No Need For A Core?

Mordecai had a lot to think about in the aftermath of Kazue's, um, 'interview' with Satsuki. For one thing, he had not realized Kazue could read so much across the boundary between their cores. He didn't mind really; he felt no need for general privacy from either her or Moriko, but he also wanted to not burden either of them with all of his problems.

Perhaps he had been a bit over protective there. One of the things to think about.

Then, of course, there was Satsuki. He knew that restricting how much he remembered also restricted the depth of his feelings, whether positive or negative. If he did as Kazue had asked, then those feelings would resurface in full, for good or ill. But that was also why Kazue had said to wait until after Deidre was safe, so as to not complicate too many things at once.

Deidre was a topic he'd been thinking a fair amount about, and Mordecai had come up with an idea that might act as a safeguard, should things go poorly. For this idea, Mordecai wanted to meet with her in a slightly more official setting, specifically to treat her as a delver. She had been delving after all, and had earned a fair amount of rewards, but very little of it had been awarded to her yet.

So he sent a message asking her to meet with him, Kazue, and Moriko in the Feast Hall, where many delvers received their rewards. It looked to be a good place to take care of a few other bits of business too.

However, Mordecai was not the only one prepared with a surprise. While Satsuki's presence wasn't surprising given the current relationship between the two, he noticed a distinct lack of her direct influence on Deidre, which meant that the technically enemy avatar was unbound. When he shot Satsuki a questioning look, she just smiled beatifically and said, "You should go first dear, trust me."

He did trust her, sort of, but that included trusting her to be up to mischief if she felt fit to do so. Well, best to move forward and see what happened. "Deidre, we have a reward for you that has several potential uses, and I'm sure you'll be able to understand the possibilities when you see the reward."

Kazue and Moriko stepped forward, each with a box in hand. Moriko's box held a somewhat long lariat necklace suspending a large orb of white crystal as a pendant in a style known, fittingly, as a pool of light. Kazue's box held a pair of upper arm bands that, while decorative, were designed to keep strips of the same white crystal pressed against the skin. Mordecai felt it best if he was not presenting any jewelry here, especially not anything that went around the neck.

Deidre examined the offered jewelry for a moment before running her fingers across the surface of the orb. Then she froze, her eyes widening. "This is core matrix." Her gaze then flicked to the arm bands and said, "Those are connected to this almost like they were one piece. So long as I wear all of these, I would be in contact with a large amount of core matrix." She paused for a moment and then softly said, "Enough matrix to hold a soul, if the soul managed to make it here."

Mordecai nodded and said, "Yes, if things go poorly, then maybe, just maybe, you could become an anchor for your full self. I don't know if it's possible to draw your soul along that connection, nor what would happen if a new core was suddenly formed inside of another core's territory, but we think it is worth the risk to give you that much more of a chance."

Moriko smiled at Deidre and said, "We talked it over and found it easy to agree on this. While there is no burden of obligation, we still feel like this is something we should do for you. Your suffering is connected to Mordecai's past, and in many ways this is as much for him as for you."

"Deidre," Kazue said, "please, accept these. If all goes well, then at the least you will have something pretty to bring home that can hold potent enchantments." She flicked an ear to make an earring of purple and gold crystal glint. "Like this one, which Mordecai also has a copy of. We crafted them so that both of our avatars could speak with our cores directly, instead of the normal more faint connection."

"Thank you all," Deidre said with a smile. "It's incredibly thoughtful, and I am happy that you care enough to have thought about it this much. And, well, it makes me more confident about what I want to do anyway."

She seemed much more at ease than when Mordecai had last spoken with her, but Mordecai had also been keeping a bit of distance from her. Given what he'd had to do when he took her prisoner, it just seemed like it would be easiest for her if he didn't intrude much. The many months that had passed since she had arrived here seemed to have done her good.

Deidre continued to speak as she put on the necklace and arm bands. "You go to fight on my behalf as well as your own, and I have felt frustrated at the limitations still in place thanks to the orders I was given by that man. But I think I have a way to offset those limitations more effectively than simple time and distance. Lady Kazue, Lady Moriko, Lord Mordecai, I wish to offer my services as a contractor with standard benefits until such a time as it is safe for me to return to my territory."

Mordecai felt the flow of power preparing to make a connection in response to her offer, but he also felt a barrier intrude upon that flow, disturbing it in a way that would make forming the contract difficult. For a moment, he thought that there might be a problem with an avatar even temporarily offering to be a contractor for another dungeon, but in the next instant he sorted out a separate pressure that represented that potential tension. No, this was from the bindings on her core, and that knowledge fueled a burst of anger.

He wrapped that fury up and set it aside to be used in a moment. First, he contacted their other contractors to verify their approval, as was their standing policy. While he did that, Kazue and Moriko had moved in to support Deidre, who had begun to shake from the backlash of her bindings fighting her ability to make the offer.

When he'd gathered everyone's approval, Mordecai laid a hand on Moriko's and Kazue's shoulders. "Deidre," the three of them said in unison as they focused on forging the contract, "Azeria gladly accepts you as our contractor." This was where Mordecai used his anger, turning it into fuel to burn at the injustice of the bindings holding Deidre and her core enslaved to the will of another.

Their will and power reached out to latch with her will and power, puncturing through the interference and forging the contract, though Deidre had to clench her jaw to prevent a scream of pain. When it was done, she collapsed, but Satsuki had already moved up behind her and was ready to catch her. She drew Deidre up and practically carried her over to a seat where she could recover.

Satsuki did take a moment in the process to toss Mordecai a smirk, and he tilted his head in acknowledgment. "That was clever of her," he said to his wives.

"Removing her influence, so that Deidre's will could be as clear as possible?" Kazue asked wryly, "Yeah, I figured that out as soon as Deidre made her offer."

Mordecai nodded. "That contract should also help protect Deidre from the influence of her core's bindings, though we should give her some time before asking if there is anything else she can tell us."

"Ow," Moriko said as she suddenly swayed on her feet and pressed a hand against her forehead. "I think I need to sit down too. That's what I get for doing stuff I'm not supposed to be part of."

Crap. Mordecai and Kazue hastened to get Moriko to a chair where they both did their best to make sure nothing was seriously wrong. But Moriko had already diagnosed the problem; she wasn't a core but had acted in concert with them as if she had the authority of one. The dungeon's magic had backlashed and there was nothing to be done for her except to let her rest. A bunkin had already shot in to deliver a soothing tea to Deidre, and it was quickly followed by a second heading straight for Moriko, the gentle scent wafting behind.

She'd only been able to add her will to theirs because of all the other ways in which the three of them were connected, and Moriko had also been doing her best to find ways to cover that gap and participate in dungeon activities that were normally jobs for the core. It was easy to forget that critical difference at times.

"Well," another voice said, "our turn feels rather anticlimactic now. Are they going to be alright?"

Mordecai turned to look at Nainvil and gave him a smile. "Yes, there was just a bit of an issue because of Deidre's complicated status, but they should both be fine in a few minutes." Brongrim was next to his partner, and Mordecai had been expecting both of them. "I don't think there needs to be anything quite so dramatic in your case, we've already worked out the details. You two already received all of your rewards to date, so do you accept positions as temporary contractors to the Azeria Mountain Dungeon?"

"I do," both of them replied. It was nice to feel the contract snap into place so easily after the experience fighting through Deidre's bindings.

A moment later, Brongrim shook his head to clear it. "Is it always so noisy?"

Mordecai laughed briefly and said, "Don't worry, you'll figure out how to filter it pretty quickly. Most of the time you shouldn't hear the voices of any inhabitants that are not directed at you."

He took the time to get them both started on the basics of dealing with the flow of information that came with the contractor link.

When Moriko had recovered, it was time to deal with the next complication, which they had to talk about briefly to agree on a slight change in plans.

After the tournament, the champion trainees had left for Riverbridge, which was the next part of their training. Amrydor, Yugo, and Taeko had left with their fellows so they could at least pay their respects at the temple, as Traxalim was their teacher there. While they were gone, something strange had happened, though Mordecai, Moriko, and Kazue had not been able to figure out what that brief sensation had been.

Until Amrydor had crossed back across the border of their territory.

"Satsuki," Mordecai said, "if Deidre's feeling well enough, you two should join us." He had no doubt that Satsuki already knew some aspects of what they were going to be talking about during the second meeting ahead, but Deidre did not. Telling her had not been in their original plans, but her unique situation combined with her now being a contractor made it feel appropriate to let her know. This first meeting she didn't really need to be here for, but she was a contractor now, so there was no need to hide it from her.

They adjourned to the rarely used office that was located behind the feast hall, which was where the smith Melchior was waiting for the first of the private meetings. He and his family had arrived in time for the tournament and Mordecai had been glad to meet the man, but dealing with that broken orichalcum blade was not easily done, so he'd left Melchior with a few options to consider. Right now, Masa and Tsuki were delving the non-combat path with their mother and having a lot of fun, even if some of the puzzles were a little hard for them to accomplish on their own just because of physical limitations.

"So," Mordecai said after introductions had been made, "have you come to a decision?" Most of the options Mordecai had given involved waiting for a while longer, and there did not seem to be any urgent need on Melchior's part to trade in the broken weapon. That wasn't to say Mordecai didn't want the blade, he wanted it so badly that Kazue and Moriko had both teased him about them being thrown over for a shiny weapon.

But it would be unfair to press on Melchior that selfish desire.

"Yes," Melchior said, "I think I'll take you up on the offer to sell it."

Mordecai made himself not react strongly and simply nodded. "We would be happy to do so, but it's going to take a while to pay out the appropriate amount of rewards. Hmm, it might be a little slower, but if you have the time, you and your family can simply continue to delve and we can give out greatly increased rewards. That would moderate the payment rate and not simply leave you sitting around collecting the next payment each day." That was the problem with rewards for delvers coming out of a daily pool, it was easy to simply not have enough available when offered something truly valuable. The dungeon's other resources offset it somewhat, but there was still only so much that was of value to the smith.

Melchior considered the offer for a while before saying, "That sounds like a fair plan, but would it be bothersome to delay most of the debt? Honestly, that much wealth even in raw materials is simply to much to deal with all at once. I was thinking my kids might want to come by regularly and there are some caravans that pass by fairly often. It might be easiest to just be generous with their delves over the next several years, and I can send a list of any materials I want or need with them."

"We can do that," Mordecai replied, though he was not looking forward to how much that large of a debt was going to *itch* until it was paid off. Thankfully, it would only itch when one of the people to whom the debt was owed was present, and it was lessened because the person suggesting the delay was the person to whom the debt was owed.

"Very well, a deal then. I'm still happy with the value we agreed to previously."

When their business was concluded and Melchior had left, Deidre was eyeing the currently open box containing the broken sword. "You two didn't say what it was, but that blade is orichalcum, yes? I've not seen it before, but I've read the descriptions and this sword is clearly valuable."

"Correct," Mordecai replied as he fought the urge to full absorb the broken weapon instead of carefully putting it into their storage. While it was useless in its current state, there was enough power locked away in that metal form to speed up the acquisition of their next level by nearly a month. But then they'd not have the sword in any form until they could make a new one as a reward, which would not be any time soon. No, despite the temptation, the wise move was to accept the burst of mana that came from fully analyzing the sword and recording all the new information it gave them.

She shook her head and said, "I find it hard to believe that he would entrust it to you, but then, I was forced to always give full awards before a person left, which caused some problems when too many people wanted to leave at the same time." Deidre flashed a toothy smile when she added, "One of my early masters learned to be a bit more careful with his wording. After all, one doesn't have to pay rewards to a dead delver."

That was true, but it was a dangerous truth. Mordecai frowned, but before he could say anything she waved him off.

"No," Deidre said, "I can see the thought in your expression. Do not worry, I know better than to travel that path wantonly, but I was pushed into a corner. So I 'balanced the books' as he put it."

Shortly after that, the three champion trainees were escorted in by Bellona. She looked like she was trying not to laugh.

"Alright kids, looks like your meeting is about to start. It's a bit crowded in here, so I'm going to get some work done. Oh, and Amrydor, good luck. You're going to need it." She clapped the boy on his shoulder and then nodded to Mordecai, Kazue, and Moriko in greeting before leaving.

Satsuki glanced after Bellona with curiosity and then studied Amrydor for a moment before turning to Deidre and saying, "Well dear, it seems like someone's decided to let you in on some secrets. I'm curious about a few details myself. Especially about how that boy got roped in."

Kazue shook her head and said, "We don't know that part yet, which is why we wanted to have this meeting with Amrydor. Yugo should already know the secrets involved, though I am not sure why Taeko is here."

Yugo coughed uncomfortably and then said, "Ah, that would be my fault. I accidentally gave part of the secret away, regarding the Marks. I only learned about it when, well, everything happened last year. Though I'm still not sure I understand how that translated into me having a dragon's lightning breath."

Taeko scowled at that. "Yeah, and after dropping that big hint, he clammed up and nobody is telling me the rest of what happened. It was bad enough when he nearly scorched my hair off last year with his lightning, but at least he was also confused at the time and not keeping secrets from me."

Well, this should make everything interesting.