The Oracle Paths

This overview matched what Jeanie and Trash had pretty much alluded to, but Jake was still troubled when he learned of all these factions. None of these races looked ordinary and if at least one of these Vampires was like Wyatt, then the other races couldn't be much weaker to stand up to them.

Jake had personally dealt with Vampires and Were-beings, but his cousin Kevin wasn't necessarily indicative of that human subspecies. If these Demons were like Hecate, who was strongly suspected of being an Archdemon, then he had to assume the worst about the Demon Faction.

'This city is undoubtedly ten times more dangerous than Lodunvals.' Jake acknowledged inwardly. 'But, it's the perfect playground for me.'

A city with no clear leader, forming an independent pseudo-state within the empire itself and co-ruled by races hostile to each other. It was the perfect place to establish one' s own faction and recruit. However, before he could take action he needed to understand exactly what and who he would be dealing with.

"Bhammod, what do you know about these nine factions." Jake began his questioning. "Who are their leaders? What are their capabilities, their military forces and their aspirations? Are there any individuals I should be wary of?"

"Everyone in Laudarkvik is to be distrusted." The dwarf spat bitterly. "There is not a single good egg in this town. Almost every child seven years old or older has probably killed at least once to survive. You'll understand when we get there..."

Jake could think of several reasons, but it was still worse than he expected. If this city was this lawless and anarchic, it might take a little work to get some respect.

"What about my other questions?" He urged Bhammod, who looked afflicted by the traumatic memories he had of this city.

Caught by Jake, the dwarf remained confused for a few seconds, then with a sigh, he reported extensively,

"I don't know much about these nine factions, since I've always stuck to my duty to protect my clients. I never strayed from them. What I do know, I learned by chance and it is mainly with the ninth faction, composed of criminals, convicts and human merchants.

"About this particular faction, I know a few people. They're not all serial killers, thieves or rapists. There are also good people who have killed or damaged the reputation of corrupt nobles, or they are unwelcome personalities that the empire sought to eradicate. One of them leading this faction at the moment would be one of the bastard princes who is supposed to be dead. Prince Edric. He is a Half-Elf and it was his father who stationed him here with some guards to protect him. There's also the dwarf Gimdli, who deals in slaves, treasures and stolen goods; as well as the High Human Abbikesh, an illustrious general who allegedly cuckolded the emperor for years by banging his first queen before getting caught."

"A High Human?" Jake perked up with a jolt of interest.

Elduin and Bhammod were momentarily flummoxed by his genuine ignorance, but remembering that he and the other crazy woman were Guilties they found it appropriate.

"A High Human is a human like any other, but with skills, talent, and potential far beyond that of ordinary humans. Their souls are strong from birth and they have more HP than other humans. This is one of the prerequisites for obtaining certain Soul-Classes and they almost all have the prefix 'Elite' in their status. They are quite rare, but one is born every now and then. Roughly one out of a million. Laudar, the Baron with the giant pegasus you battled is a High Human.

"I see." Jake was more interested in that 'Elite' prefix. If the difference was akin to monsters spawned by a Dungeon Digestor, then he absolutely had to get that prefix, which he envisioned as a kind of slightly special Soul Glyph.

"What else?" Jake invited him to continue.

"Not much." Bhammod shook his head apologetically. "What I know about the other factions are generalities that any citizen of Laudarkvik can tell you. Laudarkvik has a high council from which it co-runs its half province. Each faction has between one and three seats on this council depending on their respective strengths. These seats are held by Laudarvikians who are considered to be among the strongest of their respective races, who are also often the heads of their own clans.

"Vampires, Were-beings and Demons have three seats each. The Metamorphs, Undeads and Dark Races have two, while the Astral, Mutants and Humans have only one. General Abbikesh occupies the seat allocated to humans at the moment.

"Concerning the Vampires, I've regrettably had to deal with the Thrajah clan during a mission that went haywire, so I know a bit more about them... The Vampires are divided into multiple clans, each with a Progenitor, or at least a very old Vampire who founded a lineage. The three most powerful clans oversee the entire race and have radically opposed aspirations and values.

"The Draculs are moderate. They do not forbid the drinking of human blood and do not condemn aggression out of necessity, but punish crimes severely. The millions of Laudarkvik humans under their control are safe in exchange for a monthly blood donation. With their Blood Thaumaturgy, they are reputed to be excellent healers and are relatively well regarded by the populace.

"The Nosferati do not engage in any trouble, but rumor has it that they are loyal to the Empire and their role is to monitor the various factions. They can divide their biomass into smaller animals, such as bats or crows, and if you feel like you're being watched in Laudarkvik, well, it's not just a feeling.

" Last but not least, the Thrajahs are one of the reasons why these merchants need to hire guys like me to escort them... They're Extremist Vampires. They have a harder time controlling their bloodlust than others, but they also see humans and even other factions as cattle to be enslaved. They've been advocating insurrection against Ret'Asi for a long time, and the Celestial City descent probably didn't help matters..."

All right, the Vampires were dangerous and not so nice. Jake could have guessed that on his own. For now it wasn't deviating too much from his predictions.

"You said the Were-beings and Demons had three seats each like the Vampires. Can I conclude that they are of comparable strength?" Jake asked pensively.

His cousin Kevin was a Werebear, but his strength wasn't on par with a guy like Wyatt, but could probably compete with a Vampire Noble like Seren. At least, back then. After that year of seclusion, he shouldn't judge his companions, much less his enemies on their past performance.

"I guess so. It is said that Vampires and Were-beings hate each other, but neither of them trust the Demons, and rightly so. In reality, it's more complicated than that. The Thrajah clan collaborates with the Demons, the Nosferati are neutral with everyone, and the Draculs are only on bad terms with the Lycans and Avians.

"However, the number of seats awarded reflects more the number of powerhouses a faction has than its overall strength per se. The Astral leader, for example, is deemed invincible, while the Mutants are discriminated against by all factions including the humans."

"Why is that?"

"Because in the unclassifiable we find all the hybrids and mongrels that the other factions don't want. This includes Orc-dwarves, elf-goblins, ogre-gnomes and other less successful cocktails. Their leader is a Dhampir Daemon and is hated by almost all factions. If she wasn't powerful enough, she would have died long ago. Speaking of which... You and Ruby would automatically be affiliated with the Mutants once we reach Laudarkvik."

Jake laughed in amusement at this. The Mutant Faction was about to get a second seat. At least, he was going to do everything he could to obtain one.

"Let's go then. You can explain the rest to me on the way. We'll walk the rest of the distance so we don't attract attention too quickly." Jake decided.

He reactivated his Miniaturization spell, compressing his body back to near-human size and appearance, and then as he was about to wake up Ruby he realized that she was glaring at him silently with an all-consuming intensity. Nobody knew how long she had been staring at him like that.

"How long have you been awake?" Jake asked serenely.

"Since the beginning." She answered with a creepy smile.

Unperturbed, Jake nodded with his back to her. She vaguely heard him mutter under his breath something like "Perfect, no need to repeat myself."

The right corner of her lip twitched imperceptibly, but the irritated growl escaping from her throat was impossible to ignore. She wanted to retrieve her sniper before remembering that Jake had it in his possession. Furious, she grabbed an ordinary knife and threw it at the back of his neck with all her might.

She rejoiced when she saw that she had succeeded in her surprise attack, but was dismayed immediately afterwards to discover that her knife had no momentum. The blade ricocheted against Jake's back without causing any damage.

'So this is what it's like to be under a Slave Contract.' She bit her lip as she clenched her fists. 'Even if he doesn't do anything, I really can't kill him unless he orders me to. As for him, he can order me to sacrifice my life for him at any time. Life is really unfair...'