The stupidest way to hide your own identity.

Sure, everything made sense.

Melle and Noli travel to Kalkano. There they accidentally meet Vendi along with Jack who healed him. Noli notices his strange magic, gets interested, but both of them manage to flee.

Back in the capital, they meet again, this time only one of them.

Noli decides to find him on his own, goes to Kruro some time later and manages to find him, just as the whole situation with the dying children plays out. He then follows him to the island, introduces himself as Ilon.

Yeah. The more I heard about the guy the more I wanted to find him. If I was not suspicious before, I now definitely was.

But now I knew that I had to be wary about him. He was pretty open to conflict and murder, seemingly towards elves, but there was no telling if it was only towards them or just more towards them. Hell, in either case I was not in the best spot. I did have spiky ears, just like an elf. I mean, sure I was a crystal entity, the “crystal remnant” like some were calling me, and he seemed to be interested in those, hell, he was even trying to make some, so he would most likely not attempt zapping me on the spot.

Then again, if he was to think that I am an elf turned into a remnant, who knows.

I would most likely survive the first attack, but, judging by what I knew, he was able to use light magic, since he was teaching Vendi…

What am I even thinking about, of course he was. Melle already told me that her husband was able to use all kinds of elements, so no shit he was able to use it.

It also meant that he would be able to actually hurt me. The only question was, how much he knew? He did research remnants, but did that also mean the ways to destroy them? Hm. I ought to be wary.

The whole revelation distracted me for a moment from the problem at hand - as in Jack and Vendi. I was so lost in my thoughts that I only snapped out of it after Vendi finally stood up from the ground where he was still lying and sat in the corner of the room, right next to the door leading to the room connected to Jack’s office.

-What the hell am I supposed to do with you two…? - I groaned.

-I am only begging you to, whatever you are to do, do it after we fix Kon - said quietly Jack.

Right. There was still the whole issue of Kon being stuck in a piece of crystal, or rather a piece of me.

After all those stories and revelations I was not in the mood to try and even think about it, but there was no other way. Whenever I wanted it or not, I had to at least attempt to fix him.

While I definitely did not want to have anything to do with his experiments, if I wanted to fix Kon, I had to at least read through them.

I didn’t think about that before, but the fact that Noli and Ilon were the same person, it meant that Noli was not against the experiments on the kids… or corpses rather…

I couldn’t make up my mind. Was it better that they were dead or worse? What’s worse, necromancy or live unwilling child test subjects…?

Even in MIRE we had our rules, and while those might have been too lenient in some cases, we never crossed the line and experimented on the kids. Living and willing test subjects however…

The memory itself made me shudder.

But to be fair, if not for those experiments, I definitely would not be here right now, nor would I be a “crystal remnant”.

It still did not know if it was a good or a bad thing.

-Get the fuck out of my sight - I said to both of them. - I need to think.

I could see Vendi wanted to say something but thought that it would be better to keep quiet.

Jack also did not say a word, just gestured for him to go and they both left me in the room, alone.

-How much did you know? - I asked Kon, knowing that he’s been listening the whole time.

-About what? - he innocently asked.

-Don’t play with me, I am not in the mood. I am very well aware that you can hear more than just me. You let it slip out when we were at the ruins.

-I didn’t… - he said after a brief pause. - It was actually the first time I heard someone else besides you…

He sounded… embarrassed?

-I do not care right now. You heard the story. How much did you know? Were you from that bunch of the kids?

-Kind of…?

-Don’t you try being clever. My patience is already getting thin, and do I need to remind you that I am right now holding your whole existence in the palm of my hand? Literally?

-I know, I know - he quickly assured me. - I didn’t know the whole story, but… he also didn’t tell you my part…

-Your part?

-I mean, of course he didn’t - he quickly started defending Jack. - It doesn’t really matter right now…

-Oh, I will be the judge of that, because from the sound of it it matters very much. Explanation. Now.

-Okay, okay! - he was clearly frightened, be it by my current state or maybe because of something else. - Yes, I was also bought by him, I am not his son. Although he says otherwise…

-I figured that much after seeing your other face. Speaking of, is that…

-I’ll explain as much as I can… although there are things I also do not understand.

He felt silent for a moment and then started speaking again.

-I was one of the slaves that were being sold back then. I do not remember my parents, nor all of my owners… only the last two ones: Jack, and the one before him.

-So you are still a slave?

-All of us are - he confirmed. - Once you are marked by the blood, you can never get your freedom.

-I am not so sure about that, especially after the latest events that turned you into a piece of crystal. You think that this magic is still binding you even if you don’t have the body?

-I honestly have no idea… but I assume so…

-So what about the previous owner?

-He was the worst person I have ever met… But then, I don’t remember meeting many people… at least for long enough to actually hold a conversation.

I swear I felt him take a deep breath.

-He was abusing me. Or to be precise, he was abusing everyone. Whips, cages, whatever you can imagine. I don’t know why…

That took me by surprise.

-Some people are just bastards. Sorry I asked, but I still need to know…

-No, it’s okay. I understand. I honestly don’t care any more… after a while a person gets… numb to that, you know?

I couldn’t really fathom the idea of being able to detach oneself from something like that… but I’ve heard that it was possible, so I just nodded in silence. Not like he could see me anyway. I think?

-Not many of us were surviving the “play time” as he was calling that. Or I should say no one besides me did… It was just like a queue for death’s row. If not during “play time”, then… after that. Be it from the wounds of just by their own hands. Can you imagine waking up next to the corpse of one of your friends who hung himself after he came back?

Shit. The kid has been through a lot. Being a slave is one, but that?

-I say a friend, but to be honest I do not even remember the faces… the memories before I got chosen are somewhat blurry…

-I don’t need you to tell me what…

-Oh and I do not intend to - he interrupted me. - To be honest, the truth is I do not remember. I only know pain and… Yh. Nevermind. What is important though, that was also when my talent got discovered. See, that sick bastard did not love torture. He loved killing. He loved to inflict death in the most painful way possible. I even remember him being angry at those who died by their own hands, instead of dying during his time with them. That is also why he got angry with me.

-You tried killing yourself…?

-I had some thoughts, yes, but that’s not why he was mad. See, each time I got dragged to him it was worse than before. But, each time, the next day I was as good as new. At first he didn’t even notice, nor did I to be honest, but the guards did. Probably because he got mad at them for bringing him the wrong slave, thinking that they were swapping kids around… But no. I just was healing incredibly quickly.

-Wait a second. The kid that Jack saw in a cage… “pristine kid”...? That was you?

-Yeah - he confirmed. - Although that was a lot later. See, after a while, he got mad. He was not able to kill me with his regular “play time”, which made him immensely mad. He probably could just cut off my head and be done with it, but he was not that stupid. Seeing my ability, he smelled money.

-I can imagine… that skill of yours is amazing… perpetual healing? How the hell does that work…?

-I had no idea back then, but now I sort of understand. It’s not unlimited, nor is it some weird ability. I am just good at life magic, just as Jack is. We also both learned it in similar circumstances it seems: he when the other kids under his care were in mortal danger, and me when I was in mortal danger. While the results were the same, I am not so sure about the side effects… I never even considered them, but after hearing his story I assume that it might have something to do with my soul being still bound to stay in one piece in this crystal instead of being dispersed, as you expected…

It somewhat made sense, but his “side effects” were more like another upside of him tinkering with his own body… be it on purpose or not.

-In any case, he decided to sell me. I assume that was the auction that Jack saw me at, when I got sold to some other person.

-Wait, didn’t you say that you remember only two owners? Jack and that other guy? Who’s that then?

-Yeah… I mean, sure I got bought once more… but not really. See, that auction was actually just staged. I heard about it after I was moved away from the stage. For a second I was so hopeful that my life might be a little bit better. Who could be a worse owner than the last one, right? So you can imagine that my heart sank when I saw my new “owner” arguing with the last one and left to never be seen again.

-What was even the point of the whole auction?

-Price gouging went wrong - he said dryly. - The new guy was supposed to bump my price enough so my owner would be satisfied. He’d probably get the cut of the profit. But, he went overboard and outbid the actual bidder. Talk about greed…

-I guess that’s one way to do it… So thanks to that stunt on the next auction you got sold to Jack I assume?

-Yes, but, to be honest, I’d be sold to him anyway. He was the one who got outbid the first time…

-Hm. So he’s covering for you then… he mentioned that he’d never seen you again…

-Ah, maybe… But there is a chance that he has no idea that it was me. For the second auction, I was… ehm, ordered, to change my appearance. See, selling the same slave in the same place a second time might not be something unusual, but that does not give the seller a good reputation… Not like he had any to begin with.

-Fair. You learned that too during your enslavement?

-Somewhat. It’s just the same thing as healing, but… a bit more unpleasant. I had many opportunities to experiment, that was the only thing I could do, really. I was often used as a punching bag, be it by my owner, guards that were always somewhere nearby, or sometimes even by other slaves.

-Why didn’t you retaliate then? - I couldn’t help but wonder.

-To get beat up again? - he asked, bitterly. - No. Besides, I was never good at actual offense, as you are well aware. I might have mana capacity, but it’s always hard for me to actually create something offensive…

-Right… my bad… Anyway, what do you mean by unpleasant?

-Ah… well, it’s just… It used to be very, very painful. Now, I am a lot better at it and it’s not that bad… although it can be just that my pain tolerance is a bit off…

-Changing your body is painful…? Hm, I can see that… you are messing with your own body after all…

-No, the “changing” is not what is painful. It’s what I have to do to start the process to begin with.

-Start the process?

-When I change my face… I can’t exactly do it without… ehm, making preparations, for lack of a better term. When I was still in that guy’s ownership, there was no day that my face wouldn’t be absolutely destroyed. Cut, broken, swollen, you name it. I of course started healing it as soon as I got hurt, most of the time unconsciously. Until, one day, I started actually paying attention to the process. And thought to myself: what if I actually tried? Tried to heal myself… differently? Maybe if I looked different, I’d be able to run away? To hide as someone else…? And alas, I succeeded. Too bad that it didn’t help. Of course they knew it was me, although at first they could not believe their eyes.

-You managed to fool me. Your captors had to be quite clever…

-Nah. It was a lot more mundane than you think. When you put one person in a cell alone and the next day you find someone else in the same cell, you sort of question things. But one beating session later and me unconsciously healing back to normal, they managed to piece the two and two together.

-Oh. I am stupid. So wait, to change your face, you literally have to maim yourself? Talk about painful ability…

-Not only face. I can change whatever I want about whoever I want. I do have to destroy whatever I change first, though.

-Useful. And taxing.

-Eh, it’s not that bad. After a lot of practice, I don’t need to literally smash my face into a wall to attempt changing it though, I just do the damage with magic.

-And you said you don’t know any offensive magic…

-Oh, sure I do know how to destroy a body. But only mine. Quite the offensive magic, isn’t it?

-Have you actually… changed someone else? - I asked, suddenly curious.

-Besides healing, or restoring some cut off fingers, just once. But I don't think that helped much…

-Who was that?

-It was actually not so long later after I realized that I can change my own face.

-So a slave then. What, you wanted to help him run away?

-It was just that one time… I was rarely put together with other slaves after they learned my abilities. But sometimes, they just didn’t have enough space. Usually, it meant that my owner had just killed one of us and their usual ways of disposing of the bodies were unavailable. I thought it was the case then: yet another night spent with a bloody corpse as a cellmate. I didn’t really care much any more, but I was curious who that was, so during the night, when I was left alone, I tried looking at their face. It was hidden within their long hair, bloody and stuck to the face, so I actually tried to move it away, preparing to see another very unpleasant “artwork” of my owner. I got what I wanted. But that was not what was important. What shook me was that they were still alive.

-I don’t know what got into me - he continued after a brief moment of silence. - But I healed them. The only thing was, I never knew what they were looking like… so I subconsciously made them a new face, using the one face I knew for sure how: mine. The spell was effective and in front of me was laying a splitting image of me, just like a mirror. I even managed to heal all their other wounds and reshaped the rest of the body as well.

-Oh…

-Yeah, it ended badly. You can imagine how much confusion that brought to the dungeons. But their way of dealing with it was as dense as it was effective. They just did the same thing as when they discovered my ability: they beat us both half to death. Or in the case of unfortunate not-me, to death. I only managed to survive thanks to my healing, although, that was the time that I really, really wanted to die. Those tortures were meant for me. That death was meant for me. I, in my stupidity, not only brought them back from the brink of release to that hell of ours, I dragged them into even worse: my personal one. Since that day, I never even thought of changing someone else. I barely even changed myself.

He, again, went quiet.