Library of Rain

Sales Pitch

Rain wasn’t surprised when she entered Isster’s dream to find him naked in bed, surrounded by two of the girls he had bid on earlier. He really was gross. Like every time before, Rain was only an invisible floating eye right now. She would have to create a body if she wanted to speak with the victim.

The question was, how did she want to play this? She could take her normal form and try to unnerve him. Rain had noticed that people were unusually intimidated by children who knew too much. But the main reason she was using Isster was that she wanted a disposable pawn that couldn’t be connected to her. It would be unfortunate for her if he knew too much should he be captured and interrogated.

In that case, if Rain made herself look older than she was, it would make it difficult for anyone to trace this back to her. Rain's other options were to look like an animal or make herself a boy. 

Being an animal was the wrong choice. She doubted Isster would take her seriously if she spoke to him as an uffter. As for being a boy, Rain pictured herself looking like Blondy. She could probably do it, but for some reason, the idea just didn’t work for her. She didn’t want to be Blondy. So older it was.

Rain created her body but tried to envision it as it would look when she was old. She used Ms. Hope as a guide to try and figure out how to make the perfect old Rain. It took a while, but Rain finally got something she liked. Honestly, she could have been Ms. Hope's twin, except she had black hair. Rain had changed the color of her eyes to match Mr. Purple and gotten rid of her freckles. To finish the disguise, she had created a sleek dress of black and purple similar to the dresses the women had been wearing at the auction - it was a shame for such pretty dresses to be worn by such vile people. 

All finished, Rain got her mind prepped for the role she was about to play. Then she called out to Isster, pulling his awareness into the dream. 

“Lord Isster, it really is a shame your family has fallen so low that the only place you can get the treatment you deserve is in your dreams.”

Isster’s face clouded over in confusion as if he had just woken up from a dream. 

“What's going on? Who are you!”

“Who am I?” Rain said, putting a finger to her chin and looking up in mock thought, “You can call me Patron.”

Rain had learned from her mistakes with Mr. Mirage and planned answers to these kinds of questions beforehand. Before Isster could say anything, Rain continued cutting Isster off before he could speak.

“Why am I here? That's an easy question to answer. I’m here to offer you everything you deserve.”

As she spoke, she slowly walked towards Isster. She was using the walk she had seen some characters in plays use, as well as some of the whores in the pleasure district of the Low Ring. She had heard it referred to as ‘sexy.’ She didn’t understand it, but she still practiced it in front of her mirror, along with her other acting. Rain had to be ready to become an actress after she finished saving the world after all.

The walk was working, drawing Isster's attention and shutting him up. 

“People treat you like you’re just another Low Lord, or worse, a commoner. Do you know why?”

By this point, Rain was standing over the bed Isster was lying on as he looked up at her. 

“Because they have forgotten who you are.”

“Money.” Rain raised her hand, willing old coins to flow from it and clatter on the floor. 

“Power.” She raised her other hand and willed a flame to spring into life above it, ignoring the pain starting to blossom behind her eyes as she manipulated the dream. 

Rain held the images for a few more seconds; then, she let it all fade.

The hunger in Isster’s eyes was almost a physical force by this point. Rain had him. 

“I will grant you all of this. All you must do is perform one small task for me. Can you do that?” Rain asked as she bent down and caressed his chin.

“What do you want from me?”

Rain smiled.

“Simple, I need you to contact a group known as the Watching Stars and pay them for information on every barit, brothel, and camp that has slaves in Tineak. I want the location, owner, and number of slaves in each one.”

Isster looked confused about this request but nodded all the same.

“Perfect. Of course, I won’t have you do anything without proof that I can uphold my end of the bargain. When you wake up, go to your dresser. You’ll find a loose board on its base. Pull it up, and inside, you’ll find a bag of old coins and a book. The coins are for paying the Watching Stars. The book is the down payment. Read the first page, and you will receive a fraction of the power I’m willing to give you. 

Once you finish the task I’ve given you, I’ll ensure you receive more power than you can handle.”

Rain could almost laugh at the greed in his eyes. 

“I must warn you that the book I offer changes in the minds and bodies of the commoners that have read them, but for someone as important as you, it should be inconsequential.”

She had thought about not warning him, but even for scum like him, Rain wouldn’t trick him by lying. She would just fan his ego and let him knowingly ruin himself. 

It worked. Isster didn’t even consider that he might be vulnerable to the same things as a commoner. Instead, he asked.

“What kind of power will the book grant me?”

“A skill and class.” Rain answered with an indulgent smile.

Isster licked his lips. He was a low enough lord that he hadn’t been able to gain a class when attending the Grand Acadamy if he had even gone. 

“How do I contact the Watching Stars?”

Rain told him about the contact at the Goldhand Auction House - there was no way she was going to share her library contact with him. He took it all in, eager to achieve the greatness he deserved. 

Rain stood straight and looked down on him.

“Good now, don’t disappoint me.” Rain flexed her aura. Even in a dream, it responded, forming grinning maws out of the surrounding shadows. Rain caught a brief look of fear in Isster’s eyes before she severed the connection, returning to her body.

Opening her eyes, Rain could feel a slight burn from them, but it was nothing like the fire that her changes in Ms. River's dream had created. Looking down, Rain found no blood. Good, she hadn’t over-exerted herself. 

Lying back down, Rain went over the encounter in her head. Had she missed anything? She couldn’t think of anything, but only time would tell. Hopefully, he would get the information, and Rain could plan the next step toward freeing the slaves in Tineak. 

It only took a few minutes for Mr. Purple to give her the good news.

[Reader Lennart Isster has attained the skill: Gem Sight.]

[Creating class around Gem Sight for reader Lennart Isster.]

[Notice: Reader Lennart Isster’s mental corruption has risen 16%. Current mental corruption 16%.]

[Notice: Reader Lennart Isster’s physical corruption has risen 14%. Current physical corruption 14%.]

Putting her arm over her aching eyes, Rain wanted to drift off to sleep. But first - Rain groaned as she got off the couch - she needed to go wash herself off. The events of the night left her feeling unclean.