Chapter 17: The Debrief
The silence in Kaelen's infirmary room was broken only by the soft beep of the mana-monitor and his steady, drugged breathing. I didn't move from my post by the door. The word he'd spoken—together—echoed in the stillness, a fragile lifeline thrown across a chasm of lies and pain. It wasn't a solution, but it was a direction.
The peace lasted less than an hour.
The door opened without a knock. The lead Enforcer from the plaza stood there, her scarred face impassive. "The Council is ready for you, Aiden Vance. Now."
I glanced at Kaelen, still unconscious. There was no one to intervene this time. I nodded and followed her.
They didn't take me to an interrogation room with a bright light and a one-way mirror. They took me to a formal conference chamber deep within the Ironheart Guild complex. The walls were lined with portraits of past Guild Masters and trophies from legendary dungeons. Seated at the long, polished table were five of the most powerful people in the city.
Guild Master Borin, a mountain of a man with a beard woven with enchanted silver threads, sat at the head. Flanking him were the heads of Strategy, Logistics, Security, and a woman I recognized as Master Celia, head of Hunter Development—the one who had overseen Kaelen's Awakening.
The air was thick with tension and the scent of old parchment and ozone. Five pairs of eyes, sharp and calculating, fixed on me as I was guided to a lone chair in the center of the room.
Guild Master Borin spoke first, his voice a low rumble. "Aiden Vance. The boy in the wheelchair. Or so we were led to believe." He leaned forward, his elbows on the table. "Start from the beginning. The true beginning."
This was it. The moment I had dreaded and, in a strange way, prepared for. I couldn't tell them everything. The full truth of my EX-tier skills was a weapon too dangerous to hand over. But I had to give them enough. Enough to secure my freedom and their cooperation.
I took a slow breath. "I Awakened a few weeks after Kaelen," I began, my voice steady despite the pounding in my chest. "The System registered it as an anomaly. My profile was restricted. I was… afraid. I didn't understand what was happening to me. So, I hid it."
Master Celia frowned. "Anomalies are rare, but not unheard of. Why the elaborate charade? The wheelchair?"
"Because it wasn't just an anomaly," I said, meeting her gaze. "I started seeing things. Feeling things in the dungeons. A corruption. The mutated Treant in the Thicket, the Nexus Shard in the Canopy, the Siren Stone in the Maw. They weren't random. They were attacks. And I knew, if whoever was behind them learned about me, about what I could do, I'd become the primary target. My family would become targets."
I saw the Strategy head, a lean man with spectacles, jotting down notes rapidly.
"So you became the 'Ghost'," Guild Master Borin stated. "A vigilante."
"I became a shield," I corrected, a sliver of defiance entering my tone. "I operated in the shadows to mitigate threats without drawing attention. I helped Kaelen's teams when they were in over their heads because I couldn't stand by and watch him die." I looked directly at Borin. "Everything I did was to protect this city from a threat you didn't even know existed."
The Security head, a grim-faced woman, sneered. "A noble sentiment. But you lied to the Guild. You obstructed official operations. You have operated with power far beyond any registered hunter without oversight or accountability. How do we know you aren't the threat?"
This was the critical point. I had to give them a demonstration. A controlled one.
"I'm not," I said simply. I held out my hand. I focused, not on the devastating power of Umbral Blade Dance, but on the subtlety of Shadow Bind. A single, wispy tendril of darkness, no thicker than a piece of string, coiled up from my palm, weaving between my fingers like a living thread.
The reaction was immediate. The Logistics head gasped. The Strategy head stopped writing, his pen frozen. Master Celia's eyes widened. I was not casting a spell. There was no mana flare, no incantation. The shadow simply was, an extension of my will.
"This is a fraction of it," I said, letting the tendril dissipate. "My abilities are… integrated. They don't follow standard System conventions. I believe that's why the Aetherials called me an 'irregularity'. I'm outside their design parameters."
I let that hang in the air. I wasn't just a powerful hunter; I was a weapon they didn't understand, one that had just proven effective against their greatest enemy.
Guild Master Borin stared at the space where the shadow had been, his expression unreadable. "The entity in the Sanctum. It spoke of a 'harvest'. Of 'Seed World 7,403'. What does that mean?"
"It means this wasn't an invasion," I said, the memory of the possessed Kaelen's voice chilling me. "It was a culling. The Ascension Trials were a feeding mechanism. They find the strongest of a world, possess them, and use them to lead the harvest. Our world, our planet, is just one of thousands on a list."
A heavy, horrified silence descended upon the room. The scale of the threat was finally, terrifyingly clear. They had thought they were building a defense against monsters. They were actually being farmed.
"The Aetherials will be back," the Strategy head said quietly, voicing what everyone was thinking. "They were repelled, not defeated. And now they know about you."
"I know," I replied. "And I can't stop them alone."
Guild Master Borin leaned back in his chair, the wood groaning under his weight. He steepled his fingers, his gaze piercing. "What do you propose, Aiden Vance?"
This was my chance. "First, my identity stays within this room. The public cannot know. The Ghost must remain a myth. It's my only advantage." I looked at each of them in turn. "Second, I need access. Unrestricted access to all dungeon data, rift activity reports, and any other anomalous events. I need to be able to move and act without Guild bureaucracy slowing me down. I am your early warning system."
"And in return?" Master Celia asked.
"In return, I will be the tip of your spear. I will continue to do what I've been doing: identify and neutralize these incursions before they blossom into another Sanctum-level event. And when the Aetherials return in force, I will be on the front line."
It was a bold power play. I was demanding autonomy and top-level clearance in exchange for my service.
The Council members looked at one another. A silent conversation passed between them. After a long minute, Guild Master Borin gave a single, sharp nod.
"Very well. Your terms are accepted. You will be granted the clearance you request. Your identity will be classified at the highest level. You will report directly to this Council, and only to this Council." He fixed me with a hard stare. "But understand this, Vance. You are now an asset of the Ironheart Guild. Your actions reflect upon us. If you step out of line, if you become a threat to the city you claim to protect, we will not hesitate to neutralize you. Is that clear?"
The threat was real and palpable. I had traded one cage for another, but this one had a longer leash and a clear purpose.
"Perfectly clear," I said.
"Good. You are dismissed."
As I stood to leave, the Strategy head spoke up again. "One more thing, Aiden. Your brother. What does he know?"
I paused at the door. "He knows I have power. He knows I was the Ghost. He knows I fought for him." I didn't add that the emotional landscape between us was still a warzone. Some things were not for the Council.
I walked out of the room, the Enforcer falling into step behind me, not as a guard now, but as an escort. The deal was struck. I was official. I was sanctioned.
When I returned to the infirmary wing, Kaelen was awake, sipping water. He looked up as I entered.
"Well?" he asked, his voice still weak.
"I'm not going to a cell," I said, sitting in the chair beside his bed. "I just made a deal with the Council. I work for them now. Officially."
Kaelen absorbed this, his expression guarded. "So. The Ghost has a badge."
"Something like that."
We sat in silence for a moment, the beeping of the monitor counting the seconds.
"While you were gone," Kaelen said, not looking at me, "I allocated my points. From the Trials."
I pulled up his public status in my mind's eye. He was now Level 25. He'd gained two levels from the brutal fighting in the Sanctum. He'd put all 6 points into Intellect. The strategist was fully embracing his role.
"Good," I said, meaning it.
He finally looked at me, his gaze searching. "This changes nothing between us, Aiden. The lies… they happened."
"I know."
"But," he continued, his jaw tight. "The enemy is clear now. And you're the only weapon we have that they don't understand." He let out a long, weary breath. "So, for the city's sake… we do this. Together."
It was the same word, but it felt heavier this time. Loaded with past hurt and future necessity. It wasn't the brotherhood we'd had. It was a new, fragile alliance, a partnership forged in the fires of betrayal and salvation.
"Together," I agreed.
The path ahead was darker and more dangerous than any dungeon. But for the first time, I wasn't walking it completely alone. I had the reluctant, wounded support of my brother, and the cold, calculating backing of the most powerful Guild in the city. It would have to be enough. The war for Earth had begun, and the Ghost was now its first and last line of defense.