Poison (8)

Otto descended to the cave floor in earnest.

He circled the pool containing his precious strengthening water, occasionally bending down to draw something on the ground with mana.

Of course, he was using his favorite method to collect all this water: magic arrays.

Otto devised a simple and efficient array to collect all of the fluid in this pool.

It wasn't long before the ground around the pool was covered in abstruse, blue runes connected by a thin line.

With a flex of his mana, the runes began to glow.

Suddenly, the pool itself started to rumble. Bubbles appeared on the surface.

After a second, liquid poured outside the pool in droves and into the blue runes, which started to glow brighter and brighter.

Their function was not merely to collect this liquid.

They also served the function of purifying, filtering the impurities they collected on the cave floor, and condensing the strengthening water to its smallest possible size.

After around a minute, Otto used <Stone Molding> to prepare a few giant containers of stone.

With another flex of his mana, a dense silvery, viscous liquid emerged from the runes on the ground to fill up his containers.

At this point, it was as thick as molasses, and could barely be called a liquid at all. It was the condensed essence of the strengthening energy.

The watery byproduct was also disposed of inside a different pool.

Otto repeated this process a few times to ensure all the liquid was collected.

But there was another surprise awaiting him at the bottom of the pool.

It was a giant pile of coins!

The coins had been soaked in this liquid for who knows how long and had turned golden.

They also carried a vague shine, indicating the presence of mana.

Otto inspected a few of them before he rubbed his chin.

Each coin had a tiny array inside of it that created small pockets used to absorb the strengthening liquid.

Most of the coins contained a uniform minuscule amount of liquid, a fraction of a fraction of a drop, while a few absorbed much more.

That wasn't all.

The coins were also heavily enchanted with magic.

Otto wasn't nearly as skilled in enchantment as he was in magic arrays, so he couldn't figure out the coins' exact usage.

But he parsed a few things from what little he knew and his extensive knowledge of magic in general.

The coins were enchanted to disappear when absorbed, and they also served as a holding container and a 'rationer' for the strengthening liquid when they disappeared.

Further, they temporarily enhanced the effects of the strengthening liquid seeping into a contestant's body.

If Otto couldn't figure out what these coins were at this point, he'd have wasted his many years of life.

These were the coins, hidden throughout the forest, that gave the contestants points!

What really surprised Otto was one cleverly crafted array hidden deep inside the coin.

When a contestant left the forest, the strengthening liquid inside their bodies would actually slowly dissolve into the air.

This array would then activate, forming a beacon of sorts to the strengthening liquid all around itself.

Once it reached a critical mass, it would return here, underground.

Of course, it wasn't possible to regain all of the strengthening liquid.

Some of it had to be used to continue strengthening contestants for the duration of the game show.

So, even though the coin's enchantments enhanced the effects of coins, a bit would inevitably dissolve into the bodies of contestants to permanently slightly strengthen their bodies.

It was just that most contestants didn't even notice such an effect because of the powerful enhancement the coins provided.

Once it was gone, they were weakened greatly. The slight boost they received might never be noticed.

Otto was truly surprised as he stared at the results of the creativity and ingenuity of the Throskarts.

'Really an excellent invention…'

His thoughts slowly turned as he noticed a few discrepancies, though.

If the coins were providing all of the points, then how did contestants sell shop items to get points?

He thought of three hypotheses immediately.

First, it was possible that each shop item had similar properties to these points, and were also soaked in this liquid to absorb it for various lengths of time.

But there were no other items in this pool...

Otto doubted there was more than one evolution bead, either, although whether there were more poison golems was still up for debate.

Second, perhaps each shop item sold caused a number of coins to disappear from the forest.

It was only, if this were the case, the prices of the shop items would be fluctuating much more than they were right now.

Since the principle of scarcity would cause the value of these shop items to go up correspondingly as there were fewer coins in the forest ring to delete.

Third, perhaps the game masters had a hidden vault of coins that would be given to the contestants once they sold their items.

Otto thought this explanation was the most likely.

Then, he shook his head.

Just another example of how corrupt this game really was, if only the audience knew….

Then, he smiled.

He felt rather pleased to understand at least a few of the mechanisms in this 'game' show.

He looked around. His eyes glanced over the purple clad woman's body that was also still dripping purple blood.

It made for a rather harmonious color scheme of light purple on dark purple.

Otto thought for a second.

It was unlikely the woman had any good stuff on her, or else she would have used it earlier when they fought.

Still, he dutifully went over and carefully checked each of her belongings.

Alas, his guess was correct.

Finding nothing of worth, Otto simply decided to burn her corpse and the evidence along with it.

Instead of casting <Lesser Fireball>, Otto decided to cast <Blaze>.

An extremely hot fire burst out from his palm.

The woman's corpse was instantly burned to ashes.

And the fire wasn't finished burning.

Otto stimulated it with his mana until even the residual water from the strengthening liquid caught on fire and started to burn along with the rest of the cave.

In no time, the ground where he stood was the only part of the cave left unscathed.

'Let's see how they find any clues when the entire area is burned to a crisp.'

A small, smug, self satisfied smile emerged on Otto's lips.

At this point, he had gotten everything he came for.

He shot up to the tunnel, using the Winged Escape array to fly up and away, leaving only a blazing fire behind.

****************************************************************************************

In a white room, far away from the island planet where the game show was hosted.

Three Throskarts stood among various gadgets and baubles.

These baubles came in all sorts of sizes and shapes.

At a glance, there were ringed silver balls, long cylindrical objects, cubes with what looked like mechanical attachments, and even a few that were the size of small humans.

They all had one thing in common, however.

A dim blue or white glow enshrouded them tightly, to the point where both the wooden table and the painted walls were shining as well.

In other words, these gadgets each contained an enormous amount of mana.

Should any Throskart commoner see this scene, their eyes may just have popped out of their sockets.

First, the gadgets and baubles littered around the room were all highly advanced magic tools.

Magic tools of the highest engineering, no less. None of these prototypes were available on the market.

It was a level of wealth that not even most nobles would ever be able to see in their entire lifetimes.

But the bigger shock was not the things, but the people present.

All three were clad in purple!

Two were men and one was a woman.

One man looked to be middle-aged, with dusty brown hair. Wrinkles lined his face, revealing the tension and stress that came from performing a high-pressure job for many years.

The other man was much younger. His hair was an unnatural, almost eery, shade of black, and his face was locked in an ever present smirk.

Only, his expression had never changed in front of anyone.

However, his eyes glinted with a hidden crafty light as he secretly stole glances at the two others in the room.

The woman, on the other hand, looked rather impassive.

She knew who both of these two men were. Quite frankly, she didn't dare to cross either of them.

The brown haired middle aged man was in charge of this project. He was well known to be quick to anger, though usually his decisions remained unaffected.

But to the woman, it was the unpredictable strategist, the man with the black hair, who she was truly wary of.

It was always impossible to tell what he was thinking.

There was a reason she was nervous.

Since it was she who had called this meeting.

She didn't come bearing good news, either.

Still, she was a professional, regardless of her personal feelings.

The room lapsed into a brief silence.

The three purple robed Throskarts gazed at each other, gravity present on their faces.

The woman in the center moved her lips.

Her tone was serious,

"I've gathered you here because a disturbance was sensed on Yzmar.

Our sensors picked up a large fluctuation in the poison levels throughout the forest at 04:13 this morning.

Poison levels throughout a section of the forest ring continue to drop."

Her voice paused slightly before she continued,

"The situation may be dire."

The brows of the young man standing next to her rose, even if his smirk remained unchanged.

But to the two others in the room, this was reaction enough to showcase his undiluted astonishment at the information.

After a second to process, the middle aged man took out a magical communicator.

Instead of earth's cell service, these communicators were more infallible, as they used mana waves to cover incredibly long distances.

He 'called' a few times.

His face darkened with each failed attempt.

After a minute, he couldn't fool himself any longer.

He spat,

"I just attempted to communicate with Agatha."

"There was no response."

He inhaled heavily.

"She's dead."

At his words that were practically spat out of his mouth through gritted teeth, the woman merely nodded.

It was as she had expected.

"It's possible someone found the hidden cave."

A minute passed in silence, as the three of them mulled over the weight of the information.

The middle-aged man rapped his hand on the table next to him.

His strength alone smashed it into pieces.

Gizmos and gadgets of all sorts flew into the air, then crashed to the ground.

It was an abrupt noise, but neither of the others seemed to be startled in the slightest.

Venom colored the middle aged man's quiet words.

"Who….was it?"

He was the one who would be the most upset if something happened to this operation.

It fell under his purview, after all.

"Find them. Reclaim the bead...."

His voice paused for a second,

"No matter the cost."

The woman interjected,

"Preliminary results indicate a high likelihood that it was perpetrated by a contestant of the game show."

The middle aged man frowned, while the black haired man's smirk widened ever so slightly.

"A contestant?"

"Indeed. We are still narrowing down the results. However, there are currently three suspicious persons."

Her tone lowered, almost as if she was telling a secret,

"Two of them are top seeded contestants. They are from 'noble' families."

A pregnant pause descended onto the room.

All three of them were aware of exactly how much a so-called 'noble' family was worth compared to the success of this project for the glory and survival of their race.

But before the man's face had time to relax, the woman continued,

"It is said that one….is a human."

A gasp echoed through the room, a hint of impropriety felt in its sheer volume.

Even the eyes of the young man widened slightly, unable to believe what he was hearing.

An undetectable twinkle passed through his eye.

But the others were in no mood to pay close attention.

The fact that even one of the suspicious persons could potentially be a member of the enemy race….the man took in a deep breath.

This was cause for great alarm, perhaps even on the level of a system wide emergency.

The man in charge of the operation felt his jaw clench tightly.

How could this have happened?

So quickly, too? There was literally no forewarning at all for such an unexpected catastrophe.

If this was true, it would be out of his hands.

He didn't dare to hide the information of a possible devastating leak of their race's most confidential secrets.

If he didn't deal with this issue properly….he shuddered at the consequences.

He himself understood that he would have no good end.

The council didn't take these kinds of things lightly.

His fists clenched slightly, as his brow beaded with sweat.

He felt as if he was trapped in a room with an invisible, raging beast that was watching his every action.

His eyes bored a hole into the woman's head.

Soon, his expression calmed.

There was no point in getting angry here.

He needed to spend this time thinking of a solution.

"If that is the case, our very race may be in grave danger."

His words conveyed a sense of justice and purpose, a resolution to protect the Throskarts to the bitter end.

He quickly commanded her,

"Spend no more than twelve hours to confirm this information."

"If it is true, report directly to the council."

His eyes narrowed.

"Now…it's out of my hands."

He had made his resolution, and the woman stepped out to follow her given orders.

But just before she reached the doorstep, the voice of the young man with the persistent smirk interrupted him.

Carrying the temptation of a devil.

His eyes twinkled, and a hint of laughter was evident in his low tone. Surprisingly, the other man didn't get angry again.

"Are you certain?"

"Wouldn't your hard won position in the council be jeopardized?"

His voice was no louder than a whisper in the small chamber filled with magical tools now strewn around the floor.

"If it really was a human, and a human contestant, no less, there are better…means shall we say, of dealing with him."

"In fact, I know of the human of whom you speak."

His laugh carried a slightly sardonic lilt.

"He is very strong, though…there will always be methods should you wish to seek them."

"Perhaps…we can recover this bead without alerting the others."

The man in charge was finally tempted.

He looked over at the other to determine if he was serious.

But the young man's face remained locked in that infuriating smirk, revealing nothing of his inner thoughts.

The middle aged man silently backed down.

He was the one who knew best of this person's inner schemes.

Even though his position outranked the boy, he couldn't help but admit to being a little scared of him, too.

"What do you intend for me to do?"

A smile spread on the man's lips.

"Now, now. Patience is of paramount importance when one feels the most frantic. Isn't there something else we need to take care of, first?"

Though no gestures were made, the middle aged man instantly caught his meaning.

Unfortunately, so did his subordinate.

Even though she had followed him dutifully, carrying all his responsibilities, doing all of his dirty deeds, and had never complained once in over twenty five years, this particular issue was simply too important.

She had become a liability.

And in his eyes, liabilities would always be disposed of.

Before she even had the chance to run, the man had caught up with her.

He stood in front of her, blocking her exit.

The door was merely a step away....a step that she was destined never to cross.

Without even a hint of warning or apology in his expression, he reached over to her, swatting away her useless resistance.

His hand landed on her neck and lifted her up towards his chest.

Almost as if he was bringing her into his embrace.

It was an embrace from which she would never wake.

He twisted her neck with a flex of his arm. The young man watched on coldly, not bothering to hide his disdain.

His disdain for what, it was impossible to tell.

It was only then that the middle aged man looked down, as the woman's body dropped onto the floor with a THUD.

He observed a moment of silence for his favorite subordinate.

When he returned to himself, his hesitation was gone. His eyes regained their firmness.

The young man stood across from him and spoke five words into his ears.

"Let's activate our…hidden card."