“If we need someone from the Dark Lord’s people to use his technology then why don’t we just get one?” asked Gene.

  Their confusion doubled and he seized on the feeling to lay out his plan.

  “Verdant’s actions last night gave me an idea. They infiltrated Taos with the goal of hooking a big fish. What if we do the same but focus on a much smaller target? What if I take control of a Forsaken and use them to seize control of a tower?”

  No one replied. They were stunned into silence. Gene looked at Kyrie with a sympathetic gaze. He understood the young warrior may be opposed to his plan after what he went through but to him, their forever war wasn’t working. They need to be bold in their offense.

  He gave them time to absorb his plan. Winnie started whispering to herself. He felt her mind drift away for a moment until she snapped back to focus and jumped up.

  “You are mad but if we’re able to do what you’re suggesting, you’ll turn this world on its head,” said Winnie.

  Her eyes were full of wonder. The Keeper of Secrets was intrigued and she could feel the boundaries on its power beginning to lax. Eonis maintained a stoic face. He didn’t want to say it but he was terrified. Gene was terrifying and he grew more so each day with each insane plan he made. He looked at the twins. He would do as they wished and do everything in his power to protect them.

  Kyrie and Kyra held hands, gripping tight until he looked at Gene and said, “Alright, what’s the plan?”

  Gene’s smile was wide. He stood up and took a deep breath.

  “Well, the first step will be getting some help and you’re not going to love who I’m suggesting,” he said, pausing for a beat. He closed his eyes, focused his thoughts, and crafted a detailed illusory projection. “We need a distraction, to fight a siege on two fronts. I need them to think I’m leading the charge, attacking the Spire while I seize control of a Forsaken.”

  “We need Liris.” Kyra caught on to what Gene was trying not to say. He nodded in silent reply and she shook her head. “You want to reveal yourself to her and get assistance from the Autumn faction.”

  He nodded again and the members of Silvayn groaned collectively. He threw his hands up defensively and said, “Just hear me out. She’s got powerful illusions and she’s a supreme schemer. I don’t trust her but we can use her as much as she can use us. If this works, we have a new way of fighting.”

  He was right but none of them wanted to say it at the time. Everyone cast their gaze to a random spot in the room, getting lost in thought.

  “I’m hoping you have some way to contact Liris covertly,” said Eonis, breaking the silence. “Calriydan’s a month’s travel away from this place without a teleportation circle and there’s no way Gordona’s letting us use hers for this.”

  Gene smirked. “That’s the easy part, actually. Liris is already here.”

  Gene cast his mental senses wide once more over Taos. Liris had been seated at a cafe on the other side of town. She was in disguise, enjoying a modest breakfast of a coffee-like drink with a pastry to accompany it.

  Shortly after Silvayn’s departure, she had slipped into the group returning to Taos after the conquest of the Spire at Tzardiche Keep. She wouldn’t settle for Silvayn’s answer about their new mystery member. She had been unsettled by his presence in the council hall. While Mindweavers were adept at concealing their mana signatures, there was no way a level 15 could ever trump her mana detection abilities. More concerning, there were a few times where she felt he saw through her illusion. If he knew the power plays they had made, he could be trouble in the future.

  She had made her way to Taos with the intention to confront and if need be, to kill this Gene Grey. She sipped her drink and ruminated on her plans until a voice sounded in her head.

  “Hello, Liris.”

  She froze, cup raised to her lips and her eyes went wide as Gene’s voice echoed in her head. Shock and horror raked through her thoughts but ever the master manipulator, she grabbed hold of her emotions and suppressed them in an instant.

  “Wow, that’s impressive.”

  His compliment only seemed to rattle her even more. Liris looked around, making micro movements to maintain her composure, but there was no sign of anyone speaking to her and no sending spell had been cast.

  “What sorcery is this?” she asked in a hushed whisper.

  Her waiter returned to fill her glass and in that moment, Gene combined his Illusion Casting with his newest ability, Astral Projection. When the waiter departed, Gene appeared in the seat across from Liris, startling her enough to make her back away. The people around looked at her quizzically before turning to resume their breakfasts.

  “Please sit down and be calm,” said Gene through his illusion. “I didn’t come here to make you look crazy. I just wanted to talk and further to that point, you can talk freely. No one will be able to hear you.”

  Back in his room, Gene’s body lay in a form of suspended animation. His mind had departed his form through the use of Astral Projection, allowing him to use his powers up to 1800 feet away from his body. In his astral form, he was nothing but his consciousness, projecting an illusion of himself to Liris alone.

  She settled in her seat but Gene could feel the tension gripping her. He raised his hands in defense.

  “I come in peace. If this is frightening you then you may want to get a stronger drink for what I have to tell you.”

  The illusory Gene smiled. Liris Vek was the type of character he would’ve loved to read about. Among the X-men, Emma Frost had been one of his favorite characters. The ruthless and manipulative former villain turned ruthless and manipulative hero always had plans within plans. He knew the only way to sway someone like her was a show overwhelming force and cunning.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  He shifted his illusory form, shaping a matching coffee cup to toast her, teasing before he began his redacted tale. Gene was not of New Venturis but he would be the tool they needed to win their war, if he had her help. To her credit, Liris was stonefaced. She listened without moving and when he concluded his story, she reached for her coffee cup, downed the contents, and motioned to the waiter for a refill.

  “I knew you were no Mindweaver,” she said in between sips. “But this is downright delicious.”

  She smirked at him and he felt the tension in her body ease to his surprise.

  “You are not the first outworlder I’ve encountered but you are the first to come bearing gifts.

  Gene was shocked at this admission but his illusory form showed no sign of it. He realized he shouldn’t have been shocked that he was the first to come to New Venturis but knowing that confused him. In every isekai he’d ever read or seen, the people dragged into these worlds were always the heroes of these stories. Where were these people now? Or for that matter, where had they been over the centuries? Questions cropped up in his mind but he shook them off as they came. He needed to focus.

  Liris continued. “I wonder, do you know any of those people? Hmm, well, it doesn’t really matter. Tell me, what is it that you need of me?”

  Gene worked fast to compose himself, realizing Liris let that information slip to throw him off balance. He wouldn’t let himself be shaken again.

  “Your mission is simple. I need you to be me.”

  Liris raised a brow, intrigued but not yet swayed. She sipped her coffee, trying to appear disinterested as she asked, “What do I stand to gain from a charade?”

  At this, Gene smirked.

  “You stand to be the first person to capture a working Spire and use it to reverse the polarity of all others in its sequence.”

  Liris choked, once again drawing the attention of those around her for a brief moment. She turned to motion to the waiter and said, “Check, please. I just realized I was running late for my appointment.”

  She settled her tab, leaving a massive tip for the waiter, and sat there in silence, staring at the illusion of Gene. She smiled to herself and got up to leave. He thought he’d lost her with his daring plan until she subtly motioned for him to follow.

  “What you’re proposing is both insane and impossible,” said Liris as she entered the market with Gene floating beside her. She glanced at him and continued, saying, “But I’m getting a sense that you dabble in both subjects. Killing a cadre of Forsaken before fending off the Bloodrager and destroying a Spire. Establishing diplomatic relations with an Ancient Earth Elemental. Decimating the forces of the Warlord. You’ve been busy since you got here.”

  “You’ve done your homework,” he said with a wry grin. “So then you must believe I can do some modicum of what you’ve heard.”

  She inclined her head, both nodding to him in agreement and leaning down to inspect a bauble on a table. It hummed with magical power.

  She hummed as she examined it and said, “It’s not that I don’t believe you, it’s that we of the council have an accord. We work together to maintain the balance between the cogs that power the machines of this world.”

  She smirked, letting slip more of her knowledge no doubt gifted to her by an outworlder. Gene didn’t take the bait that time. She purchased the item, once again leaving behind more coins than the value of the trinket to the seller’s delight. Gene watched her and wondered.

  He knew that as the leader of the Winter faction, it was Liris’s role to maintain the peace and keep people in line but her charitable displays were counter to her icy disposition. Was this an act she was putting on? Or just a show of the wealth she held over them? He couldn’t tell either way, unless he decided to delve into her mind.

  He fought the urge for such petty displays of power and asked, “Do you care for your people?”

  Liris stopped in place. He could sense a flourish of anger blooming within her and he felt he made a misstep before she answered.

  “More than anything.” Her words felt sincere. She continued her stride, picking up another item and depositing a small fortune in exchange. “I do what I must in the council to keep them all focused on the true goal here. We do what we must for Venturis, both new and old.”

  Gene lost focus for a moment, his illusion flickering at her words. Her distinction of how she spoke of Venturis intrigued him. It was the first time he’d heard the distinction of the prefix. He wondered what she meant but the emotion in her voice told him it wasn’t the right time to ask.

  Instead, he caught up to her and said, “If we do this, if this works, we can have a greater impact on this unending war than anything your council has been able to achieve. I’m asking for your help to do this and that’s a hard thing for me to do personally. Help me help you save this world.”

  She thanked the woman at the produce stand, buying a piece of fruit that looked like the cross between an orange and a pineapple for a platinum piece. The woman cried tears of joy and Liris smiled softly. She walked off, leaving the illusion of Gene standing next to the crying woman.

  She got a few paces before turning back suddenly and saying, “You know what, screw the accord. Let’s do this.”

  Gene smiled wide but back in his room, with the others all crowded around him, Kyra got up.

  “I need a moment,” she said as she exited the room.

  Where she ended up was not the hallway of the inn. A holy light bore down upon her, frightening her until the goddess, Aliyah, spoke.

  “You did your best, my child, but it seems the awakening of the dragon was a foregone conclusion.”

  Kyra dropped to a knee in reverence immediately and a cold sweat ran down her spine.

  “I–I am sorry. I failed you,” she said, choking back tears.

  For a Cleric to fail a direct request from a god, it was bound to result in them being stripped of their power and have their class forcefully converted into an Apostate. As an Ascendant, it was doubly worse. She ran the risk of her bloodline becoming tainted in retaliation. They were alone in Aliyah’s celestial throne room and the vast, endless space at her back made Kyra feel even smaller than she felt when she was surrounded by the looming holy figures. She trembled and felt like she was going to break until massive glowing fingers graced her chin.

  Aliyah tilted Kyra’s head up and smiled softly.

  “Hold your head high, my child, for you have not failed me yet.”

  Her voice was a warm hug to a crying child, soothing Kyra’s worries in an instant. Though those feelings were soon replaced by confusion. Aliyah continued.

  “The task we gave you was a far greater one than any before you had faced. It would seem in our haste, we did not account for all of the potential possibilities. Around that creature you call Gene, the grand skein of the world does not unravel, rather it changes. We have seen the coming of great works and greater deeds still. New Venturis is stirring and soon Gene’s actions will bring about a new age. For you, my dear Kyra, I task you with being his guiding torch. Lead him out of darkness and shepherd New Venturis into a new age.”

  Holy light enveloped Kyra as Aliyah spoke, intensifying in strength and blinding her. In a flash, it was all gone and she was back in the hallway. She shimmered with holy light and the voice of the system spoke.

  You have gained experience. You are now level 15. Please select your path.

  Shock exploded through her mind. For a moment, she stood frozen in the hall, trying to take in all that she had learned. When her mind calmed, it didn’t take much consideration for her new class choice.

  Congratulations. You have become a High Priestess (Aliyah) Rank 1 Level 15.

  The system message ended and Kyra’s resolve calcified. She would not fail her mission again.