The Infinite Bk. 03 Ch. 09

"W-w-what is it?" he stammered, still trying to process these past traumatic minutes.

"This is my good friend, Mr. Elutrin. Go on, give it a try. You'll like it." Mark accepted the pipe and match with shaky hands, but hesitated, causing the wolf to growl. "I'm offering you a gift, Mark. You're being rude."

Weeping in fear, Mark put the pipe in his mouth, lit the herb, and inhaled deeply.

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"Elutrin? I don't understand. What is this?" Cyrilo asked, examining Noah's newest alchemic creation. Making the unremarkable powder had taken the combination of several different ingredients, few of which she recognized.

"Where I come from, it's the most addictive substance in the world. I'm sure Daniel has told you about his problems in his previous life. That was from a drug called heroin, but this is much, much worse. He didn't know about it, and I suggest you make sure he stays that way. You take it once, and you'll crave it for the rest of your life. After a few separate uses, your body becomes so dependent on it that you need to take it multiple times a day or suffer horrific, unending pain. They say it's less excruciating to starve to death than to try and go clean. This absolutely destroyed communities, cities, and entire countries. This is the answer to your financial troubles."

"After hearing you describe it, I want nothing to do with it. You expect me to sell this stuff to the citizens of Colbrand?"

"You're not going to sell it to them. I'm going to sell it to just one person, the richest cadet at the academy, and he alone is going to pay you back for all the financial damage you've suffered."

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Mark was laughing in happiness as he took hit after hit from the pipe, each breath pushing him further and further into euphoric delirium.

"So, what do you think?" Noah asked.

"I've never felt like this before. I feel like I've grown a hundred dicks, and a hundred women are all sucking me off at once!"

"I told you you'd like it."

Mark emptied the pipe quickly and started licking the ash to try and keep his buzz going. "More! I need more!"

"Here, this will hold you over for a bit." Noah handed him a spoonful of Elutrin, wrapped in parchment. "Just add a pinch to your gonlief, and you'll be set. The first taste is free, so if you want more, you'll have to buy it. I'll be here at this time every seven days to sell you more. However, I don't have enough to sell to others, so if you don't want to run out, you'd better not tell anyone. Understand?"

"Yes! Sure! Of course! Thank you!"

Noah walked away, leaving Mark to stew in his madness. Once he was alone, he dispelled the illusionary wolf and removed his bandage disguise. Noah remembered returning to the academy after the Knight's Sheath burned down and seeing Galvin smirking at him. Galvin was smart enough not to say anything that could incriminate him, but he was clearly responsible. Still, Noah had to be completely sure before proceeding, and now that he had that assurance, he could exact his revenge. Mark's fate was sealed, and there were three more to punish. He'd get to them in time. Noah knew how to be patient.

Over the coming months, life that the academy improved for Noah. He continued with his studies to advance his alchemic arsenal and search for clues to time magic. Alexis and Sophia were there to help with his alchemy, breaking down and combining various ingredients for his other projects, and he, in turn, assisted them in their own research. They had yet to fully rectify their relationship, but he saw them steadily closing the distance. Still, he was careful around Sophia. He saw the way she looked at him, the feelings bubbling within her. He made sure to never be alone with her, to always keep Alexis between them.

As for Lady Zodiac, the two of them had to continue to play student and teacher, concealing their plans to leave Colbrand. They were both under constant scrutiny, so they couldn't talk much, but the air had been cleared between them, and the tension was gone. All they had to do was wait.

As this was going on, Noah continued selling Elutrin to Mark, each dose making him more dependent and less willful, while his performance during lessons plummeted. He was smoking several times a day to feed his addiction, which was turning into a fortune for Noah. Mark was the son of the most powerful shipping magnate in Uther, and had a bad habit of throwing money around to get what he wanted. He would quite literally take what he wanted, break everything else, and hurl coins at people as hard as he could, as though firing them from a blunderbuss.

That said, as Noah raised the price more and more, Mark eventually ran out of his own money and started stealing from his family, often paying for drugs with jewelry and antiques made of precious metals and gems. Noah had to draw the line when he tried to trade a painting for drugs. Mark also paid with information regarding Galvin and the others, spilling every secret he had to get high. Noah kept some of the money for himself and gave Cyrilo the rest. When spring reached full bloom, he met with Cyrilo and laid out the next stage of his plan.

"I see you've managed to return to business as usual. I think you have more girls now than before the fire," he said, sitting with her in her office.

"This mansion has so many rooms, I had to fill them up, or I'd just be wasting money. Besides, it's easy to find women willing to sell themselves. The challenge is separating the whores from the courtesans."

"Speaking of money..." Noah took out a sack of coins and laid it on the table. "Courtesy of Mark Saveat."

"How goes your plans against the other three?"

"Henryk Schtern has already been taken care of."

"The first day he came here, he asked for the youngest girl I had and was rather disappointed with my selection while glancing at the maids. When he found out about my curse, he tried to hire me for service at a specific time of night, if you get my drift. I immediately didn't like him. So what did you do?"

"Remember how you broke down all that clinker waste I gathered from the blacksmiths? One of the elements salvaged was called titanium. I used it to fashion a small pin..."

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Picking the lock and sneaking into Henryk's room was easy, almost disappointingly so. It was the middle of the night, so everyone was asleep, and by channeling his mana into the door, Noah could eliminate all sound. Before entering, he checked for any latent spells, tripwires, or other traps, but found nothing. He slipped in and closed the door behind him, then removed a rag and bottle from his pocket. Chloroform, the fibers soaked it up greedily.

Noah approached Henryk's bed and grabbed his face with the rag. The sudden force woke him up, only for him to lose consciousness once more. Noah had to see him blackout to make sure the vapor had done as it needed to. Once he was out cold, Noah flipped him onto his stomach, facedown. The back of Henryk's neck was sterilized and anesthetized, and with a sterile blade, Noah made a small incision.

The next part was rather tricky, and it had been a while since Noah did it. He took the titanium pin and drove it into Henryk's spinal column with steady hands. Slipping it between the vertebrae was easy, but it took all of Noah's focus to get the angle right and strike the specific nerve. Henryk's body spasmed as it went in and then became still. He was still breathing, but there was no reaction no matter where Noah poked him with his knife. He was completely paralyzed from the neck down. Noah closed the wound on his neck, eliminated all traces of his presence, and disappeared.

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"You should have heard him screaming the next morning, crying that he couldn't move. Sir Kiev thought he was just lying to get out of running laps, but Henryk was limp as a rag and couldn't feel anything below the neck. No one had any clue what was wrong with him, and no matter what the healers did to try and help him, they couldn't undo the damage. He was taken away and won't be returning. Instead, he's going to spend the rest of his life bedridden, unable to do anything for himself."

Cyrilo, who had once burned with such fury towards Galvin and his friends, as well as towards Noah, now seemed conflicted. "When you told me you had plans for vengeance, I didn't think they'd be like this. If you could sneak into his room and put a pin in his neck, why not just slit his throat?"

"Because I want him to suffer, and he can't do that if he's dead. According to Mark, Henryk was the one playing lookout in the parlor that day. He was waiting for me to show up, and when I did, he left to tell Galvin. Well, now he can spend the rest of his life looking at the same spot on his ceiling while his family and caretakers neglect and abuse him. I wonder which will degenerate first, his mind or his body?"

"Is this something you have done before? Perhaps in your old world?"

"I have experience, yes."

"I fear to ask what you have in store for the princes."

"Need I remind you how many people died or were wounded in that fire? The fire that destroyed your home and research? Don't start getting soft on me. Seraph will have to wait for a bit. Right now, I'm going to focus on Galvin, and the first step to getting back at him is simple. We're going to throw a party."

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With the warmth of spring, the melting of the snow allowed for a new shift in the weapon classes: horseback riding. Most people in this world learned to ride horses at a young age, but what the cadets were being taught was mounted combat. Lancing, cavalry formation, and target practice were drilled into them while their steeds mashed the muddy ground. On this day, Noah and the rest of the sword class met Valia in the field with some horses, a typical scene. What was not typical were the line of barrels running through the field and the stacked academy shields by her feet.

"Today, you are going to be incorporating shield-use into your riding. I know that you've already been trained in how to block incoming projectiles. Well, the principle is basically the same. You're going to ride down a gauntlet with attacks coming from one side, courtesy of your fellow cadets, and a row of targets on the other. You have to defend yourself and your horse with your shield, as well as strike down your targets with your sword.

Unfortunately, the academy horses are too valuable and important to risk getting injured by snowballs or clumps of mud like you used in your original shield class, so the higher-ups selected a lighter, softer arsenal." She put her hand on one of the barrels and shuddered, then removed the lid, letting a horrid stench loose. The barrel was filled with dead rats, repulsing the cadets. "We also have lumps of monster flesh and organs, courtesy of the local butchers and their rejection bins. I say again, this was not my idea."

The cadets looked at the barrels with grimaces and twisted stomachs, but orders were orders, and all the combat classes were doing the same thing. Two lanes were set up with cadets standing beside the barrels, ready to throw. The targets the riders would be slicing came from the same place as the putrid ammo. Severed heads belonging to monsters and livestock were set on pikes at varied heights. Some of them had broken helmets or pieces of wood attached to make for a harder swing, or the pikes would be pointed at the cadets as though held by enemy troops.

The first two riders got ready, each nervous as could be. They had suffered grueling training regiments and duels with their fellow cadets, but this right here was a nightmare come to life. Valia raised her arm, and the cadets by the barrels each grabbed something dead to throw. Many tried to do so with as little actual contact as possible, holding the rats by their tails with two fingers.

"Begin!" Valia shouted.

The two riders took off, holding out their swords and beginning to chop through their targets. Then came the mess. Tossing dead animals wasn't something anyone was good at, but thanks to their spear lessons, the cadets had experience throwing things with great force and accuracy. The dead rats would bounce off whatever they hit, while the more nondescript viscera tended to splatter and stick. They were soft enough not to cause harm, but their smell and repulsiveness were sufficient to make numerous cadets retch. It could not be denied that this was excellent preparation for the gore and chaos of battle.

"This might be the worst class we've ever had," Alexis said while trying to pull her sleeves back with her teeth. All the cadets, not busy throwing, were doing the same thing, trying to keep their uniforms clean until it was their turn to ride, but it was an unwinnable battle.

"I wish someone would appear at the end of the lesson and say this was a prank of some kind," said Noah. "At least then, I could appreciate the creative effort put in to make us suffer."

From the barrel beside him, he picked up a heart, probably belonging to a cow or something. A cadet was riding down the line, having mostly avoided getting hit. Noah pulled his arm back and threw the cow's heart like a football, hitting the cadet in the face with enough force to burst like a water balloon and knock him off the horse. Groans of horror were released by many, with all faces now contorted in a wince.

"Were you aiming for his head?" said Alexis with a shudder.

"I swear, I thought he'd block it. I'm starting to understand why the academy has been swarming with crows and seagulls the last few days. Apparently, this is a yearly feeding frenzy. This is like Knight's Day for them."

"It explains why the training fields are so lush. I'm not sure I'll be able to eat lunch after this."

This exercise was repeated every day for a week. On Friday, Noah once more took his turn to ride. He was hitting all his targets and blocking all the rats, but in this exercise, no matter how well he did, he still came away smelling like death. At one point, he got a deep whiff of low tide when a rotting fish exploded against his shield. It was certainly enough to make the cadets miss digging the pit in shield class. He was the last in the class to finish the gauntlet, and once he was done, they all gathered around Valia to receive their scores. If they hit a target, they gained a point, and if their bodies or horses were hit by thrown viscera, they lost points. The results were expected.

"Noah wins again," one cadet muttered.

"Just once, just fucking once..." another began to curse.

"Next time, I swear I'll beat you," said Alexis.

"This just isn't fair," Ken Rilgis added.

"And yet I smell just as bad as the rest of you," Noah said out loud. "Let that be a lesson to you kids. Hard work and effort never pay off."

This was the norm in class. Despite their agreement to work together, Valia would still give him a hard time if he held anything back, so any kind of contest or scorekeeping put him in the limelight. For the first half of the year, few minded Noah being at the top of the class, but resentment was building now that it was every day. Only Alexis and Ken came close enough to nip at his tail, and Alexis had some sharp teeth.

"Now, now, you should all be focusing on how to improve," said Valia. "Look to the person with the score just above yours. They are your goal, the clue in the riddle of how to get stronger. If someone is better than you at something, it just means you have room to grow. Your sword is more than a weapon; it is a path through your life. Those who think themselves to be at the pinnacle of their strength, whether it's from hubris or hopelessness, have fallen off the path, lost until they are either humbled or encouraged."

Unfortunately, most of the class wasn't paying much attention. At the moment, everyone was just thinking about getting to the bathhouse.

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"My Lady, a package has arrived for you," said the butler, kneeling before Ziradith Herald in the master bedroom of her mansion. He held what looked like a pillow wrapped in paper upon his outstretched hands. The duchess, so rare to smile, showed some slight interest. Her sense of greed was tickled by the thought of any possession she might add to her collection.

"I will take it. You are dismissed."

The butler backed out of the room, and Ziradith took the package to a nearby table and opened it. Inside, she found a black cloak wrapped around a fox mask, as well as a sealed scroll. It all smelled of cinnamon and vanilla, made using alchemy. The flick of a letter opener broke off the seal, and she read the message.

'To the venerable Ziradith Cordelia Engate Herald, Duchess of Thelmas,

Madam Cyrilo invites you, one of many honored guests, to an evening of pantomime and pleasure in the newly relocated Knight's Sheath. On the night of the new moon, join us as we feast, drink, and indulge in desire and sin. Entertainment will include many performances, both exotic and erotic, in which guests may observe or take part. Adorn the mask and cloak and enjoy yourself with total anonymity. It is a night you won't want to miss. -LC'

Ziradith reread the note twice and scoffed at what she assumed to be a joke. As if she would waste her time at some lecher party hosted by a brothel owner. She tossed the letter aside and looked at the fox mask. It was well made, something which made her laugh. All that effort wasted. Still, the aroma clinging to it was enticing. She put it on her face, imagining how miserable she'd be wearing it for any kind of length of time. She could breathe quite easily, and the scent was delicious.

'Oh please, I wouldn't be caught dead at such an event. And honored guests? Who in their right mind would attend? Sure, there are plenty of nobles who might get curious enough, but... Hmmm, that's right, this would be a great chance to dig up some dirt. No, I don't need to lower myself to this perversion to gather information, watching people fornicating like animals. I'm not... interested.'

The more she thought about it, the more her heart rate rose. She had heard stories of a man putting on some strange show at the old Knight's Sheath, defiling his assistant with sinful skill and showing the audience all the ways to make a woman moan. It got her wondering when the last time was that she enjoyed a good lay. She hadn't gotten to where she was without utilizing her body, but it had been a while. After her husband, the duke, died of "natural causes," all her efforts went into her political plans.

She continued to lament her dry spell, unaware of the amphetamines all the masks were laced with, hidden beneath the pleasant smells. It was an agent that invoked feelings of excitement and anticipation in those who breathed it in. Right now, the invitation that had made her scoff and roll her eyes was making her restless, as ideas and fantasies rushed through her mind. The decision had been made for her.

Later that month, on the night of the new moon, Ziradith left her home, traveling by way of a nondescript carriage to the Knight's Sheath. She was wearing the cloak and mask, and when she arrived, she found others entering the building in similar getups. It was impossible to tell who was who, and no one spoke, not wanting to give away their identity. Like Ziradith, most of them would never attend such an event under normal circumstances, whether it be a matter of pride, religious belief, or taste, but they had all been swayed by the masks, chemically hypnotized to come.

The guests gathered in the ballroom, dimly illuminated by candles and lamps with color-tinted shades. "Welcome, friends," said Cyrilo. She was in her human form, wearing a cat mask that only covered the upper half of her face. At the bar, Lucius was wearing an identical mask, as well as Daniel in the corner. "I'd like to thank every one of you for attending this little celebration. I'm sure many of you are wondering what we are celebrating, well the answer is simple: life itself, and all of its sinful pleasures.