Corvayne followed June into the third back room of the bar, each a classier smaller bar then the one before. This one had a bar but only one table with a single comfortable chair and three for facing the boss. Perhaps of the bar, or the city, or the floor itself. Corvayne definitely felt that his levels were dwarfed by the being before him, but that told him little: nearly everyone in the city besides kids playing in the streets doubled his own level.

The man had dragonfly features but wore a suit with a dragon pin on it. Per June, he was a member of the 'Inner Aeiry' which he guessed related to one of the Kings. He wasn't expecting trouble, but for the big meeting they wanted their big guns. Gylwin was the real brawn here. He was playing a bag man, with glasses and a suitcase, though really his job was to also help June determine what he wanted via [[Unity]] and to detect early if this was a trap.

Which it wasn't. In fact, Corvayne by the end of the discussion, one that he expected to have been a tense game of cat and mouse, white knuckle negotiations, was instead getting everything he wanted to know handed to him. He was convinced that it was too damn easy.

Files on most of the high level members of the 'Fistful of Dao'. The way to the meeting site, then three paths to bypass it and reach their headquarters, one considered by the Kings agent to be 'Unknown' to the sect. [[Unity]] telling him that there was no feeling of deception, instead an eagerness.

Through [[Unity]] he fed June the question he wanted to ask the entire meeting. "Why give us all this so cheaply?"

"Our agents can read statuses. We are pointing your 'Level 31," A glance and nod at Corvayne "...at a thorn in our side to see why a multi-bracket being saw fit to note you. That the clan of immortals is a cats paw for a different organization as well. We look forward to seeing the 'Extremely Dangerous in a way most tower dwellers are not prepared for'."

They were out a moment later. Gylwin looked bored even though Corvayne could see freshly made bone weapons stocked. "Had thought there would be a fight."

June sighed in relief. "I get the sense we'd be in trouble if it did come to that."

Corvayne actually had a different assessment. "It would be to test us rather then a real engagement. Which they might still be doing. Are still doing, per their own words."

He used compass, first to check the Cowtivator they had left behind, who was still on their trail but far enough back that it would be a few weeks before he made it to Greencarpet. Using compass he could feel that Kirae and the Cowtivator's fortress were aligned.

Gylwin sniffed. “They'd find we more then passed what I sensed there.”

“Do you think they see past the chalk?” Corvayne asked.

“A few who I got close to sensed something was wrong. It was the same as when I didn't have a system spelling the 'levels' out. This doth... this reminds me of the old days. Cloak and dagger. Kidnapping. Psychos who printed everything on paper. Very novel that your going to try to negotiate.”

“I hope this is an exception rather then the rule for anyone that went missing after The Magus attacked. So... we send a message to our friends why we got delayed, and one to the clan to get them to show up and trade for our trader.”

Corvayne half expected some spy novel trail, or a drone, or anything, but it made sense that the reps already knew where they were staying. Instead, Preshe was helping Lady Blood Claw walk around the gardens they had set up. The building now looked like it had been carved out of a few very large trees, and smelled of sawdust and pine and fresh paint. Browns and rich greens with hints of gold and banners made it look cozy, compared to the tarps that had previously been draped over the exterior.

Preshe gave Corvayne a hug, and he waved at Gylwin and June to go ahead as he went to stroll with LBC around the grounds. The wounded warrior was using a one-handed training sword as a cane. Corvayne could smell some of the minty healing potions they had been brewing on her.

“It looks nice, doesn't it?” Preshe said.

Corvayne nodded, taking in the excessive flower beds. “We should do something similar when we find the next spot to crash for a while.”

Lady Blood Claw looked like she was twitching in pain, and Corvayne almost rushed to help her when he realized she was laughing. “You dolt.” She reached into her satchel and pulled something out. A piece of paper.

He looked it over. It wasn't a secret technique nor a spell scroll. “A deed?”

He felt a click and the inn snapped into place. Lady Blood Claw coughed, and made a hurry up gesture to Preshe.

“While you were busy, mo- I mean, Lady Blood Claw-”

LBC wheezed. “Just fucking call me mom if you want to.” A camo pink pattern meant she was in intense pain and very happy. Corvayne ticked that one off as a pretty rare combination. “Before you two cut me open again to get the berries out-”

“You could wear my pants and just breath them I'm pretty sure.”

Preshe looked sideways at Corvayne. “That's what Mosh borrowing them was.”

LBC looked daggers at her. “You swore not to say it! I wouldn't be caught dead in them!”

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Anyway, you two schemed and bought this inn? To try to force the same thing as our house?”

“That and a safe house the others don't know about.” Lady Blood Claw leaned against a wall. “You can't just kidnap someone from the Bazaar. Nor is it simple to track payments.” She huffed and made a hand gesture for Corvayne to continue. He had to think about it as they lead LBC upstairs and Preshe moved a table they had carved for LBC to lay on. Lady took a swig of “Nightmares Embrace” which, according to Mosh, was actually illegal on some of the tower floors they had visited.

Her breathing slowed and Preshe pulled her shirt up and tucked a blood stained and ratty looking enchanted sports bra out of the way where they had to cut. Her skin in sleep darkened, and he could see spots where plants were pushing through, dark bloody roots unfurling into green leaves.

He had helped with this a few times, but slicing into an ally felt wrong every time, and [[Unity]] fought him for a moment in the action until he reminded himself he was helping her.

He used a scalpel that Mosh had made, and followed scars of where they had cut before. Preshe and LBC had worked together to carve runes into the table that kept Lady Blood Claw alive, and Corvayne had to try not to think about the Raven doing this to his victims. He sometimes saw dark green before Lady steeled herself to drink the potion, her color for fear.

He tried not to think about how fragile any of the real lives he had ended with a spear were as he sliced the flesh of... no bullshit. He cut the lung open and brush practically leapt out at him, tree branches full of berries. They had tried eating them to see if that was part of the curse, but it didn't change a thing. Some blood clung to the plant from where it had arced through her. He did his best to be gentle when freeing the foliage and when he couldn't he mended afterwards.

It took half an hour of pulling nearly six wheel barrels of plants out of lungs that should only hold a handful of plant matter before the curse relented and they cleared Lady's lungs. The runes on the wood were starting to get warm, so Corvayne started mending and stitching layers of her back together. Most of the excess plants were used as compost, though some of them were planted separate from the rest of their garden in Juggernaut. Nothing suggested that once it was pulled from the curse that it was anything other then just a plant.

Corvayne felt himself getting mad. The Magus was torturing her for... what? Asking why he had dumped her in a tube? He had tortured Corvayne too. Was that why he had his own knives digging out of him constantly?

Preshe grabbed his hand, which he had been clenching. “It's okay. We'll find a way to beat it.”

Corvayne took a deep breath. She didn't understand, but he squeezed back. “Yeah.”

The next two days Corvayne did a little fixing up of... his hotel, and spent time working on his other projects. Training, two spars with Lady Blood Claw where she kept forcing herself to fight longer, and a night where Spears and Bell took him out for a nice meal. He hadn't realized that he had been working non-stop until he took a moment to sit down and nearly fell asleep in the booth.

He had plans though. For the Fistful of Dao, and for the Magus. Plans that his Curses were not willing to let him just act on.

He set the bucket down. “Nothing. Swinging, splashing, slapping... no weapon skills.”

Gylwin was helping him train, eating and extruding weapons both exotic and too mundane to really be weapons in Corvayne's mind.

“You should have learned either [Razor Confetti] or [Splash Slash] by now. Hmm.”

He didn't ask if she had been pulling her info out of other people's minds. As far as he knew, she had been going off to the library for a few hours or perhaps delving the tower.

They were using the ballroom as their personal training ground. Partially because it was close enough to a kitchen with a freezer for Corvayne to mosey over and attempt to learn [Ripper] or [Gattling Hook]. Given he had [Butchery] and learned it fast, he had hoped once Gylwin told him what each of the moves were he'd get them fast. Instead, he spent hours hacking a frozen slab of cow into shredded beef.

The thought of cheese steak soothed some of his frustration. It beat training for hours to just get bruises. “Is it a lack of danger?”

“I suspect it's a lack of danger, but skill wise? You are clearly also getting better at fighting spars against me with a bucket.”

“Maybe I need a magic bucket...” Corvayne considered the pail he was using, then walked it over to the janitors closet and put it back.

“We could try to find some 'Third' spear skills.” She said. “Or you can try to learn [Backbiter].”

Corvayne frowned. “I suspect given that skill, you have to kill something or many things by [Backstabbing] them with your teeth.”

He paused. Gylwin was smiling. He frowned. She smiled more, her perfect elfin face showing off rows of teeth.

“I... you can't be serious.”

“It explains why I know it and nobody else does.” She coughed and resumed her stoic pose. “So, you're going to kill some monsters with your mouth.”

“We don't have time with how-”

“They find the messengers guild, send the message, we book even if you don't have it. You have a backup plan, don't you?”

Corvayne frowned. He didn't like plan B. But he'd have it ready. “I don't know if I can't just fight it out if plan A falls through.”

“Thankfully, there are edible monsters on this floor.”

What followed was hours of Corvayne sneaking up to carrots and using [Backstab] with his teeth.

What Gylwin did not tell him is that some of the extra force it applied to the very dead carrot-knights he was exterminating went back into his teeth. So after sneaking around a dirty tunnel system for a few minutes they had to stop while he fixed chiped and cracked teeth.

“Imfh nevpher etting id off ffhis curfth” he said, spitting out chunks of teeth and trying to taste anything other then carrot. He was never eating carrot again, even if the monster tasted good.

“A few more then we'll call it a day. You are an exceptional pupil. As fitting as someone carrying my bloodline.”

Corvayne shifted to [[Vitality]] to assist him in regrowing my teeth. “Buff youff... bah.. but you canth-” He stopped talking and just drank a potion.

“But you can't talk about it besides to say you think we are related?”

“Vines shot out of you when I started talking about it. We need to weaken your bloodline curse before I can lay out what I'm guessing or it will rip you apart..” She seemed annoyed about it, then brightened. “It should mean you have a little bit of bio-horror DNA in you, geneticist meddling or not, so let's keep going.”

Corvayne wrapped his cape around him and switched to [[Agility]] and lightened himself, gliding in the dark towards sounds of aimless bipedal carrots wandering in the open areas of the burrow. He could not see any other activities besides patrolling. There were sometimes torches in the large room, but no signs of how they stayed lit. Probably magic.

Picking one of the four in the open room that had wandered too close to his tunnel entrance, Corvayne waited for it to turn then darted out and, without using his hands, landed a [Backstab] on the little monster. Except, something shifted in him and his face turned into a maw with rows of steel teeth. The entire carrot was gone before he stumbled back into the tunnel, then drew a regular knife and darted forward.

[Backbiter] turned his knife into a cruel jaw, something bigger then the blade by a few times over, and then blasted and ripped the carrot into chunks. When the dust settled Corvayne saw a crater carved into the wall ten feet past it. He felt some of his teeth straighten too. It felt... great... learning that move. He could tell it blew [Backstab] out of the water, and he had often won fights based on getting to something's back and blowing it apart. Did it eat some of the enemies life force?

He stood up straight. “We need to get to a merchant floor.” What would happen if he did it with an airfoil blade?

“We'll keep looking for tier three skills or weapon skills that we can determine how to unlock. Namely, you should be looking for ways to improve your signature moves. [Juxtapose], [Flows-Like-Water]-”

“That's Spears-Like-Water's move. I wouldn't take that from my girlfriend.”

“Fine. But [Storm Thrust] and [Leap Strike] both likely have something that could improve them that you could figure out. Maybe she wont mind if you tinkered with the Flow line too.”

She KNEW something. “There's a genetic component to the moves? No. It has to be... elemental or power based.”

Gylwin smiled. “We'll just have to push you to see if we can get another one out.”

They finally delivered the messages after three of the longest days of Corvayne's life. Spears and Bell helped him get into the truck and basically stuffed him in a bed. He had burned through something with pushing [[Growth]] to keep generating steps forward, but had earned three new weapon skills in three days. All of them what Gylwin thought were 'third evolution' skills that would no doubt be crucial if the negotiations-

He fell asleep before he could finish the thought.