The grand dining hall of Greywood Keep was a masterpiece of illusion. A long, darkwood table, polished to a high sheen, reflected the wavering light of three silver candelabras that must have represented the last of the family's quality plate. The light was just bright enough to illuminate the strained smiles of the hosts and the assessing gazes of the guests, while conveniently casting the hall's dustier, more dilapidated corners into deep shadow. Ray, seated between his mother and brother, felt the now-familiar thrum of the two active personas in his mind. The cognitive strain of maintaining the Courtier and the Detective was a palpable thing, a dull pressure that demanded constant focus.
Courtier: "The seating arrangement is a tactical map. Your father has placed himself at the head, a declaration of authority. Lord Thorne, at his right, sits as the guest of honor, yet his posture is one of a man who owns the room, not one who is visiting it."
Detective: "Forget the postures. Look at what they're not saying. Your father's hand trembles when he reaches for his wine. Thorne's eyes aren't on the food; they're on the walls, the tapestries, the silver. He's taking inventory."
The meal began. It was the best the Croft kitchens could muster, a roasted fowl, root vegetables, and bread that was only slightly stale. The conversation was a verbal duel veiled in pleasantries.
"Your family has a remarkable history, Alistair,"
Lord Thorne boomed, gesturing with a chicken leg.
"You can feel the weight of generations in these very stones, a legacy my gold can't buy."
Courtier: "A poisoned compliment. He praises your history only to highlight your present poverty. He is reminding your father that legacy doesn't fill an empty treasury."
Detective: "He's probing. Testing your father's pride. Seeing how much he'll swallow before he chokes."
Lord Alistair puffed up, just as the Courtier predicted.
"It is a legacy of honor, Titus,"
He said stiffly.
"The Croft name has defended this region for five centuries."
"That is our strength."
Corbin, meanwhile, was making a clumsy attempt to engage Kaelen.
"I trust your journey was not too taxing, my lady?"
He asked, his tone more arrogant than charming. Kaelen, who had been pushing a single sliced carrot around her plate, looked up. Her expression was perfectly neutral.
"The roads were clear., my father ensures our protection and it is more than adequate."
Her gaze flickered for a fraction of a second towards the hall entrance, where the Gilded Wolves stood sentinel. The conversation eventually, inevitably, turned to Ray.
"And the young prodigy!"
Lord Thorne exclaimed, turning his full attention to Alex.
"Your father tells me you are quick of mind, boy."
"What does a son of House Croft study to sharpen his wits?"
This was the moment. The Courtier advised reciting histories; the Detective advised caution. Both felt… passive. Defensive. Thorne was driving the conversation, setting the terms. Ray felt a desperate need to seize the initiative, to throw a wrench in the man's perfectly calibrated machine. An idea, reckless and brilliant, sparked in his mind, an idea that didn't come from the Courtier or the Detective., but from the ghost of a Conman.
"I need a different advisor, I need to take a risk."
He knew what activating a third persona might do. The system's previous warning about two was clear. But letting Thorne continue to control the situation felt like a slower, more certain death. He made the choice. He reached out with his mind, past the two active personas, and called upon the Charismatic Conman. The backlash was immediate and brutal. The dull headache exploded into a spike of white-hot agony behind his eyes. His vision swam, and the two voices in his head became a chaotic roar as a third, slick and amused, tried to elbow its way in.
[CRITICAL WARNING: Attempting to initiate Tri-Concurrent Partial Immersion. Cognitive load exceeding safe parameters. The risk of neural cascade and forced system shutdown is HIGH. Estimated time to collapse: 90 seconds.]
Conman: "Whoa there, kid! Trying to juggle three of us? That's a bold play. You better make it count!"
Pain lanced through his skull, but through it, he found a sliver of terrifying clarity. He had 90 seconds. Lord Thorne was still waiting for an answer. The opening came when Thorne himself provided it.
"A wise Master-at-Arms! The world is indeed a dangerous place. A man must be willing to pay for security."
Courtier: "Defer to his wisdom! It is the safest path!"
Detective: "He's giving you nothing. It's a dead end."
Conman: "Wrong, boys. The mark just gave you the perfect opening. He's talking about security. So talk about his security. Make the bluff feel like a compliment."
Ray pushed through the pain, focusing on the Conman's advice. He looked directly at Lord Thorne, widened his eyes with a carefully constructed innocence, and delivered the line that the three personas had forged in an instant of high-pressure genius.
"Your guards are very brave, Lord Thorne,"
He said, his voice full of innocent admiration.
"They have golden wolves on their shoulders, just like the Gilded Wolves in the stories Master Theron tells about the brave sellswords of Solara!"
The silence that fell over the table was as sudden and heavy as a block of stone. And in that silence, as the world began to tilt on its axis, a final, glorious system notification burned into his vision.
[SYSTEM TECHNIQUE: TRI-CONCURRENT PARTIAL IMMERSION]
[SKILL ATTEMPT: PERFORMANCE (ACTING WITHIN ACTING) (CHARISMATIC CONMAN)]
[PERFORMANCE EVALUATION: INSPIRED]
[Under critical cognitive load, you flawlessly synthesized the input of three conflicting archetypes to deliver a statement of perfect innocence and devastating subtext. The gamble has successfully destabilized a superior opponent. Largest Mastery Gain.]
[Mastery Gain: Performance +15%.]
[Inspired Result: Due to willingly operating under extreme pressure, the Personal Trait 'Cross-Contextual Analysis' has evolved into the Innate Skill: 'Cognitive Aegis'. Passively reduces strain from all forms of Concurrent Immersion.]
The good news barely registered, because the 90-second timer was up. The three voices in his head vanished as if a switch had been thrown. The agony in his skull peaked, and a warm, wet trickle ran from his nose. The candelabras on the table blurred into streaks of fire. A wave of nausea and vertigo crashed over him. He dropped his fork with a clatter. His head slumped forward, and he only managed to catch himself on the edge of the table, his knuckles white.
"Ray!"
His mother cried out, her voice sharp with panic. The tense silence was broken. Lord Alistair stared, his face a mask of confusion and concern. Lord Thorne's cold, assessing gaze was now fixed on Ray's pale, sweat-slicked face and the thin line of blood dripping from his nostril. Kaelen, her own shock momentarily forgotten, leaned forward, her eyes wide with what looked, for the first time, like genuine alarm. Ray fought to keep his eyes open. The gambit had worked. He had thrown the room into chaos and revealed he knew more than he should. But the cost was immense. As darkness crept in at the edges of his vision, one final, lucid thought echoed in his battered mind.
"Never again. Never three at once. Not unless the world is ending."