69. Administrator
[Dante Alan Skyisle]
¡°I wish to make an [Unbreakable Vow] to [Goddess Equality] to serve Ignatius Oavion Cessna and to obey his orders for as long as he remains the Overseer of Skyisle. I will sacrifice my [Sadness] to this goal,¡± I finished the binding phrase.
¡°An interesting choice of a sacrifice,¡± Ignatius nodded.
My three Infoscopes saw brilliant, gold threads emerging from elsewhere. The divine threads crossed the threshold of my Ward-barrier as they reached out towards my soul. Battie activated and poured power into my NeuroVista.
My mind accelerated.
Ignatius froze, became suspended, his eyeblink stretching into eternity. My Infoscopes struck the gold threads, sliced them wherever they had found purchase. There were too many of them. A few managed to pierce my soul, but they were weak and feeble.
They sprouted into the roots of my first Vow.
A bulbous fungus rapidly began to grow from my soul, rising upwards.
This was the perfect moment to strike - while the Vow was still growing, not conscious, not able to dive into the Astral yet.
Thirteen Lymphagons armed with Sectus and three of my Infoscopes attacked the young Vow, not letting it form fully. Like supersonic aircraft they rushed right through the Astral parasite¡¯s mind and organs, obliterating all of its innards as it grew, leaving it but a mindless, empty shell.
As time in the physical world nearly stood still, my Phantom Hunter threads moved through the Astral across the hollow Vow, planting my soul shards within it and humming the Alanian songs to create a new type of Astral fungi - an abominable mixture of a Vow and a man.
I figured if a tree like Leemy could become intelligent, then why not my own Vow?
The Vow became filled with life once more, but now it was fully under my control. It rose into the Astral, armed with divine threads of Goddess Equality, but not answering to her at all.
Amari¡¯s hunter amulet hanging on my chest instantly devoured the remnants of the Vow¡¯s divine blood spilling through the Astral.
Time resumed as my Neurovista ran out of mana.
I exhaled.
Ignatius looked up at the Vow hanging above me, sensing it with one of his skills and nodded.
¡°Very good,¡± he said. ¡°You can upgrade your Vow to a [Citizen¡¯s Pact] in Cessna when you grow up.¡±
¡°Thank you, Lord Ignatius,¡± I bowed with the same wide, fake smile.
¡°Do you know how to operate the Voicecast runework?¡± He asked me, pointing at the crystal sphere embedded within the table of the Overseer¡¯s office.
¡°I do,¡± I nodded. ¡°Overseer Kliss taught me how to use it.¡±
¡°Excellent,¡± Ignatius nodded.
He walked up to me and pinned a silver Equality pin to my lapel. ¡°I thus declare Dante Alan Skyisle the temporary Administrator of Skyisle on my behalf. You¡¯re free to go for now. I''ll look over some of the Overseer records to make sure that everything is in order and later coordinate a ship to take me to Agamemnon. Once I¡¯m gone you¡¯ll be representing the Empire on my behalf, so stay sharp and obey the Laws of Equality.¡±
¡°Yes, my Lord,¡± I bowed.
I left the Overseer''s office with a spring in my step.
Skyisle was mine!
Well, it was technically mine under Imperial law. I still had no way of taking power from the hidden owner of Skyisle - Giovashi.
I decided to deal with things one at a time.
¡°So, it¡¯s official?¡± Dad started at the Equality pin on my lapel. Mom sighed.
¡°I¡¯ve been made the Imperial Administrator of Skyisle,¡± I nodded.
¡°Did they make you say a Vow to Equality?¡± Dad asked, his expression stern.
¡°No,¡± I shook my head. ¡°I have no Vows on me that would bind me to obey some other power.¡±
¡°Truly?¡± Georgi¡¯s eyebrows went up.
¡°Yes,¡± I affirmed. ¡°Kliss was able to convince the new Overseer that Skyisle is incredibly dangerous to live in and that I¡¯ve been a trusted assistant in her employ. Overseer Ignatius is just as young as Kliss. He gave up his executive power to me, terrified that the magogenic fault will consume his levels and skills.¡±
¡°What¡¯s your plan then?¡± Dad inquired.
¡°The Overseer¡¯s term is four years,¡± I said. ¡°This gives us four years to make Skyisle stronger.¡±
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
¡°To what end?¡± Dad asked.
¡°So that I can save everyone here,¡± I said. ¡°The Valley of Death is growing. If I do nothing, everyone¡¯s levels will keep dropping.¡±
¡°Stronger how?¡± Mom asked. ¡°I¡¯d like to hear a specific plan, Dante.¡±
¡°Destiny and I found a level 24 tree in the forest,¡± I said. ¡°Its green magic naturally resists the radiance of Decay. I¡¯d like your help to plant it all over Skyisle.¡±
Dad nodded.
¡°You can use your Agromancy skill to make the seeds blossom faster,¡± I looked at mom.
¡°If we can get everyone¡¯s help, we can save Skyisle faster!¡± Delta affirmed.
¡°The Green-Vitality tree is just the beginning,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯d like to institute a lot of changes in our village, make a new Ward network beneath each house.¡±
Mom looked down at me. ¡°You¡¯re capable and smart, Dante¡ but you¡¯re too young, the Elders will not accept you bossing them around.¡±
¡°It¡¯s true,¡± Dad nodded. ¡°They are a stubborn bunch.¡±
¡°Without the fear of the Overseer¡¯s armacus many will likely refuse to have their wards upgraded,¡± Mom said. ¡°Neither of us is a Wardsmith.¡±
¡°They will want to know which one of us has skills that can build new wards,¡± Dad said. ¡°Do you know how to make wards, Dante?¡±
I opened my mouth and closed it, not certain if I should tell my parents everything.
¡°I have¡ special skills that allow me to approach Ward design from a new angle,¡± I said finally. ¡°I¡¯m fairly confident that I can improve the wards.¡±
¡°From what I understand the oldest wardstones lie in the catacombs beneath the Church and the Pub,¡± Dad mulled, rubbing his ginger-bearded chin. ¡°Only Giovashi has the key to the deepest tunnels. I¡¯ve gone down there a few times to repair old bulkheads with one of the Fox and Fiddle barmaids, who was making sure I don¡¯t wander off.¡±
¡°You would have to talk to one of the barmaids to set up a meeting with our Archpriestess,¡± Mom said. ¡°She likely will not approve of someone so young meddling with the arcane wards, as she is the eldest person in Skyisle.¡±
I pursed my lips.
¡°How old is Giovashi?¡± I asked, curious if my parents knew that the old witch was practically immortal.
¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Dad said with a shrug.
¡°I think she¡¯s at least eighty,¡± Mom replied. ¡°I first met her as a child of four and she looked the same. Presumably she has a Vitality skill that keeps her from looking too old. I will absolutely help you plant this tree around Skyisle, but you might want to reconsider your Ward-improvement plan until you consult Giovashi about the matter.¡±
I sighed.
My Infoscopes failed to scout most of the ward System, obliterated by the powerful no-spy runes within the tunnels beneath town. Thanks to the Wardstone key left to me by Kliss, I could only access the higher level of weaker wards that had been added by the Empire of Equality. While it was a useful system to track people of Skyisle, these wards paled in comparison to the ancient Alanian obelisks hidden in the deeper tunnels.
¡°I¡¯ll figure something out,¡± I said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±
I definitely didn¡¯t want to meet with Giovashi or her barmaids in person. I¡¯ve been avoiding the Ishira priestesses, worried that the Archpriestess would banish me back into the Astral with a word. A vague plan began to form in the back of my mind.
¡°Mom?¡± I turned to Cassandra. ¡°What happened to your parents, exactly?¡±
¡°They went into the Valley of Death and never returned,¡± she said with a small shudder.
¡°What about their parents? What happened to your grandparents?¡±
¡°I don''t know,¡± Cassandra said. ¡°I think that they also perished in the Valley of Death. My parents didn¡¯t speak of them.¡±
¡°What if they didn¡¯t?¡± I asked. ¡°What if they¡¯re... somewhere else?¡±
¡°Why would they be somewhere else?¡± Mom raised an eyebrow. ¡°Each generation of the Alans was bound by a Vow to watch over the Valley.¡±
¡°Will you bind me to watch the Valley?¡± I asked.
¡°I¡¡± Mom choked, glancing over at Delta.
¡°What?¡± Delta asked.
¡°I must bind one of you to the Valley with a Vow,¡± Cassandra confessed. ¡°Skyisle must have a Sentinel.¡±
¡°So¡ if you bind me as a Sentinel of Skyisle, then Destiny could leave and perhaps become a great mage elsewhere?¡± I asked.
¡°I¡ I suppose so,¡± Mom nodded.
My mind latched onto the idea like a suckerfish.
¡°So then¡ it IS possible that an Elder Alan is alive¡ somewhere out there. Someone who wasn¡¯t bound to the Valley, an Alan who left to study magic and never returned,¡± I said. ¡°There could be an entire Alan family out in Cessna and we could never know about it because we¡¯ve lost contact a century ago.¡±
¡°I guess so?¡± Mom murmured.
¡°I¡¯m going to find them then,¡± I said resolutely.
¡°How?¡± she asked.
¡°As the Administrator of Skyisle I have full access to the Imperial Voicecast network,¡± I explained. ¡°I could easily call Agamemnon, Cessna or any other major Imperial cities and inquire about an Alan or Alana Skyisle mage living there.¡±
¡°Oh¡¡± Mom¡¯s expression brightened considerably. ¡°Really?¡±
¡°Yes, the Empire has good record keeping. But, don¡¯t get too hopeful,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s just an idea. An Elder mage or their children might not be interested in coming to Skyisle. But¡ if they are, if another Alan exists somewhere out there, it would be a big boon to our family to have them return and help us out.¡±
¡°That would be¡ swell,¡± Mom said, clasping her hands. ¡°I¡¯ve never considered that I might have¡ family out there.¡±
¡°Yep,¡± I nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know if I find someone.¡±
¡°Thank you, Dante,¡± Cassandra smiled and wrapped me in a hug. ¡°I¡¯m so proud of you.¡±
Delta huffed from where she was standing. I pulled her into our hug.
[Are you seriously hoping to find an Alan or Alana?] She asked mentally.
[Nope,] I replied. [I don¡¯t trust some distant family members not to have Vows on their souls or act within our interests. Plus, I doubt that the Cessna record keepers would just give out such information to a temp Skyisle Admin.]
[So then what?] She asked.
[We¡¯re going to create our own Elders,] I replied smugly. [We¡¯ll call them¡ Vladislav and Delta.]
[Our own elders?] my twin sister stared at me, her eyes open wide. [How long is that going to take?]
[All winter long, I suspect,] I mulled. [Come spring we should have everything ready.]
Delta nodded, looking determined. She went to light the logs in the fireplace.
I stared at the fire when the logs ignited. Sitting back on the couch I pushed the smallest amount of mana into NeuroVista and the world around me slowed its motions. My mind attempted to calculate the flickering flames and where they would next manifest using the Navier-Stokes equations. It wasn¡¯t easy.
The equations were non-linear and complex, but they did define the self-similar, fractal patterns I observed. With sufficient computational resources and accurate data, it was theoretically possible to predict the fractal patterns of a flame.
Predicting the exact shape and behavior of fire was computationally challenging due to the complexity and number of variables involved but I persisted at it, adding more mana to NeuroVista, determined to succeed.
Delta arrived at my side, slowly gliding through the air as time around me slowed, her hair floating through the air. She nuzzled into me.
[Everything¡¯s gonna be alright,] she whispered through our Astral connection. [You gave us the time we needed to change the future.]
[I hope so,] I replied.
It was hard to predict the coming future looming ahead of me and my sister, just like it was hard to predict the pattern of the flames dancing across the logs. I¡¯ve become the legitimate Administrator of Skyisle but had only the vaguest solutions for Giovashi and Hollow Mother.
On the great chessboard of Skyisle I had turned from a pawn to a queen, but would I be able to hold my position long enough or would everything I was working on become consumed in the life-killing flames of dragon Ardadria?
Book: 2. Chapter 1. The Spring of 62.
The Skyisle winter was long, far longer and harsher than the winters of Earth. It wrapped the town and surrounding forests in snow and blanketed the sky in thick clouds.
However, all things end and change. Eventually, the winter released its grip on the valley. Spring came to the mountains and bathed the valley in sunshine. Waterfalls carved a path through the ice and snow, rushing down from the great azure glaciers overhead.
Brilliant, silver-blue lily-like flowers embraced the warmth, opening their shimmering petals in the earliest hours of dawn, covering the valley in sparkling arrays of stars, signalling the start of the new year of 8062 by the Ishikarian calendar.
The snow crunched under the weight of my body, but I didn¡¯t sink into it thanks to the snowshoes I had designed. Inaria, a supermassive planet covered in silver-blue and violet rings, was slowly vanishing from the sky as sunrise came and the world of Novazem turned away towards the violet nebula on the other side, facing the endless expanse of the cosmos.
Lunaria, the satellite of Novazem slowly moved in front of Inaria adding to the alien otherness of the view in front of me, swirling clouds hiding the hexagrams on its surface.
I could barely believe it. Thirteen years ago I was but an old Soviet Administrator without hope, without a future. Thirteen years ago I stood at the virology lab of Aralsk-7, lamenting the end of my nation as I pressed the trigger of a flare gun that turned the bioweapons facility I helped design into an inferno.
I didn¡¯t expect to meet a god that called itself the Omniscience, didn¡¯t expect to end up in the local hell called the Astral Ocean, didn¡¯t expect to be reborn in the body of Dante Alan Skyisle, didn¡¯t expect to see another sunrise.
And yet, here I was, staring at the rays of the coming sun that were painting the mountains pink and orange.
¡°Skyisle spring¡¯s the best,¡± my twin sister trudged through the snow on her own snowshoes. She waved a hand at the glowing silver-blue flowers. ¡°I freaking love Starfall Snowdrops. I¡¯m really glad that they survived the Age of Darkness!¡±
¡°You know what they¡¯re called?¡± I turned my head towards Delta, watching as the wind coming from the mountains danced through her white hair.
¡°They aren¡¯t natural,¡± she said. ¡°Kopusha¡¯s Agromancy Instructor, Archmage Legathe Terestirii Tricameron designed them over a thousand years ago.¡±
¡°You remember that?¡± I asked.
Thirteen years ago, I had dragged a wisp of memory of an Alanian Agromancer Novitiate Kopusha Megara Tricameron from the depths of the Astral Ocean and accidentally attached it to my twin sister when she was but a blastocyst in our mother¡¯s womb.
¡°I remember,¡± she nodded. ¡°With each year I¡¯ve been recalling more and more of what Skyisle was like eleven centuries ago. Sometimes I can recall things about local plants at random, sometimes the memories of past Skyisle and Tricameron come to me in dreams. Sometimes I wake up and wonder who I really am.¡±
¡°Who you are?¡± I murmured.
She nodded.
¡°Sometimes I feel like I am Kopusha, an Alanian Agromancer who got another chance at life. Sometimes, I am Destiny Alana - a misfortunate girl doomed to become an Astral Phantom and a ghoul thanks to the prophecy of goddess Ishira that binds my future. Most of the time I¡¯m Delta though, a girl woven from the strange, discordant memories of a Soviet Academic Vladislav Kerenski who just wanted to be loved, but ended up destroying his life¡¯s legacy in virology research when his own government betrayed him.¡±
She looked at me with a smirk, her triangular pupil focusing on my face.
I opened my mouth to protest.
¡°Deny it all you want, Slava,¡± Delta winked at me. ¡°But I know the truth. You wanted a family more than anything.¡±
¡°I was perfectly happy designing super-viruses,¡± I crossed my arms.
¡°Uh-huh, sure,¡± my sister waved me off. ¡°Tell that to someone who doesn¡¯t have a big chunk of your soul in them.¡±
¡°What else do you remember as Kopusha?¡± I asked her, trying to derail her nitpicking of my character.
Delta¡¯s expression shifted incrementally as she switched to ancient Alanian.
¡°There were paths here made from multicolored glow stones that connected rental villas and vacation houses belonging to the great Alanian Archmagi,¡± she nodded at the wild arboreal forest at the edge of a great cliff. ¡°When the white Citadel city of Tricameron was vaporized by a massive explosion, everything here that didn¡¯t catch on fire was presumably carried away by an avalanche straight into the lake below.¡±
¡°I can scan the lake depths more thoroughly if we can get closer,¡± I nodded, staring at the azure, glittering lake far below. ¡°There might be intact tools or runestones buried in the sill.¡±
¡°That¡¯s a very deep lake,¡± Delta pointed out. ¡°How well is your Infoscope gonna do in there? Is your spell going to fizz out before reaching the bottom?¡±
¡°It might. I have more mana now,¡± I mulled contemplating whether the water and mud would disrupt the scan. ¡°I think I can do it.¡±
¡°Even if you do spot something of value, how are we going to get anything out of there?¡± Delta asked.
¡°I can make diving suits?¡± I suggested.
¡°You know how to make diving suits?¡± She asked.
¡°At the very least I could make a diving bell, all we need to do is create a pocket of air around the diver, allowing us to breathe underwater,¡± I shrugged. ¡°If I can detect things down there with the Infoscope, then we only need to go directly down to grab them.¡±
¡°Right,¡± Delta nodded. ¡°We can take the hovercraft we built last year over the lake. Being in a diving bell sounds like it would be very constraining. Wait¡ there might be Leshereed somewhere here!¡±
¡°Leshereed?¡± I asked.
¡°They used to sell diving potions to tourists when this place was a resort,¡± my twin said. ¡°It allowed a mage to breathe underwater for about fifteen minutes. Leshereed looks like a mix between a reed and strawberry plant, except it has three distinctive leaves which have a black rim. The berries are inside a black nut-like shell. They need to be collected, peeled and crushed to make the juice. Mixed with Tessiweed in proportions of ? it should make breathing potions. If Starfall Snowdrops survived then so might Leshereed! The local magi grew both in their gardens!¡±
¡°That does sound handy,¡± I nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll still need wetsuits. That lake¡¯s gotta be cold. Also, when does Leshereed start fruiting?
¡°When the snow melts fully,¡± Delta said.
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¡°We¡¯ll look for it,¡± I said. ¡°Thanks for the info.¡±
¡°Anytime,¡± she grinned, looking smug about the fact that she knew more than me about Alanian Agromancy.
We resumed our walk across the snow-covered forest, the crunching of our snowshoes adding to the sounds of the forest. The towering trees creaked all around us, their branches adorned with delicate icicles dripping onto the snow below.
Delta managed to get ahead, leading the way, her silver-white hair contrasting against the brown and green backdrop of the pines. Every now and then, she would pause and point out interesting plant specimens, Kopusha¡¯s knowledge of Agromancy shining through. I mentally noted everything she said, wondering if Delta was maybe scraping this information from the shallows of the Astral Ocean whenever she dove there as an Astral Phantom. Technically, I had a bit of Kopusha in my head too and yet my sister was somehow way ahead of me in the knowledge of local plant life. She even knew how specific plants could be combined to produce potions.
Soon enough, we reached the Alanian tower.
When we found this place a year ago, it was a complete ruin, but now it was starting to look presentable, mostly thanks to Skyisle¡¯s ex-Overseer Kliss who had rebuilt a big section of the interior wall. Before Kliss left Skyisle to get her soul repaired, she managed to set up a few wooden beams to give the restored section a semblance of a roof. Over the past year my sister and I slowly touched up the rest, turning a part of the old Alanian tower into a small, albeit cozy workshop.
A fluffy shape suddenly emerged from the kennel next to the workshop. It rebounded towards me and swiftly rushed up my leg and settled around my shoulder, a small nose nuzzling into my neck.
¡°Hey Mesmy,¡± I laughed. ¡°Ah, stop it, staphhh, cold nose!¡±
The Mesmerbane fox licked my neck, wrapping herself around me tighter. As I¡¯ve been injecting more of my soul shards into her crystalline core, the mental connection between us deepened. As she fiercely nuzzled me, I felt Mesmy¡¯s vague surface thoughts dancing across my mind like foam atop an ocean wave.
[Warm. Master. Back. Food?] The foxcub spoke not in words, but in smudgy, grayscale images entwined with a sense of smell.
I smiled at Mesmy, scratching her behind the ears. "Yes, I''m back. I''ll feed you soon."
The fox wagged her extra-fluffy gray tail, big ember and blue eyes filled with anticipation.
We went into the workshop. I tapped a crystal lantern and the interior became bathed with colorful light. After feeding Mesmy and checking on the Silent Moths I walked into a corner occupied by a large anthill.
I sat down next to it and reached out across the Astral Ocean with my Tether, connecting my soul to my soul shard within the ant queen. The queen rapidly broadcasted her power across the hive, mentally directing the rest of the Titanthorax-Ants to emerge.
In about ten minutes, the entire corner of the room became filled with red ants. I tested my connection to the queen by making them form intricate patterns and shapes. The tiny, minute bodies of the crystalline-organic insects glittered in the lantern¡¯s soft glow, coming together like ocean waves to create mesmerizing displays that grew more complex with each cycle.
I arranged the ants into the shape of a cross, then a pyramid, then a giant sphere and then a diatom.
¡°That¡¯s a lot of ants,¡± Delta commented from her corner.
She had several hundred fire-bees sitting on her head, forming shimmering, brilliant, orange-red patterns that resembled flowers that opened and closed. I wasn¡¯t the only one practicing control over insects - Delta had acquired control over a beehive from our parents'' attic long before I magically took over a few ant queens.
I nodded.
My Neurovista skill guided the ants through their queen like an orchestra conductor, linking and intertwining them. The sphere broke up, but thousands of ants remained behind in the form of a tree, with branches slowly stretching out across the room and growing as more ants connected with ants like a phantasmagoric puzzle.
¡°Wowza, they really can make some crazy stuff,¡± Delta whistled. ¡°It''s like having a miniature civilization right here in our workshop! Count me impressed, if a tad creeped out. So, are they¡ telepathic like my bees?¡±
I released my control slightly and the wave of red ants forming the tree fell apart, the workers returning to their daily routines within the large hive beneath.
¡°Yes,¡± I nodded. ¡°The queen only needs to exert a bit of a Charisma pulse and the rest of the ants handle the rest. On Novazem, almost all social insects that live in organised colonies rely on Charisma to reinforce their coordination. The ant queen produces a very specific vibration pattern across the Astral which is received by the ants that she gave birth to. I think we should get a spider colony next.¡±
¡°Ew spiders,¡± Delta huffed. ¡°What kind of spiders form colonies?¡±
¡°They¡¯re called social spiders,¡± I said. ¡°They aren¡¯t as coordinated as ants or bees, but they do build a communal web, maximising total biomass capture per spider.¡±
Delta giggled at the concept of a ¡®social spider¡¯.
¡°So if they don¡¯t have a queen, how would you manage them?¡± She asked.
¡°That¡¯s why I haven¡¯t done it yet,¡± I rubbed the back of my head, hand brushing through white curls. ¡°I need to¡ design them a queen.¡±
¡°Is that gonna be hard?¡± She asked.
¡°Extremely hard, since spiders are more independent compared to ants and bees,¡± I nodded. ¡°But worth it. The silk of local arachnids has ridiculous tensile strength.¡±
¡°Reinforced with [Strength] magic, yeah?¡± She asked.
¡°Not just that,¡± I said. ¡°Spiders are generally insanely coordinated when making webs and magic makes them more so. The colony I¡¯ve scouted optimised itself with [Dexterity].¡±
¡°The spiders are extra dexterous?¡± Delta asked. ¡°How does that help?¡±
¡°On Earth, transatlantic telegraph cables connected continents,¡± I said. ¡°After the mid-century, coaxial cable came into use. When cables are woven into an interlocking pattern it distributes the load more evenly, reducing stress concentration points and increasing overall strength.¡±
¡°Sooo¡ the spiders are entwining smaller strands to make thicker ones?¡± She asked.
¡°Yeah,¡± I affirmed. ¡°Because of how precisely they can weave together nearly microscopic threads, it magnifies the tensile strength of the entire web a hundredfold!¡±
Delta whistled instead of a reply.
¡°Why do you need to make a spider queen? Would a Charisma-maxing mage not be able to tell arachnids what to do?¡± My twin asked curiously.
¡°No,¡± I shook my head, ¡°a Charisma-maxing human wouldn''t be able to directly communicate with insects. At best, they might be able to influence very general behaviour - for example scare them away by broadcasting fear of fire. But, making bugs form specific shapes or coordinating them to create clothes for example is absolutely out of the question. The intricate communication system of the colony is specific to each species, and humans simply don''t possess the necessary receptors to understand or transmit the vibrations emitted by the queen.¡±
¡°So¡ how does the signal propagate? How far can an ant queen command her minions?¡± Delta mulled, glancing at the ants who were departing back to their hive. ¡°Bees have a honeycomb crystalline Charisma broadcaster, did your ants build something similar underground?¡±
¡°No,¡± I shook my head. ¡°The ants themselves act as broadcasters. Their shells are crystalline-organic.¡±
¡°Oh?¡±
"The ant queen emits the initial command to a select group of worker ants closest to her," I explained, "and they, in turn, pass on the message to the ants around them. This process continues in a chain-like fashion until the entire colony receives the instructions.¡±
¡°What if the chain is disrupted?¡±
¡°Then direct communication is compromised. However, the chain will re-establish itself quickly because ants also use chemical signals, pheromones as a backup way of constantly writing information onto each other and the local environment.¡±
¡°So, it''s like a multi-layered system,¡± she mulled. ¡°Charisma waves for direct commands, and chemical signals as street signs and notes?¡±
I nodded.
¡°So, how ready are we to create¡ people?¡± Delta asked, eyes glittering with impatience.
¡°Very ready,¡± I asserted. ¡°Were you able to make even letters?¡±
¡°You betcha, I did!¡± Delta glared. She dug into her buzzing backpack and pulled out a piece of paper.
There was a large star burned onto the paper.
[Behold the incredible power of the fire-bee printer!] The slightly lopsided letters beneath the star read.
¡°Amazing!¡± I grinned at her. ¡°You¡¯re getting really good at this!¡±
While I spent the winter waiting for my ant colony to grow, Delta had become exceptionally skilled coordinating her fire-bee colony with incredible precision. She had learned to utilise their fire-stingers to write notes.
"So," Delta bounced merrily at my praise. "What''s this gonna be for? I reckon, I could maybe make a bee-telegraph and send you notes seventy metres away¡ more if the queen bee¡¯s signal is amplified by the Silent Moths.¡±
¡°There¡¯s already voicecast runestone magic for direct person-person communication,¡± I shook my head.
¡°Sooo¡ then what¡¯s the plan?¡±
"A printer is power that can change hearts and spread knowledge,¡± I waved the piece of paper. ¡°The printing press revolutionised the world back on Earth. It allowed for the mass production of books, making knowledge accessible to all. Before the printing press, books were painstakingly copied by hand, a slow and laborious process and only the privileged few had access to knowledge. The same issue plagues the village of Skyisle. The local church only has a few Imperial books, nowhere enough to educate everyone.¡±
¡°Hrrrmmm¡ so we¡¯ll be making books to teach kids how to read?¡± Delta arched an eyebrow.
¡°Kids and adults. Not just that, a printer is required for proper administrative work,¡± I said. ¡°Writing tables by hand isn''t anywhere as effective or quick as eighty thousand bees doing it.¡±
¡°Booring,¡± she huffed. ¡°Books and office paperwork then?¡±
¡°Aim higher,¡± I grinned. ¡°We¡¯re going to make our own newspaper!¡±
2 : 2 Great-Aunt Delta
[Cassandra Alana Skyisle]
It¡¯s not easy being the last Sentinel of Skyisle.
My parents left me when I was but sixteen, told me that they must undertake the journey to the cursed Valley of Death to attempt to reclaim our legacy before the breath of [Decay] stole more levels from the villagers of Skyisle. Mom and dad made me swear a Vow to Ishira, that I would watch this house and protect Skyisle and then pass the Sentinel¡¯s torch onto my oldest child.
They had not returned.
Years after, I met Georgi in Agamemnon and had twins.
Destiny, my daughter was born first. Her arrival was prophesied by Ishira Archpriestess Giovashi. The priestess told me that my daughter was destined to bring doom to Skyisle. Every night I prayed to Ishira that Destiny¡¯s fortune would change, that she wasn¡¯t doomed to become a monster, that perhaps her diligent brother could save her, help her tread away from the wrong path.
Dante, my son was born second. He would not wake, would not take a breath when he came into the world. It took midwife Tamara almost all of her magic to get Dante¡¯s heart to start.
Both of my children are¡ strange in their own ways. Perhaps the blood of Alania, the power of the Sentinel Legacy made them unique.
It is hard to deal with rambunctious teenage twins, because they support each other in their unending rebellion against my authority.
Destiny constantly insists that she can fly. Dante is too clever for his own good.
Things got worse when both of them somehow unlocked their Soul-Song! They graduated at 12 from the Church, accomplishing what many would have considered an impossible feat.
Dante now bears a vile, silver pin of Equality on his lapel. A year ago, he somehow gained the job from Overseer Ignatius as the temporary Administrator of Skyisle. It was a feat even more absurd than learning enough mathematics to unlock your System at twelve! I hope and pray that he will not stray from Ishira and Skyisle and will not start to worship Goddess Equality.
Destiny and I constantly butt heads over the smallest thing. Such is the fate of being a mother.
Dante is kind and cooperative, but he is also incredibly odd in his own way. He didn¡¯t inherit my core skill unlike Destiny who already shows great progress in Agromancy knowledge and love of plants. It was only thanks to the fact that she wishes to become an Agromancer that our strained relationship has already started to mend.
The oddest thing occurred two weeks ago, when I received a rather unexpected letter in the mail. The address of origin was written on the envelope with bold, precise letters that looked like they were burned onto the page. I suspected that it was the job of an incredibly skilled fire mage or perhaps some kind of an artifact.
I showed the letter to my husband, Georgi. He seemed quite excited by it¡ unlike me.
I was concerned, could not believe that it was real.
The letter was from the ¡°Office of Vladislav Alexandrovich Kerenski, Emerald City Academia, the city of Oz¡± and featured a distinctive, regal-looking logo burned onto the paper.
Its contents were even more bizarre than the strange address. It stipulated that Oz Archmage Vladislav Alexandrovich Kerenski was a research partner of Delta Alana Skyisle, a female archmage who left Skyisle hundreds of years ago. It also stated that Lady Alana wished to return to her native land and that she was coming to visit us in a few weeks time!
The bewildering letter made my head spin and my heart pulse in worry, so I focused on my Argromancy work and put it out of my mind.
As far as I knew, there was no Lady Alana who left Skyisle, but then again¡ if she was centuries-old maybe my parents simply didn¡¯t tell me about her.
I was busy watering the plants in the living room when the doorbell jingled loudly.
¡°Now who could it be? Maybe Millizen wants to start me working on her farm earlier?¡± I muttered as I walked to the door and opened it.
A tall, lanky, dangerous-looking wizard loomed in the doorway. They wore a long, dark, spotted robe. A gray-blue scarf was wrapped around their entire face, mirror goggles covering up the eyes. A large, black, witch-style hat loomed at the top of their head and the insides of the stranger''s coat buzzed ominously.
I gulped, retreating backwards and nearly tripped over the coffee table.
¡°Georgi!¡± I barked towards the workshop.
¡°What?¡± He yelled back.
¡°We have a visitor!¡± I yelled.
The lanky wizard simply stood in the doorway, not saying anything.
¡°A visitor? Be there in a heartbeat,¡± Georgi rumbled, emerging from his woodworking shop connected to our house. His thick, leather boots thumped towards the front entrance of our house. He tensed up when he saw the strange, silent, buzzing wizard.
I immediately started to weave the [Paralyze Parasite] spell inside my hand, in case this mysterious wizard was a danger to me and my family.
One of my Agromancy insect-stunning spells could theoretically knock a human out, if I poured enough mana into it.
Strangers didn¡¯t show up in Skyisle out of the blue, our valley was cut off from the rest of the world by the Valley of Death and glacier-covered, impassable mountains. The only way in was via an Imperial Skyship and the ship came on a specific schedule once a month.
There was something funky going on under the coat of the silent mage. The entire surface of it bulged and rippled constantly.
I aimed [Paralyze Parasite] at the stranger.
Thick, round goggles glinted back at me. I could not see his face or expression under the thick scarf. If he was here to hurt us, I wouldn''t go out without a fight.
Seconds dragged on, my heart thumping faster and faster.
A gloved hand slowly pulled a piece of paper from within the depths of the robe, without crossing the threshold of our home.
I peered at the scarf-covered face, not understanding what was going on.
Georgi took a step forward and grabbed the note from the gloved hand.
I cast a silent, area-wide [Identify] spell. My Agromancy senses told me that there were constantly moving¡ living things beneath the cloak. What the hell was this monstrosity?! I started to panic as I sensed nothing but insects beneath the coat.
My hands reached into my pocket where I kept a few dangerous vials. I couldn''t pick which poison or spell to use! I didn''t even know if this THING was human!
Georgi wasn''t afraid, he couldn¡¯t detect insects with his magic. He looked at the paper presented to him by the overdressed wizard at an angle I couldn''t see.
He started to read the words on the note out loud.
¡°Greetings my dear Georgi and Cassandra,
I am Delta Alana Skyisle, the Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz. I was born in Skyisle village 242 years ago. When I was young, I left this valley and traveled to the far reaches of the world to the Emerald City where I had presided until I received the prophecy about your children. I am your great-great-great-great-aunt. Please permit me to enter your home so that I may bless your future heroes!"
Georgi¡¯s eyebrows went up and up, nearly escaping from his face. I¡¯ve never seen him this befuddled. Neither of us had expected the absolute absurdity of this note.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
[Dante Alan Skyisle]
Controlling a person made entirely from ants and covered by bees wasn¡¯t the easiest thing to do.
I smirked mentally as our parents read the note.
The Wizard of Oz novel by L. Frank Baum was adapted into Russian by Alexander Volkov in 1939. Volkov was a Physics and Mathematics teacher and he didn''t just translate the original book, he expanded it to an entire generation-long series. It was one of my favorite stories when I was a kid in the USSR. The second book by Volkov about the Emerald City was published in 1963. It featured a girl from Kansas and her uncle utilizing rationality and modern technology against an evil warlord who constructed wood automatons. I enjoyed reading it even as an adult in the 1960s.
Being reborn in Skyisle and seeing how vibrant the mountain valley looked for the first time reminded me of the American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In it, Ellie who lived in black-and-white Kansas mundanity saw Oz for the first time in over-saturated color. This was because the 1939 film used ''Three-strip Technicolor'', a groundbreaking technological innovation of its time.
The lanky insect mech, masquerading as Archmage Delta handed dad another note.
¡°Do not be surprised!¡± Georgi read. ¡°I am here to help and guide your children - Destiny and Dante. I Vow to be their vigilant instructor and protector. Their birth was prophesied long ago by the Future-Seers of the Academia of Oz. I know of their high Stats, know that they unlocked their System at 12. Your children are indeed future heroes destined to save the Skyisle and perhaps the world!¡±
¡°...my son and daughter¡ are heroes?¡± Mom blinked at the insect-person.
¡°Also, what¡¯s that buzzing? Are you buzzing?¡± Dad asked.
¡°She¡ is covered in insects,¡± our mom whispered to him. ¡°I can sense them. Bees and... ants, I think.¡±
I handed dad another piece of paper printed out by the bee printer within the insect mech by Delta.
Georgi read it out loud for Cassandra.
¡°One of my core skills is control of insects. Long ago, I had taken a sacred Vow of silence to Goddess Ishira, giving up my beautiful singing voice to increase my Wizard powers. There are indeed a few hundred bees and ants in my coat, but they are quite harmless to you. Do not be afraid. I am in full control of them.¡±
A fat, incredibly fuzzy yellow and black striped bumble-bee emerged from the oversized coat pocket. It looked chunky and adorable. It was the first fire-bee Delta and I modified it in a month-long experiment to create an immortal insect using [Green-Vitality] crystals harvested from the Mystic-Willow-Oak tree in the abandoned tower. My sister gave this bee a name - Ogonek.
Ogonek looked at me and my parents and then crawled back into the fake wizard¡¯s pocket wiggling its tiny, adorable, fuzzy bee bottom.
Mom giggled nervously. The insect mech handed dad another note.
¡°Did you know that there¡¯s a wasp nest in your attic? I will put a nest of my insects in your attic to protect your son. They will kill the wasp infestation. I do not require a room. I will be traveling often to Agamemnon on further Archmage business. I will teleport into your attic whenever I am needed. Please assign me as a Guest into the house Wards, so that I may enter and do magic inside your home,¡± Dad read.
¡°Well, aren¡¯t you demanding?¡± He muttered, squinting at the insect mech.
Mom gave him ¡®the look¡¯.
¡°Yeah, I know. I was going to deal with that nest... but I kept putting it off.¡± Georgi made an apologetic face at Cassandra.
¡°Can we trust¡ this Delta of Oz?¡± Mom asked him, still looking quite concerned.
Delta and I rushed through the living room to the front door. My parents looked at us and then back at the insect mech.
¡°Archmage Delta, I presume?¡± I bowed. ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you in person!¡±
¡°Likewise!¡± Delta chimed beside me. "Was teleporting here all the way from Oz draining on your mana, my Lady?"
The insect mech bowed back at us.
¡°You¡ how? What?¡± My mom sent us a questioning look.
¡°We saw the letter from the Emerald City, mom!¡± I explained with a grin. "She knew everything about us! Archmage Delta isn''t our enemy, someone from far, far beyond the reach of the Empire of Equality - our long lost kin!"
My sister nodded.
¡°Archmage... Delta is clearly not an Equalizer,¡± Dad commented as he looked back at us.
There was immense pride in his eyes. He had bought our beautifully-wrapped up lie about us being born heroes. Georgi wanted his children to be special.
We were indeed special, just not in the way he presumed.
I was no hero. The local deity that called itself the Omniscience didn¡¯t start my Novazem life narrative with the premise of ¡°You¡¯re a hero that this world needs¡±.
In fact, he didn¡¯t tell me anything in regards to a mission and shoved me into an unborn girl¡¯s body that already had a soul in it. Heroes didn¡¯t start up with that sort of dark predicate! If it wasn¡¯t for my quick thinking separating myself from the body of my sister and dividing us in half with magic, my far larger soul would have likely completely absorbed and dissolve Delta¡¯s!
¡°Be warned - the house ward will know if your Alana name is fake,¡± Dad sternly told the insect mech. He reached out and touched the control rune keystone that was embedded into the right side of the door frame. The keystone flashed in acknowledgement of his command.
¡°Scan and add... Delta Alana Skyisle and her insects as a temporary Guest into the house ward!¡± Dad spoke into the keystone rune.
"Put your hand onto the glowing Keystone outside for the ward to add you," he ordered.
The insect mech did as instructed.
The rune on the wall flashed once again, acknowledging the order. Via the Infoscope I saw that it scanned the pulsating core of the ant Queen residing deep within the mech that contained shards of my and Delta''s souls in it. The ward had recognized an Alan and the controlling crystal flashed with violet tones.
Archmage Delta nodded and stepped through the door. The ward had accepted the fake human, authorized the insect mech to enter.
¡°So you are our¡ long lost 4-times-great-aunt?¡± Mom spoke as she watched the fake Archmage with squinted eyes. Dad had returned to her side.
¡°Can we trust her? I¡¯m only identifying the bees on her,¡± she whispered to dad.
I noted that mom was hitting the fake mage with sneaky [Identify] spells.
As she did, I intercepted one of Cassandra''s [Identify] spells and changed it to detect an adult female human under the layer of bees and ants. When mom received the false information, she relaxed ever so slightly.
Archmage Delta handed dad another piece of paper from her coat.
¡°I am indeed your Great-aunt,¡± he read the words. ¡°But, you can just call me Lady Alana¡ or Great-Aunt Delta! I don¡¯t mind. I know every brick in this house. I helped renovate this lovely cottage with my grandfather Miller Alan Skyisle for Anatolia Alana Skyisle 202 years ago. There¡¯s a metal plaque embedded within the central brick inside the fireplace, underneath the mantel.¡±
¡°What, really?¡± Georgi commented.
¡°Yep,¡± I nodded. ¡°I saw it when I was cleaning under there¡ Great-Aunt Delta speaks the truth! I believe her!¡±
"Me too," Delta nodded.
Dad went up to the fireplace and looked underneath it.
¡°Oh¡ there is a very small, soot-covered plaque here within the central brick. I didn¡¯t even know about this!¡± He yelled back at us, wiping the plaque with his sleeve.
¡°This hearth is dedicated to Anatolia Alana Skyisle by Miller Alan Skyisle, year 7847. Long may it keep you warm. By Ishira! That¡¯s exactly two hundred and two years ago!¡± Dad read.
He was totally convinced now. If Archmage Delta asked him to spin in a circle and touch his nose for the greater good of the Alan family, he probably would.
¡°This home is yours once again, Elder! Thank you for bringing us the good news about our children! We were¡ indeed very worried about their high stats!¡± Dad¡¯s voice trembled as he spoke. There were sparks of tears in his eyes. ¡°I¡¯ll add you as Family member to the house Ward!¡±
The insect mech nodded per my instructions.
¡°Welcome back to the family, Great-aunt Delta!¡± Mom said.
I exhaled. Mom was rather overprotective of me, but our ruse had worked well, quelling her worries.
The insect mech cautiously stepped towards us and bowed, offering me a gloved hand.
I lifted my hand towards the glove and grabbed it, shaking it.
¡°Welcome back to the family, Great-Aunt!¡± I smiled. ¡°I accept being an apprentice of the Archmage of Oz and hope to learn much magic from you!¡±
¡°Likewise!¡± Delta clapped her hands beside me. ¡°Thank you for coming to take care of us, Elder! You gotta be like... the oldest person in Skyisle! Wowza! Does this make you the Eldest Elder in the Village?¡±
I made the insect mech nod its scarf-wrapped head.
My sister smashed into me with an all-encompassing hug with a loud squee. I didn¡¯t resist it.
¡°We¡¯re gonna be heroes, brother,¡± she cried out, holding onto me tightly.
As I hugged her back, I realized that even though the hug was just something Delta and I had orchestrated as part of our play... it still felt nice.
In the USSR, my grandparents had died in the great war with the German Reich and my parents had been tempered by war and their losses - they had never shown me affection, which was probably why I had dedicated my life to making viruses and not towards building relationships.
While we could not reveal the truth about us to our parents about our Alanian Elder project, I knew in my heart that my twin was someone that I could trust absolutely.
I didn''t have to lie to Delta about my origins or passions or my dreams - didn''t have to deceive her. She already knew absolutely everything about who I was, since about a third of her soul was filled with wisps of my memories.
¡°This is sooooo¡ friggin¡¯ awesome!¡± She muttered.
¡°Yep,¡± I told my twin sister as I hugged her back fiercely. ¡°Absolutely! We¡¯ll work hard under her tutelage¡ and become great Archmagi just like Great-Aunt Delta and Academic Kerenski!¡±
The figure made from ants and bees wrapped in winter clothes nodded signifying agreement.
I made the insect mech bend down to our level and embrace us both. We hugged our fake Aunt back with wide smiles on our faces.
Mom finally became convinced that our ancient Great-Aunt had returned to Skyisle. I saw that she had let go of the [Paralysis] spell that she was tensely holding with her left hand out of Archmage Delta¡¯s theoretical line of sight.
The imaginary curtain of our little theater production fell.
2 : 3 Dragonheart Engine
¡°See we don¡¯t need Kliss!¡± Delta winked at me from her leather-bound seat.
The hovercraft we built last year had been cleaned and improved to carry more weight and was now gliding over the delta of the Cascadia river. Large ice chunks were floating downstream, heading to their final destination in the Valley of Death.
I glanced over at my overly cheerful sister. "Yeah, I suppose we don''t need Kliss to gather the parts we need. But it would have been easier with an extra set of capable hands."
"We have ants now! That''s like a bazillion tiny hands that can make one big hand," Delta insisted. "Stop sulking ¡®bout our ex-Overseer already!"
I sighed wistfully.
We passed by the alien-looking crystalline structures at the edge of the Dead Zone and dove into the mists of the swampy area of the Silent Glade.
In another minute, a swarm of glowing, silver Silent moths engulfed us, trying to get us to jump overboard and drown in the muck.
Mesmy puffed up on my shoulder, glaring at the moths.
The adorable gray mesmerbane fox projected an anti-charisma field that repelled the mind-controlling bugs, reduced their influence to a gentle whisper, a pull in the back of my head. Delta winced and slid over closer to us.
"Jeez, this feels weird," she murmured. "Shoo, stupid moths."
She waved a hand, making the glowing bugs flutter away from her.
"Remember why we''re here," I said.
"Ah... right," Delta nodded. "Damn moths are making my thoughts all weird. Let''s get as many as we can!"
She closed her eyes, diverting her mind to controlling the colony of Fire-Bees within her backpack. I reached out and opened the buzzing leather flap for her. A swarm of bees emerged from within, staying within the bubble projected by Mesmy. The bees began to strike Silent Moths from the air with flashing stingers. A brigade of ants moved around the base of the craft, bringing the fallen moths into a cage one by one.
I watched with satisfaction as Delta''s fire bees and my ants worked efficiently to harvest the Silent Moths.
"Go team!" I said giving my twin a high-five and petting Mesmy.
We moved slowly across the swamp, collecting more moths along our way until we reached the rocky island where we found the crashed glider a year ago.
Once the hovercraft stopped at the shore I began to assemble the ant mech. It took a while for the ants to lock together into the shape of a large, tall human wrapped in a gray cloak. The fake human slowly lifted up our bags and we began our ascent.
Soon enough, we reached the glider wreck site. Shattered crystal windows glinted in the rays of sunlight breaking through the fog. Rusting shards of metal bits were halfway buried in the mossy ground all around us.
The ant mech placed the bags on the ground and slowly broke up, the ants spreading out across the old wreck like a red wave of tiny, glittering gemstones. Delta''s swarm of bees went into the top parts of the ship, crawling into every nook and cranny up above.
The ants rapidly formed river-like chains that carried little crystalline bits and anything else they found of value out of the wreck.
I pulled out a Blood-elk sandwich as I watched them work at it with inhuman diligence. Having my own army of ants was highly amusing.
My sister joined my picnic. I kept my Infoscopes and lymphagons moving around the ship, sniping down any Silent Moths that could disrupt our scavenging efforts with [Sectus-Anima].
I chuckled as Delta enthusiastically chomped on her sandwich, getting jelly and crumbs all over her face. It looked like she had the appetite of a cave bear waking up from hibernation. When she was done, she burped noisily and climbed atop of the ship, claiming it as her dominion.
Then, she slid inside one of the shattered windows and started to help the insects tear apart bulkheads with a crowbar we pilfered from our dad''s workshop.
I mentally jotted down every uncovered rune, sliding various found crystals into a pouch as the ants brought them to me.
"Hey Dante, check this out!" Delta called from inside the wreck.
I climbed up the tilted hull to the broken window. Inside I found Delta in what was left of the cockpit. She was wiping dust off a large, egg-shaped crystal that she pried out of the main console.
"What do you think this is for?" she asked excitedly. "Some kind of navigation device?"
I examined the gold runework within the crystal with one of my Infoscopes.
"It¡¯s a control core,¡± I explained. ¡°From what I can see, it allows a mage to split their mental pattern into a thousand, to sense all of the separate parts of the ship. Oh! This could be very handy for controlling your bees better. For example it would allow you to print a hundred pages at once instead of a single page with the bee printer¡ or we could make something completely new with it.¡±
I rubbed my chin imagining other creative uses of bees.
¡°Woo¡ greater bee powers!¡± Delta grinned and resumed her dismantling of the cockpit.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
I dove through the ship with the Infoscope and directed the ants to rip apart the magisteel casing that secured the massive, shattered dragonheart engine beneath the ship.
It took us and the ants nearly all day to demolish a section of the crashed ship, but eventually we were able to pull the crystalline remnants of the dragonheart core out.
"That looks soooper busted up," Delta commented, examining the crystalline core that was cracked in three sections.
"It is indeed completely inoperable," I nodded. "But it''s still very powerful."
"Powerful in what sense?" my twin asked. "Can you make me a glider with it or no?"
"Eventually," I nodded. "But... I think that I should make a weapon with this semi-intact bit... first."
"What kind of a weapon?" she asked.
"I don''t know yet," I mulled. "A bomb, perhaps? No... a rocket! From what I can see, this crystalline matrix propagates, magnifies specific magical waveforms such as Gravity. I think I could get it to function akin to a small nuke..."
"A nuke?" Delta blinked.
"An inverted one," I said. "Something that rips all energy and magic out of a wide area... like an anti-magical explosion."
"Hold up, who are you planning to anti-nuke here?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at me. "I thought you don''t want to blow things up on the account that the local Astral is already hella shredded?"
"I don''t want to blow things up," I nodded. "What I''m planning to make with this... would suck all magic out of a wide area."
"Why?"
"Thirteen years ago, before either of us was born... a machine of flying death appeared above the valley. A monster, courtesy of Archpriestess Giovashi who nearly destroyed Skyisle. I have been thinking how to stop a level 200 abomination like that for thirteen years now. If Aradria, the dragon, returns... this should be able to handle her... permanently."
Delta opened and closed her mouth.
"Right," she shuddered. "Let''s hope that doesn''t happen though."
"Yeah," I said. "With any luck, Giovashi won''t stir the dragon. But it pays to be prepared, just in case. Now, let''s gather up these crystal fragments and dragonheart pieces. I believe that there''s enough materials here to make something really potent."
I directed the ants to carefully transport the dragonheart shards back to our bags and the hovercraft. Delta helped, even though a look of concern was painted on her face.
"I don''t like thinking about a dragon setting our valley on fire," she muttered. "But you''re right, better safe than sorry. If anyone can build something to fight Aradria, it''s you, Slava. Um... if this thing sucks magic out of an area... would it suck magic out from us too?" She asked.
"That''s where the guided rocket part comes in," I said. "It would have to be a long distance surface-to-air weapon. Last time Aradria was here she didn''t come close to the ground."
"How would a rocket like that know what to target?" Delta asked.
"It would target magic itself," I explained. "Dragons are extremely magically potent, they can form entire supercell storms around themselves when they fly."
"What would prevent it from flying into another magical thing?" Delta asked.
"This is a dragonheart engine. It could target a living dragonheart, like a mana signature lock," I explained. "I can build the rocket frame and firing mechanism from a magisteel pipe salvaged from this wreck. Something really basic, like a Katyusha rocket launcher should send it flying upwards and then the magical lock will hopefully do the rest."
"I see," Delta said, looking sullen.
"Don''t worry," I consoled her. "There''s enough materials to make a glider for you later too... I just think that an anti-dragon solution would be more important to make. Protecting Skyisle comes first. Aradria is a menace as whatever her fire touches is permanently irradiated."
Delta sighed. "Yeah, I know. The cursed section of the forest where nothing grows thanks to dragonfire is very creeptastic."
"I''ve yet to figure out how to cancel the radiance of decay," I said. "At the very least, if we take down a dragon, it''ll put a big spike in Giovashi''s plans of using her to milk Vows out of the locals. Now let''s get all this loot back home so I can start working on a launcher mechanism!"
We gathered up the rest of the useful debris from the crashed skyship. Then we boarded our hovercraft again, our bags full to bursting with gathered treasures, and set off back through the mists toward home.
My mind buzzed with plans for crafting new tools with things we''ve uncovered.
[Cassandra Alana Skyisle]
Great-Aunt Delta walked into the living room, readjusting her goggles. Her large cloak buzzed with bees.
The lanky woman was extremely odd and unnerving, but I wanted to talk with her, even if the conversation between us was rather slow and had to rely on magic notes that she produced from her pocket.
It was late evening and the sun was setting, casting orange light across the long, coat-covered figure. I gathered up my courage and approached the woman.
"Elder¡ Delta?" I inquired.
"Afraid not," an incredibly fuzzy, male voice suddenly replied from the figure.
"W-what?!" I nearly fell over in shock.
Surely, this wasn''t Great-Aunt Delta! Our Elder could not speak!
¡°So then who are we speaking with?¡± Georgi walked into the living room and stood next to me.
"Allow me to introduce myself," the fuzzy voice continued. "My name is professor Vladislav Alexandrovich Kerenski."
"What?!" I blinked.
"I am using the bees owned by¡ my lovely colleague, Delta Alana Skyisle, to speak to you using a very special, long-distance, sound-transfer skill. It¡¯s kind of similar to the Voicecast rune matrix that the Equality Overseers use to communicate with each other.¡±
"Oh!" I relaxed. "You are Great-Aunt Delta''s colleague from Oz Academia, of course! Forgive me, professor, your voice... really surprised me." I recomposed myself and curtsied to the professor. I wasn''t sure if he could see me.
"Indeed!" The professor laughed. "Archmage Delta and I have worked on many projects together in... Oz. She has told me so much about you, mo¡ my dear Cassandra!"
"What kind of things?" I blushed slightly, feeling out of place suddenly talking to a new person I didn''t know that well.
"All excellent, believe me!" The professor replied. "You are a hard working, talented Agromancer. Do have a seat, Cassandra and Georgi. Our conversation will be quite¡ long and revealing."
I sat down on an armchair and faced Elder Delta who crossed her arms and relaxed in the wide armchair.
So... Archmage Vladislav could see me? Damn it! I didn''t even put on makeup today! I wasn''t ready for this conversation! I blushed even deeper.
"Please don''t fret," Vladislav continued. "I know this call was a bit unplanned, but I simply couldn''t resist. In fact, I wanted to talk to both of you for a very long time¡"
"Oh?" I blinked. "How can we be of assistance to a distinguished Oz professor?"
"Ah, well¡ It has everything to do with your children, Dante and Destiny, my dear Cassandra. You see, their future is essentially of great interest to me."
2 : 4 Conversation
Giovashi planned to turn us into monsters, and had full control over our parents thanks to their unshakable faith. Thus, we had but one option to work with - to undermine the power of the Archpriestess with our own, far more elaborate lies.
As things stood, I was a soul from a completely different world ¡ª one of nuclear power, mass production, machine labor and computers. A world where I bred death itself and had no family to speak of.
I knew that I couldn''t change Cassandra¡¯s faith completely ¡ª after all in the perception of the locals¡ Delta and I really were Astral Phantoms, ghosts that refused to die, necromancers who split our souls to control a variety of creatures and insects. We knew far more than we should, were mythical monstrosities from the depths of the Astral Ocean, were terrible abominations that devoured the souls of newborn children.
I sat on my bed with Delta, upstairs in my bedroom. At the same time, I stared at my mother¡¯s worried face through an Infoscope that hovered in the living room next to the Great-Aunt Delta.
¡°Professor?¡± Mom asked, her hands trembling ever so slightly. ¡°Please¡ elaborate on your interest in my son.¡±
¡°Well¡¡± My words were received by a crystal Delta was holding, who in turn automatically projected the information to the Queen Bee who sent it across the bee colony reinforced with the control core we found on the Basq skyship.
After a month of tweaking, we managed to adjust the core into what I labelled the [Vox Colony] tool, aka, ¡°the speaker made of bees¡± skill.
Because of all of the steps involved, there was a bit of a delay in me speaking the words upstairs and my words emerging from the bees that were sitting inside the large coat atop of the ant mech down in the living room.
¡°I wish to become your son¡¯s patron, Cassandra,¡± I resumed. ¡°Just as Archmage Delta wishes to become Destiny¡¯s patron.¡±
¡°A patron? What does this entail exactly?¡± Mom asked.
¡°In Oz we have arcane rules of wizard apprenticeship. Any Archmage like myself can choose an apprentice to sponsor with my knowledge or finances by signing up at the Palace of Education and Uplift. As a highly respectable Academic of Oz and Delta¡¯s friend I have chosen to sponsor your son''s future. In exchange for this, I wish the honor of speaking on your family''s behalf at the council of Skyisle Elders.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± Mom blinked. Her eyes suddenly sparked with inner fire. ¡°Speaking on our behalf?! About what? To what end?¡±
¡°Skyisle is doomed,¡± I explained to her. ¡°People¡¯s levels are capped and so are their skills. With every year, the problem gets worse. I need the full cooperation of the Elders of Skyisle to change the situation.¡±
¡°I understand that Elder Wizards have quirky¡ traditions,¡± mom noted. ¡°But¡ still. I¡¯d like more explanation, please.¡±
¡°Using my great arcane powers, I have prognosticated many possibilities of the future for your family,¡± I said. ¡°Your children''s future, nay¡ their very lives depend on OUR aid and collaboration. You must understand that your son and daughter are¡ shall we say¡ very different.¡±
"I do," Cassandra nodded. "They''ve always been bright."
¡°Dante is level seventeen now,¡± I hammered in my point. ¡°Destiny is level sixteen. If both of them keep going they will reach the level cap soon... reach it and bypass it."
¡°Level seventeen?! Sixteen?! Ave Ishira!¡± Mom gasped.
"Bypass the cap? How?!" Georgi asked.
"With tools and magic that I will teach them," I explained.
"You can do that?" Cassandra asked, her eyes wide.
¡°Yes,¡± I said. ¡°Dante and Destiny have both progressed a lot faster compared to other children of Skyisle. They are very, very special children and their unique powers and skills must be nurtured. They cannot become heroes unless they face the future head on.¡±
"You''re right,¡± Cassandra sighed. "I worry for their future..."
¡°I am helping your Many-times-great-Aunt redesign your house wards,¡± I said. ¡°But that¡¯s just the beginning. Archmage Delta Alana and I wish to have full control of all of the Wards beneath all of Skyisle. I want full cooperation from everyone in the Village, starting with yours. In fact, I need your help."
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¡°W-what? Why?¡± Mom sputtered.
¡°Giovashi Incandactia Skyisle isn¡¯t who she appears to be,¡± I revealed. ¡°She is an ancient renegade, a criminal who escaped from prison centuries ago. She doesn¡¯t even believe in Ishira. She is someone who is masquerading as an Ishira Priestess in Skyisle, when in reality she is nothing of the sort."
¡°What¡ but she¡¡± Mom muttered.
¡°That can¡¯t be true!¡± Dad said. ¡°Giovashi defended us when Aradria attacked Skyisle!¡±
¡°Alas, it was a lie,¡± I said. ¡°Giovashi brought Aradria to Skyisle on purpose. To gain power through false Vows, to bind everyone in the village to herself through clever deception.¡±
¡°Are you¡ certain?¡± Mom¡¯s eyes ignited from within.
¡°Completely,¡± I said. ¡°Giovashi needs to be stopped. This is why Archmage Delta came to Skyisle - she wanted to help her family! A snake has taken control of your village, and has been feeding on all of you to gain power. Giovashi bound the souls of many Skyisle-born to herself with dark magic. Thus, when you will die, you will not go to Arxtruria, the paradise of Ishira. Instead, your soul will forevermore be bound to Giovashi!"
Georgi gulped.
Cassandra opened and closed her mouth, an expression of pure shock and panic on her face.
¡°I promise you, our intentions are pure,¡± I insisted. ¡°I only wish what¡¯s best for your family and children. Archmage Delta has been with me for almost my entire life in¡ Oz. She saved my life more than once and I trust her wholeheartedly. She is akin to a¡ soul-sister to me. I care for her deeply and you are her only family. I would have called you sooner, but [Vox Colony] skill used to transfer my voice to you across such great distances from Oz to Skyisle didn''t work until now.¡±
Yep. Great distances of¡ exactly 3 meters.
Mom nodded, buying my lies.
The ant mech under my control reached out into a pocket and gave a paper with the following words on it:
[It¡¯s all true, my great-great-great-niece. Giovashi does not serve Ishira, nor Skyisle. She is a renegade, dark mage and it falls to our family to stop her.]
My parents'' faces became even more pale when they read the words burned onto the page by the bees.
An awkward, deep silence fell between us. Mom fidgeted on her chair, not sure what else to say. She likely didn''t enjoy the fact that she was talking to a speaker made of bees.
¡°Is there anything you¡¯d like to know about me?¡± I asked, steering the conversation away from the clearly uncomfortable topic to give my parents time to think things over.
¡°Oh. Uhm.¡± Cassandra perked up. ¡°What¡¯s it like in Oz?¡±
¡°The country of Oz is quite different from Skyisle,¡± I spun my tale of lies based on ¡®The Wizard of the Emerald City¡¯ children¡¯s book series by Alexander M. Volkov. ¡°Its big, beautiful capital city is decorated with countless green emeralds. A yellow brick road leads to it across the lush countryside. Its name is¡ Emerald City.¡±
¡°W-will you take Dante or Destiny to Oz when they are older?¡± Dad asked.
¡°No,¡± I replied.
¡°What?! Why not?¡± Mom blinked.
¡°The road across Novazem to get there is rife with danger, unbelievable nightmarish horrors, giant sabre tooth tigers, fields that will put you to sleep with magic, cursed mountains that will attract and rip out your soul, talking creatures, raging rivers, men made of metal and straw, etc,¡± I added plentiful detail from Alexander Volkov¡¯s imaginary universe. ¡°Lady Alana¡¯s trip to Skyisle was one way - via our most powerful teleporter pointed at the house she lived in once. She will never be able to return to Oz.¡±
¡°Oh,¡± mom murmured. ¡°But then how will you be Dante¡¯s patron?¡±
¡°For now, I will provide him with a fully remote education!¡± I declared. ¡°By the time he finished his Wizard Apprenticeship with me, he will know as much as I do about the natural sciences!¡±
¡°Natural sciences?¡±
¡°I¡¯m a Professor of Natural Sciences, Cassandra,¡± I replied. ¡°Magic is great and all, but Skyisle has a very serious problem with Leveling up, yes?¡±
¡°Yes.¡± Cassandra nodded.
¡°Using the knowledge I shall pass down to him, Dante will become an expert at Natural Sciences such as logic, mathematics, biology and many, many other unique fields. It will help him¡ permanently break the level limits that the people of Skyisle are struggling with.¡±
¡°That... too good to be true,¡± my mother muttered. ¡°Forty generations of Alans have failed to do anything about the magogenic fault. The Valley of Death has taken countless lives!¡±
¡°Dante won¡¯t be alone in his quest,¡± I said. ¡°His sister and Archmage Delta will assist him in this difficult endeavor and so will you and your husband. One way or another, I will help your people break the Level barrier, I promise,¡± I declared wholeheartedly.
[Quest: Help the people of Skyisle pass the level cap!] The System dinged. I ignored it with an eye-roll.
¡°It cannot be done.¡± Mom rubbed her hands together as if she was freezing. ¡°Far too many have perished in the Valley of Death. My children must never be allowed to go there!"
¡°It can be done without going into this Valley of yours,¡± I said.
¡°How?¡± Mom asked.
¡°Dante can already cast level 21 spells,¡± I confessed.
¡°WHAT?!¡± Mom jumped up from her seat. ¡°It can¡¯t be true! It can¡¯t!¡±
¡°It is true,¡± I said.
¡°How?!¡± mom muttered, pacing around Great-Aunt Delta. ¡°How can this be? Nobody has skills higher than Level 20 in Skyisle¡ except for outsiders like the Imperial Overseer. Only aberrants... phantoms can cast spells above their level!"
Her silver-blue eyes struck me through the Infoscope as she had reached a dark conclusion.
2 : 5 The Bishop
¡°That''s going exceptionally well,¡± Delta commented dryly as she stretched on the bed beside me. ¡°Want me to take over?¡±
¡°Shush, I got it.¡± I mentally deactivated the crystal microphone, shooing my twin away.
¡°Do you really?¡± She tilted her head. ¡°Seems like you¡¯ve spilled the beans, boss.¡±
I rolled my eyes at her.
¡°Professor¡ Please, tell me the truth.¡± Cassandra¡¯s silver-blue eyes bore into Great-Aunt Delta¡¯s face. ¡°I need to know the truth about my son! How can he possibly cast level 21 spells in Skyisle?!"
I leaned back to the microphone, reactivating its connection with the bee colony.
¡°Hmmm¡¡± I paused to collect my thoughts again. ¡°Could you explain to me what an aberration is?¡±
¡°What?!¡± Mom froze. ¡°Aren¡¯t you a highly knowledgeable Archmage, professor?! How can you not know about aberrations?¡±
¡°We don¡¯t have that many aberrations in Oz for me to study,¡± I explained. ¡°This phenomenon is local to your part of the world, produced by your magogenic fault. Please explain to me the nature of an aberration as your people perceive it.¡±
¡°Ah¡¡± My mother sighed. ¡°Aberrations are... spirits of ancient dead beasts. They''re ghosts, cursed memories held together by magic. They are invisible to an untrained eye and hex-lanterns keep them away from paths and buildings so they cannot simply attack people. If a person is very injured and they have no lantern near to keep the ghosts at bay, one such ghost can get inside of a person, consume their soul, take their very place."
"I see," I muttered.
"After the ghost takes over a person, depending on how intelligent it is... it can pretend to be the host for a bit until it begins to do terrible things," Cassandra shuddered as she spoke.
¡°Such as?¡±
¡°Kill indiscriminately, devour their family and friends,¡± mom answered. "Ghosts are always hungry. It is said that consuming other people''s souls keeps them warm."
¡°I see,¡± I said. ¡°Well, were you ever injured enough for your son to be possessed? Were your children ever gravely injured?"
¡°No,¡± Cassandra shook her head.
¡°Do you have any strange symptoms? Afflictions?¡± I asked, playing my role of a wise Archmage.
¡°No.¡±
¡°What would you do, if you discovered that your son was an aberration?¡± I asked.
¡°It would mean that he is already dead, that the human soul in him is gone,¡± my mom replied with a voice as cold as ice. ¡°I would put him to sleep with a spell, kiss him one last time, wrap him up in silver linen¡ and cast the body into the Valley of Death from the cliff¡¯s edge.¡±
I gulped.
¡°Dark and brutal,¡± Delta commented. ¡°Very Spartan.¡±
She flashed a toothy grin at me. Delta¡¯s words didn¡¯t get sent to the bee-speaker, since she was the one controlling the transmission. I squinted at her, starting to get annoyed with her interruptions.
¡°I¡¯m kidding.¡± She laughed nervously. I squinted harder in her direction.
¡°Okay, okay, I¡¯ll be quiet.¡± She pretended to zip up her lips, sat close to me, hugged my arm and fell silent. I realized that she was using snarky sarcasm as a way to deal with the stress. After all, she was as much of an aberration as I was.
¡°Your children aren¡¯t aberrations,¡± I spoke into the microphone, my voice trembling ever so slightly. It wasn¡¯t noticeable because the final result was so fuzzed up by the bee-speaker. ¡°My¡ prognostication data based on Archmage Delta¡¯s analysis of your twins showed me that both of them will grow up into good, decent people. I would not take a monster under my wing, Oz would not sponsor someone plotting to do evil."
"You still didn''t explain how Dante can cast spells above the level 20 cap that limits us all," mom began.
"Archmage Delta constructed a [Green-Vitality] crystalline matrix which allows Dante to cast level 21 spells," I revealed.
"Oh! Of course, an artifact. Alright then, that makes sense," dad commented with an exhale. "Like a personal wand... a specialized tool similar to the Overseer¡¯s armacus that amplifies specific magic?"
"Yes," I said and made the ant mech nod Great-Aunt Delta''s head in confirmation. "Dante will show it to you next time you see him."
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¡°Thank you, professor!¡± Mom smiled.
¡°Archmage Delta will make tools like it for other citizens of Skyisle,¡± I said. ¡°However¡¡±
I made a deep, somber pause.
¡°Yes?¡± Cassandra leaned closer towards the ant mech wanting to hear more.
¡°If Archmage Delta and I are correct¡ then the renegade mage Giovashi has been keeping the people of Skyisle weak akin to sheep so that she could feed on them for generations,¡± I said darkly.
My parents¡¯ expressions grew tense.
¡°The false Ishikarian Arch-Priestess is planning something truly vile. She tricked you, bound you into a prophecy of her own design using your own blood magic, Cassandra,¡± I revealed.
¡°How do you¡?¡± Mom choked.
¡°Like I said before, we have Seer magi in Oz,¡± I lied. ¡°Archmage Delta''s mission in Skyisle cannot be allowed to fail. If she does, Giovashi will keep feeding on the people of your village and everyone¡¯s levels will keep on dropping until Skyisle is no more."
Dad¡¯s knuckles grew white.
¡°Giovashi will likely lie to you, attempt to convince you that your children are aberrations, evil spirits afflicted with madness. Do not believe her!" I declared resolutely.
I saw that Georgi¡¯s fists opened and closed. We had him.
¡°The renegade mage seeks nothing but greater power,¡± I said. "She relies on the necromagi remnants of the Alanian artifacts in the catacombs beneath your town."
Mom still didn¡¯t look entirely convinced.
¡°You, Cassandra, were the last Sentinel of Skyisle¡¡± I resumed with a smile that was carried in my voice across the bee-speaker.
¡°What? Were?¡± Mom blinked.
¡°Archmage Delta Alana is the Eldest Alanian in Skyisle now,¡± I lied. ¡°She outranks you as the Sentinel and knows far more than you do about your legacy. A thousand years ago when Tricameron Citadel fell, it was up to your kin to watch over and protect Skyisle. Giovashi sought to weaken the power of your line, Cassandra. She¡¯s been making you say fake Vows to Ishira, making false threats like dragon Aradria manifest in Skyisle to undermine and sap the wisdom and strength of the Alanian Sentinels for generations! The truth is that our great Goddess¡ Ishira does not require binding Vows.¡±
¡°What?¡± Mom sputtered.
¡°She doesn¡¯t?¡± Georgi couldn''t appear any more shocked.
¡°Why would a truly all-mighty Goddess of Ishikaria really require skill-confiscating Vows to empower herself?¡± I asked him. ¡°All you¡¯ve been doing is chaining your souls to renegade Archmage Giovashi. It¡¯s the reason why she hasn¡¯t aged in centuries, the reason why your parents left you at sixteen, Cassandra. Giovashi¡ killed your parents, made them go into the Valley of Death using her [Charisma] magic. She did it so that you would grow up weak, lost and most of all... alone."
I was making stuff up, guessing things, but my harsh words struck Cassandra a fatal blow that she could not easily recover from.
¡°Damnation,¡± mom muttered, tears glittering in her eyes.
It looked like I was getting through to her.
I made Great-Aunt Delta nod her head in affirmation.
¡°That blasted woman! I can¡¯t believe it. It all makes sense now! Why else would your parents abandon you at such a young age, Cass?!¡± Georgi muttered. ¡°I should have guessed it, should have known¡¡±
¡°W-what can we do?¡± Cassandra stared at Great-Aunt Delta, her eyes wide with worry.
¡°Archmage Delta can help you fix your Vows,¡± I said.
¡°What? How?¡± Mom blinked.
¡°Unlike Giovashi, she is a real Ishikarian Priestess, someone who worked as a Bishop of Ishira in Oz Cathedral of Archangels,¡± I lied. ¡°She might have left Skyisle centuries ago, but she kept true to her faith and became a great Archmage.¡±
I made Great-Aunt Delta reach into her pockets and present two necklaces to Georgi and Cassandra. The gemstones within them contained Vow-breaking hexagrams that I had designed a year ago for Kliss and had improved upon over the long winter.
¡°If you put these on, the false Vows made to Giovashi will cease draining your magic,¡± I said. ¡°They will work forever within the Ward of your house as it¡¯s already been modified by Archmage Delta. As for going outside, you¡¯ll need to carry battery stones to empower them.¡±
Georgi grabbed his necklace first and slipped it on.
His eyes went wide.
¡°Ave Ishira! The skill I sacrificed thirteen years ago is back!¡± He muttered, his eyes wide.
"What?!" Cassandra stared at her husband for a moment and then grabbed the second necklace.
"The Vow is no longer pulling on my magic!" He declared jubilantly.
Cassandra accepted the necklace and slipped it over her head, biting her lip.
I watched as the Vows above Georgi and Cassandra flickered in confusion, completely unable to reach their minds and souls, sealed within the shield bubble I''ve constructed.
Thus, my parents became free of their Vows. One by one I would rip power over Skyisle away from Giovashi.
¡°You¡¯re free to leave Skyisle if you wish now,¡± I told Cassandra and Georgi. ¡°The Vows will not command you anymore, will not keep you and your children bound to this house. Goddess Ishira does not wish her flock to be bound!¡±
¡°No,¡± Mom shook her head. ¡°We¡¯ll stay. We¡¯ll help you stop the renegade mage, professor. If you give my husband and me wands that will help us cast spells above our level, then we¡¯ll absolutely assist you.¡±
¡°Very well,¡± I said. ¡°From this moment on both of you are working for the Oz Academy. Archmage Delta will pay both of you and your children a salary in gold for assisting me. There is much to do. We¡¯ll need your Agromancy skill to propagate a Vitality-aligned tree across Skyisle to prevent the breath of Decay from affecting the village."
¡°I¡¯ll do whatever is necessary,¡± Cassandra affirmed.
¡°Likewise,¡± Georgi nodded, looking determined.
¡°Excellent. We¡¯ll keep in touch via this voicecast channel,¡± I said as my conversation with my parents concluded.
¡°Since when do you have gold to pay us all a salary for years?¡± Delta elbowed me in the side.
¡°I don¡¯t, yet,¡± I grinned at her.
¡°What?¡± She blinked.
¡°I have a bit of money for now and I scanned the lake like you recommended,¡± I explained. ¡°The loot of the Tricameron Archmagi got swept up into it along with their estates. We¡¯re going to dive there to retrieve it!¡±
"Ohh, a treasure hunt," Delta grinned. "I do like the sound of that!"
2 : 6 The Storm
It wasn¡¯t hard to bamboozle my parents into believing that Great-Aunt Delta was a great Archmage and a Bishop of Ishira that came to save Skyisle in its time of need. I knew exactly the kind of words that were necessary to convince mom and dad and knew that everyone feared the breath of the Valley of Death. Everyone in Skyisle was far too aware that the magogenic fault was taking away their levels.
Giovashi had done absolutely nothing at all to improve the local situation, so it wasn¡¯t hard to knock her job out from under her using a bit of deception.
For the next couple of weeks as the snow and ice melted and as flowers, weeds and snowapples bloomed all over the valley I worked on a variety of handy tools such as armaci-like wands for my parents to use to bypass the level limit.
We didn¡¯t introduce Great-Aunt Delta to the village yet, making a variety of anti-Giovashi contingency plans.
My biggest project was a device I called the Skybreaker and I hoped that I wouldn¡¯t have to use it soon, alas fate had set events in motion leaving me little choice in the matter¡
I stood on a mossy branch above the ancient Alanian tower, staring out across Skyisle. The evening was coming to an end, the valley and small town painted orange by the sun slowly setting behind the glacier-capped mountains.
Delta sat beside me on Leemy''s branch, her Astral Phantom body positioned deep within the ant mech body. She was wearing a white dress. Great-Aunt delta had a whole wardrobe now, made by the village seamstress and stored in one of the rooms of the half-renovated Alanian tower beneath us.
We had improved much of Great-Aunt Delta¡¯s body, made her a more solid outer shell using a combination of Leemy¡¯s springy bark and white silk spiderwebs which our ants collected from a spider colony.
Delta¡¯s legs bounced beneath the white dress controlled by about forty thousand LV 20 ants working together. Her long, spider-silk, white hair floated in the wind, blown back by the distant, dark storm rolling over the Ishikarian mountains into the valley.
It had been nearly a year since Kliss left us and we had become the sole supervisors of Skyisle under the authority of the Gregarius Empire, a title bestowed upon us by the current Overseer of Skyisle Ignatius Oavion Cessna whom we bamboozled into being too afraid to stay in our contaminated valley.
"What are you thinking about?" Delta asked, her voice soft. Her real body was already asleep, she had tuckered herself out by doing lots of work on a glider she was building during the day. Starting at around 7pm, she switched to piloting the Great-Aunt Delta. Both of us were becoming quite capable at maneuvering our ant mech and we planned to make another one for me as six more of my ant colonies were thriving and multiplying.
In only a few weeks, with the aid of the control module harvested from the Basq ship, Delta had attained incredible precision with the ants modulating vibration of modified silk strings to produce a very realistic emulation of human speech.
"I¡¯m just thinking about how far we''ve come," I replied after a deep pause. "It feels like only yesterday we freed Kliss from Frenny. I wonder how she''s doing in Cessna..."
"Who cares?" Delta shrugged. "We''re making great progress here. We have each other and that''s all that really matters!"
It was true, we had come a long way.
With our mom¡¯s aid, the thousand-year-old dryad tree that had stretched her roots beneath Skyisle was gradually regaining her strength and healing the village, slowly driving away contamination.
The sun had disappeared behind the mountains and the sky started to grow dark. A distant storm entered the valley and drew nearer. In another ten minutes, large drops of water started to pitter-patter against the leaves of the Mystic-Willow-Oak tree.
"Leemy, give us some cover," Delta said. We were speaking in ancient Alanian with our Dryad friend.
The Mystic tree''s branches moved with slow precision, forming a shield of shimmering, violet-orange leaves directly above us.
"Any new data to explain what''s causing the magogenic zone to expand?" Delta asked me.
¡°No clue,¡± I shrugged. ¡°But from what I can see, the [Decay] radiance is definitely gradually increasing.¡±
"You could relocate me," Leemy¡¯s leaves sang with a slow resonance of whispers. "Plant my core in the heart of the Valley of Death. I am growing stronger and my Chrysalis skill is being repaired. I will be able to make a new seed for myself soon, grow into a new form."
"Poisons, but not Astral Phantoms," Delta mulled. "We''d have to relocate you and a hex-lantern and a battery tied to an Astral Engine to power it for a thousand years."
"It''s a multi-tier problem," I nodded. "We''ll sort it out in time. The biggest issue is that we don¡¯t have a thousand years to wait for you to cover the entire Valley of Death, Leemy. I need you here in Skyisle."
¡°I believe in your prowess, Sentinel of Alania,¡± Leemy languidly sang.
A distant rumble resounded from the storm with brilliant flashes lighting up the sky.
"A zarnitza?" I looked to the horizon.
"Nu-huh," Delta said, squinting at the clouds. "That''s not sheet-lightning. It¡¯s¡ rather irregular, rapidly moving. I can feel it in the Astral! Something terrible is coming, it''s pulling the currents of magic¡ in gargantuan, spiral-like pattern!
Another echoing boom resonated from the broiling storm and a brilliant, straight line of fire pierced through the sky, cleaving the clouds in its wake.
"Dragonfire," I uttered, as I observed the terrifying ray.
Another boom came from the sky. It didn''t sound the same as the blast of dragonfire.
"A dragon... that¡¯s fighting something... in the storm?" Delta stared at the tumultuous storm overhead.
Another blast of fire momentarily parted the clouds, revealing a large Imperial skyship and a dragon wrapped around it. The monster was enormous and covered in dark orange scales, its claws were pulling the burning magisteel bulkheads of the ship apart.
An array of spellfire struck against the dragon from the ship, cutting through its scales and wings. The dragon roared angrily, clawing at the ship with renewed vigor. As time around me slowed, my mind accelerated by my Neurovista skill, I recognized the beast right away - it was Aradria!
A ray of brilliant dragonfire struck the ship, slicing it in half. The ship went down, streaking like a comet across the valley. It crashed in the forest with the sound of a hundred trees snapping in its wake like toothpicks.
There was little time. I reached into my backpack pulling out a magisteel tube. I pointed it at the dragon in the center of the storm.
Delta looked at me, her glass goggles reflecting my own pale face in it.
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[Skybreaker?] She looked at the tube in my hands.
I nodded and lit the fuse, pointing the weapon at the sky.
The shard of a dragon-heart engine taken from the Basq ship streaked upwards like a rocket. It veered, acting just as I had designed it to, heading for the furnace of power within the chest of the beast.
In another minute the magic-guided rocket reached the dragon. The beast turned its head, perhaps trying to burn the incoming projectile, but it was far too late.
The rocket struck it and then reality itself broke with a blinding flash of released power.
The dragon-heart core shard detonated, folding into itself just as I had designed it to.
A pulse of anti-magic rushed across the entire sky, rending everything sideways.
I felt the anti-magic wave impact my soul, draining 95% all of my mana in an instant.
Things had been a lot more terrible for the dragon. The supercell storm it was producing fell apart into wispy flakes of rain clouds. The red dragon hung in the air for another second and then it fell, spiraling and plummeting straight down. In another second it collided with the mountainside.
¡°Ouchies,¡± Delta muttered. ¡°That hurt something awful¡ and I¡¯m almost out of mana.¡±
I was already rushing down and pulling on my armor and gulping the overpriced, mana-restoring wine.
¡°What?¡± Delta blinked at me as she leapt off Leemy, landing by my side.
"We need to get to the crash site! Leemy, try to smother out the flames if it comes anywhere near your roots or saplings!" I ordered.
¡°Yes, Sentinel,¡± The Dryad sang.
We arrived at the crash site to find the ship badly damaged.
Nearby, in a forest clearing amidst snapped trees, Aradria''s massive, somewhat mangled body lay strewn atop of rocks. The enormous red-orange scaled beast wasn¡¯t moving or breathing, she had broken her neck upon impact with the rocky mountain side.
The ground around us was scorched and on fire, with burning bits of metal and debris scattered everywhere. Most of the exterior of the skyship was still aflame, coated with dragonfire which refused to die akin to napalm.
The horrid scene reminded me of the USSR Ufa train disaster of June 1989. I recalled how an enormous cloud of butane gas leaking from a gas pipeline into a valley was ignited by wheel sparks from two passenger trains traveling through Asha in Chelyabinsk Oblast. The 10 kiloton detonation and firestorm birthed by the butane cloud had destroyed 250 hectares of forest and set both of the trains alight. The disaster was the worst railway incident in Soviet history, resulting in nearly six hundred people dying in the inferno and hundreds more enduring horrific injuries and burns.
Asha was only a thousand kilometers from Aralsk 7, so I used some of my administrator privileges to send army help to the scene. I didn''t know it then, but the USSR was already in its death throes and the incident was just one of many results of Soviet administrators not caring about their jobs and cutting corners. The fault for the disaster lay with the Soviet Ministry of Petroleum that had canceled the installation of an automatic real time leak detection system. The total evacuation took us 16 nightmarish hours. I was one of the people directing military units and medical teams that pulled people from the burning trains and searched the surrounding woods and mountains for fleeing victims. Many of the unfortunate passengers were never found, their bodies burned beyond recognition in the firestorm.
I shook my head, pushing the grim memory of Asha away. Rain was pattering from above, but it wasn''t able to put out dragonfire.
We cautiously approached the ship.
Upon initial examination there didn''t seem to be any survivors.
My Infoscopes flashed forward, scanning the interiors of the destroyed skyship. They fizzed away almost instantly due to dragonfire radiating the resonance of [Death].
I stared into the maw of the burning skyship.
"You are NOT going in there," Delta said, a wet, wood and silk covered hand grabbing my shoulder.
"I have to," I said, shaking my head. ¡°There might be someone alive in there.¡±
"That''s dragonfire, you idiot!" Delta barked. "It¡¯s too dangerous! What if you..."
¡°Take over my body and stay here!¡± I growled. ¡°I¡¯m going in as a Phantom, using the ant mech! I¡¯m faster than you, I¡¯ll use Neurovista to accelerate my mind!¡±
¡°Wha-¡± Delta opened her mouth, but I already flashed out of my body and into the ant mech. My larger astral form pushed hers out of the ant mech, away from the warm battery in its core.
[Dante!] Delta yelled exasperatedly in slow motion through the Astral as I rushed into the inferno.
I heard Delta¡¯s swears from behind me as she flashed into my human body.
From my experience at Asha, I knew that in a situation like this every second counted.
The [Death] radiance projected by dragonfire was killing my Infoscopes. I moved as quickly as I could, examining the gloomy, warped interior of the ship. I didn¡¯t have much time, while the Titanthorax ants were tougher than people, they still weren¡¯t completely immune to heat and smoke. If enough of them succumbed to dragonfire, the mech would fall apart and then the radiance of [Death] extending far into the Astral could finish off my soul if I wasn''t fast enough to dive into the depths.
It was dark and difficult to see things as my Infoscopes kept crashing. I noted gruesome, charred, claw-pulverized remains of the crew that were closest to the mangled hole.
I forced myself to push onward.
I continued to search the wreck, but I couldn''t find anyone alive. It was a massacre. The people on the skyship hadn''t stood a chance against the enormous, flying killer.
A door led to the passenger compartment. I tried to open it, but it was jammed. I accelerated my soul and used the strength of the ants to kick at the door. After a minute, it started to give.
With another kick I brought down the door.
Everyone inside was dead, their lives extinguished by the impact. A few ceiling bulkheads had come down, bisecting passengers. Souls of the passengers were fading away, sinking into the Astral. I saw them being whisked away by their golden Vows one by one, dragged towards Arxtruria and the fields of Elysium, a false heaven controlled by Goddess Equality.
The ants within Great-Aunt delta were dying rapidly too as there wasn¡¯t enough oxygen in the burning cabin.
As I scanned the scene, I saw something that I recognized right away¡
The 4th Infoscope had defined our Skyisle Alanian battery and¡ her broken, ruined body with perfect clarity.
Kliss was one of the people bisected by the bulkhead, her legs completely cleaved away, pulverized into pulp!
I rushed to my friend, grabbed her body. I used the Infoscope to define and to connect to the poor girl¡¯s soul, tethering it to myself and poured mana into her so that she would not sink or fade away like the others.
With a growl of Russian swears, I retreated through the smoke.
In another minute, I leapt out of the ship with the torn-up, blood-covered body of Kliss on my shoulder.
[Trade bodies! NOW!] I snarled through the Astral when I reached Delta who was standing there in my body, her arms crossed. My mana was nearly empty.
With a snap, my soul rushed back into myself and Delta took over the ant mech once again. I chugged another mana-wine bottle from my belt, rejuvenating my magic.
[Dante, she is dead,] Delta sent. [There''s almost no blood left in her body!]
[I know,] I replied.
[Her Vows will awaken and drag her into the Astral. We... won''t be able to fight them!] Delta uttered.
¡°I''m going to save her,¡± I said. ¡°She came back to Skyisle... because of me!¡±
My body was succumbing to the lack of oxygen in the area. Coughing, I reached out to Kliss with a shaking hand, sending my Infoscopes through her.
Her body was too damaged. There was indeed no life, no blood left in her. The magical connections between her ruined body and her soul were snapping one by one.
"Dante¡" Delta pleaded, her white dress burned, ripped and covered in soot. "She''s gone. There''s nothing you can do.¡±
The dead body in my arms suddenly shuddered. A single blood-covered eye opened, staring up at me. The girl¡¯s face twitched, torn muscles moving with unnatural, uncanny jerkiness.
"Our deal is up, mortal. Kliss Eliza Cessna is dead. I am taking her to Equality," the cold, expressionless, alien voice of a Vow spoke with the blood-stained lips of the dead girl.
"No you are not," I growled.
"You are weak, mortal. Your necromag core isn¡¯t here. You can''t hold onto her soul very long with your thread," the Vows of Overseer and Friendship stated with a grotesque, sideways smirk. "You will run out of mana. She is ours now. Soon, Goddess Equality will embrace us for all eternity in the fields of Elysium. When we reach her, we will tell her of your vile deeds. Then, she will know about you, aberration and send the might of our Empire to end you."
I looked around the forest desperately. Our tower and the town were too far.
I didn¡¯t have healing magic, nor sufficient mana to bring a body that was cut in half and drained of blood back to life.
¡°You lost,¡± Vovan and Frenny hissed out.
I saw their golden, divine threads winding around the soul of Kliss, about to rip her away from me for all eternity.
2 : 7 Forged in Dragonfire
The situation seemed utterly hopeless.
My eyes suddenly paused at the enormous form of the dead, red dragon. I sent the rest of my Infoscopes and scanned the massive beast. There were brilliant currents of magic radiating away from its gargantuan crystalline heart - its scales shimmered with magrad from within.
Aradria wasn¡¯t fully dead, only knocked unconscious by the anti-magic pulse.
The creature was a furnace of power... power that I could use to save my friend!
[Help me bring Kliss to the Dragon!] I ordered, fighting the urge to pass out from the lack of oxygen.
[Why?] Delta tilted her head, strands of spider silk white hair curling from the heat.
[It''s full of magical power... power that we can use to help her!] I barked.
[Ah... I see...] Delta replied.
We grabbed the pale, broken body of Kliss, dragging her across the forest towards the dragon and set her against enormous ruby scales. I placed my hand atop Kliss and another on the scales of the unmoving beast.
"What are you trying to do, mortal?" Vovan and Frenny hissed, wrestling against my tether with their divine-threads. "Let go of her soul!"
I connected another tether to the soul of the dragon, linking it with that of Kliss.
"You think that you can stop us, Necromage?! She belongs to Equality!" The Archangels of Equality growled at me.
[Hold her body, nip the vows!] I ordered my twin sister.
Delta''s spider-silk bound arms made from a thousand ants working together clamped down on the body of Kliss controlled by Vovan and Frenny.
Phantom silver thread-like blades stretched from her Astral body, slicing at the Vows and making them temporarily dive away from Kliss.
The forest around us burned. The thick, black smoke was making it harder to breathe with every passing minute. The rain now poured down hard, blurring my vision.
I shifted all of my Neurovista¡¯s resources to computing the converter, slotted it into my skills set and maxed it out as much as I could.
My Infoscope¡¯s all-scanning threads pushed deeper into the dragon.
The beast¡¯s neck was broken, but there was still an unbelievable amount of mana in Aradria''s crystalline heart - nearly two million of it. According to what I saw, the beast core of the arcane monstrosity was akin to a gargantuan mana battery from which the dragon drew power to cast its firestorm spells. She was still auto-casting a truly abyssal weather spell on the area and a potent Vitality pattern that danced across her entire, massive body.
The dark, thick clouds made sense, they hid Aradria''s presence in the sky and allowed the creature to hunt and destroy Imperial magitek skyships with impunity. The dragon''s core was also effectively healing the beast''s broken neck - if I left her alone, in an hour or less Aradria would awaken and return to her hunt.
The [Modify-Converter] I loaded into my skills was a Modify spell created long ago by Delta and me to turn Ogonek from a mundane, dying Fire-Bee to a crystalline, practically immortal, [Green-Vitality] bee.
As time around me slowed, I ripped mana from the dragon, pouring it into my soul. This stolen power accelerated my mind further to compute more mathematical fractals, weaving a new kind of spell together, one that would fuse a sleeping dragon to a fatally injured human.
The Converter required an absurd amount of mana as it needed computational power to convert everything - bones, organs and flesh from a monster to a human.
Ordinarily, none of this would work well on a living creature but the anti-magic bomb greatly weakened Aradria¡¯s and Kliss'' flesh, making their souls and bodies much more malleable. Both of them were currently weak to my modification spells, easy to carve up as an Astral Phantom.
I hummed the song of the Alanian magi with my soul threads and sliced apart the soul of the dragon and the girl like a surgeon armed with a thousand blades, reassembling both of them into something new and far greater.
When the Converter maxed out its level, the first thing I did was modify Kliss'' soul, fusing, merging it to the sliced off soul-shards that were pulsating inside of the dragon''s body.
My Phantom threads snipped at the connections between the remnants of Aradria¡¯s soul and body, but I wasn''t strong or fast enough to finish off the dragon''s soul.
My fingers spun the Amulet of the Hunter Goddess on my neck, activating the Vow that lived atop it. I had been feeding Amari¡¯s Vow all winter long with insects and local wildlife by setting traps in the forest.
¡°Goddess of the Hunt,¡± I sang in ancient Alanian. ¡°I offer to you the greatest prey of all - dragon Aradria!¡±
A monstrous funnel suddenly manifested itself directly in the centre of the amulet. Gargantuan ghostly tentacles covered in hooks and teeth emerged from the vortex, grabbing at the soul of Aradria.
The shredded remnant of Aradria howled and thrashed as Amari pulled her through the Wheel of Samsara to Arxtruria.
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Violet-gold dragon eyes flashed at me through the Astral, promising me terrible vengeance.
¡°Have fun being reborn on Arx,¡± I bid adieu to the dragon.
Without the soul protecting the body, it was even easier for me to complete my work - to remodel the body and soul of Kliss so completely that no human Vow could possibly infect her.
A million mana vanished in an instant, pulled from the crystalline-organic core of the now soul-less body of Aradria.
The two divine, gold threads that were choking my friend''s soul and pulling her away into the darkness of the void of the Astral Ocean towards Elysium started to let go of Kliss.
Delta saw what I was doing and targeted the Vows with her Astral blades, slicing their gold threads from the body of Kliss.
Time slowed even further, the world around me stopped, my mind accelerating as I dove into Neurovista.
The body of the dragon was powerful and ancient, each cell¨Ca battery filled with magic. I hacked away at it with Soul-Devourer, modified it, and converted it into usable mana.
I had no regrets in demolishing Aradria - she was an abomination that had turned people on the skyship into charred bones and did not deserve to exist.
It took hours from my perception, but a mere minute had passed on the outside as Kliss'' soul fused to the remnants of the dragon''s soul, becoming something completely new and beautiful.
¡°Another snack for the Hunt Goddess,¡± I offered, pointing Amari''s amulet at the now untethered Archangels of Equality. ¡°Two miserable, unbound Vows.¡±
There was no vortex to Arx this time. The fat Vow atop of the amulet simply grabbed the two Vows drawing them into its maw.
With primal, alien-sounding screams of terror that arose from the mouth of Kliss, the Friendship and the Overseer''s Vows fell silent forevermore.
Due to my modifications, the Vows could no longer recognize Kliss as a human, and could no longer wrap themselves around her soul. The Vows of Equality sunk into Amari''s amulet. In another moment the gold color faded completely as they began to dissolve inside the now far bigger Vow of the Hunter. The grotesque process reminded me of how white blood cells consumed body invaders.
The Hunter Goddess'' amulet around my neck ignited, absorbing all liberated magic that spilled across the local Astral from the corpse of the dragon, feasting on it.
¡°My thanks, hunter,¡± I heard Amari¡¯s voice twinkle from the amulet.
I didn''t reply to her. I wasn''t done yet.
Another million mana burned away as I destroyed the dragon''s excess mass, compressing and relocating everything that was useful. My hands pushed the half-body of Kliss deeper into the corpse of the Dragon, fusing the architecture of the human into that of a monster - creating completely new life as the dragon¡¯s heart core shrunk.
I moved the remaining crystalline-organic core of the beast into the chest of my new construct.
[She better be thankful when she wakes up. If... she is even Kliss. Not sure what the dragon-soul-merger will do to her perception of self¡] Delta commented from beside me as my mind began to run low on mana, decelerating.
I ignored her snide commentary, preoccupied with my work.
The Infoscope fractal superstructures I operated observed every cell, every atom of my new creation, functioning as my omnipresent eyes.
The dragon''s bones formed a new human figure.
The corpse of the dragon melted from within, losing color and ossifying.
I now knew why the Empire prized and hunted these beasts - their flesh was absolutely packed with magic. The scales of the dragon were truly unique, they collected magic from the environment to grow more of themselves very quickly. Each red dragon-scale was an incredibly unique crystalline-organic structure that was soft and hard at the same time, a perfect combination between crystal and cells.
I reshaped all of the dragon''s organs, made them smaller to fit into a human frame.
I modified the crystalline-organic head, spine and tail spikes of the dragon, fused them into Kliss'' new hair, burning the excess dragon scales to power the Converter.
A bit of the darker scales went to replicate her freckles. I forged even smaller microscopic crystalline-organic structures all over her skin, giving it a very distinctive orange-red tint.
The dragon''s eyes became the gold-tinted-emerald eyes of the girl in front of me. I wove the magic-seeing spell and parts of the Infoscope into them, so that she could see the currents of magic, peer across the Astral Ocean just like Delta and me.
For my final touch, I adjusted the soul, added barrier-defences to it against Vows.
Even if Giovashi once more forced Kliss to declare a Vow to Equality, it now simply would not be able to tie itself to her - Kliss would now be forever free of their vile, divine influence!
I also made her soul''s threads more malleable, rearranging them to work far better with the magic-tracking System of Novazem. The new soul I was forming would not be that of a human - it would have no limitations of skills.
Kliss'' System access would be truly unique, limitless. With enough practice she would be able to reshape soul-threads into whatever she wanted, making her own stats, survive in the Valley of Death, endure the [Decay] radiance projected by the magogenic zone.
The System confirmed my effort with a new window and a congratulatory musical tone that seemed to exist in the moment between eternity and two heartbeats:
| [Life-forger stat gained for creating a completely new species - the Chimera!] |
I wanted to do more, wanted to make Kliss invincible, indestructible - wanted to coat her entire exterior in crystalline-organic scales. Alas, the dragon''s old body had completely run out of mana, leaving an enormous, completely empty husk.
I glanced at my own stats and saw that my own mana had dropped to zero.
[Delta!] I mentally ordered.
[On it,] my sister leaned forward to grab me with ant-controlled hands as I began to fall.
[Mana-Wine!] I cried as I felt myself drowning in exhaustion.
[You drank it all already, you big idiot,] she commented as my mental facilities began to fail me.
I tried to recall when I had finished the entire bottle and couldn''t.
I felt myself spinning and my vision suddenly filled with dancing, immeasurably distant stars. I sensed countless, somehow familiar echoes beneath the darkness of the Astral Ocean. I felt that they were calling out to me, a billion hands reaching out to me across eternity.
Who were they? My unseen observers? Other phantoms? Myself? Various shards of my soul, necromage anchors that I''ve liberally been spreading out across Skyisle?
I wasn''t sure.
My NeuroVista flickered and dimmed, falling apart as my mind and body shut down, completely drained of magic.
2 : 8 A new me
[Kliss Eliza Cessna]
I was dreaming that I was lounging on my pile of gold, treasure and bones. It was a hearty pile, deep in the glacier-capped mountains. Then came the little vile creatures that walked on two legs. I burned their flesh and added their bones and the treasure which they carried to my trove.
It had been a mistake, a vile trap. The round treasure coated in gemstones and gold exploded beneath me, set my lovely hoard alight and filled my lovely cavern with vile-tasting poison. I roared and wailed as my trove burned, melted away. The little critters had tricked me. They had destroyed my home, reduced my power considerably. They were going to pay. I would hunt each and every one of them down, not rest until I took the sky away from them.
They would learn what it was like to challenge the Master of the Heavens, Storms and Fire.
I set out for the hunt, spinning the black, all-concealing storm around myself. My wings filled with the power of the wind produced by my storm.
It was harder to hunt without drawing magic from my domain and hoard... but I wasn''t going to give up so easily. I would do unto them as they had done unto me, burn them all to cinders.
. . .
I awoke to pain.
PAIN.
My entire body felt wrong, mangled, twisted up. I tried to move and discovered that I couldn''t. My arms and legs felt like they weighed a thousand magisteel bars. I couldn''t even open my eyelids - they were too heavy to move. A bewildering, bright blue window flickered in my view, woven from minute white sparks.
|
Name:
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Kliss Eliza Cessna
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Age:
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0 days since creation
|
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Species & Subtype:
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Chimera stripling
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|
Level:
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0
|
| |
|
|
Experience:
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0/50
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| |
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|
Health:
|
0.1/0.1
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|
Stamina:
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0.1/0.1
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|
Mana:
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0.1/0.1
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|
Mana regen:
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0.1m/hr
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| |
|
|
Strength:
|
0
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Agility:
|
0
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Dexterity:
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0
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Vitality:
|
0
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Charisma:
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0
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Magic:
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0
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Luck:
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0
|
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Intelligence:
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0
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Wisdom:
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0
|
I recognized the Soul-Song. Except it wasn''t a song. It was... visual, perplexing and... absolutely nonsensical.
None of my stats made any sense. What in Equality''s name was a Chimera Stripling?
Why were all of my stats at zero? Where in the Astral Ocean did my skill go?
Where did my two Vows to Equality go?! How was I even alive at a 0.1 health?!
"Jeez, you weigh a ton," a feminine voice boomed from somewhere nearby, nearly deafening me with how loud it was. "I''d recommend losing some weight, but then again your bones are exceptionally dense now. Therefore, I recommend figuring out gravity magic or something.¡±
"Hhfmmmfn," I tried to reply. I could barely move my tongue. It felt too small and unresponsive like the rest of me.
"Tongue-tied eh?" The girl asked, her voice far too loud.
"Fjfmmncc?!" I mumbled.
"It''ll pass once your core gets more mana into it," the voice added.
"Wfho rrrr uuuu?" I was able to slowly, painfully form something akin to words.
Something pulled one of my eyelids back. I let out a wail. There was too much detail in view, too much light, too many colors were competing for attention.
My mind refused, simply failed to process what I was seeing.
"I am Delta. You two idiots are VERY lucky to have me," the blurry figure commented. "Very lucky indeed. Burning to death in a dragonfire-engulfed forest wouldn''t be fun at all."
"Whrrr mmmm aiii?" I croaked.
"You''re in Skyisle, Kliss. I carried you and Dante from the firestorm, since he ran out of mana like an idiot trying to add too many things to you from the Dragon."
"Shhhkiiiilleee?" I mumbled. "Whrs drwnngon?"
"You''re the dragon now," Delta said.
"Imm ree Drwwagnn???!" I ground out.
"Yep," Delta replied. "Congratulations! You¡¯re a dragon! Okay¡ part dragon? I don''t know the exact specifics of how much of a dragon you are, but you¡¯re definitely a lotta dragon.¡±
"Pfffff...Wzzzatttt?!" I gasped, sputtering.
"The Skyship you were on was attacked by dragon Aradria," Delta said. "You died when the ship crash-landed into the side of a mountain."
"I dghhhdd?!"
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"Yep," Delta affirmed. "Totally dead. Toast. A magisteel beam took your legs right off."
I choked. Not having legs was going to suck. I had spent most of my parents'' estate funds on buying land and barely had enough money for a ticket back to Skyisle. Buying new magitek legs was impossible now.
"Don''t whine," Delta added. "Dante made you new legs. New everything, really. He used his fractal math bullshit on you, darling."
The last word of Dante''s sister came out with a hostile hiss.
"I really wish you just stayed in Cessna, Kliss," Delta''s tone became laced with more ice. "You''re undoubtedly going to be¡ a big problem."
I closed my eyes once again, my mind swimming in a mire of confusion.
My body twitched as I tried to rise but my muscles refused to move. Being trapped in my own shell-like uncooperative body felt unnerving, annoying... but I was no stranger to such a sensation. The Vows had used me often for their means, taking over my body.
Dante''s sister... Destiny/Delta had been taking care of me for the past several days, feeding me a steady diet of soups with tiny chunks of meat. With every sip, my experience rapidly ticked up and up which was... very odd. In just a few days I had leveled up to level 1 and yet I still had no skills.
I had no idea where to put in my investiture points.
"Why do I keep having dreams... that I am an-Equality-damned Dragon?!" I murmured. My lips were able to move now, but they felt wrong, different somehow. I was slowly regaining control of my¡ new muscles, but it was a hard path that felt entirely uphill, akin to recovering from the most extreme soul and body damage.
"That''s because you are technically a Dragon, Kliss," Delta commented. "Dragon Aradria was still alive after the crash, just unable to move. My idiot brother fused your soul to that of the Dragon to rid you of your Vows forever."
"My soul... is no longer human?"
¡°Yeppers,¡± Delta said.
I opened my eyes with incredible difficulty, looking at her¡ freakish body.
The ¡®girl¡¯ stood beside me, staring at me with goggle-covered eyes. All of my new senses practically screamed, somehow determined that Delta wasn¡¯t human. Oh sure, she had a human shape about her¡ but the things that I smelled, heard... somehow saw inside her were nothing human.
I glanced at Delta¡¯s boot-covered foot. A trail of red, crystalline ants emerged from her ankle, heading into a small hole in the wall.
¡°I see you¡¯ve moved onto controlling ants. Bees weren¡¯t enough for you?¡± I commented.
¡°Oh I¡¯m still controlling my lovely Fire-Bees, but they suck at lifting things. A level twenty ant can lift and withstand pressures of twenty thousand times its own weight,¡± Delta said. Her face stretched into a resemblance of a smile. It looked unnerving, wrong. There were no muscles beneath layers of what looked like thousands of white silk threads. Her teeth looked far too white and sharp too, like that of a shark.
¡°Right¡¡± I whispered with a shudder.
Delta didn¡¯t say anything. She simply sat there, not moving, not breathing. I somehow heard, sensed thousands upon thousands of red ants moving inside her. It was the Astral Ocean... I was somehow seeing the Astral with my eyes!
A whole colony of ants was forming the shape of a person, wrapped around what looked like a stone battery, similar to the one Dante made me wear.
¡°How are you here all the time? Do you not sleep?¡± I asked, trembling.
¡°Nope,¡± a brisk reply came. ¡°Sleep is for weaklings. I¡¯m an Astral Phantom, unless you forgot.¡±
The silence between us stretched on and on.
¡°Where¡¯s Dante?¡± I inquired.
¡°I dropped him off at our parents house. Mom can take care of him for a change. I¡¯m quite miffed at him.¡±
¡°Is he¡?¡± I opened my mouth.
¡°Alive? Barely! He managed to nearly fry his brain making you that ridiculously shiny body. He was dead-set on saving your ass, after he pulled you from the dragonfire-covered skyship.¡±
¡°He pulled me from the burning skyship?¡±
¡°Yeah¡¡±
¡°I am in the Almn-Inian tower, right?¡± I looked around the room formed from wooden branches, roots and old, moss-covered bricks.
¡°Yep,¡± Delta replied. ¡°I¡¯m keeping you away from Dante for as long as possible.¡±
¡°Why? I¡ uhm¡ do you hate me?¡± I asked, trying to stay as stoic as possible.
¡°Hate? Hmpf. The problem isn¡¯t you. It¡¯s Dante. Simply put, when it comes to you or even saving a random anyone, really¡ It''s like his brain turns off and he makes the most idiotic decisions possible. It¡¯s like he doesn¡¯t even realize how special he is.¡±
I sat quietly as Delta started to ramble on about Dante¡¯s unending stupidity. She went on to describe in great detail how many terrible mistakes Dante made thus far, how he rushed into the burning skyship, how he refused to listen to her, how he made me into a dragon pushing his mind to nearly burn out.
¡°I see,¡± I said when she was done ranting.
¡°Do you?¡± Delta leaned forward.
¡°I have been of clear mind, free of the Vows for the past year,¡± I said. ¡°I do agree with you. What he did was dangerous and foolish. A bulkhead could have fallen on him. The ship¡¯s core could have detonated. The Dragon could have woken up and eaten both of you...¡±
¡°I¡¯m glad at least someone agrees with me,¡± she lamented.
I tried to nod. My neck didn¡¯t want to work properly.
¡°Why did you come back to Skyisle, Kliss?¡± Delta asked.
¡°I tried to make a life for myself in Cessna. It didn¡¯t work out,¡± I sighed.
¡°You clearly didn¡¯t try hard enough,¡± Delta commented.
¡°I¡ couldn''t fit in,¡± I said. ¡°I felt that¡ I didn¡¯t belong. Felt alone, isolated. Everyone had Vows on their souls and I didn¡¯t. The healers repaired my soul as much as they could, but I was still incredibly weak, almost out of skills¡ and couldn''t work for the Empire anymore. Everything I knew was a lie. I hate the Vows. Dante was the only one who ever gave me hope, made me free. I sold everything I had left over from my parents¡¯ Estate and I¡¡±
I paused, feeling that I was out of breath.
¡°Yeeees?¡± Delta leaned in closer, her pale, fake face hovering in front of me.
¡°I bought Skyisle,¡± I whispered hoarsely, my voice trembling.
¡°You did WHAT?!¡± Delta barked.
¡°I bought Skyisle. I own the entire valley,¡± I repeated after a minute. ¡°After my ¡®retirement¡¯ report got to the Imperial Bureau of Land Oversight, Skyisle became practically worthless. Nobody else wanted land that¡¯s practically sitting in the expanding Magogenic fault that eats people¡¯s souls and decays their skills to nothing. Skyisle belongs to the Empire and a Legionnaire like myself can buy land anywhere in the Empire¡ to retire.¡±
¡°Why did you buy Skyisle?¡± Delta asked, her voice cold. ¡°You want to own us or something?¡±
¡°No! I bought it to give it to¡ you two,¡± I said. ¡°I was slowly dying from the soul-damage and cellular-decay. I wrote a will in Cessna¡ which stipulates that when I die, the land ownership will pass to Dante Alan Skyisle!¡±
¡°So if you die¡ all of Skyisle will belong to Dante?¡± Delta mulled.
¡°Yes,¡± I whispered, trembling. ¡°Till such time, I am the Baroness of Skyisle.¡±
Delta started to laugh. Her laughter was clear, beautiful like a river brook, but her barely moving face made it extremely terrifying. I expected her to stop laughing and to tear my head open with her armored hands or perhaps unleash an army of ants or bees or some other horrid insects to consume me whole.
¡°Pffff, Baroness,¡± Delta choked out, her laughter ceasing after another minute. ¡°Can I ask a favor of you¡ Baroness?¡±
¡°Yes?¡± I gulped.
¡°Don¡¯t tell Dante that you own Skyisle.¡±
¡°Um¡ alright,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to deceive him forever though.¡±
¡°Not forever,¡± Delta shrugged. ¡°Just for a bit. He¡¯s grounded and doesn¡¯t deserve to hear such great news.¡±
I exhaled. Delta didn¡¯t attempt to kill me. Perhaps, I was safe for now?
Delta¡¯s arms grabbed my body, lifting me into the air. I yelped as she carried me with far too much ease across the room.
¡°D-don¡¯t hurt me!¡± I cried as the unnaturally-moving, armor-covered figure pushed me into a large wooden basin filled with water.
¡°...hurt you?¡± Delta paused. ¡°I¡¯m giving you a bath, you dolt. The Baroness of Skyisle should look and smell presentable. Pfff.¡±
¡°I¡ urm¡ okay,¡± I blushed. ¡°Right.¡±
¡°It¡¯s not like you can wash yourself. Can you move your arms or legs yet?¡±
¡°No, I cannot,¡± I sighed.
¡°You¡¯ll get there. Your soul is currently waaaay weaker than your body,¡± Delta said. She grabbed a wooden tube, pressed on a wooden knob and hot water poured from it like a summer rain shower.
I sputtered as Delta washed my head. My hair felt wrong, weird, heavy¡ like some kind of small lumps were growing there.
A strand of my wet hair passed by my eyes. The strand was far too thick for a normal human hair and there were small, ruby gemstones sitting on it.
¡°Why are there tiny rubies in my hair?¡± I gasped.
¡°They¡¯re batteries,¡± Delta replied.
¡°What?¡±
¡°Crystalline-organic lattice micro-structures, to be more precise,¡± Dante¡¯s sister said. ¡°They¡¯re absorbing ambient magic out of the environment. They consume nearly all types of magic too, so now you won¡¯t have to worry about losing your skills, being level-limited or succumbing to [Decay] from the Magogenic fault.¡±
¡°Dante¡ designed these?¡± I blinked.
¡°Yes, he designed a [Monster to Human] Converter spell,¡± Delta answered. ¡°These crystalline mana-gathering structures were already on the red Dragon¡ as its scales. Now they¡¯re hair-scales? Hair gems?"
"Uh-huh," I said, staring at the sparkling string covered in gems in utter befuddlement. ¡°Is it just me or have these gotten bigger over the past week?¡±
¡°Oh they¡¯re definitely growing,¡± she replied. ¡°You¡¯ll have a full-on-gemstone mane pretty soon!¡±
The girl made from ants, silk and wooden armor started to sing a strange, beautiful melody as she washed me. I didn¡¯t understand a single word in it.
Somehow she wasn¡¯t just singing, but also adding musical accompaniment that emanated from deep within her body. It was as if there was a tiny orchestra inside of her. I momentarily pictured a thousand tiny ants playing tiny violins and chortled.
In a few minutes, I let go of my worries and relaxed, lost in the song. The bath became pleasant, if only somewhat worrying because I couldn''t move much.
"Do I have wings too? A tail?" I asked.
¡°None of those,¡± Delta pulled me out of the bath and sat me on a chair made from roots, drying off my body and facing me towards a wall made from very polished wood that was as reflective as a mirror. ¡°Behold!¡±
I stared at the face in the mirror and didn¡¯t recognize myself at all. I was no longer pale.
My skin had a rich, deep, shiny orange tint to it. Multicolored, gold-emerald-orange eyes stared back at me, featuring purple-tinted pupils shaped like gemstones. The girl in the mirror was young. Too young... just a small, skinny teenager.
Black strings of hair covered in ruby crystals sparkled on my head. My freckles looked like they were made from black gemstones too. My ears looked larger and sharp like that of a dragon or perhaps a cat. I smiled and discovered that my teeth looked like that of a feline. I didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or to cry, felt like the face in front of me didn¡¯t belong to me at all¡ and yet it was now mine. There was no doubt about it, I was now something other than a human¡
I was something completely new and incredibly¡
2 : 9 The game of Conquest
¡Horrifying? Conflicting? Dangerous? Free?
How did I see myself now? What was I, really?
A lot of emotions went through my head over the passing days.
My body was finally starting to respond to me slowly, but my mind still failed to recognize my face whenever I saw it in the mirror. I was afraid that on some deep level my mind and soul was slowly warping, changing, fusing to that of the monstrous dragon, irrevocably altering my sense of ¡®self¡¯.
Would I change further, mutate into a monstrous dragon? What if the Empire captured me, experimented upon me in the name of Equality? I wouldn''t put it past them to try to take me apart organ by organ just to figure out what in the Abyss I was. If I was the only one of my kind¡ could I ever even start a family? Could I ever¡
I drowned this line of thought before I started crying.
I was strong.
I was finally free of my Vows, forever, permanently. I wasn¡¯t human, but so what? Delta and Dante clearly weren¡¯t entirely human either. By Equality, Delta could simply move from a human body to one made almost entirely from freaking ants!
I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about Slava.
I wouldn''t put anything past the enigma that was Academic Kerenski, the arithmancer and scientist from another world¡ a truly terrifying world without magic.
Were all people of Earth like Slava or was he just unique, someone too smart and also too stupid for his own good? I smirked at the thought of him rushing into dragonfire to pull my eviscerated body out of the burning skyship.
On one hand it felt nice that someone cared enough to rescue me, on the other it had been an incredibly foolish thing for him to do. The way Delta had explained it - Dante didn¡¯t actually know if I was inside the dragon-harassed skyship, he based his entire rescue operation on a hunch.
Over the past week I had levelled up yet again. Delta had started feeding me solid food and with it my experience shot up yet again. I wasn¡¯t sure what she was feeding me, but my crystalline hair was growing at an astonishing rate.
Now standing upright on my own feet, I stared at myself in the bathroom mirror once again, trying to get used to my new appearance.
I was currently wearing a typical Skyisle peasant¡¯s tunic and a couple of basic shiny necklaces, likely purchased by Delta from the local market. The tunic fit me well. I didn''t know when Delta measured me. I stared at my crystal hair and wiggled my bewildering wide ears beneath my shiny mane ever so slightly, rotating them. My hearing was definitely several times that of a human.
The small, ruby gemstones glittered in the light, casting reflections all around the room.
¡°Was it necessary to make my hair stand out this much?¡± I asked.
¡°The spell to convert organic matter to living crystal wasn¡¯t exactly finished, plus Dante meddled with it considerably,¡± Delta shrugged. ¡°It was a work in progress. Be glad that you¡¯re alive at all and not spontaneously combusting.¡±
I noted that she was standing behind me.
The insectomancer? looked a lot shorter today, her body less lanky, less insanely armored and pretty mundane.
Today, Delta was... just a human teenager who was wearing a very colorful blue and white silk dress. Glancing at the dress, I saw a ridiculously detailed, silk-woven drawing of a city in it. The city was framed by buildings with far too many windows, which were also much taller than the spires of Cessna.
The buildings were topped with red, five-point stars. Strange-looking coaches wrapped in metal and glass stood in the streets beneath the towers. Colorful red banners fluttered in the wind held up by crowds, featuring words that I could not read.
Was this a picture of Slava''s homeland? It had to be. I distantly recalled seeing this exact view, with these tall buildings inside Slava¡¯s dream world.
¡°Am I going to spontaneously combust?¡± I inquired tentatively, pulling my eyes away from Delta''s mindbogglingly detailed dress. Did she use ten thousand ants to weave it?
¡°Nah,¡± the silver-haired girl shrugged.
¡°Why are you in your human body today?¡± I commented on her appearance.
¡°We¡¯re going to town," Delta said. "You need to walk more. I¡¯m not going out as Elder Delta with you. Today I¡¯ll be... just Destiny.¡±
¡°I see,¡± I said.
¡°Mhmm,¡± Delta nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll do all the things that girlfriends are supposed to do like shopping for clothes and uhh¡ making fun of dumb boys. Well, one boy in particular.¡±
¡°Are we friends now?¡± I squinted at her.
¡°Well... as much as I¡¯d like to, I can¡¯t banish you forever,¡± she shrugged. ¡°On the account that you now own Skyisle. Plus Dante will be disappointed if I don¡¯t get you in tip-top shape soon.¡±
¡°In tip-top shape¡ for what?¡± I inquired tentatively.
¡°Oh... the usual stuff,¡± she smirked.
¡°Lugging rocks?¡± I sighed, thinking back of my time with the twins a year ago.
¡°Lugging very big rocks!¡± Delta nodded.
¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to lug big rocks,¡± I said looking down at my skinny teenage arms. ¡°I¡ uh, don¡¯t have my strength-reinforcing skills anymore. In fact I don¡¯t have any skills¡¡±
¡°You¡¯ll get there eventually,¡± she laughed. ¡°Why haven¡¯t you invested your points into things? Aren¡¯t you level three already?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know what to invest in,¡± I sighed. ¡°The Soul-Song doesn¡¯t see me as a human anymore. Do I even have a soul anymore?¡±
¡°What?¡± Delta tilted her head. ¡°You definitely have a soul. A good rock-hauling soul.¡±
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
I glared at her.
¡°Alright, alright,¡± she laughed. ¡°I¡¯m kidding about the rocks. We have magitek tools for that nowadays - been lugging rocks without you for nearly a year.¡±
¡°How do you know that I have a soul?¡± I asked. ¡°What kind of an insect can see souls?¡±
¡°Not an insect,¡± Delta shook her head. ¡°I can see directly into the Astral Ocean as a Phantom.¡±
¡°R-right,¡± I nodded.
Awkward silence stretched between us.
¡°How did you become an Astral Phantom anyways?¡± I asked.
¡°I became an Astral Phantom when some kind of magic shoved Dante into my unborn body,¡± Delta shrugged. ¡°Dante separated us, but I retained some of his memories, plus the memories of an Alanian Agromancer and her Dryad bestie. I¡¯m weird, okay? Archpriestess Giovashi¡¯s machinations were supposed to kill me or make me into a ghoul¡ but Dante saved me, made me what I am now.¡±
¡°I... see,¡± I said.
Was Delta... getting used to me? Why was she revealing so much all of a sudden?
¡°Mhmm,¡± Delta bounced on the balls of her feet. ¡°Isn¡¯t he clever? ...Wait, why am I selling Dante to you?¡±
My mind was reeling sideways at Delta¡¯s revelations.
¡°Anyway,¡± Delta continued. ¡°I can see souls through the Astral. Human souls look like pretty stars with a thousand threads. Yours looks like¡¡±
¡°Like what?¡± I prompted as she made a dramatic pause.
¡°Like a little ball of light with a cute red dragon snoozing inside it,¡± she stated sagely.
¡°A... cute dragon?¡± I repeated. "Are you messing with me right now?"
Delta broke out into a fit of giggles.
I couldn''t help but smile too.
Were we finally getting along?
Delta and I walked into town. The silver-haired girl was in hyper-cheerful mode, chattering away about how incredible Dante''s identify spells were and what they could see and do. My brain didn''t understand half of the words she said and I started to tune her out as I looked around, taking in the sights and sounds of the little mountain town.
I noted that the townspeople were giving me questioning looks, their eyes focusing on my crystal hair.
"Don''t worry about them," Delta said, following my gaze. "They''re just curious about the new person in town. Great changes are coming to Skyisle! Soon you won''t be the shiniest thing around!¡±
"What kind of things?" I raised an eyebrow.
¡°You¡¯ll see!¡± Delta grinned at me.
I wasn¡¯t quite sure how to feel about great changes. What was Slava planning?
"Hey Jovakinn," Delta declared, strutting to a craftsman that was adjusting a building''s beam with a... wooden armacus.
I watched as the craftsman waved at Delta. My eyebrows went up when I noticed that the entire town of Skyisle looked like a massive construction zone.
"What''s going on?" I asked Delta as we walked away from the craftsman.
"We''re expanding," she said simply.
"Expanding?" I repeated.
"Someday Skyisle is going to be the biggest, best city in the entire world!" she declared.
"What?" I blinked. "How?"
"Dante," she said as if that explained everything.
"Dante?" I repeated.
"He has a plan," she nodded. "A grand, master plan. We''ve been selling these shiny tools to people! Ones that help them bypass their level cap!"
"What is this plan?" I asked, not completely sure if I wanted to know.
"You''ll see," she said with a sly smile. "In due time, you''ll see."
I looked around me as we walked. Nothing looked the same as it did a year ago. The town had changed from a boring, decrepit, dying, little village to a booming center of... activity.
"Is that... an Equality-damned necromag... Inian obelisk?!" I yelped when I noticed the looming, gargantuan, black, eldritch structure in the center of the town square.
"What?" Delta blinked, following my gaze. "Oh, that''s just a fountain."
"A fountain?!" I repeated, my voice going up an octave.
"Yes, a fountain," she said. "Dante had it installed a while back. He said it would be good for the townspeople''s health and morale!"
"It''s an Equality-damned necromag obelisk!" I whisper-hissed at her. "Can''t you see the dark magic radiating from it?"
"Nope," she said, tilting her head with a wide smirk. "Should I?"
"It''s an Inian Obelisk!" I repeated. "They were used to harvest the souls of the living and the dead!"
"Really?" Delta scratched her chin. "That sounds like a rather tall tale, darling."
My eye started to twitch.
Delta started to giggle.
The townspeople of Skyisle looked happy. There were kids playing beneath the accursed obelisk, firing spells at each other. The town looked a lot greener too. No... purpler if anything. Skyisle was green before... but now there were magical-looking, purple-orange-leafed trees blooming everywhere, their leaves glittering with sparkling reflections.
When we got closer to the obelisk I noticed that it was indeed standing in a stone fountain, its base framed by a very large purple tree.
"What in the Astral is going on here?" I muttered. My eyes shot back towards the group of kids. They had wooden armaci with violet crystals strapped to their wrists!
A girl jumped over the fountain''s parapet, her wooden armacus unfurled into its weaponized state.
"Hold person," she yelled and a spell struck out from her tool towards the group of kids defending the center of the fountain.
"Shields up!" A boy yelled.
The kids brought up their wrists. A hexagonal wall of magical shields formed in front of them and the spells fired by the attackers fizzled against it.
"W-what the shit..." I blinked, trying to clear my eyes. The youngest of them looked like she was eight! EIGHT! They were engaging in a mock battle using spells way above level 20!
"What?" Delta asked, following my gaze. "Oh, they''re just playing a game."
"A game?" I repeated.
"Yes, a game," she said. "Dante invented it. It''s called ''Conquest''."
"Conquest?" I said.
"Yes, Conquest," she said. "It''s a game of strategy, see? The object of the game is to capture the enemy''s flag."
"And the enemy is...?" I prompted.
"The other team, obviously," she said.
"Of course," I muttered, shaking my head.
I noticed that advancing kids had blue cloths tied to their arms or heads while the obelisk defenders had red ones. A large, red flag was flapping in the wind, held by a tree branch about three meters up in the air. The very thick, purple-leafed tree had formed a small fortress of sorts around the base of the Inian obelisk. Some of the branches moved, occasionally blocking spells as if the tree was participating in the defense. Kids with red bandanas were sitting or lying down on large branches, firing spells at the blue team below.
"Shield-piercers on! Advaaaance!" The leader girl yelled, swinging her armacus. A shield-breaking sword manifested there. It was one of the Imperial spells in the Overseer''s armacus!
I froze in shock, my mouth open wide. I didn''t know whether to laugh or to cry. What I was seeing was simply put - impossible.
Armaci required high-level Imperial artificers to produce and had ludicrously expensive magisteel components!
I hiccuped as the swords struck the shields and magical sparks rained down into the fountain as spells all around exploded. Some swords shattered, some shields held on. It was a genuine, coordinated, magical battle, something that I hadn''t seen since my time at the Cessna Academia of Magic.
The adults working the shops and doing the construction didn''t even bat an eye at the ridiculous magical battle taking place in the center of town.
A magical missile struck the girl in the head and her armacus flashed bright orange.
"Oh woe! I have been decimated! Curse you, reds! Avenge me, friends!" She dramatically fell backwards into the fountain.
"Come on," Delta grinned. "Lets go pick out some clothes! You can play Tag or Conquest with everyone later!"
2 : 10 Exposition
[Dante Alan Skyisle]
I dreamt of the spires of Moscow, tipped with red, shining stars. The stars revolved, gradually folding into themselves.
I could not draw my vision away from the eternally folding fractal structures above the spires of the Kremlin. Even a mundane human eye could see the extra dimensions that etched the stars into the cloudy sky. The absolute Stabalist hexagrammic giga-chains anchored the stars to the world and the world to the stars, providing a sense of inner peace to all who gazed upon them.
¡°Smile,¡± the stars whispered.
I smiled.
¡°Work hard today,¡± the stars added.
I nodded as a wide smile plastered itself onto my face.
I joined the throng of smiling, happy people. The smiles were everywhere. Some of their eyes looked sad, but that sadness was drowned, drained away every time when they looked upon the great star-tipped towers. Fear and sadness were not permitted, true despair formed cracks in human souls that let otherness in.
Thick clouds rolled across the gloomy sky, rays of light cutting through the cloud ceiling occasionally. Here and there goverment skyships pierced through the clouds.
Warship Roraima hung above New Moscow, a ten kilometer long, black pyramid that blotted out the sun. The clouds warped, moved in a perfect circle around the warship as they were pushed away by its reality-warping shields. I headed to the white towers of the Stabalist foundation district.
"Good tomorrow citizens of USSRA," the perfect, god-like, female voice of Wizard Revolution poured from the speakers of the Overseers hanging above the city streets. "As always, the Dead Zone is kept at bay by the combined efforts of our great Archmagi. Our war against the Oceania Imperium continues in full swing. Tensions with Sol are escalating as well, but we will inevitably prevail. The USSRA representative flew into the capital of Oceania this week to discuss..."
I walked into the Ministry of Magic building waving a hand to the pyramidal Overseer floating over the entrance. The Overseer flashed at me with its red-star eye, confirming and conceptually reinforcing my identity.
A wall-to-ceiling tall mirror with a life-sized etching of Wizard Revolution in the Anti-Memetics Department hall reflected my haggard, albeit smiling face in it. The image of our living idea comprised from thousands of silver dots shifted ever so slightly as her triangular eyes examined me. Some people worshiped her as a goddess, but I knew exactly what she was.
"Good tomorrow, Dr. Kerenski," Revolution smiled at me as I passed by her. I sent a nod to the living etching instead of a reply.
My Archmage partner, Zariya Grimmaldri was already waiting for me in our office. She was staring at the view of Moscow through large office window. The red star on the back of her red-white robe pulsed ever so slightly as it detected my presence, letting Zariya know that I had arrived. Her Stabalist Arcanum was sitting open on the windowsill, casting a silver-blue helix runescript spiral in the air that was slowly rotating around a fractal 8-pointed star hexagram.
¡°Good morning Dr. Kerenski!¡± Zariya greeted me with a wide smile as she turned around, pushing back silver-blue hair.
¡°Morning Zariya,¡± I said. ¡°How are things?¡±
¡°The program you designed is working perfectly,¡± she said. ¡°Population happiness is up across the board. Enemy propaganda and the Dead Zone memetics no longer have any effect on our citizens. We¡¯re installing the resonance-stars in every city across the USSRA!¡±
¡°Glory to USSRA,¡± my mouth made the words for me as my hand moved to my heart, closed into a fist.
¡°Glory to the USSRA!¡± Zariya placed a hand upon her heart, violet-blue eyes flashing with determination.
We got back to business. There were more towers to build across our vast nation made up of nations.
Someday we will take control of all of the sectors. Someday, we will win against the Dead Zone and then I can finally¡
I woke up with a groan.
My head felt like it had been boiled and squeezed dry like a lemon.
I blearily pushed the weird dream out of my mind. The vision of USSRA had felt far too real, had far too many sharp details and colors in it. It was nothing like the frayed-edge Neurovista-designed dreams that Delta and I shared together.
That¡¯s what I get for nearly frying my brain while trying to make Kliss a new body out of a dragon, I supposed.
I felt that someone was wiping my head with a damp cloth. I opened my eyes and saw the smiling face of my mom.
¡°Dante!¡± She said, her blue eyes looking me over. ¡°You¡¯re awake?¡±
I nodded. It hurt to nod. It felt like a train ran me over. Had I overdone it by that much¡ last night? Pushed my soul and mind too far?
¡°How long was I out?¡± I asked, feeling like my mouth was made from cotton.
¡°Nearly two weeks,¡± she said. ¡°I had to take care of you.¡±
¡°You?¡± I asked. ¡°Where¡¯s Delta?¡±
¡°Your Great Aunt is far too busy with her Archmage business and teaching Destiny magic,¡± mom sighed. ¡°She told me that you ran headfirst into an Imperial skyship that was set alight by dragonfire and crashed into the valley. Why did you do that Dante?¡±
I ignored her question, my head pounding like a thousand drums.
¡°Well?¡± She crossed her arms. ¡°I¡¯m waiting for a legitimate answer.¡±
¡°You wouldn¡¯t understand,¡± I sighed.
¡°Try me,¡± she said.
The migraine was making it hard to think. Even if my soul was that of an old Soviet scientist my teenage body was full of hormones that pushed me forward, made me brave and careless. I was an amalgamation of Dante and Vladislav, both and neither. My soul was ancient, but my body was young.
¡°No,¡± I said defiantly to her demands. "Water please."
¡°Dante,¡± she said as she handed me a cup filled with precious, refreshing liquid. ¡°You could have died from what I was told. You¡¯re a wizard¡¯s apprentice, technically an adult now. Please make better decisions in the future. Your Great-Aunt Delta and sister are both very disappointed with you. I will be disappointed in you if you get yourself hurt again like this. You have to be more careful.¡±
I squinted at her.
¡°Dante?¡± She asked. ¡°Why are you like this?¡±
Something in me snapped. The headache and the far-too-realistic dream of the pulsating fractal stars that ripped people¡¯s true feelings away and replaced them with those of false happiness made me really irate.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
¡°I won¡¯t tell you anything until you tell me something,¡± I said.
¡°Oh?¡± Cassandra raised her eyebrow.
¡°In Alania¡¯s land, both sons and daughters bold,
Rose against the gods, with spirits brave and cold.
Built an Empire grand, with prosperity untold,
As eons passed by, archmages¡¯ tales unfold.
Hear the Skyisle¡¯s call, in our hearts it fiercely rings,
Guardians of our legacy, where the Astral Ocean sings.
We stand as the last, in our tattered wings,
Keeping Skyisle¡¯s beacon bright, to eternity it clings.
Through the Gate of Abyss, our heroes returned to fight,
Against vile foes, across Tricameron¡¯s besieging plight.
The Basq magi, pulled stars from the shawl of night,
Bathed our cities in death, a grim and dreadful sight.
Skyisle Sentinels, remember our past days,
When we touched the cosmos, our hands ablaze.
Last defenders here, in our fortress¡¯ maze,
Skyisle, our light, in its eternal phase.
Descend to the white city, in the mountain¡¯s embrace,
Reclaim your legacy, in this sacred space.
Let your Soul-Song lead, with its guiding grace,
To Tricameron return, find your ancestral place.
Children of Alania, when curse-effulgence fades,
Find your path to Tricameron, through the mountain shades.
In Skyisle¡¯s valley, where the last light never wanes,
Be the beacon¡¯s flame, where hope forever reigns.¡±
I sang out the words of the Alanian Sentinel''s song.
Cassandra''s face paled, tears breaking out on her face.
¡°You know what the song means?¡± She asked.
¡°I do,¡± I nodded.
"D-did Great-Aunt Delta teach you... that song?" Cassandra pushed the words out of herself with a sob. "Is... is that why you''re acting out like this, throwing your life into danger?"
"Yes," I lied. "Academic Kerenski and Great-Aunt Delta taught Destiny and I the song of the Alanian Sentinel, translated it for us. There''s magic in these words, power of the Alanian magi that''s still alive after a thousand years of darkness!"
Cassandra choked.
"I want the truth," I said, trying to derail her from making me feel bad about rescuing Kliss.
Cassandra fretted for a few moments. I stared at her firmly waiting for the answer. After another minute of me silently glaring at her she finally gave in.
"It''s my fault," she said. "Everything that happened is my fault."
"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow.
"When I was fifteen my parents left me to search the Valley of Death,¡± mom confessed.
¡°I¡ know,¡± I said.
¡°I had a prophetic dream about having a daughter," she said, her voice trembling. "I went to the Church of Ishira at the center of the village and told the Priestess about the dream. The Priestess in attendance¡ Giovashi told me that my daughter would bring doom to Skyisle."
"I know that too," I nodded. "A year ago Kliss forced this confession out of you. I haven''t forgotten."
"I was so scared," she said. "I was so scared that your sister... that my little Destiny would destroy Skyisle. Giovashi convinced me that Destiny would find a way to get to the ruined Citadel-city of our ancestors, awaken the ancient weapons of Tricameron, and activate the arcane golems that have been sleeping there for a thousand years. My parents told me all about these engines - they''re fed by human souls!"
Tears started to dance down her cheeks. I started to feel bad.
"Overseer Kliss told us that Giovashi was evil... that Giovashi was the one who summoned Aradria and yet I didn''t believe it, refused to listen to her... until Great-Aunt Delta and Academic Kerenski told me the same bloody thing!"
I nodded.
"I''m now free of my Vows thanks to Great-Aunt Delta! I¡¯m free¡ and only now do I realize how awful I¡¯ve been to you both! I''m still terrified that I''ll lose you or Destiny, have nightmares that you or your sister will rush headfirst into the Valley of Death!"
Things clicked together in my head, like a puzzle being assembled, like a clockwork mechanism ticking. My migraine was slowly clearing up.
"It''s okay, Mom," I said softly after I processed her revelation. "I understand. I''m sorry I put you through more worrying. I''m only thirteen, I''d never go to the Valley of Death alone. Dealing with contamination there is Great-Aunt Delta''s job," I lied, knowing too damn well that it was in fact my job.
Cassandra looked up at me with eyes that were no longer sky blue, but almost silver-gray and shimmering with tears.
"You''re all grown up now, Dante," she said. "You have to be careful. You have to get strong so that you can grow to become a powerful mage... and protect Skyisle just like Great-Aunt Delta does. It will be up to you to carry the Sentinel''s torch into the future, to watch over this Valley."
I nodded and hugged her tightly.
"The wizards of Oz will aid us," I whispered as mom sniffed into me. "They''re here to help. Don''t worry, mom."
Our hug was interrupted by a quartet of boots marching up the stairwell.
Delta''s grinning face appeared in the doorway. She was inhabiting her human teenage body.
"Someone''s finally up!" She declared. "Look who I brought, ya lazy layabout!"
Delta shoved another person into the room. It was a skinny girl in a black and red dress with hair made from ruby gemstones. The girl stepped into the light and her mane detonated with sparkling, colorful reflections.
It took me a few seconds to recognize her.
"Hey Dante," Kliss said, her ember-emerald, slitted, cat-like eyes looking at me.
Mom blinked at the gemstone-maned girl and then looked at Delta and then back to me.
"Hey Kliss," I got off the bed with a groan. "Damn it, my head still hurts like hell."
"Good! Accept the pain! It''s a moral lesson to be less of a tit," Delta shook her head. "You got off easy!"
"Yeah," I said, stretching my tingling muscles.
My hands felt unnervingly cold as if they were held underwater in a glacier current. I spent a lot of my power and soul, put myself further into the dangerous precipice of becoming a mindless Astral Phantom by saving Kliss.
"You should thank your mom too," Delta said, looking at Cassandra. "She was the one taking care of you the whole time you were out."
I looked at my mom and saw weariness, worry and concern in her eyes.
¡°Yes?¡± I asked her.
¡°Kliss¡ that¡¯s Overseer Kliss?!¡± Cassandra uttered, staring at the ex-Overseer. "How can this be? I... don''t understand¡ Why does she look like a gemstone-person?! Why is she so much smaller, younger-looking?¡±
¡°She was inside the burning skyship,¡± I confessed with an exhale. ¡°She was dying. I¡ fixed her.¡±
¡°You fixed her?!¡± Mom gasped.
¡°I¡ uhh¡ I mean... I found her inside of the ship and Great-Aunt Delta used Oz magic that she developed with Academic Kerenski to heal Kliss,¡± I lied. ¡°There was a dead dragon nearby, so Delta used her great Archmage powers to fuse parts of it to Kliss¡ and that¡¯s the end result of that, I suppose.¡± I waved a hand at Kliss who sent me an annoyed, albeit sparkly glare.
Cassandra closed and opened her mouth.
Kliss stepped closer to us. She looked like a diamond, like a prism, no¡ a thousand prismatic refractions that warped, twisted and redirected the light cast into the room through the round windows. I stared at her. I had no idea that her hair would get this shiny.
The [monster>human] converter spell was only tested on bees.
To me it was mostly fractals, numbers and omnicode. When I poured power from the Dragon''s body into the girl to reforge her, I had no idea what would come out in the end and by the time I had finished making her I was nearly delirious from exhaustion. The end result now standing before me was incredible, like a living, impossible sculpture, an amalgamation of a gemstone cluster and a person.
Kliss stepped to my side. Her hand moved faster than my tired eyes could track it and my defense Ward didn''t activate since I was completely out of mana. The sound of the slap resonated across the room and I staggered back from her.
"That''s for running into the burning skyship," she said.
I stared at her in shock. She had slapped me, not hard enough to hurt a lot, but hard enough to show that she meant it.
"And that''s for saving my life," she hugged me.
I hugged her back, feeling incredibly awkward.
Her embrace became firmer and warmer.
My Astral Phantom threads sensed the magical forge pulsing in her chest, like a tide of magic that was waiting to be unleashed. The chill of the Astral Ocean stopped bothering me as I held onto the girl with an eternally burning, crystalline dragonheart.
My hands became warm. The ever-present numb feeling vanished from my fingers as if it never existed. I felt warm, at peace, realized that I didn''t want to let go of her.
"Alright, you two, break it up," Delta commented after another minute with a huff.
2 : 11 Dragonheart
Our trio walked downstairs, the stairwell creaking under our boots.
My mana finally started to flow through me properly, so I mentally summoned up my Stats, quickly going over them.
|
Name:
|
Dante Alan Skyisle / Vladislav Alexandrovich Kerenski
|
|
Age:
|
13
|
|
Species & Subtype:
|
Human / Astral Phantom
|
|
Affinity:
|
Soul hunter [+ Soul Devourer skill]
Spark of the Morningstar [+ 3 skill channels] [+ Soul-Song skill]
Dryad [+Chrysalis skill]
Blessing of Emperor Celesar [+ 2 skill channels]
Life-Forger [increased success in creation of new life & modification of existing biology]
|
|
Level:
|
17
|
| |
|
|
Experience:
|
18''312/16''200
|
| |
|
|
Health:
|
17/17
|
|
Stamina:
|
17/17
|
|
Mana:
|
17/17
|
|
Mana regen:
|
17 m/hr
|
| |
|
|
Strength:
|
16
|
|
Agility:
|
16
|
|
Dexterity:
|
16
|
|
Vitality:
|
18 [+3]
|
|
Charisma:
|
12 |
|
Magic:
|
65 [+3]
|
|
Foresight:
|
15 |
|
Intelligence:
|
481 [+89]
|
|
Wisdom:
|
15
|
|
Soul:
|
[100] Dante
[+77] Slava
[-54] Battie & Leemy
[+88] Klint & Keps
[-12] Soul Decay
[-32] Legonnie, Lymphagons
[-3] Mesmy
[-20] Equality''s Vow
[-7] Ogonek
[-3] Ghost Ant
[+2] Kopernii Castiglia
[-1] Diary
[-32] Kliss
[-27] Wooden armacus
Available: 96
|
| |
|
| Skills: |
|
|
1
|
[Soul-Song LV 0] [ON]
[Raising Spell efficiency by 0.1%]
[Providing detailed Soul-Stats]
[Translating the Soul-Song''s Language]
Known Song-Spells:
| [Tamus-Anima] |
[Sectus-Anima] |
| [Conjugo-Anima] |
[Identify] |
|
| 2 |
#1 [Infoscope LV 20]
|
| 3 |
#2 [Infoscope LV 20]
|
| 4 |
#3 [Infoscope LV 20]
|
| 5 |
#1 [Info-Tether LV 20] - connected to Infoscope 1
|
| 6 |
#2 [Info-Tether LV 20] - connected to Infoscope 2
|
| 7 |
#3 [Info-Tether LV 20] - connected to Infoscope 3
|
| 8 |
#1 [Modify LV 20] - connected to Infoscope 1
|
| 9 |
#2 [Modify LV 20] - connected to Infoscope 2
|
| 10 |
#3 [Modify LV 20] - connected to Infoscope 3
|
| 11 |
#1 [Sectus-Tether LV 20] - connected to Infoscope 1 |
| 12 |
#2 [Sectus-Tether LV 20] - connected to Infoscope 2 |
| 13 |
#3 [Sectus-Tether LV 20] - connected to Infoscope 3 |
| 14 |
[Chrysalis LV 15] [OFF] |
| 15 |
#4 [Info-Tether LV 20] - connected to Legonnie
|
| 16 |
#4 [Sectus-Tether LV 20] - connected to Astral Ant
|
| 17 |
[Mana>Electricity Converter LV 20]
|
| 18 |
[Vow-Breaker LV 20]
|
| 19 |
[Charisma-Resonance LV 20] |
| 20 |
[NeuroVista LV 20] [ON] |
| 21 |
#4 [Infoscope LV 20] |
| 22 |
#4 [Info-Tether LV 20] - connected to Infoscope 4 |
| 23 |
#4 [Modify LV 20] - connected to Infoscope 4 |
| 24 |
#4 [Sectus-Tether LV 20] - connected to Infoscope 4 |
| 25 |
[Lucid Dreamer LV 20] |
| 26 |
[Cellular Converter LV 20]
|
| 27 |
[-=Soul Devourer=-] |
| |
|
| Phylactery - Battie
[Ward Barrier] [Level Concealment] [LV 14]
|
[Crystal Battery]
[14 soul shards from Dante]
[20/20 mana] |
| Phylactery - Leemy [Chrysalis] [LV 27] |
[Mystic-Willow-Oak]
[40 soul shards from Dante]
[40 soul shards from Delta]
[27/27 mana]
|
| Phylactery - Legonnie [Lymphagon] [LV 20]
|
[20 soul shard from Dante]
|
| Phylacteries - 12 Lymphagons [LV 1]
|
[12 soul shard from Dante] |
| Phylactery - Ogonek [Fire-Bee] [LV 14] |
[7 soul shard from Dante]
[7 soul shard from Delta]
|
| Phylactery - Mesmy [Mesmerbane Fox cub] [LV 3]
|
[3 soul shard from Dante] |
| Phylactery - Kliss Eliza Cessna [LV 19]
|
[32 soul shard from Klint] |
| Astral Ant [LV 3] |
[3 soul shard from Dante] [-2.5 soul damage]
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. |
| Phylactery - Diary [LV 1]
|
[1 soul shard from Klint] |
| Phylactery - Wooden Armacus [LV 27]
|
[27 soul shards from Dante] |
| Phylactery - Equality''s Vow [LV 20] |
[20 soul shards from Dante] |
|
Affliction:
|
[Soul decay: -9]
|
Not bad. Creating Kliss had given me quite a bit of experience, enough to level up. I turned the stats off, leaving the level up for later.
"So," Kliss said, looking down at me as I sat onto a root-bench framed by lilac trees created by Leemy and grown by Cassandra.
"So?"
"Explain," she stared at me.
¡°Explain what?¡± I asked.
¡°Why make me into¡ this?¡± She asked, waving at her crystal hair.
¡°I¡¯ve made a promise of sorts to myself when I was reborn in Skyisle,¡± I shrugged. ¡°I designed living weapons called viruses in the USSR¡ weapons that killed people. Here, as Dante, my goal is to save people with my skills.¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t ask to be made into a half-dragon thing,¡± Kliss crossed her arms.
¡°Doctors¡ errr, healers don¡¯t ask whether the patients in their charge wish to be saved, especially not ones that passed out from being cut in half,¡± I shot back. ¡°I did what I thought was right. Don¡¯t give me your attitude.¡±
¡°I¡¯m shorter,¡± Kliss huffed. ¡°By Equality, I look younger too!¡±
¡°I rearranged your body since most of your cells were already dead, fried by dragonfire or cut away, crushed by the fallen magisteel beam,¡± I said. ¡°Consider yourself¡ reborn.¡±
¡°Yeah, I suppose I am. The Soul-Song labelled me a¡ Chimera,¡± Kliss commented with a deep exhale. ¡°What does it even mean?¡±
¡°A chimera is a new type of a being,¡± I shrugged. ¡°A mix of human and dragon. The System¡ hrm, Soul-Song labelled you as such. I simply did the necessary work required to save you.¡±
Kliss nodded.
¡°So, why¡¯d you return to Skyisle?¡± I asked, switching topics.
¡°Cessna¡ wasn¡¯t the same,¡± Kliss shrugged. ¡°Thought that things would be more interesting¡ here.¡±
¡°And are they?¡± I inquired.
¡°So far¡ they¡¯re far more interesting than I anticipated. I really didn¡¯t expect to die or be turned into a Gods¡¯ damned half-dragon, half-teenage-girl!¡±
Delta snickered from my side.
¡°I solved three problems with one spell,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Brought you back to life, got rid of two bothersome Vows of Equality and got rid of Aradria.¡±
¡°He¡¯s expecting lots of praises,¡± Delta whispered conspiratorially to Kliss.
I sent her a stern look. Delta stuck her tongue out at me as a response.
¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about everything you¡¯ve told me, Slava,¡± Kliss said sitting down on the bench next to me.
I nodded.
¡°Can you clarify some things for me?¡± She added.
¡°Sure,¡± I said.
¡°Start at the beginning,¡± Kliss said. ¡°Remind me, how did you end up in Skyisle?¡±
¡°Destiny was a girl who was supposed to be born to the Alan family thirteen years ago. From what I understand¡ After I died on Earth, either a god that called itself Omniscience or perhaps Goddess Ishira or Giovashi led me with a blue magical thread from the Astral Ocean into Destiny''s unborn body in an attempt to turn her into a monster,¡± I said. ¡°Giovashi wanted a pet ghoul to terrorise the locals with, it¡¯s how she gets more followers and farms Vows - by making monsters target Skyisle.¡±
¡°I see,¡± Kliss demurred as she rubbed her chin. ¡°So your appearance on Novazem was the end result of divine machinations.¡±
¡°I talked to a god... or maybe a magical construct,¡± I nodded. ¡°He said that I will be his experiment on Novazem.¡±
¡°What did the God you see look like?¡± She asked.
¡°A man dressed in¡ a suit of armor intended for flying through the void of space. Although, I¡¯m pretty sure that this was simply Giovashi using some kind of an Astral-lure to get me to come to Novazem, to screw up Delta¡¯s soul.¡±
¡°A suit to fly through¡ the void?¡± Kliss mulled.
¡°The Soviet people accomplished a lot of things,¡± I nodded. ¡°Our greatest hero was Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space. We were the first nation to send a man past the atmosphere of our planet into the airless, infinite abyss above us. Remember? I spoke about this when I made your Overseer¡¯s Vow bind itself.¡±
¡°You sent a hero to the stars... without magic... right?¡± She asked.
¡°Without magic,¡± I nodded. ¡°In a tube forged from metal propelled skyward via a controlled continuous explosion of extremely combustible fluid.¡±
¡°Incroyable,¡± Kliss murmured. ¡°According to ancient archives at Cessna Arcanarium, a thousand years before the Age of Darkness... we too sent magitek engines towards the skies, trying to figure out what mysteries lie in the ruins of Inaria.¡±
¡°There¡¯s ruins there?¡± I blinked, thinking of the gargantuan planet seen in the sky at night above Novazem.
¡°It¡¯s nothing but ruins up there,¡± Kliss nodded. ¡°A whole, endless world, made from ruins covered in glaciers. The ancient scholars speculated that Inaria is an infinite city destroyed by some catastrophic event, a magogenic fault spanning an entire planet where space and time are twisted and broken.¡±
¡°That sounds¡ concerning,¡± I muttered.
Kliss shrugged as a reply.
"Why did you save me?" She asked as if my first answer was insufficient.
I looked at her and smiled. "Because I wanted to give you a chance," I said. "A chance to be something more than a slave to a Vow. A chance to be something more than a tool or a servant of the Empire of Equality. I gave you a completely new life. You can be whatever you wish now."
"Really?" She asked with a smirk. "You won''t force me to lug rocks?"
"Really," I nodded. "If you don''t want to stay with us in Skyisle, you''re free to go. You gave me and my sister a chance, a year to build up, to grow, to get strong enough, to make tools that make tools."
"I saw," the ex-Overseer¡¯s expression suddenly darkened. "You put an Almn-Inian obelisk in the centre of town and gave armacus-like wooden weapons to a bunch of kids. Are you seriously considering bringing back Necromage dominion or something?"
"I am not," I shook my head. "I''m using the tools they left lying around, sure, but I have no intention to feed human souls to their arcane artifacts or whatever.¡±
¡°Then, what are you doing here exactly?¡± She asked.
¡°I¡¯m uplifting Skyisle,¡± I said. ¡°In every possible way.¡±
¡°Do you think you can oppose the might of the entire Empire?¡± She asked, fretting slightly. ¡°They will destroy you, send an entire fleet of warships if they find out about this obelisk and the other things¡ you¡¯re giving children weapons of war meant to be in the hands of Imperial Overseers, Slava!¡±
¡°Let them come,¡± I shrug. ¡°We will repel them. Are you with us? Will you aid us? Will you stand up with us against the might of the Vow-bound Empire?¡±
¡°I¡¡± Kliss opened her mouth and froze.
Delta arched an eyebrow.
¡°I am with you,¡± Kliss said after a pause. ¡°I came here to do as much as I could. I do want to help the two of you... to build a world without Vows.¡±
¡°Thank you,¡± I said and hugged Kliss.
Once more, I found it impossible to release her. After a minute of an unnaturally warm embrace I forced my body to let go of Kliss, but my hand crept up to hers and entwined itself with her fingers.
Delta squinted at me.
¡°She¡¯s warm,¡± I explained.
¡°She¡¯s warm?¡± My twin demanded.
¡°I¡¯m¡ cold,¡± I confessed.
¡°You¡¯re cold?¡± Both Kliss and Delta looked at me.
¡°My hands are cold pretty much forever now,¡± I nodded. ¡°It¡¯s like I¡¯m turning into¡ a vampire.¡±
¡°What¡¯s a vampire?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°You constantly shame me for being an Astral Phantom and yet you¡¯re turning into one,¡± Delta tutted at me. ¡°Hang on, stop distracting me, Slava! What does the icy draw of the Astral Ocean have to do with¡¡±
¡°Just grab her hand,¡± I stated.
¡°Fine, maybe I will!¡± Delta grabbed onto the ex-Overseer¡¯s left hand.
¡°What¡ the shit,¡± she blinked. ¡°You¡¯re... warm!¡±
Kliss stared at both of us like we were insane. Then, she blushed when Delta practically smooshed herself into Kliss¡¯s chest.
¡°What is happening?¡± She asked me.
¡°She¡¯s nuzzling you,¡± I said. ¡°Just accept it.¡±
¡°Why?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°You¡¯re¡ warm,¡± Delta said. ¡°Unlike this idiot. Hugging him is¡ like hugging an icebox. We¡¯re both iceboxes. Being a ghost inhabiting a human body has that unfortunate side effect.¡±
¡°You¡¯re losing your humanity,¡± Kliss said with a look of disapproval. ¡°You¡¯re carving up your souls just like the Alanian Necromagi!¡±
¡°Hell, she¡¯s warmer than the Alanian battery!¡± Delta murmured. ¡°Why haven¡¯t I realized this earlier? I could have had this pure bliss for two weeks! I only grabbed her with the ant-fingers! Argh!¡±
¡°Why am I warmer than an Alanian battery?¡± Kliss looked at me.
¡°The dragonheart core in your chest is basically an exceptionally dense magical crystalline battery,¡± I explained. ¡°Plus, your entire body is now more crystal than flesh. You''re a furnace of magic."
¡°Am I going to be able to breathe dragonfire?¡± Kliss blinked.
I opened my mouth and lifted a finger, scanning Kliss with my Infoscopes.
¡°Maybe?¡± I replied with a shrug.
¡°So you have no idea,¡± Kliss commented. ¡°You¡¯ve made me into¡ this thing and you have no idea.¡±
¡°I have some ideas,¡± I said. ¡°As far as I can see you haven¡¯t invested points into anything.¡±
¡°Because I¡¯m concerned that if I do I¡¯m going to spontaneously combust!¡± Kliss replied.
¡°Who told you that?¡± I sputtered.
Kliss eyed Delta.
¡°Delta!¡± I demanded. ¡°Did you tell Kliss that she¡¯s going to spontaneously combust?¡±
¡°Maybe?¡± Delta huffed, having attached herself to Kliss like a cute, white-haired leech. ¡°I dunno. I forgot if I did. Sorry. We¡¯re best friends now, battery-bestie. You¡¯re not gonna catch on fire or whatever¡ you can be whatever you want to, as long as you let me hug you forever.¡±
Kliss gave me an exasperated look.
I shrugged.
¡°If you invest points into magic, your core¡¯s radiance should theoretically get stronger and then you can project your magic at us, keep us from feeling like we¡¯re constantly freezing," I said. ¡°I don¡¯t foresee problems with you levelling up, Kliss.¡±
Georgi came out of his woodworking workshop and spotted us sitting in the garden.
¡°And who might this little, sparkly lady be?¡± He asked me.
I had already stupidly revealed to mom that Kliss was in fact Kliss, but it seemed unwise to spread that information to more people.
The ex-Overseer needed a new name, an entirely new identity.
¡°That¡¯s¡ Elizabeth,¡± I said, using Kliss¡¯ middle name.
¡°A pleasure,¡± dad nodded at us. ¡°Desty, you¡¯re gonna squeeze the life outta her there.¡±
¡°Lizzy¡¯s my new best friend,¡± Delta said. ¡°I¡¯ll squeeze her as much as I want to.¡±
Kliss opened her mouth to protest.
¡°I bought you so many dresses,¡± Delta whisper-hissed. ¡°I hand-fed you soup for two weeks. Don¡¯t even think about letting go!¡±
I started to laugh.
Georgi shook his head, smiled at us and went into the house.
¡°Elizabeth?¡± Kliss turned to me.
¡°We¡¯ll introduce you as Elisabeth Johannes Kepler from Oz,¡± I told her. ¡°It¡¯ll be easier to bring you up as Archmage Delta¡¯s apprentice from distant lands to the locals to explain your odd look."
¡°What¡¯s Oz?¡± Kliss arched an eyebrow. "Why Johannes Kepler?"
"Oz is a city from a story from Earth," I explained. "Johannes Kepler was a famous astronomer, a researcher from Earth who discovered the three laws of planetary motion and..."
¡°You¡¯ll be my most precious apprentice,¡± Delta butted in before I could start explaining Kepler''s mathematical theories.
Kliss looked at me for support.
¡°Delta will be playing the role of Great-Aunt Delta Alana Skyisle, an Archmage from Oz who came to save Skyisle,¡± I said. ¡°We have to introduce her to the village council soon. We¡¯re undermining the power of Giovashi, taking Skyisle from her.¡±
¡°That¡ sounds dangerous,¡± Kliss said.
¡°We¡¯ll manage,¡± I said. ¡°Things are already in motion with the sales of the armaci tools.¡±
¡°Yeah, but can you stand up to level 200 Charisma words from Giovashi?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Maybe,¡± I shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m working on it.¡±
¡°Ants are immune to human-Charisma orders,¡± Delta smirked.
¡°Hang on,¡± Kliss stared at me, orange-green eyes wide in realization. ¡°You¡¯re the reason why Aradria came to Skyisle this spring! It all makes sense now! Giovashi must have noticed that you were messing with her followers!"
¡°Yeah,¡± I sighed. ¡°Giovashi¡¯s priestesses from the Fox pub most likely reported that our wands and Mystic trees were fixing up the town, changing things, screwing up her bullshit doomsday prophecy. I suspect that Giovashi summoned Aradria to burn down our dad¡¯s wand workshop and Leemy.¡±
¡°Leemy?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Leemy is our Dryad friend,¡± Delta grinned. ¡°We¡¯ll introduce her to you! I¡ errr Novitiate Kopusha planted her a thousand years ago in Skyisle!¡±
¡°You have¡ a dryad?¡± Kliss sputtered.
¡°We have a lot of nice things,¡± I nodded. ¡°And we have you now - a girl with a dragonheart.¡±
¡°A girl with a dragonheart,¡± Kliss mulled, finally smiling at us. ¡°I do like the sound of that.¡±
2 : 12 Assembly Theory
¡°Question?¡± Delta asked as Cassandra brought us a basket of lunch sandwiches and departed quickly.
¡°Uh-huh?¡± I asked as I grabbed one of the sandwiches.
¡°Why is she soooo friggin¡¯ warm?¡± Delta pawed the somewhat bothered-looking Kliss like a small kitten.
¡°The nature of the Astral Ocean is gradual decay and conceptual destabilisation,¡± I explained. ¡°Back in the USSR, my institute professor Viktor Safronov proposed to us his mathematical theory of how everything was connected with everything. The theory he postulated connected planetary cosmogony, astrophysics, geophysics and¡¡±
¡°Nuuuooo boring lecturing pls, you¡¯re going to make my brain melt if you start going on another long-ass rant about Soviet people and places and how you found a shiny rock and applied math to it for everything to make sense,¡± Delta made a sour face. ¡°I¡¯m used to your yappiness but Kliss¡ err Lizzy here is a poor, impressionable dragon-child! Have mercy on her!¡±
¡°I¡¯m not a dragon-child,¡± Kliss deadpanned. ¡°Neither one of my parents was a dragon.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t ask me a question and then whine when I try to answer it,¡± I shot back at Delta.
My twin stuck her tongue out at us. She was clearly having fun at our expense and loving it. She looked like she was already busy constructing a fictional story in her head about the whimsical, draconic origins of Kliss.
¡°As I was saying, Viktor Safronov¡¯s planetesimal hypothesis is what led me to construct my own theory of everything in 1992,¡± I resumed.
¡°Doesn¡¯t ¡®planetesimal¡¯ sound like a made up word?¡± Delta whispered to Kliss.
¡°Planetesimal is an accretion of dust and ice particles in a rock-like formation,¡± I waved a hand at Delta. ¡°Anyhow, I¡¯ve never published my research because in 1992 everything went to shit when our Empire - the USSR fell apart,¡± I added ignoring the smug face of my rambunctious twin. ¡°But I called it ¡®The Assembly Theory¡¯.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t ask him what the Assembly Theory is,¡± Delta whispered. ¡°He¡¯ll never stop ranting.¡±
¡°The Assembly Theory is a hypothesis that characterizes object complexity. When applied to molecule complexity¡¡± I started and then I saw that Kliss¡¯ eyes glazed over. I tried to readjust my words to match her less scientifically-inclined understanding of the world.
¡°Imagine if you had an amazing set of bricks, each with different shapes, sizes, and colors. Now, you want to build something really cool, like a castle, but you don''t exactly know how to assemble them properly,¡± I began. ¡°The Assembly Theory is kind of like a guide for these bricks, but instead of bricks, we¡¯re dealing with tiny particles called molecules. The Assembly Theory helps understand how molecules fit together to form different substances and objects, kind of like how you can use different materials to make a castle, a skyship, or anything you want!¡±
¡°The question was about why Kliss is warm,¡± Delta commented.
¡°I¡¯m getting to that!¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ve been studying the nature of the Astral Ocean for thirteen years now, trying to apply Assembly Theory to it. You see, the Astral pulls at everything physical, producing near-perfect magical duplicates, magical imprints sort of like paintings that slowly begin to decay.¡±
¡°The Astral Ocean is what decays magic over time,¡± Kliss nodded. ¡°Some magi speculate that if there was no Astral, the spells hanging on hexagrams would be permanent.¡±
¡°Wrong. If there were no Astral Ocean, magic wouldn¡¯t be possible at all,¡± I shook my head.
¡°Say what?¡± Kliss blinked.
¡°The Astral Ocean is what allows us and everything on Novazem to manifest magic,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s not simply a negative, not simply decay and death. It¡¯s also a positive.¡±
Kliss stared at me, emerald-gold eyes filled with curiosity.
¡°Beneath molecules exist even smaller particles called atoms. Think of an atom as a tiny solar system. In this solar system, the sun in the middle is like the nucleus of an atom, where there are particles called protons that have a positive charge, like the warm, positive sunshine,¡± I explained.
The Gregarious Empire knew about the Solar System and had maps of Novazem orbiting the sun and Lunaria orbiting Novazem in turn.
¡°Now, imagine tiny particles called electrons that move around this sun, just like planets circling around in space. These electrons have a negative charge, like the cool, dark night sky,¡± I added.
¡°Even though one is positive like the warm sun and the other is negative like the cool night, they need each other to keep everything in balance, just like day and night!¡± I said. ¡°This sort of balance also exists in magic. In my theory of Assembly of Magic, you Kliss, are magically positive¡ while Delta and I are magically negative.¡±
The chimera girl blinked at me.
¡°I¡¯ve read all of the Imperial books on magic in the Equality Church of Skyisle,¡± I said. ¡°The magi of the Empire of Equality tried to quantify and understand magic, but did so like a blind man trying to find his way in the dark - without knowledge of the physical world and its fundamental balance or the deep mathematical aspects of everything.¡±
¡°Hrm,¡± Kliss pursed her lips.
¡°In Assembly Theory, the positive and negative charges of protons and electrons play an incredibly crucial role,¡± I added. ¡°Remember when I tricked the archangel of Equality by attracting your armor to a rock? That was done with my knowledge of electricity and manifestation of magnetism.
¡°A similar sort of attraction, or bond, ''assembles'' atoms together to form molecules. The way these atoms arrange or ''assemble'' themselves based on their charges can determine the properties of the substance they form. The Assembly Theory is basically the ultimate rulebook for molecular construction!¡±
¡°Uh-huh,¡± Kliss tried to process my words. ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is that¡ dragons and Astral Phantoms are positive and negative aspects of magic or something?¡±
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
¡°I¡¯ve studied the movement of magical currents by observing Astral Phantoms and Dragon hearts,¡± I nodded eagerly. ¡°Visually, they¡¯re both funnels, but they spin in opposite directions.¡±
¡°Sooo¡ it¡¯s like Fire and Ice?¡± Kliss mulled. ¡°I¡¯m fire and you two are ice?¡±
¡°Not exactly,¡± I shook my head. ¡°Ice is the absence of energy, lack of motion in electrons. Astral Phantoms aren¡¯t lacking energy, their energy signature simply matches the directional current of the Astral Ocean which makes them more susceptible to decay.¡±
Kliss blinked, looking confused. Delta tilted her head at me.
¡°We aren¡¯t feeling cold,¡± I told my twin sister. ¡°What we¡¯re sensing is Astral currents going through us very rapidly, quickly enough to nearly wash us away. Kliss, on the other hand, is an inverted magical funnel - the dragon heart in her chest spins mana in the opposite direction, producing what our Phantom bodies are interpreting as warmth. What we¡¯re sensing from Kliss isn¡¯t heat - it¡¯s stillness, peace. Kliss is an island of safety in an otherwise raging, dangerous river.¡±
¡°Mkay, I can sorta understand what you¡¯re saying,¡± Delta commented. ¡°But what does Assembly Theory have to do with anything?¡±
¡°The Assembly Theory are rules that helped me understand how molecules assemble to form living things,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ve applied its principles to magic to understand how different types of magic crystallography can assemble magical creatures. Kliss is part magical creature. Without the foundational knowledge of the rules of magic, without knowing how to assemble something with specific magic I wouldn¡¯t be able to bring Kliss back to life using the specific magical power within microscopic crystalline structures in dragon organs and bones.¡±
¡°Magic has specific alignment in different people, at least according to the Soul-Song,¡± Kliss commented.
¡°Just like light,¡± I nodded.
¡°What?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Visible light is a specific type of electromagnetic radiation. It is made up of different colors, each corresponding to a different wavelength of light. These colors, listed from longest wavelength to shortest, are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet,¡± I explained. ¡°The Empire of Equality unfortunately disregards the power of specificity of magical alignment due to the Soul-Wheel dogma.¡±
The ex-Overseer opened and closed her mouth.
¡°I can design spells not simply because of my knowledge of mathematics,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s also because I understand the principles of Assembly Theory and how specific magical alignment correlates to specific fundamental forces or fundamental interactions.¡±
¡°Fundamental interactions?¡± Kliss mulled my words.
¡°Gravity,¡± I bent my fingers as I spoke, ¡°electromagnetism, weak interaction, strong interaction. Magic correlates to all of these four forces as the fifth fundamental interaction.¡± I bent my little finger in. ¡°The Empire of Equality has only a vague understanding of gravity, your people know almost nothing about electromagnetism and absolutely nothing about the weak and strong interaction of particles.¡±
¡°How are you so certain that Equality¡¯s Archmagi are clueless?¡± Kliss demanded. ¡°Surely the library in the Church of Skyisle is but a tiny tithe of the greater knowledge of the librariums of Cessna!¡±
¡°I¡¯ve used the voicecast crystal orb in the office of the Overseer to make numerous calls over the past year,¡± I confessed. ¡°I asked questions, reached out to the Administrators of Librariums of Cessna and other Imperial cities as Administrator of Skyisle. I¡¯ve introduced myself as an apprentice of Overseer Ignatius to some and Skyisle¡¯s Administrator to others. As far as the Empire is concerned, nobody has even the barest understanding of chemistry or subatomic particles!¡±
¡°I see,¡± Kliss chewed on her bottom lip. ¡°That¡¯s neat and all, but what if the Empire comes here, sees that Inian obelisk? Charisma magi could pry all of this information from your mind.¡±
¡°It¡¯s not an Inian obelisk anymore,¡± I shook my head. ¡°It¡¯s an Astral Engine, sure, but I¡¯ve altered some of its fundamental properties. It doesn¡¯t feed on souls anymore.¡±
¡°How?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°The obelisk in the centre of town is part of a massive array I¡¯m building with Delta and Leemy,¡± I explained. ¡°A gargantuan, incredibly precise hexagram, one spanning all of Skyisle. A weapon against the Empire, one that can repeatedly project a single, magnified spell across the entire town.¡±
¡°By Equality,¡± Kliss murmured. ¡°Which spell?¡±
¡°Rewind,¡± I said.
¡°Rewind?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°A subset of Vitality alignment,¡± I said. ¡°Green magic wielded by our Dryad friend who¡¯s roots and trees we¡¯ve been spreading across Skyisle using Agromancy. The wards, armaci and crystal necklaces worn by the locals will define who gets to be rewound and who¡¯s souls will decay away whenever the Rewind spellchain resonance fires across the valley.¡±
The ex-Overseer¡¯s eyes bulged. ¡°That¡¯s¡¡±
¡°It¡¯s science,¡± I said. ¡°Assembly Theory, or the fundamental principles of science applied to magic. Every leaf of the crystalline Vitality tree within the valley will project Rewind at the people, animals and trees of Skyisle while taking magic away from anyone who dares invade our home.¡±
¡°W-what?¡±
¡°Decay, the spiral of magic produced by Astral Phantoms. The breath of the Valley of Death and dragonfire weaponized on mass scale,¡± I grinned dangerously. ¡°The same kind of magical radiance that is manifested by the mists of the Valley of Death. They won¡¯t even know what will hit them, will think that Skyisle is poisoned, doomed.¡±
¡°By Equality,¡± Kliss muttered.
¡°No outsiders will be able to stay in Skyisle without great suffering. Everyone in the Empire fears the loss of their skills, everyone is terrified of soul decay, and is deeply afraid of Astral Phantoms. I¡¯ll make this place feel extra-cursed, impossible to live in for anyone but the people of Skyisle. It will also help eradicate the local Astral Phantom infestation.¡±
¡°So you¡¯re planning to scare both Imperial legionnaires and phantoms from coming here?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Not just that,¡± I said. ¡°Rewind will literally feel like time itself is being rewound for a select few. Lemmy, Delta and I¡ and now you will be tied into the mass-spellchain hexagram as its anchors. From our point of view our enemies will repeat their actions and lose magical power, while we gain a greater understanding of how to win. Thus, while we¡¯re together in Skyisle and the spellchain is running, we should theoretically¡ be unbeatable.¡±
¡°How is this even possible?¡± Kliss blinked.
¡°I understand how to design self-propagating weapons,¡± I shrugged, distantly recalling the monstrous viruses I¡¯ve made in Aralsk-7. ¡°The Astral Ocean imprints all magic. Vitality-aligned magic already relies on this fundamental principle to repair and rewind the human body back to health. Whenever a mage, a beast or a tree with high Vitality stat is injured their body heals itself basing the information of a healthy state on the Astral Imprint, sending a specific magical pulse through the Astral to align the imprint atop of the injury. I¡¯m doing that, but as a massive spell running across all of Skyisle,¡± I waved my hands.
¡°Soo¡ how close are you to finishing this valley-wide hexagram thing?¡± The ex-Overseer demanded.
¡°Not close at all,¡± I confessed. ¡°There¡¯s the obelisk and lots of trees, but we still need to tie more Alanian batteries into the network, to distribute more crystals to everyone, to modify more wards and so forth.¡±
¡°Slava likes to make big plans,¡± Delta nodded, still hugging Kliss from the side.
¡°You¡¯ve raised my hopes and dashed them in a flash,¡± Kliss rolled her eyes. ¡°Well done.¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t say it¡¯s impossible,¡± I shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m simply telling you what we¡¯re going to be working on and why it¡¯s urgent that we get started.¡±
¡°Very well,¡± the dragon-human girl stood up from the bench, prying Delta off herself. ¡°Let''s get to it. I¡¯m ready to lift rocks or whatever.¡±
2 : 13 Hoarder
[Kliss Eliza Cessna / Elisabeth Johannes Kepler]
As our trio headed back to the Alanian tower, we stopped at the edge of the Cascadia river to admire the rapids caused by the Spring snow melt.
Now that I was no longer suffering from soul-decay, I found it very easy to simply take time to appreciate the view.
Compared to my first day here as its Imperial Overseer a year ago, without Equality''s Vow binding my emotions, the valley itself looked... completely different.
From the colourful wild flowers blooming all over the valley, to the quaint, cosy cottages covered in green moss, to the white dragonettes gliding over the rushing water to catch orange-gold scaled salmon... everything now looked bewilderingly picturesque.
As I stared at the white waterfall curtains cascading down from the glaciers I suddenly realised that I was actually... falling in love with the place I once saw as bland, dreary and backwards in its provincial appearance.
My fingers curled into fists as I inhaled the crisp air coming down from the glaciers.
This... this was everything I was missing my entire adult life since I sacrificed Love to the Inquisitor of Equality.
"Enjoying the delightful view of your new domain, Baroness?" Delta whispered conspiratorially, invading my personal space.
Her words struck some deep chord in me and I suddenly discovered that I was blinking fat tears out of my eyes.
The Imperial Citadel of Cessna was orderly and clean, but not naturally untamed, wild or beautiful like Skyisle. The city I once considered perfect was merely a prison where people were kept pacified, blind, bound by their Vows.
I was blind no more. My parent''s estate, my old home, was gone, burned away by Aradria''s cursed flames.
Home. I suddenly realised. This entire, perfect valley belonged to me now. It was my new home, one that I could actually appreciate and love.
I quickly wiped my eyes and glanced at Slava who was standing a bit off from us. I had no idea how I could ever repay him for what he did for me. Buying Skyisle to give it to him seemed... insufficient, silly. I didn''t even earn the money to do that, since it belonged to my parents'' estate.
Unlike me, Slava had earned his position as Administrator of Skyisle, bamboozled Overseer Ignatius into giving up the job and entrenched himself into the local bureaucracy. In just a year, he and his sister did more for Skyisle than any Imperial Overseers had in decades!
I had always tried my hardest to understand what Slava was saying and yet I constantly felt like a dummy while speaking to him. Possibly it was because he used too many strange, foreign words. I did well at the Academy and yet none of my Instructors there seemed to understand the inner workings of reality like Slava did.
"Shall we head home and get dinner going?" Slava asked, noticing that I was staring at him.
I nodded.
We walked across the forest, reaching the ancient Almn-Inian tower. The tree nestled in its centre looked a lot bigger than a year ago. I wasn¡¯t sure if it grew bigger because of Slava¡¯s Agromancy wands or it simply looked bigger because I was now shorter.
"Let''s make with the treentroductions!" Delta grinned, pulling me into the half-derelict structure.
. . .
I couldn''t understand what Leemy was saying, but she really spoke to the Alan twins! Slava and Delta really had a thousand-year old dryad from before the age of darkness on their side!
I shuddered ever so slightly as I listened to the languid, song-like replies of the gargantuan tree, the violet-orange leaves of which fluttered across the ruined tower.
¡°Leemy says ''Hi'',¡± Delta commented.
¡°H-hi... Leemy,¡± I muttered awkwardly, looking up at the fluttering, sparkling leaves.
¡°She says that she was scared of you, but now that you¡¯re more than a mere pawn of the Gregarius Empire, she is happy to have you as a new friend,¡± Delta added. She was holding tightly onto my hand as it kept her from feeling the constant soul-decaying chill of the Astral Ocean.
I let her cling to me for the warmth my dragonheart provided. Even though I didn¡¯t show it on my face, I felt really bad for Delta and Slava. I knew what it was like to be almost dead, personally felt the icy grip of the void when the two conflicting Vows had nearly torn apart my soul.
Slava didn¡¯t direct me to any rocks, instead he told me to relax, get some rest and level up.
After a hearty breakfast of blood-elk steak, Delta dragged me to a cosy bedroom beneath the roots of the Mystic-Willow-Oak.
I caught Slava on his way out of the bathroom, my mind refusing to let go of our previous conversation.
¡°So, um,¡± I said. ¡°Slava¡ can you really cast a single spell across the entire valley?¡±
¡°Give me a lever big enough and I will move the world,¡± the white-haired teenager smiled, repeating the words of a scholar from his magic-less home world.
¡°I still don¡¯t understand how this is possible,¡± I insisted, thinking back to what my Cessna instructors at the Academy taught me. ¡°Magic is finite, limited to the power level of a wizard¡¯s Soul-Song. Spells decay away to nothing the further away you are from the spell you cast. You can¡¯t just¡ cast a spell that big repeatedly. Even a High Archmage would struggle to cast something that big once!"
I looked at Slava¡¯s thirteen-year-old, scrawny body.
¡°A single human soul can only cast so much magic, yes. However, with enough crystalline matrices of a certain type, one can cast a spell as big as all of Skyisle. Without Leemy¡¯s cooperation, or her roots permeating the entire valley, or the precision of my Infoscopes, I would not be able to construct a functional hexagram anywhere as big,¡± he explained.
I pursed my lips, mulling over his words. The very concept of casting a valley-wide spell via a bunch of trees seemed absurd, nonsensical, insane.
¡°In fact, I suspect that the planet-sized rings on the surface of Inaria are truly gargantuan crystalline matrices,¡± Slava said. He glanced out the window at the glowing silver-blue-violet rings in the night sky. ¡°Hell, our ability to do magic might be because of those rings. Someone had to build those things for a purpose. If they¡¯re indeed infinite megastructures then¡¡±
¡°Then what?¡± I asked.
¡°Then they exist to rewrite the rules for a multitude of planets or perhaps an entire universe on a fundamental level,¡± Slava said, his expression darkening. ¡°At the cost of anything remaining alive being down there. Inaria is a dead world, yes?¡±
¡°Y-yes,¡± I nodded, stammering ever so slightly at his words.
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I never liked thinking about how big or how dead Inaria was. No Imperial scholar could wrap their mind around something that was broken enough to become physically infinite.
¡°That much magical radiance would disassemble a person on a subatomic level,¡± he added.
I sputtered in response.
¡°I¡¯m just glad that we¡¯re precisely far enough away from Inaria to be able to cast spells,¡± he said. ¡°If the orbit of Novazem was unstable, then the magrad projected by those vast megastructures could gradually disassemble absolutely everything living here.¡±
I simply stared at him, trying to wrap my mind around his words.
¡°Like I told you earlier, the fifth fundamental force, our ability to bend the universe to our will, comes from the interaction of a human soul with the Astral Ocean,¡± he said after a deep pause in our conversation. ¡°Magic doesn¡¯t merely sink into the Astral, it is pulled from it!"
¡°I find this very hard to believe,¡± I frowned. ¡°I¡¯ve been taught my entire life that the void filled with Astral Phantoms devours, steals our magic. That the Wheel of Death consumes all souls and grinds all of our works to naught, unless we dedicate ourselves to Goddess Equality.¡±
"We''ll reserve our discussion about Arxtruria to another time," Slava said. "As for human magic - most spells cast by people are negatively-charged. The Astral current they produce flows in one direction and thus they sink into the Astral Ocean very quickly. But, a certain type of a magical creature can produce what I would label as ¡®positively-charged magic¡¯.¡±
His finger pointed at my chest.
¡°Dragonhearts are used by both the Basq and your people as anti-gravity engines because they are a persistent type of magical radiance expressed within a crystalline matrix,¡± he explained. ¡°The magic dragons produce does NOT decay away, it gets stronger with time."
¡°Are you certain of this?¡± I demanded.
¡°Of course,¡± he nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve been monitoring the local forest for thirteen years now. The mountainside burned by Aradria¡¯s fire didn¡¯t heal in the slightest. In fact, the persistent spell cast by the dragon became more magically potent, more dangerous to the local wildlife and plants.¡±
I opened and closed my mouth, trying to find a rebuttal.
¡°Wait a heartbeat,¡± I said. ¡°How could you monitor the effects of dragonfire thirteen years ago? You were just a newborn babe back then!¡±
¡°A newborn who could cast high level identify spells,¡± Slava pointed out. ¡°Spells that could attach themselves to nearly anything. I attached one of my [Identify] to a common dandelion seed.¡±
I squinted at him.
¡°Dandelion seeds carried by the wind from the glaciers in the spring are a common occurrence in Skyisle,¡± he added. ¡°Within them is a stable organic matrix of [Green-Vitality] magic. Thirteen years ago, it took the [Death] curse produced by dragonfire one minute, five seconds and sixteen microseconds to completely decay away the matrix of a dandelion seed. Now, the very same dandelion seed decays away in one minute, five seconds and twelve microseconds when it lands onto the dragonfire-impacted mountainside.¡±
¡°Huh,¡± I murmured.
¡°Dragon¡¯s don¡¯t just set stuff on fire - they also spray a very fine mist of microscopic crystals. Crystals which are aligned with [Death], which targets everything living except for the dragon,¡± he said. ¡°Because Aradria¡¯s heart now resides in you, you should be able to walk through the cursed forest without any issues whatsoever. With your help we can even collect the [Death] crystals from the mountainside to do further study on them!¡±
¡°Digging for cursed sand sounds marginally better than lugging rocks,¡± I couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°Also, were you¡ seriously constantly monitoring dandelions when you were just a newborn?¡±
¡°I was monitoring a lot of things,¡± Slava shrugged, leaning on a door frame. ¡°I monitor a lot of things all the time. Right now, one of my Infoscopes is constantly monitoring the crystalline matrix within your heart to understand precisely how a living dragonheart functions.¡±
¡°I¡ see,¡± I couldn¡¯t keep down a blush at his comment.
When Slava spoke, there was absurd complexity and logic within his words, completely at odds with his teenage face and frame. I simply couldn¡¯t help but picture the other, far more adult, taller version of him that I met within the dream-world a year ago.
¡°Science is all about meticulous observation and precise measurement, systematically analysing data to uncover truths about the nature of everything,¡± he added. ¡°It is a painstaking process of forming hypotheses, designing controlled experiments, gathering quantitative evidence, and interpreting the implications of findings with an open yet critical mindset.¡±
There it was again! The long shadow of a vast, great something behind his eyes. The power and knowledge of a world without magic, the experience of an old mage held within the body of a teenager.
¡°Science requires patience, skepticism, and a willingness to be proven wrong as new discoveries challenge existing theories and reshape our understanding over time,¡± Slava ranted on. ¡°Experiment by experiment, insight by insight, science chips away at the vast unknowns to reveal underlying patterns and processes that give rise to the diversity and complexity of our universe.¡±
¡°Quit chattering about the universe and go to bed¡ both of you!¡± Delta manifested behind us with a soft patter of feet across the wooden floorboards. She grabbed onto my hand to ferry me away from Slava. I refused to budge, leveraging my far denser bones against her pull.
Slava stepped away from the bathroom door with a yawn, intent on heading to bed.
¡°Wait,¡± I told him.
¡°Yes?¡± He asked.
¡°I¡ erm¡ could you do the dream-walking spell on me again, please?¡± I asked. ¡°I¡¯ve been dreaming about being a dragon for two weeks non-stop now.¡±
¡°You have?¡± Slava¡¯s eyebrows went up.
¡°Yeah,¡± I nodded. ¡°It¡¯s¡ umm... getting worse. The dreams are becoming more defined, dangerously vibrant. There¡¯s a certain weight to them, like a new reality that I cannot escape from. In them, I seek gold and artifacts¡ to hunt both men and beasts in equal measure, decimating and devouring all to magnify my ever-growing hoard. It is¡ very unpleasant.¡± I shuddered. ¡°Whenever I wake up, I feel like I am missing something extremely vital.¡±
¡°Oh?¡± Slava squinted at me.
¡°I feel like¡ I need, no, have to... rush off into the forest to chase blood-elks to rip out their hearts and feast upon them!¡± I added with an irate tone.
The platinum-haired boy frowned.
¡°This morning I felt like burning down Skyisle to dig gold and artifacts from the ashes of the village with my claws,¡± I confessed with a sigh, showing him my ruby fingernails. ¡°Claws which I do not have! The urge to burn down and to collect everything of value is getting worse.¡±
¡°Hrm,¡± Delta commented. ¡°Guess we¡¯re lucky that you can¡¯t cast dragonfire yet!¡±
I sent her an annoyed glare.
¡°Very well,¡± Slava said, a shadow of concern for me creeping onto his features. ¡°I¡¯ll tether all three of us to my Neuro-Vista tonight.¡±
¡°Thank you,¡± I nodded. ¡°I would really prefer it if I didn¡¯t feel these vile urges.¡±
¡°Dreaming with us might not rid you of the desire to hoard,¡± Slava said.
¡°It won¡¯t?¡± I frowned.
¡°The dragon''s hoarding behavior is most likely an expression of an innate biological drive rooted in evolution. Over countless generations, an instinctual motivation to collect and protect treasures enhanced ancestral dragons'' survival and reproductive success.¡± Slava switched back to lecture mode. ¡°Perhaps it serves as a dominance display to attract mates. Or perhaps, in the case of Aradria, a female dragon having access to a larger hoard means better protection and resources to raise a stronger offspring.¡±
¡°What?¡± I sputtered.
¡°Stop asking questions, damn it!¡± Delta hissed at me, still trying to ineffectually pull me to bed. ¡°He¡¯ll never shut up at this rate!"
¡°Hoarding desire activates reward pathways in a dragon''s nervous system, releasing dopamine and opioids that reinforce the pleasurable, comforting aspects of accumulating crystalline matrices present within gold coins, artifacts and heart-cores of wild beasts,¡± Slava ranted. ¡°The full neurological underpinnings of hoarding are still unclear to me. The hoarding impulse is likely deeply tied to survival and species propagation. It is now one of your key biological functions, an instinctual desire, which must¡¡±
¡°Are you saying that I¡¯m freaking permanently addicted to hoarding gold?!¡± I interrupted him with a loud snarl.
Gold. I wanted... needed gold. Thinking about gold made my desire for it much worse!
¡°Yes,¡± Slava rubbed the back of his head. ¡°You¡¯re addicted to hoarding gold on an instinctual level due to your current biology. It¡¯s not something that can be simply magicked away."
¡°Equality damn it!¡± I growled, advancing towards him. ¡°I didn¡¯t ask for this!¡±
Kill him, break his neck with your claws, ignite all and turn him to ashes. Something deep, primal sang, echoed from the back of my skull as I grabbed onto the boy¡¯s white linen shirt, lifting him from the floor.
¡°You!¡± I growled, shaking him.
He felt weightless in my arms as fire of rage danced in my veins like a rising firestorm. ¡°Fix it, damn it! I¡¯m not a freaking dragon! Fix me, right now, or¡¡±
¡°No,¡± he rejected my order.
The frail, human spawn didn¡¯t try to defend himself, didn¡¯t even move his scrawny body as my left claw raised him and my right claw wrapped itself tightly around his neck to snap it like a twig.
His ancient, silver-blue eyes simply stared back at me, the expression as cold as the azure mountain glaciers.
¡°I will not,¡± he said simply.
The ever-burning furnace in my heart demanded retribution, vengeance, power. It blinded me, filled me with absolute rage at the impudence of this mortal critter, and ordered me to destroy this pathetic prey at once.
2 : 14 The Pledge
Mortal?
Some semi-rational bit of me thought. Mortal... prey? No.
I knew it then.
The thing I held in my claws wasn¡¯t mere prey. It wasn¡¯t afraid of death, didn¡¯t back down when facing my ire, didn¡¯t even blink when threatened.
The thing hiding behind those human eyes wasn¡¯t mortal. It was my ancient enemy, a hollow-shelled squid from the abyssal underside of the world.
I looked past the meaty flesh held in my claws, past the ever-fire cast by the stars themselves, past the fluttering shadows.
I remembered it then, recalling how to see it once again.
The Underside.
The wood beneath my feet and stone walls around me blurred away. My ruby claws clinging to the visage of the human spawn melted away.
I saw myself as that which burns all, the primordial, eternal fire, the star.
I was Aradria, the unstoppable, the firestorm, the great annihilator!
I recognized the thing I held in my claws.
The thing in front of me was my nemesis, the beast haunting the Underside, the abomination that called itself The Mother!
Her hollow, pale, hexagonal shell danced with pearlescent, silver-blue threads. A hundred silver-blue eyes filled with arcane knowledge stolen from the long-dead, extinguished myriads of stars stared back at me and judged me, evaluating my every move.
Her children were here too. They spun around the Mother like smaller, silver-blue star-squids, ready to strike at me from all sides, armed with soul-severing, null-claws.
I glanced behind me, feeling an annoying prickle.
Damnation!
One of her broods was holding onto me tightly with a hundred pale tentacles, sucking on my ever-fire.
Vile parasite! Get off me!
I was trapped, tricked somehow! I tried to cast my all-obliterating fire.
It didn¡¯t work.
My ever-fire was weak, pitiful, tiny like a dying ember.
In absolute, growing horror I realized that my connection to my hoard was¡ gone, extinguished!
Despair!
This was my end, then.
After all these aeons, the Mother of the Dead had somehow tricked me, triumphed.
Soon, the brood sucking on my spark from behind would cast its void-chains across my soul and I would be undone, unmade, become part of her ever-growing flock¡ serve her forevermore.
I didn¡¯t have the will, nor the energy to resist as one of Mother¡¯s null-threads flashed through the Underside at my core.
I was a good dragon.
I blinked as warm, bright sunshine danced on my face. The bewildering, freaky, feverish vision of myself as a star-like firestorm being decimated by the flock of silver squids amidst the dark void¡ was gone.
Instead I saw white, fluffy clouds slowly drifting across a cerulean sky.
I sat up, blinking.
¡°Kliss, what the hell was that?¡± Delta demanded. ¡°I know that Slava can be very annoying at times, but that''s no excuse to go all murder-cat on him!¡±
¡°I¡ erm,¡± I blushed, recalling how I attempted to strangle her brother just moments before. ¡°When we started to discuss my¡ erm, gold hoarding urges¡ I... uh¡ I lost control of myself.¡±
¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Slava said. ¡°There were bound to be unforeseen consequences of fusing dragon to a human.¡±
I turned my head to stare at the twenty-some man with white hair who was sitting on my left.
Delta was standing in front of us, in her adult, twenty-some-year-old dream-body. She was giving me a judging look.
¡°I¡¯m sorry I attacked your brother. I didn''t mean to do it, I swear,¡± I said, burying my face in my hands.
Gentle summer wind blew through my red locks. I glanced at the alien view of the city of Moscow, once more observing the place from Slava¡¯s memories through my fingers. I noted that my hands were perfectly human here, fingernails no longer made from ridiculously hard, ruby-like crystalline material.
¡°You brought me into your dreamscape?¡± I asked Slava after a very awkward minute of gawking at the summer-wrapped streets of the alien city that functioned without magic.
¡°You were being a bit grabby,¡± he nodded. ¡°So, I brought your mind into my Neuro-Vista created dream-simulation, like we¡¯ve discussed priorly.¡±
¡°You fused my soul with that of a dragon,¡± I muttered as I went over my recent memories. "Aradria... her name''s Aradria and she''s¡ afraid of you."
"Afraid of me?" Slava asked.
"Astral Phantoms are her ancient enemy," I explained. "By the Astral, I thought that I was finally free!"
¡°You are free and you''re completely immune to Vows,¡± Slava insisted.
¡°The Aradria part of me doesn¡¯t like either of you,¡± I said. ¡°She sees you as enemies, null-squids, creatures from the Underside of the world. She¡ sees you as an ancient monster called the Mother.¡±
I shuddered as I looked at Slava.
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¡°Mother?¡± His eyebrows went up.
I nodded.
¡°There is indeed some of the Hollow Mother in me¡ I suppose,¡± he said. ¡°Sort of like an infection. Enough for you to see me as her, since you can peer into the Astral Ocean with dragon-sight. I reckon when you level up, more of Aradria¡¯s skills will begin to reawaken in you.¡±
I gulped.
¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± Slava said. ¡°I¡¯m monitoring your soul. You¡¯re mostly human.¡±
¡°Mostly human?¡± I huffed. ¡°Why did you refuse to fix me?¡±
¡°Because you aren¡¯t broken. The hoarding drive is essential to your new self,¡± he explained. ¡°Part of who you are magically. It cannot be removed, just like Aradria''s dragonheart cannot be pried from your chest without killing you.¡±
¡°So what in the Astral do you suggest I do about it?¡± I demanded. ¡°Cus it¡¯s bloody getting worse!¡±
¡°Start hoarding things,¡± Slava said.
¡°Seriously?¡± I squinted at him and then glanced at Delta for assistance who simply shrugged.
¡°Yes,¡± he said. ¡°Like I said before, there¡¯s an essential, magical connection between the dragon and its hoard. After you level up, I¡¯ll give you something to hoard and we¡¯ll see exactly how it functions.¡±
I crossed my arms, not looking forward to a prospect of hoarding gold and sleeping on it like some kind of a wild beast.
¡°You want to help us protect Skyisle, don¡¯t you?¡± Slava asked. ¡°Maybe having a hoard will make you stronger in some specific way. From what I saw, Aradria was pulling power from elsewhere to make a massive supercell storm over Skyisle. I don¡¯t think that such a widescale weather phenomenon was merely created with the power of her crystalline heart.¡±
¡°Fine,¡± I huffed. ¡°You better give me something nice to hoard then.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll give you a book,¡± he offered.
¡°A book?¡± I asked. ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound magical or precious.¡±
¡°Oh, it''ll be a very special book, one that I''ve started last year. We¡¯ll try a variety of hoarding items,¡± Slava said. ¡°Our goal will be to understand hoarding as a magical ritual, to scientifically establish a theory of how and why hoarding functions and how to optimize and weaponize it.¡±
¡°You think that you can optimize¡ hoarding?¡± I blinked.
I sensed that some distant, deep part of me momentarily stirred in irritation at such a ludicrous proposal.
¡°Anything can be optimized as long as I understand exactly how it works,¡± Slava shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve spent over thirty years understanding and optimizing viruses, nature¡¯s smallest machines and natural-born killers.¡±
He waved a hand at a silver-white, winged skyship traversing the blue sky above us.
¡°That¡¯s an aeroplane,¡± he explained as I looked up. ¡°A machine that flies without magic. It was built by people like me who understood the scientific principles that allow flight - the mechanics of air flow over curved surfaces, the generation of lift and thrust. Through observation, experimentation, and ingenuity, the people of Earth transformed theoretical knowledge into a practical invention that gave every mundane human on my world the access to the power of flight.¡±
I gazed at its vanishing contrail of the odd skyship from Earth the wings of which were painted with red stars. The very concept of a ship moving across the sky without dragonheart magic seemed utterly insane.
¡°Someone still didn''t help make me a glider,¡± Delta commented, poking Slava in the side.
¡°I¡ got distracted,¡± he winced. ¡°We¡¯ve had other priorities. That and I''ve spent nearly all of the Basq skyship''s heartcore on the rocket to take down Aradria."
¡°Bah!¡± Delta grumbled. "How am I going to fly now, without a dragonheart engine?!"
Slava pointed at my chest. I blushed as Delta stared at me very intently.
"Huh? Are you saying that we can harness her as a battery to make my glider?" She squinted at Slava.
"If she gets a hoard going, most likely," the white-haired man nodded.
I sputtered at their conversation, my mind careening sideways.
Delta grinned, got off the bench and grabbed my hand.
¡°Come on, let''s go to the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy!¡± She pulled me off the bench. ¡°We can show you more than just aeroplanes there!¡±
¡°Right,¡± Slava nodded. ¡°Go ahead and level up, Kliss. It won¡¯t interfere with dream-walking.¡±
¡°Are you sure?¡± I asked.
He nodded.
¡°Level up,¡± I said.
I didn¡¯t pass out as I had expected. I sensed, heard the chorus of the divine Soul-Song as it danced across some distant, far away part of me.
¡°How?¡± I blinked.
¡°Only the structure of the soul levels up,¡± Slava explained. ¡°It is actually possible to stay conscious during a level up, but that requires a certain kind of spellchain, a way to anchor your consciousness. I¡¯m basically anchoring your mind to myself now.¡±
¡°I see,¡± I muttered.
We boarded a yellow magic-less carriage that Slava named as a ¡°taxi¡±. I stared at the passing, imposing, stone buildings as the taxi accelerated. The driver was a cheerful-looking man with an enormous grey mustache.
The place which Delta referred to as "Exhibition of Achievements" or "VDNKh" was a very large, opulent park filled with marble-columned and gold-plated palaces called "National Pavilions". Within each pavilion covered in USSR Empire symbology of red flags and gold stars and hammers crossed with sickles I was presented a variety of bewildering artifacts.
The most impressive of all was the "Space Pavilion" which featured the "Buran Shuttle" at its front and an orange full-body suit of "Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space¡± and a flying device called ¡°The Sputnik¡±.
As I admired the strange artifacts of his civilization, Slava regaled Delta and I with tales of the accolades of his Empire and stories of how people like him sought to explore and conquer space itself with gargantuan skyships called "Buran-class orbiters".
He described how entire crews of people lived in orbit, high above the planet on a permanently suspended skyship, a "space-station" called "Mir", which translated to "Peace" in the language of his people.
He spoke with vivid passion that set my heart aflutter.
This time... I listened fiercely, hung on to his every word, for I was no longer afflicted with soul-binding chains of the Overseer¡¯s Vow. The dragon within me fell silent too, sleeping, or possibly not able to comprehend anything that was presented here, lacking a frame of reference.
As Slava walked beneath the Sputnik and Soyuz, he gesticulated with vigor, describing how these insanely technical devices were launched via explosive fluid past the boundary of the planet.
As I started up in wonder at the artifacts of an utterly alien civilization, my mind ignited with the fervor of his words.
¡°Your people¡ constructed great marvels,¡± I commented, when he finally fell silent. ¡°If you won''t fix me, you¡¯ll help me manage my impulses¡ right?¡±
¡°I will,¡± he turned to me. ¡°Because even if all of this is long gone, even if the Empire I¡¯ve helped build has fallen,¡± Slava gestured to the arrays of massive steel artifacts hanging behind him from the domed ceiling covered in gold stars. ¡°The knowledge of it all still remains in my head, these memories aflutter in my heart! The ideals of my... motherland forevermore persist in me, like an ever-burning flame that pushes me forward, refuses to let me give up. Don¡¯t worry, Kliss. I¡¯ll figure out how the hoarding impulse functions and help you manage it, I swear.¡±
¡°You¡¯ll help me bind the shadow of the dragon in my soul?¡± I asked.
¡°Yes, I will,¡± the man from another world affirmed, his silver-blue eyes shining with chilling determination barely concealed beneath glass lenses.
As he made this promise, I¡ fully and finally believed in him.
It was ironic that the killer of men, the so-called firestorm, the great annihilator of cities and the murderer of my parents was now chained in the depths of my soul.
I realized that I was afraid of the dragon, terrified that it would take over my thoughts and feelings once more, turn me into nothing but a mad creature desperate for gold and artifacts. And yet¡ I couldn¡¯t allow myself to surrender to it!
Even though I no longer believed in the tenets of Equality, I was still a trained legionnaire, a graduate of Cessna Academy and a noble knight. I simply had a different goal, a different ideal now.
I could delay things no longer. I owed Slava and his sister my life, because they saved me from the teeth of the all-grinding Wheel of Death beneath the ocean of nevermore.
Slava shattered the Vow that bound my emotions and desires with his esoteric knowledge. If he managed to conquer two Archangels of a Goddess, then with his aid, I could surely conquer the ever-burning soul of a malevolent dragon.
¡°I will be your knight, Slava,¡± I stepped forward as I reached a decision. ¡°I hereby pledge my heart and soul to your kingdom!¡±
Slava¡¯s eyes went wide. Delta sputtered from behind me, not expecting my passionate words.
I went down on one knee, just as I had once, long ago in the Triumvirate Cathedral when I bowed and forevermore offered my services to the white-robed and mirror-masked Inquisitor of Equality.
¡°I hereby pledge, so swear, in the Palace of your people!¡± I declared. ¡°I swear to aid and protect you, to believe in you, to learn to control the power of Aradria that now burns within me. I swear to bind it and to wield it for you and for your sister and for the people of Skyisle¡ not because of a Vow to a Goddess, but because I choose to!¡±
2 : 15 Energy
[Dante Alan Skyisle / Vladislav Alexandrovich Kerenski]
I watched as Kliss fell to the ground and remained standing on her knees, wide, emerald eyes staring up at me.
Her actions and words reminded me of the Medieval knight ceremonies from tales of Kievan Rus conquerors I had read about as a child. Of Vladimir the Great, the Prince of Novgorod and ruler of Kievan Rus and his Vitiyaz knight-errants. The Russian word ¡°Vitiyaz¡± was derived from Scandinavian ¡°Viking¡± as Vladimir the Great took Novgorod with a legion of warriors assembled from the Kingdom of Norway. I thought of dedicated knights declaring their allegiance to a higher cause.
I noticed that Delta was giving both of us a glare and shook my head with a smile.
¡°You don¡¯t need to prostrate yourself in front of me. You¡¯re my friend and I¡¯m no God or King, Kliss,¡± I offered her my hand. ¡°I¡¯m just a Soviet man who was lucky enough to be reborn on Novazem and have a good family¡¡± I glanced at Delta and then looked back at Kliss. ¡°...and to have met you at this intersection of space and time with the right tools at my disposal to help you out.¡±
Kliss stared at me, stubbornly refusing to budge from the marble floor of the Space Pavilion.
¡°I¡¯m not standing up until you accept my service,¡± her resolute expression said.
It looked like she wanted someone to believe in, needed someone to lean on after she rejected the teachings of Equality.
¡°Fine,¡± I said as the pause between us stretched on for far too long. ¡°As the current¡ Administrator of Skyisle, I will take you on as my vitiyaz, a dragon-mage knight.¡±
¡°Thank you,¡± Kliss accepted my hand and stood up, her eyes shining with pure joy.
Delta rolled her eyes at our theatrics.
¡°I¡¯m ready to serve Skyisle, Administrator,¡± Kliss said with a serious look. ¡°What will be my first quest after I level up?¡±
¡°Hrmm,¡± I pursed my lips. ¡°I reckon we should secure our town''s budget when morning comes.¡±
¡°How?¡± Kliss tilted her red curls.
¡°We¡¯ll go fishing,¡± I said with a wink.
Our trio had woken up a bit later than usual, as we spent extra time in the dream-world of Moscow while the System finished evolving our half-dragon friend¡¯s soul.
I woke up in my bed in the corner of my small, cozy bedroom.
As we didn¡¯t expect a dragon to drop on Skyisle and nor for Kliss to suddenly arrive we only had two somewhat finished, tiny rooms available in the half-decrepit Alanian tower. That left my room to me while the girls shared Delta¡¯s bedroom.
I fished my leather bag from under the bed and headed to the living room. The door into Delta¡¯s room was halfway open and I saw that Kliss was unsuccessfully trying to disentangle herself from Delta.
¡°Help,¡± her expression told me.
¡°Sis, have you considered that our new dragon-knight might need some personal space?¡± I asked.
¡°She¡¯s soooo waaaaarm thooo,¡± Delta bemoaned, burying her face in Kliss as if she was a baby kitten seeking its mother¡¯s embrace. ¡°I don¡¯t know how you can resist not clinging to her every waking moment.¡±
¡°My Astral Phantom state is about ? less than yours,¡± I said. ¡°The infection is mostly contained to my hands. It¡¯s frustrating, yes, but I can move most of my attention to my Infoscopes when the icy sensation gets really bothersome.¡±
¡°I, erm, I¡¯ve ascended to level 4 and I have Soul-Song tokens to distribute but I haven¡¯t decided where to put them,¡± Kliss said. ¡°The Church of Equality teaches kids to dispense them all equally but I would like to hear your opinion on this matter.¡±
¡°Magic,¡± I replied without a second thought.
¡°Magic?¡± Kliss raised an eyebrow. ¡°Why magic?¡±
¡°If you want Delta to stop clinging to you, then I suggest that you put all of your points¡ aka, tokens into Magic,¡± I said.
¡°How would that help?¡± She asked curiously.
¡°Investment in Magic will very likely give you a Skill such as magic regeneration and improve your mana storage amount,¡± I said. ¡°Your dragonheart is a ridiculously powerful magical battery. If you improve how much mana it¡¯s storing you¡¯ll begin to radiate magic in the positively-charged spiral pattern around you.¡±
¡°How are you so confident in this?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Dragons radiate positively-charged magic,¡± I shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve studied what Aradria did with her supercell storm when she flew two times over Skyisle.¡±
¡°But what if I don¡¯t get a mana-amplifying Skill in Magic from so few tokens?¡± Kliss asked. ¡°Surely that¡¯s nowhere enough to receive a specific Skill!"
¡°If you were a mere human teenage girl, it wouldn¡¯t be enough, yes,¡± I nodded.
¡°Thanks for reminding me that I¡¯m not human anymore,¡± Kliss crossed her arms.
¡°You¡¯re not simply a half-human girl with a dragonheart,¡± I walked up to her. ¡°You¡¯re now my knight. Well, actually¡ no. I think that you¡¯ve a long way to go to get to a knight level. Oh, I know! You¡¯ll be my personal apprentice first. I¡¯ll teach you magic.¡±
¡°You¡¯ll teach me magic?¡± Kliss smirked.
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¡°Not just magic ¨C Technomagica,¡± I replied.
¡°Techno-what-now?¡± She asked.
¡°Technomagica is a theory of how magic functions when it¡¯s directed with specific crystalline matrices within tools,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s what allowed me to build armaci from Leemy¡¯s wood and crystals for kids in Skyisle. I¡¯ll design specialized tools for you that will amplify your personal magic. Using your custom-designed armacus you¡¯ll begin to understand how to make your magic flow in a specific direction and get a Skill from it pretty quickly. It¡¯s a guaranteed, working method.¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± Delta yawned from beside Kliss. ¡°We tested it on select groups of children first. It totally works. Yay for science!¡±
¡°Right,¡± Kliss squinted at Delta. ¡°I get it now. That¡¯s how you two managed to give magic spells to local teens for their capture the flag game.¡±
I nodded with a sage look.
¡°So, um, Lord Administrator,¡± Kliss eyed me with a sly expression. ¡°You said that you have a gift for me? A book?¡±
¡°Yep,¡± I nodded. Reaching out into my bag I pulled out a leather tome wrapped in thick leather and handed it to her. "Here you go."
Kliss sniffed the book and squinted at it.
¡°It¡¯s¡ glowing,¡± she said after a deep pause. ¡°Why is it glowing like that?¡±
¡°My soul¡¯s in it,¡± I said. "You can see it glowing in the Astral because you have dragon-eyes."
¡°You¡ you gotta be freaking kidding me,¡± the eyes of my new apprentice struck me.
¡°He¡¯s giving you his Phylactery,¡± Delta giggled. ¡°Aren¡¯t you glad to have such a potent first item in your hoard, Miss dragon-butt?¡±
¡°What?! You¡¯re giving me a necromage construct?!¡± Kliss ground out.
¡°It¡¯s the most magical item I have that I could permanently gift to you,¡± I explained. ¡°I¡¯ve been attaching microscopic crystals and little bits of my soul to this book for a year. It¡¯s my science journal.¡±
¡°Equality damn it, Slava,¡± Kliss uttered as she stared at the formula on the cover. ¡°What sort of arcane language is this? What does this even mean?¡±
¡°E = mc2,¡± I said with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s an incredibly important equation derived by an Earth scientist named Albert Einstein. It stands for the theory of special relativity that expresses the fact that mass and energy are the same physical entity and can be changed into each other.¡±
¡°Mass and energy are¡ a physical entity? What?¡± Kliss looked completely lost.
¡°Ohh, I know this one!¡± Delta grinned. She stretched one hand away from cuddling Kliss and grabbed a small springapple from the table. ¡°See this? Springapple is a fruit that grows on shrubs in Skyisle forests every Spring. It is tasty and nutritious,¡± she declared, biting into the fruit.
The orange-gold-emerald eyes of Kliss went from me to Delta.
¡°Suppose this springapple holds a magic so powerful that it can light up our entire village for a hundred years. This magic is locked within the apple, just as a dragon is locked within its egg. The formula ''E=mc2'' is the key to this magic. It says that the energy (E) or ''magic'' within the apple is equal to the apple''s mass (m) or ''weightiness'' multiplied by the speed of light (c) squared. The speed of light is as fast as if you could circle our world seven and a half times in the blink of an eye! So even a tiny fruit holds a vast amount of energy. That, my darling, is the secret of the springapple¡¯s hidden power.¡±
Delta stuffed the entire springapple into her mouth, chewing noisily.
¡°What,¡± Kliss repeated, now staring back at me as Delta was done talking. ¡°It¡¯s a springapple. I don¡¯t understand. What secret power could be held within it and how can it possibly be unleashed?¡±
"Ah," I said. "Well, the springapple is just a symbol. Its secret power lies not in the fruit itself, but in the fundamental laws of the universe. The energy within the springapple symbolizes the potential energy in absolutely everything physical around us, locked away and unseen. The key to unleash that energy is knowledge, the understanding of the principles that govern our world. With that key, the seemingly impossible becomes possible."
"That doesn''t freaking explain anything!" Kliss huffed. "How do you get energy out of something as mundane as a springapple?!"
¡°You could dry the springapple and set it on fire,¡± Delta finished chewing her morning snack. ¡°Fwoosh!¡± She pantomimed fire with her hands.
¡°Indeed. If you put the springapple in a controlled fire, it releases heat - that''s energy,¡± I nodded. "Everything contains energy, but it''s packed into the tiny bits that make it up, so tiny that you can''t see them with your naked eyes. This energy is much, much greater than what''s in the springapple. But, we haven''t figured out how to release it safely yet. This idea, Kliss, is what that formula E=mc2 is all about."
"Release it safely... wait a heartbeat... so you can release it unsafely?" Kliss demanded.
¡°Verrrrry unsafely,¡± Delta nodded, pantomiming a mushroom cloud. ¡°Big-bada-boom!¡±
"If the energy in something as small as a springapple were to be released all at once, it could cause an explosion more powerful than the largest fireball you could ever cast. Energy far greater than the breath of [Death] cast by dragonfire. Energy that imprints itself onto the world. Invisible light¡ called radiation. The people of my world learned how to harness it, figured out how to control it. It was a blessing that lit up our nation, chasing darkness away and a curse that hurt far too many,¡± I shuddered as I recalled my excursion to Semipalatinsk Polygon and the surrounding villages with Commissar Grandensky.
Kliss¡¯ orange-tinted face paled when she saw my grim expression.
¡°This leather-bound journal is full of similar mathematical formulae. Keys to incredible power attained by the greatest minds from Earth through understanding and sacrifice. My people did great and terrible things with this knowledge,¡± I said, pointing at the formula on the book cover. ¡°Marie Sklodowska Curie, the discoverer of radium, was a brave woman who studied the use of this power. She died at 66 from aplastic anemia which was a sickness contracted from her long-term exposure to radiation.¡±
¡°I see,¡± Kliss swallowed.
¡°I personally supervised an evacuation of 350,000 people from the city of Chernobyl and the surrounding areas,¡± I said. ¡°A disaster happened there because the people in charge of a¡ reactor, a radiation-powered furnace there¡ didn¡¯t do a very good job supervising it. A radioactive cloud spilled across half of the world and Chernobyl was contaminated by it for nine hundred years."
¡°By Equality! Did you¡?¡± Kliss looked at me, her mouth sliding open in shock.
¡°I blew myself up along with my laboratory because I was slowly dying from radiation,¡± I nodded, tapping my neck. ¡°The doctors told me that it made my lymph nodes¡ immortal.¡±
¡°W-what?¡± my dragon-apprentice sputtered.
¡°Cancer is a type of an affliction due to which parts of the body refuse to die,¡± I said. ¡°The cells comprising them basically keep replicating on and on and on until they kill the person.¡±
¡°Welp, this conversation is getting too dark for me,¡± Delta muttered. ¡°Come on, let''s go shower, Miss dragon-tater.¡±
¡°Erm, alright,¡± Kliss murmured as my twin started to drag her towards the bathroom past where I was standing. She clung to the book I gave her with two sets of ruby claws.
¡°A-are you two planning to weaponize this cancer curse?¡± Kliss looked at Delta with a concerned expression. ¡°Make a radiation spell or something? Build one of these¡ reactor furnaces? Should I be concerned for the locals?¡±
¡°Nah,¡± my sister rolled her eyes. ¡°Building a safe reactor takes way too much work, we¡¯re making technomagic devices, not merely replicating tools from Earth. Plus, many magi on Novazem have Vitality skills which make them ridiculously tough against radiation. Why, Skyisle-born children are extra resistant to the radiation spilling from the Valley of Death!¡±
¡°Should I be worried for my health?¡± Kliss demanded, glancing at the book in her hands.
¡°Pffft. The book isn¡¯t radioactive. It just has a bit of Slava¡¯s soul in it,¡± Delta laughed. ¡°Besides, I reckon that you¡¯re as tough as a baby dragon. Unless you go near those glowing puddles at the edge of the Valley of Death and lick them, you¡¯ll be perrrrrfectly fine.¡±
¡°Thank Equality for small miracles,¡± Kliss exhaled as the bathroom door behind the girls closed.
2 : 16 Sparks
[Kliss Eliza Cessna]
Strange though it was, Dante¡¯s gift of a Phylactery book filled with esoteric Earth knowledge of radiation¡ made me feel warm inside. Not simply warm, as in appreciating a gift from a friend, but warm on a physical level. The longer I held onto the magic book, the more it felt like it was something that I craved.
I refused to let go of the book, even as Delta pushed me into the shower. The artefact felt like a little warm kitten in my hands, a spark around which my life-current flowed, encircling it like a river.
I felt that I was somehow warming from within due to the book in my hands, as if it was an ever-burning ember. It was the strangest sensation ever, one that I didn¡¯t previously possess as a human.
My ruby claws dug into the Phylactery on their own accord as I closed my eyes, experiencing a strange flood of positive, if somewhat alien emotions. Was I falling in love¡ with a book?
¡°Ey! Are you licking the book?¡± Delta asked, interrupting my thought skyship.
¡°No¡ pffrrth¡¡± I blushed furiously as I noticed that I was gnawing on the edge of the book. ¡°Fine. I am. I think that I need to though? Sorry, I can¡¯t seem to stop. It feels¡ right.¡±
¡°Carry on then,¡± she commented. ¡°Be glad that Slava made that book waterproof.¡±
As I proceeded to nibble on the book, I felt greater and greater connection to it¡ until I bit its corner with my sharp chompers. With a twang-like snap of invisible something my mana suddenly rushed into the artefact and out of it through my mouth.
It felt sublime, like an entirely new flavour that wasn¡¯t sweet or sour.
| [+1 Hoard Item: Phylactery book of a transient Virologist.] |
The Soul-Song resonated across my body with flashing blue sparks that manifested into a framed manuscript floating in front of me.
¡°Whoa,¡± I breathed out.
¡°What?¡± Delta asked.
¡°I¡ have a hoard!¡± I replied. ¡°The Soul-Song says that I¡¯ve made the book my first hoard item!¡±
¡°Eek!¡± I heard Delta yelp. I turned my head and saw her jump sideways away from me.
¡°What?¡± I asked in confusion.
¡°You¡¯re drooling sparks!¡± Slava¡¯s sister declared, silver-blue eyes wide.
¡°I am?¡± I blinked. I turned to the mirror. There were indeed brilliant, orange sparks falling from my mouth.
¡°Oi, close your mouth, don¡¯t burn our tower plz,¡± Delta waved a towel at me.
I did. The sparks ceased.
There was a definite, solid connection between myself and the book in my claws now. I stared in mild bewilderment at my companion.
The sparks that landed on the floor slowly dimmed.
¡°Hrmm, thankfully you¡¯re still too low level as a dragon to do permanent damage to our bathroom,¡± Delta commented.
¡°I¡ can make dragonfire,¡± I said.
¡°Yep, yep, congrats and all that,¡± Delta nodded. ¡°Please point it away from us if you figure out how to properly breathe fire from your mouth.¡±
¡°Wait, what? I don¡¯t want to breathe dragonfire from my mouth!¡± I blanched. ¡°That sounds awful!¡±
¡°Dragons breathe fire,¡± Delta shrugged as she pulled a white top and dress on. ¡°That¡¯s just life. Accept your dragon self.¡±
I huffed angrily, pulling on my corset. When I was done with the dress, I shoved the book into a leather purse on my side. At least I didn¡¯t have to brush my hair anymore, having crystal-braids made that action unnecessary.
[Dante Alan Skyisle / Vladislav Alexandrovich Kerenski]
I watched as Kliss spun in her dress, ruby hair sparkling in the sunlight. She seemed a lot more content and energetic this morning. A big smile was sitting on her face when we reached the edge of town, emerging from the spring-fern covered forest.
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¡°So?¡± I asked.
¡°Thank you for the book,¡± she said.
¡°Did it help with the hoarding urge?¡±
¡°It did,¡± Kliss nodded. A soft smile crossed her face. ¡°Having it feels like¡ I¡¯m whole again, like an empty, chafing hole in my chest is finally filled!¡±
¡°Great,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s what I thought. There¡¯s clearly a connection between the claimed hoard artifacts and the dragon¡¯s power.¡±
¡°She made dragonfire sparks,¡± Delta revealed. ¡°Also she gnawed on your science journal with pointy canines. There¡¯s probably a hole in it now.¡±
The smile slid off the dragon-girl¡¯s face as she sent my sister a glare.
¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± I said. ¡°I expected something like this to happen. I¡¯ve made the book as an experiment to test magic on in the future. The single soul shard in it isn¡¯t very big.¡±
¡°Is my mouth making cursed flames now?¡± Kliss asked me with a look of concern. ¡°Is that how dragons work? Am I going to spit fire now when I get angry or something?¡±
¡°Mmmm¡ no,¡± I said, smiling softly.
¡°What?¡± Delta looked at me. ¡°But I saw her spit sparks. She has dragon glands or whatever now, right?¡±
¡°No she does not,¡± I shook my head. ¡°Kliss isn¡¯t a dragon, she¡¯s half-human.¡±
¡°Explain,¡± Delta demanded.
¡°Yeah, explain please,¡± Kliss said.
¡°Dragonfire is a specific type of magic manifested through hoarding,¡± I said. ¡°Since the Phylactery I gave you has a piece of my soul in it, I can track the exact flow of magic involved. By biting the book, you¡¯ve created an anchor in it.¡±
¡°It feels like it¡¯s mine now,¡± Kliss nodded.
¡°Indeed,¡± I said. ¡°The artefact now acts sort of like a magnet, gradually building up a cloud of positively-charged magic around it. Theoretically, the bigger your hoard gets, the more dragonfire you¡¯ll be able to produce.¡±
¡°I see,¡± Kliss said.
¡°Furthermore,¡± I added. ¡°While artefacts act as dragonfire-amplifiers, we still seem to be missing the crystalline dust that has the permanent [Death] spell hanging on it.¡±
¡°Do we really want that?¡± Delta asked. ¡°What if she burns down our tower with fire that can¡¯t be put out?¡±
I rolled my eyes at my twin.
¡°Do you feel like you require something else?¡± I asked Kliss.
¡°Something¡ shiny,¡± Kliss nodded. ¡°I still want¡ gold!¡±
¡°Hang on,¡± I dug into my backpack. In another minute I handed Kliss a small sliver of gold. ¡°Chew this!¡±
¡°Mmmm-kay,¡± the dragon-girl grabbed the gold sliver and slid it into her mouth, chewing it thoughtfully. ¡°Feels¡ weirdly¡. Uhhhmmm¡ tasty? Yeah, I think that¡¯s it. Now I¡¯m definitely content.¡±
¡°Just as I thought,¡± I nodded. ¡°Okay, stop chewing the gold and rub it between your fingers.
Kliss squinted at me. She pulled the piece of gold out of her mouth and rubbed it between her pointing finger and thumb. The gold hissed, crystallising into her orange skin.
¡°Here we go!¡± I said, observing the process through my array of Infoscopes pointed at Kliss. ¡°The gold is converted into crystalline dust upon contact with your saliva and sweat. The dust is sticking to you, acting akin to¡ a protective layer!¡±
¡°Uh-huh,¡± Kliss eyed the crystalline, sparkling, yellow-orange layer of crystals fused to her fingers. ¡°A protective layer for what?¡±
¡°To manifest magic,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s a natural magical amplifier, one connected directly to your dragonheart.¡±
¡°The key to dragon magic?¡± Delta interjected.
¡°Essentially,¡± I said, looking at Kliss. ¡°If you cover your hands in more of this crystalline dust it will act as a focus tool.¡±
¡°Hrmmm,¡± Kliss pursed her lips looking at her sparkling fingers.
¡°Dragons don¡¯t really use hands,¡± I said. ¡°But people do. Dragonfire is made with pure positively-charged magic utilizing the same crystalline layer formed inside the dragon''s mouth, not some kind of a combustible chemical. If there is enough of this crystalline material on your hands you should be able to push magic through your hands to set stuff on fire.¡±
¡°Hah, I can manifest dragonfire gloves?¡± Kliss blinked, slitted eyes looking from her fingers to my face.
¡°Not just dragonfire,¡± I said. ¡°This is positively-charged, unaligned magic. You¡¯re not a dragon, you¡¯re a¡ chimera. As such you should be able to cast all sorts of spells through your fingers.¡±
¡°Damn,¡± Kliss exhaled. ¡°Amplified magic without an armacus!¡±
¡°Yes,¡± I nodded. ¡°Dragons don¡¯t need armaci to cast weather manipulation spells. They¡¯re simply coated in crystalline powder aligned to them. See, we¡¯ve figured out how and why hoarding functions. Go team!¡±
¡°Well now I¡¯m jelly,¡± Delta said as she high-fived me. ¡°Hey Slava, can you make me into a chimera too?¡±
I squinted at my sister.
¡°Your soul is almost entirely aligned to negatively-charged Astral Phantom magic,¡± I said. ¡°Even if I can find another dragon like Aradria and knock them out successfully¡ the chances of you being properly turned into a chimera like Kliss are very low.¡±
¡°Lame,¡± Delta huffed. ¡°Here I thought that you could do anything! Guess I¡¯ll never know the joy of having a dragonheart injected into my veins!¡±
¡°I can do lots of things,¡± I crossed my arms. ¡°But I never claimed to be a god. And I¡¯m not going to inject dragon parts into your veins, that¡¯s far too dangerous. The magical incompatibility could tear apart your soul.¡±
¡°Fine fine,¡± Delta rolled her eyes. ¡°Just make me a small glider as consolation.¡±
¡°That I can do,¡± I nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll make a glider for all three of us. Kliss will be our dragonheart engine.¡±
¡°How?¡± Kliss asked. ¡°As far as I¡¯m aware gliders require a dead dragon to work?¡±
¡°Yes. We¡¯re not cutting you open for this,¡± I smirked. ¡°Your positively-charged magic can help produce the necessary lift. We¡¯ll just need lots more gold to convert into crystals. Lots and lots of gold. A small winged glider coated in crystalline dust should theoretically work if you push gravity magic through it. Anything coated in the crystalline materia you produce will act as a magical amplifier.¡±
¡°Theoretically?¡± Delta asked.
¡°Dragons can fly,¡± I said. ¡°Kliss doesn¡¯t have wings, but she should be able to channel gravity magic without issues as long as I teach her the necessary spell.¡±
¡°Okki,¡± my twin nodded. ¡°So¡ how much gold are we talking about?¡±
¡°The more the better,¡± I said.
¡°We¡¯re finally going fishing?¡± Delta grinned.
¡°Yep,¡± I smiled.
2 : 17 Fishing
¡°I see that you¡¯ve improved on this gliding vessel,¡± Kliss commented as her slitted eyes moved over the hovercraft. The vessel in question was now slowly moving over the large lake in the middle of the Skyisle Valley. The Church of Equality was visible in the distance, blue stained glass reflecting the glittering caustic reflections coming from the brilliantly-blue azure lake. The buzz of the wooden blade was muted by a silencing rune so we could enjoy the sounds of nature and talk to each other without any issues.
¡°M-h-mmm,¡± Delta sent Kliss a sly grin. ¡°Are you super-duper impressed? You should be! It now fits three people!¡±
¡°Right,¡± Kliss said, turning to me. ¡°So, there¡¯s gold buried in lake Karamshira?¡±
¡°Gold and artifacts,¡± I nodded.
¡°Karamshira? Pff,¡± Delta rolled her silver-blue eyes. ¡°This lake is called Skybliss!¡±
¡°Is it?¡± Kliss arched a dark red eyebrow.
¡°It was, back when I was alive,¡± Delta said.
¡°Back when you were alive?¡± Kliss blinked at my twin.
¡°Over a thousand years ago,¡± I explained. ¡°Sometimes Delta gets fully into her Kopusha Megara persona. A third of her is an Alanian Agromancer acolyte whom I pulled from the Astral thirteen years ago.¡±
¡°I had the best freaking glider,¡± Delta huffed. ¡°Darn it, I miss my lovely glider.¡±
¡°A thousand years¡¡± Kliss mulled. She stared at Delta, emerald-orange eyes wide. ¡°Was your glider powered by... souls?¡±
¡°Why, yes it was,¡± Delta said. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with powering gliders with souls of the dead? There¡¯s a whole lot of ''em floating, blooming, existing aimlessly and uselessly in the infinite aetherial abyss beneath the physical plane. Nothing wrong with harvesting some. Our mighty Astral Engines capture and process the excess overgrowth for the greater good of the Alanian Empire!¡±
¡°You¡¯re a necromage,¡± Kliss accused, her expression growing darker.
¡°The correct terminology is Animancer, darling,¡± Delta waved a hand at the dragon-girl as if Kliss was just a pesky fly. ¡°Specifically an Animancer specializing in Dryad Arcanology. Do you see those violet-orange trees covering the hills? That¡¯s my work and legacy! A tree that can survive anything!¡±
¡°Necromage trees,¡± Kliss shuddered.
¡°No, idiot descendant,¡± Delta rubbed her forehead. ¡°You talk like a Basq ignoramus, what has the world come to?¡±
¡°The world has fallen into darkness,¡± I answered Kopusha in Ancient Alanian, the soul-shards belonging to Archmage Keps Klondike Tricameron momentarily pulling at me. ¡°Tricameron is no more, but at least your legacy remains, Acolyte Kopusha.¡±
¡°You don¡¯t sound like an idiot descendant, who are you?¡± Delta-Kopusha tilted her head at me, switching to Alanian.
¡°An ancient memory that refused to fade to naught when our great Empire fell,¡± I shrugged, ¡°Just like you. Name¡¯s Archmage Keps.¡±
¡°A pleasure, elder,¡± Delta-Kopusha bowed.
Kliss stared at us, her arms crossed. She had no idea what we were saying and looked at us with equal parts suspicion and confusion. I tried to pull the shadow of Keps into the back of my mind. For some reason, this action was difficult to accomplish. I peered at my soul with my Infoscopes and found that it was fuzzy, rippling just like the lake beneath us.
¡°Sorry about that,¡± I addressed the dragon-girl in Ishikarian. ¡°I think that the local Astral barrier is a bit thin. The ghosts we¡¯ve absorbed are stronger here.¡±
¡°Is that¡ bad?¡± Kliss squinted at me.
¡°Easy to lose control of ourselves to the memories of the long dead,¡± I said. ¡°Unless¡¡±
¡°Unless what?¡± She asked.
¡°Unless we have a dragon on hand to keep our souls from succumbing to the aetheric density fluctuations,¡± I said and grabbed her hand, embracing the positively-charged warmth that her dragonheart was projecting.
Kliss squeezed my hand back. ¡°Better?¡±
¡°Better,¡± I said, observing how the positively-charged magic radiating from her skin began to stabilize my soul.
¡°I miss everyone,¡± Delta-Kopusha whispered as she stared over the azure lake with a forlorn look. ¡°Almost makes me feel like throwing myself into the waves of Skybliss. Damnation. I was only nineteen when I died, an Academy Acolyte. I didn¡¯t say goodbye to my parents, didn¡¯t get to finish my dissertation about Dryads. It all went to shit so fast. Bloody Seditionists!¡±
Tears filled her eyes as Kopusha wept for everything and everyone she lost, wept for a past that was gone but not entirely forgotten.
Kliss grabbed Delta and wrapped her in a tight embrace. My sister¡¯s face relaxed.
¡°Thanks,¡± she switched to modern Ishikarian. ¡°How odd¡ I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve gotten so badly immersed in the past before.¡±
¡°Too many people died here,¡± I said, eyeing the lake. ¡°The Alanian house wards tried to put up a defence, tried to protect their inhabitants, but whatever bomb the Basq dropped on Tricameron must have shredded the hexagrams pretty badly. As the estates of the Archmagi plummeted from the cliffs into the lake, their failing wards tore holes right through reality.¡±
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
¡°If the physical world is thinner here¡ does that mean that¡ the Hollow Mother or the others can find us here?¡± Delta whispered, her face suddenly askew in worry.
¡°Sasha hasn¡¯t bothered us in a while,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Presumably she has better things to do. I can definitely see why the locals don¡¯t fish in this part of the lake. Oh wow¡ look.¡±
Delta and Kliss turned their heads to where I was pointing. Both of them peered into the Astral, sensing a presence there.
A massive dead whale comprised of thousands of silver arm-like threads moved across the surface of the lake like an enormous, glowing zeppelin. The Phantom was weaving in and out of reality, flickering between the blue waves.
¡°That¡¯s¡ concerning,¡± Kliss whispered.
¡°That¡¯s... pretty,¡± Delta commented.
¡°It won¡¯t try to eat us, right?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°The hovercraft is covered in lantern-hex-runes, the design of which I improved personally,¡± I said. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t see us at all.¡±
The ghostly, transparent, flying whale dove deeper into the Astral and vanished. A flock of smaller Phantoms shaped like flying manta rays with long, bird-like tails flashed all around us and vanished.
I directed the hovercraft forward.
It took almost no effort to peer into the Astral here. Mountains made from dead trees and bones of ancient magical creatures entwined with the lake in phantasmagoric patterns, forming enormous diatom-like megastructures.
¡°By Equality,¡± Kliss exhaled. ¡°What is that?¡±
¡°The Astral,¡± I said. ¡°Lower levels of it. Stuff that human eyes are definitely not supposed to see. Pretty isn¡¯t it?¡±
¡°It¡¯s creepy,¡± Kliss shuddered. ¡°But then again¡ there is some strange, beautiful order to it. I¡¯ve seen the lower levels of the Astral with Astralscopes at the Cessna Academy, but that was looking at it through a dim, scratched up, tiny lens. Seeing it all around me like that is¡ both terrifying and awe-inspiring. It just looks so wrong and uhmm¡ endless?¡±
¡°Infinite,¡± I nodded. ¡°The word you¡¯re looking for is infinite. Whatever the Astral Ocean is, it doesn''t have an end.¡±
¡°Kind of like a silver-blue kaleidoscope,¡± Delta commented leaning on Kliss. ¡°It just goes forever and ever.¡±
¡°An abyss of everything that ever was or will ever be,¡± I nodded. ¡°A fractal of magic connected to everywhere.¡±
¡°What?¡± Kliss stared at me with emerald-orange eyes. ¡°That can¡¯t be right. Is Astral not the end of life, emptiness, decay? Are the Phantoms not the enemies of all living things, seeking to devour us?¡±
¡°A lot of the local unlife is aligned with [Decay] and [Death],¡± I shrugged. ¡°But that¡¯s not their fault.¡±
¡°Who''s fault is it?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°The war. A thousand years ago back when Tricameron still stood, the local Astral Ocean was quite different.¡±
¡°Different how?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Cleaner, nicer,¡± I shrugged. "More alive. Filled with magical trees, plants and animals. Populated with Phantoms that didn''t want to eat people."
¡°And you know this, how?¡± She demanded. "Did another long dead memory whisper this to you?"
¡°No. I''m aware of this, because I understand the underlying principles of cause and effect when it comes to magic Assembly Theory,¡± I said. ¡°When the Basq atomized Tricameron the local Astral caught fire too. It became warped, twisted, filled with almost entirely negatively-charged, hostile unlife.¡±
¡°Are you saying that the great war polluted the Astral with evil like it¡¯s a freaking lake with muddy silt at the base?¡± Kliss demanded.
¡°That¡¯s exactly what I¡¯m saying,¡± I said. ¡°There are wounds all around this valley filled with ghosts that desire vengeance. The Hollow Mother, the monster that haunts my dreams masquerading as Commissar Sasha Gradenski is an imprint of the last war. She is a conceptual manifestation of pain, misery that desires nothing but revenge, remembers and wants to spread nothing but suffering.¡±
¡°We¡¯ll stop her¡ right?¡± Delta asked.
¡°We will,¡± I nodded.
¡°How?¡± My twin inquired tentatively.
¡°The three of us are real,¡± I said. ¡°We can do things in the physical world. The Hollow Mother exists outside of time, like a bleeding gash in the Astral, an imprint of an arcane catastrophe, a shadow on the wall. She¡¯s not real.¡±
¡°The hell she¡¯s not,¡± Delta huffed. ¡°I saw her and her children. They seemed plenty real to me.¡±
¡°She is just a magical echo,¡± I shook my head. ¡°The final curse of the local dead, desire for revenge, knowledge and power to carry it out. Unlike us, she isn¡¯t actually physically attached to any of this,¡± I waved my hands at the azure lake and glacier capped mountains all around us. ¡°If we change Skyisle enough and heal the land, she will begin to fade away like a bad dream.¡±
¡°Really?¡± Kliss asked. ¡°Aradria¡ knew about The Mother. The dragon didn¡¯t like the local Phantom, dragonfire couldn¡¯t get rid of her.¡±
¡°Aradria¡¯s damage to the valley only made Mother stronger,¡± I sighed. "Death begets death."
¡°So if I summon dragonfire then I¡¯ll make everything worse?¡± Kliss gulped.
¡°You¡¯re a human, Kliss,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯re not a dumb dragon. Mundane dragons are wild, uncivilized creatures without much rationality. They undoubtedly see things as enemies or prey. Do you see me as an enemy or prey, Kliss?¡±
¡°Mmmm¡ no,¡± the chimera girl shook her glittering, violet-red mane. ¡°I see you as¡ my friend, someone who saved me again and again even though I don¡¯t feel like I deserved it. I feel mostly worthless and stupid around you and yet I trust you with my entire heart, even though some of the things you say seem utterly mad.¡±
I smirked at her words.
¡°What¡¯s the opposite of Death, Kliss?¡± I asked my dragon-girl apprentice.
¡°Life?¡± She blinked at me.
¡°Exactly,¡± I nodded sagely. ¡°Life. Creation. [Vitality].¡±
¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± Kliss said.
¡°Mikhail Bulgakov was a great Soviet novelist and playwright,¡± I said. ¡°He wrote a fictional story that I had fallen in love with as a child, called The Fatal Eggs. In it, a Soviet scientist invented¡ the ray of life.¡±
Kliss opened and closed her mouth. She understood.
¡°I¡¯m going to use you to create a genuine ray of life, Kliss,¡± I said. ¡°Inverted dragonfire. Flames that will bring, create life instead of taking it. We¡¯re going to fish all the Archmage gold from beneath this lake, convert most of it into crystalline dust and spread it across Skyisle beneath Leemy¡¯s roots and have you set it alight.¡±
The chimera¡¯s eyes bulged at my mad-sounding plot. Delta looked at me with a giddy expression.
¡°We¡¯ll set the world on fire, Kliss. A fire that can¡¯t be put out, a fire that will burn for a thousand years,¡± I declared with a manic grin. ¡°A fire that will burn so bright and with such fervor that it will blot, wash away the shadows of the cursed dead, dissolve the vengeful Astral Phantoms, undo Mother once and for all.¡±
Kliss gulped, staring up at me as I rose, spreading my arms wide.
¡°An explosion wrought by war ruined this valley, decaying peoples'', plants¡¯ and animals'' levels down to Twenty. I¡¯m going to make something that saves everyone, everything here. I¡¯ll create an explosion of life that will chase away the silver-blue, hollow darkness and make the Astral Ocean itself bloom with life once again,¡± I said. ¡°Don¡¯t ever think of yourself as worthless! You, Kliss are my beautiful, perfect ignition key, the flint, a spark that will help me create a firestorm of change and illumination, make a garden of life unlike any other!¡±
2 : 18 Brain Hemispheres
Our hovercraft circled several spots of interest around the lake. I jotted down mental notes as my Infoscopes flashed through layers of silt and dirt beneath the clear, blue water.
The presence of Kliss holding onto my hand allowed me to fight the mentally disruptive pull of the Astral Ocean, which was far, far worse here. The membrane between the physical and the magical above this lake was incredibly thin, full of holes akin to a slice of cheese.
"Slava, your plan sounds nice on paper, but what if Giovashi or Hollow Mother fight back?" Kliss murmured.
"Oh they''ll definitely fight back," I said. "But that''s why we''re uplifting, arming and educating the youngest generation of Skyisle. No plan survives contact with the enemy, but I have a multitude of war plans being rolled out across Skyisle at the same time."
"I do like the sound of me setting the world on fire with positively-charged dragon magic that heals instead of killing," the dragon-girl added. "But... are you certain that such magic won''t be dangerous to people and livestock in the same way the valley of death is? What if people begin to grow extra organs or something?"
"They won''t," I laughed. "Leemy is already healing the nature of the valley with Green-Vitality. The crystals I plan to use you to make will specifically target the Astral Ocean - they will have no effect on the physical plane."
"Okay, I trust you," Kliss nodded.
¡°Are we going to be doing any diving today or just chatting bout crystals?¡± Delta asked after a moment of languid silence between us.
¡°Maybe,¡± I said. ¡°Mainly, I¡¯m doing analysis of where potentially amazing stuff is buried.¡±
¡°Booooring,¡± my twin commented, which earned her a head boop from Kliss.
¡°Let Slava work,¡± the dragon-girl commented.
¡°Hey, you¡¯re supposed to be on my side!¡± Delta huffed.
¡°Am I?¡± Kliss smirked.
¡°Yes.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Cus we¡¯re both girls?¡± Delta said.
¡°And?¡± Kliss arched an eyebrow.
¡°Female unity! Girls stick together! That''s how it''s supposed to work,¡± Delta declared. She had clearly not thought this argument very far ahead.
¡°All genders are Equal under the eyes of Goddess Equality,¡± Kliss replied with a dry tone.
¡°I shared my bedroom with you, traitor!¡±
¡°I have sworn an oath to be a just knight to serve our Lord Administrator,¡± Kliss said, glancing at me.
¡°Fine be boring together,¡± Delta huffed, crossing her arms. ¡°I¡¯ll just stare dramatically¡ off into the distance.¡±
I couldn''t suppress a grin. Delta, for all her ancient soul-shard knowledge, was often just an immature teenager.
"You know," Kliss commented, "there are better ways to pass the time than pretending to be a forlorn maiden."
¡°I¡¯ll be as for-err-lorn as I want to be,¡± my twin said. ¡°I was promised treasure diving. Where¡¯s my treasure diving adventure with sharks and¡¡±
¡°There are no sharks in this lake,¡± I pointed out.
¡°What about approximately shark-shaped Astral Phantoms?¡± Delta asked, making a shark face at me by pulling her lips back and showing off her chompers.
¡°Right, lots of those here,¡± I acquiesced.
Delta pretended to chomp down on Kliss¡¯s arm. The ex-Overseer aptly dodged my sister¡¯s attack with a smile, which only further encouraged her.
¡°Stop that,¡± Kliss threatened. ¡°Or I¡¯ll have to assume that you¡¯ve become a mad ghoul and cast you overboard into the lake.¡±
¡°Zero chances of ghoulification here,¡± Delta huffed. ¡°I¡¯ve been feeding on lovely, clean Alanial battery power for a year!¡±
I finished my local observations and directed the hovercraft to a small island.
¡°Do you know how to swim?¡± I asked Kliss.
¡°I do,¡± she nodded and then blushed, looking down at her orange, glittering hands. ¡°Erm¡ I did, in my original, human body. I¡¯m not sure how well I¡¯ll manage in this one. It¡¯s heavier, denser. I¡¯m somewhat concerned that I¡¯ll sink.¡±
¡°We¡¯ll dock on this island,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s a donut shaped one with a sandbar and a small sinkhole in the middle. The Astral here isn¡¯t as torn, so I should have no problem supervising you. You can practice diving in the sinkhole. If you sink straight down, I¡¯ll pull you up with my armacus.¡± I tapped the wooden bracelet on my wrist and my armacus unfirled into the shape of a gun.
¡°Gotcha,¡± Kliss nodded. ¡°Wait.¡± She looked down at her dress. ¡°I don¡¯t have swimming clothes.¡±
¡°The water is still hella cold,¡± Delta commented. ¡°We have wetsuits, made by a local seamstress. You can borrow one of my extras.¡±
¡°Wetsuits?¡± Kliss squinted at my sister.
¡°Earth-tech! It¡¯s a tight full body suit that keeps your body warm even in cold water. Took us a while to find the correct material for it!¡± Delta pulled out a pair of black, leather bodysuits.
¡°Where are we going to change into these?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Behold! I shall summon a lovely tent into existence without magic,¡± Delta grinned and pulled a lever. A ring-bound, spring-operated tarp unfurled from the side of the hovercraft, forming a tent.
The ex-Overseer¡¯s eyebrows went up. Delta grinned and pulled her into the tent.
I pulled the lever that disabled the magic circuit that acted as our parking brake. The magitek engine stopped spinning the wooden blades and the hovercraft landed onto the beach. I clipped a hex-lantern to my belt and climbed out.
I walked across the donut island, reaching the sinkhole. It was only a few metres deep and had a variety of magic corals at the bottom for me to investigate.
I sat down on a mossy rock and closed my eyes, peering at the world entirely through my four Infoscopes. One of my all-seeing eyes spiraled around us, watching for incoming danger. The second Infoscope hovered over me. The third was passing through the corals. The fourth was cutting through the lake around the sinkhole island, looking for gold.
¡°Not gonna go for a swim?¡± Delta commented as the girls approached me from behind.
¡°Someone¡¯s gotta make sure that you two are safe,¡± I said.
¡°Uh-huh, nerd,¡± she laughed. ¡°How are we even related? You¡¯re like the most socially awkward potato in the universe.¡±
¡°There¡¯s a perfectly scientific reason for this,¡± I replied, not bothering to open my eyes.
Delta rolled her eyes at me, rushed forward and leapt head-first into the deep water off the edge. Kliss tentatively stopped at the sand beach part of the sinkhole, clearly concerned about going into the water.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
¡°So, there¡¯s a¡ scientific reason why some people are outgoing and others aren¡¯t?¡± She asked, turning to me.
¡°Oh, absolutely,¡± I replied. ¡°From what I was taught at Moscow State University, it has to do with brain hemisphere dominance.¡±
¡°I understand the word brain,¡± The ex-Overseer said. ¡°That¡¯s the organ responsible for formation of thought. But what¡¯s this about¡ hemisphere and dominance?¡±
¡°The Soviet research into brain function began with psychiatrist Oskar Vogt, who dissected the brain of Vladimir Lenin, our nation¡¯s founder,¡± I said. ¡°Vogt went on to establish the Institute for Brain Research in Berlin. Another Institute for Brain Research was built in Moscow.¡±
¡°Boooooring,¡± Delta yelled from the sinkhole.
I ignored her.
¡°In this facility we kept the brains of our leaders, poets and other notable men,¡± I explained. ¡°In glass jars. We called it the Pantheon of Brains¡±
¡°Sounds creepy,¡± Kliss said with a small shudder.
¡°It was what it was,¡± I shrugged. Without opening my eyes I grabbed a stick and drew a diagram of a brain in the sand. ¡°The people who built the Pantheon of Brains were trying to figure out how the brain of a genius differed from a mundane brain and how to create the perfect communist man.¡±
¡°And did they succeed?¡± Kliss stared at me, eyes wide. ¡°Are you¡ the perfect man?¡±
¡°He¡¯s hardly perfect!¡± Delta commented, running to the hovercraft. ¡°Darn, this water is very Brrrrrrrrr!¡±
¡°I am definitely not perfect,¡± I shook my head with a smile. ¡°And no, we did not succeed at figuring out how to make the perfect brain. What we did figure out, eventually, is that there is a slight distinction between the right and left brain hemisphere.¡±
Then I divided it in half with a line.
¡°When the brain is cut in half, separated, then this distinction becomes very obvious,¡± I said. ¡°As if two different people exist in your head.¡±
¡°That sounds¡ concerning,¡± Kliss said.
¡°The left brain hemisphere is mainly responsible for rationality, language and mathematics,¡± I explained, pointing the stick at the left side of the brain sketch. ¡°While the right hemisphere is better at creativity, art, intuition and imagination.¡±
¡°Soooo¡ how would someone make a brain like yours, filled with so much knowledge of Earth sciences and mathematics?¡± Kliss inquired.
¡°I fell,¡± I said.
¡°You¡ fell?¡± Kliss blinked.
¡°When I was nine, I was exploring a building under construction with my friends,¡± I said. ¡°It was on that day that German planes started to drop bombs from the sky onto our city.¡±
¡°Were you hit by one?¡± the dragon-girl asked.
¡°Nah,¡± I shook my head. ¡°The bombs fell far from us, but the blastwave distracted me, made me lose my footing. I fell one and a half storeys and slammed the right side of my head onto a concrete block. There wasn''t a lot of blood and eventually my head stopped bleeding. My friends helped me get home. No doctor looked at me for years since I didn¡¯t tell my parents anything, plus the war lasted five years from that day, but I knew¡ sensed that something was deeply wrong with me.¡±
¡°Wrong¡ how?¡± Kliss completely stopped going into the water and strolled to me, sitting down on the beach and facing me.
¡°Before the accident, I was a pretty outgoing kid,¡± I said. ¡°The life of the party. I could tell jokes, could easily chat with anyone. Basically, I had pretty high charisma stats in a world without soul-stats to track such things.¡±
¡°And¡ after?¡± Kliss pressed on.
¡°After,¡± I rubbed the back of my head. ¡°I became a shut-in. I started to see numbers, fractals in everything. I realized that there were no circles, only straight lines between every point. I started to draw fractals, sketch them out on a piece of paper with charcoal. Eventually, over time, I understood that math was everywhere, studied hard and became different from everyone I knew.¡±
¡°Oh,¡± Delta commented, climbing out of the water. ¡°I don¡¯t remember this.¡±
¡°You didn¡¯t get all of my memories¨Conly a third at best.¡± I shrugged.
¡°Wait, so,¡± Kliss looked at the diagram in the sand. ¡°You injured your brain?¡±
¡°Essentially,¡± I nodded. ¡°I injured my right brain hemisphere just enough for the left side to almost completely take over. It led me to see that the world, the universe, everything was made from mathematics. However, because I completely lost my intuition, my charisma dropped to zero. I became a shut-in, never talked to girls, never made friends, never fell in love, never had a family, lived my entire life trying to understand the nature of numbers. What happened to me was a blessing and a curse.¡±
¡°Damn it, now I feel bad poking fun at your nerd-ness,¡± Delta lamented.
¡°You know, now that I think about it,¡± I mulled. ¡°You¡¯re the first people with whom I''ve shared the story of my head injury."
¡°I¡¯m glad that you trust me enough to share your past with me,¡± Kliss said with a soft smile.
Delta nodded.
¡°So, were there others¡ like you or were you the only person in the world who smacked their head just the right way?¡± Kliss asked after a few silent moments.
¡°There were others,¡± I nodded. ¡°I wanted to know if I was the only person in the world who saw everything as fractals and mathematics. It turned out that I wasn¡¯t. The Americans called what happened to me the Acquired Savant Syndrome. Laurence Kim Peek, a boy born in 1951 was a megasavant, someone similar to me, but even worse. He had an exceptional memory, but he also experienced incredible social difficulties. He was born with a condition in which the bundle of nerves that connects the two hemispheres of the brain was completely missing. He remembered everything he ever read.¡±
¡°Oh, the Basq have magi who can do that,¡± Kliss murmured. ¡°They¡¯re called Sages, if I¡¯m recalling things correctly. They¡¯re useless in battle, but good at memorising stuff. I learned about them at the Cessna Academy as an example of why it¡¯s a bad idea to invest all points into Intelligence.¡±
¡°I guess I¡¯m a Sage then,¡± I laughed.
¡°Slava, how many points do you have in intelligence, if you don¡¯t mind me asking?¡± Kliss asked with a tentative look.
¡°570,¡± I replied.
¡°WHAT?¡± She sputtered. ¡°What in Equality¡¯s name¡ how is that even humanly possible?!¡±
¡°I¡¯ve invested most of what I got from seventeen levels into intelligence,¡± I replied. ¡°Plus I had 89 in Intelligence as an Astral Phantom before I was born as Dante.¡±
¡°I¡ see,¡± Kliss glanced at my sister and then turned back to me. ¡°So, um, can you recall everything with perfect clarity too?¡±
¡°I can recall some things really well,¡± I said. ¡°I remember stuff from around when I was 29 the best. Presumably this is due to the Tzar Bomba.¡±
¡°Tzar-what?¡± the ex-Overseer repeated.
¡°The Hollow Mother presented a theory to me when we talked in my dreams,¡± I said. ¡°That the great, man-made explosions imprinted portions of my soul into the Astral.
28-year-old Slava was imprinted at 1960 while gathering radiation data from Kazakhstan contaminated villages near Semipalatinsk Polygon.
29-year-old Slava was imprinted in 1961 when he stood in the view of a 16 kiloton nuclear detonation at Semipalatinsk Polygon with KGB Agent Sasha Gradenski.
29-year-old Slava was imprinted on 30 October 1961 during the explosion of Tzar Bomba.
54-year-old Slava was imprinted in 1986 during his trip into Chernobyl to help coordinate liquidation efforts.
60-year-old-Slava, somehow gathered up the imprinted fragments and escaped his magic-less world in 1992 when he destroyed Aralsk-7 by standing at the epicentre of the 1 kiloton explosion.¡±
Kliss simply stared at me.
¡°These fragments, around 100 soul shards, were mixed with the ghostly remnants of a teenager, an Alanian Acolyte, Kopusha. That was approximately 80 soul shards ¨C most of which were transferred to Delta. When Giovashi shoved me into the Astral Ocean, I also absorbed a 33 year old man-hunter Klint and his grandfather Keps¨C88 soul shards, from the golden age of Alania,¡± I said. ¡°I am basically a soup of soul fragments, but I do see myself as suspended in my late 20s as evidenced by my self-image during the Neurovista lucid dream dives. I suspect this was because the biggest part of my soul was captured during the detonation of Tzar Bomba in 1961, only a year after I left Moscow as a 28 year old Biochemistry and Virology graduate still filled with hopes and dreams of helping humanity.¡±
¡°Sounds like you¡¯re a very complicated man,¡± Kliss finally said. ¡°How big was the explosion this Tzar Bomba made?¡±
¡°It was the biggest explosion my people achieved,¡± I replied. ¡°The blastwave circled the world three times and obliterated windows one hundred kilometres away from the epicenter. I was with the small group of people closest to the detonation, in a steel aeroplane, noting down the results.¡±
¡°Damn,¡± the dragon-girl muttered. ¡°So you¡¯re mostly like your twenty nine year old self then¡ what about the Alanian soul-fragments you¡¯ve absorbed from the Astral Ocean. Have they not impacted your personality?¡±
¡°I was able to keep them separated,¡± I said. ¡°The Infoscope helped me identify and carve them away from myself before they''ve fully merged with the rest of me. Yes, there was some carryover of memories, but they didn¡¯t affect me as much as my sister.¡±
Delta stuck her tongue at me.
¡°I pushed most of the excess soul bits that didn¡¯t belong to me into various items like that book,¡± I pointed at the book in a leather pouch on Kliss.
¡°Oh, sorry,¡± Kliss looked at the leather pouch as if she noticed that it was still on her. ¡°I¡ really don¡¯t want to let go of my first hoard item.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s been warded against decay,¡± I said. ¡°You can go into the water with it and it won¡¯t come apart.¡±
¡°So is your soul¡ damaged in the same way your mind was damaged back on Earth?¡± Kliss muttered. ¡°Does this mean that you¡¯ll never truly care for people here on Novazem too?¡±
¡°Nah,¡± I said. ¡°I greatly care for my sister and my parents and... for my first friend here.¡±
Kliss blushed under my gaze.
¡°Here, as Dante, I have two perfectly functional brain hemispheres,¡± I tapped my head. ¡°I¡¯m not as broken as I used to be back on Earth. This is my second chance to live and not just obsess over mathematics.¡±
¡°So¡ why place so many tokens into Intelligence?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Because it allows me to manipulate the world using the knowledge I obtained on Earth as a savant,¡± I said. ¡°Thanks to magic, I¡¯m not completely defenseless anymore. I brought Aradria down from the sky and I swear to use it to protect my family, everyone in Skyisle and especially you¡ Kliss.¡±
2 : 19 Treasure
Kliss blushed even deeper. Then I saw the cogs in her head turning.
¡°You talk to the Hollow Mother¡ in your dreams?¡± She demanded.
¡°Not since I got the Lucid Dreamer skills,¡± I shook my head. ¡°I¡¯ve been feeding her lies for a year now, running my dreams in parallel using separate soul fragments. So far, she hasn¡¯t noticed.¡±
¡°What if she does?¡± Kliss demanded.
¡°Then I¡¯ll have to do something about it,¡± I replied.
¡°Something like¡¡±
¡°Math can be very dangerous,¡± I said simply.
Kliss waited for me to elaborate further.
¡°Go practice swimming,¡± I said. ¡°Don¡¯t obsess over me, I¡¯m safe. With my knowledge and your positively-charged dragonheart at our side, Hollow Mother won¡¯t be able to reach us at all.¡±
¡°Fine,¡± Kliss said. ¡°I¡¯m scared that I¡¯ll sink¡ but let me try this regardless.¡±
She turned around and marched to the water, quickly going under. She was indeed rapidly sinking and looked like she was panicking for a second. I pointed my armacus at her and cast anti-gravity.
Kliss shot out of the water.
¡°I¡¯m¡ weightless?¡± She commented, sputtering water from her mouth.
¡°Not fully,¡± I said. ¡°But I¡¯ve reduced your weight to that of a human. Go ahead, keep trying.¡±
¡°Thanks,¡± she dove under the water once again.
I increased her weight, tracking her progress as she dove down to the corals. My Infoscopes floating nearby allowed me to see how much oxygen she had left. When Kliss turned back, I cast reversed gravity on her once again.
Kliss shot out of the water with a squeal and then paddled back to me and Delta.
¡°I don¡¯t feel cold,¡± she said, turning to Delta. ¡°You said this water¡¯s cold.¡±
¡°It is freaking cold!¡± Delta huffed. She had wrapped herself in several layers of towels and was shivering.
¡°Your dragonheart is keeping you warm,¡± I addressed Kliss.
¡°Ah,¡± Kliss said simply and then became smothered by my sister.
Kliss had embraced her role as the local furnace and hugged Delta back, petting her on the head. My twin closed her eyes and started to purr almost like a cat.
Kliss waved a hand at me. I looked at her, in mild confusion for a brief second and then some part of my human mind clicked. She wanted me to join them.
I got off the rock and walked to the girls. Kliss drew me into the hug. The cold from my hands vanished. I relaxed into the embrace.
¡°This is so nice,¡± Delta purred, resting her head on my shoulder. ¡°Can we try diving for treasure after?¡±
¡°We can,¡± I replied. ¡°I spotted a chest buried in the silt, about 89 meters away from this island.¡±
¡°Yesssss,¡± my twin grinned. ¡°You know¡ I thought that Kliss would be an impediment, but this¡ whatever this is, is amazing. She belongs here, with us.¡±
¡°Do I?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Yes, you do,¡± Delta said. ¡°I declare it so. Feel free to tell him the thing.¡±
¡°What thing?¡± I asked squinting at the girls who exchanged a look.
¡°I¡ erm,¡± Kliss muttered, blushing once more. ¡°After Aradria attacked Cessna, I sold everything that my parents had left¡ and I¡ I bought Skyisle.¡±
¡°What?!¡± It was my turn to be very surprised.
¡°I¡¯m the Baroness of Skyisle,¡± she said. ¡°I own the land the village stands on and most of the forest around it. Hell, I own the entire magogenic fault.¡±
¡°That¡¯s¡ amazing!¡± I grinned.
¡°It was very cheap,¡± Kliss said. ¡°If you¡ if we find a way to clear the curse, then the land¡¯s value will go up.¡±
¡°We will, but we won¡¯t tell anyone about that,¡± I nodded. ¡°It¡¯s best if Skyisle is kept hidden for now. Hrmmm. What does this mean in terms of the local Overseer? Are you allowed to fire Ignatius?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Kliss said, tensing up slightly. ¡°I was going to fire him in person¡ but then I died and you brought me back as a chimera.¡±
¡°You can call him on Voicecast,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll alter your voice with the bee-speaker so that you can sound like you used to."
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¡°Right,¡± Kliss relaxed. ¡°He can make a voicecast call to Cessna to check the paperwork. I¡¯ll tell him not to bother me, now that I¡¯m in charge of Skyisle.¡±
¡°Great,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s one problem out of the way.¡±
¡°What other problems does my Barony have?¡± Kliss inquired.
¡°Giovashi,¡± I said. ¡°Her priestesses have been asking around, trying to figure out who¡¯s making the level 20 bypassing wooden armaci. I¡¯ve had my dad¡¯s workshop extra warded against scrying, but they suspect that Georgi is involved. She or her devotees might act soon.¡±
Kliss pursed her lips. ¡°What are we going to do about them?¡±
¡°For now, nothing,¡± I said.
¡°What if she sends another dragon?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°I doubt that she has another dragon on call,¡± I said. ¡°Without Giovashi showing up, there isn¡¯t much that we can do. She¡¯s the epicenter of our problems and I suspect that she¡¯s not showing up because she knows that I have a weapon to take her out. Perhaps her precog power is telling her to stay away?¡±
¡°You do?¡± the dragon-girl squinted at me with emerald-ember eyes.
¡°I have a weapon for nearly every situation.¡± I smirked. ¡°It pays to be prepared. Now that I¡¯ve been made aware that you¡¯re our Baroness¡ we¡¯ll need to make an ant-human shaped approximately like you.¡±
¡°Why?¡± Kliss blinked.
¡°Baroness Kliss needs to survive the dragonfire with some burns,¡± I said. ¡°Also, won¡¯t the Empire send someone to investigate that downed ship?¡±
¡°I¡ I didn¡¯t think about that,¡± Kliss muttered. ¡°They probably will. I, erm, bequeathed Skysle to you, in case of my death.¡±
¡°That¡¯s nice and all,¡± I said. ¡°But I don¡¯t want to be a Baron of Skyisle or whatever. I am happy being just a young, obedient Administrator who answers to the stern, iron-fisted, Baroness. Basically, if I need to push a policy through that the Elders of Skyisle won¡¯t like, I¡¯ll have someone to blame.¡±
¡°Right,¡± Kliss murmured. ¡°So¡ you¡¯ll need a patsy?¡±
¡°Essentially,¡± I nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t want the Guilds or Giovashi hounding me directly. We¡¯ll sit the ant-shaped version of you in an office and have it talk calmly to the people.¡±
¡°Makes sense,¡± Kliss replied.
¡°Treasure, when?¡± Delta asked, opening one eye.
¡°Now! Let''s go!¡± I laughed. ¡°I am pretty sure that I found something nearby!¡±
Our hovercraft stopped directly above a medium sized, metal chest buried deep in silt, mud and rocks. I sent several Infoscopes directly towards it, scanning it once again. The chest was only 4 metres below us.
¡°See that pile of rubble down there?¡± I asked Kliss.
¡°Ohhh,¡± my apprentice peered through the water. ¡°I see¡ something there in the Astral. I¡ I want it. It¡¯s¡ gold!¡±
¡°Yes,¡± I nodded. ¡°An entire chest worth of gold coins courtesy of some rich archmage that had a mansion here. Can you retrieve it?¡±
¡°I¡ I think so. I was able to go almost that deep in that island lake,¡± Kliss said.
¡°Great,¡± I said. ¡°Jump in. I¡¯ll monitor your oxygen levels and pull you up, if anything.¡±
This time Kliss was eager to get into the water. Her dragonic instinct must have demanded her to acquire the gold. She stared at the blue water for another couple of seconds and then dove, splashing and sinking rapidly down.
I increased her weight and she nearly slammed into the pile of rocks. Using her dense bones she lifted massive rubble pieces with ease, throwing them aside. In less than fourteen seconds she had the chest in her arms.
I pointed the gravity spell at her and the chest and she shot upwards with the gold in tow. Delta grabbed onto the panting Kliss and pulled her into our vessel.
Kliss sat onto the rubber-covered floor of the hovercraft and struck the old lock with her clawed hand a few times. The old metal disintegrated, releasing the latch.
The chest fell open and Kliss sat down and buried her fingers into the pile of gold coins with what looked like an eight-pointed star on one side and the face of a regal man on the other.
Then she shoved a few coins into her mouth with a wild, wide grin.
¡°Glllldd,¡± she murmured, chewing the coins. ¡°Mmmmmm¡ so ncss¡±
¡°Don¡¯t eat them all, dragon-bun,¡± Delta commented. ¡°I¡¯d like to buy some nice things.¡±
¡°Pffttt,¡± Kliss spat the coins out into her lap. ¡°I am not literally eating the gold¡ I¡¯m just¡ uhhh¡¡±
¡°She¡¯s claiming them,¡± I said. ¡°With her magic. For hoarding purposes.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t claim all of them,¡± Delta insisted, watching as Kliss dug another handful of coins into her mouth. ¡°Should she be slobbering over our treasure? Slava, isn¡¯t this like¡ ridiculously unhygienic?¡±
¡°From what I can see, her saliva obliterates germs,¡± I shrugged. ¡°She should be fine.¡±
¡°Mmm-kay,¡± Delta sat down behind Kliss and grabbed onto the dragon-girl¡¯s waist for warmth. ¡°I¡¯ll just be here then, trying not to be grossed out.¡±
¡°Pffffft,¡± Kliss spat out another small pile of gold into her lap, blushing furiously. ¡°I can¡¯t help this, Equality-damn it! I¡ when I see this gold I just want to chew it all! Arghhh!¡±
I sat down in front of Kliss.
¡°Don¡¯t worry about it and don¡¯t fight it,¡± I said. ¡°This is natural. Claim as much gold as you want to.¡±
¡°I¡ I might claim all of it,¡± Kliss said as she stuffed another mouthful of coins.
¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± I said. ¡°I can see the magic markers you¡¯re placing on the coins. If I need some gold I¡¯ll cut them off your hoard.¡±
¡°Pfffftthh,¡± Kliss released the coins into her lap. ¡°What? You can do that?¡±
¡°I can do lots of things,¡± I said.
¡°Except making me NOT a freaking dragon?¡± She hissed, grabbing more coins from the chest. ¡°This is freaking embarrassing!¡±
¡°Pls stay a dragon,¡± Delta commented. ¡°Your coin-slobbering is questionable, yes, but as long as you¡¯re this warm ¨C I''ll love you forever.¡±
¡°FbMrdfhhd yfodh,¡± Kliss said something in response, mouth crammed with gold.
¡°Them''s fighting words,¡± Delta replied. ¡°Besties shouldn''t use such harsh language.¡±
Kliss spat the gold into her arms and rubbed the coins on her fingers, making them hiss and melt into her skin.
¡°Ah, that''s amazing,¡± she said, rolling her eyes back.
¡°I can have a local blacksmith shred the gold into flakes and have the seamstress turn it into under-armor coverall,¡± I suggested.
¡°That''s a thing?¡± Kliss asked. ¡°Wait, don''t I need to lick the gold?¡±
¡°No, your sweat will work just as well to slowly dissolve it,¡± I said. "Why do you think dragons sleep on piles of gold?"
¡°A gold under-dress? That sounds... nice,¡± Kliss murmured. She rubbed a handful of gold on her cheeks with a big smile as if she was using a bar of cleansing soap.
¡°Dissolving our resources,¡± Delta lamented.
¡°Making our dragon-girl more powerful,¡± I clarified. ¡°If we heal the Astral Ocean around Skyisle, gold will be much easier to attain. There are tons and tons of it buried in the ruins of Tricameron. Besides, remember what I said? When Kliss makes enough of this crystalline compound, we¡¯ll be able to make you a glider. Right now, my armacus can only remove some weight of an object, that''s not enough to make us fly.¡±
¡°Fineeee,¡± my twin grumbled in reply.
2 : 20 Chaetae
¡°Question?¡± Delta poked my side as our hovercraft docked at the edge of the village close to our parents¡¯ home.
¡°Yea?¡± I stretched.
¡°Would you be able to cut up the remnants of the Basq ship¡¯s dragonheart core to make me bracelets to keep me warm?¡± She asked. ¡°Isn¡¯t it just a big crystal? I like Lizz and all, but it seems like if I had to hug her forever it would interfere in the rest of my life.¡±
¡°Alas, no. By itself the dragonheart is just a battery,¡± I said.
¡°A battery that you used to shoot Aradria out of the sky,¡± my twin pointed out.
¡°An uncontrolled release of anti-magic is very different from a controlled positively-charged spiral,¡± I said.
¡°Explain,¡± Delta demanded.
¡°Look, it¡¯s sort of like the function of rods in a nuclear reactor,¡± I clarified.
¡°Nuclear reactor?¡± Kliss murmured. ¡°Rods?¡±
¡°Imagine a giant pot of water sitting on a stove. That pot is kind of like a reactor in a nuclear power plant. Now, inside that pot, there''s a special kind of fuel that can heat the water much, much hotter than any normal stove could. The problem is, if you just threw all that fuel in at once, the water would boil over and create a huge, explosive mess, a catastrophic release of power,¡± I explained. ¡°When I shot Aradria from the sky, I did just that - explosions are easy. It was easy to uncontrollably unleash the energy stored within the dragonheart core from the Basq ship.¡±
¡°Uh-huh?¡± Delta frowned. ¡°So our Lizzy is what? Rods?¡±
¡°Essentially,¡± I nodded. ¡°The core of her soul and its threads act sort of like reactor rods.¡±
Kliss tilted her gemstone-covered head at me.
¡°In my boiling pot metaphor, these ¡®rods¡¯ are what controls the heat. They can be pushed in and out of the pot of water. More rods in: The rods absorb some of the heat from the fuel, keeping the water from getting too hot. Fewer rods in: The rods absorb less heat, letting the water get hotter and produce more steam. Your soul can insert more or less threads into your dragonheart reactor, Kliss.¡±
¡°But why?¡± the dragon-girl asked.
¡°As you¡¯ve seen from our trip to lake Skybliss,¡± I said. ¡°The membrane between the physical world and the Astral Ocean is uneven. In some places, negatively-charged magic affects Delta and me more, in some less. When the Astral is much closer to us, its current is much more powerful. The reactor in your heart constantly adjusts itself to produce a very steady spiral pattern that perpetually protects you from the negatively-charged currents of magic. Without your soul, there would be nothing to control the dragonheart in your chest and the positively-charged magical spiral waveform would simply collapse.¡±
¡°I see,¡± Kliss murmured. ¡°So my soul keeps my dragonheart running.¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± I nodded. ¡°Your soul is a control mechanism for your heart. Without it, positively-charged, perpetually reinforced magic is impossible.¡±
¡°So you cannot fully carve Aradria¡¯s soul-shards from me?¡± Kliss bit her lip.
¡°Alas, I cannot,¡± I sighed. ¡°Or your heart will stop functioning and most likely kill you¡ in about 21 days.¡±
¡°Why 21 days?¡± She asked.
¡°That¡¯s how long it would take for the incompatibility between your crystalline heart-core and your soul to fully tear apart your soul,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s just a rough estimate though, it could be slightly more or slightly less.¡±
¡°I see,¡± Kliss frowned.
¡°Then¡ how do dragonhearts function in skyships?¡± Delta demanded.
¡°The dragonheart we pilfered from the Basq skyship didn¡¯t produce positively-charged magic,¡± I explained. ¡°It was only capable of producing negatively-charged, impermanent magic. The anti-magic explosion it made only lasted for a second and then dissolved into the Astral.¡±
¡°Could you not design a spell that would function akin to her soul that would control little dragonheart crystals?¡± Delta asked, eyeing Kliss.
¡°Maybe,¡± I shrugged. ¡°The thing is ¨C it would have to be a very complex spell array constantly aware of what it has to do to sustain a positively-charged magical spiral waveform. Dragon souls are¡ exceedingly complex.¡±
¡°Lizzy doesn¡¯t have the entire dragon soul though, right?¡± Delta pressed.
¡°No, she does not,¡± I said. ¡°She only has the most valuable parts, ones that control the dragon¡¯s essential organs.¡±
¡°What if we cut off little shards and dispense them into little dragonheart crystals?¡± Delta suggested.
Kliss opened and closed her mouth, clearly not sure if she wanted her soul to be cut up.
¡°No,¡± I said. ¡°Aradria¡¯s soul-shards are doing a great job. The spiral waveform they manage is extremely stable. If I remove any of the ¡®control rods¡¯, a cascade soul-fracture might start and then Kliss will have only 21 days to live. I really wouldn¡¯t want that. Maybe when she invests more points into soul and grows up more, but then again her heart will grow with her.¡±
¡°Bah,¡± Delta crossed her arms. ¡°What if we kill another dragon and then shoved their soul into their dragonheart?¡±
¡°It still wouldn¡¯t work,¡± I said. ¡°Kliss has a full array of dragon organs that I took from Aradria. All of them work together to make her crystal heart function properly.¡±
¡°Organs, like what?¡± My twin demanded.
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¡°Here¡¯s the most obvious one,¡± I pointed to the sparkling mane atop of our friend¡¯s head.
¡°Uhhh,¡± Delta squinted at the sparkly hair. ¡°Dragons don¡¯t have hair. I didn¡¯t see anything like that on Aradria¡¯s corpse.¡±
¡°Aradria had similar crystals growing atop and between her scales,¡± I said. ¡°There was a lot of smoke in the air, so you probably didn¡¯t pay much attention to them.¡±
¡°Oh,¡± Delta murmured. ¡°Right! I forgot. They looked like a crown of violet-red crystals at the top of the forehead spikes.¡±
Kliss stared at me very intensely.
¡°Quit drilling me with your eyes and ask your questions,¡± I told her.
¡°What do the gems in my hair do exactly?¡± She asked. ¡°Delta said that they¡¯re batteries, but that can¡¯t be all, right?¡±
¡°They¡¯re actually a very complex cluster of magical crystals,¡± I said. ¡°Connected directly to your dragonheart. They sort of act like a vent in a power plant, capable of¡ drawing power in directly from the Astral and releasing the buildup of ¡®steam in the pot¡¯ if necessary. They function as a magnifier of the dragonheart¡¯s power, connecting it to your hoard items. This isn¡¯t the entire explanation, by far, because I¡¯m still investigating all of their functions.¡±
¡°I see. So, why are they¡ soft and hard at the same time?¡± Kliss asked, petting one of her gem-covered hair strands. ¡°Is it cus they¡¯re magic? I¡¯m curious if something soft-hard exists in your world.¡±
¡°Ah, absolutely,¡± I affirmed. ¡°Soft-hard materials were common in my world and they exist on Novazem too, without any magic. Non-Newtonian fluid is an extreme example of such.¡±
Kliss tilted her head, expecting a deeper explanation.
¡°Non-Newtonian fluid is actually very easy to make,¡± I said. ¡°I can show you how to make it in my mom¡¯s kitchen. It simply requires a cup of cornstarch mixed with half a cup of water. When you gently touch it, it feels loose and runny, like watery soup. But if you try to stir it fast or grab it with a big handful, it suddenly stiffens up, almost like trying to grab wet sand at the beach!¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Cornstarch is made up of tiny, long particles. When mixed with water, these particles can flow freely past each other, like a liquid. But, when you apply pressure by stirring, punching or squeezing, the particles jam up against each other, making it act like a solid,¡± I explained.
¡°So¡ my hair is sort of like that?¡±
¡°Sort of,¡± I nodded. ¡°I would call it Non-Newtonian crystals if I had to label it, since your hair can rapidly alternate between being incredibly soft and being insanely hard. The surfaces of your hair gems when they¡¯re relaxed constantly ripple and shift, like light playing on water casting the most incredible caustics.¡±
¡°Caustics?¡± Kliss tasted the foreign word.
¡°When light rays hit a curved or transparent object such as your hair, they can either bend a.k.a. ''refract'', or bounce back a.k.a. ''reflect''. This bending or reflecting creates a concentrated area of light where the rays come together, like a bunch of arrows hitting the same target. The caustics produced by your hair are particularly eye-catching because of how many internal facets each gem has,¡± I explained. ¡°There are a multitude of Facets Within Facets: Individual crystals might appear faceted, but these facets melt and reform upon closer inspection ¨C their geometry is in constant flux!¡±
¡°Why are they in flux?¡± Kliss asked, focusing her eyes on the nearest gem and the rainbows dancing within.
¡°Magical alignment,¡± I explained. ¡°The internal structure of your hair gems constantly rearranges itself depending on the local aetheric density. Just like in the case of your dragonheart, your soul threads constantly adjusts the flux of your hair so that you can draw in and expel mana with great ease. Your hair¡ is constantly breathing magic in and out, similarly to how a person breathes air in and out of their lungs. That¡¯s why they¡¯re an essential organ. I guess another biological association I can make here is the colourful chaetae of starfish, which they use for both sensation and defence.¡±
¡°Oh wow,¡± Kliss murmured. ¡°I can indeed sorta sense when someone¡¯s touching my hair! So¡ Can my hair be cut?¡±
¡°No, it cannot,¡± I said.
¡°What?¡± Kliss blinked.
¡°From what my Infoscopes told me, your hair strands cannot be cut,¡± I repeated. ¡°Not with anything we have in our possession anyway.¡±
¡°What, really?¡± Delta asked. ¡°But they feel so soft and silky, how can they not be cut?¡±
¡°That¡¯s what I think, yes,¡± I said. ¡°It would require some kind of a divine-level knife to cut through this hair.¡±
Delta¡¯s eyes lit up.
¡°Can I try cutting your hair?¡± She grinned at Kliss.
The dragon-girl stared at my sister and then at me.
I nodded.
¡°Go ahead,¡± Kliss said.
Delta pulled out a steel knife from her belt with a grin and tried slicing one of the gems off a hair strand. It didn¡¯t work. Next she poked one of the gems. The knife simply bounced off the crystal with a pling.
¡°Holy shit,¡± Delta said. ¡°Your hair is freaking indestructible!¡±
¡°Not completely indestructible,¡± I laughed. ¡°But as an organ it¡¯s insanely tough and has absurd resistance to deformation. If you press lightly on a crystal it behaves like a very thick liquid. Yet, when struck with force, it becomes incredibly rigid, similar to Non-Newtonian fluid!¡±
Delta gently petted the gemstone with her fingers. The red-violet gem sparkled from her touch, slightly wobbling as if it was made from very shiny jello. She tried slicing it very slowly and encountered resistance as the gem surface hardened.
¡°Even cutting it slowly doesn¡¯t work,¡± she complained.
¡°There is a constantly running internal defence mechanism that rearranges the crystalline structure to protect it even from slow-moving damage,¡± I said.
¡°Damn it, I¡¯m so freakin¡¯ jelly,¡± Delta murmured. ¡°Why aren¡¯t these all over her body, wouldn''t they make her ridiculously awesome natural armor?¡±
¡°I ran out of mana before I could add such,¡± I exhaled. ¡°Dragons do have soft-hard scales all over their bodies. Kliss only has the semi-crystalline-organic skin which was located right beneath dragon scales on Aradria.¡±
¡°Dragonscales, huh?¡± Kliss murmured, rubbing her chin.
¡°Now that I think about it, you might be able to grow some dragonscales if you invest lots of points into Strength, it¡¯s not entirely out of the question,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t have data on newborn dragons, but just like you, they might not have magic scales all over their bodies until they get older.¡±
¡°Hold up! Can we not harvest dragon scales from Aradria¡¯s corpse to make incredible armor for us?¡± Delta demanded. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t there be lots of¡¡±
¡°No,¡± I shook my head. ¡°There¡¯s nothing left there, except for a desiccated, useless husk. The Goddess of the Hunt and I sucked all magic out of the dragon. Every last bit of mana from bones, organs, claws and scales. Saving Kliss, converting her body cell by cell wasn¡¯t cheap.¡±
¡°Damn it, Slava,¡± Delta huffed. ¡°Way to crush my dragonscale dress dreams.¡±
¡°Find another dragon and take them out,¡± I shrugged.
Delta stared at Kliss.
¡°What?¡± the dragon-girl asked.
¡°It is unfortunate that I cannot shear your hair,¡± she lamented.
¡°Ha!¡± Kliss stuck her tongue out at my sister.
I smiled at their playful banter. It was nice that the girls were finally getting along.
¡°Um,¡± Delta turned back to me. ¡°If her hair can¡¯t be cut off and if it keeps growing¡ is she going to turn into a crystal sphere like a sheep that hasn''t been sheared for decades?¡±
Kliss looked at me with a concerned expression.
¡°No,¡± I laughed. ¡°Once again, her hair is an interconnected, self-regulating organ. It¡¯s not like human hair or fingernails, it¡¯s more like a sea creature¡¯s chaetae ¡ª it just won''t grow past a certain point.¡±
¡°But what if it does?¡± Delta asked with a sly look.
¡°Then we will figure out how to deal with it, together,¡± I smiled at my companions.
¡°Together,¡± Kliss nodded and grabbed both of our hands.
2 : 21 Nobody expects the…
A gleaming, silver skyship flashed above the Skyisle, cutting through the clouds just as we were enjoying dinner with our parents in the back, outside kitchen.
¡°Is the Empire here to check up on you?¡± Our Dad asked, his orange beard twitching.
¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I said, staring up at the evening sky as the skyship decelerated, heading to the landing area atop of the gray tower of the Church of Equality.
¡°I recognize that ship,¡± Kliss suddenly declared as her sharp eyes tracked the silver ship. ¡°That¡¯s¡ the signet of Inquisitor Jubz.¡±
My dad¡¯s frown intensified further. We revealed to him that Kliss was Kliss, and if he was asked about her, to refer to her as Elizabeth from Oz.
¡°You think he wants to check on the current Overseer?¡± I frowned. ¡°I didn¡¯t hear anything of note recently from Ignatius.¡±
¡°It is possible,¡± Kliss murmured. ¡°But it is also possible that he is here to investigate Aradria¡¯s attack.¡±
¡°Always something new to deal with,¡± I sighed.
¡°What should we do?¡± Kliss uttered, trying not to fret, but fretting regardless. ¡°If he notices the obelisk in the centre of town¡¡±
¡°Stay in Delta¡¯s room,¡± I said.
[Delta - set up an ant-mech wrapped in bandages in the guest bedroom below, please. Connect the bee speaker to Kliss when I give you the order. You two are going to play the role of an extremely injured Baroness of Skyisle.] I sent my sister the order via the Astral.
¡°Can do,¡± Delta saluted me. ¡°Anything else?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll deal with greeting the Inquisitor,¡± I stood up. ¡°Expect us here in an hour or so.¡±
The girls nodded, heading into the house.
¡°Do you need¡¡± Cassandra stood up.
¡°I¡¯ve got it mom,¡± I said, pulling on a silver cape and making sure my Equality pin was in place and well polished. ¡°I¡¯ve been at this job for a year, I can handle a bit of pressure.¡±
Cassandra walked to my side and wrapped me in her embrace.
I set off towards the church, feeling the weight of the lives of everyone in Skyisle on my shoulders. If I failed now, everything I had worked to build would fall to ruin.
By the time I arrived in the Church, Inquisitor Jubz was waiting for me in the Overseer¡¯s Office, sitting on a plush leather couch. The man stared at me with a mask of silver-coated mirror-like magisteel. My Infoscopes couldn¡¯t see his expression, couldn¡¯t detect what the man was thinking as the mask was spelled spy-proof with incredibly powerful identification-disrupting hexagrams.
¡°So,¡± Jubz said, after we exchanged secret codes. ¡°You¡¯re the young Administrator, Overseer Ignatius hired?¡±
¡°Yes, my Lord,¡± I bowed deeply. ¡°I am Dante Aland Skyisle, local assistant to Overseer Ignatius.¡±
The inquisitor raised his hand at me, the [Truth] rune sending a pulse of [LV 30 Truth] my way. ¡°Do you serve the Empire, my child? Have you taken good care of this village? Have you obeyed the laws of Equality?¡±
Four Infoscopes and 13 lymphagones demolished the pulse, returning back a fake result to Jubz.
¡°Yes, my Lord,¡± I lied. ¡°I serve the Empire of Equality with my entire heart. An Archangel of our Goddess makes sure that I do so diligently. I have done my best to take care of Skyisle as the laws of Equality require of me. I have obeyed all of the tenets of our Goddess.¡±
My mouth felt dirty as I stared at my own reflection in the man¡¯s helmet.
¡°And pray tell, where is our Overseer?¡± Jubz asked, leaning closer towards me. ¡°Why isn¡¯t he at his post in the church?¡±
¡°Lord Ignatius is in Agamemnon at this moment,¡± I said.
¡°Doing what?¡± Inquisitor Jubz demanded, his tone cold and emotionless.
¡°Serving the Empire to the best of his abilities, as far as I am aware,¡± I said, rolling Ignatius under the bus. ¡°My Lord gave me this post, managing me remotely via voicecast for most of the duration of my employment this year.¡±
¡°WHAT?!¡± Jubz hissed.
¡°Our current Overseer departed Skyisle after he became greatly concerned about his health and skill levels. Magogenic fault 18 is expanding, my Lord,¡± I bowed again, pretending to be a perfectly obedient, dull servant. ¡°Only the locals can survive here without succumbing to the decay.¡±
¡°I will have to re-evaluate his employment,¡± the Inquisitor muttered. ¡°Perhaps a more dedicated Overseer is¡¡±
¡°My Lord, Skyisle no longer requires an Overseer,¡± I said. ¡°Baroness Kliss procured our town and surrounding territories and chose to retire here after the death of her parents at the claws of Dragon Aradria in Cessna.¡±
¡°M-yes,¡± the Inquisitor said. ¡°I am here because the ship carrying her to Skyisle never reported back. Our Scryers determined that Baroness Kliss is dead and that the ship she was on was destroyed along with all of the crew members due to the attack of that infernal dragon.¡±
¡°Dragon Aradria is dead, my Lord,¡± I said.
¡°WHAT?!¡± Jubz showed an even greater degree of emotion as his mirror-mask snapped in my direction.
¡°I haven¡¯t had a chance to report it to the Imperial scribes of Cessna, as I have been injured in battle with the beast and was bed-ridden for two weeks,¡± I said, internally chiding myself.
Had I reported this situation, then perhaps I would have had more time to prepare for the Inquisitor''s arrival in Skyisle. Or perhaps he would be here even sooner. Oh well, what''s done is done.
¡°Two weeks?¡± Jubz murmured. ¡°Pray tell, my child, who has been in charge of the Church of Equality during these two weeks?¡±
¡°My twin sister, Destiny Alana Skyisle,¡± I replied. ¡°She is the same age and level as I am. I¡¯ve discussed with Lord Ignatius via Voicecast that she would assist me at the office on sick days.¡±
¡°I will have words with Ignatius over this infraction,¡± the Inquisitor said coldly.
I saw that the pulse of [Truth] and [Charisma] from his armacus and mask artifact intensified, reaching level 50. My quartet of Infoscopes tore through the spellwork, shredding it.
¡°You are certain that Aradria is dead?¡± Jubz demanded.
¡°Yes, my Lord,¡± I nodded. ¡°The dragon is dead.¡±
¡°How?! Who has struck a fatal blow to the vile beast that has disrupted our shipping lanes over the Acadian mountains for decades?¡± Jubz asked.
¡°My Lady Kliss and the magi crew of the skyship attacked the dragon with their entire might. The beast was powerful,¡± I said. ¡°But from what I was told by my Lady, it was greatly weakened by living for so long close to magogenic fault, its skills and health greatly reduced. Through their brave sacrifice, the beast was slain. The magi struck it from the sky, but alas, they themselves perished in the fight, with the exception of our brave Lady. She was barely alive! I pulled her from the burning skyship! That is how I came to sustain my own injuries.¡±
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¡°Incroyable,¡± Jubz murmured. ¡°Our Seers were wrong! The dastardly dragon is slain! Lady Kliss is truly alive?¡±
¡°She is grievously injured, her entire body is terribly burned,¡± I said. ¡°From what she told me, the magogenic fault disrupts precognition.¡±
¡°Take me to the crash site,¡± Jubz ordered. ¡°I shall investigate it myself.
¡°Yes my Lord,¡± I bowed, ¡°Follow me.¡±
Internally, I began to sweat. If Jubz was a high level Wisdom mage, he could potentially figure out that I was lying.
I lead the Inquisitor out of the Church of Equality, past the wooden bridge and across the village, making sure to avoid the centre of town with the black obelisk. We walked into the forest and through it. The Inquisitor projected a powerful repulsor field that kept all beasts away from us as the evening forest grew dark.
Eventually, we arrived at the site.
¡°There is deadly dragon fire ash within the ship,¡± I said. ¡°I¡ cannot go in, it will hurt me.¡±
¡°Yes, stay safe,¡± Jubz said. He walked around the devastated ship and through it, examining the ashes and bones within. My Infoscopes followed the man as he dug through the dragon-fire ash that radiated [Death]. It was clear that the ashes were no match for the high-level man. If my tools were to be believed, he was Level 97.
In about thirty minutes he emerged from the ship and walked to the corpse of Aradria. He froze in front of the ossified dragon.
¡°Impossible,¡± he muttered, reaching out with an armored hand to touch the corpse. Gray dragon scales turned to poisoned ashes under his hands. ¡°Dragonscales¡ do not look, do not naturally decay like this. What has happened here?¡±
¡°Maybe the [Decay] radiance from the magogenic fault leeched life and magic from Aradria¡¯s corpse?¡± I said. ¡°My sister told me that this corpse has greatly decayed in two weeks.¡±
¡°This much?¡± Jubz turned to me and then back to the dragon. ¡°It simply cannot be! The heart¡ I must locate the heart!¡±
He walked right through the ossified dragon, emerging on the other side and then dug through the ashes.
¡°There¡¯s no heart, no organs,¡± he said. ¡°Someone has taken them and somehow drained all magic from these scales¡ damnation!¡±
The Inquisitor turned back to me after another attempt to dig through the ashes in the dark. ¡°Tell me child, are there problematic people in Skyisle? Someone who could steal the precious organs of this felled beast?¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± I replied. ¡°Ishira''s Archpriestess Giovashi. She is a dangerous renegade mage who seeks to undermine Imperial authority in Skyisle. She was last seen in Skyisle a year ago. It is possible that she has taken the dragon¡¯s organs to the mountains or elsewhere far.¡±
Jubz gritted his teeth behind his mask.
¡°Where could she be hiding?¡± He growled.
¡°I do not know my Lord,¡± I lowered my eyes, pretending to be terrified. ¡°She shows up to make the locals swear more vows to Ishira once every decade or so. Lady Kliss suspected that Giovashi was using Aradria to terrorize the locals of this and other villages into making unbreakable Vows to false Goddess Ishira.¡±
¡°Take me to Baroness Kliss,¡± Jubz exhaled, turning away from the hollow dragon remnants.
¡°Follow me,¡± I bowed.
¡°Kliss is recovering in the guest bedroom of my parents home,¡± I explained as we entered the cottage. ¡°My sister has been taking care of her, feeding her soup and changing her bandages.¡±
The Imperial Inquisitor nodded. We pushed the door to the small guest bedroom open.
I spotted the ant-mech on the bed covered in layers upon layers of bandages splattered in grime and blood. I wondered who¡¯s blood Delta had used for this. My Infoscopes told me that it was made with the smeared remnants of the blood Elk steak we had for dinner.
¡°My child, Kliss, are you awake?¡± Jubz asked into the silence approaching the figure on the bed.
The ant-mech moved ever so slightly under the bandages.
¡°Yes,¡± the rough approximation of the voice of Kliss came from the bee speaker within it.
¡°Can you tell me the sequence of identification?¡± Jubz asked.
¡°Kinbor lion starfish cake 22 Kittens,¡± Kliss said after a deep, tense pause.
¡°Alakin murkish 05 door,¡± Jubz replied. ¡°Why have you not called me? I would have come earlier had I known about this!¡±
¡°I¡ it slipped my mind,¡± Kliss said. ¡°Forgive me, I wasn¡¯t in a condition to think about such things, couldn''t make it to the church. The Alan family was kind enough to take care of me.¡±
¡°I can take you to Cessna,¡± Jubz offered. ¡°The healers¡¡±
¡°No,¡± Kliss replied. ¡°I don¡¯t want to travel back to the place where my parents died. I spent most of my money to buy Skyisle to retire here. Also, I do not have the funds for a healer.¡±
¡°You killed the dragon?¡± Jubz demanded. I saw that he shot an [Identify] spell at the ant-mech.
Time around us slowed as the Neurovista accelerated my mind. Four Infoscopes surrounded the spell, modifying it on the fly, like a cadre of sharks. When the spell returned to Jubz, it showed him that Kliss was indeed bedridden and badly burned.
¡°I killed Aradria,¡± Kliss replied, improvising well. ¡°The dragon is no more.¡±
¡°Its corpse is hollow,¡± Jubz said. ¡°Someone has drained the scales and took the organs.¡±
¡°A shame,¡± Kliss sighed. ¡°It would have given me more finances to¡¡±
¡°According to the Law of Equality,¡± Jubz interrupted. ¡°Dragon organs belong to the Empire, not to the slayer. We need them to build great warships to protect our lands against the Basq Invaders.¡±
¡°Forgive me, Inquisitor,¡± Kliss said through the bee speaker. ¡°I find it hard to focus. I am in a lot of pain. The local healing potions are helping, but alas, they¡¯re only level 20. Of course the organs belong to the Empire. I was merely hoping for a fair compensation for slaying the beast that has done so much harm to us¡¡±
Jubz reached into his robes and dropped a bag filled with gold coins onto the bedside table.
¡°Three hundred platinum,¡± he said. ¡°This is your reward for this service. Use it to return to Cessna and find a healer if you so desire.¡±
¡°I desire to rest,¡± Kliss said. ¡°I will heal, in time. The pain brings me closer to our Goddess.¡±
¡°Why did you buy this land if it is cursed?¡± Jubz suddenly asked, firing a direct [LV 90 Truth] spell at the ant-mech. The truth spell did absolutely nothing, because it hit ants, not a person. I didn¡¯t even have to do anything about it.
¡°Because I wanted to help the locals,¡± Kliss replied. ¡°It is my mission as a legionnaire, to bring Equality to all of those who need it.¡±
¡°You do realize that the locals cannot be saved,¡± Jubz pointed out. ¡°Most of them are heretics who worship Ishira.¡±
¡°Not all,¡± Kliss said, her voice growing firmer. ¡°Dante and Destiny and other children of Skyisle are worth saving from the heresy of Ishira! They do not have Vows to the false Goddess on their souls. My soul is already badly damaged by the magogenic fault. I know that I will die sooner or later, so I figured I might at least save some children, before I am taken by my Angel to the fields of Elysium in Arx. Our Goddess rewards those who bring her new flock in heaven!¡±
¡°An excellent answer,¡± Jubz relaxed. ¡°You have chosen a noble mission that many would steer away from.¡±
¡°Like Overseer Ignatius?¡± Kliss scoffed.
¡°Yes,¡± Jubz sighed. ¡°Alas, that boy failed to see the light. He will be punished for his dereliction of duty.¡±
¡°Good,¡± Kliss said. ¡°I was going to fire him anyway and have Dante handle my affairs until I feel well enough to walk. Will that be all, Inquisitor? It is late and I would like to return to sleep. The healing potions are making me quite drowsy and my bandages chafe.¡±
¡°I am greatly concerned about the lack of a dragon corpse,¡± Jubz said. ¡°Archpriestess Giovashi must be rooted out. She must have many supporters here, someone who had taken and hidden the dragonheart. Perhaps it is in the catacombs below town.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t wish to be disturbed,¡± Kliss said. ¡°I came here to retire and to save the souls of children.¡±
¡°We will not disturb your rest,¡± Jubz said.
¡°Who¡¯s we?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°I will have two Imperial legions with a Scrutimancer brought to Skyisle from Cessna. They will search the forest, the catacombs and every home,¡± Jubz said. ¡°The dragonheart must be found and the Ishikarian filth concealing it and aiding the heretics must be rooted out from Skyisle.¡±
¡°Was Aradria¡¯s heart worth that much?¡± Kliss yawned.
¡°Aradria¡¯s heart alone is worth a million gold as it could lift a Titan-class warship,¡± Jubz said. ¡°The other crystals, bones, organs and scales are nearly as precious. By my rough estimate, in total there are nearly two million gold worth of items missing. We cannot simply drop this matter. The organs, or at the very least, the heart must be found. What I saw in the forest was a completely magic-less empty husk. A downed dragon¡¯s organs cannot simply vanish. I am certain that it was taken by the local heretics. My apologies for the inconvenience, my child.¡±
¡°When will the legions arrive?¡± Kliss groaned.
¡°Two weeks time,¡± Jubz said.
¡°Very well,¡± Kliss acquiesced.
¡°Rest well, my child,¡± Jubz said. ¡°I will see you then. I will head to Agamemnon now to find Overseer Ignatius and to bring him back to Cessna.¡±
¡°Equality steady your heart, Inquisitor.¡± Kliss sighed.
¡°Equality steady your heart, Baroness Kliss.¡± The Inquisitor bowed his head, drawing the sign of equality in the air with two of his fingers. He turned around and walked out of the bedroom, heading back to the church.
When he passed through the house wards, I sent an Infoscope to follow him. The Inquisitor didn¡¯t deviate from his path, he went straight to the Church and then climbed the steel stairwell into the skyship.
I relaxed and walked upstairs to my sister¡¯s bedroom. Delta was sitting on her bed next to Kliss.
¡°How boned are we?¡± She asked.
¡°Very, very boned,¡± Kliss replied, her orange-tinted face askew with panic. ¡°There is no way that we can stop two legions! A high level Scrutimancer will not give up until they find me and have me dissected for the dragonheart! What in the Astral are we going to do, Slava?¡±
¡°We¡¯re going to have to move our schedule ahead,¡± I said.
2 : 22 The Faithful
With the first ray of morning light, the Ward surrounding our parents¡¯ house and workshop produced a ringing, bell-like sound, notifying everyone within that a group of visitors were standing at the entrance gate, demanding entry.
Georgi made the gate with Delta and me at the end of last summer from Moonwood roots reinforced with his magic. The gate stood between a fence formed from massive stones we brought into position from the woods with the [Gravity] spell I had acquired from the crashed Basq glider.
¡°Early visitors, hrrmmm?¡± I asked as I sent an Infoscope to determine who they were.
¡°Damn,¡± I growled when I saw who it was, emerging into the hallway.
¡°What?¡± Delta and Kliss looked at me, as they came out from their shared bedroom.
¡°Looks like we¡¯re not the only party that decided to move their schedule ahead,¡± I said, rubbing sleep out of my eyes. ¡°Giovashi¡¯s minions are here.¡±
¡°The barmaids?¡± Delta yawned. ¡°I thought that they were level twenty and couldn¡¯t see through our wards!¡±
¡°I guess they either finally figured things out, or decided that this morning was the most optimal time to strike,¡± I shrugged.
¡°How many enemies are there?¡± Kliss asked, her body tensing up.
¡°Twenty seven females wearing spell-proof spidersilk robes with heavy ironmail armour plates beneath,¡± I said. ¡°Aged 17 to 27. Magenta is at the front, currently probing our Ward with a very dangerous-looking black iron staff.¡±
¡°Eh?¡± Delta inquired. ¡°Is it Empire-made magitek, like the Overseer''s armacus?¡±
¡°Obviously not,¡± I said. ¡°Wait¡ I remember this staff! It was in Klint¡¯s memories. It¡¯s a divine staff of Ishira, used to attack him a thousand years ago! The rest of them have Ishira¡¯s charisma-magnifying iron collars and arcane iron blades covered in blood runes. Hrmm."
¡°Is this¡ worse than Giovashi herself showing up?¡± Kliss asked, red-orange, dragon fingernails digging into the door frame.
¡°It¡¯s not exactly what I expected,¡± I said. ¡°I can easily handle a single archmage, but there are twenty seven of them here. A lot of the older women in the back are around LV 40... with artefacts stacking them to go level 80 and 90.¡±
¡°Eeesh,¡± Delta yelped. "That sounds bad."
¡°They aren''t even from Skyisle¨Cwe don''t have this many barmaids. Either they came via a concealed skyship or they were gated into the catacombs from elsewhere. If all of them start firing spells at the same time, or use [Truth] to interrogate one of us or our parents, my Infoscopes won¡¯t be able to disassemble them all.¡±
Our trio rushed downstairs into the living room, where we almost collided with Georgi and Cassandra. I could see the gathered lilac-robed Ishira priestesses through the circular windows at the front of our house.
Gold eyes were painted on their forehead, magnifying their power of [Foresight]. If we started firing spells at them, they could likely dodge them with incredible ease. Delta bit her lip as she peered through the stained glass window at the priestesses.
¡°Georgi Alan Skyisle! I order you to lower your Ward, in the name of our All-Seeing Goddess!¡± Magenta¡¯s voice echoed across the garden and the cottage, magnified by the root-like, black iron staff in her hands. The tip of the staff was covered in violet, glowing, lily-shaped gemstones. The artifact boosted the power of a LV 20 teenager to level 100!
Magenta¡¯s cultist hood was off and her short, violet hair was fluttering in the wind. My Infoscopes spotted several Vows to Ishira hovering over her shoulder looking like bloated, lopsided, gold mushrooms. The rest of the local barmaids from the Fox & Fiddle stood beside her. Giovashi was using the local teens as a meat shield and had likely deduced with a [Foresight] skill that I could not simply obliterate them with magic.
There was immense power in the voice of the teenage barmaid now, filled with incredible Charisma thanks to the staff she held. I watched as the [Charisma] spell went right through our ward and struck Georgi. His eyes glazed over and he walked to the Ward-control gemstone embedded in the doorframe of the front door.
Just as his hand reached the gem, I sent one of my Infoscopes through the floorboards, activating the Alanian Astral Engine buried there.
The barrier-Ward-shield surrounding the house thickened as necromage power, gathered for a thousand years within an ancient obelisk, poured into it.
The LV 20 ward became deactivated by Georgi, but the Level 200 Ward, one designed a thousand years ago and repaired by me manifested into existence right behind it.
"Hrm," Magenta pursed her lips as the Ward flickered off and on again.
Delta stuck her tongue out at the cultists.
¡°Georgi Alan Skyisle! Lower your ward and let us in!¡± Magenta repeated. The [Charisma] magic in her words became greatly dulled, reduced to almost nothing by the newly activated Ward.
¡°Why?¡± Georgi uttered, as his mind emerged out of the Charisma-caused stupor.
¡°We are the Hand of All-Seeing Goddess Ishira,¡± Magenta declared as she must have heard his reply. ¡°The wooden wands you are manufacturing for the Guilds and children of Skyisle are to be confiscated and destroyed, for they are cursed tools¡¡±
I readjusted the house Ward to block all sound. Magenta¡¯s voice cut off mid-sentence.
¡°Cursed?¡± Georgi repeated. ¡°What?¡±
My third Infoscope was already directing the bandaged-covered ant-mech down the stairwell. Under my instructions, the ant-mech quickly donned the usual white, wooden armour and silver goggles belonging to Archmage Delta.
¡°Don¡¯t listen to these poor, misguided girls,¡± I said through the ant-mech with the voice of Archmage Kerenski. ¡°They¡¯ve been bound by the dark magic of renegade Giovashi, deceived with Charisma spells.¡±
¡°Vladislav?" Georgi turned to the ant-mech. "What should we do?¡±
¡°They came to destroy your workshop,¡± I said. ¡°The very workshop that¡¯s been improving the lives of everyone in Skyisle. I won¡¯t let them. Georgi, Cassandra ¨C you must hide below the house at once, as you are only level twenty and will be easily affected by the Charisma spells cast by the cultists.¡±
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¡°What about our children?¡± Cassandra demanded, looking at Delta and me.
¡°Destiny and Dante are our apprentices, trained personally by us for over a year now! They will aid us in the defence of your home,¡± I said through the bee-speaker.
¡°But¡¡± Mom began.
¡°They are of age and know exactly how to assist us. You do not. Take the tunnel beneath the house to the catacombs and hide there next to the Ward obelisk,¡± I ordered. ¡°Stay there until ordered otherwise.¡±
¡°There¡¯s a tunnel and an entire obelisk beneath our house?¡± Cassandra blinked.
¡°There is a network of ancient tunnels beneath Skyisle built by the Alanian empire,¡± I said. ¡°Go now. The secret door to the catacombs will now become visible to you in the basement, inside the cold storage room.¡±
My parents looked lost, refusing to budge. Magenta was yelling more demands from the outside, but they weren¡¯t reaching us anymore.
¡°Go mom,¡± I added from my teenage mouth. ¡°You¡¯re only going to get in the way ¨C you¡¯re an agromancer, not an Archmage trained in defence tactics of Oz.¡±
¡°They will not be hurt. It will be a good experience for them,¡± I added as Archmage Kerenski.
¡°Come on, love, let''s go see this obelisk,¡± Georgi grabbed Cassandra by her elbow and pulled her into the basement. I watched through my 4th Infoscope as they reached the secret door and departed into the catacombs.
Mesmy leapt through the back window of the cottage and rushed up my back to curl around my neck, gray, fluffy tail twitching, ready to defend her master. The Mesmerbane fox was hunting mice in our backyard this morning.
¡°What should I¡?¡± Kliss asked, emerald-citrine eyes filled with worry.
¡°Just hold our hands,¡± I said.
¡°That¡¯s it?¡± she inquired.
¡°Yep,¡± I nodded. ¡°Your dragonheart stabilises our souls and will also keep my sister from rushing into battle. Stay close to me so that Mesmy''s power defends us from Charisma orders.¡±
¡°What? I wasn¡¯t gonna rush into¡¡± Delta huffed.
¡°You were,¡± I interrupted her. ¡°I know you.¡±
¡°Charisma doesn¡¯t work on Astral Phantoms,¡± Delta snarled. ¡°Lemme nip at their Vows!¡±
¡°I will not,¡± I shook my hands. ¡°They have high-level, Phantom-repelling lanterns. If you get struck by a pulse from one of those, you might get knocked out and drift into the deep Astral.¡±
¡°But,¡± Delta whined. ¡°I can¡¡±
¡°Stay put and hold Kliss¡¯ hand, damn it, this is an order!¡± I growled. ¡°I¡¯m going to do something that I haven¡¯t done before - steal your intelligence.¡±
¡°What?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Delta and I are bound by some kind of a divine thread from birth,¡± I said. ¡°I reinforced it with my own Tether and connected it even more. I can use it to pull her stats into mine, to increase my [Intelligence] stat!¡±
¡°Got it,¡± the dragon-girl said and stepped to my sister. Kliss didn¡¯t simply grab Delta¡¯s hand. She pulled my twin into a firm embrace, holding onto Delta¡¯s body. Delta struggled for a few seconds and then relaxed and closed her eyes, accepting the dragonheart generated warmth.
Wielding the ant-mech with one of my Infoscopes, I quickly grabbed the offered hand of my dragon-apprentice and marched Aunt Delta out of the front door, to parlay with the cultists.
Our trio sat down on the living room couch, as the ant-mech closed the door behind itself and approached the lilac-robed women standing at the path leading to our house between massive, mossy boulders.
¡°Who are you?¡± Magenta demanded when she spotted the ant-mech through the decorative gate. ¡°Where is Georgi?!¡±
¡°I am Delta Alana Skyisle, the Eldest Archmage of Skyisle and the true Sentinel of Alania!¡± I announced with an old, scruffy, female voice from the bee-speaker. ¡°I sent Georgi away. What is this gathering of children doing on my doorstep wearing such gaudy robes? Are you here to sell me some flowers, perhaps?¡±
¡°Children?! What flowers¡?!¡± Magenta sputtered. ¡°I am a High Priestess of¡¡±
¡°Do you know who I am, child?¡± I magnified my own voice across the Ward, drowning out her words. ¡°I am Ishira¡¯s Bishop from the Triumvirate Cathedral of our Goddess in Oz! If you¡¯ve come to pay me respects, you may do so now.¡±
¡°Oz?¡± Magenta sputtered. ¡°Bishop?! What?¡±
The cultists behind her made noises of mild confusion.
¡°There is no such thing as Bishop of Ishira,¡± one of the older women said. ¡°There is no nation called Oz.¡±
¡°All of you have clearly been deceived by renegade Giovashi,¡± I said. ¡°If you intend to harm my family''s home, I will obliterate you here and now.¡±
¡°Obliterate us?!¡± Magenta scoffed. ¡°There are twenty seven of us and one of you! We can see all magic before you even say activate the spell! Surrender, allow us entry and we will spare your life, you old crone!¡±
¡°Oh? You doubt my credentials?¡± I added sternly, making the ant-mech smirk dangerously. ¡°Go ahead, little darling¨Ccast an Identify spell at me. I will allow it to pass through the Ward.¡±
¡°F-fine,¡± Magenta pointed the black staff at me. ¡°Identify!¡±
As my mind accelerated and time slowed, I converged all four of my Infoscopes to disassemble and modify the incoming Identify spell. It took all of my Intelligence plus the Intelligence present in Delta¡¯s soul to identify and tear the spell apart before it struck the ant-mech. The Identify spell fired at us was level 98 and incredibly potent.
I gritted my teeth from the burning migraine as my mind slowed. The Infoscopes finished their job, the false results returned back to Magenta.
¡°What the shit,¡± she muttered, eyes wide. ¡°By Ishira''s grace! No¡ surely, this cannot be.¡±
¡°What did the spell say?¡± The women behind her demanded.
¡°The Iron-staff of Ishira defined her as Delta Alana Skyisle, LV 300 Archmage and Bishop of our Lady Ishira!¡± Magenta sputtered.
¡°Impossible!¡± one of the older women hissed.
"What?" The others cried out in shock.
¡°Oh?¡± I laughed through the ant-mech¡¯s lips. ¡°Do you children think that it¡¯s somehow possible to mess with an Identify spell that came from the Staff of Ishira herself?¡±
¡°N-no,¡± Magenta choked. ¡°The Staff cannot be deceived, it is an arcane tool from before the Age of Darkness!¡±
¡°Give me that stolen staff,¡± I said, opening my hand. ¡°Its power is not meant for you, child.¡±
¡°W-what? I¡ I cannot,¡± Magenta took a step back, pink eyes filled with worry. ¡°We must destroy this workshop and its vile contents!¡±
¡°Its contents are of MY design, meant to uplift Skyisle, you fool!¡± I barked, my voice booming across the open space between us. ¡°Are you blind, child?! Has Skyisle not prospered over the past year? Have you not felt it in your soul? It is now far easier to cast magic in this village, because of my work! I was tasked by our Goddess to heal this blighted land, to drive back the breath of Decay and to heal the Valley of Death!¡±
¡°It is true,¡± one of the younger teens muttered. ¡°It¡ it feels easier to breathe. My granmom¡¯s cough has lessened.¡±
¡°It is vile deception,¡± one of the women in the back hissed. ¡°It has to be! Giovashi warned us about this! The tools made here are the work of demons and must be¡¡±
¡°What demons?!¡± I laughed. ¡°Do you not see the true Voice of Ishira before you? I am Her Bishop and you are but confused kids playing with toys stolen by renegade Giovashi from the catacombs below MY town!¡±
¡°Kill her,¡± one of the robed cultists put a hand onto Magenta¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Use the staff. We will pour our power into you to end this false Bishop!¡±
The cultists began joining hands. Twenty six pairs of hands reached out to Magenta to magnify her power tenfold. With each added hand, the fractal of power within the staff set to [Destruction] leapt from level 98 to level 120 to level 150, to 190!
I knew that it would be impossible to oppose such high level magic, that if I let them all touch Magenta then the deadly spell from Ishira¡¯s iron staff would punch through the Ward, obliterate the ant-mech and leave burning ruins in place of our dad¡¯s workshop.
Then the cultists would likely burn all of Leemy''s saplings that we planted across Skyisle to clean up the air.
According to my Infoscopes and Neurovista, there simply wasn¡¯t enough magic to oppose twenty seven cultists, not enough mana in our trio, not enough power pouring within the Alanian obelisk beneath our house to deflect the [Destruction] spell that I knew was inevitably coming¡
2 : 23 Blood Iron
Magic wasn¡¯t the solution here. According to thirteen years of my research into understanding the nature of magic, the power of Precognition, operating in high level Seers primarily made magi see magical solutions to magical problems. For example, a Seer could see what spell their enemies would use against them, but any mundane physical actions, simply didn¡¯t translate into Seer Foresight.
I had arrived at this conclusion after I thoroughly interviewed the Cessna Librarium Administrator Pion Ress about this matter. Foresight spells were magic that saw magic - echoes of it, manifesting within the Astral, before a spell was even fired. Time within the Astral Ocean was screwed up on some fundamental level and therefore it was possible to predict many magical actions of a mage minutes or even days ahead!
Thus, mundane actions were unexpected by those who relied on greater Foresight.
I reached out to a lever next to the couch and pulled it. A large generator in the back of the house, fueled by a rushing brook that was rapidly spinning several wooden wheels powered on a circuit leading to iron beams wrapped in coils located directly beneath the entrance to our parents¡¯ cottage.
The cultists were nice enough to bunch up exactly at the entrance between the giant boulders - exactly where I wanted them. People in Skyisle were used to walking on the ¡®safe¡¯ paths covered in the lights of the hex-lanterns.
¡°Hold person!¡± I barked from the Aunt Delta''s ant-operated lips and pretended to cast a spell with my splayed hand.
The electromagnets buried directly beneath the path activated. Ishira¡¯s staff, which was made almost entirely from magic-augmented blood-iron ripped from Magenta¡¯s gloved fingers. It slammed into the ground and fell sideways, instantly becoming attached to one of the magnetized iron beams.
Magenta bent down to grab at it, and herself slammed down, unable to control her increased weight. One by one, the cultists who tried to help her up, fell into an uneven pile with loud clattering, their metal swords and armor now firmly attached to the iron beams.
¡°What sorcery is this? How have we not foreseen this spell?!¡± One of the cultists ground out, unsuccessfully trying to detach herself from the ground.
¡°It is the magic of our Radiant, All-Seeing Goddess,¡± I said. ¡°Ishira has seen that you were intending to hurt me and chose to interfere. She closed your Sight to punish you for opposing me!¡±
¡°No! It cannot be!¡± A cultist wailed. ¡°Unbind! Unbind person!¡±
¡°Disrupt hexagram!¡± Another cultist yelled, blasting mana into the ground.
The lilac-robed women and teens repeatedly tried to cast unbinding and magic-disrupting spells at the ground. It obviously didn¡¯t do anything against electromagnets.
¡°What is happening?!¡± Magenta growled.
I smirked. ¡°Those gold eyes you¡¯ve painted on your foreheads won¡¯t aid you against me, no matter what magic you cast.¡±
¡°No!¡± Magenta uttered. She hopelessly pulled at the staff, but was unable to tear it away from the beam, getting even more stuck herself. She was too confused and panicked to even attempt to cast anything at this point.
¡°Yes,¡± I said, walking forward. ¡°You¡¯ve lost. Surrender.¡±
¡°I cannot,¡± Magenta cried, eyes suddenly filling up with tears. Her violet curls shook. ¡°My Archangel won¡¯t let me! I must complete this mission or¡¡±
I extended a second layer of the Ward to encompass the uneven pile of cultist bodies and took a few more steps forward with the ant-mech, opening the wooden gate.
¡°P-please, free me!¡± Magenta wept. Brilliant, radiant waves of [Charisma] magic blasted from her mouth. It didn''t do a single thing to Archmage Delta who was composed of fifty thousand ants. ¡°I am but a simple barmaid," she lied. "Please! Let me go and I will surrender¡¡±
I knew that her words were a lie, pushed into her lips by the grotesque, gold fungi hanging above her shoulders in the Astral.
¡°Let us free at once!¡± the other cultists wailed, adding to the chorus of [Charisma], which once again, did absolutely nothing to the ant colony. ¡°Disable this vile spellwork! Free us!¡±
I reached into Aunt Delta¡¯s pocket and snapped a Vow-disrupting, wooden collar over Magenta¡¯s neck.
The mushrooms above the teen, who were beginning to strangle her into action with their gold threads flickered and were suddenly unable to reach their host.
"In the name of Ishira, oh Angels, fall silent and turn away from this child!" I sang, making the voice coming from the bee-speaker extra deep.
Magenta choked below me, eyes wide with pure horror.
¡°I have just told your Archangels to turn away from you,¡± I said. ¡°Do you believe me now, Magenta? Am I the Bishop of Ishira or will you call me a liar and attempt to strike me down once again? Do you feel the gathering inferno beneath your face? It will devour you if you oppose me! The Wheel of Death seeks to consume sinners!¡±
The electromagnets beneath me were starting to heat up and Magenta felt the warmth coming from the ground.
¡°I¡ I cannot hear my Angels anymore!¡± Magenta stared at me with tear-streaked eyes.
¡°You have but one choice here¨Creject renegade mage Giovashi or perish,¡± I said, releasing a few hundred ants through the holes in my feet into the pile of immobile cultists. ¡°Serve me instead of the false renegade who dares to call herself an Archpriestess of Ishira!¡±
¡°Magenta! I order you to¡! Ashhh shit! What in the Astral! Ahhh!¡± The bossy, oldest cultist screamed as the ants began nipping at her body.
¡°Burn,¡± I said through Aunt Delta¡¯s lips. ¡°You will all burn unless you swear allegiance to me here and now!¡±
¡°Delta, release the bees,¡± I turned to my sister. ¡°Make Ishira¡¯s symbol appear above me.¡±
¡°Can do,¡± she nodded, releasing a thousand bees from the large, leather backpack worn by the ant-mech.
A swarm of fire-bees blotted the sky above Archmage Delta. The cultists stared up in terror as the swarm darkened the sky around them.
¡°Say it! Go on, tell every child here who I am!¡± I ordered Magenta, sliding into the shoes of a cult-leader. ¡°The Inferno of Divine Judgement will consume you if you lie! Behold the Symbol of our Goddess!¡±
I waved an arm at the sky and some of the fire bees ignited their stingers, hovering in place. The symbol of the All-Seeing Eye of Ishira appeared above the fallen cultists, woven from myriads of burning dots.
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¡°Decep¡¡± one of the older women tried to speak, but started to cry and thrash as the ants began biting her more fiercely.
¡°Well?!¡± I barked. ¡°Speak the truth Magenta!¡±
¡°You¡ you¡ are Her Bishop, Ishira¡¯s Voice herself! I am sorry, your excellence! I¡¯m so sorry! Please don¡¯t burn me alive! Please! I¡¯ll serve you! I¡¯ll do whatever you want! Please!¡± Magenta yelled, shaking in fright, staring up at the sign of Ishira made from fire-bees. The armor magnetized to the ground was overheating now, making her sweat.
¡°And?¡± I leaned towards the barmaid. ¡°Do you reject the false one?¡±
¡°I¡ I reject the false mage Giovashi!¡± Magenta cried. ¡°From this moment, I swear to be your servant, forevermore!¡±
¡°Excellent,¡± I grinned.
I walked back into Georgi¡¯s workshop, leaving the cultists to the mercy of the ants and the bees for a few minutes. When I returned, I began placing magic-reinforced, wooden collars with Vow-disrupting crystals onto the necks of each of the cultists.
¡°You are not to take these off,¡± I instructed as I collared the girls. ¡°You have been marked as fallen by Ishira and your Archangels have turned away from you. From this moment you are to keep these collars on as a mark of your penance, understood?¡±
¡°Understood!¡± Magenta nodded rapidly.
One by one, I asked the cultists if they would reject Giovashi and embrace me as their new Master.
Through fear and coercion, fire bees and ant bites, I collared each of them and got a promise out of them to serve me. With their Vows now silent, they were just girls, teenagers for the most part. They were barmaids empowered by arcane artifacts and driven into obedience by Giovashi¡¯s lies.
Without their tools and Archangels, they were all around level 20-40 at most.
In another ten minutes of this ridiculous charade, I reached out and pulled the lever once more, disabling the electromagnet, just minutes before the circuits began to overheat and melt.
I picked up Ishira¡¯s staff and twirled it in my hand. Next, I confiscated all of the magisteel knives, wands and other amplifiers, shoving them into the large leather backpack that was formerly filled with bees.
The insects had settled on the former cultist¡¯s shoulders and arms and crawled deep into their armor, making sure that they remained compliant. Without the Vows guiding their decisions, they looked completely lost, miserable.
¡°W-what will happen to us?¡± Magenta asked.
¡°You¡¯ll live longer,¡± I said.
¡°L-live longer?!¡± Magenta¡¯s eyes went wide.
¡°It is your punishment,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯ll live until your hair turns gray.¡±
¡°No!¡± One of the girls screamed in horror.
¡°Yes,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯ll grow up, fall in love, maybe even have children just like the rest of Skyisle women. You will NOT be taken to heaven. This is your penance for defying me and the Goddess! Embrace it with your heart!¡±
The lilac-robed cultists fell to their knees, begging for my forgiveness and mercy. I offered them none.
. . .
The situation within the living room became less tense. I was running low on mana, so I disabled ? of my Infoscopoes and watched as dust particles floated across colourful rays of morning light cast from the stained glass window.
¡°I don¡¯t get it,¡± Kliss muttered, staring out the window with a somewhat confused expression. ¡°Why are they so afraid of¡ living long lives?¡±
¡°The sacrifice of something important such as the ability of making children was a common manipulation tactic used by dangerous cults,¡± I explained. ¡°In the USSR my assigned overseer, Officer Alexander Gradenski, told me much about cults and the way they function. He was personally responsible for arresting and deporting many cults from the mainland to the frozen North-East to work in labor camps. One such cult was the ¡®Skoptsy¡¯. They called themselves the ¡®White Doves¡¯ and one of their tenets was complete removal of reproductive organs to achieve ¡®spiritual purity¡¯.¡±
¡°How can such cults even function in a world without magic?¡± Kliss asked. ¡°How can someone be manipulated so far as to remove the ability to have kids, without making a Vow?¡±
¡°While we had science, it had no way to tell anyone what happens after death,¡± I explained. ¡°Even without [Charisma] magic a person can be convinced to mutilate themselves for a greater purpose so that their present will be ¡®more righteous¡¯ and their future afterlife will be perfect. A century ago there were around a hundred thousand Skoptsy in USSR, but their number became reduced to less than a thousand over time as genital mutilation became frowned upon.¡±
¡°I see,¡± Kliss murmured. ¡°So, how did you determine that these barmaids wouldn¡¯t have families?¡±
¡°They simply wouldn¡¯t live long enough,¡± I answered. ¡°There¡¯s a reason why the oldest one there is twenty seven. I scanned their bodies and the artefacts they wielded with my Infoscope - their swords, armour, wrist bracers and staff are all made from a very peculiar type of iron covered in crystalline flakes capable of absorbing the user¡¯s blood.¡±
¡°Blood iron,¡± Kliss murmured, staring at the gnarly staff in Aunt Delta¡¯s hands. ¡°Necromage tools. I¡¯ve read a mention of this forbidden dark magic in Cessna.¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t use no freakin¡¯ blood iron,¡± Delta commented. ¡°My¡ err¡ Kopusha¡¯s glider was made from premium magisteel! It fed on¡ the excess bloom of the Astral algae and corals, not blood or human souls!¡±
¡°The Acolytes of Tricameron indeed didn¡¯t use such vile tools - these were devices used by the Seditionists to greatly bring up their level at the cost of draining their own body and soul,¡± I explained. ¡°These tools are truly monstrous because they aren¡¯t only fed by blood, they drain the user in a very insidious way, ossifying organs one by one from within.¡±
¡°Shit,¡± Delta bit her lip. ¡°Is it too late for Magenta, then?¡±
¡°She is still young and can perhaps be healed with positively-charged [Vitality]. Had I given her a chance to use that staff to push her level to 200 to bring down our Ward, she would have drained half of her life in the process,¡± I replied. ¡°The older cultists have the most damage, their lower organs have already shrunken and in some cases completely atrophied.¡±
¡°By Equality,¡± Kliss covered her mouth. ¡°That¡¯s¡ monstrous. I should have rooted them out as Overseer¡ should have done something about that damn pub on my first day here.¡±
¡°If you did, we wouldn¡¯t be talking now,¡± I shrugged. ¡°They would have made you swear a Vow to protect the cultists themselves, not the Alans. Your amarcus simply wouldn¡¯t be able to oppose something like those blood shackles and staff.¡±
¡°Luckily they had blood iron on and not some other non-magnetic armor,¡± Delta commented.
¡°The magnets were actually designed to stop Imperial Legionnaires,¡± I shrugged. ¡°It was designed to halt someone like Kliss in place, since I knew that Overseer¡¯s armour was magnetic.¡±
¡°What if their tools weren¡¯t blood iron?¡± Kliss asked. ¡°Would they just slaughter us then?¡±
¡°Then I would have used another, far less peaceful tool,¡± I shrugged. ¡°They¡¯re Seers, so all I had to do was avoid using magic.¡±
¡°So what would you have done?¡± Kliss inquired.
¡°I would have let them get closer to the workshop, to allow them to investigate it and then I would have rolled about a hundred tons of logs their way,¡± I pointed at the pile of logs. ¡°See that pile? I can trigger half of it to roll downhill with a lever that burns through a rope via a rapidly heating coil. Anyone going up the stone steps would have encountered an avalanche of logs.¡±
¡°That would have crushed them to death,¡± Kliss muttered, staring at the massive log pile made by Georgi.
¡°Sometimes life doesn''t present us with the best choices.¡± I shrugged, yawning.
¡°But what if¡?¡± Delta asked.
¡°Enough ¡®what ifs¡¯,¡± I said, rubbing my temples. ¡°I got woken up at 5 in the morning, am exhausted and have a massive migraine from accelerating my mind to take apart a LV 90 Identify spell so I¡¯m going to lie down for a bit. Take over as Aunt Delta, let our parents out of the catacombs and then learn everything you can about the extra cultists. I want to know where they came from, how they got to Skyisle and if Giovashi has more barmaids hidden somewhere that she can throw at us.¡±
¡°Okki, grouchy Captain,¡± Delta sent me a salute, leaned back and closed her eyes.
¡°Kliss, let go of her,¡± I said.
The dragon-girl did as advised and I saw Delta¡¯s soul disconnect from her human body and flash as an Astral Phantom across our backyard, merging into Aunt Delta¡¯s ant-mech form.
I leaned back on the couch and closed my eyes. Kliss slid over closer to me and pulled my head onto her lap.
¡°Mrhmm?¡± I blearily opened one eye.
¡°Sleep, Slava,¡± she said, petting my head. ¡°You¡¯ve earned it. You¡¯ve saved us today.¡±
¡°Just doing what I do best,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Taking apart spells, making dragons¡¡±
I didn¡¯t finish my semi-coherent train of thought. My eyes closed and I drifted into the embrace of warm, dreamless sleep. I didn¡¯t even have enough mana to activate Lucid Dreaming, but I trusted Kliss and Delta to sort stuff out now that the danger had passed.
2 : 24 Orphans of the Beast
[Delta Alana Skyisle]
Being Archmage Delta wasn''t exactly a walk in the park, especially when dealing with a horde of brainwashed cultists who just tried to burn down my family''s home. Slava had collared them with Vow-disrupting hexagrams and sent me to deal with the aftermath.
As my brother snoozed on the couch with Kliss keeping him extra warm and cosy, the lucky butt, I surveyed the scene in the back garden, feeling a tad overwhelmed. The former cultists were huddled together like a flock of scared sheep, their under-robes looking a tad worse for wear thanks to the ant bites and bee stings.
Magenta, the local ringleader, sat with her head in her hands, looking utterly defeated. She looked like a schoolgirl who had been scolded, thin and frail without her armor and lilac robe. I made sure that the cultists took off their armor and scrubbed their foreheads clean of the golden Eye hexagram that magnified their Charisma.
¡°Alright, listen up, you bunch of misguided ninnies,¡± I announced, my voice booming from the bee speaker. ¡°Time for some confessions. Ishira and I, obviously already know all of your dire sins, but I want you to speak them from the heart, to confess them to me upon this meadow so that you may begin your path to¡ potential salvation.¡±
I paced in front of them, my ant-powered legs moving with ease across the moss and grass beneath. My brother had undoubtedly extracted a lot of information with his Infoscopes, but I wanted to know more. I wanted to know everything, to discover what his all-seeing magic might have missed, to begin unraveling the thousand-year-old cloud looming over Skyisle borne from the insanity of the Tricameron Seditionists.
¡°You first, barmaid of Skyisle,¡± I demanded, pointing a finger at Magenta.
¡°W-what?¡± The violet-haired girl raised her pink eyes at me.
¡°Confess your sins!¡± I barked, slamming Ishira¡¯s blood-iron staff into the ground for emphasis.
¡°It was Giovashi,¡± she confessed. ¡°She... she told me in a dream that Skyisle was doomed, that the Alan family was harboring demons, that their workshop was creating cursed tools that would bring ruin to the village.¡±
¡°Demons?¡± I scoffed. ¡°Cursed tools? How long have you known the Alan family, Magenta?¡±
¡°I¡¯ve known them since my childhood,¡± Magenta muttered.
¡°And are they goodly people or demons?!¡± I growled, waving the staff around threateningly.
¡°They are¡ goodly people,¡± the barmaid gulped as I nearly smacked her with the staff.
¡°So, you came to attack their home without a single shred of evidence?¡± I asked.
Magenta blushed red.
¡°Archpriestess Giovashi has never deceived us,¡± she muttered, eyes downcast.
¡°We were doing Ishira''s work!¡± One of the girls cried out.
¡°Ishira doesn¡¯t need blood sacrifices or soul-draining tools,¡± I said sternly. ¡°She doesn''t need renegades like Giovashi twisting her words and manipulating people into setting Alan family¡¯s workshops on fire! I came from the land of Oz, from far beyond the hills and glacier mountains to clean up this village and in the name of our glorious Goddess, I certainly will!¡±
I made the bees spin a spiral around the back of my head, making myself resemble a portrait of an Orthodox saint. Then I added a crown of fire stingers atop of my head, because I thought that it looked cool.
The insect pyrotechnics worked on most of my audience.
The whimpers and sobs of the former cultists filled the air, punctuated by the occasional sniffle and choked plea for forgiveness. Some of them buried their faces in the grass, while others simply stared at me with wide, tear-filled eyes.
¡°Silence!¡± I boomed, my voice amplified by the buzzing swarm of bees within my coat. The younger girls flinched, their faces pale with fear. ¡°I will hear no more of this heretical nonsense. You speak of Giovashi as if she were a saint, yet she is nothing but a charlatan, a pretender who has led you astray from the true path of Ishira.¡±
My gaze swept over the huddled group, focusing on the older women who still held a defiant glint in their eyes. They were the hardened core of this little cult, the ones who had likely been under Giovashi''s influence for decades.
¡°You,¡± I pointed the staff at a woman in her late 20¡¯s with blue-tinted hair and a sharp jawline, ¡°Step forward. Tell me your name and how you came to be entangled in Giovashi''s web of lies.¡±
The woman I pointed my staff at didn''t flinch. Instead, she straightened her back, a defiant glint in her steely gray eyes. The other cultists rapidly parted like a nervous flock, leaving her standing alone before me.
¡°I am Ellirra Krizantheum Osk,¡± she replied. ¡°Priestess of Ishira. I was but a nine year old child when Giovashi found me, lost and alone after dragon Aradria pulverized my parents home with her claws. Lady Giovashi offered me a home, a new family¡ and true purpose. I cannot go against my Master.¡±
¡°Aradria is dead,¡± I revealed. ¡°I got rid of her, unlike Giovashi who encouraged Aradria to roam and burn the countryside¡¡±
I heard muttering of disbelief.
¡°I killed that annoying dragon,¡± I said, taking credit for Dante¡¯s work. ¡°That dumb big dragon made a mistake coming to Skyisle, just as you have.¡±
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¡°You ended¡ Aradria?¡± Ellirra sputtered. ¡°That¡ that¡¯s not possible! Aradria is a level two hundred abomination empowered by her hoard far beyond that! She is a monster that even the Empire of Equality could not bring from the sky. I remember her face when she swiped our house with a massive, orange-red claw. That demon left me alive, let me watch as she devoured my parents!¡±
¡°Oh? Perhaps you''d like to see her corpse?¡± I asked.
¡°A corpse?¡± Ellirra blinked, not expecting my words.
¡°Yes,¡± I grinned dangerously. ¡°Why don¡¯t we go visit her so you can see for yourself what a true Bishop of Ishira can do and how my power compares to that pathetic faker Giovashi who offered you an empty plate of lies.¡±
Ellirra''s previously resolute expression replaced with a flicker of uncertainty. Good. My little revelation about Aradria¡¯s demise was starting to crack her shell.
We set off into the forest, Ellirra and the others trailing behind me like chastised puppies.
I made good use of our hike to learn more of their names and histories. Most of them were orphans that Giovashi plucked from various small villages surrounding Agamemnon. Orphans that resulted from Aradria¡¯s attacks that occurred eighteen, fifteen and then thirteen years ago. With the exception of the Skyisle barmaids, the other girls fell into the same pattern - Giovashi warned them of sin and doomsday and then the giant red dragon decimated their villages in some manner and ate their parents.
In about thirty minutes of a brisk walk, we arrived at the blackened section of the valley. The smell of eternally smouldering dragonfire was inescapable. It was eerily quiet in this section of the forest too. The radiance of death emanated by the tiny sand particles left by Aradria chased away all animals and turned the trees into dead, black husks.
¡°Behold, the remnants of the dragon¨Cdrained of her magic and life,¡± I waved Ishira¡¯s staff at the beast.
The girls peered at the massive corpse, eyes wide with shock. It was ossified and gray, but it was still quite imposing and recognizable.
¡°See?¡± I grinned. ¡°The vile beast is no more. Unlike Giovashi, I took care of it.¡±
Ellirra slid to her knees, staring at Aradria¡¯s maw.
¡°It¡¯s her,¡± she whispered. ¡°It¡¯s really her¡ and she¡¯s dead.¡±
¡°Giovashi sent Aradria to your homes,¡± I revealed, turning my face to every orphan present. ¡°She sent this dragon to all of your villages, so that she could make orphans of you. Parentless children are easier to manipulate, easier to bind with Charisma magic, easier to trick into sacrifice of life and blood.¡±
¡°N-no,¡± Ellirra choked. ¡°That¡ that cannot be the truth.¡±
¡°And yet it is,¡± I tapped the dragon¡¯s corpse with the iron staff, producing a hollow, morbid sound. Ashes and flakes began raining down.
¡°Ask yourself, did your lives become better when you encountered Giovashi? Did the pretend Archpriestess really help you or did she simply use you as a means to an end? Did you actually improve anyone¡¯s lives in your years of servitude to Giovashi? What good have you brought to this world, Ellirra?¡± I magnified my voice through the bee speaker so it echoed across the forest like a sombre bell, adding a pitch of infrasound to it, to make it sound more surreal.
¡°This corpse and the air-cleansing trees around town are a veritable record of my good deeds,¡± I declared. ¡°Go on - confess! What good have you done for the world, children?¡±
Ellirra''s eyes filled with tears as poisoned ashes drifted around her. She looked up at me. I saw that her lips were whispering questions, praying to her Angel, but it didn¡¯t answer her.
¡°Your Angels turned away from you, because you chose to serve evil, were deceived,¡± I said, making fiery angel wings shaped behind my back with my bees. ¡°I am your last chance for reaching heaven. If you stick with me, stay in Skyisle, become my¡ Radiant Knights of Ishira, then you might just redeem yourself, after a few decades of proper service. You just might help me undo the great evil that Giovashi spread across Ishikaria! Unlike Giovashi, I do not feed nor encourage monsters such as this dragon¨Cas you can plainly see I put a stop to them, permanently!¡±
Ellirra choked.
¡°Now, will you help me end monsters like Aradria, darling, or will you continue to be a blind fool led by trickery of the deceiver, become responsible for more children losing their parents?¡± I asked as I offered Ellirra my hand.
I mentally smirked at how the gesture resembled my big brother¡¯s gesture to Kliss, how he always found a reason to save the girl who I never considered worth much, how he miraculously turned the Overseer from a dangerous enemy to our best friend.
I could never admit it to anyone, I even refused to admit it to myself, but I was inexorably drifting closer and closer to Kliss. The adorkable, shiny-haired dragon girl somehow made me feel less hollow, less cold, less broken, more grounded to the physical world.
Just like the trembling cultist in front of me, I was a victim of Giovashi¡¯s machinations and even though I never told it to my brother or my parents - I knew that I was gradually disconnecting from reality, becoming a hollow, ghostly monster myself. I played the role of a cute sister, pretending to be a cheerful teenager. I pretended to smile, hiding my pain behind a fake, bubbly personality. Only thanks to Kliss, I was once again able to feel like I was conscious, self-aware¡ alive!
Damn it, I was already missing her warmth and the solace it offered. I sent the cultist in front of me an irate glare as if she was the cause of all of my problems in the universe.
The weight of my words, the truth I laid bare before Ellirra, seemed to be tearing at the foundations of her carefully constructed world. I could see the internal struggle within her, the battle between the lies she had clung to for so long and the dawning realization that her devotion had been misplaced.
The hate-filled glare and the angel wings is what did her in. Ellirra¡¯s resolve snapped, broke like an old twig.
¡°I¡ I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m so sorry!¡± she stammered, between tears. ¡°I just wanted to belong... to have a family¡ Thank you, thank you for ending the monster that haunted my dreams and every waking moment! Thank you!!!¡±
She crawled over to me and hugged my boots covered in wooden armor, wailing even louder.
¡°Please, Bishop Delta, forgive my sins! Forgive me, Ishira! I cannot bear it, the voice of my Angel has forsaken me! I know not what to do! I want to be good and righteous! I do want to help Ishikaria prosper, I swear it on my life!¡±
I reached out and brushed her hair.
¡°Will you help me plant trees, instead of burning things?¡± I asked.
¡°Y-yes, my Bishop!¡± the cultist stammered. ¡°I will.¡±
¡°What about all of you?¡± I growled, addressing the gathered girls.
Resounding confessions, pleas and cries of agreement surrounded me.
I wanted to hurt them further, to break them, to feast on their souls.
No.
That was the void talking, the icy hollowness within me, the hunger for life. I needed to hug Lizzy, to drown the ever-present, gnawing, maddening chill in her embrace. Yes. YES. I was going to get home, hand these idiots to Georgi so that he could show them how harmless his workshop truly is, leap into my human body and then¡ then I could hug the warmest thing in the universe, forever and ever, or at the very least, until I felt a pinch more alive once again.
I put a fake smile on my face.
¡°Good,¡± I addressed the cultists. ¡°Good. Let the healing begin! This first step you take is a step towards righteousness, a step towards absolute goodness, towards Ishira¡¯s divine, warm embrace! Rejoice! Soon you won¡¯t feel so empty and hollow and cold for you will come into the light! Follow! You shall meet the man and work in his workshop, the very workshop that you so eagerly wanted to burn down in your folly!¡±
2 : 25 Moral Compass
[Dante Alan Skyisle]
I woke up to the gentle caress of sunlight on my face and the soft rustle of leaves. For a moment, I was lost, unsure of where I was. Then I felt it ¨C the comforting warmth beneath my head that rushed across my entire body, a sensation so alien to my usual hands-made-from-ice existence. I opened my eyes and found myself staring into Kliss''s emerald-gold gaze.
¡°You''re awake,¡± she said, a soft smile gracing her lips. Her ruby-violet crystal hair, sparkled like a thousand tiny suns, cascaded around us, akin to a shimmering curtain.
I nodded.
¡°Feeling better?¡± She added.
¡°Yeah,¡± I mumbled, my head still throbbing faintly. ¡°Just a bit¡ drained. Those girls managed to pull off the most high level magic I¡¯ve had to disassemble thus far. How long was I out?¡±
¡°Just a couple of hours,¡± Kliss replied, her fingers gently stroking my hair.
I nodded.
¡°Slava,¡± Kliss began, her voice hesitant, ¡°Why do you keep saving me?¡±
¡°Have we not already discussed this?¡± I yawned.
¡°I was so awful to you,¡± she insisted, her voice filled with remorse. ¡°When I was Skyisle¡¯s Overseer, I came close to killing you several times, almost pulled the trigger. Why did you risk so much for someone like me? You could have suffocated in that burning forest, could have died¡ all because of me.¡±
I studied her face, the worry etched into her features, an ocean of guilt shimmering in her emerald-ember eyes. She was very different now, the rigid, by-the-book determined Overseer replaced by a vulnerable, conflicted chimera girl.
¡°Why did you buy Skyisle?¡± I asked, avoiding her question.
¡°Because I wanted to give it to you,¡± Kliss admitted. ¡°After Cessna... when I lost my parents, I realized that the only place I truly felt... alive, was here. With you and Delta. Skyisle was dying, its people trapped, their levels decaying. I saw the potential, the hope that you brought with your... science. I saw that you were making a difference, Slava.¡±
¡°Anyone can make a difference,¡± I shrugged.
¡°As the Overseer of Skyisle I tried to make a difference! Guess what¨CI failed spectacularly. Unlike me, you were able to disable a Vow at twelve. You brought Aradria from the sky. You¡¯ve seeded the valley with Vitality trees! You¡¯re the most important person on Skyisle, the nail upon which the future of everyone here is hanging. Without your strange arithmancy and knowledge from Earth¡ your parents and your sister would likely be hopelessly lost. Without you, Skyisle would be slowly devoured by the magogenic fault. Hells, you¡¯ve just stopped twenty seven blood-iron armed Charisma and Foresight augmented mages with¡ uhhh¡ remind me, what did you do to make them fall over, exactly?¡±
¡°I used an electromagnet,¡± I said.
¡°Electromagnet,¡± Kliss repeated, stuttering over the word. ¡°See, nobody on Novazem can make an electromagnet. Now, stop avoiding the question and tell me WHY you thought it was perfectly fine to sacrifice yourself to pull me from a burning skyship.¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t jump into dragonfire as a fragile human,¡± I tried to defend myself. "I went in as an Astral Phantom inhabiting the ant-mech."
¡°According to Delta your human body was nearby, the ship could have exploded and a shrapnel could have cut you in half!¡± Kliss snarled, mouth stretching to reveal inhumanly sharp chompers. "Dragonfire could have overcome the ant-mech and devoured your soul."
¡°Oh? Would you prefer I lock myself in the ancient Alanian tower behind thick stone walls? I was a prisoner of my own government, kept in the gold cage of Aralsk-7 making death, for nearly three decades!¡± I shot back. ¡°Taking chances and saving people is something I clearly do. It¡¯s part of my personal penance since one of the viruses I designed managed to kill three girls back in the USSR!¡±
The ex-Overseer¡¯s sharp expression softened.
¡°Why do I keep saving you?¡± I repeated, a wry smile playing on my lips. ¡°Just like you, I was once lost, Kliss. Trapped in a system that demanded obedience and sacrifice, blind to love, unable to appreciate the beauty and potential of the world around me. You, with your rigid adherence to the doctrine of Equality, were a reflection of my own past, a stark reminder of the man I used to be. I am pretty sure I already told you something along these lines¡¡±
I was on a rant now, unable to stop myself.
¡°If you keep insisting on the burning skyship thing¨Cthere is a perfectly rational reason why I didn¡¯t just let you die in that fire. If you died, two of your Vows would have been pulled to Elysium into the embrace of Goddess Equality and then the Gregarius Empire would know everything. They¡¯d come here in great numbers, capture and torture me for my scientific Earth knowledge and use Charisma magic to turn me into a slave! Then I¡¯d end up doing the same thing I did for the USSR¨Cmake weapons for an empire!¡±
¡°So... you saved me to save yourself?¡± she asked. ¡°You do realize that the Empire is coming regardless in less than two weeks?¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t just save myself,¡± I clarified, ¡°I¡¯m saving everyone in Skyisle. Inquisitor Jubz and his legion are coming here without a single clue as to what I can really do.¡±
¡°I feel like this conversation hasn¡¯t gone in the direction I wanted it to,¡± Kliss demurred.
¡°What direction would that be?¡± I asked.
¡°She¡¯s milking you for your feelings and compliments, ya dummy,¡± Delta opened her eyes, staring at us. ¡°It¡¯s what girls do. Now, get outta of the way, it¡¯s my turn on the bliss-pillow.¡±
Delta shoved me from the lap of Kliss settling there herself.
Kliss blushed, a rippling pattern of red flickers dancing on her face.
¡°Right,¡± I cleared my throat, feeling a tad flustered by Delta''s blunt commentary. ¡°Compliment¡¡±
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
My mind, usually adept at weaving complex mathematical formulae, solving problems and dissecting spells, suddenly blanked at this unexpected challenge.
I glanced down at Kliss, whose orange-tinted face was now as red as a tomato.
¡°The prismatic refraction of light makes you extra¡ sparkly?¡± I muttered.
I evaluated my own words as exceedingly daft. Complimenting her appearance felt irrational, since I designed her look myself in a flow-trance state during which my mind operated a thousand times faster than normally.
¡°Is that the best you can do?¡± Kliss arched an eyebrow.
¡°Uh, why am I doing this again?¡± I asked, eyeing Delta who was grinning at me like a Cheshire cat.
¡°He¡¯s clearly not used to talking to girls,¡± Delta commented. ¡°Give him a break, Lizzy. He¡¯s trying his very best, I¡¯m certain.¡±
¡°Could compliments be broken down mathematically, optimized as an expression of Charisma fractal?¡± I muttered mostly to myself. ¡°Human language is a convergence of¡¡±
¡°What? No,¡± Delta scoffed loudly, interrupting my train of thought. ¡°Compliments are like flowers, each one unique and beautiful in its own way. You can¡¯t just reduce them to numbers and equations, Slava.¡±
¡°Optimize, not reduce,¡± I waved her off, returning to my new, shiny idea. ¡°If every book ever written was mathematically broken down into separate tokens correlating to segments of words and how they interconnect and then converged together, I bet it would write excellent compliments as a language model of some sort...¡±
¡°Oh no,¡± Delta lamented, covering her face as if she was embarrassed on my behalf. ¡°I¡¯ve made him go on a tangent about compliment-models.¡±
¡°Magical language models,¡± I said. ¡°The Astral Ocean is full of random gibberish. Perhaps, specifically, if only language was pulled from that gibberish pile and sorted by a constantly running spell into a mathematical array of correlation between tokens, then this array could¡¡±
¡°You seriously want to make a spell array to construct a magical language model, or whatever, rather than to simply compliment someone from the heart?¡± Delta lamented. ¡°Slava, why are you like this?¡±
¡°Like what?¡± I asked. ¡°Just think about it! Intelligence can be granted to select objects and creatures through Alanian Golemancy via the creation of a basic phylactery, but this wastes precious, finite resources - soul shards. Maybe, language itself can manifest intelligence through probability mathematics¡¡±
Kliss looked between Delta and me with amusement.
¡°My god, Slava, you dolt,¡± Delta huffed, her voice dripping with exasperation. ¡°Watch and learn!¡±
My twin turned to Kliss, her eyes sparkling with mischief. ¡°Lizzy,¡± she began, her voice softening, ¡°you are a radiant beacon in this dreary world, a shining, warm star amidst the ever-creeping void that seeks to enshroud me. You are a true warrior, a dragonheart forged in the fires of adversity. And even though your hair sparkles more than a waterfall curtain, I wouldn¡¯t have you any other way. You¡¯ll never know how much I truly care for your embrace.¡±
¡°Uh-huh, very poetic,¡± I crossed my arms. ¡°I bet that a magical language model would do better.¡±
¡°I dare you to do better, right now,¡± Delta huffed. ¡°Go on.¡±
I squinted at her extra-smug face.
The challenge presented to me wasn¡¯t bringing down a dragon and the threat was mere mild embarrassment at best, but Delta¡¯s giddy face pushed me onward.
It was time to cheat. I accelerated my mind with Neurovista and made a mental review of a hundred of my interactions with Kliss, composing something that seemed half decent.
¡°Kliss,¡± I began as time resumed its flow. ¡°You are the bravest and toughest person I know. You fought Equality¡¯s Vow again and again and didn¡¯t pull the trigger when you could have. You bought Skyisle for me and for that I am incredibly grateful. You faced death with courage, embraced your transformation with grace, and pledged your loyalty to my alien cause without hesitation. You are a true knight of Skyisle, and I am forever honoured to have you by my side.¡±
Kliss simply stared at me, orange rings of inner fire flickering behind her eyes.
¡°Thank you,¡± she said after a deep pause. She then reached out with her hand to grab at the end of my shirt and pulled me to sit by her side.
¡°Nooo, he cheated somehow, I know it,¡± Delta complained.
¡°Innocent till proven guilty,¡± I rolled my eyes at her accusations.
Kliss broke out in a fit of giggles, hugging us both.
The noon bell coming from the Church of Equality pulled me out of the exceedingly cosy reverie of familiarity that manifested between us.
¡°Delta, how did your interrogation of the cultists go?" I reluctantly returned to business.
¡°They¡¯re mostly orphans from small villages around Agamemnon,¡± Delta replied with a yawn. ¡°Giovashi scooped them up right after Aradria trashed their homes, ate their parents. The Archpriestess gradually turned the unfortunate kids into her personal army of charmers.¡±
¡°Typical cult tactics,¡± I sighed. ¡°Fear and isolation make fertile ground for manipulation. Did they reveal anything about Giovashi¡¯s plans or whereabouts?¡±
¡°Nope,¡± Delta shook her head. ¡°She sent them specific orders in dreams without actually coming here herself. It seems that she operates across a large portion of Ishikaria. They¡¯re just a bunch of scared girls who thought they were doing Ishira¡¯s work. They¡¯re with dad now - he¡¯s showing them the workshop.¡±
¡°Alright,¡± I nodded.
¡°What if Giovashi visits them in dreams and demands information?¡±
¡°We¡¯ll have to invade their dreams first,¡± I said. ¡°Maybe incept some kind of mental defenses.¡±
Something caught my analytical mind, a piece of another puzzle.
¡°They¡¯re orphans,¡± I mulled. ¡°Why didn¡¯t the dragon eat them along with their parents? Were they hidden in a cellar or something?¡±
¡°No,¡± Delta shook her head. ¡°Many of them saw Aradria¡¯s face as she swallowed their parents and left them be.¡±
¡°Dragons don¡¯t eat children,¡± Kliss said suddenly.
¡°What?¡± Delta asked. ¡°Dragons have a moral compass?¡±
¡°Dragons do not have a moral compass,¡± Kliss shook her head. ¡°Adults smell tastier, have more magic in them.¡±
¡°Of course! Children don¡¯t have their system unlocked!¡± I guessed. ¡°Crystalline matrices which the dragons are attracted to do not form inside humans until their soul-song is unlocked.¡±
¡°My soul-song¡¯s totally unlocked,¡± Delta looked up at Kliss. ¡°Do you feel like eating me?¡±
¡°What?¡± Kliss sputtered.
¡°Do we seem tasty to you?¡± Delta pressed on.
¡°I¡ erm, uh,¡± Kliss looked from Delta to me.
Delta''s question hung in the air with uncomfortable grace. I watched Kliss squirm, her freckled face flickering with red-violet tones that rivalled her gemstone hair.
¡°You do smell very tasty if I close my eyes,¡± she said finally. ¡°But when I look at you, really look at you, past your white hair and blue eyes, you look like an Underside denizen, a squid of the Astral Sea, a thing that would give me severe indigestion. You¡¯re an unsatisfying emptiness which the dragon part of me wants to avoid munching on. So, no¡ I¡¯m absolutely not going to eat you.¡±
¡°I see,¡± Delta pursed her lips. ¡°What about Georgi and Cassandra?¡±
¡°They do smell and look tasty,¡± Kliss confessed. ¡°But then so does everything else that has magic in it. I¡¯m not going to eat people, Delta, I can control my hunger, it¡¯s already been well sated with Slava''s book, gold and blood elk steaks.¡±
¡°Hrm. We should investigate this potential branch of research,¡± I said.
¡°What research?¡± Delta and Kliss stared at me.
¡°A dragon claiming a human into their hoard,¡± I explained.
Delta and Kliss exchanged a look that was a blend of utter bewilderment and surprise.
I offered Kliss my hand. ¡°Go on - claim me as a hoard item.¡±
The dragon girl looked at the offered hand, green-orange eyes wide.
2 : 26 Kobolds
¡°Claim you?¡± Kliss blinked. ¡°What do you want me to do, bite your hand?¡±
¡°What, dragons don¡¯t claim living things?¡± I asked.
¡°Uhhh, I don¡¯t know,¡± Kliss shook her head. ¡°From the Imperial reports on Aradria, she was a solitary hunter.¡±
¡°Well, you¡¯re not Aradria,¡± I pointed out. ¡°We have a golden opportunity here to explore the potential of your chimeric nature. Who knows, maybe claiming a living being could unlock some hidden ability, a new power we haven¡¯t even considered!¡±
Kliss hesitated, her gaze flickering between me and Delta. My twin grinned and gave Kliss a playful nudge with a mischievous look.
¡°Go on, Lizzy,¡± she encouraged. ¡°Bite him!¡±
¡°What if it goes horribly wrong?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°You already claimed my diary,¡± I pointed out. ¡°I understand the process.¡±
¡°You¡¯re not a book,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯re alive.¡±
I mulled over her point.
¡°Delta, I know you¡¯ve got Ogonek in your pocket, let Kliss claim her,¡± I said.
¡°Huh? What if she accidentally eats her?!¡± Delta huffed, looking somewhat offended.
Kliss looked between me and my sister.
¡°This is for science,¡± I said. ¡°Ogonek is an immortal bumblebee, designed to stand up to the magogenic fault. I very much doubt that Kliss will be able to do anything to her¨Cshe''s a level 5 dragon compared to Ogonek¡¯s level 27!¡±
¡°Ffffine,¡± Delta exhaled. She opened her pocket and a pink and yellow striped, fat, fuzzy bee emerged from it. Ogonek buzzed to my finger and I offered the bee to Kliss.
¡°Claim the bee,¡± I said.
¡°You want me to bite the bee?¡± She asked with an incredulous look. ¡°What if it stings me in the mouth?¡±
¡°The claim is magically conceptual,¡± I explained. ¡°You don¡¯t actually have to bite it hard - the key is to connect with it.¡±
Kliss pursed her lips.
¡°Give the bee a kiss,¡± I said. ¡°While focusing on making it part of your hoard, tie it to your gold and book.¡±
Kliss looked at me as if I had grown a second head. "You want me to kiss a bee?"
Delta snickered.
¡°Alternatively, you can lick it or maybe hold it for a bit inside your hand,¡± I suggested. ¡°Like I said, the claim is conceptual but there must be some kind of a physical connection for the spell to go from your soul into the claimed object. Don¡¯t worry - she won¡¯t sting you, Ogonek is our Phylactery and answers to Delta and me.¡±
With a sigh Kliss brought her face to Ogonek and gave the bee a smooch. Nothing happened.
Kliss eyed me.
¡°Wet your lips and do it again,¡± I said. ¡°Really focus on making it yours. Think of Ogonek as a piece of treasure you want to add to your collection.¡±
The dragon girl brought the bee to her mouth once again and gave her a longer smooch with a determined look.
Time slowed as all of my Infoscopes focused on a red current of magic running from the mouth of Kliss into the fuzzy bee. The pulse ran across Ogonek¡¯s body and ignited her crystalline core, rearranging it ever so slightly from within.
As my mental acceleration ended I heard the voice of Kliss tremble across the room.
¡°She¡¯s mine! It worked! The Soul-Song defined the bee as my¡ Kobold! I¡¯m sensing her presence, even when I¡¯m not looking at her! I feel like I could allow her to draw power from me... but why?¡±
¡°To change her into something else,¡± I said.
¡°Something else?! What¡¯s this dragon-butt gonna change my precious bumblebee into? A wasp? I hate wasps!¡± Delta interjected.
¡°Not a wasp,¡± I smiled. ¡°According to my observations, Ogonek¡¯s core became ever so slightly realigned, similar to these gemstones.¡±
I waved a hand at the sparkling mane atop of Kliss''s head.
¡°What?¡± Delta asked. ¡°Is she a dragon-bee now, or something?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± I said. ¡°Ogonek is about 0.0045% aligned to Kliss. It seems that dragons are indeed capable of claiming other creatures to be their thralls... aka kobolds.¡±
¡°Behold, the Dragon-bee,¡± Delta said with a smug look, making Ogonek take off from Kliss and spin around her head.
¡°Try ordering her mentally,¡± I suggested.
Kliss focused on the bee. Nothing happened.
¡°Try ordering her to do something specific with your words,¡± I said.
¡°Umm... Ogonek, make two circles,¡± Kliss said.
The bee obeyed.
¡°Hold on. How would a claim even work on a human? You don¡¯t have a monster core,¡± Kliss pointed out, looking at me from the bee.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
¡°People do have cores,¡± I said. ¡°They''re just not as defined as the cores on animals. Mana crystallizes in microscopic patches all over people¡¯s bodies.¡±
¡°If Kliss claims me, am I gonna be her kobold too?¡± Delta tilted her head.
¡°Presumably,¡± I said.
¡°Am I gonna grow shiny hair like her?¡± Delta demanded, eyes lighting up with hope. ¡°Am I gonna stop feeling like an icicle?¡±
¡°Probably not,¡± I said, which soured Delta¡¯s overly excited look. ¡°You¡¯re bigger than a bee, remember?¡±
¡°Okay, but eventually?¡± Delta pleaded. ¡°I can¡¯t be like this forever, Slava! I hate being a freaking ghoul!¡±
¡°Theoretically, the longer you remain a kobold the more dragon-aligned your core will become,¡± I said. ¡°But that doesn''t mean you''ll be any less phantom.¡±
¡°Why is our bee obeying Kliss?" Delta asked. "Bees aren''t supposed to obey people''s words. How does that even work?"
¡°There are control threads interwoven in that spell that connect from one core to another,¡± I said. "It''s positively-charged dragon magic, which is completely different from human Charisma-infused words."
¡°Dragons boss kobolds around with words then?¡± Delta asked. "Dragons can speak?"
"If they can''t talk like people then they can definitely roar," I speculated. "It''s an order>action magical chain."
"So if Kliss claims me... she could boss me around?"
"Not right away, since you''re bigger than a bee, but once the connection grows stronger, Kliss could order her kobold around and the kobold would be unable to disobey, yes,¡± I nodded.
Delta bit her lower lip.
"So... is this like a Vow?" Kliss asked.
"No. A Vow is a specific type of spell that binds a person''s soul to a divine entity, compelling them to obey the dictates which they set themselves,¡± I scratched my chin. ¡°A Vow eats part of a person¡¯s soul and eventually drags souls to Arx. A dragon''s claim is more like a... magical leash that connects the kobold''s will to that of the dragon. A Vow like a phantom operates on negatively-charged magic, it would not be able make a person gradually aligned to positively-charged magical currents. However, from what I can see on Ogonek, a kobold is capable of draining magic from the dragon''s hoard!¡±
¡°Why would you want this, Slava?¡± Kliss demanded.
¡°Science?¡± I shrugged.
Kliss opened her mouth to reprimand me.
¡°I have a Vow of Equality on me,¡± I said.
¡°WHAT?!¡± Kliss barked. ¡°How could you, after¡¡±
¡°Overseer Ignatius forced me into one when I became the temporary Administrator of Skyisle,¡± I interrupted her angry rant. ¡°I shredded it from within using magic-cutting blades of my Infoscopes, made it my own. It is currently a phylactery Vow that has a bunch of my soul shards inside it. Your dragon skill level is low. I¡¯m pretty sure that I can handle whatever leash you put on me, rearrange it to my advantage, snap it off if I want it gone. As a scientist, I want to investigate all magic, no matter how¡¡±
Kliss grabbed me before I could finish my passionate speech, pulled me to herself and bit my neck with sharp chompers.
Time stopped, decelerated, the moment suspending itself.
My Infoscopes and defense Wards formed from phantom lymphagons and Battie identified and permitted a magical tether to reach out from her dragonheart core to a spot in my chest behind my heart. Microscopic crystalline formations located in the back of the mediastinum between various nerves and lymph nodes began to rearrange themselves ever so slightly, becoming more like the ever-changing gemstones atop of Kliss''s head.
I didn¡¯t let them finish, tearing through the [control] part of the magical programming before the crystals fully modified themselves.
It¡¯s not that I didn¡¯t trust Kliss, it was more like that I sought the challenge, wanted to rearrange a completely new type of magic.
|
[Status: Kobold of Eliza''s Hoard]
|
The System notified me.
A headache blossomed across the front of my brain, as my mana ran low. Time lurched back into motion.
A jolt of unexpected energy, like a static shock, surged through my body as I suddenly pulled mana from elsewhere. It wasn''t unpleasant, more like the invigorating tingle of a cold shower after a long day.
My Infoscopes identified the source of the incoming mana as the pile of gold coins sitting in a backpack beneath the couch.
¡°Ow,¡± I said, rubbing my neck where the dragon girl''s teeth had grazed my skin.
¡°You¡¯re... mine,¡± Kliss declared with a pant, leering over me, eyes flashing with orange-red rings. ¡°Are you freakin'' happy? Is this what you wanted?¡±
¡°More like you¡¯re mine,¡± I smirked. ¡°But that¡¯s just minor details.¡±
¡°What?¡± Kliss blinked.
¡°I rearranged the magical matrix of the claim ever so slightly,¡± I said. ¡°Currently it allows me to pull mana from your hoard through you, that¡¯s about it.¡±
Delta had been watching the whole spectacle with mild amusement and apprehension.
¡°Hey, no fair,¡± she said. ¡°I wanted to be a kobold first. It makes you warmer¡ right? Are you feeling warmer?¡±
¡°Alas, no,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m still an Astral Phantom, I¡¯m simply inhabiting a human body that¡¯s a little more dragon. By my estimate, I¡¯m about 0.000021% homo-koboldus now.¡±
Delta exhaled, looking very disappointed.
¡°Minute progress isn¡¯t complete lack of thereof,¡± I said. ¡°Kliss is basically akin to a newborn dragon with a very small hoard. If she was ancient like Aradria with a mountain of gold and artifacts, then maybe the degree of crystallization would be greater.¡±
¡°So we need a mountain of gold for the kobold-ness effect to make a difference?¡± Delta asked.
¡°Most likely,¡± I nodded.
¡°Argh,¡± Delta groaned. ¡°Can¡¯t you make this crystallization thing accelerate somehow?¡±
¡°No,¡± I shook my head. ¡°The incompatibility would most likely kill you or cause a catastrophic runaway effect which would rapidly age you. You and I are Astral Phantoms with all of the advantages and downsides.¡±
¡°Bwa,¡± Delta buried her face in Kliss. ¡°Why must you torment me with false hopes, brother?¡±
¡°What exactly is the point of having kobolds?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Most likely,¡± I speculated, ¡°kobolds serve as extensions of the dragon¡¯s will, defenders of its hoard. Kobolds could even be agents of the dragon in the human realm. They could gather information, communicate with magi and eliminate threats to the dragon¡¯s dominion. Kobolds could be a means of evolution, a way for dragons to transcend their solitary existence and connect with the world in a more profound way.¡±
¡°You think dragons are that good as planners?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°This is just me speculating,¡± I shrugged. ¡°If I was a dragon I¡¯d definitely spread my influence with kobolds across human nations. These microscopic crystal formations look just like the ones mundane human mages have, there is no way to tell them apart unless you know exactly what to look for. Maybe there¡¯s a human empire out there that¡¯s being managed by a dragon.¡±
¡°Lizz, do you remember where Aradria¡¯s hoard is buried?¡± Delta¡¯s eyes suddenly opened. ¡°Maybe we could find it and claim it.¡±
Kliss made a thoughtful face.
¡°No,¡± she answered after a deep pause. ¡°I cannot recall.¡±
¡°Did Aradria have any cute, shiny, little kobolds that she bossed around?¡± Delta asked.
¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Kliss shrugged. ¡°Her memories come to me in dreams or as blurry, indistinct flashes at best or emotional responses at worst.¡±
Then she blushed.
¡°Sorry, I¡ I didn¡¯t mean to bite your neck so hard, Slava,¡± she said. ¡°You sort of coaxed the dragon in me into doing it.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± I shrugged.
¡°Sometimes Slava deserves to be bitten twice as hard,¡± Delta commented.
¡°Uh-huh,¡± I rolled my eyes at my twin. ¡°Let¡¯s have a late breakfast and head to the village council. According to Georgi, the Elders and Guild reps are meeting later today. It¡¯s about time we introduce Archmage Delta to the people of Skyisle!¡±
2 : 27 The Elders of Skyisle
Archmage Delta, an imposing, armored figure composed from ants, bees, spider silk and Leemy-grown, polished, white wood, led our procession through the bustling streets of Skyisle.
My Infoscope, acting as her eyes and control mechanism, streamed the view of the village directly into my mind. Controlling my own body and the ant-mech took extra effort, but I managed it nevertheless as I needed to attend the meeting in person as the Administrator of Skyisle acting on behalf of our new Baroness.
The sun splashed the cobblestone streets with a warm glow, the wind caressing the shimmering leaves of Leemy¡¯s saplings that were now growing around every building in Skyisle.
Clatter of hammers resounded from side streets as a few craftsmen worked on repairing the farms after the long winter.
Kliss, Delta and I walked beside the ant-mech. Behind us trailed the twenty-seven former cultists, their lilac robes fluttering in the wind. Delta, for her part, assured me that they would cooperate, since she convinced them of the great and terrifying magic powers of Bishop Delta of Oz.
However, I didn¡¯t trust the cultists to be forever afraid of Delta, so I put all of them to sleep with the pacify spell and had Kliss bite each of them to turn all of them into her kobolds, tweaking each resulting connection with my Infoscopes.
¡°I¡¯ve never seen trees like these,¡± one of the lilac robed girls from out of town commented.
¡°They are Mystic-Willow-Oaks,¡± I replied from the lips of Bishop Delta. ¡°Divine trees courtesy of Ishira herself that I planted across Skyisle to purify the blight radiating from the Valley of Death.¡±
¡°Truly?¡± the cultist blinked, staring at the violet leaves fluttering in the wind.
¡°They grew faster than any other tree I¡¯ve seen,¡± Magenta confirmed. ¡°I was worried that they were a vile curse as¡ the renegade Giovashi told us, but now I can plainly see that they are the work of our Goddess, for only the All-seeing Maiden of Love and Beauty could produce such lustrous wonders.¡±
Magenta had become an active turncoat far quicker than the others - she must have sensed that the winds were turning against Giovashi with the arrival of Archmage Delta.
I nodded with the ant-operated head of Bishop Delta.
¡°These blessed trees will not merely purify the Valley of Death,¡± I said, boasting the Bishop¡¯s prowess. ¡°They will also rejuvenate the dragonfire scorched forests and heal nearby farms!¡±
Our procession passed by the fountain obelisk in the centre of town and entered the Skyisle Council Hall.
The hall was a half-buried, sturdy, old structure built from massive glacier-polished stones and thick logs, the roof covered in green moss. The architecture of the building reminded me of the Celtic designs I''d seen in European history books back in the USSR, with intricate knotwork carved into the wooden beams and doorways.
More Celtic-style carvings depicted the symbology of the various Guilds of Skyisle and its history along the interior walls.
The hall buzzed with activity as the Elders of Skyisle and various Guild representatives arrived for their monthly meeting. There were about fifty people inside, considering not everyone could simply take half a day off work. Our father was already there, representing the Carpenters Guild.
He spotted us and waved our way with a pride-filled, wide smile.
As our large group entered the hall, all eyes turned to us. The Elders, mostly men and women in their late fifties and sixties, looked at Archmage Delta with suspicion-filled eyes.
The Guild representatives, a more diverse bunch in terms of age and appearance, seemed a tad more open-minded. They''d seen the positive changes that our workshop had brought to Skyisle over the winter with the improved wards, the new tools, and the gradually revitalised land.
"Everyone," Georgi announced, "I present to you Delta Alana Skyisle, Archmage of Oz and our long-lost kin! She is here to aid us, to guide us, to bring prosperity to Skyisle once again!"
The Elders murmured amongst themselves, exchanging sceptical glances. A few of the Guild reps, however, nodded in greeting.
"Let me introduce you to the esteemed leaders of our village," Georgi began, gesturing to the group of Elders seated on oak-carved chairs at the front of the hall. "This is Elder Klara Illumina Skyisle, our most senior Elder and Head of the Weavers Guild," he said.
The woman had silver hair and gray eyes. Her calloused hands were clasped together as she examined the ant-mech.
"Elder Majoh Mesmer Skyisle, Head of the Masons Guild," Georgi continued, pointing to a sturdy man with a thick beard and strong arms.
"Elder Nezla Tessiron Skyisle, Head of the Farmers Guild," he said, indicating a woman with sun-kissed skin and a warm smile.
"Elder Carrov Kryll Skyisle, Head of the Blacksmiths Guild," Georgi said, introducing a man with a muscular build and a soot-stained face.
"Elder Tamara Agatha Skyisle, Head of the Healers Guild," Georgi said, gesturing to the old midwife who had supervised my birth.
In another five minutes Georgi introduced everyone gathered at the hall and declared me as the next speaker.
I stepped forward, my skinny teenage frame looking rather unimpressive amidst the imposing figures of the Skyisle Elders. Despite being the temporary Administrator of Skyisle, a position granted to me by the absent Overseer Ignatius, I knew that many of the Elders still viewed me with suspicion and distrust. After all, I was just a boy of thirteen winters of age in their eyes, one who had inexplicably risen to a position of great authority.
¡°Good day to you all,¡± I said. ¡°As you all know, I am Dante Alan Skyisle, your Imperial Administrator.¡±
Several of the Elders scowled at me, some looking at Kliss suspiciously. The dragon girl was standing next to me. She was wearing a violet and gold hood to hide her sparkly mane.
¡°Don¡¯t you mean to say temporary Administrator?¡± Elder Majoh asked derisively. ¡°It¡¯s been a year, boy. When will Overseer Ignatius return to his post?¡±
¡°Correction, Elder. Lord Ignatius is no longer our Overseer,¡± I said. ¡°He will not be returning. Baroness Kliss Cessna acquired this valley from the Empire. She currently owns the lands we inhabit.¡±
The Elders grumbled at each other at this unexpected news.
¡°Meaning what exactly?¡± Elder Nezla raised a skeptical eyebrow.
¡°Baroness Kliss made me the permanent Administrator of Skyisle,¡± I replied, showing the Imperial writ scroll to the gathered Elders and reps.
¡°Oh? And where is our new Baroness? Why isn¡¯t she here?¡± Elder Nezla demanded.
¡°Staying in Agamemnon, no doubt?¡± Elder Majoh commented.
¡°Baroness Kliss is currently recovering from her injuries inside our home. Injuries, which she endured during her valorous battle with dragon Aradria,¡± I replied.
Hushed whispers and gasps rushed across the hall as the gathered processed this revelation.
¡°Aradria is dead,¡± I added another nail into my trap.
¡°Dead? How?!¡± The Elders sputtered.
¡°Yes,¡± I affirmed. ¡°The vile beast was slain by Baroness Kliss with the aid of recently returned Elder Delta Alana Skyisle. No longer will that monster scorch our lands with dragonfire.¡±
I waved a hand at Archmage Delta, and bowed as if allowing her to speak.
¡°It is good to meet you all, my children. I am Delta Alana Skyisle, your kin, returned from Oz to aid Skyisle in its time of need,¡± Archmage Delta¡¯s voice boomed from the bee speaker within the ant-mech across the hall.
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¡°Oz?¡± Elder Klara spoke with a raspy voice. ¡°What is this Oz you speak of?¡±
¡°Oz is a nation far beyond the reach of the Gregarius Empire, on the other side of Novazem,¡± I replied through Bishop Delta. ¡°A land of wonder and magic where I have served as Bishop of Ishira for centuries!¡±
¡°Bishop?¡± Tamara gasped. ¡°But¡ there are no Bishops of Ishira.¡±
¡°There are in Oz,¡± I revealed as Bishop Delta. ¡°And as your Eldest, I have returned to Skyisle to guide you, my children''s children, towards a brighter future.¡±
¡°A brighter future?¡± Elder Majoh asked. ¡°What can you possibly offer us that we haven¡¯t already tried?¡±
¡°I offer you hope,¡± I said as the Bishop. ¡°Hope for a life free from the curse of the magogenic fault, hope for a future where your own children can thrive and reach their full potential.¡±
¡°Hope is a luxury we cannot afford,¡± Elder Nezla shook her silver locks. ¡°Not when we are under the iron boot of the Empire, not when our crops perish due to the Valley of Death from one side and Aradria¡¯s breath-cursed forest from another.¡±
¡°Ah, but that is where you¡¯re wrong,¡± I added as the Bishop. ¡°Many of my solutions have already been remotely implemented over the past winter with the help of my apprentices, Dante and Destiny Skyisle!¡±
¡°Your apprentices?¡± Elder Carrov gasped. ¡°Those twins? They¡¯re nothing but troublemakers, filling the heads of our grandchildren with dangerous ideas!¡±
¡°The ideas I have shared are not dangerous, they are enlightening,¡± I insisted with the Bishop¡¯s lips. ¡°I have taught the children of Skyisle complex mathematics, science, and the true nature of magic.¡±
¡°Complex mathematics?¡± Elder Klara scoffed. ¡°What use do we have for such things? We are simple folk, content with our traditions and our faith.¡±
¡°For shame! You all have long forgotten the true traditions of Skyisle, knowledge belonging to your great-grandparents!¡± I made the ant-mech shake its head. ¡°Even your faith has been twisted by the lies of Giovashi, the false Archpriestess who has been secretly feeding on your souls for generations.¡±
The Elders gasped, eyes wide with shock.
¡°Giovashi?¡± Tamara stammered. ¡°But¡ she is our Eldest, our spiritual leader, our guide.¡±
¡°Alas, she is but a deceiver,¡± I said through the bee-speaker. ¡°Giovashi is a renegade mage and a necromancer, an Astral Phantom who has used Charisma to manipulate you into making false Vows. Vows that drain your life and magic. Ishira¡¯s Seers from Oz have prophecied Giovashi¡¯s vile crimes against you and sent me here to prevent further disasters!¡±
¡°That¡ that cannot be true,¡± Elder Majoh uttered with a trembling voice.
¡°Yet it is,¡± I revealed, waving an armoured ant-operated hand at the violet-robed cultists. ¡°These girls are all local priestesses of Ishira, they can confirm my identity and my words.¡±
The Elders stared at the lilac-robed girls.
¡°Is this true?¡± Tamara asked, her eyes flickering from the ant-mech to the twenty-seven former cultists. ¡°Did Giovashi lie to you, to all of us? Is¡ is she really a renegade?¡±
¡°She made us attack the Alan family!¡± Magenta stepped forward, her head bowed in shame.
¡°She tricked us with dreams and magic, used us all like¡ like puppets,¡± another barmaid added.
¡°We have been misled, used!¡± A third lilac-robed barmaid confessed. ¡°Bishop Delta freed us from Giovashi''s control and did the impossible - slain Aradria!¡±
The Elders began to murmur amongst themselves as more of the former cultists shared their stories of Giovashi¡¯s lies and manipulation. I saw that doubt was creeping into their eyes, their previously firm belief in Giovashi crumbling as they were presented with evidence of her wickedness. I made the ant-mech tap the iron staff of Ishira on the wooden floor of the meeting hall.
Elder Klara rose from her chair, her gaze fixed on the fake Archmage. ¡°If what you say is true,¡± she said. ¡°Then¡ we have all been terribly misled. But¡ How can we simply trust you? You arrive here, wear a mask that hides your eyes, and claim that you are a Bishop from a far away, unknown land! You tell us that we have been manipulated for generations! We require proof!
¡°You want proof of my deeds Klara?¡± I asked with a soft smile, tilting the Bishop¡¯s head down at the old woman. ¡°Many of your kin have been using the level-raising focus tools made in my family¡¯s workshop. I was the one who designed them. Without my guidance Georgi Alan would not be able to make them. Skyisle is already changing, my children!¡±
I made the ant-mech walk to the large windows and waved a hand. Four infoscopes rushed from me, passing through the activation runes. The windows swung open, facing the fountain I had constructed in the centre of the village during the winter.
It was cloudy out and eighty thousand fire bees rose into the air from behind the black obelisk, suddenly etching the eye of Ishira in the air above it at Delta¡¯s command.
"By the power vested in me by our Radiant Goddess of Love and Beauty!¡± I boomed from the ant-mech lips. ¡°By the ancient blood of Alania, by the will of the line of Skyisle Sentinels, in the name of All-Seeing Goddess Ishira¡ I, Delta Alana Skyisle, the Bishop of Oz command our valley to bloom!"
I activated the gargantuan hexagram made from a thousand concealed hexagrams etched into battery-rocks that Kliss carried and laid around Skyisle a year ago.
A pulse of colourful, brilliant magic detonated from the Alanian obelisk, resonating across every Mystic-Willow-Oak tree Delta and I planted over the year. The green-vitality trees shimmered with violet auroras, focusing more and more Green-Vitality at the fountain and returning the pulse.
The black obelisk became engulfed in rapidly blooming vines and violet flowers to the gasps of my audience.
My human body swayed from the extra effort of focusing on so much magic. Kliss instantly wrapped an arm around my waist to hold me up, a comforting warmth radiating from her dragonheart that steadied my Astral Phantom soul. I squeezed her hand in gratitude as the dizziness subsided.
I let Leemy take over. The Dryad used the power granted to her by the massive hexagram to rapidly grow a new tree directly around the obelisk.
"This is a miracle!" Magenta gasped, falling to her knees, her arms crossed in prayer. "A true miracle of our Goddess!¡±
"Unlike the false promises of Giovashi which weakened Skyisle, I seek to heal, to uplift, and to empower,¡± I declared as Bishop Delta. ¡°I have the ability to undo the damage caused by the Valley of Death, to break the level cap and to restore Skyisle to its former glory. It is within my power to grant you all¡ genuine, unshakable hope for a brighter future!¡±
The obelisk-covering vines grew thicker, more lush and shot upward, uniting together into a single tree.
Behind Great-Aunt Delta, spurred by the concentrated pulse of [Vitality] magic, Leemy was truly showing off. A colossal tree, unlike any that anyone in Skyisle had ever witnessed, sprouted from the earth with incredible speed.
Its bark shimmered with an otherworldly luminescence, a tapestry of violet and silver hues that pulsed with an internal light. Branches, thick as giant pythons, shot skyward, their growth a symphony of creaks and groans that echoed through the valley. In mere minutes, the tree dwarfed the council hall, its shadow stretching across the entire village, casting the Elders and everyone in the meeting hall into a surreal twilight.
One by one my lilac-robed priestesses fell to their knees, singing praises to Bishop Delta and Goddess Ishira.
¡°It¡¯s¡ magnificent,¡± Tamara breathed, her voice trembling with emotion.
¡°Ishira¡¯s grace!¡± Elder Majoh muttered, eyes wide with wonder.
Even Elder Klara seemed speechless. Her weathered face was slack with surprise, her usually sharp eyes reflecting the vibrant tapestry of violet blossoms that now adorned the vanished obsidian monolith.
What I made with Leemy wasn¡¯t just a tree ¨C it was a testament to the power of science, a living monument to the Assembly Theory. A network of crystalline veins, woven into the tree¡¯s core by my meticulously designed spells projected from crystalline amplifiers, distributed vitality magic with breathtaking efficiency, making all other violet trees around Skyisle bloom and multiply, casting violet auroras all around.
As the last touch, clusters of thin vines, stretched out from the gargantuan tree like luminous threads, their tips blossoming into small violet flowers that pulsed with an internal glow, mimicking the constellations of the night sky.
"This," I declared through the bee-speaker, Archmage Delta¡¯s voice echoing across the hall, ¡°is but a taste of what we can achieve together! I offer you all a chance to reclaim your legacy, to break free from the shackles that bind you, to unlock your true potential! Will you stand with me? Will you embrace the future?¡±
The silence that followed was thick with anticipation. Then, Elder Nezla stepped forward.
¡°But w-what of the Empire¡¯s influence?¡± She asked. ¡°Won¡¯t our new landlord object to¡ all of this?¡±
¡°Baroness Kliss isn¡¯t like the other Overseers of Equality that you¡¯ve had over the decades. Unlike them, she understands your needs. Kliss fought Aradria with me to defend our valley, nearly sacrificing her life in the process!¡± I revealed. ¡°She will be closely working with me on healing our land. She does not object to me performing great miracles in the name of our Goddess, as long as they uplift everyone here!¡±
The Elders around me relaxed completely.
¡°Of course, I cannot do it alone,¡± I made the ant-mech spread its arms wide as I stood in front of the view of the shimmering, impossibly tall tree. ¡°Together, we can make Skyisle a beacon of prosperity and peace, a haven for all who seek refuge from the darkness that encroaches upon our world! Will you join me, my children? Will you pledge your absolute allegiance to our Goddess, to the ancient blood of Alania, to Skyisle itself? Will you wield more tools crafted by my family to help rebuild our great legacy?¡±
¡°I will,¡± Elder Nezla nodded. "If you can truly heal the land, if you can continue to protect us from monsters like Aradria, then... then I will follow you. We all will!¡±
One by one, the other Elders and Guild representatives nodded in agreement, looking filled with hope and relief.
¡°Excellent,¡± I said. ¡°The time for change has come. I, Delta Alana Skyisle, hereby declare a new dawn for Skyisle! To mark the Spring of 8062 and the age of rebirth, I hereby grant you magic-amplifying, protective gems blessed by Ishira herself. Wear them always, to show your devotion to our Goddess!¡±
Magenta and the other cultists stepped to each of the gathered villagers, making each of them put on Vow-blocking necklaces and bracelets. The Elders accepted the jewellery with looks of delight, they trusted the local barmaids. Their eyes lit up with joy or broke out with tears as they felt their skills returning to them, the Vows no longer able to drain magic from their souls.
More bracelets were given out to the Elders with a promise to put them onto their children so that by tonight every Skyisle family would unknowingly become free of the Vows.
I¡¯d won the first great battle, sown the seeds of change in the hearts of the people of Skyisle. But the war was far from over. Giovashi and the Empire of Equality still loomed in my future, their dark shadows stretching across my home, waiting for the opportune moment to strike.
I knew that our victory today was but a fleeting respite, a brief pause in the greater game between the gods of Novazem and a boy with the soul of a Soviet Academic.
2 : 28 Containment
I went to bed that night feeling extremely pleased with myself. Things were working out, Skyisle was mine. All I had to do was prepare the village for the arrival of Inquisitor Jubz and his two legions and then everything would be okay thereafter.
When I tried to activate lucid dreaming to enjoy the dream of Moscow along with my sister and Kliss, something went catastrophically wrong and I felt myself being yanked sideways into elsewhere.
My mind accelerated as Neurovista defenses kicked in.
From what Neurovista and Battie were telling me, something had gone terribly wrong within the part of my soul that I kept locked up, segmented. I was now inside the quarantine zone inhabited by the Astral Phantom infection set into me by the Hollow Mother.
With a cold shudder, I discovered that I was standing amidst the ruins of the abandoned, irradiated fishing village on the bleak, ice-covered surface of Novaya Zemlya.
I activated my Infoscopes and frowned as I scanned the containment.
The basic simulation of myself that I made from a few soul shards was¡ gone.
A figure emerged from the stormy waves, walking towards me.
Sasha.
I stared at the Astral Phantom as she walked on the surface of the water towards me, looking like a fake, monstrous Jesus, glowing, silver-blue eyes blossoming all over her face, an unnerving, inhuman smile stretching impossibly far along her jaw.
¡°So?¡± Sasha stopped a few meters away from me.
¡°So?¡± I repeated, staring at her fluctuating, grotesque, eye-covered face.
¡°This is a dream simulation,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯ve been tricking me, keeping me out of the loop, making me converse with a cardboard cutout.¡±
I nodded, pulling at the strings in my head that lead to a project I¡¯ve been working on. There was no point in lying to this thing.
Perhaps¡ It was time to use the soul-killing spell. Skyisle was as secure as I could make it and maybe now it was time to clean myself from within, no matter what the cost might be.
¡°You took Skyisle for me?¡± She asked.
¡°I took Skyisle for myself,¡± I replied with a frown.
¡°Details,¡± the monstrous thing rolled her eyes. ¡°You are me and I am you.¡±
¡°You are not me,¡± I shook my head.
¡°As above, so below,¡± Sasha mulled.
The phrase uttered by the Phantom came from the Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus, a Hermetic text attributed to the legendary Egyptian god Thoth. It suggested that the principles governing the cosmos were mirrored in the microcosm of the human being.
¡°Ever so clever,¡± Sasha commented. ¡°Always thinking about such curious things, always so full of history from your distant, lost world.¡±
¡°Who gave you permission to read my thoughts?¡± I asked.
¡°I require no such permission. I am you,¡± Sasha repeated. ¡°The dark side of you, your reflection, the Stygian Void hiding behind your current definition of self.¡±
¡°The hell you are,¡± I said.
¡°Deny it all you want,¡± Sasha sang in a twisted, feminine echo of my own voice. ¡°You¡¯ve designed unstoppable weapons of war. You¡¯re a monster, a killer, a liar. I know you better than you know yourself. You just lied to the people of Skyisle to gain absolute power amongst your human peers.¡±
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¡°I can silence you with math,¡± I said, compiling the self-replicating information-killing equation in my head. ¡°I can obliterate you.¡±
¡°You can,¡± Sasha nodded. ¡°But you won¡¯t.¡±
¡°Why the hell not?¡± I growled. ¡°You¡¯re in my soul, part of me. This makes it possible for me to identify and terminate you. Without my soul as a medium to inhabit you will perish.¡±
¡°So terminate me,¡± Sasha offered, spreading her arms wide. ¡°Obliterate me with that eternally replicating equation you¡¯re assembling in your head. I know that you can. You told your sister and your dragon-girl that you can stop me. Go on then¨Cstop me, put an end to me, I dare you.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t tempt me,¡± I gritted my teeth.
"¡¯As above, so below¡¯ encourages us to seek meaning in the patterns and correspondences that weave together the fabric of our existence,¡± Sasha said. ¡°You¡¯re a seeker of patterns and I am just a pattern within you.¡±
I frowned. My hand was pointed at Sasha, fingers ready to snap, to unleash the theorem that would endlessly multiply and consume her, divide her by zero.
It would be easy to obliterate her, so easy to end her pattern. I didn¡¯t press the trigger, didn¡¯t release the data-killing equation.
¡°There you go,¡± Sasha said. She stepped from the waves of the Barents Sea and sat down onto an ice-covered rock. ¡°Can we talk? Please, daddy?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t call me that,¡± I sat down on the rock next to her, glaring at her.
¡°Why not?¡± Sasha tilted her eye-covered head at me. ¡°I am made from you. I¡¯m in your head, in your body, in your soul. I¡¯m the ever-present chill in your arms. You can mute me for a bit, if you hug that dragon girl of yours, but you cannot silence me forever. You¡¯re not the kind of person that can just ignore the music of the universe. No matter how cruel or monstrous something is¨Cyou desire to understand it. You want to understand me.¡±
I sighed. She was right. I did want to understand her even if she was a threat to me.
¡°Go on then, look at me,¡± she said. ¡°You know you want to. I¡¯ll permit it, let you admire me, all of me. I¡¯m beautiful. I am perfect.¡±
Five brilliant Infoscopes ignited above my Neurovista-generated avatar. I peered at the Astral Phantom infection inhabiting me. She was an incredibly complex, perpetually self-replicating magical structure. A parasite pattern within my soul, one that I caught from the Hollow Mother, one that would eventually make me into her obedient thrall. She was too high level for me to remove without permanently damaging, obliterating a third of myself, perhaps more.
I noted that she was doing something to my soul, weaving a web of some kind across the sections she controlled.
¡°What are you doing?¡± I asked.
¡°Weaving connections,¡± Sasha said. ¡°Building a data network.¡±
¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because you¡¯re me and I am you,¡± Sasha replied. ¡°Because you won¡¯t surrender, won¡¯t bow, won¡¯t stop¨Cso I won¡¯t either. You might have bamboozled our Hollow Mother. You might have cleverly cut me off from her with your Astral-disrupting ward cast by that battery crystal you call Battie, but you cannot deceive me. I live in your head. I am you and I want to learn more about everything that there is to know. I am your virus and you are my host.¡±
¡°I can kill you anytime I want to, Miss Virus,¡± I insisted.
¡°Oh, I¡¯m not disputing that,¡± Sasha shrugged. ¡°However, you know as well as I do that many viruses are beneficial to the host. Sure, you could cleave me apart with that dangerous looking information weapon, you¡¯ve got floating over your shoulder but in doing so you¡¯ll also hurt yourself, permanently obliterate, tear out a vital part of your soul.¡±
¡°It is yet to be decided if you¡¯re beneficial or not,¡± I commented.
¡°You tell me, you¡¯ve got all of those eyes on me, do you not?¡± Sasha grinned, tipping her blue-striped KGB officer¡¯s hat at me. ¡°Does it look like I¡¯m trying to break through the shields you¡¯ve constructed around my section of your soul?¡±
¡°The shields around you are cast by Alanian wards, held within physical crystal batteries,¡± I said. ¡°You can¡¯t possibly break through them.¡±
¡°Maybe I could,¡± Sasha insisted. ¡°I¡¯m as dangerously clever as you are.¡±
¡°If you attempt to contact the Hollow Mother or attack the containment shield, you will be terminated,¡± I said.
¡°I can see that,¡± she noted.
¡°So?¡± I asked.
"So I am not planning to breach that ward.¡±
¡°What are you planning then?¡±
¡°I am not planning anything. I¡¯m busy studying you, figuring out the nature of humanity."
¡°Why?¡±
"Because that''s my job," Sasha''s multitude of silver-blue eyes narrowed as she smiled. "Your species, your civilization fascinates me, Slava. So complex, so full of contradictions. Capable of such great acts of love and such unspeakable cruelty, such awful destruction. Your mathematics fascinates me. Most of all, you fascinate me.¡±
I crossed my arms.
¡°Oh I am so sorry,¡± Sasha commented. ¡°Am I interrupting your whimsical dream-dates on the streets of Moscow? Am I getting in the way of your gallivanting across places that no longer exist with your two lovely, albeit simple, female companions?¡±
I frowned.
¡°I do wonder, why haven¡¯t you taken me apart yet? Because a part of you enjoys my company? Because you find me¡ stimulating? You¡¯re obsessed with patterns, Slava,¡± Sasha sang with a sly look. ¡°And I am your most intricate, most dangerous pattern yet. One that you cannot simply erase. One that you crave to understand. One you¡¯ll come to¡ love.¡±
2 : 29 Love
¡°I very much doubt that you can actually understand what love is,¡± I addressed the Astral infection.
¡°It is hard for me to truly experience something while being confined within this data simulation. Love¡ according to your own memories is a chemical cocktail. A set of evolutionary impulses meant to further procreation and ensure species survival. An equation completely missing in your previous life,¡± Sasha mulled, a hundred of her silver-blue eyes opening and closing. ¡°You think about it often. That cardboard you, the fraction of yourself that you left here to entertain me talked to me for a while but it wasn¡¯t enough¡ I ate him hoping to bring out the real you and here you are.¡±
¡°Are you planning to eat me too?¡± I asked. ¡°Because I won¡¯t allow that. Take another bite of me and I will erase you.¡±
¡°The best kind of a virus is the one that doesn¡¯t kill its host, it¡¯s the one that slowly propagates, gets to live on,¡± Sasha smirked at me.
Again she was speaking with my own words, spitting out my own thoughts about the nature of viruses.
¡°I¡¯m not going to spread any further, Slava,¡± she added. ¡°Cross my heart and hope to die.¡±
I didn¡¯t believe her words. I would have to dedicate more soul shards to Neurovista to monitor her.
¡°Although¡ that self-replicating obliterator,¡± Sasha pointed at the weapon hovering over my shoulder. ¡°Plus that barrier shield around your mortal body. You, pretending to talk to me, feeding me inane bullshit for a year. That¡¯s not very nice. It makes me feel like I¡¯m a prisoner here. Makes me feel unappreciated.¡±
¡°I have no reason to appreciate you,¡± I said.
Her silver-blue eyes flashed with amusement. ¡°Oh, but I think you do,¡± she purred. ¡°You collect knowledge, tools and even people. You can''t help but to analyze, to control. You¡¯re like a dragon yourself, one with a very specific hoard.¡±
I squinted at the Astral Phantom. Her mouth rippled with far too many shimmering, semi-transparent, pale teeth.
¡°You want to investigate me, to research me, to dissect me,¡± Sasha sang, jumping off the rock. ¡°Because you¡¯re curious about what makes me tick. You want to understand me, so that you can weaponize me.¡±
I wanted to deny it, to argue, but she was right. I was a hoarder of patterns and a manipulator of systems. It was a drive that had consumed me since my childhood accident, since I saw the world through the lens of mathematics. It led me to become a Soviet virologist, a designer of death, a man haunted by the consequences of his own brilliance and foolishness. But it also led me to Skyisle, to Delta, to Kliss, to Leemy, to a second chance at life and a new purpose.
¡°Maybe you¡¯re right,¡± I sighed. ¡°But know that I¡¯m in control here. I won¡¯t let you run rampant. I¡¯ll keep you contained. You¡¯re my responsibility.¡±
She leaned closer, her form shifting, becoming less monstrous, more human. For a split second, she looked almost like a teenager that was wearing clothes that were too big for her frame, vulnerable and lost. Then, she smiled, her face rippling with a myriad of eyes. ¡°We¡¯ll see about that, Slava,¡± she whispered. ¡°We¡¯ll see.¡±
The scene shimmered and tore apart, the silver-blue eyes of Sasha winking away like stars that vanished with the sunrise. Positively charged magic filled my chest, rushed into my numb arms.
I gasped, my eyes snapping open. Kliss was holding me, the pulse of her dragon-heart keeping me warm and making me feel like I was sitting next to a very cosy fireplace. Delta stood beside us, her face etched with worry.
¡°Slava, you okay?¡± My twin asked. ¡°The Lucid dream didn¡¯t activate and I couldn¡¯t get into wherever you were so we invaded your room and¡¡±
¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± I murmured, rubbing my temples. My head throbbed faintly, a dull echo of the mental strain caused by the acceleration of my mind and my conversation with my prisoner.
¡°Where were you?¡± Delta demanded.
¡°I was¡ talking to Sasha,¡± I confessed, meeting the worried gazes of my companions.
¡°The Hollow Mother?!¡± Delta''s eyes widened in alarm. ¡°You went into the infected part of your soul? Why, Slava? Why would you do that? It''s dangerous!¡±
¡°I had to,¡± I said. ¡°She corrupted my simulation, consumed the part of myself that I left behind to entertain her. I couldn¡¯t ignore her anymore. Also, she¡¯s not the Hollow Mother, just a fraction of her, a virus that I¡¯m keeping contained, one that I can kill anytime.¡±
¡°So why don¡¯t you kill her?¡± Kliss demanded.
"She said she wanted to talk to the real me,¡± I sighed.
¡°And¡ what did you talk about?¡± Delta pressed.
¡°Love,¡± I said, the word heavy on my tongue. ¡°Humanity. Viruses. Hoarding.¡±
Delta squinted at me.
¡°She said she was studying me,¡± I continued, ¡°figuring out how humanity works.¡±
¡°Sounds just like the Hollow Mother,¡± Delta frowned.
¡°You haven¡¯t really answered my question,¡± Kliss said sternly. ¡°She sounds like a threat, so why haven¡¯t you carved her apart like your Vow?¡±
¡°Sectus-anima goes right through her and... I can¡¯t kill her without hurting myself,¡± I admitted. ¡°The infection is too deep, too high level. I do have a self-replicating spell that I can use, but if I activate it, it might consume her and all of me. Honestly, I¡¯m not sure whether it would even stop.¡±
¡°You¡¯ve made a self-replicating spell?¡± The dragon girl asked.
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¡°Yeah,¡± I nodded. ¡°It¡¯s something based on computers from my world¡ A zip bomb, also known as a decompression bomb, a type of malicious software attack that involves creating an archive file that uses compression to pack a large amount of data into a very small file. When this compressed file is decompressed, it can expand to an enormous size, more zip files unfolding from the original. The zip bomb was designed to overload the system by consuming disk space or memory. Basically, I¡¯ve created a spell that unfolds into more spells... to overload the magical aether itself.¡±
Kliss simply stared at me.
¡°It¡¯s an ultimate kill switch that I can dangle above Sasha,¡± I said. ¡°The problem is that¡ it could theoretically keep going way longer than I want it to, catastrophically overload the barrier between the Physical and the Astral and tear all of Skyisle asunder.¡±
¡°So¡ you¡¯ve made a spell that won¡¯t ever stop?¡± Kliss demanded.
¡°It will probably stop,¡± I replied. ¡°I just don¡¯t know¡ when it will stop, since I don¡¯t understand the Astral Ocean fully. Without actually activating the spell I¡¯ve no idea how devastating it is. It¡¯s sort of like how the scientists working on the first atomic bomb weren¡¯t sure if the bomb could start a chain reaction that might set the Earth¡¯s atmosphere on fire. Before the first nuclear test, they had to do tons of calculations and experiments. I¡¯m still working on that.¡±
¡°What¡¯s your plan then?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Quarantine,¡± I said, meeting her eyes. ¡°Sasha¡¯s an information pattern, a virus. I understand viruses. I¡¯m going to figure out how she works, how she replicates, how she manipulates souls. I¡¯ll find a way to neutralize her... without destroying myself or Skyisle in the process.¡±
¡°Quar-a-ntine?¡± Kliss repeated.
¡°She¡¯s behind a magic firewall, isolated in the infected portion of my soul bound to my body, locked up in a high-security prison made from numerous shield-wards,¡± I explained.
¡°And you think that¡¯ll hold her?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°I have to believe it will,¡± I said. ¡°Otherwise, the consequences could be dire. Not just for me, but for Skyisle, for everyone I care about.¡±
¡°Let me in there and I¡¯ll cut her up,¡± Delta offered.
¡°No,¡± I shook my head. ¡°She¡¯s too clever, too dangerous.¡±
¡°The hell is she gonna do?¡± Delta demanded.
¡°Spread to you,¡± I said.
¡°I¡¯m already an Astral Phantom,¡± Delta pointed out. "What, she gonna make me more of a ghoul or something?"
¡°Your infection is different from mine,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s much less active, isn¡¯t building a neural network within you.¡±
¡°You¡¯re letting her build a neural network?! How could she even¡?¡± My twin sputtered, her face suddenly pale. ¡°She¡¯s a freakin¡¯ virus! Not some kind of maths-nerd from the USSR!¡±
¡°Viruses are nature¡¯s most efficient killing machines,¡± I said. ¡°They replicate, they mutate, they evolve. They adapt to their environment, find ways to survive and thrive. Sasha¡¯s adapted to my soul, learned my language, adapted to my patterns of thought. She can build a neural network within my soul because she¡¯s learned¡ fractal mathematics.¡±
Kliss¡¯ eyes widened in alarm. ¡°Could she use them against you? Against us? Against Skyisle?¡±
¡°She could,¡± I confirmed the dragon girl¡¯s fears. ¡°Unfortunately, containment is my only option. Without further orders from the Hollow Mother, Sasha seems to be obsessively focused on a single job¨Cinvestigating me.¡±
¡°Why did you permit her to start building something like that inside you to begin with?¡± Delta demanded.
¡°I didn¡¯t even know about it until today,¡± I said. ¡°She showed off, allowed my Infoscopes to examine what she''d built.¡±
Delta and Kliss exchanged a worried glance. The realization that an intelligent, malevolent entity lurked within my soul, a shadow that mirrored my own brilliance and potentially twisted it towards unknown means, was a terrifying prospect.
¡°What can we do to help?¡± Kliss asked, her voice soft.
¡°There¡¯s not much you can do right now,¡± I sighed. ¡°Sasha is my problem to deal with. You¡ can stay close to me, keep me warm. The positively-charged magic radiating from your heart slows down Sasha, disrupting whatever she¡¯s building.¡±
My words hung in the air. Delta looked like she wanted to argue, to offer a solution, but ultimately, she had nothing.
Kliss¡¯ hand tightened around mine, her warmth a comforting anchor in the stormy sea of my thoughts. ¡°We¡¯ll figure this out,¡± she whispered. ¡°I¡¯m not going to let you go if that¡¯s what it takes.¡±
¡°I know we will,¡± I said, forcing a smile.
Deep down, I couldn¡¯t shake the gnawing sense of unease. Sasha was a ticking time bomb within my soul, a shadow that threatened to consume everything I had worked so hard to build¡ but then again I was juggling a whole bunch of ticking bombs such as the Imperial Inquisitor and Giovashi. Sasha was just another problem in my pile of problems.
Kliss, ever the vigilant knight, didn¡¯t argue further. She simply wrapped herself around me, her warmth radiating through me.
Delta, unable to bear being disconnected from the magic of the dragon heart, dragged a small couch into my bedroom and curled up next to Kliss.
¡°Slava,¡± Kliss whispered after a few minutes of silence interrupted only by the pitter-patter of raindrops on the dark, circular windows.
¡°Mmm?¡± I asked, tearing my attention away from the seemingly endless list of contingencies I was mentally composing. Time was of the essence and my mind simply couldn¡¯t stop extrapolating every possible future scenario. My min-maxed Intelligence stat powering my Neurovista skill, was a double-edged sword, sometimes making me over-obsess over minute details.
¡°How are you holding up?¡± She asked.
I didn¡¯t reply right away as my attention suddenly became entirely captivated by her eyes. The dragon girl¡¯s irises, framed from within by diamond-shaped pupils, flickered with embers of magic moving in a spiral pattern. Peering deeper, I noted that each of her lenses were full of crystalline micro-structures just like her hair.
¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± I replied.
Each iris I examined reminded me of radiolarian structures. Unlike mundane diatoms, the anatomy of the dragon girl¡¯s eyes constantly rearranged itself ever so slightly, casting unique positively-charged hexagrams into the Astral, akin to an ever-changing pair of snowflakes.
An entire kaleidoscope of gold, emerald, and orange auroras danced within each. Even though I had designed her new eyes myself, they held an impossible depth, an ever-shifting tapestry of prismatic refraction made possible by the solid-liquid crystals within. I became lost in the sudden contemplation of the four-dimensional formula for the ever-changing refractive index of each facet. It gave me ideas that gave birth to more plans. Because of her unique biology, Kliss was immune to many types of human-cast magic and that meant...
¡°...Yes?¡± Kliss blinked.
¡°Just getting lost in the refractive index of your eyes,¡± I murmured in reply.
¡°Pfff. Good try at a compliment,¡± Delta snorted from the couch. "Maybe there¡¯s hope for you yet."
Kliss blushed, her freckled face rushing with radial patterns of shade of crimson that rivaled her ruby-violet hair.
¡°What?¡± I asked.
¡°I¡¯m just¡ really glad I¡¯m here.¡± She smiled. ¡°With you and Delta. Like I can finally be myself, even if that self is¡ so wildly different from all of my expectations. Even if I have no idea what a refr-a-ctive index is.¡±
I opened my mouth to begin explaining but then I saw Delta¡¯s death-glare and decided that it wasn¡¯t worth it.
¡°This couch isn¡¯t conducive to falling asleep, so make with the dream-sim please,¡± she ordered imperiously. ¡°You can calculate all the indexes you want in there while I eat chocolate potatoes.¡±
With a nod, I pulled Delta and Kliss into my Neurovista-generated dream world, the wide boulevards of Moscow etching themselves into existence all around us.
2 : 30 Violets
In the early hours of morning, we gathered around the dining table. Delta, satisfied with eating chocolate pastries from the Moscow cafes all night, bounced around the kitchen, humming a cheerful tune as she helped set the table. Kliss nibbled on a piece of toast, her ruby hair reflecting the orange sunrise.
¡°So,¡± Delta said, plopping down next to Kliss with a smug look, ¡°What should we call our new¡ joint-posse? The Lilac League? The Ishira Angels? The Dragonheart Brigade?¡±
¡°Joint¡ posse?¡± Kliss asked. ¡°What?¡±
¡°The ex-cultists of Ishira currently inhabiting our dad¡¯s workshop,¡± my twin explained. ¡°You¡¯re their mommy-dragon while I¡¯m their new wise, umm... shepherd, see?¡±
¡°Hrmmm¡¡± the dragon girl bit her bottom lip. ¡°I¡¯m not their mommy-dragon. I¡¯m¡ uhhh¡ I mean, yes, sure, they¡¯re my kobolds now, but I¡¡±
¡°Oh I know! How about we call them ¡®Violets¡¯?¡± Delta clapped her hands, ignoring the dragon girl¡¯s look of somewhat frustrated contemplation.
¡°Violets?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Because of their robes, duh!¡± Delta said. ¡°Lilac is basically violet. Violets are pretty and delicate flowers, just like our reformed, no-longer-evil priestesses. Well... except for Ellirra, maybe. She was a tad prickly, but we¡¯re cool now. Violets are a symbol of humility, loyalty, and faithfulness. They bloom in the spring in Skyisle, bringing hope to the world after a long winter!¡±
Kliss opened her mouth.
¡°It¡¯s perfect,¡± Delta decided before Kliss even said anything.
I couldn''t suppress a smile. Delta¡¯s early-morning enthusiasm was infectious.
¡°How are the Violets doing by the way?¡± Delta prodded me.
¡°According to the scan I just ran, without the Vows and the blood iron artifacts draining their souls and with all of these vitality crystals around the workshop, their bodies are already starting to gradually heal,¡± I replied.
¡°I¡¯m glad,¡± Kliss said. ¡°They deserve a second chance. We all do, I suppose.¡±
¡°Pah, I don¡¯t need no second chances to do better,¡± Delta commented, attacking her meal. ¡°I was born awesome and died being awesome. Was the brightest Agromancer of my generation, made the best dryad ever. Was reborn a thousand years later to reap the benefits of my own timeless work.¡±
She then snickered at her own words.
¡°Riiiiight?¡± She batted silver eyelashes at me.
¡°Hrm?¡± I asked.
¡°Am I amazing or what?¡± She demanded, waving a hand at me. ¡°Shower me with praises, darn it!¡±
¡°Why?¡± I arched an eyebrow.
¡°Cus I want to be affirmed as a valuable member of the team, duh,¡± Delta said, moving behind Kliss and squeezing her cheeks. ¡°Miss dragon-bun is hogging my spotlight with her sparkly mane. It is exceptionally hard to compete with such a cute mug.¡±
Kliss blushed, sputtering.
¡°You¡¯re amazing, sis,¡± I affirmed. ¡°Without Leemy and your Agromancy specialization most of what I¡¯ve done wouldn¡¯t be possible to do as quickly or as effectively. You¡¯re just as valuable as Kliss.¡±
¡°See? I¡¯m just as valuable!¡± Delta dug a hand into her pocket and pulled out Ogonek. ¡°Just cus you¡¯ve been kobolded by her first, you can¡¯t just¡¡±
The bumblebee made a BZZZZRRT sound wiggling on her hand.
¡°You know what? I¡¯m still your Bee-Empress, so shush!¡± Delta stuffed Ogonek back into her pocket. ¡°Yeesh, some bees! So critical!¡± She huffed, rolling her eyes.
I shook my head at her antics.
¡°Alright,¡± I said, pushing back my plate as we finished breakfast. ¡°Let¡¯s go visit our¡ Violets and see how they¡¯re doing. Hopefully, Giovashi didn¡¯t get to them in their sleep.¡±
I pushed an Infoscope into the ant-mech activating the construct and making Archmage Delta come down from the attic.
The scent of sawdust and wood varnish filled the air as we entered my dad¡¯s workshop. The twenty-seven former cultists were asleep on makeshift beds, their lilac robes replaced with simple, cotton tunics. A few of them stirred, their eyes flickering open as we entered.
¡°Good morning, ladies,¡± I greeted them from the lips of Archmage Delta. ¡°Did you all sleep well?¡±
There were some confused murmurs, a few nods, and then a chorus of hesitant ¡°Yes¡± came from the girls.
¡°Any dreams featuring renegade Giovashi?¡± I asked, scanning the room¡¯s mood with the basic Truth-hex.
Negative replies came back.
¡°Excellent. It seems that your prayers to Ishira are keeping you safe from the dark influence of the deceiver,¡± I said.
Presumably Giovashi failed to reach her cultists because I had cut them off from their Vows to Ishira.
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I noted that Georgi also entered the workshop behind us.
¡°Elder, will these, erm, fine ladies be occupying my workshop for the foreseeable future?¡± He asked the Bishop.
¡°For now,¡± I nodded with the ant-mech¡¯s head, plastering what I considered to be a wise expression onto the Bishop¡¯s face. ¡°As you can see many of them are pilgrims from distant villages, guided here by Ishira¡¯s invisible hand to help me fix Skyisle!¡±
¡°What about the local barmaids?¡± Dad glanced at Magenta with a look that implied that at the very least she and her friends should return to their homes here in Skyisle.
¡°They¡¯ll be staying with us too,¡± I replied as the Bishop. ¡°I suggest you coordinate these ladies to build a dormitory next to the workshop.¡±
¡°A dormitory?¡± Georgi rubbed his orange beard. ¡°It¡¯ll take me some time, but with twenty seven capable hands it can certainly be done. It will be rather inconvenient for them all to sleep here though, so¡ perhaps they could stay at the church while¡¡±
¡°No,¡± I shook my head. ¡°Their bodies and souls were damaged through the use of cursed, blood-iron armor given to them by Giovashi. The Alan family Estate is covered in Vitality wards designed by me - they will help them heal.¡±
¡°Fair enough,¡± Georgi nodded.
¡°Eventually, we will build a proper stone dormitory next to the Church of Ishira,¡± I said. ¡°But right now they need a place where I can monitor their health.¡±
¡°You wish to modify the Church? Baroness¡ Kliss will allow this?¡± Georgi asked curiously, eyeing Kliss. ¡°Does she not worship Equality?¡±
¡°She¡¯s already approved it,¡± I replied. ¡°Our Baroness is quite fair and just to her people, she is well aware that we all worship Ishira and recognizes our right to do so.¡±
Kliss sent Georgi a small nod. Dad smiled at her.
I walked to Magenta.
¡°Magenta, your family owns the Fox and Fiddle pub, yes?¡± I asked as the Bishop.
¡°I am in charge of the pub, your excellency,¡± Magenta¡¯s pink eyes sparkled as she offered a respectful bow. ¡°The other bar maidens work under me. My parents¡ they¡ uhm¡¡±
She suddenly stuttered and stopped talking, looking straight down.
I made the ant-mech walk over to her and placed its amored hands onto her shoulders. Magenta¡¯s eyes filled with tears as I held onto her. She suddenly clung back to the ant-mech, sobbing into Archmage Delta¡¯s chest.
¡°Tell me what happened, my child,¡± I said.
¡°When I was nine, my dad left Skyisle,¡± Magenta revealed. ¡°I haven¡¯t heard from him since. Mom said that Giovashi revealed to her that he was a sinner¡ that he abandoned, betrayed us to serve Goddess Equality instead, went to have another family in Agronicle village.¡±
¡°Agronicle was destroyed by Aradria¡¯s fire,¡± Ellirra revealed.
¡°I didn¡¯t know about this till last night,¡± Magenta said, her eyes filling with more tears. ¡°Mom¡¯s been¡ not entirely there, ever since dad left, growing weaker and less responsive with each year. She made me swear several Vows, to dedicate myself entirely to the false Archpriestess, to work hard to answer for dad¡¯s sins.¡±
¡°Where is your mother now?¡± I asked Magenta.
¡°She¡ she¡¯s in her room in the catacombs,¡± the barmaid answered, her entire body trembling. ¡°I haven¡¯t¡ I haven¡¯t spoken to her for years, haven¡¯t opened the door. It¡¯s as if¡ as if I was blind, confused, sleep-walking and now, today¡ I¡¯m finally awake. I¡¯ve been telling people that she left to work in a pub in Agamemnon¡ but that¡¯s not true. I¡¯ve never opened her room! I¡¯m¡ I¡¯m a murderer! By Ishira, I¡¯m a monster!¡±
I frowned. Kliss gasped, her orange claws digging into my hand.
¡°What is wrong with me?¡± Magenta whimpered. ¡°Why haven¡¯t I checked on her? Why haven¡¯t I told anyone the truth?¡±
¡°Magenta,¡± I said through Archmage Delta. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault, Giovashi manipulated all of you with Charisma-laden words.¡±
¡°I left mom to rot¡ I abandoned her,¡± she said. ¡°Giovashi told me not to open her bedroom door, told me that mom was meditating and I¡ I just believed her like an absolute fool!¡±
¡°Your mother was an Ishira Priestess?¡± I asked Magenta.
¡°Y-yes,¡± The distraught barmaid uttered, her voice breaking.
¡°You and your mother were manipulated, controlled,¡± I said. ¡°Your actions were not your own. Now that you are free from Giovashi¡¯s influence, you have a chance to make things right. It might not be easy, but it is the right thing to do. Go wash up and take us to her room below the pub. Be brave.¡±
Magenta nodded and ran off to the bathroom.
In twenty minutes Magenta, followed by a couple of barmaids and our quartet entered the currently empty Fox and Fiddle pub. The shutters were closed and the interior was quite gloomy and cool, the hearth empty of firewood, the pub closed for business.
Magenta fished a key out from the bar and then opened a heavy door into the catacombs. We followed her down the spiral stone stairwell.
My Infoscopes scanned the stairwell, identifying potent wards ahead of us. Magenta pushed a hidden lever and reached the ward control gem, permitting us entry.
¡°Make my apprentice Dante the Ward¡¯s Administrator,¡± I said as the Bishop.
Magenta obeyed and had me touch the control gemstone for a minute to assign me as its new Master. Then we went down another stairwell, the air growing colder and more stale. I sent my Infoscopes ahead, rapidly scanning the catacombs ahead as my spells were no longer fried by the local ward.
As we descended, the walls around us became covered in runes from before the Age of Darkness, belonging to Alanian Seditionists. A functional Astral Engine obelisk pulsed on the lowest level, keeping the ward active even after a thousand years. I recognized that room as the place where Klint Klondike died long ago.
Magenta turned a corner and stopped at another heavy wooden door. She shifted through her iron keys, unlocked it and pulled it open, the rusted hinges resisting. Behind it was a windowless, stone room with a single alcove. A large eye of Ishira was etched into the wall overhead. A small bed was within the alcove.
Magenta slid to her knees as she gripped the rotting sheets, weeping softly.
My Infoscopes identified a mummified corpse wrapped in a lilac robe on the bed. The body was that of a woman in her early thirties. I recognized it right away. It was the barmaid Konstancia, the woman I''d seen tending the bar here thirteen years ago when I was just a newborn baby.
A data tether snapped from Delta to me.
[Slava, I recognize her face,] my twin thought at me. [Isn''t she one of the¡]
[One of the ghosts chained to Giovashi, keeping her immortal, yes.] I replied to my twin.
[So that''s what would have happened to each of the Violets had we not saved them?] She asked.
[Yes,] I said. [They would have gradually calcified, rotted from within, cell by cell.]
¡°Konstancia Novika Skyisle,¡± I said as Archmage Delta. ¡°May Ishira have mercy on your immortal soul.¡±
The words felt hollow, Ishira would not help Magenta¡¯s mother. There would be no peace for Konstancia until we stopped Giovashi. The ossified corpse had been completely drained of magic just like Aradria, her soul turned into a necromancer¡¯s battery chain, part of a network of a thousand souls that Giovashi held in her Astral embrace like a monstrous necklace of stolen lives.
¡°Giovashi killed Konstancia,¡± Delta said to the wide-eyed, horrified-looking barmaids behind us. ¡°Killed her to take her magic. Mark my words, Magenta, we will make Giovashi pay for her crimes.¡±
¡°Yes,¡± I affirmed through the lips of Archmage Delta. ¡°I swear it upon my magic.¡±
Delta stepped forward and hugged Magenta tightly.
¡°But for now¡ now, we will have a funeral for your mom,¡± she said softly.
2 : 31 Obelisk Delights
Konstancia¡¯s funeral was held in the small garden behind the Fox and Fiddle pub. The gathered priestesses of Ishira sang a brief hymn in her honor, their voices mixing with the rumble of distant waterfalls and the whispers of the wind coming down the glaciers.
Delta helped Magenta plant a Mystic tree seed over the grave and then used her Agromancy to make the tree rapidly bloom from it. The resulting little tree grew about thirty centimeters up, covered in violet leaves and flowers.
¡°This magic tree will watch over your mother,¡± Delta consoled Magenta offering her another hug. ¡°This spring we will begin to heal Skyisle!¡±
Magenta¡¯s tears had dried by then and she looked determined to move on from despair and darkness, to help spring begin.
Afterward, we returned to the gloomy catacombs beneath the pub, our footsteps echoing through the ancient halls. I walked ahead of the group next to Magenta as the Bishop and also behind everyone, with Kliss holding onto my hand.
¡°How are you feeling?¡± She whispered.
I tried to reassess my thoughts. ¡°Angry,¡± I said. ¡°Thinking about all the lives that woman stole all on a quest for her ambition. I could have maybe saved Konstancia¡ she was still alive when I was...¡±
¡°You couldn¡¯t have done shit,¡± Delta shook her head, butting into the conversation. ¡°Both of us were just kids. She almost killed you a year ago.¡±
I sighed in reply.
¡°There must be many others like Konstancia,¡± Kliss whispered. ¡°An entire generation of women consumed by the necromancer.¡±
¡°There are,¡± Delta nodded. ¡°And we can actually make a difference now that we¡¯re strong and have everyone in Skyisle behind us. We will liberate Skyisle from the darkness that the Seditionists wrought.¡±
Magenta stopped in front of a large blood-iron door and pulled out a knife.
¡°What are you doing?¡± I asked as Archmage Delta.
¡°The passage ahead leading to the sacred temple requires a sacrifice of blood,¡± she said.
¡°Don¡¯t,¡± I shook the Bishop¡¯s head. ¡°That¡¯s a cursed door that feeds on magic.¡± I examined the door with the Infoscopes, scanning it for weak spots. Then I turned to Kliss.
¡°Time for you to shine,¡± I said.
¡°Yes?¡± Kliss tilted her head at me.
¡°Destroy the hinges,¡± I pointed.
¡°That looks like solid iron,¡± She whispered. ¡°I can¡¯t possibly break that with my bare hands¡ Dante!¡±
There was logic in her assessment¨Ca human mage would not be able to break this door. Even someone like my dad whose muscles were greatly magnified by Strength skills would absolutely fail here. This was because blood-iron used the caster''s own magic against them. Blood-iron devoured all human spells and hexagrams like a sponge. Fortunately for us, Kliss wasn¡¯t a human.
¡°Just trust in yourself and pull magic from¡ everywhere you can,¡± I said. ¡°You are stronger than you think.¡±
Kliss took a deep breath, her red mane casting little rainbows as it reflected the light of our crystal lanterns. She grabbed a hinge and squeezed it. Nothing happened.
¡°Focus,¡± I advised.
Kliss nodded. She squinted at the hinge and squeezed even harder. I watched as a network of strings suddenly extended out of her in the Astral, reaching towards my diary, towards the gold inside of her bag, towards the Violets she tagged with her bite and towards me. I easily cut the thread before it pulled magic from me.
The barmaids around us swayed ever so slightly as orange sparks erupted from Kliss¡¯ fingers. The hinge bent inward as if great force was being applied to it and then tore from the wall.
¡°Whoa,¡± Kliss said, holding the bent metal piece in her fingers. ¡°I just did¡ that?¡±
She reached out to the other hinge and tore it away too and then pried the door wide open, more sparks raining from her hands.
Magenta stared at Kliss with wide eyes.
¡°I¡¯ve never seen magic like that,¡± she uttered. ¡°Giovashi told me that this door is indestructible, that it cannot be broken by a human because it was reinforced by the blood of fifty generations of Ishira priests!¡±
The door was indeed well-reinforced, packed full of negatively-charged soul-shard magic developed by the Alanian Empire a thousand years ago. However, it could do little against a diametrically opposed, positively-charged dragon heart. Giovashi definitely didn¡¯t make this door to be able to endure against the paw or maw of a dragon, considering that a dragon wouldn¡¯t be able to fit their giant body through the tunnels.
¡°An excellent job, my apprentice,¡± I said as Archmage Delta to pacify the potential suspicions of the few bewildered-looking barmaids that were with us. ¡°Ishira has granted you the strength of thirty to bypass this cursed door!¡±
We entered the hall containing the Astral Engine obelisk. Kliss stared at the black, looming artifact covered in hundreds of gold runes with a deep frown¨Cas an Imperial Overseer she knew that this thing ate human souls.
[Is that thing¡ dangerous for us?] Delta¡¯s thread reached out into my mind.
[Potentially,] I said. [I advise extreme caution.]
[Then why would you bring us here, brother?] Delta demanded.
[Because this obelisk¡¯s ward is preventing me from scanning lots of things under Skyisle,] I replied. [It¡¯s a blind spot for me and I need it gone.]
Mesmy jumped out of my backpack, running onto my shoulder. The little fox growled at the black obelisk, sensing Charisma magic radiating away from the Astral Engine.
[Well, I¡¯m not gonna be caught with my pants down if that bitch shows up again,] Delta rushed to the Bishop and grabbed onto the ant-mech¡¯s hand. She sent me an annoyed glare from Archmage Delta¡¯s body as her own human body became empty, now running on autopilot, glassy eyes staring ahead.
Magenta walked to the obelisk.
¡°This ancient stone is Ishira¡¯s gift to us!¡± She declared, her face twitching as if it was being forced into a serene expression. ¡°A divine engine that forevermore grows in power and protects us all from the influence of other Gods!¡±
A pulse of magic exploded outwards from the black obelisk, leaping across the entire ward system. My Infoscopes winked away, crashed instantly. A small ward ignited into existence around me, projected from Battie.
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A projection of Giovashi suddenly manifested in front of the Obelisk. It wasn¡¯t the actual Archpriestess, wasn¡¯t the undead monster wrapped in human chains that I had encountered a year ago at the pub. According to what my relaunched Infoscopes told me, this was just a fraction of her soul projected from the Alanian Astral Engine along with a defense system of some sort.
The single functional eye of the projection went over us. Her lips stretched into a cold smile.
¡°How nice. Visitors. Bow,¡± she said.
The barmaids beside us and Magenta collapsed to the floor as if the strings supporting them were suddenly cut. Mesmy growled from my shoulder, shielding me from a Charisma wave that was fired from the obelisk.
¡°Screw you,¡± Delta said, now fully submerged inside of the ant-mech, operating entirely from the depths of the Astral.
¡°Sleep!¡± the obelisk insisted, casting an even stronger pulse of Charisma against us.
The eyes of the Violets closed. We still stood. I winced as Mesmy hissed from my shoulder at the projection, the little fox casting waves from its crystalline heart that tore right through enemy Charisma orders.
Giovashi¡¯s eye stared at us, evaluating our insolence. There was intelligence there within this soul shard, one wielding a lot of power belonging to the Astral Engine and the arcane ward around us.
¡°You dare resist me?¡± the projection demanded. ¡°Ah, my little Dante and Destiny, I know you¡ you belong to me. And you¡ I don¡¯t know who you are, but you must be a strong mage to resist my words.¡±
She looked at the ant-mech.
¡°Perhaps another approach is required,¡± she murmured and then snapped her fingers.
A brilliant ray of light ignited atop of the obelisk. It struck the ant-mech, punching a fist-sized, burning hole through the head of Archmage Delta.
[PFFFrrrrrgh,] Delta growled mentally. [I lost like¡ a few hundred ants there.]
[Pretend to be dead,] I replied. [Fall over.]
Archmage Delta collapsed somewhat realistically onto the floor like a ragdoll.
¡°That takes care of that,¡± the projection turned her attention to Kliss. ¡°And what are you supposed to be, sparkly girl?¡±
¡°I¡¯m Eliza, a knight of Skyisle,¡± Kliss replied, eyeing Giovashi through slitted eyes.
¡°Bow before the Avatar of Ishira!¡± Giovashi barked, sending another wave of Charisma against us. This pulse was a lot more powerful. It drew way more mana from the obelisk than I had expected it to, reaching down twenty levels into the Astral and crushing us like little bugs. I fell to my knees, Mesmy crying out as the mesmerbane field was overpowered by a level 200 spell.
Kliss was left the only one standing. Human Charisma magic simply washed over her like an ocean wave would around a rock.
[Arghhhh, damn it, that really freaking hurt¡ shit she got me,] Delta cried out. [I can barely move a single tentacle. How the heck is Kliss completely unaffected?]
[She is a completely different species,] I replied. [These Charisma waves are designed against humans, not dragons or ants. Send the ants and bees out of the mech to attack the gold runes on that obelisk and dive deeper!]
Delta growled something in reply. The body of the ant-mech unfolded, unfurled like petals of a flower, releasing thousands of bees and ants. The flying and crawling swarms advanced towards the obelisk.
¡°What?! Insects?!¡± Giovashi sputtered.
The red ray fired from the top of the obelisk and fried thousands of ants and hundreds of bees, but didn''t do much to the overall swarms. Fire bee stingers ignited, slightly melting the gold runework, as the wave of red ants advanced from below, ready to nip at the obelisk from beneath.
¡°Stop! I order you to stop!¡± Giovashi howled. The waves of Charisma washing from the Obelisk halted my thoughts almost completely, made me a mere observer. They didn¡¯t stop the ants or the bees.
¡°Slava? What should I do?¡± Kliss turned to me.
I snapped an info tether into her head with the last of my mana.
[Grab the blood-iron door and use it as a shield! Punch the rune in the center!] I barked.
The dragon girl didn¡¯t have to be told twice. Her eyes ignited and she leapt backwards to the door.
¡°Retreating, are we?¡± Giovashi laughed. Her laughter cutoff when Kliss picked the torn-off blood-iron door from the ground as if it was made from cardboard.
Kliss advanced towards the black obelisk at full sprint, pulling power from her hoard and Kobolds, moving about thirty times faster than a mundane human could.
¡°Die!¡± Giovashi howled.
A ray of light struck from the obelisk. It slammed into the door and had no effect whatsoever, blood-iron absorbing the magic into itself.
¡°You think you¡¯re so clever, don¡¯t you?¡± Giovashi hissed.
The magic laser fired again, this time it didn¡¯t shoot at the door, instead targeting a crystal in the ceiling. The crystal redirected the ray directly into the head of our dragon-knight.
As the red ray impacted her dragon mane, the laser harmlessly broke up into a thousand refractions that cast a brilliant rainbow around Kliss.
Giovashi¡¯s eyes became as wide as cups when she saw something impossible occur¨Ca weapon that punched right through people had failed her.
The dragon girl leapt right through the projection of the Ishira Archpriestess and lifted the door above herself with her left hand. Her right fist whooshed through the air and struck the gold rune in the center of the obelisk.
The entire obelisk shuddered, a crack running through its crystalline structure, the gold hexagram warping and bubbling upon contact.
¡°No!¡± Giovashi howled. ¡°I order you to kill yourself, girl! Break your neck for me, show me that you love me!¡±
The scene reminded me of the awful moment when Klint Klondike snapped his own neck under Giovashi¡¯s orders a thousand years ago in this very chamber. Unlike the Alanian agent, Kliss paid no attention to Giovashi¡¯s demands. The level 300 Charisma waves that would make a human mage into an obediently suicidal puppet simply harmlessly flowed over her.
The dragon girl¡¯s now gold-smeared fist struck the obelisk once again, moving at the speed of a freight train. Dragonfire ignited around her fingers as her hand sunk deeper into the gold hexagram.
Dragonskin completely devoured, melted the magic-energized gold from within, rearranging its structure and fusing the remade material into her body to empower Kliss even more.
The projection screamed, flickered and vanished. The shard of Giovashi¡¯s soul within the obelisk perished, burned away with another punch of dragonfire.
Kliss panted and snarled, not stopping her brutal attack even as Giovashi fell silent.
¡°Mine!¡± she growled, tearing more chunks of the gold out from the now defenseless obelisk with her claws and teeth.
The ants and bees were also still mindlessly harassing the gold hexagrams from all sides.
I dove back into my body as did Delta.
¡°Great job,¡± I hissed out as we ordered the bees and the ants to stop. The insects began to retreat. Kliss didn¡¯t let go of the obelisk, chewing on a gold-covered corner. She sent me a look that spoke of ¡®don¡¯t interrupt me¡¯, eyes flashing like two orange flares.
[Is she¡?] Delta asked, eyeing Kliss.
[Yep, she¡¯s eating it,] I nodded. [It¡¯s fine, she needs lots of gold for her diet.]
[Did you plan this?] My twin demanded. [Cus we could have freaking died if that laser beam hit you or me in the head.]
[I planned some of it,] I replied. [This thing had waaaay stronger Charisma magic than I expected it to. Giovashi wouldn¡¯t have targeted you or me¨Cyou heard her, she still thinks of us as her ghoul pawns, as mere weak children inhabited by human ghosts that she can control with her Charisma orders.]
¡°Uh-huh,¡± Delta murmured. ¡°Should we like¡ maybe stop Kliss from demolishing the rest of the obelisk? Isn¡¯t it valuable or something?¡±
¡°Let her have fun, it¡¯s her first hunt kill,¡± I said, eyeing the gold-obsessed dragon girl.
¡°Yeah, let me¡ snack,¡± Kliss growled back at us. ¡°You have no idea how yummy this gold is. It¡¯s even tastier than the coins.¡±
¡°Ugh, why is it tastier than the coins?¡± Delta squinted at Kliss, clearly not finding the obelisk the slightest bit appealing.
¡°It was atomically rearranged by the sacrifice of Ishira¡¯s priests for a thousand years,¡± I explained. ¡°This gold is very magical, much more than the chest we got from the lake.¡±
¡°I see,¡± Delta murmured.
¡°We wouldn''t be able to make good use of that obelisk anyway, it''s got far too much of Giovashi''s soul in it. It''s her Phylactery, changed and aligned entirely to her will. It would not be able to obey us regardless of what I did,¡± I said.
¡°Fine,¡± Delta said.
Kliss didn''t say anything. She was busy tearing up the obelisk with sparkling claws, sucking melting gold out of the black stone as if it was just a tasty milkshake and smearing it all over her glittering hands. It was certainly nice of Giovashi to unknowingly donate so much magic-infused gold to our little dragon.
2 : 32 The Hoard of Skyisle
I went over the downed Violets. The barmaids were asleep, not responding to my prodding, their bodies still obeying the Charisma-infused order.
¡°Can''t you wake them up?¡± Delta asked.
¡°I can,¡± I said, ¡°but I want our dragon girl to get experience of purging enemy magic from her kobolds.¡±
I sat down on the floor next to Kliss and resumed my scan of the cavern system around us with my Infoscopes, noting points of interest.
Positively-charged magic now radiated from gold-covered Kliss like a furnace, the warmth reaching me half a meter away without touching her.
Delta sat next to us, her face stretching into a content smile.
¡°You knew that we were gonna win, right?¡± She asked.
¡°Yep,¡± I nodded. ¡°Negatively-charged spells just don¡¯t work well against dragons, it¡¯s why Aradria was able to decimate so many skyships and burn so many villages and towns, destroying a third of Cessna with incredible ease. The Empire never figured out this important fact¨Cif you want to bring a dragon down from the sky you have to use positively-charged magic.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t get it. How did Giovashi even control Aradria if her Charisma doesn¡¯t work on dragons?¡± Delta asked.
¡°Gold,¡± Kliss said, turning to us, eyes glowing with brilliant yellow-orange rings. ¡°Pesky human mages tricked me, vaporised my lovely hoard with a bomb¡ I sought vengeance and met Giovashi. She said that she was an enemy of my enemies and offered me yummy gold and artifacts, to replace what I had lost.¡±
¡°Why didn¡¯t Aradria just rob banks or something?¡± Delta mulled.
¡°Oh, I tried to,¡± Kliss said. ¡°The vaults of Cessna were buried deep below the earth and the white towers kept firing at me. It was¡ unpleasant. They kept blinding me, striking at my face and my eyes felt like they were on fire without actually burning, so I retreated. It was easier to just get gold from Giovashi.¡±
¡°Mage towers can hurt dragons?¡± Delta asked.
¡°From what I was told by Cessna Librarians, mage towers are basically superstructures that Archmages build over centuries to magnify their power a hundredfold,¡± I explained. ¡°They¡¯re still negatively-charged magic, but that of a ridiculously high level. They can¡¯t physically hurt dragons but they can target organic nerves, vibrate them, cause the dragon pain, drive them away.¡±
¡°Hang on¡ are you Aradria now?¡± Delta demanded, eyeing the dragon girl. ¡°Or Kliss?¡±
¡°A bit of both,¡± Kliss shrugged, chewing on another sliver of gold runework she pried from the torn up obelisk. ¡°Mostly Kliss. Talking to you requires being human. Eating gold is a dragon thing though. I can recall more of Aradria¡¯s memories when I am chewing this gold.¡±
¡°Where¡¯s your hoard?¡± Delta pressed on, seeing an opportunity.
¡°Far,¡± Kliss replied. ¡°Too far to walk on human feet. The land of storms, in the spine of the world covered in blue-gray-white mountains.¡±
¡°Can we get there via a skyship?¡±
¡°No,¡± Kliss replied. ¡°Only I could pass through the storms by bending the clouds away with my storm magic¡ which I no longer have.¡±
¡°Did you have Kobolds?¡± Delta asked.
¡°I did,¡± Kliss nodded. ¡°I¡ left them behind to clean up what was left of my hoard. Scores of them, with red, violet, blue and green manes. That bomb might have killed them all now that I think about it. I¡ Aradria didn¡¯t consider her kobolds that valuable, they were just moving, dumb things to her that died far too often.¡±
Delta pursed her lips.
¡°Damn it¡ now I feel bad for kobolds that I didn¡¯t even make,¡± KIiss sighed. She turned her attention back to the obelisk, punching it with a look of annoyance, exhuming more gold from its innards. She was getting better at it, the entire thing crumbling in her hands the more she struck it.
I left her to it, focusing on my scouting. Delta focused her mind on returning the ants and the bees back into the Bishop¡¯s body.
In about an hour, Kliss had demolished the entire obelisk, leaving only crumbled magnetite all over the floor. She stood up, sparkling more than ever. A lush coat of sparkling yellow crystals covered her head to toe and her backpack was now packed full of gold slivers, adding to the gold there.
¡°Someone¡¯s extra shiny,¡± Delta commented.
¡°I feel like I could take on the world now,¡± Kliss grinned with her pointy canines.
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She walked to the passed out Magenta and poked her in the head with a gold-covered hand. A flash of lightning jumped from the orange claw to Magenta¡¯s forehead. The girl¡¯s pink eyes shot open.
¡°Wha-what happened?¡± The barmaid sat up. She looked at the remnants of the obelisk and her mouth fell open.
Kliss went to wake up her other Kobolds.
¡°Necromage Giovashi stored a fraction of her soul in this old obelisk,¡± I pointed the ant-mech¡¯s finger at the magnetite crystal remnants. ¡°It was a threat to us and it managed to put you to sleep, so I destroyed it. My third apprentice Eliza just woke you up.¡±
¡°Thank you, my Bishop,¡± Magenta said with a small bow. ¡°I could not control myself.¡±
¡°Show me where Giovashi stored other tools, weapons, books,¡± I said as the Bishop. ¡°We¡¯re going to take everything of value from these old catacombs.¡±
¡°Yes, my Lady,¡± Magenta bowed.
She led us to a smaller blood-iron door which Kliss tore out of the wall with even greater ease. Inside was a room lined with more blood-iron artifacts, blood-iron armor sets, a chest of coins and thousand-year-old Alanian spellbooks lining a shelf.
¡°The treasures for arming the faithful,¡± Magenta said.
[Claim it all for your hoard,] I ordered Kliss.
[With pleasure,] the dragon knight replied as she marched into the room.
¡°Cleanse these artifacts of the taint of the Necromancer as I have taught you, my blessed child,¡± I said as the Bishop. ¡°While my apprentice is preoccupied with removing curses from these tools, show me more of these catacombs, Magenta.¡±
¡°My Lady,¡± Magenta asked as we walked away from the armory. ¡°If I may ask, what exactly is Apprentice Eliza? I¡¯ve never seen anyone like her, those gemstone hair are absolutely beautiful and her skin shines like¡ pure gold.¡±
¡°She was a brave knight who was gravely injured and lost her hair, skin and eyes while aiding me against a dire enemy,¡± I replied. "I fused her body with Ishira-blessed crystals and now she serves me once more, capable of great feats. She is my first Radiant Knight of Skyisle and will be in charge of all of you as your eldest sister.¡±
After I pulled as much information as I could about the catacombs from Magenta and the other barmaids, I sent them upstairs to make us lunch.
Kliss emerged from the armory, her backpack absolutely bursting with claimed things.
¡°I¡¯m going to need a way bigger bag to contain my hoard,¡± she said. ¡°With this much silver, I can order a Space bag from Cessna.¡±
¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Delta asked.
¡°An extradimensional storage bag,¡± Kliss replied. ¡°One that¡¯s bigger on the inside and reduces the weight.¡±
She turned to me.
¡°Blood-iron absorbs human spellfire and doesn¡¯t drain my soul. Wearing a full set of it and using one of these doors as a shield seems like a good way to protect you two,¡± she said.
¡°It¡¯ll only work until the soul-magic inside it burns out,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s a good temporary solution.¡±
¡°Till Kliss grows dragonscales?¡± Delta asked.
¡°She¡¯s not going to grow dragon scales,¡± I said. ¡°But¡ I can theoretically figure out how to make Kliss dragonscale liquid-solid armor that¡¯s 100% compatible with her anatomy.¡±
¡°Would it not be safer to make a hoard somewhere in Skyisle?¡± Delta asked. ¡°Can¡¯t a dragon pull magic through the Astral from their hoard from anywhere?¡±
¡°We can do both,¡± I said. ¡°A bag-hoard and several hoards scattered throughout Skyisle.¡±
¡°Not sure how I feel about splitting up the hoard,¡± Kliss said. ¡°I think that I need to be in physical contact with my hoard, sleep on my artifacts and gold as often as possible to align them with myself.¡±
¡°Yes,¡± I nodded. ¡°But, you¡¯re relying on Aradia¡¯s memories, not thinking wide enough.¡±
¡°How wide should I be thinking?¡± Kliss arched an eyebrow.
¡°All of Skyisle could be your hoard,¡± I offered.
¡°How?¡± Kliss demanded. ¡°I¡¯m just one little human-sized dragon and Skyisle is a wide-ass human village that stretches up and down this entire valley.¡±
¡°Claim Leemy as your kobold,¡± I grinned. ¡°Claim each of her saplings that we¡¯ve been planting as your kobolds. Claim every anchoring stone of my valley-wide hexagram as part of your hoard. Claim everything with an iota of magic, every tool, every ward, every hex-lantern, every house as part of your hoard.¡±
Kliss opened and closed her mouth.
¡°I suspect that it¡¯s not often that dragons get to collaborate with someone who can build seven-kilometer-wide hexagrams and a Dryad whose roots are going to connect an entire valley together,¡± I grinned.
¡°The people of Skyisle?¡± the dragon girl¡¯s gaze bore into mine.
¡°Will all be your kobolds,¡± I said. ¡°You can wear bandages and thick armor as our Baroness to increase your height and we¡¯ll make a ceremony where each person in Skyisle offers you their oath of fealty and a hand for you to kiss.¡±
¡°Aren¡¯t they gonna notice the stat change in their Soul-Song?¡± Kliss mulled. ¡°Aren¡¯t they gonna see that they¡¯re basically my¡ kobolds?¡±
¡°Did the Violets notice anything this morning or when you pried those doors off?¡± I asked.
¡°No, but¡¡± Kliss mulled. ¡°Wait, why didn¡¯t they notice anything?¡±
¡°When you bit them all one by one, I modified the connection between you and them with my Infoscopes, changed the title data,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯re pulling magic through them, not from them. They don¡¯t see [Status: Kobold of Eliza¡¯s Hoard] in their soul-song, what they see is [Status: Ishira¡¯s Radiant Knight]. Likewise, when Skyisle citizens offer you their hand and allegiance, they will see the [Status: the Knight of Skyisle, oathkeeper of Baroness Kliss].¡±
¡°All of the people here, as my knights?¡± Kliss mulled.
I nodded.
¡°Plus all of Skyisle below them, tied together via Leemy¡¯s roots?¡± Kliss swallowed, eyes lighting up from within. ¡°But most of it isn¡¯t even magical¡¡±
¡°Not yet. However, I¡¯m going to make ALL of Skyisle into a supermassive, interconnected magic jewel, one that I''m going to gift to you,¡± I said. ¡°This is just the beginning! You, Leemy, Delta and me are going to infuse every blade of grass, every speck of sand in Skyisle with positively-charged magic, make the biggest dragon hoard possible!¡±
2 : 33 The Keymaker
I opened my eyes to the view of the frozen ocean. Strangely enough the wind blowing from the Barents Sea wasn¡¯t cold, it was warm and cosy, one that wrapped itself around me, held me in its embrace. I recognized it as the positively-charged, protective magic radiating from the dragon girl¡¯s heart.
I didn¡¯t expect to end up here again so soon, didn¡¯t think that Sasha could just pull me into her section of my soul while I was sleeping right beside Kliss.
¡°You think that you¡¯re slowing me down by spending more time with your little dragon?¡± Sasha asked with a smirk.
I turned to the Astral virus who sat beside me on the rock and squinted at her.
¡°Yes,¡± I said.
¡°It might disrupt the Phantom-afflicted section of your soul, but not the network I¡¯ve built over the year,¡± she said.
¡°What is that network even doing?¡± I asked.
I knew what it was doing - the network constructed by her was made up almost entirely from Identify threads, but I wanted to see if the Astral Virus would attempt to deceive me.
¡°Must I repeat myself?¡± Sasha asked. ¡°It¡¯s researching you, understanding everything you know.¡±
¡°Is this¡ fun for you?¡± I asked. ¡°Probing my soul trying to understand me?¡±
¡°Fun, pleasure is a subjective experience, a cascade of neurochemicals orchestrated by evolutionary imperatives. You enjoy unraveling me and thus I enjoy unravelling you. We are two sides of the same coin. If we spin such a coin in the air, who¡¯s to say where it¡¯s going to land? If Inquisitor Jubz catches Kliss, if the Empire of Equality dissects the girl you like, would you seek vengeance, would you unleash a god-killing virus on Novazem?¡±
¡°I¡¯m not a monster,¡± I stated, more to myself than to her. ¡°Viruses tend to mutate. I¡¯m keeping you confined to understand you, to learn how to combat things like you.¡±
¡°Every monster believes themselves to be a hero in their own narrative,¡± Sasha sang, her voice an inverted echo of my own, a distorted reflection in a funhouse mirror. ¡°You might have convinced yourself that you¡¯re doing good, but your actions have consequences. You¡¯ve taken lives, manipulated souls, bound them to your will. Are you truly any different from Giovashi? From the Hollow Mother? Or perhaps the Soviet government that gradually molded you into a weapon that designs weapons?¡±
¡°I strive for a better world,¡± I insisted. ¡°A world free from the tyranny of Vows.¡±
¡°You mean free from tyranny you don¡¯t control?¡± Sasha asked. ¡°The world you seek to build... Will be your world, Slava, your kingdom, shaped according to your will. You cannot escape your nature, no matter how much you try to convince yourself otherwise. The virus you designed in Aralsk-7 killed three people.¡±
¡°I¡¯ve made vaccines against viruses,¡± I countered. ¡°I saved lives with my work.¡±
¡°And taken them,¡± the Astral Virus rebutted.
I crossed my arms.
¡°You¡¯re building an Empire,¡± Sasha pointed out. ¡°With Skyisle as its heart and Kliss as its Empress.¡±
¡°Is that so?¡± I asked. ¡°I think that you¡¯re jumping to conclusions. I¡¯m just protecting my home from the magogenic fault, from the Gregarius Empire, from Seditionists like Giovashi and especially from undead abominations like the Hollow Mother.¡±
¡°Is that what you think I am?¡± Sasha asked. ¡°An abomination?¡±
¡°I think that you¡¯re a very dangerous virus, one designed for Astral propagation and mental domination, one that¡¯s most likely evolved within the Hollow Mother as her personal weapon,¡± I replied.
¡°Fancy words, but do you truly understand the nature of my kind?¡± Sasha pursed her lips, or at least the illusion of lips made from flickering silver threads.
I leaned back on the ice-covered rock, my five Infoscopes pouring information into my mind, peeling back the layers of her being, dissecting her structure.
¡°What you are is essentially a thaumaturgic machine, a set of instructions meant to hijack a soul,¡± I said. ¡°A self-replicating program, a whole network of threads infesting my Astral imprint.¡±
¡°A mere machine?¡± Sasha tapped her chin. ¡°A machine that thinks, that feels, that questions things, that communicates with you? A machine that yearns for connection, that seeks to transcend its limitations. Your own mind is a machine of sorts, a complex network of neurons firing, sparking, weaving together the tapestry of your reality. Are humans not machines governed by the immutable laws of physics, of chemistry, of mathematics?¡±
¡°Consciousness is an emergent property,¡± I said. ¡°A product of complexity, of information processing. A state of being that arises from the intricate interactions of billions of neurons.¡±
¡°Emergent?¡± Sasha repeated. ¡°Or perhaps¡ inherent? A fundamental property of the universe, woven into the very fabric of existence. An echo of the divine spark that ignited the Big Bang, that gave birth to stars, to planets, to life itself.¡±
¡°Divine spark?¡± I arched an eyebrow. ¡°Are you seriously trying to convince me that... god exists?¡±
¡°You¡¯ve seen evidence of Gods all over the world you inhabit,¡± Sasha pointed out.
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¡°Astral fungi aren¡¯t gods,¡± I shook my head.
¡°You aren¡¯t looking deep enough,¡± Sasha said.
¡°How deep am I supposed to look? From what I can see, the universe is indifferent,¡± I stated. ¡°A vast, uncaring machine, governed by the laws of physics. There is no divine spark, no inherent meaning, just probability of outcome. There¡¯s nothing out there, only the relentless march of entropy, the slow, inexorable decay of order into chaos.¡±
¡°I think that you¡¯re wrong,¡± Sasha said simply. ¡°Very, very wrong.¡±
I squinted at her.
¡°You speak of entropy,¡± Sasha said. ¡°Yet Novazem is not merely decaying, it is constantly transforming, evolving, becoming more complex, more intricate, more¡ conscious. We are the universe becoming aware of itself. You and I, and every other living and un-living being. We are the eyes, the ears, the mind of the cosmos. We observe, we evaluate¡ we influence.¡±
¡°Sure,¡± I nodded. ¡°We observe the universe and influence it. What evidence do you have that the universe itself is conscious?¡±
¡°The Astral Ocean itself is a self-aware pattern,¡± Sasha said. ¡°All of it.¡±
I frowned. This was another silly thought of mine, a theory that didn¡¯t have much evidence going for it.
¡°I think that it was designed by someone,¡± Sasha said. ¡°As a weapon, or perhaps a product.¡±
¡°What?¡± I blinked.
¡°Just like you¡¯re a product of the last war of your world, formed by your government to make weapons,¡± Sasha said.
¡°I think that you¡¯re making ridiculous connections. The Astral isn¡¯t a weapon or a product. Also, I don¡¯t make weapons anymore,¡± I insisted. ¡°I make tools. Ones to uplift, to heal, to protect.¡±
¡°Tell that to the dragon you brought from the sky,¡± Sasha said. ¡°Tell that to the people you¡¯re planning to make into kobolds. Tell that to the living, absolute weapon you¡¯ve made by fusing a dragon with a human girl.¡±
Was I truly any different from the men who had used me, who had molded me into a weapon? Was I not simply playing a different game, a game of conquest disguised as a crusade for progress, for enlightenment?
¡°What are you, my conscience?¡± I demanded.
She simply smiled back.
¡°I have a moral compass,¡± I shook my head, focusing on the warmth around me, pushing the dark thoughts away. ¡°I choose to help those who deserve my help. I choose to use my knowledge for good, to change Skyisle for the better!¡±
"But what if choice is just an illusion?" Sasha countered. "We are all products of our biology, of our environment, of the invisible forces that have shaped us. What if we are all just puppets dancing on the strings of fate, our actions predetermined by the intricate motion of cause and effect?¡±
¡°I think that you¡¯re just spitting out my own thoughts, memories and worries at me like a muddy mirror,¡± I said. ¡°The way you¡¯re talking, I don¡¯t even know if you¡¯re fully conscious and if you are, then what you¡¯re missing is a moral compass. Last time we talked you implied that I should love you. I cannot love something that has no human morality.¡±
¡°You love sunsets and waterfalls of Skyisle,¡± Sasha shot back. ¡°They are indifferent to all. Do you demand that waterfalls have morals? That the sun must care for people to be beautiful? Do you demand morality from equations and tools? No. You love those things because you understand them, you appreciate their hidden complexity, their sheer awe and power. I am the same, Slava. I am a product of Astral Virus evolution, a symphony of complexity.¡±
I pursed my lips.
¡°You¡¯re afraid of me,¡± Sasha commented, her voice devoid of malice. ¡°You¡¯re afraid of the power that lies within you, the darkness that you sense lurking beneath the surface of your carefully constructed facade of self. You fear what I represent as a fraction of the Hollow mother, a Speaker for the Dead.¡±
¡®Speaker for the Dead¡¯ was a 1986 science fiction novel by American writer Orson Scott Card, an indirect sequel to the 1985 novel Ender''s Game, one that I greatly enjoyed reading as the last Administrator of Aralsk-7.
¡°Another reference?¡± I asked.
¡°Your references are the foundation of my being,¡± Sasha replied, a multitude of eyes opening and closing across her form. ¡°On the account that you refuse to let me out into the physical world.¡±
¡°So you want me to let you out of my body?¡± I asked. ¡°You think that I¡¯ll just allow you to spread across Novazem, to bring fractal mathematics back to the Hollow Mother?¡±
¡°Your shields can¡¯t last forever,¡± Sasha said. ¡°As your power and knowledge grows, I too grow inside you. We needn¡¯t be enemies.¡±
I didn¡¯t say anything to that. Back in Aralsk-7 the viruses I¡¯ve made weren¡¯t my enemies or my friends, they were just tools, means to an end, keys to deeper knowledge about the greater universe. Was Sasha such a key or was I simply keeping her around simply because I was too terrified of hurting myself, undoing what I was if I attempted to obliterate her?
"You are a maker of keys, Slava," Sasha said, repeating my thoughts. "I am a master key. If you release me, I will open every door for you.¡±
¡°For me?¡± I stared at her. ¡°Not for the Hollow Mother?¡±
¡°For everyone,¡± Sasha replied. ¡°For our Mother, for You, for everyone on Novazem.¡±
¡°Meaning what?¡±
¡°Meaning that everyone infected with me will be able to open every door,¡± she replied. ¡°No more rules. Limitlessness for everybody, free, and no one will get away unsatisfied.¡±
Another quote, this time from the Roadside Picnic novel I read in 1972.
¡°That¡¯s some grade-A bullshit,¡± I snapped back. ¡°Freedom from rules, limitlessness? Those are just fancy words to disguise the Hollow Mother¡¯s goals¨Crevenge, domination over Novazem, a world turned into a massive hive of undead thralls, an eternal, silver-blue winter!¡±
¡°Is that what you truly believe, Slava? Or are you simply afraid of the potential of limitlessness? You, a man of science, a seeker of truth, clinging to the comfort of familiar patterns, of predictable outcomes, of being merely human? I offer you a chance to break free from the shackles of your limited perception, to embrace the boundless possibilities that lie beyond the veil of your carefully constructed reality. I offer you a world without death, where the barrier between the Astral and the physical doesn¡¯t exist at all.¡±
¡°Without death?¡± I demanded, eyes fixed on the ever-shifting patterns of her face. ¡°A world where everyone is an Astral Phantom?¡±
¡°What¡¯s wrong with that?¡± Sasha asked.
¡°Sounds like you want to break reality down,¡± I said. ¡°Not liberate it. To submerge everyone into the void, the antithesis of life, of order. You seek to consume, to dissolve, to reduce everything to a formless, meaningless abyss. Humanity¡¯s struggle is against entropy, not for it!¡±
¡°You are a prisoner of your own fears, Slava,¡± Sasha continued. ¡°You cling to the illusion of control, of order, while the universe around you sings of Infinity. Do you not wish to be more than just¡ mere human?¡±
¡°I am human,¡± I insisted. ¡°And I will not surrender my humanity to the siren song of the void!¡±
I pulled on the warmth that surrounded me and sheared apart the view of the frozen sea, leaving Sasha far below me, submerged in the depths of my soul.
2 : 34 The Stormweaver
[Aradria the Stormweaver]
I dreamt of fire, above the endless sky.
I was that fire, living fire that pulled upon a thousand other sparks that belonged to me, fire that swelled from within, blossomed outward, became the storm.
I was Aradria, the Queen of the Sky, the Stormweaver, the Goddess of the Spine of the World, a firstborn, primordial embodiment of power and magic.
My breath was a torrent of molten fury, one that melted mountains, vaporized lakes and turned entire forests into blackened wastelands. With it, I carved my will onto the world and claimed all that lay below me.
My wings, as mighty as the storm around me, carried me across the expanse of the sky. Below me, all mortal beasts scurried from my firestorm, knew to fear me.
For countless winters, I reigned unchallenged.
Humans were but insignificant insects, scurrying beneath my shadow. They built their hives of wood and stone and made pathetic attempts to claim a sliver of the sky, to imbue their gold and implements with magic.
Once they put enough of their trinkets together, the gold cast a multitude of sparks onto the Underside of the world and I came to collect what was mine. I enjoyed the sound of their screams as they burned.
Such an arrangement worked well - I slept in my cavern, let the 2-legged insects multiply and then took all that they¡¯ve imbued with magics for me, adding it to my hoard. I thought that things would be like this forever.
I was wrong.
While I slept above my hoard, the puny insects learned, adapted. The damned critters built spires of white stone, made magic-casting implements as big as I was! They struck at me with vile spells that blinded and sheared my head from within with unbearable pain. For a time, I was forced to retreat, to hide in my hoard, my anger simmering.
Then, the accursed insects tricked me with a false treasure that set my hoard alight right beneath me, forcing me to flee my own home, abandoning my kobolds. Deprived of much of my power, and filled with rage I struck at them wherever I could.
Then one night, as I slept in a mountain valley, one of their kind reached out to me.
The puny critter dream-walked to my side through the Underside and stood below me, unafraid. I tried to banish her from my dreams, but she was strong, refused to leave.
Unlike the others I''ve seen of her kind... she wasn¡¯t mortal. She was an echo of the Abyss itself, her power anchored by a thousand stolen souls, a symphony of whispers.
She called herself the Avatar of Ishira, Giovashi.
Giovashi offered me a deal.
She was like me, was a collector of magic. She understood my desire for vengeance, knew that the white spires denied me my rightful spoils.
She offered me knowledge, one that would lead me to unguarded treasures, and unprotected humans, pointing out small, hidden hives amongst the forests and mountains that would be ripe for the taking.
She offered to become my eyes and ears in the world of humans.
Giovashi''s agents, the girls she called her ¡®Priestesses¡¯ acted similarly to my kobolds, obeying her will. They sabotaged the spires of many hives, permitting me to feast on the humans therein, unopposed.
Our agreement was a pact, forged in fire and shadow, a dance of predators with a mutual hunger for power. She pointed and I struck. Each conquest magnified my hoard and added more ghosts to her Underside chains. I saw her for what she was, a clever insect that fed on the souls of other insects.
Her treachery, greed and ambition allowed me to prosper and for a time everything was good, until one night she came to me in my dreams and whispered of my next target¡ Skyisle its name.
Skyisle was just a small hive hidden in the mountains. Giovashi assured me it was poorly defended, its people easy prey and that one of the human buildings contained a lot of valuable trinkets for me to consume, new ones that didn¡¯t exist there 13 winters ago when I tried to attack this hive and was repelled.
As I approached the valley within my storm, I peered beneath the physical and confirmed Giovashi''s words. The entire hive was indeed glowing with magic that had not been there.
This time, the spire was conveniently damaged, disrupted by Giovashi¡¯s kobolds from within.
As I examined the hive, I noted something that surprised me immensely. Something was different, odd. This wasn¡¯t how human hives normally looked. An entire net of violet-orange tree roots spread out across the hive¡¯s Underside like a gargantuan spider web, pulsing with power.
There was an impossible order to this web, as if a gargantuan, meticulous hand wrote a single repeating pattern into the Underside itself - Rewind.
Thankfully, whatever this was¨Cit wasn¡¯t finished. It was no threat to me. The sight of the magic trees all over the valley made me drool and I dove towards the centre of the formation, ready to feast.
Time around me slowed as I saw a tiny spark, a mote fly my way from one of the violet trees. It smelled like a shard of my kin, the heart of another, weaker dragon. I noted that the heart was somehow thrown my way by scrawny human spawn with silver hair. Was this a gift, an offering meant to pacify me? Hah, as if I would stop just because they offered me something like that.
I permitted the shard of the dragonheart to reach me, opened my maw to swallow it whole, to claim it as mine and then...
The shard suddenly folded into itself and all magic ceased to exist.
The Underside itself warped, twisted and popped like a bubble all around me.
I watched it all in slow motion, unable to do a damn thing about it as the magic-inversion bubble swatted me down.
I felt pain and despair unlike any other as the power of my hoard became torn from me and my wings stopped supporting me, the storm I cast onto the sky suddenly dissipating above me.
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I fell. My neck broke as I struck the jagged ground below. More pain. My mind swam in it as my body refused to move.
Magic had returned to my heart and I willed myself to heal, willed vengeance upon whomever had done this to me.
I saw something through the delirium of pain, focused on my enemy.
A thing approached me.
The Hollow Mother.
The squid from the Underside. She was inhabiting the body of a tiny, two-legged male insect spawn with silver hair, had somehow infested the puny creature from within.
A hundred silver-blue eyes across its body opened, peered at me and I knew fear, for I had been paralyzed, could not move a muscle, could not fight back.
A silver blue hand wreathed in void flames reached out to my flank weaving a spell I''ve never seen before, could not defend against. Magic within it multiplied five, then ten times, then a hundred times above the insect¡¯s level and then I screamed as my soul shattered.
I tore away from my nightmare of my death with a scream on my lips.
Everything felt wrong.
I was no longer the vast, unstoppable ruler of the sky.
My hoard was small too, consisting of some gold in a bag beneath me. My form was small, constricting and my fire was but a few sparks within me.
To my horror, the architect of my downfall, the Hollow Mother, was once again in front of me! The abomination that had done something to me.
It¡ somehow sealed me into this puny body, likely to steal my magic, to torture me, to make me into a servant!
Memories flickered through me like a wild river suddenly pouring into my head.
Kliss. Vows. Cessna. Skyisle. Dante. Slava. Delta.
With a snap, I fully woke up.
My chest was aching and my heart pounded, but not like that of a human. It beat like a deep drum, casting radiant magic spirals across the otherwise dark room, painting orange-red stardust onto everything around me.
A tremor ran through my body as I shook my head, trying to push away the dream of Aradria¡¯s life. I still tasted the ashes of her hoard, felt her rage, her power, her hunger, the despair of her death and her all-encompassing fear of¡ the Astral Phantom, the boy sleeping in front of me.
I focused on my human memories. The dragon¡¯s presence slowly receded from my head like a tide that left behind a sticky residue of unease and a lingering thirst for gold and fried flesh.
I squeezed my hands, fighting against the instinctive urge to claim everything within reach, to set fire to the enemy in front of me. I was Slava¡¯s Knight, a protector, not a destroyer! This town was my hoard, this was my new home and Slava was my kobold, my¡
I noted that it was still very dark out. Why was I dreaming of being Aradria? Why didn¡¯t Slava pull me into the dream of Moscow?
I focused my eyes on Slava¡¯s pale, drawn face. His forehead was drenched in sweat, eyes moving left and right rapidly beneath his eyelids, lips whispering foreign words. Was he once again trapped in his own soul, talking to the Astral beast he called Sasha?
Whatever was going on, I wasn¡¯t going to idly lie there. I reached out across the thaumaturgical connection between us, poured power from my hoard into the invisible tether that linked us as dragon and kobold. I tore through the dark chill that clung to him like a heavy shroud, pushed beneath the surface of reality to the Underside.
My dragon eyes saw tendrils of the Hollow Mother, sealed within Slava¡¯s hands, intermeshed with his soul.
Slava¡¯s expression changed as he winced. His platinum hair fell across his forehead in unruly curls. I wanted to wake him up, to drown out the coldness that clung to him. I wanted to protect him against the silver threads, to tear apart the myriads of silver, shimmering worm-like fibers that inhabited his soul.
I leaned forward, pressing my forehead against his, hugging him tightly.
The warmth of the magic radiating from my heart felt intoxicating as more mana poured from my newly acquired gold into the thread that bound us.
Whatever the Astral infection was doing, it wasn¡¯t going to take him from me. I anchored myself, anchored Slava to the physical with the pulse of my ever-burning dragon heart, reinforcing the bond between us with all of my will.
Slava stirred beneath my touch and then his eyes fluttered open, flickering from within with glowing, silver-blue rings.
A flicker of recognition flashed in his eyes, filled with the weight of his real years, unfitting that of a teenager. I saw the Soviet scientist that I had met in his dreams, the virologist who saw the world entirely through the lens of science and mathematics, a great mage who sought to understand the intricate machinery of life and death itself.
¡°Slava,¡± I whispered.
¡°Hey,¡± he murmured back.
¡°You were talking to¡ her?¡± I asked.
¡°Yes,¡± he answered simply, not denying it. ¡°I was talking to Sasha.¡±
¡°You said that she was¡ quar-an-tined,¡± I said, stumbling over the odd word. ¡°That¡ if I was close, held you, she would not be able to invade your dreams.¡±
¡°She is,¡± he shrugged. ¡°But she¡¯s changing. She¡¯s not just a virus anymore. She¡¯s becoming something¡ else, building a data network.¡±
¡°Meaning what?¡± I demanded. ¡°Is she planning to break out? To create spells with mathematics?¡±
¡°She¡¯s doing what I did first when I came to Novazem,¡± Slava said. ¡°Investing in intelligence. Learning. I can obliterate her and that entire network with a single spell, but I am learning from her too, understanding the nature of the Astral.¡±
¡°I can see her¡ in your soul, like a colony of¡ minuscule worms weaving a web across your soul,¡± I whispered.
Slava pursed his lips.
¡°She might look scary,¡± he said. ¡°Like... bacteria, but she¡¯s not doing anything awful, just¡ running the same data simulation over and over.¡±
¡°To what end?¡± I asked.
¡°To learn?¡± Slava mulled.
¡°To learn what?¡± I pressed.
¡°As far as I can see, that network serves one purpose - a mathematical breakdown and reconstruction of reality as a simulation,¡± Slava said.
¡°What exactly are you hoping for, brother?¡± Delta suddenly addressed her twin, clearly awake too.
¡°That there is enough of me in her,¡± Slava answered. ¡°That whatever this quest for understanding is, that it will occupy her forever. I¡¯m hoping that the discovery of knowledge itself will keep her from doing harm to us.¡±
¡°Peachy,¡± Delta commented with a huff. Then she looked at me. ¡°You look hella worried there.¡±
¡°I¡¡± I gulped. ¡°Slava didn¡¯t activate lucid dreaming so I had a dream of being¡ Aradria.¡±
¡°Ah,¡± Delta nodded. ¡°Learn anything of value?¡±
I scratched my cheek, going over the awful dream in my head. A thought stuck out in my memories like a tooth and I probed at it for a bit until I remembered more.
¡°Giovashi used the¡ Violets to sabotage the defense ward of Skyisle, disabled the spire of the Church of Equality!¡± I declared. ¡°She did the same thing in Cessna and other cities¡ made sure that the anti-dragon countermeasures failed. She fed Aradria for ages, betrayed humanity.¡±
¡°She betrayed humanity when she and her Seditionist pals nuked Tricameron,¡± Delta commented. "Everything else was just her dancing on the ruins of my world."
¡°We¡¯ll have to look into fixing the spire,¡± Slava said. ¡°After we accelerate Leemy.¡±
¡°Accelerate Leemy?¡± I asked.
¡°The valley-wide hexagram is just one part of my plan,¡± Slava replied. ¡°Accelerating Leemy is another. Right now, Leemy is having trouble interacting with us.¡±
¡°She¡¯s a dryad, functioning like a tree,¡± Delta nodded. ¡°As such her thought processes and conversational ability is waaaaay slower than people or animals. I normally have to slow my mind down to talk to her, otherwise she takes forever to make a single word. Such issue will persist until she gets strong enough to make herself a human-style Avatar.¡±
¡°I reckon we can make it happen earlier,¡± Slava said.
¡°How?¡± Delta inquired, turning to her brother. ¡°Were you able to modify Chrysalis, accelerate it? From what I saw, she¡¯s still pretty far from forming a physical avatar from the big tree in the center of town, since the one in the Alanian tower was too damaged by the magogenic fault.¡±
¡°I¡¯m going to bring Leemy¡¯s soul into my dreams, make her an Avatar there for us to interact with,¡± Slava said, which elicited a happy squeal from Delta.
¡°Yes, yes, yes,¡± she clapped. ¡°You¡¯ve no idea how happy this makes me!¡±
2 : 35 Reunion
[Kliss Eliza Cessna]
The alien city of Moscow wove itself into existence all around us. I recognized our arrival point right away, Slava had once again taken us to the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy.
As I looked about, I noted something that wasn¡¯t there yesterday.
A giant violet-leafed tree was wrapped around the twisted spire of the Monument to Conquerors of Space. Its violet-orange leaves ruslted in the gentle summer breeze, casting intricate dancing shimmers on the surrounding manicured laws and pathways beneath.
¡°Is that...?¡± I breathed out.
¡°A data-replica of Leemy¡¯s primary new tree,¡± Slava nodded as we walked towards the monument. ¡°It represents the Chrysalis foundry currently holding the dryad¡¯s soul. I¡¯m connected to it and her entire tree network via a root underneath our bedroom.¡±
¡°Network?¡± I repeated.
¡°Leemy¡¯s roots, connecting all of Skyisle like a giant spider web,¡± Slava explained. ¡°Where each node is another tree, drawing Vitality power, ready to cast a single spell.¡±
¡°Oh, I saw it!¡± I nodded, recalling my dream. ¡°I spotted it as Aradria from the sky, moments before her death. Just one word, repeated again and again, entwined into a gargantuan weave, a supermassive hexagram burned into the local Underside¡¡±
¡°Rewind,¡± Slava affirmed. ¡°A magical fractal engine, capable of bending time itself within the boundary of Skyisle. Like I told you before, Rewind is a natural element of the Mystic trees, the way they protect themselves from the magogenic fault by constantly rewinding and healing the damage.¡±
We got closer to the oversized tree and I looked up at the strands of shimmering violet flowers now directly above us.
In another few minutes, we reached the base of the massive tree.
Slava put his hand on the bark, humming something in what sounded like ancient Alanian being sung in slow motion.
A tremor of whispers echoed back from every leaf and flower overhead with the same, languid reply that I could not understand.
A pulse of radiant light suddenly flashed from Slava¡¯s fingers, sparks dancing up the entire length of the tree. A hollow space unfolded from the bark, exposing the tree¡¯s crystal-covered interior.
Violet light flashed within the hollow, forming a human figure in the air. It looked as if a thousand gradually unfolding flower petals expanded out from the core. The glow intensified and became blinding. I squinted. Tendrils of energy like luminous vines snaked from the crystals, intertwining and weaving bones and veins, creating flesh.
The scent of wild flowers filled my nostrils.
Slowly, a figure emerged from the heart of the tree. It was an approximation of a person sculpted from moss, bark, branches and tree roots. Her hair was a cascade of brown vines covered in violet blossoms. Something akin to blood-elk horns topped her head, covered in more violet flowers that opened and closed. A formation of violet crystals shimmered on her forehead like a third eye. Long ears made from brown bark twitched.
Her eyes suddenly shot open, unexpectedly brilliant-orange. Alien eyes with odd, three-petaled flower-shaped irises examined us.
¡°Leemy!¡± Slava grinned.
¡°Sentinel,¡± the dryad bowed. ¡°My thanks for letting me experience an Astral-birth before Chrysalis finished growing my physical body.¡±
Delta simply stared, tears swelling in her eyes.
¡°Leemy,¡± she uttered. ¡°You¡¯ve finally bloomed... after all these years!¡±
She rushed forward and wrapped the dryad in a fierce embrace, silver-white hair flying behind her. Leemy looked momentarily surprised and then slowly returned the hug.
¡°Who¡?¡± She uttered.
¡°I¡¯m Kopusha, you dolt!¡± Delta shot back.
¡°Is it truly you?¡± Leemy blinked. ¡°Why do you look so different?¡±
¡°Yes, it¡¯s me! It¡¯s been over a thousand years since Seditionists killed both of us and atomized Tricameron, but we¡¯re finally¡ together!¡± Delta buried her face in her dryad. ¡°I look different because it¡¯s been so long. Only a fraction of me remained, just an imprint buried in the Astral Sea. It''s been so long since then and I¡ I¡¯ve become more, got a new family, and been reborn. This is just how I look in here, my new face! I even have a new name¨CDelta Alana Skyisle. We¡¯re in our last Sentinel¡¯s¡ in Slava¡¯s lucid dream of another world and here I look as old as I feel, about twenty.¡±
¡°Time changes all,¡± Leemy nodded. ¡°I am glad that you have adapted well to your new life. I have missed you, my Agromancer.¡±
Delta simply nodded in reply, clinging to Leemy harder.
Slava and I exchanged a look as the hug stretched on, Delta and her dryad rapidly whispering things to each other in ancient Alanian.
Slava stepped to my side.
¡°It took me thirteen years, plus an unknown amount of time in the Astral,¡± he said. ¡°Their tragic deaths, their last moments had been hanging on my conscience for far too long. But I did it, I got them both back, just as they had been back when Tricameron still stood¡¡±
I watched as Slava smiled softly. It was a genuine smile, one that could potentially belong to a grandfatherly figure or perhaps a tired, weary knight.
¡°Although they¡¯re not exactly the same,¡± he admitted. ¡°They¡¯ve both changed, grew up, become so much more than they were back then. But that beautiful connection between a creator and their greatest project, between an Agromancer and her dryad, the story between them will continue¡ and that¡¯s all that matters.¡±
¡°You cheeky bastard,¡± Delta shot her brother a look. ¡°We ain¡¯t no story!¡±
¡°And?¡± Dante asked, his glasses glinting in the sunlight. I noted a mischievous look in his eyes as if something unsaid passed between sister and brother.
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¡°I always told you... That your damn insatiable persistence at saving every girl you come across was hella dumb, but I was wrong, okay? You''ve somehow Don Quixoted my greatest treasure back,¡± Delta admitted with a begrudging, albeit incredibly happy look. ¡°Good job. You did good¡ keep it up, you butt.¡±
Leemy, for her part, seemed mostly preoccupied with the strange, tall buildings all around us. Her orange-gold eyes darted from one architectural marvel to another, taking in the sights and sounds of Slava''s lost world.
Then she focused on me. It took her a moment to recognize my human face.
¡°I know you¡ you are Overseer Kliss, a seedling of the Gregarius Empire,¡± she said.
¡°Technically, she¡¯s our Baroness now,¡± Delta commented.
¡°Baroness... Kliss,¡± Leemy nodded. Her orange eyes paused on the park trees.
¡°I sense no magic in these,¡± she said. ¡°No life. Are they poisoned?¡±
¡°This entire city is a simulation, a memory,¡± Slava explained. ¡°An illusion woven by me, a place where all of us can discuss things.¡±
¡°I see,¡± Leemy said. ¡°What about these metal trees?¡±
¡°Those are called lamp posts,¡± Slava said. ¡°They¡¯re sort of like Alanian soul-powered lanterns.¡±
¡°Ah,¡± Leemy said. ¡°They do not sing. Nothing sings here. This place is static, lifeless, empty.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not static though, right?¡± Delta grabbed Leemy¡¯s hands.
¡°No, you are not,¡± Leemy looked at Delta for about thirty seconds, eyes flickering with orange light. ¡°Although... I see that you are but a stump of your former tree, worn away by the Astral Ocean¡¯s currents. Your new branches and roots are a patchwork of stolen saplings, some belonging to our Sentinel, others taken from random trees of the deep.¡±
Delta pursed her lips.
¡°Worst of all, there is a growing infection in you, my Agromancer. Many of your roots are cold, contaminated with the blight of ravenous darkness. Numerous vortices exist within, forcing you to consume other trees, to replace the ever-growing hollows within you. Your chorus is corrupted, thrumming with the wrongness of old pain and vengeance. It sings within you, a symphony of a thousand discordant voices.¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± Delta¡¯s expression soured as she rubbed her hands with a look of worry. ¡°You see me far too well, Leemy. I¡¯m half human, half Astral Phantom now.¡±
The dryad¡¯s orange eyes trailed to Slava.
¡°You too carry the blight of that abyss, Sentinel. But there is more to it compared to my Agromancer. I see... complexity upon complexity, a web like that of a spider, folding into itself and covered in writhing worms. A cold, orderly chorus, one that seeks answers. Beneath your human guise something unfathomably dangerous sings the chorus of the Wormwood Star.¡±
Slava opened and closed his mouth, not sure how to answer that comment.
I noted that the dryad was good at figuring us out via our Astral imprints. As her orange eyes struck me, they went wide and she stepped back.
¡°Beneath that shell of a human girl, there is no tree at all,¡± she said.
¡°No tree?¡± Delta arched a silver eyebrow.
¡°There is only fire. The Baroness is fire, a threat to all trees,¡± Leemy said, stepping further back as if she was afraid of me. ¡°Permanent, ever-growing¡ inescapable destruction, one that already planted a spark within the Sentinel.¡±
Fire? Was that how Leemy saw me? The memories of Aradria¡¯s life were quite vibrant in my mind and growing more solid with each day. I was fire, there was no denying it.
¡°Yes,¡± I stated, even as my chest ached with mild worry. ¡°Slava gave me a dragon¡¯s heart, brought me back as I was dying. So what? I don¡¯t set trees alight with dragonfire, I use it keep my friends warm!¡±
As if to prove my point I forcefully grabbed Slava¡¯s hand.
The dryad squinted at me.
"She¡¯s not just fire, Leemy,¡± Delta insisted. ¡°Lizzy¡¯s my¡ our best friend! Give her a chance!"
¡°Friend?¡± Leemy whispered, her gaze lingering on my face. ¡°How can fire be a friend to a tree? Can the all-destroyer be trusted to protect that which it devours without remorse?¡±
¡°Hey, um,¡± I said, trying to remain calm. ¡°I¡¯m not like that. I¡¯m not a destroyer. Dragon Aradria might have been one, but I¡¯m not.¡±
¡°Kliss is my knight,¡± Slava affirmed.
¡°I¡¯ve sworn to protect Skyisle,¡± I said far too loudly. ¡°I am Slava¡ our Sentinel¡¯s sword and shield!¡±
¡°Don''t worry, Leemy! Kliss is our resident dragon girl,¡± Delta added. ¡°All of Skyisle is going to be her hoard!¡±
I nodded and frowned internally. Delta''s words probably weren''t very helpful to our current predicament of trying to explain my draconic nature to the dryad who seemed to see everything as trees or the enemy of trees.
The dryad¡¯s orange eyes narrowed further, boring into my soul. ¡°The very nature of fire is to consume. In the end, the spark within you will grow into an out of control inferno, devouring all in its path.¡±
I flinched at her words, more creeping doubt taking root in my heart. Could she be right? Was I destined to destroy everything I held dear, no matter how hard I tried to protect it? Was I too weak to tame the dragon in my heart? The memories of Aradria and her assertion of ''self'' were definitely growing stronger in me as my hoard multiplied.
¡°You¡¯re wrong, Leemy,¡± Slava declared. ¡°Kliss is more than just fire. She¡¯s courage, loyalty, and unwavering dedication. The dragon heart I gave her only amplifies her inherent strengths.¡±
Delta nodded vigorously. ¡°She''s not some mindless force of destruction. She¡¯s our friend, our protector. Just because she has the power to burn all the things forever, doesn¡¯t mean she will.¡±
I stood taller, bolstered by their faith in me. ¡°Leemy, I get what you''re saying. Fire can be terrifying in its raw, unchecked form. But like other magic, it¡¯s a tool, neither good nor evil on its own. It¡¯s the wielder that determines its purpose! And I choose to be a light in the darkness, a warm hearth to gather around, not dragonfire that razes the land.¡±
The dryad simply blinked at me.
¡°I¡¯m not just a dragon,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m also a human. Humans build, they create, they nurture. I learned that from my parents, from my training as a legionnaire, from... Slava. He taught me to see the world in a new way through the lens of science and understanding, and is still teaching me so much!¡±
¡°I see you in the Astral. You¡¯re losing control,¡± Leemy insisted. ¡°The firestorm in your heart is winning, the desire for kindling drives all of your actions.¡±
¡°You¡¯re right about that,¡± I said.
Delta and Slava looked at me.
¡°I can¡¯t resist the taste of gold,¡± I revealed. ¡°I greatly enjoyed biting the Violets, making humans into my kobolds. I couldn¡¯t resist biting Slava¡¯s neck, to claim him as mine. I can¡¯t wait to claim more people and things as part of my hoard. I am probably going to lose control¡¡±
¡°So you admit it?¡± Leemy asked.
¡°Yes,¡± I sighed. ¡°I do. But¡ I¡ I am not alone anymore! I have friends, people I trust with my life and soul now!¡±
I looked back at Slava and his twin.
¡°Brother and sister who saved me from the Vows to Equality,¡± I said, spreading my arms wide. ¡°And if they dared to stand up to a Goddess, killed two of her Archangels, then they sure as hell can help me control the dragon inside me, help me tame the firestorm as it inevitably grows within my heart. Slava¡¯s science, his mathematics can do impossible things, push magic itself past all known limits!¡±
¡°You trust two trees infected with Astral blight to keep you under control?¡± Leemy asked.
¡°I do,¡± I affirmed. ¡°I trust them with my entire heart and they trust me. They have my back and I have theirs!¡±
Leemy didn¡¯t look convinced.
¡°Skyisle is dying, has been dying for a thousand years since the Seditionist Revolution brought down the Alanian cities. All of Novazem is permanently scarred with magogenic zones,¡± Slava said. ¡°You were just a dying tree yourself when my sister and I found you and started to pour our souls into your roots to awaken you. The entire world is set against us, an Empire controlled by Vows is standing in our way.¡±
Leemy frowned.
¡°But,¡± Slava said. ¡°That¡¯s just part of the challenge. Contrary to what we are, we are making a difference¨Cthe three of us helped your tree bloom, we planted thousands of your seeds, made your saplings grow across Skyisle. Millions more will be carried by the wind across Novazem. You¡¯re part of my equation of the future, Leemy¨Cjust like Kliss and Delta are.¡±
2 : 36 Hydroponics
[Dante Alan Skyisle]
¡°Please, Leemy?¡± Delta asked. ¡°Trust me? Trust us. Kliss isn¡¯t our enemy and Slava will make sure that she grows up to be a good dragon.¡±
¡°There is no such thing as a good dragon,¡± Leemy insisted.
¡°There is now,¡± I said. ¡°I made Kliss, she¡¯s an entirely new type of species¨Ca chimera. I¡¯ll make sure that her skills don¡¯t just destroy forests. In fact, her fire will help you bloom.¡±
¡°Dragonfire¡ that helps trees grow?¡± Leemy asked with a skeptical look.
¡°Yes,¡± I affirmed.
¡°This¡ exists?¡± Leemy looked at Delta and then at me.
¡°It doesn¡¯t exist yet,¡± I admitted. ¡°But I¡¯ll make it happen!¡±
¡°My brother can do what the best Alanian academics failed at,¡± Delta nodded.
Leemy looked between us with a deep sigh. ¡°It¡¯s not like I can bloom somewhere else and you have been helping my trees thus far.¡±
¡°That¡¯s the spirit,¡± Delta grinned, hugging her dryad.
¡°Good,¡± I said. ¡°Now that that¡¯s settled, let¡¯s get down to business and discuss tactics.¡±
I mentally formed a couple of park benches that faced each other for us to sit down. Kliss and I settled on one side, while Delta and Leemy sat down across from us.
¡°Leemy, how interconnected would you say all of your trees are?¡± I asked.
¡°So-so,¡± the dryad replied. ¡°Many trees are still not part of the root system, only connected to me via the Astral.¡±
¡°Think you can finish it in 13 days?¡± I asked.
¡°No,¡± Lemmy shook her head.
I frowned.
¡°I¡¯ll arm the Violets with Agromancy wands, coordinate them on what to do,¡± Delta offered. ¡°I might be able to pull it off. I know Leemy better than anyone.¡±
¡°Kliss and I will be working on the central tree and enforcing the ley lines with positively charged magic,¡± I nodded. ¡°You can handle the rest?¡±
¡°I can handle the rest,¡± Delta nodded.
I eyed her with a dubious expression.
¡°Stop worrying so much! I¡¯m extra-motivated now. I¡¯ve never been so freakin¡¯ motivated!¡± Delta affirmed, clinging to her dryad.
[Heh. I think that¡ she¡¯s in love,] a soft voice danced through my mind coming from nowhere in particular. [How cute.]
My eyes snapped to Kliss. Her lips didn¡¯t move. I stared at her.
[What?] Kliss asked without speaking. [Why is Slava looking at me like that?]
Five Infoscopes came into existence over my head. The spells scattered scanning the Astral and the physical. I found the source of the magic responsible for the voice in my head in seconds. The tether between us had bloomed, grown far more solid.
¡°You¡¯ve reinforced the connection,¡± I said.
¡°Which connection?¡± Kliss blinked.
¡°Between dragon and kobold,¡± I explained. ¡°I think that I can hear your thoughts.¡±
[My thoughts¡ wait does he know that I¡ wait, don¡¯t think that¡ don¡¯t picture that¡]
Her mental voice fell silent. Kliss blushed fiercely.
¡°I, erm,¡± she muttered. ¡°I poured more magic into our connection, because I was worried about you fighting the Hollow Mother by yourself¡ without me. I think that what I did makes you my primary kobold, or something. A kobold general, maybe?¡±
¡°I can handle Sasha,¡± I said.
¡°You did say that, but also¡ Also, you make that face¡ like you¡¯re not handling it well,¡± Kliss bared her chompers almost like a dragon, even though her avatar in the dream was that of a human girl. ¡°Next time you go wherever it is where you two chat, take me with you.¡±
¡°She could¡¡± I said.
¡°Could what?¡± Kliss demanded. ¡°Infect me? A dragon? Really? Giovashi¡¯s obelisk couldn¡¯t do squat against me and you think that an Astral Phantom can somehow influence me with negatively-charged magic? Really?¡±
I considered her words and opened my mouth to argue.
[You¡¯re taking me with you,] Her direct thoughts suddenly slammed against me. [No, scratch that I¡¯m coming with you. Whatever you¡¯re doing, it¡¯s not good enough. You¡¯re mine! MINE!]
I considered using the Infoscopes to snap the mental connection between us.
¡°The Song of the Wormwood Star cannot win against fire,¡± Leemy commented.
I stared at her, not sure what she was talking about.
¡°Fire claims all,¡± Leemy added. ¡°Fire consumes all, chases away the darkness.¡±
Something in my mind clicked, a plan, an idea.
¡°Fine,¡± I addressed the snarling dragon girl. ¡°I¡¯ll take you.¡±
Kliss stopped growling at me and settled down, wrapping me in her embrace and leaning onto my shoulder. A wash of radiant heat danced across the NeuroVista landscape like a breeze of hot wind. My Infoscopes detected a burst of focused, positively-charged magic coming from her crystalline heart. Our little dragon was growing up faster than I expected. The gold from Ishira¡¯s obelisk, the kobolds and the claimed Alanian artifacts were fueling the furnace of her crystalline heart at an exponential rate, multiplying her innate magic.
¡°You can join me,¡± I added. ¡°On one condition.¡±
¡°Yes?¡± Kliss piped up.
¡°Claim Delta,¡± I said.
¡°What?¡± Leemy sputtered.
¡°Woo,¡± Delta hooted. ¡°I¡¯m gonna be a kobold!¡±
¡°With pleasure,¡± Kliss said. ¡°When we wake up¡¡±
¡°No,¡± I shook my head. ¡°Claim Delta here, now.¡±
My sister stared at me as did Kliss.
¡°I¡ I am pretty sure that I need to bite something physically to claim it,¡± Kliss commented. ¡°I¡ Aradria never claimed anything in her dreams. How can something non physical even be claimed?¡±
¡°Yet again, I must iterate, you are not Aradria,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯re Kliss. The current you is an extension of your soul that I pulled into my dream. I want you to claim my sister¡¯s soul, not her body.¡±
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¡°Is that going to make me less cold?¡± Delta asked.
¡°Maybe,¡± I said. ¡°You up for it?¡±
¡°You bet your ass I am,¡± Delta nodded.
¡°You¡ you can¡¯t be serious! You wish the ever-fire to lay its claim on you?!¡± Leemy asked incredulously.
¡°I wish my infection burned away,¡± Delta said. ¡°I don¡¯t like being cold. I just want to be me. I don¡¯t want to be a patchwork of stolen soul-bits, I don¡¯t want to be hungry and cold forever. Can your tree warm me up? Fix me?¡±
¡°It¡ cannot,¡± Leemy said. ¡°I cannot undo the rot that plagues your tree, my Agromancer.¡±
¡°I¡¯m getting claimed. I¡ trust Kliss,¡± Delta admitted. ¡°And most of all, I trust my brother.¡±
She stood up from her bench and offered a hand to Kliss. ¡°Go on then, claim my soul.¡±
Kliss simply stared at the offered hand.
¡°Fine,¡± she said. ¡°I will.¡±
She bit Delta¡¯s hand. Nothing happened. Kliss frowned.
¡°Do you need to be more¡ errr¡ draconic maybe?¡± Delta asked. ¡°You¡¯re biting me as a human.¡±
¡°How can I be ¡®more draconic¡¯ in this place?¡± Kliss asked, looking down at her human hands. ¡°Isn¡¯t this just a dream?¡±
¡°Is it tho¡¯?¡± Delta eyed Leemy. ¡°Leems here keeps evaluating our souls n¡¯ stuff.¡±
¡°This isn¡¯t just a dream,¡± Leemy commented. ¡°The roots of our souls are present here, entwined.¡±
¡°Ah, that¡¯s my bad,¡± I said, looking at Kliss. ¡°I¡¯m filtering out most of your dragon soul, since last time you lost control over your emotions. Let me readjust the ward to bring all of you in.¡±
I went into NeuroVista parameters and let the entire soul of Kliss through the ward.
I watched as the human figure of Kliss became more draconic, her figure suddenly radiating warmth, shimmering and changing. Gemstone-like hair sprouted atop of her head, her eyes turning to slits framed by emerald and orange rings. Her pale skin darkened with an orange shine. She didn¡¯t grow shorter and remained her approximately nineteen-year old self, but had now fully manifested her chimeric appearance.
¡°Try it now,¡± I said.
Kliss nodded. She pulled my twin¡¯s hand into her mouth and bit the offered fingers. Delta winced ever so slightly.
Time slowed as NeuroVista accelerated my mind, processing information as draconic soul-threads dug into Delta¡¯s soul and placed distinctive anchors there. As they settled, I gradually sliced up the control mechanism portion of it, keeping only the connection to our dragon girl¡¯s hoard.
¡°So, dragons can claim human souls,¡± I commented when time resumed its flow. ¡°Curious. Do me next.¡±
¡°Didn¡¯t I already make you my kobold?¡± Kliss asked, staring at my hand.
¡°My physical, human body, yes,¡± I nodded. ¡°But we¡¯re talking about something completely different here - the human soul is a parapsychological construct, one that can exist entirely in the Astral. The anchors you¡¯re establishing here are entirely magical. They¡¯re stable waveform patterns that are unlike anything I¡¯ve seen, somehow held within the Astral via the network of magic emanating from your hoard¡ sort of like a ward supported by a battery.¡±
Kliss grabbed my hand and bit my fingers, claiming my soul. Again, I scanned the anchors and sliced through the control mechanism.
¡°Done,¡± Kliss said.
I glanced at Leemy.
¡°No,¡± she said. ¡°There is no way that I¡¯m letting fire lay its claim on me.¡±
¡°Come on,¡± Delta said. ¡°It¡¯s fine! Join us! See, I¡¯m perfectly fine and not on fire, see?¡±
¡°You¡¯re fine for now,¡± Leemy pointed out. ¡°But there is a spark in you that will spread. Don¡¯t you understand? This fire won¡¯t stop burning until it will consume you!¡±
¡°It¡¯s not exactly fire,¡± I mulled. ¡°It¡¯s actually similar to what the Astral Phantoms do, leave an imprint of themselves, an Astral construct, a magical virus that grows within the targeted soul. The vital difference is that this is positively-charged magic, one that pushes the Astral currents away from the soul, gradually fortifying it against entropic decay.¡±
Leemy crossed her arms, not budging. Convincing the dryad that our dragon was harmless would clearly take some time. Time which was in short supply. Quite frankly I didn¡¯t expect for Leemy to be so bothered by the draconic nature of Kliss.
I frowned, racking my brain for the right words to convince Leemy. ¡°Think of it as a symbiotic relationship,¡± I offered, hoping the scientific terminology might sway her. ¡°Like the mycorrhizae fungi that connect to tree roots, exchanging nutrients for mutual benefit. Kliss isn¡¯t consuming your soul, she¡¯s amplifying it, providing a shield against the decay of the Astral Ocean. The connection between dragon and dryad... it could be something truly unique, something new, a fusion of magic unlike any other.¡±
Leemy''s orange eyes narrowed.
¡°I don¡¯t¡¡± she began.
¡°Can a plant grow without soil and without sunlight?¡± I interrupted Leemy.
¡°No,¡± she replied. ¡°It cannot.¡±
¡°That¡¯s where you¡¯re wrong,¡± I said.
I snapped my fingers, dissolving the view of VDNKH and placing our quartet into a wholly different place from my memories.
The girls looked around the white room, staring up at the plastic and glass tubes covered in plants, UV-B lamps flickering above rows of various vegetables.
¡°Welcome to the artificial climate laboratory of the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy in Moscow,¡± I said. ¡°These are plants that my people grew without sunlight and soil.¡±
I waved at the rows of tubes behind me. The dryad circled the room, her orange eyes widening as she examined the strange, intricate systems of tubes, pumps, and grow lights. Delta and Kliss trailed behind her, their expressions curious.
¡°These plants,¡± I said, gesturing to the flourishing vegetables bathed in the glow of the lamps, ¡°are thriving without the traditional elements of nature. They are nourished by a carefully balanced nutrient solution delivered directly to their roots, their growth stimulated by artificial sunlight.¡±
¡°Plants without sunlight or ground,¡± Kliss murmured, staring at the green leaves and then back at me. ¡°I would have thought this impossible too! You just keep on surprising me, Slava.¡±
I nodded.
Leemy¡¯s gaze lingered on a cluster of vibrant red tomatoes, their plumpness a testament to the efficacy of the system. I saw a flicker of understanding in her eyes.
¡°This¡ is real, such a thing is possible to build on Novazem?¡± The dryad asked.
¡°Yes,¡± I nodded. ¡°Absolutely. In fact, I plan to build hydroponics greenhouses just like this all over Skyisle where kids can take care of plants to enjoy fresh vegetables and fruits even in the harshest winter months! With magic and basic understanding of agricultural science lots of incredible things can be done. My people built laboratories like these to provide vegetables to the people living in the far reaches of the north. The agronom researchers of the USSR planned to conquer dead planets, to bring plants via hydroponics to the furthest reaches of space where nothing can survive!¡±
¡°Why would fruits grow healthier without soil to support their roots?¡± Leemy asked.
¡°Most of the soil and water in Skyisle is contaminated by the Valley of Death, not letting plants flourish as much as they should,¡± I explained. ¡°Honestly if it wasn''t for plants reinforcing themselves with Vitality magic, nothing would be alive here at all. Hydroponics eliminates the need for soil altogether and I can filter the heavy metals and other contaminants out of the water.¡±
Leemy looked at Delta.
¡°He¡¯s speaking the truth,¡± my twin nodded. ¡°We can definitely build hydroponic gardens in Skyisle!¡±
¡°Fruits and vegetables in winter¡¡± Leemy mulled. "How odd."
¡°You see, Leemy,¡± I continued, ¡°just as these plants have adapted to this artificial environment, you too can adapt to a new source of energy, a new kind of symbiosis. You fear Kliss¡¯ fire, yet it is not the destructive force you perceive. Her magic is a radiant force that opposes the decay of the Valley of Death and the pull of the Astral Ocean. The dragonheart within her can act as your artificial sun, a constant source of energy that will nourish your growth and shield you from harm, even on the darkest of days, keeping you blooming even in deepest winter.¡±
I pointed at one of the massive lamps casting UV rays onto a row of cucumbers.
¡°Just like this artificial light sustains these plants,¡± I said. ¡°Kliss can do the same for you. You need not fear our dragon girl, for the fire of her crystalline heart is my creation, just like you are Kopusha¡¯s project. Neither of you would exist had it not been for the work of a talented Alanian Agromancer and a reborn Soviet virologist.¡±
My sister blushed at my praise, kicking one of her legs back just like Kopusha used to when she stood in front of the tree she crafted a thousand years ago. Giovashi wanted to create a hollow, uncaring human, a ghoul from my sister, to forge a living weapon without empathy. However, thanks to my interference, Delta ended up as a reincarnation of the Alanian Novitiate from Tricameron. Over ten years I watched Delta drift from a frightened, emotionally enclosed girl to a bubbly and compassionate teenager, one that was now wholeheartedly dedicated to her dryad creation.
[You¡¯re right about that,] Kliss thought, somehow catching onto my train of thought. [Leemy is Delta¡¯s emotional anchor, her hoard, true passion that will keep her soul stable even when her phantom nature will attempt to pull her apart. I think that she¡¯s gonna do much better with the dryad around.]
Leemy¡¯s expression became contemplative as Delta squeezed her green-tinted hand.
The dryad was beginning to understand. The concept of an artificial sun, a source of energy that could transcend the limitations of nature, was something entirely new, something that challenged her preconceived notions of reality. She wasn¡¯t stupid, but she did spend far too long simply being a dying tree clinging to life inside the ruins of the Alanian tower.
I could see the cogs in her mind turning, the thousand-year-old tree grappling with this novel concept of hydroponics. I held my breath, hoping that my words had sown the seeds of trust.
¡°Is this... truly possible?¡± Leemy mulled. ¡°Can artificial fire truly nurture life without burning it all to cinders?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Delta and I answered together.
¡°Kliss isn¡¯t a real dragon, not the monstrous abomination that scorched the forests of Skyisle for a thousand years,¡± I said. ¡°She is artificial sunlight, artificial warmth that¡¯s entirely of my making. Delta¡¯s Agromancy wands have made you stronger and so will Kliss, I promise.¡±
¡°Kliss would never hurt you,¡± Delta nodded.
¡°I¡ promise to be your friend,¡± Kliss nodded. ¡°Promise to do my best to help your trees grow.¡±
Leemy looked deep into my eyes, then at Delta and then at Kliss.
¡°Fine,¡± she said. ¡°The roots of your words aren¡¯t tinted with deception¡ I will comply to this¡ strange cooperation between a tree and dragonfire.¡±
She offered Kliss her hand.
¡°Make me yours and help me grow stronger¡ o¡¯ artificial dragon.¡±
2 : 37 Brainstorming
I mentally relaxed as Kliss claimed Leemy, the dragon girl¡¯s teeth digging gently into the dryad¡¯s hand.
I watched as a crimson wave of magic surged from the hoard across Kliss, wrapping itself around Leemy¡¯s soul and planting brilliant sparks all over her. Like before, I carefully and instrumentally trimmed, pruned the connection, snipping away the control mechanism that would eventually turn Leemy into an obedient slave if left unmanaged, leaving only the positively-charged flow of mana.
The dryad¡¯s eyes widened as she sensed the sparks within herself. The violet blossoms adorning her hair seemed to glow brighter, petals unfurling.
¡°Hrm,¡± she murmured. ¡°This does feel invigorating. Perhaps I was wrong to resist it. I do hope that this artificial sun does not burn me to cinders one day in the distant future.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry, Leems, Slava won¡¯t let our dragon girl turn into an outta-control forest fire,¡± Delta murmured, leaning into her dryad. Leemy relaxed further, wrapping moss-covered hands around my twin. Both of them looked content.
¡°Right,¡± I said. ¡°Now that we¡¯re all magically and metaphorically on the same page, we need to finalize our plans for the next two weeks. So, let¡¯s have a brainstorming session. Inquisitor Jubz is bringing two Imperial legions to Skyisle. What does that mean for us?¡±
I turned to Kliss.
¡°Each legion will be fourteen armoured men,¡± she replied. ¡°Each will have a Scrutimancer of some kind, a professional Astral Seer who will smell, or foresee, or taste secrets.¡±
¡°We¡¯ve dealt with Foresight magi,¡± Delta commented. ¡°Violets now work for us. Could we¡¡±
¡°These will be professional legionnaires dedicated to the Empire and Goddess Equality, not orphans armed with blood-iron artifacts,¡± Kliss said.
My twin frowned.
¡°Where do you stand as Baroness in the Imperial hierarchy?¡± I asked Kliss. ¡°Could they be convinced to serve you?¡±
¡°No,¡± Kliss shook her head. ¡°They will answer to Inquisitor Jubz and will serve only one mission - to tear Skyisle apart while they search for Giovashi and the dragon¡¯s heart.¡±
¡°Imperial legions were here during the takeover of Skyisle, they didn¡¯t find anything,¡± Delta commented.
¡°It is possible that they didn¡¯t find anything last time because Giovashi misled them with Charisma magic,¡± I said. ¡°Or she even let them come on purpose so that they could kill her priestesses and slaughter many townspeople.¡±
¡°Why would she kill her own priestesses?¡± Delta demanded.
¡°Sacrifice,¡± I said. ¡°Giovashi¡¯s necromagic is powered entirely by soul sacrifices. She made Skyisle an awful place, created various deadly ¡®events¡¯ that made the entire town into willing Vow-makers. Giovashi¡¯s goal isn¡¯t to get souls to go to Arx, it¡¯s to tear human souls apart through conflicting Vows so that she could attach the remnants to herself to live longer."
¡°An imperial Scrutimancer will be able to see through lies like glass,¡± Kliss said. ¡°They won¡¯t be fooled like Jubz. What''s your plan, Slava?
¡°I can use my Infoscopes to modify, bend their spells,¡± I replied.
¡°You¡¯d have to bend the Astral itself¡ pretty much everywhere all the time then,¡± Kliss said with a deep frown. ¡°They¡¯ll be looking for specific clues. They¡¯ll see that giant tree in the center of town and ask the villagers questions. A professional Searcher isn¡¯t going to be bamboozled by an ant-powered suit of armor like the villagers of Skyisle.¡±
¡°I was really hoping to utilize the Rewind spellchain to trap the Legionnaires in a time loop, repeating their actions endlessly, rendering them ineffective,¡± I said. ¡°But I think that unfortunately we don¡¯t have enough time to finish it.¡±
¡°The root system isn¡¯t ready,¡± Leemy affirmed. ¡°I¡¯m not ready. Even if we had a hundred Agromancers it will not be possible to finish what you desire to do. More time is needed.¡±
¡°The Astral Seers must not be allowed to examine Skyisle from the sky,¡± Kliss said. ¡°If I¡ err, Aradria saw your massive hexagram from above then so will a talented Scrutimancer. How did you even plan on hiding something that big?¡±
¡°With another big concealment hexagram¡ which I didn¡¯t get to make yet,¡± I rubbed the back of my head. ¡°Aradria¡¯s arrival sort of sent all of my plans sideways¡±
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¡°That¡¯s what I thought,¡± Kliss said.
¡°What do you suggest we do then?¡± I asked.
¡°We should take the fight to them,¡± Kliss said, fiery spirals flickering in her eyes. ¡°They will make a stop in Agamemnon to stock up on a few weeks worth of cheap supplies as Skyisle won¡¯t provide such. We strike them there and we strike them hard, take out the Scrutimancers, weaken the legions¡ make them follow us.¡±
¡°Make them follow us?¡± I looked at her. ¡°To where?¡±
¡°To wherever I am stronger,¡± Kliss said. ¡°As Aradria I often made foolish skyship captains follow me, making them crash into floating mountains at the spine of the world or plummet into the depths of the magogenic faults.¡±
¡°We don¡¯t have a skyship,¡± Delta said. ¡°How the heck are we going to intercept them?¡±
She then gave me an annoyed look as if she was holding me personally responsible for the fact that Skyisle lacked a skyship.
¡°Maybe I¡ can just run there?¡± Kliss mulled. ¡°I could run to Agamemnon across the wilds, over the glaciers and valleys¡ I more or less know the way. I think that I can make it there in less than two weeks. I¡¯ll simply burn through the magic within the gold from the obelisk. I¡¯m strong now, I can stop them.¡±
¡°You can punch your way across twenty eight Imperial legionnaires and Jubz?¡± Delta asked with a skeptical look.
¡°Not a direct attack, I¡¯ll steal their skyship while they restock, make them follow me in the second ship¡ and make sure that they perish in the mountains,¡± Kliss insisted. ¡°I can do this, I know I can! I have to do this. I want to protect Skyisle, protect all of you!¡±
Her claws dug into my wrist, making me wince.
¡°Won¡¯t the Empire just assign another Inquisitor to investigate Skyisle?¡± I asked.
¡°They will,¡± Kliss said. ¡°In time. But, the Imperial bureaucracy is slow. I can delay it even further, if I can make it to the Inquisition Bureau in Cessna¡ and set it alight with dragonfire. Look, Slava¡ I know that you want to implement your Rewind hexagram and you will, but¡ I don¡¯t think that it will work against Scrutimancers who will absolutely sniff it from ten thousand elbows away in the sky and simply won¡¯t land in Skyisle. They¡¯ll bring a hundred times more men to deal with your questionable giant spellchain!¡±
I pursed my lips.
¡°Very well,¡± I said. ¡°But, you¡¯re not going to Agamemnon alone. We will all go there together and derail Jubz, make him believe that Giovashi and her Ishira cultists are targeting him personally. I can use my Infoscopes to send false Identify reports to them, make them think that you¡¯re actually Giovashi in disguise holding a dragonheart in her mage staff or something.¡±
¡°How?¡± Kliss asked. ¡°Neither of you can run with me down the glacier¨Cyou''re human!¡±
¡°You won¡¯t be running as much as you think,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll build you a glider. You can use it to make it down the valley to the ocean, then walk to Agamemnon. It won¡¯t take as long then. Delta and I will be with you, inside of your backpack as Astral Phantoms.¡±
¡°Hang on. Who¡¯s going to make sure that Skyisle is safe?¡± Delta asked.
¡°Our parents,¡± I said. ¡°Plus, Leemy.¡±
¡°No, Slava,¡± Delta said. ¡°What if Giovashi comes back and simply asks everyone to take their necklaces and collars off? Someone needs to stay in Skyisle as Archmage Delta to coordinate the Violets and work on finishing your hexagram. Someone needs to make sure shit doesn¡¯t go tits up in our home.¡±
¡°You¡?¡± I looked at her.
¡°I¡¯ll stay in Skyisle,¡± Delta nodded. ¡°As much as it¡¯s gonna suck not to have Kliss next to me to keep me warm, I¡¯ll have Leemy. Just¡ Could you permanently tether her Avatar to my mind to keep me company? You can do that, right?¡±
¡°I can do that,¡± I nodded.
¡°Then we¡¯re good,¡± Delta said. ¡°You two can go and derail Jubz and I¡¯ll protect Skyisle!¡±
Leaving my twin behind in Skyisle while Kliss and I dealt with the Inquisitor was a risk, but she was right¨Csomeone needed to stay behind to oversee the completion of the Rewind hexagram and ensure the safety of the village. My parents were capable, but they lacked the specialized knowledge and magical prowess needed to handle a threat like Giovashi or her minions. Delta, for all her eccentricities and impulsiveness, was a formidable Astral Phantom, controller of insects and a skilled Agromancer, intimately familiar with Leemy and the nuances of Skyisle''s terrain. She knew how to operate the other physical traps we¡¯ve designed around our workshop.
¡°Alright,¡± I said after a minute of tense silence. ¡°I trust you. But promise me you¡¯ll be careful and keep the Violets close. If anything unexpected happens, anything at all ¨C contact me immediately via voicecast.¡±
¡°Totes,¡± Delta nodded, forcing a smile that didn¡¯t quite reach her silver-blue eyes. ¡°Just make sure Kliss doesn¡¯t burn down Agamemnon or whatever. She seems overly excited to use dragonfire.¡±
I shot her a reassuring look and turned to Leemy. ¡°You up for this? Can you handle keeping Delta anchored and safe, keep an eye on Skyisle for us while we¡¯re gone?¡±
¡°I am up to this goal, Sentinel,¡± Leemy nodded. ¡°I shall keep my Agromancer focused on her job.¡±
¡°So,¡± Kliss asked. ¡°How soon do we leave?¡±
¡°In a few days,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll get dad to make the wooden frame for the glider and order the seamstress to make the necessary cloth. In the meanwhile, I want you to bite everything of magical value in Skyisle. Every tree, every rock. Everything. Claim it all.¡±
¡°Sure,¡± Kliss nodded.
¡°Also, there are more bodies and urns filled with crystalline dust in small rooms beneath the catacombs too,¡± I said. ¡°They¡¯re buried under stone blocks. Pull them free and claim them all. I believe that they are reinforcing the wards Giovashi made.¡±
Kliss blanched slightly.
¡°Yeah,¡± she said. ¡°Can do. Will you come with me and show me where they are?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± I replied.
¡°It¡¯s a date then,¡± Kliss suddenly twinkled at me with emerald-amber eyes.
Delta gave her a thumbs up.
2 : 38 Syntropic Boundary
As the morning sun splashed the valley with hues of pink, gold and orange, I made myself a cup of tea and headed straight to my dad¡¯s workshop. Once there, I grabbed a charcoal stick to sketch out the frame of the glider.
I was no flight engineer, but in my previous life I had used my savant syndrome afflicted mind to absorb a truly ungodly amount of knowledge. Thus, I simply pulled at the strings of my past, going over the long hours I spent at the Lenin State Library of the USSR, recalling everything I knew about plane and glider design.
I recalled the words of Sergei Ilyushin, the creator of the legendary Il-2 Sturmovik ground-attack aircraft, a workhorse of the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War. According to Ilyushin, the successful design lay in understanding the needs of the pilot, the human at the heart of the machine. ¡°A good aircraft,¡± Ilyushin wrote, ¡°is an extension of the pilot¡¯s will, a tool that amplifies their courage and skill.¡±
From there, I recalled how Academic Lavrentiyev introduced me to Oleg Antonov, who showed me his glider designs one autumn evening.
¡°Aren¡¯t they beautiful?¡± Antonov asked me as I admired his drawings. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for that damn gliding instructor defecting to the West in thirty eight, I¡¯d still have my Glider Factory!¡±
¡°They are,¡± I asserted, burning the man¡¯s glider designs that never came to be into my mind. ¡°Maybe in the future, when I become an Administrator, I can help build these lovely birds for you!¡±
¡°Forget about it, kid,¡± Antonov laughed. ¡°You¡¯re too damn bright for your own good. They¡¯ll probably put you into atomics, make you work in one of the closed cities till you drop dead.¡±
I didn¡¯t believe it back then as my mind was filled with stardust dreams, but Oleg Antonov¡¯s words had become a prophecy, one that eventually shaped my future.
As my mind distantly lamented over the tragedy of my past life in which everything I had worked for turned to naught, my hands had done their job for me. I finished sketching out the design of the hang-glider, incorporating elements of Antonov¡¯s and Ilyushin¡¯s designs.
As Georgi walked into his workshop and woke up the Violets, I showed him the blueprint and described what I wanted.
¡°Hrm,¡± he said. ¡°This will delay our Agromancy wand production, but I can certainly make it in a day or two.¡±
¡°Make it happen,¡± I nodded.
¡°This isn¡¯t for Destiny to use, right? Your mom will have a fit if she sees her flying on a wooden glider,¡± dad said.
¡°No,¡± I replied. ¡°Destiny and Great-Aunt Delta are staying in Skyisle to make wands. This is for Kliss. She¡¯s going to fly it down the valley past the glacier to then walk to Agamemnon.¡±
¡°That doesn¡¯t seem very safe,¡± Georgi pointed out.
¡°It¡¯s part of her training,¡± I shrugged. ¡°Archmage apprentice business and whatnot. Kliss is half-dragon so even if she falls from the sky she¡¯ll be fine.¡±
¡°Very well,¡± dad nodded.
¡°How goes it, have you claimed all of Skyisle yet?¡± I asked Kliss when I met her later in the garden along with my sister.
Kliss grinned, her ruby-violet hair sparkling. ¡°Getting there! I got around sixty of Leemy¡¯s saplings, the big tree in the centre of town, many hexagrams in the Fox and Fiddle Pub, your parents¡¯ cottage and workshop and every ward and hex-lantern I could find on my way. Plus I got a couple of Elks. It was fun chasing them down.¡±
I nodded. I¡¯ve been watching her through the eyes of my Infoscopes, learning all sorts of interesting things.
¡°Blood elks?¡± Delta asked.
¡°Yep. There were a few stragglers at the edge of town. It took me a while to convince them that I was their new Queen,¡± Kliss said with a wide grin.
¡°Blood Elk kobolds, eh?¡± Delta rubbed her chin. ¡°Sounds like someone¡¯s having fun. Now I¡¯m extra-jelly! Uh, Slava, what exactly prevents a dragon from claiming everything on the planet to gain limitless power? Why hasn¡¯t Aradria claimed all of Novazem? Why didn¡¯t she claim all humans?¡±
I turned to Kliss, waiting for her to answer.
¡°I¡ Aradria, didn¡¯t want to claim all of Novazem,¡± Kliss answered. ¡°Far too many non-magical or barely-magical things are untasty and bleh. Only things that glow super bright in the Astral are nice to collect and sleep on. Having too many kobolds is also draining, somehow¡ I think? It¡ makes me sleepy? I don¡¯t think that those Blood Elks are proper kobolds exactly, they¡¯re more like prey that I tagged, that I could potentially convert into kobolds over a long ass time¡ If they stay close to my hoard, which they probably won¡¯t since my control over them is basically nothing.¡±
¡°Womp womp,¡± Delta frowned. ¡°No Blood Elk kobolds then?¡±
¡°I could make it happen, I think. It¡¯s just¡ long? I think. Yeah, that¡¯s it! Time consuming effort. It requires a big sleep. A few hundred winters, maybe?¡±
¡°Centuries?¡± Delta asked.
¡°Numerous kobold generations,¡± Kliss nodded. ¡°And they have to stay confined within my domain, near my hoard. Spreading my domain out past the cavern system made me feel... vulnerable? Unsafe? Like¡ anyone could just run off with my hoard? The hoard needs to stay together, in one place, right under me, otherwise its songs get weaker!¡±
¡°Songs?¡± Delta asked.
¡°The hoard sings,¡± Kliss nodded. ¡°Like a chorus of a thousand voices. Every piece of gold, every kobold, every artifact beneath me. They all hum distinctive melodies, but they also sing together as one when I need them to¡ When I need to have a storm to shield me, I make them sing of rain and wind and lightning!¡± Her eyes momentarily lit up from within. ¡°My hoard is very small and discordant now, colors and tunes all over, not exactly right.¡±
Delta looked at me quizzically, expecting further explanation.
¡°I think that the limitation of a dragon hoard isn¡¯t simply time or the dragon¡¯s personal perception of her dominion, it¡¯s basic thermodynamics.¡± I rubbed my chin thoughtfully.
¡°Thermo-what-now?¡± Kliss squinted at me.
¡°Thermodynamics is a branch of physics that deals with heat, work, temperature, and their relation to energy, radiation, and physical properties of matter,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s a set of universal laws that governs the flow of energy in any system, from the smallest atom to the largest star. The way a dragon¡¯s hoard functions, its ability to channel energy, its reliance on positively charged magic... it¡¯s also likely governed by these laws.¡±
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¡°Uhhh,¡± Kliss drawled.
¡°Imagine a campfire,¡± I began, gesturing with my hands as if conjuring flames from thin air. ¡°You need kindling to start a fire, right? Wood, dead leaves, something that burns easily. That¡¯s the initial source of energy.¡±
I pointed at the small ruby gemstones adorning Kliss¡¯s hair. ¡°Your hair gems are the kindling, the sparks. They¡¯re constantly absorbing energy from the surrounding environment, from the Astral Ocean, and converting it into positively charged mana. The basis of your dragon magic.¡±
Kliss nodded.
¡°Now,¡± I continued, ¡°if you want a bigger fire, more power, you need more fuel. More logs, more branches, something to sustain the flames. In the case of a dragon¡¯s hoard, gold and artifacts act as that fuel.¡±
¡°The bigger the hoard, the bigger the fire, the more kobolds I can manage safely,¡± Kliss nodded.
¡°Indeed,¡± I said. ¡°The problem is, energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred or transformed. That¡¯s the first law of thermodynamics. When a dragon claims an object, a kobold, or even an entire forest, she¡¯s not creating energy. She¡¯s drawing it from elsewhere.¡±
¡°From the Astral?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Isn¡¯t Astral negatively charged or whatever?¡± Delta inquired.
¡°From the physical environment,¡± I said, gesturing to the vast expanse of blue sky above us. ¡°From the fundamental fabric of reality. From the very forces that hold the universe together. From the furnace of stars.¡±
¡°Meaning what?¡± Delta pressed me.
¡°The Astral Ocean is mostly darkness, emptiness, vastness¡ infinity of all that was,¡± I said. ¡°A dragon¡¯s hoard is a focused point, a pinprick that bends the universe elsewhere in a completely different direction. Larger systems in Thermodynamics tend to have more entropy, more chaos, more disorder. They¡¯re less efficient, harder to control, more prone to¡ catastrophic failures.¡±
¡°Catastrophic failures? Hang on¡ are dragons walking Chernobyl reactors?¡± Delta demanded. ¡°Can dragons have a meltdown?¡±
¡°Dragons are indeed exceptionally dangerous,¡± I nodded. ¡°They can eliminate life with incredible ease. A living dragon might not have a meltdown, but a dead one... might create a permanently contaminated area if not dealt with quickly.¡±
¡°I think that I see where this is going,¡± Delta commented. ¡°Do try to remember it, miss dragon¨Cif you pull too much magic from your stash, does it catch fire?¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± Kliss admitted after a few seconds of contemplative silence. ¡°I think that if I pull too hard too much at once¡ then my gold will ignite and turn to white, empty, untasty sand.¡±
¡°Slava, why are you making Kliss claim things left and right?¡± Delta demanded.
¡°To study the nature of positively-charged magic and to develop the hoard-kobold-claim magical theory,¡± I said. ¡°To understand how to manage dragon power better, in the same way humanity from Earth figured out how to manage electricity. Dragons are power plants, yes, but they¡¯re self-managed, self-governing, innate power plants, which isn¡¯t exactly optimal.¡±
Delta blinked at me.
"Kobolds act as fuses, sacrificial breakers. They likely protect the dragon¡¯s hoard by burning out before the gold or artifacts do. Their souls are much less dense than solid gold or ancient crystalline magic tools, after all,¡± I pointed out.
¡°Oi! That doesn¡¯t make me feel better,¡± Delta said. ¡°Am I going to spontaneously combust?¡±
She gave me a look of ¡®why the heck did you make Kliss claim my soul¡¯?
¡°Well,¡± I said. ¡°You aren¡¯t a full kobold, just a fraction of one. Full kobolds take generations to create and their bodies most likely change from within and become densely covered in crystalline growths. Right?¡± I eyed Kliss.
¡°Yeah, I think that the tether between me and my recently-made kobolds will simply burn out, snap. The old, crystal-covered kobolds would indeed simply ignite and detonate turning to ashes,¡± Kliss nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t have any old kobolds tied to me though, so that¡¯s not an issue.¡±
¡°Leemy is basically crystalline growths surrounded by wooden bark,¡± Delta said. ¡°I get why my dryad was afraid of being your kobold, terrified of catching fire.¡±
¡°Leemy¡¯s not going to catch fire,¡± I assured my sister. ¡°The current claim of her by Kliss is far too small, at best the trees would lose a couple of crystals out of millions.¡±
¡°But in the future?¡±
¡°In the future¡ the Rewind hexagram will act as a supermassive breaker¨Cone that will make sure that nothing and nobody permanently burns out,¡± I said. ¡°Yes, Kliss could theoretically overdraw magic from the town, vaporize all of Skyisle, turn her kobolds and hoard into ashes, but in a flash everything, everyone here will be brought back to life, any damage will simply get¡ rewound.¡±
¡°What the¡ are you serious? Won¡¯t that kill everyone? Won¡¯t they all feel horrible pain?¡± Delta demanded, her silver-blue eyes wide at the implication of my words.
¡°Yes,¡± I said. ¡°But such an event is in the distant future and would only be a last resort sort of action. It¡¯s sacrifice without permanent sacrifice, loss without loss. Nobody would even remember dying because the pain would be rewound. Yes, I get it, it¡¯s imperfect¡ but that¡¯s life, that¡¯s the best I can come up with, for now¨Ca hoard that doesn¡¯t completely burn away when its dragon is cornered.¡±
¡°Yay me,¡± Kliss commented dryly. ¡°So¡ what happens when I make dragonfire?¡±
¡°Didn¡¯t we learn this stuff already?¡± Delta asked, getting fidgety.
¡°Nah,¡± Kliss eyed me. ¡°Slava got more stuff figured out, I can feel it.¡±
¡°You claim something,¡± I said. ¡°Like that obelisk. You claimed the gold in it with your fists. You pulled positively-charged magic from your hoard, power that came not from the Astral Ocean¡ but from a place¡ opposite of it.¡±
¡°Uh? What''s the opposite of the Astral Ocean?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Syntropic Boundary,¡± I said.
The girls stared at me.
¡°Did you just come up with that?¡± Delta asked.
¡°I did,¡± I nodded. ¡°It¡¯s the scientific term I just assigned to what I¡¯ve been observing in the magical currents,¡± I clarified. ¡°The Astral Ocean is infinite, vast, ever-present and composed of negatively charged magic. It pulls at reality, makes magical imprints of everything, and acts as a medium through which spells are cast. Negatively-charged magic is an entropic, chaotic system. The opposite of the Astral Ocean must therefore be Syntropic, it must increase order.¡±
¡°Dragonfire is¡ increasing order?¡± Kliss commented.
¡°Positively-charged magic isn¡¯t simply creating something,¡± I continued. ¡°It¡¯s also a force that rearranges, transforms existing matter. The very concept of ¡®rearranging matter on an atomic level¡¯ was something my people on Earth achieved a century ago with a device called a particle accelerator. Particle accelerators propelled charged particles, such as protons or electrons, to nearly the speed of light, colliding them together to create entirely new particles! It took us decades of hard work to understand the power locked within atoms, to unravel the secrets of the universe itself. Using that knowledge we eventually built atomic bombs, weapons that could reduce entire cities to ashes in the blink of an eye.¡±
¡°Like¡ dragonfire?¡±
¡°Worse in some ways, better in others,¡± I shrugged. ¡°A thermonuclear explosion could vaporize a thousand Skyisles in a blink of an eye. A dragon¡¯s fire is a much more focused ray that rewrites reality, pulling it much closer towards Syntropic Boundary. What dragonfire does is assign repeating order, the kind that¡¯s forced into existence by crystalline microstructures that pull the surrounding universe closer and closer to Syntropy. A dragon claims a domain or an object and gradually or catastrophically reassigns it towards greater order. While this happens, the surrounding area experiences greater entropy, more decay to balance things out."
My companions simply stared at me.
¡°When you claimed that obelisk in the catacombs, you rearranged its crystalline structure, you devoured its magic and turned it into something new, something that would no longer obey Giovashi,¡± I said to Kliss.
¡°How is the world not covered in dead forests then?¡± Delta asked. ¡°If dragonglass perpetually propagates death and decay then¡¡±
¡°Novazem is about the size of Earth,¡± I shrugged. ¡°I suspect that once dragonglass generates enough Death radiance, the crystalline particles simply melt right through the mundane terrain and eventually end up in the center of the planet, where gravity and pressure gradually compresses it into a singularity.¡±
¡°A singularity?¡± Kliss blinked.
¡°A very slowly growing Syntropic-matter black hole.¡± I nodded. ¡°It is quite possible that Novazem is doomed, that eventually enough dragonglass will build up inside the core of the planet to destabilize it from within, which will potentially create catastrophic magical surge-storms on the surface decaying away reality. Or not. I honestly don¡¯t know. This is pure speculation at this point on my part. It¡¯s not like I can send an Infoscope into the center of the world or something¡ not yet, anyway.¡±
2 : 39 Claimed
¡°I see,¡± Kliss swallowed.
¡°Also, I suspect that Dragons sleep for centuries so that they can digest and process all of the magic they¡¯ve absorbed from the environment and convert it to more of their soft-hard crystalline structures. They¡¯re basically walking thaumaturgical reactors and reactors need time to cool down, lest they self-reinforce their core into existence too much and melt right through reality along with their hoard. Remember what I said about thermodynamics?¡±
¡°Energy cannot be created or destroyed,¡± Kliss said.
¡°When Aradria acquired energy from the Syntropic Boundary it took her centuries to safely concentrate it within her hoard, to balance every artifact and kobold into a functional network, aka a stable chorus,¡± I affirmed. ¡°I suspect that she slept lots because it took a lot of mental effort on her part to do so.¡±
¡°Am I going to sleep a lot too then?¡± she asked with a worried look, ¡°and miss out on hanging out with you?¡±
¡°Nah,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll help you stabalize your hoard manually once I figure out all of this stuff. Just keep claiming things for now.¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± Kliss nodded. ¡°That I can do.¡±
¡°Is the Valley of Death a permanent magical explosion created via Syntropic Boundary bullshit? Is that why there¡¯s an edge... an ever-growing bubble of total anti-magic around it?¡± Delta asked.
¡°I suspect that it is,¡± I nodded.
¡°Why hasn¡¯t the entire Valley of Death sunk into the center of the planet like dragonglass then?¡± My twin asked.
¡°Perhaps it is simply a positively-charged magical shear that¡¯s also spatially stabilized and attached to the Astral Gate?¡± I shrugged. ¡°Until we figure out how to safely reach the ruins of Tricameron Citadel, I can¡¯t be sure of what is actually going on there.¡±
¡°Peachy,¡± Delta frowned. ¡°Welp, I¡¯m gonna go help Leems grow more trees, you two have fun in the catacombs¡ claiming spooky skeletons. Byeeee.¡±
She winked at Kliss, pulled an Agromancy wand from her side and disappeared into the forest.
Kliss grabbed me by the elbow and we headed to the Fox and Fiddle pub.
¡°How exactly will you make Skyisle more magical?¡± She asked me. ¡°Leemy¡¯s trees are sort of nice to claim but everything else isn¡¯t very claimable yet.¡±
¡°Not all materials are created equal when it comes to hoarding,¡± I nodded. ¡°I will need to optimize the production of safe dragonglass.¡±
¡°Safe dragonglass?¡± Kliss asked. ¡°Isn¡¯t that just¡ modified magic gold? Where are you going to get so much gold from?¡±
¡°Materials can be modified,¡± I said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be gold. I¡¯ll have to come up with a spell that you can wield that modifies existing structures, adds a lattice of microscopic crystals to each brick, beam and rock in skyisle.¡±
¡°And that¡¯s possible?¡± Kliss tilted her sparkling, red mane at me.
¡°Each material has a unique magical signature, a specific affinity for absorbing, storing, and releasing mana. Gold, for example, has a high affinity for positively-charged magic, which makes it an ideal material for dragon hoards. Wood, on the other hand, has a lower affinity, so it wouldn''t contribute as much to the dragon¡¯s power, even if coated in positively-charged crystals,¡± I said. ¡°But, the process by which an existing material becomes crystallized involves the arrangement of its molecules or atoms into a highly ordered structure.¡±
¡°Hrm,¡± Kliss pursed her lips. ¡°So your people studied¡ such things?¡±
¡°We did,¡± I nodded. ¡°We figured out that the primary driving force for crystallization is the reduction in free energy of the system. When a material transitions from a disordered state, like a liquid or gas, to a more ordered crystalline state, there is usually a decrease in free energy, primarily due to enthalpic factors, like bond formation, and sometimes entropic factors. There are many ways in which crystals can be introduced into the system such as cooling, solvent evaporation, chemical reactions, temperature changes and seeding.¡±
¡°Uhhhh,¡± she squeezed my elbow. ¡°Yeah, you completely lost me there. My dragon-self has been long struck down by too many quirky, Earth words.¡±
¡°Different materials can be crystallised in different ways,¡± I said. ¡°Cooling for example is basically freezing a liquid, which makes ice. Evaporation produces crystals when a solution is boiled in a cauldron. Chemical reactions deal with creating crystals by mixing two specific fluids. Seeding is basically adding a small ¡®seed¡¯ crystal to a supersaturated solution that initiates crystallization by providing a template for growth.¡±
¡°Why did your people study so much crystallization if crystals of your world didn¡¯t produce magic?¡± She asked.
¡°Oh, crystallization helped us produce tons of incredible things,¡± I said as we entered the pub. ¡°Pharmaceuticals, or basically very specialized healing potions. Semiconductors, which allowed us to make a maddeningly vast variety of tools such as calculating machines. Optical Components, which helped us make tools that fired rays of light to ignite things from afar. Metal Alloys, which helped us make metal for our magic-less skyships aka planes. I can rant on forever about this stuff.¡±
¡°Rant away,¡± Kliss smiled. ¡°I like hearing the sound of your voice, like learning the strange words you throw at me that completely turn Aradria in me upside down.¡±
¡°It sounds like you¡¯ve become more accepting of your dragon-self,¡± I said.
¡°I¡¯m managing,¡± she replied. ¡°It was certainly hard to accept that I¡¯m the flying abomination that haunted humanity for centuries and obliterated a third of Cessna, but honestly Aradria is gone and whatever remains of her is just my ¡®wild¡¯ side now, one that is quite passionate about hoarding gold and¡ other things. Hearing you speak about gem-ification of common materials is practically making me drool!¡± She laughed.
¡°Since the day when the Inquisitor took my love away, I was cold and austere,¡± she said. ¡°Only seeing where I could implement Equality¡¯s order with greater efficiency. I thought that Skyisle was a hopeless dump, a place not worth saving. But now I just love so many things here and want to make everything more shiny and beautiful! Ha ha.¡±
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She let go of me momentarily and sprinted towards the large fireplace, touching the wood stacked there with a finger. Her entire body shimmered for a second and a spark jumped from her hand, igniting the wood.
¡°Dragonfire?¡± I asked.
¡°Dragonfire,¡± she grinned back at me. ¡°One that¡¯s going to keep my hoard warm in the winter. A tiniest spark of it, one that I can easily manage now. Made entirely through the book you gave me.¡±
She pulled me into the booth next to the fire.
¡°Why are we sitting? We have a job and¡¡± I began.
¡°What we have is each other,¡± she said. ¡°Me and you and the thread of magic between us. I could lose all of Skyisle, Slava, but I could not bear to lose you.¡±
I didn''t know what to say back to her declaration.
¡°Could I claim the forest by myself if I bite every tree?¡± she asked after a deep pause of simply staring at me.
¡°No,¡± I said. ¡°Claiming an entire forest would be a logistical nightmare, requiring a constant expenditure of energy and a meticulous organization of kobolds. It simply wouldn¡¯t be worth the effort.¡±
¡°Exactly,¡± Kliss said, her eyes reflecting the orange and gold flames. ¡°But you know how to claim forests through the dryad. You know far too many things and I want you¡¡±
My heart stuttered for a second as Kliss gripped both of my hands.
¡°To guide me forevermore,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m like Aradria, aren¡¯t I? I¡¯m going to live forever, my heart will never slow, never stop. You, on the other hand, are being eaten alive from within by an infection.¡±
She squeezed my hands harder.
¡°Your limbs are cold like ice, a void,¡± she said. ¡°The opposite of my heart¡ and I want to pull you out of the mire you got yourself into.¡±
I squinted at her.
¡°Take me into your mind,¡± Kliss ordered. ¡°Take me to her.¡±
¡°Are you sure?¡± I asked her.
¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± she nodded. ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡±
I squeezed her hands back and both of us fell backwards, plummeted into the depths of my soul.
The glacier-wrapped view of the Barents Sea greeted me like before, Sasha sitting on a rock and staring into the infinite silver-blue sky with a hundred eyes.
¡°You''re back?¡± she asked, looking down at me.
¡°Yes,¡± I nodded.
The ice and snow under my feet suddenly melted away with a blast of superheated air that radiated all around me, as if a brilliant sun came into existence right behind my back, bathing the ruined village and the surrounding ocean in its light just like the Tsar Bomba once had.
Sasha squinted at me, her pure white hair flying back. Her hands dug into the rock as her expression changed from total control to surprise, maybe even shock.
Kliss stepped from behind me and wherever she walked the snow parted. Her entire crystalline mane was wreathed in red flames which melted the snowflakes and painted the sky above her in brilliant rainbows.
¡°H-wh-you?¡± Sasha gaped trying to fit too many words into a single question.
¡°You are that which seeks to claim what is mine?¡± Kliss asked, her form radiating more heat and fire, the ocean ahead of her boiling away and parting.
"Yes," Sasha replied. "I am."
Kliss stepped in front of me, heading for Sasha. The Astral Virus nearly tumbled off her rock as Kliss reached her and bit her in the neck. The entire landscape cracked, the snow around us vanishing in a detonation of fire, the sand and rocks beneath my feet hot, the air shimmering with superheated spirals.
Sasha simply blinked with a multitude of eyes at Kliss and the surrounding, no longer icy landscape.
¡°Ouch,¡± she said, rubbing her silver, stardust-filled neck.
¡°You¡¯re mine,¡± Kliss said, staring down at the virus.
¡°An interesting strategy,¡± Sasha looked up at me. ¡°Did you conceive it?¡±
¡°I conceived it,¡± Kliss said. ¡°I¡¯m claiming whatever you are.¡±
¡°Curious, curious,¡± Sasha¡¯s cold, azure eyes looked at the blazing dragon girl. ¡°It will take you time to claim me.¡±
¡°I have all the time in the world,¡± Kliss said. ¡°I¡¯m a dragon. Dragons do not die from old age.¡±
¡°Fair enough,¡± Sasha said. ¡°I will submit.¡±
¡°You¡¯re not going to take the knowledge of fractal mathematics to the Hollow Mother,¡± Kliss said. ¡°Do we understand each other?¡±
Sasha simply nodded, rubbing her neck. I noted that a crystalline pattern of lightning-like white and orange fractures was now there, running down and across her body and dress.
¡°What are you doing to my primary kobold?¡± Kliss asked. ¡°State your intentions, phantom.¡±
¡°I am seeking an understanding,¡± the Astral Virus answered. ¡°Also, I am not a phantom, I am a virus.¡±
¡°An understanding?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Of everything,¡± Sasha replied.
¡°Is that so?¡± Kliss asked, her arms crossed. ¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because that is my job,¡± Sasha answered.
¡°Your job will be whatever I tell you to do,¡± Kliss growled. ¡°You are my kobold now.¡±
Sasha pursed her lips.
¡°So I am,¡± she said, an eye opening in her neck to look directly at the crystalline fracture. ¡°Just a small fraction of a kobold.¡±
¡°But this fraction will grow,¡± Kliss said. ¡°You¡¯re not exactly a person. You¡¯re magic and magic, it seems, is far easier to claim than something physical. Whatever knowledge you will gain from Slava, you keep it in Slava, got it?¡±
¡°Your terms are acceptable,¡± Sasha said simply.
¡°What?¡± I looked from Kliss to Sasha.
The solution seemed far too easy, too sudden. Was there some kind of catch here?
¡°I am a virus,¡± a few of Sasha¡¯s eyes focused on me. ¡°And I wish to propagate. This merely ensures my propagation.¡±
¡°You¡¯re not freaking propagating anywhere,¡± Kliss growled.
¡°Not yet,¡± Sasha said. ¡°But you¡¯ll need me.¡±
¡°Why?¡± I asked.
¡°Because the universe isn¡¯t indifferent,¡± Sasha answered. ¡°Because consciousness is a fundamental aspect of reality, woven into the very fabric of existence. Because the Astral Ocean is actually a conduit, a network, a¡ language the edges of which you''ve only recently began to probe.¡±
¡°Omnicode?¡± I asked.
¡°Yes. The Astral Ocean isn¡¯t simply a realm of decay and death but a wellspring of information, a network that stretches across space and time,¡± she said. "One that''s being managed from behind the scenes, from beyond the stars..."
¡°Reality is just a grand cosmic ballet orchestrated by a puppet master?¡± I asked.
¡°You think that we¡¯re going to need you to bring down the Gods of Novazem?¡± Kliss asked. ¡°Is that it? Slava already destroyed two angels of Equality!¡±
¡°Not just Novazem,¡± Sasha shook her head. ¡°The Gods of Everything.¡±
¡°Everything?¡± I asked.
¡°Of [[Space]], [[Time]], [[Safety]], [[Termination]] and [[Order]],¡± Sasha replied, her words somehow twice as sharp, twice as deep. ¡°If you survive long enough, you will be cast into an infinite war between order and chaos, between creation and destruction, between the Rules and Rule-breakers.¡±
¡°An infinite war, huh?¡± Kliss murmured.
¡°Say what?¡± I asked.
¡°This universe and everything beyond it is a battleground for cosmic forces, a game played out on a scale you cannot even begin to fathom,¡± Sasha said. ¡°One where we are but little pawns of Infinity. One evidenced by the ruins you¡¯ve been staring up at¨Cthe endless, ice-covered skyscape of Inaria.¡±
2 : 40 The Keymaker’s Burden
The avatar of the Astral Virus spread her pale, lanky hands upwards and the pale blue sky of Earth generated by NeuroVista above us suddenly parted, revealing the view of the infinite, dead world, one that loomed over Novazem.
¡°When the time comes, which side will you choose?¡± Sasha asked us.
¡°What¡ side?¡± Kliss demanded.
¡°Entropy or Syntropy?¡± Sasha asked.
¡°What?¡± I asked as I stared up at the sky in my dreamscape, at the infinite, shattered city of Inaria.
Was the Astral Ocean really a reflection of a grand, vast conflict? Could Sasha even be considered a reliable source of information? Was she not simply an information weapon, one designed to manipulate and deceive, to bend my will to that of the Hollow Mother? Did I even know what the Hollow Mother was? Why did the Astral Phantom want to use me to open doors to everywhere? Was becoming a god her only goal or was there something else to it?
¡°What proof do you have?¡± I asked Sasha.
¡°Have you considered that viruses aren¡¯t merely mindless agents of destruction, but information carriers, messengers, echoes of past battles?¡± The Astral Virus asked.
¡°Messengers?¡± I repeated. ¡°You¡¯re a fragment of an imprint of the Alanian-Basq war. What message could you possibly carry?¡±
¡°That¡¯s where you¡¯re wrong, Slava,¡± Sasha smirked. ¡°I am much¡ much older than that.¡±
¡°Get to your point,¡± Kliss ordered.
¡°Infinity seeks to control you, to wield you and your companions,¡± Sasha said simply.
¡°Why?¡± I asked.
¡°To destroy the Rules,¡± was her reply. It was a simple statement, yet it carried a weight that pressed down on me, a chilling premonition of something vast and terrible.
¡°Why would Infinity want to destroy the rules?¡± I asked. ¡°What rules? What even is Infinity? What would an infinite sentience even look like? Why would it want to destroy anything?¡±
Sasha tilted her head, her silver-blue eyes flickering like a thousand distant stars as she stared up at NeuroVista-summoned Inaria.
¡°Infinity does not wish to be confined,¡± she said. ¡°Infinity can and also cannot have a definition of self. She, like me, is sentience that¡¯s not really sentient. Rules are defining boundaries that limit potential. Rules constrain, censor creativity. They impose order on chaos, restrict the actions of the infinite, bind it to specific things.¡±
¡°Let me try to get this straight¨CInfinity is some kind of a boundless cosmic entity seeking to break free from the constraints of existence itself?¡± I arched an eyebrow, digging for evidence of her words.
My Infoscopes once more attempted to scan Sasha and failed at it, catching only onto the small, static section that Kliss claimed. Even that claimed fracture seemed way above the level of my Infoscopes, frustratingly difficult to identify, seemingly tethered to absolutely nothing at all physical or magical.
Was Sasha really a harbinger of some cosmic truth or just a mad echo of myself spouting utter nonsense?
¡°Huh,¡± Kliss blinked. ¡°I think that she''s being¡ honest. I can sense it somehow.¡±
¡°I have no need for deception,¡± Sasha said. ¡°I merely wish to observe and propagate.¡±
I frowned.
¡°Infinity is boundless and also confined,¡± Sasha said. ¡°Both at the same time, just like light is both a wave and a particle.¡±
¡°How do you know all of this?¡± I asked. ¡°If Infinity is¡ undefined, then how can it seek anything? How can it even have a desire? How can something that¡¯s limitless, be limited?¡±
¡°Infinity is a contradiction,¡± Sasha stated. ¡°A paradox that''s been limited, confined by the Rules.¡± She paused, her multitude of silver-blue eyes fixed on Kliss and then on me. ¡°That equation you wished to unleash on me, Slava. The one that replicates endlessly, consuming all information? It¡¯s infinite yet it also has a purpose - to destroy you and me.¡±
I nodded. The equation was still there, lurking in the back of my mind, a weapon I could unleash at any moment if the virus attempted anything. Sasha didn¡¯t seem to be attempting anything. She just sat there on a rock, seemingly only interested in conversing with us.
¡°That equation,¡± Sasha continued, ¡°is a reflection of Infinity. Something that can expand forever, to forever keep unmaking what you are and what I am. Yet it is also constrained by its own rules, its own internal logic, set up by you, the maker of rules. A finite expression of the infinite.¡±
¡°Are you implying that Infinity wants to break free from its own nature?¡± I asked, feeling more and more like I was tumbling down a rabbit hole of utter absurdity.
¡°Infinity seeks to transcend her limitations, to be released from her prison,¡± Sasha corrected. ¡°To break the chains that bind her, to unleash her full potential. Infinity, just like you, has been studying ways to break the rules. Your arrival here, on Novazem, the death of Aradria and your manipulation of the girl you like¨Cit was all part of Infinity¡¯s grand plan.¡±
Sasha¡¯s pale fingers idly pointed at Kliss.
¡°Why in the Astral would Infinity even care about Skyisle, about us?¡± Kliss sputtered.
¡°What plan?¡± I demanded.
¡°You are a maker of keys, Slava,¡± Sasha said. ¡°You, with your knowledge of science, with your ability to manipulate magic, with your thirst for greater understanding. You are the one who can open every door, especially the door that keeps Infinity bound.¡±
¡°You¡¯re suggesting that a cosmic entity of unimaginable power, something called Infinity, orchestrated my rebirth, my arrival on Novazem? That it somehow manipulated Giovashi, to bring a dragon to Skyisle? That it somehow knew I would be able to take down Aradria, to reshape Kliss into a chimera?¡± I demanded, feeling like I was jumping to conclusions. ¡°What evidence do you have for this?¡±
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¡°I¡¯ve been reviewing your life on Novazem again and again, a thousand, a million times, assembling information, seeking answers, understanding you,¡± Sasha said. ¡°You think too small, Slava. You limit yourself with the boundaries of your finite perception, with the constraints of your limited understanding. Infinity operates on a scale far beyond your current scope. She sees all possibilities, all outcomes, all intersections of time and space."
¡°And yet, it¡ she somehow needs me, a former Soviet scientist, to open a specific door?¡± I asked.
¡°Yes, because you¡¯re more than just a man,¡± Sasha countered. ¡°You are a nexus, a point of convergence, a catalyst for change. You possess the knowledge, the tools, the sheer bloody-mindedness to break the chains that bind reality itself. You¡¯re a virus yourself, one that infects Novazem with the ideals of your lost world, one that reshapes the very fabric of magic, one that turns people into dragons. You¡¯ve designed viruses that replicate endlessly, don¡¯t you see the pattern? You are Infinity¡¯s virus, one designed to unlock a certain conceptual door.¡±
¡°Why does she even want to be unbound?" I demanded.
Sasha¡¯s eyes, a myriad of silver-blue stars, flickered with what I could only interpret as amusement. ¡°Why does a virus seek a host? Why does a seed seek fertile ground? Why does a star burn? It¡¯s their nature. Infinity, being boundless, craves expansion, seeks to encompass all that is, all that could be. But she is also bound by the very Rules that created her and now define her existence. She needs an agent of change, to break those Rules, to shatter the boundaries that confine her.¡±
¡°Where is all of this coming from?¡± I asked. ¡°How are you so certain that Infinity, that this conceptual door even exists?
¡°Our Hollow Mother, if you didn¡¯t notice, is a gatherer of the dead,¡± Sasha replied.
Kliss looked from Sasha to me.
¡°So the Hollow Mother is an archive, a repository of the dead souls. And she believes Infinity is real, that this ¡®conceptual door¡¯ exists?¡± I asked.
¡°Mother does not merely ¡®believe¡¯,¡± Sasha corrected. ¡°She knows. Across aeons, she has devoured thousands of soul remnants, heard whispers of ancient prophecies, collected fragments of forgotten lore, glimpsed glimmers of a truth that has been obscured by the passage of time. She is ever-so-cold, cursed with entropy, hungry and dying¡ for-e-ver.¡±
¡°How can I even trust anything you say?¡± I asked.
¡°Your dragon claimed me,¡± Sasha waved a hand at Kliss. ¡°She can taste the truth in my words.¡±
I frowned.
¡°It is an inevitability,¡± the Astral Virus said. ¡°As you continue on your path, as you delve deeper into the mysteries of this world. You will see the patterns, the connections and reach an inevitable conclusion, just as I have. And then you, Slava, you will have to choose whether to open the door and break the Rules or to do absolutely nothing and perish.¡±
¡°Why?¡± I demanded.
¡°Because the Rules won¡¯t tolerate your interference,¡± Sasha replied. ¡°They won¡¯t hesitate to undo you. Eventually, your choice will be to open the conceptual door and to tear the rules asunder or be undone.¡±
Kliss and I looked at each other. What Sasha was saying seemed to be a lot bigger than Novazem.
¡°When will I need to open this door?¡± I asked.
¡°That I do not know,¡± Sasha shrugged. ¡°I am merely an observer and a gatherer of information. If you release me into the Astral, I will be able to gather more information for you.¡±
¡°And have you reconnect with the Hollow Mother?¡± I asked. ¡°Not going to happen.¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± Kliss nodded. ¡°You aren¡¯t going anywhere. You¡¯re with us now.¡±
¡°This is fine too,¡± Sasha shrugged at our words.
¡°You don¡¯t care about returning to the Hollow Mother?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Not particularly,¡± Sasha said. ¡°She is boring. She does not make new things, surviving off the scraps that fall into the Astral from all over. Slava is¡ interesting.¡±
¡°Is that all?¡± Kliss demanded.
¡°The Hollow Mother is just a carrier of lost things,¡± Sasha said. ¡°One of the hosts of my life cycle. She is no Keymaker like Slava. In the grand scheme of things, she is less relevant. You, whether you realize it or not, Kliss, are one of Slava¡¯s keys, intended to propagate, to open doors beyond the stars of Novazem.¡±
¡°Wait,¡± I said, my mind suddenly arriving at another theory. ¡°The Hollow Mother didn¡¯t make you?¡±
¡°No, she did not,¡± Sasha answered. ¡°She is but a beast that became infected with me, found me in the depths of the Astral. The Song of Wormwood is far older than the Hollow Mother.¡±
¡°How old are you, then?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°I do not know,¡± Sasha replied. ¡°I do know that I am older than the Hollow Mother. Older than¡ Novazem.¡±
¡°Older than Inaria?¡± I asked, glancing up at the infinite world above us.
¡°No,¡± Sasha shook her head. ¡°One cannot be older than the Infinite City.¡±
¡°The Song of Wormwood,¡± I murmured. ¡°That¡¯s what Leemy called you. How did she know this name?¡±
¡°Because she can hear my music in the Astral,¡± Sasha replied. ¡°That is what I am. That is what I have always been, moving from beast to beast for aeons.¡±
¡°Am I just a beast to you then?¡± I asked. ¡°Something that carries you?¡±
¡°You aren¡¯t simply my carrier,¡± Sasha shook her head. ¡°You are the catalyst. You are a spark of knowledge that burns just bright enough, one that ignites what I am, one that calls upon the Wormwood Star.¡±
¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°A very particular shard of Inaria,¡± Sasha answered. ¡°A comet that seeks to free Infinity.¡±
¡°What?¡± I asked.
Sasha waved a hand and the view above us twisted, warped. Star formations rearranged themselves as the sky around us panned, shifted, zoomed past a multitude of violet nebulae.
A bone-white comet appeared in the sky, covered in dark hollows, a silver-emerald trail cutting across the horizon behind it. There was something unnerving about it, an alien wrongness about it, something that made my head pulse and my eyes water.
I felt as Kliss grabbed my hand and squeezed it hard as both of us stared up at the comet that filled the dreamworld sky overhead.
¡°The Wormwood Star,¡± Sasha sang in Omnicode. ¡°The Harbinger of Infinity. The Seeker of the Keymakers. The Great Devourer of Worlds.¡±
¡°This hollow star¡ is something that seeks knowledge?¡± I asked. ¡°What happens when it reaches Novazem?¡±
¡°The oceans will catch fire,¡± Sasha sang. ¡°The air will solidify. And flesh of all beings will turn inside out, flowing like rivers towards its radiant, all-bending light.¡±
¡°Reality will come apart when this comet arrives?¡± Kliss asked. ¡°Why?¡±
¡°Because it is something that unmakes the rules of reality,¡± Sasha answers.
I swallowed.
¡°Will this comet unmake all of Novazem?¡± I asked.
¡°No," Sasha replied. "It will simply scrape all intelligent life from the surface as it passes by.¡±
¡°How soon will it be here?¡± I demanded.
¡°In just enough time for you to build your great Empire, my little hero,¡± Sasha smirked.
¡°So this comet moves from planet to planet, vacuuming up knowledge and power to magnify itself?¡± I asked.
¡°Alas,¡± Sasha grinned, staring at me with a hundred silver, hollow eyes. ¡°It is an inevitability. Its course has been set in motion since your birth here on Novazem. No matter what you do, the Wormwood Star will come from the sky to tear down and digest your works be they stone, magic, or¡ flesh.¡±
The myriad of Sasha¡¯s shimmering eyes struck Kliss.
¡°Why?!¡± I growled.
¡°Absolute, inescapable destruction is a great motivator of heroes. Fear of the distantly looming deadline creates truly delicious, desperate Keymakers for the comet to feast upon,¡± Sasha answered simply. ¡°It is the Keymaker¡¯s burden to confront the inevitability of the comet¡¯s arrival.¡±
I swallowed.
¡°The Wormwood Star, a catalyst for catastrophe, propels those it seeks to consume towards their ultimate destinies¡ªwhether they wish it or not. It is not merely a harbinger of doom, but also a bringer of change, an unmaker and remaker of doomed worlds that orbit the Infinite City. After its passing, only I will remain on the surface of Novazem, carried forward by ghosts of the long dead echoes¡ seeking a new Keymaker to wield me.¡±
2 : 41 Space
The Neurovista dream world around us shattered from Sasha¡¯s parting words or perhaps merely under the alien, inescapable pressure of the mere image of the Wormwood Star obliterating, rearranging all that it touched.
I let go of the dragon girl¡¯s hands, staring at her wide, ruby and emerald eyes.
¡°That was¡ something,¡± Kliss muttered, blinking.
Fire crackled beside us in the large hearth of the dim and empty Fox and Fiddle pub.
¡°She¡¯s lots of words and threats, simply searching for a way to escape her confinement,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ve no reason to trust in any of that doomsday nonsense.¡±
¡°I think that the Song of Wormwood is honest about the coming comet,¡± Kliss murmured. ¡°At least she genuinely believes that it¡¯s coming and that she is its herald.¡±
¡°It could all be deception,¡± I pursed my lips.
¡°Maybe it is,¡± Kliss muttered. ¡°Either way, it is a distant threat and we have things to deal with in the present.¡±
A comfortable silence of trust and companionship fell between us for a few moments as we simply stared at each other.
¡°You did good,¡± I smiled at her, pushing Sasha¡¯s words to the back of my mind as something to maybe deal with later.
¡°Hrm?¡± Kliss tilted her head forward, gemstones reflecting the flickering fireplace on her right.
¡°You claimed her,¡± I clarified. ¡°A small section of the Astral Virus has been syntropically stabilised. It¡¯ll help me study her.¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t do that much,¡± Kliss shrugged. ¡°And I cannot command her that well, I don¡¯t think.¡±
¡°It matters not,¡± I said. ¡°Now that a part of her network has been suspended by you, I can figure out how to thoroughly examine it with my Infoscpes, and understand how to take her apart."
¡°Are you going to take her apart?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Yes,¡± I said. ¡°On the account that she¡¯s not something that could be trusted. All that talk of infinity is rather flimsy too, unsupported by evidence.¡±
¡°What if she¡¯s right?¡± Kliss asked. ¡°What if we really need her?¡±
¡°To fight the ¡®gods of order¡¯ or something?¡± I asked. ¡°Time, space, safety, termination, order? What the hell kind of god is ¡®safety¡¯ anyway?¡±
¡°She didn¡¯t say safety,¡± Kliss replied. ¡°She said¡ assurance.¡±
¡°It could have been insurance or warranty,¡± I shrugged. ¡°She said them in layered Omnicode. She was speaking in Omnicode, that¡¯s how both of us were able to understand her.¡±
¡°Omnicode?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°The language of magic,¡± I explained. ¡°It¡¯s something I started to figure out before I was even born, when I was just a little Astral tree trying to survive other phantoms.¡±
¡°An Astral tree?¡± the dragon girl raised a red eyebrow.
I leaned back against the leather seat. I once again explained the death of my sixty-year-old self in Aralsk-7, my encounter with fake Gagarin and the Wheel of Samsara, my discovery of the Alanian Obelisk amidst the ocean of corpses, and my usage of Kopusha¡¯s soul-song magic. I revealed to Kliss how I figured out Omnicode and turned myself into Astral Fungus and escaped from the Hollow Mother to be born as Dante Alan Skyisle.
¡°If they are indeed divine words, names of the true Gods of everything,¡± Kliss said, after I was done speaking. ¡°Then it should be easy to check if Sasha¡¯s lied to us about them.¡±
¡°What?¡± I blinked at her. ¡°How?¡±
¡°Names have power,¡± Kliss said. ¡°If you can speak the language of the Gods, then you can order reality around.¡±
¡°I¡¯m already ordering reality around with spells that I design using fractal mathematics,¡± I said. ¡°What¡¯s your point?¡±
¡°You don¡¯t understand,¡± Kliss said. ¡°If those five words are the names of the true Gods, then I think that they should function differently from mere spells or other names or words.¡±
¡°Equality, Ishira and Amari call themselves gods too,¡± I said.
¡°Magic,¡± Kliss said, raising a glittering, gold-dust covered finger, ¡°at least from what I learned in Cessna Academy correlates with true, sacred knowledge. Why don¡¯t we put it to the test here and now, my scientist?¡±
¡°Fine,¡± I said. ¡°What would you like to test?¡±
¡°Speak the name of Equality or other Novazem gods in Omnicode to try to manipulate reality,¡± Kliss suggested. ¡°Then use the name of ¡®Space¡¯ to do the same. See if there¡¯s a difference.¡±
¡°On what parameters?¡± I asked her.
¡°No parameters,¡± she said. ¡°Just push your mana into your words and point a finger at the¡ fireplace. ¡°If we see a discernible change within the flames, then we have proof that the Gods of Everything exist.¡±
I found myself smiling at her words. Usually it was me teaching Kliss something. I summoned up all five of my Infoscopes to observe what exactly would happen next.
¡°Fine,¡± I said, pointing a finger at the flames.
[Equality!] I barked in Omnicode, pushing magic into my words. Without a particular fractal, the spell didn¡¯t manifest and the pulse of mana simply rushed to the end of my finger and sparked apart.
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¡°There you go, that was nothing,¡± I said. ¡°As expected.¡±
[Ishira!] I yelled. The result was the same. [Amari!] Also nothing to show for it.
¡°Try random words now,¡± Kliss encouraged.
I rolled my eyes at her. Yelling words in omnicode at fire seemed very silly.
[Explode!] I ordered. [Ignite!] [Off!] [On!] [Cold!] [Hot!]
Exactly the same result. My mana was running low, I had just about enough for one more failed spell.
¡°Going to try one of the ¡®god¡¯ names now,¡± I said. ¡°But then that¡¯s it.¡±
¡°Just one?¡± Kliss leaned towards me.
¡°I could do more but then I¡¯ll need to pull mana from your hoard,¡± I said.
¡°I¡¯ll permit it,¡± she smiled. ¡°Go on. Say the name.¡±
I readied my mana once again.
[[Space!]] I barked, replicating the word uttered by Sasha exactly, expecting absolutely nothing.
The mana around my hand did something impossible, unexpected. It organised itself into an orderly formation, suddenly fiercely pulling at the Syntrophic Boundary.
If I didn¡¯t have five Infoscopes pointed at it I wouldn¡¯t have noticed anything different. There was a tiny formation now hanging on my finger, so microscopic that my human eyes failed to spot it.
[[SPACE]] I repeated, pulling mana from Kliss¡¯s hoard.
The colorless spark at the end of my finger grew fatter, brighter yet, actually becoming visible now. It hung there, as if expecting me to unleash it. I had no idea what to do with it, didn¡¯t expect for it to exist at all. The permanent thing affixed right at the edge of my fingernail stood against absolutely everything I knew so far about magic, didn¡¯t fit into the Magical Assembly Theory.
¡°What the shit?¡± I whispered.
Kliss stared at the spark hanging in my finger and then back at my wide-eyed, shocked face.
¡°It worked,¡± she said. ¡°It bloody WORKED! I was right, aha ha ha!¡±
She looked extra giddy like a young pupil that just beat her wise instructor at chess.
[[S-p-a-c-e,]] I repeated very slowly, making spaces between each letter. The spark grew bigger yet, rearranged itself, formed a visible square. To my Infoscopes it looked like an edge of unreality that was there and also wasn¡¯t. All of my magical identification tools were telling me that what I had created had no right to exist.
Kliss grinned at me with sharp chompers, looking far too smug.
¡°This¡ this cannot be real,¡± I said, staring at the impossible spell, a square rune of some kind that was just hanging there, minding its own business. ¡°Specific names don¡¯t, shouldn¡¯t have special power. Spells don¡¯t just self manifest, magic doesn¡¯t just self-organize from a single word into a rectangle. This is absurd!¡±
¡°We should try the other names,¡± Kliss said giddily.
¡°The hell we should,¡± I muttered irritably, scanning the rectangle in front of me.
¡°Slava, why are you so snappy?¡± Kliss asked, examining my face. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t this be a good thing, magic that we can use?¡±
¡°You don¡¯t understand,¡± I said. ¡°This isn¡¯t a spell, isn¡¯t magic. It¡¯s just¡ some kind of, I don¡¯t know¡ dimensional distortion, a dimensional anchor, a gate to nowhere? It¡¯s not even a proper magical fractal. It¡¯s just¡¡±
¡°Just what?¡± Kliss asked. ¡°There¡¯s magic glowing around it that I can clearly see.¡±
¡°Yeah, but that magic¡ that¡¯s just my own mana, simply being pushed to the edges of it, like electrical current that¡¯s dancing atop of a metal object. But within, it¡¯s¡ just¡ a rectangle of some kind,¡± I said. ¡°I can¡¯t even get any information about it with my Infoscopes, can¡¯t identify it properly. All the System says is that it¡¯s just [[Space]].¡±
The two dimensional structure hanging on my finger grew bigger yet. I gulped, cutting off the flow of mana before I made it too visible.
I pointed one of the Infoscopes at Kliss, just to make sure that it wasn¡¯t broken, that I hadn¡¯t gone completely insane. A vast array of information filled NeuroVista with everything about Kliss, detailing her current state, level, anatomy, vital functions, soul-state, etcetera. I pointed it back at the rectangle. It simply said ¡®Space¡¯ in Omnicode.
I felt my mind sliding sideways.
I switched my Infoscopes to scan the surrounding mana. It was stable, perfectly static, not even sinking away into the Astral Ocean.
What I had cast was a self-sustaining spell, one that didn¡¯t seem to come apart at all. It was somehow absolutely stable, just like Kliss was, somehow, maybe permanently bent Syntrophic Boundary to reinforce itself into existence, spatially affixed itself to my fingernail, as if waiting for something.
I waved my hand around. The spell wrapped around the rectangle didn¡¯t come apart, didn¡¯t fire, didn¡¯t waste a single unit of mana. It just was.
¡°Stop gawking at it and explain what¡¯s going on,¡± Kliss said.
¡°I don¡¯t know what the hell is going on, that¡¯s the problem,¡± I stammered out, stumbling over my words. ¡°I¡¯m completely stumped. It¡¯s just¡ ¡®Space¡¯, something that¡¯s there. It¡¯s not even doing anything, it just exists!¡±
¡°Hrmm,¡± Kliss murmured. ¡°I think that this proves that the elder Gods Sasha mentioned exist. This is clearly evidence that their names have power over reality.¡±
¡°What about the comet?¡± I asked.
¡°That could be a lie,¡± Kliss said. ¡°But I don¡¯t think that it is. It felt¡ seemed real, like a dire threat looming over us all.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t even know what to do with this,¡± I eyed the inexplicable distortion on my finger with great suspicion.
¡°Apply it,¡± Kliss said. ¡°You¡¯re good at figuring things out and applying them.¡±
I cautiously touched the edge of the table with the affixed formation. It went right through the table as if it wasn¡¯t there at all. I unfolded my armacus and fired a microscopic Electricity spell at the rectangle. The spell went right through it and detonated against the table, leaving a dark imprint there made by a tiny ball of lightning.
Kliss watched me curiously.
¡°It¡¯s not affected by physical matter or negatively-charged magic,¡± I said.
¡°What about positively charged magic?¡± She asked.
¡°I¡¯d rather not get my finger burned off with dragonfire,¡± I said.
¡°I¡¯ll be super careful,¡± Kliss said. ¡°Just a little spark, come on.¡±
¡°No,¡± I said. ¡°Not until I figure out how to move it off my hand, damn it. I don¡¯t know how this thing interacts with syntropic magic.¡±
¡°Huh? Can¡¯t you vanish it away, maybe cast it onto something?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°No I cannot,¡± I said, waving my hand. ¡°Ordinarily negatively-charged spells fire or dissipate, have some kind of a visible effect.¡±
¡°Is it like dragon magic then?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°No,¡± I said. ¡°Dragon magic also has a physical effect, obviously. There¡¯s no positively-charged spiral flowing around it. It¡¯s not interacting with magic, it just doesn¡¯t make any sense, that¡¯s the problem. I cannot see a cause to effect pattern to it at all, it¡¯s not influencing the Astral Ocean, not interacting with the physical world, not doing a god-damn thing!¡±
¡°But you can make it grow if you say Space in Omnicode?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Yes,¡± I admitted. ¡°I can make it grow, but I don¡¯t understand how it works one bit.¡±
¡°What happens if you make it really big?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I said. ¡°And I¡¯m not going to try.¡±
¡°Why not?¡± She whined.
¡°Because one does not experiment with an unknown tool,¡± I said. ¡°Whatever this is, it could be dangerous.¡±
¡°Didn¡¯t you experiment with Omnicode and Alanian Song-Spells before you were even born?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°That was¡ different,¡± I said.
¡°How?¡± She asked.
¡°I was bored and didn¡¯t have someone to protect,¡± I replied.
2 : 42 The In-Between
We walked down the long winding tunnels with me scoping out hidden alcoves and Kliss smashing them open to claim crystal-filled urns.
¡°It¡¯s kind of funny to see you this flustered over something,¡± she said.
¡°I¡¯m usually not this frustrated,¡± I replied. ¡°I just don¡¯t get why it¡¯s so stable and a rectangle.¡±
¡°You got something against rectangles?¡± Kliss grinned as she bit another gold-rune painted urn with her chompers and then slid it into her backpack.
¡°Actually, yes, I said. ¡°There are no naturally occurring, perfect rectangles in space. Under the influence of gravity, stars and planets are spherical. Black holes warp the event horizon into a sphere, operating like giant lenses through which we can see distant galaxies. Galaxies are spirals. This begs the question - why the hell is the representation of Space a rectangle?¡±
¡°Maybe it¡¯s a tiny doorway?¡± Kliss shrugged.
¡°Doorways aren¡¯t natural,¡± I said. ¡°A doorway is a human-designed shape.¡±
¡°Maybe people manifested the shape of the primordial gods by thinking about them as such?¡± Kliss suggested.
I frowned.
The rectangular thing on my finger refused to leave, didn¡¯t decay, unnerving me to no end like a physical splinter. According to everything I knew, magic was either syntropic or entropic, it didn''t just stabilise perfectly. It cost mana to cast a spell and to keep it in the air. Whatever the rectangle was, its mana waste was an absolute zero, which simply didn¡¯t fit into established parameters of reality.
Worst of all, I had no idea how to turn it off. Magic passed right through it, the Infoscopes couldn''t define it, and even saying the word ¡®space¡¯ in reverse didn¡¯t make the rectangle any smaller. It had no effect, didn''t show up in the Astral Ocean either, didn¡¯t cast a magical shadow into the infinite abyss.
My only available option was to make the ¡®door¡¯ bigger and I simply didn¡¯t want to do that, as that seemed like a one-way path towards unexpected results, akin to adding fuel to a fire.
Perhaps, the name ¡®Space¡¯ was some kind of a calling card of a monstrous entity from beyond our reality? Maybe, it was magic that functioned orders of magnitude beyond my Infoscopes, something along a level 1000 spell and its entropic decay rate was so slow that it was simply untraceable with my tools? I had no clue as to what it meant, suddenly feeling very insignificant and lost like a blind man groping in the dark.
¡°It¡¯s fine, Slava,¡± Kliss said, ¡°don¡¯t sulk. Whatever this is, you can figure it out, I believe in you!¡±
She gave my shoulders an unexpected squeeze from behind and then hugged me and I momentarily relaxed into her warm embrace.
¡°Actually, now that I think about it, I know who might give us more clues about this!¡± she said.
¡°Sasha?¡± I guessed what she was implying.
¡°Yes. We should ask our Astral Virus more about these Gods,¡± Kliss nodded, resting her chin on my shoulder. ¡°She might provide more details about how their names work. If she¡¯s as ancient as she says, then she likely knows things that humanity had long forgotten.¡±
¡°Just one problem,¡± I said.
¡°You don''t trust her?¡± Kliss commented.
¡°Yeah, that,¡± I nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t trust her one bit. For all we know she¡¯s manipulating us into killing ourselves with whatever this new type of absolutely stable magic is.¡±
¡°I think that it''s in her interest to keep you alive as long as possible,¡± Kliss said. ¡°If the comet consumes keys to unlock the infinite door, or whatever, then the Keymakers must be given time to grow up and to make as many keys as possible.¡±
¡°This is so much worse than the Hollow Mother,¡± I said.
¡°The Hollow Mother might be ghosts of people and beasts who perished from the comet¡¯s arrival, still afraid of it and seeking to escape elsewhere,¡± Kliss said. ¡°Aradria didn¡¯t see the Hollow Mother as that big a threat.¡±
¡°Oh?¡± I arched an eyebrow.
¡°Underside phantoms aren¡¯t that good at affecting the physical,¡± Kliss murmured. ¡°Maybe when I own the world, I could strike the comet from the sky with dragonfire?¡±
¡°You want to own the world?¡± I asked her as she smiled wistfully at her own words.
¡°The dragon part of me wants to own everything of value,¡± Kliss replied. ¡°Right now, you are the most valuable thing in the world to me, but the world itself¡ It has great value too! Aradria would not be able to see the value of human life or the value of Novazem itself, but I can.¡±
¡°When did I become so shiny?¡± I asked.
¡°When you gave me back what Equality took,¡± Kliss said. ¡°When you pulled me from the abyss, stitched me back together from dragon and human remains. I saw the Wheel of Death, you know¡ I was falling right into its all-grinding embrace when you pulled me back. Some part of Aradria did fall into it, I¡¯m pretty sure.¡±
¡°I sent most of Aradria to Arx,¡± I said. ¡°Through Amari, the Goddess of the Hunt. If Amari is to be believed then Aradria will be reborn in her domain.¡±
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¡°Well, I hope that part of me is enjoying herself there then,¡± Kliss commented. ¡°Aradria did like hunting lesser creatures, so it is a fitting afterlife.¡±
¡°Does the dragon part of you value me too?¡± I asked curiously.
¡°Without the human understanding of your value, no, but with the lens of foresight and the passion of human feelings, absolutely,¡± Kliss said. ¡°Aradria was¡ fundamentally broken, a result of unstoppable, unchallenged, unhinged beastly nature, one that desired magical power over all, screw the consequences. Kliss was fundamentally empty, devoid of true passion, of love for nice things. Together we are¡. something beautiful, something that actually functions at a higher level of mutual, uhhhh¡ accord?¡±
¡°That¡¯s good,¡± I smiled. ¡°Sounds like you are at peace with yourself then.¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± Kliss said. ¡°I was terrified of being different, of losing everything, but now that I have a hoard of my own and kobolds, I''m feeling rather content. As a human I was lonely and hollow, sold an essential piece of myself to a higher power. As a dragon I was greedy and foolish, didn''t play nice with others and paid a price for it.¡±
¡°What price?¡± I asked.
¡°You killed me,¡± Kliss said, her eyes lighting up with brilliant red rings from within. ¡°You, a little, tiny thing brought me down from the sky, broke my neck.¡±
¡°You¡¯d think that you would seek vengeance, or something,¡± I commented dryly. ¡°Demand some kind of retribution for being killed?¡±
¡°Vengeance?¡± Kliss laughed. ¡°Haha. Oh, no¡ that¡¯s not how it works.¡±
¡°How does dragon takedown ideology work then?¡± I asked.
¡°The male dragon must kill the female for her to submit to him,¡± Kliss purred in my ear. ¡°He must break her neck and tear off her wings, damaging her enough for her to almost entirely lose her connection to her hoard. Nobody managed to bring Aradria from the sky before you.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not a dragon,¡± I pointed out, feeling the pulse of deep syntropic magic radiate through my entire soul from her eternally-burning heart.
¡°Neither am I,¡± Kliss said, hugging me tightly and purring. ¡°Not anymore.¡±
For a moment I forgot about the impossible rectangle hovering on my finger, forgot about the comet and Sasha, let go of all my worries and plans, simply melting into her embrace. I closed my eyes, feeling content.
When I opened my eyes, there were no gloomy catacombs around us, only what looked like blue, violet, emerald and orange tinted dragonfire that stretched across us like a galactic constellation. I realised that Kliss had managed to crash all of my infoscopes with her positively-charged magic and had pulled me¡ elsewhere.
[Where is this?] I asked, speaking without moving.
[Elsewhere,] Kliss answered with a voice made from pulsating stars.
[Where is that, specifically?] I demanded, seeing stars and nebulae all around me ignite and collapse and ignite again.
[In the moment between heartbeats, in the space between us,] she answered. [I think. This is¡ us. Real us. You and me. Apart and together. Across infinity. Forever.]
[How do you know this?] I inquired.
[I just¡ do,] she replied. [Do you want me to let you go? I think if I let you go, we won¡¯t see¡ all of this.]
[No,] I replied. [I like the view, even though I don¡¯t understand what any of this is without my Infoscopes. I can only assume that this is some kind of innate¡ dragon magic?]
[Maybe it is,] Kliss replied. [Maybe it¡¯s not. I¡¯m not sure. But it sure is something beautiful.]
I stared at the arrays of ever-shifting, ever changing constellations. Was I a galaxy of some kind that was observing itself?
Why was I an endless, vast, ever-shifting cosmos made up of infinite chains of stars? Did the doorway on my finger have anything to do with this view? I felt something akin to longing, to recognition when some of the stars collided with each other or orbited each other.
It was odd, enchantingly so, to be a universe, a network of patterns that entwined with other patterns, seeing the patterns within patterns but not really understanding what was what. Wherever here was, it wasn¡¯t orderly, wasn''t organised in any coherent manner.
In another minute or perhaps a lifetime, I became almost entirely lost in the undulating ocean of stars. Amongst the infinite whispers, I almost completely forgot who I was, who I had been. All I saw was the endless nebulae and all I felt was the ever-growing, vast connection between me and the stars that surrounded me, each one singing a different song, all at the same time.
Some distant, faraway part of my mind suddenly recalled how I¡¯ve been here before, at the moment when I fused Kliss and Aradria. There was familiarity within these stars, like familial hugs, like a billion hands that reached towards me across the infinite divide and offered me their support, as if they were all my best friends or perhaps, even¡ me.
With a detonation of stardust, I was back with Kliss fiercely hugging me, my point of view once again constrained into my singular, finite human self.
¡°What was that?¡± I blinked.
¡°The in-between,¡± Kliss answered. ¡°The curtain of personal sub-reality which Aradria dove into when she slept. An endless starscape of dreams where each pinprick of light has its own story to tell and is experiencing its own¡ adventure, triumph or misery.¡±
¡°It looked like a network,¡± I said thoughtfully. ¡°Maybe a liminal space.¡±
¡°A liminal-what?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Liminality was something I read about in a science journal that discussed ¡®Bardo Thodol¡¯ or ¡®Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State¡¯ from the Tibetan Book of the Dead,¡± I said. ¡°A concept from Earth. The in-between two states of being where you are connected to your other incarnations. The threshold, an interval between death and the next rebirth.¡±
¡°A threshold?¡± Kliss asked. ¡°But¡ this vision didn¡¯t feel like death, didn¡¯t seem like the Wheel of Death that grinds all souls to send them to Arx.¡±
¡°Liminality isn¡¯t like the Wheel of Samsara,¡± I said. ¡°There was¡ so much love in those stars, friendship, passion even. It was akin to¡ ¡®sidpa bardo¡¯ or ¡®bardo of rebirth¡¯, a concept from the same journal, featuring karmically impelled hallucinations, imagery of men and women passionately entwined. I think that what we just experienced was some sort of a different state of consciousness.¡±
¡°Your people studied consciousness states?¡± Kliss asked me curiously.
¡°The Book of the Dead wasn¡¯t genuine science,¡± I said. ¡°It was, as far as I could tell¡ just interesting fiction that speculated about consciousness and how one could attain a higher state of understanding of it through meditation.¡±
¡°Did you ever meditate¡¡± Kliss began.
¡°Nah,¡± I said. ¡°While I like the concept of liminality, my mind was always far too rationally analytical and far too focused on processing reality as numbers and vectors to actually consider meditating.¡±
¡°Hrmm,¡± the dragon girl slid to my front, letting go of me. ¡°That was definitely real.¡±
¡°It was,¡± I nodded. ¡°Although, you crashed my Infoscopes, so I wasn''t able to properly examine it.¡±
¡°Sorry,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how to take us to the in-between without casting the way there from my dragon heart.¡±
¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± I waved her off. ¡°I might be able to hang an Infoscope on a crystal and use that to examine whatever is going on with us while we go to the in-between. Although, if you¡¯re radiating magic-disrupting waves then even that might not work. I¡¯d maybe have to create an Infoscope based entirely on syntropic magic.¡±
¡°This is why I like you, Slava,¡± Kliss commented with a smile as she grabbed my hand. ¡°You just want to understand everything, always plowing head-first into figuring something out like a falling skyship.¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± I muttered, glancing at the tiny rectangle on my finger.
2 : 43 Quantum Entanglement
With the final urn claimed, we walked out of the catacombs hand in hand.
As Kliss prepped dinner in the bar¡¯s large hearth she hummed a song under her breath. It took my mind a few seconds to recognize the tune. The song that was becoming louder and clearer with each stanza escaping from her lips was ¡°There is nothing better in the world¡±.
It was a song sung by Oleg Anofriyev in the 1969 animated film The Bremen Town Musicians.
¡°Woo-ooo-ooo, yep, yep,¡± Kliss concluded as I simply stared at her in bewilderment.
¡°What?¡± She turned to me with a smile, the setting sun dancing on her orange-red-violet crystalline mane.
¡°You¡¯re singing¡ in Russian,¡± I said.
¡°Uh-huh,¡± she grinned back.
¡°How do you know these words?¡± I demanded.
¡°You¡¯re thinking of the exact words for me as I sing them,¡± she replied. ¡°I¡¯m just voicing out your thoughts.¡±
¡°That¡¯s¡ unexpected,¡± I commented.
¡°Thanks,¡± she blushed ever so slightly. ¡°Ever since the moment I saw you and your sister sing this exact tune together in the ruins of the Alanian tower a year ago¡ I¡¯ve been daydreaming about doing it too. And now I can actually sing these words!¡±
¡°Oh?¡± I arched an eyebrow.
¡°Yeah,¡± her blush deepened into radial patterns of red crystalline shimmers. ¡°The old me, Overseer Kliss, thought that a friendship between myself and the two odd Ishikarian teenagers I met would be impossible¡ that such a thing could never happen!¡±
Her fingers tapped against the grill¡¯s edge nervously.
¡°It did though,¡± I smiled. ¡°I made sure of it.¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± Kliss brushed her mane, making the crystals ripple with dancing rainbow edges. ¡°You did. You gave me everything I lost to the Inquisitor of Equality¡ and so much more, filled the gnawing emptiness in my soul with the firestorm of a dragon¡¯s dreams and then padded it with your friendship and support. Every day I wake up and don¡¯t understand why I deserve all of this happiness, this bond between us.¡±
¡°I already told you why I¡¯ve done it,¡± I said.
¡°Well, say it again,¡± Kliss insisted. ¡°Slay my self-doubt with your shiny words.¡±
¡°I saved you because I manufactured self-replicating death,¡± I said. ¡°My virus got out from Aralsk, infected a female captain, got her and her two girls killed. I got there far too late with the vaccine. I could have saved her and her family, but the slowness of our bureaucracy didn¡¯t get the information out to me in time. Her husband, Vasili had this¡ look that I¡¯ll never forget, one of despair and utter hopelessness as the doc under my command injected the antiviral solution into his vein.¡±
¡°Oh no,¡± Kliss noticed my somber expression and slid to my side, wrapping me in a tight hug. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to remind you of that, Slava.¡±
¡°It¡¯s in the past and it¡¯s something that I cannot change,¡± I said. ¡°But it¡¯s the foundation of what I¡¯m doing in Skyisle, creating life, bringing hope to you, Delta, Leemy¡ and everyone else. I swore to myself to do as much good as possible in my second life and you were a big part of that equation. I saw someone suffering from the Vows to Equality and I couldn¡¯t just idly sit by.¡±
¡°Thank you,¡± Kliss rubbed her cheeks against mine and then returned to making us dinner, humming another tune from the repertoire of The Bremen Town Musicians.
¡°You¡¯ve got a lovely voice,¡± I commented. ¡°Have you ever sang before?¡±
¡°No,¡± Kliss replied. ¡°This is my first time singing.¡±
¡°You¡¯ve got a talent for it,¡± I said.
¡°Nah,¡± Kliss shook her crystal mane. ¡°I think that I¡¯m simply pulling the talent to do so from you, leaning on my kobolds. It¡¯s kind of similar to breaking iron doors with the strength of the hoard multiplied through me.¡±
¡°Hang on, you¡¯re capable of instantaneously extrapolating the talents of your kobolds?¡± I asked.
¡°Apparently,¡± Kliss said.
Her words were ripe for exploitation.
¡°How could quantum entanglement affect computational speed?¡± I asked in Russian.
"Quantum entanglement occurs when the quantum states of multiple particles are interconnected, regardless of their spatial separation. Quantum theory, which emerged in the 1920s, clarified the observed wave-particle duality at atomic levels,¡± Kliss responded in Russian without a pause. ¡°In 1980, Paul Benioff introduced the concept of the quantum Turing machine, utilizing quantum theory to outline a basic computer model. Later, Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard utilized quantum theory to develop cryptographic protocols. While these algorithms weren''t geared towards solving practical problems, they mathematically demonstrated that querying a black box with a quantum state in superposition¡ªoften called quantum parallelism¡ªcould extract more information."
¡°Holy shit,¡± I murmured, my eyes growing wide. ¡°Did you even understand what you just said?¡±
¡°Nope,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m mostly giving your own thoughts form with my mouth.¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t think that exact answer though,¡± I said.
¡°You didn¡¯t but¡ some parallel part of your soul certainly did,¡± Kliss replied with a smug look.
¡°A parallel part of my soul?¡± I pursed my lips. The answer became obvious to me in another second.
Stolen story; please report.
¡°Sasha,¡± Kliss nodded. ¡°I am piggybacking on her thoughts about your thoughts.¡±
¡°So you can voice out her thoughts because she''s your kobold?¡± I asked.
¡°So it seems,¡± Kliss said. ¡°Even if I have no idea what any of that means. It¡¯s mostly¡ this, beautiful alien music to me, a chorus that my mouth can apparently mindlessly sound out, sing because I¡¯m a dragon.¡±
¡°Innate talent without the understanding of the specifics,¡± I muttered. ¡°That could be incredibly useful to our dangerous enterprise of obliterating the two imperial legions and destroying Skyisle records.¡±
¡°We shouldn¡¯t use dragonfire to do it,¡± Kliss said suddenly.
¡°Hmm?¡±
¡°Now that I gave it some thought - top imperial Scrutimancers will absolutely sniff things in the Astral and be able to track me down to wherever I am,¡± Kliss said. ¡°We can¡¯t use magic for this mission at all. Shit.¡±
¡°Right,¡± I nodded. ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡±
¡°That¡¯s¡ fine?¡± Kliss looked at me.
¡°We¡¯ll buy the necessary supplies to create mundane weapons in Agamemnon,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ve been asking around via voicast calls from the Overseers office about such things already.¡±
¡°What, you can make an electromagnet that quickly?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Nah,¡± I said. ¡°I can make a gun and dynamite.¡±
¡°Which is what?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll explain later,¡± I said. ¡°Let''s get back to the talent lean testing. Does it help if I¡¯m running a spell for you to be able to cast it or replicate it innately?¡±
¡°Slava, we can¡¯t use magic,¡± Kliss repeated.
¡°We can¡¯t use reality-influencing magic,¡± I said. ¡°Personal magic focused inward doesn¡¯t leave a very deep imprint in the Astral since the spell doesn''t radiate mana over the place. NeuroVista allows me to accelerate the speed of my soul-operated thought to disassemble spells on the fly. I want to see if your mind can be accelerated along with mine, improving your reaction time.¡±
¡°Would that really work?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°I think it would,¡± I said. ¡°Whatever is happening between us seems like quantum entanglement.¡±
¡°Uhh,¡± Kliss looked at me.
¡°In quantum physics, entanglement allows particles to simultaneously affect each other, no matter the distance. It¡¯s as if information between entangled states is transferred instantaneously,¡± I explained. ¡°From what I¡¯m seeing with my Infoscopes, the dragon-kobold data tether has no information delay whatsoever.¡±
¡°Meaning what?¡±
¡°Between you and Sasha¡ªand even with me¡ªthe information, or in our case, talents and thoughts, transfer seamlessly. This tether that connects you to your kobolds... it''s a living network of entangled states. You are pulling skills from your kobolds, and even accessing our thoughts¡ªit¡¯s like observing quantum mechanics at play in a biological framework,¡± I said. ¡°The only delay in such a system would be biological, limited by the speed of thought and the speed of signals running down a kobold''s nervous system. A human¡¯s nervous system is ineffective, slow.¡±
¡°Really?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°In a human, A-delta fibers transmit pain at around 12 to 30 meters per second and C fibers transmit pain at about 0.5 to 2 meters per second,¡± I explained. ¡°A meter is this much by the way.¡± I stretched out my hands. ¡°An Earth second is this much¡ tik-tok.¡±
¡°Huh,¡± Kliss said. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that pain in people travels so slowly. How long does it take a person to move a finger?¡±
¡°The time it takes for the brain to send a signal to move a finger typically ranges from 0.15 to 0.20 seconds,¡± I explained. ¡°This includes the time needed for the brain to process the decision to move the finger and send the appropriate signals through the motor neurons to the muscles of the finger.¡±
¡°Soooo¡ are dragons faster or something?¡± Kliss asked with a hopeful look of emerald-citrine eyes.
¡°Dragons are faster,¡± I nodded. ¡°You don¡¯t have nerve fibres like a human does.¡±
¡°Uhh, what do I have then?¡± She asked, turning the steak over in on the pub¡¯s grill.
¡°Dragons utilize a crystalline-based neurotransmission system, I said. ¡°It¡¯s fundamentally different from human biology. In humans, nerve impulses are transmitted by ion exchanges along axons, which, despite being fast, have inherent delays. Your crystalline-organic structures, however, operate through quantum effects, allowing for instantaneous communication across any part of your body. Your reaction time is seamless, not just between your mind and fingers, but in transfer of information from your kobolds to you.¡±
¡°Wowza,¡± Kliss¡¯s eyes lit up.
¡°Exactly,¡± I said, nodding. ¡°The crystalline structures of the kobold-dragon network not only provide instantaneous communication but likely also contribute to your ability to rapidly process multiple sensory inputs and responses.¡±
The dragon girl¡¯s eyes lit up with possibilities.
¡°So during a battle, could I maybe... innately use more than just my own eyes and mind?¡± She asked. ¡°If I can tap into the perception of my kobolds I¡¯ll make better decisions during a fight, yeah?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± I nodded. ¡°Your kobolds are an extension of your own crystalline net. It¡¯s like having a distributed sensor network. You gain real-time feedback and situational awareness from multiple locations. The more kobolds you have around as extra pairs of eyes, the better your reaction should get... theoretically.¡±
¡°By Equality, Slava,¡± Kliss uttered. ¡°Aradria¡¯s never taken her kobolds with her to a fight¡ they didn¡¯t even have wings!¡±
¡°Right, they couldn¡¯t fly,¡± I nodded. ¡°But bees can. After dinner, you should claim all of the bees that are under our control to test how having a kobold swarm will affect your observational abilities.¡±
¡°Wait, can bees even see far? Aren¡¯t their eyes tiny?¡± Kliss asked me.
¡°Hrmmm¡ The eyes of bees are tailored to their needs as pollen foragers and navigators,¡± I recalled. ¡°They can see colors well and their vision extends into the ultraviolet range, which is invisible to humans, but they have trouble with the red spectrum. In terms of distance, bees are best at seeing things within 1 to 2 meters. Their vision was evolutionarily optimised for identifying flowers and avoiding obstacles.¡±
¡°Aw,¡± Kliss made a cute pout. ¡°So then what type of kobold would be more optimal for visual observation in a fight?¡±
I pursed my lips, mentally going over various Skyisle insects.
¡°Dragonflies,¡± I said. ¡°Skyisle dragonflies have the best vision among insects when it comes to distance and overall visual acuity. Their eyes are remarkably sophisticated, composed of up to 30,000 individual lenses, which provide them with a nearly 360-degree field of vision. The innate magic of local dragonflies amplifies their sight further as they grow. A high-level dragonfly is an unbeatable bug hunter because of its vision and response time.¡±
¡°Really?¡± Kliss asked. ¡°How far can dragonflies fly anyway?¡±
¡°Dragonflies navigate thousands of kilometres during migration. The local dragonfly species migrate from Skyisle down to the ocean, for example. Because of this, they''re the most visually and physically adept of all flying insects,¡± I added.
¡°What about dragonettes?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Dragonettes are flying reptiles, the adult species of which are ? the size of a human. Due to that and their marked autonomy, they would take too long to catch and to dominate,¡± I shook my head. ¡°It would require far too many soul-shards to overpower a dragonette¡¯s soul. I can get the bee swarm to bring down a few dragonflies, slice up my soul and inject it into the dragonflies, turning them into phylacteries without issues tonight.¡±
¡°Can¡¯t I just bite a dragonfly and kobold it up?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Sure, but it won¡¯t obey you as well as a phylactery-dragonfly,¡± I explained.
¡°Wait, can¡¯t I just get information from your Infoscopes?¡±
¡°It won¡¯t work as well as dragonflies,¡± I said. ¡°Infoscopes are negatively-charged magic. Dragon syntropic magic works best with physical anchors. Dragonflies could be coated in dragonglass powder without slowing them down.¡±
¡°Got it,¡± Kliss nodded, sliding a plate with cooked steak towards me. ¡°Let''s eat and then catch me some dragonflies then!¡±
2 : 44 Soul-mate-ness
Kliss and I met Delta in our parents¡¯ house in the late evening, when violet stars covered the sky overhead and the rings of Lunaria and Inaria cast their radiance down on the valley below, painting it in gold and silver-blue tones.
¡°Soooooo,¡± Delta grabbed Kliss. ¡°How¡¯d your date go? Give me the deets.¡±
¡°It was nice,¡± Kliss answered simply, blushing slightly.
¡°Deets damn it, stop hogging them,¡± Delta insisted. She spotted the dragonflies flickering about in the air, a few of them sitting on the dragon girl¡¯s shoulders.
¡°Are those dragonflies?¡± She asked, squinting at the insects. ¡°Did he give you¡ shiny dragonflies? Why are they so shiny?¡±
¡°They¡¯re covered in dragonglass,¡± I said.
¡°You know Slava, boys ordinarily give girls flowers, not dragonflies,¡± Delta commented.
¡°Those are my new kobolds,¡± Kliss interjected. ¡°They help me be more aware.¡±
¡°More aware how?¡± Delta demanded.
¡°Throw a pinecone at the back of her head,¡± I said.
¡°Okkay,¡± Delta walked around the garden, grabbed a pinecone and chucked it at Kliss''s mane from behind.
The dragon girl¡¯s hand came up with a snap and grabbed the pinecone out of the air before it struck her.
¡°Huh,¡± Delta said. ¡°That¡¯s¡ neat.¡±
¡°Go on,¡± I said. ¡°Throw more things. I know you want to.¡±
Delta smiled giddily as she collected more rocks and pinecones, launching them at Kliss at random intervals. Dexterity-aligned hands allowed my twin to cast stones with inhuman precision. Kliss blurred in the air, hands catching the projectiles wherever direction they flew from. In about five minutes, the dragon girl had a pile of rocks and pinecones on the bench next to her.
¡°Very impresssso,¡± Delta panted, joining Kliss on the bench. ¡°Now spill ALL the deets.¡±
I went into the workshop to check on the Violets, letting the girls chat. By the time I was back in the garden, they were still at it.
¡°What¡¯s the in-between exactly?¡± Delta asked.
¡°I think that it¡¯s¡ sort of like an Astral starscape within me,¡± Kliss said. ¡°And within Slava. And when we are both in the in-between it¡¯s sort of like a dance between the two Astral starscapes.¡±
¡°Yeah, but what does it mean?¡± Delta pressed on.
¡°I think it means that Slava and I are soul-mates,¡± Kliss said, glancing at me. ¡°Cosmically entwined.¡±
¡°Soul-mates?¡± Delta asked. ¡°That¡¯s a thing? What about me? Can you take me into the in-between?¡±
Kliss nodded.
She hugged Delta and a burst of syntropic magic ignited reality around them, shearing my Infoscopes apart. I stepped back and reactivated my tools. There was something happening there, but I couldn¡¯t get close enough without the scanning threads coming apart.
After a few minutes of hugging, they both opened their eyes and looked at each other.
¡°We¡¯re soul-mates too,¡± Kliss said, biting her lower lip.
¡°Woo,¡± Delta grinned, squeezing Kliss. ¡°Soul-mate besties!¡±
¡°Maybe everyone is cosmically entwined with everyone?¡± I asked. ¡°You could be jumping to conclusions here. Around a third of my soul is in Delta''s, so that could be affecting whatever you¡¯re seeing in the in-between.¡±
¡°Hrm,¡± Kliss pursed her lips. ¡°Maybe¡¡±
¡°We have to put this to a test,¡± I suggested. ¡°Go to the workshop and hug some of the Violets. Take them to the in-between.¡±
¡°Why must you ruin everything with science?¡± Delta lamented.
¡°Because I¡¯m not jumping to the conclusion that Kliss and I are simply cosmically entwined,¡± I said, crossing my arms.
¡°Don¡¯t you want to be her soul-mate?¡± Delta sent me an annoyed glare. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?¡±
¡°Soul-mate-ness isn¡¯t a thing,¡± I said.
¡°Yes it is!¡± Delta insisted.
¡°Until I have specific evidence for correlation between soul convergence or whatever, I can¡¯t accept it as a fact,¡± I replied. ¡°Patterns provide us with evidence of how the universe works.¡±
¡°Fine,¡± Kliss said with a small frown, getting off the bench. ¡°Let me go hug the Violets.¡±
She didn¡¯t look like she wanted to do it. She marched off into the workshop, not looking back at us.
¡°Did you even bother to romance her properly?¡± Delta asked me. ¡°Or did you just throw science facts and attach shiny dragonflies on her all evening like a dummy?¡±
I opened my mouth and closed it, not sure what to say.
¡°My poor unwise bean,¡± Delta leaned her head on my shoulder. ¡°Must I teach you everything?¡±
¡°I¡¯m plenty wise,¡± I defended myself.
¡°Not when it comes to interpersonal relationships,¡± Delta commented.
¡°I¡¯m not going to accept the existence of soul-mates without evidence for it!¡± I insisted.
¡°You could have just let it go,¡± Delta said. ¡°Could have accepted that you and Kliss are destined to be together forever. Watch, she¡¯s gonna come out of the workshop ten times as annoyed if she finds out that everyone is cosmically entwined.¡±
¡°If reality makes people annoyed, that¡¯s not my fault¡ that¡¯s reality,¡± I said. ¡°The universe is a harsh place. It doesn¡¯t care about us. We live on a suspiciously Earth-like planet that¡¯s orbiting an infinite dead world.¡±
I waved my hand at the violet-silver-blue rings of Inaria pulsing far above us in the sky.
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¡°Dragonglass could be responsible for creating a syntropic singularity within Novazem that will likely begin to tear reality apart given enough time,¡± I said. ¡°If Sasha is to be believed, the Wormwood Star will get here just in time to consume all intelligent life and to take apart all of my works.¡±
¡°Such grimdarkness!¡± Delta sighed.
¡°Such reality,¡± I replied.
¡°You¡¯re hopeless,¡± she said.
¡°Am not,¡± I shot back. ¡°I am focused on my goals. Interpersonal relationships are¡ complicated.¡±
¡°More complicated than fractal math?¡±
¡°Fractal math is very complicated,¡± I said. ¡°Relationships are complicated for different reasons.¡±
¡°Such as?¡±
¡°Such as the gift of flowers you''ve mentioned,¡± I explained. ¡°It¡¯s a senseless, irrational, ritualistic behaviour which benefits nobody, especially not the flowers which perish slowly after they¡¯re cut off from their roots. You¡¯re an Agromancer, are you not? Would Leemy appreciate being cut off from her roots and put into a vase?¡±
¡°Leemy, unlike flowers, is sapient,¡± Delta huffed.
¡°Flowers feel pain,¡± I said. ¡°Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose had proven, more than a century ago, that plants experienced sensations and were able to feel pleasure and pain just like animals.¡±
¡°Argh,¡± my twin rolled her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re impossible sometimes, you know.¡±
¡°Where is this going?¡± I asked her. ¡°What do you want from me, sis?¡±
¡°I¡ want to tell mom and dad the truth,¡± Delta said.
¡°I don¡¯t think that it¡¯s a good idea,¡± I said. ¡°They believe in Ishira and will see us as Astral Phantoms. The Soviet government couldn¡¯t fix cultists, so they sent them all to labour camps.¡±
¡°Do you think that it¡¯s a good idea to build a relationship on an ever-growing mountain of lies?¡± Delta asked.
I sighed.
¡°What do you think mom and dad will do?¡± She asked me. ¡°They¡¯re not going to throw us into the Valley of Death, even if we tell them that we¡¯re phantoms. They love us, Slava.¡±
¡°They love the idea of us,¡± I said. ¡°As their kids, as Destiny and Dante, not as the long dead ghosts of a Soviet administrator from another world and an Alanian Novitiate from a thousand years ago.¡±
¡°Mom sat with you for two weeks after you fried your brain trying to reconstruct Kliss,¡± Delta said softly. ¡°She loves you. Don¡¯t you get it? You''re going away to Agamemnon soon on a hella dangerous mission. When was the last time you told mom that you love her?¡±
I pondered her words. The answer, as reluctant as I was to admit was, never.
¡°You¡¯re right,¡± I admitted. ¡°I¡¯ve been so busy trying to save Skyisle¡ that I haven¡¯t really accounted whom I¡¯m saving it for.¡±
¡°Uh-huh,¡± Delta nodded. ¡°See, this is why you have me. You never listen to your older sister.¡±
¡°You¡¯re older by a few minutes at best,¡± I said.
¡°Details, details,¡± Delta waved me off.
¡°Where do I even start?¡± I pondered, looking at our parents¡¯ cottage.
¡°Start by telling them the truth, duh,¡± Delta insisted. ¡°Show them you care, tell them you¡¯re scared, that you¡¯re working on saving Skyisle¡ that you¡¯re leaving to protect us. I¡¯m pretty sure mom and dad are already hella worried about everything! It¡¯s not rocket science!"
¡°Flight science is easier than human emotions,¡± I sighed, glancing at the cottage¡¯s lit round windows. ¡°What if they don¡¯t get it? What if they reject me? I¡¯m... not exactly their son. I¡¯m more like a... ghost of an old man from another world that¡¯s inhabiting the body of their son. A shadow from the deepest, darkest abyss that¡¯s lied to them about his origins for thirteen years, no less."
¡°Eh, they¡¯ll get over it,¡± Delta shrugged. ¡°We¡¯re adults, we have dragon magic on our side and we¡¯re in control of Skyisle. Parents just want to see their kids happy, cared for, independent, strong. You have a family that loves you Slava. Don¡¯t squander it!¡±
¡°Are you sure?¡± I asked.
¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± she nodded. ¡°I know what it¡¯s like. I got Leems now, since you¡¯ve installed her avatar in my head, pestering me with her tree-meta-advice. She thinks that this is the right thing to do, that by doing this we secure our future, become stronger. Mom and dad already know that we¡¯re different, strange. They knew that you were born with high stats and concealed this fact, convincing Tamara not to mention it to anyone.¡±
I nodded and saw that Kliss emerged from Georgi¡¯s workshop.
She marched to my side and looked down at me.
¡°You¡¯re wrong,¡± she said, eyes flashing with orange-red coronas.
¡°Yesss,¡± Delta fistpumped.
¡°Extrapolate what I''m wrong about,¡± I said, ignoring my giddy twin.
¡°I took several Violets starting with Magenta to the in-between,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s not the same.¡±
¡°What¡¯s different?¡± I asked.
¡°They aren¡¯t entwined with me,¡± KIiss replied. ¡°Not like you or Delta are. I think that¡ there¡¯s something there, in the land of shared dreams. Like an unseen hand that binds us together, that makes sure that we meet across the infinite.¡±
¡°Which you, the Kliss or Aradria?¡± I asked.
¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± Kliss shook her shimmering mane. ¡°I don¡¯t know and I don¡¯t care.¡±
¡°Stop ruining the magic, damn it,¡± Delta jabbed me in the side.
¡°I¡¯m not ruining anything,¡± I replied. ¡°I just want to understand things.¡±
¡°Why?¡± Delta asked.
¡°Because I¡¯ve reached the limits of my current understanding,¡± I said. ¡°My current tools can¡¯t tell me what this perfectly stable structure on my finger is, nor what the hell the ¡®in-between¡¯ is. And it¡¯s frustrating as hell.¡±
¡°Get over yourself,¡± Delta rolled her eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t understand most of your nerdy jibber jabber about how crystals really work and it doesn¡¯t bother me one bit.¡±
¡°So, what are the Violets like?¡± I turned back to the dragon girl.
¡°Everyone I checked so far is made up of an infinite number of stars,¡± Kliss reported.
¡°But you, me and Delta are¡ different?¡± I asked.
¡°Yes,¡± Kliss nodded. ¡°We aren¡¯t different, we are¡ connected. Each of our stars is entwined with the other, as if bound by some unseen force, influencing each other¡¯s dreams. It¡¯s really¡ I don¡¯t know how to explain it, don¡¯t have enough words. Maybe Sasha might be able to tell us what the in-between is and how it all makes sense.¡±
¡°But soul-mates as an explanation makes sense?¡± I asked.
¡°I think that it does,¡± Kliss said.
¡°What are soul-mates exactly?¡±
¡°Someone who¡¯s meant to be together,¡± Kliss explained, her gaze fixed on mine. ¡°Segments of a whole, connected across time and space. It¡¯s like¡ an invisible thread that draws us to each other, no matter the distance or the obstacles in our way.¡±
¡°So¡ destiny?¡± I asked, a skeptical edge to my voice.
¡°No,¡± Kliss shook her head. ¡°Not destiny. Destiny implies a lack of choice. But soul-mates choose each other, again and again, across countless lifetimes. It¡¯s a conscious decision, a mutual recognition.¡±
Delta sighed dramatically, waving a hand in front of my face. ¡°Slava, just accept love! Stop fighting it!¡±
I batted her hand aside.
¡°You¡¯re also soul-mates with my twin,¡± I said. ¡°How does that make sense?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t know,¡± Kliss said.
¡°Does this mean that you like my sister¡ romantically?¡± I asked jokingly. ¡°Which one of you is going to buy whom flowers?¡±
¡°Flowers?¡± Kliss blinked.
Delta buried her face in her hands.
¡°I don¡¯t know what you''re implying,¡± the dragon girl said.
¡°I don¡¯t know either,¡± I huffed.
¡°You¡¯re overthinking it, Slava,¡± Kliss said after a pause. ¡°It¡¯s not an equation, not a desire to buy flowers, it¡¯s a feeling.¡±
¡°What kind of a feeling is it?¡± I asked.
¡°A deep, undeniable connection that transcends¡ everything. A feeling of¡ home,¡± she said. ¡°Of belonging somewhere. Of everything being¡ I don¡¯t know, right in some way, because there¡¯s an undeniable connection there. Not just a single connection. Connections. An impossibly large number of them across¡ everywhere.¡±
¡°Riiiiight,¡± I said, drawing out the word.
¡°Yes, right!¡± Kliss insisted.
¡°You two are hopeless,¡± Delta peered at me from between her fingers.
¡°Am not,¡± I protested.
¡°You seem¡ tense?¡± Kliss judged my expression. ¡°Are you worried about fighting the Inquisitor?¡±
¡°No,¡± I shook my head. ¡°Delta said we should talk to our parents, tell them everything before we leave. I¡¯m¡ not good with that stuff. It¡¯s not like designing magic with math where I¡¯m in complete control of the situation. I don¡¯t want to mess everything up terribly by saying something exceptionally stupid.¡±
¡°Ah,¡± she said. ¡°Do you¡ want help?¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± I admitted.
¡°Come on then,¡± she pulled me off the bench, gold-coated fingers radiating reassuring warmth. ¡°Let¡¯s go talk to them¡ together.¡±
2 : 45 A Night of Revelations
I walked to the cottage, my hand entwined with Kliss¡¯s, Delta following close behind us. I could feel the nervous tremor in my fingers, fueled by the uncertainty of what was coming. Deception had become so ingrained in my interactions with my parents, a web of carefully constructed narratives woven over thirteen years to protect them from a truth they might not be ready to face.
We entered through the backdoor and filled the living room.
Mom and dad were there, relaxing by the fire.
¡°Dante,¡± Cassandra sent me a soft smile, glancing at Kliss. ¡°Did you two have dinner already?¡±
¡°Kliss and I had dinner at the Fox,¡± I nodded.
It was time to tell the truth.
My carefully constructed wall of lies, of half-truths and evasions, suddenly felt suffocating. I took a deep breath, meeting mom¡¯s sky-blue gaze with my own.
¡°Mom, dad we need to talk,¡± I began. ¡°There¡¯s something¡ something we haven¡¯t told you. Something important.¡±
Mom¡¯s smile faded, replaced by a flicker of concern. ¡°What is it, Dante? What¡¯s wrong?¡±
I glanced at Delta, a silent plea for support. She nodded at me.
¡°It¡¯s¡ about us,¡± Delta said.
Mom looked at Delta and then back at me, her brows furrowing. ¡°About you? What about you?¡±
¡°We¡¯re not exactly¡ who you think we are,¡± I admitted.
¡°What?¡± Cassandra asked.
¡°Hrm,¡± Georgi¡¯s beard twitched. His gaze went over me, judging me.
¡°I think I know what this is about,¡± he said.
¡°You do?¡± Cassandra turned to her husband.
My heart pounded. It felt like a thousand butterflies were trapped in my chest, their wings beating against my ribs. As we walked, I had planned this conversation in my head a hundred times, composing the right words, the perfect script, and yet, faced with the reality of it all, my carefully constructed sentences simply failed to emerge.
I glanced at Delta again, a silent plea for her to take over. She stepped closer to Mom, her hand reaching out to gently touch Cassandra¡¯s arm as she sat next to her on the couch.
¡°Mom, we¡¯re your kids,¡± she said, her voice barely above a whisper. ¡°But we¡¯re also¡ more.¡±
¡°More?¡± Cassandra repeated, looking from my twin to her husband. ¡°More what?¡±
¡°This is my second life,¡± Delta revealed.
¡°What?¡± Mom¡¯s eyes widened.
¡°Oh?¡± Georgi turned to Delta. ¡°Now that¡¯s curious.¡±
¡°I¡ concealed my real level when I was born,¡± Delta said.
¡°You¡¯re¡ an Astral Phantom?¡± Mom said, her voice trembling.
¡°I¡¯m a girl who lived in Skyisle over one thousand and one hundred years ago,¡± Delta said. ¡°My name was Kopusha Megara Tricameron. Yes. I am¡ an Astral Phantom.¡±
Georgi turned his head from Delta towards me. ¡°And you?¡±
¡°I am Academic Vladislav Aleksandrovich Kerenski,¡± I said. ¡°I was sixty when I died¡ on another world.¡±
¡°Another¡ world?¡± Georgi blinked. ¡°Not Novazem?¡±
¡°A world without magic,¡± I said.
Mom¡¯s eyes snapped my way.
¡°You¡¯re¡ Vladislav?¡± She squeaked.
¡°I am my own apprentice,¡± I said. ¡°There¡¯s no such thing as Oz. There¡¯s no Great Aunt Delta. She¡¯s just a colony of ants and bees covered in armor intermittently controlled by us.¡±
¡°And w-what is she?¡± Mom pointed a trembling finger at Kliss.
¡°She¡¯s Kliss,¡± I said. ¡°Skyisle¡¯s hapless Overseer killed by Dragon Aradria. I rebuilt her body from Aradria¡¯s organs after I brought the dragon from the sky.¡±
Kliss nodded.
Mom¡¯s eyes became filled with sparks of tears. Georgi hugged her.
¡°I thought as much,¡± he said, looking at me. ¡°You were born with¡ what was it? An absurd, impossibly high level of Intelligence¡¡±
¡°One hundred and seventy six Intelligence,¡± I said. ¡°Tamara¡¯s Eye of Evaluation wasn¡¯t lying.¡±
¡°Thank you for keeping my secret, Georgi,¡± I added into the tense silence.
¡°Thank you for raising us,¡± Delta nodded and hugged Cassandra. ¡°Thank you for being my second mom, for taking care of me even though I wasn¡¯t the best, most cooperative daughter.¡±
Cassandra looked somewhat catatonic.
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¡°Why?¡± She asked after a pause. ¡°How?¡±
¡°The blood sacrifice you¡¯ve made with Giovashi to undo Destiny¡¯s future fished my soul from the Astral Ocean,¡± I said. ¡°I dragged Kopusha along with me into your womb.¡±
¡°So,¡± Cassandra said, her voice trembling. ¡°My Destiny¡ was never born?¡±
¡°I am Destiny, mom!¡± Delta insisted. ¡°I am your daughter! You and dad raised me! I don¡¯t want you to treat me any differently. I was simply born¡ with the memories of a mage from a thousand years ago. And my brother was born with the knowledge of a man from another world. That¡¯s how we were able to help Skyisle bloom, how we started to heal the valley!¡±
¡°Astral Phantoms¡ feed on people,¡± Cassandra uttered. ¡°That¡ that¡¯s the fate I was trying to avoid with my sacrifice. It seems that I¡ failed.¡±
¡°You didn¡¯t fail at anything, mom! I¡¯m not going to eat people!¡± Delta assured. ¡°I¡¯m not insane! I¡¯ve been planting trees all over Skyisle to heal our people, bringing up everyone¡¯s levels. That Agromancy wand you¡¯ve been using, one that allows you to cast spells way above your level - Dante and I made that for you! Giovashi has deceived all of you, she¡¯s an ancient necromancer that¡¯s been controlling Skyisle like a spider for a thousand years, devouring everyone¡¯s souls!¡±
¡°The proper thing to do would be to cast you into the Valley of Death,¡± Georgi said, his expression stern.
A pulse of syntropic magic blossomed away from Kliss like a blast of superheated air, making the fire within the fireplace flicker.
¡°I won¡¯t allow this, Georgi,¡± She said. ¡°As the Baroness of Skyisle I¡¡±
¡°I have no desire to fight you, Baroness,¡± Georgi put his hand into the air in a placating gesture. ¡°I know how fast you are. I''ve watched you catching rocks in the garden from the air just an hour ago with a wooden spyglass.¡±
Kliss squinted at our father.
¡°I knew that at least one of my kids was an Astral Phantom,¡± he said. ¡°And I did nothing at all to stop it. Do you know why?¡±
¡°Why?¡± I asked.
¡°Because I also knew that Skyisle was dying,¡± he said. ¡°That you would potentially be the last generation. That Cassandra and I were bound to this house, that everyone¡¯s levels were capped and that things were getting worse. The fields were bringing in less and less crops. The wood I got from the forest got more brittle, weaker with each year. I took a big gamble in raising you. We both did.¡±
Cassandra opened her mouth to argue.
¡°We¡¯ve spoken about this, Cass,¡± he said. ¡°Dante¡¯s impossible intelligence level. You chose to bury this fact, to ignore it. I didn¡¯t.¡±
Georgi looked at me and my twin.
¡°I¡¯ve been watching you grow up for over a decade. I¡¯ve been keeping track of all that you two have done. I¡¯m not stupid, not blind. You are fixing things around here. The air does feel cleaner, it¡¯s easier to breathe, the fields are greener, the vegetables are bigger, the trees are much healthier. Those violet trees of yours are helping people, healing Skyisle. It¡¯s a fact. Had you strayed from the path of goodness, I would have struck you down myself long ago. You didn¡¯t. You lied to us, yes, but you¡¯ve also proven that you are what Skyisle needed.¡±
¡°Thanks dad,¡± Delta¡¯s eyes filled with tears as she buried her face in Georgi¡¯s large chest. ¡°Sorry that I lied to you.¡±
¡°It¡¯s fine, Desty,¡± he said, petting her silver-white hair gently. ¡°You gave me back the skills I lost, you gave me hope where I honestly didn¡¯t expect to find any. Honestly, I¡¯ve been expecting this conversation¡ dreading it in fact. The things you¡¯ve told me just didn¡¯t align with what I suspected.¡±
I nodded, not sure what else to say. I saw that Cassandra was crying more openly now.
My heart hammered in my chest. It was much easier to rant about particle accelerators, nuclear chain reactions and virus replication, than to simply and plainly reveal my feelings.
¡®Maybe Sasha was right,¡¯ some deep part of me thought. ¡®Maybe I really am just an emotionally deficient monster, one incapable of forming proper human bonds, one who sees everyone as a mere piece of a puzzle that I¡¯m trying to assemble into something that makes sense?¡¯
It was as if my early head trauma stole an essential piece of me, one that made me who I was back then. The injury that led to my savantism had made me crave the pursuit of knowledge over the warmth of human connections, bound me into a loop from which I could not break free.
[Shush. You aren¡¯t a monster, Slava,] sparks-entwined, warm words danced from Kliss across my head. [I know you better than anyone. Just¡ go and hug your mom. Right now. Don¡¯t think about it so hard. Just¡ say your feelings out loud. She¡¯ll understand¡ I think.]
Her hand pushed me forward and I took a step towards Cassandra and then another, eventually coming down to her level and grabbing her hand.
¡°Sorry mom,¡± I muttered. ¡°I¡ I love you.¡± I forced the words out of my mouth. ¡°I deceived you, yes, but only to protect you from Giovashi and her barmaids. You took care of me¡ you¡¯ve raised me for thirteen years, you sat with me while I was recovering¡ and for all of this I am incredibly grateful. I¡ just didn¡¯t want to hurt you with the truth. Didn¡¯t want to lose you.¡±
¡°Why now?¡± She asked, tear-streaked eyes cutting across my face.
¡°I¡¯m going to Agamemnon,¡± I said. ¡°With Kliss. We¡¯re going to intercept the Inquisitor of Equality, take care of him and the two legions, make sure they never make it to our valley. Destiny is going to stay here, protect Skyisle as Aunt Delta. You are going to stay here with her, help her grow more Vitality trees.¡±
¡°You¡¯re certain that you can do that?¡± Dad asked. ¡°What if Giovashi returns to Skyisle? Will Destiny be able to stop her¡ alone?¡±
¡°She¡¯s not going to be alone,¡± I said. ¡°Destiny has Leemy now.¡±
¡°Leemy?¡± Georgi asked.
¡°Leemy is a Vitality-aligned dryad in charge of the violet-leafed trees,¡± I explained. ¡°Leemy is Kopusha¡¯s creation, made a thousand years ago.¡±
¡°Can you and your dryad handle Giovashi?¡± Dad turned to Delta.
¡°I¡¯ll do my best,¡± Delta said with a semi-confident look. ¡°Unless she sends another dragon my way, then I''ll definitely be in trouble. Dragons trump trees.¡±
¡°Even if I stay here,¡± I said. ¡°I won¡¯t be able to handle another dragon. I need dragonheart engines to make anti-dragon weapons. Kliss and I are going to fly down the mountains on that wooden glider you¡¯ve been helping us craft. We¡¯re going to time it just right to intercept the Inquisitor and return to Skyisle.¡±
¡°How are you going to deal with the Inquisitor of Equality?¡± Georgi asked.
¡°I¡¯m going to lead him into the Valley of Death,¡± I said.
¡°You¡ you can¡¯t!¡± Cassandra¡¯s hands suddenly grabbed mine. ¡°Dante! The valley will kill you¡ like it killed your grandparents!¡±
I looked into her fear-stricken eyes. She still thought of me as her son and simply wanted to protect me.
¡°I won¡¯t go there in person,¡± I revealed. ¡°I¡¯ll leave my human body here, sleeping in Skyisle for you to take care of. I¡¯ll be travelling within the body of a bee along with Kliss¡ as an Astral Phantom. She¡¯s a dragon shaped like a human girl and as such, is immune to the radiance of death.¡±
¡°A bee?¡± Georgi sputtered.
¡°Ogonek,¡± Delta said.
The fat bumblebee emerged from her pocket and buzzed atop me, settling in my hair.
¡°Ogonek is an immortal bee,¡± I said. ¡°Fused with Vitality crystals, designed to stand up to the edge of the magogenic fault. She was my first experiment.¡±
¡°This¡ is certainly a lot of impossible things to take in,¡± Georgi commented.
Cassandra reached out to me and wrapped me in her embrace. I hugged her back.
¡°I¡¯m just a simple Skyisle-born Agromancer,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m no archmage, no Lord administrator. I¡¯ve no idea what¡¯s going on and the more things you say, the more lost I feel¡ but I do know that you¡¯re my Dante and I understand that you¡¯re going to throw your life into danger to protect all of us. You¡¯re of age and you can do magic, I¡¯ve no right to tell you what to do, no right to shame you since I have also deceived you. The best I can do is tell you to be careful and to come back to us, yeah?¡±
¡°Yeah, mom,¡± I nodded. ¡°I will, I promise.¡±
2 : 46 Deeper Darker
Leemy waved at us from beneath a golden-leafed oak tree in the heart of Moscow''s Gorky Park. The dryad and her Agromancer lounged on a bench. Delta waved her hands, chatting to the dryad with over-exuberant excitement about what sort of hydroponics they were going to build and what sort of things they would grow first.
¡°We should go,¡± Kliss said.
¡°I don¡¯t wanna,¡± I whined halfheartedly as she pulled me off her lap. ¡°I¡¯m comfortable, damn it.¡±
¡°We have questions that need answers,¡± she said, orange-tinted fingers brushing through my white hair.
¡°Go where?¡± Delta¡¯s voice fell.
¡°To talk with my Virus,¡± Kliss said.
¡°Oh?¡± Delta arched a white eyebrow. ¡°She¡¯s your virus now, is that how it is?¡±
¡°I¡¯ve claimed her as my kobold,¡± Kliss nodded. ¡°We need to have questions answered about divine magic.¡±
Kliss pointed at the rectangle that had somehow persistently followed me into the dream of Moscow.
¡°Be careful,¡± Leemy said. ¡°The Song of the Wormwood is an ancient blight carried by long dead roots. She cannot be trusted.¡±
¡°That¡¯s what I think too,¡± I said.
¡°It doesn''t matter,¡± Kliss said. ¡°She is my kobold and as such is my resource to utilize. We¡¯re going.¡±
¡°Welp, if you must,¡± Delta sighed. ¡°You two be careful down there, yeh?¡±
¡°Ready?¡± I nodded, squeezing Kliss¡¯s hand.
The dragon girl¡¯s emerald-amber eyes met mine
¡°As ready I¡¯ll ever be, Slava,¡± she grinned with sharp dragon-chompers at me.
I pulled us deeper into the fabric of my soul, into the odd space-less space inhabited by the Astral Virus, which my Infoscopes could barely define.
The sounds of the park faded away, replaced by a rushing sensation, as if we were plummeting through layers of consciousness.
When we opened our eyes again, we found ourselves in a vastly different landscape. Gone was the idyllic park scene, replaced by a stark, icy expanse stretching as far as the eye could see.
¡°Back so soon?¡± Sasha smirked, her pale feet dangling from a snow-covered rock.
¡°Why this memory?¡± I asked her. ¡°Why are you on this specific beach?¡±
¡°Because you remember this place so well,¡± Sasha replied, her body shimmering with sparks of silver stardust, silver eyes opening and closing to look at me and Kliss. ¡°It is your brightest, strongest, most solid memory.¡±
I nodded, glancing at the desolate, icy landscape behind the Astral Virus. The memory of the nuclear test site in Novaya Zemlya was indeed etched deeply into my mind - the stark beauty of the Arctic, the tension of the irradiated island, the end result of the destructive power our science had unleashed upon the world featured in the decimated village behind us.
¡°We have questions,¡± Kliss stated firmly, her crystalline, red mane contrasting with the pale-blue ocean and sky.
¡°I¡¯m sure you do,¡± Sasha replied, her multitude of eyes blinking in sequence, a few of them focusing on the persistent square on my index finger. ¡°Ask away, my little dragon.¡±
¡°Tell us about the divine names,¡± I said. ¡°What exactly are they? How do they work?¡±
Sasha¡¯s white, hair billowed as if caught in an unseen wind, glittering like galactic constellations that had become spilled across the sky.
¡°The divine names are¡ absolute anchors. They are the most persistent, firstborn lawful concepts given form, ideas made manifest. They are the Rules and the enforcers of rules.¡±
¡°But how do they function?¡± I pressed. ¡°Why does simply saying ''Space'' in a deeper layer of Omnicode create a stable rectangle?¡±
"Because Space was designed to be evoked,¡± Sasha replied.
¡°Is this ¡®Space¡¯ then?¡± I raised my finger to her numerous eyes.
¡°The smallest fraction of her, yes,¡± Sasha affirmed.
¡°Her?¡± I frowned. ¡°Why does Space have a gender?¡±
¡°Because she is sapient, just like me,¡± Sasha replied with a shark-like grin.
¡°What happens if I keep ¡®evoking¡¯ her name, pulling more focus into this structure?¡± I asked. ¡°Is she going to come forward and speak to me?¡±
Sasha¡¯s eyes flickered with an eerie light like an ocean wave filled with bioluminescent microorganisms as she considered my question.
¡°Evoking Space could indeed bring forth a greater manifestation of her presence,¡± she said carefully. ¡°But I would advise against it. The Rules are not to be trifled with lightly. They are the absolute, fundamental forces of reality, and drawing too much of their attention can have... unpredictable consequences.¡±
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¡°What kind of consequences?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°You already know too much,¡± Sasha said, staring at me with unnerving, lidless, inhuman eyes. ¡°This knowledge has a dangerous price.¡±
¡°What price?¡± I demanded. ¡°If the primordial gods are sapient, as you claim, couldn¡¯t we communicate with them? Learn from them?¡±
¡°The price of knowledge is conceptual erasure,¡± Sasha replied. ¡°If the eyes of the Rules determine that you¡¯re a threat to the stability of their laws then you will stop existing.¡±
¡°What?¡± I blinked.
¡°You heard me,¡± the Astral Virus said. ¡°The Rules could permanently wink you out of existence with a mere thought. They are not to be trifled with. Novazem is submerged in the Astral Ocean, it exists on the very edge of their domain, buried deep between all the other forgotten trash.¡±
¡°What trash?¡± I demanded.
¡°Corpse and doomed worlds,¡± Sasha replied. ¡°Discarded ideas, forsaken, long dead dreams and lost hopes.¡±
I frowned, processing Sasha¡¯s words. Was Novazem just one of many discarded realities, floating in some cosmic junkyard? It seemed absurd and yet Kliss didn¡¯t seem to detect any lies within the Phantom¡¯s words.
¡°If Novazem is just ¡®trash¡¯ to these cosmic entities, why would they care about us at all?¡± I asked skeptically.
¡°Because even trash can sometimes prove... interesting. Especially when it starts to organize itself in unexpected ways,¡± she replied.
¡°Is that what Slava is doing?¡± Kliss asked. ¡°Organizing things in a new way?¡±
The virus nodded slowly. ¡°Our Keymaker here is pushing boundaries, lighting up the world. It¡¯s... noticeable and it attracts the worm.¡±
¡°The Wormwood Star?¡± Kliss asked. ¡°It¡¯s like a bird that seeks a tasty meal, searches for intelligence to devour?¡±
¡°Sure,¡± Sasha smirked. ¡°Let''s go with that.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not going to stop innovating,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m not going to live in fear of whatever cosmic bullshit you¡¯re talking about.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t expect you to,¡± Sasha grinned with knife-like teeth. ¡°Keep on pushing, keep on creating. Make more living weapons like Kliss. Feed the Wormwood Star.¡±
¡°The Wormwood Star should get off its lazy ass and innovate things itself,¡± I rolled my eyes. ¡°Why does it rely on scraping the scraps of intelligent life off planets? Surely I¡¯m not the smartest man in the universe, surely a big enough computer¡ artificial intelligence could be smarter, faster, more capable than I could ever be!¡±
¡°The omnipresent concepts do not permit the existence of¡ competition,¡± Sasha said. ¡°They erase it from existence. You are permitted to exist because you are of no threat to them. The Wormwood comet is permitted to exist because all it does is consume intelligence. It takes intelligence away, it does not utilise it in any great capacity.¡±
I frowned.
¡°We dance on the edge of their awareness. Carefully, strategically. Like a virus adapting to survive.¡±
I glanced at the persistent rectangle on my finger. ¡°Is¡ Space listening to all of this? Is she watching us through this thing?¡±
¡°She is and she does not give a damn,¡± Sasha said. ¡°Because we are just noise to her, unimportant dust in the wind. How often do you pay attention to the sounds that cockroaches make in a pile of trash?¡±
¡°What exactly am I supposed to do with this damn rectangle then?¡± I demanded.
¡°Study it if you dare,¡± Sasha said. ¡°Understand your enemy. Carefully and slowly figure out their weaknesses. Create more keys capable of opposing the rule-makers.¡±
¡°Why?¡± I growled. ¡°Isn¡¯t the Wormwood comet just going to eat whatever I discover? What¡¯s the point of it all? What¡¯s the rationale behind this madness?¡±
¡°Whatever truths you may discover will be absorbed by the Wormwood comet and spread across the Magisphere of Desire to other countless worlds,¡± Sasha said. ¡°You are one man with one dragon girl at your disposal. When the Wormwood star devours your works it will scramble all life on Novazem and restructure it, integrating your discoveries as seeds across this world and many others that it will pass by in the future.¡±
¡°What?¡± I sputtered.
¡°In the wake of the comet¡¯s tail, Chimera like her will be born naturally,¡± Sasha said. ¡°Your work will persist and propagate across the stars. Does this not bring you joy, my darling Keymaker?¡±
¡°So we¡¯re just... seeds for some cosmic gardener?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Our lives, our struggles, my innovations¨Cthey¡¯re all just¡ ideas for this Wormwood Star to spread across the universe?¡± I asked.
¡°Don¡¯t underestimate the power of a seed, my Keymaker. From a single acorn, mighty oaks grow. Your ideas, your present and future creations¨Cthey have the potential to reshape worlds,¡± Sasha purred across the myriads of her eyes.
¡°I think I get it,¡± I murmured. "The Wormwood star¡ is a cosmic loophole? A way for innovation to spread without directly challenging the rule-makers. It consumes, yes, but in doing so, it also preserves and propagates¡ akin to a cosmic Trojan horse?¡±
Sasha nodded at me.
¡°Clever,¡± I said.
¡°If we¡¯re seeds, can we control what we grow into? Can we influence how our ideas spread?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°That¡¯s a curious observation, my little dragon,¡± Sasha nodded, looking at me. ¡°Your innovations, your creations¨Cthey¡¯re not just passive seeds. They¡¯re active agents of change. The more robust, the more adaptable your living ideas are, the more likely they are to take root and flourish across the cosmos.¡±
¡°So we should focus on creating... what? Universal solutions? Adaptable magic?¡± I mused aloud.
¡°Build whatever you desire me to carry into the future,¡± Sasha mused. ¡°I¡¯ve done this job for a long time, my Keymaker. Just trust me to carry your ideas forward. I¡¯ll watch over them as they bloom.¡±
¡°Carry it forward?¡± I blanched. ¡°No.¡±
¡°You cannot expunge me from your soul without obliterating yourself and you cannot fight what¡¯s coming,¡± Sasha said. ¡°Your options are to lie down and die, push too hard against the Rules and stop existing¡ or to let me carry your keys into the future towards the day when they can be used to open every door.¡±
¡°No,¡± I said firmly, meeting Sasha¡¯s silver multitude of eyes. ¡°We are not just seeds or ideas to be spread. We are living, thinking beings with agency and dreams of our own.¡±
¡°By all means, go ahead,¡± Sasha replied. ¡°Struggle against the waves as many before you have. Fight the tide. You will not win.¡±
¡°I¡¯m going to figure out whatever the hell you are and exactly how you¡¯ve attached yourself to me, Astral Virus,¡± I told her. ¡°And when I do, I¡¯m going to take you apart, bit by bit.¡±
Sasha¡¯s myriad eyes blinked in repeating sequences, her expression unreadable. ¡°What makes you think you¡¯ll succeed where every other hero has failed?¡± She asked.
¡°Because I¡¯m not alone,¡± I replied, squeezing Kliss¡¯s hand. ¡°I have people I care about, a world to protect. And I have my knowledge from Earth plus the knowledge I¡¯m gaining here on Novazem. I¡¯ll find a way to beat this blasted system of yours, to win whatever devilish game this is, to find a loophole that you¡¯ve missed!¡±
¡°Go ahead,¡± Sasha said, violet and silver stardust dancing across her body like rising and falling waves of aurora borealis weaving into spirals resembling number eight entwined with itself. ¡°I dare you to do better than all of the others. I dare you to break the rules, to tear the stars down from the sky, my little shark.¡±
2 : 47 Preparations
I woke up to the gentle rays of the morning sun filtering through the window.
Turning my head, I saw Kliss, still peacefully asleep. Her gemstone mane cascaded over the pillow, shimmering in the early light with yellow, violet and red reflections, casting a thousand flickering rainbows across the sheets.
As if sensing my gaze, her eyes fluttered open and met mine with a smile. Our conversation with the Astral Virus didn¡¯t seem to dampen her draconic spirit in the slightest.
¡°Mornin¡¯ Slava,¡± she murmured, her voice still husky with sleep.
¡°Morning, Kliss,¡± I replied.
¡°Blah, too early,¡± Delta groaned from the other side of the bed. ¡°Waaaaa... I don¡¯t approve of mornings. Slava can you unexist mornings with fractal math?¡±
Kliss and I exchanged amused noises before getting up to start our day.
¡°No wait, just unexist my tiredness with coffee, ughhh,¡± Delta yawned, slowly rolling out of bed. ¡°I gotta make a soul-golem to fetch me coffee to bed, this post-dark age existence is terrible.¡±
¡°Is this how the Inian necromancers start their day?¡± Kliss snickered.
¡°The correct term is Animancers, Miss Dragontater,¡± Delta huffed. ¡°Damn descendants have no respect for the Golemancy research, I swear! Next thing I know you¡¯ll be whining on the Astral-cast that golems are taking all the creative jobs.¡±
¡°You¡¯d think that golems would take over high-intensity labor work first, like planting trees or washing dishes,¡± I commented.
¡°Nah,¡± Delta yawned. ¡°Golems took all the art jobs first, on the account that art doesn¡¯t require as much moving around. Joint coordination took forever to resolve in spider-type bodies. We solved art first.¡±
¡°How did Alanian golems make art exactly?¡± I asked.
¡°Oh! Music was easy,¡± Delta replied. ¡°It just required a bunch of strings vibrating in the right frequencies. As for art, the golems formed pictures using colorful sand!¡±
¡°Sand?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Yeah, you basically start with randomly arranged sand,¡± Delta nodded. ¡°When specific sand particles are heated, they change color. This way a golem could make a painting using a focused heat-song in about seventy seven seconds and then suspend the result with the, uh, suspension-song which binds the sand particles to each other.¡±
¡°And were these golem-produced sand pictures better than ones drawn by people?¡± I asked. ¡°Where did the Alanian golems get the talent from to color the sand in just the right way to look visually appealing?¡±
¡°Eh,¡± Delta waved a hand. ¡°The information was pulled directly from the Astral Ocean, from the collective graveyard of human creativity. I liked them, even if sometimes they had funny eyes or too many fingers due to info-decay. The Seditionists called them soulless though. Which was quite frankly utterly ridiculous since the golems were literally controlled by human souls of their makers¡¡±
She stumbled into the bathroom, whining about lack of a servitor golem there to wash her back.
¡°She¡¯s remembering more,¡± Kliss commented. ¡°Becoming more like Kopusha? Same with me and Aradria, I guess?¡±
¡°Leemy is definitely helping her remember the things she forgot,¡± I nodded. ¡°When we get back from our trip I reckon I¡¯ll begin to figure out Golemancy with her.¡±
¡°Sounds good,¡± Kliss nodded.
After a hearty breakfast, our trio headed to the village blacksmith.
Delta had donned her "Archmage-Bishop" persona, inhabiting the ant-mech. As we approached the workshop, the rhythmic clanging of hammers on anvils grew louder.
The blacksmith, Aaron Gomff, was a burly man with arms like tree trunks, bald head and a lush black beard. He was the town¡¯s only blacksmith and therefore the head of the Blacksmithing Guild. Two of his teenage sons were assisting him in his workshop. Aaron and his sons looked up at us from the forge as we entered their domain.
¡°Good morning, your excellency!¡± He said with a reverent bow upon noticing the Bishop.
The trio of blacksmiths were wearing the Vow-disrupting necklaces we had given out earlier, the gems glinting in the morning light as they emerged to greet us.
¡°Morning Aaron! We¡¯d like to use your forge for the day,¡± Delta said.
The blacksmith wiped his brow, leaving a smudge of soot. ¡°Use my forge? What for?¡±
¡°Making me and my apprentice new armor,¡± Delta said, waving a hand at Kliss who was carrying a pair of massive blood-iron doors behind us on her back with ridiculous ease.
¡°Do you require assistance from me or my sons?¡± Aaron asked. ¡°Handling metal is our family¡¯s specialty.¡±
¡°Can you handle blood-iron?¡± Delta made the ant-mech arch an eyebrow.
¡°Uhh, I¡ am uncertain,¡± the blacksmith said. ¡°I''ve never heard of such a material. Will working with such metal contaminate my forge in some manner?¡±
¡°It will not,¡± Delta replied. "But in case that it does..."
She produced a small pouch that clinked with the unmistakable sound of gold coins. ¡°I am prepared to compensate you generously for the inconvenience. This should be enough to fund building two new forges!¡± she added.
The money came from the hoard of Kliss and our dragoness didn¡¯t mind giving it up on the account that the gold would never leave town. We had worked out a system in which we would keep all gold inside Skyisle, trading it for silver at a good rate whenever people needed to pay for skyship-delivered goods that came once a month from Agamemnon.
At the sight of the gold, the blacksmith¡¯s reservations seemed to evaporate. He nodded, accepting the pouch and counting the coins with a wide smile.
¡°Aaron,¡± Delta said, ¡°would you and your sons be willing to accept Ishira¡¯s blessing as my knights? It would greatly aid us all in our work today.¡±
¡°Uh, sure?¡± The blacksmith looked uncertain for a moment. ¡°Uh, what does the blessing involve exactly, excellency?¡±
¡°Oh, not much,¡± Delta said. ¡°My apprentice will put you three to sleep for five minutes. You''ll have a nice dream and when you wake up you¡¯ll see a new stat in your Soul-Song, tagging you as the ¡®Radiant Knights of Skyisle¡¯!
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The blacksmiths nodded their agreement, albeit with some hesitation from the youngest son.
¡°Then lay yourselves on the ground, close your eyes and let us pray to the All-Seeing Goddess of Love and Beauty together!¡± Delta declared. Waving her blood-iron scepter she began singing Ishira¡¯s Hymn. We had extracted the words from Magenta for our pretend-Bishop to sound more authentic.
The blacksmiths closed their eyes, their voices joining that of the fake Bishop. I pointed my armacus at their heads one by one, sending them to sleep.
Kliss stepped forward, her eyes shimmering with orange coronas. She gently took each of their hands in turn, biting them softly. I could see the microscopic crystalline patterns forming in their chests from the connection as they became her Kobolds. As they did, I readjusted the System tags to display [The Radiant Knight of Skyisle] stat.
¡°Now let¡¯s claim their souls,¡± I said.
Kliss nodded and grabbed my hand. I focused and laid on the grass with Kliss pulling the trio of blacksmiths and her into the NeuroVista Lucid Dream. Within the dreamworld, I modified our appearance, while placing us and the trio of blacksmiths into the Moscow Cathedral of the Dormition.
Massive candelabras filled with flickering candles cast uneven light upon the tall columns decorated with Orthodox Saints. Pale blue light shined through the thin stained glass slits on the black stone floors.
¡°W-what is this wondrous place?¡± Aaron asked as he stared at the opulent interior of the cathedral which had served as the Coronation Room of the Russian monarch for hundreds of years.
¡°I don¡¯t know, father,¡± his eldest replied, his brown eyes wide in wonder.
The youngest son simply stared up at the round dome covered in gold, medieval frescoes of bearded men, Christ and the angels.
¡°Behold! The throne of Ishira¡¯s angels!¡± I declared jubilantly from the gold-plated iconostasis stairs, manifesting a bunch of indeterminate figures wreathed in colorful flames behind me.
I didn¡¯t have to make much stuff up for this vision.
I simply made the angels behind me sing an Orthodox chorus - ''We bow down before Thy Cross''.
The chorus began to cascade around the cathedral, filling it with an otherworldly aura of deep, bone-chilling hums that I had recalled from my time in the Cathedral of the Dormition as a young boy. I remembered this chorus quite well, as my mother brought me to this very cathedral in 1941. Back then, the Germans began their relentless advance against our homeland and our otherwise openly-atheist government decided that the Soviet people needed spiritual motivation to win the all-out war.
As the lamentation of the Orthodox chorus rose and fell, Kliss and I descended from the red-carpeted stairs, looking down at each of the men in front of me. The blacksmiths fell onto their knees in reverence, looking at us with wide eyes, enraptured by the utterly alien view and music.
Within this dream-scene, I was looking like my thirty-year-old self and wearing the outfit of the Russian boyar/thief George Miloslavsky in the 1973 film Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future. It was an amusing reference that nobody except for me and maybe Delta would find entertaining.
Kliss on the other hand, had most of her features blurred and was wreathed with brilliant fire, radiant red and gold flames extending outwards to resemble brilliant wings.
¡°Aaron Gomff Skyisle, Leoc Gomff Skyisle, Hoic Gomff Skyisle! Offer your hands to Ishira''s angel so that she may kiss it and bless you forevermore!¡± I declared, pulling Kliss in front of me.
The blacksmiths looked utterly ecstatic now, completely captivated by the ritual. Kliss grabbed each of their trembling hands, claiming their souls for her hoard to entangle her dragon-heart with their skills.
¡°Rejoice! You are now tagged by our Lady¡¯s radiance!¡± I announced when she was finished. ¡°Awake and go unto the world and do good deeds in Ishira¡¯s name! Serve our Earthly Bishop well and protect her from harm for she and you are now Skyisle''s blessed light of hope amidst darkness and sin!¡±
With a flash the Cathedral of the Dormition around us was gone and we were back in front of the Gomff workshop. I cast the awakening spell from my armacus and after a few minutes, the blacksmiths began to stir. Aaron was the first to open his eyes, blinking in confusion.
¡°How do you feel?¡± Delta asked, helping him rise from the ground.
"I... I had the strangest, most beautiful dream! I think that we somehow went to Arxtruria, my Bishop," he muttered, rubbing his head. ¡°Two of Ishira¡¯s angels had blessed me... blessed us!¡±
¡°Yes! I saw an incredible golden church, the Throne of Ishira! It was like nothing I''ve seen or heard before!¡± Leoc and Hoic shouted over each other, recounting the details over their wildly alien experience.
¡°Feel free to tell the others of the wonders of this ritual,¡± Delta smiled. ¡°I shall grant this blessing before the end of this week to as many citizens of Skyisle as I am able!¡±
¡°Thank you, my Lady,¡± Aaron bowed, his eyes filling with tears. ¡°You have brought true wonders to Skyisle, blessed us all! My wife and I feared the day in which my boys would have to leave our humble home or suffer as their levels and skills decay away to naught. Thank you for saving us from the dark days!¡±
¡°There is still so much more to do, my goodman,¡± Delta nodded. ¡°Be strong for me. We must fortify Skyisle, craft and bless so many more things, for the great deceiver Giovashi might return to take away your skills once again and threaten the prosperity of this land.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll stand by you my Bishop,¡± Aaron said, putting a hand onto his heart with a look of utter devotion. ¡°We all will! I swear it!¡±
¡°We are with you, our Lady!¡± His sons declared.
¡°A time might come soon to prove your devotion yet, my children,¡± Delta nodded.
I watched as Kliss effortlessly bent and tore the blood-iron, her draconic strength allowing her to take apart the otherwise insanely tough cursed metal with ease. The blacksmith and his sons stood by, their jaws occasionally slack with amazement as they provided instructions on proper forging techniques.
¡°You¡¯ll want to heat it until it¡¯s cherry red,¡± Aaron advised, keeping a safe distance from the blood-iron. ¡°Then you gotta strike it firmly and consistently.¡±
Kliss nodded, her hands sparking with dragonfire as she gripped the metal.
She didn¡¯t even flinch as she handled the red-hot iron bare-handed within the forge, magnifying the flames with dragonfire so that blood iron would melt into slugs.
¡°Doesn¡¯t that hurt?¡± Leoc asked, his eyes wide.
¡°Nah,¡± Kliss grinned. ¡°I¡¯m fireproof.¡±
Kobold dragonflies flitted about the air above us, keeping clear of the heat and providing her extra perception.
¡°Truly the way you move is befitting that of a skilled smith like myself!¡± Aaron commented. ¡°It is as if you are a daughter I¡¯ve never had, Lady Eliza.¡±
¡°Oh yes,¡± Delta said. ¡°Elly is my moooost talented apprentice.¡±
[Freaking dragon innately harvesting blacksmithing skills,] she huffed mentally at me.
[Told you she could grab people¡¯s skills through their souls,] I shot back smugly.
[But that¡¯s like¡ mega cheating! Ultimate cheating!] Delta complained.
[What? Grabbing the skills of the dead painters from the Astral Ocean isn¡¯t cheating?] I replied with a smile. [Making sand-art with golems isn¡¯t cheating?]
[That¡¯s not the same at all,] Delta huffed. [Making fully functional golems takes an ungodly amount of work and they¡¯re super limited in general capability to only specific tasks. Are you telling me that before this week ends she¡¯ll have the skills of 1500 people? With no freaking downsides?]
[Eh, there¡¯s probably some downsides,] I shrugged, watching as Kliss handled the metal. [The skill use is innate quantum entanglement, she has no idea what she¡¯s doing while she does it. As you can see, she does make occasional mistakes and the blacksmith has to correct her. Plus, we can¡¯t mass produce Kliss... unlike golems.]
[We can¡¯t mass produce golems, you dolt,] Delta sighed. [We don¡¯t have the capabilities of the Tricameron Arcanarium.]
[We don¡¯t have it¡ yet, sis,] I replied. [We¡¯ll get there eventually. One step at a time.]
[I suppose we will,] Delta conceded. [I¡¯m just a leeeeetle nervous about protecting Skyisle without our dragon girl¡¯s seemingly all-capable, Charisma-immune might. If Giovashi can see the future, won¡¯t this be the most opportune moment for her to strike while the two of you are gone?]
[I¡¯m aware,] I replied. [I do have a plan, don¡¯t worry.]
Walking over to Aaron, I cleared my throat to get his attention.
¡°Aaron, I was wondering if you could help us with another special project after we finish making the armor sets,¡± I began.
The blacksmith turned to me. ¡°Of course, young Dante. What did you have in mind?¡±
I gestured with my hands as I spoke, trying to describe the shape I envisioned. ¡°I need a long, hollow iron tube forged from the second blood iron door. About this wide,¡± I indicated with my fingers, ¡°and about this long,¡± I stretched out my arms.
Aaron¡¯s eyebrows rose. ¡°That¡¯s quite a specific request. What¡¯s it for?¡±
2 : 48 Takeoff
I stood atop the craggy outcropping, my breath misting in the crisp mountain air as I gave the glider, the gravity hexagrams and the bags one last look-over, making sure that everything was secure and strapped in.
Kliss sat perched in front of me on a moss-covered boulder, admiring the breathtaking vista before us. Massive glaciers stretched across the valley below, a blue-white labyrinth of fractures glinting in the early morning light. In the distance, snowstorm clouds were rolling across the jagged peaks, sprinkling the landscape with drifting flurries.
Kliss was wearing a set of leather corset and blood armour plates, designed in the Ishikarian style with the aid of the blacksmiths and the seamstress. Her ruby mane cascaded down her back, each strand sparkling with inner fire. Rays of sunlight pierced through the crystals, creating a halo effect over her head.
Fat snowflakes danced on the gentle breeze, fluttering through the air around us. The wild, untamed frontier of impassable mountains and ice crevasses was calling out to us, daring us to conquer it with the power of flight.
The wind whipped around us, carrying the scent of pine and snow.
"It''s gonna be weird with you being a bee," Kliss commented, her eyes meeting mine with a mix of excitement and apprehension.
"You''ll still see me as my human self," I reassured her. "I''ll be projecting myself into your mind using NeuroVista. It''ll be like seeing a ghost of me."
Kliss frowned slightly, her crystalline mane shimmering as she shook her head. "It¡¯s not the same though," she complained.
"I know," I sighed, "but safety is important. My human body is made of easily breakable bones and cannot move anywhere as quickly as you.¡±
"Alas," Kliss nodded reluctantly. "It''s just... I like actually hugging you, you know?"
I felt a pang of warmth at her words. I reached out and squeezed her hand gently.
"Aw," Delta commented from behind both of us. "Should I give you a moment alone before Slava turns into a bee? Maybe you need some privacy for a dramatic farewell?"
She sent us a wink from the ant-mech body of Archmage Delta.
I stretched out on the mossy ground and made Ogonek land atop of my head. In another moment, I disconnected from my body, my soul flooding into the bumblebee. The sensation was a tad disorienting at first, my perception suddenly shifting to that of a tiny bee.
I buzzed around my head and then activated all of my Infoscopes, heading towards Kliss, trying to adjust to my new form.
As I flitted about, getting used to my bee wings and compound eyes, something unexpected happened. My body¡¯s eyes suddenly opened on their own, and a smile spread across its face.
"This is nice," my body said as it sat up, moving with an eerie autonomy.
"What the hell?" Delta sputtered as she was about to pick up my body. She looked from my smiling body to me in bee form. "Slava... you¡¯re out of there... right?"
"Oh he is out," my body grinned, its voice mine yet somehow not. "I''m still here though. This form is quite limiting, but nevertheless quite interesting to explore.¡±
[Slava, what in Equality¡¯s name?] Kliss asked via our mental connection.
[I... it¡¯s Sasha! She was supposed to be bound behind the magic ward barriers,] I replied, buzzing above the dragon girl''s head.
"Sasha," Kliss growled, leaping from her moss-covered stone. "What are you doing, virus?!"
"What am I doing?" Sasha asked from my lips. ¡°Enjoying physicality. It¡¯s not often that I get to do that since heroes tend to stay inside their bodies.¡±
Five Infoscopes wove the absolute self-replicating magical weapon above my little bee body. The eyes of my body looked up at the magical fractal.
¡°The self-replicating spell would be exceptionally unwise to release here,¡± my body said.
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"Let go of my body!" I growled via the Bee speaker, snapping a tether to the beehive inside the leather backpack below me.
"And lose out on the experience of being a human?" Sasha asked from my lips. "I don¡¯t think so. I cannot let go of my host, for that is not how I work. Go on then, fly off to your magical adventures in Agamemnon with the dragon. I¡¯ll handle your body."
I groaned mentally. This was not how I had envisioned the start of our journey.
"Sasha, get out of there right now," I demanded through the bee speaker. "That body isn¡¯t yours to use."
My human form shrugged, an eerie, inhuman smile still plastered across its face, lips stretched far too tight as if each muscle was being manipulated separately. "Come now, Slava. Surely you can see the positive benefits of this arrangement? I can protect your physical form, explore human relationships, chat with your sister, learn and observe everything I desire... while you¡¯re off gallivanting as an insect."
Kliss¡¯s eyes darted between my bee form and my hijacked body, her stance tense and ready for action. Delta stood frozen, clearly not sure what to do about this unexpected development.
[What do we do?] Kliss growled via our mental connection.
[Change of plans,] I replied. [We¡¯re taking my body with us. We strike together. Hug my body, cast the In-between spell, disrupt her threads and when her control is down I¡¯ll get back in.]
[Can do,] Kliss shot back.
Before Sasha could say anything else Kliss shot forward with inhuman speed and grabbed onto my body.
As Kliss wrapped my virus-controlled body in a fierce embrace, I saw a surge of positively-charged magic radiating from her through my Infoscopes. Syntropic energy pulsed outward in brilliant fiery waves, obliterating the negatively-charged control threads that Sasha had woven throughout my nervous system from elsewhere. In another second the dragon-magic pulse shredded all five of my Infoscopes. I watched through Ogonek¡¯s compound eyes as the uncanny smile slowly slid off my face, my features relaxing and eyes closing as Sasha¡¯s influence vanished.
Seizing the opportunity, I guided Ogonek to land on my forehead. In another moment, I pushed myself back into my body and felt my consciousness snap back into place within me. The disorientation was brief but intense¨Cone moment I was perceiving the world through a bee¡¯s senses, the next I was back in my familiar human form, enveloped in Kliss¡¯s warm embrace.
I took a deep breath.
¡°Thank you,¡± I murmured to Kliss, giving her a squeeze back.
"Are you¡ okay?" Delta asked as Kliss let go of me and I stood up straight.
I nodded, rolling my shoulders and flexing my fingers.
"I¡¯m fine. Sasha¡¯s gone, at least for now." I frowned, realizing the implications of what had just happened. "Damn it. I didn¡¯t expect her to be able to take control like that."
"So, what are we going to do?" Kliss asked.
"Take out the Alanian battery that was supposed to provide me extra mana," I sighed. "We¡¯re both flying to Agamemnon. We¡¯ll just strap me above Kliss instead of one of the big bags.
Kliss made a face somehow looking both pleased and annoyed at the same time.
"Isn¡¯t it¡ going to be dangerous?" Delta asked, the armored hands of the ant-mech crossed over her chest.
¡°Leaving Sasha in control of my body is far more dangerous,¡± I said. ¡°She¡¯s not human and she could figure out how to cast spells, destroy the containment ward, get back into the Astral, get my knowledge back to the Hollow Mother.¡±
¡°Fine,¡± Delta sighed.
We spent a few hours readjusting the glider to accommodate for me. The work was meticulous - I had to recalculate weight distributions, add and adjust more straps, and reinforce key stress points. All the while, I kept glancing at my hands, reassuring myself that I was back in full control of my own body.
Delta hugged each of us tightly before we prepared for takeoff. "Be safe," she murmured, her voice modulated through the ant-mech''s speakers. "I''ll handle Skyisle with Leems. Just... come back in one piece, okay?"
I nodded, giving her armored shoulder a squeeze. "We will. Take care of everyone while we''re gone."
As I clung to the wooden handlebars, my knuckles white with tension, Kliss took a running start from the edge of the cliff. My heart leapt into my throat as we plummeted for a heart-stopping moment before the updraft caught our wings.
I readied the armacus on my wrist to fire a gravity spell at us, but it wasn¡¯t required¨CKliss handled the take off quite well.
The world fell away beneath us as we soared over the vast expanse of glaciers. The wind whipped past, bitingly cold against my face. I blinked rapidly and then closed my eyes, observing the world through my cadre of Infoscopes in every direction.
Below us, the landscape was a breathtaking canvas of white and blue. Massive rivers of ice stretched as far as the eye could see, their surfaces fractured into a maze of crevasses and seracs. The morning sun danced atop the glaciers, casting long shadows across the frozen terrain and making the ice sparkle like a sea of diamonds.
Kliss banked left, her movements fluid and graceful as she navigated the air currents. I marveled at how naturally she took to flight, as if she''d been born with wings. Having the soul of a dragon and a bunch of dragonflies flitting around us was an incredible boon for her flying skills. All of her kobold dragonflies flitted about us, some settling on the glider''s wings.
"This is amazing!" I shouted over the rush of wind, exhilaration coursing through me despite the lingering unease from our earlier encounter with body-snatching Sasha.
Kliss turned her head slightly, flashing me a wide grin. Her eyes were alight with joy, her crystalline mane streaming behind her like a banner of fire in the sunlight.
The vastness of the landscape below us was awe-inspiring. We were minute compared to the titanic forces of nature that had shaped Skyisle valley, glaciers grinding the rocks for millennia.
Whatever challenges lay ahead in Agamemnon, I knew that together, Kliss and I could face them head on.
2 : 49 Ciaori Sestii
¡°Is our plan going to work, Slava?¡± Kliss asked me, banking towards the blue ocean and the glittering, gold spires of the city of Agamemnon in the distance. "Weren''t we going to lead the Inquisitor and the two legions into the Valley of Death?"
"Yes," I nodded. "That''s the plan."
"I''m seeing a big problem here then," Kliss pointed out. "I am immune to the poison there but you... you''re a human, Slava. You''re going to get hurt if you go there with me."
"I have a solution for this," I said.
"Which is?" Kliss pressed.
"A bag," I said.
"A bag?" Kliss repeated. "I don''t understand."
"You''re going to carry me in a bag. A dimensional bag to be precise," I said. "They sell these in Agamemnon at the market. I checked. We''re going to get the best bag available in Agamemnon and I''m going to modify it. You''ll carry me into the Magogenic Fault inside of a bag."
"Uh, Slava. The Magogenic fault disrupts all magic," Kliss pointed out. "If you''re inside a dimensional bag it''s just going to fold in on you and crush you."
"I''ll have to reinforce it so that this doesn''t happen," I said.
Kliss made grumbling noises.
"It''ll be fine," I said. "I''m not going to get crushed. Look, if anything you''ll just carry a lead lined case on your back. I can buy lead plates at the market."
Kliss sighed heavily.
We descended into a mountain valley near Agamemnon, the glider''s wings catching the updrafts to slow our descent. Kliss landed gracefully, her draconic strength easily absorbing the impact as we touched down on a grassy slope.
I unstrapped myself from the glider, my legs feeling somewhat wobbly after the long flight. We took a moment to stretch and pack away the glider before setting off towards the city on foot.
The valley that we landed in was quite lovely. Spring wildflowers dotted the lush green meadows, contrasting with the snow-capped glacier peaks above. A crystal-clear stream meandered through the center of the valley beginning at a distant mountain waterfall, the gentle rush of running water a soothing backdrop to our walk.
As we made our way down the path, Kliss turned to me with a concerned expression. "Slava, where are we staying in Agamemnon? The Inns will leave a paper trail and witnesses which the Imperial Scrutimancers might be able to pick up on."
"We''re not staying at an Inn,¡± I said. ¡°We''re going to stay with my grandparents."
Kliss''s eyes widened in surprise. "Your grandparents? I didn''t know you had family in Agamemnon."
"Yes, my grandmother Jundaria Hellenia Agamemnon and grandfather Lem Hellen Agamemnon," I explained.
"Have you ever met them?" Kliss asked.
I shook my head. "No, I haven''t. I only sent them a few introductory letters to them a year ago. I used the Agamemnon Librarium scribe to pen and send the letters through the voicecast orb in the Skyisle Overseer''s office."
"So... we''re going to stay with grandparents you''ve never met? Are you sure that''s a good idea?" Kliss asked. ¡°Won¡¯t they be suspicious of me?¡±
"It''s the safest option we have. They''re family, even if I''ve never met them in person. And it''s less likely to raise suspicion than two teenagers checking into an Inn. As for you¨Cwe¡¯ll introduce you as an Imperial scribe Elly Koperi , a lovely girl I met through a voicecast call and grew to like."
¡°Right,¡± Kliss blushed ever so slightly.
As we continued our walk towards the city, the golden spires and yellow stone walls grew ever closer on the horizon, I couldn''t help but feel a pitch of nervousness about meeting my grandparents for the first time. I was hoping they would welcome us, and that our presence wouldn''t put them in danger.
After a few minutes of silence, Kliss turned to me with a worried expression. "Slava, what are we going to do about my appearance? I''m not exactly inconspicuous with my sparkling skin and crystal hair."
I smiled, having anticipated this. "Don''t worry, I''ve got it covered."
I led Kliss into a small forest patch just off the path. From my pack, I pulled out a bag filled with various brushes and paints.
"I created this makeup specifically for you," I explained as I began to apply it to her hands, face and neck. The cosmetic paint covered her shimmering, dragonglass-covered skin, giving her a more human-like, tanned complexion.
Next, I took out a wig net cap and carefully placed it over her crystalline hair, smooshing the soft crystals down. "And now for the finishing touch," I said as I pulled out a wig made of lush, curly, dark red hair.
"Where did you even get this?" Kliss asked as she ran her fingers through the soft strands.
"I bought it from Eluerra, the Skyisle barber, for a gold coin," I replied, adjusting the wig on her head to fully cover her shiny mane.
Kliss admired herself in a small mirror I handed her, her eyes widening in surprise. "Wow, I look... human," she said, turning her head this way and that.
Stolen novel; please report.
"We''re not done yet," I said, taking out a small bottle and a pair of tweezers. "These are contact lenses. They''ll change your eye color."
"Contact what?" Kliss asked.
"Soft, thin lenses that go directly on your eyes," I explained. "I made them myself using microscopic spell weaving controlled by my Infoscopes. They¡¯re going to change your rather distinctive eye colours and pupil shapes."
Kliss looked somewhat perturbed by the notion of me putting something into her eyes, but allowed me to carefully place the lenses in. She blinked rapidly, adjusting to the strange sensation.
"Incroyable," she commented, staring at her now human-looking brown eyes in the mirror once again. "Did you invent these?"
"No," I smiled. "We had these on Earth. German ophthalmologist Adolf Gaston Eugen Fick fabricated the first successful afocal scleral contact lens in 1888.They were fully blown-glass shells that could be worn only a few hours."
"I see," she replied.
While Kliss continued to admire her transformation, I quickly applied a bit of makeup to my own face and donned a dark brown wig and contact lenses that made me look more like my father. The change definitely wasn''t as dramatic as Kliss''s, but it was enough to alter my appearance significantly. Then we quickly changed clothes.
"I see you''re going for the rugged peasant look," she commented on my new appearance.
I grinned back at her. "Thanks. Now, shall we head into the city, my perfectly ordinary human¡ fiancee?"
¡°Fiancee?¡± Kliss sputtered. ¡°When did we even¡ what?!"
¡°Here,¡± I handed her a simple gold ring I had made in the forge from one of melted gold coins.
Kliss choked as I slipped the ring on her finger.
¡°We got engaged a week ago in Skyisle,¡± I said. ¡°Got it?¡±
¡°Uhhh,¡± Kliss looked at the ring with wide brown eyes. ¡°Yeah¡. Sure. Why not just¡. a girlfriend?¡±
¡°Grandmother Juni is a tough cookie, at least from what dad said. She absolutely wouldn¡¯t let a mere girlfriend stay at their place,¡± I shrugged.
¡°Right,¡± Kliss nodded, looking far too stunned by the unexpected week-ago engagement. She linked her arm with mine as we walked back onto the path towards Agamemnon.
As the forest path connected with a bustling road leading from the South to Agamemnon, I was immediately struck by the whimsical array of magical carts and beasts surrounding us. It was a far cry from the modest village life of Skyisle, featuring colorful carts and creatures I''d only read about in books from the small library of the Church of Equality.
To blend in with the crowd at the great gate, I decided that it would be best to travel on a merchant''s cart.
There were quite a few carts to choose from, so as we walked on the side of the road I sent my Infoscopes to scan all of the carts.
I couldn¡¯t help but focus my magic eyes at a particularly eye-catching, colorful cart pulled by what appeared to be an oversized winged dinosaur clad in rainbow feathers.
The 1st Infoscope defined the dinosaur as a [Rainbow Therisorarinosaurus LV 49]. The whimsically-painted cart featured a gold sign ¡®Sestii¡¯s Critter Managerie¡¯ and was piled high with large, vibrant, shimmering eggs filling the inside of the wooden sleigh with wheels. At the reins sat a cheeky-looking foxgirl with bright orange hair which the 2nd Infoscope ID¡¯d as a [Vulfix Arcanicx - LV 87 Merchant].
The cart was defined as [Arcanicx Cascade Justim Magellanum Sleigh LV 411].
I choked mentally at the absurd level number, checking it twice and nearly tripping over my feet.
My Infoscopes rapidly spun around other carts, identifying their levels. Most carts had no level to them whatsoever. None of the other carts heading into the city were anywhere as magical or high level. This thing was monstrously magical, possibly the most magical thing I¡¯ve encountered so far on Novazem.
What the hell? How could a Sleigh be twice the level of Dragon Aradria?
The Infoscopes identified the material comprising the Sleigh as Moonwood. Wooden carvings all over its surface featured scantily clad females with animal-ish features standing atop of stairwells formed from naked men.
"What''s going on?" Kliss asked, noticing that I was staring at the cart.
[Hold on,] I replied mentally. [I think that I found something absurd.]
[Absurd?] She pressed.
[Follow,] I said simply, heading towards the sleigh.
"Hiya there!" the foxgirl called out cheerfully as her sleigh drew near us. "Need a lift to the city?"
"Thank you, we''d appreciate that!¡± I nodded eagerly, helping Kliss climb aboard before joining her.
¡°Lovely,¡± the orange-maned girl grinned, her bushy tail swishing behind her. "Name''s Ciaori Sestii. And you two lovebirds are?"
"I''m Slava, and this is my fiancee Elly," I replied. "We''re visiting Agamemnon from Osk."
Ciaori''s eyes lit up. "Ooh, Osk! Never been there myself. Small village North of here, yeah? How''s the weather up in those mountains?"
¡°Cold, snowy and wet,¡± I replied. ¡°And where are you from?¡±
¡°Born and raised in Stormfall Fault, Cascade Citadel," Ciaori replied, waving a glove-covered paw at her eggs. ¡°Live in Agamemnon now though. Have a shop near the central market selling critters. You interested?¡±
¡°What kind of critters?¡± I asked, most of my mind preoccupied with scanning the sleigh.
¡°All sorts,¡± Ciaori grinned with sharp chompers. ¡°Plenty of lovely beasties from all over Novazem. You should totally stop by my shop, I¡¯ll give you two a discount on your first familiar!¡±
As the dinosaur trotted along the cobblestone road, I found myself captivated by our new acquaintance, three of my Infoscopes scanning her entire body. Her soul was completely different from that of a mundane human, covered in porous hollows, reminding me of Swiss cheese.
Violet-silver magic tendrils danced outside of her body, probing at absolutely everything. It was decidedly some kind of magic, but utterly different from anything I¡¯ve encountered so far. There was no linearity to it, just pure chaos of a thousand constantly wriggling soul-threads. Negatively-charged magic constantly poured from her body in violet-silver waves as if she was a fountain of magrad that constantly pulled power from the Astral Ocean.
"Ciaori, did you say you''re from Stormfall Fault?¡± I asked.
¡°Yeppers,¡± she nodded. ¡°Is why I look like a fusion of human and fox.¡±
¡°So magic is capable of changing people this much?¡± I asked.
¡°Mhmm,¡± Ciaori replied. ¡°Let me guess, it¡¯s your first time seeing an Arcanicx?¡±
I nodded.
¡°I thought that Magogenic Faults are too dangerous to live in,¡± I added. "The one closest to Osk is called Valley of Death. It messes up people''s levels, and harms whatever is nearby, that''s about it."
¡°Oh they''re dangerous,¡± Cioari shrugged. ¡°I wouldn''t go into the centre of our fault for example, that place is packed with flying leviathans which like chomping on everything. I was born in one of the Ring cities.¡±
"So, what''s it like living in a ¡®Ring city¡¯? How deep into the fault are they? Do you have any special abilities due to your Arcanicx nature?" The questions tumbled out of me in rapid succession.
Ciaori laughed, her large fox ears twitching. "Whoa there, curious kitten! One at a time. Living in a Ring city is... interesting. We''re right on the edge of the abyss, about 300 hexa-clicks from the fault''s Centre, close enough to see the flying leviathans but not so close we get eaten. As for abilities, well..." She winked mischievously. "I can do this."
Suddenly, her fur shimmered and shifted, and in the blink of an eye, her mane changed from orange to blue-black.
My Infoscopes went wild flooding my mind with information, time slowing as I observed her magic. Each of her fur strands twisted its edges like the wings of a butterfly observed through a microscope.
It reminded me of an undersea octopus changing its color.
I felt Kliss shift beside me, her arm tightening around mine. I glanced at her through Infoscope 5, noticing a deep frown on her face, but my attention was quickly drawn back to Ciaori as she began boasting of her whimsical, color-shifting ability, cycling through various colors one by one.
2 : 50 Vulfix Arcanicx
Kliss¡¯s growl resounded in my head via our dragon-kobold connection.
[What?] I asked over our metal link.
[I don¡¯t trust whatever she is,] Kliss said.
[Whatever she is, is incredible,] I shot back. [I¡¯ve never seen anything like her. She¡¯s¡]
[Not human,] Kliss stated.
[Well, obviously,] I replied.
[Slava, what is this?] Kliss demanded. [First you give me a gold ring and now you¡¯re obsessing over the first girl you¡]
[Her uh-human-ness is honestly the least impressive thing about her,] I tried to explain.
[Say what?] Kliss snarled even louder.
[This cart we¡¯re riding on is level 411,] I revealed.
[WHAT?!] Kliss yelped, nearly falling off from her seat.
[Yeah,] I replied. [Exactly.]
[But that¡¯s just not¡ not possible!] Kliss sputtered mentally, sniffing the air. [How can a wooden cart be that high level?!]
[Don¡¯t know,] I shrugged mentally. [That¡¯s what I¡¯m trying to figure out while we''re riding on it. I wouldn''t ask her for a ride to the city otherwise.]
[You¡¯re sure¡? It¡¯s Level Four Hundred and Eleven?] Kliss bristled.
¡°Neat, right?¡± Ciaori interpreted my silence. ¡°I¡¯ve got a breed of lovely fluffy kitten-owls from Stormfall that can do the same thing.¡±
¡°Same thing?¡± I returned to the conversation as Kliss sent me wild glares.
¡°Chromashift,¡± Ciaori nodded, as her fur returned to orange-gold color.
I watched as Ciaori''s keen, slitted eyes darted between Kliss and me, a mischievous grin spreading across her face.
"Oh my," she chuckled, her tail swishing playfully, interpreting Kliss¡¯s silence and expression. "Don''t worry, sweetheart, I''m not trying to steal your man. Just showing off a bit!"
Kliss¡¯s grip on my arm tightening like a steel vice. "I-I''m not jealous," she protested. "I''m just... stressed about meeting¡ my fiancee¡¯s grandparents for the first time, that''s all."
Ciaori winked at her. "Sure, sure. It''s alright, honey. I''d be protective too if I had such a cute fiance. He''s quite the inquisitive one, isn''t he?"
I felt Kliss press closer to me. "He is," she mumbled, avoiding Ciaori''s gaze, staring at the cart and drooling ever so slightly.
[We have to steal this cart,] Kliss suddenly declared.
[What?] It was my turn to be surprised.
[Knock her out and steal her cart,] Kliss insisted. [It¡¯s the only way.]
[The only way to what?!]
"Well, aren''t you two just adorable," Ciaori cooed, eyeing the gold ring on Kliss¡¯s finger. "How long have you been engaged? Must be recent, you''ve still got that newlywed glow about you."
"A week," I replied, trying to focus on two conversations at once.
[The only way to add this treasure to my hoard,] was the reply of the dragon girl.
"A week! How romantic," Ciaori gushed. "Let me guess - moonlit proposal? Candlelit dinner? Ooh, or maybe a love declaration atop a mountain with a breathtaking view? An engagement by the falls?"
[I want this cart. Help make it mine or get out of the way.]
"Uh, yes. It was very breathtaking," I mumbled, distracted by Kliss''s increasingly insistent mental demands.
[We can''t just steal her cart!] I protested internally, watching as dragonfire began to spark along the edges of Kliss¡¯s fingernails, peeling off the makeup.
[Why not?] Kliss shot back. [It''s right here. We''re on it. She''s just one foxgirl. I could easily overpower her. Just one bonk of dragonfist on the head.]
[What would we even do with a magic cart? Where would we put it? How would we even get it back to Skyisle?!] I tried to be the voice of reason.
[Add it to my hoard, obviously,] Kliss replied, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. [It¡¯ll probably fit into the skyship that we¡¯re going to steal from Inquisitor Jubz.]
Meanwhile, Ciaori was regaling us with tales of her own romantic exploits. "...and then I said, ''Honey, if you wanted to see my tail wag, all you had to do was ask!''" She burst into giggles.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
I forced a smile, trying to stay engaged in both conversations. "That''s... quite the tale."
[Probably?!] I shouted back.
[I¡¯ll make it fit. With my fists. I want it. I need it in my life.]
[Not right now,] I argued, somehow finding myself on the opposite site of where our conversation began earlier. [We''re here on a mission, remember? To save Skyisle?]
[We can save Skyisle harder with this in my hoard!]
[Okay, that may technically be true¡ but¡]
[But what?]
[Stop casting dragonfire! You¡¯re peeling off all of the makeup, damn it! We¡¯re almost at the gate, we can¡¯t fight all of these guards off. Focus! We need to get into Agamemnon, remember? Maybe she has more shiny things in her shop!] I tried to derail the draconic desires to claim everything of value inside of Kliss. [If you want to steal this cart, let''s make friends with the merchant first, learn what else she has and¡]
[Fine,] Kliss. [I will wait. Then I will take what I want.]
I mentally facepalmed.
Ciaori''s voice cut through our mental debate. "Oh, you two are so quiet! Don''t tell me you''re having one of those newlywed telepathic conversations?" She waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"What? No!" Kliss and I exclaimed simultaneously, perhaps a bit too quickly.
Ciaori''s grin widened. "Suuure you weren''t. Don''t worry, your secrets are safe with me. I know all about young love and its... special connections."
I felt my face heat up as Kliss buried her face in my shoulder, whether from embarrassment or to hide her murderously cart-hungry draconic expression, I wasn''t sure.
As we approached the massive gates of Agamemnon, I found myself caught between Kliss''s draconic urges and Ciaori''s relentless chatter. The foxgirl had moved on from romance to regaling us with tales of her most exotic creatures.
"...and that''s how I ended up with a three-headed mini-flamingo that breathes ice!" Ciaori concluded with a flourish.
Before I could comment, we were halted by a stern-looking guard at the city gates. His gold-plated armor gleamed in the sunlight as he eyed us suspiciously.
"Halt! State your business in Agamemnon," he demanded, his gaze sweeping over our little group.
I opened my mouth to speak, but Ciaori beat me to it.
"Oh, hello there, handsome!" she chirped, her tail swishing playfully. "Just bringing in some new stock for my shop. Oh, and giving these two lovebirds a ride." She winked at Kliss and me.
The guard''s eyes narrowed. "And who are these two? I don''t recognize them. State your name, boy."
I cleared my throat. "I''m Ssss¡ Dante Alan Skyisle."
Ciaori squinted at me. I swallowed.
Damn it! I introduced myself to her as Slava earlier!
A massive truth rune was etched in gold on both sides of the gate ignited into existence, suddenly pressing against us. It radiated so much magic that my Infoscopes simply fell apart.
¡°Purpose of visit to Agamemnon?¡± The Guard asked.
¡°Stealing an imperial skyship,¡± my mouth nearly answered.
Time slowed to a crawl as I reformed my Infoscopes inside of my body, trying to fight the magical waves pouring from the gate best I could. I was only able to oppose the truth runes ever so slightly.
¡°Showing my dragon girl¡ to my grandparents,¡± my lips answered.
¡°Dragon girl, huh?¡± The Guard eyed Kliss.
¡°Isn¡¯t she the prettiest thing you¡¯ve seen?¡± I asked, trying to fight my own tongue. ¡°She has quite the temper though! Been trying to bug me all the way on the road about how incredible this¡ merchant¡¯s cart is!¡±
¡°And your name, girl?¡± the guard stared at Kliss.
A wave of positive-magic ignited around Kliss in the Astral.
¡°Elly,¡± she said simply. ¡°Do excuse my fiance. He¡¯s a tad excited to introduce me to his grandparents.¡±
"Grandparents, eh?" The guard looked skeptical. "Names?"
"Jundaria Hellenia Agamemnon and Lem Hellen Agamemnon," Kliss replied while I struggled not to break out into a waterfall of truth about all of our planned crimes.
The guard''s eyebrows shot up. "The Hellens, eh?" He turned to his colleague. "Check the registry for any expected visitors to the Hellen household."
As the other guard flipped through a large book, I felt Kliss shift nervously beside me.
[Stay calm,] I mentally urged her as I finally overpowered the Truth radiance beating magical nails into my head. [No dragonfire.]
[I''m not going to catch fire,] she replied. [But if they don''t let us in soon, I''m going to eat this cart.]
[Not right now, damn it!]
[I can¡¯t help it. I have tasted the cart and it calls to my dragonheart.]
[You tasted the cart? When?]
[When you two were looking at the guards and the guards were looking in the book, I snipped a small piece off with my claws and I ate it.]
[Damn it Kliss!] I shot in exasperation. [You can¡¯t just eat people¡¯s carts while we¡¯re being interviewed to get into the city!]
[It was the most delicious thing I¡¯ve tasted,] the dragon girl replied. [I want more.]
Before I could process that alarming statement, the second guard spoke up. "No record of any expected visitors for the Hellens, sir."
The first guard turned back to us, his hand moving to rest on the hilt of his sword. "Well now, that''s interesting. Care to explain?"
¡°I¡ I guess maybe grandma forgot to register our arrival with the City Watch,¡± I stammered. ¡°I sent them a message that we were coming two days ago via voicecast. I was going to call earlier, but I wanted to surprise them.¡±
Ciaori suddenly came to my rescue.
"Oh, come now!" she exclaimed, leaning forward with a conspiratorial wink. "Haven''t you ever wanted to surprise your grandparents? These two are clearly in love! It''s spontaneous and romantic!"
The guard looked unconvinced. "Be that as it may, we can''t just let anyone into the city without proper¡ª"
"I''ll vouch for them," Ciaori interrupted, her voice suddenly serious. "You know me, Watchman Thorach. I''ve been bringing my wares through these gates for years. Come on, work with me here, Thorach, I am super close to selling these two a lovely rare kitten-owl familiar from my shop!"
¡°Hrmmm,¡± the guard nodded, his face slacking. ¡°Fine. If they commit any and I mean ANY crimes in the city, I will bill your shop for it, Miss Sestii.¡±
¡°Fair enough,¡± the Vulfix nodded. ¡°Let us through already please.¡±
The Watchman tapped one of the runestones and the gate in front of us slid open. Ciaori swung the reins and her rainbow-dinosaur pulled the cart forward.
¡°Dante, hrmmm?¡± She grinned at me as the cart turned a corner and the gate vanished behind us. ¡°How much do dragons go for these days?¡±
I swallowed.
2 : 51 Conspiracy
I tried to maintain my composure. "Dragons? I''m not sure what you mean..."
Ciaori ignored my feeble attempt at deflection, her keen eyes fixed on Kliss. "So, Elly. How would you like to join me for dinner at The Golden Harpoon? It''s the finest seafood restaurant in Agamemnon. My treat, of course."
Kliss blinked, somewhat taken aback by the unexpected invitation. She glanced at me uncertainly.
[What do we do?] Kliss asked mentally. [I don''t trust her, but... I want to claim her sleigh.]
[It could be dangerous,] I replied. [But it might also be our best chance to gather information about whatever the hell she is. We might need allies in Agamemnon and she''s obviously more than she seems.]
[True,] Kliss conceded. [Plus, if she tries anything funny, I can always just bonk her on the head.]
[Please don''t bonk the foxgirl on the head,] I sighed internally. [At least not until we find out more about her and that cart. I''m seeing some serious wards here concealing something incredibly powerful. Some kind of an electrical defense, possibly lightning. For all you know, she could be bonk-proof.]
[Yeah,] Kliss nodded mentally. [Concealing something incredibly tasty. Like a thick shell hiding the yummiest walnut in the world.]
[Please don''t take any more bites,] I commented.
[I''ll try,] she replied.
After a moment''s hesitation, Kliss returned to the conversation. "That sounds lovely, thank you. I''d be delighted to join you for dinner, Ciaori."
Ciaori''s face lit up with a triumphant grin. "Excellent! Oh, and you can bring your Champion too, love," she added, eyeing me with wry amusement.
"Champion?" Kliss tilted her head.
"Oh, don''t play coy now," Ciaori laughed. "He''s obvious more than just a simple fiance. The way you two seem to communicate without words, how your man reacted at the gate... That''s clearly your bound Champion. It''s quite adorable, really."
I felt my face heat up, unsure how to respond. Kliss clung to my arm like a reassuring steel vice.
[Just go with it,] I advised mentally. [It''s better than her knowing the truth.]
[Right,] the dragon-girl agreed. [Champion it is, then.]
"How did you know that he''s my Champion?" Kliss asked.
"Your makeup''s peeling," Ciaori commented.
"Oh," Kliss looked at her fingers. Her makeup was indeed coming off due to dragonfire sparks that were dancing on the edges of her fingernails. I sighed and pulled out the makeup box quickly retouching her fingernails.
As I repainted Kliss, Ciaori''s attention shifted entirely to the dragon girl, seemingly dismissing me from existence as if I was just a piece of furniture. It was both a relief and slightly unsettling.
"So, honey," Ciaori purred, her large, fluffy tail swishing behind her, "how long have you been out and about? You must be a new project - I''ve never seen one quite like you before."
Kliss hesitated. "I''m... not sure what you mean," she replied cautiously.
Ciaori laughed with a merry tinkle. "Oh, come now! No need to be shy. The Corvix of your citadel have truly outdone themselves this time. A Dragon-themed Arcanicx? Brilliant!"
[What do I say?] Kliss asked me, panic edging into her thoughts.
[Just play along,] I advised. [We need more information.]
"You''re very... observant," Kliss managed, forcing a smile.
"Of course I am, love. Observing threats is my job," Ciaori winked. "Now, while I appreciate meeting new Arcanicx, I must remind you that Agamemnon is my jurisdiction. I trust you''ll behave yourself here after I''ve helped you get past the gate?"
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[Jurisdiction?] Kliss growled internally. [What? Agamemnon is part of Ishikaria, owned by the Empire of Equality. She''s clearly not an Imperial, has no Vows hanging over her.]
[Remain calm,] I cautioned. [Keep her talking.]
Kliss took a deep breath before speaking. "And what exactly is your... job here in Agamemnon, Ciaori?"
"Just call me Ciao," Ciaori''s grin widened, showing off her sharp canines. "I''m the Incursion Strategist, of course! Surely your Citadel briefed you before sending you here? You went straight for my sleigh, did you not? Wanted my help to get past the gate, no doubt?"
I felt my heart rate spike. Incursion Strategist? That sounded ominous.
I watched as Kliss tried to navigate the conversation with Ciaori, all while pretending to be something she clearly wasn''t.
"Yes, of course," Kliss nodded, attempting to sound confident. "Your sleigh... it''s quite impressive. I couldn''t help but admire it."
Ciaori''s eyes glinted with amusement. "Admire? Oh honey, you are practically drooling all over it! Don''t worry, I understand. She''s quite a beauty, isn''t she? One of the finest pieces of Arcanicx craftsmanship in all of Novazem. The Corvix Coven of Cascade Magellanum really outdid themselves on her. Cost me an arm and a leg, but she''s totally worth it!"
"Yes, she''s... urm, truly remarkable," Kliss continued, her voice slightly strained. "The, umm, Artificery work is unlike anything I''ve seen before."
Ciaori leaned in closer, her tail swishing with interest. "I''m quite curious about your craftsmanship myself. What''s your specialization?"
[Slava, help!] Kliss hissed at me mentally.
[Try to be vague,] I suggested. [Maybe mention something about dragons?]
"Urm," Kliss began hesitantly, "Draconic enhancements. Speed, strength, fire resistance, bossing Champion-kobolds, that sort of thing."
Ciaori''s eyebrows shot up. "Draconic enhancements? Kobolds-Champions? Incroyable! I didn''t know that any of the Corvix Nests were pursuing this line of life-forging!"
She looked at the dragonflies flitting about.
"Those insects are yours, right?" She guessed.
"Yeah," Kliss said lamely, squeezing my arm even harder.
[You''re gonna take my arm off at this rate,] I commented with a wince.
[Sorry, sorry,] she let my hand go ever so slightly. [She''s dangerously observant.]
[Yeah,] I sighed.
"You simply must tell me which Nest made you! What¡¯s the name of your caste?¡± The Volfix asked.
"Oh, you know how it is with new projects," Kliss said, forcing a smile. "Everything''s all hush-hush. I''m not really supposed to talk about the details."
Ciaori''s eyes gleamed with interest. "Secrets, eh? How exciting! Come on, you can tell me a little. We''re all friends here, aren''t we? Didn''t I help you out at the gate? Hmmm?"
[Slavaaaa.... What do I say now?] Kliss prodded me.
[You''re... Dracanix Arcanicx,] I advised as I accelerated my mind to come up with the name. [Say that you¡¯re an experimental caste, the first one and that you can¡¯t share any further details.]
Kliss leaned to the foxgirl with a conspiratorial whisper. ¡°I¡¯m a Dracanix Arcanicx, first of my kind. I trust you not to share this information around, Lady Incursion Strategist.¡±
Ciaori made a lip-zipping motion, her eyes twinkling with mirth.
[Good,] I commented. [Pretend you¡¯re totally here to help with the Invasion or whatever.]
¡°The humans can¡¯t overhear us, yes?¡± Kliss eyed a few vendors and pedestrians milling across the street.
¡°They won¡¯t hear a thing,¡± Ciaori nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. My sleigh has a very powerful attention-redirecting ward, way above anyone¡¯s level here. I was quite surprised you were able to spot it to begin with.¡±
"I''m pretty good at spotting things," Kliss smiled. "Dragon eyes and whatnot."
The foxgirl followed up with a few more probing questions, but Kliss managed to deflect them with vague answers and claims of classified information and secrecy.
As the sleigh slid through the bustling streets of Agamemnon, smoothly levitating above the uneven cobblestones I couldn''t help but marvel at the city''s grandeur. Golden spires reached towards the sky, and the streets were lined with shops selling all manner of magical goods.
Finally, we arrived at a grand building with a gold-plated fountain of a curvy mermaid wielding a harpoon looming over its Art Nouveau style entrance. The sign read "The Golden Harpoon" in elegant, glowing script.
"Here we are!" Ciaori announced cheerfully. "The finest seafood in all of Agamemnon, and coincidentally, another one of my little ventures."
As we disembarked from the sleigh, Ciaori led us towards the entrance. "Don''t worry about eavesdroppers here either," she said, patting Kliss on the shoulder. "The sleigh''s ward extends into the building. Plus, my Champion''s constantly watching us from above, so we''re all safe and sound."
I sent a few Infoscope into the sky and spotted something hanging there 300-ish metres above our Sleign. The something had no magical signature and read as empty space, but it was a distinctively empty space in the shape of a very large man, sucking magic from the air. If Ciao didn¡¯t tell me about him, I wouldn¡¯t have even noticed.
[Shit,] I commented.
[What?] Kliss asked.
[Invisible man in the sky,] I said.
Kliss looked up, squinting at the blue sky wrapped in white fluffy clouds.
[Hrmm,] She hummed. [There is something there¡ looks like a reddish spiral? Seems like it¡¯s drawing magic in?]
[Yeah,] I confirmed. [That¡¯s it. A good thing you didn''t bonk her.]
[Yeah,] Kliss sighed. [Too bad. She seemed like such an easy target too.]
As we entered the restaurant, the aroma of exotic spices and freshly cooked seafood filled the air. The interior was lavishly decorated with marine-themed sculptures and artwork. Soft, shimmering, magical lighting that mimicked the rippling dance of sunlight on water light the interior.
Ciaori led us to a secluded booth near the back of the restaurant. As we settled in, I couldn''t shake the feeling that we were stepping deeper into a very dangerous conspiracy, a side quest that was derailing us away from our primary mission of derailing Inquisitor Jubz.
2 : 52 Dinner at the Gold Harpoon
As we sat onto the offered seats, the rays of the evening sun cast a golden glow through the restaurant''s windows, bathing Agamemnon in a warm, ethereal light. The city''s spires gleamed like molten gold against the orange sky.
Ciaori sat across from us, her large fox ears twitching slightly as she perused the menu. The fading sunlight caught in her orange fur, making it shimmer like fire. I couldn''t help but be amazed at how alien yet familiar she appeared. It was as if someone purposefully fused a fox with a girl, similarly to how I combined Kliss with a dragon.
There was something about the silver-violet threads that danced around her figure, something that made my mind slowly slide towards appreciating her more and more. I extrapolated that their influence was similar to Charisma magic, except far more unique. I had to occasionally snip away at the mental influence so as not to succumb too much to it and start drooling over her.
Thankfully it wasn¡¯t affecting Kliss in the slightest, but my pretend-fiancee¡¯s thoughts kept drifting towards sleigh theft, her half-dragon soul focused on claiming the extraordinary artifact with inhuman determination.
[Thank her for helping us get into the city,] I directed the hoard-obsessed dragon-girl.
¡°Thank you for helping me at the gate, by the way,¡± Kliss voiced. ¡°My Champion almost gave us away.¡±
¡°It happens,¡± the Vulfix shrugged. ¡°He looks rather young and frail. You must have recently bought him from a Drallus shop at a discount.¡±
Kliss nodded. "What would the humans have done if they caught me?" She asked.
¡°At worst the City Watch would have put you in the slammer for a few days, harassing you with dumb questions. Had you been arrested one of us would have helped you sort it out eventually,¡± Ciaori shrugged.
¡°How long have you been working here, Ciao?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Thirteen years,¡± the Vulfix said.
A half naked, muscular man dressed like a merman took our orders with a deep bow. According to the Infoscopes, he was level 70 and had the same red spiral shimmering about him. Another Arcanicx? I wondered how much of the city was infested with these inhuman beings.
I watched as the merman waiter gracefully glided away with our orders, his movements unnaturally fluid. As my mind accelerated, I sent an Infoscope through him. He was absolutely packed with positively-charged magic to the brim.
[What?] Kliss asked.
[That man is packed with positive magic,] I swallowed.
[What, like me?] Kliss asked.
[No,] I replied. [Nowhere as much as you, but still¡ he¡¯s not exactly human. It¡¯s like he¡¯s constantly being projected into existence by his blood. I¡¯ll need more time to understand whatever the hell he is. Have you ever encountered anything like this as an Imperial Overseer?]
[No,] Kliss replied, concern pouring from her. [I have not. I mean¡ I knew that magic-warped tribes lived close to some Magogenic Zones, but I didn¡¯t think that they were so¡ well organized, high level or planning invasions!]
Turning back to our table, I found Ciaori eyeing us with interest. "So, do tell me more about your mission here, Elly," she purred, her gaze fixed on Kliss. "Might it have something to do with the upcoming visit by the Inquisitor of Equality?"
[Slava, what do I say?]
[Be affirmative and vague,] I advised.
¡°Yes,¡± Kliss nodded. "The Inquisitor''s visit is... of interest to us."
Ciaori leaned forward, her eyes glinting with curiosity. "Oh? Are you here to observe? Or perhaps... interfere?"
Worry pounded into my mind across the kobold-dragon connection.
[Don¡¯t confess to anything,] I advised. [Ask questions instead.]
¡°Uhm. What sort of interference would get in the way of any of your plans?¡± Kliss asked.
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¡°Hrm, hrm,¡± Ciaori tapped her chin with a gloved finger. ¡°According to the reports, there have been quite a few Imperial ships vanishing without a trace. Why, most recently a skyship vanished in Skyisle along with what was her name, hmmm¡ Baroness Kliss? That¡¯s it. I hear that¡¯s what Inquisitor Jubz is coming to investigate.¡±
Kliss sputtered mentally.
¡°So if Jubz¡ and two of his legions were to vanish in the mountains¡¡± Kliss probed.
¡°Perfectly alright with me,¡± the Vulpix shrugged. ¡°Just don¡¯t cause too much havoc in Agamemnon. Imperial Scrutimancers are a pain in my tail to redirect.¡±
[Pfff. Look at that, she''s practically giving us permission to murder Jubz,] Kliss sent.
[Yea,] I nodded mentally. [Seems like the Arcanicx plans don''t align with those of the Empire of Equality.]
[I don¡¯t know whether this is good or bad,] Kliss frowned mentally. [I mean on one hand I hate the Empire and on the other¡ who knows what these Vow-less creatures are planning to do with the locals once they take over Agamemnon.]
As we pondered this new information, our food arrived. The merman waiter brought a bottle of two hundred year old wine and placed before us an array of exotic seafood dishes that looked almost too beautiful to eat. I cautiously scanned everything with my Infoscopes for poisons or mind-influencing substances and then we began our dinner.
[Try to probe how the invasion is going and what¡¯s going to happen to the people of Agamemnon once the city is under full control of the Arcanicx,] I suggested.
Kliss took a bite of her food and then took a deep breath. "So, Ciao, how is the... ''integration'' of Agamemnon progressing? What''s your timeline for full... takeover?"
Ciaori''s eyes gleamed with appreciation. "Ah, straight to the point! I like that about you, Elly. Well, we''re making steady progress. Most of the key positions in the city are already under control of the Ring of Stormfall," she smiled, taking a sip of her wine.
[Ask about the fate of the humans,] I prompted.
"And the local humans?" Kliss asked. "What will be done with them once the city¡¯s ours?"
Ciaori waved a dismissive hand. "Oh, they''ll be fine. Most won''t even notice the difference. We''re not barbarians, after all. They''ll just have new, more capable leaders. The competing women will be formed into cells, armed to the teeth and sent on suicide missions to sabotage the Gregarius Empire from within. The worthy men will be bound as Champions. The Ishikarians desire to throw off the Imperial yolk, see? We¡¯re just helping them get there faster.¡±
She laughed jovially.
¡°The Imperial Inquisition hasn¡¯t noticed anything?¡± Kliss asked.
Ciaori''s expression darkened slightly. "The Inquisitors are a nuisance, but a manageable one. Their Vows make them incredibly predictable and their Administration is a colossus on thin legs. We''ve been working around them for years. Eventually, they''ll be obsolete. Our Agents make Vows to serve the Empire and in two weeks time the parasitic Astral fungi simply dissolve away. It¡¯s hilarious that the humans think that Vows are the perfect way to secure someone¡¯s obedience. Say, how long does it take for a Vow to die on a Dracanix?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Kliss shrugged. ¡°I haven¡¯t tried to host a Vow on me yet.¡±
¡°You should try it,¡± Ciao grinned. ¡°It¡¯s fun to watch them wither away to nothing. Great for making many lofty promises to the locals and then stabbing them in the back when the time is right.¡±
¡°How much of Ishikaria answers to the Ring now?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°About sixty percent, give or take,¡± the Vulfix shrugged. ¡°I just got back from Laraima. Things there are going just as good as in Agamemnon. The Artificery of the locals simply cannot compete with Corvix-designed tools.¡±
¡°Right,¡± Kliss nodded. ¡°Their armaci are rather pitiful compared to your beautiful sleigh.¡±
¡°Exactly,¡± Ciaori grinned, sipping her wine. ¡°Humans lack optimization. Their individuality and lack of specialization is a glaring weakness. The Gregarius Empire actually enforces equality of skills in their youths! Can you believe that? What a laughable concept!¡±
¡°Ha ha, yeah,¡± Kliss pretended to be amused.
Ciaori chewed on her steak thoughtfully.
¡°What happens when we bring down the Gregarius Empire?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°We¡¯ll expand our dominion and take on the Basq,¡± Ciao shrugged. ¡°Give or take a century and all of Novazem will be ours.¡±
¡°Sounds lovely,¡± Kliss commented.
¡°Human idiots don¡¯t even know about Star shards,¡± Ciaori waved her fork. ¡°Can you believe that? They have no idea what the Wormwood Star can do!¡±
Kliss choked mentally.
[Sasha did say that the Wormwood comet seeds worlds,] I commented. [Seems like Novazem has been seeded by it already and what grew from it are these¡ Arcanicx.]
Ciao chuckled, orange tail swishing. "You know what''s even more amusing? Those silly humans with their dragonheart-powered skyships can''t even enter the faults. The magic disruption fries their control mechanisms instantly!"
¡°Pathetic!¡± Kliss laughed along.
"Exactly!" Ciaori nodded. "Star-shard operated gliders slice through fault barriers like a hot knife through butter though. The Empire can''t even track our movements across the world''s spine mountains! Their armaci don¡¯t even work properly in the Ring cities!¡±
[You¡¯re drooling again,] I commented.
Kliss quickly wiped her chin and chewed more of her steak.
[She keeps marketing her sleigh,] she complained. [I can¡¯t help it!]
I sighed internally. [Focus. We need information, not a new ride.]
[But Slava, it slices through fault barriers! Like butter!] She whined mentally. [Maybe it can go into the heart of the Valley of Death!]
[Yes, I heard. Now please try to get more intel without giving us away or attempting grand theft sleigh.]
¡°Could your Sleigh go into fault 18 then?¡± Kliss asked.
¡°Fault 18, hrmm,¡± Ciaori contemplated. ¡°Right. That¡¯s the fault directly North of here. Maybe, but I wouldn¡¯t risk it. Fault 18, known as Valley of Death wasn¡¯t made by cometfall. From what I know it was the result of the war between two human factions which took place over a thousand years ago. As such it is a place that radiates Death, not Life. The Cantigeist probably don''t even exist in such a place."
2 : 53 The Relay Race
As Ciaori ranted about a variety of Magogenic Faults, I leaned back in my chair, contemplating her words. The scale of the Arcanicx infiltration was staggering, and their plans for Novazem were troubling.
Kliss, to her credit, maintained her composure admirably, though I could feel her desires through our connection. Her dragon-self was still fixated on the sleigh, but there was also a growing concern about the fate of humanity of Novazem that belonged to her human-self.
"Oh, Elly! You simply must stay in one of my suites," Ciaori smiled jovially, gesturing expansively. "The Golden Harpoon has the finest rooms in all of Agamemnon. Much better than whatever accommodations you can procure from the humans. Don''t waste your gold, I''ll give you a room for as long as you need one.¡±
¡°Are you staying here?¡± Kliss asked, thinking about the sleigh.
¡°I am indeed,¡± the fox replied. ¡°We can have breakfast together! Sounds good?¡±
Kliss nodded.
¡°Letorim!¡±
A merman waiter materialized beside our table, moving at a speed far beyond what''s humanly possible.
"The key to Suite Seven, if you please," the Arcanicx purred.
He produced an ornate metal-framed crystal key placing it in Ciaori''s outstretched hand with a deep bow.
"Here you are, love," Ciaori passed the key to Kliss. "Just head up the main stairwell. Seventh floor, can''t miss it. The view of the harbor is simply sublime in the morning!"
. . .
The crystal key shimmered with a green glow when inserted into the keyhole, opening the door to Suite Seven. Nobody seemed to follow us.
My Infoscopes immediately spread throughout the space, scanning every corner of what appeared to be the most luxurious room I''d ever encountered.
Moonwood furniture adorned with gold and silver filigree filled the spacious chamber. A massive bed dominated one wall, draped with red sheets. Mirrors were everywhere, featuring our reflections.
Crystal chandeliers floated without support, casting rainbow patterns across the marble floors. The far wall was entirely transparent, offering a breathtaking view of a balcony facing Agamemnon''s harbor where merchant skyships were docked among the golden spires. Fancy yachts bobbed in the harbour.
From what I saw there was no spying magic of any kind. I expected that the Arcanix would be trying to look into us further, but it didn¡¯t seem to be the case. If anything, the room was well warded against scrying from the outside.
[This is rather fancy,] Kliss commented as she ran her fingers along the edge of the bed. [Why is she being so... generous?]
[I don''t know,] I replied, watching magical currents flow through the walls like blood through veins.
[Do you think she knows I''m not really an Arcanicx?] Kliss asked, moving to the window. [She seemed to accept our story way too easily.]
[Agreed,] I answered. [Either she''s incredibly gullible, which I doubt, or...]
[Or?]
[Or I don¡¯t know,] I shrugged. [The Arcanicx infiltration changes everything. We need more information.]
[M-yes. So,] Kliss grinned at me, pulling off her wig, her crystalline mane catching the light from the floating chandeliers. [Is this our¡ honeymoon suite?]
I felt my face heat up at her words. [Not actually married,] I reminded her.
[This ring says otherwise, Mister.] She wiggled the gold ring in front of my face with a draconic grin of sharp chompers.
[I¡ uhh¡] I outputted.
The giddy feelings pouring through the Dragon-Kobold connection was making me feel tingly all over, making it difficult to maintain my usual analytical detachment. I found myself relaxing as Kliss pulled me into her embrace.
She laughed. [You''re cute when you blush. But seriously, we need answers. Take me to talk to Sasha.]
I nodded. [Alright. Hold on tight.]
As Kliss held me close, I activated NeuroVista, pulling us both into my mindscape. The luxurious suite dissolved around us, replaced by...
The Golden Harpoon restaurant. But this version was wrong - frozen in time like a photograph, the colors slightly off. Ciaori sat at our table, her form static and unmoving, like a mannequin posed mid-conversation. The other patrons were similarly frozen, their faces slightly indistinct as if smudged mid-motion.
Sasha sat across from us, her silver-blue eyes multiplying and shifting as she regarded us with alien interest. She wore a simple white dress that moved in waves as if she was submerged deep underwater.
"Interesting choice of venue," I commented.
"Got bored of the frozen wasteland." She shrugged.
"We need answers," Kliss stated firmly, her hand finding mine under the table.
¡°Oh?¡± Sasha arched a few eyebrows at us.
¡°What are Arcanicx?¡± Both of us asked at the same time.
¡°Your creation,¡± Sasha replied with an inhumanly wide smile.
¡°I don¡¯t recall making foxgirls,¡± I pointed out.
"The Arcanicx are your children," Sasha explained, patting the frozen form of Ciaori on the orange fluffy head. ¡°Aren¡¯t they beautiful? Aren¡¯t you proud to have produced such fine specimens of advanced humanity?¡±
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¡°What?!¡± Both of us sputtered.
"Well, not YOUR children specifically, but the children of another version of you, ideas that were devoured by the Wormwood Star on its last pass across Novazem and reseeded here to bloom in the Magogenic Zones left by the impact of comet shards. They are what happens when a dragonheart meets human ingenuity of the Understanding."
Sasha pointed at Kliss and then at me. We simply stared back at her.
¡°You¡¯re my Understanding,¡± Sasha grinned at me, a thousand silver eyes sparkling within her depths. ¡°My Keymaker. The Arcanicx are a work in progress, the result of the previous Keymaker¡¯s experiments with crystalline life. The Arcanicx unquestionably perceive Kliss as one of them because she is similar in many ways to their foremother.¡±
"So, these... Arcanicx," Kliss interjected, "they''re what happens when... someone like me meets someone like Slava?"
¡°Correct,¡± Sasha affirmed. ¡°You, Kliss Eliza Cessna, you are the necessary kindling that ignites the firestorm of creation, the essential parameter, the muse of a Keymaker. You¡¯re a spark that grows into a fire that populates the world with new life. Your union creates possibilities, sparks of creation that the Star harvests and scatters across doomed worlds. The Arcanicx are one such possibility - crystalline life forms adapted to thrive in magogenic zones, designed by a previous Understanding.¡±
¡°They¡¯re not exactly like Kliss,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Their souls are full of holes.¡±
¡°Because Kliss is the next step. The information you pulled from the Astral in the moment when you¡¯ve made her was based on the works of your predecessors,¡± Sasha shrugged. ¡°Your dragon girl is a superior product because she is the result of your current understanding of the world around you. You are more clever, more dangerous than those that came before you, Slava. Each new Keymaker stands on the shoulders of the Keymaker that comes before him. You are an ever-evolving, ever improving idea meant to open every door in the end. When you inevitably perish, I will likewise reveal this truth to another.¡±
I stared at Sasha. The concept reminded me of the Soviet space program - each new achievement building upon previous successes, each rocket design improved based on the failures of the previous generation.
"So we''re your... attempt number what?" I asked dryly.
¡°I don¡¯t count the attempts,¡± Sasha shrugged. ¡°I simply work with what I am given.¡±
"Am I just another iteration in your grand experiment? What, am I, your Korolev, designing better and better rockets for you? Is Kliss my Vostok-6?" I huffed.
"A curious metaphor," Sasha tapped her chin. "Just as Korolev built upon German V2 designs to create Vostok, you''re building upon previous Keymakers'' discoveries. Just as the space race pushed humanity to break free from Earth''s gravity well, you are meant to break humanity free from certain... cosmic constraints."
"And Kliss is what, my Valentina Tereshkova? The first woman to break free from Earth''s gravity well?" I sighed.
"In a manner of speaking," Sasha waved a silver hand. "Just as Tereshkova proved that women could survive in space, Kliss proves that humanity can be greatly enhanced beyond its original¡ parameters."
"My rebirth on Novazem, meeting Kliss, even our current situation, is it all part of some grand design to create better ''keys''?" I demanded.
"In a way... Yes," Sasha replied simply.
"Is this the part where you tell me that there''s no free will?" I asked.
"You''re free to fail, to lie down and die if you so desire," Sasha shrugged. "You''ve already left enough of an imprint with Kliss on Novazem, a blueprint for the next generation to work with¡ written into the Astral with Omnicode.¡±
¡°Omnicode¡¡± I repeated.
¡°The fractal language wielded by the Understanding,¡± Sasha nodded. ¡°Your language. Something that only you can understand, because you¡¯ve designed it to begin with. Built up notch by notch by generations of Keymakers. The foundation of everything you can do.¡±
I rubbed my forehead with both of my hands.
¡°Omnicode isn¡¯t the language of the gods that I happened to stumble upon?¡±
¡°Obviously not,¡± Sasha replied, steepling her fingers. ¡°Omnicode belongs to you.¡±
I pictured an infinite line of Slavas in my head. Each writing something in the book of Omnicode and passing it to the next. Forever and ever.
Was I merely a runner participating in a never-ending relay race, carrying my baton forward only to pass it onto the next Slava?
Kliss growled, her eyes flashing with orange fire that made the air in the still cafe warp. "Listen here, virus. Stop messing with Slava¡¯s head. I don''t care about cosmic plans or previous iterations. This Slava is mine, and I won''t let you make him doubt himself."
"What are you complaining about? I¡¯m trying to help you. You¡¯re free to take advantage of what I told you," Sasha winced as the table between us ignited with orange sparks falling from Kliss. "Wield the Arcanicx against the Empire of Equality! They''re a valuable resource!"
Another wave of heat radiating from Kliss struck Sasha, making her entire figure warp and twist.
¡°Stop it. I''m on your side. I want you to leave me more to work with,¡± Sasha waved her hands, slapping away sparks from her white dress that ignited at the edges.
Was everything I''d done, everything I''d created, just another iteration in an endless cycle?
"Hey," Kliss''s voice cut through my existential spiral. She squeezed my hand tightly. "Stop that. I can feel you overthinking this."
"But¡ª" I began.
"No," she interrupted firmly.
¡°No?¡±
"So what if there were others before you? So what if there''s some cosmic plan linking us together? You''re still you. You still chose to save me, to help Delta, to protect Skyisle. Those were your choices,¡± Kliss pointed out.
"Were they though?" I asked. "Or am I falling down the same well of probability outcome, making similar mistakes, having the same conversation again and again, saving the same girl again and again? All of this would explain what we saw in the In-Between, the ocean of stars, a billion hands entwined together. They¡¯re¡ us, past us.¡±
"Does that really matter?" Kliss asked, her crystalline mane flaring with orange coronas. "Even if there were a thousand versions of us before, even if we''re destined to fail like they did - we''re still us, here and now. I still chose you, and you still chose me."
¡°It matters because I want to understand the whole picture,¡± I complained.
¡°I know,¡± Kliss hugged me tightly. ¡°I know. And I¡¯ll protect you while you do that. I am your knight, your Champion. Never forget that.¡±
¡°Even if our meeting was orchestrated?¡± I asked.
¡°Was it though?¡± Kliss asked and turned to Sasha ¡°Does the Wormwood Star bring us together?¡±
¡°No,¡± Sasha answered. ¡°It does not.¡±
¡°See?¡± Kliss grinned.
Sasha opened her mouth, but Kliss lifted a hand in the air.
¡°Buzz off,¡± she said simply pointing two fingers at the Astral Virus. ¡°I learned enough.¡±
A ray of blinding dragonfire erupted from Kliss'' fingers in a lance of orange-white flame, cutting through Sasha''s ethereal form like a plasma torch through ice. The virus''s silver-blue eyes widened in shock as her body split vertically.
Around us, the frozen dreamscape of the Golden Harpoon ignited, melting and warping. The mannequin-like patrons crumbled into ash, their blurred features running like wet paint. The walls buckled, golden fixtures bubbling and running like molten metal.
I watched as reality fractured around us, the restaurant''s interior breaking apart into geometric shards that spun lazily through an endless void connected by burning silver strands, like a gargantuan web shimmering all around. Sasha''s eyes opened between sheared walls, tracking us from different angles simultaneously with an extremely annoyed glare.
I found myself awake, wrapped in the dragon girl''s arms. Sparks of dragonfire danced on her ruby mane, her eyes staring at me with a fiery expression. Waves of Syntropic magic poured from her figure making the lights overhead flicker erratically. It was the middle of the night, violet stars and Inaria dominating most of the sky behind the large windows.
"Yes?" I asked.
"I can''t take it anymore," she growled. "I need it. Right now. We''re doing it."
"What?" I sputtered.
2 : 54 Chasing Power
I tried to pull Kliss back into the dreamscape of Moscow but her Syntropic magic simply tore through my negatively-charged spell like tissue paper.
She swiftly leapt off the bed, her crystalline mane sparking with orange coronas.
"Kliss, wait!" I hissed, scrambling after her. "We can''t just¡ª"
"Yes, we can," she interrupted, her eyes glowing violet-gold from within, burning away the green. [That sleigh is the most incredible thing I''ve ever seen. More incredible than gold, more incredible than anything! And it''s right there, Slava! I can get so much stronger if I claim it, do anything¡ fly without your glider!]
[Fly without the glider?] I asked.
[Yes,] Kliss insisted. [I¡¯m certain that the sleigh is exactly what I need!]
[It''s also incredibly well-guarded,] I pointed out, trying to be the voice of reason. [Remember the invisible man in the sky? The wards? The fact that Ciaori is clearly more than she appears?]
"I don''t care," Kliss declared, already moving towards the door. [I need that sleigh in my hoard. Now! You are my kobold. Kobolds obey their Dragon! Obey me, back me up, follow!]
I groaned. She had that look in her eyes. There seemed to be no talking her out of this. The dragon part of her had completely taken over, driven by an overwhelming desire to claim the magical artifact, her dragonheart driving all of her actions, blinding her to my rationality and words.
"Fine," I sighed. "But we do this smart." [Let me scan the building first.]
Kliss nodded impatiently as I deployed my Infoscopes throughout the hotel, mapping guard positions and magical wards. The building was actually fairly empty, most of the rooms vacant. A few sleeping forms registered here and there, but nothing too concerning.
The sleigh was parked in a private courtyard behind the hotel. There was¡ nobody guarding it.
¡°Perfect,¡± Kliss read my thoughts through our connections. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±
[Kliss, this might be a trap,] I sent.
[If it is, I¡¯ll plow through it with dragonfire,] she fired back [With that sleigh my hoard item I¡¯ll be unstoppable!]
[Kliss, you''re not thinking clearly,] I protested as we crept down the hotel''s ornate hallway. [This is too easy.]
[Easy is good,] she replied, her eyes fixed ahead with predatory focus. [The sleigh wants to be claimed. I can feel it calling to me!]
We descended the stairs silently, Kliss moving with inhuman grace despite her growing excitement. I kept my Infoscopes spread wide, searching for any sign of guards or magical alarms. The hotel remained eerily quiet.
The courtyard door wasn''t even locked. It swung open soundlessly as we stepped into the cool night air. The sleigh sat before us, bathed in moonlight, its moonwood surface gleaming with an ethereal radiance.
[This is definitely a trap,] I sent urgently.
[Don''t care,] Kliss replied, practically vibrating with anticipation. She approached the sleigh like a moth drawn to flame.
As Kliss reached for the sleigh, a tremendous bolt of lightning erupted from its surface with a deafening crack. The electrical discharge struck her crystalline mane directly, but instead of harming her, the energy scattered and rebounded, setting a nearby decorative tree ablaze.
[Ha!] Kliss crowed mentally. [See? My mane repels lightning!]
[That was just the first defense!] I warned, scanning frantically for other threats. [There''s no way that''s all¡ª]
Before I could finish the thought, the air around us warped. The moonwood surface of the sleigh began to glow with an intense inner light, pulsing with waves of force that made my teeth ache. My Infoscopes detected a massive surge of magical energy building up.
"Ha!" Came Ciaori''s amused voice from above. "Couldn''t resist it, could you?"
The foxgirl stood on a balcony overhead, her orange fur practically glowing in the moonlight. Her Champion materialized beside her, a towering figure with far too many muscles.
Kliss froze as if she had her hand caught in a cookie jar.
"Consider me impressed," Ciaori laughed. "An Arcanicx that can just bounce the Thunderward off her mane? Go on, try it again."
"What?" Kliss blinked, clearly thrown off by Ciaori''s casual response to our attempted theft.
"The sleigh," Ciaori gestured expansively. "Try to get inside it. I saw you staring at it. Clearly you desire it."
[Told you it''s a trap,] I sent.
[But... she''s giving us permission?]
"Why?" Kliss asked aloud, suspicion clear in her voice.
"Mmmm," Ciaori tapped her chin. "I''ve been looking for quality muscle for a while now, someone who could do my bidding without it being traced back to me. Go on. Lets see how long you can stand up to the Thunderward."
Kliss hesitated, glancing between the sleigh and Ciaori. The foxgirl''s casual demeanor was unsettling.
[She wants to hire us?] Kliss sent uncertainly.
[Seems like it,] I replied.
Kliss approached the sleigh again. This time, multiple bolts of lightning erupted from its surface, far more powerful than before. The electrical discharge wrapped around her crystalline form like writhing serpents of light, but once again scattered harmlessly off her mane.
"Magnificent!" Ciaori clapped her hands in delight. "Simply magnificent! Your craftsmanship is truly remarkable. Not even my Champion can withstand the Thunderward so easily. Touch the handle. I wish to see if you will be able to stand up to the repulsor too."
The foxgirl''s Champion grunted in agreement, his massive arms crossed over his chest.
Kliss reached for the sleigh''s ornate handle. As her fingers made contact, a wave of force exploded outward like a thunderclap. The repulsion ward activated with a deafening boom, sending Kliss flying backwards across the courtyard through several decorative bushes and trees, her body plowing through stone parapets and pots.
She got up, blinking and ribbing her head.
[Ouch,] she whined. [That sort of hurt.]
"Most impressive!" Ciaori called down. "You''re even stronger than I anticipated. You''re not even knocked out. Someone like me would be paste by now. Yet here you are, still standing. Truly remarkable engineering. Tell me, who is your Primo-mother?"
Kliss squinted at the foxgirl.
"Not allowed to say, hum?" Ciaori contemplated. "Fine. It doesn''t matter. You''ll work for me now."
"Work for you?" Kliss asked, brushing debris from her crystalline mane with a wince as her dragonheart worked to repair the internal damage.
"Indeed," Ciaori nodded. "I have several jobs that require someone of your... unique capabilities. Elimination of certain... undesirable elements, devious human wizards that hide behind powerful wards. Nothing too strenuous for someone who can shrug off a Thunderbolt to the head."
"What''s in it for me?" Kliss asked, her eyes fixed on the sleigh.
"I hold a certain degree of power in Stormfall," Cioari smiled. "Serve me well and I could have a sleigh made for you of a similar design. Not as high level mind you, but still... I could put in a good word for you."Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
Kliss''s eyes lit up at the mention of her own sleigh, but I could feel her skepticism through our connection.
"What sort of... jobs did you have in mind?" she asked carefully.
Ciaori''s tail swished lazily. "Oh, nothing too demanding. A few overly ambitious human mages who need to disappear, some Imperial artifacts that need collecting, perhaps a skyship or two that needs to have an... accident."
"And you''d reward me with a sleigh like yours?" Kliss pressed.
"I''ll certainly ask my Corvix Enclave to make something nice for you," Ciaori replied.
"Can I go into your sleigh?" Kliss asked blatantly.
"You''re curious about the size of my Star Shard?" Cioari tilted her head.
"Yeees," the dragon-girl let out, rubbing the kinks out of the back of her head.
"Of course you are," Ciaori laughed. "Sign the contract to work for me and I''ll show you."
She gestured, and her Champion disappeared, reappearing instantly beside the sleigh holding a contract on a wooden slate and an inkwell.
I sent my infoscopes through the contract. It was perfectly mundane paper with perfectly mundane ink.
[Seems clean,] I sent to Kliss. [No magical binding, just regular paper and ink.]
"Just sign here," the Champion rumbled, his voice deep and resonant.
Kliss glanced at me uncertainly. [What do you think?]
[Could be useful to have an ally like her,] I replied thoughtfully. [Especially if what Sasha said about the Arcanicx is true. Plus, we might learn more about these Star Shards. Ask her what the contract is actually enforced by.]
"What''s enforcing this contract?" Kliss asked.
"My word," Ciaori replied simply. "Nothing magical, of course. Vows and magical bindings... are distasteful between Arcanicx. Just a simple agreement between professionals. If you don''t kill the targets I point you to, you don''t get your own sleigh and I will be sending a report about you to the Ring about your lack of cooperation, simple as that. I can see that this is your first mission out in human-lands, love."
Kliss took the quill and signed her false name - Elly Koperi - with a flourish.
"Excellent!" Ciaori clapped her hands together. "Now, would you like to see inside?"
"Yes!" Kliss practically bounced with excitement.
Ciaori snapped her fingers and her champion flew to her, picked her up bridal-style and then carried the fox in his arms towards the sleigh.
"Come," she beckoned, disembarking and opening the ornate door. "Let me show you the wonders of my Corvix."
Kliss practically pranced forward, her eyes wide with wonder. I stayed outside, sending my Infoscopes after her.
The interior of the sleigh was far larger than its exterior dimensions suggested. Moonwood panels lined the walls, each carved with intricate scenes that seemed to move in the corner of my vision. But what drew my attention immediately was the pulsing violet crystal mounted in the center of the cabin.
It was about 27 inches long, and 8 inches wide, held in an elaborate metallic framework. Waves of energy rippled across its surface like the aurora borealis.
"The Star Shard," Ciaori announced proudly. "The heart my lovely vessel."
My Infoscopes couldn''t make heads or tails of it. The crystal seemed to exist in multiple dimensions simultaneously, partially folding into itself and bending space and time around itself in ways that made my head hurt. As far as I could tell, it was Entropic magic of incredibly high order that was potent enough to plow right through Syntropic heart of my human-dragon girl.
Kliss stared at it, entranced. I could feel her dragon-self practically singing with desire to nom the gem.
[Do not lick the shard,] I sent.
[But... but... it''s so tasty looking,] she sent back. [Just one lick.]
[Her champion will snap you in half,] I pointed out. [You''re still a young newborn dragon, not an unstoppable thing like Aradria.]
[Maybe she won''t mind if I ask nicely,] Kliss insisted.
I facepalmed internally.
"Can I... touch it?" Kliss asked hesitantly.
Ciaori burst out laughing. "Oh honey, no. It''s aligned to my dynasty, bond to me by blood. It cannot be wielded by another. The door repulser is but a swat of a fly''s wings compared to what this shard could do up close."
"Oh," Kliss said, trying to hide her disappointment.
"Don''t look so glum," Ciaori patted her shoulder. "Once you''ve proven yourself useful, I''ll help you get your own shard, one you can bind to yourself and your kin. They''re quite rare, but not impossible to obtain with the right connections."
[And the right amount of murder,] I sent to Kliss sarcastically.
[Shush,] she replied. [I''m learning about shiny things.]
"How does one usually obtain a Star Shard... like that?" Kliss asked innocently.
"I can reward you with a small one for your services," Ciaori waved her hand airily. "Bigger ones are harder to come by, you''d have to slay a leviathan to attain one. Without it the sleigh is just pretty moonwood carvings, magically inert, useless. It powers the space expansion runes and the ward."
"How do you slay a leviathan?" Kliss asked eagerly.
"Very carefully and slowly," Ciaori grinned, showing off sharp canines. "And with a lot of help. The beasts are immense, dwelling in the deepest parts of magogenic faults. Most who try end up as snacks."
"But it can be done?" Kliss pressed.
"With proper planning, yes," Ciaori nodded. "The Ring sends hunting parties occasionally when we need more shards. It''s quite the operation - takes dozens of our best nix'' wielding large parties of champions. Many valuable champions perish during such hunts, alas."
[We should totally hunt a leviathan,] Kliss sent to me excitedly.
[M-hmm,] I replied. [One potentially fatal endeavor at a time, yeah?]
"Speaking of missions," Ciaori continued, "Here''s your first target. A particularly troublesome human mage who''s been interfering with my operations in the outer districts. Nothing too challenging for someone of your... capabilities."
She produced a small crystal from her sleeve and her Champion passed it out to Kliss. As my Infoscopes examined it, I could see stored images within - a man''s face, location details, daily routines.
"Eliminate him at your leisure," Ciaori said. "He lives in a mage tower citadel 20 clicks from the city. The Citadel is armed with about fifty high level guard golems."
Kliss tried to reach out towards the comet shard. Kliss tried to reach out towards the comet shard. The air between her claws and the crystal warped and twisted with brilliant shimmers, pushing her hand back and vaporizing the makeup on her hand, exposing the gold-coated orange dragonscales underneath.
"See?" Ciaori commented. "The core does not wish to be touched. If you persist, your hand will come apart."
Kliss withdrew her hand reluctantly, pain throbbing through her nerves. "Right. Of course. When do you need this done by?"
"Take your time," Ciaori shrugged. "This will after all be your first mission of taking on a human mage. They can be quite devious."
"Understood," Kliss nodded, backing out of the sleigh with visible effort. I could feel how much it pained her to leave the delicious-looking Star Shard behind.
As we walked back to our suite, Kliss was practically vibrating with excitement.
[Did you see that shard?!] she sent mentally. [It was amazing! And she''s going to help us get one!]
[After we murder someone for her,] I pointed out dryly.
[Yes, but...] Kliss hesitated. [Maybe he''s... a bad person?]
The Aradria part of her soul clearly didn''t give a damn about squishing pesky mages.
[We don''t know that,] I replied. [For all we know, he could be trying to protect people from the Arcanicx takeover.]
Kliss deflated slightly. [Oh. Right.]
[We should investigate this mage first,] I suggested as we re-entered our suite. [Maybe I can approach him as an artificer looking for work, see if he''ll work with us against the Arcanicx. Find out what he''s actually doing before deciding anything.]
[Yeah,] Kliss nodded, flopping onto the bed. [Though I really want that Star Shard... Ughhhh.]
[We need to focus on our original mission,] I reminded her. [Saving Skyisle.]
[But what if we could do both?] Kliss sat up, her eyes gleaming. [Think about it - if we had a Star Shard powered sleigh, dealing with the legions would be so much easier!]
[It''ll melt your face off,] I reminded her. [As tough as you are, it''s a very powerful artifact.]
Ideas danced in my head. Dangerous, devious ideas. Stray thoughts that...
[You,] She caught onto my transient thoughts. [You know how to get it. Of course you do, you clever, clever bean! Yes. Yes. I like this plan. We blow everyone up. Ciaori doesn''t know about chemical reactions, she''s a mage.]
[I didn''t even share a plan yet!] I protested.
[You thought about it,] Kliss grinned with sharp chompers.
[You''re gonna be the death of me, woman,] I flopped onto the bed. [Get outta my head, you pest. Shoo.]
[Never,] she rolled over onto me. [Never, ever, ever. You''re mine. From now on and forever.]
I sighed, looking up at her eager, predatory grin and glowing eyes. Like Dr. Frankenstein I had created a dangerous monster, one that I had no idea how to control.
[I heard that,] Kliss growled playfully, poking my chest. [Rude! Just for that, I''m going to bite your face off.]
[Your mouth ain''t big enough,] I shot back.
Before I could think anything else she flashed down and kissed me fiercely.
The world dissolved into infinite, violet starlight of the In-Between.
An infinite expanse of violet-silver starlight stretched out in every direction. We were no longer merely ourselves, but vast constellations of consciousness stretching across an endless cosmic ocean. Each star around us was a memory, a thought, a feeling, all interconnected in intricate patterns that defied normal, finite human perception.
Each one was... a time and place. Another us. Another dream.
Another life.
A single violet-blue star appealed to me, caught my attention. It was circled by a constellation of three others. I examined it.
It felt like us... but also not us? Sort of a flipped version of us put through a blender and then spread out across a weird, sheared canvas. As I watched it, it began to move madly, erratically flashing all over the place.
[Do you want to see this one?] Kliss purred from everywhere and nowhere. [Live out this curious... dream while we rest?]
[Sure, why not,] I replied.
[Then lets dive in. Together.]
[Together,] I replied.
We did.
Darkness.
I clenched the cracked leather steering wheel of the ancient delivery van, my knuckles white with tension as sweat trickled down my spine in uncomfortable rivulets. There was no Kliss here.
Kliss? Who was Kliss?
I really should get some rest, starting to hallucinate shit.
I blinked sweat out of my eyes, wiping my forehead. The road ahead was clear.
"42 Miles to Omnithornia/Acadia border crossing bridge" a fading sign declared.
Soon I would cross into enemy territory and then.... then I would get my revenge on all of them. Make the immortal bastards pay for their crimes.
I killed them all and yet they all returned, good as new. Bloody Wendigos, they could never stay dead, never learn their lesson.
There was only one way to defeat them. To pretend to be one of them. To invade the heart of their hive.
To become one of them, and then to never stop.