Chapter ???? – The Coven of Fabulous Witches 0
I made my way home after an exhausting day, and basically collapsed directly in bed. Sleep. Sleep was a wonderful thing. The best thing, really. Who didn¡¯t love a good night¡¯s sleep?
Papilion. That¡¯s who didn¡¯t love a good night¡¯s sleep.
¡°You.¡± He said, entering my dream, doing his gnarly shapeshifting routine. ¡°You¡¯ve been on the planet for almost two decades, and you¡¯ve done absolutely nothing. No changes. I showed mercy. I showed kindness. And you¡¯ve spurned me, spurned my classes.¡±
I tried to protest, to explain. Papilion was doing that thing again where he wanted a ¡°discussion¡± but wouldn¡¯t let me say a word.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
¡°Prepare to be changed into a Golden Crow!¡± Papilion announced, and with that pronouncement, the world started to grow larger around me as I shrunk, wings replacing arms, feathers replacing fur, growing a third leg.
With an indignant squawk I took flight, only for a bolt of lightning to strike me.
I woke up with a gasp, covered in a fine sheen of sweat. I rapidly patted myself all over, making sure I still had everything, that I was still me.
I heaved a sigh of relief. All was good.
I got out of bed to get a drink of water, and promptly fell through the fairy ring that had grown beside my bed in the middle of the night.
Oh no! The Fae are entirely unbound by any rules, and they''ve yoinked Elaine so hard, she ended up in a different novel! Read the next part here! Link!
Chapter ???? – The Coven of Fabulous Witches III
Poor Larry, the clerk in the store all six of them had found themselves in, led the way down the street. Ariane followed imperiously behind him, like nothing else could be more natural than the mortal bending to her every whim. Ilea came next, the multi-dimensional hopper always having a way home. This particular adventure was significantly less trippy than some of the other realms she¡¯d been in.
Broccoli and Elaine came after. Getting yoinked from A to B wasn¡¯t exactly new, but it wasn¡¯t like they had 30 different skills dedicated to it.
40? It was hard to keep track sometimes.
Candle and Eve brought up the rear, intrigued by the prospect of seeing new, different weaponry, unsure what this new world would bring.
¡°Soooo¡ Vampire?¡± Elaine asked Ariane.
¡°That is correct,¡± Ariane said, not taking her eyes off the road, off the horizon, scanning for some store that screamed ¡®HEAVY FIREPOWER¡¯.
¡°My boss is a vampire progenitor. Old dude, like 5000 years old or something.¡± Elaine said, trying to make some sort of conversation. Kinda flubbing it awkwardly.
¡°A progenitor? Is he obnoxiously self-confident?¡± Ariane asked, suddenly a lot more invested in the conversation.
¡°Mmmm. Kinda. Looks down on just about everyone - well, he¡¯s got the levels and stats and power and position to do so - but, like, also lets everyone mostly do what they want and feel is needed. Just steps in when we¡¯re, like, going to all get ourselves killed doing something extra-stupid.¡±
Ariane snorted.
¡°Typical. They rely too much on their powers, and power is a crutch. You wouldn¡¯t happen to have a vial of his blood, would you?¡±
Elaine really didn¡¯t have anything to say to that.
Meanwhile, in the back, Broccoli and Eve were having a conversation.
¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll get your loaf of bread one day Ms. Eve.¡± Broccoli said. ¡°I know! Let¡¯s go together, and make you a loaf!¡±
Eve sighed.
¡°No, it won¡¯t work. It never works. Something will just go wrong, I know.¡±
¡°That¡¯s okay!¡± The irrepressible, perpetually cheerful Broccoli said. ¡°We can just try again!¡±
¡°But it¡¯ll break again.¡± Eve pointed out.
¡°But then we try, try, and try again! One day, we can do it! I just know it!¡± Broccoli replied. ¡°I believe!¡±
The two started to get into a circular argument in the back, and Candle sighed. She knew it was going to have to be up to her to break them out of the loop they¡¯d found themselves in, but she couldn¡¯t get a word in edgewise.
Meanwhile, Elaine and Ilea had gotten chatting.
¡°You¡¯re also a healer?¡± Elaine asked, confirming her earlier observation. Self-decapitation and still being alive helped significantly with the guess, but Elaine¡¯s [Identify] was on the fritz. She was getting back rainbow-colored eldritch nonsense instead of anything reasonable, and wasn¡¯t taking any chances.
¡°Yup!¡± Ilea confirmed. ¡°Also - ¡®also¡¯?¡±
¡°Same here! Although, I can¡¯t regrow my entire body.¡± Elaine said, briefly thinking about and discarding adding a ¡°yet¡±. Either way, Ilea was clearly more powerful in every way. ¡°Any tips?¡±
¡°Work on your resistance skills. Try to get as many as possible.¡± Ilea promptly answered without thinking, almost like she¡¯d been asked the question hundreds of times and was sick and tired of it.
¡°I have one¡¡± Elaine said, trailing off. ¡°But I have limited skill slots. I could only get seven more, tops, and that¡¯s if I dumped all my other general skills. Heck, I don¡¯t even know if I can get resistance skills as a general skill.¡±
Ilea paused, looking at Elaine with horror, the thought of having ¡°only¡± eight resistance skills too much for her.
She closed her mouth, and patted Elaine on the shoulder with a look of pity.
¡°Good luck.¡±
¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Larry said.
¡°Yessss. Show me the weapons.¡± Ariane said, throwing open the doors and striding inside.
¡°Shopkeeper! I wish to peruse your finest firearms!¡± Ariane declared, as the rest of the gang piled in behind her.
The floor creaked ominously under Ilea. She looked slightly guilty, and the floorboards bent back into position.
Roughly.
They took a look around the store. It wasn¡¯t particularly impressive. A few pistols were in a glass case, a couple of single-shot rifles on one wall, a few sad, scattered boxes of ammo on the other. You could shrink the store to a third of its size, and there¡¯d still be leftover room for more merchandise. Not exactly the most amazing of places.
¡°Whaddaya want?¡± The bored store owner asked from behind the glass case. ¡°It¡¯s a five-day minimum wait to purchase any guns while the check clears.¡± He said in a monotone, ¡°damn these window shoppers¡± tone.
Ariane looked around, disappointment clear on her face.
¡°Well. If this is the best that can be done, there is nothing for it. I will simple have to-¡±
Candle sniffed.
¡°I smell chocolate. And gunpowder. Under there.¡± She said, pointing to a now rather-obvious trapdoor.
Everyone piled in, ignoring the protests of the shop owner.
It was clear that the store upstairs was a decoy, a front. The real weapon store was down here.
And oh, what a weapon store it was.
A giant, cavernous space hosted the weapons.
Rows upon rows of every conceivable gun was merely the start. From front-loaded single-shot rifles, to beautiful ivory-engraved pistols, moving to fully automated weapons, into the miniguns, straight to the anti-aircraft weapons, skipping weapons that were loaded onto tanks, and transitioning right into guns that would be right at home on a battlecruiser. 127mm to 155mm guns, too large for any human to pick up and carry.
Blessedly (cursedly?) Ariane wasn¡¯t human. Things like ¡°too heavy¡± didn¡¯t apply, and she was giddy like a schoolgirl, moving from one large gun to the next, picking one up, ¡°sighting¡± down the barrel, and putting it down, only to move onto the next.
And yet. Guns were barely the start.
Grenades were next. Smoke, fragmentation, stun, flash-bangs, cluster, big, small, little. You wanted a grenade? They¡¯ve got em!
Hiding innocently inside the grenade section, just, hanging out there, was a rack dedicated to bread. All types. White, wheat, sourdough, baguette, pita, brioche. It was like a mad baker had baked every single bread in existence, and just placed them in ¡°Gluten¡±, next to ¡°Grenade¡±.
Eve eyed the bread.
Eyed the grenades.
Put one and one together.
¡°EVERYONE DOWN!¡± She yelled, throwing herself to the floor.
Ilea was replaced with a winged, horned demon of ash, tendril trailing from behind her.
Elaine snapped up a shield, shimmering and glowing like the Aurora Borealis.
Everyone else threw themselves to the ground.
¡
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
¡°Excuse me Ms. Eve, but what are we waiting for?¡± Broccoli asked. ¡°I¡¯m okay with this, but shouldn¡¯t something be happening?¡±
Eve spluttered.
¡°The grenades - the bread - they - argh!¡± She said. ¡°The moment I get close to the bread, something will go wrong and destroy them. Most likely, the grenades will blow up, then ALL of them will blow up, and it¡¯ll be bad.¡±
The ashen demon nodded.
¡°Yeah, that¡¯d be pretty bad. I¡¯ll shield all of you. Just get a bit closer to trigger it.
¡°Are you quite certain?¡± Ariane asked, uneasily eyeing a grenade labeled ¡°high incidindary¡± ¡°That does not appear to be the safest course of action.¡±
Ilea shrugged.
¡°If it¡¯s going to go wrong, might as well be in a controlled situation.¡±
Hesitantly, then slowly going forward, Eve crept towards the bread. One step, a pause. One step, a flinch, expecting a massive explosion to tear through the facility.
Ten steps away.
Five steps. The closest she¡¯d ever been to Bread since getting the Quest.
Three steps.
Two.
One.
Hesitating, disbelieving, Eve reached out with one hand, touching a loaf of banana bread. Could it be this easy? Was her Quest at long last complete?
It felt weird. Eve had expected the bread to be soft, pliable. Something you wanted to eat. This was cold. Hard to the touch. Unyielding. It -
¡°THIS ISN¡¯T FUCKING BREAD!¡± Eve cried out, grabbing it and throwing it to the floor. ¡°ITS ANOTHER DAMN FUCKING GRENADE! ARGH!¡±
The loaf-grenade hit the floor.
In two pieces.
Right next to the ¡°H¡± for ¡°High Explosives¡±
¡°Oh Fu-¡± Eve got out, right before the grenade went off.
It was Candle who saved them all. She drew, at lightning speed, a rune in the air that froze the grenade, stopping it from going off, saving them all from an untimely end.
Well. Untimely for everyone but Ilea. She¡¯d have survived it.
Missile launchers. Bazookas. Land mines. Sea mines. Air mines. Space mines. Bayonets. Carbon-fiber knives and swords. Flamethrowers, from tiny to XXL. Mortars, artillery trucks, jeeps, tanks, grenade launchers - conveniently next to the grenades - missiles, torpedos.
Submarines. Helicopters. Fighter jets.
The pi¨¨ce de r¨¦sistance.
A large bomb in a crystal case, surrounded by beeping counters. It was unlabeled, with just the name ¡°Fat Boy¡± on it.
¡°No. Nope nope nope no.¡± Ilea said, vanishing the weapon. ¡°Absolutely never not nope.¡±
¡°How large is this place?¡± Candle asked, voice echoing throughout.
No answer was given, as a roar of gunfire preceded maniacal laughter.
¡°Yes. YES!¡± Ariane cried out, as the unyielding firestorm resumed. ¡°This is IT!¡±
The others stopped their wandering, and made their way over to the noise.
Ariane had found miniguns were exactly to her taste, and was busy test-firing a larger-than-life one at the firing range. The barrels slowed down as she finished firing the latest rounds at the now-former targets, revealing that someone had been visited by the ¡°Good Idea¡± fairy, and had placed bayonets on the end. One per barrel.
¡°Alright, alright, I think I¡¯ve got the hang of this.¡± Ariane said. ¡°Watch.¡±
Moving to another section, she pressed the trigger, and the minigun spat out bullets with a roar.
In under a second she stopped, and pointed gleefully at her work.
Two hundred dummies were in the section, each with a single bullet expertly placed in a lethal spot.
¡°This is perfect.¡± Ariane declared.
Nobody was inclined to argue with her.
¡°Um, excuse me Ms. Vampire.¡± Broccoli asked. ¡°Should you really be doing that without the permission of the person who owns the place? He might be sad.¡±
¡°Hmmm. You bring up an excellent point. I must find the owner of this establishment, and reimburse him.¡± Ariane said.
¡°Why don¡¯t we all find something we like, and pay at the end?¡± Elaine suggested.
The looting began.
Ariane grabbed the minigun, then started picking up, testing, and strapping weapons she deemed ¡°acceptable¡± to her back. She started to look a bit like a hedgehog. Sniper rifle, assault rifle, hand guns, and more. The author¡¯s not a gun nut, and can¡¯t really comment past this. Lots of guns.
Ilea grabbed a little of everything. Some grenades, some bazookas, a few guns. Her ashen limbs behind her rearranged themselves, each one holding a gun.
A one-woman army of weapons.
Quite frankly, a downgrade from her normal fighting prowess. Still, it was fun, and hey, who knows, maybe she¡¯d get another 10 general skills from it. A [Missile Launcher] skill, a [Grenade Launcher] skill, a [Bazooka] skill, an [Anti-Aircraft weaponry] skill....
Illea had to collect them all.
Eve looked around morosely, before deciding that her current weapons were just fine.
Elaine picked up a handgun, and went to the firing range. She experimentally, inexpertly, tried to fire a few shots at the targets.
¡°Do you require assistance or instruction as to the use of firearms?¡± Ariane asked her.
Elaine hesitated.
¡°Yes, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve got the time to learn how to use a gun properly. Like. I¡¯d need to aim and track and such.¡±
Ariane tilted her head.
Elaine figured a practical demonstration would work better. She didn¡¯t even need to point. One moment she was standing there, the next a beam of burning, golden light shot from her, piercing straight through a target dummy¡¯s head.
Ariane hissed at her.
¡°No sunlight!¡±
¡°Relax, it¡¯s not sunlight, it¡¯s Radiance. Looks the same, feels the same. Isn¡¯t sunlight. Does sunlight make you explode into flames?¡± Elaine asked rhetorically.
¡°Yes.¡± Ariane hissed back.
¡°Ah, um. Sorry?¡±
Candle found the ¡°field rations¡±, which ranged from ¡°technically edible¡± to -
Well. Candle never found out what they ranged to. She stopped at ¡°Chocolate.¡±
She transformed into a massive, mighty dragon - still relatively tiny inside the space - to better load herself up with chocolate.
She didn¡¯t know why coconut-flavored chocolate was considered an army ration, but she wasn¡¯t going to complain.
Broccoli looked around, ears flat.
Then she spotted the swimming pool. Everyone else was busy finding weapons. Broccoli didn¡¯t think weapons were needed. Just a nice chat and a hug! That¡¯s all anyone ever needed, really.
Broccoli got to the swimming pool, and eyed it doubtfully. Was asking for a swimming pool of water too much? Instead, it was full of ammo, just loosely piled around.
With a diving board.
It was a gun nut¡¯s version of a Scrooge Mcduck money tower.
Eventually, the looting shopping spree came to an end, and everyone got back together.
¡°Hang on.¡± Broccoli asked. ¡°How are we going to pay for any of this?¡±
There was an awkward moment as everyone took out what they had.
Elaine had some round iron coins with a triangle in the middle.
Ariane had a few bills.
Nobody else had much more that was better.
¡°How are we going to get out with all this stuff?¡± Elaine asked, doubtfully eyeing Ariane and her many guns.
¡°Also, we should talk about how we get to the island.¡± Eve said. ¡°Apparently, the metal birds can fly?¡±
Candle snorted, small flames emerging from her nostrils. Elaine took a few steps back, making sure she was well and clear from the Dr-
No don¡¯t say it don¡¯t think it. It¡¯s not a D----g. Just a transformed human with poor taste. It must be.
¡°I¡¯m bigger and faster than anything iron. Can¡¯t even see how it flies.¡± She said.
Some cajoling, begging, pleading, bribery, and flattery later, and Candle had agreed to take them all to the island.
¡°Now we¡¯ve gotta pay.¡± Ilea said, using space magic to transport them all back to the main store.
¡°Proprietor!¡± Ariane commanded. ¡°You have a most impressive selection of weaponry. You may become a supplicant, for a generous donation.¡±
He snorted.
¡°What, you think you¡¯re some sort of jedi, waving your hand around like that? Fancy mind tricks don¡¯t work on me. Only money.¡± He said, drawing the last two words out and rubbing his fingers together.
Broccoli eagerly offered up everything she had.
¡°Here you go mister! It¡¯s all I¡¯ve got.¡±
He looked doubtfully at the offering.
¡°That¡¯ll pay for three bullets.¡±
Elaine offered her coin pouch - along with a few diamonds.
¡°Now we¡¯re talking! That pays for the training dummies and rounds you all used.¡± He said.
Ilea rolled her eyes, and out of nowhere, summoned a giant chunk of gold, larger than she was.
A look of greed crossed the storekeeper¡¯s face for a brief instant.
However, the added weight of the gold was one insult too many for the floorboards. Ilea did a Wile-E-coyote.
Read the next part here!
Worldbuilding - What caused the deadzone?
Hey!
One of the things I''ll unfortunately never be able to say in-story - What caused/causes the deadzone?
Due to what it is, and the nature of it, I have *no way* of getting the information to Elaine in-story. Since I can''t get it to Elaine, I can''t get it to you, the readers.
Well, the deadzone has been posted to Royal Road now, and they''ve gotten some time to speculate. Not nearly as much as everyone else has, but hey. That''s why you''re my patrons - you get advanced goodies that RR doesn''t get.
And you''ve all gotten plenty of time to speculate.
Didn''t speculate? Stop reading!
...
...
...
Alright, you were warned!
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
The deadzone is caused by the massive plant that''s living in the Nostrum sea. The very same plant that prevents cross-sea travel, making the people of Remus stick to the shores. The same plant that Night doesn''t think is a problem, because it prevents anything else from growing inside the sea.
And he''s right about that! No giant sea monsters in the Nostrum because the plant''s eating them all.
Now, I hate it when things seem to be introduced out of the blue, or are this convenient in stories. So I was hinting at it for a long, LONG time.
Back in October.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/43364547
It''s not really an oddity if it''s only eating things now is it?
It came around when I asked myself; "What stops someone else from coming in and evicting humans from their nice, cosy spot in the world?" Because Remus''s location is almost like a paradise in many ways. Good climate, easy transportation, good food, a variety of locations and places to be - it''s ideal in many ways. Why didn''t someone else move in and evict the humans?
Dead zone.
I also hate the "MC starts in the weakest spot" trope, so I balanced it. Since it''s experience being eaten, and not like mana density or something like that, it takes longer for people to level up. Well, the System still sees all the stuff they do, and if a carpenter needs to carve twice as many chairs to level up, his (improved) classes will reflect that!
A trade off that most anyone wouldn''t make - after all, you can always live outside the deadzone and carve twice as many chairs - but it''s an effort not many people will make. So an advantage.
Ask me anything else about the dead zone!
Chapter ??? - Dragoneye Mortis 1.1
Whatever Vita expected to be doing this morning, it sure wasn¡¯t hurling head-over-heels through an unknown void. Like getting sucked down a river, she tumbled uncontrollably, no memory of how she got here and no idea where ¡®here¡¯ even was. Time seemed to have no meaning here, space was nothing but a force pulling her along. She¡¯d given up struggling, spending her time pulling mana into and out of her soul. What else was there to do? Only when she was unceremoniously dumped into the middle of a field, landing face-first in the grass, did she come back to her senses.
And then the voices start.
[*ding!* Welcome to Pallos!]
[Name: Vita]
[Race: n<=¡ê?¡ì?!?]
[Age: 16]
[Time remaining on System locks: -72,435:53:22]
[*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve survived your early years, and the system is now fully unlocked for you!]
¡°What? What the fuck?¡± Vita snapped, jerking her head up and looking around.
¡°Ooh! We finally caught one!¡± a sing-song voice announced.
¡°What is this thing?¡± another voice grumbled. ¡°You were supposed to get a human!¡±
¡°This is a human!¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think it is.¡±
¡°Who¡¯s there!?¡± Vita shouted, trying to feel around. But there was nothing. No souls, anywhere. It felt like she was still in the void.
[*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve earned your first class ¨C [Child of Nothing] - Mist]
[Child of Nothing] ¨C A starter class for e¨¢*?>n ¡ê??¨´Z9¨¤o? A?a/£¤W¨¤ ?¡À?¨´B¨¨! +4 Free Stat points per level.
[*ding!* Congratulations! [Child of Nothing] has leveled up to level 1 -> 8! +4 Free Stat points per level from your class, +10 Mana for your race per level, +1 Speed and +1 Dexterity from your element per level!]
[*ding!* Congratulations! You can now advance your class!]
¡°Class? What¡¯s a class?¡± Vita growled, standing up to look around. ¡°Who is saying all this? Where am I?¡±
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Observe]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Identify]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Meditate]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Lying]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Conning]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Stealing]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Walking]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Running]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Climbing]!]
¡°Ow! Ow, stop dinging!¡±
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Gymnastics]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Throwing]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Dodging]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Polearms]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Jumping]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Spotting]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Survival]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Knives]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Combat Reflexes]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Poison Resistance]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Pain Resistance]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Food Prep]!]
¡°What is this? Stop yelling at me!¡±
¡°Aww, the poor thing is confused!¡± the first voice tittered.
¡°We should probably just choose for her,¡± the second commented.
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Mood Detection]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Lie Detection]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Food Detection]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Stomach Capacity]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Monster Muncher]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Corruption]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Blasphemy]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Cannibalism]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Pedicide]!]
¡°Pedicide!?¡± Vita snapped.
¡°Really? You want that one?¡± asked the first voice.
¡°Well, I¡¯m not sure it will come in handy, but if you insist!¡±
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Passive skill [Vigilant]!]
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Passive skill [Adaptable]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Passive skill [Active]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Passive skill [Learning]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Passive skill [Loyal]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Passive skill [Dedicated]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Passive skill [Intimidating]!]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Passive skill [Cute]!]
[*Error!* SKILL SELECTION OVERRIDE!]
¡°Right, well, we¡¯re choosing Pedicide¡ and she¡¯ll probably need Polearms¡¡± the second voice mumbled.
¡°Stealing!¡± the first voice insisted. ¡°Stealing is fun!¡±
¡°Right, okay, Stealing¡ probably Survival? Oh, and Loyal, we should make her Loyal.¡±
¡°Give her Corruption!¡±
¡°We are not giving her Corruption. We¡¯re already going to be in trouble for this.¡±
"Conning, then! Everyone loves a good con! I can''t wait to see what she does with that!"
¡°Right, Conning. And¡ Intimidating, in case she gets delayed.¡±
¡°And Cute!¡±
There was a pause.
¡°You want her to be Intimidating and Cute?¡±
¡°Yes!¡±
¡°Shut up and show yourselves!¡± Vita shouted furiously, finally scrambling to her feet.
At least all her gear was intact, even if something seemed to be blocking her soul sense. She looked up, down, left, right, trying to find the source of the voices. She felt nothing, but everywhere she looked things just seemed more wrong. A bright blue sky, devoid of even a single floating stone. Some kind of super bright pain-orb floated up there instead, causing suffering whenever she tried to look at it.
¡°Show ourselves?¡± one of the sing-song voices cooed, high-pitched yet oddly androgynous. ¡°You¡¯ll never see us if you merely look around.¡±
¡°Because we¡¯re on top of your head!¡± squeaked the other, suddenly leaning down over Vita¡¯s face.
¡°Ack!¡± Vita jumped, smacking at her scalp as the two giggling creatures leaped off her head and fluttered into the sky, buzzing around her.
They looked like tiny, doll-size humanoids, naked yet genderless, dashing about on dragonfly wings as they laughed at Vita¡¯s ineffectual attempts to swat them.
¡°Where am I?¡± she demanded. ¡°What do you want with me?¡±
¡°This one does not listen to the System!¡± one giggled. ¡°Foolish, foolish! You must listen to survive here!¡±
¡°You are on Pallos! We brought you here to send you on a grand quest!¡±
¡°The grandest of quests!¡±
¡°Atop the spire of stone, a treasure unmatched in beauty and worth awaits! In the direction of the setting sun you will find it guarded by a beast most foul!¡±
¡°Most hungry!¡±
¡°Most vile! There, you will slay the creature and claim your prize! Only then will the champion be sent home!¡±
¡°...Fuck off!¡± Vita snapped. ¡°If you can teleport me all the way to crazy land, then deal with the stupid creature yourself! Just zap it a few thousand feet into the air and leave me alone!¡±
Seriously, this could not make any less sense. Vita was becoming increasingly convinced that she was hallucinating, possibly under some sort of cognimancy spell. Two tiny, flying, riddle-talking bug people definitely pushed things well over the cliff of possibility.
¡°The prize! The prize! We cannot claim the prize for the hero claims the prize!¡± the two fairies sing, clasping hands and dancing in a circle in the air. ¡°The champion from beyond the world shall quest and seek the prize!¡±
¡°Nope, nuh-uh,¡± Vita grumbled, starting to walk off. ¡°Fuck this Capita shit, I¡¯m out. How do I wake up?¡±
¡°Well, first, you go to sleep,¡± one of the fae answered, turning to face her with a grin.
¡°More fucking riddles!?¡± Vita complained.
¡°No,¡± the fae answers. ¡°Initiate class advancement.¡±
¡°What is a¡ª¡±
[*Error!* CLASS ADVANCEMENT OVERRIDE!]
With a snap of the fae¡¯s fingers, Vita found the ground flying forward to meet her once again, unconsciousness rapidly approaching.
¡°I told you we should have gotten one from Earth,¡± the other fae complained. ¡°They always pick these things up faster.¡±
¡°Eh,¡± their companion responded. ¡°Call our sibling. We can do that too.¡±
--
Elaine groaned and rolled over in her sleep. She¡¯d been missing home, and was sleeping with her mom¡¯s pendant in her hands. Peaceful sleep eluded her though, as she was tormented by nightmares. By failure, by death dealt to her friends and dealt by her own hand.
Her hand tightened, like it was fighting the grip of someone strangling her, then loosened, dropping her pendant.
Three fairies popped in around her.
¡°She¡¯s unprotected! Get her!¡± The one the size of a hummingbird yelled, pointing at Elaine.
¡°Just because you¡¯re the tallest¡¡± Grumbled the short one, weaving her hands, dusting Elaine with power.
¡°Wait! The Quest! We must tell her the quest!¡± The tallest one, still hummingbird-sized, said.
¡°Oh right. Flowers! Gotta get the flowers!¡± The middle one said.
¡°Idiot! You didn¡¯t make it into a riddle!¡± The shortest one reprimanded, buzzing her wings with crossed arms.
¡°And now, I steal the sun!¡± the middle one interrupted, snapping her fingers.
Vanishing Elaine.
¡°Maybe we should¡¯ve woken her up, before telling her the quest.¡± The tallest one said, tapping her chin, then shrugging.
¡°Ah well. It¡¯s her fault for sleeping.¡±
Elaine woke up four feet off the ground, and falling fast.
She cursed a foul invective, trying to activate [Talaria] right before she landed. She hadn¡¯t slept with her sandals on though, so the skill failed to activate, dumping a surprised Elaine face-first into the dirt.
She immediately flipped up, on guard, ready to fight against whatever had attacked her. Being teleported around wasn¡¯t exactly a friendly move.
She narrowed her eyes at the still and silent jungle around her, mentally noting that the sun was high in the sky. She¡¯d been moved a long, long distance.
Or massively slept in.
No System notifications. Elaine felt her heartbeat pick up, as she quickly tried to check her status. She breathed a sigh of relief as it popped up.
Just to make sure, she flickered through a few active skills really fast. [Mantle] still worked, [Shine] still lit things up, and Elaine pointed up and fired off a [Nova].
Perfect. Her skills still worked. Her mind was entirely intact - this time.
A bush rustled, and Elaine whirled around, seeing a human-sized dinosaur flying through the air towards her. Its feathers were broken and patchy, but its claws were long and its teeth were vicious.
[Bullet Time] activated as Elaine leaned back, firing a narrow beam of Radiance through the raptor¡¯s head. It drilled through in an instant, but Elaine didn¡¯t get a kill notification. Cursing, she fired off a [Nova], throwing up [Mantle of the Stars] behind the skill, protected by a mystical wall of shimmering stars.
[Nova] landed with a roaring explosion, blasting the raptor to pieces in a fiery, golden inferno, yet there was still no kill notification.
How tough is that thing!? Elaine cursed to herself as five more raptors leapt at her from the bush. Five more headshots, no notifications, and Elaine blew another [Nova] at point-blank range, swearing as her shield needed to protect her from her own skill as well, burning mana she couldn¡¯t afford to waste.
Everything settled for a moment, and Elaine took a look around, seeing six burned and broken bodies laying on the earth jungle floor in pieces. Elaine picked the one that seemed to be in the most pieces, and piece by piece, started to incinerate it.
Halfway through, it clicked.
¡°Puppets. Or body hijackers. Or zombies. Wait, it can¡¯t be body hijackers, they would¡¯ve gotten killed. Spore jackers.¡±
Elaine threw her hands up in frustration.
¡°Either way! Not a living creature, no kill notifications.¡±
She moodily kicked one of the re-dead raptor¡¯s bodies.
¡°And no experience by the look of it. Great. Just great.¡± She complained, continuing to talk to herself. Helped distract her from the fact that she had no idea where she was, or which way home was.
Still, this was hardly the first time Elaine had been almost literally thrown into a jungle with no equipment to survive, so she didn¡¯t bother to waste any time panicking about it.
A screech made Elaine turn her head, and immediately she saw dozens, if not hundreds of raptors storming across the jungle towards her.
That part was new.
Elaine started running away, to give herself more time and space against the raptors. She blindly fired [Nova]s behind her as fast as she could - it wasn¡¯t like she needed to aim to hit 5, 6, 7 of them at a time! As the dead started to fall, however, their master took notice.
Chapter ??? - Dragoneye Mortis 1.2
The explosions also helped get her attention.
¡°...The heck sort of monster did they find?¡± Vita mumbled to herself, planting a shard of her soul into yet another dinosaur corpse and feeling it spread throughout the inside like the branches of some ethereal tree. The body rose, her power flowing through it. The Dreg stood and waited for instruction.
¡°Follow me and attack on my command,¡± Vita ordered, drawing her spear.
Each of the dozens of dinosaurs in earshot moved into formation, surrounding their master in as even a formation as possible. [Voice of Command] and [Coordinated Horde] at work, she supposed. Dreg zombies were infuriatingly stupid, and back home they¡¯d barely be able to walk without tripping over each other. This¡ ¡°system¡± stuff was definitely a bit weird and abstract, but Vita couldn¡¯t deny how helpful it was. Especially since, for some insane reason, nothing in this damn world had a soul. Her army was made out of Dregs because she couldn¡¯t make anything but Dregs! If not for the [Horde Queen] class, she¡¯d be sunk.
Her other class seemed like kind of a dud.
More blinding explosions thundered nearby as Vita mounted a raptor zombie, riding it as her force approached. Anything capable of unleashing magic that powerful would easily overpower an unled section of her horde, but Vita was hardly above letting her minions tire whatever it was out, especially now that the system changed the stakes. Her entourage leaped over the half-vaporized bodies of her former minions, and she raised a hand.
¡°[Soul Reclamation],¡± Vita muttered, feeling a leap in power as the shattered dust of her broken shards spiraled towards her in a radiant swirl. At least she wouldn¡¯t lose any parts of herself invested in the Dregs, even if they got smashed to dust. Still, Vita hated this damn world. There was nothing here she could feel with her soul sense. Nothing but her.
Which was why she ended up so surprised to find a human shooting the explosive blasts at her army.
Hmm. Threat or potential ally? It probably depended on their opinion of animancy, considering that she was currently riding a zombie. Without her soul-sense, Vita couldn¡¯t get a good handle on how powerful this armored kynamancer was, but the way she was tearing through the raptors like wet tissue paper felt like a pretty good hint. Just to be safe, she quietly subvocalized an order, letting [Voice of Command] carry it to her minions. Hidden zombie raptors started circling around to flank the human. If things went badly here, they¡¯d be able to attack her from all sides. Given the wary distance she was keeping from the Dregs, she wasn¡¯t a close-in fighter. Probably since she¡¯d just blow herself up with whatever that offensive kynemancy spell was.
The human noticed Vita, immediately identifying her as the source of the zombie raptor plague by merit of her riding one of them, and shouted her way.
¡°Oi! You! Call off your raptors!¡± she yelled.
Oh, hey, she was talking. Vita decided to take that as a good sign.
¡°Okay.¡± Vita answered, glancing over at her attacking zombies. ¡°Stand down!¡±
The raptors immediately halted in their tracks. Elaine blinked in surprise. That didn¡¯t usually work. A quick [Long-Range Identify] picked the girl up as a [Mage], maybe in the high-two hundred low-three hundred range? A potential threat, but unlikely to be a big one.
¡°Um. Hi. I¡¯m Elaine,¡± she said, waving a hand but not coming closer. A cape, seemingly made out of stars, appeared on her back. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±
¡°...Vita,¡± the girl muttered in answer, not meeting Elaine¡¯s eyes. Getting a good look at her, Elaine realized this ¡®Vita¡¯ seemed barely thirteen years old, the poor thing. Although she was also armed and armored to the teeth and surrounded by an undead raptor army, so point in her favor there. None of her equipment seemed to be metal, though, for whatever reason. Maybe it was cultural, like the Dwarves?
¡°Vita. Cool. So do you know where this is, kiddo? I seem to have gotten yoinked again, and I have no idea how to get home.¡±
¡°...M¡¯not a kiddo.¡± Vita grumbled, eyes narrowing. Why did people keep calling her that? ¡°And no. I have no idea. This place is weird and the sky is empty and blue and something called ¡®the system¡¯ keeps screaming in my ear and nobody has a fucking soul. Why doesn¡¯t anyone have a soul?¡±
¡°I am pretty sure I have a soul,¡± Elaine insisted, raising an eyebrow. It wasn¡¯t like she could have gotten flung through the aether and drop-kicked into Pallos without one. ¡°And, wait, are you from somewhere without a system? Oh man! Are you from Earth?¡±
Vita blinked.
¡°You mean like¡ the ground?¡±
¡°Guess not,¡± Elaine muttered to herself. ¡°[World Traveler]. Gotta be more than one place. Plus, there was that whole mess with the fairies and those other people that one time¡¡±
Elaine snapped her fingers.
¡°Fairies! Did any faeries do anything to you?¡±
Vita scowled.
¡°That depends. Are fairies like... tiny assholes with bug wings that never answer any questions?¡±
Elaine looked more than a little nervous at that description.
¡°Fairies are wonderful people who simply enjoy a few harmless pranks now and then. Yup yup.¡±
Elaine locked eyes with Vita and slowly nodded twice. Or, she tried to lock eyes with Vita, but Vita seemed distracted, not looking in her direction.
¡°They¡¯re of the most perfect tiny size,¡± she said, pinching her fingers together in roughly the size of a fairy. ¡°And they¡¯re the most beautiful, elegant, gorgeous people ever, with enough power to pull a half dozen people from different planets into one spot for a practical joke. Aren¡¯t they just AMAZING!¡±
Elaine was slowly shaking her head at the last part, praying to Papilion and all the other gods and goddesses in the great sky above that this Vita would pick up the hint.
Vita did not pick up the hint.
¡°...No, can¡¯t be them, then,¡± she concluded. ¡°Mine were annoying assholes. They stuck me with a bunch of dumb skills, talked like crazy people, and then I ended up getting attacked by¡ whatever these things are.¡±
She motioned at her menagerie of undead dinosaurs.
¡°I got excited when a few of them shot lightning at me, but of course they can¡¯t replicate the trick once I¡¯m controlling them. Fucking Dregs.¡±
Elaine facepalmed.
¡°Right, what did your totally-not-fairies ask you to do? For all I know, they told me while I was asleep, and considered it fair game. Then again, this is still Pallos, I could just try to find my way home normally¡¡± Elaine muttered to herself. ¡°Do you have any sandals on you?¡±
That is... certainly a question a person could ask someone that just attacked them with zombies, Vita thought to herself.
¡°I¡¯m sure you are going to be shocked to learn that I do not,¡± she deadpanned, kicking her legs lightly to show off her leather boots and greaves. ¡°Is that really an important question right now?¡±
¡°Well, if by some miracle you did, I could fly and look around.¡± Elaine said, as if acquiring sandals equalling flight was the most normal and reasonable thing possible. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll have to climb a tree instead. Ook ook, imma monkey.¡±
Vita blinked, not sure how to respond to that.
¡°Um, have fun, I guess?¡± she hedged. ¡°If you can find a ¡®spire of stone¡¯ in the direction of whatever the fuck a ¡®setting sun¡¯ is, that¡¯d be a big help. Apparently the assholes are keeping me hostage here until I kill something there and claim a prize for them.¡±
Elaine was already halfway up the tree, moving far faster and more nimbly than Vita would¡¯ve given her credit for.
¡°...Do you not know what a sunset is?¡± Elaine asked, as she slowly scanned the horizon. ¡°Do you not have a sun? Are you some sort of mole-person, living under a planet? Is that why you¡¯re short?¡±
Elaine was finally taller than someone. Finally.
¡°Firstly, fuck you, I¡¯m still growing,¡± Vita snapped. ¡°Secondly, the only kind of son I know of is the family member, thirdly no I¡¯m not a goddamn mole person and fourthly what the shit is a planet? I¡¯ve heard you say that word twice but I have no idea what it means.¡±
The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Elaine slowly looked down at Vita. Mostly because she was still in the tree. She blinked.
¡°Why don¡¯t you tell me about where you live, and we¡¯ll compare notes while we walk that way?¡± She said, pointing in a direction. ¡°Saw some big fuck-off temple-looking thing, which is probably where we should go, one way or another.¡±
Elaine then just jumped out of the tree, nimbly slowing herself down with little flares of starlight steps that appeared under her feet.
¡°Huh,¡± Vita muttered, watching the scintillating magical flares. ¡°You are a really powerful kynamancer, aren¡¯t you? Well, we don¡¯t have to walk if you don¡¯t want to. Feel free to pick a zombie, any zombie.¡±
She casts a hand out to indicate her horde of unblinking, unliving reptiles.
¡°I promise they don¡¯t bite. Unless you do anything stupid.¡±
Elaine shrugged.
¡°If they don¡¯t bite my head off, I¡¯ll be fine. I can just regrow stuff.¡±
Vita eyed Elaine, wondering exactly how that worked.
¡°Why would you tell me that? Also, wouldn¡¯t you just starve if I had them keep biting you?¡±
¡°Maybe, but you¡¯d have to bite me a lot. I¡¯m pretty mana-efficient.¡±
¡°But where do you get the mass from?¡±
¡°It¡¯s created from mana.¡±
Vita¡¯s eyes went wide. What? That was incredible! The possibilities were endless!
¡°How efficient is it?¡± she asked excitedly. ¡°If you cut off your arm and then eat your arm, is that enough food to regrow your arm again? Less? More? I bet if we chopped off enough of your body parts and I hid soul shards in them we could create a mass-enslavement trap zone. What about blood loss? Do you get dehydrated? Can you create water too? Oh shit, I¡¯m so happy I found you. I thought I was going to starve out here!¡±
Elaine looked at the raptors they were riding on, and back at Vita.
¡°Starve? Really?¡± she asked with a quirked eyebrow. ¡°Also, I¡¯m attached to my body parts. Pun intended. Yes, I can regrow more. No, I don¡¯t plan to lose an arm. Even if it¡¯s for a, um...¡±
Elaine stumbled over ¡®good cause¡¯, because really, she couldn¡¯t see it that way. ¡®Let me be an endlessly regrowing food source for the hungry offworlder¡¯ was low, low down on her ¡®to-do¡¯ list, no matter how friendly and disarming said offworlder might be.
¡°Of course I¡¯d starve, I don¡¯t recognize any of these plants and I don¡¯t know the meat-treating spell,¡± Vita explained, as if that were some common sort of thing. ¡°Although¡ I guess you have a good point. If you¡¯re a strong enough biomancer to regrow limbs mid-combat and form matter out of mana¡ªwhich I thought was impossible, but I¡¯m assuming it¡¯s one of these weird ¡®skill¡¯ things¡ªyou probably can make meat safe. We can eat one of the zombies if you want. Hey!¡±
She pointed at one of the raptors and snapped her fingers.
¡°Head to that lady over there, rip your arm off, and give it to her, would you?¡±
Elaine¡¯s eyes bugged out as the raptor did exactly that, a sick tearing sound echoing between the trees as the arm¡¯s bones and tendons were ripped out of the shoulder. It politely offered her the morsel with its remaining forelimb.
¡°Um. Thank you. For your¡ arm.¡± Elaine managed to choke out, minding her manners. She held the arm up, and let golden, burning light emit from her hand to the arm, starting to cook it.
¡°Why are you doing that? Is that your meat prep magic?¡± Vita asked.
¡°No, this is cooking it. Because I like cooked food. Meat¡¯s generally safe to eat, except for parasites, bacteria, possibly prions if you¡¯re real unlucky. Cooking handles almost all of those. Ascaris suum, listeria, salmonella, and probably a dozen different tropical diseases I don¡¯t know about.¡±
¡°Never heard of any of that. What about heat-resistant magical diseases?¡± Vita asks seriously.
Elaine shrugged.
¡°A possibility. Worst-case, I¡¯ll just heal myself,¡± she said, taking a huge bite of roasted raptor wing.
¡°Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Tastes like chicken.¡±
¡°Wh- hey! Give me some!¡± Vita complained, spurring her riding raptor closer.
¡°Sure, here you go.¡± Elaine said, handing over the roasted arm. ¡°Let me know if you want any healing.¡±
¡°Sure, I¡¯ll take free healing. Mom always said to take everything free you can and to never piss off the healer! ...Or was that ¡®make¡¯ everything free? Eh, it works either way.¡±
Elaine looked at Vita, amused.
¡°Gotta eat the arm first before I try healing you of any problems the arm can cause, yeah?¡±
¡°Oh, right.¡±
Vita took a brief moment to decide whether trusting this random stranger was worth eating zombie flesh over, immediately decided that yes, obviously it was, and chowed down on the chicken wing. Er, raptor arm.
¡°Right! Healing please!¡± Vita said.
Elaine just glanced at Vita, making sure both were in sunlight, then her jaw dropped.
¡°WHAT THE HELL!?¡± she yelled. ¡°Are you even human!? Healing you just drained every drop of mana I had!¡±
Elaine seemed to check something floating in the air, then did a double-take.
¡°And what¡¯s up with my mana regeneration!? You are human, right?¡±
Vita shrugged, taking a moment to swallow her zombie flesh.
¡°Depends on who you ask,¡± she answered frankly. ¡°Why do you care? I thought you said you were something called a monkey.¡±
¡°Because my healing has efficiency factors. If I can imagine what I¡¯m doing? More efficient. If I¡¯m closer to you, or touching you? More efficient. If I¡¯m healing something small, rather than large? Less mana. The more human someone is, the more efficient I am. Restoring an arm takes a few thousand points. You? For an internal bacterial problem that might not even be there?¡±
Elaine leaned in, intensely studying Vita, drinking up every detail about her.
¡°Over one hundred thousand mana gone in an instant. Vita. Are you sure your System says you¡¯re human?¡±
Vita fronwed, following Elaine¡¯s lead and glancing at something invisible in the air.
¡°...My ¡®race¡¯ category just says a bunch of jibberish characters. I just thought the whole thing was broken or something, though. I mean, my mana is listed with a period and an ¡®e¡¯ and shit like that. Not even real numbers.¡±
Elaine¡¯s mouth opened, paused, and closed again.
Open¡. Pause¡. Close.
¡°Yeah, okay, I¡¯m going to call the race thing a bug and say that¡¯s why healing you is so inefficient,¡± she said. ¡°Don¡¯t lose an arm or anything, I¡¯m not sure I can regrow it.¡±
¡°What about my mana?¡±
Elaine shuddered.
¡°Please tell me the numbers after the E are small. Please.¡± She begged.
¡°Um, it says¡ nine point four five three seven seven E... forty-three? And my mana regen is negative a thousand something.¡±
Elaine just shook her head.
¡°Right. Negative mana regen can kill you, if you let your mana get to 0. That¡¯ll happen for you in¡¡±
Elaine twitched her fingers a few times.
¡°I stopped counting at a few trillion years. You¡¯ll be fine.¡±
¡°That¡¯s a long time,¡± Vita opined. ¡°But you said it was just broken, right?¡±
¡°The race sounds like a bug. The mana?¡±
Elaine shuddered, changing the topic.
¡°How about we get a move on to that ziggurat? Also, do you have some sort of mana regeneration buff? My numbers are going crazy.¡±
Vita shrugs.
¡°Uh, I think so. My [Infinity Beyond the Veil] skill might be doing that. Kind of a pretentious name, right? Whatever brought me here picked all my classes and skills without giving me a say in the matter, so I¡¯m not totally sure what everything does. This [Maw of Mana] class seemed totally pointless since people can¡¯t run out of mana anyway, but¡ I guess you can? I bet that sucks. Also, how come it¡¯s purple?¡±
Elaine gave Vita a look. Okay, so maybe the girl was a lot stronger than her level let on.
¡°So¡ about telling me where you¡¯re from?"
"Oh, right, I mean, I don''t know if there''s much to say. I''m from Verdantop island? Country of Valka?"
Elaine answers Vita with the kind of flat, blank look that made it clear she¡¯d never heard of those places.
"Have you heard of either of those places?" Vita asked anyway.
Elaine sighed. The girl was more than a little strange, not picking up on expressions, only rarely emoting, and never making eye contact. She was probably somewhere on the Autism spectrum. That had to be wretched in the type of medieval society that the girl¡¯s equipment seemed to imply she was from.
"No. I have not,¡± Elaine clarified. ¡°You mentioned something about the sky being the wrong color and not knowing what the sun is so I imagine we''re from different worlds entirely."
"Yeah, my sky is yellow," Vita confirmed. "And all the other islands are visible above, while you guys have¡ nothing. It''s weird. Is this not like¡ one of the top islands, or something? Oh! Maybe it is! Maybe you guys can run out of mana because we¡¯re super far away from the Mistwatcher!"
"See, now it''s my turn to ask you what that is," Elaine prompted.
¡°Um, it¡¯s the big mass of eyeballs and tentacles tens of thousands of miles across that you see when you go to the edge and look down? And gives people souls, though¡ hmm. I guess you don¡¯t have one.¡±
¡°I still definitely do,¡± Elaine protested, though Vita ignored her. Still, a mass of eyeballs and tentacles tens of thousands of miles across? What the hell? What kind of insane Lovecraft world is this girl from?
¡°Also, the planet we¡¯re on has no edge.¡±
¡°What happens when you walk in one direction forever then?¡± Vita asked instantly, since obviously there had to be an edge somewhere. Maybe they just hadn¡¯t found it?
¡°You end up back in the same spot,¡± Elaine answered easily, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Vita hesitated, wanting to argue more, but decided to leave it be. As long as she never saw the edge, what did it matter to her?
¡°So¡ okay, maybe we¡¯re not orbiting around the Mistwatcher at all,¡± Vita admitted hesitantly. ¡°But¡ what does that mean? Where are we? Is this your¡ ¡®world?¡¯¡±
¡°I think so,¡± Elaine said. ¡°Although we¡¯re a long way from where I¡¯m used to. This world is called Pallos.¡±
¡°Oooh! Yeah, Pallos! That¡¯s where the naked flying assholes said I am!¡±
Elaine winced.
¡°Please, please stop calling them that¡± she begged. ¡°We really do not want to make them mad.¡±
Vita frowned, looking around.
¡°I¡ guess I need them to get home, so that¡¯s fair. Do you think they¡¯re listening to us?¡± she asked.
Gods, I hope not, Elaine thought to herself.
Instead of answering, she spurred her raptor on, trying to make it go faster. The lifeless construct reacted by... not reacting at all.
¡°Uh, you okay there?¡± Vita asked. ¡°Are you trying to make it go faster? Let me. Speed up!¡±
The raptor Elaine was on shot off, and she swore as she tried to keep a grip. Raptors weren¡¯t exactly made for riding, nor was Vita any sort of master [Leatherworker], able to make a saddle.
Vita didn¡¯t need one. The Dregs carried her with unnatural grace, like she was some sort of royalty, and she seemed utterly unbothered by the bareback journey. Dropping Vita? Literally unthinkable. Mostly due to a lack of brainpower. Elaine¡¯s butt was not so lucky, but what was ranger training for if not being flexible enough to ride a zombie dinosaur?
Chapter ??? - Dragoneye Mortis 1.3
As they traveled, making small talk, comparing notes about the two, three worlds they knew about, Vita¡¯s undead horde grew. Zombie raptors jumped and tore apart other, lesser creatures, bringing the kills to Vita like a particularly proud gaggle of cats. Vita didn¡¯t even seem to glance at the bodies, but each one brought to her was soon reanimated into her service. Monkeys and snakes, raptors and the occasional crocodile, beasts from the paleozoic to cambrian era all joined Vita¡¯s ever-growing swarm.
I could totally get used to not having to do all the heavy lifting for once. Elaine thought with wide eyes, seeing the numbers grow. At the same time - should I be stopping this? If Vita turns on me, I can¡¯t handle that many monsters at once. Especially since I¡¯m pinned to the ground.
I should totally ask her to cook another raptor for me, Vita thought.
¡°Hey, can you cook another raptor for me?" she then asked, hardly one to let anything get between thoughts of food and the potential acquisition of food.
¡°Suuuuure¡ but can it start off dead-dead? Like, not moving dead? And not ripping its own arm off?¡± Elaine shuddered.
¡°Sure, I guess,¡± Vita answered, shrugging slightly. ¡°Stop moving.¡±
At Vita¡¯s order, the entire raptor horde promptly froze like someone had taken a photograph and made it reality. Elaine nearly flew off her mount at the sudden halt, but held on. Glassy-eyed frozen raptors surrounded her in every direction.
¡°Take your pick!¡± Vita told her happily.
Elaine facepalmed, but figured this was the best she was going to get, not without another long, awkward conversation.
¡°Raptor or something else?¡± Elaine asked, noting the wide variety of animals in the horde. Raptors were the dominant species, but there was enough variety if Vita was feeling spicy.
¡°I¡¯m the furthest thing from picky,¡± Vita answered. ¡°I¡¯ll eat anything you cook.¡±
Elaine was getting ideas. Terrible, terrible ideas.
¡°How hungry are you¡?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Vita answered, without a hint of humor.
¡°Mind if we eat more than one of your- um - one of the, um, ah¡ creatures?¡±
Elaine was still struggling with ¡°zombie¡±
¡°I will eat. Anything. You cook for me.¡±
Elaine had a brilliant grin split her face.
¡°Right! One jungle smorgasbord coming right up!¡± she said, deftly navigating through the horde, playing discount Noah.
Instead of two of each animal for an ark, it was one of each animal for the firepit. Vita watched with enraptured attention, a grin widening on her face with each animal Elaine selected.
¡°How hungry are you, exactly?¡± Vita asked. ¡°You like eating monsters too? My team always thought it was gross.¡±
Elaine shrugged.
¡°Using mana - well, technically, regenerating mana - is hungry, hungry work. I¡¯ve been away from towns, in the wilderness often enough to just not be picky. When it¡¯s do or die, eat or starve? Everything looks like food.¡±
¡°Huh. Most of my experience starving has been in the towns.¡±
Elaine patted Vita in what she imagined was a comforting way, though Vita mostly just stiffened up at the touch.
¡°Well, don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯ll make sure you¡¯re well-fed here.¡± She said, expertly burning through dino-joints and roasting each piece one-handedly, then handing it off to Vita. The other hand already had a hot, greasy raptor-wing, as Elaine tore into it between words.
¡°We¡¯re friends now,¡± Vita declared, and immediately started tearing into the food with startling speed.
The impromptu barbeque continued until the pain orb - err, sun - fell, both young women displaying appetites far outside their weight class. Vita watched with awe at the growing sunset, her childlike face morphing into the greatest display of emotion Elaine had seen on her since they met.
¡°What is that? Oh, wow. It¡¯s like¡ like giant blotches of flower colors in the sky!¡± she announces, raising a grasping hand as if trying to touch one.
Elaine glanced over, and with a lazy wave, summoned a [Mantle of the Stars] next to Vita.
¡°For closer looking.¡± Elaine said, eyes up at the endlessly spiraling stars above winking into view as the sun finishes passing over the horizon.
¡°Woah. You¡¯re right, the sky is just¡ going dark,¡± Vita whispered, idly pawing at the mantle. ¡°Where¡¯s that thing you talked about? Your kinda-sky-island? The moon?¡±
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
¡°It¡¯ll come. Just give it time.¡±
¡°This is so cool. I still can¡¯t believe all the light in your world comes from such a tiny ball! And now all these white dots¡¡±
Vita stared open-mouthed at the sky, for once her hidden, inner eye being the one of her three incapable of seeing an otherworldly beauty. Utterly entranced, a look of childlike joy and wonder on her face as she tried to trace the stars above, count them, understand them via any sort of equivalent from her world yet coming up empty.
And then she saw the moon.
Moons.
Two full moons rose above the horizon, washing the land in their baleful red light. Two moons, with crimson irises and slitted pupils, looking anything like a pair of eyes, overlords of the world looking down upon all the puny mortals below them. A snake, freezing a mouse in its gaze. A dragon, watching the world she owned from above.
The Dragoneye Moons.
For a fraction of an instant, Vita froze, her breath gone. Then an overwhelming terror consumed her features, and she bolted, trying to hide from the sky behind a tree.
¡°Oh fuck, it¡¯s here!¡± Vita hisses. ¡°I don¡¯t think it saw me! Elaine, we can¡¯t let it see me, we can¡¯t. The raptors aren¡¯t fast enough to¡ oh shit, oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck¡¡±
¡°Calm down! Calm down! Breathe!¡± Elaine said, sliding next to Vita. ¡°Okay, talk to me. What¡¯s wrong? What¡¯s here? They¡¯re just the moons. They¡¯re not going to hurt you.¡±
Elaine mentally had a dozen asterisks on that particular statement, but the general idea was correct. Like, if some crazy high level Gravity mage decided to pull them into the planet, yeah, they could hurt, and it could be possible to do¡
But that was for another day.
Elaine was struck with inspiration as Vita continued to freak out. She layered [Mantle of the Stars] over her gourmet companion, then lit up with [Shine].
¡°See? It can¡¯t see you now. Just stars and light here.¡± Elaine tried to soothe Vita.
¡°That¡¯s the eye the Mistwatcher used to look at me!¡± Vita squeaked, her tone suggesting not only terror but the revelation of some grand secret. ¡°If it glances my way again I might cause another perception event!¡±
¡°What¡¯s a perception event, and the Mistwatcher is the big thing from your world, right?¡± Elaine asked.
She didn¡¯t wait for an answer.
¡°Look, I have it on good authority that those moons have been there for over four thousand years. They¡¯re just rocks, created by mad gods and goddesses.¡±
¡°Yes! The Mistwatcher is a god! It¡¯s the god! And it has at least one eye which looks like that!¡±
Elaine debated telling Vita about her experiences with gods and being in the realm of the gods, and how gods tended to stay there, and not really go to Pallos. Not unless a divine miracle was requested.
She skipped all that, and thought about how Vita described the place she lived.
¡°You normally avoid its eye? Eyes? By being on the island, right?¡± Elaine asked to confirm.
¡°Yes, but now it¡¯s in the fucking sky!¡± Vita screeched.
¡°Sure, but I have an easy solution. Let¡¯s bury you in dirt and mud. Then it can¡¯t see you.¡± Elaine said matter-of-factly.
There was no reasoning someone out of a position they hadn¡¯t reasoned themself into, and Elaine wasn¡¯t about to try and play therapist to Vita, and convince her that the moons were harmless. For all Elaine knew, they weren¡¯t actually harmless, given their unnatural state and complete and total not-how-moons-should-be-ness, but that was neither here nor there. She just needed Vita to get through the night, and one night at a time she¡¯d come round - or they¡¯d be done with whatever bullshit the fae wanted them to do this time.
¡°I¡ have no idea if that will work,¡± Vita said hesitantly, ¡°and if it doesn¡¯t work, you, me, and everything remotely nearby is gonna get annihilated by a ten thousand mile long tentacle.¡±
¡°Okay, do you have any other ideas how to not get annihilated?¡±
¡°I¡ no. I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s in the sky! It¡¯s not supposed to be in the sky! Maybe a cave? I don¡¯t know if a layer of dirt will do much, but I¡¯d feel safer with solid rock between us.¡±
Elaine frowned, then brightened up.
¡°I¡¯ve got an idea!¡± She said. ¡°Can you let me command the zombies?¡±
Vita nodded.
¡°[Queen¡¯s Commander],¡± she murmured, uncurling slightly and poking Elaine in the thigh.
[Necromancer] Elaine in the house! Not where I expected to be a day ago, but hey, that¡¯s life.
¡°Right. You, you, and you - I need those three trees cut down and moved to the side. You, you, and you. Bring back wood. You and you - find stone. You four - cover Vita, don¡¯t let the eyes see her. You-...¡±
Elaine started to efficiently bark out orders, like she¡¯d been trained to do it for years.
She was used to intelligent Rangers though, not the near-mindless Dregs. Some of her commands were interpreted in interesting ways.
¡°No, not like that!¡± Elaine cried out, grabbing her hair in frustration as a raptor brought her a stick the size of her finger. ¡°Big wood! Like the trees!¡±
Still, with much frustration, grumbling, ordering and reordering, Elaine¡¯s vision started to come to un-life.
Charitably, it could be called ¡®A giant pile of logs and sticks.¡¯
¡°Here. Crawl inside.¡± Elaine said, as it started to come together. ¡°It¡¯ll shield you from the eyes in the sky, and we¡¯ll keep making it bigger and thicker while you¡¯re inside. Keep you safe.¡±
Elaine lasered the leg off of one particularly bad-at-following-commands raptor, fried it, and passed it to Vita.
¡°Here, have a bite while you wait,¡± Elaine offered.
I am getting way too used to lasering meat off of moving creatures.
Vita, for her part, just grabbed the food between her teeth, nodding a quick thank-you before scurrying into shelter. From her perspective, hiding behind a tree hadn¡¯t gotten her killed yet, so hiding behind a structure of trees should hopefully work the same.
Elaine kept working for hours, building the fort larger and larger, hoping that it wouldn¡¯t all collapse on itself. She occasionally threw in more pieces of the unhelpful raptor into the center, where a scrawny arm would dart out to grab it and drag it into its maw.
Finally, Elaine felt like she¡¯d done enough. She roasted the last few pieces of the raptor, told the rest to ¡°Guard¡±, and crawled in herself.
¡°Hey. It¡¯s going to be okay,¡± Elaine said, lying down next to Vita. ¡°It¡¯s all going to be okay.¡± Elaine closed her eyes.
Vita nodded numbly.
¡°Well, if it isn¡¯t, at least we¡¯ll probably die instantly before getting our souls eaten,¡± she muttered.
Elaine didn¡¯t hear her. She was fast asleep.
¡°Wow. She¡ passed out fast,¡± Vita mumbled to herself.
Chapter ??? - Dragoneye Mortis 1.4
When day finally rose, Vita still hadn¡¯t managed to do the same.
Elaine yawned and stretched, her sleepy eyes going to instantly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as she applied [Sunrise] to herself.
¡°Gooooooood morning! How did you sleep? Did the hut help? I hope it helped. It took me and the dinosaurs aaaaaaages to do. Well. You would know. You were watching! Whoof! I need to go burn off some energy. Then let¡¯s get to that ziggurat, and figure out what those fairies want! Let¡¯s gooooooooooo!¡±
Vita blinked the tiredness out of her eyes, mentally cursing Elaine several different ways.
Maybe it wouldn¡¯t be so bad if a perception event happens now if it spares me her early-morning energy. I want a soul. I miss souls. I wish I could eat one to keep me awake, but this stupid place doesn¡¯t have any!
Vita was still trying to muster the strength to get up when Elaine popped back into the hut, brimming with energy.
¡°Oh! I almost forgot! Here¡¯s a snake skewer. One of the zombies got it last night. And a pick me up!¡± Elaine tapped Vita, pulsing [Sunrise] through her.
A jolt of energy shot through Vita, waking her up faster and more thoroughly than anything she¡¯d ever experienced before.
¡°Woah, what the fuck?¡± Vita said suddenly, jumping to her feet. The child-like girl¡¯s potty mouth never failed to seem a little out of place. ¡°What was that? I feel way better!¡±
¡°[Sunrise]!¡± Elaine happily told Vita. ¡°My energy pick-me-up-go-forever skill! Never leave home without it!¡±
She laughed like she made the best joke ever. Vita didn¡¯t see how it was that funny¡ but she couldn¡¯t deny it was useful.
Either way, between the food, the stream, and the zombie-raptor transportation, Vita and Elaine were off towards the ziggurat in no time.
The horde grew fatter than Vita¡¯s and Elaine¡¯s waistlines, the most impressive part of which was that said waistlines actually managed to grow a little after their legendary barbecue. Each of them seemed remarkably incapable of putting on pounds. They spent the time luxuriously being carted around, feasting on the bounty of the jungle delivered practically to their mouths.
Then, like a particularly small, fast, brightly colored and tasty bird, they were delivered to the foot of the ziggurat. It looked old, an ancient relic from before time began. Given the relatively young age of Pallos, that was entirely possible. The temple was overgrown with vines, the stone cracking. Each step was bigger than Elaine was tall, and the ziggurat seemed to soar endlessly towards the heavens - which wasn¡¯t at all what it looked like from a distance.
¡°Now what?¡± Vita asked, more annoyed and impressed by the structure.
Elaine shrugged.
¡°If it was easy, the fairies wouldn¡¯t send us to do it, would they?¡±
¡°From what you told me about the tiny assholes, yes they would. Because it¡¯d be funny.¡±
Elaine tilted her head, conceding the point.
¡°This has all seemed too easy so far, but¡ zombies first?¡± Elaine asked.
¡°Yeah, sure, they¡¯re all replaceable.¡± Vita agreed. ¡°But where¡¯s the entrance?¡±
Vita and Elaine looked around, not seeing anything. They circled the ziggurat, only seeing the giant steps repeated all around.
Elaine looked at the overly large stairs, big enough that only Vita standing on Elaine¡¯s shoulders would be able to crawl up.
One step.
There had to be hundreds.
¡°What¡¯s the bet that the entrance is on the top of the ziggurat?¡± Elaine asked rhetorically.
She knew the answer.
It was on the top.
It was always on the top.
Vita sighed, silently agreeing. What a pain. Still, painful problems were what zombies were for. With a few quick, snappy directions, three zombies¡ªtwo raptors standing on each other and a third in front of them¡ªformed a climbable step that Vita and Elaine ascended up the first stair, enough of the horde following to make a second step and then a third and so on. The Dregs were not kind to their fellows, and the crushing, shambling footfalls of a zombie horde crawling on top of one another required the steps to be frequently replaced as they got periodically pounded into meat mush. Still, eventually the majority of the horde managed to reach the top. When only the zombies forming the stairs remained, Vita simply used [Soul Reclamation] to kill them all from a distance, leaving the unfortunate dinosaurs left behind to collapse back into restful death. Again.
Turning back towards the entrance, the pair saw that the top of the ziggurat was filled with statues, pillars, and more. A giant golden bell, somehow whole despite the tests of time and the elements, stood proudly in the middle, over the largest statue. Cracked stone with hardy vines that had somehow grown through the literal mountain worth of stone were interspersed with little yellow flowers that gently blew in the breeze. Pillars in various states of ruin and decay were scattered in neat columns along the top, clearly having performed some ceremonial purpose once upon a time.
Statues of suchia, each statue large enough for Vita and Elaine to comfortably rest in their enormous crocodilian mouths, lined the edges of the ziggurat. They were all facing the centerpiece of the ziggurat - a gigantic monstrous statue, depicting some part-suchia, part-fish, part frog with toothy mouths on its shoulders, knees, elbows, and a few other random spots.
¡°Wow.¡± Elaine breathed, gazing around the sights. ¡°This is quite something.¡±
She walked forward, looking at each statue for a moment before moving onto the next one.
¡°Yeah, that thing almost has as many mouths as the Mistwatcher¡¯s soul.¡± Vita agreed, eyeing the statue in the middle. ¡°It¡¯s also sucking my mana. I can see it with [Eye of the Maw].¡±
Elaine paled.
¡°That¡¯s not made out of Arcanite.¡± she realized.
¡°So?¡± Vita asked, glancing around the ancient temple with disinterest.
¡°So only living things and Arcanite get mana!¡± she yelled.
Vita blinked.
¡°...So it¡¯s edible?¡±
¡°That¡¯s not the right question!¡± Elaine snapped, running back to the stairs.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
A deafening roar from a dozen different types of mouths burst out behind them, as the Cipactli ¡®statue¡¯ started to chase after the latest offerings brought to its altar.
¡°Attack while we climb!¡± Vita ordered the remains of her horde, suddenly changing direction. Without hesitation Elaine switched from running back to the too-large stairs to climbing one of the large pillars with Vita.
They scrambled up while the zombies died in droves, seemingly incapable of even scratching the monstrous Cipactli. Elaine¡¯s ascent was boosted by her stats, Dexterity making sure she never put a foot wrong, Speed helping her hands quickly move from place to place, Strength letting her haul herself up sooner, and Vitality tying it all together.
Vita had stats, but also something beyond them as well. It almost looked like Vita was a puppet, her limbs getting pulled around by some force that couldn¡¯t possibly be her muscles. Elaine figured there were more pressing things at the moment than worrying about it, though, even as Vita handily beat Elaine to the top.
The monster roared, and crashed into the stone column, trying to shake Elaine and Vita loose. The two clung onto each other and the top of the pillar, holding on.
¡°Think you can handle it?¡± Vita asked Elaine, deathly calm as she stared down from her perch.
Instead of responding, Elaine fired a [Nova] down at the monster, following it up with a beam of Radiance, trying to burn through its eye.
¡°Nifty.¡± Vita commented, as Elaine unleashed a burning inferno directly at the furious beast for 10 seconds non-stop.
Then, abruptly, she stopped.
¡°Fuck,¡± she swore.
¡°What?¡±
¡°I¡¯m out of mana.¡±
Vita shrugged, as if this could not be any less of a problem.
¡°Take some of mine?¡±
A terrible grin broke on Elaine¡¯s face, as she remembered that Vita seemed to have a skill to transfer mana¡ and somehow had a mana pool measured in fucking tredecillions.
It was like a second sun erupted on top of the ziggurat, as Elaine, finally unconstrained by pesky little things like ¡°running out of mana,¡± was able to unleash her full, unlimited arsenal. [Nova]¡¯s were dropped and exploded, looking like an entire galaxy worth of stars was exploding at once. Beams of Radiance mixed with cones and balls, wide-spread auras and surgical lasers. The air itself started to become uncomfortably hot with the sheer amount of heat and energy that bled off from the attacks. The stones blackened and cracked under the heat, and both Elaine and Vita started doing the ¡°the floor is lava and my feet are cooking¡± dance.
Didn¡¯t stop Elaine in the slightest.
The Cipactli roared, angered that the sacrifices brought to it were resisting, trying to tear down the sturdy pillar.
In its boredom, it had knocked down and smashed most of the pillars on top of the ziggurat that it could. The architects, so long ago, had built the temple well, and what remained wasn¡¯t so easily brought down.
Especially when being cooked alive. Eventually, the creature, used to being treated as a god, decided to stop sticking around and turned to flee.
¡°Oh, no you don¡¯t,¡± Vita growled. ¡°Quit shooting for a sec.¡±
Without waiting for an answer, Vita lets herself fall from the pillar before suddenly kicking off of it, shooting towards the fleeing many-mouthed monster like a javelin. She hit it spear-first, to basically no effect on its stat-boosted crocodilian hide.
"Vita!" Elaine yelpedin surprise, barely avoiding frying her with a stray nova. "What are you doing? Just let it go!"
Ignoring her, Vita instead pulled out a huge fragment of her own soul, grinning as she pressed it into the body of the monster. With no soul of its own, or at least with nothing that Vita considered a soul for her purposes, nothing stopped her shard from spreading through the monster as if it was just another corpse. Her power strained against the living body''s muscles, causing the enormous beast to twitch and spasm as entirely different forms of movement went to war inside it.
"All right!" Vita shouted back to Elaine, leaping off the monster. "Now hit it with everything you''ve got! As big as it gets!"
"What skill is that?" Elaine asked, charging up the mother of all [Nova]. "This thing is way too high level to get crippled by one tap of just anything."
Vita shrugged, scrambling back up the pillar.
"No skill," she said. "Just part of me. Although I guess if you want to blame a skill for that trick¡ª"
Elaine didn¡¯t wait for Vita to finish talking before unleashing the rest of her arsenal at once, the combination of seemingly limitless mana regen, prep time, and a mostly stationary target being all she needed to annihilate the temple-owner once and for all.
"¡ªI would say [Soul Reclamation] is the one I like most," Vita finished, activating the skill and recovering her lost power. ¡°Back home I can¡¯t get free refunds.¡±
The aftermath of the fight left little standing in what was once an altar to the ex-divine beast.
¡°So now what?¡± Vita asked, looking at the stones. They were so hot they were warping the air, making the floor look wavy. She could feel her skin start to crack, having nowhere near as much heat resistance as the woman who regularly shot lasers.
Elaine shrugged.
¡°What did the fairies want?¡±
¡°They just said to ''slay the creature and claim the prize.'' Didn¡¯t say what the prize is, though."
Elaine facepalmed.
¡°Of course. OF COURSE! It¡¯s never easy with them.¡± She looked around the room, trying to spot what this elusive prize could possibly be. ¡°Maybe the bell?¡±
The enormous golden bell in the center of the room indeed looked like quite the prize. Vita¡¯s eyes went wide.
¡°Wait, is all of that metal? Yeah that would be the fucking prize all right. Fat lot of luck we¡¯ll have hauling that around, though.¡±
¡°Yeah¡ why don¡¯t we just grab everything up here, just in case?¡± Elaine suggested. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s one of the statues. Or vines. Or pillars.¡±
¡°Or one of the flowers.¡± Vita said, picking one up that somehow, miraculously, survived the scorching inferno Elaine had unleashed on top of the ziggurat.
Three tiny flying assholes popped in around Vita the moment she grabbed the flowers.
¡°The flowers! The flowers!¡± One cheered.
¡°She got the flowers! She wins!¡± The second one cackled.
¡°Plant genitals! Just the thing!¡± The third one swooped in and grabbed the flower from Vita.
¡°Ew,¡± said Vita, wrinkling her nose. ¡°So, I guess I got your prize. Do I get a prize?¡±
¡°Yes, of course!¡± One said. ¡°You can see my tonsils! A most rare and valuable prize.¡±
¡°Your what now?¡±
Elaine facepalmed.
¡°The back of her throat.¡±
¡°That¡¯s dumb.¡±
Elaine cringed at that, while the fairy laughed in Vita¡¯s face.
¡°Too slow! You had the chance to see, and you did not! Like that, your prize vanishes!¡±
¡°If you guys had souls, I would shatter them,¡± Vita grumbled.
¡°From me, I give you¡ COURAGE!¡± The next fairy said. ¡°No more will you fear to walk in the jungle! No more will you cower in your home!¡±
Vita frowned.
¡°I¡¯m a hunter. I already regularly go into the forest.¡± She pointed out. ¡°Plus, didn¡¯t you see what I did to this jungle?¡±
The fairy giggled.
¡°See? The best gift EVER!¡±
Elaine was coming round to Vita¡¯s way of thinking. ¡®Complete assholes¡¯ and ¡®Would kill if I could.¡¯
¡°From me¡¡± The fairy paused for dramatic effect, before realizing.
¡°Hey! You jerks let me go last!¡± He complained at the other two, who giggled at his misfortune.
¡°Too slow!¡± The first one said, zipping around him.
¡°Lazy bum, lazy bum¡± The second one sang.
He just grumbled.
¡°GO HOME!¡± He yelled at Vita, who popped out of existence.
Elaine¡¯s eyes bugged out.
¡°Um. If it¡¯s not too much trouble¡¡± She said.
The first fairy sneered at her.
¡°You¡¯re already home! Go fly back!¡±
¡°I can¡¯t fly! I didn¡¯t bring my sandals!¡± Elaine complained before being struck by inspiration.
¡°Hang on. Send me back, and I¡¯ll tell you a secret,¡± she said, dreading making a deal with the Fae, but not seeing too many other options. Besides spending decades trying to get out of the place. Fairies liked secrets, right?
¡°Oooh! A secret! Tell me, tell me!¡±
¡°No, tell me!¡±
Elaine held up a finger.
¡°Ah ah ah. Send me back first, then I¡¯ll tell you the secret,¡± she insisted.
¡°The secret will be mine!¡± One of the fae yelled, popping Elaine back to her home.
¡°Ok, now tell me the secret.¡± the fae demanded the empty air.
There was, of course, no response.
¡°Hello? I¡¯d like my secret now?¡±
Catchup Artwork!
Hey all!
I''ve been slacking on giving you all the sweet, sweet artwork that Patreon and everyone else has. Sorry! Take the artwork!
First, a Merry Christmas present from Tsuu!
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
More Tsuu work, The Egg:
Elaine:
Night:
Serondes:
Iona:
Hunting:
More Elaine:
Lun''Kat in her lair:
and Toxic:
Chapter ??? - The Wish 1
Elaine was walking back home from another mission. Auri was with Plato, safe at home, and the roads were strangely empty for the early evening. Just one of those flukes of traffic.
As Elaine walked at a brisk clip, a lamb emerged from the trees around the road, bleating pitifully. Only slightly unusually, its wool was entirely golden, although with how many [Shepards] had weird skills, it wasn¡¯t that weird.
At least it wasn¡¯t on fire, spitting venom, or followed by thousands of insects. Some [Shepards] got real weird.
Elaine looked around, and not seeing anyone near, sighed.
¡°Why hello there.¡± She approached the lamb, gently stroking its head. ¡°Are you ok? Are you lost?¡± She slowly soothed the animal, while banishing thoughts of tasty, tasty lamb ribs from her mind.
The lamb¡¯s mouth opened, and instead of bleating, wispy smoke came out of it.
What weird skill is this? Elaine tried to [Identify] the lamb, but nothing came back. The skill didn¡¯t even seem to activate, like she¡¯d tried to [Identify] a rock or something.
Then the smoke solidified into a man with no waist, just more smoke leading into the lamb¡¯s mouth.
¡°Yo yo yo! Genie¡¯s in the HOUSE! Whuzzup, you¡¯ve just won yourself THREE SPARKLING WISHES! Tell me what you want, what you really, REALLY want in that little heart of yours!¡±
Elaine took one look at the genie, turned around, and walked away.
¡°Yoooooooooooo that¡¯s not cool!¡± The genie easily kept pace with Elaine¡¯s superhumanly fast, System-enhanced speed. ¡°Anything you want! Only three rules! No bringing anyone back from the dead, no making someone fall in love, and no wishing for more wishes! But anything else you want, you can GET! Just say it!¡±
Elaine paused. Pallos was a world filled with magic and monsters, dinosaurs and gods. She¡¯d snuck into the lair of a dragon, and healed an angel. Krakens and leviathans ruled the ocean, why was a genie suddenly causing her to pause?
What was the worst that could happen?
¡°If I wished for ten thousand gemstones, you¡¯d make it happen?¡±
¡°Baby, I can give you a MILLION gemstones! But I wasn¡¯t born yesterday! No tricks! You can¡¯t pull wool over my eyes! Gotta start your wish with ¡®I wish¡¯, or it won¡¯t work at alllllllllllll!¡±
Elaine clicked her tongue. It had been worth a try.
¡°I wish my friends were all here.¡± She said, and the genie snapped his fingers.
¡°Your wish is myyyyyyyyyy COMMAND! Let it be DONE! There is NOTHING this genie can¡¯t do!¡±
With that, four portals opened up.
From the first - Ariane. A pale vampire with long blonde hair and too much junk in her trunk.
From the second - Cat. Not the loveable fluffy murder type. Well. She was a fluffy loveable murder type, but not THAT kind of fluffy murder type. Three quarters of a person, the rest cybernetic. Her arm and eye were artificial, and sadly her brain remained entirely organic. That one could use the upgrade.
From the third - Edmund. A wooden door with no frame swung open to reveal a black abyss from which emerged a dark-haired man who looked way cooler than any of these other characters, I promise. He wore mismatched armor in varying states of disrepair, and wielded a dagger, a segmented spear, and a sour look on his face. That latter he brought to bear upon the assembled strangers without hesitation.
From the fourth - Maud. A woman appeared, her eyes an uncanny blue. She was wearing a frown, enormous pauldrons and a velvet skirt embroidered with little pink skulls. What flesh was visible was gaunt. A bloody axe balanced lightly between her finger and thumb.
¡°Yooooour wish is granted!¡± The genie roared as everyone looked around confused. ¡°And I! Am! A! Generoooooous GENIE! You four get one wish each!¡±
The five of them traded glances with each other.
¡°Liam! This violates the fairness clause!¡± Edmund shouted into thin air, then started muttering to himself.
¡°Five people, that¡¯s the party limit size. There¡¯s gotta be a secret here, somewhere. Gotta be¡¡± He took his spear, and started poking at every inch of the road, completely sure that one spot would spring up a fantastic treasure chest, or a deadly trap.
¡°Myalis. What¡¯s going on?¡± Cat asked, cocking her head as she gazed off into the distance.
Great. Elaine thought. Two weirdos that talk into thin air.
¡°New world? Unknown to the Protectorate?¡± Cat muttered. She blinked a few times, as if hearing a response that she alone understood. ¡°Is there anything I can¡¯t buy?¡±
Elaine continued to look around, and saw a familiar face.
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
¡°Ariane! It¡¯s great to see you again!¡± She bounded over to the vampire, who was cradling her head.
¡°Is it too much to ask that my tender feet remain on Earth?¡± She groaned. ¡°Every other decade, some force or another sees fit to wretch me from my domain. Is this Sinead¡¯s doing?¡±
Elaine cocked her head.
¡°Decades¡? It¡¯s only been a few years here. Anyways! Probably mine, sorry! I asked for my friends, and the genie, well¡ has a weird definition of friends, what can I say. Need a bite?¡± Elaine offered her wrist.
¡°Supplicant?¡± Ariane wondered. ¡°What do you wish?¡±
¡°I¡¯m being polite. It¡¯s my fault you¡¯re here.¡± Elaine responded. She got an impish grin. ¡°Plus, you don¡¯t have to worry about draining me dry. You¡¯d explode from drinking too much blood first.¡±
Ariane gave Elaine a flat look, then chomped down on her wrist. Elaine went a bit pale, but color quickly returned to her cheeks as the vampire felt waves of delicious power course through her.
¡°Can¡¯t get a single break.¡± Maud grumped. ¡°The moment I get home, the very second I sit down with some knitting, and I¡¯m pulled here! The sheer nerve of you, young lady. Do you have any idea what you¡¯ve done?¡±
¡°Yeah. I made a wish.¡± Elaine flippantly countered back.
¡°Harumph.¡± Maud crossed her arms. ¡°Well, figure out how to fix all this. I¡¯m Maud. Lich.¡±
¡°Elaine. Healer-mage.¡± She touched Maud, flashing healing through her. Not much happened, since Elaine¡¯s healing wasn¡¯t well-geared towards liches, no matter how much Maud looked like a grumpy old lady.
Old as Elaine saw things. Maud was, like, 30 tops. Practically ancient.
¡°Cat. Samurai.¡± The young woman with the mechanical arm and eye introduced herself. ¡°Where is this?¡±
¡°Pallos.¡± Elaine answered.
Ariane tore herself away from Elaine¡¯s wrist, her belly unusually distended.
¡°That was delectable most.¡± She said, slurring her words slightly as the vampire, unbalanced by both her large stomach and even larger derriere, swayed.
¡°Arianeeeeee. Vampire. BY THE WATCHER!¡± She screamed, pointing at the sky.
The five of them looked up. A pair of fierce crimson eyes hung in the night sky, staring down at them.
¡°The dragoneye moons.¡± Elaine almost reverently said.
¡°I already have one Watcher. Now there¡¯s two more!¡± Ariane threw her hands up in despair.
¡°Technically, one. Uses both eyes.¡± Elaine idly corrected her.
¡°I¡¯m Edmund.¡± The slightly mad, paranoid man said. ¡°I don¡¯t know how you¡¯re all so casual in The Eternal Depths, but monsters could be coming at any time. Where¡¯s the exit? Have any of you done this level before?¡±
¡°Not a level.¡± Elaine corrected. ¡°It¡¯s Pallos, a different world.¡±
Edmund stared daggers at Elaine.
¡°Must be another trick of Liam¡¯s.¡± He muttered, continuing to poke at the road. ¡°If I don¡¯t get back, I lose Obsession. But wait, if I¡¯m trying to get back, that works for Obsession, right? No Solitude though¡¡± Edmund continued to talk to himself in a low voice. He was quite Mad, and the rest of them shuffled away from him.
¡°And there aren¡¯t even any ghosts here. Bah!¡± Maud stomped over to the genie, but before she got there, a large box thumped into existence next to her, roughly the size of a bus.
Cat rubbed her hands as the flaps fell away, revealing an elaborate series of screens, keyboards, knobs, bells, and whistles. The entire thing was decorated with small pictures of playful cats on every surface. The center was dominated by a circular teleportation pad.
¡°AHHA! I KNEW IT!¡± Edmund shouted, as part of the road went click, and a golden treasure chest emerged from the ground.
Elaine rubbed her eyes. Roads in Remus didn¡¯t have secret compartments, plus hundreds of people walked over the roads daily!
¡°The Carrier - Allstar Tempest Mk. MMMMMMDCLXVI is operational.¡± A soft woman¡¯s voice from Cat¡¯s station spoke. Cat walked over to the station.
¡°Myalis, give me the user guide.¡± She said, then sharply looked up.
Hovering between the two dragoneye moons, as large as they were, was a lucky cat-shaped supercarrier.
¡°Hey hey hey. I need yo second wish. I ain¡¯t staying here forever, you feel me?¡±
¡°I wish I had enough mangos.¡± Elaine absent-mindedly answered. There was no telling if she was overwhelmed from the various antics of the strange companions she found herself with, the prodigious amount of blood she¡¯d lost, or if the genie was screwing with her mind. Either way, the wish came out, idle and not well-formed.
¡°Your wish is my command!¡± The genie snapped his fingers, and a single mango appeared in Elaine¡¯s hands.
She promptly devoured it with great gusto, as a second mango appeared beside her.
A third.
A fourth.
A fifth came from high up, then like the skies opening up, like a monsoon, mangos rained from the clear skies. Dozens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, as many mangos as drops of rain from a hurricane came pouring down on Elaine and the rest - and across the entirety of Pallos.
The perfectly ripe fruits were being created by the genie high up in the sky, then getting all the time in the world to fall down to Pallos, picking up speed the entire way. They exploded as they landed, skin, flesh, and pit going flying in every direction.
The Mangpocalypse had begun.
Each mango was a deadly missile, a direct hit on the head lethal to even most Classers on Pallos. Everyone had been in numerous fights for their life, and while mangos raining from the heavens might be the strangest fight they¡¯d had, it wasn¡¯t enough to give them pause.
Elaine raised a shield over everyone¡¯s head, a small application of [Mantle of the Stars] acting as a last line of defense. She then carefully watched the falling mangos, and with a heavy heart, annihilated ones about to hit people with a powerful burst of Radiance magic, always prioritizing others over herself.
Edmund was easily the least equipped to handle the falling storm.
¡°This is nothing.¡± He muttered to himself. ¡°I can dodge this.¡±
And, impossibly, he was. His limbs contorted unnaturally as he ducked and weaved, somehow defying all known laws of physics and magic to entirely avoid direct hits from the mangos.
Shards of exploded pip were harder to dodge, but they were irrelevant. Elaine¡¯s wide-range healing fixed nicks, cuts, and deep splinters before Edmund even had time to register they¡¯d happened.
Ariane was wielding a strange sword, the weapon as fast and flexible as a whip, extending and moving in mysterious patterns as she sliced and deflected mangos raining down on them all.
Cat covered her head - well protected by Elaine and Ariane¡¯s defenses - and ran to her Carrier - Allstar Tempest station. The CAT station, for short.
A glowing shield sprang up around the CAT station
¡°MYALIS!¡± She screamed, and after a moment, small brown fighters started to disgorge themselves from the supercarrier¡¯s¡ rear end. The fighters, after a few minutes of travel, came screaming down, guns blazing from the automated drones.
Maud just crossed her arms as the occasional mango smashed through Elaine¡¯s shield, braining her. Her visage flickered between human and skeleton, and spent most of her time grumbling about how long all the mango debris would take to wash out of her clothes.
The five¡¯s efforts were good, but there was a critical component. Even as they survived each falling mango, they appeared to be endless, pouring down from the sky. They didn¡¯t vanish when they hit the ground, instead coating it in a thick layer of mushy fruit. The ground became slippery, the footing treacherous.
Maud was the first to be buried, entirely uncaring. She¡¯d easily survive it, and why waste energy trying to stay on top of things? She¡¯d need to dig herself out sooner or later, and the sooner she was buried, the sooner she¡¯d stop getting hit by THOSE BLASTED FRUITS!
Honestly. All the luck to find a genie, not enough sense to properly form a wish. Maud grumped to herself as she was buried.
Cat was the second to go, her shield holding as the mangos piled up against it. Fueled by a micro matter-antimatter annihilation generator, there wasn¡¯t much it couldn¡¯t handle.
Edmund and Ariane continued to stay ahead of the downfall, impossibly balancing on the pyramids of unstable fruit, as Elaine snapped open glorious multi-colored butterfly wings, and took flight.
As mangos buried the world meters deep, Maud got Properly Annoyed. With a flex, five gigantic golems made out of mango, possessed by her ghostly minions, rose and huddled up, forming a protective dome around the five of them.
After three hours of listening to the mangos continue to rain down, and utterly disbelieving looks as Elaine chowned down on the mushy remains of shattered mangos, the hailstorm stopped.
¡°Just how many mangos are ¡®enough¡¯ for you?¡± Cat asked in disbelief.
Elaine shrugged with a guilty look on her face.
The world ending in mangos isn¡¯t my fault, the world ending in mangos isn¡¯t my fault, She repeated the mantra to herself.
¡°WHOA! Would you believe it! That was quite the show!¡± The genie said. ¡°Whooooooooooooooos up next?!¡±
The problems with Beneath the Dragoneye Moons
AKA "Why the huge timeskip?"
When I sat down to write Beneath the Dragoneye Moons, I had some story beats that I really liked, and others that annoyed me.
One story beat that drove me up the wall was that stories were never set close to creation, no. There were always endless ¡°Lost empires¡± and ¡°hidden dungeons¡± and ¡°they used to be so much better at magic than we are now.¡±
Examples of this would be The Stormlight Archives and The Wandering Inn, but nearly every single fantasy series falls victim to this.
I thought that was dumb as a brand-new reader. I wanted to see what it was like ¡°shortly¡± after creation. Not so shortly that everyone was still in tribes and trying to figure out this ¡°fire¡± thing, but during the first civilization.
What was it like? Everyone talks about the great old empires, nobody writes what it was like living in the great old empire.
Hence, Remus, the Rome analog.
It was all fun and games at first, but even before I started posting, I realized I¡¯d screwed up a bit.
The reason people didn¡¯t write about the first civilization was a lack of depth.
The main conflict is people vs nature. I didn¡¯t write about Remus¡¯s neighbors, because they didn¡¯t HAVE any. The only conflicts and issues are internal. There are no hidden dungeons that I can pull up to make a new adventure. There are no ancient archives to raid.
Everything is new and shiny!
This lends itself to having a much, MUCH earlier natural ¡°stopping point¡± to the series than I wanted.
So I plotted. I planned. And I laid down the seeds of my great big ¡°reset¡± button.
I thought it¡¯d only be, like, 100 chapters tops.
HA.
300+ chapters deep, and here we are!
As I continued working through things as I wrote, I realized I had screwed up a number of other small worldbuilding things. Magics that I didn¡¯t realize my System allowed, but that could and should exist.
Like shapeshifting. [Form of the Dinosaur] should totally be a known skill, but we¡¯ve seen nobody use it. Potions. Alchemies, tens of thousands of different things.
Well, I have an excuse. Instead of ¡°Oh hey we rediscovered the lost magic¡± AKA the usual ¡°whoops! Fixed that!¡± that many authors use (there¡¯s no shame in it!), I¡¯m going more with ¡°It wasn¡¯t well fleshed out and developed yet¡±.
This has also given me the time to properly sort out countries. Cities. Cultures, races, and so many, many more things that give a world its rich feel. Well established organizations, relics and treasures, religion and more!
I¡¯m also fairly restricted right now. I can¡¯t do glass, or things with glass in Remus. I need to stick to pure Classical Rome things. There aren¡¯t a ton of other cultures out there.
I¡¯m not super interested in writing endless ¡°Elaine, the only human, deep in elf/dwarf/orc/ogre/centaur territory, occasionally at war with shimagu/others.¡± I¡¯m not sure you¡¯d all be that interested in reading it.
Another thing is the ¡°global level¡± so to speak. There¡¯s only so many people living, and there¡¯s only so high levels can get. I have an end in mind, but with the current worldbuilding it¡¯d take some massively absurd timeskips to get there.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
¡°Then Elaine lived happily for the next 900 years to get another 300 levels¡± isn¡¯t exactly gripping storytelling.
I needed a shakeup. So I prepared.
As I said, as early as chapter 5ish I started to lay down the groundwork for one day fixing, revamping, and overhauling everything.
I believe it worked¡ mostly. I¡¯ll occasionally think of something interesting and go ¡°well shit that changes things¡±, but I¡¯ve had almost two years of thinking at this point. Things are a lot stronger than they used to be.
Hence, the Great Shakeup.
Iona was the early introduction to the shakeup and the new world. I have essays to write about her, but those are for another day.
I worked with a number of early beta readers to try and figure out the best ¡°shape¡± this will take, and broadly speaking, we found an excellent way to make it happen. Many of you have guessed at some of it, but I don¡¯t think anyone guessed the full thing.
I¡¯ll let you find out soon what it is ;)
Thank you all for understanding!
On a different, medium-low spoiler note, I¡¯ve had some people approach me concerned that Iona¡¯s time is ¡°bog standard medieval fantasy with the serial numbers filed off.¡±
This is a somewhat valid concern, because Rolland IS bog standard medieval fantasy with the serial numbers filed off! However, not all of my countries are. Here¡¯s a breakdown for those concerned:
Nime: Straddles the line. I¡¯m trying to make it super-authoritarian, but I might get stuck in some ruts. The endless waterfall from nowhere does give it some flavor, along with the forbidden four classers. Bleak. Like 50% serial numbers filed off (SNFO)
Lithos: Nordic-inspired, with troll Jarls. Like 40% SNFO, but I hope my twists are enough
Jurcor: 0% SNFO. Lots of lawful devils with¡ ok, it¡¯s hard to explain in a short sentence or three, and I¡¯ve got a lot of these to run through.
Draakveld: 0% SNFO. Windmills, demons, WORKING communism, and tulips.
Xerius: 0% SNFO. Persian Saurians¡ but they¡¯re all dinosaur-themed saurians.
Exterreri Empire: 10% SNFO. Roman-inspired vampires that - wait, hang on!
Ankhelt - 50% SNFO. Ancient Egypt fairly standard fantasy fare with beastkin. Maybe more like 70% SNFO.
Tympestshard Council: 90% SNFO. High elves, cities of crystal, etc etc.
Sicalatian Confederacy: 10% SNFO. Italian City-states, which are really more city-TREES filled with clever gnomes.
Han Empire: 20-80% SNFO, depending on how you see things. Warring States period, with Dullahans and their lava forges doing the warring.
Geum Kingdom: 20% SNFO. Ancient Korea scholar-warrior minotaurs.
Tuvan Tribes: 75% SNFO. Tribal yetis.
The Great Tang: 100% SNFO. Cultivators galore, except the Tang Sect is filled with reasonable people so they survive.
¡. Mostly because I want to poke fun at cultivation novel tropes when I want to.
Nippon-Koku: 75% SNFO. Japan, with Kitsune Daimyo. Then again, I¡¯m not sure how often I actually see it¡
Vollomond: 25% SNFO. Gothic Germany run by werewolves. Still unsure on some details.
Cartref Clyd: 25% SNFO. Think the Shire, then replace hobbits with fauns that are more than happy to hire mercenaries to do their dirty work.
Tonaltintli: 0% SNFO. Aztec/Mayan blended Kobolds.
The Silver Horde: 0% SNFO. Mongolian-inspired centaurs, lots of orchards. (The golden horde, except silver for reasons to be revealed)
The Golden Courts: 100% SNFO. Classic wood elves. Do I need to say more?
Khazad: 25% SNFO. We saw these dwarves before!
Rolland: 100% SNFO. English-French late dark/early medieval castles and knights, court wizards, etc. You know how this all works.
Urwa: 50% SNFO. 1001 Arabian Nights, elf-style.
Modu: 10% SNFO. Frost giants in their castles of ice and snow¡with a minor mix of mad scientists.
Kalea: 0% SNFO. A polynesian-inspired coalition of various intelligent aquatics. They fight the [REDACTED]
Ekada Ruh: 0% SNFO. A sort of ¡°second country¡± of changelings trying to live their life, integrated into whatever society they¡¯ve found themselves in. They¡¯re all kin, and recognize it as such.
Aerie Heights: 0% SNFO. Jagged floating mountains are perfect for harpies.
Suen: 50% SNFO. Think any trader-city in books, and that¡¯s Suen! Country of coin.
Dairalt Republic: 25% SNFO. The gnolls we saw before! Nothing tribal can truly get to 0%, but i think ¡°the worlds largest pet store anchors it¡± gives it some flavor.
Phantasym Mageocracy: 75% SNFO. A country of wizard towers with supporting villages. Yeah, you can see it in your mind¡¯s eye now!
Bhutai Provinces: 0% SNFO. Think giants that decided to live like a tibetan monk does.
Omospondia Confederacy: ??? SNFO. Awkwardly. I still need a good culture for them. It¡¯s a monster mash. The ogres, orcs, gorgons, etc. who are generally reviled elsewhere have all grouped together here.
Penujuman Necrocracy: 0% SNFO Siam-inspired liches raise thousands of undead to labor for them, all while the official state religion is ¡°Pray for more liches to be born.¡±
Gwyllt: 0% SNFO. BEES OH GOD SO MANY BEEEEEEES AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Ralakar: 0% SNFO. India-inspired culture filled with exceptionally horny Dragonlings. Well, they claim to be related to dragons, but¡
Chapter ??? - Meanwhile, the sidekicks
The realm of the fae connected to all worlds, forming the greatest crossroad in the multiverse. Smart travelers, those who knew the Rules, those who treated the realm with the proper respect such a deadly place deserved, could use the realm to quickly and easily hop between worlds.
Others¡ others did not.
¡°BRRRRRRRPT!!!!!!!¡± Auri screamed as she fled, chased by a flock of pixies. She hadn¡¯t know! This wasn¡¯t fair! It was only two fields of flowers! They were practically begging to be torched!
She ducked and weaved, jumping into another fairy ring, a portal to another world.
A blinding flash of purple light later, and she was bodily thrown into a smokey room. Three other critters were sitting around a table. A plush bunny toy, an orange cat, and a juvenile dragon.
The plushie¡¯s eyes burned with purple flame, its shadows not of a rabbit. Instead it was that of a monster, with tentacles, appendages, and impossible geometry.
¡°Let¡¯s play together!¡± It said with a mechanical, pre-recorded voice.
I am She-Who-Feasts-On-Many-And-Collect-Much-Gold! This is a fun place. Much gold.
The orange cat simply stretched, and Auri, in her brilliant genius, realized what this place was.
It was a secret dimension! The Pet Extradimensional Association. Naturally, no taxes would have to be paid.
Yes, yes, it was all Auri¡¯s brilliance that let her figure it out, and nothing to do with the floating blue screen in front of her telling her all that.
¡°Brrrpt?¡± She asked.
¡°Let¡¯s play together!¡± The plushie said with its mechanical voice. A deck of cards appeared on the table, a perfect perch for the little hummingbird was created from nothing, space distorting and twisting to put Auri at the table with the other three.
Cards were dealt as the rules of the game were forcefully shoved into everyone¡¯s minds. Auri¡¯s flaming body flared up as the knowledge was forced into her head, Orange batted at the air, She-Who-Feasts-On-Many-And-Collect-Much-Gold snapped at the air, then groaned and held her head.
There was a faint scream and distant popping noise as Plushie¡¯s eyes briefly glowed brighter.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
¡°I love you!¡± It said.
Auri had the sense that whatever had shoved the game rules into her head wasn¡¯t going to bother them again.
The entirety of her life savings appeared on the table in front of her. Arcanite, jade, diamond and ruby coins. Money appeared in front of the others as well. A few gold coins in front of She-Who-Feasts-On-Many-And-Collect-Much-Gold, who promptly grabbed them with a fearful look on her face. She tried to stuff them back into the pouch around her neck, but no matter how she shoved and shoved, they just reappeared on the table in front of her.
Then she got a crafty look on her face, and started to shovel them as fast as she could into the pouch.
Auri shook her beak sadly. There was no infinite gold replication glitch going on. The poor dragon¡¯s brain had been fried by greed.
Orange batted at a pile of gold du-cats that appeared in front of him, while Plushie was practically buried under a pile of paper money.
The deck of cards was shuffled by the magic of the place, cards spun to each of the players. Auri peeked at hers.
King of Diamonds.
Ace of Hearts.
Red! Both were red! The color of flames, of burning, not the dull black of ashes and coal. Both cards were super high value as well! Yes! Perfection! A winning hand!
Auri conjured up a few [Mage Hands], brrrpted in satisfaction, and pushed more of her coins to the pot in the middle. The money was as good as hers!
=================
She-Who-Feasts-On-Many-And-Collect-Much-Gold calculated her cards, and what they meant. This table was tough. Plushie was an enigma, a perfectly blank figure that was impossible to read. Occasionally it flickered, moving positions slightly. She-Who-Feasts-On-Many-And-Collect-Much-Gold had learned to fold when that happened - Plushie always won those hands. It did it rarely enough, and was losing the thin pieces of paper that was its money often enough, that She-Who-Feasts-On-Many-And-Collect-Much-Gold didn¡¯t think victory was impossible¡ merely, that it was at Plushie¡¯s whims.
Orange was a cat. A pure cat. One that strutted around the table when she felt like it, napped when she felt like it - the rest of them considered her to have folded the hand when it happened - and was somehow accurring a larger and larger pile of gold.
She-Who-Feasts-On-Many-And-Collect-Much-Gold¡¯s gold! Arthur started to get frantic at the thought, but no, no. She was a dragon. It was still her gold, no matter how much it was in front of anyone else.
The phoenix though, she was tricky. She-Who-Feasts-On-Many-And-Collect-Much-Gold still couldn¡¯t figure out if she was brilliant with bluffs, making obvious tells when she had a bad hand and keeping it stone-cold secret when it was a good hand, or if she was simply an idiot who couldn¡¯t calculate statistics and probability when there was gold on the line. She was currently burning brightly, colorful flames popping and sparking a small light show around her. She had a good hand¡ or thought she did.
The bidding went to Orange, who lazily batted in another pile of her gold. She-Who-Feasts-On-Many-And-Collect-Much-Gold gulped, and looked at her hand.
Not the best. But with this much gold on the line? The chance to add so much to her precious hoard?
What were the chances that a cat had a better hand?
She-Who-Feasts-On-Many-And-Collect-Much-Gold nudged more of her coins in.
Book 10 is now on Amazon!
Book 10 is officially up on Amazon!
https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0C678L63K
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Book 9 is now on Kindle Unlimited!
Even if you don''t read BTDEM on Amazon, I''d like to politely ask if you''d be willing to leave a rating or review on Amazon. It lets Amazon know "oh hey this book is popular/well liked", and THE ALGORITHM then pushes it, throwing me into a virtuous upward cycle.
Thank you,
Selkie
BTDEM Crossover Artwork!
Hey all!
I saw Pirateaba was running an art quest THING and thought "Hey, wouldn''t a crossover with a number of pirate''s favorite authors be cool?"
Quite a bit of coordinate later, and a large artwork purchase, and we have the crossover!
Titles and authors left to right!
Jin from BOC
Mei Ling from BOC
Ulvama the goblin from TWI
Erin from TWI
(Above)
Auri from BTDEM
Bi D (Big D) from BOC
Apista from TWI
(Below)
Salvos from Salvos
Melas from Melas (Anyone noticing a trend with MelasD''s character/book names...?)
Elaine from BTDEM
Iona from BTDEM
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Had a great time coordinating this, and now artwork for everyone!
On a posting-related note:
All posts for the week have been loaded, and should all post at exactly the same time - 10PM EST. I''m going to try to have this be a pattern moving forward where all posts are prescheduled and come out at exactly the same time and day every week. No telling if I''ll be able to keep up with it, so no commitment, but I''d like it to be the case.
Also no idea if RR schedule will work exactly the same!
A little sorry for the double not-a-chapter posts, but as I mentioned I''ve already scheduled all the posts for the week and I don''t want to fiddle with it. Post incoming soonish!! No ads on this one because that''d just be cruel.
Also, the new posting time is 4AM my time, aka... first post is open and available for those members of the F5 sect who want it!
Cheers all,
Selkie
The story so far
Hello! Welcome to another installment of Beneath the Dragoneye Moons! Here¡¯s a quick recap of the story so far.
Book 1: Elaine is reincarnated on Pallos with some of her knowledge, Papilion having swiss-cheesed her memories before allowing her to reincarnate. Elaine grows up, realizes she still knows biology. Tries a little too hard to lie low, and accidentally kills her friend, Lyra. Takes her healing [Oath] and meets Artemis. When her family tries to marry her off at 14, she decides to run away from home and join the Rangers. She gets kidnapped by runaway slaves-turned-bandits. The Rangers smash the group, and Elaine asks to join. Julius denies her until she reveals the full extent of her reincarnated status. He changes his mind and lets her tag along. They arrive in Virinum, where a monster is terrorizing the locals. The Rangers come up with a plan to take down the monster, and Elaine is critical in keeping Kallisto alive. After the fight, Julius offers for Elaine to join them as a real Ranger, and she accepts. The book ends with Elaine classing up, merging her Light and Dark healing classes into a Celestial class. With the open class slot, she takes a Fire mage class.
Book 2: Elaine starts practicing with her new skills, learning her new limits and capabilities. Kerberos, her fiance, hires some adventurers to retrieve Elaine. They kidnap her, but her Ranger teammates come to the rescue, killing most of them and arresting the rest. Shaken but undeterred, Elaine continues with the team, experiencing just how dangerous life is on the road for a Ranger team. From dinosaur swarms and bandits, to twitchy teammates and deadly monsters, there¡¯s never a moment¡¯s rest for the team. They arrive in Perinthus, a town dying to multiple plagues. Elaine shines, healing as many people as she can while slowly building a map of the victims. It soon becomes clear that one is mundane, and the other is caused by a Classer. The Rangers investigate, determining who the culprit is, and execute him without a trial. Leaving Perinthus, the team continues on, getting into various situations as they complete their round. During this time, Elaine writes the Medical Manuscripts. After two years, they arrive back in Ariminum, the capital, where Elaine is interrogated by Priest Demos and reunites with her parents and they come to an understanding. She is told that she¡¯ll need to attend Ranger Academy to ¡®properly¡¯ become a Ranger, and Arthur is promoted to Sentinel Toxic during the Ranger Convocation.
Book 3: Elaine attends the grueling Ranger Academy, where she meets Sentinel Night, her mentor. While she¡¯s there, she¡¯s brought to the front lines against the endless Formorians, in one part to directly fight them and level herself, and in another to keep an eye on Sentinel Toxic¡¯s mass-poisoning efforts, checking that they¡¯re not going to blow back on the soldiers. After returning from the front lines, she¡¯s pitted in a colosseum match against her former fianc¨¦ Kerberos, where she blows his head off. She classes up, trading Fire magic for Radiance magic, achieving one of her lifelong dreams - flight. Upon graduation, she isn¡¯t assigned to a team, instead being promoted to Sentinel Dawn. She goes on a failed date with Jaclyn, and learns that Night is a vampire. He teaches Elaine about the creation of the world. After starting to figure out some work and getting an apprentice, Autumn, Elaine goes off on her first Sentinel missions, shaking down her gear and experience. She encounters a weak plague and a pirate attack, and returns triumphant. A series of reports shows a few more years of Elaine¡¯s Sentinel work.
Book 4: The book begins with the Formorians breaching the wall, and all hands are on deck. All available Sentinels, along with Priest Demos, fly out to the front lines, where they entrench themselves deep within the horde for a last desperate strike against the Formorians. Destruction channels a massive earthquake, while Demos beseeches a god to intervene on their behalf. Both go off, each killing one of the Formorian Queens, and the Sentinels split, forming a strike team to kill the last Queen. Elaine and Bulwark return back to help the remaining soldiers against the horde, and they finally succeed in winning their thousand year war against the Formorians. Elaine classes up, obtaining [The Dawn Sentinel] and building a skill to obtain in the future - Immortality. Hunting and Elaine are sent to make sure there are no other Formorian Queen eggs or anything like that in the hostile wastes the Formorians came from. The two delve deep into the Formorian territory, finding someone else was on the other side - dwarves. The two of them split, with Hunting returning to report their findings while Elaine hangs out with the dwarves. They convince Elaine that they¡¯re not the people to talk with, and she should be brought to the capital and talk with someone important. She agrees, but while they¡¯re traveling, they¡¯re interrupted by Lun¡¯Kat fighting with the Guardians. In order to stay alive, Elaine and the surviving dwarves dive down an old mine shaft, finding themselves deep underground.
Book 5: Elaine and the dwarves are trapped underground, trying to survive the monsters, traps, and orcs. Ned is replaced by a shapeshifter, but they finally find an underground dwarven city. Elaine shows off her healing prowess once again, slicing open dwarves to find out how their implanted augments work. She discovers that the dwarves have no intention of letting her go, and devises a plan to escape. She flees once again to the underground, where she is chased by the inevitable shluggoth. Running away, she finds Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair, where the dragon is injured. Elaine is sworn to heal anyone, and enters to heal Lun¡¯Kat. She mostly resists taking any treasure, only snagging a single small, hot, red egg before fleeing back to the open air and freedom. Elaine gets [The Stars Never Fade], the immortality skill. She unfortunately has no idea where she is, and starts heading north when she bumps into a trio of elves. They¡¯re heading in roughly the same direction, and Elaine joins up, for safety and guidance. They fight a hydra and emerge victorious.
Book 6: After pissing off some trolls, they encounter a gnoll, whom Elaine makes young again with [The Stars Never Fade], practicing her immortality skill for the first time and meeting White Dove. They travel further to Ochi, a city infested with Shimagu who can hijack other people¡¯s bodies. After struggling with her ethics and morals, Elaine heals the people infested with Shimagu, killing the intelligent bodyjackers in the process. The action devastates her though, and being close enough to Remus, she travels the rest of the distance alone. She finds herself in a city, with a Ranger team nearby - home at last! The book ends with the egg hatching in a blaze of fire, Auri emerging from the flames.
Book 7: Elaine struggles with looking after a newborn Auri, eventually realizing that she¡¯s one of the rarest and most legendary creatures to ever exist - a phoenix. The two make their way back home, where they find Artemis has been sold into slavery and Julius is missing. After freeing Artemis, Elaine reports back to the Sentinels, where she finally hits the level 512 milestone and unlocks her third class. Elaine has a tearful reunion with her friends and family. News of her ability to make people young again makes its way to the Emperor, who pressures Elaine into making him young again, no matter the price. Elaine negotiates - poorly - women getting equal treatment in the eyes of the law. Augustus agrees, and Elaine has a triumphant parade through the city, where Augustus announces both the change, and a war against the Shimagu. News reaches the Sentinels about where Julius went missing - a fairy ring - and Elaine, along with Artemis, Auri, and Autumn - enter the ring, intent on retrieving him. They succeed, but fae trickery and divine intervention mean they leave the fairy ring tens of thousands of years after when they entered.
Book 8: Elaine and the rest are utterly lost in this new world. They don¡¯t speak the language, and half of what they do is illegal. They¡¯re fortunate to meet Iona, a Valkyrie, who has a blessing to speak any language. She helps orient them to the world, and Elaine decides it¡¯d be best for her to attend the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft, to gain as much knowledge and information that she can. Julius and Artemis decide they want to try joining the Hunter¡¯s Guild, and Autumn - now called Amber, after she sold her name to the fae for power - wants to kickstart her dream of becoming disgustingly rich. Elaine attends the School, where she learns as much as she can, and takes a ¡®practice¡¯ third class, Biomancy, in order to make modifications to herself that¡¯ll last her entire lifetime - eternity. It also gives her a good view on the remaining classes she has. She also starts to learn the art of Wizardry, etching runes and glyphs to create any magical effect - at a steep knowledge, time, and efficiency cost. Iona and Elaine fall for each other and start dating, and the book ends with Elaine performing a massive biomancy operation on herself and Iona, permanently improving their bodies. The book ends with Elaine taking her third class ¡®for real¡¯ - [Bookwyrm].
Book 9: Elaine and Iona are continuing their School adventures. Elaine is a member of the School¡¯s combat team, and the Gladiator Gauntlet is the main event. Elaine attends along with Iona, who discovers that Rolland has effectively disbanded the remnants of the Valkyrie order. Iona enters the tournament, intent on extracting a pound of flesh from the nobility, while Elaine struggles to win the event for the School¡¯s glory. They¡¯ve given her five years of free tuition, the least she can do is return with a trophy for them. Both are victorious, and return to the School. Elaine¡¯s body is on a shorter lifespan than usual with her dramatic biomancy modifications, and chooses to get cursed sooner rather than later by White Dove, because at the School she can research mitigation tactics. She¡¯s cursed, and graduation is around the corner. She graduates in multiple tracks, and gets recognized as the founder of modern medicine due to her efforts with the Medical Manuscripts back in the day¡ regardless of how many other people contributed over the eons to the book. After graduating, Iona and Elaine fly off together to Exterreri, hoping to find Night.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Book 10: Elaine and Iona leave the School, seeing if they can find Night, Elaine''s old mentor. He''s the only one likely to have survived long enough to make it to the present-day, and there are hints that he exists in the Exterreri Empire, home of vampires. Journeying from the School to Exterreri, Iona and Elaine encounter the Black Plague and the ruthless Pekari, mechanized golems that terrorize villagers. They finally arrive in Exterreri, where after stumbling around in the dark Elaine catches the attention of Arachne, current leader of the Sentinels. Arachne knows Night, and the two are finally reunited. Elaine and Iona fight off a wyrm to claim a mountain as their new home, Elaine is offered a position as a Sentinel once again, and Arachne teaches Elaine enough to let her qualify as a [Loremaster] in her third class. Iona acquires a new squire, Nina.
Book 11: Iona starts training Nina, her new squire, as Elaine settles into her role as a War Sentinel. The dragon triad is handled once and for all, and Elaine goes off to investigate rumors of another person from Earth. The meeting is disappointing, and when she arrives back home, Dormin confronts them. Artemis is around, and has no tolerance for long villain monologues. Elaine, in her role as a War Sentinel, heads off to the Han Empire with the rest of the Sixth Legion. There, they engage in battle after battle, rapidly leveling and leaving their mark on the war. Elaine becomes comfortable with large-scale engagements, keeping everyone alive, and ends up killing the Great General Meng Ao. Finally, the armies push things too far, and a Guardian intervenes, smashing the armies to bits and bringing the civil war to a head. Elaine is politely asked to leave the Han Empire while Iona and Nina defend a young prince who¡¯s requested sanctuary in a temple. Nina believes that the lives of thousands, perhaps millions when the scale of the war is fully considered isn¡¯t worth the life of a single noble child, while Iona believes protecting a defenseless child whose requested help is a noble calling. Nina slays the young prince, fracturing their relationship and bringing a close to the war. Elaine classes up at home, taking [The Arbiter of Life and Death]. Iona proposes to Elaine when she wakes up, and Elaine says yes.
The Magic System Refresher
This is a simple refresher, covering the major points without getting bogged down in the minor details. Beneath the Dragoneye Moons is a litRPG magic system. There are 8 stats - Strength, Dexterity, Speed, Vitality, Mana, Mana Regeneration, Magic Power, and Magic Control. Most people have two classes, with people over level 512 unlocking a third class. Each class has an element. The eight basic elements are Light, Dark, Water, Fire, Wind, Earth, Nature and Metal. Each combination of two of the basic elements creates an advanced element - Light and Dark make Celestial, for example. Each element has things it can and can¡¯t do, along with the class. People get experience for doing things their class wants to do. A [Lumberjack] gets experience for cutting wood, and not very much for killing a monster. A [Knight] gets a lot of experience for killing a monster, and very little for chopping wood. Leveling up a class gives stats, and raises the cap on skills for that class. Each class can have up to 8 skills, and there are 8 general skill slots.
Skills at the start of Book 13
|
[Name: Elaine]
|
|
[Race: Chimera (Elvenoid)]
|
|
[Age: 38]
|
|
[Mana: 6,911,270/6,911,270]
|
|
[Mana Regeneration: 13,695,885 +(41,548,244)]
|
| |
|
Stats
|
|
[Free Stats: 0]
|
|
[Strength: 40,823 (Effectively: 326,584)]
|
|
[Dexterity: 65,269 (Effectively: 694,984)]
|
|
[Vitality: 203,035 (Effectively: 3,172,422)]
|
|
[Speed: 190,267 (Effectively: 3,745,025)]
|
|
[Mana: 691,127]
|
|
[Mana Regeneration: 1,555,022 (+ 4,154,824)]
|
|
[Magic Power: 904,127 (+ 39,600,763)]
|
|
[Magic Control: 903,335 (+ 39,566,073)]
|
| |
|
[Class 1: [The Arbiter of Life and Death - Celestial: Lv 876]]
|
|
[Celestial Mastery: 876] - General Affinity skill
|
|
[Aurora Curialis: 771] - Passive improved healing aura
|
|
[The Stars Never Fade: 55] - Immortality skill
|
|
[Luminary Mind: 602] - Mind skill
|
|
[Universal Cure: 876] - Healing skill
|
|
[Etheric Aegis: 222] - Armor skill
|
|
[Event Horizon: 650] - ¡®Black hole¡¯ shield skill, destroys objects
|
|
[Zenith Everlasting: 609] - energy skill
|
| |
|
[Class 2: [Seraph of the Dawn - Radiance: Lv 855]]
|
|
[Radiance Mastery: 855] - Affinity skill
|
|
[A Light Shining in the Darkness: 23] - Bright light anti-illusion
|
|
[The Rays of the First Dawn: 855] - Radiance beams
|
|
[Radiant Angel''s Spear of Obliteration: 38] - Radiance weapons + Spears
|
|
[Celestial Dew: 855] - Mana regeneration
|
|
[Sunrise Halo: 855] - Radiance power boost + cosmic halo on demand
|
|
[Seraph''s Wings: 855] - Flight skill, six wings
|
|
[Six Wings, Six Million Feathers: 855] - Devastating assault skill. Explosive feathers
|
| |
|
[Class 3: [Erudite Archmage - Spatial: Lv 712]]
|
|
[Spatial Authority: 488] - Affinity skill
|
|
[Cozy Reading: 712] - Reading skill
|
|
[Teleportation: 195] - Teleportation! Both self and objects
|
|
[Repository of the Magus: 557] - Personal library spatial storage
|
|
[Tower of Knowledge: 92] - Great big storage skill. Requires personal teleporting in
|
|
[Reality, Writ As You Will: 530] - Wizardry skill
|
|
[Astral Archives: 326] - Perfect memory skill
|
|
[Endless Pursuit of Knowledge: 644] - Exp boosting skill
|
| |
|
General Skills
|
|
[Long-Range Identify: 532] - Identification skill
|
|
[Handy: 1] - General dexterity skill
|
|
[Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 876] - Companion bond with Auri
|
|
[The World Around Me: 216] - Sphere of perception
|
|
[Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 876] - Healing Oath skill
|
|
[Sentinel''s Superiority: 876] - Combat and skill boost skill
|
|
[Persistent Casting: 650] - Mage meta skill
|
|
[Tender Gardening: 108] - Growing plants skill
|
Hey! Where did the chapters go?
Hey! Not a chapter!
Some of you were in the middle of reading BTDEM when it rudely vanished. It''s going to KU, and will be there soon. You''ve got a short timeframe to jump on discord and grab the epubs from the appropriate channel before I yoink them. https://discord.gg/d9VT2Mw9ca
Stolen novel; please report.
Cheers, and sorry for the interruption to your reading!
Words words words there''s a 500 chapter min on chapters. WORDS WORDS WORDS. WORDS WORDS WORDS. WORDS WORDS WORDS. WORDS WORDS WORDS.
Book 13 launch day!
Hey all!
I want to say thank you for your support over the years. Thank you, each and every one of you, for helping support Beneath the Dragoneye Moons, and making it a reality. I couldn''t do this without you, and I''m forever grateful.
First! Books 1-3 are FREE on Amazon right now! Go grab a copy if you haven''t already!
Book 1: https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B08NWJMXXV
Quite a few people have asked over the years, and I''ve listened! Amazon only gets the latest BTDEM book on a delay, letting patrons enjoy the content far before Amazon does. You support me a lot more, you should get it far before. Plus, a nice bonus - I can now launch KU and Amazon at the same time!
I''m pleased to announce that Beneath the Dragoneye Moons: Moonfall (Book 13!) is now on Amazon! This one''s a little shorter than most of my other books, and I priced it cheaper as a result. It''s my big hope that it''s not dissappointing.
I know the turnaround on this one was super short. I''m sorry, I got really sick right in the run up and had to miss a week of posts. That snowballed into the already-made release date, turning it from a week of "RR gets to read book 13" into "RR gets three days to read the last chapter." I''m sorry.
Hopefully, 13 books deep into BTDEM, you''re willing to fork over a little bit to help support me. If you''re not able to, there are way too many pirates in my discord. There''s no way the sailors of the seven seas would give you a copy.
Link: https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B0DGQV4S2W
With that being said, if you DO want to support me in a non-financial way, there are a bunch of ways you can do it! If you post a rating or review on Amazon, that tells the algorithm "oh hey, this is popular and well-liked, you should push it more", which gets more eyeballs on it, which gets more sales, and it all results in a nice, virtuous cycle. You can check the book out on KU, which counts as a sale for algorithm purposes (and no need to read it even!). Best of all, you can make social media posts or boost exsiting ones, which gets more eyes in front of BTDEM!
The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Social Media Links!
Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgressionFantasy/comments/1fywkyj/beneath_the_dragoneye_moons_book_13_is_out_today/?
https://www.reddit.com/r/litrpg/comments/1fywl0o/beneath_the_dragoneye_moons_book_13_is_out_today/?
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPG.books/permalink/8661050350584891/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/litrpgforum/permalink/4669665736591023/
I will admit - I''ve got a bit of ego tied to this launch. It''s the first time I''m trying a KU + ebook launch, and I kinda hope to see a high score number on the rank. Pure ego, I know.
Alright, on a bit of a writing note. It''s admin week, and I''m on a psuedo-vacation. Which is to say I''m visiting my parents place while my wife and kid visit her parents, and I''m getting SO MUCH WRITING DONE! Hopefully my backlog can be fully reanimated!
Thank you all again for all your support and everything you do!
Selkie
Chapter 568 - The Gloves Come Off I
It was a fairly hard rule that Sentinels weren¡¯t bothered on their time off. Susan regularly sent Elaine letters when I was off rotation, asking to chat socially, or simply sending me interesting little tidbits of information. With her information processing capabilities combined with her multitasking, I had no doubt that she was in close contact and communication with hundreds, if not thousands of people.
I also regularly met with the rest of the War Sentinels, just one of the many social gatherings and ties I had. It was a fun weekly thing, helped get me out of the house, and all that good stuff.
Sentinel Dawn was never summoned by Sentinel Arachne though. That didn¡¯t happen.
Or rather, I¡¯d been warned it might happen, under the most dire of circumstances.
The poor [Courier] at the door didn¡¯t know what hit her. I flashed over at full speed, runes glowing on my body to not create a villa-destroying sonic boom, and read the letter without opening it.
Dawn,
Urgently need you at Castle Stormwatch.
Bring your entire team.
Arachne.
Triple-gods-damnit-fuck.
Was it now? Was everything I knew about to be upended? I could feel my heart thundering in my chest like a drum, and my palms started to get sweaty. My stomach twisted in knots.
Not now. I thought. I still have so much to do.
I threw a bunch of coins at the poor [Courier], not really caring that I¡¯d probably dumped two years wages in a single tip. My mind flashed to one of my more used spells, and I used [Reality, Writ as You Will] to reshape the world to my spell. My voice boomed, deafening anyone close by.
¡°Attention everyone! Skye, Titania, Valkyries, squires, and guests! If I am not back in three hours, head to the bunkers!¡±
I could tell my words had kicked the hornet¡¯s nest, but I was already flying off to Fenrir¡¯s cave at my top speed, coming to a halt in a great gust of wind. ¡°Fenrir! Wake up! It¡¯s go time!¡± I yelled at him. While he was waking up, I teleported into [Tower], my own personal pocket dimension, and armed up.
It was go time. My mind flickered through all the floors, quickly reviewing everything. Had to be prepared for anything and everything. It was decades of preparation, but I could¡¯ve used a few decades more.
The first floor was my armory, filled to the brim with everything I could practically want and use in a fight. My Sentinel armor was prominently displayed on an armor stand, and my two badges were floating in a display case attached to the ground. Spears, short swords, round shields and tower shields filled a portion of the room, as did several less-preferred armor sets, and a collection of assorted weapons. I was barely trained and barely proficient in them, but it was better to have quick access to the weapons and not need them, than it was to need them and not have them.
My mind flashed through the rest of the tower as I [Teleported] everything onto my body, finishing by cinching my belt tight.
The second floor was the hall of gems, Amber¡¯s fortune funneled into a thousand and one life-saving measures. Floors 3 and 4 were secondary armories, dedicated to Iona and Fenrir¡¯s armor, weapons, and spare supplies for each of them, and the fifth floor was potions galore.
Floors 6 and 7 were toolsheds, everything from chisels to looms, only missing out on the hyper specialized tools of some professions. Axes, saws, picks, and shovels all came in triplicate, along with more common and popular tools.
Floors 8 through 11 was a third armory, this time dedicated to Legion equipment. Given enough time to teleport in and out of my [Tower], I could arm three centuries of troops, from sandals to spears, from banners to shields.
The twelfth floor was my kitchen, because fuck having that on the thirteenth floor. That only took up about a third of the floor, and the rest of it was my ¡®workshop¡¯, where I hammered, sawed, nailed, and generally leveled [Handy And Dexterous] to create all the other furniture, storage, chests, cabinets, and general items used to store things inside of my [Tower]. It was a good place, filled with sweat, memories, and sawdust, but also something of a boring place. There were no great adventures, no fantastic memories, simply measure, measure, cut, drill, nail, hammer, repeat. I didn¡¯t have any particularly fancy moments or terrific insights, bugging [Carpenters] to hand me blueprints for things I wanted to make, then faithfully creating them, letting my skills guide my hands.
The hardest part was honestly getting things to where they needed to be. I could make the biggest damn wardrobe, but the hole in the middle of the tower was only so large. I¡¯d need to make it in several parts, float each part to the final destination, and do the finishing connections there.
It would be far more interesting if Iona and Auri could come in here, but they couldn¡¯t, and the space remained a practical one.
The unlucky thirteenth floor was for coins and cash, along with important documents. Documents that would be worth less than the paper they were on if this was indeed the start to the great war.
Floors 14-30 were pure food and water supplies. Enough to hopefully feed a village for a year, which was hopefully long enough for floors 31-34 to kick in - seeds, more plows, and other farming equipment. In my mind, these were probably THE most important floors, the ones directly dedicated to saving lives in the one way I was unable to help in.
I had some brief regret on the 35th floor. It was supposed to be ingots of all sorts of metals, but they were all heavy and expensive, and I¡¯d elected to spend my time and funds filling up the rest of the [Tower].
Which brought me to some more self-indulgent floors. It wasn¡¯t all disaster planning and future supplies, although I did like being more stocked up than a half-dozen warehouses. The 36th floor was for various trinkets and knick-knacks, along with a small unconsecrated shrine to Ciriel. The next three floors were dedicated to Iona and her artwork, thousands of pieces lovingly hung from the walls I¡¯d built inside. Her best pieces were hanging in the villa, of course, but I squirreled away those I could to these floors. Here was the hall of memories, thousands of sights, views, and people Iona had seen and sketched over our life.
The 40th floor was dedicated entirely to my vanity and my vanity. A quarter was dedicated to the massive table, mirror, and countless drawers of lacquered wood that had been an absolute bitch to craft. Hadn¡¯t even leveled from it all. A thousand and one makeup goods were scattered in nearly as many drawers, the ghost of a once-present organizational system crying deeply over what I¡¯d done to it over the years.
I reminded myself to clean it up and organize it, only to notice nearly a hundred other notifications in the same spot in [Astral Archives] telling me the same thing.
Whoops.
Floor 41-49 were building supplies of various sorts. I¡¯d intended for it to be fewer floors, but the stuff was big, and I kept liberally raiding it for my own construction projects. Bricks, clay, planks, the works.
Floor 50 and 51 were ¡®core¡¯ rooms, filled with arcanite. Getting it in piece by piece was easy, and it was surprisingly simple to re-merge them back into a single whole on the other end. Turned out, I wasn¡¯t the first wizard with the problem. The art of fusing arcanite together, usually an Arcanite class special, had a large number of well-documented solutions. A narrow rod of arcanite ran the length of my tower, all my enchantments hooked up to it for mana.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
In theory, I could reach out from where I¡¯d teleported into my [Tower], touch the rod, and restore my mana. In practice?
My mana pool and regeneration dwarfed the core by such an extent, it wouldn¡¯t matter.
Floors 52-64 were Legion supplies, from shovels to tents, toiletries to cookpots, a few ¡®assemble into wagons¡¯ and a large dose of medical supplies. The 55th floor was disassembled siege weapons.
I had no way of telling how useful the supplies would be in the moment. It ranged from ¡®complete waste of time, money, and space¡¯, all the way to ¡®the supplies got burned and Dawn¡¯s the only one with spares¡¯.
Floors 65-67 were empty right now, and I currently regretted not working harder on getting everything set up.
Helmet and greaves, gauntlets and sword, a round shield and the heavy enchanted scale. Everything in its place, I teleported back to existence, Fenrir opening an eye.
I had no cape.
¡°Case?¡± He grumbled. I spoke rapid-fire.
¡°No case. Urgent summons from Arachne. Need to get Iona and Auri and get to Stormwatch.¡±
Most mortals would¡¯ve heard my words in a high-pitched chipmunk squeak with how quickly I was talking. Invoking Arachne was one of the better ways to get Fenrir up and motivated, and I started to [Teleport] his gear onto him, blurring into motion as I expertly strapped on every piece of his armor.
Fenrir growled low in his throat, the rumble in his cave feeling like an earthquake. He could feel the urgency, perhaps sensed something on the stormwinds. A tendril of Ice wrapped around his pipe collection, and he placed it in front of his nose.
¡°Take.¡± He commanded as I tightened his helmet. I dutifully stored it, tossing it into the hall of gems to be properly sorted out later.
¡°Go.¡± I ordered, and the two of us took off towards Sanguino at top speed. I noticed Ranger Team Gale leaving the outskirts of the city on their roc, none of the current members part of the original group I¡¯d met.
By Ciriel, I suddenly realized I didn¡¯t know what had happened to each of them.
I stormed into Auri¡¯s bakery like a force of nature, glad that she wasn¡¯t on one of her trips to the North right now. How I¡¯d react if we were separated¡ it didn¡¯t bear thinking.
¡°It¡¯s time.¡± I told Auri, feeling a little bad about the fear and panic I was spreading.
A summons like the one I got though? It¡ might be a good thing. I might be overreacting.
Atlas swore as he stood up.
¡°By the gods. Dawn, is it¡?¡±
I wanted to shake my head, but it took too much time.
¡°Unknown.¡± I responded. ¡°But I¡¯ve gotten an emergency summons.¡±
¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri burned the words Everything Free into the wood behind the counter and hopped onto my shoulder, spinning up her Lava ring around her. ¡°Brrpt?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know yet.¡± I flew out of the bakery, Atlas rushing over to break up a fight between two customers who were arguing over who got her coins. Not even out of the bakery yet and¡ it probably didn¡¯t matter. ¡°We¡¯re going to find out.¡±
I flew at high speed over to Castle Stormwatch, where Fenrir was circling high above, Iona on his back. She flashed me a ¡®go ahead¡¯ hand sign, and with a steely face, Auri and I rushed past the guards to Arachne¡¯s lair. The door was wide open, but she was in an animated discussion with Sentinel Devour and his team. A sheaf of papers slapped into my hand a moment later, animated by threads.
Dawn,
I apologize for not being able to tell you directly, but you process and read information far faster than I can explain it, plus Devour needs my personal touch right now.
The gloves are off. Forget restraining your skills to give other people a chance. Full city-wide heals, push your skills as far as they will go, push yourself to your full abilities. Keep people alive, regardless of who you have to trample on to make it happen.
The summons.
We¡¯ve only just identified a newly bioengineered disease. It¡¯s clever and it¡¯s subtle. Here¡¯s what we suspect so far.
Humans are carriers, but show no symptoms. It is possible that it¡¯s been engineered to be helpful to a human host, which would dodge a large number of mediocre healing skills.
It is quickly and violently lethal to any vampire who comes into contact with the disease, rapidly killing them within minutes. The autopsies are still being conducted. Every vampire was in the middle of a meal when they died, drinking human blood. Notably, other vampires have drunk the same blood but there was no impact on them. I speculate a non-traditional transmission vector, but the broad variety available makes it difficult to narrow down what, exactly, it is.
Don¡¯t bother slowing down to collect evidence. The Moonlit Medics are being deployed behind you as cleanup, but they take time we don¡¯t have to get moving.
This is a clear act of overt warfare that we can¡¯t ignore, and mobilization orders are being issued now. It is unclear which Sentinels might meet you in Massa at this time.
Your orders: Purge every city, town, and settlement of this disease, then report to the Sixth Legion. Legata Katerina is being reactivated, and should meet you there with further instructions.
We do recall our promise when you agreed to become a Sentinel - the Sixth will be deployed defensively.
I hope to see you on the other side.
Sentinel Arachne.
The second sheet of paper was a list.
Dawn,
This is the shortest path to hit every settlement in Exterreri, ending in Massa.
Sanguino
1st Legion Camp
Sitlanta
Ludunum
¡
Massa
If a city is destroyed, continue on the path. If a Legion is deployed, hit the camp, don¡¯t bother going looking for the Legion itself.
May the gods shade you.
Arachne.
The third piece of paper was a map of Exterreri, my flight path helpfully marked in red.
¡°Brrpt?¡± Auri asked as I teleported everything into [The Library of Infinite Wonder].
¡°Mission.¡± I started to explain all the details as we rushed out of Castle Stormwatch. The [Knights] of the Bloodsworn Order were mustering in the courtyard, and I traded a respectful nod with the [Grandmaster] of the Order. Who knew if we¡¯d ever see each other again?
Rivalries aside, we were now firmly on the same side, and I¡¯d be happy to see any [Knight] appear near my side.
¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri shook her head in disgust at the whole thing.
¡°Can you go tell Iona while I take care of Sanguino?¡± I asked Auri.
¡°Brrrpt!¡± She confirmed, flying up to where Fenrir and Iona were circling, leaving a trail of flames behind her.
I rolled my shoulders and unleashed my skills, letting them stretch as far as they could go. Every single man, woman, child, regardless of species, affiliation, or status, was going to be healed of every ill.
No, more than that.
Everyone close by was going to be effectively unkillable.
Nobody died when I was near.
Nobody.
Almost two and a half kilometer radius on [Universal Cure].
Sixteen kilometer radius on [Aurora Curialis].
[*ding!* [The Arbiter of Life and Death] has leveled up! 981-> 983. +400 Strength, +400 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +1600 Magic Power, +1600 Magic Control, +1000 Mana, +9000 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]
|
[Name: Elaine]
|
|
[Race: Chimera (Elvenoid)]
|
|
[Age: 112]
|
|
[Mana: 9,729,940/9,729,940]
|
|
[Mana Regeneration: 24,731,562 +(79,775,800)]
|
| |
|
Stats
|
|
[Free Stats: 0]
|
|
[Strength: 78,653 (Effectively: 629,224)]
|
|
[Dexterity: 102,994 (Effectively: 1,096,680)]
|
|
[Vitality: 336,579 (Effectively: 5,259,047)]
|
|
[Speed: 323,811 (Effectively: 6,373,572)]
|
|
[Mana: 972,994]
|
|
[Mana Regeneration: 2,692,854 (+ 7,977,580)]
|
|
[Magic Power: 1,282,346 (+ 63,027,306)]
|
|
[Magic Control: 1,281,410 (+ 62,981,302)]
|
| |
|
[Class 1: [The Arbiter of Life and Death - Celestial: Lv 983]]
|
|
[Celestial Spirit: 983]
|
|
[Aurora Curialis: 983]
|
|
[The Stars Never Fade: 558]
|
|
[Luminary Mind: 983]
|
|
[Universal Cure: 983]
|
|
[Etheric Aegis: 510]
|
|
[Event Horizon: 842]
|
|
[Zenith Everlasting: 983]
|
| |
|
[Class 2: [Seraph of the Dawn - Radiance: Lv 948]]
|
|
[Radiance Mastery: 948]
|
|
[A Light Shining in the Darkness: 851]
|
|
[The Rays of the First Dawn: 948]
|
|
[Radiant Angel''s Spear of Obliteration: 430]
|
|
[Celestial Dew: 948]
|
|
[Sunrise Halo: 948]
|
|
[Wings of the Seraphim: 948]
|
|
[Six Wings, Six Million Feathers: 948]
|
| |
|
[Class 3: [Sage of Tomes - Spatial: Lv 840]]
|
|
[Spatial Authority: 840]
|
|
[Scripture Savant: 840]
|
|
[Teleportation: 840]
|
|
[The Library of Infinite Wonder: 840]
|
|
[Tower of Knowledge: 433]
|
|
[Reality, Writ As You Will: 700]
|
|
[Astral Archives: 840]
|
|
[Endless Pursuit of Knowledge: 840]
|
| |
|
General Skills
|
|
[Long-Range Identify: 624]
|
|
[Dexterous and Handy: 500]
|
|
[Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 983]
|
|
[The World Around Me: 533]
|
|
[Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 983]
|
|
[Sentinel''s Superiority: 983]
|
|
[Persistent Casting: 983]
|
|
[Tender Gardening: 420]
|
Chapter 569 - The Gloves Come Off II
The gloves were coming off. No more restraining myself for the good of other [Healers]. No more avoiding stepping on toes. No more giving opportunities for other people to step in and level.
No more barely-tolerating people I couldn¡¯t see and hear being sick, hoping that someone else would manage to get to them. No more hoping against hope that the sick and poor would find medical attention, either by finding me when I worked in the slums, or if a kind passing Moonlight Medic gave them a hand.
I had barely, just barely tolerated the state of affairs, going so far as to perform the occasional city-curing ¡®miracle¡¯ in Sanguino, and now was the time to put things right.
It was like a switch flipped in my mind as my understanding of the world shifted ever so slightly. Not only was it right, but I was now obligated to always put my best efforts forward to the city I lived in or was nearby. I¡¯d need to do some soul searching on what, exactly, that meant - but I knew it was exceptionally unlikely that I¡¯d ever retract my aura again.
People near me - for a large, generous definition of near - would live, assuming they weren¡¯t trying to kill me and mine. That simple. I mentally whispered an apology to all those healers who were going to be denied experience and opportunities, but the gloves were off.
I didn¡¯t think I was ever going to put them back on.
My skills practically sang in harmony as I linked them all together, unleashing my aura and my range. Thick, heavy imaginary tomes in [Astral Archives] provided all the medical knowledge I needed, from anatomy to physiology, injuries and how to cure them, a thousand and one diseases and mechanisms of action. I paid special attention to interesting Miasma-improved bacteria and viruses, and tweaked my mental model to make sure I got them, even if they looked ¡®beneficial¡¯ to a human. There was a modest number of gut bacteria that were going to be caught by my new filters and images, but that was the price I needed to pay to eradicate the disease.
I imagined whoever was the creator on the other end of the disease knew that, and quietly chuckled at their genius. I doubted it was an accident, and whoever it was had experience in making virulent life-ending plagues. Fortunately, it was only ¡®some¡¯ bacteria, not ¡®all¡¯, and the worst cases might experience some diarrhea or constipation, along with some mild stomach aches and discomforts.
Compared to the dozens or even thousands of vampires that could die otherwise, it was a no-brainer. The minor harm to one group was far outweighed by the major harm that would occur to the other group.
It linked up to my image in [Universal Cure] as I spread the range as far as I could. My mana dropped quite a bit. The average person was mostly healthy, only needing the bare minimum, and my skills had potent improvements, from [Celestial Spirit] all the way to the bonuses in [Universal Cure].
Sanguino held a little over a million souls though, and I was right near the heart of the city. It dropped and I leveled, before my mana started to rapidly refill. The benefits of focusing on regeneration at this point in my life.
I waved to where Iona, Fenrir, and now Auri were high up, and pointed in the direction we needed to fly next. Fenrir dipped a wing in a salute, and started to fly off in that direction, flames reflecting off his metal armor, not going so quickly that I couldn¡¯t catch up.
I mentally measured the city, confirming what I already knew from decades living nearby about its size and layout. My radius was nearly 2.5 km, but it was safer to round down to 2. The city wasn¡¯t neatly shaped, but if I went along the longer axis, it would only take me nine passes over the entire city to cure every single person of every problem they had, from a splinter to stage 4 breast cancer, from a skinned shin to a mugged victim at death¡¯s door.
Nobody died. That was my mission, that was the flag I was planting, that was the line in the sand I was drawing for this Immortal war. The quest was impossible, but right now, I didn¡¯t care. I would strive for that goal, and use every resource at my disposal to make it happen.
I proved myself a hypocrite by promptly amending my statement. Nobody died¡ except the people trying to kill my patients.
I flew back and forth along the city, taking about fifteen seconds to fly from one wall to the next, zipping over thousands of people so quickly most never realized I was there.
[*ding!* [The Arbiter of Life and Death] has leveled up! 983-> 995. +400 Strength, +400 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +1600 Magic Power, +1600 Magic Control, +1000 Mana, +9000 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]
Fuck, those were amazing levels. It had taken time for [The Endless Pursuit of Knowledge] to properly level and cap out, but I was enjoying a 37x multiplier to my experience. It was rare to have such a well-targeted mission to my class - literally ordered to heal the entire country in my role as Sentinel Dawn - which was helping dramatically.
I flew up and intercepted Fenrir, settling in and strapping down with grim-faced movements. Iona tended to go out in my wedding present - the adamantium alloy armor, she loved the set and wore it everywhere, apparently it was good for the [Paladin] message - and there was no awkwardness around retrieving it.
¡°Auri caught me up on the situation.¡± Iona said as Fenrir accelerated, able to move faster now that I¡¯d caught up. ¡°Can you tell me about what¡¯s going on at home?¡±
¡°I issued the evacuation order.¡± I said. ¡°I didn¡¯t stop to grab anything on the way out. I trust Skye will balance getting to safety with grabbing additional supplies. The Valkyries were gearing up and heading down to the village to oversee what¡¯s going on. I got the sense that they¡¯re going to stay outside and help until the bitter end.¡±
My mind flickered over everyone I knew from Orthus village. I was satisfied enough with my apprentice Primus Nix¡¯s medical education and progression, and he should be enough for medical care. The [Mayor] had a good head on his shoulders, Skye¡¯s organizational and leadership skills were peerless, and¡
Iona nodded, like there was nothing more reasonable, like I hadn¡¯t just mentioned that the recovering Valkyrie order was probably about to be wiped out to the last woman.
Hells.
Basically every knightly order was about to get wiped out, weren¡¯t they?
My mind went tumbling bumbling down the thought path, a thousand fears and worries assailing me, the fog of war suddenly very thick and very real. I didn¡¯t know what other people were doing. I didn¡¯t know if this was the best thing I could do. I didn¡¯t know if Artemis and Julius were safe on the Island, I had no idea where Amber was, and Nina was probably already in a dangerous situation before the newer problems were stacked on top of it.
Ciriel. I hope her [Creed] didn¡¯t demand she do anything too stupid.
I thought back to Arachne¡¯s letter, and hardened my resolve.
I had faith in Exterreri, more notably Night. I had faith in his decision making, I had faith in his partner. His motives weren¡¯t entirely pure, I knew that, but the map and the path to heal the most people in Exterreri? Yeah, all of that was real. It was an impact I could have right here, right now, today. Exterreri had a large population, and I was tasked with keeping them alive.
Right. That I could do. When there were quiet moments, I could look into helping other people in other places.
Auri sensed something was up with me and my mood, and nuzzled herself into my hand.
¡°Brpt!¡± She reassured me.
¡°Thanks.¡± I said.
I couldn¡¯t bring myself to speak any of a dozen comforting lies, starting from ¡®we¡¯re going to be alright¡¯ and getting more bald-faced from there.
One interesting quirk of various parts of the System working together was perceived travel time. I could bring my focus to ¡®unaccelerated¡¯ - permanently having my perception heightened and my thoughts sped up sounded like a special type of hell, a Curse White Dove would bestow upon a speedster - but accelerating my thoughts and mind while on Fenrir flying incredible speeds ironically made it feel like a ¡®normal¡¯ trip, instead of passing by in a flash.
¡°Can we have Fenrir fly low and fast over the 1st Legion?¡± I asked Iona. ¡°They tend to be tightly packed, and Fenrir¡¯s faster than I am.¡±
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
¡°Agreed. Fenrir?¡± Iona asked, her head on a swivel.
The wyvern grunted his assent as I pulled out a spellbook, copying a rarely-used spell from memory into it. My hands shifted in a slightly unexpected way as my skill guided my creation, ¡®reminding¡¯ me that for a large semi-transparent illusion I had to make certain modifications.
[*ding!* [Reality, Writ As You Will] leveled up! 700 -> 701]
Thank goodness for skills, I would¡¯ve forgotten that.
¡°Looking for anything in particular?¡± I asked Iona. I suspected, but I wanted to confirm.
¡°Threats. Attacks.¡± My wife said. ¡°It¡¯s almost nostalgic in a way. I started off escorting healers around, wary of high level threats, and here we are again.¡± The Valkyrie frowned. ¡°Forget it, nostalgia over. I¡¯d forgotten how much it sucked to be this worried over an attack, and there isn¡¯t someone higher level keeping half an eye on us.¡±
Too true.
¡°How are you?¡± I asked, trying to gauge her mental state, wanting to be a good partner. Iona mock-groaned.
¡°I have an entire teapot in my bladder.¡± She good-naturedly complained. ¡°The [Priest] kept pouring, it was good, and there were like, twelve bathrooms right there. Now it¡¯s all gone straight through me, and I have regrets.¡±
I couldn¡¯t help it. I tried to restrain my laughter, but it came out as a snort before devolving into full-on chuckles.
¡°There¡¯s the First.¡± I pointed to the built-up town around the fort, close to Sanguino. Fenrir started to dive as I activated the spell. The illusion of a gigantic bat enveloped us, hopefully indicating to the trigger-happy Legion that we were friendlies, and NOT a wyvern on a strafing run. Fenrir flew low and fast as my healing washed over the Legion and the camp, performing a tight turn without being asked to make sure everyone got healed.
Iona rolled her eyes as the sharp crack of stones against metal heralded some idiot being too trigger-happy - but a tiny part of me was impressed that they¡¯d hit a wyvern over 1000 in a dive. That was some serious aim. I could see straight through Fenrir thanks to [The World Around Me], and his armor hadn¡¯t even gotten dented.
[*ding!* [The Arbiter of Life and Death] has leveled up! 995-> 996. +400 Strength, +400 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +1600 Magic Power, +1600 Magic Control, +1000 Mana, +9000 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]
Then we were off, and I pointed in the next direction we had to go in. City after city, town after town, the sun rose and the sun set as we dove through Ashen clouds, soared over cities, ignored a hundred demands and signs to stop, and leveled up at a speed I hadn¡¯t seen in decades.
[*ding!* [The Arbiter of Life and Death] has leveled up! 996-> 1024. +400 Strength, +400 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +1600 Magic Power, +1600 Magic Control, +1000 Mana, +9000 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]
My leveling speed was enough that my mana regeneration significantly changed, going from 11.5 million mana per hour to 12 million mana per hour. I started to get ravenous, but I¡¯d armed Fenrir up - I hadn¡¯t attached our traveling chests and non-[Tower] storage.
Hunger could wait, and I¡¯d sleep when I was dead. Iona and Fenrir felt the same way, but Auri, bless her little heart, was a little too hyper to chill enough. She buzzed around with manic excitement for about 14 hours straight before passing out in my hands with an insistent ¡°Brrrpt!¡±, claiming she was fine and was only ¡®resting her eyes.¡¯
Bless her.
I wanted to class up as soon as I could, but I couldn¡¯t while we were flying around. Fenrir could move us rapidly between cities, at which point I needed to be awake and alert to use my skills. If we paused and stalled out the big ¡®remove the plague¡¯ effort, more people would move, more people would slip past the metaphorical net I was dragging around, the harder the Moonlit Medic¡¯s job would be and the higher the chance that it erupted again, negating all my efforts. It was a similar story with my general skills. I¡¯d spent decades working on them, a brand new shiny level 1 skill that I had no experience with wouldn¡¯t help me right now.
It was possible, there was the slimmest thread of hope, that this wasn¡¯t the start of The Big War. That this was simply another move in the endless game of back and forth that had been going on for nearly a century. That it was on the same level as hiring a [Saboteur] to falsify records and fuck with my land.
But it didn¡¯t feel that way, and Arachne had even called it an overt act of war. We couldn¡¯t just take a massive plague unleashed on us, deliberately targeting vampires, lying down, and the patriotic part of me that had been trained up as a Ranger insisted we shouldn¡¯t. The subtle and quiet war that had been raging for decades had been steadily escalating. To escalate all the way to the point of unleashing targeted plagues at people?
That wasn¡¯t going to be taken lying down, and retaliation would be swift and decisive. Sentinels, knights, and other Immortals were going to be deployed as the big hammer, and the slowly smoldering barrel that was Pallos would erupt. I gave it a month, tops, before everything went horrifically wrong.
I had a bit of time as we were flying for a portion of [Luminary Mind] to muse on the nature of stomping out a pandemic. Arachne had me hitting the major population centers - and most of the medium ones as well - but there was still the issue of travelers and villages. My healing was incredibly thorough, but it didn¡¯t have a great track record of teaching antibodies how to identify and fight a disease. If it truly was engineered, then a single person on the road could be enough to reignite the entire plague, forget a few farmers all coming in from a village to a crowded town market.
At the same time, Arachne wasn¡¯t an idiot. She knew all this, and if she was telling me ¡®Dawn, go hit the major centers¡¯, she had to have more plans to handle the rest of it. If it were me, I¡¯d station [Healers] at every gate and treat everyone coming into a city, but that was only one solution.
Speaking of cities¡
I teleported out a blank notebook from my [The Library of Infinite Wonder], turned it open to the first page, and started to write down everything I had in my [Tower] that the Legion could possibly use. If supply lines went down, we¡¯d need to know everything we had, down to the smallest morsel. My job was to get the supply list to the endless [Scribes], then carefully move things around as needed. Fortunately, nothing would grow legs and start walking away, unlike Legion supplies and the Scribe Mafia.
We were incredibly fast and made superhuman by the System, but all four of us couldn¡¯t go on eternally. We took quick 8 minute breaks four times in a day-night cycle, and four days in crashed for 10 hours of sleep, Auri staying on guard while Fenrir curled up protectively around us.
The Eventide Eclipse circled the entire nation, hitting every city, levels dinging the entire way. A grand tour of the country, my heart breaking slightly at the thought that this might be the last time I was seeing many of the sights.
Near the end of our trip, we were rocked by a series of loud explosions. The sound was enough to make me grit my teeth in sharp pain, but I couldn¡¯t make anything out from it.
¡°What was that?¡± Iona asked.
¡°I have no idea, but nothing good.¡± I said.
¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri agreed.
¡°Loud.¡± Fenrir growled.
We speculated on what it could possibly be - eight seemed like a significant number - but even with my senses all I picked out was ¡®boom¡¯. Massa coming into sight killed the conversation. A convoy from the Sixth was filing into the city.
My eyes narrowed at the banners. 2nd, 3rd, and 4th cohort? Where were the 5th-8th? Normally if I didn''t see the soldiers I¡¯d assume they were being deployed, but none of their supply wagons were around.
Fenrir was a known, if rare sight to the Sixth, and I waved down to the soldiers who cheered at my approach. Who wouldn¡¯t want their protective Classer around?
¡°What¡¯s your plan?¡± I asked Iona, scanning the city. She telekinetically pulled my Sentinel badge off my uniform, slapping it into her hand.
¡°Going to borrow your authority to take over a park for Fenrir.¡± She said. ¡°I don¡¯t think being outside the walls is a good idea right now. You don¡¯t mind, do you?¡±
Fenrir and I snorted in unison, for very different reasons.
¡°Of course I don¡¯t mind.¡± I said. ¡°Stay safe, love you, going to find Katerina or the Legate, wherever they¡¯re hiding.¡±
Iona nodded and pointed to a particularly large open stretch in the city.
¡°Going to hijack that stretch of land. It looks like some rich tosh¡¯s personal garden, so only one person will be mad at me, and there won¡¯t be kids trying to climb Fenrir or mothers giving me an earful over the ¡®dangerous monster¡¯.¡± She said.
¡°Plus¡ rich people.¡± I mocked a shudder.
Iona rolled her eyes so hard they almost fell out.
¡°Love. We are rich people.¡± She pointed out to me.
¡°Yeah, but we¡¯re different!¡± I protested. We started laughing, and I quickly kissed her. Iona wrapped her arms around me and drew me in, hungrily delving for more. I melted into her body, letting the love and oxytocin flow through me.
¡°Stay safe.¡± My wife¡¯s worry was clear in her eyes, and I reassured her.
¡°I will. Love you. Move a little closer to where HQ is if it¡¯s too far away, I don¡¯t want you and Fenrir to be outside of [Universal Cure¡¯s] range if you don¡¯t have to be.¡±
¡°Sure.¡± Iona readily agreed, Fenrir chuffing with outrage at the idea that he¡¯d let Auri be so unprotected.
We all covered each other¡¯s back. The thought was gloriously uplifting.
¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri pointed out that we were far over the 8-second sappy limit, and we were in an emergency. Probably.
She hopped onto my shoulder, and with a long, lingering look, I jumped off Fenrir, opening my wings and quickly circling the small city before landing in front of a line of troops on the wall.
¡°Sentinel Dawn, ma¡¯am!¡± They snapped to attention and threw me a crisp salute. I raised an eyebrow.
¡°Are we in a designated warzone, and should you be saluting me?¡± I pointed out. There were awkward looks traded between the soldiers. The poor line leader¡¯s shoulder slumped when he realized he had to answer.
¡°Ma¡¯am¡ no ma¡¯am?¡± He said. ¡°Those orders haven¡¯t come down yet. Should we consider ourselves in a warzone?¡± The troops looked frankly alarmed at the idea.
I cursed. I didn¡¯t know enough. The Sixth being sent to explicitly guard and man Massa¡¯s walls implied things were heating up, but I simply didn¡¯t have the knowledge or information to say what was developing everywhere else.
The best thing I could do was be predictable to Arachne and the rest of the Command structure, and not go haring off wildly. At the same time, if I knew of a disaster somewhere else, I WOULD go investigate and do what I could.
That too, was part of being predictable.
¡°Fine. Where¡¯s your Centurion?¡± I asked. I doubted the grunts knew where Command was hiding away, and going up the chain of command was how to find Katerina and see what was needed.
He told me, and I dashed off, anti-friction runes glowing blue on my skin. I found Katerina quickly enough, in an unassuming house positioned at the crossroads of two major streets. The entire building had been taken over by the support structure of the Sixth, every room filled with scribbling [Scribes] and runners dashing around. I handed my list off to one of them, who looked like I¡¯d just handed her the biggest present in the world.
¡°Dawn! You made it, I was starting to get worried. What¡¯s the situation?¡± She asked.
¡°I¡¯ve managed to hit all the cities.¡± I reported. ¡°I¡¯m here, at your disposal, what do you need?¡±
Katerina looked at me blankly.
¡°Hit all the cities?¡± She asked.
Fucking fog of war.
¡°Sentinel work. There was an engineered plague, it¡¯s been handled. Station healers at the gates for travelers. I¡¯ve only seen traces of four Cohorts?¡± I asked.
Katerina grinned.
¡°A little trick of the Senate. By law, a Legion only needs to have four Cohorts. Most Legions are done as eight, which gives [Legates] and the like far more weight than usually commanding a smaller group would give. Except when the Ash falls, the Senate can call up a dozen retired Legates, Primus Piluses, and the like, split the existing Legions, and get twice as many Classers on the field with weighty skills. It¡¯ll degrade our quality over time if we do it for too long, but it¡¯s a neat trick.¡±
¡°Alright. Where do you ne-¡±
I was mid-word when there was a bright flash of light in front of my eyes, and we got flattened by an explosion.
Chapter 570 - Interlude - The Shot Heard Around The World
Eight heavy spheres screamed down to Pallos, each one targeted at a different city in Urwa. Shahrazad. Serendib. Wak-Wak. Miraj Mahal. Azraq. Jamila. Sharaf. Fajr.
Each city had shields and protections, from enchanted walls to powerful Classers with protective skills. The most powerful defenses, however, required active concentration and activation. It was like a turtle in their shell - the withdrawal had to be deliberate. Nobody used [Persistent Casting] on the most powerful city-wide defense skills, because that involved shutting the city down entirely. The gates would be closed, entirely stopping the movement of trade.
The spheres came down so quickly there was no time to react. Only the best of reflexes had a spark¡¯s chance in Modu of doing anything, and that was if they were looking at the right place at the right time, their fingers on the metaphorical trigger.
Alas, there were none.
The spheres were all well-aimed, the movement practically instantaneous. They each hit at the city center, where all of their kinetic energy was promptly and energetically converted to every other type of energy, the spheres turning into a massive shockwave along with a thousand pieces of shrapnel, which took out every building in a three-block radius, which promptly turned into several billion bricks, glass shards, and pieces of heavy, broken clay going in every single direction. The destruction scythed through hundreds of thousands of people, shredding them in a moment.
There were survivors, of course. Classers with their own personal defensive skills, paranoid elves who gleefully crowed that they were right, and ¡®lucky¡¯ children holding a pair of bloody hands, as the people to either side of them got obliterated, and the random rolling of the dice simply spared them any physical harm.
The cities themselves were flattened beyond recognition. Quite a few basements survived - a rare structure in the culture - and the walls survived.
The walls had been reinforced, but the threat was internal, not external. All they did was contain and ¡®echo¡¯ the blast inside a second time, the strongest protections turning the city into a destructive kettle. Ironically, the Classers responsible tended to be in secured locations with protective skills themselves, or protected by people who had specialized skills. If they had died in the initial blast, the walls would¡¯ve fallen and the impact wouldn¡¯t have been as great.
The impact and the cities being flattened were visible from space, where Lossamiel had a moment to bitterly laugh at the destruction she¡¯d wrought, literal millions of kill notifications scrolling in front of her while her level jumped up to the next classup. All it would take was a moment to classup, and she¡¯d reach divinity and become a god.
The revenge was both satisfying and hollow, the culmination of years of planning still not bringing her beloved child back from the grave. The [Slaver¡¯s] grasp over Urwa should be broken and shattered though, no more would people wake up in chains, with manacles around their wrists and a collar around their neck.
That was her last thought before a fishtail the size of a galleon obliterated her, turning her body into a fine bloody mist.
Shera gazed down upon the world, the rest of the Guardians assembling a moment later. The ripples across the globe bounced back and forth, rapidly intensifying as the great chain of hatred, the self-fulfilling prophecy of the Immortal War came to realization.
Each event was one that was worth all eight Guardians intervening, and yet there were dozens upon dozens of them. It was impossible to tend to them all, impossible to extinguish every fire that flared bright.
Each Guardian picked one they felt was most suitable for them, and they split, knowing that many of them would fall in the coming days, weeks, or years, and yet still tirelessly working to preserve life.
Emir Eabd was out of the city when the attacks hit, a solid portion of his court having taken over a nearby oasis for a week of debauchery and indulgence away from the palace. A little bit of distant scenery. His mind whirled as the shockwaves racked the city, a thousand and one contingency plans coming to the forefront.
The damn vampire! He shattered the wineglass he was holding, dismissively flicking the remains towards a nubile slave who screamed as the shards bit into her flesh. How had she figured it out so quickly!?
His mind moved from plot to contingency, an aspect he hadn¡¯t properly considered bubbling up to the top.
There had been low-level rumors that one of Exterreri¡¯s Sentinels was literally the founder of medicine. The rumor was absurd, of course, and it was only mentioned on the low levels, not crowed from the rooftops. It felt like a rumor designed to mess with intelligence networks, a classic move from The Spider, and his [Spymaster] had spent quite a lot of time digging for the hidden meaning in the rumor, or the information being hidden by the tale.
But¡ if it was true, perhaps they had decoded and worked out the origin of the plague. The retaliation was far outside of expectations. A Legion or three, yes. Perhaps a few of their laughable Shadow Sentinels. The ¡®largest risk¡¯ they had judged as possible was inciting Tympestshard to declare war on Urwa, playing on the elf¡¯s curse to whisper in the leader¡¯s ear Who¡¯s really the best elven nation?
Exterreri played a delicate game, balancing Immortal lives with the ant-like mortals, thinking their tiny, fleeting lives were worth as much or more than an Immortal¡¯s contributions. Bah, sheer idiocy. By the time a mortal was half-trained, they were dead, taken by White Dove. The Spider and the current leaders of Exterreri were too soft, too delicate, to break out weapons like this. They were too focused on survival, and not enough on Glory Eternal.
To break out the city-killing weapons as the first strike? Eabd¡¯s mind came up with a thousand answers, but one seemed more likely that the rest.
The unkillable bastard Night had taken the field, and was running the show. Eabd felt a shiver go down his spine at the thought, no matter the burning sands under his feet and the oven-like conditions of Urwa.
If Night was actively involved, his best move would be to distract, then run, hide, and pray there were more, better targets for the ancient vampire to go after.
Nobody survived Night¡¯s ire.
Nobody.
All the thoughts, plans, and schemes went through the Emir¡¯s mind in a moment, the brass towers of Wak-Wak still falling as he came to his conclusions.
¡°Activate the Majestic Glacial Bloom Spectacle.¡± He ordered. ¡°We go to the submerged home.¡±
A thousand miles of ocean and ten thousand fathoms of depth was one way to hide out the war.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
The war had been quietly simmering for decades, the preparations ironically ensuring the war would come to pass. The Majestic Glacial Bloom Spectacle was one such project, a snake designed to lash out and strike indiscriminately at everyone. A great vine slowly growing from the edge of the elven forests, snaking through Tympestshard, making its way to the Golden Courts and Exterreri.
The project was large, spanning decades, but the sizes and defenses involved were considerable, and it was something of a boondoggle. The [Emir] had near-infinite money, and the Classers involved shrugged and continued working on it, news leaking to other nations who mostly laughed and let it be. Hundreds of millions of arcs on a poorly functioning weapon? Sure. If they interfered, the funds could be allocated to something actually dangerous.
The vine¡¯s ¡®danger¡¯ was simple and understood. Thousands upon hundreds of thousands of frozen, preserved Vorler eggs, each one on the cusp of hatching. In typical supervillain fashion, tiny mistakes and accidents had caused outbreaks, the deadly creatures stinging to death people prepared for them. The bodies were swept out and replaced the next day, the project continuing.
Cities and other major population centers quietly diverted the creeping underground vine away from them. When the project was activated, the vine provided a conduit to unfreeze all the Vorlers and let them hatch. The Vorlers were unleashed upon primarily forested and other rural areas. A few farming communities and villages suddenly found themselves overwhelmed by an invasion of the lethal scorpions, most vanishing in hours under a hundred tiny stingers, but the impact was barely worth the cost.
But the people who died had relatives.
Galdir was woken by a scream, the ancient elf¡¯s dream vanishing like morning dew under the noon sun. He turned into light courtesy of [I Am Light], instantly repositioning himself to the scream¡¯s source. From his enhanced perspective, nothing was moving. The [Maid] was still locked in her scream. Her broom was still swatting at three tiny Vorlers.
And little Yridhrenith was blue and still, her body swollen up by the poisons, a tiny nick near her neck showing what had happened.
In the eternity of his skill, Galdir raged and grieved.
Yridhrenith had been his light, his life. His great-great-great-great-granddaughter, the only living remnant of himself, but more importantly, his beloved Deliriel. She hadn¡¯t survived the last - no, the one before that - Immortal war, leaving only a son behind. Through fate, bad luck, and the thrice-damned elven curse, Galdir¡¯s descendants hadn¡¯t prospered, and Yridhrenith had been his last. A granddaughter he¡¯d doted on and loved, who he¡¯d tried to give everything. Books, tutors, friends, engagement. Time to play together and learn together. Through her, he¡¯d once again experienced the refreshment of seeing life through young and innocent eyes. She was his spark, his bright spot. He¡¯d taken her on this trip, out of the safety of Ithil, because she had wanted to see the glittery butterflies that made the grove their home.
He reasoned he couldn¡¯t lock her up forever, couldn¡¯t make her live and grow up in a bunker. What sort of life was that? It wasn¡¯t life. It wasn¡¯t living.
And now she was gone. Forever.
No - not forever. She must¡¯ve just died, and it took time for a spirit to properly enter Samsara. There was a period of time where a god could claim a soul for themselves, turn them into an angel and offer them eternity.
Galdir had lost enough. He was not losing his last relative, and would do anything for love.
Even if his hands had to be stained with blood.
He was past the final barrier already. He simply needed 427 more levels before being offered a spot in the pantheon. Perhaps he¡¯d become the god of city lights, all his years in Ithil granting them lighting through his aura.
It didn¡¯t matter what he became a god of - anything would work, so long as he could keep his beloved Yridhrenith safe.
He looked around the room, briefly considering using her stuffed bear with a little heart sewn on it as ammunition. But no - she¡¯d be upset later on that he¡¯d burned it. Instead, he tucked it into his belt, and grabbed a large double handful of pebbles, then took off into the sky.
A quirk of his skill let him turn the things on his body and what he was carrying into Light as well. It would be a little silly otherwise, going naked every time he used the skill, and he wasn¡¯t at the start of his journey, he was at the end.
The community of people who obtained Light, Brilliance, or Radiance Spirit, then obtained a skill to transform into the element, was quite limited. Each one got a stern talking to, a description of the massive power they¡¯d accidentally gotten, along with a dire warning not to let other people know what they were capable of.
Getting punched and kicked at the speed of light was enough to end most conflicts, and Light Spirit Classers didn¡¯t need to invoke their greater abilities.
¡®Devastating¡¯ was putting it mildly, and Galdir had full faith in what he was told to be true. He would test it now and today, attempting to ascend in the course of a minute. Ethics and morality no longer meant anything to him.
It only took a thought and a brief flex of his Spirit to reach into space, the [Maid] still stuck in the same note on the same scream. Galdir then dove back towards Pallos, spotting dozens of cities and casually flicking a single pebble at each one of them, softly tossing them underhand like he had tossed a ball for Yridhrenith right before his nap.
As the pebbles left his hand, they stopped being Light and stopped being under the numerous odd effects that let his skills work without destroying everything.
They did not stop moving at nearly the speed of light.
When the pebble first hit air, it was moving so quickly that aerodynamics simply didn¡¯t apply. Instead of pushing the air molecules out of the way, it merged and fused with them, letting off a tiny burst of energy as everything involved superheated. Tiny little flecks peeled off, but each of those flecks were still moving at a significant fraction of the speed of light, hitting more air, and creating a superheated wave of plasma. The forces involved tried to slow the pebble down, but it was like spitting on a bonfire. There was no stopping it. Collision after collision with air ate away at the pebble, turning the entire mess into an explosive bolt of plasma.
The shockwave traveled at the speed of sound, while the light from all the burning fusion traveled at the speed of light.
The single pebble was roughly the equivalent of a mad dragon having an unfettered week to ravage a city. Enough to flatten and burn all of the buildings, and kill nearly every inhabitant.
Ironically, the projectile that Lossamiel had fired being a hair slower meant the impact hit the city sooner, with less time to prepare. The impact of the pebble was far more devastating.
The Sword Saint was pacing along the walls of Sanguino when a bright flash of light pierced the Ashen clouds over the city. His hand flew to his sword, and a moment later the Ashen cloud was entirely dispersed as the devastating shockwave descended upon the city at the speed of sound. The Sword Saint leapt up into the sky, unsheathing his sword and choosing to speak the name of his skill.
¡°[Perfect Parry].¡±
His blade flashed and it felt like the weight of the world was on him. He bared his tusks as he screamed, forcing the entire blast to move, the heat and energy eating away at his body, his arm, his hand, his sword.
The Sword Saint crashed to the ground a smoking wreck, his sword melted, his arm charred, and his hand missing. He coughed as notifications flooded in front of him, detailing all the levels he¡¯d gotten for deflecting the blast into Bloodmoon Bay - and the thousands of kill notifications he was getting on fish, sharks, crabs, sea urchins, and the millions of denizens of the deep.
A satisfied grin split his face as guards rushed over to him.
¡°Gods, I¡¯m good.¡±
The blast the Sword Saint deflected into Bloodmoon Bay had to go somewhere. It tore through the water, utterly shattering Arachne¡¯s underwater lair. The shockwave hit Arachne moments before Sword Saint¡¯s body had landed on the ground, catching her entirely unaware of a threat within Sanguino before it was shattering the thick green glass, pouring a hundred billion gallons of water in.
It wasn¡¯t an unexpected avenue, and Arachne practically expected any assault on her to start with a massive strike on her lair. Threads creeping along the glass alerted her to the issue, and she immediately executed her well-drilled evacuation plan, threads pulling her out of the way and deep into her tunnels before the water could crush her, rushing to her lover¡¯s protective embrace.
His adamantium control slipped at seeing her freezing, pale-faced and shivering.
¡°Who did this?¡± He demanded, eyes flashing dangerously.
¡°Unknown.¡± Arachne barely got out.
¡°Then, Unknown will pay.¡± Night spat out.
The shockwave had to go somewhere, and water was incompressible. It traveled through the Sea of Stars silently, barely a ripple, until it arrived at the shores of the nation on the other side.
Just as Nippon-Koku was reeling from twin blasts destroying their two most brightly lit cities - not their most populous, simply the easiest to aim at - a tsunami hit their coast a moment later, a devastating one-two-three punch to the nation.
Deep in the mountains near Kuri, Kanadaj was peacefully sleeping on his mountain of gold, gems, the manifestation of broken dreams and the frozen tears of authors, dreaming of princesses. A tidal wave of water smacked him, rolling him over, then washed out of his cave, taking a significant tribute with it.
The dragon roared in rage.
Those puny mortals! How dare they interrupt him again, and steal his treasure!
They.
Would.
Pay.
Galdir ascended on the screams of a hundred million souls tossed into the inferno, from [Bee Queens] to [Juvenile Dragons]. He rushed his selection, choosing to become the God of Softly Glowing Lights.
The new god ignored the thousands upon millions of things to do and reached out, snagging one soul, reeling it into his tender embrace.
¡°Grandpa! Is that you?¡±
Chapter 571 - Interlude - The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy I
The pebbles were thrown fairly indiscriminately, only Tympestshard truly ¡®spared¡¯ from Galdir¡¯s rampage. A number of other ¡®nations¡¯ were also spared his casual mass-murder to divinity, mostly due to a lack of a major population center.
Both the gnoll tribes of Dairalt and the yetis of Tuvan would bristle at being called a ¡®nation¡¯, each tribe fiercely independent and fighting with the rest of them. Their lack of unity and greater civilization was their salvation, as Galdir didn¡¯t find throwing a pebble at them worthwhile. The monks of the Bhutai Provinces were similarly spared direct attacks, but the shockwaves didn¡¯t play nicely with the structural engineering the giants required.
Nime¡¯s Pyongyin was spared in two parts. The first was the presence of other, larger cities nearby proving to be more tempting targets, and the Endless Waterfall that splashed down into the heart of the tiny nation, making an easy shot difficult.
They were quick to seize upon the moment, throwing a ¡®grand¡¯ military parade through the heart of the capital. A whole three dozen [Mages] were in attendance, and the spears and shields weren¡¯t quite ready, the [Soldiers] boldly saluting the [Glorious Leader] with sharpened sticks.
As the troops marched past the mushroom-headed [Golden Grand Generals], each one showing their dedication to Spore upon their head, the [Glorious Leader] in question was giving a rousing speech.
¡°... this is clearly an Immortal plot to destabilize Nime! The foreign agents are working with Rolland to destroy and undermine our glorious and peacefully expanding nation! Our unity will remain unshaken! Our autarky is our strength! Even now, our armies are marching forth to fight the Imperial Forces, where we will exterminate them once and for all!¡±
Hyeong Sung¡¯s heart swelled with pride at the words. He would do his job! For the Fatherland! He was a fresh [Spore Spreader], and had studied ants, of all things. There was this fascinating fungus that seemed to control ants and make them fight each other, and he¡¯d tried to mash a couple of skills together the System offered to make it work on elvenoids. His [Trainers] had assured him that it would work, without a doubt, and Hyeong Sung had no reason to doubt that they were the best and the brightest, and completely accurate in their assessment.
He couldn¡¯t wait to cast [Gangshi Plague] for the first time.
The order for the Poison Classers to dump thousands of gallons into the river made by the Endless Waterfall did cause a minor twinge of concern in his heart. His family lived in a little village by the river, and the Poison could do terrible things to them if they weren¡¯t careful.
He banished the treacherous and execution-worthy thought from his head. Of course the Glorious Leader had thought of that! The evacuation orders must¡¯ve already been sent.
Pele Manava drifted through her dreams as she drifted through the great tunnels of Pallos. She had started life as a mermaid, many, many, many centuries ago, but had been fascinated with Lava, watching with wondrous eyes as it shot up from underwater volcanoes, how islands formed from the rock. Her fascination and inability to stay away from volcanic eruptions had led to rapid levels and [Lava Spirit], culminating with her spending her life as Lava, before merging with the great veins that ran through Pallos. She sloshed back and forth, letting parts of her body erupt out, continuing to build life.
She was the majority of hot, active magma in a sizable fraction of the world, spanning hundreds of kilometers of stretched-out spirit. Her mind mostly drifted, her thoughts no longer resembling an elvenoid¡¯s at all.
She barely remembered the little mermaid who¡¯d burned her hands grabbing still-hot rocks in the water, or who¡¯d scalded herself almost a hundred times before developing a skill to resist it.
The thoughts and memories weren¡¯t entirely gone, and when she felt all life simply die in part of the ocean, she pulled herself together.
Both mentally, and physically.
A demon of Lava ripped itself out of the ground, towering up to the clouds as steam erupted from around her shins.
Immortal Wars moved quickly. A Classer with the right stats and skills could eradicate a city without proper protections in less than a minute, and mobility skills let them travel all over the world.
A desperate struggle.
An escape to the Mirror Realm.
A skill allowing for the attacker to pursue.
A quick escape through a dusty exit into an ancient treasury.
A flash of a sword, a falling drop of blood into a cup.
A flipped table, and the Everflowing Chalice was tipped over.
An ocean of blood.
Nimbus the kirin had the good life. None of this endless grasping for power, no large hoards, no dealing with all the nonsense that was the rest of the world. He had his solitude, and he liked it. Life was uncomplicated, and all the frantic rushing around, chasing a ¡®better life¡¯ seemed like far more effort than it was worth.
Peace, quiet, and a few clouds moving across blue sky. What more could a kirin want?
Over the years, a small little village had cropped up in the little valley near one of the mountains Nimbus called home, and the two had developed a mutual understanding - at least from Nimbus¡¯s point of view. He was fond of the little dullahans, who left him offerings, and the kirin made sure monsters and other threats didn¡¯t bother the villagers, who in turn properly respected his desire for solitude.
Over the centuries, he¡¯d grown fond of the little village, and was vaguely aware that they considered him a good-luck icon of sorts. His image was carved into wood, and Nimbus made sure he flew overhead at least once a decade or so - they all got so excited when that happened!
One day, the village was a flaming wreck, only a single melted body recognizable.
Nimbus didn¡¯t rage. Didn¡¯t go on an obliterating rampage. Didn¡¯t swear vengeance and try to track down those responsible.
Nimbus simply wept, and the skies opened up with him, dropping heavy black raindrops for miles.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
The [Black Tear Rain].
Nina¡¯s current mission was up in flames.
Literally.
A hundred scared and panicked town folks were looking to her for reassurance and guidance, as everything was falling apart around them. A small family broke and ran away from the group, and Nina couldn¡¯t be bothered to chase them. Trying to keep everyone together was a fool¡¯s errand, and Nina didn¡¯t dare claim or believe she had the best answer.
Their lives on the scale versus everyone else was easy.
¡°We need to secure food and shelter!¡± Nina shouted to the frightened crowd, aware that the city burning behind her lent more weight to her words. The crowd and her authoritative figure, along with the recognizable wings on her helmet, drew more people to her.
Nina chewed on her lip, the illusion she was casting hiding it.
Fuck. She could keep a family or three safe, but the crowd was rapidly swelling to numbers she couldn¡¯t dream of handling.
How could she keep so many people safe? Where could they go? How would they eat? Forget safety, that didn¡¯t really exist, not if an Immortal decided to smack them down.
It enraged Nina, how casually one would wave a hand and set a city on fire, pausing to casually kill tens of thousands before moving on.
Why!? It served no purpose.
Nina¡¯s mind went over the maps as she slowly spoke to the crowd, describing how shelter would be easy, and how they would need to¡ ah ha! Follow the river until they hit some large fields to the north, then start growing-
The skies rumbled with rapidly approaching black storm clouds, and Nina paused her speech and looked up, along with everyone else.
The first black raindrop fell and sizzled straight through a man, dropping him dead where he stood. There was a moment of stunned silence before the second drop fell, sizzling a hole into the ground, and all hell broke loose. The crowd surged wildly, instantly turning into a panicked riot.
Nina barely managed to survive being trampled by the crowd, and in an ironic twist it saved her life. Too many bodies were piled up on top of her for the lethal rain to reach the kitsune.
¡°This is a great honor.¡± The fauns told Faylin. ¡°You will protect our people, and be honored and venerated for generations.¡±
The gag stopped Faylin from protesting that she¡¯d never heard of anyone else who¡¯d gotten this ¡®great honor¡¯, and had some significant reservations about the whole thing. Her struggles were futile. She wasn¡¯t sure if they picked someone as young as she was due to a lack of connections, or because it was easier to keep her contained.
¡°It is the only way to wake O-Kyodai, the true guardian of our people.¡± Another faun said as his hooves went from clinking on stone to the wooden struts of the pit. Faylin stopped struggling - any fall at this point would just fling her into the pit, and what was the point then? She did her best to cry more, somehow finding a few more tears to squeeze out.
Faylin was thrown onto one of the planks and kick-nudged to the edge. A few pointed spears barred her path from rolling back, and it only took one exploratory poke for Faylin to recoil back.
That hurt.
The elders began to chant in a language Faylin didn¡¯t recognize, and her mind raced as she tried to find a way out of the situation, trying to free her hands and legs. The only word she knew was O-Kyodai, who was invoked more and more frequently.
Then they dramatically paused and Faylin had a moment of hope. The ritual had failed! She was free!
The thought had barely flashed through her mind before she was ceremoniously kicked into the pit, an enormous glowing snake eye the last thing she saw.
¡°Elder Chen. The years have utterly failed to quench the fires of your arrogance.¡± Elder Li stroked his long beard as he contemplated his hated foe. Ever since they¡¯d been young, the two had feuded, and instead of coming to terms and becoming sworn brothers, like all the elders had expected them to, their enmity had only grown more bitter over the years. When the Treaty of Kyowa essentially dictated that they go into hiding, each one had assumed the other had died.
¡°Elder Li. Today, Lin¡¯er will be avenged!¡±
Two cultivators traded blows at the end of the world, uncaring at who was implicated by their actions.
Bathor raged.
¡°Once again we all go to war!¡± He complained. ¡°Once again, everything¡¯s going to collapse! Why!? Can¡¯t people see how it all goes wrong!? Why it all goes wrong!? It¡¯s just so EASY to set things up in a way to prevent another Immortal war from ever starting! Why can¡¯t people just BE GOOD? Fuck!¡±
He threw a priceless goblet at a vase, shattering both, uncaring of the spilt wine. His sister shrugged.
¡°So go do something about it, instead of complaining.¡± The beautiful elf said.
¡°I will.¡± Bathor spat out, slamming the door shut. He peeked his head back in a minute later.
¡°Hey, I need competent people to run my empire. Want in?¡±
Uilien snorted.
¡°Only if we call it New Remus.¡±
Sir Pendragon was another who¡¯d quietly retired off to a farm, an Immortal protector of Rolland. He swore that he would return in Rolland¡¯s hour of need, and given the mushroom clouds over Lyon, he figured that was today.
¡°Kestrel, dear chap, I suppose we must be on our way.¡± Sir Pendragon stretched, popping a half-dozen joints.
Kestrel snorted a pair of smoke rings, his star-studded blue robes screaming [Wizard]. Which he was. His preferred flavor of Immortality was living backwards, getting younger every day until he paused the skill, at which point he¡¯d start getting older again.
¡°Yes, yes, one moment¡¡± His eyes drifted south, and he started to take huge wheezing breaths, coughing on his pipe.
¡°Blasted thing!¡± He swore, shaking it out and half-tripping over a bucket. ¡°Balderdash!¡±
He huffed, he puffed, and then took a deep breath in, the whole world seeming to inhale with him.
Then he blew south, towards the border, towards Nime, and the trees blew with him, sending a mighty gale down that way. Kestrel snorted a massive amount of phlegm, then spat.
¡°Ah! There we go! Right, where were we, oh yes¡¡±
Nime¡¯s Classers had pumped endless hazes of Miasma, aerosolized Poisons, and clouds of Spores towards Rolland, intent on finally eradicating their hated rival.
Kestrel¡¯s gale blew it all right back on them, the army screaming and clutching at their throats, frothing at the mouth as their own weapons were turned back on them.
Hyeong Sung died quickly, with a shocked look on his face.
His carefully designed spores did not die with him, and while they were conjured, the spores they generated were not. Designed to spread quickly and control bodies, Hyeong Sung was the first gangshi to ¡®rise¡¯ from the dead, the spores puppeting his body in an attempt to find more to spread to.
Queen shuffled her cards in her hands, a perfect poker face hiding both her worry, and the dark glee that threatened to cross it.
She was one of the very, very few people that knew exactly how the Guardians operated. She spread the story far and wide of how Manadhion, The Nightmare, had given her a talking-to about her cards, and how they were getting a little too powerful. A nice deterrent, an excellent story that raised the mythos of the Sentinels, and the best smoke and mirrors for what happened next.
Namely, Night and Arachne reading her into exactly how Guardians operated and detected problems.
A single too-powerful card was a problem.
Two dozen cards, just under the threshold to summon a Guardian on a lazy day and physically stacked on top of each other? The ¡®ripples¡¯ they created overlapped with each other, and unlike true waves, didn¡¯t amplify each other. If the cards were too far apart physically, the game would be up, and Queen had been careful.
One card to destroy a city? No good.
Twelve cards, each one capable of destroying a quarter of a city? It went unnoticed¡ and was more than enough to wipe out a city.
Queen flicked through them again, trying to decide which combination she¡¯d use against the army arrayed against her, her [Legate] at her back, her old [Seneschal] at a familiar place to her right, all while a second thought process plotted and thought.
Nearly everyone had given her grief over using the royal We. Except Queen was once again finding herself in a position where she¡¯d be ruling over a stretch of land and people as a monarch, and why bother yo-yoing habits when it was easier to just keep them? The wheel would turn as usual, but Queen was betting that she could push deeper into the woods this time, perhaps use the rubble she was about to create as building supplies, and when Exterreri - or whatever they called themselves next time - came knocking around again, their territory would be expanded once again.
Yes, yes that would do nicely, and Queen was looking forward to becoming a ruler once again. Queen of the Leaves? Queen of the Forest? Ah, the options were endless, and the pageantry involved spectacular.
She flicked out a half-dozen cards towards the city, and a full sixteen towards the coming army of elves.
Dinen panted as he sprinted towards Ithil, none of his footsteps even cracking a twig, his passage not disturbing a single leaf.
I have to get there. I have to get there.
He was going to be late. Being late was synonymous with being dead.
Dinen burst out of the trees around Ithil, not even pausing as he saw the majestic spires glinting in the sunlight.
I made it! He triumphantly yelled to himself, continuing to [Sprint].
[*ding!* [Sprinting] leveled up! 30 -> 31]
A desperate skill for a desperate hour, but the urgency and situation was feeding it levels. One foot in front of another, Dinen sprinted at top speed towards his city, leaping to land inside.
Ithil phased out of existence right before he landed, the city and all its inhabitants electing to wait out the Immortal War in another plane of existence.
Dinen cracked his horn as he landed badly, turning up to the sun and wailing at his poor fortune, screaming and crying and tearing at his clothes.
¡°Noooooooo!¡±
Chapter 572 - Interlude - The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy II
Xocoh¡¯s arms trembled as she held them up, her knees weak as she¡¯d held the pose for days.
¡°Son of the sun. Son of the sun.¡± The kobold ardents chanted. Thousands chanted and marched around Xocoh¡¯s position at the top of the ziggurat, where a gigantic spell was being channeled. It was too bright to look at, a second sun to attract Itzel¡¯s attention and divine favor.
¡°Son of the sun. Son of the sun!¡± The chanting reached a fervent pitch, and Xocoh did her best to aim the massive skill.
The kobolds of Tonaltzintli had gotten a bit of the short end of the stick in life. A mortal nation surrounded by Immortals, the deadly jungle environment and grand rituals were enough to keep the younger elves at bay, while the elders usually didn¡¯t care enough. But there were no easy trading partners, and the kobolds were isolated, the elves snubbing them at every turn.
They weren¡¯t aware of the greater goings on in the world - simply that a group of elves had put one of their cities to the sword, tearing down one of the ziggurats sacred to Itzel, and the kobolds operated on an ¡®eye for an eye¡¯ principle - nevermind that the elven eyes were far larger than theirs.
The skies split to fervent cheering from the kobolds. Some started speaking in tongues while others passed out in relief. Xocoh was simply happy that the end of the ritual was in sight. A divine hand reached down out of the heavens, picking up the [Second Sun] and lifting it into the skies.
Then in a mix of divine and System energies, Radiance mixing with the very sun itself, the ball turned into a beam of light, breaching the shields and protections of a city and burning it to the ground in a great conflagration.
===================================
Depths flinched back as a sword came for her face, a wall of water appearing in front of her thanks to [Water Echo]. It fouled the swing enough that she was able to continue dodging, the knee-high water not slowing her down at all. The slash ended up nicking her cheek, simply another line added to her face.
¡°Warning. Disaster. Seek shelter. Warning. Disaster. Seek shelter.¡± A Sound Classer¡¯s alerts were chiming all over, a hilariously unnecessary alert. [Persistent Casting] had to be involved, and the source was likely unconscious.
The sheer amount of water was hint enough that there was a problem.
Depths flicked a finger out, another echo of water appearing behind it and shooting out like a crescent blade, slicing through an arm. Depths couldn¡¯t follow up, three spears seeking her back. She dove forward into the water, another [Water Echo] splashing down and adding to the huge amounts of water available to her. Once she was in water, she was too slippery, impossible to catch, and Depths popped up three blocks down. The Sentinel crossed her arms and ¡®slashed¡¯ out again, Water forming in an X as it blasted down the street, turning her latest pursuers into mincemeat.
If they had taken Depths seriously when she first arrived, they might¡¯ve had a chance. She doubled over as a rock tore through her stomach, diving back into the steadily rising water to try and find the [Mage] responsible, leaving a bloody trail behind her.
One that only a shark could¡¯ve picked up, given that all the water was already colored with blood.
Veltrax had spent his mortal lifespan building a large bullhorn. From mining the copper and tin in the mountains, to building his own little smithy to melt them down, the parasaurus-type saurian had spent his life on the project.
It wasn¡¯t ready when the horizon lit up with explosions. It wasn¡¯t ready when the sun flickered through a thousand colors, and a huge black dragon ripped herself from the mountains and took off. It wasn¡¯t ready when the earth shook and heaved.
It was ready enough though, and Veltrax put his mouth on the horn and blew, a crystal note entwined with a thousand curses, amplified and cast over the plains of the Silver Horde.
Shame it didn¡¯t reach further. He had wondered if he could make it echo around the world.
¡°What was the point of the flat society!?¡± Vorstenhel, demon of wrath, raged at the assembled demons. ¡°What was the point in staying low, staying out of the way? We were promised that nobody would interfere! That! Was! A! LIE. All it¡¯s done is fractured us! Made us weak! Made us prey! We are demons! We only bend the knee to one - the strongest. Crown me king, and I will throw out the invaders!¡±
Vorstenhel¡¯s speech was only half of it - the other half was his level and his living armor.
The System made all things possible, and ancient [Demon Kings] of old had committed vast atrocities. One in particular was a legacy that empowered whoever found it, whoever could pick it up.
A set of living equipment.
[Mantle Spirit] was a prerequisite, and millions of mortal lives were spent in pursuit of the few who could obtain it. Following that, the mortal in question picking up a skill to turn themselves into a sword, or shield, or helmet, or gloves, or any other piece of armor, then engaging the skill. Extra care was taken to have those who wouldn¡¯t retain awareness once they were transformed, effectively making gear that could level up, that had their own skills.
The only true weakness was the inability to class up.
One by one the demons knelt, each one proclaiming their allegiance.
¡°My [King].¡±
Amber¡¯s coin spun high up into the air, catching the fiery light on the horizon. In a smooth motion, Amber reached out to grab it, like she had a million times before.
The earth shook right as she was grabbing the coin, her bad leg throwing her off balance and forcing her to stumble to the ground. The coin bounced as it hit the dirt, and landed on a tree root.
¡°No!¡± Amber yelled as the coin merrily rolled away over the root, taking an impossible highway. Amber scrambled in the dirt as she tried to get up and run after her errant coin, her lucky guide in life.
It vanished into the deep woods faster than she could go, and Amber briefly despaired.
Her coin!
She calmed down and reached for her braid, a thousand and twenty four gems woven into it. She had eight different gems simply for retrieving her coin in case of a problem, but then she paused, narrowing her eyes.
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Amber Coin Rule #4: If the coin does something unusual, pay attention.
Her hand shifted down from an amethyst with a skill designed to attract all metal disks in a huge radius to her, down a bit to a quartz for light. Shining a bright light all around her, Amber went deeper into the woods, off the path, ignoring how the branches seemed to reach out and tried to grab her. Dismissed the wolf¡¯s howl and the serpent¡¯s hiss.
¡°Ahha!¡± Amber spotted the glint of metal, followed a moment later by a familiar flash of lights. The shameless merchant hurried over, snatching up her coin before grabbing the amulet. Half a spot was spared for the long-dead bones that crumbled around it, the string entirely rotted away.
Amber whistled at the find.
This was the largest onyx she¡¯d ever seen - and her skills were telling her that the skill bound inside was still primed and ready for use.
Iya Sahel, ruler of her clan and city, looked with calculating eyes as mushroom clouds erupted over three neighboring cities. She assumed it wiped them off the map, but none of her calculations, plans, or contingencies had started with ¡®these three specific cities are removed from play due to external parties¡¯. It simply wasn¡¯t a reasonable assumption.
Two enemies and a sometimes-ally had been abruptly removed from the board, and the first to strike would be the first to benefit.
¡°Steel sharpens steel.¡± She breathed to herself.
The vanguard was marching twenty minutes later.
Cailchanar flicked his wrist, expertly shedding all the blood from his sword. He shook his head, and if anyone could¡¯ve seen past his blank silver mask, all they would¡¯ve been met with was overwhelming disappointment.
¡°There is no reason for the world to go mad.¡± He complained to his partner, his blade clean of Immortal blood. ¡°All these idiots think we¡¯re just going to stand by and let them slaughter each other and mortals¡¡± He shook his head again.
His partner didn¡¯t answer, couldn¡¯t answer. Simply pointed to where compressed balls of sword strikes were rising up on the horizon.
¡°No rest for the wicked means no rest for the protectors.¡± Cailchanar grumbled before the two Wardens flew off, trying to be a finger in the dam that had long been breached.
Night wasn¡¯t able to brag about one of his greatest coups.
It was still ongoing, and revealing one of his greatest triumphs would entirely negate it.
The ancient vampire tended to take the long view of things, setting in motion plots and plans that would take centuries to execute, and pay dividends over the millennia. Arguably his greatest achievement centered entirely around pottery.
The elves were obsessed with properly tracing lineage and heritage, and loved nothing more than to excavate their old cities, properly tracing and labeling everything. One day, an excavation team encountered some old wine amphoras.
It had been dutifully collected and entered into the records as a curiosity, the style unfamiliar. Perhaps a single [Potter] trying something new.
But as more cities were unearthed from the time period, more and more jugs in the style were found, leading to a great debate among the [Scholars] of the time.
Had they unearthed a previously unknown part of their history? Or was this a massive fraud on the part of the [Diggers], looking for a sweet bonus in their contract?
The loudest voice insisting that skills had been used to artificially age the pottery had become more and more unhinged, eventually being expelled from polite society after nearly attacking an - admittedly obnoxious - child.
Night smiled the whole time as the ¡®lost ancient heritage¡¯ made waves, the ¡®modern¡¯ elves adopting the style and methods of the ancients. Night regularly sent ¡®poorly made¡¯ - he was no expert [Potter] with fantastic skills, simply a humble vampire - jugs of wine from himself to the elves, laughing himself sick in private with Susan as the elves carefully checked it over for sabotage, not realizing the imitation of the style was the sabotage.
The bottom had a high, hollow arch, permanently casting a shadow in a large enough space for his skills to operate in.
In every town, in every household, Night had a foothold.
And that was all he needed.
The motives were endless. From love to hate, from defensive patriotism to naked aggression, old revenge being enacted as entities revealed themselves to ancient grudges being settled, from looking to the future to being stuck in the past, the drives and motives were endless.
The methods had as many varieties as there were people. The flashy ones got attention. Meteor strikes and wildfires, floods and earthquakes, thunder rumbling in the sky while the earth buckled and heaved. Tidal waves of water and frigid snow that froze with a single flake. Clubs wielded by giants and dragonfire from the skies.
Sanguino was destroyed by an Arcanite beam of pure magical energy, the rubble falling into the expanding Bloodmoon Bay, which earned its name a second time.
The subtle ones were just as devastating. Locarno, redwood city-state of the gnomes had all the air removed, and they simply fell over. Far better than Winterthar, which burned.
Some Immortals were able to ignore the whole mess. Flora, the Witch in White, who commanded and protected the School, was a peak Immortal on her carefully groomed home turf. The School and the town attached to it had issues, but nothing on the scale that plagued other locations.
Kunchenjab negated every spell thrown his way, having a patient policy for all those who would disturb the peace. Three large stone disks were on top of the monastery, one side painted white, the other painted black. At each attack Kunchenjab deflected, he would flip one of the coins over, white to black, then pointedly look at the attacker.
Most got the hint before the third coin was turned over.
Anurak withdrew the Pekari deep down into the crust, collapsing tunnels and lamenting how long it would be before civilization provided him with new entertainments, then decided to make his own.
How many bunkers, he wondered, weren¡¯t properly stocked, or had collapsed entrances?
For each one he rolled a weighted die.
Should the result be favorable, [Diggers] would suddenly find collapsed entrances were thinner than they thought, and the bunker would miraculously be next to another one with huge stores of food.
Should the result be unfavorable, earthquakes collapsed the supports, before a swarm of Pekari descended upon them, slipping in artifacts and books, turning the place into a proper ruin to be discovered later on.
1.
There came a time in every vampire¡¯s life where they realized they¡¯d been utterly screwed. Where they realized their accumulated levels and accomplishments would¡¯ve been enough to reach divinity, should they have been any other race.
1.
Calamity had passed that point with serene acceptance. He wasn¡¯t there yet, but his leveling rate outstripped nearly everyone else¡¯s. He wasn¡¯t a god yet, but as class quality improved with time, so too did the type of godhood available.
2.
However, he was shackled. Restrained from doing what he did best.
3.
Immortal populations came in two varieties. Those that struggled to increase their numbers, like trolls, vampires, and arguably giants. And those that could rapidly increase their numbers without limit, such as elves, devils, and occasionally demons, depending on how their society shook out.
5.
The cold mathematics were simple. The smaller the starting population, the longer it took for people to recover.
8.
Fewer elves surviving the Immortal War would give the humans and vampires of Exterreri more breathing room. The fewer elves there were at the start, the longer it would be before they were all stacked on top of each other like sardines, the greater the period of peace before everything fell apart again.
13.
One way or another, Sentinel Calamity was going to secure Exterreri¡¯s future.
21.
Whatever the price.
34.
55.
89.
144.
Raiju, God of Lightning, was a passionate lover, had a temper, and was not a fan of the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft.
He was the favored target of cultivator¡¯s taunts, his divine Lightning smites the favored method of tribulation. When he learned not to fall for their taunts, the cultivators sought out his mortal lovers and demigod children, and raised altars to slaughter them on, making sure his wrath was incurred.
One and all, those died, and he took cruel joy in smiting the entire sects responsible. Yet, he couldn¡¯t let it happen again, and so was forced to respond to every two-bit cultivator hurling threats and insults his way.
He bore varying degrees of enmity towards dozens of sects - honestly, just about every single one - but the School also made it onto his list.
Hundreds upon thousands of layered wards made any retribution he attempted upon a cultivator in their hallowed halls futile, and in spite of poorly-enforced rules to the contrary, they continued to test him.
It was practically a fool¡¯s errand, as borrowing another as a shield from a god¡¯s divine judgment was a sure way to prevent any class quality from accruing, but it didn¡¯t stop the foolish ones.
Many of the sects Raiju hated destroyed each other in the grand cataclysm, and he took careful watch over them. When a sect just barely managed to fight off an assault, their [Patriarch] wobbling alone in a sea of bodies, Raiju struck in their moment of weakness. A bolt of divine Lightning thicker than a body descended from the heavens, smiting the last remnants of the sect and erasing them forevermore.
Then Raiju¡¯s eyes turned towards the School and the flying island it was on, noting how it was about to fly through a pair of clashing dragons.
The shields would buckle and break, but the School itself should survive.
Should no additional fingers be put on the scale.
Civilization collapsed.
Chapter 573 - Things Fall Apart
I took being bowled over by an explosion with good grace. It all seemed to happen so slowly. I tucked and rolled, turning the harsh push into a somersault, and bounded back to my feet right as everything was disintegrating around me, turning into a hundred thousand splinters that were about to go through the command staff and all the [Scribes].
They¡¯d be fine. Liberal amounts of mental trauma, but none of us were getting out of here without needing significant sessions with the [Mind Healers]. I had to protect what was actually important.
I threw up dozens of [Event Horizons] between the former walls and the stacks upon stacks of delicate paperwork. I put my hand on top of a nearby set of papers, rapidly storing them in my [Library].
[*ding!* [Event Horizon] leveled up! 842 -> 843]
There was a reason I was working on paper instead of people for a brief moment. I vaguely needed the explosion to settle before I took wing, otherwise I¡¯d leave, everyone here would get shredded, and I¡¯d be in exactly the same position of needing to heal everyone, without the reassurance that a lot of people were currently close to me.
If nothing else, keeping Katerina alive would make the further organization and cleanup efforts that much more efficient, net saving more lives. It still sucked deciding who lived and who I was alright with dying, but I was the [Arbiter], and the math was clear.
Katerina¡¯s life and presence would save dozens to thousands more lives in the coming hours, as there was structure and order. Someone people could easily look up to, who could give orders and they¡¯d be obeyed.
Iona and Fenrir being in my healing radius didn¡¯t hurt things either. From what little I¡¯d seen so far, they should be fine, but for all I knew this was the side-effect of a greater attack. They should still be inside my radius, and the moment this settled down a hair I¡¯d be off like a shot, rapidly circling the city again and again. My mind filtered through dozens of injuries and problems before I settled on the worst ¡®recurring¡¯ injury that I couldn¡¯t quite heal through.
Rather, I could, but it wouldn¡¯t help.
Crush injuries. Specifically, someone half-trapped under a pile of rubble. I could heal them, and possibly lift everything on top of them, but the moment they left my radius it would come crashing back down on them.
[Luminary Mind] paused at that analysis, reexamining it. Fucking Ciriel, that was bad.
My healing would try to lift several tons of building material as it restored bodies, and that was a huge drain on my mana. One or two people, sure, it was fine, but hundreds, thousands? All requiring constant exertion? My healing was stupid, but I was still in ¡®barely lift a spaceship¡¯ tier, not ¡®lift an entire city with magic¡¯ tier.
I rapidly went through a dozen different ways to handle the problem and evaluated each one as the roof of the villa we were in slowly peeled off under the impact of the explosion, stoically watching as splinters started to pierce eyeballs and fingernails before being rejected by my absolute healing.
Not healing crush injuries at all was an option, but a poor one. What I really wanted was to ¡®layer¡¯ the healing, such that every other type of injury was handled first, and timbers and bricks crushing people were handled second. My skill didn¡¯t distinguish between ¡®was injured, original problem no longer there¡¯ and ¡®original external problems is continuing to crush¡¯, it looked purely at current body integrity.
Speaking of beams - I stepped forward, letting dozens of splinters break against my armor, reaching out and catching a pillar that was trying to topple over. Far easier to stop it when it was still practically vertical, than catching it when it was halfway down in full swing. The roof finished peeling off, and the roaring mushroom cloud in the sky caught my eye.
How could it not? It was the only thing visible. Swirling specks of Ash caught my eye, the cloud protecting Massa from the sun utterly dismissed and blown away.
Ah, I figured it out! I was going to lean on my massive regeneration. I quickly rearranged my healing to fix everything except crushed body parts and the thousand little details that derived from those, and created a complex image to only heal crush - wait, that was stupid, I could just use my ¡®heal everything¡¯ image - then tasked a portion of [Luminary Mind] to ¡®flicker¡¯ it on for a moment every three minutes or so. Suboptimal, and it was entirely possible that most of my mana would go towards lifting a building instead of fixing existing injuries, but I also had my own goddamn common sense, and the ability to see and evaluate situations on a case by case basis, throwing out targeted heals to anyone who¡¯d escaped being crushed and still needed help.
Also¡ anyone that badly crushed was unlikely to survive super long. In the grand scheme of things, I was targeting an extremely specific scenario. How many people only had a building drop on half of them, not their entire body? How many people had some crucial organs crushed, necessitating a rapid timeline, but not so many that they¡¯d rapidly die?
It was important to be thorough in my line of work, but realistic.
All the thoughts flashed through my mind in an instant, and I was able to watch the shockwave finish traversing the villa, able to marvel at how far I¡¯d come.
I didn¡¯t wait for the building to stop shaking, merely for the bulk of the harm to be negated.
¡°Take.¡± I ordered a shocked and shaking assistant, dumping the papers I¡¯d secured back into his hands. Then I unfurled my six wings and blasted off at top speed, anti-friction runes glowing so I didn¡¯t fuck everything back up again.
My mana was noticeably dropping even before I was moving, but I elected to fly around anyway. People here were still getting injured, but I¡¯d already fixed the impact of the first few moments of the explosion. They would continue to get hurt, but so was everyone else. They were more injured, in all likelihood.
The sky shook and darkened, the growing mushroom cloud ¡®fading out¡¯, like it was behind thick cloth. A million softly glowing lights lit up the sky. A voice echoed and boomed, impossibly loud yet whispered into my ear, spoke in a language I didn¡¯t know but intimately understood.
¡°Galdir, God of Softly Glowing Lights.¡± The voice said, then was replaced by another one.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
The god himself.
¡°For everyone who needs a light. For love.¡± Were his only words. The sky faded back in, the veil lifted, and life resumed.
I caught the rest of the Eventide Eclipse taking wing. A swirling snow storm surrounded Fenrir, the mighty wyvern finally having enough oomph to power his Storm element. It took me a moment to realize why, a glance up at the explosive red sky a reminder.
Right, immunity to fire. I wasn¡¯t feeling the heat, but dozens of fires were already starting over the city. The snow decreased in frequency as a howling south wind started to blow around the city, the snowflakes melting and turning into a fine mist. The temperature plunged, but a bit of chill would far outweigh raging fires ripping through wood-built Massa.
Auri was flying around before pausing, rushing over to a collapsed building. In a great conflagration, the entire thing went up in flames, pushing back against Fenrir¡¯s icy blast.
I assumed she had a really good reason for it. Iona dove off the [Lord of the Frozen Skies]¡¯ back, swan-diving to a particularly large collapsing building. Like a [Hero of Old] she pushed back on the entire thing, her skills suited to making it possible and not just punching through the beam her hand was on, and stopped the entire building from falling over, tipping it back into the position it should be in.
By Ciriel, she was amazing. I let my eyes briefly linger on her, committing it to memory. I¡¯d have to sketch that out for Iona later, she¡¯d love it.
I flew around the city at speed, trying to be methodical about what I covered and where. There were more than a few confused patrols of Legion soldiers, and the first time I saw one I had a quick debate with myself.
Was it more efficient to drop down and issue them orders, or was it better to stay up? Each group was less effective than I was, but bring quite a few of them together, and¡ nope, it didn¡¯t work out. With how quickly I could move versus issue orders and have them be listened to, I was doing far more good up in the sky as a city-wide healing ward than I was issuing orders to confused [Legionnaires], many of whom were starting to get it in their head that they needed to do something. It was almost like watching an ant hive, rapid order disguising itself as chaos radiating from the Legata¡¯s hijacked villa.
A thousand and twenty four skills blossomed over the city as I flew over it, everyone doing what they could. From a family huddling under a cart that had no business holding that much weight, to branches growing out of a house and stabilizing it, from a well ¡®burping¡¯ out contents to a street covered in Ice, the grand breadth of the System was on full display.
I had no idea what was going on with the monstrous Ooze thing growing in the center of the town, but people seemed to be happy with it and not running away screaming, so I let it be.
Whenever there was a disaster, whenever things fell apart, there were helpers. People working to make things better, and the streets were boiling over with everyone coming out and pitching in whatever way they could.
I was one of those helpers.
Speaking of, I wondered if I could bring in more help? I wasn¡¯t generally in the habit of asking the gods for help or favors - they were fairly unreliable, and spending my time waiting for them to bail me out was a terrible choice compared to simply fixing the problem myself - but there was always a first time. Why not, right?
Hi Ciriel!
Things have gone pear shaped down here. Think you could spare a miracle or three? Alternatively, is there anything I can do to help?
There was a long delay before she answered, so long I thought she wasn¡¯t paying attention, didn¡¯t hear, or was just off being a goddess. Like knocking on a friend¡¯s door, but they¡¯re out harvesting more mangos.
Elaine,
Sorry. Lots of requests right now.
You ARE the miracle for your part of the world. You don¡¯t need me, but other people do, quite badly.
I can¡¯t help you.
You could help me help others by providing some mana and prayers though? Maybe see if that [Paladin] wife of yours can help organize something?
Got to go,
Bye.
Now I felt terrible asking. The occasional still-buried person was absolutely tanking my mana, and I knew of at least 28 different trapped people. My circling of the city was slowly tightening to bouncing around between those different spots, trying to keep everyone alive. I hoped the number wouldn¡¯t drop to 27 before the rubble was cleared.
At the same time, if Ciriel was that busy, what was happening here in Massa wasn¡¯t an isolated event. My worst fears had come true.
The Immortal war had started.
I continued to circle endlessly until Auri came up.
¡°Scouts report a similar explosion over Belum and Ephesus. Vesontio is a ghost town, there¡¯s nobody living there anymore, not even animals. Food¡¯s still on the table, clothes are still in closets, and beloved toys are still in cradles. The effects in Belum and Ephesus seem to be a little more devastating than what happened here, thank you Sentinel Dawn.¡±
I nodded my acknowledgement at Katerina¡¯s words, already plotting how to hit Belum and Ephesus. There had to be survivors, and the medical care I could provide should lift a huge amount of the burden. Every injured person couldn¡¯t help and took out a second person with them who had to look after them. Every person I healed was worth more people trying to fix things.
I was quite pleased with the casualty report for Massa. I hadn¡¯t been able to save everyone - the city was too sprawling for that - but given the relative population percentages, I¡¯d easily saved tens of thousands of lives.
¡°I¡¯ve sent a [Runner] to Sanguino, but they haven¡¯t had time to get there yet. The granary and food supply count is still ongoing, the [Scribes] estimate it¡¯ll take three days to have an answer. The big question, the crux of the meeting, is this. What do we do now?¡±
The meeting was more like a council, where Katerina, the [Tribunes], the [Governor], various [Guild Leaders], Classers, the [High Priestess], vampires, and other important people were gathered. I naturally pulled Iona into the meeting, annnnd yeah, I had regrets.
Katerina knew what she was doing with her open-ended question, she just had to know a huge argument would ensue, with everyone trying to talk over everyone else, but for the life of me I couldn¡¯t work out what it was. My big book of rules and how to act in polite society didn¡¯t include this level of politicking, and Iona looked pained.
I shamelessly stole a quill and a sheet of paper from one of the [Guildmasters] - he wasn¡¯t representing the Healer¡¯s Guild and would survive a famine no problem - and wrote a quick note to Katerina.
Am I needed here? I¡¯d rather start my healing-rescue op to Belum and Ephesus now.
I¡¯d almost phrased it as a request, then remembered that I wasn¡¯t going to be asking permission in the first place - just wanting to move as soon as possible. Iona read it over my shoulder before I [Teleported] it to Katerina.
Katerina wrote a single word.
Go.
I made the tiniest concession to Katerina and not causing a panic by having the Sentinel sprint out of the room, and instead tapped Iona on the shoulder before [Teleporting] out. She joined me a moment later.
¡°What was that?¡± I asked her.
¡°I honestly don¡¯t know.¡± The massive Valkyrie shrugged her shoulders as we hustled out at a brisk walk, everyone pressing themselves to the walls to get out of our way. ¡°I know she probably wanted your presence for a bit longer to weigh in on whatever she¡¯s planning, and getting everyone up to date all at once on the information stops the whisper game neatly. Are you going to class up?¡± She asked.
The thought hadn¡¯t crossed my mind yet, and I frowned.
¡°Not until we¡¯ve got time. I¡¯ve had class ups be funky before with how long I¡¯ve been down, and we just don¡¯t know enough about anything right now for me to be out of the picture. Next thing I know we¡¯ll be told there¡¯s an emergency in Sanguino, and I¡¯ll need to fly out there. Hard to do while I¡¯m down.¡±
¡°Sure, but you can¡¯t hold off forever, bad situation or not.¡± Iona said. ¡°This is a quiet moment, and we don¡¯t know when we¡¯ll get one again.¡±
I shook my head in denial.
¡°It¡¯s not quiet, there¡¯s two cities that actively need my help, and there¡¯s no telling what¡¯s going on in the thousand little villages and estates. It is a good call though, and keep reminding me.¡± I said.
¡°Will do. Also, Fenrir¡¯s got to eat. If we see something between here and there, we¡¯ll dive and catch up with you. If we¡¯re separated, three days in each city, then return back here to Massa. We¡¯ll just keep flying over the city until we meet again. Okay?¡±
While [Telepathy] wasn¡¯t a skill, the decades together seemed to have us all on the same wavelength. Fenrir and Auri were both waiting for us outside, being given a clear berth by most people - except the Legion soldiers, who couldn¡¯t seem to get close enough, they knew Fenrir was a big softy on their side - and both of them nodded at Iona¡¯s plan.
We hopped on board and took off.
Chapter 574 - The First Foray
It boggled my mind how quickly I could move and how much I could do at times. I¡¯d just done a full, countrywide tour of Exterreri, and the fact that I could just casually fly over to a city and say ¡®alright, everyone here¡¯s in the perfect picture of health¡¯ then move on was just¡ wow.
It was sobering, in a way. However fast I was, however much good I could bestow, there were hundreds of thousands of people out there who were faster than I was, and more destructive.
The height we were at let us see what was going on for dozens of miles in every direction. Even with that, we heard the titans before we saw them. A great clashing roar had all of our heads turning to the west as two titans crested the horizon.
They weren¡¯t true titans. One was a giant of metal and cogs, wood and glass. My eagle-sharp eyes picked out dozens of dwarves scurrying around, fixing and repairing things as the mecha battled the other entity.
¡°What are they fighting?¡± I asked Iona, relying on her ability to shamelessly cheat everything with her divine blessing. She squinted, a puzzled furrow on her brow.
¡°I¡ have no idea.¡± She confessed. ¡°I don¡¯t get anything back when I try to peer into its System.¡±
I looked again and whistled. The entity was an elvenoid-shaped person glowing with pale blue energy all over. The dwarven coalition was easily driving the entity back, every step bowling over trees and carving through farms like they weren¡¯t there. Fires emerged everywhere the glowing energy person stepped, and the dwarves didn¡¯t care, continuing to fire upon him.
I mentally flicked through the eight cards Queen had given me, wondering if they could even help. Against the dwarven construct, I could possibly gum up their works, but it was such an obvious angle of attack they had to have a solution for it.
¡°I mean, I¡¯d be more impressed if it was a person, but you¡¯re telling me that¡¯s a manifested skill they¡¯re fighting instead?¡± I raised an eyebrow, lips puckering as a punch back punched through the shoulder of the mecha, a pair of dwarves lighting on fire and a third dying outright to the strike.
Fuuuuck me I didn¡¯t want to get in the middle of the fight, but now I had to, nevermind the potential tens of thousands of casualties in Ephesus. I sagged with relief as the injured dwarves healed up - clearly, they¡¯d brought along medics. Only sensible. Thank the first mango, I didn¡¯t need to leave.
The entire sky changed color, the two titans fighting heedless of the changes. Iona nocked an arrow on her bow as I stood up and stepped back, limbering up for a fight.
There was no fight.
The sun had turned into several thousand rainbow colors, the world¡¯s largest disco ball in existence.
¡°Selene¡¯s tits.¡± Iona swore, and I practically lost my eyebrows at the profanity.
¡°Not a curse, not a curse, not a curse.¡± I fervently prayed, remembering the Sunless Death. [Arbiter of Life and Death] had weak to moderate curse breaking, and if someone was going full-scale ¡®curse the entire world¡¯, the curse would start at stupidly strong and go up from there.
Nothing obvious was happening. I wasn¡¯t growing extra arms, hearing whispers at the edge of my hearing, suddenly overcome with the desire to drink blood, or turning into stone, but curses could be subtle.
¡°Auri, what¡¯s the first thing you ever burned?¡± I asked the bird.
¡°Brrpt!¡± She promptly answered. Not a memory related curse.
Iona lifted an eyebrow, scanning around, then asked a question herself.
¡°What¡¯s six times eight?¡± She asked me.
¡°Forty eight.¡± From the looks on Iona¡¯s face, we weren¡¯t dealing with a math-related curse, logic-related, or far more likely - we weren¡¯t being mentally befuddled with drugs or other hallucinogens.
Fenrir made an Ice hand in front of Iona, who smacked it with her own hand, giving the wyvern a high-five. Not a dexterity curse, nor was it preventing us from conjuring elements.
Like this we continued to test each other for various signs that something was off, everyone coming in clear.
Except for a minor scare where Auri said she liked water, but then she clarified it was good for baking - water itself was still a terrible substance.
About twenty minutes later the sun returned to normal, and a far-off skill created a thrown pillar of dirt literally sky-high. We watched it fall with wary eyes.
¡°Someone¡¯s going to have a bad day.¡± I commented.
Iona snorted.
¡°Everyone¡¯s having a bad day.¡± She replied.
Ephesus was in sight a moment later, and we split up, getting started with our respective way of helping. For me, it was more of the same.
Iona got smacked with her personal version of a [Vow]-trap in Ephesus, finding enough problems that her [Vow] dictated that she help, now. Massa hadn¡¯t been in such bad shape that she¡¯d needed to stay, but Ephesus was a different story. We split up in spite of our reservations, agreeing to meet in Massa as soon as possible. Auri came with me to Belum, horrors and wonders the entire way over.
I blinked and missed an avatar of living Lightning crossing by, the only remnants of their trail a thousand Lightning bolts crackling in their path, mere sparks to the tempest that had flown through. The land heaved and flipped like a pancake at one point, fertile farmland plowed twenty feet under as rocks were revealed and a million critters and bugs scurried to find new shelter. The sky split on the horizon, only for a gigantic hand to manifest itself and swat down, then resealed the breach.
Belum was as easy as Ephesus, and I knew I was neatly stacking up levels. I was sorely tempted to class up - I planned on grabbing [The Elaine] as quickly as possible and returning to the real world, but every hour, every minute counted here.
Classers streaked by in the haze and dust-filled sky the entire time, the nights filled with vampires, and the days predominately elves - given where we lived, it made sense - mixed with the occasional devil or demon, and a single giant strode past on a mission. It didn¡¯t take a genius to know he came from Modu, not between his frozen crown and thick Ice armor.
He didn¡¯t bother us, and we weren''t looking for trouble.
A day later we were arriving in Massa once again. Iona and Fenrir were waiting for us, the mighty wyvern in gleaming armor perched on the wall like a gigantic gargoyle. Iona was out of sight, so I scanned the city, looking for the biggest devastation. Annnd yup, there she was, right in the middle of it.
Massa was in an interesting state. Half of it was rubble, the other half was upright. The position of various buildings shielded others, and I could see which buildings had powerful reinforcement skills active the moment of the blast, and which ones hadn¡¯t. Many hands made light work, and makeshift buildings were already being erected. The entire city was covered in soot and cinders, the pervasive haze blocking out quite a lot of light as burnt ashes slowly rained down over the city. Good for the vampires. They were a tiny fraction of the city¡¯s population, but Classers all, and each one was doing what they could, having a visible impact. My favorite was the Water-element Classer who had streams of water being pulled from wells around him that werewas then being deposited into various jugs and buckets. A one-man fountain.
Three-quarters of me screamed that the haze was some deadly skill, the other quarter said ¡®this was what happened when so much stuff went up in flames¡¯.
It smelled like hopes and dreams.
Not to paint too rosy a picture - it was bad, but the large surviving population helped significantly. My heart sank at the sheer number of stacked bodies waiting for cremation, but I reminded myself it would¡¯ve been far worse if I hadn¡¯t been there.
I had seen the piles from Ephesus and Belum that let me know exactly how much worse it would¡¯ve been if I hadn¡¯t been here. It was sobering how much of an impact one woman could make.
Over the years, the tribunes and command staff of the Sixth Legion had slowly rotated, a single new face becoming old and familiar. Often-seen [Line Leaders] being promoted to [Centurion], and one day I¡¯m suddenly at the promotion ceremony for them to become a [Tribune].
With the Sixth being split in half, all of the current command structure went in one day, and Katerina basically had to rebuild it from scratch.
Katerina had revived a number of her command staff from the Han campaign, the surviving members both having close personal ties with the Legata, and some of the highest leveled people with the most experience. Some had been replaced, of course - Leona was now the Second-in-Command - and it was a little jarring to see the whole group of familiar faces of command rotate all at once. The old faces were nice to see, and Maxlin - the head of the alchemists - had seized Immortality on his own, brewing a potion of eternal youth and drinking it.
A thought process split off and mused that he was both competition to me in the ¡®selling Immortality¡¯ business, and the obscene cost of the ingredients was why I could sell my Immortality for so much.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
Thinking about it - I knew the Legate that had replaced Katerina¡¯s replacement well, out of years working together. He had to be pissed that he¡¯d lost the ¡®coin flip¡¯ and I was with this section of the Sixth instead of his, and was probably literally spitting nails over it.
I had no idea where he was, or what they were doing, and I worried over them. More and more they all looked like kids who didn¡¯t know what they were doing, nevermind the grey in their beards. I¡¯d served with some of their grandparents.
Katerina was insanely busy, so I got the catchup from Leona.
¡°Food supplies should last the city four months with what we¡¯ve currently got. Two of the granaries got destroyed in the blast, and while Classers are trying to save and preserve the food, we¡¯re treating it like it doesn¡¯t exist. We¡¯re trying to run a census on the [Farmers] and seeing who survived where, with what, but it¡¯s further impossible to tell if they¡¯ll be willing to take the trip into town, versus stockpiling for themselves. Taking it at spearpoint is an option of last resort, and we probably can¡¯t commandeer enough to feed the town. It¡¯s not looking great.¡±
I frowned, mulling over the numbers.
Amateurs talked strategy, while professionals talked logistics, and ¡®how do we feed a city when the world¡¯s gone mad¡¯ looked a lot like the answer was ¡®we don¡¯t.¡¯
I¡¯d heard the theory a hundred times, but it was now staring me in the face. Things were falling apart, and a large city required massive amounts of surplus food generated by agricultural areas to survive. No surplus food? Riots and starvation.
Which led to the next question - how did you kick a ton of people out of the city before it went to shit? How did you warn people sternly enough to get them to take the message seriously, without causing a panic, riot, or run on the granaries? How did you tell people ¡®your job as a [Llibrarian] was great. Grab a few books on farming, here¡¯s a hoe and some seeds, none of your classes or skills are appropriate - good luck¡¯?
It was a fucking mess, and none of the books I¡¯d read on the topic had workable solutions that had been tested, instead being written by some [Author] who never left their room and experienced the real world.
¡°The numbers go down substantially with how many refugees are entering the city, and the debate right now is figuring out how to turn them away, and who should be let in.¡±
She glanced at me like I could conjure a miracle out of thin air, like the fact I was a Sentinel meant I could solve any problem with the snap of my fingers. I had left something of a strong impression when the explosions went off, but this wasn¡¯t something I could easily fix.
¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri ¡®sagely¡¯ replied, but it was just a brrpt, no words to it. Cheeky brat. I flicked her off my shoulder so hard a shower of burning embers was left behind, and she flew back to her perch, protesting loudly at her treatment.
¡°Ignore her.¡± I told Leona.
¡°Sentinel Invincible and his team have made their way to the city, and Ranger Team Mountain came out of the disaster alive. Speaking of, the casualty repor-¡±
Leona was cut off by horns blowing the alarm, and I left her in the dust as I moved, arriving at the walls before the [Soldier] could blow a third blast. Iona joined me a moment later, a strong breeze heralding her arrival, and with a great flap of wings Fenrir took to the sky, vanishing into the haze along with a number of pteranodon-riders. A quick glance at them suggested they were an adventurer group, and¡ well, as long as they were on our side, I suppose I was happy to see them.
A modest host of elves were riding up towards us, the sunlight glinting off of helmets and swords, bridles and arrowheads. They rode elk and deer, pegasus and moose, horns filed to sharp points. They were graceful and beautiful, both physically and the way they moved, their lethality like a naked blade in hand. Their levels were all over the place, from [Deer - 50] all the way up to [Ranger - 1891]. [Ranger] to [Mage], [Artisan] to [Healer], each one was armed and armored, moving impossibly fast over the terrain. From the look, they were more ¡®nature¡¯ and ¡®woodsy¡¯, probably from the Golden Courts instead of Tympestshard.
Also, there was a whole octopus riding a deer. I didn¡¯t know why there was an octopus, just that it was around 1400, brandished six weapons, and seemed to be accepted as just another one of the group.
Bit of a trip to come all the way out here.
The gates crashed shut - clearly a powerful skill at work - and there was a sickly scream followed by the tiniest blip in my mana, followed by frantic pounding on the closed gates. Katerina and the rest of command - including two lines of bulky [Bodyguards] - were carefully making their way up the wall, and I briefly debated trying to go incognito as I hurried over to them.
Nah, better to be visible. The elves knew what a Sentinel was, and perhaps we could get them to fuck off somewhere else. Sentinel Invincible took to the walls as well, the mighty troll wrapped in layers upon layers of capes and cloaks, backed by his team casting a deep shadow over the towering troll. I eyed the haze-obscured sun, white ash snowing down around us like the worst joke of winter, and lifted an eyebrow.
Bold, for the sun-cursed troll to make an appearance with such flimsy protections. Then again, he probably had several dozen ways to handle the sun, and I didn¡¯t mind the show of force that was a second Sentinel.
¡°Be shiny.¡± I told Auri. She started burning quite a bit brighter, not quite to the point where it hurt to look at her, but certainly a beacon cutting through the haze. Ranger Team Mountain were hustling through the streets, the difference between a Sentinel and a Ranger made clear in how quickly we could gear up and be in the correct position. I was still happy to see them - more competent people on our side could only be a good thing.
Weapons were out, the elves prepared arrows in their bows, and they made way for their leader to stride forward, not even moving as his majestic moose stepped forward.
¡°For the crime of Ivyhold! Surrender now, and we may grant you the mercy of servitude instead of slaughter.¡± He pronounced, his nose in the air. The words carried in an impossible way, tinkling and clear like a bubbling stream.
Ivyhold? The only Ivyhold I knew was a major city in the Golden Courts. Which was where they were from. I had to assume something had happened there, but why take it out on us?
All the grass near him withered and died, and I could see the impact of his skill or aura rapidly reach the walls of Massa and extend an unknown distance into the city.
[*ding!* [Etheric Aegis] leveled up! 510 -> 525]
Damn, thank vitality for protecting my clothes. Other people and buildings weren¡¯t so lucky, and it quickly became apparent who had reinforcement skills and who didn¡¯t. Beams rotted and splintered, glowing embers died, fungus erupted off every other surface, from cheery spotted mushrooms on the roof of a house to ugly pink slime going down the streets.
¡°Brrpt.¡± Auri made some gagging noises. ¡°Brrrpt?¡±
Ooof, good question.
¡°Just stuff nearby.¡± I told Auri. The fungus on nearby buildings and on the street down below the wall promptly erupted in flames, any smoke or bad smells lost in the omnipresent haze. Ranger Team Mountain made their way up to us, deploying around the perimeter without a word.
Katerina was quick on the uptake, but the skill was just so quick and large. The [Legata] rapidly fired off a proposition so quickly I swear it was preplanned, except I knew all the Legion¡¯s plans and standard doctrines. She¡¯d made it up on the spot.
¡°We could only surrender to the elf who¡¯s bested us in a set of single combat. Your best eight warriors against the best eight we can provide. You are elves, it¡¯s only right that you demonstrate how superior you are to us. We can¡¯t be expected to surrender ourselves into slavery to everyone who comes and demands it, can we?¡±
A number of younger soldiers and guards looked deeply uncomfortable at Katerina¡¯s proposal. I wasn¡¯t the biggest fan of it either, but I had an idea where this was going.
The play on their pride was a lethal shot, it would be nearly impossible to let it go. I kinda understood why the ancient Wardens tried to keep their curse a secret.
I was no expert, but the Decay skill looked like a city-killer to me. Everything reinforced would be fine, but cities weren¡¯t entirely reinforced. Simply eliminating a few percentages of the material in a city would be enough to bring it to its knees, nevermind a third of an already-wrecked city. Some of the elves were starting to notice me and Auri, more and more eyes drifting our way and a few subtle nudges. Invincible got his fair share of looks as well, but more in a ¡®mysterious cloaked stranger¡¯ way.
¡°We do insist that you cease your skill while we determine the winner.¡± Katerina said.
There was no way they were going to do that. Why would they?
¡°It only behooves the mighty elves to show us lesser mortals the proper way of generosity and mercy.¡±
Oh, there we go.
Katerina didn¡¯t seem to be quite as smooth as she thought as the elves bickered with one another, before Decay Asshole spoke up again.
¡°The city is lost, you will become our slaves or perish. We see no reason to pull back from the inevitable.¡± He said.
Katerina caught my eye, and I nodded.
¡°Sixth Legion! To me!¡±
It took twenty gut-wrenching, mushroom-growing minutes for the Sixth to fully assemble outside the gates, our eight champions selected to the elves eight.
Well, seven elves and the octopus.
The Legions believed in uniformity in equipment, from the lowest soldier all the way to the [Primus Pilus]. Each Legion could do their own thing, and Sentinels naturally had their own rules. Sandals and leather skirts, lamellar and helmets. Short swords and spears, pilums for throwing and protective gloves. Slings were standard-issue for everyone, ammunition being pebbles picked off the ground. For the price of a small stretch of leather with other uses, the rewards could be considerable. For the Sixth we only had small modifications. Tower shields were the name of the game for the heavy infantry Legion and our heavy use of alchemy meant everyone had a potion or three at their waist.
The [Primus Pilus] had joined the Eventide Eclipse and Sentinel Invincible. Sentinel Invincible¡¯s team was purely to support him. Intelligence, shade, [Thinker], communications, logistics - his team was a classic ¡®support the Sentinel in all the ways they need help outside of combat¡¯ composition, and he was the only one stepping forward from his ¡®team¡¯.
The last two members of our team were two of the Rangers, selected because they were the ¡®heavyweights¡¯ of the team. Far off, I could hear a few [Adventurers] arguing with some of the [Soldiers] that they should be included and considered, but they weren¡¯t even allowed to reach Katerina to present their case.
The elves were almost all higher level than us, only Invincible having a shot at fighting them on equal footing. If it were nighttime, I¡¯d trust the troll to possibly be able to kill them all¡ but that sort of thinking was a bit naive. The elves had their own tricks up their sleeves. I had no idea what Katerina was thinking. There wasn¡¯t much going on in any of the channels besides bland orders, and it was embarrassing how long it took me to twig as to why. I¡¯d done the drills, but had never seen it ¡®live¡¯.
Of course. We were horrifically outleveled, the odds of Reed¡¯s skills being outmatched and the elves listening in were extremely high. Whatever Katerina was cooking, she couldn¡¯t say out loud. I doubted the full extent of her plan was ¡®our mismatched group of reprobates can take on eight elves¡¯, not with the moves she was making. We might be able to, but it was silly to rely on a single method.
At the same time, my healing and Auri were both complete bullshit, and there was a flicker of doubt as some of the elves started to suspect that Auri was a fully-fledged phoenix. The concern was beating down at their natural arrogance, a threat too large for their curse to ignore.
¡°Second elf on the left¡¯s got the best speedster skill I¡¯ve ever seen.¡± Iona quietly murmured to me as we limbered up. ¡°Octopus is half-warrior, half-spellblade. Fenrir, you should crush him in an Ice battle. Auri, watch his water attacks. The elf with the crown of thorns¡¡± Iona¡¯s constant stream of dishing out everyone¡¯s skills had the elves looking sour and impatient - nobody liked their secrets being bandied around, and Invincible was grinning like a madman under his adamantium helmet. He hadn¡¯t been a huge fan of the big reveal that Iona could see stats and skills¡ until now, when it was working cleanly in his favor.
¡°Dawn. You¡¯re only healing the Sixth, correct?¡± Katerina asked.
I double-checked my healing, ensuring that ¡®octopus¡¯ was indeed off the menu.
¡°Yes.¡± I had complete faith in whatever Katerina was cooking up. Auri was hopping from foot to foot, trying to stare down all the elves at the same time while also giving the octopus the phoenix equivalent of the bird. Fenrir was eyeing them all like they were lunch, which¡ they probably would be, assuming we didn¡¯t all die.
If they didn¡¯t want to end up as wyvern-shit, they shouldn¡¯t have picked a fight.
I think it was going over his head, but I appreciated the fighting spirit.
¡°Assemble the arena!¡± Katerina ordered, issuing a few other commands to help explain how, along with some specific placements. It looked like she wanted the weaker, lower-leveled lines closer to the elves, which had a few troops biting back remarks and a few elves smirking. The [Centurions] took up the order, and the elves helped a bit, mostly so their troops wouldn¡¯t be entirely surrounded by ours. In short order the Legion had constructed a barricade of flesh and steel, approximately 2000 men strong, shield and spears pointed inward. The elves had roughly a quarter of the circle to themselves, a distrustful gap creating a hole in the arena.
The eight of us were doing the best to create our line, shields overlapping with spears, and Auri and I stood behind the six soldiers. The elves kept a casual distance from each other, occasionally flicking their wrist to spin a sword or stretching to keep loose. The octopus was putting on one hell of a show, all of his weapons already in a spinning blur.
If it wasn¡¯t so serious, it would be a textbook example of [Soldiers] fighting versus [Warriors] fighting. Working as a unit versus working as individuals.
My plan was to hit the octopus and the highest-leveled elf first with targeted Radiance beams to their vitals, then drop back to a defensive action while my mana regenerated and Auri worked her blazing magic. I had a secondary plan to possibly handle the speedster - if they were as fast as Iona claimed they could be, only Fenrir and I had the proper element to try and hit them.
Tons of speed was great when I had the advantage. It was absolute bullshit when the other side was faster.
¡°We will count down from three. Upon reaching one, I will declare ¡®begin¡¯, at which point this farce of a duel will commence.¡± Decay Asshole said, not even deigning to be one of the fighters.
¡°Acceptable.¡± Katerina said. ¡°We are ready. For Exterreri!¡± She shouted, the cry taken up by the rest of the Sixth - and most of the civilians watching nervously from the walls.
¡°For Exterreri!¡± I roared as Auri brrrpted! along with us.
Decay Asshole simply snorted.
¡°Three.¡±
Our line dropped their spears, shuffling together to lock their shields together.
¡°Two.¡±
The elves were still languidly stretching, some of them laughing at us.
¡°One.¡±
¡°Sixth Legion. Fire all potions.¡± Katerina ordered.
Chapter 575 - Interlude - Baradgwend - Vengeance
Baradgwend seethed with barely-contained rage.
How dare they.
Ivyhold was dead, almost to the last man and woman. About half of the great tree homes had died, the only survivors being protected by powerful passive skills. Only a few elves had survived the vampire¡¯s attack, everyone else dropping dead in the streets, in their homes.
There were only two survivors under level 1800.
At least the Miasma had been quick, reaping lives faster than a farmer plucking fruits from a tree. The attack had come at night, and only quick reflexes and powerful skills had prevented everyone from dying.
The body was unmistakably vampiric, and the marks of allegiance - the armor, the bat sigil, and a thousand other marks - were so unquestionably Exterreri that there¡¯d been brief discussion if they were being framed.
Passion and anger had ruled the day, and the survivors of Ivyhold had rapidly gathered elves from nearby locations in the Golden Courts, and stormed over to Exterreri.
The trail was impossible to miss. Dead bodies had been left to rot under diseased trees, the Sentinel not even bothering to bury or otherwise dignify those he¡¯d killed. Many elves had peeled off from the mission of vengeance, working on mercy instead.
For some reason, the leader of the expedition had agreed to this utter farce of a duel, and Baradgwend ground her teeth as the countdown began. Her trump card would instantly end this battle, and the forfeit lives of the vermin could be used as a base to begin the long work of rebuilding Ivyhold.
Exterreri had destroyed the city, Exterreri could rebuild it.
Baradgwend was one of eight champions, each one nearly as strong as she was. Their contributions, however, would be unnecessary - she was more than enough to finish this, and would take great pleasure in killing them all.
One of the younger elf [Thinkers] had been smart in the wake of the Ivyhold disaster, and managed to fetch the reports and knowledge the Golden Courts had on Exterreri. It had been trivial to read everything on the way over.
The troll - Sentinel Immortal, and they said elves were arrogant - was both the hardest and easiest to kill. He was wreathed in cloaks, protecting himself from the sunlight, but Baradgwend knew from long experience that the current sunlight levels, deep haze or not, would be more than enough to kill him.
His skills couldn¡¯t extend to the cloaks. It seemed a little too easy to Baradgwend against someone with the title of Immortal, but they weren¡¯t fighting at night, in the dark. It was daylight, however murky and concealed the sun.
The healer in the back was probably Sentinel Dawn. She¡¯d obviously seized Immortality herself, and the reports noted no known curse observed. It went on to speculate that she had a vulnerability curse, a weakness to a particular substance, and one of the riders had peeled off to acquire Bane.
Bane was an interesting alchemical substance. It essentially took 16,384 different substances and mixed them together, from water to gold dust, from a drop of orange juice to a fleck of granite, a drop of virgin¡¯s blood to a tiny hair cutting, then alchemical magic blended all of them together while managing to retain the metaphysical properties of all of them.
Legends had it that White Dove had personally bestowed the formula upon a great elven [Alchemist] in aeons past, which Baradgwend only half-believed.
No elf would need White Dove¡¯s assistance in brewing up such a potion.
Her durability had been noted, but Baradgwend had yet to find someone who could survive their head being turned into a thousand pieces.
The bird on her shoulder was, impossibly, a phoenix. The matched level suggested a bond, and Baradgwend was wary of the skills that could be shared. If, somehow, impossibly, the healer was able to borrow resurrection, this battle could become far harder, and would explain why a mere [Healer] had obtained the title of Sentinel. Still, Tromokrasis should be able to drown the ashes of the hummingbird phoenix repeatedly, a minor cleanup.
The four humans weren¡¯t even worth considering. Each would be a flick of her wrist, perhaps removing their helmets first. Maybe she could get them to stab each other, that was always good for a laugh.
And the wyvern? Ah, the wyvern would be a kill of legends.
¡°Sixth Legion. Fire all potions.¡±
Base treachery. How unexpected from the little mortals, trying to gain any edge to fight the elves. It didn¡¯t matter how many edges they tried to work out, they would die. Baradgwend had more than enough time to roll her eyes as the order rippled through her ranks, activating her trump skill.
[For a Single Moment in Time, I am The Gale]
The world came to an effective stop around her.
For a single second, Baradgwend could move faster than the wind, faster than a lightning bolt. It was ¡®only¡¯ a second, but given how nearly everyone else was frozen, and the strength of her skill? It was practically an eternity in which she could move around with utter impunity.
The restrictions on the skill were horrific, but it didn¡¯t matter if everyone else was dead at the end. Baradgwend took a moment to survey the scene, nodding to herself.
The soldiers were in various degrees of shock and obedience, the furthest [Legionaries] already putting their hand to their belt. It was passingly clever with how the soldiers had been arranged, the treachery clearly preplanned. The further ones would react faster and throw harder than the closer ones, and all of the alchemicals would land at the same time.
Baradgwend might slash the potions, if she was feeling generous. The treachery meant all the soldiers had to die, and that was going to end up boring her to death. Maybe she¡¯d leave a few behind in the end, let some of the other elves get a few kills. Only when she tired of slaughtering the unmoving troops.
The [Warrior of the Wind] unscrewed the Bane potion, carefully pouring it over her blade. It should last an hour, no matter how much blood it was washed in.
She sauntered up to the line, sword casually over one shoulder, and smirked at the first soldier, eyes hardened and focused where she had been, not where she was. She flicked a finger out and undid the clasps of his helmet, ¡®dropping¡¯ it next to him. Gravity hadn¡¯t figured out yet that it needed to pull the helmet down, and it just hovered there as Baradgwend worked out the first cut to make.
There was poetry, artistry in murder. Different styles and techniques to keep things interesting and engaging, for boredom was the foremost enemy in this second of time.
Down the jugulars. She decided. Should make a fine spray.
A quick pair of cuts across the neck, and Baradgwend sighed, before ramming her sword under his chin, and up and out through the top of his head.
One down, two thousand to go.
There was no notification, not that Baradgwend expected one. It took time for the System to realize what had happened, for raw biology to ascertain the death of the soldier. In time, Baradgwend would start to get notifications of her efforts, of the kills she struck. The first one was her reminder that she needed to hurry along, that there was only a single second of time, and while she was fast, time was passing along.
Was there any particular humiliation she could cast upon this soldier? No, no, there was no time for that, and besides, he only looked a little fancy. If anyone should be humiliated, it should be the Sentinels, brothers and sisters-in-arms of the sinner who¡¯d slaughtered Ivyhold.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
The reminder had Baradgwend gritting her teeth, and she cleanly lopped off the second soldier¡¯s head in a rage-filled strike. Flecks of blood came off her sword then slowed to a crawl in the air, the distance already traveled a measure of her anger.
Two down.
The third soldier was slaughtered as Baradgwend skipped over to the troll. She grabbed and ripped the cloaks off him, exposing the armored hulk to the sunlight. She squinted up at the sun and studied the troll.
Huh. He didn¡¯t instantly die to the light, there was no notification, and unlike biology, White Dove¡¯s curse didn¡¯t wait to see what was going on. There had to be a secondary trick going on, but a quick study of his possibly-adamantium armor didn¡¯t reveal any latches or joints she could easily pry open to finish the job. A quick pull on his sword and shield revealed that they were held tight, and Baradgwend knew she was fast, not strong - trying to pry the weapons out was a losing move.
Fine. Baradgwend knew he¡¯d be tricky. Once everyone else was dead, she could loop back and try again. Maybe reposition everyone to stack the battle.
A wave gently pushed over her, and she glanced back to see Lightning coming from one of her fellow elves, a crackling protective net looping over all of them.
About time. She thought. It had only been a millisecond or so since she¡¯d moved, but it was a good reminder that her time wasn¡¯t unlimited.
The fourth human was in different armor, impractical wings on her helmet. No holes for the eyes, which was unusually clever for a mortal. The neck joint wasn¡¯t entirely closed, unlike the troll, and Baradgwend managed to slide her sword up and in, wiggling it back and forth a bit to ensure the brain was destroyed enough before sliding her sword out.
Unusually hard-headed. It often felt a little ¡®mushy¡¯ inside after a few strokes, but this woman had felt ¡®whole¡¯ the entire time. Baradgwend was a perfectionist, and would kill them all. She fiddled with the straps for a moment before throwing the helmet off, stabbing the knight through one emerald-green eye before ripping through to the other one.
Four down, one skipped, it was time to handle the healer. Baradgwend skipped over, not even bothering to try for a killing stroke before removing her helmet. The strap was clearly reinforced by a skill, but she wasn¡¯t cutting through helmet straps, she was manually undoing them. She threw the helmet off the short woman, sapphire blue eyes twinkling with all the stars back. Baradgwend smirked at the undeniably pretty [Healer].
¡°How¡¯d they make a [Healer] a Sentinel?¡± She half-wondered, half-mocked out loud. It was the little things that kept her going. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be support for your knight, not the other way around?¡±
She chuckled at the idea. Humans. Not particularly bright, Baradgwend had spent quite a few years trying to teach, educate, and uplift various mortals, but at the end of the day, there was no helping them. Not for real, not anything long-term. Baradgwend only had to blink, and the carefully educated mortals were dead, their great-grandchildren squabbling in the mud, breaking tree branches and ripping leaves. Baradgwend flicked one of the Sentinel¡¯s hairs out of the way, sneering at her.
¡°Well, it won¡¯t matter where you¡¯re going. Better luck next time, maybe you can be reincarnated as an elf.¡±
Unlikely, to say the least. The Sentinel would be lucky if she came back as a slug, with supporting Exterreri so openly. The [Speakers of the Gods] claimed that the deeds one did in life impacted the next in the great cycle of Samsara.
Baradgwend was just about to strike when one of her skills warned her. She jumped back and off to the side right as a beam of Radiance ripped through where her head had just been. She whistled to herself and reevaluated the Sentinel.
¡°She has seized Immortality herself. Tricky, tricky, hiding such powerful Radiance behind an innocent [Healer] tag.¡±
Reluctantly impressed by the demonstrated reflexes, Baradgwend reminded herself that mortals weren¡¯t all complete idiots, and that she should get a move on. Carefully moving around the shimmering beam of Radiance, Baradgwend wasted no time slicing and dicing the healer¡¯s head into a thousand tiny bits, having complete faith that the Bane would strike true even if her healing could somehow, impossibly, handle the devastating wound she was about to commit.
The elf deployed one of her skills, [1024 Slashes in a Single Moment], neatly cubing the head into thousands of long pieces. She spent a moment studying them, noting they weren¡¯t healing and coming back together, then stabbed the healer through the heart anyway, just to be certain.
To add insult to injury, Baradgwend took the bloody slices of brain and skull, and mashed them around the phoenix, attempting to drown the bird in her bond¡¯s blood. She eyed the wyvern and sighed.
A battle that should be worthy of legends, reduced to chopping wood. She climbed up the armored plates on the wyvern, reaching a delicate part where the neck met shoulders. Several buckles and clasps later, and Baradgwend was stabbing down, cursing as her blade was turned by the hardened scales.
Neither armor nor scales were for show, and Baradgwend¡¯s method was to usually bypass the armor. Several blows later, most of them backed by active skills, and she just barely got a single scale scratched.
Fine. The wyvern would be a worthy battle in the end, perhaps even tameable and rideable, given the saddle and armor. A worthy mount for any who could claim it. Baradgwend climbed down from the wyvern and began the bloody and boring work of slaughtering the soldiers.
Eight to one. She decided. She¡¯d think about every dead friend, every dead acquaintance, and make a bloody offering to their soul as she was killing the Exterreri citizens. From Nurchon, an occasional fling of hers to her little nephew Cindir, dead before his System unlocked. Canor, who always slipped in an extra helping when she bought sandwiches from him, to Silevre who could never stop fussing over her flowers.
[My Memory is My Life] lent her crystal-clear clarity and knowledge of the thousands of people she¡¯d met and known, dead by Exterreri¡¯s hand in the span of a night.
Today was only the start of her bloody vengeance.
Stabbed through the eye, cut through the neck, or stab in the heart. Eye, neck, heart. Eye, neck, heart. Baradgwend fell into a flow, methodically slaughtering the soldiers who¡¯d oh-so-helpfully lined up. More potions were slowly taking to the air as time passed, and it was clear everyone was moving. Shadows slowly contorted and rose up, each soldier cloned in pure darkness.
That was a skill to possibly watch out for - Light and Dark were both faster than her, as the Radiance from the so-called [Healer] attested to. She wasn¡¯t the only one who could make the most of a single second, skills were flying with comedic slowness and the helmet she¡¯d let go of was a quarter of the way through its drop.
She frowned a little at that, looking over one shoulder while mindlessly reaping the lives of the [Legionaries] in front of her. She should¡¯ve gotten her first notification by now. Perhaps everyone was moving a little faster than she thought.
Baradgwend laughed at the Valkyrie¡¯s final strike. She must¡¯ve dawdled longer than she thought in front of the healer, for the dead woman was cleaving an axe towards the [Healer]. At the current trajectory, it would take off the remains of her partner¡¯s head.
The troll was lumbering forwards, and Baradgwend flinched as a beam of Lightning thicker around than her waist arced from the wyvern¡¯s mouth, devastating the ranks of the elves.
Huh. The first soldier was still moving. Baradgwend was sure she¡¯d gotten his brain stem, and the only thing he should be doing was collapsing to the ground. There had to be an active skill that was used right before she¡¯d killed him, and the body was being puppeteered through the motions. That was a piss-poor skill. It was always better to have a guiding intelligence behind the movements. Something to keep an eye on, but there shouldn¡¯t be any risk where she was. The Exterreri forces wouldn¡¯t want to smack their own troops.
The arrows unleashed in a devastating wave from the elves would take time to reach where she was, and it would be simple enough to step around them.
Baradgwend frowned as she finished the bloody circle. At least half a second had to have passed by, and there wasn¡¯t a single notification yet. Everyone was still up and moving, although there was some unfortunate friendly fire going on with the Exterreri forces. The [Warrior] built like a brick shithouse had chopped through the healer¡¯s neck, and was now in the process of ripping out her mauled heart.
Mortals.
None of them had fallen yet, and there wasn¡¯t a single notification. Notifications didn¡¯t take this long to come, and Baradgwend hopped over to the first warrior she¡¯d struck, pausing and peering closely.
There was still a bloody line on his neck, but a quick lick of her thumb and a cleaning revealed perfect, unblemished skin underneath. The same was true of the second warrior - in the picture of perfect health. Baradgwend stabbed both of them again with great enthusiasm, then dashed over to the weakest soldiers she¡¯d started with.
They were alright.
How!? The seasoned elites, maybe, but the rank and file!? She double-checked what [Assess] was telling her, seeing [Warrior - 175] returned. Baradgwend sliced him again, head to groin, splitting him apart and watching what happened closely.
It took eight of her heartbeats in the dramatically sped-up world before his flesh writhed and stitched itself back together. Disbelieving, Baradgwend sliced him up again, dicing him into ten thousand tiny pieces. Surely he couldn¡¯t come back from that.
The sky lit up as the thousands of thrown potions exploded in a cascade, some Lightning skill igniting the potions. Baradgwend ran through the line, her sword like an extension of her arm, flicking up and down to cut throats as quickly as possible.
This wasn¡¯t possible. This wasn¡¯t possible.
The phoenix exploded from the blood in glorious rainbow flames, a dozen burning meteors conjured around her, launched towards the elves. The troll was charging forwards, already halfway through. Baradgwend cut and cut and cut and cut, yet the notifications weren¡¯t coming. Bodies weren¡¯t falling. She looked around wildly, trying to find the source of the problem, and sucked in a cold breath.
Bane, slicing her head into pieces and stabbing her in the heart hadn¡¯t slowed the [Healer] down at all. Her head was back, whole and hale, and she looked none the worse for wear.
It wasn¡¯t a vulnerability curse then, and somehow she could survive her head being effectively disintegrated. Baradgwend rushed over to the command structure, and cut down all the officers one at a time, striking down the standard and throwing the [Legata¡¯s] head to the ground.
All in the memory of Lastril and Maidhel, who loved nothing more than to see a budding tree¡¯s leaf unfurl in the crisp spring. The three of them would rush out as winter¡¯s icy grasp started to fade, searching the endless forests with golden beams of light piercing the canopy. Waiting for the first delicate leaf to naturally bloom.
Baradgwend had been the one to find their bodies. Found them holding hands, even as they died. She kept their memory as she hacked down the command structure, jumping back to watch.
She cursed as a whole body regrew from the Legata¡¯s head, bark-capped boots stomping on her skull furiously to try and break her, kill her, do something.
Nothing was working. The elf screamed in rage and frustration.
Why wouldn¡¯t they just die!?
Baradgwend tried to run several soldiers through with a spear, keeping it in their body to make sure they died. The first attempt failed, the spear dissolving in her hands. The second time she kept ahold of the spear as she rammed it through some random [Scribe¡¯s] head, holding it there for a long eternity. Whatever was going on, ten feet of wood through a brain, reinforced by skills, should be enough to get a kill.
Her lips curled back in a snarl as the stolen weapon worked, refusing to dissolve or break. Baradgwend felt like an eternity was passing as she stood there, spear in head, simply waiting for the kill notification. It had to come eventually. The battle slowly raged around her, people making their first opening moves.
Baradgwend was turned the wrong way, her skill already used, and didn¡¯t see the beam of golden Radiance that burned through her skull.
It didn¡¯t instantly kill her, but there wasn¡¯t enough brain left to create a coherent thought before Black Crow fluttered to her right shoulder.
Chapter 576 - The Elaine
That had been close. Iona hadn¡¯t been kidding when she said the speedster had a good skill - I hadn¡¯t been able to track how fast they were moving or where they were for most of the fight. She¡¯d even dodged a Radiance beam, which was absurd.
Her sword had been coated with apple juice, among other things, and [Luminary Mind] was split into the full 20 parallel thought processes, and one of them inhaled slightly, sampling the scents in the air.
It was so overwhelming I had to shut down the entire thought process, only getting a glimpse at thousands upon thousands of subtle scents all blended together on the edge of the sword. What was that!?
Another thought process took up the mantle of research, quickly coming back with a number of different possibilities. One floated to the top - a potion known as Bane, designed to target curses like the one I had. Because there had to be that one [Alchemist] asshole who was like ¡®how do I kill as many people as possible and get a medal for it?¡¯
Well, shit. Good to know my secret wasn¡¯t out, that they hadn¡¯t come prepared with apples specifically to harm me. That would imply a huge information leak, up to the point of Arachne possibly betraying me. That wasn¡¯t the case - it was more that they¡¯d thrown the entire kitchen sink at me, and apples happened to be in it.
Thank the twin goddesses of the moons that Iona hadn¡¯t hesitated. We¡¯d practiced with my curse back in the School and had discovered a number of things. The most important one - if Iona re-did an injury done by apples, my healing could handle it. For example, if my finger was cut off by an apple blade, and Iona cut off my hand, my entire hand would regrow.
It was good Fenrir and her were around. With my biomancy improvements and vitality, I didn¡¯t think I could slice myself up anymore - my strength to vitality ratio was waaaaay off. My immunity to fire was great, except Auri couldn¡¯t burn over an apple injury to make it ¡®fresh¡¯ - I was immune. I could possibly fry myself with Radiance, given that I¡¯d dropped [Radiance Resistance], but that was chancy and dicey. My Radiance was a precision tool, but what was most needed with apple injuries was large brute force.
And Iona, without hesitation, without a moment of doubt, with complete faith and love in me, chopped off the injury on my neck, then put a hand through my heart to re-traumatize and let my healing take over.
To be fair - with how I¡¯d modified my blood, I could go quite a bit longer without one than a normal human.
I needed to look into getting a knife sharp enough or enchanted enough that even a child wielding it could slice through me. It would help prevent the issue if I got hit with a Bane potion again.
While parts of me were musing on how close I¡¯d come, yet again, to dying, and analyzing ways I could help prevent it again in the future, the rest of me was on the fight.
Katerina had been up to something. Get all the elves clustered together, get the Sixth very close to them, unleash the explosive alchemicals into them at point-blank range. It was a solid plan, if utterly treacherous, but all was fair in love and war. Artemis would heartily approve, and I hoped I¡¯d be able to tell her all about it. It had naturally devolved at this point to utter mayhem.
The men and women of the Sixth Legion, as brave, trained, drilled, and well-equipped as they were, couldn¡¯t match the might of the elves. The raw tyranny of stats and the initial arrangement of the soldiers meant the laughing horned Immortals were dancing around clumsy spear strikes, darting in with lethal strikes that did nothing.
I was keeping an eye on my mana, and apart from the pair of Radiance beams I¡¯d shot out, it was staying strong. The Sixth was standing tall as elves slowly fell. This was the fight the Legions had drilled for, this was the battle they¡¯d been shaped to fight.
A whistle pierced through the battle, just one more sound in the cacophony, and the two Rangers fell back to the command post, joining the rest of their team.
¡®Shield it or tank it¡¯ had been drilled into me from a young age, and I had a dozen thought processes and a powerful skill to back it up. Tiny tenebrous shields briefly popped into existence in the way of an arrow, rock, or spell, swallowing up the devastating projectile before vanishing, my attention snapping to another attack that I needed to handle.
It was honestly overwhelming. I didn¡¯t have ¡®track every strike in two small armies fighting¡¯ level awareness, nor was I able to multitask that well. [Persistent Casting] was doing the heavy lifting on my healing, the skill so much better than I ever anticipated when I picked it up.
Sentinel Invincible was as good as his title, brutally crushing through the ranks of the elves, swinging his axes in devastating strokes. Trolls plus sunlight was generally a terrible combination, and all of his capes had been ripped off by the speedster. A skill cut through the haze and gloom, letting sunlight reflect off Invincible''s adamantium armor. It didn¡¯t slow him down at all, and the tusked menace continued to tear through the elves, living up to his title of Invincible.
Fenrir was continuing to cast devastating swaths of Lightning and Ice through the ranks of the elves, and Auri continued her flaming bombardment. Iona was staying back though, probably to protect the vulnerable Fenrir while he was stuck on the ground. The Primus Pilus charged forward, meeting the octopus in a flurry of blows and getting pushed back.
I cast an approving eye over him. He was properly fighting like I was in support, going into a purely offensive mode while ignoring defense entirely. The octopus was shredding him - fighting style couldn¡¯t overcome the huge stat differential, plus it wasn¡¯t like we drilled fighting octopi, the slippery bastards - but he was being pinned down.
I debated pushing forwards and physically engaging with one of the weaker elves to tie them down, but hesitated. My role was here, in the back, keeping everyone alive. The mental effort needed to properly fight would be better used with [Event Horizon] eating projectiles, and kept more people safe. Not only that - putting myself right in the danger line was a poor decision - there were a thousand ways someone could-
A large swing caught my eye. One elf was using a wooden warhammer, bringing it down on a soldier¡¯s head. A sliced brain I could heal, but a crushed one was far more difficult to handle. [Event Horizon] wouldn¡¯t help too much, there was no way it wasn¡¯t vitality-reinforced. I fired off a beam of Radiance, choosing to aim for the handle of the hammer and burning through it instead. Cheaper on the mana than going directly for the kill, and the moment I ran out of mana this entire fight was going to get ugly.
The Decay Classer that had ruined Massa blurred in front of me, his hand reaching for my head. I threw myself backwards - while the vitality defense did a lot, hand contact could do more - and Iona tackled him a moment later, the two blurring as they fought.
Auri didn¡¯t need me to say anything, she filled the entire area where the two of them were fighting with a roar of white and black flames, cursed fire mingling with the hottest flames she could conjure.
A devastating strike from the skies shattered in the middle of Katerina¡¯s command circle. I took what should¡¯ve been a decapitating blow against our entire command structure and utterly negated it. The octopus Iced our entire half of the field, causing us to slip and slide, and everything not skill reinforced by the Legions suddenly shot upwards, dragging quite a few soldiers with them.
The elves weren¡¯t completely dumb. A pair of elves abducted a soldier and sprinted him several hundred meters away before trying to kill him. Joke was on them - my healing range was far longer than that, but they outstatted him so hard there wasn¡¯t anything he could do about it. The only thing I had for extensive mental trauma by being repeatedly ¡®killed¡¯ was ¡®That sucks, I know a few good [Mind Healers]. Want directions?¡¯
¡°Sixth, second line of potions, rolled.¡± Katerina ordered.
In good order, with years of trained discipline, the members of the Sixth unclipped and rolled a second set of potions towards the elf lines. Harder to see, and the octopus¡¯s Ice made them skitter and bounce across the field.
The first effort had failed due to the reflexes and skills on the other side of the battlefield. The lack of distractions, the fact that it was an opening blow. The second wave went better, but we were still being pushed back. The elves were focusing on destroying the Legion¡¯s weapons, defanging most of our fighters. Invincible was still carving a path through the elves, and Iona rose up in smoking victory, stomping down on the dead elf¡¯s skull.
The fact that Invincible was still going strong under sunlight had me puzzled for a moment, before I cracked a mental grin.
Smoke and mirrors. I didn¡¯t know which ones he was using or how it worked, but it was clear there were layers upon layers of deception going on. He¡¯d earned his title honestly.
The battle ebbed and flowed until the elves broke and ran.
They¡¯d been fighting for vengeance, while we¡¯d been fighting for survival.
A council was assembled again.
We were able to skip the funerals entirely, because there were no funerals. I was [The Arbiter of Life and Death], and I had decreed that nobody on our side should die.
The elves got stacked into a mass pyre that Auri casually lit, flash-flaming them away, but leaving a pile of weapons, armor, coins, and other trinkets they¡¯d been carrying. The loot promptly vanished into the Sixth¡¯s coffers.
I wanted to be in touch, so I attended the council meeting. I didn¡¯t want to be in it, but I didn¡¯t want to separate too hard from Iona. There was no telling when, I don¡¯t know, a tidal wave would crack Massa exactly in half and we¡¯d be on the wrong sides of it or something.
The infuriating thing about the meeting was it was happening at mortal speeds. The war was going on at Immortal speeds, people who could think and move faster than me were zipping around the globe, causing death and destruction. Multiple cities could be falling in the time it was taking us to discuss things, and never before had I so keenly wished for a [Dictator] to simply issue orders and make things happen. Usually a terrible system of governance, there was a time and a place for decisive leadership and orders, and a time and a place for slow discussion.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
It was probably a good thing I wasn¡¯t the boss or vaguely in charge. Dictators had the nasty habit of not stepping down, and then it all went to shit.
¡°... we pay taxes, we expect the Legions to protect us!¡± One of the [Guild Masters] slammed his fist onto the table. ¡°Yet the city is twice destroyed in the span of a week! How can we possibly¡¡±
I was reviewing my notifications at the same time I was listening. Go go [Luminary Mind]!
[*ding!* [Seraph of the Dawn] leveled up! 948-> 982. +512 Speed, +512 Vitality, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration, +1024 Magic Power, +1024 Magic Control per level from your class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Strength +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]
Blah. One downside of [Seraph of the Dawn] being such a ¡®broad¡¯ class that wanted to explore and learn, and was fine with fighting, was there was no ¡®extra¡¯ potency to the situation. Unlike [The Arbiter of Life and Death], which got an extra large boost when I was acting as a Sentinel, [Seraph] didn¡¯t get any such bonuses.
At the same time, there were a few hundred ¡®your army has slain¡¡¯ notifications. I¡¯d gotten credit for every kill, the System considering the entire army as participating in the battle. That, and I split experience in half with Auri - and she split her experience in half with me. Given how many fireballs and meteor strikes she¡¯d been throwing around, I wasn¡¯t too surprised.
It also helped with my other class leveling up.
[*ding!* [Sage of Tomes] has leveled up! 840-> 909. +1500 Magic Power, +1500 Magic Control, +700 Mana, +700 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Magic Power from your Element per level!]
That was a nice number of levels, [Endless Pursuit of Knowledge] pulling its weight.
[*ding!* [Etheric Aegis] leveled up! 525 -> 526]
Kinda needed to get hit to level [Aegis] up. While it hadn¡¯t been a huge winner this fight, there was no telling when it would be. If it hadn¡¯t been for that damn speedster removing my helmet, it would¡¯ve done so much more.
[*ding!* [Event Horizon] leveled up! 842-> 860]
I was happy with it.
¡°Iona.¡± I muttered quietly out of the corner of my mouth. ¡°Do you think you can grasp what¡¯s needed here at the meeting while I class up?¡±
¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri immediately threw a flaming salute at me, letting me know she was ready and willing to do WHATEVER NEEDED TO BE DONE! Her trumpeting cry had, of course, cut through the entire meeting. Iona¡¯s lips quirked in barely-contained amusement as half the heads turned towards us, the [Guild Master¡¯s] tirade cut short.
¡°Go.¡± She encouraged me. I needed no urging to flee from the meeting, dropping into the world of my soul.
The last thing I saw were a dozen lights appearing around Auri, my little pyromaniac deciding she needed to class up as well.
Librarian was there, dressed from head to toe in the armor of a Sentinel, shield on her back and sword at her hip. It was a shame that I needed to perform the fastest classup ever.
¡°I¡¯d like [The Elaine], unless a dramatically better offering is available.¡± I was fairly certain there wasn¡¯t a better offering. I¡¯d capped out the quality a healer class could give me - there was no better.
In theory.
In practice, who knew?
Librarian¡¯s hands shimmered, and a star-studded book appeared in her hands, [The Elaine] written on the cover. I flicked it open to confirm no ugly surprises were about to fuck me.
There was a famous play about not looking closely at a class choice, and I didn¡¯t feel like ending up as its second act.
[The Elaine] - Celestial - The Healer. The Mother of Modern Medicine. The author of the Medical Manuscripts. Daughter. Friend. Lover. Wife. Bonded to a phoenix, friend to the vampire progenitor, born in ancient Remus and foe to the fae. All these titles and a thousand more are yours, by right of birth and virtue, by action and deeds. Claim the mantle, claim the word that is now more than a name, and become [The Elaine]. +200 Strength, +200 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +4,000 Magic Power, +4,000 Magic Control, +2,000 Mana, +10,000 Mana Regeneration per level.
I skimmed the table of contents and the first three pages before snapping it shut.
¡°I¡¯ll take it.¡± I confirmed, smiling sadly at Librarian. ¡°Hopefully next time I can spend more time here.¡±
She smiled with a tear in her eye and shooed me off.
¡°Go. People need us.¡± She said.
I woke up a moment later.
I came alert in a dusty and dark room, Iona holding vigil with Auri being the sole light source. A wet mask was over my face, and I started to wrinkle my nose until I became aware of just how much dust and ash was in the air. I canceled the notifications, already feeling like I could do so much more.
¡°Shit.¡± I swore. ¡°How long have I been down?¡±
¡°Half a day, sun¡¯s just going down.¡± Iona said. ¡°Everyone¡¯s alright enough. Katerina and the [Governor] got round to convincing everyone else of what has to be done.¡±
Those words seemed to age Iona three decades. I¡¯d never seen my lover look so old, so frail.
¡°What has to be done?¡± I softly asked.
¡°Full scale evacuation of everyone. Distribution of land and settling. Reforging of spears and swords into plowshares and farming equipment. A light network of roads to connect everyone.¡±
It sounded pretty good to me, which meant I was missing quite a lot.
¡°What am I missing?¡± I asked.
¡°It¡¯s midsummer. Most of the crops should¡¯ve been planted already. Most of the people don¡¯t know one lick of farming. There¡¯s going to be people assigned to utterly infertile or destroyed areas that don¡¯t have a chance. The haze is going to strangle the new shoots in the cradle. Fights over desirable places to live and farm are inevitable, and there won¡¯t be the Legions or really anyone else enforcing any sort of law and order. Monsters are already disturbed from their lair, their homes gone, and will more than welcome fresh meat delivering itself to their jaws. Trees need to be cut down and land tilled before seeds can even get into the ground. It¡¯s going to be really bad. And that¡¯s the best case scenario.¡±
I closed my eyes and imagined it, shuddering as the images played before my eyes.
¡°Bad.¡± I agreed, chewing over a few different scenarios and seeing them all play out worse. ¡°I imagine riots are one of the biggest things we¡¯re worried about?¡±
¡°And all those entail, aye.¡± Iona easily agreed. ¡°An aspect less known. The Sixth is planning on marching a hundred miles away to a river, then setting up a fortified encampment. Enclose off hundreds of acres of farmland, use it to live. Somewhere between a large village and a small town, Katerina¡¯s gambling that established structure and law and order can let them begin farming on a large scale, with fewer worries. Bring in most of the camp followers, and let the pretend city that is a Legion encampment turn into a real one.¡±
I could see the shape of it. I was both surprised and not. One of the old, old contingency orders for a ¡®Lost Legion¡¯ was to settle down, build a town, and make a go of simply surviving. I¡¯d encountered the contingency in the Han Empire, but never expected for it to be triggered in the heartland of Exterreri.
It made sense, in a terrible way. ¡®Best we can do now is survive and wait¡¯. I suppose there was a reason that contingency existed, and it wasn¡¯t because of how often Legions went roaming in hostile territory. It felt a little early in some respects, but if everyone was staring down the barrel of starvation, we couldn¡¯t afford to have idle hands not working in agriculture. Exterreri¡¯s tradition of the farmer-soldier, and most soldiers looking to retire on a farm after their service was paying dividends again, a long-looking policy bearing fruit again.
Pun intended.
¡°Trying to organize the entire town into similarly sized groups wouldn¡¯t work, would it?¡± I asked the Valkyrie. Iona sadly shook her blonde hair.
¡°No, there isn¡¯t the time or the food reserves. Whatever that elf did ripped through the city. He wasn¡¯t kidding when he called it a death knell. Anyone wanting to stay and scavenge here is simply going to starve.¡±
My mind flashed to the library, a mental scream at the endless troves of books that had probably rotted away, destroyed forevermore. I put the feeling aside.
¡°What do you want to do?¡± I asked her. I had my own thoughts, but Iona seemed especially torn up about the current situation. It was a direct blow at the letter of her [Vow] - to share her bread with people who had none.
¡°The way I see it, we¡¯ve got a few options.¡± Iona turned a little more business-like, a flame igniting in her green eyes once again. She straightened up, shedding the weight that had been bending her back.
¡°I think it goes without saying that first, we need to continue to participate. I was able to do so much in Ephesus, I can¡¯t see us ducking out. We need to move, to travel, to help wherever we can. Save lives where we can, shield people from all this Immortal nonsense being thrown around.¡±
The sudden venom in Iona¡¯s voice caught me off-guard. I¡¯d just about gotten her round on the idea of being Immortal herself. It had been quietly and tacitly understood that she¡¯d be with me for the long haul, that it was the only way she could fight Lun¡¯Kat as her patron goddesses wanted.
The Immortal war felt like it was undoing a large chunk of that progress, the worst of the worst Immortals could do coming in full display. A problem for another day.
¡°Yeah, of course.¡± I easily agreed. ¡°Do we want a base of operations, or to fully free roam?¡±
¡°Well, let¡¯s discuss that. Pros and cons on both sides. Fully roaming has benefits. We¡¯re not tied down, we can do long trips. People aren¡¯t counting on us at a particular location. We can go wherever we think we¡¯re needed, no pressure points. We don¡¯t strip any one area by foraging too much.¡±
The arguments felt weak to me, but I let Iona continue.
¡°As for settling down, we¡¯ve got quite a few options. First. We continue with the Sixth. Katerina¡¯s explicitly extended an invitation and generous terms for us. Second. We double back to Orthus village and the bunker there. The Valkyries know the region as a headquarters, and our friends will look for us there. Third, we try to find a large settlement that needs our help, and bounce around the area. Maximize the number of people we return to by default. Fourth, we look for a place in Rolland, Lithos, or some other mortal nation that could possibly need us more than an Immortal nation does. There¡¯s something to be said for defending those without defenders, although admittedly, the mortals in Immortal nations are probably feeling the hammer harder than mortals.¡±
¡°Brrrpt!!¡± Auri pointed out the Northern Continent was an entirely valid place to base out of as well. ¡°Brrpt.¡± As well as trying to hitch a ride on the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft.
¡°It¡¯s got to be Orthus.¡± I said. ¡°The School¡¯s a good idea, but with it always traveling, it¡¯ll be hard to get to it when we want. I¡¯ve got a decade of travel maps in [The Library of Infinite Wonder], but there will be extended times we can¡¯t get there. Similarly with the North, the Wardens won¡¯t appreciate us, and it would be difficult to cross the ocean to actually help people. I¡¯m a War Sentinel of the Sixth, but more explicitly, I¡¯m a Sentinel of Exterreri. Everyone. Katerina sounds like she¡¯s starting a town, and that¡¯s great, but at that point, they¡¯re no longer actively going out and trying to fight invading armies, not that we seem to have any here. I¡¯m not a pocket healer for a single town, I¡¯m a Sentinel of a nation. There¡¯s no sense in me making sure a bunch of farmers are all set, not with the Optio lines Katerina¡¯s got. My talents and ability to save people are wasted there. At which point, it becomes a question of where do we think we can do the most good, or, on a smaller level, where we want to stay. We can¡¯t just ignore it all. If I wanted to ignore everything, I could just go into [Tower of Knowledge] and wait everything out.¡±
¡°Brrrpt¡¡± Auri protested. She hadn¡¯t meant it like that.
¡°Nina, Amber, and everyone else is going to be looking for us.¡± I said. ¡°They¡¯ll never find us if we go to where the Sixth is planning on settling in. Becoming a needle in the haystack won¡¯t get us our friends, and I refuse to believe they¡¯ll die to something so mundane. Skye, Titania, and everyone else is in Orthus. I¡¯m really not sure how it¡¯s a discussion?¡± I said.
Iona shot me a brisk nod.
¡°I just wanted to make sure all our cards and options were out on the table. There was a slim chance you would want to stay with the Sixth instead.¡±
I shook my head. My loyalties were torn, and yet, the solution looked crystal clear to me.
¡°No no, I can simply come by now and then. It can be one of the first surviving towns we swing by. Plus, with so many people in the area, in need of a monster slayer and arbiter of justice - isn¡¯t that exactly what a Valkyrie is for?¡±
Iona looked far too pleased at that.
¡°Yes. Your eyes haven¡¯t flickered at all, have you checked your notifications from classing up yet?¡±
I hadn¡¯t, wanting to keep my full focus on Iona. I pulled them up.
[*ding!* [The Arbiter of Life and Death - Celestial] has evolved into [The Elaine - Celestial]]
[*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1024->1266 +200 Strength, +200 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +2000 Mana, +10000 Mana Regen, +4000 Magic Power, +4000 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]
[*ding!* [The Stars Never Fade] has upgraded to [A Drop of Eternity in a Sea of Starlight]!]
[*ding!* [Aurora Curialis] has upgraded to [Domain of the Healer]!]
[*ding!* [Etheric Aegis] has upgraded to [Clad in Twilight]!]
[*ding!* [Event Horizon] has upgraded to [The Mantle of Dusk and Dawn]!]
[*ding!* [Zenith Everlasting] has upgraded to [Elaine Eternal]!]
Chapter 577 - Exodus I
I had a million things to do, and extremely limited time.
¡°Let¡¯s go talk with Katerina.¡± I split my mind again into several processes, doing a dozen different things at once.
The ¡®simplest¡¯ one was designing multiple spells that could help handle all this ash and smoke in the air. We were all breathing through masks - a perfectly serviceable solution - but if this state of affairs were to persist, I wanted a dozen different solutions. Hopefully I wouldn¡¯t need them, but I¡¯d done my reading. I knew how long ash and smoke could linger from a large wildfire, and it seemed like this was one to dwarf them all.
The next part the still-named [Luminary Mind] focused on were the details of all the new skills. I hadn¡¯t read them all in-depth in the world of my soul, and given how my ¡®as quickly as possible¡¯ class up had turned into half a day, I was glad I hadn¡¯t tried. I¡¯d probably still be out of it even now.
A Drop of Eternity in a Sea of Starlight: Immortality skill. Turn back the hourglass of time, then shatter it.
Oh nice! I was more than familiar with my skill at this point, and the upgrade strongly implied that people would stop aging as well as becoming younger. No more would they still need to seek out their own Immortality skill, or find further ways to fend off White Dove.
Also¡ I could totally turn someone into a child, then they¡¯d be stuck there. Something to keep in my back pocket if I was ever being extorted heavily over it.
Domain of the Healer: Rapid regeneration of everyone in range. All who cry out your name in request of succor will find your touch lands upon them. -32,752 mana regeneration.
Oh hey! The ¡®call my name¡¯ skill got merged into my healing aura! On one hand, there was a strong ¡®educate people on what they needed to do to make it work¡¯ aspect, on the other, my name was literally healer. Anyone who called out for a healer would miraculously find their prayer granted.
Just as long as they didn¡¯t call for a medic, doctor, or nurse though. They¡¯d be plain out of luck.
Goddess. How weird was it that this made complete and total sense to me!? No more questioning it, no more finding it weird, just complete and total ¡®yup, that¡¯s exactly the way it should be¡¯. I was finding the acceptance odd, not the phenomenon.
Clad in Twilight: Harness the ethereal essence of twilight, the fleeting moment between day and night, to reinforce your gear. -8192 mana regeneration.
The ¡®low¡¯ - and how far I¡¯d come that 8000 was low - mana regeneration indicated that this wasn¡¯t the strongest of armor skills. Such was life - simply being able to reinforce my gear and prevent hostile Classers from directly manipulating it was enough for me, and the real bonus was my vitality being added, not from the skill itself.
The Mantle of Dusk and Dawn: Dawn and dusk. Protection and destruction. Aegis and shield. A flipping coin, one side of absolute void and the other shining with the brilliance of every star in the sky. Shield and protect with both, granting succor to all those who wish to shelter in your broad shadow. -131,008 mana regeneration.
That was a terrible skill description, and I¡¯d have to do extensive testing to see what, exactly, it meant. It wasn¡¯t like skills came with a second set of instincts that automatically let me know exactly how to use it and what it did.
A tiny, childish part of me was squeeing with joy that I might have both types of shields - the protective starry mantle that I¡¯d had when I was young, and the destructive [Event Horizon] skill I¡¯d eventually evolved it into.
Elaine Eternal: Neither exhaustion, weariness or fatigue, nor gloom of night, can keep you from swift completion of your duty. -512 mana regeneration.
There was a slim part of me that hoped it would merge into my domain skill. The overlap was there - but I was in no position to start to try and figure out a brand new skill.
Iona and I didn¡¯t bother being subtle about moving through the city. We went to the rooftops and sprinted over to where Katerina and the rest of her command structure was located.
The dragoneye moons were rising in their full crimson glory, an ominous nimbus radiating off them. Lun¡¯kat was in a bad mood, and letting the world know about it.
The moons weren¡¯t supposed to be full tonight.
The city was in bad shape.
When the first city-destroying strike had hit Massa, it had shaken but not fallen. People were still looking out for one another, lending a helping hand. The community came together in face of the disaster, pooled their resources, and did their level best to help each other.
Oh, sure, there were pricks the world over, and I wouldn¡¯t pretend Massa or even Exterreri were any different. Selfish hoarders who wouldn¡¯t lift a finger to help their neighbors, criminals taking advantage of the chaos, and low lifes who took the moment to take advantage of people.
Even¡ even adventurers tended to only be lowlifes who took advantage of people when they could about half the time. When adventurers had the moral advantage, it was bad.
The second hit, the Decay elf rippling caustic destruction through the city, was more than the fine citizens of Massa could tolerate. No longer were they lending a helping hand to their neighbor, sharing what little they had. The very real possibility of starvation was rearing its ugly head as the news that almost all food had been rotted away ripped through the city like wildfire.
Whoever said civilization was only three meals away from collapse got it wrong. It was an overestimate - the cracks were rapidly expanding at one missed meal, and it was all going to go to hell by the second one. The guard was gone, probably gone home to their families. What was the point of maintaining law and order if that simply resulted in starvation? Already the seeds of various riots were forming, and full centuries of steel-clad [Legionaries] hustled down the streets to break them up.
¡°This is going to get bad.¡± I said.
¡°Brrpt.¡± Auri agreed. ¡°... Brrrrrpt?¡±
Iona eyed the walls.
¡°Burning the walls down might unironically help the situation if you can do it in a controlled way.¡± She said. ¡°You¡¯d be causing a panic, and I assume you can not burn people out or suck out all their air, but preventing people from getting trapped would be a boon.¡±
¡°If Katerina agrees, sure.¡± I said. Fenrir snorted doubtfully at the whole thing, but didn¡¯t comment. Auri started to burn brighter in her excitement, but wasn¡¯t quite able to zip around me - we were going too quickly.
Iona and I hammered out what I was going to say to Katerina and how we were going to frame things.
She groaned at my initial presentation. I had a whole speech about Sentinels being for all the people of Exterreri, not just the Sixth. It followed all the rules in my big book of social rules! I double checked! I imagined she¡¯d break out some mention of ¡®abandoning us in our hour of need¡¯ or something.
¡°No, no, that¡¯s way too blunt. You can¡¯t tell her that in front of everyone! The Sixth will end up deserting! She¡¯ll have to try to arrest you, we all know how well that will work. Here, let¡¯s do it like this.¡± My wife suggested.
We arrived at the bristling wall of shields and spears that was Katerina¡¯s headquarters, a large number of citizens muttering darkly out of reach of the weapons. Torches were held high for light, and I¡¯d be surprised if there were no confrontations. Everyone¡¯s hair was going white under the relentless ashfall, and one of the civilians was busy scooping out ashes from the top of an open rain barrel.
We strode in like we owned the place.
¡°Dawn. Excellent. We¡¯re hoping to move out tonight.¡± Katerina said without preamble. I saluted, hyper-aware that it might be the last time I ever saluted.
¡°Legata. We¡¯re happy to join the Sixth out to their final destination, but after that point, my team¡¯s going back to Sanguino to evaluate the situation, and possibly bring back news from High Command or the Senate. There¡¯s a chance we will be basing ourselves near Sanguino, and continue to act as War Sentinel for the Sixth, or the founded town.¡±
Perfect! Hit all the points Iona suggested. Phrased it as ¡®we¡¯re doing this for the Sixth¡¯, while still clearly communicating ¡®we¡¯re breaking off¡¯.
Legata Katerina shot us the stink-eye, and Leona, the second-in-command, made a noise of visible disgust. Fenrir¡¯s hackles went up, the shrunken wyvern curled around Iona¡¯s shoulders like a scaled scarf.
¡°Good. None of the scouts we¡¯ve sent towards Sanguino have returned, and at this point I suspect foul play.¡± Katerina¡¯s response came a few seconds later. ¡°Fenrir being based out of Sanguino will relieve our logistics. We plan to march out of here at midnight, and do a forced march all the way.¡±
Whoof, that was going to be rough.
¡°Dismissed.¡± Katerina said.
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
I saluted again and left the tent.
¡°Let¡¯s see what we can do.¡± Iona suggested, and I was all for it.
¡°Brrrpt¡¡± Auri was a little sad that she hadn¡¯t been able to talk with Katerina about Operation: BURN IT ALL, and I shrugged.
¡°Why don¡¯t you carefully make a number of gates in the wall?¡± I suggested. ¡°You don¡¯t get to burn everything, but clearly marking what¡¯s going on and keeping the flames contained should manage to get it done.¡±
Iona nodded.
¡°Take Fenrir with you. If something happens, Elaine, light up with your skill. Fenrir, get large and throw Lightning around. Understood?¡±
I had a nostalgic flashback to my time as a Ranger, where we had to go around in pairs.
Iona and I took off, both of us able to fly with skills, and we kept a half-eye on Auri and Fenrir as the two worked on reconfiguring the walls, so to speak. The mask across my face reminded me again of the eternally falling ashes, and what it heralded was enough to make me shudder.
In the end, I doubted it would be Immortals fighting each other that would kill the most people. Starvation would do that. A single season of poor light conditions could be enough to starve a large portion of the population, nevermind if it went on for several years. Stats and skills could only do so much against such an all-encompassing enemy.
At the same time, another aspect of Exterreri¡¯s brilliance glimmered through. By shadowing the major cities in Ash - presumably for the vampires - people got used to living in the shade. Got and developed skills for handling it. Those skills would serve people well in the coming months or years.
The sky briefly turned to Lightning from horizon to horizon, and Iona and I both braced ourselves before a bone-rattling shockwave passed over and through us. It was ¡®only¡¯ a loud boom, a tertiary effect of a battle between two Immortals, and we looked down in silent unison as it rattled Massa.
A great cry of surprise went up at the sudden Lightning, but everything that could be rattled loose already had been. It was a reminder that there was a war going on, one that maybe Iona and I could participate in, but most of the people here had no power to do anything but put their heads down and try to survive.
I half expected a riot to break out, but after seeing the sky wasn¡¯t going to literally fall on their heads, people started to move.
No level. Drat. No wait, good, nobody got hurt.
¡°Let¡¯s go there.¡± Iona pointed out a knot of people. Several were loading up a cart with furniture, but they were callously blocking the entire narrow road as they did, which was causing problems.
¡°Sure.¡± I agreed, the two of us diving down.
My mana wasn¡¯t flickering at all, and my healing was set to maximum range and ability. I needed to check and see if my range had increased significantly. It went without a question that it had gone up, the only question was ¡®how much¡¯.
Iona landed near the cart, and I remained hovering overhead, [A Light Shining in the Darkness], six wings splayed out. I remembered the halo effect the skill had, and I flicked it on, an intimidating, yet reassuring presence.
The angel of mercy is paying attention, but is here for YOU.
With a half-dozen words, Iona had calmed people down, and she single-handedly lifted the filled cart up over her head, keeping everything perfectly balanced. People surged around her as the Valkyrie used [Telekinesis] to float the rest of the family¡¯s supplies up into the cart, rapidly loading it up.
Several people approached Iona.
¡°Pardon me miss Sentinel,¡± One of the middle-aged ladies said. I wanted to facepalm¡ but Iona was wearing my sigil, and it wasn¡¯t utter insanity to get it wrong, especially this far from the heart of Sanguino. ¡°Is there a chance you could give me a hand? My husband, bless his soul, passed a few years ago, and these old bones aren¡¯t what they used to be.¡±
By the stricken look on Iona¡¯s face, and the eager looks of the people around her, waiting for an answer, I knew what her answer would be.
¡°Of course, give me a minute to finish here and I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡± She said.
Goddesses. I loved her generous heart so much. Even though it was digging us into a hole, I couldn¡¯t say a thing. My [Oath] had dug us into endless holes, and I was more than willing to participate here.
Person after person, cart after bag, Iona and I did whatever we could, helped however we could reach a hand out. With the number of tears being shed over empty pantries, I was feeling extremely guilty over the massive stash of food stored away in my [Tower], and with the looks Iona was not so subtly shooting my way, I knew she was thinking about it as well.
It was an agonizing decision.
¡°The library! Give me a quick moment.¡± I dove down, Iona close behind me. I didn¡¯t bother knocking, I just tore through the building, searching for any books.
To my great displeasure, quite a few books were being turned into kindling, and uniformly had been hit with the Decay skill. There were no books worth preserving, and I supposed kindling was the best thing they could be at this point.
I mean, technically, I could grab as many as possible and hope I encountered someone with exactly the right skills one day to undo the damage on them, but the shot was long and as much as I hated to admit it, I had better things to do.
¡°Hey, look what¡¯s going on there.¡± I pointed out a high-level vampire [Smith - 1121] with a long line of people. The crowd was starting to look a little unhappy, and only the vampire¡¯s level and the innate violence promised by his species was keeping them off him.
Iona nodded and the two of us landed near the vampire.
¡°Nope.¡± He said, gesturing the next person forward.
¡°Crowd control.¡± Iona immediately retorted. The vampire paused a moment, eyes flickering over our uniforms and badges.
¡°Sentinel.¡± He scrambled to his feet and saluted. ¡°I¡¯d be honored to have you and your team on crowd control, but are you sure this is the best use of your time?¡±
¡°It¡¯s not, but I¡¯m going to stick around while Iona here grabs a line to take over.¡± I twitched my head in the direction Katerina was in.
¡°Just as long as you¡¯re not trying to cut the line.¡± The vampire refocused on the woman who¡¯d stepped forward with a half-dozen pots stacked in her hands. He gestured to a wide variety of tools on his walls. ¡°Tell me which ones you¡¯d like.¡±
¡°Hatchet. Saw. Sickle. Hoe.¡± She said. The vampire frowned, clicking his tongue.
¡°You don¡¯t have enough metal for all that, and no stick for a hoe.¡± He said. ¡°I can do the other three. Do you have a spare pot? Losing your last one is a fatal mistake.¡±
The woman hesitated, the answer clear.
¡°No, these are all of them.¡±
The vampire hummed a moment, and the pots transformed. The metal flowed like a liquid, rapidly reassembling themselves into new shapes.
I wasn¡¯t an expert on tool creation, but to my modest eye, each tool he¡¯d just made looked exactly custom-fitted to the lady, up to a grip designed explicitly for her hands. He waved her off, calling the next person forward.
I didn¡¯t know his name, but I thought he was on track to save more lives in the coming years by this single night of work than I had when the explosion had rocked Massa. Keeping him up and working seemed like it was worth more than running around and helping random people - and that¡¯s what the line or two I¡¯d sent Iona off to get would hopefully accomplish.
Katerina might be sour on our presence right now, but she was no idiot. While I hovered intimidatingly, a clear message of ¡®fuck around and find out¡¯, I let [Luminary Mind] work through the ethics of the food question.
The easy, level 1 analysis was to ¡®just do it¡¯. People were hungry. I had food. They didn¡¯t. Easy enough to give them what I had, stave off hunger another day.
When I started going deeper, it wasn¡¯t that simple. It was like my old problem in Perinthus. I had a limited, life-saving resource. What was the best way to distribute it to do the most good?
I was ignoring the cost to teleport in and out of my [Tower]. Gone were the days where I needed to channel to get in, and the days of needing to be judicious of my use of teleporting in and out of it were pretty much over. Both [The Arbiter of Life and Death] and [The Elaine] had focused hard on mana regeneration, and while I couldn¡¯t endlessly flicker in and out, I was confident in my ability to haul everything out if needed.
The question became - would it do any good here? The lady who just left, who was trekking out on her own with a backpack, minimum relevant skills, a new set of tools and the bare bones of a plan - was she the best person to throw three meals at? The young couple, both of them at 128, were a good bet, but what about the old [Mage]? Could he hack it, would his skills and levels give him an edge, would he turn out to be the protector of a small village, or have a heart attack within the week?
Actually - that was an idea. Fuck selling Immortality, [A Drop of Eternity in a Sea of Starlight] was off cooldown, and it was unknown if it even had a cooldown anymore. I give it to an aged Classer, give them a second lease on life, and a strong chance for whatever community they were a part of. If the skill had no cooldown, I could hand it out like candy, improving everyone¡¯s odds.
The third level of analysis centered around distribution. If I started chucking loaves of bread out here? Riot, fights, and the good work the [Smith] was doing utterly ruined. Distribution was tricky, and when it came to be that it was ¡®There¡¯s a hyper limited quantity, the Sentinel is judging if you get anything or not¡¯, that caused its own massive can of worms. The title of Sentinel had weight, it had lasted literally all of the Immortal wars and throughout history, I¡¯d be torching our reputation in an evening with nothing to show for it.
Then there was the question of ¡®wait, what about later?¡¯
If I gave away all my food now, Iona would be over the moons with my actions. It¡¯d be a little less impressive next week, when we¡¯d struck out for Orthus Village and our bowls were empty. It¡¯d be even worse if we got there and their food stores had been burned or decayed. It was a little selfish, but I¡¯d rather look after the people I¡¯d known over the last few decades than complete strangers.
Did my [Oath] come into play with this logic? Was letting people starve acceptable?
¡ it was a narrow yes, and I suspected a short conversation with Iona would push my understanding of the spirit of [Oath] to say no, I had to do everything I could.
There was no good answer, and I wanted to give away what I had. To freely throw food into the crowd, to host a great banquet with tables creaking with food, to use a dozen cauldrons and Auri to cook soup for the entire city. I didn¡¯t have to help and feed people, I wanted to. Only the knowledge that I¡¯d cause a riot and a half stayed my hand, the knowledge that I¡¯d cause more harm than good by my actions.
When we got out of here, when we saw the thousand trickles of life dispersing across the countryside, then I might turn into the magic food fairy.
Iona soon returned with two whole lines of [Legionaries] hustling behind her, a [Centurion] heading up the whole operation. The rows of gleaming spears and polished helmets, along with my prior ruminations, added a final aspect to my analysis, the reason I was utterly unconcerned with the Legion and their food supply.
Men with spears never starved.
|
[Name: Elaine]
|
|
[Race: Chimera (Elvenoid)]
|
|
[Age: 112]
|
|
[Mana: 15,541,730/15,541,730]
|
|
[Mana Regeneration: 52,526,131 +(165,273,822)]
|
| |
|
Stats
|
|
[Free Stats: 0]
|
|
[Strength: 135,674 (Effectively: 1,085,392)]
|
|
[Dexterity: 160,008 (Effectively: 1,703,765)]
|
|
[Vitality: 566,922 (Effectively: 8,858,156)]
|
|
[Speed: 554,154 (Effectively: 10,907,413)]
|
|
[Mana: 1,554,173]
|
|
[Mana Regeneration: 5,537,971 (+ 16,527,382)]
|
|
[Magic Power: 2,283,963 (+ 144,574,858)]
|
|
[Magic Control: 2,282,950 (+ 144,510,735)]
|
| |
|
[Class 1: [The Elaine- Celestial: Lv 1266]]
|
|
[Celestial Spirit: 1266]
|
|
[Domain of the Healer: 1266]
|
|
[A Drop of Eternity in a Sea of Starlight: 558]
|
|
[Luminary Mind: 1266]
|
|
[Universal Cure: 1266]
|
|
[Clad in Twilight: 513]
|
|
[The Mantle of Dusk and Dawn: 860]
|
|
[Elaine Eternal: 1266]
|
| |
|
[Class 2: [Seraph of the Dawn - Radiance: Lv 982]]
|
|
[Radiance Mastery: 982]
|
|
[A Light Shining in the Darkness: 851]
|
|
[The Rays of the First Dawn: 982]
|
|
[Radiant Angel''s Spear of Obliteration: 430]
|
|
[Celestial Dew: 982]
|
|
[Sunrise Halo: 982]
|
|
[Wings of the Seraphim: 982]
|
|
[Six Wings, Six Million Feathers: 982]
|
| |
|
[Class 3: [Sage of Tomes - Spatial: Lv 909]]
|
|
[Spatial Authority: 909]
|
|
[Scripture Savant: 909]
|
|
[Teleportation: 840]
|
|
[The Library of Infinite Wonder: 909]
|
|
[Tower of Knowledge: 434]
|
|
[Reality, Writ As You Will: 701]
|
|
[Astral Archives: 909]
|
|
[Endless Pursuit of Knowledge: 909]
|
| |
|
General Skills
|
|
[Long-Range Identify: 624]
|
|
[Dexterous and Handy: 500]
|
|
[Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 1266]
|
|
[The World Around Me: 533]
|
|
[Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 1266]
|
|
[Sentinel''s Superiority: 1266]
|
|
[Persistent Casting: 1266]
|
|
[Tender Gardening: 627]
|
Chapter 578 - Exodus II
The street went dark around us, the pitch darkness of the deepest void wrapping itself around us like a lover.
A single mote of light appeared high up in the sky, rapidly expanding into a single drop of raw starlight. It fell down towards me, landing right in front of me. It was eaten up by the void, the fabric of space ¡®rippling¡¯ where the drop fell, reverberating around us.
Like a popping flame shooting out sparks, a thousand, a million, a billion stars slowly lit up around us, bathing us in many-colored starlight. Yellows and oranges, reds and blues, blazing whites and rare greens, all of them shone brightly around us.
I flinched as one moved past my eyes, and the newfound perspective let me see what was going on.
All the stars were converging on the point right in front of me. My target of [A Drop of Starlight in a Sea of Eternity] was being rejuvenated by a billion stars cascading into their body.
One by one, faster and faster, the stars swarmed into her body. She couldn¡¯t contain or hold all the starlight, and it started to leak out of her. First her eyes, then her mouth, then her skin cracked and flaked, revealing the blazing lights underneath. She glowed like a person-shaped star, then slowly transformed in front of our eyes, going from an elderly great-grandmother, down to a middle-aged woman.
It was the age she felt most comfortable at, that she wanted to stay at forever.
The burning light slowly faded away, the rest of the world returning around us. Most of the street had stopped and stared at us and the informal ceremony that had just occurred, and a moment later White Dove fluttered onto my unoccupied shoulder. She nodded to Auri.
¡°Cousin.¡± She acknowledged, before giving me the traditional stink-eye. I grinned like the unrepentant reprobate that I was. I¡¯d given away Immortality to hundreds of people, and if I had the chance, I¡¯d give it away to thousands more. I didn¡¯t dare say or suggest that White Dove had done her worst to me - it was always a poor idea to provoke the literal grim reaper - but I wasn¡¯t going to be stopped or cowed. I was going to hold my head up high, proud of my work and what I was doing.
There was a difference between that, and yanking her tail feathers though. I did want to offer her an apple with a shit-eating grin though.
¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri was happy to see White Dove, but it wasn¡¯t exactly the time or place for a reunion.
¡°And you.¡± White Dove eyed the woman with ire. ¡°Cincia Livigena. [The First Class]. [My Second Class].¡±
White Dove paused for a moment. I didn¡¯t blame her, I¡¯d done a whole ¡®who¡¯s on first¡¯ bit with Iona when she¡¯d tried to tell me what the classes were. In short- a pair of omni-jack of all trades classes that let the woman be solid at anything she tried to do, if not fantastic. We had to remind ourselves that level 400 was still a strong Classer. It wasn¡¯t like we had infinite time to find the PERFECT person to bestow Immortality on.
¡°I curse you to haunt this city forevermore. You will roam these streets, unable to pass the walls into the great outdoors. No more will you see open fields, no more will you feel wild grass beneath your feet. Your friends are only those who stay here, and you will be barred from visiting any family that should move away.¡±
She smirked, in an impossible way that no dove could manage, only Dove herself.
¡°Forever¡ can be such a short time.¡±
With a twist of her wings upon herself, White Dove vanished, off to continue reaping the hundreds of millions of lives that were currently dying in the Immortal War.
Livigena looked stricken, and the performance we¡¯d just put on had halted all activity in several streets, as people stopped to stare at the performance. [A Drop of Starlight in a Sea of Eternity] had been a little more dramatic and a little larger than I¡¯d expected, and I don¡¯t know what black magic had stopped people from panicking - that absolutely could¡¯ve been a lethal attack.
The moment was broken as the street - no, not just the street, the buildings, the land, everything nailed down - just dropped six inches.
Chaos erupted as gravity remembered everything not nailed down. Most people were able to smoothly recover, even a modest amount of dexterity helped greatly.
In an odd twist, most objects were also fine. Sure, there was a great shattering of a thousand pieces of pottery breaking, along with the clattering of a millions knives and spoons rattling on each other, but the Decay elf had ruined most fragile, non-vitality reinforced wood objects in the first place. A number of carts did break wheels and axles, completely unable to take a short drop, even with the weight and the System, but that was the largest casualty by far.
My mana did blip as horses broke legs and dinosaurs had their claws crushed, and it wasn¡¯t like everyone got away injury-free. They were minor - simply the scale was massive.
¡°Fuck.¡± Iona swore, shooting up into the sky. I joined her a moment later, and Fenrir unfurled to his full size.
¡°Healing run.¡± I said, swooping around Massa. I could tell my radius had gotten far larger - I quickly stopped losing any mana, regenerating back to full - but without extensive testing, I couldn¡¯t tell how large. I played it safe by circling the entire city, but didn¡¯t notice my mana dropping at all. I rejoined Iona a moment later, my wife scanning the horizon with furrowed brows. A half-dozen other Classers were up in the air, looking around themselves. Difficult to see in the dark, and I wasn¡¯t going to blind everyone with [A Light Shining in the Darkness]. No matter how good the levels might be.
¡°See anything?¡± I asked her.
¡°Nothing obvious. This might¡¯ve just been a side effect of a battle going on somewhere else.¡±
I supposed that was better than a giant stomping over to Massa to give us a hard time. Iona pointed to the mountains, far off to the south.
¡°Avalanche going on over there.¡± She added.
¡°Brrrpt!!!¡± Auri pointed out the glow of a large fire off to the east. She knew all about huge wildfires.
¡°If we go that way, yes, we¡¯ll handle it.¡± I told Auri.
¡°Brrpt!¡±
Trumpets blew, and my eyes darted over to the column of soldiers from the Sixth. It was midnight, or near enough, and the Legion was heading out of Massa, leading by example. Or not wanting to get trapped when it all went to hell. There were all sorts of reasons, from cynical to noble, that I could ascribe to their actions, but either way I was going to stick with them until they found a spot to settle in. Reed and a number of other [Standard-Bearers] started to make city-wide announcements.
¡°Citizens of Massa. Please remain calm, and evacuate in an orderly fashion. The city is becoming uninhabitable. We will not be responsible for the lives of those who remain. I repeat. Citizens of Massa. Please¡¡±
My ears picked up a¡ I wanted to call it disturbing, but it was a more frustrating conversation.
¡°Everyone¡¯s leaving, yeah?¡± One¡ I wanted to call him a kid, but at mid 20¡¯s, that was my age talking. I was a Sentinel at that age.
¡°Yeah, we should get out of here as well.¡± A second voice chimed in.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
¡°No, idiots!¡± The first voice said. ¡°This is perfect! We¡¯re going to stay here, have the run of the place. Live in the fancy villas with the huge pools and bigger beds and shit. Everyone¡¯s leaving, we¡¯re going to be the ones staying and live like [Emperors].¡±
¡°How do we not, you know, starve to death?¡± A third voice sarcastically asked.
Goddess, they were all so young.
¡°Easy! Let the idiots do the farming. Who¡¯s going to really travel miles and miles to plant some leaves and shit? Nobody! Everyone¡¯s going to want to get started right now, right here, right outside the walls. They¡¯re planning the same thing we are, except if we let them, they¡¯ll have the run of the place, not us. We claim the prime spots now, all of them, then rent them out and shit to everyone. Make ¡®em pay up. And if they don¡¯t? Well, all the fancy rich people have a shitton of guards, which means weapons. We¡¯ll take the weapons, make a stash of them, and be the only ones with swords. If they don¡¯t pay up, we¡¯ll make them.¡±
More voices argued, but the first, confident voice had all the answers, clearly assembling a gang out of his existing friends and their friends. I repeated the conversation to Iona. She looked put-upon.
¡°Where?¡± She asked. I pointed to the house in question.
¡°Polish me up?¡± The Valkyrie asked. I whipped out a spellbook, flipped it open to the right spell, and in a moment Iona¡¯s armor was shining like she¡¯d just spent hours polishing it, with a remnant ¡®sparkle¡¯ effect making it look extra nice.
¡°Meet you at the gate the Sixth is leaving from. Auri, want to come with me?¡± She asked. I flew over to Fenrir¡¯s back, settling into my usual saddle.
¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri agreed, zipping over to her.
¡°Full display?¡± I asked Iona, trusting her judgment in this.
¡°Yeah, go for it.¡±
I flicked Fenrir¡¯s reins, Iona and Auri off to talk some sense into some idiot about-to-be-bandits. Seriously, when everything went to shit, whose first thought was ¡®great, let me start robbing everyone else¡¯, honestly. It was embarrassing. They¡¯d do so much more for themselves and their chances of survival if they honestly tried to figure out how to farm, or herd animals, or a thousand other skills. Heck, their idea of ¡®lots of weapons in the high end villas¡¯ was a good one, and could be applied practically. Even if they left them as weapons, nevermind the vampire transforming items as quickly as he could, grabbing them and distributing them or even selling them would be a good plan. As it was, they were all too low level and plain stupid to do anything other than cause a few bodies before dying themselves.
Then again, criminals were never truly blessed with an overabundance of intelligence.
Fenrir flew low over Massa, roaring triumphantly. He evoked gasps and people pointing, and I shone with [A Light Shining in the Darkness], a show of strength and force to raise morale.
[*ding!* [A Light Shining in the Darkness] leveled up! 851 -> 854]
The world¡¯s ending, but look who¡¯s on your side.
I enjoyed flying solo on Fenrir. It was rare - there usually wasn¡¯t an occasion or reason for it. I liked flying on my own, but here and now I could pretend to be something I could never become - a [Dragonrider].
I saw Katerina, and she waved to us. Good to know we weren¡¯t completely on her shitlist, and Fenrir and I certainly caused a ripple through the column.
We were heading out, to land both familiar on a map, and utterly unknown what we would find there.
The sun rose on a tired column of [Legionaries] who¡¯d marched through the night. Three of us had energy skills, with only Auri being the odd one out - and her interesting biology suggested she might be able to simply ¡®skip¡¯ sleep, or in Auri-language - burn the need for sleep away.
Phoenixes were bullshit. I was very happy she was on my side! A signal came from down low, and we swooped down, Iona, Auri and myself bailing off Fenrir¡¯s back to land near Katerina.
¡°Legata.¡± I saluted and lowered my head deferentially, a public display of submission and ¡®you¡¯re the boss¡¯. Given our earlier conversation, I was still in ¡®Make Katerina Happy¡¯ mode, and I knew mouthing off or undermining her authority could easily result in poor morale, desertions, or the collapse of the Sixth.
They¡¯d caught half a line of soldiers trying to desert already, and the regulations were clear - they would be stoned to death. Katerina was fortunately not testing me right now either, because ¡®turn my eye and let them die¡¯ wasn¡¯t on my list right now, and I didn¡¯t want to ever have to allow it.
¡°Sentinel Dawn. We¡¯re aiming for this river junction, and it was brought to my attention that the river might not be there anymore. We need to know now, and our scouting and reconnaissance Optio is reporting that they¡¯re severely underpowered and undermanned to start with, before they lost half their scouts in the last few days. I apologize, I know this is beneath you, but can you go forth, and check if the river still exists?¡±
I saluted.
¡°Ma¡¯am, of course. Would you like me to do a wider sweep of the region and bring you more intel while we¡¯re at it? Get the lay of the land, and make sure, like you said, all the mountains are still in the same place, and check if any rivers have gotten up and slithered away?¡±
The river-snake Oddity existed, and a river ¡®getting up and slithering away¡¯ wasn¡¯t just an idiomatic expression - there was one that could literally get up and decide to be somewhere else.
She nodded.
¡°Please, that¡¯d be helpful.¡±
My eyes flickered to Iona, who looked positively delighted to be the one to sketch out a brand new set of maps, for a useful purpose. The [Optio] in charge of scouting unfurled several maps in the back of a nodosaurus-pulled wagon, and six of us leaned over.
¡°The river¡¯s here, fed by the mountains in Bhutai. It meets a second river here, where it feeds into this lake. We want to settle down here, where the lake meets the river.¡±
I eyed the map somewhat doubtfully. ¡®Lake¡¯ was a bit of a misnomer - it was larger than most seas. Both Massa and Ephesus were on the ¡®lake¡¯, and where a river met the lake was prime grounds for a town to be founded.
The reason it wasn¡¯t? It was in Bhutai territory, a harsh red line across the map demarking where Exterreri ended, and Bhutai started.
I decided not to argue with the politics of it. In Katerina¡¯s defense, there were no better nearby locations to try and settle down, and most of the ¡®good spots¡¯ would result in evicting large numbers of civilians. To my understanding, most of the giants didn¡¯t come down out of the mountains - the spot being pointed to was an awkward location that was part of Bhutai, but not settled by the giants or the inhabitants. It was also in the wrong direction from the Sixth¡¯s old stomping grounds, making the trek twice as long for the camp followers.
Not my problem. I reminded myself.
¡°I assume you¡¯d like me to also check if anyone¡¯s currently living there?¡± I asked.
¡°Yes.¡± The [Optio] answered. ¡°Also, please check if it looks like the river¡¯s about to be diverted. If it¡¯s not there, check if it¡¯s been dammed up. We don¡¯t want to get flooded out as we settle.¡±
Iona and I traded a look, and I nodded.
¡°We¡¯ll get right on it.¡± I promised.
We took off south, crossing the two hundred miles in a few minutes.
Yet, within those minutes, trouble found us.
A small faun woman teleported in behind us, swinging a greatsword twice her size at our heads. Iona snapped her arm out, axe already in hand, intercepting and deflecting the blow. Before I finished recognizing the danger and applying lethal Radiance to the problem, she teleported away, entirely out of sight and range of any of my senses.
¡°BRPT!?¡± Auri fired a belated fireball where the would-be assassin had shown up.
¡°I¡¯ve never seen or heard of her before.¡± I said. ¡°Iona?¡±
She grimaced.
¡°Same. Best I could tell, an Immortal trying to pick people off? I barely got a glimpse of her stat sheet before she vanished.¡±
We stayed alert the rest of the way, but the assassin didn¡¯t reappear. Part of me analyzed the path the Sixth needed to take. It was going to be hell to march - the roads simply ended a little to the south of where the Sixth currently was, and with all the good things I had to say about the Legions, they didn¡¯t march terribly far or fast when the famed Exterreri roads didn¡¯t exist.
Iona¡¯s hand was flying over the paper, her [Vow] somehow kicking in on the situation when it came to drawing maps.
¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri warned her.
¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Iona replied.
¡°BRPT!¡± Auri complained that she was already extinguishing fires from the sheer friction of Iona¡¯s pencil against paper.
¡°Exactly.¡± Iona smirked at the bird. ¡°You¡¯re here, I¡¯m fine.¡±
¡°Brrrrpt.¡± Auri gave up.
The river was more or less in the same location, sarcosuchuses prowling the bank. The dinosaur-crocodiles both weren¡¯t a threat to the Legion, and a great ambush threat from the water, as they could snap away unsuspecting people grabbing a bucket of water. I briefly debated wholesale slaughtering them before the Sixth arrived, but everyone else beat me to it. Iona summoned her bow and arrows, Auri threw down Lava [Meteor Strikes], and Fenrir shot down jagged javelins of Ice.
I shrugged. Fine with me. While everyone else was slaughtering the beasts, I scanned the horizon, keeping an eye out for threats. Also shamelessly enjoying the raw majesty of the Bhutai mountains once again, the titans of earth scraping the sky. I thought of my time at the Jukong Monastery, wondering if Kunchenjab was doing alright. Might be worth a skim down in that direction, it wasn¡¯t too far. It¡¯d be good to know how the Sixth¡¯s neighbors were going to do.
My eagle eyes caught sight of several elves in the mountains.
¡°Hang on, checking something out.¡± I said. I spread my wings out and flew off, getting a better long distance look at what was going on.
There was a major operation going on, the elves trying to dig something out. With how powerful and damned perfect they were, they were threatening to move entire mountains with their sustained efforts. I frowned as a detail worried at me, a very quiet alarm bell going off.
I flew back to Iona, and unceremoniously [Teleported] her latest map to me.
[*ding!* [Teleportation] leveled up! 510 -> 511]
Oh, that was bad. The little alarm bell grew a little louder, and I closed my eyes, trying to overlay the map Iona had just made with all the maps I had, trying to cross-reference exactly where I was¡ and if the map causing the alarm was a problem.
I sucked in a cold breath as my mind made the connection.
I¡¯d dabbled in being a [Loremaster] at one point, and the cornerstone to the class was knowledge. I still had all the knowledge, and I still had the responsibility. I just wouldn¡¯t be rolling in levels.
¡°What¡¯s wrong, love?¡± Iona asked me at the same time Auri brrrpt¡¯d a similar question.
¡°I think the elves found Valytheria, the World Sunderer.¡±
Chapter 579 - Interlude - Auri - Valytheria, the World Sunderer
I was sitting on my favorite perch, the one I¡¯d spent countless decades on.
Elaine¡¯s shoulder.
Even better! We were on my best friend, Fenrir!
I wanted to enjoy the ashes falling from the sky, the sign that great fires were raging over the horizon, but no. I knew too much. Each ashen flake was a home, a bed, a life. Hopefully they had escaped the fiery holocaust that consumed their livelihood, but I knew too much. I had burned tens of thousands of pounds of material over my long life, and I knew the difference between wooden ashes and charred flesh. I could see when it was the burnt remains of a life dancing before my eyes, and when it was ¡®only¡¯ a tree branch.
A tree branch that was home to a squirrel or owl, where a microraptor hung from or sabertooth tigers prowled.
No, there was no enjoying these ashes.
Elaine was worried, staring at a far off mountain. I couldn¡¯t see what she saw - water take these tiny eyes of mine! - but she was happily sharing.
¡°What¡¯s Valytheria?¡± I asked the question for Fenrir, knowing he was curious as well.
¡°As [Loremasters] would put it, it¡¯s an orange, maybe yellow-tier threat. It¡¯s a sword, but more than that, it¡¯s the sword. Powerful Classer transformed herself into a blade, then received a divine blessing on top of it. Calling it a weapon feels like it¡¯s understating things. The sword itself is as amazing as can be, as any transformed piece of equipment is, but it¡¯s the rest of it that¡ I¡¯m not explaining this well.¡± Elaine took a deep breath in and slapped her cheeks.
¡°Okay! Trying this again! There¡¯s an approximately twenty mile ¡®extension¡¯ of the blade that¡¯ll cut through anything and everything. Including the ground. Twirl it in your hand, and you¡¯ll make a twenty mile deep, forty mile wide gouge in the land. It¡¯s how it got the title ¡®World Sunderer¡¯. Simply walking around with it cracks the planet open. The skills and abilities are forever on, and no sheath can hold it.¡± She said.
Iona whistled.
¡°I imagine since it¡¯s a divinely blessed person, nobody wants to break the blade or kill them.¡± The Valkyrie said. ¡°Plus, the tool¡¯s too useful to be disposed of, simply secured.¡±
¡°Exactly!¡± Elaine said. ¡°More of the second than the first. We¡¯re pretty sure it was a weapon¡¯s vault originally, and the original owner died. It¡¯s not the ¡®whoops we made a couple new valleys¡¯ that¡¯s the issue so much as ¡®we flicked our wrist and sliced through an entire city and all the people inside¡¯ that makes it so threatening.¡±
¡°Vitality defense?¡± I asked. Life was a little unfair - I basically never got to experience the joys of the vitality defense, damn being tiny and having virtually no mass - but it was a real question.
¡°The divine blessing¡¯s probably half the reason it doesn¡¯t work, yeah?¡± Iona guessed.
¡°Yup.¡±
The Valkyrie whistled, then her eyes unfocused.
¡°Hi Selene! Hi Lunaris!¡± I cheerfully called out. Hey, maybe they¡¯d take a liking to me and shower me with neat blessings as well. I loved Elaine, and if she asked Ciriel to bless me I had no doubt the only goddess with eyes to realize Elaine was THE BEST would send one my way¡ but they wouldn¡¯t think of it without me asking, and I couldn¡¯t ask Elaine to make that request of her friend. That wouldn¡¯t be right.
Selene and Lunaris, on the other hand¡ I was going to butter them up until they slipped and bumped out a blessing for me. The plan was foolproof! Might take a few centuries of me wearing them down, but blessings were all upside. As far as I could see.
¡°Interesting. The goddesses have offered to have a talk with the bound person if we get our hands on Valytheria.¡± Iona said.
Oh! Oh! I knew this! People who¡¯d turned into objects sometimes couldn¡¯t think anymore, so they couldn¡¯t undo the transformation. It took extreme skills or circumstances to change it, but gods could do it!
Elaine squinted and looked at the mountains again.
¡°I don¡¯t like our chances if the elves get their hands on Valytheria, and I don¡¯t think we can all fight them. There¡¯s just too many elves there. Any ideas?¡±
We plotted! We planned! We even did a little scheming. And in the end, we had a plan! A glorious, wonderful plan.
It didn¡¯t have enough fire in it though.
The four of us flew over the mining operation, where Fenrir opened his maw and roared out a bellowing challenge. Snow started to swirl around him, a grand snowstorm being whipped up.
¡°Good luck Auri!¡± Elaine patted me. Iona grinned and shot me a thumb¡¯s up.
¡°Go get ¡®em!¡± She said.
Okay! It was my turn to shine!
But first, I needed to change my mindset a bit. Change how I thought. I liked the way I was, but for this mission, this operation, I needed to go back to when I was a little younger, a little less mature, and a whole lot more lethal.
Alright, alright. I could do this.
I am an unrepentant pyromaniac with no ethics and the entire world is kindling. Juice is good, songbirds are bad, and I had an Important Mission.
Young Auri Mindset - GO!
Oh my flames, what were these lame notifications!? No! NO! Fix them all! There we go!
It was time for the SUPER SECRET PHOENIX TECHNIQUE! Clear flames! Invisible! Nobody could see me! Ahahahahahaha!
¡ all this dang snow-water was annoying though, and I was making a trail of steam! Argh! No! Stupid! Bad! That wasn¡¯t sneaky-stealthy AT ALL! That was like burning a huge pile of logs on top of a mountain! As subtle as a wildfire ripping through a forest!
No! Bad heat! Chill, cool clear flames! Ughhhh, as much as it disgusted me to burn cold, as opposed to the hottest I could manage, it was needed for OPERATION: SNEAKY BIRD.
Wait! My ring! My beautiful, brrretty ring of rocks I kept around me! My imitation of the planets! Noooo, I had to turn it off, it wasn¡¯t SNEAKY BIRD enough! Booo!
I was flying towards the ground, letting gravity guide me down.
Flying.
Not falling. Nope. I wasn¡¯t falling at all. Didn¡¯t matter that my wings weren¡¯t flapping. Didn¡¯t matter that I was going in lockstep with gravity. This was flying, not falling, and any moment [Fancy Flying] would level up and the System would prove that I was right.
Annnnnnnny minute now.
[*ding!* Oh Great and Magnificent Auri, Empress of Flame, Burner of All Ye Behold, the most beautiful creature in creation, Bird Without Peer and Sovereign of the Red Skies, the humble System, granter of all your wishes, would like to bestow upon you the grand skill [Flies Like A Rock]. Would you like to replace one of your many well-trained abilities with this beautiful new skill?]
Oi! System! NO! Why would you betray me like this!?
BURN!
¡
How DID I burn the System anyway? I had [Everything Burns], the System was a thing, just needed to figure out how to apply one to the other¡
Fireball! Fireball! WAIT!
WATER!
THIS WASN¡¯T STEALTHY!
I was on a MISSION! A Very Important Mission! This was about being Sneaky! Stealthy! Stealing a sword! This was a Whisper Assault: Tactical Entry and Retrieval.
WATER for sho- OH SNOWFLAKES!
Oh rocks. That was a lot of rocks coming right for me.
The earth couldn¡¯t wait to embrace magnificent me, trying to hit me at top speed.
Nope! Not today!
I flipped out a wing, catching the current as I whizzed behind an elf¡¯s head, a boiling mass of the stinky horned two-legs erupting out of the tunnels, pointing up at Elaine and Fenrir.
Ha! Suckers! Too much water in your eyes, you can¡¯t see what¡¯s right here!
I zipped! I zooped! I fluttered right behind a mine cart¡¯s wheel! Ahha! They¡¯d NEVER spot me here! My plan was brilliant! Foolproof! All I had to do was wait until someone started pushing, and they¡¯d carry me right into the depths! Where I would then, in a single second of [Phoenix¡¯s Perfection], figure out the next step of my plan!
Any second now, they¡¯d start pushing.
Annnnnyyyy second now¡ see, they¡¯re pushing! No wait, that was someone bumping the cart.
¡ oh wait. Yeah. If everyone else was making a distraction, then there was nobody pushing the cart. Hmm.
HMMM.
This required some ADDITIONAL THINKING. I needed my Thinking Cap.
I made one out of clear and perfectly burning flames - no sense in having smoke give me away - and put it on, modeled after Fenrir¡¯s hat when he was On A Case.
Hmmmmm.
HMMMMMM.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
How did I get out of this¡ AHHA!
It was easy! Obvious! My brilliance put even the element to shame!
I conjured [Auri¡¯s Many Helpers], a pair of hands made out of clear flames, and grabbed the bottom of the cart. It was full and so, so heavy, but the path was completely smooth and slightly sloped. Another pair of hands removed the blockers keeping the cart stationary - there was NO WAY that ANYBODY would notice in all the chaos going on, thank you Eventide Eclipse - and OFF WE WENT! Faster and faster and faster, down into the depths we go!
The walls were SO unfair. The moment my glorious and noble ride got some real speed going, it crashed into a cruel and vicious wall! Off I went, my smoldering legs left behind!
AHHA! What do we say to walls? Not today! I flared my wings, stopping a feather¡¯s breath away from the unforgiving hard-to-burn granite, and fluttered to the floor.
Ninja - thank you Nina, for teaching me all about them - Auri time! I changed my invisible outfit, wrapping myself in bands of flames, letting only my beady eyes peer out.
HIYA! Sneaky, sneaky time! Okay, what was next?
Hmmm.
HMMMM.
It was time to use my BURNING EYES and their magical power of OBSERVATION!
We¡¯d crashed - I mean, gracefully landed - in a large open area. Bunch of elves were running around. A few were heading my way, complaining about the cart rolling back down.
So long, old ride!
Hmmmm.
HMMMM.
Okay, okay, so¡ there were a lot of elves running to the surface¡ and a lot more running down¡ AHHA!
That one!
He was wearing a fancy, pretty hat! It would burn GREAT! Other people were looking at him! Okay, okay, time to be sneaky and follow him. OF COURSE he was going to the most important part! He had the big hat.
Yes, yes, perfect logic.
A little boring part of me whispered that maybe, just maybe, I should use some next-century level thinking.
No! That sort of idea was a complete wet blanket!
In my pure genius, I knew my beating wings made quite the noise, so I started to simply walk across the busy floor. It was ignoble. A bird of my magnificent pedigree! My beautiful wings! My dazzling flights! Reduced to walking.
Alas, the things we did for THE MISSION. Secret Operative Ninja Auri would Get The Job Done.
Steel boot! Dodge! Hiya!
Another boot! Dive! Over my head!
Spin! Pirouette! DODGE!
Brilliant! Genius! Like whoever made the first spark! As smart as whoever fanned the first flames!
¡ my genius was going too slowly, ugh, everyone else was outside. I couldn¡¯t keep them waiting forever, and at this pace I¡¯d find the sword sometime next century.
Fine! A little bit of flying! A feather of not-sneaky!
By the time they looked where they heard me, I¡¯d be gone, only a rippling mirage left in my wake.
With a quick dart and flutter and a ZIP and a ZOOP I went onto the fancy hat elf.
Ahha! Onwards, my noble steed! Take me to where I need to go!
Wasn¡¯t nearly as comfortable as Elaine¡¯s shoulder though. Naturally.
Another successful operation! One more medal for General Auri! I flared all my bright colors in a display of dominance, showing off how brrrpty I was to-
¡°Oh, hello there. How did you get out of your cage?¡± The fancy-hat elf asked, grabbing me in a smooth motion.
BURN!
Wait, NO!
No burn!
Let¡¯s be sly, let¡¯s be sneaky!
¡°Brrrrpt?¡± I innocently asked, fluttering my eyelashes. If this wingless idiot didn¡¯t let my wings go in the next three seconds, I was going to start throwing fireballs around. I hadn¡¯t properly scouted all of the ventilation, so I wasn¡¯t quite sure if I could simply burn an invisible fire at the entrance to the mine and choke everyone out, or burn a noxious flame and gas everyone out.
That was before the option of burning down a few select support pillars and letting the entire thing cave in on the whole operation.
Then again, [Miners] were some of the only well-respected Miasma Classers, able to detect bad gas buildup and handle it. These were all elves, there was no way they didn¡¯t have some smarty pants running around with it.
¡°Are we sure that¡¯s one of our canaries?¡± A poorly dressed elf with a shovel slung over one shoulder asked.
¡°Yes! That¡¯s me! Totally! A canary! Bring me to the secret mines.¡± I insisted.
The well-dressed hat elf looked at me.
¡°Certainly sings like one.¡± He flicked his hand, and a beautiful golden cage appeared. I narrowed my eyes and pointed my beak at it, studying it intently.
[All The World¡¯s Magic Is Revealed To Me In A Teardrop] suggested it was entirely mundane, and I could [Burn Everything]. The cage was nothing, a prop, a way to infiltrate deeper.
And singing! Yes! I was the BEST singer ever!
¡°HaPPy bIrThDAy TUUUU you!¡± I screeched - sang out with dulcet tones. ¡°HAAAAAAAAAppy BiRTHDAy TOOOOO yoU!¡± My warbling was magnificent. People were covering their ears, unable to fully grasp the breadth of my majestic song without risking insanity.
¡°At this rate, I think I want a gas leak.¡± One of the [Miners] remarked.
¡°With those flames, the bird will be the first to go.¡± A second one added.
¡°An explosion¡¯s a much better warning than going quietly.¡±
[*ding!* Oh Great and Magnificent Auri, Empress of Flame, Burner of All Ye Behold, the most beautiful creature in creation, Bird Without Peer and Sovereign of the Red Skies, the humble System, granter of all your wishes, would like to bestow upon you the grand skill [Screeching Songbird]. Would you like to replace one of your many well-trained abilities with this beautiful new skill?]
Humph! Everyone was a critic!
I continued to sing my beautiful songs, grabbing the attention of everyone we passed. High note~ Low note~
[*ding!* Oh Great and Magnificent Auri, Empress of Flame, Burner of All Ye Behold, the most beautiful creature in creation, Bird Without Peer and Sovereign of the Red Skies, the humble System, granter of all your wishes, would like to bestow upon you the grand skill [Canary in a Coalmine]. Would you like to replace one of your many well-trained abilities with this beautiful new skill?]
AHHA! Excellent! Even the System acknowledged my disguise was PERFECT! They¡¯d never suspect a thing!
¡°Isn¡¯t it a bad idea to have flames in an enclosed area? And what¡¯s with that status identification!?¡± An elf asked. Three faces peered at me.
I sang louder, plotting their murder.
It¡¯d be easy. Conjure Lava in their mouths so they couldn¡¯t scream, fill the corridor with flames burning hot and fast, fire spikes of hard Lava through their heads. Collapse the mine, gas them out, my options were frankly endless.
Then dispose of the bodies, and continue on. Easier than drinking juice!
¡°Fake [Identification] tag?¡± One of them suggested. ¡°Would help explain the rest of it.¡±
¡°Or a really, really lucky canary. Survive a gas leak or two by burning it off, level up.¡±
¡ wow, okay, it was a reversal of the usual. They were too stupid to die.
¡°If it is that level, let¡¯s not piss it off, yeah?¡± Another miner suggested.
There was a brief round of stunned looks between the elves.
¡°Yup.¡±
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Agreed.¡±
AHHA! Everything was coming up AURI.
Escorted by some of the - I couldn¡¯t in good conscience call them ¡®the miner¡¯s best¡¯, no matter how good a hat the one dude had - recognized members of the group had me bypass most obstacles.
Down and down we went, the tunnels twisting and turning. Elves passed us in a parade, pushing carts of rocks up and out. Elves going down, pushing empty carts, including the three I was with. All the loose rocks were nice. With just a little bit of heat, they¡¯d melt and become prime fuel for [Lava Manipulation]. Good, good. Much better to melt them with Inferno then use them.
The tiny little voice inside me that was THE WETTEST BLANKET tried to scream something about conjuration being more mana efficient.
Silence! I¡¯ll peck you out! Don¡¯t think I won¡¯t do it! I could [Burn Everything], that included tiny little annoying inside voices!
¡°This canary¡¯s extra useful, comes with his own light!¡± One of the elves joked.
I continued to scree- sing - keeping a wary eye out, trying to make a map in my head.
Too many twists. Too many turns.
I was so lost.
Well, end of the day, I just needed to fly up. How hard could it be?
Hang on! Super-observant-special-fire-agent-Auri has noticed something! There were no more canaries! No more singing birds! They weren¡¯t dead in their cage or anything, there just¡ were none.
Huh.
Mysterious.
I¡¯d need my thinking cap to solve this one, except I COULDN¡¯T put it on, I was still being ¡®innocent songbird Auri¡¯, and ¡®innocent songbird Auri¡¯ didn¡¯t HAVE a thinking hat!
Frustration! Rainclouds!
¡°Here we are.¡± Hat-elf hung me up on the ceiling, and the three of them got to work.
My beak dropped open.
In like, six swings they¡¯d expanded the tunnel and filled their carts with rocks. With a quick stretch, they started pushing it back up the tunnel, replaced by a new trio of elves a moment later.
Wow.
Wow.
These guys dug fast. No wonder Elaine was worried!
Hmmm.
It had been a while, and the Eventide Eclipse were still trying to distract the elves. I should get a move on before they got hurt. That would be Bad.
I closed my eyes and listened, annoyed at the echoes of all the bad singing going around. Honestly. It was like the other birds forgot to take [Beautiful Singing] or something.
A commotion!
I slipped through the bars of my cage - didn¡¯t need to melt them or anything, honestly, it was like they weren¡¯t even trying - and flew over. A number of elves were crowding around an entrance, and thick barriers of purple energy protected a hovering, point-down sword. A tiny hole was in the arcanite under the sword. Sooo much arcanite - I couldn¡¯t tell how thick it was, but I could make at least three hundred nests out of the amount there.
I was going to be a rich bird! A bird of means! Except for the whole ¡®money becoming worthless¡¯ thing.
Bah! Who needed money when infinite reflections of ME were to be had? What else could I spend it on? Elaine had the infinite juice cheat of growing her own mangos, so it wasn¡¯t like I needed more.
Everyone was distracted! Quick! Disguise time!
Using [Lava Conjuration], I summoned almost-firm Lava in the shape of a cage near the ceiling, around my body, and held it in place until it hardened.
Genius! Ninja Auri hiding in plain sight! They¡¯d see me, but they wouldn¡¯t think of me, ahhahahahaha! I started to study the sword, trying to figure out if I could just¡ walk in there and grab it.
¡°Move aside, cowards.¡± One of the elves puffed himself up and shoved several other elves out of the way. ¡°The sword¡¯s going to be mine.¡±
PUNS. The WORST.
The elf swaggered in, not even hesitating at the glowing purple shields. He touched them and disintegrated.
A few gasps were had, mostly laughs.
I was on team laughs. That was hilarious. His best phoenix impression. I¡¯m fire! POOF!
Also a stupid amount of power.
A bunch of commotion later, and eight mage-types strutted down the halls. Hard to tell though, I didn¡¯t have [Identify]. Elaine or Iona was always around to do that. Their level didn¡¯t matter, I was the best. Easy enough to handle them if I had to.
¡°We need peace and quiet to concentrate!¡± One of the mages bellowed out. ¡°We¡¯re under attack. The sooner we can retrieve the sword, the sooner we can deal with the pests. Everyone¡¯s going to be paid a bonus. Now clear out!¡±
With a mix of grumbling and cheers, the miners left. The eight mages arrayed themselves in front of the ward, starting to chant and cast spells.
Ha! The fools! I had at least two different ways of just walking in!
Right. I didn¡¯t want them to get their hands on the sword, and the setup was perfect. Slowly, quietly, I filled the hallway with my invisible flames, feeding them as hard as I could. Near the door, around the frame, I laid down some deep blue ¡®cold¡¯ flames, an attempt to control the temperature at the cost of some faint glowing.
There were enough glowing colors going around that they might not be noticed.
Plus, if they were a quarter as competent as Elaine was, they¡¯d be utterly engrossed in their spellcasting.
I prepared a few superheated Lava shots. Tungsten was a good one. Melted at a very high point. Made a dozen fire-clones with [I am the Brrettiest], then made two dozen more.
Outnumbered? No, no, they were outnumbered.
Then¡ I waited. The mage¡¯s robes whipped around them as the air was sucked out of the chamber, and when the first one collapsed, I struck.
OVERWHELMING FIREPOWER!
I¡¯d already choked one out. Two more fell screaming as molten tungsten enveloped their heads. Three went down flailing and screaming as I wrapped them in flames, and the last two were left standing, automated defenses springing up around them. A clear film of Arcanite energy bubbled around one, and the other was gushing Water while Wind whipped around them.
I used [Burn Everything] to get through the Arcanite shield, then whipped around a large mass of liquid tungsten before nailing the last elf in the jewels.
They weren¡¯t very shiny, and what idiot god had decided to put them on the outside, as opposed to the inside, like was sensible? Honestly. Things like that were why I wasn¡¯t religious. Except when it came to asking for a blessing. Then I was very religious.
He groaned, folded up, and collapsed, one foot touching the purple barrier. He sizzled out, and I proudly put my beak in the air.
Auri Firestorm! The greatest [Mage] alive! Eight versus one, the VICTOR!
[*ding!* Oh Peerless Beauty! Oh magnificent wielder of fire and flames! The System and gods smile upon you once again, as victory rests her laurels at your feet! In a breathtaking display of skill, finesse, and stunning good looks, you have slain a Hey System! Put the notification here! Or don¡¯t, I don¡¯t really need to see it, just the rest.]
I narrowed my eyes at the eight identical notifications, wondering if I was being sassed, or if past-me of sixteen minutes ago was an idiot who couldn¡¯t configure the System properly.
Oh well! I could just burn away the mistakes!
The walls were sagging from the heat, a layer of rock starting to melt. I eyed the ceiling with a surge of genuine fear and concern.
If the entire thing came down on my head, that could kill me, and keep me killed.
I fluttered over to the shield, debating if I wanted to use [Burn Everything] or [Phoenix¡¯s Rebirth] to get through it. Hmmm¡ I¡¯d just said hi to White Dove, so nah, let¡¯s skip that. I¡¯m sure she was super busy with all the murdering going on.
I burnt a me-shaped hole in the wards and slipped through. [Auri¡¯s Many Helpers] grabbed the hilt of the blade, and swung it up and through in a great arc.
¡ whoops. That had sliced¡ quite a bit more than I was expecting.
Maybe if I wiggled it just a bit¡ ahha! There we go! A clear path to the sky! Probably unstable as a river, but no time to think about it! Let¡¯s go!
[*ding!* Oh Peerless Beauty! Oh magnificent wielder of fire and flames! The System and gods smile upon you once again, as victory rests her laurels at your feet! In a breathtaking display of skill, finesse, and stunning good looks, you have slain a Hey System! Put the notification here! Or don¡¯t, I don¡¯t really need to see it, just the rest.]
Uhhh¡ I was going to ignore that one. Except where it was saying nice things about me.
I flew up into the air, dragging the sword behind me, racing out of the mines before gravity remembered that all those rocks existed and started to pull them down. Already everything was collapsing, and I swerved to dodge falling rocks, the sword swinging wildly in my grip.
[*ding!* Oh Peerless Beauty! Oh magnificent wielder of fire and flames! The System and gods smile upon you once again, as victory rests her laurels at your feet! In a breathtaking display of skill, finesse, and stunning good looks, you have slain a Hey System! Put the notification here! Or don¡¯t, I don¡¯t really need to see it, just the rest.]
System, shhh, I was trying to fly here.
I rejoined Elaine, Fenrir, and Iona, and we flew off, carving a new valley behind us and getting utterly spammed with notifications.
Chapter 580 - Unsafe Travels
We had Valytheria.
A trio of notifications rang in my ears, shared experience with Auri leveling both [Sage of Tomes] and [Seraph of the Dawn]. Far better than the kill notifications - the System was overly generous sometimes, considering us part of the same party. Then again, to be fair, we had been the distraction while Auri went raiding, so perhaps it was more clever than I gave it credit for.
There had probably been quite a few more casualties than I would¡¯ve liked securing it, and part of me felt guilt over the whole thing.
I did my best not to order deaths, nor to tolerate them. To save and succor wherever I could. Yet, here and now, I¡¯d known if Valytheria wasn¡¯t secured, that it would cause far more damage and harm than handling the elves would. At the same time, that sort of thinking tended to end poorly, to say the least.
I hadn¡¯t told Auri to go. I¡¯d worked on the plans, tried to find a better way, and this was the best we¡¯d found. I knew the scale and scope of Loremaster threats, but it didn¡¯t mean it sat well with me.
Fenrir was flying high and to the east, disguising the direction we were going. The skies were bright red as the sunset tried to filter through the ashes. Columns of smoke came from a dozen small burning fires, slowly strangling and choking all life. Iona pointed to a rumbling cloudbank, and the mighty wyvern twisted to head in that direction.
¡°Brrrpt¡¡± Auri complained about the clouds we were about to go through, then shook her head. With a pair of her [Mage Hands] she slapped her cheeks, then went bright pink.
¡°Brrpt.¡± She muttered to herself. Something about young Auri being a complete idiot, too embarrassing to think about? I patted my phoenix companion.
¡°Yeah, I get hit with random memories of dumb things I did back when I was a kid too.¡± I said.
Like dramatically cutting off my hair in front of the Rangers.
Maximum. Cringe.
Auri was nodding a little too hard in agreement with all that, but I let it pass.
In the meantime, the sword was passed to Iona, who grimaced.
¡°This is going to suck.¡± She muttered, right before flicking it upright.
When it had been point-down, it had been carving a massive furrow through the earth. As Iona flicked it up, a new furrow, dozens of miles long, was made, and we made a mirrored face at the notifications.
[*ding!* Your party has slain a [Rabbit (Wind - 18)]]
¡
[*ding!* Your party has slain a [Troodon (Metal - 61)]]
¡
[*ding!* Your party has slain a [Kelpie (Water - 101)]]
Nothing sentient this time, thank the goddesses and Iona¡¯s sharp flick. Now we were ¡®only¡¯ slicing through the clouds.
¡°I¡¯d heard why we needed to take care of this. I¡¯d known why. But it¡¯s something else entirely to wield it myself. I¡¯d throw it straight into the Mare if I could, this thing¡¯s way too dangerous.¡± Iona said.
Even Fenrir was uneasily eyeing the sword.
It was a simple thing. A khopesh, one of the curious curved swords of Ankhelt, it was plain in a beautiful way. There was nothing extra about it, no flourish, no ornamentation, nothing. By the same terrifying token, there were no blemishes. No dents, no nicks, nothing but an inviolate blade, the bare essence of a weapon boiled down to sharp, lethal intent.
It took me an embarrassingly long time to try and [Identify] it, as inanimate objects didn¡¯t play nicely with [Identify]. I was sure there were other skills that let the person know what they were dealing with - a [Pawnstore Owner] would probably have something that let them know what the heck someone came in with - but [Identify] didn¡¯t, and a century of habits and ingrained knowledge did take a moment to overcome.
[Artisan - 3072].
Wow.
It really was a transformed person.
¡°Can you still read all of their skills?¡± I wondered.
¡°Oh! Yeah, good question.¡±
Iona¡¯s eyes started to flicker against invisible words, her face softening at what she read, the answer to my question self-evident.
¡°Pakhet. Her name was Pakhet.¡± Iona said.
The [Paladin] put both hands on the sword and lifted it up, over her head, and closed her eyes. She started to silently pray to her patrons. Fenrir stopped flying east, went north, and started circling over the great lake.
Iona tended to be relatively discreet when talking with her goddesses. A quiet murmured word, a startled laugh, a brief dedication of a great victory to their name. When things were happening, she was here and present, able to talk and laugh.
A conversation of this length was a rarity, at least when we were in the field. The ashes fell on her like snow, turning her blonde hair grey.
Iona¡¯s eyes snapped open, and she looked speculatively at the sword.
¡°Sorry that took so long. Pakhet accepted the offer to become an angel. Mefdet blessed her in life, and would be happy to have them return to the fold. Most of the time just then was the gods haggling over what the Moon Goddesses would get for facilitating.¡±
She rolled her eyes and leaned in to whisper.
¡°Just between you and me, I think they might¡¯ve been [Fishmongers] in their prior life.¡±
My jaw dropped open at the sheer blasphemy. Iona belly laughed at the look on my face, Valytheria wavering and drawing a pattern in the clouds.
¡°Isn¡¯t that a tad blasphemous?¡± I suggested.
Iona winked at me.
¡°Yup, but after helping them out like this, I¡¯m their favorite right now. I¡¯d ask if you¡¯d want to say goodbye or anything, but Valytheria can¡¯t hear us or even be conscious right now, so¡¡±
Without further ado, Iona raised her arms up again, then balanced the sword on the palm of her hands.
¡°By possession, by willingness, by divine favor, Valytheria, I send you to the realm of the gods. May Mefdet tenderly embrace you. May your soul find peace.¡±
With a sparkle of different divine power - I¡¯d seen Iona pull off enough stunts with Selene and Lunaris to know their ¡®flavor¡¯ so to speak - Valytheria vanished in a twinkle of lights.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
She opened her eyes, and settled back down.
¡°What¡¯s the plan now?¡± She asked.
¡°Auri¡¯s after-action report, tour of the region. Given how quickly things are happening, I want to check on Ephesus and Belum, circle back to the Sixth¡¯s convoy, then hit as many other cities as we can. Thoughts?¡±
¡°I like it. Fenrir, can you get us to Belum?¡± Iona asked. The wyvern tried to grunt his acknowledgement, but had a hacking coughing fit instead as he breathed in too much of the ever-falling ashes. There were just too many of them, and I whipped out a quill and a blank piece of paper, quickly sketching out a charm for Fenrir to breathe, all while berating myself for not thinking of it earlier.
[Reality, Writ as You Will] got the job done in moments, and I was pleased at the lack of minor corrections the skill made on my spell. There was no obvious impact, but the edges of the spell could be seen by the ashen flakes vanishing or being pushed aside. I cast two more charms in the same vein for Iona and I, but Auri liked the warm flakes.
Auri regaled us with her tale of retrieving Valytheria, to hoots of laughter from Iona and I, and deep chuckles from Fenrir.
¡°I¡ I have no idea where to begin analyzing this.¡± I was slowly regaining control over myself. ¡°That was a disaster, start to finish, but you accomplished the mission just fine, so¡¡±
I wish I could¡¯ve added ¡®with minimal casualties¡¯, but we¡¯d all gotten the notifications. Auri had been stealthy, then killed eight mages in seconds, followed by collapsing the entire mine on everyone else still inside. I shrugged helplessly and turned to Iona. She coughed to clear her throat, then tried to arrange her face into a serene visage, filled with gravitas.
¡°Far be it for me to wander into the mind of a phoenix. Such noble thoughts I can¡¯t imagin- HEY!¡± She protested as both Auri and Fenrir ganged up on her, the first viciously pecking her while Fenrir flicked her nose with Ice.
We flew north to Belum.
A Gale blade came silently streaking out of the clouds, heading right for us. Iona and I moved in perfect unison together, the Valkyrie already swinging her empty hands by the time I [Teleported] her glaive into them. She bashed aside the blade, and there was nothing more. We stayed tense and on the edge of our seat for ages, before finally relaxing a hair. Whatever it had been, it had simply taken an opportunistic shot and left.
At first we were vaguely encouraged at the lack of smokey pillars coming from the area, but we grew silent as we got closer.
The city was gone.
Where the proud city of nearly fifty thousand people used to be, there was now a gleaming crater two dozen meters deep. The rocks had been melted and fused before cooling again, giving the entire place a glassy look. Water was trickling into the crater, promising the formation of a new lake. Blackened grass and charcoal trees for miles around suggested raging wildfires that had since died out.
None of us said a word. Iona flicked the reins on Fenrir, and we turned towards Ephesus.
We skimmed the shores of Lake Mare, dipping by the occasional small town along the way. We¡¯d done a healing run the last time we made this trip, but the way my mana flickered for a moment as we got near a few of the towns suggested additional aid was welcome. It was also a good chance to measure my new healing range.
Over 20 kilometers. A bit short of sixteen miles. I¡¯d need more time to narrow it down, preferably by walking, but it was one heck of a range. It would only go up as I leveled, and possibly jump even more as I classed up.
The travel time was a good opportunity to play with my new skills. For the most part, they were pure upgrades of well-worn skills, with no need to plumb their depths further. The grooves had gotten deeper, the skills more potent, but it wasn¡¯t like there were terribly many new tricks.
Except for [The Mantle of Dawn and Dusk].
I started to play with it, conjuring starry matter in one hand, then flipping my focus and making a ball of darkness in the other. It was a pure cheat of a skill, effectively two skills rolled into one, the history of my shield brought full circle.
It was [Event Horizon] combined with [Mantle of the Stars], with upgrades! I could now make the devouring void in any shape I wanted, and that was going to be a whole new Thing in my kit.
I warmed up with the basics, some old skills and usages revisited. I made myself a cape of stars, then went way back to when the skill was [Privacy] and bubbled myself in darkness.
I decided to call ¡®star¡¯ usage, or solid shields that took mana to absorb blows, the ¡®dawn¡¯ aspect of [Mantle], and the ¡®black hole¡¯ usage, or devouring darkness that destroyed material, the ¡®dusk¡¯ aspect.
All manner of defensive shields and configurations were tried, with one particularly neat trick I rapidly developed for myself. A ¡®two-layered¡¯ shield, with dusk on the outside and dawn on the inside. Any blow that I could absorb would be destroyed by the dusk aspect, and any blow I had to tank was tested by the dawn.
I debated trying out ¡®sandwiched¡¯ configurations where I had layers upon layers of dusk alternating with dawn, but the math didn¡¯t quite make sense.
Well¡ probably didn¡¯t. I had a quick test to confirm.
¡°Hey Iona, I¡¯m testing out a new skill.¡± I said. ¡°Can you punch this really hard?¡±
I conjured up two panes of dawn, layered one on top of another. A third panel of dusk was off to the side, confirming multiple theories at once.
Iona hopped up, impossibly well balanced and firm on Fenrir¡¯s back. Her companion skill at work.
¡°Sure, what am I trying to do?¡± She asked.
¡°Break both in one hit.¡± I said. ¡°Try to not be so fast I can¡¯t see what¡¯s going on.¡±
Iona wound up a huge haymaker, an impractical punch against anyone with eyes and half a brain cell. She punched the shields, and I was able to confirm what I suspected.
The second layer shattered at the exact same time as the first layer, and the third layer simply vanished. The skill was overloaded. More layers would simply be vanity, they wouldn¡¯t actually do anything.
¡°Got what you needed?¡± Iona asked as Auri hopped forward, curious what we were up to, and probably wanting to get involved herself.
¡°Yup!¡± I said. ¡°Hey Auri, wanna try burning new things?¡±
Music to her little ears.
¡°Brrrpt!¡±
We flew as I practiced, hitting town after town. [Luminary Mind] was a blessing, letting me split my attention and focus on everything going on. Some of the towns were ghosts, nary a soul between the homes. Simply¡ ghost towns. None of my senses saw bodies in those towns, but I didn¡¯t see footprints of a great migration out either. It was like they¡¯d all been scooped up.
Other villages had been put to the torch, smoking and blackened beams the only traces of the town that had been.
Many were surviving, not quite as reliant on the greater world as cities were, eking out a continued existence. The Mare was a great source of life¡ and the ash would be a challenge, but not quite as lethal to the denizens of the lake as it was to the animals who walked on land.
[*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1266->1267 +200 Strength, +200 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +2000 Mana, +10000 Mana Regen, +4000 Magic Power, +4000 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]
It was bound to happen eventually. The portfolio for [The Elaine] included everything I¡¯d done so far, which naturally encompassed being a Sentinel. This was a mission of mercy, a mission as a Sentinel, and it deeply struck at the heart of who I was.
Frankly, I¡¯d been a little disappointed that Auri¡¯s mission had resulted in no levels for me at all. Then again, the math on balancing our respective levels got a little funky - it was possible for me to ¡®overlevel¡¯ slightly, then funnel more experience her way, and when that happened we¡¯d noticed things got a little unusual.
Or we¡¯d just been at the start of a level, and slicing people up with an ancient divine artifact wasn¡¯t part of Auri¡¯s experience profile, so she didn¡¯t get much from it. ¡®Wielding weapons¡¯ was pretty far outside of what phoenix classes wanted to do.
¡°That town could be a good place to throw some seeds and farming equipment at.¡± I pointed to the most-preserved town I¡¯d seen so far.
¡°Sure, but do they need them or us?¡± Iona asked. ¡°No offense to you or them, it just feels like you¡¯d be giving the farmer his third plow, or fattening up his stores, not providing coal in the winter. As much as it looks like it¡¯s snowing right now.¡±
Iona had a point, and we carried on.
Two unusual towns stuck out in my mind.
The first was simply gone, a scar in the earth suggesting it¡¯d been swallowed whole. Entirely possible, and I briefly mourned for the lost souls.
The second had tripled in size, and fifty bodies swung from the gallows, a grim reminder of something.
¡°I want to circle back there when we can.¡± Iona noted the spot on her map, and I agreed with her.
¡°There¡¯s no chance the Ephesus Ranger team is free enough to check it out.¡± It was a shame - it was exactly the sort of thing they were for.
With the speed we were going, Ephesus was in our sights a few minutes later.
¡°BrrrRRRPTTT????¡± Auri asked as she studied the city. She turned to me with a hopeful gleam in her eye.
¡°Brrrpt?¡± She asked.
¡°Well¡ if it¡¯s hostile, sure, you seem to be the best bird for the case.¡± I confirmed.
The city had been overtaken by a plant, best I could tell. Thick vines snaked through the city, lifting buildings up. Large leaves kept the ashes off, and flowers were blooming along its length. Branches - don¡¯t ask me how vines and branches were on the same tree, I¡¯d focused on flesh and blood [Biomancy] back in the day - hung heavy with fruits. They looked like oversized red pears, and the smell was amazing.
My sharp eyes picked out a number of people moving through the city. They looked happy enough, plucking bright red head-sized fruits and eating them. Houses were shored up by the vines, and it wasn¡¯t like there were large thorns coming off all of them.
¡°What do we think?¡± I asked Iona as she pulled on the reins, Fenrir turning into a wide glide around the city. She squinted and shaded her eyes as she looked.
I cast a little spell to improve her vision, magical binoculars.
¡°I think the city looks fine, there¡¯s a powerful Classer involved, and flying overhead or even close is a bad, bad idea. Nobody shows off something that strong without being able to protect it, and I doubt there¡¯s a guiding intelligence. Plus¡ put yourself in their shoes for a moment. What¡¯s more likely, a friendly wyvern or a ferocious one?¡±
Fenrir snorted his protest. Iona patted the armor over his neck.
¡°Yes, you¡¯re friendly and ferocious.¡±
¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri and plants went together about as well as fire and kindling. We could spend a few hours trying to figure things out, but I wasn¡¯t sure that was the best use of our time. A note to Katerina, a few scouts, and that would take care of it.
We were the big hammer. It was nice to see other people helping, other Classers doing what they could, and poking around their business wasn¡¯t the best use of our time.
¡°Let¡¯s report back to Katerina, then sweep back out.¡± I suggested.
There was a good use of our time, and I prayed to Ciriel. A belated whoops thought had me praying and dedicating some of my excess mana to the Goddess of Healing¡ something I should¡¯ve done before. Couldn¡¯t do it with [Persistent Casting], it was something [Prayer] could pull off.
Heya!
You mentioned I was the miracle!
Well¡ some of the fires over here are out. Metaphorically speaking. Is there anywhere you need a miracle on wings?
I instantly got a reply.
Elaine!
Yes!
Iridellis could use your aid.
I nodded, before my heart skipped a beat as I placed where it was.
That was an elf city.
Chapter 581 - I will not discriminate who I heal
We were at war.
There was no debate about it, no question. The only true ¡®question¡¯ was whether Exterreri even continued to reasonably exist. The potential collapse of enough aspects of government and communication could have erased the realities of the nation.
Everyone was at war, with some Classers seemingly hellbent on extermination, while others fought to protect people. Some fought for love, some for hate, and many hid. I found, in the moment, that I didn¡¯t care too much about the motives, simply what was in front of me. People needed my help. They wanted healing. I could provide it.
I took a fairly hard line towards people trying to kill me, or the people under my protection. I knew my interpretation of my [Oath] was one of the harshest when it came to that aspect. I was no bleeding heart, I didn¡¯t have a whole lot of sympathy for hardened killers attacking other people.
Zoomed out, on a scale? It was no contest. I wasn¡¯t going to hold civilians accountable for a soldier¡¯s actions. I wasn¡¯t going to hold it against a Classer¡¯s family what the Classer did.
Ciriel said people needed help? People praying to the Goddess of Healing enough that she asked me to intervene? It was no question. I was going to help, even if they were going to pick up a knife and try to stick the pointy end inside me tomorrow.
¡°Cat¡¯s got your tongue?¡± Iona asked, prodding deeper with her question.
I flipped over to the positive aspects. I could help Ciriel! I had an honest-to-goodness divine mission! How many people could say they¡¯d gotten one of those?
¡°I think I¡¯ve got my first divine mission of mercy.¡± I said with a note of wonder. Iona¡¯s face lit up like a child getting to play with the Mirage element for the first time. I knew what it meant to her, how much of her life she devoted to the goddesses, and once again she could share that with me. ¡°I wonder if helping out will level your [Paladin] class.¡±
¡°BrrRRRppt!¡± Auri trilled appreciatively. ¡°Brrpt?¡± She asked where, right as Iona spoke up.
¡°I can only hope, but more importantly, where is it, and what do you need to do?¡± She asked.
¡°Iridellis. Tympestshard. I hope there¡¯s no problem with that?¡± I asked.
¡°What are we going to do when they attack us?¡± Iona gestured broadly at us as she asked. ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, I¡¯m all for this, but we are going to get attacked, flying the colors we are, and we should have a plan for that.¡±
I pictured it in my mind, and nodded.
¡°You¡¯re right. Let¡¯s get planning. Here¡¯s some ideas¡¡±
Fenrir circled the Sixth while Auri and I dropped down, lightly landing on the back of a wagon, in front of Katerina. I threw a fast salute at the woman, sitting on a stool in the middle, dictating to the [Scribes].
Her curse meant she couldn¡¯t directly write reports, not anymore. Her mind was what the Sixth needed though, not her body.
¡°Sentinel Dawn. Report.¡± Katerina¡¯s wagon was closed top, with a permanent writing desk and mountains of paperwork and scrolls. Her [Scribes], [Aides], and [Messengers] hovered around the command wagon, along with a number of her support staff, the [Legata] continuing to command and operate even while on the move.
¡°Legata. The path and your desired location are relatively clear. We¡¯ve exterminated some of the monsters lurking there, it¡¯s deep wilderness and water, there¡¯s quite a lot still alive, and more will be attracted to the scent of blood. On the way back, we were forced to detour on a mission I¡¯ve sealed to secrecy. There might be some elven activity in the mountains to the south, but we¡¯ve removed what they¡¯re interested in, so hopefully they¡¯ll clear out. Ephesus seems to be well in hand. A Classer¡¯s gotten a plant to dominate the city. It¡¯s worth further investigation in the future to determine if it¡¯s truly beneficial, or subtly hostile. A glance suggests it¡¯s doing good things for the city. Here are the maps of the region.¡±
Auri was doing her best to sagely nod along.
With a gesture - more for clear communication of what I was doing than any need - a stack of Iona¡¯s maps ended up on a less-crowded section of one of the [Scribe¡¯s] desks. Katerina¡¯s eyes flickered to them, making an approving noise before carrying on.
¡°Excellent. I¡¯ve got some questions about what you saw, and any details you consider operationally important to me about the sealed event. First, you mentioned elves. Any Classers? Any chance of them intercepting us? What would you say¡¡±
Katerina rapidly interrogated me for three minutes, firing off questions as quickly as I could answer them. Neither of us were bothering to slow down, moving at top speed to communicate as much information as I could, as quickly as we could. We both knew that time meant lives.
¡°Excellent work Dawn. Two centuries were sent north to gather the remnants of the Sixth¡¯s camp and bring them south. If you could check on them, that would be appreciated.¡±
I saluted my acknowledgement, and bulldozed her with my request.
¡°I will also be casting a wider net. My team and I are going to scout further into Exterreri, see what needs to be done, and heal anyone who needs it. A team of Moonlit Medics for the entire country.¡±
Auri¡¯s beak went right into the air like it was her idea.
Katerina wasn¡¯t an idiot, and we both knew she¡¯d be undermining her own authority hard if she demanded I stay. She also knew that, right now, she didn¡¯t need me, not as badly as other people did.
¡°Go.¡± She said. ¡°And may the gods be with you.¡±
The levels rolled in as we flew over the countryside, hitting city after city.
It was sobering. I¡¯d just visited these cities, some a few days ago, on Arachne¡¯s ¡®purge the disease¡¯ mission. Yet, some were in utter ruins, gone in a blink of an eye.
I was possibly more helpful to all the countryside we were passing over. The thousands of farms, the hundreds of thousands of scattered lives. The famous Exterreri roads connected them all to each other, and in some ways they were the least touched by the devastation, unnoticed and ignored. They already grew their own food, relying on themselves to fix their own tools.
At the same time, they weren¡¯t in an ideal situation. There was no strength in numbers. They were isolated, easy to pick off by monsters, and there was no help coming. If someone was injured, there was no [Healer] nearby, and if the nearby city was destroyed, there was no [Healer] to go to, period. There was nobody to trade with for more goods, no replacing anything that broke beyond repair. On a lighter note, moonshine was the only liquor left.
The falling ashes threatened to choke the plants, wither the fruit on the vine. There was no stopping a wildfire, no dousing dragonfire. Half the world was burning, intent on choking out the other half.
There was no easy organization, no line I could follow, no string to trace my finger down on how and where people were. We flew low, bathing people in my healing, flying past so quickly that Fenrir¡¯s wake blew hats off of heads and laundry off of drying lines.
[*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1267->1269 +200 Strength, +200 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +2000 Mana, +10000 Mana Regen, +4000 Magic Power, +4000 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Cities came and went, some standing strong with banners flying proud in the wind, and others smoldering ruins. My heart grieved and broke, but it was shocking how quickly I became inured to the sight. How soon it became commonplace, expected.
Then we turned west.
¡°Everyone ready?¡± I asked, [The World Around Me] confirming the rope was tied around me twice over, and well-tied to multiple anchor spots on Fenrir¡¯s armor.
¡°Ready.¡± Iona confirmed, tugging again on the leather straps keeping her in her saddle. A small notebook was on her lap, and the Valkyrie was pressing a second one against Fenrir¡¯s scales.
¡°Ready.¡± Fenrir growled out, low and steady.
¡°Brpt!¡± Auri confirmed from her seat on Fenrir¡¯s head, a small dome of force securing her a second time. She held a ream of loose papers in her beak. The part of me that considered ripping pages out of books sacrilege had died decades ago, as I¡¯d constantly burned pages out myself.
¡°Enchantments go.¡± I ordered, activating the three dozen spells I¡¯d prepared for myself.
The beautiful thing about wizardry was that anyone could use the runes once they¡¯d been laid down. Assuming a crafty [Wizard] didn¡¯t want to lock the runes for one reason or another, but that was a whole tangent and a half. It was the fundamental basis of all enchanting, but they tended to be consumable, and they had to use the caster¡¯s mana at a steep penalty compared to simply having a skill. The sheer versatility couldn¡¯t be beaten though, especially when it came to utility skills at high levels. The rest of the Eventide Eclipse activated their papers, all of us enchanted to the gills.
Auri needed fewer spells than the rest of us, some of her skills innately covering what the rest of us were doing. She¡¯d gotten [All The World¡¯s Magic Is Revealed To Me In A Teardrop], letting her see everything. If she wanted to. Fenrir had a similar, but radically different skill, instead letting him see ¡®echoes¡¯ of everyone who¡¯d been walking or moving through an area, with the ability to view it over time or get an idea when it had happened. It was possible to fool, and even easier to hide from, but for a [Detective] it was a potent fact-finder. Less helpful here and today, but I didn¡¯t know a spell that could replicate it.
¡®Intuition-leaping¡¯ skills were nearly impossible to mimic with wizardry.
It wasn¡¯t quite worth all the time and effort to always use these spells, but knowing we were going into a complex situation made it easy to justify. The world distorted, and Iridellis lit up in front of us. Hundreds of auras, each one their own shade, mingled in spheres while tens of thousands of subtle lines denoted wards, spells, and other skills. Some were like a solid wall, others like a great spider web, and one spell seemed to shift and move around like a flock of starlings.
Ignorance was bliss.
I could see the auras coming out of the elven city. I could also see the auras of some big, powerful creatures moving around deep underground, the edge of their aura skimming the surface. Off in the far distance was a teal aura that reached up to the sky, and it took me a moment to realize the faint haze in front of my eyes was an aura so large, I couldn¡¯t tell the start or end of it - only that we were inside of it.
I shuddered. I was far better off not knowing that.
I had a fantastic range on [Universal Cure].
I was dealing with elves. Old elves, Immortal elves, elves with triple my level and the skills to go with it. They far, far outranged me and my skills. The best we could do is be sneaky, and try to avoid their attention.
¡°Sound check.¡± I subvocalized. Iona clicked her tongue.
¡°Doesn¡¯t work, you¡¯re too close to me.¡± She said.
¡°Brpt.¡± The quietest little noise I¡¯d ever heard Auri make came in loud and clear through my ears. I shot her a thumb¡¯s up.
¡°Invisibility go.¡± Iona commanded, and the three of them activated the [Greater Invisibility] rune. I had a whole book dedicated just to that one spell, it was so useful. I activated the one I¡¯d engraved on my sternum - they healed now! Easy unlimited uses! - fading away just the same.
¡°This is so weird.¡± Iona said, her words being muffled by the spell but coming through the communication enchantment loud and clear. ¡°I can¡¯t feel any of you, but I¡¯m clearly still up in the air.¡±
A hand groped me.
¡°So weird.¡± Iona reiterated. I tried smacking it away.
¡°Fenrir, let¡¯s go.¡± I said. I didn¡¯t see him move, nor really feel it, but the world lurched around me as Fenrir streamed towards the city, moving fast.
I wished I could properly analyze what happened here. Go down on the streets, study the disaster and the impact. It was unlikely to change my image or what I needed to do, but the knowledge could be invaluable. Could help another healer, prevent another disaster.
Another part wished that people could just understand. That I could walk up to the gates, have them thrown open and be able to do what I needed to do without fear or worries. Unfortunately, all that took time, and while I waited and dithered and guards went to fetch the right people and it was all cleared, people died.
I had no tolerance for people dying, not when I could do something about it.
We hit the outer edge of the auras at speed. Gouts of nearly-invisible flames flared and burned the way forward, Auri slicing through the majority of the woven spells. To my eye, some of them disintegrated, the threads burning all the way down, while others snapped back. Some remained static, and one thrashed as if it was in pain. Some of the wards burned a hole like paper, others tried to flow back like water.
She couldn¡¯t get all of them, not at the speed we were going at, but some of the wards Auri didn¡¯t get, the drops and lines, slid off us like water off a duck¡¯s back. [Greater Invisibility] could handle a lot.
We could talk, but there was no need to. We all knew things were going well, but they couldn¡¯t last. Levels scrolled by at speed, which was only to be expected. Something new, something outside my usual operations, yet laid at exactly the heart of what it meant to be [The Elaine]? A mission of mercy requested by the literal Goddess of Healing?
[*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1269->1270 +200 Strength, +200 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +2000 Mana, +10000 Mana Regen, +4000 Magic Power, +4000 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]
[*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1270->1271]
[*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1271->1272]
[*ding!* Congratulations! [Seraph of the Dawn] has leveled up! 985->994 +512 Speed, +512 Vitality, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration, +1024 Magic Power, +1024 Magic Control per level from your class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Strength +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]
[*ding!* Congratulations! [Sage of Tomes] has leveled up! 911->926 +1500 Magic Power, +1500 Magic Control, +700 Mana, +700 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Magic Power from your Element per level!]
Oh hey, Auri was also getting good experience out of this. Wooo shared experience!
At this rate I was going to speed level [The Elaine], capping it in a week when it had taken me decades for [Arbiter]. Sure, the whole world was on fire, which was helping a bit.
Even at a distance, I was able to see the impact of my work, of my abilities. Not only was I leveling, but my mana was actually dropping, the costs outstripping my regeneration. The city¡¯s massive buildings looked like they¡¯d been poked by a hot brand, clean holes ripping straight through. Disturbingly, the marks matched gigantic claws - I could imagine a Darkness dragon simply raking his claws through the city to cause the damage. Makeshift medical tents had been set up, and my eyes spotted dozens of commotions near them.
I felt a deep sense of satisfaction at that. ¡®Wait, what, we¡¯re all healed, what¡¯s going on?¡¯ was a most excellent surprise, one I was happy to deliver. I¡¯d never get credit for this action, I¡¯d never be thanked. The happy smiles, the toddlers bouncing around their mother, a pair of elves so graceful and ageless I couldn¡¯t guess their relationship embracing, that was the only reward I¡¯d ever get for today, for here and now.
It couldn¡¯t last, and it didn¡¯t. We were a sharp knife, cutting through hundreds of spells and auras, and one of them had to have an ¡®I¡¯ve been broken¡¯ alert, a fine tripwire to warn the caster of a problem. It happened later than I feared, but a gigantic burst of Radiance from the city was enough to strip and cancel the [Greater Invisibility] on three of us - Auri¡¯s small size let her hide in Fenrir¡¯s shadow.
¡°Up, up, up!¡± Iona urged Fenrir as the alarm quickly spread, the first few enterprising elves attempting to get the [Wyvern Slayer] class. Everyone was on a hair trigger. Sharp rocks and broken glass, Metal beams and Water jets, everything but the kitchen sink was thrown at Fenrir¡¯s armored underside.
Lightning splashed harmlessly against him - [Lightning Resistance] for the win - but a swarm of bioengineered bees, of all things, were able to catch up and swarm us, looking for places to sting.
The irony wasn¡¯t lost on me that Radiance ended up being our biggest problem. Right as we were over the far wall of the city, right as it looked like we were free and clear, a hair-thin beam of Radiance lanced out from the ground, melting a fine hole through Fenrir¡¯s armor and trying to cook him from the inside out. My [Universal Cure] image naturally included Fenrir, and he was fine.
A dozen angry elves chased us away from the city, but Fenrir was a high level wyvern, and the lack of any obvious damage or harm besides buzzing the city had the Classer defenders reluctant to pursue.
¡°Yes! We did it!¡± Iona twisted back and we high-fived. Auri hopped over and joined in the celebrations. I checked the last level I got, grinning. Ciriel had been right, the city had been in dire need of a healer swinging by.
[*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1292 -> 1293]
Hey Ciriel! I did it! Mission Accomplished! I cheerfully sent up the Goddess¡¯s way. A glance at Iona revealed she¡¯d also benefited from the mission.
[Warrior - 1248].
Our Moonfall operation had done fantastic things for her level, even if she wasn¡¯t leveling at the same rate I was currently. A bit of a reverse from what we expected. At the same time, this sort of thing was exactly what Fenrir wanted to do class-wise, as far as I could tell. He was basically asserting aerial dominance over large, high-level cities, proving that he was the uncontested [Lord of the Frozen Skies]. For a given definition of uncontested. Either way - fantastic experience for him, and he¡¯d even growled out a whole conversation with Iona about wrapping a city in snowfall while we were at it.
I noticed, thank you so much! You¡¯re just the BEST! Can you do a few more? Ciriel whispered in my ear.
I didn¡¯t even need to ask the rest what they thought of Ciriel''s request.
Of course. Tell me more.
We hit five more cities before things got close enough that we decided to head back to the Sixth, and see how they were doing.
[*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1293 -> 1344]
Chapter 582 - Decisions
I pouted as we flew back to Exterreri, moving through a cold and wet cloudbank. Made us a little harder to see, a little harder to find, even as rain pelted my face hard enough to bruise. Well, if I was a normal human, anyway. Auri had her Lava ring of rocks spinning around her at furious speeds, the entire thing blurring into a solid-looking ring of dozens of glowing colors. Steam hissed and sizzled off the rings as she impacted raindrops, muttering to herself how she hated the weather.
Which, to be fair, was pretty miserable when you were a phoenix made out of fire.
We¡¯d gotten hit by something nasty at the last city we were at, and my wonderful spellbook of [Greater Invisibility] runes had bit the dust. [Clad in Twilight] was a solid armor skill, but [The Arbiter of Life and Death] didn¡¯t have anything to do with books the way [Sage of Tomes] did, and the vitality protection didn¡¯t extend to books the same way it did to my clothing, armor, and weapons. I was already tracing out more runes into a spellbook, but not as aggressively. Not as full.
Blank spellbooks were now a difficult to replace resource, and I needed to conserve what I had. I couldn¡¯t just snap my fingers and create everything needed to make paper, let alone good paper. Fuck this whole war thing.
¡°We were only helping.¡± I sulked. ¡°They didn¡¯t need to be that aggressive about it.¡±
Iona patted my arm, her other hand massaging my neck in exactly the way I liked. My eyelids fluttered as her distraction worked exactly as she intended it to.
¡°Looking for the Sixth¡¯s convoy now, yeah?¡± Iona asked. I reluctantly tore myself away from her tender ministrations.
¡°Yes¡ but no. We¡¯ve done a lot for me, my people, and what I want. What about you? Is there anywhere you want to go? Any miracles the Moon Goddesses want us to perform on their behalf? A favorite place, a person who needs to be rescued? Finding Nina, Alruna, anyone?¡±
It was like I¡¯d dropped a load of bricks on Iona¡¯s back.
¡°I want to make it back to Sanguino and Orthus quickly. I do know once we¡¯re there we¡¯re unlikely to move around lots, and I do want to keep helping people. When do we stop? The balance is hard, and I don¡¯t know what the right answer is.¡±
I went quiet at that, mulling it over.
¡°I don¡¯t know what the right answer is either.¡± I said as Auri hopped over to us, fluttering up to my shoulder. ¡°The dozens of people we know and are close with, or the millions of strangers. I sound like an ass saying it like that, but¡¡±
¡°But there¡¯s always another stranger.¡± Iona finished my thought, nodding. ¡°And we¡¯ll never say no to them. But where¡¯s the line, when do we stop to look after our own house? What¡¯s right?¡±
¡°When do we look after your needs, versus my desires.¡± I concluded.
¡°There¡¯s no good answer, all we can do is follow our heart.¡± Iona said. ¡°How do we feel about this: Exterreri¡¯s friendly territory. We¡¯ve got maps of the cities. Let¡¯s zig zag east, buzz cities we haven¡¯t visited before, circle Sanguino, and see what¡¯s going on at Orthus. Settle them, see what we can do to fix as many problems as we can there, take a week or three or eight. Then we all hop on Fenrir, and tour cities until we drop.¡±
¡°Brpt!¡± Auri wanted to put a hard limit on how long we stayed until heading out again.
¡°There might not be any cities by then¡ but that¡¯s a thought, hang on.¡± I said. ¡°Massa collapsed fairly quickly, but it¡¯s not like other cities and towns aren¡¯t going to have similar problems, just on a longer timeline. Auri¡¯s right. After a certain point, going back out is almost pointless, there isn¡¯t the grain moving around to support large population centers, there won¡¯t be high density targets to heal and assist.¡±
A thousand bunkers scattered all over the world, yes. A hundred thousand farms, absolutely. But no easy ¡®we can do so much good¡¯ centers.
¡°Eight cities.¡± Iona proposed. ¡°Let¡¯s keep going until we hit eight empty, dead, or destroyed cities in a row, then head to Orthus. That can be our signal that enough has fallen apart that there¡¯s not much more we can reasonably do, and we should start tending to ourselves and our homes and loved ones.¡±
The idea was like a balm on my soul, a way to relieve the part of me that screamed fly and save with every fiber of your being until you drop dead. Those with power should use it.
If I couldn¡¯t find anyone to help, then it only made sense to stop, circle back to people I could, and look after them and my family.
¡°Agreed.¡± I said. ¡°Auri? Fenrir?¡±
¡°Brpt!¡± Auri was all for it. The Phoenix Peaks were a little short of invincible, and she¡¯d already accepted her nest, flower fields, bakery, and home as a loss. However, perhaps, maybe, we could make it four cities in a row, not eight.
I¡ wasn¡¯t ready to accept them all being gone. We didn¡¯t know, they could still be there.
¡°Fenrir? Anything to add?¡± Iona asked. He snorted, and said the one word that summed up his perspective.
¡°Case.¡± He said.
¡°Alright! Let¡¯s go!¡± Iona whooped, and we were off.
Fenrir dipped down below the clouds and we scanned around.
¡°River there.¡± Iona pointed out.
¡°Mountains to the south¡ as usual.¡±
¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri pointed out a line in the forest where the trees were suddenly more. Taller, greener, thicker. A subtle boundary line between Exterreri and Tympestshard. Well, former. I pulled out a map from [The Library of Infinite Wonder] and triangulated the points, roughly working out where we were.
¡°This way.¡± I pointed the direction with [A Light Shining in the Darkness], a brief flash of light in the proper direction to let Fenrir know where to go.
We hit a pair of cities - one filled with rotting bodies, the other in the midst of a barely-controlled evacuation, the banners of the Eighth Legion flying proud - before finding the convoy.
[*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1344->1349 +200 Strength, +200 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +2000 Mana, +10000 Mana Regen, +4000 Magic Power, +4000 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.
The levels slowing down made me nervous. Were they slowing down because this was no longer new and novel, because other [Healers] had the situation mostly under control, or was the city in much more dire straits than other ones, most of the people already dead? The streets had looked awfully empty¡
¡°They¡¯re not going to make it.¡± Iona said after a glance down.
We were used to the well-organized movements of the Legions over the roads. I¡¯d seen endless merchant caravans with varying degrees of success and order. This was more of a mob than anything.
The roads were suggestions to the people moving down. A cart had broken down on the road, and instead of trying to help and get it moving for everyone to keep using the road well, people had tried driving around it. Some summer rainfall and a lack of experience got another wagon stuck in the mud, expanding the blockage. All manner of impractical objects were being dragged along, there was an active fight a pair of beleaguered legionnaires were trying to break up.
What was worse, with the banners and the mob, they looked like they knew what they were doing, and we could see at least two families hustling over cracked fields to join them, adding to the unruly mass. In times of trouble, people were looking for safety in numbers, when great numbers were exactly the thing to avoid.
¡°Fuck.¡± Iona said with heart.
¡°Triple fuck.¡± I agreed, skipping the double fuck entirely.
¡°Brrpt.¡± Auri shook her head sadly, hyper aware of the logistics needed to bake for that many people.
¡°Right, to Katerina, so she can send a group up?¡± I proposed. ¡°This isn¡¯t a ¡®one Classer fixes¡¯ problem, this is a ¡®need a dozen [Scribes] and four dozen [Soldiers]¡¯ problem. Agreed?¡±
¡°Aye.¡± Iona flicked on Fenrir¡¯s reins, and we turned.
¡°Let¡¯s all land.¡± I suggested to Iona. The Sixth had gotten to their destination, and were busy mauling the nearby forest with axes. My practiced eye saw that the centuries assigned to wood duty had been divided along their lines, two soldiers with axes while the rest were in light armor, warily keeping an eye on the forest around them. Glowing lines marked the edges of the ¡®fort¡¯ Katerina was aiming to make, enclosing enough farmland to feed thousands. A ¡®smaller¡¯ town was marked as well. A roaring bonfire was in the middle of the to-be fields, soldiers tossing in unwanted branches. Dozens of beasts were being roasted on the fire, the taming of civilization also filling empty bellies.
Ashes continued to fall over the entire spectacle.
Iona whistled as she took the whole thing in.
¡°Ambitious.¡± She praised, nudging Fenrir with her knees. ¡°I do wonder why they didn¡¯t take over existing farmland. Like, it¡¯d already be cultivated, already have skilled people there, already have the skeleton of a road, three quarters of the challenges are gone.¡±
Huh.
¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I said as Fenrir started to dive. ¡°Maybe the [Thinkers] have determined this is exactly the right mix of challenge and people to survive and thrive? What do farmers need roughly 3000 people settling on their land for, just feels like a new form of banditry if they roll into an existing, working system and say ¡®food please¡¯. This way, they¡¯re out of the way enough not to get tempted to start robbing people.¡±
¡°Ah, good point.¡±
We cut the possibly less-than-polite talk about robbing people as Fenrir landed. I gave a quick report to Leona, the second-in-command.
¡°... in conclusion, I¡¯d send a full century north along with half of the [Scribe] Optio to organize the convoy.¡± I said. Fenrir was sniffing around the firepits to the displeased look of the cooks turning the spits, and I didn¡¯t blame either side. He¡¯d been going hard on this¡ but ¡®I¡¯m cooking for my buddies, starvation¡¯s threatening us, WHOOPS giant wyvern ate it all¡¯ also had weight to it. It was part of why I¡¯d landed.
¡°We¡¯re taking a quick rest, and we¡¯re going to be off.¡± I said before Leona could reply. She reluctantly saluted, her hand at the textbook-perfect position.
¡°Sentinel. We are forever in your debt.¡± She said. A perverse demon overtook me in the moment, and I winked at her.
¡°I¡¯m Immortal, think you can get that down in writing somewhere?¡±
She laughed.
¡°Alright Dawn, I think we can do that for you. Safe travels!¡±
¡°Detail, I¡¯m going to borrow you for a moment. I need a [Scribe] who can rapidly make copies.¡± I pointed to two of Leona¡¯s soldiers, then popped into my [Tower].
First up was breakfast-lunch-dinner for Iona, Auri, and myself, then a heaping helping of raw meat for Fenrir. It wasn¡¯t going to be enough for him, but it should take the edge off long enough for him to try hunting. I then grabbed several bags of seeds - mainly wheat, it was an easier crop - and a single sample of a variety of unusual farming tools.
I teleported back out and dropped most of the supplies in front of one of the soldiers I¡¯d commandeered, [Teleporting] lunch to Auri, Iona, and Fenrir. Iona smoothly grabbed hers out of the air, and Fenrir blurred as he simply snapped, grabbing his dinner whole to the startlement of everyone else. Auri completely fumbled it - but it might have been on purpose, trying to be a bit of a comedian in the face of disaster and ruin.
I mentally flicked through the minor disaster that was my [Library], pulling out an eclectic variety of books and blueprints. Honestly, if I¡¯d known everything was going to go to shit so quickly, I would¡¯ve raided a few extra libraries. A tiny part of me mourned at the necessity of moving quickly and rapidly to save lives, that I couldn¡¯t justify dropping down onto so many abandoned cities and looting their libraries clean.
Perhaps when things were just a little more settled I could try. I¡¯d hopefully get to them before the rain and the bugs destroyed them all.
[Luminary Mind] continued to let me do multiple things at once, and I [Teleported] the various tools I¡¯d grabbed onto a soft landing before they could all fall - I didn¡¯t want to be standing here awkwardly juggling a thresher, among other things.
¡°Detail, these are some useful tools. See them secured and organized.¡± I ordered.
I could see the brief flash of despair deep in his eyes as he saluted, one I knew well. The ¡®superior in the chain of command has given me an impossible order, and now I¡¯ve got to figure it all out myself.¡¯ I only felt a little bad.
¡°Sentinel, as you command.¡± He said.
I devoured my own lunch while waiting for the [Scribe], starting to get impatient. Sure, it had only been a minute since I¡¯d sent the soldier off for one, and they couldn¡¯t move at a multiple of the speed of sound, but time was lives right now.
I saw them hurrying over a moment later, and three quick [Teleports] later I was in front of them, sending the poor woman jumping a foot in the air.
¡°I need you to make three copies of each of these as quickly as you can.¡± I handed her a sheaf of papers, flipping open books to various pages and marking them. ¡°Also, a copy of each of these pages. Then file them away, let the Optio know what you¡¯ve got and where. These are important, they could save your life.¡± I stressed.
The [Scribe] nodded without a word, simply picking up the first paper with ink-stained hands. A blueprint of how a simple fishing boat was put together. With the Sixth settling down on Lake Mare, they¡¯d need all the fishing help they could get, and it wasn¡¯t a given that they had any [Shipwrights]. The Legion had many skills, but [Siege Engineers] weren¡¯t usually taught how to make boats. With a skill letting her hover the paper in front of her, she flicked the page with her left hand, then pulled out three blank pieces of paper. Each flick of her right hand on the page perfectly copied the contents over, creases and all.
I left her to her work. I¡¯d included everything I thought Katerina could use for the budding town she was trying to flash assemble. Boats, designs, farming techniques, agricultural practices. My heart of hearts really wanted to include science, philosophy, history, a dozen cultures and more, but I forced myself to be pragmatic. There was more to do, more places to go, more people I needed to help, and the world wasn¡¯t entirely on my shoulders. Maxlin, the [Alchemist], had his own notes and knowledge, and he wasn¡¯t the only one.
My shoulders were not the only ones trying to hold up the sky.
I was the only one with the healing power and mobility, and a quick analysis of my stats suggested I might be the literal best in the world.
Black quality classes were rare, even for the best of the best. No matter how much the elves declaimed cycling the end-all be-all for class quality, it was nearly impossible to brute-force a black class. The strongest ease of access to quality class ratio I knew of was [Loremaster], where simple knowledge and the will to do something about it granted a modestly high quality class. There had to be a few more, hidden, secret, around somewhere, and dragons were known bullshit, but generally it was hard to get the highest quality classes.
Each level I got in [The Elaine] was worth four-ish levels of a - low quality - dark purple class, eight-ish levels of a light purple class, and sixteen-ish levels of a blue quality class. Being a Sentinel of Remus, one of humanity¡¯s only defenders, fighting back the Formorians, being a Ranger, going on various missions - that had only been worth dark green.
One level of [The Elaine] was worth thirty two levels in a dark green class, and that quality had impressed the elves I¡¯d met once upon a time.
I was approaching 600 levels in maximum black-quality classes. 581, to be exact. That was the same stats as 18,592 dark green quality levels, which was impossible. A Classer would cap all three of their classes before being able to gain that many levels. It wasn¡¯t quite that simple - high level classes gave more stats per level-quality than low level classes - but the idea remained.
Before my [Oath], I was potentially stronger than a level 4000 healer with average class qualities, if average were dark green or even blue quality!
Before [Oath].
I wasn¡¯t going to try and work out relative skill qualities, but I knew I had some of the best of the best.
Then how many healers were as durable and quick as I was? As speedy as Fenrir, as able to go into hostile territory and enforce their desire for nobody to die like I was?
No, I didn¡¯t think it was ego talking when I believed I was one of the best in the world, possibly the best in the world.
Anyone, arguably everyone, could rebuild civilization. Could copy blueprints, find old books, reinvent old discoveries.
Only I could heal people the way I did, and that¡¯s where my time was best spent. The Sixth had their own lines of [Healers], I was almost redundant when it was more ¡®peaceful¡¯.
As soon as we were rested enough, we¡¯d be back in the air, doing everything we could.
It would have to be enough.
Chapter 583 - Nadir
We flew, we healed, we fought and we ran. Levels rolled in like the tide. We got hit by Lightning, buffeted by Gale winds strong enough to move Fenrir, and almost smacked by the Sea of Stars as something tried to ¡®lift¡¯ the entire thing up.
We¡¯d followed the coast of the Sea of Stars, civilization sprouting where water met land like moss on a stone.
We were in Nippon-Koku when the sky turned to flames. I wasn¡¯t being metaphorical - from horizon to horizon, clouds, sun and sky were replaced by a thick layer of roiling red flames, an inferno burning crimson above us. I couldn¡¯t feel the heat, but it immediately made Iona break out in buckets of sweat. Fenrir started to droop and wilt, conjuring up thick plates of Ice around him to try and cool off. They boiled away, wreathing us in steam. A massive updraft as the Inferno sucked in all the air tried to pull Fenrir up, the thermals pushing him a second time.
¡°Lunaris¡¯s gaze.¡± Iona swore. ¡°Elaine, armor in storage, now!¡± She shouted, knocking her helmet with a hand.
Iona sat behind me on Fenrir, which meant I was usually leaning up against her. She clearly had dropped her armor-reinforcing skill, and while Fenrir continued to generate more steam than a dwarven forge, I slapped my hand on Iona¡¯s helmet, making sure it was included, then teleported into my [Tower].
Each part of Fenrir¡¯s gear was connected and touching every other part, and I couldn¡¯t take one piece without taking all of it. Which was nice - I was able to take all of it, thank you 2.5 million magic power, although Fenrir¡¯s size versus my tower¡¯s storage forced it to ¡®jumble around¡¯ as it came in. With a well-practiced thought, I moved his armor to its designated spot, before continuing to [Teleport] Iona¡¯s armor and my gear onto their respective armor stands.
Notifications started to ding.
[*ding!* Congratulations! [Seraph of the Dawn] has leveled up! 994->996 +512 Speed, +512 Vitality, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration, +1024 Magic Power, +1024 Magic Control per level from your class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Strength +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]
[*ding!* Congratulations! [Sage of Tomes] has leveled up! 926->932 +1500 Magic Power, +1500 Magic Control, +700 Mana, +700 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Magic Power from your Element per level!]
[*ding!* [Teleportation] leveled up! 510 -> 511]
[*ding!* [Tower of Knowledge] leveled up! 434-> 435]
I snapped out of [Tower] a moment later and reoriented to where Fenrir was slowly flying. I zipped over, the wyvern looking much happier and steam no longer billowing off him. Auri was proudly puffed up, and I had to imagine she¡¯d done something with the heat. It¡¯d explain all the levels from the shared experience. Iona¡¯s undershirt was still soaked through, and any other time I¡¯d appreciate the view.
¡°What do we think?¡± I asked as I landed, delicately leaning away from Iona. She was sweaty, and I loved her but did not want a sweat bath. No thank you. Not even at the end of the world, which this looked like.
Iona opened her mouth to answer, but the sky did the explaining.
We moved quickly, and it had been mere seconds since the sky had turned to an Inferno. A huge fireball ripped itself from the fire clouds, wider than Fenrir was long, and screamed down to the landscape below like a burning meteor strike.
That was the first one. It was joined by dozens, hundreds, thousands more as far as the eye could see.
A few headed our way. I doubted they were aimed, we just happened to be in the line of fire.
¡°BRRPT!¡± Auri ordered Fenrir to fly straight up, at the same angle they were coming down. The wyvern obeyed without question, and Auri stared fiercely at the firestorm, beak pointed directly at the incoming strike.
I had just enough time and presence of mind to pull out a spellbook and cast breathing bubbles on all of us. The flames threatened to suffocate us.
It was possible to tell exactly what her range was. The moment we got close enough the fireballs veered off course, crashing into each other.
[*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1349->1350 +200 Strength, +200 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +2000 Mana, +10000 Mana Regen, +4000 Magic Power, +4000 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]
[*ding!* Congratulations! [Seraph of the Dawn] has leveled up! 996->998 +512 Speed, +512 Vitality, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration, +1024 Magic Power, +1024 Magic Control per level from your class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Strength +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]
[*ding!* Congratulations! [Sage of Tomes] has leveled up! 932->935 +1500 Magic Power, +1500 Magic Control, +700 Mana, +700 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Magic Power from your Element per level!]
The experience overflowed nicely to me.
We survived the first wave, then the second. The Sea of Stars started to boil and hiss as endless strikes hit it, the land burning as far as the eye could see. The whole world became fire and flames, a playground for Auri and a burning hellscape for the rest of us.
A third and fourth wave hit, and then they were coming so fast and furious I couldn¡¯t tell the difference between them.
I was willing to bet it was exactly eight waves though.
[*ding!* Congratulations! [Seraph of the Dawn] has leveled up! 998->999 +512 Speed, +512 Vitality, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration, +1024 Magic Power, +1024 Magic Control per level from your class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Strength +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Oh come on! One more level to the big 1000!
[*ding!* Congratulations! [Sage of Tomes] has leveled up! 935->938 +1500 Magic Power, +1500 Magic Control, +700 Mana, +700 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Magic Power from your Element per level!]
The flames ended as quickly as they started. One moment the sky was endless devouring flames, sucking up all the air and burning the clouds, and the next it was all gone. It left behind an endless blue sky, one that was rapidly being filled with steam, smoke, and ashes.
We all traded looks, starting to laugh awkwardly in the ¡®I can¡¯t believe we just survived that¡¯ way. There was no way we were going to find eight intact cities after that. I wasn¡¯t sure we¡¯d even find the remains of eight cities!
It didn¡¯t help that our current city count was five. The last five cities we¡¯d encountered were dead, in one way or another.
¡°My thinking is a dragon getting pissed.¡± Iona said, daring to invoke their name. One of them had just gone on rampage, why wouldn¡¯t they like the attribution?
None of us were in the mood to vocalize a bet, to put money on the answer, to trivialize the murder and destruction.
¡°Brrrpt?¡±
Nevermind. One of us was willing to vocalize the bet, her gallows humor as black as her goth phase.
¡°Let¡¯s skim down the coast.¡± Iona¡¯s suggestion was more of a need, a burning desire to see the damage first hand and help in any way she could, nevermind our prior philosophy on cutting things short. Not after the firestorm we¡¯d just seen, not after the devastation delivered.
We flew low and fast along the coastline. Burning boats made way to docks with smoke still billowing off them, which led to the burnt-out husks of homes. We were forced to concede defeat when the land slowly turned to tundra, the mark that we were nearing Modu, land of the ice giants.
We turned back, and silently flew over the roiling Sea of Stars.
All the excitement on land had stirred up the denizens of the deep, and parts of the sea ran red with blood.
¡°Where are we?¡± I asked, staring at the coast, then back at my maps. None of the landmarks matched. Oh sure, there was a river over there, and a few rivers on my map, but none of them had a bay quite like this one. Add in the town on the riverbanks that had somehow¡ the best word I had for it was ¡®porcupined¡¯ itself. It was like a gigantic bubble had come up under the city, then exploded in spikes like a sea urchin. Anything resembling a recognizable landmark was distorted too much. Nothing matched.
¡°Case.¡± Fenrir sagely informed us, then angled north and started flying. ¡°Lair easy.¡±
Right. Wyvern, good sense of direction. It was needed, with how large their territories could be. We flew over endless scenes of apocalyptic destruction, Iona casually whipping off maps while I eyed my mana, hoping, praying it would dip down. A sign of civilization and people, that we weren¡¯t alone out here.
My efficiency combined with my obscene regeneration, along with my unblinking staring at the number made me think I¡¯d lost a point or two of mana now and then, but nothing conclusive.
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the general skill [Mana Log]. Would you like to replace a general skill with this skill? Y/N]
It¡¯d be nice, but like¡ as my 100th skill, maybe. If I had more skill slots, there were a thousand and one skills I¡¯d get before that.
Fenrir flew, Iona mapped, I continued to play with [The Mantle of Dusk and Dawn], and Auri gazed sadly over the devastated landscape, deliberately letting the ever falling ashes accumulate on her head.
That was impressive. Between not burning them and not letting them fly off her head, that - oh, nevermind, she was simply recoloring herself to make it look like the ashes were accumulating on her head.
¡°Home.¡± Fenrir grunted near midnight, the coastline slowly becoming more familiar. I knew that rock!
Then we saw it.
¡°By all the gods and goddesses above.¡± Iona swore.
I was a tad more eloquent.
¡°What the fuck.¡±
Bloodmoon Bay was about twice as large as before. Where Sanguino had been there was just more water. A few city walls stood in crumbled chunks, the stones blackened by whatever disaster had befallen the city.
Chillingly, there was no flotsam. No debris, no wooden beams floating in the water, no random barrels, nothing. It was like a giant finger had poked the city out of existence.
¡°Brrpt¡¡± Auri was devastated by the sight, freely crying crystalline tears. Fenrir sniffled, and I didn¡¯t know it was possible for wyverns to shed a tear.
Iona snapped her head around.
¡°Incoming.¡± She pointed, and my eyes followed.
I stood up and waved.
¡°Heeeey! Skater! Over here!¡± I yelled, continuing to try and wave the Sentinel down.
The Sentinel turned and skated over to us, conjuring Ice in mid-air right in front of her ice skates, moving with impossible grace and beauty. She had a whole sleigh behind her, one rope over her shoulder to pull the dozen people and piled bags on top of it. Her personal team and preferred mode of transportation. It was pretty slick, and Skater loved that pun.
¡°Dawn! Happy you¡¯re still alive! What¡¯s the situation?¡± She asked.
I gestured towards where I expected the capital city to be.
¡°I mean, not to be rude, but what¡¯s the situation here?¡± I asked.
¡°I have no idea.¡± She answered. ¡°Pillar of light came out of the sky. We raced over here, found a smoking hole being filled in by water. We¡¯ve been sticking in the area to find other survivors. What¡¯s the deal with¡ you¡¯re attached with the Sixth, yeah?¡± She asked.
¡°Sixth is¡ I don¡¯t want to call it dissolving, but they¡¯ve decided to settle down on the shores of Lake Mare and try to simply survive. It¡¯s the [Legata¡¯s] decision, but I don¡¯t do a whole lot of good standing around and making sure all their injuries are fixed up. They¡¯ve got their own Optio of [Healers], and I¡¯m able to move around quickly, help everyone. Huge firestorm in Nippon-Koku, we didn¡¯t see much in the way of survivors. Was hoping there¡¯d be something in Sanguino regarding command and control, but¡ that idea seems to be a bust.¡±
Deep inside, I was mourning. I thought I was fresh out of grief, but my empathy wasn¡¯t done, was still far too willing to kick me while I was down. There had been over a million souls in Sanguino, all of which were gone.
I didn¡¯t believe for a second that Night or Arachne had died, but everyone else? Marcelle? Atlas? The rest of the friends I¡¯d made over the years, Sentinels I knew had been stationed here?
I was already writing their names down in my Book of the Dead, already planning on a funeral and how I¡¯d immortalize their names.
Night had it right. A great stone wall, with every name carved by hand. It¡¯d take me a decade or two to write down everyone¡¯s name, but was a life not worth the effort? A form of Immortality, too little, too late, but a way to ensure their name was remembered and spoken forever more, staving off the second death.
People died twice. Once when their soul was released from their body, and a second time when their name passed a person¡¯s lips for the final time.
Once more, I would write their names. Once more, I would speak each one, keeping their spark alive, blowing on their embers to keep my solemn promise.
I will not forget you.
¡°Night¡¯s probably off assassinating elves, the slippery bastard.¡± Skater said admiringly. ¡°What are you thinking of doing?¡±
Auri and Iona were trading various looks with the members of Skater¡¯s team. My social bee of a wife knew most of them, and traded relieved looks. Auri was strutting up and down Fenrir¡¯s head like a runway model - I¡¯m glad she was distracting herself - and the mighty wyvern was hovering still in midair.
¡°I want to go home.¡± I said honestly. ¡°There¡¯s a whole community there that I asked to bunker down. See how they¡¯re doing, then fly back to the Sixth and let them know what¡¯s going on here. See if I can spot anyone else.¡±
Skater traced a circle with the tip of her eponymous skates in the ice.
¡°I might do that myself.¡± She said. ¡°First settlement I¡¯ve heard of. Got a map? And need anything? We¡¯re well supplied, always happy to lend a hand. Pere has got one heck of a bag storage skill.¡±
I grinned.
¡°I was about to ask you the same thing! I¡¯ve got a vault-like skill, I¡¯ve been stocking it for decades at this point. Here, let me show you where Orthus is. You¡¯ll be able to find us there.¡±
¡°Lead the way!¡± Skater said.
It was a shame I couldn¡¯t just point to it - we could certainly see far enough on a clear day. The falling ashes created a haze thick enough that I could see all of where Sanguino should be, but not another twenty miles to where our home and mountain was, along with Orthus village.
We flew at speed, my heart sinking a moment later as we were able to see the devastation that had been our home.
My mango trees were burning.
Chapter 584 - The First Pillar of Civilization
My mango trees were burning.
Half the mountain was burning, one of the endless wildfires dotting the landscape. A cursory look suggested some asshole Classer had dropped a [Firebomb] or something similar on our villa - it was nearly charred black, with burnt and blackened trees surrounding our home, followed by a ring of fire around it. Trees crackled and popped, sap boiling out and exploding, while flaming branches fell over, spreading the fire more. The enchantments I¡¯d laid on my orchard had slowed the flames down - only sensible, given that I lived with Auri - but it was clear at a glance that the trees were beyond saving. They weren¡¯t in the ¡®edges of the trees are getting crispy¡¯ phase, they were full-on ¡®burning bush immolation¡¯ phase.
As much as I loved them, as often as I¡¯d enjoyed their tender, succulent fruits, they weren¡¯t what was important right now.
¡°Bunker.¡± Iona and I said at the same time. Fenrir needed no encouragement, immediately diving down towards his burning lair. He unhinged his jaws and a mighty [Ice Beam] went through the inferno, the temperature plummeting to an uncomfortable degree.
Sentinel Skater whooped behind us and dove straight in, firing Icy blasts from her hands. Auri fluttered down as well, and while not quite as dramatic as the other two, she was remarkably effective. The moment she got near, the flames were simply snuffed out.
Fenrir pulled up near the concealed entrance to the bunker, and Iona and I fearlessly dove off. A suspicious rockslide had buried the entrance, and Iona swore as she started to grab rocks larger than she was, and simply hurled them away.
¡°Everyone¡¯s alive.¡± I said, seeing them through [The World Around Me]. ¡°They¡¯re unhappy, but alive. Going in.¡±
I [Teleported] through the meters of rocks, appearing inside the bunker.
We¡¯d dug it out over the years, and when it became clear that we wanted to also have a safe spot for Orthus village, we¡¯d spent significant time and effort expanding it again and again and again, enough room for some 200 souls. It wasn¡¯t comfortable room, to be sure. The bunk beds were four to a room, the sanitation was basically a line of holes over a single deep hole, the food was as basic as could be, Iona had to bend her neck to navigate the low hallways, the ventilation was questionable, and there was always the lingering question of ¡®what do people DO while stuck in here¡¯, but the point wasn¡¯t comfort, the point was pure survival.
People had survived, which was more than could be said for the citizens of Sanguino, and a hundred other cities.
I teleported sideways, close to the ceiling, and grabbed on with my fingers and heel to the top of the hallway. I clung to the ceiling like a spider, an impossible maneuver without my dexterity. Being able to grab things with my heel just made perfect sense.
The tiny part of my [Luminary Mind] that remembered Earth was screaming that it made no sense at all.
It was the only way I could fit in - the hallway was packed with people, and to my poor senses and understanding, was threatening to start a crush.
I spent a few leisurely moments in the confines of my mind working everything out. There was time, a hasty move now could make this dramatically worse.
We had to bow to natural sciences when making the bunker. We couldn¡¯t assume people with particular skills would make it to the bunker, either due to an accident, them traveling, or, pure and simple, dying of old age before needing it. The place was built entirely agnostically to skills and magic, no enchantments requiring arcanite to upkeep. People needed to breathe, there was no way around it. That meant we needed ventilation - and the fires raging outside were happily sucking the air out of the bunker on one end, and pouring smoke in the other. Add in the doors being blocked by a landslide - we¡¯d picked a place where there couldn¡¯t be a landslide - and the place was a dry mass of grass that had a flaming torch thrown into it.
It really, really didn¡¯t help that the bunker was hilariously over capacity. A quick skim suggested around 600 people were inside, which was absurd. We didn¡¯t have the capabilities for that many people. What started off cozy for 200 had turned into downright cramped for 600, and that was before endless objects had been dragged in as well. We did not need grandma¡¯s favorite dresser¡ okay, to be fair, it was pulling serious weight storing things. There had been rules set down for use of the bunker, rules that had been put aside and disregarded.
Then again, if I were Skye and 400 people showed up demanding entry, it might be hard to turn them away. In the end, if it worked out, I wasn¡¯t going to complain that our preparations had saved triple the lives we thought it could.
It wasn¡¯t like people had decided to lie down and die. A strong light from deeper in the bunker was letting people see, a cleaning skill kept the latrines from stinking, [Musicians] were playing and kids were being entertained. Food was being spiced up, and most of the smoke was being pulled into a tight ball, then released back out through one of the vents.
Skye and the [Mayor] were surrounded by angry - panicked, really, but one emotion flowed into the next - [Villagers]. Varuna, Skye¡¯s bonded unicorn, was behind her, an intimidating show of muscle and horn brought down quite a bit by how much he needed to hunch over. The place was not unicorn-sized, but the magical effects of his hooves, horn, and mane were magnified in the dark. Titania was being a gem, as always, keeping a portion of the bunker clean and tidy on her own. Secondus Nix, my once-apprentice and grandson of Nix, was cuddled up with his wife and baby. More friends and familiar faces were here, a testament to the decades of preparation.
They¡¯d worked.
Alright. With Iona about to show up, all I needed to do was to keep a lid on everything for the next hour, tops, and stop people from self-destructing. I mentally flipped through my spell list before deciding that I needed to manually draw a rune big enough for all the power and mana I was going to shove into it, and [Teleported] twice next to Skye.
[Luminary Mind] was a champion, letting me do a half dozen things at the same time to regain control of the situation.
With one thought I cast [The Mantle of Dusk and Dawn] in the stars, or dawn, configuration, boxing in everyone into their own private hexagon. My mana flickered as people crashed into the cage, and the cold truth of my shield skill tried to rear its ugly head again. I spent mana per impact, and boxing in slightly north of a hundred people all at once wasn¡¯t cheap or simple, not when all their physical stats came to bear.
Except my mana regeneration came out like an angry bear, laughed at the drain, and smacked the cold truth back into its lair.
Efficiency? Power? Cost? All was made futile in front of overwhelming System-granted power. I caught the thought and chucked it down a mineshaft. Maybe the Shluggoth would eat it.
Overwhelming levels and power was no substitute for good governance, or letting me think I should push people around just because. Down that path lay becoming a [Warlord], and Night¡¯s earliest lessons resonated the hardest with me.
I would not become a warlord, I would not use my strength as an excuse to do what I wanted. Sometimes, rarely, I needed to be a brute to save a bad situation, but leaning on that excuse was a sure-fire way to go down a bad path.
The road to hell was paved with good intentions, and I had to remember that.
The second thought was casting [A Light Shining in the Darkness] behind myself, lighting the room up like a shadeless day under the noon sun. A ¡®Pay attention to me¡¯, when combined with popping my halo from [Sunrise Halo] made me impossible to ignore.
The third was conjuring up a pot of ink and a quill, then using a short, powerful Radiance pulse to etch a rune as large as I was into the wall, molten stone starting to drip out. I [Teleported] it into a cooling slag heap at my feet, then my hand blurred as it filled in the gap with ink, using [Reality, Writ As You Will] to create the largest single Jiwa rune I¡¯d ever cast. Size did matter - the larger the rune, the larger the strokes, the more mana could be channeled through it, the bigger the impact. No teeny tiny runes with gigantic effects.
[Immaculate Purification] was cast a moment later, purging everything from smoke to stink, from the latrines to the frankly criminal lack of bathing. My ruminations on not being a [Warlord] crossed the [Luminary Mind¡¯s] barrier, suggesting that maybe I should simply campaign really, really hard to get everyone to agree on bathing being legally mandated.
A fourth thought cast a spell I only had one of, and it was going to be really unfortunate that my next spell was going to directly contest it. Mana against mana, power against power, odds were decent that I¡¯d be murdering my own mana pool trying to cast and use both at the same time. A strong [Silence] spell muted everyone.
A fifth cast a simple voice amplification spell, one I¡¯d used a thousand times.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
¡°This is Sentinel Dawn. Please calm down, we¡¯ll get you out in a few minutes.¡± I announced, my voice booming across the bunker. It fought the [Silence] spell, and I reluctantly stopped feeding mana to it, making a mental note to figure out a ¡®I can talk, nobody else can¡¯ spell.
I¡¯d like to say my overwhelming presence and immediately solving multiple issues did the trick. That the cold blasts of air coming through the vents - thank you Fenrir and Skater - were reassuring.
Mostly, I think I just scared the shit out of everyone, and stopped anyone from successfully attacking with overwhelming skills. That one guy tried to really attack my barrier, but a quick manifestation of the event horizon, or dusk, aspect to my shield made short work of his move.
¡°Skye. Varuna. Mayor. Anything super urgent I need to take care of?¡± I asked them.
Varuna nuzzled me with his snout, horn poking over my shoulder.
¡°Elaine. Thank the gods, you¡¯re back.¡± Skye practically sagged against me, and I caught the yuki-onna before she could fall over.
[*ding!* [The Mantle of Dusk and Dawn] leveled up! 860 -> 861]
[*ding!* [A Light Shining in the Darkness] leveled up! 854-> 855]
[*ding!* [Reality, Writ As You Will] leveled up! 704-> 705]
An hour had been an overly generous estimate. Iona plowed her way through the landslide in less than five minutes, and slowly, in sections, I let people go.
Titania was fine, and Skye caught us up on what had happened. Short version: When there wasn¡¯t a huge initial strike, several enterprising fellows had left the bunker, ran to our neighbors, and invited them in. Skye had been in the middle of making the hard decision to refuse them when everything went to hell, and bowed to the inevitable, letting everyone in.
Then they¡¯d just¡ waited.
¡°Do you have ideas what to do next?¡± Iona asked. Skye straightened up, smoothing the non-existent wrinkles in her clothes. That had to be a skill.
¡°If I may be so bold?¡± She asked, and we nodded in unison. ¡°Yes. Many. I was raised as a [Princess], and while I wasn¡¯t studying exactly ¡®how to rebuild civilization as the monarch¡¯ at the School - the professor was a well-known ass, and the fewer classes of his I took, the better - I do know how things should work. I know what I believe the optimal layout of a town looks like, I know the field divisions for crops, I know economics, trade, law, history, and governance. I have a thousand ideas and one, I just need some help. It¡¯s been highlighted to me that nobody listens to me, that I don¡¯t have the pull, weight, or charisma to make things happen on my own.¡±
Iona and I traded a wordless look.
Sounded much better than my plans, and someone else was taking charge.
We shrugged.
¡°All hail [Queen] Skye!¡± I cheerfully said.
It started with maps.
Iona and Fenrir flew around, drawing the literal new landscape around us, while I was Skye¡¯s steely-faced enforcer.
¡°Look.¡± I explained for the dozenth time. ¡°The war¡¯s still going on. I understand it¡¯s too crowded. I understand you want to go out. You must go out under invisibility. We don¡¯t want to draw attention here. I¡¯ve been attacked a dozen times in the last week. We¡¯re close to Sanguino, Immortals are going to be in the area. Let¡¯s not get everyone killed because we want some fresh air, yeah?¡±
This was not what I had imagined life during the Immortal war to look like.
¡°But my kid needs to run around!¡± The mom protested. ¡°He¡¯s full of uncontrolled energy cooped up inside all day! He¡¯s a complete terror.¡±
I sympathized hard, but I took the position that it was better for everyone to be driven a little nuts than to die. Only one kid had managed to slip past me at the door, taking advantage of when I went to use the restroom. I¡¯d simply [Teleported] her back inside, and I was more than happy to write out dozens of [Greater Invisibility] runes for any adults with enough mana regeneration to support it who wanted to go outside. There¡¯d already been one incident where people had run into each other, but all in all it was agreed that this was better.
I sighed.
I hated feeling like a [Jailer].
After the maps was the planning. We didn¡¯t want to do this by committee, but we did need buy-in and knowledge from the minds here. We might know the theory of fishing, for example, but none of us had ever worked the docks and could intelligently comment on the impact of the layout combined with prevailing winds. As one example among hundreds.
¡°This town we¡¯re planning is a pipe dream.¡± I pointed out. ¡°It¡¯s going to be years, if not decades, before it¡¯s liveable.¡±
¡°That¡¯s both true and not true.¡± Skye rebutted, circling the outer walls and the residential area there. ¡°It¡¯s much easier to build bulk housing like this than to build a home for everyone. Yes, it¡¯s a longer walk to the fields than building on top of them, but that stage comes after. A single point of protection works better in the short term while we settle down, and planning it out now lets us naturally expand in the future without all the headaches inherent to ¡®whoops we did it wrong the first time, let¡¯s rip it all out¡¯.¡±
¡°Massa couldn¡¯t do this because the population was far too large.¡± Iona said. ¡°The gang I talked with had it somewhat right, but enough people were going to make the same decision that encouraging it would cause people to trip over each other to stay. That, and we¡¯ve got some food stores.¡±
¡°Eight months.¡± Skye said grimly.
The prior two years of food had been cut down harshly with how many extra mouths there were to feed, cutting our margin of error down to nothing. That was ignoring my personal food stores in my [Tower], which I was keeping real quiet about. Skye and Iona knew about them, but the consensus was to keep it safe. Gods knew people were already getting squirrely about food, but the bigger question was storage.
Where would we put it? There wasn¡¯t a good answer.
Then we got to the fun part.
Under a thick mist Fenrir and Auri cooked up together, along with two Mist users, a modest group of us left the bunker. There were two ¡®groups¡¯ as I saw it. The Classers, like me, Iona, Skye, and a few others. Then the ones I was calling ¡®potential¡¯ - teenagers and young adults willing to torch a number of their current skills and classes to get the skills and classes needed.
I thought quite highly of them, willing to do what needed to be done now. They had the grit, the spark, and the opportunity to become Classers. I thought less of the ones who could¡¯ve been involved, and decided not to. Life would teach them a harsh lesson soon enough.
We went down to the new edge of Bloodmoon Bay. Sanguino had been founded there for a reason, and given the speed of the Immortal War and the fact that it¡¯d been two weeks since we¡¯d last heard from anyone - on our side or not - we figured it was safe enough.
It was a little morbid, but the remnants of the city walls made for a large, easy source of already-cut stone. No need to quarry and level and haul tons of rocks - they were literally right there for the taking. The stones were barely cool, a grave marker of a million souls, and we went straight to planning on how to chop them up and use them best.
If the infernal ashfall didn¡¯t stop before next spring, if we didn¡¯t start getting good sunlight and soon, starvation was an ugly specter looming over our shoulders.
I¡¯d spent the last four weeks zipping back and forth across the country, finding small settlements and communicating information between them. The last two weeks had been fairly unsuccessful, a number of the settlements hiding, moving, or vanishing, hence the long time between contact. The Sixth were the only people still in position. We were basically glorified [Couriers], a vestige of communication. Given how many people were trying to hide from prowling Immortals looking to get one last lick in or the final levels before they ascended, I didn¡¯t blame them. We got quite a few ascension notifications. I was convinced most of them were on a mountain of bodies, and mentally resolved not to pray to any of them.
¡°Ready?¡± Skye asked us.
¡°Ready!¡± I replied, with various noises of assent being made by others.
¡°Start here.¡± Iona gestured to the exact spot we needed to start. A small stake was down at the ¡®starting point¡¯, a fine thread wrapped around it. It was on a large, flat rock that jutted into Bloodmoon Bay, near where we expected a harbor to eventually end up. The bay, and the Sea of Stars at large, was too useful and vital a resource to simply ignore. Life came from the oceans. Fish and seaweed, clams and oysters, the sea was a vast bounty rich in harvest.
I was still a little unconvinced that we needed to lay down the grid of Orthus Town before, you know, plowing, but I was out-voted by people who spent their lives studying this sort of thing. I had books upon books of academic knowledge, Skye had more targeted experience. Sure, a lot of it was academic in a sense, but it was also vastly different.
There were a dozen different skills we could use for this, but my ability to have them ¡®all in one¡¯ was a big help. I used [Reality, Writ As You Will] to draw a mandala that included several exact right angles, along with a couple more ¡®anchor¡¯ angles so I was going in the right direction. I carefully laid down the array, knowing any minor deviation here would be etched in stone for decades, and if I was lucky, centuries. Also, it would ruin the further plots. I had a rune drawn on a rigid material, and I¡¯d made a half-dozen more for everyone else to use as a compass. The spell itself was barely functional and didn''t make any sense, but it was technically a complete spell.
¡°Three, two, one, LIGHT!¡± I shot a tight beam of light down the line, marking where the wall needed to go. A girl I¡¯d mentally nicknamed ¡®Surveyor¡¯ had won the honor of unraveling the thread, and she quickly vanished into the ashen mists, followed by Iona, Skye, Secondus Nix, and several others. I upped the amount of mana I was pouring into [A Light], trying to penetrate the thick haze.
Should be great levels for the two Mist elementalists, and I¡¯d eat my hat if Surveyor didn¡¯t get a fantastic [Survey] variant from this. Helping a legendary Sentinel rebuild a town after an Immortal War? Her levels should be rolling in, regardless of her class, let alone the skills offered.
The harsh part was the skill was only good for a few weeks, a month tops, before we would have everything measured and she¡¯d need to ditch it for something else more useful. It was part of why I held the ¡®potentials¡¯ in such high esteem. A brief taste of greatness, only for it to be mothballed for the next taste¡ and they¡¯d probably need to take a class entirely unrelated in the end.
I¡¯d mentally marked all of them, and would do what I could for them later on. I had some serious weight to throw around System-wise, and that was before my personal power, skills, and endless supplies stashed away in my storage.
Iona came jogging back a minute later, untied the string, and with a quick peck, jogged back into the mist. We only had so much string, and one length wasn¡¯t nearly enough. I had rope in my [Tower], just not¡ that much rope. Good luck Surveyor!
Being a human flashlight was boring. I popped a book out of my [Library] onto the rock, and started reading it with [The World Around Me]. I had to carefully ration my new books, it was going to be a while before operating a printing press and writing stories was viable.
Naturally, I¡¯d kept a printing press in my [Tower] to help jump-start book production. I was not waiting a moment longer than I had to.
My hand was remarkably steady. Not only was my dexterity through the roof, but [Handy and Dexterous] was basically designed for these sorts of maneuvers. I even tested it out, flapping one arm like a maniac while seeing my finger dead still, like it had been hammered into the fabric of creation.
Iona came jogging back through the mists as I was dancing a merry still-finger jig, and everyone else was quickly behind her. I did my best to rearrange myself into a still and Very Serious Sentinel, not a dancing lunatic.
¡°We¡¯re ready for the marking!¡± Skye was more excited than I¡¯d seen her in years. The normally reserved and chill Yuki-Onna was practically vibrating with excitement.
¡°Spot¡¯s marked?¡± I asked.
¡°Spot¡¯s marked.¡± Secondus confirmed, reflexively answering his teacher out of habit.
¡°Everyone¡¯s accounted for? Nobody¡¯s in the way?¡± I double checked. It looked like everyone was here, but blinding flinging around [The Rays of the First Dawn] was a great way to hurt someone unintentionally.
¡°Aye.¡± Skye confirmed. ¡°Fire away!¡±
I dipped my finger down a hair, then fired [The Rays of the First Dawn] in a blistering line, going straight down until it hit the rock I was lying on. I bounced up, ready to move after what had felt like an eternity staying still.
We headed out, my Radiance having melted and seared a perfectly straight line into the ground. We reached the first corner, a large X having been exactly crossed through by my beam.
A right angle marked the second stage of the measuring we needed to do, and we marked it off before returning to the corner.
With shovels and pickaxes, we dug a hole, and placed an old wooden beam down, marking the corner of Orthus Town, marking the first spot where we were rebuilding.
The first pillar of civilization.
Chapter 585- The First Seed
The Potentials had gotten varying [Surveying] skills, and many hands made light work. The grid for New Orthus sprang up with minimal problems, and the more important work of marking out farms and plots started, and quickly got to the stage where we could start the farming process.
The math on how large each plot should be was fascinating. Assuming wheat - the dominant crop of the region - one acre was about 4 million calories, and a person needed about 750,000 calories a year, children fewer.
Except things went wrong. Crops died, didn¡¯t sprout, were eaten by insects and pests, floods washed them away, poor harvest¡ a thousand different hostile factors I was more than familiar with threatened the harvest. Then fields couldn¡¯t be forced to grow wheat year after year - the crops had to be rotated. Roots, fruits, leaves, and legumes kept fields healthy and productive - except the one acre to 4 million calories was assuming peak efficiency in the first place.
Then people needed a place to live. We couldn¡¯t live in the bunker for years, let alone the multi-generational plan Skye was developing, nor did people want to live in the temporary barracks that were next on the list. Then we had to consider growing families, raw size logistics - prime-numbered acres were absurd to work with - the lack of good skills, and suddenly plot sizes bloomed to forty acres each.
Cripes. I¡¯d intellectually known the difference between gardening and farming, but seeing the huge swath of land laid out for us and being told ¡®you need to work all of it¡¯ was a different story. There was nothing to do but roll up my tunic and get my hands dirty. Thank the System for all the stats I had - it would make it far, far easier on me. I had renewed sympathy for all the farmers who did the whole thing by hand with no System assistance. Whoof.
I¡¯d told Surveyor to find me before she dropped her skill. I fully intended to reclaim my home and rebuild from the very literal ashes, and I wanted our claim and the location of our now-destroyed home marked out. Petty and selfish of me, but like¡ that was our home, and I suspected Iona was chomping at the bit even harder than I was to get rebuilding. We couldn¡¯t direct rebuild though. First, we needed a smaller ¡®cottage¡¯ in the middle of our fields, and would probably spend a few years growing whatever we could in the ¡®easy¡¯ field, versus the harder, rocky, mountainous terrain of our old home.
One day, civilization would be rebuilt, and we¡¯d move back home. Until then, it was time to grab a straw hat and a hoe, and live the farmer life. Shame tons of wildlife had died or were dying, and we couldn¡¯t simply hunt for our dinner.
Fenrir had flown off, looking for food, and I wished him luck. Part of me was speculating on a ¡®second wave¡¯ of fights and battles as various ancient creatures and lurking horrors ran out of food and started ranging out to find a bite to eat.
Many of us were chomping at the bit to get started, all this line stuff could happen later, and Skye bowed to the demand. Once the first farm grids were outlined, most of us began.
The only ones who didn¡¯t were the farmers who just¡ went back home, found their land had been miraculously spared or were in tolerable shape, and just tried to pick up life where they¡¯d left off. There was some future ugliness over who¡¯d get farmer Joe¡¯s house and land, but that was a problem for Skye.
¡°You know,¡± Iona said conversationally as we tried to figure out the best way for her to haul a plow. ¡°While I had a bunch of reasons for becoming a Valkyrie, one of them was that I couldn¡¯t see myself becoming some [Farmer¡¯s] wife, toiling all day in the mud with the hot sun overhead. Now look at me.¡±
I looked up and down, resisting the urge to whistle like I wanted to every time I studied Iona¡¯s body. 112, and she still looked fantastic.
¡°In the dirt, cool shade? I don¡¯t know, it feels like you¡¯ve gotten your wi-¡±
I ducked as Iona threw a dirt clod at me, giggling the whole way.
¡°Can¡¯t touch this!¡± I taunted. Iona narrowed her eyes, then grinned viciously. She did a put-on turnaround, put her hands on her hips, and sighed.
¡°Alas, you¡¯re right. I can¡¯t touch that.¡±
¡°No, wait. Hang on, we can talk about this.¡± I protested.
Iona shot a wink over her shoulder at me, and threw the two straps of the plow over her shoulder.
¡°I think I¡¯m just going to shamelessly cheat like this.¡± She said. ¡°Ready?¡±
I grabbed the handles of the plow, having read a dozen books about it and knowing I had no idea what I was doing.
¡°Ready!¡± I confirmed.
Iona started what was basically a leisurely walk for her, effortlessly pulling the plow through the difficult soil. I held the handles, keeping it straight as it tried to do everything except make a straight furrow in the soil.
Her skills let her protect the plow from rocks and other hazards, but we weren¡¯t leaving it up to chance. The Valkyrie stomped on some particularly large rocks she encountered, and used [Telekinesis] to move the shards out of the way.
I helped with a liberal application of [Teleportation], moving rocks that couldn¡¯t be as easily seen, and knowing that it was more efficient for me to do it. My mana regeneration was so high compared to Iona¡¯s that the difference in cost didn¡¯t matter.
As a bonus, in the tradition of millions upon billions of farmers before us, the broken-up stones were arranged on the side of the field, making a wall on the boundary line. It wouldn¡¯t stop anything that wanted to go over it - a child would be able to haul herself up if she wanted - but it marked the edge of our field in a way that was difficult to argue with.
¡°I feel like a cow.¡± Iona complained.
I kept my mouth shut, but my wife glanced over her shoulder and saw the look on my face.
¡°Hey!¡± She protested.
¡°What!¡± I complained. ¡°It¡¯s not my fault that your description was spot on.¡±
I huffed and puffed.
¡°I also ran away from home to avoid becoming, effective, a farmer¡¯s wife.¡± I said. Keberos¡¯s family hadn¡¯t exactly fit the image of a poor farmer - they¡¯d been relatively fabulously wealthy - but fundamentally, they¡¯d been farmers. It was no lie to say I¡¯d wanted to dodge being a farmer¡¯s wife¡ it just wasn¡¯t close to the whole picture.
We made it to the end of our first furrow with a minimum of huffing and puffing - thank the System for physical stats making this trivial - and turned back to examine our work.
Our very crooked work, ashes already falling.
¡°How.¡± Iona demanded.
¡°It¡¯s hard!¡± I defended myself. ¡°You try keeping the plow straight, I swear it bucks more than a horse. We don¡¯t have the skills for this.¡±
Auri chose that moment to fly over, hovering near my shoulder.
¡°Brrrpt.¡± She said.
I threw my hands up in the air.
¡°Everyone¡¯s a critic! If it¡¯s so easy, why don¡¯t you do it!¡±
Iona and Auri traded a look I did not like at all, and gave each other a brisk nod.
¡°Brrpt!¡±
A minute later I found myself hooked up to the plow, while Auri was using her [Mage Hands] skill and a half-dozen hoes to make her own row.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
I wrapped my hands in the harness of the plow, needing to reach awkwardly out to grab both parts. Then I sunk my sandals into the mud as I started to pull, feeling Iona push on the other side. I ignored the distracting fire show on the other side, freely [Teleporting] rocks to our growing wall.
Honestly, how were there so many rocks in the ground!? It was absurd! It was like there were rock-rabbits down there. I kept expecting to level any moment in [Tender Gardening], but as I continued on I reached the conclusion that it was unlikely.
Novel, yes. Important, yes. But if it were so easy to level a skill over 600, everyone would¡¯ve achieved divinity. Simply prepping a field would get dozens of levels, multiplied by several fields every year, multiplied by a lifetime¡ I was getting distracted.
No levels for me!
Step after step I pulled the plow, despairing as [The World Around Me] cheerfully informed me that Iona¡¯s line was perfectly straight. My face looked like I¡¯d eaten a lemon as we hit the end and turned around. Insult added to injury - Auri¡¯s three lines were perfectly straight.
¡°Fine, you win!¡± I conceded. Iona waggled her eyebrows at me.
¡°I¡¯m going to ride my horse hard and put her away wet.¡± She threaten-teased-promised.
I gave her a one-fingered answer, grabbed the plow, and started another furrow.
¡°Excuse me!¡± One of the Potentials waved to us from the side of the field. He then started to rub his arms vigorously. I should look into getting some sweaters made¡ then again, livestock was one of those things we didn¡¯t have a whole lot of. Exactly none of, as it happened to be. Not even a stray chicken. The whole thing ran quiet alarm bells in the back of my mind for the long-term viability of our little town.
There were some stories and legends on the subject, myths that I hoped and prayed were more than fables.
¡°Here, you¡¯re good at plowing.¡± I told Iona, and promptly [Teleported] over, leaving a blustering Iona alone with the plow.
Petty revenge! We were making good time, and would soon be able to help our neighbors - if we thought that was the best thing to do. If they were trying to grab their own skills and classes then level them, us stomping around doing most of the work for them might be detrimental long term.
I waited what felt like an eternity for the young man to finish flinching at my sudden appearance, mentally scaling back on my speed and perception to more mundane levels.
¡°Whoa!¡± He half-stumbled back at my sudden appearance. I decided to do him a solid and caught him with [The Mantle of Dawn and Dusk].
¡°Hi! What can I do for you?¡± I asked the young man.
I let him stutter and stumble over his words, then have a whole coughing fit as he breathed in some of the ashes, for a whole eight seconds until he managed to center himself.
¡°Well, miss, er, misses, the girl over there was bragging about what a good [Surveying] skill she got, and I figured, these two lasses are the highest level people around, I¡¯d get myself a good skill if I could maybe plant the seeds for you¡?¡±
I swiveled my head around on my neck, enjoying the look on his face as I did so. Dude went green. I met Iona¡¯s eyes and did a backwards shrug.
It was fine with me.
¡°Sure! You¡¯re now Planter.¡± I told the teen.
I waited long enough to see the face of sputtering outrage before I teleported into my [Tower].
Thanks to [Astral Archives], my memory was perfect, and I didn¡¯t need to pull out various books to consult as to the best foods to plant. The academic in me said carrots looked optimal. They were fine with both colder weather and low light conditions, as well as being filled with nutrients, unlike a number of other options which were closer to glorified grass.
I had the feeling that the Elaine living in the real world was going to strangle Academic Elaine after four months of non-stop carrot consumption. It wasn¡¯t like I could barter with the neighbors either¡we were all going to have an excess of carrots, and a deficit of everything else. No way in the frozen hells would they trade a limited amount of their rations for more carrots.
That, and for making us plow a bunch when carrots didn¡¯t really need plowed soil. Or¡ wait, maybe they did? It wasn¡¯t like this was a garden patch¡ and it wasn¡¯t obviously written out in any of the books, the authors assuming we¡¯d just know the answer.
Basic logic and long experience gardening suggested it was a good idea, getting rid of the rocks and turning over the soil. It wasn¡¯t like it was going to hurt.
I zipped over to the seed storage level, thanking past-me for having the foresight to stash tons of different types of seeds, even when I thought wheat was the primary crop to grow. It¡¯d be straight murder to try and plant wheat right now. Between the time of year, the chill, and the ashes blocking out the sun, it didn¡¯t have a chance.
Carrots were a little hardier, and had a shorter growing cycle. Calories per acre they weren¡¯t great, but we had food stores. They would stretch the stores, provide proof of concept, and level almost everyone. I grabbed four bags of twenty-five pounds each, resigning myself to planting the entire field. Well, the entire field, minus a small plot where our cottage was going to go. We couldn¡¯t live in the bunker forever!
Wait. Waaaait. I wasn¡¯t going to plant the entire field! Planter was going to plant the entire field!
MINIONS!
I left my [Tower] with a faint popping noise. I nearly tossed the bags at Planter, then refrained at the last moment. Getting smacked with a hundred pounds of high-speed carrot seeds was an ignoble way to die.
¡°Three seeds about 2 centimeters deep, 4 centimeters between carrots.¡± I explained. It wasn¡¯t the best way to grow carrots - there were quite a few more efficient ways, like scattering them freely over the freshly tilled fields then thinning them later, or using a tray - but I had a minion. One willing to take skills explicitly for this job, and I¡¯d be doing him a disfavor by going the easy way.
The hard, complex way here would maximize his levels, and maximize our return on seeds. The ugly specter of starvation was still looming over my shoulder, and I was determined to stretch every single last seed. It could be the literal difference between life and death.
Or normal food and cannibalism. The math on my rate of healing, death vs conjured food problems, and calories per pound gave a nasty solution.
I patiently waited as he went cross-eyed, obviously reading a System notification. I had a couple as well - I just didn¡¯t obviously show it on my face when I read them.
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Farming Foreman]. Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N]
[*ding!* Would you like to sidegrade [Tender Gardening] to [Farming]? Y/N]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Minion Mastery]. Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N]
I briefly debated the [Farming] one before declining. I was already getting the occasional nudge from my skill, and there was no telling how far I¡¯d downgrade or de-level. Also, selfishly, perhaps short-sightedly, I just didn¡¯t want to. The skill had been perfect, practically tailored, to growing my mango trees, and by Ciriel, I was going to grow myself a new grove when I could.
A random note - I could not read System notifications through [The World Around Me]. It was like they didn¡¯t exist to the skill, which made sense.
I [Teleported] over to Iona, carefully not stepping on the freshly plowed soil. Then again, I probably could. I could run on falling leaves, fresh soil without a footprint? Easy mode. It was the thought that counted.
¡°Hey love! I see you¡¯re pulling along just fine without me, and-¡±
Iona flipped me off with relish.
¡°If the next thing out of your mouth is anything other than ¡®I¡¯m happy to help you continue plowing¡¡¯ I¡¯ma be annoyed.¡± She said.
¡°I¡¯d love to sleep on the sofa tonight.¡± I rapidly teased, my wits about me for once. ¡°I¡¯m dead curious how you¡¯d manage to rustle one up.¡± I wasn¡¯t a complete scourge though, the whole time I was picking up my part of the plow, and putting my back into it.
The original definition of an acre was the amount of land one man could plow with an ox in a single day. A terrible imprecise unit, made all the more useless by stats and skills muddying it up. It took about half a day for Iona and I to plow the whole field, and we read each other¡¯s mind - our goal was simple.
Always be ahead of Planter.
[Luminary Mind] let me think of a dozen different things at once, and plowing was boring. My respect for [Farmers] went up after every step I took, occasionally brushing the ashes out of my hair. My beautiful, wonderful, flame-bathed hair. Bless Auri, and her ability to keep me clean enough to feel happy. Our water supplies were far too limited to ¡®waste¡¯ on washing water, not when the aqueduct was in a thousand pieces. Sure, in a pinch we could start desalinating the Bloodmoon Bay, but that was a full-time job with huge mana requirements. Nobody wanted a single person¡¯s skill to be the central linchpin of a community, that was how towns failed and villages died. Good, easy stone to work with, bad for having a ready supply of fresh water. Most of my mind was distracted by the field-spanning mandalas I wanted to lay down after, and how I could get them to work. Integrating runes with growing material and shifting dirt was tricky, especially long-lasting ones. Ink was extra hard to work with versus Radiance, then there was the question of ¡®can I make these runes extend over everyone¡¯s farms?¡¯
600 souls translated to roughly 150 households, 40 acres each was a 6000 acre mandala. Add in the roads and gaps between everyone¡ I could try to have the enchantments along the stone walls, but those were going to shift as time went by. So fragile that one kid bumping a stone knocking the whole system down wasn¡¯t viable. The trick wasn¡¯t in power, or laying it down, the trick was in having it survive the rigors of life and the exposure to the elements. The problem had been far easier in my tame orchard, where I had the supplies to make a proper framework.
Auri continued to work her beak off next to us, but all of her [Mage Hands] suddenly guttered out of existence.
¡°Brrrpt¡¡± an exhausted phoenix barely made it to my shoulder, where she promptly conked out.
¡°Ran out of mana.¡± Iona quickly diagnosed. I passed Auri off to Iona, who started the ¡®hot coal¡¯ routine. Planter was rapidly approaching, a glint in his eye hinting that he, too, knew about our little contest.
¡°Juice run, be right back.¡± I said. Inside the [Tower] I grabbed Auri¡¯s favorite juice blend, a spoonful of honey, and I was feeling generous. I slapped together a quick bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwich - [Teleportation] was the best skill ever, how did I live without it? - then zipped back out, generously distributing everything. Mostly by teleporting it ontop of Iona¡¯s head.
¡°Look at me! The amazing table!¡± Iona spun in place, everything staying on top of her head while Planter grabbed the sandwich, ravenously grabbing a bite and barely chewing before swallowing. I put a little [Dusk] over the lid of the juice, not wanting to contaminate her drink with ashes.
Furlong after furlong, we finished our plowing in a day, taking a moment to check on our neighbors.
Some were doing well, about a fifth of their way through their fields, while others were struggling, their first row jagged and crooked. It was best if they struggled themselves for the first, oh¡
¡°Give it a week before we step in?¡± I suggested to Iona.
¡°I was thinking the same thing.¡± She agreed. ¡°Enough time to learn and level, but not so long that it causes bitterness, resentment, or fouls the season.¡±
¡°They can get cabbage.¡± I decided. Iona and Planter laughed.
¡°You are a terrible woman.¡± She said. I bowed at my appreciative audience.
¡°That I am. Well, no rest for the wicked. Next stage?¡± I asked. Iona sighed.
¡°Yeah. Get me one of the good shovels, and the enchanted pickaxe with the double head? I don¡¯t know why, that one worked far better for me.¡±
I grabbed the tools Iona wanted. She was off to start digging¡ well, digging a river basically. Sanguino had dammed up a river to create a reservoir for the city aqueduct, which was now not helpful to us. We wanted the water here, not a day trip away, and the only solution was absurd amounts of elbow grease.
¡°I think I can get the enchanting done before dawn.¡± I said, looking at the sinking sun.
¡°Bet.¡± Iona agreed, and we quickly haggled on the stakes.
¡°Deal!¡± I said in the end, Iona slapping her hand in mine.
Of course, that¡¯s when the entire sky shifted, going from sundown to deep night, some god or another shifting the entire world to their whim. Iona looked just as surprised as I was, no impending knowledge of divine movement having been delivered by oracle to her.
Given where Lithos was, and how it¡¯d just gone from night to noon there, I suspected a number of trolls were having a really bad day.
¡°Oh come on!¡± I complained. ¡°Foul!¡±
Chapter 586 - Sing
I lost the bet by hours. One of the gods fucking with things was outside of my calculations, and the sun was high in the sky by the time I finished my network.
I felt passingly clever over the whole thing, even though I was cribbing from ¡®Wizard poles¡¯, thick pillars of stone and arcanite engraved with enchantments, usually found in more rural areas where centralized networks didn¡¯t work. I couldn¡¯t make an entire field-wide enchantment - but I could carve the enchantments into various stones, and each one covered a portion of the field. I then needed to carefully place the stones all over the field, each one radiating an aura of the enchantments laid. Wards against insects and bugs - that one had to be carefully managed for pollination. Sigils to help handle too much water - a lack of water was fixed with a watering can and an alert when the levels were too low. More wards against pestilence and disease, and I blessed the ancient [Runesmiths] who¡¯d made the runes into a compact form.
In many ways, the wards were a disaster. A lack of arcanite meant I¡¯d need to constantly recharge them throughout the day, the fields double-overlapped in some places and had little holes in others, each ward radius was slightly different thanks to different shaped and sized rocks, the ink was conjured, I had to place them on now-doomed seedlings, and it was inevitable that exposure to the elements would wear them away.
But they were scalable, sustainable, didn¡¯t require an elaborate connected network, and I could make them for my neighbors. It broke my little witchy heart to strip out the vast majority of the fun or better enchantments, but most people didn¡¯t have the spare mana to power the really good enchantments. I was torn on making them anyway, then fueling them myself, zipping over the fields several times a day in a blur of wings and feathers.
The question I was facing more and more - was this a good use of my time?
I was a Classer through and through. My stats were absurd. I could lift 53 times what a normal woman could lift, and do it 116 times as fast. Those effectively multiplied together, letting me do roughly what 6,148 people could do.
Well, if the average person was three times as fast as baseline, and three times as strong - okay, let¡¯s be honest, thanks to my puny stature and modest muscle mass, biomancy or no, six times as strong - that was still the work of 341 people¡ assuming I needed to apply my full strength and full speed to the task. Picking berries, for example, only looked at my speed, while lifting logs was a strength-only task. Shoveling stone, however, was both.
Was spending, say, thirty minutes a day, every day, buzzing every field worth it to let everyone have higher quality enchantments? Or was my time better spent doing other things, something nobody else could do? Preventing people from literally starving to death was fucking important, but if I didn¡¯t include the water sensor, for example, people could develop the skills and the Skills needed to work it out themselves. It wasn¡¯t like I was kneecapping them, preventing them from making a living, and we were rapidly trying to establish something of a safety net. The vast stores of food in my storage was one such net, and I¡¯d never seen a community come together so quickly, so hard. Adversity was an excellent glue.
Then there was the question of levels. I wasn¡¯t always going to be around to help people, and the sooner the ¡®training wheels¡¯ came off, the less I held people¡¯s hands, the faster they¡¯d be fully self reliant. I had no illusions I¡¯d always be around. Mare Town - Katerina¡¯s founded village from the Sixth - needed me, as did a thousand other places, which looped back to the original thought - where was my time best spent?
I felt like when I¡¯d first become a Sentinel, nearly a century ago, over twenty thousand years ago. Directionless, rudderless. The basics were simple. Grow some food, protect my little community. Improve the community, our quality of life. See things grow and thrive, struggle against adversity.
Yet, I knew I could do so much more. Fly to Mare Town, see if Katerina needed me. Fly to every other city in former Exterreri, nay, every city left in the world. See what could be done, how many were torn up, which ones were defying the fall of civilization.
Was that the best use of my time? What about finding my friends, my family? Should I go hunting for Nina? I had a rough idea where she¡¯d been last, it wasn¡¯t insane to locate her. What about the School? Artemis and Julius? Amber?
There were a thousand, a million things only I could do, but the sand in Chronos¡¯s hourglass was relentless. A grain a second, my Immortal time ironically limited.
I needed to step up. To make my decisions without a guiding hand. Without Command, Arachne, the Sentinels, Julius, or anyone else telling me what to do, giving me a direction to move in. I needed to find my own direction, forge my own path blindly, without assistance. Sitting and dithering was the wrong move, the worst move. I had to act.
Right. Things only I could do.
I didn¡¯t know of any other [Couriers] still making rounds. Nobody had visited Orthus or Mare Town, and I had promised I¡¯d report back to Katerina now and then, and bring news. It also let me expand the number of places where I could see if I was urgently needed, more places to act as a courier. The bird¡¯s eye view as I traveled could let me spot problems and resources - we desperately needed wood. Millions of acres had burned, and the fundamental assumption of ¡®we can go chop wood to build houses¡¯ was being severely challenged, as all the wood we wanted to use was currently raining down in a fine layer of ash.
A plan made, goals set for the next¡ hour¡ I took off to find Iona. Auri and Titania were working on a project together in the bunker. Operation: Daycare. There just wasn¡¯t a great way to handle all the kids, and while children as young as three could be vaguely trusted in the fields - everyone had to pitch in when it came to survival - there was a consensus that the very youngest could be spared, along with a few hands to look after them. I felt a little bad for Titania - we all agreed she was part of our household, and we were responsible for her, but the two of us did almost all the work already. I was happy she was finding a way to be useful.
I took off towards the river rerouting project, spotting Skye trotting along on Varuna¡¯s back. The unicorn was looking shiny, and Skye was carefully taking notes on how everyone was doing, who needed help, and generally being The Great Communicator.
I spotted Iona a minute later, my wife barely visible from the utter plume of soil and rock she was leaving behind. Wielding a pickaxe in one hand, shovel in the other, she was tearing through the rock and soil at a running pace, digging a significant riverbed the whole time.
¡°Hey love!¡± I floated backwards in front of her, giving myself enough room not to get brained by a flung rock. ¡°Going to Mare, then¡¡± I gave Iona a full list of my flight plan, a way for her to try and find me if I should go missing. The gods knew it was dangerous enough out there right now that the precaution was warranted. ¡°Also going to try and find a small untouched forest.¡±
Iona grunted.
¡°See if it¡¯s near the river, I¡¯m not looking forward to multi-mile hikes carrying logs over my shoulder.¡±
I shuddered at the thought. Logs were simply¡ hang on. Assumptions were no way to operate, I had the numbers and reference tables. I started doing some calculations, pleasantly surprised at the outcome.
¡°For smaller logs, I can teleport them into my [Tower].¡± I said with some surprise. ¡°Assuming 40 cm diameter and three meter length, I can teleport around 400, maybe 500 an hour into and out of [Tower]. I¡¯m capped on the largest logs¡ well, not too terribly capped¡ but I think my main problem is actually space inside the [Tower], but I¡¯m quick enough to zip over and unload them, then come back. Huh. That actually works.¡± I said with quite a bit of surprise.
I was leveling fast, with a black quality class. I wasn¡¯t quite used to my new powers, my new levels. I had far more options than previously, and things that had been dismissed as ¡®not possible, don¡¯t even think about it¡¯ were now in the ¡®sure, why not?¡¯ group.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
A relieved look flickered over Iona¡¯s face of intense concentration.
¡°Well, that¡¯s a relief.¡± She said. I was all for a bit of teasing.
¡°It¡¯ll be much faster if we use all logistical methods available.¡± I said.
Iona expertly angled her shovel to fire a clod of dirt at me. I casually [Teleported] out of the way.
¡°Ha-¡± I barely got the word out before a second shovel full of mud smacked into my face. Through my splutters and [The World Around Me] I could see Iona smirking.
¡°You always teleport to the same spot.¡±
Katerina and Mare Town were fine, but the giant vine that had taken over a city was withered and dead, most of the population scattered to the winds. I spotted a few people eking out a living in the dead city - using the vine as a house was interesting, if structurally unsound - and I made sure to fly low enough to top them all off, heal them up. That was my duty, my calling, my [Oath] - to heal, and that was exactly what I was going to do. I couldn¡¯t fix all problems, I wouldn¡¯t bog myself down in those details, but I would provide aid. Sometimes, it was that simple.
I flew back, staying low enough to see the ground. Extra bonus, it helped conceal me from anything flying higher up. My wings glowed, but the light was eaten by the ever-falling ash.
Burnt house after smoking field, a forest of ashes and trees of charcoal, the apocalypse had arrived and been thorough. I didn¡¯t even know what hit most of these things, or if it was simple fires that had raged out of control. I hadn¡¯t seen a dragon trying to burn down most of the country¡ but given how quickly it could happen, I might¡¯ve missed it.
I hit several major settlements, mentally adjusting my map, quietly mourning how places were eliminated, and no new ones were added.
Then I got lucky. The entire world hadn¡¯t burned, and I found a modestly sized forest left standing. I hesitated as I hovered over it, my mind working, trying to balance the pros and the cons.
The forest had enough trees to supply everything Orthus needed in the short term. It wasn¡¯t enough to fulfill Skye¡¯s grand long-term plans, but then again, we didn¡¯t need or want most of the things she was planning to survive the upcoming winter. We needed shelter, heat, and food.
Cutting down enough of the forest to provide all of that would destroy a huge amount of habitat for the animals living here. My reading on long-term forest ecology had been more of a skim than an in-depth study - curse the billion random things I needed to know, and less than a century to learn them all - and I didn¡¯t know if ripping out the root of one of the only existing forests would cause the eventual regrowth and expansion of greenery into the world to slow down. I mean, I knew the basics and fundamentals, I could speak relatively intelligently on the topic to non-experts on the field, I just didn¡¯t have the super-in depth ¡®do these actions lead to long-term collapse?¡¯
I tried to synthesize the information I had. It was unlikely that any of the methods and descriptions in the books I¡¯d read had a ¡®by the way, this destroys the forest in the long run¡¯ without that being mentioned earlier on¡ but I had a small curse of not being arrogant enough to assume I knew. If my actions would result in a vibrant and green forest, or slowly strangle it all.
Of course, the ashes could simply choke and kill them all, and my dilemma was moot.
Meh. I should sic Planter on it either way. Get him with a bucket full of acorns and some rich soil, and see what his skills could do. Nature tended to find a way.
Well, if we all froze to death in the coming winter, none of my concerns would matter.
I spent three minutes flying in a great circle around the forest, trying to spot anyone living in or near it, relying on the forest for life. I didn¡¯t want to accidentally murder someone else¡¯s source of survival in pursuit of my own - down that path lay turning into a vicious raider, breaking down everyone else¡¯s doors and robbing them so I¡¯d be well fed. I anticipated meeting some of that ilk in the future, but that would not be me.
I didn¡¯t spot anyone, and I hoped nobody had hidden so well from me. I grabbed a saw and got to work, flying up a thick tree near the edge of the forest.
¡°It¡¯s been way too long since I did this.¡± I muttered to myself as I lined the saw up with one of the topmost branches. Wrapping my saw with [Clad in Twilight] - my skill saw it as enough of a weapon to work - I placed it on the joint, and started sawing. The teeth bit into the wood, and up-down, up-down, I got going.
I couldn¡¯t quite use all my speed and strength. I would be fine, my saw would be fine, but it was even odds if I¡¯d light the tree on fire or otherwise break something horribly. I ¡®only¡¯ went through it like a knife through cold butter, instead of warm butter.
Whoever made the expression ¡®a hot knife through butter¡¯ has never tried to cut warm butter. There is no resistance at all.
I held onto the branch as I finished sawing, the weight of it causing me to dip in my flight a bit. I wanted to store and bring it with me. Best-case, it would be a shelf, worst-case, firewood. Either way, valuable. I didn¡¯t want to teleport into my tower for every little branch though¡ ah!
I flew out into the charred field, kicked down a couple of the burnt down trees - hang on, I should totally harvest these for charcoal and firewood, they were perfect - and threw the branch onto the ground. Perfect. A little storage pit, and when I had enough branches, I could teleport them all into [Tower] in one trip.
A second idea hit me in a brainwave, and I felt like an idiot. I put my tools down, darted back over to the tree, and unfurled my wings. I flew up and around the tree in a dizzying corkscrew, using [The Rays of the First Dawn] to surgically remove the branches, only a small char left where I¡¯d beamed through. All the branches started to fall in a great crash as I reached the top, and it was extremely satisfying to watch them collapse one after another. I then flew down the tree and made three cuts, thirding it. I was pleased as punch that my cuts had been so fine, that my dexterity and skills helped keep everything perfectly level, that the tree was just standing there. It was dead, it was in three parts, but to any casual observer the trunk was whole and hale.
I finished my cutting flight at the top of the tree, blessing the lack of a strong wind to blow it over. I placed my hand on the trunk, and teleported into [Tower], where it just barely, awkwardly, fit in the central ¡®column¡¯ that was usually my passage between different floors. I gave it a gentle shove, letting it drift up to the top of the tower. I didn¡¯t wait to see how well it did, and I had a suddenly horrifying moment as I teleported out.
I really, really hoped I was careful with my launch. If the log caught on the lip of one of the floors in my tower, it could wreck my supplies.
Two more trips got the rest of the tree into my [Tower], and I roughly guesstimated that my mana regeneration wasn¡¯t going to be the bottleneck on my lumberjack excursion - storage space being far more limited than anticipated combined with travel time was going to be my bottleneck.
I flew down to the forest floor, stored all the branches, and picked up a dozen of the best-looking pinecones I could find.
The best time to plant a tree was sixteen years ago, the second best time was right now. I was blessed with Immortality. If all went well, I would be able to enjoy the shade of the trees I was planting.
Planting was far better than dithering over the best course to take. Nature always found a way.
Then it was onto the next tree.
¡°Sorry about this.¡± I said before I turned into a one-woman lightshow again.
¡°What¡¯s all this?¡± I asked Iona and Auri near the entrance to the bunker. A roaring fire - purely Auri - was cooking a pair of oviraptors on a spit roast.
¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri was very proud of herself, and with good reason. ¡°Brrpt, brrpt BRPT!¡±
The monster had been sneaking around the bunker where the babies¡¯ nursery was, and Auri had taken that personally. Most of the fields were plowed by now, and a small party was being thrown.
We didn¡¯t have much, but that seemed to make everyone all the more determined to enjoy it. A lute was produced, skills made light, and [Chef] Auri was enjoying every minute of it. Not only was she the heroine of the hour, but she was also doling out huge chunks of meat to everyone. We weren¡¯t starving, not yet, nor were we on half rations, but the days were long and hard, and there wasn¡¯t enough to feel stuffed, not until now. A clearing was made, and couples started to dance.
¡°Want to dance?¡± Iona suggested, and I needed no encouragement. I grabbed her hand and we giggled as we both sped towards the floor. Iona slipped her arm around my waist, and the whole world seemed to fall away as I gazed into her eyes.
We danced, we sang, we ate great food, and as the party wound down, I gathered everyone nearby.
¡°Come closer, come closer.¡± I extolled everyone as I doused the lights with a flicker of thought. I rested on a throne of stars, my chair large enough that I was looming slightly over everyone. I lit myself up with [A Light Shining in the Darkness], and was really getting into my role.
¡°Aye, come one, come all, from ye little babes to you slightly older youngsters.¡± I shot a cheeky wink at one of the greybeards, just a year younger than I was. By Ciriel, I was possibly the oldest person here, tied with Iona.
¡°You know me as Sentinel Dawn. As Elaine, as the healer. As ¡®that crazy mango lady who lives on the hill.¡¯¡±
I paused a moment for the ripple of laughter. I wasn¡¯t an idiot, I knew what people thought of me and what my reputation was.
¡°Ah, but throughout the years, I¡¯ve held many jobs, many roles. Why, just today I was chopping down trees, a proper [Lumberjack!]. Except chopping wood is boring, so I just magicked it.¡± I grinned at my joke, and the crowd was in a good enough mood for me to get a soft chuckle out of them.
¡°But now, tonight! I reprise one of my oldest jobs, my oldest roles. The one that got me here in the first place, that set me on the journey, that opened all the doors.¡± I had them now, young and old, leaning in with interest.
¡°A singer of stories, I was! A teller of tales! Old tales, ancient tales now, for I passed on a few notes to the one now known as The Bard. Tales from another land, another world! Each one of these you have heard before, twisted and distorted over time and retelling. And now, tonight, directly from the horse¡¯s mouth, you will hear them again, in their original glory!¡±
We could hear a pin drop, it was so quiet. I started off with a bang, roaring the song from the depths of my lungs.
¡°Rage! Sing, Goddess, Achilles¡¯ rage¡¡±
[*ding!* [Dexterous and Handy] has evolved into [Everywoman]]
Chapter 587 - Hammers, Nails, and Shovels
Everywoman: You¡¯ve dabbled in a little bit of everything. From sewing like a tailor to enchanting fields, from studying biomancy to being a Ranger, from chopping down trees to telling stories, from meditating as a monk to running missives as a courier, growing gardens and tilling fields, working as a carpenter and casting spells as a wizard, healing people and fighting monsters, you¡¯ve touched upon a thousand professions. Now go forth, and touch ten thousand more. Improved abilities per level. -16,376 mana regeneration.
[Everywoman] was the closest thing to an omni-skill I¡¯d ever seen, and I had to wonder if [The Elaine] had been a prerequisite for it. It was like a merged skill of every professional general skill that existed, like my long-gone [Medicine]. It helped me with almost literally everything, a subtle nudge to nearly every activity.
Nearly everything could be a job, in the end. [Couriers] ran, [Heralds] talked, [Porters] carried things, [Tasters] checked for poison, and [Courtesans] -
Well, they made Iona a very happy woman.
Time went by. I brought back the logs, and as a community, we de-barked them and prepared them, and Skye figured out the optimal distribution. Naturally, nobody was happy about the distribution, but there wasn¡¯t a happy solution anywhere. We all spent a day in a flurry of hammers, nails, and saws, taking the logs and building what would eventually become a guard¡¯s barracks, but for now was more like a large communal living space. Iona, Auri, and I probably could¡¯ve done it by ourselves in a fraction of the time, but I was coming around more and more to the idea that as a powerful Immortal and Classer, I shouldn¡¯t be doing everything for everyone. What was the point? Some places, some cultures, made it work - most notably the necrocracy of Penujuman, but that wasn¡¯t for me.
We were out of the bunker at last, and everyone who wanted it had a spare, spartan room for their family. A number of our neighbors went back to their farmstead and discovered everything was still standing, shrugged, and continued on with their life. I didn¡¯t blame them - but they were also outside of our protective aegis. A couple of canny groups decided to take over the now-spacious bunker, and Skye was also sticking around there - mostly to prevent shenanigans with our stored food. There was what I had stored in [Tower], so it wasn¡¯t as critical, but nobody wanted a problem.
It was incredible. The moment things started to fall apart, it was all about food.
[The World Around Me] felt like a curse at times. Perfect knowledge combined with heightened senses let me fairly trivially know everything going on around me, no matter how much I didn¡¯t want to know. I had to know how the seeds and the carrots were doing and check for any lurking threats or problems in the soil - or, goddess forbid, Vorler eggs - so it wasn¡¯t a surprise to me when the first shoots pushed through the dirt, unfurling their leaves to a sun that only distantly shone on them.
I¡¯d managed to keep a lid on it from Iona and Auri though, and the looks on their faces made it all worth it.
¡°We did it!¡± Iona dropped down to her knees, gently trying to half-cradle the delicate shoots. ¡°They¡¯re growing!¡±
¡°Brrpt! Brrrpt!¡± Auri was practically nuzzling the shoots, then straightened up. ¡°Brpt!¡±
A flaming fence sprang up around our field, and the little phoenix fluttered up on top of it. She critically eyed her work, and the fence morphed.
I facepalmed and Iona started to laugh herself sick.
Auri had changed a standard fence to thin castle walls twenty feet high, complete with crenellations and regular guard towers. She used her [I am the Brrrettiest] clone skill to man the walls with dozens of guards, each one of them carefully ¡®patrolling¡¯ the top.
¡°You¡¯re missing a portcullis.¡± I pointed out.
¡°Brpt.¡± Auri retorted. She was not missing one, nobody got in. Iona looked less than impressed.
¡°Alright then, have it your way.¡± She then promptly walked right through the wall of fire.
¡°BRRRPT!¡± Auri shrieked in outrage. How dare we simply circumvent her defenses!
¡°Good work [Castellan] Auri!¡± I decided to be a hair less offensive and simply [Teleported] through the wall. Dark mutterings came from above as Auri Plotted revenge.
¡°Don¡¯t bother trying to hide something under my pillow. I can see it, remember?¡± I told her.
The mutterings grew darker, and Auri turned the burning castle walls black.
¡°I feel like a two bit villain in some play.¡± Iona said as we walked hand in hand over to the plot where we were going to build our house. It sucked that we were going to rebuild a cottage not where our house was, but the mountain wasn¡¯t a good spot to grow carrots and be in the town. I occasionally darted over to one of the runestones I¡¯d placed down, recharging them with a quick pulse of mana. Goddess, I already hated the chore.
¡°Does that make me the evil queen, or the kidnapped princess?¡± I mused.
¡°Sinister witch.¡± Iona promptly replied. ¡°Need to get you a cauldron and herbs, you can stir all shifty-like. You betray me in the middle of the third act.¡±
¡°I¡¯m too good looking to be the sinister witch.¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t think there are enough prosthetic warts in the world to stop me looking like this.¡± I let go of Iona¡¯s hand and did a graceful twirl over the carrot field, making sure not to step on a single leaf.
Actually¡ I could step on a leaf, and not have it bend at all. Fuck, dexterity got weird at the higher numbers. I could also stomp down so hard that I drove my leg up to my knee in the dirt, all by a flex of will. Even with all my years, all my experience, the idea of the world being so ¡®malleable¡¯ to my will was odd. It wasn¡¯t just what I did with my body that impacted things, it¡¯s what I wanted to happen that impacted them. Dexterity, the poor, ignored step-child of the physical stats proved it was subtly one of the strongest ones once the numbers got high enough.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Now I was getting the urge to do some silly things. Maybe I¡¯d try running on snowflakes this winter¡ it was shaping up to be a boring one.
We stopped by the little plot of land that was going to be our cabin. While I¡¯d donated generously to the communal wood fund, I¡¯d also kept a solid number of logs for our use, one of the few points that didn¡¯t have everyone grumpy or unhappy with the distribution.
¡°Do we really want to annoy the person who made it all happen, and four Classers over level 1000?¡± Skye had very reasonably pointed out, and just like that, Iona and I were slated to build the first home.
I grabbed my crude drawing once again out of my [Library], unfurling it.
¡°Last chance, do we like this blueprint?¡± I asked Iona.
It wasn¡¯t quite as simple as possible, mostly because shovels and physical stats let us add in a basement with minimal effort. Enchantments would keep it dry and the water out, which was the main issue with basements. A frankly excessive number of support beams would hopefully keep the whole thing from collapsing - neither of us were engineers. There was a lot of ¡®I assume¡¯ and ¡®I think¡¯ and ¡®this should work¡¯, combined with ¡®let¡¯s add a few inches to the floor¡¯. We had four rooms on the main level. Two sleeping rooms - one for us, one for Titania - a kitchen, and a general living room. Auri was happy bouncing between the rafters, our bedroom, and the fireplace. Fenrir was going to continue living in the mountains, it was basically impossible to build a wyvern-house. An outhouse was planned for sanitation, and the eternal tension between ¡®smell it in the summer¡¯ fought with ¡®got to walk to it in the winter¡¯ made it difficult to decide the proper distance. I was resigned to smelling it no matter where it ended up, and I could cheat terribly with [Teleportation], and Iona was willing to defer to Titania. She didn¡¯t want to smell the outhouse over breakfast, so away from the house it went!
¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about it, and I do want a door to the basement.¡± Iona said. My face fell - the plan had been to use it as one gigantic storage room, and liberally apply [Teleportation] to the problem. She held up a hand.
¡°No, I¡¯m completely convinced by your argument about interior vs exterior doors, along with stripping the need to access everything by a person. However, let¡¯s throw in a trapdoor, say, here, then if you¡¯re on a long trip I can still use [Telekinesis] to grab everything and sort it out. Plus, trapdoors are just plain cool.¡±
Iona¡¯s last argument was her most persuasive. Titania had a skill to acquire whatever she needed - both she and Iona were quiet on exactly what it was - and the extra storage was only helpful for her.
I pointed to a different spot on the blueprint.
¡°The kitchen¡¯s constantly going to have a lot of weight on it, and I¡¯m reluctant to weaken the floorboards without knowing what I¡¯m doing engineering-wise. This part of the living room, while well-traveled, shouldn¡¯t get too much weight on it. It¡¯s right over one of the current planned supports.¡±
She nodded.
¡°Works for me, alright. Let¡¯s get going! Rockfoe, to me!¡±
Iona held out her hand and snapped her trusty, slightly dented shovel into it. She¡¯d named it Rockfoe as a joke, and the joke had stuck. The shovel was totally going to end up legendary, however the System judged such a thing. She was going to forget about it in a decade or three, some kid was going to pick it up, and suddenly get offered a light green class for digging holes or something silly.
Auri was keeping a watchful eye on us from her fiery castle. Iona got to work, digging up massive clods and flinging them at the phoenix. Auri burned them up, leaving nothing but smoke behind. Easy removal¡ and I decided not to think about Auri simply burning the perfect hole for us, which would work better.
I popped into my [Tower] and got to work myself.
First was selecting a number of less-preferred logs, ones with gnarly knots or other imperfections, problems that could let in the rain, wind, and cold. I pulled the logs with me up to the 35th floor, where I simply [Teleported] them into the right configuration. Then I continued drifting up to the 40¡¯s, where I¡¯d stored eight floors of nothing but building materials.
I¡¯d known about them in theory, and there was something practical about going out and gathering the supplies myself - sustainability and all that - but as I stared at the floors upon floors of stone, bricks, planks, nails, and more, I tried to find a better time, a better place to use them than here and now. Not just for us, but for all our neighbors.
With the supplies sitting there, staring at me in the face, all my objections and philosophy evaporated like a snowflake in an inferno. There was no reason to leave them here, there was no argument to letting people live in suboptimal conditions. The supplies were for people to rebuild after a war, and this was the exact situation I¡¯d stored them for.
When I reframed the supplies I was looking at into ¡®how many houses can we build¡¯, eight floors packed tight no longer seemed like nearly enough. Dozens of poorly made houses versus several well done places, the decision wasn¡¯t obvious. Probably a good time to remind everyone that democracy was a thing, and vote on which option we should use. Decisions for another hour, another day. I grabbed what I came here for - hinges and nails were a bear to make out of wood, and not nearly as good as the metal versions I¡¯d stored - and stuck them into my bag, then floated back down to the 35th floor.
[The Rays of the First Dawn] let me turn a number of the logs into planks with minimal effort, and I got to feel [Everywoman] at work for the first time. It didn¡¯t help my hands be as steady as [Handy] had, yet I didn¡¯t need that - I had more than enough dexterity in the first place. Instead, it ¡®nudged¡¯ me with barely-remembered knowledge about carpentry, helping me measure twice and cut once. It pointed out the ends of the log weren¡¯t exactly the same length, and helped identify a nice section of wood that would work perfectly as a door. I¡¯d saved a number of branches, and [Everywoman] helped me pick out a few that could act as bedsprings if I properly bent them and put tension on them just right. I debated making the bed super comfortable versus the odds of us breaking it, and decided we didn¡¯t need a springy bed.
Everything sliced enough - we were leaving the walls as proper logs, all the better to store heat - I drifted down to the tool section, finding sandpaper and a can of varnish.
I pulled a face.
Past-past-me had stored enough varnish for one house - barely - but past-me had merrily used it for various projects inside of [Tower], leaving not enough to fully seal up all the wood.
Damn past-me. She used up half the varnish and ate all the mangos. I¡¯d wish a pox on her, but either she¡¯d heal it, or I¡¯d have to deal with it. I was pretty sure I had a potion to¡ ahha!
I measured, I cut, I hammered in nails and generally worked my pretty ass off.
[*ding!* [Everywoman] leveled up! 500 -> 501]
I started off with the thick, heavy logs, half-dropping them on Iona¡¯s head.
¡°Incoming!¡± I yelled, a terrified vision of the log crushing my wife¡¯s skull briefly flashing through my mind.
¡°Got it!¡± She yelled, smoothly reaching up and catching it one-handed. The plot of land was now a hole, with corners perfectly squared off.
With a quick kiss I went back into my [Tower] and my impossible-to-disturb workshop, and kept going.
¡°Our home.¡± Iona beamed at our little cottage. Even with all our advantages, and me being able to [Teleport] things instantly into position, it had taken us all day to make the place.
¡ perhaps my standards were getting a little too high to complain over building a two-story house - basement one, main level two - in one day with two people. Iona¡¯s mention of our home had a wave of sadness hit me, as I briefly grieved over our previous home.
We¡¯d built a whole life for ourselves there. Decades upon decades of memories. Adventures and experiences, crazy dreams shared under warm blankets, stories told before a crackling fireplace. Iona reading me a story I¡¯d never heard while I massaged her feet, the sound of crashing metal as we sparred. The smell of Auri¡¯s baking filling the halls and the pitter-patter of Nina running on the tiles.
The home had been a member of the family in all but name, and the loss was hitting me unexpectedly hard. It wasn¡¯t so easy to replace a home, and I found myself tearing up. Iona wiped one of the tears away.
¡°Hey,¡± She said softly. ¡°It¡¯s not the old home, it never will be. But it¡¯s our home now. I love you.¡±
¡°I love you too.¡± I sniffed out.
¡°Want to carry me over the threshold this time?¡± She suggested. I laughed at the absurdity of the thought, my wonderful wife always knowing how to cheer me up. I swooped her up, then eyed the door.
¡°I dunno¡¡± I teased. ¡°I¡¯ve never had to use a battering ram before¡¡±
She laughed at my joke like it was truly funny, the sound of her thunderous raucous humor chasing away my stormclouds.
Then I hit the door with her head.
Chapter 588 - Raccoon
Titania showed up about three minutes after Iona and I were done with our inspection. She snapped her fingers, and all the sawdust, tracked mud, and general mess that was the aftermath of a construction site vanished. Nails and other such useful items slid across the floor and whizzed through the air until they were neatly stacked and arranged. We were in the middle of giving her an enthusiastic tour - earnestly explaining why the trapdoor was a great idea, and plans for including a lever - when my ears perked up. A set of sounds, ones not normal and therefore brought to my attention.
I occasionally regretted my super senses, but not right now.
¡°Goblins near Nix¡¯s farm.¡± I told Iona. She swore, grabbed Rockfoe, and bolted out the door.
Bless her for taking the quarter of a second to make sure she didn¡¯t slam the door. I debated leaving it all to Iona, and decided to back her up. Never knew when an unusual skill would perfectly counter her, and excellent hearing didn¡¯t translate to hearing levels.
[*ding!* Would you like to upgrade [Long-Range Identify] to [Earnest Eavesdropper]?]
Earnest Eavesdropper: Who said sight was the best way to check someone¡¯s level? Instead of needing visual contact, use auditory contact! Increased range per level.
Well, that was an easy no. I was too used to using sight, and I was able to see incredible distances. There was significant overlap between when I¡¯d be able to use the two senses, but¡ I just didn¡¯t want to. Good to know I had the option easily available, and a random part of me wanted to drop a bunch of general skills, get [Identify] variants for every sense, then merge them together.
Like I had 6-7 spare general skill slots.
I headed over to Nix¡¯s farm, where Iona had already subdued the goblins. They were all tied up - Iona had repurposed their weapons and bent them with her bare hands - and was frowning as she tapped her foot, looking at them.
I was a little surprised at her restraint. She no longer had the same blind hatred towards goblins she used to have, but I fully expectedRockfoe to be busy digging a dozen graves, not a dozen prisoners to manage. Plus, as prisoners, they were vaguely, nominally under my protection, which made them patients, which meant I had to help keep them alive.
[Identify] was interesting, to say the least.
[Laborer - 130]
[Artisan - 91]
[Laborer - 67]
¡
[Laborer - 144]
Not a [Warrior], [Mage], or [Ranger] among them, and nobody over 200. I immediately spotted what probably stayed Iona¡¯s hand. Sunken ribs and swollen bellies, the conclusion was obvious.
¡°They¡¯re starving.¡± Iona said with a sigh. ¡°Idiots, starving, vaguely malicious, but¡ frankly, if we were in their shoes, we¡¯d be doing the same thing.¡±
There was clearly a deeply personal struggle going on deep inside of Iona. I slid up next to her, a pillar of support one way or another. My wife began interrogating the goblins in their native tongue. They flinched at the first words and rapidly started talking to each other, surprise evident on their faces and written with their bodies.
Iona slapped the business end of Rockfoe into the ground near the goblins, and barked out a different question, reminding them that they were alive and at her tender, reluctant mercy.
The interrogation proceeded swiftly from there. The Nixes - thank the gods and prior planning that all of them were alive - emerged from their house to see what all the fuss was about. I waved to Secondus, my once-apprentice, and he knew me well enough to shoot me a thoroughly unimpressed look.
We were, after all, standing on the delicate ash-covered carrot shoots, and the goblins had squashed more than a few. I couldn¡¯t flip my former apprentice off in front of his entire family¡ and he probably knew it too, the brat. Oh sure, he was a grown man now with a wife and kids of his own, but he¡¯d always be a brat to me. I still remembered the attempted prank with the ferrets¡
Oh goddesses. I was getting old. I wanted to be Immortal, not old.
Iona eventually retreated with me, casting a baleful eye on the goblins, promising swift and mighty retribution if they should even think of twitching. It was either that, or she was complaining about the amount of spice they¡¯d put in the curry last night¡ I¡¯d gotten that exact look before when Iona emerged from the bathroom the day after.
¡°What¡¯s the story?¡± I asked. ¡°What¡¯s our plan, what are we doing?¡±
She sighed again, suddenly looking more like her age.
¡°They¡¯re starving. They don¡¯t want to raid,¡±
I snorted at that. When did experience turn into prejudice? I wasn¡¯t sure, but I didn¡¯t exactly buy what they were selling.
¡°But they¡¯ve got no other options. They¡¯re people, and I swore to share my bread. I¡¯m sick of drawing lines, of saying things are impossible or unreasonable, and I don¡¯t think murdering half the world would ease my conscience. Would you mind?¡±
There were a million implications, none of which particularly mattered so much as blowing on the faint embers in Iona¡¯s heart, of fanning them up into a roaring flame once again.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
¡°Nix!¡± I roared in my best ¡®Sentinel in Command¡¯ voice.
¡°Yes Elaine! Reporting!¡± Secondus snapped out, the years of drills and instincts still present. I grinned evilly at Iona, who rolled her eyes at me messing with my apprentice.
¡°We¡¯re going to need Skye, can you go get her please?¡±
I could practically feel Secondus trying to find a reasonable way to say no, to prove he wasn¡¯t my apprentice anymore, but sheer practicality and need won out. He did get a little bit of petty revenge on the way out.
¡°Sure, sure, whatever you say.¡±
It took far more discussion than either Iona or I thought should be needed, but eventually we got to the point where we¡¯d offer the goblins a ¡®home¡¯ in Orthus Town. The seed of a great melting pot had been planted.
Of course, the goblins themselves had to agree, and we hadn¡¯t talked about what it would look like if they refused. They were literally starving to death, and ¡®hey we have food, come join us¡¯ was one hell of an incentive.
I swung a deceptively heavy cauldron of water along with one arm, no longer shocked at how easy it was. I set up next to the still¨Cslightly tied up goblins, the seven of them eyeing the pot with naked desire.
¡°Auri.¡± I asked, and flames lit up underneath. I grabbed some broth cubes and a large wooden spoon from my storage. A wave of loss hit me again as I stopped what I was doing, staring at the spoon.
Losing my parents was a permanent scar. It wasn¡¯t a bleeding, raw wound anymore, but it wasn¡¯t something I just got over. They were dead, and no amount of skills and abilities would bring them back. My mind flitted over to the prayer they left me, safe and preserved in my [Library], and I spent a minute grieving them again. Going over memories, able to perfectly remember dad hugging me on his lap when I was little.
I wiped the tears out of my eyes, grabbed bowls and spoons, and returned to reality, dropping the cubes into the water and starting to stir merrily. I forced a manic grin on my face, doing my best [Witch] impression, trying to distract myself. The cauldron bubbled and boiled as Auri heated it, the little bird hopping around the rim of the weak stew. Stew was too strong a word - flavored water was more like it.
The goblins looked on with a mix of concern and hope, stomachs growling loudly enough for me to hear. Their bindings were still intact, although I had no doubt that they¡¯d be able to escape them if they wanted to.
With two Classers over 1000 keeping an eye on them, and something that might be food in front of them, I wasn¡¯t surprised they were staying still, talking to each other in their tongue. I was well versed in a number of languages, but the goblins had nearly as many dialects as they did tribes, and most contact with them was hostile, to say the least.
Iona was off talking with Skye, and I quickly judged the water warm enough and the cubes dissolved enough. Fastest cooking ever. I ladled the weak soup into bowls, and Auri¡¯s many hands handed them out and spoon fed them.
¡°Brrrpt¡¡± Auri¡¯s baker soul was hurt by the quality of the food. She was aware of the need to slowly feed people back from the brink of starvation, and was determined to show the goblins good food at some point.
Hunger beat out caution, and they ate the food as quickly as Auri would feed them. In the end, they licked their lips and stared at the pot, clearly wanting more.
I gave it two more hours before I fed them again, and Iona showed up soon after.
¡°Let¡¯s get going?¡± She asked, and at my nod, turned to the goblins and started speaking in their tongue. They struggled up, and under our watchful eyes and a quick discussion among themselves, started to lead us to their home.
I was impressed with how far out they¡¯d come, hunger making them desperate, and equally impressed with how hidden it was. We slipped through a narrow crevice, the goblins slipping over clever traps and Iona and I ignoring them going off.
The goblins were a mix of impressed and terrified when Iona took an axe to the face, ignored it, and just kept going like nothing had happened. The rest of the traps mysteriously vanished.
We made it to the goblin¡ I hesitated to call it a village. Encampment was the best word for it. Ragged tents revealed furs, and we all side-eyed a frying pan with the Messorem family crest - generously stretching the definition of crest - knowing the family had been wiped out in a goblin raid half a decade ago.
A cookpot was filled with meat, nearly the entire tribe crowding around it. They were shoving and bickering, and the [Cook] was liberally applying lumps with his ladle. Wasn¡¯t stopping the goblins from shoving their bare hands into the boiling water to grab a scrap, fleeing to the edges of the crowd to gnaw on their prize.
I swallowed around a lump in my throat, cursing my senses. I knew exactly what was in the pot, and I doubted there was a second goblin tribe around here. The dreadful algebra of necessity.
Our arrival caused a huge amount of consternation, and one of the goblins - probably crazed and not thinking straight due to hunger, not that it excused his actions, just explained them - tried to knife me. I casually twisted out of the way, sticking a foot out and making him trip.
¡°Hold.¡± I told Auri, my little friend ready to defend me with overwhelming firepower. The goblin picked himself up off the ground, and turned around with a feral snarl. The goblins we¡¯d come with were yelling at him, trying to talk him down, but he wasn¡¯t listening. He lunged wildly at me, and I grabbed his wrist, plucked the knife out of it, debated doing his taxes, then gently set him down on the dirt.
He whirled around and came for me a third time, rotting teeth like sharpened daggers going for my ankles. Iona rolled her eyes, picked him up by the neck and waist, and simply twisted him in two different directions, entirely ripping him apart.
[*ding!* Your Party has slain a [Goblin Berserker (Inferno, 187)]/[Deadly Raider (Poison, 177)]]
¡°Nobody attacks my wife three times and gets away with it.¡± Iona said fiercely, then raised her voice, repeating herself in goblin.
Quite a lot of yelling, screaming, and posturing ensued, half of the goblins facing off against us argumentatively, and the other half hurriedly sticking the dead goblin into the stew - after ripping his teeth out.
Iona briefly flashed me a hand-sign, and I teleported into my [Tower]. Keeping in mind the starvation protocols, I grabbed some hard biscuits, and brought them out. I faded a little into the background as food and negotiations went on. It was remarkable to watch their body language. From bared teeth and crossed arms, to loosened shoulders and wide smiles, Iona¡¯s [Social Lubricant] was possibly one of the most powerful skills I¡¯d ever seen.
I worked on picking up the language while Auri strutted around on my head. She was enjoying the new audience and showing off, and quite a few of the goblins had locked eyes on her.
It wasn¡¯t all smooth sailing - there were quite a few arguments over different things, but I was more than willing to utterly sabotage the goblins and weaken their will. Iona was carefully spacing out what she was arguing over - I was pretty sure it was basic stuff like ¡®don¡¯t steal from your new neighbors¡¯ and ¡®murdering humans is wrong¡¯ - and every time the goblins were looking unhappy, I grabbed another dish from my [Tower], holding it enticingly. When their resolve buckled and they agreed to Iona¡¯s terms, food was handed out.
On one hand, it felt dirty and unethical. I was using their starvation and hunger against them, withholding food until they agreed. On the other? ¡®You get food if you agree not to try and murder us in our sleep¡¯ was a line I was quite happy walking.
Level up notifications were loud, and I didn¡¯t want my beauty sleep interrupted by leveling [The Elaine] because the goblins went on a stabbing ¡®why won¡¯t they die¡¯ spree.
In the end, beer all around! I needed to learn Goblin, or hopefully, they¡¯d learn High Elvish.
Orthus Town expanded.
One of the goblins followed us out, the youngest kid we¡¯d seen. I carefully avoided thinking about why we didn¡¯t see any younger goblins. Iona asked her a question, and she shyly answered, poking Iona in the leg.
My wife looked thunderstruck, and was left speechless for a solid minute. The whole time, the little goblin was looking more and more nervous, until it was clear she was debating bolting.
Indecision warred over Iona¡¯s face, a thousand emotions flickering. The little goblin had sent Iona into some sort of crisis with her words, and I sidled up next to her, letting her know I was here for her, I was always here, and I¡¯d support her anyway I could.
The goddesses knew I¡¯d gone deep into my own thoughts often enough, Iona supporting me, that I could do the same back when the roles were reversed.
¡°Brrrpt?¡±
Iona swallowed hard and nodded, half-turning to me.
¡°Her name¡¯s Raccoon. What do you think about having an extra pair of hands around the house?¡±
I could tell Iona wanted me to answer a particular way. Was practically begging me with her eyes.
¡°Sure!¡±
Chapter 589 - Plague Wind
Raccoon was a new and interesting presence in our lives. I was less than impressed with her desire to learn ALL THE VIOLENCE from Iona and her reluctance to do the hard, needed farm work, but Iona managed to get her round.
Weeks passed, and carrots died. The hardiest ones were growing into small and scraggly little things, but by the gods, they were alive. Growing, promising more food, promising to extend our stores.
Raccoon approached me one morning as I was recharging the enchantments, praying for the day she leveled up enough to do the chore herself. What else were minions for? I raised an eyebrow at what she was carrying, and stood up straight as she nervously approached me. Her language skills had improved in leaps and bounds, and I was pretty sure she had a general skill dedicated to learning.
¡°Elaine. Uhhh. I got for you?¡± She shyly offered me up a dead opossum.
¡°Thank you?¡± I gingerly took the offering, trying to figure out what I was going to do with a dead marsupial. It hadn¡¯t even been washed or anything, the blood was still congealing on its fur.
Her offering reluctantly accepted, Raccoon beamed at me.
¡°Is good eating! You teach me magic food skill?¡±
It took me a moment to understand what she was asking. Maybe.
¡°Do you mean my [Tower] skill I get food from?¡±
Raccoon nodded furiously.
¡°Yes! Lots of good eating. Raccoon and tribe no starve.¡±
I debated trying to explain the power complexities of Spatial magic, along with the power and control requirements, before getting into the need to plan and store everything.
¡°Raccoon, how high can you count?¡± I asked, hoping she¡¯d make it higher. As her teacher, I had standards.
¡°One, two, three, four, five¡ six! Seven, eight¡ ten, thirteen, thirty six!¡±
Raccoon nodded to herself like she was an accomplished genius, able to rattle off huge numbers.
¡°You teach me magic food skill now?¡±
I sighed.
¡°Raccoon, you¡¯re great, but nine comes before ten, and¡¡±
I debated saying ¡®no¡¯, but I doubted that¡¯d get through to her. I drew myself up - fuck how short I was, I was still almost eye level with the goblin - and did my best ¡®evil mysterious witch¡¯ look.
¡°Elaine powerful Immortal mage. Puny goblin hasn¡¯t lived long enough to learn valuable secrets. Many years of learning needed first. Then, I teach powerful secret-hush magics.¡±
I felt a little greasy after saying that. Raccoon was nodding along like it made total sense to her.
¡°Alright! Raccoon picks carrots now, Elaine cooks?¡± Her eyes locked on the carcass I was still holding and she licked her lips. There was absolutely no temptation to have Raccoon do the cooking herself, not after the first time. We¡¯d all seen what she considered ¡®good eating¡¯, and since it had been her first week and she was still a nervous wreck, we¡¯d politely choked it down, then made a private pact to never let her cook again.
With quite a lot of high-speed mental effort, and a dramatic flick of my wrist, I lit up a dozen carrots I¡¯d mentally marked as being ready for harvest. Had to keep my dramatic ¡®all powerful witch¡¯ image up after all. It was the only way I could get her to practice her letters!
She was one of the most eager students I¡¯d ever had. Once she figured out that I was teaching her ¡®runes of power¡¯, there was no stopping her thirst for knowledge. Part of me wondered if she¡¯d be disappointed down the line, but¡ nah that was impossible. Everyone loved reading.
[*ding!* Congratulations! [Sage of Tomes] has leveled up!]
Oh, I wondered what Auri was up to? Also, speaking of, it¡¯d been a while since we¡¯d seen Fenrir. He left to hunt and hadn¡¯t been back since. Iona still had the companion skill, so he was obviously still alive. Just¡ concerning.
Carrot - oppossum soup. Yay apocalypse.
[*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1350->1352 +200 Strength, +200 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +2000 Mana, +10000 Mana Regen, +4000 Magic Power, +4000 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]
I woke up in the middle of the night to a pair of levels, swearing.
¡°Love! Auri! Up!¡± I yelled, teleporting Iona¡¯s armor onto her body as she sat up. She threw off the covers and we both jumped out, and I finished gearing her up.
¡°Brrrpt?¡±
¡°Unknown, two levels.¡± It was a little biased, but my mind instantly jumped to the goblins, wondering if they¡¯d betrayed us.
¡°Goblins?¡± Iona asked, on the same wavelength.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
[*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1352->1353 +200 Strength, +200 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +2000 Mana, +10000 Mana Regen, +4000 Magic Power, +4000 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]
My mind was split a dozen ways, each investigating in a different manner. Iona quivered beside me, ready to spring into violent action the moment I located the source of the trouble.
The sharpest blade in the world was useless if it didn¡¯t strike true. The third level already suggested this wasn¡¯t goblins. No offense to them, but an entire tribe of goblins trying to knife three dozen farmers in the middle of the night simply didn¡¯t have the weight or scope for me to be leveling multiple times. A tenth of a level, at best, before it was split with Auri.
I stretched my senses, trying to understand everything going on around me. The range of [The World Around Me] had steadily increased over the years and levels, but they weren¡¯t quite in range. However, I could hear and sense far more than the range, and I was getting a big old nothing.
¡®Nothing¡¯ was something of an exaggeration, but not that much of one. Sure, there was the sound of the wind going through leaves, and the thousand nocturnal creatures -
Wait.
No, there wasn¡¯t. I didn¡¯t hear scurrying mice, there was no soft swish of an owl¡¯s wings, foxes didn¡¯t rustle bushes and cats weren¡¯t lazily prowling for dinner.
Then, like the scythe of the grim reaper himself had passed overhead, like Black Crow got into farming, our carrots, the vegetables of our hard labor, died. En masse, the entire field, no survivors. They simply withered and died, pretty much all at once. Blackened and withered, small and hard.
I breathed in deeply through my nose, trying to filter the thousand subtle scents to see if I could pick up any trace of what was going on.
¡°Elaine?¡± Iona prompted me, and I frowned. I absent-mindedly left the cottage, to see if my eyes could help me out. I didn¡¯t see anything obvious.
¡°I¡¯m pretty sure we¡¯re being gassed.¡± I explained. ¡°A Miasma Classer, or a Poison one. They¡¯re releasing something on the wind to try and kill us all.¡± I petulantly kicked one of the plants, bemoaning my desire to let them grow a little more instead of just harvesting them all. Then again, whatever herbicide was fucking with us would -
¡°Fuck. The granary!¡± I yelled and pulled out one of my spellbooks. I grabbed a bunch of pages in the middle, and bemoaning that I was going to waste three of the seven pages, I ripped them out. ¡°Iona, go, I have to stay here. Activate these ones, in this order.¡± I reshuffled the pages and thrust them at my wife, who grabbed them and shot off towards the bunker like a¡ well, she was a charging knight.
I was a little stuck. Everyone was inside my multi-mile healing radius, but that wouldn¡¯t be the case if I started to move around. Running to the bunker was the same as killing five families, and I wouldn¡¯t do it. I¡¯d encountered a number of different traps over the years, but this was a new one - ¡®move and civilians die¡¯.
I took no responsibility for the actions of others. Like with the pirates, if they threatened a hostage¡¯s life if I moved, I took no responsibility for their actions if I moved and they acted anyway. It wasn¡¯t on my conscience.
This was a little different. I was actively staving off death right now, moving would kill them from my actions. It was like holding up a falling beam over a child - it was absolutely my responsibility if I dropped it on their head.
I moodily kicked one of the dead carrots as I scanned the skies, looking for a flicker, a trace of a Classer soaring away. They were in the middle of actively trying to kill me, and I had exactly zero problems dealing with assholes who tried to gas people in the middle of the night. We probably weren¡¯t even the only ones! Anyone -
[*ding!* You are in the presence of Erra, the Merciful]
The sky warped above me and a crystalline scorpion-like vorler snapped into existence. Only the shock of the Guardian announcement prevented me from immediately throwing all my spells at the creature with extreme prejudice, instead taking half a moment to think about the situation. My mind continued to work on a dozen tracts. [Identify] the creature and evaluate the situation.
I¡¯d studied the known Guardians, and Erra wasn¡¯t one of them. A newly promoted one¡ and I hadn¡¯t seen any notifications for any of the old Guardians ascending.
Was the Vorler the Guardian? Was her name Erra? Or was the Guardian something like a Mist or Wind elemental, invisible to the eye, and revealed the source of the plague?
I started conjuring a dozen [Radiant Angel¡¯s Spears of Obliteration], preparing my spears of burning golden Radiance for an overwhelming initial strike on the Vorler. My class quality let my stats be¡ well, I wasn¡¯t a heavyweight, but I wasn¡¯t a lightweight either. I seriously doubted anyone or anything selected to be a Guardian was anything other than the heaviest of heavyweights, but if the Vorler wasn¡¯t the Guardian, and I hit the right spots with overwhelming power¡ maybe¡
That, and if it wanted to fight, I¡¯d have to stand and fight.
This was all occurring quite quickly.
Another part of me hit upon the actual solution quite quickly, and terminated three different thought processes with the conclusion.
[Guardian Erra, the Merciful]
Well, that simplified things quite a bit.
A moment after it finished appearing, the Vorler split, then split again, turning into a cascading fractal pattern. Its many stingers all struck forward at once in a thousand-million places, a struggling harpy revealed for a brief moment. Colorful feathers and a blowing breeze in her eyes marked her as a Gale user.
[Mage - 768]
Auri flew out of the cottage, starting a beeline straight to the vorler. Didn¡¯t blame her, we¡¯d been hunting the menances for decades, and they were kill on sight.
¡°Auri! Stop! Friendly!¡± I yelled as the System dinged at me. Too many things going on too quickly.
[*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1353->1360 +200 Strength, +200 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +2000 Mana, +10000 Mana Regen, +4000 Magic Power, +4000 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]
I had a moment of indecision, of hesitation. The massively more powerful Vorler¡¯s poison wasn¡¯t killing the harpy because of me. I was single-handedly staving off death with [Persistent Casting], and once I finalized the conclusion that the harpy was responsible and needed to die, I couldn¡¯t say ¡®whoops¡¯ and take it back. It went against nearly a century of instincts and of exterminating vorlers. My mana was regenerating faster than I could spend it. It was ¡®only¡¯ a single person being executed, and unless the trauma was immediately lethal, I could heal them again and again, as many times as was needed, until I¡¯d made my decision.
Nobody died. That was my conviction, and right now, I could stare a Guardian in its many-faceted eyes and say ¡®wait.¡¯
I Wait for me to judge. Wait for me to decide.
I was the arbiter here.
Auri fluttered to my shoulder.
¡°Brrrpt?¡± She asked.
¡°Thinking.¡± I tersely answered.
¡°Brrpt.¡± She had full faith in me.
The Vorler, scourge of all life, a species that warring armies would pause to eradicate, an infamous Miasma user, came in on a Guardian notification. The System was cleanly telling me she was a Guardian.
But there was no confirmation, no knowledge, that the harpy was the killer. No Poison or Miasma in her eyes, no Acid or Spore or one of the other elements known for murder writ large. That the Vorler wasn¡¯t going rogue, if it were possible for a Guardian to break its mandate. A Vorler the level I was witnessing was enough of a scourge to be worth summoning a Guardian in and of itself, the skills, levels, and classes enough to take a strong stab at gassing the entire continent of life, of stripping every living soul from its mortal coil.
The level and power were suggestive. If the Vorler, right here, was trying to kill us specifically, I¡¯d possibly be having a harder time keeping everyone alive. My mana would be slowly dropping. At the same time, normal Poison and Miasma were trivially cheap to deflect. It was only when they got supercharged by high level skills that it could possibly start to pose a challenge¡ and a Vorler at that level should have the high level skills in question.
However, if they were attempting to exterminate a large population all at once, the impact and the effect would be diluted, making it trivially easy once again to deflect and prevent, my mana regeneration alone more than enough to keep up.
Did I have enough knowledge to once again arbitrate life and death? To give the thumb¡¯s up, to allow her soul to be reaped by Black Crow? In the moment I wished for Iona, and her ability to see all stats and skills, to let me know with certainty what the right decision was.
I arbitrated.
I decided.
And a winged body fell.
[*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1360->1361 +200 Strength, +200 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +2000 Mana, +10000 Mana Regen, +4000 Magic Power, +4000 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]
[*ding!* [Everywoman] leveled up! 502 -> 503]
Merry Christmas! Patreon giveaway
Merry Christmas one and all! I''m giving out 1000 copies of one month of BTDEM Patreon Membership! First 1000 people to click and redeem get a free month. I think it''s for new members only. The link is valid until the New Year my time, so don''t delay! https://www.patreon.com/SelkieMyth/redeem/3C2E4
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Okay, wait, how was I able to post a short chapter but not edit it... weird...
Merry Christmas, Happy New Years!
Words words words Words words words Words words words Words words words Words words words Words words words Words words words Words words words Words words words Words words words Words words words Words words words Words words words Words words words Words words words
Chapter 590 - Cleanup
The Guardian vanished moments after I let the harpy die, and I shuddered at the thought of the Vorler running around loose. His title of ¡®The Merciful¡¯ didn¡¯t exactly inspire pretty images either - I could only imagine what a vorler considered to be ¡®mercy¡¯.
I paced back and forth, considering my next moves, envying Raccoon¡¯s ability to sleep through anything. Which was a bit of a surprise to me, I would¡¯ve expected goblins to sleep with one eye open. Some of her ¡®casual dinner side stories¡¯ were downright harrowing, and I half expected to end up with a few more grey hairs. They looked great on Iona! A few thin strands of silver nestled among the gold.
¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri asked.
¡°I mean, Iona should know¡ but sure, I¡¯m feeling a little stuck here.¡± I said.
Auri threw me a one-winged salute, and buzzed off at high speed. A pair of goggles some [Couriers] used snapped onto her face before she left a burning afterimage.
I shook my head and went deep into [Astral Archives], trying to work out exactly where my healing radius overlapped with the map of the place. Being able to fly was a boon, I had a good mental map of the area, and thanks to my travels, I had a solid idea of my range.
It had just increased with all the levels I¡¯d gotten, of course, but that was going to be my safety margin. I mentally overlayed my range with where we were and the map of the place. A lack of proper measuring tools was a hindrance on one end, but thanks to the careful work of Surveyor and the other Potentials, we had a strong grid I could work off of.
I mentally bit my tongue as I worked through it all, groaning a little at the end.
Everyone was inside my radius, with a solid amount of padding included. I wasn¡¯t trapped on the farm for the foreseeable future while we diagnosed the plague and worked out countermeasures, or worst-case, waited eight years to let it all decay. At the same time, the furthest farms, the ones not designed by Skye and outside of Orthus Town¡¯s mandate, were just barely inside. The farmers wouldn¡¯t drop dead stepping outside their fields, but if they were patrolling the edges while I went the opposite direction, into the laid-out Orthus Town, they would be outside my protection.
That wasn¡¯t quite as bad as the major problem.
I was soft-locked out of my [Tower]. Until we knew what the poison was, until we had a remedy or mitigation, it was entirely possible that leaving for a few seconds could cause people to die. It was unlikely, but possible. There could also be multiple poisons - it was rare for a substance to be both a herbicide and good for killing people - but it could be a single, powerful poison.
Cytotoxic venoms were fine, and most hemotoxins would take longer than I¡¯d be gone to properly have an impact. Neurotoxins concerned me, but a contact neurotoxin should take more than a moment to penetrate skin, even if it was powdered on a child. Then there was the mechanism - any neurotoxin paralyzing nerves generally killed via respiratory distress, which took minutes before problems started to occur on a child, let alone the generous length of time I had to respond to an adult. It was the ones that traveled up nerves like fire, that rotted the brain from the inside that scared me.
Then there were magiatoxins, unusual concoctions entirely System-made and derived. The field of medicine collectively threw up their hands trying to classify all the different possible methods of transmission and mechanisms of action, and declared the entire thing to be in the realm of the System, where anything was possible. It was more expensive and much harder to brew up a magiatoxin, but it was like the plague in Perinthus - transmissible via eye contact, for example.
This was ignoring the fact that poisons could be promiscuous - whoever invented poison terminology was having fun - and work along multiple pathways. Then, of course, most Poison Classers weren¡¯t just sprinkling botulism on people and calling it a day. They enhanced their poisons, made them deadlier in a variety of ways. From merging poisons together to increasing their potency, from finding new mechanisms of delivery to unusual methods of delivery, all studies of poison had the caveat of ¡®... and a skill could change everything.¡¯
Actually¡ speaking of Surveyor, there was the answer!
I debated waking up Raccoon to act as my messenger, but decided not to.
Everyone was going to wake up to a field of dead crops. Might as well let them tackle the problem on a full night¡¯s sleep.
The shit never ended, and the ashes continued to fall.
Titania was up before Raccoon, and saw me pacing unhappily in the field.
¡°M¡¯lady.¡± She respectfully curtseyed, nevermind that I was covered in dirt, her tunic wasn¡¯t exactly the best, and our home was barely more than a hut. ¡°What troubles you?¡±
I kicked at one of the dead carrots and filled her in on last night¡¯s events. She kneeled down by one of the carrots and plucked it.
It had been sad and scrawny to begin with. Between the cold weather, low sunlight, and lack of any real skills on our part, its mere survival until now had proved it was scrappy. Whatever poison or plague had hit it had done it no favors. It was withered and blackened, more likely to be sold by a sketchy [Witch] promising it would find true love than any self-respecting [Grocer]. Titania eyed it critically, then took a bite.
I could¡¯ve stopped her a thousand times over, but I implicitly trusted her with the decades we¡¯d spent together. She chewed thoughtfully, swallowed, and shuddered.
¡°Poor fare, to be sure, and undoubtedly poisoned, yet still food.¡± She proclaimed. ¡°I am reminded of the time you wished to try a selection of poisonous berries as a snack. You found the nightshade most agreeable, but elected the risks not worth regular additions to our plates. In the face of starvation, let us not discard valid options. Poisoned, rotted, or diseased, your healing prevents those issues, and while our bodies may object, the mind is the master in the end.¡±
I blinked and reframed how I was looking at things. When did a carrot die anyway? When it was pulled from the ground? Weeks later? I¡¯d done a cursory study of plants, but the moment of death was tricky enough for people and animals, who had a distinct notification when the soul left the body. When it came to plants, it was far murkier.
A carrot was a carrot. A poisoned carrot, with me around, was a spicy carrot. I was in the habit of considering solutions that didn¡¯t rest solely on my shoulders, on distributed self-sustaining systems, but Titania was right. We could still eat them.
¡°Thank you, Titania.¡± I nodded respectfully back. ¡°That viewpoint does change things.¡±
She nodded, rolled up her sleeves, kneeled in the dirt, and started pulling up carrots. Always willing to get her hands dirty, always willing to work hard, it was part of why I liked her so much.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
That, and her cooking was almost literally divine. I was willing to bet she could make the blackened and diseased carrots taste good. With a wave of my hand, I [Teleported] all of the carrots in my range out of the ground, into a neat pile. All of us had to do our part.
¡°Hey Raccoon!¡± I shouted, sensing a very satisfying sequence as Raccoon smacked into the doorframe in her attempt to hurry out.
¡°Yes?¡± The little goblin scampered out, rubbing her head. The drama llama - it didn¡¯t hurt, not with her living in my healing radius.
¡°I need you to go and fetch Surveyor for me, thank you.¡±
Raccoon tried a clumsy salute - military formality of a dead nation wasn¡¯t a priority - and scampered off. She was quite far down the road before she muttered to herself.
¡°Don¡¯t see why Elaine can¡¯t walk herself¡¡±
I summoned a feather from [Six Wings, Six Million Feathers] and zipped it past Racoon¡¯s head, shaving off a few hairs.
¡°I heard that!¡± I hollered down the road to her retreating back.
I swear I could see Raccoon¡¯s [Scampering] skill leveling.
¡°Black carrots again?¡± A child¡¯s voice whined from three farms over. My hearing was way too good at times, and sometimes I was a terrible mix of bored and curious. I knew I shouldn¡¯t eavesdrop, but¡ it was tempting. I wanted to know what people were saying about me.
I was lounging, waiting for Raccoon to finish the errand I¡¯d sent her on, and the carrots were still brand-new. I wanted to know what people thought of them, and Iona was massaging me just so with a little carved wooden spider.
All hail the spider.
¡°If you¡¯d like something else to eat, you¡¯re welcome to go outside and find it.¡± A parent replied. Good head on his shoulders. I tuned the conversation out, focusing on the bliss that was Iona¡¯s steady hands against the knots on my back.
¡°Brrpt?¡± Auri asked Iona.
¡°Yes, that¡¯s an excellent temperature.¡± Iona shifted near the fire a bit.
The fire I couldn¡¯t feel at all. Damn immunity to fire and flames, it was keeping me a little colder than normal.
Raccoon came over, proud as a half-feral cat who¡¯d caught a mouse, Surveyor in tow.
¡°Hey, Surveyor! Come on over!¡± I waved the girl over. I¡¯d already been impressed with her work helping lay out the town, now I was going to see if she was willing to make a leap with her classes.
¡°She¡¯s at a class up.¡± Iona quietly told me in a language Surveyor didn¡¯t speak.
¡°Excellent.¡± I responded in the same tongue. I waved Surveyor over, and restrained a whimper as Iona stopped massaging me. I knew it was a bad look to be fussed over in the situation, but it just felt so good. Dang looking nice for the neighbors.
¡°The goblin said you wanted to see me?¡± She eyed Raccoon suspiciously, like the goblin was going to rifle through her pockets. Which¡ I couldn¡¯t entirely blame her for.
¡°Raccoon.¡± I corrected. Justified or not, the sooner we had everyone seeing each other as proper neighbors, the better. ¡°And yes. As you know, we were recently hit with a poisonous attack. You might not know that I¡¯m still keeping it at bay, and I¡¯m hoping you¡¯ll be willing to take a class dedicated to cleaning up the poison.¡±
Her face fell, and she was clearly struggling with herself a bit. Iona nudged me.
¡°We really should offer her something in return. Endlessly being asked to give up skills and selflessly move around for the good of the community would wear on anyone.¡± She pointed out.
¡°Good point. It should be Skye¡¯s job to figure that out, but¡¡± I trailed off, Iona picking up my thought where I put it down.
¡°But she¡¯s only got so many resources, she¡¯s backed hard by our support, and she doesn¡¯t know the problem like we do. It probably would¡¯ve been better for everyone long term if we had Skye summon Surveyor and make the request through her. But we didn¡¯t know Surveyor would want something now. Live and learn.¡± Iona shrugged.
¡°I¡¯ll open big.¡± I offered Surveyor. ¡°When you get a little older, I¡¯ll make you Immortal. You¡¯ll never age, eventually joining the ranks of the elite by sheer virtue of time and effort. Anyone who¡¯s consistently willing to do what¡¯s needed for the good of the community is someone worth keeping around, and I don¡¯t know how aware you are of the greater world and System, but my ability to grant Immortality to others was rare before the Immortal War. Now? There might be a dozen people left in the world with the skill.¡±
Surveyor looked interested, but wary.
¡°I want some specifics.¡± She said.
Iona and I traded a look, and I shrugged.
I was a bad negotiator. A worse haggler.
But I¡¯d had over a century to practice.
I felt confident.
[*ding!* [Everywoman] leveled up! 503 -> 504]
¡°I¡¯m surprised that it actually went well.¡± Iona commented. I wanted to flip her off, but no, had to remain vaguely professional and put together in front of the neighbors. ¡°I¡¯m off to refill the barrels, good luck.¡± My wife quickly pecked me on the cheek, wiping away everything except a warm, happy glow inside.
¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri declared she was going on a patrol, and Raccoon was clearly sticking with Iona.
Auri, unfortunately, couldn¡¯t burn out poison and infection¡ yet. It required a specialized class, and she¡¯d been offered it before but never took it. Why, when I was right there? In theory, she could blanket the area in an inferno and make sure the poison was burned out, but her inability to see and properly identify it meant she¡¯d burn a lot of other things at the same time. Everything smaller than a speck of dust would be obliterated¡ and quite a few things larger than that would as well.
For some reason, my neighbors were a hair reluctant to watch their homes and fields go up in flames, even though it would mostly be alright in the end. Strange that.
¡°Now what?¡± Surveyor asked. ¡°Should I just start classing up, or¡ what?¡±
¡°Now, I need to get in the right mindset for what I¡¯m about to do.¡± I said.
I was pretty happy with my [Oath] and all aspects of it. I just needed to do some serious thinking about deliberately dropping healing on someone trying to help me. It was different from the harpy, who I thought was actively trying to kill me.
I was dropping the healing for a multitude of reasons. I needed to know the impact of the poison, if it was still persisting in the air or on skin, the effects it had on people, the timeline it acted on, and more.
Pure selfish knowledge wasn¡¯t enough.
This was to help Surveyor. This was to carefully, in a controlled way, expose her to a lethal poison, such that she could get a class to help combat it. Helping people survive their current environment was like sparring. Except I was helping her spar the world, so to speak, and I was simply a ¡®neutral¡¯ observer, the medic on the sideline ready to step in and assist when the spar got out of hand, the arbiter who declared the bout at an end, the natural philosopher trying to learn more about the world.
There we go. That was the right mindset.
¡°I¡¯m going to briefly, temporarily, drop my healing on you.¡± I explained to Surveyor. Her eyes widened.
¡°Is that why I didn¡¯t get a bruise when I hit my shin jumping over the wall? I was sure I was going to get the biggest, ugliest bruise ever, but it just stopped hurting and nothing ever came of it. My brother said I was lying about hitting it! Except the rocks had still fallen over, and-¡±
I held up my hand.
¡°That¡¯s right. Under my protective aegis, it¡¯ll be nearly impossible for anyone to die of anything besides old age, hunger, or thirst.¡± I had a handle on suffocation these days.
I could see the teenage gears turning in her head, and I lightly chopped her head.
¡°No.¡± I said. ¡°Whatever you¡¯re thinking right now, just - no.¡±
Surveyor pouted, but didn¡¯t argue. I continued on.
¡°Depending on the severity, the poison might start immediately ravaging your body, it might take some effort to rediscover it. It¡¯s entirely possible that it¡¯s gone, and nothing will happen. That would be ideal. Assuming the worst, I¡¯ll let it go as far as I believe is safe, then heal you up.¡±
Surveyor was looking distinctly green at that explanation. ¡°Then I class up?¡± She tentatively ventured. I shook my head.
¡°No, for a good class, you¡¯ll have to be exposed quite a few times. Three times a day, then a long discussion on various types of poisons, plagues, and miasmas, how they work, and how they could potentially be countered or removed. Half a volume of the Medical Manuscripts, but honestly, you should probably read five more to get the proper foundational knowledge. Without the knowledge, you¡¯d just get a [Poison Survivor] or [Miasma Resistor] class. We need to do this properly, and the knowledge will set you up for the future one way or another. Knowledge is power. We¡¯ll repeat for about, oh, two weeks at a minimum, although two months would be best, then you¡¯ll class up. Should be good for a light green class at minimum, but it¡¯s possible I¡¯ve got the weight to boost you to dark green for this, with a tiny, small, outside chance at blue if we¡¯re extremely lucky and Exterreri was hit harder than I thought.¡±
Surveyor looked like she wanted to run away, and I flashed my teeth at her.
¡°Remember what you said - a deal¡¯s a deal, no running away.¡±
She swallowed and gritted her teeth.
¡°Hit me.¡±
[*ding!* [Everywoman] leveled up! 504 -> 505]
Chapter 591 - Snowflakes
The ashes came up to my shins now. I couldn¡¯t decide if I wanted to walk on the ashes without leaving a trace, or sink through, leaving swishing footprints in the grey remnants of life and civilization.
It was cold far earlier in the year than it had any right to be, and I suspected we were in for a particularly harsh and brutal winter. Auri was going to be a literal lifesaver hundreds of times over - without easy access to firewood to burn, with limited reserves, the fact that Auri was a neverending font of controlled fire was going to save the citizens of Orthus Village.
I was going to freeze my pretty ass off. Immunity to fire was great until it wasn¡¯t, and I was seriously mentally debating spending significant amounts of time in my [Tower] just to stay warm. That, or cocoon myself in layer after layer of clothing, then liberally apply [Teleportation] to any and all problems. Ventilating our house so we didn¡¯t breathe all the air also gave passage to the South Wind to attempt murder. Or¡ I could be a little less of an idiot and just Radiance myself. I didn¡¯t have [Radiance Resistance] anymore.
I made a decision on the ashes, and split the difference on how I¡¯d walk. One foot stepped on the ashes, leaving no footprint, no trace of my passage, and the other thudded deep into the not-snow, giving me a staggered walk, like a lady only wearing one heel.
The thick clouds above me parted, roiling away like the sea in the wake of a great ship, and I¡¯d restrained in myself the instinct to flinch, to cast my eyes up to the sky and expect disaster.
Disaster was in the sky, but it was not coming for me. A full flight of dragons were speeding along, off to commit violence and ruin someone¡¯s day.
A dragon sighting was a rare, once-a-decade experience.
A full flight of them was a nightmare, the normally solitary beasts cooperating only under the worst of circumstances. Part of me wanted to try [Identifying] them, but I remembered how, impossibly, Lun¡¯Kat had been able to tell I¡¯d been looking at her. I wasn¡¯t about to tug the dragon¡¯s tail. The saying was usually metaphorical.
They vanished to the west, and I hurried home. I didn¡¯t speed, didn¡¯t fly, didn¡¯t chain teleports, nor did I dawdle. My hand was on the doorknob when a pillar of volcanic flame erupted far over the horizon.
I couldn¡¯t tell if the pillar was small and nearby, or a fraction of the world away and so deep in space I could see it. Given the speed of the dragonflight and the timing¡
Somebody was having a really, really bad day.
But hey, it wasn¡¯t every day we got to witness dragons causing havoc way over there.
¡°Hey Raccoon! You¡¯re going to want to see this!¡± I shouted.
After a quick discussion with Iona and Auri, I went off, following the dragonflight and the low-space marker they¡¯d sent up. I spent half the trip there dodging and weaving through falling rocks, until I eventually gave up trying to dodge the endless unintentional barrage and just powered through it all with [The Mantle of Dusk and Dawn].
I had no hopes of finding any survivors in an eight-mile radius around the edge of the dragon strike. I didn¡¯t bother looking, simply eyed the gigantic lake of Lava warily before flying around the rim, seeing if there was anyone who merely got clipped by the collateral. Someone half-crushed by the falling rocks.
The thick black smoke meant I was relying entirely on [The World Around Me] to see, and practically speaking, I was ¡®seeing¡¯ by looking for any level up notifications, given how dramatic my healing range was compared to my visual range. Thank goodness for the extra eyelids I¡¯d included in my biomancy transformation, because of them, the smoke wasn¡¯t unbearably itchy.
There were no levels, no notifications. I didn¡¯t know if it was due to my level and the fact I¡¯d done this sort of disaster healing before, the situation, or if my efforts were futile, and there was nobody to heal. My mana wasn¡¯t giving me any clues, giving a ceiling to how much healing I could be doing.
I wanted it to be the first one. That I was so good at healing, that I was so powerful that this wasn¡¯t a challenge, that cleaning up a mess wasn¡¯t risky or weighty, that I was gaining no levels.
My heart of hearts believed that everyone was dead. No matter how I extended my radius, I wasn¡¯t getting any levels.
I screamed in frustration. I screamed and screamed into the uncaring void, my cries of despair swallowed by the ever-falling ashes. I screamed until I breathed in too much, then coughed myself hoarse before screaming again.
Why?
Why!?
Why did people have to fight, to die. It was all just so senseless. I wished I could snap my fingers and change the world, but I couldn¡¯t be the first or the last to wish for a lasting, enduring peace. It had clearly fallen apart every time.
I was useless here, but there were other places I could go, other people I could help. I flew up high, high enough where my skin tingled against the thin air and my healing started to work just to keep me alive, and looked down at Pallos.
The blue marble had turned into a grey globe. I oriented myself, the task far harder than it had been just a year ago. I shook my head at how different everything was. The shape of the coastlines were still there, but all the details were different. Peninsulas had turned into islands, bays had been created and filled in, new mountains dotted the landscape and others had been leveled. Lakes had turned into swamps, and grassy fields now had craters being slowly filled in. Vast swaths of green forests had turned into charcoal black. Not a single mango grove was to be found - I¡¯d plotted all of them on my mental map. I double checked them all, looking for any little speck of green. There had to be some survivors, yeah¡?
I¡¯d read a few diaries of prior Immortal Wars. None of them had described devastation quite on this scale.
The world hadn¡¯t changed so badly I didn¡¯t know exactly where I was, and I was able to spot a few landmarks, quickly identifying more.
Right as I spotted Lake Mare, an aurora started to shine around me. I eyed the brilliant greens and blues with suspicion, alert and waiting for an assault.
When nothing happened I shrugged.
Sometimes, auroras just happened.
Sometimes, there was a bit of light and joy in the world.
I flew down to Mare Town, mentally tracing out a path, two dozen locations in the world I knew were still up, alive, and fighting to restore civilization.
I couldn¡¯t create world peace, but I could do my best to straighten things out in this part of the world, to help, to make things just a little better.
[*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1361->1363 +200 Strength, +200 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +2000 Mana, +10000 Mana Regen, +4000 Magic Power, +4000 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]Stolen story; please report.
Yay levels! Slow and steady won the race, but the satisfaction of knowing I¡¯d mattered that much to the affected people was a far better dopamine hit than any ding!
[*ding!* Congratulations! [Seraph of the Dawn] has leveled up! 999->1000 +512 Speed, +512 Vitality, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration, +1024 Magic Power, +1024 Magic Control per level from your class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Strength +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]
[*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Birds of a Feather]]
Birds of a Feather: Companion to Auri, the rainbow phoenix, you can summon burning autonomous Radiance creations, and task them to perform basic activities. From burning enemies to burning projectiles, from burning trash to burning attackers, your birds of a feather will flock together to achieve all your burning goals! -77,777 mana regeneration.
I¡¯d expected level 1000 to be a big milestone level, and with the way the System contorted on itself, my ironclad belief that 1000 was going to be a big milestone level for a skill helped manifest it. It hadn¡¯t happened with [Arbiter of Life and Death], in large part because I believed my skills were excellent and I didn¡¯t need anything new, but the bone-deep belief that 1000 was a major milestone had it happen for [Seraph].
The word ¡®basic¡¯ was doing a lot of heavy lifting in the description. How basic was basic? Could they follow orders? Intent? Did I have to micro manage them all, or was it more like Auri¡¯s [I¡¯m the Brrretiest] skill, where her mind was all but cloned? Could the skill evolve in that direction? Hundreds of autonomous helpers was a hell of a skill, but it tended to be more of a Mirror element skill. It wasn¡¯t usually a Radiance skill.
Then there was the whole ¡®start at level 1, it¡¯s a combat skill, have fun leveling it¡¯ aspect. [Radiant Angel¡¯s Spear of Obliteration] was in a similar spot. I¡¯d spent way too long grinding it, only for it to only be occasionally useful. When I needed it though, I needed it. [Birds of a Feather] suggested it would be more useful in daily life, but I had so many utility spells already. I didn¡¯t exactly want to say no to more utility, but gimping my combat abilities right as everything went to hell in a handbasket felt wrong. It wasn¡¯t the time to grab a brand new skill. Skill upgrades, yes, sure. New skills¡? Ehhh¡ I was leaning no.
Lastly was how Auri would feel about it. She tended to be a little vain and possessive about being the best bird, and on one hand, ¡®look, you¡¯re so good even the System thinks you¡¯re the best¡¯ weighed against ¡®we¡¯re making cheap knock-offs.¡¯
The answer to that problem was simple - I could just wait and ask Auri what she thought. None of this guessing and self-doubt when I could just sit down and communicate my questions!
I headed home, the first early snowflakes of winter caressing my cheeks.
Auri did not want ¡®inferior copies of herself tainting her image¡¯ running around.
¡°Hey Skye!¡± I unceremoniously barged into Skye¡¯s ¡®office¡¯, one slightly larger room in the barracks that she¡¯d commandeered to single-handedly run the entire town¡¯s logistics and administration.
On one hand, it felt almost unneeded. Like, what did roughly 600 people need government and organization for? We all had our little stretch of land, we all knew our backs were up against the wall for survival, we all knew we had to stick our noses to the grindstone and work.
On the other, it was undeniable that we had plots of land and nobody was pulling knives over it because of Skye¡¯s work organizing it all. It wasn¡¯t like she was sitting back and demanding everyone work and feed her while she ¡®administrated¡¯, she was doing all this work on top of growing crops on her own little stretch of land.
Well, had been growing. The plague-harpy had marked a sudden end to our growing season, and with an early winter¡¯s snow upon us, only the most powerful of [Farmer] Classers were trying to make something happen. Winter without books promised to be long, cold, and boring.
I predicted a lot of late summer babies.
¡°Elaine! Is anything the matter? Is there anything I can do for you?¡± Skye looked slightly alarmed, which made sense. I wasn¡¯t Iona, I didn¡¯t drop by socially for tea, and if I had a problem it was a problem.
¡°Nope!¡± I put on my best smile. ¡°I¡¯m here to make everyone¡¯s job easier! I¡¯ve got a ton of various Legionnaire supplies, and right now I¡¯m thinking about all the tents, bedrolls, and blankets I¡¯ve got lying around, and our inability to really have or make much of anything. Where can I drop it off, and I¡¯ll let you administer it as needed.¡± Mare Town was filled with the remains of the Sixth, but they had supplies like the ones I was carrying around. Push come to shove, I¡¯d give a group their first blanket over their eighth.
Skye practically bounced up to her namesake, the snowflakes in her eyes energetically swirling around.
¡°Excellent! Are you sure you don¡¯t have a mind-reading skill? I was just worried about that.¡±
I shrugged.
¡°The items in my [Tower] weigh on my mind. When I see a good opportunity to use them, I want to take it.¡± I said.
My mind flashed to one particular tool, and I felt the burning need to go and use it.
¡°Well, third room on the right isn¡¯t being used anymore, and I know the Nixes could use some of what you¡¯ve mentioned. Feel free to just dump it all, I¡¯ll organize it. I know you¡¯re busy and your time is valuable.¡± Skye said.
I waved the [Princess] off. We¡¯d get her to [Queen] eventually. We had a whole Plan. It got more ridiculous by the day, but hey, we had a reduced need for sleep and a great need for entertainment.
¡°Cheers!¡± I [Teleported] off to the room in question, and a minute later was standing in piles upon piles of equipment.
Skye had said to just leave it, but the teeny tiny Legionnaire Bunny voice inside me wouldn¡¯t shut up about how disorganized it all was, and how easy it¡¯d be to fix. I waved my arm and reshuffled everything around into neat stacks and piles. A moment¡¯s thought from me saved Skye potential hours¡ or less, knowing her skills and how helpful Titania was.
I found myself with a chisel in my hands, and I knew exactly what I had to do.
¡°Hey love!¡± I bounced into our little cottage, where Iona was huddled under a thick blanket in front of an Auri-fire, chatting companionably with Titania. I¡¯d seen Raccoon outside, running laps in the snow. The goblin was dedicated. My wife¡¯s face lit up as she saw me.
¡°Flightysaurus!¡± She affectionately nicknamed me. ¡°You¡¯re back! Come snuggle?¡± She opened up her blankets, patting her lap.
I wanted nothing more than to curl up with Iona and snuggle with her. Warm in the blankets, snow falling outside, the fire crackling with my best friend. We could probably get some tea going - pine needle tea was an acquired taste - and enjoy each other¡¯s presence. Trade some stories with Titania, the woman was a veritable font of them.
I was still holding the chisel.
I shook my head.
¡°Would love to, and I will later. I¡¯ve got something to do first. It¡¯s about time, I think.¡± I held it up.
Iona went quiet.
¡°Ah.¡± Was all she said.
¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri asked. Titania was tactful enough to give me a slow nod.
¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, Auri.¡± I said. ¡°Stay in here where it¡¯s warm.¡±
¡°Yeah, shoo.¡± Iona politely waved me out. ¡°I¡¯ll stay up until you come back.¡±
¡°It might be a while.¡± I said. She shrugged.
¡°So? I¡¯ve held vigils for lesser things.¡±
I [Teleported] over and planted a kiss on Iona¡¯s surprised lips, then vanished a moment later.
Off to the mountain, off to where our home had been.
I circled for quite a bit, looking for the best spot. One particularly steep cliff was the best bet, and I spent a long three minutes studying it.
Then I flew up and liberally applied [The Rays of the First Dawn] to the cliff, making it mirror-smooth and shiny. There was a single large crack running down the middle, and I would simply need to work around it.
I suspected I might run out of room, and went tiny. I could always add in obelisks later if needed, each one another page. I could make an entire forest out of them.
[Astral Archives] was my perfect memory skill, and more practically, it was arranged like a library. Information stored in a thousand books, easily copied, moved, sorted, and ordered. Some books were special to me, like my copy of the Medical Manuscripts or beloved memories. Others were written into large volumes and promptly shoved into various dusty corners, like what I had for breakfast four days ago.
Spoiler: It was rotten carrots again.
I tenderly brought one of my most precious books to the forefront of my mind, one of the only volumes of memories I¡¯d named.
The Book of the Dead.
I mentally opened it to the first page as I got my chisel ready. I didn¡¯t need a hammer, not with my stats, not with [Everywoman] guiding my movements. I could use my [Rays], but I wanted to do it by hand. It meant more.
I carved small. The wall was gigantic; my book was larger.
Plus, I needed room for the inevitable expansion.
Lyra. My first friend, my biggest mistake.
The first name carved into stone, a flicker of immortality for my ancient friend. Once more her name was out in the world, once more people¡¯s eyes could see and wonder.
It was one name among literal tens of thousands that I wanted to write down, that I wanted to carve into stone. I wasn¡¯t foolish enough to think it¡¯d last forever, but I could hope for a thousand years of remembrance.
Elainus. My father, who welcomed me into this world. I kept it to just his praenomen, I needed the space.
Julia. My mother, who tucked me in at night.
Origen. A Ranger, one of my first companions as I set off on my life¡¯s adventure.
Name after name, person after person, life after life, I carved their name into the wall. From my parents to a beggar whose name I¡¯d barely overheard, from Emperor Augustus to Sunrise, all were equal, all were memorialized. There were thousands and thousands of new names to add, Atlas being the largest tragedy for Auri. I was almost certain Auri¡¯s favorite guard was dead. I couldn¡¯t say the same about most of the Sentinels, and it was frustrating. I understood the ¡®decade to declare dead¡¯ policy so much better in the moment.
Little stars denoted those I believed could have a chance of being alive, as the snowflakes melted into tears.
Chapter 592 - Law and Order
Every eighth day was ¡®community day¡¯. Most everyone got together in the morning to talk and socialize, and the afternoon was for community efforts. From sweeping the roads clear of snow and ash to digging wells, there was always something we could band together to get done. The goblins were strangely enthusiastic about the whole thing, shovels and mud flying everywhere as they worked twice as hard as the humans next to them.
I had no idea what that was about, but it lit a competitive spirit under everyone¡¯s asses, and I was all for it. With the approach of winter and the dearth of activities to do, my mind was wandering to all the weapons I had stored, and the slow increase of raids from hungrier and hungrier predators. Starvation and desperation was making them attack anything that could be dinner, and was making them dangerous.
Many Exterreri traditions made so much more sense after the world had ended. The soldier-farmer one was blaring in my mind, and I should probably approach Skye and ask when she planned on drilling everyone in the basics.
When raiders and bandits came, being able to form a shield wall could mean the difference between life and death for the farmers¡ assuming the Eventide Eclipse were on a trip. If we were around, well¡ nobody died without me saying so. Then again, a bandit didn¡¯t need to kill anyone to shove them aside and grab everything in a house, and if I wasn¡¯t paying attention, my healing would extend to the bandit as well! The downside of [Persistent Casting] and the image I¡¯d set - I was healing everyone, friend or elvenoid foe.
I tended not to go to the morning community events, and I was hanging out with Auri in our cottage, idly chatting.
I jumped up as I sensed Iona sprinting to the house.
¡°Auri.¡± I said, my voice tense, my eyes flickering over to Iona¡¯s armor on the stand. Made the room cramped, but in an emergency, it was the best place for it. The phoenix fluttered to my shoulder, staring at the door intently.
Iona skidded to a halt right outside the door and carefully opened it. Her eyes were beaming and her smile was infectious.
¡°Elaine! Elaine! There¡¯s going to be a wedding next week! They asked me to officiate!¡±
The emotional whiplash had me blinking, then grinning.
¡°That¡¯s great!¡±
Time went by, and Skye approached me one day, gracefully gliding over the snow without leaving a footprint.
¡°Elaine, I¡¯ve got a problem, and I want to pick your brain.¡± She said. I straightened up.
¡°What can I help you with?¡± I said.
¡°We¡¯ve got our first dispute. Our first real dispute, and it¡¯s ugly. I¡¯m hoping you can help me untangle it all. Well, you and Iona. There¡¯s quite a few more people I¡¯d love to rope in, but at the same time, they¡¯re too close to the issue and the community. You two are the right mix of educated and removed enough to help me arbitrate. Do you have the time, say, tomorrow? The sooner we can nip this in the bud, the better.¡±
I slowly nodded, already shuffling around mental books in my [Astral Archives]. It had been an eternity since Ranger Academy and my law lessons, and Sentinels were rarely deployed to handle issues that could be resolved by talking. Plus, while the philosophy and lessons were there, they were literally ancient. Judicial philosophy had evolved over time, and the Remus Republic hadn¡¯t exactly been fair. Iona was far better suited to this - Valkyries often found themselves as wandering adjudicators for small villages moreso than the strong arm of the law to come down on a monster¡¯s head.
At the same time, I was more removed from the community than average, and without meaning any insult to my neighbors, was objectively far more educated and better read. It didn¡¯t automatically qualify me to pass judgment, but I had experience in the subject.
¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡±
Iona and I had dressed up, pulling out a pair of more formal, prettier tunics for the occasion. No armor, it gave off the wrong impression. That was the ¡®iron fist of the law¡¯ more so than ¡®respected member of the community¡¯. The vibe and politics had shifted with the new situation. I could be Sentinel Dawn¡ but they also all knew me as Elaine, standing next to them and applauding as Surveyor got married. The influence was different¡ although I was wearing my personal badge as a subtle reminder. We weren¡¯t in Skye¡¯s office for this, instead choosing to use the larger community center we¡¯d built over the weeks and months. The same place we met every week, where one of the Nixes had been married last week.
Raccoon was dressed up and off to the side, ready to run any errands we might need. This was far better for her than learning how to swing a sword. We all believed Raccoon would be spending more time sorting out arguments than slaying beasts, much to her dismay.
That dismay had turned into glee when she realized she could level from this, get stronger, and be better at murdering monsters. Honestly, it was a hair terrifying how she managed to bring everything back to ¡®how to effectively kill things.¡¯
The place was slightly rearranged. The three of us were trying to cram into a table that was generous for one, cozy for two, and downright impossible for three. There just weren¡¯t any bigger tables, and no supplies to make one. Two tables would¡¯ve looked weird, a bedsheet as a tablecloth would¡¯ve been too obvious, and the hall wasn¡¯t wide enough for three. One cramped table was the best, and we hadn¡¯t found a good way to elevate ourselves well.
I was sitting on a pair of thick dictionaries so everyone wouldn¡¯t tower over me. Proper presence and all that.
Skye had insisted that we didn¡¯t get briefed before the discussion, to get the events fresh and untainted.
¡°They¡¯re both quite early.¡± Skye frowned, looking at the door. I could sense the crowd outside, and even with a wall between us, I could feel the tension and hostility. Iona didn¡¯t twitch as she telekinetically opened the doors, letting the two groups file in.
There were clearly two groups deeply unhappy with each other. Muttered words, cold looks thrown over shoulders, and some macho posturing bullshit. I had the delayed thought that the ability to talk privately could help. It wasn¡¯t like we had a lot of paper and quills, forget ink production, and I didn¡¯t want to start flashing spells around.
Smoke and a lack of mirrors was the name of the game. I just teleported a spellbook behind me, opened it to the right page, and conjured up a piece of paper and writing tools. Then thought about it again, and conjured up a whole stack of the papers.
Iona was the only one without a perfect memory, but it was all about the appearance. I quickly debated going whole hog and summoning glasses, but quickly decided it was a bridge too far. Another part of [Luminary Mind] was busy scrawling out a complex spell that could let us talk privately when activated, but still hear what was going on, could be flickered, and an extra array for multiple inputs¡ there!
I half-expected a ding, but no. Too much experience needed, not enough weight or difficulty. Well, at the very least we knew about it for next time. Iterative improvement and all that.
¡°Invisible privacy barrier.¡± I quickly explained. ¡°Kills all sounds trying to pass one way when active. Paper isn¡¯t going to last particularly long. This has all the makings of a family feud.¡±
Iona and Skye nodded.
¡°I am in agreement.¡± Skye said. ¡°If the situation is this poor after such a short time, it will inevitably devolve and become a festering sore on the community.¡±
¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m saying this, but we clearly don¡¯t have enough problems if they¡¯re able to get in a tiff already.¡± Iona cocked her head, thinking. ¡°Then again, this could be at the scale of a problem.¡±
I lifted my finger off the spell, letting it dissipate.
¡°Family Aratrum. Family Barmus. You¡¯ve come before us today, requesting arbitration. It is entirely likely the solution we come up with will leave nobody satisfied.¡±This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
That comment got scowls all around. Come on! Of course if a situation was already this ugly any solution was unlikely to make people happy! Even assuming they were all reasonable people. Heck, I¡¯d taken it on the chin at one point!
Actually - that was one heck of a note to leave in my pocket.
Skye continued speaking like she hadn¡¯t seen the dissatisfied looks.
¡°Nonetheless, I¡¯ll ask you all to swear the following. Swear to abide by the decision made. Swear to work in good faith. Swear to tell the truth, as best you know it, and to not lie or obfuscate. Swear this by the gods and the system.¡±
The two patriarchs swore. Skye pointed at Aratrum.
¡°Please tell me the events as you know them. Barmus, I will ask you to then explain the events as you know them, and then we will ask questions to try and clarify the events. Begin.¡±
¡°Well miss, it all started a few decades ago. My great-grandfather bought some land, and¡¡±
It took two hours of stories and questions to get the details of the case. Blessedly, the facts weren¡¯t in question, simply the resolution.
Aratrum¡¯s second cousin had owned a farm, one relatively untouched by the war. The cousin and his entire family had died though, and the farm was left abandoned. Aratrum believed he was the closest living relative, and as such, should inherit the farm, the land, and all that.
Aratrum also had his own farm, located a dozen miles away. It wasn¡¯t like this was his big chance, he simply believed it would naturally fall to him as the only heir. Nobody was contesting that he was the closest living relative. Additionally, he¡¯d gone through the effort of marking the farm and the lands with survey pegs, the ones we were using to show land as ¡°claimed¡± or not. There were some excessively generous claims out there¡ but when nobody was contesting them, we were letting them go. I didn¡¯t want to say greed was good, but if a family greedily lay stake to a large chunk of land, then successfully worked it, that was great for everyone. The backbone of civilization was excess food production.
Barmus¡¯ case was quite strong as well. The farm in question was their direct neighbor, their fields touching each other. When he¡¯d found his neighbor and their family slain, he¡¯d buried them, then immediately took over on the crops. He¡¯d grown them, harvested them, then plowed a second time and with his skills, gotten a second harvest in before winter. He - and his family - had spent large amounts of time, effort, and skills on the land. Being the pragmatic sort, they¡¯d also looted the farm. Why let good tools rust away, when there were willing hands to use them?
As for the survey markers, the falling ashes had hidden them. We all had a number of questions, and I wasn¡¯t quite convinced that they hadn¡¯t known at all. I activated the privacy barrier again once we felt we had all the information needed.
¡°I¡¯m not entirely convinced they didn¡¯t know about the survey markers.¡± I said. ¡°Surveyor or one of the others had to be stomping around there. They never asked who was poking around? They didn¡¯t see the markers before the ashes covered them up?¡±
Skye disagreed.
¡°It¡¯s entirely plausible. It was the first few days after everything had changed. For all we know, the markers could¡¯ve been placed in the evening, during a community day, or during the funeral. We quickly moved on the markers, and nobody wants rotting bodies around. They didn¡¯t claim any other land, so they might not have been as aware.¡±
¡°Even if we pretended they knew and actively ignored it, the fundamental underlying issues don¡¯t change.¡± Iona said. ¡°Morally and ethically, Barmus should have the field. They¡¯re the ones who¡¯ve gone out and worked it. Aratrum¡¯s ignored the situation, and is only now coming to us for help.¡±
Skye frowned while I shook my head.
¡°There¡¯s an old legal idea called acquisition by use.¡± I said. ¡°Barmus only slightly meets the criteria. If he¡¯d been farming there for sixteen years, yeah. It¡¯d be his. But we can¡¯t expect people to check every month to see if something¡¯s going on. When was the last time we checked the site of our villa? If we found squatters there, we¡¯d want to kick them out, regardless if they were using the place or not. It¡¯s ours.¡±
¡°I agree with Elaine¡¯s conclusion, but for a different cause.¡± Skye said. ¡°What use are the rules we lay down, if we permit them to be so flagrantly violated? What does it say to our rule of law, when we discard the law at the first challenge? No, it undermines the entire system we are trying to build, it corrupts the foundation, should we choose to disregard the rules.¡±
Iona crossed her arms.
¡°Fine. Let¡¯s look at the people involved, and see if we can divine anything.¡± I knew she was doing this in large part for me. Bless her soul. ¡°Aratrum and Barmus both believe they¡¯re in the right. Barmus feels like Aratrum is trying to use legal trickery to grab the farmland he¡¯s worked so hard for. Aratrum believes Barmus is robbing him of his inheritance.¡±
¡°How strong should claims from the ¡®old world¡¯ so to speak be?¡± Skye wondered. ¡°We don¡¯t want to claim a pure tabula rasa, but letting too many persist and linger would be detrimental.¡±
¡°All knowledge is worth preserving. It¡¯ll help the rebuild go quicker and smoother.¡± I said. ¡°Getting off topic a moment, but the simple knowledge of three field crop rotation is going to save thousands to millions of lives alone, instead of needing to rediscover it. Same with¡¡± I caught myself rambling entirely off-topic and shut up.
¡°Judicial philosophy on justice is both well-developed, and worth preserving, and too large, and worth being skeptical about, at the same time.¡± Iona said, getting us back on topic.
¡°It¡¯s worth noting neither will starve if we rule against them.¡± I added in.
¡°No, we¡¯d simply set off a generational feud, which would end badly.¡± Skye said.
It was a mess, and we spent hours, at speed, discussing it. Not only the case and potential solutions, but once we¡¯d made a decision, who was going to deliver it and how.
Man, I¡¯d given grief to magistrates before on how long they took to do anything¡ I had a dramatically renewed appreciation for them, and was thanking my lucky stars we hadn¡¯t had too many of these when I¡¯d been a Ranger.
Then again, another part of me greatly enjoyed it all. The give and take, the intellectual problem, solving issues without needing to resort to violence or the System. Words, made into power.
¡°Elaine, love, I¡¯ve got an idea, but you¡¯re going to absolutely hate it.¡± Iona said. I raised an eyebrow.
¡°Tell me.¡± I said.
She did.
And my wife was right - I did hate it.
But it was a good one.
In the end, Skye delivered our verdict. We all stood up, and Iona called out.
¡°All rise for Princess Skye and her verdict.¡±
Skye recited from memory. It was perfect, like mine.
¡°As the leader of Orthus Town and an Immortal, I am forced to take the long view on the situation. I do not want the poor appearance of justice today, only for a grudge to fester. We cannot sabotage the rule of law to appease a party today, should it shake the foundations of the civilization we are attempting to rebuild. We have gravely considered the case before us, and I believe even more history is required.¡±
¡°Aratrum, as you mentioned, your great-grandfather purchased and settled the land. What was not mentioned was the land was fraudulently acquired from Sentinel Dawn, standing right here next to me, as part of a foreign plot against Exterreri, designed to destabilize us. Instead of complaining, instead of taking it to the courts, instead of pulling the rug out from your forefather¡¯s feet and damning them, Sentinel Dawn graciously allowed your ancestor, and many other initial inhabitants of Orthus, to acquire the land and settle down. She received no compensation for such an act, no gratitude, and indeed, her family kept it quiet for the sake of peace. To attempt to then turn around with the most distant of claims is in poor form, for it is better for the farmer to use the land and keep it productive, versus one who would let it lie fallow.¡±
Aratrum looked displeased at the verdict, but Skye wasn¡¯t done.
¡°Barmus, we are skeptical as to a number of your claims. You know your neighbors. You grew up with them, played with them. Your family has lived here as long as Aratrum¡¯s family has. While I¡¯ll accept that many of you are all related to each other, we are skeptical of the claims that you were entirely unaware that anybody alive could have a claim to the land. Yes, as you said before, the war has changed everything. But we are here, now and today, and praise for your actions need to be tempered with criticism for how they were taken.¡±
Both sides looked vaguely displeased now. Skye was balancing things, not letting people know the verdict before it was delivered. Letting people listen.
If she started off with her conclusion, nobody would listen to the reasoning, and the reasoning was almost more important than the conclusion.
¡°We live in the aftermath of the most devastating war Pallos has ever seen.¡± She said.
I¡ kinda believed it. It was possible this was the worst Immortal war ever.
¡°Yet, with the devastation comes opportunity. There is endless fertile land, stretching out in every direction, for us to claim. For our sons and daughters to grow up on. For a time, we considered barring all parties from the contested property, but we cannot let a petty dispute rob us of functional land, even if we are spoiled for choice. Few lands are intact enough, and at this point, we are capable of looking to the future. Let us not discuss the next harvest, but the next decade, the next century. Let us look to the future.¡±
More looks and murmurs. I didn¡¯t quite feel the need to split the two parties apart or to hush them, but I was considering it.
¡°Hear my verdict.¡± Skye said, and everyone straightened up, leaned forward. One elbow was thrown and a cousin blinked before focusing in on us.
¡°For the tools and other items taken from the farmhouse, Iona will inspect them, and a fine of approximately 20% of their value will be assessed, for Barmus to pay Aratrum. Given the lack of currency and pricing, we will discuss and work out an equivalent of goods, labor, or favors, to be negotiated between the three of us tomorrow. For the discovery of them came so late that many of them would¡¯ve rusted or rotted away in the meantime without skills and proper shelter to protect them. With the limited resources we have available, we can not afford to lose rare tools to neglect. Neither can we allow, shall we call it, premature grave robbing.¡± Skye looked sternly at both parties, both of which were pissed at the verdict.
Good!
¡°As for the land itself, there are four different ways forward. Each year, you will approach me on which one of the four you are taking, until the fourth option is selected.¡±
That had looks going around, and I ended up pretty happy. Iona and Skye wanted to execute the fourth option immediately, but I managed to convince them to find another way.
¡°The first and second are practically the same. Either the Barmus family or the Aratrum family will tend to the land for a year, and pay one-fifth of the harvest to the other family as compensation. Should they be unable to decide which family will tend the fields, the third option will take place, where both families are to contribute three workers each to the plowing, planting, growing, and harvesting of the fields. Upon harvest, the yield will be split evenly between the two.¡±
Skye looked down on the two families, deviating slightly from the script.
¡°I don¡¯t have to tell you two how unhappy I¡¯ll be if you can¡¯t figure out which crop to plant. You¡¯re both intelligent, skilled farmers.¡±
Whoop, good point. Kinda missed that. Good call! She returned back to the script.
¡°Lastly is the fourth option. Our community is small, and options for marriage and families are greatly limited. In this generation, or perhaps the next, it is nearly inevitable that a member of the Aratrum family will marry a member of the Barmus family. When that happy day occurs, the land will revert to their new household. This should encourage the two of you to put your best foot forward when it comes to maintaining the land and keeping it in good condition. After all, your son will one day live there. Your daughter will give birth in that house. Your grandchildren will run through those fields. The land is entirely excessive for a single household, but all of you will grow, prosper, and flourish. Let the farmstead be a symbol for the future, of hope and rebirth. May the grudge die here and now.¡±
I was pleased with the modifications. Iona and Skye had wanted to just marry off a couple as soon as possible, because, honestly, that was the way the world mostly worked. My own experience with ¡®hey, here¡¯s your husband, good luck¡¯ had me fighting viciously against it. I didn¡¯t want to be the extra pressure that made them throw two people together because I¡¯d ordered it. I wanted the relief, the ability for them to think about it, and not go ¡®well, she¡¯s 33 and he¡¯s 17, but they¡¯re both single so I guess they¡¯re ordering those two married.¡¯
[*ding!* [Everywoman] leveled up! 505 -> 506]
It took a moment for the verdict to sink in. There wasn¡¯t a whole lot of cheering or happy looks, but the two patriarchs were now looking at each other in an entirely different light. Aratrum held out his arm, and Barmus clasped it.
¡°Well, I do believe I¡¯ve got an old wine bottle hidden away. Want to discuss this over it?¡± Barmus asked.
Aratrum snorted.
¡°Only if it was one of my cousin¡¯s.¡±
Chapter 593 - Monster Attack
¡°Are we worried about Fenrir yet?¡± I asked. I was huddled in front of the fire, wrapped in a dozen blankets and drinking hot tea by the gallon. It was the perfect hack. I was immune to fire, not a hot cup of tea, and it was warming me up nicely. I occasionally shot fowl looks at everyone else. Auri was content in the fireplace, being the great heater. Iona and Titania had stripped down in the heat, and Raccoon had thrown modesty to the wind. To them, it was warm and balmy, practically tropical.
Me? The tea was going straight through me. A series of hot water bottles strategically tucked around me was helping warm me up, and I could easily teleport them to Auri to be reheated.
I had no idea how Auri warming the air didn¡¯t count, but me shivering in the blankets did. Or why heating up the air didn¡¯t warm me, but heating up water did. More magic nonsense. It made perfect sense to me.
¡°Nope.¡± Iona said with complete grace, sipping her own tea.
I missed hot chocolate. We needed to speed run civilization to get it back. First things first¡ we had to find some cows for milk¡
The howling wind and winter slurry was the reason why Raccoon was in, and not performing some chore. Iona¡¯s armor was so polished we didn¡¯t even have a quarter of an excuse to make her polish it again, and adamantium-alloy or not, if Raccoon spent the entire winter doing nothing but polishing, she¡¯d shine it away to nothing.
Somehow. That¡¯s just how these things worked.
In spite of the howling gale trying to rattle our door, in spite of the snow absorbing noise and the rain battering our roof, I was able to hear thousands of sounds and pick up unusual ones.
¡°Something wrong?¡± Iona asked, noting the puzzled look on my face as I tilted my head towards the sea.
¡°Sounded like an unusually large wave crashing down. Not getting the after effects like I would for a tsunami or anything like that though.¡± I frowned.
Iona distantly looked out, as if she could see through the thick and solid walls we¡¯d built the cabin with. Which she couldn¡¯t. No windows. Too difficult at the level we were operating at.
¡°I don¡¯t want to check it out¡ which means we should look at what¡¯s going on.¡± She sighed. ¡°Flip you for it?¡±
That was when the screaming started.
¡°Trouble! Let¡¯s go!¡± I shouted. I debated just teleporting out and going for it, but no. The problem was inside my healing radius, it was my snap judgment that it was better to properly tackle the problem than go after it piecemeal.
Raccoon and Titania flung themselves to the corners of the room, starting to wrap themselves in blankets, trying to stay out of our way. Auri went up through the chimney, and I felt myself once again soft-locked out of my tower. Whatever was going on - I could sense something big over there - a moment of inattention, of my presence not blanketing the area, could result in casualties.
I made a mental note to reassess my armory in the new world I found myself in. Threats came right up to my neighbor¡¯s doors these days.
Iona geared herself up in a second with [Telekinesis], and we were out the door a moment later. The howling wind and driving rain slammed the door shut behind us, and my wife latched the door shut with another application of her skill.
¡°That way.¡± I pointed towards the bay, and the three of us shot off in the freezing cold. I closed my inner eyelid, giving myself goggles to see clearly with. It didn¡¯t work nearly so well in rain versus simply keeping dust out - raindrops on my eyelids effectively blurred my vision. The difference between being fully underwater, and looking through a rain-splattered window.
Cold - and by rare extension, heat - had an unusual interaction with my healing. I could get deeply uncomfortable as a result, but it couldn¡¯t get to the stage of harming me. Rather, as I got cold enough that problems and harm started to occur, I simply healed it away. I did get on the slow and sluggish side, and I shivered like a half-naked woman thrust into a blizzard, and it sucked, but I was at no risk of hypothermia or freezing to death. Assuming I never turned off [Persistent Casting].
Auri¡¯s [Domain of Fire] had a clear radius, the snow and ice mixed into the freezing rain melting and steaming as it neared her. The droplets popped and hissed as they met her, some brrrpts! of indignant outrage coming from the growing steam cloud around my little phoenix friend. That seemed to irritate her, and with a flex, she started to ¡®carry¡¯ an umbrella of Lava. In many ways, it made things worse¡ but she was flying dry.
I could see well in the terrible light, but it took me a moment to process what, exactly, I was seeing. Only when the monster moved did I realize the size and scale of what we were dealing with.
¡°Fuck, that¡¯s big.¡± I shouted, trying to make sense of what I was seeing. It was like a hill on the move, a great mobile mound. I could [Identify] it, but Iona beat me to it.
¡°Whoa!¡± Iona shouted. She needed to sort of know that she was looking at something to activate her blessing. The Valkyrie quickly gave us the breakdown.
¡°Snapping turtle, level 963! Water, Mirror, Arcanite! High vitality and speed. Modest strength, shit dexterity. It¡¯s got spells, but it doesn¡¯t have the magical stats to back it up. It¡¯s literally out of water right now, most of its skills don¡¯t apply. Defensively, it¡¯s a monster. Careful hitting it, [Reflection] looks particularly ugly. Elaine, hold fire. Our best bet is to try and drive it off.¡±
¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri took it as a challenge. ¡°Brpt!¡± We were going to be eating turtle soup if she had any say in it, and wanted Iona to expand on the turtle¡¯s capabilities.
¡°Liquid layers of Arcanite between plates of the hard shell. Obviously a size skill. It¡¯s not made out of Arcanite, its true body is nestled deep inside. A¡¡± Iona started to describe everything she could tell in great detail, talking so quickly she sounded almost like a chipmunk.
We were almost there, and Iona¡¯s order to hold fire chafed at me. I got it, I really did - with [Reflection] and with how hard Mirror could counter Radiance, I was more likely to hit a friend than an enemy. Between the wind and rain, and the innate defenses being described, my list of wizardry tricks didn¡¯t look great. I tasked part of my mind with going through them anyway, trying to find a spell I could use to turn the tide.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
The vast physical bulk made my physical attacks or efforts unlikely to work either. Iona could do far more than me in that department.
We were close enough now that I could get a good look at our foe.
¡®Big¡¯ was something of an understatement. ¡®Mobile hill¡¯ was pretty accurate. I couldn¡¯t see the ¡®true¡¯ turtle under layers upon layers of Mirror-reflective Arcanite coating the monster. It was like the beast was made out of crystals.
I had my doubts that it was ¡®true¡¯ arcanite¡ but if it was, what a fortune. A huge number of enchantments could be maintained off such a quantity, and, well, it was an ancient, high level turtle. It very well could¡¯ve accumulated so much Arcanite over the centuries.
There were thousands of little details on the turtle that made me think it was reflective of the ¡®true¡¯ turtle underneath. Dry flakey skin, an overgrown beak, and some deformation on the shell suggested to me that the turtle was starving, and had left its usual stomping grounds to try and find dinner. Its massive size made it sink into the ground with every step, and I imagined one of the skills Iona hadn¡¯t mentioned was a simple ¡®you can be this large without screwing yourself over¡¯.
Auri opened the battle by igniting a third of the turtle in flames. Dark black flames ate away at the shell as she tried to [Burn Magic] and cook the turtle alive in its shell. Similar flames erupted around Auri, which was roughly as effective as trying to drown a fish. With a silvery flicker, all of the flames seemed to slide off the turtle¡¯s shell, before getting caught by Auri again.
It was indescribably frustrating to be holding my fire, but even if the crystalline Arcanite didn¡¯t diffract my beams into nothing, the reflection would cause dozens upon dozens of smaller beams of mine to radiate out like a disco ball, hitting my wife, my companion, and my neighbors.
Speaking of, most of them were running away as quickly as they could. Smart people. We could probably repair their homes in a day, and if they were out of the way, this became easier.
The turtle retaliated by flinging a thousand tiny, sharp shards of Arcanite at us, and I could see what Iona was talking about. They were slow. Ridiculously lethal to fish, animals, and other low level creatures, but it was on the scale of an artillery mage in the mid to late 200¡¯s, not a monster over level 900. If I wanted to, I could simply pluck the shards out of the air with my bare hands and ¡®catch¡¯ them, and the only way they were damaging was due to how sharp they all were.
I used the dusk aspect of my shield to absorb the fragments that were heading towards our running neighbors, one of the clearest examples I¡¯d seen where destroying an attack would be far cheaper than healing the damage it could cause. The pounding rain made the shield far more expensive than normal - it was indiscriminate, it destroyed the water and hail as easily as the Arcanite - but I¡¯d practiced in worse conditions, and knew the math.
My healing and magic wasn¡¯t being taxed at all, and the show of strength protecting my neighbors far outweighed any ¡®well, you got hurt, but you got better¡¯ arguments. And it was still cheaper.
I was going a little nuts not being able to attack.
Iona didn¡¯t try any fancy or dramatic moves like flinging herself through the air to hit the turtle with her glaive. It would¡¯ve been cool, but she didn¡¯t have the leverage while flying. Instead, she drifted up the side of the turtle, sharp spikes of Arcanite breaking against her adamantium alloy. Beams of magic swirled and fired from deep inside the turtle¡¯s shell, deflecting wildly off Iona¡¯s armor and being almost contemptuously burned away by Auri¡¯s flames.
I was still going down my list of spells. Grease and messing with friction was always good for knocking larger creatures off balance, and Iona had mentioned poor dexterity. It was the first spell I thought of, but one look at how deep into the ground the creature sank with each footstep gave me pause. It wasn¡¯t exactly using friction to move so much as raw leverage. An option to be sure.
A variant was the ¡®greased ball bearings¡¯... but those would just get sunk into the ground, and extra-ruin the fields for the next eight years or so. Damn. Four legs was simply unfair, that was well-balanced. Two legs were much easier to trip up.
I had a number of canceling spells, but canceling internal fortifications was a more specialized trick. If I could disable whatever was letting the turtle ignore the downsides of being super large, it would fall apart. The one-two punch of ¡®overcome vitality¡¯ and ¡®wizardry has steep penalties¡¯ put it at the bottom of my list.
Ah! A Mirage, Sound and Darkness skill!
¡°Iona! Any sight skills?!¡± I bellowed.
¡°Water vision! Go for it!¡± She shouted back, knowing exactly what I was thinking. Bless her, and cheers to eight decades of marriage. She was trying to slip her glaive between the cracks on the turtle¡¯s shell. She must¡¯ve spotted a weakness with how easily it could be reformed, assuming she could get enough leverage to move it.
I activated one of my never-used bone runes, creating a metal shell around myself. I¡¯d imagined sandstorms when I designed the spell, ripping sand preventing me from drawing a rune to cast a spell. It worked just as well in a vicious winter storm, and I was strong enough to keep it hovering in the air, although I was buffeted back and forth as I grabbed my spellbooks and opened them up to four different spells designed to mess with the senses. Mostly sight, but also sound. A layer of darkness, a layer of illusions, and a dozen sirens going off all around the turtle. I broke through the shell a moment later, my spells cast.
Auri changed tactics, seeing what I was doing and choosing to go along a similar route. The dark and stormy night was messing with her flames. She conjured up huge swathes of Lava around the kaiju¡¯s legs, trying to trap him. The turtle simply pulled his legs free with no indication of pain and carried on.
The turtle¡¯s attacks started to go wild, but they weren¡¯t exactly the threat. It was the turtle¡¯s lumbering bulk, combined with his unassailable defenses that made him a tough nut.
¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri squeaked out in frustration, then was hit by inspiration. A new roaring inferno was lit under the turtle, and Auri fluttered up to my shoulder.
¡°Brrpt.¡± She proudly told me. Directly burning the turtle was too difficult¡ but as a water creature, Iona hadn¡¯t mentioned anything that would prevent him from being indirectly cooked. It might take a while with his bulk, but Auri was sure she could manage it in time. Given the ever-expanding half-sphere of raindrops being evaporated, I could visually see the heat she was pouring into it.
With a crack Iona snapped off one of the turtle¡¯s scales. I could see the frown in her body language before she slid down the monster¡¯s back, grabbing him by the tail. With a grunt and a heave she started to drag and started to spin the enormous turtle.
I continued running down my list of spells, seeing what could work.
I could conjure rocks up high - or grab literal anvils from [Tower], nobody was in immediate danger - and drop them on the turtle. The monster''s size and speed made them likely to hit, the wind was going to foul my aim, but if Iona on the turtle¡¯s back couldn¡¯t break through I doubted a rock was going to help.
The gaps in the turtle¡¯s shell opened a bit, and evaporated Arcanite hissed out between the cracks. The turtle opened his mouth and a ball of energy started to form, getting bigger and bigger with every moment he channeled. I wasn¡¯t quite sure exactly where he was aiming, it looked like empty air to me.
¡°BRRRPT!¡± Auri redoubled her flames, and a sharp crack went up and through one of the turtle¡¯s legs. Iona started to get some real swing, dragging the turtle through the mud.
I didn¡¯t think I had a rope thick enough to tangle the turtle¡¯s legs with. If a hundred pounds of Lava couldn¡¯t slow the beast down, I didn¡¯t think rope would work much better.
A stray thought crossed my mind, and I cursed the impossibility of it. I would¡¯ve loved to conjure up a cow¡¯s worth of meat and poison the heck out of it. The monster was clearly starving, put out some poisoned bait and call it a day. Heck, Arthur had done it back in the day against a similarly leveled sea monster! A particularly nasty runic language, under lock and key in the School, was dedicated to conjuring up all sorts of ugly poisons. It was the meat that was the problem.
The turtle fired the Arcanite beam into the sky, nowhere close to any of us. I chalked it up to how I¡¯d blinded him.
With a fantastic sense of timing, some of the storm clouds parted, giving a glimpse of the starry night sky above.
¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri hopped up and down in excitement as she saw Fenrir dive down through the clouds, Nina on his back. My heart swelled at seeing the two again.
¡°My territory!¡± The wyvern roared before hitting the turtle like sixty four tons of bricks. I literally could see the earth buck and ripple at the impact, shockwaves emanating from the epicenter. Iona managed to jump back just in time to avoid getting squashed.
Fenrir had more bulk than the turtle, and the brains and willpower to use it. A vast sheet of Ice coated the ground, strong enough to support the turtle¡¯s weight and utterly destroying his ability to stand. Then Fenrir flipped the turtle over onto his back, and started to apply his jaws to the problem.
In one massive bite he ripped away huge chunks of solid crystal plating, liquid Arcanite dripping out from his mouth and from the turtle like blood. Large gashes appeared on his stomach for the briefest of moments before my healing obviated them, Fenrir always being included in my healing image.
Eight more bites later, and the turtle was dead.
[*ding!* Your Party has slain a [Turtle (Water, 963) - (Mirror, 912) - (Arcanite, 898)]]
Iona couldn¡¯t tell if she wanted to hug Nina or Fenrir first.
Chapter 594 - Smoke, no mirrors
It took ages to get us all settled. We were going to have a reunion right now, no matter the conditions. It was just a little difficult to find a spot that could accommodate all of us, then we needed to run and let Raccoon and Titania know what was going on, and¡
It took longer to dispose of the turtle¡¯s body and work through the meeting logistics than it had to fight the monster in the first place! Iona made a small offering to her patron goddesses, kneeling down with the chunk of Arcanite she¡¯d peeled off. The rest we dumped into the bay, the safest place to leave it for eight years. We had no way of easily separating the conjured material from the real. We didn¡¯t have the Lantern of Truth, and while we could tell what was real and what was conjured - real Arcanite glowed when recharged with mana via a wizardry spell, conjured crystals were inert - separating them was practically impossible. The plan was to let the conjured material decay away, then sift through the remains to grab what was real. The five of us were huddled together near Fenrir¡¯s old - he clearly wanted it to be his again - lair, the mighty wyvern keeping the weather off us with a flex of his skills. He was curled around us, providing another layer to help keep the wind off our backs.
Speaking of the turtle - no levels at all. None from Auri, none from a skill, nothing. It was pretty disappointing, but I supposed at the end of the day it was really Iona and Fenrir¡¯s show. Auri hadn¡¯t managed to burn anything substantial, I hadn¡¯t needed to heal anyone in the fight and it wasn¡¯t like I¡¯d been casting gigantic spells all over the place. A little frustrating in many ways, but I got why.
Auri was in the middle, surrounded by hot water bottles that I kept [Teleporting] near her to warm up, then rotating them back to me. Iona glanced up at the sky before taking her helmet off, wiping the rain and sweat off her face.
Then there was Nina.
She was a frequent visitor, and I¡¯d watched her grow up from a little kid to the woman she was now. If my eyes didn¡¯t deceive me, she was physically older than Iona, which broke my heart a little. Hopefully she¡¯d accept Immortality, and I wouldn¡¯t need to start losing others, like so many other Immortals did.
People often spoke of the curse of Immortality, beyond the one White Dove bestowed. Not for Immortals born to it, but mortals who had managed to ride the System, who had reached out and seized it for themselves. Too often, it was whispered, they were damned to watch their loved ones grow older and die, generation after generation passing, mourning the whole way.
I was lucky enough to dodge that concern with my skill¡ but even without that, I felt it was a load of hogwash. It smacked of sour grapes.
We were all damned to watch the people we loved grow old and die. Either we went early, the first member of the group at the funeral, and had our lives cut short, or we went the distance, attended dozens of funerals, and had nearly nobody to attend our own.
It took an entire lifetime to get to the stage where people grieved and mourned. Mindset, energy, and the ability to meet new people depended on what I did, what circles I ran in, and more. While people weren¡¯t replaceable by any means, it was possible to meet new people, make new friends, and an entire lifetime of fun and memories wasn¡¯t outweighed by the grief at the end, at the passage of time and death.
No. People who claimed Immortality would suck were simply envious in my opinion, trying to find ways to tear down others. Immortality was great. It was even better that I could bring others with me on the journey.
Immortality was great, the collapse of civilization less so.
Focus.
I snapped back to the here and now, wanting to facepalm. [Luminary Mind] was great for multi-tasking and thinking about a dozen things at once when I remembered to use it! I was tired, I was excited, I was coming down off an adrenaline high.
All excuses, I didn¡¯t have a good reason.
Everyone was warm, everyone looked cozy, Fenrir was keeping the storm off our backs. Iona¡¯s companion was back, and Nina was alive, safe and sound. If this wasn¡¯t a time to break out the good stuff, I didn¡¯t know when was. A quick trip to my [Tower] found great food - when had I stashed almost an entire salted cow in here? - and excellent alcohol. Each one was arguably priceless at this point, but what was the point in storing them forever? They were for drinking and sharing.
Fruity wines for Auri and I, hard liquor for Nina and Fenrir, and a small cask of a chewy beer for Iona. Salted meat and dried berries, dripping honeycombs and the biggest, most dangerous prize of all - a loaf of Ilan bread. Impossibly, the elves had improved on the recipe over the millenia, and it was only the most special of occasions that I let myself have a nibble.
Auri started to roast - warm up, really - the beef, mugs and glasses were [Teleported] to various hands, and we settled down fast, all eyes on Nina. Iona was absent-mindedly stroking Fenrir¡¯s leg, and I was cuddled up next to her.
Nina¡¯s shoulders hunched in, able to read the room.
¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about the last few months right now.¡± She said, and we could all feel the Story there, extra so as she started to tear into the food with barely any manners or ceremony. Nina was level 464, a solid 24 level jump from the last time we¡¯d seen her. ¡°Let¡¯s do an after action analysis on the fight just now.¡± She said with her mouth full, catching the crumbs that fell out.
I could see Iona struggling to put a smile on her face, to crack a joke. She flicked a berry at Nina¡¯s forehead, which the kitsune deftly snapped her snout at and ate.
¡°One where you come in smelling like roses, riding in at the last moment?¡± My wife teased Nina. She straightened up.
¡°Pretty much!¡± She brightly told Iona.
¡°Ignoring my healing - I¡¯ve spent more than a century refining it - I was nearly useless that fight.¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t have great tools for handling strong Mirror defenses. Usually I can bypass the defenses by stabbing people in the soft parts, but the turtle didn¡¯t have any soft parts I could stab.¡±This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
I could feel Iona rolling her eyes next to me.
¡°The monster was focused hard on defense. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s exactly fair to compare one of our weak points against the turtle¡¯s strong points. Of course it¡¯s going to go poorly for us, but there¡¯s nothing to learn there. ¡®Don¡¯t be countered¡¯ isn¡¯t useful analysis.¡±
¡°Alright. What is useful analysis is that I need more tools that can handle that sort of situation. Wish Arachne was around, she¡¯d probably have something good. Oh! Wait, hang on, I¡¯ve got it. I thought about poisoning the turtle, I¡¯ve got the spells for it, but I didn¡¯t have anything to bait it with. I should¡¯ve gone flying around, keeping you in the area, caught something, poisoned it, and tried to feed it to the turtle.¡±
Auri and Fenrir shook their heads together.
¡°No food.¡± Fenrir growled. Auri continued shaking her beak a moment longer before pausing, and started to nod up and down in furious agreement.
¡°Fenrir just came back after a few months of trying to find enough to eat.¡± Iona pointed out, then tilted her head a hair towards Fenrir. He blinked once, slowly, in confirmation of what Iona said¡ I think. I didn¡¯t quite have the same level of deep communication with him that Iona did.
I shivered as my water bottles cooled off, and [Teleported] a trio to Auri, grabbing the ones that had been warming next to her. I could hear some Ice slithering around in Fenrir¡¯s cave. Nina pointed to the roast Auri was working on and back to me wordlessly.
¡°You idiot!¡± She eventually shouted. ¡°You¡¯re sitting on a whole fucking stockpile of food! What do you mean, no bait!?¡±
All eyes turned to me and I flushed in embarrassment. I don¡¯t think I¡¯d screwed up this badly since, uh¡ Ahem. Let the shame flow through me, this was a learning exercise.
¡°Well, this is exactly why we do these sorts of things!¡± I said with good grace. ¡°Learn, adapt, grow. Get more ideas for next time, so we won¡¯t make the same mistake again. I hadn¡¯t been flexible enough with my thinking. To me, that was all earmarked to prevent starvation, not for a fight. Next time, I¡¯ll think about it!¡±
¡®Can¡¯t think in a fight¡¯ was nonsense. Half my training was all about keeping a cool head and thinking in a battle.
Iona immediately sprang to my rescue, throwing herself on her sword.
¡°I think it¡¯s alright for Elaine to struggle against a particularly tough opponent in terms of penetrating defenses.¡± She said. ¡°She¡¯s got half a class, maybe a half and a quarter of a class, dedicated to fighting and harm. I¡¯m triple classed in fighting, and I struggled to break through the turtle¡¯s shell. It¡¯s not the first time I¡¯ve struggled against heavily armored opponents.¡±
¡°I mean, your style is focused more on outlasting, less on brutal blows. Your elements reflect that.¡± I pointed out. ¡°I don¡¯t think any of us were in any danger that fight, even if we ignored my healing. As you said a minute ago, we can¡¯t compare our medium strengths against the enemy¡¯s all-in method and expect to win.¡±
¡°I¡¯m a triple combat class.¡± Iona pointed out as she ripped a hunk of beef apart with her teeth, then downed it with a swig. ¡°I¡¯m supposed to hit hard, hard enough to deal with those types of problems.¡±
¡°Yeah, but you¡¯re balanced.¡± Nina said. ¡°Built for endurance, a little bit of everything. You¡¯re more flexible. Sorry if I¡¯m saying something stupid because I came late, but was it the monster¡¯s first time out of water? It was hyper specialized to not die, we can¡¯t be upset that it did exactly what its class, skills, and build was for. It had just enough firepower to hunt fish and whatever other food it wanted, and spent everything else becoming tougher and harder to kill. The moment it left its environment, it died.¡±
¡°It was a tough nut to crack.¡± I joked to a chorus of groans.
¡°Brrpt.¡± Auri had some comments on her own performance. ¡°Brrrpt, brrrppt¡ brrpt!¡±
They went on in detail, and Fenrir¡¯s slithering Ice dropped a pipe into my hands, already packed with some smokeleaf.
¡°Warmth.¡± He quietly grumbled, and my mind split as I considered both Auri¡¯s analysis, and the gift Fenrir had given me.
On the Auri side, she had a thousand criticisms of how she did, and it made my heart swell with pride. Gone was the vain and arrogant bird who was sure she had all the answers, here was a more humble phoenix, one who could look at her immediate actions and say the magic words:
¡®I was wrong.¡¯
She had a pair of ideas for the fight that she could¡¯ve done and didn¡¯t. The first was a smaller, stronger jet of solid Inferno, basically a plasma torch, carving into the side or under the plates, and could¡¯ve ¡®peeled¡¯ the turtle¡¯s shell away one layer at a time, if she couldn¡¯t manage a direct strike with it. The second she waffled on more, but it boiled down to a meteor strike. Fly up high, conjure a dozen mid-sized meteors of Lava, fly down with them and ¡®hammer¡¯ the turtle with terminal velocity shaped rocks. Rods from gods. She¡¯d come up with it at the moment, but thought the collateral might be too much at the time. We were fighting over our homes, killing the turtle but leaving it and the surrounding area a burnt-out husk was no good.
Fenrir¡¯s initial impact had her reevaluating, and the five of us were trying to work out if the meteor strikes would¡¯ve been too devastating, or just devastating enough.
On the other I was debating the pipe.
A large part of me was saying NO SMOKING! Smoking bad! Smoking kills! It sets a terrible example! The house will smell terrible!
That last one was the strongest one, honestly.
At the same time, Medical Manuscripts or no, there wasn¡¯t exactly a smoking stigma.
Another part of me pointed out that I was utterly immune to any problems from smoking, and people who were in my presence when I smoked were likely to be healthier than the average person, simply due to my healing. It was also a way to bond with Fenrir, and it would help me warm up in the freezing winter. Plus, Auri tended to put off a good amount of smoke herself when she wasn¡¯t focusing, it wasn¡¯t like clearing smoke out of our home was something new. I had eight different smoke and smell removing spells memorized already.
Plus, there was a part of me that reveled in the delicious irony of the Sentinel¡¯s philosophy, a way to openly display it without saying anything.
Smoke and mirrors.
I needed to get myself a mirror.
Auri saw what I was doing and sent a spark my way. That settled it.
I puffed away merrily, and failed miserably to blow a smoke ring.
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Smoking Kills]! Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N]
[*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Smoking Skills]! Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N]
I side-eyed the System¡¯s skills, convinced by now that it had a warped sense of humor. In defiance, by some Ciriel-granted miracle, I managed to blow a smoke ring, then added my thoughts on Auri¡¯s analysis.
¡°I¡¯ve always been a fan of small, sharp, targeted attacks.¡± I said. ¡°I think the meteor strike would be too big of a wind up, with too large an impact, and utterly useless for anything besides a stationary target. If you¡¯re aiming to take down a city, we¡¯re probably going to have Words before then and time to plan. If you¡¯re aiming for a monster, I doubt we¡¯ll ever encounter anything as slow as the turtle again. Focus on penetrating attacks. Perhaps try to melt through some rocks, working on flowing Lava out as you melt it or something.¡± I said.
Auri nodded at my sage wisdom, and I straightened up a bit, letting a sly smile cross my face as the pipe hung. I admitted it - I was a shameless slave to my vanity, and when the thought of a Look I could manage crossed my mind, I felt somewhat compelled to lean into it.
Hey Ciriel! I asked my goddess friend. How¡¯s it all going? Anyone need a miracle?
I sent up some spare mana as an offering, feeling vaguely guilty that I could send up as much as tens of thousands of worshippers but just plain forgot half the time.
Elaine! Ciriel replied. No, everything¡¯s all peachy here! How are you doing? How¡¯s your wife and Auri?
We¡¯re doing great! I answered back. Fenrir just came back with Nina, and¡
I puffed along merrily as I chatted with Ciriel and my family at the same time, planning out how to best cultivate a fun image¡ or dozens of fun images and looks. I might need several homes¡ half of this was pure fantasy, but it was fun fantasy.
I planned it all out, surrounded by family.
Chapter 595 - The Wheel of Time
It was winter, and I was sitting around the Auri-fire with everyone else, telling tales with a dramatic flourish as snow fell softly around our cabin.
It was spring, and I was pulling on the plow with conjured rope. One of those unexpectedly hard to replace items, we couldn¡¯t afford to lose any more. We were attacked by shambling dead men infested with spores. The zombies had frozen over the winter, and were slowly invading as they - and their mushroom controllers - thawed out. Auri had a grand old time, and quite a few people took Spore classes. They were excellent for pollination.
It was summer, and I danced with my wife under the Maypole, garlands of flowers woven into my hair. I put a small damper on one of the few occasions we were all together by announcing that I was dropping my permanent healing on everyone, but educating people in another way. All they had to do was call my name, call for a healer, call out ¡®Elaine¡¯, and all their medical problems would vanish.
[Domain of the Healer] was only good if people knew it existed.
It was autumn, and I was the grim reaper, scything down stunted wheat. The entire growing season had been shaded by ashes, but we had enough.
It was the second winter, and Iona wrapped her arms around her lover, keeping her warm, ignoring the smoke. She¡¯d heard the story before, but laughed like it was the first time. A quick dart of her eyes let her gauge moods and check in on everyone. Who was happy? Who was upset? What would make everyone move together more smoothly, what needs were being unmet?
It was spring, and Iona wrangled the plow into a straight line, making a lewd joke about it and what she was going to do to Elaine later. Her wife groaned, but there was an extra sashay to her step after.
It was summer, and Iona was arguing with her patron goddesses. The first temple in Orthus Town had been built almost entirely by Iona, from dredging up and quarrying the stone, to carving the altar and statues. They wanted the temple to be dedicated solely to them, and Iona believed the temple should be dedicated to all the gods and goddesses.
It was autumn, and she loaded Raccoon up with sacks of grain to bring to the [Miller]. The Valkyrie was quite pleased every time she saw the millstone - she¡¯d carried it personally to make the town¡¯s mill. She paused as the goddesses whispered in her mind, letting her know of a group of people looking for help, another group that could be folded into Orthus Town.
It was the third winter, and Auri flew from chimney to chimney, hearth to hearth, in the dead of night. A bright red hat with a white bob was on her head, a hat Elaine insisted was traditional. It was hard keeping a few hundred flames burning. Enough heat for everyone without burning the stone, enough warmth to keep poorly swaddled babies warm and stop sickness from developing. One chimney at a time, she dropped a flame, then flitted over to the next one to give the gift of fire again. House after house, hearth after hearth, her rounds were never-ending and vital to life.
It was spring, and [Auri¡¯s Little Helpers] were out in legion, picking up rocks and moving them, then preparing the fields. Everyone needed to handle their own fields to properly level and strive¡ but there was nothing saying Auri couldn¡¯t work a community field for everyone. If she happened to put more hours into it and got less out of it than others, well. That was just the nature of a community field, wasn¡¯t it?
It was summer, and Auri was flying far out, trying to find as many wild flowers as possible, carrying small jars with her. The juice reserves had run out, and her limited biology demanded sugar. If she collected enough, she wouldn¡¯t need to fly north for the winter.
It was autumn, and Auri proudly hopped through the central fire of the harvest festival, subtly making sure everything was just right.
It was the fourth winter, and Fenrir tracked down the thief who dared to steal food from the community granaries. A fierce legal discussion erupted, with the eventual sentence being exile. He snorted - in the weather, in the season, it was simply a different form of murder.
That night, Fenrir made it quick and ate well.
It was spring, and Fenrir defended his territory from a polar bear who saw the damsels as food.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
It was summer, and Fenrir smoked a pipe with Elaine as rain poured down outside the cave. A nice chill was coming from behind him, blocks of Ice keeping the community granary cool, and well guarded. He¡¯d never been one for hoards, but this seemed nice.
It was autumn, and Fenrir defended his territory by fighting off a roc, taking horrific injuries in the process. They were healed a moment later, but the bruise to his pride wasn¡¯t so easily cured.
It was the fifth winter, and Raccoon was cursing the great gobbler once again for putting the outhouse so far from the cabin. Why did the gods hate her so!?
It was spring, and Raccoon was standing still as Iona, Nina, and Elaine tried to fit her armor on. All their spares were human-sized. Well, a big shield was better than no shield.
It was summer, and Raccoon was leading the citizens of Orthus in old Legion tactics. Nothing but the simplest of basics, but those would take them far. How to stand in a shield wall. How to cover the people next to them. How to stab monsters with a spear. It wasn¡¯t much, but it¡¯d help keep them alive.
It was autumn, and Raccoon received a pair of metal wings, hammered into a badge. The Valkyries were fading in a way - what Orthus needed was a pair of [Constables].
It was the sixth winter, and Nina had never been so glad for her fur. She pulled out a pair of board games she¡¯d discovered during her many travels, and thought she remembered most of the rules. Hopefully, this one was simple enough that they¡¯d spend more time playing, and less time arguing. The storm outside was making her bones ache.
It was spring, and Nina was dutifully planting, counting the rows until she needed to swap seeds. Dreams of diving into the bay where Sanguino used to be and seeing what treasures she could find danced through her mind, lending an extra pep to her step.
It was summer, and Nina was showing off to the neighbors during the summer fair, creating sweeping illusions to narrate dramatic stories set in far-off places. Places that no longer existed, but as Elaine said, as long as they existed in story and memory, they weren¡¯t truly gone. It had Nina¡¯s mind wondering.
It was autumn, and Nina accepted Elaine¡¯s offer of [A Drop of Eternity in a Sea of Starlight].
We did it on an ashen hilltop, as two full moons struggled to penetrate the thick haze to watch. A small way of showing our devotion to Selene and Lunaris, who¡¯d asked for us to do it this way for some reason.
The world went dark, and a tiny glimmer of starlight appeared above it. It grew and grew, shining with blinding light before it got too heavy for the ¡®ceiling¡¯ it was clinging to. It dropped down onto Nina, infusing the kitsune with light. She started to glow herself, turning entirely white as she floated up and began to spin around and around. I ducked to avoid her tails, backing up out of range. It would be interesting, but possibly in the ¡®oh gods where¡¯s my face¡¯ sort of way.
Nina landed with a flourish as the lights faded, straightening up and awaiting her judgment from White Dove. Iona moved in and put her hands on Nina¡¯s shoulders, a reassuring presence.
[*ding!* [A Drop of Eternity in a Sea of Starlight] leveled up! 520 -> 521]
White Dove landed on the shoulder Auri wasn¡¯t on, her weight metaphysical, causing me to stagger at the not-blow. She was feeling particularly vindictive, as her claws dug into my shoulder, drawing blood through my subdermal scales. White Dove simply nodded at Auri, who did a little burst of flames as a wave back. Nina had been shamelessly buttering Auri up to help her put in a good word for her curse. Auri opened her beak to give Nina a hand, but White Dove beat her to the punch. She Spoke, and the world shuddered.
¡°Nina of a dead order, a dead city, a dead nation.¡± White Dove mocked the kitsune, who flinched at the insult. ¡°[The Storm Valkyrie]. [The Killing Trickster of Hard Choices]. You have chosen the path of Immortality, a rejection of the natural cycle, a rejection of my gift, and for this, I curse you. Nevermore shall a lie knowingly pass your lips. No more will you deceive others into opening their home to you as you intend to betray and murder them. No more will you abuse sympathy and goodwill to cause harm to others. No more can you spin a pretty tale to others. May every word that passes your lips from now on taste like ash.¡±
With a clench of her claws digging deeper into my shoulder, White Dove vanished, leaving me bleeding. I poked at the injuries as Nina¡¯s mouth opened and closed silently. Iona was looking deeply conflicted over the whole thing. Honesty on one side¡ªsomething she¡¯d always hoped Nina would take in her Restriction skill¡ªWhite Dove¡¯s curse, Nina becoming Immortal, the girl she thought of like a daughter being near her, being harmed in a sense¡ yeah, Iona was going to need some solid tender loving care later on.
It was a big moment, but I¡¯d found over the years a little levity, a distraction, was nice.
¡°Wait, did White Dove seriously leave an actual injury on me!?¡± I joked-asked as I poked the still-bleeding wounds. I immediately went to a half-dozen different answers, and with a surprising amount of image-work - excluding a very specific injury was harder than it sounded - I tried not healing that part, while keeping everyone else up and alive.
It started to slowly scab over, which told me [Domain of the Healer] wasn¡¯t applying.
That asshole.
Nina finally found her words.
¡°Let me tell you a story about a girl.¡± She said with a grin of delight, wrapping an illusion around herself to look like a gorgon. ¡°Her name¡¯s Metusa, and she¡¯s got the biggest head of snakes around.¡± The snakes on her hair hissed along, and Nina had a feral grin as she dropped the illusion, rubbing her hands together.
¡°Oooh, I¡¯m going to have so much fun with this. Thanks Elaine for all those stories about fairies! They can¡¯t lie, but they can deceive¡ the added challenge¡¯s great! I¡¯m going to level up so much from this!¡±
Iona looked like she didn¡¯t know if she should laugh or cry. She chose to hug Nina instead.
We were talking on the hill, Nina experimenting with her limits - no way to divine universal truths with her ability, sadly - when Iona went dead quiet, her eyes locking at something over my shoulder, bending her knees like she was ready for a fight. Nina went quiet a moment later, and Auri and I swiveled our necks in unison, taking a look.
A wave of green was coating the land, the ashes removed from the air, and it was coming towards us.
Fast.
Chapter 596 - Lifebringer
A tidal wave of green was surging towards us. Down the mountains and through the valleys, it moved at about half the speed of sound. Iona and Nina stepped up next to me, and Fenrir came down to land near us.
My eyes could pick out dewdrops on leaves from several miles away, and that¡¯s exactly what I was seeing.
Life.
Hundreds of trees, thousands of leaves, and millions of blades of grass unfurling in the green wake. Animals of all shapes and sizes appeared. A swirl of ashes had a parrot appear in its wake. The bird shook itself off, looked around confused as several dozen more appeared near it, then they took off in flight together. A light breeze moved some ferns, and a pair of dimetrodons were sniffing each other curiously. Tigers prowled through the woods, woods that looked like they¡¯d been there a century and yet hadn¡¯t existed three minutes ago.
With all that, it was nearly impossible to see the Classer responsible. There were two of them, elves both, and the first was much easier to see than the second.
[Ranger - 1536]
For a brief moment I thought the elf was the only Classer, the way he blended in with the flowers and leaves, the way the animals parted around him. His clothes and outfit flickered as petals bloomed and bees buzzed, perfectly melding into the background. Horns like a regaliceratops crowned his head, two small and stubby ones flanking a magnificent central horn.
The second one was far harder to see.
[Ranger - 3626]
He - or she - wasn¡¯t blended into the green wave, they were the green wave. They were the sprouting bamboo, they were the freshly-turned soil, they were the pollen on the wind, they were the explosion of life, the embodiment of Gaia. No worshiper, no priest, had ever shown such devotion to Aion, goddess of life.
My eyes flickered back where they came from, expecting to see a wave of ash or destruction in their wake. Solid ¡°old¡± growth trees blocked my sight.
We could see them redirect slightly towards us, and the five of us braced for impact.
I found myself unable to properly evaluate what would happen if it came to blows. I made us close to unkillable, and if anything could fight a living forest, it would be Auri and the utter insanity that was a phoenix.
At the same time, that was over 2000 levels on us. I¡¯d beaten enough people by pure tyranny of stats to know the same could be applied to me. Heck, the level differential was large enough that they could possibly transform me into a twig, and that¡¯d be it.
Kudzu grew and choked ferns, and freshly made beetles did battle with ants as the living forest stopped before us, a tall elf man stepping out with savage elegance and perfect poise. His horns were that of a great stag¡¯s, and he seemed completely unconcerned about being as naked as the day he was born. He tilted his head at us, then beckoned the lower-level regaliceratops elf forward with a tilt of his head.
The elf coughed once before slowly speaking, like he was talking to a child who hadn¡¯t unlocked their System yet. Fair game in most settings, but Nina was the lowest leveled of us in the 400¡¯s.
¡°We are the [Lifebringers]. Our congratulations and condolences for having survived in these conditions so far. If you have a settlement here, please, take us to it and tell us your needs. Otherwise, we will simply make a grotto here that should ease your discomfort for a season or more, should proper care be taken. In either case, we offer you the gift of new companions, men, women, and children of your species to help repopulation. Please decide quickly, as we have many places to visit.¡±
Lifebringer, lifebringer, where had I heard that before¡ I quickly delved into my [Astral Archives], rapidly finding the answer.
Duh.
He - they, clearly - were literally legendary. I¡¯d read about them in Legacy of the Lifebringer, and they were the subject of dozens of stories, children¡¯s rhymes, poems and plays. Not usually as the central focus, more of a force of nature than anything. Heck, until now I¡¯d thought them allegorical, not real, living and breathing people.
If my Medical Manuscripts had saved millions of lives, the [Lifebringers] had created billions. Given that there were two of them in - I assumed - a master-apprentice relationship, with one uncapped towards the final levels, I was extrapolating that they were a legacy, more than a single person. [Druid] after [Druid] taking up the mantle.
The stories had them sweeping in after a disaster or ¡®imbalance¡¯, plowing civilization under and letting nature loose, fresh and free.
I didn¡¯t like the idea of created people at all, plus there was the one big glaring issue.
¡°What about the conjur-¡± I got halfway through my question before getting interrupted. I clearly wasn¡¯t the first person with the question, and the stag-horned [Lifebringer] looked endlessly amused at the lower-leveled elf¡¯s visible frustration.
¡°We are using no conjured material.¡± He explained with tired roteness. ¡°We are transforming and transfiguring existing material into the plants and creatures you see today.¡±
The elder elf was boring a hole into the skull of the younger elf, who sighed.
¡°None of the creatures created today or by us will have a System, due to the nature of such things. Their offspring, however, will have a System. If you should ask for companions to join you, they too, will be lacking a System, but their children, grandchildren, and so on and so forth will.¡±
I started to think about all that while the second elf turned to the first one.
¡°You know I¡¯m right, not giving all the details shaves off an average of a tenth of a second on introductions and the information given, by the questions unasked.¡± He said.
The near-elemental grunted with his arms still crossed. The dinosaur-horned elf threw his arms up in frustration.
¡°Well, I had saved a tenth of a second per encounter until we had to discuss it!¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
The stag-horned elf smirked, still wordless.
The five of us traded quick looks, all of us doing some hard thinking. With the possible exception of Fenrir, who was looking at all the tasty prey running right there and practically drooling.
A small herd of hadrosaurs burst out of some trees, a pack of wolves slinking through the undergrowth as they stalked them. Interestingly, there were a number of young and juvenile hadrosaurs with the herd, and cruelly, some of them were clearly sick, old, and injured. It was a rough twist, and brutally unfair. Created with a broken leg, just to be food for a predator minutes later? I understood the logic and the necessity, the balance of nature and the circle of life, but [Druid] was plummeting on the list of jobs I wanted to try out at some point. Not that I¡¯d be a particularly effective druid, lacking classes that let me manipulate nature, but even the low level ¡®is the local ecosystem doing well what can I do to help¡¯ type was less attractive. None of the creatures had a level, none of them showed up to the System. I thought of the elf I¡¯d helped, the Mirror-clone that my skills hadn¡¯t been able to help.
I imagined a few hundred or thousand people who my skills would be utterly ineffective on, and the innate horror of conjured people. Like, was he copying someone? Making a person wholesale? I was reminded of Night¡¯s story of creation, and how similar this seemed on the surface. People would be created out of ash and dust, memories and knowledge stuffed into their head, thrust into a new and dangerous world. It felt wrong to me.
The thought sparked a second one, and I realized how similar what the [Lifebringers] were doing to creation. They were, more or less, wholesale creating life across vast swathes of Pallos, if not all of Pallos. Given the speed, levels, and area of effect¡ they very well could recreate entire biomes, ecosystems, and food chains.
I let part of my mind continue to explore that idea, while another section of my mind shook my head.
¡°I respectfully decline the offer for more people.¡± I said, Iona speaking a heartbeat behind me.
¡°I would enjoy the company of more people around us, a community to shelter and grow.¡± She said. The two of us traded shocked looks, quickly and rapidly communicating silently, through long years together of knowing each other intimately. We shrugged in unison.
¡°Vote on it.¡± We both said. There were five of us here, and while it was massively unfair in many ways for the five of us to decide something this large for the community, it was what it was. The druids were asking us, not Skye, not a council of the heads of households - us.
¡°I vote no.¡± Nina said, right as Auri furiously nodded her beak. The baker-brain¡¯s logic was obvious. More people meant more civilization, civilization meant bakeries, bakeries meant she could get back to that full-time over farming. I was equally sick of pulling a plow, no matter how satisfying growing crops was and how tasty teleporting food out of the ground onto my plate was.
In a bit of a surprise, Fenrir was the tie breaking vote. He scanned the herds of animals, and Iona¡¯s shoulders slumped as she knew his answer.
¡°No.¡± He growled out the single word, launching into flight. The tall [Druid] watched Fenrir¡¯s flight, then turned to the younger one again.
¡°Unusual apex predator in the region, change the predator-prey mix to accommodate.¡± He answered the unspoken question. Definitely a master-apprentice relationship. I was questioning how and why it was a master-apprentice with the levels involved - wouldn¡¯t he know everything he needed to know by 256, 512 tops? - but hey, I wasn¡¯t in the business. Maybe they traveled as a pair for safety, companionship, or some other reason. Maybe the ¡®questions¡¯ and answers were to reinforce each other¡¯s company, to break up the potential monotony. I had no idea, although I was as curious as a bee about it. I let part of my mind speculate wildly on various ideas, some outlandish, some entirely plausible.
Wasn¡¯t going to piss off the person who could potentially turn me into a tree by asking too many questions though.
A little down the hill, a herd of water buffalo were reconstituted from ashes, built up in moments as tall grasses sprouted all around them. The ground shifted, a small spring burbling to life under my feet, and started to flow down a channel carved into the side of the hill, ending in a depression, soon to be a watering hole.
The [Lifebringers] didn¡¯t spare a look for what creations they were making behind them. I supposed I didn¡¯t always look at the people I healed. The two of them surveyed the other side, the side with Orthus Town and all our farms. We could see our farm from here in all its segmented glory.
¡°Let us move on.¡± The elder [Druid] finally spoke, and the two took off again. Nina and I both opened our mouths, but were stunned silent at the wave of green that overtook our home and lands.
There was clearly more to being a [Druid] than ¡®life and nature good, people bad.¡¯ Crops exploded with growth, ripening in an instant and dropping their fruits, before withering away to nothing, leaving a perfect harvest on the ground. Fruit trees burst out of the ground, oranges and pears instantly ripening to various stages. Berry bushes went from dying dreams to full maturity in a moment, and the ashes!
The miasma we¡¯d been living in since the cataclysm vanished, turning into new life. The haze that had overshadowed us and blocked out the sun, the omnipresent boot on our throat disappeared in a moment, transmuting into life and growth.
With the [Lifebringers] hard at work, I seized the moment as I spotted the fruit trees.
¡°A few mango trees please!¡± I asked in a hurry, getting my request out before they were done.
They obliged, and I enthusiastically high-fived Iona, Nina, and Auri as a trio grew out of the top of the hill we were on. I¡¯m pretty sure they had some fun at my expense though - they grew the trees large and tall enough that the lowest-hanging fruit was out of arm¡¯s reach. Not that it could stop me from getting some from ways as mundane as jumping to weaving complex spells of my own¡ but the joke was clear. Iona casually grabbed a ripe one and tossed it to me, and I started to take a bite.
All the while, the [Lifebringers] continued working, finishing before my lips touched the heavenly flesh of the most divine mango.
It wasn¡¯t just crops, fruits, and berries. The two of them grew great grain silos, and thick layers of kelp twisted and grew off the shore, making docks and piers. Wood twisted and grew to make fences adorned with flowers and leaves, and hives of busy bees were seemingly conjured out of nowhere. Chickens were created in roosts, cows found themselves in feed fields, already fenced in, and a trio of goats came into existence on top of our house, testing the construction of our roof. No two fields were the same - one farmer got psittacosaurus, famous for their eggs, and another got minmi, dinosaurs good for their studded leather hides.
Two hundred years or more of growth and development in a moment. From choking on ash to the cleanest air I¡¯d ever smelled, from a small handful of crops to so much variety we couldn¡¯t sustain it all, from a lack of animals to hunt and husband to cows being plonked down in fenced fields, we suddenly had it all.
All praise [Druids]. All hail the [Lifebringers]. I was going to see that a thousand stories got written about them.
They didn¡¯t stop at the farms. Vast forests sprang up around the edges, enough wood to build eight armadas, and fish were dense enough in the water that I felt like I could walk across the entire Sea of Stars on their back. A great whale breached deeper in the bay, and a sudden thought struck me, pausing the mango¡¯s descent towards its inevitable yet tasty demise.
Were the [Lifebringers] the reason why I hadn¡¯t seen a single extinction notification? I couldn¡¯t imagine any of the huge sauropods surviving the last few years, not with the lack of green leaves, and yet there hadn¡¯t been any extinction notifications. Rare to large, not a single species had gotten marked extinct.
It wasn¡¯t just life they brought, although that was their name and title. Dead trees were created, a great source for fungus and other mycelium. Carcasses were created, and would soon attract clouds of buzzing flies and crawling maggots to swarm around them. Spiders and beetles, worms and moths, the entire range of life from great to small popped up. I wanted to curse as mosquitoes, bane of all living things, were made. They couldn¡¯t pierce my skin, but the endless bzzzz in the night combined with my enhanced hearing utterly sucked.
I hesitated over shooting a thick beam of Radiance through them and simply eliminating them all. It would keep us mosquito-free for years, if not decades, but the really strong Classers right there might object. As I hesitated, they scattered and dispersed.
Damnit.
I had to imagine things were happening on a micro level as well. Bacteria and viruses, all part of nature¡¯s grand tapestry, had to be made. Joke was on them, I¡¯d pit my healing against anything they created.
I was impressed. I¡¯d thought I was a good biomancer, even lacking the class, but the casual display showed just how far I was from anything resembling mastery. They had to know every last detail. From the composition of cow¡¯s milk to the mating cycle of every bug, from the range and territories of millions of creatures to geography and how it made each biome, then to which creatures in which ratios would thrive, from food webs to architecture and construction, the sheer range of skills and knowledge on casual display, worked out in moments, left me breathless. Transmuting ash into living beings? The complexity boggled the mind. I knew enough theory to be impressed.
Maybe the apprentice was still learning at level 2048. With such a massive range of things to know¡ gods, if I were a hundred years younger, I¡¯d consider walking the path, simply for the knowledge.
Without fanfare, without a goodbye, without a word, the two [Lifebringers] sped away, a growing green wave mixed with a thousand and one species left in their wake - I even spotted a unicorn! Fenrir dove down onto a dinosaur as I finally took a bite of the mango, skin and all.
After years of deprivation, it was the sweet nectar that let the sprout of my soul unravel again and drink deeply, revitalizing and rejuvenating.
Mmmm¡ mango.
Chapter 597 - The Ranger, The Adventurer, and The Library
A year after the [Lifebringers].
The [Lifebringers] changed everything. It was hard to overstate their impact. From roosters crowing to wake us up to logs in the fire, from all the food we could want to mundane segisaurs nipping at the edges of herds, from milk to cocoa to sugar beets resulting in tasty, delicious hot chocolate, everything was different with the wave of a Classer¡¯s hands.
The sudden abundance took some getting used to, but it was like tens of thousands of people crawled out of their hidey holes, the [Lifebringers] heralding a new era. Many of them flocked to Orthus Town and tried to settle down, to varying degrees of success. There was friction between the new and the old, and the cynic in me said it would last until there was another wave of immigration, and it¡¯d be the same thing once again. Everything was different.
The grumpy old lady in me - I swear it was just a part of me, and I wasn¡¯t a grumpy old lady, no matter what number the System was trying to put next to my age - said there was a distinct difference between the people who¡¯d spent years sheltering, and the people who¡¯d left the bunkers and worked their asses off through the apocalypse. Sitting around doing very little for years left an impact on people, especially those in their formative years, and I felt proper work ethic was simply rarer. Then again, I reminded myself I was being a grouch and potentially biased, and I shouldn¡¯t judge a book by its cover, nor let myself become prejudiced.
With the spare wood and time, Iona and the rest of the village wasted no time building out and expanding the town, erecting strong walls that we could scurry behind should disaster befall us. What sort of problem would be slowed down by wooden walls barely reinforced by skills but not immediately removable by the Eventide Eclipse, I had no idea - but the safety and reassurance was there. Not only did we make the walls of Orthus, but close to 200 buildings were erected, waiting for a better future. Most of them were townhouses, but we hopefully set up a smithy, a tannery, a drydock and other fishing buildings, a market square, a printing press - sans machinery - a brewery that was getting put into action before it was even half-assembled, a number of storefronts for whoever wanted to use it, and more!
Build it, and they will come.
Skye¡¯s belief proved to be prophetic. Days after the drydock was complete, a pair of brothers were trying to get a fishing boat built. Auri¡¯s burning desire for a bakery saw the rest of us making her dream a reality, the building standing alone deep in the future heart of the city. The prevailing wind did have the delectable smells wafting over, the phoenix working a quarter of the time. We were still small enough of a village where everyone just about knew everyone else, and we didn¡¯t really have money yet. I knew I was sitting on enough coins to trivialize values, but releasing it all had dozens of problems. For now, barter, favors, and simply being a good neighbor carried the day, and I wasn¡¯t going to be the one to start raising walls in the name of better flow of goods.
My personal favorite? The library.
I breathed in deeply as I entered, the smell of freshly varnished wood heavy on the air. There was a powerful feeling of wrongness to the library though, and I could immediately identify what it was.
The shelves were empty. Not a single book graced the endless rows of shelves. There was no [Librarian] waiting at the entrance, no quiet rustling of pages, no smell of books or little old ladies whispering hush.
Just as silent and still as a mausoleum.
No no no, this was all wrong.
I didn¡¯t have the time or ability to properly tend a library. Well, I wanted to, but there was too much survival work that needed to be done first. As much as I wanted to, as nice as it would be to kick my feet back, grab a book, and read all day, every day, I couldn¡¯t justify it. Sure, Iona, Raccoon, Auri, and the rest could grow enough to feed all of us¡ but it wouldn¡¯t be fair on them. No, best to run the library part-time, or better yet, run it in a self-sustaining way, trusting the residents of Orthus to treat the place with respect, and¡ okay, no matter how highly I thought of people, no matter what faith I had in them, there was no way they were going to properly reshelve books themselves. It was never going to happen, and I wasn¡¯t going to delude myself into thinking it might. I¡¯d need to visit every week, maybe two¡ if I could get everything set up properly.
I still had a solid amount of arcanite in my [Tower], constructed into a core that ran a ton of less-useful enchantments. There were also the decayed remnants of the turtle in the bay. Years had passed, and it was almost entirely true arcanite at this point. Between the two, I could probably enchant the library enough to keep pests, rain, and the degradation of time at bay, and give Orthus Town a functional library.
The hardest part was going to be deciding which books stayed in my personal [Library], and which ones I could unleash into the world again. Choices, agonizing choices¡
[*ding!* [Everywoman] leveled up! 518 -> 519]
Five years after the [Lifebringers].
I was responding to a request from Skye, brought to me by the faithful [Constable] Raccoon. The little goblin was looking sharp in every sense of the word. From a beautifully polished uniform to pointy teeth, Raccoon was a surprising force for law and order - which Orthus Town needed more and more with every passing day.
Orthus Town was rapidly growing. It wasn¡¯t like thousands of people were descending upon us, but between plentiful land, hundreds of levels from surviving the cataclysm, new families and immigrants, we were growing at a brisk pace, relative to the numbers we¡¯d started at. I was content in my not-so-small role in it all.
Death was nearly impossible. Childbirth was miraculously safe, and it was the deepest of tragedies if a child failed to reach eight years of age. A tragedy that the growing community had somehow avoided until now. It helped that I¡¯d adjusted my healing image a hair. I didn¡¯t want the community entirely relying on me to automatically heal them - hence educating them on how [Domain of the Healer] worked and all they needed to do was shout ¡®Elaine!¡¯ to get healed - but for children I had quite a few additional safeguards, babies were still fully healed, and I had a light image around catastrophic injuries and several forms of passing out.
It was weird - more and more children who could speak, talk, and reason had no memory of the Cataclysm at all. Around seven years before the [Lifebringers], another five after that, the natural inclination not to remember baby years, and there were solid 15 year olds working hard who had no personal experience with the ¡®before¡¯. It was wild to see - but equally interesting how the Exterreri culture was preserved in so many little ways, just in the ¡®this is just the way things are done¡¯ being passed on, father to son, mother to daughter, generation after generation.
I could glimpse why I¡¯d been told to prioritize the preservation of culture.
On a completely different note, I was 123, older than the oldest person ever from Earth. The thought loomed over me like Black Crow¡¯s vicious claws around my throat. But for the miracle of magic, for the miracle of the System, I would be dead. My life¡¯s candle would have been snuffed out, the tale of my journey would have reached its conclusion.
I walked through the town hall, skipping past a line of immigrants waiting for approval to join. The approval process was startlingly simple - let Iona take a glance to check for problem classes or skills. Obviously, we liked seeing skills like [Hard Worker], [Diligent], and [Thoughtful], and the rare [Thief] class or [Murder] skill weren¡¯t allowed in. It got tricky with things like [Lazy], [Liar], or [Manipulative]. None of them were outright illegal, but they weren¡¯t desirable. Possibly the worst part of the process was the arguing, and I was so glad I wasn¡¯t involved. I¡¯d probably end up violating my [Oath] a dozen times a day.
The people we didn¡¯t want tended to be the loudest and most vocal about it. After all, they were being denied sanctuary and shelter while their friends and families were allowed in, over the say-so of a person who couldn¡¯t possibly know. Liars lied, manipulators manipulated, and murder was technically illegal. Plus, nobody we¡¯d actually want to join would sign up after we left poor uncle Joe in seven different pieces all over the floor. It was just unhygienic.
There was a push to empower Iona to simply say no and not allow arguing, but Iona of all people relished the debate and discussion. She was leveling from it all, mostly her [Valkyrie] and [Paladin] class, but [Social Lubricant] was making leaps and strides. Since she didn¡¯t mind, we collectively shrugged and let immigration take its sweet time. We¡¯d probably need to change the process once the numbers became overwhelming, but for now it worked.
I shamelessly spied on everything and everyone with [The World Around Me], and tried to surprise Skye by teleporting from the hallway directly into the chair across from her desk. The place smelled impossibly of sunshine and rainbows - Varuna, Skye¡¯s unicorn companion, had been here recently. Probably through the extra large door-window in her office just for him stopping by.
Skye didn¡¯t blink as I popped in, her head still down as she furiously scribbled away. I was a little fascinated, and refused to let Iona tell me the answer. Where did she get all the paper and ink from!? Was it a [Never Ending Quill] or something? [Reuse Old Paper] combined with [This Document Isn¡¯t Needed]? Why did she need to write so much down if she had a perfect memory? Mystery after mystery, it was undeniable that our [Queen] kept it all running.
There was an election scheduled for next year which promised to be interesting. We laughed ourselves sick every time we imagined electing a monarch. It didn¡¯t work that way! Buuut¡ it did if we said it did.
¡°Hey Skye! Need a hand with healing policy?¡± I asked her.
Skye consulted with nearly everyone. Tertius Nix - Secondus¡¯s son, thank goodness I didn¡¯t think I could handle another grandchild appearing out of thin air - was the resident expert on dinosaur husbandry. The Aratrum family was brought in when Skye needed to know more about tools, and what would help. I was usually consulted about healing and medical policy. My favorite time had been getting a few dozen copies of the Medical Manuscripts made and distributed. In rare moments of time for education, little boys and girls were learning their numbers and letters out of the Manuscripts, and the hope was the knowledge and the books were useful enough to kick start the next generation of healers. It had survived so long for a reason.
Skye looked up at me and grinned ferally. I did a quick scan of her desk, absorbing more information about Orthus Town in a second than I would in three weeks of wandering, and spotted a concerning proposal.
¡°Not today! I know you¡¯ve got strong feelings about [Adventurers], and this proposal was submitted. I wanted your take on it.¡± She slid the proposal across to me.
How anyone had the time and resources to write out fifteen-page proposals was beyond me. We didn¡¯t have the ability to make paper! Where was it all coming from!? I checked my library religiously, nobody was tearing out pages from the books and I personally hunted down every single one that was ¡®lost¡¯ - [The World Around Me] coming to the rescue again - where was it all coming from?! And why was nobody using all this lovely, magical paper to write more books for me!? Honestly, it was a shame.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
I read it through. It wasn¡¯t the best argument for [Adventurers], but they did sidestep one of my biggest issues with them by calling for them to be part of the government, officially sanctioned, licensed, and trained, with the ability for Skye or her agents to pull permits¡ once we got around to the stage of needing permits.
There were some superficial similarities to Rangers, but the devil was in the details. They were strongly self-organized in many ways. The teams were arranged themselves, the missions were brought to them, they decided what it took, if they needed payment. There was no standardization, no true incentive or motive for them to properly risk their lives in dangerous situations. They¡¯d be trained on our time, then got paid by other people and reaped the benefits for themselves. They were nominally under the government¡¯s command, but who could tell how long that¡¯d last in practice.
¡ I had some sour grapes that were coloring my perception of the whole thing. I had to remind myself that I was strongly biased, and to properly consider this.
It was more than that though. I felt I was at a crossroads, two ghosts over my shoulders. My father and Night, and yet there were legions more. The adventurers who didn¡¯t lift a finger to protect me, the ones who tried to kidnap me. Amber¡¯s stories of adventurers helping her out, and yet, all that was minor, tiny in comparison to the great looming shadow of Night.
This was the question, this was the crux. This was the moment that defined my starting outlook on what type of Immortal I was going to be.
I believed [Adventurers] were a mistake for a hundred reasons. Yet, they continued to crop up time and time again, the Adventurer¡¯s Guild seemingly unable to die.
Did I put my finger on the scale and kill it in its crib? Did I prevent the formation of an Adventurer¡¯s Guild, secure in my knowledge that I knew better? Or did I take a leaf out of Night¡¯s book, sit back, and let mortals figure things out on their own?
He¡¯d told me the story of shields once, and that was all I needed to forever remember it. Was this time going to be better? Would it work? Would adventurers somehow defy their base nature and be good members of the community? Or would history relentlessly repeat itself?
What type of Immortal did I want to be? What did I think was right?
I didn¡¯t want to blindly follow what Night did because it was what Night did. At the same time, simply picking a different option because it wasn¡¯t what Night did was nothing more than a teenage tantrum, a child choosing a different option just to be contrary to the voice of reason and experience.
I idly pulled out my pipe and some leaves, getting a small nod from Skye before casting my usual spell, a half-dozen circles linked into an array. A spark to light my pipe, some circles for smell, a cushion of air to rebuff the smoke from walls, noses, and all other surfaces, and to send it out of the window. I started puffing away as I examined the problem.
What did I know about the Adventurer¡¯s Guild? What did I really, actually know, beyond my prejudices and poor experiences with them? What purpose did they serve, what hole did they fill? The continuous recurrence of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild implied an economic need and a gap the government failed to fill being left behind. Which also suggested that we weren¡¯t doing enough, that people needed to band together more.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized I didn¡¯t know. I hadn¡¯t taken the effort to carefully educate myself on every last nuance of adventurers, simply dismissing them with all too real prejudice. I read through the proposal again, finding it lacking answers to the deeper questions I had and wanted answers to. Not enough to reject it out of hand, the sort of knowledge I was seeking could only be properly found at the School of Spellcraft and Sorcery, assuming it still existed.
It had to. Artemis and Julius lived there after all.
I was finding myself at Night¡¯s answer, but along a different path, a different trail. For this one, my answer would be the same, but a different question, a different scenario, I might be more willing to put my finger on the scale.
¡°I don¡¯t know enough to comment.¡±
Seven years after the [Lifebringers].
I looked down from the clouds over the volunteers, lamenting the small population we had to draw from and the need for the acceptance criteria to simply be ¡®willing to show up¡¯. My six wings slowly beat, keeping me afloat as I hid in a brewing storm. I¡¯d have to send Fenrir a cask of whiskey as thanks for whipping up a storm for the event. Auri was off to the side a bit, sheltering heavy trays of her best baking, fanning her wings to let the drool-inducing smells wash over the volunteers.
Thirty people. It was both too many people, and not enough at the same time. Raccoon was practically strutting at the front of the group, confident she¡¯d get in. We¡¯d finally hit the critical population mass where we needed a few professional warriors.
I had dusted off my Sentinel armor for the occasion. My badges were shined, needle and thread fixed my billowing cloak, and hours with a rag had my armor polished to a gleam. I could¡¯ve done it faster, of course, but there was something soothing and meditating about spending the time polishing. A nostalgic feeling of memory, bringing me back to my roots. When I polished in the Argo, the Ranger¡¯s wagon where I couldn¡¯t really call myself a child anymore, nor was I properly an adult.
I missed them. I missed them all.
It was a good thing I¡¯d spent so long polishing and gotten those emotions out, otherwise I¡¯d break down in front of everyone.
It was time.
I dropped down like an angel of wrath, pulling up a good dozen feet above the recruits, blessing Harper once again for integrating shorts under the long metal skirt. I pushed the grief aside as I flared my wings, glowing brightly with my halo on and [A Light Shining in the Darkness] shining like a thousand suns, making it almost impossible to see me. I mentally noted who pushed through their tears to look at me, and who couldn¡¯t bear to face me.
An early trial, one that wouldn¡¯t be used to judge anyone, but I was already taking notes. I was willing to bet anyone who couldn¡¯t look at me wouldn¡¯t pass, and that already eliminated 2/3rds of the volunteers.
I pitched my voice to command and grab attention with pure skills, no wizardry, magic, or System-granted skills involved, except for a little bit of [Everywoman]. Because that was part of everything.
I didn¡¯t like to brag much. What was the point? The things I¡¯d done in the past were in the past, what mattered was what I was doing today, and what I¡¯d do tomorrow. However, there was a time and a place for everything, and it was now.
¡°I am Sentinel Dawn of Remus, of Exterreri, and now of Orthus. My accomplishments are literally legendary. I am the creator of the Medical Manuscripts. I am older than the first Remus Empire. I have battled monsters forgotten by myths and legends. I have flown with phoenixes and gone to the moons. I have invaded the realm of the fae and returned with both my sanity and my life. I am Dawn. You may have heard of me.¡±
I let them soak in my words. They knew I was high level, they knew I was strong. They also knew me as Elaine, who lived over there and would tell great stories to anyone who brought me a mango, who pulled silly faces with Auri and skipped over the road just to feel the wind in my hair, cartwheeling the whole way back. The woman who smoked with Fenrir and never aged a day, the person who loved to string flowers in her hair and would also tie them into the hair of any kid who asked.
They didn¡¯t have a good sense of how strong I was. One iceberg looked a lot like another, and it was difficult to see the hidden depths. A bolt of lightning cracked at the end of my speech.
Bless you Fenrir, you magnificent Storm Classer.
¡°You come before me to join an ancient order, one older than I am. Throughout the years, throughout history, before [Knights] existed upon their shining steeds, before [Slayers] hunted monsters that went bump in the night, before [Paladins] smote evil wherever they were found, the line was held by the elite Rangers. The bold, the brave, the proud, Rangers were called to serve. Today, you take your first step in the long journey to decide if you will join their ranks. We will separate the wheat from the chaff. We will discover who has the mental fortitude to continue, who is worthy of wearing the eagle, and who will only be able to watch enviously from the sidelines.¡±
I paused, and Fenrir didn¡¯t disappoint, a chill wind howling through before a freezing rain - the edge of his weather abilities, he didn¡¯t do warm very well, not as the [Lord of the Frozen Skies] - came crashing down on the recruits. I cheated a bit, amplifying my voice to be heard over the weather.
¡°At this time, you will all be offered the skill [Ranger¡¯s Renown]. If you are confident in your abilities to pass, you should take the skill. If you drop out, I regret to inform you the skill will likely not help you much, and you will be set back to level 1 in a general skill slot when you replace it.¡±
A hand went up. I lifted an eyebrow. Someone dared interrupt? They¡ okay, some of them might be idiots, but it was worth hearing them out. If the question was dumb, I¡¯d castigate them, otherwise, I looked like a reasonable leader.
¡°Yes?¡± I asked.
¡°I¡¯ve been offered [Ranger¡¯s Lore] instead of [Ranger¡¯s Renown]. Is the difference significant?¡±
I felt my eyes prickle with tears. Don¡¯t cry, don¡¯t cry, I can¡¯t cry in front of the trainees.
¡°[Ranger¡¯s Lore] is a more primal version of the skill, only offered due to my presence. Yes, it will work for you.¡± I managed to say without my voice cracking.
I sped up my perception and thinking speed to the max, then mentally slapped myself around until I was in a frame of mind to continue on.
¡°There are three ways to fail this exam. Sabotage a fellow entrant, refuse to obey my orders, or quit. Anyone who¡¯s done simply needs to signal me, and moments later you will be at your home, safe and warm in front of the fire. There will be good food and drink, the tender embrace of your loving family. Why stay here, when it¡¯s not worth it? There is no shame in quitting. Almost all of you, if not every single person here, will fail out. Why go through the months of torture? Why push yourself?¡±
I let everyone think over the answer for a few seconds while they shivered and rubbed their arms, Raccoon blowing rain-drenched bangs out of her eyes. One of the trainees raised his hand, and Auri knew the drill. Warm flames immediately wrapped around him, turning into a seat and whisking him off to Auri¡¯s little flame-covered stall. She promptly pampered him, thrusting cookies into his hands while a pair of her [Mage Hands] started massaging him. Cider was offered and accepted. Four more trainees promptly quit, and I shared a grin with my little phoenix friend. Success! Warmth, coddling, good food and tasty drinks were just a small gesture away.
It made my next move all the more devastating.
¡°Alright!¡± I screamed at them in my best [Drill Instructor] voice. ¡°Everyone drop in the mud and roll! Now!¡±
One more quit on the spot, electing for Auri-ministrations over the abuse I was preparing.
Ooooh, they had no idea what was in stock for them. Whispering Mists of insanity, the worst Ooze elvenoid kind had ever invented, endless, sleepless nights and unfair games and trials designed to test them and drive them apart from each other, only to force them into unfair and cramped quarters again. The idea was to test mental flexibility and being able to work with people they didn¡¯t like, only for the harsh conditions to end up forging an unbreakable bond. Running through a wall of Inferno from Auri, hidden pockets of solid flames to trip and frustrate the candidates. Storms were going to blow away their tents, nettles would have to be crawled through, and equipment was going to break at the most inconvenient time. Iona had volunteered to ¡®spar¡¯ with them and leave them with devastating injuries, to see if they could push through them. I liked the idea, even if I could never say it or execute on it. Heavy logs with enchantments to modify their weight - couldn¡¯t crush the rest of the recruits if someone quit - then make them run through rain, sleet, and burning winds. I even had a plan to bury them alive! Only a little. That was alright.
I rubbed my hands together.
If anyone wanted to take up the title of my Rangers, they were going to earn it.
[*ding!* [Everywoman] leveled up! 549 -> 550]
|
[Name: Elaine]
|
|
[Race: Chimera (Elvenoid)]
|
|
[Age: 125]
|
|
[Mana: 19,460,500/19,460,500]
|
|
[Mana Regeneration: 66,129,009 +(221,754,112)]
|
| |
|
Stats
|
|
[Free Stats: 0]
|
|
[Strength: 157,876 (Effectively: 1,263,008)]
|
|
[Dexterity: 182,132 (Effectively: 1,939,342)]
|
|
[Vitality: 702,545 (Effectively: 10,977,266)]
|
|
[Speed: 689,777 (Effectively: 13,576,881)]
|
|
[Mana: 1,946,050]
|
|
[Mana Regeneration: 6,929,816 (+ 22,175,411)]
|
|
[Magic Power: 2,916,209 (+ 202,822,336)]
|
|
[Magic Control: 2,915,082 (+ 202,743,953)]
|
| |
|
[Class 1: [The Elaine- Celestial: Lv 1391]]
|
|
[Celestial Spirit: 1391]
|
|
[Domain of the Healer: 1391]
|
|
[A Drop of Eternity in a Sea of Starlight: 606]
|
|
[Luminary Mind: 1391]
|
|
[Universal Cure: 1391]
|
|
[Clad in Twilight: 560]
|
|
[The Mantle of Dusk and Dawn: 900]
|
|
[Elaine Eternal: 1391]
|
| |
|
[Class 2: [Seraph of the Dawn - Radiance: Lv 1024+]]
|
|
[Radiance Mastery: 1024]
|
|
[A Light Shining in the Darkness: 941]
|
|
[The Rays of the First Dawn: 1024]
|
|
[Radiant Angel''s Spear of Obliteration: 480]
|
|
[Celestial Dew: 1024]
|
|
[Sunrise Halo: 1024]
|
|
[Wings of the Seraphim: 1024]
|
|
[Six Wings, Six Million Feathers: 1024]
|
| |
|
[Class 3: [Sage of Tomes - Spatial: Lv 1010]]
|
|
[Spatial Authority: 1010]
|
|
[Scripture Savant: 1010]
|
|
[Teleportation: 1010]
|
|
[The Library of Infinite Wonder: 1010]
|
|
[Tower of Knowledge: 666]
|
|
[Reality, Writ As You Will: 1010]
|
|
[Astral Archives: 1010]
|
|
[Endless Pursuit of Knowledge: 1010]
|
| |
|
General Skills
|
|
[Long-Range Identify: 643]
|
|
[Everywoman: 550]
|
|
[Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 1391]
|
|
[The World Around Me: 606]
|
|
[Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 1391]
|
|
[Sentinel''s Superiority: 1391]
|
|
[Persistent Casting: 1391]
|
|
[Tender Gardening; Industrial Farming: 900]
|
Chapter 598 - Those Left Behind
I proudly looked at the three surviving trainees, Raccoon not in their number. I didn¡¯t bother with a fancy speech, they didn¡¯t need one, they probably wouldn¡¯t register it anyway.
¡°Congratulations. You¡¯ve done it.¡± I told the three malnourished, sleep-deprived, shivering - well, I couldn¡¯t call them trainees anymore, could I? They were Rangers now, through the same hellish initiation I¡¯d gone through.
Two of them passed out on the spot, and I gently caught them with my [Mantle], lowering them to the ground. Sticks for a pillow? Sharp rocks in their side? Didn¡¯t bother these two new Rangers. The third one staggered slightly, and slowly turned his head towards Auri.
¡°Does that mean we get food?¡± He blearily asked. I gave a sharp jerk of my head to Auri, who put a big flaming ! over her head before rushing over with her baked goods. He sank gratefully to the ground and started to mechanically eat her soft buns.
I discreetly put away the badges I¡¯d prepared. They could wait until another day.
I was jumping the gun a little. ¡®Properly¡¯, there should be months of training, classes, and drills before making the final selection in a grand ceremony. It¡¯d increase the weight of the title and the event, which would help with class quality.
At the same time, I was already down to three people. Any fewer and I¡¯d have to axe the entire thing. I couldn¡¯t call one person a one-man Ranger team, that wasn¡¯t how teams worked. There was also the obvious lack of senior Rangers to show them the ropes on the job, how things actually worked, and I suspected between Iona, Nina, and myself, that we¡¯d be helping the Rangers out for the first few years, showing them the practicalities of being in a community, helping out with various problems and disputes, and the biggest task of all: Slaying monsters, no matter what skin they were wearing.
I¡¯d had time to work on the classes needed and the curriculum. A lot of sparring and team building at the start, the ¡®fun¡¯ stuff after the Hell Months they¡¯d been through. A few of the easier classroom learnings to help show them what was next. Ease them back into ¡®yes, it¡¯s alright, you made it¡¯ before getting into the more difficult topics.
They were going to have it the hardest. No matter how much I tried to hold their hands, no matter how I worked on helping them, they were still the first, and would need to blaze their own trails, defining what it meant to be a Ranger in this new era.
I couldn¡¯t be prouder of them.
I paused halfway across my farm as I headed home, spotting a letter on my bed.
How the fuck did everyone but me have access to paper!? And enough paper to waste on an envelope!? It was such bullshit!!
As most of my mind railed against the inherent unfairness of life, part of me was curious and serious enough to actually read the letter. Every word filled me with greater and greater joy, no matter how short it was.
Elaine,
It¡¯s Susan and Night! We¡¯re absolutely delighted to see you thriving and doing so well! We¡¯re obviously alive, and we simply couldn¡¯t pass by without saying hello. It¡¯s so exciting to see what you¡¯re doing with the Rangers! Night blessed the whole activity, and with a little bit of luck, that should bump the survivors¡¯ class quality up.
On to the part of the letter you¡¯re going to enjoy less.
We can¡¯t tell you what we¡¯ve been up to, what we¡¯re doing now, or what our future plans are. Need-to-know basis, and as much as we adore you and Iona, you don¡¯t need to know. You know both of our specialities, and how a secret shared is no longer a secret.
In the short term, I don¡¯t see us staying near Orthus or settling down anywhere. I do apologize that we couldn¡¯t stay and meet you or chat. Events are dictating our actions.
Long term? Who knows! It¡¯s a lovely place you¡¯re all building here, and it¡¯s entirely possible we¡¯ll end up settling down here. It is close to the home we had for millennia, and more than a few of our caches have survived. If [Treasure Hunting] becomes a thing, know they are welcome to anything of ours that they find, except the purple vial. You¡¯ll know it when you see it. The Pekari are likely to stir and become more active in the next six months. If they stick to their usual pattern, they¡¯ll be doing their level best to help you for around a decade, before resorting back to their ¡®normal¡¯ behavior. With what you know, simply go to the second layer of chambers and tell Anurak to knock it off. He usually respects such requests.
Night was touched by your memorial, and has added a few protections of his own to it.
Once again, we are thrilled to see all of you surviving and thriving, and I simply can¡¯t wait for the day where we can all properly sit down over a meal again and catch up!
Yours,
Susan Webweaver.
I [Teleported] over as fast as I could, grabbing the letter then zipping off to find my wife. The plants bent and waved under the sheer air pressure generated by my passing, our bees buzzing angrily at the shock.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
¡°Love! Hey, love! Look what I found!¡±
I was flying back from Mare Town, where Katerina had just won her third election. The now-gone Sixth had slowly given way to a more militarized town than average, but it was still a bustling, prosperous town on the edge of the Mare sea, about twice the size of Orthus. I hated to say it, but scattering people around and only allowing the core Sixth and their followers in had worked.
I was flying upside down, hands acting as a pillow on my head and watching the clouds drift by when I spotted it.
The Island!
There was a difference between having the math equations for the Island¡¯s travel memorized, and being able to actually calculate it. It was hellishly complex, and while I had a modest head for numbers, I was lacking a couple of math degrees and a few skills to plot out the Island¡¯s - and by extension, the School¡¯s - flight path.
I quickly debated if I should fly over. On one hand - Artemis and Julius. My oldest friends, my mentors, my teammates. On the other, deviating suddenly and going off course and off schedule would worry everyone back at home. They¡¯d be expecting to see me, and I wouldn¡¯t show up.
The scales were clearly tipped one way over the other. It was barely a decision, but I did send a quick little ¡®oops sorry¡¯ prayer to Selene and Lunaris. Hopefully they¡¯d be able to reassure Iona I was fine.
I flew over at top speed, praying that it wasn¡¯t in one of its super fast - hang on, I was pretty sure my top flight speed was faster than the Island¡¯s fastest speed these days. Okay, good.
I came from below, casting several spells that let me see magic. Worryingly, there wasn¡¯t a single ward around the School. Not a single protective barrier, no alarm systems, not even a basic wind shield to stop the Island¡¯s flight path from scouring the surface clean with its wind! I was starting to get worried.
The main Island had eight little satellite islands floating and rotating around it. Artemis had one, the Witch in White had a second, and the dragon guardian of the School was in a third. Other ¡®notable¡¯ and ¡®important¡¯ people had the other five, but eh¡ I wasn¡¯t too concerned with them one way or another.
I flipped up onto the main island, taking it in with a wince.
The Immortal War had not been kind to the place.
Instead of a bustling town attached to a university, the entire place was nearly scoured clean. A few metal beams together here and there still stood, the construction solid enough against gale force winds coming from every direction. The skeleton of the School remained, the Vault still clearly intact.
When I had attended the School, great veins of arcanite had threaded through the entire thing, magic and mana available to all. They had been covered by dirt and grass, cleverly integrated into various buildings, but the king¡¯s ransom of arcanite was now visible and bare to the elements.
I was not going to touch that. There was no way I was the first one here, and arcanite was so practically useful there was no way it was ignored. I didn¡¯t just find treasure like that.
There were survivors, and what¡¯s more, they had to be high level and probably grumpy. I went onto a combat footing, ready to leave and escape in a dozen different ways. First things first: Do NOT touch the gigantic pile of money just sitting out there.
My scan extended to the sub-islands, immediately looking for Artemis¡¯s.
It didn¡¯t look great at first blush. Three of them were ruins, two of them had been scoured clean, one had a crackling Mirage-Lightning-Ice field around it and a number of people frozen inside with their faces twisted in pain. The mountain Long Zhi lived in was still a mountain, and the Witch in White¡¯s fields were as green as ever, with countless flowers blooming.
I used the two recognizable islands to count where Artemis¡¯s island was, and with some trepidation, a knot of worry building in my stomach, I flew over to where her home had been. It was one of the scoured islands, which wasn¡¯t a promising start. I landed and took a quick look around, my heart sinking as I spotted a grave marker.
Fear rising, I walked over to it, cowardly closing my eyes until I was practically on top of it, then opening them to read the marker.
Julius.
Beloved husband and Ranger. You were the light of my world.
May you be in a better place.
I don¡¯t know how long I knelt in front of the gravestone, struck dumb, crying freely. Day and night cycled by at least, but that meant almost nothing on the Island.
Julius.
Why did it have to be Julius? One of my oldest friends and mentors, the gruff man who¡¯d told an idiot teenager to go home. The one who¡¯d seen the spark in me, the potential, and whose single decision had changed the course of my entire life.
Dead. Just like that. Hopefully Artemis was still alive, it was clear she¡¯d survived whatever had killed Julius and made the gravestone.
I drifted in my grief, allowing myself to go down memory lane. Julius, laughing around a campfire. Julius, the stern leader, shouting orders. Julius, protecting me in Perinthus. The way he smiled, the way his eyes lit up when he saw Artemis. How time had started to wear on him before I snatched him away from White Dove¡¯s claws.
A crunch of gravel and a loud fake cough caught my attention. I belatedly realized this was the seventh or eighth cough, I just hadn¡¯t registered the rest of them. I turned, praying to all the gods - and Ciriel extra hard - it was who I thought it was.
I turned and saw the most beautiful sight.
¡°Artemis!¡± I screamed, throwing myself at her.
¡°Healy-bug. You made it.¡± She said tiredly as I slammed into her arms.
We talked for what had to be, gods, days. Sitting in the Witch in White¡¯s garden, eating the bounty that she was so generous to share, catching up. Mostly what I had been up to - Artemis¡¯s story was far more boring. I sensed there was more to it than what she was saying, but we all grieved in different ways.
¡°... there was this big-ass fight that we were running straight into.¡± Artemis said. ¡°Third one that day. Stupid fucking flying island, can¡¯t ever stay still. We¡¯re about to skirt through it as usual when this huge fucking Lightning bolt comes out of nowhere and smashes through every shield we have. Overloaded every array, broke every barrier. I got seven levels just seeing the thing, and I don¡¯t fucking level just from looking at Lightning. It all went to shit then. Anyway, skip forward a few years, and my little healy-bug¡¯s back!¡±
There were volumes in what she skipped over. I suspected an entire trilogy could be written in the one sentence of ¡®it all went to shit then¡¯. I wasn¡¯t going to poke at Artemis¡¯s grief. I couldn¡¯t imagine losing Iona, Auri, Artemis, or anyone else so close to me. I was still trying to process the hole Julius was leaving.
We talked, we laughed, we rustled up enough alcohol to get rip-roaringly drunk. We cried, we mourned, we discussed inanities and the future.
I focused very hard on my words, pretty sure they were coming out right. I wasn¡¯t one of those drunks slurring their words when they were sure they were correct, no that wasn¡¯t me at all. ¡°Come with me. We¡¯ve got¡ we¡¯ve got a whole town!¡±
Artemis didn¡¯t immediately answer, taking another swig of the Witch¡¯s brew. It was so good. It had to be magical in a way, it got better the more I drank!
¡°What would I even do there?¡± She asked. ¡°It doesn¡¯t sound like you need a [Teacher], and just¡ what would I do? At least here I feel like I¡¯ve earned my keep over the decades teaching.¡±
That was a good question, and I was embarrassed at how long it took me to think of the very obvious answer. I might¡¯ve been a little more drunk than I thought. I purged a little bit of the alcohol sloshing through my veins.
¡°You know¡¡± I said slowly, like leading a cat onto a boat. ¡°You kinda got robbed in Remus.¡±
Artemis finished her drink and threw it at me before I could say another word. I simply teleported it past my head, making it look like it flickered through me.
¡°You should¡¯ve been a Ranger team leader.¡± I said. ¡°They were assholes about women though.¡±
¡°Assholes.¡± Artemis agreed with feeling.
¡°I¡¯ve got three brand spanking new Rangers half trained up. They need someone with experience to show them how to not die, and fight dirty.¡±
¡°No way.¡± Artemis said, in disbelief more than denial.
It took me two hours to convince her, but in the end, I was going to live with my mentor once again.
With enough time, everything comes around full circle.
Chapter 599 - Here Be Dragons
Artemis being around was great. We had enough people trying to cram into our tiny cottage, too many settlers, and literal mountains worth of trees that we decided to move into a bigger plot.
Given how mobile most of us were - excluding Raccoon and Titania, who were a bit on the slower side - we rebuilt our home over the ruin of our old one, finding countless treasures that had been buried and collapsed. The material wasn¡¯t as nice, the place wasn¡¯t nearly as luxurious, and Raccoon was too old and established in her job to make her haul all the water up, but we once again had our home.
Auri¡¯s hall of mirrors had shattered into a million pieces, but she was one to roll with the punches. She picked them up, had us build her a new, huge nest room, coated the walls in sticky tar then carefully, a dozen pieces at a time, rebuilt a mosaic out of the million broken pieces of mirror.
¡°Brrrp!¡± She fluffed herself up as she looked in the mirrors, first one side, then the other.
¡°I¡¯ll admit, I had my doubts, but you were totally right. This effect looks amazing.¡± I said. It was like a sliver of a hundred thousand little fires flickering through the crack in a wall. ¡°You took something broken, and made it even more beautiful than it was before.¡±
¡°Brrrpt!!!¡± Auri fluttered over to my shoulder and nuzzled my cheek.
¡°I was thinking, we should install the bath right above, so you can heat it up. It should only leak a little.¡± I joked, yanking Auri¡¯s chain a bit. She looked so outraged by the suggestion I couldn¡¯t help but laugh.
¡°Brrpt.¡± She pouted. I had to agree.
¡°Artemis is a bad influence on me.¡±
All of us were on the porch, watching the sunrise. It was turning the ocean into a thousand sparkling gems, and Titania had made a lovely tea for all of us. It was a beautiful moment. Me, Iona, Auri, Artemis, Nina, Raccoon, and Titania. Seven lovely ladies, nearly all of my family in one spot. Amber was somewhere, and I knew she was safe thanks to her lucky coin, and Fenrir was snoozing in his cave, the big lug wanting his 18 hours of beauty sleep.
The valley stretched out in front of us, and we could also see the patchwork of farms. It was sunrise, most everyone had already been up for hours, working their ass off. The sunrise marked breakfast, and many of the [Farmers] were heading home after turning out the cows, sheep, and dinosaurs to graze in the fields, while others finished their morning vegetable harvest for the freshest fruits. I could spot both the Nixes and Surveyor from here. A light turned off in Skye¡¯s office as the natural light let her see enough to no longer spend mana on that enchantment.
As usual, we got no warning before calamity struck. A dragon roared overhead as it dove down, the sound shaking us so badly it threatened to spill my tea. I managed to keep it all in, but I was giving the overgrown lizard the side-eye. The scales were a burnished white, and it was on the smaller, younger side. Definitely a dragon though - four powerful legs, two leathery wings, scales that could turn an arrow, claws that could rip through a house, and teeth that could bite people in half.
Figured it was as good of a time as any to level up [Identify].
[Kangrim, the Alabaster Reaver - 817]
He landed, seized a pair of cows, blasted black flames into the air, then took off again. Welp, that could¡¯ve been worse.
Raccoon, Artemis and Nina all jumped to their feet while I sipped on my tea.
¡°Damn.¡± I said as two of them babbled, rocks starting to hover around Artemis. ¡°That¡¯s really unfortunate for the Nixes.¡± They¡¯d be fine though. Two cows? Orthus Town was lucky enough to be considered wealthy, and the family could absorb the loss without a blink. Maybe we¡¯d bake them a pie and joke about getting a [Dragon Livestock Provider] class.
What were we going to do, fight a dragon? Kill - no way. Placate - it had been placated, hopefully it¡¯d keep moving on and we¡¯d be done with it. Drive off - I hoped we didn¡¯t have to, but we could probably make the area less tempting than others. Tolerate - The logistics probably didn¡¯t work out, but if the dragon decided to set-
¡°My territory!¡± Fenrir roared out as he shot out of his cave, hellbent on fighting off the intruder.
Oh fuck.
Shit went down very, very quickly. I mentally shifted gears entirely. I split my mind into as many parts as I could, each one managing something different.
The first, greatest priority of mine was to flip my healing back on for everyone. I¡¯d mostly been relying on [Domain of the Healer] to ¡®wean¡¯ people off permanent healing. It would lead to things like kids thinking they were invincible, that they could jump off the top of trees and nothing bad would happen. It led to broad stagnation. It led to - it didn¡¯t matter right now.
Focus.
A calamity had befallen us, and it was going to take every inch of skill I had, every single stat point, to get out of this merely bruised and unhappy. The dragon¡¯s black flames reminded me strongly of Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s flames defying all logic. Lule burning to death in my arms, under my aegis, and needing to hack off my arm was seared into my memory. I was going to do everything that I could to prevent deaths.
The second was flipping Iona¡¯s armor out of storage and onto her body, along with dropping her weapons in front of her. She¡¯d be able to grab them before they fell. My wife was summoning her bow and arrows, bending her knees and making sure we were all ready to fly off to help Fenrir.
The third was activating my extremely rare stat-boosting runes. I rarely found a need to significantly increase my physical prowess, but today was the day. I¡¯d built them as a percentage boost, the effect just as strong as the day I engraved them.
My mind flipped through spells and plans, the situation at hand looking uglier by the second, forget the aftermath. We did have a significant level advantage, and our class quality was top-notch. But we were against a dragon.
Auri was already blazing off to reinforce Fenrir, who hadn¡¯t made it there yet. The white dragon was just starting to lift his head, recognizing the challenge issued.
Artemis was shouting at Nina and Raccoon.
¡°Get the Rangers! Search and rescue, harrying!¡± She ordered.
Iona was fully ready, I was as prepared as I was going to be, Fenrir was about to hit. Iona and I were on the same wavelength, and we blasted off in unison, Artemis trailing half a second behind us on shoes of stone. Iona¡¯s weapons came with her, buzzing behind her like ducklings as she telekinetically pulled them along.
¡°But-¡± Raccoon tried to protest.
¡°NOW!¡± Artemis ordered over her shoulder.
There was a time and a place to argue, and I wanted to argue that Artemis didn¡¯t belong in this fight, that her level wasn¡¯t high enough and her quality not there. I knew exactly how effective that would be, and a fight with a motherfucking dragon was not the time or place.
I elected to slow down a bit and pace Iona, figuring the two of us hitting at roughly the same time was better than a slow trickle of reinforcements. Auri worried me a bit with how she was flying ahead. There was so much knowledge lacking around dragons. Like, who was the true master of flames?
Iona was talking so fast I could just barely understand her.
¡°Pyronox, Ocean, Verdant. Flames look nasty, try not to get hit. Water jets. Ability to manipulate himself, think Sigrun! Growing skills, unknown.¡±
Sigrun was the Valkyrie leader Iona had grown up under. She could self-dose with Verdant to boost her baseline, which made her stronger and deadlier. I supposed it made sense that tricks would eventually overlap. And a growth skill would have additional effects depending on what, exactly, was being grown. I thought of Sentinel Nature, who grew bark and sharp thorns over his body to act as armor in one type of growth, and my recent adventure to the School made me think of the Witch in White, who grew flowers with all sorts of spores. That could go anywhere, really.
I got into range to hit Kangrim with my Radiance, but I wanted Fenrir to hit first. Dozens upon dozens of rocks whizzed by us like angry bees as Artemis judged she was in range and opened fire.
We managed all that in the moments before an enraged Fenrir [Lightning Flapped] the remaining distance, then hit the dragon with ten thousand tons of force. He didn¡¯t have any foreclaws, but his hind legs sank deep into the dragon¡¯s back while his jaws closed around the dragon''s nape. The two started to tumble to the ground, heading straight for a farm. They twisted and turned in a sinuous mess.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
¡°Fuck!¡± Iona swore, tossing her bow and arrows aside, moved her glaive in front of her, and grabbed on.
Iona and I both veered off. Thanks to a quirk of the System, we could fly down far faster than Fenrir and the dragon could fall down, and Iona and I were both thinking the same thing - save the people inside.
Jets of water exploded out of the dragon, carving deep grooves into Fenrir. They immediately closed back up under my healing, but one jet cut deeply enough to briefly sever a muscle in Fenrir¡¯s neck, loosening his jaws and letting the dragon¡¯s head slip loose. Kangrim twisted his head around, snarling tooth-to-tooth at Fenrir, nevermind the wyvern being half again as large as the dragon.
With my new angle and the minor separation between the still-falling draconids, I saw my chance. I blasted a fully-powered, hold-nothing-back [Rays of the First Dawn] directly at the dragon¡¯s eye. A feral scream confirmed I¡¯d blinded the dragon, but my hopes of quickly ending the fight rapidly vanished.
The dragon was probably planning on it anyway, but with his mouth pointed to Fenrir he breathed out deadly Pyronox flames point-blank. Fenrir was breathing Ice at the same moment, and the two were about to collide in an explosion of steam when Auri intervened.
I¡¯d been wondering why she wasn¡¯t firing off [Fireballs] or any of her other abilities. The moment the dragon breathed fire though - nevermind that it was Pyronox, and not directly one of her elements - Auri clearly seized the flames and scattered them, a thousand deadly black wisps rapidly dissolving into nothing.
Good. I didn¡¯t need to use [Mantle] in the dusk aspect to try and eat them. [The World Around Me] was detecting a number of spores and pollen wafting off the dragon in great gusts, but they couldn¡¯t harm us right now and we¡¯d deal with the aftermath later.
The dragon¡¯s forelegs clawed into Fenrir¡¯s chest, the wyvern trying to coat himself in Icy armor but it wasn¡¯t doing much against the Reaver¡¯s claws. The [Ice Beam] directly from his mouth, with Auri helping disperse the flames, went practically down the dragon¡¯s throat to devastating effect.
The dragon screamed, an uncannily loud noise that threatened to shake my ears and nose apart. I could feel it in my chest.
Iona and I hit the farmhouse and didn¡¯t stop for anything as mundane as doors or walls. We didn¡¯t bother talking to the people inside. We crashed through at full speed, I [Teleported] all the children and small creatures to myself before wrapping them up in a dawn aspected [Mantle]. Iona grabbed the adults - two women under one arm, one man slung over her shoulder - and the two of us bailed hard, knowing there was no time for explanations. The poor [Farmers] barely had a moment to register what was going on. One moment they were hearing a beast roaring nearby, and just as they were starting to get up to investigate, we burst through the wall.
Neither one of us had stopped or particularly slowed down - there was no time for it - and we kept our momentum up, going through the wall on the other side.
The structural integrity was shot before several dozen tons of monster hit. The house didn¡¯t break so much as explode, a thousand shards going everywhere. I was able to use precise applications of my [Mantle] to delete the splinters heading our way, not wanting to risk any of them hitting the kids I was carrying. Two shields were better than one!
I twisted my neck and looked over my shoulder as we continued running, knowing we were nowhere close to ¡®safe enough¡¯ to let our neighbors go. I saw my chance and fired a second Radiance beam at the dragon¡¯s good eye, mentally pumping a fist as it burned away. I spared a glance for Artemis. Pinpoint shields of Darkness, like my [Mantle], were automatically appearing around her, absorbing the splinters.
The two draconids rolled as they landed, wings snapping and flesh tearing. Fenrir managed to leverage his greater bulk and stats into pinning the dragon down.
Lightning crackled and bolted from Fenrir to Kangrim, and Artemis followed through with a bolt of her own. They played against the scales, not doing much.
The dragon breathed fire again, Auri dispersing it with a contemptuous flick of her wing, before needing to twist impossibly to dodge one of the [Water Jets]. It concerned me how close she was to them, and the sort of damage they threatened to do. I dropped the kids off and sprinted back with Iona, summoning both [Feathers] and [Radiant Angel¡¯s Spear of Obliteration]. Now that the dragon was vaguely still, I could hit it hard, scales or no.
We all hit the downed dragon with everything we had. I carefully managed my mana - the dragon could make some large injuries on Fenrir in an instant - but still buried the monster under a million feathers, hammering its head and neck with my [Radiant Angel¡¯s Spear of Obliteration]. Fenrir snapped with his teeth at the blind dragon, following up my spears with Ice javelins of his own. Auri was merrily nailing the dragon¡¯s wings to the ground with spikes of Lava, hopping around to dodge the [Water Jets] and dispersing the flames. Artemis had a rock the size of her head whipping around her, building up momentum for a devastating strike.
Iona ran up and vaulted into the gap between Fenrir and Kangrim, the two thrashing bodies threatening to crush her between them. She sprinted up the softer belly scales, her glaive already spinning. Divine light started to coalesce around the edge. With a clever flick of her glaive, she sliced a number of scales off, like skinning a fish. The dragon roared with fear, and she plunged her glaive in below the sternum, up towards the heart. Hot blood geysered out of the fatal wound.
There was a heavy pause, like the attention of the world was on us, as Kangrim thrashed his last.
[*ding!* Congratulations! Your Party has slain [Kangrim, the Alabaster Reaver]!]
The sheer scale of what we¡¯d just done was starting to settle on me, the question of it being a blessing or a curse still up in the air. Was there going to be retaliation? Could we outfit the Rangers in the finest armor known to elvenoids? Would we get a reputation? Classes, class quality?
The fight had also been closer than I would¡¯ve liked. Normally, having hundreds of levels in a black class would¡¯ve made it easy. Five versus one, it seemed like we overwhelmed the dragon; but outnumbered and outleveled it had still done horrific damage, and if Auri or I hadn¡¯t been here, it very well could¡¯ve killed us all.
For fucks sake Fenrir, did nobody ever tell you about threat assessment!?
And I had a million notifications to check.
[*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1392->1456 +200 Strength, +200 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +2000 Mana, +10000 Mana Regen, +4000 Magic Power, +4000 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]
Excellent! [The Elaine] wasn¡¯t exactly a class designed to kill the myths of the world - well, it hadn¡¯t been. Next classup it would be more ¡®in line¡¯ with what the class wanted, and if I somehow managed to pull the feat off again, I¡¯d get even more experience. ¡®Defending against marauding monsters¡¯ was in the class portfolio, if not dead center, and the sheer weight of a dragon¡¯s influence on the System was enough to turbocharge my levels. Huzzah!
[*ding!* [Clad in Twilight] leveled up! 560 -> 565]
Oh nice! I¡¯d barely used the skill, and I hadn¡¯t gotten hit. Simply being close and using the skill had been enough.
[*ding!* [The Mantle of Dusk and Dawn] leveled up! 900-> 910]
The rest of my capped skills remained capped, thank goodness, and I suspected the weight of the battle would keep them capped for a while longer. It was nice when I didn¡¯t need to concern myself too much with individual skill levels.
[Seraph of the Dawn] had been at 1024 for some time now, and I¡¯d been waiting for a good event to class it up. Nothing was going to beat slaying a dragon with significant contributions from the class, and I couldn¡¯t wait to see what my offerings would be! Bit of a shame I hadn¡¯t tried to temporarily blind it with [A Light Shining in the Darkness], instead going for actually blinding it. The levels would¡¯ve been nice¡ but I¡¯d kinda been in one of the deadliest fights of my life. Grinding levels hadn¡¯t exactly been on my mind.
[*ding!* [Radiant Angel¡¯s Spear of Obliteration] leveled up! 480 -> 500]
I was ready to class up.
[*ding!* [Sage of Tomes] has leveled up! 1010->1024. +1500 Magic Power, +1500 Magic Control, +700 Mana, +700 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Magic Power from your Element per level!]
Excellent! I suspected I had more levels stored up, and I felt I had done enough in the class for it to be worth classing up now. Two for one!
[*ding!* [Long-Range Identify] leveled up! 643-> 666]
[*ding!* [Everywoman] leveled up! 550 -> 614]
A whole 64 levels! The skill was easy to gain experience in, and easy to gain a single level at a time. 64 levels at once was insane! I wasn¡¯t going to complain - stacked competency was nice.
[*ding!* [The World Around Me] leveled up! 606-> 650]
All this before breakfast was done.
With a triumphant shout, Iona thrust her hand into the dragon¡¯s chest, ripped out his heart larger than she was, threw off her helmet, and bit deep into it, blood trickling down her chin.
My wife, a [Dragonslayer].
|
[Name: Elaine]
|
|
[Race: Chimera (Elvenoid)]
|
|
[Age: 127]
|
|
[Mana: 20,860,080/20,860,080]
|
|
[Mana Regeneration: 72,601,403 +(242,872,320)]
|
| |
|
Stats
|
|
[Free Stats: 0]
|
|
[Strength: 169,320 (Effectively: 1,354,560)]
|
|
[Dexterity: 193,576 (Effectively: 2,061,197)]
|
|
[Vitality: 754,624 (Effectively: 11,791,000)]
|
|
[Speed: 741,856 (Effectively: 14,601,952)]
|
|
[Mana: 2,086,008]
|
|
[Mana Regeneration: 7,589,760 (+ 24,287,232)]
|
|
[Magic Power: 3,162,167 (+ 230,205,758)]
|
|
[Magic Control: 3,161,024 (+ 230,122,547)]
|
| |
|
[Class 1: [The Elaine- Celestial: Lv 1456]]
|
|
[Celestial Spirit: 1456]
|
|
[Domain of the Healer: 1456]
|
|
[A Drop of Eternity in a Sea of Starlight: 608]
|
|
[Luminary Mind: 1456]
|
|
[Universal Cure: 1456]
|
|
[Clad in Twilight: 565]
|
|
[The Mantle of Dusk and Dawn: 910]
|
|
[Elaine Eternal: 1456]
|
| |
|
[Class 2: [Seraph of the Dawn - Radiance: Lv 1024+]]
|
|
[Radiance Mastery: 1024]
|
|
[A Light Shining in the Darkness: 941]
|
|
[The Rays of the First Dawn: 1024]
|
|
[Radiant Angel''s Spear of Obliteration: 500]
|
|
[Celestial Dew: 1024]
|
|
[Sunrise Halo: 1024]
|
|
[Wings of the Seraphim: 1024]
|
|
[Six Wings, Six Million Feathers: 1024]
|
| |
|
[Class 3: [Sage of Tomes - Spatial: Lv 1024]]
|
|
[Spatial Authority: 1024]
|
|
[Scripture Savant: 1024]
|
|
[Teleportation: 1024]
|
|
[The Library of Infinite Wonder: 1024]
|
|
[Tower of Knowledge: 666]
|
|
[Reality, Writ As You Will: 1024]
|
|
[Astral Archives: 1024]
|
|
[Endless Pursuit of Knowledge: 1024]
|
| |
|
General Skills
|
|
[Long-Range Identify: 666]
|
|
[Everywoman: 614]
|
|
[Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 1456]
|
|
[The World Around Me: 650]
|
|
[Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 1456]
|
|
[Sentinel''s Superiority: 1456]
|
|
[Persistent Casting: 1456]
|
|
[Tender Gardening; Industrial Farming: 900]
|
Chapter 600 - The Harvest
Everyone and their brother was curious about the fight that had just occurred, and quite a lot of people were going to have a really bad day. Fenrir and Kangrim hadn¡¯t exactly been keeping things contained when they wrestled on the ground, and quite a few fields had been utterly wrecked, to say nothing of the final farm where dragon¡¯s blood was dripping onto the fields. In small amounts, it was a potent catalyst, but the dose made the poison. There was a good chance the fields would be unusable for a long time.
Nina came rushing over and threw up a huge illusion over us and the remains of the dragon, cutting away the farmers from the view. The base was a solid dome of bright red covering the entire place, then various rotating symbols went all along the edge. Skull and crossbones, ¡®ick¡¯ faces, black cats, broken mirrors, red flags, raised rattlesnakes and more were all moving and animated on the surface of the dome, a dozen different symbols from cultures around the world saying STAY AWAY. She had another neat trick - we could see from the inside out, but I doubted people could see from the outside in.
Iona and Fenrir gently disentangled themselves from the dragon, as Auri hovered over them protectively. Nina marched up to them, and I drifted a little closer so we could all talk.
¡°We cannot let this get out.¡± The kitsune said. I nodded in agreement. Fenrir and Iona were still both coming down off the battle-high, plus the dragon''s heart was one heck of a stimulant. Auri landed on Iona¡¯s wobbling helmet and tilted her head.
¡°Brrpt?¡± Artemis stepped in as Auri asked her question.
¡°The story is, we slew a wyvern.¡± Nina stressed, somehow managing to speak only the truth while crafting a thousand lies. ¡°Fenrir¡¯s territorial after all. We¡¯ve all seen it. Just another scuffle, another monster slain.¡±
¡°You know what happens when we say their name.¡± Artemis agreed. ¡°I propose the same thing that we did in Remus, and possibly for the same reason. Total ban, total secrecy. Not a word gets out about this, not a mention of them to light a flame in their mind¡¯s eye.¡±
Huh. I suddenly wondered if Night had managed to kill a dragon in Remus at some point. It wasn¡¯t something to brag about or even mention, but it would explain why the ban was so harsh when mentioning it once or twice didn¡¯t cause any problems¡ and if we¡¯d managed to kill a dragon back then, there was no way Night didn¡¯t have a dozen kills under his gem-studded belt already. Plus, that was when Night only had two classes.
Iona slowly came out of her daze.
¡°What are we going to do with all this?¡± She gestured to the body, Fenrir already looking like he wanted to take a bite. ¡°It¡¯s a treasure trove, are we just going to let it go to waste?¡±
Everyone except Fenrir shook their heads, the wyvern growling unhappily at the idea.
¡°Harvest it, store it in Elaine¡¯s [Tower]. Hide most of the evidence. Elaine, you can run preservation on it, right?¡±
¡°Yeah, that shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡± I said.
Raccoon came running up a moment later with the three Rangers. Artemis started barking orders.
¡°This is top secret. Don¡¯t breathe a word to anyone. We need Skye, the most discreet person with the [Butcher] skill, and a [Tanner] that¡¯s worthy of gaining 200 levels. Go.¡± She ordered the three, who saluted and vanished. My mentor turned to me.
¡°Elaine, got a good knife or, even better, a skinning setup in that [Tower] of yours? Learned enough about field dressing animals from all the years¡ all the years we spent in the Hunter¡¯s Guild.¡± Artemis almost broke down in the middle there at the mention of Julius.
¡°I don¡¯t know, I¡¯ll see what I can grab.¡± I promptly vanished into the [Tower], grabbing heaps of sharp tools, and a couple of blunt ones. I then thought about what else we needed, and started to grab as many empty barrels and casks as I could find, debating emptying some of them for more storage. I reappeared a minute later, and Iona, Nina, and Raccoon were already working on manually stripping off the scales and tossing them into a pile. I rolled up my sleeves and joined in.
The System was no longer reinforcing its body, which made the harvest far easier.
¡°Raccoon, I need more barrels, casks, anything that can store liquid. Beg, borrow, and buy as many as you can get and bring them here.¡±
The crafty goblin nodded and sauntered off at a slow pace. I shot a questioning look after her, which was picked up by Iona.
¡°If Raccoon shows up exhausted and demanding to buy all their barrels, she¡¯ll get ripped off.¡± Iona explained. My wife moved up to the jaw and started defanging the dragon, one massive tooth at a time. They¡¯d make really nice long knives, or perhaps slightly short shortswords. Maybe the tip of a spear?
¡°All this material is great, and I know we¡¯re getting a neat [Tanner], but how are we going to plausibly assemble all of this without including so many people that the secret¡¯s out?¡± I asked. ¡°Like, it¡¯s all very well and good to prep and assemble all of this, but if everyone knows, people are going to talk.¡±
¡°Elaine¡¯s right.¡± Artemis eyed the claws, then decided she liked doing exactly what she was up to. ¡°It¡¯s an entire logistical supply chain we¡¯re talking about here. Butcher and tanner to start, then we need to carve the weapons, get a tailor to stitch them together, explain to the Rangers not to look too closely, explain to the farmers why we sent Raccoon to get barrels, get several crafters to work the material¡¡±
¡°Which is why the story is we killed a wyvern.¡± Nina stressed. ¡°We¡¯re not going to hide the operation, it¡¯s not doable. We need to simply hide the obvious evidence. The scales are sewn into the armor because we don¡¯t want to have them easily peeled or flaked off. Their blood is better than wyvern¡¯s blood in many ways, but as long as nobody makes [Princess]-detecting arrays, who¡¯s got the ability to compare the effects of one wyvern to what we¡¯ve got? Fangs are fangs, scales are scales, we¡¯ll just have to be a little careful with the claws. People can count. We just need to not be flashy about it. Don¡¯t stick the skull on a pike. Don¡¯t. Brag. We¡¯ve got unlimited storage with Elaine¡¯s [Tower] skill, let¡¯s use it.¡±Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
I grumbled under my breath.
¡°It¡¯s not unlimited and I¡¯m going to have to take so much out of it.¡± I was already mentally rearranging everything. Sure, I¡¯d cleared out a bunch of ¡®survival¡¯ floors, I¡¯d leveled up and gotten more floors, but dragons were big, and I was imagining we were trying to keep every broken scale. I was going to have to take out most of the ¡®extras¡¯ in my [Tower]. I¡¯d already evicted most of them, pouring them into the community, but this was the death-knell of storing a thousand different knick knacks. I suppose the Immortal War had come and gone, and I had some time to store a few other things before the next one kicked off, some thousand years or so from now. Hopefully longer.
¡°You two.¡± Artemis pointed at me and Iona. ¡°This includes the gods. Don¡¯t tell Selene. Don¡¯t tell Lunaris. Don¡¯t tell Ciriel. They love to gossip, and they will tell the other gods or angels what their favorite [Paladin] has been up to. Those people will talk. This. Is. Secret.¡±
I hadn¡¯t thought of that at all. The odds of the Moon Goddesses not watching Iona were slim to none, but divine communication was odd. I knew enough to know I was completely ignorant about them, but it boiled down to ¡®not all words were the same¡¯. There were different ¡®prices¡¯ for communicating, even among the gods themselves. It was possible that Iona telling the goddesses about the event changed the ¡®price¡¯ of the information, and¡ I was going to stop there before getting a migraine.
Every part of the dragon was a treasure, and I was starting to think up of a dozen things we could do with it. Iona had a beaten up undervest of wyvern scales which could possibly be replaced - it was possible her wyvern rider class would approve of wyvern scales over dragon scales. I tended to favor laminar or scaled armor, and a suit of dragonscale armor? Well, if the Rangers were getting outfitted with them - and I was going to stuff Artemis into one to keep her safe if it killed me - getting a bit for myself didn¡¯t seem out of the question. Dragonbone swords, spears, and daggers promised to be stronger and sharper than steel, and given the current state of our metallurgy, that was an extra bonus.
It didn¡¯t have to all be weapons and armor. I imagined plows made out of the bones - or even plows tipped with the bones - would shear through rock and dirt like it wasn¡¯t there, irrespective of skills getting involved. We were trying not to flaunt things or be flashy, but I had dreams of a dragonbone throne for Skye, anvils made out of the hardest materials, great ships with sinews for ropes. The maintenance would be hell, and making mundane things like rope that got used, abused, and thrown away out of priceless materials seemed like a poor idea, but my imagination was running wild.
¡°We should make a ¡°wyvern¡± blood bath as a Ranger initiation ceremony.¡± I suggested. ¡°And a Valkyrie one.¡± I hastily added on, recognizing who my audience was.
Then there were all the organs! Iona had already taken a bite out of the heart - very elven of her - and I¡¯d destroyed the eyeballs beyond recognition. There was still the rest of the dragon. Most of the parts were best when carefully preserved and stored and handed off to a strong [Alchemist] who could turn the raw potential into miracles. From the brain to the lungs, liver and kidneys, from the flame organ to the viscera, every part of the dragon could be put to good use.
Well. According to questionable sources. Dragons just didn¡¯t die often enough for their uses to be well-known. For example, many stories had a potion of languages that could be brewed from a dragon¡¯s tongue. Except¡ how would anyone know? There wasn¡¯t a formula for it in any of the books I knew, then again, who¡¯d bother to write it down. Might as well include a dozen other impossible ingredients. The Big Book of All the Potions You Will Never Brew somehow failed to be a bestseller.
The known properties of several parts of the dragon were epic enough that I believed the rest of it was just as valuable.
The sun rose, the sun set, and we worked our asses off. Sinew was separated from bones, both of them stacked in neat piles. Organs went into blood-filled casks, then were sealed off by hammering it shut and tracing an array onto the top. One by one I transported them into my [Tower], multiple huge kegs getting filled with priceless blood that was also smeared all over me.
It was fairly lucky Amber wasn¡¯t around - she¡¯d die of an aneurysm seeing all the incredibly valuable blood being carelessly spilled around. I didn¡¯t need to have a dragon¡¯s blood bath on top of the wyvern¡¯s blood bath I¡¯d already had! Field dissecting a creature we couldn¡¯t lift and wanting to keep the blood was a messy, messy job.
We weren¡¯t able to remain entirely professional. Raccoon secured one of the claws for herself, and kept swinging it around like it was a stick, making swishing noises. Didn¡¯t matter that she was getting old for a goblin, didn¡¯t matter that she was the respectable [Constable] of Orthus Town. She was swinging the dragon¡¯s claw like a teenage boy with a particularly nice stick.
Auri snuck into the dragon¡¯s mouth and pretended to breathe fire. Made half of us jump out of our skin, thinking there was one last effect, or we¡¯d screwed up the flame organ. She laughed and laughed, rolling over in a little flameball. Artemis was laughing, and I muttered something about ¡®surprise sugar shortage¡¯, which had Auri pretend to shrivel up and turn into ashes.
As we were handling the dragon¡¯s internal organs, Iona came across one in particular. She looked at it with a lecherous grin, then looked back at me, then back at it, her idea very obvious.
¡°No!¡± I protested. ¡°No way!¡±
I couldn¡¯t get the image out of my head.
Nina had fun scaring people that weren¡¯t quite getting the hint away with her Mirages, intervening before the Rangers had to step in and physically bar people. With the size of the body and the space we were occupying, they had to walk briskly to maintain the perimeter.
¡°Hey foxy!¡± Artemis called out. Nina whirled, and unfortunately didn¡¯t know Artemis well enough yet to know that grin meant Trouble. I¡¯d run screaming if Artemis was smiling at me like that.
¡°Yes? Can I help you?¡± She asked.
¡°We¡¯re all going to take a dip in the wyvern¡¯s blood, yeah?¡± Artemis asked. ¡°We¡¯re already halfway there, be a shame not to finish the job.¡± My mentor looked pointedly at all of Nina¡¯s blood-matted fur.
¡°Yes¡¡± Nina cautiously agreed, having some minor self-preservation instincts. She couldn¡¯t have lasted this long as an assassin without a good gut instinct.
¡°Well, way I see it, you¡¯ve got all that fur, and it¡¯s going to cause you problems. It¡¯s great stuff for keeping the water and the rain off you, but with how it¡¯s getting all clumpy, there¡¯s no way all the blood¡¯s making it to your skin. It¡¯s a huge waste!¡±
¡°Right.¡± Nina agreed. ¡°I was thinking something similar. Any ideas?¡±
Artemis managed to smother a wicked grin, and I was starting to think it was time for another [Tower] run. Make sure everything was well organized. Check nothing was going to tip over. Triple-check the enchantments. Then again, I probably wasn¡¯t going to end up as collateral damage to this prank, and while we were rebuilding civilization, entertainment was in short supply.
¡°This is a rare and valuable resource, a once in an Immortal lifetime opportunity. Fur grows back, wyvern¡¯s blood doesn¡¯t, we should shave you to make sure there¡¯s no huge hole in the protection given.¡±
How the fuck did Artemis manage to keep an entirely straight face? Iona¡¯s neck was bobbing with her suppressed laughter, one hand gripping Fenrir¡¯s leg a little too tightly. Auri was whistling, beak in the air.
Come on, Auri. Don¡¯t give away the game. That looked even more suspicious.
The best way to not be collateral to one of Artemis¡¯s pranks was to lean into it.
¡°I completely agree.¡± I piped up. ¡°Sure, you¡¯ll look silly today, but two months from now all you¡¯ll remember is your skin being harder than steel.¡±
Nina looked to Iona, who managed to pull herself together in a flash and nod in a stately way.
¡°Artemis speaks wisdom.¡± She said as the woman in question drew a knife.
¡°Now, hold still, this will only take a moment.¡±
Oh gods, Artemis was right. Shaved kitsune looked hilarious.
Chapter 601 - Radiance Class Up
It was classing up time! I¡¯d capped out both [Sage of Tomes] and [Seraph of the Dawn], and with the recent battle against the dragon - plus surviving the Cataclysm and everything that happened since I last classed up - made me confident I had more than enough accomplishments for some good classes.
Some class ups I knew exactly what I wanted going into them; I knew what I wanted my classes to do and be for me. Right now though, the world was my oyster, large and open to explore. There were no threats on the horizon, no problems I needed to solve right now. No looming threat of violence or starvation, barring the odd wild animal attack. Given how we¡¯d just killed a fucking dragon, I was feeling pretty good about my power and skills. I doubted I¡¯d completely remove my offensive abilities, but I was open to all sorts of offerings. I had super special one-time permission from Auri to take a phoenix class if I wanted to!
¡°Love you too, Auri.¡± I told the little rascal. ¡°You can take a human-related class if you want to.¡±
¡°BRRRRPT!!!¡± There was not enough Fire in the world to express her indignation at the thought that she might want to take a human class. I cheekily winked at her, and her cheeks blew up as she stomped cutely.
It was also possible I¡¯d find the groove that I wanted to stay in for the rest of my life. My classes had changed themes less and less over time, simply refining the focus a small amount. I¡¯d been on the [Butterfly Mystic] theme for over a century with magic, discovery, and exploration married together.
¡°Love you!¡± I told Iona, squeezing her hand. She rolled on top of me and kissed me deeply.
¡°One for the class up.¡± She winked roguishly at me. ¡°Love you too, bookosaurus.¡±
She rolled back over - holding my hand the entire time - and was out like a light, the softly glowing lights of her own class up appearing around her. Auri, Fenrir, Artemis and Nina were on guard. It would be overkill if they hadn¡¯t already come over for snacks and games.
I snuggled up to her, putting my head on her chest, and let myself fall into the world of my soul.
Librarian was there in our School robes, symbols denoting our accomplishments woven in, while a glint of mischief and merriment glimmered in her eyes. She was sitting cross-legged on one of the checkout desks, and the library was as neat and ordered as I¡¯d ever seen it. Books were artfully arranged, shelves color-coded by type of class, and there wasn¡¯t a speck of dust to be seen anywhere.
¡°Elaine! You made it! I¡¯ve been waiting so long!¡± Librarian hopped down and ran over to me, her robes billowing as she moved. She grabbed my hands and we started to jump in excitement at seeing each other again, like a pair of school girls.
¡°Librarian! I did, I did! I¡¯ve wanted to come for AGES but it wasn¡¯t really the right time before but now it is and I¡¯m just so EXCITED to see you! This is great!¡± I dropped her hands and fiercely hugged her.
Naturally, since she was me, she hugged back.
¡°Are you ready?¡± A grin slipped into her voice. ¡°Are you excited?¡±
¡°Am I ever!¡± I said. Librarian grabbed me by the hand.
¡°Then let¡¯s go!¡± She said, pulling me up the stairs as we ran and giggled up, stomping like a herd of rhinos.
Libraries were supposed to be a quiet place¡ but it was only us in here. Staircase after staircase we ran up, passing the rooms where I¡¯d made my old selections, a trip down nostalgia lane. [Firebug] and [Pyromancer], [Ranger-Mage] then [Butterfly Mystic], before passing by [Seraph of the Dawn]. Then we got to a pair of large doors. Six sheltering wings were carved around it - there was no such thing as ¡®budgets¡¯ or ¡®practicality¡¯ in the world of my soul.
I gasped as Librarian dramatically opened the door.
Nevermind the sunlight streaming in through the other windows, nevermind the staircase that led up to more class ups, the walls and ceiling of the room were pure glass, a million and one shining stars twinkling down on us.
There were no bookshelves. Instead, the books flew through the air like a flock of birds, going first one way, then another. Heavy leather bound tomes, light novels barely a dozen pages thick, classically bound books with stodgy letters, all flew through the air.
I jumped up at a book with green lettering that came close, managing to snag it out of the air.
Renewer of Nations - Radiance the title boldly proclaimed. I put it down on the table, and slapped it down when it tried to flop off the table and escape.
¡°Really?¡± I ask Librarian with a raised eyebrow. She chuckled.
¡°Ooooh, you¡¯ve seen nothing yet.¡± She promised.
Renewer of Nations: The Renewer of Nations is dedicated to restoring life, healing the land, and guiding the rebirth of civilization after Immortals have wiped the slate clean. Drawn to areas where the neglect of elvenoids or the rampaging of monsters have turned formerly lush environments into barren wastelands, the Renewer will channel the power of the sun to encourage life and growth to flourish, bring animals back, and restore the balance of nature. Renwers know that unchecked growth can lead to problems, and will prune both plants and people when needed. +8 Dexterity, +64 Speed, +64 Vitality, + 128 Magic Power, +256 Magic Control, +8 Mana, +64 Mana Regeneration per level.
It was a fun class to be sure, and a brilliant idea, but it just wasn¡¯t for me at all. I wasn¡¯t going to be bringing countries back and regrowing plants. It wasn¡¯t like I was the only one, I¡¯d only done it once, and it was a pretty dramatic departure from my current class. The low quality made sense - it had just been a random book I¡¯d grabbed, as opposed to a real, thoughtful selection. It helped hammer home just how absurd my classes and qualities were. Light green would¡¯ve been crazy for me as a teenager and younger, and yet I could only pull a face now at the stats.
Also, ¡®pruning people¡¯ sounded like a euphemism for murdering a lot of people, which was a hard no. I¡¯d also seen cities completely overtake an area, and no druids came knocking on the walls with complaints. I wondered how bad things would have to be for them to step in?
A reminder why I usually had Librarian filter for me, but hey! This was fun! Monster books! I let the book go and it rejoined the flock, flapping indignantly as it flew away. I instinctively reached for my wings, only to find them not there. Right. No skills inside the world of my soul. I eyed the books high up as Librarian slowly grew more mirthful in the background.
¡°Wait.¡± I put the pieces together. ¡°Wait. How am I supposed to get the books?¡±
Librarian was full on cackling now. Cackling. I had a bad feeling about this¡
I mean, I could just ask her to present the books I wanted to see. Give her a search criteria and let them fall into my lap - literally. Where was the fun in that? Where was the joy, the adventure? We had time here, I had the ability to play with Librarian and enjoy her gauntlet.
It wasn¡¯t the 256 class up where I thought it might be the last time I saw her. I knew I had eternity now, an eternity to see her again. At the same time, our time was limited. There were only so many class ups before I was done, before we¡¯d said our farewell for the last time. Before either fate or divinity took me.
What did it hurt to play the game? To take on new and novel challenges?
I ran and jumped excitedly for some of the books, whooping as I practically flew through the air. There was a different dimension, a different element of fun, when I was effectively mortal. The speeds that were a humdrum normality turned thrilling and exciting once again, and being unable to fly, teleport, or otherwise reach out with my mind to simply grab the books made the chase exciting once again. I hadn¡¯t had this much fun in ages!
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
I caught a few of the books and got a read through them, with only two vaguely catching my interest.
Phoenix of the Rising Dawn - Behold the Phoenix of the Rising Dawn! You bow before the absolute magnificence that is the peerless phoenix, most noble of all the birds! They burn the brightest, soar the swiftest, and all who witness their beauty are struck dumb! Clad in the golden glow of your radiant companion, you will go forth as one of the phoenix¡¯s chosen! Eternal flames will dance upon your skin, darkness will flee before you, and come the rising of the dawn star, you will be born anew, shedding death itself in a burning inferno! +2 Strength, +1024 Dexterity, +1024 Speed, +1024 Vitality, +4096 Magic Power, +4096 Magic Control, +4096 Mana, +4096 Mana Regeneration per level.
Hang on, wait, fucking what!? I got a phoenix rebirth skill?! That was supposed to be racially locked! I read it more carefully, that one casual line leading me to flipping furiously through the book.
¡°Hey Librarian, sorry, is there a chance I can get every aspect of this skill listed in one spot?¡± I asked her.
She lazily waved her hand, and a handful of pages sacrilegiously tore themselves out of the book and hovered in front of me. I snatched the first one out of the air and started to read.
It¡ was technically not a phoenix rebirth skill, but it was darn close. Upon ¡®dying¡¯, my body would explode into scattered ashes, which would be reconstituted upon the next sunrise. There were the motherload of all catches though.
First off, it was possible to take the ashes and bury them, drown them, or otherwise interfere in a way that would prevent them from coming back.
Second, I¡¯d need to convince Black Crow to let me go back. The book suggested a game for my life, but I wasn¡¯t exactly on great terms with Black Crow//White Dove in the first place¡ I could see them laughing their beaks off and denying me, no matter what I won or how.
Lastly, I was pretty unkillable already. I didn¡¯t want to test it or challenge the greater powers, but I suspected anything that could kill me would end me so thoroughly that even the scattered ashes would struggle. Like if I was burned by cursed fire, the flames would stick to the ashes and burn them away, completely killing the slot.
The class was good, but I wasn¡¯t sure about joining Auri in the ¡®living a life on fire¡¯ department. Having a bath would be awkward.
Radiant Wife - Marriage. The sacred bond that ties people together. To have and to hold, to love and protect, in sickness and in health, for life and beyond. The Radiant Wife draws upon an inner light to shine warmth, affection and the unbreakable ties of devotion upon her spouse, her family, and companions. Cherish the bonds of love, and triumph before all adversity. +32 Strength, +32 Dexterity, +32 Speed, +32 Vitality, +32 Magic Power, +32 Magic Control, +32 Mana, +32 Mana Regeneration per level.
I was inclined to dismiss the class at first, but the subtle details started to come together into an interesting picture, one that had me lift up a table leg and pin the flying book under it so it wouldn¡¯t go escaping.
The book, the class, was about love. About family. I¡¯d get experience from cuddles! I¡¯d level up helping Auri in the bakery - it wasn¡¯t all about Iona. Sharing a smoke with Fenrir could let me hear that magical ding!. Helping my friends, mentoring an apprentice, and loving Iona would all contribute to my levels. In other words, I¡¯d level simply from the best things in life, as opposed to the worst. There was also a [Spoons of Love] skill! I knew mom had something like that!
The grief over her loss was like a familiar friend. It still hurt, but the wound had long since scarred over. Her name was carved deep into stone, a memory that persisted and refused to be forgotten.
Best of all? It was still a [Mage] class. I kept basically every skill I currently had, barring my spear skill, although I wouldn¡¯t be offered any other offensive skills.
It was just so radically different and on-target to what I thought a good and happy life should entail that I wanted to entertain the option.
Looking back up, it was clear from the text on the books - I swear Librarian was slowing them down so I could see them - and what I expected to see offered, that the absolute best books were flying high and fast, entirely out of reach for me. It wasn¡¯t like there were shelves or anything I could climb - the walls were pure, smooth glass, without even needing support or anything.
It was a slightly novel experience, not being able to lift the tables up and stack them. I backed up and examined the situation, trying to figure out how to adapt, improvise, and overcome, as any good Ranger should be able to do.
I looked around some more, and did a double-take when I saw Librarian holding out an oversized butterfly net with a grin. I took it with a matching smile, and tried to crack my knuckles. Three attempts later I gave up on it, and tried to preserve as much dignity as I could.
Ah, who was I kidding, my dignity was going to be dead at the end of this.
I climbed the stairs - no railing, of course - bent my knees, and when a flock of books came by, threw myself out into the void, my eyes locked on the prize. I hurtled through the library, wind in my hair, wildly thrashing the butterfly net around, and nabbed a book.
Crashing down to the floor didn¡¯t matter. It was the world of my soul. As there was no magic, equally there was no pain, no injury. Just the thrill of capturing a new book!
I went hunting four more times, only catching three books, and only liking the looks of two of them.
Dawnbringer: For the weak, the night is the ultimate terror. It oppresses the senses, banishes the safety of knowing, and serves as a cloak for the many predators that stalk its fields, as the sun with its warmth and nourishment hides far away. No more. Return the ever-watching gleam of clarity, of safety and of warmth. Return the ability to learn and explore, to be curious and to grow. Where you go, all can sleep in peace, for there are no terrors of the night where you bring Dawn to vanquish it. +256 Strength, +256 Dexterity, +256 Speed, +256 Vitality, +4096 Magic Power, +4096 Magic Control, +4096 Mana, +4096 Mana Regeneration per level.
This was clearly the ¡®natural evolution¡¯ of my current class. It kept the angel theme, continued to give experience for exploration, discovery, and combat, and¡ had nothing really new to it. It went on the desk, and I shot Librarian a Look.
¡°I¡¯ve got enough now that I don¡¯t want to have to keep fishing them out to check them.¡± I told her. She nodded in agreement, and thick chains materialized out of the desk to bind the book down. It struggled and fought against its bindings. Not exactly the way I would¡¯ve done it¡ but on reflection, it was exactly how I would¡¯ve done it.
Aspirant Slayer of Lun¡¯Kat: You have aligned yourself with the Twin Goddesses of the Moon¡¯s Paladin, and your partner has been given the ultimate task of ending the Deceiver''s long reign- a hopeless endeavor, if not for you. Your history with the beast is longer than any other, final witness as you are to the forgotten race of Wood Dwarves when Nolgrod fell under Her wrath. Your legend began when you did what few in history have ever matched: rob the dragon''s hoard and escape unscathed. You have slain one of her distant kin. Your Radiance has fouled her illusions before; now, they will flee from your very presence. You have mended her flesh in ages long past, the knowledge of her body still carried within you; now, that same flesh will not survive your ire. Take this class, and do what so many millions have tried and failed in the past: Free the moons, and defeat the one responsible for their captivity. +8192 Mana, +8192 Magic Power per level.
Hoooooly focused Class.
It was always possible to ¡®punch up¡¯ thanks to the System. The tools needed to ¡®punch up¡¯ changed depending on each person¡¯s build, but I know I was vulnerable to a heavy Mirror Classer, for example.
A class explicitly calling out a single monster was scary in its implications.
My first instinct was to recoil from it. No matter that we¡¯d managed to off a dragon ourselves, it had been five to six against one, and most of us had hundreds of levels in a high quality class on the dragon. It still hadn¡¯t been a quick and easy fight.
My second reaction was I wanted the class, just for my wife. The thought was fleeting, and the follow up was like a bucket of ice water poured over me.
How many people had taken a class to off Night or Lun¡¯Kat over the eons? I didn¡¯t know, but I did know both of them were still alive and well. The thought naturally led to another one - I had a bunch of System weight, were people being offered classes to kill me? A scary thought.
I eyed the flock of books, the thrill starting to turn into a chore. The thought of needing to hunt down every book was daunting.
¡°Can you grab me any other strong classes I¡¯m missing, that I¡¯d be interested in?¡± I asked Librarian. She brightened up.
¡°Sure!¡± She pointed to the flock, and one of the books zoomed over.
[The Busy Bee] was the title of the book. I opened it and read it carefully.
I almost wanted to say it was a joke class, but it wasn¡¯t. I¡¯d been Healy-bug for a long time, and [Firebug] was in the class¡¯s history, this was merely an extension of that. I¡¯d done a good amount of pollination work after the cataclysm - a lack of bees was unfortunate - and the class would move in a bee-focused direction. Feathers would become independent stinging bees, like in [Butterfly Mystic], but they¡¯d be able to literally pollinate plants as well as independently do minor bee-like tasks. Honey wasn¡¯t off the menu, but the power, control, mental load, and persistence made it less than viable. Also, mangos!
It was solid, fun, but not what I was going to take.
I started to look through my options, also keeping in mind what I was planning for my third class.
[Renewer of Nations] was out fairly quickly. It wasn¡¯t the path I wanted to walk, and while there¡¯d be a good burst of experience now, I suspected and hoped that it would rapidly dry up. I wouldn¡¯t be stuck - Auri would drag the class along kicking and screaming - but between the low quality, lack of opportunity, and frankly not being all too excited about it, it was an easy cut.
[Phoenix of the Rising Dawn] was solid. A little more combat-heavy than I¡¯d like, but not absurdly so. Instead of journeying, exploring, and discovering new things, I would be more heavily rewarded for trips to the Phoenix Peaks with Auri as opposed to finding a hidden valley with rare flowers. It was a contender, but I doubted it would go the distance to become my final choice.
[Radiant Wife] was going to need some serious thought. I really, really liked how it gained experience and what it did, but did the quality and stat gain have to be so miserable!? I supposed I was only a ¡®normal¡¯ wife in many senses. It wasn¡¯t like I¡¯d done something mythical in that role, and the low quality made sense¡ it was just depressing. However, I had taken weaker quality classes in the past though that fit me just right, choosing to be true to myself over raw power.
Unless I wanted to take my third class in a different direction and use this to backfill¡ but then I¡¯d lose a modest amount of my fighting abilities. I needed to fight less and less these days, thanks to my friends and family, but the need to be independent and protect myself was still deeply ingrained in my psyche. Being ¡®helpless¡¯ as a child, being dismissed as a teenager, and needing to fight for my life time and time again during my formative years had left a mark. I knew myself well enough to recognize it and where it came from, but it didn¡¯t change my discomfort at casting it aside. I didn¡¯t want to have to resort to knifing people thanks to the tyranny of stats to defend myself - Radiance was so much kinder, both to myself and my enemies.
No, I was keeping the ability to fight.
[Dawnbringer] was the natural evolution. Part of me rebelled at the idea of continuing along the same path. Had I really not grown? Had I really not evolved in the decades since I¡¯d taken the class?
At the same time, I could argue I knew myself. I knew what I wanted from life, I knew what made my soul sing in joy. There was no shame in continuing on, in enjoying the grass I¡¯d made so green.
[Aspirant Slayer of Lun¡¯Kat] was right out. Nope. Wasn¡¯t doing it. That was easy.
To my mild surprise, it had come down to [Phoenix] and [Dawnbringer]. I didn¡¯t think the phoenix class would¡¯ve gone the distance, but that just showed what I knew. Always keep an open mind.
Even though it was a finalist, it paled in comparison to [Dawnbringer]. The [Butterfly Mystic] in me was sad that I wasn¡¯t flitting off to explore new grounds and new territory¡ but [Dawnbringer] was truly about doing exactly that! A contradiction, but one I was willing to accept.
I knew myself, I was comfortable in my skin.
¡°Let¡¯s become a [Dawnbringer!]¡± I excitedly told Librarian.
¡°Yes!¡± She agreed.
We checked the book out, then the entire library rippled as I changed from my second class to my third.
Chapter 602 - Spatial Class Up
The library flickered and rippled, the books on the ground floor being replaced by an entirely different set. If I wanted to, I could grab any one of the nearly-infinite choices, from [The Mother of Modern Medicine], all the way to a pink or white class.
It wasn¡¯t surprising that Librarian stayed exactly the same. She was a reflection of my soul, who I was inside. I hadn¡¯t changed too much in the time it had taken to select my last class, no matter how much introspection I¡¯d just done. Perhaps when I was younger, when a long introspection session could possibly change who I was, there would be a change, but¡ I was older, and I had reaffirmed the path I was already on.
¡°Shall we?¡± I asked as I offered Librarian my arm, taking the chance to lead for once.
¡°Let¡¯s!¡± She said.
I decided I wanted to tour the near-infinite halls of the library. Arm-in-arm with Librarian, we toured the halls, looking at the endless classes being offered to me. From Water to Miasma, Mirror to Void, from Light to Dark, Storm to Brilliance, every element was on display by the thousands.
¡°Remember when I wanted to come here just to read for days?¡± I sighed wistfully as I trailed a finger over the endless spines, enjoying the feel of the ridges.
¡°You still can.¡± Librarian pointed out. ¡°There¡¯s nothing stopping you, and it¡¯s been a few years since we¡¯ve last gotten a really good book.¡±
I looked around and debated if I could afford the time. I could, there was no crisis, no pressing need to be elsewhere, and the Cataclysm had been hell on [Authors]...
I hope I didn¡¯t just jinx it.
I grabbed a book at random and sat down, disentangling myself from Librarian at the same time.
¡°Sure! Let¡¯s do it! Want to get me a few thrillers?¡± I asked, glancing at the book I¡¯d grabbed.
[Tanner - Acid]
I lifted an eyebrow, shrugged, and got to it. It was a red class, but it was a story, and I was always looking to learn more.
It wasn¡¯t particularly exciting or thrilling. Vat after vat of chemicals, a nice skill to selectively smell - it would help me, but the gods have mercy on my neighbors - and a small, satisfying career.
A book was a book, but it was disappointing that it didn¡¯t light a spark in me, didn¡¯t get the inferno of blazing passion worked up. Not all the books would be a hit, and I counted that one up to a miss, no matter my current mood for reading.
¡°Here!¡± Librarian dropped a significant stack on me, and I trusted that she¡¯d curated the heck out of it to give me only the best.
¡°Thank you.¡± I told her with beaming eyes, then got down to it. Book after book, tale after tale sped by under my eyes as I greedily soaked in all the stories, my soul gently watered by narration. I made a mental note as I dropped the epic of [Princess-Knight] Elaine, an orange tale. I should absolutely save the stories for the next time I was classing up in a time when there were fewer books.
A balance, a carefully stocked reserve for when I needed it.
Just one more book couldn¡¯t hurt though, I had so many¡
Seven books later, and Librarian was wagging a finger under my nose.
¡°Elaine, I¡¯m cutting you off here. You do need to pick a class, and those stories are just as good.¡± She tried to be stern, but her voice crackled with mischief.
¡°Okay! Let¡¯s goooo!¡± I bounded out of the chair and up the stairs, the world of my soul letting me always feel fresh and energized.
The setting was ever-changing, and I couldn¡¯t wait to see what the library would look like for this one. I burst through the doors with all the energy of an over-sugared toddler, greedily drinking in the sights.
The room was small, and basically all crystal. A staircase was carved into the back wall, I could see my legs on the floor, and the place was lit by a dozen lanterns topping small crystal pillars. The center of the room had a crystal book open in front of a chair, and I lifted my eyebrow in surprise.
¡°Only one class?¡± I asked. She gestured with a smile.
¡°Go on, take a look!¡±
I banished my concern, having complete faith in myself.
¡°We should totally get a cave like this.¡± I joked to Librarian as I walked over, who naturally got it and snorted.
I sat down at the crystal book, only for a modest list of options to spring up in front of me, like an illusion. I instantly recognized the written list for what it was - all my classing up options, in one neat display.
¡°Cool.¡±
[Librarian of the Lost]
[Hoarder of Dragons]
[Sage of Eternity]
[Dragonbone Witch]
[Archmage of Runes]
Clean sweep, five dark purple classes. Nothing black, nothing light purple. I supposed the range of dark purple was massive in the first place.
¡°No [Loremaster] classes?¡± I asked Librarian. She shrugged.
¡°There are, if you scroll down the list quite a bit.¡± She said. ¡°Three pages down on the table of contents. I doubt we¡¯ll take it.¡±
I let it be with that knowledge. She knew me best, and I¡¯d probably find what I wanted without endless scrolling.
That would happen later, when I wanted to read a few more adventures of me!
Librarian of the Lost: The Librarian of the Lost is the keeper of all knowledge. From forgotten to common, mundane to esoteric, from the deepest, darkest secrets of Pallos to basic information about the System, the Librarian has it all. More than a keeper of knowledge, the Librarian is an administer of knowledge. When one is seeking answers, the first place they should turn is a library, and it will be your job to steer them straight. Not all knowledge is currently written down and known, and part of the Librarian¡¯s job is to fill in the gaps and the blanks from known knowledge, properly extrapolating. The Librarian doesn¡¯t just keep knowledge, she helps find it. From whispers of forgotten lore to cryptic writings, piecing together fragments of history and the present, the Librarian channels their discoveries into writings, then shelves it along with the rest. At their heart, the Librarian is a mentor to wayward and curious souls, guiding seekers to their answer. +512 Strength, +512 Dexterity, +512 Speed, +512 Vitality, +1024 Magic Power, +1024 Magic Control, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration per level.
Librarian¡¯s eyes were sparkling as I read it over. It made sense! A librarian was at the heart of me, the soul of my being, and not only was I currently working as a librarian now and then, I was even offered a class around it! I had a strong pull towards it just on that bias.
It was a solid class, going far deeper into the knowledge and information side of [Sage of Tomes]. It retained the wizardry aspects, along with the Spatial sorcery, but they wouldn¡¯t improve. Technically, my Tower and Library would merge together, giving me a new skill slot, which was an upgrade. But the skills offered were all memory and knowledge related, along with improvements to Astral Archives. There was one great skill in the list that jumped out at me. [Fill In the Outline of the Story]. It was a skill to make connections, deductions, and let me ¡°fill in the blanks¡±. A modest [Thinker] skill, one that promised growth and endless knowledge. It promised to synergize strongly with my senses. It would only be as good as the information fed into it, but my senses made that information potent, high quality, and comprehensive. I was reminded about Arachne, who was able to look at pieces of information and make logical leaps to ¡®fill in the blanks¡¯. It was a cool skill, one I wouldn¡¯t mind having, and I could see why it was at the top of the list.
Experience gain promised to be slow. The beating heart of the class was being a librarian, and only ¡°typical¡± librarian work would get me experience. In short, Auri would be dragging the class along. I was fine with that, just like I¡¯d be fine if Auri took a slow leveling class and I needed to provide the experience to level her.
The skill did seem to have a downside. It was either on or off. If it was on, it would be constantly filling in the blanks, a never-ending trickle of knowledge and information whispering in my ear. There were a few versions of myself that went quite mad under the influence of the skill, unable to handle it. If I usually left it off, what would be the point? I¡¯d possibly need a general skill to help support me, or Luminary Mind or Astral Archives to evolve. Probably the first one.
Made me wonder if I could take the skill and fuse it into Luminary Mind¡
Only one class down, and my imagination was afire with the possibilities!
Onto the next class. I stared at the crystal book for a minute, trying to figure out how to swap books before giving up and asking for help.
¡°How do I get back to the list?¡± I asked, feeling stupid. It had to be easy, I just¡ couldn¡¯t see it.
¡°Like this!¡± Librarian waved her entire hand in front of the book, like she was wiping it clean.
Okay, fine. I wasn¡¯t an idiot, that wasn¡¯t intuitive at all.
Hoarder of Dragons: The undisputed master of resources, logistics, and the art of efficient storage. The Hoarder of Dragons stores the most dangerous substances known to elvenoid kind, and keeps quiet how often she¡¯s able to directly acquire them herself. The Hoarder can quickly and efficiently rearrange everything they¡¯ve stored, and their storage expands to people as well. A master of logistics trapped in a single spot is almost useless, and not only does the Hoarder bring her storage with her, she¡¯s able to create beacons to rapidly travel around. Their storage is a fortress, nearly impenetrable even to those with skills to slip into unusual spaces. +512 Strength, +512 Dexterity, +512 Speed, +512 Vitality, +512 Magic Power, +512 Magic Control, +1024 Mana, +2048 Mana Regeneration per level.
I figured killing a dragon would turbocharge my class offerings. I didn¡¯t think the next level, and that illicitly storing nearly an entire dragon would also get me a good class, but here it was.
This was a logistics class. The fact that my hard-won wizardry would go away was quite the negative, but I wasn¡¯t willing to dismiss the class out of hand.
In exchange for losing the wizardry, my tower skill expanded and got cranked to 16. No longer would I have a simple tower, no, it would be an entire castle. And not a small one. Fortunately, it was primarily geared towards storage, with warehouses packed tight like legionnaires in the courtyard. The whole castle theme was a little confusing to me at first until I saw the skills.
I got portal skills. I could open a gentle, high powered portal to my pocket dimension and have people live in the castle. Food would be an issue - the boundaries of the pocket dimension ended at the castle walls, we didn¡¯t have sunlight or farmland - but I could run an entire keeps worth of people inside. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.
I could drop portal anchors as well, and ¡°quickly¡± move around the world. Just like the entire sixth legion had teleported across the world, I could do a similar sort of trick. An anchor in every major city, and I could move an army as quickly as they could march in and out of the portal. Or just pop over for lunch.
Oh! With my skills, I could live in perpetual daylight! I could keep moving with the sun, always in time for lunch, visiting friends and family scattered around the globe. It was unclear if I could drop an anchor at the School, but I was sure I could get a mobile anchor going with enough time and effort.
The idea made me realize that no sentinel in Exterreri had a similar skill, and helped frame just what level I was working at.
It got even better. The skill included the ability to automate certain tasks. I¡¯d need to both define the automation and provide the mana for it, but it wasn¡¯t nearly so harsh on the knowledge requirements as pure, ordinary spell casting.
There were naturally downsides.
The portal was the only way in, and the mana cost was staggering, to say the least. It was as easy as thinking to close it, but I wouldn¡¯t be able to pop in at a moment¡¯s notice and grab whatever I needed, then teleport back out a moment later. Similarly, since my [Tower] and [Library] would merge, all my books would end up in a grand, ever-expanding library. No easy spells mid-combat, no subtly grabbing books during boring meetings and re-reading them. Then again, that last point was somewhat mitigated by [Astral Archives] letting me perfectly re-read them in my mind, but it wasn¡¯t the same.
I¡¯d almost passed up on the skill that had eventually turned into [Tower of Knowledge], and it was one of my keystones now. I wasn¡¯t going to easily pass up on a class that promised to expand it by leaps and bounds, not without careful consideration.
Sage of Eternity: You are an eternal presence. The sun rises, the sun sets, and you remain. The tide comes in, the tide goes out, and you remain. Empires rise and nations fall, and you remain. Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even the myth is long forgotten, and yet, you remain. You eye the wheel of time, and contemplate breaking it. Throughout years, throughout eons, you are a witness, the repository of knowledge, the eternal sage, absorbing knowledge and dispensing wisdom. Carry on, and witness eternity. +2048 Magic Power, +2048 Magic Control, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration per level.
That was dramatic. I was currently the [Sage of Tomes], and it was the natural evolution. A marriage of knowledge and learning, books with magic. I liked it! There was the same merger of my library with the tower, and it had the same portal [Hoarder of Dragons] did! I could let people into my [Tower-Library], except there were no world-spanning anchors. I did gain the ability to move things in and out of my tower at will though, no need to go in. A smaller size, worse in one way and more flexible in others.
That was the only major skill change though. Everything else got better, yes, but there were no big shake ups or shuffling around. I already had the skills this path offered.
It naturally fell high on my list.
Dragonbone Witch: You have survived through the ages, and your greed for the secrets of magic knows no bounds, undaunted even by the Dragons, the lords of destruction. First you raided a lair and stole knowledge, and now you have slaughtered a dragon and bathed in its blood, stealing its power. Since you first began to walk Pallos you have desired nothing more than the ability to do everything, as greedy as a dragon. Now, at long last, your achievements have brought this ancient goal into your grasp. Infinite flexibility, the full breadth of the System''s capabilities awaits you. The Gods writ power and possibility into the dragons'' very bones, and now it is yours to command. +1024 Magic Power, +1024 Magic Control, +2048 Mana, +2048 Mana Regeneration per level.
It took me a bit of time to parse the class, and I was torn between grinning and facepalming.
On one hand, it was about the most flexible class I¡¯d ever heard of. From what it wanted to do to how it gained experience, nearly everything could be justified if I did it with panache and style, which I wanted to do already. ¡®Keep being yourself¡¯ was a draw, as was ¡®and do it with style.¡¯ I loved it! Who wouldn¡¯t?
It took careful reading to realize I¡¯d lose [Reality, Writ as You Will], and instead get a [Dabble] variant. Except it was the most flexible skill I¡¯d ever seen. I could do anything I wanted¡ at a sharp, sharp penalty. If regular sorcery was a one to one ratio of mana to effect, wizardry was closer to eight to one on a good day. Sympathy was even worse than that, closer to 32 to 1 on a strong link and good source. This was more like 64 to 1 - atrociously inefficient.
It would be like ¡°only¡± having 50,000 magic power. About as much as I¡¯d had on my [Oath]-boosted healing when promoted to a Sentinel in Remus.
Bloody gods.
All of my preparation work would be unneeded, and something like that was fantastic for illusions, both visual and auditory, communications and the myriad of other ¡®small mana, huge effect¡¯ skills. At the same time, it was all minor utility, and rare was the ability that a smart [Runesmith] hadn¡¯t made at one point, nor had clever [Wizards] not put together. Often, the issue was one of power¡ but then again, that was the mindset I was in. I held so much System-granted power in my mind, rare was the obstacle that I couldn¡¯t simply go through, and when presented with a challenge, my usual method was generally to ask how I could hit it harder. I wasn¡¯t a clever trickster, a cunning youth tumbling my way through a fort with nothing but a skeleton key, a flask of bad wine, and my wits.
Not needing to spend endless hours writing down spells sounded quite pleasant though, at the trade-off of losing a few of my power-required spells. The first ones that jumped to mind were my spellbreakers and cancelation effects - I wouldn¡¯t be able to use them anymore, but in exchange I could conjure up interesting materials that were tricky to write out in the various wizarding languages, like some of Auri¡¯s more interesting flames, or the divine thunderbolt I¡¯d seen in the School¡¯s Museum of All Things. Of course, those came with the same power caveat. I¡¯d only be able to cast it at a fraction of what ¡®normal¡¯ sorcery would cost, let alone sorcery boosted by skills. I didn¡¯t know what [Sunrise Halo] was going to turn into, but anything that needed blasting would be better served by my Radiance.
It was a strong offering.
Archmage of Runes: The Archmage of Runes is the master of ancient symbols and arcane inscriptions, wielding magic with precision and power. The Archmage is familiar with over two dozen schools of magic, thoughts, and runes, and etches their spells not just onto paper, but onto the very fabric of reality around them. Mandalas are folded into pocket dimensions, always available and never burning out. Endless enchantments are available. Preparation is the name of the game for wizards, and with Archmage of Runes, every preparation is rewarded for the rest of your life. Unwavering discipline and deep knowledge will make you a force to be reckoned with. From scribing runes of description to weaving protective wards, the Archmage of Runes stands as a testament to the enduring power of magic. +2048 Magic Power, +2048 Magic Control, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration per level.
This was the wizardry-focused class. The loss of leveling from reading was almost enough to make me immediately ditch it, but it did have a neat skill. I could engrave runes in a pocket dimension attached to myself, and cast directly from them. It was like [Dragonbone Witch] in that I could seem to do nearly anything without casting, but I would have to trace out the runes myself. Only once though!
I¡¯d already done something similar when I¡¯d engraved runes into all of my bones. From my often-used invisibility rune on my sternum, to the tiny, never-used fireball sigil sitting on my chin, I¡¯d already found great value in having spells permanently with me, always a thought away. This took that all the way up. I could have all the spells, and I wouldn¡¯t even need to remake them every time I used them! They came ¡®full powered¡¯, unlike [Dragonbone Witch¡¯s], and it was nearly enough to make up for the missing reading aspects.
I had some serious thinking to do.
[Hoarder of Dragons] was immediately a top contender. The poor experience or not, logistics on that scale was mind-boggling. I lost a little in the combat department, but it wasn¡¯t the end of the world. Being able to perfectly protect my friends and family mattered quite a bit to me. I didn¡¯t think for a second that Iona would stay in during any sort of danger, and the same was true of most everyone else I knew - but quite a few people could benefit from it. A perfect bunker, infinite moving around, what was there not to like? The leveling would be slow, but as [Sage of Eternity] pointed out, I¡¯d been around a while. Survived a lot. I had a companion bond to help with the experience, and I was pretty much at the point where I could brush off most meetings I didn¡¯t want to be in. What were they going to do to me?
[Librarian of the Lost] had me leery. The skill was so good, but almost every single mental skill came with built-in protections, to stop people accidentallying their brain. Given how my mind was the seat of my soul and the center of my being, I was cautious of the downsides. I had plenty of other excellent offerings without risking madness.
The greatest threat to me was my own bad choices. Why not make a good choice here?
[Sage of Eternity] was the easy choice, the affirmation of the prior choices I¡¯d just made. Part of me wanted to rebel at taking the same choice again, but there was no shame in continuing to walk the path. There was shame in not choosing, analyzing, and thinking through all the options.
[Dragonbone Witch] was far weaker than [Archmage of Runes]... but I simply adored the aesthetic. I¡¯d been threatening to try out every job that existed throughout my many years of Immortality, why didn¡¯t I start now? I already lived in a cabin high up on a mountain, deep in the woods, it didn¡¯t take too much more to throw on my school robes, dust off my broom, and start cackling when people came by. Could be fun! I needed a cauldron, first and foremost. Get some nice stew recipes¡ I was supposed to be classing up, not getting this distracted over dinner!
Focus.
[Archmage of Runes] was solid, but it wasn¡¯t like I ran out of spells. Proper prior planning prevented piss-poor performance, and as distractible as I was, that maxim had been drilled into the core of my being. I¡¯d run out of spells now and then, I occasionally didn¡¯t have exactly the right tool for the job, but that was a lack of imagination and properly making the right spells on my part, not because I¡¯d failed to prepare enough copies of a spell. On the other hand, my spellbook was a big weakness. If I was in an inferno, or otherwise in some sort of area of effect skills that prevented me from bringing out my spellbook or instantly destroying it, I was locked out of my spells. This mitigated that weakness. The skill was super cool, I¡¯d love to have it¡ but I liked the rest of my skills more.
[Sage of Eternity] and [Hoarder of Dragons] were my two finalists, and I loved how both of them could help keep the people I loved safer.
When it came to leveling speed and stats, [Sage of Eternity] won out both times.
My [Tower] could already store quite a lot. The question was boiling down to: Did I want to store a small town¡¯s worth of people and equipment? The moving around the world quickly aspect was almost moot - I could fly and travel fast enough on my own that portals weren¡¯t significantly changing anything. I could step from one half of the world to another in thirty minutes, or in four hours.
Then there came the number of people I could have inside. Did I really want more than a small, cozy household worth? Although, honestly, the [Tower¡¯s] storage space was vast. It was more than a cozy number of people, it rivaled the bunker we¡¯d crammed hundreds of people into! Sure, that had been incredibly cramped, uncomfortable, and not terribly sustainable, plus I might not be properly calculating how deep the grain storage was, and it had been laid out to be a bunker, versus the more vertical behavior of the [Tower], but it wasn¡¯t like I was lacking for volume. At 104 levels, I could cram in over 200 families and still have enough space to feed them for a few months. That assumed I was packing everything and everyone in like sardines.
How many people would honestly want to live like that? How many people would want to live in the [Castle], should I take it? It didn¡¯t exactly have sunlight, and I didn¡¯t want to be the face of a great organization, nor did I want to be the [Doormaker], endlessly called back and forth to open portals around for people. It just wasn¡¯t who I was.
Huh. I wondered if that was part of why the skill was so damn rare and hard to purchase - the people that had it didn¡¯t want to do it. Kinda made sense, my Immortality skill was like that as well.
If I went full community with the skill, I¡¯d become an eternal servant to them, constantly opening portals around the world for them to trade with and obtain food. It¡¯d be a hecking interesting life, to be sure, but I wasn¡¯t sold that I wanted to uproot everything and do that. A small community at best.
I also recoiled hard at the idea of moving armies around. It might be pedantic, I might be slicing hairs, but I believed there was a world of difference between following around armies and providing aid and succor to them, and all they encountered, and actively enabling armies to blitz undefended positions. It crossed a line I wasn¡¯t able to define well.
More than that, it would paint a target on my back. I already had one, but there was a difference between ¡®can turn any battlefield, can quickly travel between them¡¯ and ¡®is a global tactical threat to everyone at all times. Can drop an army into anyone¡¯s palace.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t going to stop me taking the class or the skill¡ but I wasn¡¯t going to advertise the full extent of my abilities, nor let anyone, new Exterreri or not, dictate my use.
I¡¯d probably let Night through if he asked me nicely, but at that point there was no true difference between the two classes. Either way he needed to come in, then I needed to let him out again.
Both [Castle] and [Tower] would work to keep everyone I wanted safe and sound. When the next war rolled around - for there was always another war, another conflict, greedy assholes couldn¡¯t be content - I could open the door to all my friends and family, along with some communities, and let them in. [Hoarder of Dragons] got me to the first person faster, but some quick math suggested that simply flying all over the world to pick everyone up would be quicker in the end. I shied away from the ¡®portal plus flying¡¯ math and attempting to think of locus points that would let me pick up multiple people clustered nearby, and¡
Yeah, the math there was crazy.
Both classes let me build a home that was nearly impervious to Immortal Wars, and secure my friends and family.
Rather, was that much extra storage worth giving up the entire field of wizardry? I¡¯d worked my pretty ass off for that designation, and spent decades improving it. I went to the Monastery to study under one of the great masters, just to get a good Spatial wizardry class! No, the ability to store so much extra wasn¡¯t worth giving all that up. It might be a sunk cost fallacy, but by all the gods and goddesses, I¡¯d worked too hard and too long at it to give it up.
I could still reacquire it in [Dawnbringer]... I should get offered the chance to move it over on classing up, given how it was still an exploration and discovery class, with the ability to pick up all sorts of magic-related skills, so it wasn¡¯t a total bust there.
The two classes were tying pretty hard, which was making me loop back to the stats and leveling as a tiebreaker. [Sage] was winning out there. Plus, the ability to access everything inside the tower immediately.
That, and like¡ [Sage] was just more exciting to me. It spoke to me. A castle, all to myself, with all my friends and family was super exciting, and the fact that it had the grandest library ever was nearly enough to cause a heart attack from all the excitement, but that was all a side-effect of being the [Hoarder of Dragons], not the actual raw, beating heart of the class itself. I¡¯d turned down power for the right path before, and being a [Quartermaster]/[Doorwoman] was like¡ sure, I¡¯ll try it out at some point in my journey, but I didn¡¯t want it to be an entire class. No matter how epic and literally the stuff of legends the [Castle] was.
Maybe I could evolve the [Tower] down the line to be closer to it. It would take time, and it wouldn¡¯t be as kick-ass as a fully evolved [Castle] would be, but it was a fun direction to start pushing things. [Sage] was a sorcerous class in the end, and it wasn¡¯t like [The Dawn Sentinel] where I was capped on the skills I could get. I had a starting point, I had an ending point, I had a vision. The System allowed all things. If I worked my ass off, if I used my skills in the right way, trained them into the configuration I wanted, I¡¯d be rewarded.
I wanted to have my cake and eat it too, and with hard work, mana, and the power of love and friendship, by Ciriel, I was going to do it!
Okay! Excellent!
¡°[Sage of Eternity] please!¡± I asked Librarian, then scrunched up my eyebrows as I tried and failed to pick the book up.
¡°Wait, hang on, how do I check this out?¡±