I chewed a nail as I watched The Master's Eye. The game manager's room was thick with silence except for the sound of approaching feet.

I nearly choked when I turned and saw the approaching figures. Around me, others fell to their knees bowing or backed away, faces pale with terror. King Theon and Calipha Ra-Set strode toward us, leaving silence and wide eyes in their wake.

Calipha approached the Master's Eye as senior game managers and junior managers alike scrambled to get out of her way. One poor fool was already on his knees bowing and had to scramble to the side like a crab.

Our Master's Eye showed a view of Brynn Stygos. As of a few days ago, the Master's Eye watched Brynn more often than not. The senior game managers were busy trying to compile as much information about him as possible.

But curiously, it almost felt as if he somehow… knew. He was acting strangely, hardly communicating with his allies and working by himself a great deal. I thought back to when he seemed to sense my Eye of Uvu multiple times. Sensing the Master's Eye would be far more difficult, but he was also leveling at an astronomical rate. Solo or not, our projections for his rate of level gain weren't matching up.

Currently, he was level 47, and at his pace, he'd be 50 within another day. Easily.

The Master's Eye showed him working through his fourth challenge area as Calipha slowly walked toward the wall displaying the view.

Brynn was moving through this challenge area far faster than the last three. He had unlocked almost all of his activities and passives now and had even more equipment. Combined with his rapid leveling, he was proving to be far deadlier than I'd ever imagined when I chose him.

He was too deadly.

My goal was to spark unrest and form cracks in the foundation of what the nobility built. An aspirant showing promise was the groundwork we could build on. But the key was to move slowly. Cautiously.

Brynn was threatening to do far more than create cracks. He was going to force us to release the beast if this continued, and the beast had never been released in such a widely viewed and public tourney. A failure on that scale could mean everyone in this room's job and very likely many of our lives.

"How is this happening?" Calipha asked softly. The words slid through the room with the icy threat of a blade at each of our throats.

"T-there are theories, Diamond Lady," Orcus said. The former adventurer was brave to speak, but I could see even his large body was rigid with fear. He knew the consequences of displeasing the "Diamond Lady."

It was an old honorific not commonly used for those at Silver Rank or higher. Antiquated, but so was Orcus, and maybe he hoped its use would remind her of his advanced age.

Calipha didn't look away from the Eye as she spoke. "Let's hear them."

"We believe he could be a highly trained agent," Orcus continued. "Someone sent by Coil, perhaps. If they found a way to bypass our intake procedures, it's possible they could've slipped a Silver or even a Gold into the tourney. And he appears to possess some very powerful equipment. The bedroll covered in bugs, for example. We have never seen him sleep more than a single hour. He wakes appearing extremely refreshed, and has shown no sign of fatigue. We think it could be Legendary, possibly even demonic in Rarity. It adds credence to the idea of him being planted here by people in power, as no Aspirant would likely have access to such an item. Having his pose as an Aspirant would embarrass us. It would—"

"Make us look incompetent?" King Theon cut in. "Because that's how we look." Unlike Calipha, the king raised his voice. His small hands were clasped behind his cloak as he strode forward, soft boots barely making a sound on the stones. "This 'Aspirant' is leading armies of slaves who should have died in the first moments. He's threatening to take down castles and eliminate even more nobles. Just yesterday, I heard he eliminated two by himself. To hear the stories, he hardly broke a sweat, too."

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"My Lord," Valric cut in, his oily voice soft as he bent his head, eyes on the floor. "If I may suggest a solution."

Calipha cut her eyes to Valric, and I could swear I felt the air tighten around my neck like invisible fingers. From the way Valric tensed, I thought he felt it, too. "A solution, senior game manager? Do you mean to say you have a solution and you've failed to utilize it?"

"Apologies," he said quickly, wisely keeping his eyes on the ground. "It's just that this particular strategy involves letting matters… progress. It also involves unconventional means I would rather have your approval for."

"I'm already hearing rumblings of unrest in the poorest tiers of the city," King Theon said. "Out with it if you have a solution. Because I'm beginning to think we may need to release the beast and be done with this whole mess."

I swallowed hard. I felt the tension multiply in the room.

We all knew what that would mean for us.

"His Majesty is wise," Valric said carefully, nodding. "The beast is, of course, an option. But its release could signal weakness. To the viewers, it would appear as if our magic faltered and they missed the climax of the tourney. We can, of course, offer explanations and excuses. But we worried it would reflect poorly on Thrask and its leadership."

King Theon made a low sound in his throat. "Yes. Our mistake in trusting the lot of you with running our tournament. A mistake we would have to rectify, in such a case."

Valric swallowed visibly, but continued. "There is another way, perhaps. Something to try first… For now, this man is a mystery. A threat, yes, but no one knows where his story ends. If we can find a way to let it end without our involvement being obvious, I think it would be… favorable."

Calipha let a breath out of her nose, looking away just as Brynn Stygos used a faintly blue sheet of mana to block a projectile from a huge horse-legged creature and send it flying back. He was already sitting down and meditating, the fourth challenge area completed with ease.

"I have no patience for your politics, Valric," Calipha said. "Speak your plan plainly or don't speak at all."

Valric bowed profusely but wasted no time speaking. "There's a man we've been monitoring. When we looked closer at his intake forms, it became clear he is not who he seems. We believe one of the Aspirants meant to join was killed shortly before finalizing his position in the tourney. This man took his place."

"Brave to admit further incompetence at a time like this," Calpha said, voice sharp enough to raise goosebumps on my arms.

"We've been investigating. We would have of course removed him already," Valric said. "But we believe he may serve a purpose still. He calls himself 'Rake.' It appears he has an extensive history of violence and fights with a Sword corestone class highly reliant on stealth and surprise. An assassin, if you will. And an Aspirant, at that."

King Theon ran a hand down his beard, pausing mid-way. "You mean to use him to eliminate Brynn Stygos?"

Valric rubbed his hands together. "Perhaps. But Rake has been acting alone. He cleared his first challenge dungeon two nights ago. That makes him the only contestant other than Brynn to survive a challenge area. But it took Rake two days to methodically take an outpost by himself. He's extremely strong, but not suited to the challenges of the tournament. In other words, he has no hope of unlocking more skills and abilities in any reasonable timeframe. We could help him along. And we could point him in the direction of Brynn Stygos once he's at full strength."

"You would create yet another dangerous Aspirant to deal with the problem of an Aspirant who has grown too powerful?" Calipha asked. "And what assurance do I have that this assassin you create won't come for my son?"

"With due respect, Diamond Lady," Orcus said. "I believe Valric's plan has merit. We've already diverted the majority of viewing portal attention away from all Aspirants. Almost no one but the damned grommets even knows how powerful Brynn has become. We would need to let the crowds witness Brynn's death at Rake's hands, of course, or foul play may be suspected. But once they've witnessed Brynn's death, we could make Rake disappear quietly. Even if he kills Brynn, I don't think he has the personality to command much interest from the crowds."

Calipha was a decisive woman, and she gave a sharp nod of her head. "Your thoughts, His Majesty?"

Theon was watching Brynn emerge from the challenge area and seemingly go looking for another. The man was relentless, and I thought for the hundredth time how I had no idea what I was releasing into our tournament when I picked him.

Theon nodded absently. "Yes. Good. Do this." He gestured and began walking, but paused after a few steps. "Have a contingent of kiergard posted outside this room. Nobody leaves until the issue is handled."

"You," Calipha said, gesturing to a random junior game manager. "I want a full investigation into Brynn Stygos. I want to know everything there is to know. Find out who had contact with him prior to the tournament. Figure out any possible lead as to how he could be doing what he's doing. If there's more to him than it seems, I want to know about it. Do you understand me?"

The girl nodded quickly, looking as if she would rather throw up.

"Good." Calipha stormed toward the door as King Theon struggled to keep pace. "All of you should get back to work. Your lives depend on it."

My attention slid to the junior game manager tasked with investigating Brynn. I had been careful, but had I been careful enough?

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