Chapter 217: Cognitive Biases

    I was compromised.

    I didn’t know how it happened. I didn’t know what kind of danger I posed. All I knew was that my mind couldn’t be trusted.

    And it wasn’t just me. It was almost everyone in the party.

    Three hours after handing Hysteria off to Avarice, I found a wealth of new essences in my inventory, along with a note. The essences were our reward for helping with the dramatic avatar’s capture. Fertile Soil essence, Purified Freshwater essence, Gentle Sunlight essence, and many more highly specific and low-cost essences. What they lacked in individual value was made up for with variety and quantity.

    There were thousands, many of which would be used by Grotto to create mana-converters that produced their final products. Others would be used to sow new essence farms, although that would require establishing individualized environments within the Closet. Buying them in such bulk off the market would have been impossible, and hunting down such a diverse collection would have taken years. The reward wasn’t rare or unique, but it was exceptionally useful, which I thought was better.

    We could now convert the Closet into a liveable–and comfortable–environment, with the capacity to continue supplying its endless expansion with all the natural resources it needed to become a valuable landmass. Grotto and I were ablaze with exciting ideas on how to use it all.

    However, the buzz-killing letter that accompanied the delivery was my least-favorite flavor of cryptic bullshit. The kind that pointed out a dangerous problem in my life, while also having a good reason for not providing me with enough detail to do anything about it.

    Master Xor’Drel,

    You are a danger to yourself and others.

    This is not a critique of your attitude, lifestyle, or anything so dull and imprecise. I am not disposed to issuing moral judgments. Such a practice would be deleterious to my work. I also do not care.

    You are a threat because you have been subjected to an outside influence that will affect your decision-making for the foreseeable future.

    I cannot tell you how this has happened in a way that you will understand. The knowledge will slide off your mind like a book from a tilted shelf.

    This does not mean I cannot provide your allies with an explanation. Show the following to your familiar. I believe that he is untouched.

    The godspawn in your party, Etja, is also affected but will be immune to most of its harmful aspects. So long as your goals align, she will be useful to you.

    You will be skeptical of this counsel, and you will wonder about my motivations. You would be a fool not to, but the matter is simple.

    I am providing you with this warning because I was paid to deliver it. This also serves to protect my interests in your group, so I was amenable to performing the service.

    To be clear, none of the information you are being gifted originates from my client. Everything contained within is of my own making, informed by my invaluable expertise.

    I will not offer you a solution, as you would rightfully view it as a conflict of interest. This is a problem you will have to solve yourself.

    Do try to be cautious. I would hate for my investments to go to waste.

    –Avarice

    The letter contained more, but it was imperceptible to me. The message was two pages long, but when I held it, it was a single sheet. The section intended for Grotto appeared to be missing, but he assured me it was there. We also had several discussions about the specifics of the problem.

    I had no recollection of those conversations. All I had was Grotto’s assurance that they occurred.

    When I considered how I might have become compromised, I was convinced that we had no reason to believe what the letter said was true. I understood, intellectually, that this alone should have been enough to make me suspicious. There were very few things I was certain of in life. Something like this wouldn’t make the list.

    I couldn’t bring myself to care.

    It was only because I trusted in my party members that I agreed to take precautions. Xim, Nuralie, and Varrin also thought it was pointless to concern ourselves with it, but Etja and Grotto argued against us. Our protocols for mental influence granted the party member with the highest resistance final authority on how we handled it.

    Xim and I were best-equipped against Fear, and so long as I wasn’t Feared, the rest of the party was immune as well. I was immune to Paranoia and Xim was immune to Psychosis and Stupify. Varrin was immune to all mind-affecting abilities while Berserk, but he could only maintain that state while in combat with at least one genuine enemy. He had a good head for tactics and situational awareness while Berserk, but otherwise his critical thinking skills were less than stellar. It wasn’t practical or sustainable.

    Sit on our hands and wait for Grotto to find a way to eliminate whatever was affecting our judgment.Abandon our current priorities and immediately search for a solution as a group.Carry on as normal, while being super duper careful.

    Nuralie wasn’t happy with that opinion, but she accepted it as necessary to improve relations with the empire. We’d been acting with the tacit approval of the Eschen government but had not been formally recognized as an Eschen asset. It made our activities while spearing through the Littan military to get to Deijin’s Descent legally murky. Settling that ambiguity was important if we didn’t want to be outlaws in the Empire.

    “Excellent,” said the empress. “I’m happy that you’re amenable to that understanding. Now, let’s move on to the reason we’re here.”

    “Please do,” said Etja.

    “Where to begin?” The empress tapped her chin. She was striking to look at, her fur lustrous, her features precise and symmetrical. Her whiskers glinted like they’d been conditioned and polished. I expected she would be considered exceptionally attractive by other Littans. “Our Delvers are all required to participate as part of the military,” she said. “Our approach is rigorous, structured, and based on a century of gathered data and proven strategy. We have a robust industry supporting our Delvers, and each one has the full weight of the Littan Empire behind them to assure their growth and realize their potential.”

    “And yet, you did what they couldn’t,” said the general.

    Thaddacleus Connatis had a more down-to-earth appearance. His uniform was neat and well-kept, but simple. The outfit''s core was snug around his center, but loose and flowy in the shoulders, sleeves, and legs. It was like a hybrid between a turn-of-the-century military officer’s uniform and a martial artist’s robe. The man was also slightly smaller than the average male Littan soldier I’d encountered. Despite his low-key and slightly underwhelming appearance, the general was easily the most powerful Littan fighter I’d met.

    If the man decided we needed to be dead, I didn’t think we’d stand a chance. His platinum levels were filled with the violet striations of Special Delves.

    From what Varrin had told me, running wouldn’t be an option either.

    “Despite our best efforts, our lands are not suited to the wide-scale production of magical materials,” said the empress. “We have no significant deposits of Madrin or dark iron. Our access to rarer metals and alloys is even more restricted. Our climate and soil–while exceptional for the cultivation of mundane crops–does not have the proper composition to grow most common alchemical ingredients.”

    “Which is why you’re in Eschendur,” said Etja.

    The empress leaned in and placed her elbows on the table. She folded her hands and rested her chin atop them. “Formally, Litta placed sanctions on Eschendur as part of an ongoing campaign to bring war criminals to justice. This escalated when half of our blockading naval fleet was destroyed, leading to the deployment of a legion to pacify this aggression.” She made eye contact with each of us, wearing a conspiratorial smile. “We have since been disabused of the notion that any Eschen was responsible for the massacres that occurred within Littan borders along the Eschen Gap. This is why we now have an armistice and have made significant progress in peace talks with the Zenithars.”

    “Informally,” said the general, “yes, we were here to get better access to resources. Eschendur would not agree to a reasonable trade agreement, so we brought a big stick to the negotiations.”

    I was surprised by the admission. I’d been fully prepared to endure an hour of talking around the subject.

    “But your priorities have shifted,” said Etja.

    “They have,” said the empress. “We diverted another legion to secure the location of our new Creation Delve. Commanding officers throughout our forces have doubled their workload in evaluating and recommending soldiers for Creation. Existing Delvers are taking on additional training responsibilities.”

    “Having more than twice as many Delvers will grant us more than twice as many resources harvested from within the Delves themselves,” said the general. “While we could maintain our presence in Eschendur, advancing our front line would place an additional burden on our service members which we would like to avoid.”

    “Our priority is taking advantage of the Creation Delve,” the empress finished.

    “I doubt you have any need for us to assist with that,” said Etja. “Nor would we be inclined to do so. Our party endeavors towards neutrality amongst nations, so long as they do not threaten world stability.”

    “Lofty,” said the general. “I hope that’s a guiding principle, and you’re not seriously trying to police the world.”

    “We’re not under any delusions about our capabilities, General,” said Etja. “Our position reflects our desire to share relevant information equally with those who would use it productively. Destructive forces, such as the Davahns, are not included.”

    “I think we can all agree that the recent activities of the Davahns are condemnable,” said Empress Littana. “The mass execution of an entire city is genocide and an act of pure atrocity.”

    “Regardless,” said the general, “we don’t need any help exploiting our Creation Delve. Telling you about our disposition toward and reasoning for withdrawing from Eschendur is context for our–” he paused. “–proposition.”

    “I see,” said Etja. “We’re eager to hear it.”

    “The recent emergence of Dungeons has redefined the pace at which Delvers can progress,” said the Empress. “Although it has only been a week, we have found that Delvers can acquire a month’s worth of intrinsic skill advancement in a single day within these new zones. Of course, this rapid pace is accompanied by a commensurate amount of risk. We have also discovered that Dungeons can emerge nearly anywhere, including within population centers. Some are obvious, but many more are scattered and hidden.”

    “We’ve uncovered one dungeon that is vastly larger than any other we’ve found,” said the general. “We believe that within it, there are–at a minimum–dozens of zones that can each advance a different skill. It may encompass all known intrinsics, and we’ve already found one skill that we have no records of. It’s completely novel.”

    Empress Littana sat up straight. “We’d like your help exploring it.”