Though, now it's my skin. Either way, it put me ahead in a big way.”

Florence pointed at me, ”I could count the number of souls who'd survive a dungeon like that on a single hand, and Obolis is one of them.”

I met his eye, ”You'd be surprised what you'd be willing to do to survive. You have more in you than you'd think. I know I did.”

Staring at me as if I said something profound, Florence nodded in silence. A moment passed before Florence scratched the back of his head,

”Your people, they're interesting. I didn't know what to expect given the nature of this assignment, but they are a simple, industrious people. Perhaps a bit uncultured, but what can you expect from a planet that isn't even a decade into systemization.”

I frowned, ”Uncultured? What do you mean?”

Florence leaned back with his palms raised,

”I don't mean that as an insult. I'm merely stating a fact. There are certain customs that are expected when speaking with others, at least in galactic terms. Each world is different in how they speak, even the different regions of a world, but there is a general, overarching galactic standard that is expected from most everyone.”

Florence leaned back against a tree, ”The humans I spoke with, charming in their own right, but they didn't know that galactic standard. It's offputting to snootier races, though I welcome the change.”

”Hm...That's useful to know. What's the galactic standard?”

Florence shrugged, ”If I'm honest, you're well past the point of needing to know it. Your gruff, direct speaking suits you better, and your position means no one will question it. They need you, so you can be at ease regarding politeness.”

I etched into the metal in my hand with a pointed finger, slithers of silver falling onto the ground,

”I didn't plan on following the code either way, but I was curious about it.”

Florence tilted his head, ”The most standard approaches involve a beginning sentiment for Schema, such as, 'For Schema.' You would then push your hands together and bow like this.”

Florence made a fist with his right hand and pressed it with an open palm. He leaned towards me for a split second before relaxing.

I rolled me eyes, ”I don't really do much for Schema. I've found he tends to give you just enough to keep you going.”

Florence frowned under his mask, ”I don't make the rules, that's just what most large businesses will do before meetings. Afterward, they often resort to the same goodbye gesture. During the meetings, oftentimes self-interest will be disguised as thinking of Schema as well. This creates a hidden sub context to many conversations.”

Florence waved his hands, ”Imagine it like this.” He coughed into his hand, making his voice deeper, ”This is business person one. Hello, business person two.”

Florence talked in his normal voice, ”It's good to see you, business person one.” He bowed with his hand gesture, ”May this be a productive meeting for Schema.”

He spoke in the deeper voice, ”For Schema. Now, our business is involved in mining within dungeons. Your mercenary company is excellent, but your prices are simply too steep. Perhaps lowering them would allow us to mine more resources at once, furthering Schema's aims.”

Florence turned, immersing himself in his imaginary conversation, ”Perhaps, but our mercenaries are excellent for a reason; they are paid well. If we reduce their pay, then worse guards will be hired as a result. These failures will result in missing mining groups, and that wouldn't help Schema, would it?”

Despite being put on the spot, his example gave me a clear, pristine picture of how those kinds of conversations were held. I noted that as Florence turned towards me,

”That was a very...simplified version of what you might hear. That's just a few of the general customs, however. There are also methods for defining relations with other groups, general attire standards, and acknowledging compromises.”

”Man, fuck. That all sounds painful. Why not just speak directly?”

”It's just how the customs developed around Schema's universe.”

I shook my head, ”Why haven't I seen these customs before?”

Florence stared up, tapping his chin with a knuckle, ”Hmm, you likely haven't made contact with any businesses. Your guild deals in blood and the shedding of it. That brings political leaders who understand your position. You also tend to sweep away with those pleasantries by getting straight to the point. 'Why acknowledge social customs with a backwater savage?' is what they're thinking.”

I raised my eyebrows, ”Huh. Let them think that then. It's better than kissing Schema's ass every three seconds.”

”It's a choice, that much is certain.”

I pointed at Florence with a sharpened fingertip, ”You also mentioned educational programs. We have those under Torix, but it'd be nice to hear about someone else's courses.”

Florence sighed, ”I was never a particularly good student, so I gained very little from the formal education programs we used. For the most part, they involved leveling standards, gaining certain generic perk requirements, learning about common dungeon setups, etcetera. I found that actually clearing dungeons was a far better teacher, but it is undeniably more dangerous.”

Florence stared at my grimoire, ”Compiling a grimoire with certain spells was also a part of our programs.”

I lifted the book with a sly grin, ”You won't find these runes in a classroom though.”

”Certainly. Those are the same archaic runes that Obolis tinkers with. They're powerful but dangerous. One of my cousins was gifted in those runes, and he created a spell that would give him a better handling of primordial mana.”

Florence stared into an abyss, ”In the end, his entire soul was siphoned into the spell, and nothing was left but a zombied, umbral husk that cracked like charred paper at the slightest touch.”

I shook my head, ”He sounds like he didn't actually understand the cipher. It's much better to use these runes to fully realize a subject you already understand, not try and further your understanding of something you don't. That's like trying to learn about explosives by mixing chemicals in your hands.”

Florence nodded, ”It is and was a recipe for disaster. Obolis said the same, but the old buzzard respected his ambition nonetheless. I would kill for the same sentiment.”

I raised an eyebrow, ”Then why haven't you?”

An awkward silence passed as Florence's face deadpanned. Florence swallowed before wrestling with his words,

”Huh, you do get straight to the point. Well...Hm...I suppose it's that I'm lazy. It isn't as if I enjoyed what I've been doing, the whole ruling worlds thing. It's a very dry, administratorial duty. It's something that suits Helios's talents, though not his disposition. I, however?”

Florence pinched the bridge of his nose, ”I was always someone who enjoyed parties and the like. Sitting in a room and reviewing an endless list of decisions made by other people...It's exhausting, and I couldn't take it”

He coughed into a hand, ”So...I escaped my responsibilities however I could.”

I narrowed my eyes, and I wanted to ask the guy if he'd run from what I'd ask him to do too. Before saying that, I remembered how I felt when I was forced to kill Yawm or wipe out Giess's cities. The more I thought about it, the more sense it made that he ran away. After all, responsibility was a hard thing to shoulder, and ruling a world definitely sounded like a chore.

I reserved judgment as Florence pointed at me,

”You must think I'm weak. I understand why, but please, try to understand my position. I failed my exams, yet Obolis threw me into an internship for ruling. I failed the goals of my internship, yet he appointed me as the controller of Belegara. I failed the standard productivity protocols for the planet, yet he still demanded I do it.”

I leaned back. I opened a can of worms bringing this up. Florence dragged his hands across his face,

”It's obvious I don't want to do it, but I still am dragged into authority each and every time I fall. Obolis, he means a lot to me, but I am not the person he wants me to be. I wish I was, but I'm not.”

I kept working as he paused. I stirred something up that he obviously wanted to talk about, so I just let the guy vent for now. After channeling some mana into my grimoire, I floated a few glowing cipher inscriptions onto a new golem I constructed earlier. Florence gazed on in awe, his earlier turmoil fading,

”I've never seen someone use runes like that. It's strange yet stunning.”

I scratched the side of my head, ”Honestly, this is me trying to compensate for how these golems are about as smart as cloth. I'm trying to get them further along, but they learn so damn slowly. It's a refreshing challenge since it's different then what I'm used to doing, but yeah, emphasis on challenge.”

Florence narrowed his eyes, ”What are they for?”

”To walk through dungeons and clear them out for people. They're not ready, not by a long shot, but they have the potential.”

Florence blinked, dumbfounded by what I said. He tilted his head, ”What material did you make them out of? You do know that certain eldritch eat dark iron, right?”

I grabbed a piece of my forearm before tearing the skin off. As I did, Florence gazed on in horror. He fumbled backward as I lifted the metal with a gravity well before melting it. I turned to him as my skin wobbled in a glowing orb,

”They can't eat this. This can eat them though.”

Florence gawked between me and the orb, his eyes growing distant. He stood up, walking over to me,

”You're supposed to be a soft, backwater savage, but here you are-”

I pushed him back with a telekinetic wave while moving the glowing metal away from him. He stood his ground, his feet dragging through the grass and stones. I tilted my head towards the orb,

”Sorry about the shove, but you'd have ignited if you got any closer. I didn't want your clothes to catch fire.”

Florence's jaw went slack as he let out a nervous chuckle. The cackle kept going until it evolved into a heralding, deep laughter. He laughed until he was letting out tears, something about the situation just absurdly funny to the guy.

It was my turn to gawk at him.

”Uh, you ok?”

Florence wiped away a tear from his eye, ”You know, you have a way of making my problems seem so small.”

I shook my head with disgust, ”Fuck. Was it that obvious what I was thinking?”

”It, in fact, wasn't. I was talking more about what you worry about. You're over here thinking about how to end the eldritch or stop me from catching on fire. I'm wallowing over some petty, personal struggle. It's like I broke a fingernail, and I'm complaining about it to someone who's starving to death.”

I tapped the orb of metal beside me with a finger, making the sphere wobble above my hand,

”Eh, problems are relative. If you think about it, my problems don't even revolve around me. I'll never have to worry about eldritch again, and you catching fire doesn't mean I'm in any danger. If anything, I have so few problems that I'm trying to make some for myself.”

I turned to Florence, ”At least your problems are your own. You have people that expect the world from you. Besides-”

I stared at a golem,

”Sometimes, it's easier to defy expectations rather than meet them.”

Florence crossed his arms, ”You'd be Obolis's favorite nephew. Of that, I have no doubt.”

”Maybe.”

”Where's your doubt coming from?”

I reshaped the glowing orb into the middle section of a golem using gravitation. Wielding a burst of quintessent energy, I flash froze the metal. It screeched before flopping onto the ground. It cracked earth and crushed stone as I said,

”Obolis and I would have butted heads all the time. Besides, I wasn't doing well with my formal education either. At least not when the system arrived. If anything, I was a lot like you.”

”We shall agree to disagree.” He brushed himself off, ”I hope you've learned what you needed to know. If you'd allow, I'd like to return to my new quarters to rest. This was a fascinating conversation, but we have quite a bit to do tomorrow. I'd like to tackle it with a clear, well rested mind.”

I nodded, ”Sure thing. I'll try and think up what you'll be doing in the meantime.”

Florence gave me a slight bow, pressing a fist against his palm,

”As always, for Schema.”

I laughed at his sarcasm as he walked off. Turning back to my work, I thought up what he'd be handling during our campaign. The fact he withstood my gravitational shove showed he had some combat chops, though that wasn't exactly a rigorous test.