《When that Australian broke the world ( A HWFWM fanfic)》 Prologue: I went into federal service and got puny cosmic powers
PREFACE ADDED TO THE BACKSIDE OF THE COVER These are odd days, I am starting this because the world is going crazy and I need all the help I can get to come to terms with it. And I have a lot to come to terms with. We all have. Sis, if you get this as the government sends you my stuff, you know why, show it to the kids when they are old enough. If they let you publish it, go for it, people deserve to and should hear how we saw the calamity and what we had to deal with. I used fake names though. You never know. -- ORIGINAL PREFACE ON THE PAGE FOR PREFACES Dear journal (better than "to whom it may concern"), I should have started this journal right away, but hindsight is always perfect, so let me add my recollections: I had been drafted. That has become one of my lesser concerns. No, I am neither crazy nor one of those who cannot wait to get their uniform back like in the olden days. In fact I do not have a uniform. I have a badge that reads ?Federal Office for Infrastructure Security C Special Auxillary Division C senior technical staff, albeit a metal one going around my neck on a metal cord with the lower half with my name on it designed to be broken off. Yes, they do not expect all of us to come home in one piece. That is how you can draft a guy of my age with chronic medical issues. You call it civil auxillary service and skip the test of medical fitness a soldier would undergo. Why did they take me? I am good at ritual magic. Yes, I am one of those wizards feared for arcane powers and now loathed for failing to stop the vampires right away. They tricked me. How was I supposed to know that this new game on my phone was based on real ritual magic? Whom am I kidding C that was a stroke of genius. The Network C back then it was only the one Network C had designed it. I like to complain, but legally speaking I technically still have a job Ill keep when Ill be released from federal service, because, as my colleagues are telling me, we are working in a strategic sector and they are now working on computerized detection of dimensional intrusion . Cancel that, lets call things by their names. They are hooking up the equipment for detecting monsters materializing to computers. Anyway, who cares, spilled milk. Only one thing is important. They gave me an essence. That really removes any vestige of incredulity if you get it the third day after the government announced on TV that magic is real, the world is being invaded and the rural population would need to be concentrated in defensible areas. Sis, I know that you and I were not in the same camp, politically speaking. So let me tell you how that went. Though I stand by it. That was funny and the guy who used the term ?concentrated deserves a price for dark humor. --- PAGE #1 Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. I drove to the place I would get my magic. Only that I didnt know it. Id spoken to my neighbor, the lawyer, and shed told me to heed the letter. She was going to lodge an official complaint on my behalf, but for now Id better play along. They sent us to a rural hotel near a US air base. I arrived in the afternoon. Mainly compact cars and a few old vans on the parking lot. We were about a hundred people, nine out of ten of us men. Wearing t-shirts and sandals. Grey beards prevailed. The one in the ten was young women oddly enough. I am allowed to use that stereotype. I am one of them. No socks, though. We were met by an overworked government official and federal police. They collected our phones and laptops in exchange for temporary name badges unlocking our rooms. We had to sign a secrecy agreement. So far, no drill sergeant. More like the check-in at a high security corporate site. Dinner was good. The place even had a pool. I used it. A state of emergency had been declared and the curfew was about to begin. I did not really believe in monsters, but who am I to risk a fine to see some stupid village while I could legally enjoy a hot whirlpool? Cancel that, lets be honest. I was the kind of guy following orders. I would have sat around in the hotel anyway. But a hot pool is a hot pool. Unfortunately it is also a public place, where you meet people, strangers even. UM: Hi, long time since InfoSecConf P: Ugh UM: Thomas Miller C from the company with the three letters P: That rings a bell T(UM): This is not like in the movies when you go to boot camp P: Sir, yes, sir! T: Ten swim-ups from you, recruit! Seriously, what are you thinking about all this? That caught attention. Three more men and, among a group of nerds that makes a difference, a girl joined us. It is always embarrassing if somebody tells you that they remember you from a conference but you cannot recall the face. I am bad with faces and names. Anyway, we had watched clips of official announcements from all over the world and the infamous Starlight Rider. Sure they collected laptops and phones but left the hotels public terminals functional. We had had a good laugh at the governments expense. The prevailing theory was first contact with aliens using advanced space-time manipulation rather than space ships and the governments of the world getting it all wrong. We even went on to watch good, old TV together. Not my cup of tea, too many people. Indeed I had a few cups of tea. Our beloved leader was on TV and announced food rationing would begin next week. That actually got a response from the staff and they put up a sign that members of the Special Auxillary Division are exempt from rationing and that their badge, specifically the special requisition code number and QR-code on the flip side, would replace the ration book. Splendid. I had some more tea. Take what you can get, while you can get it.
Carpe potestatem Some people were a bit louder than usual. Some were silent. The breakfast buffet met high standards. ? Why do you scrape up a group of old men to drive ambulances? The last time I drove anything bigger than a shopping cart was ten years ago. ? Does this feel like some secret project to you? ? What are those idiots in government up to now? ? Do they need us to talk to aliens? ? Youd use biologists and linguists for that. ? What makes you think aliens need to be biological? The TV set under the sign stating that we were to assemble on the golf course at 9:00 unmuted: breaking news. Again I repeat that a government of national unity has been formed and both chambers have voted to declare a state of national defense. We are now showing you ... We assembled, as requested, on the hotel golf course. I am not sure everybody turned up, but I seriously felt dread by that time. Federal police, US military police and a few men and women in grey suits showed up. Were we under NATO command? What was going on here? It was a sunny day, yet I shivered. My mood shifted to rapt attention and the whole group shut up as on command. One of men in a grey suit walked up in front of us. He felt like The Godfather. He spoke: You are here today to be told the truth and to serve mankind. I zoned out. Up to this day I remember not a word he said beyond that cheesy intro, yet I stood motionless at attention. -- We drew numbers C I got number 4 C lined up and pulled cubes out of a dark sack. Mine was boring. A plain dull grey, vaguely polished, vaguely metallic featureless color. The girl C I couldnt see her badge and, as I said, bad with names - in front of me had gotten something like a conflagration in a cube. We were led to compartments made from plastic over metal frames and plastic dividers. It looked like an improvised security check stalls at a festival. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.I stepped into the one the uniformed guy with a face that discouraged all small talk and was exactly how I imagined a bouncer at a jetset club would react to me, led me to. I confronted a technical guy in sandals. With perfect skin, an athletic figure and teeth right out of a toothpaste ad. And speaking American English. ? Number 4? Good morning. You are the first one this morning. I see you got a gun there. No, not literally, the essence of a gun. We think that an essence will let you better perform the detection ritual, so we got some cheap surplus from the US stockpile. Mainly animals nobody likes. You are lucky. ? What? ? I am sorry we need to do this without the proper induction but your government requested haste and we from the Network are fulfilling that request. ? What? If this was a test for eloquency I just failed. If it was a test for not acting prematurely or readable facial expression, I still had a chance. But then, did I want to pass? Would they send me home if I failed or would I be stuck reviewing some stupid code for meeting all the rules of checking for errors in the most trivial of functions for however long this would take? I did what I usually do. I took the path of least resistance and waited. ? As the colonel may have mentioned we are facing an existential threat. We need to ramp up our numbers and Magic Ritual Conquest allowed us to teach you some basics in its advanced mode we will train you in the next ten days. But we make you do the essences first in the hope of you learning faster. ? What are we to learn?? ? You speak more than a few words of English. Good. You had me worried for a few moments. The reward is in the test. Just wait a second for the compatibility test. Well do medical after the practical test. Wait, that game was real and they are doing the power stones on me? Though they seemed to call them ?essences instead of ?stones of power. I wondered what they are calling the ?gems of expansion. That sold me. I wanted to be able to materialize a magic gun. If we were living in a world of such things, it was clear which side of the divide was safer to live on, even if you needed to use such powers in anger. He waved a blue translucent rod at me, put it into a socket on a tablet, typed in some stuff from a list and a green light lit up. He pulled the curtain and I saw one of the basic rituals of the game only that it was missing some parts. Ex cubo lux Was this some kind of psycho test? But if magic was really real? I couldnt run. The armed guards aside, these people knew my license plate, my bank account and where I live. You do not run from the government. Intentionally fail? Pride aside, why? This cost a lot of money. They cared about the results. I did not want to end up cleaning toilets in a military hospital for the duration of this crisis for a failure to obey orders. There was no point in misrepresenting myself. At least that was how I justified doing what I was told. ? We use salt. I left the bag on the right behind the curtain. Use the wet sponge in the bucket for corrections. Cores in the little bag next to the salt bag. They kept the name of the testing cores. Why? He had misinterpreted my slight hesitation. I hurried across the partition looking for that bag. Wait, theyd do the medical after the test? The test that would use up the st essence. So this was a psycho test. And they wanted me to notice. Ten years ago Id have said something for sure. Five years ago maybe. Today I just wanted to go home. If I could get sent home just for following orders to the letter without questions and then them finding me medically unfit, all the better. Id even not apply for a reimbursement of the fuel I used. I am not unpatriotic, just practical. ? You have twenty minutes. Clock is on the wall. Eight booths, about one hundred people C this will take all day. I felt better at having to go in the first wave. -- Did I mention that I do not do well with time pressure? I wasted about half the time I was given. And quite a bit of cores for double checking. And it lit up in the right colors. This was a marvellous replication of the game mechanics. Could it be ? If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.This was the moment I no longer expected him to stop me, even though it was the logical point in time. He waved me into the circle. Well, if you insist. The games appendix recommended using the incantion to start the ritual if you did it for yourself. Woud I get an extra point for remembering that? I held the cube in my left hand and stretched it out, away from anything vital. You never know. I should have closed my eyes. Yet I wanted it to be true. Some basic rituals feature Latin spells. Id never questioned it. Wait, isnt ?cubus masculine? Later ... Spiritu culto mihi serva sis Then and there I found religion. The essence reacted like a melon used in a high speed crash test, that is, it ripped itself apart faster than I could comprehend. That saved my underwear. My dignity was not so spared. I squeaked as the debris staying still in the air rushed towards me, through my clothing without shredding it and into me. As a child have you ever run into a meadow full of nettles wearing short pants? There is worse, but I am telling you it was the surprise factor. I froze up. Magic had entered the world. Man had gotten to the point of ruling the laws of physics themselves. I had used up one of those precious new resources. If they now found me medically unfit Why can I never tell when to speak up and when to shut up? ? No need for alarm. Just wait for the evolution of your racial gift. Buffoon. He had not just gotten himself into extra hot water. Or, worse, if he had, hed blame it on me. ? Now come on. I am not responsible for you squeaking like a little girl. You passed. As far as I understand it they will not pay you the standard salary because they drafted you, but this is better than sitting at home waitng for them to come for you. He was right. I needed to get myself under control. This guy was very good at reading people. P: Right. I am sorry, I was just a little surprised. Lets be calm. Will breathing deeply help? I began to rival a lamp. In a color that should not really exist. ? OK, thats it. Just step outside the tent across the aisle and Dr. Bruckner should already be waiting. This was not good. Deductio ON A POST-IT AFFIXED TO THE UPPER MARGIN OF THE PAGE CONTAINING THE LAST CHAPTER Just in case this journal somehow survives and I don''t. No, essences and rituals do not invalidate the scientific method. I am so sick and tired of those conspiracy theorists crawling out from under every rock. The mutability of the laws of nature themselves is again subject to scientific study. We have extended science not broken it. Maybe this matters even if all is lost. I am no longer categorically ready to rule out an afterlife. -- THE NEXT REGULAR PAGE Unknown man: Come in A native. Around 60. Bearded. Was this a joint operation? Nobody had asked. Why? I felt revulsion against asking. I had enough problems. Tomorrow maybe. Making him wait would make things worse. I entered the tent. Unknown man: Dr. Bruckner, nice to meet you, Mr. He did not need to go far down the list. Unknown man: have a seat. Ill check blood pressure. Have you taken your medication today? They had my medical records. Damn the state of emergency. I discovered a novel appreciation for the protection of civil rights within myself. P: Yes. I feel fine with it. - No use pretending. Do not make it worse. But a little spin might help. Dr. B(formerly unknown man): As usual? P: Yes, for more than a decade now. He kept pumping. Hesitated . This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Dr. B: 145/95 acceptable under the circumstances. P: You are still measuring? Arent you one of the special doctors? Dr. B: Special? Magical you mean. You may say it. I wont transfer you to the psychiatric department for saying it. I got my degree the old-fashioned way. I still feel I should draw your blood, even though I can see whats wrong with it. They inducted me two years ago, when it became possible. I liked this man. He had my sense of humor. And he was presumably covered by medical confidentiality. That was even better. P: So you can only diagnose? Dr. B: No, no, no. It is a joy. I could heal a brain tumor, cardiac arrest. Last week I fixed somebodys spine. P: That That is mighty impressive I struggled to control myself. Two years ago. So close. That meant ... Dr. B: We cannot guarantee the supply of your medication. In your case Ill have to call in Dr. Kowalski for the ritual. And before you ask, as you seem to be interested in that stuff, the problem with you is that your condition is so ancient and you have been knowing about it all the time. Dr. B: (louder and facing the doorway) Dr. Kowalski could you do the full ritual here? P: What do you mean by not guaranteeing the supply? - I was alarmed I was distracted. The implications ... Dr. Kowalski, as identified by his badge, entered the room and raised his hand. Dr. B: You saw his file? Dr. K: Sure, thisll drain me, but lets get it done. A green ritual diagram formed under me. A pain like a bad case of a sprained limb combined with a piercing toothache went to my whole body and interrupted my thoughts. It went on for minutes. Not really recommended. Dr. K: Sorry about that. Regular painkillers wouldnt work and general anesthesia would be overkill. You will no longer need that medication. Everythings fixed. You are as healthy as a man of your age can be. Bernhard, time for a coffee and some good stuff? Dr. B: Sure. I am socially awkward, but I get the more obvious hints. P: Thank you gentlemen. It has been very impressive and an extreme pleasure meeting you. I was shaken. Healthy people do not understand the extent to which medication is on your mind, if you really need it every day. These people were salvation and saved so many people. If only magic had come a year earlier ... Interlude I - The Bureaucrats Protocol of the fifth crisis meeting of the coordination commitee redacted version C coded names in use Classification: Secret For use at the ministerial and staff level as supplemental material for new members to be briefed Federal government: Anton, Berta Military: Hannibal, Scipio Network: Merlin, Samson Emergency operations: Florian Special attendees: Stahl (council of industrial companies), Rail (federal railways) Berta: For the special attendees please summarize the plan and update us on new developments Scipio: The country has been divided in three zones. Zone A where we get the monitoring level so high, that we are confident that we get all incursions. Zone B gets monitored regularly, but we expect slipups and zone C is monitored only when we have spare capacity. Merlin: We are shifting everybody competent into monitoring so we get zone A up to 54% of the country in one contiguous area. That is the good news. That bad news is that we will have to eventually patrol the border regions of the C zones. If the grid stays down for too long, sheer exhaustion of the forces will force us to consolidate. Anton: I have good news on that front. The government has finalized the deal with the Americans. You will get the drones and the other stuff we discussed last time. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Samson: At what cost? Anton: At a cost worth paying. Foreign policy is not a subject fit for this body. Florian: Lets be calm. On that note the evacuation of the C zones is proceeding well, with some exceptions in . The estimated numbers for the municipalities in question is found in your daily report folders. Hannibal: We cannot spare the forces wed need to clean this up if we are to maintain the reserves for rapid evacuations in zone B. Anton: That is unfortunate, but I will report that and recommend that those areas be left the consequences of their refusals. Samson: Do you want to make an example out of them? Anton: This government does not make examples out of citizens. Berta: Gentlemen, please, this leads us nowhere we want to be. Merlin: Yes, thank you. On a lighter note I got notice that the simplified version of the detection protocols has been approved and is being deployed. Scipio: Good. How will you switch over? Merlin: We intend to use it in zone A beginning with the least densely settled parts of zone A Stahl: zone A C why do you use a simplified version in our core areas? Merlin: the new protocol is optimized for simplicity. We have based our numbers for zone A on the assumption that we can mobilize everybody halfway competent for detection. We need to calculate in some false negatives. In zone A checks are frequent enough to compensate for that in time. Stahl: So you are pushing more resources into B zones? We have a list of economically important single points in them. Anton: the government has decided to incorporate your suggestions at a later time Stahl: Berta: Gentlemen, please. you get at least some of what you want in our new list. We cannot give up that many small cities. We cannot resettle that many people. I have made sure youll get the minor highways you want monitored covered by the new forces and our other associates Samson: good luck with those of the . Theyll stab us in the back when we can least afford it. Florian: Gentlemen! Please! Anton: This meeting is no longer productive. Weve discussed what needed to be covered immediately. Adjourned till tomorrow. Magi potestatibus utantur Leaving the tent I confronted a sign proclaiming 1. This site is now a military security zone. Anybody entering and leaving needs a permission issued by the site commander. Use of lethal force is authorized. 2. Assembly of the remaining candidates at 19:30 in conference room A Well, if you are drafted you are no longer a free man or, these days, woman. It didnt hit me. Trading some freedom for perfect health looked like a good deal to me. I suppose I am an authoritarian at heart. It felt good. All the little aches were gone. Closing my eyes I faced the sun. I sighed. My ears were assaulted by a distinctly female squeak combined with a loud whooshing sound; my wardrobe by a shower of warm and cool droplets and my vestigal personal dignity, having sold out to the establishment for free health care, by an urgent need to remove the scorched flower of a waterlilly from my face. If you want to know how burnt waterlilly tastes, I am able but unwilling to tell you. That knowledge needs to be earned. A young woman, dutifully wearing her badge identifying her as Johanna, turned to me. J: O my good, I am so sorry, it just felt like it needed to go out there and I sort of touched the water and it kind of stung and there was water everywhere P: Dont worry. I am a vegetarian. That line actually made her chuckle. I wouldnt have expected that. P: What needed to get out? J: You are covered in plant debris. P: I know. It can wait. What needed to get out? J: I can feel the heat. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.She half turned away from me, raised her hand and a wiggling thread of fire about five meters long came out of her hand, reaching towards the sky. An annoyed amplified voice burst from behind the row of tents. ?Yo, you there, cut that out. No essence abilities on the testing grounds! We exchanged a look and agreed wordlessly on a tactical retreat. J: That was incredible. This . I had that very ability in my favorite avatar playing the game. Do you think that is the reason I got it for real? P: I have no idea. J: You should change. Ill wait for you in the lobby That suggestion was impeccably practical and having her wait for me to drink coffee at the governments expense was nice. I had actually forgotten about the essence. What has happened to my sense of wonder. I felt old. She was indeed waiting. J: Coffee? P: Hot chocolate if they have it. Getting magical powers is an occasion that calls for sugar. By the way, that raises a point. Do you have any idea what would happen if anybody of this group would get really drunk? She paused. I was getting smart person vibes. J: I wont participate in finding out. I can feel my power. I can sort of ask about what I can do. It only answers about now and real stuff, though. I cant feel out how it would act against a ghost, because there are no ghosts. You? I had indeed quickly tried in my room, pointing my hand at the sky out of the window. I was not going to risk firing a machine gun in an elevator. Should I admit I had gotten nothing? P: Are you sure about ghosts not existing? J: An hour ago I would not have taken that question seriously. We will have to find out. Your power? Have I mentioned that I am not good at social interactions and manipulating people? P: Nothing. I got the feeling I am missing something. J: Missing something? P: As if I were a railway engine with nothing to pull. J: You got a railway essence? P: No. Gun. The test supervisor told me. She looked at me with her head slightly tilted P: I picked it by chance. J: Until an hour ago my views on random chance were a lot more certain than now. P: Well, I cant help it now. Done is done. J: True. Have you considered that maybe, you know, you need a gun to use a gun essence? I was getting old. There is no other explanation. A doctor had just assured me that it cannot be a neurological disease. Pisces floresque odit ?What had those poor pond flowers done to you? I started liking this lot. They had a sense of humor. Or rather, theirs was a match to mine. Johanna actually blushed. We went along on the way to our destination. Lunch was cancelled due to the ongoing tests. At least we got some sandwiches on a table in a repurposed conference room. Johanna and I had decided to look for people we knew to discuss our magic. ?We were in the same department, Johanna remarked. Her friend Lisa was sitting alone at a table. That state of affairs could not be blamed on her appearance. I could not rule out that her character was the cause, but it seemed much likelier that the good old revolver in front of her she kept brushing rather frequently with one finger was the culprit. J: Lisa, are you all right? L: What? Sure. O, you are freaked out about my little friend? J: Gun essence. You too? P: Nice to meet you. We share an essence. May I have a closer look at that? L: I am afraid not. It would vanish for anybody else. Even I need to ask it to stay. I think itll be gone soon in any case. It looked beautiful. I was definitely jealous. Somebody cleared her throat next to me. P: Could you hold it in your hand and I touch it with one finger? Somebody next to me developed an unusual interest in the ventilation ducts along the ceiling. L: Very well. We need to figure this out. I have a bad feeling about this. Why do they give these things to us and give us a resort vacation in war time? J: You two are watching too many X-Men movies. P: There is no such thing as too many X-Men movies. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Some people have very expressive eyebrows. Lisa clutched the gun with both hands and I used the index finger of my left hand. Without even noticing it I snapped it back. Curious looks. ?I almost felt a voice that said: You are not my momma They both laughed at that and Lisa released her grip while her gun briefly reduced itself to a sparse rainbow-colored cloud of glttering stripes and then vanished. L: How about you show me yours? P: I cannot materialize a gun. J: I had this theory that people with an essence for phenomena can manifest them and those with an essence for things need that thing to manipulate. P: Johanna got fire if you go by her ability. L: Jo, you are the girl who massacred the fish? She really did have expressive eyebrows. P: Let me get you coffee Beverages are a great social tool and get people to talk. L: Seriously, why us? Sorry, no offense, but your beard is salt and pepper. Why not young, fit special force soldiers? P: None taken. It is the plain truth. But you two are not grandmothers. J: That borders on conspiracy theories. Do you have family? L: No, they are both P: Nope. Never found somebody to J: There you got it. Nobody will miss us. We are expendable. We shared a glum look. That had a depressing amount of truth in it. L: But this hotel J: Would be empty without us. Nobody is going on vacation with the curfew and rationing. The government can either pay them to work or put them on benefits. P: They could fill it with fit young men, too. J: They will be needed in the army. P: Yet the army would probably welcome a unit of men who can blow up things without wasting ammo. J: How many of them played the game in advanced mode? P: There is that. L: You think they want us to specialize on rituals and not waste soldiers on that? J: Yes L: You know, now that I think about it, what are the long term consequences of doing many rituals? J: You are outrageous. The doctors and the people who did the tests looked very hale. L: Did you ever see one of them complete a ritual? J: You two would find mortal danger in playing with a kitten. I am going to go watch TV or something. She left. It is true. The younger generation is adversely affected if divorced from their phones for long. Sicam velo celaverunt About a quarter were gone. Our mysterious boss arrived. Trim, middle height, blond, angular features, age hard to tell, grey dress uniform. He took the stand behind the lectern marked with a small version of the symbol of the armed forces. Good evening. There is no need to salute me. You are still civilians. I am Captain Carstens, commanding officer of this temporary site. First I want to remind you, that while your group contains no veterans, hence you are not just mobilized, you are still under enhanced discpline and have to follow orders. We are absolutely ready to use any level of force necessary to maintain security at this site. The regulations you are under have been posted in the lobby for you to read them if you so choose. That out of the way, our country and indeed the whole world are under attack. You have C inadvertedly - gained unique skills needed to guard our country and people. The people of this country need you to warn them to locate threats so that the defenders facing them can find them in time. We do not have much time to train you and I would send you out right now if I could, but your duties require the use of critical resources and you will undergo ten days of training to not waste them. One thing more. Our American allies have agreed to catalogue your new abilities. They may make some of you an offer to contribute to our common defense in other positions based on that assessment. You are free to accept or reject any such offer as you wish. Your training groups are being posted in the lobby. Questions are to be directed to your groups trainer. Mr. Crawford, the stage is yours. - The last words were delivered in English Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, indeed to share the burden our people will take over some of the training effort from our allies. In these dark days our firm alliance will defend mankind against even the most unexpected threats. I can see in your faces that you are eager to learn details of your abilities. So let me explain the process briefly. You will form groups based on your essence. For that purpose I will call out the group, the essence and then the number you drew for the tests. Then my assistant Mrs. Jones C he pointed out an elderly lady C will use her ability to read out your ability. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. After that well do a practical test which will require us to take a resource that will quickly decay out of storage. That part will be done outdoors and you will be cycled through a testing tent in numerical order. Your results will be recorded and posted in the lobby tomorrow. ?Maybe I dont want my abilities C the heckler didnt get to finish. The room darkened only that it did not darken. That will be all. Group A , number Remarkable. It took a monster apocalypse to end unnecessarily long meetings, but it was possible. -- Captain Carstens took his cup of coffee and joined a man with a white shirt and generic pants. C: Did they take the bait? UM: Who? C: Both. UM: I think the Americans really want to know whether we have coopted our branches, not our methodologies. It does not matter. We waved enough decoys at them. C: They filtered them all out. UM: Yes. Letting them organize the testing worked. C: The civilians? UM: No worries. Some of them went for their abilities in a big way. C: Some? UM: This is a business of averages. People as individuals are unpredictable. Groups are another matter. -- Apparently I have the ability to use magical weapons and tools. Splendid. And I saw my first monster, if only a dead one. It looked like a miniature stegosaurus with spines like needles on its back. I was told to loot it without a ritual. Nothing happened. It had been a long day. I genuinely was looking forward to sleep. In otio tenebrae mentem invadunt I was in group E, Echo in NATO speak, which was all four people with the gun essence. Believe it or not, the training was boring. Outright dreadfully boring. They didnt teach us a thing. We got two trainers, Mr. Maleux (do not ask how Americans pronounce that) and Mr. von Blow. Well, they taught us terminology. So we used ?lesser monster cores to test ?ritual circles. Ive learned the lesson. Knowing that you are under pseudomilitary discipline raises motivation. We may have been to valuable to have us clean toilets, but were we too valuable to be used for weapons research? I am sure somebody was eager to get our EEGs while we were doing rituals. To be honest I would have been eager in their place and I would have advocated implanting the electrodes. You may deem that petty in the extreme. We got powers from out of this world and were bored training them. You know, I am sure being an air defense guard in Hiroshima was boring until the 5th of August, 1945. It does not work that way. Doing the same circle over and over to calm ambient magic is boring. Especially if after each time somebody takes out a small metallic rod, flashes a yellow light and your work is undone. It left time for contemplation. Preferably not about the bodily orifices you could mount probes in. For example they wanted us to be as precise as possible before activating the ritual. For this ritual that was mostly pointless, hence they cared about the detection ritual. That in turn meant that they cared about the coins, not the lesser cores. That told me nothing because in the game you got a fixed amount of coins per time. I refused to believe in the reality of an almighty system, regardless of how many games I had played. You know that admiring the Greeks for insights about the limits of your knowledge is a lot easier, if you had no skin in the game? And in my defense our instructors shared our boredom. But they had their phones. One of them honestly was playing PokemonGo. That very much looked like they were not under Captain Carstens command. Had we had a coup and I was on the way into the ruling magic class? Was that the reason we were not going into a lab for study? They already knew everything there was to know or was the situation a sort of a forced cooperation and we were protected because the magical people could not allow other magical people to be vanished for fear of setting a precedent? A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. -- Lunch again having been sandwiches dinner was a treat. The group wordlessly agreed to stay together. We shared our powers with each other. That was safe. Quiet contemplation and the blossoming understanding that for practical purposes the country was under martial law was eroding old certainties. I wasnt sure that our conversations were private. Theyd expect us to talk about our abilities. I got looks of pity. I am old enough to not care. If I got honest pity Id take it. Lisa had what the examiner called a counter-execute. Her bullets would heal her by draining her opponent if she had suffered a serious injury. Outright ghoulish, though I kept that opinion to myself. Markus had something called the ?eye of the infantryman. He could see if somebody was aiming at him. That opened a deep can of worms in terms of how the universe works. Werner was the ordinary one. He conjured C not ?materialized C a hunting rifle with a scope, including magic ammunition. Before we could turn the conversation to something possibly clandestine, the TV was switched on and we were treated to the sight of floating monster in the shape of starfish made out of mud streaming out of a mine in Angola and suffocating the miners families living in a shanty town next to the plant. No more warnings about sensitive viewers. Did the government want the shock value? No official announcement. Our handlers let us simmer in our own juices. Or they were waiting for somebody to mouth off to identify the unreliable. This was no longer the country I had been living in. Or was I paranoid? All I had was oddities and indications. Including merely assuming that I could not talk safely to anybody. Curfew had started. Nowhere to go outside the building. I headed for the games room. Take what you can get. A few people were looking to start a game of darts. It turned out to be a relevation. I took a dart and the world warped. The area I could hit looked C for lack of a better description C brighter than the rest of the world. I contemplated my target and something else led my arm. A hit on the inner ring of the twenty, exactly where I wanted it. I had found my racial power. Interlude II - The Bureaucrats Transcript of an illegal recording done in a waiting room of the Ministry of the Interior Participants: unknown C transcribed by machine Classification: sealed by court order pending a legal challenge against the inadmissibility of documents transscribed by machines as legal evidence of the defense #1: Hi, coffee? #2: Thanks, yes I need it #3: Sure #1: How are things at home. #2: Sleeping on the couch. Trip to Egypt is cancelled. My wife does not want to believe in monsters. #3: Ouch #1: Indeed. Why is legal here? Not that we dont appreciate you, but this is unusual. #3: Hes got ideas. Understandable even. #2: Yes. #1: Now? Please tell me I am suspecting wrong. When was he told? #3: 90 minutes before the announcement #1: WTF? #3: The old one thought he wanted her desk. Didnt trust him. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.#2: I cant say she was wrong on his ambitions. #1: That explains the nature of the material I was told to cover. #2: You didnt know. #1: Nope #2: O glory and sunshine #3: He thinks they are traitors. #2: Are they? #3: Not doable. You cant get people for not telling the government something unless there is a specific law. Not even not telling them that our most fundamental assumption about the universe is wrong. #1: We will need to continue the projects. Youll be charged with finding some reason. #3. Already done. A state of national defense helps immensely. They are holding assets vital to national defense after all. I didnt even have to knock out my sense of ethics. #2: Anything sensitive in the papers? #1: The source, technically. #2: Even I dont know that. #1: There is nothing to know. We got it from the Mossad. The company in Russia was their front. #3: So they did penetrate theirs. #1: Thats a plausible assumption. But still only an assumption. Unde secundam petet? Good news on breakfast TV. Theoretically. We civil draftees got more vacations. But still none in the first six months of our conscription. Typical. I was sleeping well again. Apparently my subconciousness had come to the conclusion that we were treated so well for the same reason you pay people working with very valuable and fragile stuff decently. But it made me hope that the government had reason to think that this would be over in less than half a year. People had segregated into their training groups for breakfast. Tribalism is deep in our bones. Almost as to shatter my convictions on age-old truths about mankind, Johanna waved and plonked down at our table. J: Our group has been split up for today W: Driven your trainers to suicide after only one day? J: No. If I want someone dead I do it myself. She was in a mood today. Better Werner than me. Scrambled eggs deserve to be appreciated without talking. M: Are you sure that you have the gun essence. W: What? Why? M: Because it looks you have the grave or shovel essence. Jokes. About essences. After two days. Man is ridiculously adaptable. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. J: Sorry. I am feeling incomplete. Werner was heroically fighting down his urge to make a remark he wouldnt regret for long. M: Is there an eye essence? J: Why? M: Because Id rather be elsewhere if you had it. Brave and staying on topic. She laughed. J: Seriously. It is as if my ability were feeling lonely. M: We have to assume that the (3 + 1) * 5 system is reality. P: The doctor at my medical had at least two abilities. W: Did you think about why we are getting essences from the Americans? Changing the topic. Finally a sense of self-preservation, albeit with a delayed fuse. P: Dont they come from looting rituals? W: Yes, but the first essences and the first rituals must have come from somewhere. That was a damn good point. One of those awkward moment where multiple people were about to start speaking, decided otherwise and looked around ensued. W: And what protected the world from monsters, I mean dimensional entities before that? -- Training wasnt better. We did the detection ritual. Without coins, dry-firing it, so to speak. You can check a ritual for correctness without setting it off, if you spend the cores. In fact you could set it off without effect. Only that you then need to rebalance the ambient magic. A drudge. Johanna tried her luck when Mr. Maleux working alone today announced the last round of the day. J: Mr. Maleux, what do I need to do to get more essences? MM: You demonstrate that you are worth them. J: How? MM: Under the circumstances youd have to show a looting power. Which you have failed to show. J: But MM: Young lady my family has produced an essence magician in each generation from the time New Orleans was in New France. We never had a looter. We have a crisis going on. After that, it will be up to the German side. Now do that ritual. Interesting. The Americans were first. And they needed looters. Nox ultima Today I fired off my first real detection ritual. A full negative. I wonder whether they had somebody check at the air base. Probably they did. Who said that war is boredom mixed with occasional terror? I miss my phone. Though I am a responsible online player. I transfered leadership of our online game group to another player as soon as I had talked with my lawyer neighbor about my draft notice. Instructor von Blow looked at me with an expression I could not read, but I did not like it. Apparently they had recorded our speed at performing the essence ritual and I was fastest by twentytwo seconds. Thus I had earned the dubious honor of performing under his gaze in front of all other trainees. That man did not like me and standing out made me harder to forget. vB: You used a lot of lesser cores. P: Yes, sir. Silence. What to say that wouldnt make it worse? The man was not impressive physically speaking, yet still intimidating. And we were under enhanced discipline. vB: Very well, we cannot use more spirit coins for training. We are cutting this training short. Tomorrow will be your last day here. Questions? W: Why does nobody build a machine to do these rituals? vB: I meant practical questions. But anyway. Cost. In these versions of the ritual the casters mind is a part of the process. It stops working as soon as the caster drops out and only he can see the results without a perception power. That can be compensated for, but then you get a machine that is prohibitively expensive in terms of construction without the right essence ability to power it at this scale. You just cannot scrap up nearly enough from the ambient to run low end materials. Class dismissed. Thank you for that question, buddy, you got him to stop focusing on me. Chances are I wont be able to repay you during this crisis, though. -- I went for laundry to the basement. The room wasnt empty. P: Hi Thomas, not in the game room? T: Hi yourself. Test tomorrow, I think, I was almost as fast as you. I want to get a full night of sleep. I think well be moved out tomorrow and who knows when well have a washer/dryer available again? P: Great minds think alike. You know, I was really surprised to see the faces behind the user names. And now we are wizards. Thomas snorted. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.T: Turning sunlight into mana hardly makes you a great wizard. P: Which essence? T: Coral. Though, why are you turning nostalgic on me? P: Von Blow. This guy gives me the creeps. That makes me happy to get away from here. That in turn takes me feel guilty. T: He just doesnt like muggles being taught ritual magic. P: This isnt Harry Potter. T: Dude, we are in a wizarding school. Literally. I shut up. That was a very good point. I needed a counter point. Fast. P: But you dont get expelled for disciplinary infractions. T: But you might be expelled for wasting spirit coins, so I want to get it right tomorrow. I dont want to end up cleaning toilets, as you like to put it. Besides what do you mean by nobody getting expelled? P: Didnt you hear about the guy who caused them to disable Netflix? T: Nope, no Mandalorian. I dont care. P: Have you considered what the evacuations will do to the film industry? Revenge is best served in the Klingon original. I was too cheap to pay that much money on streaming services. P: Anyway, he had smuggeled in a Raspberry Pi and used the ethernet the TVs are connected to. The military had soon corrected the hotels mistake of letting the terminals run. P: They told him off, but nothing happened to him. They must really need us. Things are going to get rough. T: Come on, if they really need us so much theyll give us escorts. He had a point. Again. T: If pessimism became an Olympic discipline, youd get silver at least. Why did I like this guy? -- They let the TV run during dinner and afterwards. That made sense. If they let us out tomorrow, well need to know whats going on and well get the news soon anyway. Not that we were that eager. Our hacker had used his device to watch cat videos. Maybe this species did not deserve to survive. ? The government of national unity has broken apart with the Green Party leaving it. ? All other parties but the nationalists, who decried the criticism as ?an hour of telling fairy tales, ? deplored the move as irresponsible in a time of crisis ? The spokeswoman of the Green Party declared that the law about lifting restrictions on private ? ownership of firearms by citizens was one step to far ? we are getting reports of a troop of masked superheroes coming to the rescue of the Australian ? city of Broken Hill ? the ministry of economics has refused to endorse proposals to lower the driving age to 16 to aid ? pupils finding themelves without transportation to school in the wake of the government seizing ? most busses for evacuations ? He stated that the country could not afford the inevitable spike in the price of used cars needed ? to get essential workers to their jobs now that public transport has been severely curtailed ? and announced the possibility that even schools in urban areas would have to be seized in full ? to house refugees ? the Society for the Promotion of Sports has condemned the seizure of school sports facilities ? claiming that we are growing a generation of couch potatoes ? the council of state ministers of education has welcomed the emergency legislation lifting ? data protection standards to allow for online schooling citing a need to keep displaced pupils ? connected to their teachers and classes Superheros? Vias irae verbis fecit My desire for refreshing and sufficient sleep fought a helicopter and lost. I saw nothing. My room was on the wrong side of the compound. -- Captain Carstens nodded to his favorite spy, being joined by him on a roof-top terrace yet to be opened for breakfast S: One of them is the fulcrum. How long? C: A few hours. Till the later afternoon maybe. An unexpected concentration. The enemy is not moving as predicted. S: Do I need to tell an officer that no plan survives contact with the enemy? C: You plan for that. They in a sense do. That is why you keep sufficient reserves. S: What has changed? C: Your own briefing. What attracts monsters? S: Human presence and movement. Ive been told that those who do not evacuate would be left to suffer the fruits of their foolishness. Surely we cannot have breakthroughs into zone B so soon? C: We had three so far actually, but that is not what it is. S: Movement The Windmills! C: Hindsight is a curse and a blessing, isnt it? S: I need him. Can you delay? C: Sure. Youll be amazed how much paper work can be invoked when handing out equipment to civilians. -- Our instructors having been called away in a manner inimical to sound sleep the captain decided to hand out the equipment earlier. It explained how that high a defense budget bought so little bang. Much of it looked like it had been in storage since the seventies and the methods used to keep track of it matched that. They did not have our shoe sizes. Amazon would have known that. So we were ordered in order of the numbers drawn on the first day. A few people did not remember them. And the list of the people who had washed out had not been used to correct the old list. Then they actually measured our feet. Then we had to reorganize by shoe size, because apparently army combat boots in the civilian version (without the symbol of the armed forces) come in crates of uniformly sized boots. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Then we had to watch an instructional video on gas mask usage. It came on a freaking VHS tape. Being under pseudomilitary discipline took a lot of the fun out of watching two technicians struggling to attach a honest to god VHS recorder to a brandnew video setup. By that time I was relieved that they had not made two versions of the tape with the section on proper shaving taken out of the female version. The ladies present shared that sentiment. None complained. The seventies were a truly hairy time. I now know how to wear an official army hairnet in a manner compatible with the hood of a gas mask. Have I mentioned that I no longer need eyeglasses? Nobody did. Did they skip over the section on glasses under gas masks? What do you think? Why, o why, did everybody have to affirm by signature that the iodine tablets received were to be taken only if a order to do so was given out either by radio, TV or an authorized person? I now have several sets of olive underwear and socks and a big safety pin with space to stencil your ID number into used to keep socks together when using communal laundry facilities. Not a bad idea, actually. Our sleeping bags are jackets for cold weather at the same time. Nifty. Having to demonstrate to a grinning sergeant that you can fold and bag it correctly, not so much. Signature again, of course. We were halfway through being handed first aid packages (extended version for use in the field), when the sound of a helicoper broke the monotony of having to sign twice, once for the package itself and a second time for acknowledging the war time exception for being allowed to handle the narcotics in the extended package, promising to give them back after the war. -- Thomas had gotten around the need to demonstrate his proficiency. We were assembled into training sections with some of them missing their trainers. Von Blow stood in front of us in black tactical armor, a slash on his left hip and his hair shorter and wrinkled on the same side. Still an utterly impassive face. Tough bastard. I am still ready to give him that to this day. Carstens addressed the crowd. It is now time to send you out. Asking you to have enjoyed your stay here is too much. We did our best and Id like to take the opportunity to thank the staff of this hotel. I do hope that you feel pride whenever you think back to these days and keep in mind what good you will have done, if and when you will be offered an opportunity to use the unique abilities you were given in a way to serve our country in a way yet to be announced. It is possible to stand straight and impassive in an angry manner. I am pleased that new legislation allows me to present those of you whose ability does not directly allow you to protect yourself with magical weapons, swords mainly and even a few firearms. Von Blow finally grunted. Do you have anything to say instructor von Blow? Sir, my family has been serving in the Network since the time of Friedrich I to protect the whole world and the weapons you are giving out to rudimentarily trained civilians will be missed on the field, where we lost a good man today. Carstens remained silent for long seconds. Is that all? Well, your feelings are clear. I remind you, recruits, that the rules about secrecy will apply permanently. Dismissed. Sic numquam tyrannis I froze and my sense of self preservation made me unfreeze immediately. Some things are better not reacted to in the presence of combat mages in full battle gear. I needed a distraction. ?Will I get a weapon specific to my ability?. Von Blow turned and said: ?You are a freaking whiner who surely does not deserve a tool of that potency. I am so happy that this job is finished.. Marching towards the helicopter he mercifully obviated the need for an answer, which I wouldnt have had. So my ability was actually good? ?Ill go put the new stuff in my bags and check the board in the lobby -- We would mostly use our private cars. This time our orders did include reasons. Apparently nominally trained wizards deserved reasons. The country had run out of busses; evacuations were still going on. We would travel in convoys and with guards escorting us, though. I needed to distract myself and went to the parking lot early, gaining an opportunity to wave to the minority being bussed away. Marcus and Werner were among them. I showed them my shiny new gun to admire from the departing vehicle. It was bizarre. A double barreled muzzle loader. But with magical bullets, as I was assured. Three signatures this time. I had no reloads, so this was it. Not that I had any idea how to reload a magic weapon. In fact I was really sure. It spoke to my racial ability. That thing was a real magic item. If I wanted you dead, you and your consort would be. And then I would be helpless. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. I had my phone back but the net was down. Just my luck. Unless of course the country, specifically the rural areas were far worse hit than we had noticed in our semi-resort. I would need to talk to people. Johanna and Lisa arrived. P: Which convoy are you on? J: The first. P: Second for me. L: What is wrong with you? She knew me after the week of training. Were they listening? It broke out of me. P: My grandfather. The way he died J: I am so sorry .. L: No, Jo C she interrupted her P: You connected the dots? She nodded and bit her lip. Johanna looked confused. L: von Blow. His family served since Friedrich I. He died in 1713. J: Well, he is from the minor nobility It dawned to her, too. Lisa stated it explicitely. L: Yes they were immensely powerful wizards. All over the world, well Europe and North America at least. Lets not jump to conclusions. They could have killed Hitler. They did nothing. On the assumption that he wasnt one of them. It felt like madness to hear it openly stated. And I was impressed. If pessimism were olympic, she would be in a league of her own. I had not thought of that option. J: What have we gotten into? P: That is nothing we should discuss while there is a chance we are being listened to. Both immediately shut up. Smart women. Interlude III - Wizards versus Warriors Coordination Commitee of the Global Defense Network and the Armed Forces Location: an unmarked office in Potsdam Attendants: representatives of the oversight commitees of Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Leipzig (B, H, M, C, F, S, L) and two generals (Y, Z), special reporter of the Network division on behavior of dimensional entities (W) Classification: not applicable C unavailable for classification B: Ladies and gentlemen, our agenda for today has the general status report and two special topics, the clusterfuck near Frankfurt and the deal with the Americans. We all know that the status is nominal, so lets move this to the end and start with the political. General, the room is yours. Y: The good news first. We have secured an ongoing supply of drones reliable in the presence of dimensional entities and a promise to make available the spare air transport capacity of the US Air Force and - L: At what cost? B: Would you let the man finish? Y: - and the spare capacity of US military hospitals, as well as access to sat terminals for reliable communication with demensional entities around. This allows us to keep up surveillance of B zones up to the levels the plans call for plus considerable reserves. The joint control bases shall be operational by the day after tomorrow. Yes, there has been a cost. The government has agreed to treat US GDN personel like NATO troops and lifted the limits on the positioning of nuclear weapons on our soil. C: This government sells concessions cheaply. Z: I need to remind you that foreign policy is a domain of the government alone. L: A politically correct lack of a spine still keeps you from walking F: Ill take the helicopters. We needed them. B: That is a question for later. Y: For now we have decided to play it safe and exclusively strengthen the surveillance of the B zones and send nothing to the C zones M: The fact remains that you are quite ready to yield to foreign interests. Z: NATO membership has been a center piece of national policy for decades. And you need to make up your mind. If you want something ?the GDN wants something. If we make deals it is ?the Americans H: The internal organisation of the Network must remain in our domain. Y: The government has agreed to respect that, yet consistency is still consistency. We have a duty to obtain the means necessary to defend this country. We are merely continuing the way we have dealt with NATO allies in the past and it is sadly clear that extraordinary weapons may be needed. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it C: Your little side deal with the Americans, how about that? S: I want my people back. Y: You are getting them back. The program has been curtailed. H: Is that all you have to say about the deal? Y: That is everything that concerns this body. H: Is that so? Z: National defense is the core task of the state and the armed forces. The state must secure the means needed for that task. You can pick whether I am quoting Clausewitz or Mao. You knew it would come this when you broke your secrecy and approached the government. L: You little B: Enough of this. We are moving on to the second topic. Our briefing please. W: Ladies and Gentlemen, yesterday saw an unexpected mass movement of dimensional entities from a C Zone into a B zone. Let me make very clear that this is not a failure of the detection system. An intrusion so close to the edge of the zone was unfortunate but within expectations. F: If I may, we even detected them, but with only about two hours of lead time, there was no point in setting up an intercept. M: it is not your fault. Nobody is blaming you. Lets continue. W: Thank you. Nor was it technically a failure of the ground reporting forces and the evaluation services. The numbers were reported within the expected ranges of imprecision. The forces at close readiness were simply insufficient in numerical strength. B: Why? W: That is indeed the crucial question. Shall I cover the basic reasons or do you want the short version. F: In depth, I absolutely insist. I lost men there. W: Very well. The strategic sense of C zones is to let us sweep them at a time of our choosing, preferably after the grid has been reestablished and we will have gotten the fighters currently detached to detection back. This allows for superior numbers on our side. That category 1 and lesser monsters decay is a bonus. That obviously depends on the dimensional entities largely staying where they are. However, most of them can walk or fly, so they will wander around. We have mathematical models based on Brownian motion F: Doesnt that depend on how fast they are? W: Sure. We are working with normal distributions for both modes of movement, adjusted for the environmental influence on the type of dimensional entities corrected for B: That much detail is not necessary. Could you come to the point relevant in this case? W: Ah yes, sorry. Basically I am saying is that we assume that dimensional entities walk randomly. H: But that is not true. People attract them. W: Exactly therefore we need to correct for that. In fact that is the crux of the matter is that there is a second mode of attraction which is to rhythmically and visibly moving objects. We can ignore residual populations in the C zones. We correct for elevations and wind, as some of them have a superior sense of smell, that allow them to see people in B and A zones, as well as for highways and railways. They ignore ships, we are not exactly sure why, it may be a function of size or speed. B: Please come to the point. W: Yes. We had not figured in large industrial structures them mostly being immobile, safe for the operating crews. We have made an omission though: wind power. C: Now I see it. In hindsight Y: Hindsight is always perfect. What can be done. W: It has already been done. We have included windmills in the early warning network and will shut them down after close intrusions. Y: Thatll help only in B zones some distance away from C zones. W: Exactly. But anything else we simulated broke our limits in terms of resources both in personel and material. There are too many of these things. Z: We will have to write those in the C zones off. Can we compensate? W: For now yes, until the predicted saturation of the B zones sets in. Details will be in your customary written supplements. L: By the way, why do you ignore unevacuated people? M: They keep them things in by being eaten. That actually helps. W: Exactly. We need to be pessimistic in the models, so we disregard that effect. Itinere incepto felicitatem arma calda esse puto They sent us a few all terrain vehicles with machine guns mounted and a bus with federal police. The bus immediately departed after having discharged its human cargo and a corresponding number of duffel bags. Meanwhile most of us remaining had by then found their way to the car park. From sheer boredom, a desire to regain a semblance of freedom or, most laudable, but least likely in my eyes, to avoid travelling the apocalypse without daylight? I wasnt sure about myself, so I have no idea. I was wearing my new boots to get them used to my feet and vice versa. But the duffle bags were a considerable relief. We were not expected to march when we reached our destination. I should have asked before I departed. ? a bunch of nerds ? how do we find our personal wizard? ? can they cast fireball? More than a few of them started at the sight of my holster. I was one of the minority with a magical firearm. Long knives were more common among those armed at all. The new reality had not really sunk in then. The evening sun was warm and I was getting away from some dubious people, even if I did not get to go home as I wanted. Plus I got to help people to survive. As I said, I am not unpatriotic, just practical. And at least some of them played DnD. There might be a fallback, should my phone not go online again. Magical life was improving and an improvement. Captain Carstens showed up in person with privates bearing voluminous crates. They issued machine pistols and ammo to the newly arrived. At least they had to sign, too. I envied them getting the more efficient form of military bureaucracy. They split up again into groups and the privates handed each group a collection of books in spiral binding that looked like they were made for frequent updates together with an ultrasleek satellite phone. The geek in me wanted to hook it up to my long neglected laptop. I had not checked my mails in an eternity. A couple held up a cardboard card with ?#4 on it. As I approached them, they returned the favor with a friendly and curious smile. They were trying to make a good first impression. I returned the favor. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ?Evening, this is Ulrike and I am Dejan, your assigned federal police. You are not under arrest, but I would need the car keys. I would suggest we get ready immediately because we do not want our convoy to miss its rendezvous with the heavy weapons platform. They are running on a rigid schedule. Clear and to the point. This felt good. I returned the greeting and stated my name. ?I am number #4. Unfortunately I do not have flashy abilities yet. I am a level 1 sorcerer, but I can do rituals. That drew a look of confusion from the lady cop, who looked at her partner and in a dropping voice added ?He is one of you. ?No problem. My luggage is already in the car. I have exchanged the hotel badge for my permanent badge and I am good to go. I guess you already have my license plate. ?As a matter of fact, no. We had little time. Our briefings were a bit rudimentary. ?O well, this parking lot is generously sized anyway. Please follow me then. I pointed to my beloved compact Toyota and held out the car key. The dejection was clearly visible. ?Something wrong? We will fit. Ill go on the back bench. You have brought stuff to read anyway. ?We did have your biographical and occupational data. I hoped for an automotive mid life crisis. I have a loud laugh tending to generate into snorts when I run short on air. The whole parking lot was seeking the pig being tickled to death. -- In a gazebo next to the closed down part of the parking lot reserved for motor homes, thoroughly hidden with a hedge from the nice parking lot, where you were supposed to park BMWs or Audis according to federal police, a man remarkably unremarkable was speaking to a remarkably short man with a lot of wrinkles and a lot of brown curly body hair, whose broad hands featured seven slender fingers, and a fruit bat devouring a papaya. A zoologist would have identified its species as native to India. ? and we have for the first time gotten good data in reliable numbers on the process of making essence magicians. The half baked ones are as susceptible to aura manipulation as muggles. In fact I am giving them a little gift for team cohesion as we are speaking. We want them to live after all. The only somewhat unexpected result is that you can become a tool wielder from the gun essence. We can implement the optional part of the protocol. ?What about the trackers? ?They will be totally hidden next to theirs. ?Very well. I have been told to tell you to continue your long time observation, if there are no unusual developments. ?So I expected. My written report will come through the usual channels. Give my regards to your coven. ?Thank you. I will. The short man pulled an impossible number of metal rods from his belt pack. His hands blurred and the outline of a motor bike made from metal rods appeared. He mounted it and he and his machine turned invisible. The bat shoved the remains of the fruit away. He cleaned his face with his tongue, which would have been adorable if not for the ghostly violet glow in his eyes. (And he was quite heroically a he. - If you have ever seen a fruit bat you know what I mean.) He screeched softly and flew off. Totam noctem vehebar The setting sun was painting the sky red. I had lifted my head out of the ?Guide on radio operations for authorities with safety and security functions. It seemed that I was to be codenamed ?Merlin+location+number, both location and number to be determined when we reached our nominal home base. Very funny. My guards had turned out to be a pair in both senses of the word. That suited me fine. It removed a source of trouble. In fact they both seemed a bit reluctant. We had not talked much after they had given me the books and we initially took our place in the convoy and they established that for today they should be driving in turns, if the convoy leader in the armed vehicle in front called a stop at all. Our tank was still nominally full. I am one of those people who fill up after each trip. I looked out wistfully. The news sounded like the world was ending for some people, like those in Broken Hill, who had their home town being razed televised globally by a bunch of flying clowns playing superman. Yet I had not yet seen a live monster. You may wonder about the naming, but my mentioning of dimensional entities drew blank faces. If you had to sell evacuating a fifth of the country so far, monsters sounded much more impressive, I reckon. Very well, monsters be their designation. In fact I was outright pampered in a sense. I got drivers and unlimited rations. Being driven on a scenic country road under the setting sun. The scent of smoke on the air and some car wrecks on the shoulders from time to time would have diminished the eerie feeling. I needed to get out of that mood. P: This sunset makes it unreal. I havnt seen a live monster so far. You? D: A convoy vehicle firing a machine gun at some shapes in the woods. For all I know we decimated wild pigs. U: We came upon a car wreck on patrol. A troop of large hedgehogs was shooting it up with needles growing on their backs to get at the survivors. We shot them with our submachine guns. And puked our guts out when their corpses and the needles stuck in the car turned to colored smoke while we were waiting for the ambulance to move the passenger with a pelvic injury. That is why I believe. If it makes you lose your breakfast it is real. P: Is that an issue? U: Where I come from, it is. People staying home. I asked for details and got the full story of three types of zones in the unsanitized version for the security forces. U: Where have you been the last week that you dont know? Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.P: In a wizarding boot camp without internet access. Remember? U: Sorry. We just never met a wizard in a personal manner, let alone a freshly trained one. We just see the people in the black body armor and that rarely. P: That is the thing. I, that is we in that camp, am an exception. We are very much in a Harry Potter situation. The wizards are an international organization of their own kind. As far as I know we were the first batch coming out of government training. D: Are you sure you should tell us that? P: I have just reread my copy of the secrecy thing they made us sign. I cannot tell you state secrets or how wizarding works and if I want to tell you what I can do, I have to have a reason coming from our common duties. But that somebody is not working for the state cannot be a state secret, can it? And that I came of a witzarding camp run by the military you already knew, so that is not a secret either. D: True, but, to stay in Harry Potter, do you want to tell us things the aurors do not want you to tell anybody? By the puzzled look she sent him I envisaged trouble in their relationship lieing ahead. If this was bugged, as they certainly could have done, the car being at their disposal on the parking lot, they could be listening in. But could I be sure thse two were who they claimed to be? P: Do you want them knowing that you learned that stuff from me? At the end of the day, I will have to trust somebody and we wizards seem to be rare. I am valuable. That is under the assumption that you are even who you claim to be. Ulrike actually laughed. U: You have a healthy touch of scepticism. We can wait for breakfast tomorrow at least. Until then all I need to know is that your job is detecting monsters. P: NO! I had to set that straight. Them not understanding what I could and could not do would get us killed. P: Sorry, but this needs to be clear. If you think you have an early warning system against monsters and let your guard down this would be very bad. I cannot detect monsters. I have no idea whether that is possible at all. I detect the doors they use to come from their world to ours. That monsters are close by when a door is close by is just common sense. But the doors are temporary. I can detect them while they are forming and while they are open. But after they close they are gone and the monsters stay. D: Important clarification. Thank you. P: Second I need magic materials for detections. I am supposed to get them at the place we are heading for. For now I have only a magic gun with two shots and no reloads. U: You will fire it if and when we say so and only if we say so. P: Roger, man. I have no interest in shooting monsters. Their radios transmitted the convoy leader ordering a fuel stop at the next gas station and an exchange of drivers. It looked to become a long night. Vesperi destructionis I got a steady job. I am a glorified highway inspector. I dont mind. The job is genuinely important and I am saving lives. We are checking a highway and its environs for intrusions and, necessarily, by sheer driving at a certain speed, for monsters. Fast movements attract them. By the way, should somebody tell you that you can do the Jurassic Park thing and hold absolutely still and the monsters will lose interest they have been bullshitting you. Once youve attracted them they are on to you. If you are unlucky theyll even call in their friends. If you can run, run. If not stand and fight. Your chances are low, but you better fight while you are fresh. They dont tire in most cases, not by our standards. They are also keeping teams together. The nice thing about draftees in the governments mind is that you can forget about overtime rules. We are given a task and thats it. Ours was to patrol a highway to the Czech border. Nominally it was in a B zone. It was in a B zone because the highway itself was declared a B zone. You have to keep at least some of the trucks running. Dear Australians, you tend to live generally with the coast in walking distance. Other continents do not. We cannot substitute with shipping. We need to keep at least some roads open. That morning I got my first hit I got my consumables, mainly coins, right before dawn, like usually. You do not go out in the dark if you can help it. Many monsters can see in the dark. We cannot. That day we started out in our usual 4WD with an ultraheavy machine gun on a pintle. They dont really want a civillian handling a machine gun and I was not really trained in radio operations, but I have a driving license, so I drive that thing. If we had only done the trip along the road and stopped every few kilometres at a place with flat ground where I could do my ritual the task would have been easy. We even had a few freshly poured concrete squares on the shoulders of the road with the vegetation around them cleared with extreme thoroughness, property rights or environmental regulations be damned. But if you do that you wont catch those intrusions so close to the road that the monsters will just wander in. So we regularly left the road to either side creating a zig-middle-zag pattern along the route. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. It is embarrassing to admit it. We were in a middle spot of the pattern. I got a hit to the northwest, about 4km distant, one pathway, early stage. We radioed it in, got orders to continue and saw helicopters departing on the return leg. The first monster was on the back leg from the ruin of a farm house abandoned decades ago. We live in Central Europe. Our salamanders are tiny slender animals shaped like a lizard. That thing we hit was still slender for its length, which was around 4 meters with 10 pairs of legs. I inadvertedly ran over it as it was resting its well camouflaged form on the dirt road I was driving us on. It was severely wounded and apparently unable to pursue us. But Dejan gave it a good long burst from our machine gun. At that time we did not the monster recognition software, but the monster handbook was already available in electronic, easy to search form. Ulrike found it under ?greater camouflage newt. It is poisonous. We had no flat ground for me to make a good looting ritual. Ulrike did not need further input to pull her few weeks seniority to make a command decision that taking an enemy we must not touch into our vehicle was right out and spanning our tarpaulin on a dirt road with bushes close to the road was also right out. She elected to abandon the kill. Thus passed our first five days. On the sixth day our supply run had been delayed. As it arrived only in the early afternoon we were ordered to shift the run to the next day, when we would get a support vehicle with heavy weapons from the army. Ut anno millesimo nongentisimo nonagesimo nono essemus ita celebrabimus Ulrike and Dejan believe in team building. That includes fraternizing with military support when possible. Thus I have been strongly encouraged to not spend the evening online in my little screened off cubicle in the attic of the school partially seized to house our forces. Yes, the locals love us for that. My team mates are strangely affected by that. I do not care. I lost my faith in the common man about a decade ago. Our base has welcomed a military detachment. You may have the wrong impression about the size of our base. We have two dozen police, a radio operator and a car/firearms technician, a supply guy from some new federal office, whom I also get my supplies from, and us three wizards the convoy has dropped off here. My colleagues are not my cup of tea. The first, coral C can conjure a dozen translucent tentacles in shape of a ring around his head, which earned him the obvious nick name Count Tentacula C is an accountant. He is, well, the kind of man you would buy a used car from or give your keys to if you want your plants watered while you are on vacation, but like a conversationalist he does not seem. The other C stag, he can run as you expect from that C believes that the government has hidden aliens in Area 51 and the monsters are now coming to rescue their brothers. Yes, exactly like you are thinking now. The picture in your head is bound to be flattering. Sourcing your people from among nerds obsessive enough to learn lore from the appendix of the documentation of an online strategy game has drawbacks. To have a drink in a classroom increases the charm of beer in a plastic beaker. Have I mentioned that most environmental concerns are losing importance when monsters who want to eat you are out there? The radio plays 90s pop. Upbeat music on the radio is a sign of our times. Bleak times call for happy music. I drink cola like a pilot with a flight scheduled. People seem to be avoiding me. That is, my teammates notice; I expect to be. I dont know these people. I am neither police nor military. Why would soldiers I have never met want to talk to me? Dejan is in a conversation with their commander. C: Your wizard seems a quiet guy. D: Two weeks ago he was still a programmer in a cubicle C: He is new? Not network? Dejan waves me in. That is turning interesting and creates a need to set the record straight. I was not in a cubicle. Dejan introduces me. P: Leutnant Mller, nice to meet you. LM(C): It is an unexpected type of encounter P: Am I your first wizard, or C to be precise C ritualist? LM: No, no, I joined the dimensional incursion troops almost a year ago. We just havent gotten the new caps. P: I am not sure I am following. Caps? Dimensional Incursion? LM: O sorry, I keep forgetting you are new to this. Our branch of the ground forces has been assigned its own cap color. New caps are just not that much of a priority right now D: Dimensional Incursion? LM: This classification makes no sense any longer. We supported the network fighters going through the dimensional doorways to fight the dimensional entities before the intrusions break through. U: Dimensional entities. LM: Monsters. Sorry we are still on the prerelevation terminology. Yes, we have been fighting monsters. To be honest we mostly shelter the ritualists, but in the worst cases we fought. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. He has increased his charm level. Dejan in a demonstration of how things are puts his arm around Ulrike, his hand coming to rest on her hip. The man shows excellent control of his facial features. LM: That really cost us a lot of special ammunition. P: Special ammunition. LM: O yes. Havent you gotten the memo? We are going to upgrade, upgun and equip this post with some special ammunition tomorrow. I guess international routes make even a minor base important. D: That is good news LM: Sure this is our units first conventional monster sweep, but we can spare one vehicle to escort you. U: Can you tell us why our encounter also involved a newt? Most stories you hear on the base involve those animals. P: My first was not a headless horseman, but a headless horse with a trunk and a circular toothy maw where the neck should have been. If you are swimming you really cant turn to the side. You can turn back, but if you are a lazy monster you just drift downstream. D: So the flowing water gives them a boost. That makes sense. And even more so given todays heat. Id stay in the water. LM: Yes. In addition walkers and flyers move far more slowly because they have a free choice of direction at all times. The ground does not pull you along like water does. Our new software now corrects for that. D: Figures. At least the weather should become cooler tomorrow. Thunderstorms on forecast. P: This is just Great. did you notice that my usual ritual circles are made out of salt? Switching to sand wont help in a downpour. Can you requisition spray paint and solvent? U: That is a great point. Ill put in the request right now. The base commander is quite sharp but this stuff is pretty new. P: I am still concerned about delays. Correcting sprayed stuff takes longer and if I compensate with more coins well get in trouble. U: If worst comes to worst we can stay overnight at the border. Ill advise our boss of the possibility. LM: Absolutely. We are not equipped or train to operate at night. -- Getting upgrades and departing at dawn means getting out of bed at a monstrous, sorry, ungodly hour. Anyway I am now equipped with an impressive magic knife and our vehicle has three G3 rifles and a full clip of special ammunition for each plus quite some conventional ammunition. My team mates are not ecstatic about the third of each and thinking of my fellow wizards I kind of get it, but I dont care. U: Are we also getting special ammunition for the M2? LM: Sorry, too expensive. But I can offer you a new battle pad with the new software suite. Photographic entity recognition and tactical modelling with the newest wind and water updates? D: Only one. Sorry. But at least youll get the newest software now. You still need to trigger updates manually. You really dont want these things to upgrade while you are in the field. But you get them as soon as the regular military forces get them. U: The solvent took some work. It should be here in half an hour. Well also get a fire extinguisher. The stuff is flammable. LM: We can live with a small delay. Those military guys have a grenade launcher on their vehicle. How cool would it be if I could conjure such a thing? Alas, no. We head out. I even detect an incipient intrusion at extreme range away from the highway in the direction of our excursion. They tell us to ignore it. The soldiers really, really like getting good food when we use our cards exempting us from rationing on the other side of the border. We are really careful to display a lot of NATO signs, though. No need to cause an international incident. On the return leg also nothing. What did you think? If you take special preparations nothing will happen. We are to head out again on the next day on our own. Nunc in exercito estis We were to head out again on the next day on our own. What was the last time something went according to schedule. Well, yesterday, but such things dont last. A soldier stomps through the attic. ? Get up, be ready to move out in ten minutes, this is an emergency! My team mates still beat me to our vehicle. I am starting to wonder what kind of police they were. They do not seem like detectives. Protective services maybe? P: What is happening? D: How are we supposed to know? You are the wizard. Cast divination! We should really get a DnD round together and have the wizards play barbarians. And this man does not deal well with being awoken in the middle of the night. ? ANY CREW NOT FULLY EQUIPPED RAISE THE ALARM IMMEDIATELY! WE ARE MOVING OUT BY SQUADS. POLICE TEAMS AT THE REAR! If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Leutnant Mllers boss has a bullhorn. I am starting to get why the locals, especially the immediate neighbors love us so much. P: I am fully equipped. And I barely manage to stop myself from displaying my newly assigned machine pistol. That would trigger yet another stern lecture on firearm safety, but regulations are regulations. To conserve special ammunition anybody assigned an automatic weapon to fire special ammunition must have a machine pistol loaded with conventional ammunition. Our battle pad reports an incoming message with a distinct ?ding. We are living in the 21st century. Military briefings are coming via messaging service. It is our turn to follow the lead vehicle. We are going northeast, which is not our standard route. Ulrike is driving, while Dejan is making sense of the message. D: The local ritual has detected an intrusion within range of the town. We still have about 36 hours but as the military is already here it was decided to handle this with the forces available locally, if the first reconnaisance will show it to be within our capabilities. Two strike and recon teams are under way by helicopter. The military is on reserve and we are to be the looting team with all wizard and how many people, if any, they are sending by helicopter. We have reached a country road and are accelerating U: Does this worry you? So many intrusions and they are already resorting to forces not having trained together. D: You are assuming that the intrusions are happening with a random distribution. Not having gone far, we reach a field and circle the vehicles. It bears no crops, or we wouldnt have used it. We need good visibilty especially at night. I get to stand at the triggers of an M2, barrel dutifully pointed outward, while I see nothing. Meanwhile our conspiracy nut has been selected to do the short range ritual to detect the exact position of the doorway. It does not matter if you suck at that. At so short a distance a ritual involving the door needs no coins. We are waiting for the helicopters, one of the soldiers wielding glowing sticks is waiting in the middle of the field. Interlude IV - The Politicians Minutes of the fourth emergency cabinet meeting C redacted down to status reports points of contentions and decisions Classified: Confidential Transport: Losses of busses are as projected. Evacuations are also going on in the rates as planned. However, not in the geographic distribution that was predicted. They are clustered in terms of geographical distribution to a degree far in excess of predictions. Thus my people need to shift busses around to a much higher degree than predicted. For the railways we are seeing a similar effect, but here we are helped by damage being more concentrated. We need to close down fewer routes and have fewer detours. The ban on any non commercial aviation and private flights is keeping our air space clean, but it does not matter much one way or the other. Motion: Keep the ban on flights C passed against 1 objection Motion: Raises speed limits for busses to 130 km/h C passed against 3 objections Motion: Drop the requirement for first aid course for bus drivers and allow anybody with a class BE to drive busses C passed against 2 objections Motion: raise penalties for acting against orders in a convoy to 3 years of prison C passed against 3 objections Interior: We are also seeing that refusals to evacuate are a lot more granular and variable than predictions. Basically we are seeing whole villages and small towns refuse until they have a monster attack in broad daylight and then they all want to be evacuated right now Motion: Make looting a crime sui generis with a 10 year minimum penalty C passed against 5 objections Health: We are seeing a whole plethora of new toxic monster causing hard to treat injuries. Some of these toxins turn out to be psychoactive. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Motion: Allow medical students of the last year to act as doctors C passed without objections Motion: Allowing toxicologists with an academic background to operate as medical professionals in some regards C passed against 3 objects Motion: Erect special closed secure hospitals for those afflicted with toxins that make them unsound of mind C passed against 4 objections Motion: allow for the quarantine of villages in which monsters with known dangerous toxins were fought C rejected with 1 more opponents than proponents Motion: make vaccinations against communicable diseases as usually recommend mandatory for use of facilities for evacuees C passed against 5 objections Economy: More and more varied instances of hoarding than predicted. We are also seeing the continued loss of wind power facilities at the upper edge of projections. We are also seeing a lot of monsters in the major rivers. Motion: allow local authorities to impose per person limits even for goods not under rationing with a penalty of 1 year of imprisonment C passed against 3 objections Motion: Reactivate all mothballed nuclear power plants and scrap plans to deactivate plants C passed against 5 objections Motion: In case of future load shedding first target areas under evacuation orders - passed after a deadlock with the chancellors deciding vote Motion: Use the navy to monitor major rivers and canals and give priority to ship repairs and vouch for repair out of public funds - passed without objection Chancellor: During this meeting I have come to the conclusions that the ministers of justice and the environment are systematically opposed to this governments course of action during this existential crisis. Do you have anything to say. Justice: I am not ready to swipe away the fruits of decades of progress within days. We discussed this often enough. Vice Chancellor: This is not the time for yet another source of chaos. Chancellor: I appreciate that. But Id rather have a brief period of further trouble now than endlessly drawn out obstruction. I am expecting your letters of resignation by tomorrow morning. Putato se nave in flumine esse We are standing in front of the shimmering, still blocked doorway. I am correcting the circle. Tentacula is assisting by strewing lesser core dust where I am telling him. I ought to feel nervous having two of the Networks field officers standing right behind me. Yet I operate in professional calm. My assistant announces the obvious: ?We are ready to put the consumables where they belong.. The lower ranking of the two carefully positions silver cups with the prepackaged consumables into the exactly right places. ?How many extras? he asked. We have been working for almost 50 minutes. ?Four category 1 in each corner of the secondary pentagram. He shows a bit of incredulity, checks the colors himself and then puts the coins again exactly where they belong. Tentacula has a talent to state the obvious. ?You have witnessed this often. Not that I disagree or am not prone to state the obvious. I just have my mouth full chanting the incantation. The gateway opens and his statement remains without a response. The commander repeats his instructions once more: ?Reinhard and I will enter first. If none of us are back within ten minutes, call HQ, declare an emergency and wait for orders. Once well have given the OK, the strike teams, then 1 minute later the military men, after 5 minutes the ritualists and their guardians. He hands a bag to the boss of our base, nods and leaves this world. My nerves return. I do not like waiting for danger. -- With a knife on my left hip, a first aid kit strapped to my left leg, a magical pistol in a shoulder holster, a G3 on my back and a machine pistol in my right hand I feel like a classical bandido from old movies as I take my first step to other spheres. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Cars wont fit through, so we are infantry now. So much for being a civillian conscript. A group of unfortunates tasked with toting an M2 has reached the crest of the small hill behind us. The rest of the soldiers are busy emplacing devices and digging holes. We wizards are ourselves transporting a stack of euro-pallets respectively bags of salt, a bucket full of water and a rucksack with miscellaneous equipment. The teams in advance of us has been busy. We are facing a pile with quite close to a dozen perforated or crushed rodents and a dead bird. Besides the hill directly behind us, the terrain is fairly flat. Unfortunately we are denied the full benefits of that, as the air is dusty enough to impair long range vision. The ground is unremarkably covered with shrubs and gras. Quite beautiful actually with hundreds of small wildflowers in the vincinity. ?Sergeant, get some men in a place to watch over the nearest gullies. Schmidt, check the radio to the machine gunners. One more lookout up that hill. Leutenant, do not put all your men onto a perimeter. Some need to look inwards lest we get burrowers. The Network has left us one fighter who shows no reluctance to give orders. For the duration of this operation with multiple wizards operating together we have been assigned a chain of command. It is by lot number in ascending orders. I have no idea whether our base commander knew that that would put me in charge. In case he knew what he was doing, I better look competent: ? Prepare a circle for looting of lesser monsters around those pseudo-rats, but dont set it off yet. I checked my phone ? We can wait for half an hour just in case we get more. We can afford to take our time to get it right and doing this in batch mode by species is most efficient. I do not want anybody to handle dead monsters more than necessary. You never know. Half an hour is enough time to get a circle around them going. I myself arrange pallets next to each other and cover them with nicely stretched plastic to get a big level surface should we get a bigger monster to loot. The soldiers had strapped a wheelbarrow to their vehicle. I think I have figured out why. A shot rings out. One more monster gopher for the pile. I am in another dimension under threat of monster gophers. I shake my head. And check that my machine pistol is easy to draw. In ardore momenti This is boring. We have looted four full monsters and about two dozen lesser monsters by now. The camp has seen one attack. The bird who looked like some raptorial bird with metallic talons and beak has yielded a core and some affinity gems. Ulrike and Dejan turn to me as I approach them. P: Are we doing something wrong? Is it transport? Should we advance? D: We stay right where we are without orders. The Network fighter has good ears to overhear us at that distance. NF: It is not your fault, baby wizard. You are not qualified to loot category 2 entities, yet this is a category 2 space. Most serious threats are category 2. Reinhard and Rademacher have cleared the category 1s only to create a safe zone. If we didnt need somebody to open the aperture, you wouldnt be here. Your inclusion for looting is an act of opportunism. A little loot is better than no loot. Now go back to your circles. The machine gun on the hill opens up. I am about to tell my people to delay start triggering the circle for the last rodents the military has brought in. They are turning shooting lesser monsters into a competitive sport. My fellow wizards are already at full sprint, which for one of them is up to olympic standards. I realize that the machine gun is firing towards us, as their target changes its destination to me. Something like the result of an unholy union between a rat and a gorilla is running towards me. Please let me correct a fundamental misunderstanding here. Cautious and timid people are not cowards. A reluctance to take even small risks may or may not mean that people fail under fire. Potential danger and present danger are not the same thing. Youd need to beat me senseless to get me to go bungee jumping or onto a roller-coaster. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.I empty a full clip of my machine pistol into his head. Thirty bullets. If you have my racial ability and fire while standing still and at a target that does not understand the need to evade a firearm, your bullets will impact a fairly small area. I have dug a hole in its head. I would have expected to blow it away. It seems that monsters are magically tough. I just stand there with a blank face and switch magazines of my weapon. Dejan put his arm around my shoulders. D: Are you all right? NF: The baby wizard has claws. Just leave him alone for a few minutes. People like him go numb after great stress. I can sense it. His tone is slightly amused. We have hit jackpot with rat monster. It has yielded a core and a cube pulsing with white light alternating with full blackness in geometric patterns slowly crawling over its surface. NF: That is a Might Essence. It is pretty characteristic. U: This could make our soldiers much stronger. NF: It could. We have an agreement however. This goes to the Network. I can understand that you want it. In your place Id want it, too. But the times, they are achanging. Nobody knows how this is going to play out. The base commander is shaking his head slowly. I think Ulrikes lips are thinner than usual. She remains silent. This is exactly the worst moment for Reinhard and Rademacher to appear out of nowhere. Literally appear, as in the place they are standing in was empty and without transition they are standing in it. It is satisfying to see that many of our police men and women are not quite as tough as they like to claim. Reinhard proclaimed: ?Weve killed the anchor. Pack up, loot the leftover and we get out of here. His gaze resting on the essence cube he makes a vaguely inquisitive sound. Rademacher said: Well risk it. The reward is too good. We need a volunteer for looting a category 2. Who is the best ritualist of you three? There are times Id be perfectly happy to be underappreciated. Gravis non est, cum frater est I want a teleport power. I am still breathing very deeply. But I want it. This is magic at its quintessential. I am also on the ground. No, I am not that much affected. They left the ground full of blood and gore. I slipped and fell on my ass. And I have done some damage to an ankle. I am sitting in front of a dead mammoth. That is if an furry animal twice as high as myself with four spiky globes mounting on stalks replacing the four tusks you see on some prehistoric relatives of elephants. The spikes also stud a lot of the ground. Ive been lucky. Rademacher helps me up. ?Try your best.. He gave me a bag of sand. ?There is more if you need it. This space will be stable for a considerable time, but our forces are thin on the ground. We are even not clearing out this space.. That means less to me than it should mean to a Network ritualist I am afraid. I go to work. And I fail. Reinhard: This way well lose. These untrained people are a waste. We need to consolidate. I am miffed. I did my best. Rademacher: I saw too much of this the last time. Did he really casually refer to the Second World War? His speech sounds a little odd for somebody who looks around 50, but that would make him They both look at me at the same time. Reinhard: You can just as well tell him your birthdate. They are going to figure out anyway. Rademacher: Very well, 5.11.1918 C Get a full set of essences and such things become possible, not easy but possible. You tried hard. If and when this is over, the Network might be recruiting. I hesitate, but those people are bound to have seen it all I cannot hide too much from them. P: I wont pretend to understand everything, but it looks to me like there is a latent conflict between the government and the Network. Rademacher: You hesitated. That is good. We need thinking people. This is now. Governments change. I can tell you that. We had to maintain secrecy. The world is much bigger This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. I can see only a blurred action as he spins around to face the hairy giant exploding out of the ground behind him while casting aside a bloody blanket and screaming something unintelligible. Out of the corner of my eye I see a red flash. Reinhard is slowly collapsing to his knees as a javelin of coagulated blood sticks out of his chest. The sheer force of the impact has thrown him a few meters forward and to the side. A second giant is hurling himself through the air in pursuit. A dome of yellow light appears around Reinhard leaving the giant to use his fist and whips of blood forming from small wounds to pound on the defensive structure. How long would it hold? If either of them goes down, I am dead. These monster cannot be stopped by my rifle. I am sure of that. But do I need to stop them? ? Hey monster. Weve gotten your friend! A look of wrath overcame his face as he stares at me. He has actually understood. But he does not understand the little thing looking like a stick in my hands. Two shots, two eyes. I cannot kill him, but taking his sight will do the job for now. Adding a change of position to hide behind one of the hairy legs of the slain elephant-monster seems like a good idea. Rademacher turns into the worlds most unattractive valkyrie as he jumps about twenty meters with a spear of light in his hands to save his comrade in arms. They have magical healing potions. Why would I not expect that? Rademacher has defeated his enemy with only superficial cuts. Rademacher: I do not know how they hid from me. We cannot risk leaving them here. I think we got the anchor, but if they hid themselves the whole time the detector may have been fooled and now they are dead. That is dead for now. P: Why are you telling me this and what do you mean by ?dead for now Rademacher: They are trolls. They will resurrect. We either burn them or loot them. I am giving you a second chance. Do you want to try it. Ive tried again. And Ive gotten two awakening stones from them. I get better when the worst has already happened. Rademacher slings Reinhard over his shoulder. Rademacher: I will need reinforcement. I am going to give your base commander instructions on how to radio in a report and I will remain here while you evacuated. He presses one of the stones into my hand. ?Reinhard is my nephew. Arma occulte in Hispaniam feruntur I am tired. Young people are terrible. Old folks like Reinhard, they do as they promise and have your gun reloaded and just leave it quietly with the supply guy so that you are left in peace and quiet until you pick it up in the morning. Those two are holding plastic cups of coffee and look tired, but insist on talking to each other. P: I have to buy a lawn. Odd looks. Are they thinking I am developing PTSD or something? P: So that I can chase youngsters like you off it and yell at them to get off my lawn. They know the joke and groan. Anyway, today I am nominally operating the radio. Neither of them was OK with an overtired man behind the steering wheel or at the trigger of an M2. Sleep is unattainable. And some things need to get out. P: What kind of police were you before the announcement? D: Railway police. Both of us. You know, my mother fled out of a war zone, so I always wanted to help people. U: Steady pay, secure position and detective work feels like snitching a bit. P: You know the discussion we always put off because something else was more urgent, the monster I shot last night was not an animal. It talked and understood what I said. D: Do you need some kind of psychological help? I guess we can find one in town. Getting a wizard on leave is almost impossible as things are. P: I am aware of that. And thank you for the consideration. I am fine, as far as I can tell. I can deal with emergencies just fine, I am just not an adrenaline junky. I do not have the thrill some people get from risk. Neither am I able to ignore danger, just because it becomes old news. U: That last bit is kind of hard to deal with. The first bit is very much appreciated in a man behind a heavy machine gun. People like that usually dont last in police service. And we can hardly treat you like a civillian to be soothed. P: Thats it. Are we soldiers? I know what I saw. We are fighting aliens, well maybe aliens from another dimension rather than space aliens. In fact they are almost surely from another dimension. What we saw this night was a real mammoth steppe like the terrain here was twenty thousand years ago, as U: Can we maybe, you know, stay on topic? Though if you did that to get rid of listening devices, congratulations, somebodys brain just liquified. D: What difference do aliens make? The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.P: If we are fighting a war and those Network people are keeping weapons and information from the regular army, arent they traitors? D: That is a word you rarely hear anymore. This nationality thing. You know I have an obvious issue with it. P: Can you betray mankind? U: So what? War has been declared. We are here. We have a job that needs doing. What does it matter? P: Doesnt it bother you, as a member of a police force? U: I am a policewoman, not a judge. Lets face it. I am here voluntarily. I could just botch a few rituals and I would be out. There might be consequences, but I would be out of here. They might even send me home with an admonishment to keep my mouth shut. Two weeks ago I would have taken the deal. I cannot complain about people just following orders. D: What do you really want to say? P: The government C any government for that matter - cannot be happy to have to depend on the Network for defense during a war. What if it comes to blows? U: Men. Nerds. They wont fight during a war precisely because it is a war and afterwards youll know more. Until then keep us warned and alive. P: Ok, ok, ok. But answer me one question. If I am that important, why are you two my only guards and you are permanently assigned to me? D: That is a good question. We are officially for payroll purposes somewhere else, actually. You mean that there is a third party you are hidden from? -- Tired wizards use up a few coins more and work slower. We have arrived at the border with considerable delay. So I screwed seclusion and went on to the main open square in front of the highway stop we have been using as a base. My Czech counterpart was just finishing the ritual. We had indeed skipped one slot of the reporting schedule. P: Sorry Ji?i, a rough night, we got delayed. J: Uncharacteristic of you. No, everything is fine. You had radioed in. Sometimes you got to do what you got to do. In my case that means hitting the road. Bye! You got to do what you got to do. I stand in front of the restaurant and close my eyes in weariness. People are making an effort to get their children to pass me at a larger distance. Usually I would have laughed. Today I was too tired. They are acting sort of in a way you can understand. I am armed to the teeth. I do not give a shit anymore. I report my detection ritual as ?performed C clear on the tablet, leave for the secluded part of parking space and set up an awakening ritual with the coins intended for the detection ritual I have skipped. The stone is the dark red of blood. It turns liquid and covers me from my hand to my shoulder and extends halfway across my chest and back. And then it leaves without a residue. I listen into myself. It calls on me to get a gun ready. I unholster my MP a bit. It feels like I can drink destruction. Like the blood of my victims would refresh me. That is not near the top of the list of most desirable outcomes. Flumen a quo nemo redit TWO DAYS LATER ?Our nutcase is down wounded. I need you to do the two of his stops closest to the town when you come back tomorrow evening to make sure the town itself stays secure. Ulrike does not like it, but the town must be kept secure. ?What happened? - ?Some kamikaze bird plunged down from the sky. Trivial to kill once it was down, but hard to spot at a distance. Nothing serious but he needed to get a few stitches. He needs a day of rest. Ill have his team mount a twin gun and have them accompany you with one of our men usually running escorts added. D: Care to join us for some food? P: Sure. Dont you have enough of me after a full day on the road? U: It will not take that long. P: Very well. Wait, how ... U: Seriously, this may mean that our days here are numbered. D: With fewer than three ritualists this base makes no sense. The town itself does not justify spending the coins it takes to keep it secure. It allows for keeping important roads open at an acceptable cost keeping them free of intrusions. There is a point sending heavily armed convoys fighting off the monsters is the better solution. P: So we are only here because they did not trust us enough to risk more central stuff to us. U: Yes, we need to know that youll not do something stupid during an evacuation. We have been told that there will be an announcement tomorrow and that it may lead to internal strife in the police force and military.. P: And I was speculating about that. I see. No you were actually right. I dont know enough and I need to learn more from competent people. I am not a revolutionary at heart. Ill do as I am told. -- Weve returned from an uneventful trip to the border. Nobody of us likes heading out again. But we like getting surprised by an intrusion even less. GPS is an extremely useful thing if you need to find remote sites you have never been at. It does not help against blocked roads though. Especially not if the blockage is a medium sized car blocking both lanes. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. We find ourselves at a bridge over a creek on a narrow road. A car is blocking the narrow exit of the bridge, standing at a right angle on the road. D: This is almost too perfect to be anything but a trap. We need to tow that car. P: There are bushes and trees almost up to the road on the right side of the road. That creek is in pretty deep a ditch. A lot of things could be down there, where we cannot see them. If we send anybody along this road our machine guns would be firing at our own people if anything bad happens at that car. I am no soldier but this looks like a bad idea. This is a trap. Ulrike radios the other car to order them to scan behind us and to the sides in case the accident was intended to be a distraction. U: What do you want to do? Detour? Open fire at a civillian car with victims of an accident potentially still in it? We can put a vehicle into the field on the left of the road. They are 4WD and should be able to cope with that. That way we get at least a clear line of fire at the car and at the creek from the road. D: We could fire warning shots into the creek and the wooded area. I take out a spyglass to have a closer look P: The interior of the car is full of blood. U: We are still police. We have to help. Put the cars into field to the right, so that we have a free field of fire for the M2s. Dejan did exactly that for our car. Ulrike did not like me being on the trigger, but she needed to be on the radio and would not risk the guy without training in driving off road to get our vehicle stuck at the most dangerous moment. She was on the radio. U: They other car has volunteers. Two of them want to approach it on foot. Better them than me. Tacite curritur Ulrike is busy giving instructions on the radio ?Fischer, Kr?mer you two approach the car. You are coming in at an angle. Stay on the road. Take care not to get into our field of fire. Seidel, your M2 has to cover the creek. If something comes out of that ditch, blast it away. Do not wait for orders to open fire. Peterson, you stay behind the steering wheel, whatever happens, and everybody watch out. Do not deviate from your watch sectors. This can be a trap in the sense that well be attacked from behind. If this is a trap, well abandon the civillian car and the second ritual. Yeah, by that logic we should have somebody listening on the ground for burrowing enemies. And our car should not have gotten off the road, lest we hit mines hidden in a place people would have a reason to get off the road. And the enemy sort of has divided our force with us in the field for a better angle of fire and the other car having reversed staying on the road. But we are committed and I am a worrier without the boldness needed for command. My special gun sense has kicked in and I can sense where I am aiming and with which spread the bullets would land if I stay on the trigger. Still nothing from my new ability from the stone, apart from a desire that I press the trigger, which could just as well be nervousness. We have decided against shooting up the woods. We are not sure whether monsters will react like animals. We might actually attract them if we start firing. They would certainly notice. A machine gun is loud. We are wearing ear protection with intercom sockets patching us into the radio. They are approaching the car on the passenger side. As far as I can tell our men are keeping at the correct distance to support each other, but not to be taken out in one stroke. But then I am not a soldier. A report comes in over the radio. I cannot tell whom from: ?The windshield has a clean hole on the drivers side. The amount of red painting the interior suggests that the object causing it continued its journey through the drivers head.. I scan the car for any sign of a trap, again. The cop opens the door. No explosion. Instead he yells as if strangeled and jumps back. What to shoot at? He vomits. His partner has a stronger stomach ?A dead child. Appears to be male, about three years of age. Obviously beyond medical help. His gun loaded with special bullets droops. That moment a monster chooses to demonstrate to us that vomiting can save your life. Something spears through the car and has caught him, bending down as he empties his stomach, right through a shoulder instead of square through the chest. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.His partner throws himself to the side. The correct side, away from my field of fire. Instinct? Fear? A desire to get a view behind the car? I hesitate. The monster or, worse - potentially multiple monsters, is behind the car. I cannot see it or them. U: ?Just shoot, damn you. Your bullets will go through the car. Seidel has opened fire on the creek. He is interpreting his instructions offensively. I held down the trigger. The blue rod piercing Kr?mer is bending and extending, shoving him towards my line of fire. Something is taking the usage of human shields extremely literally. Fischer has recovered and apparently gotten so far to the right that he can see what I am supposed to be shooting at. He raises his G3 and starts shooting. Single fire. That man is cool under stress. His third shot actually hits. My new ability reacts I get somehing like an injection of raw power. Is that how narcotics feel? I have to cease firing lest I perforate Kr?mer beyond hope. Fischer hits again. The power feels like evaporating out of my body. Inacceptable. Something precious is wasted. The only time I had felt a worse loss was staring down the road at the departing limousine the undertakers were in. The machine gun has become useless. ?Ulrike, man the gun. I take my MP and my battle rifle and jump off the car. Fischers sixth shot as opposed to the fifth hits. I can run without a need to breathe heavier than normal at a speed I would be able to sustain only for a second, if at all. Seidel is ceasing fire from his machine gun. I am so close to the creek that I can see behind the car. There is a large frog on duck legs. The blue rod is its tongue. Seidel is squeezing off aimed shots from his rifle. Is he shooting the tongue on the other side of the car? If so, he is a sharpshooter. That frog has waited too long. Fischer jumps to the side again, as I lift my guns. That guy should be named Jumper. I go to full auto on both weapons. The frog has had enough. The tongue is retracting like pulled in by a powerful spring. And then for some reason it jumps onto the car, its simple mind probably figuring that if both sides are hurting it, it should get away from both sides. Fischer empties his magazine. That does it. Peterson has been backing up towards the wreck. Seidel jumps down. He and Fischer get the wounded man into the back of their 4WD. We flee. I briefly contemplated protesting that we are abandoning our kill, but we have no idea whether that frog had friends now on the way to express their displeasure. We arrive at base after a few very odd looks directed at me to the spectacle of a crowd of protestors shouting slogan. ? Wizards go home! ? Burn the witches! ? Our home is our home! ? We are not going anywhere! Nigrum id pingere volo Our guards clad in riot gear are creating a fast and secure access to our compound, while a helicopter with slowly turning blades is waiting for our wounded man. The walls and fences of the school are now proclaiming it a military security zone. D: What possessed you to play Captain America? P: I have gotten a new ability. Shooting things makes me strong. I had to fight. U: You are supposed to tell us such thngs! P: I didnt know. Nobody has given me the handbook on this. U: I see. I dont like it, but I see. Now, lets look what is happening here. We get a replay. Not that difficult. Every channel is full of it, even the international channels. ADDRESS OF THE CHANCELLOR TO THE NATION My dear fellow citizens, in this hour of need and suffering I have come to you to bring a message of hope tempered by a need to bear a heavy burden and to embrace unprecedented discipline. The whole world is coming together to build a united front against a novel aggressor. We have unshakable confidence that in a few months we will forge a shield against those horrors that will keep our country safe. In the mean time we are suffering losses of our critical infrastructure and untold economic damage. Protecting the lives of our fellow citizens must have the highest priority. Our forces as you all know do not allow us to protect the whole countrys area. Hence we are busy to create our fellow citizens in peril paths to safety and temporary shelters. To this end I am here to announce that from tomorrow on all exceptions on the seizure of hotels, second homes and schools are removed. Schools have been instructed to switch to remote operations over the internet or to close. This decision has not come lightly but our displaced fellow citizens need shelter. Furthermore we are facing the loss of decades of investment into our country. We will not let all this work be lost to crime and obstinance. Therefore I am announcing now that from tomorrow on, looting will be a crime to be punished by a minimum of ten years of imprisonment without any exceptions or the possibility of early release. In addition I am directing the armed forces to aid in the enforcement of this policy. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.And now I need to announce a grave infringement on your autonomy. Research has clearly shown that monsters are able by means yet unknown to sense human presence, ultimately being driven to a destructive frenzy by it. In light of this finding our policy of evacuating whole towns always aimed at two goals. First and foremost we are protecting the life and health of citizens. Secondly it is our goal to protect the livelihoods of millions of citizens in the long run by turning our habitations into features the monsters are not interested in. For that to work they must be empty. Hence I have ordered to cease the supply of electricity, gas and water to all evacuated areas. Telephone and internet services to the affected areas will be prohibited. Public services will cease to operate. We cannot let the obstinance of a minority doom the fruits of the toil of generations. This country can weather this crisis if it can come back to the old virtues of courage, solidarity and discipline. May the next occasion for me to address you bring better news. For a discussion of the ramifications of these news and reactions domestic and foreign we are switching to our studio in Berlin U: They are going to love us for that. -- The ritualists and their immediate teams do not draw night watches. This morning we are going out with four armed cars and two wizards to check the route to the border more quickly. The northern shorter road to the genuine zone B is left to our recovered wizard, also with a heavily armed escort. Our resupplies including a lot of riot gear, razor wire and weapons arrived by helicopter early in the morning. P: This is not effective. We spaced the rituals out in time to leave fewer gaps intrusions can happen undetected. We are burning through the supplies making errors due to haste for less effect. D: I do not think that this is of any permanence. Get ready to be transferred. It just will take time to evacuate this village if you want to leave it inhabitable and do it with no casualties. They have facilities for seniors who can hardly walk and freezers need to be emptied and people need time to pack and convoys need to be organized. Returning from an uneventful trip we find soldiers, busses and refrigerated trucks in our base. Interlude V - The Spies ELECTRONIC MAIL INTERCEPTED BY UNDISCLOSED MEANS, REDACTED Classification: confidential Hi little sister, I hope you are well and the parcel with the chocolate has reached you. Congratulate the little one on thinking about the old mail account. I hope they do not know about it. As far as anything else is considered I am well. They are paying me reasonably, the rent is covered and I eat on government expenses and wear government issue clothing. As far as the economics is concerned I think you should be long term optimistic. Anybody who owns land in a major urban area is a winner in this crisis. Even if the detection system goes up again tomorrow, the truth remains. What has happened once can happen again. I understand those protesters as far as their concerns are valid, but nobody can change them. The chancellor is right. They need to obey the evacuation orders. We cannot keep the roads open if every little small town is teeming with monsters. The real villains here is that shadow organization the government is cooperating with. They sat on magic for centuries and played ?nonintervention. The world is not Star Trek. Considering what they let happen (please do not use keywords they might latch on in your replies), to us and to the world, which, I know, we two are weighing differently, I cannot cut them any slack. I hate them. Truly, viscerally hate them. Picking nonintervention for yourself may be acceptable. Forcing that on the world is not. The blood of everybody they could have let us save is on their hands. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. We expect that well be transfered soon, so dont be alarmed if you hear nothing from me for some time. -- AN UNMARKED MEETING ROOM IN AN OFFICE BUILDING IN BERLIN Participants: Captain Carstens (armed forces), (ministry of the interior), (intelligence service) Classification: Secret O: Thank you for coming. Ive called this meeting because I hope we are ready to initiate the next phase of the project. S: We have multiple intercepts indicating that a large majority of the participants have understood the situation and a significant minority has evaluated it as we need it. C: We have one shot if we choose to spend the full resources O: This country burned the bridges behind itself last night. We cannot justify anything but going all in. C: But the consequences of failure. O: Captain, even a partial success, hell even some forms of failure, will strengthen the governments C meaning our countrys C hand in future negotiations. S: You are already thinking of folding? O: Those are your words. We have to keep our people alive. Even at some sacrifices of core ideals C: Very well, we all knew it could come to this when this mess initially landed in our inboxes. S: Will you handle one personally? C: Yes, recommendations? S: Sure ... O: Bye, the way, Major Carstens, you might take a little detour before going to your helicopter. C: My rank is ... . Thank you for the good news. Volare disco We are heading out with two additional escorts on our old route. But our mission profile has been altered. Our checks outside the main road had been reduced for the back leg. Wed meet a convoy on the border. Apparently the road was to be closed for the general traffic around noon. Even so we have to turn back about two thirds of the first leg. An intrusion, a strong one, is forming right on the road. This cannot be explained by pure chance anymore. There must be a cluster of intrusions in our district. P: You said that well be transfered. What makes you think well be transfered together? I would miss you people. D: Thank you. Frankly when we were accepted for this mission profile we were told that it would likely be permanent for the duration of this crisis. U: That is, if you do not try to imitate a Terminator again and buy a plot of land at the governments expense. P: Theyd bury me? U: Sure. With a little plaque about dedicated service. P: That is a sobering thought. Id like to avoid that. U: Good man. D: Good. I dont want to have to play riot police when the food riots come. P: That, in hindsight, raises a question. Why was nobody protesting the rationing yesterday? D: They are not yet affected. This is a small town. They filled their larders and freezers while it still was possible. P: I see. What about now? U: We will be used to secure the town and the evacuation routes. And then probably some other small town in a true B zone. P: How do you know we wont be sent into the A zone? D: Dude, if you were a politician and something got through there, would you rather be able to blame it on our spooky allies or explain to somebody that you decided to use a guy trained on video games and a week of formal training? We know you are the real stuff. They do not and, worse, cannot show it to anybody, even if they knew. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.P: Dude, do you have a degree in cynicism? D: Sure. Well, it is called applied psychology. Remote learning at the university My eyes get googly. D: Man, give up any hope of getting into police work. Anything with people actually. You are a good wizard. You might have made a decent soldier. At least you get basic tactics. But with people . I was bullshitting you. I need to find out whether there are rituals you can change the taste of somebodys breakfast with. -- Our early return gets us ordered to the helipad as a part of a welcoming party. Some major of the army has been announced to visit this base. The army detachment already brought one, who was also present, so this is odd. Helicopters are loud. And those straps on the police version of an army helmet do have their function. Yet as I am not required to salute or something as silly, my hands are free to hold it in the position it needs to be in to do its job. I know these people. Ex-captain, now major Carstens and my wizarding pal Thomas. -- Led into a meeting room, Major Carstens spoke to me. MC: I will come straight to the core of the matter. I am hear to offer you a promotion, well informally, I should rather say levelling up, if you excuse the terminology, you wont be any higher on the chain of command and an extention of your team. P: Well, thank you, but even I sense a condition. MC: Yes. You and the gentleman here are in a unique position to operate a new device we have obtained. P: New device? What does it do? Where does it come from? MC: Good questions. I will answer only one of them. I like this mans sense of humor. MC: It is sort of a detection ritual rendered into a device, but it needs a special ability to operate. I am not going to turn this down. In classe septem maria mundi videre potestis He has me. He knows that he has me. His lips in a half-smile tell the story. Are essence abilities addictive? Does he know more than I know? But then how can do a unique preternatural ability not be addictive? Is a swift addicted to flight? Ill try the honesty angle. P: You know that I want this. Are you seriously saying that you did not have this a few weeks ago? MC: That would be classified information. Nobody who knows the source of our magical weaponry leaves HQ. P: That makes sense. But I do have a team. Does his smile widen? Does he approve of team cohesion as a military man or does he think I am sentimental enough for him to be worth laughing about? I wish I could tell. MC: It is a rare device but without somebody of your abilities, it is useless. Still we are not going to give a rare and valuable weapon to a totally untested man. Even if you are the only one with your ability now, we could still give stones of awakening to other wizards. P: You have additional stones? MC: Yes, frankly I would like to establish a corps of magical soldiers, but the crisis is now and a better guard against future incidents is useless if the country goes under due to the current crisis. We will, however, expect you to sign a willingness to take part in military missions for the duration of this crisis. We are willing to give you a stone of awakening. P: Very well, I agree. MC: And one thing more. We will pair you with another participant of your training who can generate and recharge others with the power you use to operate essence abilities. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.P: That is a nice surprise. MC: Very well, then you all will be transferred to the navy. Your convoy taking you there will form tomorrow. -- Thomas has met me leaving the room Carstens has occupied as an office and we are going to meet my team. His has been put out of action by one of those frog/duck thing. I am told they have been officially named ?speartongued duckfrogs C very imaginative. P: People, this is Thomas my fellow wizard I always wanted to do an introduction like that T: Hi, let me introduce myself He knows how to do that. I hope that Ive gotten the message on why we are now assigned to a small fleet of river barges to run a new device for detecting intrusions in a field test. They did understand the concept of doing as one is ordered to, so I didnt get more than a few good-natured remarks about ?signing for the whole crew for a ship leaking like a sieve bound for Shanghai during typhoon season. -- Thomas has been ordered to do the rituals for both our stones. Are they thinking they are controlling me that way? Our do they know something I want nobody to know? Thomas is a toxic person. At least thats what his new ability says about him. He can poison melee weapons. Unfortunately, if you get close enough for a melee with a monster, you have already failed to use your firearm effectively. He seems resigned to being a supportive wizard. Ive hit jackpot. I can conjure multiple forms of a weapon up to an assault rifle. I try to play it down. His feelings must be hurt enough. I am supposed to get the device tomorrow after we will have put in our reports on our new abilities. After a short expedition to do a simple ritual as a team of four with Ulrike finally acting as a pure commander we have returned to write reports, pack our stuff and say goodbye to people. The sound of angry voices can be heared outside and the new alarm rings out. Luna mala oritur Our headquarter is surrounded. The governments decision to allow free ownership of weapons, as necessary as it is in a world full of monsters, is biting us in the rear. These people are bitter about being treated not quite as first rate citizens for decades. I dont care. I do not volunteer for collective therapy by whatever calibre their ammo be. An alarm means that I am officially supposed to be in full combat gear. At this point I do not care about de-escalation, whatever the police part of our crew may be trained to do. We fought and one of us was seriously wounded, to the point of medevac by helicopter and hours of surgery with a shoulder blade shattered, as we have heard. I do care about group cohesion though. So I am looking for my team members. Thomas may not remember where our vehicles is located. But the guy has a better memory than I feared. T: What now? U: We sit tight and wait for orders. And we watch. You cannot have too much information in a tactical situation. They are chanting slogans. ? Wizards go home ? Our homes are ours ? Traitors against their own people ? They have caused the monsters ? Monsters are a scam Consistency is not a strength of mobs. Our police component is out in riot gear. They do have body armor, but potentially people out there are carrying rifles. Demonstrators being armed is still illegal, but people confronting a military outpost cannot be relied upon as far as legality is concerned. Major Carstens is forming up a detachment of his people with an armored car featuring a true 25mm cannon in the lead. If he really wants to use this to break out of here, the victims will number in the dozens. So far they are only in ready formation, hidden from outside view. It seems like he does not want to do this but is ready to, should the need arise. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. This has been going on for another tense half an hour. Major Carstens deigns to inform our commander. MC: We have a piece of technology here that must not fall into the wrong hands or damaged. D: We are police officers. MC: I know. That is why I am giving orders now and you will be silent and listen to orders. U: Let him speak. MC: This piece of technology must not fall into the hands of some rabble rousers. That means that I cannot allow them to enter the compound while the device is still here. Depending on the circumstances, that is, if they make a serious push, we may either not be able to resolve the situation with minimal force or we need to evacuate the device. We are preparing for all options. U: I must protest. MC: Again, that does you credit, but I do not care. This is war time. If you get the order, you join the convoy and the protection of your wizards is your priority. Her face is a work of art. U: Yes, sir. A shot rings out. To this day I have no idea who fired. Nor do I think anybody knows. A second shot falls. This time one of our soldiers is hit. Whether his body armor has prevented the worst outcome is unclear to me. Our military contingent is firing a salvo of warning shots. The mob is in paniked retreat. That could have been it. An incident with minimal casualities. Some idiots are hurling moltov cocktails. A person has caught fire and is being extinguished. Members of the military, whose orders I have no idea about possibly Carstens people are firing for effect. Somebody is firing back. Our base commander is not in a mood to lose people to a mob. The incident ends with a soldier and a policeman being medevaced, one with multiple broken ribs, the other with some minor burns. The news were to report that six victims under the demonstrators were found. MC: I cannot have our technology and the wizards delayed by some investigation. Evacuate now! We are leaving into the night. Via longa et curvis We are running at night. I havent been informed for how long or how far well run tonight, though I have been informed that the government is transporting my car to my home town by truck. We do not have the coins to check for intrusions, not that it matters at this speed. Our leutenant must be under orders to win some distance. The road is fairly wide, but a monster with any kind of camouflage will be invisible unless it wanders right onto the road. They actually do just that. Two headless sheep with a single large eyestalk crowned by a ring of eyes and ears above them, where the head is supposed to be, bearing a ring of tentacles on their rump are standing on the road. Our convoy does not immediately open fire. We are using a place with a relatively broad hard shoulder to get two heavy machine guns on armored cars and a cannon to bear on them, also blocking the road sheltering our truck and the unarmed armored vehicle. I have no idea why we are using a truck to carry extra infantry. We in the 4WD again branch out into the fields, bringing our heavy machine guns to bear as well as guarding the flanks. Nobody tells me anything except to watch the flanks. Thomas is manning our machine gun, as I can conjure my own weapon, which should be more effective. It seems like our convoy commander is not eager to open hostilities. I really approve. But I also see that we cannot wait here all night long. U: Hold your fire. I just got orders. Our mission is not to eliminate random monsters. If necessary, fire at the large monster. The cannon will deal with the smaller one. T: Understood P: Understood The monsters are charging us taking that decision out of our hands. A conjured magic gun whose ammunition is also conjured and not producing the fumes a firearm would produce still produces a muzzle flash. Magic is odd. I am using both my third and second ability. The feeling is very different from the one time I used it in anger and totally different from using it in a shooting range. With fake targets it just does nothing. Instead of feeling like I am pushing a hard wooden stick into earth it is like I am putting something a fair bit softer into something durable. I have gone full auto and it takes several seconds before I get that rush of mana being fed into me. Even so it is diminished. I am getting as little as makes no difference from the rifles our infantrists are firing. The machine guns do make a difference though. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.The smaller monster is taking damage. It is bleeding from multiple wounds and its stalk is swaying like a palm tree in a typhoon. But it keeps coming. An ordinary sheep hit by 25mm shells just blows apart in a shower of gore. Those of our men equipped with magical ammo have switched to it. The bigger sheep is attempting to zig-zag, as the bullets keep affecting it like a log getting glancing blows from an axe just without the sound. Shallow gauges are opening in its sides, visible as tracer rounds have lit its fur removing it in some sections. That should also not happen. I still sense my reserves going down. I sneak a long burst on the small sheep in. That does the job also getting me mana from it as it walks into cannon fire. I can keep firing. The small sheep does not quite make it to the armored fighting vehicle before it collapses. They are reaiming the turret, but it is too late. The surviving monster rams into the vehicle and tentacles immobilize the turret gripping the gun barrel. There is a hissing sound, but a normal creature should be scorched and forced to release the barrel. Its other tentacles are searching for anything to grab. The soldiers among us keep firing their bullets on the monster. It is hooting like a demented owl. Shortly after ripping off a tire, flinging it away and embedding it in the windscreen of a 4WD it finally dies. -- We have two police officers in the front seats of the 4WD severly wounded with lacerations and a concussion. Our medics are at work. About three quarters of our magic ammunition is gone. The armored fighting vehicle has lost its cannon with the barrel warped to a visible degree. Though it seems it still can drive with an axle disabled. This convoy is done for. Leutnant J?ger, our commanding officer gives an order to circle the vehicles still mobile. That man is a realist and his tactics basically worked. He is approaching our car. Rota in caelo Those flares are really bright.Keeping our position secret has become a lost cause anyway. Leutnant J?ger is approaching our car. LJ: I am not ready to let this convoy advance any further. I fact I need to know more about the tactical situation. In particular I need to know whether more monsters are arriving. T: We can do a detection ritual LJ: Yes, you can. But, how many consumables do you have? T: For about seven rituals. LJ: That is not enough. No, we, that is, you are going to try out that mysterious device. Thomas and I are being led to our armored transport car. The device looks like a big ball, a bit bigger than a baseball, its lower quarter made out of copper, a thin strip of black stone-like material dividing it from the transparent rest with a shimmering crystal spike on the very top. Attached to it by a lug on the bottom taking away a lot of the air of an eldritch manifestation of otherworldly power is a conventional tripod for video cameras. Somebody had helpfully used paint to indicate shapes of hands on the metal shell. I put my hands there and feel connected. Not in the intimate sense, but rather like playing Tetris. The pieces fit. I let the power flow and am rewarded with understanding. This is an extension not of my body but of my mind. And it tells me to open my new eye. I can see some kind of screen vibrating like a piece of metal having been hit with a pebble and a hole already scaring over nearby. This information wants to be free. I make the sphere light up and it shows a blob with a wider undulating shape of a jellyfish in the direction facing away from me. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. P: It tells me that it wants a map The leutenant gave an order LJ: Schmid, get the box that came with it. LJ: It ?wants? P: Yes, it doesnt have a personality, but it is designed to explain itself to its user and to be fully enabled. It may actually be addictive in the sense that those young people are glued to their phones. Though it is not a passive experience. Foremost I need to power it. LJ: How long can you do that? P: Depending on usage between 20 and 90 minutes. I do not have the maximimum power output to use its full range, but still the power requirement go up a lot with range. I got maybe 30% more range than with a ritual. Thomas was walking around the device. T: The dividing band is showing writing under in the direction of the blob. It says ?category 2 and a compass heading, it looks like, 200 degrees. LJ: That puts it between us and our point of origin. 4:08 in the morning He gave more orders LJ: Sergant Neumann, have the remotely controlled mines placed. Anything over the radio from HQ? SN: Aye, sir, No news. LJ: And you gentlemen, loot those monsters. They seemed unusually strong. We may get something good. -- Thomas is drawing out the rituals while I am at ready near the device. We have fed it a crystal that dissolved as we touched it to the spike and now the sphere can show very pretty miniature map of the area. Thomas bursts in. T: Strike! He is holding a grey essence cube and a row of vials in his hands. I touch the vials. P: These are healing potions. You better go tell J?ger. And congratulations to your new essence. T: Mine? P: Yes, it is a gun essence. You cannot take two identical essences, remember? T: Right. P: So do not fear that I got infected with generosity. Reponito me in navem meam in flumine Wizards have not drawn watch posts. Neither have the police people among our number. The military is not trusting us. The looted potions have healed our wounded. The leutenant has left the unused potions in our care apparently believing that it takes a wizard to properly handle them. P: How are your eyes? T: Amazing. The night is gone, but I can tell what color is from light and which from my ability. And it is not light amplification at all. I have no issues with the flares. I have simply overcome the need for light. P: That really makes no sense considering how sight works. T: I am afraid our understanding of the fundamentals of the universe was radically incomplete. -- The peace has lasted until three quarters of the way to dawn. A giant violet tortoise is ponderously making its way towards our position. LJ: Fire a conventional warning shot. Bang. An arc of lightning connects the tortoise to a vehicle. At the same time the monster is changing course. The leutnant is letting it go. LJ: We are being overtaken by that. Neumann, break camp. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. -- We have been shedding vehicles all along the way and are arriving with half our initial equipment. But we have reached the Elbe. Carstens is meeting us. This is deeply unfair. Some people who dont deserve them are getting way too much helicopter service. MC: We are depending on shipments. River and canal shipment are efficient in terms of cost and manpower. Unfortunately our canals and rivers, more so the canals, quite often traverse thinly populated areas. We have the Rhine covered, but Elbe only a bit south of Hamburg U: Yes, so ? MC: We can put heavy weapons onto a river barge, but we still cannot face multiple category 3 monsters. U: But a slow moving vehicle uses detection rituals most efficiently. MC: True, this is a test cruise, precisely we have little redundancy, we must be sure this works. In addition if we have two wizards who do not need to worry about moving anything including themselves we can do lootings of higher categories. T: Why is that important. MC: Well, let me say that we have discovered that there are higher rituals, which require individuals with more essences to perform. If you get more essences, use them -- His favourite spy joined Major Carstens in a meeting room. S: Did they buy it? C: Partially. They are not ready to dismiss the explanation. S: Even better. C: Better? S: Sure, the more unsure they are the more theyll jump at an offer of certainty. C: And if they simply give up? S: As far as we can tell, essence abilities are somewhat addictive C: I see Well, this is war. Do we have the coins necessary? S: That is something we both do not have the clearance for. Interlude VI - The Sailors Field headquarter of the riverine naval command, port of Aken, briefing room A Particpants: Major Carstens (C), Fregattenkapit?n Kahlmann(K), Korvettenkapitan Ohnesorg(O) Classification: Confidential K: Thank you for completing my convoy earlier than planned. Do we need to look at the background? O: No, as long as I have my wizards, I am happy K: So what can they do? C: Basically the same as the old style wizards, only in real time, continously and in a way that can be interpreted by everybody. And in verifiable reliability. K: The last feature is the most important. O: How many special wizard do you need to operate them? C: One for medium term operation, two for long term operation. Though the operators are not interchangeable. We have, if you will, a primary operator and a supporting operator. K: We will stay with sailing only during daylight. It is just not worth the risk. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.O: Very well, we have doubts that radar would work on monsters anyway, we will aim manually, especially the new torpedoes, should we need them. C: You solved that? K: Yes, we threw money at the problem. Losing a full laser inertial system for each shot hurts, but better that than losing a convoy, let alone blocking the channel. We can drop them into the water laterally that way. O: We tested them and the ship with the wizards will carry none and the wizards and the device get into an armored chamber above the water line. K: How many of the devices do we have? C: Three. You did not hear that from me. I can tell you because it does not matter. The only other primary operator we have is an 18 year old girl who needs a stick to walk. O: That hurts. Ill treat your civillians like a fragile irreplacable antique ceramic. C: Let them work and help. They have no problem with that, just spare the criticism. Oh, and be prepared to meet nerds, civillian nerds. K: Well, a field command is no fun without complications. Navigo We are sailing. I love ships. We wizards each even have gotten a small cabin on a converted river barge. It carries a lot of 30mm cannons and RPG launchers. Two more armed ships and eight cargo ships make up the rest of the convoy. The container ships seem to be fully ladden, but we also have a tanker and a barge apparently specialised on carrying loose goods like coal that are going downriver under ballast. During the first day of our cruise we meet a speartongued duckfrog and two water snake monsters. Thomas loots them for respectable but not spectacular loot. We also detect a category 3 intrusion in its early stages. I have no idea what happened to our report. We are operating on 10 minute operating and 10 minute recharge schedule that allows Thomas time in the sun to generate mana. That guy is starting to look like a beachcomber seriously into worshipping the sun. His ability from the coral essence removes the need for sunscreen but still lets him tan. P: What did you get as racial? T: I do not really know. It feels to me like I want to absorb knowledge packages. P: You mean like the map crystal we have fed the device? T: Like them, but not them exactly. Something was wrong. I tried to use a spare one. It did nothing. P: How do you feel about not knowing so many things? T: Badly. Are you following those superheros on TV? P: Marginally. T: They seem to be the equivalent to open source, but the companies, those whom they are calling the Global Defense Network, do not publish open specifications. P: Does that make them evil? T: In principle yes, though I need to point out that we are not posting papers on our essence and racial abilities either, let alone for free. P: We were literally legally obligated to sign NDAs, rspectively we are under legislation about official secrets. T: I know, my point is that we have no idea what rituals can ultimately do. P: You mean like in those stories where there is a magical spell that can blow up a planet? Our cell phones beeping to call us back to the device relieve him from giving an answer. -- I find a bed on a lightly swaying ship to be extremely comfortable. A cannon firing a few shots around midnight does not fundamentally change that. Breakfast is early but good. Apparently we do not want to waste daylight. Ulrike and Dejan are joining us. I suspect that the sailors are under orders to limit contact with us. I at least hope so. The idea that they find us repulsive or scary is not nice. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Shortly before lunch we are forced into a battle. We have not been surprised. This monster at least shows on hydrophones. A multiheaded pliosaur rammed into one of our gunships. Well that is what I would call it if I stuck with scientific terms. Colloquially if you are ready to go for classical mythology, that thing is a hydra. And it is strong. Its bites tear steel. 30mm grenades again do not do what the are supposed to do according to the laws of conventional physics. But they are annoying enough. The hydra turns on the other gunship. It uses a burst of magical shells. One of the heads bursts apart. The hydra rears out of the water in an impressive display of anger. That is enough. The gunship launches two torpedoes. Our ship is showered with undefinable internal organs. I do not envy the soldiers sent out for photographic documentation and simple scientific measurements. On this occasion Thomas and I cooperate on the looting ritual using what looks like an internal gland with digestive tract attached. The sailors heaving it onto the part of the deck we are working on find their digestion quickened and reversed. We are getting healing potions, meat and the holy grail: an essence. It looks like the sky over a boundless prairie crowned by endless blue vistas with tiny wisps of clouds. T: Your turn. It looks like some kind of sky or air essence. P: You think Ill get to conjure a biplane? T: Only Snoopy deserves that. Nor do I want to see you run around with a pilots scarf in this weather. I do my ritual myself. Afterwards I feel powerful. Connected to some primal nature. I give in and turn into the hulk. I will be owing a favor for the rest of my days for Dejan and Ulrike for convincing the sailors to not use me for target practice. I found myself unable to speak in that form. Ulrike is addressing my reshrunk form which finds me suffering from a headache. U: Why are you wearing only underpants? P: Ow, my head. I dont know. I sort of enlarged my underpants and put the rest of my wardrobe aside. T: As interesting as your choice of underwear may be, what have you done to the conservation of mass? P: You are asking that after seeing my conjuring an assault rifle? T: The rifle can fit into you. Your collosal neanderthalesque form cannot. P: Could you speak more softly? T: Science can never be quieted. P: Funny. I admit to being guilty of violating that law. U: Still, where is your clothing? P: Some other place. U: Well, then retrieve it. This woman has a very commanding voice. I rematerialized my clothing, suffering another spike of headache. D: Have you ever considered a career in creative border crossings? U: We need to talk about your attitude again. Omnes mundo imperare volunt ?Hulk Smash C I smash another brick, which Dejan has been throwing me specimens of, into smithereens between my fists. Dejan and I are conducting scientific experiments on preternatural abilities. I have found that going all out on this ability and maxing out my size which puts me at three and a half meters will almost empty out my mana pool. But an intermediate form putting me at two and a half meters is pretty strong and tough enough. Unfortunately I only turn hairy, develop brutish proportions and a nice tan. I would have liked to turn green. Ulrike enters, jams her left hand into her distinctly tilted hip and assumes a decidedly unhappy posture. I am beginning to fear that this woman is a Luddite. U: What are you doing in a disused hall storing construction stuff? P: Science D: Science He is even lifting his tape measure and recording sheets of my size and how far the debris has been flying correlated to mana expenditure and pointing at his safety goggles. U: Do I go into a cave, beat my chest and say ?Ugg ? P: Of course not. It would have to be ?Ugga in your case. Cave grammar. Everybody knows that. She just turns around and leaves. Dejan looks somewhat stricken. Understandable. Learning that your girlfriend has trouble with the simplest forms of grammaical gender in stone-age grammar can be hard. We have also been investigating the behavior of ancilliary equipment. Conjured equipment adapts automagically. Dismissing and reconjuring my gun so that it would fit my larger hands had been a waste of mana. A rod I am carrying can enlarge with me if I conciously include it in the effect and spend mana. But it works only on personal items and weapons. I tried enlarging a spoon from the kitchen with me. It does not work. My safety razor refuses to enlarge. A straight razor Dejan has borrowed does. I am really lookin forward to writing scientific papers on this once the crisis will have been finished. This is my chance to make it into Nature. -- Korvettenkapit?n Ohnesorg is making the military version of a zoom call to his boss, Fregattenkapit?n Kahlmann. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. O: The new quintessence based weapons work beautifully. When did you say are we getting more? K: I didnt say. If I knew I wouldnt be allowed to tell you. O: Unfortunate. K: We have to fight this war with the equipment we are getting. We cannot even blame the politicians for underpreparation. This was unforseeable. O: Though we are supposed to keep them secret from the Network, which means K: Nothing. If you have to speculate on this, keep those speculations to yourself. I get that you want to know. Being in the field and being insecure about your supply of weapons sucks. But speculation on this matter is not helpful. O: Yes, sir. K: No need to go all formal. By the way, your suggestion to get some of those superheros on your convoys has not worked out. O: They actually tried. K: Apparently. And got a reply that they would insist on a camera team showing all the world that men and women from the people can rise to extraordinary heights in defense of the world. O: Damn. K: Yes. We will steal the slogan, though, and send in a camera team of our own, to have stuff to show once secrecy is longer needed. O: You want to shove that one onto me? K: Now is the time to go ?Yes, sir on me. O: Yes, sir. K: How did the detection device test out? O: Beautifully, but it is wasted on us. We are so slow and stable that you can run a ritual on deck. K: That was always expected. But it had to be kept safe. I am releasing it to the land forces. O: Then how am I supposed to hide our weapons from the Networks ritualists? K: You are not. All other government wizards are reassigned to the riverine operations of the Navy. -- A man is standing on a thin branch high up on a tree. Nobody below bronze rank would have been able to register his presence. Even a bronze ranker would be unable to describe him afterwards. He is looking at a large cupola made out of concrete in the medium distance. A bronze rank four-winged avian monster is running up the branch. His aura lashes out, freezing it into place, while the tree sprouts whip-like shoots, whose thorns tear it apart. ?Sorry, little one. You were too early.. He applies glue to the bottom of a device that looks like it is made from shiny red plastic, attaches it to the branch and wraps a camouflage cloth around the whole assembly. -- We have been told that we are to secure a convoy heading south tomorrow morning. Well, Ill have to demonstrate my new form to them, lest someone shoot me, should I need to use it in combat. Regina saltans There will be no hulk show. Ulrike has been quite clear. Exceedingly clear. Clear to a degree that words on paper cannot fully reflect. And she is certainly not a Luddite. A Luddite would be unlikely to mention abuse by means of a pine cone sprinkled with chilly powder mounted on an electric drill. Besides suggesting an unlikely ending of my colon in my brain she has planted a nagging worry in it. Have I been doing inferior rituals for my awakening stones? She is right. The abilities dont fit. Being big does not help you shoot in the least. In fact, should your opponents shoot back, itll be a liability. And it makes firing from a hidden position harder. Were my new ability to make me faster, it could be seen as a way to enable a retreat through obstacles. But it does not. It just makes me stronger. Dejan and I have measured that, before his inquisitive spirit was rudely eliminated. And it astonishes me that she now considers the use of firearms a sign of civilization. War shifts standards quickly. The captain in command of our convoy complained about placing civillians into the chain of command, especially placing the crew of a combat vehicle under our command. Again war shifts standards quickly and he being a soldier can be overruled in such things. Getting the navy man for communication and interpretation of the results the device was showing who already served in that job on the river mysteriously helped our personal position. They love to hate the navy. We are an impressive convoy. A dozen military wheeled vehicles, two drones overhead, sixty trucks, a dozen police cars, twenty civillian cars for people with special permits and an ambulance. The motorway is reserved for us and we head down the road in an orderly formation, leisurely rolling at 60 kilometers per hour. At noon Thomas and I request medical attention. Captain Hornbauer is not amused. H: What kind of shit is this? T: We are running out of fuel for the device. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.H: I was told that the device requires no fuel. P: We two are the fuel. At 60 km/h we cover the devices range at the power we are required to run it to look far enough to the sides in eight minutes. If we are to catch intrusions a reasonable distance to the side we need to run it permanently. H: That makes mathematical sense, but it imperils this whole operation. U: Now they need to rest for two hours to be full again. H: This delays us a lot. Alternatives? D: How about we run faster? The operating time matters. Above a certain speed they need to go continous. Going faster doesnt increase costs, but allows us to stop for recharging. H: Excellent suggestion. What can we do now? The army physician speaks up. Medic: Does your head still hurt? T: Yes Medic: After what I have given you that ought to be impossible. We are operating beyond our knowledge. I would advise to wait. H: Very well, well wait. He posts additional guards and has them plant remotely controlled mines. -- Thomas is tanning outside. Strictly speaking for operational security I should have stayed inside to lessen the risk to me. Thomas, once connected by physical contact, has enough range to charge me up inside the vehicle. I havent mentioned that to our military escorts. P: Ulrike seems to develop a case of bad temper. D: Her parents have been evacuated. They have put a lot of time and money into their plumbing business. Her father is now virtually demoted to running the plumbing in an overcrowded school. Her mother gave her a hard time about it. P: Hardly her fault T: Guilt by indirect association. D: Yes. Man is not a rational animal. Lecture 101 in police school. Well, the second lecture after telling us that witnesses are not reliable. T: Have you thought about the place wizards will have after the event? It seems to me that the Network consider themselves above the law. And the US Network seemed to be the law. D: Above my pay grade P: ?God made man. Samuel Colt made them equal. That has been an error, though nobody the public didnt learn that until a few weeks ago. Dejan looks at me with an undecipherable expression as a pair of machine guns on an anti-air mounting ends the conversation. A regular steel-beak crow ends up in my looting ritual. We have been instructed to loot everything. I get a core, some wind quintessence and a bag of feathers. Filius felix This time even I get to fight. We have taken casualties. We have pulled into a parking lot. The tree has been patient. After about 8 minutes it opened up with a shower of bark needles and acorn exploding into dusty clouds actively searching victims. Now, as the initial shock has worn off we are wearing gas masks. The clouds are rendered harmless. The spikes have taken out two police cars, but the armor on military vehicles is withstanding them, although for something biological in origin it is quite disturbing that some penetrate enough to stick in the armor plating. Ulrike is right. I cannot get out without being peppered with needles. Being large and strong is useless. Pumping bullets from a heavy machine gun does damage. After the first long burst of bullets that would have killed an elephant, I overcome the resistance. I yank our communications guy behind the gun, open a firing port and conjure my heavy anti-vehicle weapon. It is awkward to handle inside a vehicle, but the projectiles, which I hesitate to call bullets, do real damage. Tentacles break out of the ground and get another police car, whose crew has already fled. The captain has a very loud voice: Ignore those roots, go for the trunk! Incendiaries and hand grenades! They men afflicted by the clouds were still shacking as if having a seizure, but have fallen silent. One of the police officers is running in to retrieve a fallen comrade, pinned to a fence through a leg. I have no idea what he is planning. Does he want to rip out a spike that pierces armor plate with his bare hands? It does not matter. Spikes hit him and to an immobile target the root-tentacles are no longer harmless. They must have hidden cutting edges. Arterial blood sprays in two pulsating jets from his neck. The police men equipped with tear gas launchers use them. Do they really think tear gas will work on a magical tree? One of the more distant vehicles fires an RPG. A delicious infusion of power hits me. I switch to my assault rifle and go full auto. The tree escalates. Whole branches go into a whiplash motion flinging leafy twigs onto our vehicles. A second RPG hits. The twigs landed on armored vehicles develop tendrils probing for openings. I take out my magic knife and start cutting while still firing in an uneasy grip. It does not work. I push the firing port closed. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. A third RPG hits. The trunk splits in two and starts burning. Only one half of the tree is still launching needles. I take the machine gun over again. The tree gains a symbolic triumph and waves the severed head of the police offer fallen to his tentacles in the air on one of them. Three minutes later it is over. Amassed gun fire does the job. The tree not just dies, but its wood turns soft and it slowly flops to the ground forming two archways to either side of the split trunk. I get out. The captain yells at me to get back. That man must have vocal cords made from titanium. ?It is dead. I can tell when anything I have shot at and hit dies The medic trusted me enough to take my word and rushes forward. He dismisses the men fallen victim to the clouds. ?I would need an antidote. He and his two assistants efficiently get to work on the men hit by needles. Those have lost their rigidity with the tree they came from. I hesitate. I would like to have kept these items and the capability that allowed me to securely carry them a secret. But Dejan and Thomas have been poisoned. I pull the potions I have left out of the ?place I can store my clothing and, it turns out, some other equipment. I open their mouths starting with Dejan, pop the plastic lid from a vial and carefully insert the content. Could they choke? Probably. But they were basically left to die. I hardly can do more damage. But magic medication is magic. It finds its way to the place it is needed, whereever that be. Both return to a healthier color but remain unconcious. I hand the two remaining vials to the captain. Five poisoned men are down. He looks at me. I shake my head. -- The medevac helicopters retrieve six corpses besides the wounded. We are assured that Dejan and Thomas would be brought to our next major stop in a safe base. It would take the rest of the day to get the tendrils out of all crevices and to fix the pierced tires. I draw a looting ritual in spray paint around the trunk of the tree. Strike! The awakening stone looks like somebody packed a thicket into a glass orb. Twigs and leaves everywhere. ?Dont you feel like profiting from the war? - a soldier from the crowd calls out to me. I hesitate a bit. ?No, I am like a native picking up the rifle of an invader That actually silences the man. Deyr f茅, deyja fr?ndr, deyr sjalfr it sama Ulrike looks ashamed. U: When he had been hit, I froze up. P: Will it happen again? U: I . No, I dont think so P: Then lets forget it We have reached a secure base. Captain Hornbauer is reporting. U: Do you have any potions left? P: No. U: Would you have kept them if none of us had been seriously wounded? P: Probably No, she deserves honesty. I owe her that much. P: Wait. No, I would have kept them unrevealed for sure. I am sorry. But this is the apocalypse. U: I actually understand P: But his look I made him U: That is what it means to be an officer. P: I would like the knowledge to make such potions U: But you looted them. P: A chance hit. You can make them in a controlled process, although you need raw materials that probably come only from monsters. U: Where does the stuff you loot go? I mean except for the stones. P: I dont know. U: Well if they make potions from them, we dont get them. Her face darkened. U: Lets go get something to eat. By the way what did you get from the stone? P: I dont know. It refilled about half my mana and now it feels like I need to wait till tomorrow until I can use it again -- Dejan and Thomas have awakened. The doctors are keeping them on observation. Aside from an abnormal EEG they have nothing. That is driving them nuts. The soldiers are getting a day of rest. Officially the vehicles need to be checked and ammunition replaced. We used up a lot of it. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.The base commanders aide, Leutnant Osmano?lu, finds and stops us in a hallway. O: Can I have a quick word with you U: Sure He leads us to his office O: Was there any way for you to detect the monster? P: At the risk of repeating myself, we do not detect monsters as such. With the device we are detecting the full intrusion zones and the doorways from and to them, but thats it. Once a doorway has fully closed I am blind. Then or when a monster wanders in, or sprouts from a seed, I suppose, I could operate a magic weapon, but the Network is sitting on them. O: You do not like the Network. P: No, I do not. U: More men could be alive if they didnt sit on their healing potions, too. His face becomes unreadable. An indispensable ability in an aide de camp I reckon. O: I cannot factually dispute your words. U: well, what is the purpose of this talk then if you wish to neither confirm or deny? I will never play poker against this man O: I need to know if you can contribute any suggestions for improvements. P: We can no longer trust any vegetation. Use napalm to torch strips next to all motorways and on the resting spots. U: We need magical fighters like the Network has. We win most fights, but at unacceptable costs. What does a cheap RPG cost? Has the government looked into those superheros? O: I cannot comment on that. An awkward silence ensues P: If this is all we can go for some tea -- A general alarm sounds as we are on our third cup of tea, right as I was telling Ulrike a story about my grandparents. P: Now what? U: To our assigned vehicle, arm up and wait in the hall. -- As we step out I spot a few Network people I know from our training camp are also present and look at me with a mixture of scorn and curiosity. Osmano?lu is leading Dejan and Thomas to us, followed by a troop of infanty and our navy man carrying the device in its official crate for air transport. We are led outside and met by a whole fleet of various types of transport helicopters including big machines with two rotors. At the same time a bus discharges people in Network combat armor. Rademacher appears out of thin air and commands like an imperious deity: ?Everybody and the device to the command helicopter. Follow me! ek veit einn, at aldrei deyr: d贸mr um dauean hvern Rademacher salutes ?Colonel von Lettow-Vorbeck, pleased to meet you. We have the device here. It needs minimum setup but we will have to have it and its operators physically close CvLV: Very well, get in. No need to salute me. R: I used to be in a prior organisation CvLV: Pilot, emergency war speed. Rademacher, well do the briefing in the air with everybody patched in. We dont have time. Ill start. The helicopters lift off the field without regard for formation or order. We are handed headphones with intercom jacks, similar to those used in armored vehicles, helmets, gas masks, iodine pills and dosimeters. Dosimeters? This is developing into a direction I do not like at all. I am plugged myself into internal communication. I hear von Lettow-Vorbecks voice: the place where we are heading. The details dont matter. The government has decided to restart all nuclear power planets which possibly can be restarted. In this case the final tests were conducted, which includes a test of the SCRAM system. This led OK, that is a sensible question. The SCRAM system is used to shut down the reactor in an emergency. In a full test this is coupled with a separation of the reactor from the power grid. Of course the diesels are already powered up and the instrumentation is supplied with outside electricity. In that case the energy needs to go somewhere and for a short term steam from the non-radioactive circuits is blown off. This is spectacularly loud. So much to the background. He seems to be reading from a briefing sheet. That is not good. CvLV: The important part is that the reactor is fully fueled and has been critical. It needs to be kept cooled. The reactor is officially in B zone, as nuclear reactors are usually built in less densely populated areas. It should nevertheless have gotten an upgrade to A zone conditions, but due to recent changes in the federal government, this seems to have been forgotten. Rademacher, if you would continue. Rademacher: The reactor has a very small Network contingent, who did the zone B detection rituals. They were never told the schedule. There has been an additional complication. For a reason we do not understand an intrusion zone has slipped through undetected until it almost formed open doorways. The power plant has reported a loss of connection to the power grid. We currently have a nuclear power plant that needs to be cooled to prevent a melt down, is powered only by its backup diesels and is under attack by dim - monsters from a category 3 intrusion. For some reason our contingent so far has been lucky. Possibly the monsters dont like nuclear power. And for some reason they cannot switch the plant back on for now. Nobody is teaching people about xenon poisoning of nuclear fuel in Network training. They do have weaknesses. Rademacher: Our job will be to go in and stop all intuding monsters as early as possible as well as sweeping the forests around the plant. The regular army will secure the plant itself. One more thing: Ammunition expenditures are meaningless today. Fire whenever you can land a shot. On the ground a man is speaking into a very expensive military radio: ?Are you sure you cut the wires without trace? ?Yes. We went for additional useless cuts to make it seem like an enraged monster ?Very well. They are close enough. No need to drive the monsters off anymore. General retreat. A herd of centaurs is cloaking themselves and scattering away from the vincinity of the power plant. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. -- We have been dropped into a pond to arrive as close as possible to the plant. The device is fine. Its transport crate is watertight, has flotation devices and a beacon just in case. We are dripping wet. Rademacher: Are we still in the static phase? P: No. Sorry, we have dynamic formation of open doorways. The intrusion is in the terminal stage. Rademacher: Shit. CvLV: What does that mean? No briefing on intrusions, what a clusterfuck. P: It means that I cannot just generate you a list of headings and distances from here and you know where to operate. The list needs continous updates and if we have shadow effects I need to move the device through the area to get all doorways. We usually dont bother anymore at that stage and run. I know this stage only from theoretical considerations and am not competent to deal with it. I would and should have run away at the preceeeding stage. R: That is one of the reasons I am here. CvLV: Rademacher, can you assign them an escort? These woods are full of monsters. R: Not quickly enough. Ill stay here myself. Thomas has been making a list of the static doorways. He is better at that than I myself. -- We are walking in a ring around the plant. I must admit that besides being so scared that it does not matter anymore I am regretting leaving all those monsters Rademacher casually dispatches with his spear or even his bare hands unlooted. Powers are addictive. I am sure of that now. Rademacher swears something foul and tosses me a honest to god wand. ?Hold your fire he orders. The wand looks like it is made from blue plastic with a corkscrew pattern diminishing in diameter to a fine point for about half its length. ?The pointy end towards the enemy. They are only category 1 but they are many. He is twirling his spear above our heads like a baton. The whole group ducks, though by the time we are reacting he is already firing a pistol he is holding in his other hand. I follow his example. The air in an area surrounding us but being blown back by something is full of sparkly things. There is no better description. In some places the air is briefly turning into a mirror at so short an interval that the eye tends to turn the reflections into a path. ?Mirror sprites, Rademacher explains. ?They can reflect a lot of attack forms. They are rare, very rare.. Us having eliminated about a quarter of them the rest flees. All the while von Lettow-Vorbeck is getting radio reports, giving orders and manipulating a map on a tablet. This man either has nerves of steel or is on drugs. Rademacher does not object as I store the wand Ulrike has almost shot a group of special forces soldiers come to escort von Lettow-Vorbeck to a command post, so only us and Rademacher are left. That is Rademacher is hopping from tree trunk to tree trunk attacking a group of floating golden rings shooting bolts of force at us. We have taken shelter behind a toppled tree and are trying to keep them from surrounding us by firing at those who try to go around Rademacher. We dont do visible damage, neither do they. To us at least. The tree is not salvageable anymore. ?I have no idea what those things were, he admits to us. -- We have lost our communications guy to a swarm of flying, translucent pairs of sickles attached to each other on their handles. The human body contains a lot of blood, which is released if a body is sufficiently finely sliced. Now we know what that buzzing sound means. On the plus side three Network fighters have joined us. We are fighting an elongated octahedron shimmering blue. It projects a defensive screen of solid white light in the shape of a soccer ball. Bars of solid light form the polygons characteristic of such a ball. Bullets pass through, but Rademachers spear does not. It fights by means a five distinct sets of crab claws surrounding it in ellepises it shapes to reach its targets. As it and Rademacher have fought each other to a standstill, we have a stationary target and as we have used up the majority of our ammunition it starts to develop cracks. Both crumbling halves of the octahedron separate and smash together again, obliterating themselves. We see a blue flash for a brief moment obscuring all visual perception. Then our long forgotten dosimeters start beeping. The dragon has been tickled once too often. Mine shows a flashing red number: 10 100 This instrument counts in miliSievert. That means 10.1 Sievert of exposure. skeggj?ld, sk谩lm?ld, skildir 鈥檙u klofnir, vind?ld, varg?ld, 谩er ver?ld steypisk; T: Intrusion spaces often adapt to the environment they appear in. In this case a nuclear power plant. He chuckles in the way you expect a man watching the depth indicator on the Thresher to have chuckled and throws up. D: 10 300. What does that mean? P: We have about a week to live. Prompt symptoms in about 30 minutes I point at Thomas P: That is psychosomatic. But justified. Or maybe essences accelerate the process. I dont feel anything so far. I lean against a tree, close my eyes and turn my face towards the sun. The lady among the network people pops a potion out of her belt and downs it. ?Nothing. I can still feel it. What is going to happen? T: In simple terms: Your gut liquifies. She turns very, very white. Rademacher does not scare that easily. I feel myself being lifted up by my combat vest attached to my body armor. I put them both into my storage space dropping myself to the floor. But he gets what he wants. I open my eyes and look at him. P: You want us to use the time we are still capable of combat most effectively? R: Do you want this to happen to more people? P: Theyd be on you for your stupid policy of secrecy. But you are not going to leave me in peace unless I do what you want. So be it. What do you want us to do? R: Does the device still work? We were close to locating the doorway the anchor entities are likely to be close to. He pulls a tablet out of a conventional, reinforced bag strapped to his leg. Do storage spaces and devices block GPS signals? R: We are here. What a feat. That is what a GPS device is built for. But I no longer care. R: The highest probability of detection is from there. I have a slow fall power that works for groups. That location is slightly lower in elevation. I can see the sky above it. I will teleport with you, the device and our three fighters. Thats my capacity. P: Why dont you just teleport there? R: What? Oh, I keep forgetting. It does not work. A teleport destination must be visually visible or known to the teleporter. Hows your mana? P: Could be higher. R: Here. I am carrying the potions for a battle group. Its a category 1 mana potion. That is a pleasant experience. Better late than never. -- This time I throw up, while still in the air. I am not weightless. Air resistance just seems increased to a ridiculous amount. My terminal velocity is comfortable for landing. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.He returns the device to me. R: Store it after we are gone. It needs to go back to base. Heres a category 2 coin. Give the device a full power burst. His plan works. I do a quick ritual to make the door visible. R: You could have been worse. Good luck. He unclips his belt. R: You must not wear it. Your category is too low, but you can store it. The potions are labled, respectively in labled dimensional bags. They march through the doorway. I deliberate going back. Do Ulrike and Dejan deserve privacy? No, lets be honest. It just does not matter anymore. Nothing else matters either. I store the belt, leaving the pouches that refuse to dangling on the cord uniting them, and the device and look for a mossy place to sit down. Something is wrong with me of course. Prompt symptoms should set in just about now. I take one of the healing potions out of the belt. They do surpress the symptoms. At least for an hour or so I spend looking at the leaves moving in the wind against a blue sky. This place is surprisingly quiet. Does the doorway made visible repel monsters? There would have been so much to learn. -- Two monsters come out of the doorway. I jump to my feet unstoring my body armor, conjuring my gun in assault rifle form and go to small hulk form. I feel an absurd urge to talk about myself in the third person and make a comment on futile actions. One is some kind of steampunk robot. Four legs supporting a saucer shaped body with a column supporting two rings of four arms spaced equidistantly each. The lower rings arms were equipped with grasping appendages one could not strictly speaking call hands. The upper rings arms carry rotating saw blades. The other is not really there. There is just a space looking wrong. The background visible through it is absurdely deformed. I see Einstein rings. At least the robot looks battered. It is leaking some kind of liquid and has smoke trailing out of some joints. Concerning the entity, how do you tell? Two persons are following them. One of them is missing the upper half of his or her face incuding the eyes. I lose my stomach content a second time. The second is Rademacher. He pulls out some devices out of a pocket, conjures a spear of light and jumps into the entity. Two seconds later the ground trembles, something that has four appendages but is much too flexible to be human is ejected towards me, thankfully misses and hits a tree with a sound I never want to hear again. A kind of crystalline dust appears in the entity now standing still and drops down not affected by wind at all, as if in vacuum. The second person puts a coin into his mouth, lifts two staffs, one in each hand, aims them at the robot C without eyes! - and a very bright orange beam and one tiny beamlet impact the robot. The stricken robots withstands the beams for five seconds. Then it explosively disassembles and the person collapses, dropping his staffs. One of them crumbles apart into shards of strange material. I walk over. ?Who is there? His ears are sharp, but I dont care. I know that voice. Von Blow. ?It does not matter. That thing is a troll, even though it may look like a cyborg. You need to burn it. He plucks a bottle out of his belt while his other hand is fumbling at his belt. ?This is everburn oil. He is getting a vial out of his belt. A healing potion presumably. No. Ive had enough. I am strong now in this form. I kick the vial out of his hand. I grab the surviving staff. ?Remember me?. I point the staff at his skull and give full power. His skull produces a sound as if branches were put into a wood chipper. His head flattens and spreads out. Si quis nihil perdere potest, is liber vocari potest I will loot that troll. Burning it would be a waste. If it yields something, the better itll be. I want abilities if only for a few days. Or can I bequeath somebody essences or stones? They wouldnt honor my will. Can I just mail them to friends? I am also going to loot the people. I have coins left. Whom first? The people. Somebody might come. The nausea is returning. I take another potion. ? Stop right now. Had Dr. Kowalski not done a full scale healing of all ailments, a heart attack would have ended everything there and then. A great calm overcomes me. Is that the feeling of nothing left to lose? I hear a thump behind me and turn around. A man is standing there. Just a man. I dont care who he is or what he looks like. I do care what he wants. He preempts me. UM: My clients need you to render them some services P: You may have missed that, but unless they need them today or tomorrow, you have come too late UM: That mishap. A healing potion won''t work, because radiation is a wound a curse and a poison magically speaking. You need a good cleansing potion. Something the Network is traditionally bad at. Hope is coming back at the speed of light. I must show on my face. P: You have a deal. But I have a team. But why did you want me to stop? UM: You were about to do a looting ritual in so unsophisicated a manner that you may squander an opportunity my patrons need for you. P: I suppose your guarantee for my compliance is a recording you have made here. UM: They need somebody with intelligence and reliability. And somebody alive, obviously. He tosses me a leather sack. UM: To expand your storage. They need you to carry some devices in your storage space until they tell you a place you need to go to and deploy them. And before you ask, no they cannot go because they are not human. And I have a permanent other task. He blurs into action to sting me in the left thigh with a device that looks like a smaller black version of the picks to puncture cans of condensed milk to put into your coffee with. P: Ouch. I appreciate intellectually that if you wanted me dead, youd just do nothing, but that hurt. UM: It would have hurt more with a warning. This enables a very close connection between you and the device this is a submodule of. He does a looting ritual with more bells and whistles than I knew to be possible. The result is indeed an Essence cube. It is an odd one. It is transparent but it shows things to the side of the cube when you try to look at things behind it. Or sometimes it shows the magnifying effect of an Einstein ring. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. P: Is that a mass essence? UM: As far as I know there is no such thing. This is a Dimension Essence. Now do the ritual. We dont have all day. Well, we do have all day, but I want to have dinner at a civilized time. He could take it himself. Even if he has a full set, this thing must be valuable. P: How about you giving me the potions now? UM: Too early. You just took a healing potion. That blocks related potions from working. A very important warning. P: First the Essence or the Stone? UM: You have been doing this wrong. Using Stones before you have all Essences makes for a worse set. And before you ask, I have no idea how to undo the damage. This man is drastically overestimating the degree to which I care about that. I do an essence ritual. It goes well. The expected racial evolution happens and I feel something slipping out of me. Now, some people may say something poetic about birds mating in flight. I just say that they have merged and I take the result. While I am thus occupied I notice him doing a ritual to a device that looks like a tricorder, which he has attached the bloody probe to. That is the time the prompt symptoms return with a vengeance. I dismiss all clothing to not soil it by projectile vomiting. I need to endure this. The real damage will happen only in a few days. The man is holding his nose and retreating. Upwind, though I would determine that only after the fact. UM: Dont worry. I am not going away. In fact I am putting down the equipment for you to carry and the potions now. There is no need to come close to you or for you to come closer to me. That suits me just fine. Essences seem to worsen the effects of radiation. I am secreting a kind of oily rancid substance. It is disgusting. I am close to thanking the gods for my hulk form not sharing my normal hair. Getting this stuff out of it would be a nightmare. It takes twenty minutes. UM: Are you better? P: Yes, this is disgusting. I take one of the potions. First things first. I have options now. After a few attempts I manage to synchronize a teleport upwards and sidewards with going to a smaller hulk form to get rid of the residue. I still need to brush my teeth. Often. But this has rid me of the worst. UM: Impressive and I see you got teleport. You can keep the Stone anyway. I am payed to deliver them. P: With pleasure. UM: Your device contains a copy of the instructions. He is still keeping a lot of distance. UM: But repeat after me. First you will take in the cans, which are specialised single use dimensional containers. Second you will store the cell phone. Third you will take the box with the two Awakening Stones. Fourth you will store the device That device really looks like a tricorder. I say nothing. I have options now, better not ruin them. Have you tried to arrest a teleporter for murder? UM: Fifth you will use your device when you are unobserved. Repeat your instructions -- The look on the faces of Dejan, Ulrike and Thomas as I fed them the potions will move my heart forever. I might have surpressed a few tears more or less successfully. Report of the comission of inquiry Report of the comission of inquiry Classification: for official purposes to be shared with the network I: so von Blow fired at the monster, which caused himself an injury from a source you cannot identify? P: Yes I: And then you took von Blows weapon and fired again? P: Yes Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. I: And the monster fell apart and you looted it? P: Yes I: And with the potions you obtained, you healed yourself and your team? P: Yes, as my written report you are quoting already stated I: And you have no idea of the nature of the potion? P: Well, they were able to remedy radiation poisoning I: You need not take everything we ask so damn literally. P: You told me to stick only to objective facts -- Judge 1: He is hiding something. Judge 2: Of course. He was crying and shat his pants Judge 3: That makes sense. -- Verdict of the chamber Under the extraordinary circumstances, this chamber finds the behavior of the defendant acceptable and accepts the unauthorized use of coins for looting. He is to be warned to obtain authorization for such actions. Von Blows weapon is to be returned to the Network Lepus albus I am a lean, mean violation of the laws of physics. We are officially on sick leave. My mates are sick. Those potions have done bad things to their gut flora and poor Ulrike has some kind of gynecological hormonal issue, as it found a uterine lining without a viable, not irradiated beyond hope, developing gamete to be something that needs to be fixed immediately. My meanness ought to be a secret, but obvious fact. That is, as I am writing this, somewhat contradictory. Where is Alanis Morisette, when you need her song? The truly surprising thing is how much of my body mass I lost there. I have been wondering how much of the unpleasantness I can blame on radiation. According to the doctors, its effects on me are gone. None of us is showing signs of radiation damage. I did an experiment. I weighed myself, downed a whole liter of water and weighed myself again. I gained one kilogram of weight. Twenty minutes later the additional weight is gone. I have done that math. That should have released about as much energy as a 20 megaton hydrogen bomb. You do not understand the mindset of a STEM person, if you do not get, why that is making me nervous. Am I a walking singularity? I do walk, by the way. I do not want people to know that I can teleport. Neither do I run, though it feels like I am much better at it than I used to be. I have standards. I am on sick leave. Instead I am getting used to my new sense, which is not purely a sense and also breaks the laws of physics. I am also using the fruits of another ability. Dark purple is a bit garish a color, but my walking stick is stylish. The newest version I have conjured has a softer rubbery foot piece and my monogram on the handle. Strictly for training fine control, of course. And I am entitled to a walking stick. Sick leave, as you ought to know by now. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.Thus I am walking through a half-empty base. Our experience, except for its happy ending, has not been unique. Our mission has been a classic pyrrhic victory. I cannot blame the colonel. He did what he had to do with what he had available and has achieved a reasonable outcome. I still blame the Network. Their individual members may have been heros C or now one villain fewer, I am not sorry C but the organization is worse than the mafia. Anyway, many of them should still be in the walking ghost stage but the doomed have not been returned to this base or in case they returned in the confused aftermath of the battle have since been transferred away. I can sense people. And some devices. I can sense our detection device in the next room over, through a wall. It really works. People whose life you have saved from a death by decaying internal organs while they are still alive are willing to play games by randomly entering and leaving a room and making notes of their comings and goings for you to compare your notes with. It does not stop there. I can make things move with my mind. Thereby also violating the laws of physics. I step onto scales and lift the refilled pitcher from my previous experiment. I do not become heavier. Nor am I manipulating gravity. The liquid inside the pitcher stays undisturbed apart from some sloshing and ripples. It definitely does not form the sphere it should form in weightlessness. Violating Newtons Laws is even scarier than letting mass disappear. -- Ulrike being on sick leave it falls to poor Osmano?lu to deliver the memo of doom. I have been banned from the cafeteria and will get my ration of coins at the armory every day. It explains my incipient worries about certain needs disappearing, not that I have been missing them after the degree I experienced them in the woods, but a slight worry had set in. At least I am still allowed to use the vending machine for cooled beverages. Character Sheet #1 I am just going to assume that a bush on the side of a highway has no cameras. This device - i am going to name it tricorder - has interesting stats about myself:
Race: Human
Current Rank: Iron 0
Progress to bronze rank 0%
Racial Abilities:
[Human Ambition]
[Special Attack Affinity]
[Instinctive Aim]
[Vault of the Ancestors]
[Astral Affinity]
[War will feed itself]
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. But the tricorder itself is far more interesting. It has no screen or keyboard. It is as if I have developed a third eye that looks into a completely different direction or world. It is controlled - at least in this setting - by the gaze of that virtual eye. I put it back into storage. The connection vanishes. I retrieve it into my backpack. The connection and the screen reappear. This is extremely useful. Provided that the tricorder itself will provide useful information. This confirms that other races exist. Given what I have been told about the people whose agent I indirectly have become this is no surprise. And my rank is [Iron 0], not a simple number or a simple [Iron]. Iron must be referring to category 1. Can this thing tell me how I get to higher categories? I could presumably embezzle cores, but I do not know the ritual for using cores. I suppose that is a final control mechanism. I absolutely need to test whether I can use this connection when my backpack is on the wall hook and I am in bed. But for now, back to detecting intrusions. Parabulum, quod non finit We are back doing convoys. The army and, to a lesser degree, the Network have lost a lot of fighters, if the emptiness of our base right after the battle was any indication. But we are detectors, albeit no longer active ritualists. I spend my days in a big wheeled armored vehicle on highways. I am powering our detection device. After getting a full set of essences and with Thomas helping to keep me powered, I can run it for hours now. It is boring work. I dont drive this vehicle. Frankly, I am no truck driver. I could drive it on a highway while everything goes well. But that is not when you want a good driver. The army does not want a civillian to operate a chain gun on a military vehicle. If the device gets hard to operate and to interpret, you are in a situation you do not want to be in. And obviously, you do not want to risk people with a unique, valuable ability in combat. We still do lootings. And this drives me to a decision. I can no longer evade it. Would my mates save my life if it came to that? Yes, they would. P: I have found a way to get a better understanding of my racial abilities. D: How? P: Well something close to meditation. U: Are you going esoteric on us? T: Restored youth driving to seek distractions? Thomas is sort of right. Getting a full set of essences gives you excessive energies. I even have started pumping iron in the gyms of various bases. P: That and getting into a state of knowing that your opportunities are strictly limited. We have a moment of awkward silence. U: Be that as it may. What are the results? P: I think I finally understand One of the three abilities I did not understand. T: Three? Sorry, I thought you understand two of them. That makes two remaining. P: There it begins. We, that is at least I, have six racial abilities. D: Because you have a full set or do we all have more abilities. P: I think the latter, but can we return to the topic? I think I can loot without a ritual. D: Great, so we have coins to spare U: Darling! D: Which we will have to responsibly report as savings. P: There is an additional point. I think I can store loot directly. U: Lets make this clear. Nobody can verify what you would have looted. P: Yes, I think I can even make it conditional and partial. T: If you can get at least as much out of the monsters as a ritual, nobody would be hurt. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it P: There is that. I think we need to test this. You are good at statistics. D: We do need to test this. We must understand those powers. U: We should report it. D: Do you trust that it wont get to the Network. U: No. Test it. T: I want the first essence you loot. Ulrike gives him a long look. Then she nods. -- I am rich. I get coins from looting. After the first two times, which I wrote off as failures, which got me a pat on the shoulder from the convoy commander and a can of diet coke from him, I can make the coins and hopefully the Essences and Awakening Stones go into my vault, while the rest still shows up like usually. So far I am seeing no difference in quantities. -- This time they let us fight. It real boils down to letting us, because we are useful at this particular task. We are facing one of those tortoise monsters. The rest of the soldiers drives it towards me. My anti-materiel rifle version of my conjured weapon kills it with one well placed shot. -- T: You are getting more from the new mode of looting. 14.0% so far. This has three sigmas of significance. P: Good. I have something for you. I show him the Essence I have gotten from the tortoise U: Very well. You seem sad. P: In this case I killed the monster and deserve the loot. But I am now realizing that I got my powers because so many men - and women, sorry Ulrike, helped C and died C so that I could get loot from monsters I had no chance of overpowering and looting on my own. U: What do you want to say with that? P: I need to give back. Not just with this work, but with Essences for people who deserve them. That means you all. I dont want to give the Network even more stuff. Ulrike is looking towards the floor. U: I can see why you feel that way. I have thought about this. You seem to loot the stuff we really need at the time we need it. This country will change a lot. I cannot tell her. But she may be right anyway. P: One thing more I show Thomas a conjured replica of my tricorders probe in the color he is familiar. P: I want to test whether I can talk to somebody elses racial powers. T: So you want to probe me before and after I absorb this Essence. --
Name: Thomas Miller
Race: Human
Current rank: Normal
Progress to iron rank: 50%
Power: Gun Iron 0
Speed: normal
Spirit: Coral Iron 0
Recovery: normal
Racial Abilities:
[Human Ambition]
[Special Attack Affinity]
[Share the Nourishment]
[Read the Fine Manual]
[Essence Gift]
[Essence Gift]
P: It has worked. Let me write this down while I still remember it. T: Good. I am going to find me a nice flat spot for the essence ritual Duocentissima sexagessima nona luna accipitris The tricorder lacks an ordinary GUI. In fact it may not have an operating system as we know it. The best idea to get it to do new stuff is to not know what you want. If you know what you want it goes directly to that function. If you have no idea what it can do for you, thatll be an issue. It does have a help function, but the quality of the translations is abyssimal. Probing Thomas has shown me which of his essences have bonded to which attribute. In his case this has worth, as some of his attributes are unbounded. But I want that for myself. Thomas and Ulrike have given us privacy for the probing. Both were snickering at their explanation. I still love them. I better use the time.
Power Gun Iron 0
Speed Battlefield Iron 0
Spirit Dimension Iron 0
Recovery Vast Iron 0
This is interesting. But where do the names come from? If I am to go by some translations, I am not ready to put all that much trust into them. But can I get something about the essences themselves?
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special ability
[Joy of sustained Fire] Blood Special attack
[This is my Gun] Myriad Special attack/conjuration
(unused)
(unused)
Vast:
[Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special ability
[Immortality] Tree Special Ability
(unused)
(unused)
(unused)
Dimension:
[Teleport] Special Ability
[Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Power
[Eternal Moment] A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Reach Special Ability
(unused)
(unused)
Battlefield:
[Equip the Army] Special Ability
[Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration
(unused)
(unused)
(unused)
Bingo. What is that commotion? I have stepped into bedlam. Our doctor and his assistant have donned gas masks and are kneeling around Thomas, who is on the ground, using both ends of his digestive tract simultaneously. That is clearly visible, because they have cut away his clothing. The doctors assistant is holding a bottle of saline in one hand while using the other in a futile attempt to assist with getting and IV into the writhing Thomas. A bewildered soldier also wearing a gas mask is holding a mask and a bottle of medical oxygen. The doctor is shouting for his bag with the emergency trauma medication. This is bound to be related to the ritual. I had instructed him on how to treat the confluence. This does look a lot like my episode with radiation sickness. Is he relapsing? Or is this a misunderstanding? ?The airways are free, the assistant confirms. ?This is no seizure. Though it may be neurological in origin.. He turns to me. ?Does this man have a history of neurological disorders?. I need to make a decision. P: This looks like a rare ritualistic mishap. No medication if you can help it. Keep his airways free and get blood presure and an ECG. ?The patient is undergoing an unusual glandular response., the assistant states. I must forgive him. He is wearing a gas mask. Thomas gets a moment to speak. Going by the pools he is located in, his digestive tract should have been empty long ago. T: I feel weak, but I can breathe well. He should not have spoken. Where does all that stuff come from? His bloodpressure is elevated and his heart rate is very slow for a man in his condition. The doctor looks at the ECG and shakes his head. ?Utterly normal strain response. It takes another ten minutes. -- After incidents with beetles and giant toads releasing poison gas, some convoys include a decontamination vehicle of the chemical warfare troops. Thomas is lucky. He has been throroughly hosed down and doused in disinfectant twice. The doctor has isolated him in his own tent and is doing something with blood he has drawn under considerable difficulty. I have to shout at the isolated patient from a considerable distance. We surely have people listening in on us. P: I thought it was radiation sickness. Some kind of relapse. I suffered a similar relapse but much earlier. T: I am too tired to find my battle axe. Lets continue tomorrow. Miraculo parati sumus ?Your leucocytes are good. Blood pressure is excellent. ECG is out of a textbook. You have been under observation for a night. I would like to isolate you further.. The doctor is not happy. ?But I need a better justification for that. The commander is unhappy enough with the delay. He would eat me alive and then release you anyway. The doctor is also a realist. ?The theory of a magical relapse is as good as anything I can come up with. ?You seem to think that we are breaking the laws of nature and natural science. Thomas replied. ?What else am I to think? The doctor is also honest. ?That we are adding another layer to science. I see no reason to not apply the scientific method to science. Thomas is, whatever be his failures, a hard-core rationalist. The doctor is not much of a philosopher, demonstrating that by grunting and signing release papers. Here comes another day on a road. ?That is, if human civilization survives Thomas avoids the cardinal sin of optimism. D: You probed a guy up so thoroughly that he ended up in a field hospital. U: You should have had dinner first. This is so uncivilized. Sweet innocent youth. P: There was absolutely no need to add a dinner to that mess. T: You are all so funny. P: Humoristic relativity. The funniness depends on the observers frame of reference. T: Not getting funnier. P: If it is any consolation to you, the probing has been fruitful. He just sighs. U: So what did it show? P: Thomas had six racial gifts. I could also tell that his essences were bound to specific attributes. U: Attributes? Me having to operate the detection device Thomas launches into an explanation. -- We are having a tanning respectively charging break at mid afternoon. He has managed to scrounge up a reclining chair and a pair of stylish sunglasses somewhere. T: There is something else. You are much brighter than everybody else. P: So are you. You also have a sixth sense now? T: That is a stupid name, but yes. Only that it does not work like an eye, neither like an ear. If I strain to see more P: You are getting brighter. T: So do you. Are you following suit?. Lets see ?Alarm! Gas masks! C We shout it out at the same time. A man clad only in a gas mask, speedos and combat boots is a strange sight. Him showing a sixpack does not help. Wait, that is new. The commander and his escort are running up to us. C: What is it? T: Some kind of poison monster on both sides of the parking lot. P: I sense four. Two on each side. C: The day before yesterday you told me, again if I may add, that you can detect only doorways, not monsters. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.T: We have had some kind of breakthrough C: Related to your unpleasant experience? T: Possibly C: Anyway, everybody is in position. P: I get anticipation. I think theyll attack if we leave. That gets me a very odd look. P: This calls for experimentation. Could you give me a hand grenade? He hesitates. C: Does it have to be you personally? P: Yes. Rules of magic. C: Remember, push the handle, pull the pin and then throw whatever happens. C: Schmidt, supervise him. I am getting a bulgy beverage can with quite some heft. I am concentrating on matching my sixth sense to my conventional sight, which now is excellent. P: By the way, shouldnt the vegetation here be torched away? C: This parking lot is officially associated with the gas station which is not directly attached to the highway but associated with it. Bureaucracy will kill this country if monsters dont do the job. The target is quite aligned with a fairly hefty bush, almost a tree. Will my racial ability work with a grenade? It seems reluctant and requests more feed. I give in, pull and throw. The explosion is loud and I am getting magical feedback. A few seconds nothing more happens. The commander is turning towards me, as four especially large versions of a monster we know as ?gas cicadas hurl bushes into the air and jump towards us. They have earned their name. Had we not put on gas masks, the convoy would have done badly. Even so, we need to decontaminate. Their gas works through your skin, if you give it enough time. But we have the chemical warfare vehicle and a specialized antidote to them. This earns us a night in tents on the spot. We are down one bad casualty. Multiple broken ribs, a badly broken arm and a concussion. In its death throes a monster kicked a garbage container hard enough to propel it with considerable momentum. That would have been a ridiculous way to die. How long can we sustain steady losses like that? And we have used up a few RPGs and a lot of magical ammunition. -- C: That breakthrough of yours includes looting at a distance without a ritual? P: Yes. It was a big breakthrough. C: So what is your detection range? T: About 25 meters. C: OK, this is not enough to be operationally useful. Still good work. Ill mention you in my report. Maybe youll also get apprentices. T: Apprentices? C: The river navys wizards have gotten apprentices. -- T: You are not going to probe me again. I still remember what happened last time. Probe somebody else. P: OK, OK. It is still your turn for this. Ive probed that. It is an Awakening Stone of the Locust. Ulrike sighs. I''ve conjured a sheath in the familiar color for my tricorder''s probe leaving only the tip black.
Name: Ulrike Kleinfelder
Race: Human
Progress to iron rank: 0%
Racial Gifts:
[Human Ambition]
[Special Attack Affinity]
[Essence Gift]
[Essence Gift]
[Essence Gift]
[Essence Gift]
P: See? She is tougher than you. No giant mess. Interlude VII - The Forensic Technicians Two busses and four trucks are stopping outside the gate guarding the entrance to the site of a nuclear power plant. Workers in disposable hazmat suits and N95 masks wearing dosimeters are dismounting. A work crew is putting up big white tents. Another crew is running a hose to a nearby small creek. They are carrying geiger counters and multiple crates of testing equipment. The work done, some of them don backpacks with precision GPS receivers. They look at tablets and lead a team each into the forest, accompanied by an assistant with a geiger counter on a pole. A few guards and people carrying plumbing equipment from a truck to the tent a hose from the truck the hose from the creek terminates at runs to remain. At the spots the GPS bearers stop, metal rods are driven into the soil, flags attached to them and somebody takes out an expensive camera, starting to make photographs as if storage space were unlimited and free. The operators of the geiger counter on a rod carefully walk the environs of the rods and in a few cases stick pegs with red flags in circular formation into the ground. Other workers are unpacking metal tubes and large hammers from crates. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Crews in lines slowly walk the the environs of the poles kept in straight lines exactly oriented north to south by the GPS people. Each second person is bearing a crystal on a pole they keep close to the ground. The other half thoroughly looks at the ground. From time to time one of them lifts a hand, whereupon the whole line stops, leaving them an opportunity to look at the ground with a magnifying glass, often pickung up objects with tweezers, putting them into a bag, which the GPS bearer carefully labels. Then a grid of wires is stretched across the location and at the intersections men with big hammers drive rods into the ground assisted by scaffoldings with integrated spirit levels. They retrieve inner rods from the outer rods, carefully label them and store them in crates. Returning to the tents people in hazmat suits enter one side of the tent, while people with wet hair in disposable clothing emerge from the other side and proceed to the busses. The crates holding the material results of the operation are loaded on trucks. -- A group of trucks unloads crates at a warehouse whose operating company even Google wouldnt know. Tempora mutantur Our convoy has arrived at its destination. I am getting wierd vibes. Wizards and their escorts have visually distinct equipment and clothing, escorts and wizards quite similar but not identical. People in the security services, who surround us in a base, know who or rather what we are. P: Something is wrong T: I am getting vibes of fear and revulsion. U: Can you sense what we are feeling? Thomas delivers a preliminary answer by hesitation. T: I am getting kind of trepidation from you. Silence. Should we lie to them? No, you cannot do that. -- ? The federal government has again affirmed that they expect the crisis to end within a month ? On the Indonesian island of Sulawesi the dead are rising. ? Following immediately a catastrophic intrusion zone hitting the metropolis of Makassar ? resolved by a broad international effort under the leadership of the Australian ? superhero Jason Asano another catastrophe has befallen that nation ? governments around the world and the GDN have refused to confirm that monsters ? have caused this calamity ? the federal government has called claims by the opposition that wizards are turning ? the dead into a weapon to frighten the people into accepting wizard overlordship ? ludicrous and baseless, bordering on outright insanity T: And so it begins U: Has a wizard done this? T: How am I supposed to know? I have no powers in that regard. Somebody else may have. D: Do you think a government has done this? P: What for? With all due respect for Sulawesi, it is not worth crossing that border. U: Are you thinking that this is an accident? P: Actually yes. Whoever did this will now be hunted. Youd have to be stupid to risk that for a weapons test. T: We will be associated with this anyway. D: That is likely. T: I mean as a group. And we will need to react. P: We have all seen X-Men. I like Magneto. U: So I thought. P: What do you mean by that? D: You are predictable P: Great minds think alike. Therefore they are predictable. D. That was predictable. T: People, seriously. People have a good reason to wish to control us. And we have a logical reason to avoid that. P: But you cannot look at somebody and tell that they are a wizard. D: Rademacher did look kind of strange. U: He looked oldfashioned. P: Not just that. Did you notice that he had absolutely clear skin? D: You are disturbingly good at remembering physical details of men. U: Darling! T: So you can confirm it? D: I repeat myself virtually. P: Do you want me to probe you again? Dejan is ostentatiously looking at the ceiliing
Name: Thomas Miller
Race: Human
Current rank: Iron
Progress to bronze rank: 0%
Attribute
Power: Gun Iron 0
Speed: Onslaught Iron 0
Spirit: Coral Iron 0
Recovery: Shield Iron 0
Gun:
[Midnight Eyes] Perception
(unused)
(unused)
(unused)
(unused)
Onslaught:
[Avid Poisoner] Aura
[Jump of the Poison Bug] Locust Special Attack
(unused)
(unused)
(unused)
Coral:
[Polyp basking in Sunlight] Special Ability
(unused)
(unused)
(unused)
(unused)
Shield:
[Stone Skin Armour] Special Ability
(unused)
(unused)
(unused)
(unused)
Interlude VIII - the GDN Meeting of the national committee of the Global Defense Network Classification: not applicable C internal to the GDN Location: Potsdam HQ of the GDN Participants: 1. representatives of the oversight commitees of Berlin(B), Hamburg(H), Munich(M), Cologne(C), and Leipzig(L) 2. special reporters on: * Grid Maintainance (1) * Morale, Recruiting and Leadership (2) * Political intelligence (3) B: Welcome to this meeting on basic policy. We will start with a report on political intelligence. 3: Thank you. The government has been shaken by the events of Makassar. We have reports that they are considering large concessions to the Americans L: You mean capitulation C: Can we do this with some decorum? 3: They are reassessing the efficacy of their own efforts B: Very well, our morale? 2: Our morale is bad and declining. Our people find themselves associated with unsavoury elements. B: Beyond predictions? 2: No, but at the lower range of the predictions. B: Good. Grid Maintainance? 1: We will come online within the next 20 days. This is a certainty now. M: Finally. H: Does the government know? 1: Yes. Again, that is a certainty. Their predictions are as good as ours. Somebody is feeding them information. H: We will need to make them an offer L: If we decide to keep dealing with them C: We will have to make them an offer anyway and it has to look credible L: True B: As they know that have we gotten something from them? 3: Actually yes. Over the official channels they are offering us status as a religion with full internal autonomy and an extension of the equality article. H: That is below the bare minimum. So what is the inofficial offer? 3: They want to give us the upper house. Election of the state delegates by essence magicians, as they call it. B: That is a very big concession on their part. They are ditching principles. L: It is not enough. C: What would be enough. L: One of you ruling this country. You are always acting as if I wanted that for myself. That is nonsense. B: What you are proposing is very, very risky. M: We could most likely beat them if we do a surprise strike. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.B: And then, can we rule. H: We would not get them. They must have taken that option into consideration. M: We could still beat them. H: We would not fight them alone. If you want to drive them into the arms of the Americans thats the best way to do it. L: There are certain other factions that can be persuaded to be on our side. C: Not this again. I wont feed people to vampires B: Peace. Lets work out a proposal we could live well with. We can decide later when circumstances are clearer based on their response, what we will do. L: Acceptable. C: Are very good idea. How much can we ask? Expert opinion? 3: The current chancellor is not one to fight a losing battle for the sake of fighting. He will, however, go for extreme measures if that is what it takes, as long as there is a real chance of winning. M: Brains and balls, but no spine? 3: That is not entirely wrong a description. H: So what do we need? B: The armed forces. We must be able to make sure that nobody can turn the guns against us. M: Is there anything the government will surely not give us? 3: The budget. They will want to keep the money. And theyll insist on at least an equal say in legislation. And the selection of the government. C: OK, so we suggest that the command over the armed forces is returned to the president, like in other countries and have the upper house elect the president. H: That is a bit too blatant, but basically workable. C: So we change the mode of election? 3: If I may, we could change the selection of the elected electors M: They could still extend the lower house to bloat our majority down. B: So we write a set number of seats of the lower house intio the deal. L: That is acceptable. Lets write some more powers of the president into our proposal so that we have to drop something in negotiations. H: We also need the constitutional court, so that we determine what the agreement means. C: Have the president and each of the chambers appoint judges in equal numbers. B: Very well. Do we have agreement? - common agreement - H: You did agree too easily L: It will not matter. They are going to reject it or renege at the first major crisis. Mark my words. Elysium est locus mundi Good news at breakfast. I am now to have more protected civil rights. The government has proposed a change to the constitution that bans discrimination based on having essences or essence abilities and allows free use of abilities unless they cause direct harm to other people. It has already passed the lower house. Well, it could be worse. And, lo, it becomes worse. We are retasked. Officially. Factually I would call it put on standby and given a task to prevent stupid thoughts. I resent that. I have more stupid thoughts while taking a shower than other people in a whole month. I am now a teacher of applied ritualistics and my students are supposed to arrive the day after tomorrow. In the mean time I am officially charged with coming up with a schedule. I have no idea how many students Ill get. What kind of students. How many materials. I am not even sure where to teach. In other words: bullshit And the detection device has been ?repurposed. I do have another device and the world of the sixth sense, which my tricorder calls an aura sense, to enter. This sounds like I believe in healing crystals, but I suppose people who are hoarding healing potions have no standing to complain in that regard, so henceforth aura sense it shall be. In short, I do not mind. There is one exception, though. Technically two students are already present. Ulrike and Dejan have been made students. Ridiculous. Thomas and I have put the students on preliminary leave. Now we are doing aura science. So far we have not succeeded in finding anything but people that has an aura. Vegetation we have tested in particular. Nothing. Also nothing I can conjure has an aura. Nor does my aura change in a detectable manner while conjuring. Right now I am conjuring a cup. Purple mist develops and in about half a second a cup is resting on the floor. I dismiss it. The process reverses. Thomas, who stands with his eyes closed and his back turned to me, does not react. The experimental protocol is that I throw a coin and depending on the outcome either conjure something or not. We both note the result. He is insisting on repeating this very often for statistical significance. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.Have I mentioned that [Equip the Army] is among my favorite abilities? I have switched to wearing only conjured socks and underwear. Wet after a shower? [Equip the Army] gives you a soft towel. I have overcome my initial horror at finding that the absorbed water vanishes together with the dismissed towel. OK, [Dance to my will] helps to really dry your back. In case you wondered, it cannot do the job alone. It only works on solid objects. Ive tested that. We switch to testing [Dance to my Will]. That is a solid hit. I change colour, as he puts it, when I move anything. His hit quota is an unbeatable 100%. That actually annoys him a little bit. You cannot calculate error bars with 100% hits. -- Life has gotten even better. In recognition of the legislatures intent to ban discrimination based on having essences the ban on us using cafeterias has been lifted. Ice cream is the best thing in the world. Fries. Ketchup. Cucumber salad in vinegar. Rice with gravy. The cooks show a surprising amount of understanding for people who get very small portions of many things. -- Ive hit a new low point. We are doing parapsychology. The classic guessing the cards. I am a failure. I do get an interesting result with pictures. Apparently Thomas loves birds. I get a statistically significant quota of hits in detecting when he looks at a picture of birds. He can even calculate error bars. I love science as much as the next nerd, but this guy is another category. We are left pondering how to turn this into a repeatable experiment for publication when the time for dinner arrives. The joy is even larger if you can share it with friends. We decree that fraternization of teachers and students is permissible. U: You did the tests like in Ghostbusters? P: Yes, well, we used ordinary playing cards. No joy. D: You need to use electric shocks. He has seen the movie. No question about that. T: But apparently pictures with emotional content do give a result. P: But we are working on turning this into a repeatable experiment independent of the test subject. D: That is easy. Use porn. That man is a genius. -- Major Carstens is meeting his favorite spy S: What are your instruction? MC: We freeze the project. S: Merely freeze. MC: What the government redicides, it may redecide again. As long as I do not get specific written orders, we do not throw away options. Pecunia pro nihil Dejan has been a genius. Hence we are punishing him for that. Did they really expect that they can give nerds capabilities and theyd not backdoor them? Let me explain. We can sense strong emotions. Emotions are something that you can deliberately evoke. Let me demonstrate that. Imagine those scenarios: You open up a closed toilet only to find that the last user has done a number 2 and not flushed. You are stranded on a deserted resort island only to find that you share it with Gal Gadot emerging from a pool in a skimpy red swimsuit. (Assuming you are male, straight and single) Are you telling me that you did not feel distinct emotions when really imagining that? Two distinct states. You can transfer information. You can use that even from muggle to wizard. Thus poor Dejan is now tossing a coin and using two distinct mental images, while Thomas, who is better at the reading emotions stuff, is recording what he gets. A simple variation on the mind reading tests of parapsychology. I have gone shopping. Yesterday we shocked the base supply officer by requesting 120 kg of table salt, 40 sponges, 40kg of playground sand and 40 sets of colored childrens chalk as well as 80 bottles of spray paint soluble in acetone and a bottle of acetone. Those are the supplies you need if you are to teach an unknown number of people rituals. They are documented as stuff wizards need. He capitulated. Not easily, but Thomas with the ability to read emotions is fearsome at that kind of task. So today I put in a request for some video equipment. He folded right away and sent me shopping. We are about to start recording videos for ritualist training. That is not a pretense. We are toying with the idea of becoming YouTubers, as today we were greeted with another piece of news on TV during breakfast. Have I told you how good a buttered toast is after weeks of spirit coins only? ? The government has introduced further constitutional changes equating ? organizations of essence users to religions with full internal autonomy ? and their rituals to religious texts ? The Federal Office of Statistics has published new numbers showing that the number ? of people dying by monster activity is going down ? The parliamentary proposal by the Liberal Party to scrap the estate tax as, we quote, ? ?The state must not enrich itself on the death of people eaten by monsters ? is generating further controversy and a call by the parties on the Left ? to raise pensions for dependants of those killed by monster attack and ? in the armed services They are selling out to the Network. It is payback time. Constitutionally protected payback time. I think the break in routine has done it. We had a task that was saving lives. I genuinely believe that. The roads must roll. It was a small task, but small tasks need doing, too. They showed us utter disregard. Well not us, but our meaning. Had they just sent us to fight monsters after monsters, we would have gone. That, however, has done it. We have admitted it to ourselves. There is no going back to our old lives. Not after the third essence. We know too much. We are too much. We had already written ourselves off. You do not come back from being a walking ghost unaltered. The only open question is the degree to which you admit it. Stolen story; please report.Am I really complaining about not being killed in a series of hopeless fights? -- I am escaping hypothetical observers and obvious identification by the general population. People do not expect people in federal service to be wearing a purple jumpsuit. I even have managed a certain similarity to the uniforms of the Trek prequel under Captain Archer. And then I use [Eternal Moment] to unobservably leave a toilet stall of a shopping centre. I am browsing how to use WikiLeaks. Very informative. -- We have been informed that the arrival of students will be delayed by one more day. Thomas being as happy as a statistical clam, I decide to go play with my device. I am getting the UI more and more. You are not supposed to select options but to ask questions. It looks like my experience with conventional computers is hurting me. Am I carrying a piece of alien technology? I calm my mind and hope to get something new. I am rewarded:
New message Your ability [Equip the Army] has reached Iron 1
My abilities have sublevels?
Battlefield:
[Equip the Army] Iron 1 (3%) Special Ability
[Robotic Servants of War] Technolgy Iron 0 (0%) Special Attack/Conjuration
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
They do. Why have they increased in one case?
Help: [Ability], (Upranking) Expression of the (Soul) giving an (Essence Magician) powers. They come in 5 [ranks] with 10 (sublevels). They are increased by (usage) accord to their [type], (training) and (meditation) or the usage of [monster cores].
The help surely is improving in quality. Remarkable technology. Wait. What? Souls are real? We are supposed to do what? Shinobi to iu na no d艒gu A part of our students are arriving during breakfast. Outrageous. Weve tossed a coin. Thomas is still eating. Damn. It turns out that with the draft reinstituted, somebody protested that this means that gender equality is violated, which it is, but that the constitution says what it says, so we are getting a group a group of female, socially disadvantaged high school leavers from Berlin. The criteria of their selection was being good at mathematics and art in school. That is not entirely wrong. Obviously rituals are drawings, so art is a component. But you design something. You cannot give a ritualistic problem and point to the one solution. You cannot even predict that a ritual will have a desired effect. You can do a mathematical analysis of equivalency to another ritual. That is why they could write a game. Even that allows you only to show that rituals are equivalent, if they work, and not that they work and the algorithm is ony semidecidable. Ritualism is closest to circuit design or programming, if you get away from the idea of one arrow of execution. That is a very long winded way to say that I am not happy. If we are unlucky we will have to teach remedial mathematics. And I am not a teacher. I am sending them to get their supplies and rely on Ulrike and Thomas to settle them down. P: Eighteen year old girls. From Berlin-Neuk?lln. U: You were once eighteen. P: But not from Neuk?lln U: Stop looking for excuses for having failed before you have even begun P: I am no teacher U: How long ago is it that you were no wizard? Soldiers are toting in two large crates. The bus driver approaches me, holding a CD cover in one hand and a paperclip holder in the other ?You have to sign for the software -- Dejan is a genius. Getting the students to set up the equipment is allowing him to look at girls being made to work, Ulrike to take notes on their behavior, Thomas to set up the server and me to probe myself. I have to stop thinking of it so. I will call it ?magomechanically assisted navel gazing. Much better, isnt it? Thomas was outright eager to leave me idle when I told him that I have found a method to make abilities stronger. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Lets start with an the help entry for usage.
Ability: [Joy of sustained Fire] (Gun) Special Attack (missile, drain, boon, bane, unholy) Cost: variable - low with conjured weapons and ammunition, moderate with conjured weapons and other munitions, high with other weapons Effect: After a threshold of consecutive missile attacks inflict [Victim of a sadistic killer] on the target and [Sadistic killer] on the user. Only works on targets with blood or sap. [Victim of a sadistic killer] (affliction, unholy): Once for each bleeding wound caused by user or an ally of the user with a missile weapon or periodically while suffering [Bleeding] drain mana and stamina. This effect must be cleansed before [Bleeding] can be cleansed. [Serial killer] (boon, bane, unholy): Gather drains from sufferers of [Victim of a sadistic killer]. For each of them dieing gain a small healing effect. Attacks by sufferers of [Victim of a sadistic killer] do not trigger retaliatory effects. Damage incured by karmic effects triggered by attacks on sufferers of [Victim of a sadistic killer] is increased.
That is a sobering read. And a mistake. It shows me the first ability I used. I need to change my approach. I am going for meditation as a topic. That gets me a video named ?Instructional video #1. In the words of a character my mistake reminded me of: That is a bingo. -- We are meeting in the laundry room again. If they have listening devices that work with multiple machines in the loud part of their cycle we are doomed anyway. Our ears have become better at picking up soft sounds among loud sounds, too. That is the second communication idea Thomas has come up with. The first is a signalling system based on aura and emotions. He has picked four basic emotions * disgust (toilet) * lust (Gal Gadot in bikini) * delight (playing with a cat) * sadness (dead friends) That gives us 4 x 3 x 3 combinations if we stick with three emotions in a row. He has made a list of code words. But it is not fit for conversations. T: What do you have to show? P: We have to learn meditation. I have gotten instructions. To this day I regret that the instructions said that your eyes have to be closed. I so would have liked to see the facial expression Ulrike and Dejan showed as they walked in on us sitting in a lotus position with eyes closed and naked upper bodies and no shoes facing each other on top of washing machines. Et nos mutamur in illis Consciously thinking about not thinking is of course a contradiction. Nevertheless not thinking is a state that is central to quite a lot of human cultures. Having issues with that while accepting aliens, magic and souls would be absurd. That does not make it easy. Nor do I know how good I need to become. I should have recorded a base line earlier, but if one session is so effective, it does not matter what I record here either.
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 0 (86%)
[Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 0 (91%)
[This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (45%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Vast:
[Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 0 (26%)
[Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 0 (6%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Dimension:
[Teleport] Special Ability Iron 0 (15%)
[Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 0 (90%)
[Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 0 (5%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Battlefield:
[Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 1 (7%)
[Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
T: So you are saying the usage of cores versus the other methods is a global variable and irreversible? Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.P: Yes, so it appears. T: Then using cores means making yourself depend on finding and entering intrusions. While otherwise you could for example play batman. P: That is true, but we are still left with the question of how to get more Awakening Stones. T: Would you care? What is the consequences of empty slots? Going hungry for power? P: I am not sure. More navel gazing will be required. T: But you can rank up powers while you have empty slots? P: Yes, I have direct experimental evidence for that. Well, at least for the Special Ability type. T: We need a way to measure the effect of that. P: A lot of work T: True. It may not be feasible if we need to teach at the same time. But it is odd. P: Yes, they cannot possibly expect us to finish within the time they promise to finish this crisis. T: You are thinking it is just propaganda? P: Then why are we specifically teaching? They have other wizards. T: So they are contemplating needing ritualists. P: You think we are a contingency plan and they traded the detection device away for something else? T: I wish we positively knew things. P: Do you want to go back to your old life? T: Rather than teaching school girls? Yes. If I could do science on magic? No. You? P: I wanted to change my old life. But certain things I wanted are not available to a single man. T: That is not helpful. And, I hesitate to mention it, but how good has that potion been? We were exposed to a lot of radiation. P: You are thinking cancer? T: No, or rather, we are too valuable for that now, even as contingencies. I talked to my doctors, when we were tested. P: So did I. What are you referring to? T: You sounded like you were talking about marriage and children. P: Fuck ... T: Indeed. That hurt unexpectedly hard. P: Another option, we do not have to stay in this country. I would have thought that they wouldn''t let us go, but if they are serious about that constitution thing, we could emigrate. T: The grass is not greener on the other side. That is an illusion. I am kidding myself. There is a time bomb in my storage space. P: True. I just do not trust the promised peace. T: You are thinking about who is behind the intrusions? That they''ll come themselves? Or who is behind the superheros? P: The former. T: Chewing the unknowable. If they come with irresistable force, nobody will ask us whether mankind should surrender. It would be up to the nuclear powers. Raibaru gekitotsu! Otomegokoro wa honki m艒do The simple joys in life are to be appreciated. A hard boiled egg consumed out of the shell with a sprinkling of salt. It turns out closing your eyes and humming in appreciation tends to elicit a response from Dejan and Ulrike I want to avoid. P: We were meditating. D: I like meditation. I think that was a lewd remark. But I am not sure. Police training has unexpected use cases. P: We were meditating. Essence magicians can get better at their abilities by meditating. U: You said you need stones. T: It is a quality versus quantity thing. Stones get you more abilities, but there is also a way to improve your existing abilities. P: In fact I think we should integrate meditation in our teaching. It had been a lewd remark. I can just imagine what is going through his mind. I like this man for his power of imagination. I just wish he would believe me in certain regards. P: I am still thinking that if they let us kill and loot monsters again, you two will get the next essences and you are technically students now. T: Plus we want to be good at this job. And this means training up not just narrow ritualists. I am not ready to test out what happens if we cease to be useful. P: What are the other police people here thinking? D: Mainly that the government is ready to lose a lot of police and military to keep transportation and the economy running. T: Are we looking at a possible revolt? U: Mostly no. We knew what we were signing up for. And for draftees to be out of basic training it is too early. Most of them have been turned into glorified ushers for the evacuation efforts anyway. Colleagues coming from those convoys have to deal with them. T: Mostly? D: You always have malcontents. They are minority and likely to remain. The question, however, is what happens if the government and the Network clash. P: Didnt you tell me not to worry about such things. U: No. We told you not to worry about such things while the war is still in full swing. The numbers are suggesting that itll soon end. In fact, that we are here and not convoying suggests that. There is a future now. D: That reminds me. Darling? U: Yes. You two are invited to our wedding the day after tomorrow. Wartime exception on waiting periods. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. -- This late morning explains it all. We are getting the other batch. It turns out to be a batch of well mannered, well, at least well educated and doing well daughters of families of civil servants, academics and politicians. And in their case it is clear that they actually graduated from high school. They are members of the Foundation for the Advancement of Preternatural Knowledge in the Public Interest, which just happens to get tax exemption, tax deductability for donations, generous public funding and other advantages, straight from the federal fund for gender equality. And the training assignment is classified as confidential. I admire the cunning. Thomas is miffed. P: We are going to include meditation in the curriculum. I want those girls to write nice letters home. T: But P: In this case I really have to insist. -- ? Mysteries still surround the ?Butterflys of Makassar and the hunt for the culprit still continues ? with neither the GDN nor governments confirming that monsters were responsible ? for the necromantic emergency. ? The government has announced a scrapping of land ownership taxes in the B and C zones, to be ? counterfinanced by a two year long surcharge on land taxes in the A zone. Members of the ? conservative party announced insisting on pressing exemption for farmers in the tax bill, ? citing a need to improve the food situation world wide. ? The FAO and WHO are again raising vocal criticism against the decisions of India, China ? and the USA to put legal limits on grain exports ? ?The World is fighting this together. It also needs to eat together. ? Riots over the spike in food prices are reported to continue in Egypt. ? The government has announced plans to keep the state of war in effect until the C zones ? have been resettled. Quoting the chancellor: ? ?Our nation is at war as long as citizens are displaced, not just as long as ? new invaders are arriving ? The Constitutional Court has granted an emergency motion to reinstate the leader ? of the nationalist opposition party, who was forcibly removed from parliament ? in a tumultous scene involving fist fights, after she asked when the Air Force ? would bomb the chancellory, as that is the place that originated ? the ?usupatorial decrees that have driven so many citizens from their homes. I like TV with lunch. Well, our terms of enlistment are to be lengthened. Splendid. It could be worse. -- Lunch was exceptionally good. That should have warned us. Food right before such occasions tends to be better. Souls are real. Who else knows what is real? Suicide is not an option. A special messenger has arrived. We need to write regular, detailed reports on the state of our training efforts. Interlude IX - The medical examiners Dr. med. Ernst Seitenhuber and his great-nephew Kasimir Seitenhuber are entering a rarely used morgue the GDN has rented. K: Great-uncle, I dont really understand why this is so urgent that you need to call me away from doing detection rituals. Casualties are only down because there are fewer potential vulnerable sites and frankly because the idiots who refuse to evacuate are undercounted. E: I am calling you away, precisely it is not over. We need to prepare for what may come later. K: Such as? E: Do you want the EOA let get away with doing this to us? K: Why not? They have hurt themselves a lot more than us. Time is working for us. E: Assuming that is true, dont they know that? K: You are saying that theyll strike again, when the Grid goes online again. E: Yes. And you have not been fully briefed about the ?Atomic Battle. We saw our healing potion fail. K: Fail? E: They technically worked but they did not fix the underlying damage. K: Some forms of mental illness and genetic damage like trisomy-21 are beyond what potions can do, so it does not entirely surprise me. E: I am not asking for you to be surprised. I am asking for you to be worried. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.K: We wont let monsters surprise us again near a nuclear power plant. E: And the EOA? A long silence. K: In principle one could could weaponize stuff like the mobile X-ray tubes you use for checking metal for hidden cracks. Or uncle, are you thinking well have a nuclear war? E: No. Though you cannot uninvent the bomb and if I look at the food riots in the Middle East K: You think well learn stuff from corpses? E: I am not ready to rule it out. We need data. K: You are right. -- K: Uncle, we are missing corpses. E: Which rank? K: Let me check We lost category-3 fighters? They turned into rainbow smoke? E: Presumably. But you are right we need to correlate their mission tracks with the recordings of massive release events. K: EOA grave robbers E: Corpse robbers would be more accurate I think. You are good with computers? K: Yes uncle. -- K: Everybody accounted for. I even checked the signatures. In most cases I get matches E: Most? K: Yes. Major mana releases or rituals for that matter can obliterate a signature E: Very well. It was a battle. Lets check how many died from radiation on the site. K: Good. I have the dosimeter readings of some of them at least. Some dosimeters were not properly recorded. E: This is going to be a long night. Shiren! Sabaibaru ensh奴 My skin erupts in bloody sores I am happy to wake up at 5:23 under those circumstances. Am I developing PTSD? Is this a side effect of starting to meditate? Well, lets see whether meditation helps with falling asleep again. No, it does not. At least not if you have a tricorders incorporeal voice - yes this thing has a voice mode - guide your through it. Well, lets be honest. I am to teach 44 girls and one very pleased Dejan today during the morning alone while Thomas is shopping for a suit to wear at the upcoming wedding. Itll be my turn in the afternoon. Weve thrown a coin. Further navel gazing has told me how advancement of attributes works. We need more awakening stones. And eventually I need to use all my abilities. I hesitate to let anybody know about those relevant for escaping. So I compromise by training my most complex ability. I hit a hard problem with that during all my earlier experiments. My servant has to be mobile. Rules of magic. Reason unknown. But I do not know how to walk. Dont get me wrong, I can walk, but I dont really know how I do it well enough to write instructions. The alternative would be a ritual with a quintessence of the foot or swiftness or something related. I dont have those. But I do know how to control an aircraft in three dimensions. I take my creations out of my inventory. It is basically a paper airplane on steroids with a few control surfaces and a push propeller I stick on the tail. Apparently I could use rituals to imbue metal parts with mana, but my conjured stuff would also work, albeit crumble to nothing if it gets too far away from me for too long, like anything I conjure with [Equip the Army]. I head for the classroom. If this works, why not use it for a demonstration of what magic can do? I pour my ritual circle from salt. I do it with very little need to correct. I put the conjured object and my instructive piece of paper into the center of the circle. What my mind has planned, my hand formed, my mana filled and my pen taught, my will now set in motion. I call upon thee, finely wrought servant, do my bidding! If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. The thing has an aura. It is faint, but it is definite. I take it in my hand, ?circle around the lamp in the ceiling, 50 cm below the ceiling, in a circle with 3 meters diameter at a speed of 2 meters per second, set up a supply of mana and throw it. It works! This is worth admiring for a few minutes. Now, how do I stop this? -- Raisins in a bowl of oats with milk and some sugar. It is worth killing for. In fact, I killed for far less. And, no, I do not regret it. Or does tonights nightmare mean that I do? I dont care. P: Ive created something artificial with an aura. I pull out my little servant. T: Fascinating. His eyebrows dont move. Disappointing. D: Sensei, ready for teaching? P: No, therefore I have decided to go full shock and awe. D: Youll shoot one of them to encourage the others? P: Am I allowed to? U: People! This is not funny. T: It is. U: Men! She must never get an Eye essence. P: I was wondering whether we can use our students to influence people, namely their parents, in government. U: Probably, but what relevations do you have to offer? They are not going to be impressed by your views on transatlantic trade policy. It needs to be substantial and new. P: There are indeeed a few simple rituals you need a full set of essences to do. U: That has potential -- They are feeling a mixture of boredom, annoyance and insecurity ready to turn into aggression. A few feel fear. There is a chance I will lose them by what I am about to do. I push through the double doors at a brisk pace and walk to the front of the hall. Then I go to 175% hulk mode. The 200% mode would have been forced to stoop. The hulk form has no issues talking louder than normal people: I am your first teacher. I am also a full essence magician. You are here to learn a small part of that power, the part that can be powered with the little trickle of magic in the world without essences. We will begin with you learning the component parts of the simplest ritual Confarreatio alba SUNDAY OF THE WEDDING Teachers get sundays off. So do students. Nevertheless, that students pick that day to marry is so far unprecedented in our class. This wedding is above all short. I really approve. I never understood why a celebration of two people who are now supposed to do stuff that is usually associated with privacy involves drawn out celebrations with many people present who keep them from said privacy. Is it true that until a few centuries ago couples were formally led to their bedchamber? If so, our ancestors still knew what really matters in life. The rest of the day Thomas and I spent training and meditating. T: So you need to train the attributes, although the advancement of your attributes depends on the least advanced ability of that essence? P: I am getting were strong vibes to that effect. T: It makes no sense. P: If theory and experiment conflict, experiment must prevail. T: How long have you waited to make that quote? P: You just dont like ?Memory and ?Tetris. T: Do I have to repeat what you said about running around the yard in circles? P: You win. We can proceed to pumping iron. Pump we do. In fact we are getting confused and aggressive glances in the gym. ? Are you on magical steroids? I am tired of this. ?Yes. In a certain sense. Magic itself is a steroid. - ?so you are making the weights disappear with magic. This man wants a confrontation. Is it better to avoid it? Forgot that, do I want to avoid it? No. Male ego, but so what? I still cannot risk a fight, this man has no essences, his aura confirms that, but he may still know a martial art and I do not. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.?Arm against arm. Are you up to it?, I challenge him. I am getting satisfaction and relief of a job well done from him beyond. Too late to back out. That man has enormous upper arms. I think he is on steroids. He wins, but it takes him three minutes of grunting effort. That has shifted the mood. Better to leave for meditation. T: Did you see that guy with the phone following us? I think he noted our weight settings. Now it makes sense. Somebody is reporting on our capabilities. -- And I was an idiot. You do not need to walk to move on land. I am introducing ?Dalek #1 my first land combat servant. He is a hovercraft. I gave him a weapon. An iron spike on an appendage folded down on his flank I have imbued with mana. Basically he looks like a purple traffic cone on a meshed cylinder with an arm that can move in one degree of freedom and carries a spike instead of a hand. Have I mentioned that this is experimental? And just to make this clear. I can use only one at a time. And the cooldown for switching to another one (30 minutes) begins when I deactivate the old one or it is destroyed. But I can have as many of them as fit in my storage space. MONDAY Fate is not nice to the newlywed forever. At 6:05 general combat alarm is triggered. We assemble in the yard in full combat gear. Nobody can see that I am wearing purple socks and underwear. A leutenant pulls all four of us into a Stryker vehicle and we rush outside. A ship on the river is under attack and we are supposed to get the soldiers and the wizard off it. We have a report that they are fighting monster crocodiles. On the site it is even worse the six legged crocodiles have support. Incorporal whirlwinds and blobs of mud are supporting them. Seitenhubers report Abstract of Seitenhubers article in Arcane Martial Proceedings The efficacy of standard category 1 healing potions against acute lethal injuries caused by ionising radiation in category 1 essence users is found not to be statistically distinguishable from zero. Reliable curative effects against sublethal doses is found --- Kasimir and Ernst Seitenhuber are driving to a meeting. K: Uncle, why not look also at the higher categories? Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.E: Effort. Too few of them died from radiation alone. We wouldnt get reliable results quickly. K: We should do it. E: Eventually. Who of us complained about being taken off the detection program for no reason? K: I just dont like half done jobs. E: Then you should never start anything in science, because science is never finished. K: You are deliberately difficult. E: Yes. I do not take joy in messing with corpses of people Ive known for decades. We are not historians. We are healers respectively alchemists. Our main concern must be for the living and the future. K: Thats why we are driving to this meeting. E: Yes, I already got permission to order 150 pigs, but we need somebody higher up to sign off on using so many ingredients for potion research under the current conditions. K: It still feels wrong to jump to investigating counters. E: Do you want something effective in your belt in case you have to face radiation weapons? Currite in colles We hear the battle before we see it. That is not unusual. Firearms, conjured or constructed, are loud. We also sense it with our aura senses. What we sense is terrifying. T: That is, I am afraid a number of category 3 auras. D: How do you know? Have you ever sensed one? T: Nothing else would be so strong that we could pick it up at such distances. Our aura senses are not that great. D: What do we do? P: Go and fight. If they were only friendly, this battle would already be over. If they were only hostile, this battle would already be over. We are cresting a hill and getting into view of of the river and the people already present. We are about to get on TV. Well, maybe they are YouTubers, though that truck has a satellite dish on its roof. By nature I am a bit shy. But that ship has sailed. We need to look good. In the face of disturbances in the air, animated blobs of mud guarding the shorelines of the river and crocodiles with six legs that have not yet obliterated the partially beached ship only because they cannot make up their minds between tearing a hole into the hull and climbing onto the deck. Possibly the explosive and tear gas grenades the ships defenders are tossing onto them does have something to do with that. U: This is your chance to look like great battle wizards. Anonymity is not going to work for you any longer. Now is your chance to be useful and famous. Great minds think alike. And of course it is a chance to be ridiculous. Or to die, but then it wont matter. However, flying around like that guy in spandex wearing a canary yellow cape with a black fist painted on it is too far into the territory of ridicule to my taste. And I am of two minds. Of course it is stupid of Superman to wear his underpants outside his tights. But then of course it means that he is wearing tights over his legs, be they shaved or not, and not just a very, very tight leotard, which may technically cover things, but only in terms of colour, not of shape. He is definitely the source of a category 3, or, as my tricorder insists on calling it, silver rank aura. The others are also wearing spandex and running around the ship, most of them on the water. But why are they beating up three mermaids with silver rank auras? Thomas is informing the captain via the intercom, that the mermaids are category 3, the crocodiles a mixture of high end category 1 and the lowest end of category 2, while the rest is low to medium category 1. His aura senses work better. ?Vehicles, stop for dismounting infantry. Use your cannons on the crocodiles, but only if you have a clear field of fire. When in doubt, hold your fire. We are going in. In terms of firepower, not actually, obviously. Nobody of us is going to go into melee with a monster like that and do any good. My understanding of my abilities and how abilities are trained has changed my approach. I take out my modified aerial servant. I have modified it a little to carry a moderate payload. Nobody notices as I also retrieve a hand grenade with its splitter jacket removed. In that configuration my servant can carry it and its added hook appendage can pull the pin. I target it at one of the blobs. Probably overkill, but a kill is a kill. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.Then I start shooting, joining the soldiers giving off carefully aimed slow shots at this distance. I want to get [Victim of a sadistic killer] into durable targets. I conjure my assault rifle and make a crocodile eat a burst. It dies. Some of our men actually cheer me on for scoring our first kill. The second crocodile monster does the job. Now I should systematically wound more crocodiles and let the rest of the men inflict more wounds. I begin to understand the names my tricorder gave to these afflictions. The crocodile monsters far away from the ship fall victim to cannon fire. Good but not useful to me personally. By all experience we have gained so far and the military textbooks I have started reading, our commanding officer is doing everything right. He has identified our strategic goal C save the ships crew He has identified our strength C we have an advantage in range He has devised correct tactics C use that fire superiority immediately against an enemy too stupid to react correctly. It still fails. A mermaid emits a warbling screech. Most of the crocodiles on land throw themselves into the water and start diving under the ship turning it into a shield against us, to attack it from the other side. About a fifth of the disturbances drift towards us. Our commander is not tactically blind either. He directs the men with magical weapons to concentrate fire on the sides of the attackers and then walk it inward, lest we waste ammo on immaterial targets and are harder to surround. I curse and switch to the weapon Rademacher gave me and I never returned. It builds up a charge within the corkscrew and emits it when I so command. It seems to be made for close combat, lacking any kind of aids for aiming. That does not stop me from using it for long range shooting given my racial ability. It still doesnt have a high rate of discharge, althoug the entities approaching us dont take many bolts to rip apart into showers of white dust. Our men with conventional arms are getting nervous, firing on those things, their bullets being deflected into impossible directions, even killing a particular unlucky shooter with his own bullet, but doing no damage. Against an enemy that is too stupid to scare but is directed by an external intelligence only overwhelming firepower able to eliminate the enemy would help. We dont have it. Smoke grenades are thrown and the men with conventional guns ordered to retreat. I curse as the smoke also obscures my aim. My weapon is no good for this situation. I conjure my assault rifle, jump to my feet C why? I dont know. An instinct to run away, to better see or to get into a close range fight on my feet C and go into continous fire from the hip with my right arm and squeeze a few force bolts off whenever I see something. A magical assault rifle does not overheat. As long as I have the mana, I can do this. Thanks to Thomas and a few afflicted crocodiles catching bullets my mana goes down steeply, but not yet catastrophically. An armoured car of ours races forward, in a dash a danger to our own men, commiting to a suicide charge. Pulchra es ?Run, I can escape them to the front, I try ordering Ulrike, Dejan and Thomas. They likely cannot hear me as at the same time a 30mm chain gun opens fire and its explosive ammo is scattered. A splinter grazes my left thigh on the inner side very close to areas really dear to my heart. I drop to the ground. The entities have surrounded the Stryker. I am not in a state to do something about them. Dejan is on me having opened his first aid kit. Before I can obey his order to apply pressure to the wound with the dressing he is trying to hand to me. A Stryker spinning around all three axes of space passes so closely over us that we would be killed were we standing upright. Its engine and weapons have fallen silent. A whirlwind dispersing the output of the smoke grenades develops in under two seconds. We are getting help. Beams of white light come from the river hitting the entities now so high in the sky surrounding the APC that the line of fire from the river is easy. Blue beams from two people standing next to a BMW on the other side of the river join the barrage. The Stryker explosively disassembles. A flying man whose torso forms an equilateral triangle catches one of the crew. This is not a time for hesitation. I retrieve a health potion looted from Rademachers corpse. His potions have a screwed on lid. That takes time and my aura ability to unscrew it, while my other hand is doing double duty pressing on a bandage and validating the unscathed nature of an anatomical feature. We cost the superheros. The mermaids decide to reinvent themselves. One turns into a gigantic frog promptly launching itself into the air. The second turns into something that is practically all tentacles, its true anatomy hidden by the water of the canal it is completely immersed in. The third turns into a reptile, but not a lizard, but something with it legs going straight down from its hip and shoulders, with whole bundles of spikes on hips, back, shoulders and head. The lid is finally off. The customary pain hits. Here now I must make a remark. A health potion heals. It is not an analgesic. Being healed hurts if it acts upon a substantial wound. So as I am again ready to face the world and roll over to peek at the scene of distruction, things have changed. I am looking at a ship that is absolutely done for with a gigantic frog sitting on its broken off tail end. The front end is rapidly drawing water while coal is spilling into the river. Dejan, Ulrike and I are in the fore of our unit. Behind and beside us a superhero is putting down an injured man into the care of a returned combat medic and, as far as I can see past him, which is surprisingly hard, Thomas is being addressed obscured by an enourmous set of shoulders. Without the distraction the leg wound provided I can no longer ignore my aura sense being overwhelmed. He does not feel hostile. That would have made me yell and scamper away in panic on all four. This is rather like being in a ships hold together with a poorly secured heavy barrel. I have to get away. The best way to do that is down, meaning forward towards the battle. There is no valiant charge at the enemy. Thanks to Thomas and the afflicted crocodiles putting themselves into the enthusiastic, damaging, but ultimately not lethal gun fire of police forces on the other bank, I have been recharged. Crocodiles are climbing ramps of spilled coal. The frog on the tail end is exchanging balls of corrosive spit against bolts of blue magic energy with somebody on the other bank. A superhero is hanging from the throat of an early archosaur with dermal armour and spikes, stabbing it into the throat with a sword held in reverse grip. Two more silver rank auras come from a frothing spot in the middle of the river. I conjure my sniper rifle, unstore a mana potion and activate [Eternal Moment]. I send off dozens of shots, at all the crocodiles climbing up the ruins of the hold, one returned to land on our side, the frog to distract it with a few stings from nowhere and one of the blobs. I also set my servant plane to carry another grenade to drop on the frog and down the potion. I will not be able to repeat this, meaning that if worst comes to worst, I may have to teleport, so I am scanning the other side for secluded destinations. This time I am double lucky. I afflict the frog. And one of the mage on the other banks bolts of energy hit. While I am advancing straining my eyes for a nice hidden spot in the distance, the frog shrieks. The entities stop to circle the ship occasionly swooping down at an unlucky crew member to advance against the police forces on the other side of the river. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Do gods exist? If so, they have decided to love me today. I take cover and conjure up my biggest rifle. The people on the other side? Well, sometimes shit happens. They had had to help themselves and they are helping themselves. A cloud of yellow fog is arising from a seemingly abandoned truck, forming a wall along the shore line. The first two entities running into it dissolve with a whistling howl. The rest is stopped by another froggy command, now fainting attacks and dancing around dodging the bolts of energy intended for them for the most part. I have dispatched about a quarter of the crocodiles. At first hitting them was easy. But those monsters learn. They now crouch and move in dashes. Even perfect aim does not help you if the target is gone from the place you shot at it at, when the bullet arrives. For the crew of the ship this should be a relief. Unfortunately it wont help them in the end, because for once a delayed enemy is not a defeated enemy, secondly I am killing the stupid and the ironranked and thirdly the frog has just decided that blindly launching globs of whatever the globs are doing behind the fog I cannot see through is doing no good. It jumps onto the other part of the ship and a dozens tentacles erupt from its mouth. That puts me into a dilemma. It is silver rank. If I shoot at it, it will notice where the attacker is located long before I do serious damage. No, thank you. One brush with death is too much for a day already. I send out my servant with yet another useless grenade. Telling it to come back via a detour. I can provide a distraction. I am not unsympathetic, just practical. So far the frog has eathen five crew members. The saurian finally goes down, but the silver ranked spandex-fans dive after their long submerged fifth member. The frog does not care. Monsters are not people. They do not necessarily care about each other, even if tactics would seem to dictate that they should guard their numbers for tactical reasons. They are also not bold or impatient. It is silver rank. It would survive a wild dash into the improvised armoured bastion installed on the bow and then could devour most of the crew, save those jumping off the ship either breaking their legs and then deal with the blobs or falling into the water to deal with crocodiles. It may simply be patient or sadistic. Or, the most ugly option, it just wants to prolong meal time. I am taking slow aimed shots, conserving mana, because I want to be able to use [Eternal Moment] without delay or restriction. Suddenly I feel new auras, three bronze rank auras to be precise. Reforcements teleporting in presumably. Anti-tank missiles come out of the cloud and our remaining vehicles fire our remaining missiles. My mana is overflowing. The frog is not dead, but definitely not ready for combat anymore. I advance again. Firing from the hip on the move eliminating blob monsters. It feels so good to be able to easily kill an enemy with one burst. The fog lifts and I mean that literally. The whole wall of fog goes up by ten meters or so. And three people with bronze rank auras and five more jump onto the surface of the water. Two bronze rankers head for the place where waves tell of an underwater battle, the rest goes for the ship. I admit a dose of guilt makes me advance faster. I cannot jump many meters from the surface of the water onto a ship, nor walk on water for that matter. But I can conjure a ladder. I am met by most beautiful woman. She is carrying herself errect and fully certain of herself. Black hair falling to her shoulders, a large yet thin nose over delicate lips, prominents cheeckbones on a triangular face in tight fitting black Network combat armour. A battle of life and death can lead to certain reactions. I get slapped across the face ?Control your aura you savage! And she turns away angrily. The visual consequence of that makes allaying her concerns impossible. I get a real death glare. Lisas laugh rings out from the bow. ?Thank you for coming anyway. That is a surprise. I react with little decorum or intelligence, let alone normal social behavior. ?Hi. This is unexpected. I have made a ladder, in case you want to disembark. She laughs again. Defeated it go back down on my own ladder. Things are really odd here. In confusion I decide to a least earn some stuff from this encounter, as I have paid with all my dignity already. I trigger my looting ability. Wealth starts raining from the sky. Clausewitz Ulrike is consoling Lisa. When she met me, she had not learned, that a crocodile monster had gotten into the safe room in the hull. Of her four apprentice only one is alive and she is in an ambulance on the way to a hospital for surgery. Shell take weeks to recover. Should I have offered a healing potion? How would I explain that I had so many of them? Everybody still has the stuff that fell from the sky. If you fired a magical weapon at a monster you have gotten at least coins. That feels very, very odd. People were blaming the EOA for the rain of money. In hindsight I should not have risked it. But you rarely barely escape with only your life, meet a beauty queen, get slapped (very hard I have to say. What I feel there is not just evaporated pride and dignity. That woman is Mike Tyson in a beautiful version.) and meet somebody you did not expect to see again until a veterans meeting years after the war. People make mistakes. In hindsight I was stupid in even more regards. Network troops arrived late. OK, so something went wrong. But we already have established that. If everything had gone alright we wouldnt have been called in. They were the last reserves, just as we were and are, so they arrived late and uncoordinated, also well and good. Well, bad and explicable. Bad luck but sound logic. How had they been called in? Cell phones or good old radio. But how had they come? I assumed by teleport. They were in a hurry and you wont beat teleportation in terms of speed. But that did not explain why they had fired their missiles at the same time as our side fired its missile. The coordination itself is no miracle. The military has radios and so does the GDN. But then they should have required some time to set up their missiles and I should have sensed their auras during that time. Had they arrived by car or even on foot? No, I should have sensed their auras growing more noticable with lessening distance. Thomas looked at me. He could sense my emotional turmoil. Though that was exactly the issue. T: Whats wrong? Has Lisa shaken you so much? P: No. I have very good reason to believe that the Network can hide auras. T: What evidence? P: The Network bronze rankers appeared suddenly well within my range and fired at the same time in coordination with our side. T: Hm. Could they have fired the missiles from outside your range and teleported in while they were in flight? P: There is more. When I got my face rearranged, she told me to ?control my aura. T: Bet that youll gaze into your navel and come up with new revelations? Now he almost knows more than I do. I wish I could for once know the whole situation before I need to make such decisions. Though I am sure our commander on this mission, Captain Lindemann, shares that very wish. Speaking of the devil CL: Would you join me and Major Alberts for a discussion? Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Is this a trap? I dont think so, why come himself. I wont let the Network take me though. If I sense something he will die. P: Sure We enter the office of the base commander, Major Alberts. MA: Welcome. Let me make this short. Yes, there is a problem with you, no, it is probably not your fault, so relax. He would say that anyway. But I better accept it for now. MA: What do you think about the outcome of todays mission? P: After the wealth I was showered with, personally I cannot complain. Operationally, a partial success. In terms of everything else a failure. CL: You are saying that I failed. MA: I had been called away. Nevertheless, this is my command, I am responsible. But please answer the question. P: I am too old and have been too near to death to skirt around the truth. Yes, you failed. First you assumed to fight stupid animals and then you thought we are fighting an enemy with a sense of self-preservation. Both assumptions were wrong. They were reasonable assumptions, though. You had a calculated risk go wrong on us. CL: Why were my assumptions wrong. P: I dont understand. That should be obvious. MA: Captain, he is not a military man. He is a wizard. They think differently. CL: Sorry, why did I make wrong assumptions? P: Because there was no obvious indication that we were heading for an atypical case and we were too short on time to check. MA: That is an adequate summary, especially coming from a civillian. And there is the problem. I have civillians fighting with my forces. I have to, no question, I need wizards. But it is not good. P: I thought youd treat us like the Americans treat those tribes they have fighting for them. MA: We are not Americans and you are citizens. And does it work for them? P: I have no idea CL: What would you think about some kind of training in military affairs? P: I would oppose it. I want to go home after the emergency and the girls we are training, whatever one may think about them, have to have priority. MA: Do you think well ever stop fighting monsters. P: No major, I was in the battle of the Nuclear Power Plant. I accept monsters as a fact of life, but I have done my share and secondly whoever fights monsters should not think like a soldier. CL: Dont you think like a soldier? P: No, at least not like an officer, you cannot win against monsters. New monsters will always come. Wizards are people maintaining a dyke, not conquering an enemy. MA: Thank you, that will be all. P: One question, if I may? MA: Go on. P: Why are you letting everyone keep their loot? MA: You didnt see the news. They passed the constitutional change yesterday. Fruits of magic are now enjoying quasi-religious status. I got a phone call from high up. I would like to confiscate the stuff for the war effort, but I am not allowed to. -- Major Carstens enters the room. MC: What do you think? MA: I think beginning PTSD, if their brain still works like a human brain. Good tactical sense, terrible leadership qualities. CL: His strategic insight looks correct to me. MC: It is, but we cant afford to act on it. Officers will need to be trained to look at both kinds of problems. MA: How do we proceed. MC: I have been instructed that the first generation must concentrate on research and training trainers. I dont like it, but so are the orders. I will recommend this base to be used. Expect the politicians to be slow. In the mean time we really need the ritualists. We need to be ready for regional failures of fairly large magntude. This crisis must not repeat itself. Sica argenti sponsae dabitur I cant sleep. I am alive due to random chance. Again. So are most of my friends. Yes, I know that technically any human being is a product of an incredibly unlikely genetic rearrangement. But that does not involve entities hurling around dangerous payloads fired from OK, this is not a productive train of thought. Note to my subconcious: Stop that shit! I get up and outside into the yard. I am not the only one. My aura sense, my hearing and in a few cases even the red glow of a burning cigarette tell me so. This emergency might reverse decades of anti-smoking efforts. Sad. Or do the opposite. I at least hope that the convoys we were guarding did not include shipments of cigarettes. I am trying to distract myself again. Not a bad idea. I should have talked to people, but most of us were ready to keel over and I still have the habits of a man of an age that demands a regular sleep schedule. Not a decision to reverse at this hour. I cannot deny the strategic situation: I have potential enemies who would kill me if they knew everything. I have superiors who are nice to me only because I am useful. To be useful Ill need to fight. If I keep fighting like this, random chance will sooner or later catch up with me. I remember Lisas face when the paramedic and the policewoman arrived. I know how she felt. Literally, aura sense, remember. By the way, I need to know what that second essence of hers is. She is of intermediate brightness now. Closer to Thomas and the Network people of lower rank than a muggle. I cannot get strong enough to fight all the Network off. But I can get strong enough to run and hide, I hope at least. Or I can hope to be saved by the bell of the Grid going up soon. I should use what I got. Being quartered in a seized school means that finding an unused class room in the middle of the night is trivial. Have you ever considered what the effect of telekinesis appearing in the population would be on the common security measure called lock and key? Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. The Awakening Stone is covered by a camouflage pattern. My tricorder calls it a Stone of the Hunt. I draw the circle by the light of the flash light I keep in my inventory. This is a seriously odd power. I see myself walking through the room and drawing. If I really strain it I can see vague shapes of children on chairs behind tables appearing. Tricorder time
Dimension:
[Teleport] Special Ability Iron 0 (15%)
[Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 0 (94%)
[Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 0 (9%)
[Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 0 (1%)
(unused) 0%
Auras, I sense auras. Is somebody coming? No, I see now why Thomas is a better auralist than I. Better get to bed. I feel sleepy now. Tomorrow we will have to teach. -- I like to enjoy my breakfast. We are getting odd looks? Is that due to Lisa insisting wearing a sabre on her hip and a buckler on her back? Thomas is late, so our customary table is not any more crowded than usual. It feels like stress is getting at people. Is that because the war has been lasting too long or is that because the government keeps teeling us that we need to last only a bit longer because soon all will be well? I remember reading about the Vietnam War where troops were said to be basically unusable in an attack role near the end of their term of enlistment. Nobody wanted to be killed with a bunk on the troop ship home virtually already waiting for him. Thomas drops in. ?Dude, you are all over YouTube. He puts his tablet on the table. I really am looking good while dual wielding guns and also while staring into the distance with a stern face and also while firing from the hip to clean up muddy blobs. D: Dude, ground control to Major Tom, can you hear me? T: Let him have his fifteen minutes. P: You are right. This is not about looking good, but about safely killing monsters. That reminds me. I hand Ulrike a meat coloured cube. P: Essence of the Flesh. Nekketsu shitei no kizuna ~Otoko ga nind艒 o tsuranuku toki~ Being a YouTube star among dozens of girls feels good. Not in that direct way, though losing a lot of body mass to an incident certainly helps. And I suppose such things happen among the single police and soldiers. Well, also among the married police people. But only with each other. My subconcious is getting annoying. But wizards are excluded. Some treat us as if we were dangerous - we are, so what can I say C others with dislike, as if we werent real people C technically I am lacking an important part of metabolism, so am I, technically human? - but very few like just people. At least I am now getting questions. One or two are even wearing bands made out of the light brown bags the last loot rained down from the sky in. If Ulrike ever learns that I am not telling them that apart from the colour that is the same material my underwear is made of Ill be in serious trouble. P: No I cannot train you to be magicians to the same degree that we two are. You will be using external sources of power to do magic. But it is true magic. You can detect events, lift boulders, dig wells or, if you are among the best, even heal the sick. ? My father told me that you were given essences to be better wizards P: Thomas would you equalize the ambient? He is good at that ritual. T: Can you see that I am making element#3 smaller than in your course materials example? That is because as an essence magician I can feel the ambient to a degree that allows me to right away adjust for that instead of testing with cores and then adjust with subordinate hooks. Remember that the example is just that. You need to recognise the individual components of the ritual and adjust them to the task and its environment including the ambient. ? So you are more powerful? T: In quantitative terms, yes. In qualitative terms, no. Your ritual, if you do it well, will have an effect of the same strength. We have the same power, but not the same efficiency. ? But you said that there are exceptions P: Yes, but they are indirect and related to materials. Allow me to demonstrate. Thomas, thank you for equalizing the ambient. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. I draw a ritual I have learned from my essence ability and place a spool of wire inside it. Carefully I pump my mana into the metal. People are listening. We have this audience. P: Now you have a piece of magical material. This is the most basic way to make a magical weapon. This ritual is an exception that the power in the metal has come from my pool rather than the ambient. P: Vanessa, demonstrate to the class how you equalize the ambient. Our questioner had been talking to her, as my new perception ability seemed outright eager to show me, so that I leave her friend to contemplate our words alone. P: Now your next question will be whence our power comes. That is easy. Ultimately from monsters, which means that the war against the monster will last the rest of your lives, which will be short if we lose. Directly from this: I pull out a Stone of the Magus and give it to Thomas. T (whispering): You were considering keeping it. I nod. T(still whispering): But you didnt Vanesa has done an adequate job. T: Now we will demonstrate this. He does an awakening ritual. Ideally we would have used that as training for a student, but you need to forge the iron while it is hot. The Stone flashes apart in his hand and multi-couloured motes fly around his arm sinking into his flesh. For a moment he stands still, then he walks to our little cabinet for supplies of medium rarity, gets a bag of ground up chalk and pours a simple circle of about 70cm diametre without any other features. By the power of youth I recall the boundless motility of the immature to do my will. A shimmering medusa rises from the ground through the cycle that has started to glow in a deep blue, then another and yet another. They cycle in an anticlockwise manner around Thomas. That gets some squeaks from the audience. -- Lunch is good. T: How was I. D: Impressive.Where have they gone now. T: They are a summons. They are only temporarily in this world and leave again when their time runs out, I dismiss them or the vessel my spell has made made is destroyed. U: This afternoon? P: The equalizing ritual. You have seen how important that is. And you two will put in some effort. You will demonstrate an essence ritual this evening. U: We wanted to talk about that. T: No, you are going to take it and go onto the road to magic. He gets up also grabbing my dinner tablet. T: Lets do a bit of meditation until class starts again. -- Dejan is doing the ritual. Slowly, haltingly with copious amounts of double checking and he insists on both of us checking it. We would have checked it anyway and having an audience makes things harder. P: Different if it hits yourself? D: No this is not for me. U: Ill take it. We have decided that the next generation needs to be protected. Your little speech this morning was having an effect, even if you aimed at someone else entirely. Does she mean to say? Thomas next to me is also going brighter. Yes, she is shining double. Lisas story ?This is the first time in weeks that I am spending more than 24 hours on land Lisa remarked with a somewhat flattened voice. ?We even felt safe. She paused. ? I am not supposed to know some things. But after a few days you talk to the soldiers. Ulrike is passing her a cup of tea, which she has switched to herself, too. U: That was before you had apprentices. ?Way before she says and stares into the distance she cannot see, as she is facing towards the counter in the cafeteria. ?That is, it started then she corrects herself. ?Dont get me wrong they are were nice fun girls. But they mere unmistakenly girls, not women. The nerdy breed just taken fresh from high school. She shakes her head. ?That was the right decision She continues ?They were brilliant. They even started on theorising on how to develop new rituals. She almost rises. ?I must make sure Ricarda gets the drawings once they are recovered. They saved the text parts on a cloud server. D: Dont. Wizards are important. If you say nothing your stuff will be delivered here, maybe with a bit of a delay. If you request urgent action, theyll look at the stuff you want returned quickly. She blinks. ?Thank you. You are right. P: I wouldnt have taken you for one adding to the Anarchist Cookbook. L: If my fascination with guns does not do it, what will? P: You turning into a dragon, storming the parliament building and writing ?down with the government with intestines of politicians. She laughs. Thomas raises an eyebrow and Ulrike gives me a nod. P: We also have a little secret. We have discovered how to improve essence abilities with meditation. D: U: Dont T: They are married. L: You still tend to mention the obvious. L: And congratulations. Thomas looks like he wants to protest but changes his mind. L: My escorts were removed at the time I was moved from a gunship to a modified freighter. They figured that putting wizards onto the ships supposed to draw fire is not the best idea, even if they have much more armour. I still have a hard time believing that we are back to building armoured river monitors in the 21st century. This woman is a serious gun nerd. U: So you spent the whole emergency safe and sound. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.L: No. I had to fight seriously two times. Let me tell you. The first time was the first voyage actually. There was a doorway close by but the software said that we could make it past at full speed. That was at a bend of the canal so going backwards would have kept us close to the doorway. The convoy commander risked it. That was before the correction for waterways in the software. We ran into a swarm of demon missile geese. D: Demon Missile Geese? Exactly. They are a swarm but the swarm is one monster. You have to kill them all. The geese can turn into steel spikes while they are in the air, which punch a whole into the things they fall onto from a height, at least into our ships. We lost a tanker there before they went for a gunship. I think because our gunfire was annoying. In the spike form they can split through the miidle and those parts turn into full demon geese. I got my Might Essence from that. U: You stole it? L: I refuse to say anything more without my lawyer. P: And the second time? L: A classic. Deception Plant. It hid as a field of algae, came up and released gas and spores on us. It happened to many ships before they started applying the poison. D: Poison. L: Yes, parts of the Lower Rhine are now quite dead, those where the water conditions are right for the plant monsters. My facial expression must be obvious. I had had family there. U: We have to keep supplies coming in. You got family there. You were happy to support evacuations hitting somebody else. P: Had family there. No longer. Yes, I admit it. I am sorry. I hate spin doctors. Liars are more honest. No, really. If you realize that you need to lie, you acknowledge the power of truth. Truth would destroy your ploy. A spin doctor wants to tell you that everything is a matter of perspective. They deny the existance of objective truth. Am I becoming one? No, I think I am still a good old liar by omission and that only where practicality absolutely requires it. P: I am really sorry, I will not mislead or manipulate you. It is just that I love that river. I can see that it is necessary. Now I dont have children, but it still worry about killing this land. And that was the truth. Conservation is dear to me. I donated to the WWF. U: You know. Was I that obvious? T: Yes. We also can sense its aura. Lisa hugs her and starts to cry. We are getting more tea and are looking for a way to change the subject. T: You didnt get a second Essence. We could tell. She hesitates. T: They took it? L: No. I just dont want to She gets a sturdy plastic bag out of her backpack and uses an actual thick plastic glove stored with it to take an Awakening Stone out of it, placing it quickly but carefully onto the table. It looks like to the stones is a piece of solidified pus with mould growing on it. P: I also have to make an admission. I have acquired a device that allows me to identify magical things and people. L: Your loot is cooler than what rained from the sky for me. But I got two items. Spin doctors are bad. Dont use that technique. P: No I acquired it earlier. I made sure only the probe not my hand touched the stone. P: That is a Stone of Corruption. Deus tibi satellitem emet. Captain Lindemann finds me reacquiring my connecting to sliced tomatoes with salt and pepper on a hot toast with melted butter. I get up to shake his hand and offer him toast, which should really drive him away. ?No thank you he shied away. ?I am just here to tell you that a special visitor has announced himself. The undersecretary attached to the Federal Press Office wants to meet with you about a TV appearance at 14:00 today And turning slight to Thomas ?Mr. Miller I trust youll be able to teach alone for an afternoon We have the morning off because our students are doing the now mandatory first aid training. Police are not required to attend in light of them having the full police course. P: I have no better idea than you. Probably about one of our battles. Id say the one that got me onto YouTube. D: Even nerds contribute to national defense. P: Do you have to put it that way? T: Can we discuss something else? Why do you want to take that disgusting stone? What are you afraid of? Talk to us. First that probing thing, now this stone. Tell me the truth. The special potions that saved us, you stole them? P: Well not exactly stole. I made a deal that involves shady stuff. You are better off not knowing details. But I may need to be strong to handle the follow up. In fact, I expect to. Lisa snorts. L: Well, you are getting the correct stone. T: I dont want to have anything to do with this I will look away while you do this and forget that this stone ever existed. -- This is turning into an operation I regret. I have frozen up and the stone is turning into caterpillars of fecal matter crawling up my arm. T: Dont worry, this things are not real. We would smell them. Your apparent inability to move is likely temporary. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.P: Hnngh T: The linguistic difficulties look like a preexisting condition. P: frrsk T: Yes, exactly Finally it is over P: I am feeling urges. Dejan, can I bribe you to take drugs across the border? T: Mental faculties sub-par and unaffected L: OK, now that you have risked your immortal soul by trading corrupting it for even more power, what do you want to do, if the government comes for you? P: Run away faster. L: What? P: First, it may not be the government. Who will end up running this country? Secondly, what do you want me to do? Theyll know that they are coming for an essence magician. -- Captain Lindemann knocks on a door of a meeting room. ?Enter a male voice responds. He introduces himself as Stefan Karamanlis, undersecretary of the Federal Press Office. He certainly has the looks for making people want to listen to him spinning the truth for the government. SK: I am happy to meet the man who showed us on TV, that the monsters can be defeated. P: Thosands of people in the armed forces and the police did that before me. SK: Humility is a nice trait. And you are right. But they did not have the EOA filming them and pushing them onto the web. And, yes, I have read reports on you, while you had no idea I exist or what I do until a minute ago. Life is unfair. That is not what I expected. How much effort did they put into studying me? P: But SK: No, we could not have made a documentation ourselves. It would have looked like the government celebrating its own work. P: You certainly can predict me. SK: Your profile indicates that you are low in spite and high in dependability and rationality. So I decided to early on establish a situation based on logic. So we are talking about the price for something they want me to do and I dont need to start my career as an outlaw by slaughtering an important politician. P: This sounds like you want me to go on TV. SK: Yes. P: Why? What do you want me to say. SK: Basically the truth. Youd be a shitty spin doctor. I have a file here of topic in which you should decline to commend for reasons of military secrecy. P: But monsters do not watch YouTube. SK: Indeed Character sheet #2
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 0 (99%)
[Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 1 (6%)
[This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (86%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Vast:
[Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 0 (26%)
[Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 0 (6%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Dimension:
[Teleport] Special Ability Iron 0 (15%)
[Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 1 (10%)
[Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 0 (18%)
[Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 0 (11%)
[Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 0 (0%)
Battlefield:
[Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 1 (29%)
[Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (34%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
People will look into me after tomorrow''s spectacle at the latest. Have I left traces? Since gaining my perception ability my confidence in outfoxing magic investigators really trying has reached zero. Keeping a key ability hidden may be good tactics, but for training purposes it is horrible. I see no way out of that dilemma. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The training has to be in combat. I could hardly sneak out of the base at night to become Batman or a badly shaved version of Sailor V. Besides, the prisoners I''d take would talk. This problem is unsolvable for now. It turns out that having legs really blocks your mind with respect to locomotion. Snakes propel themselves just fine on land. After my flyer, retroactively named Bock''s car #1 and Dalek #1 my third servant Shai-Hulud #1 becomes active. In terms of material it is the best yet. A few meters of steel cable I have imbued with mana to create a real magical weapon and instructed for serpentine movement, including the side-winding mode, becomes active. It isn''t venomous, but, believe me, you do not want it around your neck. Pons super aquam tumultosam That politician has played me. Somehow I believed I was going into an interview. Nobody told me that this would be a discussion round with multiple participants. But as hard as I remember back, I must admit that he never actually said so. I am sitting between a retired general and a representative of the GDN, whose aura was strangely veiled, like a picture whose were gone watching it through a semi-transparent curtain. On the other side of the pit they have put two opposition politicians, one of the nationalist the other a green woman, divided by the flying superhero I remember from the battle in full attire. It took my whole nerve to not react to his aura. The moderators were quite famous. M1: Some of our guests today have recently appeared on many channels, being captured on camera fighting monsters near one of our biggest cities. How did you view that battle? EOA: It was an opportunity to protect the public which we took as soon as we learned of the intrusion. GDN: We were overwhelmed, yet nevertheless mobilized reserves. M2: And our member of the government forces? If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. I would prefer to say nothing, but that was not an option. P: It was an unexpected battle and we lost good people. We were ultimately victorious. EOA: We did what we could. P: Yes. Thank you. I am sure the commander of our forces would thank you, too, if he were here. EOA: You are welcome.. M1: Doesnt an intrusion so close to a major city represent a major failure? This will not end well. -- D: How was it? P: They took me apart and performed anatomically implausible, unholy acts with the parts. U: Why are they doing this to their own people? P: I have no idea. I think they may want to justify more money to train less stupid wizard. They may want to show that this project better be killed. They may want to get it transferred to a different department. How am I supposed to know? U: What do you want to do now? T: What we did until now. Neither of us wants to be a star. The only thing we really need to avoid is to be regularly sent into intrusion zones or against high rank monsters. We are just not strong enough. Neither as a group nor any of us. P: Exactly. You can be demoted for sucking at PR. But you cannot be executed for it. -- Thomas and I sit in the laundry room again. P: This network guy I sat next to had his aura artificially dimmed. T: Like this? His aura indeed dimmed a bit. P: Yes! How? T: You kind of retract it. The opposite of straining yourself to find people. Interlude X - The researchers New research facility of the Seitenhuber branch family of the GDN Ernst and Kasimir Seitenhuber present K: So we found the signature of a curse and the latest batch shows a significant reduction in its intensity, but the effect is not yet strong enough for production use. I need you to authorize more lab rats, uncle. E: Well done. Consider it done. Youll have the paperwork tomorrow. Before we shut down for the day, anything else in the news? K: Sure. Dad made it into YouTube. Well, he is on a news channel. E: That isnt good enough? K: No. We need our own channels. Everything you get is EOA or rank amateurs spreading vitriol and stupidity. Hell, I even found a channel by the Cabal. Its called ?centaurs and celebrities. E: On the last front Id deem silence superior. K: Maybe, but all that silence has turned us into the sinister ones. E: It was necessary. K: Seriously, why? The policy has failed. We would not have the issues we are facing today and some of us would still be alive had we started recruiting ritualists and fighters ten years ago. E: Hindsight is always perfect. K: Is that always going to be the excuse? E: Not always. And you are right. It often was an excuse. Yet, tell me, can you imagine the Cold War with us and the Cabal forced onto opposite sides? K: It wouldnt need to have started. I am outright saying it. We could have killed Hitler. Avoid the whole Cold War. End the war early. E: And then? Become rulers, because those who kill leaders will have to be rulers or be hunted down as a threat? Now, in that specific case we could have made it look like an accident. But, hindsight K: We may end up as rulers anyway. E: May. Is that a reason to accelerate the process and make the outcome certain? K: What do you mean by that? E: What do you think would have happened had we made essences available to 19th century aristocrats. Yes, I know, many of us are aristocrats. But even they did not want magic armies clashing on battlefields. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.K: But all the good we could have done. E: There is that. Tell me, you said we could have recruited ten years ago. Why not three? K: The upset of industries by the introduction of OK, you got me there. E: That doesnt make you wrong. Yes, it was never the right time, but actions even if justified each time you look at them may be unacceptable in the aggregate over a long time. K: You think so. E: I do not know. I remember a similar talk between me and W.D.R. fourty years ago. K: You debated a radio station? E: No. Wilhelm Dieter Rademacher. Called indeed W.D.R. after the radio station. K: So what did you discuss? E: The same as we now only with me in your role. WDR died in the battle around the nuclear power plant. I still remember his signature old-style disruptive wand with the hollow ignition chamber design. K: Dad and I saw such a wand at the battle of the river in use. E: Really. Hm. Was his found? K: I dont know. We have his dosimeter badge. E: Maybe we should look into that as you suggested. Where was it found? K: At the site where they intercepted the anchor entity. Together with a corpse and another badge. E: His corpse wasnt found? K: No, he must have turned into rainbow smoke. E: He always had excellent body control. No wonder he dissolved. When we discussed his wand the last time he said that he prefered effect over rate of fire and efficiency. Or as he put it ?If I want a continous stream, I can go out and piss at the monsters. K: That is very crudely put. E: I had the temerity to point out that at category 2 he could in fact not piss at anything. He went out into the snow and pissed his wifes name into it. Magnificent body control. K: Uncle, are you bullshitting me? Age and too many meetings can turn the combination of aura control and poker face into an art form. Victrix omne carpit I am being demoted. That is, offially you cannot demote me. The pay will stay the same, meagre as it is. But I am sent to the looting teams being formed for the anticipated big mop up operations. I must assume that it is now known that I can produce loot without rituals. Lisa is promoted. Again, inofficially. In her case the promotion is foremost physical, then occupational and then symbolic. The latest convoy has brought in an armoured box containing an essence of the Foot. The politicians have her replace Thomas and Thomas replace me. And I thought myself clever in showing off our abilities to make magical materials. That means that tomorrow Ill be free to do whatever I want and the day after tomorrow well sail. Literally sail, as in boarding a river freighter. We in this case meaning the old team Dejan, Ulrike and I. I have technically remained a civillian. Hence my guards are supposed to be civillian, too. Their actual ability to protect me does not matter to a bureaucratic mind. I have been thinking about the future a lot those last days. Here, in this country, the government will never leave me alone in peace. I can work remotely and make money on the side turning a few ordinary materials into magical materials. I think Ill go to the Adriatic coast. Provided the Network leaves me alone and the people I have made a deal with dont send me to Patagonia or the Gobi. Can they shield me from the Network? Maybe. You cannot predict the future. But you can prepare. Tomorrow the last items, considerable sums of cash in three currencies will go into my inventory. For me, packing a lot of stuff has become redundant, so I dont have to think how to get at certain medications for example. But a spare gun, now available to any citizen without a criminal record, and ammo will go into my inventory. Just in case I need to kill or fight in a manner that does not point to an essence magician. I am ready to give up on the idea of manipulating people. There are always so many options that you dont see, that it is bound to backfire. Lisa proposed to let her introduce herself to the students without us. Thomas and I plan to use today and tomorrow for aura experimentation. For some reason the help entries on that in my tricorder suck. -- T: I have changed my mind about the nature of aura perception. P: Why? T: When you dim yourself your perception range goes down. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.P: So you pour less ?juice into the dection parts and they work worse. T: But do you feel like dimming yourself takes less work? P: Actually, no. So you think it works like radar where you actively have to seek out other auras? T: Yes. If I am right, parts of our effort were always doomed. P: You cannot expect to study a totally new class of phenomena and all your working hypotheses to pan out. T: True, so we should look at other aspects. You can truly switch off the telekinetic aspect of your aura, cant you? P: Yes, I do it by default and save th emana it costs. T: Does running your aura cost mana? P: Yes. I get information about movability in exchange for mana. He does move a single eyebrow. He can do it. T: Getting a little tactile information? P: No. For things with an aura, which are very hard to move, by the way - it tested it on a fly and a dog, if I push you the force is partially on your whole body and partially on a flat surface perfectly moulded to your body projected onto a plan orthogonal to the vector of force. T: No force choking? P: Nope. I can fling muggles against walls or the ground though, I think. So aside from my personal satisfaction, I am good. T:My aura does not give me information. How can I tell wheter I am using its effect? P: You do realize that this question at this state is the question of what your aura does? Maybe you are a baker and dough needs less time to rise? T: Very, very funny. OK, probe me. He is looking genuinely nervous. [Poison Bug] Poison attacks you and your allies make within your aura have increased effect. P: I am not letting you put cyanide into my tea to test this. Not even for science. T: Luddite! We are dedicating the rest of this morning to meditation. -- That should be obvious to any essence magician. P: Lisa has reached Iron rank. T: What do you think her powers will be? P: Light infantry Id say. There is shouting in the house. We are heading down. -- The doctors insist on drawing blood and taking probes of other body fluids, which are readily available and leaving the heart monitor connected. One of the blessings of being in a military base in war time is the ready availability of gas masks. I have actually forgotten to add filters and gas masks to my virtual ready bag. L: Did you let me run into this unprepared just for fun? T: No, when we suffered from this we had been subjected to large doses of radiation and considered it a form of radiation sickness specific to essence magicians. We need to tell you our story so far, it seems to me. It turned into a long afternoon and am still wondering how they cleaned the room. They did not bother with anything in it. The furniture went out through the windows. Character Sheet #3
Name: Ulrike Kleinfelder
Current Rank: normal
Progresss to iron rank: 25%
Racial Abilities:
[Human Ambition]
[Special Attack affinty]
[Skin of Leather]
[Essence Gift]
[Essence Gift]
[Essence Gift]
Attributes:
Power normal
Speed normal
Spirit normal
Recovery Flesh Iron 0
Flesh:
[Rejoin the Flesh] Special Ability/Spell Iron 0 (2%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
[Skin like Leather] This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Harden your skin to make it less vulnerable to physical attacks in exchange for lessened mobility.
[Rejoin the Flesh] Upon your touch wounds heal and infection is removed.
Hic venit iterum imber Some of the people are looking hungry. Others seem to have had stored a months supply of noodles at home, when rationing was introduced. A free day off base is enough to show me what I am missing and, theoretically, helping preserve. Even this suburb is full. The tea does not require a rationing card. The cake does, but we wizards have unlimited rationing. The prices in this street cafe are higher than I remember. Much higher. Well, if you have to employ extra people to run the rationing system, it will drive up costs. I have been on the phone with my bank and rearranged my savings. Bonds have been sold and everything is in stocks now. I must say this seems like going through the motions. What is money if you have the raw power of the multiverse running through your mind and body? I have a considerable amount of cash in wherever my inventory actually is. I would have said my mind or my soul, but that cannot be the whole answer, as you can loot a corpse to empty out its inventory. Ive done so. Is that the reason the armed forces do keep people busy? That people with leisure have time to question whether they are on a reasonable path? What are my alternatives? Run away right away? That would be foolish. Id just trigger what I wanted to avoid. I have gained magical powers and my life is still out of control. Is that the natural state of the multiverse? I am at least prepared for a total collapse of civilization. Now that I think about it, is magic turning me into somebody designed for postapolyptic survival? I am never going to freeze to death ecause I have no shelter. I can create it out of thin air. No ammo for hunting C no way. Well, I am a vegetarian. Something the government is now actually encouraging to ease the food situation. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Or is this just the precursor to an actual alien invasion and well run to the hills in a months time? -- THE SEITENHUBER FACILITY K : Uncle, I think we actually saw Rademachers wand in action. Ive found a witness report mentioning it from a member of a training battle group Rademacher picked up. Rademacher gave it to the guy we met on TV. E: Interesting. He wielded it well. Where is the witness? K: Southern graveyard, lot number E: This is payback, isnt it? K: Seriously. She suffered some kind of mental breakdown. Thats why Rademacher left her behind in the protoastral space. The rest apparently fell in battle inside the space. She was recovered by a looting team, never became coherent and died thirteen days after the battle. E: What from? K: Radiation damage. Her dosimeter showed 10 Sievert. E: That explains why she is dead now. It does not explain why Rademacher and his associate K: von Blow. E: That asshole. Anyway a category 3 should not have died sooner than a category 1. K: We have no idea whether they got the same accumulated dosage. They were separated after all. I was still hunting for the dosimeters found at the site of Rademachers death to be returned from long term storage after their deaths has been ruled a battle death. The reports read them as ?unreadable, display cracked. Lazy louts. The could have read out the chips or checked the backup photographic film. Or alternatively they died from other wounds E: You are doing well. K: He was a good friend? E: I knew him for over 50 years. -- Going to the public pool has been a brilliant idea. Floating in heated bubbly water is bliss. It makes all worries go away. Only that I dont float all that well anymore. Losing all that body mass must have some drawbacks. It is time to inhale deeply and enjoy a day off. Tomorrow Ill confront river monsters. Hic venit sol I am on top of the world. Technically I am on top of an armoured mount for a twin 35mm gun. But that did not prevent me from spreading my arms and to declare my position in order to annoy Ulrike. Other than this indispensable morsel of joy at being annoying, I actually got a cushioned seat and a slide that would take me behind the gun mount, on the theory that monsters are likelier to face the business end of our armament. The riverine navy has learned about the aura sense of essence magicians. They now expect us not just only to do detection rituals, which I leave to Dejan for training purposes, but to also provide warning against monster with our aura sense. In their opinion we should be located high like a radar antenna to get the best results. I am not sure they are wrong. How could I? What I do find odd is that the ammunition in the mounts unmistakenly has a faint aura reminiscent of fire. We are waiting for the loading of the container ships in our convoy delayed by a broken crane to finish and our captain to return from a final briefing with the convoy commander they call a commodore. Apparently these convoys are not necessarily posh enough to rate an admiral. That gets me a greeting by a real navy captain, who is happy to have me on board. And I can be quite sure of that, thanks to my aura sense that is developing decently. Our course is set first upriver, then through a canal with a lot of locks and then through another river up to the border.Is that a problem? If everything goes well, no, it is not. Though obviously the locks are an issue. They mean that one part of our force is on one side of the lock and te other on the other and one ship is trapped inside the lock. Supposedly the army was holding them. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. -- Seitenhuber facility K: I was stupid. We have the report about the people with that strange detection apparatus our experts cannot fully reverse engineer. It shows their doses. By that Rademacher had gotten 10 Sievert when he entered the protospace. E: Then the story about them looting monsters for the potions that can cure radiation sickness is true. K: Do you want me to meet them or lean on the government to lean on them? E: No, Ive been told from higher up to make no demands on the government right now. We are milking them for political concessions. Or rather appear to. We need the Americans out. They have made some alarming breakthroughs in weapons research. K: Then what? E: Request all stuff found at the site this looting happened. If you had 10 Sievert and salvation came in potion form, would you have the wits to collect the empty bottle? K: Right -- The passage through the canal took a few days, but everything went well. We detected one major intrusion to begin, but it was in an early stage and was intercepted. Tomorrow we shall finally enter the Danube. I shot and looted a few iron rank monsters. We had a few incidents our big guns had to go on action and they did the job. ? The government has announced that the first cell of the Grid has gone online today. ? The rest is expected to reenter service during the night and the upcoming day. ? Proposals to celebrate this day as a public holiday are finding widespread approval. I have just animated and tested Titanic#1, which is basically a magically propelled surf board with a pintle to put my conjured guns on. It works well. D: This is it, the nightmare is ending! P: Where will you go? U: We have taken the standing offer to join the magical infrastructure division. P: So the government wants to have people in case it evers needs to take over the Grid? U: Essentially, yes. Is, qui tempestatem affert I am tired. This is my third strong coffee. It probably works by placebo effect. Ive noticed that many things have no physiological effect anymore. I can eat chilis including getting the taste, but the aftertaste vanishes very soon. I did test that yesterday evening. Our cook is Indian on this ship. We have had something to celebrate. It is not every day that your world beats off an alien invasion. No, I did not drink. I simply have not gotten enough sleep. Our captain has considered that. I have two sailors with me whose job it is to keep me awake. -- Seitenhuber Facility E: This is it. He lifts up a thin tube with a conical bottom and a plastic lid. K: Lets put this into the analysis chamber for components. Itll take a bit of time . So we can use the time to check for a salt spike . Those meatheads have not plotted them. Give me a few minutes to get the samples organized geometrically -- The day is turning a bit windy. The navy is taking such things seriously. Weve just gotten a package with gear for rainy weather. I would check the weather forecast, but we are passing through an evacuated area, no cell service right now. Shall I buy a fancy satellite phone? -- Seitenhuber Facility K: Here we are. Wait, that gives us four ritual circles. E: That little piece of shit looted their corpses K: Indeed E: That explains why he could use the weapon. Like many hard men Rademacher had one sentimental feature. He kept his old wands around. K: No, uncle, remember the report Rademacher gave a weapon to that guy. E: The report of a mad woman. K: Yes. Let me play advocatum diaboli. I know you have never been in the field. No offense that was just how things were done then. Fighters in the field; healers in the back. I would just say that this was an ongoing battle and I needed to recover the potions and equipment the fallen carried in their storage spaces. In fact I would loot them under the circumstances. E: And then ?forget to return the unused loot and equipment? K: Well I want a lawyer. E: Dont worry. Like most times we have learned that we need to investigate more. And that we will. I will cut up that bastard von Blow. He was category 1 though you wouldnt have learned that from his manners. According to them he was category 5. K: According to the report He got the cores to go to category 2 when he inherited the house leadership three months ago. E: Then he was truly a fatherless bastard. Rademacher liked him, though. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.K: You talked about him. E: Not when I could avoid it. It must have been some Prussian thing. Apparently the thing was mutual. Rademacher even told me that they both had their wands and staffs constructed with a suicide overload beam function. K: Youll drive to the morgue now? E: No, tomorrow right away from home. Today we look at the residuals on that vial. The dead wont run away. -- The very first drop of rain hits me. Given the state of our heads I think most people on deck actually welcome rain. Though it makes spotting some monsters harder. No way around that. The wind is getting gusty. Will that harm or hinder the flying monsters? Given our luck they probably enjoy it. Lightning shines on the horizon. The navy men with me ensure me that it will hit the mast, if it hits our ship. The mast is quite cool. It folds to let us pass under bridges. Dejan and Ulrike are showing up bearing lunch trays. We usually eat it up here, so that I can keep scanning for auras from the place the navy thinks best. U: You are getting your lunch early because the cook thinks that soon the weather will make a decent meal impossible. She tells the navy men that they are dismissed. D: Ive switched to the interior room for rituals. P: Good. Lets eat. -- Seitenhuber Facility E: This stuff has decayed quickly. As can happen with looted stuff. K: We are not getting good readings anyway. For most components I can usually only tell what they are not. For some patterns we are getting no matches at all. E: Ive seen this a times or two. Generally speaking. K: Where? E: Stuff we had captured from the Cabal. -- We are in a hurry to finish lunch. Watered down Palak Paneer is not very appealing. It has started raining in earnest. The sailors have put a kind of condom over the gun muzzles. The urge to page Dr. Freud becomes overwhelming, but I suppose you do not want your cannon to rust on the inside. It must be bad for ballistic performance. The ship even starts swaying a bit. I turn away from them and my chair and slide to face forward in preparation for playing Rose on the Titanic again. I hear a surpressed choking behind me, just as it hits my aura sense. Ulrike is turning green. And not from smearing Palak Paneer on herself. D: Morning sickness. P: I see, can you get her down the ladder? He supports her from the side and I approach to aid them. That is the moment the ship takes a dip that makes her lose it. It is referring to her lunch. I get my legs vomited on. What lowers the bow will eventually make it rise again. The deck of the ship has a surface designed to increase your grip. The gun turret is a hastily built later addition. Its surface is painted steel plate. Rain alone makes it slippery. Palak Paneer and digestive fluids dont help. I tumble towards them. We fall. Somehow Ulrike hits her head on the edge of the slide. There is quite some blood. P: Shit! Are you concious? U: Ouch. D: Go down the ladder and Ill lower her to you. I catch her basically. I am strong now. I can carry a woman in my arms at a sprint, if I have to. Now I have. We are sprinting towards the corpsman in the infirmary. The corpsman is applying pressure to the wound, staunching the bleeding. ?This will need stitches. Any allergies? he asks. ?No, but she is pregnant Dejan replies. ?Thats not the part she hit. He uses a local analgesic. I should have noticed that. My aura senses are down! I extend them and notice a bronze rank monster aura. The alarm sounds. Amor campus belli est Shit. Today involves a lot of sprinting. I can change into combat armor while running thanks to my cool inventory. Intellectually I know that without my instinctive aim I would have died long ago. But I love it less. I need to change my priorities. Caring about people seems to get us all killed right now. Our cannon is opening up. Well, one of the twin mounts. Have we lost the other mount? This is bad. Unless the crew were taken out by gas or something, we should have heard something, though. But that could be the case. So the mask comes out of the inventory, be it comfortable or not. Do we have a lot of monsters with gas based attacks because we are living in a highly urbanized continent with hundreds of millions of vehicles, most of which carry a catalytic converter? Or is this a shade of WW1? If you have my perception power, the statement that the past is over and done with is very hard to make. That question should have been answered years ago. God damn the GDN for their traitorous secrecy. I am getting strange flashes through my aura sense, feeling of fire and weakness. Coming onto the deck I see two men down, one with a blanket over the body and the other with a crew member on top of him doing CPR. The monster is going for the ship behind us if the tentacles coming out of the water are a reliable indication. They are ripping off and opening refrigerated containers revealing meat. I think those were halves of bovine carcasses. There was, however, also a crew member shrieking horrendously while the claw on the tip of a tentacle has pierced him through the lower abdomen and he is being dragged along the deck towards the water. Closer observation reveals two kinds of tentacles, thick and short versus thin and long. Only our frontal gun has a clear line of fire, as the deckhouse blocks the hind gun from firing backwards. This ship is a conversion. A military riverine vessel designed as such would look differently. The guns are opening up again. The monster has made the mistake of stretching tentacles into the air at some distance from the ship, so our gun can fire without perforating the other ship too badly. I am sure the splinters are still doing damage. The aura flashes coincide with impacts of incendiary ammunition mixed into the burst. Those lead to permanent wounds. The others arm the tentacles, but they heal quickly. The monster needs to get away from the ship or the ship needs to be abandoned and the crew taken off it, so that we can use torpedoes or depth charges or call in air support or something. I would like some answers to what I was supposed to do. But I have gotten no instructions. So I conjure my anti-materiel rifle and methodically began to pump out shots, until at least my affliction would stick. What else remains to do? Sending in a flyer to drop a hand grenade onto something that periodically is taking a 35mm grenade with magic effects makes no sense. I need something that is not stopped by water. But bullets wont do that. I am stupid. I am going to start this slowly. I am aiming for the point below the waterline where a thick arm enters the water. A pink beam. The sailors are going to make jokes about that. But this is a cooperative effort of combined arms. I need three shots to make it stick. I get the feeling that these grenades are doing something. That explains how the convoys have survived so far. It is getting angry. The thin tentacles have begun a spirit dance through the air. That is a mistake. It allows our gun and the guns of the now approaching tailguard ship to go for continous fire. Multiple tentacles are severed and a trail of blood is coming through the water. That leaves the main body, assuming the tentacles are attached to the head right about there. I go for pink + green. A jet of water errupts alongside the other ship, followed by a loud bang a few seconds later but on our ship. This ship holds my friends. I teleport to the shore and trow a hand grenade to distract the monster. Then I work to make my aura as bright as I can and concentrate on my anger, determination and defiance. Something leaps half out of the canal. Do you know certain Japanese movies? Now image the human half of the couple staring in it is replaced by a walrus and the encounter has consequences. A few seconds more on the countdown. I pump bullets from my assault rifle into it. The ships are retraining their cannons. Then I go all out on my spell. Our combined forces kill the monster. This is a bronze rank monster and a strong one. I am going to loot it. Getting people to help you kill monsters really fills your slots. -- The Seitenhuber Facility E: Death was caused by extensive cranial trauma due to resonating force damage. The body also shows damage to the facial area already partially healed and burns to the right hand side of the body and the right hand consistent with an uncontrolled deflagration of a magical weapon, as well as numeous bruises already partially healed. K: Got that. E: The cranial cavity shows deformation to the sides and the long axis of the body. K: Odd. So he was hit when he was already down? E: Not necessarily. The deformation may have happened when he hit the ground during or immediately after his death. I see no way to check for that. K: The soil samples. They took soil samples to check for neutron activation. We can check for stones cracked due to resonating force. -- The captain is not happy. The commodore is not happy. I can understand that. I can even understand that they are not happy with me. I dont care. Captain: Why did you leave your post? If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.P: Because I had to get medical aid for a friend. There is a point I am finished with an organisation. When they want to blame me for caring for a pregnant friend that limit is reached. I feel rage. Captain: Very well. For the duration of this voyage while the ship is not moving you will be confined to your quarters, unless performing your duties as a ritualist. -- A man, a vampire and a cyclops are meeting in a bar. Unfortunately nobody will make a joke out of this because they all have excellent aura control. C: They have found the vial. Will it point to us? V: Not with enough confidence to depend on it. But it will make them suspicious. C: What is to be done? V: We will not give up our long term penetration for one agent. M: Am I to write him off? V: No, on the contrary, give him the means to be really dangerous. The only bad option for us is them taking him alife. -- I am doing the night rituals. My navy guards are not about to press somebody who made a monsters head vanish into a black void to hurry up. In addition to the detection ritual I do the stone.
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 0 (99%)
[Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 1 (11%)
[This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (90%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Vast:
[Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 0 (26%)
[Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 0 (6%)
[Nebelwerfer 42] Focus Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Dimension:
[Teleport] Special Ability Iron 0 (19%)
[Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 1 (17%)
[Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 0 (19%)
[Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 0 (75%)
[Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 0 (4%)
Battlefield:
[Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 1 (36%)
[Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (44%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
I am a living artillery piece now. In oculo tigris Whoever built my tricorder was not human. Or there is an alternative to essences that leads to a very different aura. Anyway I have time now and am halfheartedly writing a defense. Mainly that I am a civillian and that you cannot expect me to act according to military rules. The problem is that I dont belief it myself. Monsters dont make that difference. But other than that I am making some progress. Some things about auras at least is correct. It turns out that auras need not be spherical. My tricorders probe can register auras. Thus my training setup is the probe and a cup next to it. Whenever I can lift the cup without the probe triggering, I move them closer. And I need to get a grip on my mind. I find it very hard to remember how often I wanted to kill people before I had essences. Do I want to kill people more often or do I just care because I now could realize the intent? Well, I am lying to myself. Anybody carrying a bag whom you meet on the street could have an axe to be buried in your head in that bag. The new thing was the threat of a coup invalidating the old order. And could I really hate the Network for withholding magic from the world, while I was wondering whether normal people should be allowed to dictate to me? Hell, yes. The Network was a bunch of liars, while I only lost democratic leanings. Confinement if he could really do it might impact me. But he needs me to scan for monsters. That means sitting on turret all day long. And that is the common situation in a nutshell. Wizards are needed. He dares not even remove the padding from my seat. Though they have affixed anti-skid mats to the roof of the front gun turret. I am enjoyed the cloudy but dry weather, as a lock comes into view and only the lock. It is empty of people, though not of water obviously. I asked my guards. Now that I am confined, my guards can be military. I will not pretend to understand those rules. I asked why this was so empty. ?It is under remote control. The people are sitting in a nice control room. The guards are kept at some distance to not attract monsters. Very well. I am getting no auras here. The guards must be normal rank. Brave men. The guards are clearing their throats. ?The ship is no longer in motion. We have to lead you back to your cabin. I grin. The degree to which people are clinging to rules is funny. ?Lead on I am meditating. In my cabin, obviously. The acustic alarm startles me. Meditation delays my reaction times. But it does allow for pushing out aura senses. Iron rank enemies. Dozens of them. But they are not human. Nor are most of them monsters. They are on deck and inside the ship. People are on the deck. They feel pain and despair. Shots ring out and screams fill the ship. I need to get out of this cabin. The door is locked. The time for being nice is over. A chair smashes against the door. After a few times the chair is ruined but the door is unlocked the hard way. I still need to push strongly against it. A corpse blocked the door. I think it is one of my guards. It is kind of hard to tell, because the head is missing. I swallow hard a few times. A cold calm overcomes me, like the time twenty years ago with the bad industrial accident where I had to do first aid. My pressure bandages held that day. That reminds me of something; where is the blood that should be here? Removing a mans head causes a gigantic mess. I conjure my assault rifle. I am not trained in walking silently, but the background noise makes sneaking redundant. There is a modified monster aura and noise coming from the corridor ending at the next T-junction. Should I switch to a knife for stealth? I dont dare it. I am getting ready and go around the corner. I confront what really looks like an octopus. It hisses and jumps. I pull the trigger. It has left behind the chewed up remains of a human head. I quickly close my eyes and proceed in my erstwhile direction to the next junction. That should have taken me almost to the forward end of the old deckhouse. The navy had converted the cargo holds to magazines an bunks. But you need to go up on deck to enter them. Most of the pain I sense comes from there or the deck. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.I hesitate. I have to make a decision. If the hold is a confusing jumble of friend and foe, I will not take it back on my own. Having weapons with a superior range is useless in tight confines. The enemy has superiority in numbers. For now we have light. That may or may not last. In darkness my perception would show me traces, but nothing identifiable. Unless I am ready to shoot at anything that moved, that is no use. That section however, holds the guns. Leaving the guns to the enemy has a clear consequence. This ship is lost. That means getting Ulrike and Dejan out, getting to one of the other hips and radio for support. The lock will be blocked. This expedition has failed spectacularly. We are about to block of the major routes of traffic in Europe. Tarrying wont help. I round the next corner. Reinforcements! Two people in army uniforms. ?Dont shoot, I am friendly. Yet they shot and their auras are not human. I fire back. Two through the lower belly. One in the hip. I collapse. I go for a bronze rank potion from my inventory. It hurts. I whimper. A door opens and the cook drags me into his cabin. I moan and curl into a ball. Some people say that they fear pain. They are fools. Pain is a sign of life. You need to fear death. I can feel the potion work. It is not nice and I keep whimpering, but the fear that crushes your soul is missing. P: Do you have a gun? He shakes his head. I give him a loaded 9mm from my arsenal. P: Follow me. We need to get out of this ship. It is in enemy hands. Well die if we stay here. He nods. I strain my aura sense. If something does not read as human to it, I will fire, regardless of how human it looks. P: We need to cross over to the other side of the ship, go back one frame and then up the ladder. Something is passing by the cabin in what would be slow jogging speed for a human. I freeze and slowly hold a finger before my lips. He nods again. We wait half a minute or so. The light goes out. P: This is good. They do not see us, but I have aura sense. My ocular normal perception shows me a path from the last place I saw the cook to a place I can remember as his bed. I have to try it. P: Come on, it is just a few steps in the darkness. I am a wizard I will protect you. He just whimpers. P: It is really no problem. I have a big gun. All will be well. He keeps whimpering. I sigh. Very softly. I have a sense of self-reservation. And then I leave. This time I do try sneaking. I even close my eyes and really trust my aura. No this is stupid. I can still see traces with my eyes.I round the corner. Right in front of me two non-people and two monsters are standing in a corridor over a downed sailor. I silenty and slowly raise my assault rifle. I aim by the traces. And then I go full auto. Is that the right door? I concentrate. Yes, it is them. Telling people apart by aura is hard. I dismiss the rifle and advance, only to run into a sticky, soft resistance. And to hear a growl coming from behind the next corner. I pull out Rademachers wand and a flare, both into my left hand. The right is hopelessly entangled. I fire the weapon at the spider web. It fails away. There is a growl and a shape dimly lit in the weapons coloured light races towards me. I throw myself to the floor and escape with a few deep scratches on my back. There is a fire extinguisher mounted on the wall. The dog monster finds itself attack by a it, curving through the air aiming for the beasts face. I get my big rifle out. It recognises the danger, but it is too late. A shot hits it in the face. I knock on their door and yell their names. The whole ship must have heard that commotion. Something is comming down the ladder. As they open, I push into their cabin, flinging a hand grenade towards the ladderr. P: Hello. Open your mouths cover your ears! BANG. They heared on other ships. D: We need to get out of here. P: Yes, unfortunately a few of the tougher monsters have survived this. I notice a porthole on a wall. P: Is that an exterior wall? U: Yes, why? I do a full prismatic beam and let the void eat the wall. P: Jump! murus scutorum Except P: No, dont jump. There is no room. There is very little room between the ships outer hull and the locks walls. Also water is rushing into the cabin. My cut is intersecting the waterline. Dejan slams the cabin door shut. That should make opening it from the corridor very hard, unless they just blow into up or smash it to pieces. That, unfortunately, was an option. U: Now what? Do we wait until the cabin is mostly filled and then dive away? P: I would like to avoid that. They must have noticed this commotion and they have guns. D: Also there may be swimming monsters P: Right. I am going to distract them. U: What? P: No time. I am hyperventilating in preparation. Can I make myself heavy enough? Yes. I have two sledge hammers in my inventory. One goes into each hand and I go out and down. This gets me a minor cut and abraisions on the back, but otherwise I am fine. The water as far as I can see and sense is free of swimming monsters. Fortune has smiled on me twice. Only a few meters further a ladder is recessed into the wall. Whoever designed this lock did not intend the basin as a chamber of death people would not get out of. I can climb up. Some of the odd soldiers turned traitor and inhuman are looking at the hole Ive made. One of them is clumsily lowering a rope ladder. That is bad. And he is bad at it. You do not need to lower these things. You just drop them. I need a distraction. Hand grenades are proper distractions. Plus if I have overlooked any swimming monster, let them deal with hydrostatic shock. I am almost to the top of the basin as a fountain of water thoroughly drenches me. Our opponents for lack of a better word lets call them pirates thoroughly misinterpret the situation. Somebody cries something in an unidentifiable language, if indeed that is a language. Our ships deck guns open fire on the other ships outside the locks. -- A non descript man is making a decision. ?Get on the radio and announce us. Say we are a group of allied fighters of the Cabal. It does not matter whether they understand that. As long as help is on the way theyll be happy. Ask them what this racket is about and what they are firing at -- I get up above the basin. I have ascended into a war zone. There is an intermittent battle going on. The other armed ships in our convoy sporadically are firing towards targets I cannot identify on the shore lines. One of them has a fire burning on its superstructure but no men fighting it outside. As a missile from a well covered position streaks towards the ship and blows a hole above the water line I can see why. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.Larger versions of the medusoid thing I shot inside the ship are acting as beasts of burden, carrying bins of ammunition, weapons and corpses from our ship. That is when the pirates act upon my distraction. Our ships guns open fire on the other gunship lower on the river, having been lowered before our ship. The ships it was escorting have seen the wisom of a retreat. The pirates must be considering themselves under artillery fire. I throw myself flat on the ground expecting return fire. I am not disappointed. -- ?They say that they are under fire by army traitors cooperating with monsters, who have trapped one of their ships in a lock. Their attempts to land rescue parties have been repulsed by well entrenched machine guns and missiles. - ?Reply to them that we are about to storm the vessel in the lock and that they are to cease fire and retreat. -- The commodore is not happy. He gets off the radio. ?Cease fire. Gunship A is to rejoin its part of the fleet and wait at a safe distance Then he proceeds to question the general sanity of the army and their hygenic habits. ?Get on the satellite radio and tell the Air Force to put the strike into a holding pattern. -- The exchange of artillery fire stops. I sprint forward and conjure a rope ladder I fasten to a pair of bollards probably not intended for that particular use but I dont care. I cannot stay. If the pirates notice me Ill be drawing fire on my friends. I am still a bit low on mana. But I dont need to cause harm. I just need to draw attention. Out comes the wand. -- Nobody human can trace me in this, so I can afford to depend on a teleport to get me away. I am sure pretty annoying but not very deadly. I notice some kind of flashes in the distance. So do the pirates. A lot of the tentacle monsters do not return after a carriage run. They must have joined the battle against the reinforcements. I return to the ladder. They are no longer there, but I can follow traces. The relief at seeing two traces is immense. This has taken much too long. I am sure they felt abandoned. U: That was a fantastic distraction! We heard them scramble back on deck. P: Ugh. You are welcome. Perspectives differ. D: We need to get further away. The navy is not going to just sit by as army units side with the monsters. This could end badly. U: Oh shit. I knew it could not last. The news were too good. P: They are no longer people something has taken them over. D: You mean like those brain worms in Wrath of Khan? P: Yes D: Ugh U: Nerds P: Well, lets go to the closest part of the free river. I have a boat in storage. U: A whole boat. P: A surfboard. It has standing room for three. -- ?Get those navy men on the radio, tell them that a category 3 monster is approaching and that the ship in the lock is lost. He accepted the rocket launcher one of his men held out for him and fired at a building that looked like a storage hall for spare parts. The bang was followed by a silver rank aura coming out of hiding as a huge millipede burst through a roof. ?That is the first slaver millipede Ive ever seen. Fantastically complex life cycle. This one seems to be in the middle stage where it does organized actions with its minions, but not yet any long term planning. 袪芯写?芯薪褗 袪芯屑邪薪芯胁懈褔褗 袪邪褋泻芯谢褜薪懈泻芯胁褗 We are not exactly prisoners. We are not free either. Though we are closer to the former. I have simply been ordered to remain in my quarters in the forward base the helicopter has brought us to. Ulrike and Dejan are not exactly accused of failing to fight off a category-3 monster, but somehow found deficient in preventing me from making a captain confine me to quarters screwing up me detecting some monsters puppets. Ive heard of indirect guilt. But guilt by indirection of indirection of indirection? By that logic you could have arrested every coal miner in Germany in 1945. Without coal nothing would have worked. As you may guess I am essentially frightened. Too many, much too many close calls, turning into anger. That does not make my anger unjustified though. It is amazing how quickly the paper-pushers are emerging from their holes looking for scapegoats instead of solutions again. Ive gotten a lawyer who is a nice chap and has assured me that even the military would have a hard time accusing somebody of not spotting something after ordering him to vacate the spot he is supposed to use for spotting. The commodore has had the misfortune of adding to his logbook that I had been confined to quarters. His ship has survived and is going upstream again. -- I have requested Thomas as a character witness. If they want to actually do a formal hearing my lawyer has suggested to make the most of it. And, frankly, I have fought enough for now. If this emergency ends without me seeing another fight, all the better. If that means being confined to a room in a forward base for a few weeks, so be it. If that means them docking the joke they pay us, so be it. My lawyer and I were on the way to the courtroom. -- This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Seitenhuber facility, two days earlier K: I did a crystal analyzis. The mineral crystals of the ground directly under von Blow were subjected to resonating force. E: So he died in that position K: Under the very reasonable assumption that nobody else fired blasts of resonating force, yes. E: That guy will have to answer some questions. -- I am looking forward to seeing Thomas again, so I am extending my aura. I find him. He is feeling something contradictory in regular changes. Is that his old emotional code? Yes, he is sending: TRAP I stop. My guards stumble as they are expecting me to move smoothly onwards. A bronze rank aura showing anger becomes detectable. My arms shoot out to the side propelling the guards against the wall. My lawyers mouth drops open. The bronze rank aura is now very close to the door. I activate [Eternal Moment] and turn to run. I pass by the the stair case we have just come up on. We are about 3 meters up. [Eternal Moment] runs out. The door at the end of the corridor is smashed into splinters. 4 meters to the window. This building is old. The windows are made from wood. Lets see how good this body armour is. What comes now will hurt. The bronze ranker has covered half the distance. I leap. I close my eyes to protect them. My extended foot hits the wood separating the window panes. There is a very satisfying crack. The bronze ranker jumps, going by a loud thumping step followed by silence. I am outside the building, throw my head backwards, open my eyes and teleport my maximum range straight up. The bronze ranker is on a ballistic trajectory. Flailing around will not change that. He will have to explain to the judge why he will have smashed the hood and windscreen of the judges expensive BMW. If I have gotten the folding or the material properties wrong, thisll be it. My conjured parachute appears, taken out of my inventory. The sequence works. I am dangling under a gliding wing. I call forth Bocks Car #1, put a rope with a loop onto the hook added to its tail for that purpose. The other loop attaches to a hook on the harness conjured with my wing. I have an engine. I retrieve a healing potion. This is a nearly windless day. I may pull this off. In origine itineris I can teleport my whole glider and my engine while in flight. Good that this worked, but I am too close to the ground now. I land in a parking lot of a factory. It is empty. Have they closed down due to supply troubles? It is possible, but I have no way to be sure. Should I stay here? No, too close. Luck is on my side. There is a bus stop and the next bus will come in two minutes. Am I a fugitive criminal now? I have not been tried and sentenced. The Network wont care. For the government this meant that I was wanted for leaving my place of duty during a war as a drafted civillian. I need a plan. But before I need a plan I need principles to base it on. 1. I need to be outside the area the Network can touch me. 2. I want to fill all my slots. 3. I need to provide for my family and house plants. Number #3 is the easiest. I am technically still a free citizen. I fill out the form that will allow my neighbour to get and drive my car. I write my sister a letter giving her the power to access my bank account. My neighbour is already watering the plants. I am not in immediate danger. I have time for now. I dont need to eat. I dont need a bathroom. What I can conjure is better than any conventional tent. I do not need clothing. I am always armed. I can produce something that will keep watch while I sleep. Now that I put it that way, has my power set been preparing for this day? How can they track me? One way is obvious: My phone. You cannot buy totally anonymous phones in this country and I know no illicit sources. That leaves me without a phone. I still need network connectivity. Do they have the MAC addresses of my computer? Probably yes. So my first stop is a shopping centre to buy a new laptop and tablet. The same stop yields me a bicycle, well actually two of them, because I cannot be sure I can fix damage on the road. Thus I also have the vehicle that takes me to my next destination: a public library. They have free WiFi and books. That leads to a quick decision: My goal is Turkey. They have thrown the GDN out. Theyll need me. That done, I am heading for my next stop, a dying species: a book shop. I fear they may remember the man who bought physical maps of all of Europe and Asia Minor and a GPS device without internet connectivity. That is why I buy maps of all of Europe. The next stop is really expensive, but it needs to be done. I buy a solar array and a battery for camping and utensils for cooking as a camper. These people are very, very happy to see a customer. Few people go camping while monsters roam the country. They have only the minimum staffing they need to get the public aid money, but so be it. This requires me to be honest. I am enjoying this. Am I a fugitive at heart? At least I know that I am an essence magician:
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 1 (10%)
[Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 1 (15%)
[This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (8%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Vast:
[Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 0 (26%)
[Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 0 (6%)
[Nebelwerfer 42] Focus Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Dimension:
[Teleport] Special Ability Iron 0 (71%)
[Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 1 (33%)
[Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 0 (58%)
[Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 0 (92%)
[Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 0 (21%)
Battlefield:
[Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 1 (36%)
[Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (44%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
-- Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Meet Kon-Tiki #1, the worlds first four-oar, self-rowing double outrigger canoe. She is about 5 meters from bow to stern, which is a little less than my inventory power can take at most and about 70 cm broad in her middle part. She has held me snuggly this night. I intend to spend today with meditation and my Turkish for beginners book and to row out under the cover of night. Just as the sun touches the horizon I hear a ring in my mind. - That phone I had almost forgotten about is ringing. With a sense of dread I get it out of my inventory. Spiritus sub tecto The call is anonymous. I have not expected anything else. Not answering would be stupid. They are too powerful. Even if I decide to not do as they please Id first have to get rid of everything in my storage space. It could be a bomb. P: Hello? *: We are pleased with your performance. P: Thank you. *: What are your plans? P: I want to go to an area the EOA is dominant. Lying to them is a bad idea for the same reason *: You are to stay in Europe P: Sooner or later they will catch me. *: Yes, you need to be stronger. This world is going to fundamentally change. P: How? *: You will see. In the mean time we need you to establish bases and get stronger. P: How do I get stronger? What do you mean by that. *: We will send instructions. Follow them, now. The call ends. The phone is beeping to show me coordinates. This is just 300 meters along the bank of the river. A message. They are watching me. There is no escape. I sigh, store Kon-Tiki #1 and jog along the bank of the river. I want to look like somebody doing evening sports. There is a strange aura. It is monotonous, artificial and comes from a small plastic chest. Touching it makes it dissolve to rainbow sparkles and reveals two Awakening stones, a small bag, a note on paper and a honest to God DVD in a case. -- We know that you have a DVD drive. Do not bother to hunt for the next three weeks. There are coins and gems in the bag. Use them. Concentrate your equipment. Find bases. -- This is depressing. I am always somebodys tool or toy. First I need to leave in a hurry. Somebody may have seen the sparkles. I end up just walking out of town. I dare not draw too much attention to myself. The moon is neigh full and the sky clear with minimum clouds. I can see my way without artificial light. I need to get a night-vision device. Dawn catches me as I walk through a suburb. I pass by a nice two story home, as a couple emerges together with a child of about 4 on her mothers hand. Should I? Yes, the opportunity is too good. I drop a coin C an ordinary coin, not a spirit coin C telekinetically keep it rolling and use the excuse to turn and chase it. Just as they unlock the car right in front of the house, I finally catch the coin. They are strapping the child in. I change to the other side of the road to give them space, patiently waiting for two cars. They both get into the car and drive away. Yes, I can see the interior through a french door whose curtain has been left open. That is enough. I teleport from a crouching position between two parked cars. -- A hot shower is heaven. Then I use their living room table to refold my parachute. Delaying that was risky, but I need an instructional video from YouTube to do that right. Their password is on a sticker glued to the underside of the base station. The table also serves for two awakening rituals. My mysterious masters pay well.
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 1 (10%)
[Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 1 (15%)
[This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (8%)
[Chemical Warfare] Defiance Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0(0%) This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
(unused) 0%
Vast:
[Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 0 (26%)
[Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 0 (6%)
[Nebelwerfer 42] Focus Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Dimension:
[Teleport] Special Ability Iron 0 (72%)
[Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 1 (36%)
[Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 0 (58%)
[Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 0 (94%)
[Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 0 (21%)
Battlefield:
[Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 1 (37%)
[Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (44%)
[Pipes of War] Unity Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Shall I raid the fridge? No, rationing is still in force. In fact I leave a 5 Euro banknote on the table. I need to sleep. Do they have an attic accessible through a trap door? Yes. The hook is next to the door, where most people keep it. How I close it again? Telekinesis is so handy. If I keep the hook in my ?grip, I dont need to see it to close the door and push up the ladder behind me. This is dusty even for an attic. It has a window, but nobody is likely to see me through it. Splendid. I conjure my shelter and my sleeping bag, let my clothes vanish and go to sleep. Domum ibo. Ive slept for a day and most of the night. Now I am munching spirit coins. They taste horribly, but they slacken my hunger. If it had not been for Thomas, they would have had me. I hope he is all right. Unfortunately their WiFi does not get up here. But they do have electricity. So I am charging everything. That is a practical thing I can do. On the mental front I am starting to feel like a trapped animal. The only thing that gives me a bit of hope is the DVD. It shows that whoever my sponsors are, they cannot just put an hours worth of instructional movies onto my tricorder. Why are they giving out Awakening Stones, though? Do they have so many of them that it is jus easier for them to make me happy than to make threats? Or, much worse, will I need them? My tricorder grades them. Do I have to assume that rarer stones give better abilities? I think so. Or do they need me to have those specific abilities? That would be bad, because those abilities have nothing in common. Although I may get two different tasks.
[Pipes of War] Cost: moderate mana Cooldown: none Perform a ritual without a need for additional materials on an ally that establishes an immaterial pipe through which at your choice at the time of establishing the pipe you can transfer 1) messages 2) excess mana 3) excess health 4) excess stamina Each partner can end a pipe at will. The maximum range depend on your [Spirit] attribute. Pipes have a maximum life time that depends on your [Recovery] attribute. You can maintain 5 pipes at once. Each pipe can transfer a different payload but only one pipe at a time can lead to an ally. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
[Chemical Warfare] Cost: variable (Conjuration: low, Spell: high) Cooldown: variable (Conjuration: none, Spell: 6 hours) Conjuration: Add chemical ammunition and an option to launch it to your weapons conjurations (if multiple forms C to the cheapest form). The number of shots depends on the conjured weapon. The launchers can also be used for other compatible ammunition. Spell: Command your poison gases to form an immobile cloud that will last 2 hours.
If I am to solve a problem that requires both abilities, it will mean serious trouble. And of course, the 64-million-dollar question. Why dont they do the mission themselves? The obvious answer is that it is not survivable. However, if it is not survivable, why waste awakening stones on me? Am I the worlds most expensive distraction? I wish anybody were here C well, not that asshole von Blow C to talk to. Do I rue murdering him? In a practical sense, yes, the price is too high. Otherwise, no. That guy had it coming. And I have seen too much to keep pretending that some people dont have it coming. Anyway I should watch the whole DVD, not just the directory, while I have ample electricity. -- What is this guy? People may have metallic green hair out of a bottle, but their eyes? Or is this CGI? According to him, auras are projected and retracted and this can be done partially. I need to figure out a way to train that on my own. I still need to make a decision. I wont stay here for three weeks. I ultimately, after doing and surviving the job, Ill still want to get out of the area the GDN dominates. So I will move southeast within Europe. And I will get my car. If I am to start anew, I want some stuff from home. Photo albums, that kind of memorabilia. I know theres a risk, but apparently I got watchers. Tomorrow during the day Ill do laundry and then travel into the night. Corpore picto eo Ill risk it. Nothing is without risk. They cannot simply locate me with a spell, or would have me already. They may have detectors for category 1 people. But I doubt it. They couldnt find monsters of higher categories without specialised machinery and operators. So here I am with spray paint on my conjured clothing and the parts of my face the face masks this guy is storing in his attic dont cover. I know wearing somebody elses used N95-mask is a little disgusting, but I have let the magic embodiment of corruption into my soul, if the instructor on the DVD is to be believed. So I am happily cycling to the railway station, hoping to get a little dirt and rainwater on my outfit. My problem is not blocking facial recognition. If that were the issue Id just purchase a fully enclosed biker helmet. No, I need to do so in an unconspicious manner. A workman stinking of paint should do the job. I am unlikely to woo my future wife that way, but that is not the issue today. -- HQ of the Network Director Paula Dirksen and Senior Researcher Ernst Seitenhuber are in a conference room. PD: Weve bought her a brandnew BMW. You are going to pay for that. ES: Yes, director. PD: Weve ordered new doors for the room. You are going to pay for that. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.ES: Yes, director. PD: Strictly speaking you didnt smash the windows. We ordered new windows for the whole wing anyway. You are going to pay for that. ES: Yes, director. PD: Now that is clear, tell me why did you not come to me? ES: You already know. PD: I need to hear it from you. ES: Because you would have said no. PD: Right. What did you have in hand.? ES: He did not die like the report said. That little piece of shit killed them. PD: With a category-1 backup weapon? ES: At least von Blow. PD: Did it ever occur that he maybe dragged him there to loot him because maybe the blast that cracked your crystals cleared the ground? Or that the mysterious vial does indicate that somebody else was there? ES: I had to confront him. PD: Rademacher was your friend. Tell me, why did you personally go? ES: I owed it to him. PD: Because I would have just ignored you? ES: . no. You would have told me to keep investigating. But PD: But he could have fallen only to a traitor and he was your friend? ES: . yes. What would you have done? PD: Sent him a letter asking him for more information to see what his handlers do ES: The vial is not conclusive. PD: Come on. This guy played James Bond against you. He has helpers. ES: Are you just letting him go? PD: No. He looted our people and we need to know his handlers. Well have the police look for him. ES: Good. PD: You, however, deserve some punishment. We need somebody to teach ?magic theory 101 ES: OK. PD: Youll also teach ?introduction to alchemy ES: please not that PD: You left a shitfest on my desk. -- This is boring. I need to try out what happens if I try to teleport up into a dark sky. Dubito ac cuncto This is horrible. I fell asleep. I havent planned to end up here. I havent looked at the maps. The man from the railroad is shaking me awake. ?Where am I?. He told me. I need to get out of this unobserved. Ive started wearing a watch again. It tells me that it is fairly late. The platform is dimly lit and there is a light drizzle coming down. That gives me an excuse to get a cap out of a ?pocket and to put my bag of equipment onto my shoulder facing the lit part of the station. ?Good night. this guy is friendly. ?Good night to you, too. I step behind the time tables on a board in the middle of the platform. That puts me largely out of his sight. He may still see my legs. I need a reason to linger. So I pull a soda can out of my inventory and pop it audibly. My aura sense tells me that he is wandering off along the train. Do I see a piece of dimly lit public road across the tracks? I teleport. This must never ever happen again. Falling asleep left me helpless. I must face reality, it has been too much. I need a few consecutive days of rest. And I need a motor vehicle. Given my lack of experience with motorbikes this will have to be a car. Just stealing a car in this city is not an option. It would be reported. I cant risk driving a car reported stolen for long. If I abandon them, Ill draw a line showing my movement, if they manage to correlate them with me. Even if I annihilate the car, they may trace me by vanishing cars. And I am not going to murder their owners just to prevent them from reporting the theft. All that is just theory. I understand that I dont know what I am doing. That leaves me with few options. The best I can think of is heading for the evacuated zones and find a car of somebody killed in a monster attack that will still run. Or should I try a freight train or a ship. I am tired and unsure what to do. First I need to get out of the cty. I take out my bike and start out. I am pretty fast. As I get tired I trigger [Immortality]. I go on through the night hiding whenever a car approaches. I am crossing through a small forest as the sun rises. I leave the road. An aura. Monster. Iron rank. Something like an upright rat with oddly human hands is plucking berries off a thicket et the rim of the forest. I have to risk it. I use my sniper rifle and a shot through the head finishes it. The loot is not spectacular. The place is sheltered against sight from to sides by a thicket. Is that actually good or am I cutting off my own routes of retreat? I am losing my selfconfidence. I need to sleep. I set up my shed. -- It is a common misconception that navigation devices need internet. Your phone needs it when you use it to navigate to access traffic information and maps it hasnt stored locally. But if you have your maps on the device, the GPS signal alone will do. GPS is also unidirectional, that is you cannot be detected by use of GPS. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. My navigation device can connect to the internet to update its maps and mine I had connected to the WiFi of the family in whose attic I stayed. It knew which villages were still evacuated and without connection to services. In the state of affairs 3 days ago. 5 km is not far. I can walk there. -- Some lights are on. That is a surprise. It means that the government has switched the power on again. That makes sense. It takes time to reactivate a power grid and you want to know about trouble spots. So doing it as soon as possible makes sense. But I hadnt learned it before. I scold myself for buying a battery-powered radio, but then not listening to the news. But who has switched them on? My observations so far have shown a few dogs and cats people seem to have left behind. Or, more sinister, they are pets of people who have stayed behind and been killed. I should not condemn people without evidence. I have no chance to detect auras at this distance. Do I walk or teleport? Teleport. If somebody senses my aura it makes no difference, theyll know that I am iron rank and I need an excuse. I change back into combat gear and body armour. First, it provides protection. Second I can claim to be part of a government mission to scout out towns for resettlement. -- No human auras. It seems people fleeing just left some lights switched on. That was stupid. It may attract monsters. Had they wanted to deter looters? I decide to patrol the town. If it holds monsters I need to know. In addition it matched my cover story, should it come to that. Therefore I walked in the middle of the road, assault rifle with my new grenade launcher attached held at ready. The town is built against a small hillock with a church on the center of the hill. I circle the town, before I go up a hill. The houses are usually one-and-a-half storey constructions built into the hill, with nice gardens. The very center has a small square with a pub and a church. The pub is the last thing that closes in a village. Drinking and driving is illegal. I sense monster auras from both. I decide to check the pub first. The door is smashed. I can see magical monster tracks going through it. I hesitate at the door. Four auras. They feel like that rat monster. So they are nesting here. That is, do monsters reproduce at all? A question for later. My aura sense says to the left and down. Does this building have a basement? Most buildings in this area should have one. If so, the monsters probably have found stored provisions. I do not want to shoot up the good stuff. Very well I have options now. There is fairly broad round staircase going down with signs guiding patrons to the toilets. A typical setup. Would I sense what monsters feel, in particular if they notice me? I cannot depend on that. At the foot of the staircase I hesitate. The corridor is too narrow for my taste with too many doors. I can hear a chirping sound. Lets try this the sinister way. I fire two of the four tear gas grenades in launcher under the barrel of my assault rifle into the direction I think the sounds are coming from. All hell breaks loose. But in contrast to an actual assault rifle I can stay on full auto for much longer than an actual assault rifle would have ammunition, nor does the weapon overheat. I get them all. I loot the monsters and step forward to inspect my much more conventional loot. I have found an alcoholics paradise. Cenam scio This is not exactly a wine cellar. If you define wine as an undestilled solution of alcohol in water derived from grapes. It fails both conditions. And then I panic and hold my breath. I just fired tear gas grenades into these rooms. I need to get out. That is, I would have needed to get out minutes ago. In fact, I should never have gone in here. Magical tear gas must be able to tell friend from foe and, even worse, on a subconcious level I knew that. That is deeply unnerving. I rather go kill some monsters. The other auras turn out to be two auras not coming from the churchs main nave, but an auxillary building behind it. I was not going to walk into a room with two monsters in it. I conjure guns and cast magic beams corrupting reality. Those effects work at a distance. Negating that advantage voluntarily strikes me as inadvisable. In fact, that raises a question. Should I just level the whole building? I am an artillery piece, after all. It is tempting, but what would I do if the building catches fire? I want to use this town and in addition I am not a vandal. Now, if I ever meet a herd of demon cows breathing fire, then Ill use artillery. Though I have no interest in strolling through meadows. But thats a question to contemplate outside combat. I may not be a vandal, but theres no Geneva Convention fighting monsters either. Gas warfare is all right. Plus, it worked last time. Using the enclosed nature of my enemies position against them looks like a good idea. I strain my senses. Scraping sounds and the auras were slightly off. A different species of rodent? That would explain why they split up into two groups. I fire a salvo followed by my remaing two tear gas grenades at a window closed against observation by a luxurious dark curtain. The stench is unbearable. The sudden realization whom or at that stage rather what had been forgotten when this town was evacuated did not make it better. My gas grenades are not the niece kind that lands and then releases gas. They create a puff of air of some magnitude when they go off. And I have redirected it through a broken window. Having enhanced senses can turn into a disadvantage. Its been weeks in warm weather. I bend over and experience one of the few advantages of living on spirit coins. I dont make it worse barfing on myself. The sound of shattering window glass and crumpling window frame call me back to the realities of combat. Can you imagine a mangy hamster or an African naked mole crossed with a gorilla? It lands right in front of me. Luckily for me, it is not bullet proof. A tail winds around my chest. The pressure is intolerable. Teleportation fails. I am dragged over the ground towards the second one. Going to full hulk mode does work and gets the tail off me, but by then it is too late. Using one hand to grab it by the throat to keep its teeth away from me and using my other hand to stab it with my magical knife leaves its clawed hand and feet free to do damage. Those claws are not exactly talons, but they have not had the benefit of a recent manicure either. And considering what they have been used for less than a minute ago, every scratch horrifies me. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I dont know how long this has lated. Seconds probably. It seemed longer to me. The monsters dead, my subconcious decides to switch off the pain blockers. Yes, thats a cracked rib. But I need to do something about infection. I take out a silver rank health potion and drip its content over my wounds. I can conjure a pipette if I have to. Enhanced senses have advantages, too. I can tell where the lacerations are. I want those ugly corpses gone, so I loot them. Does it clarify the situation if I say that rainbow smoke has found a close rival. I need to get this stuff off me. I hope the inn has a bathroom. -- It also has a backdoor. I put beverages into my inventory and sneak out of the backdoor. Slowly. A cracked rib hurts. Why dont it take a potion? I dont dare. One of the few things they did tell us in the boot camp was to never take potions too quickly and that overranked potions take far longer to clear. I also chuckle and regret it, you know, cracked rib.. This fight has yielded me an Awakening Stone. The multiverse has a sense of human I appreciate in the abstract, but not as its subject. It is an Awakening Stone of the Feast. Dies vispillonis Have I mentioned that the sun is close to the horizon and I am slowly walking down a street naked, wearing only flip flops? I am nearly out of mana and I will not wear my body armor until it will have been washed in a machine. Flip-flops was all I dared spare mana on. The giant hulk state eats mana like crazy. I cannot take a potion and [Immortality] is still on cooldown. I cannot use gas grenades for now. I should just have levelled that church, whatever the consequences. That is hindsight, though. It also seems that being exhausted and in constant pain slows down mana regeneration. If I find no better options, I will soon have to lie down on somebodys lawn now featuring pretty wild flowers and long gras to wait for enough mana to come back to teleport through a window without blinds or curtains drawn. I have come to the steepest part of the street leading down the hill. In my state I cannot be sure I could get back up if I needed to. So I turn to the closest entrance. The house has a garden in the front and presumably in the back, which the path made from stone plates leads to. It may have an open shed or a gazebo or even a sheltered place to lie down. The key is left in the front door. I check again. No auras. I turn the key. A corridor awaits me. I discard the fip-flops. It opens into a living room behind an old-fashoned wooden door with an inset of green semitransparent glass. There is a couch with a convinently placed brown blanket on it. I lie down as quickly as my ribs allow. -- The sun is up again as I wake up. My mana pool is refilled, but a bit constricted. My ribs hurt, but not as badly as they should. The L-shaped living room features a large glass wall opening onto a terrace roofed over. It is home to an outdoor table completely with an old-style red and blue plastic covering and three chairs. The table holds a notepad, weighed down by a box of ammunition. Beyond the terrace the lawn is decorated with a hunting rifle and a corpse that has been exposed to the elements and scavengers for weeks. I take the long way outside the building. The smell is not too bad. The notepad reads: There is nothing left for me. They are all gone. This country has failed me. I choose the way of peace today. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Have I failed him? ?I tried. Speaking to the dead is probably not a sign of unimpaired mental health. Should I just annihilate this mans corpse? That does not feel right. But first things first. I find the washing machine in the pseudo-basement. The house is built in a stairway pattern of sections two or three storeys hight following the hillside. The lowest is two-storied, holds a garage with an old Mercedes still in it, a room with a freezer and a washing machine in it. Upstairs is filled with a hobby room. This man seems to have been a builder of some sort by profession going by the pictures and a hunter by hobby. That explains the rifle. The freezer I store, retrieve it on the road and annihilate it. Not after weeks without power. No, I am not going to open that . That had been bad enough in a closed state. My laundry goes into the machine. The hobby room also holds his Internet AP and the telephone installation. I remove the power cords. I cannot risk anything in my equipment calling home and somebody noticing that this town is inhabitated again ahead of schedule. Then I start charging what can be charged. Let me remain silent about the rest of the house. I found pictures of a woman with a black band around a corner and old cat food in the pantry, if I can take the approaching expiration dates as clues. I think that paints a clear picture. But I had to search the house. There might be dangers. His weapons and ammunition stores go into my inventory right away. Then I turn to the garden again and find a spade and a shovel leaning against a shed. I bury the man. How does a man with a cracked rib dig a grave? Telekinesis. A nifty power. That also saves me from touching the corpse. Otherwise I think I would have annihilated it. I consider speaking some words. But which? I dont even know his first name. His last name was ?Schr?der, to be found on the doorbell. In fact I have no 100% proof that in fact I am even burying the right man. Too long ago for my perception ability to show traces. The garage holds another nice surprise. Spare fuel in canisters. The key to the car has been on a hook on the wall of the corridor. It still runs. But I am not going for a joy ride. I pour myself a glass of milk (expiration date in two weeks) from the pantry, flop down in front of the TV, switch to a mindless late afternoon entertainment and take a good reckoning about my situation. * I almost died again * That has gotten me one stone * My sponsors can trace me * The Network does not like me (although they are incompetent) * I have a power set that requires cooperation with other essence magicians In other words: I am on a path to doom. Filling my slots this way will get me killed. Conclusion: I need allies. Loquor ut ubique audiar I am ashamed. I am running through the town at considerable speed, now and then jumping a fence for training, as my training DVD recommends. With frequent stops to feed the animalistic masses, though. I have my sustenance, but the abandoned pets do not. So when my aura sense says so and in regular intervals I put pet food out there. Today I am going to become a preacher man. I have analyzed this, though this is attributing a lot to ten seconds of clear thought and considerably more research time into my tricorder. I am pretty convinced that rituals have been leaked by now. But that wont get people essences. Or to be precise, it would get them essences, if they could do looting rituals. But even that wouldnt do the job. To become an essence magician you need * three essences * the correct ritual * the coins for the ritual The last point is the problem. I dont know where the GDN is getting its coins from. I, however, can make coins from monsters. A long chain of queries starting with my racial gifts led my tricorder to explain looting powers and powers likely to create looting powers in humans. It insisted on adding that. That is very interesting, but not immediately relevant. I have gotten my essences and so many stones because somebody helped killing high-ranking monsters and supplied spirit coins to me. I cannot replicate that feat at scale. However, if some spirit coins reached certain people, say by the equalizing power of theft, people could become essence magicians if they came upon an iron rank intrusion, had weapons and knew the rituals. It was not a sure thing and would take much longer than I would like, but the GDN has competitors now. What can I do? Instructing people to pick essence combinations likely to produce looting abilities and gifts, thats what I can do. So today Ill put on wizarding regalia, that is real movie wizard regalia with staff, robes and a hat, not government auxillary ritualist, and make a YouTube video on looting powers. It should be protected by religious freedom now. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. -- It is a bit disappointing that I cannot do anything that CGI couldn''t do more impressively, but I have to do something, so I am now surrounded by a cloud of small tools orbiting me. And I sing the praise of the essence combinations Foot/Rabbit/Feast and Life/Death/Balance. Is this the correct thing to do? I dont know, but something needs to be done and we cannot deliver the world to the GDN on a silver tablet. Yes, this will probably help criminal organizations and less savoury states, but sometimes there is no perfect solution. -- As I come home C odd how quickly something can become home - for editing, I find a feline visitor. I moma cat and two very sick kittens. This is hard to swallow. I am getting a potion out. I have no idea about dosage, but it is quite clear that I cannot do much harm here. I can save one. This leads to a change of plan. Ill need a supply of veterinary medication and stuff for cats. My navigation device tells me that the next town should offer that. Yes, that means I am ready to rob a pharmacy. I just love cats. -- I am becoming traditionalist. An evening has to end with the evening news and a crime show. Just drinking milk instead of beer is highly untraditional. ? The requirement to obtain a permission for travel on highways will be lifted ? from the day after tomorrow on for most highways. ? The government has rebuffed demands by parts of the opposition to shut down ? the reactivated nuclear power plants again citing an absolute need ? for a secure supply of electrical energy. ? The committee for constitutional reform has put forward a proposal ? for a sweeping increase in the powers of the president. Quoting the chacellor: ? ?We can not return command of the armed forces to an appointed official. This changes a lot. I can drive home in an untraceable car. Necanda est Am I developing a fetish for rural living? Or just for luxury? Warm milk in a garden while petting a recovering kitten is oddly comforting. I have done my morning run and it is much shorter if you dont turn into a feeding run. I am a bit tired because after the show yesterday evening I had a good idea for a Dalek #2. I think I can make it use some of my abilities if I include the ritual circles int it, rather than drawing them only for activation. My meditations also have let me consolidate advances
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 1 (11%)
[Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 1 (19%)
[This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (46%)
[Chemical Warfare] Defiance Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (21%)
(unused) 0%
Vast:
[Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 0 (89%)
[Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 0 (40%)
[Nebelwerfer 42] Focus Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Dimension:
[Teleport] Special Ability Iron 1 (1%)
[Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 1 (76%)
[Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 0 (58%)
[Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 1 (10%)
[Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 0 (75%)
Battlefield:
[Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 1 (61%)
[Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (47%)
[Pipes of War] Unity Specil Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
I try to get the kitten into car. Ive prepared a shallow basket with soft blankets. The mother cats seems strangely unconcerned as I handle her kitten. This brings me to an idea. I try to retract my aura as well as I can. She immediately positions herself between me and her kitten. I project. She sits down to clean herself. Cats interact with auras. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.That evokes an odd thought. Is that the reason for their association with witches in folklore? Ive decided to expand my plans. I have no idea where I will end up eventually. Turkey has thrown the GDN out. But that is now. What will be in a years time? I might be forced to go to really wild parts of the world. And if I want to gather allies I might not go alone. I need a way to treat people and animals when they fall ill without depleting my strictly non-renewable supply of potions. I will empty out much of that pharmacy. Things do not spoil inside my inventory. That may turn todays trip into a longer affair, so I am packing food and water for the cats. I dont need to eat or drink; they sure do. The old car runs flawlessly. I park the car in a shady space a bit away from the pharmacy. The lock does not withstand my combination of conjuration and telekinesis. Yes I could have just shot up or annihilated the door, but I will not hurt people with unnecessary damage. If I have the time to do it in a nice manner, I will. Besides, I am harder to trace, if I just close the door again. In the veterinary section I take specimens of almost everything labled for cats straight into the inventory. The human section requires thought. I do not need many statines for example, but I do need a broad selection of antibiotics. Likewise I do not need too many psychopharmaka, but I do need barbiturates and analgesics. I know how that sounds, but I am planning for dangerous stuff. And that forces me to destroy the safe used for keeping the opiates. Have you ever tried annihilating only part of an armoured box? This is tricky work. Finally I got the last latch. Just as I decide to take all of it, because after this much work I want to make sure Ill never have to do this again, I notice two normal rank auras. Shit. Simply wait down here? Not an option, they may call for reinforcements. Or find the car, thus locating my temporary place through the license plate, where Ive left a lot of really sensitive stuff. Come out like a dervish under acceleration and just flee? Also inacceptable. They may already have located and reported the car. I must know. Or they might than just decide to check nearby places. I must interact with them. I decide to wear my body armour. It looks official enough that it may cause them to hesitate. ?Hey folks, I am coming out I rather announce myself than trigger something unfortunate. ?Leave all baggage, come out slowly and keep your hands visible. I dont care how much you need that stuff a male voice replies. So they are thinking I am an addict stealing narcotics. That is probably not ideal, because addicts may act irrationally. Or so I assume. I have no idea what police work is these days. Or before the emergency, for that matter. Frankly, I never cared. It kind of figures that cutting traffic does also affect, lets call them ?inofficial pharmaceutics. But that is not knowing for sure. Do they think I am a user or a dealer? I sense one straight ahead whose main emotion seems to be caution. There is another one concentrating on something. She feels nervous but not afraid. It does not look like people ready to shoot. I step outside with my hands lifted shoulder high. From the right a woman about my height with a can of tear gas in her left hand and manacles in her right hand jumps me and tries to get them over my wrists. I cannot let them do that. I push to the right. Her body is stopped cold and she is flung back. His hand is only on his firearm; he has not yet drawn it. He is correcting that. My left is already positioned correcly. My assault rifle speaks combined with my aiming ability. Multiple projectiles hit him in the chest. His death is immediate. I can feel his aura just blinking out. The female police officer has fallen over, but is also reaching for her firearm, albeit in a fumbling manner. She is deeply shocked. I am fast. Fast and strong. Her arm is withdrawing the gun from the holster as my fingers close around her wrist. I squeeze. She screams and lets go. The gun tumbles to the ground. Her legs do something to my legs. That works. Normal humans would probybly have let go of her. I do not. But her weight makes me lose balance and I stumble on top of her. Her knees seek to hit where it really hurts, but her aim is off. My other arm reaches out blindly and I squeeze. I must grab something that really hurts in the female case. Her shriek hurts my ears. My arm pumps back to telegraph a blow. It may have been lethal. ?I give up C she moans. I hesitate. Her legs begin working again. I use the arm still around her wrist to squeeze again. She screams again. I roll us around out of reach of the gun just to be safe. My free hand goes for her throats, ignoring her arm. She makes a tactical error in trying to dislodge my arm instead of going for my eyes. I use overwhelming force on her hurt arm to turn her onto her stomach, force her other arm onto her back, too, and conjure two joint sleeves of sturdy fabric to force her arms together from wrist to ellbows. She tries to scramble away and I yank on her ponytail. Our battle involves a lot of screaming. It finally ends when I get my knife out of my inventoty and very roughly make clear that any more movement would result in major arteries being cut. Shit, shit, shit. I cant kill her. She has surrendered. I cannot not kill her. She knows much too much. Now what, do I torture a police woman for information, murder her and annihilate her corpse? Has it come to that? Igni id delevi First I need to make sure things wont get even worse. She must not report me. The corpse must not be found and their bosses must think that they are elsewhere. This is a very serious situation. I feel an overwhelming urge to either run or go for a quick murderous fix She is not happy as I frisk and pat her down thoroughly. No backup weapon. A wallet. ?Stefanie Heilmann. Keys. And here it is: a phone. Specifically an older iPhone. I dislike frisking a corpse, but telekinesis makes getting a phone out much easier. While I am at it, I put his corpse into their car. I get Bocks Car #1 out to send it on a last, complicated mission. Why can this thing see, but I have to teach them about walking? Later. I get my maps out. This is my most complicated command so far. It boils down to following a certain course roughly identical to a road until it hits the Autobahn, then to follow the Autobahn for a certain length of way and then to head north-north-west forever, which amounts to until it dissolves, being made from conjured material from [Equip the Army]. I put both their phones into the payload hold, give it as much mana as I can and let it fly. She looks at me with interested eyes. I have let her see this. Probably a mistake. I close my eyes. Fear. Indignation. Discomfort. And something else. Reading her is hard, much harder than most people. Police training? ?You dont have to do this. There is always an option. - I guess she is trained to say such things. The geek in me just cant stay quiet. ?Your understanding is based on incomplete knowledge. ?You are not a criminal. You are an educated man. You dont want to do this. We can talk about it. I am new at this and she is in part factually right. And that is bad, but even I dont make the same mistake twice. Though I am quite likely continuing it by letting her stay alive. I step behind her and conjure a hose of an opaque version of my material. It goes over her head. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!She is initially alarmed, then reassured with a lot more discomfort. She does understand that me caring about what she sees means that I havent decided to kill her. Should I wish for her to be stupid? What am I doing? First things first. The corpse needs to go. A thick piece of conjured cloth goes over her ears. The next part requires me to chant. The corpse, their weapons and the car are disposed off. I grab her by the arm, much harder than necessary. I want her to feel that her needs and welfare are tertiary to me, at best. I need a way to make sure she cannot trace us. We go back into the pharmacys basement to the box of the good stuff and the dangerous stuff meaning stuff that can burn. Yes, they have solvent. I spread a few bottles. A spike of fear. She is smelling it. I lift the second piece of cloth. ?Only the building will burn. I would take the whole box. It has too many traces of unusual work. My inventory does not take it. I get the impression that the combined size and density are too much. Well, then only the full content, making my work spent on selecting stuff a waste. The sound shield goes onto her again. I trigger [Immortality] and promptly spend much restored mana on disappearing an armored box. I uncover her mouth and force it open. She struggles quite a lot but down go the tranquilizers. For a moment I struggle with myself. Leaving her unconcious form here would be so easy. Over my shoulder she goes. Up the stairs I find myself confronted with an unusual problem. I dont carry matches. Yes, they are part of my cooking equipment, which came in a box, which I stored as a box. A box which now is standing on the counter in the kitchen in my temporary base as the dishwasher is running because I wanted to clean the gear. Who am I kidding. I want to do this. I walk towards the car. I see no traces, the car has not been discovered and at a safe distance I conjure it. A WW2-vintage piece of rocket artillery loaded with incendiary ammunition. For practical purposes there goes the rest of my mana, but who cares? There goes the building. Do I care about traces? No. I looked at my guns. They indeed produce projectiles, but those last only a minute or so after having been fired. I am greeted by two sleeping cats as I back out and return to base by another route. Verbis saxa non moventur This is becoming a collection of stereotypes out of a bad movie. I am lifting a drugged semiconcious women out of a trunk. Ive settled and fed the cats. But if I leave her in the trunk I could just have shot her and be done with it. So she rests tied to the garden table, having trained my ability to make complex loops and connect them, while I put everything I have unpacked into my storage space. Did a longing for having a home lead to this clusterfuck? I sit down on a chair and contemplate my next steps. In fact I use a notepad to write them down I C I let her go. Very bad. The car will be identified. I will be much easier to trace. If the Network has not used the police they will certainly look for me after that. And they chase cop killers a lot harder than deserters II C I kill her. Objectively the best solution. Except III C I wait until civilization collapses or something. But I dont have that much time. It is the most attractive solution though. IV C I convince her to shut up. The best outcome as far as I am concerned. But how? I am a nerd, not a politician V C I ask for help. Whom? The mysterious phone? My well being is unlikely to be high up on their agenda. They have a very questionable sense of morality. And they might even be easy to annoy. I havent dared to use the latest stone, heeding their note. And they may be watching anyway. And I may not be able to get the phone to call them. I cant even conjure a servant to watch her and I will have to feed her. So I warm up a can of Ravioli and sit down in the garden to meditate. Well, try to meditate. Meditation requires a certain peace of mind. Lets be honest. In terms of effect I sit around in the garden. -- This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. She came back to her senses and required me to lead her to the bathroom. I have decided that approach IV can be combined with III. But I had not counted on police training asserting itself in somebody barely hale enough to use a bathroom by herself. SH: You did not want to do this. It was an unfortunate overreaction. P: Of course I did not want to do this, why would I want to do this? The point of hiding is wanting to meet nobody. SH: You do not want to make it worse? P: Of course I do not want to make it worse. Why would anybody want to make things worse. SH: Do you have anything to drink? Can we sit down in your beautiful garden. I get her a can of coke out of my inventory P: It is not my garden. I took it over from the old guy who had killed himself. She is, slowly either because of the aftereffects or to not provoke me, on her way to the door. I have to follow. P: And I am asking the questions here. SH: You want to ask me questions? P: No. I need to explain things to you. SH: Why dont you start with what you were doing in that pharmacy? P: I was getting medication and kitten formula for that little kitten of this stray cat that came to my door, I mean actually the dead owner of this hous respectively his heirs door. SH: You care for people and cats? P: No, I care only about cats Stop! Shut up! I am asking the questions here! She looks at me with a slightly tilted head. SH: So what do you want? P: I need you to forget everything. SH: This isnt up to me. P: Of course it is. SH: A man is missing. You have killed a man. P: Yes. That stops her. SH: He was a man with dreams and hopes P: So were the men who died next to me fighting. You can forget the guilt trip. SH: You are with the GDN. I snort. P: If I were GDN, youd be now sitting in a lab, where men with hard faces would make it clear why you have seen nothing and want to say nothing and that you have had an accident clouding your memories. She looks highly sceptical. It matches my aura sense. That makes it less useful. I need it if I cant read a face. P: Have you ever met GDN people? SH: No, but you werent one of them. Were you a Merlin then? P: Yes. SH: Tell me about it. How were you fighting? P: I am not giving you information that makes me easier to identify. We fought. We fougt with shitty equipment because the GDN had kept it secret for centuries. She looks at me sceptically. Scepticism is kind of her thing. How do I argue against scepticism? It is the right way to look at the world. I have to break the ice. P: Are you hungry? She nods. I materialize a plate of ravioli right before her eyes and conjure a spoon. Why have I bought camping gear for cooking if I can do that? Because the stuff I conjure does not survive being put on an oven. She actually flinches. The emotions I get seem to be a sequence of startlement, wonder and annoyance. Going by her speed she is quite hungry. SH: Are you angry that they made you fight? P: No, not at all. I could at least shoot back. SH: And fighting the monsters did something to you? I hesitate. She is too good with people. P: Yes. Too many encounters where only luck meant that I survived. And those bastards of the GDN had it all. We had to take equipment of their dead bodies to fight on, when the opportunity arose. SH: Do you want revenge for that? Does she understand. P: Yes! SH: And what do you want to do for that? Kill them? No, she does not understand. P: This is not productive. Come with me. This home has a second bathroom. It holds a shower, a sink, a mirror and a toilet. It is lit not with a window but with transparent glass bricks, which used to be very fashionable here. I lock her in there and put Dalek #1 up as a watchman. I do not sleep well that night. Nex She does not look good. And she is quiet during breakfast, which is ravioli again. SH: You are not eating. P: I do not need to eat. I do not want to eat while others have to cope with rationing. SH: You do care about people. P: To an extent. Yesterday she was a much more enthusiatic eater SH: And yet you take yourself so important. P: As I said to an extent. I will not sacrifice myself just because you wont keep quiet. SH: You killed somebody. Her voice is no longer the controlled smooth voice of yesterday. Did she hope to be rescued by now? P: It cannot be undone. If you seek a fight, be ready to be fought. SH: We did .. not seek a fight. Note to my aura sense: I do not need an extra sense to know that she is feeling indignation. P: You came with guns. And you can hardly claim that you would have let me go in peace. SH: We have to uphold the law. P: And you will do that while the GDN has been deceiving everybody for centuries? You will hunt those people who run from them and only do what they need to do to survive? SH: So you want to stand above the law. P: Yes. SH: Because you are something better P: Yes SH: And you expect me to go along with that? P: You have a point. This is not going to work. This time she struggles as I drag her back to the bathroom. You cannot stab me with a fork I have made with [Equip the Army]. The substance vanishes. That seems to be a rule of magic. It does not turn against its origin. I now understand the problem with my aura sense. She is basically screaming her emotion. It is righteousness, not personal indignation she is feeling. -- I have been working on a replacement for Bocks Car #1. I am calling it Bocks Car #2. It has much better aerodynamics. I am not ready to use up any quintessence on a model not made from properly infused real materials. Ive come to a decision. It amounts to tricking myself and tempting fate. At noon I come to the bathroom with a bowl of ravioli and a book from the house. In the gorges of the Balkans by Karl May. I knock on the door, waiting for her to bid me enter and hand her the bowl and the book. P: Sorry, I forgot the toilet paper. I am closing the door in a seemingly embarrassed hurry, forgetting to lock it again. I have not told her that I can track her aura. I follow her. We end up in the room above the garage. She holds the telephone in her hand, repeatedly hitting the button to get a dial tone. P: Ive removed cables SH: You tricked me. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. P: Among others SH: Why? P: I would have let you go. But you are not ready to make a deal. Why? SH: I cannot let you have this world. P: Whom? SH: Wizards P: You never had it. The world is not fair. She jumps at me with a sharp shard of the bathroom mirror wrapped on its lower end with the bathroom towel. Bad move against a man who can accelerate time. My fist connects with the back of her head. She staggers. Shai-Hulud #1 wraps around her neck. -- Ive been making the round of the town feeding the abandoned pets. On the other end of the town there is a small pond. I take her corpse out of storage and annihilate it. What could I have done differently? I could have let von Blow live. Letting that bastard live. Well, the world is not fair. Did I actually speak to her during those final seconds? I do not want to be here any longer. But the highways must be full. I decide to wait for nightfall. I tidy up the house. I put a cross up on the site I have buried the owner. I drive the car up to the center of the town and fill it with beverages. I need stuff to swap on the black market. The fuel goes into the trunk. I check on the cats. I stuff their basket extra soft. I activate Bocks Car #2. Meditation brought peace, but no answers. Though even the peace enjoys but a short life. The unwelcome inner beep sounds. I get the phone out. A multimedia message. A tutorial on how to do an awakening ritual with an elaborate pattern. And a simple message: A lesson that needed to be experienced. You have earned a vacation. I suggest your old spot and friend. Use the stone. That sounded almost nice. The driveway is smooth asphalt. Why not? -- I wash the salt away. Sunset is almost here. I put the keys back into the front door. The cats react to my invitation by aura. Lets see what home will bring.
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 1 (11%)
[Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 1 (20%)
[This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (55%)
[Chemical Warfare] Defiance Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (21%)
(unused) 0%
Vast:
[Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 0 (93%)
[Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 0 (85%)
[Nebelwerfer 42] Focus Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (17%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Dimension:
[Teleport] Special Ability Iron 1 (18%)
[Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 1 (93%)
[Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 0 (64%)
[Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 1 (39%)
[Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 1 (2%)
Battlefield:
[Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 1 (90%)
[Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (61%)
[Pipes of War] Unity Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
[Cornucopia] Feast Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused)
Expector I like driving. I still need to find out how to get onto the Autobahn. They themselves were open. But the on and off ramps into evacuated zones were not. This means I drive country roads until I cross over into the A zone and then I can put my foot to the metal. They cannot be controlling all the country roads in the country permanently. Radio does not report long traffic jams, contrary to my expectations. It does report an unusually high number of minor accidents though. Monsters? Unmaintained roads? People forgetting how to drive in a few weeks? I am going slow. An aura sense is not like hearing or smelling. It takes effort to sense a monster reliably. That is not compatible with fast and safe driving. And I am internally shaken. Did I need to kill her? If I want to survive, yes, I did. The Network, in hindsight, either screwed up or has been using me as bait. I could not have escaped Rademacher, nor me being honest, a sound von Blow. My own government used me as a guinea pig, or rather used my eagerness to get a posh posting and my pride in abilities derived from a video game to turn myself into a guinea pig. I do not regret it. I have taken a qualitative step upwards. I told her that the world is not just. My ancestors and the ancestors of people I used to work with every day potentially shot at each other. Does that make them evil? In consequence, is that what we are? Have I, a pawn of a mysterious force, simply slain a pawn of the government? I pull over into a deserted parking space. This road seems to have been touristic before the incident to feature parking for tourists to admire the scenery. I do not need bathroom breaks. Cats do. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.And the forest at night speaks of peace. I no longer really fear the night. If I meet a bronze or silver rank monster that can hide its aura, I will die, day or night. -- A non-descript man works on separating the layers of his aura and sending out two last emotional pushes coupled with a direction. In a a disused barn people bartering look up. ?The cops C ?No, just an animal. We have owls in these woods. The man looks one way, lifts an eyebrow. ?Adorable he mutters to himself. -- I need to clear my head. I dont think there are monsters in these woods, but thinking is not knowing. The cats look tired and have returned to their basket. But should I not return, theyd be trapped. I wind down a window and fill it with a mesh made with [Equip the Army] clasped to the car from both sides. If I do not return, it will decay within a few hours. I walk into the night that is just right, not cold, not warm, with a clear sky and a nice moon. That reminds me. I look up and decide to teleport 2 meters up. This is fun. I could repeat the feat of my escape. I am seeing a trace. Bright, but not as bright as an iron rank trace would be. Someone with one essence? Should I stay or should I go? Tactically speaking I should go, but strategically speaking I need allies. So I follow the trace and see a barn. It is full of iron rank people. So many that I can sense them at this distance. Something is very, very fishy. I dont meet any essence user for a week and now a barn in the middle of nowhere with dozens of wizards? The conclusion is horrible. I am not master of my own decisions. I hesitate. It is no use. They can trace me. If I anger them too much they can do things I will not like, foremost of them a phone call to the GDN. The door is guarded by a duo of men bearing a large resemblence to one another. One of them is looking into a crystal lifts his gaze and starts with a pause for breath ?Hello. You are earlier than we were told to expect you. Why are you alone? Trouble on the road? And why are you a man? In emporio laboro Those are too many questions. ?Why do you expect me to not be a man? My questions gets an immediate answer ?I was told to expect ladies, though not - you are right - only ladies. Why did nobody tell me that you would arrive separately? The number of questions does not go down. ?I have no idea. I was sort of guided here without anybody telling me anything. I thought Id get an explanation here. They have sent me here. Anything else is just too freaking unlikely. These people are expecting somebody. If they just wanted to raid this place it would have been easier to do so by themselves. ?Are you the one who will do the looting or the one who will use the loot? he keeps asking more questions. ?I suppose I should do the looting because there is nothing to use if I dont loot first. It seems like he wishes to take over the speaking part for his fellow, who may be his brother if facial features are indications overruling loquacity. They are leading me through a barn with a few people behind makeshift tables holding produce and in a few cases can and, in one case, papers. ?How do you hide this from police? - ?We do not really. They know it is inevitable and we keep it orderly and local. I am starting to think that my mode of dealing with the authorities is too rigid. We continue on through the other door. Does that mean they know what will happen in terms of smell when a monster is looted? I wish I had a mass spectrometer to test the rainbow clouds with. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. I am surrounded by people whose auras seem like stunted version of the superhero I met. Though they are armed with automatic weapons, I am more confident here. As long as we are outside I can always flee into the sky. Do you wonder why I havent build a glider with [Robotic Servant of War]? Too dangerous. I may need to flee while another one of them is operating and I cannot switch over without delay. These people have found a method to store dead monsters. I conjure a glove and somebody pours a small heap of dead monster rats in front of me. Dutifully I loot them. They turn out to be lesser monsters. I get very little besides lesser coins and lesser cores from them. A few teeth and a tub of ointment. It even has a symbol of two snakes wound around a staff on the lid. Is my looting power trying to be helpful? That symbol must be coming from me. ?Almost, one of my observers/watchers mutters. ?Almost what? - ?Almost a healing potion, those sell better than anything else. There is a commotion at the entrance and I get an iron rank aura I know. P: Lisa, here you are! L: What are you doing here? That has not been the wisest thing to say. People are drawing firearms P: Our partners led me here. L: Why did they do that? And why did they not tell me? P: I dont know. They didnt tell me that they didnt inform anybody. L: This is a surprise. But not an unwelcome one. Have you met Fatma? P: Yes. I do not forget my students. I am bad with names, but I do remember faces. Fatma adresses their people F: Cousins, this is my teacher. Somebody has messed up the schedule without telling anybody anything. Including that they have recruited him. They have the respect the teaching profession is due and lower their weapons, though they do not reholster them. Intellexit me. She kind of demonstratively embraces me, together with the three kisses on the cheeks procedure. Usually Id have appreciated this more, as she is an attactive young woman, but suspicious people armed with automatic rifles around me dampen that kind of thought. ?Whar are you doing here? she is whispering into my ear. ?I am working for a third party which is watching you and me. She fowns, but loudly suggests that bith Fatma and I should get looting to use the reinforcements HQ has sent best. She puts herself on a stool next to me. ?Whom are you working for? - ?I dont actually know, which causes her to make a puzzled face ?How come? P: I met them only once. At that time I was suffering from radiation sickness and thought my life was over. They used some kind of memory altering substance or technique. I cannot remember the man I met. L: Unless you want to propose a fourth faction we will have to asumme that it is the cabal. P: The Cabal? L: Werewolves, vampires, cylopes, brownies, centaurs, nixies P: I guess that should not surprise me anymore. L: The EOA guys are an excellent source of information. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. I have to stop to put on chemical safety gloves. I am to loot monster newts, which are poisonous to the touch. P: They are tracing me, but they led me here, so they must know of your activity. L: That worries me, but our activity here will soon come to an end anyway. P: Why? L: We are going back to intrusion zones being intercepted early enough so that we dont get at monsters anymore. P: We are iron rank at best. If they wanted to harm or stop you, they definititely could. L: Yes, they want us to know that they dont mean us ill. But that is no reason to send you. P: Do they want you to succeed? L: No offense, but Fatma is as good at looting as you. We need luck to get a hit. P: I think I understand it. I am carrying a lot of healing potions. L: Right. That actually makes sense. P: What are you selling it for? L: In the best case - grid access. If not that C money and information P: OK, I think my bosses want to solve multiple issues here. If they just wanted you to have the potions they could have sent you a written offer. L: It is probably a warning. P: Sorry. L: Not your fault. In fact, getting a warning in time is preferrable to angry visitors after the fact. P: Good that you take this so cool. L: It is not so much aimed at me. It is a warning to Fatmas family not to overplay their cards probybly. P: In that case I think I better actually sell to her. L: Yes P: But you are willing to give me details about the cabal. L: Why dont you ask on the official channels? P: Well, I am kind of a deserter. At her core Lisa will always be an anarchist with a great sense of humour. Legati mittuntur It has turned out that Fatma is the muscle in their operation, magically speaking; Lisa is the ritualist and her cousin, Amir, whom I had the pleasure to meet with his conjured firearm not directly aimed at me but quite obviously pointed in my direction, is the head of their field operations. I am a bit sad about that. I wanted my students to use what I taught them, not necessarily as leaders, but for sure as ritualists. A: I am pleased to meet me cousins teacher. P: I always hoped to see knowledge spread and be used. F: I have used it. It has gotten me my racial ability. I did the ritual myself. P: Had you looted it conventionally. F: No, the government actually delivered essences for the better pupils of the class. P: Impressive. Are you working for more essences? A: Eventually F: They know I have gotten one. I cannot risk questions. A: For now we need allies P: Against whom? A: Whoever will come out on top. It isnt going to be us. Is this guy a realist? P: That wont be me either. F: But you are a full essence magician. P: But I am alone. And my face has been on TV. I would be a liability here. I need to rebase. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The looks I got from that were somehow more measured. A: I see. What would that entail? P: I need to make allies in a certain sense. A: You want essences. P: And stones. You seem resourceful. F: He can tell, cousin. Full essence magicians have a sixth sense. P: But you still need potions. F: We have contacts who are not in perfect health or, better from our perspective, whose family members are sick. They have been hard negotiators. We have resolved all but one question. A: We have one customer who insists on personal service. The disease is congenital. He probably knows that I can teleport away. And if he does not, I will not tell him. P: Yes? A: There is an essence for you in the deal. I need allies. F: We know that you have all your essences. But you have a family, dont you. P: I am going to do it. L: And I am going to join you. Returning to the car I at least find out that Lisa is a cat person. L: Those two are adorable. Are you getting lonely? P: Yes, that is one of the reasons. L: Let me enter our meeting point into the navigation system Did you have to get a car so old that it doesnt have built-in navigation? P: Is that general annoyance or do you not dare let anybody know our meeting point? L: Both P: I get a discrete navigation system. She is happier with that. L: You are pretty spry for an older fellow P: I am young enough to still go to the movies. L: I saw that one on TV P: Genuine TV, not a streaming service? L: Yes, old man. Do you think we are going to survive this? P: This mission? Probably. Or do you mean in the long run? L: The long run. P: I dont know. I got enemies and you are not good at hiding quietly. L: Right. I still feel We are not going to make it. Everybody will fight for essences now. Hell, we are very close to doing so. I am cold. She is leaning closer. I put a hand around her shoulders. The seats in this car recline far. Quo eamus? We have reached the Autobahn and Lisa even has a few ration cards for truck drivers, so we are enjoying truck stop food. The ability to do so without needing to care about the consequences of digestion is priceless. P: Where did you get these? L: Truckers sell them. They are intended to supply foreign truckers, but most of them just pack food from home. They are valid only at highway stops, so they are selling cheaply. P: Still the food is good. I guess every coin now counts. I think I have been in contact with too few people. L: Yes. And you are a follower. And youd want something long term. P: Yes, you are right. I was thinking about going to Turkey. L: That desertion stuff will be forgotten soon. P: It isnt just that. L: Seriously? P: Better you dont know details. L: Unexpected depths. Like on an unspoken agreement we are getting deserts. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. L: You noticed that we eat a lot? P: Yes. We are also breaking the laws of conservation of mass, so I have long given up on explaining us. L: I mean tactically that is an issue. P: Speaking about tactics, what is in it for you in this mission? As a group I mean. L: Access to the communication channel the intrusions are announced over. P: Interesting but why? You cannot fight the network over them. L: You were always too straight a thinker. Yes, the Network will handle them all. But do you think they are going to monitor even the small ones for additional accesses after theyve eliminated the anchor monsters? P: Rarely. But one blunder L: You really do not believe in taking risks. P: No. Take enough risks and the odds will catch up with you. L: Old man P: Pets that dont fear crossing the road do not grow old L: Dont you have ambitions? P: I do have ambitions. I want to become a better essence magician. I want to protect my people. But I am not interested in power plays. We have discovered that we are living in a vastly richer universe than we thought. I am not going to waste myself on who gives orders to whom. That reminds me. I have a power that allows me to share extra mana with people through a link. L: Well, I suppose that does not add anything under the circumstances. Outside in a secluded part of the parking lot a make the salt circle belonging to the ability. L: What do you want to do after the deal? P: Go home, if it is not under observation, get my things in order and then leave the country, sell this car and wait until it is clear how the dice will fall. L: I have contacts to a passport guy. The meeting point is the parking lot of a hotel that has not yet reopened. L: We are early. Filium missit. What do two wizards do if you are tensely awaiting meeting some important mans enforcers. No, sadly, no. We are talking about powers. It even involves probing, but the other kind.
Gun:
Six-shooter of Last Resort Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (14%)
Rotary Gun Might Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (58%)
Crossbow of the Silent Killer Bow Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (81%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Might:
Mighty Strength Special Attack Iron 1 (16%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Foot:
Rapid Dash Special Ability Iron 0 (56%)
Step like a Feather Mouse Special Ability Iron 0 (19%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Master:
Invincible Aura Ability Iron 1 (3%) Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
Eye of the Weaponsmaster Light Perception Ability Iron 0 (93%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
L: Do I really have to do those medititations? It feels stupid. P: As far as I can tell, they help. You still need to use your abilities, which should be easier in your case. I guess the training aspects could also be improved, but I have no idea how to do that. L: What do you mean that it should be easier in my case? P: I have abilities that have aspects I dont understand. For example, I have no idea what the skill books I am supposed to be able to incorporate in my designs are, nor how I would use them myself. And I need allies. You could in principle operate as a single superheroine and grow stronger. L: I am not going to be your Robin. P: Being number 1 really means a lot to you. L: No. Not being number 2 means a lot to me. Do you really not mind taking orders? P: No. Hierarchy is a necessary component of any social order. I dont like being somebodys tool. But as long as I am not too low on the ladder, I have no problem with that in principle. L: It is funny that you are the fugitive then. I hesitate P: I dont really mourn for it. I never felt like celebrating an order that let people that believe in horoscopes and homeopathy, who live on benefits, consider them as good as a taxpayer. L: Do you think we are better? P: Not necessarily better. But more. When you push your aura out, dont you feel something more? L: No. P: Speaking of auras, These cars are heading for us. I count six people. L: I agree. Lets get out and show that we are alone. They have a Mercedes and a VW van without windows. Two people are getting out of the Mercedes. One of them looks like a body guard. The other is harder to place. L: We were expecting somebody prominent. ?It is better for all of us if you do not learn too much. Hence I am acting for my father. You may call me Anthony L: Well, then my companion is Brutus and you may call me Cleopatra. He is grinning. A: I need to know how hot you are. P: The car is legal, but would link you to events you do not want to be linked to. My companion is fully legal. I am wanted. A: Who of you does the substance come from? P: Me. A: I know, but precautions dont hurt. Are you willing to tell us your name? L: The risk is yours. This was to my advantage. I need to learn what they can find out. I tell them my name. A: You are wanted for desrtion and destruction of property. Also as a witness in other cases. Are you you willing to get into the van and leave your car here? P: No. My cats cant stay here. A: Very well, one of my men can drive your car. You and your cats can go into the van. P: Lisa? L: Very well. Expellimur We have done an uneventful trip in the back of a van ending in a closed garage. This house holds another essence magician a floor above us. The high and mighty are finding a way to get the new goodies. It is too large for me to be sure about muggles in the house. The man leading us is feeling gloomy. He has his face under control, but that is useless against us. P: I havent been told what exactly the patient is suffering from. A: Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva P: That is a genetic disorder L: Is that the disease where you turn into bone? A: Yes. My brother has an unusually severe form. He already has trouble breathing and is immobile. That is bad. If potions have a problem with radiation sickness, what will they do against a disease that is caused by the plans that form your body being wrong? We are entering a room dominated by a sickbed. If it werent for that youd call it a very nice room with huge windows, now behind external blinds, a big TV set on one wall and big leafy potted plants. You do not need auras senses to tell that the man in the bad is broken and has given up. He is staring at the ceiling. His breathing is flat and fast. Lisa is looking deflated. Is she thinking that the family shes working with want to get rid of her? If so, why? She hasnt told me anything, but would she? I am relieved that they are taking great pains to hide from us where we are. They do not want us dead. That is, at least until we have done our job. This is a problem. I see no waytheyd keep seeing us as valuable after we will have given them what they want. Do I just risk it? Are we worth a shootout in their home? P: There is the matter of compensation A: As far as we are concerned we have an agreement and that is final L: Does reality match the agreement? P: We need to come to a workable outcome here. This situation requires a bit of trust from both sides. Are you aware of how potions work in practice? Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. A: We are aware of how they fail. P: Very well, I think I will demonstrate that we are different. Either we shoot our way out of this house, which would be much easier with a destraction, however costly it be, or this ends nicely, which is likelier if we do not mess around. I take out my last potion I got from the original deal at the nuclear power plant. P: This is the last of the good ones. Would you now get out your part of the deal? He nods to one of his guards, who leaves and returns after three minutes with boxes. A: An access terminal, a gun essence and an awakening stone of the gun, as agreed. L: Let me check the terminal. She proceeds to do exactly that. L: It works. P: Lets get this over with. Would you introduce me to the patient? A: Of course. A: Norbert, these are the people who deal in potions. A: This is my brother Norbert. Unfortunately his conditions has rendered him speechless. P: Norbert, if you are ready. I am going to slowly trickle the potion into your mouth. Please swallow. It will take some time to work and it will be quite painful initially. It is likely that you will become unconcious later during the potion working its way through you. As you already were disappointed once, you probably want to get this done one way or the other. I would ask if you have any questions, but you cannot speak. Could somebody get him a pencil and paper? Norbert grunts and looks at me. A: Begin now, please. Poor sod, but Id like to get out of here alive. He cooperates. Surprisingly the whole thing goes down before any reaction sets in. He starts shivering and grunting while his eyes have closed. Dozens of little sharp bone splinters are piercing his skin. I would have expected more blood. Nature does him a favour in letting him pass out after the first two dozen or so. People have more blood in them than you suspect. This is a mess, but not dangerous. A: Fascinating. P: This is similar to how an ordinary potion removes debris from a wound. L: If this is going to take hours, we may just as well get some coffee. The coffee is good. A: Will this require further potions? P: This potion is much more potent in exchange for a longer duration of the incompatibility. He cannot take any potion for quite some time. We have no information on how much longer this lasts in muggles. But I would wait for days with any more potions. A: What do you propose in case he stays unconcious? P: Saline to prevent dehydration. The potion will protect him against most drastic Two men burst in the room. Their auras reek of alarm. ?Boss, our contact has warned us. They are coming. A: You need to get out of here. L: We are taking our reward. A: Sure. But you need to leave right now. Nolit It was too convinient. Somebody gave the police a tip. Did that somebody know they have a mole in the police? No way to know.But what do I make of it? L: It was too convinient. P: Ugh L: You thought I wouldnt notice? P: No. I was sure youd be quiet about it, because it means that I have become a liability and you wouldnt tell me that. L: Tact? P: No, tactics. I am unreliable. L: No. You are too bad a liar for that. But this car was out of our sight for too long to have that discussion here. I am actually driving home. But I dont trust the peace. I indicate to get out at the next exit. L: No reason for having this talk right now. You are heading home, arent you? P: Sure. But we may be followed. I want to use that stone. L: Good idea. P: You do know that I checked around the car for traces? L: Drones .
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 1 (11%)
[Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 1 (22%)
[This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (69%)
[Chemical Warfare] Defiance Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (21%)
[Hyperkinetic Cannon] Gun Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (0%)
Vast:
[Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 0 (95%)
[Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 0 (85%)
[Nebelwerfer 42] Focus Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (17%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Dimension:
[Teleport] Special Ability Iron 1 (18%)
[Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 2 (5%)
[Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 0 (69%)
[Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 1 (59%)
[Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 1 (23%)
Battlefield:
[Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 2 (1%)
[Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (90%)
[Pipes of War] Unity Special Ability Iron 0 (6%)
[Cornucopia] Feast Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused)
I am pleasantly surprised. This is a joker in case things go really wrong. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. -- I am getting a little emotional getting home. Except that I usually do not enter my home teleporting onto the balcony at night. I am very satisfied to see that my caretaker in addition to watering the flowers has used my living room as storage and office space. It gives an explanation for the lights being switched on and electrical power being used, in case my home is watched. Yet we still dare not talk. And that is good. I have found that cooperating, let alone live together with people who do not share your basic assessment of risk is hell. -- I like this cafe. L: Why did you hesitate? P: Your reason for resenting my mysterious overlords are different from mine. L: How? P: I fear the consequences. You resent the loss of control itself. L: True. P: People often react far more strongly to somebody not caring about something rather than disagreement. L: You are no naive fool. That is enough. Besides, I need you. What are we waiting for, by the way? P: Not what, whom. Irina Sergeyevna Romanova. My neighbour, whose stuff you saw last night. L: You like her? P: She is a friend. Ill give her that essence. L: She means a lot to you. P: Friends mean a lot. I suspect that the future for people without essences has become a lot bleaker. -- Irina has arrived. P: Irina, may I introduce Lisa, who went to training with me? Lisa, my friend and neighbour Irina. I: Nice to meet you. I am surprised to see you now here, while the state of war is continuing. P: Well, there were some irregularities that led to a rampaging member of a terrorist organization resulting in a damaged court house. I: Do I want to know details? L: No. P: It wasnt my fault. L: It pains me to say that he is right. -- I: Do I get this right, the thing thing you have brought with you would turn me into half a witch. P: Technically a third of L: Yes I: And others could tell? L: Yes I: I dont want it. I truly appreciate what you are offering, but that is a route to be targetted by people you do not want to be targetted by. So, thank you, but no thank you. That is a surprise. In vico I have gotten my car back. And it fits into my inventory. Have I developed an inventory whose parameters are defined by my personal car? Right now we are waiting for the moving company to ship my plants and some family memorabilia to my sister. I dared to check my banking account. The government is still paying my rent. I guess nobody wants to explain why a visitor who wrecked half a building was admitted to a disciplinary hearing. Lisa is checking her terminal. Is that like listening to the police radio to her or does she have a practical goal? It does not matter to me right now. I am doing the puzzle games my guiding device has been recommending to me on my very own computer. -- The outdoor dining space of a McDonalds is quite anonymous an area. And we are in the happy state of being able to ignore all dietary guidelines. L: You want me to tell you about my nefarious plans. That I do not object to an anarchist amazon witch telling me what I want is a huge part of the reason we are ultimately incompatible, but highly effective temporary allies. P: Yes. Though you already gave me an overview. L: I am looking for category 1 intrusions in built up areas. For multiple reasons. Guess which, master tactician? P: Scattering terrain, so that the benefit in terms of loot versus risk and time speaks for just killing the anchor monsters? L: Men. Nerds. That, too. I was thinking of the reputational and human component. They cannot risk a failure in such areas, so they are going to send in the most competent people, who are in high demand. P: We will stick to chess, not poker, at game night. L: And well have a goal we can easily reach by road or even railway without becoming suspicious. P: If the revolution comes and you are on the wrong side, youll be first up against the wall. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. L: Precisely. That is why I am establishing myself before that. This woman is scary. -- We are sitting on a local train to a rich suburb. Ive boarded it by teleportation. P: Lets repeat the briefing for the operation. L: Again. Very well. We will turn back after a third of the estimated life span of the intrusion space. We do not enter spaces without an assured exit. We will not loiter in spaces without multiple exits. -- Weve found a secondary passage to the intrusion space right in the parking lot behind the railway station we got out at. We are also back in full combat gear. Lisa was unhappy to change in semi-public hidden only behind the parked truck we have been using to shelter from observers. But she does appreciate the additional protection. P: Bingo. Just like in the old days. 22 hours. Well turn back in 7 hours. L: OK. We are entering a field of ruins under an overcast sky. The ground under our boots is neither especially wet, nor dry or dusty, only quite full of pebbles for soil in this area. The buildings were old style but basically modern, with bricks showing in many places and broken or smashed windows showing wood long weathered, but not dried out under the sun. Roofs are often collapsed, but from age, not fire or violence. I have established a pipe for mana to her. Lisa is preceeding me by three meters shifted to the left. We are straining our auras out. Hers produces an effect that feels warm. She is holding a crossbow at the ready and I am dual-wielding, stolen wand in the left hand and assault rifle with a launcher for gas grenades slung under the barrel. T + 0:07 mission time Unlike a conventional crossbow, Lisas is utterly silent when fired. It takes me a few moments to notice that she has fired and is furiously pumping the lever to get her weapon ready again. She could use mana, but it would, obviously, cost her mana and shorten the time the weapon stays conjured. I am looking around frantically. Nothing. She advances and presents a gigantic rat. P: That is one of the things your allies made me loot. L: Please loot this one. I want my quarrel back. We move upwind and I oblige. T + 0:13 mission time P: Something has entered this shed. L: Only entered? P: Yes. L: Gas it. Plonk. Again I oblige. P: Nothing L: Can you feel if you hit something? No need for verbal communication. I fire a few salvos and bolts from my wand through the door. P: Nothing. I am sending my servant in. In cavernis nigris T + 0:18 mission time This reeks of a trap. This building is made from concrete. And consequently intact. Dalek #2 is floating around in it. I need to find a way to transmit images back without spending a lot of quintessence. Should I just install a video camera and WiFi? It reemerges. L: Did something just ignore your toy or is this hut empty? P: Then where the thing that entered go? L: You are a teleporter, arent you? P: But I do not enter a house to teleport. L: Could there be a teleportation device in it? P: Sure. But by that logic we would need to question whether the shed is real or an illusion device. Or, more mundane, theres an armored wall inside the thing. I get Dalek #2 to take cover behind an almost totally collapsed house. L: You checked behind the shed? P: Yes L: Could somebody trick you into seeing a track of the wrong direction? P: Why? This is the best way to cause suspicion. If I saw just an outward track, Id just assume that the older inbound track has faded. This tells me that this is a trap. L: You really have no drop of curiosity in your body? P: Curiosity killed the cat. L: You want to just move on. P: I want to. But I sense a mutiny coming. L: Mutiny? Who made you commander? Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. P: You agreed to avoid unnecessary risks. But anyway, I have another idea. L: Well need to talk about this. I use [Hyperkinetic Cannon]. The result makes me look like a man wearing half a tank on one shoulder. P: Be ready to attack without delay. If we are doing this, we will do it right. She hits the deck. I use [Cornucopia]. I store Dalek #2. Simply blowing away a building is nice, even if it is just a little shed. T+ 0:22 mission time We are running towards a smouldering ruin at a sprint. L: A ladder. A freaking ladder. P: Very well, lets go dungeon delving. L: You want to? P: Whoever is down there is at least ratttled. T + 0:24 mission time We are about seven meters under ground in a straight corridor very dimly lit by little drops shimmering blue, oozing out of the walls. The boosts will soon run out. I go to hulk mode and conjure a long roll of tape, which I tie to the ladder. P: Well mark our path at regular intervals and at each branching nevertheless. L: Theyll soon put up a statue of the Greek God of Caution modelled after you, wearing belts, suspenders and a magical antigravity device for holding up pants. P: As the theme calls for a heavily armoured cod piece, I am all right with that. She laughs at that. Though now that Ive mentioned it, I have used up my most potent healing potion. Maybe I do need to upgrade in that department. There are injuries you wouldnt tell your kids about for lack of kids. There is a rustling sound. While I stare ahead, behind my back a growling howling thunder erases all possibilty of verbal communication. As the growling part of the sound stops, I turn around. Lisa is wearing a Terminator style gun on a sling. The barrels are still rotating. This is hot in a way not conducive to the orderly conduct of combat operations. L: Go and store it. We do not want rainbow smoke with this level of ventilation. I absolutely agree. She has the curtesy to dismiss her weapon as I walk past her. From close up the monster can still be vaguely identifiable. P: I think that was a giant scorpion. L: It just looked disgusting and threatening. Your boost allowed me to give it the big gun. It tucks on my mind. A scorpion in an underground tunnel reachable by a ladder P: Pitfall! We have fallen into an intrusion shaped after an old video game. Cavernas reliquimus T + 0:29 mission time I am sacrificing two cans of coke zero. L: I am recharged. P: Should we go into direction the scorpion came from? L: It would seem to be solitary. The other way, I think. P: Very well Dalek #2 is leading the way, mainly to draw attacks onto itself. T + 0:35 mission time Black oily liquid sprays in a circle around Dalek #2. Hulk form turns a surprised squeak into a manly roar. I start firing with my assault rifle and my magical wand. This is a case where the wand does much better. A quarrel passes me by and does little damage passing through the blob like my bullets. Lisa suggests that the dark blob do something a blob is anatomically not equipped for and conjures her rotary gun. L: Keep it off us! I throw my flashlight with my third telekinetic arm. That turns the blob into a furious whirlwind attempting to extinguish the flashlight, while still shying away from the lights business end. The senselessly enraged blob of shadow ignores my wand. By the time it notices its error it is too late. L: Good thinking. P: No. I did not think. I just threw it. We are alive by accident. L: It pains me to admit it, but you are right. P: We fought too hard to not loot this. L: Put it into your storage. P: It is only powder. Do you want me to make a broom and start cleaning the tunnel? L: Well, what is the alternative? Do you have gas masks? - I should not have asked. Of course you are carrying gas masks in your storage space. I use the opportunity to also loot the scorpion monster. We are getting a dagger from it and a staff with crystal caps on both ends from the dust. I give the knife to Lisa. P: Your kill We turn back. T + 0:46 mission time There is a rustling noise. It is coming from both sides. L: Shit P: I am going to build blockades [Equip the Army] is not an ability to build a mansion with. But two walls in a relatively narrow corridor is possible. I give hand grenades to Lisa. The walls turn out to be pointing slightly forward and unbroken up to chest height with a wide hexagonal mesh above that. -- T + 0:58 mission time They are taking their time. L: What if they dont come? Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. P: We wait until [Cornucopia] comes off cooldown and then we make a dash to the ladder. L: I suppose you are right. P: In the long run time is working against us. L: Unfortunately true -- T + 1:00 mission time Rats. That is at least their scouts are rats. I have had a spare flaslight. But only one. L: Do you have something conventional in storage? If I use my crossbow on this I will exhaust my ammo qickly. I hand her my old machine pistol and a spare magazine. P: Is there any point in wasting mana on lesser monsters? L: Yes, there is. In the medium term time works for us. We need a boost if we want to dash to the ladder. Make every shot count. We killed about eight of them before the rest retreats. P: I think they have leaders that are not lesser monsters. -- T + 1:05 They are rushing us. About ten rat-human hybrids supported by three times the number of lesser monsters are running in from the direction we have retreated from. That is not enough against two automatic weapons, a wand and a staff. P: If they had coordinated and come from both sides, they would have reached the barrier. L: Yep. We have to assume that they will not make the same mistake twice. P: I am afraid Ill have to risk creating a gas barrier between us and the ladder. My own gas wont hurt me. I am not sure what it will do to you. L: Do it. You still have a regular healing potion, if it comes to that, dont you? P: Yes. The regular ones I still have. L: Lets don the gas masks anyway. Then you can loot the dead monsters behind us as a distraction. P: Very well. And I will switch my looting for everything to go into my inventory. I use two gas grenades to block the corridor in direction of the ladder. That leaves one. T + 1:13 mission time They have learned. But they have learned too late. According to the sounds gruesome things are hapening in the gas cloud behind our backs. We are both firing into a group of fifteen ratlings, as we are calling them now. The number of supporting lesser rats has not gone up. But they are still more trouble. Ratlings do not fit through our mesh. Lesser rat monsters do. L: Now! I trigger the loot. A lesser rat monster jumps me from behind. I rip it off myself with my fourth hand and whirl around. A small number of rats and ratlings with bleeding eyes are stumbling out of the gas. Its leaders have reached the wall. P: You need to take the other side. We brake their attack. L: I am out of ammo. P: Sorry this is it. T + 1:17 mission time Shrill whistles and hoots are coming out of the dark. P: Four minutes L: Ok. As soon as something comes, trigger the looting. T + 1:19 mission time Three rat gorillas. I have killed one with gun fire, which has healed and restored both of us. But now they are on us. The walls stopped them only for seconds. We are strong, but so are they and they have prehensile tails. I am being dragged towards the monster, while my knife does little damage to the tail. Glimpsing behind myself I see Lisa running along the tail of a monster which has lost an eye to her crossbow. The monster has finished hauling me in. I however have to free arms while still holding its arms away. That is enough to hold it by an ear while fire a wand directly into its mouth. Unfortunately the wand does little damage and I have not enough room to use my assault rifle. T + 1:20 mission time It has bitten down on my third arm, twisting its head out of my grip. This probably should hurt more than I am feeling right now but I need another option. I take a knife telekinetically and go for the monsters eyes. It flinches away and lets my arm go. That will need a healing potion to become usable again. But the monsters neck is where I need it to be. Shai-Hulud #2 starts the process of strangulation. T + 1:21 mission time The monsters arms go for its neck. I reconjure my my assault rifle. Lisas scream changes my plan. I fire my last gas renade in her direction. I trigger [Immortality] to get use of my hand back. That allows me to twist one of the monsters arms away. [Cornucopia] becomes available. I use it. The monster is stronger than my servant and rips it off its neck, destroying it in the process. Just as it has had enough of me and uses its tail to toss me away, the sound of rarotary gun fills the corridor. I follow her example with my assault rifle, hitting the monster in the lower back. Its tail becomes limp. It starts dragging itself towards me with it hands L: Move aside I oblige. The rotary guns sings the song of superior firepower. Lisa is bleeding from a wound in the lower abdomen. That looks bad. I give her a potion. P: This is bronze rank. This rules out more potions for you, but if this has perforated your gut, we are in deep trouble. She screams. Nevertheless I put her on my shoulder. We need to get out out of here. We reach the ladder. I start climbing and trigger the looting. Si non vidisset T + 1:30 mission time Lisa is covered in blood and shit. But her wounds are closed leaving just angry red bite marks on her belly and back. She will have to buy a new shirt at least and whether these pants will become wearable again can be doubted. I dont look much better. Lightning without thunder is playing across the sky. The light has become murky. L: You can let me down. I can walk on my own I am happy to do so. L: Where have you been heading? P: Towards the entrance. We are both no longer in a state to risk combat. L: True. And I dont like that lightning. P: Yes. I think the theory that a stable intrusion space means a perfectly stable intrusion space is wrong. L: Is this mission a failure? P: Nope. I looted a lot. We are just too few people to do this safely. I stop. Between us and the exit a swarm of lizards has assembled. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. L: Shit. Shall we go around. P: They will see us. Besides the boost wont last long. And neither you nor I are especially fast. L: What have you got? Didnt you use up your artillery on that shed. P: I think abilities reflect personality. L: Belt and suspenders? [Nebelwerfer 42] goes into position. L: What is that? P: A rocket launcher. For attacks against area targets. T + 1:35 mission time P: I think I got the aim right. L: Only one way to confirm that I have gotten it right. We dont exactly sprint towards the exit. It is more a vigorous jog. L: How do we get away? We cannot use the railway like this. Could Irina get us by car? P: You are forgetting that I have a nice compact car in storage. You should never tempt fate like that. The rat gorilla rises from a hole in the ground. Lisa nails it with six bullets right into the head. L: This feels good. I think it has repaired my belly fully. P: Your counter-execute? L: Yes. -- T + 1:40 mission time We are passing the exit. The characteristic smell of MJ meets us. ?What do we have here? Two bloody wizards. An elegant man stands right in front of us. He draws deeply on his joint. ?You and your monsters have ruined everything. My son is running around with a gun. This used to be a peaceful land. He seems to be fighting tears. ?This is all your fault. No. I am not going to keep quiet about this. He is fumbling with his phone. L: We cannot let people take our pictures. I have been chanting already. The prismatic beam does its job. L: Damn. P: It wasnt the first time. Now you know what I was silent about. Lets go. Dicitur You do not share loot in a fast food restaurant. We are at a parking lot overlooking a romantic lake munching Indian take-away. L: I feel like I should not be hungry. P: It seems to me that mentally we are no longer fully human. L: I resent that. But you should know. We concentrate on the food. L: We part here, dont we? P: Would you want to continue after this? L: You are right. I just love Palak Paneer. L: I have an address for you. A guy who does forged papers. P: Thank you. P: You know, shit happens. P: And then, sometimes you got to do what is necessary L: Necessity. Is that your excuse? P: Ultimately yes. Those who object to that do so because they dislike the consequences, not out of honest reasoning. There is no objective need for sucking a beverage through a straw out of a bottle to take that long. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. L: Could you drop me off there when you get your papers? P: Sure thing. P: You know, your basic idea is correct. You will need coins, stones and essences. And these wont be sold in stores for the forseeable future. L: Any you want me to kill for it? P: I want you to survive. L I am sensing an attempt to make some stupid quote sound profound. P: To embrace a goal is to embrace the means necessary to achieve it. L: From which book is that? P: Read and find out A piece of unsolicited advice: Try to avoid causing women with [Mighty Strength] to strike you. P: No, seriously. We were undermanned. You need a way to block off intruders, too. And going by railway was putting too much emphasis on staying undetectable. L: Any more great advice? P: You need to be ready to avoid letting curiosity guide you. [Mighty Strength] is a terrifying power. P: But this was really a productive looting session. We have a gun and an essence. L: Ill take the gun. P: Agreed. -- We are getting troubling news on TV ? A cupola of unkbown origin has enveloped the Russian city of Kostroma, ? blocking railway and highway traffic just as the world has started rebounding ? from the monster intrusions P: This may be the power behind the intrusions showing up. Do you still want to leave? L: Even more urgently P: Then we should spend tomorrow on consolidating our gains. -- Three nondescript men are meeting in an expensive penthouse in Moscow. 1: It has begun. 2: Yes. Our drones as well as the ritualists are confirming it. 1: Have all members been warned? 2: Yes 3: We have to assume that the second stage will also come 1: So you want me to pick a finalist 3: You have time, but it cannot be avoided. 1: I have one in mind, but we need to secure him the attunement 2: We could kill two birds with one stone 3: That is disgusting 1: That may be the case, but it also could give him people who would have an incentive to give him somebody to protect. 3: You are the expert. Abibimus This has definitely paid off for Lisa.
Gun:
Six-shooter of Last Resort Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (25%)
Rotary Gun Might Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (80%)
Crossbow of the Silent Killer Bow Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (1%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Might:
Mighty Strength Special Attack Iron 1 (16%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Foot:
Rapid Dash Special Ability Iron 0 (58%)
Step like a Feather Mouse Special Ability Iron 0 (39%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Master:
Invincible Aura Ability Iron 1 (26%)
Eye of the Weaponsmaster Light Perception Ability Iron 1 (1%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused)
Yet it still seems like we are missing something. Like the last rat gorilla. If we had made proper use of our auras senses, we should have sensed it. But we were too tired. Is this the universe telling us that most turtles in a clutch dont make it? P: Do you believe them, when they say that theyll have the papers ready by tomorrow evening? L: Yes. They are relatives of Fatma. And your aura sense is as good as mine. They were sincere. P: OK, then Ill also trust the guy whose address they gave me for selling the car. -- ? The Russian armed forces have surrounded the cupola over the city of Kostroma ? and all attempts of probing have failed, only revealing the cupola to be a sphere. L: Still thinking that this is the alien maserminds arriving? P: If so, they are really giving us a lot of time to get our forces ready. L: A distraction? P: Possibly. I really cannot get myself to care anymore. L: PTSD? P: Possibly. I can hardly seek a therapist to be paid by the government while on the run. L: Is this visit to a machine shop a form of therapy? P: No. This gives me armoured plating with a ballistically bent shape in two directions. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. L: So what is it good for? P: Do you remember my little servants? L: Useful, but not spectacularly so. P: I intend to make them from armoured components so that theyll become more durable and with the quintessence we looted I can afford to give the next one some really oomph. L: So Dalek #3 ? P: No. I am going for classic pulp this time. It will be Tara I C A 001 L: If you say so. -- Ive tried convincing Irina one last time. Well, you have to respect people knowing what they want and do not want in their future. Time will tell. The day after tomorrow I and two cats will go to the Adriatic. Why havent I named them? To not give fate named hostages? I cannot bring myself to do it. ? Foreign magical groups have reached the Russian city of Kostroma ? In a move surprising commentatory, the Russian government has not protested ? against their presence, citing a need for a unified response, which given ? the countrys size was always most likely to happen on Russian soil -- According to my drivers license and passport I am a citizen of Liechtenstein. That suits me just fine. It is nice to sleep one last night in my own bed, while Lisa is already gone back to forming the underground. My gains, as dangerous as achieving them may have been are considerable.
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 1 (33%)
[Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 1 (27%)
[This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (84%)
[Chemical Warfare] Defiance Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (54%)
[Hyperkinetic Cannon] Gun Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (11%)
Vast:
[Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 1 (21%)
[Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 1 (4%)
[Nebelwerfer 42] Focus Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (30%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Dimension:
[Teleport] Special Ability Iron 1 (25%)
[Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 2 (19%)
[Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 0 (71%)
[Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 1 (82%)
[Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 1 (29%)
Battlefield:
[Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 2 (13%)
[Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (3%)
[Pipes of War] Unity Special Ability Iron 0 (15%)
[Cornucopia] Feast Special Ability Iron 0 (22%)
(unused)
Ad mare This will be a long trip. I do not want to leave a paper trail by going via major highways. Fortunatly veterinarians, who vaccinate cats, work for cash. Ive got a burner phone - in fact I have three - now, but one of the ways of tracking a contact is by tracking the communications of the people they know. So I am not going to call people I know before leaving the country. -- Two people are standing on a rocky outcrop on the ocean shore. Though normal people might see them, their mind would refuse to understand or remember. 1: The hole is deep enough now. 2: OK, putting it in. And tested and armed. 1: Refilling. 2: Will they be able to tell the difference 1: From outside C no. After the fact, inside - possibly. Variability is likely to be higher. 2: You have restored the old surface. Remote control validated. We are good to go. -- This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ? In a move to renormalize the govenment has lifted the rationing of fuel ? calls by the opposition to lift all remaining restriction have been called premature ? Reports coming from the Russian city of Kostroma speak about the inhabitants ? of that city being either replaced or transformed into aliens cannot be confirmed ? due to hostilities that have broken out. ? It is unclear at this time who is involved in the fights. ? The government is urging calm and stated that one must not jump ? to conclusions about the intentions of members of another species ? The delay on bankrupcy and foreclosures has been extended for a further three months ? The government is refusing to reopen schools citing a need to use the requisitioned ? busses for returning people to their home towns -- Three nondescript unnoticeable men are meeting are meeting in front of a house. One of them is typing on a laptop. 3: Are you ready to send the message? 2: Yes. 3: I massaged her enough. Send it. 2: Done. 3: Dont you want to influence the primary target? 1: We have time. That guy is laudably paranoid. He wont read the reply until he gets abroad. -- I am trying out my new conjured mobile home. The mechanism for air exchange does not quite work yet. Something makes the propeller stick. It does not really matter. With the current temperatures I do not need to worry about the chamber cooling down too much. And I am admiring the shape of A-001. I will put a lot of effort into letting it use conjured guns. I am still not sure whether I should use one or two weapons. Interlude XI - The Auralists On my private mailbox: Hi from the beautiful Adriatic, it is nice to hear from you in these times. The last few weeks have been grinding us down. I miss the old times. The kids and I are staying at the beach house. Weve all more than earned a time by the sea. Why dont you come here? -- Austrian food is good. Even on highway rest stops. I am feeling outright nostalgic thinking back to earlier trips during more innocent times. Should I feel so good? Should I be horrified that it is getting easier? Probably yes. But I refuse to. I had fought for that stoner, who had the nerve to call me uncivilized. I am not going to lose sleep about an entitled asshole. Two nondescript men are drinking tea. 2: Do you find him easier because he has no pride? 1: No, I find him easier because he is nostalgic and a realist. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. 2: How does that go together? 1: Consider how short their lives are. For them things often were better in the past. 2: So this is just the route of least resistance? 1: No, among those who combine potential attunement and the right abilities, he is the strongest. 2: But he shows no pride or independance. 1: Precisely. 2: What? 1: You are too young to understand certain truths. Pride is a delusion. Spite, which comes from pride, is irrational. Both, spite most of all, are weaknesses, if stakes become high enough. 2: But we are proud. 1: You need to listen. I said ?if. We are expendable at the end of the day. With us stakes are rarely so high, that the weaknesses of spite and pride hit. We can use the propaganda value. -- They are offering free WiFi. I can risk checking my mail. This is a nice offer. I answer in the affirmative. Lets check the news while we are at it. ? Russia has released reports that show that the aliens of Kostroma ? are identical to the erstwhile residents and visitors to the city, most of ? whom have been transformed to lion people. ? The Russian government has declared that until all the implications ? of this incident will have been investigated, it will be necessary for ? the involuntarily transformed to stay inside the city. ? It is unclear at this time whether any EU citizens have been caught up ? in the Kostroma incident. Due to disruption in communications no ? foreign diplomatic representatives of the EU have reached Kostroma Advenio I am looking at the Adriatic. The sea is balm for the soul. Apparently some people prefer mountains. They are mentally ill and should be institutionalized. Which incidentally, raises a very new question. It is not possible, I think, to institutionalize somebody like me at acceptable costs and risks. Somebody like Rademacher? Forget it. Seriously contemplating that is a sign of a need for institutionalization. In fact, even a prison would be prohibitively difficult. We are partying on the Titanic without knowing it. Or rather without publishing it. The thinking part of the government must know. And so must the Network. And they know that the other knows. Such are the times. I cannot look at one of the most beautiful sights in the world without contemplating civil war. I havent seen her in years. Well, we went out in college a few times, right before she met that tall, slim guy. Now she is divorced, as I heard from a few mutual friends and through social media. Frankly, I have no idea, how to approach the situation. Her kids might not even remember me. The younger one for sure wont. But then, I am on the run. I cant afford to be choosy. -- I contemplated selling the car before visiting her, but that would mean either stealing a car or proceeding in my own, as well as giving up the redundancy of having a car in storage. And I wont lead the cops to one of my friends if I can help it. I am ready to kill my enemies and people who know too much, yet dont take my orders, but I am not a traitor. I pet my two furry companions on the head. I have never been here, but Ive seen images online. This is close to a tourist destination, but not a destination itself, so they have parking space, but it is just a dusty plot of ground. I even remember to wear a large, in my case almost empty, backpack to not raise suspicions by having no visible luggage. I need not ring the bell. They are sitting on the porch. P: Hi, Zora. Z: You look changed. P: You dont. I am aware that that is the polite thing to say to a lady. But it is not necessary to bent the truth in this case. Her jet-black hair had never been natural. The rest of her looked more defined, but not really changed. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ?Cats!. The kids, Stjepan and Natalija, race towards us. That I have no problem with the names after years should tell you that there are old scars. They hesitate a bit. I put the basket with my furry friend down. P: You can pet them gently. I havent been knowing them for a long time. We met during the troubles. Z: I didnt take you for a pet person. P: I wasnt. A lot has happened. I ended up in an evacuated town. Z: They were just left behind? P: In this particular case, no. Their owner never made it out of town. I look at the children. Her gaze follows mine. Z: Probably not a story to be told in fron of the door. Come in. Coffee? P: Yes, please. Z: A lot of milk and sugar? P: Yes, please. She remembers. -- I am not lieing to her. But Ive been leaving out some stuff. I am pretty sure that she has noticed that, but probably not my reasons. Z: So, youve become a wizzard and fought monsters. P: More detected monsters. The fighting was a result of our failures. Z: This is a tall tale. I take her coffee pot into my inventory. She is very good at controlling her face, but her eyes widen. And I can read auras. Z: Where? I put it back onto the table. P: I could do the same thing with the whole table. Do you want me to? Z: I Hell, yes. I do exactly that. P: It even stops time to put things in storage. I think I wont need a fridge anymore. Except for ice cubes. Z: How did this happen? P: Somebody within these mysterious organizations put out a video game to train people in the magic you need to detect monsters without telling them that the premise of the game was a contingency plan for real life. Z: Do you know how powerless we felt? My office closed down and they encouraged us to find a place where we wouldnt need rations. I put friends from the country side into my apartment in the city and put the children into the car. P: I met monsters that took a cannon to put down and got into situations I considered hopeless. But I always could fight back or had fought back. So, no, honestly answering, I dont know how you felt. Z: Like when I was fleeing again, like in my teenage years, only that nothing was truly safe. What can you tactfully say to that? Play the nerd card. P: Technically, during the whole cold war Z: But that did not seem real. P: Would you have liked to fight monsters? Z: Well No, lets admit it. Yes, I would. In litore Having breakfast with children present fills my heart with joy. It feels like family. The feeling is enhanced when a little girl asks you to put butter on her sandwich because she is occupied petting a kitten. N: Have you given her a name? P: No. I thought that she might already have a name, which I need to find out N: But she is a cat. She cant tell you her name. P: You are describing the problem correctly. N: You are odd. P: Yes. Do you want a tomato on that sandwich? N: Yes. With salt. Without pepper. She has classified me correctly. S: Can we go to the beach? Z: After breakfast. By the way, Maria called. She is extatic that the borders have been reopened. She is likely to arrive in the late afternoon. S: Cool. Maria is one of our mutual friends, who is a musician. She has talent, but has failed to make a commercial breakthrough. S: Do you know how to swim at all? P: Yes, I know how to swim. I was even on a boat during the emergency. N: Did they make you leave your home? P: Technically yes, but not because it was dangerous, but because they wanted me to fight monsters. N: Was that scary? P: Once it was. Other than that had I good comrades. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. S: Did they leave you that one time? P: No, I had to travel in such way that they could not follow me. N: Can we take the cats to the beach? Z: No. They are cats, not seals. P: Cats dont like to swim. N: I like to swim. But cats are cute. I wish I were a cat. -- #2: Now? #1: No, we need to give him more time to be sure he feels absolutely required to protect them. -- Can I tan? I sure hope so, for I look like an instrument of surrender compared to the other people here. Outright embarrasing. At least I am a fit white flag. The water is very nice and the sun is warm. After one look at my bleached state Zora takes out the extra strong sunblocker and liberally slathers it on me. That stuff is supposed to resist water, so I have no issue playing with the kids in the water. Zora is sunning on the beach, which unfortunately was stony. That was nice to see. The kids and I are watching little crabs in the rocks. The shore is a place full of life, which just lifts my heart. -- #2: So you are going for her. Do you think theyll go the same way? #1: Unlikely. But it does not matter. He is one of those who feel a chivalrous impulse and are easy to assume guilt. He will think it is his own fault if she pushes him away. #2: Wont that drive him to react in a destructive way? #1: No, this man is ruthless if he has to be, not brutal. You need to learn to tell these attributes apart in humans. They are not necessarily linked. -- Meeting Maria is like the old days. She is like a squirrel on amphetamins. Cute but incomprehensible. Ive learned, I think, that the recording industry is pushing for more online stuff, because a certain kind of transparent plastic used in making CDs is in short supply for reason I dont understand, which hurts small arists more because you can sell a CD after a gig much more easily than a subscription to some online service. My sanity is being protected by her having driven a long way today, which has led to her basically falling asleep at the dinner table. -- Zora has caught me sitting in the garden looking at the stars. Z: What do they mean to you? P: How small I am. And that the aliens come from somewhere else. Z: Thinking about the future? P: A bit. Too uncertain. More like what it means. I am becoming quite aware that she is sitting down next to me with a bottle in her hand and leans on me. Z: The past, then. P: You mean paths not taken? Z: Yes. Sometimes a later road also leads to a good place. -- #1: Time to activation? #2: Between 200 and 250 minutes. #1: Activate #2: Activated. #1: Lets get out of here. Gregor Samsa I am an early riser. Though I am not accustomed to sharing this tendency with a reptile. I like reptiles, though not that way. So I flinch a little, sliding out of the bed. It feels odd, but this is really not a time to care about non-essential stuff. I remember the bed. But the room is not what I remember. I was distracted to a significant degree, but I do notice if a room changes from concrete painted white to sci-fi dark blue metal with its wooden furniture replaced by ceramic and plastic equipment. I cannot see out of the window. It is where it is supposed to be, but it is dark and opaque. This looks like an alien abduction. And what is all that equipment of mine doing stacked up here? I push my aura sense out. Close but not identical. What have they done to her? I can sort of feel the children and Maria but at that distance I cannot tell whether they are real or replicas. And there are two alien auras in the house. That is really alien, like I havent sensed something like that ever. My new staff is close by. Why is my hand armoured and has too many fingers? It may be uncivilized to meet aliens with a weapon in hand, but the last months have whittled down my confidence in the benevolence of aliens. This reptile has a cute forked pink tongue, sleepily extended. On a human woman that tongue would be enough to wet her own eyebrows; both at the same time. May I be looking at a Lieutenant Ilia situation here? Should I initiate some kind of contact? I am assuming a non-threatening position with my combat arms folded. Wait, what is going on here? The dragon opens her eyes. They are maybe a bit larger than they used to be, but I know those eyes. The voice was another matter, at least when she screamed. It had a growling quality. If she werent about two meters tall, her struggle to escape the sheets while getting ready to fight would be comical. My instincts yell at me to charge my stinger with mana and notice that her armour of scutes leaves gaps associated with female anatomy of mammals. I recoil. I am kinky and I am practical, but that goes into a territory I do not want to go. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. She yells something. That is Zoras voice. It is her native tongue, she is addressing a spider. You can tell by her use of the vocative case. Now her mouth is opening. How far is that similarity to a dragon going to go? [Eternal Moment] saves me from immolation. My upper right shoulder is still hurting. Upper? I get behind her and get a grip on her arms. P: Zora, stop! Her backsides scutes mix green, brown and purple, while her front is a mixture of blue and gray. She turns out to be stronger than I am. I bring my stinger to front. I freeze up. What is happening, why do I have four arms, armoured skin and a tail with a stinger? Have I been changed, too? Zora snarls and smashes a ladder from my equipment over my torso. That hurts. I spend the mana for a second use of [Eternal Moment]. My pool seems to be quite full this morning. P: Zoro! Dosta! Knowing foreign languages is useful. Though doubts on whether my school teachers envisaged this exact situation fill my mind. Z: Is that you? P: Yes, did you think I am the president of Brazil invading your home? Dont you remember both of us enter this room? I mean, I know that I blew your mind away, but that is beyond my expectations. She wants to poke me with the ladder or at least its remains she is still holding and gets a good look at her own arm. The result is a mix between a whistle and a scream. Z: I am a lizard That is a moment the door opens and, going by their auras, the children and Maria enter the room. P: Its all right. This is me and Zora is changed a bit. Her next shriek is a bit like shattering plates and her hands unfortunately cover her strategic places. She just stares at them and remains frozen. Which reminds me that I am naked, too. I, however, solve that with [Equip the Army] like usual. Well, I try. What I conjure definitely does not fit me anymore. A simple blanket is still possible, though. Why are the children so quiet? Well they may be tired and shocked at her mother going reptilian. But Maria is silent. That is like a solar eclipse during a full moon. Forma incognita Little children have a particularly piercing wail. It is good at piercing a mothers numbness. Again she says something I do not understand and her children react to her mother, rushing forward to embrace her. Maria is staring at her hands. They are blue. A dark blue like you might find on paintings from India depicting mythological beings. P: Maria, look at me. No response. I feel a certain numb clarity. Well, at least she does not spit fire. There is a discoloured spot on a wall, but nothing is burning. That raises a point, though. That singed spot is to the left and slightly behind me. Why can I see it? There would be a mirror in the bathroom downstairs, where I took a shower yesterday, but leaving now does not seem a good idea. I pick up my tricorder. P: Maria, can you hear me. No, reaction. In fact she is sobbing a little. She moves away from me as I cautiously approach her. This is making me nervous. I am taking a good look at my hands. My knuckles inmediately spark my interest. They look kind of bulbous. The outsides of fingers are armoured. That is interesting but not as interesting as having a lot of fingers and thumbs and, as I mentioned, four arms, but I am used to that, thanks to one of my first powers. That is the time I feel two alien auras coming along the corridor the door opens up into. P: Aliens are coming. I am being ignored. Well, if they can turn us into alien beings, resistance should be futile. I ought to put down the stuff. I cannot bring myself to do so. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Race: Skavalander
Current Rank: Iron 0
Progress to bronze rank 0%
Racial Abilities:
[Winged Fighter]
[Pantry of Poisonous Horror]
[Instinctive Aim]
[Unholy Affinity]
[Astral Affinity]
[War will feed itself]
Have I become some kind of necromantic chef? Speculo videor This floor now also has a bathroom with a mirror. My face is still my face, in the sense of my facial features still being present. Even most of my hair is still present. My eyes are, though, outright disturbing. Right after the fact that I now have five eyes. Two black orbs where human beings have eyes. One on my forehead. I am resisting an unhealthy urge to recite mantras while blinking with my third eye. That is if I can decide which way to blink. In addition to eye lids I am now sporting a nicticating membrane like a lizard. And where my ears were, I now have two more eyes. I do not quite have full all round vision, but it comes close. That raises the question how I am hearing without ears. With the two sets of antennas sprouting from my head? One of them is quite long. It goes down to below my shoulder blades. The other is like an ants. One long segment facing backwards and then a kink and a number of segments facing forward again. For both I have grooves to shelter them in. I turn around. Winged fighter seems accurate. My back is covered in elytrae, below which a scorpion tail emerges. That, apparently, is what a scavalander is. That is the moment that phone rings. Under these circumstances I might just as well read the message. After all, it may be a warning. Change in racial abilities detected. Execution of contingency option #8. Releasing replacements. In a corner of the room the gadget is dropping two awakening stones. I pick them up, grab my backpack, put the gadget, my tricorder, my wand, my bag of monster cores, the two essences I carry and my coins into a backpack. The backpack is substantial, but that is quite a load. I would like to take the guns, too, but they wont fit. How have I come to carry a small households worth of stuff around with me. I have some kind of tracer on my body. How else would they know my racial abilities have changed? I dont care. I care about very few things anymore. This has broken the camels back. I belong nowhere, not even in the human race. By the way, where is my car? It was in my inventory, too. I do learn. There is a small orb where youd expect a light switch. Yes, I can set the window to transparent from the inside. I have also stopped caring about violations of the laws of optics. That tells me that my car is parked right in front of the house. That is, if I recall correctly, prohibited. I dont care, either. This is dangerous. People who do not care make mistakes. And we are in a truly alien environment. What used to be a street of low houses in white bauhaus architecture is now a street of metal sci-fi houses almost twenty meters high. And there is a complication. The few cars parked further along the street where parking is legal are no cars from this world. They look like crystal bubbles, some opaque, some transparent. They have no wheels. I dont think Zora or Maria are prepared to drive one of them. And yes, a sphinx is walking down the street. It has happened to other cats, too. Which car to use? I dont know. I am just tired. I do not want to make decisions. Hence I decide to check on the upper floors this house should have picked up. Nice, very nice. A lounge with a bar and other big TV screen. I suppose those strange pyramid shaped devices are alien equibalents of DVD players. A floor of extra bedrooms. And one floor further up, exactly what I need and what I planned to use on Zora, a room for rituals. Stone floor in one unbroken piece, with grates for water to flow through around it. There is even a kind of bucket with an added sprout already filled with salt. Why not? Does it matter?
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 1 (34%)
[Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 1 (27%)
[This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (84%) The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
[Chemical Warfare] Defiance Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (54%)
[Hyperkinetic Cannon] Gun Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (11%)
Vast:
[Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 1 (21%)
[Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 1 (4%)
[Nebelwerfer 42] Focus Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (30%)
[Arsenal of the Mad Scientist] Magotech Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
Dimension:
[Teleport] Special Ability Iron 1 (25%)
[Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 2 (23%)
[Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 0 (72%)
[Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 1 (85%)
[Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 1 (29%)
Battlefield:
[Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 2 (14%)
[Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (3%)
[Pipes of War] Unity Special Ability Iron 0 (15%)
[Cornucopia] Feast Special Ability Iron 0 (22%)
[Feast of Decontamination] Light Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
That changes things. I head back down and repack my stuff. I think my soul has wanted to replace what it lost. That changes the situation from the end of the world to me to a horrible disaster. I still have heard nothing from Zora or Maria. I do not care. If they want something from me, let them call me. But just in case I should check the uppermost floor, too. Damn. A roof terrace with a whirlpool. Has the transformation process operated on our wishes, after all? Does wishing for power turn you into a dragon? And what does this say about me? I think I get it. Can I lock the door from the outside? Yes. I lift my elytra and unfold four dragonfly wings from below them. Origami wings. Only one way to find out. I lift off. -- Zora is cooking noodles. The oven at least has manual controls. M: The children are enjoying cartoon TV. Did you Z: Yes. M: What changed? Z: You do know that I am a divorced single mother over fourty? M: OK, but you never looked at him sideways. Z: Did you get a good look at him before he turned into a spider? Maria is looking at her hands. Z: I am sorry, but being sorry about ourselves does not help. If it is a consolation, you still sound the same. No change at all. M: OK, but what do we do now? Z: I checked the phone. It still works. M: Whom do you want to call? Z: My father and my uncle. There is no point in keeping this event a secret. They may come here anyway. M: And then? Do we stay here? Z: I have a job and they expect me back next week. M: Do you want to live among peope to whom we will be monsters? Z: Do I have a choice? M: I dont know. Do you? Z: No, I am not going to call a man for protection. Vehiculum novum Flying is exhausting. And knowing how to fly does not mean knowing how to pick a place suitable for landing. The street is no longer covered in asphalt. I plow into a surface of concrete blocks with gaps in them allowing gras and herbs to grow in them. That hurts. At least the wing origami does not depend on knowing what I am doing. ?You are new at this, I hope C I twirl around to face two men stepping out from behind what has been a van going by size. In this city I better add to that that they physically are looking like human men. P: As a matter of fact I am. With whom do I have the pleasure? #1: Search troop #12. That will do. P: Very well. I hope you understand that I will forgo my full pedigree in this case. They let auras unfurl. These men are not human. But they are amused. #1: Thank you for clarifying that this area has been unsuccessfully searched. They can sense my confusion. #2: Dude, you need to learn to control your aura. I know essence magicians suck at this, but your disappointment with the world is sensible multiple city blocks away. P: Well, if you had been tranformed and sent away, youd be disappointed, too. #1: Good bye. I cannot wish you good luck, sorry. They leave me behind. So the magic beings are searching this city for something. Do I care? We have been observed. A door opens and a man is peeking out. He is a member of the same species as Stjepan. He calls out a greeting. I respond. My accent must be obvious. The next questions is in my native tongue: ?Sorry to be so direct, but who were these people? Is help on the way? - ?Those were vampires. They are looking for something. Do you need help?. My response causes visible unease. ?We have been changed. And vampires are in the city. - ?I know I point to myself with four hands. The man gulps. ?As far as the vampires are concerned, this is an island. If they can send people here, they surely have people on the ports on the mainland. Unless you have a boat, you are stuck here. I can only advice you to stay inside. Some people are going to panic over this. - ?Thank you. You cannot slam these doors shut, but if you could that guy would have done so. Excellent sense of selfpreservation. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Should I take my own advice? I dont think I could fly to the mainland. It takes too much effort. If I am ready to abandon my second car, I can use a conjured boat to leave. In fact I still have one in my arsenal. That is, will my arsenal also take the other car? I need to check. But even so, I am going to stick out everywhere. And I am tired of this. Every time I went elsewhere, things got worse. I am done with this. My other car has been transformed. That is oddly soothing. It fits me. I fit in somewhere. Spiritually, that is. Physically, how do I open this thing? In terms of shape it looks like a blue chocolate egg smashed to one side and broadened on the front. It rests on two skids. Does it react as a whole to [Tools of the Magister]? No. As a side note, this feels like a plastic bottle. Very smooth. OK, I am stupid. Where is my key? Five minutes of searching until I look into my old pants. A blue octagonal rod about the size of my old pinky finger is attached to my key ring. I gulp. Had I not been in a hurry to get rid of my pants By the way, I do not have a pinky any longer. My hands have gone symmetrical. I have two thumbs, one on each side of the palm and five respectively six ordinary fingers between them. Ill have to relearn guitar chords. With hands like this the principal reason for forming bar chords has vanished. It strikes me. I am an idiot. I do have a second form, a form sharing the number of limbs with my new body. Chance? This turned out horribly. I turned into a horse sized six-legged winged skorpion analogon with murderous sickle shaped mandibles. I am not going to do that again, unless I have to. I am leaning against my vehicle, putting the side of my head against the flank of the vehicle. I can safely do that. Bony ridges above and below my side eyes protect them. What is that? This is no speck of dirt. There is a true dimple here. Finally. I push the rod that was a key against it and it is sucked right out of my hand. A door appears by the wall of the vehicle roling down, like really roling itself up but at the same time just turning into a seamless cylinder. Finally it stops and merges with the base of the vehicle. A base plate of about fwenty centimeters supports thin walls. Inside the vehicle is kind of a lounge. The rear is filled with a comfortable couch that could just as well serve as a bed, with airline style overhead compartments. In the front I see a big crystal orb filled with grey mist on the left and a big screen on the right. I can see out of the car from inside, albeit as if looking through a darkened window. It is not outright cool, but much cooler than a car parked under the sun of the Mediterranean should be. I marvel and climb inside. Right where youd expect a light switch a small misty orb is exposed on the side of the vehicle next to the door. With a simple thought the door reverses its opening process. This couch just looks too comfortable. I dematerialize my shoes and curl up on it. I wish any friend were here. This thing is highly advanced. The wall extrudes a blanket and the portion of the couch my head rests upon rises slightly. I fall asleep. Interlude XII Maria is scared and sad. She has come here to see old friends and to seek the peace of the ocean. The emergency felt like prison to her. Being forced to live with her brother and his wife, who was furloughed at home, her job as a flight attendant suspended during the cessation of most flights, drove her up the walls. Things would have ended badly, had it gone on for much longer. Do her friends believe in her? Hard to say, but they do support her. They do understand that some people subordinate practicality to another calling. They may not consider it feasible, but they support her. She feels trapped by something undefined, perhaps even unidentifiable. It does not matter. She has to leave. Fortunately she had unpacked only her acoustic guitar and a bit of clothing, that easily fits into a small bag. A few people, mainly those who look like Stjepan are out in the streets. She is reminded that something has tried to press her into the role of the alien. That is unacceptable. She has to be free. The first step is leaving this place. Her car has been changed. Looking at the key she has expected that. Having a sharp eye she has no problem finding the keyhole. Finding her musical equipment neatly arranged in the back of the car is a considerable relief. She gets in into the comfortable seat on the drivers side. There is a split bidirectional switch. Returning the frontal part to the other setting closes the door. The seatbelt is conventional. How did Stjepan do this? She puts both hands on the misty orb. Nothing happens. Maria is a woman of culture. She tries multiple languages. Nothing. She tries closing her eyes and listening for a connection. Nothing. She tries breathing techniques. Nothing. She tries meditation techniques. Nothing. Finally even a yoga pose. Still nothing. She shrieks and hammers on the orb. Nothing. She starts sobbing.
Stjepan loves his mother and worries about her. As they had eaten their noodles, he wanted to help and put the used dishes onto the cleaning block, which swallowed them up like the house told him to do. At that time his mother kind of squealed, sat down at the table and sort of buried her head in her hands and kept murmuring ?why. All his attempts to comfort her did nothing. Now he is wondering whom he should call to get help. He has put his little sister in front of the giant wall screen. Somehow they have gotten satellite TV on multiple satellites. The neighbours perhaps? Some instincts warn him. Would they be mean to him because he has been changed? The house cannot help him. It does not understand him. It only tells him where the emergency medical supplies are. The house is not clever. He still likes it. It reminds him of his late grandparents who had lived here and were proud of the modern house they got after the big fire. He only dimly remembers them, but his grandfather showing him the thickness of the walls was imprinted on his memory. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. He starts pacing through the building, vaguely looking for a solution in the new floors.
Maria has stopped beating the misty orb. Her fists hurt. She looks at her cell phone. She does have internet. The news say that international forces are investigating the zone of transformation after the dome has vanished, while traffic to the island is limited to essential services only. Anybody to call? Zoras and her mutual friend, whom Zora has sent away? He cannot have gotten far. In fact he is probably at the port waiting for the ferries to resume operation. Granted he was really ugly now, but he is available. And of course he was not responsible for this. No man who cares enough for a woman to return after a decade and two children and just has scored willingly turns himself into a man-scorpion. Zora is just paranoid concerning men. But she needs to talk to Zora. She reverses the switch again. The side of the car opens. The rod her key has turned into emerges from the side of the car. She sighs, grabs her guitar bag, disembarks and ulls the key rod out of the car. The car closes.
Natalija is playing with the sphinges in the garden. Her annoying brother thinks that she would watch a rerun on TV while she can can play with two fantastic cats, who can operate the doors just as he can. That she cannot operate the doors is a hassle. Mommy is sad. She is often sad when she looks at old pictures. She hides it from her brother, but not her, thinking her to small to notice. She does not understand why mommy looks at those pictures although they make her sad. She would like to comfort mommy, but nothing helps at those times. Perhaps they could go to the beach later. Her new body should allow her to swim much better.
Zora hates herself and her life. She could trust nobody. Well maybe her relatives, but they did not understand her. They did not understand why she had to leave her husband at 8 months pregnant. No, not with her. If he has to fuck that Asian girl, he can have that slut and thats it. Now she needs her son to operate a dishwasher. Yet another humiliation. Nobody is reliable. To wake up at this sight and in that form was too much. The emergency had not been that bad. In fact she had been temporarily responsible for scheduling evacuation busses, hence it was not even boring like some of her friends complained. But it was just work. She had come here to see new sights to find beauty. Instead she has found a bug in her bed and does no longer dare look into a mirror. And that is a serious issue. Her bladder is full, but there is a mirror in the bathroom. Vehiculum sanguinem petit I am dreaming of my grandparents. My blanket is withdrawn and my head is lowered. I have been in enough battles to show no external reaction while I push out my aura. Nothing. I open a side idea to see a red light blinking on the console. A technical malfunction? In a vehicle that has not been moving? Speculation is not useful. But first, how long have I slept? Three hours and fourty minutes. Not too bad. I needed it. I am checking the craft. Ive decided to call it a craft. The result is almost comical. The vehicle is low on fuel. I open the fuel slot on the board and enter an iron rank coin. The blinking light stops. I command the slot to disappear. Now what? The parking lot is full of crafts like mine, but devoid of people. That makes sense. Where would you go, even if you belong to Stjepans species who ought to be able to operate these vehicles? Provided they would even move without adding a coin nobody has. I, however, have coins. Yet that is a fact I dont want to let people or authorities know. That means that I will move this craft only in emergency for now. That leaves Maria, Zora and the children. Sure, she sent me away, but can I really blame a woman for overreacting to being turned into a dragon? I need to leave them at least a few coins. Stjepan presumably can operate their cars and this island may become quite dangerous. People might riot. People always do stupid things. Besides camping in a magic car in a parking lot would be kind of silly given the circumstances. First I need to check out the car. I put both hands on the orb and close my eyes. I understand the key mechanism now. And I am disappointed. The car claims that it cannot be entered into a standard unattuned storage space. And it cannot explain to me how to attune my arsenal. I command the car to make me four extra key rods. And now it is time to do what I have been accused of having an inappropriate fondness for. I get my tricorders probe out. At that point I have a horrible thought. Scorpions practice external fertilisation. All is well. The mast is still ready to be errected. In fact it is in an armoured compartment sheltered until it is needed. That is a gigantic relief. I put my pants back on. The probe yields something interesting: Xuronian crystal land craft (unbonded C iron rank) A hovercraft for movement over land and shallow waterways with rudimentary habitability. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Spirit coins of the items rank serve as fuel. Requires the ability to use magical tools to operate and configure. If bonded as a soul item it can be subsumed into the bondees skin respectively armour, serving as defensive garb if desired. A bonded craft can factultatively be run on the bondees mana supply. Then a ritual is described. It would cost C a quick calculation C 42% of my iron rank coins. Is this worth it? Yes. A truly mobile operating base is worth it. I may be forced to withdraw to an inhospitable part of the Earth. Armour is a welcome bonus. I get out, do a quick equilization ritual and then pour out the complexest ritual I have ever done. Finally I put my lower left hand on the spot my tricorder has shown me. I am stung and instantly my tail with stinger extended hurls itself forward. I can barely stop myself from stinging my own car. I must have a defensive reflex. Good to know. My hand is bloody, but the ritual has been activated. I hope the glow attracts nobody. I can sort of feel the connection. For the sake of experimentation I subsumed it into my dermal armour. I get very nice blue spiral patterns on my armoured segments. In fact I begin to like my new form. Is that a side effect of the transformation? I go for the garb form. That costs a noticeable amount of mana. I am clad in a blue chainmail onesie. Can I make it fully vanish into my skin? Yes, no visible trace . Well, can I get my craft back? That also works. Now what? Safety first. Chainmail it is. This has cost me two hours. Some transformed people are on the street. This is odd. This town has about eight thousand people. The dome struck in the middle of the night, so most people should have been at home, but still. How large has the dome been? Has the whole island been affected? If not, where are the normals? Have they become vampire food? A dragon is walking towards me. Zora. No, there is a second dragon in this town. He looks at me and turns away. Some people really dislike arthropods. I should found a bug pride movement. -- Two hours earlier: Maria and Zora are sitting at the kichen table with an open, almost empty bottle of red wine between them. M: Snap out of it. Yes, you are looking different. But you are still not fat or short-legged. Z: I have a snout! M: So what? Everybody says orcas are pretty and they also have a snout. Z: Are you calling me a whale? Both start snickering. Z: Still I did it with a spider. M: Well, no, you did it with somebody who became a spider after that. One might even say that you changed a mans life. Z: He is still ugly. To be precise, turned ugly again. M: True. So in aggregate he has lost little. This time they laugh out loud. Z: So what do we do? M: What can we do? You saw the roadblock. Your car does not work, either. Z: I phoned my father. They got a room in a hostel for the night. The army has taken over the port. M: How are we set up for food? Z: Two days maybe. We have wine enough, though. Lets see whether the shops are open tomorrow. M: Will you call him? We may just need a wizard. Z: So much for self-sufficient womanhood. M: We need more witches. A toast to witches! Z: Lets get another bottle first. He cant leave the island either. cista portandi Have I mentioned that I am wearing pants again? I am getting used to this body. I have designed something that deals with my tail. For my torso I am wearing something like a wide cloak. A shirt turns out to be very uncomfortable when it presses on my wing covers. It does not hurt. I just feel constricted. This body may have instincts that call for always being able to fly away, never mind that my clothing comes from [Equip the Army] and can be dissolved at will. I steel myself and ring the door bell. Stjepan opens the door. I should have expected that, yet it feels anticlimatic. P: Hi, can I come in? S: Sure, it is good that you are back. I am afraid mommy is a bit preoccupied right now. Zora emerges from the kitchen. Z: O hi, there you are Z: Maria, our wizard is back! Z: We are having a girls night for newly bald girls Maria yells something in her language back. That is beyond me. P: Maybe we should speak tomorrow Z: Sure. I am afraid weve eaten all the noodles. P: Dont worry, I have sandwiches in storage She heads back to the kitchen. S: Ill show you our new floors P: Sure, but we should feed the cats first. S: Right, they are in the garden playing with Natalija. At this rate my stored cat food wont last long. S: Do you want me to show you the new floors? This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. P: I thought youd show me your garage and your car first. S: Cool. Did you know that I can get it to float? Mom had me try that out. P: Good. If worst comes to worst, you may have to drive it. S: Do you want to leave us? He sounds a bit scared. P: No, no, but look at how many people we are. If we want to leave together, well need two cars. At least if we also have luggage. S: You are right. I should have thought of that. P: Here take those and take good care of them. I give him five iron coins P: The transformed cars run on them. Do you have the key rod for your car? S: No, but the spare key hangs on the hook next to the door. We proceed to the garage. The boy is quite adept at controlling the car. We fuel it with another coin I give him. I want him to actually do the full process. S: How far will it travel on a coin. P: I have no idea. We may have to try that out. Have you found other cool stuff here? S: Yes! Hoverboards! Two of them. I can ride them. P: Can I see them? S: Not here. Weve brought them inside. Do you want to see them now? Can we go? P: I think we should check the rest of the stuff here, lest we overlook something important. S: If we must P: Hey, I promise we will hover, but something important happened here and gave us new things. We must understand them. S: But Yeah. Trinkets. A lot of trinkets. Who makes a magically adjustable spanner? P: You have already put that stuff into a box. That allows us to easily take that stuff with us. S: Mom made us do that, but she did not explain why we were doing that. P: These tools may be very valuable for a wizard who wants to copy them. So they may be a better way to pay than money with wizards. And thi stransformation will draw wizards in. S: Like it has drawn you in? P: No, no, I had no idea this transformation would happen. S: Why did you come? That makes me hesitate. P: I was lonely and looking for friends. S: But dont you have friends at home? P: I do. But the police was looking for me. They could have watched my friends. S: Like a bad cowboy? P: I would like rather think of myself Fletcher Christian rising up against Captain Bligh. S: You mean on a ship or what? P: Yes, on a ship. S: So you are a pirate? Like on the Black Pearl? P: Not that either. The only treasure I found was guarded by monsters and other pirates. S: Tell me about that! P: Operational security, need-to-know basis only S: Unfair I grin. S: Very unfair. P: By the way, what is that strange box with straps doing behind the car? That looks dangerous, like you would crush it, when you take the car out of the garage. S: No, you need to go there to open the garage. P: My bad. You are right. Do you mind if I use my cool wizarding analysis tool on it? S: No problem. We found it in the car and took it out, because we had no idea whats in it. Xuronian transport box (attuned to Xuronian hover vehicle) I think you can get your car into this and transport it on your back like a backpack. S: No way P: Try it out Deliberationes I fell off a hoverboard. Five times. I managed to entangle my legs with my own tail. Lets just say that some things are far funnier if you are the one observerving them rather than the one they are happening to. Zora and Maria are showing a lack of appetite. They have also asked me to dim the windows. The children like the sandwiches I have made. Unfortunately the hot stuff and, much worse, the ice cream have cooled respectively melted, as they were outside in the time between my inventory emptying itself and my repacking them into my new arsenal. Using this fantastic magical kitchen to reheat the stuff will take time. And nobody objects to the ice cream. Have I mentioned that magical tables are self-cleaning if you know what to ask of the house? There is a slot for coins in the basement. Ive put two coins into it. M: Those bastards have trapped us. P: How? M: We saw police and military roadblocks. Z: TV says that the transformed are to be quarantined. She still has trouble looking directly at me. P: The roadblocks are not the problem. We could get past them. M: Lets do that. P: And then? We dont have enough conventional vehicles. We look very different from ordinary people. We dont have papers. And where would we go? M: But this is a prison. P: But with beach access. She makes a dramatic gesture and instantly regrets it. M: My head Z: Are we safe here? P: What do you mean? Z: I have seen what you can do in this house. There are wizards out there who can do the same. P: Not very many. I have a pretty rare ability. Though it seems like maybe people of Stjepans race do not need to be wizards to operate these houses. Have you talked to the neighbours? Z: No. Nobody want to make the first move. But you are not answering the question. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. She is beautiful. Even as a dragon forced into a skirt and a shirt that has inadvertedly been converted into a crop top. P: Yes, to some this house would be very valuable. And no, I cannot fight one of those. I doubt, however, that they would simply take a house. At least for now. It is not worth the hit to their reputation. But it would be an offer you could not refuse. Z: My grandparents lived here. My children learned to swim here. I can only shrug. Z: Then what can you do? P: Two things. First I can make sure the neighbours will not do anything stupid. And the second thing is rather delicate. Z: What do you mean by that? P: I am afraid I need to explain how one becomes a wizard. M: If you must ... They get the tale of the essences and the awakening stones and the methods of advancement. Z: So you can make us into witches. P: No, I am not quite that well equipped. I put the two essences I have on the table. Z: I have to ask. Why are you doing this? A legitimate question. And honestly speaking I should not do this. I am doing it out of feelings that are, at least no longer, mutual. What do I owe her? Perhaps not leaving her alone and defenseless in a world gone magic. There is a nagging doubt about my connection to this ransformation. I have no evidence for my involvement, but I cannot rule it out anyway. P: You mean a lot to me. And you were my last anchorage. And we are transformed, both of us. Into very different races. I cannot change how people will look at you. But I can change how much youll have to care about it. Z: Ok, I am going to take a shower. And then well go shopping all together. We do not need to decide this today. My head hurts. -- This town is under aerial surveillance. My new eyes are sharp enough to see the camera drones. The shop is open. There is a burly man of undeclared, but obvious purpose indicated by a baton at the door. His eyes widen at the sight of Zora and me. He shares a species with Stjepan. He says nothing. The shop is displaying a sign. I think is says something like ?one of each piece only. Everybody out here is pretending that nothing happened. I suppose those who are not ready to do so are at home giving in to despair or alcohol. I pick the biggest bag of cat food they sell. The lady at the cash register is a honest to god movie elf, including the pointed ears. Zora is making some conversation. I do my best to look patient, lest I cut off our source of information. -- We are watching TV. In deference to my language limitations weve opted for the BBC. ? Two more smaller domes of transformation have turned up in the Mexican part ? of the Sonora desert in the eponymous state of Sonora ? The number of people affected is deemed minimal ? The second zone has engulfed the whole island of Aniwa in the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu ? The EU has reminded its member states that it considers the transformed citizens with all rights ? whose freedom of movement shall not be infringed unless absolutely necessary for reasons ? of national security Z: The lady at the shop says that about half her customers are like Stjepan. And I am the first dragon she has seen. There was one like you, who changed his mind before entering the shop. Humi me virum esse dubito Stjepan and I have manipulated the main control orb. Now everybody has a key and all the windows have manual controls. It took the extra energy from the coins to enable that. This is not my home, yet it is the closest thing to a home Ive had since being drafted. The children have gone for fresh bread and returned with the news that the army is in the town. They havent set up full scale checkpoints, but theres a vehicle in many intersections and in town square. S: They did simply nothing and told us to go on. Z: Keep away from the soldiers! P: Perhaps I should leave, while I still can. M: And how do we explain where you are? P. There is that. Z: Then we should go to the beach. M: Why that? Z: To make absolutely clear that we are not hiding P: That makes sense -- Zora has become an excellent swimmer. After a bit of fooling around we have found out that she can flatten her tail laterally and use it like crocodiles do. We are heading home early, as her father and uncle have called to tell us that returning residents and visitors with family are now allowed onto the islands. The children are happy at the prospect of seeing their grandfather. Entering the road Zoras home is located in a commotion greets us. I do not understand them while they are cursing and yelling, but Zoras eyes narrow. A woman looking like Stjepan is quietly sobbing, while a woman and a man were yelling at each other. The man wielding a sizeable stick as a club is human and standing right next to another unchanged man holding a gun like a walking stick. The woman is most definitely not. In fact she seems taken right out of a medieval painting. Red skin, small horns on her head and a set of impressive bat wings on her back. Even the classic tail with the heart-shaped tip is present. From my vantage point I cannot see her face. They are bringing the guns out. This is not good. I hold the children back. Maria is helping me. Zora is triggered. Her aura is drenched in indignation and guilt. She yells out something that I do not understand and advances not quite running. That is the exact time Natalija uses to cry ?Grandfather!. She slips away towards a side street. And indeed that street holds two men with shocked expressions. One of them I recognize from photos I saw a long time ago. I cannot let a little girl suffer the shock of her own grandfather not recognizing her. My meagre knowledge of the local languages just allows me to call out the word for grandchild. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. There is a shout from further along the road. I think he yelled something like ?abominable lizard. A smack, a feminine cry of pain and a whooshing sound follow. Why am I turnng my head? I have excellent peripheral vision now. I just let myself be distracted. Literal tunnel vision. A burning corpse is collapsing in front of Zora, who is down on the pavement, clutching her left shoulder. Stjepan is screaming for his mother. Zoras father is shouting for his daughter, having recognized her voice. Maria is losing her balance as a boy in panic proves himself to be stronger than her grip. The second guy is bringing the gun up. Not again. I hesitate. I teleport in front of Zora. Some chivalrous impulse? Who knows. I certainly dont. My stinger is coming up between my legs. His gun reacts to the threat. I think he pulls the trigger a fraction of a second before my sting hits him. And he returns the favour. Yes, I am a magical creature with reduced damage from mundane sources. Yes, he hits an armoured body part. But it is point blank. From a rifle, not a pistol. I should have used my new armour. I will put it this way. Have you seen RoboCop? Let me further explain that the shock is enormous. It takes me long seconds of writhing on the ground to trigger [Immortality]. That, however, operates based on damage to the whole body. My injury is debilitating, but not immediately threatening my life. The ability is doing its job. But neither quickly nor painlessly. For the first time in my life I pass out from an injury. -- Regaining conciousness I find two assault rifles pointed at my general vincinity. A medic is on top of the guy I have stung, performing CPR, another one assisting him with a respirator. A third medic apparently would like to inject Zora with an analgesic but is finding himself stopped by her scutes. Zoras father is holding her glaring at a sergeant. Her uncle has a soldier standing right next to him, whose stance suggests that he remain right where is right now. Pressing my hands on my nether regions must have made sure that not even the smallest traces of my dignity have survived so far, but it allows me to verify that [Immortality] has undone the damage in full. One of the soldiers watching me is loudly informing somebody that I have woken. I think. I am not at my best. To be clear, I have been an idiot. In hindsight half a dozen options existed. I could have accelerated time and just shot the guy. I could have used telekinesis to rip the gun out of his hands. I could have slammed him against a wall telekinetically. I could have teleported beside him. I could have even teleported above him and let gravity finish the problem. I am feeling a combination of anger, shame and fear as I cough, rise and telekinetically switch the rifles of the soldiers watching me to the safe position. How do I this? A man looking like an officer is giving up on getting useful information out of Maria sitting with the children and a devil with a thousand yard stare on the bench beside the door. That wouldnt have worked well, even if she werent shocked by recent events. In my mercy I let thee ransom life against venom Raising the dead is a good first step, if you want to be impressive. My test channel to Zora is still active. The excess health from [Feast of Decontamination] channeled by [Pipes of War] heals her shoulder in seconds. The medic caring for her gasps. The guy doing the CPR sort of slides to the ground and is ready to be carried away on a stretcher himself. I concentrate my aura senses on the officer. Should I call up my armour? No, I need to radiate confidence. For now, I am ready to accelerate time and am using my large field of vision to prevent bad surprises. The officer introduces himself and I give him my false identity. According to his aura he is wishing he were somewhere else. P: This event took me by surprise. L: Well, we have one civillian fried, two with a nervous breakdown, one of whom is currently being driven to a hospital, multiple That is the time a pair of furry balls choose to swoop in. I go to time acceleration to rip away rifles from soldiers. In a few moments, it is over. L: Leutenant, you have drawn the attention of a par of sphinges. Take your men and run. I will try to lure them away. He hesitates. The kitty pinning him down yawns. He just nods. P: Tell your men to move without any sudden movements. I will try to talk them down. If the repercussions were not so serious, seeing soldiers retreat while I am saying senseless Latin phrases would be hilarious. In caelum exeunt The kitties understand that our ways must part now. We are standing on the roof-top platform. They are pressing their heads against Natalija and me. Nobody speaks. They stretch out their wings, jump, drop to accelerate rapidly and skim the waves. Do magical wings profit from the ground effect or are they just evading potential shooters? Very soon they vanish into the twilight. Natalija returns to Zora, who looks at the still bright cloudy sky. Z: I wish I could fly with them. P: Will you run? Z: Yes. The man . There is nothing for me to say. Z: The man I killed was fairly popular. A good neighbour. He just had issues with me, since his daughter . It does not matter. P: It was his fault he started it. Dont let it affect you. Z: How would you know? P: Ive killed people, too. That may have been an error. Z: We have to leave the country. Everybody would connect us with this island. We are heading back. Can you come with us? P: Will this end well? You are looking at me as if I smelled badly. S: You smell like a wax candle. You just look ugly. Not like a hairy spider, more like a beetle. But you are still fun to be around. I cannot help myself. I keep laughing until I start snorting from a lack of air. -- Zoras father has collected the guns the soldiers left on the street. Zora is making sandwiches. She has refused my help. Arthropodophobia is a deplorable new social ill. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Z: Can you really raise the dead? P: He wasnt really dead. My venom, if I use the basic version, stops the metabolism but preserves the victim in a state between life and death. I think it is for storing prey. I have an ability to cure people from toxins. I even profit from healing them. Z: I see. Is your offer of magic still valid? P: Yes. Now? Z: How much time will it take? P: About an hour. Z: Thats all right. I doubt theyll come back in the dark to a place where unknown creatures roam. I decide to take her word for it. She lives here, not I. -- P: Why does this house have a room for rituals? It simplifies this job a lot. The young woman Zora defended speaks up: ?Ours has a room like this, too. Z: Thank you. That clarifies things. I perform the ritual with the Magic esssence first. Her eyes light up and she sends everybody out of the room. As she bids us reenter the room, we learn that she has wings. Going by the eyes of her kids that makes her the coolest mom of the world. The Gun essence is not as spectacular. She touches the orb next to the door and the color of the light in the room changes. She has gained Tools of the Magister. -- We are sitting around the table in the living room. Stjepan has gotten the big screen to display a map of the island. But first I need to clarify something, as the woman transformed into a devil is still with us. After introducing myself I simply must know how much I can say in her presence. P: May I inquire about your name and your intentions? L: My name is Lidija and I would like to come with you. I cannot go home after this. She whispered that and avoided any eye contact. Very well, lets do this. We can still drop her off when we reach the mainland. P: We have two regular and one emergency driver for the transformed cars. We are six people and if we are to take luggage and some provisions, we will need two cars. I am too close to capacity to take in a lot of luggage into my internal storage. M: It really sucks that I cannot drive my own car. P: Yes, unfortunately yours is the only one we cannot store and it is also the smallest. So we will need to use it. Z: Do you want to ride with me, Maria? M: No. If I cannot drive Ill rather be in another car. P: Very well, the cars can go over shallow water, but the Adriatic probybly does not count as shallow water for that purposes in its deeper parts, so I would propose that we go to the mainland. That leaves only the questions of where we go into the water, which route we take to the mainland and where we land. -- It is after midnight. I am carrying sleeping children into Marias car parked for that purpose right in front of the door. We are heading out in silence. If you are driving slow enough to not make a lot of wind, these vehicles dont make a noise. We reach the beach without encountering anybody. At that point Zora yields the lead in the convoy to me. We reach the mainland without trouble. Zora takes the lead again and we turn onto very lonely country roads after a short stressful passage through a costal hamlet. Quis roget? Ive conjured a Nissen hut over Marias car to secure us against observation from the air. That may trigger an investigation for construction without a permit and raise questions about the squatters taste in terms of colour, but such investigations rarely merit a reaction during the same day, least of all in the aftermath of a monster apocalypse. A few conjured luxury camping chairs increase the strange sense of vacation. The children have gotten enough sleep, but for now they are occupied with watching the lizards warming up in the morning sun. Zora is absolutely exhausted from using a new ability for hours. I doubt a baseline human would have had enough mana to endure this without a full set of essences. With Maria practising her finger picking on her guitar with a battery powered amplifier and headphones and our new companion Lidija having finally fallen asleep, I can dedicate time to meditation. --
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 2 (8%)
[Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 1 (27%)
[This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (84%)
[Chemical Warfare] Defiance Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (54%)
[Hyperkinetic Cannon] Gun Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (11%)
Vast:
[Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 1 (24%)
[Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 1 (85%)
[Nebelwerfer 42] Focus Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (30%)
[Arsenal of the Mad Scientist] Magotech Special Ability Iron 1 (3%)
(unused) 0%
Dimension:
[Teleport] Special Ability Iron 1 (51%)
[Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 2 (70%)
[Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 1 (2%)
[Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 2 (6%)
[Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 1 (29%)
Battlefield:
[Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 2 (55%)
[Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (4%)
[Pipes of War] Unity Special Ability Iron 0 (87%)
[Cornucopia] Feast Special Ability Iron 0 (22%)
[Feast of Decontamination] Light Special Ability Iron 0 (21%)
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. My first attribute has reached iron 1. The last few days have at least advanced some abilities, but I have to face reality, they do not fit together organically and I will have to devise a training strategy. To my surprise Maria comes to talk to me. M: What has happened to us? P: I have no idea? M: Is it permanent? P: Probably. Could it be reversible? Possibly, but I have no idea. You cannot predict the zones. M: You mean, if one were transformed twice, the effect might reverse? P: Possibly, why do you think I know? M: Because you are a wizard. P: I am a practical wizard. I have no idea of the science behind it. M: Then what use are you? P: Use? Do people always have to be useful? But if you ask that way, I will try to keep you safe and fed. M: Sorry. No. I will not hold that against he. Ordinary people in her situation have every right to freak out and lash out, if it helps them. M: I kind of feel outcast. P: Because you look different? You look like a character out of a SciFi show. Do you really want to tell me that being exotic cannot be to ones benefit? M: I never wanted such benefits. P: You will have to play the hand you are dealt. And in our case, the dealer has reshuffeled the cards. She starts pacing under the awning of the hut. M: What were your long term plans? P: Originally I was heading to Turkey to find employment hunting monsters. M: Did you like the war that much? P: No, but too many things wizards need are made from monsters and I could not search the internet for jobs for wizards. I am an idiot Dear reader. If you ever get transformed into an arthropod and feel like smacking your head in recognition of your stupidity, make sure you do not get your antenna stuck between your hands and the bony ridges protecting your additional eyes. It hurts. A lot. M: I like to hear that. It makes me feel better. But could you give me details? P: I cannot search the internet, because people were looking for me. But if somebody recently transformed were to start asking questions on fora, who would be surprised? Fontes petimus. Lidija has agreed to watch the children. Zora sleeping in Marias car we are getting into mine. P: I was so focused on staying offline to remain untraced that I stopped considering the ultimate purpose. But these vehicles offer opportunities not linked to any of us, really. M: Show me! This car now contains a webbrowser, radio and TV. It has taken me a little more than half an hour to get it to provide controls Maria can use, but now we have created the perfect media machine. M: We need local news, world news and news about magic. Anything else? P: No, that sums it up. -- I find Zora talking to Lidija as I return from a walk around our camp after leaving the car. L: I think I have not properly introduced myself. P: Neither have I. Fate has affected us in a similar manner. I am glad Zora could help you. Z: And I regret nothing. Including us leaving. This would not have ended well. Nevertheless we need a long term plan. P: Yes. Z: I have two children who need a home and a future. P: Yes Z: And we will not pass for ordinary humans. We cannot shop or rent a room unnoticed. P: Yes L: I think he already agrees. P: Thank you. P: The problem is that we have only one ordinary car and the transformed vehicles are likely to be extremely valuable. We also have no papers that would allow renting or buying a car. Z: So you propose sneaking home and looking for papers there? P: Do you have a good alternative? Maria comes running out of the hut. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. M: Guys, there are new transformation zones in the area! We need to try to be transformed back! Z: We need to sneak in! P: What do you mean by transformed back? L: Sneak in? We just sneaked out of one! Z: Silence! She does have a certain talent for authoritarian proclamations. Z: These zones are on the internet. This is a tourist country. Most of us are sort of foreigners. They will hand out temporary IDs and suggest that we go home. They cannot be bothered if this can be turned into somebody elses problem. M: I dont want to stay like this. Z: And what do the zones help us in that regard? M: Maybe if we can get in past the barriers Z: Barriers? M: They are talking about cupolas. L: I think I will help with searching the net. -- Z: You do not believe that there is a way back. P: No, I do not. Z: Why? P: Pessimistic attitude. Z: There is more. P: Well, it has made us more magic and you cannot undo essences. She looks ahead. P: Would you give up your wings? Five seconds of silence Z: No -- L: Who is your ISP? P: I dont know and that worries me. L: Strange. Anyway. If you know inofficial news sites there is a clear picture. Z: Yes? L: Four impregnable cupolas turned up almost exactly 24h after the under we were under lifted. L: They have been surrounded by camps of mysterious forces the government does not dare challenge. P: How close? L: The closest is 11km from here. M: What are those forces doing? L: Apparently they are waiting for something. P: Probably for the cupolas to disappear like ours did. Z: But how do we get in? P: The same way those forces get in. We wait. L: So your plan is to sneak up there, hide and then sneak in? P: Nope. My plan is to depart in half an hour and to take the highway. Z: What? P: The police is not challenging those forces. We use that. Z: And those forces? P: Depends. I tend to simply tell the truth. We wouldnt be a competition to them. -- The owner of the camping ground has been happy to take our money. We can see the cupola from here, though most of the other teams are much closer to it. It feels good to take a hot shower and to have a hot meal. We are waiting. In via vehicula permutari iusserunt The cupola has been civilized enough to lift after breakfast. M: Lets get going! P: Wait! We must not be competition to the big boys. We have been through this many times. They can squash us. We must not give them a reason to do so. She relents, but her head droops. P: Last chance, should the childen stay here? Z: No, we stay together. P: Then could you settle our bill? We should get ready to depart. Ill prepare the ritual for the pipe, while you are paying. I am pulling out my conventional car. I am going to wear my armour at all times if I am to go in there. -- There is something refreshingly archaic about driving a conventional car. The distance to the cupola would be a bit short of 3km, but we need to cross most of the cupola to get to the other camping ground, where we intend to play a group surprised by the change on the road, nor do we want to return for the cars, so walking is not an option, although it would make us more flexible. On this trip I am alone with Lidija. We are trailing the others, who are to impress the police with our overtly magical vehicle. L: You are proably wandering why my family did not approve of me. P: Actually, no. It no longer matters. I wondered about Zora. She has a solid feminist streak, but charging guys bearing a firearm seems a bit rash. L: Yes. Do the transformations change our character? P: Why does everybody assume I know such things? It is my first time, too. L: You are the wizard. P: I think these zones are new, totally unprecedented. Something is happening to Earth. L: Wow. Well, to go back to our original topic, I think it was guilt for rejecting me. P: Rejecting? L: Yes. How do you put it in English? I swing both ways. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. She giggles. L: Men usually react like that. I can see it even on your transformed face. What is that? I am forced to hit the brakes vigorously. Zora has been stopped by three men in camouflaged body armour with guns standing around a dead gigantic centipede blocking the road, while one of them is stowing away a bag of salt, which must have been used for a half-completed looting circle. Their traces are coming from a Ford truck behind the dead creature, which in turn comes from the transformation zone. But my aura senses show nothing. P: Climb over after I will have gotten out, but do nothing unless combat starts. If it does, flee. I open the driver door slowly and get out. Three bronze rank auras hit me hard. I feel searched. How do they do that? I need to become better with my aura, even if that means spending days searching my tricorder. But that is for later. #1: You are too late. The Chinese got it. An American accent P: We never had a chance to beat teams like yours. We just want to get to the people. #2: Where are you from? P: Liechtenstein They chuckle. #2: So you are recruiting the transformed. P: Not exactly. I got caught up in something. They chuckle. I get a bad feeling about this. #2: I hope you understand that we need to get a look at the resources the transformation zones have to offer. In the interest of our common defense. P: I wont keep you out of the zone. I suddenly feel constricted and ground down. #3: Ladies, please get out of the cars. They comply. Getting Maria and Zora to comply so readily needs magical powers. Unfortunately that is what our contemporary highway men have at their disposal. #2: We will not be unreasonable. We can do an exchange. We can fill the holes in both your portfolios. M: That is my car, you are hinting at. I am deeply impressed. #2: You can be financially compensated. He whipped out an honest to god checkbook. Maria hissed. Z: They arent exactly asking. You can see Maria trying and failing to speak up. I cannot just let them get away with it. P: Nevertheless, not good enough. #2: Very well, Ill put in our second awakening stone. P: And we get to loot that monster. #2: Very well They even nicely unload our luggage and hand Maria the keys to their truck. -- We have been standing here for ten minutes. Maria has been hit harder. She is sitting on the road and sobs periodically. I need a shower. I am not alone in that, but am not tactless enough to mention it. Z: Did you have to burst out with the truth? P: Yes. That emotion manipulation power goes both ways. I am very bad with it, but even I could tell when my fellow wizards were outright lieing. You may get away with it, but wizards are much brighter. That silences her to my surprise. P: Maria, the deal is better than you think. In fact, even better than they thought. M: That wasnt your car! P: True. But I got that from that magical creature. I hand her a Magic essence. Pulchritudo in laco calido frangitur. This feels like a land of demons. The village we are travelling through has only 160 inhabitants according to Wikipedia. Their houses have turned to exposed rock, mainly basalt, and the people,who are out on the streets, look like Lidija. We see one man of Marias species. Many plants have also changed. The leaves are larger and darker. Flowers have a distinct purple hue. We also have been seeing evidence of volcanic activity in the form of a few fumaroles. Lidija is driving slowly. People even waved at us to stop, but ran as Zora and I emerged from the car. So we are passing through, carefully looking out for the freshly and hastily dug potholes to be found on the roads. It seems like the major groups were looking for buried treasure. P: Could you search the net for what they have been digging here? It may be important. L: Sure. But with which equipment? Where has your car gone? P: I am wearing it. It can turn into armour. L: Transformers. P: Yep. -- The camping ground has been turned into chaos. It looks fairly full. Have people reacted to travel being allowed again by going to a place near the sea? Or have such places been used for evacuations and the these people have yet to return? Lidija asks as we pay for entrance and the former turns out to be the case. That will also limit communications to those of them who speak English. Nobody of us speaks Hungarian. -- This camping ground has gained a hot spring! I have insisted on parking so that we can watch our cars while soaking in the warm lake it feeds. For now we have the whole lake for our own use. Although there is a young man with a bottle on the other side who keeps climbing up a tree to try out his wings. It seems they cannot really fly, but gliding is possible. M: Why did you give away my car? Z: Because it was that or our lives. M: What? Z: We have to be more realistic. M: That is easy for you to say. P: We would have fought and died. I for sure. Zora maybe. You personally are not even a threat to them. No, this new world is not easy for us. M: But P: No ?but. Peace is over. Equality is over. Law is over. In this new world might is right. M: Zoro? Z: I am sorry, but he is right. The lights in her eyes go dim and she turns her head. We have broken something in her. Something beautiful. Something harmful. Zora is giving me a look. Her aura just reads expectation. As if I were apt at reading looks. I choose silence. That seems the right choice. The children are cuddling up on us. N: Hey, you are turning blue! (At least I think so. That is about as far as my command of the local language goes.) Indeed, the pieces of my carapace in the warm water show broad blue patterns. N: You are pretty like a flower. Like a flower made from wax. Except that you dont melt in hot water. P: Thank you. Do you like it? N: No. You are still too hard in too many places. Not cuddly. Lidija chuckles at that. Zora is using the withering look. It works. We remain in awkward silence. -- The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. A devil walks up to the pond. His beard is purple and white. Does that mean middle age? D#1: Excuse me. Are you the new people? Z: Yes. D#1: You turned differently. Z: Yes. We think it is because we were here only for a short time. We woke up on the road to this place. D#1: Thank you. What will you do now? Z: We wait. We think the police will come. D#1: Why police? We have done nothing wrong. Z: We need new papers. We still have our passports, but we dont match them anymore. D#1: Oh. But what should we do? Z: Wait. P: Check whether we still have water. D#1: Thank you. We wait for him to get out of earshot. M: I want power. Let me get that cube and then you enable me to use it. I nod. She exits the pool. Z: Just to clarify. Why did you give her that cube and not the other? P: It is called an essence. It is a copy of one you already have. You cannot have the same essence multiple times. Z: OK, I see. Can you do my next ritual right after that? P: Yes, but we will need preparation. The third ritual is messy. Z: Messy? P: You lose control over all bodily functions and orifices for some time. All of them. I wouldnt need an aura sense to recognise horror ad revulsion. P: It is a good thing we have a lot of hot water at our disposal. P: We have two awakening stones both of us can take: water and lightning P: Which do you want? Z: Lightning. By the way, which essence did you get for me? P: Fire -- There is a tennis court with a few concrete foundations around it. It seems like somebody wanted to build a few utility buildings before the monster apocalypse struck. They are ideal flat ground for a ritual circle. We have started with Maria. M: This is it? A faintly shimmering blue bubble appears around her for a few seconds. I show her my probe. P: This will allow me to record your abilities. M: It feels protective. But go ahead. Thanks to my new fancy vehicle I can even print out character sheets. She has gained [Mana Shield] Now my time has come. L: You are hesitating? P: This is my last slot. I will never again do this for myself.
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 2 (11%)
[Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 1 (27%)
[This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (84%)
[Chemical Warfare] Defiance Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (54%)
[Hyperkinetic Cannon] Gun Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (11%)
Vast:
[Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 1 (24%)
[Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 1 (85%)
[Nebelwerfer 42] Focus Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (30%)
[Arsenal of the Mad Scientist] Magotech Special Ability Iron 1 (9%)
[Eldritch Eyes] Water Special Ability & Attack Iron 0 (0%)
Dimension:
[Teleport] Special Ability Iron 1 (51%)
[Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 2 (71%)
[Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 1 (2%)
[Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 2 (8%)
[Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 1 (29%)
Battlefield:
[Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 2 (56%)
[Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (4%)
[Pipes of War] Unity Special Ability Iron 0 (88%)
[Cornucopia] Feast Special Ability Iron 0 (22%)
[Feast of Decontamination] Light Special Ability Iron 0 (21%)
De laco surgit Police have arrived quickly and in force. Has Zora triggered a change in policy by frying a man? We are now holding official exceptional travel documents and even some papers for our cars. An official is using a bullhorn to inform us that we ought to wait for the road to be checked and improved to the degree that busses can pass through. And it seems like our new faces crash biometric devices, so our new papers cannot be used for air travel to North America. O well, that is not on my agenda anyway. A few people are leaving anyway. The transformation has turned some of the cars into steam-powered road engines, some of which can be powered by spirit coins. Indeed their money has been transformed. Fifty euros have turned into one iron rank coin. Is that a good exchange rate? The idea that the very multiverse may literally shortchange us is blowing my mind. Though that has no practical application. My companions are looking strangely at me as I explain why I am chuckling. -- Getting Zora to wear a conjured poncho and only a conjured poncho has been difficult. In this specific case the issue was not a clash of colours or a very basic, unflattering cut, but a lack of underwear. If you ever witnessed a transformation to iron rank, you will know that garment worn then is salvageable. Having her in a car will be bad enough. Telling her that has not improved matters. Z: No peeking ! Lidija and I look at each other. That serves as a reason for demonstrating that there is room for ocular escalation beyond the withering look. Z: Bring it on The effect is spectacular. Both in terms of stink and sounds that really threaten your digestion just by listening from a discreet distance, as well as in its end result. After passage through a number of tubs with soapy warm water I have also conjured and filled with a conjured bucket, she does a credible imitation of a Bond girl emerging from the hot pond. The withering look we are getting this time seems to be underlain with a hint of a smug triumphant smile. Her scales have turned irridescent. The metallic sheen comes out only in certain angles and it is subtle, but it takes our breath away.
Name: Zora Vukovi?
Race: Fire Draconian
Current Rank: Iron 0
Progresss to bronze rank: 0%
Racial Abilities:
[Draconic Might]
[Draconic Power]
[Dragon ancestry]
[Magic affinity]
[Dragon Scales]
[Dragon Breath]
Attributes:
Power Gun Iron 0
Speed Fire Iron 0
Spirit Magic Iron 0
Recovery Onslaught Iron 0
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 0 (13%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Fire:
[Dry the Tinder] Special Attack/Spell Iron 0 (2%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Magic:
[Dragon Wings] Special Ability Iron 0 (5%)
[Eternal Moment] Lightning Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Onslaught:
[Dive Bomb] Special Attack Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. That leaves me with a vexing issue. How does one mention to a lady that certain bodily functions have ceased operating? -- Thanks to the firefighters that arrived later in the day, the restaurant is running again and we are enjoying its services. That has the added benefit that we can pay in cash and accept spirit coins in exchange, justifying that by having shown people how to reactivate the lights and the hot showers in the facilities building with lesser spirit coins. Z: Hungary looks like the best route to me. P: Yes. No difficulties with toll roads. M: We have two conventional cars now, though P: I would prefer to ride my unconventional car, at least up to the border, so that Zora and I can train our essence abilities and my car does not require spirit coins to run, as long as I am in it. Z: So we will get better in them? P: Yes, though we should do the meditation training again. L: Leaving tomorrow morning? Z: Yes. Do you want to stay with us? L: Yes. My cousin finally called back. Things are bad at home. E tenebris scribunt 5:28 in the morning. That phone is pinging. A text message has arrived. ? Your path is remarkable. Your team is a serendipitous addition to your utility to us. ? We wish to make them an offer. Retrieve a package at the attached coordinates. There is no escaping them. Have I drawn people into the paws of supervillains? I look at the coordinates. Six hundred meters to the east. There is no point in avoiding this. They are close. If they want to get at us, they can. But this may be a trap to isolate me. I need to inform everybody. Is this a reason to wake everybody right now? No, it is not. Do you think we are reckless to post no watches? May I introduce you to Argus#1? He is a collapsable mast. Notionally he rests on a small tripod with ball-shaped rollers to satisfy the requirement for mobility. The cool thing about him is the set of claws also mounted on the tripod, which can anchor him, while he extends his multiocular head on a mast five meters in height. He has been guarding our sleep. I activated him last evening. Our alarms are set to 7:30. I see no need to act before that. But I can prepare to save us time then. Such as preparing breakfast. So I am making scrambled eggs. How can I spin this? Do I want to? Yes, I want to. I dread being on the run alone again. Do they deserve that? No, they do not. Can I get away with it? No, not really. Zora has aura senses now and my patrons are seeking an independent channel of communication to them. Can an iron ranker develop psychosomatic issues? -- I am not among morning people. The children presumably would be, we had decided to let them sleep a bit longer. Nevertheless, while the other adults are at a foul mood, which fresh coffee, well, coffee that has been kept in stasis, and scrambled eggs can ameliorate only to a small degree, their mind does not degrade likewise. Z: Something is wrong. Spit it out! The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. P: Ive been contacted by a questionable organisation I was forced to make deals with in the past. The messages shows that they are observing us. Z: You could have mentioned them earlier. P: If I had done so, I would have been forced to reveal information of a sensitive nature. L: Wow, I would have taken you for the straightlaced type. Capable of violence but too honest for your own good. P: I did not steal stuff. Thats not what they are blackmailing me with. M: Have you caused all this? Z: Nobody who can do that would need him. P: Thanks for the confidence. Z: Not so fast. So what are they blackmailing you with? P: I .. . .. murder. L: Ill be fucked both ways at once! Total bedlam. It lasts more than a minute and is interrupted only by my slicing a tomato with a knife. They are watching the knife. P: In no case did I use a knife. Z: In no case How many? That I need to count really silences them. P: Four L: Damn. Silence p: OK, listen. I am not claim that I have all wisdom or all solutions, but I am going to say it like it is and then you can make of it what you will. Further silence. P: We started out powerless. And taking the power will mean doing questionable things. Yes, we can stay powerless. Then probably nothing will happen to us. But somebody may decide to do questionable things to us and there will be nothing we can do about it. Even so, for all of us there is a long way to true power ahead of us. And on that way we will have to do more questionable things and sometimes we will have be humble and do as we are told. I need to gather my thoughts. I am starting to ramble. P: Look, I am saying that I wont speak for you. I will not tell you lies. But we all will eventually have secrets we cannot just come out with in an e-mail. And there will never be a path without risk. And most importantly, there will never be a path we are in full control of. That is all I have to say. I have eradicated all clarity. I think this group will not stay together L: Lets stay practical. What was in the message? P: They want us to get a package and send you messages. That means it is some form of communication. I hand them the phone for them to read the message themselves. Z: Ill go. L: No. Let me go. You have children and I have no powers. But after breakfast. Z: You Very well. I need to get used to this. We have been in denial for too long. There are many people who could kill us, if they would. P: Its 600m that way. If you wont be back or call us in an hour, Ill follow you and the rest of us departs. -- Lidija sets out into the scrubland after breakfast. Viam futuram eligimus Lidija has returned with a bag of phones. P: I guess this means that we are delaying our departure. You can find me in the hot lake. Natalija and Stjepan are joining me. -- M: Zoro, do I have a future? Z: You are not the career type anyway. M: You know what I mean. Z: The exotic can sell very well. Maria pours herself a glas of orange juice. M: I could cash the cheque and live on the coast. Z: If you want me to talk you out of it, youll make it easier if you give me some ammunition. M: You have broken something precious. Z: It was holding you back. M: I want to be held back. Z: Why? M: Isnt it your job to tell me? Z: No. It is my job to make you admit it. Maria hesitates. Z: We can talk about you living in a hut on the beach with many cats, if you prefer that. M: Alright. I need control over my life. Z: Why do you need it? M: Because little else is left. Z: What do you want from life? M: Art and freedom. Z: Hence? M: I will always be the singing freak and freedom was always an illusion for all of us. Z: What is left? M: Seeing the world. Like it really is. Z: Yes. M: I dont like their conditions. Z: Do you have other offers? Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. M: Where is the wine? -- Lidija is gliding into the lake. Her unfortunately successful attempt to not lose her bikini leading to a giant splash as she stalls at the landing negates the gracious, floating aspect of sweeping down from a tree to seemingly endlessly glide in the ground effect. P: It is true. People can fly. They just suck at landing. L: Very funny. She wades up to me, again not very gracefully, to flop down next to me. I telekinetically float her a can from my storage space. L: Show-off P: On occasion She pulls the tab. L: What will the world look like? P: You want a prediction? I love doing predictions. Though I fear I may not be very good at them. L: What makes you say that? P: Nobody is. So many unlikely possibilities that is unlikely that none of them happen, but each of them is vanishingly unlikely. Could you have predicted where you are now a month ago? She takes a deep swig. L: Though you seem to think that you can get away with murder. P: Ouch. But, yes, I do. L: Why? P: First, nobody will ever find the corpses. Second, the people I have met are already above the law. L: How do you know? P: They have known about magic for centuries. Governments have been knowing about it for less than a decade. L: How certain are you? P: 100%. They literally told me so. She takes another deep swig and wiggles the empty can. P: Let me demonstrate something. I throw the empty can a few meters away and annihilate it with [Wrath of the Magister]. P: Do you think people who can do such things will take orders from the people who cannot? I float her another can and take one for myself. P: You have recovered remarkably well. L: You seem disappointed. P: I am worried that it hides an invisible worsening and youll collapse on us. L: Possible. It seems unreal to me. P: You do not think that youll ever return, do you? L: My mother has sold the house. My childhood is gone. P: That reminds me. How old are you? L: I turned eighteen two weeks ago. My turn to take a deep swig. L: That started it. At my birthday party I had a few too many and kissed Zora. She kind of freaked out. P: Did you surprise her? L: No. She knew. She found my feelings flattering. I burst out laughing. L: What is funny about that? P: Straight men face the dilemma of the gay bar. You do not want gay attention, but you also dont want to be so unattractive that they all ignore you. L: I think you fell off a table as a child when they were changing your diapers. Only running out of air stops me laughing. L: Why does anybody ever take you seriously? P: These days? Because of what I did to that can. She hesitates. L: Why do think they are trying to hire us? P: I think they want plausible deniability. They need somebody to do something dirty who cannot be traced back to them. L: But we could rat out on them. P: Whom? Do you have any idea whom you are contemplating working for? L: You are right. P: No. I am consistent. Other explanations are also possible. L: You are infuriating. P: Yes. That gets me splashed. That in turn does not bother me at all. My new bodys eyes have no problem with water. P: You are thinking about taking the offer. Is it that good? L: No. I would not take it, if it were too good to be true. P: Why are you willing to take it? L: Lets be honest. I do not want to be alone. The same reason you are so happy to travel with us. P: What makes you think so? L: I saw you looking at her coming out of this lake. My turn to finish my beverage in one go, get another one out of storage and subject it to the same fate. Concilium sub arbore Yesterday has been lost in a strange languid manner. So sitting together for breakfast triggers a kind of deja-vu. Z: We convinced those psychiatrists that we are just highly unfortunate tourists seeking to forget the monster apocalypse, as you put it so awkwardly. That was a tough piece of work. P: You didnt complain yesterday. Z: I was not going to let them force my hand. P: How so? Z: The messages said that leaving the transformation zone without concluding a contract would imply a rejection of their offer and the phones would destroy themselves. M: I wonder who they are. P: Have you asked them? L: I have. Z: And? L: ?We value our anonymity. M: Wed sign away our freedom for a long time. Why did you do it? P: Radiation sickness from the battle at the nuclear power plant. I needed better medication than the GDN had available. Z: Are you sure the GDN does not have that medication? P: Yes. You cannot fake the horror in that womens eyes. And the other fighters sought and found death in battle. I saw it. L: Those superheroes we saw on TV? Z: They could have made good PR by releasing these medications after the battle. P: They would risk everybody demanding they release the secrets behind it. Z: They might have wanted to do so. L: Unless they are planning for a war with many people suffering from radiation sickness. Stolen story; please report. That caused a short pause. M: Could the GDN reproduce it at all? How good is their technology? P: I dont know. Their doctors claimed to me that they can heal anything from a stroke to a cancer. I have seen deep combat wounds healing from potions. Marias face has frozen. I get a spike of fury from her through my aura sense. I have not considered how her mother died. This could get ugly. Z: We need to share information better. But we could not expect you to spill military secrets without us asking. I think we should investigate the bakery in the village we passed through. It is inside the zone. -- Zora has driven us in my car to the shop. To at least my surprise they have fresh bread. Has the knowledge about using spirit coins spread so far so fast? Yes, it has. The box with the slots is in the main room. We in turn surprise the bakers by buying most of the bread available in the shop and alarm them by making the bread disappear into thin air, from their perspective. Unfortunately the explanation Lidija gives them goes way beyond my command of the language. We are sitting in the village on benches in the shade of an alien tree. M: We have time until sunset. Now I want to hear it all. Especially whom you got your essences from. P: I got one from the army and two from my patrons. I proceed to talk about magic boot camp, my work running rituals, the battle at the nuclear power plant, the trap during the disciplinary hearing any my wondering around and the deal with Lisas gang. Z: That was when they used you to deal with a gang? P: Yes Z: But why burn valuable essences on you? P: Thank you. L: You are assuming that they can use essences themselves. If they sold them, theyd eventually strengthen their competitors. We shared a few seconds of silence, while I conjure cups and bring out a coffee pot. M: And you are sure that they have been sitting on magic all that time. P: Yes. One of them told me that he was born in 1918 and got his essences during WW2. M: So essence users also age more slowly. P: As far as I known only the mightiest. Stronger than those who took your car. L: I wish I knew what it is like. P: I think that should work. I hand Maria and her an iron rank spirit coin. P: Put them into your mouth and do nothing despite the odd feeling. The effect wont last long. Their facial expressions answer all questions. -- Having returned to the camp that phone informs me that I need to do a bonding ritual of their phones and a phone I should get myself out of the bag Lidija found. With Marias aid that is a surprisingly quick affair. Res vehimus I am using my last evening C well, I presume that it will be the last evening before they start using us and we need to leave C to soak in the hot water. In fact I am learning to control the colouring of my carapce. I am making blue spiral patterns appear on it. I do not stay alone for long. Within a few minutes all my companions make their way here, too. L: Are you making plans for tomorrow. P: No. L: Isnt that what old people do? Make plans? P: Hey! M: He never made many plans. L: But isnt he supposed to be dependable and boring? M: He is. P: Hey! M: But he was the kind of boring of being ready to do the same thing every day, not the planning boring. P: Hey! L: Seriously, what do we do? Z: What we want to do, unless they tell us otherwise. You want good jobs, dont you? She is seeing this as a much looser relation than I did. But then with a good lawyer, she would walk free. L: Can we do that? Z: Why not? In case you were wondering, I got a mail. Theyve preponed and elongated the summer recess. Something about needing to renovate too many school houses. M: For now this is freedom. -- The morning finds us turned into delivery people. The order arriving by phone just tells us where to pick up the goods on the day after tomorrow. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The trip is spiced up by a guard freaking out, as we enter a bank for Maria to cash her cheque in. Telekinesis is such a handy tool if you think that somebody should not be able to draw a weapon. We even get an opportunity to test our new papers by crossing a border. We are being questioned. But after a few hours we are let through. We find a cheap rural motel close to the border. They need the money after the monster incursions, but they have only two rooms left. We see a lot of foreign license plates on the cars in the lot. People are coming in to check on their relatives. Zora claims Maria as a room mate with the memorable words ?she is the only one of you three who doesnt skim down at my chest. Natalija shies away from Lidija a little bit. L: Are you afraid of me, my little one? (I think C my language skills are improving though) N: You, but you smell of pepper. P: Yep, she is right. You do smell a bit like you slept on the spice rack. L: Well, that is a new one. So you want to sleep in his bed? N: Yes, if you do not step on my tail again. P: I am very sorry, I could not look down. I was carrying the box with your familys car. N: It hurt a lot. Thankfully she does not object to being sent to brush her teeth. L: You seem very content with our current task. P: I view it as temporary. Look, a few months ago monsters were unknown to the general public. Now people are being transformed. I dont think that we have reached a final, stable state. L: What else could happen? P: I dont know and that it the point. L: What else would you do? P: Drive a magic bus on the old hippy route to India through Afghanistan? Things are becoming possible. Most of all they are changing. L: Very well. We should see this is the best opportunity for a bonding experience. P: You mean we should go out into the city together and look at girls with short skirts? The quick jab to my arm was more mock indignation than the real thing, but iron-rank carapace is a bad thing to hit for a muggle. -- The stuff we have come for turns out to be camping refrigerators. Those and an equal number of closed and locked cylinders you use for transporting cash. M: This is a test. Z: And they must know that we would know. What does that tell us? M: They are telling us that we are sent on secondary jobs. Zora is stronger than me. She has packed away all four remaining fridges, while I still load the one I picked first. The guys running this shop, which is a general metal working and car repair shop, no nothing. They were paid by ?some guys, who just looked ?average. M: How did they do that? P: I think like the crooks who took your old car. Z: Is that this aura manipulation you spoke of? P: Presumably. We need to find information on that. Z: Why not find out ourselves? P: They have two centuries of head start on us. -- The guys running the shop have worked out the best route, which Lidija has noted down. Ericius ei linguam maxillamque coniuxit The first group we deliver to turns out to be working somewhere else, as somebodys cousin, whom they left behind to accept the delivery, called it. The second group, unfortunately, is at home, but not the kind of people you want close interactions of any kind with, if you catch my drift, nor are they tolerant of the transformed. The third group turned out differently. Z: What is that feeling? P: Your aura sense. Thats what superheroes feel like. In their iron rank version, anyway. Z: Odd. P: I count three. L: Do we need to run? Z: If they would be stealing only from us, Id say so. But if our bosses can kill us, they can also kill them. Nevertheless I hand Zora my mana-draining staff after she has stopped the vehicle. As I am leaving the vehicle, Zora being ready to back out and away, three men exit the old factory hall we have been told to deliver to. To their credit and my surprise they dont react to my new transformed status. One of them greets me. Returning the favour I reveal my foreign nature. #1: I hope you do not take offense at me not offering my name or asking after yours. The people we are dealing with must have a reason for employing intermediaries. P: I understand your concern. #1: I trust you have both the dimensional bag and the ritual materials? P: I suppose so, the stuff is shipped so well packaged that we cannot verify its content. He holds a key up. #1: Lets check. At that point not all getting out of the vehicle seems foolish, so I give the prearranged sign for little danger. Lidija emerges and hands him the cylinder, while Zora simply lifts a fridge out of the car. #2: They have a sense of humour. Could you put the dimensional container onto the pallet? He hurries to open Zora a door. The first man opens the cylinder with badly concealed eagerness. It reveals first and foremost a roll of spirit coins packed into transparent plastic foil. #1: This has cost us a fortune, but it is a necessary investment for the looting rituals #3: We have run out of them. P: Do you need any help with those rituals? Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. #1: No, not at all. The #PracticalRitualist channel really gave us a solid base. I am unable to speak. Those people are watching my YouTube channel. Maria comes to my rescue. M: Do you have anything for us to pick up? #1: Young lady, I appreciate your readiness to speak for your employers interest, but our share of stuff we sell to them is high enough. Depending on a single supplier is bad enough. #3: Do you want me to kill the monster now? P: You have a living monster here? I am not happy that my armour is used as a car right now. #1: Just a lesser monster. P: Would you allow one of us to kill it? I get a searching view. #1: If you are also ready to loot it for us afterwards Does he suspect a looting power or does he just want to save a few coins? Do I care? I put my hand forward for him to shake it. I am asking Maria and Lidija to stay in the car with the children. -- Zora is not happy with her task, but determined to not falter during her first few steps to power. A hedgehog shaped monster is inside a cage made from clear plastic with a lot of scratches on the inside. A handle on top allows me to expose the monster after unlocking a small external lock. P: Remember, burning this hall down is not an option. Zora is ready. She ducks under the monsters first salvo. Her attempt to impale it on her knife allows the monster to return the favour. Only its right hindquarter is slightly grazed. It does not flee, like a normal animal would have done, but jumps at Zora, aiming for her face. She blocks it with my staff. P: Yes, squash the little bugger! She grunts in annoyance. The little bugger has managed to grab the staff. Being much smaller it is now clinging to it, advancing towards Zoras hand. That next sound is a squeak not a grunt. She hurls the staff away. I materialize my assault rifle. The monster screaches and charges her. She countercharges ready to end it with her knife. Its pelt of spines changes its colour from growing light green to ready brown. It lifts its pelvis into the firing position. She trust her scutes and just slaps a hand over her eyes and turns to the side. The monster fires. Zora reaches it and the knife finds its target. I drop the gun and hasten towards her. She squeals. A few spikes have slightly penetrated the thinner scutes on her arms. Her somewhat damaged shirt allows me to verify that her torso looks unblemished. But her face. Two spines stick out of the protective hand. But they havent penetrated deeply. No, the issue is in the pieces of her face her hand did not cover. She got a spike penetrating a cheek and is bleeding out of her mouth. Shit, shit, shit. P: Hold still, close your eyes. I have to shine a light into your mouth. Z: Yeeek. Nnnnng. P: Stop talking. You are making it worse. I can feel pain and fear in her aura. P: It is stuck in your tongue. The jaw is not affected. Her teeth are not human at all. And of course I am only thinking about the consequences for her nutrition. Not that it matters much as she has reached iron rank. But I will ask Lidija to search the net for research on the nutritional requirements of the transformed. P: I have a magical ointment that will heal the wound but I will have to pull the spine out before I apply it. Dont worry there are no barbs on these things. She holds still and I yank it out telekinetically. Z: Iiiii P: Open your mouth! I use a conjured spatula to smear the rest of the content of a can of ointment on her tongue and cheek. She gags. Z: That stuff tastes like a mixture of eucalyptus and chili. P: Keep your mouth open! All healing. She glares at me until I conjure her blankets, one of which she wraps around herself. The leader of the superheroes storms into the room. P: A little complication. Do you have a washroom? He just points. -- After Zoras return I loot the monster. #1: Thank you. Vuk will lead you to your car. Number #3 puts a finger before his lips, points to his ears and leads us once around the whole hall back to our car. There number #1 is expecting us He points to his ears and slips Zora a piece of cardboard. Concilium belli The last two deliveries have been trivial. I have been driving the whole time since that disaster. I figure nobody is going to scream at or hit the guy driving you around. Z: We shall never talk about what happened in there today. Our phones simultaneously beep with instructions for lodging in a ?safe house L: At least well save money M: That means that they do not care that we know that they want us to know that they can listen in Z: How sure are we that we are talking about humans? Could they be so alien that they dont care? P: We are merely using logic. And they can use logic. Z: That is not entirely true. That tells us that they could understand our reasoning. It does not mean that they bother thinking about such things. We fall silent. P: Nevertheless we must at least assume that they are listening. Z: Yes The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. -- We are having fish for dinner. Zora knows the city and some spots for good eating. We are happy to have children who love fish. P: I almost forgot. Lidija, could you research on the net whether the transformed have some dietary requirements ordinary humans do not have? Z: That is a sobering thought. I wanted to go to a pharmacy anyway. Ill get supplements. P: Have I mentioned that medication probably does no longer work on us two like it should? What is the issue. Z: I dont want to talk about it. P: OK, OK. Ill be silent. L: By the way, did I see that guy slip you a letter? Z: Jealous? L: Totally. M: For not getting letters or not delivering letters? Hilarity ensues. S: What is so funny? What were you talking about in English? The question makes it funnier. L: No seriously, what did they write? Z: An invitation to go northeast, where they say they have access to monsters via something they call a ?tap of the Grid. And contact details. M: Why do they want us to have contact with monsters? P: Because I can loot for them without spending coins. On the contrary I create them. M: Wasnt that the deal you had with that Lisa woman? P: Sort of, yes. M: You are not looking happy. P: We almost died doing that. M: Dieing is not good Z: I do not like it, but if we want power we will have to fight and take some risks. Safety now is doom later. M: I dont like this. P: We can take a few days to prepare. L: How long did the message say we can stay in the safe house? Z: Two days. P: Well take as much time as it needs. If we need to pay for a hotel we will. L: Going authoritarian? P: When I said we almost died I meant it literally. Tertius liber Our safe house is the refurbished upper floor of a warehouse. So it actually does feature seven bedrooms and a room with a stone floor. Hence it is Zora who has the dubious honour of reacting to the door bell at 7:09. The driver of the courir service is prevented from pissing his pants only by the consequences of beginning arteriosclerosis affecting his heart, upon facing a draconian woman in a foul mood. But the joy is spread farther. The four packages require all our signatures. The delivery man is kept in place only by his bad health and a desire to not give up the equipment he used to transport the oversized package among them. L: Do you have hot coffee in storage? P: Sure. Sugar, lots of it, no milk? L: Yes Recently having learned to use the wickedly sharp blades on my upper rams, which are usually covered by an extra ?finger branching of my wrist, whose thorns neatly fit into depressions in my arms I am quickest to open my package. I am greeted by a note falling out. In neatly printed letters it states: ?Support the best of them. We want them and you to be strong. This equipment will aid you. P: Shit. M: What is it? I pass the note around. L: Then we can just as well discuss the implications over breakfast. M: Does it really matter how they learned of it? P: At least no longer, it would seem to me. Z: Lets look at the equipment theyve sent. Acting on this suggestion makes it obvious why the delivery required all our signatures. One does not get two essences, an awakening stone and growth item magical weapon on your doorstep every day. P: If they want to sacrifice us, they must be incredibly rich. Z: And if they just want to makes us think that? P: Then they still must be incredibly rich. You dont get essences back. Even if you murder and loot the recipient. Ive tried. You can get them out of monsters, but not people. That silences them. M: I dont want to obey, just because it is the logical and reasonable thing to do. P: Many Bothans died to bring us this information M: You rascal bag of -- Zora insisted on delaying everything including the rituals to this evening and on splitting up so she and Maria are delivering the last batch of fridges and cylinders, while I do the preparations I am so keen on, as she put it. I do not understand this woman. Who got a spine through her cheek? I am regretting doing this trip by running to take up the training regime my tricorder has suggested again. People look at me like I am an alien from outer space. I will not do that again. Should we try to form a community of the transformed somewhere? Am I really willing to embrace segregation as the solution to these social ills? I am arriving at the machine shop we got our fridges from. #1: Your friends already picked up the rest of the stuff. P: I know. I have some stuff for you to weld together. As a regular, albeit urgent, job. Ill pay cash in Euros. #1: Sure, come in. I freaked them out again, by taking armoured plates out of thin air and just lifting them, but we got the job done. I wanted to go without conjured parts and fully infused armour. The former Ive had to postpone, but the latter is achieved and the servant is operational and mobil, even if the conjured parts dissolve. Let me introduce Dalek-3H H stands for heavy. And he is sure heavy. His body is made from armoured plates. They are rounded and sloped back, so that his body is basically shaped like a fat traffic cone with a hemispherical cupola of extrathick armoured steel, which holds the crystal that forms his brain C well central processing unit, whatever C embedded in a lot of foam to isolate it from external forces. He features an endoskeleton of iron rods welded together under the the armor plating. The whole thing rests on a plate which holds most of the rituals, especially those who allow him to float around. On the weapons and manipulator front I have compromised by giving him two conjured arms that hold hands and two assault rifles derived from [This is my Gun]. There are fittinggs for two more arms. This has blown almost all of my quintessence, but there is no point in dieing in battle with your storage full and unused. -- Zora has taken me aside, as soon as I had returned. Z: We need to talk. Obviously I am terrified. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Z: I figured I need to talk to you. I am overdue. P: What? Z: Dont play oblivious! I would have noticed. I rechecked. Z: I wanted to check, but I cannot pee, even if I very badly want to. P: You are not pregnant. Z: How would you in your infinite wisdom happen to know? I am very close to death. I must not tell her to calm down. P: One of the ladies I cooperated with in the army got pregnant. I knew before her. If you have an aura power you can control your aura to seek finely. Youll notice the second aura. Id know. And now this aura sense is overwhelmed by a mixture of emotions I am sensing. Z: What is happening? If you make a menopause joke, I will kill you, burn your corpse to cinders and use your ashes as seasoning for tomorrows scrambled eggs at breakfast. P: I suppose one, that is - women, simply stops menstruating at iron rank. I certainly have no experimental data on that and I never talked to a woman about it. She just leaves the room. This is of course a lot of trouble avoided. I sit down on the bed, which we are using sleeping bags on, to avoid hassle. Am I happy to have given her this answer? Reliefed, yes, happy, no. This group is headed for trouble. -- Weve agreed that I do Lidija first, as this is her first essence. L: What does a Renewal essence do? P: My tricorder only gives names She gets [Regenerate]. Her reaction is oddly subdued. Z: Whats wrong? L: When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a doctor. That has changed. I was supposed to go study to be a teacher in the fall. In Marias case probing the essence has been unnecessary. It looks like a raging inferno. And [Fire Bolt] is the result. Zora is hesitating. P: We can do this tomorrow. You have to want this. Taking up an essence or awakening stone needs consent. Z: We are sensing souls when we get an aura power. That seems spooky. P: You are already sensing auras. An aura power just makes you more versatile at it. Z: Lets go this over with
Name: Zora Vukovi?
Race: Fire Draconian
Current Rank: Iron 0
Progresss to bronze rank: 0%
Racial Abilities:
[Draconic Might]
[Draconic Power]
[Dragon ancestry]
[Magic affinity]
[Dragon Scales]
[Dragon Breath]
Attributes:
Power Gun Iron 0
Speed Fire Iron 0
Spirit Magic Iron 0
Recovery Onslaught Iron 0
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 0 (25%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Fire:
[Dry the Tinder] Special Attack/Spell Iron 0 (2%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Magic:
[Dragon Wings] Special Ability Iron 0 (6%)
[Eternal Moment] Lightning Special Ability Iron 0 (3%)
[Dragon''s Treasure Chest] Adventure Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Onslaught:
[Dive Bomb] Special Attack Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Ex ore filii Zora is making a big batch of scrambled eggs, glancing at me from time to time. That makes it a good idea to appear busy. So I totally unnecessarily probe Clufo#1 every few minutes. I had a bit of purgation quintessence left and wanted to avoid thinking about personal issues last evening, so he is a quadcopter with a cleaning ray. I have decided to refer to my servants as ?he. They have personalities. Lidija is making sandwiches. Maria is making coffee and tea in big batches. Weve gained an additional storage space, that does us no good if it remains empty. She already has stored a few of my small number of remaining potions. S: Mama, do cold things stay cold in your internal storage? Z: Yes they do. S: Can we put ice cream into you? N: And french fries! S: What can mom do? L: What does he want? I did not understand. An opportunity for language training P: ice cream he wants put into his mother She grins. I hand him the part of her detailed sheet.
Ability: [Dragon''s Treasure Chest] (Magic) Special Ability: (dimension) Stolen story; please report. Cost: variable - low for subfunction #1 and #2, selectable with subfunction #3 Effects: 1. Gain a dimensional storage space, that holds items in stasis without mass. Items are stored and withdrawn out of and into the appendages of the user. 2. Charge magical items using spirit coins or quintessence directly from your inventory while they are within your aura 3. Imbue metals with mana while they are in your storage space. The speed this happens with depends on desired rate of mana expenditure and mass of the objection. Maximum speed depends on your spirit attribute
S: What do these metals do? P: You make magical weapons out of them. S: Like Excalibur? P: There is no shop selling swords in this city. And the shop we know cannot make them. They could make axes or spears, but they would suck. S: Why? P: Only the metal parts would be magic. The wooden parts will break very easily. S: Let them make javelins. You want the wooden part to break, so that the enemy does not throw them back. P: That is genius. -- We have driven to the machine shop to order spear heads. P: Do we tell our prospective allies that our employers know before or after negotiations? Z: What? Never, Id propose. P: And then? They are one phone call from our employers away from learning it. In fact they may have learned since we were there. Z: We cant just give away our secrets P: We cannot fight with people whom we cannot trust because they cannot trust us. She glares at me. I glare at her. Z: You are so damn straight-laced it hurts. Fine. Tell them right away. We can feel each others anger. But I cannot back down on that. An ally who can turn on you for a legitimate reason is worse than an enemy. There is silence in the car while we are driving to the shop that Google says will sell us fighting knives. -- Zora has asked Lidija to call our prospective allies for a meeting. We are to meet tomorrow for lunch in a restaurant they have picked. Commune concilium belli I am meditating in my room after doing some logic puzzles. Someone knocks. Going by aura it is Maria. I ask her to come in. M: We need to talk Not again. What have I done to deserve this? P: If we must M: Yes, she was really pissed. P: So was I M: Why do you not respect our privacy? P: Because it would affect our safety. You have to trust people you are going to fight with. M: And you have been to war that you know that? P: Yes, I have. I am sorry, but I fought monsters together with other people. You have not. M: But our affairs must stay our affairs. P: I would agree if this were our affair. M: It is our affair. P: No, it is not. It affects their security, too. M: You are not going to budge on this. P: No, I am not M: This is a very male attitude. Male bonding above all else. P: Males are traditionally the fighters. Once you have fought you will understand. M: Fine She makes a complicated gesture with her arms and leaves. Is she right? No. In part yes. This is about bonding. But bonding is necessary. Can I explain it better? The issue is that I should not need to explain it. Further meditation turns out to be difficult. The time is better spent giving Dalek-3H more arms. -- Z: He is infuriating. L: Why? He is right. Z: What? L: Imagine I were in a business relationship with your ex-husband and had not told you when we met. Z: But we are friends. Those are some people we dont know. L: We are propsing to them to risk their lives with us. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Z: But L: You have never been shot at, right? Lidija leaves the room. -- We are having breakfast. P: Zoro, I want you to negotiate at lunch. Z: What? P: I also need to make clear that everybody of us has to agree to this alliance. There can be no majority decision in this. So the one most sceptical has to lead the negotiation. Z: So you are leaving it to me. Low hit. P: This is not a fight. -- We are having lunch. #1 (Branko): As we are discussing a closer relationship I should give you our names. Zora returns the courtesy. #2 (Mihail): We will need to learn each others abilities and personalities later on, if this is to be a lasting partnership. But let me first explain the basic plan. Zoras face is unreadable, but her aura shows rejection. Z: Please go on. #2: The GDN still does not use a full set of fighters on every category 1 protospace. In these cases they do not kill all monsters in the protospace. We enter it after they have left and complete the job. That is the simplified version of the plan. #1: However, before we got into the details of that plan, we need to clarify our status and our relation with your employers. First, yes, we have defected from the Engineers of Ascension. But I have to point out that we have defected precisely because we reject the Engineers of Ascensions C it cannot be denied C crimes. Second your employers have informed us that they actively improve of our joint venture. We dont intend to let this change our attitude towards loot. L: Engineers of Ascension? #3 (Tihomir): I told you that too much formality hurts. Thats what EOA actually stands for. Stood for. She shows remarkable self control by not posing a second question. #1: In fact we would like to assure you, while we think that your employers share our aversion against the GDNs habitual secrecy and elitism, we are still supporting the EOAs true goal of magic for everybody and wish to protect mankind with the stuff we will loot together. I am the worst at poker in this group. Or the also have aura senses. He turned specifically to me. #1: You are right to be sceptical. But consider this: If we were official EOA working to win over a faction within the Cabal would they send obsolete category 1 people, while they have category 3 superheroes whom the GDN excludes from proto spaces in Europe to spare? It breaks out of me. P: Everybody who saw anybody die from something a potion could have prevented must hate the GDN M: I get what you say. But please attract less attention. Z: Lets order desert. #2: An essence magicians appetite P: We conserve coins. They are the key. #1: I am glad that you share our view on this subject. The waiter arrives and a few words are exchanged, too quickly for me to understand. L: What is the tactical arrangement you were thinking of? #1: I wish no offense, but we saw the aftermath of your friends fight with the monster we had caged. You are no soldiers. We value your powers, but one of us needs to lead. #3: We also bring a five man troop of our diminished brothers to the table. They must sense the aversion if the have even a rudimentary aura sense. #1: Perhaps we should speak more about splitting the loot. We propose 50:50 with random selection of all items. P: Essences and awakening stones are useless to you. #1: Very well. Then we get all items other than essences and awakening stones. Z: Not good enough. #1: Very well 50:50 on quintessence P: We need coins. #1: 6:4 on coins in our favour Zora and Maria look at each other. Z: Agreed. #2: Should we meet again tomorrow? Z: Yes The rest of our conversation until desert arrives revolves around how they spent the emergency. I think they want to make themselves look like they are on the good side. Certamine victo bellum perdam. We have been sent to the cinema. Yes, I know, the classic movie trope. Though nobody slipped me fifty bucks and I have two children with me. I like these children and language training is good, so I do not resent spending an evening like this. And a cinema is dark. We dont stick out much. The effect is destroyed as we visit a street vendor for french fries, which the children love, although the little barbarians prefer ketchup over mayonnaise. Those are no children of mine. That, though, is obviously not a new observation. Some people are outright hostile. This ends with somebody who tried to accidentally step on Natalijas tail developing a serious case of spontaneous levitation. We are leaving. P: Does this happen often? N: We do not play a lot with other children. P: Was it better on the island? N: Only for Stjepan -- I am getting ready for an excorcism. Well, technically I am stealing holy water. This is from an orthodox church, so it should be the best stuff against vampires. I have been neglecting my newest ability for too long. It needs some serious preparation to be used, though. I need liquids with magical properties, but I am not ready to sacrifice a potion for mere experimentation. I will need to magically infuse water. Given the revelations of the last few months I am not ready to forgo any potential advantage. The children find this very funny. ------ NOTE ON A POST-IT ON THE DIARY Hi, as we might go into an unstable universe I have decided to mail you my diary lest it be lost. We are almost always online thanks to our new phones, so I will continue these records electronically. ------ Returning to our temporary home I find angry companions. That is I sense them. Only Lidija is in the kitchen pacing around the table. There is a half empty bottle of wine on the table I am questioning my choices. L: We need to talk The gods practice a kind of humour that is much more fun to observe than to directly experience. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. P: Very well. But lets get the children to bed first That is a doable task. They are quite tired. L: I need you to do an essence ritual. P: What? L: We got another delivery. It held a note that says ?This is it. Do your tasks. Sink or swim. Be gone by the day after tomorrow. P: That is quite drastic. So they sent you an essence? L: Yes, but only me. But that is not the only thing. Zora got an orb. P: An orb? L: Yes. Weve put it into the room with the stone floor, where we do the rituals. My suspicion is confirmed. It is the detection device. Not the exact device. Not even an exact copy. But close. P: Good, of course I can do an essence ritual for you. However I point around. L: You are wondering whether this explains the mood? No, it does not. I got news that the murder investigation against Zora have ended and the incident has been ruled self-defense. And I have been disowned. P: Sorry to hear that. L: Nothing you can do, nor is it your fault. P: This group is about to fall apart, isnt it? L: Eventually. Perhaps soon. P: Lets do the ritual first
Ability: [Spike of Void] (Void) Special Attack (dimension) Cost: High Cooldown: 5 minutes Conjure a missile that does a large amount of dimensional damage.
P: Not bad. Burst damage, but an impressive burst damage. L: I can at least defend myself a bit. P: That feels good. I remember when I had no offensive power. We had a heavy machinegun though. L: That is what I wanted to talk to you about. What are your long term plans? P: Why does everybody assume that I have such plans? Her shoulders sink. P: No worries. I have vague notions. I think the world is going to change further and baring a miracle we will not be truly welcome among normal humans. I think we will eventually need to form communities of transformed. Preferably on a tropical island. I intend to settle there. L: Is that a dream or realistic? P: How am I supposed to know? She hesitates. L: I dont know. I just have no idea about the future. P: Welcome to the club. Though, if I may ask, why are you taking it better than Zora or Maria? L: They are not cut out for war. Dont get me wrong. Zora is brave. She is loyal. But she does not understand the realities of war. In particular the need for subordination. P: Are you saying that it is a lost cause? L: Yes. P: I should have seen it sooner. L: Can I come with you? I have nothing to offer and I cannot go home. I should consider this long and hard. But I really fear to be alone. P: Arent you afraid? L: Of course I am. But what is safe under these circumstances? P: Anywhere not travelling with a killer? Safer at least. L: Nope. We need killers at this time. I noticed you did not say murderer. Consultum ultimum We are meeting for breakfast. And I almost wrote ?the family. That shows my problem. The emergency gave my a place, well institution, to belong to and then took it away. Nor did they take it away maliciously. I killed that guy. He deserved it, but I did it and that broke the rules. Zora looked impeccable.A perk of iron rank. Maria stuck to tea this morning. In hindsight I should not have sent a physical copy of my diary. Sis, please scan the thing, encrypt it well and remove the offensive pages. No, I am not going to go emotional on you. He had it coming and everybody of those after him was a danger to me. Though I should probably try to not zonk out at the breakfast table. Z: Hello, are you having a vision or is something else wrong? P: What, no, I was just thinking of my sister. Have you had visions? Z: No, no visions. Just deliveries. M: Problematic deliveries. Lidija says nothing. Wise. Neither do I. Not so wise. Z: We had a discussion yesterday. As I was trying to tell you. While you were on the dark side of the moon. P: Sorry. Z: We are forced to take the deal. Can you make them a hard copy of our abilities excluding the racial abilities? We are opening up only a minority of our abilities that way. P: Sure. Right after breakfast. I do not point out that their racial abilities are likely to be found on Wikipedia. We have to keep it civil here, children are present, even though they do not understand us, and you have to respect a willingness to be reasonable in spite of a hangover. Nor are they entirely wrong. I have considered their concern. There is a drawback. But still we need a unified command if we are to survive this. Even if we split up the group, we would be wiped out without the EOA guys. I was almost wiped out going in with Lisa and she was a fighter of some experience. I should start doubting the wisdom of our patrons, but I have given up on understanding them at this point. Who gives out a Void essence just so? This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. And secondly, they would be observed fighting. Their abilities would come out sooner or later. Nope, their main concern is not practical. They are emotionally attached to the concept of privacy. At the end of the day I do not understand these women. I am tired of it and have given up on that. Z: Hello? P: Sorry. Z: What now? P: I was thinking about how to survive this trip. M: Survive. P: Yes. M: You are serious. P: Yes. How many times have you fought with your life at stake? M: None. P: Tactically we are all shooters respectively healers, if you will. So we could adopt a formation with you three in the center, EOA guards in front and me in rear guard. Alternatively I could take point. L: That sounds like a plan. P: Yet the unexpected always happens. And we also need to cover the strategical level. Z: Strategic? Our strategy is to shoot all monster at a distance before they can hit our front guard isnt it? P: Yes. But we need to avoid the GDN. So do we pick a space that is so small that they just send a minimal team, because it is not worth a full team, or do we take a space so large that they cannot afford to fully clean it up? Z: Let me guess, we need to show them the detection orb? -- We are meeting in another restaurant. Zora knows that she must not let the GDN learn that men of the EOA are meeting a very mixed group of transformed. She is not stupid. I do not wish to even suggest that. She has one specific issue. #1: We have two magic guns plus your robot. That makes five damage dealers, one healer and six guards. P: No scouts? #1: We have nobody with the skill set, unless you deem your robot capable of that. P: No communication so far. #3: Right. I see. You have never tested it in battle? P: No. #3: Then it will form the second half of the rear guard P: Understood #3: Youll enter first. Be ready to boost everybody but hold off on it. If you meet GDN, run. P: Understood. Z: That leaves the choice of target. #2: We have access to GDN communications P: Oh Z: Oh #2: Well pick the first available target. Z: But isnt the choice of target important? #2: We are running out of time. Theyll soon be able to cover everything again. P: Understood Z: Should we depart today instead of tomorrow morning? #3: No P: No Z: Why #3: We want everybody well rested and deviations from the plan lead to mistakes. #3: Is the chain of command clear? P: Yes #3: Very well, till tomorrow then -- We are eating out, as we want to keep the safe house clean. Z: You just agreed to everything. P: Yes. This is a military operation. He had more and better information than I. Z: But you cannot just trust that man P: Then call the operation off She just shakes her head And I am not going to instill a sensible military mind set in her. I am giving up. Campi Martis stamus I am making magic holy water. I have an audience, as I try to teach ritual magic to Lidija and Stjepan. I am happy to have students again. They are very good students. The issue is linguistics. P: Ready water is. New eye make I now. It really works. P: Both sides you I see now. They clap as I move the eye around in a figure 8 pattern. L: Do you move it by telekinesis? P: No. New might alone eye move. Important is because enemies hear can old might. New eye which fly must they see with own eyes know it in air and I them new eye with see. I choose to believe that the slight smile I see on her face is in recognition of me using my twentieth ability for the first time. -- Clufo#1 is doing a last sweep of the apartment. We are becoming vagabonds again. At least we have ample sandwiches and beverages in storage. P: Are we agreed that pipes for mana are the best option? Common agreement. And finally I get a solemn mood at the thought of heading into battle through my aura senses. But for my taste there is not enough real fear in it. They seem to fear failure rather than death. I wish I could change that, but I lack that elusive quantity known as leadership or inspiration. There is nothing left but wait for the EOA. At least I imagine to know enough about being an officer that I consider it necessary to appear calm and confident. Well, they are too confident already, but calm is probably still a good idea. I start meditating. -- I am afraid my meditative stunt has done more to impress the EOA people, who arrived to the sight what must have looked to them like a gigantic mantis sitting on the roof of an SF car made from crystal, facing the morning sun, than to calm our own group. Clufo#1 has returned; Maria has locked the door and returned the keys to the little outdoor safe to be open with a code. Of course I have made copies with [Equip the Army] but I do not wish to test my ability against their magic for locks. At least I am equipped fully for battle now:
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 2 (17%)
[Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 1 (27%)
[This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (84%) This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
[Chemical Warfare] Defiance Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (54%)
[Hyperkinetic Cannon] Gun Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (11%)
Vast:
[Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 1 (24%)
[Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 1 (85%)
[Nebelwerfer 42] Focus Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (30%)
[Arsenal of the Mad Scientist] Magotech Special Ability Iron 1 (35%)
[Eldritch Eyes] Water Special Ability & Attack Iron 0 (1%)
Dimension:
[Teleport] Special Ability Iron 1 (51%)
[Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 2 (73%)
[Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 1 (2%)
[Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 2 (13%)
[Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 1 (30%)
Battlefield:
[Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 2 (60%)
[Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (25%)
[Pipes of War] Unity Special Ability Iron 0 (94%)
[Cornucopia] Feast Special Ability Iron 0 (22%)
[Feast of Decontamination] Light Special Ability Iron 0 (21%)
We are heading northeast in a small convoy. -- Stjepan has found us the entrance farthest away from the entrance the GDN used. He also released their car from its storage backpack. They are to stay in the car, only to leave it when nature inevitably calls. They are equipped with food, unheathy beverages, video games and cell phones to call their grandfather, if the worst were to happen. I pour out the simple circles for [Pipes of War], while the EOA guys, including five new men with impassive faces clad in identical cargo pants, white t-shirts and combat boots strap small steel breastplates to each others chests and don WW2-style steel helmets. Zora hands out a pair of javelins to Lidija and Maria. They look puny compared to the about 2.2 meter long winged spears the EOA fighters without guns are getting out of their van and complement with a short backup sword and a kite shield featuring a transparent inset. Zora and Maria accept steel helmets with a muttered word of thanks. Lidija points to her horns and shakes her head. My draining staff again goes to Zora, Maria equalizes the ambient magic and one of the EOA guys does the ritual for opening the aperture. Ordinarily I would have been faster, but, after warning everybody, I have gone into the new hulk form. Still, it is time to go. Dalek-3H follows on my tail. In peninsula I am mandibulating a bush to death. The plant immediately attacked me as I emerged from the aperture. Its vines are sharp, but not sharp enough to cut through my carapace and the plant acting on instinct only was far too stupid to target my joints. My servant is circling us, looking for an angle to fire, but its basic setup inhibits it from firing if their is a real chance of hitting me. It whirls around and a single shot eliminates a lesser monster in beetle form, about two thirds of the length of my forearm, while I was human. ?Good robot. This form does not make me mute, but my voice sounds deeper and the lips being much stiffer makes it hard to talk. The enemy reduces to wood, that probably would not properly serve as firewood being much too wet, I conjure a note and send Dalek-3H back with it. The mana expenditure is becoming prohibitive. I return to Skavalander form. I am standing on what I hope to be a peninsula in a lake or bay far inland. Three sides are water, beyond which green vegetation continues. Vegetation is blocking my view into the direction that going by the cardinal directions on the other side should be east. I call up my flask of magic holy water and form my maximum three eyes. I send two of them above the greenery and the third through it. Tihomir followed by the dimished, spears and shields at ready, passes through the aperture. Dalek-3H follows. P: Plant monsters ans lesser beetle monsters. Single so far. It attacked immediately, so I have no idea about their aura stealth. Lowest iron rank C category 1. T: I get the new terminology. Sending your spy eyes? P: Yes He orders his men to form a semicircle to the south; I loot the monsters. He rest of our people emerge in single file. I order Dalek-3H a bit to the north. Tihomir needs to clear his throat for the people to stop gawking and assume a circle with weapons out. P: It is unclear so far whether we are on an island or a peninsula. Neither do I know whether that is sweet or salt water, or indeed water at all, nor C more to the point C what kind of monsters stay in it. Watch out for plant monsters. T: Can you do aerial reconnaisance? P: Roger. I take my time to properly and slowly extend my wings on the ground. An injury would be stupid. Then I teleport upwards. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. -- IN THE AIR This is marvelous. I am gliding. I dont understand why I am doing this so rarely. It is immediately apparent that we have arrived on a peninsula. Its neck looks narrow and swampy. I have the sky to myself. But it is full of traces. They grow older the closer to the aperture they are. Has the commotion I caused against the bush alarmed them? As long as it has not attracted them, I can live with it. Time to call in the results with our new phones. That causes an unpleasant surprise. The phone displays ?inoperable due to unstable conditions. I will have to report in person. My spy eye inside the greenery has detected some movement in the canopy and on trunks, but it hasnt gotten a clear view. I dont know enough to make a good report. I need to at least know whether we can cross the neck of the peninsula. I am going to do something the kids better never learn about. I am most gliding, sometimes a bit flapping my wings out over the water next to the neck. And then I drop a salami sandwich. And do a few waiting loops. There. Whatever ate that has too many tentacles for my liking. ON THE GROUND T: Ladies, if you have an aura sense, concentrate on invisible attackers. Branko, you too. T: Everybody, stay vigilant and calm. Z: There is something. I cant tell where or what. .. Under us! T: Everybody towards the vegetation! The commotion is less than one might fear. Z: Weve gotten away. T: Everybody else, keep looking out, that may just be a distraction. They are waiting. Z: They are coming over. Slowly. L: Burrowers. T: Yep. We cant keep running. We are going to finish them one by one. T: Squad, come with us! T: Zora C isnt it? C lead us towards the leading source. And stop about 3 meters away from it. At first this is not difficult.The last few meters go slower. T: People, dont look at us. Look outwards! Other monsters dont love us either. He bangs a spear on the ground. T: Coming up? Z: Yes, definitely The ground is shifting slightly. He rams the spear savagely into the ground. A howling scream escapes from the ground. He rips a fat worm resembling a turnip out of the ground. Zora uses her staff, which freezes the worm. One of the diminished finishes it off. T: Have the others changed course? Z: No. T: Easy money. -- Ive landed to report and loot half a dozen worms. We are advancing through the forest? I proposed simply flattening it, but Tihomir does want to keep an ace in our sleeve. Our first monstrous adversary is a tiger-snake. Its camouflage is so good, that we detect its aura, but dont see it until it jumps. Our vanguard takes it on an improvised shieldwall and it quickly dies in our gunfire. Maria gets a fire bolt off, but misses. T: Loot it and no delay. Ad terram firmam This is another thing I cannot tell the kids. I am shooting Tinker Bell. And so are Maria, Zora and Dalek-3H. Even Lidija gets one by just stabbing it. The shooters among the EOA men do not want to waste the limited capacity of their weapons on lesser monsters. T: We seem to have entered a prefered habitat of theirs. Everybody, we detour north. We are very eager to follow that order. These things are savage nuissances. They bite like hummingbirds on cocaine. The wounds they cause are not deep, but they hurt, though in one case, when one of them landed in somebodys face, Lidija had to use [Regenerate]. I order my servant to delay in order to divide their attention. I am fine. Ive put my car into armour-form again. So I emulate my servant and we give the rest of the group a respite. The sheer number of these flying vermin, however, mean that the shooters other than me periodically are turning back and squeezing off fire bolts and rays from a staff. Zora passes by a toppeled tree, whose roots form an overhanging shelter, from which a bear with peaces of metallic armour and vicious spikes emerges. Zora yelps, retreats backwards and stumbles over a root. L: NO! A diffuse violett light emanates from her right hand as a kind of black lightning bolt rimmed in blue light appears in it for a fraction of a second, before she casts it at the pseudo-bear, whose torso is sucked into nothing, flinging his severed limbs away. The utter silence everything happens in makes it a horrible display. L: My head. She cradles her head in her arms, while one of the EOA men shoves aside a severed leg that hit him and made him go down. This is serious enough that Tihomir decides to order our allies with guns to participate in eliminating the last of the vermin, lest they endanger the wounded. This seems to me having in panic engaged [Eternal Moment], but too late, like a situation where the healer is down out of mana while we may have casualties. So I give her one of our few remaining mana potions. T: Retrieve the wounded! All hale people form a circle! Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. -- His breastplate has saved a man from serious injury or even death and [Regenerate] has cured a sprained ankle. In terms of loot, this battle has turned into a major success. In exchange for a mana potion we have gotten three tins of healing ointment, 25 pieces of radiant quintessence, a whole boat load of lesser cores, an iron rank core, and a lot of coins and C jackpot C a Shield essence Branko: I guess that one goes to the lady emulating Zeus. We all agree on that. Zora is walking up to Tihomir. Z: Sorry for being so stupid. T: Mistakes happen. You learn from them. Next time, just burn the monster. If you do not, being sorry is useless. Z: I see. He turns to me. T: We have lost time. Can you still blow down the forest? P: Not unless we backtrack out of it. It would burn. T: Cant be helped then. T: Everybody form up! -- We meet one more of the cyberpunk bears. If detected early enough, these monsters dont stand a chance against multiple magic guns. We need to train our aura senses better. We do detect the next adversaries by aura. Unfortunately we detect them as they drop their aura stealth. And they drop not only that. In the low light beneath the canopy that net had been as good as invisible. In principle they are using sound tactics. Their problem is insufficient reconaissance. Dropping a net onto somebody who has telekinesis is not a step on the path of success. Things get a bit tight as they rush us, but this time Zora turns into a fury who seems to be at multiple places simultaneously. A group without an cleansing power against spider venom from their prehensile tongues and a healer might still have been in trouble. But that does not apply to us. Our allies can be happy about a lot of trap and net quintessence. At the edge of the forest Maria burns down two of the bushes I encountered entering through the aperture. Then we are standing in front of the swampy part of the peninsulas neck. The joy begins by using the ropes I conjured as a precaution to pull the lightest of us C Maria C out of a pool, removing the lesser bug monster from her posterior and giving her an opportunity to experience [Regenerate] at that very place. She hadnt covered more than maybe fifteen meters before she became a human submarine. T: Options? L: We can use a car to take us over it. We can even do it in one trip if we put people on the roof. T: Have you ever used it over a swamp and to break through thickets? P: No. T: Thats not an option, then. Z: We have used it over water though. T: We have no idea what monsters are in the water. Last resort. P: They have pretty big tentacles. T: Other options. P: I can conjure a plankway and ropes to construct something. It would take hours, though. He starts scratching his chin in contemplation. De ferro calidissimo ensis optimus cuditur If an artist ever looks for a model of the shit-eating grin, our expeditions leader will serve optimally. Artists, however, traditionally prefer beautiful women as models. Sharing the preference, I have no standing for a complaint. T: Ladies and gentlemen, we are overlooking a fundamental issue. We do not desire to advance. It is a necessity because well eventually kill all monsters in a place and need to go on to a new place, but we are actually here to kill and loot monsters. If they keep coming towards us, for example because they think that they have trapped us, that is just as well. P: Good for as long as they come. And then? T: Then we can advance over the water. P: I am afraid that is not so good an idea. They may stop coming, but that wont last. If we are forced to retreat, we might find us between a danger and a place we cannot cross. T: Indeed. But we do not want to return. Z: What? My children are out there alone! And wed die. Indeed. What am I overlooking? - Of course! P: Zoro, are you carrying the orb with you? Z: Sure. But . O, I see it. L: What? Z: We have picked this space because it is larger than the GDN can sweep through fully and it has multiple apertures. L: Right! But where will we came out? P: They do not match exactly, but on the other side we have GPS and two of us can fly. Well get back to our vehicles quickly in any case. Zora pulls out the orb and concentrates. Z: The next exit is about six kilometers that way. P: That is on dry land. The next big lake is almost exactly the other way. T: Do you see that dry hillock in about 70 meters distance? You and Zora fly there and look exhausted and trapped. Well give you fire support. -- I wont lie. This order has the advantage that I get to see Zora in a bikini. She has the problem of needing to partially disrobe to manifest her wings without shredding her upper garments. So have I, but mine are conjured anyway. The flight to the island passes without incident. Just as we touch down, a set of tentacles ensnares my legs. Two can play that game. One of my raptorial arms sweeps down to drag the monster forward and to the side, propelled into my stinger. Zora gets in a stab with a javelin, hastening a brutal, but fairly one-sided fight. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Z: You know, that had a brutal beauty. P: Thank you! Z: I sensed nothing. You? P: Nope. Z: Why? P: I dont know. It was hidden under these vines. Shots ring out and we hear the sound of fire bolts. P: Shit. Would you burn the vines just in case? Up in flames they go. And it start getting out my sniper rifle. They are trying a combined arms approach. About half a dozen creatures that look like a shark and a crab had come to know one another far too well and two dozen giant jumping prawns are advancing slowly out of the ocean. [Joy of sustained Fire] quickly does its job on the big and slow targets. They arent built for speed except for the prawns. The prawns are a problem. They do not charge us frontally. They have divided and are flanking us. Something is directing them intelligently. I curse and exchange my weapon for the assault rifle with underslung gas grenade launcher, which I put up a barrier of tear gas around a flank and the flank not under covering fire from our allies with, using [Chemical Warfare]. Zora is yelling something which I think roughly means ?die you watery bastard. She is standing up and aiming under great concentration. It takes a lot of effort from me to not pull her down. The enemy is not using missile weapons. My instincts are anachronistic. She is firing on two poles of water filled with a few red stones. One goes down. Are they officers? She has the situation in hand. Did I mention that I have a great field of vision? I do. And it is saving our ass. From the other side of the isthmus a swarm of slinky fish and what lookings like big exocets with trunks has risen into the air P: Time acceleration! We both trigger [Eternal Moment] together and I point behind us. Z: Holy shit! P: I am going to use artillery at range zero to blow up this island. I can fire from a distance. I conjure [Nebelwerfer 42] and point it to the ground. We start. The temporal effect is exhausted. The hits our allies are still landing are refilling at least my mana pool. The enemies reach the island. I push the button. We lose control of our flight. We are lucky. The blast wave propels us to dry land. In fact into a tree on the shoreline. Still the landing is brutal. Zora lands on me. If she didnt break one of my legs and an arm, I would enjoy that. Though having branches pierce my body at multiple places is too much to allow a welcoming reaction. I trigger [Immortality]. We need to stay mobile. -- Our allies are coming to us. Zora will soon get medical aid. She is dazed but concious. I still pour a potion into her mouth. A big shadow falls upon us. Dalek-3H raises all three arms, but does not fire. A four-winged bird is swooping down on us. The palaeontologically interested part of my mind identifies it as a microraptor. The other sides are shocked into crystalline thought. We cannot run. We cannot hide. Our allies cant help us without shooting us up. There is only one option left. Attack. I teleport onto its back and fire [Hyperkinetic Cannon] at point blank. I have regained enough mana to trigger [Eternal Moment] for long enough to conjure a lot of cushoning around myself. That, landing in a swamp, as the decapitated quasi-bird overshoots, its feathery back and my armour make it a surprisingly smooth landing. Tihomir shouts something and points to the land beyond the isthmus. I think I get him and call up my vehicle as a cabriolet. Except for Zora recovering under the added effect of [Regenerate] and Dalek-3H, who has his own mount, this means standing room only. Floating across the deep blue water of the lake is beautiful. P: A magic boat trip with beautiful ladies in a magic floating vehicle. This is the life. If Maria ever gets some kinds of ocular power I am dead. M: Choke on that you You should never tempt fate twice. A kraken raises its army out of the water. I veer sharply to the right. We lose a javelin and a can of coke going overboard. Dalek-3H lets his cannon on the third arm speak. Looting this monster after we preen the severed arm still trying to strangle her off Maria, who gets to enjoy [Regenerate] more often than she likes actually yields sliced calamari. Sociae elevantur Headshots pay off. I am referring to loot and monsters, not movies for adults. I got a Wind essence from looting the microraptor. Strategically it was cheap. Tactically it has been expensive. Most of my strongest abilities are on cooldown. I have to admit it. I have no staying power. No need to snicker. I do the job very satisfactorily. Did I do optimally? No. For example I forgot to use my youngest ability to watch our backs. Am I ready to tear out my hair and wail in desperation? No, mistakes happen. T: We rest here. Six hours. Nobody was in a mood to disagree. T: How long does it take to make use of new abilities? P: Days, but in this case, theyd rank up. That is useful within hours, but for a few hours they are very much knocked down. T: Do it, if they agree. His men are hunting down a few lesser rodent monsters. I take my servant in, in order to switch to Argus#1 as soon as possible. I put up a long halftube made from a spongy and soft version of my building substance with bunks on the walls. Lidija is ready immediately. L: Make me that poncho and turn around. I comply. Did I mention that I have a very wide field of vision now? I think being so close to being killed does bring your blood to boil, as they put it in the folksy way. I want this done. Maria helps and I use [Eternal Moment] to set up the ritual. Lidija runs to the lagoon we are set up by. She makes it half the way before she starts throwing up. Zora is guarding her.
Guardian:
[Mantle of Frenzy] Special Ability/Spell Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Void:
[Spike of Void] Special Attack Iron 0 (5%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Shield:
[Reflective Barrier] Special Ability/Spell Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Renewal:
[Regenerate] Special Ability/Spell Iron 0 (19%) You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
M: I envy her anyway. P: I can imagine. But fear not, for I can provide. I produce the essence. M: You are a show off. But thank you. P: Let me draw a new circle. And then Ill try to get some sleep.
Fire:
[Fire Bolt] Special Attack/Spell Iron 0 (31%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Wind:
[Watchful Observer] Perception Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Magic:
[Mana Shield] Special Ability Iron 0 (1%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Storm:
[Scattering Whirlwind] Special Attack Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
-- I do sleep. But it is a sleep full of nightmares. P: Anything while I slept? Branko: Some kind of land octopus. Two of them. One is still left. We looted the first conventionally. P: Thanks for letting me sleep. Four hours is much better than nothing. T: What about the building? P: Just let it stand. It will dissolve before this bubble ends, if we depart now. T: Want some amphetamines? P: No thank you. We are all iron rank now. They would be wasted on us. Lidija and Maria really have dark rings under their eyes. P: Take a spirit coin. You need the energy. It perks them up, but not really all the way. It is time to break out weapons of mass distraction. I retrieve a tub of vanilla ice cream out of my inventory. M: Thank you, but this is empty calories. P: There is no such thing as empty calories for us any longer. We are all at iron rank. M: There is a god. P: Drugs and alcohol do not work right on us. M: Yet it is a cruel god. -- This land is forested. There is no path to the aperture through open country. And I cannot level that much forest. I could conjure a rocket launcher, were it not on cooldown, but even that lets me blow through kilometers of wooded terrain. Will it when I will have ranked up? Our leader has changed tactics. My watery eyes and Dalek-3H are leading the way. Ive also improved my tactics. Using telekinesis directly on monsters is difficult. There is a resistance I first need to overcome. Thats usually not practical. By trying was stupid from me in the first place. Ive borrowed a kite shield from our allies. It is now floating over our group. With her new perception power Maria has joined the vanguard. For that reason Lidija keeps renewing [Mantle of Frenzy], which she has cast on her. We meet something like a cross between a beetle and a puma. It dropped from the canopy. It meets me shield and is dazed when I smash it against a tree. This is going too well. Agmen divisum We are marching uphill along a creek. Our leader has decided that no attackers from one side is worth the reduction in mobility. Ive broken a shield. If I can take out two tree cats per shield we will make it to the aperture with shields to spare at the present rate of encounters. Of course things do not turn out to be so simple. We come up to to a line of trees, all of which are surrounded by clearings. That would have warned us, even if we could not notice their auras of the very top of iron rank. T: Everybody retreat. Z: What? Why, its just trees. Nasty trees, but trees. P: One of the functions of a visible barrier can be to make your enemy stop and pin him at a known location. We retreat. Except for my spy eyes. Them I send along the line and into the brook to our left. P: I have seen relatives of these trees. They used gas weapons. T: We have gas masks, but no spares. P: I have a mask and a spare. Z: They wouldnt fit me anyway. Lidija taps her horns. My head, though my face is still recognisable, is not all that human anymore either. M: Cant we cross the creek to the other side? T: They want us to do so. Last resort. P: It looks pretty swampy down right. No telling what is living in there. And we could be jumped from both sides of the gorge. Wed realistically have to backtrack quite a bit. Zora bites her lips. Her pink tongue is really quite cute. She is twirling the split ends. Does she notice what she is doing? Branko: That suggests going right through the middle. T: Yes. We are likely to have the range advantage in weapons. Lets plan this out -- If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. It is astonishing what an essence magician with all slots filled can accomplish. I build them a fortified position with [Equip the Army]. I conjure spades and shovels the men dig foxholes with. I added two EOA men with guns to [Pipes of War]. I hand out potions and my gas masks. Then I start doing damage. We have selected three trees. [Wrath of the Magister] hits the first tree right next to the brook and reduces its resistances. My sniper rifle starts giving out [Joy of sustained Fire]. I still have to drink down a mana potion to repeat that feat twice, while Maria systematically starts hurling fire bolts at the trees. They react like we expected. Clouds of spores are drifting our way. Luck is on our side. They burn like dry tinder. A squelching sound is coming from the brook. The eye floating over the brook reveals the truth. Mud elementals are crawling up. Zora starts to curse the trees. The trees start swaying. P: Any moment now. Get down! The whole line of trees explodes into pointy twigs and cutting leaves. Foxholes are a prominent element of modern warfare for a reason. They work. T: Now, second front. Maria is shifting her fire to the mud elementals. We flyers start out towards the treeline. As we pass Zora gives the middle tree an extra dose of fire. It blows up. Zoras and my armour hold. Lidija gets to to cast [Regenerate] on herself. My spy eyes are not so lucky. We land. I try to loot the tree to remove its flaming corpse and let our people pass, while I still pour gunfire into adjacent trees. It does not work. It is clinging to life. No plan ever goes completely according expectations. You need to have reserves. An annihilating beam hits the obstacle unwilling to leave the land of the living. Our people start running towards the gap. That is when shrill piping sounds emerge from holes opening in the ground and animals really looking like blue iguanas scatter out from them and climb on the conventional treeson the side of our team. Around Maria a bright blue sphere flashes. I see the trace from one of the lizards, to be precise its frilled back hitting Marias shield. Chunks of fibre glass are ripped out of the EOA mens shields. Then we see the first holes opening on our side. We need a distraction. Our people running towards us are still wearing gas masks. I trigger the biggest looting of my life. Rainbow smoke turns the forest into a display normal people need to blow a months rent on illicit drugs to reach. The iguanas go wild, but forget to aim. They are even killing each other. Are those kills lootable? Immediate experimental verification shows that they indeed are. The mayhem intensifies. But that does not help us three. Nor is it a lasting solution for the fast approaching half of our team. We need an alternate route. It needs to be done. I create a screen from the last tree to the rim of the gorge with [Chemical Warfare] and Zora and I start slaughetering the lizards on our side, while we keep running towards the creek, Lidija and I also holding up conjured shields. Yes, I am that much of an idiot. I could have used conjured shields from the very beginning. We really need training. But that is a thought for later. I repeat distraction by looting a last time. We all tumble and slide down towards the muddy waters. Sometimes recklessness works. Very few of the mud elementals are left down here and they are slow. They turn out to be highly vulnerable to all our staffs and wand, [Fire Bolt] and Zoras fire breath. We notice the first camouflage newt only as we step on it. Spears, guns and [Decontamination] finish it. And a few more. The iguanas refuse to get off the trees and concentrate their fire from the smaller number of trees so close to the rim that they can aim at us on Maria and Dalek-3H. Cutting the pipes to everybody but her allows me to keep her fueled. A frog monster ejects a tongue that looks like a spiked club towards Maria. Her shield holds and Lidija blows it into oblivion. We break through and reach the aperture. It has cost us one mana potion more for me, but Ive looted so much that the supply has indeed gone up. Branko demonstrates superhuman endurance by performing the ritual to open the aperture. Speratum ire dicimur Stepping from a life and death battle zone into a disused barn feels anticlimatic. An incredible need to sleep hits me. Z: Where are we? L: You have a phone with GPS. Z: Right, sorry. These phones have a notion of their own. All four start signalling at the same time, going by the facial expression of my associates. We have detected a special transformation zone in formation. It has the potential to grant the power to rewrite reality. Proceed at best speed to the attached coordinates. 20:04:11 hours left. I conjure a blanket and dump the loot we owe our allies. Zora frowns. Lidija is frantically manipulating a map on her phone. L: You two are better flyers than I. This is your course to take to the car. Well proceed to that intersection on foot. I am sending you the route. Go! P: Marias car? M: Leave it. This is our chance. Move! I dare not suggest conserving resources. We have some stamina potions left only because there is a limit to the rate you can drink them down that even Zora cannot change. I am close to a breakdown, as we reach the children at the parking space. They are sitting in reclining chairs we definitely havent left them. And they are eating fast food out of bags we definitely did not get them. And there is a box I have never seen on a table that is also new. Z: What has happened here? S: There was a man who said that he has stuff to deliver for you. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. He points at the box. P: Later! She actually manages to fight down the motherly reflex of merciless inquisition. I will not get into her way. P: You drive. You know the road conditions better. The children need not even be told to get into the car. I am getting scared. -- Zora is doing 150 km/h. On a narrow country road. Interrupting her would be certain death. Traffic is only a likely death. I need a distraction. P: How do we get over the borders? M: On foot. Waiting takes too long. We cannot risk complications from our travel papers. L: Border patrols? M: Too bad for them. Some distraction. What is in the box? It opens to my touch. Four abstract sculptures and a smaller box. Are we playing Russian dolls now? It is trivial to open by flipping open a clasp. In fact it lacks a lock. It does have extensive padding. In fact, this is real velvet. It holds four Awakening Stones. My probe declares them all to be stones of the Rune. They are resting on a further note. Apply one of them each before the event happens. We have crossed the first border without having to kill a border guard. Breaching the border at two points with Zora going first worked. I suppose somebody will have to write a report explaining how illegal immigrants melted a border fence, but that is not my problem. We do have to do two bathroom breaks. But they involve only stopping and leading the children behind bushes. Zora and I are taking turns again. We are keeping it at a speed police would not send a helicopter after us for. But not far below that. We make it into the zone, which happens to be located in eastern Slovakia. 1:40:50 hours left. P: I suppose the equipment they sent us for that purpose should be ready and we should follow the instructions of using the stones as far as possible. L: Yes. M: This sign says ?room available. How about stopping there? They may have breakfast. Zora has found out that our magical vehicles can spin on the spot. Turning C and parallel parking for that matter C in them is trivial. There we go. We end up on a small parking space across the road from a farm converted into a restaurant, which is still closed unfortunately. Stjepan, Lidija and I are working on circles in parallel on sheets of pseudocanvas I have conjured. 0:26:08 hours left. -- M: I can see sort of a stylized video feed of this place as seen from above. L: What is this? Z: It feels like I can blow something up 0:00:43 hours left. L: Everybody down on the ground. We do not know whether we stay concious if we are retransformed. Assume a stable position. P: Put one of those sculptures next to you and touch it. Just a hunch. -- A blink of darkness. P: My eyes! I cannot see properly anymore! Where are the traces? Tertia optio non datur Ive rolled on my back. I am cradling my head in all four hands. Four hands. So far for immediate transformation back to the original form. Ive scared the kids. They start crying. I can hear them and I cannot hear them. What is happening? My aura sense is gone. Instinctively my antennae extend and a high pitched klicking sound forms in my throat. I am getting some shadowy picture in the back of my brain. Z: Why cant I hear properly? The children rush to her. L: The orb. The orb next to your complicated electronic tower. It speaks to you. I wants to be with you. It fixes you, if you accept it. She makes a sniffing sound. I roll back and slowly open my eyes. Yep there is an orb pulsing blue and silver in sequence. A bit larger than a golf ball. I cradle it in my hand. It feels warm. This new sense is actually better than this diminished form of vision. I close my eyes again. I get on my knees. Interesting. Certain materials do not really exist for it. I must say I am distracted. The orb is so warm. I want to kiss it. I invite it. An unknown female voice sort of complains. This has to stop. Lidija screams in her native language. ?Danger? I am not sure. I struggle to open my eyes again. My vision is drowned out by the light streaming out of the dissolving orb. Something brutally kicks me in the back. Something else is protruding from my chest. Lidijas bolt passes me by. My knees hit the ground. Greyness. I reach for the returning abilities. Is it enough? The greyness fades to black. -- It must be decades past, that I felt better. I find myself in a bed in a room made out of marble. I am looking at a womans face. I have no idea who she is. Yet her eyes and her hair have the shimmering dark red of a ruby. A stethoscope is neatly tucked around her neck and she is watching my hand? No, an oximeter attached to my hand. I clear my throat. Surprise in her aura. Gloriously, it is back! KN: You are awake. My name is Dr. vet. Karolna Novkov. You were wounded. As far as I can tell you are fine now. I am afraid that I cannot explain that. You are very different from any of my patients so far. She seems a bit embarrassed KN: Please do not take this to mean that I consider you less than human. We would call for additional help, if both our landline and cell phones were not down. P: Thank you. If feel very well. I have magical healing. Are you aware of the transformation zones and essences? You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. KN: Dimly. P: Oh and I am happy to be in the care of somebody experienced in helping many species. Would you mind turning around while I dress? KN: What, your clothing . It does not matter. Ill wait outside. I can conjur my clothing again. This feels so good. I step out to find myself be expected by Maria, a boy and an elderly lady all transformed to the ruby red haired and eyed humanoids. All, except for Maria, shared an obvious physical resemblance to the medic. A family. Does the old lady discreetly carry a can of anti-insect spray half hidden behind her back? Yes, she does. I cannot help myself. I burst out laughing. Slowly, in the most non-threatening way I can I lift my arms. My doctor has noticed the can and goes quite red in the face. I have no idea what she says, but it sounds strained. M: We are still in the zone. The machines are printing messages and something is wrong with the sun. KN: Yes. It is directly above us in the center of the sky. It does not move. P: I am afraid this is not our sun. In fact, it may not be a star at all. M: We have to do something. The messages are clear. She holds out a notice demandingly more or less under my nose. Contingency 3B Situation: Other parties have begun to take territories. Defeat the living anomalies in combat to make the boss entity appear. Defeating it will allow you to claim the territory and escape destruction. Gregem venatum duco We are walking at a moderate pace. Maria is in our front, using her perception ability to look out for magic traps. Weve divided the party again. It seemed logical to us all that mothers should stay to defend their children. And we are not going to take children onto what amounted to an armed rescue mission. We are heading for the next inhabitated house which has turned out to be the farm house of a horse breeder. We are advancing in the protection of a wooded strip of land. It is very hard not to suspect a connection between their occupation and the centaurs dominating the area. Lidija lifts her fist, right out of a movie. Slowly she points. Its a stag, whose antlers are leaving faint trails of sparkling motes from each tine. I could of cause shoot it. However, we are not using those signs because we have seen too many movies or have a deep masochistic streak. Now, I am not ready at this time to bet my soul on my not having a masochistic streak, but in any case it is not the reason we are using those signs. We do not wish to attract the attention of an enemy too hard for us to deal with. I chant in as low a voice as I can get away with and use the beam combination for frostfire. The anomaly rears up, but collapses silently. Looting it confirms its death. Weve gotten unseen C we think C to the point of closest approach to the farm houses. Nobody is to be seen. The barns sit there with open doors. Our suspicions about the origin of the centaurs seems confirmed. We need to risk a whispered conversation. PN: We should see somebody. They are two adults and three children. M: This has got to be a trap. Why dont you use your flying spy eyes. P: They were blown away during our last battle. Tey are based magical liquids. It is at te same time a system for delivering potions and observation. I need to make magical water. That takes hours. M: Why dont you use a potion? Arent they magical and liquid? The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. P: Sure they are. But how many potions do you think we have left? M: Does it destroy them? My facial expression removes the need to comment. P: Their houses did not get transformed that much. All windows and doors are closed. I can look into it and see some disorder, but I cant get my eye inside. L: Do you see a car? P: Transformed, but yes. I saw one. L: If this were us, wed want somebody to make sure. P: OK, but I am not walking over and let them trail back to you. If they notice me, Ill fly away and draw their attntion. They seem to lack flyers. You can slink away the way we came here. PN: So no fire support? P: Right, no fire support, unless you are sure that I have overlooked them and the danger is imminent. I teleport onto their porch. Even a mediocre ritualist knows a minimal opening ritual. The door was not locked with a key, only shut. The house has a cellar. I find them there. Lets just say that any ethical doubts I might have had about eliminating all living anomalies evaporated down there. I find some spare fuel in the garage accessible from the house. Now I want to attract them. I am not a professional arsonist. Having bundles of hay and petrol available simplifies the task enormously. Dalek-3H is waiting for them to notice and hopefully investigate. I find my comrades with the corpses of two magic giant otters. P: I have set the building on fire. It should attract those bastards. PN: What? P: Better not ask. We need not wait for long. My servant gets two of the scouts and moves out into plain sight. The last two scouts bolt. A few more minutes a dozen have assembled. Had they pressed the attack they might have gotten him. But they, too, stop having lost three of their number. They mill out of range, while a messengers gallops away. I risk sending the eye up. They are assembling behind the closest hill. All of them. They are in range. [Nebelwerder 42] howls. My servant and I move in to shoot the stragglers. Aqua dulcis nos protegit Stjepan is walking so proudly that I fear for the integrity of his spine. Looting dozens of anomalities has made us rich as well gained an Awakening Stone. They have drawn straws. Luck has been on Zoras side. The boys eyes when learning that he is to perform a ritual for his mother warm everybodys heart.
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 0 (76%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Fire:
[Dry the Tinder] Special Attack/Spell Iron 0 (15%)
[Alacrity''s Reward] Swiftness Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Magic:
[Dragon Wings] Special Ability Iron 0 (53%)
[Eternal Moment] Lightning Special Ability Iron 0 (48%)
[Dragon''s Treasure Chest] Adventure Special Ability Iron 0 (56%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Onslaught:
[Dive Bomb] Special Attack Iron 0 (0%)
[Rune Trap] Rune Special Attack/Spell Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
P: What time is it? KN: 17:31 PN: Are you thinking attacking again? P: Yes. We could use stamina potions. M: We need to get this done. KN: Above all you need to win the fight. Maria is looking for support. Her gaze falls upon Zora having fallen asleep on a chair. Her shoulders slump. P: You know what, you can stand watch tonight and kill anomalities. I need to complete some meditation to consolidate what Ive gotten.
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 2 (27%)
[Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 1 (60%)
[This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 2 (9%)
[Chemical Warfare] Defiance Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (81%)
[Hyperkinetic Cannon] Gun Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (90%)
Vast:
[Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 1 (28%)
[Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 2 (15%)
[Nebelwerfer 42] Focus Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 0 (76%)
[Arsenal of the Mad Scientist] Magotech Special Ability Iron 1 (86%)
[Eldritch Eyes] Water Special Ability & Attack Iron 0 (44%)
Dimension:
[Teleport] Special Ability Iron 1 (83%)
[Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 2 (89%)
[Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 1 (26%)
[Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 2 (29%)
[Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 1 (49%)
Battlefield:
[Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 2 (90%)
[Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (81%)
[Pipes of War] Unity Special Ability Iron 1 (10%)
[Cornucopia] Feast Special Ability Iron 0 (22%)
[Feast of Decontamination] Light Special Ability Iron 0 (30%)
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. -- And indeed she has killed anomalies. I am presented with crispy anomalities to loot in the morning before the nominal sunrise, which kind of is pointless with a stationary sun. KN: I have spoken with my mother. She says that before you another wizard had booked a room with her. P: How does she know? KN: He made gadgets appear out of thin air like you do. P: Does she know where he went? KN: The closest village. Yesterday evening. By car. P: This may be a delicate proposal, but can we search his room? KN: Under these circumstances -- Not much. Though our fellow ritualist has printed out a map. A cross marks a place inside the village. That informs us where to go. We are driving in open top mode. Nice, slowly and provocatively. I just wish Id know where Lidija got a genuine coconut to suck her cocktail out of. She has had Stjepan make a special fitted holding cup shaped to her coconut. Stjepan is driving. We have stopped giving a shit about regulations. We are not going to leave children without guards behind, nor do we sacrifice a shooter position. We get a few anomalities. But then we reach the village. And this has not remained a small Central European village in terms of architecture. We are in a kind of gothic steampunk town made of metal. PN: We need to get out of the vehicle. We are sitting ducks against anybody in those buildings. I dont like it. It means going out without my armour, as I cannot make the children walk. But there is no helping it. We need to be outside the vehicle. But nobody takes a shot at us. ?Watch out! The street hydrants are rising up. Before anything else, one byes a bolt from Lidija. That leaves 5 of them. Anther one buys a magical mine from Zora. Down to 4. My large rifle takes one in a joint. Down to 3. Maria starts running and clapping her hand. They start tracing her with their spouts. Zora exhales. Down to 2. They spray out a liquid. Marias shield turns visible and reflects the stuff. The stone the street is made of starts smoking. Zora burns another one into oblivion. That however is a mistake. She sprays herself with its liquid, now flowing through the anomality. Our vehicle howls. Stjepan rams down the last one, immobilizes it make its corrosive weapon splash down on itself. Zora is screaming and threshing on the ground. Lidija is casting [Regenerate], but it cannot stop the damage. It just keeps repairing it. This is turning into torture. [Decontaminate] fails. We need something. Think! Basic chemistry. I get a barrel of cola out of my inventory, open it and douse her with it. That does the job. Under the influence of [Regenerate] her wounds close visibly. PN: That was audible in the whole town. Boy, that the vehicle through that gate! It still moves, albeit shuddering and swerving. We make it into the house, whose yard the gate closes off, before the anomalities arrive. Super tectos petor Lidija is sitting in a corner and crying. Natalija is earily quiet. We should have aborted the mission as soon as we reached the city. In hindsight. But in foresight to be told that your survival depends on the speed you win at makes a larger difference. At the end of the day we are beginners. Talented beginners maybe and not absolute beginners for sure, but we suck compared to trained professionals. L: I could have used my new barrier. I just forgot about it. P: Listen, people forget things. You are a girl pressed into a warriors role, deprived of sleep and deeply traumatized. Mistakes will happen. Now heal her and be ready to protect us against the rest of them. PN: Of them? P: Yes. They are going to see the traces. They will check the houses. We need a full distraction. P: Lidija, I need you to cast [Mantle of Frenzy] on me. She does just that. I am watching them through my spy eye. They look like blue or violett stick figures, almost purely skin and bones, just impressively tall, between 2m and 2.2m. P: We all make mistakes. I am going to lead you through mine, when we are out of this shit. Preferably on a beach in the South Sea. I am also tired. My meditations have started sucking. Ive had too many narrow escapes. But for now we have people depending on us. I need you to be Xena for a few days more. L: Your taste in TV is abhorrent. I go up to the roof. There is a door that opens from the inside. I conjure a wedge under it, just in case. Lets ride. I spread my wings. First I do a strafing run. To my disappointment, few of them, in fact only one, go down and stay down. But they are bleeding. And that makes a difference. I have a source of the good stuff now. They are afflicted. A few balls of lightning leaving thin brown trails behind follow me, but extinguishing going to close to the metal building Ive landed upon. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Have they seen where Ive landed? I best make sure. I drop a hand grenade. There are not many of those left, but they are mundane and big threats will become more and more magical. I can just as well use them up. The purple ones are not the sharpest tools in the shed. They keep wasting mana and ball lightning. But all of them storm the building whose top I am on. Are they really stupid enough to not understand that I have no reason to stay here and can fly? They cant be that stupid. This has to be a trap. I teleport to a roof on the other side of the street. This is exactly the right place for a sniper. They are fast in the vertical. There is no honest way of denying that. I am barely set up properly before they burst out of the door. Time to pick of few of them off. It takes a lot of shots to drop them. Bullets just pass through them without doing vital damage. Time to go for headshots. That works. Unfortunately the blue ones are clever enough to take cover. Well. I am happy to shoot purple ones. Communists in their ancestry for the reddish part of their hue? I dont care. The blue ones do care. They order them down to chase me. That is an execently opportunity to use an annihilating beam as a parting shot. Hitting them with bullets has filled my reserves to the brim. I could crawl to the back of the building and drop off it. But then they might go back to searching the houses for me. If I leave by the other sides the blue ones can electrocute me. It is time to use the environment. The roof and the door is metal. [Wrath of the Magister] can heat things. I am looking forward to the first ones to touch that door. That said, the weather seems humid today. I can try it. The floor in front of the door gets the opposite treatment. I am corrupting nature. I think I am understanding why that stone gave me this power. I hear a sound like a box of cutlery hitting a tiled floor. Do they scream like that? Maybe I can aid by increasing ventilation? I go to full auto and pour gun fire through the door. More of that sound. The door bursts open. A number of Bluies, lets call them this, spills through the door, bearing a ramrod made from some kind of furniture. Yes, that was a bed frame, before they abused it. But who makes a bedframe blue with pink triangles? It does not matter. The floor has had time to react. It is icy and slippery. They fall down. I conjure a rod, hold it horizontally and go into hulk form. The impact propels them over the edge of the roof. I do not waste the momentum and teleport to the building I came from. They were not ready for an opponent of that size wielding for what was for them a telephone pole. They do get a few lightning strikes in, but that is not slowing me down. In fact, they get slower compared to me. [Mantle of Frenzy] is kicking in. They are too few. Where is the rest? Not having an answer to this question frightens me. I retreat from the roof through the door, which they had also blocked. Ive run, turned back and shot at them so far. What is missing? I enter a fairly empty room and conjure a stately empty cupboard and step into it. I concentrate on tamping down my aura. If I didnt have an eye out to observe, I probably would not have the nerve to just wait. Vexor I am getting used to observing a silent world. [Eldrich Eyes] give you only remote vision, no remote audio. And I can use the rest. That reminds me. I get my soul-bound phone out, put it on silent and start texting. It works. They tell me that they are safe and that my vehicle wants bronze rank coins and a ?repair environment. I can afford to wait. They are coming back. In fact they introduce themselves by throwing some kind of device into the entrance hall. Except for a brief flash of darkness it does not affect my spy eye. Then they rush in. The purple ones in a mindless throng; the blue ones so that they avoid in standing each others line of fire C well - casting. Up the stairs they go. But they do no longer use those devices And they split up by colour. Purpelies first; Bluies later, considerably later. Sending in the peasants? Or are they just stupid? The moment of truth is fast approaching. I need to surpress that aura. And the moment passes without incident. According to the books on tactics Ive read the best time to attack an enemy who crosses an obstacle, such as a river, is when his forces have partially crossed. I need to bet on that also being true for staircases in buildings. And of course on me being able to realise the theory, which is arguably the worse bet. I leave my hideout and sneak to the staircase. That is most likely unnecessary for my enemies are anything but silent, yet I cannot bring myself to confidently stomp towards implementing an ambush. I conjure my assault rifle with full regalia, step into the staircase and fire a full barrage of gas grenades upwards using [Chemical Warfare] to make them form a barrier. Then I go on to rush down the staircase while pressing down the trigger. I have a magical firearm. As long as I have mana, I can keep spraying bullets all day long. In fact all night long, too, if need be. I trigger [Cornucopia]. This is not the moment to run out of mana or stamina. My staff comes out. Antennae fold back. [Eternal Moment] online. This body comes with instincts. My raptorial arms slash left and right. My stinger sways from side to side. I can use it to counterbalance. The elytrae alone are large enough to alter my trajectory while jumping. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. I get about 3/4 of them. Though it lasts only a moment, like it says on the description. I fall back to real time. And here I get my first surprise. I prepare to finish off the last ones, when those I have stung show an explosive reaction. And I do not mean that metaphorically. They blow up. Not quite like a hand grenade, but like a melon hit by an anvil falling from the tenth floor. That makes ending the screaming rest easy. I turn upwards again and send my spy eye through the gas cloud. They are bleeding out of all orifices. And I mean all. In fact they are bleeding out of parts of their bodies which arent orifices strictly speaking. Shooting them is a mercy. Screw that. It is fun. If it were a mercy and I could afford to let them slowly die, I would. That is when I get my second surprise. One of them fires a lightning bolt blindly, which doesnt matter, because all the metal makes it go on an irregular trajectory anyway and hits where it really hurts. If gods exist, they dont like me. It is not as if I hadnt given them reasons. I go on my knees. This needs a healing potion. Now. I call back my spy eye which is made from a healing potion this time. My ability should allow me absorbing it just by it touching skin. Wait, stop this thing hovering in front of my face stinks horribly and has the wrong colour. I take one out of my inventory. Getting healed by potion hurts. I find out that this body has tear glands. -- After ten minutes I step outside the building, satisfied with the loot. I look at the eye from a considerable distance. This thing really stinks. I send it towards the village centre square, if the map I have is still accurate. I dont want anybody to come into contact with that substance. Was it the device they used or passage through my own gas cloud. That makes me take out and probe the devices I have looted. ?Death grenades I get as an answer. This is cool. Mata Hari I like children hugging me. Who doesnt? Now I am even strong enough to carry them with ease. And I am not going to run out of arms to carry them. Hence I dislike my own intention of sending them away, but our mistake needs to be corrected, as far as I am concerned. Z: I would really appreciate, if you stepped away from there. Having two children cling to you makes the process slower. P: Why? Z: I put a lot of magical blast charges close to the entrances. It is possible to move quickly, even with two children clinging to you. P: Cool. You cannot have too many explosions. That is the moment my leisurly travelling spy eye reaches town centre. Perhaps this is the time to clean up a misunderstanding. You do not need to learn to interpret an essence ability, nor does it limit your other senses strictly. I do not see an overlay across what my eyes deliver. It is a separate sense. The spy eyes being lidless, I cannot really close them. Overlooking obvious stuff with them would be like not hearing a cannon fire in your house. It is not possible. P: People, Ive just found the missing wizard. He is in deep trouble. KN: How? Where is he? P: I have an ability that allows me to form magic constructs that allow me to see remote places. He is in the town square, where somebody has set up a human sacrifice, whose center piece he serves as. PN: Can we safe him? I am sorry, but we almost died already. L: That is unfortunately correct. P: Weve made a mistake in bringing non-combatants here. Z: Yes. KN: Yes. S: I did my best. Z: You saved us all. You saved me. P: Little one, we need you to do it again. We made a major error when we assumed that we would face no big houses here. S: But we could stay together in a car. P: Yes, but those I fought threw balls of lightning. They would have hidden in the houses and just hits us from the side. And a car cant take cover or fight inside a house. L: I dont want to be callous, but is that worth the risk? P: He is a wizard who came here at the right time. He knew something. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. M: We need to rescue that guy. P: Yes, but I must suggest that you return with them. M: I do not need to be shot at. I saw what happened to Zora. P: You may need to fight to keep the children and the restaurant safe. M: I know. I wanted the power. I still understand that the power is worth it. But in hindsight, I am not up to the requirements. P: Still, I have goodies to distribute. Heads or tails? She wins. P: The next one goes to Lidija. This is an Awakening Stone of the Foot. Stjepan looks so proud, as I hand him the stone and tell him to do the ritual when they are back at base. They all fit into Zoras car. It can expand to two back benches, if you put in enough coins and know what you are doing and are ready to ignore some regulations about ridership. It is a tight fit, but thus we have only iron rankers with flight capability in our group; fit, mobile people to worry about and for fighting. -- We are advancing over the roofs. We have no interest in fighting overeager fire fighting equipment at this time. Eventually well have to wipe them all out. Well have to discuss how to do so, but not now. This village is long and narrow, built along a country road with a square at one end of the village, where the road branches. We are seeing no guards. It seems like I really got them all and nobody has warned the rest. They have posted watches. They are looking along the roads. The anomalies do not have full intellectual facilities. That is a relief of some sort. I do not wish to eradicate a group of sapient entities for our survival. I would, if I had to, but I dont like the thought. The scene playing out below us would have erased any sympathies for them. They have a man, tied to an X-shaped cross where magically shimmering needles rammed into his torso have been draining red etheral fluid spilling onto a skeleton, of, I kid you not, a rhinoceros, still shimmering through a semitransparent mass of protoplasm around it. And by man I mean an original, untransformed human. I guess we have found our researcher, although strictly speaking we have no proof of his identity. A rather complex ritual cycle surrounded him and the cross. An especially tall, around 2.6 meters, turquoise member of our enemies is standing beside him in the circle, arms raised to the sky. Turning his or her back to us anything else is hidden from us. We retreat into the building whose roof we have landed on. We end up in a kitchen. L: Just shoot the tall one? P: Bullets dont work well on them. How about you do it? L: I have one shot, It is a long distance and there is somebody Id have to worry about hitting accidentally. P: Poison works exceptionally well on them. Z: You propose gliding down to them and you stinging the tall one? While a dozen guards who can throw lightning balls at us, while we are not protected by a lightning rod, would surround us? P: There is that. We could search this house for magical liquid poison. I could form eyes from that and deliver it that way. Z: This is ridiculous. You have a venom gland. P: It is not under voluntary control. I need to physically sting something to inject venom. Zora stands up. She says something in her native language. I get: Even men cannot produce, when with [impolite word] Z: Conjure a blanket over yourself, close your eyes and stick your tail out! To hear is to obey. I hear her opening a couple of doors, a riping sound, the sound of a rubber snatching and glass bumping into something. She returns. Her voice is very soothing while she pats my head. This is quite pleasing: Imagine being in a warm bed cuddling. The world is cozy and bautiful. You wish to protect us. Everything is so good. You need to keep it that way. Something has woken you up. You want to keep cuddling. Everything is warm. You need to protect us. A monster is jumping on us! Something slams against my stinger already ready to do its job. There is a soft resistance. It does its job. Z: You can open your eyes now. I find my stinger stuck into the plastic film fastened over a pot with rubber bands. We have magical poison at our disposal. Lots of it. Z: Applied psychology. L: I dont know whether I should feel disgusted or fascinated. But it does seem like I should have paid an entrance fee to watch. Quo respondeatur? We are plundering a kitchen for magical appliances. It takes only a short time and we may not come back. L: I have counted 14 ordinary ones and the big one. P: Concur. Z: Concur P: Ok, so I think we need to keep the plan simple. We now have enough free venom to kill them all. I cannot kill them all at once. That opens up the possibilty that theyll try to eliminate the hostage. L: Dont fear. I am not going to forget about my barrier power twice. P: It is also possible that they break and run. In that case well follow the group that runs toward the hotel. If none do so, we follow the largest group. Z: Understood. And I approve. L: Understood. P: Good. I am going to hit the big one first. If that attack fails, we abort the attack. Z: Understood. L: Understood. This is getting better. But we still desperately need training. The first three eyes go in together approaching low over the ground. I score an explosive hit. The needles in the victim vanish. The guard run around in confusion. I explode three more. They start throwing balls of lightning at random. One eye of the next salvo is actually hit. Two explosions are left. The next salvo is spotted earlier, but they are bad at aiming. Two more explosions. Fully half of them are down without any action on their part. Right before the next salvo arrives the sacrificial victim uses the fact that the chains and the cross he was bound to have been crumbling since the first explosion. He breaks free and races at a speed that has to be boosted away from the town square towards the next copse. The enemy is too surprised for an immediate reaction. Three more explode. The rest takes of after him. P: Out of the window! This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Four of them are not a serious threat as they are too shocked to disperse in order to circumvent Lidijas barrier. They charged instead; right towards a dragons weapon. The loot is absolutely satisfactory. Their former prisoner has stopped and lifted his hands. I reciprocate the gesture. You have to make allowances for our appearance. But if he can boost his speed, why does he not sense our auras? I project as much as I can. L: Watch out behind us! She has watched our backs. I am ashamed of myself and proud of her. A fairly rhinoshaped abomination dripping some form of syrup is scrambling out of the pit. This is a sight that is bad for digestion. Pacifists have a point. Violence is not the answer. Violence is the question. An answer is [Hyperkinetic Cannon]. That is, once every 24 hours. May the gods bless Lidija for using her barrier ability in time. -- I am leaving the talking to Zora. This man is GDN. We really need to be careful what to share with him. And she has a form a ritualist ought to be familiar with. Z: Let me first ask whether you are alone, to be sure nobody is missing, and why you are here. J: If you mean where the rest of the people of this village, there is a mass grave this way. I am the last they went to sacrifice. As to why I am here, we got a very unusual massing of glitches hence. Z: Shit. Are you sure they are all dead? J: No. They might have run out of the town. My aura senses dont work. Do your essence abilities work? Z: Yes, they do. But you are not a member of a team then? She is not going to deny the obvious. J: No, we do not exactly have men to spare on dubious research. Look, I can tell that you are not with the Network. I dont want to know. I am not going to do any useful measurements here. It has become a matter of survival. So let me state it very clearly: Thank you! Z: Very well, the hotel you and we are staying has so far survived. For now we have no vehicle, so well have to walk. The man has introduced himself as Jan Chotek. I have to ask. P: Chotek as in Sarajevo 1914? J: Yes. She was a relative. P: How much the network validates the conspiracy trolls is among its greater sins. He chooses to remain silent -- We are sitting together after dinner, which was excellent. L: I am afraid we need a break. Z: Not claiming this area, whatever that is supposed to mean, is supposed to be lethal. There may or may not be a time limit. M: Yes L: If we need to hunt all anomalies, this will take a long time. P: But do you know an alternative? L: We could try to leave. M: That means staying transformed. And if it were so easy our employers would have given us a reason to stay. Z: Have things developed as they planned? M: Youd have to ask them. Z: We cannot People, these devices have keyboards. Have we tried asking? Qua via exire volumus? We have gotten all four into my car, even though my essence ability hasnt finished fixing it. L: Is there a special reason you wanted to be in this car? Z: Yes. I want to rule out people listening in. We may need to keep any answers we may get secret. P: Fair enough, lets ask. M: Lets start with how we can find all anomalies. Z: We want the power to tranform ourselves back, too. M: Yes, but we may get only one answer. She has a point. M: You start. I take the electronic device out of my storage space and start typing: How do we eliminate all anomalies and claim a territority? (1) Eliminate the majority of all anomalies in an environment (2) Perform ritual of attraction (3) Defeat chief anomality then forming (4) Perform ritual of claiming How do we abandon this transformation zone? A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Alternatives: A C use dimensional vessel B C trigger an outworlder effect C C create a dimensional tunnel D C walk over the edge WARNING: Alternate D leads to annihilation of user How do we execute alternative A? INSUFFICIENT RESOURCES How do we execute alternative B? INSUFFICIENT AFFINITY AT THIS TIME How do we execute alternative C? INSUFFICIENT RESOURCES, NO COUNTERSTATION Ut hostes veniant, clamavimus I am leaving this Lidija and Zora. I can use better support. In this case that I have screwed open Dalek-3H and am improving his engravings. I cannot cast [Pipes of War] on him. But thinking that I need to do so is a mistake. If there is to be a pipe between us I am perfectly happy with him activating it. And while we are at it, I am adding a fourth arm with a blade on it. As that improves him, he shall henceforth be know as Dalek 3-IH. Theres a knock on my door. Z: Have you upgunned your floating traffic cone? P: Ive named him Dalek-3IH. And no, but hes got a bladed weapon know. Z: Preparing for close combat? Anyway, we have prepared the ritual on the small hill northeast of the hotel. And Lidija has her stones. He was a bit reluctant to do two ?tainted stones, but we got him around quickly. P: Do I want to know now? Actually, could we play good cop and bad cop? Z: I suppose. It is not much play. I dont trust him. P: Neither do I. He is GDN. That is why we must keep him with us. Z: What? P: Ethics aside, we need one more ritual at a minimum. And do you want to leave him here with the children? He is still iron rank, abilities blocked or not blocked. Z: You are right. -- Once again I am fortifying a hilltop. Only that this time Zora is also mining its approaches P: Have you gotten anything for fortification? L: No, my new powers are rater ghoulish. They require that something or somebody die before I can make use of them. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. P: Kinky. L: You really are a dark one, arent you? P: Dark humour is like food. Not everybody gets it. - Josif D?uga?vili She is not the only one to laugh. I am surprised. L: Are you telling us that without essences youd be fat? I bow. This womens tongue is military grade. -- Z: I am done. Everybody ready? Nods all around. Jan looks around with questioning eyes. We nod again. The circle lights up. The result is underwhelming. None of the monsters make it to the mines. Z: To the town now? M: Yes! L: Wait! M: What is it now? L: We need to first figure out how to deal with the boss. It would appear right after we defeat the rest of the anomalies in the town, right? Z: Yes, the answer strogly suggest that. I am afraid you are right. J: Is there a need to fundamentally alter the tactics? P: How are we supposed to know without knowing what the boss is? Obviously a mine field would not work, if it can fly, for example. Z: Provided it can fly. In terms of environment, not basic capability. P: Do you want to fight it under water, or what? Z: Nope, inside a building. I already trapped a house. -- We have been discussing tactics the whole trip long, which we are doing in my, now repaired, car. The discussion has been going in circles, with nobody being able to come up with something better than Zoras plan. J: Does the ritual have to be here? I have bad associations with this place. P: I am sorry, but it has to. We were really badly mauled as we entered the street between the buildings. Z: You are preparing a ritual, while we are digging and toting junk metal, so stop complaining. We have decided that Zora is to explosively demolish the interior of the house next to town square, so that we have enough more or less rod-shaped pieces of scrap metal to serve as lightning rods. And a walking hydrant did not seem to be among the nimblest of entities, so digging traps also might serve us well. -- J: The ritual is ready. P: Do you all know your assigned positions? We have to assume that he arrives immediately after the fight. Nodding all around. The ritual again goes into effect. And again the number of enemies left is too small to cause significant issues. L: What is that? Yes, she has an aura power now. Yet within seconds we all sense it from a distance far greater than we usually would. The boss is coming. Knowing a direction, I send my spy eyes towards it. Fiat rex. This does not feel real. That alarms me. Dangers not deemed real are worse. How do I shock us out of complacency? Z: How sure are you that it will come from the closest part of the edge of the territory? M: My map ability marks that as ?boss point. How much more do you want? I hand out my last reserves of healing potions. P: Healing potions. I dont have many left. Ive packed it into a protective cover. J: You dont have belts? He unchinches his belt and holds it into his hand. J: Who is the healer? L: I am. J: The healer must be protected best. He takes the potion intended for her and sticks it into his pocket. This seems to have done the job. P: Maria, how sure are you about your new flight ability? M: Slow, but sure. I can take position on top of a building, dont worry. Z: Lets do this. -- Ive hardly reached my position by teleport as my spy eyes pick up the boss. And I am put into a position to think that I am in a documentary about the Cambrian Explosion. A specimen of hallucigenia of twice the size of an elephant is coming to kill us at jogging speed. It does not matter. I have a target in range. [Nebelwerfer 42] and [Joy of sustained Fire] are doing the job. The afflictions are in place. A few minutes more. Ive conjured my biggest rifle and Dalek-3IH has been instructed to fire as soon as the boss is in range and to fire his one big shot at close range, without regard for his own safety. The dust it stirs up is now visible. This thing is huge. With a human companion this would be easier on my nerves. I cough out of nervosity. I get it in my optics. I have the largest range among us. Time to do damage. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Lightning arcs between it spines. Ive put enough shots to turn a tractor trailer into a wreck into this anomaly. It reaches the first line of fortifications. My barriers dont slow it down. The rune traps do. Lightning arcs out blindly. We will need to put out burning grass and bushes. It does not exactly bleed in the way a mammal ought to, but protoplasma is running down its flanks. That fills my reserves back up. I keep firing. When in doubt, making the enemy bleed is good. There is nothing else to do. It hits the second line of rune traps. As the debris clears up one of its spines is hanging low. And it is slower. It is taking care that some of its lobopodes do not touch the ground. This is the signal to go all out. Marias first Fire Bolt streaks towards the anomaly. I add both staffs to the fire. The anomaly rears up. P: Start firing! Dalek-3IH joins the fray. The anomaly accelerates again. The sooner it hits the third and final line. It is actually blown over. The spike already askew is broken off. But it doesnt stay down. We keep giving out as much damage as possible. It starts gathering lightning between its spikes. This is not good. P: Cannon! Dalek-3IH fires. The lightning bolt goes awry and hits the building Maria and Lidija are on. For a few horrible moments the Fire Bolts are silent. The giant hallucigenia turns towards the other building. Maria starts firing again. Soon. I trigger [Cornucopia]. It turns again towards the other building. I fire [Hyperkinetic Cannon]. More spikes are detached. Now it is really mad. It tries another concentration, but the missing spikes dissipate the lightning. I switch to my assault rifle. Smaller lightning bolts are forming on each spike. Time to act. I jump off the roof. The first salvo overshoots. It turns into a mad ride. Lidijas spear hits it. I use [Eternal Moment]. Nevertheless I take three bolts, until I am half down the road. I need to trigger [Immortality] and teleport upwards. Zora jumps and repeats the feat, using her [Eternal Moment] into the building she has mined. The anomaly struggles to pass through the gate. With sheer force it breaks through. The building blows up. Has she survived? Yes! She drinks her potion while still in the air and is scorched overall, but she at least glides down. -- Thee looting has yielded an Awakening Stone of Dimension, an Essence of Life and and a very odd orb, that according to my probe unlocks an essence ability. I keep those in storage. Jan is already working on the ritual. J: I dont want to perish now, because we hesitate. I cannot argue with that. M: Who shall claim the zone. J: According to the plan you gave me, you need [Astral Affinity] to claim a zone. P: Now I know why they hired me. I have that as a racial power from Dimension giving me Teleport. J: You have Dimension! What other abilities did it give you? I need to know. Z: Powerful abilities. -- Claiming a zone feels like getting into a stiff wetsuit. I feel pressure from all around. And then a serene relaxation. Character Sheet #4
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 1 (10%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Fire:
[Dry the Tinder] Special Attack/Spell Iron 0 (18%)
[Alacrity''s Reward] Swiftness Special Ability Iron 0 (24%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Magic:
[Dragon Wings] Special Ability Iron 1 (1%)
[Eternal Moment] Lightning Special Ability Iron 0 (82%)
[Dragon''s Treasure Chest] Adventure Special Ability Iron 1 (9%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Onslaught:
[Dive Bomb] Special Attack Iron 0 (1%)
[Rune Trap] Rune Special Attack/Spell Iron 0 (68%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Zora
Guardian:
[Mantle of Frenzy] Special Ability/Spell Iron 0 (18%)
[Rune Tortoise] Rune Familiar Ability Iron 0 (0%)
[Spoils of Victory] Sacrifice Aura Ability Iron 0 (6%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Void:
[Spike of Void] Special Attack Iron 0 (35%)
[Blood Harvest] Sacrifice Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Shield:
[Reflective Barrier] Special Ability/Spell Iron 0 (22%) Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Renewal:
[Regenerate] Special Ability/Spell Iron 0 (97%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Lidija and finally Maria:
Fire:
[Fire Bolt] Special Attack/Spell Iron 0 (53%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Wind:
[Watchful Observer] Perception Iron 0 (40%)
[Wise Vista] Rune Special Ability Iron 0 (13%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Magic:
[Mana Shield] Special Ability Iron 0 (57%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Storm:
[Scattering Whirlwind] Special Attack Iron 0 (5%)
[Supporting Cloud] Foot Special Ability Iron 0 (2%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Sua manu Serenity leads to tranquility. Tranquility demands rest. I conjure my old reliable tent to bed down. Soft and warm. My stalwart servant Dalek-3IH be called upon to guard the slumber I have earned. -- L: That is kind of anticlimatic. M: Understatement of the decade. Z: Let him sleep. Do you want a tired man to mess around with transforming your bodies? J: Are you unhappy with your magical races? M: Of course! L: Man, you dont look like Beelzebub incarnate! J: But you have wings and unique racial abilities. Beyond the industrial strength glare we find the military grade glare, which must be used only outdoors with a fire extinguisher at hand. J: Somebody has to extinguish those gras fires. -- Zora cannot conjure camping furniture. That is easily cured by confiscating a few blankets and a low serving table out of a house. And she has to offer coffee, ice cream and sandwiches. M: Can we rely on him? L: We cannot avoid it. And it is done. There is no point in debating it. M: What will you do afterwards? Z: Go back home and look whether I still have a job. L: Well, you could, I mean, you are carting around a place that cannot be searched. Ive heard that parts of South America are very nice. Z: And that from the woman that will set up as a miracle healer. L: That Network guy has seen our faces. M: No, he has seen our current faces. Z: Right Maria is going for another ice cram. M: Goodbye to diets. Z: The second best thing, once you get used to the idea. L: You mean you thought ? Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Zora looks down. L: I think I am going to jump off a building, while I can. M: You are going to miss it? L: Yes. The choice is clear, but Ill miss the wings. -- I am feeling majestic. In fact I am feeling extraordinary. I have the power. Z: You are looking horribly smug. P: I call it something else. Behold! I am making a grand gesture and the holes we dug into the ground vanish. M: So changes us. P: I need more power. We will take over more territories. I want you to consolidate your gains with meditation, we will formulate a plan and tomorrow we attack. M: I see. Zora tilts her head. Z: Are you going authoritarian on us? P: I am going authoritarian on this land. To an unsatisfactory degree it already obeys me. She salutes. I think it is meant ironically. -- Dinner is fantastic and the lack of a sunset makes sitting outside a real treat. I am enjoying the land. In fact my land. Can I make a cloud appear on the horizon? Yes! Anyway, a kings job never ends. I am taking out my machine. L: Hey, wait, we want to see, too! Z: Exactly They are right. I owe my trusty vassals fealty. Z: Has anybody seen Maria? P: Lets ask the children, too. Z: Has anybody seen Maria? (in her native language) N: She has given us her desert. A female voice yells out a command. KN: MY EMERGENCY BAG! NOW! -- We did CPR for fourty minutes. She was iron rank. We did not want to give up while there was still hope that we could get her back. We still have no idea what an iron rank brain can withstand. We just pumped till we dropped of exhaustion. Zora is cradling the children. Lidija is holding a book without reading. There was no WWW to browse without end. P: I am going for walk. I think I have gotten slight nods of acknowledgement. On the way out I am met. KN: I found this slid under my door . She hands me a drawing of a map. Maria was gifted with many things artistic. She was decent at drawing. I have failed. P: How KN: Fentanyl. Due to the recent emergency anybody with medical training is supposed to carry a full set of drugs, just in case. P: So, she stopped breathing. KN: Yes. I have more people I am responsible for. A true king never gives up. P: Do you have enough left in case we suffer a further emergency? KN: Yes. P: Sorry to ask, but it is necessary KN: No, you are right to ask. Going out? P: I need to clear my head. There is no more danger outside, that is from monsters, respectively anomalies. KN: Good to know. Do I need to watch the rest of you? P: Dont worry. Well fight. I cannot promise that well always be safe, as well need to fight. But there is no need for you to watch us. We may eventually need therapy, especially the children. But for now we are not a danger to ourselves. Expellor It is supposed to be night. Lets see if I can make faces with clouds. No. I lack the artistic talent for that. Or I dont remember whom I am trying to depict well enough. In theory I could look. I have taken her corpse into my storage space. It seemed more dignified that clearing out a freezer. Simply burying here didnt seem right either. In a certain sense I failed. I cannot deny that I have been unable to return to her what made life worth living to her. Was that my fault? I havent caused it. But if I had not told her about those people, she would never have been sent on a futile chase. I have the power. I need to look for a way out. I take to the air. Something about this has made walking the earth like a peasant repugnant to me. I soar. Is that what we all should do? Gain the freedom of the sky and see the insignificance of earhly life with our own eyes? Well, perhaps, but not if you can feel your mana and stamina drain, like a shower stall used for the very first time. Can I make an updraft? Yes. Does it help much? No, I am not much of a glider. These insect wings are made for flitting around like a dragonfly on amphetamines. And rightly so, I am not a peasant to provide power to an activity as mundane as locomotion. I have magical powers. Bocks Car#3 and a rope solve the issue of propulsion. I want to go to the edge. It is just awesome to think that reality ends at a literal edge. That turns out to be an exaggeration. It does not abruptly end. It sort of fades out. That results in a negative effect on my ability to fly, which is based on magic, as those wings could not keep me aloft due to the cube/square issue, and also my faithful servant. I get down in one of my less elegant landings. I can live with that. Standing partially in the realm of myth and magic is even better than standing right at an edge. In fact there are shapes even farther away. Something that is invisible to the mundane aspect of my vision, yet leaves traces on the magical part. Frankly, I am not ready to go much closer to the end of the universe. Preserving the didnity of the ruler of the realm is not identical to reckless action. If the basic magic that my metabolism is running on now fails, Ill probably not survive. I have to admit the I literally stumbled over the essence. Are you ready to tell me that you would have not let being able to watch the fabric of the multiverse distract you? Being made aware of an opportunity to reward my faithful vassals, I walk slower to observe my immediate surroundings to not overlook more treasure. There is a nice harvest to be had in the borderlands of reality. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. -- I have walked a bit. The edge of the next territory is a sharp line. I dimly see drifts of snow on a ground broken up into slabs, as if mud had dried. Putting my hand against the barrier I can feel the ability to make a claim to it. But I am not going to do at so far out that my abilities dont work. This means tracking further inland. -- I am flying over an icy land. Can I find other people? I feel an obligation towards the less fortunate. I would need to extend refuge in my realm to them. Or are those anomalies? I gigantic furry shape explodes upwards from the ground to swallow Bocks Car#3. Only the length of the rope saves me from an undignified end as fodder to an entity looking liked a horned snow-white badger. It having given up stealth to strike I find myself confronted with a silver rank aura. If this thing can fly, I will die. A quick teleport makes sure that even a silver rank leap is not high enough to catch me. What now? I cannot fight a silver rank entity. There is no shame in admitting that. I fly back towards the border. I would like to just overfly it, but that carries a risk I cannot allow myself to suffer. My person is a guarantee of the safety of the people that depend on me. I cannot fly all the way back to the border without rest. I am far less efficient in flight than my servant who has met a valorous demise in the maw of that dastardly horned giant ice badger. I will need to rest and I have no idea whether the land ahead would allow me to land. The anomaly can run as fast as I can fly, even while I am adding the occasional teleport to my advance. That is a problem. That is a most serious problem. Fighting this thing is out of the question. I am safe for now, but I will be forced into a hopeless fight within a few minutes. I change course to outward. If I can neither run nor fight, the time for scaring my enemy has come.
Yes, that does work. It has become slower. Unfortunately my teleport ability very clearly has already stopped working. I absolutely can feel that. Hence my speed disadvantage has worsened. I take out the grenades and throw one at that thing. It is stupid enough to snatch it out of the air. That produces a giant belch. There is one last hill to crest. I go into a dive. I need to get to the other side before it gets there. My teleport is unavailable, so flight it is. I make it. The anomality leaps. [Eternal Moment] lets me jink. It is horrible to see something slowly, but visibly move under that power. The environment does the job. The anomaly is on a ballistic path to a land beyond the bounds of reality. I remember to trigger my looting ability. Nice. Time to return to base. Defending your people is the noblest of pursuits. Finem specimus I need to rest. This escape was based on luck. This cannot go on. I think I need to realize my very first plan and retreat to some wilderness until it is clear what the world will look like in a few years. A core of anger blossoms in me. Even if I cannot enlarge my domain I will not yield what I already have. In fact it needs to be defended right now. I use a stamina potion and fly off. I dont care about low reserves. A resource that is never used is useless. -- This feels like home. I strongly suspect my claim wont last when the transformation zone eventually drops. This is unacceptable. Tactically speaking we could just pretend to be from one of the factions searching this area for whatever they are searching. I cannot imagine a shortage of them in this case. Given the length this zone has been existing they must have started constructing temporary houses out there. But it is mine. And it is supposed to stay mine! Why are these assholes sending me into a fight nobody can win? I walk towards the fringes of reality. This is unacceptable. I am going to give you a dose of your own medicine. -- Chanting the incantation extra slowly is fun. The magical circle forms in front of me. I aim at the front of one of the traces. I give it the full dose. All colours, maximum mana. A mass of black tears in reality forms instead of the usually sphere. Anyway, the trace has stopped. Now I will feast on your corpse. I loot the thing. Blackness. -- I wake up being towed away from the fringe with a noose of rope tied about my leg. Ive been lassoed like a wayward calf. My internal soreness prevents me from acting on the indignity. On the other end of the rope I spot Lidija with a grin that should be taxable on her face. She also has [Astral Affinity]. L: What happened to you? Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. P: Silver rank monster. Fled. Defeated it. Saw something on the other side. Fought it. L: Silver rank monster? P: Yes. Technically an anomaly Id say. The next territory has silver rank anomalies. L: So we are stuck? P: Yes. L: Shit. P: You can stop dragging me through the dirt, by the way. L: Can I? P: Yes. I get up. Everything hurts. My head feels clearer, though. One might think that such a state should include a splitting headache. It does not. P: I think we will have to hunker down. And after that L: After that? P: I think . I was stupid by clinging to the vestiges of my old life. Ill leave Europe. She texts somebody, I suppose to call of further searches for me, and seems lost in contemplation. I am a fully occupied by not wincing from aches all over the body. And there is something I really dont like. Ive lost a slot of my storage space. To be precise, it is filled with something I cannot access. Though if I look at what else this has gotten me, the exchange was a good one. -- We have covered about three quarters of the way back to the hotel as night falls. L: What the .. ? P: Something bad has happened. I have just lost my claim on this place. L: Shit. We need to hurry. Can you fly? The by now hated mental ping on on our phones saves me from an answer and her from telling me why exactly we need to hurry. Jason Asano has reintegrated the majority of this transformation zone. The rest of the zone has thereby become detached, been ejected and will reimpact this worlds dimensional membrane after 43 hours. This impact will cause a major catastrophe possibly up to the destruction of the world. Your task is to perform a ritual to dissolve it into the astral. Those of you who have [Teleport], [Astral Affinity] and [Unholy Affinity] have to activate the ritual by teleporting into the opening gap. P: Do we still have to hurry? -- We are not walking in the dark. The sun has vanished leaving in its stead a sky filled with faint rainbow light. It looks like an aurora borealis on steroids. On our return we are met with a scene of three children running around nacked playing with a running garden hose already having turned a lot of the meadow next to the hotel to a wetland, while Zora is sitting on the raised platform we had our meals on with her unshod feet up on the fence and an open bottle of wine next to her on the table. She points at the children and shakes her head. We nod. P: Where is our rescue case? Z: Doing measurements. He said that hell be back in a few hours. Can you believe it? She takes a swig. Z: Lidija, care to join me? Z: You watch the children. They leave for her room. In ignotum salio I am watching the children. I have considered meditating. There are gains to consolidate for sure. Yet what does it matter now? I have done a double check. Consequences for the inhabitants of the dissolution of this transformation zone? Annihilation When will the proposed ritual dissolve this zone? At the halfway point of the fallback, 32.25 hours from the time of reintegration. Consequences for the person triggering the ritual? Reduction to a pure soul. Further consequences unpredictable.
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 2 (44%)
[Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 2 (1%)
[This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 2 (40%)
[Chemical Warfare] Defiance Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (5%)
[Hyperkinetic Cannon] Gun Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (11%)
Vast:
[Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 1 (47%)
[Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 2 (36%)
[Nebelwerfer 42] Focus Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (4%)
[Arsenal of the Mad Scientist] Magotech Special Ability Iron 2 (10%)
[Eldritch Eyes] Water Special Ability & Attack Iron 0 (87%)
Dimension:
[Teleport] Special Ability Iron 2 (1%)
[Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 3 (6%)
[Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 1 (61%)
[Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 2 (50%)
[Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 1 (70%)
Battlefield:
[Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 3 (14%)
[Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 2 (8%) The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
[Pipes of War] Unity Special Ability Iron 1 (35%)
[Cornucopia] Feast Special Ability Iron 0 (33%)
[Feast of Decontamination] Light Special Ability Iron 0 (47%)
Prologue The Watcher detects an incoming signal. It cannot get excited in the true sense of the word. Instead it has a variable level of mental activity that determines how much of an almost depleted resource is spent on mental activities. This signal triggers an absolute directive. Activity goes to the highest degree. The Watcher is aware that thus so much awareness is used up that the activation cannot be repeated without a recharge, which there is no reasonable expectation of. It does care for that in noting that no reserves are to be conserved. The main receiver is operational but flooded. Resources to undo the flooding are not available. The primary alternate has been destroyed. The secondary alternate is operational. Its environmental conditions can be temporarily ameliorated. Resources to activate the security checks on arrivals are not available if the environment is to be ameliorated. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. After a short consideration the Watcher decides that a failure to establish livable conditions after a positive security check is the same as a failure of the security scans. Unflinchingly it unlocks the secondary egress and switches the receiver and the air refreshers on, leaving security measures off. For a few seconds it still can monitor the air in the vault improving. Its internal evaluation of performance signals an optimum outcome. A mind that has existed for centuries shatters with an equivalent of satisfaction.
A naked man-sized arthropodian creature is ejected from an arch filled with shadow. The lights go out again and the shadow dissolves, swept up in the ubiquitous darkness. The creature limply collapses to the tiled, dusty ground.
A man with an aggressively average face looks up from a screen. He walks over to a radioteletype terminal and types ?case antman green. Chapter 1 - Advenio My head is ringing. I can see nothing. Every movement hurts. My ribs hurt at every laboured breath. And I need to breathe hard. The air is stale. I am resting on a cold stone floor. My aura feels unencumbered within the confines of the room. There is simply nothing I am able to sense at my addled state. The walls are impenetrable. My antennae sweep around. Nothing except for the floor, which turns out to be level and uniformly cold. I need to risk it. I am using the echo sense of my species. I sense shelves with various shapes on them. I am in a mid sized hall with a vaulted ceiling. I need to rest. Something tells me that using potions would be a bad idea. I bring forth my car, letting it rest on the floor. It takes me two minutes to cover the three meters to the door. And another two minutes to get in. A warning light is blinking. It turns out that touching the controlling orb with an antenna is enough to control the vehicle. Apparently the air is deficient in oxygen. I am advised that closing the door, adding a few spirit coins and some wind quintessence can solve the issue. Telekinesis is incredibly useful a tool if you do not want to move. Fresh air bathes my face. I turn the floor soft. The vehicle informs me that adding fire quintessence will allow for heated air and heating the cushioning I am resting on even without me providing mana to the vehicle. This is good, because I am not in a state that would enable me to power anything. I fall asleep. Sound sleep, not the blackness of unconciousness.
The vehicle informs me that a bit over 30 hours have passed since it has been conjured. I can actually rise and move at the speed of a nonagenerian. The vehicle is low on wind quintessence. This means that I have a few days to get out of here. It also meas that any attempt to revive my companions is out of the question, leaving aside the question of my current inability to effectivly render first aid. Wed suffocate together. In fact I have no idea whether this vehicle can even make enough air for multiple people. And, lets be frank, some of them are normal rank. We would have the issue of - lets call it disposal of waste. My phone shows the equivalent of no signal. Ive had the car upgraded at the shop we got our stuff from. I now have a conventional and a DAB2 radio. Nothing. I didnt expect it, but you should check all avenues. Well, then it is time to risk something. I get into the drivers seat, put on the seatbelt and then I make the upper half of the car transparent and hit the virtual light switches. I am in a storage room. Who stores books, bladed weapons and metal storage chests together? However, the more pressing need to get out of here guides my attention towards a complicated magical apparatus with a lot runes and an arch. Unfortunately some of the crystals set into the arch have either cracked or turned to dust. Going by my initial position I arrived through that thing and thereby destroyed it. It doesnt matter much to me. I likely would not have been able to operate it anyway. Hence two nautical style doors, one a each end of the room, with big wheels and a window mounted in them are far more interesting. Believe it or not, I am not physically ready to walk there at a reasonable speed. I prepare two spy eyes. I suppose briefly opening the door to let them leave the car will improve the air quality outside. One door turns out to be damaged. The cars main lights illuminating it shows me loose rock behing the slightly cracked glass. I cannot open a door by swinging it through rocks. Telekinetically floating a flashlight to the other door may be the height of laziness, but I resort to it. A room with metal rungs and hand rails on the wall. I need more sleep and I better meditate to consolidate my gains. If worst comes to worst I may have to use [Wrath of the Magister] as a digging tool.
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 2 (44%)
[Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 2 (1%)
[This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 2 (40%)
[Chemical Warfare] Defiance Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (5%)
[Hyperkinetic Cannon] Gun Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (11%)
Vast:
[Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 1 (47%)
[Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 2 (36%)
[Nebelwerfer 42] Focus Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (4%)
[Arsenal of the Mad Scientist] Magotech Special Ability Iron 2 (10%)
[Eldritch Eyes] Water Special Ability & Attack Iron 0 (87%)
Dimension:
[Teleport] Special Ability Bronze 0 (0%)
[Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 3 (7%)
[Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 1 (61%)
[Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 2 (51%)
[Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 1 (70%)
Battlefield:
[Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 3 (14%)
[Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 2 (8%) The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
[Pipes of War] Unity Special Ability Iron 1 (35%)
[Cornucopia] Feast Special Ability Iron 0 (33%)
[Feast of Decontamination] Light Special Ability Iron 0 (47%)
This is a nice surprise.
Fourteen hours later I stand in the room spry as kid. Serendipity has solved the issue. Simply going to hulk form and returning has removed my medical issues. The second door turns out to be a bit rusty, but for somebody with my racial strength that is not an issue. It leads to a shaft with a ladder set into a wall, which I use to climb up. I end up in a chamber ending in another nautical door with the remains of equipment on shelves and a small metal chest on the floor in it. The equipment looks like hoods made out of rubber with the glass goggles in front, attached to a stone with runes carved into it about where your mouth would be, while wearing the mask. Their rubber parts crumble apart at the slightest touch. Though the stone heads they are draped over are of multiple species, mine is not among them. That has very, very serious implications. Which are also very unclear. The chest solves the issue. It is full of wind quintessence. I am looking at the magical equivalent of gas masks or diving equipment. The room beyond the door is empty save for a hatch of the same construction as the doors in the ceiling. Its view port is obstructed by mud. That cannot stop a man who is capable of telekinesis. I am staring into dark water. I am under the ocean floor or maybe another large and deep body of water. The water is dark. That may mean that it is night outside. I will have to return in a few hours to check, but we may also be too deep for light to reach. That lever on the door looks like it will open a valve to flood this chamber. I am inside an air lock. I am not going to test that without a plan. This chamber is old. I have no guarantee that the valve would close again. I am not ready to force my hand without immediate need. I take the quintessence. It gives my a few weeks of, literally, breathing space. I have no idea how long my companions will last in the semi-alive poisoned state they are in in my storage space, but getting myself killed will certainly doom them.
I am munching a piece of strawberry cake with whipped cream. Why not? It is ready in my storage space. This vehicle can produce a very small cooking area with a hot plate, but I am not going to use anything that could stress the air filters, though I have a restaurants wealth of ingredients available. I strongly dislike needless risks. What can I do? My initial plan to dig through the collapsed tunnel is moot. My observations have shown that the darkness is indeed due to the depth of the water. What can I do?
  1. Repair an escape device by replacing the hood
  2. Build an escape vehicle with [Equip the Army] or [Robotic Servant of War]
  3. Teleport into the water
The problem is that I have no idea what happens if I teleport into a liquid. If I dont do that, Ill have to equalize the pressure to open the hatch. But then Ill be forced to ascend in such a way that the bends dont kill me. And I have no idea how to do that, least of all with my magically altered physiology. As for building a vehicle, I have no idea whether I can build something that will withstand the pressure. Can I send something out that is bright enough to illuminate the water so much that I can see the sky and teleport? With my upgrade in the [Teleport] ability I can now teleport to places I merely remember or see through my spy eyes. But potions will dissolve in water. They are hydrophil. I tested that long ago. I scratch my head and decide to repair one of the breathing devices. I will prebreathe pure oxygen they provide for a night in any case. Then I head out to put all the stored stuff into my storage space. Waste not, want not. Can I send a servant with a spy eye inside to send me a picture? I could make one out of metal or plastic. I could probably make a protective sheath out of the candles I took from the restaurant. What is triggering my thoughts? I am an idiot.
I have spent the night prebreathing oxygen, making and activating a new servant - a floating airtight barrel with arms - and charging a bottle of cooking oil with magic with a ritual. Now I am looking into the air lock as my servant floods it to equalize the pressure while three eyes made from cooking oil are waiting for deployment, one floating freely, two in protective cases. Two eyes are looking at a cloudless blue sky at a distance from each other meant to assure that they cannot be taken out simultaneously, while the third is heading to the direction I suspect the shore to be at. I spot a strip of green land separating the shore from what looks like an arid wasteland. Any form of land will do. I teleport. Chapter 2 - Ex umbris I find myself straddling a partially disrobed woman. Have you ever done CPR in earnest? It is not a gentle affair and you better hit the right spot, so having a good look at the chest you are compressing is a very good idea. She coughs and groans. I can understand that. I think I broke two of her ribs and the bruising will be extensive. Better than permanent cardiac arrest, though. She struggles a bit with the improvised oxygen mask Ive made out of one of the rescue devices and strapped to her face. I wonder how you apply potions to unconcious people if you do not have [Eldritch Eyes]. How do you prevent them from going into their lungs? Do you need to? I am not going to start human experimentation here and now. P: You are processing a healing potion. As far as I can tell this intrinsically hurts. Analgesics dont work. Sorry about that. I have no idea how it would interact with your healing ability. She nods and buttons her shirt again. P: Ill be outside. Ive put up a ring of awnings on poles of about 2.5 meters with Argus#1 looking out from the uncovered spot in the middle. I select the spot whose soil seems softest and start digging with a conjured spade. We are going to need a latrine now. That saves me from looking at the sky. The major natural satellite is just over half. Is it waxing or waning? How am I supposed to tell? This is not the moon, as in our moon. Well, it may be its back side. I wouldnt recognise that, but that is not something I could explain either. KN: What do I do about this mask? P: Just let it run its course. Itll stop benignly once it runs out of charge. I had to improvise. KN: I wont put it into a box then. Where are we? P: There is an issue. I point at the sky. KN: Yes. Very few clouds. That is consistent with a desert. Je. P: Indeed. And it gets worse. I use telekinesis to pick up an ant without hurting it. KN: An ant. I am afraid Ive never treated one of those in my practice. But if this is a terrestial animal but not the moon P: The car has a gravimeter and meteorological instrumentation. Gravity matches and air pressure are consistent with Earth. KN: So we are on an alternate Earth. P: My abilities go up in strength with use. The ability I used to escape the zone has advanced as far as currently possible, as if we had made an epic trip. KN: A multiverse. - Are we alone here? P: This is a secondary camp. I came out in an abandoned secret base under the lake bed. I built the oxygen mask from stuff I found there. The equivalent of equipment used to escape from sunken submarines. KN: This seems exceedingly unlikely. P: There was a device down there which I seem to have wrecked by arriving. In hindsight am happy about that. Emerging on the high seas or the interior of Antarctica would have been worse. KN: True. KN: We should proceed. We gain nothing keeping our people stored.
We begin with Lidija. She revives without issue. This comes as a pleasant surprise. Without a major issue does not mean that she is comfortable, though. Indeed the way she cradles her head and moans very much indicates that she is not. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. L: My head !!! It hurts. I am totally drained. Please help me. I am not a total asshole. I trigger [Cornucopia]. The look of bliss on her face indicates that whoever finds a way to monetize this will be well on the way to becoming a billionaire. I add a cooled beverage to her joy. One has to uphold standards. KN: How often can you do this? P: Once every hour. I am going to finish the latrine in the mean time. L: Where are we? KN: It seems like we emerged in an oasis in a desert. So far we have met no people, so we do not really know. KN: No, you stay down so that I can check your vitals. The sun and the sand will still be here, when we are sure you are stable. L: And what will we do? KN: Revive everybody and then look for people. What else can we do? L: That makes a lot of sense. But I mean in the long run. KN: Live. The details will depend on the circumstances.
Zora also poses no difficulty except for some minor bleeding from the initial sting, which two healing powers working in concert quickly fix. The alien moon has set and going by the position of the sun, our internal clocks are about four hours ahead of local time. The only thing we have learned this way is that we are in the southern hemisphere, provided this version of Earth has its magnetic field oriented the same way as ours, which is far from certain. Nevertheless, I get out a big pot of soup and dish it out into conjured bowls. Z: Is there a reason you always use the conjured stuff? P: Yes. We have no water supply. And our supply of detergent is strictly finite. Well, those are the official reasons. I also am not ready to do dishes or laundry, if I have an alternative that strengthens my magic. KN: I would suggest we do not stay here after everybody is revived. In the medium term we need something closer to a secure supply of water. We might just as well look for people at the same time. L: Will we understand them? KN: Unlikely. P: I guess we need to make it official. While you two were still out, we saw the moon. It was not our moon. The radio in the car has stayed silent for as long as we are on the surface. We are no longer on our Earth. Z: But this may be a transformation zone where radio rechnology has vanished. P: Where are the searching teams? Z: Maybe they have found what they were looking for? KN: We havent seen a single contrail. And the whole moon would have to be transformed. P: Well, now that you say that KN: Yes, but in that case human civilization would have ended. L: What ? P: A transformation zone the size of the whole Earth. Z: In any case we have to wake up everybody as soon as possible. How long? P: Twelve minutes. KN: My husband next. Argus#1sounds the alarm. L: Where? Z: In front of me. 11 oclock. We wheel around. A shimmering semitranslucent quadruped is charging us. I give it a full salvo. It vanishes. Z: 3 oclock! A teleporting monster! Have I missed? This thing is hard to see and something is wrong with its track. I switch to the sniper rifle and take my time to aim. The bullet passes cleanly through it and again it vanishes. Lidija is chanting. KN: Directly ahead! Something crashes into [Reflective Barrier]. But there is nothing. I squeeze my eyes. A faint second track. I go for the assault rifle and stay on the trigger for twenty seconds. Something thoroughly perforated drops outside the barrier. L: Let me do it. She chants again and the corpse mummifies while a trail of red light emerges from it to extend to her. Then the mummy converts to rainbow smoke. A trio of bags hit her in the head. L: Ouch. Do we move camp? This must have been audible for kilometers. Z: No. KN: I would very much prefer not to. We have people who may not react well to delays. And who is to say that this wont repeat itself soon? L: You mean that this world may have monsters everywhere, not just out of zones? KN: A possibility we cannot dismiss.
This is turning into a catastrophe. We are back to doing CPR. I pump. Karolna does the breathing part. That reminds me. We need to check whether the air iron rankers exhale still contains as much oxygen as with normal rankers. I use our penultimate healing potion. That does the job. After eight minutes of frantic activity we have an unconcious but breathing patient. P: I have one potion left. Chapter 3 - They fought the law ... Dean Tuckell grumbles. He has been doing that a lot lately. He would have liked to sigh. A grumble, however, will not lead to questions and awkward explanations. Doing a patrol on foot while their glorious leader is using their skimmer too small to hold them all to chase after bandits would serve as a ready reason to grumble. He is comfortable. If his family has one advantage, it is a supply of water quintessence. His oasis bracelet is charged. Walking around in the hinterland of the lake isnt a physical hardship. It is not even all that dangerous. The monsters are desert types instead of wetland types. They are still mainly iron rank. Nor are there all that many monsters left after the initial sweep they did altogether as they established their camp. If that were the case, hed at least train the newest abilities within his at long last filled up set. No, his complaints are the tedium and the company. At least his aura ability being one of his three bronze rank abilities lets him keep his feelings to himself against two fresh iron rankers, one of whom did not even have an aura ability so far.
Chodhen Geller is using all tricks of aura training his instructors so mercilessly drilled them in to retract his aura. This has the nice side effect of keeping his emotions hidden. He has made a decision. Following that spy back does make sense. A decoy does not fight to the death. Their tracker is sure that the spy came this way and he has put two people with perception powers to locate magical traps respectively locate people aiming at them on lookout. The look on the face of the mothers whose children have been taken will haunt him for the rest of his life. They cannot afford to miss this opportunity to make a surprise attack. Hence he surpresses any doubts that this trip has been taking too long and looks out into this alien wasteland, so different from the lush islands of his home.
Olutha Lassalle kicks at a clod of dried mud extra hard. It proves to still harbour a wet core. Her white boot is besmirched with wet dirt. Her hand grasping for a towel returns empty from the bag dedicated to them. The other hand forms a fist and her face crunches. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Knowing that her feelings are reflected in her uncontrolled aura and open to a commoner with a bronze rank aura power worsens the situation.
Roderick Geller is in his element. The trail is clear. He is not even aware of his aura projecting out to turn the skimmer into a whispering missile of relentless pursuit. The path is clear, yet faint. Only a few small wadis their prey jumped interrupt the track. It is almost boring. But the path as excellent and clear as it is, is growing old. He encourages his temporary team mate driving the skimmer to go faster.
Lykhas eyes have slitted pupils. Her eyes are uninhabitated for now, letting everybody around her observe them. The pupils are almost closed. The lids over her gills are not just almost closed. They are tighter than she remembers them ever being. Even the first time she stepped on land they did not press that hard into her throat. It is almost painful. Her hands feel for the oasis belts she is wearing under her armour. Sweela, her lantern familiar, is lightly undulating in front of a lateral view port. Her thoughts on the hostile, alien environment are unclear. Lykhas face is inching closer and closer to the windscreen, occasional glances going to Roderick. Her own tracking ability is for people. The idea of almost looking into the past fills her with awe. Such power in the eyes of a 15-year old human feels blasphemous. The past was like foam on a wave. Once popped it is supposed to be gone, reserved to the gods. In this place she wants to double-check the odd itch her tracking sense gives her.
Rupert Phael is projecting his [Masterful] aura as best as he can and as he has been ordered. He does not like the order, but he understands it. It does boost perception powers a bit and aura stealth with a group member without an aura power is not feasible. If he were walking in Deans boots, he might have given it, too. It still feels like an invitation to a long range bowshot, because it is exactly that. His arm holding his smaller crossbow tends to twitch up periodically. The skimmer would have a built-in oasis enchantment. He is supposed to symbolize his familys new reformed, austere toughness. So no oasis bracelet for him. Voicing his honest opinion on that would get him slapped hard enough to yeet him out of their family residence all the way to Old City and draw the ire of several deities, so he keeps mum at home, but here he mumbles wishes for his aunt to have sand in her boots and other tender places. Yes, it did make sense for the group holding the base camp to have somebody with a long range capability, lest they be pinned without ability to retaliate. His combination of Bow/Shield/Adept/Master does offer that and defensive capabilities. Yet deep down he knows that Chodhen left him here due to his family name.
The3uma Geller weakens the traction enchanment on the back segment of the skimmer a bit, letting the ass end of the vehicle swing out, pointing the propulsion ring outward. Thus the vehicle accelerates while taking a curve. If Roderick and her uncle Chodhen want speed, she will be happy to oblige. Finally having gotten her essences at the legendary age of 17 ? she just wants to get out. What is that line in the sand? Chapter 4 - In caelum surgo Gabrielle Pellin is moving through the storage rooms in the cellar of the temple of Knowledge in Greenstone. She knows where to go and what to fetch. Knowledges temples have certain standard resources in storage. She puts six skill books of the common trade language into her dimensional satchel. An acolyte with her armour recently fixed in the armoury of the holy warriors clears her throat to catch her attention. There is no need to mention the extra potions loaded into her belt. Likewise they turn together at the same time and walk up the stairs to emerge from the storage sections back door to greet the scholar from the Magic Society called upon to operate their skimmer. ?Knowledges blessings to you, scholar Clouns she declared. ?Acolyte Lorana will come with us to the dock.
KN: Nobody of you knows how to make health potions. All we have used, up to now, have either been traded, taken from defeated enemies or generated by magical means you have no control over. Do I see this correctly? P: Yes. L: That means that in theory we could wait for monsters to turn up for us to fight until we get enough health potions. Z: How long would that take? KN: Too long. So far we have gotten none at all here. P: That leaves us two options. Either we seek out concentrations of monsters or we find people to trade. Both options mean that we need to move away from this camp. Z: Not in our entirety. In fact keeping this camp defended gives us two places to fight and loot monsters at. P: It also increases our risk KN: A risk we have to accept. Our people may be running out of time. P: Very well. I can see the point. Zora, will you stay here? If so, I should take your car out of storage. I probably cannot put it back in, though. That was possible only under the special conditions of the zone. Z: I guess Ill have to stay here. Lidija cannot deal with a dog monster alone. L: It pains me to say, but you are likely right. KN: Why cant you two explore? L: I am not good enough at flying and neither of us can teleport. I am returning Zoras car and its specialty backpack. We decide that I will have to live with a photograph of the potion we seek for trading purposes, as they may need it for complications that may still arise. I also leave them half the weapons I took from the vault under the lake. Zora and Lidija already have their share of the quintessence.
Dean is pondering the display of the farseeing crystal. He ought to feel lucky to have it. You can count on the Gellers to have the money to buy the good stuff. To their credit they are not hogging it. Yet he just feels clueless on a higher level. In fact the recording and replay option just deepens his confusion. RP: That was a monster in its terminal frenzy. OL: Yes. The local essence users have stopped patroling the desert due to bandit activity. The longer we to let those bandits run around, the worse itll get. RP: True. But first we have to catch them. OL: We can catch these. Whoever they are, they do not belong here. DT: We do not attack people just because they are foreign. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. OL: So they just happen to be innocent foreigners arriving cluelessly during an operation against bandits? RP: They could be traders. OL: Without trade goods? Putting up a lonely camp with a village just a few kilometers away? DT: By the same logic they are not bandits. OL: Sooner or later we will have to find out. RP: There could be another group watching the camp with a crystal just like us. OL: So we just wait for them to find us? DT: No. We are waiting for them to show their hand.
I am leaving Argus#1 here. That removes one of my weapons, but I have gained the option of a quick retreat via a teleport beyond the line of sight. I am extending my wings. Are they worth giving up membership in my species? The question has become moot. My car becomes my armour again. This feels kind of like in Transformers. I teleport high up into the cloudless sky. Should I have done this immediately? But then those people who built a base, that got partially destroyed, under a lakebed for sure had enemies. Well, if worst comes to worst I still have a glider in my inventory. Facing away from the desert I see something that could be called a xeric steppe or a desert, or a mixture of both. This makes it clear that any immediate hope of meeting human beings will be limited to the shore of the lake. So I start lazily flapping my wings to slow my descent and do a wide turn. I cannot see the other side of the lake. What I can see, though, tells me that this lake is artificial. It is perfectly round. That is frightening. A detonation strong enough to carve this out of the ground would rival a major asteroid impact. And this is quite young. No landslides or deposits breaking up the clear shape of the coast. That makes the jetties spiking into the lake in the distance quite obvious. I have a destination.
OL: The mantis-scorpion man has wings! DT: Are they functional? OL: Ill let you know as soon . He has vanished. DT: Olutha, take my sector. This may be a distraction. I am going through the record. They switch places. DT: There he is. He teleported upwards. Looks like he was saving stamina and time. RP: If they have a teleporter, why are our people following a track? DT: Presumably because he is iron rank. If you were a competent bronze ranker, would you waste yourself on stealing from remote villagers? Any bronze rank teleporter can get a job that does not cause the Adventure Society to hunt you down. RP: You could have a Death essence. DT: Even more of a reason not to make the Adventure Society take a closer look. Olutha sighs. OL: By that logic he should not be here. Yet he is here.
Russell Clouns: Priestess, I can see how we are supposed to meet somebody. But may I ask, why? GP: They have brought important tides. My goddess wants to repay that. RC: I was wondering whether Knowledge has any plans for them or they can be, well, cooperated with. GP: You may find that discoveries without context are far less productive than you hope them to be.
RP: You mean he was here. OL: Smartarse. DT: Do you have any better idea? OL: Well, we are right next to the place the Reaper trials happened. RP: The astral space going away is exactly what triggered the troubles here. OL: That we cannot get there anymore does not mean that everybody must have the same issues. DT: This is speculation. We need to make a decision. Do we contact them? Chapter 5 - ... and the law lost. The3uma Geller sees something rising from the sand. She guns the propeller beyond safe limits and steers for the center of the obstacle. TG: Brace for impact! Chodhen feels the icile of failure ramming through his guts. A Gellers guts are not his brain. He needs to make sure their healer is protecting herself. She must stop recharging by meditation. He generates an aura pulse. Misandra Lubi is unpleasantly shocked awake. Training asserts itself. She is turning into a crystal pole. With preternaturally sharp iron rank protrusions normal rank seat belts are not built to withstand. She begins travelling on a ballistic arc. The3uma has cancelled the lifting enchantment. The vehicle is plowing into the coarse sand under it. Sand and dust are propelled into the air. A net is rising from the ground, shedding sand. She reverses the polarity of the lift effect and hits the rudder to its maximum angle. Metal is screaming. Glas shatters. It rudely stops the vehicle short of the net. But not all of its riders. A crystal pillar ends up in the net. A shadowy figure passes through a door. Lykha cries out as her arm breaks, the thud of the vehicle hitting a rock drowning the sound. Ambushers rise out of the sand, ritual circles hiding their auras breaking up. Arrows and bolts of force and fire rip holes into the wreck. A man-shaped missile erupts through the remnants of the windscreen. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
She senses the magic of the car shattering. She clings to the last vestiges to keep the vehicle upright, shifting the reversed vector of push to the side fighting the tilting momentum. The engine rips itself apart at being stopped with brutal suddenness. Where has that beam her head is connecting to come from?
Chodhen rolls over the ground already clad in a conjured armour. He has taken two force bolts. The small boulder he ends up behind is offering only partial protection. His cousin rises out of his shadow and throws a ball of death at the archer shooting at them. The archer blurs and dodges. CG: Flee. RG: But CG: We cannot fight ourselves out of this. Urg He takes a fireball to the helmet. CG: Shit. Somebody needs to run for help. Roderick vanishes into the shadow. Chodhen''s aura is rudely surpressed. The culprit is bronze rank. Chodhen conjures his halberd. His opponent is also carrying a spear. A sword is hanging from his hip. Chodhen advances feinting to the legs and going for the head. His oppent blocks. They start circling. He hears the characteristic sound of Lykha starting a whirlwind. A distraction should not be wasted. Chodhen uses his time acceleration power. That triggers the same in his opponent. A bronze ranker''s use of [Eternal Moment] lasts twice as long. Chodhen once again finds something rammed into his guts. This time an absolutely solid dagger, whose bronze rank special attack was strong enough to pry opens his fauld. In addition to solidity it also brings a curse with it. His conjured hatchets of light are countered by a defensive spin of the spear. The spear hits him in the groin, where his armour features only mail. Chodhen collapses in agony. The bronze ranker takes his time. ?For my son he whispers.
Lykha is dragging the dazed The3uma out of the wreck finally burning from taking enough [Fire Bolts]. Her ghost sharks keep the attackers away. To her relief the impact has torn a door off on the side that should allow the wreck to serve as cover. She is too distracted to notice the net hidden under the sand she is stepping onto. Chapter 6 - Cogito, ergo volo A good landing needs proper energy management. Well, no, whom do I aim to bullshit? The sky is too blue and cloudless, the sun is too majestic and the lakes blue surface too inviting to rush this by going into a dive and actively breaking. Besides I need to deliberate a bit. How do I want to continue? I have become a killer. Do I want to stay on this course? Can I deviate? There will be monsters to handle. I doubt that these lands are full of peaceful philosophers eating lotus fruit. In fact, what is so enticing about lotus fruits? Or am I misremembering classical poetry? Are there people down there? There certainly were. Yet in a world with magic I cannot be sure that what looks like a wooden jetty in good repair is in fact what it looks like. Where are the pleasure craft this lake is worthy of? Nor have sea monsters eaten them. I do see fishing boats moored on the shore. Fishing boats that should be out and C well C be fishing. For fish, which people eat. Is fishing very seasonal here? If so, where are the people that ought to be out doing maintainance to boats and nets? That is the problem with contemplative moods. Your brain keeps racing in circles driven by a lack of facts. I am not sold on the big benefits of introspection. There! Ive spotted the houses belonging to the jetty. They are beyond a fairly large boulder, that ends abruptly at the lake shore. And a faint column of smoke. People are alive down there. I am going to slowly circle down. I need to appear benevolent. Swooping in like a raptor is not a good idea. I would not like to appear harmless, as that might encourage them to seek transactions I would not benefit from. So I hope theyll notice me.
Malkro smashes the door open. ?Malkro, I told you not to smash the door and to take of your shoes when you ?Adventurer in the sky! His mother drops her broom. ?Go for your father! Tell him well be in the cellar. She starts heading upstairs.
Ive altered course. And I should have noticed earlier. No power lines. No telephone lines. Underground to avoid monster damage? Possible, but I doubt it. They may have regressed to a pretechnological civilization after what dug out the lake. But the bunker under the lake had been built with an air lock. A last holdout of technological civilization after a cataclysmic war?
Yesklo is hoping that his son is calming down in his presence. He would like to put a hand on his shoulder, but he is operating the heliographic mirror with two hands. This message must get through. ?Father, why are they not answering? ?What do you think, Malkro? Beside the obvious reason that they are not alert. ?Oh, I get it! The enemy might notice it and then he would be warned. ?Exactly. That is the reason well go down after the next few repetitions. He is not supposed to know that we have a heliograph. ?And then? ?Well assemble in the yard for net repairs, as usual. ?We? ?The men. And yes, you can come with us. We want to have as few people in the cellars as possible. So we reserve them for the women. ?Men need to be ready to fight. ?Fighting an adventurer means that you are either foolish or desperate. No, our women are in a danger you and me are not. That is why we assemble on the outskirts of the village, too. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Malkros ancestry and days spent on a boat rather than indoors both giving him a healthy tan fail to hide his deep blush.
I need to face the hard question. If they have potions, but do not want to trade, am I ready to take them by force? Tentatively I think the answer needs to be negative. I cannot start my life in a new universe by becoming an outlaw. Yes, this is selfish. I decide to land in the square in the center of the village that also holds the well.
Yesklo nods to his neighbor Heplo, the only man with an essence in their village. They do not want to fight. Yet for some reason people still have a lot of bats, knives and even a scythe with them. Heplo still has the spyglass pressed to his eye. ?This adventurer is not human. In fact I have no idea, what he is. He or I suppose she C I have no idea how to tell for sure C looks like somebodys dad got to know a scorpion very well. People actually snicker a little at that.
I set down in the square. It is empty. It seems people are assembling outside the village. I have been noticed. Yet rushing a first contact is not a good idea. From their perspective I am an alien. I should demonstrate peaceful intent. I conjure a low table and go into a meditative position.
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 2 (49%)
[Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 2 (2%)
[This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 2 (42%)
[Chemical Warfare] Defiance Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (5%)
[Hyperkinetic Cannon] Gun Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (11%)
Vast:
[Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 1 (55%)
[Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 2 (36%)
[Nebelwerfer 42] Focus Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (4%)
[Arsenal of the Mad Scientist] Magotech Special Ability Iron 2 (19%)
[Eldritch Eyes] Water Special Ability & Attack Iron 1 (0%)
Dimension:
[Teleport] Special Ability Bronze 0 (0%)
[Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 3 (11%)
[Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 1 (61%)
[Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 2 (60%)
[Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 1 (70%)
Battlefield:
[Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 3 (17%)
[Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 2 (12%)
[Pipes of War] Unity Special Ability Iron 1 (35%)
[Cornucopia] Feast Special Ability Iron 0 (41%)
[Feast of Decontamination] Light Special Ability Iron 0 (77%)
That has been fast.
Heplo: Did you repeat the message? Yesklo: Over a dozen times. Heplo: Then well assume that time is working in our favour. Yesklo: We wait? Heplo: For now. We cannot risk him getting the idea of searching our homes. Yesklo nods grimly. Chapter 7 - Approaches Dean has come to a decision. They need to act while the subjects of their attention are divided. DT: Now or never. RP: Very well. But what? Dean hesitates. DT: We cannot attack without evidence or provocation. OL: I dont like it, but I agree. So what do we do? DT: We send an envoy. Dean hesitates again. OL: Ill go. No need to elaborate. RP: You volunteer? OL: Sure. We cannot send our misseleer. We cannot send our commander. Therefore
Pavol is waking up. His wife is checking his vitals. They are quietly talking. Zora and Lidija are standing watch. Z: Do you believe we are no longer on Earth? L: Two moons. What is there to doubt? Z: We are seeing lights in the sky. That need not mean that they are really there. L: But what reason would Karolina have to cooperate with him? Z: Does she? L: My aura sense are better than yours. She believes what she is saying. Z: No, I meant, they have a tendency to be too trusting. They do not consider trickery. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. L: Fair enough. Ill keep my eyes open. Though, who would profit from tricking us? Z: That would be the big question.
Dean is drawing a silver circle in the air with a finger of his right hand. DT: I am sending you in alone, but I am not sending you unaided. OL: I appreciate that. A bear-like creature with a lot of metal spikes is stepping out of the circle. Dean points at Olutha. DT: Guard her. If she flees, stay back and stop pursuers. If she tells you to cease fighting, heed her command until she takes it back. DT: Rupert, stay vigilant. I am going to watch her and I mean myself exclusively. This may be a trap. RP: Understood
Roderick Geller is hiding in the crown of a sagewood tree. He is utterly exhausted. He had been running for hours until he found a tree with a dense crown and strong smell. He has been using a camouflage ability, which turns out to be even more useful to prey than to a hunter. He figures that pursuers would expect him to hide in a cave or a thicket. The aura he sensed at the ambush site was bronze rank. If his efforts to obfuscate his traces have failed, he will die. He does not allow himself to think back to his cousins last stand, whose slow death bought him the time to get away.
Russell Clouns is letting the skimmer run with wild abandon. With a priestess of Knowledge in your vehicle you need not worry about hitting an unseen obstacle in the river. He has even rerouted the mana flow from the stabilizers to propulsion leading to a slowly undulating ride with not infrequent sprays of river water when an especially high wave triggered by an exceptional stormy day in the delta and an especially deep dip of the bow coincide. Besides, causing a priestess to barf would be fun. She has requested the best possible speed. Hers is to suffer the consequences. RC: I am afraid I cannot tell you how fast we are. Taking the regulators offline and putting all power into the drive has disabled the speedometer. GP: It is fast enough. Believe me. Her facial expression would have made him laugh out loud, which was why he dilligently observed their trajectory. RC: Priestess, I am no theologian, yet a question is on my mind. GP: Curiosity is a virtue. RC: How come a member of the clergy of Knowledge is in a hurry on an official mission? GP: In general Knowledge does not see the future, hence if a low probability event happens, Knowledge needs to react like everybody else. RC: I see. I could reroute power from the lateral stabilizers. GP: NO! That will not be necessary. She gulps audibly. GP: In this case, however, we are affected by another theological limitation. Gods see only what is happening on their world. We are going to meet an outworlder. RC: Fascinating! GP: Indeed. RC: The second in a few years in this region. GP: Outworlders are not randomly distributed. They predominantly go to places the barrier to the astral is weakened. In this case they arrived at Sky Scar Lake.
Olutha is trying to appear confident and relaxed approaching the suspicious camp. An awful dinging noise greets her. Chapter 8 - Et verba pacis ferrens timeor First Contact is a trope in Science Fiction. Those stories are based on suppositions. They quite universally suggest patience. None of those authors have been sitting in an empty market square for almost two hours. I dont want to be here at night. I get up. I hesitate. How peaceful should I be? In the end I am not ready to die to facilitate this exchange. I will knock on doors, instead of breaking them down and I will flee if attacked. But I must prepare for an ambush. I retrieve my wand and a flashlight.
Malkro uses the gestures that indicate that the intruder is becoming active. Heplo picks up a piece of wood beyond what you could call a stick. It deserves to be called a beam. He has the Might essence and the [Mighty Strength] ability. Malkro is sliding down from his spy post on a roof. Malkro: He has entered the cooking house. Heplo: I see. How long until the message arrives? Yesklo: Long past. The question is how far the patrol was from us, when they got it. Worst case is about three hours from reception. So about one and a half hours in the worst case until theyll be here. Heplo: Too long. Ill meet him. Heplo has two daughters; thirteen and eleven years old. Nobody is present to object. Malkro climbs up to his post again.
This is no home. The building is one big room with ovens in it. The lack of a proper door should have been a sign that this is nobodys personal dwelling. I wanted to knock on doors. I did not consider what to do without a wooden door to knock on. Something is off, though. I cannot quite Of course! What do these ovens operate on? Where would you put the firewood? Where are the chimneys? I should analyze this. I bring out my probe. I should have done this earlier. Am I growing soft in the head? Well, being transformed into another species, temporarily given the powers of a demigod and being reduced to an unattached soul in an unholy ritual is a reason to take a nice, long vacation. So this is a magical oven. That tells me that this world still commands magic. Does it matter right now? There may be no logical connection, but Ive had enough. I extend my aura as far as it will go. That feels easier than it used to be. And that really means that my CPU cooler is down, figuratively speaking. I should have scanned myself long ago.
Race: Outworlder
Current rank: Iron 0
Progress to bronze: 7.5%
Racial Abilities:
[Fighter in the Clouds]
[Pantry of Poisonous Horror]
[Instinctive Aim]
[Master of the Unholy Aura]
[Astral Consumer]
[War will feed itself]
Power Gun Iron 1
Speed Battlefield Iron 0
Spirit Dimension Iron 1
Recovery Vast Iron 1
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Now that is interesting. More interesting than some ovens for sure. But playing an alien in the middle of a village of reclusive people is not an apt opportunity for extensive autoanalysis.
Heplo is sneaking through the village, keeping close to buildings and stepping softly. Obviously this is stupid. Adventurers have an aura sense. Heplo knows that much, even though he has only one essence. Besides he wants to stall the intruder by talking, which requires him to be noticed. Still, his instincts scream at him to sneak. They have sent a man to each road leading into the village to warn approaching travellers and update the patrol, when it finally arrives. More cannot be done, it is up to him now. He steps onto the market square.
Rod Geller has spent a rough night in his tree, alarmed at every sound in the night, fighting to keep his aura confined, but not retracted, as it masked his scent and sounds he might make. By virtue of his Dark essence the night is his. Unfortunately it is not his alone. A Geller will not ignore clear clues just to enjoy familiar ways. The net was bronze rank. The ambushers had excellent stealth. Other people have Dark essences, too. He would not survive pitting an iron rank Dark essence against a bronze rank Dark essence. He must use superior training. That means operating in an adverse environment; meaning during daylight for him. Gods bless Geller family procedures. He is carrying contour maps of this area and enough spirit coins to sustain him for a few weeks in his dimensional satchel. He needs to pick a route. No. Premature. He needs to pick a destination. Their enemy knew their base camp for sure. He laid a false track and a trap. He did not choose the site by random chance. Warning his comrades Chodhen has left behind is not an option. He has to consider them captured or dead and wandering into their base camp would be useless at best and fatal at worst.
This house has two entrances. I suppose this part of this world does not fear winters harsh enough to justify heating concerns in a house of one big room full of ovens. And I feel a bit of remorse. If they wanted to cook dinner here, I have definitely shattered their plans. I cant help it. Storming into their city like a madman on drugs would not have helped either. And we need potions. The construction of these buildings is interesting. Columns of bricks with horizontal wooden beams forming a lattice filled with something related to wattle and daub, the whole thing whitewashed. Well, once whitewashed. I knock at a door, even though according to my aura senses, this building is empty. Now, if they still have magic, could they have rituals for masking their auras or blocking my aura? I really strain to push out my aura and close my eyes for concentration. There is somebody behind me! I wheel around. A bit premature. That person wasnt camouflaged but at the edge of my range. I overreacted a bit. Anyway, this person looks more productive an approach than staring at an empty house. I walk around the corner with all four hands slightly raised to demonstrate that I am holding no weapons. Well, the wand is just a thought away in my storage and my armour should protect me.
Gedlo, Morro and Paklo entrust their exhausted heidels to the villager who waited for them. G: Spread out formation. We go in directly. He can fly. Hence we need to surprise him by speed. Capture, if possible. But dont put yourself into danger. In silence they are entering the village.
The man is surprised to see me. He looks human. At least we are not dealing with the rise of another species after mankind and allied species would have exterminated themselves on this world. I dont want to alarm him any further. So I extend my aura to sense his emotions. The man seems to have one essence only. He is speaking. Thats a lot of words in a language I dont know. I answer in my native language. His facial expression is a testament to incomprehension. I wouldnt need aura sense for that. Nor does he recognise the language. I try again in English. He speaks again, slower and clearer this time: Lap kert? That is no language I recognise. Presumably it means something like ?What do you want? or ?Who are you?, but presumptions are not helping anybody now. He speaks again: Lan mit? Lan hu mit? Morro: Telekinetic aura! He is projecting! Gedlo: Take him out! I throw myself to a side. An arrow grazes my flank and the shaft shatters on my armour. I go into [Eternal Moment]. One of my attackers mirrors that. And he throws a spear that just appeared in his hand. This time I am up to the task. I grab the missile telekinetically. A metaphysical pushing match ensues. I win. The spear is deflected and ends up in a wooden beam of one of the houses around the square. This is useless as well as highly dangerous. I teleport away. Heplo: I live here! Dont kill me! Gedlo: Stand down! Hes gone. Gedlo: Good thinking. Paklo: What was that? Morro: What? You mean ?who? That was an essence user. No monster has an aura like that. Paklo: No. I mean his race. If that was an illusion, why not use something less obvious? Gedlo: Later. First we check on the villagers. Chapter 9 - Interaction Roderick Geller is sneaking among boulders on a hillside taking a detour towards the road between Sky Scar Lake and the delta, in as far as you could call that a road. He is too young to grow much of a beard. His gear is enchanted or conjured. It is dirty, but not chaffed. His hair and face show the signs of the voyage, mainly dust, sand and sweat. His eyes are clear, yet detached. His face, indifferent. From time to time he vanishes in the shadow of a boulder to reemergence hundreds of meters ahead. The sinking sun provides shadows aplenty. In between he advances with a loping gait. He has been using the mornings and afternoons to cover a lot of ground. The first day he ran all day long, keeping himself fresh with spirit coins, forgoing water. In theory an essence user can substitute spirit coins for water indefinitely. In practice at Iron 0 that would require great wealth. The nights, who had been his friend, he has since been spending under the protection of a concealing ritual. He does not question the continued need for his caution. He does not question anything since what he calls the slaughter to himself.
Lykha awakens from a sensation a human would call a tingle. Somebody has emptied a bucket of water over her. It will preserve her skin, but disgustingly it is sweet water. She can feel the lack of salt. She keeps her gills closed. With a collar on and chained to the ground, she can do nothing but stare at the person in the cloak observing her, for they are alone in this dungeon room. Her head hurts, not from the bolt of force hitting she got on it as they were captured, but from her mana reserves being spent during their capture and not replenishing due to the collar. Her kind is not thought of well among the other races of Pallimustus. She does not care to correct the general misunderstandings about her race. Yes, they are emotional, but no, that is not the reason they do not build cities. They just do not have the instincts to cooperate outside a small group. To work for the status these races care so much about, tricking themselves into thinking that they are working for money. She feels a desire to kill to avenge Chodhen, whose aura she felt winking out of existance. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Olutha Lassalle does not stop, ignoring the obvious alarm. The plan calls for her to be noticed and she is not going to give people she does not trust any more time to effectively respond to an alarm than she has to. She does stretch out her hands to her sides with the palms turned downwards as is customary for a envoy. Two women holding halberds like you would hold a stick confront her. Draconians, even if they are on the short side for Draconians, are intimidating. However, what is the other one? Even if this were an illusion, why not pick a real species? L: Whatever that metal style bear is, it has a strange aura. It is neither a monster nor an essence user Z: Stop talking! We need to secure the camp! L: No, we do not, this wont be a lone wanderer. We need to flee or handle this peacefully. Zora says nothing. L: Hello! Greetings to you. We have come in peace. Z: How about you also do the Vulcan greeting? L: Stay serious. Z: Yes, if we stay serious, one of us better watch out for other intruders using this distraction. L: Well, you do that then. They are speaking an alien tongue. They are nervously glancing at her fergax summons, having taken up a position a few meters behind and to the side of her ready to pounce. A derisive sound is building up in Oluthas long, yet delicate, finely chiseled nose. But it would be wrong to let oneself be disarmed with hilarity. ?Good stealth, boys. You got them from behind. You can take the lizard lady first. She looks like she has a lot of fire inside her. - No reaction. Any woman would have reacted to that. They really dont understand a word. Yet they are essence users. Even her very limited aura senses pick that up. Z: Whom is she yelling at? L: I think she subscribes to the idea that foreigners understand you, if only you talked loud enough. Zora produces the potion vial and a monster core. She makes a motion of slowly extending the hand with the core and pulling the hand with the potion towards herself. Olutha would have almost attacked as objects appeared in the Draconians hands. That looks like a pantomime. An offer to exchange stuff? This is above her pay grade. She raises her hand and performs a sign to call her team mates in, not talking her eyes off the strangers, just in case. Chapter 10 - Sine rete pescor Ive rematerialized at the shore of the lake at the place I first touched land. If asked for my motives for picking this place, Id answer that I cannot risk leading enemies back to our camp. I have no idea whether teleportations can be traced or followed. Deep down I dont want to return as a failure. I have failed. Not only have I not gotten even a single potion, but Ive wasted time. Ive alerted the local essence users to our presence. And Ive seen no other member of my race, so if they have a system to distribute reports, Ill end up on a list of enemies. Now what? Well have to shift camp. And we need an alternate source of potions. And that is the point I need to kick myself. I have not searched the boxes I gathered from the vault I arrived in for potions. I really need a vacation.
A veritable hoard of awakening stones and essences, but no potions. Who puts identical books into strong boxes with enchantments for preservation? I would have understood standardized sets prepackaged for shipping, but identical books? [Robotic Servants of War] reacts to these books. They are skill books. The sun is touching the horizon now. A glorious sight. A sight that drives one to contemplation. Do we have evidence that potions exist on this world at all? That is a sobering thought. Could we loot potions on a world that natively lacks them? Does my looting power truly operate at random? What could it depend on? The monsters I loot? The way Ive killed them? The phase of the moons? OK, lets stay serious. We need those potions. If I cannot trade for them I will upgrade and experiment. If I am lucky, these will be books on potion brewing. I conjure myself a roofed cylinder with an internal rim with holes for massive pins holding it to the beach. And ventilation holes. I have no idea what will happen to me if I use a skill book of that size. I am sitting on the ground holding a book in the light of an electrical flashlight. Ive decided to start with one of the books from a chest, because if I botch this, there will be copies left. Frankly I am nervous. I hesitate. I should be optimally prepared for this. I will spend a good part of the night here anyway. There is no need to hurry. Meditation brings calm.
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 2 (49%)
[Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 2 (4%)
[This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 2 (48%)
[Chemical Warfare] Defiance Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (5%)
[Hyperkinetic Cannon] Gun Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (11%)
Vast:
[Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 1 (55%)
[Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 2 (36%)
[Nebelwerfer 42] Focus Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (4%)
[Arsenal of the Mad Scientist] Magotech Special Ability Iron 2 (26%)
[Eldritch Eyes] Water Special Ability & Attack Iron 1 (9%)
Dimension:
[Teleport] Special Ability Bronze 0 (0%)
[Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 3 (13%)
[Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 1 (74%)
[Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 2 (62%)
[Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 1 (80%)
Battlefield:
[Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 3 (23%)
[Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 2 (14%) The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
[Pipes of War] Unity Special Ability Iron 1 (35%)
[Cornucopia] Feast Special Ability Iron 0 (41%)
[Feast of Decontamination] Light Special Ability Iron 0 (77%)
I am drawing this out, because I am afraid to fail again. Screw this. I eat a spirit coin and absorb the book. I am sitting with my back to the wall. This book needs an exorcist. I wouldnt need my flashlight. This has no relation to reading under a blanket at night. The book itself is shining and throwing out sparks, which form a cloud. I dont like this, but I have no idea how a malfunctioning skill book would look like or what I would do against it other than teleporting away. I switch the flashlight off. It has become useless. A big, but silent ball of glowing shapes has filled up the interior of my shelter and the book tumbled to the ground. What do I do now? It turns out that I need to do nothing. The cloud slams into my head. I moan. My eyes explode into tears. Though I am not needing them right now. Darkness has fallen. I switch the flashlight back on to check that I havent gone blind. I havent, but the light hurts. This is a hangover on steroids. I remember my college days, well, nights and mornings.
Skill books are better and faster than alcohol in their aftereffects. It feels rather odd to know something without knowing why I know it. Or, strictly speaking, I know why, but I dont remember learning it. This skill book tells me what my knowledge is called. I have learned ?the Way of the Hunter of the Way of the Reaper. Cool name. I have to admit it. It has no connection to potions, though. I will have to do an investigation of looting powers.
I have scratched some signs into the ground at various places in the area. That makes it simple to aim my teleport. You should always have a means of retreat. Escepially when you plan to fight unknown monsters. We are in another universe, after all. Ive decided to wait for the sun to really rise for better light and that will also allow me to record the timing of dawn, so we can measure the height of the sun at noon and try to compute where we are. I am hoping that monsters inhabit this lake and that they are less mobile on land. I intend to attract them with monster meat appropriate to their environment. I still have some diced tentacles from -our foray with the EOA in storage. Waiting for dawn I am stringing them onto a conjured string. To train multitasking I am also making a set of eyes from my venom that I still have in storage.
These dumb monsters are indeed falling for the dummy I have conjured. They look like a crab and a shark got initimately involved. Four of them have gone for the bait. They are slow on land, as they cannot make big strides without entangling their own legs. Maybe they should walk sideways like some crabs do, but I am not going to complain about an enemy doing something stupid. Still, one them must be fastest, even if you cannot call it fast, and follows the string to its conclusion, opening its maw wide to chomp down on my puppet holding the string. That exposes the interior of its mouth. My venomous eyes go onto a suicide mission. The monsters mouth closes prematurely and belatedly. There is no need to wait for the effect. I use [Wrath of the Magister] to hit the hindmost monster with frostfire. My new knowledge comes handy. I come out of teleport over a monster, as the spike of a helbard Ive taken out of my inventory digs into the weak point where its eye stalk emerges out of its dorsal armour. I run down its back towards the one behind it and give it a full salvo of fully automatic gun fire. It drops dead. The one-eyed one starts turning on the spot. Supernatural aim lets me use one of the functions of a spear that increases its range advantage even more. You can throw it. The one-eyed one becomes the eyeless one. It veers of course. I use my second helbard and smash a joint. The rest degenerates into butchery. But I want to use dfferent weapons on each of them. The one I poisoned does yield a healing potion. And the butchered one does give meat. You cannot do statistics from a sample size of one, but in theory I could repeat this if we ran out of other options. We havent set a clear time limit, which in hindsight is another serious oversight, but I feel like it is time to return to base. I teleport. Chapter 11 - Sepultura adventura For some reason the cold air of the morning does not affect me while I am flying. For once there is a cloud in the sky and a few patches of fog obscure the ground. So I enjoy doing lazy circles in the sky waiting for the morning sun to banish shadows and mists on the ground. Again I have been stupid. Why did I go into melee combat with a monster without engaging [Giant Form of the Ancestors]? Even if I figured too much mana consumption I could have used [Cornucopia]. Am I subconciously keeping as many aces as possible in my sleeves? Or have I been told that my abilities are not fitting together so often that I heed that more than they actually do play together? Or have I just formed bad habits as a civilian draftee? I will need to sit down and plan one day soon. What is that? Zora is joining me.
Dean Tuckell is pacing. A night having been spent tossing and turning does not leave his eyes red thanks to closing in on bronze rank in his recovery attribute, but it does not improve his mood. DT: Rupert, is at least the tea coming along? RP: Sorry, I just started the kettle. I couldnt find the heating stone. Aristocrats and big city adventurers might live on spirit coins in the field, but under his command people would not eat money for convinience. Besides, that stuff tasted like substances best not mentioned in polite company. Although, of course, the presumably polite part of his present company would not understand anything he mentioned, be it politely worded or prone to make a seaman blush. That is exactly the main source of his difficulties. DT: The rest of breakfast? RP: As I said, I am using the heating stone for tea. Ill fry the eggs while the tea is brewing. He blesses his iron 6 rank and the mentality of a Geller, to whom inherent rank overrules aristocratic rank every time. It lets him make an aristocrat practice proper field cooking. DT: Olutha, how far have language lessons gone? OL: They can count to twenty and know a few nouns. For some reason they insist on learning the script at the same time. DT: No way to tell them why we need to leave? OL: Nope, no way DT: Just great
We are soaring together. Z: We have traded for potions and we have company. P: What? Z: A few minutes after you left somebody went into our camp. They were watching us. P: That is surprising and troubling. Who is it? Z: Who are they. She has had two friends. That we know of. P: Did they say what they want? Z: Probably. We cannot tell. We have no language in common. P: Wonderful. How did you trade? Z: We showed them the potion and put monster cores on the ground. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. P: Good news. Lets land. We need to revive everybody as soon as possible.
RP: Where is she going? DT: Watch the eggs! OL: The mantis-scorpion man has returned. He is circling above this camp. RP: We can hope that they sent him away because he knows a language somebody else knows. OL: I wouldnt count on it. Look at them. These people are from a place very, very far away. DT: Unfortunately that is highly plausible. RP: The eggs are done.
We are landing and Zora calls everybody together. PN: Lets start with the children, then my mother and the researcher last. Z: I agree. Children in sequence of age? KN: Yes, the oldest first. It takes half an hour and Zora had to be held back, but Stjepan is back with us. Weve agreed to wait for Karolna to check him to the best of her abilities before going on.
OL: What were they doing? DT: The boy definitely came out of his storage space and he had no aura. RP: At least we now know why they needed health potions so badly. That means he has more of them in storage. OL: Yes, it does. But that means that he is raising the dead. Are you sure he is iron rank? DT: Yes RP: Yes OL: Then they have made a breakthrough. Maybe in potions? Something that makes you dead and not dead at the same time? RP: That has a sound I do not like. What is his confluence? DT: Not Undeath. I sensed it once. His essences are unusual. Have you ever heard of a place with different essences? OL: No. RP: No.
L: So you were met with an instantly hostile reception in the village you visited. P: Yep. They tried to shoot me in the back, as a matter of fact. L: Racists, I am going to assume. P: That the only other man of my race be a criminal to be shot on sight is too unlikely to consider. Z: Sure, you two have it worse than everybody else. L: Yeah sure, we are ready to go on, Captess Bleigh. We bring back Karolnas and Pavols son Adam. Stjepan is still not awake. We must assume that hell sleep the rest of the day. As we ought to join our, well, guests in posting watches during the night, this is not as bad as it may sound to a parent. L: Is it just me or are our visitors getting nervous? Z: Let them. I want my daughter back. P: I would be happier if we clearly outnumbered them. Z: If wishes could fly, we OK, yes, I get it. Still, can we go on? P: Do you want our medic to be in top form? Z: Yes, we can wait a few minutes more.
RP: We could just pack very visibly in order to obviously leave. Theyll follow. DT: With unconcious children around? In fact, they may be happy to see us go. They have no clue about our intentions. RP: We can hope that the bandits are preemptively already running from the Gellers. They all stop and look away, now that one of them has straight up said what they all had been thinking. RP: They may have just lost the second skimmer, too. OL: No. Say it like it is. The3uma is not Misandra. That woman was born to pilot skimmers. She does know what can happen if you get a sand elemental sucked into your engine. If they are not back by now, it is due to enemy action. DT: They may have been taken hostage. RP: No way. OL: Dean, you are not an aristocrat. If a Geller dies in the field, that is the fate of adventurers. But taking one of them hostage, that would amount to declaring war on House Geller. Youd get the Time Witch in a foul mood coming for you. She is gold rank now. Another round of glum silence. Dean starts pacing again.
We have Natalija back. Zora lets me cradle her, while she is holding her son. Have we saved Earth? Maybe. There is no way for us to verify that claim. These children are alive and one of them is warm in my lower pair of arms. Whatever happens now is in a certain sense only an addition. I am no longer a complete failure. This is turning into a catastrophe. We have used both healing powers. I have triggered a decontamination multiple times. We have used a potion. We have been doing CPR for an hour. We tried putting her back into my storage space. It failed the second time, after we had a single heart beat. Her heart just wont keep beating. Karolna has intubated her, so we have Zora pumping on the bag. Karolna is now even trying in situ cordial stimulation. OL: What are these barbarians doing? They have cut her open! DT: Stand back, they are trying to save her. Desperately and failing. Karolna stumbles back. Her hands are bloody up to the elbows. The ground is littered with used syringes. Her husband catches her and leads her away. P: I am teleporting to the lake. We will need more water. Zora is just sitting there. Chapter 12 - Messages Vincent Trenslow is riding slowly. Not too slow, but slower than he usually would. Appropriately slow. He has taken care to polish his badge and his boots. This early in the morning the air still is cool and the sky looks huge, the deltas pervasive humidity reduced to levels average elsewhere. Not that he minds that much. He has stopped sweating. He is remaining alert. The monster surge could begin at any time now and precursor signs are common, so he extends his aura. Though he will not allow himself to be delayed on this mission unless an immediate danger demands a like response.
The3umas concussion has gotten better. She is preparing herself for a fight as she hears the door open. The ritual circle burned into the door prevents it from transmitting sound that would allow her to listen to her captors outside. A person in a dark brown robe with a large hood enters her cell. He knows exactly how much slack her chain allows her. He is standing right at the edge, where she could barely touch him, but not fight effectively. He just stands there for twenty minutes. ?What do you want? He remains silent. Her collar blocks her aura perception, yet by his posture and his clasped hands she deems him a man, his features obscured by a hood. After an hour he departs without a word.
At a Geller household an official of the Adventure Society does not need to wait without good reason. At least a competent official. There is a reason Vincent has been given this task. Two fresh iron rankers lead him to a whitewashed bungalow from which he can detect a politely restrained silver rank aura that still shows a slight instability from a recent advance. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Ernest Geller greets him politely. EG: Tea? VT: Yes, please. In his experience beverages calm strong emotions. He always accepts such offers at these occasions, though he does not expect an outburst here. EG: I see that you have polished your badge even more than usually. Who? VT: Chodhen. Only him. We have waited to confirm that it is only him. A slight pause. Ernest Geller sets down his cup with slightly more force than necessary making it audible even to normal rank ears. The fresh trainees waiting before the door must have heard it. EG: A leader stands before his team. In advance and in retreat. That is very controlled even by Vincents standards. He feels at a loss to come up with an apt answer. The pause is drawing uncomfortably long. VT: Yes. EG: Has the Adventure Society decided to react? VT: No. It has been decided that a Geller team will deliver a report that will allow us to act decisively. The affair has just dramatically increased in importance, but not urgency. EG: You mean with Bahadirs contest having pushed so much money into the area a period of banditry is inevitable? VT: I am afraid so, yes. They need to be taken out spectacularly. EG: Very well. We will have to discuss this in the family. I will keep you updated. VT: I see. And by the way, congratulations on your new rank. EG: Thank you, Mr. Trenslow
Lykha is struggling as a man with the strength of a mid bronze rank is relentlessly pushing her to a tub. His recording crystal is hovering in the edge of the room, well outside her range. He pushes her head into the liquid. There is no point in delaying the inevitable at this point. She lets the prickly sweet water flow through her gills.
Vincent draws a looting ritual around the dead barbed tongue frog. He is happy about the distraction the monster gave him. Chapter 13 - E papyris sapientia trahitur Ive returned with a big tub of lake water and am dropping water purification tablets into it. A weird thought crosses my mind. Could I sue the manufacturer if they dont work against parasites from another universe? Probably not. And the camping supply shop I bought them from surely never envisaged where their product would be used. I need to find Lidija. I get that this was shocking, but it is not over. We still have one more in my storage. L: She was old. That must be the reason. P: There is no evidence for that. Maybe, maybe not. For all we know the time one can stay in that state is limited, even in my storage space. L: Very well, lets talk to Zora and then well do it. KN: That cannot hurt. I am ready. P: I am sorry. KN: No, you are right. We have duties. I can. Later. Afterwards. We make it with difficulty. Unlike Lidija or Zora, Jan stays unconcious.
Dean stops pacing. DT: I have come to a decision. We need to do both. RP: What are you referring to? DT: We need to report the circumstances of this clusterfuck. I do not want to explain to a Geller silver ranker why we didnt react to our team mates vanishing. I could justify retreating, but not just doing nothing. OL: Unfortunately you are right. DT: But we cannot just flee either. OL: We absolutely can. Sorry to be the one who just says it like it is, but whoever defeated a group of five adventurers with three Gellers on it will defeat us. RP: Unfortunately she is right. Dean gives him a flat look. DT: People, we are adventurers. We have found a group of strangers. Unknown races and unknown essences. With small children present. Do you want to explain to Adventure Society officials why you left them behind? RP: Shit OL: I am afraid I have to point out that the dead do not explain anything to anybody either. DT: Yes. We have to shift camp, even if we have to physically drag them to a new site. And we need to report to the Adventure Society. OL: Splitting the group got us into this shit in the first place. DT: You dont know that. We three may just be alive now because Misandra broke the second skimmer. OL: Fine. Dean stays silent. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. OL: Let me guess who gets to walk back to Greenstone. The response is an evil grin. DT: Rupert, we need to record these people for the Magic Society. RP: I left the recorder and the crystals at our old camp site. DT: Then go get them. In fact, pack it all up. DT: Olutha, you go with him.
Zora is testing her vehicle for its off-road quality, while I use the time to upgrade myself. The second time is if not easy at least less frightening. I intend to convert my car into an ambulance for unconcious people, so if I want a nice place to safely suffer a book hangover, it must be now.
Dean is alarmed. Sure, he wants these aliens to move, but preferably to a site he picks and eventually to Greenstone. Them getting into vehicles is not what he wants right now. The only one concious and available is the horned woman with the bat wings. They end up staring at each other in mutual incomprehension. Perhaps he can use another explanation. These people have an unreasonable affinity to writing. He gets his map out of its protective bag. Lidija is surprised and angry. That fellow is carrying a map and gets the idea of showing it to them only now? Unfortunately she is on watch, but she is also the niece and granddaughter of sailors. Her room back at home has a poster of Captain Jack Sparrow and of course this has nothing to do with Johnnys looks. This is very important. She tries that aura alarm things they discussed.
Shit. Lidija is giving me an aural warning. Ive just learned ?The Way of the Hierophant and my head is pounding. L: I need to stand watch. This guy is showing me something terribly important. I nod. A map. That guy is holding a map! I conjure a table with integrated sun shades and a few paperweights.
Dean is shocked. Either that guy is sick or he is doing drugs in his vehicle. There is no alcohol to be smelled. What is he doing? At least he is cooperative. L: Are you OK? P: I just used a magic item I had in storage. A bit of an aftereffect. Itll soon pass. L: OK. I am going to look at his maps. Somebody needs to stand guard. Dean sees that they are truly excited, so he gets both his maps out. The woman bursts out something that sounds like ?yushnfrika to him. He points to the point they are. Lidija sees the circular blue spot on the map that takes up a sizable part of one of the maps. Apparently coding lakes as blue is universal among humans and similar races. The second map depicts the coastline of southwestern Africa. She points to the big blue blob and the lake that should not be there. Her aura sense gets her a mixture of relief and satisfaction. Dean feels like a frog that has just escaped a snake only because frogs have no tail. Finally. He points out the road between Greenstone and Hornis forking off to Sky Scar Lake on both maps.
P: So you think that guy wants us to travel along a road towards a city located where Lderitz should be in Namibia, which contains a river that should not exist? L: That would seem essentially correct. P: And he has already picked camp sites. L: That would also seem essentially correct. P: I mean, why not? Z: Because we have no idea who rules that city and what they do to strangers? I was shot at without provocation. She has a point. Lidija also hesitates. L: Maybe you should scout ahead. We can fly. We are faster than them. We eventually will need to go to some settlement and here they really dont like us. Nobody came up with a better suggestion that evening.
I take Zora to the side. P: I still have something that comes out of the transformation zone, which we agreed ought to go to you. I hand her the awakening stone. Z: Now? P: If we cannot outnumber them right now, we can at least outgun them.
Zora conjures something that should really hang off a combat helicopter. Z: Damn. That really costs a lot of mana. I trigger [Cornucopia] Chapter 14 - Lacertae belli The idea of personal physical violence has an undeniable attraction to me. I can shoot you, blast you apart, use poison gas against you or turn your blood to poison, but I still want to be able to beat the shit out of you. I guess some things never change. And yes, that ranking up enhances many physical attributes makes that a sensible idea, but still that is not the reason I want it. So I use another skill book right after waking up. I learn the ?Way of the Sage Washing with cold water is no fun, magical body or not. Pavol intercepts me even before breakfast, which we are having together. PN: I wanted to ask you something regarding regarding my mother in laws body. We feel that she did not belong in this world. Burying her here would be like trapping her far from home. P: I see, however, I dont think this area will provide enough dry wood for a cremation. PN: No, we were wondering . You have the power of annihilation, dont you? P: Yes. PN: After breakfast? P: Yes of course.
RP: It is your turn to cook. DT: Yes, but I have decided that well offer our stuff to the aliens. If we are to travel together we must get to know each other. RP: And you decide that just as it would be your turn to cook. DT: Yes
Our ?guests want to join us for breakfast. They are offering tea. And deliciously smelling bread. I expect objections. But obviously Zora is a member of the school of keeping your enemy even closer. So I conjure an additional table to put next to the existing one and a few chairs. She does only take from bread one of them has already taken from, though. The tea is excellent. Their leader seems agitated. RP: Do you think they have understood what we want? DT: I think so, but they do not understand why we want to do so. How could they? OL: Maybe we should depart on our own and let them follow? DT: I dont dare.I fear we are already being watched and they just dont dare attack unknown people with unknown backers. KN: May I suggest that we leave this place? It carries too many bad memories. And it has few practical advantages. We dont even have water. L: Our guests want us to go to a city on the coast. P: I doubt that they want to sell us into slavery. But I am not certain. Following them into an intermediate camp seems a good idea. We can get stronger and learn the language. L: We should depend tomorrow. Nobody disagrees. She stands up, points at the sun, slowly traces a path across the sky and back through the ground. RP: I think she suggested leaving tomorrow.
We have assembled. KN: Mom, you gave me everything. We will preserve this family. Ill never forget you. She nods to me. I annihilate the corpse.
Ive found out that [Eldritch Eyes] can be used to give water to sleeping people. According to Karolna they are not unconcious in the classical sense, but neither are they asleep. She is watching them. If this last much longer I presumably could feed them broth this way. The rest of us has gathered, while our guests are standing watch or meditating. I raise my hand and clear my throat. Nobody objects. P: I am tired to the bone. We are surrounded by death, people who shoot at us, monsters and just fled from a world that was crumbling. But we are still threatened and we dont know whom we can trust. I got some of you into this mess and other we met on the way. I know that tired people make rash decisions, but we are together in this universe. In fact we are the only people from our universe. Z: You sound like a politician. You should find out whether they do elections at all before you train electioneering. L: Least of all with us as test subjects. P: There. If you openly talk about your feelings, its wrong. If you keep them to yourself, it is also wrong. Anyway, some of us have magical powers at their disposals, other have not or inferior forms of that. I have picked some things up that can change that. Pavol, here are essences for you and Karolna. I can do the rituals. Zora nods in approval, Lidijas mien is unreadable. Argus #1 starts ringing and the younger man among our guests comes running to us, yelling something we dont understand. RP: Desert horde lizards! A medium swarm! P: Zora, wait I need to build a pipe to you, so I can feed you mana for your new gun. It takes half a minute. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Then we accompany our guests. The elven lady among them is now carrying a spear made from a blue glowing, etheral substance. We arrive on the ridge. In front of us a group of hundreds of lizards slowly crawls towards us. They are quite close. Zora immediately starts emplacing magical mines in front of us. In between them she curses lizards. Z: Use artillery. Go all out. We might stop wounded stragglers, but if the whole group comes through The younger man among our guests conjures a blue translucent man-high shield supporting itself on the ground with a rod pointing backwards and a massive crossbow that rests on a pin dedicated to it on the upper rim of the shield. Their leader draws a circle in the air. The bearlike creature steps out of it. I go for it [Nebelwerfer 42] materializes and I use chemical warfare on it. Tubes are added. That has drained me to a dangerous extent. I cast [Cornucopia]. I feel multiple auras washing over me. Their leader raises his hand. I shake my head and wave him down, pointing at my artillery. He nods. They have been watching us. I give the monsters my best strike. The artillery piece is loud like a mutated organ played by a mammoth on drugs and within seconds a few pieces of lizard monsters rain down on us. Dozens who were directly hit are dead. More than half are wound or poisoned. Zora opens up with her new monster gun. I let my assault rifle speak. Some die but a majority lives. Olutha casts javelins of light. Many she hits die instantly, some merely burn. Rupert sends a bolt that explodes into the horde. His ballista seems to rachet itself back to readiness. He conjures a smaller crossbow. In less than two minutes the majority of them is wounded. They have located us. Olutha has switched to targeting the fast hale monsters with her magic spear, which she hurls at them and returns by telekinesis. It reliably finishes them. The rest of us just keeps firing into the crowd. Zora begins slacking. I hand her a stamina potion. We dont have many of them, but some are left. Zoras gun begins hammering again. I feel [Cornucopia] coming to an end. [Joy of sustained fire] gives out mana. It is not enough. I start draining a few poisoned monsters. It heals them, but allows Zora to keep going for a few seconds. It must end. She ceases fire. Lidija succeeds in getting my attention after a few seconds. L: Cast a pipe on me. I hastily pour out the salt. She steps on it. Meanwhile Zora has switched to targeted mines. Lidija steps into the circle. The pipe starts forming and I start firing again. The first lizards start reaching our protective mines and blow up. Some start flanking us. Dean orders his bear to clean up our left flank. It is bronze rank. Its claws tear them apart. But it is only that flank. Olutha starts casting another barrage of javelins. Lidija starts a chant. I telekinetically throw lizards on our right flank backwards onto a heap. Lidijas chant is finished. Mana channels through me to Zora. Her rotary gun starts hammering again. That secures us breathing room. Lidijas aura has recharged the rest of us. Olutha throws out another barrage of javelins. I think I can do something more useful than firing bullets. I have created a concentration of monsters. I chant for [Wrath of the Magister] the full form and annihilate them. Lidija starts chanting again. She refills me. I need to wait for it to come of it countdown. I start firing again and put my staffs into my other hands. They are weakened by numerous wounds so that the staffs kill. Zora is spent in terms of stamina. She screams for me to create another concentration, while Lidijas aura replenishes her stamina. I cast [Wrath of the Magister] again, this time the form for coloured beams. I use a few beams for reducing resistance. Zora takes off. The front line again crashes into the mines. This time a few stragglers makes it through. Zora crashes down like a bomb on a concentration. Like a blur she returns to our lines with, leaving a wavy line of speared and burning lizards. She opens her mouth and finishes those in front of us. We actually have a short respite in which only my staffs and Ruperts crossbow keep killing. The wounded majority will soon be upon us. Lidija casts [Mantle of Frenzy] on Zora. Dean starts a lengthy chant. Rupert follows suit. I go into hulk form and hand out spears. A whirlwind of leaves covers us. They form a layer of flexible armour on our skins. As Rupert is finished purple light of force appear around our limbs. What follows is a carnage, but we kill so many that Lidijas aura makes us for practical purposes unkillable.
Lidija and I have looted the monsters. We compute the numbers and it turns out that we have killed about 900 monsters. Lidija actually needed to use [Regenerate] to fix a head wound caused by a superheavy loot bag.
OL: This feels like the monster surge is very close. DT: Tell me that you got this on a recording crystal. RP: Sure did. But that filled up my last crystal. You wanted me to make more recordings. DT: Sorry, out of crystals. Olutha? OL: Sorry, I dont carry recording Wait, Chodhen gave my a box of his. He thinks battles against bandits should be recorded. - Here you are. RP: These are the expensive ones from the artisan association. OL: Yes. So what? RP: These things have a MULTILINGUAL OPTION!
Sleep is out of the question right now. I need to calm my thoughts.
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 2 (63%)
[Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 2 (29%)
[This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 2 (73%)
[Chemical Warfare] Defiance Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (46%)
[Hyperkinetic Cannon] Gun Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (11%)
Vast:
[Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 1 (69%)
[Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 2 (36%)
[Nebelwerfer 42] Focus Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (25%)
[Arsenal of the Mad Scientist] Magotech Special Ability Iron 2 (33%)
[Eldritch Eyes] Water Special Ability & Attack Iron 1 (25%)
Dimension:
[Teleport] Special Ability Bronze 0 (0%)
[Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 3 (23%)
[Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 1 (78%)
[Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 2 (74%)
[Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 1 (99%)
Battlefield:
[Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 3 (33%)
[Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 2 (17%)
[Pipes of War] Unity Special Ability Iron 1 (52%)
[Cornucopia] Feast Special Ability Iron 1 (11%)
[Feast of Decontamination] Light Special Ability Iron 1 (2%)
I spit blood onto the floor of my car. It takes a few spirit coins to clean that up. Not an issue after this. And while I am at it another book. I used that stuff today. ?The Way of the Trickster. Well, why not. Chapter 15 - Abuse Misandra finds herself chained to a cross inside a ritual circle. And nude. And collared. She has been trained for this. In theory. Her alma mater does not go that far. She doubts anybody does. A hooded man is standing in front of her. He smells human. As an elf growing up on a human dominated island, you learn to tell. The last thing she remembers is their skimmer crashing into the ground. Asking about her team would imply weakness. Silence is advisable.
Gabrielle insisted on using the tent by herself alone to camp. Russell had not expected that level of pettiness from a priestess, so his iron rank bones smart from an uncomfortable night, while she dips crystal wash over herself behind the tent. RC: You were a bit unclear about our destination yesterday. GP: I was evasive, not unclear. Our destination is people who are about to move. RC: I am assuming that youd tell me if our path has become wrong.
Roderick Geller drops his whole head into the creek. It holds too little water to scoop it out. He slurps and licks it from the wet rock. His head shoots up. He jumps. The spider pounces under him. He is already coming down again, his spear point down. The spider is stupid enough to rear up and open his maw widely. The spear point penetrates the all the way, seeing the light of the day out of a place the sun is proverbially not shining in. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. There is one part of his essence abilities he is quite reluctant to show. He has stopped caring, though there is nobody to watch anyway. He points to a flatter spot of ground. Let what nature provides to a hunters spear be a joy to mans tongue. A translucent barbecue station emerges from the ground and eventually solidifies. His spear vanishes back into his storage, which magically cleans weapons. He pulls a survival knife from a sheath on his belt and undresses.
The man moves at high rank speed to her side. A mechanical sound rings out. Misandra is rapidly tilted backwards. She does squeal. There is a difference between a lecture and the real thing. He chuckles. She retorts ?Your mother would be proud of you. ?She actually is. So would my wife be. His voice is dry and detached. Misandra will not give him the added satisfaction of seeing her squirm. Though she has no delusions of keeping her terror out of her aura. He chuckles again. ?I will not insult your intelligence. Be afraid. There is no need to impress me. Yet, I need to entertain my crew. Her muscles tense. He retreats at leisure. ?But not right now. I will give you the opportunity of anticipation and uncertainty.
Lykha watches the recording crystal and coldly states: I have been captured. The fate of my team is unknown to me. My chances of escape seem negligable for now. Chapter 16 - E sopore I am a man to quickly develop a routine. So I absorb my fifth book. ?Way of the Hermit is certainly a colourful name. The book actually tells me that it is the last one. That is odd. Have I accidentally picked the last book last? Or do all books carry the number and it is only conditionally activated? I need to check the titles on the bronze rank books. I wonder why I did not get silver rank books. But first things first and tea is definitely more important.
Dean is standing straight in the morning sun that now is providing good illumination. DT: And you are sure that you need to record the crystal first and only then adapt the language? RP: Yes, I am. In fact I will have to fiddle with our projector to get it to pick up a language setting. DT: Very well, hand me the text. Dear visitors, I am hoping that this way I can inform you about our current situation. We are here on contract of the Adventure Society. Our mission is to hunt bandits plundering and murdering the local population. A part of our team has departed to follow the track of these bandits back to their base. They have not returned and we must assume that they are dead. That is dire news and we need to call for reinforcements. We have little hope to prevail against an enemy the larger part of our team has failed against. You are in danger. You are far from helpless, as we have observed, but you are now wealthy and you are travelling with civillians and even children. You are no match for a team of the Geller family. It is our duty to protect and escort you. So I would like to urge you in the strongest terms to join us in our retreat towards Greenstone, while one of our number is going for reinforcements. We intend to use the closest fortress town as a forward base. In that case we are ready for all eventualities. The cutting motion turns out to be interuniversal. DT: You got a copy of that to go with Olutha? RP: Yes. DT: Very good. Olutha, you have the authority the commandeer a Heidel in the fortress town. I will just claim that authority. Just swing around your badge and be loud and confident. OL: There is an issue before I leave. DT: Yes? OL: Among the loot I have gotten has been an awakening stone. RP: Before you ask, I am kind of busy and better at aritifice than rituals. I can do a looting ritual and open a door, but thats it. OL: Can I ask the visitors? Dean nods. DT: But make it quick.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. We are an exceedingly happy premature breakfast table. Stjepan has awoken. And he is famished. That means that inhalation of food keeps under control the number of times he can say ?wow and ?cool. S: We are in an alternate universe? Like in Marvel? Z: How often do you want to ask that? S: Wow Our visitors are coming for breakfast. I would like to explain to them why we have been so impolite to start breakfast without them, but they smile at Stjepan and his appetite. S: Wow, a pretty elf lady! I would have said elf girl. I suppose it is a matter of perspective. Though I have to talk to him and I guess our normal rankers about the social implications of aura senses. All members of the group that attacked me were male. That does not mean anything. I can imagine a lot of reasons, chief among them the perception Stjepan and I share, why you would not mix the sexes in a combat team. Olutha obviously is female, while the rest of her team is male. She is also an elf. Is there a connection? How do people think about mixing in certain regards? If they still have distinct races, can you assume that if ?mixing does occur, we cannot interbreed or does it result in mules? I am glad Olutha has no aura power as I ponder these things. Habing had a cup of tea she approaches me. She presents me with an awakening stone and points at herself. Stjepan swallows his sandwich at a speed that warrants investigating whether he has found a way to do superluminal movements. S: Can I do the ritual? Zora sighs and nods.
It looked like we could not signify to a woman not understanding our language that she should trust a life changing ritual to a preteen, so Ive gone with them to my car, configured as a ritual room. Stjepan has been pouring salt for the ritual while I have been doing my best to appear to be supervising while actually thinking about our battle tactics from yesterday. In hindsight we screwed up. Those monsters were advancing towards threats, so we should have hit them from the flank and then used Zora and Lidija as a team to lure them in a different direction away from the non-combatants and then taken them into crossfire. Both women can fly. We made no use of that. Did Dean see this differently or did he just recognize that if you have no language in common, any tactics that may require communication is a very bad idea? I did not make use of my ability to use poisonous orbs. I moved monsters telekinetically instead of a blade for killing them. That is much harder. I did not use my ability to accelerate time. I sucked. We sucked. We squandered our synergies. Worse, I may not even understand how much I sucked. I am resisting to give in to my urge to discuss this with the others. The issue is systematic. We are not trained. We have never given systematic thoughts to such issues. Yet we may have to fight people who have done exactly that. I was shot on sight. This frightens me.
The ritual circles look very good. After a spectacular show I suddenly feel a different aura on me. She has gained an aura ability. In fact her aura makes me feel spry. She grins very widely. Then she bows, both to me and Stjepan, and leaves in a jog. Where is she going? It doesnt matter right now. I turn the car into armour again.
As we return to the others I see our guests showing a recording of our battle while the younger man is fiddling with the playback devices internals and gestures Zora to put her hand onto a plate he has connected to the device. She follows his directions with the air of somebody humoring somebody in a familiar way. P: I would leave now for this next camp site so that I can get a teleport destination. But there is one thing more. I got two awakening stones yesterday. Do you want Stjepan to do them? He is practically dancing from foot to foot. Z: Yep. L: I also got one. Z: It is your turn. So you keep yours and we throw a coin and who gets which stone of the two others. L: Deal. L: Stjepane, could we do another ritual first? S: Id love to. I hand them the stones and teleport upwards. Chapter 17 - Travels and Tortoises Stjepan has stabilised the ambient mana. Lidija has been laying out a circle without really knowing what she is doing. Stjepan checks the completed segments, as she works from outside to inside. They are gathering onlookers, Pavol and Zora, as the remaining adventurers are are standing watch and Karolna is caring for the unconcious, whom I watered and conjured clean bedding for before breakfast. Finally they are ready, place quintessence and some other materials in the gaps intended for it and Lidija starts chanting. A small whirlwind develops over the circle, not affecting the salt it is made from, wile the added materials slowly sink into the ground. The lines of salt turn liquid and green. They rise from the ground and fold up into a roughly egg shaped outline. It fills with dark smoke and a tortoise falls to the ground. Lidija sits down, fast. Shaking she touches the familiar that is blinking in slight disorientation and declares: ?I name thee Leonardo
The3uma strains at the chains restraining her. The Smoulder woman interrogating her has repeated a question: ?Where are the skimmers used to transfer the spirit coins stored?. She already tried making up an answer. That is not a good idea. That means theyll bring the bucket. The bucket is bad. They had to get a healer after that. ?I dont know The scalding oil is sprayed over her naked body. She wreaths in her restraints. The torture mistress leaves her for a few minutes and then applies the healing ointment. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. The3uma fights to surpress tears. She does not know. How come they do not understand that she does not know? They can find out when she makes things up. Or are they just going on because they have no better plan?
Pavol wipes his palms on his pants. A woman looking like a demon feeding carrots and cucumbers to a huge tortoise in psychodelic colours does not ease his feelings. A little boy whom he shares no language with preparing the ritual that would set him on the first step of a fundamental change, has the very opposite effect. But he will not wait. Yesterdays display of destructive power has made the dangers they are in clear. PN: What exactly do you mean when you say that it is faster because I am not human any longer? L: In humans an essence gives two abilities, a big one and a small one. The big one grows, the small one stays. Other races have the small ones from the beginning and they keep them. S:
Rupert rotates a small crystal with tweezers. The projector produces white noise while the crystal is turning. As soon as it reaches its final position, language returns. But this time it is in Zoras mother tongue. She almost drops her cup. With a florish Rupert hits the restart button and Deans message is played.
Zora, Lidija, Stjepan and with a delay Leonardo are watching the message again. L: So we could actually be under attack at any moment. Z: Thats what they are saying L: They went through a lot of work just to make us do something we wanted to do anyway a little faster. Z: We must assume that the threat is genuine. We need to break camp. L: Not without watchers. Ill pack. You guard. Stjepan can help me. Chapter 18 - Arcuballista respondit Again, the air at this altitude should be cooler. Either this universe is wierd or I have changed magically. I havent even reviewed what has happened to me due to our escape by teleportation and ritual. And I should actually check my companions. But I dont want to. I intend to, but I really dont wish to do so. In fact I wish to do nothing. I has become too much. I should not let that ruin a flight with a grand view, even if its purpose is utilitarian rather than pleasure. When was the last day I had spent a day on pleasure? The day on the beach? It isnt that long past. Two weeks? That raises another troubling question. How much time has passed during our escape? Does that question even make sense? I am not going to drive myself mad by sitting down and drawing hypothetical light cones for interuniversal travel. Id rather think of something else. For example that the lake has not been created with an explosion. There is no crater wall. It really looks like somebody just removed the material. A bit like [Wrath of the Magister] can do, but the walls should have crumbled under their own weight. Even if you repeated the process multiple times, big rocks on the edge should not appear like cleaved cleanly through at their current position. A transformation zone? That is the most horrible explanation for the Fermi Paradoxon. Intelligence somehow creates a monster apocalypse and civilization is thereby flung into a worsening cycle of endless wars against an enemy that cannot be defeated. I want the prize for the most gloomy thought of the month. Nevertheless this area is beautiful in the terrible, as opposed to lush, sense. The beauty of a pouncing leopard, rather than a smiling kitten. It is fairly flat, but wadis are deeply cut into the landscape. And occasionally I see a boulder or a mesa jutting out of the ground in the distance. The air is incredibly clear. Or my raised attributes are doing something magical to my eyesight already. Neither is it barren. I see plenty of exposed brown and predominantly red ground, but there are as many patches and rings of gras, as well as a sparse population of trees. If they have enough monsters for a regular supply of spirit coins, I could survive out here. But it would be a miserable life. And, more importantly, the children cannot. Even a humble vegetable garden is not a viable option. At the lake shore it would be, but the people living there dont like me. No, contacting the people our guests are associated with is the most promising path.
Derrick Stelline, temporary commander of fortress town H27-D by virtue of a contract to prevent the bandits around Sky Scar Lake from taking over fortress towns, is unhappily observing a dead heidel. DS: Of course we cannot ride a dead heidel. That much is obvious. That is why we took a spare heidel with us. I get that this is costly. But we cant change it now. Just give the other heidels potions. We need these damn animals, unless you want to walk back home. His defensive specialist Edgar Simonis, whose storage power allows him to hold the teams supplies, including potions, shakes his head so hard that his metallic golden hair escapes from the bandana he is wearing. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ES: Potions made for people are poisonous to heidels. And this animal died of a disease. Look at the scales. DS: Shit. How long is the incubation period of this disease? ES: I dont know. I have no idea what this disease is. I am neither a veterinarian, nor a doctor. DS: Have you given the people handling the heidels a potion? ES: No, why Shit. Ill do it right away. DS: After that call the team together. We have to start turning people away and keep the people already in here inside. ES: I take this to mean that patrols are cancelled. DS: Yes, they are. ES: And then ask the headmen of these refugees contingents for the number of sick calls.
Nevertheless, I am not going to just assume that theyll be friendly. And I will wear my armour. And Ill not go down in leisurely circles in their full view. I see something that must be the site. Unless they are building remote forts in excessive numbers in this part of this world. I go into a tumbling dive like an acorn spinning down from its tree. Having mobile insect wings is better than what an aeroplane has. I can rival a helicopter in certain respects. I am looking for a distinctive place. I want to retain this teleport location long time. And I am not going to depend on teleporting our people into that fort. In fact, do they have means of preventing or detecting teleportation? This place where two wadis flow together and form a broader area is quite distinctive. The wedge of material between them has partially collapsed and forms a ramp. I will hike that up and memorize that place as well. I dont want to take the risk of having to teleport into a potentially flooded valley. Wadis exist for a watery reason.
I am observing the fort. The gate is closed and presumably locked. I can see no people on the walls. But it must be occupied. They are flying a black flag with a yellow diamond inside. Quite pretty. But it wont last in a pristine condition for long. Now, you might ask who could close and bar a gate after departing. I could. I cannot be the only guy with access to telekinesis or flight in this land. Let me take a photo. I think Zora is chafing at being the weaker fighter and feeling a need to leave decisions to me. I will doubtlessly eventually fail to accomodate her. But perhaps I can delay the inevitable. Now, I can crouch behind this bolder in an uncomfortable position for hours and learn nothing but perhaps the height of the walls from their shadows, or I can go and contact them. Or I can return to base and let our guests and the forts crew interact without precautions I could take. I am trying to justify myself to myself. I get up and hold my hands visibly up. I walk slowly towards the gate. A human (or elf C you cannot tell at that distance if they are wearing a helmet) exposes himself on the gatehouse. I stop. He shouts something I cannot understand and gesticulates at the flag pole. Does he wish to tell me that the fort has changed hands? Are we walking into some kind of war? Is there a chance he has some kind of translation magic? ?I am from a distant land and do not understand your language or know your flags.. He shouts back. Either the power works only one way or, more plausibly, he just does not understand. He reaches to his side and displays a crossbow. My skill books have been useful. I do a cartwheel to the side, for a moment supporting myself with my upper arms, which allows me to keep observing the gatehouse and notice that he shoots at a ridiculous angle. He is likelier to hit his own foot than me that way. The quarrel thuds into the ground a bit short of half the distance between me and the gate. He lifts his arms to show me that he has put the weapon down. Then he points again very insistingly at the flag. I am walking slowly backwards. I am not turning my back to them and I am not going to reveal to them that I have a teleport power. Chapter 19 - Fugimus I am returning to a camp in disarray. The conjured stuff is still there. In fact, it feels more durable here. I wonder why that is. Everything else, like for example the solar cells, is gone. Zora has been expecting me. Z: Hi, we have kind of an emergency. We need to leave. P: I see. Any particular place we need to go to? Z: Nope. Just away to a place not known to our enemies. This is a time to act. P: Then we will have to do a mass teleport. If you have packed everything, call everybody together. The unconcious will have to be carried. I call back Argus#1 and extent my aura to the maximum. With people without an aura power there is no point in risking an unwelcome surprise for illusionary stealth. Zora jogs away, presumably to gather people. Karolna and Pavol are stepping outside the awning bearing a stretcher with Adam on it. Stjepan in an impressive display of strength has put Natalija on his shoulder. P: You will have to physically carry him in your arms. We can ask our visitors to carry Jan. Teleportation needs direct physical contact or, well technically indirect physical contact. PN: What do you mean by that? P: We will need to hold hands and build chains. I am fortunate enough to have four of them. You can build chains. But you could not, for example, sit down on a sofa and I teleport you by touching the sofa. I can feel an essence in his aura. Stjepan is a very dilligent boy. He does not ask, so he knows how I can tell. But that can wait. Two of our guests are arriving at a jog together with Zora and Lidija. Pavol is gesturing for one of them to join him in the tent. Zora is carrying her car in the backpack. That is a problem if she needs to fly. However, she is too well endowed to strap this thing over her chest with any semblance of comfort. Wait, we are one person short. Lidija anticipates my question. L: Olutha seems to have left the camp. They reemerge from the tent. Jan is sharing Natalijas mode of transport. That leaves me with a question. Which teleport destination? I have returned so recently that I will be able to aim for the spot righ in front of the fortress, as soon as my my ability will come off its cooldown, which will be in a little less than two minutes. It takes time to organize and gather people. I am not going to put children into a place where people may shoot a crossbow at them. That leaves the bottom of the wells or up in the plains. As we are fleeing and dont want to be seen, Ill go for the secluded spot, flood risk be damned. I stretch out all fours hands. P: Form chains of people holding hands terminating on me. Ill be ready to teleport in ninety seconds. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. KN: Anything we need to be aware of? P: Dont let go, I suppose. Ive never teleported anybody but myself except for the trick we made with my storage space. To me the process feels exhilarating. Everybody ready? We manage to coordinate. Our visitors seem to be theoretically familiar with the requirements. That means teleportation cannot be that rare. They certainly dont count on coming back. The younger one of them carried no less than two backpacks and some extra bags on his gear. This turns into a huge mana sink, but my reserves are up to it. Yet I immediately cast [Cornucopia]. Our visitors stumble to the side almost throwing jan away and hurl out the contents of their stomachs. Karolna rushes to them. KN: What have you done? Why are they showing side effects? P: I can only guess that it is a question of getting used to it. You all have made a gigantic trip already. Her answer is preempted by a soft moan from Adam. He murmurs something in his native language. P: I think as we dont know how long we will stay here, we should probably not camp where we could be flooded. Z: Flooded? L: Yes, this is a desert, but something must have dug this valley. PN: Indeed. You can see the high water line. The first terrace on this collapsed escarpment will do. Put tents for the sick right next to the southwestern end. Warmth in the morning; protection from the sun at the other times. That litlle depression that way where the soil has a different colour likely has groundwater at a reasonable depth. Plus we have a free field of fire at the two long sides of the triangle. L: Well PN: Civil defense. We know such things.
Dean is still quite naseous. But a distraction would now serve well. DT: So his teleport power must be bronze rank. RP: Yes. It would make sense if he were a courier. DT: He does not have intercontinental range. Whence does he come? RP: A recent arrival by ship to Hornis perhaps. They might be prospectors or something. DT: He does not use cores, does he? RP: No. And you are right, someone with a looting power should not need to work as a courier. DT: Are they family or close friends. RP: They dont speak the same language. So this does not seem likely.
Zora is mining the side of our new site opening to the plateau. I am constructing tents. Lidija has gotten the glamorous task of digging a latrine slit. Leonardo is admiring her power of handling a conjured spade. Rupert and Dean are preparing a late lunch. At least I hope that we got the point across. RP: I think we are a bit south from fortress town H27-D. DT: Building a camp site is a good idea. There may be a very good reason he did not take us there. In fact, what if the reason those bandits did not strike at us, because they were busy taking the fortress town? RP: You are really cheerful today. Pavol is telling me about the translated recording. P: So they can talk to us, but we not to them. PN: That about sums it up. P: Now that you tell me about the bandits, I understand why the people in the village attacked me and the fortress town didnt let me in. PN: You are saying that this was a big misunderstanding? P: Yes. You know. I made a photo of that fort. I am going to show them.
Going by the tone of his comment he is not amused. DT: Gods violate me with a pinecone instead. They have put up a quarantine flag. Rupert, get me the recording device! Chapter 20 - Aqua calida de tecto cadens I was thinking about this in the wrong way. Designing and building a shower cabin into my car with the necessary plumbing and air ducts seemed a nightmare, when I considered the task in earnest. It is also absolutely unnecessary. It is not built out of conventional materials. It will not rust or mold in a few hours. Nor does it contain electronics or upholstery that must not get wet. Well, it does contain an entertainment system and a radio, but I can choose to exclude them, which keeps them stored in some kind of storage space, I think, when I reform it from the armour. So I get in and let water rain from the ceiling. If I add fire quintessence, the water is cozy warm. Ive parked it with the nose slightly uphill and have included a drainage grill in the rear emptying in a little ditch Ive dug and here I go. Clean for the first time in days. Ok, in a few months I will run out of shower gel, but that will be then, not now.
DT: Putting up that flag really rules out checking out who they are. RP: You are right, but does it matter right now? We would not go in either way, right? And a report would also just state that they are flying the flag. DT: Sure, but RP: But what? DT: This cant be a coincidence. RP: Right. But there is a reason fortress towns do a health check in a monster surge and have an isolated section and are provided with a stock of cleansing and healing potions at the start of a surge. DT: Do they already have theirs? RP: How am I supposed to know? Another team has that contract.
Z: You smell very fresh. P: Thank you. Your smell is also enticing. Z: I havent taken a shower in days. P: Yes. I merely stated that your smell is enticing. Z: You little She actually hits me on the head. That is one of the few parts my transforming armour does not cover. The explains her choice of target. It does not explain why I have failed to dodge as crossed my mind. Now, I cannot claim that I would in all cases be absolutely adverse to a lady performing percussive actions on parts of my body. However, if the lady in question is under a lot of stress, fears for her children, is iron rank and has a racial strength boost, then I may be reluctant. It does hurt. She didnt do real damage, but it hurts. I ran into the problem of too much choice. I could just pivot on one leg, hop backwards, sway with my upper body. And that was was the dodges alone. After one I could take her arm with my upper arm and brace my lower arm against her upper arm and do horrible things to her elbow. Or I could punch her arm aside and go for vulnerable spots. It turns out that whoever wrote those books was not above the good old kick to the gonads or equivalents and did not suffer from reluctance to do equal disopportunity. In fact it even covers uses of additional appendages that have disturbing Freudian implications. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!Just knowing all of a sudden how to combine a pull, a low kick and a sting through the eyeball into a killing move shakes you. I need to get this under control. I stumble away and she senses my disturbance. That is a good thing, as she does not ask to use my shower. That would have been trouble. However my vehicle is copied from a real pattern, that pattern did not forsee a need to flood the interior. It has patterns for moving through all kinds of terrains, even including a snow plow. With the right kind of quintessence, it can do sonar and radar to move at low visibility. At higher ranks you can mount weapons. You can cook coffee in it, transport cargo, turn it into an ambulance and so on. In fact I am planning to turn it into a ritual chamber now. But there are limits. I did the water from the ceiling trick by a direct command. It requires me to stay inside the vehicle. She would not want to understand that.
Dean is addressing the crystal. The picture you showed my with your device depicts a flag indicating that the fortress town has been closed down and locked off due to an epidemic they have yet to bring under control. We dont know and have no way to tell whether this is a ruse or a real emergency. In this situation my team has two duties. We need to warn the Adventure Society, the Magic Society and the duke of Greenstone. As this may be a ploy to trap unwary adventurers we also need to intercept Olutha, who is on her way to that fortress in order to requisition a mount to report the loss of the rest of the team to the Adventure Society.
Lidija, Stjepan and Zora are listening to the recording. I am lost. Pavol and Karolna are showing a strange impression. Almost as if they are feeling that they ought to understand. After a translation I volunteer. P: I should go for Olutha right now. I can fly and teleport. Then we can decide how to proceed. Nobody objects. Lidija does an exagerated play of pointing at me the direction of the road and saying ?Olutha. They understand. I unload some groceries. Then I unfold my wings and teleport. -- Z: I have to stay with my daughter and son. KN: As do I. L: I actually would love to go. KN: He was in the village! Z: What? KN: If this is an infectious disease that comes from the village, he may be infected. L: Not good. Z: Provided there actually is an epidemic. PN: Should we all take one of those potions preventively? KN: How am I supposed to know?
I am enjoying this. The sky is an explosion of red, while long shadows are cast on the land. Were I wholly depended on normal eyes, I might have overlooked her. But I see her path and extending my aura identifies me, which she answers to in kind. She is surprised until I show her the photo. I suspect I could learn a lot of interesting language here. She knows why I take her by the hand. She takes it better, but her expression is not dominated by pleasure. Chapter 21 - Puer laborat I am taking a precautionary health potion and am getting two healing powers used on me. I also trigger [Immortality] and [Giant Form of the Ancestors]. I will also stop eating with the others for the next few days. And that means that Stjepan will be doing the rituals for the awakening stones. That means that I can at least meditate in peace and construct a new servant. I think it will profit from the local conditions.
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 2 (65%)
[Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 2 (29%)
[This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 2 (73%)
[Chemical Warfare] Defiance Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (46%)
[Hyperkinetic Cannon] Gun Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (11%)
Vast:
[Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 1 (76%)
[Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 2 (37%)
[Nebelwerfer 42] Focus Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (25%)
[Arsenal of the Mad Scientist] Magotech Special Ability Iron 2 (36%)
[Eldritch Eyes] Water Special Ability & Attack Iron 1 (32%)
Dimension:
[Teleport] Special Ability Bronze 0 (0%)
[Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 3 (25%)
[Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 1 (81%)
[Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 2 (78%)
[Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 2 (0%)
Battlefield:
[Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 3 (37%)
[Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 2 (19%)
[Pipes of War] Unity Special Ability Iron 1 (52%)
[Cornucopia] Feast Special Ability Iron 1 (14%)
[Feast of Decontamination] Light Special Ability Iron 1 (7%)
Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! OL: I did that trip in vain. DT: Yes. RP: At least you got around puking your guts out due to long distance mass teleportation. OL: I have a distant cousin with teleport power. He teleported family members a few times to get used to it. It will get better and you never lose that entirely. DT: You expect us to repeat the experience? OL: Sure. Would you leave an escort of adventurers behind if you have sick children to protect? DT: They cannot be sure that we are adventurers. RP: If we wanted to harm them, we would have by now. DT: As long as he doesnt start charging for it, Ill take it over walking. OL: That reminds me, do you recognise their essences? I got a full blast of the scorpion mans aura. I think I got one of them. RP: The dragon woman has Onslaught. And one of her essences is Fire. DT: She also has Magic. The bat wing woman has Shield. So what did you find, spit out? OL: We had a visitor from Cyrion last month. Silver rank. He was about refounding a reformed Church of Purity, after, well, you know . Anyway he had one of those big bird confluences. An aura that strong even I noticed clearly. One of his essences was Vast. Their heads turn as if on command. OL: This is a feeling of disgust and misery I felt only once. DT: They ranked somebody up. Why do you do that now and not before you depart? These people just make no sense. RP: We should walk over and you surely have some Crystal Wash. OL: I love to have it ready just in case. So much that I dont just hand it out. Besides that stuff isnt free. RP: Do you really want to sit down for breakfast at the same table as someone who hasnt had Crystal Wash after ranking up? Olutha uses an essence power that lets her do a short sprint at high speed.
KN: You are doing me first, because you hope that I will develop medically useful powers, right? L: Right. Just relax, Stjepan knows this ritual and this is your second essence. KN: Right. The ritual itself proceeds flawlessly. Karolna falls on her knees and almost knocks herself out as her hands cover her eyes. KN: What is that? S: She cannot understand you. Well, maybe that was simple enough. Do your eyes still hurt? All is well. She can see magic. And she says that this car is full of magic. We are going to get her changed into the stuff to be thrown away.
Dalek#4 C Upgraded Heavy We are ready. This will be interesting. Shall I do yours while the lady recovers. Yes. Thats optimal use of our time. Karolna is familiar with procedures that will not allow a deviation from procedures. That does not make it pleasant, though S: How about between his first and second stones.? I can take over the watch after I am done. Chapter 22 - 1 st character sheets Karolna
Adept:
[Eyes of Opportunity] Perception Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Alchemy:
[Eldritch Eyes] Special Ability & Attack Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Venom:
[Knowledge from a Whiff] Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Life:
[Bolt of Life] Spell Iron 0 (55%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Pavol
Adept:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Vehicle:
[Offroader] Passive Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Magic:
[Mana Shield] Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Vessel:
[Engineer''s Toolchest] Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Lidija
Guardian:
[Mantle of Frenzy] Special Ability/Spell Iron 0 (45%) Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!
[Rune Tortoise] Rune Familiar Ability Iron 0 (1%)
[Spoils of Victory] Sacrifice Aura Ability Iron 0 (87%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Void:
[Spike of Void] Special Attack Iron 0 (35%)
[Blood Harvest] Sacrifice Special Ability Iron 0 (50%)
[Bait and Switch] Swarm Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Shield:
[Reflective Barrier] Special Ability/Spell Iron 0 (24%)
[Crystallize Mana] Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Renewal:
[Regenerate] Special Ability/Spell Iron 1 (10%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Zora
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 1 (10%)
[Rotary Gun] Might Special Attack Iron 0 (80%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Fire:
[Dry the Tinder] Special Attack/Spell Iron 0 (58%)
[Alacrity''s Reward] Swiftness Special Ability Iron 0 (40%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Magic:
[Dragon Wings] Special Ability Iron 1 (44%)
[Eternal Moment] Lightning Special Ability Iron 0 (96%)
[Dragon''s Treasure Chest] Adventure Special Ability Iron 1 (41%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Onslaught:
[Dive Bomb] Special Attack Iron 0 (12%)
[Rune Trap] Rune Special Attack/Spell Iron 0 (68%)
[Exploding Fist] Ruin Special Attack Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Chapter 23 - Revulsion, fear, doubt One does not simply confront the clergy of Knowledge. Doubly so if one is in the employ of an organization that requires the cooperation of the church of Knowledge and lacks the family connections that would shelter one from being fired for gross incompetence. Triply so, if the clergy in question is bronze rank and oneself is iron rank. So if the clergy in question suddenly decides after a wild dash that a day of rest and aura training is in order, Russell doesnt object. Being paid for resting isnt bad. It beats leading degenerate aristocrats to water link chambers. And aura training does not hurt either. After a time, though, the question whether all this could be done in facilities a tad more comfortable than a tent in the dusty veldt arises. RC: Your tea, priestess. May I enquire when we shall proceed. GP: You may, but I dont know. RC: You dont know? GP: You sound surprised. Although I may be repeating myself, Knowledge does not know the future. If our path depends on a decision somebody hasnt made so far, Knowledge wont know until the decision will have been made. RC: I see. That makes sense But couldnt we wait in the next fortress town? It would be less sandy. For a fraction of a second she stares into the void. GP: I regret not informing you earlier. My goddess prefers for people to find out things by themselves. The next fortress town is under quarantine due to an epidemic. RC: What?
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Misandra is wheeled through the dungeon on a wheeled X-shaped cart. Parts of her not for public display are in full view. She stares at the ceiling and no longer cares. They have smeared healing ointment on her and an essence user has control over certain bodily functions with training to mitigate injury and to control ovulation. The physical damage is already healed. The first time she memorized the face to learn whom to kill in revenge. Then she looked only at the ceiling. The cart opens a door by banging into it. The hooded man is expecting her. They both remain silent. Eventually she gives up just to be rid of him. ?Got what you wanted? ?No, I got what I intended. What I want will come later. He turns and leaves.
ES: We have about one and a half time the number of sick we ought to have. People who handled our mounts here are not affected. However, people from the stable in the village your aunt portaled us to to get our heidels are among the sick. Their archer, Graham Bloom, looks worried. GB: What have you done? ES: I have isolated all the people from that village who are sick. Ive also put our heidels into a stable of their own. GB: Have you given them potions? ES: No, I wanted to talk to you first. We certainly do have enough potions for those now sick, but if the number keeps growing DS: No potions for civillians. ES: What? GB: What? Derrick sighs. DS: It kills Heidels. We think, but we are not sure, that it also infects people. We need to know how bad it is. If it is a rash and a few days with a fever, we try to get the Adventure Society to pay for the Heidels and write this mission off. If it kills people we need to handle this differently. ES: Anything else? DS: Yes. We need precautions. Talk to the headmen and have them select a few reliable men. Arm them with staffs from the stock. We segregate the villages. Nobody is allowed to meet somebody from another village. Have them draw up schedules for the kitchens, dining halls and wash houses. And from today on we have a curfew at night. GB: They are not going to like that. DS: Thats why our auxillaries are getting staffs. GB: That may work, but they still are not going to like it. DS: I dont care. And somebody brief Walker when he comes down from his watch on the guard house.
Rod Geller sees the road. He decides to follow it to the place they stashed the broken skimmer. Chapter 24 - Exire est difficile I am probing myself. No, not that way. I am using the probe of my tricorder. No, not for that. Some people do have a dirty mind. In practical terms I am pressing it against my chest, while I hold the tricorder in my lower hands and operate it with my other upper hand. This takes concentration. [Astral Consumer] Extended from [Astral Affinity], which still applies. Supplement food intake with tapped astral energy to cause food of lower rank than you to have the effect of food of your rank.
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.
Dalek#4-UH is mounted. A bit top heavy, but I think the lift effect can deal with it. I am going on a road trip with a demon and an elf. My life has turned into a cartoon. Chapter 25 - Saltant I feel like a need to make a dad joke about everybody having taken a bathroom break before we start. It feels like I have forgotten something. Yes! Jan. Sure, Karolna can now give potions, but she needs infused water, as she cant make potions as yet. Well, she might be able to just stick spirit coins in his mouth. But I dont think we should go for human experimentation right now. Besides, why waste money? P: I have forgotten something. L: There is no need for bathroom breaks anymore. Is there such a thing as a mom joke, too? P: I forgot to leave infused stuff for Jan. Karolna has the decency to look embarrassed. It is real. It shows in her aura. We have told them about auras, but we can do nothing about it, short of throwing awakening stones at them. Z: Then get to it. There is no point in delaying departure. The distance does not shrink by waiting. You will spend the same time on the road. P: Right. And she is right and the plan makes sense. You want to get a fair distance away from an area home to bandits and epidemics. Yet, I am showing a behaviour close to self-sabotage. Dean looks very much like a guy who would like to say something but literally cant. I give him an embarrassed smile. But Dean is not dumb. And he has a bronze rank aura, that can make us understand. He projects a combination of inquisitiveness, impatience and incomprehension. It is a bit much. He also has the decenty to look embarrassed and dials it back. I answer with unease, uncertainty and trepidation. It feels nostalgic, like our old signalling code. PN: You feel it, too? I sense something. This is real. I wheel around with wands from my storage in my lower hands and a conjured assault rifle in my upper right arm. Dean and Rupert react immediately by drawing their weapons and assuming a position back to back. Olutha jumps out of the car. Seconds pass. I fire my disruptive power wand. More seconds pass. Zora chuckles. Her aura is full of sarcasm. A burst of rainbow light saves me from her tongue. I fire again. No effect. As light multihued mist is forming over the spit of land on whose end our camp is located. Dean is again radiating, this time a mixture of concern, resolve and calm. This time he does not reduce the pressure after an instant. We shiver and stop moving. His aura is almost a weapon. I note to myself that if I ever need to fight somebody with a bronza rank aura, Ill use artillery. And I most likely will lose. We need strong allies. He lets the pressure wane. DT: Rupert, get into the tent and get that unconcious man out. DT: Olutha, stay where you are. Guard the healer. Do you have a rope? The mist forms into over a dozen denser points. It dawns on me. Those are monsters in the making. P: The psychodelic fog will soon turn into monsters! We are in a shitty tactical situation. The team is divided. I can ignore the walls of the canyon, as I and some of my companions have wings. Olutha has turned out to be a climber rivalling a monkey or a cat. The children are most certainly not. One of our means of escape is up on the plane. Another one is in the backpack on Stjepans back, who is just running out of the latrine tent, adjusting his pants. We cant fit everybody here into that one car, even if everybody with wings gets up to the other car. We cant expect children or people carrying children to be fast enough to escape on foot. Also escaping on foot through a valley, which may have an obstacle further along with a band of monsters in pursuit is not a cheerful idea. Through the manifesting monsters? Nope, nope. Besides, wed still be on foot. Let a part of us escape with the car, while the combatants make a stand? I suspect that to be Deans plan. We need to make sure that they have a car and the rest of us also has a means of escape. I teleport up to my car and start conjuring a ladder. My aura sense is getting a spike of betrayal before they understand what I am doing. That hurts. P: Pavol, Stjepan up here! I am making you a ladder. You need to drive. Zora picks Natalija up and jumps more than she flies to me. Z: Daughter, into the car. Z: I am sorry. You are braver than I admit. She puts an arm onto my shoulder. I have understood her. Stolen story; please report. P: Wait for Stjepan. Other car better. Z: Wait for him. I am getting my bag of salt out. She will need all the mana she can get. [Pipes of War] in mana flavour is necessary. I am getting faster at that. P: Zora get over there and put magical mines around the fog. She does not want to leave her children, but she nods and uses her wings. I curse. What I was searching for has occured to me. I withdraw the hoverboards from my storage space. I should have given Zora one before she left. Stjepan comes up the ladder. P: Stjepan, get the car out, full three seats, you drive! Stunned and pround. P: Quickly, we need to get the slow people away. We cannot use explosions while you are so close. He is a clever boy and understands tactics. Adam is dawdling on the ladder. I am using [Dance by my Will] to yank him to the car and shove him onto the middle bench. I would do the same to Rupert, but that is like squeezing a bar of soap in a tub of water. Lidija is using the time, I feel her casting [Mantle of Frenzy] on me. Finally only Dean is left down in the valley. He has drawn his circle in salt, but not activated it. Rupert is pushing Jan into the backbench and points at me and the other side of the valley. I hand Pavol my old conventional gun and a hoverboard and turn my car into armour. I give Dalek-3UH final instruction and fly across the valley, as Stjepan steps on the gas much more gently than I feared. The fog is now solid and its colour has shifted to blinding white. I am making a halberd float beside me. Lets see if I can control it while fighting. We dont have radios. That is an oversight I cannot correct anymore. Well, a deficiency, not an oversight. I could not really forsee that I would end up in another world, where the radio frequencies were not constantly monitored. I could communicate through the link Dalek-3UH has build to me, if I cared to give him a voice. Later. Zora, Rupert and I are the only ones with long range weapons in our group. I am assuming that Rupert wants me to draw the monsters about to arrive to me by firing first. I am just not sure that Zora has gotten the message. Where is she? This light is too bright. Normal visual conditions return. I see a boulder unfurling itself into a vaguely humanoid condition on the other side. It is large enough that I would not miss even without my racial ability. I decide not to shoot it, though. It clearly radiates a bronze rank aura. I want to inflict its minions, who are unlikely to share its resistance. It sort of lords over a a swarm of grashoppers a bit half man-high in their long axis with truly impressive hind legs, covered in rows of nasty spikes. And what is that over him? The air sort of rolls on itself. It does not matter. If it has a body, it can bleed. If it can bleed, I need to shoot it. My assault rifle rings out in semiauto mode. I am iron rank. I need not fear damaged hearing. One or two even fall down. Mana and health start flowing. This makes me wonder. Am I overlooking something? Later. The boulder-thing points towards me. That is the time Zora chooses for her entrance and hits him from above and behind. She does not give him time to react, but runs through his minions, sticking a javelin deeply into one on her right and roasting a couple on her other side. We are getting good at this. I go full auto hitting him in the back. It jumps impressively high straight up. I am lucky to not hit Zora. I cease fire. If it wants to jump onto my side, it can. And I must assume that it wants. In fact, I do want it to. That has been the point of Ruperts direction, which, I assume, had come from Dean. So I use a wing-assisted backwards leaping technique coming from my books and fire a gas grenade. If you want to make somebody leave a place, gas is a good idea. They jump. Now I have a bronze rank monster coming at me. I cast [Cornucopia] and [Eternal Moment]. This needs to be delicate. Perhaps I can make it work. I fire [Hyperkinetic Cannon] and move sidewards. The big monster takes it right in the gut. It lands close to the edge, the impact having spoiled its leap, with its belly ripped open. A biological creature would go into shock, but it still stands. A quarrel hits the ground right in front of it and explodes. It tetters on the edge for a second. It falls into the chasm. The ground under it explodes. Another bronze rank aura bursts out of the valley. Dean is attacking. What does his aura do? While I am kind of occupied the aerial component of our adversaries does a fourway split. Zora blows up some magical mines to no effect on them. Dalek-3UH takes that as an attack and fires his beam weapons at those advancing onto his side. I now to deal with a whole group of grashopper thingies advancing on me. And they are fast. Running is no use. Then at least I can advance and surprise them. I decide to add a surprise. The shift to hulk mode costs much less and results in a larger form. Now I learn what Deans aura does. That is not what they expected. Still I find that I am surrounded. I know techniques for that, but I am taking hits. These damn grashoppers have mandibles made from diamond. They can pierce my armour.
Dalek3-UH firing beams and Rupert firing quarrels shrouded in an aureole have eliminated the elementals headed for them. The other elementals all change course for them.
I emerge from a melee bleeding from a number wounds. I am fast. Very fast. [Mantle of Frenzy] is working. It has not taken long but the rest of the battle is not going well. The rock monster is badly mauled. So bad that it has decided to flee. Towards the other side of the valley. By jumping up the valley wall. Dean is limping towards the ladder. A flying air distortion is mere metres away from Lidija. She fires [Spike of Void] at it. It vanishes. Dean has drawn his sword. Pavol is firing as fast as his rifle will let him for little effect. Dalek3-UH fires his one shot gas weapon at it, while his beams still hold the other flying enemies, who have started jinking, off. The monster prepares to jump. I teleport. I am still larger. I am at a disadvantage, but I can dodge at least some blows of his fists. A fist from the sky hits it in the back. This time Zora does not sprint away immediately. She goes into [Eternal Moment], conjures her gun and empties her reserves firing point blank into its center of mass. She does not even feel being cast aside as if she weighed nothing. I have to use this. I am attacking, using my superior mass to topple it and close my mandibles on its neck. A fist hits my back, the armour limits the damage to broken ribs. The neck finally gives way. Something takes me from above. The world is distorted, my mana reserves are vanishing alarmingly, the world grows dim. I order my servant to fire through the link and trigger [Immortality]. Blackness.
Karolnas spy eyes made from infused water are observing the carnage. She yells at Stjepan and points backwards. He gets the message.
Gabrielle sits up and starts dismanteling her tent. Chapter 26 - Sua vulnera lingimus I yell and shoot up from the ground. That gets me to headbut Olutha. I groan and sink back to the ground. Everything hurts. She yelps and falls on her rear end. Pavol is heading over to me. He is holding my staff and my wand. I remember dropping them right after I teleported. He gracefully offers Olutha a hand to help her up. I am back in my usual form. Pavol hunches down next to me. PN: You better stay down. Your robot kept firing until this ghost thing was destroyed. That was after the glow around you had already ended. P: No problem. I couldnt get up even if I wanted. PN: Usually youd have the healers caring for you, but Zora and Dean need them more. Do you want me to get you a potion? I have been standing watch in case we overlooked one of them. P: How long was I out? PN: About three quarters of an hour. P: Careful about loot. It needs to be now. I loot the grasshoper monsters I killed. He and Rupert shelter Dean and Zora from smashing wealth. PN: Lidija already looted those on this side. P: The children? PN: All safe He reluctantly hands me the weapons back. Olutha comes to bring me water and puts the cushion back under my head P: Thank you. OL: Limuk. I would like to use my aura to project thankfulness, but I am beyond that. She gets it anyway. I pick up understanding and respect from her. Natalija comes running to me. N: Mommy is hurt. P: She will be better soon. We have spells to heal her. She snuggles to my side. That hurts. But it is also warming my heart.
RP: Thar was a precursor sign. So many elementals and a mixed group. OL: I agree. Does it matter, though? Even if the surge finally begins, we are ready. RP: This lady was wild. OL: Indeed. What was that weapon? The other guy seems to have some kind of Transfiguration. RP: This guy has Immortality. Does that come from Transfiguration? And a case of too much boldness. OL: In contrast to me. It was embarrassing. I really need something to generate disruptive force. RP: It will come. How many of your abilities have you awakened? Half of them? OL: Twelve now, with my aura ability. Yes, I know. RP: I have a theory on those people. OL: I am listening. RP: Do you rember Bahadirs contest and the winner? OL: I am young, but not that young. Sure I remember. RP: Chodhen told me a story about how he took on the other Rik Gellers team in the mirage chamber and won. He mentioned that he was from another world. OL: Another world? What do you mean by that? RP: Like an astral space. Only much larger and not connected to our world. OL: Very clear. She hesitates. OL: Some of them are very different. In fact did you notice that the boy can operate magical tools? He is clearly to young for essences and I detect none. It must be an alien racial gift. RP: Yes. They remain silent RP: Though it has very little practical impact. OL: Does it have any? RP: Well, not unless you want to deliver the message together with a little boy whom you make drive a vehicle you would have to steal.
This needs to be investigated. I press my probe against myself. Ability: [Joy of sustained Fire] (Gun) Special Attack (missile, drain, boon, bane, unholy) Cost: variable - low with conjured weapons and ammunition, moderate with conjured weapons and other munitions, high with other weapons Effect: After a threshold of consecutive missile attacks inflict [Victim of a sadistic killer] on the target and [Sadistic killer] on the user. Only works on targets with blood or sap. [Victim of a sadistic killer] (affliction, unholy): Once for each bleeding wound caused by user or an ally of the user with a missile weapon or periodically while suffering [Bleeding] drain mana and stamina. This effect must be cleansed before [Bleeding] can be cleansed. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. [Serial killer] (boon, bane, unholy): Gather drains from sufferers of [Victim of a sadistic killer]. For each of them dieing gain a small healing effect. Attacks by sufferers of [Victim of a sadistic killer] do not trigger retaliatory effects. Damage incured by karmic effects triggered by attacks on sufferers of [Victim of a sadistic killer] is increased. Racial Ability: Master of the Unholy Aura Unholy effects are stronger. Unholy boons and afflictions within your aura last longer. Drains of stamina or mana by unholy means also trigger a drain of health. Racial Ability: Fighter in the Clouds Increased strength. Flight abilities need significantly less mana and stamina. Gain the ability to treat clouds as solids and store them to form ritual circles out of them.
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 2 (77%)
[Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 2 (60%)
[This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 2 (91%)
[Chemical Warfare] Defiance Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (55%)
[Hyperkinetic Cannon] Gun Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (72%)
Vast:
[Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 2 (10%)
[Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 2 (88%)
[Nebelwerfer 42] Focus Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (25%)
[Arsenal of the Mad Scientist] Magotech Special Ability Iron 2 (43%)
[Eldritch Eyes] Water Special Ability & Attack Iron 1 (39%)
Dimension:
[Teleport] Special Ability Bronze 0 (0%)
[Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 3 (32%)
[Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 2 (0%)
[Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 2 (78%)
[Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 2 (0%)
Battlefield:
[Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 3 (45%)
[Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 2 (62%)
[Pipes of War] Unity Special Ability Iron 1 (73%)
[Cornucopia] Feast Special Ability Iron 1 (27%)
[Feast of Decontamination] Light Special Ability Iron 1 (7%)
That is not an altogether pleasant experience with bruised ribs. Chapter 27 - 2 nd character sheet Karolna
Adept:
[Eyes of Opportunity] Perception Ability Iron 0 (9%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Alchemy:
[Eldritch Eyes] Special Ability & Attack Iron 0 (15%)
[Duplicating Blade] Knife Special Ability & Attack Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Venom:
[Knowledge from a Whiff] Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Life:
[Bolt of Life] Spell Iron 0 (55%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
[Duplicating Blade] Cost: Moderate 1. Drain mana, health or stamina from a victim and store it in a bladed melee weapon 2. Copy a charateristic from a victim and store it in a bladed melee weapon [Knowledge from a Whiff] Cost: Low If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. 1. Determine the effects of a potion from smell 2. Absorption of skill books Pavol
Adept:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 0 (3%)
[Invincible] Knife Aura Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Vehicle:
[Offroader] Passive Ability Iron 0 (1%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Magic:
[Mana Shield] Special Ability Iron 0 (10%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Vessel:
[Engineer''s Toolchest] Special Ability Iron 0 (14%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
[Invincible] Cost: None Allies within your aura gain damage reduction against iron rank sources of damage [Offroader] Cost: None Vehicles you pilot have increased durability and suffer less wear and tear. [Engineer''s Toolchest] Cost: Low You gain a storage space. Access is on your person. Spare parts and extra parts can be directly exchanged, equipped or disequipped on any vehicle you control. Magazines of vehicle mounted weapons can be refilled directly from your storage space. Chapter 28 - Oblivion Rod Geller is using up Crystal Wash at a rate implying an impending disaster for his future personal hygiene. He even breaks open a second bottle to wash his clothing, weapons and boots. It is a necessity. All his stealth will be useless if the enemy can smell him. He has reached the campsite and found the nicely secured wreck of the skimmer with a message ?We are considering you lost and will report to the Adventure Society in Greenstone. nicely sealed in an envelope with Ruperts seal. That is of course what youd do if no better alternative presents itself. Obviously it is vastly preferrable to a smashed campsite and skeletons left for the monsters. It is also frustratingly vague. Worse, he does not understand at all why they made a second camp site. The traces between the sites are faint but unmistakeable. They would fit a destroyed camp site. But there is none. He even found the emergency stash of spirit coins at the agreed upon nook in a rock. He is waiting for the second moon to set, before he is going to sneak into the camp. His perception power is [Midnight Eyes]. Hed rather have his opponents in the dark than the power of shadowwalking at his disposal. The wind shifts slightly, still blowing away from him. His nose catches something a good camp, let alone a camp of essence users should never emit. He smells feces baked for days in the sun.
The jailer lady also pours Crystal Wash over Misandra. There is no clothing to wash, for she is wearing none. They left the remains of the ointment and dried body fluids on her over night, as if she needed a reminder. This morning the hooded man has joined the jailer. The shadow of his hood is impenetrable. She tells him something that implies that his parent are unable to produce a valid vertificate of mariage. ?I have come to make you an offer he replies. A spike of hope escapes into her aura. At this distance a good bronze ranker might be able to detect it even in the suppressed state. She remains silent. ?My children live only in memories. Hence I offer you oblivion. Drink this potion and you will become unable to form memories. No need to remember their faces. But slowly all your memories will dissolve. Day by day going backwards. Oblivion by your own choice. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. She repeats her first allegation. He puts the small metal bottle on a desk at the side of the room and gestures to the jailer. Her trip to the recreation rooms commences.
Russell is letting the skimmer advance at the rate Gabrielle has specified. RC: Why is the rate so important? GP: Courtesy. They need to recover from injuries. RC: So we delayed to outwait the danger causing the injuries? GP: No, the danger made an explicit decision moot. So we know what to do.
Rod is finding holes for poles, presumably tent poles, and a place where a large amount of water was released onto the ground, which is still slightly damp. Did they have a malfunction of their dimensional tank? That would explain draining it and taking it with you to have it repaired. Those things are not cheap. He goes on to find a battlefield full of magic traces. Too many for his ability to make sense of the traces. The scratches, gouges, scorches and depressions in the ground stem from essence power being used. Did the rest of his team surprise somebody, who then fled with them in hot pursuit? Then why leave the message? And where are the traces leading away from this site? He decides to return to the abandoned camp. What is this metal cylinder about as long as his hand, painted in red on its round exterior? It is covered with unusual symbols.
Misandra is breathing as shallowly as possible. Her face is sticky. They are not bothering to properly open the door to her cell. The hooded man is waiting for her. They keep silent for minutes, the men drafted for pushing her back not daring to move or speak under the pressure of a bronze rank aura. ?Give it to me Misandra capitulates. Chapter 29 - Lingua mihi mutatur. I have travelled to a magical alternate universe. I have become a living artillery piece. I can move objects by the force of my will. I can dissolve things into nothing. On some days I still need my afternoon nap. Lidija and Zora are still in the car. However, I am informed that Stjepan has done rituals for Pavol and Karolna. There seems to be universal consensus that a night drive is a bad idea and that we should depart tomorrow. So I quickly construct a long tent and a few tables and chairs. Then I proceed to repair my car. The changes will need a few hours to percolate after the ritual. It is a ritual like I have never done before. And it is costly. Five times three to the fifth power of spirit coins. To those of you bad at mathematics: That comes out as one thousand two hundred and fifteen coins. My storage space holds something my tricorder calls ?Vortex Elemental Dust. Getting these things into contact with myself or my armour is a bad idea. The armour probably saved my life. It is worth every coin as armour alone, let alone a vehicle. As I am done, the western sky is ablaze in red. Shadows have fallen over the land. Oluthas voice calls out in a loud, but not alarmed voice.
I am confronted with two people in what looks like Luke Slywalkers land speeder, if the the engine at the end were smaller. Olutha has assumed a posture that looks straighter than usual. A bronze rank aura is clearly projected in order to be easily perceptible. RC: A new race! An outworlder indeed. GP: Please be calm and project your aura for identification. RC: Believe me that I am projecting overwhelming curiosity, whether I intend to or not. GP: Yes, I am happy to notice, but please remember that the sooner we have good contact, the sooner you can ask questions. RC: What do you mean by that? GP: I have skill books with of the trader language in my luggage. OL: Priestess, I am honored and pleased to greet you here. There is no point in giving clergy of Knowledge a status report. I am lifting my arms and showing my hands. GP: Before you ask, that is a gesture of peace. He is demonstrating that he is holding no weapons. RC: Can you talk to him? GP: Not really. Knowing facts about a language is not the same as speaking it. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. RC: What are your plans? GP: Would you please set up the projection device, youll find in the chest marked with the purple triange? GP: Ms. Lassalle, I have come because my godess needs to deal with your companions from another world. I am also happy to assist you in general to an extent. I think we might better wait for your temporary subgroup leader, as he is just getting ready to get here, asking nobody in particular what kind of shit is so important that he needs to get up with unpleasant bruises all over his body.
The iron ranker among our visitors is setting up a projector. They know the same trick as our guests know. That means well need to get ready for a language adaption session. That is odd. In fact it is suspicious. I wish I were not alone of my people here. Do all travellers carry a projection device? Is it a form of camp entertainment? Well, it allows the kind of imagery that drove a lot of internet technology on Earth, too. Except that the groups here also include women. The bronze ranker is looking at me with a mixture of anger, admiration and amusement. Do I need to control my aura and face better? She is most unlikely to be a hired guard. She gave orders. And I really wish I were not alone. I am bad at reading social clues. She is getting out of their vehicle. She steps to the projector, puts in a crystal, gets a rod out of the second pouch on her belt, inserts it into the projector and turns it. Then she hits a button and an image appears. It shows an older, bearded man. He starts talking. In my native language. What? Do they have a projector that is so much better or do I need to suspect that they have had a hand in our arrival? In thart case do I owe them something or did they prevent us rematerializing on Earth? Later. Greetings, vistor. I am the chief priest of the goddess Knowledge. She has sensed your arrival on this world. You have implications for the future of this world and the domain of my goddess. She is offering you an agreement concerning these areas. Her personal representative has details on them. As a gesture of good will she is offering you a skill book on the common trade language. This has been prepared. She detected us. She knew that we do not speak the language. I would quote a famous movie, if I dared to. I know when I am in an untenable position. That is not unusual. Most people know. I then react rationally. I do claim that to be unusual. Many people would now freak out. Is that the reason I am listening to this recording alone? Have we been under observation? She is bronze rank. I am beat up and my biggest shot is on cooldown. Olutha would not act against her. Whatever they want is important to them. They are offering at least some reciprocity. I am folding. The priestess is offering me a book. There is no point in delaying it. I take it and trigger the absorption. The light show is familiar. My aura sense is getting me slight curiosity and anticipation and in one case impatience. Very good, so they are also familiar with the process and things are proceeding as usual.
As I get out of the rpocess with an aching head, I notice Dean and Pavol. P: Welcome to our camp. I hope that you are not offended by my acting quickly. Because I now am able to speak your language, I wish to offer you our hospitality. However, because Dean is displaying signs of emotion and impatience, I wish to request from you that you listen to him immediately. Pavol is showing signs of incomprehension. Good, the book has worked. Can I go back? P: I have asked them to join us for tea and dinner. DT: Priestess, may I ask what has happened to our comrades? GP: Your leader has perished and the rest have been captured. However, Knowledge cannot tell you everything, lest you become dependent on her. DT: Could you inform the Adventure Society? GP: Yes, that shall be done. They will, however, also learn about the epidemic. DT: It is real. GP: Yes, it is. Chapter 30 - Veritas mentes frangit I have been outmaneuvered socially. And my head hurts. I need to confer with my people, but I also have to interact with this priestess. She will want to make a deal, but I cannot agree or even negotiate without a council first. In fact I am no good at negotiations. Anybody from my team would likely be better at getting better terms than I. I suspect that is why they arrived at a time that made sure that I would get the skill book. This is very difficult. I wont try to lie to a deity. How to stall? What outstanding issues do we have? Dean accepted a refusal to answer question as definitive. But it seems to be allowed to ask questions. P: We are caring for a man who is suffering from a malady unknown to us. GP: The cause of his injury and thus its exact nature is part of what my goddess wants to deal with you about. We can certainly take him back with us to Greenstone for specialised medical attention. DT: I gather from that that you wont stay here. GP: No. Knowledge will not get involved in this affair. That means that this deity does not want to let it become known specifically how we came here. Does this mean that Earth should also remain a secret? I could ask them about this world, but for one that would be unfair towards my companions, who deserve answers as much as I do, and, second, I should not waste questions that our newer compatriots, might just as well answer. Dare I just plain ask what gods are and do? P: I request that you excuse my failing to ask whether you live under dietary restrictions. OL: People who have learned a language from a skill book sound really strange. GP: No, but thank you for asking. I must also apologize for not introducing my companion, scholar Russell Clouns of the Magic Society. We are just arriving in the middle of the camp. Lidija has emerged from their car and shakes her head at me. Introductions are slow, if you have only one interpreter. Maybe this is how I can stall. By restraining myself to interpretation and letting three people run the conversation. That has potential. Our visitors demonstrate amazing technology by playing the prerecorded message twice again, covering the native languages of us all. Lidija cuts to the core. L: I would not discuss any deals while my friend is still out from healing. P: My companion feels disinclined to discuss offers while one of us has not recovered from an injury suffered in a fight against monsters. RC: You fought monsters? Did you notice any changes in your essence powers? Even better. A goddess calling herself ?Knowledge can hardly object to exhaustive answers to scientific curiosity. P: He wants to know how your abilities have changed after coming here. L: How am I supposed to know? I got half of them after coming here. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. P: My companion feels herself unable to give a sensible answer, as she has gained half of her abilities after our arrival in this land. RC: Fascinating. What are your essences? P: He wants to know your essences. L: I am not sure I want to tell him. P: I am pretty sure a bronze ranker can read them out of your aura. L: So why does he ask me? P: Very good question. Id like to find out. L: True Void, Shield, Renewal, Guardian P: Void, Shield, Renewal, Guardian He is taking out a notebook and floating a second light over his head. RC: Did you use awakening stones from prior to your arrival? Could you give me the stones, their sequence and their sources? GP: Scholar Clouns, it pains me to hinder genuine curiosity, but it will be better for us, if we first discussed an agreement my goddess is keen on. Well remove the language barrier. RC: Certainly, priestess. GP: That you want to make sure that all of you are present to discuss her offer, illustrates your adherence to your values. I manage to turn a snort into a cough. She actually grins. GP: My godess is Knowledge, not Lawfulness, burning a library is a worse crime to her than desertion or murder. As long as you have some reasons and are honest about it, you can kill whoever you want, as far as she is concerned. She does not cooperate with law enforcement. Unless you burn down a temple. She can read my thoughts. No other explanation. GP: Not directly. She can read your memories. In fact she does so by necessity. As you know what you are thinking, the effect is the same. She has directed me to be very clear to you about this, as she esitimates that youll react better to the facts she cannot hide being made clear before agreements are entered. P: I appreciate your honesty. I cannot manage a more intelligent answer. I wonder why she does not rule the world. Or does she? This is going to be fun. P: I have just been informed that Knowledge C that is the name of the goddess whose priestess we are dealing with C can read everybodys minds and memories. She wants us, or maybe me, to know that before we make an agreement, so that we dont feel tricked. And I suppose to eliminate the possibility of making an agreement in bad faith. She also demonstrated her abilities. There is no doubt in my mind that the claim is true. Shocked silence. P: You can just as well say what you think. She knows anyway. L: That is outrageous! P: You could say that. L: How can you be so quiet? P: Acting logically is a core part of my self-image. My pride requires that I act driven by pure reason now. Emotionally I am as overwhelmed as you. RP: Did you not know the gods? P: I suspect that an answer comprehensive enough to give a usable answer to your question would negatively affect the agreement our guest has come to discuss. PN: You are obviously offering a means to learn your language. GP: That and the general support of Knowledge. Her libraries will be open to you. P: She is also willing to give you general support, including library access. KN: We have reports of an epidemic. GP: The agreement would not preclude you from using your knowledge, even if that demonstrates new knowledge or from training people in such knowledge, just from a random distribution of certain categories of knowledge without her consent. This takes some time and even a written agreement. KN: Ill take it PN: Ill take it She puts a small tablet and two books on the table. GP: Include this into the ritual for your next awakening stone. P: I derive from the context that you are expecting me to provide the obviously missing ingredient. GP: Yes P: I will do so and agree to the exchange. But I lack the skill to include anything like that into a ritual. I put two awakening stones on the table. P: Awakening stones of Knowledge. Scholar Clouns shoots out of his seat. Karolna takes a book. Chapter 31 - Quid tacui? I have been sort of rude to the people who have fought alongside us. Besides, asking questions is safer in terms of the agreement. And while watching a more complex ritual being drawn is kind of interesting, even to the children, whom we have let join us, it is necessary to do something else to cut off more of the scholars question. As imperfectly as that works. RC: Who made these platforms? P: I have made them. RC: How did you get that ability? Racial or essence, which awakening stone? P: I have made them with the first ability I derived from my confluence essence. Hence no awakening stone was used. P: How in detail did you come to the decision that splitting your group was necessary? DT: We had wrecked our second skimmer by an accident. Then we stumbled on an enemy scout. KN: Could you begin your account at an earlier time? It is unclear to me what had triggered your mission. RP: You need to begin at Bahadirs contest. DT: Right. So, a few years ago a professional treasure hunter held a contest to retrieve a relic from an astral space located under the lake. He attacted over a hundred adventurers who spent a lot of money here. After they, the Adventure Society and Bahadirs people left, bandits moved in. P: Does this sequence of events imply that the lawless elements operating in this area are doing so only temporarily and had to anticipate the eventual reaction of which you are a part? DT: We have no solid evidence either way, but we are assuming that. KN: Please allow me time to consider the implications of what you just stated. RC: Please step into the circle holding the awakening stone and the token in either hand. Take care to not step on the lines. Karolna deeply lost in thought I do the translation. Both the token and the stone dissolve. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. PN: That is new. It happens with humans when they get an essence. This is the change that is supposed to let you access skill books. Screw this, I am not going to be the only one left out. Are you willing to extend the deal?
Chapter 32 - 3 rd character sheet Karolna
Adept:
[Eyes of Opportunity] Perception Ability Iron 0 (10%)
[Potion Mystic] Hand Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Alchemy:
[Eldritch Eyes] Special Ability & Attack Iron 0 (21%)
[Duplicating Blade] Knife Special Ability & Attack Iron 0 (0%)
[From Water to Wine] Knowledge Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Venom:
[Knowledge from a Whiff] Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Life:
[Bolt of Life] Spell Iron 0 (72%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
[Potion Mystic] Cost: High Conjure a set of semimaterial alchemical tools that can be manipulated telekinetically. [From Water to Wine] Cost: Moderate Use ordinary water as a basis for short-lived potions that can be made by either minute amounts of ordinary ingredients or other potions or attributes stored in weapons Pavol
Adept:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 0 (3%)
[Invincible] Knife Aura Ability Iron 0 (0%)
[Skip to the Side] Hand Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Vehicle:
[Offroader] Passive Ability Iron 0 (1%)
[A Road well Traveled] Knowledge Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Magic:
[Mana Shield] Special Ability Iron 0 (10%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Vessel:
[Engineer''s Toolchest] Special Ability Iron 0 (18%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
[Skip to the Side] Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Cost: Very High Cooldown: 30 seconds + 1 minute per passenger + variable amount if vehicle affected Short ranged teleport on the surface to the side over traversable terrain or backwards. 30 seconds of additional cooldown if self-conjured vehicle affected, 1 minute if self-piloted magical vehicle, 1 hour if passenger. Size of magical vehicle affectable depends on [Speed] attribute. [A Road well Traveled] Cost: variable A vehicle operating on an already traversed path takes less mana. For a moderate expenditure of mana the vehicle can be instantly turned around on the spot. If the location would not allow that, for very high mana expenditure dimensional warping can be used to do it anyway. Lidija
Guardian:
[Mantle of Frenzy] Special Ability/Spell Iron 1 (8%)
[Rune Tortoise] Rune Familiar Ability Iron 0 (1%)
[Spoils of Victory] Sacrifice Aura Ability Iron 1 (6%)
[Peek under the Counter] Knowledge Perception Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
Void:
[Spike of Void] Special Attack Iron 0 (73%)
[Blood Harvest] Sacrifice Special Ability Iron 0 (90%)
[Bait and Switch] Swarm Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
[Heretical Helix] Knife Special Attack Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
Shield:
[Reflective Barrier] Special Ability/Spell Iron 0 (26%)
[Crystallize Mana] Special Ability Iron 0 (9%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Renewal:
[Regenerate] Special Ability/Spell Iron 1 (39%)
[Lay on Hands] Hand Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
[Peek under the Counter] See the boons and affliction on a person or monster [Heretical Helix] Cost: moderate Cooldown: 30s Fire a helical missile from your hands that on enemies: cancels a holy boon on allies: duplicates an unholy boon [Lay on Hands] Cost: selectable Cooldown: 1 minute Transfer a selectable amount of your mana, which is boosted to a degree depending on your [Spirit] attribute Chapter 33 - The only way to be sure Derrick Stelline is unhappily looking at two dead heidels. DS: How many sick calls today? Graham Bloom sighs. GB: About three times what it ought to be. We have isolated them and sealed their barracks. The guard delivers food to them and leads them to the bathrooms at times reserved to them. DS: Well done. Kill all the heidels. GB: What? DS: Kill all the heidels. We need to close routes for this to spread. They will die anyway. Kill them and burn the corpses. GB: I dont like it, but yeah, itll happen today.
Nicolas Down is happy. Not with his task, but with the reward. Robbing villagers was fun. The new entertainment the boss has started providing is even better. But an awakening stone, even if only a stone of the flea, is still better. For that he would carry a recording to Hornis twenty times and meet a few walking fish.
Rod Geller reverted to using the night for travel. He is overlooking the fortress town. They have declared a quarantine. Sure, that is plausible. But he cannot just ignore it. For one thing the road may already be closed, if travellers have reported back to Greenstone. He does not know how long this state has been existing. And of course, the most obvious question, why? And how? If the team holding the fortress town are dead, the Adventure Society will react. He will need to observe. It would be convinient, if travellers, who could take his report to Greenstone, were to arrive. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
The3uma is sitting in the dark. They have finally stopped the continuous questioning. It has been giving her time. Time is not good. Time lets you think.
Zora has awakened. L: How do you feel? Z: Fine. Feeling your pelvis break is really a big contrast to that. Thanks for the tea, by the way. L: You need it. Z: How did you know Id wake up just about now? L: I didnt. Z: O. You know. I L: Dont speak. She does so. L: How do you feel? Z: I hate it. I wont to make the whole world pay and I hate myself for wishing somebody else would make it pay. L: What will you do? Z: I dont know. Z: I guess it depends on what is happening. I cannot just stop. It wont go away. L: Well, we got sort of divine help? Z: What?!? L: While you were still out a mindreasing priestess arrived and made us an offer we could not refuse. Z: I see. Let me guess. He folded without putting up a fight. L: Yes. Z: I knew it. L: Well, would you really piss off the next bronze rank enemy? Zora slurps her tea. L: And hes handing out awakening stones like a malfunctioning hydrant. Z: This deal, how bad is it? L: They want us to ask before we rock the boat. Z: No way around it? L: She knows what we are talking about. Chapter 34 - Peste timenda ad muros eunt Karolna and Pavol have requested a council. Not that I think that they are wrong. We have problems. If I need to order my on robot to fry myself, something is wrong. If one of us ends up with a broken pelvis, something is wrong. I just doubt that that is something we can solve by a simple change we might discuss. On the other hand a discussion is a good idea nevertheless. We are the only people from our world. Breaking apart the group does not look like a good idea to me. Nobody of us really wants to live in some village alone. Realistically well end up in Greenstone or book a passage thence. But frankly that does not look attractive to me, as well look alien and being aliens arriving just before an epidemic is not a good long term strategy. But I do not want to be the one spreading doom and gloom all the time. I get an unexpected visitor. Z: Good morning. P: You are improving it. Z: Thank you. I wanted to ask whether you are still handing out awakening stones. P: Yes. They were stored in crates of five each. Do you want me to call the ritualist? Z: Nope. I gave capitulated, but not that far. We are stepping to the ritual disks. N: Mommy! S: Mommy! We were worried about you. A group hugging session starts. I carry Natalija. Z: I got the tablet. She really can read minds. This is horrible. P: Not to make too fine a point, but isnt omniscience a big thing in theology? Z: That stuff was supposed to be confined to baptisms and weddings. She left out funerals. Stjepan and I draw in tandem. We are getting good at that. Zora produces another awakening stone. Z: Lidija looted that. P: Cool. We are getting spectators. Our meeting is starting out to be even less formal than our meetings usually are. KN: This will simplify things. We will be waiting in the shade. Nice from her. Z: When I fired my gun. I could claim that I needed to protect the children. But no, I didnt want to be alone. P: So we are forming a team. Z: No, we are not forming anything. We are standing together. But we cannot go on doing this. I dont want to go on. P: It sure wasnt fun.
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 1 (10%)
[Rotary Gun] Might Special Attack Iron 1 (15%)
[Eye of the Infantryman] Knowledge Perception Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Fire:
[Dry the Tinder] Special Attack/Spell Iron 0 (71%)
[Alacrity''s Reward] Swiftness Special Ability Iron 0 (90%)
[Wreathed in Flames] Knife Special Attack Iron (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Magic:
[Dragon Wings] Special Ability Iron 1 (57%)
[Eternal Moment] Lightning Special Ability Iron 1 (11%)
[Dragon''s Treasure Chest] Adventure Special Ability Iron 1 (49%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Onslaught:
[Dive Bomb] Special Attack Iron 0 (43%)
[Rune Trap] Rune Special Attack/Spell Iron 0 (91%)
[Exploding Fist] Ruin Special Attack Iron 0 (8%)
[Limit Breaker] Defiance Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. [Eye of the Infantryman] See when people aim at you. [Wreathed in Flames] Cost: Moderate ongoing Cooldown: None Wreath a melee weapon in flames. It then inflicts additional heat damage.
Gabrielle is nice enough to stand a virtual watch, so that we all can gather. PN: I think we must stop reacting and start planning. That must start with an honest assesment of our status. DT: Right. I am at a loss. Most of our team mates are captured. We have no idea, where they are held. The trail is cold now and would lead us anywhere but to them. GP: Before you ask, no, I am sorry. KN: Wont they send a message with their demands? OL: We have a pretty much global agreement. Prisoners are acceptable; hostages are not. At least among noble families. You cannot give in to blackmail, but you better give your opponents an incentive to return prisoners alive. PN: That seems designed to prolong wars. P: Adventurers are not soldiers. I had this discussion with a superior. You cannot win against the monsters. There will always be new monsters. PN: But this is not against monsters. P: Essences also mean that adventurers are necessarily mostly members of the upper class. RC: Fascinating. In your GP: No. A few seconds of silence. DT: Maybe it would be more effective to talk about the epidemic. Z: Will we get help? DT: Good healers are always busy. L: But you have healing potions. RP: Yes, but they are a finite resource. We can cure anybody, but not everybody. Nor do we know what this disease is. GP: No. RP: Hence one of the strategies is is to allow this to burn itself out and cure the people who are going to die, as long as the potions last. Z: Do you think somebody is using this disease as a weapon? OL: That really gets the Adventure Society to hunt you down. Besides, bandits rarely have good access to potions. KN: Nevertheless we ought to do something. L: Can you heal infectious disease? I cannot. Infected wounds, other diseases and poisons, but not systemic infections. KN: No. I also cannot do that. How many people are we talking about? DT: Hundreds, perhaps in the low thousands. Provided it is limited to the fortress town. PN: How much antibiotics do you have. P: Not nearly enough. Besides, it may just as well be viral. RC: Antibiotics? GP: Later. RC: Ill get an explanation? She nods. P: May I propose a compromise? DT: By all means. P: We could send you, Russell, Karolna and Pavol to the walls and let you talk to them. Maybe the symptoms are distinct. PN: Good idea. And you? P: I could apply awakening stones to Lidija. L: Sure, Ill take those. RC: Purgation, Life, Knowlede or Light have good chances.
Guardian:
[Mantle of Frenzy] Special Ability/Spell Iron 1 (8%)
[Rune Tortoise] Rune Familiar Ability Iron 0 (1%)
[Spoils of Victory] Sacrifice Aura Ability Iron 1 (6%)
[Peek under the Counter] Knowledge Perception Ability Iron 0 (1%)
(unused) 0%
Void:
[Spike of Void] Special Attack Iron 0 (73%)
[Blood Harvest] Sacrifice Special Ability Iron 0 (90%)
[Bait and Switch] Swarm Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
[Heretical Helix] Knife Special Attack Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
Shield:
[Reflective Barrier] Special Ability/Spell Iron 0 (26%)
[Crystallize Mana] Special Ability Iron 0 (9%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Renewal:
[Regenerate] Special Ability/Spell Iron 1 (39%)
[Lay on Hands] Hand Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
[Grand Renewal] Knowledge Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Chapter 35 - Purple bulbs Rod is watching a dust cloud. This seems to be a product of a skimmer. He will need to observe. A skimmer means essence users. Unfortunately Rod lacks the ability to operate a skimmer.
Murtaf is pumping his gills in an alternating rhythm. He watches the recording again. His cousins daughter. That stupid girl that had to go to live among the landwalkers. That he is watching that recording on a projector imported from the landwalkers is on his mind. He understands that if he pays now he will create a reason to capture his operatives. Yet the message was delivered in secret. And it is his cousins daughter. He checks his cousins account.
Russell stops the skimmer well out of bowshot of the fortress town. His skimmer carries a small set of flags. Knowing everything really makes it easy to be optimally prepared. He advances under the flag of an emissary of the Magic Society.
Derrick Stelline is unhappily looking at the corpse of a fisherman. The nakedness of the man of late middle age does not improve his mood. The purple bulges to be found on the body worsen his mood a lot. ES: The other one who developed these purple things survived after we gave him a potion. GB: I have checked the numbers like you asked. We have 2817 refugees left and 51 iron rank potions and 4 bronze rank potions. DS: Burn the corpse. The potions are only for us, pregnant women, mothers with children and the guard. GB: Children? DS: How many of the refugees are children? Graham hangs his head. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. GB: It does not feel right, to give them to the guard, whilst children get nothing. DS: We will need the guard for what I must do now. From now on well confine everybody to quarters. The kitchens are to be closed. Cold rations only. Hand out chamber pots to those in quarters without plumbing. ES: This town is built for more people. Should we divide them up in as many groups as possible? DS: I think it is better to do that to every group we have a new case in. And make it known that trespassers will be flogged. GB: I think you will have to make good on that threat. DS: Good. GB: Good? DS: I need them to know that I am serious. A member of the guard on duty on the gate house yells down a report.
Russell Clouns lifts the speaking cone to his lips. He understands that the conjured device works by using echos, like cupping your hands in front of your mouth. RC: I am scholar Clouns of the Magical Society. Ive come to investigate this new epidemic. A man in adventurer gear appears on the gate house. DS: I am Derrick Stelline, temporary commander of this fortress town. Do you bring potions? RC: No, we do not come from Greenstone. We were on another mission as we learned of your situation. Dean, Pavol and Karolna are joining him. Derrick is not sure whether he knows the human adventurer until he projects his aura. DS: Dean? Has Chodhen given you a message? The aural reaction that causes almost removes the need for an oral reaction in his mind. DT: We split the team due to a faulty vehicle and they have run into a trap. Chodhen is dead. DS: Did you escape? DT: No. A priestess of Knowledge visited us for unrelated reasons and revealed their fate. And Knowledge has informed the Adventure Society of our situation. DS: Just great. There will be an enquiry. DT: By Dominions steely appendage, you are right. KN: Could you describe the symptoms? DS: Humans who get it show fever, say that their belly hurts and get purple bulges. We have one death so far, despite using potions. Do you have potions to spare? PN: Sorry, we are short on potions. He is getting the look that predicts weeks of sleeping on the couch. PN: Do you have other races with you? DS: No, but we saw it in animals. KN: Which animals? Rodents? DS: I wouldnt call heidels rodents. They bleed from under their scutes. Karolna looks confused. A man emerges from behind a boulder. DS: Stranger, identify yourself! DT: Rod! You are here! Chapter 36 - Dea alea iacet I am standing in the xeric steppe a few hundred metres from our camp in my hulk form. I was attacked by one of the semiteleporting phantom monster. Hitting it was hard, tracking ability or not. Biting its head off has solved the problem. It has left me with another issue, though. Its blood is in my face and, worse, on my antennae. I need to repeat the trick of teleporting while reverting to ordinary form. It works on the third try. I woud have left the loot otherwise. Wealth really destroys motivation. I am getting an unexpected visitor. The priestess. Though I should think of her first as an individual rather than a function. Technically I suppose one should call her a symbiont. If the theories about the origin of mitochondria and ribosomes are correct, so am I. Well, so was I at least. I need to let Karolna have a look at a blood sample through one of the microscopes in my storage space. That said, with that thought the utility of the antibiotics in storage suddenly was in doubt. GP: No, my goddess does not know precisely because you dont know. Shit. I was not going to start experimenting on humans, especially children, least of all my friends. GP: You were seeking peace and quiet. But I think you will appreciate, if not enjoy, an opportunity to ask questions. GP: You do need to actually ask. The act of asking is not just information transfer, it is also a decision to want to know. P: I understand the conditions, but I am not sure about the motivation behind them. GP: You are right. It is not just a ?Prime Directive. Knowledge ought to be worked for. On the individual level, however, that is impossible. Insisting on it would destroy the value of libraries and teachers. It would stop the progress of science. Introducing scientific results from an external contributor is no different in that light. The important aspect is that it can be rooted in experimental evidence that can be replicated here or based on other knowledge already present. To the learner it makes no difference whether the result comes from a domestic genius or a traveller. We had an outworlder who asked similar questions. He did not fully grasp why my goddess insists on verifiable knowledge. He had a streak of foolish antiauthoritarianism which made it hard for him to admit that sometimes people do need to be told what is right. P: Asano, the Starlight Rider? GP: Yes. I consider this. P: Is there an objective wrong or right? GP: In parts. One objective reality exists. Not everything can be seen as objectively right or wrong, but a part of what you consider matters of ethics has objective right and wrong answers, not subject to view points. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Dare I ask? Now I see why she insisted on asking. ?Above the quantum level and in the long run. Below that the answer needs to be qualified. The universe is fundamentally nondeterministic. - a whispering musical voice says in my mother tongue from all around me. ?But enough of metaphysics. Practical questions, please. P: One more, please. GP: Your home world has survived. Its destruction would trigger the next monster surge. Have we really saved Earth? No, she did not say that. Our actions may just as well have been inconsequential. Gabrielle grins. P: Very well, practical questions. What should we do? ?You piss off me and him. - another female voice lets me know. ?Thats rare. No surprise she likes you. GP: You cannot please everybody, as you just heard. On Pallimustus the interests of important people usually prevail. To a far greater extent than proclaimed in your homeland. P: Who was that? GP: Liberty, speaking about Dominion and then Knowledge. She turns around. P: Gabrielle, one more thing. The idea of joining a priesthood terrifies me. It does not imply any ill feelings for you or other members of the priesthood. She has a soft laughter. GP: Thank you. I value reasoned objections. It comes with the job. She wiggles her finger at me. GP: Thinking about how Liberty can justify having priests is almost blasphemy. You outworlders really cannot help yourselves.
L: I should go there. I can rescue them. Z: No you cannot. L: But I can heal Z: What is the cooldown of your ability? L: An hour Z: How much mana will it take? L: It will almost drain me. Z: Do you want me to count how many mana potions we have? Her tail and shoulders sag. Z: Sorry. L: But what do we do? Z: You keep or own people alive, especially that Slovak woman who thinks that she is the reincarnation of Albert Schweitzer.
RG: Dean, what has happened? DT: To us, nothing. No sign of the bandits. We met a priestess of Knowledge and foreign essence users. He gestures at Karolna and Pavol. RG: I see. So the Adventure Society already knows. Can we expect support? DT: Rod, I see how that hits you. You did your best and what you had to do given the information you had. Your connections are much, much better than mine. If you dont know what the Adventure Society or your family will do, neither do I. RG: Its just. DT: I know. You need a night spent amongst friends. Come, get onto the skimmer. We need to make room. KN: Wait, I am an idiot. She pulls a bottle of charged water out of her belt. KN: I will observe. DT(shouting): Dont be alarmed. She will send in summoned observers.
KN: Something is not right. This does look like bubonic plague, but PN: But? KN: They seem too active to me. But then I have never seen this disease in the wild. Chapter 37 - Executive meeting The deputy director of the Greenstone branch of the Adventure Society bows to the duke arriving for the emergency council. ?Your highness, the director and director Finn are already present.. The bishop of Knowledge steps out of the elevator, exactly on time. The room in a tower of the Adventure Society has no windows. The door being closed the deputy director touches a crystal next to the door frame and a strong privacy screen seals off the room. The bishop bows to Ernest Geller. ?I am sorry for your loss.. Ernest answers something noncommital. Deputy director Genevieve Picot calls the meeting to order. Genevieve Picot: Now that everybody is present and everybody is familiar with the loss the Geller family has suffered I propose that we let the bishop report. She is met with a murmur of agreement. I need not remind anybody present of Emir Bahadirs contest. With a bit of consideration it ought to be obvious that a gathering of so many adventurers and especially their entourage were bound to and have indeed added a lot of money to the villages around Sky Skar Lake. Again it should surprise nobody that so much wealth not guarded by a formal police force or a branch of the Adventure Society has attracted unsavoury elements. Eventually the local essence users holding up law and order have requested aid from the Adventure Society, which director Arella has granted in the spirit of neighbourly support. The mission could not be one of mere protection, as that would not have solved the issue, as for as the factor ultimately motivating the bandits is not desirable to be removed. Nevertheless even while a team with tracking abilities was working to track down and eliminate the bandits the civilian population had to be protected. The Adventure Society also found it necessary to protect the fortress towns, which were undermanned. The travesty of fortress towns abused to shelter bandits against adventurers had to be averted. Hence in addition to teams hunting the bandits, teams to hold the fortress towns were sent. That also allows villages to be emptied, depriving the bandits of the support of any potential collaborators. Ernest clears his throat. EG: Our fallen family member led the hunting team. We assumed until now that, him being the only casualty, he led from the front and paid the price haning tracked down bandits. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. I was about to come to that. Let me remind you that my goddess will not tell you everything. Nevertheless be assured that Chodhen fought and died valiantly. However, there has been an additional development. An epidemic has broken out in fortress town H27-D. The duke directs an inquisitive gaze towards director Arella. Yes, your highness, anybody entering a fortress town is scanned for infection. In fact so are the herds taken in. However the scanners are good for one species at a time only. Regulations do not require adventurers to dismount when entering a fortress town. Elspeth Arella: Crap. Duke of Greenstone: Are we at least fortunate enough that the outbreak is limited to the fortress town? So far no cases have happened outside the fortress town, although in that town people have been dieing. The town the adventurers got their mounts from has been evacuated including all livestock. Ladies and gentlemen I will now leave you alone to discuss these events without my presence. I can, however, offer you Knowledges willingness to let one of her priestesses having met adventurers observing H27-D inform those adventurers of your decisions should you so decide. He bows and withdraws. Duke of Greenstone: Splendid. Well, at least we can be sure that he knows the way out. Elspeth Arella: Do we know whether Bahadirs people found everything under the lake? Could we be dealing with a relict of the Cult of the Reaper? Pochard Finn: If it wasnt camouflaged, our probes would have found it. However, that is hardly a safe assumption when you are dealing with a group of religious assassins. So, no. Does it matter, though? We have an epidemic. One that is as yet confined. Duke of Greenstone: Indeed. We have to keep this confined. I am closing that road and will inform the Duke of Hornis. Genevieve Picot: We have people there. Elspeth Arella: Yes, and them we will support. But indeed it is clear that our priority must be containment. Ernest Geller: I see. Under these circumstances I request that you do not consider my family for sending support. They would be emotionally involved. Yet, I must ask, is this a coincidence? Duke of Greenstone: If you have a weapon like that, why waste it on a remote village? Elspeth Arella: There is that. If this hits more towns, our chance of containing this goes away. We will have to assue for now that this is confined. Whom have we assigned to that fortress town? Genevieve Picot: Derrick Stelline. Elspeth Arella: Then his cousins are the logical candidate to send. Well include a lot of potions. I just cannot spare a silver rank healer. Duke of Greenstone: Yes. We will need to prepare for an outbreak in the city. Pochard Finn: In the worst case, does Derrick Stelline have the stomach for Elspeth Arella: I believe so. Chapter 38 - In nubibus ludo Should I experiment on myself? I have [Immortality]. Poisons do not kill in seconds like the movie industry wants to tell us. They also leave more of a mess than Hollywood in its mainstream forms likes. I would have time to trigger [Immortality]. I have no big doubts that most antibiotics would work against disease on us, now that I have thought the matter over. You can use them to kill bacteria in a petri dish after all. But that tells us nothing about toxicity to us. I dont think that I am even a mammal anymore. But . There is always a but. I dont know how healing magic works. Will it remove the actual poison? If not, Id be in deep shit if the effects become lethal before I am out of the cooldown. Yes, there are a few very brave doctors in the history of medical science. However, I think that these histories are written with survivorship bias. No thank you. In fact now that I think about it, can a healing power make me grow? I absolutely mean make me taller, you perverts. Next to my vehicle ants have started chucking seeds. A minority among them is a bit larger and has comically enlarged heads and mandibles they are using to crush seeds into smaller chunks. They are also dumping trash into a small depression in the ground a bit downhill from the entrance to their nest, which they have heightened a bit with excavated soil. The shade my vehicle generates has changed their behavior. Are they usually doing this at dawn or dusk and I have not noticed so far? I sit down on a reclined chair and decide to pop a can of soda.
I find myself waking up as a cloud obscures the sun. There is even a bit of wind in small gusts. The water in the lake must come from somewhere. Argus#1has been watching and this is an opportunity I need to use. Walking on a cloud is even better than stories make you believe. It is not bouncy like an air matress or a trampoline, but soft and yieldy, as if walking on whipped cream. But do not make the mistake a lieing down on a raw cloud. For all I know there are essence abilities for manipulating clouds that remedy these issues, but clouds are made of water droplets. Dew if you will. Dew does not form at decent temperatures. They are cold and moist. I feel like the result of a college party with much too much to drink, which had to go somewhere during the night and enough time to go to room temperature. The room temperature of a room with a window open at night. A room in central Europe, not the tropics. Not to be recommended. Iron rank has clear advantages. Now when I think about it under that aspect, normal pharmacokinetics cannot apply to us. And would our digestive tracts destroy or adsorb drugs? The usual routes of excretion are not open to us. Nope, I am not going to take conventional drugs unless in a dire emergency. At least I got a healthy supply of cloud substance in storage now. Ill keep the salt anyway. You should always have a backup. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Rod needs a shave. Human psychology being what it is, nobody notices that he does not need a shower. He does not care. The hot beverage he has gotten is delightfully sweet. RG: You are right. We ran into a prepared trap. The trace was about to vanish. So we made haste. Right into the trap. They sacrificed that scout. DT: Chodhen ? RG: He made a stand and told me to get away. DT: The priestess told us that he, but only he is dead. RG: Then the rest of our team has been captured. DT: Did they surrender? RG: It is possible. Chodhen told me to go for help. The battle was going badly. I dont think anybody but a stealth specialist has gotten away. DT: Rod, I do not want to shirk responsibility here, but you outrank me, even formally. And you are a Geller. What are we to do? Rod hesitates. His shoulders hunch up. But he is a Geller. A Geller will answer a legitimate question. Even if he has no answer. RG: I do not know. The trace is cold by now. I dont like it, but my plan was to ask for a bronze ranker. Pavol clears his throat. PN: I could not help but overhear your conversation. But, do you have solid intelligence on strength or location of the enemy? Rod gulps. RG: I sensed a bronze rank aura. A pure one, not like yours, Dean. We are definitely weaker. You are right. This needs a decision. We will not attack. Tension leaves Deans shoulders.
She knows their mission, but she does not know how she got here. She is wearing a suppression collar. And she is covered in substances she does not want to think about. She has been captured, that much is obvious. She can sense no injuries but for a fierce headache. So presumably they have fed her a potion. But what do they want. If only She knows their mission, but she does not know how she got here. What is that thing around her neck?
Nicolas Down is enjoying a last night at a house of suitably ill repute. He will depart at first light, but that is not a reason to not have a little fun first. The walking fish had just handed over a bag without words.
Derrick Stelline is watching the proceedings with grim determination, as a begging mother falls onto her backside, a door forcibly being closed in front of her. ? He was just visiting a girl! Were you never in love? DS: Yes, I was. That is why only he is flogged and why I do not string him up. Aura manipulation is a brilliant tool if you need your threats being taken seriously. They are letting one of the guards swing the whip. The ritual circle for sound amplification does its job. Chapter 39 - Vispilloni nihil relictum est I have spotted them return while hacking at a cloud. It turns out that with a conjured pickaxe I can shape a cloud. The material hacked loose stays pliable for a view minutes. So I decide to spin down in the manner of an acorn seed.
KN: Going by the symptoms I am pretty sure it is the plague or something closely related. But that does not tell me how it is spread. I have been assured that fortress towns are aware of problems of hygine and will not tolerate fleas inside their walls. I must conclude that this region has an animal other than fleas than can spread the disease. PN: Then we cannot just walk into the town, even if we wear N95 masks and be sure not to be infected. She wishes to object. Once again anybody who can look at a face does not need an aura sense, though her struggle is reflected in her aura. KN: No. There are no such guarantees. A mask does not protect you against insect stings anyway. If that disease has a pneumonic form, however, masks will protect you. L: On a more positive note, I have awakened a very strong healing ability. If anybody of us needs healing I think I can provide it. I think I should test it. RG: I appreciate your willingness to help, but it am afraid I have to insist that we heed the basic rules of this situation. A quarantine comes with its own set of rules. KN: People in there are dieing. RG: Yes. But they are comparatively few. If we have the choice between a smaller number now versus a larger number later, we are bound by the strictures of the Adventure Society. We have taken this contract. Karolna, whatever her other failures might be, is a strict rationalist. She knows math. Her nod is pained, but real. Z: Perhaps we can do some good while strictly staying safe. P: How? Z: I know you want to keep enough medication to keep us safe. I do agree. But we need to clarify two issue. First, do they work against this disease at all? Second, do they safely work on us? We are not human and we are essence users? RC: In general drugs that work on normal rank people also work on essence users, but with a shorter duration and only in higher doses. Whether they work on you, however, is a different issue. You react abnormally to teleportation. L: OK, so what do you propose? This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.Z: I fly over the fortress at a safe height and drop doses for a few people together with written instructions. RG: That is an acceptable solution. In fact, I heard from Deam that you have a looting power. Usually I would not impose on civilians, but as you are outright eager to help, do your powers yield potions?
We are going even further. Lidija is preparing her ritual circle for Zora to go through right after landing.
The new guy from the Adventure Society is approaching me with a mixture of determination, embarrasment, talkativeness and urgency on his aura, which he intentionally leaves out for detection. P: Mr. Geller, I think you feel it is time we clarify some fundamental questions. RG: Young master Geller, actually, but this is not a time for formalities. P: My apologies. I didnt know your family. RG: You dont know our family? P: No. You looks outright puzzeled. This may have been a faux pas. But he must know that I am serious. I am not even trying to withdraw my aura. His aura feels sharp, for lack of a better wording. P: I am sure this does not reflect on your reputation. We fled from a very distant region. In fact so distant I have no idea where it is or how to return. We ended up here by teleporting out of an astral space into the void. His eyes widen. RG: That explains the scholar and the priestess. Wait, when the scholar mentioned reaction to teleportation, he meant you teleporting your people, not the priestess? P: Yes. But I can take you nowhere important, especially not to the city you are expecting help from. I have no known locations here. RG: Greenstone. I understand completely. I was a bit unsure. I sensed no cores in your auras. I tentatively deemed you visiting foreign adventurers. P: We have no idea about our status. I am personally am ready to help you, but I cannot speak for the group. In fact I dont want to. We came together in an emergency and I turned out to be the strongest essence user among us. I feel responsible for them. He is rubbing his very square chin while looking down on me. Purely physical I mean. This man is built like Schwarzenegger without bodybuilding. RG: I was thinking about my team mates. And and their corpses. Would it be possible for you to retrieve Chodhens body or at least his badge, when I show you the place on a map? P: Badge? I get another incredulous look. He shows me a rather pretty medaillion. RG: Adventurers, members of the Adventure Society, are issued such badges by the society. They are linked to ones aura. P: Of course. Ill depart immediately.
This is turning out ugly. I see the wreck. I see scorched patches of ground. I see some gouges in the ground. I also see a pack a vaguely humanoid dwarves on an extreme diet fighting over something on the ground, which has to be a corpse. Fearing a trap my plan was to send in Dalek-3UH with a coffin. This looks like he would need a rake in addition to that. And am I sure this is not a trap? I dare a low pass that allows me to pick up auras. Yes, those are real monsters, if I can trust my aura sense. I land and start action as a sharpshooter, while sending in Dalek-3UH without any additional equipment. I end up retching a lot while I telekinetically scoop corpse parts and indeed a badge into a conjured coffin. I cant put it into my storage space, but that way I dont need to touch the gore. In fact I need a break and fresh air. I teleport up. And there I see traces heading away from the site of the battle beginning a few hundred meters away. Chapter 40 - Mens sana in corpore incognito Rod is staring at the coffin I have conjured to depose the remains in. The rest of his team, as it turns out that he outranks them for some reason, is arrayed behind him. Frankly a watertight bag would have served better. But we have children here and in addition I am not going to harm somebodys feelings in such a way, if I can help it. RG: By your description that were Pixlax. Out here they are rare. Another precursor sign. P: Precursor sign? RG: Of the monster surge. I forgot your origin. P: I am sorry, but there was very little left. What was left I gathered and added the badge you mentioned. RP: Thank you. I just galls to know that he died and we cannot do anything to avenge him. We dont even know where they went. P: Southeast. Behind that small hill they stopped bothering to hide their traces. I feel a multitude of auras boring down on me. RG: That is unexpected news. Did you follow the trail? P: No. I am sorry, but if a whole group of properly trained fighters is defeated, I am not going there. RG: Absolutely. However, even our enemies will not always be perfectly prepared. Did anybody see you? P: I dont think so. RG: Could you take me there? P: Now? RG: Yes. We reappear on the battle field. He draws breath audibly. We agree on me coming back every second day to pick up messages.
Karolnas eyebrows are on a trajectory towards the sky. That is not desirable in a member of a medical profession giving me a physical. She is very dilligently listening to the workings of my inner organs. She is getting a portable monitor for an ECG out of her bag. She is also listening on my belly. That allows me to observe that even her eyelashes share the colour of her hair. I will not ask the obvious question. KN: I may have a reason to sign your death certificate. P: What? KN: Zero on the ECG. No heart beat. No sound from your gut. And you had something like a heart beat when I did a physical on you in our home. P: So I am dead. KN: Technically undead. Do you have any unusual cravings in the beverage department? I snort. Were I not the subject of the joke, Id laugh out loud. KN: You do have a blood pressure. P: How high? KN: 100 P: I am going to reach a ripe old age. KN: No, you dont understand. You have one blood pressure. It is constant. So you are not soundproof and a perfect electrical isolator. You have no beating heart. In fact, without an X-ray I cant be sure that you have a heart at all. P: Even insects have hearts. KN: Yes. Though I admit I have never treated an invertebrate. P: So what does that tell you with respect to testing medication? KN: I strongly recommend against it. I have no way of telling how your cells are working metabolically. P: Do I have cells? KN: Yes, though you have cells where you should not have them. Your red blood cells look like amoebas. P: That is interesting. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. KN: That means that an antibiotic could be poisonous to you, though your cells have nuclei. P: So what do we do? KN: We wait for results from the actual usage on people and you stay with potions and magic. P: Very well, I will ask a few people for afternoon tea, then. I get a long searching look. Strike!
Derrick Stelline is unhappily looking at a pyre. DS: These are four people. How many more on the verge of death? ES: Five. GB: There is more. The guards had to beat a few people this morning. Apparently also the mother of one of those burning here. DS: You know that there is no choice. GB: I know that. The guards do not. DS: I see. We will have to watch them extra closely.
Rod Geller is following the trail at a lateral displacement, switching sides at irregular intervals. The track is going away from the lake. That worries him. Bandits need water. Even if they were all essence users, they would not live on spirit coins. His maps show no sources of water anyway near here. Around midnight he hits the old, mostly disused road connecting the lake to Hornis, where the track is again obscured. His shoulders slump. They just did not hide their track because it would tell him nothing. Rod looks up. No, even if it does not directly lead him to their lair, he is willing to bet that they use that road. He is preparing a shelter with a good view of the road.
Liana Stelline feels annoyed at the desk, as she is told that she has been assigned a priority contract. She likes to pick her contracts. ?The deputy director would like to have a word with you about your mission., Bert tells her.
I spend the evening with meditation.
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 2 (81%)
[Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 2 (68%)
[This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 3 (6%)
[Chemical Warfare] Defiance Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (61%)
[Hyperkinetic Cannon] Gun Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (72%)
Vast:
[Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 2 (18%)
[Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 2 (88%)
[Nebelwerfer 42] Focus Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (25%)
[Arsenal of the Mad Scientist] Magotech Special Ability Iron 2 (53%)
[Eldritch Eyes] Water Special Ability & Attack Iron 1 (47%)
Dimension:
[Teleport] Special Ability Bronze 0 (0%)
[Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 3 (41%)
[Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 2 (0%)
[Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 2 (97%)
[Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 2 (0%)
Battlefield:
[Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 3 (54%)
[Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 2 (83%)
[Pipes of War] Unity Special Ability Iron 1 (75%)
[Cornucopia] Feast Special Ability Iron 1 (27%)
[Feast of Decontamination] Light Special Ability Iron 1 (7%)
Chapter 41 - Si rogavisses I thought too conservatively. My vehicle, which I will henceforth not call a car anymore, as it has more in common with Lukes land speeder than with what Benz invented, can generate air and hot water. I am currently enjoying my own whirlpool. Bubbles getting stuck on your antennae is a weird sensation. With passive enjoyment comes contemplation. With contemplation comes doubt and a hint of guilt. I killed people. Good people. Yes, they were my enemies in the sense that their actions threatened to harm me. But they had a reason to be my enemies. What was I to do? Should I have quietly gone to prison because I had done bad things? Sorry, but no. And that leaves out the question whether the Network was waiting to get their hands on me. Too rational to just sacrifice myself for justice. Others would say too selfish. Yet I am not good at being a rebel. I am too conventional. Do I want to join the establishment, though? Sure, to turn into a hermit would mean a lonely life. However, I am the only member of my race by all accounts. I wont have a big family with children anyway. Why do they call it race? Apparently I do not even share a phylum with man. I do not want to be alone. In last consequence I am doing this for people wholl want to live their own lives. Maybe theyll visit every few weeks. Still, I dont want to abandon them. That means that Ill need more information. Will they tolerate foreigners? Will we be taxed to death?
First you need to provide some information. P: Scholar Clouns, it seems to me that you have essences though you are not a member of the Adventure Society. Have you had a relative who looted your essences? RC: One of them actually yes. My Magic essence. But no, we bought the rest of them. My family is small, but moderately wealthy, so that we can afford cheap essences and awakening stones for some of our members who show an aptitude for rituals or a lucrative trade. P: So there are shops selling essences in Greenstone you can just walk into and buy any essence you like? RC: Well, not shops as such. Some brokerage houses dealing in magical goods do indeed have some common essences you can regularly buy, though they are usually open only to adventurers and a few essences are banned. Most essences are sold at auction in any case. P: Banned? I am a bit concerned. RC: No problem. I asked the priestess. Yours are all good. Though she said that you have foreign essences. That is most interesting. P: Yes, indeed, the skill book for languages Knowledge provided us with has not contained a name for one of my essences. It was my first essence actually. Physically it looked like a cube of grey metal. If getting your notebook ready were an olympic discipline, hed be qualified. RC: This is interesting. On this world Iron covers all metals. P: Sorry for the confusion. It is an essence for a class of weapons. The most basic version is made out of that metal, although many people paint them, especially the more modern versions. RC: A weapon. Could you ? I conjure my assault rifle. P: I would hand it to you, but itll dissolve, if I do that. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. RC: A common behavior for conjurations from most essences. Its function is, frankly, not immediately obvious. P: It is a projectile weapon. The projectiles come out of the hole at the end of this tube. RC: Like a blowdart? Some tribes use them. P: Technically yes, but the handling is like a crossbow. RC: Did you get this one from the essence? P: No, an awakening stone of Myriad. From the essence I got the ability to use magical tools. Is that the ability you use to operate your skimmer? RC: I dont know. We need to test this out. It turns out that I can operate a skimmer. I am happy that he is content for me to lift the skimmer and move it a few meters forward and backward again. RC: Some abilities are known to occur in a number of essences. P: Does that mean that the Adventure Society has a big list of abilities? RC: Well, the Magic Society, but yes, there is a big list. P: So you want to add to the list. In that case I probably should first describe my ability that comes from an awakening stone of the same essence. I describe [Hyperkinetic Cannon] to him, with a lot of questions and explanations. RC: So you can fire additional shots from your storage area? P: In theory, if I had ammunition. And that ability comes from another essence. RC: Frankly, as interesting as a new essence is, it will stay a curiosity without more essences. So your other unusual essences are also very interesting. Perhaps even more so. P: Which one interests you most? RC: Dimension. Your confluence is rarer, but it is usually avoided because it is seen as a waste of the essences needed to achieve it. P: Well, I like it. Though I must say that it provides abilities that make sense only in a group of essence users. But you still want to talk about Dimension first, dont you? RC: Yes. P: Very well. Though now you have awoken my interest. Which confluences do people use Dimension for? RC: Time and Gate. Restoring earlier states. Transfering changes, P: I should read the list. Well, I had no choice. Dimension was my third essence and I had to rank up or I would have died with all those monsters in the forest. It allowed me to teleport. And I happened to get a few awakening stones at the same time. RC: That explains it. Did you get [Teleport] right from the essence? P: Yes. RC: Not unusual for that essence, as far as our limited data allows any conclusion. P: And I think I must disappoint you if you are looking for cool combat abilities. I have both my perception and my aura ability in Dimension. RC: No, on the contrary, that is most interesting. I noticed your telekinetic aura. I end up demonstrating my aura ability very thoroughly. RC: This ability is most likely one of a set of abilities very similar at iron rank, which are usually associated with the Force confluence. Which awakening stone does it come from? P: Dance. RC: The most unspecific of the stones likely to awaken such an ability. How about your perception ability? You gets the explanation quickly. It seems that it is a known ability. RC: This is usually associated with the Zeal and Wrath confluences. He looks it up on a device that look like a tablet of marble. RC: At bronze you will sense magic; at silver auras C that is very conventional C and at gold you will be able to see through obstacles. P: My other abilities are time acceleration and something that is better demonstrated than explained. I give an unfortunate boulder a dose of frostfire. RC: That incantation sounds odd in your mother tongue. Nevertheless that is a very characteristic ability. It is called [Wrath of the Magister]. P: The magister? RC: Most likely a legendary figure. Which another of your abilities is also named after. Frankly, it is usually found with rather esoteric archmage confluences. You do not resemble him. And I mean not just in essences, but also in aura. Probably also not physically, though technically we have no idea what race he was. P: Not in my aura. RC: Well, your aura is trained. Obviously so, for you use it for telekinesis. But the training seems to be, well, for effect and strength only. You project well, but your control for retraction is quite unsophisticated. The following discussion leads to a relevation and a promise of an introduction on the local techniques for aura control in the evening. Chapter 42 - 4 th character sheet Karolna
Adept:
[Eyes of Opportunity] Perception Ability Iron 0 (16%)
[Potion Mystic] Hand Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Alchemy:
[Eldritch Eyes] Special Ability & Attack Iron 0 (36%)
[Duplicating Blade] Knife Special Ability & Attack Iron 0 (0%)
[From Water to Wine] Knowledge Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Venom:
[Knowledge from a Whiff] Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Life:
[Bolt of Life] Spell Iron 0 (72%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Pavol
Adept:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 0 (9%)
[Invincible] Knife Aura Ability Iron 0 (4%)
[Skip to the Side] Hand Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Vehicle:
[Offroader] Passive Ability Iron 0 (3%)
[A Road well Traveled] Knowledge Special Ability Iron 0 (2%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Magic:
[Mana Shield] Special Ability Iron 0 (10%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Vessel:
[Engineer''s Toolchest] Special Ability Iron 0 (30%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Lidija
Guardian:
[Mantle of Frenzy] Special Ability/Spell Iron 1 (8%) Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
[Rune Tortoise] Rune Familiar Ability Iron 0 (2%)
[Spoils of Victory] Sacrifice Aura Ability Iron 1 (10%)
[Peek under the Counter] Knowledge Perception Ability Iron 0 (8%)
(unused) 0%
Void:
[Spike of Void] Special Attack Iron 0 (73%)
[Blood Harvest] Sacrifice Special Ability Iron 0 (90%)
[Bait and Switch] Swarm Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
[Heretical Helix] Knife Special Attack Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
Shield:
[Reflective Barrier] Special Ability/Spell Iron 0 (26%)
[Crystallize Mana] Special Ability Iron 0 (16%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Renewal:
[Regenerate] Special Ability/Spell Iron 1 (39%)
[Lay on Hands] Hand Special Ability Iron 0 (2%)
[Grand Renewal] Knowledge Special Ability Iron 0 (30%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Zora
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 1 (11%)
[Rotary Gun] Might Special Attack Iron 1 (15%)
[Eye of the Infantryman] Knowledge Perception Ability Iron 0 (5%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Fire:
[Dry the Tinder] Special Attack/Spell Iron 0 (71%)
[Alacrity''s Reward] Swiftness Special Ability Iron 0 (96%)
[Wreathed in Flames] Knife Special Attack Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Magic:
[Dragon Wings] Special Ability Iron 1 (68%)
[Eternal Moment] Lightning Special Ability Iron 1 (11%)
[Dragon''s Treasure Chest] Adventure Special Ability Iron 1 (55%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Onslaught:
[Dive Bomb] Special Attack Iron 0 (43%)
[Rune Trap] Rune Special Attack/Spell Iron 0 (91%)
[Exploding Fist] Ruin Special Attack Iron 0 (8%)
[Limit Breaker] Defiance Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
Chapter 43 - Sumne formica? I do not understand the women I am on this odyssey with. Some might claim that I dont understand women or people in general, but that is for you to judge. I will not admit to that. First they want to tell nobody anything, but one of them is fine with leaving her children to a stranger, just because that stranger is promising to run an informal school session. To be sure, I understand the argument that resisting somebody who can kill you no matter what you do is futile. But why does that apply only to strange priestesses who promise schooling? Is this some kind of addiction to sending children to school? L: We can form as many groups as we have looting powers. Z: I think I am the second strongest fighter among us. So I should team up with you, as we both can fly. L: Makes sense. KN: That way we have two teams with a medic and a looting power.
We are both heading to the lake in a vehicle, planning to go around it in two different ways. We are doing this for loot hence a tested method makes most sense. Baiting lake monsters should work. Those crab/sharks are less than agile. Even if we cant kill them, retreat will be an option. I have lent Pavol my strong staff. I mean this totally factually. PN: You did this already? P: Yes. You will need to get used to this, if you want to advance, unless you think that you will have the money for buying awakening stones and monster cores and a set for your son. PN: I am aware of that. I accept it. It is a good deal. I dont have to like it. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I lightly slap his shoulder. P: I would have trouble with people who like to fight monsters. Though, intellectually, it would seem like hunting, which people have been doing since before our species existed. At the same time, the powers are just cool. KN: Did your attitudes towards that change when you got your essences? P: No. I always detested hunting. But at the same time I recognise that is a primal behavior of our lineage. I need to remind you that I started out as human. Regarding my new race, yep, I got a stinger and venom for hunting, but so have wasps and the adults are vegetarians. KN: You know animals surprisingly well. P: You never had an ant farm? KN: You may need psychological aid. P: I have gained characteristics of an arthropod. That may or may not have affected me mentally. I havent had much interaction with other members of my race and it looks like I never will. PN: We have seen you look at your companions. Be assured that in important regards you are still a human male. P: Well, I never aimed for a gold medal in subtlety. You are indirectly asking about my future plans. PN: Yes. P: You are worried. You should be. I am, too. But what do you want us to do? We are under quarantine. KN: You simply want to wait it out. I get that that is, viewed from a certain angle, just rational behavior. P: So I get what you are saying. You want to help the people in the fort. I think thats too risky, but it is your life. I wont stop you. You know the risks better than I. KN: You wont stop us. The guys from the Adventure Society will. P: Presumably yes. Thats their duty. They are enforcing the laws on public health. Again, you know better than I how important that is. KN: I do. P: Besides, I am not going to start our life here by turning myself C and some people whom I feel a duty to protect and aid C into an outlaw by breaking a sensible law. I respect the medical profession and see why you want to help, but again, you are intelligent people. Why are you bringing this up? We are already trying to get more potions. KN: Yes, but you are not even looking for a solution because you think it is fruitless. I pause. P: That is a pretty high barrier. PN: You would set it for yourself. I pause again. P: You are right. My companions know how to use silence. I lean back. Do I view people from this world as aliens not relevant to me? Or, worse, no longer as members of my species I do not have to care about? No. I think the realization that conspiracy theories KN: Pozor! I am catapulted forward. Chapter 44 - Mente occlusa in periculum vehimur The impact hurt. Fortunately I have not suffered a concussion. The dashboard is lit with warning lights. That is new. The windscreen has gone opaque. It shows cracks. Karolina is sprawled against it. At least she is breathing. Though I doubt any humanoid should breathe with a bubbling sound. Pavol is fiddling with my magic stick with his left hand, looking disoriented. There is a strange look on his face, his right hand firmly, in fact in a death grip, grasping the control orb. What am I to do? There is a thumping sound on the side of the vehicle. We must have hit some animal or monster. I am not going to let something put even more dents into a priceless item. Besides, if it went for the windscreen, it would already be inside. I do not want to fight a monster in the confines of this vehicle. I would teleport outside, but I cannot see through the windows. They have gone opaque, too. It seems like some kind of safety feature. Well, I cannot sue the manufacturer for failing to include a manual. P: Pavol! He does not react. I have to do it all by myself. I am extending an antenna while chanting for {Cornucopia]. Ill keep the biggest guns in reserve. This has become a situation of sinkng or swimming. Hence the smaller option comes out with all add-ons. Ouch! Do you know those videos featuring people exercising on bars with the aid of an elastic band, which then slips off their foot to impact places you do not want to get slapped? OK, I may be exaggerating a bit but my vehicle is very good at reporting damage. I tell it to drop the roof. I find myself looking into eyes mounted on stalks above a snarling mouth filled with multiple rows of teeth. My trigger finger needs no further incentives. The monster makes a sort of klicking and honking sound, while I am showered with fragments of shattered teeth. Something speeds towards me. I am a bit too slow, so it hits me only on the shoulder. Something breaks. Pavol screams and covers his ears. My weapon is not as loud as a real assault rifle. Still, this cannot be nice. I teleport. Some people say that I like to look down on my enemies. They are right. Now, I have wings, but they need time to unfold. Hence I am falling from 5 meters above ground level. There is a slight possibility that a crushed shoulder and a desire to be outside pincer range combined with a wish to not abandon my companions, has led to a decision that could be questioned. This is exactly the situation you want to resort to gas warfare in. Indeed the chirping becomes a whole lot more like the sound of ceramic plates being smashed, the monster starts shaking and its eyes start bleeding. That is not conducive to a soft landing, even if theoretically you know techniques for such a situation. My right ankle really hurts. At least it wants to get away now. I grab it by an eyestalk. That is a mistake. My shoulder starts healing thanks to the health I am draining by firing at point blank range, so I can hold on. The weak point turns out to be something else. Again I feel catapulted through the air and this time I am holding a severed eye stalk in my hand. I have to risk it. I am firing [Hyperkinetic Cannon]. Have I mentioned that my antennas fold in grooves on the side of my head? That makes them hard to injure. Hard to injure does not mean impossible. I hit a rock directly with an antenna socket. Blackness.
Somebody is pouring water over my head. My antenna burns. I am quite sure Pavols scream was manlier than mine. I am past caring. PN: She is dying. I need a potion. P: What? PN: Give me a potion from your inventory! P: What potion? PN: A healing potion. What does he want? Something from my inventory. I produce stuff. I hear a happy sound. I need to remember something. Yes, there it is. I trigger [Immortality] just before I pass out again.
How many bottles of water is this man carrying? This is getting old. However, I am actually thirsty and I start licking. Have I mentioned that my transformed tongue can rival a giraffe or a certain rock musician? Pavol is not looking good. P: You look like you really need a potion. PN: Very few left. I just need to rest a bit. And then he sort of folds himself. His breathing is regular, though. I feel fine, except for some monster pieces still clinging to me. I cannot have been out for very long then. I loot it. Better something bad while I still have my antenna folded rather than have it turn to coloured smoke at an indeterminate time. I put up a sunscreen over their sleeping bodies and check on my vehicle. Six days of repair time and practically all my coins needed. That is not good. Still, there is no alternative. This endeavour has turned into a failure. I will teleport us back to base. Have you ever experienced running away while some strap of your clothing is stuck? I just got the magical equivalent. I cannot teleport them. Great, just great. I install the robotic outlook and start meditating.
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 2 (83%)
[Joy of Sustained Fire] Blood Special Attack Iron 2 (88%)
[This is my Gun] Myriad Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 3 (19%) Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
[Chemical Warfare] Defiance Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (93%)
[Hyperkinetic Cannon] Gun Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (90%)
Vast:
[Giant Form of the Ancestors] Special Ability Iron 2 (18%)
[Immortality] Tree Special Ability Iron 3 (1%)
[Nebelwerfer 42] Focus Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 1 (25%)
[Arsenal of the Mad Scientist] Magotech Special Ability Iron 2 (53%)
[Eldritch Eyes] Water Special Ability & Attack Iron 1 (47%)
Dimension:
[Teleport] Special Ability Bronze 0 (0%)
[Dance by my Will] Dance Aura Ability Iron 3 (42%)
[Eternal Moment] Reach Special Ability Iron 2 (0%)
[Path in Time] Hunt Perception Ability Iron 3 (2%)
[Wrath of the Magister] Corruption Special Attack/Spell Iron 2 (0%)
Battlefield:
[Equip the Army] Special Ability Iron 3 (60%)
[Robotic Servant of War] Magotech Special Attack/Conjuration Iron 2 (86%)
[Pipes of War] Unity Special Ability Iron 1 (75%)
[Cornucopia] Feast Special Ability Iron 1 (41%)
[Feast of Decontamination] Light Special Ability Iron 1 (7%)
Chapter 45 - Ut vivat, spero Physically I am fine. This ability is really, really useful. My companions are not. That Geller fellow was gracious enough to share some potions with us before he left, so I have been able to put two more of them into Karolina, but she has not woken up. I think her skull is broken. I have conjured some furniture and shelter. In fact I even dared leaving them under the guard of my robotic assistant to leave a word with the priestess and the adventurers to direct Zora and Lidija to us. Russell is taking their skimmer over land towards the place I described just in case. They have given me even more potions. Yet I have to face reality, we are a failure. Our mission was to hunt for potions. We have used up more of them. What did we do wrong? In hindsight, that is easy to answer. We did not consider that monsters could be everywhere and attack at all times, not just when we hunt them. In addition some monsters can dig and hide beneath the ground. We thought we could have an introspective deep talk on the way to some gruesome yet controlled hunting, like big game hunters of yore in Africa, where we incidentally actually do happen to be. Hubris came before the fall. I suppose this will be a good lessson. Right now it is dread wondering what I will do if my patients go into a crisis. Well, lets be honest, I will use yet another potion. I dread what would happen if that potion were to fail to do its job. And I have a secret desire to chuckle remembering the fact that some great-grandmothers husband of mine fought in East Africa in Word War One and actually was a hunter of big game. I need to find a way to exchange hindsight for foresight, even if the exchange rate is bad. In fact am I repeating my mistake by musing about such questions while I should be standing watch? Nevertheless I notice the dust rising in the distance just fine. It turns out to be caused by the skimmer Russel Clouns and Dean Tuckell are riding in on. RC: Let me have a look at them. He has a kind of crystal with a loop of fabric attached affixed to his head like an eye patch, looking like a kind of new age pirate attempting to do crystal healing to another ship he met on the high seas. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. RC: Some kind of induced shock He switches to Karolina. RC: Classical blunt trauma. Who on the controls, when the collision happened? P: He was. RC: That figures. He will wake up and recover without intervention. P: What about her? RC: She will need a healer. P: She is the healer! RC: I am aware of the conundrum. Yet waking her up would quite likely kill her. It would be a measure of last resort. There go our last potions. I dont like it, but I dont have to like it.
I used to think that detecting people about to arrive by a dust cloud is an urban myth out of cowboy movies. Here I have learned better. L: She is going to make it. I had to use my big ritual, but it worked. PN: Thank you from the bottom of my heart Z: She was lucky that we returned early. We have looted potions and an awakening stone. Whether my aura or my face or both are giving me away I cannot tell. Z: So we are back where we started in terms of potions. In addition we have lost the use of a vehicle. And one of us will take days to recover. Is that a correct summary? Sometimes silence is an answer. Z: Do we need to do anything at all? PN: Imagine it were you or your children in that fortress. We are getting good at this answering by silence act. Z: We have to be realist. We do not have a lab for research, we have no way to isolate infected people. L: How about the cave under the lake? Chapter 46 - 5 th character sheet The huntresses have returned. Zora
Gun:
[Tools of the Magister] Special Ability Iron 1 (46%)
[Rotary Gun] Might Special Attack Iron 1 (55%)
[Eye of the Infantryman] Knowledge Perception Ability Iron 0 (53%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Fire:
[Dry the Tinder] Special Attack/Spell Iron 0 (98%)
[Alacrity''s Reward] Swiftness Special Ability Iron 1 (10%)
[Wreathed in Flames] Knife Special Attack Iron 0 (37%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Magic:
[Dragon Wings] Special Ability Iron 1 (91%)
[Eternal Moment] Lightning Special Ability Iron 1 (24%)
[Dragon''s Treasure Chest] Adventure Special Ability Iron 1 (69%)
[Rising Flames] Magus Special Ability/Spell Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
Onslaught:
[Dive Bomb] Special Attack Iron 0 (43%)
[Rune Trap] Rune Special Attack/Spell Iron 0 (91%)
[Exploding Fist] Ruin Special Attack Iron 0 (8%)
[Limit Breaker] Defiance Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
(unused) 0%
Lidija If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Guardian:
[Mantle of Frenzy] Special Ability/Spell Iron 1 (27%)
[Rune Tortoise] Rune Familiar Ability Iron 0 (22%)
[Spoils of Victory] Sacrifice Aura Ability Iron 1 (49%)
[Peek under the Counter] Knowledge Perception Ability Iron 0 (64%)
(unused) 0%
Void:
[Spike of Void] Special Attack Iron 0 (84%)
[Blood Harvest] Sacrifice Special Ability Iron 1 (3%)
[Bait and Switch] Swarm Special Ability Iron 0 (0%)
[Heretical Helix] Knife Special Attack Iron 0 (40%)
(unused) 0%
Shield:
[Reflective Barrier] Special Ability/Spell Iron 0 (31%)
[Crystallize Mana] Special Ability Iron 0 (76%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Renewal:
[Regenerate] Special Ability/Spell Iron 1 (50%)
[Lay on Hands] Hand Special Ability Iron 0 (24%)
[Grand Renewal] Knowledge Special Ability Iron 0 (95%)
(unused) 0%
(unused) 0%
Chapter 47 - Videto We are having a day of rest and recuperation. Healing drains you. I dont know whether the effect is psychological. It feels very, very real though. That I have to do with an improvised tent does not improve my mood. I may be able to live off the land. I cannot feed anybody else, let alone supply them with medication. That is not new. New is that I have stopped caring. I am not Albert Schweitzer. The local people have a town full with people trained in all kinds of supernatural arts. Hell, they have gods of healing as I have learned. If they cannot be bothered to send aid, it is not my problem. I am getting a viitor. He is bearing a teapot and therefore most welcome. PN: You looked quite angry. P: I was. In fact, I am. PN: Nobody died. Nothing irreplacable was lost. P: This time. I smile to take the sting out of my words. P: Tea in that pot? PN: Sure. Among the advantages of iron rank is that it is harder to be damaged from mundane sources, including hot beverages. P: I know that we have to take risks. But that was too close. PN: Are you just bitchy because we were doing an altruistic hunt? Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. P: Well .. Yes, that is part of the problem. PN: What else did we do wrong? P: We used vehicles in a closed configuration in an unexplored territory. PN: And thats it? P: No. At the core we do not know what we are doing. We have a sixth sense but we are not training it. PN: OK, we can train that. P: Well, then there wont be anything after that. If we take the time this will take, this epidemic will be over, one way or the other. Then we move to a city. He remains silent for half a minute. PN: She will not like that. P: Then we need to change our basic approach and get ahead. PN: You mean we need to have a vaccine? P: Yes. PN: Do you have an idea how hard that is to make? P: Pasteur did it with late 19th century technology. He remains silent again for half aminute. PN: What do we do now? P: Nothing. And tomorrow we train, including an analysis of our errors.
Lidija is approaching my tent. L: How do you feel? P: Rotten. We came to close. L: Bad luck. P: That is the very point. If you regularly depend on good luck, you will be disappointed. A calculated risk is still a risk. L: And what do you want to do? Just give up? We should go back to the place the monster got you and exterminate them all. P: You cannot exterminate them. That is the point. We can never truly win. Monsters will keep spawning. She senses that I am in a foul mood today.
Z: How was it? L: You are right. I think he is at the breaking point. What can we do? Z: Give him time. L: And the people in the fort? Z: They will have to depend on the efforts of their government, not on us. L: That is not nice. Z: ?Nice is what they say at your eulogy. The point is not becoming the subject of one. L: And how do we do that? Z: I suggest we try to train for combat. It just have no idea where to start. Which of your capabilities have you used least? L: My teleport mixup ability. Z: Well, lets find that scholar. Chapter 48 - Tempore agimur Russell Clouns doesnt mind mind being teleported, if there is a publication coming out of it. If there is multiple publications coming out of it, he is not comfortable with exploring how far hed go for that. L: Do you see any difference to the powers you know? RC: No. When did you say did you gain this power? L: After arriving in this world. Do you want me to use a power I gained on our home world? RC: Yes. L: Very well, I can do so, but I would like to learn how to use this ability in combat. RC: Very well, I can see that. But you have to be aware that your confluence is very much geared towards cooperation in a team. This very ability demonstrates that. You teleported me. L: So what conclusion do you draw from that? RC: We should first go through all of your abilities at least and then look for synergies. Z: Perhaps we can come to a compromise and first go through a bit more quickly through the abilities we gained in this world? L: Very well, lets start with mine. Russell is not entirely happy, but agrees. RC: I am afraid I must correct myself. Your perception ability is known, just not from this essence, altough it is a rare one. We have records of it only up to silver rank. It is unusual in that it develops aura senses before magic senses. L: What do you mean by that? RC: Sorry, I keep forgetting. Up to silver rank, perception abilities are operating under a standard scheme. They provide aura senses, magic senses and usually an effect unique to the ability. All six different sequences are known, though not in equal rates of occurence. Z: So our perception abilities have no direct application in combat for the forseeable future? RC: Correct, though knowing that an enemy is present is essential in combat. P: Very well, could we finish Lidija before we move on to everybody else? In fact in a few cases you instantly recognised her ability, didnt you? RC: Yes, your abilities in the shield and renewal essences are well known, although one of them is again rare, but known in that essence. L: Why is an ability gathering mana a product of the shield essence? RC: It gains shielding abilities at higher ranks. Z: Are you saying that we need to relearn our abilities at each rank? RC: I am afraid so. Take Lidijas ability we looked at first. At iron rank, the illusion she leaves behind is merely that, an illusion. At higher ranks it gains offensive abilities. Then you can treat it as a kind of summons. Now you cannot. At iron rank the ability, aside from an escape if something goes wrong, is commonly used to facilitate attacks that would ordinarily be suicidial. Z: I think this is giving me ideas.
The rocks around our camp do not deserve this. Zora doesnt care. At first she just experimented with placing an explosive rune right next to the illusion she was leaving behind when Lidija evacuated her. Now she has extended her scheme to dropping from the sky onto a rock, while giving it an explosive punch and then leaving it an explosive surprise as she is being evacuated. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. RC: Lets recapitulate. You started out as human and reached iron rank as human. P: That is correct. I had three ability slots free when I transformed. RC: And you filled them all on your home world. P: Exactly. RC: You said you looted two of your essences and the government gave you your first essence. P: Yes. RC: Hence you developed your looting power from your first essence? P: No, I developd it from my confluence. My essences I looted conventionally with a ritual. He is taking notes in some kind of shorthand. RC: When did you become a ritualist? P: Years before I got my first essence. I actually did the ritual for it myself. More notes. P: Why does it matter? RC: We have found that certain abilities that involve rituals require the essence user to know rituals to be acquired. P: Interesting. What happens if you give sixteen stones of the Rune to somebody who has never heard of rituals? RC: Interesting question. I am afraid the costs have ruled out doing the experiment on a statistically signficant set of recipients. P: That I am afraid will also apply in my case. RC: Yes, but theres nothing wrong with doing a case study. P: I absolutely understand. Though a question: Which awakening stones would you use to give somebody a teleport ability? RC: Dimension or Reach. If you dont have one of them Adventure, Void or Magus. Why do you ask? P: When I gained my third essence I was hired by people, who could control me via blackmail. They sent me a representative, who gave me some awakening stones. RC: I though you looted the essence? P: I did. But only the essence. In fact he showed me an extremely complex looting ritual. I only had to execute it. They outright gave me a few awakening stones. Signing on bonus, if you will. Among them was a stone of the Reach. He commented on that that he was paid to deliver it, even if the primary goal had already been achieved. RC: Primary goal? P: I got Teleport straight from the essence. RC: Unusual, well, we are talking about Dimension. Yes, I see what you are getting at. An awakening stone of Reach on somebody with a Dimension essence, that is as close as you can get to a guarantee of a teleport ability. They really wanted you to be able to teleport. Didnt you tell me that you needed to teleport out of an astral space into the astral, which in turn triggered the outworlder effect? P: Yes, I did. I hesitate. P: Could I ask you to keep quiet about that? These people may be around here. Promptly he looks around. And then he nods. I probably need to give him something juicy. I conjure my sniper rifle.
KN: You want us to use an attenuated vaccine without trials? Old style variolation. Do you know the death rate of that procedure? P: More or less. What is the alternative? KN: We heal them! Z: We have gone over the math. Three times. It does not work out. Karolina gets up and storms off. I start rising. Zora grabs my antenna. Damn, she knows where it would hurt. Z: Dont. Shell return. Being a rationalist is a point of pride to her. Let the math do its work. Chapter 49 - Confidential Contract Rod Geller pounces. It makes no sense for this to be a trap. He might, however, be attacking an innocent traveller. Yet, no luggage,freshly iron-rankedand no equipment all pointed at a nefarious purpose. The man has no aura power. He feels discovered, but not guilty. He knows how to fight, but she does not know serious martial arts. It is over in seconds with his victim on the ground. In general torture does not work. If, however, the questioner can read the questionees emotions, things are different.
Liana Stelline does a slight bow to the director and her deputy, Genevieve Picot. EA: Have a seat, Mistress Stelline. LS: Thank you, director. Liana fights to keep the apprehension out of her aura. Not to do so, but to be seen as making the effort. Only an idiot wouldnt feel apprehension in such a situation. Being called to see the director and her deputy, but only them with no assistants should make you nervous. EA: You are certainly wondering what your mission will be and you might be wonderng why Ive picked you. Frankly, you are the only one among my bronze rank healers I can spare. Secondly, your family is already involved. LS: My cousin? EA: Yes. Weve got a message from the Church of Knowledge that an epidemic has broken out in the fort he is holding. A spike of surprise and shock runs through her aura. EA: Indeed. One of the practical reasons that we send you is that you can operate a skimmer. Here is your contract. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. She hands over a bundle of papers. GP: Report directly to me or the director.
Derrick Stelline looks unhappily at a hut guards are driving peope into. Guards who keep well away from the people they have surrounded. Guards who are no longer holding their spears we the blunt end forward. DS: Am I correct in stating that this was the last free hut? His people do not bother answering. DS: Very well. We have to face reality. Isolate the pregnant women in separate buildings. Give them preventative potions. No contact between them and the rest. We are giving up on separating the people bunking close to a new case in huts of their own. If a case happens in a hut, they all stay inside. Let them shit into buckets.
Rod slits the bandits throat and plunges his dagger into his captives eye. Then he begins the laborious process of digging a grave with te tools available to him. He needs to return to the camp to watch the recording crystal he has taken from the bandit and cannot risk the corpse being found.
Liana is enjoying a beverage of spiced whey she bought from a street vendor serving the working men employed in the warehouses around the Magic Societys depot. The skimmer has shown an issue while undergoing its final check. As walking home would not be fun, she has approved the delay, even though you dont want to tarry on such a mission. She reads the contract again. It gives her the authority to eliminate the people now in the fort. That is extreme by anybodys standards. Sure, they are normal rankers and not really subjects of the Duke of Greenstone, but still they are innocent. If she took that option she would need a good reason if she wants to retain any hope of a third star. The involvement of the Church of Knowledge suggests that other churches were involved. Churches you do not want to speak about. But you dont slaughter a town on a suspicion. Chapter 50 - E sopore emersit The tent is uncomfortable. Ill have to meet the Geller guy tomorrow evening, so I dont think that Ill spend tomorrow very actively. As long as I have no vehicle, I want to at least have the best servant I can make. Having an observer who is willing to answer questions about local methods of making constructs and is ready to contribute a few pieces also helps. I call him Dalek#4 - Updated Heavy 2, reusing the armored body. The crucial modifications we finish first are in his arms. We stay with a four armed design, being constrained by the sockets in the armoured body, but we upgrade them with my draining spell, so that the assault rifles we put into the upper arms, this time combined with bladed weapons integraded into the arms like with a Swiss knife and already prepared for exchange with blades made by a proper artificer. RC: I have read about the type of ability you are demonstrating now. P: Are people who have it so secretive about their constructs or are such powers so rare? RC: They are rare, at least in Greenstone. Though their users may also be secretive. Even constructs as such are rare in Greenstone. P: Are they expensive? RC: Compared to what they can do, no they are not. But labour is cheap and you do not need to risk putting your capital into a construct that may not be needed anymore. P: Because you cannot fire a construct? RC: Exactly. He hands me a crystal. P: So this is able to support a diagramm causing an effect powered by quintessence? RC: Yes. You only need to understand that the internal structure of the crystal needs to reflect the ritual circle you wish to use externally. We work until midnight.
Jan Chotek is using a stick to walk. He didnt expect to wake up at all. This was a pleasant surprise. Walking under two moons certainly fulfills any expectations of visiting exotic places he may have ever had. Apparently all but one of them has made the transfer. His aura control is good enough to keep the satisfaction and surprise out of his aura, when talking to his former hosts. Other relevations are harder to keep to himself. JC: Gods are real? KN: Yes, the evidence is clear. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.PN: You seem distressed. JC: I am a product of my environment, too. PN: But your environment included knowing that souls are real among other things. JC: We had a policy of not talking about that. Some aspects of this knowledge would have made cooperating with the government at that time practically impossible. KN: You cooperated with the government? JC: As far as they knew, no we didnt. But we didnt fight them either. PN: Why, if that question does not go too deep? JC: Why we didnt fight? We wouldnt have been able to do so and stay secret and we were not ready to face the consequences of Russian communists discovering a hidden group of aristocrats with superhuman powers. PN: That is almost practical. JC: The grid had to be kept running.
My new servant will be able of true, if slow, flight for a short time. I am also leaving room to fit in a few more crystals. The lower arms pack the true bang. Well, one of them. The left arm holds a grenade launcher for chemical rounds, combined with a blade. The right arm features a hyperkinetic cannon. It is a one shot weapon, but it is a shot that will count.
She might know her name. She does not remember it. She does not want to remember it. Remembering has become a deliberate decision. She feels a grudge at that realization.
I get a visitor. JC: First, thank you. P: You are welcome. You didnt expect to come out again. A slight nod. JC: How did we get here, by the way? P: There was a receiving station. And before you ask, it was damaged by our arrival.That reminds me, we have a priestess of Knowledge here, who gives away language skill books. Can you use skill books? He answers in a hurried manner. JC: Yes. She told me that I better recuperate for a few days more. Well, actually she presented me with a sign with that information written on it. In my native language. I feel transparent. P: You are. JC: Well, at least you are facing the facts. P: When facing overwhelming evidence JC: the experiment must take precedence over the theory. We both chuckle. P: We read similar books. JC: True, but I am afraid you have made a few experiences few would like to make. Did you have any indications that the receptor was intended for us? P: Well, the room I come out in nearly suffocated me. True, they did have masks I understood to be meant to be allow people to get to the surface of the lake. In hindsight they may have had a second purpose. But none of them fit me. JC: It is possible that somebody doing your job was expected, but not specifically you. P: While that is true, wouldnt you then make sure that these hypothetical people woud survive? I made it only because of the quintessence I was carrying around with me. JC: That is true. What did you find when you searched the room. P: Well, I did not precisely search it. I was kind of preoccupied with not suffocating and getting out of there. Chapter 51 - Non vidisti I have been sleeping badly. This is not due to physical discomfort. What I conjure can rival any luxurious bed. I would like to experiment more to understand why I can store some conjured constructs, but not others, but my lack of understanding in that regard does not impact the quality of the stuff I make. I guess part of it is that inside my vehicle I just feel safer than in a tent. Well, it is simply true. My vehicle is safer. However, my conciensce is also making itself known. Technically I do think that things Ive found in an alien base are mine and mine to distribute as I see fit. Yet that is a formal position not suitable for a group fighting together. Do I have logical reasons to keep those books and awakening stones to myself? Sure. Whoever authored them is unlikely to be happy I took them. Letting people I am easy to associate with use them is a risk in that regard. Their base was damaged and abandoned. The people who did that may not be happy with any remainder of their enemies surviving. People interested in them may conclude that the people who know something about the abandoned base should be questioned thoroughly. That a justification is just a justification, not a true reason, does not mean that the justification is wrong. I am too old to just assume that if you do something for ulterior, emotional reasons, doing the opposite would be the rational option. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Yet I should be honest to myself. I am keeping these books because I am afraid that they will leave if they become too powerful. Am I wrong?
JC: You are saying that the receiver was mounted on the wall. P: Yes, it was. However, it was damaged and the damage looked quite recent going by the dust. JC: Yes, I got that. Did you see how the device was powered? P: No, there were cables Damnation. JC: You did not look behind the thing, did you? P: Well, no, I did not. JC: How many people can you transport by teleportation now? P: I dont know, but can we shift this to tomorrow? I have to meet the head of the adventure party today by our schedule and the guy may be hiding. JC: Sure, I am not completely restored anyway. P: You said you can use skill books? JC: Yes, I can. And I did say so. Why? P: How common is that ability? JC: That depends on your essences. And possibly your species, now that I think about it.
I found him readily and he asked to return to the camp with me. Now he is in a meeting with his team for which they have taken a walk away from the camp.