The Initiate laughed. Felix Eyed him, noting his level of 34 and well beyond his First Formation. "Your Charter is meaningless. As I told you before, the Inquisition has your Guild by the balls. You either do what I say, or your Elders will have your neck. So please, do fight back."
Even from an aerial view, Felix could read the sour expression on Aric's face. He looked at his Tin Ranks, arrayed behind him in a 'V' shaped formation, with Kelvin and his shield in the front.
Flaring his Manasight, he could see wisps of their auras, multicolored and shot through with the green-gold threads of life Mana. Every single person down there, the living at least, surged with a riot of emotions. Felix could almost taste the stubborn frustration and smug superiority, as if it were all intermingled with their Mana.
Manasight is level 41!
Huh. Really? The revelation distracted him enough that he almost missed what came next.
"-you think happened here? Just tell me that and we'll go," Aric was saying.
Nel the Initiate smirked toward the two Acolytes behind him, before sighing dramatically. "Very well, adventurer. I think something very, very dangerous happened here. Something found these poor souls and tore their life from them. Savagely."
"This looks like everyday murder to me," Aric protested.
"How often do you see seven Humans slaughtered like this?"
"Fair enough. Still, looks like a gang fight."
The Initiate pointed, not to the bodies nearby that had Frost Spears sticking from them, or the charred remnants of Mehren, but to an empty patch of water. Exactly where Claude had knelt...before Felix ate him.
"Sorcery has been done here," Nel intoned. The rain pounded down and thunder shook the sky. "Its song is unmistakable."
Song?
"Captain!"
Aric turned and saw Deema pointing at the far wall.
They found the Elf. In the gloom and rising water, they had likely almost missed it.
"Trackless protect us," an Acolyte whispered, loud enough that Felix could hear it over the rain.
"This is ours now, Guilder. Begone."
Aric clenched his fists, hesitating for a long moment. Felix almost thought he was going to start a fight, but he held himself back. The Iron Rank gestured something in handspeak to his team, and they all trudged away.
"Be seeing you, Nel." Aric's voice was flat and low, his aura surging with tempestuous light.
"Mhm," the Initiate said, a sharp smile on his face. "Soon, I'm sure."
They left.
The Initiate ordered his two Acolytes to look at the other bodies, and he strode purposefully toward the mangled Elven corpse. Felix couldn't quite see his face from this angle, but his body language screamed his distaste. Gloved hands waved above the corpse, trailing faint wisps of colorless Mana. Unattributed Mana. Almost but not quite the same as the rainbow trails left by the beasts in the Void. Unlike what Felix assumed was a waste byproduct of the Narhallow, this felt purposeful, packed with a honed intent.
A sudden spike of harmonious chords rose through the air, punching into Felix's senses. He was so surprised he nearly lost his grip on the ledge, and only Pit's anxious trilling kept him aware enough to hold fast.
What in the--
Below, shimmers played about the corpse, until a green transparent form rose up from where it laid. It was humanoid, and if Felix's Perception wasn't fooling him, looked exactly like the dead Elf, except more or less in one piece.
A ghost? Ghosts are real?
The apparition stood and began stepping forward carefully, cautiously. It moved in a strange, jerky manner, and it wasn't until it jumped side to side that Felix realized he was looking at a recording of sorts. And it was playing backward.
The Initiate stood aside, letting the ghost Elf move where it would. The Acolytes didn't react however, not even when the thing passed directly through their spaces. Either this was the most normal thing ever for them or they couldn't sense it at all.
Felix was betting on the latter.
It was increasingly clear the ghost was battling someone, or something. Faint, luminescent marks on its body were wounds. They were severe at first, but slowly they disappeared in groups of three or four. Claw marks, clearly. The ghost moved all over the small space of the crooked alley, navigating the terrain with a enviable Agility, until finally it ended its journey at the mouth of the far pathway. There it slowed to a stop and turned, as if calmly regarding someone. Then it stopped, shimmering again as if on pause.
The Initiate grunted, his face sweating. He made two small gestures, just shapes with his fingers, but it was as if he were lifting a boulder. Veins in his neck stuck out like cables and his limbs shook. Then a dirge, slow and sad cut through the air. The ghost began to move again. Forward this time.
Do not be afraid. The ghost spoke, and its voice was immediate as if Felix were hearing it with his mind alone. I won't hurt you. You can--blind gods, what have they done to you? What--no! No!
With a ragged gasp, the Initiate fell to his knees and the ghost disappeared.
"Sir, are you--?"
"I am fine, Acolyte. Do your duty." The Initiate snapped at his underling who quickly went back to searching the dead enforcers.
Felix licked his lips and swallowed, but his mouth and throat were parched. He knew he couldn't stay here any longer, no matter how much he wanted to investigate exactly what this guy could do. He had already refreshed Abyssal Skein twice during his wait, and he was feeling the drain on his mind already. Now that the Initiate was clearly distracted by his recovery, he slowly climbed up the remaining twenty feet and over the edge of the roof. Moments later, he was gone.