Interconnected: Spliced Souls

Traveling through the slums at dusk was different than at night because you had the sun's grace to highlight the depravity. Then again, it wasn't as bad.   

But on the other hand, compared to some of the stories I'd heard from Cassidy and Nimyra, I was lucky enough to encounter the calmer side of the slums. In just a few hours, though, I'd personally visit the depths of licentiousness this place had to offer.  

More detailed plans could come later.   

I reached Cassidy's apothecary and knocked, but imagine my surprise when Saline opened the door. She looked gentler in the face after a day's worth of rest. Her expression was softer, too. And her nonverbal communication put up less of an outward barrier.   

“Servi, right? Please, come in. Cassidy said she thought you would visit.”  

“How are you feeling?”  

“...better… I…truly have nowhere else to go. Not after–”  

“You killed your husband, didn't you?”  

“Eh?! How–”  

“I can see it in your eyes and body language. You look like someone who doesn't have to worry about their past-- it's hopeful, combined with worry and anxiousness. But you're also afraid your husband's truly not dead.”  

“Yes… I did it shortly after you left. I knew he would be sleeping. He always does after spending time with a whore…and I didn't want…”  

“You don't have to explain your reasoning to me. What's done is done. But I would've gladly done it had you asked me.”  

“...”  

“But that's beside the point. I'm glad you're doing well. So, I'm guessing you're helping out the old lady?”  

“Ah– yes, I am. She's busy with a patient. A child with a broken foot. She asked for no interruptions.”  

“Got ya. Well, I'll take a seat,” I said, sitting on a broken chair. As a waiting room, this area sucked. But considering the circumstances, this was probably the best Saline could ask for.  

Saline nodded, but she also sat beside me and fidgeted her hands. She was confused, probably. Or maybe unsure of what or how to act. The poor girl was being raped when I stepped in. No matter how strong you were, you couldn't get past that in a single day.   

A strong front is nothing but a front… Everyone needs a chance to cry and vent their feelings… 

I decided to talk about Cue, that little dog she was with. And that was when I realized something.   

I had seen her before. The first time I was here– before I met Itarr. A woman was walking with a white dog… That didn't mean much, but Saline wasn't a complete stranger. But Cue was asleep in the operating room. He had just taken more pain medicine, and the dog needed rest.   

But he was expected to make a full recovery. So, that was nice.   

Saline’s lips curled into a soft smile. She spoke emphatically of how she met the dog. The little canine was a stray she found two years ago digging into the garbage by her house. She didn't live in the slums then. That came later after her husband lost everything to a backwater deal gone wrong. In her words, ‘misguided love made her see fiction as reality.’  

Hindsight was 20/20, so I told her she couldn't fault herself. But somewhere along the way, this retailing of a dog's life became a tale of what she and her husband used to have. Their love was like a summer spring. Clear, pure, and beautiful. Before losing it all, her husband would have never thought to sell his one and only for a mere pill. 

But once you had nowhere else... Once you reached the bottom of the barrel... The unthinkable grows into a quiet voice. Memories of a better time begat this curiosity to fester in your mind, sometimes changing you for the worse. And all men and women– from the strong to the weak– were affected by it. Even Saline was close to losing her sanity. Had I not intervened…  

No, I didn't want to think about the future that wouldn't come to pass. It was much too horrible to fathom.  

But then you had people like Cassidy, who probably peered over the edge of insanity more times than she ever wanted, yet she still retained a sense of selflessness. But without any assistance, I was sure she would soon delve down a similar path– becoming taken by the void, unable to even think of dreaming of a better future.   

During our talk, the realization finally reached Saline’s heart. The… I couldn't think of the proper word, but what she endured caught up with her-- almost like an equalization of the past and future resynchronizing.   

She…had killed her shitty husband. One of the guards who forcefully took her was slain by her own hands. Even if she had murdered in the past, those slayings couldn't compare to the deaths she recently caused.   

When I heard footsteps, I looked at the curtains and saw Cassidy escorting a young boy. He was scrawny and had scars down his face, but the spark of hope?  

Of one day leaving this place?  

It was there. Even this graveyard of dreams and people who no longer had any future couldn't rob a sparkly-eyed child’s ideals. And I didn't know how I could decipher that glossy look.   

Maybe it was his innocent smile. He looked at me and Saline and waved on those makeshift crutches. Cassidy saw him to the door, opened it, and chatted with him before leaving.   

But I stopped him from hobbling away and stacked my only healing spell.   

“The pain… it's not there? But– how? Why? I can't pay you, miss.” 

“Free of charge. But I doubt the damage is healed. You'll want to keep that on if you can. Cass, how long does he need to wear it?”  

“It was a month. But now it's a week. You hear that, boy? You'll be back to playing by then.”  

Stammering, it was clear the child didn't expect this. But he was grateful and thanked me the best he could before excitedly hobbling away.   

“Cass?”  

“It's an endearing nickname. You need any help?”  

“More on that later. What's wrong with Saline?” I told Cassidy what we talked about. “Ah, I figured something like that happened. When she left this morning, she didn't say if she would be back. But I knew that look she gave me.” Cassidy sighed and rubbed her head with those wrinkled, dried hands. “When you have nowhere else to go, you get this aura around you. And I can't exactly throw her out. And I need an assistant. And the dog will be good to comfort the children once the beast is better.”  

“Wow, so you do have a heart. Consider me surprised.”  

“Haha. Very fuckin’ funny. What the hell do you want?”  

“Got some plans. Nimyra's with a client. Lucy probably hates my guts. I don't want to deal with her trying to kill me. I've been lucky to have avoided her so far.”  

“She'll get over it. That dumb brain of hers has to see reality for what it is. And plans? Any more red crystals in your future?” she asked, walking to the room behind the curtains after checking on Saline.   

I followed her.   

“I don't know what you're talking about. There's a bear in Lucoa Forest that's high on those pills. I found it eating them.”  

“What?!” She turned around suddenly, spinning on her heels.   

“Yeah. When I attacked it, it swatted my spells away like nothing. Nearly died, but I got away. Told the guild about it.”  

“Lucoa Forest? Is that how they're smuggling them in? No, they have to be in the supplies delivered by Lucoa Village.”  

“Anyway, I need to know where the dens are–”  

“No, the hell you don't. You got lucky, thief. Don't know how your ass didn't get caught. But if you value your life, you'd stay away–”  

“And you'd know I can't do that.”  

“Right, this self-salvation fetish you have going on.”  

“Fetish or not, I can't have that little boy’s dreams be crushed because some sick bastard taunted him with those damn pills.”  

“Stealing is entirely different from this!”  

“Is it really? I'm still stealing. The target is just lives, not actual physical objects.”  

“You are just incorrigible; did you know that? I've never met someone like you before.”  

“Maybe that's a good thing. But it's time for me to go,” I said.  

Cassidy narrowed her eyes.   

“Just tell me a number. How many are there?”  

“Did you not even think about this being connected to me?!”  

“I did. So, I'll go out the back way. Or you got a window I can jump from?”  

“Just shut up and stay right there,” Cassidy scoffed and walked upstairs, returning a few minutes later with some clothes folded in her wrinkled arms. Throwing them to me, I caught them with my ring and immediately put them on. My overalls were replaced by a black, short-sleeved hoodie with a face mask. It came with gloves and pants.  

“Wow. It fits me to a tee,” I said, looking at the old woman. I didn’t mean to glare, but I did.   

“It looks somewhat decent on you, I suppose. But there are four dens in the slums that I know of. But there could be more. Just…go do what you have. But I swear to the good gods and goddesses above that if you die, I'm whooping your ass when I kick the bucket. There’s a window in the second room on the left, just up those stairs. If you gotta leave, use that.”  

“I'll be back before the sun comes up.”  

Cassidy scoffed at my confidence. When I returned to the lobby, Saline wept in her hands. Dwelling on the past was only helpful when you could look at a retrospective of your actions and choices. But if you couldn't do anything about something because it was before your time, then why purposely hurt your heart with things out of your control?  

Deep down, I knew that more than anyone. But maybe if I had… come into this new reality a few weeks earlier, I could've done more good.   

Maybe Lucy wouldn't have had to suffer from that fat fuck.   

Maybe… 

---

After leaping from the window and recovering with a roll, I wandered deep into the slums– into the sketchiest parts I had somehow avoided until now.  

This place feels different.  

“It does.” 

I don't know if I like it.  

“This is where broken dreams come to die and shattered people sink to the barest state of humanity. They only want to satiate the carnal desires that barely prevent them from being categorized as animals. See, look behind that waist-high wall.” I didn't point, but about twenty feet away from me were two people having sex. Both men. And both had this crazy, pleasure-filled look basking their eyes.   

Right after the one doing the thrusting climaxed, he turned around and bent over, allowing the other one to slam into him. His eyes were glossy, glazed, and bloodshot.    

And it wasn't just that. I saw a lot of white monotonia being ingested. And those who overdosed on it were passed out on the streets. Some were lying headfirst in a puddle of animal feces and urine.   

But I needed to get to my targets. I looked for the ‘cleanest’ man and found a one-eyed man hunched against a broken building huffing a cigarette. Upon approaching, he spat at me, but Itarr absorbed it. I asked to trade a handful of red monotonia for info, but to my surprise, the man nodded. He gave me vague directions to the nearest den and snatched the floating red pills.   

It was a trap. I knew it was a trap from the beginning. I'd prepared for it.    

The directions led me to a courtyard of broken dreams. And that man was following closely behind as I walked.   

Sighing, I turned around to face him and his dagger. Four more people emerged from the shadows, spewing something sick, twisted, and depraved about how many pinkies they'd get once they sold me. 

Guess that's pink monotonia. Weird nickname.  

“Just tell me where the den is. That's all I want.”  

“Guess you're just an idiot. Too bad you aren't as smart as you are pretty,” said the one-eyed man. “It's going to be fun breaking you. Wonder how many pills we can get for you? Are ya a virgin, doll face?”  

“You're going to make me do this? Aren't you? Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you.”  

“Wha–”  

The man’s voice was silenced by the invisible grasp I had on his throat. It was so easy to close the distance and thrust my suddenly appearing sword through his heart. “Itarr, kill the rest.”  

Ten shadowy bolts of death encircled me like a demonic halo before lashing out with murderous prejudice. She told me the job was done when I turned around, all their souls flowing into my ring at once.   

The bastards didn't look to have anything worth stealing, but I still robbed them blind.   

And that was a good thing because I found a map. The fucker with one eye was known as a poacher. The note scribbled on the map’s back detailed how many pills he would get based on predetermined criteria of the girls he brought back. Based on their beauty, virginal status, the size of their breasts and ass, how thick their thighs were…  

People were just like cattle to scum like this. And it only reinvigorated my desire to cast these dens to the furthest reaches of hell.   

There are five of them. Time to get to work.  

The rundown house this courtyard harbored had one of those in the basement. It had a secret entrance through a series of underground tunnels from a building a few blocks away.   

I told Itarr the plan while I jogged to my new destination. She asked why I couldn't charge in from the mansion. “I'm going to collapse the tunnels. Gotta make it so no one ever uses this place again… A lot of people are going to die tonight.” 

You sound…different. Why is that? 

“Because… Shit, I don't know. This kind of stuff shouldn't get easier. If anything, murder should become harder and harder. I'm stealing lives, Itarr. And I don't feel much of anything. I see a target, and I want to unalive them. That's…all I think when I have eyes on an enemy,” I replied, turning a corner. This was a dead-end street, with just a single house at the end. Four armored men, faces filled with scars, scabs, and diseased boils, stared me down. Without any warning, one lifted a bow, nocked an arrow, and sent it barreling towards me. It vanished before hitting its target, and I replied with a shadowy shot of piercing death.   

And it struck bloody gold, yet it didn't kill. One of the guys ran into the building while the other two uninjured ones hefted their heavy axes.   

I dashed forward with my sword at the ready, bringing it up to clash metal against metal, sending vivid sparks birthing into the atmosphere.   

“What?!” I exclaimed, having my strike parried away. The second soldier came from the side and severed my arm, but it regrew within a second. That regeneration surprised them enough for me to sever their heads.    

The fools didn't have any helmets. 

I took the bow and quiver one guy had and entered the building.  

This place was a mansion, but it was dimly lit and dank. And it was oddly quiet, too, with the internal decorations reminding me of the gothic style of architecture. But for as big as it looked, there was just one path to follow. Creeping silently with a stacked [Sleuth], I nearly melded into the shadows and kept my footsteps to a near whisper.   

Before long, I came to the sole survivor of that unit standing out front. He was pleading desperately to a man standing guard over a highly ornate door. The hallway was dangerously compact and terribly unsafe.   

“There's an attack. Some woman came walking this way. She had a death wish and used magic without speaking.”  

Drawing my bow, I had trouble readying an arrow. When I thought I was prepared, I peeked around the corner and attempted to send one through the man's bare head.   

But my arrow barely went ten feet. Luckily, the man was bitching to that other guy loud enough that they didn't hear it.   

However, an idea came to me…  

Using [Telekinesis], I grabbed the arrow and remotely flew it into the man’s head, destroying his brain.   

He died on the spot, but the arrow kept going and ended the life of the one he conversed with. 

Their souls came my way, and Itarr said I had a few more spells available. One was called [Flick Flame]. Snapping my fingers produced a small flame anywhere within a predetermined area. It wasn't strong, but I could use it remotely to ignite a trail of flammable material.   

Another was called [Icy Stake], which made a stake of ice about nine inches long and two inches thick. Another rather useless spell, but one that could probably be effective when torturing 

Torturing? Why does that come to my mind so easily? 

The other four skills didn't seem impressive, but I absorbed the corpses and continued. The bloody arrow hovered behind my head to keep it hidden, crimson dripping like a leaky faucet.   

Taking a deep, unnecessary breath, I kicked in the door– failed at that– and resorted to stashing it in my ring.   

“EVERYBODY SHUT THE FUCK UP! I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY!!!” I shouted…towards a large room filled with fourteen heavy, tough-looking men. I thought this place would’ve been filled with customers…but no.  

“Heeey, now, baby cakes. What seems to be the problem? Is it anything ole Scuzzzzy can taa~~ke care of?” A man wearing a fuzzy hat walked with a limp from a seat to my right. He held up a hand and halted the approaching guards.   

“Is this a den?”  

“Yes, ma'am i~~t is. It’s… Uhhh… It’s ah little cloooosed, right now, darling… If ya ca~~n’t wait until then… What ca~~n I do~~oo for ya?” 

The way he speaks irritates me. I agreed with Itarr on this.  

“Have you been peddling monotonia? He nodded. “Do you have a route that goes through Lucoa Forest?”  

“I don't see why that's ann~~~y if your concern, my red-eyed sucky bunny. Now, tell me how you seduced Brokal to le~~et you in.”  

“Your reluctance to answer explains what I need to know!”  

“Hon~~~ey! I think you haa~~ve the wrong idea.”  

“No. I'm sure I don't. I don't have time to waste, so I'll end this now. I should've done it earlier. Die.” The arrow sleuthed around my head and stabbed this petulant fool in the eye. It broke, but I finished him with a sword thrust through the chest.   

From my ring came five more arrows, and I controlled them like drones. They swirled, sped, and curved, slaughtering the people grabbing weapons to fight against me.   

It was a spectacle of gore and death. I walked to the side and stood near the one I impaled through the chest. Itarr took control of the arrows and finished this job for me.  

So much death… So many lives gone in the blink of an eye… I was alone, surrounded by the lifeless.   

I absorbed them and their souls before finding a stash of white monotonia hidden in a backroom behind a vault. It was closed and locked, but it was nothing my ring couldn't handle.   

Instead of destroying them, I collected them for later disposal and started to leave.  

The souls I collected had skills and spells, but none were destructive enough to cause the destruction I desired to bring this place down.   

[Flick Flame] was my savior. Stacking it increased the number of embers produced with each snap. And I could have about 28 at once, enough to light the curtains ablaze. The bottles sitting behind the nearby bar were wonderful accelerants. I threw them with reckless abandon to cover the whole room, then used the stacked skill four more times until a hot, fiery haze started to consume this room and all it offered.   

With no further action required, I left the growing inferno with a smile. These pills were an abomination. If the supply dwindled enough, people couldn't afford them. Sure, they might resort to drastic means, but I doubt the supplier of these damn things could flood the market and equalize it without exorbitant cost to them. If I could put a blockade in this business they had going on… 

Are we going to the other dens? 

“We are,” I said, looking over my shoulder at the smoke plumes filtering into the night sky. The fire had spread incredibly fast, and both buildings and the passage connecting them erupted in hungry flames.   

At this rate, nothing would be left. I doubt fire extinguishers were advanced enough to stop the damage as it was.   

---

Three hours later…  

The deed was done. I stood atop a tall spire overlooking the last den, watching the plumes of smoke filter into the hazy atmosphere. The layouts were the same, but the number of connecting passages and buildings varied. Only one den focused extensively on pink monotonia. In short, that place was a fuck fest. Well, it seemed like it would become one if they were open, and like the first den, they were just staffed by a gaggle of guards. After ending their lives, I searched it from top to bottom, finding a bunch of large closets filled with rather expensive lingerie--like the kind rich women would wear for their lovers. Since you never knew when that kind of stuff would come in handy, I stashed it all.   

Two of the dens contained red monotonia, which seemed to capitalize on the animalistic behaviors taking one seemed to bring out. They were constructed to resemble gladiatorial theatres, with seats overlooking arenas filled with dried blood, rotting corpses, and many weapons. Further investigation revealed more stockpiles of swords, axes, and spears– no bows or armor– in the backrooms, and everything was pisspoor quality. Itarr assured me she would clean and organize the clothing and armaments, and I thanked her.  

Putting the information together, it seemed like these dens were where the rich and powerful came to laugh and force the slum’s residents to fight for their amusement. They would probably be force-fed the red monotonia to bring out their bloodlust…  

Perhaps the same could be said for the pink dens? People were sick and depraved. I wouldn’t doubt for one single second there was someone with a fetish for making others fuck while onlookers took bets about how many rounds a woman could take before they passed out. Or how many times a man could climax before he spurted out nothing but air.  

How goddamn despicable… Could it be that this area was just the rich’s playground? Could the numerous secret paths and tunnels have been built on purpose, under the guise of overactive construction courtesy of too much building happening at once? That took so much effort. And so much time. And for what reason?   

…  

I didn’t have an answer. Assuming there was an answer... I couldn't be sure of that.   

By now, the smoke was thick. And the proof of my deeds was probably being spread around Canary. Even the sheltered nobles in their districts on the other side of town had to have seen the smoke.   

Sighing, I leapt from the spire and didn't smash into the ground. [Air Dance (Lv. 1)] was a skill that allowed me to form invisible, solid platforms of air under my feet. By default, I could make five at Lv. 1, but each stack gave me five more. And after all was said and done, I had well over 120 souls chilling in my ring.   

Before strolling back to Cassidy's on a carpet of solidified air, I returned to the crime scenes and used [Telekinesis] and [Shadow Shot] to collapse the buildings. The secret passages were then blocked by rubble from each direction. Even if they didn't fully burn, it would take dozens of hours to excavate a path. But there was no more monotonia, and I ensured the surrounding areas were devoid of souls before bringing the destruction.   

“The smoke’s probably going to remain for a while longer. Nothing I can do about that, but our job is done. Good work, Itarr." 

Good…work? Ah, good work to you too, Servi. What is the plan now? 

“Cassidy's,” I replied, walking to her shop about two hundred feet above Canary. I couldn't see as well as I wanted, so I dropped to about 100 and looked at the introverted response to my arsonist's actions.   

The lack of panic was a good omen, I guess? Then again, it was the middle of night. Once people took a few pills, they probably conked out hard. They'd have to come down from their high first before anything else.  

Traveling amongst the air was enjoyable if I was being honest. But my inability to die from falling great heights helped to erase the fear I would've otherwise felt. 

---

Cassidy was there, waiting for me as soon as I rapped my knuckles against her door.   

The old apothecary looked distraught. She saw the smokey pillars and said she feared for my safety. But I told her she could see herself that I returned none the worse for wear.   

I walked past her and found Saline asleep in a chair. She had a blanket tucked around her. Cassidy said the elf wasn't used to burning the midnight oil. And she hadn't quite recovered from her mariticide. But Cue was down at her feet, curled on a freshly clean blanket.   

The little white dog was sound asleep.   

He was doing better. With my new limit, I did another round of healing with my max number of stacks, but he didn't wake up. Which was probably for the better.   

Itarr theorized there was a hard limit on what [Minor Heal] could cure. Stacking allowed me to reach the apex of its potential much sooner without spending SP to raise its level.  

Due to how I grew stronger, I'd eventually absorb souls etched with skills I already knew. Tonight was the first time that happened. Since skills could be leveled with SP, I retained the one that was higher level. The cap was Lv. 99, and my [Minor Heal] was Lv. 8.  

Once I followed the aged woman past the curtains to the exam room, Cassidy laid into me about my foolishness to actually go through with the plan to destroy the dens. In her defense, the group behind the pill steadily poisoning Canary couldn't have come from a small-time outfit of thugs. The damn things were being smuggled to Lucoa Village from somewhere via Lucoa Forest, then brought into Canary.   

They had to be.   

A scheme like that needed many players to grease the wheels of justice with corruption. And depending on how long it took to prepare the logistics…  

I probably fucked up months worth of progress.   

But Cassidy said something interesting. Guards never ever came around here for a good reason. When that Wing Elf, Siora, and koena, Tim, rushed into the slums after I threw myself off the city walls, Cassidy explained that it caused quite a scandal within the guard’s HQ.   

Of course, Cassidy knew nothing of my false suicide attempt. She just heard through the scuttlebutt that a girl tossed herself from the walls. A woman like her probably heard a lot of rumors.   

Maybe Siora caused the rumors to spread when she asked about me.  

“Guess I'm about to leave, then. I did what I wanted to do. Doubt anyone saw me. Kinda hard to notice a girl walking in the sky when it's filled with smoke.”  

“Walking?”  

“[Air Dance],” I explained, showing off for Cassidy. “I went back and crumbled the buildings.” 

I took the secret exit when I left. Halfway through it, I switched to my overalls and stashed my sleuthing gear for later use.