Survivor of a past era?

Dia hadn't gotten over the implications of the storyteller's words when Claud scooted over.

"Hey, hey. What's the big deal about surviving ritual magic?" Claud asked, curiosity on his face.

"Do…you not know what ritual magic does?" Dia asked.

"They're super powerful magic, right? What's the big deal?" Claud replied. "Can't other defensive skills block them?"

"Normal ritual magic can be blocked by skills," said Dia. "But if you're invoking a god's might in ritual magic, skills will fail. Mortal moira can be overcome by mortal miracles; divine destiny must be defied by divine deed."

"Huh?"

Dia rubbed her forehead. This Claud didn't seem to have much knowledge about what skills were in the first place…but it couldn't be helped. Commoners were not privy to the greater secrets of Grandis as a whole.

"Skills are…blessings from the Goddess of Learning and Water. The activation of a skill creates a model, a model that then absorbs all surrounding mana to generate whatever miracle is transcribed," Dia explained slowly.

"Oh, so that's the official explanation?"

"Yes."

[You have met the requirements to learn 'Instructing'. Learn it?]

'Hmm, I think I saw some variant of this pop up before, Dia thought. Right, I did ignore 'Teaching' before…anyhow, this Claud seems to have a rather interesting idea of what skills are.'

"Just curious, but since you talked about an official explanation…what's the unofficial explanation?" Dia asked, curious.

"Hmm…" Claud rubbed his chin. "Well, they're blessings that are targeted at enhancing one's specialties. Some people find it easier to pick up and train certain skills, right? That's because they have talent in those areas. In contrast, if you aren't talented at say, swordplay, you'll take longer to see that box pop up. And even if you learn it, your levelling speed for those skills will take longer too."

"Interesting take," Dia replied. "But in that sense, doesn't that mean that it also enables one to pick up specialties that they don't have a talent for?"

"That's how some of us think of skills as, yes." Claud rubbed his nose. "For maximum survivability, these people learn skills that they cannot do by themselves. For instance, if someone has no talent for lock-picking, then learning it as a skill is a viable technique. In a sense, it is a miracle."

"That last bit does account for why things like Sword Fall exists," Dia murmured, impressed with how close an unofficial explanation had come. "It does also explain why the levelling rate of a certain skill varies from person to person."

"Correct. But if these skills are essential to your survival, having access to them once every sixteen hours isn't an issue, is it?"

Dia couldn't help but think about her overly-specialised skill set. As a mana-user, she already had an intrinsic advantage in combat. Her skillset just accentuated that advantage even more.

Was it a problem? She didn't think it was, but Claud's words also had their own merits. She was about to debate with him on the pros and cons on specialisation when he walked towards the storyteller, who was using some of money he'd earned to buy a drink. She exchanged glances with Lily, who had been watching their earlier exchange with interest, and then followed him over.

"Coli, old buddy!"

"Haven't seen you around for a long time, Claud. Thought your body was rotting away or something," the storyteller replied. "Glad to see you're still up and about. You have a special request for me today?"

To Dia's surprise, Claud beckoned her and Lily over. Lowering his voice, he said, "I want to hear more about Tot. The juicy stuff, the things you didn't tell everyone about."

"And what makes you think that I have something like that?"

"You always do," Claud replied. "Besides, didn't you leave a hook for the discerning to follow up on? How much is this…insider news of yours?"

"A good drink," Coli replied.

"A very fair price." Claud turned to the bartender and flipped a coin at him. "Master, bring out your special for him."

Catching the gold coin, the bartender nodded, a grin on his face. "Big spender, eh? Did these two missies move your heart?"

"Or are you interested in Tot, the Thief of Time?" Coli completed.

"Thief of Time?" Claud asked.

"Yeah, it's the new moniker for Master Thief Tot. This name was derived from the true object of his heists; Tot has, without fail, targeted lifestones of high quality and beyond. He scatters the spoils of his art to the wind, benefitting all who are poor, but he keeps the lifestones."

Dia clicked her tongue, having thought of a possibility. "Is it a five-fold mana-user on the verge of death? Or even an old monster that surpasses even Emperor Grandis in age?"

"Possible. Emperor Grandis himself only came to power six thousand years ago, in the aftermath of the Third Godsfall. It is possible remnants of the previous era still remain," said the storyteller. "And only such remnants, old powerhouses of an ancient era, would be able to face ritual magic backed by the gods with no issue."

Colidra lowered his voice. "For all we know, such a personage might even have something of the gods. The previous era was a mess; the skies fell and billions died. Who's to say that an old monster of the Third Godsfall won't have something rivalling the gods themselves?"

"Alright," Claud muttered. "This thing is too dangerous. If he's still in Licencia, I think it's time for me to leave this city."

"Nothing much is going to happen yet," said the storyteller, "so hold your horses. Tot's probably going to leave this city soon, anyway. Didn't you hear the reports? Tetra-folder Zulan Patra just left his meditation. He's the first Named to start moving. If this Tot's half as crafty as the rumours make him out to be, he would have left for another city by now."

Dia nodded. "That's probably going to be the case. After all, if such a mighty being were to fight…Emperor Grandis would probably make a move."

"Yeah," said the storyteller. "In fact, there's a theory that the only reason why there's such high value on Tot's capture is because Emperor Grandis knew that no one could capture him."

"I see…"

Dia, however, couldn't help but feel a sense of hopelessness. It was a bit belated, but now that this…enormous task had been presented to her, she knew that simply leading the others to seek out Tot would be a one-way trip. Beings of such power just needed to wave their hand, and only ash would remain. Only the fact that Tot was apparently the benevolent sort had spared Istrel from destruction.

In that case…it would be far more important to stay uncaptured, until Tot's true might entered public consciousness. If Emperor Grandis could be convinced that no one could have posed a threat to the Thief of Time, then whatever crime the guards present had been accused of would be pardoned altogether.

There was one prerequisite, however. And that was for her to remain at liberty. If she was captured, whatever punishment that came next would leave her, at best, hanging on to life. Even if she were to be pardoned, her body would be broken beyond repair.

"We should talk to the others before we decide on our next course of action," said Dia.

"Mm. There's no point in us all dying if Tot is this terrifying," said Lily. "Even if he's sleeping right in front of us, we can only kill him. Capturing an old monster like him will be impossible and foolish; we'll die the moment he wakes up."

"Quite bold of us to assume that we can kill him at all, though." Dia sighed. "Such a mana-user would have defences stronger than a city wall. Even stabbing through it will be impossible. We'll have to poison him or something."

"A master thief, poisoned…" Colidra shook his head. "You ladies sure dream big. If a master thief can be poisoned, they would just be a common thief. If you really want to try your luck, you can follow where the conflict goes, and hope that you find a random injured person lying around. That might be your perp."

Chuckling, Colidra turned back to Claud, who was whispering something to him. Dia, however, wasn't in the mood to hear about what the fellow had to say, and since she wasn't invited to this particular bit, she was going to let them carry on in peace. Besides, it wouldn't be nice for a half-stranger to be this inquisitive in the first place.

"What's wrong, Isolde?"

"Just feeling a bit dejected." Dia wanted to lie down on the bar counter, but it was too grimy for her to consider it.

"It's related to your…"

"Yes." She let out a small sigh. "But I don't really have a choice in this, do I? It's a matter of life and death for me."

After staring around the bar for a few more minutes, she got up from her seat. The sun had not yet set, but Dia was feeling extraordinarily tired. Faced with such an opponent, she didn't quite know what to think. The military and bureaucratic might of the Grandis Empire was one of her opponents. And on the other was the Thief of Time, a being suspected to predate even the Third Godsfall.

And in the middle was a little one-folder. The best thing she could do was to hide somewhere until everything blew over.

'Well, on the bright side, those three stalkers should lose interest in me over time…'