Two Hundred_On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

Two Hundred

 After a rxing night at the mansion, which was excellent for destressing, and made a mockery of the fact we were fighting a war, although once we finally started prating deeper into Myconid Territory we would likely have to camp out in enemynds, we moved through the Seelie Court to the border a couple of miles further along, and started our attack and sample collection once more.

 Initially the fungal forest responded just as previously, giant aggressive nts and other beasts responding to our intrusion, the numbers rapidly escting until the forest seethed with them, but after just a few hours we started seeing Myconid Scouts.

 “They would have to respond more quickly to our attack this time unless they are idiots.” I told Shae as Iunched another stone sniper shell through the trees, exploding the Scout I had spotted. Meanwhile, Shae swung her one pinwheel (the other left back at the Fae Stones, securing another test-subject for Hyacinth) and the whining wire, shimmering with green and yellow energies, sliced through another Myconid effortlessly, the smell of charred mushroom filling the air along with its spores. At their deaths the surrounding woonds erupted into rage.

 “Die-die, you treacherous scum.” Shae smirked, finding immense satisfaction in ying the Myconid and its monstrous troops. Even so she was not done, and trees fell around us as she swept a clearing free of enemies, ether scattering around us.

 “Careful, don’t get too excited, you nearly chopped me up too!” I joked, but I had ducked under her swings in plenty of time.

 “Such an attack can not-not phase you now.” She grinned. “Look, morepany!”

 “Yeah, I see them!” mes roared free, and this time I decided to use Foehn. Corrupted trees spotted with mushrooms, toadstools, fungus and worse erupted into mes, the liquid ze spreading into the onrushing hordes, turning them into living torches, where they bumped into others, spreading tongues of greedy fire. Soon arge stretch of forest several-hundred metres across was an ocean of zing destruction. “Sweet, there’s that level-up I knew wasing. Fifty-Three now.”

 “We should-should retreat!” Shae dered. “The heat here is unbearable!”

 “Yeah, Foehn in a forest is devastating. Still, I won’t use it often.” Too much chance of it destroying any Etherites that might be lurking around. I’m greedy. “Also, notice how the fires seem constrained? Everything is giving off spores as they burn, and they seem to be slowly choking the area the Foehn is spreading too…”

 As we retreated, we crossed paths with Grulgor once more. He raised his dripping mace in a salute, before heading off to find further prey to destroy. “Well, it’s too soon to retreat yet.” I observed, watching him go with a surprising fondness for the insane brute. He’s been with me almost as long as Shae has, and while we haven’t spent much time together, I guess I see him as one of my own now. I just hope when we finally meet Duke Formor we can work things out.

 “Indeed, we should cause more destruction, wear-wear them down!” Shae approved. Massive truck-sized wooden hedgehogs, with narrow, spear-like fungal towers instead of spines, were shuffling towards us through the treeline, and behind them I could see more Myconids, including one with a red-and-white spotted head, carrying a long, gnarled staff.

 “That one’s new.” I observed. Myconid Shepherd [Dark Fae] was its description in my Eye. “Oh well, the more we take out now, the less we have to fightter.”

 It was then that arrows made from living mushrooms were fired as us from two directions, and I realised that the wily Myconids had ambushed us. Shae called on her Emerald Wind Prison, surrounding us with a whirling dome before the arrows could pierce us, and they exploded, filling the area with a nket of spores so dense and toxic they were actually visible, through the wind quickly swept them away.

 Myconid Ranger [Dark Fae] was the title of our attackers, and I could see as many as a dozen surrounding us, smaller, wiry mushroom-people with giant limbs resembling tree roots, pulling back on strangely shaped bows, the arrows sprouting from their very bodies. As the remains of her barrier died down, Shae pped me on the back, signalling her intent.

 “All right, I’ll take the Rangers, you stop the hedgehogs!” I called to her, and she responded, just as the wooden hogs began tounch the mushrooms from their backs like artillery, explosions around us intense, acidic slime sttering everywhere. I called on wind and rock walls, fending off the worst, and rushed the first batch of Rangers, channelling a little fire into one of the pistols Ixitt made for me. The first ranger released its dying spores, then a second. I was clipped by an arrow, but the chainmail held, protecting the rubber suit underneath.

 “Burn, vile Unseelie pawns!” Shae yelled, feeding me energy into her wind-weasels until they glowed like the sun and grew to a giant size, as thick as her own torso. I see Shae is growing stronger too. Nice. Showered by debris from the artillery she stood her ground, and then the ming weasel-headed serpents of wind and fire surged forwards. The first hedgehog burst apart, the second bored clean through. The third was beheaded, and the strands of ming air split apart then, her control exquisite, forming a cage that quickly surrounded the Shepherd, slicing and crushing it to death.

 “I have to keep up…” I channelled Aether, expanding my vision, like I had done a few times in the past. I felt quite the headache, butpared to before my enhanced thought-processes could handle it. Seeing the position of the enemies, I exploded the ground beneath them, and the air was thick with the stench of their deaths. Two Rangers and a Scout were fleeing, but with bullets of wind and stone they did not make the safety of the trees. A couple of the Scouts did make it out though, and over there… Myconid Observer [Dark Fae] was watching us from a fair distance away. This one was mottled blue and white, with a single ck orb set in the fungal-cap that was its head.

 It''s a bit of a long shot, but… forming another rock sniper, I unleashed it. the Myconid was moving as soon as it saw me preparing an attack, and it almost dodged, though it managed to survive, only an arm and a leg being ripped apart by the force of impact. It didn’t escape the second shot though.

 “I think we should retreat!” Shae cried, the spores driving the surrounding forest mad. Even some of the fungus-infested trees were starting to attack us, roots breaking from the mould-crusted soil beneath us and trying to snare us, reminding me a little of Hyacinth.

 “Yeah, we’ll regroup. How are your elemental reserves?” I asked, busily hoovering up the spoils of our battle, converting around a quarter to aether to keep me topped up, the rest going to my Territory.

 “I can continue for longer!” Shae insisted, backing up her words by whipping her pinwheel back and forth, severing roots. As one tree copsed, ripping up the dead earth, I caught a glimpse of a glitter of green. “Damn, a green Etherite! Jackpot!” Trusting Shae to cover me, I leapt for it, channelling aether to pull it to my hand.

 “So greedy!” Shae snorted, wind drills sting a path back through the thick mass of enemies.

 “You know it! I have big ns. Right, let’s split.”

 ********

 “Well, that was fun.” I breathed out heavily through the respirator, not forgetting to top up the wind energy within the drained cartridges for the gas-mask.

 “Hardly.” Shae sniffed, her armour so soaked with green gore and covered in fibrous nt material, you could almost mistake her for a shambling mound herself. Though I doubt I look much better.

 She continued, looking down at the small, brackish pool of slime-filled water that would no doubt have been beautiful, long ago. “I hate the filth here already and it has barely-barely been two days. This is not a fit ce for a princess.”

 She was holding an orange Etherite she had retrieved from the vile muck. Passing it to me sourly, she sat down, catching a moment of rest. We had been fighting across various shallow parts of the forest for hours now. Several times we crossed paths with Grulgor, and his armour was starting to umte damage, as he too had been ambushed, and sadly unable to kill most of the Myconids, who were crafty and attacked with traps and ranged assaults. Thest time, I had sent him back to Ixitt so he could have field-repairs.

 “I get it.” I rubbed her sodden head, though through her hood and my gloved hand there was littlefort there. “I’m just d Eri and my sis aren’t here for this battle. They’ll have to fight eventually, but… not here.” 

 Shae nodded. “Indeed. Hinata as well. Motoko and Natsumi too-too. Kazumi will wish to protect Hinata here also, I expect.”

 I held in a sigh. “I’m still a little cut up about that. But… I guess there’s no point looking backwards. As for Motoko and Natsumi. I’ll not make the same mistake again. I’ll talk to them, their family, our family, and do what’s right, and more importantly, what I want.” The rustling of the trees around us was growing more intense. “Oh well, that’s forter. Looks like break time is over.”

 Hordes of giant carnivorous nts were rushing our way, the numbers seemingly endless as always. Though in the back I could see a pair of Shepherds, their sticks shining with a dark, corrupted energy, very reminiscent of Hyacinth when she was using her Weal and Woe during our initial sh, before I saved her. Around them thend withered, trees turning to dust, but then horrific thorn-beasts mbered out of the ground as if being birthed, bears, wolves, hedgehogs and worse.

 “No wonder they never seem to run dry.” I charged forwards, the Twin Fangs in my hand cutting and slicing through a bear-beast. Briars fell around me, and suddenly I was caged in, beasts exploding into jagged thorns that were aiming for me like a twisted iron maiden.

 Nice trick. Sadly I’ve seen this one already today… I hurled the twin fangs, aether speeding them on their way, and one Shepherd fell, cut clean in half by the spatial rending. The second dodged, only for Shae to snipe it, a wind bullet blowing a hole in its torso.

 Wind and mebined, circling me like a series of cutting rings, and I pushed through, dying nts screaming soundlessly all around me, spores puffing into motes of me. Grabbing my thrown swords, we cut our way through, finally heading back towards the edge of the forest…

 ********

 “Nice.” The box of Etherites now contained three yellow ones as well as the green I had grabbed earlier. Ixitt was fussing with the cracked and twisted vacuum, Hyacinth bowing and sobbing. She had taken her mask off and her hood was down, so I could clearly see the tears running down her cheeks.

 “Hyacinth didn’t mean tooo!” she insisted. “The machine is sooo weak, it just broke!” she went to m her head into the ground, but Shae stopped her, a surprising act of generosity from her towards the former Unseelie. As Hyacinth looked at her with teary eyes, dering that “Any servant whooo destroys masters’ property is a bad, wooorthless servant!”, Shae shook her head, her freed amber locks flowing in the gentle breeze of the Seelie Court. Come to think of it, there is little to no breeze in the Boundary, but here the weather seems somehow more… normal, even if it is always twilight due to the moon overhead.

 “If you do this, you will just-just upset Akio. He does not-not wish you to hurt yourself. Besides, we understand this is a hard task. But a vital one! Akio is relying on you.”

 “Yes, master is needing Hyacinth!” she dered, her mood as changeable as ever, tears fading and mad smile returning. “I can dooo it, I will”

 I gave Shae a thumbs-up, and she grinned back at me, exhausted from the series of brutal running battles we had endured. The end of the second day of fighting was drawing to a close, even Grulgor’s great stamina having failed him. Still, we had a lot to show for it.

 Firstly, levels and loot. I got a second level-up, it seems Myconids give decent xp. It’s still WAY slower than before I hit fifty, but at least it is still climbing. In terms of ether, we’ve managed to gather a fair few Etherites, and we must have sent tens of thousands of ether back to the Territory over thesest two days. That was nice, but what was more important was the intel we had gained. The nt-creatures were seemingly endless, but it was the Myconids, or more precisely the Shepherds, that were creating them, and to do so seemed to exhaust their corrupted forest. So eventually they’d have to run out, not that I want that sort of endless war of attrition, despite the rewards.

 “The Myconids still don’t consider us a real threat.” I mused. “Sure, their attacks are growing fiercer, and they aremitting greater numbers to each ambush, but still, it must only be bare fractions of their numbers. It makes sense, as we are only prating shallowly into theirnds, but still. Something doesn’t sit quite right with their strategy.”

 “Perhaps they are simply surprised we have not-not yet sumbed to the vile spores they spread, and are waiting for that death to im us? We are also not-not threatening their hearnds, around the Spring and the Inner Groves.” Shae mused. Grulgor was silent, this talk boring him, and Hyacinth was busy capering around. Ixitt, still engrossed in fixing the vacuum, offered his opinion though.

 “It may well be that.” He agreed with Shae. “Also, consider that we are few in number, and though you are powerful, they must be confident that were you to advance too far, they could easily surround and crush you. At present, we are just annoyances. That will change if this persists, I am sure. Hmm…” he peered at the cracked ss before adding some strange sealing liquid from his supply bag. “… that should fix it.”

 “It just seems so wasteful of life, letting the Myconids face us a few at a time.” I sighed.

 “Unseelie and their allies are such vile fiends that lives, even-even their own, mean nothing to them!” Shae asserted. “Do not-not try and understand them, for it is futile!”

 No, I think there is more to it than just reckless disregard for the lives of their fellows. Oh well, we are still in the probing stages. “So, Hyacinth, you can move the spores, even without being able to see them?” I changed the subject. Hyacinth jumped up to attention, pushing out her chest proudly.

 “Yes, I can move them back into the ss ball! I knooow because when Ixitt turns the knobs I can see them! But… Hyacinth breaks masters’ property, her control is bad! I’m sooorry!” She started sniffling again.

 “There, there, it’s all right! You cleared the next stage! Tomorrow, you’ll try the third part of my n.”

 “I am curious as to how-how we will deal with the endless numbers.” Shae asked. I hadn’t really exined Hyacinths’ role to her, but now it was time. “Sooner orter we will be overwhelmed, unless you have a cunning-cunning n indeed.”

 “Well, it’s not so much cunning as cruel as hell, and totally against the Geneva Protocol. I guess I’m moving up from killer to war criminal.” At the strange term they all looked puzzled. “Let’s just say, tomorrow… Hyacinth, I want you to make spores!” The poor Degraded Kobolds are in for a terrible time indeed…

 “Make them? How does that help-help us?” Shae cocked her head, eyeing me quizzically. I was about to answer when Ixitt barked augh, a sound I was still getting used to, since his hacking, bloody cough was healed.

 “I get it. Ingenious. Frightening. Dreadful!” he chortled. “Truly, it is no wonder the Fae were driven from the mortal realms, with minds like yours there.” He grinned, bearing his teeth. “It isn’t that he wants to make spores to kill us, he wants Hyacinth to change them so they kill them! It’s sphemous, vile, but somehow so very pragmatic.” He shivered them, tailshing. “I simply must be part of this. Unseelie nature arts from Hyacinth, mortal knowledge and science, and devices I have helped create! I thought these masks and suits were the pinnacle of Mortal Engineering, but how foolishly na?ve I was! Princess, your consort is someone I can truly respect. Just for you, he will wipe out an entire race of Unseelie!”

 “Hyacinth must do what nooow?” she asked, but I waved her to silence. Shae was looking at me, her expression solemn, and I needed to give her my attention now.

 “That is quite-quite the n.” Shae said slowly. She stepped in to me and grasped my hand. “Does that not-not hurt your conscience, Akio? I know you are quite-quite kind and prefer your enemies to be your friends. Would this dreadful art not-not wound you? I do not-not wish for that.”

 Pulling her into a hug, I held her close, taking a deep breath, smelling the scent of her. “Yeah, it doesn’t feel good, but… look at it. Their very existence spreads death. I don’t think we cane to a peaceful solution. I have other ns too, some of which we might have to use, but… if they surrender and abandon the Spring, I won’t pursue them. Depending on what happens when the Boundary merges with the Astral and our world is imperilled by invaders, I may have to do worse to defend us. So I’ll learn now and desensitise myself. Just… I need you and Eri, and Hinata now too, I guess, to make sure I don’t go too far, and start doing cruelty without reason, bing that which we are fighting against.”

 “Do not-not worry. I shall never allow that. Nor will Eri, or Akio, or your family and friends. I grieve that I am burdening you with this-this. But…” her eyes grew soft, and she kissed me, Hyacinth looking on enviously. As we parted, our saliva still moist on each other’s lips, she sighed. “… it is necessary, you are right. I have never been in a true-true war with the Unseelie, or the Wild Hunt, but I know you must be ruthless, lest you lose all you love.” She perked up then. “Tonight, in bed I shall spoil you greatly, so your mind and heart are at-at ease!”

 “Hyacinth toooooo!” she whined, and I thought Shae would shoot her down as usual, but she surprised me.

 “You have not-not earned it yet. Do what Akio needs and… well, good servants get rewards, do they not-not?”

 “Mistress is kind!” Hyacinth was taken aback, used to Shae treating her harshly. At my stunned gaze, Shae shrugged.

 “What does-does it matter if you give her a reward? I am not-not asking you to marry her. Even Eri could not-notin about some harmless love shown to a servant who works dark miracles for you. It is not-not as though Hyacinth will steal any of her time, is it?”

 “I think you’d be surprised at how badly Eri wouldin, but…” Actually, Eri has been taking things better than I thought she would recently. She surprised me with Hinata. Even so, I’m not going to give in just because Shae is pushing me. Not this time. I do learn from my mistakes, albeit slowly. So if I don’t want to do it, I won’t! I considered Hyacinth carefully. She had shed her chainmail, but was still wearing the rubber suit. It clung to her ample curves and slender legs, and her beautiful face with her strange eyes and hair was like a work of art. She’s certainly beautiful. She reminds me of Shiro a little, though even Hyacinth doesn’t reach her heights. So the question was, would I want to sleep with Hyacinth, not just to reward her, but because I wanted to have sex with her as well? If I didn’t want to, then I wouldn’t, that was my new-found resolve.

 Under my long regard Hyacinth blushed, shifting awkwardly, her arms hugging her amble breasts shyly. “Master, sooo lewd.” She grinned. “But a brownie needs to warm the bed and relieve him ooof his cares!”

 “Eri has to agree. I’m not going behind her back any more, even if it is just a casual thing.” I said finally. I can’t deny it. I’m a healthy man, and of course I wonder what making love to a beauty like Hyacinth is like. Every otaku dreams of having a maid service him, and Hyacinth is the hottest maid there is. Still, it isn’t like I’m a beast, I could resist the temptation easily enough. Eri and Shae satisfy me plenty, and in the future Hinata will join them. “I feel pretty lousy right now, having to admit my own selfishness, that I would even consider another woman for pleasure when I already have you and Eri. I like to think… I like to think if I had held fast to just Eri, I’d never consider cheating on her. But… now I’ve had you, Shae, and in time Hinata, I guess… fuck, I don’t know what I mean. I could easily justify it to myself by saying I need to do this for a reward, so it isn’t cheating, just like I did with Hinata, getting pushed into it. But no. I’ll own this, and I’ll do whatever Eri wants to make it up to her, assuming she even allows me in the first ce. I need to make it clear to her, this isn’t something she needs to agree to, it''s entirely up to her conscience and mine. I like Hyacinth, and she’s attractive, and it’s nice to be desired, it makes me feel good, but I’m more than happy to find another way to reward her.” I paused, my jumbled thoughts a mess. “Though I admit, I definitely do want to reward Hyacinth for the horrible task I’m making her do. Even so, I could hardly me her if Eri went and cheated on me in return. I’ve not exactly kept my promises to her. Even suggesting this to her will hurt her. In fact, maybe it’s a bad idea after all, I should forget it…”

 “You think too-too much. But I believe it is progress. You are atst being honest. As for Eri, she will never seek another male. After all, you have kept your oath to her, to make her happy. And that happiness willst forever, and is too precious to keep all-all to ourselves.” Shae patted my head gently, her small hand stroking my hair, just as I often did to her when she was sad or stressed. “Now, shall we return? I must keep-keep my word and heal your weary body and soul!”

 At that I could only smile. War criminal. Murderer. Cheater. Damn, I thought I was the hero of this story, but maybe I’m actually the viin?

 ********

 After quite the night in bed with Shae, where she was more seductive and energetic than usual, I did feel better. The maids in the mansion were still a pain as always, but we headed out for the border as nned. This time, Hyacinth and Ixitt set up outside the Fae Stones, as there was no way we’d be conducting these potentially fatal experiments that could cause widespread contamination inside.

 “It is very hard to dooo, master!” Hyacinth panted, once more in full gear. Her efforts had just left the grassy field looking like a warzone, decaying vines fading back into nothingness piled everywhere amidst the torn ground.

 “Don’t worry about it.” I reassured her. “We are still in the early stages. Keep at it.” Turning to Ixitt, I advised him to continue sucking in the air around her attempts, and when she finally managed to create some spores, they could be tested on one of the poor kobolds, to see if the spores were as virulent as the ones the Myconids use. “All right then.” I said to Shae. “Shall we go into battle again? This time I want to go a little deeper, scout harder. Obviously we need to gather resources, but the aim should be to kill as many Myconids as possible. We need to thin out their numbers if we are to win this guerri war. I also have some hypothesis to test that may help uster.”

 As we raced into enemy Territory we immediately came under attack. Grulgor had gone before us and was likely riling them up, but as I attacked with sts of my freshly replenished wind and me, turning nt-beasts into so much chopped and burned wreckage, it took my mind off what a bastard I was being, even thinking about Hyacinth in that way. Seriously, father would be so disappointed in me. Still, I’ve not done anything yet, although, the minute I seriously considered having Hyacinth, no matter the reason, I crossed the line. Fuck, screw it, I’m going to transfer all my rage and self-loathing to the Myconids…

AliNovel

Two Hundred