What are your intentions for my daughter?

Reader managed not to squirm under the look Lord Allbright gave him when they were alone, but even with Gamer’s Detachment it was a near thing.

“Well, Reader Numen. You are a fascinating individual. I must warn you that will not help you in the slightest if you **** my daughter’s affection for you”.

Okayyy… not where he was expecting that to go. “Her affection?” Reader repeated. “Si- Milord, I am genuinely unsure whether you are joking or not”.

Lord Allbright looked whistful for a moment. “Yes, she is a lot like her mother in many ways. If she genuinely disliked you, I assure you she would be the picture of courtesy”.

“Ah… well” said Reader. Come to think of it, he hadn’t used Observe on her since before the battle ended. What would her relationship score be now? Had he really made a good impression? Was she the fabled red-headed Tsundere that so many Animes talked about?

No matter he supposed, since her father certainly seemed to be. Reader pulled his fantasies away from the route they were going, focusing on the man in front of him. “That might be something worth asking you about” he ventured. “I had intended to ask your daughter for help exploring some more of these… Illusion barriers. But if our affection is, as you say, mutual, perhaps that would be ill-advised given our relative status?”

Lord Allbright looked up, Reader’s comment disturbing his reverie. “What? Nono, you misunderstand,” he said quickly, “I would not object to a… a dalliance, limited as it would have to be in her case.” He sighed. “In truth, I’d welcome it. Karen lost her mother at a young age, and I fear I’ve taken too laissez-faire an attitude towards her education in matters of the heart. I thought she would have explored this area on her own by now, but… your generation seems more cautious about these things than mine”. He sighed again. “In any case, do not adjust any honourable intentions for fear of an overprotective father. Do not trade on her affection, do not deceive her, and do not take what she can give for granted. Or if you do, expect to be made an example of, betrayel is something she will have to face eventually as well…“

Reader swallowed, but in truth, that was surprisingly encouraging – who would take a girl like Karen for granted anyway? In fact, he kind of wondered what the rest of this setting was like, if that was the gold standard.

“But you must understand,” Lord Allbright continued, “That a dalliance is all that can come of it. Families like ours have lasted as long as we do by valuing not just power but Stability, and that is a rarer thing in the Abyss. No matter how powerful a local player – well, let me put it this way. If your grandchildren are still building on your successes, I hope they will call on Karen’s in a more formal manner”.

“Well, I’m very flattered- Milord” Reader answered honestly. He was spared having to respond further by Reginald reappearing, one of Karen’s school binders in hand. “The young master’s book” he said, holding it forth. “And I took the liberty of copying The Emerald Tablet as well, in case there was curiosity whether the young master’s ability required a known language to function. Lady Allbright will be down in a moment” he added, withdrawing.

“All right, let’s see whether this works…” Reader said, using Observe on the tome…

Learn “Introduction to the Abyss and its Boundaries”?

You already possess the skill “Create Barrier”

You already possess the skill “Dismiss Barrier”

Upgrade? Y/N

Warning: Reading this book will expose you to The Order’s propaganda.

Warning: Upgrading a skill by reading a book WILL count towards your book total.

Book total? Ah, crap thought Reader, trying the mental equivalent of hovering over the phrase.

Book total is equal to INT*LVL/3.

“Well, that’s not so bad” he thought with relief. “Just enough of a nerf to keep things from getting ridiculous. And a good reason not to neglect INT.”

Achievement! “All the Small Things”

Gain extra information about your bullshit gaming powers by using your bullshit gaming powers on a feature of your bullshit gaming powers. Not bad for a Naked monkey!

+3 Lck

+1 Wis

“Is it working?” asked Lord Allbright, as Reader hastily cleared the notification.

“Yes – just a second…” Reader said, hitting Y and feeling the information flood his mind.

Create Barrier Lvl2 – New Terrain and inhabitant types unlocked!

Dismiss Barrier Lvl2 – Greater chance to forcibly leave a barrier!

He was still going back over it all, figuring out which parts were true, which were propaganda and which were just plain speculation when Karen came in, looking like a princess in a green evening gown with a high collar.

“All right, I think I can explain my powers a bit better now”, he said, nodding to her as she sat back down on the couch. “Are either of you familiar with the entertainment form called, “computer gaming”?”

Karen looked at him crossly, and even Lord Allbright seemed a little nonplussed, as though unsure whether Reader was taking the piss or not. “Peripherally”, he said noncommittally.

“The powers I’ve gained seem to all be thematically linked to the idiosyncracies of that art form in one way or another. You would say, I’d think, that magic comes from knowledge? Having the correct view of the world and its natural laws?”

Lord Allbright took his time before answering. “You’ve been reading too much Dan Brown” he said finally. “But you’re not wrong. Magic and understanding are inextricable. And you think you’ve gained some special understanding through computer gaming? That it happens to correspond to the world as it is in a way not seen before?”

“Or people creating them intuited it – that seems more likely to me actually” Reader responded. “After all, they all had to make worlds from scratch, and there must be best practices. In any case, I don’t think I’m… creating these pocket dimensions or their contents. I think all the things I’m accessing already existed. My powers seem more narrowly focused on accessing what is already there”.

Achievement: Secrets of Creation

Forty thousand years humans have been studying magic in an organized way, and you figured out something new. It’s pretty rare by now!

+500 XP

+3 Int

+3 Lib

Achievement: Spendthrift

Give away an important secret seconds after figuring it out without getting anything in return! You’re still a naked monkey in most respects!

-50$

-1 Int

That’s interesting thought Reader. He knew a warning when he saw it. Whoever was behind his powers – he was assuming Gaia for now – wasn’t unambiguously friendly towards the Order.

Lord Allbright must have seen his troubled look, because he inquired after it.

“Just thinking that if I’m right, I may have shared that tidbit too cheaply. Nothing to be done about it now though” he said, playing it off with an ‘Aw shucks’ air.

“It likely won’t matter with us” Lord Allbright said, “But you’re right to be cautious. The Abyss is a dangerous place, and most factions will see someone like yourself as a potential resource”.

“Father, may I?” Karen asked, and Lord Allbright nodded.

She passed Reader her phone, which was showing something like a game’s auction house. “This is the Abyss Auction site. It’s like a neutral market square. Type “male ****” into the search bar.

Reader looked at her with an ‘are you serious?’ expression but he did as instructed, and a long list of hits came up – men of all ages and looks stared back at him from the screen. “Was this where all the missing persons end up?” Reader thought uneasily.

“Now add ‘late bloomer’ to the phrase” she instructed. “Notice anything?”

“Yeah, the tags have gotten more disturbing.” Reader said, doing his best to maintain a poker face. “What even is a ‘subject’ in this context?”

Karen pinched the bridge of her nose. “Never mind the tags. Look at the prices”

Reader did. The cheapest one was listed at 750K, for an old man who looked one wet floor away from ****.

He handed the phone back. “You’re saying I’m valuable relative to what it would take to bag me”.

Karen Nodded. Much as it had been intended to scare him, Reader couldn’t help but imagine what he’d have seen if he’d put ‘female’ in the search bar instead. “Does your organization ever buy slaves?” he asked.

“Sometimes”, Karen said tonelessly. “When someone under our protection shows up here. Not otherwise though, it strengthens the factions who sell them.”

“Which brings us to this”. Lord Allbright set a piece of parchment in front of Reader and sat a very ornate pen on it.

Reader picked up the document and began reading, but Lord Allbright broke in,

"It is a protection pact. It acknowledges that you are not a member of a mage guild and won't join one, in exchange of which we will do our best to protect you from the most vicious threats inside the Abyss. You will also accept to rent out your services to us at a reasonable cost if requested to. It is standard. You have to sign it,".

“Have to?” Reader repeated. “contracts signed under duress are rarely worth all that much before the Law.” He kept talking despite Karen’s sharp intake of breath. “None of these stipulations look unreasonable given what’s on offer, but I’m curious what you mean by ‘have to’”.

“You would regret not doing so” Lord Allbright answered simply. “we wouldn’t take any action to make you regret it, but our deliberate inaction would embolden others who would. With skills like yours you’d likely be enslaved by a more aggressive faction within a year”.

Reader nodded. “This seems reasonable. I appreciate how much trouble you go to” He scanned the rest of the document. "A couple questions - why can't I join a mage organization? Are you at war with all the local ones? Who decides what is a reasonable price for my services? What if I am not available when you request my services?" he asked.

"Not all of them are evil, but because our Order is so old we have had to take out elements of most of them over the years. The lattice of pacts and alliances between them end up in a situation where we can't offer protection to their members without triggering a conflict. We will take your availability into account when requesting your service and their price will be negotiated with you. You won't become a member of our Order and won't have to follow its rules. Think of this more as an insurance policy," he explained.

Reader nodded again. “And if I wanted to start my own mage organization?”

"Providing the members renounce participation in other organizations and join you under our protection, we’d have no objections," said Lord Allbright.

Reader nodded, took the pen and signed the contract.

Ding!

Quest completed: Achieve 50 RP with Karen Allbright

+300 XP

+5 Cha

New Quest: Achieve 100 RP with Karen Allbright

Rewards: +500 XP, +5 Lib

Accept? Y/N

Reader hastily hit accept on the new skill. He could tell he was about to be dismissed, so he broke in. “On the subject of casting for hire, I’ve a proposal for you”